In 2023, Streets.mn commissioned a racial equity analysis of the organization. An important recommendation in the resulting document was that the organization create a anti-racism vision statement:
“The organization must develop a commonly shared vision for racial equity. This will create a guardrail on which to judge the organization’s efforts and set parameters for racial equity as a specific goal of the organization.” — Cirien Saadeh
The following statement was drafted by Streets.mn’s Anti-Racism Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.
Vision Statement
Statement of acknowledgement to racial injustice
We, the Board of Directors for Streets.mn, acknowledge that the state of Minnesota is built on the traditional and sacred homelands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe people, who inhabited this land for hundreds of years before the U.S. government acquired it through unjust practices.
The board also acknowledges that this country, this state and the cities within it were formed and developed through the exploitation and marginalization of racial minority groups.
Statement connecting racial inequities to organization’s mission
As an organization focused on promoting news and information on transportation and land use within Minnesota, Streets.mn and its board recognize that Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color have historically been, and continue to be, disproportionately harmed by the policies that shape our state’s built environment at all scales. The fabric of our towns and cities is marked by policies designed to divide and disempower on the basis of race.
Although BIPOC communities are disproportionately negatively affected by urbanist issues, the board recognizes that the Minnesota urbanist community within which Streets.mn exists is predominantly white. BIPOC communities are intentionally disempowered by institutions at all scales, including the white-dominated urbanist community.
Statement acknowledging intersections of race with other identities
The board recognizes that race intersects with other identities — such as ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, class and immigration status — producing unique and disproportionate experiences with discrimination. As we work to better understand and represent the plurality of racial experiences of Minnesota, the board recognizes we must be mindful of these intersections.
Statement committing to anti-racism
With an understanding that the history and structures shaping transportation and land use within the state of Minnesota are racist, the board commits to operating with anti-racist values, advocating for policies that address historical and ongoing racist wrongs, and taking the required steps to become an organization with anti-racist practices built fundamentally into its operations.
Statement defining a vision for an anti-racist organization
Our vision for an anti-racist Streets.mn is one in which our readership, writership, volunteer base and leadership reflect the racial diversity of the state of Minnesota. We represent racial diversity by also representing the variety of experiences resulting from race’s intersections with other identities.
An anti-racist Streets.mn is an organization that is cognizant of how our site’s platform and operations limit who can engage with our content. As such, we develop a plurality of means by which people from a range of racial backgrounds can discover, access and engage with the organization.
An anti-racist Streets.mn develops codified practices of maintaining the continuity and transparency of our anti-racist programs, so that the organization continues to work toward our long-term goals of anti-racism even as board membership turns over.
Programs and Structural Reforms
The following are a list of programs and reforms the board is working on to achieve the vision laid out in the preceding statement.
- The continued operation of the Anti-Racism Committee.
- Networking, outreach and collaborations with local journalism of color organizations.
- Being present, primarily through tabling, at local meetups and events to raise awareness of Streets.mn in BIPOC communities.
- Planning events to reach a range of racial and ethnic communities by targeting a diversity of locations across Minnesota.
- Being accountable to diversifying the organization by gathering data on site demographics, including readers, writers, editors, volunteers, event participants, board members and board applicants.
- Working to implement DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) source tracking, the process of thoughtfully tracking the demographics of sources used in stories.
- Securing funding for the continuation of the Crosswalks Program, an initiative to pay writers of color to contribute to material to Streets.mn.
- Investing resources toward highlighting the issues that directly impact the people this statement concerns.