North Star Journey

As a child in Georgia, Reatha Clark King picked cotton for $6 a day to help her family make ends meet. Then, buoyed on the hopes and expectations of her family and church, she blazed a trail from a one-room schoolhouse in the segregated South to college. She pushed past gender and racial barriers as a Black woman to become a research chemist in the 1960s, contributing to NASA’s m

In Korea, people often get together for kimjang, a gathering to make large batches of kimchi, the traditional spicy fermented cabbage delicacy. Recently, I joined about a dozen people gathered for kimjang at a house in south Minneapolis. Unlike traditional kimjang, most of the participants were complete strangers, albeit with a shared interest in kimchi. We rolled up our sleeves, p

As parents, we teach our children how to move through the world. But as our children grow older, we learn from them, too.That relationship can grow into a real partnership and friendship — and a positive support system pushing each other to be better and do better.Our next Power Pair is a good example of that transition: Mother-daughter duo Rose McGee and Roslyn Harmon. It’s pa

Cherise Ayers was president of the student council at Central High School in St. Paul in the late 1990s. Two years ago, the St. Paul native returned to Central in a very different leadership role: as principal.Central is the oldest high school in Minnesota, founded in 1866. Known for strong academics, it was one of the first schools in the state to offer an international baccalaure

Ethnic studies will roll out to Minnesota K-12 classrooms in 2026. The content area was added to the state social studies standards this winter, joining history, geography, economics and government as major themes.The Minnesota Department of Education is still working on a final framework to guide curriculum. But some districts aren’t waiting.In 2022, both St. Paul and Minneapoli

Summit Academy OIC, a job training center in north Minneapolis, bustled with activity on a sunny Tuesday. Inside, students sat in classrooms learning how to read blueprints and cut wood for special projects. Outside, aspiring carpenters built frames for homes in a large garage on campus, with electrical students wiring lights in a nearby building.Modern and compact, its unassuming

Amid shelves of aloe juice, edamame and pomelo fruit, shoppers and employees chat as ambient flute music plays overhead.Flags from around the world hanging above the aisles move slightly in the HVAC breeze — Kuwait dances with China, Singapore and Ethiopia overlook the produce aisle. It’s only fitting for the biggest international grocery store in both North and South Dakota: t

Justis Brokenrope has collected vinyl by Native musicians for the past decade. Now he shares that music with the digital world. “You can listen to music nowadays without ever touching a CD, a record, or a tape,” said Brokenrope, who is Sicangu Lakota. “It’s just so digital and ubiquitous all the time. But to hold the physical thing and then to see yourself represented in th

Updated: 12:20 p.m.Zak Amin has worked as a liaison to Kurdish families, and as an English as a second language instructor at Moorhead Public Schools. This fall he started a new class for Kurdish students to learn about their language, culture and history. Amin not only teaches Kurdish language to these students, he teaches English as a second language to many of their parents. He

A new documentary, “Hope in the Struggle,” tells the story of civil rights activist Josie Johnson, chief lobbyist for Minnesota’s fair housing law and the first Black member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Johnson and Twin Cities PBS executive producer Daniel Bergin about her legacy.