South Minneapolis is getting a very specific kind of homecoming this Saturday: Sabathani Community Center is throwing a free block party for its 60th anniversary, with live music, barbecue, family activities and a backpack pickup folded into the celebration. The afternoon is designed as equal parts neighborhood reunion and summer send-off, with a long-serving community institution putting its history on the same stage as its next generation.
The celebration, billed as “Coming Back Home,” runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday at Sabathani, according to a Ward 8 announcement. Admission is free and open to everyone, with longtime neighbors, families and first-time visitors all invited.
Music, Barbecue And A Community March
The music lineup includes Sounds of Blackness, Johnnie Brown, DJ Enferno, Jamelah Pettiford and Brother Ra!, according to Sabathani’s event page. Food options will include Run Tell That BBQ, Rollin Nolen BBQ, Bam Bam Barbecue and Cajun Sneaux, while five Minnesota State Fair Family Fun Packs will be raffled off with four admission tickets and a Blue Ribbon Bargain Book in each prize.
The celebration will begin with the 37th Street Community March, with participants asked to meet at 10:45 a.m. near 37th Street and 4th Avenue before marching west to 3rd Avenue. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder reports that the event will honor South Minneapolis community leaders Clarissa Walker and Launa Q. Newman, whose work helped shape the neighborhood.
Families who reserved backpacks can pick them up during the party from noon to 2:30 p.m., according to Sabathani. The center says any unclaimed backpacks will be distributed after 2:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last, but the party itself remains open to everyone.
Six Decades In The Heart Of South Minneapolis
Sabathani was founded in 1966 by residents and members of Sabathani Baptist Church who wanted a welcoming place where people could gather, build community and access services. A City of Minneapolis history guide says the organization later settled into the former Bryant Junior High School building in 1979.
Today, Sabathani describes itself as one of Minnesota’s oldest African American-founded nonprofits and says it helps more than 50,000 South Minneapolis residents each year through food distribution, housing support, youth programs, senior services, workforce assistance and health programs. That history gives Saturday’s party a little more weight than the usual summer blowout: It is a public celebration of an institution that has spent six decades doing the less flashy, more durable work of keeping a neighborhood connected.
