In this “fall semester” episode, Dr. Martha S. Jones joins the program to discuss her book, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All. Alexia Hudson-Ward, podcast host and editor in chief of Toward Inclusive Excellence, chats with Martha about the banning of Vanguard in Lafayette, Louisiana, and, in response, the support she received from colleagues, fellow authors, and the American Library Association. Martha details how the ordeal revealed to her the prevalence of banned publications and strengthened her resolve for allyship between librarians, curators, archivists, and educators in the battle for Civil Rights and democratized access to knowledge. The conversation also includes Martha’s goals for Vanguard and overall research on how Black Americans shape American democracy. Last, Martha digs into the historian’s role of pulling apart established myths of the past—like the long-held narrative that the campaign for women’s suffrage began in Seneca Falls, NY and ended with the 19th amendment in 1920.

Episode theme music: Black is the Night by Jeris (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: DJ Vadim (djvadim) , NiGiD