Charles Hallman

A “multimedia boot camp” for nearly two dozen high school students recently took place in North Minneapolis. The University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach Engagement Center (UROC) was the site for the 2015 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalism High School Workshop (JSHOP) held August 5-7 in conjunction with the 2015 NABJ annual convention in Minneapolis.

Supporters say that the new Seward Co-Op Friendship Store soon to open at 38th Street and 3rd Avenue South can help solve the “food desert” problem in the Central and Bryant neighborhoods. However, it appears a “rift” has developed between the store and the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) over a proposed agreement.
CANDO officials had hoped for a community benefits agreement (CBA) with Seward Co-Op that, among other things, called for 70 percent of the store jobs go to Blacks and Latinos by December 31, 2016.

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention turned Minneapolis into a “chocolate journalism city” for at least a week, with over a thousand-plus Black folk seen on the downtown streets.

On August 6, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) taped a broadcast on West Broadway in North Minneapolis at Neighborhoods Organizing for Change’s (NOC) temporary offices to speak on the approaching one-year anniversary of the Michael Brown and other police-related killings that led to the Black Lives Matter national movement. NOC Executive Director Anthony Newby told the MSR that those deaths are “our generation’s Emmitt Till.”

Wallace Collier, born June 25, 1923 in Minneapolis, was “a giant” on Minneapolis’ North Side, say his family and friends. He passed away July 24 at age 92. His funeral was at Ascension Church on July 31, and he is now buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

The MSR recently spent a weekend late night with a group of middle-aged Black men who owns cars that made Detroit famous for its styling. The group regularly meets in St. Paul near the State Capitol.  Read more of the story below. Reggie Washington says his 1968 Cadillac Calais’s makes it unique. “When I had it painted, […]

Minneapolis, for the first time, is hosting the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention August 5-9. The MSR recently interviewed convention organizers, NABJ officials and others about the group coming to town as part of our pre- and post-convention coverage.

A late-night “car lot” at the corner of Rice and University, in the southern shadow of the State Capitol building in St. Paul, is where vintage cars and other vehicles are regularly displayed by their owners.