EDUCATION
Minnesota pioneered the movement for charter schools 30 years ago. Since then, one in every three statewide has closed.
ECONOMY
We asked the Minneapolis City Council candidates for Ward 9 what they would do about police reform, rebuilding East Lake Street, homelessness, and rent control.
Jason Chavez, Mickey Moore, and Haji Yussuf spoke to Sahan Journal about their policy ideas, their personal experiences—and why they deserve your vote.
CHAUVIN TRIAL
Immigrants and refugees are key to the Minneapolis economy. Here’s the data to prove it.
Some are skilled workers. Some hold essential jobs. Some are entrepreneurs. All of them are consumers.
BECOME A SAHAN SUSTAINER NOW
We rely on reader support, and your donation to Sahan Journal will help us shine a light on immigrants and people of color in Minnesota. Join over a thousand supporters now and become a Sahan Sustainer with your monthly donation. Thank you.
COVID-19 VACCINE PROJECT
Want to know what to expect when you get the COVID-19 vaccine? Sahan Journal’s COVID-19 vaccine video series answers your questions, in Spanish, Somali, Hmong, and English.
Vaccine safety, side effects, medical myths, and facts: In the second installment of our video series, we’re making COVID-19 vaccine information more accessible for people in Minnesota’s immigrant communities.
education
Cedar Riverside Community School is closing. The first big step in replacing it is understanding why it failed. Here’s what we found over a year of reporting.
What you need to know about this week’s sentencing of Derek Chauvin.
More than a year after he pinned George Floyd to the pavement, knelt on his neck and deprived him of the ability to breathe, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced Friday for Floyd’s murder.
Sahan Journal is hiring a managing director of development and operations to join its staff.
Help Sahan Journal change narratives, strengthen civic engagement, and make a difference!
REMEMBERING MINNESOTANS LOST TO COVID-19
Roseville father remembered for his generosity, ability to light up a party.
Raul Castañeda and his partner got COVID-19 at the same time, but that didn’t stop him from waiting on her. Castañeda died in April on his way to the hospital.
climate
Faulty appliances, unresponsive maintenance, patchy security: Immigrant residents decry conditions at nonprofit-run Minneapolis apartment complex. ‘A dog gets treated better,’ one renter says.
A small-scale event in Owatonna finds success among the vaccine-hesitant.
‘Our stories, our challenges and the wisdom in our community’: Book fair will highlight diversity of Somali voices.
In Ward 5, DFL caucuses become a referendum on defunding Minneapolis police
Canvassers say the vast majority of residents support major changes to law enforcement. Results of the caucuses suggest it might not be so clear cut.
Tenants help plan a new greenspace near Riverside Plaza.
Rain gardens, a parklet, and plenty of shrubs and plants are in store for an area adjacent to the nearly 50-year-old complex, which is home to many Somali families.
After a tumultuous year, Minneapolis DFL voters to judge mayor’s tenure.
Seven mayoral candidates, including incumbent Jacob Frey, are vying for this week’s DFL endorsement
LATEST NEWS
Impossible until you’re in a life or death situation: How the Minnesota-based Chance Foundation helped fight the pandemic in India.
Nonprofit rushed to create a helpline, helped find oxygen concentrators, developed home care kits, and even funded a hospital. As this COVID-19 wave subsidies, it’s starting to think about the next one.
‘We were able to achieve what we thought was impossible’: In a senior year like no other, these graduates found a way to thrive
2021 graduates of color from Minnesota’s colleges and high schools faced the loss of loved ones, racism, and isolation. Now they’re looking forward to a bright future.
HD Laundry, in south Minneapolis, was looted and burned last summer. This year it’s reopening with a new cleaning system that will use less energy and save money.
Immigrant-owned businesses can apply for rebates from Minnesota energy companies. Expanded energy-efficiency programs are helping them build back greener.
MN BCA: Not releasing names of undercover officers in Smith killing.
State investigators said last week that Winston Smith shot from inside his vehicle, and that Hennepin and Ramsey County deputies fired their guns. It’s not clear who fired first.
Omar Fateh: Negotiations on police accountability should take place in the public eye.
The closed-door budget process, the state Senator from Minneapolis says, leaves activists in the dark about “whether the legislation they’ve fought for will be horse-traded for something else.”
Rahel Nardos: For a US citizen who is also an immigrant, seeking out the silver lining between a rock and a hard place.
Immigrants carry the burdens of both their old and new worlds. But when things are going badly in one place, they often can find comfort in the small joys of their other culture.
The calendar says June; the weather says August. Minnesota’s record heat wave a sign of what’s to come.
The run of 90-degree days has driven people in the Twin Cities to emergency rooms.
Theater Mu’s Lily Tung Crystal: The more people hear Asian Americans’ stories, the more they will treat us as the true Americans we really are.
Artistic director on working with other BIPOC groups, community elders, Theater Mu artists and staff, and on her own artistic path
Too hot for school: Minneapolis and St. Paul close school buildings during June heat wave
Teachers and students reported building temps in the high 90s. COVID-19 restrictions meant stuffy masks and limited water fountains. Climate change seems likely to cause more problems for Minnesota schools without working air conditioning.
Hmong hip hop finds a home at new Twin Cities breakdance school
As a teenager, Lue Thao bounced from friends’ basements to rec centers in search of a place to practice and perform. With his new school, Cypher Side, Thao has created a place to teach the next generation of students.
After a grueling year in the ICU and at George Floyd Square, an unexpected friendship.
Nurse Jeanette Rupert says for the first time in these long, grueling months of the pandemic, things seem to be slowing down a bit.
Minneapolis clears George Floyd Square at 4:00 a.m., led by neighborhood security contractors. Activists describe ‘desecration’ of ‘people’s pain, people’s hope.’
After months of conflict between the city and local organizers, public work crews removed memorials to George Floyd, flanked by members of Agape Movement.
With its virtual caucus already under way, Minneapolis DFL faces charges that the process is so discriminatory it must be scrapped.
Three party leaders say the endorsement process for city offices has disenfranchised some elderly voters, people of color, immigrants, and those with disabilities. Party officials reply that participation is higher than ever.
MORE STORIES
Out of the ashes of the George Floyd protests, an Ethiopian restaurant is reborn in a new neighborhood
After Bolé burned down on University Avenue in St. Paul, community support helped Rekik Abineh and Solomon Hailie relaunch in a bigger space with a broader customer base.
Identifying environmental problems in Minneapolis green zones is pretty easy. Doing something about them is another matter.
The city says it wants to improve areas where people of color live with high levels of pollution, health problems, and poverty. But the initiative lacks enforcement power.
Promoting a reform agenda at the Department of Corrections? Safia Khan is trying to make it happen.
‘I think I’m one of the very few people of color in these positions’: Serving as a policy director at a state agency has given Khan, a longtime nonprofit leader, the opportunity to advocate for change.
Inside Sahan Journal: When a charter school closed in Cedar Riverside, we realized we had a lot to learn about getting the news to immigrant parents.
Last week, we collaborated with Somali TV Minnesota for our first live event. The experience made us reflect on what it means to really engage the communities we serve, and what we can learn from community media.
Friendship, Health, Community: Twin Cities Latino Cyclists on a Roll.
Mario Hernandez started biking to get outdoors and boost his health. When he saw the beauty of Minnesota, he wanted others to be able to enjoy it as well, especially recently arrived Latinos to the state who might not have had the chance to explore.
Fraud allegations disrupt DFL endorsement convention for Minneapolis City Council seat
Yusra Arab, a Ward 2 candidate, alleges an opponent, Tom Anderson, targeted East African delegates with deceptive phone calls and emails about their registration. The Anderson campaign cites irregularities and recorded calls with unwitting delegates.
Real estate frenzy in Minnesota poses extra barriers to Muslim homebuyers: Finding no-interest mortgages and down-payment assistance programs.
Islamic loans can be hard to understand and even harder to access. We created this explainer on how Islamic loans work, who offers them in Minnesota, and which real estate agents are familiar with the process.
‘I’m just bracing for the next George Floyd’: Minnesotans reflect on continuing racial injustice, one year after Floyd’s killing.
Minnesota still experiences some of the nation’s worst racial disparities in unemployment, graduation rates, and homeownership. Police reform remains undone.
Minnesota’s new ECO Act will help ease the burdens of energy costs on low-income families, including many people of color
A rare bipartisan bill should help lower emissions while offering households rebates to update old appliances and furnaces.
