Since 1996, the Cultural Wellness Center (CWC) has served the African American community, working to position community knowledge at the forefront of health practices and economic development. The work is rooted in African System of Thought and the mission of CWC is to unleash the power of people to heal themselves and to build community. Engaging in cultural self study and the generative practice of moving from race to culture, people embark on the transformative path to becoming whole, more fully oneself, and empowered within a community context. CWC is a healing space that incubates culturally-based solutions to real world problems. The knowledge produced from this process creates the space for truth speaking, healing and recovery.
The Cultural Wellness Center recently launched a Capital Campaign to support the building of a permanent home for the work of the center and the launching of The Dreamland on 38th project by the end of 2022.
Dreamland will feature African American ownership, leadership, and entrepreneurship in a space that reflects African art, culinary heritage and culture. Dreamland on 38th builds on the work that the Cultural Wellness Center has done since 1995, tying it together to give a physical space to the healing and emotional space created for community members over the years. Located mere blocks from George Floyd Square, Dreamland is an anchor project of the 38th Street Thrive Cultural District. Dreamland is about cultural heritage and cooperative economics.
The area in which Dreamland is being developed was selected based on the historical connection 38th Street has to the African American community. An area that once included Black- owned businesses and single family homes—the two greatest contributors to generational wealth- building—which was short- circuited by the construction of I-35W and exacerbated by redlining and racial covenants that limited where displaced families and small businesses could relocate. Dreamland on 38th represents much- needed economic development, entrepreneurial support, sustainable job creation, and cultural preservation for economic justice. Dreamland will benefit the whole community and all within our South Minneapolis neighborhoods.
The Community Investment Council
We are people of European heritage that have studied and been impacted by the teachings of the Cultural Wellness Center. Studying ourselves within a cultural and community context, we are healing as we move from a race identity to people informed by values and practices of culture. Through our work in the Investment Council, we are engaging in a community practice of reciprocity—a gift for a gift—as we reimagine how wealth and wealth creation can support all members of society.
We are calling forward the gifts and abundance of our communities as we reach out to our networks, employing creative means to support the Cultural Wellness Center’s Capital Campaign. We believe that generating cash can be a joyous and generative exercise in culture building. By centering reparative and constructive relationship building, we aim to and reframe communal wealth building. The workshops and events are all expressions of our learnings from the teachings of the Moving From Race to Culture experience.