Minnesota Humanities Center

St. Paul - Feeding Our Souls: The Essence of Latine Joy
2024-10-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Savory entrees and delectable desserts will again fill the tables at the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) as we commemorate Latine Cultural Heritage Month through food and the beloved stories behind them that bring community joy. Cuisine and entertainment will be showcased by some of the Twin Cities’ finest chefs and musicians.
Featured Chef: Manuel Gonzalez
Manuel Gonzalez is from Mexico City. He moved to the United States In 1982, after finishing culinary school in Mexico. Having always dreamed of opening his own business, he applied and was chosen as one of the first restaurants to be part of the Latine Business Development Project, opening in their first restaurant in 1999. He invited his sister Victoria, to participate in this adventure, because she has a background in hospitality management and business consulting experience. Together they run Manny’s Tortas inside the Midtown Global Market and a booth in the food building at the Minnesota State Fair. Manny is frequently a guest speaker for economic development programs, and a guest chef at locations such as Macy’s Department Store and Midtown Global Market. He also teaches cooking classes for different events.
Featured Musician: Jesus Guzman
Born in Vargas, Venezuela, Jesus began to study violin at the age of 7 in the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela, also known as El Sistema. He has studied in the Latin American Violin Academy in Caracas with the violin master, Francisco Del Castillo. In addition, Jesus has participated in masterclasses with violin virtuosos, Guy Braunstein, Thibault Vieux, and Alexis Cardenas. Jesus has an extensive performing career, notably the five years he spent as member of 1st Violin of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela under conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Diego Matheuz. In 2022 He won an award in the Z-film Festival in Minneapolis, MN, for his composition and video edition as a best original song of “Añoranza” Lastly, He is part of the staff of teachers for GTCYS (Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies) working as a violin teacher in the Harmony program in Riverview West School of Excellence – St. Paul (MN), and teaching around the Twin cities.
Program Emcee: Melissa Gonzalez Vazquez
Melissa Gonzalez Vazquez is Communications and Community Engagement Manager at LatinoLEAD. Drawing from her firsthand encounters with the transformative impact of Latine-focused nonprofits, Melissa is dedicated to enhancing our community’s access, visibility, and success through purposeful programming, cross-sector partnerships, impactful narratives, and cross-cultural coalition building efforts. She believes that Minnesota is an excellent hub to foster Latine leadership infrastructure and strategies. She is dedicated to connecting emerging vanguards across industries and highlighting our Latine community’s assets. Her background in congressional campaign communications and designing nationwide Latine leadership programming reinforced her passion for aligning Latine efforts and amplifying its collective influence through narrative writing, digital marketing and graphic design.
Registration
Registration is required for this free event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Online - Headscarf Story Circle Gathering: Health and Humanities - Reaching Women Across Minnesota
2024-11-10 14:00 - 16:00 | Online
The Headscarf Story Circles have created a welcoming space where women of all ethnicities, religions, and ages come together in unity, connected by the shared significance of the headscarf. This video captures the essence and purpose. Metaphorically, each thread of the headscarf is intricately woven to form a profound tapestry, symbolizing the complexity and beauty of our shared commonality.
This virtual experience will be a health and humanities focus – “Headscarf Story Circle Gathering: The Silent Subject of Menopause.” Women of all ages agree that menopause has not been an open or common discussion, yet it comes with many questions, concerns, and myths. Participants will hear from experts in women’s health and have a chance to share their own stories of experiences, fears, and remedies.
We are excited to also have the following Greater Minnesota community ambassadors join us as they prepare to bring Headscarf Story Circle into their communities.
Ambassador Bios
Tawonda Burks of Rochester, Minnesota is the current Director of Operations at RAEDI (Rochester Area Economic Development Inc.). She is the founder and owner of ELOCINA, LLC, President-Elect of Southeast Minnesota BDPA, Board of Trustee member of the Jeremiah Program, Board Member of the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester, Leadership Table at Cradle 2 Career, and committee member with Center for Chronic Disease Reduction & Equity Promotion Across America.
Julia Freeman of St. Paul is Director of Community Engagement for Voices for Racial Justice where she has (since 2007) led the Education Equity work using a healing and racial justice lens. She has helped districts and schools use co-created tools that put students and parents in the center of equity solutions. She is a racial justice trainer, coach, and the grandmother of ten.
Hodan Omar is the founder and Executive Director of Hooyo Hour Organization. Recognizing the growing need to support mothers, she established Hooyo Hour as a nonprofit to provide community resources, educational support, and programs that empower women to become self-sufficient. A dedicated community connector, Hodan was honored with the Social Trust Award from the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, recognizing her efforts in building social trust across the greater St. Cloud community.
Emily Fuerste Swanson is co-owner/proprietor of Oldenburg House, a B&B next to the St. Louis River and Jay Cooke State Park in the little town of Carlton (near Duluth). Oldenburg House is named for Margaret Oldenburg, a citizen scientist and explorer who grew up in this historic house, and her story shaped Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community (OACC). OACC works with local creatives to nurture connections to each other and the abundant and irreplaceable cultural and natural resources in this beautiful place we call home.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Feeding Our Souls: Essence of Indigenous Joy
2024-12-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Splendid traditional entrees and desserts evolve at the Minnesota Humanities Center as we commemorate Indigenous Cultural Heritage Month through food and the beloved stories behind them that bring community joy. Cuisine and authentic presentations are showcased by one of the Twin Cities’ finest chefs, food historian, and musicians.
Featured Chef
Brian Yazzie aka Yazzie the Chef (Diné/Navajo) is from Dennehotso, Arizona and based out of Saint Paul, MN. Chef Yazzie has an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Culinary Arts from Saint Paul College 2016. He is a delegate of Slow Food Turtle Island Association, and a team member at I-Collective: a collective of cooks, chefs, seed keepers, farmers, foragers, and scholars, focused on bringing awareness to the cultural appropriations of indigenous foods of the Americas. Chef Yazzie and his Fiancée, Danielle Polk (Hoonmana Polk) are the Founders/Owners of Intertribal Foodways, a culinary mission specifically working with and for the betterment of tribal communities, wellness and health through Indigenous foods. They travel internationally and are available for catering, private dinners, pop up dinners, chef demos & cooking classes, collaborations, and presentations on indigenous food sovereignty.
Featured Emcee
Deanna StandingCloud, a citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Anishinaabe, Deanna collaborates with fellow Native comedians, including Trish Cook’s all-female group, ACE BAE Comedy. She’s performed comedy since 2022. She is also learning about traditional healing modalities for her new business, Ziigwan Indigenous Wellness. Deanna is a playwright, artist, and powwow emcee who enjoys spending time with her children, her dog Benny, cooking, taking nature walks, and creative activities.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Rochester - Headscarf Story Circle Gathering
2025-03-08 11:00 - 14:00 | Griot Arts, 115 N Broadway Ave, Rochester, MN, 55906, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center often hosts Headscarf Story Circles – a series of offerings that recognize the strength and resiliency of women. Our community of Rochester is pleased to announce that on Saturday March 8, 2025, we will gather through shared connections of the headscarf and its complexity. Guests are encouraged to wear a headscarf or head dress that is symbolic of anything from a fashion statement, cultural identity, health related, or memories, and beliefs.
The community event host is Tawonda Burks, Founder and Executive Director of ELOCINA.
Learn More About Headscarf Story Circles
Learn more about Headscarf Story Circles program in this video produced by the Minnesota Humanities Center.

Registration
Registration for this event is closed. To be added to the waitlist, please contact Jessica Rust at jessica@mnhum.org.

Minneapolis - Headscarf Story Circle Gathering
2025-03-30 14:00 - 16:00 | The Legends Apartments Great Room, 3700 Huset Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN, 55421, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center often hosts Headscarf Story Circles – a series of offerings that recognize the strength and resiliency of women. Our Twin Cities community is pleased to announce that we will gather through shared connections of the headscarf and its complexity. Guests are encouraged to wear a headscarf or head dress that is symbolic of anything from a fashion statement, cultural identity, health related, or memories, and beliefs.
The community event host is Julia Freeman, Director of Community Engagement, Voices for Racial Justice.
Learn More About Headscarf Story Circles
Learn more about Headscarf Story Circles program in this video produced by the Minnesota Humanities Center.

Registration
This event is free but registration is required. For registration questions, please contact Julia Freeman at freeman@voicesforracialjustice.org.
Register Now
