The Tara Lake Podcast

Thank you so much for joining me for this season conclusion of the Tara Lake Show.

I appreciate your taking the time to join me on this journey – a special, 8 episode season. As the project closes, I’m thinking about dreams: The ones we have for ourselves, for our families, for our nations and for this planet we call home. 

During the season, I shared stories that inspired my interest, my admiration, and my concern.  And looking ahead I’ve been thinking about our pathway toward solutions.  How do we envision our world evolving, and what part do we want to play? I’m thinking about this in terms of the stories I plan to bring my friends and listeners, people like you who care about where we are headed and what we can do at this very critical juncture in our history. When we dare to dream, we can face the most difficult of circumstances without losing hope.  We can face down social inequity, political injustice, and economic uncertainty with dignity and strength.  We can find solutions within our families, our social structures and our religious communities, and we can build a new and more just reality.

This episode highlights the dreams of our neighbors, and celebrates the lives of activists who did not let the most dire of circumstances put an end to their dreams. As a result, they changed the lives of thousands.

I’d love to know — What are you dreaming of, Listener? What kind of world would you like to build?

Thanks so much, again, for taking the time to listen this season. Please stay well, healthy & happy – And Keep Dreaming!

Dr. Matilda Evans

Mrs. Fannie B. Peck

Thank you so much for joining me this week on the Tara Lake show.

Today, I’m honored to bring you a special interview that addresses a compelling issue that made America pause and consider our complicated Immigration policy — and forced us ask difficult questions about the impact of race, ethnicity, and centuries of history on the specifics of that policy.

Garry Aime is President of Komité Ayiti Inc, a Baltimore-based Haitian Grassroots Organization, and he joins us this week to shed light on the experience of Haitian Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylees.

The treatment of over 14,000 Haitians seeking asylum in Del Rio, Texas at the US Mexico border last month, in September 2021, has been burned into our minds — and the image of Border Patrol agents wielding horse reins like whips sparked historic shame and outrage.

Despite condemnation from Pres. Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the current administration appears to be continuing the highly controversial policies that have been directed at Haitian asylum seekers since the 1970s, and most recently with the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. The realities of political unrest, natural disaster, economic instability — and the impact of American corporate, political, and military presence in Haiti — have caused many Haitians to flee the island nation for decades.

In recent years, Haiti has faced a string of new difficulties that have driven many to flee the country, including a horrific earthquake in 2010 and a disastrous combination of a devastating events over the summer of 2021, including a tropical storm, a 7.2 earthquake, and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Despite this, Haitians are still the least likely of any nationality to have their asylum petitions granted in the United States. 2021 is not the first time we have seen the spectacle of Haitian Americans being denied due process in our immigration system. In the 1990s, an estimated 12,000 Haitian refugees were detained at Guantanamo, and the practice of arresting or ejecting Haitian refugees migrating by boat of the coast of Miami has led to a cycle of images of hundreds of Haitians being denied access to the right to seek asylum on a consistent basis, despite what many see as overwhelming evidence for their claims.

America’s approach to immigration has changed a great deal in the period since 2008. While we have also seen troubling policy toward Latin American refugees migrating through the Texas border, the circumstances of Haitian immigration to the United State represent a unique policy history, which we explore in this episode.

Mentioned in this Episode:
https://www.komiteayiti.org/

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www.TaraLakeShow.com

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Thank you for joining me this week for the conclusion of this special series on poet, author, activist, and educator Frances E.W. Harper. Just last week, we marked the 196th anniversary of Frances E. W. Harper, on September 24. As we continue to celebrate her impact as a visionary leader and thinker during this season of gratitude and remembrance, it’s an honor to bring you this special interview with Dr. Utz McKnight. Dr. McKnight is Associate Professor in Political Science and Chair of the Department of Gender and Race Studies at the University of Alabama. His book Frances E. W. Harper: A Call To Conscience, was published in December of 2020 on Polity Press.

Dr. McKnight discussed the enormity of Harper’s legacy as a a thriving activist, literary artist, author, orator, community leader, and educator. He highlighted the role of race and gender in her reception by the general public and by leaders in Nineteenth Century African American protest movements, and he also discussed Harper’s most popular fictional work, revealing more about what it offers for readers today.

More About This Podcast At: www.TaraLakeShow.com

Link: Dr. McKnight’s Web Page

Dr. McKnight’s Book: Frances E. W. Harper: A Call To Conscience

Welcome back to the Tara Lake show!

This is the third installment of my series on Frances E.W. Harper, which celebrates the oratory of the Nineteenth Century Philadelphian and African American poet, author, abolitionist and suffragist. It has been an honor to share this series in recognition of Harper’s amazing work, which spanned decades, crossed two centuries, and continues to impact us so meaningfully today. This series ran from the spring through the fall of 2020, and this third and final installment coincided with the occasion of America’s Election Day weekend in November, 2020. I created this series — serving as writer, editor, producer and voice performer — to illuminate the power of Harper’s language in her extraordinary, decades-long crusade for justice. Harper’s speeches provide a unique perspective into the political, social, and cultural landscape of the Nineteenth Century. Frances E.W. Harper’s steadfast commitment to truth allowed her to call out injustice and racism in ways that are rarely heard even today.

Please visit www.TaraLakeShow.com for more information.

Thanks so much for joining me for this week’s episode of the Tara Lake show.
Today, as part of this special eight-episode season, I’m excited to share the second installment in my three part series on poet, author, and activist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Last week, we learned a bit more about this inspiring pioneer and her role in history, and we explored some of her poetry. Harper began publishing in poetry in 1845, at the age of 20, and later became known for her fiction as well. She utilized her fiction to inspire, uplift, and educate audiences — and to dramatize the social issues that motivated her work and activism. Frances E.W. Harper lived and worked in Philadelphia for decades in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century, and I produced this project for Philadelphia radio audiences. As producer, writer, editor, voice performer, I added elements of audio theatre to this production. We are truly fortunate to have Frances E. W. Harper’s work with us today. More than 130 years on, Harper’s serialized novels speak powerfully to the present.

Please visit www.TaraLakeShow.com for more information.

Thanks so much for returning for another episode of the Tara Lake Show.

This week’s episode provides an introduction to, and the first installment of, a three part series on the life and work of Frances E.W. Harper — poet, author, orator, and visionary of the 19th Century who lived from 1825 to 1911. Frances E.W. Harper was a trailblazer in the anti-slavery movement and in Civil Rights and Social Justice Movements for African Americans and Women in the United States — distinguishing herself in the temperance, African American suffrage, and Women’s Suffrage movements. This episode celebrates Frances E.W. Harper’s poetry, considers Harper’s work in the context of a lineage of African American women in working in Freedom Movements in the United States, and takes a look at the highlighting of these women in recent visibility efforts.

Mentioned in this episode:

Link to Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground
Please visit the show at www.TaraLakeShow.com

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Thank you for listening to the second installment in this eight-episode series! Today I”m honored to share with you my December 2020 interview with the inspiring and immensely talented Kentucky-based artist T.D. Anderson. We discussed Anderson’s poignant two-panel painting, Pietа: “Woman, Behold Your Son; Behold Your Mother”, which, together with Anderson’s sermonic essays, explores the courage and grief of Mamie Till Mobley. Mobley was the mother of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old, African American boy from Chicago who was lynched in Money, Mississippi in 1955 and became a galvanizing symbol in the Civil Rights Movement. July 24, 2021 would have been Emmett Till’s 80th birthday. Listeners can view Anderson’s painting at TDAndersonArt.com, and visit her blog at Soulascriptura.com

Thank you so much for tuning in to for the first of eight episodes in this season of the Tara Lake Show. Today I have a special interview to share. Back in March, the talented and intrepid Emily Ford completed Wisconsin’s 1200-mile Ice Age Trail, and made history in the process. She’s only the first woman, and second person ever to complete the hike in winter, and when she braved those below zero degree temperatures, she also blazed a trail for inclusion and diversity. Emily Ford is also the first African American and first LGBTQ person ever to achieve this feat. I sat down with Emily to discuss her accomplishments in May, 2021, and now I’m so pleased to be sharing this interview with you. Visit Emily Ford on Instagram @EmilyOnTrail, and keep in touch with the Tara Lake Show at www.TaraLakeShow.com.

Link to Emily Ford’s Instagram.

Back in December 2008, the project-based podcast The Tara Lake Show aired with “The Barack Obama Block Party”, Parts 1 & 2. That show was a colorful exploration of the meaning of Obama’s election. The follow-up came a year later – in 2009 – with Prophesying the “Homegrown Soulful Solution Revival”, which celebrated the work of young change makers. Well, it’s 2021, and the Tara Lake Show is back with an all new 8-episode season, produced by your host Tara Lake, with the same vibe you remember. The revamped version of The Tara Lake Show, with solo projects, history moments, commentary and interviews, will feature new episodes on Tuesdays. It wouldn’t be the same without you – Please join us!

One year after the Barack Obama Block Party, the Tara Lake Show returns to tackle some of the year’s biggest topics and chat with young innovators who stepped up to make change in 2009. We discuss a number of topics, including the building of Black Family Genealogies, The Obama Presidency, new ways to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities, The Fire & Ink Cotillion, ensuring diversity in Bone Marrow donor banks, and the controversial issues surrounding H1N1 Swine Flu.

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And of course, we take it to the streets, as folks sound off on the Health Care Debate, President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, and the ongoing Tiger Woods drama.

Samara Rivers – Visual Arts Coordinator,  Owner of 29 & Holding Events Services, and culture blogger. View images of Samara’s Great-Grandfather and Great-Great Grandmother in Extras.

FAMU (Florida A&M University) Young Alumni Movement – featuring Joey Digital, Social Media Consultant and Founder of DigitalGuestList. More on the Young Alumni Movement here.

Fire & Ink Cotillion & Does Your Mama Know: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories (2nd Edition) – featuring Lisa C. Moore – Editor & Publisher of Redbone Press & Board President of Fire & Ink along with anthology contributor Alexis Pauline Gumbs – black feminist scholar/media activist and PhD Student, Duke University. More on the book.

Samara’s Family Photographs – see images of Samara’s Great-Grandfather and Great-Great Grandmother here.

Want to Get Involved? These Links are a great place to start.

Natasha’s Place