With Good Reason Radio » African-American Heritage

African-American Heritage Tourism

tap2ae — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:01:45 +0000

Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, and Mt. Vernon are popular destinations for American history tourism. However, smaller sites are being developed with the help of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities that focus on the contributions of African Americans to early U.S. history. Larissa Smith Fergeson (Longwood University) discusses the Thyne Institute in Mecklenburg County, Carver-Price High School in Appomattox, and other sites on the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail in Southside Virginia. Also: Where did African Americans in the south vacation during the Jim Crow era when facilities in the many of the parks were segregated? New research by Brian Katen (Virginia Tech) is revealing a vital and widespread network of African American owned and developed recreational sites including parklands, amusement parks, mineral springs and camps.

Jazz and Civil Rights

lew4n — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:38:46 +0000

Antonio Garcia (Virginia Commonwealth University) says that the personal and professional lives of musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane cannot be divorced from the struggle for racial equality—they contributed in significant ways to interracial understanding and social progress. Also featured: The composers of the Civil Rights anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” also created musical theater at the turn of the century, transforming the image of African American characters and performers. Paula Marie Seniors (Virginia Tech) looks at the lives of the composers Bob Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson, whose work helped break down stereotypical portrayals of black Americans.

Showdown in Virginia

lew4n — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:21:36 +0000

The election of Abraham Lincoln as President touched off a secession crisis in the South. In his new book, Showdown in Virginia, Bill Freehling (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) focuses on turning points in Virginia’s months-long, bitter battle over whether to secede from the Union. Also: Historians estimate that of the nearly 5,000 pirates who terrorized America’s Atlantic coast in the early 1700s, twenty-five to thirty percent were of African descent, many of them freed slaves. Cassandra Newby-Alexander (Norfolk State University) argues these black pirates experienced more freedom on their outlaw ships than on ‘civilized’ dry land.

African-American Heritage Tourism

lew4n — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:48:06 +0000

By Definition: The Racial Integrity Act of 1924

lew4n — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:02:31 +0000

Passed at the height of the eugenics movement, the Racial Integrity Act proclaimed the existence of only two racial categories in Virginia—”colored” and white. The law stripped Native Americans, and members of other groups with dark skin, of their land, voting rights, and legal identity. David Smith (Longwood University) and anthropologist Helen Rountree (Old Dominion University), discuss the Act and its legacy. Also: anthropologist Jeff Hantman (University of Virginia) explains the absurdity of the ‘one drop’ rule and its effect on Native Virginians.

Photo of Monacan Indian children at recess, Jackson Davis Collection, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

No Argument Here: Reviving Debate at Historically Black Colleges

lew4n — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:13:02 +0000

James Farmer was the leader of the 1961 Freedom Rides that desegregated transportation in the South. His skilled oratory was shaped in part as a member of the legendary 1935 debate team portrayed in Denzel Washington’s 2007 feature film, The Great Debaters. Timothy O’Donnell (University of Mary Washington) is leading an effort to help historically black colleges and universities field high-quality debate teams on crucial public policy issues. Also: As entrepreneurs in a largely segregated trade, African-American funeral directors were historically among the few black individuals who were economically independent. Suzanne Smith (George Mason University) in her book, To Serve the Living, shows how their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights as well as bury the dead.

Furious Flower

lew4n — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:07:57 +0000

Poet Lucille Clifton is widely acclaimed for her powerful explorations of race, womanhood, and spirituality. This June she was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center (James Madison University), which brought together more than 40 teachers and scholars to examine the National Book Award-winner’s lifetime of contributions to American poetry. Also: Hilary Holladay (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) is the author of Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton, the first full-length study of Clifton’s work.

The Making of a Civil Rights Museum

lew4n — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:52:00 +0000

In 1951, young Barbara Johns led a student walkout to protest conditions at the segregated Moton High School in Farmville, VA. Her actions led to a lawsuit, one of a number that eventually helped strike down the doctrine of “separate but equal.” Lacy Ward, Jr. (Longwood University) is Director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum. He wants the museum to explore the Civil Rights struggle as a process by which Americans sought to perfect the Union.

Also featured: After the Revolutionary War, white slave owners in Virginia took pains to see that their houses reflected the ideals of the new republic. Camille Wells (College of William and Mary) says slaves used the redesigned spaces to test and protest the terms of their bondage.

After whom was the Moton School named? Read about him at the Encyclopedia Virginia

Read about the signifigance of the Moton Museum in Virginia Review

Learn more about the homes mentioned in the interview: Mount Airy or Elsing Green

The History of "White Flight"

lew4n — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:20:09 +0000

When Virginia’s fight against integration of the public schools failed, white families moved out of cities in droves and left behind social and physical scars that are still felt today. Renee Hill (Virginia State University) and John Moeser (University of Richmond) discuss the history of “white flight” and its effect today on Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the confederacy.

Also: The home foreclosure crisis is driving more and more Americans out of their homes. Many of them were long time renters who only recently-and briefly-had a piece of the American dream of home ownership. Leslie Martin (University of Mary Washington) says the government has pushed home ownership for years, but maybe it’s time to rethink that policy.

Visit Richmond’s Valentine Museum’s online exhibit about busing

To Kill A Mockingbird

lew4n — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:21:07 +0000

Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, presents the Jim Crow south through the eyes of a young girl. Mary Badham, the actress who portrayed “Scout” in the film, shares memories of her fond relationship with actor Gregory Peck. Gary Edgerton (Old Dominion University) and Ted McKosky (Radford University) explain why the film is still considered iconic and is beloved. Also featured: Ed Weathers (Virginia Tech) says the book was the last great work of literature concerned with our legal system. Charles Shields, the author of the only biography of Harper Lee, talks about her life.

Furious Flower

lew4n — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:49:19 +0000

Poet Lucille Clifton is widely acclaimed for her powerful explorations of race, womanhood, and spirituality. This June she was honored by the Furious Flower Poetry Center (James Madison University), which brought together more than 40 teachers and scholars to examine the National Book Award-winner’s lifetime of contributions to American poetry. Also: Hilary Holladay (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) is the author of Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton, the first full-length study of Clifton’s work.

Massive Resistance in Virginia

lew4n — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:23:59 +0000

In the summer of 2008, a statue honoring leaders of Virginia’s Civil Rights movement was dedicated on the grounds of Capitol Square in Richmond. One of the cast panels features Oliver W. Hill, an attorney who argued the landmark case Brown vs. the Board of Education… before the Supreme Court. Oliver Hill, Jr. (Virginia State University) shares memories of the change his father effected in Virginia over decades. Also, Charles Ford (Norfolk State University) is studying the papers of some moderate civic leaders in Norfolk who publicly opposed Massive Resistance while privately sharing many of the goals of the segregationists. And: James Sweeney (Old Dominion University) shares revealing insights from the diary of an eminent Richmond moderate of the era, David J. Mays.