Columns | Southwest Connector

Winners of the PPGJLI writing competition, Nah’Lyiah Davis, Abigail Mutua, and Aniyah Stewart, threw the first pitch at a Twins’ game that also recognized the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut playing baseball. (Photo submitted)

Celebrating Jackie Robinson’s leadership legacy

The Minnesota Twins recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut in Major League Baseball. Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute was represented during the … more

By Dr. Artika Tyner | 5/24/22

Optimism is not for the faint-hearted

Why is pessimism so compelling? Is it that we fear being disappointed? Is it so foolish to have optimism and hope? My experience is that optimism seldom leads to complacency. Rather, it’s … more

By Larry LaVercombe | 5/24/22

A young artist at a community festival at Mueller Park in 2021. (Photo courtesy LHENA)

To everyone who wants to savor the world

It's time to start healing. But how do we create a healing community when people are hurting? "A traumatized gang member is more likely to cause trauma. A cherished person is going to find the … more

By Eric Ortiz | 5/24/22

Anne Pryor has created more than 2,000 vivid images to elucidate, awaken, and activate souls using ink, her breath, and essential oils.

MEET SOUL PAINTING ARTIST ANNE PRYOR

By Suzie Marty | 5/5/22

WE BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE ARTS TO CHANGE LIVES

Raise your hand if you know a high school kid who suffered through COVID-19... (If your hand isn’t up, then apparently you don’t know any high school kids. Right?) We can probably agree … more

By Larry LaVercombe | 5/5/22

Community leader, Manu Lewis, said, “We need to go back to humanity.” (Photo submitted)

HUMANITY IS OUR BUSINESS

The world is opening up again. That’s good news for all of us who are still here. But just when you think life can’t get any more absurd, Elon Musk buys Twitter. The richest man on Earth … more

By Eric Ortiz | 5/5/22

Installing a small elevator and widening doorways made this lower level more accessible. (Photo by Andrea Rugg Photography)

Home renovations to age in place

At age 69, I was a “silver sneaker” poster child – fit and healthy, living on my own, fiercely independent and proud of it. Ironically, my main fitness exercise, avid fast walking … more

By SUSAN SCHAEFER | 4/28/22

Minnehaha resident John Schmelig met with Ukrainian Army veterans while serving in the Peace Corp in 2017.

My personal connection to Ukraine

On a spring afternoon in June 2017, I’m bounding along a country highway in a minivan with four other passengers. I’m gazing out the window across a green sea of a waist-high crop … more

By John Schmelig | 4/28/22

Donald L. Hammen is a longtime south Minneapolis resident, and serves on the All Elders United for Justice steering committee.

The Donald L. Hammen I know: staying strong, writing with courage

Imagine you are with me at my recent visit to the River Lake Eye Clinic. I have been a client there for many years. Even before receiving original Medicare plus supplement. You have now taken the … more

By Donald L. Hammen | 4/28/22

Mural by Tom Jay at the 2021 LynLake Street Art Series. (Jungle Theater/Tom Jay)

The power of street art

Make today better. That was the message on a mural created at the LynLake Street Art Series in Minneapolis last summer. The mural started as a black wall painted outside the Jungle Theater … more

By Eric Ortiz | 4/20/22

SOUTHWEST WOMAN FOUNDS ESPERIENZA

Over the past two years, we have all been dreaming of something. Southwest resident Anna Bonavita has been dreaming of Italy. She’s the founder of Esperienza, a local nonprofit organization … more

By Suzie Marty | 4/20/22

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. (Photo from senate.gov)

TRUTH, BEAUTY AND THE UGLINESS WE’RE UP AGAINST

“’Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ that is all ye need know on earth, and all ye need to know.”This famous quote from poet John Keats has lived inside me since I was an English … more

By Larry LaVercombe | 4/20/22

Michele Rae, RPh, MA, NBC-HWC is the founder of The Center Within, LLC and author of “Living From the Center Within: Co-Creating Who You Are Becoming.” She provides holistic coaching designed to accelerate and support personal, professional, and organizational transformation.

ALIGN YOUR WELL-BEING WITH YOUR CHOICES

Spring is emerging here in Minnesota. For me, this is a month to step back, take an inventory of where I am, what I am moving towards, what is clear and what is unclear, what is in flow, and what … more

By Michele Rae | 4/20/22

Southwest High School students Vanessa Hanson (left) and Brynn Sexton learn to play the guitar in Ruth LeMay’s class. “Students deserve a guitar education,” said LeMay. “It is a lifelong instrument.”

It takes a village to save a guitar program

NEWSFLASH! It was touch and go for a few days, but the one-of-a-kind Southwest High School guitar program is NOT being eliminated. Yay!! Chalk this one up to “Parental Involvement” meets … more

By Larry LaVercombe | 4/5/22

Minneapolis street art on Lake Street at Lyndale Avenue calls for peace after the George Floyd protests in 2020. (Eric Ortiz)

A Real Way to Stop the Violence

In Minneapolis, public safety remains an open wound. There has been no slowdown to the shootings, carjackings, robberies and other criminal acts that plagued the city in 2021. Minneapolis now … more

By Eric Ortiz | 4/5/22

Hale and Field schools were combined in a unique pairing in 1971 designed to take meaningful steps towards racially integrating one school that had more White students and one that had more Black. (Mpls Star Trib News Negatives.Box 310)

'Separate Not Equal' exhibit marks the 50th anniversary of the Hale-Field pairing project

Of all my identities, being a Field-Hale-Field kid is one of the most formative. Let me explain. I grew up on First Avenue in south Minneapolis, a stable block of Tudor and Craftsman-style homes that … more

by guest columnist Cara Letofsky The Fair Economy Project Director | 4/5/22

Advice and service tips from Bobby & Steve’s Auto World

After a brutal winter, Minnesotans know it’s time to tend to our vehicles. And for metro area residents there’s no better place than the locally owned Bobby & Steve’s Auto … more

By SUSAN SCHAEFER | 3/23/22

Not sure what to put in your boulevard? Plan ahead for success. Pick plants well-suited to the conditions.

Wondering what to plant in those tough spots?

As a Master Gardener, people ask me lots of questions about their yards, but probably the most common type of question is “I have a spot that’s hard to grow things in. What should I plant … more

By LAUREN BETHKE, Master Gardener | 3/23/22

For me, 2022 will be the Year of the Woman

As I make my way down the river of life experience with those of you who have taken the plunge and joined me as readers of Stories and Journeys, I always knew this moment would come. Initiating … more

By Donald L. Hammen | 3/23/22

THE TOKEN POC

I glanced around the room, hoping something would be different this time. Entering yet another door into yet another room. The same kind of room I was just in, funny enough. Crowded, chattery, even a … more

By ABHA KARNICK | 3/23/22 | 1 comment