Sheletta: It’s not just police but people driving positive change in north Minneapolis

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Why haven’t you sipped from the extensive natural wine selection at Bar Brava or sopped up some shrimp and grits with your buddies at Camden Social Club?

Don’t be fooled this April 1 and think you’re not safe to enjoy happy hour in north Minneapolis because you heard it’s all gang bangers and drug dealers in “that part” of town.

You know the old saying that goes, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

The lie is that north Minneapolis is pretty terrible. The truth is that it’s pretty terrific. But while the crime statistics there are all going down, negative perceptions are still trending upward.

I invite you to challenge your beliefs and change your mindset. Do yourself a favor and get tickets to see the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra perform music inspired by New Orleans and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Storm quintet at the renovated Capri Theater this Friday.

Get to the show early, park your car and take a walk down West Broadway. Take in the amazing murals along with all the beauty and brilliance that we see every day in the neighborhood.

Before you haters get to hating and say, “What does she know about north Minneapolis? She lives in Cottage Grove.” Let me tell you I go to the North Side every Sunday for church services. And I’m often there other times of the week, too, whether I’m going to a restaurant with friends, taking in a concert at the Capri or shopping at a small business.

It’s vibrant. It’s alive. It’s electric.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called it “a massive shift” at a news conference where he detailed the significant across-the-board decline in crime and gun violence over north.

This city data reflects reality, not wishful thinking: crime on the North Side is at its lowest since 2014!

If you think it’s all because of the increased police presence, think again. Black communities have always been overpoliced and underprotected.

The drastic turnaround on the North Side has more to do with the grit and resilience of some special people and outstanding organizations making a difference at the grassroots level than with how many police officers are patrolling the streets.

I recently had the honor of hosting the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition’s annual gala. As its entertaining emcee, I shattered its financial goal and helped it raise five times the amount of money it brought in last year. The event was filled with loquacious legislators, energetic entrepreneurs and committed community members.

“North Minneapolis has been overlooked for a very long time. Our narrative has not been told by us — it’s just crime stories highlighted in local media,” said Kristel Porter, who is not only the executive director of the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition (WBC), but a resident with deep community roots.

“Anyone who assumes the worst about the North Side, I welcome you to come here and see how beautiful it is. We deserve everything that 50th and France has, that every other business corridor has.”

As a coalition, the WBC has led the way, enriching entrepreneurs with support, technical know-how and visionary leadership.

“We know that curb appeal counts,” Porter points out. “When a community looks cared for, it’s harder to create mayhem. We’ve picked up the litter and beautified our spaces. Again, this year, you will see the WBC’s investment in planters spilling blooming flowers that hang from posts along West Broadway, adding color and beauty.”

North Minneapolis should not be a secret. Everybody should be wearing the crystal healing bracelets that you can only buy at the Dream Shop at Fremont Avenue and 37th Ave N. This specialty gift shop, owned by Markella Smith, doesn’t just offer great finds like cozy mink blankets, rhinestone crossbody bags and thread tassel drop earrings, it’s also a community gathering place where nearby residents stop in to share the good news about their new job and the academic accomplishments of their children.

We’ve got big dreams for north Minneapolis. We want to build the generational wealth long denied the community by strengthening existing businesses and creating opportunities for new ones that will invest in West Broadway. Homeownership must be more appealing, affordable and available. We want a hardware store, a food co-op and more storefronts where people can spend their money. Prospering local businesses, like the Dream Shop, will create more good jobs for young people.

Our Twin Cities community, whether you measure it in two urban core cities or as an ever-expanding multi-county metropolitan area, is only strong when we all succeed.

“All life is interrelated,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

You want to be more successful? See to it that north Minneapolis succeeds.

If your hockey player’s mullet is much too long, take him over to Teto Wilson’s Barbershop on Saturday afternoon for a haircut.

Need to be uplifted? Listen to Lanell Lightfoot sing soulful gospel tunes at Sanctuary Covenant Church Sunday morning.

Trying to find a unique Easter gift for your child’s overworked teacher or something special for your anxious coworker’s birthday? Stop by the Dream Shop on your lunch break and pick up one of their mindfulness coloring books. That might be just what you’re looking for.

And I look forward to seeing you in north Minneapolis real soon.