The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast is scheduled for Jan. 20 in Minneapolis with a keynote address by journalist and Minnesotan Michele Norris.
The 35th annual breakfast, which host General Mills says is one of the largest in the country, will be held from 8-9:30 a.m. (doors open at 7 a.m., with pre-event programming starting at 7:30 a.m.) at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It’s held every year in support of the United Negro College Fund.
“Every year, the Breakfast brings together nearly 2,500 people – community leaders, elected officials, teachers and students, nonprofit members, corporate employees, and more – all who have a passion and commitment to bringing people together and serving others,” General Mills Communications Manager Mollie Wulff said. “Year after year, we hear that the breakfast is like ‘a big family reunion.’”
The theme of the new year’s event is “One People,” inspired by a message from Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
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“The Breakfast is an opportunity for the local community to honor Dr. King and live out his message of unity and serving others,” Wulff said.
Award-winning journalist, radio host and author Michele Norris will speak on topics of race, culture and communication in America. The program will be moderated by Blue Cross Endowed Professor of Health and Racial Equity Founding Director, Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, Dr. Rachel Hardeman.
A former NPR journalist, Norris was born in Minneapolis and “encouraged by her parents to read the newspaper and watch the evening news” growing up, according to thehistorymakers.org. She attended Washburn High School and eventually majored in journalism and mass communications at the University of Minnesota.
Norris reported for multiple media outlets including the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and L.A Times. Because of her work, she has won numerous awards including the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement Award, the National Association of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence Award, Ebony magazine’s Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications Award and was named one of Essence Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Black Americans.
A current resident of Washington, D.C., Norris is also an MSNBC Senior Contributing Editor; founder of “The Race Card Project,” which asks people globally to share their thoughts and questions about race in six words; host of podcast “Your Mama’s Kitchen“; and author of the New York Times Best Selling book, “Our Hidden Conversations,” which explores uncomfortable conversations surrounding race and identity.
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Sounds of Blackness, a three-time Grammy-winning band that got their start at Macalester College, is scheduled to perform at the event as well. The band’s sound is a blend of jazz, blues, spirituals, rock and roll, hip-hop and soul. Threads Dance Project, with a Choral Reading by VocalEssence Singers of this Age, will also be performing.
Proceeds from the breakfast will go to UNCF Twin Cities, helping under-represented students attend college in honor of King, who graduated from a historically Black college.
“We are grateful for General Mills’ partnership in bringing this cornerstone event to the Twin Cities community every year,” Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF said in the release. “This event helps provide life-changing support for students to help them get to and through college and go after their dreams.”
To purchase tickets and for more event information, visit MLKBreakfast.com.
An ICE agent facing several assault charges in connection with a January shooting involving two Venezuelan people in Minnesota has been arrested in Texas, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said.
Christian Castro was charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
CNN is working to determine whether Castro has an attorney and has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Castro faces those charges in connection with the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man shot in the leg through the front door of a Minneapolis home. The incident took place during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz in the Twin Cities.
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Originally, Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna were facing federal charges after DHS said they had attacked an agent, prompting him to fire a defensive shot.
But the Justice Department dropped the charges in February, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two of its agents, who made false statements about the incident under oath, were placed on administrative leave.
FOX 9’s Erika Mrazik has your Thursday evening and extended forecast. Our temperatures continue to feel more like July than May, and we’ll continue to see plenty of sun.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for the Twin Cities starting Friday.
Air quality alert in Twin Cities
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What we know:
MPCA says that ground-level ozone will be at unhealthy levels in the Twin Cities on Friday. An air quality will be in place from noon to 9 p.m.
An air quality alert in the Twin Cities. Graphic courtesy of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. (Supplied)
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Sunny skies, low humidity and warm temperatures make for favorable conditions pollutants to react with sunlight to make ground-level ozone. MPCA says the ozone will subside as the sun sets.
Who is most affected by poor air quality?
Dig deeper:
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People with asthma or other breathing conditions like COPD, chronic bronchitis and emphysema will be affected by poor quality. They can experience symptoms like difficulty deep breathing, shortness of breath, throat soreness, wheezing, coughing and unusual fatigue.
Additionally, children, teenagers and people of all ages who are doing heavy physical activity outside.
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What you can do:
MPCA recommends taking it easy while outside and limiting physical activity.
To help reduce pollution, use public transit or carpool when possible, fill up your car’s tank at dawn or dusk and avoid backyard fires.
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The Source: A press release from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
After the murder of George Floyd, the Minneapolis Police Department lost hundreds of officers and was a “depleted police department,” a statement from former Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s attorney said.
The chief “made significant progress in rebuilding community trust and pride within the ranks of MPD,” the statement reads.
At the memorial to Alex Pretti, who was killed during Operation Metro Surge, part of the attorney statement hits home. It says the city was constantly on the “precipice of igniting the spark that would set the city on fire again” and it claims O’Hara helped mitigate the violent clashes.
Most people WCCO spoke with around several Minneapolis neighborhoods say O’Hara had their respect.
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“I was watching the Twins game on my phone and the announcement came over and I was like, ‘Whoa, what’s that all about?’” said Marta Knick as she was heading to the Guthrie Theatre.
“I was very sad because we’re more than the sum of our mistakes,” said Minneapolis resident Howard Dotson.
Hours after the announcement, community members were eager to learn more about the one challenged with leading the most scrutinized police department in the country.
“What’s heartbreaking the most is he was in a high-level position of leaderhip and he dropped the ball,” said Michael Wilson, who works at Pimento Jamaican Kitchen.
Some are giving grace more than others.
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“He may have made a mistake but that doesn’t erase his four years of transformational work in the MPD,” Dotson added.
O’Hara joined the department in November 2022, two-and-a-half years after the murder of Floyd.
“You have to reestablish culture. I feel like he did an amazing job at that and was front-facing, which is good,” said Wilson.
That wasn’t the chief’s only challenge. Just within the past year, he responded to the Annunciation Catholic School shooting and Operation Metro Surge.
“I was pleased with the whole way he handled the Metro Surge thing,” said Ruth Lipker on the Stone Arch Bridge.
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In the statement from his attorney, O’Hara says he was “proud to serve Minneapolis and remains grateful to the officers and community partners who did difficult work under extraordinary pressure.”
“Yeah, he was invested in his job and the community. but he had personal investments in that job as well,” said Minneapolis resident Donald Turner.
Now, Minneapolis residents are looking ahead.
“We have change, again, and because we have change, I think we’re in the place to create a positive outlook or negative outlook,” Wilson told WCCO.
“I always have hope for the city. The city’s bigger than any of us and I love living here,” another man added while walking the Stone Arch Bridge.
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In the recent statement from his attorney, there was zero comment on the investigation that occurred. Those WCCO spoke to continued to have questions about that.
