Our Blog
2025 Wrap Up: 50th Joint Commemoration, Honoring Our Legacies
December 11, 2025 - By Mike Hang
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Minnesota Humanities Center blog. Serving on this Advisory Council has truly been one of the greatest honors of my year. As one of the three individuals who represented the Hmong community. A community of more than 100,000 strong in Minnesota,…
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2025 Wrap Up: 50th Joint Commemoration, Stories I Wish They’d Tell About the War in Vietnam
December 10, 2025 - By Larry Johnson
When the United States used false information to invade Iraq, many of us wondered, “Didn’t we learn anything from the War in Vietnam?” Several years later, we organized a World Storytelling Day event, SEVEN STORIES I WISH THEY’D TELL ABOUT THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
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2025 Wrap Up: 50th Joint Commemoration, Connected Histories & Solidarity
December 10, 2025 - By Chinda Kim Gregor
What I remember most about those first 50th Advisory Council meetings is our shared excitement and purpose we felt. From the very beginning, we all believed deeply in the vision of creating a joint commemoration to honor and celebrate the contributions of our communities coming together.
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Trust the Hours – A Poetry and Art Collaboration in Rochester
April 15, 2025 - By Jean Prokott
If someone asks why write? my answer is: it’s the poet’s job to discover the metaphors with which the universe speaks to us. It’s her job to make life, and the heaviness that comes with it, accessible. A bonus is that sometimes this discovery is therapy. To work through a…
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Wild Things – Transgender Day of Visibility
March 14, 2023 - By Lynette Reini-Grandell
I am honored to be invited to talk about my memoir, Wild Things: A Trans-Glam-Punk-Rock Love Story, with my spouse Venus de Mars on Transgender Day of Visibility.
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A Vision Trust of Black Men
February 6, 2023 - By Dr. David Hamlar
In October of 2022, MHC partnered with Robin Hickman-Winfield of SoulTouch Productions and The Ordway Theater to form A Vision Trust of Black Men.
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A Vision Trust of Black Men
February 1, 2023 - By Alex Tittle
In October of 2022, MHC partnered with Robin Hickman-Winfield of SoulTouch Productions and The Ordway Theater to form A Vision Trust of Black Men. Robin’s vision is a group of Black men committed to uplifting the Black community and embracing the legacies of Black Veterans. In February 2023, The Ordway…
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Rage and the Minnesota Poet Laureate
April 30, 2021 - By Athena Kildegaard
A few days ago a jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of killing George Floyd—a murder that feels simultaneously as if it happened yesterday and as if it happened years ago.
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Why We Write
May 26, 2020 - By Wendell Affield
Writing one’s trauma memories is cathartic and is a path to healing. I use the term healing in an ambiguous way—hose who have lived through trauma know that one never forgets; the goal is to learn how to integrate those trauma experiences into ones’ life. Where might you begin? Select…
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2019 Veterans’ Voices Awardees Announced
September 3, 2019 - By Minnesota Humanities Center
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is thrilled to announce the 2019 Veterans’ Voices Awardees! These nine individuals have shared exemplary written works of poetry, prose, essays, memoirs, and more that speak to their military service and experiences as a Veteran. Through the written word, Veterans find their voice, process their…
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