Twin Cities Black women carry burden of social justice activism

Years before JaNaé Bates became the public face of Yes 4 Minneapolis, the group that sought to replace the Police Department, she was a Fulbright scholar in Scotland, watching news coverage of protests that erupted after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014.

Bates, a minister, was a student of theology then. But even overseas, she was moved to activism.

She returned to her native Cleveland after another police killing, that of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and began working with the families of victims of police violence. She landed in Minneapolis in 2016 and spent five years advocating at the State Capitol for criminal justice reform.

Bates is just one of the many Black women that have been at the helm of the social justice movement in the Twin Cities for years — whether through protesting police brutality, launching violence prevention initiatives or changing policy. Though their individual efforts are not always widely acknowledged, the Black women interviewed by the Star Tribune view their work as both bigger than themselves and yet personal. For that reason, their efforts endure.

Read more: https://www.startribune.com/black-women-at-the-helm-of-twin-cities-social-justice-activism/600121753/