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.
October 16, 2018 - MPR’s Peter Cox reports on creation of Josie Robinson Johnson fellowship. The University of Minnesota is establishing a fellowship in the name of one of the state's foremost civil rights leaders. The Josie Robinson Johnson fellowship will go to graduate students at the Humphrey School for Public Affairs who have specific interest in addressing racial inequities and injustices - a subject Johnson and other luminaries reflected on at event announcement.
April 3, 2019 - MPR’s Marianne Combs presents a profile of Josie Johnson, renowned local civil rights activist. Feature includes interview with Johnson about her life and book, and comments from Vernon Jordan and Walter Mondale, amongst others. Johnson’s memoir is titled "Hope in the Struggle."
June 24, 2019 - On the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn raid in New York, which ignited multiple days of protests and garnered the attention of the media across the country, Michael McConnell reflects on the fight for gay rights that was happening in Minnesota at that time. F.R.E.E. — "Fight Repression of Erotic Expression" — was formed in Minneapolis weeks before the now-famous riots.
December 31, 2019 - MPR’s Briana Bierschbach presents a sound montage summary of the biggest polictical story of the decade in Minnesota…the fight for passage of a same-sex marriage bill. Report includes numerous clips of the debate and outcome.
July 14, 2020 - MPR’s Dan Kraker interviews John Staine, a real estate appraiser at St. Louis County courthouse, who in an effort to address racial bias in the workplace, started a direct dialog about race with his fellow 2,000 St. Louis County employees.
February 23, 2021 - On this MPR News Presents program, a broadcast of local 2020 Habitat for Humanity event in with longtime civil rights activist Josie Johnson and her granddaughter Josie Duffy Rice. The two talk about the importance of "passing the activism torch." Johnson says that not only do we need more justice, fairness, and opportunity...but we need a commitment to believing that social justice work matters and is long-lasting.
May 24, 2021 - On this MPR Special Report, Host Angela Davis explores how George Floyd changed us in a collection of personal interviews and commentary.
June 30, 2021 - Many Minnesota school districts are launching equity programs in an attempt to correct Minnesota’s well-documented and long-standing racial inequalities. But in numerous places, groups of parents, and sometimes students, are combating those programs. Education reporter Elizabeth Shockman followed just such a battle over SEED program in the rural, mostly white district of Pequot Lakes in north-central Minnesota.
May 23, 2022 - On this segment of North Star Journey, MPR’s Catharine Richert looks into a reckoning the city of Rochester finds itself going through. New research into housing covenants provides evidence that the founders of Mayo Clinic — a giant in Minnesota and Rochester, viewed globally as a force for good — played a role perpetuating practices that favored all-white neighborhoods.
May 25, 2022 - MPR News with Angela Davis talks with two therapists about the waves of loss many people experienced over the past two years and how people can cope with prolonged grief and trauma. The murder of George Floyd, the pandemic, and mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and a Texas school are discussed.