Editor’s note: Walk the Talk is Streets.mn’s carefully curated, highly partisan collection of both serious and fun-loving events, community meetings and opportunities for engagement that we think will interest our readers. Email your ideas to Hawken Habig, one of our daily editors, at [email protected].
Mapping Prejudice Online Transcription Volunteer Events – Weekly on Wednesdays
The University of Minnesota-based Mapping Prejudice project is hosting online volunteer sessions as the team initiates a new project focusing on Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project researches and maps racial covenants – sections of home deeds precluding non-white inhabitants – and started in 2016 with Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Now, Mapping Prejudice is partnering with organizations in Milwaukee to collect information on that city’s history of racial covenants, and is looking for volunteers to help locate them in deeds. Online volunteer training sessions will be held on certain Wednesdays in October and November.
Midway Peace Park Fall Fun Day – Saturday, October 8, 12 p.m.
The Union Park District Council and the Neighborhood Sustainability and Vitality Committee are hosting their Fall Fun Day on Saturday at the recently opened Midway Peace Park, next to the Skyline Tower in St. Paul. The event will feature food, tea and plenty of fun activities.
Central Ave: Take Back Our Main Street Petition
The Columbia Heights community organization HeightsNEXT is promoting a petition seeking a safer, more pedestrian-friendly Central Avenue. The road falls under the purview of MnDOT, which designates it as a highway and treats it as such. HeightsNEXT’s petition calls on the department to recognize Central as a community asset and form a comprehensive plan to improve traffic safety along the corridor. If you are interested, find out more and sign here!
Rethinking I-94 Transit Study Public Meetings – Tuesday, October 11, 9 a.m. and Wednesday, October 12, 8 a.m.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation will host two public meetings this week to discuss the Rethinking I-94 project and solicit community input. One event is virtual, on October 11 at 9 a.m.; an in-person meeting will take place on October 12 at 8 a.m. at Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. Rethinking I-94 is a long-term project by MnDOT aimed at reevaluating the interstate’s relationship to its surrounding neighborhoods. It’s a response in part to the freeway’s division and destruction of the majority-Black Rondo neighborhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The project is currently in Phase 2, and the department is seeking community feedback before settling on a vision. Community ideas range from freeway caps and freeway removals to rethinking the project altogether, so now is a good opportunity to make sure your voice is heard!
National Walk to a Park Day – Monday, October 10
National Walk to A Park Day is this Monday, October 10! The day is highlighted by the Trust for Public Land’s 10-Minute Walk program, whose mission is to ensure that every community can access a park within a 10-minute walk of their home. National Walk to a Park Day encourages us to visit and appreciate our local parks, while also recognizing the socio-economic inequities that affect communities’ access to green spaces.