‘History’ Archives
Monthly Update: Phillips Community Oral History Project
By PHILLIPS COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT PARTNERS A page from a scrapbook of Ebenezer Tower history, shared with Myrna Bowman by tower residents and staff. PROVIDED BY: Phillips Community Oral History Project Welcome back to the Phillips Community Oral History Project monthly update! This Column is an important part of the Project’s outreach to the Phillips Community. Its purpose is to share key progress milestones and to remain accountable to the people of Phillips. The Oral History Project is continuing to gather histories from Phillips residents through scheduled interviews and pop-up events. In October, we hosted one pop-up interview event at Ebenezer Tower, and also visited the Phillips Clean Sweep to interview attendees and volunteers. We will continue to schedule interviews and plan pop-ups; if you’re unable to attend one but wish to be interviewed, please reach out to us at the email at the end of this update. Below are a couple of highlights from the [...]
Monthly Update: Phillips Community Oral History Project. Oct. ’25
By PHILLIPS COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT PARTNERS courtesy Phillips Community Oral History Project Welcome back to the Phillips Community Oral History Project monthly update! This regular Column is an important part of the Project’s outreach to the Phillips Community. It is a space where we will share key progress milestones and keep the project accountable to the people of Phillips. After a long planning period and the official launch in September, the Phillips Community Oral History Project is now well underway. We have several updates, but the most exciting of these is that interviews have begun! As of mid-September, the Project has interviewed ten people. Of those, three were planned in advance, including Steve Sandberg, Rico Morales, and Becky Gazca. Seven additional interviews were conducted across three pop-up interview events at Franklin Library. Look out for more pop-up events around Phillips; Community members are encouraged to attend and tell their Phillips [...]
Review: Let Me Tell You About Al Flowers
Dwight Hobbes’ Let Me Tell You About Al Flowers (ETO/Even The Odds Press) is an interesting and insightful read. Brother Al has been through some experiences that eventually led up to his transformation to a path of truth and justice. As most transformations do, the pain, the suffering and the witnessing of human tragedy and the injustice brought upon himself, his family and community finally allowed the ancestors’ spirits to burst out of him. Since this awakening Al has been on a mission to rebuild the Black community. Often being a thorn in the sides of Black and White people in the struggle for justice, Brother Flowers can have an intrusive and blusterous way of engaging the status quo. This book is a story of the transformation of a kid from the projects of Chicago to his migration to Minnesota in the 70s to a leading activist for social, economic and political justice in the Black community in Minneapolis. Hobbes’ (dwighthobbes.weebly.com), author of Something I Said and [...]
