Race: Conversations around race and racial justice

Here are the latest on the fight against racism, voices calling for racial justice and in-depth stories on communities of color and other racial issues from MPR News.

Voices of Minnesota Calls for change across the state

Protests and pain The killing of George Floyd

Call To Mind Spotlight on black trauma and policing

Amplifying voices Share your experiences and hopes for the future

City of Minneapolis and state's human rights dept. talking again about MPD reforms
After a delay, the city of Minneapolis and the state department of human rights have agreed to continue working together towards an agreement to address systemic issues within the Minneapolis Police Department.
Gary Hines and Sounds of Blackness stay on mission for more than 50 years
Sounds of Blackness is more than a band, it's a cultural institution. That, says the group's longtime director Gary Hines, was the mission given to them by a mentor at Macalester College in St. Paul, where the group was founded more than 50 years ago. 
‘Where do I belong?’ Native roots, hard realities surface in woman’s search for her past
In her quest to find the birth mother she'd never known, Peggy Mandel confronted stories of government boarding schools, generational trauma and the loss of Indigenous culture and identity. She couldn’t change the past, but could she alter the future?
Income inequality is deepening in America. Economic gains in recent decades have been unevenly dispersed, with the vast majority of the wealth going to those already on top. Part of that discrepancy is rooted in the inability to buy property.
Black-owned Strive Bookstore opens in downtown Minneapolis
Mary Taris couldn’t find enough books for her children featuring Black characters, so she founded her own publishing company – Strive Community Publishing. “We’re really striving to connect across cultures,” Taris says.
U.S. death toll from drug overdoses is rising fast among Black and Indigenous people
Drug overdoses are killing more people than ever in the U.S., and a new CDC report finds growing racial disparities among those who have died — with the largest increase among Black Americans.
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe members voting on whether to continue blood quantum
A vote being counted Wednesday will guide discussions on whether to keep the controversial requirement known as “blood quantum” — that individuals must have 25 percent of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe blood to be eligible for tribal membership.
Mpls. man seeks reparations from the church that enslaved his ancestors
Elton Wright-Trusclair’s ancestors were among the more than 1,000 people enslaved by the Society of Jesus, many of whom toiled at Georgetown University. The church has pledged $100 million towards scholarships and other charitable causes designed to benefit descendants of the enslaved and Black communities. However, Wright-Trusclair and others say they want direct reparations.
Dr. Joi on Minnesota's Black liberation movement
Dr. Joi is a community healer, speaker, and founder of Joi Unlimited and the Healing Justice Foundation and author of the book “Healing: The Act of Radical Self-Care.” Listen to her conversation with Shvonne Johnson on her new organization based in Minneapolis called Pimento Relief Services and leading Black liberation work in Minnesota.