Guillermo Mash with Imagining Community presenting the concluding episode in our Imagining Community three part series on the life and times of Bill Russell (1934 - 2022). The episode centers around Bill Russell's upbringing and how his family shaped who he was as a person, forming the springboard for a conversation with Cory Himp Hunt, Chico local musician, poet and KZFR 90.1FM Peace and Social Justice host, as we dig deep into my upbringing and the deeply personal missteps, travails and misgivings with racism and bigotry.

The voice of Bill Russell is from the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. It is an excerpt from a 3-hour interview in 2013 with Bill Russell and Taylor Branch. Bill Russell is an NBA Legend, Presidential Medal of Freedom reciepient and a civil rights Icon. Taylor Branch is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. All of our audio clips featuring Bill Russell were from this archive.

We end the episode landing on what people of all races, Caucasians in particular, can do to change the atmosphere of racism by telling personal stories of racism transgressions and how their views changed, for the better, because of it.

We close with an audio clip by Toni Morrison who lays bare the bereft nature of Racism and what "white people" need to do about it. Morrison was one of the most celebrated authors in the world. In addition to writing plays, and children's books, her novels have earned her countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Morrison was a leading voice in the civil rights movement.