Upcoming TownTalks Event
The Future of Public Safety in the Twin Cities
Thursday June 22, 2023 | 12 pm
New leaders are promising a different vision for public safety in the Twin Cities. Join us for a TownTalks, in collaboration with WILD, with three public officials still relatively new in their positions:
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt
Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander
St. Paul Deputy Chief of Community Engagement Pam Barragan
Learn what they are already doing to address a broad range of issues connected to public safety in the region and hear them answer your questions. The conversation will be moderated by Westminster Town Hall Forum director Tane Danger.
This program is co-presented with The Wanton Injustice Legal Detail. WILD's mission is to provide a platform to combat anti-Black racism and all forms of racism through direct support and partnerships with existing community organizations currently rooted in this work.
Free and open to all at Westminster on 12th and Nicollet. Light refreshments will be served.
2020 TownTalks Events
The Geography of Twin Cities Racism
Monday, September 21, 2020 | 7 pm
The documentary Jim Crow of the North was released in Spring 2019, serving as a wakeup call to many Twin Cities residents who believed Minneapolis to be removed from the racial strife so prevalent in the 20th century South. More than a year later, following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and violence, what can we learn from the film and the Mapping Prejudice project? What do we need to know about our past in order to help contribute to a future that is fair to all our citizens? Moderated by Rev. Dr. Alika Galloway of Liberty Community Church. Panelists include Daniel Bergin, executive producer at TPT and creator of Jim Crow of the North; Kirsten Delegard, director and co-founder of the Mapping Prejudice project at the University of Minnesota; and William Green, author and professor of history at Augsburg University.
Racial Trauma and Mental Health
Thursday, August 6, 2020 | 7 pm
"But all our phrasing — race relations, racial chasm, racial justice, racial profiling, white privilege, even white supremacy — serves to obscure that racism is a visceral experience, that it dislodges brains, blocks airways, rips muscle, extracts organs, cracks bones, breaks teeth... You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body." —Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Moderated by Rubén Vázquez, Vice President of Racial Justice and Public Policy at YWCA Minneapolis. Featuring Brandon Jones, Twin Cities psychotherapist, professor, and consultant; and Terri Karis, psychologist, therapist and professor.
Policing and Police Reform: Reimagining Public Safety
Thursday, July 9, 2020
The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers on May 25 has stirred outrage across the country and sparked a growing call to defund the police. Some have reacted to this call with enthusiasm, others with fear. Should our current public safety system be eradicated, or is transformation possible? Hear local community leaders explore potential changes to policing in Minnesota and the impact these changes might have on our communities.
Featuring Mauri Friestleben, principal at North High School in Minneapolis; Rev. Albert Gallmon, Jr., Senior Pastor of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in North Minneapolis; Gloria Perez, president and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota; and Melvin Tennant, president and CEO of Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association.
