Opinion: The Politics of Division Is Costing Us Our Community

The greatest casualty of Minneapolis’ increasingly factional politics may be trust, as communities that should be working together instead feel ignored, divided, and spoken for.

My name is KB Brown. I was born and raised in Minneapolis. I co-founded a union print shop on Broadway Avenue in North Minneapolis; I work with violence prevention and youth development teams in our neighborhood; I chair a board focused on small business development in our neighborhood.

I thank Minneapolis Times for giving me the opportunity to share my community’s voices.

For decades, there has been tension between Foundational Black Americans (FBAs) like me and some African immigrant communities. While we may share skin color, our histories and cultures are completely different. So our needs are different. It is well known in our worlds that Congresswoman Omar serves her immigrant community. She does not serve us. But she needs us politically.

Ilhan Omar is strongly supported by the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). She strongly supports DSA candidates locally and around the US. Although the DSA claims to speak for the dispossessed and working class, most of their members and leaders have college degrees and come from well-off white families. Real working people don’t vote for them.

Here in Minneapolis, Omar’s DSA supporters claim to speak for the FBA community. They don’t speak for us. We can speak for ourselves, but our voices often are silenced. This is why I thank Minneapolis Times for helping our authentic voices to be heard.

The disagreements between FBA and immigrant African communities did not begin with today’s political fights, nor will they end with a single election. But what we’re seeing now is something different and alarming.

On Friday morning, August 7, I published some screenshots from a text chain among DSA adherents, Omar supporters, who hold powerful positions in the DFL. These screenshots show them planning to eject from the DFL one of my community’s leading voices: Latonya Reeves. Whether or not you agree that Reeves should be ejected, you can see in the screenshots that the conversation is not about open, considered debate. It’s about “whipping votes,” coordinating messaging, and organizing support before a hearing on August 24. On that day, the DFL State Central Committee will vote on whether or not to strip Reeves of the DFL position she earned.

The DSA people, Omar supporters, are not discussing how to create transparency and due process. They are talking about the best way for them to get the outcome they want, which is to deny Reeves a voice in the DFL.

The real casualty is trust.

Because of repeated situations like this, across Minneapolis, more FBAs are stepping away from organizations and political spaces they once helped build. Many no longer believe their voices matter. They feel dismissed, replaced, or treated as obstacles instead of partners.

I believe that ideological politics are dangerous. Movements that place ideological loyalty above community relationships divide neighborhoods that already carry decades of historical tension.

This is why, in my opinion, the DSA is more dangerous than MAGA. They are driven by ideological conformity and power. Rather than creating space for honest dialogue, in their quest for political power, they amplify tensions and create distrust among communities that have each experienced discrimination and which each have contributed to Minneapolis.

For Minneapolis to move forward, we need leaders who build bridges instead of factions, who encourage debate instead of scheming to achieve the outcomes they desire, and who put neighborhoods ahead of political machines. Communities deserve transparency. They deserve fairness. And they deserve leaders who remember that power belongs to the people—not the strategy room.

KB Brown is a Minneapolis community advocate, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Project Refocus, a nonprofit organization focused on violence prevention, youth mentoring, community safety, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. He also co-founded Wolfpack Promotionals, a union print and promotional products company, and has been involved in community development initiatives focused on economic opportunity and anti-displacement efforts. Brown frequently speaks on issues affecting Foundational Black Americans, public policy, community empowerment, and equitable investment in Minneapolis neighborhoods.