Mary L. Beal (author) and centenarian Mother Lucille D. Shazier joined the show to talk about Beal's book "How to Live Well Past 100 Years" - a book about Mother Lucille's life. Beal has been intrigued, amazed, fascinated, and stunned by the wisdom, strength, and tenacity of mature women. Their lives and experiences span the gamut of obstacles, triumphs, successes, and "ups and downs." Born to Georgia sharecroppers, Mother Lucille D. Shazier's life epitomizes, exemplifies, and summarizes this profound truth through tales Beal and Mother Shazier, who joined us halfway through the programme, sha ..read more

Say their names... Anarcha, Lucy, Betsy! Without these three women, the study of Gynecology would not be where it is today. Join us as we talk about the 3 enslaved mothers of Gynecology and learn about the wonderful way they are being honored. Our scheduled guest unfortunately could not join us for the conversation ..read more

Did you have a family member disappear during slavery? Do you think they ran and went into hiding? As we close out Black History Month we always have to throw a little genealogical research in the mix. Dr. Shaun Wallace (Bristol University, UK) joined the show to talk about a project he has been working on for the past few years: The forthcoming Fugitive Slave Advertisement Database. The database will host United States newspaper “runaway ads” enslavers posted to try and locate enslaved people who made their bid for freedom. Dr. Wallace spoke about the history behind these ads, as well as the ..read more

Professor William Horne of Villanova University walked us through the least discussed time period in African American history. It should have been the start of the U.S.A. version 2.0. It was a brief time period when African Americans were on the road to attaining equity and a seat at the table before the Jim Crow Era stripped that progress away in terms of Black legislative policymaking. In this episode, we spent the hour discussing aspects of Reconstruction that have not been publicly discussed ..read more

Ja'el "YaYa" Gordon returned to the show to share, teach and explain slavery in Louisiana. Get ready for another knowledge-dropping show while learning ways to research in Louisiana. Below are links to the 2 maps shown during this episode: 1. Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the United States. Compiled from the census of 1860 via https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3861e.cw0013200 2. La Tourrette's reference map of the state of Louisiana: from the original surveys of the United States, which show the townships, sections, or mile squares, Spanish grants ..read more

Mac & Cheese, Collard Greens, and Fried Chicken, these foods are associated with what most call soul food. Tonya Hopkins, the Food Griot joins the show to talk about why African American food has had such an influence on American culture. The conversation was so good, Tonya will be joining us again for a Part 2 ..read more

Deborah Fountain is the Lead Genealogist and the History and Research Subcommittee Chairperson on the Natchez USCT Monument Committee. We talked about the steps taken to get these USCT Army and Navy troops honored with a memorial, her family's connection to this history, and ways you can research whether your ancestors fought with the USCT in Natchez. Deborah also discussed the steps that were taken to be a part of something as simple as the Wreaths Across America ceremony. This is a ceremony that happens every Christmas where wreaths are placed on the graves of soldiers throughout the United ..read more

When Congress ended the United States’ participation in the international slave trade in 1808, enslavers and would-be-enslavers could no longer import additional slaves from Africa or the West Indies. There was only one practical way of increasing the number of enslaved laborers: through "natural increase". By the 1820s, established enslavers and prospective enslavers relocated to places previously unavailable for settlement in large numbers. Places like lands cleared of Native Americans in Georgia. The nascent European and New England textile industries were starting to thrive: an expanding C ..read more

This is a rare episode that mostly used visuals on-air. You may prefer to view the tv episode to see the maps and records that were discussed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vZPu0_KMceQ The global demand for cotton set off a forced migration of enslaved people with close to one million being transported to the Deep South between 1790 and 1860. The importation of captured Africans ended by 1808, which meant that much of the demand for labor within the United States was met by selling slaves who were born in one of the slave states. The colonial period saw enslaved people from the upper colonies sh ..read more

Original surviving slave cabins and tenant farmer cabins have largely disappeared from the United State’s landscape. The humblest of dwellings, they stand as a poignant and powerful reminder of a time that the United States would rather forget. These buildings stand as a testament to the strength and resilience of the enslaved, and then oppressed, people who once lived out theirs within them. Jason Church joined the show to talk about the preservation of slave and tenant farmer cabins. He is currently engaged in creating holograms of surviving structures. He shared his passion for the work, it ..read more