Video (02:52) : Description: Tyeastia Green, organizer of Black Expo, claimed the Bush Foundation had committed $3 million. It hadn't.
Minneapolis' top racial equity official misinformed the City Council — and the public — when she said last month that the Bush Foundation had committed $3 million to the city's first Black expo, according to statements from the city and the foundation.
Not only had the foundation never committed a dime, the city never really asked, according to the statements.
The revelation raises questions surrounding the planning of the "I Am My Ancestors' Wildest Dream Expo" last month, which drew far fewer attendees than initially hoped and required a late influx of taxpayer money.
In the end, the free Feb. 25 event at the Minneapolis Convention Center, while praised by some who attended, cost taxpayers upwards of $500,000 and prompted some 3,700 people to register online. There's no official attendance number, but it's clearly far fewer than the 20,000 that Tyeastia Green, the city's lead organizer, forecast weeks before.
Green was hired a year ago to lead the city's race and equity efforts and serves as director of the newly formed Department of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
It was her statements to the City Council at an emergency meeting last month that have proven to be untrue. Green couldn't be reached for comment this week, but a statement by the city acknowledges the inaccuracy, while still leaving other questions unanswered.
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