Community Sketchbook focuses on the economic and social challenges facing communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, and how people are trying to address them.
Community Sketchbook articles may be republished or distributed, in print or online, with credit to MinnPost and the foundation.
The workweek started Monday with the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police outside of Cup Foods on 38th and Chicago and ended Friday with Lake Street in flames and an ongoing vigil outside Cup.
The sidewalk outside Mount Olivet is filled with chalked messages of support. Across the street, the marquee of the F45 fitness club reads on one side, “Distance Is Temporary Community Is Forever,” and “Thank You MT Olivet Staff You Are Heroes” on the other.
“We’re trying to go out and say, ‘I see that you have a need, and I’m going to jump ahead and give you a solution to this need,’” said Emily Fulton-Foley, executive director.
An online map is tracking Little Free Libraries whose owners are stocking their kiosks with food, toys, puzzles, household items, and masks.
MinnPost talked to people on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul on Monday — practicing social distancing of 6 feet apart all the while — about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their lives.
“We wanted to start a place that was accessible to everybody, regardless of age, income, physical ability, or skill level,” said co-founder Ellie Fregni. “We wanted to eliminate the barriers to participating in a music program.”
A group of about 100 poets, artists, and writers that make up Mehfil-ae-Minneapolis took to a stage in Chaska to “promote and advance the rich Indian and Pakistani traditions of kavi sammelans and mushairas (poems).
Kpop is known for its hyper-optimistic outlook, rigorous dance choreography and infectious beats. Its stars are hardly household names. But to a growing group of Kpop lovers in Minnesota, the music, videos and dances provide big fun and connection to community.
“Craft beer is a really easy way to bring people together and share culture and explain, ‘This is who I am,’” said owner Sergio Manancero. “‘This is our culture and this is what we do.’”
The 2,700-square-foot exhibit employs maps, rare artifacts, interactive screens, multimedia pieces, and historic and contemporary photographs to tell first-person stories of the history of Minnesota’s first people.
To celebrate the 550th birthday of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the Sikh Coalition of Minnesota held an open house Sunday at the Sikh Society of Minnesota Gurdwara in Bloomington.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community hosted a first-ever Native American history, language, gaming, and culture day at the newly opened center.
For three hours at CLUES, a few hundred people expressed, in a burst of artful ways, their love for their Latinx community and gone-not-gone loved ones, and about the thin lines between this world and the afterworld.
“SEEN” is presented by the criminal justice reform/storytelling project We Are All Criminals in collaboration with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundations’ Facing Race Awards have been acknowledging anti-racism activists in Minnesota since 2007.
In a meeting room at the Danish American Center, members of the Minnesota Youth Climate Strike huddled up to change the world.
KMOJ connects in a way that only community radio can, providing as it does a listening experience wherein the deejays speak directly to you, the listener, complete with the freedom to voice their opinions about life and the news of the day.
Exactly how much tribal members could receive is still undecided. The final amount and other policy specifics will need to be solidified before the resolution goes into effect on Oct. 1.
IndiaFest in words and photos.
An independent association with no affiliation to Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, the organization teaches traditional style scouting and emphasizes community service.
