Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Laced with Morality

Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento, California and raised in Bakersfield, where his mother Ruth was a nurse and a minister. He was born November 4, 1971. He is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has twice won the Grammy award for best jazz vocal album: first in 2014 for Liquid spirit and then again in 2017 for Take me to the alley. A 1989 graduate of Highland high school, he received a full athletic scholarship as a football lineman to San Diego State University, but a shoulder injury during his junior year cut short his football career (he was an NFL hopeful). Porter’s mother died from cancer when he was 21 years old and from her deathbed she advised him not to be discouraged but rather pursue singing. The rest is history, Porter is most noted for his unique blending genres of Jazz, blues, soul, and Gospel.

Porter moved to Bedford Stuyvesant a section of Brooklyn, New York in 2004, along with his brother Lloyd. He worked as a chef at Lloyd’s restaurant, where he performed. Porter performed at other neighborhood venues including Sistah’s place and Solomon’s porch, and moved to Harlem‘s club St. Nicks pub. Here he maintained a weekly residency and out of this residency evolved what would become his touring band.

Porter is married to Victoria and they have two sons, Deymon and Liv. Their home is in Bakersfield, California. For public appearances, Porter always wears a hat reminiscent of a deerstalker incorporating fabric that covers his ears and chin. In a 2012 interview he explained the reason for the hat is he’s had surgery on his skin and the hat has been his look for a while and continues to be for a little while longer. He divulged that he received some facial scars when he was young. The hat Is a Kangal summer Spitfire.

Porter went from wowing fans in the stands as a football player. Now he continues to wow his fans throughout the world using his smooth baritone voice, unique style, and sophisticated sound.

At the time of this podcast his albums so far are: water, be good, liquid spirit, take me to the Alley, Nat King Cole and me, all rise, still rising.

Shange was born Paulette L. Williams on October 18, 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey to an Air Force surgeon and an educator/psychiatric social worker. She graduated cum laude with her BS degree in American studies from Barnard College in New York City. In 1973 she changed her name after a failed marriage and suicide attempts. Her new name is from the Xhosa language, Ntozake, meaning “she who comes with her own things,” and Shange, meaning “she who walks among lions.” She then graduated from the University of Southern California in 1973. After joining a dance company she created the Choreo poem: “For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.” The work was first produced off-Broadway and then premiered on Broadway at the booth theater in 1976. The play went onto win the OB award, the outer critics Circle award, and the a UTELCO award. Originally conceived as a Choreo poem, it has been published in book form, and adapted into a stage play. In 2010, Tyler perry wrote, produced, and directed the film adaptation, for colored girls, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Janet Jackson, and Loretta Devine.

In 1978, she released nappy edges, a collection of 50 palm celebrating the voices of independent woman. In 1979 she produced the trilogy three pieces of poems, which won the LA Times book prize. In 1982 she released her first novel, sassafras, Cypress, and indigo, which he followed with Betsy Brown in 1985 and little Lane: resurrection of the daughter in 1994. Her work appeared in the black scholar, yard bird, miss magazine, essence magazine, the Chicago tribune, vibe, and third – world women. In addition to poetry, novels, essays and screenplays, she published four books for children. She also served on the faculty of the department of drama at the University of Houston.

And Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award nominee, she received an NDEA fellowship in 1974, two Obie awards, Guggenheim fellowship in 1981, the Paul Robeson achievement award in 1992, the Living legend award from the national Black theater festival in 1993. She was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of fame. She passed away on October 27, 2018 at the age of 70.

Walker was born February 9,1944, Eatonton, GA as the eighth child to, African-American sharecroppers. As a child, she had a childhood accident that left her blinded in her right eye. Because of this her mother purchased a typewriter for her to use to communicate. Walker developed a profound interest in reading and writing. Walker received a scholarship to attend Spelman college where she studied for two years before transferring to Sarah Lawrence college in New York. After graduating in 1965 she moved to Mississippi and became heavily involved in the civil rights movement. She also began teaching of publishing short stories and essays. She married in 1967 and had one child a girl name Rebecca but the couple divorced in 1976. She had married a fellow civil rights worker Melvyn R. Leventhal in 1965 and they married on March 17, 1967, in New York City. The couple moved back to Jackson, where they were the first legally married biracial couple in the city. They had one daughter, Rebecca, who was born November 17, 1969. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976.Her first book of poetry, Once, appeared in 1968 and her first novel, Third Life of Grange Copeland was published in 1970. A second volume of poetry revolutionary petunias and other homes, and her first collection of short stories, and love and trouble: stories of black women, both appeared in 1973. After moving to New York, Walker completed Meridian in 1976. Walker later moved to California, where she wrote her most popular novel, The Color Purple in 1982. This book won a Pulitzer Prize it was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985. A musical version was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones in 2004. Over the span of her impressive career, Walker has published 17 novels and short story collections, 12 nonfiction Works, and collections of essays and poetry. She is also a notable children’s author. She is the first African-American female to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She also received a national book award.

Coates was born September 30, 1975 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was educated at Howard University. He is an award-winning author, journalist, and Pulitzer Prize finalist (2016). He gained a wide readership during his time as a national correspondent at the Atlantic where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African-Americans and white supremacy. He has published three nonfiction books, and has worked for the Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and TIME. He has contributed to the New York Times magazine, the Washington Post, the Washington monthly, O, and other publications.

Lizzie Damilola Blackburn is a Nigerian- British author who is the author of Yinka, where is your huzband? Her writing journey started when she was young but was reignited in 2019 when she entered the Literary Consultancy Pen Factor competition and won! This is how she met her agent, Nelle Andrew. To pen the award winning manuscript, Lizzie used her experience as inspiration to write a story of a British Nigerian woman, searching for love in today’s relationship–obsessed society. What started off as a short blog post, evolved over many years into an novel. And that’s how Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? was birthed. Originally, a fun thing to do, soon became a passion, a strong calling in her heart, to give voice to so many women who are united by this universal experience of being pressured to get married. Her book was released in the states on January 16, 2022. Her book is set to be released on March 31, 2022 in the UK and commonwealth. Find her books anywhere books are sold you don’t want to miss this funny, fresh voice that will make you laugh, cry and cheer for Yinka. Connect with this amazingly talented author on Twitter @DamilolaLizzie, Instagram @ LizzieDamiBlackburn or her website: www.lizziedamilolablackburn.com

Roxanne Gay was born in Omaha, Nebraska October 15, 1974 to parents of Haitian descent. Roxanne’s writing appears in Best American mystery stories best American short stories, a public space, McSweeney‘s, Oxford American, American short fiction, Virginia quarterly review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York times best selling Bad Feminist, the nationally best selling Difficult Women, and the New York Times best-selling book Hunger. She’s also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, the Audacity.

Nikki Giovanni was born Yolanda Cornelius Giovanni Jr. on June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is one of the world’s most well-known African-American poets. Her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race to social issues. She has won numerous awards including the Langston Hughes medal and the NAACP image award. She’s been nominated for a Grammy award for her poetry album, the Nikki Giovanni poetry collection. Additionally, she has been named as one of Oprah Winfrey‘s 25 living legends. Giovanni gained fame in the late 1960s as one of the prevalent authors of the black arts movement. Influenced by the civil rights movement and black power movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her as the poet of the Black Revolution. . During the 1970s, she began writing children’s books and later co-founded a publishing company to open the door for other minority authors. She’s worked at several universities and at the time of this podcast, is a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech.

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1901 in Joplin, Missouri. He died May 22, 1967. He was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was known as one of the earliest innovators of the literary form called jazz poetry, However, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem renaissance period. Hughes grew up in a series of mid western towns, and became a prolific writer at an early age. He moved to New York City as a young person, where he made his career. He graduated from high school in Cleveland, Ohio and soon began studies at Columbia University in New York. Although he dropped out, he gained notice from New York publishers. When he eventually graduated from Lincoln University, he already had books published and wrote for The Crisis magazine. In addition to poetry, Langston Hughes wrote essays and short stories. He also published several nonfiction works. From 1942 to 1962 as the US civil rights movement was gaining traction, he wrote a weekly column in a leading black newspaper, The Chicago Defender.

James Baldwin was born August 2, 1924 and died December 1, 1987. He was an American writer and activist. As a writer, he garnered acclaim across various mediums including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, “Go tell it on the Mountain,” was published in 1953; decades later, Time Magazine included the novel on its list of the hundred best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005. His first essay collection, “Notes of a Native Son,” was published in 1955. His works were fictionalized and presented fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwined to create integral narratives that ran parallel with many other major political movements during his time. His reputation, even after death has been hugely applauded. Also, some of his works have been adapted for the screen. An unfinished manuscript, as a documentary film, “I am not your your Negro,” which was nominated for best documentary feature at the 89th Academy Awards. One of his novels, “If Beale Street could Talk, “ was adapted into the academy award winning film of the same name in 2018.