It’s easy to believe Robin Hickman-Winfield when she says, “It’s my time.” Right now, you can see her beaming from the cover of Insight News, reflecting on the artistic legacy and current exhibit of her great uncle — and greatest teacher — Gordon Parks. The owner of SoulTouch Productions, she’s working on a film project that’s so exciting she can’t disclose the details and is about to publish her first art book documenting her innovative work with dolls.

So, with Women’s History Month in March, it seemed like the perfect time to connect with Robin—a leaseholder with the Rondo Community Land Trust—to learn more about her work as a narrative historian and community educator.

While the nation turns its attention each February to African American ingenuity, at Rondo Community Land Trust, we honor — and make — Black history everyday. 

As a CLT, we’re part of a movement that was born out of the vision and resistance of Black people in the segregated South who knew they needed more than the right to participate in American democracy—they needed the ability to own and control land to shape their own collective futures.

When Mychael and Stephanie Wright began considering retirement and the process of handing off their 24-year-old business, Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe on St. Paul's Selby Avenue, selling it to a land trust organization wasn't on the radar.

"I asked Mychael to really consider and work with Rondo Community Land Trust to not only preserve the legacy of the business, but turn it into something that could be owned by the community at the same time," said Mikeya Griffin, executive director of Rondo Community Land Trust.

In 1858, just four years after St. Paul was incorporated, Joseph Rondeau purchased 40 acres of land in the city’s Summit-University District. Those parcels eventually became the Rondo neighborhood, a Black community brimming with churches, schools, homes, and businesses that thrived for decades.

By the 1950s, 85% of St. Paul’s African American community lived in Rondo—until it was sliced in half by the construction of I-94 in 1956. In the process, more than 300 Black businesses had closed, and more than 700 homes had been taken from the tight-knit neighborhood through eminent domain.

Today, the Rondo Community Land Trust (RCLT) is working to right those past wrongs. “As part of RCLT’s reparative framework, we have the ‘Right to Return to Rondo’ where we pair Rondo descendants with significant dollars and income to come in and purchase homes,” explains RCLT’s executive director, Mikeya Griffin. “And they get the right of first refusal at any of our business spaces.”

Two years ago, I came into this role ready to inject new energy into an institution approaching its 30th anniversary. And, together, we’ve made significant strides.

Golden Thyme Presents, the successor to the longtime Selby Avenue coffee shop now owned by a Rondo nonprofit, opened Tuesday as an incubator for Black-owned food businesses.

Two restaurants are now up and running in the space: On weekdays, Sammy’s Avenue Eatery will serve sandwiches, salads and coffee. This is its second location; owner Sammy McDowell has run the restaurant in North Minneapolis for about a decade.

On weekends, Gravy Babies will serve soul food. Currently a catering company, the business is owned by Jocie Thomas, who grew up in the Rondo neighborhood.

During a media event held this month at the offices of the Rondo Community Land Trust on St. Paul’s Selby Avenue, Howard, the state lawmaker, said some of the many initiatives to be funded by the record $1.07 billion in state housing spending will need time to be crafted from the ground up, while others are in progress and ready for expansion.

The housing omnibus bill represents an increase of $950 million from a base budget of $115 million, with an estimated $625 million continuing or expanding existing programs and $440 million launching more than 15 new programs or activities.

The two-story red brick home dates to the early 20th century, and like many in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood, it’s showing its age. It could use tender loving care: paint, lawn care and surface maintenance. If the announcement from Mayor Carter’s team was any indication, it’s about to get it. The house was sold to Anthony Bradford, the first recipient of the city’s Inheritance Fund, and he and his cat were excited to move in.

The two-story red brick house was the second one 22-year-old Anthony Bradford ever toured. But the moment he walked through the door, he knew it was where he wanted to settle.

Weeks later, with a $90,000 forgivable loan from the city of St. Paul, Bradford closed on the $229,000 house. It sits not far from where Bradford's great-great-grandfather once owned a duplex that was torn down to make way for Interstate 94.

During this year’s Selby Jazz Fest, festival organizers and Golden Thyme Coffee and Café owners, Mychael and Stephanie Wright announced that they had sold the beloved community establishment to Rondo Community Land Trust. The couple has owned the café for over 24 years and were planning on retiring when approached to sell the place. “I didn’t believe we’d get that kind of offer,” Mychael said in a statement. “I said, ‘That’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard!’”

When Mychael and Stephanie Wright founded Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe in 2000, they were simply following the business advice of Mychael’s brother. Twenty-three years later, Wright’s Cafe is a community landmark in St. Paul, Minnesota, and it seems it’s here to stay.

A longtime fixture in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood is moving into a new phase.

During Saturday's Selby Avenue JazzFest, the owners of Golden Thyme Coffee and Café announced the location will be transformed into a small business incubator called “Golden Thyme Presents.”

Wright and his wife Stephanie announced at the Selby Jazz Fest that after running the iconic coffee shop for 24 years, they are retiring.

And that’s not all.

The couple is selling the business to the Rondo Community Land Trust — which connects people to affordable, sustainable housing.

“This is like coming home for me,” says Executive Director Mikeya Griffin. “Really, really excited for the community that I grew up in — and look forward to creating more vibrancy here.”

Mychael and Stephanie Wright hoped their launch of Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe 24 years ago would serve as a catalyst for a resurgence of Black-owned businesses on Selby Avenue, a commercial corridor of St. Paul's old Rondo neighborhood.

Neighbors and customers say they've done that. But on Saturday, the Wrights turn over the keys to an organization — Rondo Community Land Trust — promising to use the coffee shop to accelerate the area's transformation.

Mychael and Stephanie Wright, founders of the Selby Avenue Jazz Fest, recently announced they were selling the longstanding Golden Thyme Coffee and Cafe on Selby Avenue. They declined at the time to disclose who the buyer was.

The secret’s now out. The Wrights this week confirmed they are parting with Golden Thyme after 24 years on Selby Avenue, but the coffee shop — a beehive of Black culture and community activity — is expected to continue in the hands of the Rondo Community Land Trust. The goal is to expand the existing coffee shop into “Golden Thyme Presents,” a pop-up and incubator space driven by short- and long-term leases with restaurateurs and food vendors of color.

With an eye toward increasing affordable housing, the city of St. Paul will help the Rondo Community Land Trust acquire five residential properties between 796 and 841 Selby Ave., as well as a sixth residence on Avon Street.

The city will use $1.37 million in federal Community Development Block Grant dollars to back the purchases from the Twin Cities Land Bank, and to establish a revolving loan fund, allowing the land trust to make future acquisitions using future sale proceeds.