Understanding Sites of Resilience and Resistance

As Minnesota takes center stage on the national social and political landscape this year, we hope this syllabus provides insight into areas where educational research can help develop community-centered solutions. The resources shared throughout the syllabus address the interconnected nature of land, people, history, power dynamics, and collective memory. They also present creative and innovative research avenues for higher education.

As ASHE 2024 President Jeni Hart stated:

the intent of the 2024 conference theme, "I Am A Scholar," is to not only consider our own identities as scholars, but to consider who we are as a scholarly community. As you reflect upon your own ideas about what makes you a scholar, I invite you to consider dismantling the hierarchies that have been constructed about who is worthy of the title “scholar.” I believe these often create barriers to better policy, practice, and scholarship.

It is with these thoughts in mind that we approach the syllabus for the 2024 ASHE conference offering a variety of resources to read, listen, or view at your convenience.

To begin, we would like to introduce you to a great resource from the Center for Community-Engaged Learning (CCEL) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. The CCEL’s work is an essential academic resource for students, faculty, and staff seeking high-quality and meaningful opportunities to engage with communities in their learning, teaching, and research, and for community partners seeking reciprocal relationships with the University. One of the guiding values in the CCEL, reflection and learning, calls for advocating for “reflective practice as a way of charting the course of our individual lives, and as well as for understanding the roots and realities of our deeply unequal society and identifying ways we can use our skills, talents, and passions for a better future” (CCEL, About Us, n.d.). One of the primary tools CCEL students have created is a "Sites of Resistance and Resilience in the Twin Cities" Story Map, which serves as examples of knowledge production, cultural identity, collective memory, and community empowerment.

The CCEL states that,

As members of a scholarly community and practitioners of community engagement, we recognize an obligation to know the history of the geographical area in which we are situated and its connections to today. Knowing the history of our area can help deepen our understanding of systemic racism and historical trauma as root causes of current social realities, enabling us to more effectively work for greater equity in the Twin Cities. In addition, it is important that we recognize the continued process of settler colonialism and the deliberate acts of erasure that go with it. Throughout the map, you will find examples of continued resistance to white supremacy. (CCEL, Reflection & Learning, n.d.)

Reflection Questions

Below are some guiding reflection questions to think about as you review the Story Map site. Following the questions are instructions on how to access and navigate the site. We hope that this resource will be useful in situating Minneapolis and Saint Paul in historical and contemporary contexts and its cultural significance to the Midwest region.

Reflection questions:

  1. How can story mapping engage communities in the preservation, reframing, and transmission of cultural narratives tied to specific places and spaces?
  2. In what ways can we critically engage with sites of resistance in a way that not only acknowledges historical oppression but also celebrates the survival, resilience, and agency of those communities?
  3. How does the relationship between place and memory create a living archive of histories, practices, and traditions? In what ways do we see this reflected in higher education and your local community?

"Sites of Resistance and Resilience in the Twin Cities" Story Map

Follow this link to begin exploring the Sites of Resistance and Resilience in the Twin Cities Story Map

Step One: Click on first subheading “Bdote: The Dakota in the Twin Cities” (you can also scroll down to get that page) 

Bdote: The Dakota lived in the Twin Cities long before the arrival of European colonizers, in the area now known as Minnesota. The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities occupies lands included in the 1805, 1837, and 1851 treaties between the United States government and the sovereign Dakota nation. Due to the U.S. government's failure to uphold any of these treaties, these lands still rightfully and legally belong to the Dakota people. The Dakota are the only people indigenous to this place, and they have maintained a spiritual connection to and physical presence in it throughout history to the present day as part of the Twin Cities' large and vibrant Native American community.

Step Two: Explore each of the five neighborhoods listed on the map. We’ve included some sites we suggest visiting if you have time. When you get to each neighborhood page, you can scroll down to see each of the sites highlighted for that location. All of the descriptions included below come from the CCEL Story Map.

  • North Minneapolis
    • # 4 - Phyllis Wheatley Community Center: The Phyllis Wheatley Community Center was founded in 1924, and quickly became the center of the Black renaissance in Minnesota.
    • # 10 - The Way Community Center: The Way was established after the Plymouth Avenue uprising in 1967. Much of its focus was on cultivating pride for Black youth.
    • #13 - African American Heritage Museum: The Museum “preserves, documents and highlights the achievements, contributions and experiences of African Americans in Minnesota,” which have been left out of traditional tellings of history.
  • South Minneapolis
    • # 10 - Legal Rights Center: Over its long history, the Legal Rights Center has aimed to combat racial biases in Child Protection, as well as support clients in criminal justice cases, juvenile justice cases, and stop extreme enforcement of misdemeanors (Legal Rights Center, 2022).
    • # 11 - Little Earth Community: Little Earth Community was formed in 1973 in response to housing discrimination and created a community for Native people to remain culturally connected and seek resiliency and create systemic change.
    • #13 - 35W Construction: Prior to the construction of 35W, neighborhoods in South Minneapolis included thriving pockets of African American, Native American and Hispanic communities. While many communities avoided direct destruction as a result of the freeway constructed, the neighborhood lost its feeling of connectedness. The government only held two community meetings for the entire freeway system in the Twin Cities, and the 35W meeting was hidden in newspaper ads. Consequently, most residents didn't know about the meeting, and many didn’t know about freeway construction until they received offers for their homes. Overall, “throughout Minneapolis and Saint Paul around 7,000 Homes were torn down with some 25,000 people displaced by (the) freeway” (McDaniel, 2021).
    • #14 - Freeways & the Minneapolis Black Population: Visit this number on the Story Map to learn about how freeways have negatively impacted BIPOC communities in the Twin Cities. For example, "in 1960, 80 percent of the Twin Cities’ Black population lived in the areas where I-35W, I-94, and Highway 55 were placed" (Ottoson, 2021).
    • #18 - Somali Museum: Founded in 2011, and opened to the public in 2013, the Somali Museum is the only museum devoted to Somali culture in the country. They elevate the work of Somali artists and currently have 1000 pieces in their collection.
  • Cedar Riverside
    • #3 - The Cedar Cultural Center: Over the past 30 years, the Cedar has continued to grow in its offerings to the community and has introduced Midnimo, the Cedar Commissions, and the Global Roots Festival, some of its most popular festivals and shows (The Cedar, 2022).
    • #6 - Mixed Blood Theater: Mixed Blood became Minnesota’s first multi-racial theater company, and grew from a summer project to a professional theater company that has produced more than 40 seasons.
  • Rondo
    • # 7 - I-94 Construction: When I-94 was constructed, it went right through the Rondo neighborhood destroying over 700 African-American homes and 300 African-American owned businesses (Reconnect Rondo, 2021).
    • #9 - Frogtown Farms: Frogtown gets its name from the marshland that was once there. In 1880, the area was purchased by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and housing for orphaned and homeless children was built. Over 80 years, more than 8,000 children had been educated in the home. More recently, Frogtown Park and Farm has provided the neighborhood with a 5 acre demonstration farm as well as recreation areas for children.
    • #10 - Reconnect Rondo: A movement is growing to reconnect Rondo through a landbridge that would cap I-94. This project intends to use the new area created by the landbridge to not only reconnect the neighborhood, but also to build affordable housing, create new green spaces and rebuild economic opportunity for African Americans in Rondo (Reconnect Rondo, 2021).
  • St. Paul
    • #3 - Philando Castile Memorial Peace Garden: The Philando Castile Peace Garden, a space for residents to remember Philando as a “gathering space for peace, justice and healing built around winding paths, gardens and places to sit and reflect.”(Philando Castile Memorial Peace Garden, 2022; Philando Castile Relief Foundation, 2022).
    • #13 - HmongTown Marketplace: HmongTown Marketplace started in 2004 by Entrepreneur Toua Xiong. Toua wanted a place for Hmong Americans to come together to support one another.
    • #14 - East Side Freedom Library (ESFL): The mission of ESFL is to inspire solidarity, advocate for justice and work toward equity for all. This library hosts a variety of workshops, public performances, formal interviews, and a space to learn and grow alongside ESFL.
  • University of Minnesota
    • #10 - The Truth Report: TRUTH stands for "Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing Project." This project recognizes the past, present, and future, and works to get into the right relation with indigenous communities. The TRUTH project seeks to create meaningful connections, and contribute healing work for Native peoples.
    • # 11 - Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies: Jean-Nickolaus Tretter is the namesake and founder of the Tretter collection. The Tretter Collection was donated in 2000 after it was discovered that gay and lesbian history was disappearing. The collection is now preserved, protected, and accessible to all.