Lake Street Truth Collective

The Lake Street Truth Collective is a collective of artists, neighbors, educators and organizers who share a commitment to our South Minneapolis community. We bring the community surrounding Lake & Chicago together by creating accessible space for listening, healing and building relationships. We prioritize building connections among Black, Brown, Indigenous and transgender Minneapolitans, and creating the next generation of community organizers by developing leadership skills in local youth. Our programming is seasonal, and while we work year-round to build relationships and stay in community, the collective primarily hosts events during the months of July and August.

In July/August 2022 on the NDC Lot at Chicago & Lake, we are organizing 4 free, accessible community dinners & community healing events as part of a grass-roots “Truth & Repair” process.  This year's schedule:

Thursday 7/21  Education

Thursday 7/28  Housing

Thursday 8/4  Community Safety

Thursday 8/11  Environment

Facilitated dinners create structure for participants of different backgrounds to discuss themes such as homelessness, education, community safety, and environmental threats.  Free food, child care, and interpretation into Spanish, Somali and ASL, allow people from different backgrounds to participate and communicate more freely.  Our collective takes extra care to include neighbors and business owners, many of whom have been left out of larger conversations because of language barriers, marginalization due to race/class, and long-term community isolation. We actively welcome passers-by who walk through the Lot on their daily path. We treat all people the same – and after dinner, everyone dances together. Site-specific art  & history installations and post-dinner community events help create a welcoming container for the sometimes difficult conversations we need to have.

Lake Street Truth Collective is grounded in a theoretical framework that was born out of the Fambul Tok (translation: “family talk”) reconciliation and forgiveness process founded in 2007 in Sierra Leone, which brought together community members affected by civil war. Our work reflects the same spirit of reconnection and the sometimes painful but honest conversations needed to be had in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a pandemic that continues to decimate communities of color, and unresolved trauma due to the many other disparities that the most marginalized members of our community face. 

Last year's feedback was overwhelmingly positive -- people were grateful for a space to come together & meet neighbors in a space with good vibes, after a hard year.  We hope community donors like you can help us create this space again!

2022 Collective/Collaborators: Al Valdovinos, Alexandra Griffin, Aydin Yaman, Booscapes, Ellis Lynn Perez, Harry Waters, Jr., Jeannine Erickson, Jennings Mergenthal, Kay Adams, Kya Concepcion, Manuel Holley/Atlas Defense, Pamela Vazquez Torres, Quito Ziegler.

2021 Collective: Alé Headley, Bici Xicas, Cynthia J. Zapata, Ellis Lynn Perez, Erika Hernandez, Harry Waters, Jr., Ifrah Mansour, Jennings Mergenthal, Kay Adams, Kya Concepcion, Manuel Holley/Atlas Defense, Quito Ziegler, Sabrin Diehl, Xochi de la Luna.

2021 Material & Financial Support provided by Allina Health, Black Visions Collective, Graves Foundation,  La Doña Cerveceria, Lake Street Council, Lake Latino Business Association, Latino Economic Development Center, Midtown Global Market vendors, J.Marie/Nemer Fieger,  Pangea World Theater,  Trung Pham/Pham’s Deli,  PPNA, REAL Minneapolis, Weisman Art Museum.