Counter Stories

In this episode of Counter Stories, the team looks at U.S. history of lynching, and how the trauma of this crime continues to affects people of color. Luz Frais and Anthony Galloway talks to host Tom Weber about his bus trip to Montgomery Ala, for the opening of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. What can we learn from America's unspoken legacy of lynching?

Hosts:

• Anthony Galloway, owner, Umoja Consulting.

• Tom Weber, MPR News.

• Luz Maria Frias, president & CEO of YWCA Minneapolis.

In the wake of public condemnation over the arrest of two black men who were waiting at a Starbucks chain in Philadelphia, the company will close more than 8,000 U.S. stores for an afternoon next month to train employees on racial-bias awareness. The Counter Stories hosts explored whether training can help prevent incidents like this, or if the problem is more widespread.

• Mary Anne Quiroz, co-director and co-founder of Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center.

• Don Eubanks, assistant professor at Metropolitan State University.

• Anthony Galloway, owner, Umoja Consulting.

• Brandt Williams, MPR News.

• Hlee Lee, a media artist.

In this episode of Counter Stories, our hosts looked at the news through the lens of diversity. They discussed the reaction surrounding the latest shooting of an unarmed black man in Sacramento, Cali. The shooting has sparked unrest and unease in California's capital city and ongoing concerns about strained community and police relations nationwide.

Featured in this episode are:

• Hlee Lee, a media artist.

• Don Eubanks, assistant professor at Metropolitan State University.

• Anthony Galloway, owner, Umoja Consulting.

• Luz Maria Frias, president & CEO of YWCA Minneapolis.

• Jonathan Blakley, MPR News.

Correction (April 3, 2018): A previous version of this story included the incorrect audio. The above audio is the correct audio for this episode of Counter Stories.

Use the audio player above to listen to the program.

This time, the crew discussed several stories in the news, including DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's State of the State address, and a history of racist coverage at National Geographic.

Featured in this episode are:

• Mary Anne Quiroz, co-director and co-founder of Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center.

• Don Eubanks, assistant professor at Metropolitan State University.

• Anthony Galloway, owner, Umoja Consulting.

• Luz Maria Frias, president & CEO of YWCA Minneapolis.

• Jonathan Blakley, MPR News.

Use the audio player above to listen to the program.

The movie Black Panther broke box office records and has won the hearts of critics and moviegoers alike.

The Counter Stories crew saw the movie, and they share their thoughts. Warning, spoilers ahead.

Featured in this episode are:

Hlee Lee, a media artist.

Don Eubanks, assistant professor at Metropolitan State University.

Anthony Galloway, owner, Umoja Consulting.

Luz Maria Frias, President & CEO of YWCA Minneapolis.

Marianne Combs, MPR News.

Twin Cities: The 'Black Panther' party is on

isiXhosa: The language in Black Panther is real

Fans from Ghana: One nit-pick, but otherwise adore Black Panther

This originally aired on Oct. 10, 2017 and was rebroadcasted on Dec. 28, 2017.

Beverly Daniel Tatum wrote "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" more than two decades ago.

The title came from her years of research experience, traveling from school to school all over the country.

Often people would ask her that question, Tatum told MPR News host Tom Weber: "Why are all the black kids sitting together?"

And it was "often in a tone that would suggest and what can we do to prevent it," Tatum said. "Like it's a problem."

"What I like to say about that, is that our concern should be less about what kids are doing in their free time at lunch and more about what's happening in the classroom."

Tatum's groundbreaking book took on this question of self-segregation and explored the realities of race in the public education system. It looked at how issues of race play out on a daily basis — like in something as simple as where you sit to eat your lunch. The book asks how people can talk more openly about racial issues, even if they're uncomfortable.

Now, the publisher has re-released "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together" with new, additional content. And the book is more relevant than ever, Tatum said.

"Our population is much more diverse today than it was even 20 years ago," she said. At the same time, there is "even more school segregation than we had 20 years ago."

When working on the revised edition, Tatum thought through the milestones of people born the year the book the first came out — 1997.

Young people born in 1997 were four years old on Sept. 11. They were 11 when the economy crashed and when Barack Obama was elected. They were 15 when Trayvon Martin was killed and 17 when Michael Brown's death sparked protests in Ferguson. They were 19 when Donald Trump was elected, and 20 when Charlottesville happened.

All these events have shaped the world they grew up in, and by extension, have shaped them. Their education experience has al...

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The Counter Stories hosts meet up for their regular conversation to discuss issues of the day through the lens of race, identity and social justice.

The panel discusses recent research about how racism affects a person's health.

• Hlee Lee, a media artist.

• Luz Maria Frias, an attorney with a public policy background.

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

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

Subscribe to the MPR News with Tom Weber podcast

In 2010 Michele Norris started The Race Card Project, in which she encourages ordinary people to sum up their views on race using six words. The project originally started as a part of NPR's Morning Edition. Since then the Race Card Project has partnered with the city of Minneapolis, the University of Oregon and ProPublica.

MPR News host Tom Weber talked with Norris about her project and about whether President Trump has changed the national conversation on race.

To hear the full discussion use the audio player above.

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

The report highlights disparities in income, unemployment and home ownership.