Justin Ellis presents The Cruelty of Nice Folks

A revelatory look at one of America’s most progressive cities—Minneapolis—as journalist Justin Ellis returns to his hometown to grapple with the quiet history of white supremacy in the wake of George Floyd’s M**der, uncover his family’s story of surviving “Minnesota nice,” and revisit the city years later as state violence again forces the question of what a real reckoning looks like.

It’s the “North,” they like to say, not the Midwest. It’s dif­ferent. Minneapolis is a city for everyone. But in 2020, George Floyd’s M**der by the city’s police left many Americans stunned and wondering, “How could this hap­pen in Minneapolis?” To Ellis, the real question is: What made people think it couldn’t?

The Minneapolis Justin Ellis grew up in is not the idealistic metropolis it claims to be. The “City of Lakes” was built on discrimination— in its housing, its schools, its politics—much like all other American cities. Black families were systematically cut out of the prosperous neighborhoods, lush parks, and pristine lakes that make Minneapolis a haven of the heartland. Because of its image as a liberal ally in the fight for civil rights, Minne­apolis has rarely been forced to confront this fact. But when George Floyd's M**der sparks a global protest movement with the city as ground zero, its residents must finally ask what being a good neighbor actually means.

In a powerful new epilogue, Ellis turns his gaze back to Minneapolis as the sweeping federal immigration operation once again thrusts the city into national headlines. If George Floyd’s M**der forced Minneapolis to confront questions of policing, power, and responsibility, the events of 2026 ask what those years of reckoning ultimately changed. Where fear once threatened to overwhelm the city’s response to state violence, Ellis finds a community newly practiced in dissent and collective action. The crisis reveals a Minneapolis still wrestling with its identity, but also one transformed by experience—no longer shocked into awakening, but shaped by it.

Justin Ellis is a journalist and co-owner of Defector, a worker-owned media company. His work has appeared at ESPN, the Atlantic, The New York Times, Boston Globe and GQ. His TV credits include the Netflix docuseries How to Fix a Drug Scandal and Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas on HBO. He lives in New York City.

Lissa Jones readily embraces the opportunity to bring thoughtful examination of African American life and culture into the public discourse on radio, through podcasting, and for a time, through a newspaper column. Her work keeps her grounded in the community she teaches about and the culture from which she emerged. A lover of reading, learning, teaching, and use of voice, Lissa is a highly sought after speaker, interviewer, facilitator, moderator, and mistress of ceremonies. Lissa serves as board member and co-chair of the nominations committee of the University of Minnesota Friends of the Libraries, and she also serves on the board for Rain Taxi.

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