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Marianne Combs

Ground Level: On a cold morning, a conversation about race and hope

Tom Weber, MPR, right, and Lissa Jones, left, KMOJ, host discussion on hope
Tom Weber, MPR News, right, and Lissa Jones, left, KMOJ, host a discussion on hope Jan 4, 2018, at the Hawthorne Huddle in north Minneapolis with Terrall Lewis of the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board and April Graves of the Minneapolis Health Department.
Kenzie O'Keefe | North News

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On a bitterly cold morning, 50 or so people gathered at Farview Park Recreation Center in north Minneapolis for a conversation about hope.

MPR News host Tom Weber and KMOJ host Lissa Jones moderated the conversation, convened in cooperation with the Hawthorne Neighborhood Association. The starting point was MPR News' recent Ground Level survey in which African-American Minnesotans expressed hope for the future at a level 10 percent higher than whites.

Weber presented the findings of the Ground Level survey, and said that while white people he spoke with found the results startling, black people didn't seem surprised. Panelist April Graves, youth violence prevention specialist at the Minneapolis Health Department, said that's because in her community, hope isn't a choice: "What's the alternative?" she asked.

To listen to their conversation use the audio player above.