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Playlist: Black History Month: Half-Hours, Segments and Interstitials

Compiled By: PRX Editors

A migrant worker in Belcross, North Carolina, 1940 Credit: <a href="http://www.yesterprints.com">YesterPrints.com</a>
Image by: YesterPrints.com 
A migrant worker in Belcross, North Carolina, 1940
Curated Playlist

February is Black History Month. Here are recommendations of shorter pieces from our editorial staff.

For more options, see hour specials and series picks.

You can find other options for Black History Month by using our search.

How we pick our Editors' Picks.

Half-Hour+ (30:01-48:59)

Maya Angelou & Guy Johnson - Mother and Son Poets become themselves

From Sedge Thomson | 44:47

Mother and son poets meet to talk about the courage of poetry, the pleasures of red rice and language.

Angelou3-sized_small The mother is a poet, the son is a poet. She raised him in San Francisco, New York, later, in Egypt, Africa, Paris. She earned her way cooking creole food in a San Francisco restaurant. She found her way raising her son to learn courage, poetry, and manners. She learned how to prepare "my black boy to be raised in a white society." The mother is the renowned poet and memoirist, Dr. Maya Angelou. The son is Guy Johnson, poet and novelist. She travels to the Bay Area from time to time to visit her son and grandchildren. In this program, we hear Guy talk about his writing, his motivation, the energy of his poetry, and the deep emotion of being a parent. Then, his mother comes on stage and she talks about the conditions of raising him as a mother of 17, her own relationships with her mother and her mother's slave antecedents. You can't learn poetry unless you have courage; you must love yourself to find your way, to be somebody; her son Guy made her who she is. It's a joyful, funny, moving and inspiring story of parental and filial love, a memoir of America in a certain time; the influence of a mother on a child; and the importance of knowing how to cook red rice.


Half-Hour (24:00-30:00)

Author Dwayne Ratleff on ‘Dancing to the Lyrics’

From Out in the Bay - Queer Radio from San Francisco | 29:10

Dwayne Ratleff grew up Black, poor and gay in 1960s Baltimore. As a youngster, his grandma taught him: “Don’t explain yourself, be yourself.” His award-winning debut novel, "Dancing to the Lyrics," is an inspiring memoir about his childhood.

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Dwayne Ratleff grew up Black, poor and gay in 1960s Baltimore. As a youngster, his loving grandma taught him: “Don’t explain yourself, be yourself.”

Ratleff has written an impressive, insightful, award-winning novel – a memoir really – about his childhood. Dancing to the Lyrics takes us from his sudden uprooting at age 4 from small-town Ohio to one of Baltimore’s toughest neighborhoods, where he lives with his young mother, two sisters and often violent stepfather who abuses them all. For a while, their home is right across the street from a state prison and outside their back door is a communal junkyard.

The book takes us through young Grant (“names have been changed to protect the guilty,” says Ratleff) and sisters finding dead gunshot victims in their neighborhood, massive riots following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and much more. It’s grim in places, joyful in others. Ultimately, it’s inspiring as it shows us the strength, confidence and courage this boy finds en route to manhood, even though we only know him in the book from age 4 to 9. 

Dancing to the Lyrics won Ratleff a 2021 Best Indie Book Award in the “LGBTQ Coming Of Age” category. He reads from it for Out in the Bay listeners and speaks about his life, the people in his boyhood who helped shape who he is now, and shares his reflections on today’s social turbulence and that of the 1960s.

Please help us keep bringing queer air to your ears. Out in the Bay is an independent non-profit production. We receive no funds from podcast platforms nor from radio stations that air Out in the Bay weekly. Your gift will help keep LGBTQ voices and stories coming to you and others who might not be able to give. (Donate tabs on our website will take you to a Media Alliance interface. Media Alliance is our non-profit 501(c)3 fiscal agent. Your gift will be earmarked for Out in the Bay.)

 

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

From Making Contact | Part of the Making Contact series | 29:00

Journalist Eric Arnold talks with Stanley Nelson, director of the documentary film: The Black Panthers, Vanguard of the Revolution.

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2016 marks 50 years since the founding of the Black Panther Party-a group that’s took the world by the storm, but is still widely misunderstood.   There’s a new documentary film that’s trying to set the record straight. On this edition of Making Contact, journalist Eric Arnold talks with Stanley Nelson, director of The Black Panthers, Vanguard of the Revolution.

 

Featuring:

Stanley Nelson, Director of Black Panthers: vanguard of the Revolution; Eric Arnold, journalist

Martin Luther King Jr. Is Still On The Case!

From PRX | Part of the Esquire Classic series | 29:57

In 1968, just hours after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Garry Wills—then a young writer for Esquire—rushed to Memphis, Tennessee, where he watched as King’s body was embalmed at the mortuary; later, Wills traveled twelve hours by bus with mourners to King’s funeral in Atlanta. Nearly fifty years after its publication, Wills’s “Martin Luther King Jr. Is Still on the Case!” remains one of the most revealing and lasting portraits of King and his turbulent era ever written. Writer and director John Ridley—who won an Oscar for his screenplay for 12 Years a Slave—joins host David Brancaccio to discuss why Wills’s wrenching profile of King continues to resonate today, what has changed in America since it was written, and, most important, what still needs to change.

Cover170x170_medium_small In 1968, just hours after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Garry Wills—then a young writer for Esquire—rushed to Memphis, Tennessee, where he watched as King’s body was embalmed at the mortuary; later, Wills traveled twelve hours by bus with mourners to King’s funeral in Atlanta. Nearly fifty years after its publication, Wills’s “Martin Luther King Jr. Is Still on the Case!” remains one of the most revealing and lasting portraits of King and his turbulent era ever written. Writer and director John Ridley—who won an Oscar for his screenplay for 12 Years a Slave—joins host David Brancaccio to discuss why Wills’s wrenching profile of King continues to resonate today, what has changed in America since it was written, and, most important, what still needs to change.

A Shortcut To The Mountaintop

From Peter Bochan | Part of the Shortcuts series | 29:27

This is a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, and features many of his most famous speeches mixed with music.

Martin_luther_king__jr A tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, featuring many of his most famous speeches mixed with music from Stevie Wonder, The Freedom Singers, Jimmy Cliff, James Taylor, Nina Simone, Bill Lee/Branford Marsalis, Moodswings,U2 and more---

Strike

From With Good Reason | Part of the With Good Reason: Weekly Half Hour Long Episodes series | 29:00

In 1951 a group of African American students at Robert R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia, organized a strike to protest the substandard school facilities provided for black students. This is their story.

Playing
Strike
From
With Good Reason

Barbara_johns_small In 1951 a group of African American students at Robert R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia, organized a strike to protest the substandard school facilities provided for black students. The walkout, led by 16 year old Barbara Johns, is one of the great stories in the struggle for Civil Rights—a story of courage and persistence against what seemed at the time like overwhelming odds.  Larissa Smith Fergeson  (Longwood University) provides the historical context to the walkout; Lacy Ward Jr. (Moton Museum) interviews two students who participated in the strike and Mildred Robinson (University of Virginia) describes the effects on students and families when the Virginia government closed the schools rather than succumb to the federal mandate to integrate them.

A Conversation with Isabel Wilkerson

From National Endowment for the Arts | Part of the Art Works series | 25:33

Isabel Wilkerson talks about her book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, focusing on the transfer of Southern culture to the North, creating a new, vibrant culture in the country.

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"I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown.

I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil,

to see if it could grow differently,

if it could drink of new and cool rains,

bend in strange winds,

respond to the warmth of other suns,

and, perhaps, to bloom."

That evocative description of leaving one's home in the North for another life in the South was in a footnote in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. Wright was one of six million African Americans who made that journey in the period following World War I through the 1960s. This mass movement of people became known as The Great Migration, and it's the subject of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed new book; which she titled The Warmth of Other Suns.

What's the Word? Two half-hour programs celebrating Black History Month (Series)

Produced by Modern Language Association

John Bugg talks about an eighteenth-century slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Russ Castronovo tells us about Frederick Douglass’s novella, The Heroic Slave; and Natasha Barnes explores The Known World by Edward P. Jones.

Pulitzer prize winner David Levering Lewis tells us about W.E.B. Du Bois’s early life and the years that led up to the publication of The Souls of Black Folk; Marlon B. Ross explores some of the social and political factors that Du Bois responded to in the book; and Sheryl Townsend Gilkes discusses the book’s continuing influence.

Most recent piece in this series:

WTW Texts of Resistance

From Modern Language Association | Part of the What's the Word? Two half-hour programs celebrating Black History Month series | 29:00

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Texts of Resistance

Since the late eighteenth century, writers have addressed the issue of transatlantic slavery.  Some of the works are direct calls to abolitionist action; others define resistance more subtly.   On this program, John Bugg talks about an eighteenth-century slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Russ Castronovo tells us about Frederick Douglass’s novella, The Heroic Slave; and Natasha Barnes explores The Known World by Edward P. Jones.


Well-suited to Black History Month in February.

Fifteen- and thirty-second promos available.

Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair (30 Min Special)

From Radio Diaries | Part of the The Radio Diaries Podcast series | 28:11

In 1951, Willie McGee was executed in Mississippi's traveling electric chair for raping a white woman. Six decades later, his granddaughter is on a quest to unearth everything she can about his life - and his death.

Bridgette_small

Bridgette McGee grew up knowing nothing about her grandfather, Willie McGee. Now she is on a quest to unearth everything she can about his life – and his death.

In 1945, Willie McGee was accused of raping a white woman. The all-white jury took less than three minutes to find him guilty and McGee was sentenced to death. Over the next six years, the case went through three trials and sparked international protests and appeals from Albert Einstein, William Faulkner, Paul Robeson, and Josephine Baker. McGee was defended by a young Bella Abzug arguing her first major case. But in 1951, McGee was put to death in Mississippi’s traveling electric chair. His execution was broadcast live by a local radio station. Today, a newly discovered recording of that broadcast provides a chilling window into a lost episode of civil rights history. Narrated by Bridgette McGee, this documentary follows a granddaughter’s search for the truth about a case that has been called a real-life To Kill A Mockingbird.

Note: This is the 30 minute special version. The 23 minute piece is also available on PRX: http://www.prx.org/pieces/54258-willie-mcgee-and-the-traveling-electric-chair-a-g#description

Learning to Live: James' Story

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the Waiting it Out Series series | 28:47

The story of an ex-felon's transition from prison to the free world. James, who narrates, is 38 and has been in and out of prison all his adult life. (Winner: the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Third Coast International Audio Festival Public Service Award, and the 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award)

James_small "Learning to Live: James' Story" is the story of an ex-felon's transition from prison to the free world. James, who narrates, is 38 and has been in and out of prison all his adult life. After completing a seven-year prison term for burglary, James comes to live at St. Leonard's halfway house for ex-offenders on Chicago's West side. Over three months, James goes through a rigorous education process that includes job training, drug counseling and twelve-step support meetings. His recovery is tested when his eighteen-year-old son, whom he hadn't seen in fourteen years, is arrested on a drug charge. After landing his "dream job" in customer service for a cable company, James leaves the halfway house having begun to "learn how to live." "Learning to Live: James' Story" won the Edward R. Murrow Award; the Third Coast International Audio Festival Public Service Award; and the 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. Judges in the latter competition called it "a tightly straightforward report that skillfully wove actuality and narration, James telling his story as only he could. It was clear, concise and remarkably comprehensive." The story was originally broadcast on Chicago Public Radio and All Things Considered in 2001.

Movin' Out the Bricks

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the Homeplace Series series | 27:46

A year in the life of Catherine "Coco" Means, as she leaves her long-time home in a Chicago public housing development and moves to her first private-market apartment on the city's South Side.
(Winner: 2003 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism)

Coco_small In the fall of 2002, Catherine Means was living on the tenth floor of what she describes as "hell" -- Chicago's Stateway Gardens high-rise housing project. In September, she finally got out from under the "bricks" at Stateway and into her first private-market apartment. Her move was one that thousands of public housing residents are making, as the Chicago Housing Authority systematically demolishes its notorious high-rise projects in favor of redeveloped mixed-income communities and Section 8 apartments. Coco, who, like her mom and grandmother has never had a real job, argues the move will "get me off my behind" and force her to do something with her life. But do things really change when you change your address? Long Haul followed Coco and her kids for over a year, from Stateway to her new apartment on the South Side. Movin' Out the Bricks aired originally in full form on Chicago Public Radio in 2003, and later that year, in a condensed form, on All Things Considered. Movin' Out the Bricks won the Society of Professional Journalists' 2003 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism in the radio documentary category.

Hog Butchers to the World

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the American Worker Series series | 28:21

Studs Terkel reads excerpts from Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle in this history of African Americans in the packinghouse industry of Chicago.

Workers_together_small The history of African Americans in Chicago's meatpacking industry and the formation of the Packinghouse Workers Union, featuring Studs Terkel reading excerpts from Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." Production note: Host introduction can be transcribed and edited and read by station announcer.

The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History

From Long Haul Productions | Part of the American Worker Series series | 25:12

The story of the homefront disaster of World War II — an ammunition explosion that killed more than 300 men — and what happened to the 50 African American men who refused to go back to work loading ammunition after the explosion.

Portchicago_small On July 17, 1944, two Liberty ships anchored at the Port Chicago Munitions Case near San Francisco exploded, killing 320 men and injuring 390. It was the worst homefront disaster of World War II. A majority of the casualties were African-American sailors who loaded ammunition onto the ships at Port Chicago. Shortly after the explosion, the African-American munitions loaders who survived were transferred to a nearby base and ordered back to work. Shaken by the death of their workmates and afraid that another explosion might occur, 50 men refused. In the largest courtmartial in Navy history, they were all convicted of mutiny and sentenced to up to fifteen years of hard labor. In January 1946, only months after the war ended, all convicted men's sentences were suspended as part of a general amnesty. While these men were allowed to return to civilian life, they were left angry, ashamed, and afraid they would be fired from their jobs or worried that they would be seen as unpatriotic. As a result, some did not discuss the case, even with family members, for more than 50 years. Originally broadcast on This American Life in 1996.

Nightfall in Chester County

From Helen Borten | Part of the A Sense of Place series | 29:29

The stories of Penn. Quakers -- who guided slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad -- and their descendants, locked in a struggle with striking Mexican farm workers.

Default-piece-image-0 In Pennsylvania farmland that was the first stop on the Underground Railroad, a strike by Mexican mushroom pickers polarizes a Quaker community. From historical chronicles of escaped slaves to the present-day inequalities of immigrants who also followed the North Star,this program traces the journey and ordeals of two groups who arrived at the same place,separated in time but connected by their hopes for a better life. One :30 Promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 2")

House of the Lord

From Helen Borten | Part of the A Sense of Place series | 29:33

Against the contemporary story of whites fighting to save an antebellum black church from destruction, slave narratives reveal the role religion played in slavery.

Default-piece-image-2 Three days after Christmas in 1993, the new owner of Rosedown, the most famous antebellum mansion in Louisiana, gave the 80 members of Rosedown Baptist Church six months to move so that he could tear down the tiny structure on his newly acquired property. What was a black church doing on an antebellum plantation anyway? Did the institution that has been so vital to African Americans have its roots in the institution that had subjugated them? How did the South reconcile Christianity and slavery? These are questions explored in the story of how black and white citizens in a small Southern town joined to save a historic church from destruction. The words of slaves and masters on religion form a historical counterpoint to the contemporary story. Elderly members of the congregation contribute their own moving memories of growing up on the plantation; a former slaveowner remembers things in a different way and church choir and services add rich ambience,weaving past and present into a tapestry of sound.


Segments (9:00-23:59)

Black Classical Masters series: "Lift Every Voice and Sing"

From David Person | 19:53

A series of four short programs that examine the song known as the Black national anthem.

Classicmastercollage_small "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is known as the Black National Anthem or Hymn in the black community. It arguably is the most revered song in the community. This four-part series, part of the larger Black Classical Masters series, documents the history of this song and explores its cultural and political impact. It features interviews with Yale University Professor Willie Ruff, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, Fisk Jubilee Singers Director Paul Kwami and gospel singer Kelli Williams as well as music by Imani Winds, the Oakwood College Aeolians, the Harmonizing Four and Kellie Williams. The Black Classical Masters series is an on-going examination of black history and culture that has not been relegated to one month out of the year. Black Classical Masters explores black culture and history by focusing on contributions made to classical music by people of African descent. The 5-minute programs combine music and interviews with artists and experts in music, history or culture. Black Classical Masters has been a long-running series on WLRH-FM in Huntsville, Alabama.

Strange Fruit: Voices of a Lynching

From Radio Diaries | Part of the Audio History Project series | 14:35

Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote that lament after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. Strange Fruit was later made famous by Billie Holiday. But a third boy escaped being lynched that fateful day, 80 years ago, in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African American to have survived a lynching. Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day.

Strange-fruit_001_l_small Poet and songwriter Abel Meeropol wrote that lament after seeing a photograph of two black teenagers hanging from a tree. Strange Fruit was later made famous by Billie Holiday. But a third boy escaped being lynched that fateful day, 80 years ago, in Marion, Indiana. James Cameron was believed to be the only African American to have survived a lynching. Decades later, a box of recordings was found in a basement. They contained the recollections of people who witnessed or took part in the events of that day.

Chasing After the Hurricane: A Personal Look Into the Life of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter - After the Movie.

From N Lorde | 14:07

A personal insight into the life of former boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter - his life after the blockbuster hit movie.

Niseanandthehurricane_small On April 20, 2014, Rubin Carter passed away from terminal prostate cancer. This is an in-depth radio documentary on the boxer and how he fought to help those who were wrongfully convicted in North America. The feature delves into Mr. Carter's personal life (i.e. it provides listeners with an interesting tour of his house in Toronto) and reveals the downward struggle many people, specifically young black men, face in North America's criminal justice system. 

Background: 
Rubin's life struggle was portrayed through the 1999 movie "The Hurricane". (Denzel Washington played Rubin.) In 1975, Bob Dylan wrote a song about Rubin's innocence entitled, "Hurricane." In the 1960s, Rubin was one of the world's best, professional, middle-weight boxers. In 1967, he was found guilty of committing a triple murder at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey. He served nearly 20 years in prison. In 1986, Federal Court Judge H. Lee Sarokin exonerated Rubin of the crimes. The judge ruled that the state withheld evidence in its attempt to get the killers.  

The People Could Fly

From Miles Tokunow | 11:11

This is a telling of Virginia Hamilton's American Black Folktale "The People Could Fly."

651043585_071a57436d_z_small This is a telling of Virginia Hamilton's American Black Folktale "The People Could Fly." This is an uplifiting legend of slaves who fly away to liberty. 

Water Woman

From La Siréna Imakhu | Part of the Black History Month series | 25:58

Popular storyteller Imakhu Mwt Shekemet's contemporary version of Afro-Brazillian folktale, "Mae de Agua."

Imakhu_by_sammie_signature_clean_edit_small Veteran, popular storyteller brings a contemporary, comical twist to the mystical Afro-Brazillian folktale,"Mae de Agua." Stories about the mysterious "mer" people, who live in the water, have been told since their African origins. Another popular story inspired by the Water Woman stories was Hans Christian Anderson's,"Little Mermaid," which has a tragic ending. The story "Water Women" has a moral of comical comeuppance. This story has been a popular part of Imakhu's repertoire.


Cutaways (5:00-8:59)

Toilet Paper Scrap Chronicles Civil Rights Ordeal

From Wisconsin Public Radio | 07:23

A six-foot piece of jail-grade toilet paper from 1963 captures Civil Rights struggle.

Tpsmall_small Simply put, toilet paper is not considered much of a keepsake. Yet within the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, rests a carefully-preserved six-foot swatch of toilet paper. Its relevance in chronicling the civil rights struggle can best be told by Miriam Real, who used it as stationery while incarcerated in a Port Allen, Louisiana Jail, in September 1963. Real -- then Miriam Feingold -- was one of hundreds of people arrested during a voter registration drive coordinated by the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE. In this feature, Real describes her fateful assignment.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Secret Advisor

From WNYC | 07:38

The names of many of Reverend Martin Luther King Junior’s associates are well known: Harry Belafonte, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young. But one of his most important confidants, a Jewish business man from New York named Stanley Levison, has remained largely hidden from public view. From what we know about him, Levison probably would have wanted it that way.

Default-piece-image-2 The names of many of Reverend Martin Luther King Junior’s associates are well known: Harry Belafonte, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young. But one of his most important confidants, a Jewish business man from New York named Stanley Levison, has remained largely hidden from public view. From what we know about him, Levison probably would have wanted it that way.

The Quander Quality

From Rebecca Sheir | 05:17

Meet the oldest African-American family in Washington, D.C. - and, perhaps, the United States.

_12 Meet the Quanders: the oldest African-American family in D.C., and, possibly, the United States. Records show the family has been in the D.C. region since the late 1600s, and as Rebecca Sheir tells us, the Quanders have a few secrets on how to keep the family line going strong.

Black Tension

From Hana Baba | 07:41

A look at the sometimes tension-filled relationship between African immigrants and Black Americans.

Playing
Black Tension
From
Hana Baba

Blackart_small Over the past decade, the African immigrant population in the United States has increased rapidly. Their numbers doubled in the 1990s, and the latest estimates say there are over one million US residents from the African continent today. The majority of them come from countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia. Most end up on America’s coasts - New York and California being among the top choices - places which are also home to large numbers of African Americans. A common assumption many people make is that the two groups share a natural inclination towards one other. But often, that is not the case. It's a look at the sometimes tension-filled relationship between African immigrants and black Americans.

Living Flag

From Dmae Lo Roberts | 04:02

Street performance piece with Artist Damali Ayo as she panhandles around the country to create dialogue about reparations for slavery.

Ayo2683074 Exploring the issues surrounding race, class and gender is at the heart of the work of Artist damali ayo. As a conceptual artist, she uses visual art, the web, performance and audio to generate experience and dialogue for her audience. In her ongoing street performance called living flag , she collects reparations for the enslavement of African Americans by taking to the street as a panhandler. There she accepts reparation payments from white people and distributes these reparations to black people. Her stage is a busy street corner anywhere in the U.S. You might even find her one day on a street in your home town. damali ayo presents the images and text of her performance art piece and teamed up with Producer Dmae Roberts to document this audio of ‘the street’. First aired on Studio 360 in 2004.

The '63 March : Convergence on the Capitol

From WGBH Radio Boston | 07:17

The second in a five-part radio series (view all) focusing on the 1963 March on Washington. The demonstrations were viewed suspiciously by Congress and by some members of the American public, but the demonstrators were determined to be seen and heard.

March_small Buses crowded the early morning highways leading into Washington D.C. on the morning of August 28, 1963. The passengers on the buses -clergy, auto workers, teachers, nuns, lawyers and laborers - seemed fully aware that they were about to play an important role in United States civil rights history. President John F. Kennedy was only reluctantly welcoming the marchers to the nation's capital. Many members of Congress and many Americans viewed the civil rights demonstrators with suspicion. But they came anyway and were determined to push the fight for racial equality to a new level. In the second of a five-part series, independent producer Phillip Martin brings us historic radio coverage of August 28th in the nations capital, and the start of a new era.

Shakespeare In Black and White

From Richard Paul | 07:01

The African-American experience with Shakespeare.

Pictureofaldridge_small This is an excerpt from "Shakespeare in American LIfe," a documentary being produced with the Folger Shakespeare Library. At countless times in America, and for countless groups of citizens, the question has come up: Who "owns" Shakespeare? This is a particularly poignant question in the case of African-Americans. This story looks at minstrel show parodies of Shakespeare, color-blind casting of Shakespeare and the African-American experience with Shakespeare. RELATED WEBSITES -------------------------------------------- Program Director's Preview of "Shakespeare In American LIfe" White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour (book about the African Grove theater company) "Stories of Freedom in Black New York" by Shane White Video of a conference on "The Legacy of Public Theater's Joe Papp" at Columbia University The Ground on Which I Stand (Dramatic Contexts) by August Wilson Maya Angelou says "Shakespeare was a black woman"

Barbara Jordan Speech on Watergate and the Constitution

From KUT | 08:44

July 25th marks the anniversary of one of the great speeches in American history. It was given by a freshman Congresswoman from Texas, Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from the South elected to Congress.

Default-piece-image-0 July 25 marks the anniversary of one of the great speeches in American history. It was given by a freshman Congresswoman from Texas, Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from the South elected to Congress…It was also a defining moment in the national crisis known as Watergate. Within two weeks President Nixon would resign. Barbara Jordan would become an icon: a symbol for what is right about America, and the most sought-after public speaker until her death in 1996. Wayne Bell begins our tale, with Barbara Jordan’s own recollections.

The Fire This Time

From Christopher Sprinkle | 06:04

Spoken-word poetry detailing memories of the 1991 Los Angeles Uprising

Default-piece-image-1 Moving spoken word poem from Los Angeles-based poet Imani Tolliver, giving light to her vivid memories of living through the 1991 LA Uprising as an African American woman. Imani Tolliver is a poet from Los Angeles. She studied English and African American Studies at Howard University. She is a co-host at Anaisi Writer’s Workshop at the World Stage in Leimert Park. Currently she works for the Salvation Army, serving high-risk youth in Hollywood. Her recent publications are Burn Rush the Nova Page; A Global Anthology of New Black Literature, Def Poetry Jam, and Beyond the Frontier.


Drop-Ins (2:00-4:59)

The Hair Struggle

From Syracuse University Broadcast Journalism | 03:28

A piece that explains how African-American students across the country are struggling to find stylists capable of doing their hair, and what lengths certain students are going to to address this "hair-raising" problem.

Photo_on_11-13-15_at_12 A piece that explains how African-American students across the country are struggling to find stylists capable of doing their hair, and what lengths certain students are going to to address this "hair-raising" problem.

"Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio" Companion Pieces (Series)

Produced by Mighty Writers

These short segments are stand-alone companion pieces to the documentary special Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. Starting in the 1950s, Black radio stations around the country became the pulse of African-American communities around the country, and their megaphone during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. These sound-rich, non-narrated pieces profile some of the documentary's main characters and explore the legacy of African-Americans on the radio in Philadelphia.

Most recent piece in this series:

Jerry Blavat

From Mighty Writers | Part of the "Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio" Companion Pieces series | 04:29

Jerry_blavat_small This is one of the short non-narrated pieces that are standalone companion pieces to the documentary special, "Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio ." Starting in the 1950s, Black radio stations around the country became the pulse of African-American communities, and served as their megaphone during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. A generation of Black disc jockeys across the nation rapped and rhymed on the radio and played the hippest records that you couldn't hear on mainstream radio. In Philadelphia, there were two Black radio stations at the far right end of the dial that had a sound you couldn't hear anywhere else: WDAS and WHAT.

Like with the documentary special, these sound-rich companion pieces explore the legacy of Black radio in Philadelphia — which is actually the story of Civil Rights, the story of Black music, and the story of how media has changed in the last century.

This installment in the series features Jerry Blavat, the Geator with the Heator. Early in his career, Blavat was a disc jockey at WHAT, one of the two Philadelphia Black AM radio stations at the far right end of the dial. Here, the Geator with the Heator, still rockin’ the big tick-tock today, talks about how he ended up in radio and the influence pioneering disc jockeys like Jocko and Georgie Woods had on his radio style.

Questions for Martin Luther King, Jr.

From David Green | 02:20

After learning about Martin Luther King, a class of Chicago-area third graders (and one visiting student from South Korea) wrote down the most important questions they would have asked Dr. King if they could have interviewed him.

Mlk_small After learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. - and about how to be good radio reporters and interviewers -  a class of Chicago-area third graders (and one visiting student from South Korea) wrote down the most important questions they would have asked Dr. King if they could have interviewed him. The resulting audio collage captures the curiosity, empathy, wisdom and innocence of eight and nine-year old children.

Third Grade Audio
"See" the world through third grade ears



Aha Moment: Underground Railroad

From Zak Rosen | 04:29

Therese Peterson started volunteering as an actor in the the Underground Railroad Reenactment tour in late 2005. She says that if she wasn't given the opportunity to play the part of the conductor, she might not be with us today. Therese takes us through the tour, and tells us how being a conductor changed her forever.

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The Underground Railroad was an informal but vast network of people who helped slaves escape from their holders in the 1800's.  It's estimated that during its height…between 1810 and 1860…The Underground Railroad helped over 30-thousand people escape enslavement. 

 

The First Congregational Church of Detroit was known for being a safe house for escaped slaves to sleep and eat along their journey.  Today the church, which has since moved to midtown Detroit, plays host to the Underground Railroad Living Museum. 

 

Volunteer actors lead tours Monday through Saturday in the church's basement.  The walking tours from slavery to Freedom last about 40 minutes, but they represent a grueling and profoundly dangerous yearlong journey from Oak Alley Louisiana to the Canadian border, northeast of Detroit, Michigan.  The tours are lead by conductors, which are in the case of this reenactment, escaped slaves as well. 


Therese Peterson started volunteering as an actor in the Confrontational Church's tour in late 2005.  She says that if she wasn't given the opportunity to play the part of the conductor…she might not be with us today.  Therese takes us through the tour…and tells us how being a conductor changed her forever. reenactment

 

A Prohibition

From Terin Mayer | 04:27

Three students reflect on what it means to be "Black" at Carleton College.

Playing
A Prohibition
From
Terin Mayer

Terinandkayeen_small Originally curated for a temporary museum installation at Carleton College, "A Prohibition" is a poetic contemplation of campus race relations. What do you mean when you say the word "black"? Why can't you say the word "nigger"? Three African American students navigate the language of identity.

Keeping Poverty on the Front Page

From Connecticut Public (WNPR) | Part of the Janensch on the Media series | 02:21

Why were experienced journalists so stunned that most of those left behind in flooded New Orleans were poor and black?

Default-piece-image-1 Why were experienced journalists so stunned that most of those left behind in flooded New Orleans were poor and black? Media commentator Paul Janensch examines this issue in a short commentary that makes a perfect drop-in for a news program, or special on poverty. This can be used in conjuction with features from the program "After the Flood: New Conversations About Poverty." Media commentator Paul Janensch is a former newspaper editor who teaches journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. You can read his column in the Hartford Courant.

Katrina, Race, and High School

From Blunt Youth Radio Project | Part of the Blunt Responds to Hurricane Katrina series | 04:15

Hurricane Katrina led Blunt Youth Radio Project producer, Bly Lauritano-Werner to take a second look at the roles race and class play in her high school.

Default-piece-image-2 The mishandled evacuation following Hurricane Katrina brought up a national dialogue on social inequalities like race and class. Some people have criticized the government's slow disaster response as a form of racism against Southern Black communities. The controversy led Blunt Youth Radio Project producer, Bly Lauritano-Werner to take a second look at the roles race and class play in her high school.

Black word nerds

From Will Wright | 02:58

Can people of African descent be word nerds? Can we avoid people's expectation that "black people" talk "black?" A few University of Minnesota students sound off.

Chris_rock_small Can people of African descent be word nerds?  Can we avoid people's expectation that "black people" talk "black?"  A few University of Minnesota students sound off.

Everybody's Green

From Youth Radio | 01:59

Youth Radio's Ahmina James is on a mission to make "being green" colorless.

Default-piece-image-2 High School student Ahmina James is tired of environmentalism being considered a "white thing." Her new passion is to makie recycling, energy saving, and concieceness about the earth, popular in the black community as well.   She wants the world to know that green issues really do have a diverse movement behind them, and its time to hop on the bandwagon.

Virtuoso Voices - Awadagin Pratt (Role Model)

From Listener Directed Productions, Inc. | Part of the Virtuoso Voices(tm) series | :28

Athletes are often role models, as are some politicians and teachers. And musicians, like pianist Awadagin Pratt, can be considered role models as well. Use this 28 second clip to introduce pianist Awadagin Pratt playing any of his recordings.

Awadaginpratt_small Use this clip to enhance your introduction of Awadagin Pratt playing any of his recordings. Your options include his 4 Bach recordings on EMI Classics and the Brahms Ballades on EMI Classics (55025)

SUGGESTED HOST INTRO
Athletes are often role models, as are some politicians and teachers. And musicians, like pianist Awadagin (ah-wah-DAH-gin) Pratt, can be considered role models as well.

CLIP TRANSCRIPT
"It's important to me to be recognized as an African-American pianist, that young people can see me, and see that it's an aspiration that they can have - that it's not something that's excluded from them. And, you know, as well for other young musicians just to see that there are some people out there that look a little bit differently, and you know it doesn't matter what their race is, or gender, that you don't have to only look a certain way to have a career."

SUGGESTED HOST OUTRO
Pianist Awadagin (ah-wah-DAH-gin) Pratt. You can learn more about him on his website: awadagin.com (spell out a-w-a-d-g-i-n), including information on the Pratt Music Foundation and some of his favorite puzzles and games. We'll get to know Awadagin Pratt right now on a musical level. This is (insert music title).

(Special thanks to WBHM PD Michael Krall for sharing his interview with Awadagin Pratt. The interview was originally heard on his program, "Tapestry." http://www.wbhm.org/Tapestry/index.html)

(To download a .txt file of this suggested copy, look under the "Additional Files" for this piece.)


WHAT IS VIRTUOSO VOICES™?

Virtuoso Voices™ is a performer interview service that provides short interview segments to radio stations, their websites and other online platforms.

Virtuoso Voices provides stations with a new strategy for presenting classical music on the radio by directly involving the performer in the introduction of the music.  These topical and evergreen clips enable announcers to bring an additional insider's perspective to the music they introduce and play on their shifts.

Program content is taken from interviews with internationally recognized classical music performers, such as Gil Shaham, Yo-Yo Ma, Marin Alsop, Lorin Maazel, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn and Michael Tilson Thomas.

For more information and to see additional ways to use these clips, please visit our website, www.virtuosovoices.org.


Virtuoso Voices™ Fundraising Service

Virtuoso Voices(tm) is also Public Radio's primary source for classical music fundraising messages.

Please visit the fundraising page of our website for examples and further information.  www.virtuosovoices.org/fundraising.


VIRTUOSO VOICES

"Classical Music's Virtuosos Want a Word with Your Listeners."

Virtuoso Voices is a trademark of Listener Directed Productions, Inc.

Remembering "I Have a Dream"

From Rebecca Sheir | 05:41

We know what history books say about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech - but what about the people who were there?

_01 Rebecca Sheir talks with Washington, D.C., locals -- including the now-late activist/politician/professor Julian Bond -- about how it felt watching Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, live, at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

Madame C. J. Walker

From Brian Hawkins | Part of the Heroes in Black History series | 02:02

America's first African American female millionaire.

Madame_cj_walker_small America's first African American female millionaire.

28 Days of Black Cosplay

From Eric Molinsky | Part of the Imaginary Worlds series | 20:11

A social media hashtag celebrates black Cosplayers and the spin they put on classic characters.

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Cosplay has gotten huge in the age of social media, but when websites feature their ComicCon slides shows, they rarely reflect the true diversity of the fans. So black Cosplayers created their own hashtag #28DaysofBlackCosplay (although it was #29DaysofBlackCosplay on the leap year.) Harry and Gina Crossland talk about why they like putting an original spins on classic characters. Cosplayers Suqi and Brittnay N. Williams of the site Black Nerd Problems talk about finding their community, and having to call out Cosplayers who don't understand why blackface shouldn't be part of any costume.