The Minneapolis City Council will vote next week on a Minneapolis police union contract that includes a pay raise of 21.7%. 

The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis voted in favor of the contract after eight months of negotiations. If approved by the council, the pay increase will take effect over the next three years.

A committee meeting on Tuesday at 5 p.m. will allow for public comments, and the full council will vote on the contract on June 27.

Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that the contract is a “good deal” for residents who count on the local government to improve police staffing. Frey said the contract will make the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) a more competitive employer and provide Chief Brian O’Hara with the necessary managerial control. 

“This was an all-hands-on-deck effort, and I am hopeful that my Council colleagues will support the agreement,” Frey said in the statement. 

If approved, the pay increase would begin with a 5.5% raise in July, a 2.5% raise in January 2025 and a 3.5% raise in July 2025.  

According to a statement from the President of Communities United Against Police Brutality Michelle Gross, an officer who has been working for one year will have a salary of around $92,000 by July 2025, if the contract is approved. 

“While we want police officers to be paid appropriately and commensurate with their work, a starting salary of $92,693 places officer pay far above the 2024 median household income for Minneapolis of $70,099,” Gross said in the statement. 

Gross criticized the pay raise and pointed to the $71 million the city has had to pay in misconduct lawsuits since 2019.

“As a result, the city is facing a $21.6 million budget deficit and sharp increases in property taxes,” Gross said in the statement.

Council Member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) said in a statement to the Minnesota Daily that, if the contract does get approved, the city council will have further conversations about how to fund it. Wonsley said Frey’s plan to defund comprehensive public safety options in favor of a police pay raise with one-time funding has little chance of succeeding. 

Wonsley said she encourages residents to attend these meetings to learn about the contract and share their thoughts about the future of public safety in the city. 

“Public safety programs like hate crime prevention and transit safety must be fully funded to create a safe city for all,” Wonsley said in the statement. “If the contract is approved, Council will have a robust conversation on funding sources that align with city priorities and are distributed in fair and accountable ways.”

The contract also outlines more flexibility with staffing and job assignment for the Minneapolis Police Department, allowing leadership to assign staff to areas with the greatest need rather than by mandated percentages. 

O’Hara said in a statement that approving this contract would send a message to prospective officers that Minneapolis leaders are committed to them. 

“The Minneapolis Police Department is made up of some of the most courageous and selfless men and women you will ever meet,” O’Hara said in the statement. “This agreement rightly recognizes the sacrifices they regularly make on behalf of our residents.” 

The contract will allow for more clerical and investigative work opportunities for nonpolice officers, enabling more officers to spend time policing. The contract will also withhold public data from officers regarding the identity of the person requesting the data.  

The Star Tribune reported the police union proposed a one-year contract in October 2023 that included a pay increase of 13.25%. Rasheda Q. Deloney, director of labor relations, said the contract “isn’t fiscally responsible,” and it was rejected.

A new public artwork at Samatar Crossing in Cedar-Riverside is dedicated to the first Somali-American elected to public office in Minnesota, Hussein Samatar. 

The artwork, called Common Currents, consists of two sections of a sculpture at each end of the Samatar Crossing bike trail. The sculpture, by local artists Ifrah Mansour, Aaron Marx and Randy Walker, depicts wave-like panels, each with a poem from six local poets. 

Minneapolis Public Arts Department Administrator Mary Altman said the public art at Samatar Crossing will become a part of the area’s identity and celebrate the community while also celebrating the late Samatar. 

“One of the things that public art can do is really celebrate community identity,” Altman said. “It can also help make a place a unique and special place, and become part of what that place is known for.”

Samatar immigrated to Minneapolis in 1991, four days after graduating from Somalia’s National University, due to the outbreak of civil war in Somalia. In Minnesota, he received his Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in 2004 and was selected as a Humphrey Institute Policy fellow from 2003-2004. 

Altman said Common Currents took around seven years. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and commissioning several poets for the work, Altman said this particular project had more layers than others.

The poems on the panels, by poets Sun Yung Shin, Sharon M. Day, ShaVunda Brown, Aegor Ray, Ahmed Said Salah, Sixco and Mohamed Shariff, honor themes of Samatar’s legacy such as immigration, community and connecting cultures.

Altman said the public art advisory panel looks at all public art projects and selects them based on importance to the community. During the planning process for Common Currents, outreach to the Minneapolis Somali community was critical for feedback and Samatar’s legacy, Altman added.

“One of the things that made it so attractive to the public art advisory panel as a potential project was the opportunity to honor Samitar and also the opportunity to create an artwork that celebrated the history of immigration into Minneapolis,” Altman said.

Altman said former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak pushed the vision of the Samatar Crossing bike trail while ensuring Samatar’s name stayed in the community. 

Rybak appointed Samatar to the Minneapolis Public Library Board in 2006, putting him into public office for the first time. 

Samatar ran unopposed for the same position in 2010, but the election was tense for many reasons, including how there would be no African American representation on the board without him. Besides his work on the Library Board, Samatar founded the African Development Center in 2004 to help immigrants start local businesses. 

Samatar died in August 2013 at the age of 45 due to complications from leukemia. According to an interview with MinnPost, Samatar disagreed with calling himself a Somali American. To him, he was just an American. 

“I always felt that no matter where we came from, if we are to be serious to be part of Minnesota and of the United States and we took the allegiance to be naturalized or to be born to an immigrant family, we are Americans,” Samatar said “So I always tell you if at all possible to avoid the hyphenate. I consider myself to be an American.”

As Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s husband is battling a lawsuit over alleged financial fraud, her primary opponent Don Samuels is calling for her to address his business dealings. 

The complaint against Will Hailer and Omar’s husband Tim Mynett, the business partners of winery eStCru, states the pair “fraudulently misrepresented” their company and its potential return on investment.

Hailer said in an email response to the Minnesota Daily that he and Mynett plan to work to resolve the “simple contract dispute” with investor Naeem Mohd. Hailer and Mynett deny defrauding Mohd in response to the complaint.

Hailer and Mynett promised Mohd they would triple his $300,000 investment within 18 months, with an additional 10% monthly interest if not paid on time, according to reports from the Minnesota Reformer. The lawsuit states Mohd only received the original $300,000 back a month late, which caused him to sue the business partners last fall for $780,000.

Samuels, who is challenging Omar for her congressional seat, held a press conference on June 6 addressing Mynett’s business dealings impacting Omar’s congressional campaign. Samuels said with public trust in politicians declining, it is important for Omar to answer the public’s concerns and questions. 

“I think what she needs to do is to answer the questions,” Samuels said. “Part of my having a press conference is to encourage her to do that.”

Since the beginning of 2019, Omar’s campaign has paid Mynett’s political consultancy around $3 million before cutting all ties with the firm after the 2020 election. Soon after, Hailer and Mynett founded the California winery eStCru. 

“It’s like writing a check and then signing the back,” Samuels said. “I’ve never heard of that level of self-dealing or family dealing.”

Hailer and Mynett’s other companies, eSt Ventures, Badlands Fund GP and Badlands Ventures, are also being sued by three South Dakotan marijuana companies for over $1.2 million in owed payments.

“605 Cannabis and Dakota Natural Growers are great companies,” Hailer said in an email statement. “We continue to work to amicably resolve the contract dispute between the parties.”

Samuels said politicians must take accountability for their actions before calling for accountability and transparency elsewhere. 

Jacklyn Rogers, a spokesperson for Omar, said in a statement to the Daily that Omar is not involved in any of her husband’s business ventures. Rogers added Omar’s campaign is focused on the issues that matter most to the Fifth District, not on a smear campaign. 

“This is clearly a politically motivated attack and frankly it reeks of desperation from a campaign that is struggling to gain momentum,” Rogers said in the statement. “Since Rep. Omar secured the DFL endorsement on the first ballot our campaign continues to see a groundswell of support and enthusiasm.”

Samuels said Omar calling his conference a political attack is a strategy he has seen before and does not plan to let it bother him. 

“Her accusations are defensive,” Samuels said. “They’re a strategy. I’ve never taken them seriously from the very beginning. And I won’t take them seriously. I’m going forward.”

Beginning as just a picnic in Loring Park, Twin Cities Pride is now a multi-day festival celebrating more than 50 years in Minneapolis.

Last year’s Minneapolis Pride Festival stretched from June 28 to 30 and totaled around 200,000 people in attendance, slightly more than the 50 people who showed up for the original 1972 event. 

The first Minneapolis Gay Pride march took place to celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York. With 25 people marching down Nicollet Mall and 25 waiting in Loring Park to bail them out, a tradition began. 

Activist group Target City Coalition, aiming to combat actions from antigay actress Anita Bryant, protected the Pride festival in the 1970s. Bryant targeted St. Paul to try to repeal an early gay rights ordinance. 

Executive Director of the Twin Cities Pride Festival Andi Otto said though the pride festival is popular today, the support was not always there. 

Otto said before the Loring Park picnic in 1972, the LGBTQ+ community usually found support hidden in bars and clubs. 

“It’s just grown ever since then,” Otto said. “That’s kind of the unique thing about Pride is depending on what’s happening culturally in society is kind of how Pride changes.”

Early Pride organizers in the 1980s charged an entry fee in hopes of raising money for the festival but had little success. The 1980s marked a trail of controversy and hardships for the community with Minneapolis City Council declining their request for block party permits and the ongoing AIDS epidemic. 

The Gay Pride committee went to the Civil Liberties Union, now the American Civil Liberties Union, and sued the city in 1980 and won.

From the AIDS epidemic to misinformation about transgender reassignment surgery, Otto said false narratives remain about the LGBTQ+ community. Otto added the recent hate crime against a transgender student at Hopkins High School reminds the community how far they still have to go. 

“We constantly have to fight because people you know come up with a narrative of what they think and nine times out of ten, it’s not true,” Otto added. “We’re constantly battling the misinformation.”

OutFront Minnesota spokesperson Seth Goodspeed said OutFront partnered with Twin Cities Pride soon after their founding in 1987. Goodspeed said OutFront’s initial participation in the festival was based on logistics, but the connection between the two organizations grew quickly. 

“We would sometimes be the de facto security, sort of de-escalate the situation with either protesters or providing public safety spaces,” Goodspeed said. “It just grew very organically and in close partnership in collaboration with Twin Cities Pride.”

Transgender activist and later-parade namesake Ashley Rukes, then in charge of the Minneapolis Aquatennial, became the Pride festival director in 1990 and began taking vendor applications once the festival grew. Attendance was 50,000 in 1992 and hit 200,000 by 1998. 

Otto said the pride movement remains strong and adaptable because of its diverse group of allies, who in hand make the communities stronger. 

“We can stand up all day as community members and say ‘Hey, this isn’t right, this isn’t right,’” Otto said. “But if we don’t have allies on the other side joining us then we’ve got nothing.”

Black Pride was organized in 1999 and aimed at diversifying the Minneapolis Pride scene with different cultures, races, foods and ethnicities.

Otto said it is necessary to recognize that the Pride Festival and the LGBTQ+ community have not always been as inclusive as they are now. Otto added the People to People entertainment stage was not always open to BIPOC people in the past. 

“If you uplift one minor in the community, you actually support them all,” Otto said. “I think that is something that I live by on a daily [basis] when I make decisions for this organization is it may not just be for the LGBTQ community, but who else is it going to affect?”

Beverly Little Thunder became the first Native Woman to grand marshall the Pride Parade in 2001, marking a huge impact on the Pride and Native American communities. Pride in the 2000s was marked by its growing inclusivity such as the Minnesota Men of Color partnering with 20 organizations and 24 artists of color to perform at the festival. 

In a historic victory for the LGBTQ+ community, same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota in 2013. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Constitution protects same-sex marriage rights. 

Goodspeed said the connection between the two organizations has remained collaborative ever since the late ‘90s, but now OutFront takes on more political activism at the festival than event setup and planning. 

“We’re getting out in front of the community with the issues that we’re working on, making sure folks are registered to vote, making sure people are staying engaged and know how to stay engaged in the political process,” Goodspeed added. 

In recent years, the LGBTQ+ community has gained unprecedented allies, such as Pope Francis, who supports homosexuality despite the Catholic Church rejecting same-sex marriage. 

Minnesota has become a safe haven for transgender people as neighboring states progressively ban gender-affirming care. 

Despite major victories for pro-LGBTQ+ legislation in Minnesota, Goodspeed said the state continues to see issues like homophobic bullying in schools. 

“Some of the issues that we’re continuing to see are just making sure that the laws that we have in place are fully enforced and uniformly enforced across the state,” Goodspeed said. 

Minnesota State Senator Leigh Finke (DFL-St. Paul), the first openly transgender state legislator, is championing three LGBTQ+ bills, including prohibiting public facilities from banning rainbow flags and mandating health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming care. 

Otto said it is important to remember the trailblazers who spearheaded the Pride movement at its beginning, such as Marsha P. Johnson, a prominent transgender woman of color involved with the Stonewall Uprising. 

Otto added it is equally important to recognize LGBTQ+ leaders today such as Minneapolis Council Member Andrea Jenkins (Ward 6), who was the first Black openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States, and transgender youth advocate and actress Hildie Edwards. 

Otto said though it can be stressful and frustrating being a leader within the community, he reminds himself that as a transgender man, he is a role model for others like him. 

“I made that decision to be an open trans leader in hopes that those that were around me and the youth could look to me and say ‘You know what, I can do it and it is okay,’” Otto said.

With less than a month until the city requires cigarette packs to be sold at a $15 minimum, many local tobacco shops are already seeing the price hike take effect. 

The Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed the cigarette price ordinance on April 25 which will take effect July 8. According to MPR, this is likely the highest price in the country. 

The ordinance will also affect chewing tobacco, snuff and cigars but not tobacco or nicotine vapes. Some council members, Katie Cashman (Ward 7) and Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 10) expressed interest in proposing similar regulations for vape products. 

Council member LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4) said she strived to author the bill because of her background in public health and watching close family members grapple with addiction.

“I educated myself on the dangers of smoking,” Vetaw said. “It was kind of a personal mission to just, like, educate people in no way that I’d ever think I would have a job where I could do it.”

Vetaw said the City Council landed on the $15 per pack price tag after collecting data and conversing with tobacco store owners. On average, a pack of cigarettes costs around $13.50 per pack before the ordinance, Vetaw added. 

Marianna Peters, manager of The Hideaway, a smoke shop in Dinkytown, said since their prices have not changed yet, they have seen more customers looking to buy cigarettes than ever before. 

Peters said she has been hearing a lot of customers planning to quit or cut down on smoking once the ordinance takes place. 

“A lot of people are saying they’re going to try to quit, but they’re doubtful that they will,” Peters said. “What will happen is people are saying ‘I quit,’ it’s going to increase the (sale of) vapes.” 

Vetaw said she heard a flow of positive responses from community members about the ordinance. According to Vetaw, this ordinance has pushed some to quit smoking. 

Teren Olvera, an employee at Campus Market and Tobacco in Dinkytown, said he heard many customers were coming to the store because their prices had also not raised to $15 yet. Olvera added many customers are buying around 10 packs of cigarettes to stock up. 

“We don’t allow much more sale past that just because if we allow everyone to buy all the cigarettes they could, we’d be gone right away,” Olvera said. “We’ve definitely had a lot more sales knowing that (the ordinance) is gonna come soon.” 

Vetaw said the ordinance could discourage smoke shops from selling cigarettes in the future, however, she added that the tobacco industry tends to create newer and more affordable options quicker than the Council can enact policies. 

“While we’re working on raising this price, they’re busy creating something different and more affordable,” Vetaw said. “That’s why there’s always the opportunity for policy change.”

Olvera said some customers plan to turn to alternatives like nicotine pouches, which will raise those products’ popularity, while others said they would drive to a different state to get more affordable cigarettes. 

Peters said she expects people to start switching to other products, like flavored nicotine vapes, once the ordinance takes effect. Peters added Hideaway does not fear future restrictions, but a ban on flavor cartridges would be tough for their sales. 

Peters said the tobacco industry is usually ahead with new products and innovations, making most restrictions or bans on products too late to harm businesses. Peters said if there is a flavor pod ban, people will still vape nicotine but with no flavor. 

“We do have a vape that’s got two separate pods, so it has a nicotine pod and then a flavor pod,” Peters said. “So we kind of have that to hopefully counteract that.”

The site of George Floyd’s murder, known as George Floyd Square, stands solemn and quiet. Cars pause at the four-way stop, residents walk leisurely down the street and storefronts are slow with business.

The Square has kept most of its decorations and memorials from the past four years since Floyd’s death. The symbolic Say Their Names Cemetary is now a block away, displaying headstones of 100 Black people who died at the hands of police.

With recent memorials on the anniversary of Floyd’s death on May 25, Minneapolis leaders and community members continue discussions about the area’s future.

Rise and Remember, formerly George Floyd Global Memorial, aims to preserve and reserve all the flowers, artwork and items donated to the Square’s memorial space.

Executive Director of Rise and Remember Jeanelle Austin said she strives to keep the community together during these conversations about the neighborhood.

“We’re here for the pursuit of justice and we’re people over property,” Austin said. “We have to be thinking about how are we going to care for our neighbors and what is going to be the pride of our neighbors, regardless of whatever happens to the space.”

Community input sessions began in 2022 and continue today. Major plans for the area are known as the THRIVE Development Plan and the 38th and Chicago Revisioned. Additionally, conversations about transforming “People’s Way,” formerly a Speedway gas station, into a community space continue circulating.

The THRIVE plan, aimed at strengthening the economics, culture and affordability of the neighborhood, was approved in 2021 by the Minneapolis City Council. The 38th and Chicago plan, which hopes to physically redesign the area, remains in progress.

Council Member Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8) said her ultimate goal for the Square is to create a place for healing and memorial within the community. Jenkins said she wants to ensure the trauma the community experienced is addressed and understood.

“We can’t go back and undo 400 years of oppression and suppression and depression, but we can acknowledge that that’s real,” Jenkins said.

The budget for renovating 38th and Chicago was $700,000 in 2023. According to Jenkins, around $300,000 will be added to the original budget for local artists to create public art in the area.

King Demetrius is the owner of Listen 2 Us Studio located in the Square. He said he wants more support for Black-owned, small businesses in the area and less treatment as a tourist destination.

Demetrius said he started the studio as an independent media source to ensure people from all walks of life could share their photography.

“I open this space up because I wanted to make sure that I give voices to the voiceless,” Demetrius said.

The Cultural and Wellness Center in Minneapolis and architecture firm 4+MULA in St. Paul will partner together to renovate the area once input from the community engagement sessions is collected. The next session will be on June 25.

Jenkins said she would like to see a museum or healing center as a form of therapy for the community and to remember its shared history. Jenkins said a permanent memorial, such as the Black Lives Matter fist statue, is important to keep in the community as a reminder of its past.

“Our community is so broken, so deeply traumatized,” Jenkins said. “We need to be able to talk. We need to be able to be in spaces where we are understood and heard and be able to really share our own grief and mourn. But not stay in that place, right? To grow.”

Demetrius said he expects 38th and Chicago to become gentrified in the long run, similar to Hiawatha and Lake Street. He said it is disheartening to see a neighborhood grow unaffordable for its long-time residents.

Austin said whatever decision is made about the area, it has to come from the community’s collective consensus. Austin added this is a sensitive topic for the community because it can divide people.

“How do we preserve everything that we worked for over the last four years to get to know each other and love each other and care for each other and not allow a plan of development to divide people?” Austin said.

Demetrius said the Square needs to focus on creating stronger unity in the community and building internal support instead of seeking it from the outside. He added having city leaders and lawmakers show up in the area and engage with small businesses is crucial for unity.

“We’re here,” Demetrius said. “We live here. We have our business here. We try to raise our children here. We try to show them something different than what their children showed us.”

Reports of property damage and theft have risen in the University of Minnesota area while reports for most other crimes have stagnated over the last year, according to Minneapolis crime dashboard data.

Most offenses on the University campus saw little change within the past year. However, reports of assault have more than doubled from six reports in 2023 to 13 reports in 2024, according to the crime dashboard. Property damage, such as vandalism, also increased year-over-year from three to 11 reports.

Interfraternity Council President Maxwell Tuzinski-Dashe said car thefts, vandalism and safety around fraternity events are major concerns for students living in areas populated with Greek life.

“I feel like it’s very seasonal with how things happen,” Tuzinski-Dashe said. “Especially around springtime. That’s usually a peak when it comes to the kind of crime and unsafe areas on campus.

The University implemented public safety measures like the Dinkytown Safe Streets initiative with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and improving University building access features, according to the University spokesperson Jake Ricker.

A mixed bag of crime rates near the University

Marcy-Holmes, Cedar-Riverside and Prospect Park saw major decreases in car thefts in a single year. However, nearly all neighborhoods except Cedar-Riverside had more reports of property damage and theft compared to the previous year. Assault and burglary rates remained similar over the past year. 

The Como neighborhood saw a 44.8% decrease in assault offenses over the past year, from 29 reports in 2023 to 16 reports in 2024, according to the crime dashboard. 

Tuzinski-Dashe praised UMPD’s new service area that goes beyond University borders. 

“The organization I represent went from essentially having no organizations be covered by UMPD to now having over half of ours, which is really great,” Tuzinski-Dashe said. 

The addition of more street lights in the Marcy-Holmes and Dinkytown neighborhoods is another good step to making residents feel safer, Tuzinski-Dashe added. 

Campus Safety Coalition Board Member Mike Olson said something important students can do is report a crime when they see it because it builds awareness. Without documentation, Olson said many crimes go under the radar as if they never happened. 

“In the eyes of decision-makers, policymakers, politicians, school administration, if it wasn’t reported, it’s not documented, it didn’t happen,” Olson said. 

More safety measures are coming to the University, according to the Campus Safety Progress update. Installing turnstiles at Middlebrook and 17th Avenue residence halls and tracking the implementation of street lights in Marcy-Holmes and Como are among the proposed measures. 

Recruitment efforts continue 

MPD has regularly spoken about its struggles to recruit police officers at 2019 levels. They had more than 900 officers in March 2019 but had just under 600 officers in March 2023 and 560 officers as of March 2024, according to data from MPD spokesperson Garrett Parten. MPD recruitment has been down since the protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

In March, UMPD started a partnership with MPD in Marcy-Holmes and Dinkytown because of the city’s struggle to recruit new officers.

The second precinct, which covers Prospect Park, Marcy-Holmes, Como and the University area, is served by around 60 officers, inspector Nicholas Torborg said in an MPD public meeting. 

Torborg added that the second precinct receives additional help from UMPD, Metro Transit Police, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Minneapolis Park Police. 

“We work with the UMPD a lot,” Torborg said. “They have doubled their staffing on the weekend and that area to help us appreciate it.”

The University is also recruiting additional police officers, community service officers and security personnel at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, according to the Campus Safety Progress update. 

University Student Government Safety Taskforce Chair Keegan Wulf said it is not as simple as adding more police officers. While students are concerned about crime, there is also concern about over-policing and the reputation of the MPD, Wulf added.

“We want to make sure that when [MPD] are staffing up, students aren’t seeing that increased staffing levels of threat to their own safety,” Wulf said. 

Olson said no one should be discouraged from reporting a crime or situation to the police, but the reality is that people are. The Campus Safety Coalition offers anonymous reporting alternatives to reporting directly to the police on its website. 

“It’s important that you’re doing something, no matter how small, it’s better than doing nothing at all,” Olson said. 

Despite hardships and struggles, Minneapolis City Council member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) said she will continue to use her authority to uplift her communities as she continues to serve on the council.

Ward 2 covers the Cedar Riverside, Como, Marcy Holmes, Prospect Park, Seward and University of Minnesota neighborhoods.

Wonsley joined the City Council in 2021 as the first Black Democratic Socialist in Minneapolis after narrowly beating 14-year incumbent Cam Gordon from the Minnesota Green Party. In the past three years, Wonsley has prioritized affordable housing, public safety, and workers’ rights and wages. 

Wonsley left her hometown of Chicago in hopes of distancing herself from police violence before the death of Jamar Clark in 2015 made her realize Minneapolis’ complicated relationship with its police department.

“I knew I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines while people were organizing around something that again, I had personal experience with,” Wonsley said. 

Wonsley joined the police advocacy group Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar and the $15 minimum wage advocacy group 15 Now MN. She said it was during this time the community around her encouraged her to run for City Council.

“Folks encouraged me to run for office like, ‘We want you, we need people who are involved in the struggle to be in these seats,’ and I kept being like, ‘No, leave me alone,’” Wonsley said. “We all have seen the activists that have gone into these positions and immediately acquiesced to the status quo and I don’t want to be that.”

The murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the lackluster response from the city government inspired her to run for office. 

“I wanted to show that actually, you can be a politician worthy enough and not acquiesce. You can remain connected with the community,” Wonsley said. “I wanted to show that we could have something different inside of city hall.”

Wonsley said she mirrors her political beliefs off leaders like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former City Council member candidate Ginger Jentzen, who ran in 2017. 

“We can have something different,” Wonsley said. “We don’t have to accept at a national level or local level the rules and conditions of capitalism.” 

Within the past year, Wonsley said she is most proud of her work on the Ceasefire Resolution for Gaza as it is one of the most formative pieces she has contributed to. 

University of Minnesota Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Local Coordinator Katie Smithberg said Wonsley has listened to and addressed problems the student government has brought up.

“I’ve never felt invalidated by her and I think that’s something that can come with just politics in general,” Smithberg said. “I think she just does a great job of recognizing real problems and taking steps forward to address them.”

Wonsley said one of the most grueling struggles she and her office overcame was passing the Fair Drives rideshare ordinance over a month ago because of pressure from inside and outside the City Council. 

“Doing things right is not enough in this role because we checked all the legislative boxes, went through the appropriate legislative steps, we did everything technically right,” Wonsley said. “I feel [some of] my colleagues acquiesced to corporate pressure. The mayor acquiesced to corporate pressure.”

Humphrey School of Public Affairs professor Larry Jacobs said Wonsley has been a steady driving force of radical change despite pressure from the governor and mayor about her policies. 

“[She’s] not one of the people who has given any inclination to compromise or reconsider or really put much effort into delay,” Jacobs said. “She’s got a strong position. She’s not giving up on it.” 

Smithberg said she remembers working with Wonsley to address and prevent a repeat of the Identity Apartments crisis as well as their shared excitement about Mayor Jacob Frey signing the pre-lease protection. 

“She just brought this excitement that I think reminds us how cool it is that we have the ability to communicate with our representatives and make change happen,” Smithberg said. 

In addition to working with USG about the pre-lease protection, Smithberg said Wonsley fought for sidewalk plowing after students expressed safety concerns, fought for an off-campus grocery store and is working with USG about the Carlson School’s vacancy project. 

Wonsley said throughout the last three years working alongside Frey and the other council members, being understanding but resilient has been key for her despite occasional opposition. 

“You have to have tough skin in this type of work, you have to have a spirit of endurance,” Wonsley said. “Especially because of the various identities I hold: young, Black, woman, non-traditional background, independent, socialist. I understand that there is a target on me from a lot of powerful folks in our city who do not want to see that type of rhetoric.”

Wonsley allegedly accused Frey in the past of abuses of power, such as threatening council members with limiting safety services to their wards, according to the Star Tribune. Frey said that never happened and nothing like that was ever mentioned by him or his staff. 

Though Wonsley and Frey have had a fiery relationship and she has faced opposition from other Democratic leaders in Minnesota, Jacobs said Wonsley nevertheless sets the pace of the city council. 

“She didn’t have an opponent and the mayor threw everything he had at her,” Jacobs said. “She’s taken some hard punches and she’s not backing down and she doesn’t seem threatened.”

Jacobs said Wonsley, alongside council members Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10), Jason Chavez (Ward 9) and Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5), has pushed the council more to the left than ever before. 

Wonsley said she often looks back at her first major project with the East Phillips community’s Urban Farm initiatives as a reference point for how far she has come. She added she received a blanket for the area’s Indigenous community for her work with them and holds it as a token of appreciation and motivation. 

“It just reminds me again of why I have to be resilient, why I have to have a deep level of endurance in this work, why I have to stay spiritually grounded and make sure my faith is at 150% and with God and just being committed to this work in spite of the hardships,” Wonsley said. 

A bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature aims to increase the number of teachers of color across the state by providing funding and reducing barriers to recruiting people of color. 

The Increase Teachers of Color Act (ITCA) allocates $10 million toward scholarships for students enrolled in teacher preparation programs. ITCA was first passed in 2017, but this current bill provides permanent funding for scholarships. 

Sen. Mary Kunesh (DFL-New Brighton) said the previous year saw overwhelming requests for funding grants to support teachers of color. Kunesh said the Senate allotted $3.5 million for mentoring and retention efforts in teaching programs, while the requests totaled around $9 million. 

“That right there tells you that there’s a huge need and that’s what we’re building on,” Kunesh said. 

Students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, or enrolled in a teaching program, can receive a $10,000 scholarship per year for full-time study.

In Minnesota, 5.9% of educators identify as teachers of color or Native American teachers, while 36.7% of students are people of color or Native American. 

Multiple Pathways to Teaching Program Director Laura Mogelson said besides providing guidance to aspiring teachers, Multiple Pathways is committed to interacting with the state legislature to decrease the diversity gap between teachers and students while lowering student loan debt. 

“We believe that high-quality preparation really does impact a teacher’s own feeling of self-efficacy and wanting to stay in the field and knowing what they’re doing,” Mogelson said.

Kunesh said as an educator for 25 years, she has seen the need for better representation of people of color in Minnesota schools.

“I’ve kind of been hyper-aware of the lack of teachers of color in schools that have large populations of kids of color and how important it is that when they do have somebody that they can relate to, whether culturally or even visually, what a difference that makes,” Kunesh said.

DirecTrack coordinator at the University of Minnesota Jehanne Beaton-Zirps said many teachers of color prematurely leave the field compared to their white counterparts due to the lack of diversity and racial battle fatigue. 

“I’ve also seen really, really talented teachers of color move through DirecTrack, make it through their licensure program, be ready, and then they go into schools, and they are like, they’re there for two years and then they’re gone,” Beaton-Zirps said. 

DirecTrack is a program for non-education majors to acquire experience and training to become future teachers in their major field. The program prepares students to enter the University’s teaching licensure programs. 

Mogelson said ITCA made huge strides in 2023 in providing financial support and removing barriers for aspiring teachers of color, which in turn impacts college teaching education programs. Mogelson added she hopes the Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship proposed this legislative session in ITCA will be made a permanent program with expanded funding to grow those programs.

“A positive outcome from last year was $34 million for Grow Your Own programs for teachers,” Mogelson said. “Eighty percent of the money has to go to future teachers of color –– either programs for youth to encourage youth to become teachers or programs for adults to provide tuition support.”

Within Multiple Pathways, there are different tracks such as the Grow Your Own program for Reading Corps tutors, the ESL Residency program and the Dual Language and Immersion program.

“The goal of the programs in multiple pathways is to reduce barriers and provide access to people to be able to enter the field,” Mogelson said. 

Roosevelt High School social studies teacher Asha Penugonda said while the Minneapolis-based high school has better representation than the other schools she has taught at, there is still a long way to go. 

“I think it’s pretty clear no matter what school you’re at that teaching, but especially licensed teachers, tend to be a pretty white group of people,” Penugonda said. “That’s been true of every school I’ve ever been to.”

DirecTrack program alum Sofía Cerkvenik said it is difficult to empower students when she feels her identity does not matter in the field. Cerkvenik said a lot of teachers of color go into programs wanting to change the school system for the better but after teaching, they feel like they cannot. 

“If I can’t even feel comfortable celebrating myself with my colleagues, it’s really hard to feel comfortable celebrating my students in the classroom where all my other colleagues and the oppressive school system also exist,” Cerkvenik said. “That makes me feel very disappointed in myself.” 

Beaton-Zirps said when there are few teachers of color in a school, those teachers are often relied on to help students of color who have troubles, regardless of if they teach the student. Beaton-Zirps added this creates more pressure and responsibility for that teacher of color in an already stressful environment. 

“What I think is shared is that experience of being in the new miracle minority and being asked to do things that are outside of your role,” Beaton-Zirps said. “Especially as a young teacher, you’re learning yourself what you need is other people to support you.”

Penugonda said she has witnessed teachers of color take a lot of responsibility, which can lead to frustration, isolation and burnout. Penugonda added teachers of color tend to be expected to teach the same way as their white counterparts, which suppresses the diverse perspective teachers of color bring. 

“You end up doing a lot more work either because you’re serving your students without any support or expected to fix the entire system,” Penugonda said.

Current DirecTrack student and aspiring science teacher Irena Hong said schools often unintentionally act performative when trying to increase diversity in teaching. Hong said having predominantly white administrators in schools limits inclusive perspectives to increase diversity. 

“One thing that’s lacking from these schools trying to recruit teachers of color is they need to just be honest and say, ‘Hey, you know what, all of our teachers basically are white and we don’t want this environment for students, we don’t want this environment for the few teachers of color we do have,’” Hong said. 

Cerkvenik said besides helping aspiring teachers through legislation, it is necessary to create communities of people of color in the education system to support each other. Cerkvenik said she thinks a systemic change needs to happen in the education system because the lack of diversity fails to create inclusive communities.

“I believe everyone needs community but if you’re in a school that’s predominantly white then it’s a white community and it’s not serving your very small population of teachers of color,” Cerkvenik said. 

Teachers earn between $15,000 and $90,000 less than most professions, which is often less than the local cost of living, according to the Minnesota Educator Salary study. Teachers often work nine years or more before their pay equals the cost of living for an average family in the United States. 

Mongelson said scholarship opportunities are imperative to avoid racking up student loan debt while entering a field not associated with high salaries.

“I also work very hard to provide scholarships to all of our students because teaching is not a high-paying field and there’s already a tremendous teacher shortage,” Mogelson said.

Another bill in the legislature hopes to mandate stipends for all student teachers in hopes of attracting more teachers into the profession. Mogelson said student teaching helps elevate the profession and unpaid work is a barrier to entering the field. 

More than half of white teachers are satisfied with their salaries compared to 37% of African American teachers and 42% of Hispanic teachers, according to the Minnesota Equity Education Partnership. 

Hong said she remembers her first Asian teacher in high school making her want to become an English teacher or writer because she saw herself in that teacher. Hong said, though she no longer wants to teach English, that one teacher inspired her to pursue a career in education. 

“I think it’s hard because there’s so many kids that could be inspired by a teacher of color if they just had them,” Hong said. “It’s hard, especially in science that already has such little diversity in it.”

Cerkvenik said it’s important to mirror students’ identities and show them new perspectives. Cervenik added diversity in the classroom is also important to white students. 

“Feeling reflected by your teachers is such a huge thing,” Cerkvenik said. “It also is, again, beneficial to our white students to see other people who don’t share their identities in positions of education and leadership.”

Kunesh said it is important to recognize the value of funding diversity in teaching after decades of neglect. Kunesh said as the chair of the Education Finance Committee, she plans to look for more ways to fund schools.

Penugonda said for most people of color, school was a traumatic experience because of the lack of representation, so it could be difficult for many of them to come back into that environment as an adult. 

“One of the most ridiculous propositions we make as society is telling young people of color, ‘Hey, remember that place that mostly sucked for you? Do you want to go back and fix it?’” Penugonda said. 

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated how much money was requested for the program. The Senate requests totaled $9 million.

This article has been updated.

Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Organization awarded nine Twin Cities community-based nonprofits $2 million each on March 19.

Scott’s organization selected around 350 community-based organizations around the United States with around $640 million allocated, each receiving $2 million. The following nine Minnesota-based nonprofits were selected: OutFront Minnesota, ISAIAH, WellShare International, Appetite for Change, Gender Justice, Build Wealth Minnesota, Twin Cities R!se, Dream of Wild Health and CAPI USA. 

WellShare International spokesperson Andrea Ross said they mobilize community health workers to reduce health inequalities in underrepresented communities around the Twin Cities area and internationally. Ross said WellShare plans to use the funds to strengthen their administration systems, data tracking and staff development and expand their locations. 

“It’s not often that I am lost for words, but I just needed a moment to kind of take it in and catch my breath and really understand the depth and the magnitude and the generosity and how an organization and life-changing that award is,” Ross said.

Ross said WellShare’s health workers are trained to provide services throughout all stages of life and they will invest in their staff and community in hopes of improving support for community health care. 

“Every day you’ll see them at the gathering centers, you may see them at a community mall or a community gathering space,” Ross said. “They’re bringing that education to where people are and where they live their daily lives.”

One organization, ISAIAH, is a coalition of multi-racial and multi-faith communities fighting for racial and economic justice in Minnesota, according to spokesperson Trevor Cochlin. Cochlin said ISAIAH connects with local Christian institutions, mosques, childcare centers and Black-owned barber shops to achieve change within these institutions. 

“We have folks that we call leaders that leverage ISAIAH as a vehicle for building power to create change,” Cochlin said. “The way that we make sure that our elected officials are leading with the values that people in Minnesota care about is by building people power.”

CAPI USA helps immigrants and refugees resettle in Minnesota with financial coaching, housing and food. CAPI spokesperson Monique Hernandez said they helped around 200 immigrants from Afghanistan resettle in the Twin Cities in 2022 after the Taliban took over. 

“We try to be like a one-stop shop for people,” Hernandez said. “We do benefits enrollment and food assistance. We have our financial team and our employment program. So it’s kind of everything there.”

Cochlin said ISAIAH was thrilled to receive $2 million from Scott’s organization. Cochlin added that the funds would be used to fuel their organizing work around the Twin Cities, such as advocating for legislation on housing, childcare and more. 

“Organizing is at the heart of ISAIAH, our theory of change and through Mackenzie’s passion or honesty that’s going to allow us over the next four years to continue to do that,” Cochlin said. 

Hernandez said the $2 million would go to CAPI’s community reinvestment fund to help pay the closing costs of housing for more than 20 families and go to their marching savings program. Hernandez said she and Executive Director Mary Niedermeyer were at a United Way event when they saw the email granting them the funds. 

“She showed me the email and both of us just sat there like, ‘Don’t emote,’” Hernandez said. “Just kind of like that internal screaming that’s happening and just like smile and like, oh, because everything is embargoed until they make the announcement. So we can’t put anything about that.”

Hernandez added that CAPI plans to use some funds to expand its food shelf location in Brooklyn Center, add a community center and possibly a community garden. 

Cochlin said in the past ISAIAH has done tabling events and tours at local universities to learn about students’ concerns and frustrations about their communities and what change they want. Cochlin added students can become involved with ISAIAH through their youth coalition, which advocates for democracy and involvement in the state legislature. 

“Students themselves organized to contact their state representatives to advocate for the democracy of the people because they wanted voting to be easier as college students who might not have been residents where they went to college,” Cochlin said. 

Hernandez said CAPI offers a youth fellowship for women of color aged 16 to 24 who want to advocate for legislative goals. CAPI also has community engagement events, like their 5K in June at Centennial Park, according to Hernandez. 

Ross said she started at WellShare because of her experiences in the healthcare and nursing industry, filling the gap between her and the community she served. 

“I just think about the continued investment in community health work really caused the ability to change the face and the landscape of service delivery,” Ross said. “I just couldn’t get more excited about something that, to be honest, in the health care world, wasn’t talked about as much.”

Cochlin said through Scott’s funding, ISAIAH can better foster relationships within the community. Cochlin added these relationships are at the heart of ISAIAH’s work.

“What connects us to the world around us is relationships. And I think that’s kind of like at the heart of organizing work,” Cochlin said. “It’s like how much we’re in conversation with our neighbors, our family members, for me, groups like Faith Institution, and that stuff just takes time. It takes time to develop relationships.”