Community civil rights leader’s message: ‘Don’t complain, activate’

Leslie Redmond, until only recently, served as the president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP, where she championed for equity in the community.

“We really have to be lights in the community and uplift that and recognize that there is no one solution to this and there’s no one person that’s going to be able to solve this,” Redmond said.

But now, she’s about to build upon what’s she’s called "Don’t Complain, Activate,” the message at the forefront of a new clothing line that launches on Tuesday.

“What ‘Don’t Complaint, Activate’ is all about is activating the leader and the light that is in each and every single one of us,” Redmond said.

To kick it off the new line, she’s selected 220 Black Minnesotans and 40 others from various walks of life in many unique communities that she feels are leaders in their own right that will get ‘activator’ boxes of clothing.

“It’s about praising the activators in the community," Redmond said.

Redmond, who at the time she was elected was the youngest president of the more than 100-year-old Minneapolis NAACP, said all leaders can create change in their own way, adding there is no one right way to activate your community.

New Minneapolis NAACP president ‘honored’ to lead civil rights group

“You think about the nurses, you think about people working in grocery stores during this global pandemic, you think about teachers … moms and dads trying to work from home and also try to teach their kids, we are all activators, and it’s about leaning into that,” Redmond said.

Redmond said anyone can bring about change for good in their own small way, on their own block, but it starts by taking a position.

“I believe in them and we are still the lights that exist during trying times,” Redmond added.