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.
November 7, 2006 - Election 2006: Keith Ellison's speech after victory over Alan Fine, Tammy Lee for the 5th Congressional District seat.
January 15, 2007 - In this installment of MPR series The Bookshelf, Lou Bellamy, founder and artistic director of St. Paul's Penumbra Theatre, talks about Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, a novel featuring an unnamed black narrator whose race makes him "invisible" to others.
October 23, 2007 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews Wabasha native Nelson Peery, who describes growing up Black in Minneosta, his path to the Minnesota Communist Party, and his book "Black Radical."
December 14, 2007 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on community concern among some black leaders who fear black police officers’ discrimination lawsuit may discourage people of color from joining the force. Sepic interviews members of MAD DADS of Minneapolis and former police officer Michael Quinn.
August 28, 2008 - MPR’s Curtis Gilbert talks with civil rights activist Josie Johnson about the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama.
November 5, 2008 - MPR Brandt Williams reports on local reaction to Obama’s election to become President of the United States.
February 12, 2009 - The Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, the largest professional African American theater in the country, announced its trimming budget by almost a quarter and pushing a major production into next year as a result of the economic downturn. Penumbra recently completed a three-million-dollar fundraising campaign. Artistic director Lou Bellamy says the cuts are preventative measures to protect what the company has built in recent years.
February 13, 2009 - In what it calls a proactive move, St Paul's Penumbra Theatre has trimmed it's 3.8-million-dollar budget by almost a quarter.
March 9, 2009 - Some of the state's best high school poets competed for the state championship, with eighteen students from across the state took part in the 'Poetry Out Loud' contest. They were judged by a panel on seven criteria, including physical presence and level of difficulty. The champion, Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan, was named after three rounds of poems.
August 3, 2009 - MPR’s Euan Kerr speaks with Penumbra Artistic Director Lou Bellamy about Claude Purdy, a founding member of the Penumbra Theater in St. Paul. Bellamy says Purdy offered many strengths to the stage.