Created by Adam Bledsoe, scholar, teacher, and thinker of the Black Diaspora; Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Society at the University of Minnesota.

Visualizing the hidden histories of race and privilege in the urban landscape.

St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood ran roughly between University Avenue to the north, Selby Avenue to the south, Rice Street to the east, and Lexington Avenue to the west. African American churches, businesses, and schools set down roots there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, creating a strong community. Construction of Interstate-94 (I-94) between 1956 and 1968 cut the neighborhood in half and fractured its identity as a cultural center. Learn more from this MinnPost article.

Roots of racial disparities are seen through a new lens in this film that explores the origins of housing segregation in the Minneapolis area. But the story also illustrates how African-American families and leaders resisted this insidious practice, and how Black people built community — within and despite — the red lines that these restrictive covenants created.

A discovered tape of a speech given by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the University of Minnesota in 1967; followed by an interview of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by host L. Howard Bennett for a discussion on ideas, methods and words of wisdom on how to achieve the goal of a free society for all.

Created by: Dr. Todd Lawrence, Dr. Paul Lorah, and Dr. Heather Shirey with the Urban Art Mapping Research Project. Our student research collaborators are Tiaryn Daniels, Hannah Shogren-Smith, and Chioma Uwagwu. Our research team is based in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.