Podcasts about black bostonians

February is Black History Month, and the Freedom Trail Foundation is offering special tours highlighting the rich and often overlooked history of African-Americans who've made an impact on the city's history. The tours promise a great walk around Boston, some enlightening and enriching conversations, and education from 18th century costumed guides playing the roles of iconic Black Bostonians. This week, a guide from the Foundation playing Phillis Wheatley joins Nichole to talk about the Foundation's work and these special tours.

Embrace Boston recently released its "Harm Report", a comprehensive look at how slavery and centuries of systemic racism against Black Bostonians has impacted seven key aspects of life, including housing, transportation, healthcare and income. The report also outlines suggestions from the team at Embrace Boston on how the city can move forward in a more equitable manner and address the harms against the Black community. Vice President of Arts and Culture Elizabeth Tiblanc and Director of Digital Strategy and Production Gregory Ball return to the show this week to talk with Nichole about the research that went into the report and provide an overview of the results.

The Boston People's Reparations Commission, an initiative formed by the New Democracy Coalition, is calling for the city of Boston to pay $15 billion in reparations to Black Bostonians for its role in slavery and generations of discrimination. Rev. Kevin Peterson, founder of the BPRC joined Dan to discuss the group's proposal and recommendations for cash reparations.

The Boston People's Reparations Commission, an initiative formed by the New Democracy Coalition, is calling for the city of Boston to pay $15 billion in reparations to Black Bostonians for its role in slavery and generations of discrimination. Your thoughts on reparations?

The Boston People's Reparations Commission, an initiative formed by the New Democracy Coalition, is calling for the city of Boston to pay $15 billion in reparations to Black Bostonians for its role in slavery and generations of discrimination. Your thoughts on reparations?

Joel Mackall says Black history in Boston is often overlooked. He's seeking to change that with his tours that shed light on the lives of past Black Bostonians.

The history of Black Bostonians goes far beyond abolition and busing, just ask the co-directors of Tuft's African American Trail Project. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Kerri Greenidge and Dr. Kendra T. Field to talk about how public history is evolving to tell a more complete story of Black Boston. We dig into the profound impact that the African-American community has had on local politics and intellectual life, and discuss  the  neighborhoods that are key to that legacy. Send us a Text Message.

In this episode Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Ben Railton about the concept of critical patriotism. Dr. Williams is the director of the Trotter Institute at UMass Boston and Railton is Professor of English Studies at Fitchburg State University a public institution in Fitchburg Massachusetts. He is also the author of Of Thee I Sing: The Contested History of American Patriotism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) in which he claims that there are four competing concepts of American patriotism including critical, active, mythic, and celebratory. Railton argues that critical patriotism is the type of patriotism operationalized to “move the nation closer to its ideals” through critique and highlighting the “nation's shortcomings” or flaws. African Americans he further contends have been central to this history of critical patriotism from the acts of Crispus Attucks during the American Revolution to the writings of James Baldwin in the mid-twentieth century. Railton identifies several Black Bostonians as practitioners of these four types of patriotism including Attucks, Phillis Wheatley, Elizabeth Freeman (MumBet), and David Walker. For more about Railton's book click here Of Thee I Sing and another example of Black critical patriotism here Black Critical Patriotism and on the tourist site he mentions click here The Black Heritage Trail #BlackBostonians #BlackFreedom #BlackCriticalPatriots 

New data out this month shows Black Bostonians not only have the highest rates of infant mortality - more than three times the rate of white infants - but they also have the highest rates of premature births and low birth weight. City officials say these stark inequities need to be addressed immediately. Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, goes through the data in the report with Nichole, and discusses the city's plans to turn these trends around.

Nicole Obi, President and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts joined WBUR's Morning Edition ahead of the council's annual Mass Black Expo to talk more about the pandemic's impact on Black Bostonians. 

In this special hour, we take stock of this moment in Black Boston. Is the city is on the brink of real change?

Plus, we talk about the comedy specials getting big laughs and how local comedians are producing their own specials, free of support and control from streaming giants like Netflix.

The Boston City Council voted unanimously in December to form a task force to study how it can provide reparations and other forms of atonement to Black Bostonians for the city's role in slavery. We dig into what reparations could look like here, and the unique role Boston can play in the national conversation.

Set in Roxbury, the 2001 crime drama claimed space for Black Bostonians in film.

The Boston City Council has unanimously approved a task force to study the issue of reparations for Black Bostonians, in light of the city's historic role in slavery and present-day inequality. The Common's Darryl C. Murphy spoke with Masslive reporting fellow Alvin Buyinza, who covered the historic vote. Greater Boston's daily podcast where news and culture meet.

The Boston City Council has approved a committee to study reparations for Black Bostonians. The committee will study Boston's role in the transatlantic slave trade and how best to provide atonement for the harm done. Rev. Kevin Peterson joined Dan to discuss.

On this Veteran's Day we revisit Boston's Liberty Tree, including its origin story and how that story evolved over time depending on who was telling it. We have wonderfully spirited conversations with distinguished actor, singer, dancer, and educator, Mark Linehan and historian Maddie Webster, a Boston University PhD student in the American & New England Studies Program. Then, we seek to uncover what liberty and liberation means in the present day with activist and Applied theatre practitioner Catherine Hanna Schrock, the Co-founder and Director of Imagine Brave Spaces, a San Diego-based theater company who shares a spoken word piece she wrote about her company which also serves as a call to action in making liberation a reality for all. Mark Linehan is a Boston-based actor with extensive stage and dance experience. A native of Massachusetts, he has performed in theaters across New England as a professional singer, dancer and actor. Mark's specialty is musical theater, and he has also worked in children's theater, drama and film. Maddie Webster is a PhD candidate in the American & New England Studies Program, where she studies urban history and historic preservation with a focus on Boston. Her dissertation explores Black Bostonians' historic preservation efforts from the late nineteenth century onward, a story that comes into clearer focus by reframing what activities constitute preservation work. As a public historian, Maddie wants to collaborate with and bolster Boston's citizen historians. Her partnership with the Initiative on Cities stems from this same impulse to engage with the modern city—and its challenges and opportunities—with the lessons of history close at hand. Catherine Hanna Schrock is an Applied Theater Practitioner, which unites her roles as an educator, theatre artist, and community organizer. She designs creative programming that equips diverse communities to engage in complex dialogues toward social and community development. Special thank you to Mark, Maddie and Catherine for their time and inspiration. For more info: Boston Historical Tours: https://www.bostonhistoricaltours.org/#/ Imagine Brave Spaces: https://imaginebravespaces.com Tree Speech's host, Dori Robinson, is a director, playwright, dramaturg, and educator who seeks and develops projects that explore social consciousness, personal heritage, and the difference one individual can have on their own community. Some of her great loves include teaching, the Oxford comma, intersectional feminism, and traveling. With a Masters degree from NYU's Educational Theatre program, she continues to share her love of Shakespeare, new play development, political theatre, and gender in performance. Dori's original plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Boston. More information at https://www.dorirobinson.com This week's episode was recorded in Massachusetts on the native lands of the Wabanaki Confederacy, Pennacook, Massachusett, and Pawtucket people. Logo design by Mill Riot. Special thanks to the Western Avenue Lofts and Studios for all their support. Tree Speech is produced and co-written by Jonathan Zautner with Alight Theater Guild. Please consider supporting the show through our Patreon. The mission of the guild is to advance compelling theatrical endeavors that showcase the diversity of our ever-changing world in order to build strong artists whose work creates empathy, challenges the status quo and unites communities. For more information about our work and programs, please visit www.alighttheater.org. Learn more about the podcast at: www.treespeechpodcast.com, and IG: treespeechpodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/treespeech/message

Today on Boston Public Radio: Jesse Mermell and Jennifer Nassour joined us for a political roundtable ahead of tomorrow's midterm elections, giving us a look into Democrats' and Republicans' political strategies both state- and nationwide. Mermell is founder and president of deWit Impact Group, and a former candidate for Congress in Massachusetts' 4th Congressional district. Nassour is the founder of the Pocketbook Project, and a former chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Then, we opened the phone lines, talking with listeners about their expectations for election day. Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson shared their thoughts on MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak's January departure, and other transit headlines. Aloisi is a former transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters Board, and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets Alliance. David Cash discussed the move from diesel-powered school buses to electric, and a new report finding that Boston's 2030 climate goals are out of reach. Cash is the New England administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III talked about the Black Bostonians moving south, and the rise of Christian leaders in some GOP midterm races. Rev. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour's African American Heritage Trail. Rev. Emmett G. Price III is founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, the Inaugural Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. Corby Kummer weighed in on holiday dinners in times of inflation, and whether A.I. has the potential to write recipes better than humans. Kummer is the executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. We ended the show by talking with listeners about their climate concerns amid a heatwave in Boston.

Everyone wants to know why Dianne Wilkerson is getting back into politics.  She was the first Black woman to serve as a state senator in Massachusetts. She represented Black Bostonians for 15 years and resigned after she was caught accepting bribe money.Wilkerson spent three years in jail and has since worked to regain the trust of the community by continuing to serve. She's been involved in governance issues at the Boston Public Schools board, economic equity for the city's Black and Brown residents, and the COVID-19 response. It's the latter that has inspired her to run for the Senate seat in the 2nd Suffolk District. “We know we needed to have a place where our people would feel comfortable to go to get vaccine,” Wilkerson told me. “What I learned in the process is we were calling, doing wellness checks on our seniors. They said, ‘I have the vaccine. I don't have any food. I have vaccine. I don't, I don't have money for a copay. I lost my job.'“And so we realized this was about more than COVID. It was about how the government with all of its resources still can't figure out ways to respond to our people. And when we went to the people who are elected to deliver those resources, we didn't get a response.”This week on the Defining You podcast, Dianne Wilkerson gives her candid perspective on what went wrong when she was convicted of bribery, how she has sought to serve the community, and who is inspiring her today. Listen to this episode to understand the Dianne Wilkerson story, her  background and what motivates her to seek out public service, and how you might find a way to serve in your community, too. And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, please head over to the reviews section and leave a 5-star review. It really helps others find the show. Thanks!Episode links:Dianne Wilkerson Campaign Site - https://wilkersonforsenate.com/Dianne Wilkerson on Twitter - https://twitter.com/DW4SenateDonate to Dianne Wilkerson - https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wilkerson-committee-1Watch the video version of the podcast on  the Defining YOU YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/helenajyoutubeLike us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenaJNowJoin the Facebook Community: http://bit.ly/helenajgroupFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenajnowJoin the VIP list: https://bit.ly/helenajvip Visit the Website: https://www.helenajoseph.com Contact us at: connectwithhelenaj@gmail.comCredits:•Music by Bernier Coulangers Jr. •Audio produced by Bernier Coulanges Jr. •Photo by https://www.instagram.com/ddesireephotography/Sales Bluebird for leaders and go-to-market teams at cyber security startupsTips, tricks, ideas and inspiration from legendary cyber security CEOs and CROsListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our last Black History Month bonus episode is also our first. I'm sharing three classic episodes that were recorded in 2017, during HUB History's first Black History Month. These stories honor the Black Bostonians who led Boston's resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act, making Boston a sanctuary from an unjust law. Original show notes: http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/classics-boston-resists-fugitive-slave-act-episode-67/

In our next episode we examine the history of Boston's Liberty Tree, including its origin story and how that story evolved over time depending on who was telling it. We have wonderfully spirited conversations with distinguished actor, singer, dancer, and educator, Mark Linehan and historian Maddie Webster, a Boston University PhD student in the American & New England Studies Program. Then, we seek to uncover what liberty and liberation means in the present day with activist and Applied theatre practitioner Catherine Hanna Schrock, the Co-founder and Director of Imagine Brave Spaces, a San Diego-based theater company who shares a spoken word piece she wrote about her company which also serves as a call to action in making liberation a reality for all. Mark Linehan is a Boston-based actor with extensive stage and dance experience. A native of Massachusetts, he has performed in theaters across New England as a professional singer, dancer and actor. Mark's specialty is musical theater, and he has also worked in children's theater, drama and film. Maddie Webster is a PhD candidate in the American & New England Studies Program, where she studies urban history and historic preservation with a focus on Boston. Her dissertation explores Black Bostonians' historic preservation efforts from the late nineteenth century onward, a story that comes into clearer focus by reframing what activities constitute preservation work. As a public historian, Maddie wants to collaborate with and bolster Boston's citizen historians. Her partnership with the Initiative on Cities stems from this same impulse to engage with the modern city—and its challenges and opportunities—with the lessons of history close at hand. Catherine Hanna Schrock is an Applied Theater Practitioner, which unites her roles as an educator, theatre artist, and community organizer. She designs creative programming that equips diverse communities to engage in complex dialogues toward social and community development. Special thank you to Mark, Maddie and Catherine for their time and inspiration. For more info: Boston Historical Tours: https://www.bostonhistoricaltours.org/#/ Imagine Brave Spaces: https://imaginebravespaces.com Tree Speech's host, Dori Robinson, is a director, playwright, dramaturg, and educator who seeks and develops projects that explore social consciousness, personal heritage, and the difference one individual can have on their own community. Some of her great loves include teaching, the Oxford comma, intersectional feminism, and traveling. With a Masters degree from NYU's Educational Theatre program, she continues to share her love of Shakespeare, new play development, political theatre, and gender in performance. Dori's original plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Boston. More information at https://www.dorirobinson.com This week's episode was recorded in Massachusetts on the native lands of the Wabanaki Confederacy, Pennacook, Massachusett, and Pawtucket people. Logo design by Mill Riot. Special thanks to the Western Avenue Lofts and Studios for all their support. Tree Speech is produced and co-written by Jonathan Zautner with Alight Theater Guild. The mission of the guild is to advance compelling theatrical endeavors that showcase the diversity of our ever-changing world in order to build strong artists whose work creates empathy, challenges the status quo and unites communities. For more information about our work and programs, please visit www.alighttheater.org. Learn more about the podcast at: www.treespeechpodcast.com, and IG: treespeechpodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/treespeech/message

Boston maintains a reputation as one of the most racist cities in America, despite its long abolitionist history and image as a bastion of East Coast liberalism. And in many ways that reputation is well-earned. From the city's staggering racial wealth gap, to its violent backlash against school desegregation in the 1970's, to racial epithets hurled at Black athletes to this day, there's plenty of evidence to back up the assertion that Beantown is racist. But often left out of the conversation are the voices of Black Bostonians themselves. Writer, historian and Boston native Dart Adams is on a mission to change that. Dart leads walking tours in the city, highlighting overlooked aspects of Black Boston's past and present. He recently wrote an article arguing that Black Bostonians are caught in the middle of the debate over their city's racism. At home they face erasure in Boston's media landscape, as well as the injustices that Black folks everywhere navigate in dealing with systemic racism. But they also face friendly fire from Black folks outside the city when they try to bring a level of nuance to the conversation which outsiders lack. This week on Into America, Dart Adams gives Trymaine Lee an insider's view of Black Boston, from the city's rich musical history to its role as home to some of the greatest Black leaders in civil rights history during their formative years. He also gives us a sense of what it's like to love a city that doesn't always love you back.For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica. Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com.Further Reading and Listening: Is Boston America's Most Racist City? Ask a Black Bostonian for Once (By Dart Adams)For 200 years, Boston elected white men as mayor. Now, a woman of color will lead.‘I Saw a Lot of Hatred': Looking Back at Boston's Busing Crisis

How is racial injustice prevention more important than intervention? How does self-care play a role in anti-racist activism? In this series on healthcare and social disparities, Dr. Jill Wener, a board-certified Internal Medicine specialist, meditation expert, and tapping practitioner, interviews experts in multiple fields relating to social justice and anti-racism. In this episode, Jill interviews Toiell Washington, a community-based activist, founder of the non-profit organization Black Boston, and CEO of the educational game company The Master's Tools. Washington talks about the importance of prevention over intervention in the social justice space. She highlights her journey with internalized racism and how she educated herself more on systemic racism. She discusses the difference between cultural and systemic racism and the ways her companies open up the dialog to both educate and boost younger generations in an effort to make them more politically engaged. Toiell Washington is a 23-year-old Boston native and cofounder of Black Boston Inc, a community organization that strives for the uplifting and support of Black Bostonians. She spent her early years doing advocacy work in Domestic, Gun, and other violence prevention efforts where she found a love for civic engagement. Currently, she is a graduating senior at Salem State University, where she is pursuing her degree in Sociology. Alongside her role at Black Boston, she has also launched a Black owned game company to teach people about systems of oppression, called The Master's Tools LLC. She is a strong advocate for education and non-traditional learning. LINKS www.themasterstools.com www.blackboston.org IG: @themasters.tools IG & Twitter: @blackboston2020 Books: The Color of Law The New Jim Crow Algorithms of Oppression Authors: Kimberlé Crenshaw Bell Hooks Angela Davis Audre Lorde ** You can learn more about Dr. Wener and her online meditation and tapping courses at www.jillwener.com, and you can learn more about her online social justice course, Conscious Anti Racism: Tools for Self-Discovery, Accountability, and Meaningful Change at https://theresttechnique.com/courses/conscious-anti-racism. Find the Conscious Anti-Racism book at https://tinyurl.com/y689563j Join her Conscious Anti-Racism facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307196473283408/ Follow her on: Instagram at www.instagram.com/jillwenerMD Twitter at www.twitter.com/jillwenerMD Facebook at www.facebook.com/jillwenerMDmeditation LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/jill-wener-md-682746125/

Shawn Quiqley of the National Parks of Boston discusses the legacy of Crispus Attucks, killed at the Boston Massacre, and how abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Black Bostonians such as William Cooper Nell and Lewis Hayden used the Revolution and revolutionary rhetoric as a tool to advance the antislavery cause, and made Boston a hub on the Underground Railroad.

Jeff and Nate asked me to start the this relaunch by covering the super basics. So here we go. Let's start at the very beginning. Why are we even talking about this? Isn't this issue over except for people who want to keep complaining? On this episode, I'm joined by comedian and screenwriter Alice Hamilton, to discuss why we even need to have a conversation about race. We are laying a foundation on which to build the rest of White Homework's content. It won't always be this basic, I promise. We're just getting started. NYPD Breaks The Leg of NBA Star Thabo Sefolosha Employers' Replies to Racial Names Jane Elliott Asks White People If They Would Trade Places With Black People Median Net Worth of Black Bostonians is $8 Executive Producers Jeffrey Martin Nate Frazier Producer Jillian Cohan Martin Editor Nash Propst coba.fm #communitybaby --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/toriglass/message

Boston's political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood's newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians' political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood's history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston's political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood's newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians' political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood's history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty.

Boston’s political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood’s newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians’ political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood’s history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston’s political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood’s newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians’ political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood’s history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston’s political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood’s newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians’ political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood’s history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston's political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood's newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians' political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood's history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Boston’s political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr. Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood’s newly published book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston (University of North Carolina Press, 2018). Centering Edwin Garrison Walker, political leader and son of antebellum era abolitionist and pamphleteer David Walker, Bergeson-Lockwood tells the story of how independent Black Bostonian politics was used as a mechanism to shield Black Bostonians from party loyalty. Party loyalty, especially to the Republican Party, could be used to promote a connection to the “Party of Lincoln,” or to retain Black voters despite not always being on the side of their best interest. Ultimately, Black citizenship and the protection of the Black rights were at the forefront of Black Bostonians’ political project, and Bergeson-Lockwood’s history of Black politics in the late nineteenth century dramatically highlights the successes and shortcomings of this era. Adam McNeil is a PhD student in History, African American Public Humanities Initiative and Colored Conventions Project Scholar at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we have updates from the front lines of the battle over immigration policy. An African immigrant tries to cross into Quebec, nearly freezing to death in the process, and a Syrian family just barely skirts a travel ban to come to Connecticut. We also try and answer two tricky questions: Why is Vermont so very white, and whatever happened to Boston’s Black renaissance? Plus, the climate’s getting warmer. Can we start our seedlings yet? Members of the Boston Unit of the Federal Theater Project. A program of the New Deal, the FTP supplied federal funding to provide relief to professional artists during the Great Depression. Photo courtesy of the Mason/Quarles Collection for Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture 1920 -1940 Frozen Out This sign marks the Canadian side of the border at one rural area where many people are crossing illegally into Canada. Photo by Kathleen Masterson for NENC Many recent immigrants living in the U.S. are scared that their claims for asylum won’t have a fair hearing by the Trump administration. Hundreds  are fleeing to Canada. As we’ve reported, many migrants are heading straight to illegal border crossings, knowingly walking into arrest, for a chance to make their claims in Canada. This week, we have the story of a man who was turned away at an official border checkpoint, but tried to make it into Canada anyway, with disastrous consequences. From Vermont Public Radio, Kathleen Masterson reports. If the last few months has been confusing and concerning to those seeking asylum here, it's also thrown the process of resettling refugees into chaos. Courts have twice blocked the administration’s executive orders imposing a travel ban on visitors from a group of majority Muslim countries. The judge’s orders — at least temporarily — lift a cap on refugees. Mona’s tea service was one of the only non-essential items she was able to pack when she left Jordan last month. She serves tea and brownies to guests in her new apartment. Photo by Kaari Pitkin for WNYC The Connecticut-based nonprofit resettlement group IRIS said this week that new refugee arrivals are being booked, at least through April 28, although that's subject to change. WNYC reporter Kaari Pitkin has been following the story of one family that just arrived in Connecticut. Read and listen to more immigration stories from the New England News Collaborative series Facing Change. And if you’re in the area, join us Monday for our next discussion of what makes a sanctuary city at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut, moderated by NEXT host John Dankosky and WSHU reporter Cassandra Basler.  The event starts at 5:30 pm and is free and open to the public. Find out more. #VermontSoWhite A mural in a meeting room at the town offices in Hartford, Vermont portrays familiar images of the “typical” Vermonter. Photo by Angela Evancie for VPR Last week we learned about the tradition of town meeting in Vermont, where residents hash out their differences to pass a budget and come up with local laws. But one thing most town meeting attendees, and most Vermonters, have in common is skin color. As of the 2010 census, the state was over 95 percent white. The whiteness of northern New England states is a reality many of us take for granted. Not so Brave Little State, the podcast from Vermont Public Radio that digs deep to answer listeners' questions about the Green Mountain State. Their most recent episode takes up the question “Why is Vermont so overwhelmingly white, and how does that affect all of us?” We’re thrilled to welcome Brave Little State host Angela Evancie back to NEXT to discuss her findings. (We highly recommend you listen to Angela’s original podcast episode, too.) Black Bostonians From the Jazz Age to the New Deal A staging of the play “Antar of Araby” by Maud Cuney Hare, 1930. Courtesy of Thelma Thorton Wynn for Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture 1920-1940. Today, African Americans make up about 28 percent of Boston's population. But in the 1920s and ’30s, they were only about three percent. Opportunities to gain political power were limited, but black Bostonians left their mark through the arts. It's a period that mirrored the Harlem Renaissance in New York, but had its own distinctly Boston flavor. This period had also been largely overlooked, until now. Our guest Lorraine Elena Roses is the author of the new book Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture 1920 -1940. Is It Spring Yet? Those early hints of spring can call to a gardener like a siren song. Yet the urge to get one's seeds into dirt can be dangerous: most seedlings won't survive a single frost. To help with that, gardeners use 30-year averages that predict when the last frost will probably occur. The thing is, in New England, climate change has temperatures rising relatively quickly. That left New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Emily Corwin with a question. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon Contributors to this episode: Kathleen Masterson, Kaari Pitkin, Angela Evancie, and Rebecca Sananes Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and anecdotes to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.