At the Edge: Think Culture

It was from, and because of the hard living conditions of slavery, the spiritual was born. The spiritual was the creation of the American slaves brought from Africa. Spirituals expressed the history, treatment, and thoughts of Black people in the United States.  The combined experiences of Africa and America served to produce the spirituals. They served the propose of religious expression to communication, often by code. They possessed a folk literature that was varied and rich. They had their native musical endowment to begin with, and the Spirituals possessed the fundamental characteristics of African Music, rhythmic qualities, form and intervallic structure.

Dr. April Massey, Ph.D.–my Dean at UDC is coming on again and we are going to talk about building bridges across disciplines, across humanities and STEM, gender, race, and more. Please join us–she is doing what many wish they could do in higher ed!!!!!

In Professor Jameel Paulin's 2020 MFA project "Congo Square", an audio-visual album produced and developed for virtual reality, Paulin situates Afrofuturism and hip-hop within the long history of Afrocentric aesthetic and spiritual practices; examining vodun and Congo Square as moments where African ancestors transformed the way that their descendants could exist in and re-shape the modern world by maintaining African centered worldviews.   Jameel Paulin is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Colorado College.

Three Black British women from different centuries who are pioneers in using the power of the pen and in doing so have highlighted the Black experience in Britain:  Mary Seacole 19th century - First Black woman to publish an autobiography Claudia Jones 20th century - founder and publisher of the first Black commercial newspaper Bernadette Evaristo 20/21st century - first Black winner of the Booker prize Olive Vassell was born and raised in London. Her research interests focus on the African Diaspora, especially Black Europe and the Black British media. A journalist for more than two decades, Olive has worked both in the UK and the US. In 2009, she founded euromight.com, the first Black pan-European news site. Most recently she authored a chapter on the Black British and Irish Press for the pioneering, three-volume, Edinburgh History of the British and Irish Press, 1641-2017 (published November 2020). She is currently writing and editing a book, Mapping Black Europe: Monuments, Markers, Memories. In 2020, she was awarded a Fulbright Specialist award during which she will partner with the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Olive is an associate professor at the University of the District of Columbia where she heads its Digital Media program.

Black queerness has long been absent from the adoration of black histories. The stories of black queer women -- their courage, creativity, and audacity -- are hidden beneath even deeper shadows of history, of memory. Queerness is understood as a fluidity of gender expression and sexuality expanded conceptions of Black liberation. Dr. Monique A. Gamble, Assistant Professor of Political Science, specializes in U.S. Government and political behavior. Specifically, her interests focus on race, Black LGBTQ culture, and U.S. politics. Her academic vision is inspired by Black feminist scholars’ intersectional work and a lifetime of Black cultural events -- from growing up watching the HBCU-based television show, A Different World, to live-tweeting Beyoncé’s groundbreaking visual album, Lemonade. Dr. Gamble uses storytelling as a pedagogical tool to empower students to be civic leaders and inspire their political engagement. Her approach to teaching and practicing Political Science bridges traditional theoretical perspectives with contemporary voices that are accessible and compelling to 21st-century audiences. With a finger on the pulse of pop culture and scholarship that utilizes new media platforms like podcasts and filmmaking, Dr. Gamble highlights the links between visibility and representation, politics, and power.

 Dr. Rosie Sneed is currently an associate professor in the Biology Program, Division of Science and Mathematics at the University of the District of Columbia, Washington DC.   Dr. Sneed’s current research centers on planarian regeneration. There are two major branches to this research. The first involves the role of cannabinoids on regeneration, gene expression, and cellular proliferation in both Girardia dorotocephala and Phagocata gracilis. The second branch deals with the role of regeneration in the life cycle of the two species mentioned above. Girardia dorotocephala has a much higher regenerative capacity than Phagocata gracilis.  

Vanessa Maddox CEO of V.R. Maddox Consulting LLC Founder, #BlackWallStreet:  Loudoun Community Think Tank Vee Maddox CEO, V.R. Maddox Consulting LLC Founder, #GetHired Employment Community Founder, Black Wall Street:  Loudoun Member, Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Co-Chair, BBEC 202-607-4402   Connect with me on LinkedIn

Eileen James teaches literature, composition, and public speaking at the Community College of RI.    Cherie Ann Turpin, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the English Program at the University of the District of Columbia, an HBCU.  Together, we are the hosts for the newest academic podcast on the block:  Professors’ Lounge: An Afrofuturism-Scholar Production.  This is Episode Two.  Welcome aboard!

Eileen James teaches literature, composition, and public speaking at the Community College of RI.   Bill Dalessio is an Associate Professor of English at the Community College of Rhode Island, where he teaches multicultural American literature and composition courses.  Cherie Ann Turpin, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the English Program at the University of the District of Columbia, an HBCU.   Click here for our full bios:  http://afrofuturismscholar.com/2021/01/12/da-fourteenth-we-launch-our-podcast-professors-lounge-an-afrofuturism-scholar-production/ Together, we are the hosts for the newest academic podcast on the block:  Professors’ Lounge: An Afrofuturism-Scholar Production.  This is Episode One.  Welcome aboard! 

Ajeune Lynch is a black feminist committed to improving the lives of black queer people and femmes. She is a graduating senior at UDC. Ajeune currently serves as a housing advocacy specialist for a local non-profit. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Jamila A Stone, a recent alum of the English Program at UDC, not only successfully published a Urban Fantasy/Paranormal/LGBTQ book series and a murder mystery/crime series but created her own publishing company here in Washington, D.C.    Driven to write without fear of censorship while facing the lack of opportunity for POC to publish on viable, equal platforms, Jamila created her own publishing company called Black Glory Publishing House. Jamila A Stone lives in Washington, D.C. with her two dogs. https://www.amazon.com/Jamila-A-Stone/e/B07ZFV2354/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AJamila+A+Stone https://readersfavorite.com/rfreviews/search?search=Jamila+A.+Stone&by=authorname https://jamilastone.com/

Born and raised in South Dakota, Chase Duffy has been studying in DC for the past four years and UDC for the last two. He has been working on a collection of poetry over this time. He intends to go into teaching high school English in the DC area after graduation.

Dr. Craig Wynne, the newest professor in the English Program at UDC, will be the next guest on my podcast show At the Edge:  Think Culture.  We will talk about Dr. Wynne’s latest book “How to be a Happy Bachelor” (2020), where he discusses how to think critically about society’s perceptions of marriage, how to overcome your stigma and fear of being alone, and even how to respond to society’s judgments. https://petermcgraw.org/the-happy-bachelor/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happy-singlehood/202009/changing-the-language-singlehood  

Dr. Lawrence T. Potter, Jr., was appointed UDC’s Chief Academic Officer/Provost in February 2019. With more than two decades in higher education, Dr. Potter has moved through the professorial ranks as an assistant, associate, and full tenured professor. On the higher education leadership front, he has served as a department chair, associate dean of the faculty, two-time chief diversity officer (CDO), Director/Principal Investigator of a McNair Scholars Program, and Dean of Arts and Sciences for eight years, at two Minority-Serving Institutions.

The importance of information literacy and the role of libraries in diversity and social justice in higher education.   Meghan Kowalski is the Outreach and Reference Librarian at the University of the District of Columbia. Previously, she worked in both public and technical services at the Catholic University of America’s John K. Mullen of Denver Memorial Library. She is interested in engaging communities through online and offline outreach initiatives. One of her other current focuses is to increase library professional skill development by breaking down traditional silos, learning from other industries, and encouraging personal career management. You can learn more about her experiences and see some of her work on her website meghankowalski.com.

  Final project diiscussion and guidance. Have your Blackboard discussion board page open--we will chat and write today! Call in at 4! Call in here!  (516) 418-5402

Final project diiscussion and guidance.  Have your Blackboard discussion board page open--we  will chat and write today!

Final project diiscussion and guidance.  Have your Blackboard discussion board page open--we  will chat and write today!

Even scholars take notice of the silence.  Listen to Dr. Carl Moore and Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin talk poetry, the mind, the spirit, the self and the collective in the midst of a pandemic moment in human history

Class

American Authors of Color: Virtual Class 3 - Woman Warrior readings, Discussion Board, Final Project, Late work extensions

Corona Virus:  History and Prevention In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, I am hosting a show where you can listen to Lisa Rose Rodriguez, Mph. (University of Connecticut Health) talk about how we got to this place where we are in collective quarantine, as well as using the ordinary to survive and come out on the other side with a better sense of what it means to sustain a society that engages in health as a communal effort.  Please calll in and join  us  today at 5 pm! https://www.google.com/search?q=lisa+rose-rodriguez+linkedin&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari lrrodriguez_mph@yahoo.com

We  will meet and  discuss Sherman Alexie, Maxine Hong Kingston, final projects, and catching up.  This will be a chance for you to get info on final projects, final readings, and a quick demo on how you can use a podcast platform to do a class presentation without boring your audience.  

We  will meet and  discuss Sherman Alexie, final projects,  and join in a demo on podcasting.  This will be a chance for you to get info on final projects, final readings, and a quick demo on how you can use a podcast platform to do a class presentation without boring your audience.

Words like equity and humanities, as well as phrases like "pathways for a better life"  are skeletons of concepts we will unpack and discuss as part of a larger conversation about changes coming to the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) that will help faculty, students and administrative leaders bring fairness and success to every community and collective in the DC metropolitan area.  This will be a roundtable discussion with UDC's President Ronald Mason, Jr.,   Dr.  Aparajita De, Associate Professor in the English Program, Chenequa Holland, student and blogger, and your host, Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin, Associate Professor.  Join us as we discuss challenges and visions for a regenerated and renewed UDC.   #equalfundingudc

Learn what I mean by "quantum flow" in the poet's voice--this episode will have you thinking about the power of language.  Ronald Mason the spoken word artist who came to Washington DC as an educator from New Orleans returns for part three to talk about poetry, spoken word, and making culture. We will chat about the creative process and social progress in poetry. Listen in as we both share our writing, process, and ideas in challenging but fascinating times.  Beginning audio "State of Mind" by Audiobinger.  State of Mind by Audiobinger is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.audiobinger.net/ or contact artist via email. Bring Me Down, Intrepid, 4 the Culture,  Shine by K.I.R.K. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.  For more permissions: contact artist via http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jay_Kirk/

April Massey, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia, has earned degrees from The Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, and Howard University. A speech-language pathologist by profession, she has nearly 20 years of administrative experience and has served in the capacity of dean for five years. Dr. Massey uses her disciplinary training to consider the liberal arts and careerist needs of students and the research, teaching, and leadership interests of faculty. With newly launched initiatives in signature work, women’s leadership, faculty development, STEM pipeline, faculty learning hubs, and scholarship of practice, her work emphasizes learning by doing and lived experience as content and context for teaching and learning. Her recent projects include leading the University’s General Education reform effort in 2009, partnering with the American Association of University Women through a Campus Action Project grant in 2016 to build a leadership development opportunity for women students at UDC, shepherding a faculty study team in signature work in the summer of 2017 under the umbrella of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and launching Dialogues in Leadership — an on campus faculty leadership development program in the fall of 2017.

This will be a brief chat about starting podcast channels for my students.

How many leaders who shape policy in American institutions believe in the racist myth that African-Americans accept gun violence in our communities as a norm?  Dehumanizing African-Americans in the justice system and in mainstream media has kept victims from receiving needed treatment and remedies in medical settings such as emergency rooms, as well as receiving needed counseling.  Racial bias may have also blinded us to possible preventative solutions beyond criminalization.  Epidemiologist Lisa Rose-Rodriguez discusses her work to decrease mortality rates for African American men and boys through counseling and improvement of interpersonal connections.  As a board member of Connecticut's Mothers United Against Violence, Lisa has worked with victims, and has advocated for a reinterpretation of gun violence as a public health issue that must be remedied by preventative counseling and treatment through local/state institutions, as well as nonprofit and grassroot organizations. Lisa Rose-Rodriguez was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Shaker Heights High School, she matriculated at Howard University in Washington, DC. There she upheld the tradition of attending an HBCU for three generations. She received a Masters of Public Health at the University of Connecticut and is completing a Ph.D. in Media Philosophy at the European Graduate School. See "Chicago’s New Prohibition Era: Bottling Homicides," and "Reducing Gun Violence Morbidity and Mortality in African-American Males by Applying Interpersonal Communication Skills."  

Ronald Mason the spoken word artist who came to Washington DC as an educator from New Orleans returns for part two to talk about poetry, spoken word, and making culture.  Poet Carl Moore who hails from Philadelphia will briefly join us to share his work as well.  Tonight we will each share our works, methods, and stories about what it means to be creative writers in a highly politicized time period while holding true to our visions as artists.  Tonight we will discuss soulful visions and being true to the speaking self! Beginning audio "State of Mind" by Audiobinger.  State of Mind by Audiobinger is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.audiobinger.net/ or contact artist via email. Bring Me Down, Intrepid, 4 the Culture,  Shine by K.I.R.K. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.  For more permissions: contact artist via http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jay_Kirk/    

Provoked by mass evictions and the onset of gentrification in the 1970s, tenants in Washington, D.C. began forming cooperative organizations to collectively purchase and manage their apartment buildings. These tenants were creating a commons, taking a resource—housing—that had been used to extract profit from them, and reshaping it as a resource that was collectively owned and governed by them. In Carving Out the Commons, Amanda Huron theorizes the practice of urban commoning through a close investigation of the city’s limited-equity housing cooperatives. Drawing on feminist and anticapitalist perspectives, Huron asks whether a commons can work in a city where land and other resources are scarce, and how strangers who may not share a past or future come together to create and maintain commonly-held spaces in the midst of capitalism. Arguing against the romanticization of the commons, she instead positions the urban commons as a pragmatic practice. Through the practice of commoning, she contends, we can learn to build communities to challenge capitalism’s totalizing claims over life. Go get her book on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Carving-Out-Commons-Organizing-Cooperatives-ebook/dp/B07B46FS9H/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544020183&sr=1-1&keywords=amanda+huron Author Bio Amanda Huron is an associate professor of interdisciplinary social sciences at the University of the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C. She is an urban geographer with a particular interest in housing, gentrification, the decommodification of land, and the history of Washington, D.C. Amanda serves on the board of Empower D.C., a citywide community organizing group that works to empower low- and moderate-income District residents, with a particular focus on anti-displacement work. She is a native of Washington, D.C.'s Ward One.

President Ronald Mason, who originally hails from New Orleans, Louisiana, came to Washington DC to be the current president of my university, University of the District of Columbia in 2015. Besides his decades of experience as an educational leader, he also came to D.C. with a gift for spoken word, a gift that puts him in that space between poetic form, song, and rap.  As I am also a poet and short story writer, as well as a literature professor, it occurred to me we have not had a chance to hear more about Mason's story and work as a spoken word artist and poet. Tonight's show will walk us through that journey as At the Edge returns after five years with a new set of podcasts called Thinking Culture. Join us and call in for a special conversation about language,

My next guest is Peter Quinn, who joined Time Inc. as the chief speechwriter in 1985 & retired as corporate editorial director for Time Warner in 2007. He received a BA from Manhattan College (1969), an MA in history from Fordham Univ (1974) and was ABD.. He was awarded a Ph.D., honoris causa by Manhattan College  (2002). In 1979, he was Governor Carey's chief speechwriter, continuing under Governor Mario Cuomo;  he helped craft the Governor’s 1984 Democratic Convention speech & his address at Notre Dame University. His 1994 novel Banished Children of Eve won a 1995 American Book Award. Looking for Jimmy: In Search of Irish America was published in 2007. Colum McCann summed up Quinn's historical detective novels -- Hour of the Cat (2005), The Man Who Never Returned (2010), and Dry Bones (2013) -- as "generous and agile and profound." He co-wrote the 1987 television doc "McSorley’s New York," (NY Emmy for “Outstanding Historical Programming”). He was a commentator in PBS documentaries “The Irish in America;” “New York: A Documentary Film;” “The Life and Times of Stephen Foster,” s the Academy Award-nominated film, “The Passion of Sister Rose.” He was an advisor on Martin Scorcese’s  “Gangs of New York.” He helped conceive/script the 6-part doc “The Road to the White House,” which aired on TG4 in Ireland (2009). Quinn was editor of The Recorder: The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society (1986 to 1993). He has articles/reviews in The NY Times, Commonweal, America, American Heritage, Catholic Historical Review, Philadelphia Enquirer, L.A. Times, Eiré-Ireland. He is on the advisory boards of the American Irish Historical Society, NYU's Gluckman Ireland House, and the Tenement Museum. He is a co-founder of Irish American Writers & Artists. http://www.newyorkpaddy.com

This episode features Thomas Joseph "T.J." English, "Author of The Savage City (2011), a NY Times best-selling account of racial turmoil between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Movement in the 60s and early 70s.  Other best-sellers include The Westies, an account of the last of the Irish Mob in the infamous Manhattan neighborhood "Hell’s Kitchen"; Born to Kill (1995), an account of a violent Vietnamese gang based in New York’s Chinatown; Paddy Whacked (2005), a history of the Irish American gangster in New York, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, and other U.S. cities; the NYT bestseller Havana Nocturne (2008), about U.S. mobster infiltration of Havana, Cuba before Fidel Castro (currently in film development); his most recent book, Whitey's Payback (2013), which combines first-rate reporting and storytelling techniques into 16 true-crime stories.   As a journalist, English has written for many publications including: Esquire, Playboy, NY Magazine, The Village Voice, LA Times Magazine, and the NY Times. In the mid-1990s, he wrote a 3-part series for Playboy, "The New Mob";  in 2011 he wrote "Narco Americano," for Playboy; in 2010, his article for Playboy about a DEA agent who allegedly framed innocent people on bogus narcotics charges won the NY Press Club Award for Best Crime Reporting.  He published interviews with Bill Murray, former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, Martin Scorsese, and George Carlin.  As a screenwriter, English wrote episodes for "NYPD Blue" and "Homicide," for which he was awarded the Humanitas Prize. http://www.tj-english.com/

This episode features Professor S. Torriano Berry, an associate professor at Howard University’s Department of Radio, Television, and Film.  We will discuss his self-published novel TEARS, a study on racism and its indoctrination into children;  "Hellbound Train," 1929, James & Eloyce Gist's historic cinematic sermon that was rediscovered in fragments in a vault at the LOA that Berry resurrected; and "RICH" his UCLA project 2 film-part of the L.A. Rebellion Traveling Film Series. Professor Berry is an award-winning independent filmmaker who  created and executive produced the anthology series Black Independent Showcase & Black Visions/Silver Screen: Howard University Student Film Showcase for WHUT-TV 32, in DC. His two half-hour television movies The Light & When It’s Your Turn were produced through the Minority Advisory Board of WPVI-TV 6, in Philadelphia, PA. Berry created the science fiction anthology series The Black Beyond, and his feature-length horror film EMBALMER is available on dvd. A 30-minute version of EMBALMER was a 1998 finalist in Showtime’s Black Filmmaker’s Short Film Showcase. In 2005, he spent a year in Belize, Central America, directing & editing Noh Matta Wat, Belize’s first dramatic television series, completing 4 seasons by 2010. Berry co-authored the film resource book, The 50 Most Influential Black Films (Citadel Press 2001). He has also written two fiction novels: Tears, based on his feature length screenplay addressing the roots of racism in America, and The Honeyman’s Son, a coming of age adventure set in the early 1940s. Berry received his BA in Art/Photography from Arizona State University, and earned his MFA in Motion Picture Production from UCLA. He lives in Washington, DC.

At the Edge presents Part Two of my discussion with Scottie Lowe, also known as AfroerotiK, who will be discussing her new erotic videos and new collection of erotic short stories, as well as continuing our discussion on Black women, the erotic, spiritual communion, and self-empowerment. Erotic provocateur, humanist, relentless champion for the oppressed, and facilitator for social change, Scottie Lowe is the brain child, creative genius and the blood, sweat, and tears behind AfroerotiK, the website and the company to provide people of African descent a place to escape the narrow-mined, stereotypical, limiting and oft-times degrading beliefs that abound about our sexuality.  While being the first to admit that there are issues surrounding collective Black sexuality, Scottie is putting everything on the table to discuss, debate, and dismantle stereotypes in a healthy exchange of ideas.  She hopes to provide a more holistic, informed, and enlightened discussion of Black sexuality so that people of color have alternatives to the one-dimensional caricatures society and the media force-feed us down our throats and she dreams of helping couples become more open, honest, and adventurous in their relationships.     For more information about Scottie Lowe and AfroerotiK, do check out her website http://afroerotik.com/ She is on Twitter https://twitter.com/afroerotik & on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/scottie.lowe.afro

  After 20 years of working for Fortune 500 organizations, federal government agencies and federal contractors such as AOL, Nextel Corporation, Global Knowledge, Harris Corporation, QinetiQ North America the U.S. Senate and the Social Security Administration, Vanessa parlayed her 20 years of experience into her first entrepreneurial venture. She founded V.R. Maddox Consulting. V.R. Maddox Consulting is a full-service consulting firm that partners with organizations to build and manage world-class employee development programs. In July 2010, V.R. Maddox Consulting proudly became a Certified Virginia SWaM business (Small, Women & Minority Owned).   To pay tribute to her sister Valerie who passed away suddenly in 2009, TheGirlfriendGroup was born on August 22, 2009. TheGirlfriendGroup is a professional/social networking website. Its mission: women helping women in all aspects of life. It is a diverse, highly dynamic group of women that aspire to Network.Share.Encourage." Vanessa’s personal philosophy is “collaborate and remain open-minded”. She enjoys working with smart, talented people who are willing to learn and contribute to the success of mission, values and goals of the organization. She believes in giving 110%.   Vanessa resides in Leesburg, VA with her husband Roger, their sons Connor and Jamison, and their dog Sal.  

This episode features Irish actor/performer/novelist Gerald Mannix Flynn (Born in Dublin 1957). He has performed in film for over 25 years. In 1983 he published the novel Nothing To Say. His plays: The Liberty Suite (1977);  He who laughs wins (1981); Inside for RTÉ (1986); Hunger and Thirst (1989); Talking to the Wall performed by Flynn @ Edinburgh Festival (1997); Screenplays Twist of Fate (Trisquare Films 1998) & Alma Mater (2001); James X (2003), performed in Dublin, Berkeley, Cincinnati, the Venice Biennale, London, & New York. Irish Times reviewer Fintan O'Toole on James X:  "It is about us collectively, the things done in our name by the bodies that are supposed to represent us. It is our secret history offered to us to pour over and consume, to acknowledge and own." His documentary 'Way Out' deals w/multi-generational issues surrounding institutional control over families, performance of inclusion, & owning ones own history and destiny. He serves as Councillor to Dublin City Council for the SE Inner City Area.  He is a member of Aosdána & on the board of the Toscaireacht. This summer he ran the Marathon Irish festival to coincide with London 2012 Olympics at Dialogue Space. He will perform James X in Krakow, part of the Conrad Festival; both James X & Nothing to Say have been published in Polish (10/24/12).  He will be in Waterford, Ireland (Imagine Festival); Magdalene Laundry exhibition (London 11/01/12), Dialogue Space (2013) bringing groups & speakers to address Slave labour, trafficked children, the rights of the mothers and children, and how the State and Church controls large swathes of society.  His current project "Trafficked: Bought & Sold/The Gathering Ireland: Bringing home the Irish citizens that were sold abroad," seeks justice for Irish children who were sold/transported abroad by the Irish State and the Catholic Church.

This week I interview my uncle, the Reverend Dr. Gregory E. Thomas has pastored the historic, Calvary Baptist Church of Haverhill, MA for 22 years. Since coming to the predominately African-American 140-year-old church, he has grown the membership, acquired new property, revamped Christian education and initiated ministries of spirituality. He initiated a revamped scholarship program for high school graduates pursuing higher education; instituted food ministries to combat hunger throughout the Merrimac Valley; started a nonprofit development corporation dedicated to taking the mission of the church outside of its walls, and created the Reverend Dr. Gregory E. Thomas African American Church Lecture Series. A native of Cleveland, OH, he entered the preaching ministry in 1980 in Elizabeth, NJ. Dr. Thomas completed his undergraduate study in history in 1970 from Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH, where he was a star football player. He received his master's degree in theological studies in 1989 from Harvard Divinity School and his doctorate of ministry in 2001 from Boston University School of Theology. He is a doctoral candidate at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in practical theology.   Dr. Thomas has taught at Goethe University, Harvard Divinity School, Gordon Conwell Seminary and Leslie College. He has written for the American Baptist Quarterly, the National Baptist Voice and has contributed to several books. He is married to the former Janie R. McMillian & has two adult children, Staff Sgt. Eli D. Lavelanet & Jennifer L. Thomas.  Dr. Thomas has served on many boards, including the Haverhill Housing Partnership, the former Bradford College, Habitat for Humanity in Greater Lawrence, the United Baptist Convention of MA, RI and NH and as Advisor to The Center for Practical Theology, Boston University School of Theology.

  Dr. Randall Horton, Assistant Professor of English at University of New Haven, hails from Birmingham, AL, and is a former recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. His first book The Definition of Place was a finalist for the Main Street Rag Book Award and was published in their Editor's Select Series in 2006. Dr. Horton is the current poetry editor of Reverie: Midwest African American Literature and co-editor of Fingernails Across the ChalkboardPoetry and Prose on HIV/AIDs from the Black Diaspora(Third World Press, 2007). He is also the editor of four children's anthologies.  He received his undergraduate education at both Howard Univ and  Univ of DC (B.A. English). He has a MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Poetry from Chicago State Univ and a PhD in Creative Writing from SUNY Albany. He is a Cave Canem fellow and his poems, fiction and nonfiction appear in Motif: Writing by Ear, Mosaic, Black Renaissance, Crab Orchard Review and The Red Clay Review. He is currently working on critical essays that explore the impact of cultural memory and trauma-poetry and poetics. He is on a Poetry Panel at the CBC Conference-WEWCC, Sept 21. 

  In this episode I interview Dr. Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Graduate Chair of Religion at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. We will discuss Religion and the 2012 Elections, Sarah Palin; Republican party and Religion; Catholic Church Sex abuse scandals; Women's reproductive rights and political action; 2012 and Mayan Calendar.   A Contributing Editor and Blogger at Religion Dispatches, Dr. Butler's research include Religion and Politics, Religion and Popular Culture, Women and Religion, Pentecostalism, sexuality, and African American Religion. She is author of Women in the Church of God in Christ:  Making a Sanctified World (UNC Press), and most recently The Gospel According To Sarah: How Sarah Palin's Tea Party Angels Are Galvanizing The Religious Right (The New Press).   Dr. Butler can be heard on NPR, Interfaith Voices, and she can be seen on MSNBC as a contributing commentator on Melissa Harris-Perry and other MSNBC features.    

  Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin interviews Madrina Angelique, who "is initiated in the Palo tradition as Madre Nganga of Munanso Centella Ndoki Nyuyo Malongo Corta Lima Cordosa, initiated by Chief Ololele Afolabi, godson of Tata Antonio Ali.  She is also initiated in Santeria as Iyalorisha of Ile Ori Yemaya, initiated by Baba Ogun Solu, godson of Chief Bolu Fantunmise of the Ifa Orisha Cultural Cener in Nigeria and Atlanta.  Born and raised in rural Georgia, she has immersed herself in the study and practice of traditional southern hoodoo since childhood."  From RootMamaConjure.com This episode promises to be an insightful discussion on the role of African Traditional Religions in culture-making in the United States and as an essential part of the African Diaspora.   

This episode Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin interviews Poet Tzynya Pinchback, who is a "mother, writer, spinster and cranberry enthusiast.  Using narrative as shaman, lyric as landscape, [she is] a corporate proposal writer by day, syllable wench courting meter, form and tambourine-carrying skeletons by night. Tzynya is founder and facilitator of Cat in the Belly – a memoir and guided journaling workshop incorporating eco-psychology and art therapy principles."  Her work can be seen in Plain View Press’s Alternatives to Surrender anthology;  Paul Politis’ photography exhibit A Clean Well Lighted Place; and Holly Rose Review. She has also authored three poetry chapbooks: EveSongs (1996, University of New Mexico Africana Studies),   hussy (2010), and Pink Confetti (2012). - from TzynyaPinchback.com  

In this episode, Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin interviews Dr. Alondra Nelson, Associate Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, whose latest  work Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination brings to light the significance of the Black Panther Party's role in challenging mainstream medicine's mistreatment of and discrimination against poor people of African descent in the United States.  Dr. Nelson, whose groundbreaking work on theorization of Afrofuturism continues to inspire scholars, will discuss her book, as well as other aspects of her research.

Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin interviews Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Corset MagazineArielle Loren about her ground-breaking magazine, her work towards building healthy conversations about female sexuality, and her fascinating documentary Bideology, a feature-length film exploring sexualities. The latest issue of Corset Magazine is due to be out in August, by the way but do make sure you check out Issues #1 and #2, because your host is a contributor in all three!

Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin interviews up and coming speculative/science fiction author Thaddeus Howze about his novel Hayward's Reach, his collection of short fiction on his website Hubcity Blues, and the growth of cyberpunk and futurism among writers of the African Diaspora.

Our first episode features a conversation between Dr. Cherie Ann Turpin and Afroerotik about erotic agency, gender, race, and technology: what does it mean to be subject of desire and an Afrofuturist/futurist? What role does internet and social media play in the negotiation, articulation, and performance of racialized and gendered bodies as artists, writers, and lovers? As citizens of the world?  Do check out my blog for more on AfroerotiK: http://afrofuturismscholar.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/at-the-edge-talking-erotics-afrofuturism-with-afroerotik-blogtalkradio-show-tonight-at-8-pm-est/