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

For the first time in 56 years, a 'Bloody Sunday' without John Lewis
Sunday's anniversary of the day marchers were beaten by police in Selma, Ala., will honor the late civil rights icon. Some 56 years later, former state Sen. Hank Sanders says Lewis’ work isn't done.
'This is the reality of Black girls': Inauguration poet says she was tailed by guard
Amanda Gorman, who became a sensation after her poem at Joe Biden's inauguration, says a security guard outside her building told her she looked "suspicious." After the encounter she wrote: “This is the reality of Black girls: One day you're called an icon, the next day, a threat.”
After Floyd’s killing, police reform efforts not fast or far enough for some
As the Derek Chauvin trial looms, police reform efforts by state and local leaders inspired by George Floyd’s killing move forward — though not fast enough or far enough for people calling for immediate and transformational change.
Appeals court says judge in Chauvin case ‘erred,’ must reconsider additional murder charge
Citing its own opinion last month in a separate police killing case, the Minnesota Court of Appeals says the district court needs to reconsider the addition of third-degree murder charges against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.
Timeline: The killing of George Floyd
The killing of George Floyd — who repeatedly told Minneapolis police officers he couldn’t breathe as officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck in May 2020 — sparked days of unrest in Minneapolis and St. Paul and mass protests across the globe. In April, Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter.
What you need to know about the Derek Chauvin trial
The former Minneapolis police officer is facing charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd. Opening statements began March 29. The three other officers charged are expected to stand trial in August.
Minnesota’s reckoning with race and policing was many years in the making
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the murder and manslaughter trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s killing touched off a worldwide reckoning on racial justice and law enforcement, building on the outrage that had grown with each high-profile police killing in recent years.