Year 3, Issue 6— January 30, 2024

founded by Minnesota Women's Press, a media pioneer since 1985

Connecting engaged feminists who care

about solutions and action

"39 Years of Voice & Vision"

April 13, 2024

Bringing Badass members statewide together to talk about

solutions to gender-based violence,

re-imagining public safety,

diversity in politics, and more.

Badass Members will get invitations this week to vote for

Badass Minnesotans of the Year

If You Are Not Yet a Member

Publisher Mikki Morrissette was on Ellie Krug's AM950 radio show, talking about the past year of award-winning Changemakers Alliance coverage. The financial struggles of Minnesota Women's Press since the pandemic were a point of discussion, as were intentions for the April 13 "39 Years of Voice & Vision" event for Badass members.

Mikki said on the program, "We have as many incidents of domestic violence today as we did decades ago, when people thought it was a private matter. We now have more awareness about why that's wrong, but we haven't done enough to support people who are experiencing it.

"People are not not necessarily looking to the legal system in the way that we think they might, because it's not the solution. They want [violent] people to change their behavior. That involves more conversations to change mindsets, which is possible if we invest in it."

At the event, we will unveil a discussion guide about public safety — including responses to issues of gender-based violence, substance use, and mental illness.

Other details about the April 13 event

Junauda Petrus , newly named Minnesota Book Awards finalist for her storybook, "Can We

Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?," will

do a reading.

Spoken word artist Muna Abdulahi will perform.

"The truth is, to be a woman in a space that was not built for you is to know how to build space with your bare hands, to demand the attention of any room you step into."

Deneal Trueblood-Lynch and some of her cast will read from her play, "Secrets," about the trauma that impacts a majority of women at the Shakopee Women's Prison.

Our Stories Are Supported by Community

Collective Health

Thanks to Badass membership for making this new series possible

A Minnesota legislative committee session was held on January 25 that featured public testimony from 75 people. Two different perspectives:

A nurse in Rochester: “People are a gift from God, from the unborn to the aged, the healthy and the sick. ... House File 1930 is horrific because it is not healthcare, it is deathcare. We cannot claim to be concerned with the mental health crisis and the rise in suicides and at the same time promote helping someone die on purpose.”

A woman dying of an aggressive form of brain cancer: "I had no choice over the cause of my death and currently I have no choice over the slow and painful death most glioblastoma patients endure. Our organs will slowly shut down and we will experience seizures, painful headaches, delirium, blindness, and paralysis.”

Read our deep dive summary

of the testimony

The Foundation of Housing

Thanks to Badass membership for making this series possible

Ecolution

Evolving Economies and Ecosystems

Thanks to Seward Co-op

for making the series possible.

Find the series here

“The state’s waters are connected in ways scientists are just beginning to understand."

Read the Story

Re-Imagining Public Safety

Thanks to Badass membership for making this series possible

Find the series here

"There is a growing body of research documenting the extraordinary psychological impact on Black and Latine youth of being under surveillance."

Read the Story

"We are focused on mental illness as being key to violence prevention — but it accounts for only five percent of the violence."

Read the Story

Hometown Values & Vision:

Who we are and what we care about

Thanks to the First Unitarian Society Foundation: Kurt Pearson Fund, for making the Hometown series possible.

Board member Erin Schutte Wadzinski asked for the reasoning behind removing the two flags, to which superintendent John Landgaard responded, “They are deemed as a potential controversial topic."

Read the Story

excerpted from the Worthington Globe

Legacy Series

MWP is uplifting select pieces from our 39-year archive with a focus on longstanding issues.

From "Squeezed, Hounded and Harassed"

In 2000, reporter Jennifer Thaney explored the correlation between the dwindling number of available rental units in the Twin Cities and an increase in reported incidents of sexual harassment toward women tenants. Elana Dahlager, leading attorney at Mid Minnesota Legal Aid‘s Housing Discrimination Law Project, recently told Minnesota Women’s Press that she sees sexual harassment continue to occur in rental housing. “[In 2024 there] is a tight rental market and so people are vulnerable to discrimination.”

Bulletin Board Supported by Badass Members

Do you want to see at a glance what Minneapolis councils and boards are talking about? Check out the Documenters newsletter (one of our media partners).

Minnesota Women's Press photography and website have been recognized three years in a row by the Minnesota Newspaper Association. Later this week we will add six more awards to our shelf!

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