MPR Archive presents a sampling of stories rooted in the Hispanic cultural experience within the state and region. Highlights include the entrepreneurial spirit in South Minneapolis & St. Paul’s West Side, the arts scene of Teatro del Pueblo, the voices of the migrant workers in the Red River Valley, and the music of Mariachi Flor y Canto, amongst other glimpses into Minnesota’s Hispanic past.
Please note: Most content related to this topic that is contemporary or created after 2005 can be found on our main content pages of MPR News, YourClassical MPR, The Current, APM Reports, and Marketplace.
December 12, 2003 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports on thousands of Mexican Americans in Minnesota celebrating a Mexican national holiday, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
March 18, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Annie Baxter reports on a Long Prairie radio program that is reaching out to the town's burgeoning Hispanic population.
June 17, 2004 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on the growing Latino population in Minnesota. As the Hispanic population grows, so does their economic power--estimated by marketing experts at more than $3 billion. Hughes interviews Hispanic business owners about marketing and supprting Latino community.
June 13, 2005 - MPR’s Bianca Vazquez Toness profiles La Loma, a commercial kitchen in Minneapolis that makes about 13,000 tamales a week. Toness interviews the owners about how they started and there goals for the future.
February 15, 2006 - MPR’s Marriane Combs looks at St. Paul’s Teatro Del Pueblo, a Minnesota theater company providing a forum for political activism and an agent for change. Combs interviews Alberto Justiniano, artistic director, about the Teatro Del Pueblo’s focus on Latin America political theater with a local festival.
June 12, 2006 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports on the increasing importance and interest for Spanish langauge radio in the Twin Cities. Two 24-hour stations are going head to head for listeners…Radio Rey and La Invasora.
September 1, 2006 - In this final installment of Notes from Home series, MPR’s Sanden Totten sits down with Maya Lopez-Santamaria, author of “Musica de la Raza,” a book that tells the story of Minnesota's Mexican and Chicano musicians.
September 26, 2006 - MPR's Ambar Espinoza reports that for Spanish speakers, there are differences in accents, dialects and vocabulary, which can cause communication problems and confusion.
November 9, 2007 - Manny Laureano, principal trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra, takes on new role of conductor, as he leads musicians of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies for a Latin program with special guest, Cuban jazz pianist Ignacio "Nachito" Herrera.
September 16, 2011 - The Twin Cities hip hop duo Villa Rosa stands out, as It features two emcees, Maria Isa and Muja Messiah, who both have established identities as solo artists. The male and female tandem share equally in songwriting duties, and that's something rare in rap. The pair talk with MPR’s Chris Roberts about their album "Blue Diamond Island."