The Atlanta History Center invites you to celebrate MLK Day 2023 with a tour of historic moments and artifacts at the center. There are special programs for children and talks for adults. Admission is free. All the History Center asks is that you register your attendance. Next, 30 years ago a group of guys from New York came together to change the face of hip hop music. They are Wu Tang Clan and on their anniversary the band is releasing a one of a kind project. Quantities are limited, but DJ Ma...
Jan 23, 2023•25 min
April Ryan, member of the White House Press Corps for more than 25 years now has a platform and she's putting it to use. She's written a book that's first person reporting, memoir and a love letter to the leaders who have inspired her. The book is Black Women will Save the World: An Anthem, and this Baltimore-born journalist pulls no punches in sharing her experiences especially her coverage of former President Donald J. Trump. Next we pivot and ask why are more students of color not enrolling i...
Dec 19, 2022•49 min
When Anisa Palmer was on tour in the Iraqi desert she looked up and saw a familiar image. It was her mother. A woman she'd lost to breast cancer when Anisa was only 5 years old. She'd struggled with losing her mom for some time. Seeing this mirage in the desert heat gave Palmer a message. Her work, once her military service ended would be in helping women like her mom. 12 years ago, she founded I Will Survive Inc. an Atlanta-based nonprofit providing early awareness, health and wellness support ...
Dec 05, 2022•24 min
During the holidays each year, the Jewish Christian Discovery Center (JCDC) distributes wooden Jewish Star of David Christmas Tree ornaments at metro Atlantad churches for parishioners to hang on their Christmas Trees. JCDC says it is a way to share Jesus' Jewish upbringing with Christians and to show respect for each others' faith. Given the recent rise in antisemitism. we talk with Rabbi Albert Slomovitz, a professor at Kennesaw State University about the JCDC project and get his perspective o...
Dec 05, 2022•25 min
Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 provides that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. This law – enacted 50 years ago – helped pave the way for equality in women’s athletics. We enter into conversation about women and sports with Sherry Boschert, an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest boo...
Dec 05, 2022•25 min
In The Black Family's Guide to College Admissions, veteran admissions experts Timothy Fields and Shereem Herndon-Brown share with us their provocative insights. They also demystify the complex process of college admissions. They answer important questions including where to apply and how to get in. Our conversation also tackles questions raised by the current social justice movement and how important it is for a student to feel as if he or she belongs on their college campus of choice. We also t...
Nov 21, 2022•48 min
Retired WSB-TV anchor John Pruitt has written his first novel, Tell it True. About the book, Ambassador Andrew Young wrote, "In 1964, a decorated war veteran was murdered by Klansmen in Georgia for driving while black. As a freshman reporter, John Pruitt covered the event, and in the decades since, his name has been synonymous with truth and accuracy, a reputation he lives up to even in his powerful, unexpected, and important debut novel. I have always admired Pruitt's honest, fearless reporting...
Nov 18, 2022•25 min
Blacktold is a collection of essays that are highly relevant and resonant on the topics of social justice, Black Lives matter, race and the NFL, the pandemic, the election and sports icons. Raina Kelly, editor-in-chief of Andscape, writes the forward to this collection of 33 distinct essays. Andscape is a reimagination, expansion and diversification of The Undefeated.
Nov 07, 2022•24 min
Sheldon Epps is a multi-talented director with credits on both on and off Broadway, in London and at many theatres across America. He also has an active television career having stood behind the camera of shows including The Upshaws, Frasier, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Evening Shade and Sister, Sister. For five seasons he also was producer/director of the hit series "Girlfriends." He's sharing his story in a memoir: My Own Directions - A Black Man's Journey in the American Theatre. Then a...
Nov 07, 2022•49 min
Chromatic Black launches season Two of the Ida B. Wells Fund and has issued a call for entries in short filmmaking and two new categories - visual arts and creative placemaking. This season the Fund expends to offer awards ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. The Ida B. Wells Fund is open to unique storytellers with fresh perspectives, multifaceted characters and unpredictable arcs. Organization co-founder Abeni Bloodworth joins us to discuss the fund and the types of projects which make successful g...
Oct 26, 2022•24 min
Ramon Hervey II is a pioneer in the toughest side of the entertainment business: the demanding work and genius of conceptualizing, molding, sustaining, and fixing the messes of celebrities. In THE FAME GAME: An Insider’s Playbook for Earning Your 15 Minutes, Hervey presents a fascinating, informative, star-studded retrospective of his career representing an impressive roster of famous people in music (like Paul McCartney, The Jacksons, and The Commodores with Lionel Richie), film (like James Caa...
Oct 26, 2022•50 min
A groundbreaking memoir from professional NFL player, writer, and advocate R.K. Russell, who made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. In 2019, R.K. Russell broke the mold when he came out as bisexual in an essay for ESPN that ignited the sports world. Now, in his powerful memoir, The Yards Between Us he shares his story and explores his love of football, men and women, walking the devastating tightrope of keeping his sexuality secret, the tension between ...
Oct 26, 2022•25 min
For two decades, Dr. Dharius Daniels' passion has been to help people “do the work” of digging into their identity and removing the obstacles holding them back from living their lives to their fullest potential. In his latest book, Your Purpose Is Calling, Daniels has created an inspirational, encouraging guide that provides clear steps for anyone looking to overcome the obstacles that inhibit them from fully embracing themselves - like comparison, approval-seeking, and emotional injuries. Danie...
Sep 19, 2022•25 min
Our guest is 11-year-old Bellen Woodard, and this is a late post. Woodard appeared on Perspectives on August 7th to discuss her career as an activist. That career began when she was only eight years old. If someone asked you to hand them “the skin-color crayon”, which color would you give them? When Bellen Woodard was asked that question, she knew they meant the peach crayon. But not everyone’s skin is peach. So she set out to change the language at her school little by little, starting by reply...
Sep 14, 2022•19 min
After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze. But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. When the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about! But her refusa...
Sep 14, 2022•24 min
Unlike many countries in Europe and the far East, the United States does not legally ban Muslim women from wearing a hijab or niqab, a veil worn along with the headscarf, leaving only the eyes exposed. Still, such “visibly” Muslim women in America routinely encounter disapproval, if not hostility, in public, and often deal with discrimination in the workplace. In UNRULY WOMEN: Race, Neocolonialism, and the Hijab, Falguni A. Sheth digs deeper into the widespread animosity towards Muslim women in ...
Aug 30, 2022•25 min
The Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America by NFL journalist Jason Reid, chronicles the history of the treatment of Black Players in the NFL, and the breakout careers of a thrilling new generation of Black quarterbacks. The quarterback is king in the NFL. He’s the smartest guy in the room and the coolest one to boot. Nearly all of the team’s major decisions, both on and off the field—roster construction, offensive philosophy, marketing strategies, etc.—are made to capitalize on...
Aug 25, 2022•24 min
Jazz remains an original, American art form and famed instrumentalist Edwin Williams and his wife Janice lead the nonprofit Jazz Matters to assure the art is appreciated in Atlanta. The couple and their organization will host a post-pandemic return to the Jazz Matters concert series with performances at the historic Joel Chandler Harris House, known locally as The Wren's Nest on August 19 and September 16, 2022. Next we talk with native Atlanta actor Jasmine Guy about her new project "The Lady M...
Aug 16, 2022•25 min
Our program today is about resilience. It’s a word used often in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic of the last 2 and a half years, but this conversation will be about resilience in a different way. My guest is Tiran Jackson. You may have heard his story in the spring of 2018 – seems like a lifetime ago. He and his wife Maleka had traveled to the Bahamas to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. Then tragedy struck. On an excursion to swim with feral pigs, the Jacksons boat exploded killing Ma...
Aug 01, 2022•50 min
Dr. Yan Katsnelson calls premature hysterectomy in women completely unnecessary. He argues it is time to check your circle and know your status to ignite the conversation amongst women and men about fibroid disease. Every year, millions of women suffer in silence. 80-percent of Black women and 70-percent of white women will be diagnosed with debilitating fibroid disease by the age of 50. Often women are told by doctors that the only remedy is surgery, either a total abdominal hysterectomy requir...
Jul 25, 2022•25 min
How often do you find that your mind wanders to events in the past or worries of the future instead of what matters and what you can control in the here and now? In the book, Get Out of My Head: Creating Modern Clarity with Stoic Wisdom, author M. Andrew McConnell shows you it’s possible to achieve clarity, make good decisions, and rise in your career by illustrating that the human mind is not unlike real estate: adopting an owner’s mindset can make all the difference. Drawing on ancient Stoic p...
Jul 25, 2022•25 min
Eating disorders do not discriminate. They impact people of every age, race, size, gender identity, sexual orientation and background. Many people who suffer from eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. The nonprofit EDIN - Education and Insight on Eating DIsorders strives to serve as an Atlanta-based resource for those wanting to learn more about eating disorders, for those seeking help, and for those who provide eating disorders treatment and care. Marci Soran's son battled and def...
Jul 20, 2022•24 min
Dr. Nadia Lopez, acclaimed middle school founder and principal, award-winning education specialist, leadership coach and best-selling author, has a program, The Lopes Effect, which will expand to schools across the country and disrupt the school to prison pipeline. Dr. Lopez recognizes the tremendous pressures that administrators, students, teachers, and parents are under in the school environment today. From the residual shocks of school shootings to the controversies over mask-wearing, to the ...
Jul 13, 2022•25 min
Amanda Brown founded her firm, Amanda Brown Olmstead Associates on June 1,1972, making her agency one of the longest serving full-service public relations firms not only in metro Atlanta but also in the Southeast. Before she married, she says people called her Amanda Brown from "out of town." This year she celebrates 50 years in business. Her boutique firm has worked in most industry segments and worked with everyone from Ambassador Andrew Young to the late C.T. Vivian. She has many great storie...
Jul 13, 2022•25 min
Jessica Nabongo loves to travel, so much so that she has visited the world’s 195 countries and 10 territories. She came away with two key lessons. First, most people are good. Second, we are more similar than we are different.” In her inspiring travelogue, The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman’s Journey to Every Country in the World, she describes her journey around the world, highlighting 100 countries with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.
Jun 27, 2022•25 min
When I was a child, one of my favorite things about summer was the summer reading club. If I read a certain number of books I’d get tickets to an Atlanta braves game. This was back in the day when it was much easier for the club to give away tickets to kids – long before we became world champions. I say that to say this – if there is something your kids are doing this summer – in addition to sports, time at the pool and play dates with friends, they should be reading, and now is a great time for...
Jun 21, 2022•25 min
To know where we’re going, we first need to know where we’ve been. In her new book, The Bean Pie: A Remembering of our Family’s Faith, Fortitude, & Forgiveness, entrepreneur Tiffany Green-Abdullah explores this concept to analyze her ancestral past with her own family. The Bean Pie follows four generations of women in Tiffany’s family: Tiffany, her mother, her 2nd great aunt, and her grandmother. Green-Abdullah shares the lessons she and her family have learned by following the original bean...
Jun 13, 2022•25 min
In 1974 John Egerton wrote a book called the Americanization of Dixie. In 2022, Pulitzer Prize-winner Cynthia Tucker and award winning author Fry Gaillard carry that work forward in their book, The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance. In this work they take a deep dive into Nixon's Southern Strategy, the party of Reagan, the backlash against Barack Obama and so much more. Our conversation with Tucker comes days after another mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas where the so...
Jun 08, 2022•24 min
Mark Adam Wood aka 'The Captain' is one of the founding members of the funk band, Lakeside. The group will be performing along with Cameo and Confunkshun at the Mable House Amphitheatre on May 29. The band is originally from Dayton, Ohio and has been around for more than 40 years. He takes us back to the band's formation, their nine hit albums and the performers' balance between playing the hits audiences want to hear and their desire to share new music.
May 23, 2022•24 min
During their lifetimes, the late C.T. and Octavia Vivian collected more than 6,000 books on African American literature, history, poetry and more. The C.T. and Octavia Vivian Museum and Archives will honor their life and their legacy. DeAna Jo Vivian, their daughter-in-law heads the archive and recently honored authors including Natasha Trethewey, Taylor Branch, Tayari Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ernie Suggs with Kaleidoscope Awards for Literary Excellence. It is the first of many efforts to bri...
May 23, 2022•25 min
