Frequently throughout 2025, space in these pages will be given to organizations working to end racial injustice across the state. We hope that these reflections spark policy changes for a more equitable Minnesota. This week’s guest contributor is Shanasha Whitson, founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence (MAG).
There is a club that no one asks to join — yet every day, mothers, fathers, and loved ones are being forced into it. There are no perks, points, free coffees or rewards. This club comes only with heartbreak: stomachaches, migraines, numbness, anger, and the crushing weight of helplessness. It brings anxiety, fear, and the isolating sense that no one else can truly understand.
I know, because I’m in this club.
On May 28 I sat down with Tatiana Kilgore, the mother of 18-year-old Amarie Alowonle. Amarie was shot in the head on May 4, 2025, while at Sanborn Park in Robbinsdale. She was not in a gang. She was not the intended target. She was an innocent bystander, and as of today, no arrests have been made in her case…