Clarissa Rogers Walker | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | March 7, 2011 |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Clarissa Walker |
Occupation | Civic Activist |
Known for | Sabathani Community Center |
Children | Karon Rogers, Sara Rogers, Rock Rogers, Juan Rogers, Vann Rogers, Bret Rogers, Neva Walker [1] |
Clarissa Rogers Walker (died March 7, 2011) was an American social activist and community leader based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [2] She was known for her social contributions in the South Minneapolis area for the African-American community. She served for more than three decades as the director of Sabathani Community Center, a multi-ethnicity community service center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In November 2019, the City Council of Minneapolis announced [3] [4] a commemorative honor to Walker along with activist Launa Newman by renaming and dedicating specific portions of avenues amongst the 38th Street corridor to their names respectively as a tribute to their contributions. [5] [6]
Walker, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, settled at Minneapolis in the year 1955 with her first daughter Karon. [7]
Her social work and welfare activity were primarily based on the advocacy of human rights and better living for the communities of the twin cities by providing basic amenities such as shelter, food and clothing. [7] Her commencement of the social service started when she joined a Minneapolis Hospital as a room technician and then a surgical nurse at the University of Minnesota and North Memorial Hospitals. [8]
In 1968, she was appointed at Sabathani Community Center as a youth supervisor under the guidance of Sabathani Church. Inside the organization she consequently served in several positions including Social Worker/Counselor, assistant director, Acting Executive Director to name a few. In 1971, she obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota. She also pursued post graduation in Business Management and became a licensed social worker. Later she also worked in various capacities within the organization including Program Director of Family Resource Program. She was associated with the Neighborhood Housing Services of America Board, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Regional Advisory Committee, the Second Harvest Food Bank Board, the Minnesota Extension Advisory Committee, the United Way First Call for Help Committee etc. [9]
In 1975, Walker opened a food shelf in response to hunger amongst families in the neighborhood. [10] In 1976, she became the founding president of the Southside Neighborhood Housing Services and took the significant role in providing home loans and grants to the people in the surrounding communities. She also served as a board member of National Housing Reinvestment for nearly 25 years. In 1979, Walker started a tax preparation initiative for low income people, which was later named as AccountAbility Minnesota. During this time, Walker was also involved in the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee to the Mayor of Minneapolis, the Project for Pride in Living, the Lake Street Partners Board and the Central Neighborhood Improvement Association.
Walker died on March 7, 2011, at her home. [8] [11]
In November 2019, the City Council of Minneapolis announced a commemorative tribute to Walker by renaming an avenue stretching several blocks and part of the 38th Street Corridor after her name. [3] [12] In the 2021 strategic development plan, the planning committee of the City Council of Minneapolis proposed the development of Clarissa Walker’s Homebuyer Club, to provide assistance and services related to home buying for low and middle income earning community members within the district. [13] [14] [15] [16]
In 2001, Clarissa Walker's daughter Neva Walker was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, and become the first Black woman in the Minnesota Legislature. [8]
The Minneapolis City Council is the legislative branch of the city of Minneapolis in Minnesota, United States. Comprising 13 members, the council holds the authority to create and modify laws, policies, and ordinances that govern the city. Each member represents one of the 13 wards in Minneapolis, elected for a four-year term. The current council structure has been in place since the 1950s.
38th Street station is a light rail station on the Blue Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minneapolis is officially defined by its city council as divided into 83 neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are historically grouped into 11 communities. Informally, there are city areas with colloquial labels. Residents may also group themselves by their city street suffixes: North, Northeast, South, and Southeast.
Powderhorn Park is a neighborhood within the larger Powderhorn community of Minneapolis. The neighborhood is located approximately three miles south of downtown and is bordered by East Lake Street to the north, Cedar Avenue to the east, East 38th Street to the south, and Chicago Avenue to the west. Its namesake is the city's Powderhorn Park facility in the northwestern part of the neighborhood around Powderhorn Lake.
Bancroft is a neighborhood within the Powderhorn community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Its boundaries are East 38th Street to the north, Chicago Avenue to the west, East 42nd Street to the south and Cedar Avenue to the east. It is entirely located within Minneapolis City Council Ward 8, represented by Andrea Jenkins.
Longfellow, also referred to as Greater Longfellow is a defined community in Minneapolis, Minnesota which includes five smaller neighborhoods inside of it: Seward, Cooper, Hiawatha, Howe and Longfellow. The community is a mix of agri-industrial properties along the old Northern Pacific Railway, expansive parkland surrounding the famous Minnehaha Falls, and smaller residential areas.
Bryant is a neighborhood within the Powderhorn community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Its boundaries are East 38th Street to the north, Chicago Avenue to the east, East 42nd Street to the south, and Interstate 35W to the west. It is entirely located within Minneapolis City Council Ward 8 represented by councilmember Andrea Jenkins, and Minnesota Senate District 62.
Cecil Newman was an American civic leader and prominent businessman in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union that made major strides against segregation in the 1930s and 1940s, before the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Robert Lilligren is an American politician and member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He was an elected member of the Minneapolis City Council. He was first elected in 2001, to represent the 8th Ward of the Minneapolis City Council. Following the defeat of Green Party member Dean Zimmermann, during the 2005 municipal elections, Lilligren represented the 6th Ward of the City of Minneapolis. When first elected to office, Lilligren was serving as a volunteer on eight different community boards and commissions including: vice-chair of Phillips West Neighborhood organization, the Midtown Greenway Coalition, the Hennepin County-appointed I-35W Project Advisory Committee, and as a board member for several affordable housing groups throughout South Minneapolis. He lost his re-election bid in 2013 to Abdi Warsame. He was appointed to the Metropolitan Council by Governor Tim Walz in March 2019.
King Field is a neighborhood in the Southwest community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its boundaries are 36th Street to the north, Interstate 35W to the east, 46th Street to the south, and Lyndale Avenue to the west. King Field, within the King Field neighborhood is a park named after Martin Luther King Jr.
Powderhorn is a defined community in Minneapolis, that consists of eight neighborhoods. The community name is derived from Powderhorn Lake that is the centerpiece of the present-day Powdernhorn Park. Located south of downtown, the community also features the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Hennepin History Museum, the Midtown Greenway trail, and numerous other establishments, many of which serve the Latin American and African diaspora.
Andrea Jenkins is an American politician, writer, performance artist, poet, and transgender activist. She is known for being the first Black openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States, since January 2018 on the Minneapolis City Council and as the council's president from January 2022 to January 2024.
Aisha Gomez is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Gomez represents District 62A, which includes parts of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
The Minnesota Spokesman–Recorder is an African-American, English-language newspaper headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and serves readers in the Twin Cities. Founded in 1934 by Cecil Earle Newman, it is the oldest continuously operated black newspaper and longest-lived black-owned business in Minnesota. The current Publisher & CEO of the paper is Newman's granddaughter, Tracey Williams-Dillard.
As a reaction to the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, racial justice activists and some residents of the Powderhorn community in Minneapolis staged an occupation protest at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue with a blockade of the streetway lasting over a year. The intersection is where Derek Chauvin, a white police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, murdered George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man. Activists erected barricades to block vehicular traffic and transformed the intersection and surrounding structures with amenities, social services, and public art depicting Floyd and other racial justice themes. The community called the unofficial memorial and protest zone at the intersection "George Floyd Square". The controversial street occupation in 2020 and 2021 was described as an "autonomous zone" and a "no-go" place for police, but local officials disputed the extent of such characterizations.
38th Street is a major east-west roadway in the U.S. city of Minneapolis and an officially designated cultural district in the Powderhorn community. The area developed into a residential zone when the Chicago Avenue street car line was extended to East 38th Street in 1880. Since the 1930s, the area has featured many Black-owned businesses, and the surrounding neighborhoods have had distinct histories from other neighborhoods in Minneapolis due to racial settlement patterns that concentrated Black residents there.
Launa Q. Newman was an American journalist and social activist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is known for her social contributions in the South Minneapolis area for the African-American community. She was also the publisher of The Minneapolis Spokesman and St. Paul Recorder, along with her husband Cecil Newman.
Robin Wonsley is an American activist and politician affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America who has been a member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 2nd Ward since 2021.
George Floyd Square, officially George Perry Floyd Square, is a memorialized streetway in Minneapolis for the section of Chicago Avenue that intersects East 38th Street. It is named after George Floyd, a black man who was murdered there by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. The commemorative street name is signed along Chicago Avenue between East 37th Street to East 39th Street and includes the 38th and Chicago intersection.
Katie McWatt was a civil rights leader and activist who worked primarily in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was the first African American person to run for the St. Paul City Council.