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?
racial justice
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.
Posted inMSR In the News
Perry Talks 2026 Brought Together Powerful Voices at George Floyd Square
The 2026 Perry Talks symposium brought together Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, MSR CEO Tracey Williams-Dillard and other distinguished voices near George Floyd Square for a timely conversation on racial justice and First Amendment rights during the Rise & Remember Festival.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis launches dedicated unit to investigate non-fatal shootings
Minneapolis has launched the Firearm Assault Shoot Team, a dedicated non-fatal shooting investigative unit backed by $1.7 million in city funding, designed to treat surviving shooting victims with the same investigative urgency as homicides.
Posted inEvents
Perry Talks Returns for Rise & Remember Festival With a Powerful Lineup and an Urgent Message
The 2026 Perry Talks symposium takes place May 25 during the Rise & Remember Festival at George Floyd Square, featuring a keynote from Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and a panel including MSR CEO Tracey Williams-Dillard on racial justice and First Amendment rights.
Posted inLocal & State
Bill targets cash bail’s racial disparity
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.
Posted inFirst Educator
Sustaining the future through community care
Community care and sustainability are deeply connected, and community development expert Felix Larbi Appiah explains how First Educators can teach children to build a more just and resilient future together.
Posted inEvents
Rise & Remember Festival Returns May 23-25 to Honor George Floyd’s Legacy
Rise and Remember Festival 2026 returns to George Floyd Square in Minneapolis May 23 to 25 for its sixth annual gathering honoring George Floyd’s legacy with education, healing and community empowerment.
Posted inOpinion
Oppressive policing, like slave patrols, protect a system that must fall
The origins of policing in the United States trace back to slave patrols, revealing a system designed to enforce racial and economic control.
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesotans resisting injustice are today’s freedom fighters
Minnesota freedom fighters are organizing through protests, mutual aid and advocacy as ICE escalation and racial injustice impact communities statewide.
Posted inOpinion
This Is the America Black People Have Always Known
The killing of Renee Nicole Good has shocked the nation, but for Black Americans, it confirms a reality shaped by centuries of racialized state violence and impunity.
Posted inSpecial Edition - Echoes of Unity
The Minneapolis NAACP’s continued fight for justice
In the Echoes of Unity Special Edition, the Minneapolis NAACP highlights how unity, advocacy, and community organizing continue to drive civil rights work in the city.
Posted inLocal & State
Golden plaque honors Ron Edwards for decades of civil rights work
Ron Edwards was honored with a memorial plaque at Minneapolis Fire Station 1, recognizing his decades of civil rights advocacy and work to diversify the Minneapolis Fire Department.
Posted inNational
Tulsa Race Massacre survivor Viola Ford Fletcher can finally rest
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at 111. As a child she watched Black Wall Street burn, survived the terror that destroyed her community, and spent the next century demanding that the nation confront the truth. Her testimony before Congress helped push the Justice Department to publicly acknowledge the massacre as a coordinated attack that killed hundreds of Black residents. Fletcher’s legacy lives on in her courage, her memoir, and her unwavering call for justice.
Posted inNews
Making America white again
“White people are trapped in a history they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.” — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids are not a new invention of law and order. They are the evolution of slave patrols — […]
Posted inLocal & State
National boycott brings Target ‘to its knees’
Days before the holiday shopping rush, civil rights leaders gathered in Minneapolis urging Minnesotans to continue the Target boycott. They argue the retailer rolled back its DEI commitments, harmed Black and immigrant communities, and is now relying on steep price cuts to recover from months of declining sales. Organizers say the boycott will continue until Target recommits to its racial equity promises made after George Floyd’s murder.
Posted inLocal & State
Mpls street renamed Lena Smith Blvd. corrects a historic wrong
A Minneapolis street has been renamed Lena Smith Boulevard to honor Minnesota’s first Black female attorney and correct the legacy of segregation tied to its former namesake. Community members led the five-year effort to reclaim the space and uplift a civil rights icon.
Posted inLocal & State
Families say MPD fails to protect women of color
Under gray skies on the afternoon of Oct. 30, relatives of two women, one Black, one Indigenous, gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center accusing Minneapolis police and city officials of failing to protect women of color from domestic violence. The families came seeking justice for Mariah Samuels, a 30-year-old African American mother who was […]
Posted inEvents
Brandon Blackwood and Tricia Hersey headline “The Collective Sum,” a first-of-its-kind equity gathering in Minneapolis
The Collective Sum will bring together 400 changemakers in Minneapolis Nov. 18–20 for a three-day multicultural convening centered on Black joy, creativity, and movement building. Presented by the Black Collective Foundation MN, the event features nationally recognized leaders Brandon Blackwood and Tricia Hersey. Workshops will focus on justice, collaboration, wellness, and community power.
Posted inOpinion
We still have power until we give it away
Thirty years after the Million Man March, the fight for democracy and self-determination continues. The No King’s Movement revives that spirit of collective power — a reminder that unity remains our greatest defense against tyranny.