Last Friday, the nation's youngest HBCU president was formally installed – and it happened right here in Louisiana. That's right, Dr. Martin Lemelle, Jr. became the president of Grambling State University. 

Dr. Lemelle previously served as executive vice president and CFO at the Maryland Institute of Art, Executive Vice President and COO at Grambling, and holds multiple degrees that demonstrate his commitment to innovation and leadership. He joined us to discuss his journey to this historic appointment.

The City of New Orleans recently released its findings from the 2024 Music Census. The goal of the study was to gain insight into the city’s music ecosystem to bring about meaningful change that will support the city’s music economy. 

Julie Heath, the policy & outreach manager with the New Orleans Office of Nighttime Economy, breaks down the study and its findings. 

Back in June,we brought you our four-part series, Road to Rickwood, that looked at the intersection of baseball and civil rights at America’s oldest ballpark, Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. 

One of the main guests on the podcast was former Negro Leaguer Reverend Bill Greason. And while he is best remembered as a teammate of Willie Mays on the Birmingham Black Barons  – and being the first Black pitcher signed to the Cardinals – that’s only a small part of his story. 

Greason recently celebrated his 100th birthday at a party at Rickwood Field. The Gulf States Newsroom’s Joseph King brings us this report.

___

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!