KFAI's MinneCulture Presents

Alva Maxey-Boyd, now in her nineties, defied race covenants, urban renewal bulldozers, and two Mayor Daleys in a seven-decade battle to get and keep her gorgeous 19th-century mansion. Now, she's left as the last resident on her block of Chicago's South Prairie Avenue. Produced by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister of Long Haul Productions .

Mandela: An Audio History is narrated by Desmond Tutu and is the story of South Africa's struggle against apartheid, told in the words of Nelson Mandela, as well as those who fought with him - and against him. Mandela: An Audio History is a groundbreaking project that weaves together an unprecedented collection of archival sound materials documenting and preserving the story of Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid. Hear a rare recording of the 1964 trial that resulted in Mandela's life sentence; a visit between Mandela and his wife, Winnie, secretly recorded by a prison guard; marching songs of guerilla soldiers; government propaganda films; and pirate radio broadcasts from the African National Conference (ANC). Mandela: An Audio History was produced by Radio Diaries .

We go back to (((Hearing Voices))) this week for a special Black History Month program. The Plan - Race contains the following four pieces: *Living Flag- In her street performance, "living flag," artist damali ayo collects reparations for the enslavement of African Americans by panhandling from white people and distributing the payments to black people. Her stage is a busy city sidewalk corner anywhere in the U.S.. damali ayo presents the images and text of her performance art piece and teamed up with Producer Dmae Roberts to document this audio of the street. Stoplight Politics is a poem from Ruth Forman who won the Barnard Poetry Prize in 1993. *Jeff, Hafrican- As part of the series, Teenage Diaries, producer Joe Richman gave tape recorders to teenagers to document their lives: Jeff Rodgers is sixteen, and lives with his family in Boston. More and more these days he finds himself thinking about race and being forced to answer the question "What are you?" This is...

A (((Hearing Voices))) special for Valentine's Day: Love's Labors . The Kitchen Sisters find "Love & Marriage Atop the Trade Towers". Jessica & Scott Carrier's have a "Parent & Child" discussion. Amy Dickinson joins the "Leftover Brides" at a mass Moonie marriage. Special thanks to BG . To hear the complete special, visit hearingvoices.com

In honor of Black History Month, Listening Lounge brings you Port Chicago 50: An Oral History On July 17, 1944, two Liberty ships anchored at the Port Chicago Munitions Case near San Francisco exploded, killing 320 men and injuring 390. It was the worst homefront disaster of World War II. A majority of the casualties were African-American sailors who loaded ammunition onto the ships at Port Chicago. Shortly after the explosion, the African-American munitions loaders who survived were transferred to a nearby base and ordered back to work. Shaken by the death of their workmates and afraid that another explosion might occur, 50 men refused. In the largest courtmartial in Navy history, they were all convicted of mutiny and sentenced to up to fifteen years of hard labor. In January 1946, only months after the war ended, all convicted men's sentences were suspended as part of a general amnesty. While these men were allowed to return to civilian life, they were left angry, ashamed, and a...

Locally-produced radio today on Listening Lounge. Dedicated KFAI volunteer Bill Lindeke continues our local street-corners theme with a documentary exploring the intersection of Snelling and Selby in Saint Paul. Filled with the sounds of place, this piece connects us to the history and stories of a neighborhood through interviews with small business owners.

We dug deep and pulled together three documentaries describing cultural exchanges between Mongolia and the US. Exchanges between cowboy musicians , healers and radio stations . From Sagebrush to Steppe produced by Hal Cannon of the Western Folklife Center In September 2005, a group of American cowboys traveled to Mongolia for a musical exchange. Shamans by Allan Coukell introduces us to two shamans: one living a traditional life among the reindeer herders, one with a tent 'clinic' in the capital city. It also tells how a bunch of westerners set off on a foolish errand to save a couple of poisoned kids. Finally, Massachusetts/Mongolia Sister Project from Jay Allison and Viki Merrick of Atlantic Public Media and WCAI/WNAN. A public radio station in Massachusetts pioneered a unique radio exchange with Gobi Wave , a Developing Radio Partners -supported station in Mongolia. We love the idea of exchanging local, everyday sounds across so many miles, something that ties two pla...