News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Friday December 19th 2025
Lake Street The Great Street
By BOBBIE ERICHSEN
Caption: Neighbors documenting their memories and experiences at a Lake Street Community Archive Pop-Up event at the Midtown Farmers’ Market on June 28.
Invitation
If you love East Lake Street — live near, work there, or feel connected —please, add your stories to a collection of memories.
Incentive
I’ve lived near the Lake Street Corridor most of my adult life; knowing it as a street, state highway, blocks of businesses, and a place of stories, contradictions, resilience, and creativity; significantly, centuries ago a walking trail of Indigenous Founders and animals between the Mississippi River and Bde Maka Ska, at the end of West Lake Street. Events five years, decades, and centuries ago inspired the creation of an additional way to hold its stories. That’s how the idea of East Lake Community Archive began.
Community Ownership
Community members dreamed and realized transformative projects before:
- Midtown Greenway from a Rail Road trenched and bridged across Mpls.
- Public Art Murals by artists celebrating connection and culture,
- Social justice projects by small business owners and non-profits to uplift community.
Showing the power of community when it owns its narrative.
Preserving Treasured Stories
Stories often go untold and not in “official” records. Murals fade, buildings burn or crumble. … Read the rest “Lake Street The Great Street”
Franklin Library News August ’25
Compiled by CHRISTINA SMITH
FRANKLIN LIBRARY HOURS
Monday 9-5
Tuesday 12-8
Wednesday 12-8
Thursday 12-8
Friday 9-5
Saturday 9-5
Sunday 12-5
PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES
Makoce Collection Celebration
Saturday, August 9th
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Come celebrate the expanded Makoce Indigenous Collection at Franklin Library! Housed in the heart of Minneapolis’ American Indian Cultural Corridor, the Makoce Collection contains a variety of materials of interest and importance to American Indian community members. This day-long celebration includes author events, Ojibwe ponies, music, art, and more!
PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH & FAMILIES
Let’s Read Drop in
Wednesdays, 4-7 pm
Saturday/Sundays 1-5 pm
Ends August 10th
Free in-person reading support for K-5 students. Students and trained volunteer tutors meet weekly one-on-one to work on grade level reading skills.
Connect & Play
Thursdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
For children of all ages and their caregivers. Connect with your child during this drop-in program exploring early literacy activities. A licensed Family Educator from Way to Grow will provide support and resources for parents and caregivers.
Native American Beadwork
Friday, August 1st, 1:00-3:00 pm
Grades 8-12. Participants will learn how to make a beginner-friendly beading project from start to finish. Participants can choose from loop earrings or a loop necklace.… Read the rest “Franklin Library News August ’25”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
By MARTI MALTBY
In the 1960s, Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus wrote “Don’t let me Be Misunderstood,” a song with lyrics that are intimate, timeless, and universal all at once.
Sung from the point of view of a flawed human, the song expressed the singer’s desire to be good while also asking:
Baby, you understand me now?
If sometimes you see that I’m mad
Don’tcha know that no one alive can always be an angel?
When everything goes wrong, you see some bad
I’ve always liked the song since I heard Elvis Costello’s version from the mid 1980s, although many other versions exist. I can relate to it so easily, knowing that I want to do what’s right, but that I often hurt the people I care about, or even total strangers, because of my weaknesses and limitations.
In some ways, the song offers a gut check to the listener. While we can probably all relate to the singer, we should also try relating to the listener. When someone disappoints us because they are under stress, or tired, or they say something offhand without thinking, how do we react? How should we react? Do we recognize that the other person is at least trying to be good?… Read the rest “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”