St. Paul to honor Professor Mahmoud El-Kati with street co-naming in Rondo neighborhood
St. Paul to honor Professor Mahmoud El-Kati with street co-naming in Rondo neighborhood
Nearly a decade later, the St. Paul City Council is restoring honorary street co-naming, with community elder, activist, historian and longtime Macalester College professor Mahmoud El-Kati becoming the first person to receive the honor since the practice was discontinued.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the council voted 6-1 to pass measures reversing a 2017 decision that discontinued the practice. At the time, the council cited concerns that honorary and official street names could lead to miscommunication during emergencies.
During that Sept. 9 council meeting, Ward 1 council member Anika Bowie, who served as the lead sponsor of both measures, said the city’s police and fire chiefs and public works director could not provide records showing what led to the practice’s discontinuation in 2017.
The restoration is personal for Bowie, who said El-Kati is one of her mentors. But getting the measures passed wasn’t simple. Bowie initially proposed a resolution that would have restored the city’s previous street co-naming procedures while immediately allowing El-Kati to receive the honor. That resolution failed 3-4, with council members Cheniqua Johnson, Molly Coleman, Saura Jost and Rebecca Noecker voting in opposition.
The second proposal passed after being reviewed and amended by the City Attorney’s Office. The measure allows El-Kati’s honorary street co-naming to move forward while the council develops a new operating procedure for future.
“Restoring honorary street co-naming was an incredible undertaking, and it was especially meaningful to renew this tradition by honoring Elder Mahmoud El-Kati,” Bowie said. “His impact transcends any single proclamation, institution or generation. His name will now have a permanent place in the Rondo community he helped shape.”
Honorary street co-naming has historically been one way St. Paul has recognized living residents who have made significant contributions to the city. Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, also a mentee of El-Kati, helped catalyze the effort to secure a lasting public recognition of the elder.
“Professor Mahmoud El-Kati is deserving of every honor that we, as elected officials, have available to us,” Champion said. “It has been far too long for us to present this honor.”
Community advocate Tyrone Terrill, President of the African American Leadership Council and Men of M.A.R.C.H. (Men Are Responsible To Cultivate Hope), also championed the recognition.
“I am overjoyed that the City of Saint Paul has bestowed such an honor upon our beloved Griot and Elder Mahmoud El-Kati—giving him his African King Protea flowers while he can still see them and smell them,” Terrill said.
El-Kati has spent decades educating the community and documenting Black history and the experiences of African Americans in Minnesota. His work has deep ties to the Rondo community, where his street co-naming will take place at the corner of Iglehart Avenue and Milton Street.
The city says El-Kati’s street co-naming will take place soon. A specific date has not yet been announced.
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