Welcome to Unapologetically Black Minnesota! 🌍✊🏽

Updated: Hello @everyone,

We’re Dante and McKenzie Pearson, and we’re so glad you’ve joined us in this space. This group is a labor of love for us, born out of our deep commitment to fostering a strong, informed, and empowered Black community right here in Minnesota.

A bit about us—McKenzie has served as the chair of the Civil Rights Commission for Minneapolis, and has been actively involved in over a dozen different equity initiatives and trauma-informed projects as a social worker for Hennepin County. My work has allowed me to engage deeply with the issues of justice, equity, and healing, particularly within the Black community. I bring this experience here, with a strong desire to continue building bridges and creating spaces where our stories are told, our histories are honored, and our futures are bright.

Dante, with his unwavering dedication to justice and kindness, is the heart of our family and the foundation of this group’s mission. Together, we’ve navigated personal and systemic challenges that have only deepened our understanding of the importance of community, connection, and cultural pride.

We created Unapologetically Black Minnesota because we believe that our history, culture, and experiences deserve to be explored, celebrated, and understood. This group is here to serve as a hub for education, discussion, and action, rooted in the rich heritage of Africanism and the African diaspora. We’re here to challenge the systems that weren’t built for us, and to explore the possibility of returning to spaces that embrace us fully.

In this group, you’ll find a community dedicated to reclaiming our roots, understanding the deep impact of the transatlantic slave trade, and confronting the roots of white supremacy in the United States. But more than that, we’re here to support each other, to learn together, and to build a future where we thrive unapologetically.

We’re excited to have you with us on this journey. Whether you’re here to learn, share, or lead, there’s a place for you in this community. Together, we can create something powerful—a community that’s informed, united, and ready to make change.

Thank you for being here and feel free to invite others.

⬇️ To get started, we’d love for each of you to introduce yourselves. Share what brought you here, what you hope to gain from this group, or a piece of history that has always resonated with you. Let’s begin this journey together, as a community that uplifts and supports one another.