Native Drums
Explore the powerful symbolism of drums in African American culture, once tools of communication and resistance during the darkest times of slavery. We confront the lingering shadows of economic exploitation and the pervasive influence of media and religion in controlling black narratives. Let’s reexamine the role of the black church and its mission to fight systemic injustices, urging a return to prophetic ministries that prioritize humanity and community over material wealth. This podcast episode is not just a reflection of the past but a call to action for the future, urging us to build a more just and liberated world.
Episodes
30 episodes
From Coach To Superintendent
A lot of people imagine superintendents as “career administrators” who climbed a neat ladder. Bernard McDaniel’s story is messier, more human, and far more useful. From teacher and football coach to principal, district leader, and now Superinte...
What Do You Owe Your Ancestors And Your Vote
A single deed can hold a whole world. We talk with Terry James, founder and executive director of the Jamestown Foundation, about what it takes to protect Black family land and turn it into a public place of learning. Terry walks us from the fo...
Tracing African Roots From Genesis Through Egypt
The version of the Bible most of us grew up with had a quiet message baked into the pictures, the movies, and even the way history got taught: Black people were missing from the sacred story. That claim doesn’t hold up when you read with a map ...
When Caring For Others Becomes A Ministry
You can hear it in Marilyn McKnight’s voice right away: for her, caregiving is not a transaction, it’s a calling. Marilyn is the president and CEO of Peace Love And Glory Home Care LLC, and she joins us during Women’s History Month to talk abou...
If Democracy Is “We The People” Who Are You Hearing?
The fastest way to lose your community is to stop listening to it. Josiellia Williams, sat with Senator Maggie Glover for a wide-ranging, deeply personal talk about what real representation looks like in South Carolina politics and why sh...
What Happens When A Community Forgets Its Own Playbook
History doesn’t always announce itself while you’re living it and that’s the thread we keep pulling in our conversation with Elaine Reid. She came home looking for a job, walked into a local newsroom, and soon became the first African American ...
When Purpose Meets Care: Turning A Calling Into Limb-Saving Work
A quiet statistic hides in plain sight across the South: diabetes is stealing mobility, dignity, and years often starting with the feet. We sat down with Dr. Hillery Dolford, a family nurse practitioner with a doctorate in nursing, to unpack ho...
From Salon Chair To Catering Empire
A wood stove, a hot plate, and a room full of doll babies: that’s where Vea Ella Gee culinary story begins, and it carries her from a bustling beauty salon to a beloved catering business that’s fed weddings, offices, and whole communities. We s...
How Girl Scouts Are Fighting For Corporal Waverly Woodson’s Medal Of Honor
Courage deserves a clear record. We sit down with historian and philanthropist Lloyd Gill to follow a remarkable path from a family’s memorial scholarship to a full‑scale community campaign to honor Corporal Waverly Woodson Jr., the Black medic...
Four Voices That Changed American Literature
Four voices. One enduring throughline: language as liberation. We shine a bright, human light on Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker—women who transformed American literature and widened the world’s sense of what s...
Exploring A Century Of Black Achievement And Why Studying It Today Still Matters
A hundred years after Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week, we step back and ask a simple question with big consequences: how do we choose what to remember? Educator and former coach Daryl Page charts the living map of Blac...
Inside The Education Oversight Machine: Scores, Standards, And Spending
Education isn’t a scoreboard—it’s a future. Representative Terry Alexander joins us to open the black box of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee, explain how standards get set, and question whether rising rankings reflect real learni...
How A Community Program Rebuilds Bonds At Home
Real change at home often starts with small, repeatable habits: a shared meal, a calm conversation, a clear boundary. We invited Elder Alexis Pipkins to walk us through the Strengthening Families Program and how 11 structured sessions help pare...
Consistency Is The Quiet Superpower Of Fatherhood
What if fatherhood support felt practical, human, and free of judgment? We sat down with the Man to Man Fatherhood Initiative team to explore how their intervention specialists help dads steady work, court, and home—so kids see a parent who sho...
How A Veteran Turned Counseling Into A Movement For Families
What does it take to rebuild the village around a family—practically, not just in words? We sat down with Representative Robert Williams to trace the journey from a fatherhood , to a comprehensive Families Engagement Program serving parents, yo...
Choice, Equity, And The Fight For Honest Classrooms
What if the single most powerful lever in education isn’t a new curriculum or app, but a teacher who truly knows the student? We sit down with Dr. Larry Jackson—former superintendent and now executive director of the PEE DEE Education Center—to...
From Pulpit To City Hall: Unity, History, And A Plan For A Better Florence
A church that raised leaders now fuels a mayor who leads with neighbors at the center. We sat down with Mayor Lithonia Barnes to unpack a people-first blueprint for Florence: from fireside chats that turn feedback into action, to a citywide mar...
A Pastor’s Journey: Faith, Service, and the Black Church’s Future
What if the true measure of a church isn’t its size, but the lives it lifts? That question powers a candid, inspiring conversation with Reverend Dr. Charles B. Jackson, who began preaching at nine, became a pastor at eighteen, and has spent 54 ...
Excellence Has No Color: Why Education Remains Our Path Forward
Transforming education through excellence, discipline, and high expectations isn't just a lofty ideal—it's achievable reality, as demonstrated by Dr Brooks remarkable 31-year journey as principal of Wilson High School. This powerful testi...
When the Drums of Liberation Finally Reached Texas
Freedom delayed is still freedom worth celebrating. Jazzy Poetic: The Juneteenth Experience takes listeners on a soul-stirring journey through music, poetry, and storytelling to explore the profound significance of June 19, 1865—the day when ne...
Beyond Privilege to Life Itself: Ralph Canty's 60-Year Fight for Justice in the American South
From the shadows of segregation to the frontlines of protest, Ralph Canty Sr. takes us on an extraordinary journey through the civil rights movement in Sumter, South Carolina. Born in 1945 just blocks from Lincoln High School, Canty emerged as ...
From Augusta's Front Porch to Columbia's Civil Rights Center: The Journey of Dr. Bobby J Donaldson Jr
The front porches of Augusta, Georgia shaped Dr. Bobby Donaldson long before formal education ever could. Through his grandmother's stories, the seeds of historical inquiry were planted, setting him on a path to become one of the nation's forem...
When One Rocks, We All Rock: Celebrating Our Shared Legacy
"We be sisters. We be the same, coming from the same place, going through." The powerful poetry of Lucille Clifton opens this profound exploration of sisterhood, collective power, and remembrance during Women's History Month.What happen...
From Chains to Change: The Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction Era
The journey from slavery to freedom marks the most transformative period in African American history. Dr. Harry Singleton masterfully guides us through this pivotal moment, revealing how the Emancipation Proclamation launched an unprecedented e...
"The Road to Emancipation"
The contradictions of American freedom stand starkly revealed in this fascinating exploration of how slavery's opponents fought relentlessly against the institution through rebellion, escape, and the written word. When the founding fathers chos...