Minnesota Humanities Center

Red Wing - Minnesota Writers Series: Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX
2023-11-16 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Sheri Brenden, author of “Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes and the Road to Title IX” in a conversation with her sister, Peg Brenden, one of the St. Cloud student athletes behind the groundbreaking 1972 federal court case that took on the unequal system of school athletics nationwide. The event will take place in coordination with our partners at Anderson Center at Tower View, as part of their Books in the Barn series.
Books will be available for purchase and signing following the reading, courtesy of Fair Trade Books.
Registration is required for this in-person event in Red Wing.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: Trauma Sponges
2023-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series welcomes Jeremy Norton, author of “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response” for a hybrid in-person and virtual event. Norton will use excerpts from his new book, published by University of Minnesota Press, to spark conversations with his co-panelists, Jeanelle Austin from the George Floyd Global Memorial, and attorney and police-reform activist Abigail Cerra. The three will explore topics ranging from racial inequality to mental health to toxic masculinity for a conversation titled, “Witness and Testify: Towards a More Just Community.”
The Minnesota Writers Series is thankful for partners doing similarly aligned work supporting a diversity of Minnesota voices, like our community partner for this event, the MN Black Authors Expo: Leading, promoting and showcasing MN Black Authors.
About the book:
In this remarkable memoir, Jeremy Norton marshals twenty-two years of professional experience to offer, with compassion and critique, an extraordinary portrayal of emergency responders. Trauma Sponges captures in arresting detail the personal and social toll the job exacts, as well as the unique perspective afforded by sustained direct encounters with the sick, the dying, and the dead.
“While many bear witness to injustice and decide that silence best serves their privilege, some use their privilege to dismantle the inequities that created the disparities in the first place. Jeremy Norton is the latter.”
—Dr. Michele Harper, author of The Beauty in Breaking
About the author:
Jeremy Norton has been a firefighter/EMT with the Minneapolis Fire Department since 2000; he was promoted to captain in 2007 and heads Station 17 in south Minneapolis. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in creative writing from Boston University. After teaching high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Norton moved to Minneapolis, where he taught creative writing at the Loft Literary Center before joining the MFD.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: A Council of Dolls
2024-01-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Writers Series begins 2024 by welcoming Mona Susan Power, author of “A Council of Dolls” (Mariner Books, 2023). The acclaimed author will read excerpts from her recently published book, which will inspire conversation with the event moderator, Sheila O’Connor. Join Mona and Sheila as they discuss topics from the brutal impacts of generational trauma and systemic racism to the healing powers of love, family, and hope. This event is presented in partnership with The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, which works to understand and address the ongoing trauma created by U.S. Indian boarding school policies.
Mona Susan Power will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. “A Council of Dolls” will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of Birchbark Books. You may also purchase the book online.
About the Book
From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, “A Council of Dolls” is the story of three generations of Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried. Gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, the novel shines a light on the echoing damage wrought by the boarding school system and the historical massacres of Indigenous people.
About the author
Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction and has written short stories and essays that have appeared in publications and anthologies such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Granta. She received a bachelor’s degree and JD from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first novel, “The Grass Dancer,” was published in 1994.
Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta). She was born and raised in Chicago and now lives in Minneapolis.
About the moderator
Author Sheila O’Connor has written six novels and her short stories, poems, and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Minnesota Monthly, and Bellingham Review, among other publications. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a professor emeritus at Hamline University. Her most recent novel, “Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions,” won the 2020 Minnesota Book Award (Novel & Short Story).
Registration
This free event will be in person with an option to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration required. Captioning will be available for those attending virtually.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 1: Book Bans and the Freedom to Read
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Books continue to be banned or challenged across the nation, and Minnesota is not exempt in that respect. Book bans have risen by a third over the past year in public schools, and many of these bans are targeting LGBTQ+ characters, themes, and intersectional identities. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will examine the controversy over sexuality and book bans and provide an opportunity to hear directly from authors whose work has been challenged. Quatrefoil Library, a library and queer gathering space in the Twin Cities, will be in conversation with J.J. Austrian, author of Worm Loves Worm, Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish, and Junauda Petrus, author of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 2: Transgender Justice
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
In this session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series, our speakers will help to set the stage on the current landscape of transgender rights and issues nationally, and what is happening specifically within Minnesota. Brittany Stewart from Gender Justice, a Minnesota based organization advancing gender equity through the law, will be joined by Máel Embser-Herbert, professor emeritus, U.S. Army Veteran and an editor of With Honor and Integrity: Transgender Troops in Their Own Words, which shares personal stories from transgender people fighting for their right to serve in the U.S. military.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Series: Through the Banks of the Red Cedar
2024-02-24 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for the February 2024 edition of the Minnesota Writers Series as we welcome multidisciplinary artist, Maya Washington, who will discuss her documentary film, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” and memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game.” Through film clips, book readings, and conversation, Maya will highlight her bond with and appreciation for her father, Gene Washington, a celebrated professional athlete who came of age during the peak of the civil rights movement. Maya will be joined by noted author and educator, Dr. Artika Tyner, who will moderate the discussion.
Maya Washington will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game,” will be available for purchase at the event.
About the Book
“Through the Banks of the Red Cedar” follows Maya Washington’s path towards understanding the legacy of her father, Gene Washington. Maya retraces her father’s journey from the segregated south to Michigan State University during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement and his journey as a groundbreaking NFL player after the 1967 draft. Through the memoir, Maya reflects on the influence her father’s childhood had on her upbringing, the emotional bond of teammates and friends, and the deepened connection she has to her family and football.
About the Author
Maya Washington is an award-winning, multi-hyphenate artist: writer, poet, director, narrative and documentary filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, creative director, visualist (photography), and arts educator. Her background, on stage/camera and behind the scenes, has given her the opportunity to work on everything from public art, live theatre, commercials and print ads, to web series, films and television. Maya received a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. As a writer, Maya’s poetry and prose have been featured in a number of literary journals and notable anthologies including “The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2 : Black Girl Magic” (Haymarket Books 2018), “Nothing To Lose But Our Chains: Black Voices on Activism, Resistance and Love” (Justice Matters Press, 2018), and “The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the Twenty-First Century” (2Leaf Press, 2017). Additionally, Maya received a Pushcart nomination from The Under Review literary journal for her poetry inspired by the historic MLK Tennis Buffs of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood. She is the editor of “White Space Poetry Anthology” featuring the work of deaf and hearing poets as a companion to her award-winning short film starring Ryan Lane, “White Space.” Her award-winning film, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” about her father Vikings Legend Gene Washington and the desegregation of college football aired on the Big Ten Network and is currently available on PBS platforms. Her memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game,” is an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best History, and was a 2023 Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. As a freelance tv and film director, Maya has directed episodes of the Fox series “The Killer Next Door,” History Channel’s “I Was There,” and the PBS Kids series “Black SciGirls.”
Besides being her first memoir, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game” is also a documentary, “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar,” directed, produced, and written by Maya. The documentary is available on PBS platforms including PBS Documentaries Channel through Amazon Prime, Comcast, and iTunes. The film has been shown at community screenings and film festivals across the country. A curriculum for communities and educators is available at throughthebanksoftheredcedar.com.
About the Moderator
Advocate, attorney, author, and educator Dr. Artika Tyner is committed to creating a more inclusive and racially and economically just world. She received her BA from Hamline University and her JD, Master of Public Policy, and EdD from the University of St. Thomas. A prolific author, Dr. Tyner has written books for children and adults promoting literacy, cultural awareness, and leadership development. She is the founder and director of the nonprofit Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute.
Registration
This free event will be in-person with an option to attend virtually via Zoom. Registration required. Captioning will be available for those attending virtually.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Attend In-Person
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Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 3: Detoxing Masculinity
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Many experts agree that the men and boys of the United States are not ok. By many measures they are falling behind and many of the impacts are less widely talked about. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will seek to pull apart the term toxic masculinity and look instead at detoxing masculinity. Hamline Professor Ryan Jerome LeCount will talk about masculinity and its social expression, particularly in the area of politics and social change in Minnesota and the United States. He will be joined by author Jeremy Norton, who recently published Trauma Sponges, a first-hand account of his experience working as an EMT in the emergency response sector, and what it means for a male-dominated industry to be both full of bravura heroics and deal with intense trauma on a daily basis.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Minneapolis - Minnesota Writers Series: American Precariat
2024-03-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Capri Theater, 2027 W Broadway, Minneapolis, 55411, United States
Join us for the March 2024 edition of the Minnesota Writers Series as we welcome Zeke Caligiuri, Chris Fausto, and Fong Lee, three editors of the anthology “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion,” published by Coffee House Press. Through readings and discussions, the editors will share the genesis of the anthology, and the importance of bringing to light the stories of those society deems invisible and chooses to exclude. The editors will be joined by Mike Alberti, executive director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, who will moderate the discussion.
Zeke, Chris, and Fong will be available for book signing and further conversation after the event. “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion” will be available for purchase from Subtext Books at the event.
This event will take place at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis and is presented in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW), which connects incarcerated individuals to arts and educational programming and fosters a creative community of writers both within and outside of prisons and correctional facilities.
About the Book
This groundbreaking anthology of essays edited by incarcerated writers takes a sharp look at the complexity and fluidity of class and caste systems in the United States. Featuring accounts that include gig work as a delivery driver, homelessness among trans youth, and life with immense student loan debt, in addition to transcripts of insightful discussions between the editors, “American Precariat” demonstrates how various and often invisible extreme instability can be. With the understanding that widespread recognition of collective precarity is an urgent concern, the anthology situates each individual portrait within societal structures of exclusion, scarcity, and criminality.
About the Editors
Zeke Caligiuri is a writer and activist from South Minneapolis. He is the author of “This is Where I Am,” published by University of Minnesota Press. He has won multiple awards through the PEN Prison Writing Contest and is the co-founder of the Stillwater Writer’s Collective, the first all-prisoner created and facilitated collective in the country. He is a contributor to “The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison” as well as “School, Not Jail: How Educators Can Disrupt School Pushout and Mass Incarceration.” He is directly impacted by over two decades of incarceration and is now currently the re-entry education coordinator for the Minnesota Justice Research Center re-investing in the humanization of those still stuck within the captivity business.
Chris Fausto Cabrera is a multi-genre artist, writer & activist recently released from incarceration after 21 years. His work has appeared in: The Colorado Review, The Antioch Review, Puerto del Sol, The Woodward Review, among others. “The Parameters of Our Cage,” his prose epistle project with photographer Alec Soth is released through MACK books. His latest project is “American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion” where he serves as an editor, published by Coffee House Press. Cabrera co-founded The Stillwater Writers Collective, partnered with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. He works closely with Until We Are All Free and We Are All Criminals to bring attention to the multifaceted ways justice impacts people.
Fong Lee is a Saint-Paul-based artist and We Are All Criminal’s first Storytelling Fellow. Fong spent nearly 18 years inside Minnesota State prisons; he is a celebrated poet, with publications through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and Asian American Writers Workshop, a beloved painter, and a published photographer. Fong is a restorative justice practitioner and the Storytelling Curator with The Legal Revolution. Fong and his family immigrated to the U.S. as Hmong refugees when Fong was a child, after his family was displaced from their home in Laos. His experience and expertise with incarceration and displacement enable him to make We Are All Criminals all the more dynamic, including strengthening the collaborations between inside and outside artistic partners.
About the Moderator
Mike Alberti has been an administrator for MPWW since 2016, when he graduated from the University of Minnesota with his MFA in Creative Writing. Mike’s fiction has been published in many venues, and his first book, “Some People Let You Down,” won the 2020 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. He was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and now lives in Minneapolis. In addition to his work with MPWW, he teaches at Century College.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. K-12 Educators will receive 1 clock hour upon completion of the event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Rochester - Poetry Sparks! Lines, Lyrics, & Laureates
2024-04-13 11:00 - 13:00 | Historic Chateau Theater, 15 1st Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, 55902, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month with us! Join Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman and City of Rochester Poet Laureate Jean Prokott for Poetry Sparks! Lines, Lyrics, & Laureates. At this family friendly event, Gwen and Jean will share some of their poetry, and then help you write your own. Contribute to community poetry, visit our creative writing stations, write a poem to give away on poem in your pocket day, and take a chance on mystery poems. Don’t miss this opportunity to create poetry with the Laureates, and have fun while diving into the joy of poetic expression!
This event is presented in partnership with Southeast MN Poets, supporting poets of all ages and stages in their careers. The Southeast MN Poets foster growth, experience, and understanding of the art of poetry through writing, reading, and discussion.
About the Laureates
Gwen Nell Westerman is Minnesota’s current Poet Laureate, and was appointed in 2021. An enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate Nation, Gwen is the first Native poet to hold the role of Laureate for Minnesota. She teaches English and Humanities at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and in addition to her 2013 poetry collection “Follow the Blackbirds,” recently published the collection “Songs, Blood Deep”, which has been shortlisted for the 2024 MN Book Awards.
Jean Prokott’s poetry collection “The Second Longest Day of the Year” won the Howling Bird Press Book Prize (Howling Bird Press). She is the author of the chapbook “The Birthday Effect” (Black Sunflowers Press), is a recipient of the AWP Intro Journals Award, and of the John Calvin Rezmerski Memorial Grand Prize with the League of Minnesota Poets. She has poetry and nonfiction published in Verse Daily, Rattle, and Arts & Letters, among other journals. Prokott is the Poet Laureate of Rochester, Minnesota.
Registration
Registration is not required for this free event. Families, kids, all ages welcome. Poetry reading will begin at 11:00 a.m. Participants are invited to drop in any time between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Minneapolis – Minnesota Writers Series: Tartarus
2024-04-28 14:00 - 16:00 | The Loft at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, the Minnesota Writers Series will feature Ty Chapman and his debut poetry collection, “Tartarus,” published by Button Poetry. Join us in downtown Minneapolis at Open Book, for an afternoon of readings and discussions. Ty will be in conversation with Sun Yung Shin to reflect on the origins and themes of the collection and why he decided to take up the poetic form.
Both Ty and Sun Yung will be available for book signing and further conversation after the event. “Tartarus” will be available for purchase at the event through Strive Publishing and Bookstore.
This event is presented in partnership with The Loft Literary Center, a haven for readers and writers, and where both Ty and Sun Yung were recently named Lit!Commons Experts.
About the Collection
Between three sections of Basquiat-inspired vignettes, “Tartarus” offers the reader an unflinching look into Chapman’s emerging understanding of his relationship to Black masculinity through familial ties, the oscillation between nihilism and hope, and the ever present tensions felt moving through a state which sees the existence of your body as an inherent danger.
About our Guests
Ty Chapman is an author and poet based in Minnesota. He is the author of “Sarah Rising” (Beaming 2022); “Looking for Happy,” a Minnesota Book Award finalist (Beaming 2023); “Stokes,” written with John Coy (Lerner 2024); “James Finds the Beat” (Free Spirit 2024); and “Tartarus” (Button Poetry 2024). Ty is a 2024 Cave Canem fellow; a 2022 Center for Arts + Social Justice Fellow; a Mirrors & Windows fellow; and a Mentor Series fellow. He holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults through Vermont College of Fine Arts.
신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul, Korea and was raised in the Chicago area. She is a poet, writer, and cultural worker. She is the editor of “What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories on Food and Family” (2021) and of “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota,” author of poetry collections “The Wet Hex” (winner of the Midland Authors Society Award for Poetry and finalist for a Minnesota Book Award) “Unbearable Splendor” (finalist for the 2017 PEN USA Literary Award for Poetry, winner of the 2016 Minnesota Book Award for poetry); “Rough, and Savage”; and “Skirt Full of Black” (winner of the 2007 Asian American Literary Award for poetry), co-editor of “Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption,” and author of bilingual illustrated book for children “Cooper’s Lesson” and picture book “Where We Come From,” co-written with Diane Wilson, Shannon Gibney, and John Coy. Her forthcoming picture book, “Revolutions are Made of Love: Grace Lee Boggs and James Boggs,” co-written with Mélina Mangal, will be published in 2025.
Registration
This free event will be in-person at Open Book; registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History
2024-06-19 11:00 - 14:00 | OMG Studios, 550 Vandalia Street Suite 220, St. Paul, 55102, United States
Co-produced by OMG Studios and the Minnesota Humanities Center, this documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott, and into conversations with current and future scholars. Featuring Akwamu Traditional Area’s King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III and Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II, of West Africa, Ghana, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III, MN Humanities CEO Kevin Lindsey, St. Cloud State University American Studies Chair and Minnesota Book Award Winner Dr. Christopher Lehman, and Minnesota creative treasures T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and concluding with voices of the Black Youth Healing Arts Center (BYHAC).
This year’s documentary film is brought to audiences by Ujamaa Place, St. Paul Public Library, and the City of St. Paul.
Funding for this project is provided in part by Thrivent, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the African American Leadership Forum, the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, Minnesota Association for Black Lawyers, Mortenson, and Mutual of America.
Registration
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St. Paul - Juneteenth Breakfast featuring Bakari Sellers
2024-06-20 08:00 - 10:30 | St. Paul Event Center, 400 Wabasha Street North #320, St. Paul, 55102, United States
One of the premier gatherings of Minnesota’s thought leaders, creative sector and business leaders, the Minnesota Humanities Center’s Juneteenth Breakfast is an opportunity for the community to examine how together we can work toward greater justice and equity.
The 2024 Juneteenth Breakfast will feature a keynote address and community conversation with Bakari Sellers on the thesis of his new book, “The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn’t and How We All Can Move Forward Now.” Sellers is a CNN political analyst and lobbyist for the government of Liberia, and a former member of the South Carolina legislature. This commemoration experience includes a carefully curated breakfast, festive celebration, and a copy of Mr. Sellers’ new book.
In addition to our Partners in Equity sponsors, funding for this project is provided in part by Thrivent, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the African American Leadership Forum, the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, Minnesota Association for Black Lawyers, Mortenson, and Mutual of America.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation services will be available at this event.
Registration
Individual Tickets – $100
Individual Tickets
Group Tickets
Full Table (10 Tickets) – $800
Half Table (5 Tickets) – $400
Group Registration
If you encounter any registration issues with group tickets, please contact Jessica Rust at jessica@mnhum.org or by phone at 651-772-4249.

Funders and Supporters

Minneapolis - Kumbayah the Juneteenth Story
2024-06-21 11:00 - 13:00 | Northrop, 84 Church St SE, Minneapolis, 55455, United States
Minnesota Humanities Center & Northrop Present: Kumbayah the Juneteenth Story
Minnesota Humanities Center and Northrop are proud to bring Kumbayah the Juneteenth Story to the Twin Cities in collaboration with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, The Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, and local organizations. In 2021, Juneteenth was written into law as a national day of observance. Following, on February 3rd, 2023, Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Minnesota. Although awareness has grown, many people are still unfamiliar with why we celebrate Juneteenth and the insight it offers in addressing current social injustice.
Kumbayah the Juneteenth Story Performance
Kumbayah the Juneteenth Story, written by Rose McGee, is a 90-minute fictitious, two-act play that addresses a factual and traumatic time in our history was deliberately withheld that the Civil War was over and Black people were no longer to be kept as slaves with states in rebellion. Storytelling and music weave together mesmerizing scenes. Although tragedy is depicted, this play within a play is tremendously uplifting. The story begins with a Prologue set in the early 1800s in a small West African village where a young mother and her small son are being abducted from their home by slave catchers. Act One: Scene One is set in present time in a popular North Minneapolis soul-food restaurant where a group of youths and adults ultimately end up discussing what Juneteenth means. Before long they all agree to attend a play about Juneteenth. The story then shifts into 1863 on the Turner Plantation in Tyler, Texas with the character Frederick Douglass as Narrator. Immediately following the play, Dr. Amelious Whyte, University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts Interim Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will moderate a 20-minute Q&A with cast, bringing the play back to present time.
Interpretation is best suited for ages 8 and up.
Join us for pre-show activities starting at 10:30 a.m.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation services will be available at this event.
Funding for this project is provided in part by Thrivent, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the African American Leadership Forum, the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, Minnesota Association for Black Lawyers, Mortenson, Mutual of America, and The University of Minnesota Imagine Fund.
Thank you to our partners: Northrop, Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, The Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
Registration
Registration for the performance through the Northrop Box Office.
Registration Questions: umntix@umn.edu
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Funders and Supporters

St. Paul - An Evening of Haiku and Anishinaabe Song with Kimberly Blaeser, Gordon Henry, Jr., and Gerald Vizenor.
2024-06-26 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a very special evening of poetry and music with esteemed poets and writers, Kimberly Blaeser, Gordon Henry, Jr., and Gerald Vizenor. Our guests will share haiku, Anishinaabe dream songs, music, as well as conversation with one another and the audience on their work and inspirations. In the spirit of nourishing our bodies and our minds, prior to the event, we invite you to join us for a complimentary community meal, during which we will be joined by special musical guest, Phil Fried.
Books by Blaeser, Henry, and Vizenor will be available for purchase at the event through Birchbark Books, and book signing will take place after event activities have ended.
This event is presented in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO), a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native writers past, present, and future. In-Na-Po recognizes the role of poetry in sustaining tribal sovereign nations and Native languages.
About our guests:
Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is a poet, photographer, and scholar. She is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light (2024), Résister en dansant/Ikwe-niimi: Dancing Resistance (2020), and Copper Yearning (2019). Blaeser edited Traces in Blood, Bone, and Stone: Contemporary Ojibwe Poetry, wrote the monograph Gerald Vizenor: Writing in the Oral Tradition on the work of fellow White Earth writer, and served as contributing editor for When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020). Her poetry is widely anthologized and her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in exhibits such as “Visualizing Sovereignty,” and “No More Stolen Sisters.” An Anishinaabe activist and environmentalist, she is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation and grew up on the reservation. The 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, Blaeser is a Professor Emerita at UW–Milwaukee and an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts. She serves on the Poetry Coalition of the Academy of American Poets, and as Vice President of Letters for Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. Her accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. Blaeser splits her time between her home in rural Wisconsin and a water-access cabin adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
An Anishinaabe poet and novelist, Gordon Henry, Jr. is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation of Minnesota. He is the author of the poetry collection Spirit Matters: White Clay, Red Exits, Distant Other (2022), a mixed-genre collection The Failure of Certain Charms and Other Disparate (2007), a chapbook Outside White Earth (1986), and the novel The Light People (1994) which won an American Book Award. He co-published an educational reader The Ojibway (2004) with George Cornell, and his poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in various journal and anthologies in the U. S. and Europe including in New Poets of Native Nations (2018), When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through (2020), and Living Nations, Living Words (2021). A past Professor in the English Department at Michigan State University, he also served for many years as Senior Editor of the American Indian Studies Series at Michigan State University Press, and held a Fulbright Lectureship in Spain. Gordon now lives in Empire, Michigan.
Gerald Vizenor is Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a citizen of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota, and has published more than forty books, novels, literary and cultural studies, and poetry. Native Provenance: The Betrayal of Cultural Creativity, a collection of essays, is his most recent publication. Vizenor has received many awards including the American Book Award for Griever: An American Monkey King in China, the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Mark Twain Award from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature.
Registration
There is no cost to attend this event, however registration is required. A complimentary light evening meal will be served at 5:30 p.m. prior to the event start at 6:00 p.m.
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St. Paul - Indigenous Nations Poets: Poetry Reading
2024-06-28 17:30 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC), in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO) is honored to present an evening of poetry readings with this year’s IN-NA-PO fellows and visiting writers. Capping off their week-long retreat at MHC, a group of IN-NA-PO fellows and visiting writers will share some of their original work and engage each other and the audience in conversation. Fellows taking part include Anangookwe Wolf, Anthony Ceballos, Bonney Hartley, Halee Kirkwood, Kalehua Kim, Kinsale Drake, Sunni Parisien, and Tacey Atsitty. Hosting this event will be former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser, City of Minneapolis Poet Laureate Heid E. Erdrich, and Minnesota Poet Laureate Gwen Nell Westerman.
In the spirit of nourishing our bodies and our minds, prior to the event, we invite you to join us for a complimentary community meal. Books will be available for purchase at the event through Birchbark Books, and book signing will take place after event activities have ended.
This event is presented in partnership with Indigenous Nations Poets (IN-NA-PO), a national Indigenous poetry community committed to mentoring emerging writers, nurturing the growth of Indigenous poetic practices, and raising the visibility of all Native writers past, present, and future. In-Na-Po recognizes the role of poetry in sustaining tribal sovereign nations and Native languages.
About the event hosts:
Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is a poet, photographer, and scholar. She is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light (2024), Résister en dansant/Ikwe-niimi: Dancing Resistance (2020), and Copper Yearning (2019). Her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in exhibits such as “Visualizing Sovereignty,” and “No More Stolen Sisters.” An Anishinaabe activist and environmentalist, she is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation and grew up on the reservation. The 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, Blaeser is a Professor Emerita at UW–Milwaukee and an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts. Her accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas. Blaeser splits her time between her home in rural Wisconsin and a water-access cabin adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
Heid E. Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota and is Ojibwe enrolled at Turtle Mountain. Heid teaches, edits, and curates visual arts exhibitions with a focus on Native American art. Many of her seven poetry collections contain works created for collaborations with visual artists. Her poetry collection Little Big Bully, 2020, won a National Poetry Series award and the Bobbitt prize from The Library of Congress. Heid edited the 2018 anthology New Poets of Native Nations which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. She is the 2024 Minneapolis Poet Laureate.
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota in 2021.
Registration
There is no cost to attend this event, however registration is required. A complimentary light evening meal will be served at 5:30 p.m. prior to the event start at 6:00 p.m.
Register Now

St. Paul - Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: Minnesota African American History
2024-07-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
K-12 educators are invited to attend this special film screening and discussion. Co-produced by OMG Studios and the Minnesota Humanities Center, this documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott, and into conversations with current and future scholars. Featuring Akwamu Traditional Area’s King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III and Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II, of West Africa, Ghana, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III, MN Humanities CEO Kevin Lindsey, St. Cloud State University American Studies Chair and Minnesota Book Award Winner Dr. Christopher Lehman, and Minnesota creative treasures T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and concluding with voices of the Black Youth Healing Arts Center (BYHAC).
Following the 40-minute film, there will be a facilitated conversation on how to intentionally bring this history into classrooms.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
This year’s documentary film is brought to audiences by Ujamaa Place, St. Paul Public Library, and the City of St. Paul.
Registration
There is no cost to attend this event, however registration is required. Refreshments will be provided.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul – Shakespeare in Our Parks: Twelfth Night
2024-07-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is delighted to host Classical Actors Ensemble during their 10th season of Shakespeare in Our Parks! Join us on the MHC lawn as we cheer, laugh, and swoon at this year’s production: “Twelfth Night, or What You Will.” This romantic comedy presents the misadventures of shipwrecked twins who separately wash ashore in a distant land, each thinking the other dead, and soon become entangled in an unrequited love triangle of noble bon vivants.
Picnics, lawn chairs, sun umbrellas, and blankets are welcome. Note that the performance is in an open field with minimal shade. Please plan accordingly. Can’t make it on July 14? Check out Classical Actors Ensemble’s full calendar for other performances across the Twin Cities this summer.
From Classical Actors Ensemble: “The Theater is a sacred place. It is a public forum where actors and audience gather to contemplate what it means to be human. Shakespeare and his contemporaries grappled with that question in some of the English language’s best poetry, leaving behind a canon of compelling stories with universal themes that provide invigorating challenge for actors and an awe-inspiring legacy for audiences. Classical Actors Ensemble performs the plays of the English Renaissance as they were originally intended: as popular entertainment for everyone. By demonstrating why these works of art are considered classic, we freshly prove their relevance in today’s world.”
Registration
Registration is encouraged, but not required. There is no cost to attend.
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St. Paul - Summer Book Fest & Little Free Library Opening
2024-08-17 11:00 - 14:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for a summer celebration of books and storytelling as we open our new Little Free Library. Community partner Little Free Library (LFL) will be on hand to share more on how you can start your own LFL or bring your own books and participate in an LFL book share. Local authors Dr. Artika Tyner, Ty Chapman, and Monica Rojas will give readings of their children’s books; musician and storyteller Ms. Rose will lead a musical storytime; we’ll have story strolls, a scavenger hunt, book giveaways, prizes, and more! In addition, local favorite Eggroll Queen will be selling their treats and eats for you to enjoy. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to enjoy the magic of books together on MHC’s front lawn.
Free to attend, no registration required. In case of inclement weather, events will take place inside the MHC event center.

Mankato - Minnesota Writers Series: It Took Courage
2024-09-21 13:00 - 15:00 | Blue Earth County Historical Society, 424 Warren Street, Mankato, MN, 56001, United States
Join us at the Blue Earth County Historical Society in Mankato as we welcome acclaimed scholar Dr. Christopher P. Lehman, author of the recently published “It Took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2024). Dr. Lehman will discuss the moving and impactful life of Eliza Winston with the event moderator, Stacy Wells.
Dr. Lehman will be available for book signing and conversation after the event. Be sure to show up early for the event – the first 25 attendees will receive a complimentary copy of “It Took Courage” or “Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State,” also by Dr. Lehman and the winner of the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Minnesota Nonfiction.
About the book:
“It Took Courage” examines the life of Eliza Winston, an enslaved woman from Mississippi who, in 1860, appealed for her freedom before a judge in Minnesota and won. Previous research and considerations of Winston have examined her life and the impact of her case from other perspectives, including the abolitionists who helped Winston petition for her freedom and then claimed more credit than they were due, as well as white Minnesotans who reacted violently after learning the decision of the case. While these accounts have centered on the effect of Winston’s freedom on Minnesota politics, “It Took Courage” uncovers the life of Eliza Winston, her resilience, and her powerful self-advocacy. Dr. Lehman’s book offers us a new account of Eliza Winston, from the tragedies of her youth to her enslavement by the family of President Andrew Jackson, to her journey from the American South to Minnesota and the aftermath of the trial.
About the author:
Christopher P. Lehman is a professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. An historian, Dr. Lehman’s research focuses on American popular culture, representation of African Americans throughout U.S. history, and the struggle of African American equality. He is the author of seven historical nonfiction books and his most recent works, “It Took Courage” and “Slavery’s Reach” investigate the profound impact that slavery had in Minnesota and across the United States.
About the moderator:
Stacy Wells is a dedicated educator and equity thought leader with experience as a leader in the public and private sectors, K-12 teacher and administrator, higher education faculty member, and consultant. She is the co-founder of Love & Struggle, LLC, which consults with organizations to embed equity and create racially just environments, and co-author of “WRITE on RACE to Be RIGHT on RACE Resource Journaling Guide.” Stacy is the Chief Health Equity Director-Direct Care & Treatment at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Duluth - Take Me Where There Is Life: Open Studio & Closing Reception
2024-10-03 13:00 - 16:00, 2024-10-04 17:30 - 20:00 | Duluth Art Institute Lincoln Park Building, 2229 W 2nd St, Duluth, MN, 55806, United States
Throughout August and September, the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) has partnered with the Duluth Art Institute (DAI) to host a first-of-its-kind artist residency in Minnesota. “Take Me Where There Is Life” is an art project and workshop with Spanish artist Carmen La Griega that connects, facilitates, and co-creates with community members through art therapy and artistic practice with a focus on those experiencing memory loss. Workshop participants are people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia and their caregivers. Carmen’s instruction and approach to the workshop uses lessons that she learned and developed while creating art with her father, who lived with Alzheimer’s in the later stages of his life.
On Thursday, October 3 and Friday, October 4, Carmen, DAI, and MHC will host an open studio and closing reception, where attendees can learn more about the project, see an exhibition of paintings and drawings created by the workshop participants, and hear from Carmen about her experiences as an instructor and artist-in-residence.
The Open Studio will be on Thursday, October 3, from 1:00-3:00 p.m., featuring an exhibition tour and artist discussion with Carmen and DAI staff member Madeline Kayser. The Closing Reception will be on Friday, October 4, from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

St. Paul - Latino Poetry: “Places We Call Home”
2024-10-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Riverview Library, 1 E George St, St. Paul, MN, 55107, United States
What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and hopeful future? Taking place at the St. Paul Public Library – Riverview, poets Ray Gonzalez and Lupe Castillo share readings from Places We Call Home, an anthology that celebrates and explores the multifaceted legacy of Latino poetry. Presented with Minnesota Humanities Center.
Ray Gonzalez is the author of fifteen books of poetry, including The Heat of Arrivals, winner of the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Book Award; Cabato Sentora, a Minnesota Book Award Finalist; The Hawk Temple at Tierra Grande, winner of the 2003 Minnesota Book Award; Consideration of the Guitar: New & Selected Poems; Cool Auditor: Prose Poems; and Beautiful Wall, also a Minnesota Book Award winner. Gonzalez is also the author of three collections of essays, two collections of short stories, and the editor of twelve anthologies. Gonzalez is a professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota.
Lupe Castillo is the creator of HeartSpeaks: Voices of Cultura Healing & Writing Circles and a self-identified XicanaIndia from the Southern lands. As a Culture Bearer, HeartSpeaks provides activated radical collaborations in writing and spoken word artistry. Lupe facilitates writing circles and poetry workshops in community groups, high schools, and universities. Lupe’s recent poetry is documented in the Northside Green “Our Urban Canopy” Art/Coloring Book. An upcoming co-authored poetry book will be published in 2025.
About Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital form of literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.
This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.
Registration
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Minneapolis - Reckoning With Slavery: MN African American History Film Screening & “Where Do We Go From Here?” Community Talk
2024-10-12 14:00 - 16:00 | Capri Theater, 2027 W Broadway, Minneapolis, 55411, United States
Award-Winning MN African American History Film Announces Fall 2024 Tour
“Best Short Documentary” (Santa Barbara International Movie Awards) and “Best Producer” (Hollywood Discovery Awards) film, Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History, announces a 5-city tour happening this Fall.
About the Film
This documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott at Fort Snelling, and into conversations with current and future scholars about where we go from here.
Co-produced by: OMG Studios and Minnesota Humanities Center Featuring: King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III & Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II (Akwamu Traditional Area, Ghana, AF); Melvin Carter, III (Mayor, St. Paul); Kevin Lindsey (CEO, Minnesota Humanities Center); Dr. Christopher Lehman (Ethnic Studies Chair, Ethnic, Gender, and Women’s Studies, St. Cloud State University); T. Mychael Rambo; Thomasina Petrus; and Voices from Black Youth Healing Arts Center
About OMG Studios
OMG Studios is a multidisciplinary media and production studio located in the Raymond-University district of Saint Paul. Our mission is to build cultural sustainability and community, where music and art are essential to human survival and development. We are driven by love for humanity and a desire to empower, nurture, and improve the health and wellness of youth and families in under-invested communities.
About Minnesota Humanities Center
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) collaborates with individuals, organizations, and communities to bring transformational humanities programming into the lives of Minnesotans throughout the state.
Registration
Admission fee is required to attend the Twin Cities Black Film Festival.
Register Now

Waite Park - Reckoning With Slavery: MN African American History Film Screening & “Where Do We Go From Here?” Community Talk
2024-10-19 13:00 - 15:00 | Marcus Parkwood Cinema, 1533 Frontage Rd N, Waite Park, MN, 56387, United States
Award-Winning MN African American History Film Announces Fall 2024 Tour
“Best Short Documentary” (Santa Barbara International Movie Awards) and “Best Producer” (Hollywood Discovery Awards) film, Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History, announces a 5-city tour happening this Fall.
About the Film
This documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott at Fort Snelling, and into conversations with current and future scholars about where we go from here.
Co-produced by: OMG Studios and Minnesota Humanities Center Featuring: King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III & Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II (Akwamu Traditional Area, Ghana, AF); Melvin Carter, III (Mayor, St. Paul); Kevin Lindsey (CEO, Minnesota Humanities Center); Dr. Christopher Lehman (Ethnic Studies Chair, Ethnic, Gender, and Women’s Studies, St. Cloud State University); T. Mychael Rambo; Thomasina Petrus; and Voices from Black Youth Healing Arts Center
About OMG Studios
OMG Studios is a multidisciplinary media and production studio located in the Raymond-University district of Saint Paul. Our mission is to build cultural sustainability and community, where music and art are essential to human survival and development. We are driven by love for humanity and a desire to empower, nurture, and improve the health and wellness of youth and families in under-invested communities.
About Minnesota Humanities Center
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) collaborates with individuals, organizations, and communities to bring transformational humanities programming into the lives of Minnesotans throughout the state.
Registration
Admission is free. This screening features a post-screening discussion with appearances by those featured in the film.
Register Now

St. Louis Park - Reckoning With Slavery: MN African American History Film Screening & “Where Do We Go From Here?” Community Talk
2024-10-20 13:00 - 15:00 | Edina Mann Theatre, 3911 W. 5th St., Edina, MN, 55424, United States
Award-Winning MN African American History Film Announces Fall 2024 Tour
“Best Short Documentary” (Santa Barbara International Movie Awards) and “Best Producer” (Hollywood Discovery Awards) film, Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History, announces a 5-city tour happening this Fall.
About the Film
This documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott at Fort Snelling, and into conversations with current and future scholars about where we go from here.
Co-produced by: OMG Studios and Minnesota Humanities Center Featuring: King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III & Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II (Akwamu Traditional Area, Ghana, AF); Melvin Carter, III (Mayor, St. Paul); Kevin Lindsey (CEO, Minnesota Humanities Center); Dr. Christopher Lehman (Ethnic Studies Chair, Ethnic, Gender, and Women’s Studies, St. Cloud State University); T. Mychael Rambo; Thomasina Petrus; and Voices from Black Youth Healing Arts Center
About OMG Studios
OMG Studios is a multidisciplinary media and production studio located in the Raymond-University district of Saint Paul. Our mission is to build cultural sustainability and community, where music and art are essential to human survival and development. We are driven by love for humanity and a desire to empower, nurture, and improve the health and wellness of youth and families in under-invested communities.
About Minnesota Humanities Center
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) collaborates with individuals, organizations, and communities to bring transformational humanities programming into the lives of Minnesotans throughout the state.
Registration
Admission fee is required to attend the Twin Cities Film Festival.
Register Now

Rochester - Reckoning With Slavery: MN African American History Film Screening & “Where Do We Go From Here?” Community Talk
2024-10-26 13:00 - 15:00 | Marcus Rochester Cinema, 4340 Maine Ave SE, Rochester, MN, 55904, United States

St. Paul - Reflections on War and Service at the Capitol Mall
2024-10-26 13:00 - 15:30 | State Capitol Mall, 13 Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, St. Paul, MN, 55155, United States
Presented in honor of Veterans Voices Month, this event will provide participants an opportunity to reflect on the experiences and perspectives of service members, Veterans, and civilians in how we understand the nature of military conflicts, and how the public remembers and interprets the experience of war and service through memorials and monuments. The program will include an interactive writing activity and participants will have the opportunity to share their stories and experiences. Facilitators will guide participants through the writing activity and there will be time for group discussion about monuments and memorials on the Minnesota State Capitol Mall.
Participants will meet in the Minnesota State Capitol building and then walk to the Lower Capitol Mall, where most of the program will occur. Most of this event will take place outdoors, weather permitting. In case of inclement weather, the program will be conducted indoors at the State Capitol.
K-12 educators can receive 2 CEUs for attending.
Registration
This event is free and open to all ages, but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Winona - Examining Military Service From the Margins
2024-11-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Winona County Historical Society, 160 Johnson Street, Winona, MN, 55987, United States
Session 1: Introduction/What motivates people to serve?
Veterans, active service members, and civilians are invited to contribute to the “Examining Military Service From the Margins” discussion series. Facilitated by pairs of Discussion Leaders, each session will use guiding questions, and a set of core-shared resources like oral histories and films, to better understand how race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and other factors have caused the military service of some individuals to be devalued or limited in some capacity. All Discussion Leaders are either active service members or Veterans.
Consideration of central topics and themes, and discussion of key moments from military history, such as self-emancipation among the U.S. Colored Troops members in the Civil War, or the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell more recently, will spark greater conversations about service, democracy, citizenship, equality and more. Additional resources will be offered for those with extra time wanting to explore even further.
Session One of “Examining Military Service From the Margins” will introduce participants to core concepts of the discussion series and consider the guiding questions, “What do we mean by ‘Examining Military Service From the Margins?’” and “What motivates people to serve?”
What you can expect from this series:

Discussion Leaders, Veterans, active service members, and civilians will share information on military service, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or two sessions.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Minneapolis - Examining Military Service From the Margins
2024-11-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), 2001 Plymouth Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55411, United States

Duluth - Reckoning With Slavery: MN African American History Film Screening & “Where Do We Go From Here?” Community Talk
2024-11-09 13:00 - 15:00 | Marcus Duluth Cinema, 300 Harbor Dr, Duluth, MN, 55802, United States
