Our Streets organized and hosted “Can We Talk? A panel, dinner, and community discussion about the past, present, and future of I-94” at Hallie Q. Brown Community Center on Thursday, April 16.
The hybrid event invited Rondo residents, community members, and allies to come together to remember the past, acknowledge the present, and imagine the future of I-94 and the surrounding communities. Throughout the evening, attendees connected with new and familiar faces over a delicious meal, catered by Golden Thyme. Attendees listened and shared their experiences: making space for quiet moments of remembrance, ideas on how to preserve and cultivate the rich legacy of Rondo, and acknowledging the serious impacts of I-94’s construction and ongoing harms of the highway on Rondo residents.
Moderated by Trahern Crews, the Saint Paul Reparations Committee’s founding Commissioner and 2024 Bush Fellow, the panel discussion on the “past, present, and future of I-94” included Rondo community members, leaders, and advocates Khulia Pringle, Adrian Perrymann, Kyrstle D’Alencar, Jeremie English, and Tish Jones.
Before I-94 was built, Rondo was once a connected and vibrant neighborhood in Saint Paul. Since its construction, the highway has displaced thousands in Rondo and continues to divide the neighborhood and community today. Right now, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is determining the future of the highway corridor. In this context, the panel discussion delved into how a reparations framework, such as the United Nations’ Five characteristics of reparations, could help guide the conversation and address the past and ongoing harms of I-94.
When panelists were asked, “In your perspective, have government agencies like MnDOT taken steps toward repair?” There was a unifying answer, “No.”
“I need us to be really loud about this, ‘No.'”
– Tish Jones, Panelist
As the panel closed out, attendees gave a standing ovation. Attendees were then invited to continue the discussion in small groups. Personal stories of how I-94 impacted families and the neighborhood led to a reimagining of what the future of the corridor can look like for Rondo—what to preserve, avoid, and grow.
“Acknowledgement is not the same as repair. … Repair is not symbolic, it has to be material.”
– Khulia Pringle, Panelist
Major transportation decisions cannot be made without intentional community involvement and input. MnDOT has continued to proceed with “business as usual” in the Rethinking I-94 project, despite the ongoing federal impacts of Operation Metro Surge and recent federal raids of childcare centers throughout Minneapolis. When safety is not guaranteed, how can we ask members of vulnerable communities to show up? Community advocates, residents, and elected officials are urging MnDOT to pause the project. As the federal government continues to strip our communities of guardrails in place to protect them, we need more time to make sure those most impacted by this project are meaningfully reflected in the decision made on Rethinking I-94.
Together with communities, Our Streets imagines a future where street design puts people first. Residents can continue to engage in creative thinking about the future of the highway corridor through the Imagine At Home program. Imagine at Home is a take-home activity kit that features an activity book with contributions from Rondo and Frogtown artists and creatives. The book is designed for children to creatively imagine the future of the neighborhood. Residents of Frogtown, Historic Rondo, or Summit-University can sign up to receive up to eight Imagine At Home activity books delivered to their home. We invite residents to continue to dream and explore alternatives to the highway in the I-94 corridor, such as Twin Cities Boulevard.
We know this is an ongoing conversation in Rondo and throughout the neighborhoods along the corridor. We’re grateful to have been in community, to have shared a meal, listened to the stories and lived experiences of residents, and to continue having an open dialogue on tangible ways to address the harms of the highway and reimagine a future for the neighborhood and corridor.
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