Since 2018, Council Member Andrea Jenkins has helped to ensure that the diversity of Ward 8 is reflected in its changing landscape. While current constituents grapple with the results of the most recent elections, she is working to ensure opportunities for economic growth, healing, and wellness.
This includes expanding the building and services offered by Pillsbury House Theatre and changing its name to Pillsbury Community Commons (PCC). Its Chicago Avenue Project has served youth from the neighboring elementary, middle, and high schools for years. They learn playwriting and can see their work produced and performed.
In response to economic growth, PCC’s programming will now offer opportunities for young people to learn behind-the-scenes production of set design, sound, and lighting. It is “addressing the deep disparities in employment and resources in our arts and media industry, a field that today is 67% white males over 50,” according to their website.
KRSM radio station, currently housed at Waite House, will move to the new location. “It’s going to be like a window to the world,” says Jenkins. “I think it’s going to be an amazing project. So, I’m excited about that.”
Founded by Mother Atum Azzahir, the Cultural Wellness Center is moving its headquarters from its 21st and Portland location to 38th and 3rd, kitty-corner from Sabathani Community Center. The new location will offer all their current services.
“They are also going to have an economic development component, which will be an incubator for small businesses,” says Jenkins. This will include a focus on food businesses, healthy foods, and addressing food insecurities.
The space between the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and Fire Station 17 will feature a newly landscaped pocket park with bench seating. “It will be kind of a little respite area for people to reflect but also contain some of the history of the community,” says Jenkins. “We want to focus on the history, but also inspire young people about the future.”
At the site of the George Floyd murder, the infrastructure for a memorial will soon be underway. “That’s a worldwide significant spot now,” says Jenkins. “We have to make sure we are treating it righteously, presenting the history, and building up the community for the residents that are there.” This includes an expansion of jobs and housing.
These positive initiatives may help insulate constituents experiencing concern due to the most recent national election. When asked to describe the response of constituents in her ward, Jenkins says, “I would characterize it as maybe depressed.”
Many are fearful of what the new federal administration will bring. “I think people who are fighting climate change are concerned, and worried about the future administration and some of the people who have been selected to run some of these agencies,” says Jenkins.
With talk of mass deportation, Jenkins says many in the community are frightened. Trump’s newly picked border czar, Tom Homan, has no hesitancies about splitting up families in efforts to deport immigrants. “If you chose to give birth to a U.S. citizen child when you get removed, you can leave the child here or you can take him with you,” Homan said on NBC News.
Delaware elected its first congressperson from the transgender community, Sarah McBride. “It’s historic that she got elected to the United States Congress,” says Jenkins, but a bill is being introduced to prevent her from using the women’s bathrooms in congressional hall.
“It’s cruel. It’s indifferent. It’s just disgusting to want to limit someone’s ability to do the basic human thing of going to the bathroom,” says Jenkins.
In September of this year, a Minneapolis man was found guilty of killing a transgender woman. Across the country and the state, there has been violence committed against transgender and gender-nonconforming communities.
“It sends fear throughout the country for trans youth,” Jenkins says. “I’m concerned about the young people who are out here and who are struggling with their gender identity and being attacked.”
Jenkins says that though the responses from the current administration are reminiscent of several generations ago, she says the country cannot go back: “We have to take the lessons from the Civil Rights Movement, the lessons for the GLBT movement, the lessons from the Women’s Rights Movement.”
Jenkins made history in 2018 as the first Black openly transgender person elected to public office in the U.S. “I didn’t have a lot of people to look up to, but now we do, and that has to be an inspiration to these young people,” she says.
With united allies in Minnesota, she says, “My message to these trans people is this struggle is not new. We have been here. We have made so much progress, and we are not going back.”
What can the community do for those afraid of what comes next? “We have to get out and vote for people who have our values in mind,” she says. After a failed vice presidential run, Jenkins says it is partly our Democratic governor that gives many Minnesotans a sense of resilience.
“The governor has vowed to make sure that we uphold the values that are near and dear to Minnesotans and protect the immigrant and other communities that are frightened.”
Her call to action for Minnesotans: “Stand up for human rights. Stand up for social justice. Stand up for equity and equality for all people. And I think that is going to get us through this challenging time.”
Vickie Evans-Nash welcomes reader responses to vnash@spokesman-recorder.com.