January 1, 1990 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on issues revolving around ESL langauge learning in the Hmong community. Roberts interviews eductators and advocates on the reasons behind the language problem, and the challenges that result.
January 8, 1990 - David Weissbrodt, professor of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, and Barbara Frey, executive director of the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Council, discuss human rights. Topics include rights issues in Albania, Africa, China, Central America, and North Korea. They also provide details of their organizations. Weissbrodt and Frey also answer listener questions.
January 16, 1990 - Paul Loeb, investigative reporter and author, speaking at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Loeb’s speech was titled "Hope in Hard Times: How Individuals Can Make a Difference in the World". Loeb reflects on the recent activism in Eastern Europe and laments that Americans have forgotten that such activism is part of our heritage and our future. He attacks our "culture of passivity" and talks about how we can overcome it. Loeb is working on a book about the lives and choices of today's college students, and he has been visiting colleges and universities across the country to determine what they think about voting, political activism and patriotism. Loeb has written the books "Nuclear Culture: Living and Working in the World's Largest Atomic Complex", and Hope in Hard Times: America's Peace Movement and the Reagan Era".
January 19, 1990 - Dan Rather, CBS News anchor, speaking at the annual meeting of the greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, held in Minneapolis Convention Center. Rather’s address was titled "The Twenty-First Century Has Begun." Rather talks about global community, and the need for Americans to know more about the world. Following his speech, Rather moderated a panel discussion with 3M chairman Allen Jacobson, Cargill chairman Whitney MacMillan, and Hamline University's Nicholas Hayes. They looked ahead to the U.S. role in the world economy in the decades to come. James Rupp, the president and CEO of WCCO Radio and Television, introduced Dan Rather, speaking at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
January 22, 1990 - Bernadette Anderson, director of YMCA's Metro Youth Services; and Patti Tetlin, of the Minnesota Women's Fund, talk about an upcoming conference, "Growing Up Female in Minnesota". Program includes a brief report by MPR's Chris Roberts on a study on adolescent girls.
January 26, 1990 - MPR’s Euan Kerr reports on Minneapolis City Council ‘s passage of a civilian review board for the city’s police department. Segment includes various viewpoints via speeches and interviews from Sharon Sayles Belton, Jackie Cherryhomes, Dennis Schulstad, and Mike Sauro.
February 1, 1990 - Julian Bond, civil rights activist and former Georgia state senator, speaking at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Bond’s address was titled, "Crisis in Black America: Past, Present and Future." After speech, Bond answered audience questions. Bond gained national attention when he was nominated for vice president at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He was the first Black to have his name placed in nomination at a major political party convention, but he withdrew his name, because at age 28 he was too young to serve. While a student at Morehouse College in the 1960s, he was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, active in voter registration drives in the rural south, and an early opponent of the Vietnam War.
February 7, 1990 - Al Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaking at the Business Action Resource Council and the Community Affairs Roundtable of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Chambers of Commerce. Shanker’s address was titled speech "How Employers Can Make a Difference in Education," and was on education reform.
February 12, 1990 - Johnnetta Cole, president of Spelman College, speaking at Macalester College. Cole addressed the role colleges should play in teaching, debating, and activism.
February 12, 1990 - Anne Summers, former editor-in-chief at Ms. magazine, speaking to the Minnesota Press Club. Summers shared her experiences with World Press Institute, as a foreign correspondent, and as editor of Ms.