Last March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

It mandated a shift in how American history is portrayed in federal institutions, with a goal of eliminating “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology.”

Instead, according to the executive order, the focus should be on a more “patriotic” narrative. And to ensure that happens, funding was cut for anything that “degrades shared American values” or “divides Americans by race.”

This order applied largely to federal institutions, like the Smithsonian museums and the National Parks System.

But here in Minnesota, the funding restrictions and shifts in ideology were felt immediately. History museum directors and curators — the people who collect and keep Minnesota history — were alarmed at what might be coming their way.

So what happened? Were their fears realized?

North Star Journey Live went to Mankato to find out. At the annual conference for the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums, Angela Davis hosted a live discussion to talk about the ramifications of the federal order in Minnesota.

Guests:

• Jessica Potter, executive director of the Blue Earth County Historical Society
• Dave Nichols, executive director of the Rice County Historical Society
• Mai Vang Huizel, founder and director of the Hmong Museum
• Kyle Ward, director of the social studies education program at Minnesota State University Mankato

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Most Americans believe college is too expensive. In a Gallup poll released this summer, only 12 percent of U.S. adults say four-year colleges and universities provide an affordable education. But at the same time, a majority of parents surveyed say they still want their children to get a degree.

What’s a student to do?

Here in Minnesota, relatively new programs like North Star Promise aim to close the gap for low-income students. But is it enough to make a real difference when it comes to overall affordability?

MPR News host Angela Davis took that question to St. Cloud on Thursday. She hosted a North Star Journey Live discussion at St. Cloud State University with financial aid experts on the front lines of helping students figure out how to pay for college — and current students — to see if the hopes about changing affordability are being felt.

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.   

When federal agents surged into Minnesota in January, communities didn’t just face a legal issue. They faced a moral one.

Faith leaders showed up. Churches became distribution hubs for food and diapers. Nonprofits organized ride shares and distributed rent money. Clergy mobilized to protest, sing, champion and, in some cases, face arrest. “Our faith compels us,” was the common refrain.

“Operation Metro Surge” is over now. But churches, mosques, synagogues and faith-based nonprofits say their work is just ramping up.

A group of faith leaders joined MPR News host Angela Davis for a North Star Journey Live event at our studios in downtown St. Paul on Thursday, March 26, to talk about what they experienced on the front lines of the immigration enforcement surge and how their faith both compelled and comforted them. They also shared gifts from their own faith traditions to help Minnesotans process our collective moral injury.

Guests:

• JaNaé Bates Imari is a minister and the co-executive director of ISAIAH, a multi-racial, multi-faith, nonpartisan coalition of faith communities in Minnesota.
• Rev. Hierald Osorto is senior pastor of St. Paul's-San Pablo Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, a multicultural, multilingual, inclusive Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation.
• Rabbi Arielle Lekach Rosenberg is lead rabbi at Shir Tikvah Synagogue, a reform congregation in south Minneapolis.
• Imam Mowlid Ali serves as an imam and youth counselor at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis.

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