With Simeon Woods Richardson traded to Toronto, the Minnesota Twins now have four Black players on the roster: Josh Bell, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis and Taj Bradley, all four of whom played in last Sunday’s win over St. Louis.
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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 inSports
World Cup joy out of reach for thousands shut out by US border policies
Contributing writer Noah Riccardi reports on how Trump administration travel bans, visa denials and border restrictions are preventing fans from Africa, the Middle East and the Global South from attending the 2026 World Cup in the United States.
Posted inFrom the Publisher
Juneteenth is a day of joy, and a day of reckoning
MSR CEO and Publisher Tracey Williams-Dillard reflects on the meaning of Juneteenth in a political moment that is testing the durability of hard-won freedoms, and reaffirms the Spokesman-Recorder’s commitment to bearing witness to Black life in all of its complexity, grief and glory.
Posted inEvents
Twin Cities Music and Movement Festival Returns August 22 in Saint Paul
The Twin Cities Music and Movement Festival returns Saturday, Aug. 22 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Western Sculpture Garden Park in Saint Paul for a free day of music, dancing, food trucks, steppin, salsa and community.
Posted inAnother View
Cost of college sports
MSR sports columnist Charles Hallman examines the NIL wild west in the first of a two-part series on the cost of college sports, tracing the legal battles that made player compensation possible and the congressional efforts now trying to roll it back.
Posted inOpinion
By the time he is fourteen
Contributing writer De’Vonna Pittman writes about watching the world watch her Black grandsons at a water park and asks the question America rarely does: what happened before the moment we decide to pay attention to Black boys?
Posted inWhat's Hot
MSR What’s Hot This Weekend | June 19–21
MSR’s What’s Hot roundup for June 19-21 features Juneteenth Freedom in Motion, Soul of the Southside on East Lake Street, a free multimedia exhibition and the Twin Cities Jazz Festival all weekend at Mears Park.
Posted inLocal & State
Federal Government Charges 15 People Tied to Minneapolis Anti-Fascist Organizations
The Justice Department charged 15 people allegedly tied to two Minneapolis-based anti-fascist organizations in a 94-page indictment that revealed an extensive federal surveillance operation, quoting verbatim from encrypted Signal chats as U.S. Marshals deployed tear gas outside the St. Paul arraignment.
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 inOpinion
Shame About Being Abused Silenced Me. Now, I’m Speaking Up
Jacqueline Patterson, founder of The Chisholm Legacy Project, shares her personal experience as a survivor of intimate partner violence and calls on Black women to break the silence and on communities to say something when they sense something is wrong.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota Makes History: Two Incarcerated Students Become First in the Nation to Graduate from ABA-Accredited Law School
Maureen Onyelobi and Jeffery Young made history on June 8 at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, becoming the first incarcerated people in the United States to earn juris doctor degrees from an ABA-accredited law school while incarcerated.
Posted inBusiness
Orange Barrels, Empty Tables: East 7th Street Businesses Fight to Survive MnDOT Construction
A seven-month MnDOT reconstruction project on East Seventh Street in St. Paul is threatening the survival of dozens of immigrant- and minority-owned businesses on the East Side corridor, with $5,000 grants covering just one month of a seven-month impact.
Posted inBusiness
After the Ruling: How Trump’s Struck-Down Tariffs Impact Black-Owned Businesses
A Supreme Court ruling struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, triggering an estimated $130 to $175 billion in potential refunds, while Black-owned businesses absorbed disproportionate damage with 52% reporting a decline in sales.
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.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
HCMC secures $205 million in funding in a last-minute legislative bill
Governor Walz signed a health and human services bill securing $205 million in stabilization funding for Hennepin Healthcare Medical Center, which had been at risk of closure after eight years of operational losses, with 75% of its patients uninsured or on public insurance.
Posted inLynx/WNBA
McCowan: Still in the league
Teaira McCowan was preparing for her first extended break from basketball when Cheryl Reeve called. Five minutes later she was a Minnesota Lynx, signing a one-year deal as one of the league’s most accomplished post players enters her eighth WNBA season.
Posted inLocal & State
IWMF Honors Minneapolis Journalist Georgia Fort with Courage in Journalism Award
Minneapolis independent journalist Georgia Fort, founder of BLCK Press and facing federal felony charges for her coverage of a St. Paul protest, has been named a 2026 Courage in Journalism Award recipient by the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Posted inNews
Stolen Lives: The Karmelo Anthony case and the families left behind
MSR editor Jasmine McBride connects the 35-year sentence handed to Karmelo Anthony in Texas, the continued trauma of Diamond Reynolds a decade after Philando Castile’s murder and the fight for the Marvina Haynes Act at the Minnesota Capitol, tracing a through line of racial injustice that demands repair.