Counter Stories is a series of conversations by people of color, for people of color and everyone else. The panelists discuss race, identity, social justice and culture in a region grappling with demographic changes.

We were joined on Counter Stories by Aiyana Sol Machado, an organizer with the newly-formed Minnesota Alliance of Communities for Puerto Rico, to discuss efforts by Minnesota's Puerto Rican community to help with recovery efforts on the island. Those efforts include an air drop of supplies gathered in Minnesota — due to land in San Juan today — believed to be the first civilian airdrop of supplies by anyone.

We also discussed the Taino, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, and the counter-narratives that push back against the myth that Columbus wiped out all of the Taino when he landed on the island now known as Puerto Rico.

Panelists:

Hlee Lee, a media artist.

Don Eubanks, an assistant professor at Metropolitan State University and cultural consultant.

Anthony Galloway, a race equity advocate in the west metro.

Aiyana Sol Machado, Minnesota Alliance of Communities for Puerto Rico