The last weekend in July is going out with a bang! This weekend should be a delight for art lovers and bike enthusiasts, especially, with Open Streets, ArtBike (and ArtCar) Tour de Fat and fun art gatherings around town. Also, the Minneapolis Aquatennial fun continues into the weekend, ending with the dazzling Target Fireworks! Scroll down for details:How will you spend the weekend? Let us know in the comment section or by sending your photos or comments to tcweekend@tcdailyplanet.net, and check back to see your photo attached to the Storify over the weekend.If you know of an event fit for TC Weekend, use our calendar to upload the event or send an email to tcweekend@tcdailyplanet.net. FLOW Northside Arts Crawl, July 25FLOW Northside Art Crawl is a free, family-friendly event that highlights the diverse and unique art community in North Minneapolis. Continue Reading
After graduating with honors from Grambling State University this past Spring, Brittany Bentley returned to Minnesota to participate in the Teach for America program. Out of ten choices, Minneapolis was her fifth. We moved to Minneapolis when my daughter was eighteen months old, but she has always believed she’d feel more welcome in other parts of the world. My daughter has grown to accept her placement here after meeting some of the 5th graders she will be teaching in the fall. Her experience this past weekend brings some realities back to the forefront. The race relations issue in this state exists at every level of the spectrum. Here is an account of what she experienced this past weekend while trying to hail a cab in downtown Minneapolis. “Two Caucasian reporters from the Star tribune come up to me and ask how long I’ve been waiting for a cab. I tell them that I’ve been waiting for over an hour. Continue Reading
I’m not one to cry. Truth is, I rarely cry, but during a visit to Dick’s Resort in the Mall of America I was literally reduced to tears! The bartender was abusive, abrasive, and mean as HELL. I wasn’t sure why he was in a bad mood, but later found out that it is their “niche” to be mean as spitfire. Were they really trained to treat people like this, to the point of harassment? Continue Reading
The Big E, confessing to Minnesita Progressive Project (MPP) readers and contributers, recently wrote that his heart no longer pines to hose down right wing sparkle ponies like Michele Bachmann or even review books by the likes of a Keith Ellison. The Big E (known to his Minneapolis neighbors as Eric Pusey), is the founding scold of the MPP lefty sentry post and appears on the current edition of Democratic Visions as he retires from political blogging. After a moment of posing as a weary blogosphere elder (as if blogging was old enough to earn elders), the smart, liberal confederate, prompted by an actual DFL elder, Tim O’Brien, shines with bemused and bewildered takes on the current state of the Minnesota Republican Party and its clownish, hopeful State and Congressional candidates. Mr. Pusey, who has splashed gleefully in the rushing stream of blogs, Tweets, Facebook twerking and probably Skype, does quite well in the “legacy” medium of television where I operate. Fox Nine News knew that and for a while put him on from time-to-time. But the Fox 9 News producers didn’t have the cojones to make him a regular pundit. Too bad. Mr. Pusey has good chemistry. This ten-minute Eric and Tim segment is yours to consider. Its “tagged” (the TV producer’s sense of the word) with an homage to the late, great, populist troubadour Pete Seeger and Twin Cities activism thanks to the air guitar wonders -The Junk Yard Democrats, a peoples’ anthem, and creative editing. Enjoy! Enjoy! Democratic Visions February Segments Ex-blogger Eric Pusey and Tim O’Brien on senate and gubernatorial hopefuls.Jon Spayde as a clinically depressed motivational speaker with advice for Republican hopefuls.I report on the DFL 48 Precinct Caucuses and present an award winning short film making change. Democratic Visions is handcrafted by Eden Prairie, Edina and Minnetonka volunteer Democrats at the Bloomington Community Access Television studio by arrangement with the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission. Democratic Visions Cable ScheduleMinneapolis – MTN Channel 16 – Sundays at 8:30 p.m.; Mondays 3:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield and Eden Prairie – Comcast Channel 15 – Sundays at 9 p.m., Mondays at 10:00 p.m. and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. Bloomington – BCAT Cable Channel 16 – Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.; Fridays at 9:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. The entire Feburary program and 183 archived Dem Vis segments can be seen on the Democratic Visions Channel on YouTube. Democratic Visions has become the liveliest political issues show in Minnesota. I know. I produce the darned thing. Continue Reading
Ping-pong, community murals, diverse musical acts, affordable art from local artists, tasty food, and hula hoops? What else could you want from a festival? Celebrating 13 years, the Red Hot Art and Music Festival, presented by the Stevens Square Community Organization, (SSCO), provided interactive fun for all ages. The two-day festival was held Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28 in Stevens Square Park. See the slideshow above for festival pictures, and check below for your Tweets, photos, or posts about the Red Hot Art & Music Festival collected on Storify. [If you don’t see the Storify photos and comments below, please refresh your browser window.]Click here for more info about the Red Hot Art and Music Festival.[<a href=”//storify.com/paigel/red-hot-art-and-music-festival-in-minneapolis” target=”_blank”>View the story “Red Hot Art & Music Festival in Minneapolis” on Storify</a>]Reporting for this article supported in part by Bush Foundation. Continue Reading
The Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center (MAAM) opened its doors on Saturday June 2, for tours of their first exhibition—Bringing it Home, a “retrospective of Black N’ Brown baseball in Minnesota”—and a day of activities and performances by storytellers, dance and step troupes, and a visit by past Minnesota Twins Players. While the museum won’t open until fall, it was a chance for the community to get a sneak peek at what MAAM has to offer.
