Shelley’s Plumbline

Shelley’s Plumbline

By Shelley StewartSociety & CultureNewsNews CommentaryPersonal Journals
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Shelley’s Plumbline episodes

  • Are We Afraid to Have A Dream?

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    This week, Shelley chats once again with Dr. Ricky Jones, Professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. Dr. Jones highlights W.E.B. Du Bois's views on broad educational access for African Americans and critiques the negative impact of integration on Black education. 

    Shelley and Dr. Jones explore the historical context of Black education and media, the loss of community control, and the challenges within predominantly white institutions.

    The discussion also touched upon the "Yankelovich report" and "strategic concealment," the "black tax" and dreaming beyond employment, and the persistent challenges of racism in America. 

    Shelley and Dr Jones highlight the importance of economic responsibility and education within the Black community, discussing challenges in business and community development, and debating the feasibility of achieving systemic change versus individual successes.

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    37 min
  • Education Can Happen Anywhere

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     What’s education got to do with it? Everything. But in a system built to hold us back, education isn’t even the top concern—discrimination is. In this bold and necessary conversation, Dr. Stewart sits down with Attorney Tom Larkin to unpack the roots of educational inequality, the legacy of slavery, and the power of putting fat in the game.

     Listen to this episode of Shelley’s Plumbline—where truth, love, and agitation meet.

     Featuring: Attorney Tom Larkin

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    37 min
  • From Projects to PhD: An Interview with Ricky Jones on the Importance of Education (Rebroadcast)

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    🔥 “People who are in control of the country because of racial stratification want to stay in control by keeping people stupid about the country’s history.” — Dr. Ricky Jones

    In this compelling episode of Shelley’s Plumbline, Dr. Jones calls out the deliberate silence around slavery and America’s original sins — the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Black people. He and Dr. Stewart ask the hard questions: Why are so many still afraid to confront this history? And what is the cost of pretending it didn’t happen?

    🧠 Truth-telling isn’t just uncomfortable — it’s revolutionary.

    🎧 Listen to the full conversation now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and all major platforms.

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    37 min
  • Finding My Father

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    This week on Shelley’s Plumbline… a revelation that changes everything.

    Dr. Ricky Jones has spent his life speaking truth to power. But in this episode, he shares a truth of his own—one that’s raw, personal, and decades in the making.

    For the first time publicly, Ricky reveals the identity of his father.
    That man… is Dr. Shelley Stewart.

    Yes—our Shelley.
    Human Rights icon. Radio legend.
    And the father Ricky never knew.

    What happens when two men—strangers by circumstance, bound by blood—sit face-to-face for the first time?

    You’ll want to hear this. The letter Ricky shared with our very own, Dr. Shelley Stewart, over 20 years ago. 

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    32 min

About Shelley’s Plumbline

From the publisher's feed

In construction, a plumbline is a weight suspended from a string used as a tool to find the true reference line. A plumbline will always find the vertical axis pointing to the center of gravity,…