3 years later, some North Minneapolis businesses are still recovering from the violence.

Three years ago, after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on May 25, unrest erupted in the Twin Cities. Although much of the focus is on south Minneapolis, small businesses in north Minneapolis have suffered damage and losses.

Since then, state funding has helped some North Side businesses reopen. Others, however, are not yet complete.

Tara Watson owns a building on West Broadway that is home to several of her businesses, including Watson Chiropractic and Anytime Fitness. She recalled the feeling surrounding the uprising.

“There was fear, people didn’t feel safe. People were very upset,” Watson said. “People didn’t feel safe with the police, but it was a lot at once.”

Molotov cocktails and thrown objects littered the top of her building. Watson said she was unable to get funding to repair the roof. She estimated the cost to be more than $100,000.

“I couldn’t get help with that, or find anyone willing to use that and do that,” she said. It means we still have hope, but we can’t.

Insurance doesn’t cover violence damage, she said.

“Thankfully, the West Broadway Business and Environment Coalition provided some funding that helped,” Watson said.

She received grants to repair and maintain the front of the building, including new signage and improved lighting.

Osman Kamara recalls learning how George Floyd was killed.

“When I woke up in the middle of the night to pray, that’s when I saw the video,” Kamara said.

Later that day he got a text from a customer. She told him people were going into businesses near his store on West Broadway. Kamara hurried from his Brooklyn Center home to K’s Grocery and Deli.

During the first week, when the scene outside was so intense, five customers helped him stand guard at K’s. Gunshots filled the air. Pickup trucks dotted the streets.

By the second week, the team was down to a pair of loyal customers. Their presence allowed him to go to the bathroom daily and spend some time with his family.

Kamara, who witnessed the civil war in his native Sierra Leone, sat by the front window with a light on. He did this for over 30 days.

After the monthly hours of business are over, K’s deli has been broken into several times, he said. He smashed the front windows.

“There was a time when they stole an ATM from the store,” he said. “My cash register has been messed up for a while. It was just stealing what was available.”

Help came in the form of grants and low-interest loans from neighborhood groups like the West Broadway Business and Environment Coalition, the Northside Economic Opportunity Network and other agencies.

Camara was able to replace the broken windows and glass front door. It also got bars for the windows and an anti-crash roll-up door. And he fixed the cash register system and installed an outdoor camera system. The grant money also helped pay the bills.

He feels safe now.

“So it’s helped a lot since then. It’s been great,” he said.

According to 2020 tax forms, the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition awarded $541,174 to 33 recipients. These funds are for businesses in North Minneapolis “affected by the civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd.”

Warren McLean, president of the Northside Economic Opportunity Network, said several organizations responded.

“There is a constant effort to ensure that Black and BIPOC businesses get the funding they need. And that’s a big push … on the part of local governments, and especially the state, they’ve really moved in a big way to help out,” McLean said. He made Hennepin County. Then the city of Minneapolis did the same.

Despite what she’s been through, Watson says she believes strongly in the North and its future.

“I think we dug ourselves out of a hole. I really do. I think that’s amazing,” she said. “I’m excited about what we’re going to find on the other side of this because we’re there. And I think it’s a better opportunity, a better community, a better north side, a better south side.

Kamara appreciates his customers’ concern for him during and after the riots.

“I like this neighborhood for me. I don’t move for nothing,” he said.