The Janus Adams Show

What must we do to fortify our sons (and our daughters); to teach them not just how to survive but to thrive; to save their righteous minds, bodies and spirits? This week's show: RAISING BLACK BOYS IN TOUCH TIMES with our guests, MaryAnne Howland, author of "WARRIOR RISING: How Four Men Helped a Boy on His Journey to Manhood," and Raymond Winbush, PhD, author of "THE WARRIOR METHOD: A Parents' Guide to Rearing Healthy Black Boys."

At a time when the entire world is in turmoil and the brink of chaos seems not far off, what does it take to right the world—to right the world order to balance. Are these very goals—balance, world order—the root of the problem Ambassadar Stuart E. Eizenstat, veteran U.S. diplomat, member of the Carter and Clinton administrations, former ambassador to the European Union, is this week's guest.. His new book is: THE ART OF DIPLOMACY: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements. Ambassador Eizenstat (retired) was appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.

In this special broadcast, FarmArts Collective--an Agri/Cultural Center at Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA--discusses its second annual Juneteenth celebration. Guests: Tasa Faronii, Robin Grey Wolf Henderson, Adrienne Jensen, Faye Kaiser-Valdera, G. Oliver King, and FarmArts founder, Tannis Kowalchuk. Special thanks to Radio Catskill Program Director Jason Dole.

As an artist, Christina Hunt Wood is known for her paintings and printmaking; her “Human Nature” series which merges photography with clay imprints; her “Landscapes” of discarded "road soda" litter; her “Living Archive Project” which rethinks rural tradition through the lens of inclusive representation; and such video project installations as Untitled Interactions, the Manual Project? So, what made her―a Black artist―decide to photograph herself as in blackface? Christina Hunt Wood is this week's guest on “The Janus Adams Show.”

Two elite swimmers (Ann Smith, 82, and Madeline Murphy Rabb, 76) journey to the National Senior Games. TEAM DREAM--a serious contender in the run-up to awards season, this little star of a film flares with unexpected brilliance; capturing imaginations and challenging long-standing assumptions about Black people, swimming, history, current realities, the surprising facts of life (and death), and joy—“Black joy.” Guests: athletes Rabb and Smith, filmmaker Luchina Fisher, and historian Kevin Dawson. This documentary short, TEAM DREAM, was made possible by the Queen Collective—an initiative begun by executive producers Queen Latifah and Procter & Gamble. Their mission: to create opportunities for women filmmakers of color to tell their stories by providing access to mentorship, production support, and distribution. The film was featured at the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival.

What does it do to you when someone you love is ripped from the family, charged with a crime, wrongfully incarcerated, and – after nearly 25 years, continues to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole in the infamous Angola prison – a national disgrace – despite evidence of his innocence, and still protesting his innocence? Deborah G. Plant, author of the book OF GREED AND GLORY: IN PURSUIT OF FREEDOM FOR ALL is my guest today. Informed by her own personal experience . . . armed with her skills as a scholar, author, and literary critic with a masters and doctorate in English . . . YES, this story could happen to anyone, and has too often happened to too many African-American Everymans and Everywomans Deborah Plant takes moments that can bring you to your knees and gives us a book to bring us to our senses; to a knowledge of what is being done to thousands of people in our name as American citizens. We close this episode with a profile of Angola Prison, the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary located on the site of 8,000-acre Angola Plantation—so named for the homeland of people enslaved there. Clint Smith travelled to the prison to research his #1 New York Times bestseller, "HOW THE WORD IS PASSED: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America." He spoke about Angola during his visit to the show in 2021.

Nicole Franklin and Bryant Monteilh are the producers and co-hosts of an extraordinary podcast series, BEFORE YOU GO. Lurking in the background of that title is the taboo subject of death. But, “Before You Go” is, without question, about life. In on-site interviews, here are stories about life and living from the vantage of those who know more about the subject than most of us ever will—centenarians, people who've achieved or are nearing their 100th birthdays. What do they have to tell us about living long and living well? What would you want to pass on as your stories of a lifetime? BEFORE YOU GO: a 100-year old piano teacher with a current roster of 90 students; a Negro Leagues baseball player turned NASA scientist. It's really quite a show.

Coming up on THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW, "Before You Go"--centarians tell stories of a lifetime. Guests: Producers and Co-Hosts, Nicole Franklin and Bryant Monteilh.

SCHOLARS & SCHOLARSHIP. Guests: Diana Hernandez & Sheila Walker by Janus Adams

For four decades, Ramon Hervey II has been a manager and publicist to some of the entertainment industry's most famous talents. Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, Richard Pryor, Vanessa Williams and Muhammad Ali!! All have sought his counsel in confidence. He's also the executive producer who brought us the Peabody award-winning documentary, "Chisholm 72, Unbought and Unbossed." But, what is FAME and why does something as elusive as fame so dominate our media and mental space? Now, to his credits and our rescue comes his book, "THE FAME GAME: An Insider's Playbook for Earning Your 15 Minutes.”

“I see joy is a form of resistance. I see it as a source of power, because it's how we continue to stand on our two feet. Even when we're knocked down, we find that power and a lot of that power is sourced through joy that we create. And the reason why I say that joy is power is because when so much is being stripped of our rights of our voices and all of that. We choose to embody joy, that's a form of taking back our power.” When Pamela Larde, takes to the air for her talk show and podcast, she's known as “The Joy Whisperer.” Dr. Pamela Larde, PhD, is also Associate Professor of Leadership and Director of Education at the Institute of Coaching, McLean/Harvard Medical School, Founder of the Academy of Creative Coaching & Tandem Light Press, Joy researcher, mom, and our guest on this week's show. Website: www.JanusAdams.com

He's the New York Times bestselling author of "The Black Friend." A mover and maker, he made the Forbes “30 Under 30” list as Founder of “We Have Stories,” which provides free support to marginalized storytellers and organizations that shift cultural bias toward full inclusion. His #RentRelief campaign—a COVID19 support effort—raised more than $2 million dollars in aid. He created the largest ever GoFundMe campaign: #BlackPantherChallenge; raising over $950,000 and allowing 75,000 children worldwide to see the Black Panther film for free. He's Frederick Joseph, author of the book, PATRIARCHY BLUES, and my guest on this episode of The Janus Adams Show.

As the Israel-Hamas War evolves, what is the role of journalists and historians in deciphering the crisis? As professionals, they are trained to be well-researched, well-sourced, “objective,” and to cover “both sides” of a debate. But, what of context? That's the question when journalist Laura Flanders joins Janus Adams for a rare conversation of this scope and magnitude by two veteran women journalists: one British-American and White, the other Afri-Caribbean-American and Black; both wary of answers, knowing that what the situation calls for is questions—not to mention: critical thinking. Laura Flanders is the Host and Executive Producer of "The Laura Flanders Show," which airs on PBS stations nationwide. She is an Izzy-Award winning independent journalist, a New York Times bestselling author, and the recipient of the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Media Center.

LAURA FLANDERS, Setting the Clock by Janus Adams

Chloe Dulce Louvouezo, author and podcaster, brings us her "undertaking of the heart"―a book so needed and so right for these times, "LIFE, I SWEAR: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust." With this interview, Chloe gifts us "the irony, the challenge, the faith, the resilience, the sweet manifestation, the ugly chaos, and the calm―all the ebbs and flows that frame how we experience and interpret this life." And, what a life it is―and has been―for African American women!

Decades after writing "St. Stephen: A Passion Play," Janus Adams' play takes on new life.

DeNeen L. Brown, REPORTER by Janus Adams

Janus Adams remembers Harry Belafonte--the musician and human rights activist--who, together with Sidney Poitier, was her first interview as an NPR correspondent.

DAVID LESTER, graphic novelist, and MARCUS REDIKER, historian, on the story behind their graphic non-fiction novel: PROPHET AGAINST SLAVERY. Based on Rediker's book, "THE FEARLESS BENJAMIN LAY: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist."

Journey to the Cradle of Civilization, as master photographer, CHESTER HIGGINS, JR. shares stories from his fifty-year pilgrimage through the ancient roots of modern-day faith.

A rarely seen portrait of Appalachia―Black Appalachia. William H. Turner, coal miner's son, is author of the memoir, THE HARLAN RENAISSANCE: Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns. From African American family life and culture in the boom years of Harlan County, Kentucky's coal-mining company towns, to the bust era of the “Rust Belt,” Bill Turner comes bearing stories of family, friends, and a centuries-old history of Black “Middle-America." He takes us to the heart of the scene as only an expert storyteller, dedicated scholar, and native son can. Making good on the charge his friend and mentor, Alex Haley, author of Roots, gave him, ​he has written a book in “a voice my Mama would read.” With that voice and witness, the lives and legacies of Black coal miners take on a visibility, dignity, respect and presence long overdue.

How do we rectify racial injustice? Through his power as a storyteller and his skills as a journalist, Solomon Jones leverages his own life experience to resurrects ten people whose lives were ravaged by racism. His indictment of what he calls the "Criminal Injustice System,” will get you thinking about how YOU—how WE, together—can opt-in on an actionable plan “to repair our racist past, change the racist present, and bring justice to the future.”​ ​Philadelphia-based Solomon Jones, author of TEN DEMANDS, is a columnist for the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and morning host for WURD radio in Philadelphia.

Otis Moss III. Author, DANCING IN THE DARKNESS: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times. A 2-part Janus Adams SPECIAL with Rev. Dr. Moss is Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago--the congregation once pastored by the Obama family's minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. WEBSITE: JanusAdams.com SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/JA-OMoss3 RATING, REVIEWING & FOLLOWING "THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW" Thanks for listening to the podcast. I'd so appreciate your rating and reviewing the show: FIVE STARS, if you love listening to the show as much as I love producing it for you. Your ratings and reviews help me reach and inspire more people, just like you, with engaging insights into “race and courage” by thought leaders you'd like to hear more from and neighbors you'd like to learn more about. And, if you haven't done so yet, please FOLLOW the podcast and leave a COMMENT! My team and I value your opinion.

Otis Moss III. Author, DANCING IN THE DARKNESS: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times. A 2-part Janus Adams SPECIAL with Rev. Dr. Moss is Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago--the congregation once pastored by the Obama family's minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. WEBSITE: JanusAdams.com SHOW NOTES: https://bit.ly/JA-OMoss3 RATING, REVIEWING & FOLLOWING "THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW" Thanks for listening to the podcast. I'd so appreciate your rating and reviewing the show: FIVE STARS, if you love listening to the show as much as I love producing it for you. Your ratings and reviews help me reach and inspire more people, just like you, with engaging insights into “race and courage” by thought leaders you'd like to hear more from and neighbors you'd like to learn more about. And, if you haven't done so yet, please FOLLOW the podcast and leave a COMMENT! My team and I value your opinion.

This “Janus Adams Show” Special features TEAM DREAM—a documentary film short about two elite swimmers (Ann Smith, 82, and Madeline Murphy Rabb, 76) and their journey to the National Senior Games. A serious contender in the run-up to awards season, this little star of a film flares with unexpected brilliance—capturing imaginations and challenging long-standing assumptions about Black people, swimming, history, current realities, the surprising facts of life (and death), and joy—“Black joy.” Guests: athletes Rabb and Smith, filmmaker Luchina Fisher, and historian Kevin Dawson. The film TEAM DREAM was made possible by the Queen Collective—an initiative begun by executive producer Queen Latifah and Procter & Gamble—to create opportunities for women filmmakers of color to tell their stories by providing access to mentorship, production support, and distribution.

With pushback on immigration policies being shaped by White supremacist legacies, what is the United States' vision for the future? What can——and must——each of us do today to ensure the well-being of a multiracial tomorrow? Confronting the racist legacy of US immigration policy with our guest, REECE JONES Guggenheim Fellow, political geographer, and author of the books, WHITE BORDERS and NOBODY IS PROTECTED. And, as always, where do we go from here?

As US government-backed Dakota Access Pipeline proponents wreaked havoc on Indigenous peoples, their lands, sensibilities, and on Nature herself, First Nations (Mexica and Otomi) documentary photographer, cinematographer, and film director, Josué Rivas was on the scene as witness and participant; demonstrator and Water Protector. The experience endangered his life. It also marked what he calls his “year of awakening.” He's since received the FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo for STANDING STRONG, his stunning and haunting photographic account of the events at Standing Rock.

Meet "Philly" Walls: poet, photographer, and “multidisciplinary artist. She is curator and creator of the digital installation, THE MUSEUM OF BLACK JOY——a “borderless refuge for the observation, cultivation, celebration, and preservation of Black joy.” What does Black Joy mean and why do we need a museum for it? That's the question that propels this interview with Andrea “Philly” Walls through uncharted waters to unexpected depths as she spirits us from the inspired works of the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement; from Philadelphia's 1985 MOVE massacre to life's everyday moments, the African American hymn-turned-anthem, “I Don't Feel No Ways Tired,” and beyond.

On this episode of "The Janus Adams Show": The Sister Days Mother/Daughter* Sistafest (Part 2). Five guests gather in celebration of women and our lives: Elle Cole, MaryAnne Howland, Irma McClaurin, Dakota Nelson, and Deborah Payton-Jones.

AMERICAN SANCTUARY: A Path Through History - Guest: Walter Gable This program was produced in cooperation with ILoveNewYork.

Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY15) returns to the show. With all that's going on in his New York City hometown, the state, the country, indeed the world; his unique perspective is right on time.

On this episode of "The Janus Adams Show": The Sister Days Mother/Daughter* Sistafest (Part 1). Five guests gather in celebration of women and our lives: Elle Cole, MaryAnne Howland, Irma McClaurin, Dakota Nelson, and Deborah Payton-Jones.

On the anniversary of Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" (April 16, 1963), a message from his last speech, just four days before he was assassinated, becomes a call-to-action for today. With this episode of The Janus Adams Show, we pay tribute to the man and his legacy: THANK YOU, DR. KING, The jail cell pictured here is a replica of the actual cell in which he wrote his historic "Letter." It is on permanent exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. The museum is housed at the now-sacred site of Dr. King's assassination―the Lorraine Motel. Dr. King delivered what would be his last speech at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on March 31, 1968. He was assassinated on April 4. Portions of this special episode of The Janus Adams Show first aired to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his assassination (April 4, 2018).

“We have a long fight and this fight is not mine alone. But you are not free whether you are White or Black until I am free.” Keisha N. Blain, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, MSNBC contributor brings us her new book, “UNTIL I AM FREE: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America.” With Ibram X. Kendi (whose books on Anti-Racism have changed the way we speak of the American experience), Dr. Blain is co-editor of the New York Times #1 bestseller, “Four Hundred Souls.”

Voter suppression. What's at stake? With Republican-led state legislatures enacting laws designed to disfranchise Black and Brown voters, what impact will this surge have on our legal system? juries? convictions? fundamental human rights? Civil Rights Attorney DeWitt Lacy of California on the current political climate: justice, injustice, policing, voting rights—and wrongs. And, as always: where do we go from here?

It's the infamous event known at the "Birmingham Church Bombing." A bomb, planted by White supremacists and pro-segregationists, was detonated at the 16th Street Baptist Church murdering "Four Little Girls" and severely injuring Sarah Collins Rudolph. This week's guest on The Janus Adams Show, she is joined by Tracy Snipe, PhD―co-author of her memoir, "The Fifth Little Girl." NOTE: This show airs as fourteen HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) took bomb threats in over two days in new wave of White supremacist terror against Black institutions.

What are your hopes for the year ahead? How will you turn the page on one year and rethink priorities for a new? Tune into this week's Janus Adams Show and podcast with my guest―psychologist and author Peggy Fitzsimmons―on life, work, the Omega Institute, Oprah Winfrey's “Super Soul” series, Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper, Dr. Michael Beckwith's visionary prognosis, healing our world from the inside out, and her new book, "RELEASE: Create a Clutter-Free, Soul-Driven Life."

Singer, songwriter, teacher, descendant of two of the 20th century's worst atrocities, Lucas Maehara Rotman's very existence is also a miracle. “Dear Miki: An All-American Family Saga” on The Janus Adams Show.

The Janus Adams Show with guest, DENISE WOODS: voice, speech, and dialect coach to Hollywood's A-Listers; author of "THE POWER OF VOICE: A Guide to Making Yourself Heard."

THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW: #DangerousWomen. What happens when a male congressman feels so threatened by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez―a powerful woman doing the job she was elected to do―that he verbally assaults her in the most sexist and racist of terms.

From 1917 to 1923, there were 25 White Supremacist race massacres across the United States. There was also a determination by Blacks to rise from the ashes. Director, writer and producer DAWN PORTER brings the 1921 Tulsa Massacre into sharper focus and context with her film, "RISE AGAIN: Tulsa and The Red Summer."

"Dear America, my wish for you on your birthday is..." © Janus Adams 2021 Excerpted from my forthcoming memoir for the July 4th edition of "Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper."

Clint Smith, author, HOW THE WORD IS PASSED by Janus Adams

Throughout American history to the twenty-first century, regardless of the laws, court decisions, and changing political environment, the Second has consistently meant this: That the second a Black person exercises this right, the second they pick up a gun to protect themselves (or the second that they don't), their life may be snatched away in that single, fatal second. "When I wrote that," says Carol Anderson — author of THE SECOND: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America — "I wrote it from the heart." This week on the show, author and historian, Dr. Carol Anderson — Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University — on her latest book, THE SECOND, and her New York Times bestsellers, ONE PERSON, NO VOTE and WHITE RAGE.

As Republican-led states pass laws to shun and victimize transgender children, this special Mother's Day edition of the show welcomes JODIE PATTERSON -- activist mom and advocate for the rights of non-gender-conforming people and their families. She's on a mission to keep her transgender son -- every child--healthy, happy, unscathed by bigotry and alive! For the beauty of her storytelling and the power of her message, her books are truly groundbreaking -- THE BOLD WORLD: A Memoir of Family and Transformation, for adult readers; and her newest book, BORN READY: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope, for young readers. A social activist and entrepreneur, this mother of five children -- two of whom are gender non-conforming(one transgender and another genderqueer)was named Family Circle magazine's "Most Influential Mom in 2018." She works closely with a number of gender/family/human rights organizations and is the chair of the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign.

The verdict is in on Derek Chauvin's obvious guilt for murdering GEORGE FLOYD, but the jury is out on whether America has the courage to change. With more than 40 Black and Brown people killed by police during the span on the trial, will we—as Americans—renounce state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown citizens? Do we have the courage and conscience to change policies that exonerate most police officers before they even stand trial? Will Congress enact the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act?" Can People of Color ever feel safe in America? In the wake of THE VERDICT, where do we go from here? Guest: IRVING L. JOYNER, Esq. Professor of Law and life-long activist in the freedom fight. As victim, witness, ally and advocate, he's been there.

In these hyper-political times, what can we learn from other countries and their heads of state? What do their stories tell us about our own? Dr. EWART BROWN, MD is author of the memoir, “WHOM SHALL I FEAR? Pushing the Politics of Change.” A physician turned politician; his precipitous and contentious rise elected him PREMIER of BERMUDA. Serving from 2006-10, his signature slogan, “Doc delivers” and progressive agenda pushed against longstanding inequities in a Caribbean nation still under British colonial rule. From his support for Bermuda's largest labor union and secret negotiations with President Barack Obama's White House to provide asylum to four innocent Chinese Muslim Uighurs wrongfully detained at Guantanamo; encounters with music legend Bob Marley, Black Power! Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure), Rev. Al Sharpton, and the Congressional Black Caucus, to the tragedy of his sons' incarceration. WHOM SHALL I FEAR? It's a provocative, defiant title—and mantra—for an extraordinary personal, professional, and political journey.

With headlines and history being made in Minneapolis, police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of citizen George Floyd. So is the American legal system--and America itself. Do we believe in JUSTICE or JUST US? Is an African American man (Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Eric Garner, Elijah McClain), woman (Sandra Bland, Eleanor Bumpers), or child (Michael Brown, Tamir Rice) safe at the hands of police and legal systems nationwide? That's the question. This week on the show: the filmmakers of "American Trial: The Eric Garner Story" — Roee Messinger, director; Ralph Richardson, co-executive producer —and Esaw Snipes, the widow of Eric Garner. http://bit.ly/ja-garner #law #lawandorder #lawenforcement #veterans #legal #politics #society #defundthepolice #BLM #blmmovement #humanrights #civilrights #votingrights #BlackHistory #BlackLivesMatter #EricGarner #ElijahMcClain #TamirRice

KARLA FC HOLLOWAY -- scholar, nonfiction author, Duke University Professor of English and Professor of Law -- reads from her debut mystery novel, A DEATH IN HARLEM. It's 1927: Harlem Renaissance heyday, Sugar Hill, and Harlem's newly-assigned first Black police detective, Weldon Haynie Thomas, is on the case.

The American Sustainable Business Council has produced a new report: "Creating An Economic System That Works for All." What's surprising isn't that it talks about business or buyouts, economics and the environment--especially in the wake of COVID--but because it's opening line is unequivocal: "There is no going back." Getting down to business, among its talking points are: reparations, universal basic income. and universal Pre-K. Really?! GUESTS: Jeffrey Hollender, CEO & Chief Inspired Protagonist, ASBC; and MaryAnne Howland, Chair, Race & Equity Working Group, ASBC

DR. JANUS ADAMS celebrates the launch of the SISTER DAYS MOTHER/DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB with a reading from her book, SISTER DAYS: 365 Inspired Moments in African American Women's History