Insight ::: 08.03.2026

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Insight News • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Page 1

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August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026

Vol. 53 No. 31 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

STOKLEY

WILLIAMS

Returns to the St. Paul stage for Selby Ave JazzFest’s 25th anniversary

By Al McFarlane, Insight News Editor Few musicians have shaped the sound of the Twin Cities as durably as Stokley Williams.

As a founding member, lead vocalist, drummer and creative force behind Mint Condition, Williams has long stood among the artists who helped define the region’s distinctive blend of soul, rhythm, jazz, funk and live-band musicianship.

As the community prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of Selby Ave JazzFest, Williams’ return to a St. Paul stage carries significance beyond a single performance. It represents a homecoming for an artist whose work has traveled nationally and internationally while remaining deeply connected to the creative identity of the Twin Cities.

A legacy built on rhythm

Throughout his career, Williams has demonstrated an uncommon ability to remain relevant across generations. Since Mint Condition emerged on the national scene, his voice, musicianship and commitment to live performance have made him a central figure in Minnesota’s Black music tradition.

His influence extends

beyond the stage. Drummer and educator Brandon Commodore, who serves as drummer and musical director for Williams, offers one documented example of how knowledge, discipline and opportunity continue to move between generations of Twin Cities musicians. The relationship reflects mentorship through professional practice rather than a formal educational program.

Williams’ music has consistently crossed genre boundaries. Whether working within R&B, soul, funk or contemporary popular music, he has drawn on the improvisational instincts, rhythmic vocabulary, harmonic sophistication and ensemble responsiveness associated with jazz.

A solo career that expanded the legacy

Mint Condition established Williams as one of contemporary R&B’s most recognizable voices, but his solo career revealed additional dimensions of his artistry.

His debut solo album, Introducing Stokley, was released in June 2017 through his own Bluraffe Entertainment and Concord Records. The project included the singles “Level” and “Organic” and highlighted his work as a vocalist, songwriter, producer, arranger, drummer

and multi-instrumentalist.

Williams expanded that chapter with Sankofa, released in September 2021 through a joint venture between Bluraffe and Flyte Tyme/Perspective Records, the label operated by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The project included collaborations with H.E.R., Snoop Dogg, Wale, The Bonfyre and KiDi, and a guest appearance by his father, the writer and historian Mahmoud El-Kati. Its single “She” became his first No. 1 as a solo artist.

Rather than distancing himself from the Mint Condition legacy, Williams built upon it. His solo work preserved the musical values that shaped his earlier career while creating room for new collaborations, contemporary production and a broader expression of his artistic identity.

Jazz at the heart of his musical language

Jazz is not an ornamental influence in Williams’ work. It is present in his command of rhythm, his responsiveness to other musicians, his instinct for improvisation, and his ability to move between the roles of vocalist, drummer, arranger and bandleader.

That versatility places him within the wider continuum

of Twin Cities Black music associated with artists and institutions including Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Sounds of Blackness, and the broader Minneapolis Sound tradition that also produced players such as St. Paul Peterson. The connection is one of regional artistic lineage and shared musical ecosystem, not a claim of direct collaboration in every instance.

Williams’ appearance at Selby Ave JazzFest therefore represents more than a prominent booking. It reflects the festival’s commitment to presenting artists whose careers embody the creativity, discipline and improvisational freedom that jazz celebrates.

A musician’s musician

Among fellow artists, Williams is described as a musician’s musician because his influence extends beyond singing. Questlove has used that phrase for him, along with singer’s singer and drummer’s drummer. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have said his greatest strength is his effect on the musicians around him.

His work encompasses songwriting, production, arranging, drumming, ensemble leadership and the professional example he offers younger performers. His longevity rests

not only on recognition, but on craft. He has sustained artistic growth across changing musical eras while maintaining the liveband foundation that made Mint Condition distinctive.

The milestone offers an opportunity to recognize the founders, artists, community partners, students and audiences whose participation has sustained the event.

Returning to a St. Paul stage

A homecoming celebration

Williams is among the performers announced for the 25th anniversary Selby Ave JazzFest on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at Selby and Milton in St. Paul. He is also scheduled to lead a Homecoming Masterclass on Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Walker|West Music Academy campus, 650 Marshall Ave. Walker|West identifies him in its festival announcement as a former student of the academy.

Across 25 editions since 2002, the festival has provided a gathering place where music, culture, commerce and community meet along the Selby Avenue corridor. The festival helps activate the corridor through music, culture and community gathering while preserving connections among artists, neighborhood institutions, longtime residents, students and new generations of listeners.

Walker West Music Academy’s stewardship of the anniversary celebration further connects the festival to the region’s educational and intergenerational music traditions.

Insight News has long chronicled the people and institutions whose work reflects the creativity, resilience and aspirations of Minnesota’s Black community.

Williams’ career belongs within that record.

From Twin Cities stages to national recognition, from Mint Condition’s enduring catalog to his growth as a solo artist, Williams has carried the musical spirit of the region into each phase of his career.

His Selby Ave JazzFest appearance is therefore more than a concert engagement. It is a community homecoming and an act of cultural remembrance — an occasion to honor an artist who helped shape Minnesota’s sound while affirming the continuity of that sound across generations.

With Williams among the artists marking its 25th anniversary, Selby Ave JazzFest is positioned to celebrate the past, gather the community in the present, and place the next generation within an ongoing Twin Cities musical tradition.

Selby Avenue JazzFest celebrates 25 years of music and community Twenty-five years after its founding, the Selby Avenue JazzFest will return Sept. 12-13 for a weekend of music, cultural celebration and community gathering rooted in St. Paul’s historic Rondo community.

The anniversary festival will bring local and national performers to the Selby and Milton avenue corridor while connecting the event’s history to the educational mission of Walker|West Music Academy, which now serves as steward of the festival.

Founded in 2002 by entrepreneurs Mychael and Stephanie Wright, the Selby

Avenue JazzFest grew from a neighborhood gathering into an annual celebration of Black music and culture. The Wrights, who formerly operated Golden Thyme Coffee and Café, created the festival as a space for musicians, businesses, families and community members to gather. Walker|West’s festival announcement describes that first gathering as an occasion for healing and togetherness in the period following the Sept.

11, 2001, attacks.

Walker|West is presenting the festival for the third consecutive year, continuing the tradition established by

the Wrights while connecting the event to music education, mentorship and artistic development.

A legacy rooted in Black music

Grant West, co-founder of Walker West, described the anniversary as an expression of the festival’s cultural purpose and the vision of its founders.

“Selby Ave Jazz Fest 25 stands as a cherished legacy and tradition of the Black music experience, meticulously crafted by visionary entrepreneurs Mychael and Stephanie Wright,” West said. “This milestone is a resounding testament

to the power of Black music to transcend boundaries, unite people, and sustain African-American culture. We are filled with joy to honor this tradition and keep the rhythms flowing.”

The festival’s continuation under Walker West places its public performances within a broader institutional commitment to music education.

Walker West was founded in 1988 by African American musicians, among them West, whom the academy identifies as a co-founder. Walker|West provides instruction and performance opportunities for students ranging in age from 9

months to 99 years, according to the organization.

The school’s work brings students, professional musicians, teachers and community members into a shared musical environment. That intergenerational mission is reflected in the structure of the anniversary festival, which combines public performance with mentorship and music education.

Ernest Bisong, Walker|West artistic director and JazzFest director, said the milestone reflects both the festival’s neighborhood roots and its ability to connect generations.

“The 25th anniversary is more than a celebration of longevity,” Bisong said. “It’s a testament to the enduring spirit of the Rondo community and the power of music to inspire and build connection across generations.”

Saturday performances and community activities

The main JazzFest celebration will take place Saturday, Sept.

12, at the intersection of Selby and Milton avenues.

The event is free and

JAZZFEST 8

Page 2 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Commentary The absurdity of a “right” to nudify children

By Keith Ellison, MN Attorney General Substack Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is suing me in my official capacity as Minnesota Attorney General. The claim? A first-inthe-nation law banning “nudification” technology violates the First Amendment.

Think about what that argument actually says: the Constitution protects a corporation’s right to build and distribute a tool whose primary purpose is stripping real people — including children— of their clothes in digital images, rendering them nude and sexually explicit. In xAI’s framing, prohibiting tools that mass-produce child sexual abuse material is a First Amendment violation.

Minnesota’s new law, passed with bipartisan support and taking effect August 1, 2026, doesn’t ban ideas, opinions, or political speech. It targets commercial products: — a “website, application, software, program” or other service — that allow users to take a real person’s likeness and synthetically generate images of their intimate parts which the law defines as “the primary genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or breast.”

The penalty (up to $500,000 per violation) falls on the platform providing the product or tool, not on individual users.

This isn’t censorship.

It’s consumer protection and child protection. When a company owned by the world’s first trillionaire builds a machine that mass-produces sexual imagery

of real human beings, including children, it’s not engaging in discourse. It’s manufacturing abuse at scale. For profit.

One report indicates Grok, xAI’s chatbot, generated over 20,000 sexualized images of minors in its first two weeks.

Teenage girls have already sued, alleging their photos were fed into the system and returned as pornography. The victims are

real. The harm is permanent.

The First Amendment was never intended to shield a business model predicated on the digital sexual exploitation of children.

The lawsuit becomes stranger still against the backdrop of the Epstein phenomenon. For years, Jeffrey Epstein’s network trafficked children with impunity, protected by wealth, political access, and institu-

tional silence. The administration now occupying the White House has deep, documented ties to the Epstein files — ties that have been litigated, reported, and never fully explained.

Elon Musk, a central figure in that administration, has his own documented connections to Epstein.

And now Musk’s AI company is in federal court arguing that the Constitution requires Minnesota to stand down while his product generates tens of thousands of sexualized images of children.

That’s not a legal argument. It’s a declaration of impunity. xAI frames the ban as a “content-based restriction on free speech.” But the speech being restricted isn’t theirs — it’s the use of someone else’s

body and face. The right to speak doesn’t include the right to weaponize another person’s likeness for sexual degradation, especially a child’s. Courts have long ruled that child sexual abuse materials have no constitutional protections.

Minnesota drew a narrow line: the law prohibits commercial “nudification” services that synthetically generate intimate parts on the non-nude images of real people. It exempts general AI art, professional editing software requiring human skill, ordinary clothed photos, and fictional imagery. I commend the Minnesota Legislature for drawing that line, and the Attorney General’s Office is proud to defend it.

The Constitution does not require us to erase it.

Heritage Park was never supposed to end like this

By Paul Bauknight

Founder and President, Center for Transformative Urban Design More than twenty years ago, Heritage Park represented something much bigger than a housing project. As one of the architects who helped design the neighborhood, I believed we were participating in a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demonstrate that North Minneapolis deserved the same quality neighborhoods, thoughtful design, and public investment that communities across our region have long expected.

We weren't simply replacing distressed public housing. We were trying to create a neighborhood where families could build stable lives, where opportunity could take root, and

where thoughtful design could help reconnect a community that had experienced decades of disinvestment.

For a time, Heritage Park became one of the nation's most celebrated examples of public housing redevelopment.

Today, however, it has become a painful reminder that buildings alone cannot transform communities.

The recent reports of mold, deteriorating apartments, unsafe living conditions, and families being displaced are heartbreaking. The Minneapolis City Council's decision to approve $2.5 million in emergency funding was the right decision. Families should not be forced to live in unsafe conditions while government debates the next steps. Relocating residents from unhealthy homes is an urgent responsibility.

But let's be honest

KEITH ELLISON fo r Attorney G en eral

PEGGY FLANAGAN

fo r U.S. Se nat e

about what this funding is and what it isn't. This is emergency money intended to move people out of harm's way. It is not a long-term solution for Heritage Park, nor does it address the deeper issues that allowed one of the nation's most celebrated redevelopment projects to reach this point. If our response ends with relocation and repairs, we will have addressed the immediate crisis while leaving the underlying problems untouched.

The answer is not that Heritage Park was poorly designed. From an architectural and planning perspective, the neighborhood accomplished many of the goals we set out to achieve. Streets were reconnected. Mixed-income housing replaced obsolete public housing.

Parks, public spaces, and walkable streets created a neighborhood that reflected dignity and possibility. Those accomplish-

ments remain important today.

What was underestimated was that physical transformation is only one part of community transformation.

Throughout my career, I have come to understand that while architecture can create opportunity, it cannot sustain it on its own. Buildings cannot prepare children for school, connect residents to good-paying jobs, support entrepreneurs, improve health outcomes, or help families recover from generations of economic exclusion.

Those outcomes require longterm investment in people, not simply investment in property.

That is where Heritage Park fell short.

The history of housing in America has always been intertwined with race, public policy, and unequal access to opportunity. Black communities, in particular, have repeatedly

AMY KLOBUCHAR for Gove r nor

BEN SCHIERER

for L ie ut e na nt Gove r nor

experienced ambitious promises followed by diminished public commitment once the construction crews leave. Heritage Park is part of that larger story. The physical redevelopment was completed, but the long-term investments in education, workforce development, resident leadership, wealth creation, and family stability never kept pace with the investment made in the buildings themselves.

We completed the construction project, but we never completed the community development project.

Council Member Pearll Warren deserves credit for refusing to allow these conditions to remain hidden.

Residents have voiced concerns for years, and their experiences should never have required television cameras or headlines before meaningful action was taken. Listening to residents should

be the starting point of public leadership, not the last resort.

As communities across Minnesota continue investing in affordable housing and neighborhood redevelopment, Heritage Park offers an important lesson. We cannot define success by ribbon cuttings, occupancy rates, or attractive buildings alone. Those milestones matter, but they are only the beginning. The real measure of success is whether families become healthier, safer, more economically secure, and better positioned to thrive over generations.

Repairing buildings is necessary, but it is only one piece of the work ahead. Minneapolis must recommit to Heritage Park with the same ambition that existed when the neighborhood was first envi-

HERITAGE PARK 10

STEVE SIMON

for Se c retary of State

ZACK FILIPOVICH for State A uditor

OFFICIAL 2026 PRIMARY ELECTION SAMPLE BALLOT V O T E B Y A U G U S T 1 1 T H | I W I L LV O T E . C O M PAID FOR BY THE MINNESOTA DEMOCRATIC-FARMER-LABOR PARTY, DFL.ORG

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Vol. 53 No. 31 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

From bookstores to book fairs:

Minnesota's Black literary ecosystem comes of age Mayor Kaohly Her

Investigation opens into St. Paul mayor following formal complaint by police chief St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry has filed a formal complaint alleging that Mayor Kaohly Her sexually harassed city employees, including members of the police department.

Editor

By Al McFarlane An independent investigation is underway into St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her after St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry filed a formal complaint alleging sexual harassment of city employees, including members of the St. Paul Police Department. The complaint was submitted through Henry’s attorney, Christopher W. Madel, who notified the city in an April 1 letter that litigation was “reasonably foreseeable.”

The letter, addressed to St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao, was obtained and reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune, KARE 11 and KSTP-TV. Following the complaint, the City of St. Paul retained an independent outside law firm to investigate the allegations. The Star Tribune identified the firm as Resolute Law, based in St. Cloud.

The mayor has said the investigation began in April.

No findings or conclusions have been publicly released.

Complaint filed

In the April 1 letter, Madel wrote that the city was on notice that Mayor Her had “engaged in illegal conduct towards City employees,” and stated that litigation was reasonably foresee-

able.

According to the letter, Chief Henry decided to step forward as the formal complainant after becoming aware that the conduct alleged extended beyond isolated incidents and included the sexual harassment of subordinate city employees, among them members of the police department.

Madel wrote that Henry came forward in part out of concern that the conduct would otherwise continue unchecked and could expose others to retaliation for speaking out.

The attorney also asked the city to preserve potential evidence, demanding that it perform a full filesystem extraction of each of the mayor’s mobile phones.

Communications cited in complaint

Documents reported by the Star Tribune, KSTP-TV, KARE 11 and other news organizations include a screenshot of a text message the complaint alleges the mayor sent to a city employee. The message greeted the recipient with a reference to “Weiner Wednesday” and expressed regret at not being able to share a hot dog with the recipient that day. News accounts describe a partially redacted image appearing beneath the message.

The complaint also describes alleged conduct inside department facilities, including remarks about a female deputy

INVESTIGATION

5

Family feud over Chadwick Boseman’s estate highlights 3 lessons for grieving families

By Reid Kress Weisbord Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers University - Newark Naomi Cahn Professor of Law, University of Virginia Chadwick Boseman’s death from colon cancer in 2020 shocked his fans. The actor and playwright, best known

for starring in Marvel’s first “Black Panther” movie, worked throughout his private battle with the disease.

Six years after he died at 43 without a will, he is back in the news because of a dispute among his loved ones.

His multimillion-dollar estate is once again in a California courtroom. Boseman’s two brothers have asked a judge to remove his widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, from managing and settling the estate.

They also want the judge to hold Ledward in contempt of court. They claim that the resolution of his estate has stalled due to delays, poor communication and mismanagement.

Ledward has not yet responded publicly to these claims.

This family feud involving a celebrity highlights three legal issues that intrigue us as scholars of inheritance law. First, when someone dies without a will, their property passes to heirs in accordance

Two Black-owned bookstores, a hybrid press, a 40-year-old archive and a new Black August book fair

are starting to behave like one system.

On Saturday, Aug. 22, the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center at 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. will fill, from noon to 5 p.m., with Black booksellers, Black authors, Black publishers, Black food vendors and the readers who sustain all of them. The occasion is the Midwest Black Book Fair.

The fair is led by Black Garnet Books, with Dr. Terresa Hardaway as event director and Madyson Sklar and Terra Brister as lead organizers.

More than a dozen literary partners are advising on production: Strive Publishing & Bookstore, Babycake's Book Stack, In Black Ink, Griot Arts, the Givens Collection, More Than a Single Story, Saint Paul Almanac, Planting People Growing Justice, Mind's Eye Comics, Wise Ink, Picture Book Parade, Uhuru Bookstore, MN BIPOC KidLit Creators, the Minnesota Black Authors Expo and the Network for the Development of Children of African Descent.

The event features tables for retailers, food vendors and authors. Six afternoon sessions include an author panel moderated by Hardaway, a conversation on the Black literary history of Minnesota, and a workshop titled The Real on Publishing.

For decades, Black literary work in the Midwest lived in a state of fragility, dependent on external gatekeepers for validation, distribution and archival memory. A Black literary ecosystem is more than the sum of its bookstores. It is a structural necessity for cultural health.

It encompasses publishing access, where Blackowned and Black-led presses determine what gets printed.

Ownership, so that the economic value of Black storytelling stays in the community that produced it. Preservation, so that the lineage is not lost to the

BLACK LITERARY 10

How the Trump administration’s rhetoric promotes anti‑transgender views

Credit: Realtor.com/FilmMagic

Chadwick Boseman

FEUD

5 Credit: The White House/Flickr

Donald Trump in a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room

Nexus Community Partners opens 10th North Star cooperative fellowship

By Julie D. Nelson Associate Professor of English and Writing, University of Tampa

Nexus Community Partners has closed the 2026 application period for its Open Road Fund and will open applications Aug. 3 for the 10th cohort of its North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship. Money, education and governance land on the community calendar in the same week.

Nexus works to build engaged and powerful communities of color so that each and every person can flourish in a joyful and abundant life. The organization pursues that work through three interlocking commitments it names Authorship,

Whether in an Oval Office proclamation signing about commercial fishing or during a Fox News interview while discussing Iran, President Donald Trump finds opportunities to share his views on transgender people.

During a June 2026 signing event, Trump claimed, in response to a question about proposed legislation regarding election procedures, called the SAVE America Act: “We are talking about saving America, right? No men in women’s

Leadership and Ownership — engaging community, cultivating power, building community wealth. Its offices are at 2125 E. Hennepin Ave. in Minneapolis.

Open Road Fund closes its 2026 cycle

The 2026 Open Road Fund application period is closed. Applicants selected to receive a gift will hear from the Open Road Fund team by email and phone at the end of August. Applicants who are not selected this year will be notified by email at the beginning of September.

Nexus says it will not identify potential gift recipients, holding that the decision to share belongs to the recipient.

Applicants who want a copy of an application, or who never received a confirmation, can write

ORFSupport@nexuscp.org.

The Open Road Fund is not a general grant program. It distributes $50,000 wealth-building gifts to Black

FELLOWSHIP

I2H

Cholera still kills thousands each year – in places without clean water, it’s far from history

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sports.” He continued, “And we have no mutilization of your children for transgender purposes … where your child leaves your house, and they take your child from you. …

In six states, they take the child and do what they want to do.

What they do is, is I don’t even want to talk about it. No transgender mutilization of your children.”

Highlighting Trump’s ongoing use of the made-up word “mutilization,” criticism quickly followed his false claims about states forcibly transitioning children. Misrepresentations like these help fuel the transgender moral panic

ANTI-TRANSGENDER 10

Business

As AI reshapes newsrooms, leading media outlets are charting different paths for its use

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Page 4 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

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Trump’s new global anti-terror campaign relies on a single executive memo

By Melinda Haas Assistant Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh A little-noticed presidential national security directive is now the legal engine behind a wave of terrorism prosecutions against left-wing protesters.

That domestic campaign now has an international dimension, one that American officials had been planning for months, culminating on July 16, 2026, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism drew representatives from more than 65 countries to Washington. The gathering was informally called the “Antifa summit.”

Rubio described antifa-aligned networks as sharing infrastructure across borders and accused Iran and Cuba of helping bankroll the movement, without offering evidence. The White House declared the summit the start of an “unprecedented global offensive” against what it calls “radical left terrorism.”

This offensive is built on the same domestic legal architecture that has now sent American activists to prison for decades.

That architecture is National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7, issued on Sept. 25, 2025, which for the first time appeared to authorize preemptive law enforcement measures against Americans based not on whether they are planning to commit violence but for their political or ideological beliefs.

Nearly a year later, that blueprint has moved from paper into practice.

The Justice Department has built task forces staffed by counterterrorism prosecutors. The FBI has set up its own NSPM-7 mission center to oversee investigations into left-wing movements, including a joint effort with the IRS to investigate nonprofit groups.

The Justice Department has used this machinery to convict activists and send some of them to prison for decades.

NSPM-7 was not passed by Congress. It’s a lesser-known tool of executive power: a presidential memorandum.

As an international relations scholar who has studied U.S. foreign policy decision-making and national security legislation, I recognize that presidents can take several

types of executive actions without legislative involvement: executive orders, memoranda and proclamations.

This structure allows the president to direct law enforcement and national security agencies, with little opportunity for congressional oversight.

ment to the foreign terrorist designation in large part because of the potential for impinging on First Amendment–protected association and speech.

But I fear that chilling speech may be the point.

Silencing dissent

Presidential national security powers

Executive memorandums direct agencies to prepare reports, implement policies or align programs with the administration’s priorities. Unlike executive orders, they aren’t required to be published. When they relate to national security, like NSPM-7, they’re called national security directives – many of which stay classified and may not be declassified for years or decades.

The stated purpose of NSPM-7 is to counter domestic terrorism and organized political violence, focusing mainly on perceived threats from the political left. The memorandum identifies “anti-Christian,” “anti-capitalism” or “anti-American” views as potential indicators that a group or person will commit domestic terrorism.

The memorandum claims that political violence originates with “anti-fascist” groups that hold the following views: “support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

The strategy includes preemptive measures to disrupt groups before they engage in violent political acts, empowering multiagency task forces to investigate potential federal crimes related to radicalization and the groups’ funders. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s December 2025 implementation memo went further, ordering a five-year review of agency files on antifa. A task force staffed with counterterrorism and organized-crime prosecutors is carrying out these investigations.

‘Domestic terrorist organizations’

Donald Trump NSPM-7 also allows the attorney general to propose groups for designation as “domestic terrorist organizations.”

That includes groups that engage in “organized doxxing campaigns, swatting, rioting, looting, trespass, assault, destruction of property, threats of violence, and civil disorder.”

Existing laws allow the secretary of state to designate groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” that are then subject to financial sanctions.

But these laws do not permit the president to label domestic groups this way.

That gap hasn’t stopped prosecutions. In Texas, eight defendants tied to a “North Texas Antifa Cell” were sentenced in June 2026 for a 2025 armed confrontation at the Prairieland immigration detention center. One man received 100 years, and others who never fired a weapon still drew decades in prison under terrorism sentencing guidelines.

In Minnesota, 15 members and associates of a group called Direct Action Minnesota were indicted in June 2026 on conspiracy and assault charges. A 94-page indictment cited behavior such as wearing an “I’m Antifa!” sweatshirt, possessing a bullhorn or including a devil emoji in a Signal message.

Defining terrorism

The memorandum directs the Department of Justice to focus FBI resources from approximately 200 Joint Terrorism Task Forces on investigating “acts of recruiting or radicalizing persons” for the purpose of “political violence, terrorism, or conspiracy against rights; and the violent deprivation of any citizen’s rights.”

NSPM-7 marks a major conceptual shift in U.S. counterterrorism policy, departing from approaches that primarily targeted foreign threats.

Earlier directives, dating to Ronald Reagan’s presidency, treated terrorism as a global menace countered through military power and diplomacy. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration reframed it

Credit: Official White House Photo by Molly Riley

as a domestic challenge after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

After 9/11, the Bush administration fused counterterrorism with national defense through the global war on terrorism. The Obama administration later tried to narrow those powers, asking whether targeted individuals “pose a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons” — a standard focused on tactics and capture feasibility, not ideology.

The first Trump administration used a “travel ban” against several “terror-prone” countries, while President Joe Biden redirected focus toward weapons of mass destruction.

Notably, the “domestic terrorist” label itself has rarely produced actual charges.

The State Department designated four antifa-aligned groups as foreign terrorist organizations.

But antifa is a decentralized movement, not a formal group with a roster.

This designation lacks any real legal weight because U.S. law has no formal domestic terrorist organization category. Creating one risks infringing on First Amendment protected speech. Domestic terrorism itself is not a chargeable offense.

Prosecutors have instead leaned on older statutes such as material support for terrorism and conspiracy laws, tools originally built for cases like the ones above, not protest movements.

First Amendment rights at risk

There is no single official definition of terrorism in U.S. law; definitions vary by purpose – criminal law, intelligence collection, civil liability.

Definitions in all

Mail‑in voting: Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to revive executive order setting limits, rejected by lower courts

By John E. Jones III President, Dickinson College John Jones knows about voter suppression. Currently the president of Dickinson College, Jones – nominated in 2002 by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate – served for almost two decades as a federal court judge.

In that role, Jones presided over a case, filed just prior to the November 2020 presidential election, in which a conservative legal foundation sued Pennsylvania’s top election official, alleging that she had allowed 21,000 dead people to remain on the voter rolls. The group asked Jones to stop those people from voting.

Jones denied the request. “In an election where every vote matters, we will not disenfranchise potentially eligible voters based solely upon the allegations of a private foundation,” he wrote in his memorandum on the case.

In this interview with The Conversation politics and legal affairs editor Naomi Schalit, Jones discusses Presi-

Credit: USDA Photo by Ken Hammond

Supreme Court dent Donald Trump’s March 31, 2026, executive order to wrest control of mail-in voting from states and give it to the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security; how the constitutional design of U.S. voting bars such federal control; and how Trump’s order would disenfranchise voters and has been the subject of lawsuits by voting rights groups and 23 states.

Trump’s executive order has in large part been blocked by a lower court, and on July 27, 2026, his administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow his order to be implemented.

Article 1, Section 4, of the Constitution says, “The Times, Places and Manner of

holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.” When you first saw the executive order by the president, what did you think?

My first thought was, this executive order is dead on arrival. It assumes two problems that really don’t exist.

States are empowered under Article 1, Section 4, of the Constitution to conduct elections and set the time, place and manner of those elections.

The president’s March order asserts that states don’t maintain active and appropriate voter rolls. That’s just not true. State after state takes

that very, very seriously, and it’s a principle of federalism that states are given the responsibility for conducting elections. This includes maintaining accurate voter rolls, which, despite the noise to the contrary, states have historically done very well.

The second inaccuracy that undergirds this executive order is that there is rampant fraud in mail-in voting. There is absolutely no evidence to show that that is true.

So you have those twin rationales that are, in my view, demonstrably untrue. And as someone who believes that we need to defer to the laws and the Constitution, not to mention find accurate facts, this is deeply troubling. It’s just beyond the president’s authority to do this.

There are other problems. They are less critical but equally fatal.

President Trump said on signing the executive order that “the cheating on mail-in voting is legendary.” So the order gives the U.S. Postal Service the job of determining who may cast mail ballots, in cooperation with the Department of

MAIL-IN VOTING

5

those areas typically focus on identifying violent or dangerous acts done with the intent to intimidate or coerce civilians or influence government policy.

But more than redefining terrorism, NSPM-7 reorients the machinery of national security toward the policing of belief.

The First Amendment generally prevents the government from punishing people for unpopular opinions. It also protects the ability for people to associate to advance public and private ideas in pursuit of political, economic, religious or cultural goals.

The directive’s emphasis on ideological orientations – “anti-Christianity,” “anti-capitalism” and “anti-American” views – as indicators of domestic terrorism potentially jeopardizes First Amendment rights.

Thirty-one members of Congress sent a letter to Trump in October 2025 expressing “serious concerns” about NSPM-7, warning that it poses “serious constitutional, statutory and civil liberties risks, especially if used to target political dissent, protest or ideological speech.”

As the ACLU warns, any definition of terrorism that includes ideological components risks criminalizing people or groups based on belief rather than based on violence or other criminal conduct.

Congress has declined to create a domestic comple-

NSPM-7 does not criminalize previously legal conduct.

Rather, it states that the Trump administration will focus investigations around the identity and ideology of supposed perpetrators. Prioritizing investigations into this broad swath of ideologies serves to instill fear, silencing anti-fascist and other messages in opposition to the Trump administration.

Law professor Steve Vladeck frames this chill as “obeying in advance,” in which organizations self-censor rather than risk investigation, prosecution or defending against the “domestic terrorist” label. Federal judges in the Prairieland case have shown little sympathy for that distinction: One judge described the protest itself as “an assault on democracy,” even for defendants who never touched a weapon.

Although left-wing violence has risen in the past decade, empirical evidence shows it remains far below historical levels of right-wing or jihadist violence.

Most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, accounting for the vast majority of domestic terrorism fatalities.

Yet NSPM-7 focuses disproportionately on left-wing ideologies. NSPM-7 departs from prior U.S. counterterrorism frameworks by prioritizing the suppression of ideologically motivated dissent, even where, as in Minnesota, judges have already dismissed roughly half of similar federal cases for lack of evidence.

Disclosure statement Melinda Haas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Investigation From 3 chief and gestures made in the department’s weight room, according to documents reported

by KARE 11.

The existence of those materials has been publicly reported as part of the complaint record. Investigators have not released findings on whether any alleged conduct violated city workplace policies or applicable law.

Responses from key parties

Chief Henry has declined pub-

Feud From 3 with their state’s laws. Second, putting one heir in charge of an estate can create friction with the other heirs. And third, judges can remove that person for serious misconduct.

Spouses don’t necessarily inherit everything

You might presume that when someone who is married dies without a will, their surviving spouse automatically gets everything. That’s not always true.

Every state has its own intestacy statute. Those laws establish rules determining who inherits property when someone dies without a valid will. They vary considerably.

In California, where Boseman died at his Los Angeles home, the law divides the property of married people into two categories known as “community property” and “separate property.”

The surviving spouse inherits all of the couple’s community property, which general-

Fellowship From 3 people descended from Africans who survived the Transatlantic Slave Trade and who now live in Minnesota, North Dakota or South Dakota. Nexus was selected in 2021 to steward $50 million from the Bush Foundation and has been distributing gifts since 2023. Finalists are drawn by an equitable random selection process observed

by Open Road Fund advisory members and Nexus Black staff, then reviewed for eligibility and alignment. In the 2025 cycle, more than 4,000 people applied and 101 finalists were selected.

Nexus has been consistent about what the fund is and is not. The organization describes its purpose as helping repair the harms of slavery, redlining, economic exploitation and anti-Black violence in the region, and has said from the beginning that this is not reparations, because the resource cannot correct four centuries of

Mail-in Voting From 4 Homeland Security. Is that one of the problems you see?

That is not what the post office is equipped to do. I could joke here that they have a hard enough time at the U.S. Postal Service getting the mail delivered. Now they’re supposed to develop a program in concert with Homeland Security so that they could work to disqualify voters because they’re not on the list that Homeland Security provides to them that supposedly contains U.S. citizens. Homeland Security is simply not equipped to do this either. This is out of their skill set as well.

What’s the upshot?

Setting aside all the legal and constitutional hurdles that have been raised by lower courts, if this were to survive judicial scrutiny at the U.S. Supreme Court, it clearly would disenfranchise voters. We have a country that has an increasing group of citizens who really like to vote by mail – including, by the way, the president of the United States.

Insight News • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Page 5 lic comment while the investigation proceeds. Madel told KSTP-TV that the chief had participated in extensive interviews with investigators on at least two occasions and pointed to the department’s case work as the chief’s present focus. Police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen said the chief and the department had no comment.

Mayor Her issued a statement Wednesday evening after reports of the investigation became public.

“As Mayor, I take my responsibility to treat every employee with professionalism and respect very seriously.

I recognize that some of my attempts at humor fell short of

the standard I expect of myself.

We have fully cooperated with the independent investigation since it began in April and will continue to do so. I respect the investigative process and believe it is important to allow it to reach its conclusion. I remain confident that the full facts will come to light, and I will continue to focus on serving the people of St. Paul.”

Matt Wagenius, executive director of public affairs and communications for the mayor’s office, said the city would not comment on an active investigation in order to protect confidentiality and the integrity of the process. He said the mayor has deep respect for

city employees and regrets any unintended impact her actions may have had.

ly includes assets earned during the marriage.

But Chadwick Boseman married Ledward Boseman only six days before his death, although they had been involved in a long-term relationship that they generally kept quiet. When a Californian dies after a marriage that didn’t last long, there is not likely to be much community property.

So the fate of separate property, which generally includes assets acquired before marriage or received by gift or inheritance after a couple ties the knot, becomes very important in those situations.

If a California resident dies childless and without a will while their parents are still alive – as was true for Chadwick Boseman – their spouse gets only half of any assets classified as separate property. The rest goes to their parents.

That appears to be why Carolyn and Leroy Boseman, the actor’s parents, have a financial interest in the estate despite his marriage. However, the couple assigned their inheritance rights to Kevin Boseman and Derrick Boseman, Chadwick’s brothers.

Why one heir is often put in charge

fiduciaries are among the most common issues raised in probate litigation.

As the court-appointed administrator, Ledward Boseman owes fiduciary duties of loyalty and impartiality to all heirs, including Boseman’s parents and their assignees, Boseman’s brothers. That means she cannot favor her own interests over theirs. She must also maintain accurate records, keep other heirs reasonably informed and distribute the estate’s assets according to law.

harm.

The Open Road Fund returns money directly to Black folks so they can build something long-lasting for themselves, their families, and their communities.

noon to 1 p.m. CDT on Zoom.

The North Star team will walk through the fellowship’s history, its requirements and a curriculum overview, and will take questions. Registration is at nexuscp.org.

North Star opens applications for its 10th cohort

BCLI commissioners roundtable, same day, 6 p.m.

Applications for the 10th North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship cohort open Aug. 3.

Nexus describes North Star as a space for political education, strategy and collective learning rooted in Black cooperative economics and Black feminist practice, grounding people in the history of how Black communities have always built together in the face of systemic harm, extraction and exclusion. Over the seven-month fellowship, participants deepen their understanding of cooperation, strengthen governance and decision-making practices, and develop models that reflect their own values and the realities of their communities.

An information session for the 2026-2027 cohort is set for Thursday, Aug. 6, from And now the administration is in effect saying, “We want to make it really, really difficult for you to vote by mail,” because of these contrived and, quite frankly, false premises that have to do with voter rolls and fraud in elections. There were legal challenges over this order in federal courts in D.C. and Massachusetts. After the latest ruling against the policy, the Supreme Court now has the case.

Why does anybody have to sue if this is simply not in the president’s power to make happen?

Because if they don’t sue to enjoin this, since these agencies – the Postal Service and Homeland Security – are under the executive branch, they’ll just go ahead and implement this cumbersome and impossible initiative.

Secretaries of state have pushed back against this.

In a separate move by the administration, the Department of Justice has asked states to turn over their voter rolls, and many have refused to do so, standing on the principle that it’s beyond the executive to demand those.

Various federal courts have backed the states so far. One of the problems with the request

To settle an estate, someone has to locate all of the deceased person’s assets, pay off their debts, deal with their taxes, talk to all heirs and creditors, file reports with the court, and finally distribute what is left.

Boseman’s widow is playing that role because California law gives the surviving spouse first priority to administer the estate. All of this takes place in probate court, which is where estates are administered.

That means Ledward Boseman is playing two different roles.

She’s one of the heirs entitled to inherit a share of Chadwick Boseman’s wealth and future income generated by his intellectual property. And she’s the estate administrator responsible for managing the estate as a whole.

Wearing both of those hats can create conflict because heirs often disagree over whether the person managing the estate is acting for the benefit of everyone or favoring their own interests.

That’s why disputes over executors and other estate

The Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute will host a Commissioners Roundtable on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 6 p.m. CT. The session is virtual, free and open to the public. Attendance does not require membership in a BCLI cohort. It is one of two Thursday Night Issue Series sessions BCLI hosts on subjects tied to public board service — economic development, health, housing, transit and workforce development.

Nexus frames the evening around a plain proposition: appointed boards, committees and commissions hold power that is routinely overlooked, and from public transit to affordable housing to public health and education, there is a board shaping every issue a reader cares about.

Three panelists will talk about is a lack of confidence that the information can be kept safe by the federal government. And states work very, very hard to do that.

When I was on the federal bench and denied the injunction in the lawsuit filed by a conservative legal foundation that sought to take 20,000 plus voters off the rolls, I did so because there was no good proof that they were, in fact, deceased, which is what the suit asserted.

Subsequent to the election, at the now infamous Four Seasons landscaping press conference, Rudy Giuliani was waving my decision in the air and decrying the fact that dead people voted in Pennsylvania. That was simply not true.

These types of hyperbolic claims, made up out of whole cloth, stoke fears. This recent executive order is a solution that is looking for a problem that doesn’t exist.

Why did the framers of the Constitution set up a process where states run elections and not the federal government?

Well, first of all the federal government didn’t have the apparatus to conduct elections.

And states had been running elections; they knew how to

Police federation response

Mark Ross, president of the St. Paul Police Federation, declined to discuss the allegations in detail. He said the federation’s obligation is to its membership and that its focus remains on supporting rank-and-file officers serving the community.

Where the matter stands

On the public record as reported to date: • Police Chief Axel Henry filed a formal complaint against Mayor Her. • Attorney Christopher

Planning ahead helps after you’ve gone

Writing a will and thinking carefully about who should manage the estate can help loved ones stay out of disputes like this. For example, if your relatives tend to bicker, it may be better to choose a neutral person instead of one of your heirs to manage your estate.

A lawyer, accountant or professional fiduciary – someone with expertise regarding the handling of estates – may be more likely to earn everyone’s trust than someone who stands to inherit some or all of your assets.

W. Madel sent an April 1 letter, including an evidence-preservation demand, to the St. Paul City Attorney’s Office.

• The City of St. Paul retained an independent outside law firm to investigate the allegations.

• Mayor Her has acknowledged the investigation and said her administration is cooperating.

• No investigative findings or conclusions have been released.

The investigation remains ongoing. The allegations in the complaint have not been substantiated through the city’s investigative process, and no

conclusions on their merits have been announced.

But that person will usually be paid for their work.

By contrast, relatives who serve in this role often choose not to accept payment because waiving compensation can have tax advantages.

In Boseman’s estate, for example, his widow waived her fee for serving as the administrator. To be sure, paying a neutral person may cost more, but it can also help prevent expensive lawsuits and family conflict.

ders, or other actions that could harm the estate.

Right now, the late actor’s brothers have made these claims. It will be up to the court to decide whether it should remove his widow after hearing from both sides.

No matter what happens, this case shows how most estate disputes are not just about legal rules. They often arise from common human problems such as uncertainty, family conflict, slow communication and different expectations.

Preparing a solid estate plan cannot guarantee family harmony after death. But by naming who should manage the estate, and providing guidance that helps prevent disputes, it can mean a deceased person’s loved ones will fare better than they would have had the state’s default inheritance rules kicked in.

Disclosure statement The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Why judges may replace estate administrators

The Boseman case also highlights a remedy that probate judges use sparingly: removing the estate administrator. Replacing the person in charge of an estate can increase costs and delay its resolution. Because of these downsides, judges usually require something more serious than a mere family disagreement before they make this type of change.

Removal is usually requested when heirs claim there have been long delays, poor communication, bad record-keeping, conflicts of interest, failure to follow court or-

serving on them.

Elvis Rivera is a first-generation immigrant, a financial services professional and a community advocate with governance experience across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. He serves as a member of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, a gubernatorially appointed state advisory council that advises the governor and Legislature on issues affecting Minnesota’s Latino community, and on the board of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, one of the state’s largest civil legal aid providers. He has served as treasurer and finance committee chair for LatinoLEAD and on the boards of Green Card Voices and the Prospanica Twin Cities chapter. He is a BCLI alumnus.

Lue Vang has more than 15 years in the nonprofit sector across a range of Twin Cities organizations and causes.

His board service includes audit chair of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, treasurer of Friends of Saint Paul College, treasurer of the Me Center, and treasurer of the Metropoli-

tan Regional Arts Council.

Victor Obisakin is a Nigerian born in Bern, Switzerland, the son of a Nigerian diplomat, schooled in Brazil, Nigeria and Israel. He came through the Community Equity Program at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and through Nexus BCLI with the aim of moving deeper into advocacy, state legislative policy and community change.

He has joined the New American Leaders Program and is a member of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage and the Governor’s Community Council on Inclusion and Equity. He serves on the Metropolitan Council.

do it. There was a great deal of trust in the states’ ability to run elections. And there was the core debate of federalism, as to what powers states could retain, and they didn’t want to abdicate many of those powers. There was also a debate about the potential for fraud, that if there was a single entity controlling all the elections – that is, if you centralize elections under one politically motivated executive – it’s a really fraught situation which can be abused.

The Constitution is clear, and unless amended, Article 1, Section 4, is – to use the trite phrase – what it is. The power rests with the states, absent congressional action. There is no mention of the president.

None. This executive order is thus, in my view, patently unconstitutional, and I harbor little doubt that it will be found to be so.

granted the requested relief.

With the caveat that you never know what the Supreme Court will do, I predict that they will not come to the president’s rescue in this matter.

Disclosure statement John E. Jones III

So you think that the Supreme Court will, as the lower courts did, rule against Trump?

As a practical matter, we’re down to just over three months before the midterms. I very much doubt a majority of the high court will want to wade into this controversy, given the virtual impossibility of implementing the order even if they

Alumni update: Rivera

Nexus is also carrying Rivera in its own "Where Are They Now?" alumni series, marking the continued public service of a BCLI graduate. The organization treats the appointment pipeline as the point of the institute — put people through the training, and they end up in the rooms where decisions are made.

Context

Her took office in January as the first woman and the first Hmong American elected mayor of St. Paul, following a November upset of incumbent Melvin Carter. Henry has led the St. Paul Police Department since 2022.

The complaint places a sitting police chief in formal conflict with the mayor whose administration oversees his department, roughly seven months into her first term and amid contested decisions on the city budget and the closure of homeless encampments.

Nexus leadership in the public argument

Nexus CEO Repa Mekha and Lulete Mola, co-founder and president of the Black Collective Foundation MN, have co-authored a commentary in the Star Tribune on the role of Black institutions in defending American democracy. Their argument is that with voting power and representation under attack, the country needs institutions willing to protect its founding promises without flinching, and that the freedom of Black people and the health of a multiracial democracy are the same question asked twice.

Mekha and Mola, with Chanda Smith Baker, co-founded the Black Collective Foundation MN in 2020 — Minnesota’s first Black-led community foundation — in the days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Contact: Nexus Community Partners, 2125 E. Hennepin Ave., Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55413. (651) 289-7038. info@nexuscp.org. nexuscp.org.

does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

UBLA · MOC

Insight News

United Black Legislative Agenda Minnesota Organizing Coalition

The Journal for Community News, Business & the Arts

Page 6 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

insightnews.com

2 0 2 6 M I N N E S O TA L E G I S L AT I V E S E S S I O N

Two Minnesotas.

One Demand.

Every time a "best places to live" ranking is published, Minnesota and the Twin Cities rank at or near the top. And every time those lists are parsed by race, we fall all the way to the bottom. This is the urgency of now.

30.1%

BLACK HOMEOWNERSHIP TWIN CITIES (2ND LOWEST, 50 METROS)

3.9×

MORE LIKELY FOR BLACK MINNESOTANS TO LIVE BELOW POVERTY LINE

2nd

WORST STATE IN U.S. FOR BLACK AMERICANS (2024)

50th

BLACK ON-TIME GRADUATION RATE, NATION

THREE STEPS — THE URGENCY OF NOW

1 2 3

That Governor Tim Walz meet with representatives of Minnesota's Black communities to affirm the state's commitment to prioritize disparities elimination across all aspects of Minnesota governance and administration.

That the Governor hold his appointed State Commissioners and the departments they lead accountable for measurable and reportable strategies to eliminate disparities embedded in state policy and procedure.

That the Minnesota Legislature prioritize intentional solution-making by engaging Minnesota's Black community at the table of decision — in committee rooms, not just at press conferences.

U N I T E D B L A C K L E G I S L AT I V E A G E N D A — 7 - P O I N T P L A N PRIORITY 1 Invest Now!

PRIORITY 2 Invest Now!

The median Black household's wealth ($9,000) is one-fifteenth that of white households ($134,520). Structural barriers in lending, housing, and employment cripple Black

Black Minnesotans face unemployment rates nearly triple their white counterparts.

Criminal justice contact removes Black applicants before they enter the queue. Break

business formation. We demand capital access, not just conversation.

institutional barriers. Create pathways to well-paying careers.

PRIORITY 3 Invest Now!

PRIORITY 4 Invest Now!

Safety encompasses physical, economic, and emotional well-being. Playgrounds, streets, and malls remain unsafe in North Minneapolis and East St. Paul. Real public safety

Twin Cities Black homeownership stands at 30.1% — among the lowest in the nation.

The gap is the fourth-largest in the country per the Federal Reserve Bank of

requires community investment — not just policing.

Minneapolis. Investor acquisition of single-family homes is accelerating the crisis.

PRIORITY 5 Invest Now!

PRIORITY 6 Invest Now!

Black student reading and math scores are 20+ points below state average. Minnesota

Heart disease, stroke, homicide, substance abuse, cancer, and infant mortality strike the

ranks 50th for Black on-time graduation. Only 25% of Black students are college-ready.

Our children deserve more than remediation as a starting point.

Black community at disproportionate rates. The Legislature must act with urgency proportional to the crisis.

Business & Economic Development

Employment

Public Safety

Housing

Education

Health & Wellness

PRIORITY 7 Demand Now!

Policy — Coherence of Interest and Capacity Conflicting interests and diffuse capacity have produced policies that systematically disenfranchise the Black community. We demand policy coherence — legislation that reflects the documented needs, expressed will, and political power of Black Minnesota. Every legislator, regardless of party, bears this responsibility.

T H E T W O M I N N E S O TA S — B Y T H E N U M B E R S Minnesota ranks 2nd worst in the nation for Black Americans to live — a recognition that,

T W I N C I T I E S R A C I A L D I S PA R I T I E S

alongside the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, placed this state at the center of the national

30.1%

Homeownership rate

Black

28.6%

Poverty rate Median household income

76%+

Black

$36,127 Black

62%+

Black HH

The racial wealth gap is structural. It is the accumulated result of intersecting policies — in

7.3%

lending, housing, employment, and education — that built intergenerational wealth for white

$82,118 White

3.2%

Black

Liquid-asset poverty

White

White

9.2%

Unemployment rate

racial reckoning.

White

31.7%

White HH

families while systematically denying it to Black families. The losses from unpaid wages and denied inheritances are estimated at $20 trillion.

In the Twin Cities, the homeownership gap is among the nation's widest — and it has grown over two decades, accelerated by investor acquisition of hundreds of single-family homes now operated as rentals.

Minnesota's record budget surpluses of recent years offered a historic opportunity to address these disparities in a meaningful way. That opportunity cannot be squandered. The United Black Legislative Agenda — convened by faith leaders, organized by the Minnesota

"There are two Minnesotas — one white, one Black — separate and unequal."

Organizing Coalition — brings the voice of community to the table of decision.

The session ends. Our demand does not.

— NAACP Twin Cities, 2019 Economic Inclusion Plan

C O N V E N E D B Y FA I T H — E N D O R S E D B Y C O M M U N I T Y Bishop Richard Howell, Jr. · Bishop David Jones · Bishop Horace Smith · Bishop Reuben Armstrong · Pastor Harvey Russell · Rev. Carl Crawford (outstate organizing) — and the Minnesota Organizing Coalition, representing communities statewide.

U B L A L E G I S L AT I V E C H A M P I O N S — 2 0 2 6 S E S S I O N Sen. Sandra Pappas

Rep. Samantha Vang

Sen. Erin Maye Quade

Senate District 67

House District 67A

Senate District 57

Sen. Omar Fateh

Rep. Hodan Hassan

Rep. Esther Agbaje

Senate District 62

House District 62B

House District 59B

The session ends.

Our demand does not.

U N I T E D B L A C K L E G I S L AT I V E A G E N D A M I N N E S O TA O R G A N I Z I N G C O A L I T I O N INSIGHTNEWS.COM

Published as a pro-bono public awareness message by Insight News — Black-owned Twin Cities community newspaper, founded in 1974 as Insight Magazine, continuously publishing as Insight News, The Journal for Community News, Business & the Arts, since 1976.

1815 Bryant Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411 · insightnews.com · 612-695-0417

Co-Published: Insight News × UBLA/MOC May 2026

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VOTE 2026 Vote 2026 VOTE 2026 VOTE 2026 MINNESOTA MINNESOTA PRIMARY MINNESOTA PRIMARY PRIMARY

insightnews.com insightnews.com

July 06, 2026 – July 12, 2026 • Page 7 INSIGHTJuly NEWS 06, 2026 – July 12, 2026 • Page 7

INSIGHT NEWS

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Insight News • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Page 7

INSIGHT NEWS

July 06, 2026 – July 12, 2026 • Page 7

★★★

YOUR GUIDE TO THE

★★★

★★★

★★

★★★

Y O U R G U I D E T O TYHOE U R

GUIDE TO THE

This Election Is About Power – And Where It Lives

This Election Is About Power—And Where It Lives

Across Minnesota, from North Minneapolis to East Saint Paul, from Duluth to Rochester, the 2026 primary election is not just about candidates.

Across Minnesota—from North Minneapolis to East Saint Paul, from Duluth to Rochester— It is about who shapes policy, who defines priorities, and whose voices are reflected

This Election Is About Power – And Where It the 2026 primary election is not just about candidates.

Lives

in decisions that impact everyday life.

For Black It is about who shapes policy, who defines priorities, and whose voices are reflected in communities in the Twin Cities, that question carries particular urgency.

Across Minnesota, from North Minneapolis to East Saint Paul, from Duluth to Because history shows: decisions that primary impactelection everyday Rochester, the 2026 is not life. just about candidates.

Black communities the Twin Cities, that question carries particular urgency. • decisions made at the state level often land hardest at the neighborhood level It isFor about who shapes policy, whoindefines priorities, and whose voices are reflected

This Election Is About Power – And Where It • and too often, those most affected have had the least influence Lives The August 11 primary is where that dynamic can begin to shift.

in decisions that impact everyday life.

ForBecause Black communities in the Twin Cities, that question carries particular urgency. history shows:

Across Minnesota, from North Minneapolis to East Saint Paul, from Duluth to Because history shows: • decisions made at the state level often land hardest at the neighborhood level

1

the land 2026 primary electionlevel is not just about candidates.

• decisions made atRochester, the state level often hardest at the neighborhood • and too often, those most affected have had the least influence • and too often, those most affected have had the least influence

August 11 primary is where can begin to shift.

TheThe August 11 primary is where that dynamicthat can dynamic begin to shift.

It is about who shapes policy, who defines priorities, and whose voices are reflected GOVERNOR: A TURNING POINT in decisions that impact everyday life.

DFL Endorsed Candidate:

1

1

FINAL WORD: BEYOND THE BALLOT

STATEWIDE RACES: SETTING THE DIRECTION

Amy Klobuchar

U.S. SENATE: A NATIONAL CONTEST WITH LOCAL IMPACT

FINAL WORD: For Black communities in the Twin Cities, that question carries particular urgency.

Republican Primary: STATEWIDE RACES: SETTING THE DIRECTION BEYOND BALLOT Kendall Qualls, THE Lisa Demuth,

OTHER STATEWIDE OFFICES

Voting is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

On the ballot: Attorney General Secretary of State State Auditor Minnesota Supreme Court (2 seats, nonpartisan)

Real change requires: organizing accountability sustained engagement

DFL Primary: Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan Rep. Angie Craig Mike Lindell GOVERNOR: A TURNING POINT U.S. SENATE: A NATIONAL OTHER STATEWIDE OFFICES Voting is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

Republican Primary: Insight CONTEST WITH level LOCALoften land On • decisions made at the state hardest at the neighborhood levelContext: DFL Endorsed Candidate: the ballot: Michele Tafoya The primary election is not the finish Insight Context: change requires: WithReal Governor Tim Walz stepping Amy Klobuchar • and too often, IMPACT Attorney General Royce White those most affected have had the least influence line. It is the opening move.

These roles shape: organizing aside, this open race arrives at a DFL Primary: Secretary of State Adam Schwarze Primary: DFLRepublican Endorsed Candidate voting access and electionis necessary—but moment accountability when Minnesota is Voting it we is live notunder sufficient.

DFL Primary: On the ballot: The systems were built over time.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan State Auditor Qualls,The Lisa August Demuth, 11 primary is where that dynamic can begin to shift.

Insight Context: integrity grappling with: engagement AmyKendall Klobuchar sustained Rep. Angie Craig They will only change when communities act Supreme Court (2 Realfunds change requires: Attorney General Mike Lindell Lt. Gov. PeggyMinnesota Flanagan oversight of public This race reflects deeper questions persistent racial wealth gaps with intention over time. seats, nonpartisan) Republican Primary: Insight Context: Secretary of State legal frameworks civil inside American politics: • affecting organizing Rep. Angie Craig uneven housing development The primary election is not the finish Michele Tafoya Insight Context: rights With Governor Tim Walz stepping grassroots vs institutional Republican Primary: Auditor unresolved safety debates • accountability Vote early Royce White line. It ispublic the opening move. State These roles shape: aside, this open race arrives at a leadership Key question: Adam Schwarze What’s at stake: Minnesota Supreme Court (2 seats, Kendall Qualls, Lisa Demuth, • andsustained engagement Vote informed voting access and election Republican Primary: moment when Minnesota is progressive vs centrist strategy The systems we live under were built over time.

Who ensures fairness, who The governor will determine how Insight Context: integrity nonpartisan) Mike Lindell grappling with: Bring your community with you They will only change when communities act defines it?

Local impact: Michele Tafoyaoversight of public funds resources are distributed, and This race reflects deeper questions persistent racial wealth gaps withequity intention over time.

Federal decisions on housing, whether is treated as strategy Royce White legal frameworks affecting civil inside American politics: Voting is necessary, but it is not sufficient. uneven housing development healthcare,Context: and economic or rhetoric.

Insight rights Insight Context: grassroots vs institutional unresolved publicDFL safety debates Adam Schwarze BECAUSE WHAT’S AT STAKE IS investment shape conditions on the Endorsed Candidate: On the ballot: Vote early leadership These shape:and Saint Real change requires: Key question: With Governor Walz stepping aside, NOT THEORETICAL. What’s at stake: Tim ground inroles Minneapolis Vote informed Amy Klobuchar Attorney General progressive vs centrist strategy Who ensures fairness, and who •Paul.voting access and election ingovernor determineat howa moment when organizing thisThe open racewillarrives Bring your community with you Insight Context: DFL Primary: defines it?

Local impact: It is: Secretary of State tegrity resources are distributed, and Republican Minnesota is grappling with: Primary: Federal decisions on housing, This race reflects deeper questions schoolswere built over Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanaganinside American politics: whether equity is treated as strategy State Auditor • oversight of public fundsaccountability The systems we liveourunder Kendall Qualls, Lisa Demuth, • or persistent rhetoric. racial wealth gaps healthcare, and economic TWIN CITIES: WHERE POLICY MEETS REAL LIFE sustained engagement neighborhoods time. They will onlyourchange when commu• grassroots vs institutional leadership Rep. Angie Craig Minnesota Supreme Court (2 BECAUSE WHAT’S AT STAKE IS Mike Lindellinvestment shape conditions on the • legal frameworks affecting civour economic future • uneven housing developmentground in Minneapolis •and Saint nities act with intention over time. progressive vs centrist strategy NOT THEORETICAL. seats, nonpartisan) Republican Primary: il rights our collective power MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARDS LOCAL OFFICES & Insight Context: • unresolved public safety debates Paul.

LEGISLATURE (ALL Context: ATTORNEY (MINNEAPOLIS & COUNTY RACES Michele Tafoya It is: Insight Vote early And the question is not whether change is With Governor Tim Walz stepping 201 SEATS) SAINT PAUL) Local impact: A high-stakes local race Includes: our schools Royce White possible.

Key Question: These roles shape: Vote informed aside, this open race arrives at a State Senate: Narrow Often overlooked, but shaping: County commissioners What’s atTWIN stake: CITIES: WHERE POLICY MEETS REAL LIFE neighborhoods Federal decisions on housing, healthcare,34–33 andour economic inAdam Schwarze Who ensures fairness—and The question is whether we DFL majority deeply influential. who Judges voting access and election prosecution practices when Bring your with you our economic future The systems we live under werecommunity built over time.

The governor willmoment determine howMinnesota resources is vestment shape conditions on the ground in Minneapolis and State House: alternatives to it?

Municipal leadership defines will claim it.

Insight Context: These races determine: integrity our collective power grappling with: MINNESOTA HENNEPIN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARDS LOCAL OFFICES & Essentially split are distributed—and whether equity is treatThey will only change when communities act incarceration Saint Paul.& Insight Context: curriculum LEGISLATURE (ALL ATTORNEY (MINNEAPOLISThis COUNTY RACES oversight of public funds race reflects deeper questions justice system reform the question is not whether change is TwinAnd Cities persistent racial wealth gaps ed as These roles shape: with intention over time. representation 201strategy SEATS) or rhetoric.

SAINT PAUL) A high-stakes local race Includes: Battlegrounds: possible. legal frameworks affecting civil discipline policies inside American politics: Insight Context: local development housing development State Senate: Narrowuneven Often overlooked, but shaping: County commissioners North Minneapolis Since 2020, thiswe office investment in STEM, decisions rights grassroots vs institutional The question is whether 34–33 DFL majority unresolved deeply influential.

Judges prosecution practices public safety debates districts has become central to arts, and career Vote early public health systems State House: alternatives to will claim it. leadershipMunicipal leadership Saint Paul’s East Side These races determine: Key question: programs land use and debates on Essentially split What’s at stake: incarceration First-ring suburbs It is: Insightvs Context: Vote informed curriculum infrastructure accountability, safety, progressive centrist strategy Long-term impact: Who ensures fairness, and who justice system reform Twin Cities (Brooklyn Park, The governor will determine how These roles shape: representation (All 201 Seats) and equity.

•truth:our schools Insight This is where opportunity Bring your community with you Battlegrounds: Maplewood, it?

Insight Context: policies Local impact: local development(Minneapolis & Saintdefines Paul) resources are distributed, and Adiscipline Local offices gaps are either widened, Community question: Bloomington) North Minneapolis • often our have neighborhoods high-stakes local racedecisions shaping: Includes: Since DFL 2020, this office investment inFederal STEM, State districts Senate: Narrow 34–33 majority decisions on housing, the most immediate or closed.

What does justice look whetherhasequity treated OftenInsight overlooked—but deepContext: public health systems becomeis central to as strategy and career • dailyour • County commissioners •arts, prosecution practices State Saint House: split impact on life.economic future like, and who gets to Paul’sEssentially East Side programs healthcare, and These races will decide: land economic use and debates on ly influential. or rhetoric.

• Judges • our collective power define it?

• alternatives to incarceraFirst-ring suburbs infrastructure accountability, safety, school funding Long-term impact: investment shape conditions on races the determine: These (Brooklyn Park, Twin Cities Battlegrounds: • Municipal leadership tion formulas and equity.

Insight truth: This is where opportunity Maplewood, ground in Local Minneapolis and • Saint curriculum representasupport for BlackAnd the question is not NorthBloomington) Minneapolis districts gaps either widened, Community question: • arejustice system reformoffices often have owned businesses tion Insight Context: Paul. the most immediate or closed.

What does justice look Saint Paul’s East Side whether change is possible.

Insight Context: housing policy and It is: discipline policies These roles shape: like, and who gets to Insight Context: impact on daily life. • These races will decide: development patterns First-ring suburbs (Brooklyn Park, Mapledefine it?

• investment • local development decisions our schools funding public safety in STEM, Since 2020, this office has bewood,school Bloomington) formulas arts, and career proframeworks • public health systems come central to debates on acour neighborhoods support for BlackReality: grams A handful of • land use and infrastructure Insight Context: countability, safety, and equity. owned businesses our economic future seats could shift control, Thesehousing racespolicy will and decide: and reshape policy Long-term impact: our collective power Insight truth: development patterns Community question: statewide.

• school funding formulas This is where opportunity public safety Local offices often have the most imWhat does justice look like— And the question is not whether change is frameworks • support for Black-owned businesses gaps are either widened—or mediate impact on daily life. and who gets to define it?

A high-stakes local race Includes: A handful possible.

• Reality: housing policyofand development patterns WHAT INSIGHT NEWS IS WATCHING closed. seats could shift control,State Senate: Narrow Often overlooked, but shaping: County commissioners • and public safety reshape policy frameworks • grassroots Research the candidates Are candidates How is money Are 34–33 DFL majority We are tracking more deeply influential.

Judgesengaging Are equity prosecution practices statewide.

Black communities commitments shaping messaging voices leading, or than outcomes:

Statewide races: Setting the direction Because history shows:

Governor: A Turning Point

1

U.S. Senate: A National Contest with Local Impact

Other Statewide Offices

FINAL WORD: BEYOND THE BALLOT

STATEWIDE RACES: SETTING THE DIRECTION

GOVERNOR: A TURNING POINT

U.S. SENATE: A NATIONAL CONTEST WITH LOCAL IMPACT

FINAL WORD: BEYOND THE BALLOT

OTHER STATEWIDE OFFICES

The primary election is not the finish line. It is the opening move.

2

The primary election is not the finish line. It is the opening move.

2

2

BECAUSE WHAT’S AT STAKE IS NOT THEORETICAL.

Twin Cities: Where policy meets real life

Hennepin County Attorney

Minnesota Legislature

School Boards

Local Offices & County Races

BECAUSE WHAT’S AT STAKE IS NOT THEORETICAL.

2

The question is whether we will claim it.

TWIN CITIES: WHERE POLICY MEETS REAL LIFE

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE (ALL 201 SEATS)

HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY

SCHOOL BOARDS (MINNEAPOLIS & SAINT PAUL)

3

3

LOCAL OFFICES & COUNTY RACES

BECAUSE WHAT’S AT STAKE IS NOT THEORETICAL.

The question is whether we

WHAT INSIGHT NEWS IS WATCHING Municipal leadership • Check your registration State House: Reality: alternatives to claim it. authentically? backed by policy? will and priorities? being sidelined?

These races determine: Essentially split • Talk to your community incarceration A handful of seats could shift control—and Insight Context: Are grassroots voices Are equity How is money curriculum WHAT INSIGHT NEWS IS WATCHING Are candidates engaging 3 policy • Vote early if INFORMED. you can GET INVOLVED. GET READY reshape statewide. justice system reform Twin Cities GET Black communities These roles shape: leading—or being representation commitments shaping messaging POWER LIVES IN PARTICIPATION. Research the candidates • Check your registration • Talk to your community • Vote earl Are candidates engaging Are equityInsight Context: How is money Are grassroots We are tracking moreBattlegrounds: authentically? discipline policies backed by policy? andfuture. priorities? sidelined? local development vote.

Your voice. Your Black communities commitments shaping messaging voices leading, or Your if you ca than outcomes: North Minneapolis backed authentically? bySince policy? 2020, and priorities? this office being sidelined? investment in STEM, decisions districts has become central to public health systems arts, and career Saint Paul’s East Side programs land use debates on GET INFORMED. GET INVOLVED. GET and READY. POWER LIVES IN PARTICIPATION. First-ring suburbs Research the candidates • Check your registration • Talk to your community • Vote early infrastructure accountability, safety, Long-term impact: Your vote. Your voice. Your future. if you can (Brooklyn Park, and equity.

Insight truth: This is where opportunity Maplewood, Columnist Local offices often have gaps are either widened, Community question: Bloomington) ers are its foundation. Those ry calendar is an institutional tistics. They represent millions the most immediate or closed.

What does justice look Insight Context: statements have always struck choice about where candidates of additional Americans whose impact on daily life. like, and who gets to These races willme decide: as strangely disconnected, as begin listening. It determines communities would become the define it? though the future and the foun- which communities presiden- first audience every Democratic school funding

By Haley Taylor Schlitz, formulas dation occupy different rooms. tial hopefuls spend months presidential candidate must perEsq. support for BlackI have never experienced them visiting before the rest of the suade. owned businesses that way. I carry both identities country begins paying attention.

That distinction matMore than 500 days remain be-policy and housing into every room I enter, which It influences which local con- ters because candidates do fore South Carolina Democrats developmentmay patterns be why this debate looks cerns dominate early campaign not simply change their travel are expected to cast thepublic first balsafetydifferent to me than it seems to speeches, which civic leaders schedules when the early eleclots of the proposed 2028 Demframeworks many others. become national voices and torate changes. They change ocratic presidential Reality: nominating A handful of I do not see a proce- which voters establish the first what they ask, what they hear contest. That may sound seats like couldanshiftdural control, disagreement over which measure of political viability. and, often, what they prioritize. nominating process rather than As a young Black ateternity in politics. Itand isn't. reshape policy state deserves to vote first. I By the time Super Tuesday ar- Every campaign is shaped by simply ratify choices that have torney, I do not see my generMost Americans see a deeper conversation about rives, those early conversations the conversations that happen statewide. already been influenced else- ation and Black voters as comunderstandably believe presi- representation, institutional de- have already helped define the before it becomes a national where? peting claims on the Democratdential campaigns begin when sign and whose judgment polit- questions every serious candi- story. If the first communities Reasonable people ic Party's future. I see them as candidates announce they WHAT are ical INSIGHT NEWS parties choose to trustISat WATCHING the date is expected to answer. candidates must engage are may answer that question differ- overlapping stories. The future running, step onto debate stag- very beginning of the presidenThat is why the Dem- different, the campaign itself is ently. They may conclude that does not replace the foundation. es or begin asking We for are votes.

In tial Are candidates Are equity How is money Are grassroots tracking more nominating process. engaging ocratic National Committee's likely to evolve differently. another calendar would better It is built upon it. Recognizing Black communities commitments shaping messaging voices leading, or reality, campaigns than beginoutcomes: much That perspective has proposed calendar deserves to Some people think serve the country or the party. that overlap changes the way I authentically? backed by policy? and priorities? being sidelined? earlier. They begin when insti- been shaped by my work as an be understood as something that the proposed calendar faBut that is the debate we should understand debates like this one tutions quietly determine whose attorney. I have learned that much larger than an administra- vors one particular ideology. actually be having. because it shifts the question voices will shape the conver- some of the most important de- tive adjustment.

Other people think it gives moreGET INFORMED. Too often we think away which community GET INVOLVED. GETfrom READY. sation before the rest of usLIVES are cisions POWER IN PARTICIPATION. are rarely the most visiUnder the proposal, power tocandidates some states• and some of representation asto something deserves influence and toward Research the Check your registration • Talk your community • Vote early paying attention.Your vote. Your voice.

Your future. ble ones.

We tend to think power the early nominating window groups and they are right. These that happens after a decision has how our if you can institutions can better That is why one of is exercised when a governing would begin with South Car- are arguments that should be been made. We celebrate who is reflect the coalition they exist the most consequential debates body casts a vote, when a leg- olina, followed by Nevada, discussed. No structure should invited into the room once the to serve. inside the Democratic Party to- islature passes a bill or when a New Hampshire, New Mexico, be immune to criticism. Democ- agenda has already been writMore than 500 days day is not about Kamala Harris, court issues an opinion. But long Michigan, and Virginia. More racies become stronger when ten. Yet representation begins remain before South Carolina Wes Moore or any of the other before those moments arrive, important than the sequence people are willing to question much earlier than that. It begins Democrats are expected to vote. names that increasingly appear institutions have already made itself, however, is what those the structures that govern politi- by asking who helped decide By then there will be countless in conversations about 2028. It dozens of quieter decisions that states collectively represent. cal participation. what would be discussed in the campaign speeches, endorseis about a calendar. influence the outcome. Meeting Compared with previous earWhat concerns me, first place. It begins by asking ments, debates and headlines.

At first glance, that agendas determine which issues ly contests, the opening stage however, is that much of the whose lived experiences define Millions of Americans will unmay seem like an oddly techni- receive attention. Public notice of the Democratic nomination public conversation has treated the questions candidates are exderstandably think the presidencal debate to command so much requirements affect who knows would include millions more this as little more than a dispute pected to answer before the natial campaign has finally begun. attention. Why should the order the conversation is taking place. Black voters, millions more over geography. It is not. tion is fully engaged.

It won't have. of a handful of state primaries Rules of procedure establish Latino voters, significantly That is why I find The real question is The first contest of matter nearly two years before who has an opportunity to speak more Asian American, Native whether the earliest stages of a the proposed calendar so fascievery presidential election is the first votes are cast? The an- and which voices frame the dis- Hawaiian and Pacific Islander presidential nomination should nating. It forces us to think not not fought between candidates. swer is that a presidential calen- cussion. voters, more Native American better reflect the coalition a simply about elections but about It is fought over the institutions dar is never merely a schedule.

Those decisions do voters, more young adults, more political party hopes to assem- institutions. Institutions quietly that determine where those canIt is one of the first institution- not guarantee a particular out- union households, more veter- ble in November. If Democrats establish the conditions under didates begin, whose voices al decisions that shapes every come. They should not. But ans and military families, and believe their future depends which democracy operates. they hear first and which comcampaign that follows. they shape the conditions under millions more Americans with- upon Black voters, Latino vot- They determine whose perspec- munities shape the conversation Throughout my life, which democratic decisions are out college degrees. ers, young people, working tives become familiar, whose before the rest of the country is I have often heard two ideas made.

Those numbers are families, organized labor, vet- concerns become urgent and paying attention. repeated about the Democratic Political parties func- easy to read past, but they de- erans and diverse communities, whose communities are treated That is the election Party. Young people, I am told, tion much the same way. serve closer attention. They are should those voices help shape as indispensable to building a before the election. represent its future. Black votA presidential prima- not simply demographic sta- the earliest conversations of the governing coalition.

The election before the election

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Page 8 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

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Insight 2 Health Cholera still kills thousands each year – in places without clean water, it’s far from history munity – at home, in a camp, on a road – among people who never reached care.

South Sudan’s 2024– 25 cholera outbreak illustrates the importance of timely treatment. The case fatality rate was 0.9% among patients treated in health facilities but 1.9% among all patients in the outbreak.

Nearly half – 47% – of reported deaths occurred outside of a health facility.

By Katrine L. Wallace Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois Chicago Many Americans have heard about cholera only from “The Oregon Trail,” the retro computer game in which players try to get their 1830s pioneers to the Oregon Territory. If your wagon train comes down with this highly contagious bacterial infection, the pioneers could die from diarrhea and dehydration before they get out of Nebraska.

In the 21st century, the U.S. records fewer than 20 cholera cases per year, nearly all of them in travelers who were infected abroad.

While cholera has nearly disappeared from wealthy countries, it remains one of the world’s deadliest waterborne diseases in places where clean water and basic healthcare are unreliable.

The latest reminder came in the summer of 2026 in Sudan, where a long conflict has devastated hospitals and water systems, allowing cholera to spread rapidly.

As an epidemiology professor, I teach the story of John Snow, the London physician who traced an 1854 cholera outbreak to the contaminated Broad Street public water pump. His work not only helped establish modern epidemiology, it also illustrates a lesson that remains true today: Cholera spreads wherever safe water fails.

A worsening problem

Cholera has surged over the past five years: Reported cases rose about 175%, from 223,370 in 2021, to 614,828 in 2025.

In fact, 2025 was the deadliest year for the disease in more than

JazzFest From Cover open to the public and will include live performances, food trucks, vendors, family activities and a community marketplace.

The announced performers include: • • • • • • •

Stokley Selby Avenue Brass Band Walker West Faculty X-tet Minnesota State Band David Feily Mississippi Flash Mob Band Additional artists and programming information are available through the festival’s official schedule.

The public celebra-

Infrastructure saves lives

What makes cholera so tragic from an epidemiological perspective is that it is one of the simplest diseases to treat. The bacterium Vibrio cholerae kills through dehydration – the watery diarrhea can drain a person to death within hours.

The remedy is oral rehydration solution, which is a mixture of clean water, sugar and salts. Most patients can recover from cholera with this solution alone. In severe cases, patients need intravenous fluids and antibiotics. In a functioning treatment center, fewer than 1% of the people who get cholera die from this infection, well within the WHO’s global benchmark of adequate care.

The trouble is that the cause and the cure for cholera both come from water. Oral rehydration requires clean water, and cholera thrives where clean water is scarce among the roughly 2 billion people worldwide who still lack safe drinking water.

A problem of inequality

people.

The countries hit hardest tend to share the same vulnerabilities: rapid urban growth that outpaces sanitation, climate-driven floods and droughts that contaminate or dry up safe water sources, and armed conflicts that push people into crowded camps and destroy the water and health systems meant to protect them.

An inexpensive and effective two-dose oral vaccine is also available, and its protection against infection lasts several years. Because demand has outstripped supply for so long, the global stockpile has been rationed in many areas to a single dose per person by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision – the WHOled body that manages the global supply. One dose provides enough short-term protection that vaccinating twice as many people during an active outbreak saves more lives than giving two doses to half as many

The May 2026 outbreak in Sudan shows how quickly a steady situation can unravel. A vaccination campaign reaching millions of people had only just ended, and the country’s last cholera outbreak was declared over in March 2026. But just two months later another outbreak emerged, causing more than 1,330 confirmed cases and 114 deaths as of July 10.

The WHO reported an initial case fatality rate of 13.7%, reflecting the extent of the country’s collapsed health services and the fact that early surveillance generally captures only patients with the most severe cholera symptoms.

Amid three years of war, the WHO reported in April 2026 that 37% of Sudan’s health facilities were nonfunctional.

Sudan is one instance of a global pattern: In 2024 nearly a quarter of the world’s cholera deaths occurred not in a health facility but in the com-

These cases of cholera are not inevitable. The WHO and its partners have set a goal of cutting cholera deaths by 90% by 2030. The tools to do it – clean water, rehydration salts, vaccines – are proven and inexpensive. What is missing is the investment to put them where they are needed.

When I describe John Snow and the Broad Street pump to my students, I want them to see cholera not as a solved problem but as an unfinished one. This disease did not retreat because the bacterium weakened or because humanity outsmarted it. It retreated wherever people built the infrastructure and systems to keep water clean and treat the sick. It returns wherever those elements are absent or destroyed.

For many Americans, cholera survives only as a line on a screen in an old game. But for hundreds of millions of others, it is a disease of contaminated water, overwhelmed clinics and preventable deaths.

Disclosure statement Katrine L. Wallace does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

connections to the academy and identifies him in its festival announcement as a former student.

The masterclass is scheduled from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and will focus on musicianship, professional development and the relationship between artistic achievement and community mentorship.

Registration is required. Readers should consult the official festival website for the registration link and current availability.

The session reflects one of the central themes of Walker West’s stewardship: artists do not simply perform before the community. They also return as teachers, mentors and examples for younger musicians developing their own artistic paths.

Walker West’s stewardship represents a continuation of the Wrights’ original vision rather than a replacement of it.

The festival remains connected to the entrepreneurs who created it, the artists who shaped its sound, the businesses and residents who supported it, and the students who will carry its musical traditions forward.

That continuity is particularly important during the 25th anniversary. The milestone

allows the festival to honor its past while making visible the institutional relationships required to preserve cultural traditions over time.

Walker|West has named Dr. Charles P. Morgan as its executive director. The academy describes Morgan as a veteran Twin Cities nonprofit leader and lifelong musician.

His leadership coincides with the academy’s move into its fa-

cility at 650 Marshall Ave. and its continuing role as steward of major community cultural events.

The festival therefore functions as more than a performance stage. It is also a public expression of the academy’s educational ecosystem: students learning from teachers, artists returning as mentors and community members sustaining a shared cultural institution.

Credit: WHO/L. Pezzoli

a decade, with almost 7,600 deaths across 33 countries. Over that period, there was an average of about 481,000 cases a year globally.

But the true burden is likely far higher, because many countries with the largest outbreaks lack the laboratory and surveillance systems needed to detect and report every case.

The World Health Organization estimates the real figure is closer to 1.3 million to 4 million cases and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths each year.

The global cholera case fatality rate – that is, the proportion of people who die among everyone diagnosed with cholera – was roughly 1.2% in 2025. A 1% case fatality rate is how the WHO measures adequate care.

Those cases and deaths are heavily concentrated: Africa accounted for about 70% of reported cholera deaths in 2025.

Easy to cure but hard to stop tion draws music, culture and community gathering to the Selby Avenue corridor. Its location also connects the contemporary festival to the continuing cultural life of Rondo, where Black artists, institutions and businesses have maintained a strong presence despite generations of displacement and neighborhood change.

Following the outdoor program, Walker|West plans to host an 8 p.m. jam session led by Marvelous Leo.

Stokley masterclass emphasizes mentorship

The anniversary programming will continue Sunday, Sept. 13, with a Homecoming Masterclass featuring Stokley at the Walker|West campus, 650 Marshall Ave. Walker West describes Stokley as having deep

Institutional stewardship

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Insight News • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Page 9

Business

As AI reshapes newsrooms, leading media outlets are charting different paths for its use

By Erik P. Bucy Regents Professor of Strategic Communication, Texas Tech University Milad Jalalian Ebrahimi Researcher, Texas Tech University A labor dispute erupted at The Guardian’s London headquarters in December 2024, with nearly 500 journalists going on strike to protest the proposed sale of the Guardian-owned Observer.

With the newsroom hobbled, the British publication’s management allegedly deployed generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to suggest headlines and write descriptions of photos for people using screen readers. The National Union of Journalists cried foul, calling this move a clear attempt to undermine collective bargaining.

As media and communication scholars, we saw the outrage over management’s use of AI as more than routine wrangling over adherence to labor law. The incident showed how AI is becoming integrated into daily news work through translation, interview transcription, research, writing and audience analytics. At the same time, the incorporation of AI in newsrooms has raised new worries about accuracy and bias.

In our recent research, we examined how three different media outlets – Reuters, the BBC and The Guardian – were deploying AI in their workflows.

We conducted a comparative case study, analyzing public documents published through 2025, including official AI policy statements, editorial guidelines, trial reports and industry presentations.

We found that there is no single story about AI’s integration into newsrooms. Instead, the way the technology is

used appears to reflect the funding, values and mission of each outlet.

Speed as market strategy

Reuters is a global wire service that syndicates news to other outlets.

Its coverage of financial markets and other fast-moving sectors, such as foreign exchange trading and corporate earnings, means that even a 30-second delay in reporting a central bank decision or a market-moving news event could cost traders significant sums of money.

For this reason, the company has heavily incorporated AI to speed up its workflow.

For example, the newsroom uses an AI tool the company developed called Lynx Insight to analyze financial data in real time, and another internal tool, Fact Genie, to process corporate press releases.

Thanks to these tools, Reuters has expanded its earnings coverage and can publish some breaking financial alerts in just six to eight seconds, turning what was once a race measured in minutes into one measured in seconds.

Reuters sees automation as a way to produce more content for different markets.

Operating at speed, however, makes accuracy all the more challenging.

Reuters acknowledges that AI tools can introduce factual errors and requires its journalists to verify any AI-generated claims before publication. In other words, the high volume of AI-generated news alerts does not preclude editors from checking them for accuracy before they go live.

While speed always comes with risks, Reuters may also be well positioned to manage them because financial markets provide an immediate feedback loop, with traders quickly identifying and reacting to incorrect information. The same approach, however, could create

greater challenges in political or investigative journalism, where errors may not become apparent for days, months or even years.

AI with guardrails

The BBC operates under a clear system of accountability. The publicly funded U.K. broadcaster depends on editorial impartiality for its credibility. Unchecked automation could put this core value at risk.

As a result, the BBC has taken a cautious approach to AI integration. Its main AI tools – At a Glance and BBC Style Assist – are used for tasks such as summarizing long articles and reformatting local news stories to match the BBC’s house style.

At a Glance creates bullet-point summaries of existing articles, while BBC Style Assist helps edit regional stories in the broadcaster’s signature style and voice.

Rewriting a story to match BBC house style can take about 30 minutes, and BBC Style Assist is designed to cut that time down substantially.

The outlet also uses AI translation tools to reach audiences in Poland, Hungary and Romania.

No AI-assisted story is published until a journalist reviews and approves it, a step that reflects the BBC’s emphasis on accountability. The BBC has acknowledged the limits of AI in its current form, publishing a study with the European Broadcasting Union in October 2025 showing that AI assistants misrepresented news content – through faulty sourcing, fabricated details or outdated information – 45% of the time.

Rather than downplaying such findings, the BBC published them in an article on its media center and went on to create AI labels – a hexagon icon paired with the phrase “How we used AI” – that now appear at the top of content.

Principles before profit

When we conducted

our research, The Guardian had an AI policy that barred the use of generative AI tools to create text or images intended for direct publication outside of exceptional and specific circumstances.

But in March 2026, The Guardian updated its guidance. The revised policy now permits limited use of generative AI for tasks such as suggesting alt text for images, analyzing parliamentary documents or transcribing audio into text, provided the tool aligns with The Guardian’s editorial standards, is subject to human oversight and receives explicit permission from a senior editor.

“Our approach to generative AI framework is designed to support our journalists’ expertise, never replace it,” the outlet told The Conversation. “Our journalists are always accountable for the journalism they create, and use of these tools requires absolute rigour and responsibility.”

In our view, The Guardian’s ownership model helps support a more cautious approach to AI. The outlet has been structured as a trust since 1936 to safeguard the paper’s editorial independence. There are no shareholders or sole owners. The outlet relies heavily on voluntary reader contributions in order to remain free to read.

This reader-funded model helps insulate The Guardian from commercial and political influence, allowing it to prioritize long-term editorial independence over short-term gains. Its principles on AI are clear: Any use of AI must help readers and respect both the public interest and creators’ rights.

When the paper’s management locked horns with workers during the 2024 strike, many staffers saw the use of AI to cut costs or counter labor actions as a betrayal of these principles. The incident highlighted the conflict that can occur when an organization’s values clash with pressures to keep things running.

Why this matters beyond the newsroom

Reuters, the BBC and The Guardian each take a different approach to journalism, revealing unique ideas about the role of news in a democracy.

In our view, Reuters is more prone to view journalism as a business. The BBC is more likely to treat it as a public good. The Guardian’s approach to journalism is intertwined with its long-term values.

For these reasons, we argue that AI won’t uniformly change the news industry.

No matter where it’s deployed,

the time reporters and editors spend verifying AI’s accuracy can create what we call a “verification tax,” which can lessen the technology’s value. If newsroom staffers spend more time correcting chatbot errors than writing their own stories, the technology ends up being more trouble than it’s worth.

That said, the technology will likely accelerate differences already underway. Commercial news organizations will use more automation. Public broadcasters will include more human oversight. And independent outlets will focus more on stories written and reported wholly by people.

In the future, we think the most influential and successful newsrooms will not necessarily be the fastest or have the best AI tools. Instead, they will be those that use the technology wisely, balancing speed with accuracy, treating workers fairly, and protecting the trust and integrity that make journalism a valuable resource.

Disclosure statement The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Your bank’s AI just blocked your payment – what can you do?

These errors aren’t random. They cluster around people and situations that the algorithm wasn’t properly trained to expect. Buying gas in a city you’ve never visited or making a large rent payment for the first time aren’t inherently suspicious. But to a machine trained on past patterns, they can look that way.

There’s something even more troubling. These algorithms learn from historical data, which is almost always imbalanced. Because fraudulent transactions are rare on a per-transaction basis, the model has seen relatively few exam-

By Pragati Awasthi Assistant Teaching Professor, Information Science, Drexel University Imagine you’re at the supermarket checkout. Your cart is full.

The line behind you is long. You tap your card. Declined.

You try again. Declined.

You haven’t overspent. You haven’t done anything suspicious. But somewhere inside your bank’s computer systems, a machine made a decision about you in less time than it takes to blink – and it made a mistake.

What just happened?

And why does it keep happening to people who haven’t done anything wrong?

This isn’t a rare glitch, but something that happens to millions of people every day. And most of us have no idea why it happens or what we can do about it. The answer lies inside a fraud detection system powered by AI. As a data science teaching professor and former financial-services data scientist, I understand how this system works and can explain why it sometimes fails the very customers it’s meant to protect. Just as important, I can help you find out what you need to know and what you can do if you or your loved ones are unfairly flagged.

A decision in milliseconds

When you tap your card, a signal travels to your bank’s fraud detection system in the time it takes to blink. The transaction processing at your checkout is fully automated, operating

within AI systems that handle millions of payments simultaneously, and computes a risk score based on dozens of features extracted from that single moment. Those features might include the transaction amount relative to your recent spending average; the type of merchant; your geographic location; the time of day; the device used for online purchases; and how this purchase compares to your historical patterns.

Once those factors are plugged in, an algorithm scores your purchase in real time. A model trained on millions of past transactions then assigns each combination of features a probability on how likely it is that this transaction would be fraudulent. If that probability crosses a threshold, the trans-

action is blocked or flagged for review. The whole process takes less than 200 milliseconds.

‘99% accurate’ still fails millions of people

What sets this technology apart is speed. Financial institutions process millions of transactions every day, which is far greater than any human team can effectively monitor. Banks also have fraud analysts, but their work happens at a different layer entirely – reviewing patterns, investigating cases, and handling disputes that the automated system escalates to them.

To their credit, these new systems are usually accurate at catching fraud. Banks lose far less money due to card fraud today than they did before machine learning – one of the

foundational technologies that power today’s AI systems – became standard.

Still, the word “accurate” conceals a problem. Consider the numbers. The Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 – a 25% increase from the year before.

As banks process more transactions than ever, fraudsters are keeping pace, too.

And here is the part that is especially worth noting: According to Stripe, one of the world’s largest payment processors, “false declines” (legitimate transactions wrongly rejected) are a structural problem across the entire industry, and industry research consistently suggests they cost the financial system more than actual fraud does.

ples of what fraud looks like across every type of customer.

What does this mean?

Research has found that customers in lower-income areas and communities of color face higher rates of erroneous declines. When a model hasn’t seen enough transactions from a particular group of people or in a given situation, it has less data to build an accurate baseline for them. So when something slightly unusual happens, it flags it. Not out of intent, but out of unfamiliarity.

The model isn’t nec-

PAYMENT 10

Page 10 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

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Minneapolis Public Schools, Hennepin County, community organizations, philanthropic partners, and residents around a shared, long-term strategy.

Community development cannot be delegated to one department because communities do not live in departmental silos.

Just as importantly, the City must stop treating redevelopment as a construction

project with a finish line. Too often we build, celebrate, and move on. When we do that, it is residents, not governments, who pay the price. Families lose stability. Children lose opportunity. Neighborhoods lose trust.

Public investments that were intended to create generational change instead become symbols of broken promises.

North Minneapolis

deserves better than projects that begin with great vision but end with deferred maintenance, fractured systems, and abandoned commitments. Communities should never have to wait until conditions become a public embarrassment before receiving the attention they have long deserved.

Heritage Park can still become the neighborhood we

envisioned more than two decades ago. But doing so will require more than repairing apartments. It will require changing how Minneapolis approaches community development. We must stop thinking in terms of projects and start thinking in terms of people. We must invest in neighborhoods for decades, not election cycles, and we must

hold ourselves accountable not simply for what we build, but for what those investments make possible in the lives of the people who call those neighborhoods home.

Housing was never the destination. It was always meant to be the foundation upon which opportunity could be built.

have been busy. The White Anti‑transgender lies House has denied the existence

ti-LGBTQ+ laws and debates negatively affect young queer people, according to the Trevor Project’s 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People, and are associated with increased stress, discrimination and suicide attempts.

a response meant to protect us from disease and spoiled food, disgust has evolved to also express social inappropriateness.

Disgust asserts that its object is inherently bad. Since disgust is culturally dependent, it can also be used to marginalize groups of people.

Meanwhile, paranoia focuses on visualizing and preparing for future threats. When experienced as an emotion – outside of psychiatric disorders – paranoia has a righteous undertone, as it seeks to uncover perceived enemies.

Disgust and paranoia are a powerful combination for sustaining moral panics. While disgust produces an intense, immediate physical feeling, paranoia is long-lasting, stewing and existential.

attack.

Trump’s offhand remarks often invoke disgust and paranoia against perceived enemies – for example, toward immigrants, whom he has repeatedly described as dangerous criminals.

These same patterns emerge in the Trump administration’s formal communication regarding trans issues.

The March 31, 2026, White House press release

“President Trump Ended Democrats’ ‘Transgender for Everybody’ Insanity,” which touts the administration’s reversal of protections for trans people, offers several examples.

The release asserts that former President Joe Biden’s 2024 Proclamation of Transgender Day of Visibility “desecrated Easter Sunday with a ‘transgender’ message that elevated radical leftist ideology over faith, family, and biological truth.” Rousing paranoia, “radical leftist ideology” (and later in the release, “gender ideology”) is portrayed as an existential threat that puts Americans and their beliefs in danger.

The release also claimed that “the Trump Administration is celebrating a decisive victory: the swift and unrelenting dismantling of subversive, woke policies that endangered children, eroded women’s rights, assaulted common sense, and dragged America toward moral and cultural decline.”

As a rhetoric scholar, I read these allusions to religion and war – using words like “desecrate” and “victory,” respectively – as implications that the U.S. is in a battle between good and evil. Schools, hospitals, bathrooms, locker rooms, sports facilities and military bases are spaces declared under

Black Garnet Books began in June 2020 with a tweet. Dionne Sims, then working in corporate technology, noted that Minnesota had no Black-owned bookstore and said that was her new dream. A crowdfunding campaign raised roughly $114,000.

A year-long pop-up followed.

In 2022, with the help of a $100,000 Neighborhood STAR grant from the city of Saint Paul, the store opened its doors at 1319 University Ave. W. in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, stocking books exclusively by Black, Indigenous and other authors of color.

In November 2024, Sims sold the store to a friend.

Dr. Terresa Hardaway — who has also published as Terresa

Moses — is an associate professor of graphic design and director of design justice at the University of Minnesota, and the owner of Blackbird Revolt, a social justice design studio. She describes Black Garnet as an abolitionist bookstore and herself as an abolitionist designer, and she frames the purchase in terms of ownership itself: society, she has said, teaches Black people who gets to own things.

That is the complementary pillar. Strive builds the pipeline; Black Garnet builds the curation and the movement work around it. Where ownership sits in the community, the shelves reflect the community's actual interests and intellect rather than an external market analysis.

The evidence of maturation is not in any one store. It is in the collaboration. The Midwest Black Book Fair brings together booksellers, publishers, educators, archivists, literary nonprofits and vendors who have been doing this work in parallel for years. When bookstores host panels that include publishers, and publishers send authors to bookstores owned by colleagues rather than competitors, infrastructure stops being a metaphor.

The fair is scheduled during Black August, the month-long commemoration honoring Black abolitionists, freedom fighters and political prisoners. It carries sponsorship from the McKnight Foundation, the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, the Minnesota Humanities Center, The Loft, the Uni-

versity of Minnesota's Office for Equity and Diversity, Blackbird Revolt, Anders Genealogical Services and the Vane Creative Artists Fund at Hamline University.

The health of an ecosystem shows up in the writers it carries. Derek Francis is an educator and filmmaker whose short documentary Separate Not Equal traces Minnesota's path toward school integration, including the 1971 merger of Hale and Field elementary schools in South Minneapolis; the children's book that grew out of it, Our First Bus Ride, came out of a Black-owned Minneapolis press. Beatrice Adenodi, a Minneapolis business consultant and first-generation Nigerian American, wrote Mindless Behaviors: Breaking Through Unseen Barriers, seven linked stories about the reactive cycles people mistake for circumstance.

What matters here is not that these writers are famous. It is that the machinery that carries them — press, store, panel, table, audience — is within driving distance. For a local author, that means there is a home team for a launch. It changes the writing itself. You are not writing into a void. You are writing for readers you can meet.

Cecil Newman founded the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder in 1934 and chronicled Black life when mainstream papers would not. Insight News began in 1974 as Insight Magazine and has published continuously

as Insight News, The Journal for Community News, Business & the Arts, since 1976.

In the 1960s, Clarence Carter ran Challenge Books at 3803 Nicollet Ave. S., an early anchor of Black literary and intellectual life in Minneapolis, documented in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society. Uhuru Bookstore, Babycake's Book Stack, Baldwin's Books & Records, Mind's Eye Comics and Griot Arts are all part of the present-day picture; Minnesota's Black bookselling landscape is wider than two storefronts.

The archive has its own history. In 1985, with leadership from University of Minnesota professor and founding curator Dr. John S. Wright and Claudia Wallace-Gardner, the support of the family of Archie Givens Sr., and an 11-member Patron's Council of Twin Cities Black community leaders — among them Steven and Sharon Belton and the Estes families — a private collection was purchased from New York collector Richard Lee Hoffman and brought to the university.

In 1986 it was named for Archie Givens Sr., the Minneapolis businessman whose family foundation, established in 1972, remains a partner. Today the Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature and Life holds more than 8,000 rare books and periodicals and more than 20,000 archival objects, spanning some 250 years, at Elmer L. Andersen Library. It marked 40 years with an exhibit, The Circle Unbroken, curated

by Davu Seru, who will speak at the Aug. 22 fair on the Black literary history of Minnesota.

In Black Ink, the Saint Paul publishing arts initiative led by executive director Rekhet Si-Asar, works the gap between the community and the publishing industry — publishing elders' stories, partnering with Rondo Avenue Inc. to turn Rondo's history into children's books, insisting that the writer of a Duluth story come from Duluth.

Can Minnesota become a place Black writers move toward rather than a place they leave? The path forward requires more than foot traffic.

It requires sustained investment, financial and cultural. It requires retaining authors, securing archives and keeping the web connected when the grant cycle ends and the news cycle moves on.

We are watching an arrival. The question is no longer whether these institutions survive. The question is whether they reshape the cultural landscape of this state for the next generation. Minnesota is not just a place where Black stories are told. It is becoming a place where Black stories are owned, preserved and celebrated on our own terms.

The Midwest Black Book Fair runs noon to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center, 2001 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis.

Ticket, vendor, volunteer and sponsorship information is at midwestblackbookfair.com.

When a loan officer denies your mortgage application, the law requires a written explanation. But when an algorithm declines your debit card, you get “flagged by our system” message. If you’re lucky enough to connect with a human representative, they can’t tell you much more.

This gap isn’t an accident. Most high-performing fraud models are black boxes.

Their internal logic isn’t designed for human interpretation. A bank may genuinely be unable to articulate plainly why your transaction was stopped.

That’s not because it’s hiding something, but because the model itself doesn’t produce a reason. It produces a number.

In response, some financial institutions are moving toward tools that make their algorithms more transparent.

Known in the industry as “explainable AI,” these systems are designed to surface the most in-

fluential factors behind a given decision – flagging, for instance, that a transaction was blocked because of an unusual location combined with an atypically large amount. It’s a meaningful step toward accountability.

However, these adoptions are uneven, and the explanations that do exist are rarely surfaced to customers.

Meanwhile, those pressures haven’t yet translated into a consistent, enforceable right to a meaningful explanation when your card gets declined. Challenging a decision made by AI can be enormously difficult, and most of us don’t even know we have the right to try.

For most people, the path of least resistance is simply to move on, switch to another card, take their business elsewhere or say nothing. Research suggests a quarter of consumers who experience a false decline never return to that merchant at

all.

notify them of upcoming travel, large purchases, or changes in your spending pattern. This doesn’t override the model, but it gives it new information to work with, which can prevent the flag from triggering in the first place.

Know your rights: Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can dispute erroneous transaction blocks and request an explanation. If you believe you’ve been systematically and unfairly blocked, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts consumer complaints.

Ask your bank what appeal processes are available: Increasingly, banks are building more customer-facing appeal services. Visa reported 106 million disputes globally in 2025, a 35% rise since 2019, and has called dispute management a “strategic priority.” Improper declines are expensive for payment companies and financial institutions, too, through cus-

tomer service costs, lost revenue and eroded trust.

Heritage Park From 2 sioned. That means bringing together Housing, Community Planning and Economic Development, Public Health, Civil Rights, Employment and Training, Parks and Recreation,

From 3 that Trump has provoked since he started instituting restrictions on trans people in his first term.

As a rhetoric scholar for nearly two decades, I have studied how emotions propel rhetoric that goes viral on public platforms like social media and how politicians use emotions for varying purposes, including to bolster anti-trans legislation.

Throughout the Trump administration’s second term, I’ve followed how its officials have invented threats and used provocative language and repulsive imagery to stimulate anti-trans disgust and paranoia in audiences, contributing to public misconceptions and declining support for trans rights and people.

Changing views of trans people and issues

The Trump administration’s anti-trans agenda has flourished since his first term.

Following Republicans’ US$21 million anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ advertising campaign that helped pave Trump’s way to victory in 2024, the administration and its al-

Black Literary From 3 vagaries of corporate interest.

Without those things, authors leave the state to find publishers. Bookstores get treated as hobby shops rather than cultural institutions. And the “Black experience” gets defined by people who have never set foot in our communities..

When bookstores, publishers, archives and festivals act in concert, they create a durable pathway. That is what infrastructure means. Not a building. A pathway that holds weight.

Movement III: Strive Publishing & Bookstore

Mary Taris founded Strive Community Publishing in 2018.

A North Minneapolis native and a longtime Minneapolis public school teacher, Taris built the enterprise around two problems she had lived: the shortage of culturally relevant children's books, and the underrepresentation of Black authors in the publishing industry. She has described watching her students walk into a library and find almost nothing that looked like them.

Rather than wait for the industry to change, Strive became the change. The publishing operation came first.

Retail followed — a smaller presence in the Sistah Co-op at the IDS Center in 2022, then a street-level store in the Young-Quinlan Building in

Payment From 9 essarily explicitly discriminating against anyone. But its outputs can still produce what researchers call disparate impact – unequal harm, distributed unequally.

As researchers at MIT explain in their book “Fairness and Machine Learning,” this is a known limitation. A model trained on incomplete representation will perform less reliably for the groups it saw least. The fix isn’t to blame the algorithm, but to train it on better, more representative data, and to test its error rates across different customer groups before deployment.

Why you don’t have the right to an explanation

What makes these cases worse is the lack of any information.

of trans identity, and states have introduced a deluge of legislation that restricts trans people’s rights and protections, from access to healthcare to passports.

Presidential rhetoric can have a significant impact on public opinion. Since reaching a peak in the early 2020s, overall support for LGBTQ+ issues has since declined in the U.S. Likewise, surveys have shown a decline in support for trans healthcare for minors, a preference for using birth sex on IDs, and increasing support for restrictions in sports for trans people.

Meanwhile, public approval of Trump’s approach to trans issues is relatively high, as compared with his approval ratings on other issues.

A 2024 report by the Human Rights Campaign decried an “epidemic of violence” against trans and gender-expansive people. A 2025 Pew report found that 70% of trans adults have feared for their personal safety, and only 13% of LGBTQ respondents reported social acceptance of trans people.

Though the causes for changing trans views are complex, research suggests Trump’s rhetoric and policies have powerful influence, the ramifications of which are clear. An-

June 2023, and now a full storefront at 825 Nicollet Mall, Suite 160, in the Medical Arts Building. Strive operates as a hybrid press and partners with independent publishers including Elva Resa, Planting People Growing Justice Press and Green Card Voices.

Taris's work is less an exercise in entrepreneurship than an act of institution building. Strive published Derek Francis's children's book Our First Bus Ride, drawn from his documentary on Minnesota's school integration story; Francis will have a table at the Aug. 22 fair. The bookstore is where the abstract goal of literary programming becomes the concrete reality of a reading on Nicollet Mall.

Movement IV: Black Garnet Books

Moral panic as political strategy

From the Salem witch trials in the 17th century to the war on drugs in the 20th century, moral panics have emerged across history to stoke fear against a perceived threat to a society’s values or well-being.

Moral panics, coined by sociologist Stanley Cohen in 1972, follow a similar pattern: a threat is defined, media exaggerates the threat, public concern increases, authorities respond with laws and policies, and society is transformed.

Research on anti-trans moral panics illustrates their success in propelling anti-trans lawmaking in the U.S. and suggests they are often initiated by people with power, who use their platforms to shape public discourse.

Moral panics elicit a range of negative emotions, but disgust and paranoia are especially potent. Originally

Stimulating disgust and paranoia

Some people go further and close the account entirely. That instinct is understandable. However, it carries a hidden cost. A declined transaction won’t appear on your credit report, but closing the card can.

Shutting down an account reduces your available credit and can shorten your credit history, which can directly affect your credit score.

What you can actually do right now?

You have more power here than the banks would like you to think.

Call your bank immediately: A fraud flag is probabilistic, not final. A bank representative can override a declined transaction in real time. The model made a guess, but a human can correct it. Do not wait.

Set alerts if you’re planning to make unusual purchases: Most banks allow you to

The release also condemns “the chemical and surgical mutilation of minors” and “child mutilation programs” – revolting imagery that misleadingly depicts gender-affirming care and incites shock, concern and disgust.

Similarly, invoking images of nonconsenting, victimized children and women, the release denounces “the un-American indoctrination of schoolchildren” and “the unfair, demeaning practice of forcing women to compete against biological men in sports.” Stimulating anger and moral panic, these descriptions encourage anti-trans views and discrimination.

Recognizing these rhetorical patterns is key to understanding how politicians use inflammatory language to denigrate trans people and other marginalized groups, including women, Black people and immigrants.

Disclosure statement Julie D. Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The bigger picture

The algorithm that blocked your payment isn’t all-knowing or neutral. It’s a machine making a statistical guess about you, based on data that was probably never perfectly fair to begin with.

As AI spreads further into our daily lives, the question of who controls these decisions, and whether we can challenge them, becomes ever more urgent. The technology will keep expanding into new realms. The rules, and our own financial fluency, need to keep up.

Disclosure statement Pragati Awasthi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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AM Food & Tobacco

8936 Lyndale Ave S

Speedway

1814 Nicollet Ave

6321 Zane Ave

Brookdale Christian Center

1901 57th Ave N

Pilgrim Rest Church 5100 James Ave

One Touch Beauty Salon 7710 Brooklyn Ste 202

Twin Cities Rise

1011 Broadway Ave

2501 E. 22nd St

1812 Nicollet Ave

Axis Medical Center 1801 Nicollet Ave

Outdoor News Box

Holiday

D & L Foods

Capitol liquor

Liquor Barrel

531 Rice

Cedar & 6th Cedar & 5th

Merwin Liquors

161 Victoria

7848 Portland Ave S

Otto's Liquors 7850 Portland Ave S

6601 Penn Ave S

CVS 6540 Penn Ave S EDINA

50th France Ave

Edina Liquors Walgreen's

1201 Larpenteur Ave

Big Bottle Liquors

1149 Larpenteur Ave

Grand Ave & Snelling Ave

Noble Laundromat

Beauty Paradise

100 Larpenteur

Grand Ave & Hamline Ave

9056 Lyndale Ave S

Super Casa

6755 York Ave

BP Gas

MGM Liquor

7846 Portland Ave S

Outdoor Box

CVS

Cub Food

Upper Guts Barber Shop

France Ave

301 Mississippi St.

El Gordo

7836 Portland Ave S

Speedway Gas

626 Larpentuer

LARPENTEUR AVENUE

TBS Mart Foods

BP Gas

Snap Market

629 Rice St.

6000 Portland

7940 Penn Ave S

urban Lights

Big Discount Liquors

957 Rice St.

Speedway Gas

Walgreen's

Outdoor News Box

945 Rice St.

6444 Lyndale Ave S

7845 Portland Ave S

2197 Old Hudson

1559 Larpenteur Ave

9001 Lyndale Ave S

Metro by T-Mobile

1196 Rice St.

7700 Lyndale Ave S

Walgreens

275 White Bear

BLOOMINGTON AVE

Richfield Liquor Richfield Liquor

1177 Clarence St

4440 Snelling Ave S

Holiday Gas

6930 Brooklyn Blvd.

1180 Arcade St.

2000 S. 4th Ave & Franklyn

W. 78th St Nicollet Ave

6044 Brooklyn Blvd

CVS

MGM Liquor

Moto Market

6930 Brooklyn Blvd

296 E 7th St

Nanny's Jamaican Kitchen

Clinton Laundry Mat

African Deli

Speedway

Walgreens

46th St Hiawatha Ave

Dragon Star Super Market BROOKLYN CENTER

500 E 7th St

Speedway

1908 4th Ave S

Health Center

Brooklyn Blvd & Starlite Ctr 8020 Brooklyn Blvd

633 W 7th St

Walgreens

1815 Central Ave NE

Cub Food

B.C. Liquor

438 University Ave

137 Maryland Ave

9200 West Broadway

1125 W 7th St

The Uptown Diner

Franklin Ave

8517 Zane Ave

451 W Central Ave

Ele. Fetus

Senior High-Rise

Super - USA

Mount Olivet Baptist Church

1717 Washington Ave NE 2610 Central Ave NE

5200 85th Ave

440 University Ave

317 E. 38th St

1902 Clinton Ave

678 Aurora Ave

Brooklyn Park City Hall

SEWARD

2404 Hennepin Ave S

Grace Temple Church

St Albans Church of God in Christ

7700 Brooklyn Blvd

Speedway

Seward Co-op

1905 3rd Ave S

983 Central Ave. W

Walgreens

Sunrise Grocery

Spy House

Third Ave Food Market

New Birth Missionary Baptist

665 W 7th St

3620 E. 26th St

WHITTIER

732 West Central Ave

5716 Brookdale Dr

446 University Ave

2327 Hennepin Ave S

801 E. Lake St

Pilgrim Baptist Church

The Gold Key Liquor Store

Outdoor Box

Imaai Church

Global Market

5700 Brookdale Dr

Liquor Barrel

Fit 1st Run

825 E. Lake St

QUICK AFRICAN MARKET

Glamour Cuts

2600 E. 26th St

2448 Hennepin Ave S

7636 Brooklyn Blvd

University & Dale

2105 Lyndale Ave

Speedway Gas

Merwin Liquors

Shop

Cedar Food and Grill

2547 Hennepin Ave S

839 University

7638 Brooklyn Blvd

605 University

1808 Riverside Ave

Wedge Co-op

Dale & Univrsity

St. Peter Church

W. 38th St Nicollet Ave

1200 W. Lake St

Brownstone

600 University Ave

Chicago Ave

1450 W. Lake St

970 University Ave

Park Ave Church

401 E. 41st

3240 W. Lake St

Speedway

University & Dale

3400 Park Ave S

2252 Lyndale Ave S

Hair & Wigs

Terriost Shop Chicago Ave

Subway

Outdoor News Box

1475 University Ave

1182 University

3008 Lyndale Ave S

Family Dollar

7525 Brooklyn Blvd

Family Dental Clinic

Pillsbury House

Gaffrey Deli & Sub

DALE / WESTERN

Speedy Market

UPTOWN

30 Lyndale Ave S

Speedway

6930 Brooklyn Blvd 7330 Brooklyn Blvd #100

756 Snelling Ave

Metro T Moble

3740 Chicago Ave

Saigon Uptown Restaurant

7410 Brooklyn Blvd

Speedway

604 Western Ave

1515 Park S

1200 W. Lake St

Nice Family African

717 Snelling Ave

1685 University Ave

1305 University Ave

Hennepin Liquor

Speedway

W & T Market

Coffeehouse

3240 W. Lake St

Bubble Fresh Laundromat

600 Snelling Ave

CENTRAL / WEST SIDE

Cup Foods

Walgreens

Holiday

Tobacco Shop

Elliott Park Grocery

1450 W. Lake St

Nails & Tanning

510 Snelling Ave N.

1539 University Av

3733 Chicago Ave

Lunds & Berly's

Fasika Restaurant

Milburn Clothing

Black Heart Bar

SUBURBS & NEARBY BROOKLYN PARK

Chrysali Center

ELLIOT PARK

Park Elder Center

SAINT PAUL — EAST & WEST SNELLING AVENUE

589 Dale Ave

Smoke in the Pit

825 Summit Ave S

Speedway

Laundrat Mat

5101 S. 34th St

3731 Chicago Ave

The Kenwood

Sharret"s Liquor

3357 University Ave SE

Just Turkey Restaurant

KENWOOD

First Independence Bank

Speedway Gas

4454 Chicago Ave

1225 8th St

Redeemer Lutheran Glendale Seventh

Sabathani Center

4432 Chicago Ave

730 S. 8th St

1600 Chicago Ave

1800 Glenwood

UNIVERSITY AVENUE

310 38th St

ALWAYS & FOREVER

SAINT PAUL — UNIVERSITY & SELBY

Greater Church

3800 Bloomington Ave

53 Glenwood

NuWay MB 1530 Russell

MINNEAPOLIS — SOUTH POWDERHORN

2600 E. 38th St

Outdoor Stand 10th & Marquette

Free

YEARS IN PRINT

Holiday

1345 Hamline Ave

CVS

6975 York Ave

CVS

6905 York Ave

30 Fairview Ave

Cub Foods

6775 York Ave CRYSTAL

Holiday

African Market

9066 Lyndale Ave S

Bottine Blvd & Wilshire Blvd

Walgreen's

9800 Lyndale Ave S

Crystal City Hall

Next Supermarkes

Holiday Gas

Crystal Liquor Warehouse

Walgreen's

HennCty Library - Rockford Rd

Speedway Gas

Liquor Barrel

1280 W. 98th St S

5628 W Broadway

WINDOM

ROBBINSDALE

Holiday Gas

Hy Vee

Cub Foods

Arco Food Mart

Walgreen

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

1823 Nicollet Ave 1845 Nicollet Ave

4141 Douglas Dr N

50 W. 98th St S

Family Tree Clinic 1919 Nicollet Ave

Flowers by Miss Bertha 2100 Nicollet Ave

A Slice of New York 2407 Nicollet Ave

Park Avenue Center

56 Ave & Elmhurst

9800 Lyndale Ave S

6401 N 42nd Ave

5444 Nicollet Ave

2430 Nicollet Ave

Glam Doll Donuts

3505 Bottineau Blvd

5937 Nicollet Ave

2607 Nicollet Ave

Shawns Hor Supermarket 2712 Nicollet Ave

Caravelle Photo

Bottineau & 42nd Ave

Speedway

W. 66th St Nicollet Ave

Subway

5000 Central Ave NE

Laundermat

4950 Central Ave NE

Top Value Liquor

W. 66th St Nicollet Ave

2529 Nicollet Ave

Pancho

W. 66th St Nicollet Ave

2539 Nicollet Ave

BP Gas

Speedway Gas

W. 35th St Nicollet Ave

PPL Career Center

5400 Lyndale Ave S

CBD Health & Wellness 5315 Lyndale Ave S

1021 E. Franklyn Ave

Outdoor Box

50th Grant Ave S

Super USA

5965 Penn Ave S

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Page 12 • August 03, 2026 - August 09, 2026 • Insight News

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