Race

Teens are more than possible risk factors and test scores. In an effort to create a well-rounded picture of Minnesota teens today – what they think about, hope for, and how they communicate – ThreeSixty Journalism and the Minnesota Historical Society are calling teens to fill out an online survey.

By Maggie Clemensen of the University of St. Thomas

Tyanna Dickerson, a graduate of South High School in Minneapolis and the first in her family to attend college, wanted to attend St. Thomas but felt nervous about the demands of college. She’s grateful for the REAL program, a five-week orientation program targeted at minority and immigrant students that aims to help new freshmen succeed.

By Sabrina Kennelly

I love Central High School’s diversity, and that’s why I’m concerned about the Saint Paul Public School district’s new plan, “Strong Schools, Strong Communities.” Because of new busing restrictions, I’m worried this plan might allow schools to become racially segregated again.

By Dymanh Chhoun, University of Minnesota, Class of 2011

I can tell that this country has better opportunities for my son. Better resources for education and different things. So I think now I’m sacrificing for him. And I am happy with that.

By Asma Adam

My name is Shamso Ali Hashi. I grew up in a small city outside Mogadishu. I finished high school there. I got married young and had 11 children in total. Six passed away and five are alive.

By Jada Pulley

I’m Hmong, and you cannot find Hmong on the map of the world. There is no country that is mine. So I link myself up to the people who love me, who no matter where we were, carved out a place to belong for me.

By Stacy Dahl

I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. My 13 siblings and Mom and Dad all traveled here together when I was 13. I just graduated from Robbinsdale Armstrong High School and started my first year of college at the University of Minnesota this fall.

By Corey Kramer

There was a lot of that going on because the Woolworth’s would not allow us to eat at the lunch counter — they had a separate lunch counter for us. The fellows were the ones who integrated the lunch counter. The females did not participate in the sit-ins at the lunch counter. We supported them, maybe doing papers or taking notes and making sure they didn’t get behind in the classes.

By Mariya Khan, Anoka High School

Mariya Khan interviewed Matthew Little, a long-time civil rights leader, as part of a project on immigrants in Minnesota.

In the South, where I was born and educated, it was an established mores that African Americans, and to an extent, other minorities too, were basically inferior human beings.

By Maddie Colbert, South High School

As part of a project on immigrants in Minnesota, ThreeSixty Journalism student Maddie Colbert interviewed Betty Ellison-Harpole about her childhood in the South and the strange experience of attending an integrated university when she moved North.

By Rebecca Peltzer-Miller, Central High School

Superintendent Valeria Silva thinks when parents walk into any St. Paul Public School, it should be like walking into a Target store.

“Wherever you go in any part (of Target), you’re going to know that there are standards. You see your ads on the wall … the manager’s picture … so you have a set of expectations,” Silva said.

By Sabrina Kennelly

In St. Paul Central High School’s cafeteria, it’s easy to see how diverse the school is. Just listening in on students’ conversations, you can hear just about every language being spoken from Somali to Spanish to Hmong.

By Vang Thao

At the 2010 Hmong New Year at the Metrodome, Jasmine Tierra Bondurant, an 18-year-old African-American girl, appeared on stage and sang two Hmong songs: “Mi Noog” by Sudden Rush and “Nyog Ib Sab” by Pagnia Xiong.

Catanis Yang, 19, of St. Michael, Minn. watched Jasmine perform and was blown away.

By Patience Zalanga, a senior at Como Park Senior High

More than a year ago, Patience Zalanga decided to “go natural” and stop chemically relaxing hair. After cutting it off in a “big chop,” this St. Paul teen’s hair took her on a journey of discovery about just how much of a statement hair can be.

By Erika Roedl , Edwin Flowers and ThreeSixty staff

Local rapper Brother Ali never finished high school. It made him feel shame, which is why he helped out Minneapolis public schools with an effort to attract back high school drop outs by doing a TV commercial for the district. After finishing his current tour, Brother Ali plans to finish his diploma.

By Nyasia Arradondo

When a white student at her school questioned why black students like Nyasia needed an after-school group just for them, she had an answer for him. And an invitation.

By Minnesota teens

This spring, the government will attempt to count every single person living in the United States in the 2010 Census. ThreeSixty, the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Star Tribune asked teenagers how they count to America. Their essays were published in both papers, and online on April 1. Check them out!