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Honoring Minnesota's Anti-Racism Activists since 2007

The Facing Race Awards recognize anti-racism activists in Minnesota who challenge absent and harmful narratives on race, build solutions that unite instead of divide, and push for justice and equity. Through these Awards, we celebrate and learn from those leading the way forward.

Thank You For Your Nominations

Thank you for all of the wonderful nominations for the 2023 Facing Race Awards. The nomination period for the 17th annual Facing Race Awards closed April 21.

Award recipients will be announced this fall.

Award recipients are nominated by the community. Each award recipient will receive a grant to benefit a Minnesota nonprofit of their choice and be recognized at a Facing Race Awards ceremony later this year.

Watch the 2022 Facing Race Awards

Join us in celebrating the four Minnesota anti-racism activists who were honored at our 16th annual Facing Race Awards in 2023. The show, produced by TPT, premiered Oct. 23, 2022. Stream the show any time below to learn about the impact our award winners have made and watch an energetic and captivating performance by taiko group Ensō Daiko.

Meet Our 2022 Award Recipients

Classie Dudley
Classie Dudley

Classie Dudley is president of the Duluth NAACP and executive director of Community Action Duluth. In both roles, she works to eliminate systemic racism and gender disparities in the community. Under Classie’s leadership, the city of Duluth now commits $600,000 annually to implement a nonpunitive crisis response team that is separate from the Police Department. With her team, Classie has established the first NAACP-hosted Minnesota Afro-Academic Cultural Technology Scientific Olympics in Minnesota for area BIPOC students, eliminated privatized healthcare in four Duluth-area jails, and is implementing the Stop the Stops campaign to end racial bias policing by pretextual stops. Classie is also collaborating with the area’s top employers and Duluth Chamber of Commerce to recruit and retain BIPOC professionals.

Duluth NAACP
Angela Hooks
Angela Hooks

Angela Hooks is a community activist, founder and executive director of Black on Black Development and Entertainment, Inc., a Saint Paul-based nonprofit working to empower Black people and rebuild the Twin Cities’ Black community by removing racial disparities in institutions, corporations and the justice system. Angela provides business consulting and services to Black business owners, in addition to helping the underserved interpret medical and other social service applications. Her next venture will create the Cultural Arts Café and Supper Club in Saint Paul where Black chefs and cooks, entertainers, artists and the formerly incarcerated will showcase their talents while gaining a consistent revenue stream while receiving hospitality and maintenance training.

Black on Black Entertainment, Inc.
Txongpao Lee
Txongpao Lee

Txongpao Lee has been the executive director of the Hmong Cultural Center for 20 years. In that time, he has led the Hmong 101 program to teach the culture, history and contributions Hmong Americans make to U.S. culture. He also serves as a cultural resource for social workers, teachers, lawyers, criminal justice officials and health care professionals who are working with Hmong clients. An advocate and teacher for immigrant and refugee clients, Txongpao helps them earn their U.S. Citizenship. In 2021, the Cultural Center’s storefront museum was vandalized with racist White Supremacist graffiti, an incident receiving broad media coverage. As a result of Txongpao’s courageous leadership, the Twin Cities community responded with more than $30,000 in museum support.

Hmong Cultural Center
Lulete Mola
Lulete Mola

Lulete Mola is co-founder and president of the MN Black Collective Foundation, Minnesota's first Black community foundation advancing the genius of Black-led change. She leads the Collective as it is building infrastructure, practicing creative and innovative resource disbursement, growing assets, and expanding Black philanthropic power to advance a new model of philanthropy. Previously, Mola served as Chief Strategy Officer at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFMN), focused on the advancement of women, girls, and gender-expansive people at the intersection of gender and racial justice. At WFMN, Lulete led the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, a $10 million visionary public-private partnership to achieve equity in opportunities and improve the lives of Black, Indigenous and young women of color.

MN Black Collective Foundation

Meet Our Musical Performers

Feel, hear and see the rhythms of Ensō Daiko, which combines music, dance, culture and athleticism into an energetic and captivating performance. Ensō Daiko is a resident taiko group of TaikoArts Midwest.

Taiko Arts Midwest four drummers from Enso Daiko

Ensō Daiko

Advocating for Equity

The Facing Race Awards recognize anti-racism activists in Minnesota who challenge absent and harmful narratives on race, build solutions that unite, instead of divide, and push for justice and equity. Through these Awards, we celebrate and learn from those leading the way forward.

The Facing Race Awards, established in 2007, are just one way the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation advocates for equity. Learn more about our narrative change and anti-racism efforts, and how you can join us.

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