Asian Media Access is proud to announce our collaboration with Project Sweetie Pie to host the SankofaPOWER Initiative, a groundbreaking community empowerment program that brings together diverse voices to address shared challenges and build collective strength across cultural lines in North Minneapolis neighborhoods in order to improve the food ecosystem.
The SankofaPOWER Initiative draws its name from the West African Sankofa principle, which teaches us to look back at our history to move forward wisely. This philosophy aligns perfectly with both organizations’ commitment to honoring cultural heritage while creating positive change in our communities.
SankofaPOWER operates as a comprehensive digital platform specifically designed for North Minneapolis neighborhoods (zip codes 55411, 55412) that functions like a community-interactive digital map and resource network. The platform connects neighbors directly to neighbors, building a stronger local food system while preserving community culture and supporting economic development, with below 4 components:
1) NorthStar Urban Farm & Food Digest serves as the community’s “Yellow Pages,” providing real-time food information through interactive maps that show where food is available, community gardens are located, and neighbors might need assistance. This multimedia resource includes community-created videos, and podcasts that document local food traditions while connecting food surplus with community needs across urban farms and backyard growers.
2) NorthStar Urban Farm & Food Registry functions as the neighborhood’s “White Pages,” offering a comprehensive directory of every food-related resource including community gardens, farmers’ markets, food shelves, restaurants, and urban farms. This registry serves as both a contact database and collaboration hub, making it easy for neighbors, organizations, and businesses to connect and work together on community food system development.
3) The NorthStar Trading Post operates as a community bartering and exchangemarketplace where neighbors can sell, trade, or exchange items and services directly with each other
Similar to Facebook Marketplace but focused specifically on the local neighborhood, residents can post items they want to sell or trade, services they can provide (like tutoring, home repairs, or cooking), and things they need from other community members. The platform facilitates direct neighbor-to-neighbor transactions, whether that’s trading homegrown vegetables for childcare services, exchanging household items, or connecting people who need help with those who can provide it.
4) Minneapolis Community BEAM (Building Economic Assets & Memory) preserves and shares community knowledge through a community-controlled database of cultural foods, oral histories, and economic progress. Using AI-powered searchable archives of interviews, photos, and documents, BEAM provides policy advocacy tools while establishing Community Data Hubs where traditional food practitioners offer culturally grounded nutrition information alongside with the latest food ecosystem development updates.
Over the past summer, Asian Media Access has worked with 2 trainee cohorts to collect crucial data and create digital content that powers the SankofaPOWER platform. Each summer cohort of 20-25 young people spent more than 8 weeks conducting community mapping, interviewing food providers, and documenting neighborhood food resources through photography and video. The first cohort focused on mapping existing community gardens and food access points, while creating the foundational geographic data for the platform. The second cohort concentrated on documenting cultural food traditions through video interviews and AR-generated cultural entities’ stories.
The participants learned multimedia production skills while gathering community knowledge, conducting 59 video interviews with residents, food providers, and community leaders across the targeted zip codes. This process built relationships between young people and community members while creating the content database that makes SankofaPOWER a living, community-driven resource.
Asian Media Access and Project Sweetie Pie will continue expanding the SankofaPOWER digital platform through ongoing community engagement and resident leadership development. Our two organizations remain committed to ensuring that platform development stays community-controlled, with North Minneapolis residents driving decisions about new features and resource priorities. Future expansion includes enhanced bartering capabilities, additional neighborhood mapping projects, and expanded multimedia storytelling opportunities that center community voices. As the initiative grows, both organizations will prioritize community ownership and self-determination, ensuring this digital tool strengthens neighborhood connections and economic resilience in North Minneapolis.
FMI: www.sankofapower.org
