How Black People Built American Democracy: A Juneteenth Celebration

How Black People Built American Democracy: A Juneteenth Celebration

The promise of American democracy could not be fulfilled until all Americans were free.

Following the moment of Black liberation marked by Juneteenth, Black Americans began the ongoing project of securing and protecting their rights to vote, and to lead. In this special Juneteenth episode, host Kai Wright traces the lineage of our democracy being actualized to the period after Emancipation, when political leadership like that of late Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan emerged and began to shape the potential and the power of the Black vote on our nation.

Recorded live at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church where Jordan was a member, Kai welcomes Rev. Ronald Bell, the church's senior director of membership, and scholar Mary Ellen Curtin, author of the forthcoming biography "She Changed The Nation: Barbara Jordan's Life and Legacy in Black Politics," to reflect on the first Black person elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Black woman from the South to serve in Congress. They're also joined by Sonny Messiah-Jiles, CEO and Publisher of Houston's Defender Media Group, a Black community news organization, to discuss how Black voters continue to shape politics in an election year that's crucial to the sustainability of our democracy.

Special thanks to event partner AHF through its We The People Coalition, marching forward to protect democracy. Thanks also to Houston Public Media, Rice University and the community of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church including Pastor D.Z. Cofield, Linda Whitley, Mark Taylor, David Donaldson, Daniel Williams, Ian Chestnut and Travis Rucker.

Companion listening for this episode: "Juneteenth is an Act of Bravery" (6/19/2023)

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Jaksot(424)

Are We Really Having a 'Migrant Crisis?' Depends Who You Ask.

Are We Really Having a 'Migrant Crisis?' Depends Who You Ask.

Both President Biden and Donald Trump took campaign trips to Texas to visit the U.S. border in recent days. These simultaneous visits happened shortly after several polls found that immigration remain...

4 Maalis 202449min

We Could End AIDS. So Why Are People Still Dying?

We Could End AIDS. So Why Are People Still Dying?

Host Kai Wright started his career covering the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities in America. A new project brings that experience full circle. Kai hosts the latest season of the Blindspot podcast...

1 Maalis 202449min

Leading with Love: Care and Compassion in the Early Days of AIDS

Leading with Love: Care and Compassion in the Early Days of AIDS

The latest season of the Blindspot podcast, “The Plague In The Shadows,” brings listeners the voices of people who were affected in the early years of the HIV and AIDS epidemics. It includes stories l...

25 Helmi 202452min

It's Giving ‘Hell No’ — Danielle Brooks On Becoming ‘The Color Purple’s’ Sofia

It's Giving ‘Hell No’ — Danielle Brooks On Becoming ‘The Color Purple’s’ Sofia

There’s something about Sofia. The iconic character was first born within the pages of Alice Walker’s canonical 1982 novel, “The Color Purple.” She is a fierce, principled Black woman — friend to the ...

23 Helmi 20249min

A Palestinian-American Victim of American Gun Violence Becomes A Reluctant Poster Child

A Palestinian-American Victim of American Gun Violence Becomes A Reluctant Poster Child

Hisham Awartani was visiting family in Vermont over Thanksgiving break in 2023 when he and two of his friends were shot. All three victims are of Palestinian descent and were wearing traditional Pales...

19 Helmi 202450min

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 3: ‘Women Don’t Get AIDS, They Just Die From It’

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 3: ‘Women Don’t Get AIDS, They Just Die From It’

From the very earliest days of the epidemic, women got infected with HIV and died from AIDS — just like men. But from the earliest days, this undeniable fact was largely ignored — by the public, the g...

16 Helmi 202446min

Intercultural Relationships Are More Common, But Are They Less Taboo?

Intercultural Relationships Are More Common, But Are They Less Taboo?

We’re living in polarized times – particularly, when it comes to questions of identity, such as race and culture and gender. At the same time, our growing cultural diversity is at this point baked int...

12 Helmi 202449min

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 2: If I Didn’t Have HIV, I Wouldn’t Have Met You

Kai Wright Presents Blindspot Episode 2: If I Didn’t Have HIV, I Wouldn’t Have Met You

It’s the 1980s — Harlem, USA — and the 17th floor of the area’s struggling public hospital is filling up with infants and children who arrive and then never leave. Some spend their whole lives on the ...

9 Helmi 202440min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
rss-pinnalla
tervo-halme
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
aihe
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-girls-finish-f1rst
the-ulkopolitist
radio-antro
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-ulkopoditiikkaa
rss-pallo-keskelle-2
viisupodi