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.
June 29, 1976 - MPR’s Debbie Gare interviews W. Harry Davis, Minneapolis school board member and local civil rights activist, about desegregation of Minneapolis public schools. He believes it is the responsibility of districts in the country to figure out how to overcome segregated schools.
July 23, 1976 - MPR’s Kate Williams talks with Black residents in St. Paul’s Selby-Dale community about their views of the Jimmy Carter-Walter Mondale presiditional ticket.
May 2, 1977 - MPR’s Kate Williams profiles Earl Craig, Jr., president of the Minneapolis Urban Coalition and chairman of the political organization of the Black Unity and Futurism Conference. Craig says it's been hard for Blacks to organize a political force here in the Twin Cities because what few Blacks live in this area don't live in a centralized place as in many larger cities.
November 10, 1977 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan reports on new theatre opening in St. Paul, called Penumbra. Fushan interviews Lou Bellamy, Penumbra’s company coordinator, about the theater and it’s focus on black talent.
March 18, 1978 - On this regional public affairs program, guests Ray Arveson, superintendent of Schools for Minneapolis; and W. Harry Davis, Minneapolis school board member, examine the school district's desegregation plan. Topics include compliance of Judge Larson order, magnet programs, and interests of minority groups.
June 10, 1978 - MPR’s Kate Williams talks with Minneapolis poet Jerri Alexander, who shares poetry from her book "Hurt Comes and Goes: Poetry of a Black American Woman."
February 16, 1979 - MPR reporter Dan Olson speaks with with Gregory Reed of the Afro-American Cultural Arts Center in Minneapolis about the history of Black people in Minnesota.
June 17, 1980 - Writer, photographer and artist Gordon Parks speaking at Our Creative Community conference at the Spring Hill Center in Wayzata, Minnesota. Parks address was titled “Universality in Art.” Subjects of speech included his time in Minnesota, race issues, the Civil Rights movement, and education.
August 2, 1982 - MPR’s Deborah Fisher reports on panel discussions after Penumbra Theatre play "Zooman."
December 1, 1983 - MPR’s Lee Axdahl reports that the City of St. Paul is renaming downtown auditorium after civil rights activist Roy Wilkins, who grew up in the city and attended University of Minnesota.