Minnesota cash bail reform legislation would eliminate wealth-based detention in favor of an intentional release and detain approach as advocates say Black Minnesotans make up 36 percent of the pretrial jail population.
News
Timely national, state, and local articles, including profile stories from an African American perspective.
Posted inLocal & State
From the farm to the neighborhood: Michael Chaney’s lifelong harvest
Project Sweetie Pie founder Michael Chaney has spent more than 30 years weaving together climate justice, urban farming and community organizing in North Minneapolis rooted in a tradition of community-led, community-fed change.
Posted inLocal & State
Building tables, breaking barriers: Honorees of color shine at 40 Under 40 awards
Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal 40 Under 40 honorees of color brought stories of immigration, community building and entrepreneurship to the annual celebration at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Wayzata.
Posted inLocal & State
Legacy and Laughter fundraiser celebrates community influencers
Irreducible Grace Foundation’s Legacy and Laughter fundraiser honored community leaders and named rooms at the Black Youth Healing Arts Center in St. Paul after those whose work has shaped countless lives.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Hunger Strikers Confront Hennepin County Board Over HERC Closure, Sending Commissioners Into Recess
Zero Burn Coalition hunger strikers disrupted the Hennepin County Board meeting on day 12 of their strike demanding a vote to close HERC by December 2027 before ending the strike the following day.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis Police Chief’s Public Statements on Domestic Violence Cases Under Scrutiny After City Auditor Report
A Minneapolis city auditor report found MPD made serious missteps investigating the Allison Lussier case and recommended a formal written apology to her family for public misstatements by Police Chief Brian O’Hara about the medical examiner’s findings.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Air and water disparities, and the fight to shut down HERC
HERC trash incinerator residents describe living next to a facility that sounds like an airport tarmac, causes respiratory illness and sits in a majority-Black community absorbing pollution from across Hennepin County.
Posted inPolitics
A new poll tax? How the SAVE Act impacts Black, unhoused and female voters
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and advocates say it would disproportionately harm Black elders, unhoused residents and millions of eligible voters who lack required documents.
Posted inLocal & State
St. Paul residents hope Midway development brings needed resources back to neighborhoods
The Midway neighborhood in St. Paul is in transition as United Village development rises near Allianz Field while a neighboring block sits largely vacant after the closure of major grocery and retail stores.
Posted inCommunity Voices
20 years of answering the call
Power of People Leadership Institute celebrates 20 years of community impact, having reached more than 7,000 girls, 1,500 boys and 6,000 formerly incarcerated community members through Girls in Action, Boys of Hope and the RePlanting Program.
Posted inBusiness
Why people are opting out of hustle culture, choosing lifestyle over work
Hustle culture and Black burnout explored by two therapists who say opting out is not failure but a necessary corrective to a system built on extraction and overwork.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office steps into the light
Missing Murdered Black Women Girls Minnesota Day on the Hill 2026 brings impacted families to the State Capitol as Amarie Alowonle’s mother speaks out for justice.
Posted inLocal & State
Rest in Power: Minnesota Loses a True Warrior in Yusef Mgeni
Yusef Mgeni obituary honors the Black Minnesota historian, community organizer and St. Paul NAACP leader whose generational legacy will echo for decades to come.
Posted inLocal & State
Tenant union wins more than $49,500 in court fines from building landlord
Brentwood Tenants Union wins more than $49,500 in Hennepin County court fines from Quadrel Realty in one of the largest tenant union victories in Housing Court history.
Posted inLocal & State
Black Man Allegedly Denied Entry at Cities Church; Activists Raise Pattern of Discrimination at Press Conference
Cities Church allegedly denied a Black man entry to worship in St. Paul as civil rights activists allege discrimination and retaliation tied to the Righteous 39 protest arrests.
Posted inLocal & State
Woman Arrested Outside St. Paul Church on Easter Sunday Has Charges Dismissed
Emily Phillips Cities Church arrest charges were dismissed by a Ramsey County judge after she spent Easter Sunday in jail for protesting outside the St. Paul congregation.
Posted inLocal & State
Rondo CLT plans community-centered future for former St. Paul Sears
Rondo Community Land Trust acquires the former Sears site in St. Paul in its largest deal to date, a $10.8 million acquisition of 17 acres vacant since 2019.
Posted inLocal & State
2026 Twin Cities CARES Barbershop Final Four Men’s Wellness and Mentor Recruitment Kick-Off
Twin Cities CARES mentor recruitment barbershop event gathered more than 40 Black men at Urban Touch Barbershop in South Minneapolis for a wellness and mentorship kickoff.
Posted inLocal & State
Food deserts persist, but local organizations are fighting back
Food deserts in the Twin Cities affect nearly 900,000 Minnesotans. Here is how community organizations are working to restore grocery access in underserved neighborhoods.
Posted inLocal & State
Next generation leaders: Young women reshaping politics, art, and activism in Minnesota
Young women leaders in Minnesota politics and activism are passing legislation, mobilizing voters and building movements from high school hallways to the State Capitol.