Minnesota will receive an additional $59 million in opioid settlement funding from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, but community organizations serving Black Minnesotans say questions remain about whether funds are reaching the communities most impacted.
Black communities
Posted inOpinion
Before the machine decides
AI governance and algorithmic accountability are urgent issues as automated tools shape housing, lending and employment decisions in Black and Brown communities with little oversight.
Posted inLocal & State
Emergency housing fills as more seek shelter
As winter tightens its grip, Minnesota shelters are facing record demand with little room to expand. Providers like People Serving People and Catholic Charities say families are staying longer, funding is shrinking, and many are left without safe options. Advocates warn that without long-term investment in housing and support services, shelters alone cannot stop the crisis from worsening.
Posted inOpinion
Data centers threaten Black communities, how to fight
As corporations race to build massive data centers for AI and cryptocurrency, Black and fenceline communities are disproportionately affected. These centers consume vast energy and water resources while emitting pollution. Boxtown, on the south side of Memphis, is a stark example. Founded by formerly enslaved people, Boxtown has long borne the brunt of industrial pollution, […]
Posted inEducation
Rondo elder urges action on literacy
Rondo community elder Mary K. Boyd has dedicated her life to education and child development, drawing on decades of experience as a teacher, administrator and community advocate. Born and raised in the historic Rondo neighborhood, Boyd built a career shaped by connection, mentorship and a belief that every adult has the power to help children […]
Posted inLocal & State
MPD accused of hiding lethal incompetence
Davis Moturi is alive to tell his story. Allison Lussier, an Indigenous woman, and Mariah Samuels, a Black woman, are not. The pattern is tragically familiar: people of color repeatedly calling 911, warning police about violent neighbors or ex-partners, doing everything authorities ask, only to be met with inaction. Lussier and Samuels were killed this […]
Posted inOpinion
When Trump’s troops come, it won’t be to help Black people
I’ve lived long enough to know that when power feels cornered, it looks for a mirror to break. The Insurrection Act is that mirror, a 19th-century law revived whenever those in charge want to project fear instead of face truth. Written in 1807, the Act allows the president to deploy the military on U.S. soil, […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t let your climate power slip away
A call to action “You have power unless you give it away” are words my grandmother instilled in me as a young boy growing up in the mountains of Appalachia. Her words have been echoing in my head as the seasons turn. Today is the first day of fall, and already the air feels unsettled, […]
Posted inOpinion
AI furthers environmental racism in Black America
Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer borders Boxtown, Memphis, raising alarm over pollution and environmental racism in this historic Black community.
Posted inPolitics
Trump’s massive bill turns America into a police state
President Trump’s sweeping new spending bill slashes Medicaid and the ACA while funneling billions into ICE’s enforcement budget — including the creation of a centralized citizenship registry. Critics call it a dangerous move toward a surveillance state.
Posted inOpinion
Trump again targets Black cities with LA crackdown
Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles without state consent echoes his 2020 crackdown on Black-led protests. With Project 2025 looming, Black communities must remain alert to growing federal overreach. Originally published by NNPA.
Posted inFinance
Open Road Fund offers gifts, not grants
The Open Road Fund offers $50,000 direct gifts to Black descendants of enslaved people in MN, ND & SD — transforming lives and building Black generational wealth.
Posted inLocal & State
Activists protest circumcision, call for bodily autonomy
Activists gathered in Minneapolis to protest circumcision, raising concerns about consent, bodily autonomy, and racial disparities in medical practices.
Posted inNational
Houston Hospice aims to bridge equity gap in end-of-life care for Black communities
Hospice care is often misunderstood and underused, especially in Black communities, but organizations such as Houston Hospice are working to educate the public and healthcare professionals about the benefits of hospice care and provide culturally tailored education to ensure that all communities have access to end-of-life care.
Posted inArts + Culture
Poetry a tool for expression, transformation
National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry that was started in 1996 to give poetry a little extra love and attention, with many Black poets using poetry as a tool for survival and resistance, for transformation, and to carry the pulse of resistance through the ages.
Posted inNational
Michelle Obama: ‘I’m Not Divorcing Barack — I’m Choosing Me’
Michelle Obama has addressed rumors of a split from former President Barack Obama, stating that she was making choices for herself and not for her marriage, and that society often misinterprets women’s efforts to assert themselves.
Supported
Posted inHelp Is Here
Fighting the opioid crisis
HF1379 is a bill that would allow patients to file a voluntary non-opioid directive, which could be a critical step in combating opioid addiction in Minnesota, particularly in Black communities that have been disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis.
Posted inArts + Culture
Award-winning directors bring groundbreaking documentary Acts of Reparation to Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
Minneapolis, MN – The highly anticipated documentary Acts of Reparation, directed by Selina Lewis Davidson and Macky Alston, is set to screen at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF). The film delves into themes of history, race, and family, demonstrating how small acts of truth-telling and reckoning can lead to profound change. Screening […]
Posted inEvents
Community Connections Conference: A Gathering for Change
The Minneapolis Convention Center will host the Community Connections Conference on February 8, 2025, aimed at giving Black communities and other underrepresented voices opportunities to influence policies, build connections, and gain knowledge to advocate for their communities.
Posted inNational
Profiting From Injustice: How the Prison Industrial Complex Exploits Black Communities
The prison industrial complex disproportionately impacts Black communities in Houston, Texas, with Black residents making up 19% of the population but 45% of the incarcerated population, and private prisons profiting from high rates of incarceration.