Minneapolis, MN
Soul of the Southside Festival spotlights Juneteenth celebrations in Minneapolis – Mshale
In celebration of Juneteenth, thousands gathered on Minnehaha Avenue and Lake Street for the Soul of the Southside Festival. The goal of the festival was to create space centered around Blackness, kinship, and community, according to the Black-owned creative hub, The Legacy Building. The event brought south Minneapolis into the limelight by exhibiting its Black creativity, entrepreneurship, togetherness, and persistence.
The festival was a collaboration between various businesses based in south Minneapolis. Hook and Ladder Theater, Moon Palace Books, Arbeiter Brewing and the historic Coliseum building hosted events throughout the day, boasting a bit of everything from live music and a film screening to an art exhibition and children’s face painting. The event also spotlighted radio stations KRSM and KFAI, who both highlighted classics through local deejays.
Juneteenth is an annual holiday recognizing the end of slavery in the United States. Although President Abraham Lincoln made the Jan. 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, which ended centuries of enslavement of Black people in the Confederate southern states, it wasn’t until two years later, on June 19, 1965, that the last enslaved people were freed. Juneteenth marks the day Major Gen. Gordan Granger marched into Galveston, Texas, with 2,000 soldiers and announced that all slaves were free through General Order No. 3.
The following year, a group of formerly enslaved people celebrated the decree on the first anniversary. Since then, Juneteenth has gained more significance. In 2021, it became a federally-recognized holiday.
The celebrations included the official reopening of the Coliseum, the iconic building on Lake Street, which was damaged by fire during the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery had an expansive display on the 1st floor of the building, recalling the struggle for Black liberation in Minnesota from the 19th century up until the 1960s. On the 2nd Floor, attendees were encouraged to view their bodies and cultural knowledge as a tool to dismantle systemic racism through various events like a drum circle and a body reclamation session.
“The first thing that people who want to colonize you gotta do is control your food source,” said Chef Lachelle Cunningham, who led a class about ancestral food waves. “If we want to be free, then we have to have control over our food, so that has to do with where our food comes from, knowing that, having some control over that, growing our food [and] sourcing it. A lot of our culture is in our food and how we do things, and so if we lose connection to that culture, a lot of times we lose connection to our food and the importance of that and what is good for our bodies.”
A section of the 1st floor paid homage to victims of police brutality, featuring spray painted portraits of Floyd and Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old shot and killed by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio.
“Nobody can ever shut us down,” said LaToya White, a vendor and the owner of Angels Delightful Creations. “We [are] ten toes down. We’re not going to let one thing impact us and let anyone take from us because we’ve been taking from our entire lives, our ancestors and everything. So this is time for us to rise up. Having it at this location [lets] them know that we are here and we’re here to stay.”
A block away from the Coliseum, food trucks lined the barricaded stretch of Minnehaha Avenue. Several lines of over 50 people waited for samosas, tacos and smoked meats. As old friends hugged and convened along the bustling road, jazzy melodies played through a street performer’s saxophone.
The Hook and Ladder, in partnership with Black Music America, had live performances throughout the day. A younger crowd filled the outdoor Black Music America stage space to hear performances from Twin Cities-based artists like sibling band NUNNABOVE. Audience members could head inside the lushly decorated building to get drinks from the bar or check out the Legacy Stage to see other acts.
For a quieter and more serene environment, attendees could head to Moon Palace Books, an independent bookstore that held storytelling for children earlier in the day and later featured a film screening of “One Million Experiments”, which explores the possibility of a safe society without police or a prison system. In the bookstore parking lot, Black-owned business vendors sold pastries, dashikis, tarot decks, plants and more.
Next door, Arbeiter Brewing hosted an all-day beer garden, with an art fair featuring local visual artists — some actively working on pieces through the fair.
“We have to keep the story alive,” said Cunningham. “I think there’s an opportunity to continue to keep the historical story alive, but also for people to continue to tell their stories through these types of events and opportunities and show resilience. I think it’s really about the resilience of our people, from our enslaved ancestors to those who came after the civil rights movement to those who are still fighting in the civil rights movement; it’s connecting those future generations.”
About Kwot Anwey
Kwot Anwey is a reporting intern with Mshale and majors in journalism at Boston University.
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“You will expose yourself to things that most of the public won’t see, except maybe once in their life. But yep, we’re doing it. Fire departments are doing it on a very regular basis,” said Mike Dobesh, president of MNFire, an organization dedicated to keeping firefighters healthy, mentally and physically, and on the job.
“The fire service is recognizing that any of those unexpected events that we go to, yes, we sign up to do it, but at the same time, those unexpected events can cause trauma; that trauma can lead to PTSD,” Dobesh said.
However, paying for all those firefighters on mandatory PTSD leave is putting the Minneapolis Fire Department in the red. It’s all the overtime needed to fill in for the firefighters on leave.
“From the therapists that I’ve talked to, usually eight to 10 visits can get that firefighter back on the rig,” Dobesh said, which is the goal of the mandatory leave with treatment. “But then it’s going to be something that’s going to have to be managed for the… probably the rest of their career, because it’s not something that’s just going to go away.”
Dobesh says that PTSD was the number one claim MNFire had on its critical illness policy last year.
In 2023, Minnesota lawmakers created the PTSD leave policy in an effort to keep firefighters from applying for permanent duty disability benefits. The policy requires firefighters and other first responders to take up to 32 weeks of paid leave and get treatment first.
“A trauma-informed therapist can meet with a firefighter, desensitize that firefighter, get them back to work,” Dobesh said.
But that policy is costing some fire departments millions. The Minneapolis Fire Department told the city council this week that 7% to 8% of its firefighters are currently out on PTSD leave, and the overtime other firefighters are working to fill in for them has put the department up to $7 million over budget in recent years. It’s projected to go over again this year.
So what are things they can do to maybe prevent some of these problems that they’re having because of PTSD? Speed up access to treatment, according to Dobesh.
“The sooner we can get in and have that firefighter seen, the more likely they’re going to have a very positive outcome and get back on the job,” he said.
Dobesh says if and when a firefighter needs help varies from person to person, but his organization provides five free treatment sessions for any firefighter who’s struggling.
Minnesota firefighters can call MnFIRE’s helpline 24/7 at 888-784-6634 or visit mnfirehealth.org.
MFD Interim Chief Melanie Rucker shared the following statement late Wednesday night:
“The utilization of these leaves is often unavoidable and reflects benefits that support the health and well-being of our fire personnel. We take the health and wellness very seriously, including mental health. Through transparent communication with leadership regarding evolving staffing needs and necessary overtime budget adjustments, we can effectively address the budget overages and return to a sustainable path forward.”
Click here to watch the Minneapolis Budget Committee meeting on May 4.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed a new ordinance that carries a ban on assault weapons but won’t take effect unless there are major changes to state law.
Minneapolis gun ban ordinance signed
What we know:
The Minneapolis City Council approved the ordinance during its meeting last week.
The firearm regulations ordinance includes a ban on assault weapons, ghost guns, binary triggers, and high-capacity magazines. The ordinance also includes safe storage provisions for firearms.
Big picture view:
Many of the provisions in the law won’t go into effect unless there is a change in state law. Currently, Minnesota law prevents municipalities from enacting gun regulations.
Minnesota law only allows cities to bar the discharge of firearms within city limits and adopt regulations that are identical to state laws. Any regulations that go beyond state law are voided, according to state statute.
Local perspective:
Action on the gun ordinance was spurred by last year’s shooting at Annunciation Church and School. Two students were killed while attending morning mass at the church and more than two dozen students and parishioners were hurt in the barrage of gunfire.
Last week, parents of Annunciation students spoke out in support of the ordinance at a public hearing.
Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus threatens lawsuit
The other side:
Last year, St. Paul passed a similar law. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus filed a lawsuit shortly after the ordinance was signed. Arguments were heard last month on the case and a judge has set a trial for next year.
In a statement last week, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said it was evaluating its legal options in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus Chair Bryan Strawser said:
“The City of Minneapolis is attempting to make a political statement with an ordinance it has no legal authority to enact. Minnesota law clearly preempts the entire field of firearms regulation, and local governments cannot simply ignore state statute because they dislike the policy outcome.
“If the City Council moves forward with this unlawful ordinance, we will evaluate every available legal option to challenge it, just as we did in Saint Paul.
“The law is not optional, even for Minneapolis.”
A man was hurt in a shooting in south Minneapolis late Tuesday night, according to police.
A report of shots fired brought officers to the 2600 block of Third Avenue South around 9:50 p.m., the Minneapolis Police Department said. They found evidence of gunfire and began investigating.
Later, a man with survivable gunshot wounds showed up at Hennepin Healthcare.
No one has been arrested.
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