A live audio drama that picks up where the first nationwide African-American radio drama, produced in Chicago by Richard Durham more than sixty years ago, left off. The show walked a daring line between reform and revolution, and was shut down by its network in 1950, as McCarthyism and anti-communism tightened its grip on American broadcasting. As well as drawing on the archive of Destination Freedom (now branded Destination Freedom Black Radio Days, this program illuminates a largely unknown, but important chapter in the history of human rights and tells how radio played its part from the very beginning. That boundary-breaking program, Destination Freedom, dramatized the lives of great figures in African-American and other people of color past and present, continues in its spirit with all-new scripts. This series honors and expands on that theme. Part of the Broadway Podcast Network
https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/destination-freedom-black-radio-days/
episode 19: A Conversation with the writers of Give Me Liberty: A Freeman's Story, John and Sydney Futrell
This episode features a conversation with the writers of the three part series Give Me Liberty: A Freeman Story, John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death inspired some before the American Revolution War...
episode 20: Of Blood and the Boogie: The Story of Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. His interest in boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice together on the piano in the Ammons household...
episode 21: Stono: An Audio Ritual
STONO is an audio-ritual exploring the eponymous 1739 slave rebellion. While typically depicted as a suppressed insurrection, this piece asks: Is there another story? To find answers, STONO calls on the voices of the beyond-human participants, including ancestors, rivers, mushrooms, guns, and the Black Virgin Mary. Combining music, text, and field recordings from the historic rebellion site, STONO offers a space to imagine a more expansive and surprising story about that fateful event...
episode 22: The Ballad of Satchel Paige
This episode features Lionel Young, winner of the 2008 and 2011 International Blues Challenge, plus numerous classical and blues awards. The EP also features Blues great Otis Taylor and his daughter Cassie.