‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Why Phillips? Why Care?
By James Brewer Stewart Why is the Phillips Neighborhood named Phillips?”“Who was “Phillips”?”“Why should anyone care? Simply because this “Phillips” stands for a real person”“Wendell Phillips”“one of the world”'s most admired fighters for human rights and for equality for everybody”“ No Exceptions”“women and men, young and old, all colors, all backgrounds, all cultures.. That”'s right””“Phillips” stands for racial and gender equality, workers”' rights and social justice. It means standing strong for personal dignity. It means looking to the future with eyes full of hope. It means exposing and condemning racism, sexism and economic exploitation. It means treating everyone with respect. How perfect a name for Minneapolis”'s most culturally diverse, most heavily discriminated against, most economically exploited neighborhood! How perfect a name for the endlessly [...]
1st Annual Bridging Festival was a Blast!
By Dallas Johnson Our 12 hour event on 8/13 (two dozen activities moving through 10 sites) exceeded our wildest expectations. The active embodiment of an invitation, the majority of the day was hands-on and interactive. It was well attended and numbers grew with each stop along 24th St. From collecting the water at dawn, bringing the water together (w/ Sandy Spieler), Simone Speer”'s dance workshop at E Philips Park, singing quietly in a circle (with Louis Alemayhu at PCC), decorating parade regalia (w/ Heart of the Beast), marveling at the Somali Mall, the parade up 24th St (with three 12 foot puppets, musicians and our decorated umbrellas), a big crowd and Patrick Nolan”'s original poem at the murals unveiling (w/ artists Elissa Cedarleaf and Greta McLain), neighborhood skit honoring Muriel Simmons that ended in a spiral dance, party at Center for Changing Lives with art activities, seed balls, MPRB”'s kids”' games, live African music, The Alley-hosted [...]
Ingebretsen”'s Celebrates Nine Decades for Nine Weeks
By Carsten Smith Every birthday is worth celebrating, but some birthdays are worth an extra special effort. For Ingebretsen”'s Scandinavian Gifts, that birthday is the ninetieth, which will be celebrated this October. “My grandfather opened the store here because it was a Scandinavian neighborhood at the time. The neighborhood has changed, but we still feel supportive of it and supported by it. We are glad to be here,” says Julie Ingebretsen, gift store manager and the granddaughter of the store founder, Charles Ingebretsen. “We have a calendar full of special events, many of which revolve around food, naturally, and the neighborhood is invited!” says Julie. For nine Saturdays, one for each decade, Ingebretsen”'s will have “Taste of the Times,” a celebration of food fads and fashions over time. Starting October 1, from 11 to 1, customer will receive free samples of food representative of that decade. The first Saturday will be [...]
