Through the hard work of Minnesota genealogists, Minneapolis’ oldest cemetery has a new designation by the National Park Service. Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery, located just southeast of downtown, is now considered part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom . The new designation comes after the discovery of three African American Freedom Seekers and one African American abolitionist buried there. “I just feel like I’m the spokesman, and I’m very happy to do it,” said St. Pau...
Feb 27, 2025•5 min
How did your family end up in Minnesota? Do you know the story of your ancestors’ journey? In the 1800s, immigrants to our region primarily came from Scandinavia and Germany. More recently, major populations have come to Minnesota from Laos, Somalia, Mexico, Liberia, Ecuador, Afghanistan and India. In fact, almost 500,000 people who live in Minnesota today were born outside of the United States. But behind the where is also a why . And over time, those narratives can get lost if not recorded. No...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 18 min
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts on Friday. During this time, Muslims observe a strict fast from dawn until sunset. That means the breaking of the fast at sunset, known as iftar, is a special event. The fast is usually broken with dates and a drink, depending on the culture. Since August, Muslim deli Holy Land in northeast Minneapolis has been prepping for an influx of customers. The deli has imported more than 26 kinds of dates from at least eight different countries. Majdi Wadi is the C...
Feb 24, 2025•10 min
MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the power of poetry with Junauda Petrus , the newly appointed Poet Laureate for the city of Minneapolis. She says poetry is “soul medicine” that can unite us in our shared humanity. Guest: Junauda Petrus is the recently appointed Poet Laureate for the city of Minneapolis. She is an author, playwright, filmmaker and co-founder of the experimental artist collective, Free Black Dirt . She is the author of the Coretta Scott King Award- winning young adult novel...
Feb 20, 2025•47 min
During the era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, 87 locations in Minnesota were listed in the Green Book, a guidebook that helped Black travelers find lodgings, businesses and gas stations that would serve them. But less than a quarter of these sites in Minnesota remain standing today. Most of the state’s Green Book sites were in the Twin Cities and many were demolished to make way for the construction of I35-W and I-94. Nieeta Presley is a native of the historic Rondo neighborhood, which...
Feb 19, 2025•10 min
On Feb. 19, 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that enabled the forced removal and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps located mostly in the western United States. Many were citizens. Those camps closed a few years later and those who were detained resettled around the country. Vinicius Taguchi, president of the local chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, said he sees parallels between this troubling history an...
Feb 19, 2025•5 min
Despite the freezing temperatures, the farmers at Route 1 Farms are already deep into harvesting lettuce and herbs this winter. They are growing food through a new creative way of indoor farming. The organization specifically focuses on supporting emerging farmers of color in the state. Route 1 Farm's executive director Marcus Carpenter joined Minnesota Now to talk about the project.
Feb 13, 2025•9 min
In celebration of Black History Month in February, MPR News is highlighting Black history throughout the state. From a fur trader believed to be one of the first African descendants in territory that is now Minnesota, to streets and parks renamed in 2024 after Black community leaders, these sites span the state and the centuries. Click to explore Black history sites throughout the state Southern Minnesota gibbs div Gibbs Elementary School, Rochester Gibbs Elementary School in Rochester is named ...
Feb 11, 2025•4 min
MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests continue the conversation about the Minneapolis Police Department and an ambitious effort led by the Police and Black Men Project.
Feb 06, 2025•47 min
MPR News host Angela Davis talks with retired professional soccer player, Tony Sanneh, about the programs his foundation has developed to empower young people to become the best version of themselves. Guest: Tony Sanneh is a retired professional soccer player and the founder and CEO of The Sanneh Foundation , a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul that aims to create positive social change through soccer, education and health. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Pod...
Feb 03, 2025•47 min
2025 marks 50 years since Hmong people started immigrating to Minnesota. Today, the state is home to a vibrant community of at least 95,000 Hmong Minnesotans. Through the Minnesota Historical Society and the state Legislature, the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul and the Hmong Studies Journal received a grant of nearly $25,000 to publish a special issue of the journal that will commemorate 50 years of Hmong people residing and contributing to life in Minnesota. It may be the first scholarly boo...
Jan 28, 2025•10 min
A Pew Research study finds that 34 percent of U.S. adults who listen to podcasts say they regularly listen true crime podcasts. A Minnesota-made podcast is taking that genre in a different direction. Minnesota high school debate coach and wedding photographer Celisia Stanton noticed many wildly popular true crime podcasts seemed to ignore some of the systemic issues plaguing the criminal justice system, mainly when it’s related to race. Stanton learned firsthand what the “justice” in “criminal j...
Jan 23, 2025•9 min
Traducción Léelo en español A coalition of Minnesota Latino organizations called the Minnesota Latino Leadership Alliance held a press conference at the capitol Jan. 14. The group was advocating for initiatives for the upcoming legislative session, one of which is the proposed Minnesota Latino Museum , which would be a center for Latino arts, culture and heritage. “We are looking to build the first museum that is focused on the Latino community in the upper Midwest,” executive director Aaron Joh...
Jan 22, 2025•2 min
“Strawberry shortcake, blueberry pie. Rondo Double Dutch got a team, and we know why,” a group of young voices chant on a track the St. Paul organization made with artist Bionik. Rondo Double Dutch is the brainchild of Mercedes Yarbrough, an educator who wanted to bring Double Dutch to a new generation in her community. She joined up with Jelahn Prentiss, who goes by Coach Twist, to expand her vision for the program. Rondo Double Dutch now includes a class at 825 Arts in St. Paul as well as a te...
Jan 16, 2025•11 min
One year ago, St. Paul made history when it became the first major city in the U.S. to install an all-female city council. Just as remarkable: This group also makes up the youngest and most racially diverse council since St. Paul incorporated in 1854. Six of its seven members are women of color. All are 40 or younger. Related Links From Talking Sense: Two St. Paul council members reveal how they overcame deep divisions to pass cease-fire resolution In 2024 Historic, all-woman St. Paul City Counc...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 1 min
A new children’s book by a Twin Cities author is out Tuesday. It’s called “Saturday Morning at the ‘Shop” and it’s the debut book for Keenan Jones, who is a middle school English teacher in the metro. He joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the book and how it came to be. Jones has several book launch events coming up, including one Jan. 11 in downtown Minneapolis and another Jan. 18 in Duluth.
Jan 07, 2025•9 min
MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a Twin Cities rapper and mindfulness instructor who says yoga saved his life.
Jan 07, 2025•47 min
MPR News host Angela Davis revisits a conversation with brothers Anton Treuer and David Treuer about their latest books, reclaiming Ojibwe culture and growing up together on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota.
Dec 26, 2024•46 min
We revisit a conversation with Rose McGee, president and founder of the Sweet Potato Comfort Pie organization, and her daughter, Roslyn Harmon, the mayor of Golden Valley, Minn.
Dec 24, 2024•46 min
The first night of Hanukkah is on Dec. 25, which means Cecil’s Deli in St. Paul will fry up thousands of latkes in the next couple of weeks. The Jewish institution is Minnesota’s oldest deli and this year it is celebrating 75 years in business. MPR News host Nina Moini talks with two people who are part of the family business that spans four generations: Becca Kvasnik, the granddaughter of Cecil and Faye Leventhal, Cecil’s founders, and Becca’s daughter, Evana Hershkowitz. To see photos of the f...
Dec 19, 2024•10 min
The weekend of Dec. 21-22 will be Minnesota’s last chance to experience the longstanding and beloved holiday show, A Christmas Celebration with The Steeles. After 40 years, the Minnesota gospel group is wrapping up their run of Christmas concerts. Siblings J.D., Fred, Jearlyn, Jevetta and Billy Steele have brought their joyful holiday harmonies to Minnesota audiences since 1984 and plan to do so one last time at the Pantages Theatre Saturday and Sunday. The Steeles are an integral part of the Mi...
Dec 19, 2024•10 min
Rachel Hardeman and Simone Hardeman-Jones are identical twins who share more than DNA. They also share a commitment to addressing racial inequities. Rachel Hardeman is a professor at the University of Minnesota whose research is used nationally to show how racism affects health. Her work illuminates the disparities between the experiences of Black mothers during pregnancy and childbirth and their white peers. This year, she was named one of TIME’s 2024 most influential people in the world . Simo...
Dec 19, 2024•46 min
Every year Forbes comes out with its prestigious 30 under 30 list. It highlights people making a change across various industries who are under the age of 30. In total, 30 people are selected across 20 industries. This year’s list includes Caitlin Clark and singer Noah Kahan. And it also includes a Minnesotan. Angeline Dukes, an assistant professor in neuroscience at the University of Minnesota was named in the category of Social Impact. Dukes founded the organization Black In Neuro, which empow...
Dec 16, 2024•10 min
Newcomers to America — be they immigrants, refugees or even international students — have access to a variety of social services to help them begin a new life. But do they feel like they belong? That was the topic of discussion at the North Star Journey Live conversation recorded in Moorhead, Minn., on Nov. 21. MPR News senior reporter Sarah Thamer traveled to Concordia College for the international student potluck to talk with people who are dedicated to making the Fargo-Moorhead area welcoming...
Dec 03, 2024•46 min
A Minnesota author has put out a new book about her life with pieces from her grandparents’ orchard in Somalia, her teen years in a refugee camp and her adulthood in the U.S. and Minnesota. In “My Dear Loving Sisters: Tea and Stories from an Audacious Life,” Fatoun Ali lays out how she survived poverty and abuse to raise four children and start a nonprofit. Ali created the piece in a workbook format, with strategies and questions for overcoming all kinds of challenges. Her nonprofit, Somali Yout...
Nov 19, 2024•10 min
The Pohlad family announced last month that they were looking to sell the Minnesota Twins after owning the team for 40 years. Well, for almost that long, the Pohlads also have had a private family foundation. It gives away millions of dollars every year to nonprofit organizations around the Twin Cities. In recent years the foundation has focused on two priorities — giving money to ease the housing crisis and address racial inequality. One of the foundation’s goals is to increase the number of Bl...
Nov 19, 2024•47 min
An initiative in St. Paul is connecting and celebrating two of its largest minority populations, Hmong and Black. Aptly named “FRONDO,” the initiative is bringing together the Frogtown neighborhood which has a large Hmong population and the historically Black Rondo neighborhood in a way that’s never been done before. May Lee-Yang and Nicole M. Smith are the organizers behind the project. Lee-Yang is a performer and educator and Smith is the founder and CEO of Neuvo Soul productions. They joined ...
Nov 14, 2024•10 min
It was a Friday night in 1964, recalls Greg McMoore. A line of men stretched out the Young Brothers barbershop on Fourth Avenue in south Minneapolis. McMoore was just a kid then, but he could tell they were there for more than just haircuts. He remembers seeing a group head to the backroom and begging his father to let him sneak a glimpse. “It was all in fun,” he reminisced with a laugh. “They were back there cooking soul food, playing cards and having a good time in the backroom.” Now 71, McMoo...
Nov 13, 2024•4 min
For immigrants to America, so much is new. New culture, new language, new systems, new opportunities. The learning curve is steep. But eventually, someone pushes through to a new level and becomes the first in their community to achieve a goal. Maybe they become the first in their family to graduate from college, or the first to start a small business. Maybe they are the first to purchase farmland or the first to publish a book that integrates their culture into the American story. On Oct. 17, M...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min
The St. Paul and Minneapolis Audubon chapters have dropped the contentious naturalist’s namesake from their titles, rebranding their organizations as the St. Paul Bird Alliance and Land of Lakes Bird Alliance, respectively. It follows an evolving, countrywide trend after the National Audubon Society leadership voted down removing the association with John James Audubon from its name last year . Born in 1785, Audubon was a groundbreaking artist, naturalist and ornithologist whose work is still wi...
Oct 18, 2024•5 min
