How Can an Online, Digital Story Map of North Minneapolis Spontaneous Memorials Humanize Victims of Violence

Abstract

This paper and accompanying story map identify sixteen spontaneous community memorials in my neighborhood linking them to a wider phenomena of spontaneous shrines. I explore how an online, digital story map documenting spontaneous memorials in North Minneapolis humanizes people affected by violence and police-caused fatalities. OpenData Minneapolis Police Incident datasets from 2010 to 2024, National Gun Violence Memorial, and Fatal Encounters datasets, as well as personal observations were used to identify people honored by these temporary memorials. To focus the scope of the project, exclusions are noted; these include the numerous specialities that have developed in response of large-scale spontaneous shrines and the nuanced terminology spawned by the original term “spontaneous shrines” has been identified. Spontaneous shrines (in response to large-scale disasters), roadside memorials, and ghost bikes were compared and contrasted with community spontaneous memorials. In conclusion, there are numerous causes of death that resulted in spontaneous memorials in North Minneapolis, including general gun violence, fatal car crashes, and police-caused deaths; the time-limit, datasets specific to gun-related death, missing geographic data, or names, made identifying all sixteen memorials impossible. The lack of literature tying spontaneous memorials and concentrations within certain communities was noted as were other ways of humanizing statistics related to viol