Thanks to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder for their exceptional three-part coverage of Minnesota’s leadership around Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. In the third part of the series published in November 2024, MSR editor Cynthia Moothart outlines the impact of the Missing & Murdered African American Women’s Task Force, including the role of Research in Action in making that task force process different than traditional state work groups…

Research in Action is excited to announce the next phase of our critical work to address the epidemic of violence against Black women and girls. In 2024, the Equity in Action Way Foundation was awarded a Bush Community Innovation Grant and contracted with RIA to embark on a five-year process to 1) assess how Black women and girls perceive their level of vulnerability to violence and 2) measure the progress of key state agencies toward reducing Black women and girls’ vulnerability to violence.

After 18 months of deep listening with community and extensive data analysis, we were honored to join the West Side Community Organization (WSCO) last night for the public launch of our new report "From the Flats to the Future: Understanding Displacement on Saint Paul's West Side."

Ayize James is Research in Action’s Research Support Specialist. In Research in Action’s work on the Nexus Open Road Fund, Ayize played a central role in co-creating the definition of Black wealth. Learn more about Ayize in this Staf Spotlight.

Dr. Brittany Lewis, CEO and founder of Research in Action and a senior research associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, helped the task force gather the relevant data and information to guide the creation of an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women. Read more.

Disturbed by this data, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity got to work with Research in Action, a nonprofit research education organization. CEO Brittany Lewis’ first suggestion for Habitat was to “build a new table.”

Emma Wu is Research in Action’s Special Projects Manager. In 2022, Emma was RIA’s project lead on the Artists & Justice Research Project, produced for the McKnight Foundation. Learn more about Emma in this Staff Spotlight.

The Twin Cities is known to have one of the biggest disparities in homeownership in the country between Black and white Americans. There are many systemic reasons for this gap, one of which can be traced back to a practice that developed at the turn of the 20th century. WCCO looked into how racially restrictive covenants have, over the years, shaped the Twin Cities area.

Minnesota has become the first state in the country to establish a task force on missing and murdered African American women. Advocates say the initiative is long overdue. Gov. Tim Walz made it official in a ceremonial bill signing earlier this week. The 12-member panel includes representatives from the courts, law enforcement and victim advocacy groups.

George Floyd’s killing last year sparked a renewed push to reform Minnesota’s criminal justice system.

Joi Lewis and Brittany Lewis are leading an effort called “Time of Reckoning,” a series of community engagement sessions that will culminate in a policy roundtable in June on criminal justice reform.

The effort, backed by a group of Minnesota Black community leaders, aims to center Black voices and conduct the sessions in a way that’s also healing.

If you looked at a map of Minneapolis unfolding over time, you’d see waves of demographic changes sweeping across the city. You’d see large sections of the city that are affordable to lower income folks shrink and then disappear. Zooming in on North Minneapolis, you’d see neighborhoods of Jewish immigrants moving in and then out, followed by Black families. You’d see evictions and foreclosures spike during the 2008 recession, but in only a few spots. You might wonder: why?

On June 3, Call to Mind, Minnesota Public Radio’s mental health initiative, presented a live virtual community conversation to address the need for healing and action in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. Hosted by MPR News’ Angela Davis, the conversation covered the history of racial injustice that led to Floyd’s murder and how trauma and policing affects Black Americans.

The report, “The Illusion of Choice,” whose chief investigator was Brittany Lewis, senior research associate at CURA, highlights the experiences of women and men who have struggled to find stable housing in the area. One detail that jumps out: Many of the tenants surveyed were so desperate to find a place to live that they had little choice in their apartment. And when the survey participants were evicted from their homes, often for falling behind on rent, over half experienced homelessness.