Among Black Minnesotans, some 25% are food insecure.

An emerging initiative aims to connect BIPOC communities with healthier and culturally appropriate foods, and it starts by elevating the people growing those items. Unemployment remains low in the U.S., but hunger relief networks report record demand.

Marcus Carpenter founded Minnesota's Route 1 organization and said struggles run deep in communities of color. His team focuses on providing technical assistance to Black, brown and Indigenous farmers who can grow more food and distribute it to these populations.

A new grant allows Route 1 to try out different approaches, such as partnering with a company on "freight farms."

"They refurbish old shipping containers; they totally gut these shipping containers out," Carpenter explained. "They implement hydroponic technology that allows urban farmers and other farmers who don't have access to land outside to be able to grow fresh produce inside these shipping containers."

And it is not just the typical fresh produce most Americans are accustomed to. Carpenter pointed out emerging farmers can grow items closely aligned with their cultural heritage. He acknowledged addressing gaps within the nation's food system can be very complex, but added local solutions go a long way in creating efficiencies in the pursuit of equality.

Route 1 is boosting access through a $250,000 grant from the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact.

Nyra Jordan, social impact investment director for the institute, said the dynamic seen in Minnesota is being felt elsewhere.

"Independent farmers across the country have a hard time accessing funding and distribution channels to sell their crops," Jordan emphasized. "That's especially true for the small but growing number of Black, brown and Indigenous farmers."

Only about 1% of Minnesota's farmers are BIPOC. Jordan stressed the hope is Route 1's efforts can inspire similar action in other states. Separately, Minnesota has established a new Emerging Farmers Office, geared toward creating more pathways for historically disadvantaged producers.


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Major League Baseball's All-Star week kicks off tonight at Globe Life Field in Arlington with the Swingman Classic featuring 50 student athletes from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The game is sponsored by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, which works to make baseball and softball more accessible for all kids. Its executive director, Jean Lee Batrus, said that after the game, some special athletes will be recognized.

"We have an MVP, which is focused on the skill and the talent," she said, "but we also have a character award, where it goes to another young student athlete, and we really want to recognize that young man's impact in their community, how they give back, their academic track record, and it's not solely based on how they're doing as a baseball player."

The students were picked by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., Major League Baseball representatives and scouts. Some of the schools represented include Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University and Florida A&M University.

The foundation is teaming up with the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center for its "Suit Up Experience" that provides young men with suits, ties, shoes, socks and haircuts. Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien said the classic is an event that could open many doors for some of the players.

"It's an opportunity for primarily Black baseball teams to come out here and play on TV, and play in front of a lot of people in a big-league stadium," he said. "Those opportunities have not always been there, maybe kids with more opportunities take for granted."

Today's festivities will also include a pregame ceremony with the Grandmother of Juneteenth, Dr. Opal Lee, an HBCU college fair and a Battle of the Bands between Texas Southern's "Ocean of Soul" and Prairie View A&M's "Marching Storm."


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Today is Juneteenth, the federal holiday recognizing this date in 1865 when slaves in Texas were told they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Some migrated to Indiana and stayed until their death and were buried in segregated cemeteries. One site was recently uncovered at a proposed location for a new 20,000-seat sports stadium in Indianapolis. The discovery has paused the project for now.

Eunice Trotter, director of the Black Heritage Preservation Program for the nonprofit Indiana Landmarks, said the cemetery is one of many.

"All over Indiana, there are Black cemeteries that are attached, typically to AME churches," Trotter explained. "The African American population was buried in the city's first cemetery, which opened in 1821 in the area between Kentucky Avenue and White River. And of course, there was segregation then, like there is even still today."

The stadium proposal includes connecting the east and west bank to White River, with the future Henry Street Bridge across the lower southern area of the cemetery. City officials own almost two of 24 acres at the site. Trotter estimates at least 650 burials are there. The price tag for excavation and memorialization is $12 million.

As accusations grow of increased efforts to erase Black history in America, there are fears more segregated cemeteries nationwide are being eyed for future projects. Trotter noted these locations present the least resistance.

"They are in areas where the land is typically devalued, disinvestment, and abandonment," Trotter pointed out. "They become easy targets for development. Even here in Indiana, farmers who plant crops over cemeteries, when they are tending to their farm, they uncover headstones."

In 2020, Congress signed the African American Burial Grounds Network Act into law. The measure establishes a National Park Service program to provide grants and technical assistance to local partners to research, identify, survey and preserve Black cemeteries.

Across the U.S., most political boundaries tied to the 2020 Census have been in place for a while, but a national project on map fairness for Indigenous populations continues to fight for changes, with North Dakota at the center of the movement.

When states did their redistricting a few years ago, the Native American Rights Fund launched its Fair Districting in Indian Country effort. It provides resources and legal representation to tribal communities worried about newly drawn districts which could suppress their voting power.

Michael Carter, staff attorney for the group, said there has been a lot of activity.

"Just from this redistricting cycle alone, tribes have stepped up and decided that what these state and county governments are doing is not right," Carter explained.

He pointed to several cases with various levels of success, including two high-profile ones from North Dakota. One resulted in a new legislative map for the 2024 election. The state is appealing the decision, arguing the plaintiffs lacked the authority to submit a challenge. The Native America Rights Fund expects oral arguments within the next few months.

Carter pointed out a section of the Voting Rights Act is often at the center of these cases, with tribal advocates arguing some state and local governments are not honoring language prohibiting voter discrimination. He said there is a separate movement out there trying to reverse the progress.

"The national implications are there, just from the attention it's getting from all the other states that are filing these briefs in the appeals courts, seeking to undo the wins that Native voters got in the lower courts," Carter observed.

A group of Republican attorneys general contends private groups and individuals do not have the right to file lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But Carter countered there's a separate provision, used in the North Dakota case, which does provide the opportunity. His group and its partner organization, the Campaign Legal Center, said their movement has ushered in a new generation of Native American lawyers to fight for civil rights in the years to come.