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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
May 25 - 31, 2023
Vol. 89
Phone: 612-827-4021
No. 43
www.spokesman-recorder.com
GEORGE FLOYD SQUARE Three years later
n the three years since the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, not much has changed at the intersection of Chicago and 38th Street. The memorial in front of Cup Foods (rebranded Unity Foods) at George Floyd Square (GFS) serves as an ever-present reminder of the tragedy. The wooden barricade next to the memorial, etched with unfamiliar and familiar names like Philando Castillo and Jamar Clark, along with the “Peoples way” mural across the street bear witness to the Black and Brown lives lost before and after
George Floyd. Occasionally, tour guides can be seen leading sightseers up Chicago towards GFS, nervously trying to navigate the site of Black trauma, all the while turning tragedy into commerce. Recently however, the Graves Foundation announced plans to redevelop the building across the street from GFS on Chicago, purchasing it for just over $1 million. City Council President Andrea Jenkins has asked the state legislature for $25 million to help develop the area. Of those looking for an opportunity to educate visitors coming to GFS is KingDemetrius Pendleton, a long-time local activist and journalist, who wants to establish a nonprofit
education and community center. “I’ve been boots on the ground covering local events before, during and after the death of George Floyd,” said
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin
Pendleton. borhood groups are often on “The community is tight site and have welcomed me knit. Members of the George and my team. Floyd Global Memorial Foun“The businesses that were dation, Agape and other neigh■ See GFS on page 5 Photos by Chris Juhn
The racial justice movement after George Floyd An interview with Black Lives Matter Minnesota’s Trahern Crews
By Cole Miska Contributing Writer
sages still coming up from 2020 that we’re just now able to respond to,” Crews said. “Nothing could prepare you for here has been a great something of that magnitude.” deal of change in the Crews said that public supracial justice movement in Minnesota in port has increased for BLM the past decade, following the since the protests, remaining murder of George Floyd three above 50 percent and peaking years ago. at around 75 percent. He also Trahern Crews, who noted that a Pew Research founded Black Lives Matter poll placed the BLM national Minnesota (BLM MN) in the organization at the top of mid-2010s, said he started rethe list of organizations that Black Americans saw as helpceiving calls “from people who didn’t really protest” the day ing them most in recent years. after Floyd’s murder. He immeHe believes that BLM MN has “created an appetite for social diately began organizing, startjustice in Minnesota.” ing with a protest at 38th and Toshira Garraway Allen, Chicago, the site of the killing, Black Lives Matter Minnesota’s leader Trahern Crews which later became known as Photo by Chris Juhn who works closely with Crews, also said support has risen for George Floyd Square (GFS). Crews called the massive national headlines with pro- 15 to 26 million people partici- the racial justice movement scale of the George Floyd pro- tests after the police slaying of pated nationwide in the pro- since the murder of Floyd. “Since the uprise and the tests “hard to manage.” While Marcus Golden in 2015, Crews tests following Floyd’s death. “Even today, there’s mes- killing of George Floyd, I feel the group had previously made estimates somewhere between
Garraway Allen said. “The politicians and people sitting in seats of authority still have a lot of work to do with building relationships with our community and impacted families.” Three years on, Crews said tactics have changed. Many I think the focus who were active in the proisn’t just police test movement have switched brutality. Now, their venue from the streets to the legislative chamber. Black it’s police brutalLives Matter MN activists have ity and economic also broadened their focus on justice, and also what issues they fight for. dealing with “I think the focus isn’t just police brutality. Now, it’s police what’s happening brutality and economic justice, inside the jails and also dealing with what’s and prisons too. happening inside the jails and prisons too,” Crews said. He said there have been some successes, although he a little bit more when we say believes a lot of things still that we have been brutalized need to change on a legislative and hurt by law enforcement,” ■ See BLM on page 5
that our fellow community members are listening more and have begun to believe our families and community
Crime and Punishment: the Zaria McKeever Case By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
a degree at PCI Academy in Plymouth. According to Epps, her sister loved to do makeIn an MSR exclusive, Tif- up and enjoyed cooking and fynnie Epps shares her family’s dancing. The two were close and journey in seeking justice for the murder of her sister Zaria plotted their life out togethMcKeever, a crime that is at the er. McKeever had already heart of the juvenile justice re- planned for Epps to be her babysitter long before she form debate. gave birth to her daughter. iffynnie Epps grew The two sisters got pregnant up as an army brat. around the same time and Her parents both gave birth to their children served in the mili- one day apart. Not long aftary, which took their fam- ter sharing this life-changing ily from Georgia to states like milestone, Epps and her family Michigan and Alabama. They experienced the tragic loss. Epps recalled the night that eventually settled in Minnesota roughly 20 years ago when she first heard about her sisEpps’ youngest sister, Zaria ter McKeever’s murder. She McKeever, was just three received a call from one of her years old. sister’s friends who was on “She’s the big baby,” Epps the phone with 23-year-old laughed as she spoke about McKeever when suddenly the her sister. McKeever gradu- line cut out. Concerned, Epps ated from Champlin Park High rushed over to her sister’s School and went on to receive apartment in Brooklyn Park.
prosecutorial tug-of-war between the Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, who was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to take over the case. Three adults, including Erick Haynes, the 23-year-old father of McKeever’s oneyear-old daughter, and two juveniles have been charged with second-degree murder. According to Haynes, he had bought a gun and handed it to the two young men to use on McKeever’s boyfriend. He then drove them to her apartment and instructed them to break her door down, resulting in the killing of McKeever. The fate of the juveniles Tiffynnie Epps holding a photo of her murdered sister, Zaria McKeever. charged—two brothers 15 and Photo by Abdi Mohamed 17 years old—is at the heart of There she came across an Officers came to Epps and fighting to ensure that McK- this conflict between the counambulance and police vehicles informed her that her sister eever receives justice follow- ty attorney and state officials. parked in front of the build- hadn’t made it. Six months ing her murder. The case has turned into a ing, confirming her worst fears. later Epps and her family are ■ See CRIME on page 5
“She told us that they offered a plea deal and that we didn’t have any say in it.”