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What 2020 Was Like for a Minneapolis High School Senior

Teenager Monaea Upton has been keeping an audio diary of her life.
The memorial for George Floyd at an event to remember the life of George Floyd one year after his death at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, MN on May 24, 2021.

For a lot of reasons, 2020 was a YEAR. In this episode, we hand the mic to Monaea Upton in North Minneapolis. She’s 17 years old, and she’s been keeping an audio diary of her senior year of high school—during online learning, the George Floyd protests, and a spike in neighborhood gun violence. We take you inside her world.

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CREDITS: 

Reporting from Monaea Upton. Produced by Jen Kinney. 

VICE News Reports is produced by Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Jen Kinney, Janice Llamoca and Julia Nutter. Our senior producers are Ashley Cleek and Adizah Eghan. Our associate producers are Sam Eagan, Sophie Kazis, and Adreanna Rodriguez. Sound design and music composition by Steve Bone and Kyle Murdock. 

Our executive producer and VP of VICE Audio is Kate Osborn. Janet Lee is senior production manager for VICE Audio. Production coordination by Steph Brown. Fact checking by Nicole Pasulka.