Our Blog
I Was Not a Slave . . .
February 22, 2021 - By Amelious N. Whyte, Jr., Ph.D.
In celebration of Black History Month, the Minnesota Humanities Center has asked some of our friends to write essays to share with you their thoughts on black history and culture, as well as on broad issues of racial and social justice. Like a good conversation with friends after a good…
Read More
Mancala Gameworlds and the Afrofuturist Orbit
February 19, 2021 - By John S. Wright, Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota
In celebration of Black History Month, the Minnesota Humanities Center has asked some of our friends to write essays to share with you their thoughts on black history and culture, as well as on broad issues of racial and social justice. Like a good conversation with friends after a good…
Read More
Reimagining Minnesota and America
February 17, 2021 - By Christopher P. Lehman
In celebration of Black History Month, the Minnesota Humanities Center has asked some of our friends to write essays to share with you their thoughts on black history and culture, as well as on broad issues of racial and social justice. Like a good conversation with friends after a good…
Read More
Black History
February 15, 2021 - By Kevin Lindsey
In celebration of Black History Month, the Minnesota Humanities Center has asked some of our friends to write essays to share with you their thoughts on black history and culture, as well as on broad issues of racial and social justice. Like a good conversation with friends after a good…
Read More
How Can We Breathe – A Time to Listen, Share, and Be Heard
August 25, 2020 - By Kevin Lindsey
At the dawn of the formation of our country, and even begrudgingly to this day, the existing political and social hierarchy of our nation has sought to deny and frustrate the inalienable rights of African Americans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Since the video of the murder…
Read More
Celebrating Juneteenth by Finishing the Work
June 19, 2020 - By Kevin Lindsey
A new movement has begun to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Proponents stress the need for America never to forget how racial slavery has been imprinted upon the soul of the nation and to always remember how the descendants of enslaved African Americans continue to shape its present and…
Read More
The Death of George Floyd
May 28, 2020 - By Kevin Lindsey
As the leader of the Minnesota Humanities Center, envisioning a just society that is connected, curious, and compassionate, we send our condolences to the family of George Floyd and his many friends. The tragic history of our country is replete with instances of the suppression of the inalienable human rights…
Read More
The Case for Civic Education
February 18, 2020 - By Kevin Lindsey
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” The words of President Thomas Jefferson still ring true today more than 200 years later.
Read More
Walking the Red Lake River or Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga’iganiiwi-ziibi
April 30, 2019 - By Sharon Day
This river flows out of Lower Red Lake on its western border. It makes its journey through marshy swampland, into prairie, and then farmland. The riverbanks become steeper, becoming large eroding cliffs and thickly forested. I find myself excited thinking about this new Nibi Walk that begins on the…
Read More
Treaties Matter
April 11, 2019 - By Jacob Jurss
This post originally appeared on the East Side Freedom Library blog as they hosted the “Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations” exhibit. It is reprinted here with permission. Treaties matter. They matter even if the United States fails to recognize the rights of American Indian tribes…
Read More