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.
April 7, 2003 - MPR’ Brandt Williams reports on a Sunday evening worship service held in the State Theater in Minneapolis, where Black leaders told the crowd of nearly 500 that African Americans still face high rates of unemployment, poverty and health problems. They expressed hope that through church and community collaboration, those problems can be solved.
October 31, 2003 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on who speaks for Black community. Reports includes comments from church leaders, an academic, a city council member, and resident of the community.
November 18, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rob Schmitz reports the debate in Rochester over the police department's treatment of minorities.
December 23, 2003 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews musician Odell Brown, who has also struggled all his life with depression. The Richfield resident has created a Christmas CD as a way to work through that depression.
May 13, 2004 - Flyte Tyme, the hit producing Edina-based recording studio run by Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis, is relocating to Los Angeles. Roberts reports on how the news is being received in the Twin Cities, and the legacy Harris and Lewis are leaving.
August 9, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams takes a look at probably the ugliest racial slur ever created. It is a word known primarily as a means to denigrate African Americans. The word packs such power to represent overt racial hatred, most people - regardless of race - will not even utter it. How can one word have such power?
August 11, 2004 - Carl Eller, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1964 to 1979, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Sunday. "What can I do with this great honor?" he asked in his acceptence speech. "I can use it to help young African-American males to participate fully in this society. I can give a message that will lead them toward the great colleges and universities of our nation, not to prisons and jail cells." Eller, who was one of the first African-Americans to play for the Minnesota Gophers back in 1961, talks about football and race with Gary Eichten. He also takes questions from MPR listeners.
December 10, 2004 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Carl Eller, former Viking and Pro Football Hall of Famer. Eller’s Hall of Fame speech focused on the future of young African American men.
January 17, 2005 - MPR’s Dan Olson interviews Minneapolis gospel singers Tonia and Cameron Hughes. After the death of husband/father David Hughes, Tonia and Cameron use singing together as a way to rebuild and provide renewed hope in life.
February 11, 2005 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on a VocalEssence tribute to artist Gordon Parks. Report includes numerous commentaries.