The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently published an article covering the return of pharmacist Tom SenGupta’s well-known political conversations. Once held after hours at a St. Paul Schneider Drug, a pharmacy SenGupta owned and operated from 1972 to 2015, the new public forum will be held at the Common Table and hosted by Augsburg College’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship. SenGupta’s conversations were known for their rational tone and the makeup of their participants, which ranged from former Sen. Paul Wellstone and other local politicians, to university professors and the general public.
At a recent planning meeting, SenGupta and his partners decided upon the first topic for the talks, which will be held Thursday, January 21, with a discussion of the legacy of slavery in America. “America is a mature society now. Can we finally confront our history of slavery?” SenGupta asked.
Known for his friendly, inspirational demeanor, the former pharmacist intends to let those who show up for the talks decide what their outcomes will be and what future work they will inspire. He does hope that the new round of discussions will be more bipartisan, saying, “Oh, we had plenty of Republicans come, but not Republican candidates. I invited them, but they never came.”
Read: A welcome return of drug-store democracy on the Star Tribune site.