Small businesses recognized by state leaders Black Entrepreneurs Day at the Capitol spotlights needs, opportunities

By MSR News Online

A new era of recognition of the trials and triumphs of Minnesota’s Black small business community began on the morning of Feb. 3 at the State Capitol. The first-ever “Black Entrepreneurs Day” at the Capitol was conceived, convened and presented by business owner, activist, and media personality Sheletta Brundidge.

and powerful elected leaders welcomed the Black entrepreneurs and pledged to give them more access to state resources.

“I want this more than anything. I want Black entrepreneurs, professionals, and Black families to view Minnesota as the very best place to live,” said Gov. Tim Walz. “They want to see a set of concrete steps to alleviate the problems, can make money,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison.

“People want independence and to fulfill critical community needs. What you see when you are in these businesses is a fulfillment of a dream.” said Keyes.

Joining the governor, lieutenant governor, legislative leaders, lawmakers and other state dignitaries at the podium were several owners of small Black businesses.

After the speeches wrapped up, the Black participants met with individual state senators and representatives to provide them with first-hand insight into their needs. After reaching out to every state lawmaker, Brundidge paired legislators with Black entrepreneurs for one-on-one meetings.

This unprecedented event brought owners of some 250 Black small businesses to the halls of state government to spotlight their unique needs.

“Strong Black businesses are the backbone of our community and are good for everybody,” said Brundidge, founder of the SHElettaMakesMeLaugh podcasting platform. “We led with love and love is contagious. It opens doors.”

Gathered in the rotunda, the state’s most prominent to allow the folks to thrive, create the generational wealth we know we need to create.”

“Black Entrepreneurs Day” arrived as Minnesota has sworn in the most diverse legislature in state history. As that legislature debates the best investments for the $17.6 billion state surplus, there were calls to use funds and policies to strengthen small businesses operated by Black entrepreneurs.

“These businesses are not just there so entrepreneurs

Anissa Keyes, whose Arubah Emotional Health employs a staff of 30, took the microphone to demand greater consideration for Black entrepreneurs as decisions and policies are made that will impact them.

“I don’t believe Black business owners need handouts. We need someone to recognize and then adjust their strategic planning and include us so we can get what we need for all of us to be successful,”

“We talked to Democrats and Republicans. How do you create change if you don’t engage with people who might think differently than you do? It was a people thing, not a political thing,” Brundidge said. “They all took the time to listen. That is what good government looks like.”

Brundidge said she was heartened that many allies participated behind the scenes to help contribute to the success of the event, from escorting the Black entrepreneurs through the Capitol to backstopping them so they could attend.

“What people didn’t see was the White people who volun- teered to work at the Blackowned stores operated by solo-prenuers so they didn’t have to close down and lose a day of sales,” she said. “They were calling me and DM-ing me asking, ‘How can I help?’

I didn’t put a call out; it happened organically. That’s Minnesota nice.” agenda centered on strengthening economic opportunities for Black businesses.

Dr. Artika Tyner, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, will be working with Brundidge and other Black business owners to streamline their concerns into a list of proposed policies that dedicated lobbyists can use to obtain access to capital.

“This is not a one-size-fitsall; every business needs something different,” noted Brundidge. “Some need financing and capital, some need infrastructure, some need to know how to lobby for themselves.

Going forward

Now that state lawmakers have heard from the Black small business community, Brundidge says she plans to keep the pressure on to work with lobbyists and policymakers to create an

“They saw us and they heard us. They know we didn’t come to play, to just listen to the governor, clap and go home. We got their attention, and now we got to go to work.” This story was provided in part by SHElettaMakesMeLaugh podcasting. For more info, visit SHElettaMakesMeLaugh.com.

Closings

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Walgreens did not give an official explanation for the store’s closure.

Ita E, who declined to give his full last name, doubted the explanation. Although he said he did not know the real reason behind the closure, he speculated it could have to do with the profit margin.

“I guess they have to do what they have to do,” Ita said. “You would think the city and the store would put in more effort to keep the store here. Because I feel if it was in a different location, it would be little extra effort to keep the store [in the neighborhood].”

Ita said he will now have to go to the Aldi location in Crystal for groceries.

Khalid Mohamed has been shopping at the now-closed Aldi since he moved to Minneapolis six years ago. He described the closing of the store as “tough,” especially following the closure of the Holiday gas sta-

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Continued from page 1 included in the process and that they want to see their voice being heard in the decision that is made when we hire the superintendent,” ElAmin said.

MPS hired EPU Consultants LLC, a firm based in Plymouth, to do community listening sessions with school district stakeholders. Over the past several months, the firm conducted an online survey that got 2,823 respondents and hosted eight tion nearest to him. He estimated the length of his drive to the grocery store increasing from 10 to 30 minutes after the store’s closure.

“It’s the only reason we’re able to buy food for a couple meals at a time because it’s so close,” Mohamed said. “If it were further, we’d have to buy bulk all the time, which is a lot more expensive than what we’re doing right now.” listening sessions where MPS students, staff, parents and community were able to voice their opinions on the superintendent search and the general direction of the school district.

Mohamed also lamented losing access to Aldi’s lower prices, saying it got him through a part of the pandemic when he lost his job. Other shoppers mentioned that the prices at Aldi were generally more affordable than the remaining options.

Mohamed’s mother also gets medications from the Walgreens that’s closing later this month. He said his mother got her prescriptions through GoodRx, which had a deal to offer cheaper medications through Walgreens. Mohamed is unsure where his mother will get her medication now and worries it will be more expensive when they find a new provider.

Kashaya Manson, a St. Cloud resident, shops for her mom, Kim, when she visits her in North Minneapolis.

According to the online survey, the top qualities the community said they wanted in a superintendent candidate was that they be student-centered and have good relationships with students. Among survey respondents, 83 percent said the best strategy to advance academic success was “ensuring all community schools provide access to STEM, music, art, language—and for high school, ethnic studies and

October 2020 levels.

Continued from page 1 a] random act of violence, just because the person decided that they were having a bad day,” said Butler after joining fellow drivers in a meeting of the Metropolitan Council, which runs Metro Transit, to demand they address their concerns about assaults.

Drivers, riders and agency brass are also concerned about riders using drugs while riding the agency’s vehicles. According to the agency’s latest quarterly safety and security update, calls for the agency’s police to address drug use on transit in October 2022 more than doubled from

Montford

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Representatives from the drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, say at least 10 drivers have been hospitalized for fentanyl exposure. “It’s not a comfortable feeling to know that your members are receiving Narcan after they go to the hospital,” said Union President Ryan Timlin.

The agency has also been slow to respond to drivers in imminent need. “There was a time—I will say six, seven years ago—we could call Metro Transit’s [transit control center] and they would have police there in four, five minutes,” said a Metro Transit driver who is based out of the agency’s East Metro garage in St. Paul. “It’s 45 minutes to an hour before you get a cop now,

Kim lives down the street from the shuttered Aldi and shops there every day when Manson is not around.

“I can’t imagine where my family or anybody else will be able to go,” Manson said. “I know a lot of people that walk to the store and don’t have a way to get to any other store.” the way to the other side of [North] Minneapolis for Cub Foods or going all the way to Brooklyn Center. This is the only store that’s in this area,” said Manson.

The Aldi store is located one block from the rapid transit C-Line.

Manson says she may occasionally have to drive all the way from St. Cloud to bring her mother to a store further out to shop for food but was unsure what she would do on the days when she could not make the drive.

“She’s gonna have to go to the corner store, I guess,” Manson said. “A lot of people aren’t gonna have food with [Aldi] closing.”

According to the USDA’s most recent classifications from 2019, the now-closed Aldi is within eight blocks of the nearest land tract that is classified as a food desert. Four different tracts in North Minneapolis and Near North are classified as food deserts. With the closing of Aldi, North Minneapolis neighborhoods that have few food shopping options will have even fewer.

“I hope they [Aldi] take it into consideration that a lot of families will be impacted by the store closing,” Manson said.

“People that don’t have transportation don’t really have a way to get all college-credit courses.”

A total of 63.2 percent of respondents also said MPS should “ensure all curriculum and instructional practices

Senator Tina Smith condemned teachers and staff, as well as reducing barriers for diverse staff to becoming teachers, at 58.6 percent and 54.1 percent respectively. the closure of Aldi. “One fifth of Black households live in a food desert and North Minneapolis has already been dealing with a shortage of grocery stores,” said Sen. Smith. “Food insecurity has significant consequences, ranging from impeding the healthy development of children to an increased risk of chronic illnesses. The closing of this Aldi location is draining a basic need from a community that has already been in need.” decades, then my question will be that now is the time for us to be able to define what we expect and be able to show that we as a board have outlined those priorities, and that we as a board have expectations and goals for the families that we serve,” El-Amin said at a board meeting called to focus in on the district’s priorities. the contract without seeing progress, without seeing what was done for the past few months, the time she was here,” said newly elected District 3 Board Director Fathia Feerayarre. “If we give another year to the current [interim] superintendent, we’re probably missing a lot of great leaders, a lot of great people who can come to our district and make a difference.

The Aldi Twitter account posted a tweet asking for suggestions for new locations. Many people on Twitter replied that the company should open a new store in Minneapolis or keep the current one open. The account did not reply to any tweets about North Minneapolis outside of saying they would keep North Minneapolis “in mind.” That tweet has since been deleted.

Remaining grocery options in North Minneapolis are the Cub Foods on Broadway and several smaller local stores.

Cole Miska welcomes reader responses to cmiska@spokesmanrecorder.com.

It was such a big turnout, they decided to form the association over the course of the next year. Today we have 47 chapters throughout the United States and one in Okinawa, Japan. Our mission is simply to tell the story and preserve the legacy of the original Montford Pointers.

MSR: President Obama awarded the Montford Point Marines with a Congressional Gold Medal in 2012.

What did it take to make that happen?

JG: There’s always been some friendly competition between the Tuskegee Airmen, the Buffalo Soldiers are anti-racist and sustain the cultures, languages and experiences of our students.” Other recommendations included focusing on hiring diverse

El-Amin said one of her priorities for the district was to confront systemic racism. “If it’s the systemic racism that we have seen show up for or until you get to the end of your route. That’s not safe.”

Despite Metro Transit increasing the wages of their officers, they remain 60 fulltime police officers short. They plan to lobby for legislative changes to allow civilian with police from other agencies, as well as social workers, this spring. Back at the hiring event, some applicants were worried about the issues they would have to address while behind the wheel. “It worries me a

El-Amin says Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox has said she will renew her contract if needed and the board requests it. However, not all of the board members are willing to rehire Interim Superintendent Cox.

“I can’t just agree to extend

Others, including Alanwoko, don’t seem too worried. “There’s problems all over the world, all over the country, with every bus company [and] with every subway line,” said Alanwoko. “You just take everything with stride, be more vigilant of your surroundings, and pay attention to everything in detail.

“The companies are doing the best they can to help each and every employee,” Alanwoko said. “The public will be the public.”

“I’m not gonna take that,” Feerayarre said. “I can’t do that because I want to see change now.” came along, I said I’m taking it.” workers to patrol and cite fare evaders. Rep. Brad Tabke, DFLShakopee, plans to introduce a bill to be heard on February 23 to flood the light rail system little bit. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to handle that,” said Corteisha Washington, who is a customer care representative. and Montford Pointers, even though the latter weren’t as well known. After the Tuskegee Airmen received their Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, the president of their association challenged me to do the same for the Montford Marines. With the help of State Senator Anthony Hill and about 50 trips to Congress, I was able to connect with the Congressional Black Caucus and find a sponsor, U.S. Representative, Corrine Brown.

Cole Miska welcomes reader responses to cmiska@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Although the agency continues its hiring spree, they will not restore service to pre-pandemic levels immediately. It can take at least seven months for drivers to make it past training and a probationary period to become fullfledged drivers. They hope to add some service back come summertime.

Our little coalition started to grow and eventually saw our bill receive a super majority vote in both houses. On November 23, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the law awarding all Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal.

MSR: Was there an official ceremony to award the Montford

Point Marines their medals?

JG: On June 27, 2012, 400 living Montford Pointers gathered in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol and were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The very next day, the commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos, hosted a parade where three-star generals placed the Congressional Gold Medal replica on all 400 Mont-

Some just wanted to drive the bus for fun and perhaps indulge in their childhood interests, such as Donald Adderley, who works as a director at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. “I like interacting with big things. When this opportunity

“As we continue this positive momentum, we’re going to be looking towards June to identify some frequency improvements,” said Chief Operating Officer Brian Funk at the hiring event. “And then hopefully, again in August. That’s still all being penciled out right now.” of requests a day but have seen these numbers increase as we continue to get more media coverage. ford Pointers that were in attendance.

H. Jiahong Pan welcomes reader responses to hpan@ spokesman-recorder.com.

It was an emotional and glorious day.

MSR: What progress have you made finding the remaining Marines and families?

JG: Approximately 3,000 medals have been awarded, which still leaves 17,000 Montford Point Marines and their families who deserve to be recognized. I typically process a handful

If your readers know of a Black Marine who served during 1942 through 1949, they are a Montford Pointer. By all means, reach out to us at our website, montfordpointmarines.org. There are less than 400 Montford Pointers still alive and thousands of families out there that deserve this honor. We are determined to make sure every family receives this medal and is recognized for their service and sacrifice.

To learn more about the Montford Point Marines, visit montfordpointmarines.org.

Julie Gordon welcomes reader responses to jgordan@spokesmanrecorder.com.