Black Men Teach gathered educators, fellows and community members at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis for its annual Gold Star Gala, raising funds for scholarships and celebrating the Black male teachers transforming Twin Cities classrooms.
Education
A space for local and national stories about issues surrounding education, especially as they relate to African Americans.
Posted inLet them Rise
Building the bridge
MSR columnist Richard D. Terrell closes out his series on educating Black boys with a call to build the bridge between potential and opportunity, one relationship, one classroom and one community at a time.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota Families and Child Care Providers Demand Structural Reform as Costs Spiral
Contributing writer Clint Combs reports on Minnesota’s growing child care crisis, where 87% of day care centers say the industry is in crisis and families like Annel Velasco’s have spent $120,000 on child care, as advocates call for structural reform and universal child care.
Posted inEducation
Macalester’s $88 Million Project Aims to Transform Housing, Sustainability and Campus Connections
Macalester College’s $88 million residence hall and welcome center, currently under construction at Grand Avenue and Macalester Street in St. Paul, will add 224 beds, create a new front door to campus and include a geothermal system designed to expand to additional buildings.
Posted inEducation
Black Student Loan Default Rate Five Times Higher Than White BorrowersÂ
A coalition of civil rights and consumer advocates is urging the federal Education Department to halt plans to garnish wages of nearly 9 million student loan borrowers in default, warning the policy will disproportionately harm Black and older borrowers.
Posted inEducation
A Howard scholar’s account of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Howard University junior and WHCA scholar Madison Maynard was in the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when shots rang out. This is her account of the night that changed everything and confirmed her calling as a journalist.
Posted inEducation
Professors reflect on Black progress, and what the next decade demands
Black academics Dr. Walter Greason and Dr. Artika Tyner offer a sobering, nuanced and at times hopeful assessment of where Black communities in Minnesota and across the country stand today and where they are headed over the next decade.
Posted inEducation
Rising to the Bar: Minnesota’s Next Generation of Black Lawyers Won’t Back Down
Seven Black law graduates from the University of Minnesota, Mitchell Hamline and St. Thomas are entering the legal profession with purpose, carrying lived experience and a commitment to representing communities that have historically gone without.
Posted inEducation
Leticia Alvarez – MSR 2026 Grad
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder congratulates Leticia Alvarez on earning her Bachelor of Science in Special Education with honors from Mankato University, completing a journey years in the making as a first-generation college student, mother and future MSR leader.
Posted inLet them Rise
Joy of educating Black boys
Richard D. Terrell, assistant principal with Saint Paul Public Schools, writes about the joy of educating Black boys, calling on schools, families and communities to celebrate their brilliance, nurture their gifts and speak life into their futures.
Posted inEducation
Tiffany Johnson – 2026 MSR Grad
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder congratulates contributor Tiffany Johnson on earning her MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, completing four years of graduate school while working full time at Penumbra Theatre.
Posted inEducation
Lizzy Nyoike – 2026 MSR Grad
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder congratulates contributing writer Lizzy Nyoike on earning two associate degrees debt-free through PSEO before transferring to the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Posted inEducation
Damenica Ellis – 2026 MSR Grad
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder congratulates staff writer and On the Radar host Damenica Ellis on her graduation from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Journalism and Film.
Posted inFirst Educator
Preventing summer reading loss at home
Dr. Artika Tyner offers practical strategies for parents and caregivers to prevent summer slide and keep children reading and learning throughout the summer months.
Posted inEducation
Minnesota schools breaking law on free college program
More than two-thirds of Minnesota public schools are violating state law by failing to provide students and families with required information about the free Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program, according to a new report.
Posted inEducation
North Memorial Health and West Broadway Rising open doors for Northside youth exploring healthcare careers
High school students from Exploration High School got a behind-the-scenes look at North Memorial Health through a new partnership with West Broadway Rising, connecting Northside youth to healthcare careers in their own community.
Posted inLet them Rise
They can own the store, not just shop in it
Let Them Rise columnist Richard Terell argues that teaching entrepreneurship to Black boys is not just about business but about building a mindset of ownership, leadership and community impact.
Posted inEducation
The reader who became a revolutionary: Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah legacy explored in a profile of the Gold Coast-born leader who became Ghana’s first president and a towering figure in Pan-Africanism and African independence.
Posted inFirst Educator
Sustaining the future through community careÂ
Community care and sustainability are deeply connected, and community development expert Felix Larbi Appiah explains how First Educators can teach children to build a more just and resilient future together.
Posted inEducation
Macalester professor traces Jesse Jackson’s civil rights legacy at Hamline Symposium
Hamline University Social Justice Symposium opens with civil rights scholar Walter Greason connecting Jesse Jackson’s legacy of universal human dignity to today’s movements for justice.