BLK PRIME has announced The Manager, The Mythology, The Legend, an eight-episode series chronicling the complex, historic legacy of Joe Jackson as seen through the eyes of his son Marlon Jackson.
Arts + Culture
A space for local and national arts and entertainment stories, with an emphasis on stories pertaining to the African American experience.
Posted inArts + Culture, News
Rondo unveils new African American Arts District
After years in the making, the Rondo Community Land Trust officially launched the Rondo African American Arts District, celebrating the neighborhood’s deep Black creative heritage and charting a path for economic repair.
Posted inArts + Culture
Celebrating past and current artists who’ve made the Northside a beacon for jazz, R&B, soul and all facets of the Minneapolis Sound
Live jazz echoed along the North Minneapolis riverfront as the first annual Northside Jazz & Heritage Festival united generations of Black musicians, entrepreneurs, and community members.
Posted inArts + Culture
Local artist weaves community connection through Rondo library art project
Visual artist Briauna Williams is using paintbrush and canvas to combat the national loneliness epidemic. Through her interactive project at the Rondo Community Library, she’s creating a space where youth, parents, and elders can heal together.
Posted inLocal & State
St. Paul native Dr. Elizabeth Adams brings community values to the fight for responsible AI
Dr. Elizabeth M. Adams, a fifth-generation Minnesotan from St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, has spent her career pushing for responsible AI. Contributing writer Tiffany Johnson tells her story, from helping ban facial recognition in Minneapolis to writing a new memoir on purpose and technology.
Posted inArts + Culture
Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival event lineup
Local, national, and international street artists are converging in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone for three days of live mural creation, panel talks, and neighborhood celebrations.
Posted inBooks
Historian revisits a pivotal moment in city history
More than 50 years after Minneapolis teachers risked their careers in a 20-day walkout, historian Dr. William D. Green reveals how the historic 1970 strike was about far more than pay.
Posted inArts + Culture
After Operation Metro Surge, Mixed Blood Theatre turns to storytelling to heal
Following the taxing impact of Operation Metro Surge, Mixed Blood Theatre is leveraging story circles, a tool rooted in Indigenous history and Civil Rights organizing, to help Twin Cities residents reconnect, heal, and find strength in shared joy.
Posted inArts + Culture
Above George Floyd Square, Billboards continue to champion community, resilience and hope
Standing tall over George Floyd Square, two cbillboards serve as a canvas for community creatives. This July the Social Justice Billboard Project Phase 5 installation brings a fresh wave of public art to South Minneapolis.
Posted inEvents
A soulful celebration to come at 1st annual Northside Jazz & Heritage Festival
North Minneapolis is making history with its first-ever free Jazz Festival the community-owned celebration honors the Northside’s deep musical roots, featuring live soul, R&B, local vendors, and family activities.
Posted inEvents
Midwest Black Book Fair comes to North Minneapolis
The 2026 Midwest Black Book Fair honors Black storytelling and resistance for Black August, featuring author panels, publishing workshops and raffles at UROC in North Minneapolis. Digital Editor Aaliyah Demry has the full lineup.
Posted inBooks
Shannon Gibney breaks taboo with new children’s book on infant loss
Local author Shannon Gibney’s new children’s book, “Where Is My Sister?,” tackles a subject rarely addressed in kids’ literature: how young children process infant loss. Contributing writer Ella Stern has the story behind the book.
Posted inArts + Culture
New Minneapolis mural imagines Black and Indigenous futures among the stars
Leslie Barlow’s new 66-by-33-foot mural, “Belonging to the Entire Universe,” brings Afrofuturism and Mae Jemison’s legacy to downtown Minneapolis. Callisto Martinez reports on the piece and the artist behind it.
Posted inTheater
Rose McGee’s ‘Kumbayah’ marks 30 years of telling freedom’s story
Rose McGee’s “Kumbayah The Juneteenth Story” marked 30 years at St. Paul’s The O’Shaughnessy, with cast members drawing direct lines from the play’s history to Operation Metro Surge and police brutality today. Ella Stern reports.
Posted inFood
Patience is a form of power
Food columnist Lachelle Cunningham writes about chasing her great-grandmother’s fried green tomatoes, giving a Juneteenth keynote at Carleton College and finally claiming her voice as a writer, a healer and a social justice thought leader, with recipes for fried green tomatoes and potlikker mocktails.
Posted inJames on Jazz
100 years of Davis and Coltrane, and the loss of Sonny Rollins
MSR jazz columnist Robin James recaps the Twin Cities Jazz Festival at Mears Park, remembers the late great Sonny Rollins, and marks the 100th anniversary of Miles Davis and John Coltrane in a column celebrating Black Music Month.
Posted inArts + Culture
Soul of the Southside continues to grow as a Juneteenth tradition
Soul of the Southside returned to the Lake Street and Minnehaha corridor on June 19 for its fifth year, drawing thousands of residents, businesses, artists and families to one of the Twin Cities’ largest Juneteenth celebrations, with founders Emmanuel and Fancy Duncan reflecting on what it has become.
Posted inBooks
Justin Ellis confronts Minneapolis’ hidden racial history in new book
Minneapolis native and journalist Justin Ellis discusses his new book The Cruelty of Nice Folks at Magers and Quinn on June 22, examining how Minneapolis has hidden its history of white supremacy and racial inequality behind the veneer of Minnesota Nice.
Posted inMusic
Known MPLS youth choir drops Father’s Day single celebrating Black men
Known MPLS, a Twin Cities youth choir founded by Courtland Pickens, is releasing a new single this Father’s Day weekend celebrating Black men, with an upcoming five-song EP and appearances alongside Josh Groban and Jennifer Hudson on June 28.
Posted inEvents
June at The Dakota: A Month of World-Class Live Music in Downtown Minneapolis
The Dakota at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis brings a month of world-class live music in June, featuring Kronos Quartet, John Pizzarelli Trio, Stanley Jordan, Naturally 7 and more at one of the Twin Cities’ most intimate concert venues.