A year in photos
Dancers from Les Jolies Petites School of Dance take flight in their tiny studio on W Broadway Ave. More than 1,500 girls have learned to dance in the 22 years the school has been open.
By Kenzie O’Keefe Editor | All photos by David Pierini
In many ways, the Northside remained exactly the same in 2019. You can still get a pasty at Milda's. The Polars went to state. It's still hard to access the Mississippi waterfront. Neighborhood organizations did a lot with a little. Community demanded accountability, justice, and safety and created a whole lot of beauty in the process.
But, much has changed.
Makeda Zulu Gillespie became the leader of UROC and the community rejoiced. Juxtaposition Arts built a temporary skatepark and Broadway became more colorful. Northern Metals was forced to shut down its shredder and the air got cleaner. The Village Financial credit union project looked all but dead and then was resurrected. Thor Construction went bankrupt and eventually shuttered.
Lives were snatched too soon by domestic violence, guns, and the opioid crisis. A Mother's Love showed up for those in pain.
Schools fought hard to serve students with a system that wasn't designed for them. Lucy Laney Elementary taught big lessons on the big screen.
The physical landscape is being transformed. Devean George's latest housing project is being constructed on Golden Valley Road and Artspace broke ground on theirs down in Harrison. NorthPoint continues the transformation of Penn and Plymouth. New bars and restaurants— Bar Brava, Meteor, and Royal Foundry—popped up on Washington and Glenwood. Houston White introduced us to Camden Town. New Rules brought us a cafe in the heart of community. A chocolatier brought sweetness to Victory.
Here are some of those moments.
What were your favorite moments of 2019? Reminisce with us @MyNorthNews on Facebook.
Kevin Heger flies high at the new skate-able art plaza at Juxtaposition Arts, which opened during the summer on Emerson and W Broadway Ave. The plaza mixes skating with open space, art installations and stormwater management and was made possible by donations from a KickStarter campaign, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the Super Bowl Host Committee Legacy Fund.
Ezekiel Straub, a student at Bethune Community School, stayed upright as he raced across the Minne-Loppet finish line at Theodore Wirth Park in February. The annual ski race for elementary school students is organized by the Loppet Foundation.
Valerie Fluerantin, left, grabbed Sara Lane for a turn in front of the blues stage at the first Camden Town Blues and BBQ Festival. Hundreds gathered in the North Market parking lot for the first ever festival on Aug. 17. Some of Minnesota’s best musicians, including Wain McFarlane, Ginger Commodore and Jellybean Johnson, paired well with the smoky meats of competitive barbecue.
Max, a horse with the Minneapolis Police Mounted Patrol, got to know Desirae Burch, 13, during a National Night Out party at Elizabeth Hall International Elementary School in August.
Anu Jofati, 5, center, learned how to finish her moves with style during a breakdancing class at Webber Park Library taught by Joseph "Minnesota Joe" Tran. Tran showed kids how to top rock, kick out and freeze, three elements of breaking, during the free lesson in July
On a tour of the Minnesota House chambers, Michael Donald, left, and Marcus Zachery took a long look at its ornate ceiling. The two Patrick Henry High School students visited the capitol as part of an annual event for black boys at Henry called "100 Black Men Strong."
Educational assistant David Sanner tried to coax an anxious student into class on the first day of school at Sojourner Truth Academy. She eventually joined her third-grade class.
Eighth-graders at Ascension School wore red robes for their May graduation and Melvin Kamara was greeted with congratulations after returning to his seat with his diploma.
A heron perches atop a dead tree on the Mississippi River. A 2011 tornado destroyed a heron rookery, but many herons have returned to an island near the North Mississippi Regional Park to renest.
Jason Lund picks and trims troops of oyster mushrooms growing at Mississippi Mushrooms, located in North Minneapolis at the Upper Harbor Terminal site, a former barge shipping terminal in the process of being redeveloped. Mississippi Mushrooms uses local waste materials like sawdust and grain and recycle the materials for their farming process.
Amanda Johnson leans into Sam Akinogbe as they sit and talk looking out at the Mississippi River. “It was my day off and I begged him to take me here,” Johnson said. “I had to get away from the concrete.”
Zaharra Cook, 6, blew bubbles outside Elizabeth Hall International Elementary School during the school’s first National Night Out block party in August. She also climbed in a fire truck and met Trooper and Max, two horses from the Minneapolis Police Mounted Patrol.
Although he portrayed former President Barack Obama, Northside Achievement Zone scholar Cordae Williams had to carry his own podium. Cordae was one historical figure during a Black History Wax Museum at a NAZ family graduation ceremony in March.
Congresswoman Omar wasn't the only Ilhan at the Urban League’s Family Day in August. Ilhan Hassan, 10, got a hug from the congresswoman after excitedly telling her they shared a first name.
A man dances to gospel music on a Friday night in the parking lot on W. Broadway Ave. in September. The music was coming from a van while a church fed hungry people who stopped by.
Lora Johnson hugs a fellow member of First Community Recovery Church during a service on a September Sunday. The church brings together people touched in some way by addiction.