One day before the Presidential inauguration, Voices for Racial Justice held a rally in the Minnesota state capitol rotunda to lift up a new vision for our community. They presented an outstanding lineup of speakers and poets to celebrate and share VRJ's new document, "Our Minnesota: A Shared Vision for an Equitable State", a road-map for [...]
At KRSM, we see so many different ways that this station can be offered up to the community as a tool. One way we feel we can be of service is to record and share important speeches, debates, forums, and public meetings that are taking place. Last Thursday, our team visited Las Mojarras on Lake Street for the [...]
This week's instalment of Local History Matters begins with a report on the Latino Economic Development Center, better known as the folks behind Mercado Central. This organization has spent the last 2 decades working to help Latinxs achieve economic independence and has worked to develop sustainable centers of commerce for entrepreneurs in the community. Following that, [...]
The 6th graders from Ramsey Middle School are back with two new reports. First, listen as the kids describe the day in 1893 when 23 blocks of Minneapolis were on fire with flames reaching 300 feet into the sky! Then learn the history of the Minnesota Vixens, the country's longest-running football team for women. If you [...]
We're back with our newest installment of Local History Matters, a collaboration with Ramsey Middle School. This week, we hear students discuss the importance of places and institutions that celebrate pieces of the Twin Cities' legacy as a new home for immigrant groups. In the first piece, students visit the Somali Museum of Minnesota and learn about the [...]
We’re back with another installment of Local History Matters, our collaboration with 6th graders from Ramsey Middle School. Each Tuesday, they check in to share a few stories that you might not know about the people and places that make up Minneapolis history. In this edition, we learn about a brave and tireless lawyer named Lena [...]
We're back with another installment of our history series put together by 6th graders at Ramsey Middle School. This week, the kids are investigating the creator of the beloved Peanuts comic strip, plus a nonprofit group working to make Minneapolis an even safer and more enjoyable city for riding bikes. https://soundcloud.com/user-694815605/sets/local-history-matters-a-collaboration-w-ramsey-middle-school Check in with us each Tuesday for [...]
We enjoyed meeting with young MC/producer/organizer Tony (The Scribe) Williams in his backyard this week. He discussed then performed a powerful, unreleased song about his experiences at the 4th Precinct occupation last year. Please note that we're sharing a censored version and an explicit version of the song. You can decide which one best suits your comfort [...]
We were lucky enough to sit down with Junauda Petrus and listen to her vision for a police department run by wise and loving elders. Junauda is one half of the dynamic Free Black Dirt collective, and she is an accomplished writer, performance artist, dancer, and educator. https://soundcloud.com/user-694815605/sets/can-we-please-give-the-police Poem written and performed by Junauda Petrus Recorded [...]
Last fall, we started a partnership with Ramsey Middle School and two classrooms of enthusiastic 6th graders. We came and talked to them about the history of community radio, the importance of controlling your own narrative, and the power of place-making. They spent the semester working with their fantastic teachers (Kara Cisco and Paul Sommers) to identify local [...]