Jeremiah Ellison: A true revolution of values

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.”
–– Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.


In early June of last year, I stood on West Broadway Avenue next to a Northside business owner as we watched his barbershop go up in flames. Just moments earlier, we had been desperately throwing water and spraying fire extinguishers onto the fire.

Our efforts were too little too late.

Learn more about our vision for the Northside.

As I stood next to this small business owner, watching him watch his livelihood go up in flames, I thought about the moments that got us here–our country’s inability to reckon with a deadly virus, its toll both human and economic, with both businesses and individuals left to flail without proper relief; our country’s inability to take a break from murdering people like George Perry Floyd and Breonna Taylor. How none of this had to happen.

Faced with the new reality of this pandemic, our institutions, for the most part, didn’t make new choices– they didn’t choose compassion. At every step, they chose the violence they had always chosen, both physical and economic.

In 1967, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society.”

"When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.”

King was talking about the crisis of his day, the Vietnam War, but his words could easily have been about police violence, inadequate COVID relief, and the ever gaping wealth disparity of today.

It may be true that communities like North Minneapolis have always carried the brunt of the crises and tragedies of this country, but it’s also true that communities like ours work together—not just to put out the fires along West Broadway, but to imagine and work towards a world without so much smoke.

When I ran in 2017, we committed to running how we intended to govern, creatively, collaboratively, and pursuing a shared vision as a community. We focused on what has made our community vibrant: the people, the place, and our power together.

We went after abusive landlords without risking their tenants being put out on the street–centering dignity as well as affordability. We limited upfront costs and discriminatory screening criteria for renters, broadening much needed access to housing. We passed legislation that made it clear that stealing wages from workers would not be tolerated. And we grew jobs training and employment opportunities in the green/solar energy field.


We created new programs to keep our communities safe–going beyond the police-only model that has long fallen short. A dedicated mental health response, and a city-wide violence prevention strategy are necessary services that are long overdue. In addition, we shifted time consuming non-emergency calls away from police, which will ease the pressure that non-emergencies have on our 911 system.

Together, we built more affordable housing on the Northside to address the current housing crisis, and we deepened affordability for our homeownership opportunities. We created the Commercial Property Development fund, a new fund designed to help small business owners buy their buildings. And we passed the Minneapolis 2040 plan, which, among other things, gave northsiders greater access to building their wealth through homeownership.

We held open office hours for constituents every Saturday for these past three years and will continue to do so, a first for the ward 5 office. We delivered a regular newsletter, and held biannual People’s Assemblies until the pandemic started. And our engagement has paid off, more of our neighbors called, emailed, came to open office hours, and generally engaged with the ward 5 office than ever before. Building a powerful Northside voice begins with undoing the disillusionment and underinvestment of the past.

Governing is a dialogue we must have together, and I remain committed to that dialogue. In this past year, we have faced our country’s worst economic crisis since the great depression, and a public health crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in over 100 years. Amid the pandemic, and the staggering unemployment that followed, we saw a rise in gun violence.

But the real crisis of today is not the pandemic itself or the unrest we faced this summer, the crisis we face today is overcoming our institutions’ commitment to status quo responses as the world changes all around us.

I want to keep fighting for the new world we deserve, and I remain every bit as determined as I did when you sent me to City Hall the first time.

That’s why I’m running for re-election to the Minneapolis City Council. To continue our dialogue together, to build power for our community and to not just imagine, but create the kind of changes we want and need.

Thank you.


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