This week: a son realizes his mother’s fears, Insure the Police passes important hurdle and decolonizing thinking processes within the African immigrant community. Continue Reading
To mark Prince’s legacy in these trying times, we’ve invited local black activists/artists to create original work that deconstructs power, pain, and the fallacy of “Minnesota Nice.” Continue Reading
APIs4BlackLives-MN is a coalition of Minnesota Asian and Pacific Islander (API) individuals and organizations that work for social justice in solidarity with Black Lives Matter (BLM) – Minneapolis and St. Paul. Our coalition seeks to address anti-Blackness in Asian communities, advance cross-community collaboration, and increase API participation in political and racial justice issues. Volunteers with APIs4BlackLives-MN talked with Asian residents in North Minneapolis neighborhoods on the weekends of Dec. 7 and Dec. Continue Reading
On Dec. 13, 2015, the Twin Cities Daily Planet hosted a panel of scholars at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul to discuss white supremacy’s long history in Minnesota and how it can be overcome. Continue Reading
When asked what is the mission of the Million Artist Movement (MAM), which calls itself the “artistic arm of Black Lives Matter,” Sandy Augustin said “We want to artfully dismantle white supremacy.” Agustin co-organized and facilitated the Power Gathering: Asian American Resistance and Solidarity at Macalester College back in October in collaboration with the Givens Foundation. That event was a part of the larger and ongoing convenings across racial and ethnic groups called by MAM. Continue Reading
A roundup of community news from all corners of the Twin Cities, including stories from inside and outside the Black Lives Matter march to the State Fair, a Lao/Hmong Friendship Play, reminiscing about peace protests in 2008, and more from our Media Partners. Continue Reading
The opening weekend of the Great Minnesota Get Together was met with several hundred protesters from Black Lives Matter. Their goal: draw attention to the lack of people of color who run businesses in the fair and unfair policing. Black Lives Saint Paul, the organizers of last Saturday’s event, called on everyone to drop their “Minnesota Nice” and recognize the inequalities African Americans face on a day-to-day basis. Last Friday, Governor Mark Dayton said that while he understood the demonstrators message, he felt that protesting the fair was, “inappropriate.” Here’s a recap of the protest in photos:
“The problem is poverty. The problem is racism,” said Rev. Victoria Safford of the White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church. “The problem is deep, deep, old oppression.”
Safford was one of more than 200 people who showed up outside an Edina, Minnesota court to support eleven people who have been charged with a variety of crimes after a December Black Lives Matter rally at the Mall of America. The problems of poverty, racism and oppression are at the root of what the Black Lives Matter movement is fighting against. What will it to take to fix it? Continue Reading
Judge Peter A. Cahill denied a motion for a pre-trial gag order at a hearing Friday for the defendants in the case about the Christmas protest at the Mall of America. The hearing set the dates for the upcoming pre-trials and trials of the individuals charged with a range of misdemeanors that include trespassing, unlawful assembly, etc. Around 30 total defendants set dates for either their trials or pre-trials, to take place next fall (with one exception, where a defendant requested a speedy trial, set for July). They were charged after a protest that occurred in December of last year, over police treatment of people of color, held at the Mall of America. “The defendants have first amendment rights,” Cahill said. Continue Reading