In March of 2022, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers went on strike, asking the Minneapolis School District to limit class sizes, pay for additional mental health supports for students, and increase wages for both classroom teachers and education support professionals. After three weeks, the teachers' union and the district agreed a new contract, and kids and teachers went back to school.

The last time the Minneapolis teachers took industrial action was in 1970. While this year's strike was going on, Minneapolis television station WCCO, a CBS affiliate, went into its film archives to explore the 1970 strike with an eye to putting the 2022 strike in historical context.

What it ended up finding was a piece of music history.

On one of the film reels, WCCO production manager Matt Liddy found footage of a reporter interviewing kids outside a school as teachers picketed nearby. One of the youngsters bore a striking resemblance to Prince. “I immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?’ And every single person [said] ‘Prince,’” Liddy told WCCO.

The child on the video did not identify himself, so Liddy and his colleagues very methodically sought to prove the youngster's identity, consulting with Prince's longtime friends and with local experts until they were certain the fifth grader was indeed an 11-year-old Prince Nelson.

In the video, the youngster Prince voices his support for teachers. "I think they should get extra money," he tells the reporter, "because they be working extra hours for us, and all that stuff.”

Watch the full story below.

External Links

WCCO - CBS Minnesota - official site

Prince - official site