Groundbreaking for a Minneapolis Youth-Serving Community Staple

Minneapolis, MN — For nearly three decades, the educational nonprofit WE WIN Institute has been nomadic, serving youth in Minneapolis out of rented spaces. But that era is coming to a close — on November 19, 2024, WE WIN held a groundbreaking event for their new building in Minneapolis’ Bryn Mawr neighborhood. Unicorn Riot was there to document the historic occasion and interview board members, organization partners and a former student-turned-staff.

Founded in 1996 by award-winning educator Titilayo Bediako, WE WIN Institute has served thousands of youth in Minneapolis with a mission of creating academic and social success for all children. Students participate in free after-school, in-school and summer school programming featuring an Afrocentric and multicultural curriculum.

Known locally for its vivacious Kwanzaa Celebrations, large urban garden, Harvest Fest, and back-to-school and Black-authored book give-away events, WE WIN has also offered parent groups, tutoring, entrepreneurial programming, a litany of arts related programming, as well as cooking, gardening and mentoring.

“To see this building, this space to call our own, is really inspirational for me,” Sani Sabal, a former student and employee at WE WIN. Sabal has been a part of the WE WIN community for over half of her life. In the third grade she started coming to WE WIN’s Rites of Passage After School program in South Minneapolis and hasn’t left the org since. After aging out of the Women of Distinction programming and volunteering as a youth worker, Sabal became a paid program staff member.

“It’s unbelievable, to be honest, because Titi has been talking about this for such a long time. To see her vision come to life is really beautiful.”
Sani Sabal, former WE WIN youth and current staff member

“Thank you Miss Titi for seeing the excellence in us, the beauty in us, the brilliance in us. Just letting us be us,” Sabal said. We heard from an emotional Sabal after the groundbreaking, see the short video below.

Due to strong winds and inclement weather, the groundbreaking ceremony was held inside and led by Damani Bediako, the building owner’s rep for the project and the son of WE WIN’s founder and executive director, Titilayo Bediako. Dozens were in attendance, including community leaders, politicians, dignitaries, supporters, youth workers and former students.

The ceremony began with a land acknowledgement by Marique Moss, an Afro-Indigenous member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and a WE WIN staff member. Moss recognized that the building on the corner of Cedar Lake Road and Wayzata Boulevard sits on traditional Dakota land. She offered the land some tobacco, spoke the land acknowledgement and gave a gift of hand-wrapped Minnesota prairie sage and sweetgrass to Ms. Bediako.

“Acknowledging and honoring the space we occupy is central to our vision of the building and building an anti-racist learning and work environment where respect, equity and inclusion guide everything we do for the ultimate goal of reconciliation.”
Marique Moss, Deputy Director of WE WIN Institute

Those in attendance then invoked their ancestors into the space. Libations were performed by Joshua Gillespie (Brotha Asè), a Griot, storyteller, and grandson of Vusumuzi and Nothando Zulu. Brotha Asè is among the esteemed artists over the years to teach WE WIN youth how to play African drums.

Drum and dance are a large part of WE WIN’s curriculum. Youth learn West African rhythms and dances and regularly perform them during community events. Libations in the form of ritual statements are performed each time the youth get together at WE WIN. They include singing the Black National Anthem and reciting the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) and rituals like We Are An African People.

One of the main locations where WE WIN has held programs over the last decade has been Zion Baptist Church in North Minneapolis. Students converge in the basement for programming and in the summer they tend to a large outdoor garden that they care for and cook with.

A WE WIN staff member leads programming in WE WIN’s garden at Zion Baptist Church in 2018, the site the youth-serving organization has called home for years. With the new building under construction, WE WIN will soon have a permanent home of its own.

Senior Pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Brian Herron, spoke during the opening ceremony before holding a prayer.

“I am so grateful to you,” Pastor Herron said to Ms. Bediako, “the vision God gave you and how you carried out that vision. You were relentless. You wasn’t gonna let nobody stop you. And we’re grateful to you. The way you care and love our children and our families here. So I just want to say thank you.”

Supporters of WE WIN Institute pose for a picture during the groundbreaking ceremony for WE WIN’s new building on Nov. 19, 2024 in Minneapolis. WE WIN founder and Ex. Director Titi Bediako stands in the center with Pastor Brian Herron next to her.

Bediako later said during the ceremony, “When we didn’t have a home and needed a place to be, Pastor didn’t say ‘how long’, he just said, ‘come’.” She promised with the new building that WE WIN “will represent the best of who we are as Black people and the best in terms of our children.”

Civil rights lawyer, activist and Racial Justice Network (RJN) founder Nekima Levy Armstrong called the building “sacred ground.”

Armstrong said all of the energy that Ms. Bediako has brought to education for decades and “all the seeds that she’s sown from one generation to the next is now being harnessed in this building where we stand.” Four years ago, Armstrong, RJN staff and volunteers lent a helping hand to WE WIN during the COVID-19 pandemic, when WE WIN provided over 15,000 pounds of food to families in need in Minneapolis. She spoke to Unicorn Riot after the groundbreaking:

Members of WE WIN’s Board of Directors, LuAnn Yerks and Pamela Fletcher Bush, spoke during the ceremony, giving praise to Titi’s dedication.

“Today is a momentous occasion. Today, WE WIN is enlarging its territory and its legacy. Given this new venture and new home, we will no longer be nomads, but will have a place of abundance, growth, opportunities, peace, joy and love and many other blessings that we will know and see over time,” said Fletcher Bush.

Being involved with WE WIN for over 20 years, Board Chair LuAnn Yerks also spoke to Unicorn Riot after the groundbreaking.

“It’s an amazing community organization and it’s all about the children … we are very excited to have a building, so we are not moving to different locations,” Yerks said:

Location had been an underlying issue for WE WIN since its inception — finding an affordable, safe space to hold youth programming and staff offices was challenging. Now a staple in the community, WE WIN has it’s own building that’s primed to stand as an institute of Black Excellence, said founder Titi Bediako.

Designs for WE WIN’s new permanent home sit on display at the ground breaking ceremony.

In addition to indoor classroom and office space, WE WIN’s new building will have robust outdoor facilities.

Watch the full groundbreaking ceremony below:

Since 1996, Ms. Bediako and WE WIN Institute have held Kwanzaa Celebrations free and open to the public. Kwanzaa is a seven-day long African-American holiday based on the seven principles, Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). Kwanzaa occurs from December 26 to January 1. WE WIN’s Kwanzaa Celebrations feature a range of youth and adult cultural performances from award-winning artists.

This year’s Kwanzaa Celebration will take place on Wednesday, December 18 at 6 p.m. at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis. You can watch the performance on their Facebook page and see a playlist of videos from some of their celebrations below.