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Description
Recognizing the annual celebration of Black History Month and the anniversary of the Minneapolis Black Employee Network (MBEN).
The Minneapolis Black Employee Network in partnership with other local employee resource groups has hosted several events for Black History Month.
A
A
Welcome
everyone
to
the
2023
Black
History
Month
kickoff
breakfast
today
we're
gonna
get
together.
We're
gonna
have
a
good
time.
We're
going
to
eat
together,
we're
gonna
break
some
bread,
we're
gonna
play
a
couple
of
little
games,
I'll
call
them
word
games
and
at
the
end
of
it
all
we're
gonna
have
a
resolution
for
Black
History
Month
from
the
city
council
so
again
welcome
everyone.
I
do
want
to
remind
everyone
that
this
event
is
being
recorded
to
be
broadcast
over
the
City's
online
channels.
A
So
if
you
don't
want
to
be
on
camera
duck
or
let
somebody
know
all
right,
so
this
is
the
beginning
of
a
month-long
course
of
events.
We're
going
to
be
celebrating
Black
History
Month,
you
know
all
throughout
February,
but
you
know
it.
February
wasn't
big
enough,
so
we
had
to
start
early.
So
we
actually
started
last
week
with
the
meet
and
mingle
over
at
the
Hennepin
County
Government
Center,
and
that
was
well
attended
and
a
lot
of
fun
today,
of
course,
is
the
kickoff
reception.
A
Next
Thursday
February,
2nd
at
12
o'clock
over
in
the
public
service
building
in
the
the
big
room,
100
I
guess
it
is-
will
be
our
our
first
February
event.
It
will
be
moving
to
Minnesota
the
migration
and
immigration
experience
and
so
we're
gonna,
look
at
the
black
experience
through
through
immigration
and
also
the
migration
from
the
south
to
the
north,
on
February,
9th
at
12
o'clock
in
the
same
location
we'll
be
embracing
and
empowering
our
youth
in
the
public
service
building
by
the
way
the
the
I
should
have
said.
A
What's
the
the
theme?
Thank
you.
The
theme
for
this
years
is
black
resistance.
Minnesota,
resist
resilience
and
black
resistance
is
the
national
theme
we
added
Minnesota
resilience
because,
as
we're
coming
out
of
all
the
things
that
we've
gone
through
here
in
the
last
couple
of
years,
the
killing
of
George
Floyd,
the
civil
unrest
that
followed
covid
and
all
of
these
other
things
I
think
we
really
demonstrated
the
resilience
that
we
have
as
a
people.
A
A
Think
it's
going
to
be
a
really
exciting
ceremony,
with
some
great
recipients,
a
really
well
deserving
recipients
and
a
good
time
over
there
at
the
historic
I'll
call
it
Capri,
theater
and
finally,
we're
going
to
wrap
it
up
on
Thursday
February
23rd
back
at
the
public
service
building
rock
your
crown
we're
going
to
finish
with
rocket
Crown.
It's
going
to
be
a
hair,
show
past
present
and
creative
again
in
the
public
service
building
in
room
100..
So
with
that
I
think
I
would
like
to
call
up
our
next
speaker.
B
C
Is,
oh,
you
are
tall,
okay,
thank
you,
Chief,
Tyner
and
good
morning.
Everybody
for
those
of
you
who
do
not
know
me.
My
name
is
Samaya
Muhammad
I'm,
one
of
Mayor
Fry's
policy
aides.
Unfortunately,
the
mayor
could
not
be
in
attendance
today
to
give
his
remark.
So
you
are
all
stuck
with
me
before
I
introduce
our
next
speaker.
I
have
been
asked
to
share
a
quote
from
one
of
my
favorite
historical
figures.
C
She
said
this
and
honestly,
it's
just
something
that
stuck
with
me.
I
am
no
longer
accepting
the
things
that
I
cannot
change
and
I
am
changing
the
things
that
I
cannot
accept,
I'm
sure
in
some
capacity
or
another.
We
are
all
excuse
me.
We
are
all
in
our
current
roles
and
positions
because
we
want
to
be
the
change
that
we
could
not
see,
and
that
is
hard,
but
I
commend
you
all
for
showing
up
every
single
day
to
work
in
service
of
the
communities
that
you
all
serve.
C
I'm
continuously
aspired
inspired
by
the
black
folks
that
I
work
with
every
single
day
and
in
line
with
being
the
change
that
we
want
to
see
for
our
futures
I'm
here
to
introduce
a
fierce
Advocate
and
change
maker
that
we
are
so
lucky
to
have
in
the
City
of
Minneapolis.
And
that
would
be
council
member
Latricia
Vita.
D
Thank
you
good
morning,
everyone
Samaya
was
going
to
say
that
about
council
president
Jenkins,
she
just
put
my
name
in
it.
The
the
council
president
is
running
a
little
behind
so
I'm
just
filling
in
so
we
can,
you
know,
keep
the
party
going
and
we
have
a
council
meeting
coming
up.
So
welcome.
Thank
you
all
so
much
for
being
here
in
celebration
of
our
kickoff
for
Black,
History,
Month
I
just
want
to
quickly
say
what
black
history
month
means
to
me.
D
Black
History
Month
means
to
me
freedom,
I,
think
of
Freedom
when
I
think
of
Black
History,
Month
I.
Think
of
all
of
my
ancestors,
who
paved
the
way
for
me
to
be
here
today,
standing
in
front
of
you,
representing
Ward
4
in
North,
Minneapolis
I
also
think
about
all
the
work
we
have
to
do
together
when
I
look
around
in
this
room,
there
are
I
can
guarantee.
D
There
are
way
more
Black
Faces
in
this
room
than
it
was
10
years
ago
and
so
I
think
about
where
we
came
from
came
from
and
where
we're
going,
I
think
about
20
years
from
now,
this
room
may
have
even
more
Black
Faces
in
it.
So
thank
you
all
for
your
commitment
to
this
city.
Thank
you
all
for
the
work
that
you
do
every
day
and
thank
you
for
showing
up
in
your
authentic
selves,
with
that
I
am
going
to
introduce
a
couple
of
my
colleagues
to
come
up
to
speak.
E
E
Making
his
way
from
Arkansas
to
Milwaukee
is
the
story
of
resilience
and
me
being
able
to
move
here
to
Minneapolis,
to
go
to
college
and
ultimately
to
become
a
city
council.
Member
is
my
personal
story
of
resilience
carrying
on
the
resilience
of
my
family
and
I,
just
wanna
bring
that
into
this
space
and
I.
Think
that's
also
what
we're
celebrating
today.
So
thank
you
all
for
being
here.
D
There
any
other
council
members
here
that
would
like
to
speak,
no,
okay,
all
right
we're
going
to
move
on
to
the
next
part.
Next,
the
next
thing
is
the
Energizer,
and
so
what
I'm
going
to
do
for
this
is
I'm
going
to
ask
all
the
department
heads
to
come
up.
Commissioner
Cedric
Alexander
had
to
leave
so
we
have
on
here
Chief
Tyner.
We
have
director
Smith
come
on
up
you
wearing
your
fancy
suit
today.
Come
show
it
off,
and
then
we
have
coordinated.
D
Yes,
two
I
like
it,
and
then
we
have
what
wait.
Where's.
Everybody
Chief
what's
happening
you,
so
this
YouTube?
No,
no!
No!
No!
No!
You
you're
you're!
A
part
of
this.
We
have
come
on:
okay,
so
council,
member
wansley
and
council
member
Paynes.
You
have
to
come
councilman
pain.
You
have
to
come
up
and
help
with
this
and
any
other
department
heads
that
are
here
come.
D
D
A
All
right,
so
my
question
is:
what
is
your
favorite
Black
History
Month
memory
of
any
time?
I
think
this
is
actually
the
hardest
question
that's
in
there,
but
because
there's
a
lot
to
pick
from,
but
if
I
had
to
choose,
one
I
think
I
would
probably
choose
and
because
you
know
we
were
able
to
witness,
it
was
the
election
of
the
first
black
president
President
Barack
Obama,
and
mainly
because
I
I,
obviously
never
thought
I
would
ever
be
able
to
witness
that.
And
so
it
was
a
very
you.
G
I
think
one
of
my
favorite
black
history,
moments
of
any
time
was
my
freshman
year.
I.
Think
I'm
in
college
and
I
ended
up
going
to
the
pan-african
conference
in
Mankato
used
to
be
Mankato
State
back
then
dating
myself,
but
at
that
conference,
I
got
a
chance
to
meet
a
lot
of
pan-african
people
from
across
the
country
that
attended
that
conference.
G
G
G
G
G
E
F
F
E
F
B
B
B
But
how
did
we
and
disabled
black
people
so
her
her
life
of
commitment
and
service
is
an
inspiration
to
me
and
he
should
be
at
this.
Tourism
towards
Paul
I
had
a
chance
to
go
visit
the
Harriet
Tubman
home
in
Upstate,
New,
York
and
just
spend
some
time
here
reflecting
and
thinking
about
the
journey
that
I've
been
on.
E
B
B
But
you
know
black
history
month
is
a
time
for
us
to
to
reflect
and
to
recommit
ourselves
to
the
struggle
or
for
justice
to
struggle
for
human
dignity.
The
struggle
for
human
rights
that
has
been
going
on
I
would
say
since
the
beginning
of
human
history,
but
certainly
in
the
United
States
of
America.
B
So
thank
you
to
everybody
who
organized
this
event
to
help
us
come
together
and
think
about
the
contributions
of
African
Americans,
the
contributions
that
we
continue
to
make
to
try
and
make
this
country
live
up
to
the
true
meaning
of
the
Supreme
I
know
my
staff
person,
Diego
siddar,
has
been
deeply
engaged
in
this
work,
not
only
this
year,
but
for
many
many
years.
So
thank
you,
Diva
and
and
again,
thank
you
to
everybody
who
have
participated
and
brought
this
work
forward.