Local & State

Low-income and Section 8 tenants at risk According to a new Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) report, apartment sales across the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan region has increased “dramatically” by 54 percent over a five-year span. Among the key findings in the MHP Sold Out report released last October: a disproportionate number of rental units were […]

Third of an on-going series In this installment of our series about African Americans who fought for dignity and equal rights on the U.S. railways as railroad sleeping car porters and maids, we explore how union organizing and the cancelled 1941 March on Washington led to later developments in the Civil Rights Movement. The proposed […]

Breaking bread with family is a time-honored tradition among African Americans. The movie Soul Food is one example of how families take the time to share gossip and even resolve issues while sharing dinner with shrimp and grits, collard greens, biscuits, mac and cheese, and fried chicken. The Breaking Bread Café on West Broadway in […]

Metro Transit riders most likely will see a fare increase for the first time in nearly a decade, predict Metropolitan Council officials. They claim a hike is necessary to keep up with rising costs. The Met Council will be considering either a 25 cent or 50 cent increase for Metro Transit bus, light rail, express […]

“We want partners to maximize their profit in Mozambique,” said Mozambique’s Ambassador to the U.S, H.E. Carlos Dos Santos. Speaking at the African Business Forum on May 18, Ambassador Dos Santos invited business leaders from Minnesota to focus on the southern African nation along the Indian Ocean. He wants Minnesotans to invest in a country […]

Their hidden history also needs telling Second of a three-part story In this installment of our series about African Americans who fought for dignity and equal rights on the U.S. railways as railroad sleeping car porters and maids, we explore the work of porter maids, their organizations and unions, and the March on Washington. Various […]

Survey finds all communities of color victimized by fraud Every year, scammers make hundreds of millions of dollars by selling fake services and worthless products to the American public. A recent news conference in Minneapolis brought attention to the particular risks these scams pose to African Americans and other communities of color. In April, New […]

Grammy-winning legend Stevie Wonder and former Executive Director of the NAACP, Benjamin Chavis, will headline A Conference of Peace, scheduled to place June 16-17 in North Minneapolis. The two-day conference is billed as a direct effort to combat youth and adult violence in inner cities, and challenge communities across the U.S. — starting in Minneapolis […]

Seventy-four seconds — the time that elapsed between the late Philando Castile being stopped while driving in Falcon Heights last summer and the last of seven shots fired into his car by police officer Jeronimo Yanez — is the focus of a new Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News podcast. Reporters Jon Collins and Riham Feshir tell […]

Rev. Dr. Alphonse Reff, Sr. of Wayman A.M.E. Church in North Minneapolis, along with Dollie Dimple Foster and Rev. Charles J. Foye, recently received honorary doctorates from Saint Thomas Christian University-Twin Cities Campus. Saint Thomas COO Dr. Sharon D. Ross said during the school’s May 20 commencement at Shiloh Temple International that the three were […]

“What do we want? Fair prices! When do we want it? Now!” Kenya McKnight, Transportation Advisory Board member, led this chant on a rainy day that turned hot and sunny on the grounds of the State Capitol. The Minnesota Legislature proposes deep cuts to Metro Transit bus and light rail funding. On May 16, transit […]

America needs “hard conversations” on race, said Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. at his May 16 appearance at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater. Minnesota Public Radio news host Kerri Miller told the mostly White audience at Glaude’s Fitzgerald Theater appearance that, following an MPR on-air conversation with Glaude last year, she wanted a live audience to […]

Online ‘trolls’ revel in racist comments “Troll,” a word once used only in folk tales, now refers to a person or persons practicing “unfettered hate…under the cover of anonymity” in online news site comments sections. Since the early 1990s, online racist comments by “internet trolls” about Black people have been helping create “a cesspool of […]

Over 300 citizens gathered in Minneapolis City Hall last Tuesday, May 16 to honor and celebrate former Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton with a bronze bust placed in the City Hall Atrium. Her Honor was recognized for her dedication, perseverance, and service to the Minneapolis community as the first Black woman and female mayor of the […]

Although Blacks make up 13 percent of today’s U.S. population, they account for at least 24 percent of fatal police shootings. Blacks are nearly 2.5 times as likely as Whites to be shot and killed by the police. In 2015, the Washington Post used a “real time base” of news reports, public records and other […]