LETTER FROM THE MAYOR
There’s no better way to build community engagement than to actually listen to communities, and hear from them on how to make their neighborhood safer. This summer, we launched the Collaborative Public Safety Strategies program. It’s a first-of-its kind effort in the US that set aside $500,000 for collaborative, community driven public safety strategies in Little Earth and the surrounding area, and the West Broadway corridor in north Minneapolis. These strategies are designed and implemented by the communities themselves.
The Man Up Club received an award through this program – they’re a youth leadership organization serving African American young men and boys, and they used these additional funds to support programming for 15 young men. I had the chance to meet with them during the Cities United convening, and last night I headed over to Juxtaposition Arts to sit with them again and listen to their stories. It’s so clear that even amid some real pain, loss and trauma, the Man Up Club is giving these young men hope. And I know firsthand how important hope is in a young life. Thanks so much to Korey Dean for his important work, his leadership, and for inviting me to share their space for an evening.
Betsy Hodges, Mayor of Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis Community Leaders and MPD Talk Public Safety at LHENA Forum
Grassroots democracy is not easy. The work is rooted in community and empowers people to take leadership into their own communities. It requires passion, commitment and courage. And sometimes, it can get messy. That’s what happens when there are big problems to solve.
Eric Ortiz / erictortiz@gmail.com
Wedge resident & volunteer LHENA board member
The Man Up Club hosts an event at the site of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in June 2020. (The Man Up Club/Facebook)
As Carjackings Climb In Minneapolis, Ages Of Offenders Are Dropping
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — As the temperature began to rise this summer, so too did a violent combination of robberies and car thefts commonly known as “carjackings.”
Voices for Change: Man Up Club aims to mold men of character in Minnesota
Young Black Men Find Hope, Direction in Minneapolis
Korey Dean, founder of the Man Up Club, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 31, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
MINNEAPOLIS—Young black men are finding hope and a bright future through the Man Up Club in Minneapolis.
As Korey Dean, the club’s founder, worked as a student advocate in a local Twin Cities high school, he discovered that African American boys faced the most challenges. They were disproportionately filling detention halls, disproportionately sent downtown with police escorts after an altercation, and disproportionately failing to graduate.
North Mpls. club shows boys how to ‘man up’
MINNEAPOLIS—Young black men are finding hope and a bright future through the Man Up Club in Minneapolis.
Program founder Korey Dean, left, portrays “anger” as he playfully constrains his son Tytist Dean, 17, during a talk at The Man Up Club in north Minneapolis on Aug. 31, 2017. Courtney Perry for MPR News