On the way to tell a story, a reminder...

"...Being a chef isn't just about being in a kitchen or behind a grill...it's about understanding and addressing the full culture of the service industry. And how that affects the people who work for and with you...we don't just need food, because we do. But we need food because it is also a language of love and hope..."

Editor's Note: In the spring of 2021 Vang will be opening Vinai, a brick and mortar restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis, honoring the past, present and future of Hmong cooking.

On the way to tell a story in Rondo...

Purnell Moralez-Barnes shares his newest tattoo...

"...I wish people knew that talking to a 9.1.1 dispatcher does not slow the process of getting help to the scene. Many people think the more questions we ask the longer it takes for first responders to get there or the quicker they hang up the quicker responders will arrive. That is a huge myth. We work as a team..."

On the way to tell a story...

Don't feel guilty. Get mad.

"...I’ve been working for 18 years, developing skills, growing a network, building a reputation for myself in live theater, and it’s all gone now. I can’t get an equivalent job somewhere else... The entire industry that I’ve worked in for my entire adult life is gone. It’s smoke in the wind now..."

"...Our society is built on systems, and most of these systems have been designed to benefit certain people and leave others behind. Because these systems have been in place for so many decades, it's hard for many people to imagine what a world without them would look like..."

Editor's note: Minnesota's Primary Election takes place on August 11, 2020. If you would like to learn more about Athena and her campaign, visit athenahollins.com

Perfect afternoon for Minnesota Nice Cream! Their Covid19 safety protocols were awesome, including the sanitization station featured in photo number four. And! Everyone waiting in line was masked! We absolutely can have fun and be safe.

While photographing Dr. Justin Cohenour, the man in the second photo (who you can see opening the door in the first image) popped out of the building to thank the doctor for being an Essential Worker. They had never met before, and yet the exchange was so heartfelt. It was a beautiful moment.

" ...It’s hard work, not just the standard medical treatment and providing good patient care, but also the exhaustion of educating the public... Wear a mask. Care about others as if they were your family. Fight for racial equality. And treat The Earth with respect..."

"...One of the reasons I love teaching kindergarten is because I take seriously the responsibility to lay the groundwork for years to come. I am a relationship driven teacher. I love getting to know my students, their siblings, and their families. With the switch to distance learning, I lost one of the most important things..."

Macalester-Groveland neighborhood gem Wet Paint. Offering curbside pickup to make all your Pandemic Art Dreamz come true. Or at least to fill a summer afternoon...

I'm trying. And I know you are, too. Also, wear your damn mask.

"...Luckily, we’ve learned better ways to adapt to things like school, teachers stepped up a lot and made sure we were able to do distance learning. The essential workers are STILL working and choosing to work for the good of others. They’re putting their health at risk to help others, while getting paid less/the same amount as before this all started..."

"...To see people in our country so easily give up on protecting others and feeling victimized for having safety measures put in place is disheartening. Politicizing the issue makes me angry. I have made a real effort to stop reading as many comments as I used to..."

Art as protest on the East Side of St. Paul, Minn.

Sign reads :: Temporarily Closed. Be Well. Mickey's Dining Car, Downtown St. Paul, Minn.

Story Telling on The East Side of St. Paul...

"...I serve people through all three of my jobs. For my business I teach several classes a week... As a school teacher I have at least 140 kids each day. Last, but definitely not least, I'm my sister Jasmine's Personal Care Attendant..."

I received this lovely bracelet from friend and participant Mel Shirley. While photographing participant Ada Zepeda I had an immediate connection with her and gifted her the bracelet on the spot. I quickly snapped this photo before placing it on the ground for her to safely grab- We're all connected by a thread...

"...I serve food to people, charge for their meals, sometimes I carry their food and I listen to their thoughts. I also work with the fear of not knowing what will happen tomorrow... I feel insecurity, and above all, I realize the injustices that happen and that there is no equality..."

All of this. SCIENCE IS REAL. Wear your damn masks, America!

Small Biz Love for Cafe Latte in St. Paul! They've been doing a great job keeping the community feed with healthy, delicious food throughout The Pandemic. Open for take out or dine-in (I just picked up for tonight bc I have have a by_a.thread story to tell at dinner time).

"...During this pandemic, and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it is more important than ever to be present as an organizational and community leader... We will see the tail of this for a while and we must remember and continue to act and really see... If your eyes are more open, please keep them that way... "

"...Our form of government & the economic system which enables it have become destructive to the ends aspired to in its creation... We have a generational opportunity to create a new beginning for our society, built on a renewed understanding of those aspirations and clear acknowledgement of how we failed to live up to them..."

" ...I feel like we live in a country where people feel that if we build up one group of people it is at the expense of another. This is just bad math. I worry that we will never as a country accept that when you build up one group of people you are building up everyone..."

...Protest isn't a one-time action. It's a way of being. It's where you spend your money (and where you don't). It's voting (or not voting). It's wearing a mask in public spaces (or not). These small things add up to who we are... So. Who are you?

" ...Musicians spend their lives in one of the most fragile and uncertain professions; on a good day, in a good year, you almost never know where your next payday is coming from. In Covid Times, what that means is we were basically the first business to go away, and we'll be the last to return..."

" ...I worry what another round of shutdowns might do to our clinic and employees and patients - many people have more fear of losing their eyesight than dying of COVID-19..."

R.F. Moeller Jeweler storefront in Highland Park, St. Paul. Beautiful art by Juan T Parker.

"...I’ve felt a heavy responsibility, and guilt, as a privileged white man since the murder of George Floyd. As a retail store owner, I typically try to lay low and not offend anyone; but I can’t live like that anymore..."

"... Because I am a clinician, the pandemic is still occupying the majority of my brain, but it’s the killing of George Floyd that’s occupying most of my heart. I am hopeful that there is a shift in how we view and frame things, how we do things..."

I dreamed up the cake and the collaboration with fantastic pastry chef Francois Kiemde of @pjmurphysbakerymn (and his delightful wife, @melissakiemde).

"...This is a REVOLUTION... People (mainly white) are realizing what we've been saying for hundreds of years. We matter. I think that it's opening eyes and opening hearts and I hope that it changes the world for the better. It has to..."

Honored to be a contributor, as well as featured in, the July/August 2020 issue of Minnesota Monthly Magazine. 

Learning. Listening.

"...my older colleagues were instrumental early in the pandemic in helping prepare me for how I would change as a pharmacist. I remember conversations on how it was becoming clear that the pandemic would be an event that would change how we practice and lead in the community..."

" ...It's still so difficult it is to keep both the clients and service providers comfortable and safe at this challenging time. My biggest fear is getting sick and not being with my family... I can’t imagine passing isolated and without loved ones..."

"...I'm fearful of additional outbreaks stemming from people gathered at protests but feel justice and changes to a broken system can't wait for COVID-19 to pass..."

" ...I am uncomfortable - and glad for it. For as long as I and millions of others feel this level of discomfort with the status quo, we will build a coalition for the future in which no demographic needlessly suffers and dies - by police weapon or pandemic - because of inequality and injustice..."

Merriam Park Library, St. Paul, Minn.

Say their names.

And it's gonna be better. Because when you know better, you do better.

Ax-Man Surplus, Midway, St. Paul, Minn.

Turf Club, Midway, St. Paul, Minn.

" ...I will continue to have 'the talk' with my young son and grandsons. I hope we can get to a world where we won't have to do that anymore. But. I worry every day for the safety of my children... I have never seen so much giving from our community. It gives me hope that things will change... "