Unearthed footage shows 11-yr-old Prince being interviewed about 1970 teachers' strike

The legendary musician, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, was known as 'Skipper' back in 1970

UPDATED APR 5, 2022

Footage of late Prince as an 11-year old has been unearthed (Kevin Winters/Getty Images and screengrab from WCCO)

A 52-year old clip shows an 11-year old late musician Prince weighing in on a strike of educators. The clip revolves around the 1970 Minneapolis teachers' strike where the young star shared his two cents. Children were asked whether or not they were in favor of picketing.

11-year old Prince offered a detailed answer. He said, "I think they should get some more money, 'cause they be working extra hours for us, and all that stuff." The footage was dug out by WCCO as they needed some context from the 1970 strike for the one that happened in March 2022 in the same district.

Prince: A cultural icon who stretched boundaries of music and black sexuality like no other before or after him

The WCCO production manager, Liddy, said that when he sat down to watch the 13-minute clip, Prince was discovered. He shared, "I grew up in Minneapolis, so all I cared about was looking at cool old buildings from the place I grew up. Did I recognize my old school? Did I recognize any landmarks?" The young budding star's response stood out and he grabbed Liddy's attention. Explaining his reaction at that point, Liddy said, "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.'"

Once the audio and video were completely extracted, Liddy said one crucial factor that was missing from the child's identity was, "We did not get him saying 'I'm Prince Nelson.'"

The WCCO team launched an investigation after one of the children in the clip identified themselves as Ronnie Kitchen. Another source of information was Kristen Zschomler, a local historian, archeologist, and dedicated fan of the Minneapolis native Prince. She said, "They called him Skipper. I've written a big document sort of outlining his historic journey from Minneapolis' northside to Paisley Park and the world."

She noted the similarities between the 11-year-old and late Price who passed away in 2016 at the age of 54. "This definitely looks like Lincoln Junior High School where he would have been attending school in April of 1970," she said. Another source was Prince's old friend Terrance Jackson who said, "We go far back as kindergarten at John Hay Elementary in north Minneapolis." Jackson was one of the members of Prince's first band and said, "Oh my God, that's Kitchen. That is Prince! Standing right there with the hat on, right? That's Skipper! Oh my God!" As Jackson wiped his tears. he said, "I am like blown away. I'm totally blown away. He was already playing guitar and keys by then, phenomenally. Music became our sport. Because he was athletic, I was athletic, but we wanted to compete musically."