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.
July 30, 2015 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on tensions between the police and many people of color, who say they're being targeted by officers. Some black residents of north Minneapolis appreciate the extra attention their area gets from police…others resent it.
September 24, 2015 - Penumbra Theatre co-artistic director Sarah Bellamy moderated a discussion "On The Front Lines," featuring Nekima Levy-Pounds, University of St. Thomas professor and the president of the Minneapolis Chapter of the NAACP; John Harrington, Metro Transit Police chief and former State Senator; Signe Harriday, local artist and activist; and Dave Ellis, a consultant. The panelists talk about the racial tensions between police and community.
November 6, 2015 - MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles a group of six Black women Minnesota writers Carolyn Holbrook, Lori Young-Williams, Andrea Jenkins, Shannon Gibney, Tish Jones, and Mary Moore Easter. They gathered at the The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis for a reading series called “More Than a Single Story.” Series was created by Carolyn Holbrook.
December 4, 2015 - All Things Considered presents an MPR Special Report on the shooting of Jamar Clark in Minneapolis. Segment includes a chronology of shooting, history of Minneapolis police shootings, community reaction, and the many questions that have followed in Clark’s death.
February 4, 2016 - MPR’s Euan Kerr interviews the creators of new play “George Bonga: Black Voyageur.” The History Theater pulls together a dream team of playwright Carlyle Brown, director Marion McClinton, and actor James A. Williams to tell the story of African American voyageur George Bonga.
May 4, 2016 - MPR’s Laura Yuen followed Diamond Syas, a Black student at Kennedy High School in Bloomington, for the course of a school year to see what it would take for her to make it to graduation day.
July 12, 2016 - MPR’s Laura Yuen profiles MPR journalist Toni Randolph, who passed away on July 3rd, 2016. As a longtime journalist and MPR news editor, Randolph left an indeiable positive impact, especially in her commitment to public media diversity and mentorship.
July 14, 2016 - People in our community are expressing their feelings about the death of Philando Castile in many ways. 15 local poets gathered at the Penumbra Theater in St. Paul for a community reading. It was part of Black Poets Speak Out, a poetry-driven protest that began after the death of Michael Brown in 2014. Report includes an excerpt of Michael Kleber Diggs reading his poem "St. Paul Morning."
September 9, 2016 - MPR’s Tom Crann interviews 20-year-old Augsburg College student Donte Collins, who was given the Academy of American Poets' Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award for his poem "What the Dead Know by Heart." Segment includes Collins reading poem.
November 2, 2016 - MPR’s Laura Yuen and Rahim Feshir report on disproportionately high traffic stop numbers of minority drivers. They present data and narratives on one of the most common interactions between police and the public.