Partner Spotlight
Adriana Cerrillo
 Adriana Cerrillo, a community organizer, collaborated with Jorge Villanueva Castillo and Gustavo Lira to provide the Latinx community with an all day healing and cultural session. Gustavo is a muralist artist from Oaxaca, Mexico. He has his own gallery in northeast Minneapolis and works with our Latinx youth in the public, charter and private sectors. Jorge is a Mayan decent Shaman from Yucatán,Mexico. Jorge shared with Adriana that it is the first time he's done healing work in the Minneapolis Latinx community. He has done extensive work with many other communities but never with the Latinx community. He was super excited and happy to have been a part of this historic milestone for the Minneapolis Latinx community. Adriana is looking forward to continuing her efforts in helping others build capacity.
Capacity Building Updates
Trans Equity Summit - Healing Justice Space
 For the first time in its history, the Minneapolis Trans Equity Summit provided a Healing Justice space for individuals seeking physical, mental and spiritual support during the Summit. Practitioners offered supports ranging from acupuncture to tarot readings to craniosacral bodywork. This space was not only necessary but also well utilized - the 10 practitioners were able to support 85+ individuals! We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the Summit's attendees, and hope to continue and GROW the Healing Justice space for the 2020 Summit.
Here's what July, the Healing Justice Space Coordinator had to say about its success!
"2018 was the first year that I attended the Trans Equity Summit. While I was grateful to know the City was working toward Trans Equity, I struggled to perceive if the Summit was designed to center Trans people or educate Cis professionals about Trans experience. The first 3 individuals to address the audience that day were Cis. I attended a panel on Trans Mental Health that was 75% not Trans people. The day did not feel Empowering to me in any significant way.
The 2019 Summit represented an important shift toward centering and honoring Trans experience. I thank Track for their role in this evolvement.
As the Healing Justice Space Coordinator, I was able to engage with almost everyone who visited the space. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Both people who had been to previous trans equity summits and people who had not were empowered by the space. I can say firsthand there were people who came to the summit exclusively because practitioners posted on their social media that they were doing healing sessions.
The physical space we were given was too small, but our ability to spread out across the land was a true gift. The sense of community was palpable and the connection deep.
It is my strong hope that the healing Justice space can not only return, but grow, for the 2020 summit.
What this looks like:
-A larger space, slightly away from noise and foot-traffic of other spaces
-More practitioners, including a 2nd Tarot Reader or Astrologer
-Additional services, like a nail technician and make up artist, to complement offerings of Healers and Energy Workers
-Higher pay for practitioners
-A lounge in close proximity to Healing/Beautification space for people to rest in privacy before returning to Summit
The City did a great job of bringing in practitioners who are known and trusted in our Communities. The City-funded offering of the Healing Justice Space was no small thing, and I am grateful to have been a part of it."
We're always looking for ways to better support our communities. We'd appreciate your reflections of the 6th Annual Trans Equity Summit. Your feedback will guide us in creating an even more inclusive and healing space for the 2020 Summit. Please complete the evaluation here.
Policy Work Updates
Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan Update: Racial Equity Analysis Tool Development
The Division of Race and Equity is in the process of developing a racial equity analysis tool that will be utilized by departments and appointed boards and commissions when examining how communities of color will be affected by a proposed action or decision by City. The tool ensures departments and city advisory bodies are asking the right questions, using racially disaggregated data, and engaging those most impacted by an issue when developing new processes, programs, policies, and proposals. Creation and implementation of the tool is a result of the Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan (SREAP) championed and adopted by City Council in July 2019.
Last week, a working group composed of members from the Racial Equity Steering Committee, Racial Equity Community Advisory Committee, and Racial Equity Coordinators met to provide feedback on the draft racial equity analysis tool and help determine under what conditions a racial equity analysis should be required for departments and boards and commissions. The final racial equity analysis tool is planned to be available in early 2020.
You can find more details about SREAP here!
Community Resources
The Intimacy of Blackness by Black Family Blueprint
In commemoration of the 400th year of Africans being brought to Jamestown, Virginia by the British and being forced into slavery, Black Family Blueprint is hosting The Intimacy of Blackness to explore the impact of this unique experience on Black love and marriage.
Intimacy of Blackness is a workshop examining the intersectionality of Black identity, adult secure attachment theory, and relationship maintenance model.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Couples must have celebrated at least one annual relationship anniversary. Marriage is not a requirement.
- Both partners in the relationship must attend. The benefits of the workshop require both partners to be present.
- Both partners must commit to attending the whole session.
- Both partners must be of African ascent. At least one partner must have a familial history of enslavement in the United States of America.
University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC)
Saturday, October 26
8:30- 3:00 p.m.
Register to this event can be found here.
Community Healing - From Race to Culture Part 2
Part 2: A Ceremony to Reveal and Acknowledge Truth & Mourning
The Aftermath of a 400 Year Tragedy 1619…
In August of 1619, a ship appeared on his horizon, near Point Comfort, a coastal port in the British colony of Virginia. It carried more than 20 enslaved Africans, who were sold to the colonists. America was not yet America, but this was the moment it began. No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been untouched by the 250 years of slavery that followed. On the 400th anniversary of this fateful moment, it is finally time to tell our story truthfully. ~ The 1619 Project
University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center
Monday, October 28
4:00 - 8:00 p.m.
More details of the event can be found on their Facebook page.
About the Division of Race & Equity
The Division of Race & Equity is housed in the City Coordinator's Department.
For more information, please email RaceEquity@minneapolismn.gov.
This update was developed [in part] under grant number 1H79SM063520-03 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The views, policies, and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or HHS.
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