I am the grandson of a sharecropper on my father’s side. He had a simple philosophy about firearms: “better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” Racism, then as now, represented a mortal threat, be it physical violence of the lynch mob or the systematic violence exercised by the legal system. My maternal grandfather was raised by a single mother who was born into slavery and washed clothes for white folks for a living. Nevertheless, she made sure that her ten children learned to read

Michelle Slater loves history. That’s a good thing because her family’s story is woven into Pittsburgh’s Hill District’s history about as tightly as possible. Slater’s grandmother wrote numbers for some of the Steel City’s best known numbers bankers

In this broadcast, Todd Lawrence and I discuss the scholarship and work Of John Wesley Work III and the newly launched Award named in His honor. The AFS African American Folklore Section is proud to issue the first call for submissions for the new John Wesley Work III Award

In this episode, I speak with Deidra R Moore Janvier, Esq. about her new book, From Me to You: The Power of Storytelling and Its Inherent Generational Wealth.

In this episode of the African American Folklorist, I speak with Sherley Spears, NAACP Unit 6219 President, President of the National Historic Landmark Fort Concho, and founder of the Buffalo Soldier Project. The National Historic Landmark Fort Concho Museum preserves the structures and archeological site features for pride and educational purposes, serving the San Angelo, Texas community.

In this issue, I interview our current African American Folklorist of the month, Dr. David Todd Lawrence, Associate Professor in American culture and Difference English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A little boy had read numerous stories in his children's books about different life and death struggles between a Man and a Lion. But no matter how ferociously the lion fought, the Man emerged victoriously every time. Puzzled, the boy asked his father: "Why is it, Daddy, that the Man always beats the Lion, when everybody knows that a lion is the toughest cat in all the jungle?" The father answered, "Son, those stories will always end that way…until lions learn how to

Gentrification reflects how communities change. The question always is how good or bad it is for the community. Pictures provide different stories related to Gentrification. They include building improvements, more people, more businesses and different races living together.

In this episode, I speak with Phoenix Moon, a Colonial America historian, Forensic genealogist, Civil Rights Activist. Grassroots Political Legist.

Done tip-toeing,

Done bowing,

Done living an apology

For things done to my generation

No, people were stolen, sold and then later enslaved. They were not dull brutes or blank slates lacking culture, waiting for white people to write upon them.

I found my way into the modern Blues dancing world the way a lot of folks did (and still do) - through swing dancing. Often, Blues was the late-night dance for social swing dances and was occasionally referred to as swing’s “slow sexy cousin.

Similar in style to the Cajun music of their white Cajun counterparts of Southern Louisiana, Zydeco music shares its common origins and influences and also overlaps in style and repertoire. However, Zydeco music’s distinct sounds are rooted in its rural beginnings and reflect the social and economic conditions of its black and brown creators.

There are many races, and ethnicity identifying factors present, within this act. Easily overlooked, and smothered out by the visuals, of the Civil Rights Movement. Some may only remember, that which they'd like to forget.