Andy Sturdevant and Sergio Vucci are both Minneapolis-based artists. For the last eight years the two, along with the Soap Factory, have led tours to a multitude of sites around the Twin Cities. In the early evening hours Wednesday, August 30 they presented the latest Common Room tour called the “Neighborhood Mixtape.”
With about 30 people, Sturdevant and Vucci boarded a charter bus at the Soap Factory and headed to their first location, 24 Somali Market at 912 E. 24th St. There the packed bus of mostly caucasian men and woman met with Osman Ali, Director of Somali Museum of Minnesota.
There was an obvious look of interest by the store owners and customers as the group walked through the bustling mall’s narrow halls, filled with vibrant fabrics and traditional middle-eastern attire. There were coffee shops, delis, barber shops, and so much more. Hodan, a Somali woman getting a garment hemmed at one of the tailor shops for the Muslim holiday of Eid Mubarak, had an inviting smile. “We would love Americans to get to know us! We are no different than you,” she said. Many others came out from their shops saying hello, welcoming them and inviting them to come back and come back often.
“This is what we work with…to understand each other more. We tell the Somali community to learn from other communities as well. In doing this we can create a good neighborhood and peace and love between the communities,” said Ali.
At the next stop, the 800 block of 26th Avenue in Northeast, Witt Siasoco stood on an empty lot where two houses once were, now only grass and two raised flower beds.
Siasoco has lived in Northeast for over 20 years. “It’s been a life changing experience. I grew to really love this place.”
Siasoco told the story of a young man by the name of Terrance Franklin, a student of Edison High School where Siasoco’s wife worked.
“Within a week (of moving here) Five DEA agents were breaking down the door,” said Siasoco. Siasoco befriended the teen and did his best to help turn his life around. But Franklin’s home and the one next to it would eventually be lost to a fire; several neighbors cheered when the house went up in flames. Siasoco lost contact with Franklin and later found out he was killed by police during a suspected robbery.
“If more people are willing to come out on the streets, sit on their stoop and talk to people it can change a lot of things,” Siasoco said, leading a brief candle light vigil for Franklin and his family.
The tour made its way just down the street to the railroad tracks. There musician Mischa Kegan sat with his acoustic guitar playing an original song. “The song is about things that we carry and the way we walk around in this country. How we’re viewed, how we think we’re viewed and the all of things people put on us. It’s a multitude of things; some right, some wrong, some oppressive and some to lift us up.”
Mischa Kegan is from South Minneapolis now but lived Northeast for 5-6 years. “It’s changed a lot. There’s a lot of money coming in the neighborhood. The question is how can a neighborhood be preserved for what it is, what it’s been…how can it serve the people that have been there the longest and how can we ensure that people aren’t pushed out. Usually that’s people of color and poor people. How do we maintain the mix?”
Danny Litin and his girlfriend Taylor Rose brought their son Zoriah to the tour. “We heard about it from a mutual friend. We were super interested in learning about the culture,” they said.
“It’s a really interesting concept with the music representing the different parts of the city. Learning from people who have lived here for years. Seeing what these places mean to them instead of just cool ‘hip spots’…learning more about the spirit and soul of the land.”
Below: Osman Ali leads the group through the narrow halls of the Somali mall. (Photos by Mike Madison)