In the Echoes of Unity Special Edition, Mayor Jacob Frey explains why justice and unity must be measured by real outcomes in housing, safety, and economic opportunity.
Scott Selmer
Posted inSpecial Edition - Echoes of Unity
King’s unity required economic justice, Williams says
In the Echoes of Unity Special Edition, historian Yohuru Williams explains why Dr. King’s legacy must include economic justice and moral accountability.
Posted inSpecial Edition - Echoes of Unity
Dr. King’s work lives in the cases Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison litigates
In an Echoes of Unity interview, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison explains how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy lives on through civil rights enforcement, economic justice, and accountability under the rule of law.
Posted inNational
Nigerian Americans question U.S. Christmas strikes
Nigerian American voices question the Trump administration’s justification for Christmas Day airstrikes in Nigeria, warning the conflict is far more complex than described.
Posted inSister Spokesman
Sister Spokesman opens 2026 celebrating togetherness
Sister Spokesman opened the new year with its “Stronger Together” gathering, centering community connection, philanthropy, and shared responsibility for sustaining Black institutions.
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Posted inHelp Is Here
Alliance Wellness Center Offers Treatment for Opioid Use
Alliance Wellness Center offers daily methadone dosing to help Twin Cities residents manage opioid withdrawal, reduce overdose risk, and rebuild stability through treatment and support.
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Posted inHelp Is Here
Turning Point offers treatment for Black Minnesotans facing opioid crisis
Turning Point in North Minneapolis provides walk-in assessments and culturally specific opioid treatment designed to respond quickly when help is needed most.
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Posted inHelp Is Here
Where help is always open: MARI Safe Station
The MARI Safe Station in Minneapolis provides a walk-in, low-barrier space where people struggling with addiction can receive support, recovery connections, and harm-reduction resources.
Posted inLocal & State
Winter Wonderland offers kids gifts, joy and community
Be the Change MN hosted its annual Winter Wonderland event at the Mall of America, welcoming more than 1,000 Minneapolis students and families for a day of joy, care, and connection.
Posted inSister Spokesman
Sister Spokesman participants pause to breathe and heal
At Sister Spokesman’s Pause. Breathe. Heal. event, Black women filled a glass lined community space near NorthPoint for an afternoon that felt less like a program and more like a communal exhale. Publisher Tracey Williams Dillard, therapist Venus Burney, and trauma specialist Dr. Resmaa Menakem led a candid conversation about stress, survival, and the weight Black bodies carry, while vendors, laughter, and connection turned the room into a living space of healing and joy.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota honors Gordon Parks with living memorial
On a snow-lashed winter afternoon on Nov. 30 at Landmark Center, Minnesota lawmakers, cultural leaders, and members of the Gordon Parks family formally announced the creation of the Gordon Parks Living Memorial, a long-awaited public tribute to the legendary photographer, filmmaker, author, and humanitarian whose artistic journey began in Minnesota and reshaped global culture. The […]
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight
Five-Star Chuck: A locksmith built on trust
One early winter morning in Oakdale, Minnesota, the cash drawer at a HomeGoods jammed shut with the night’s revenue locked inside. Management needed it opened immediately. The call went to one man: “Five-Star Chuck.” Less than an hour later, Charles “Chuck” Bradley was on site, opening the drawer with practiced precision. The store opened on […]
Posted inEducation
Minneapolis schools avoid strike, but staff wages still lag
Minneapolis teachers have voted to ratify a new contract and avert a strike, bringing relief to families worried about classroom disruptions. The agreement includes gains for adult education teachers and modest raises for some education support professionals, but ESPs say pay still lags far behind the cost of living. Educators warn that Black students and Black staff remain concentrated in under resourced roles and schools, and say the contract is only a first step toward real equity.
Posted inLocal & State
Target’s DE&I pullback leaves Black local suppliers in limbo
Target’s billion-dollar DEI and supplier diversity push helped some Twin Cities Black entrepreneurs secure national shelf space, jobs and new revenue streams. With the retailer now pulling back from those equity commitments, Black-owned businesses and community partners are feeling the ripple effects in hiring, contracts and long-term wealth building, and are left questioning how durable corporate promises to Black communities really are.
Posted inLocal & State
Jellybean Johnson: A legacy of joy and genius
Jellybean Johnson was thunder on stage and gentle at home, a drummer, guitarist and producer whose joy lit up Minneapolis for decades. Loved ones and musical peers recall his role in shaping the Minneapolis Sound, mentoring “nephews” in the scene and building the Minneapolis Sound Museum to keep the culture alive for the next generation.
Posted inLocal & State
Providers say universal pre-k falls short for Minnesota families
Early childhood providers say Minnesota’s universal pre K plan fails to meet the real needs of Black families. Educators argue that culturally affirming childcare starting in infancy would do more to close the racial achievement gap than expanding free pre K for four year olds.
Posted inPolitics
Disbelief a common reaction to Carter’s loss in St. Paul
In the days after St. Paul’s mayoral election, disbelief rippled through the blocks of Frogtown and Midway. Soon-to-be-former Mayor Melvin Carter, a two-term incumbent with deep roots and strong name recognition, had lost to Kaohly Vang Her, a legislator who entered the race barely 10 weeks earlier. To some, it was a political upset; to […]
Posted inPolitics
“He acts like he cares”: Voices from a divided Minneapolis after Frey’s win
When the last of the ranked-choice votes were counted, Jacob Frey had won reelection as Minneapolis mayor, but not resoundingly. It was a victory drawn out by mathematical transfers and emotional fatigue. Some residents wondered whether the mayor remained engaged in the fight for them and for their families, or rather just to stay in […]
Posted inLocal & State
Families say MPD fails to protect women of color
Under gray skies on the afternoon of Oct. 30, relatives of two women, one Black, one Indigenous, gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center accusing Minneapolis police and city officials of failing to protect women of color from domestic violence. The families came seeking justice for Mariah Samuels, a 30-year-old African American mother who was […]
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Posted inHelp Is Here
Twin Cities Recovery Project bridges the opioid care divide
When Latricia Tate talks about addiction, she doesn’t speak from statistics. She speaks from experience. Her parents were victims of the 1980s crack epidemic on Chicago’s South Side, a trauma that shaped her life and, ultimately, her calling. “Nobody talked about what was wrong with my parents,” Tate recalled. “It was like a secret.” Today, […]