Rene Ford
Director of Education and Outreach

Mailing Address:
TPT Twin Cities Public Television
172 East Fourth Street
St. Paul, MN 55101

Phone:
651-229-1345
rmailto:rford@tpt.org

“Why the discussions? Taking a cue from this particular film’s subject matter, an arm of San Francisco-based American Documentary Inc (P.O.V.’s producing organization) has developed something called the Television Race Initiative. It’s a newly born campaign, which uses selected programs as springboards for discussions around the country on the subject of race.”
–St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 12, 1998

Minneapolis–St. Paul:

Among the station’s partnerships, KTCA works in collaboration with faith-based institutions and has created budding partnerships with the Minnesota Council of Churches and lnterrace, an organization that conducts diversity training and workshops on race relations. The station’s initiative addresses race issues such as “Whiteness” and the issues faced by the state’s large percentage of inter-racial families (one of the highest in the country). For initial events and activities the station has collaborated with long-standing community institutions: the Penumbra Theatre and Minnesota Historical Society.

Activity Highlights

• On Wednesday, September 22, 1999, KTCA hosted a screening and panel for "An American Love Story." Featured at the event were Guthrie Theater actress and author Isabell Monk, who was on hand to sign her new book "HOPE." The illustrated children's book depicts how a young girl learns about her rich biracial heritage. Also during the event, KTCA presented "Minnesota Love Stories" produced by KTCA's Daniel Bergin for News Night Minnesota.
• On July 14, 1999 Twin Cities Public Television’s “Facing the Truth in Minnesota: Television Race Initiative” collaborated with Asian Media Access (a media/arts coalition) to present a post-broadcast screening of “Rabbit in the Moon” and a discussion with the filmmaker, Emiko Omori at the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis. The diverse gathering engaged in a rich exchange with the filmmaker about her personal journey and the film’s impact.
• In October, to sustain the momentum of this event, the station developed a rigorous and strategic outreach plan for the “Africans in America” series and for a sneak preview event with producer Orlando Bagwell. This event was co-hosted by community partners and succeeded in gathering a diverse audience of over 150 vocal, engaged attendees. The station has also hosted an on-going internal “Let’s Talk Race” brown bag luncheon series for KTCA staff.
• In September 1998, KTCA began building toward the launch of the local TRI by promoting the first TRI broadcast. KTCA, the historical Penumbra Theatre and members of the Minnesota Historical Society co-sponsored a sneak preview of “Family Name” and a follow-up discussion with filmmaker Macky Alston. The event brought in close to 100 members of the community who engaged in a rich dialogue with the filmmaker on race and personal history.