April 22, 2021
Dear Minneapolis,
We are writing this letter to you, our beloved city, days after the guilty verdict in George Floyd’s death, and on the day of Daunte Wright’s funeral. We write this as we hold closely many complexities at once, yet, we stay hopeful of our first step toward justice.
Management HQ resides in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Our CEO and several team members live within blocks of where George Floyd was murdered, and others live in close proximity to the home of Daunte Wright. As a team, we have supported, laughed, and cried with each other. Day to day, we have witnessed the best of our city in the amazing human beings who work at MHQ.
These words from the folks of MHQ are an act of reflection and our active practice of love. Truth telling is an act of love, a commitment to renewal and permission to let our hearts speak. This is our collective truth and hope:
“My hope for Minneapolis is that we keep this momentum going. That things do not fizzle out as the days go on. Our voice needs to continue to be loud. Why stop now? Small strides are still strides. The finish line is not yet in site, but we are moving in that direction. Minneapolis, let’s keep the momentum going!”
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“In her book All About Love (2017), bell hooks defines love as an ‘act of will – namely, both an intention and action.’ She invites us to embrace a love ethic, a process of constant self-reflection and practice. Love is necessary work and it is in love that we learn to resist and thrive under any circumstances. We love our imperfect city.”
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“I love about Minneapolis that we are witnessing a powerful, growing movement for social justice, literally right outside our front doors. I love our beautiful and diverse communities, that we have one of the largest Somali populations in the U.S., and one of the largest concentrations of Hmong people in America. I love that when an encampment for our unhoused residents arose last summer in a park outside some of our homes, our neighbors offered food, time, and support.
I hope Minneapolis might someday be a vision for other cities of how our people helped our city heal, rising above old and dangerous systems. I hope for us to be an epicenter for justice and equity, where all our community members thrive.”
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“I wish I could write a love letter, about the beautiful summers, glistening lakes, and our connection to Prince. However, the revolving door of pain and uncertainty over the value of our lives as your Black residents, gives me pause. I am heartbroken and discouraged. In the wealth of culture, landscape and resilience, you have disparities that demonstrate that our lives fail to matter too often.
We waited with tense hearts and sinking stomachs for the verdict to come. Preparing for the worst, knowing that no justice came for our brothers Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. We know the family of Daunte Wright was arranging to bury him, unable to fully celebrate this rare victory of justice for George. Daunte was stolen, taken too soon and with reckless abandon as fellow metro area police failed to see that we are worth so much and bring life to the community we all call home.
I wish I could write you a love letter and say that I’m proud. Instead, I’m still grieving, heartbroken, clinging to a semblance of hope while being reminded in our sister cities that we cannot go hours between justice and death of our children and loved ones. Our collective hearts break for Ma’khia Bryant. The tears of Black mothers everywhere were felt, reminding us of how evanescent joy and reconciliation are as injustice swiftly beats at our doors.
Sometimes it snows in April. Sometimes it takes more than one white police officer to be found guilty to truly warm our hearts. I hope we can feel warm soon. “
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“I love Minneapolis – biking around the cities, exploring the different neighborhoods, enjoying the breweries, hanging out with friends at a park, floating or kayaking in Lake Nokomis, going to Gopher football games & walking around the UMN campus! My hope for Minneapolis is peace, acceptance and safety for all.”
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“I’m finding it difficult to talk about what I love about Minneapolis. Not that there is a lack of things to love. That might be the problem. There is so much about this community that is good, that for those of us who experience the best of this community it is hard to acknowledge that there are also some difficult realities.
Students in Minnesota receive some of the best academic outcomes in the nation, but we have one of the worst achievement gaps between white students and students of color. Our community has some of the best quality of life indicators in the country with relatively affordable housing, lots of high paying jobs with quality companies, excellent healthcare, parks, museums, entertainment and recreation. But again, access to those quality-of-life experiences is dramatically different for white and non-white Minnesotans.
Minneapolis has two very different realities.
There’s the reality I love. After living in other parts of the country my wife and I moved back to Minneapolis because we wanted the education and community for our kids, and the culture and economy for ourselves. We love Minneapolis.
Then there is the reality experienced by my BIPOC colleagues, friends, neighbors, and classmates of my children as well as Philando Castile, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright and their families. I don’t love that Minneapolis.
I’m heartened by protests we have participated in and witnessed. I’m heartened by the philanthropy and activism that thrives in our community. I’m heartened by the white leaders in our community who are deferring to and standing behind BIPOC leaders.
I do love that we’re a hurting, uncomfortable, and agitated community right now. I love this discomfort because pain and disorientation make change possible.
Change is happening, may it come quickly.”
Love, MHQ
