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Paris Porter moved from the South Side of Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota when he was 6. His family was part of a migration to the Twin Cities in the 1990s when the economy was creating more jobs than it had workers to fill them. Porter revisits the journey, and the controversy that flared around families like his moving in.
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Piece Description
Paris Porter moved from the South Side of Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota when he was 6. His family was part of a migration to the Twin Cities in the 1990s when the economy was creating more jobs than it had workers to fill them. Porter revisits the journey, and the controversy that flared around families like his moving in.
Broadcast History
MPR News
Intro and Outro
INTRO:The 1990s saw a migration of people from places like Gary, Indiana and Chicago to the Twin Cities. They were looking for safer communities and good schools and jobs. But their arrival wasn’t always welcomed. Paris Porter came to St. Paul with his family when he was six, in 1996. He tells the story from inside that migration, beginning with a drive down University Avenue, where he first arrived in St. Paul.
OUTRO:Paris Porter's story is part of Minnesota Public Radio's Youth Radio Series. He comes to us from ThreeSixty Journalism.
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Joel Saxe
Posted on May 10, 2010 at 08:57 AM | Permalink
Important Story!
Thanks for providing us with a perspective from those who've weathered the attacks on low-income families, aka "welfare reform." This young man has done an excellent job identifying and demystifying some of the sources of ignorance around "public assistance." It's rare if at all that mainstream media provides a critical, first-person look at the causes and real human consequences of poverty and inequality in the U.S. Thanks for producing this piece.