What does it look like to carry your culture with you? When Minneapolis architect and photographer Patricia Mutebi posted a casting call on TikTok in December, she was looking for a way to map how immigrants and diaspora communities in Minnesota keep their heritage close. 

She initially planned to photograph Twin Cities residents in their homes, but Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement crackdown in Minnesota, forced her to reconsider the safety of her subjects. 

“I didn’t think that people would feel comfortable letting a stranger into their home, trying to take pictures of them,” Mutebi said. “From January all through April, I photographed those who were comfortable coming into the downtown [Minneapolis] area.” 

The result is “Threads of Us,” a portrait exhibit featuring 20 Hmong, Thai, Indian, African, Pakistani and Indigenous people who have built a life in the Twin Cities. 

After seeing the exhibit, spend the rest of the weekend at the annual Taste of Minnesota, revisit soul music of the 1990s at the Dakota or watch Saturday’s World Cup matches at a street fair in Minneapolis. 

Finding home in Minnesota

In “Threads of Us,” Mutebi asked each person she photographed the same question: What does home look like after you’ve left it behind?

“Each person I photographed taught me something new about perseverance and resilience,” Mutebi said. “They’ve come into a new place that doesn’t necessarily welcome them openly, but they’re choosing to show up as their authentic self regardless. Nothing could honestly beat that.” 

Mutebi understands the feeling. She was born in Uganda, studied architecture in Kenya, and moved to Minnesota in 2019. 

“I have friends here who have families that know how to cook Kenyan food, and whenever I go visit them, there’s a smell that just hits me, and I’m taken back to a time when I was an undergrad,” she said. “In the first house that I bought, I have this gallery wall that shows the journey I’ve traveled. It has art from Kenya, from Uganda, and pictures of friends and family. That’s the most treasured thing I have.” 

She also draws inspiration from architects like Burkinabé-German designer Diébédo Francis Kéré, whose work centers on Indigenous materials and community-led design across Africa. 

He “didn’t try to bring the Western world with him,” Mutebi said. “He was designing for the culture — where it sat, and using the materials they have to help people understand that we have these resources already.” 

For “Threads of Us,” participants arrived in traditional clothing — from Hmong vests and Ethiopian habesha dresses to Ghanaian kente cloth and Pakistani shalwar kameez. They brought meaningful objects, including wedding garments, family heirlooms, Oromo beadwork, Somali incense burners and Ethiopian coffee ceremony sets. Each item served as a tangible bridge to their families and homelands. 

“I found people who have photographed cultures in the most beautiful way and have captured joy without trying to modernize the culture,” Mutebi said. “I want to photograph people where they’re at and how they move through life without trying to change them one way or another.” 

Threads of Us, now on view at The Residency by Modern Day Me in Minneapolis, is Mutebi’s first exhibit — but she’s already thinking about what comes next. She was recently selected for the cohort of the Little Africa residency program, where she will partner with local African-descent business owners to tell their stories through photography. 

“Unless you’re Indigenous, you came from somewhere,” Mutebi said. “I want people to take the time to think about what it means to them and how they can show up in the places they are now.”

Taste of Minnesota

Spend your Fourth of July weekend at the Taste of Minnesota, where 18 local musicians and more than 100 food vendors will take over downtown Minneapolis for the annual two-day festival. 

The main stage will feature grunge-pop band Gully Boys, hip-hop artist Nur-D, singer-songwriter Dessa, and DJ Sophia Eris. The North Star Stage will spotlight emerging acts, including Frankie Torres, Adam David Bohanan, and Solana and the Sunsets. 

A night of ’90s soul

If music from the 1995 film “Waiting to Exhale” still has a place on your playlist, head to the Dakota this Friday for the Ladies of Soul tribute show. 

Local singers Solorah, Ashley Commodore and Monique Blakey will perform the soundtrack from start to finish, revisiting songs by Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Brandy and Aretha Franklin. 

World Cup watch party 

Catch the knockout rounds between Canada and Morocco and Paraguay and France at the World Cup Street Fair in Minneapolis this Saturday. 

Utepils Brewing will show both games on large indoor and outdoor screens, while the street fair will feature food trucks, art vendors, mini soccer games and DJ sets between kickoffs.

Two years ago on the Fourth of July, an 11-year-old visiting Indianapolis was struck in the back by a bullet fired into the air. Jataevious Ragsdale – who recovered quickly – was visiting family in Indianapolis for the holiday.

Had he been struck differently by the bullet, Ragsdale may not have had the chance to experience Fourth of July again. Falling bullets have killed other children, like 13-year-old Noah Inman in Hammond in 2017 and 4-year-old Marquel Peters in Atlanta in 2010. 

Holidays like Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve often prompt individuals to celebrate by firing their gun in the air, something the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department strongly advises against doing.

“Every bullet that goes up comes down,” Downtown District Commander Shane Foley said. “So if people think that’s not dangerous, they’re wrong.”

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Those who choose to fire their gun into the air can risk causing serious damage, Foley said, and doing so can lead to an arrest and prosecution. Criminal consequences for firing into the air include criminal recklessness, battery, vandalism and even homicide depending on the damage done.

This forecast is outdated and inaccurate. Get the latest forecast here.

CLEVELAND (WJW) — (WJW) — The National Weather Service has extended its EXTREME HEAT WARNING for all of Northeast Ohio.

It will remain in effect until 8 p.m. on Friday, July 3, in Ashland, Ashtabula, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning Medina, Ottawa, Portage, Richland, Sandusky, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne counties; and until 10 p.m. Friday, July 3, in Carroll, Coshocton and Tuscarawas counties.

The heat waves continues! An EXTREME HEAT WARNING will remain in effect through 8 p.m. Friday. Heat indices could top 105 degrees during the hottest time of day on Friday.

Once again, there will not be much relief from the heat and humidity overnight. Tonight lows will be in the mid to upper 70s again. Feeling warmer with the higher humidity. Mostly clear skies.

Friday will be the last sweltering summer day before the heat starts to back off for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. There is the chance of rain and storms Friday evening, around 7pm that could go through the late evening. This may impact some 4th of July celebrations on Friday. Any storm that pops up we’ll have to watch for the potential of gusty winds, heavy downpours and large hail.

This is what the radar could look like by the time some Fireworks celebrations are expected Friday evening. We have a level 2 out of 5 chance of any storm turning severe, meaning that 1 or 2 have the chance.

The upper-level ridge, or heat dome, will start to breakdown on Friday. This means two things. The first is it will go from being very hot and humid to being very warm and humid. The second thing is the chance of rain and threat of storms will return.

The Fourth of July holiday weekend will be far from a washout! There will be more dry time than time with downpours and storms. However, clusters of downpours and storms will move through Northeast Ohio at times. This means some Fourth of July events, backyard BBQs, pool parties, and firework shows could be impacted by rain and storms.

With all the heat and humidity around, any downpours or storms that develop could be strong and produce gusty winds, small hail, torrential rain, and lightning. Here’s the latest 8 Day Forecast:

Keep up with FOX 8 News for the latest weather updates.