By Mi’kiyah
* This article was written in the summer of 2020 and reflects information available at that time.
Communities in Minneapolis, Minnesota broke out in protests and rioting after the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man, by the Minneapolis police officers. Many stores were burned down, the streets were cut off and there was a curfew in place.
People were hurt and angry, I’m sure they still are.
All of this happened while the state of Minnesota was under strict quarantine. Today we still deal with COVID-19, which is a highly contagious family of viruses that cause illness. Places were already shutting down due to the high risk of this virus.
Gardening is the activity of tending to and cultivating plants. It started long before my time, and has been practiced for food and medicinal use.
‘The Real Minneapolis’ and the ‘Phelps Park Boys & Girls Club Initiative & Youth Garden’ started a garden for our community. We placed flowers by the burned down shops and planted a vegetable garden open to our community.
We also started a fundraiser for ways to give back. It wasn’t only about raising money, we accepted clothes, shoes, food other things to help.
We say “Hope is the new 4 letter word”.