In the weeks after protests against federal immigration enforcement spread through parts of Minneapolis, local and national Black leaders gathered in the city for an Emergency Black Leadership Summit, a meeting shaped by rising concern over policing, civil rights, and the direction of federal power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The summit followed a period of heightened tension in the Twin Cities<\/a>, including demonstrations at retail stores and other public spaces calling for the removal of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the city. That broader climate was reflected days earlier on Radio KFAI 90.3FM\u2019s The Conversation with Al McFarlane<\/em><\/a>, where host Al McFarlane framed Minneapolis as \u201cground zero\u201d for a renewed national reckoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re here in Minneapolis and Minneapolis I\u2019m calling ground zero, the epicenter,\u201d McFarlane said during the broadcast, recalling the lasting impact of George Floyd\u2019s murder and describing George Floyd Square as \u201ca sacred place because it shook the conscience of the community and awakened the conscience of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program brought together Kenya McKnight Ahad, founder and CEO of the Black Women\u2019s Wealth Alliance,<\/a> and attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, national president of Black Lawyers for Justice<\/a>, to explain why organizers believed a coordinated response was necessary. Their conversation helped set the tone for the summit that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re here to say that that ICE problem is our problem too,\u201d Shabazz said on air. \u201cThat police brutality is a problem for all Black people. And whatever form that it comes in, whether it\u2019s coming from the Minneapolis police or if it\u2019s coming from the National Guard or if it\u2019s coming from ICE, that it\u2019s a common problem that affects our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the summit convened, it focused on those same overlapping concerns: police brutality, legal rights, reparations, and what speakers described as the need for stronger unity across Black communities. Organizers also held legal trainings and strategy sessions, emphasizing practical tools alongside political analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shabazz had been clear that the gathering was not meant to be a single-issue response. \u201cThis is not just about ICE,\u201d he said during the broadcast. \u201cIt deals with ICE, but we\u2019re talking about our problems as a people. Police brutality, apathy, disunity. We\u2019re calling for a Black United Front, an African united front so we can stand together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A central theme of both the radio discussion and the summit was whether immigration enforcement should be treated as separate from Black political struggles. Shabazz rejected that distinction. \u201cAs a Black person of African descent\u2026 any problem with Donald Trump and any police that comes from his direction is my problem,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you are of African descent and you\u2019re inside of these borders and you\u2019re being assaulted or intimidated by this government, your problem is my problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McKnight Ahad connected those arguments to everyday realities in Minneapolis, where, she said, Black communities were already feeling the effects of increased surveillance and enforcement. \u201cWe\u2019re being detained. We\u2019re being followed. They\u2019re in our neighborhoods,\u201d she said. \u201cAll sorts of things are happening right now that ain\u2019t making it to the front scene. But believe it or not, Black folks are affected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also warned against political disengagement. \u201cIf we\u2019re not here talking about what\u2019s important\u2026 then we\u2019re going to kick back and be like, \u2018Yeah, let them fight.\u2019 By the time that gets done, we going to be almost wiped out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discussion on The Conversation<\/em> also moved into history and risk, with McFarlane pointing to past moments when the U.S. government had stripped entire communities of rights. Shabazz responded bluntly, saying he could imagine \u201csuspension of the Constitution\u201d and \u201cforms of martial law,\u201d and arguing that Black communities could not assume they were insulated from future crackdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the severity of the warnings, both speakers emphasized action over fear. \u201cWhether we live or die\u2026 we should not face it without a fight,\u201d Shabazz said. \u201cWhat we need is broadcasters of courage, lawyers of courage, activists of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time the summit concluded, organizers described it as a first step toward rebuilding coordinated leadership and long-term strategy in the city and beyond. McKnight Ahad summed up the moment as larger than any single policy fight. \u201cThis ain\u2019t just about ICE,\u201d she said during the broadcast. \u201cYou need to be focused on the Black agenda, the Black stability, the Black future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McFarlane closed the program with a phrase that captured the mood of both the conversation and the gathering that followed: \u201cNo pressure, no diamonds. It\u2019s screaming time right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Emergency Black Leadership Summit was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 7\u20138, bringing together local and national leaders around issues including police brutality, Black unity, reparations, and self-determination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the weeks after protests against federal immigration enforcement spread through parts of Minneapolis, local and national Black leaders gathered in the city for an Emergency Black Leadership Summit, a meeting shaped by rising concern over policing, civil rights, and the direction of federal power. The summit followed a period of heightened tension in the Twin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[155,1185,38,2500],"class_list":["post-3768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-george-floyd","tag-kenya-mcknight-ahad","tag-minneapolis","tag-minneapolis-summit","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ice.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3770,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3768\/revisions\/3770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}