MPR has been recording decades of material that reflect the Black experience in Minnesota directly from the voices of members in the community. The wide-ranging subject matter of civil rights, politics, arts & culture, sports, music, education, and business are captured in the stories, memories, commentary, and speeches.
October 21, 1994 - MPR’s Marianne Combs interviews Alan Page, an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, on racial bias and diversity in courts. Page describes the steps being taken to foster change.
December 10, 1994 - MPR presents various readings from a collection of essays written by teenagers about their life experience. Topics include isolation, sexual orientation, race, and despair.
January 2, 1995 - Midday’s Gary Eichten interviews Sandy Stephens, former Minnesota Gopher quarterback about his recollections of playing in the Rose Bowl. Stephens was the first African American All-American starting quarterback at University of Minnesota.
January 6, 1995 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Bill Davis, the new NAACP Minneapolis executive director. Davis discusses his top priorities, including upcoming national convention being held in the Twin Cities, increasing membership, and a youth focus.
January 16, 1995 - MPR presents a special program in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Program presents a collection of various MLK Day speeches including Paul Wellstone, Sharon Sayles Belton, and Joe Kingman on behalf of Arne Carlson, at Concordia College.
February 27, 1995 - MPR’s Tom Meersman talks with Nothando Zulu, a master storyteller and member of the Minnesota Black Storytellers Alliance. Zulu shares her thoughts on the cultural and historical importance of storytelling and provides some illustrative examples.
March 22, 1995 - MPR’s Mary Stucky reports on Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton’s views on neighborhood schools. Some in community see it as a return to segregation, others as a community focus to strengthening schools.
May 1, 1995 - On this Voices of Minnesota segment, an interview with W. Harry Davis, local civil rights activist and head of the Minneapolis School Board. Davis discusses busing, mayoral run, curriculum, and concept of equality.
May 1, 1995 - On this Voices of Minnesota segment, an interview with W. Harry Davis, local civil rights activist and head of the Minneapolis School Board. Davis discusses his Twin Cities youth, family experience, and boxing.
June 5, 1995 - As part of MPR’s Voices of Minnesota series, Beth Friend speaks with Evelyn Fairbanks, author of Days of Rondo. Fairbanks talks of her memoir, an interpretive account of events in the life of a black family from the South struggling for survival and meaning in a northern city.