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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
November 30 - December 6, 2023
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Vol. 90
No. 18
Phone: 612-827-4021
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Police reform without a mandate Former officer Derek Chauvin UCMT hopes its community-based sites will make it easier to file complaints
By Abdi Mohammed Contributing Writer inneapolis residents who want to file a complaint with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) are now able to do so at several communitybased sites across the city, thanks to an initiative led by the Unity Community Mediation Team (UCMT). The announcement came at UCMT’s 2023 Annual Report Back to the Community and Celebration Dinner, which took place on November 20, at Sabathani Community Center. AJ Flowers, a member of UCMT and the Young People’s Task Force spoke to an audience full of community members, city officials, and law enforcement personnel about the need for satellite locations to give diverse communities more options to file complaints. “We know a lot of times in
stabbed in federal prison
By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer source told the Associated Press (AP) that former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was stabbed in prison. The anonymous source said Chauvin was stabbed just after 12 p.m. local time on November 24, at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Tuc-
(l-r): UCMT Chair Ian Bethel, MPD Chief Brian O’Hara, Hennepin Sheriff Dawana Witt (background) Photos by Abdi Mohamed our community, people don’t feel comfortable going to certain places. So, what we decided to do was open our own places where people can come and file their reports,” he said. Flowers specified that the sites would function to directly connect diverse communities with the complaint process and give them a lo-
cation where they could feel comfortable and heard. These new community sites will work in coordination with the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, which processes complaints against the MPD. This effort is to fulfill one of the many goals of the Memorandum of Understanding ■ See UCMT on page 5
son, Ariz. said they could not divulge the Chauvin is currently hos- victim’s name for privacy and pitalized at Banner University safety reasons. At press time, authorities Medical Center in Tucson. Representatives from the hospital had not disclosed who stabbed are not allowed to disclose his Chauvin, but it has been recondition for privacy reasons. ported that he was stabbed An official press release by another inmate. The Fedfrom the Bureau of Prisons eral Bureau of Investigation did not identify Chauvin as was contacted by the Bureau the victim but confirmed that of Prisons about the incident. the incident happened. A Bu- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for reau of Prisons spokesperson ■ See CHAUVIN on page 5
Chauvin’s attorneys advocated for him to be kept in segregation. Derek Chauvin
A food desert in downtown Minneapolis? Some residents struggle with access to groceries
By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer
dents new and old are wondering where they may get their food. Downtown residents living in the more upscale part, generally along Hennepin and Washington Avenues, have access to four grocery stores: Lunds & Byerlys at 12th and Hennepin, Whole Foods at Hennepin and Washington, Trader Joe’s at Chicago and Washington, and Target at 9th and Nicollet. Those living on Washington, also have access to the year-round Mill City Farmers Market, the Red Lake Nation and their own Washington County farm. Those living in the more impoverished areas, such as near 15th and Nicollet in Loring Park, as well as in Elliot Park, don’t have access to any permanent grocery store within a 10-minute walk. Instead, Elliot Park, where about 40 percent of households make less than $25,000 annually, is served by a mobile market run by a nonprofit organization called The Food Group.
s the civic and business leaders’ focus appears to be on courting residents and tourists to downtown Minneapolis, the city may be neglecting the needs of those who already make downtown their home. Residents of several downtown neighborhoods, including Loring Park, Elliot Park, and North Loop, say they need amenities. In particular, Elliot Park residents say they want a grocery store. But the powers that be are struggling to woo such a store to the neighborhood. “It’s not that easy to just bring a grocery store. It’s up to a grocery store whether they want to be there or not,” said Shannon Fitzgerald, director of downtown partnerships at the Minneapolis Downtown Council. As she and her partners figure out how to bring a grocery store into some of downtown’s impoverished neighborhoods, some nonprofits are helping A grocery store on wheels out by deploying a grocery store on wheels. One cloudy Wednesday morning, Marybeth Teetzel joined several of his Elliot Park neighbors in lining up onboard a bus to get The food situation Downtown Minneapolis is home to more groceries. “It’s a hard time to get to Cub,” said than 56,000 people, according to the Min- Teetzel. “People don’t have a way to Cub.” The bus, which The Food Group owns, neapolis Downtown Council. The Downtown Council reports that 5,460 residents moved makes a stop in the Elliot Park neighborhood, at the Park Center public housing high-rise into the neighborhood since 2020. Developers have built over 3,000 housing at 15th Street and Park Avenue, once a week. units downtown since the pandemic began, with The stop lasts around an hour. The program was started by the Amherst at least 2,500 more housing units being built now. There may be more homes to come as own- J. Wilder Foundation in 2015. It’s intended ers of office buildings consider converting their to resolve an issue endemic to the neighborholdings into residential housing, and as the fed- hood—a lack of grocery options. The program eral government has been encouraging transit started out with two former Metro Transit agencies to offload surplus land to developers to build affordable housing. With an influx of people moving into downtown, resi-
A Twin Cities mobile market bus that serves those in downtown Minneapolis’ food desert
Tremaine Brown (front) and Rofina Madaba Lutta conduct inventory of products on the mobile market bus before leaving the Park Center high-rise in Elliot Park. Photos by H. Jiahong Pan buses, which are being replaced with converted school buses. Stephanie Wagner, who runs the mobile market program, believes they are more important than ever as grocery stores leave lowincome neighborhoods. “We’re seeing [grocery redlining] more and more, where groceries are abandoning many communities where basic needs aren’t being met,” said Wagner. The mobile markets are mostly stocked with products from Cub Foods—The Food Group is a food bank with bulk buying power— but will also carry produce and meat from local vendors, such as Organic Valley, Ferndale Farms, and the Red Lake Nation. Elliot Park has been left with few options since a grocery store on 14th Street between Park and Chicago closed in 2013. Although the neighborhood has easy access to an Aldi’s by the Route 9 and 14 buses, as well as a Target by the Route 9 bus, some residents have taken the liberty to go on a 30-minute trip via the D Line bus to get to the Wal-Mart in Bloomington. And despite a Trader Joe’s being nearby, no Metro Transit route brings Elliot Park residents directly there. Though the lack of grocery stores is not the only amenity Elliot Park lacks, residents the MSR interviewed say it is the most important. “I have agoraphobia so I don’t leave my house,” said Elliot Park resident Danielle Schlemmer. “I don’t have to [leave home to] get food and then some.”
Improving existing options? It’s unclear if any grocery stores plan to open anywhere in the neighborhood anytime soon. The neighborhood association is considering courting a grocer.
Those living in the more impoverished areas, such as near 15th and Nicollet in Loring Park, as well as in Elliot Park, don’t have access to any permanent grocery store within a 10-minute walk. Although The Food Group is looking to expand its operation, it needs to be within onehalf of a mile from an existing grocery store and an existing stop. That rules out Elliot Park. Metro Transit could potentially realign bus routes to better connect downtown residents to amenities such as grocery stores, potentially as part of their Network Now initiative. “As downtown continues to change and grow, we’ll be looking at ways that we can make adjustments,” said Metro Transit’s director of service planning Adam Harrington, who added they will also consider where the main ■ See FOOD DESERT on page 5