Twin Cities activist Nekima Levy Armstrong reveals she had benign brain tumor removed

She said the first symptom was blurred vision in one eye.

December 13, 2022 at 7:40PM
Nekima Levy Armstrong of the Racial Justice Network spoke during a 2021 news conference in Minneapolis. (David Joles, Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Twin Cities civil rights attorney and social justice activist Nekima Levy Armstrong disclosed this week that she had surgery in September for a benign brain tumor.

Levy Armstrong, 46, said in a Facebook video Monday that blurry vision in right eye that surfaced in July led to her seeing a doctor and ultimately having surgery to remove the tumor that was pressing against an optic nerve.

"I went in literally for an eye appointment, thinking I would come out with glasses," Levy Armstrong said, "and instead, I find out a short while later that I actually had a brain tumor."

She said, "I'm a survivor. … The tumor I had in my brain was not cancerous. I could have gotten news that was even worse than what I experienced."

Levy Armstrong, a former candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, said she has resumed her work after several weeks of recovery.

Referencing the tumultuous past few years in the Twin Cities that included the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May 2020, Levy Armstrong said she was looking forward to less stressful times in her life.

"I was expecting 2022 to be a year where I could actually rest … in addition to focusing on work and just resting my body from being out in the streets marching alongside so many other folks," she said.

However, Levy Armstrong continued, detection of the tumor was "like out of a movie, to be honest with you. I'm still coming to terms with the situation."

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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