N RTH NEWS May 30, 2019 Serving the neighborhoods of North Minneapolis www.mynorthnews.org SUSTAINING SUCCESS Business owners reflect on INSIDE what it takes to survive and Getting thrive on the Northside ready for the Page 9 2020 census Page 4 McKinley makes a comeback Page 6 Get to know the Northside valedictorians Page 22 2 NORTH NEWS May 30, 2019 NEWS is you're getting attached to sources and in- A copy of Resmaa Menakem's lauded book system, how my own stories impact the way tervening in their lives. You won't catch the My Grandmother's Hands has sat on my I work with others to tell their own, and to ask Letter from next breaking story if you ever stop scrolling bookshelf since I bought it while working how we can create environments of collec- through social media feeds. with the Trauma Troopers. Since the Pollen tive care and resiliency in journalism. event, I've found myself making a nightly the Editor Working with the "Trauma Troopers" last On a different but just as important sub- routine of returning to its pages. It has shown year (our team of youth reporters who spent ject: we are at the end of another school year me, and continues to teach me, that our bod- On May 21, I had the privilege of attending six months discussing trauma and healing teaching our journalism classes at North and ies are the vessels for our entire stories—our one of Pollen's early morning "Work Redux" with their peers) forced me to start examin- Patrick Henry High School. I'd be remiss if I ancestral histories swirled up with our indi- events. The theme was "bodies." A panel of ing how storytelling affects the body. Hearing didn't send out a special congratulations to vidual lifetime of experiences. White suprem- women business owners, activists, and cre- about trauma activated trauma responses in the high school seniors who have contribut- acy lives in our blood; we won't be able to atives discussed their experiences of embod- our reporters who are all survivors. Having ed substantially to North News during their decolonize our stories and our society unless iment, how our culture affects our physical support for them to process and think about high school careers: Myesha Powell, Talina we decolonize our bodies. selves, and how we create accessibility, ac- their own healing was necessary. Hill, Alanna Smith, Eddie Beamon, Pa Nhia ceptance, and healing for our bodies. At the time I was in the throes of my own "Don't forget your nervous system," urged Moua, and Blessing Kasongoma. We are a You might be asking what running a com- personal crisis, and managing this reporting Serita Collette, a yoga instructor, activist better publication and a better community munity newspaper has to do with the body. work amidst my own struggle brought on the and panelist at Pollen's Work Redux event. because you've let your voices be heard and In many ways journalism has taught me to sudden, humbling, and terrifying realization She said she likes to remind her clients of stories be known. Join us in celebrating all of disassociate from my body: to be an "objec- that I had limits. That compartmentalization this. Later on, she urged the crowd to shift the community's graduating seniors (or at tive" omniscient voice, to be a mechanistic isn't always possible, and that trying to do it from thinking about "self-care" to "collec- least all the names that we could get a hold conduit from person to page, and to use an can be physically and spiritually destructive. tive-care," imploring us to recognize that of), listed on Page 21. self-instigated relief (bubble baths, vaca- endless stream of coffee as fuel to go to more I'm learning now that the fact that I was hav- Until next month, events, to write more stories, to go go go and ing this realization fully for the very first time tions, vegetable-based diets and yoga) will Kenzie O'Keefe never stop going. The humanness of journal- after nearly three decades of life was proba- not be enough to make us healthy us if we Editor/Publisher, North News ists—particularly our empathetic softness bly a product of my anxious and productivi- continue living in systemically toxic environ- [email protected] and our need for breaks—is often viewed as ty-focused whiteness. ments. Humbly, I plan to spend the summer 651-245-2647 weakness. You're violating the ethical code thinking more intentionally about my nervous NORTH NEWS 2019 Issue #5 They’re healthy. Circulation: 10,000 in North Minneapolis. INSIDE OUR "O" Delivered free on a monthly basis to FreeChildCheckups.com public places & homes in Near North & Camden. You’re happy. 125 West Broadway Ave. Suite 130, Minneapolis, MN 55411 Phone: 651-245-2647 And it’s free. Website: www.mynorthnews.org Kenzie O’Keefe Editor/Publisher/Advertising Cirien Saadeh David Pierini Staff Reporter Freelance Photographer Emily Ronning Anya Johanna DeNiro Graphic Designer Copy Editor The latest project to lift up Northside voices is a podcast produced out of Redeemer Center for North News is produced in part by our journalism Life: “Due North.” class at North High School, taught in partnership with Recent college graduates, Bex Klafter and Dylan Sam Wilbur. Additional support is provided by The Walker, who are serving at Redeemer through Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota. the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, have launched Story ideas and letters to the editor under 300 words the show as a storytelling platform for influential are always welcome. Unsigned letters will not be run. and inspirational community members to tell their stories. If you want North News on your doorstep NOW, subscribe for $30 per year. “We believe using long form interviews allows Email [email protected] people to have their stories heard. …our big goal is or call 651-245-2647 to sign up. to let people speak for themselves,” said Walker. Next issue delivered: June 27, 2019 Find the first two 30-minute episodes of Due North, featuring artist Joe Davis and community North News is an enterprise of organizer Denetrick Powers, at duenorthpodcast. buzzsprout.com and everywhere podcasts are available, including iTunes and Spotify. The Hennepin County Child and Teen Checkups (C&TC) program is free for children, teens, and young adults 20 and younger who are on Medical Assistance, including young parents. By Kenzie O'Keefe NEWS NORTH NEWS 3 North Minneapolis at a glance Juxtaposition Arts and a New York graffiti crew bring a bold new mural to W Broadway Ave. Juxtaposition Arts, the nonprofit visual art center on Emerson Ave. N and W Broadway Ave. commis- sioned Tats Cru, a group of graffiti artists from New York City, to create a new mural in the community. JXTA gave Tats Cru an idea of what they were look- ing for, and they created a mural to serve as a back- drop for the organization’s soon to be "skate-able art plaza," inspired by the North Minneapolis community. “We talked to them about different inspirations from North Minneapolis and the community: from youth culture to the arts that’s in Minneapolis and used all of that as inspiration for the mural,” said Kristen Murray, Program Director at JXTA. Tats Cru created the mural during a week-long residency at JXTA in late April and early May. A gallery show of their work "Live from New York" is on display in JXTA's 2007 Emerson Ave. N Gallery through June 29. In addition to the mural and skate park, JXTA is also working with the Mississippi Watershed Management Organi- zation (MWMO) to install a rain garden as part of the plaza. The grand opening event for the plaza will be at JXTA on June 15, beginning at 10am. Photo and reporting by Myesha Powell and Plymouth Ave. N last year, is shutting UROC hosts evictions exhibit and down amidst financial ruin. Thor Founder conversation Richard Copeland, who grew up in North Minneapolis, confirmed the Star Tribune's In Hennepin County, nearly half of evic- reporting to North News. "It's been difficult tion filings take place in two North Min- to hold it together and to try to be positive. neapolis zip codes despite containing There is a lot to be thankful for. There are a just 8% of rental units in the city. Na- lot of positive things that have happened be- tionwide, single black mothers face the cause of my efforts in the community. It's a highest rate of evictions. On May 30 from lonely spot where I am. I can't wait for it to 3:30-6:30pm, “The Illusion of Choice: get behind me. I don't know how much one evictions and profit in North Minneapo- person is supposed to take," he said on April lis,” an art exhibit opening and research 29. presentation, will take place at the Uni- versity of Minnesota Urban Research and WBC searching for next leader Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) at Mississippi 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. Led by Dr. Britta- The West Broadway Coalition (WBC) ny Lewis of the Center for Urban and Re- has named former WBC Board member Mushrooms DeVon Nolan as its interim Executive gional Affairs (CURA), and featuring the Weekend markets through October will Director. Nolan, who also worked as a work of community artist Nikki McComb, feature up to five local produce vendors, WBC staff member for several years be- and youth from Juxtaposition Arts, the offering seasonal pairings for your weekly event is intended to “answer the ques- fore leaving the organization and then mushroom selection.