Minneapolis street named after community leader Bernadette Anderson

Bernadette Anderson — a community leader, an outspoken advocate for African American civil rights in Minnesota, and a tough-love mother to many northside youth — was honored Friday afternoon with a renamed street in north Minneapolis.

Bernadette Anderson Way now runs along Russell Avenue North between Plymouth Avenue North and 12th Avenue North.

Anderson, who died in 2003, lived in the 1200 block of Russell.

The block was blocked off from traffic on Friday for an event celebrating her life with family friends, and other community leaders.

Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion said she also helped many local musicians when they were younger.

“Her contributions are those that you enjoy right now today, when you think in terms of the greatness of Prince or even Andre Cymone, or the greatness of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,” Champion said. “When you think of that Minneapolis music sound, she was like the grandmother right, or the mother.”

Anderson is musician Andre Cymone’s mother, and Prince lived in her Russell Avenue house for a period of time in the mid-1970s.

Champion said she is also the mother of the civil rights movement in Minneapolis. 

The civil rights leaders that often were covered by the mainstream outlets were men: Ron Edwards, Mahmoud El-Kati and Spike Moss. Anderson was well known in the community, but she didn’t get much news coverage.

Moss spoke to the gathered crowd.

“I know no soldier like Bernadette from day one,” he said. Anderson thought those in the fight were out of their minds and needed to stop, Moss recalled.

“I said to Bernadette, ‘Come on one march, one time, and maybe that’ll change your mind. And when Bernadette stood up that first time, she never stopped fighting for you,” he said.

Her activism was profound.

“The door opened for Black teachers, Black principals, all the different things we fought for, to drive that bus, to be police, to be firefighters, everything you could think of fighting over working on the freeway,” Moss told the crowd.

“This woman stood up for you, step by step, every time we turned around, she'd be one of the first to come and stand up on behalf of our people.”

Moss himself was honored in July when the city renamed part of Plymouth Avenue north, Spike Moss Way. During his speech when he was honored, he said Anderson had also mentored him. 

Anderson’s family gathered for the block part and each relative stood out. They each wore “Queen Bernie” t-shirts featuring a black-and-white picture of the honoree.

Bernadette Anderson’s third born — Patricia Anderson — said her mother empowered women in the community through her mother’s YWCA programs.

“My mother embodied the epitome of what the village mentality is, should be, and I pray continues on. We need more of the Bernadette Andersons,” she said.

Anderson’s grandson Cymon Payne and his wife Chandra were also at the celebration.

Chandra remembers the soul food every Sunday at her house. Everybody was fed.

“I’m asking my husband, shouldn’t we give her some money? No, she had it. She had it all,” Chandra Payne said. Anderson was “just showing love with her cooking. She could throw down.”

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