Thank you for making time to meditate on two prominent dates, April 4,1968, the day of Dr. Martin Luther King's Murder at the  Lorraine Motel in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, and April 2, 2020, the evening our oldest sibling and sister "Cookie" died from Covid 19. Her vibrant 52-year-old Daughter, Melvenia, passed 8 hours later. We didn't know Mel was infected.

In this month’s episode of The African American Folklorist, we shine a spotlight on Dr. Constance Bailey—Assistant Professor of African American Literature and Folklore at Georgia State University, and an innovative scholar whose research explores Black women’s comedy, speculative fiction, and African American oral traditions.

We looked forward to sailing paper-made boats down the creek, swinging across the creek on an old tire suspended from a rope tied to a branch far up in a tree, playing on the coal train cars, even when we knew better! It was always a treat to visit Uncle Ralph, Aunt Frankie and our cousins there in the coal camp.

Thinking about my grandmother and taking her advice to heart. 

On this day, March 6, we recognize significant moments in both blues history and the broader landscape of Black American folklore. From the birth of blues legend Furry Lewis to the infamous Dred Scott decision and the enduring legacy of folkloric themes in his lyrics…

On this episode, speak with Dr. Anika Wilson, The African American Folklorist of the Month for March! Wilson discusses her book, methodology, scholarship, and positionality as a Black Academic.

Dr. Raymond Summerville joins me, as he is the African American Folklorist of February, to discuss the importance of having more Black Folklore scholars

Harvard recently fired researchers for their Slavery Remembrance program without notice

Larry Handy is a folklife poet who joins us to discuss his Journey to Folklore, Folk Consciousness, and his project "Tour of Duty," LA Protest Memoir.

One hundred years since Fred Shannon’s life was stolen by a mob of white men in a small town in Eastern Kentucky. As I stand here, in this place, I can’t help but feel the weight of that century—one hundred years of silence, unanswered questions, and untold pain.

The Black Experience in Southeast Kentucky is a series that shares the stories of African Americans living in the hills of Southeast Kentucky.

In February of 2024, the Mississippi John Hurt Museum burned. The fire, believed to have been set intentionally

McDaniel was only allowed into the venue with a strict “No Blacks” policy as a favor, and even then, she was segregated to her table in the very back of the room. No other blacks won that specific award again until Whoopie Goldberg did for her performance in the 1990 film Ghost.

Soon after Freedom
Jim Crow was declared
Between Civil War and Civil Rights.
Holocaust like a virus spread
Another century went by

A protest is the gathering of a group of people fighting for a shared belief. Depending on the group of people, it can be a peaceful protest, or it can be a violent protest. Most protests are usually peaceful because it is easier for people to hear someone talking than someone yelling at them. Nevertheless, there is always a group that thinks violence will fix the problem because their peaceful idea did not succeed.

In everyone's day-to-day life, they receive some form of information or entertainment. Whether it is on Television, Youtube, Movies, Billboards, Radio, and Newspapers. Everything I mentioned has one major thing in common, Commercials and Advertisements. The difference between the two is Commercials are usually broadcasted on Television or Radio, and Advertisements are usually Print Media. Commercials have been around since 1941 and Advertisements have been around since the early 1700s.

Growing up, seeing black girls on television made me appreciate my skin color and inspired me to be an actress. But I never really paid close attention to the role of black girls on syndicated cable shows. Lately I've noticed that a lot of black roles in programs I watch are grounded in tokenism. Tokenism was established in the 1950s and was termed in the 1970s. In the late 60s and early 70s another form of token was established, “the token black”. According to Ruth Thibodeau in her piece From Racism to Tokenism:

Growing up, I was often teased by my peers in school for liking blues. I did not mind though. I preferred the culture and history of the Blues instead of consuming dominant pop culture at the time. I had no true explanation as to why I felt the way I did about the Blues- I just did. Being a black man from the suburbs was my way of engaging with my environment. Some people say the Blues is something that comes to you, rather than you coming to it.

Andrew Rosa, author (top row, second from left); John H. Bracey, Jr. (front row, fourth from left), Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Charleston, South Carolina Oct. 2, 2019.

Between the 1830s to 1850s, Native Americans of the Five Tribes were forcibly marched on the Trails of Tears from their homelands in the southeastern United States to the eastern part of modern Oklahoma, then called “Indian Territory.” With them, they brought their African American slaves. It must be understood that slavery in Indian Territory varied widely – ranging from resembling white cotton plantations, to commonly practicing intermarriage and allowing other extended freedoms. Linda Reese cites, “By the time of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the tribes' members owned approximately ten thousand slaves.”