Podcast appearances and mentions of Margaret Walker

JOAN ROSS SORKIN is a playwright, musical theatre bookwriter and lyricist, opera librettist, and screenwriter. Her two most current musical projects are Black Swan Blues with Randy Klein, and Bordello with Barbara Bellman and Emiliano Messiez. Black Swan Blues had a staged reading in October, 2022 as part of The York Theatre Company's Developmental Reading Series, and Bordello is scheduled to have the same in December, 2023.   Joan's family musicals include Dandelion, with Mary Liz McNamara, with its world premiere at Playhouse on Park, W. Hartford, CT in April, 2023, and the award-winning Isabelle and The Pretty Ugly Spell with Steven Fisher with productions at The Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, Coral Gables, FL (Winner, National Children's Theatre Award), NYMF (Outstanding New Family Musical), and Vital Theatre; and Go Green! Prince Charming's Quest for Love and Ecology in NYC with Mary Feinsinger, presented in the very first New York Children's Theater Festival. Randy Klein is a multi-award-winning composer, pianist, record producer, author and music educator. He is the composer of For My People, a song cycle featuring the poetry of American author, Margaret Walker. For My People was featured at the Furious Flower Poetry Festival at James Madison University and the University of Kansas. The music premiere of the renowned poem by Margaret Walker ‘For My People' was April 2, 2011 at the Forbes Center for the Arts, James Madison University, VA. His compositions, Facing It and Dear John, Dear Coltrane, based on the poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa and Michael Harper premiered at the 2014 Furious Flower Poetry Conference featuring the combined James Madison University and Morgan State Chorales. His musical, Black Swan Blues, in collaboration with Joan Ross Sorkin, bookwriter and lyricist, inspired by the ballet “Swan Lake,”. Black Swan Blues explores white privilege and racism in America in the South in the early 1960's. Set in New Orleans, a rich, idealistic journalist and a poor, vulnerable blues singer's true love is challenged when secrets from their tangled past involving race, murder and the Ku Klux Klan are revealed. Only through the magic of voodoo do they find eternal love. The score is timeless and contemporary evoking the period.

Find me and the show on social media. Click the following links or search @DrWilmerLeon on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!   FULL TRANSCRIPT: Wilmer Leon (00:00): I am back. I'm back. I went to what I'm calling Cult Fest 2024, also known as the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That was a site to behold. But with all that said, president Joe Biden has decided not to pursue a second term for 2024. Without a primary, without an open process, vice President Kamala Harris has quickly become the Democrat's. Presumptive nominee. Is this democracy or a Bernie Sanders? Redo. Stay tuned. We're going to answer those questions, Announcer (00:41): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Wilmer Leon (00:49): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon. I'm Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they are current, a vacuum failing to understand the broader historical context in which most events take place. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between these events and the broader historic context in which they occur, thus enabling you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode, the issue before us is the 2024 presidential election and how the Democrats are selecting their nominee. My guest is Tom Porter. He's a lifelong activist and scholar, former dean of the African-American Studies Department at Ohio University, former director of the King Center in Atlanta, former host of morning conversations with Tom Porter. Tom Porter. Welcome back to podcast, my brother. (01:57) So Tom, as I said in the open President, Joe Biden has decided not to pursue a second term for 2024 without a primary, without an open process. Vice President Kamala Harris has quickly become the Democrat's presumptive nominee. I believe she has now amassed the requisite delegates in order to become officially the nominee on July 8th. Clinton advisor, James Carville, who is one tricky, somebody wrote a piece entitled Biden Won't Win, Democrats need a Plan. Here's one wherein he wrote, the Jig is Up, and the sooner Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders accept this, the better we need to move forward. But it can't be by anointing Vice President, Kamala Harris or anyone else as the presumptive democratic nominee. We've got to do it in the open, the exact opposite of what Donald Trump wants us to do. Tom, it doesn't appear, at least at this point that the Dems are listening to Carville Tom Porter (03:09): And they shouldn't. Wilmer Leon (03:10): Okay? Tom Porter (03:11): And they shouldn't. I remember the most important black labor leader in the country came out of a meeting with Clinton Carville and Al from, and he said, Tom, they're a bunch of fascists. It is the Clinton Wing that took over the Democratic Party under the leadership of the Democratic Leadership Conference, which was made of Southern governors, which has gotten the Democratic Party in trouble ever since. And what that means is that CarVal didn't want Kamala Harris. That's what that means. It had nothing to do with the open process and what have you. He would know open if he had a can opener, Wilmer Leon (03:58): But to his point about an open process, because further on in that piece, he talks about Clinton and Obama selecting, I think it was eight potential nominees, and that they needed to have regional town halls where these individuals would travel the country explaining their policies, introducing themselves to the electorate, and then based upon that, an individual would be, I think the term was selected, Tom. Tom Porter (04:30): Well, the effect of it is one of the things that Jesse Jackson and the Jackson campaign of 1984 is instructive and people should study that more. What Jesse found out that even though he was leading the other presidential candidates, that the rules of the Democratic party was stacked against him. It was called front loading. So for CarVal, they throw the word around democracy. First of all, the America's never been a democracy. It was born in slavery, genocide of Native Americans, and still the land from the Mexican. So the fact of it is it only had the possibility of becoming a democracy, and it has yet to come there. So what car is talking about it seems very, very interesting. But he crow controls the process, controls the day, and I'll guarantee you that Clinton and CarVal and that bunch are not going to have any kind of process that they don't control. And so it may look like it. I mean, it looks like Biden was chosen. He was number four. How did he get past three candidates and become number one? It wasn't open process. And I tell you one thing carve out and nobody else said anything because he was their choice because they wanted to stop Bernie Sanders. Wilmer Leon (05:52): There are those who say that Joe Biden was selected not to defeat Donald Trump. Joe Biden was selected to defeat Bernie Sanders, Tom Porter (06:03): And you are absolutely right. And that is what they have done. They did it with Jesse in 84. The whole Jaime thing was just that a hoax. Jesse never said it in any kind of way that was demeaning towards the Jews, but the JDL disrupted interrupted Jesse's announcement when he announced that he was going to run for president and hounded us, us being me, Florence Tate and Jesse, who were three people called the road team. When Jesse first started running in 84, they hounded us to JDO every place we went. And before we got secret service protection, it was Farhan and the FOI that protected us. So they were after Jesse from the beginning. It's instructed for people to read the platform of the Rainbow Coalition because Jesse has had the most progressive populous campaign in the 20th century. Wilmer Leon (07:00): I'm glad you brought that up. This takes us a bit off topic, but I think it is relevant because James Clyburn and a group of African-American leadership went in and met with Biden a couple of weeks ago, and that's when Clyburn came out with the line, we Riding with Biden. And one of the things that I said as a result of that was, what did you get for that endorsement When you walked into the room and you sat down with Joe Biden, did you put your own project 2025 plan on the table and say, look, Joe, here's what we need. Here's what we want. Here's what we demand. You're going to sign this or we're going to go back out here and tell people that you just fell asleep in the meeting. I don't know what they got for that. And based upon the way that this whole thing has gone, it seems as though they were once again on the wrong side of history. So for you to say that people need to go back and read the plan from the Jackson campaign, and then we can even go back to the black political, the Gary Conference, Tom Porter (08:15): Gary Convention, that Wilmer Leon (08:17): There's enough data. Go ahead. Tom Porter (08:19): Those are two documents that people need to read. Not only read, but they need to update them. That is the agenda that came out of the Gary Convention and Jesse Jackson's platform. Not only was Jesse's platform the most advanced in 1984, when I left the university, I was looking for something to do, so I decided to run for Congress and Jackie Jackson called me Jesse's wife and said, Jesse wants to meet with you. And I was in Cincinnati running for Congress, and I went to Chicago, spent the night at Jesse's house the day before 1983, and that's when Jesse asked me if I would work with him in the campaign. But I ran for Congress in Ohio and I ran in two counties that were 99% white and blacks and white in Cincinnati, which was a big city, said, don't go out there, show your literature, but don't show your face. Long story short, Mondell was at the top of the ticket. I got 2000 more votes than he did in Brown County and a thousand more than he did in Claremont County. He was at the top of stick. He was supposed to ticket, he was supposed to help me. The fact of it is it was just as populism that got basically these working class, mostly Republican whites to get behind Jesse because of his platform. It was a very populous platform to the left. Trump came along with a populous platform from the Wilmer Leon (09:52): Right, from Tom Porter (09:53): The right. And so the Democratic Party, instead of embracing Jesse's platform, which came out of the Gary Convention, instead of embracing it, they moved the leadership of the Democratic Party to the Democratic Leadership Conference and hired all of Jesse's people and gave them jobs which are meaningless jobs, moved the structure from the party someplace else. But these Negroes became deputy. This deputy, I call their names, but I don't want to, some of my still call friends, but they drank the Kool-Aid. And if you read some of the press around Clinton and his crew Al from, and James Carve, one theme was We don't need Jesse Jackson anymore. They marginalized Jesse so much so that in the convention in New York, Jesse didn't have a VIP pass. He had to come through the door like everybody else. That's Clinton and his crew, and Nancy Pelosi and Clyburn and all of the Negroes come out of that. Obama's position was to negate the progress and the black leadership that had gone before he calling Dr. King a simple country preacher, he couldn't carry Dr. King's dirty underwear. Wilmer Leon (11:12): Well, in fact, wait a minute. First of all is that negating the negation is the one question. And to your point, you can go and read President Obama's acceptance speech at the Nobel where he talks about Dr. King and then says, but I'm an American president. I have a different set of concerns that I must address. You don't quote Dr. King and then say, yeah, but you say, yeah, yeah. Tom Porter (11:43): But his job was to negate the advances that had been made and our responsibility, and this is what this generation of young people, when Joe Biden has to pass the torch, but not pass the torch, the Hakeem Jeffries and that crew, we have to negate them, which is called a negation of the negation, which is an affirmation of something at a high level Wilmer Leon (12:11): Because two negatives make a positive. Tom Porter (12:13): That's right. That's right. And so getting back to where we are now, of course Kamala Harris was not chosen as a result of some democratic process, and one would not expect that coming from the Nancy Pelosi, bill Clinton and them. And so the responsibility of this generation of young people and young people have actually shown from the mass worldwide protests around the George Floyd lynching, Greta and Climate can change the mass protests around the war and Gaza, the mass women protests around the world. There's a new populism that is emerging. And if Kamala Harris does not pick somebody to be the vice president to the left of her, she may have problems. Wilmer Leon (13:16): Now, when you say to the left of her, that's a very, very interesting designation because there are many who will say she is the left, that she was the left to Biden. And by the way, folks, Tom mentioned the Democratic Leadership Council, Joe Biden was an instrumental part of that as well. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Joe Biden, they were all Nancy Pelosi. They were all part instrumental parts of moving the Democratic Party from the left. They want to say center, but it was actually to the right. So Tom, what do you say to those that say, oh, wait a minute, wait a minute, Mr. Porter, vice President Harris, it's to the left of Joe Biden. Tom Porter (14:03): It wouldn't be difficult. (14:07) I mean that's a distinction without a difference. They say Twi D and Twiddly dumb. She was as a black person, as a black person, she would have to be given the history that she is a part of, be the left of most white candidates. But at the same time, she was not on the left. And so for her to pick conventional wisdom is a bunch of Bs curse of all. Somebody's always been telling me, well, Tom, conventional wisdom or you don't understand real politics. I say, I'll tell you where you can go with both of those. So conventional wisdom says that she should pick somebody from a state that she needs a governor. The protests and the mass movements that are happening, the populous movements that are happening are to the left. And they're to the left because the Democratic party and the Republican party are so far to the right. But what used to be when we said left, we meant socialists or communism. (15:28) But the left today is anything left of the Democrat or Republican parties. But if she is to, there are two things that I think that are important now. One is the platform. One is the platform. I mean, she's going to be the vice president, the president nominee. That's a foregone conclusion because any of these other people who want to jump up, they can't go anywhere. What's this guy out of? West Virginia said that he was thinking about running, right? The base. Yeah. The base of the Democratic party is black and growing Hispanic, and he's not going to get any votes from them. And so for him to say that he might run and they know it. They know it. And that's why they use Clyburn in 2020 who just as he said, we riding with Biden, we know Joe and Joe know us. I mean some of that old coon foolishness. So they know they can't move without black folks. But the same time they hoping that they got other cly burns Wilmer Leon (16:45): And they know they can't move without black folks, but they never offer substantive legislation to demonstrate a commitment because for as much as they know they can't move without us. They don't want to appear to the broader demographic that they're with us. Tom Porter (17:11): Well, the fact of it is if they were true and honest, Jesse Jackson would've become leader of the Democratic Party just like Trump did. Obama could have become the leader of the Democratic Party, but that wasn't his job. His job was to look good. He and his wife while doing nothing, my daughter sent me a magazine cover the other day where Obama was on there, and it was something about the new generation of Kool. He was supposed to be the replacement for Miles Davis and Malcolm X, all of the black people. We considered to be cool just because they taught him how to dress and walk black and he could shoot a basketball. So he did not want to be head of the Democratic party. He liked his job. He had barbecues and all kind of black folks in the White House, and they line dance and did what they did, and then he came out and did nothing. So the key thing now for the Democrats, if they want to win, I wasn't going to vote for Joe Biden anyway, and I already said it, and anybody that co-signs what he did in Gaza, he could be running against the devil and I wouldn't vote for him or the devil, so I wasn't going to vote for him. (18:38) Kamala Harris, black people going on the glory, they went on the glory with Jesse Jackson. They went on the glory with Barack Obama because black people feel their late nationalism that when we get somebody black, we'll get a better deal if we get somebody white. But as they say, you might be my race, but you're not always my taste. But they're excited about Kamala Harris. They're all this money and black women on Facebook are putting on with camera. I don't have a problem with that. The problem is what's going to be the platform and is she going to choose somebody to the left of her a more populous candidate? Because if she's not going to do that, then what are we talking about more the same? And the other thing that the Democratic Party has to do in the new world that we live in, they've got to loosen the grips that the Israeli lobby has on the party. Wilmer Leon (19:38): What about, I want to quickly go back to the issue with the African-American women and this proclamation or this statement, this sentiment that Vice President Harris has earned the right to be the vice president. And that any attempt to either have a more open process or anything that might challenge that is a threat to black women, it's a threat to black womanhood. Your thoughts on these politics, this whole identity politics thing, because she's a black woman, now all of a sudden is hands off. Tom Porter (20:24): Yeah, I understand that sentiment, but I understand it. It's like with Obama, we knew we questioned Obama, but the black women said that Michelle would keep him in line. Remember that? Wilmer Leon (20:42): Oh yeah. Tom Porter (20:43): They said, Wilmer Leon (20:44): Because Michelle we're from Chicago. And when she said that, I said, oh, we got some straight gangsters up in this joint. We got some Tom Porter (20:52): Elkins. But it was also because she was darker Wilmer Leon (20:56): Than Tom Porter (20:56): Obama. And even though Obama himself said he was a mu mother, he was sure about one thing, and he really wasn't black. He was clear about that. So I understand the sentiment, but everything else in our politics we've got to be serious about. Wilmer Leon (21:20): Not sentimental. Tom Porter (21:22): Not sentimental. That's what Dr. King said and his great thing about power, he said love without power. He said, power without love is reckless, but love without power is weak, sentimental an anemic. And so I understand that everybody wants to see somebody. I'd like to see short guys run the world. I'm five six. Nobody's deeper than that. Wilmer Leon (21:53): No, Tom, it's taller than that. Tom Porter (21:57): You're absolutely right. So I understand the sentiment, but that's the reason why I tell people that you must study deeper. You can't be all form and no content because then you end up saying that Michelle is darker than Obama and therefore she'll keep him in line. They were both like Clinton and Hillary, which was their role model, latter Day Bunny and Clyde's. So I understand that sentiment, but unless they turn it into something, unless they talk about the platform, what is the platform going to look like? What is camera going to run on? I mean, I see her quietly distance herself from Netanyahu's visit. She's going to be in Indiana, but then she's going to secretly meet with him. It's not so much a secret. So we've got to be, these are very, very serious times. And as they say in my neighborhood in Ohio, now's not the time to be nut rolling. So these are very, very serious times. And so when we look at passing the torch, who are we passing the torch to? Not Hakeem Jeffries, not the rest of these niggas, Roland Martin, they're all getting in line. They're getting in line without even discussing the platform. Wilmer Leon (23:26): Well, first of all, could Kamala Harris get away with not meeting with Netanyahu, understanding the power of apac, not meet with Netanyahu and still win the election? Tom Porter (23:42): I think she could. Wilmer Leon (23:43): Okay. Tom Porter (23:44): I don't think, see, APAC has never been challenged, (23:49) And APAC represents that group in the Jewish community who attempts to control everything that they can, particularly in the black community, whether you're talking about the music, the culture, or what have you got to say it. We got to say it because if we don't say it, then we allow ourselves to be chumped. And the fact of it is, is that it's got to be challenged and she won't, but she can challenge it by who she picks and what the platform's going to be. In apacs power is basically through the media, the media and its money. It's not the numbers that they have that can put a candidate in office except maybe in New York City, but she won't. But that has to happen. We cannot allow a group of people to control significant aspects of our community and not say something about it. Wilmer Leon (24:58): Wait a minute. And to that point, to those that listening to this conversation, want to jump on the antisemitism train and accuse us of being antisemitic, APAC said, and you can go back and look it up in the newspaper, they were going to invest 100 million into the Democratic primary process to be sure that they would unseat or prevent from winning candidates whose politics were to the left, and that they deemed to be anti-Israel. That's not us making this up. That's them making the declaration. All we're doing is highlighting and calling your attention to what they said. So we're not making this up. Tom Porter (25:51): I let those kinds of conversations roll off my back that you anti-Semitic, the same way when somebody says, if we get into disagreement and the first thing they go to is you got a Napoleonic complex. And my answer to that, would I be wrong if I was tall? So you can't be afraid of all these things because they going to come at you anyhow. I said to Jesse, when the ING thing came up, I said, man, just don't cop to that. And some of the people who were around him told him to cop to that. It was the biggest mistake that he ever made because they never heard him said it, and he never said it in a derogatory way. About, on the other hand, in our first meeting in New York, Percy Sutton met us before we were supposed to meet with the Jewish leaders of New York with a yako on his head telling us how we had to talk and act in front of the Jews in New York. So look, I don't pay any attention to that. We have to challenge, we have to cash all checks when it comes to us. And it has to be a Pan-African perspective where we really, where the continent and blacks in the new world. We've got to challenge those things that oppress us because if not in this serious time, Trump them are going for all of the marbles. Wilmer Leon (27:18): Yes, they are. I mean, Tom Porter (27:19): They're going for all of the marvels, and there's enough Democrats, white Democrats who will side with that stuff. Because quite frankly, where we are right now, in order to solve the world's problems, we have to understand two things. Who's been in charge of the world for the last 400 years? White men look at the state of the world. They forfeited the right to run the world, but you're not going to give up just because you enslaved. A bunch of people stole the land from the Native Americans. If we give up, we'd have to give up what we got. It's too bad, but we not giving that up. And that's what trumped them. That's what Hitler was riding on. That's what Trump didn't riding on. We don't want to give. Democracy is what it means to pay reparations, give some of the land back to the neighborhood. What the hell with democracy? That's what they're saying. Wilmer Leon (28:13): I want to quickly go back to your point about challenging APAC and other type of organizations, and I want to tie it to what's going on in Gaza now nine months into that conflict. And the Zionist government of Israel has been taken a ass whooping for nine months straight. And so this whole mythology of the invincibility of the IDF, that they're this phenomenal military force and they're getting their ass whooped. And so the whole mythology behind this thing is being exposed. And so just as it's being exposed there, it's being exposed here. The question is, are we willing to do what we have to do to challenge that mythology in alliance with those that are fighting in Gaza? Does that make sense? Tom Porter (29:12): Sure, it makes sense. Well, the fact of it is, given the geopolitical alignment in the world today with China and Russia and Brazil and different formations coming together, even the EU who has been lockstep with Israel, the eu, it can no longer hold to that position because without Africa, Europe is broke in terms of the resources. And so the Israel, where it appears to be winning because of the devastation that it is reaping on the Palestinian people, there will be a reckoning, and it's coming slow, but it is coming even among the evangelicals who say that the rapture will come when Israel is safe and secure within its borders, and then Israel will be destroyed. Wilmer Leon (30:12): Look at Yemen. Look at what Yemen has been able to extract or the force that they've been able to exact upon in terms of their involvement in this process. A small Yemen is considered to be the poorest country in the world. They control the Red Sea. They're sending missiles 1200, 1400 miles across Saudi Arabia and decimating important ports that Israel controls. The whole dynamic is shifting. So with that, when you look, you've talked about the platform. I remember when the platform committee meetings used to be broadcast on television, and I used to sit and listen to 'em. I know I need to get a life, but I used to sit and listen to 'em. That's not happening anymore. So how does a candidate, Harris, what type of platform does she articulate having sat there for years while the Biden administration is involved in genocide, while the Biden administration has wasted trillions of dollars in Ukraine, how does she formulate a platform that takes us away from that failed, attempted world domination and moves us closer to the direction that the world is actually going as in bricks in the South and the Chinese? Tom Porter (31:47): Well, as if we look at the Middle East, Wilmer Leon (31:52): The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is what I was trying to get to. Go Tom Porter (31:55): Ahead. If we look at the Middle East, Wilmer Leon (31:59): Is that a reasonable question to Tom Porter (32:01): Ask? Not only is a reasonable question to ask, but it's a reasonable question to expect that it be answered. You can't allow a small country in the Middle East, which was settled by people who were not from, that had no connection to the original inhabitants of the Middle East to control the future of the Western world women. There's a movie called Rollover, and this was when the Arabs dominated the money thing through it started Kris Christoff and James Fonder and the Greenspan character played by Hume Cronin. At one point, the Arabs were not going to roll over the money, and Hume Cronin said, you are playing with the end of the world. That's where we're at. You can't allow a group of people since Jesus time to control your system in the way that these people do, because it won't work with people talking about if they leave the dollar, Wilmer Leon (33:26): Which they are doing, Tom Porter (33:28): Which they're doing, somebody else loses their influence because there's nothing back in the dollar to begin with talking Wilmer Leon (33:38): About other than more dollars. Tom Porter (33:38): Yeah, talking about only a paper Moon Wilmer Leon (33:45): And Tom, people really need to understand for it because it's not really being articulated here in the Western media. Again, the power of the bricks, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and now about seven or eight other countries have joined the organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, those two as quiet as is kept in the West man, they kicked the French out of Niger. You look at the development of the Sahel cooperation organization, man, they are kicking ass and taking names. They are finally moving beyond flag independence, and they are now actually taking control of their economies and they are taking control of their countries and they are kicking the west out. Tom Porter (34:42): The Palestinian leadership met for two days in Beijing. I mean the world, one of the most popular soap operas used to be. As the world turns Wilmer Leon (34:55): In daily city, Tom Porter (34:58): The world is turning. And quite frankly, it's turning away. Not so much from the West, but from the ways of the West. And they don't get it. They don't get it. You can't put sanctions on the whole world without putting sanctions on yourself. You can't tell people they can't come to America, and you'd be welcome in Panama and Costa Rica and Brazil. It doesn't work like that. Or you'd be welcome in Africa. It doesn't really work like that. You tell the people they can't come. Well, clues the borders work both ways. We can open 'em and close, and you can't. I mean, the policies are so stupid in the West. I mean, it's almost particularly in the United States because they have sold this white nationalism for so long, they'd actually believe it themselves. The world is going on without them. Wilmer Leon (35:52): And to their point, I'm looking up here seeing if I could put my hands on it, but I can't quickly, Dr. Ron Walters wrote a book a while ago, white nationalism, black Interests, and I strongly suggest that people get ahold of it. To your point about the policy and the borders, which they say that the Biden administration put Kamala Harris in charge of the borders. I was at the RNC and this woman, Latinos for Trump is who I was talking to. And she was talking about the border, the border. The Democrats have just, I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. You are not even talking about the American foreign policy in these countries that is decimating their economies and forcing these people to leave their countries to come here. And she looked at me very puzzled and quizzical, and I said, lemme give you an example. Chiquita Banana last week was convicted in federal court in Florida of having sponsored death squads in Guatemala. So Chiquita Banana, a US corporation is killing Guatemalans, torturing Guatemalans. And that isn't motivation for them to leave their countries. She didn't even want to touch that, didn't want to Tom Porter (37:18): Touch it. I mean, it's very interesting that Trump would say that the people who are coming across the border are taking jobs from blacks and Latinos. Who does he think are coming across the border? Wilmer Leon (37:33): Oh, I asked her about Haitians. I said, the United States. Thank you. Hakeem Jeffries, thank you Kamala Harris, thank you. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the United States is trying to rein invade Haiti. Where are the Haitians supposed to go? Tom Porter (37:51): I mean, the fact of it is we have got to make sure and say to anybody that says that they represent us. Hakeem Jeffries, John Clyburn, governor Wilmer Leon (38:06): Gregory, Gregory Tom Porter (38:06): Meeks. Gregory Meeks, that if you're going to represent us, this is the platform brother. I mean, you had Hakeem Jeffries and Jonathan Jackson down here in Maryland supporting the guy from that owns Total Wine and Liquorice who was running for Senator Now, I dunno, Wilmer Leon (38:28): David Tron. Tom Porter (38:29): Yeah. And also Brooke. I didn't have no dogging hunt. But how do you come down here in this neighborhood and you support a white candidate who was no more distinguished than Officer Brook for what? Well, I know what Johnson Jackson did. He's in the same business. He's a liquor distributor and by man owns Total Wine. But I understand that he paid off some of Hakeem Jeffries and John campaign debts. So I don't know. But that's not representing us. You're not representing us if you're not on the side of the Palestinians. If you don't believe in the two state Wilmer Leon (39:10): Solution, Tom Porter (39:11): You're not representing us. If you don't understand what's happening in Africa or Haiti or Cuba, 70% of the people in Cuba of African descent. So you putting sanctions on your own people, you can't be co-signing that. And we got to say this, we got to negate the negation. We, as Margaret Walker said, let a new race of men and women rise and take control. That's what time it is. Wilmer Leon (39:38): So how do we get the presumptive right now, democratic nominee, Kamala Harris as a woman of color, as a multi-ethnic woman, Jamaican and Indian, how do we get her to speak to those issues? Tom Porter (40:02): First of all, we got to energize the black community because they're counting on that. And we've got to say to black women, these are the issues that we think, and there are black women who agree with us. These are the issues that we think that are important to the black community, and we need to have townhouses. We got to not only reenergize our black community, but we need to reenergize a movement because the struggle's not over. And we've got to put before, we can't just say that Kamala, you black, and therefore whatever you do is cool because it's not cool. Wilmer Leon (40:45): But that's the narrative right now, we are so ecstatic, and I'm speaking in the global, we are so ecstatic now that she is in this presumptive position and they are saying that she has earned the right to be there simply because she's black, because she's a woman and because she's been the VP for four years. But when you go back to when she ran for the number one slot, she was the first one out the race. She had zero delegates. She got less than 5% of the vote. Black people didn't even vote for her. Wait a minute. And final point, Tulsi Gabbard torched her ass in 45 seconds. And folks, I ain't hating. I'm just putting out the data, Tom. Tom Porter (41:39): Well, I mean she's earned the right as much as anybody else, but that's not really saying anything. Wilmer Leon (41:46): Okay? Tom Porter (41:47): It's not ever saying anything. The question is, now you here and this is what we're saying. Wilmer Leon (41:52): So what you going to do? Tom Porter (41:53): Yeah, this is what we're saying. We already went through Obama with this stuff and see, we got to quit accepting this notion of the first black to do this. The only reason why, I mean, you take the question of black quarterbacks. The only reason why there were no black quarterbacks in the NFL until there were some had absolutely nothing to do with. There were black quarterbacks, quarterback at junior high, black high schools and colleges ever since. There were some. And so the fact that you decide to let us in don't have anything to do with it because we've earned the right, we've earned the right. Our ancestors paid the price for us to be any damn thing. We want to be in this country. But now, if you're going to represent us, this is what we need at this point. And if you can't do that, it's okay. Do like Biden did go sit next to him while he's fishing, but we have got to have more programs like this. Too many people are not rolling in the press. You have people who, when I was in radio, well, you got to do both sides. There's no good side to slavery. I'm not even going to attempt that one so Wilmer Leon (43:04): Well. In fact, Tom, I've always, particularly when I started talking about Palestine, and I'd get calls from Jewish listeners who would tell me that I'm not balanced. And I said, no, I'm not trying to be balanced. I'm the counterbalance. Because anything that the positions that you want to articulate in the narrative that you want to hear, you get it in the Washington Post, you get it in the New York Times, you get it in the LA Times, you get it on M-S-N-B-C-I-A, you get it on CNN all day every day. So I don't have to present that because it's already presented. I'm the counter to that. And I think I got that from you, by the Tom Porter (43:46): Way. Well, it's very, very interesting. I was watching the BBC yesterday and the BBC hosts was saying, Kamala Harris is black and Asian, as if these would become factors. And she had an affair with Willie Brown. I mean, first of all, she's running against the cat who's damn near serial rapist Wilmer Leon (44:12): And admitted as such. Tom Porter (44:14): But then nobody mentioned that JD Vance's wife was Indian. Nobody talked about Nikki Haley being Indian. It only comes up with his black people Wilmer Leon (44:29): Who I talked to at the convention and was an empty can just full of talking points. Go ahead. Tom Porter (44:38): And so we going have to, the black community is going to have to defend her even if she doesn't want us to defend her because they coming at her. Wilmer Leon (44:49): Oh, no question. Tom Porter (44:50): They're coming at her and somebody's going to slip up and use the N word. Wilmer Leon (44:56): In fact, when I was at the convention, I was on the floor right after they nominated JD Vance, and that whole process ended the day session. I'm doing my standup with the convention floor in the background. And this other news entity had allowed us to use their standup space. And as I'm wrapping up, I say, I find it interesting that a guy who just three years ago was telling America that Donald Trump was the next thing to add off. Hitler is now going to be standing next to this add off Hitler as his vp. I said, how does that happen? And when I said that, the guy who allowed us to use his space came up and said, you guys got to go. You guys got to go. And we said, well, wait a minute. So anyway, but I raised all that to say that question. I'm not hearing many people ask, JD Vance said that Donald Trump was the next thing to Hitler, and he's now standing next to his Hitler. Tom Porter (46:13): Well, I say this about JD Vance and I put it on Facebook that he is either the white version of the Spook who sat by the door or he is the opportunist of the highest order. And I think it's probably a combination Wilmer Leon (46:28): Of nation of the two. Tom Porter (46:29): Yes, yes, yes. And I think Trump may be a little bit concerned now because Trump is in hot water because people don't like him now. They tolerate him. You think Mitch McConnell lacks Trump? Wilmer Leon (46:44): No. Oh, well see, in fact, I'm glad you said that because my advice to the Democrats right now is just put together a clip, a montage of JD Vance, of Little Marco Rubio of what's the dude from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, all of these folks who were, most of whom were sitting in Trump's box last week at Cult Fest 2024, which is also called the RNC Convention, put a montage of them, of Lindsey Graham saying, he's a narcissist, he's a bigot, he's an idiot. All of those put all that language Cruz, all the folks that were in that box kissing his butt. They need to tell the truth. Tom Porter (47:40): And at the same time, the Democrats, they've got some work to do. Oh, where do you think all of those people who were supporting Bernie Sanders in 2020, it's one thing for Bernie Sanders to be with the party, but those people, that's the reason why I said if she doesn't really pick a populous candidate as Vice President running mate, or if the platform is not one that is of a populous nature, she's got serious problems. Wilmer Leon (48:12): Those former Bernie people are part of that new crew called the Dual Haters. They're part of that new crew that is saying, we don't want either of these buffoons talking about Biden and talking. Tom Porter (48:25): And the fact of it is a significant number of the American people didn't want either one of 'em either. Correct. It was the press and the polls. And I say to people that polls are designed to shape and mold public opinion not to reflect the truth of public opinion. And of course, the other thing that nobody's ever, we haven't looked at, who are these people in the press? How many of them are actually Republicans? I know Lester Ho is Now, I'm not saying he's a Trump, but I'm just simply saying, because the press has been very, very lack in covering Trump. I mean, he lies. They never say that he lied. We are going to fact check him. Why don't you just say he lied about this? He lied about that. That's, that's the operative word. He lied. Wilmer Leon (49:21): In fact, I'm glad you brought up the polls because that part of the conversation got away from me for a minute because, and I know that the whole issue with Kamala now has just surfaced. So current polling hasn't taken place yet and hasn't been analyzed. But when you go back to, in looking at the numbers, you go to real clear politics. Trump at 58.4, Kamala Harris at 32.9. Now she has gained traction over the last couple of days, but still 58.4 to 32.9, that's not where you want to be with four months out from the election. Tom Porter (50:14): Yeah, but I think she has ignored the polls. I remember again. Wilmer Leon (50:18): Oh, absolutely. Tom Porter (50:18): Absolutely. I remember, again, traveling with Jesse and Negroes always ask these questions. They don't ask these questions. And they said, well, let's face it Jesse Jackson, you can't win Reverend Jackson. You got no organization, all this kind of stuff. And at that time, it was seven candidates in the race, and Jesse said, I'm number three, at least four other candidates that'd like to have my place. And so I think she has to ignore the polls because the polls are all part of the establishment, and they got a dog in the, and what's on the agenda now? What's on the agenda now is whether or not capitalism can in fact solve depressing problems that are facing the world today. And I would say that it can't. And so then what is the solution? I mean, I'm not saying that I have a solution, but I can say, what ain't the solution because it hasn't worked. (51:19) And therefore we got to be trying something new with some new people. And so the changing of the guard and the passing of the baton includes the passing away from white men, the same white men that who've been running the world, and the same white women who've been aligned with them. The passing of the church means that we got to not go with these Negro leaders who've been appointed, but to find our own leaders and to elect our own leaders, and the ones that don't do what we want 'em to do, we punish them by not electing them. Again, Wilmer Leon (51:54): Final question to you then. As you look at Kamala Harris as the presumptive nominee, I've been saying it can't work by just changing the messenger and not changing the message. Tom Porter (52:12): Oh, absolutely. Wilmer Leon (52:13): Go ahead, Tom Porter. Tom Porter (52:14): I mean, absolutely. We've already been there before. We've been there with Obama. Obama had, in the first term, he had the House and the Senate. He did nothing. And so we can't just change the message, the messenger or be satisfied that the messenger looks like us. We can't have got the demand and insist that people who represent us at whatever level, they represent us from the city council to the Congress and what have you, that if you're going to represent us, represent us. And if you not get the hell out the way, Wilmer Leon (52:55): But Tom, so what do you say to those AKAs that are ski win and doing the electric slide behind Kamala Harris and saying, oh, no, no, no, you can't do that now. Oh, no, no, no. You can't say that now because you can't put that on her now because we have to get her elected. And if you play those cards now, you're going to put her in a very precarious position and we'll lose the opportunity to have the first woman as a president. So what do you say to them that will respond in that manner? Tom Porter (53:30): We don't need a first black woman president because she's black. It's like people who say people fought and died for the right to vote. That's a lie. I fought and I didn't die for the right to vote, not for the right to vote, but the right to vote for something and somebody that would represent me. And so as the old folks say, you might be my race, but you're not my taste unless you willing to do what the ancestors have done. The legacy that you've inherited is not a legacy of people who went along to get along. It's a legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer. It's the legacy of Dr. King. It's the legacy of SNC and Core. That's the legacy. And if you ain't in that legacy, then get the hell out the way. Whether you a KAI don't know nothing about Greek organizations because I'm gamma delta iota damn independent. But my point of it is, we could no longer listen to these kind of arguments. I mean, these arguments go slow, slow. They say go slow. I mean, Wilmer Leon (54:43): Yours will come by and by. Tom Porter (54:45): Yeah. But we are past that. The world is in a serious position. And last side, look, we're in the world whether we are talking about the environment, whether we are talking about violence in the street, whether we are talking about homelessness, whether we're talking about whatever we're talking about, black people are impacted about that. And if you ain't for that, then get back. And we have to say that. I mean, I have no problem with saying to people, including in my own family, now look, if you ain't going to do nothing, get the hell out the way. I mean, I say that to my daughters, my grandkids, my friends. If you ain't going to do 'em, don't come around me because that ain't my style. And my heroes were Dr. King and Malcolm X and Fannie Lou Hamer. They weren't AKAs or Deltas. We didn't care nothing about any of that. And some progressive people were part of those organizations. But we can't, if she can't get elected on a platform that's a progressive platform than how is she going to govern as a progressive. Wilmer Leon (56:02): I want to thank my guests, brother Tom Porter. Man, thank you so much for joining me today. Tom Porter (56:10): It's been a pleasure, brother. Wilmer Leon (56:12): Folks, thank you all so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wilmer Leon and Tom Porter. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share the show, follow me. Follow us on social media. You can find all the links to the show below in the description below. And remember, folks, this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Because talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter here. Unlike a whole lot of folks, we don't chatter here on connecting the dots. I'm going to see you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Woman Leon. Have a great one. Peace. I'm out Announcer (57:05): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.

Many anthologies of nature poetry and Black poetry have excluded Black nature poetry. But Black people have always written poetry about nature. We write about the land that supports us and challenges us. We write about the animals we care for and the disasters that destroy our homes. We write about the rivers we cross and the soil we till. Black nature poems reflect the enormous range of experiences that we have in our physical environments. As they show us, nature can haunt, and nature can heal. In today's episode, Katie and Yves discuss the work of a few writers who train their words on the natural world.   Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.showSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda Holmes reads Margaret Walker's “I Want to Write.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman. This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we interview Maryemma Graham, author of the first comprehensive biography of famed poet, writer, and educator Margaret Walker. The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret […]

Families in Jackson Public School District are asking what would happen if several of the area's schools are closed.Then, a new biography tells the story of Margaret Walker, a visionary author and teacher born in Birmingham, raised in New Orleans and settled in Jackson, Mississippi.Plus, a Pulitzer prize-winning author is visiting the Two Mississippi Museums today for this week's History Is Lunch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival, celebrating 50 years since its inception in 1973, is set to take place at Jackson State University. The festival was originally organized by poet Margaret Walker and brought together 30 leading black female authors. The event aimed to celebrate Black women writers and pay homage to Wheatley, the first Black woman to publish a book of poetry in the United States. The festival continues to honor Walker's legacy and will feature both established and emerging Black women writers. Dr. Ebony Lumumba is our guest and hopes to showcase the beauty and creativity of Jackson, Mississippi, and its people during the festival.

Rebroadcast of Episode 9Forgiveness is something we want for ourselves but can be hard to extend to others. Margaret Walker knows a lot about forgiveness, and she shares her experiences in forgiving people who have hurt her when it seemed impossible to do so. Learn the many benefits of forgiveness and where the power to forgive comes from.Engage with Debora Barr at: https://tbtwpodcast.com/

A former Fulton County jailer is facing federal charges for allegedly strangling a female detainee while she was in handcuffs; The updated COVID-19 vaccine's rollout has faced challenges in metro Atlanta; Author Maryemma Graham on her new biography of Margaret Walker, "The House Where My Soul Lives."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nacimiento de Isabelo de los Reyes y Margaret Walker, Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos.Acompáñanos y descubre qué pasó un día como hoy hace algunos años mientras mejoras tu comprensión auditiva y aprendes palabras nuevas. Cuéntanos tu opinión con un correo a podcasting@babbel.com.Vocabulario útil:sindicalista: persona miembro de un sindicato que defiende los derechos de los trabajadorescivil: lo contrario de militarLos sucesos presentados están escritos de manera simplificada para oyentes con un nivel intermedio de español y reflejan la información disponible hasta abril de 2022.¡Puedes escuchar y leer a la vez! Usa la transcripción del episodio: https://bit.ly/3OGHvjD

Join Imani Perry and Kaitlyn Greenidge for a discussion of Claudia Tate and Black Women Writers At Work. Long out of print, Black Women Writers at Work is a vital contribution to Black literature in the 20th century. Through candid interviews with Maya Angelou, Toni Cade Bambara, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alexis De Veaux, Nikki Giovanni, Kristin Hunter, Gayl Jones, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozake Shange, Alice Walker, Margaret Walker, and Sherley Anne Williams, the book highlights the practices and critical linkages between the work and lived experiences of Black women writers whose work laid the foundation for many who have come after. For this launch Imani Perry will be in conversation with Kaitlyn Greenidge. Get Black Women Writers at Work from Haymarket: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1926-black-women-writers-at-work Speakers: Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where she also teaches in the Programs in Law and Public Affairs, and in Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, and spent much of her youth in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chicago. She is the author of several books, including Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry. She lives outside Philadelphia with her two sons, Freeman Diallo Perry Rabb and Issa Garner Rabb. Kaitlyn Greenidge's debut novel is We Love You, Charlie Freeman (Algonquin Books), one of the New York Times Critics' Top 10 Books of 2016. Her writing has appeared in the Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle, Buzzfeed, Transition Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, American Short Fiction and other places. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is currently Features Director at Harper's Bazaar. Her second novel, Libertie, is published by Algonquin Books and out now. Watch the live event recording: https://youtube.com/live/sYdedGXRV_g Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Sisonke Msimang interviews Barbara Masekela about her memoir Poli Poli. Barbara remembers her childhood home with her grandmother and honours her generation of Black women. She contextualises her family's life in the history of dispossession, mobility, apartheid and reflects on her exile in the U.S. and transatlantic cultural ties. Barbara also mentions her friendship with the late Keorapetse “Bra Willie” Kgositsile, who is celebrated in episode four of this season. Sisonke Msimang is the author of two books: Always Another Country: A memoir of exile and home, and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela.  She has written essays and articles for a range of international press, and she works as a curator and storyteller. Sisonke is also a member of the board of PEN South Africa.   Barbara Masekela is a South African poet, educator, mother, and activist. She has served as ambassador to the United States and France, and has held various executive and non-executive directorships, including at Standard Bank, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and De Beers. Her memoir Poli Poli was published by Jonathan Ball in 2021. She lives in Johannesburg. In this episode we are in solidarity with academic and activist Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace. You can read more about his case here: https://www.pen-international.org/news/free-dr-abduljalil-al-singace As tributes to Dr Al-Singace, Barbara reads an extract from Margaret Walker's “For My People” and Sisonke shares a quote about courage from Maya Angelou. This podcast series is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to promote open conversation and highlight shared histories.

A group of civil rights advocates say Southern states set the tone for policy that has broader, national ramifications - often disproportionately affecting minority groups.Then, how some communities are working to keep dollar stores out.Plus, History is Lunch looks at the life, work and legacy of Margaret Walker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're continuing our celebration of Black History Month with Margaret Walker! This remarkable poet certainly walked the walk and wrote the... writing? She used the power of her pen to advocate for Black women, while teaching and creating space to celebrate and uplift Black creatives! Join us for this and a little Valentine's Day appreciation! 

This week Kenyatta D. Berry, author of The Family Tree Toolkit, and host of PBS' Genealogy Roadshow  speaks with Data Historian and author Dan Bouk. The two discuss a critical part of all genealogy research - census records. Items discussed in this episode: Bureau of the Census, Negro Population 1790-1915 (1918)  https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112004120298?urlappend=%3Bseq=8Kelly Miller, “Enumeration Errors in Negro Population,” Scientific Monthly 14, no. 2 (1922): 168-177 https://www.jstor.org/stable/6436#metadata_info_tab_contentsLangston Hughes, "Madam and the Census Man" performed by Margaret Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40GyoFE6GAgTammy Hepps, "When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Fraud in the 1920 Census," https://homesteadhebrews.com/articles/when-henry-silverstein-got-cold/And as always, the music for this episode was "Good Vibe," by Ketsa.

Amanda Holmes reads Margaret Walker's poem “For My People.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman. This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Capturing Our Histories is a collection of podcasts featuring local, Dubbo Aboriginal Elders telling their stories, lessons and histories. We hope to share the connectedness of yarning and appreciation for our local First Nations' culture to gain a sense of understanding, empathy and connectedness to local Elders lives and experiences. Our guests in the episode are Aunty Margaret Walker, Aunty Joanne Carr & Aunty Janet Toomey.

Lauren and Emily are back with Margaret Walker and Sarah Caruth, of Fraulein Boot Company, in this new Wealth Edit Wednesday season. In this episode, Margaret and Sarah share their career journey, how they started their "mid-life crisis" company, as well as what they look forward to in the future of Fraulein.

Isabelo de los Reyes, Margaret Walker, et Sandra Day O'Connor à la Cour Suprême…Découvrez avec nous ce qui a eu lieu ce jour, mais dans le passé. En même temps, vous pourrez améliorer votre écoute et apprendre de nouveaux mots. Vous pouvez nous envoyer vos réactions et remarques à podcasting@babbel.com.Vocabulairedominer : contrôler, être le maître de quelque chose ou quelqu'unun recueil : un livre qui rassemble plusieurs textes courtssiéger : être assis à une place officielle, avoir le pouvoir que donne cette placeune décoration : une médaille, une récompense officielleCes événements sont décrits de manière simple, pour des apprenants de niveau intermédiaire. Les faits étaient certifiés exacts en avril 2022.Si vous préférez avoir un support écrit, vous trouverez la transcription de cet épisode ici: https://bit.ly/3yp4JCF

Isabelo de los Reyes, Margaret Walker, Sandra Day O'Connor and the Supreme Court.Join us and discover what happened on this day in the past, all while improving your listening skills and learning a few new words along the way. Email us your feedback to podcasting@babbel.com.Useful wordssocialist: relating to ‘socialism'; the economic and political system which gives the power to the workerscivilian: someone who isn't a member of the armed forces or policeThese events are written in a simple way for intermediate learners of English. Facts are accurate as of April 2022.If you'd like to read along, you can find the transcript for this episode here: https://bit.ly/3xNsYJx

Isabelo de los Reyes, Margaret Walker, Sandra Day O'Connor e la Corte Suprema degli Stati Uniti...Scopri insieme a noi che cosa è successo in questo giorno, nel passato. E allo stesso tempo, migliora la tua abilità di ascolto dell'italiano mentre impari parole nuove. Per inviarci il tuo feedback, scrivi a podcasting@babbel.com.Parole utili socialista: riferito al socialismo, ovvero a quel sistema economico e politico che dà il potere alle lavoratrici e ai lavoratoridominio: pieno controllo di qualcosaassegnare: dare, conferirecivile: qualcosa che riguarda la società, i cittadini di uno StatoQuesti eventi sono scritti in un italiano semplice per apprendenti di livello intermedio. I fatti storici sono stati verificati nel giugno 2021. Se preferisci leggere mentre ascolti, qui trovi la trascrizione dell'episodio: https://bit.ly/3OO0OoA

Acclaimed poet and fiction writer Margaret Walker Alexander grew up in Birmingham and her novel Jubilee has been called a black Gone With the Wind. She talks with host Don Noble about her long career and her association with the writer Richard Wright.

"Cultural Activist" tells the story of poet, writer, and archivist Margaret Walker Alexander who founded the first institute for African American studies in Jackson, Mississippi. It includes excerpts from her journals and follows her journey through life, displaying her struggles and triumphs. Written by Chauncy Jordan and produced by Willem Arnoldus.

"For My People" is a powerful poem written by Margaret Walker. This poem teaches about the hardship that my people endured but it also celebrates the triumphs of our people. Please go to YouTube and subscribe to the Margaret Walker Center. Learn about her story. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thefrenettatateshow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thefrenettatateshow/support

Honoring our ancestor Margaret Walker through remembering her poem Lineage before taking 3 minutes for self via breathwork. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/un2re21/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/un2re21/support

To close out the year, Raven performs poetry by two Black writers, and Olivia describes a Black American New Year's Day tradition.   Email us! intersectionalinsights@gmail.com. Follow us!  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/isquaredpodcast/ Twitter @I_squaredpod https://twitter.com/I_SquaredPod Facebook page http://www.fb.me/ISquaredPod   Episode Summary: 00:37: Raven gives a brief background on poet and educator Lucille Clifton, and reads “won't you celebrate with me.” 01:34: Background on Margaret Walker, Ph.D., and performance of “For My People.” 05:11: Olivia talks about a common New Year's Day tradition in the Black community. 09:27: Outro.   Learn More! Lucille Clifton https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lucille-clifton Won't you Celebrate with me https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50974/wont-you-celebrate-with-me Margaret Walker https://poets.org/poet/margaret-walker For My People https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/21850/for-my-people Tracing the Origins of a Black American New Year's Ritual https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/24/dining/black-eyed-peas-greens-new-years.html  

December 28, 2021- Reverend Courtney Carson of Richland Community College, joined Byers & Co to talk to guest host Kevin Breheny about the EnRich Program, and the impact of community leaders such as Thomas & Margaret Walker, and Dr. Jeremy & Juanita Morris. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Great American Novel podcast is an ongoing discussion about the novels we hold up as significant achievements in our American literary culture.  Additionally, we sometimes suggest novels who should break into the sometimes problematical canon and at other times we'll suggest books which can be dropped from such lofty consideration.  Your hosts are Kirk Curnutt and Scott Yarbrough, professors with little time and less sense who nonetheless enjoy a good book banter.   Our 8th episode is a consideration of one of the most significant works of Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.  We dive deep into Morrison's 6th novel, BELOVED, and consider the ways our culture is still wrestling with the demons she evokes in this 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel.  Based partly on the true story of escaped slave Margaret Garner, Beloved tells the story of Sethe and her community, and asks what it means to be haunted by a past that cannot be buried, even if people would just as soon not pass the story on.   Our canon fodder suggestion in this episode is Margaret Walker's 1966 novel, Jubilee.  All show music is by Lobo Loco.  The intro song is “Old Ralley”; the midpoint intermission is “The First Minute,” and the outro is “Inspector Invisible.”  For more information see here: https://locolobomusic.com/.  

Towering over the town of Haslingden, Cribden Hill imposes its presence in a grand demeanor. And whilst it may look picturesque from spring right through to the autumn months, it can arguably be as intimidating as well as beautiful looking during the winter months, and it's during this period back on Sunday, 6th March, 1910 our next story takes place. Young Isabella Walker, who was just 2½ years old, had spent the best part of the day outside playing with other children. Although it had been a cold and mixed type of day, this hadn't stopped any of them from enjoying the rare opportunity of making the most of their free time together. By mid-afternoon, many of the children had returned home, leaving Isabella pretty much alone. It seems that she still had an abundance of energy still to burn off and so she went back to her home to spend time with her elder brother and sister, John and Hilda. John was seven and Hilda, ten years of age. Unbeknownst to her, both John and Hilda had already been sent out to a farm a short distance away to collect some milk and so, after finding only her mother and father at home and with her brother and sister nowhere to be seen, she left the house to go and look for them, or so it seems. Time would soon pass, and despite John and Hilda returning home with the milk, it would be around 5.45pm when Isabella's parents, Frederick and Margaret would for the first time realise Isabella was missing. The home of Frederick and Margaret Walker was situated on the slope of Cribden Hill in an area known as Cribden 'Side', with several farm buildings separated by dry stones walls and the odd hedgerow. They had four children, with Isabella being the youngest at just 2½ years of age. John and Hilda, as we have already mentioned, and also Isaac, who was five years old. With Isabella now apparently missing, Frederick set out to scour the moors, frantically searching for his daughter. But as a thick layer of mist soon began to fall and with darkness quickly descending, his search would turn to frustration, and with a gaslamp as his only source of light, visibility was extremely poor. Shouting out into the thickness of the fog, the sound of his voice would be muffled out just as quickly as it left his mouth. For more on this story, please visit our website at https://www.daysofhorror.com

A review of "Jubilee" by Margaret Walker which follows the life of Vyry through the antebellum period, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.   Show notes are available at http://noirehistoir.com/blog/jubilee-book-review.

New Fluisteraars, Yemeni folk, new Sarah Davachi, Godzilla sound effects, ionosphere recordings, Margaret Walker poetry, Cambodian ballads...

7. července 1915 se narodila Margaret Walker - americká básnířka a spisovatelka. Báseň přeložil Vladimír Klíma. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/basennakazdyden/message

Today is the 96th birthday of the Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers. He paid the ultimate price for his conviction. He was memorialized by prominent authors including James Baldwin and Margaret Walker. In 1969, Medgar Evers College was established in Brooklyn, the same year a community pool in Seattle was named after him. In Jackson, Mississippi, he has a statue, an airport, and in nearby Fayette, his brother was their first African-American mayor (1969). In 2011, the USNS Medgar Evers was christened in his honor. In 2013, Alcorn State University erected a statue and was the subject of a tribute at Arlington National Cemetery. High ranking elected and military officials were in attendance. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://waldina.com/2021/07/02/happy-96th-birthday-medgar-evers/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/waldina/message

Imagine if there were a federal works program to support unemployed writers? In the 1930s, there was! In this week's mini episode, we're taking a look at the fascinating American Guide Series, a collection of travel guides to the United States that was part of the New Deal's Federal Writers' Project, employing more than 6,500 mostly unknown writers during the Depression Era. Zora Neale Hurston, Margaret Walker, and Dorothy West were among the many authors who wrote material and collected first-person accounts for the series. 

Prince Georges County has some seedlings that you need to know about.- Stephanie Young and Jamila Cassagnol. Two young women finding joy in growing locally. blueberwynfarm is where you can find Stephanie and sweet.love.floral is where you can find Jamila Cassagnol who will be selling bouquets of joy at the Capital Market of 20743 Two seedlings trying to make history as farmers right here in the DMV. Let's check them out and support them as often as possible. Poem My Mississippi Spring by Margaret Walker, Black Nature, Edited by Camille T. Dungy Have you bought your tickets yet? Join me at The Great Grow Along next weekend, March 19 - 21 all from the comfort of your own home. This event will feature some new friends who are sharing information to help you grow! The Great Grow Along features a cast of people YOU need to know about. Visit https://www.greatgrowalong.com/ This event is guaranteed to pique your interest as you begin to garden in 2021! I ask that you continue to follow me... Https://www.cottageinthecourt.com...Instagram and Twitter: @cottageincourt...Facebook: CottageInTheCourt, and sometimes on Medium: Cottage In The Court If you would like to stay in the know, please subscribe to Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts, or Pandora Podcasts. In the meantime...garden like you mean it! Teri, Cottage In The Court #gardencomm

This episode we discuss Margaret Walker with Angela Stewart, Archivist at the Margaret Walker Center, an archive and museum dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of African American history and culture. This podcast is presented in conjunction with our new virtual exhibit, American Voices, which you can explore at NationOfWriters.org AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This episode we discuss Margaret Walker with Angela Stewart, Archivist at the Margaret Walker Center, an archive and museum dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of African American history and culture. This podcast is presented in conjunction with our new virtual exhibit, American Voices, which you can explore at NationOfWriters.org AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

Today Marshall Ramsey sits down with Dr. Robert Luckett, Associate Professor of the Department of History at Jackson State University and the Director of the Margaret Walker Center. Listen as they discuss everything from the affects of the Pandemic, Margaret Walker, her legacy and what's next for The Margaret Walker Center and more.. For more details about the Margaret Walker Center visit www.jsums.edu/margaretwalkercenter/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, recorded live at East 15 in November 2020, Gerry McAlpine, a graduate of the school and currently head of the First year of the BA and Cert HE, talks about the spirit at the heart of Margaret Walker's drama school, established to promote and develop the ideas and working methods of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. The other voice you will hear sometimes is that of Andrea Brooks who currently runs the MA acting degree at East 15. The photograph is of the pond dug as part of the living history project a good example of East 15's working methods.Support the show

#009 – Forgiveness is something we want for ourselves but can be hard to extend to others. Margaret Walker knows a lot about forgiveness, and she shares her experiences in forgiving people who have hurt her when it seemed impossible to do so. Learn the many benefits of forgiveness and where the power to forgive comes from.Stay tuned for our next episode that will explore the topic – How Do I Forgive Myself?

Americans showed up, voted, and made sure their voices were heard on November 3rd. In an election year where representation mattered maybe more than ever, Black people showed up and said "We Matter, and We WILL be counted." In this celebratory episode Steven Anthony Jones and Kaliswa Brewster read pieces by Margaret Walker, Larry Neal, Langston Hughes, and Mari Evans that joyfully lift up the strength, resistance, and resilience of Black people. While the battle may not be over, this episode is an ode to the faith and power of Blackness.

For My People By Margaret Walker --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sdarnice/support

In the 1970s, British speech therapist Margaret Walker invented a revolutionary system of communication for children and adults with special needs. Makaton uses simple signs to reinforce spoken speech and make it easier for people with learning difficulties to understand the meaning. Makaton is now used by millions of people in around 40 countries around the world; it helps everyone from children with Down’s Syndrome to pensioners with dementia. Margaret Walker talks to Simon Watts. PHOTO: A Makaton user (credit: The Makaton Charity)

On today's episode of Stacks and Stories, Jackson State University Associate Professor of History and Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center Director Robert Luckett talks about Margaret Walker's life experiences as both a Black intellectual and Black artist. This presentation is made possible by a grant through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Watch the original presentation, recorded on June 12th, 2020, as part of the Lunch Lecture Series posted to the MS Library Commission YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/WU-R1yoyeAk. 

Today's poem is We Have Been Believers by Margaret Walker.

Margaret Walker is a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) candidate in Human and Organizational Psychology at Touro University, she holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Fordham University with post-graduate training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) from the Beck Institute in Philadelphia, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science from Rutgers University. In addition to serving as founder and managing clinical director of her private psychotherapy practice, Ms. Hurst currently serves as Program Director of two residential substance abuse treatment facilities on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Additionally, her work in Human and Organizational Psychology is focused on behavioral health organizations and identifying impactful methods of improving treatment outcomes for patients in marginalized communities. Christophe Difo and Sean Prophet talk to Ms. Walker about the pitfalls of social media, recovering from Republicanism, functional / rational libertarianism, cognitive biases, self-interest, self-actualization, addiction, treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous. We also discuss false right-wing claims of victimhood, (the wolves in victims' clothing), and prosocial responses to narrow human self-interest in the form of efforts toward altruism, reciprocal and otherwise. The Radical Secular presents politics from a liberal, cosmopolitan perspective. Show notes: Rawls' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance (Veil of Ignorance). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment (The Stanford Prison Experiment). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment (The Milgram Experiment). The flawed "rat park" addiction https://theoutline.com/post/2205/this-38-year-old-study-is-still-spreading-bad-ideas-about-addiction?zd=1&zi=scid65f3 (study). Naomi Klein "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Logo (No Logo)" Email: theradicalsecular@gmail.com Instagram: @radical_secular https://www.facebook.com/theradicalsecular/ (Facebook) Twitter: @RadicalSecular https://medium.com/just-words-fallacy (The Just Words Fallacy) Christophe Difo's T-Shirt this week is available from https://www.no-gods-no-masters.com/ (No Gods No Masters). Sean Prophet's T-Shirt this week is available from redbubble.

Justice Leah Wards Sears talks about how Margaret Walker’s poem “For My People” has been a resource for her throughout her life. Justice Sears’s essay, “Love for My People,” appears in the June 2020 issue of Poetry.

For My People by Margaret Walker, born this day in 1915

Today's poem is For My People by Margaret Walker. This episode originally aired on April 1, 2020.

My program today is about 1968. It was a year marked by astonishing and unforgettable and brutally painful events, in this country and across the world. It was a year in which so many of us thought that the world, as we knew it, was coming to an end. 2020 has been compared by some to 1968. There are differences. I read poems by Adrienne Rich, Rita Dove, Margaret Walker, Geoffrey Hill, Sharon Olds, W.H. Auden, and John Lennon/Paul McCartney. I end the program with one of my own poems.

Today's poem is For My People by Margaret Walker.

Bonjour à tous ! Cette émission 70 est particulière, elle marque un tournant dans la vie des Bibliomaniacs ! En effet, pour être plus proches de vous, plus présents, plus accessibles, nous avons décidé de passer d’une émission mensuelle d’une heure à trois émissions de 25 minutes par mois ! Chaque émission comprendra un livre, toujours discuté par nous quatre, et le coup de cœur de l’une d’entre nous. Pour cette émission 70, nous vous proposons donc : LE LIVRE : « Un Pied au Paradis » de Ron Rash, traduit par Isabelle Reinharez, disponible chez Folio, 320 pages. LE COUP DE CŒUR : Léo présente « Jubilee » de Margaret Walker, traduit par Jean-Michel Jasienko, disponible chez Points, 608 pages. Nous espérons que ce nouveau format vous plaira, et nous sommes très curieuses de connaître votre avis, laissez-nous un petit commentaire! Bonne écoute !

The second summer of conversations recorded at the Sewanee Writers' Conference continues with Tim O'Brien, who tells James about winning the National Book Award, writing THE THINGS THEY CARRIED while on a break from another book, not leaving a sentence until it's finished, being a father, knowing death, and recognizing the maybeness of it all. Plus, Missouri Review editor Speer Morgan.      http://www.sewaneewriters.org/ 2020 Applications due March 15! - Tim O'Brien  Buy Tim's books: Buy Tim O'Brien's Books From Independent Booksellers Tim and James discuss:  Sewanee Writers' Conference  Dan O'Brien  Christine Schutt  THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving  THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER by John Cheever  Lizzie Borden  Jack the Ripper  "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor  "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates  WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy  THE BIBLE  BILLY BUDD, SAILOR by Herman Melville  Wyatt Prunty  Emily Nemens  Ernest Hemingway  - Speer Morgan: https://www.missourireview.com/ Speer and James discuss:  Middlebury College  The New England Review  Greg Michaelson  Jack Kerouac  Mark Twain  Tennessee Williams  Christine Schutt  The Dead Sea Scrolls  Kris Somerville's Curio Cabinet  Mike McClaskey Dan O'Brien  "Fields of Empire" by Joan Silber  Daniel Woodrell Susan Vreeland  Joanna Scott  Raymond Carver  Robert Olen Butler  Naguib Mahfouz Gregory Rabassa  Philip K. Dick  Ursula Le Guin  Russell Banks  PBS  Henry Green Robert Bly  Stephen Dunn  TR Hummer  Dave Smith  Annie Proulx Edmund White  Ernest Gaines  Larry Brown  John Updike  Margaret Walker  Peter Matthiessen  Richard Ford  "Awakening to Jake" by Jillian Weiss  Henry James  Edith Wharton  CHERNOBYL  "Snow" by Kermit Frazier  A FAITHFUL BUT MELANCHOLY ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL BARBARITIES LATELY COMMITTED by Jason Brown "Those Deep Elm Brown's Ferry Blues" by William Gay  -  Music courtesy of Bea Troxel from her album, THE WAY THAT IT FEELS: https://www.beatroxel.com/ -  http://tkpod.com / tkwithjs@gmail.com / Twitter: @JamesScottTK /Instagram: tkwithjs / FB: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

In this special episode sponsored by the Mississippi Museum or Art, we recorded this podcast in front of a live audience at the Museum on Sept 10th, 2019 as a part of Art Nights, which is sponsored by Baker Donalson. Our host was Maisie Brown, a Murrah high school senior who recently took a position as Youth Program Director & Communications Associate for the Institute for Democratic Education in America. Maisie was joined on stage by the Museum's curator of American art, ELIZABETH ABSTON, along with DR. RASHELL SMITH-SPEARS, an associate professor of English Literature at Jackson State University, and JEFFREY CALIEDO, also a senior at Murrah High School, who was crowned the ACT-SO National Champion of Written Poetry by the NAACP for his poem “Igneous.” He wrote and read a poem in response to the Margaret Walker poem, “This is My Century: Black Synthesis of Time” the poem that serves as inspiration for the museum’s new exhibition, title “New Symphony of Time.” https://msmuseumart.org/index.php/exhibitions/exhibition/new-symphony-of-time

Margaret Walker Funeral (11.10.18) by Neil Wehmas, Pastor

The images that accompany this podcast may be found here: http://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/06/sophia-plowden-khanum-jan-and-hindustani-airs.html Khanum Jan was a celebrity courtesan in the cantonment of Kanpur and the court of Asafuddaula of Lucknow in 1780s North India. Famed then for her virtuosic singing, dancing, and speaking eyes, Khanum became famous again in the twentieth century because of her close musical interactions with a remarkable Englishwoman, Sophia Plowden. Through Plowden’s papers and extraordinary collection of Khanum’s repertoire, it is possible to reconstruct songs from the Lucknow court as they may have been performed 200 years ago, in both Indian and European versions. In this podcast, Katherine Butler Schofield tells the story of these two women, and harpsichordist Jane Chapman joins her to perform some of Khanum’s “Hindustani Airs”. The intertwined stories of Khanum and Sophia show that using Indian sources of the time to read between the lines of European papers and collections gives us a much richer view of this sadly short-lived moment of intercultural accord in late Mughal India. This podcast is part of the project Histories of the Ephemeral: Writing on Music in Late Mughal India, sponsored by the British Academy in association with the British Library; additional research was funded by the European Research Council. The Courtesan and the Memsahib was written and performed by me, Katherine Butler Schofield (King's College London), based on my original research, with harpsichordist Jane Chapman http://www.janechapman.com. It was produced by Chris Elcombe. Additional voices were Georgie Pope, Kanav Gupta, Priyanka Basu, and Michael Bywater. It is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC–BY-NC–ND) license. Recordings of vocalists Kesarbai Kerkar and Gangubai Hangal, and sarangi player Hamid Hussain, are courtesy of the Archive of Indian Music and Vikram Sampath: http://archiveofindianmusic.org/artists/bai-kesarbai-kerkar/ ; http://archiveofindianmusic.org/artists/bai-gangubai-hangal/ ; http://archiveofindianmusic.org/artists/hamid-hussain-a-i-r/ . Selections from Jane Chapman’s studio recording "The Oriental Miscellany: Airs of Hindustan—William Bird" are found on Signum Classics: I. Ghat; II. Rekhtah: Sakia! Fusul beharust; III. Tuppah: Kia kam keea dil ne? By permission. Image of Khanum Jan illustrating the podcast: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Colonel_Antoine-Louis_Henri_Polier_watching_a_nautch_at_Faizabad.jpg Santoor and Tabla at Assi Ghat, Varanasi by Samuel Corwin. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence CC BY 4.0 Track 1 by Deep Singh and Ikhlaq Hussain Khan. Originally broadcast live on Rob Weisberg's show, Transpacific Sound Paradise on WFMU. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share-alike 3.0 Licence With thanks to: the British Academy, the British Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, Edinburgh University Library, the Norfolk Records Office, Yousuf Mahmoud, James Kippen, Margaret Walker, Allyn Miner, Richard David Williams, David Lunn, Ursula Sims-Williams, Nick Cook, and Katie de La Matter. For more episodes and information email katherine.schofield@kcl.ac.uk.

This week on StoryWeb: Alex Haley’s book Roots. In January 1977 when I was sixteen, I joined 130 million Americans to watch the television miniseries based on Alex Haley’s book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. It was broadcast eight consecutive nights, and like countless other viewers, I was glued to the TV set every night. I was there, front row, center, for every episode. The concluding episode still ranks as having the third largest audience in television history. Who can forget Kunta Kinte, his daughter Kizzy, or her son Chicken George? The story Haley recounted in Roots was nothing short of miraculous. After years of genealogical sleuthing, he made his way back to the African village of his ancestors. And there, in tiny country known as The Gambia, a griot – part storyteller, part genealogist, part priest – told of the capture of Haley’s great-great-great-great-grandfather Kunta Kinte. The story Haley told went like this. Based on the griot’s revelations about Kunta Kinte and on the many tales passed down through Haley’s family, based on careful searches of slave records and court documents, Haley painstakingly pieced together the centuries-long tale of multiple generations of his African and African American forebears. Haley writes near the end of the book, To the best of my knowledge and of my effort, every lineage statement within Roots is from either my African or American families' carefully preserved oral history, much of which I have been able conventionally to corroborate with documents. Those documents, along with the myriad textural details of what were contemporary indigenous lifestyles, cultural history, and such that give Roots flesh have come from years of intensive research in fifty-odd libraries, archives, and other repositories on three continents. As it turns out, however, this amazing story is not actually true. Since the release of the book and the miniseries, a series of scholars just as painstakingly debunked Haley’s story. The Gambian griot may have told Haley wanted he wanted to hear, and the other links in Haley’s genealogical chain were suspect. The whole thing was much too neat, and Haley simply didn’t have the conclusive evidence to back it up. When the book was originally published in 1976, it had been promoted as nonfiction and flew to the top of The New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction. Haley described it as “faction.” But on the heels of the charges about the book’s historical inaccuracies, the publisher moved the book to its fiction category. It is now often described as a novel. Also dogging Haley were two charges that the book was plagiarized. Harold Courlander claimed that large portions of Roots were drawn from his book The Africans. Haley and Courlander settled out of court, and Haley acknowledged that he did use passages from The Africans in Roots. Margaret Walker’s lawsuit, which claimed that Haley had plagiarized from her book Jubilee, was less successful; no evidence of plagiarism was found, and the suit was dropped. Despite these controversies, Roots remains a powerful book indeed. For me, as for many readers, it is the idea of Roots that matters. In the late 1990s, the National Endowment for the Humanities had a slogan: “My family’s history is America’s history.” In my own work and writing, I have deeply embraced that notion. I firmly believe that if any American traced her family history, she would see in very personal terms the history of this diverse nation. This idea motivated my explorations in my 2009 memoir, Power in the Blood: A Family Narrative, and is a driving force as well in my current book-in-progress, Ferguson Girl: A Story of Family, Place, and Race. Regardless Haley’s family history is perhaps more compelling because it is a hidden, secret history, because slaveowners tore slave families apart and tried to deny them their lineage and history. Haley’s victory is in showing that the slaveowners ultimately weren’t able to stamp out family bonds. Picking up Haley’s mantle today is the African American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is fascinated with family roots and ancestry. As the host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Gates features genealogical research about well-known Americans, including prominent African Americans such as John Lewis, Cory Booker, and Sean Combs. Gates, who was a friend of Haley’s, acknowledges Haley’s legacy in this way: Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex actually found the village whence his ancestors sprang. Roots is a work of the imagination rather than strict historical scholarship. It was an important event because it captured everyone's imagination. Gates speaks my mind. Even if Roots does not represent unerring and rigorous genealogy, it is the idea of Roots that signifies. Haley encouraged many other Americans – especially black Americans – to seek and claim their ancestry. It’s a message that continues to resonate today. To get a taste of Roots, you can read Chapter 1 online. To read Roots, you’ll need to purchase a hard copy or borrow it from your library. Buckle your seatbelt, though: it’s a long book! If you want to watch the 1977 miniseries, you can purchase the seven-disc DVD box set. To learn more about the controversies surrounding Roots, read The Guardian’s article “Roots of the Problem: The Controversial History of Alex Haley’s Book” or Adam D. Henig’s book Alex Haley’s Roots: An Author’s Odyssey. Robert J. Norrell’s biography, Alex Haley: And The Books That Changed a Nation, looks at Haley’s larger legacy, including his writing of The Autobiography of Malcolm X (a book which he wrote in collaboration with the famed civil rights leader). To learn more from Alex Haley himself, you’ll want to read Alex Haley: The Man Who Traced America’s Roots: His Life, His Works. Visit thestoryweb.com/haley for links to all these resources and to watch a scene from the first episode of Roots, in which Kunta Kinte discovered whites enslaving Africans. You can then watch Alex Haley reflect on Roots in 1991. “My family’s history is America’s history,” said the National Endowment for the Humanities. What is your family history? And what does it tell you about America’s past? Alex Haley inspires me to pursue the answers to these questions – and I hope you’ll take up the fascinating task as well.  

  In honor of Black History month, a podcast about famed writer and poet Margaret Walker, oral histories of the civil rights movement, and more…with Dr. Robert Luckett of Jackson State University.   Show Notes:   CLICK HERE to visit the Digital Archives at the Margaret Walker Center: They include a digital archives project, book[Read More] The post Life Preservers Podcast: Episode 10 – Exploring Black History & The Margaret Walker Center appeared first on Verissima Productions.

Listen to this special edition of the Pan-African Journal hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. In this program we present our regular PANW reports with dispatches on events in Sudan where President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is reportedly on a visit to Saudi Arabia amid efforts to seek dialogue with opposition forces inside the country; in South Sudan conflict continues between a fractured SPLM/A which has so far resisted efforts to reconstruct a government of national unity with the assistance of the regional states; the Iranian Supreme Leader continues to target the United States for efforts to dominate and destabilize the peoples and nations of the world; and developments surrounding the bombing of the Italian embassy in the North African state of Egypt has prompted closer ties between Cairo and Rome. The second hour continues the month-long tribute and examination of the literary contributions of African people featuring part two of a lecture delivered by journalist and scholar Louis Lomax in Nov. 1962 discussing race and power in the U.S. Additionally in this segment we will acknowledge the contributions of 20th century African American women writers Margaret Walker and Dorothy West. In the final hour we further extend the historical review of the 150th anniversary of the conclusion of the Civil War looking at the Reconstruction era with Eric Foner and Heather Cox Richardson.

Margaret Walker's signature poem "For My People" encompasses the strengths and struggles of blacks not only in Chicago but throughout America.

This show is built around the song “The Ink is Black” or “Black and White” by David Arkin, Alan Arkin’s father and Earl Robinson, who for a time was the music teacher at Michael’s school in New York City. Written on the occasion of the 1954 de-segregation decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, it epitomizes the sensibility that segregation is inherently evil. Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On is a 26-part series hosted by Michael Asch that features the original recordings of Folkways Records.

"Confronting the Warpland: Black Poets of Chicago" is a one-hour radio documentary presenting African American poets who have found influence and inspiration living in Chicago. Beginning with the Great Migration of the early 20th century when millions of African Americans came from the South to the urban North, the program examines the ways in which black poets have chronicled Chicago’s complex history through poetry and continue to do so today. The documentary features poets Gwendolyn Brooks, Tyehimba Jess, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Haki Madhubuti, Sterling Plumpp, and Margaret Walker in interviews, readings, and archival recordings. "Confronting the Warpland: Black Poets of Chicago" is a production of the Poetry Foundation. It was written and produced by Ed Herrmann and narrated by Richard Steele.