Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Korean Minnesotans Try to Find Their Roots
Did you know Minnesota is home to the largest population of Korean adoptees in the United States? Well it is, although as Kirsten Mitchell reports for WCCO, the circumstances surrounding those adoptions were not always entirely above board. Now, many Korean adoptees are working to uncover the truth of their past.
Take Ami Nafzger, the founder, CEO, and president of the nonprofit Adoptee Hub, who was adopted from South Korea in 1975. Nafzger, who eventually returned to her orphanage in search of answers, doesn't even know how old she is—her paperwork had been switched with several other adoptable children.
"I think it became more of a business and a fad, actually, for children to be adopted oversees," Nafzger says. In her work with Adoptee Hub, she says she's uncovered multiple cases of children who were stolen or kidnapped from their families, findings that have been backed up by a new Associated Press/Frontline documentary.
"I think adoptees are—they're just more confused than ever," Nafzger tells WCCO.
‘All Are Welcome Here’ Goes on Hiatus
You know the sign. The rainbow one that has been popping up on lawns, in apartment windows, and on car bumpers for nearly a decade. Well it may be the end of the “All Are Welcome Here” era, as local design artist Jaime Chismar has sold out her merch and says she plans to take a break. While Chismar's website promises to return this spring, this MinnPost story from Lev Gringauz suggests it could be forever.
Chismar created the sign design shortly after Trump’s 2016 election, and it sold like gangbusters. But she also took the meaning and underlying principles of her signs seriously, working to ensure she was using equitable suppliers and donating around $120,000 to over 100 organizations, including ACLU of Minnesota and Transforming Families Minnesota. But ultimately, Chismar found the business side was unsustainable.
“As someone who presents as a white, cis woman from an inner ring suburb, I can’t make 'All Are Welcome Here' about me,” she says. “There’s a lot of people doing beautiful work out there. Maybe it’s time for me to step back so other work can be honored.”
The Collab No One Asked For: Target Teams Up With Ann Kim
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. has an image problem thanks to its very public rollbacks on Pride merch and DEI initiatives, not to mention its decades-long hysteria over unions. Minneapolis-based chef Ann Kim has faced scrutiny for union-busting tactics, as well as legal woes for closing Kim’s shortly after the staff unionized. Together, they'll be putting out a variety of Korean-inspired eats under Target’s new Good & Gather Collabs, where award-winning chefs will work with the big-box shop to add some class to the frozen food aisles.
Items scheduled to appear in stores starting this Sunday include Korean-staples like pork and kimchi dumplings, bulgogi meatballs, and corn cheese bites, as well as Young Joni/Pizzaria Lola pizza favs like the pickle pie, complete with potato chips on top. “The pickle pie is a reflection of my love for the Midwest and all things pickled,” Kim tells the Strib in an article that makes no mention of her recent high-profile labor scuffles.
All of that sure sounds good! And at the low, low price of about $8 a box, there's a chance that even out-of-work Kim's employees can afford it.
Local Orgs Losing Federal Funding: a List
Has your organization been impacted by the ongoing gutting of the federal government? You should let Adam Uren at Bring Me the News know—the website is maintaining a running list of orgs and institutions that have been on the receiving end of funding and personnel cuts.
So far, the tally includes anti-hunger nonprofit The Food Group; Playwright Center in south Minneapolis, which has doubled down on its DEI policies; and the National Weather Service (NWS Grand Forks is reportedly considered "critically understaffed"). Several universities and victims services providers are also on the list.
You can email news@bringmethenews.com if you're among those impacted. Great idea, guys!
