We learned all aspects of the trade, from photography to editing to writing. Through the Urban Journalism Workshop, I got to work with Black journalists. If you don’t see someone that’s doing something that you’re interested in, then you don’t know if it’s possible, or even an option. Newsrooms have not been representative of the community at large and most newsrooms are white. Like other professions, journalism has historically not been very diverse. In high school, I participated in the Urban Journalism Workshop, which was designed to get kids of color interested in careers in journalism. In high school at Roosevelt, I wrote for the student paper. When I was in elementary school, the Minneapolis Star had a column they called “The Smile Factory,” where they would publish children’s works. I was a majorette at Central and a cheerleader at Roosevelt. I also ran track, but I didn’t really like running that much. Minneapolis public schools actually had competitive badminton. In high school, I also played basketball and badminton. They had sports leagues-basketball, softball. The one on the south side was at 35 th and Lyndale, I think. They had one over South and one over North. Hospitality House was like the Boys and Girls Club. I think she was in law school at the time, because, you know, she grew up in the neighborhood. I joined their basketball team at a very young age, starting in 3rd or 4th grade. I played sports at Hospitality House, a youth center with facilities on the south and north side. I was always involved in something, learning something, trying something new. I was a very curious kid, interested in pretty much everything. Our classes were mixed grades, first and second together, and third and fourth. The school was round, rather than square. ![]() I went to Lyndale Elementary School, one of the educational experiments in the 1970s. My younger sister also graduated from Roosevelt. I went to Central High School for two years, before they closed it and I was bussed to Roosevelt High School where I graduated. My brother and older sister both graduated from Central. My brother went to Bryant Junior High, which is now Sabathani Community Center, but Bryant was already closed by the time I was of age, so I went to Ramsey-now Justice Page Middle School. It gave you a sense of pride and connection. Central brought the neighborhood together for basketball games, football games, homecoming parades. Closing Central High really took away the heart of the neighborhood. I think the neighborhood is not as close-knit now because they closed Warrington Elementary, Bryant Junior High and Central High School. Some studies show that closing neighborhood schools destabilize communities because schools are community anchors. The only business that remains on 4th Ave that was there from the 30s through the 70s is the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder. When I was growing up there was a strong Black business district on 4 th Avenue a grocery store, a record store, barbers, beauty shops, night clubs, senior center and restaurants. Today the area is more diverse with Hispanics, as the largest population, and Somali and Asian immigrants, as well as Blacks and whites. It was a close-knit Black neighborhood amongst a larger white population. Back in the day, it was one of the only places where Black people could buy houses in Minneapolis, because of restrictive covenants and redlining. I loved my neighborhood which was part of the historic African American enclave on the south side that included Bryant, Central and parts of the Regina neighborhoods, stretching from Lake Street to 42 nd Street. My parents have both passed away now, but my siblings and I still own the family home in the Central neighborhood. ![]() My mother was a vice president of a labor union and my father was an electrician. My mother, Dana Burnside, was from Iowa and my father, Bennie Burnside, was from Mississippi. I was born and raised on the Southside of Minneapolis, in the Central neighborhood.
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