The Taking Back Pride Coalition held a press conference calling for Twin Cities Pride to drop corporate sponsors including Delta, United Health Group and 3M and remove police presence, marking the coalition’s tenth year organizing around anti-corporate, anti-police Pride demands.
Minneapolis
Posted inObituaries
Remembering Ivorydell Maddox Johnson
Ivorydell Maddox Johnson, beloved wife, mother and grandmother who spent most of her life in Minneapolis and cherished its neighborhoods, celebrations and community, passed away June 13, 2026, at age 77. A Celebration of Life will be held July 2 at Estes Funeral Chapel.
Posted inLocal & State
Construction at George Floyd Square strains businesses, reshapes community landmarks
Construction has begun at 38th and Chicago Avenue, the site of George Floyd’s murder, and businesses and residents are already feeling the impact, with one Black business owner saying the first day left her shop completely inaccessible and questioning whether she will make it to the end of the month.
Posted inLocal & State
Charges dropped: Protester’s federal case ends with $25 fee
Federal charges against Isabel Lopez, an Aztec dancer and poet arrested during a June 2025 protest in south Minneapolis, were reduced to a misdemeanor after four felony counts collapsed, with Judge John Tunheim rejecting probation and ordering only a $25 court fee.
Posted inOpinion
A Federal Rule Change Threatens Minnesota’s Small Businesses. Especially the Ones Our Communities Depend On
R. Lynn Pingol writes that a proposed OMB rule change would strip away the supplier diversity programs, technical assistance and SBA 8(a) pathways that small Black, immigrant and women-owned businesses depend on to access federal contracts, threatening the corridors communities rebuilt after years of crisis.
Posted inDigital Editions
MSR Digital Edition 47 for June 25 – July 1, 2026
The MSR Digital Edition 47 for June 25 – July 1, 2026 is now live. Explore community news, sports, arts, and events. Edition 47, Volume 92.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
A Father, a Son, and a Golf Club: Jamison and Trey Rusthoven on Legacy, Sacrifice, and Chasing a Dream
On Blacklight on Sports, hosts Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald and Charles Hallman welcome father-and-son duo Jamison and Trey Rusthoven, a Twin Cities coaching legend and a 22-year-old professional golfer pursuing his dream on the APGA Tour.
Posted inSports
Back where he belongs: Ve Shawn “Magic” Owens’ road back to the ring
Minneapolis boxer Ve Shawn “Magic” Owens is making his comeback on June 27 at Battle on the Waterfront in St. Paul after an eye injury forced him away from the sport, driven by faith, family and a hunger for a world title that never dimmed.
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 inThe Prep Scene
North graduates return to host free camp
Three North High School alumni now in the NFL, Omar Brown, Bobby Jamison-Travis and Tyler Johnson, returned to Minneapolis on Juneteenth to host a free Sports Performance Camp for local youth, with plans to make it an annual tradition.
Posted inEducation
Black Men Teach celebrates fellows, calls for investment in Black male educators
Black Men Teach gathered educators, fellows and community members at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis for its annual Gold Star Gala, raising funds for scholarships and celebrating the Black male teachers transforming Twin Cities classrooms.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis City Council votes on three measures affecting George Floyd Square
The Minneapolis City Council voted June 11 to deny special assessments for homeowners and businesses near George Floyd Square, reject exclusive development rights for Agape Movement at People’s Way and request a report on the 38th Street THRIVE Plan.
Posted inLocal & State
Rebound Inc. creates pathways for Black youth beyond the justice system
Rebound Inc. is working to help Black youth in the Twin Cities move beyond systems involvement through prevention programs, transitional housing, group homes and youth advocacy, serving young people at every stage of their journey toward stability and independence.
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 inLocal & State
Human Rights Watch Report Accuses Federal Agents of Killings, Racial Profiling During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown
A 180-page Human Rights Watch report calls Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota a manufactured crisis, names nine DHS officials for investigation and documents how federal agents killed two Minneapolis residents, racially profiled thousands and dismantled the oversight apparatus designed to investigate such abuses.
Posted inLocal & State
Miss Juneteenth Minnesota royalty speak to continued power of the pageant
At 54, Zina Alston Fizer was crowned First Lady Juneteenth Minnesota at the third annual Miss Juneteenth Minnesota State Pageant, fulfilling a lifelong dream for a woman who grew up watching beauty pageants and never seeing herself reflected in them.
Posted inTwins/MLB
Four to watch
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.
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 inDigital Editions
MSR Digital Edition 46 for June 18 – June 24, 2026
The MSR Digital Edition 46 for June 18 – June 24, 2026 is now live. Explore community news, sports, arts, and events. Edition 46, Volume 92.
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.