Memorialize The Movement

11/20/2025

We Saved Our HQ from Eviction — But We Shouldn’t Have Had To

Through the hard work of our Executive Director and Collections Manager, MTM recently secured emergency funding to prevent eviction and keep our headquarters — and our archive — safe.

But let’s be clear: This is not a victory. After being denied more than eight grants, our organization survived only because of last-minute emergency funding. That is not sustainability. Hard work alone cannot keep an archive running.

If y’all want MTM’s work to survive, you need to show up — proactively, consistently, and before we reach a crisis point. Archiving Black history and protest is not emergency work. It is ongoing, impactful, and critical.
Our programs demonstrate that impact every day.

Exhibitions like Night & Day (2025) at St. Catherine University and Art and Artifact (2024) at U of M became living classrooms, engaging thousands of students and community members — all completely free. Paint to Express workshops also provide safe, free spaces for creative expression and reflection.

We do so much more than just collect, preserve, and activate the murals from the uprising in 2020. Our workshops, exhibitions, and speaking engagements serve to educate, connect, and uplift communities to see their power and agency in movement building.

Give to the Max Day 2025 is your chance to move MTM from surviving to thriving. Emergency funding kept us in our space — your investment will keep us here, for our community, for the history we steward, and for generations to come.

10/22/2025

Join us for a performance and conversation!

Join us as we bring together the Black women in our community to attend this highly anticipated performance! We have 20 free tickets available for “Aftermath” at St. Catherine University on November 14th!

⭐️ Come early at 5pm for refreshments and mingling in the Visual Arts building before the show starts at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm).

⭐️You’ll also have a chance to see Memorialize The Movement’s current exhibition titled NIGHT & DAY: Murals, Memory, and Movement at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery and Frey Theatre.

⭐️There are 20 free tickets available, please register here as full names and emails will be needed to send your ticket.

⭐️If your plans change, please either unregister yourself or reach out to us so we can make sure someone else can receive your ticket.

As noted above, this event is to bring together Black women for a night of community and fun.
We ask that if any non-Black visitors are interested in the show that you please buy a ticket to support The O’Shaughnessy.

We also have a public Paint to Express workshop on November 1st that any and all are welcome to attend to see the exhibition and paint mini murals with us.

08/30/2025

Part one is done! But we still need your help. The developers in Uptown have plans to demolish part of the Uptown mall in just a few weeks.

✨That means, unless we collect these murals by Sunday, September 14th they will be lost forever. ✨

We are only asking for ❤️ 20 people ❤️ to come out and help us load these murals into a truck, and then unload them at HQ.

❤️Volunteers receive a free T-shirt and lunch! ❤️

Help us make history!

07/13/2025

LINK IN BIO TO REGISTER

7/13 CANCELLED

Looking for some folks to lend a hand as we clean up the space from this summer’s activities and prepare for what’s to come in the fall! If you’re willing and able, July, 20th or August, 3rd. Bring a friend and we hope to see you there!

05/24/2025

Five years ago on May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered—an injustice that sparked a global movement and uprising began right here in our own community.

In the wake of that tragedy, our community came together at CAPI on East Lake Street to care for one another. Alongside local partners, we joined in distributing food, essential goods, and support during a time of deep pain and urgent need.

We will never forget the unity, resilience, and love that rose up amid the heartbreak. As we honor George Floyd’s life and legacy, we recommit to the ongoing work of justice, equity, and healing in our city.

His life mattered. Black lives matter. And our work continues.

You can participate in honoring his legacy by attending Memorialize The Movement’s 5th Annual Justice for George Event tomorrow, Sunday, May 25th at Phelps Field Park from 12–8 PM.

The painting used in this post is Meryl Ann Butler's "In Memorium: Soul of Light (George Floyd)

05/22/2025

There's a group that has worked hard to preserve plywood murals in Minnesota from the movement sparked by George Floyd's death.

05/21/2025

Join us on today from 6-7:30pm for Memorialize the Movement’s first ever walking tour! This tour will explore some of the original mural locations that we collected from in 2020. This is a 1.5 hour tour where we will travel on foot to visit five businesses in the Uptown neighborhood. Attendees will receive a booklet with original photos of the murals as they looked when they were attached to the storefront and photos of the murals activated at community events and exhibitions over the last five years. Founder and Executive Director, Leesa Kelly, and Collections Manager, Amira McLendon, will share stories about each mural, their collection process, and what it takes to preserve murals of this scale.

05/21/2025

05/20/2025

🎭 Join us for a powerful post-play reading discussion of Kill Move Paradise by James Ijames — a bold, urgent play that confronts the reality of Black lives cut short and the possibility of healing through collective remembrance. Featuring: Antonio Duke, De’Anthony Jackson, Leonard Searcy, Kevin Washington, and Kamani Graham. Stick around for the post-reading discussion featuring two leaders doing trauma prevention work in our community.

🗓 Thursday, May 22
🕕 6–9 PM
📍 Pillsbury House + Theatre

Pastor Alberts leads St. Cloud’s Higher Ground Church of God in Christ, and is the CEO and founder of Higher Works Collaborative, a nonprofit working to advance the lives and livelihoods of the African American community in Central Minnesota.

Farji Shaheer is a dedicated community leader and Mental Health Professional with over 23 years of experience. He is the Founder of Innovative SOULutions, a non-profit supporting individuals and families affected by trauma, violence, and addiction. Farji has developed programs across multiple systems and helped launch Minnesota’s first Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program.

Come share space, stories, and reflection. This is more than a conversation — it’s community in action.

💬✊🏾