MPR Archive presents a selection of stories tied to various the aspects, history, and battles for civil rights of individuals and groups within the State of Minnesota.
March 20, 2001 - St. Paul NAACP and Chief Finney meet to discuss racial profiling in the city.
March 22, 2001 - Minnesota Author Evelyn Fairbanks has died at the age of 72. Fairbanks wrote "Days of Rondo," a memoir about growing up in St. Paul's largest black neighborhood in the 1930's and '40's. The Rondo neighborhood was razed in the 1960's to make way for interstate 94. Fairbank's book was published in 1990 and is now in its fourth printing. In 1991, Fairbanks gave up city life and moved to the outskirts of tiny Onamia, Minnesota, where she operated a 20 acre tree farm. In a 1995 interview with Minnesota Public Radio's Beth Friend, Fairbanks described why she was drawn to the country:
March 26, 2001 - The Equal Rights Amendment is getting another chance in Congress. Last week, more than 160 members signed onto the legislation... which would give women equal protection under the consitution. The E-R-A was first introduced in 1923, and despite its repeated RE-introduction, has never achieved the level of support necessary for ratification. 4th district representative Betty McCallum is one of the bill's sponsors this session. She says its time to make the E-R-A a reality:
April 6, 2001 - Saint Paul International Film Festival is upon us. A group of Ojibwe students from the Leech Lake wrote a play about a love story on the Reservation. Talking with Rob Nelson, a critic about what movies to see at the International Film Festival. Riffs is a play about African American life.
April 6, 2001 - Minnesota communities of color are disappointed in the racial profiling. There is a mandatory data collection option and a voluntary data collection option.
April 16, 2001 -
April 17, 2001 - THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM THAT GIVES MONEY TO STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE ON TIME FROM A HANDFUL OF SCHOOLS IN BOTH MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL. THE SEVEN SCHOOLS WERE CHOSEN BECAUSE THEY ARE STRUGGLING ACADEMICALLY AND HAVE A HIGH NUMBER OF POOR STUDENTS, AND THOSE WHO DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH AS A FIRST LANGUAGE. A NEW BOOK BY A MINNEAPOLIS TEACHER GIVES US A GLIMPSE AT THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF TEACHING A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS. JULIE LANDSMAN HAS BEEN TEACHING IN THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. HER BOOK, "A WHITE TEACHER TALKS ABOUT RACE" INTRODUCES READERS TO HER STUDENTS AND TO THE QUESTIONS OF RACIAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL CONFLICT THAT COME UP IN HER CLASSROOM. LANDSMAN TALKED WITH MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S JULIE SIPLE. SHE SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE HER STUDENTS ARE COMING FROM.
April 17, 2001 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on the new Roy Wilkins Auditorium which is being discussed in the Minnesota house and senate. The new auditorium would feature trade shows and musical acts, as well as a new civil rights museum. Mayor of St. Paul Norm Coleman speaks in support of the new center. A 12 person Tribute Committee comprised of local civil rights activists, business leaders, and citizens spearheads the development of the new civil rights museum.
April 19, 2001 - Israel came to a standstill today to remember the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Sirens wailed for two minutes across the Jewish state to commemorate the six million Jews killed during World War Two. In the United States, President Bush spoke at ceremony in the Capitol rotunda where he described the Holocaust as one of history's great crimes. The word holocaust is never mentioned in N.M. Kelby's new novel "In the Company of Angels," but the horrific event is clearly the backdrop her young jewish character, Marie Claire, is trying to escape.
April 19, 2001 - Minnesota's American Indian tribes have won a 200-thousand-dollar award for promoting preventive health for the elderly. The University of Pennsylvania's Institute on Aging recognized the state's eleven tribal communities along with the Minnesota Board on Aging for developing the Wisdom Steps program which provides education and healthy-living activities. Minnesota was one of three recipients this year of the university's SHARE award. Mary Snobl, an Indian elder specialist with the Minnesota Board on Aging says it's important that her community focus on healthy practices because on average, American Indians live 8 to 10 years less than many Americans.