The City’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department is hosting the inaugural “I Am My Ancestors Wildest Dreams Expo” Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center to celebrate Black History Month.

The event will feature free vending opportunities for small Black-owned businesses, celebrity guest speakers from around the country, music, poets, panel discussions, workshops and information pop-ups. The expo will also include the “Too Dope to Bully” experience, focusing on youth, ages 4-18. The first annual expo was curated by Casey “Jersey Moulin” Ellerby, founder of Touched Apparel. Ellerby worked in collaboration with The Black Market founded by DeSeandra “Seanie” Sheppheard.

“At the core of this exciting event is the celebration of the Black Minneapolis community, but it is also a way to move us toward racial healing,” said Tyeastia Green, director of the City’s Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Department. “It is extremely important that this event be free for the community so that everyone, regardless of personal wealth can enjoy all this expo has to offer. It is also a way to introduce the Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department to the community we serve.”

“This Black History Month, our Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging team is honoring the past by honing in on the hard work of building a more inclusive future,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “The very first expo will give Minneapolis residents a chance to learn more about the race equity work underway, grow their professional networks, and enjoy entertainment. I’m grateful to Director Green and the entire department for taking on this ambitious work.”

“This expo will afford Black people the opportunity to unapologetically display the gifts that our ancestors bestowed upon us,” said Brian Smith, director of the City’s Performance Management & Innovation Department. “Gifts that make us our ancestors’ wildest dreams, while setting the tone for the perpetual continuum of BLACK GREATNESS. Thanks Director Green for this much needed direction in the City of Minneapolis.”

Learn more about the event