April 19, 2021

Listening to Our Audiences
A Message from Dave Kansas

The recent death of another Black man, Daunte Wright, killed by a police officer has renewed feelings of heartbreak, anger and fear. Many of us feel frustrated and traumatized by this latest of several such cases, coming as it does as the Derek Chauvin trial draws to a close, and after countless years of oppression toward the Black community. This is part of a wider pattern and narrative of racial injustice. Since the beginning of 2021, we have marked a year since the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Daniel Prude and many others. These unconscionable killings have occurred across the nation, and we sadly recognize that Minnesota has once again become the center of global attention.

As we all acknowledge this moment in time, APM is offering an archive of programming and resources on conversations on race with some of the world’s great authors and leaders.

We know these are conversations our audiences are seeking, from voices who matter. We have been told that listening, learning and sharing are critical to the healing and understanding of our communities, so APM will continue to provide this programming as we continue our own personal reflections.

-Dave Kansas
President, American Public Media

In-depth coverage

Failing to protect Black lives: How Washington, D.C., mishandled its response to the coronavirus

In a city with some of the most glaring health disparities in the country, District officials were slow to help Black residents deal with the pandemic. APM Reports reveals the story.

In The Dark: Mississippi D.A. Doug Evans has long history of striking Black people from juries

Part of In The Dark Season 2, the investigative team gathered data on juries in central Mississippi going back 26 years. Analyzing hundreds of trials, In The Dark found that prosecutors were more than four times more likely to exclude Black jurors.

APM Reports + Associate Press: Myon Burrell's story from incarceration to freedom

In 2019, APM Reports teamed up with the Associated Press to investigate the murder case against 16-year-old Myon Burrell. Burrell was serving a life sentence for the 2002 shooting death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards in Minneapolis. In January 2020, AP lead reporter Robin McDowell published her investigation and produced a broadcast version for MPR News with Sasha Aslanian of APM Reports. In December 2020, Burrell's sentence was commuted and he was released after 18 years in prison. In April 2021, Reveal featured the investigation and the role it played in getting a rare second chance for a juvenile lifer in an episode entitled "The Jail Tapes in the Dumpster."

So Close, Yet So Costly: In cities on the Great Lakes, water pipes are crumbling and poor people are paying the price

This APM Reports investigation found that the rising cost of water has hit poor families the hardest; the government-run water utilities in these six cities have issued at least 367,740 shutoff notices in the past decade. And an analysis of shutoff data revealed disproportionately high concentrations of water shutoffs in poorer areas and in majority black and Latino neighborhoods in every city.

They Didn't Vote ... Now They Can't: Georgia purged an estimated 107,000 people largely for not voting, an APM Reports investigation shows

There's indication that purges have disproportionately affected minority voters in some places. Analyzing all the Georgians purged in 2017, APM Reports found that in six of every 10 counties across Georgia, black voters were canceled at a higher rate than their white peers for inactivity. And in more than a quarter of those counties black voters were removed at a rate 1.25 times their white peers.

Racial Narratives in Minnesota Media Among the key findings of this survey of media professionals: two-thirds believe that African Americans are over-represented in a negative light and half felt that American Indians and Asian Americans are missing from local news media coverage.

Color of Coronavirus One of the first and most consistent national and state-by-state looks at the impacts of COVID-19 along lines of race and ethnicity, preceding the CDC’s publication of similar data. Key finding: Age standardized COVID-19 mortality rates are 2-3 times higher among Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous populations than among Whites. (Related: Inoculation Nation tracks COVID-19 vaccination rates by race and ethnicity.)

Roots Beyond Race The most comprehensive portrait of Americans’ identity available, documenting 198 heritage groups by state and for the nation as a whole. Did you know that the single largest heritage claimed by Asians in Arkansas is Asian Indian? Or that the largest Latino heritage group in Washington DC is Salvadoran? Now you do.

More coverage:

Terrible, Thanks For Asking: Policing and Racial Trauma with Angela Davis

 Brains On!: Injustice and Anger: Understanding your Emotions

Podcast in collaboration with MPR News: In Front of Our Eyes

Marketplace: Race and Economy

APM Research Lab: White voter share declined in 15 battleground states

APM Research Lab: Bound by boxes: The need for multiracial (and all) Americans to be visible and whole

APM Research Lab: Latinos get louder (at the ballot box)

APM Research Lab: Points of reference: Refugee resettlement

This is not a complete list of all coverage and resources available from American Public Media and related organizations. We may add to this list as more coverage and resources become available.