When Minnesota was a new state, thousands of settlers arrived, many of them from Europe. But in recent decades, the state has attracted large numbers of Hmong and Somali refugees. There are also thousands of people from India, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Mexico and the People’s Republic of China living in Minnesota.
The state has become more racially diverse in the last 10 years, and demographers said that's especially true among children. About 83 percent of Minnesotans were white, non-Hispanic for the 2010 census, compared to 88 percent in 2000.
November 30, 2010 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports that 30 years after their initial arrival, poverty for Hmong is still an issue, but rates are down sharply, and life for many is improving. Olson talks with members of Hmong community about reasons behind the change.
August 4, 2011 - Lisa See, author of "Shanghai Girls" and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," discusses her writing and the influence of her Chinese American heritage at the Hennepin Country Central Library in downtown Minneapolis as part of the Talk of the Stacks series.
December 27, 2012 - On this Daily Circuit segment, MPR’s Marianne Combs presents a collections of interviews from local Latino artists who share their views and creative experiences in Minnesota. Interviewees are Susana DeLeon, lawyer and director of an Aztec cultural troupe that performs traditional dances connected to the environment; recording artist Maria Isa; author Sandra Benitez; and photographer Xavier Tavera.
June 28, 2013 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles several women's Hmong American flag football teams as they prepare to compete at this year's Hmong Freedom Celebration. Playing the game was a formidable cultural hurdle the young Hmong American women had to overcome, as families place a high value on women as wives, rather than competitors.
July 31, 2014 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson talks with Chue Vang about his family’s experience fleeing Laos and coming to the U.S. as refugees. Today, he aims to honor the opportunities found in his adopted home and a late brother with a new scholarship for Hmong students.
January 9, 2015 - On this The Daily Circuit program, MPR’s Tom Weber talks with Lee Pao Xiong and Chia Youyee Vang about the history of the Hmong migration to the U.S…a history that some are unaware of 40 years after the first arrivals.
March 2, 2015 - On the 40th anniversary of the arrival of Hmong refugees to Minnesota, MPR’s Sasha Aslanian profiles three members in the local Hmong community.
April 13, 2015 - For the 40th anniversary since the first Hmong family settled in Minnesota, MPR’s Tom Weber interviews three Hmong American artists: spoken word and hip hop artist Tou Saiko Lee, painter Cy Thao, and writer Kao Kalia Yang. They discuss the value of the arts, through which personal and cultural pasts are melded with their present lives.
July 2, 2015 - On MPR News with Tom Weber, Tzianeng Vang shares details on The Hmong Freedom Celebration, also known as J4. The annual event at Como Park features a soccer tournament, as well as other sports, activities, traditional Hmong goods for sale, and food. This year the festival holds a little more significance because it was 40 years ago this year that the first Hmong arrived in Minnesota.
July 13, 2017 - MPR’s Doualy Xaykaothao profiles Mai Neng Moua, an immigration attorney working in the Twin Cities. Moua was born in a Thai refugee camp called Ban Vinai and arrived in the U.S. in 1982. She recalls the hardships she overcame while caring for family, facing racism, and achieving her professional goals.