On Saturday, June 10, an incident of hate violence in Lyndonville targeted and threatened our partners at the Cobleigh Public Library and our dear colleague, Vermont Humanities Program Officer Toussaint St. Negritude. We stand in solidarity with Toussaint, the library staff, and the Lyndonville community against hate violence and extremism.
Video: Rajnii Eddins shares his poetry and discusses how our stories can be used to confront racism and other injustices, affirm diversity and equity, and initiate community dialogue.
Video: Join writer Geof Hewitt in an entertaining video shot at Elmore State Park as he recites several of his poems and leads a fast-paced writing workshop. The video features a seven-minute interlude of scenery taken at the park, designed to inspire you to write!
JAG Talks with Major Jackson, Felicia Swoope, and Desmond Peeples
Ryan NewswangerJune 25, 2020
Video: Join Jarvis Green, producing artistic director at JAG Productions, as he leads a discussion with poet Major Jackson, choreographer Felicia Swoope, and writer Desmond Peeples about being Black culture bearers in Vermont during this time of protest and pandemic.
Video: a conversation on the condition of Black theatre during a time of death, betrayal, and global pandemic. Jarvis Green, producing artistic director at JAG Productions, leads a discussion with award-winning playwrights Keelay Gipson and Stacey Rose.
Salt of the Earth: The Rhetoric of White Supremacy
Ryan NewswangerMay 13, 2020
Video: Drawing from his documentary film “Man on Fire,” Middlebury professor James Sanchez discusses the rhetoric of white supremacy and suggests ways communities might address bigotry.
David Blight on “Writing the Life of Frederick Douglass”
Ryan NewswangerMay 6, 2020
Video: Yale historian David Blight, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History for his biography “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” tells Douglass’s story: an escaped slave who became one of the leading abolitionists, orators, and writers of his era.
Audio: Many different groups of people, from many different continents, have helped build our state. But from the 19th century through 2019, the stories of immigrants have largely been excluded from the popular image of Vermont.
Daybreak Express: Reuben Jackson on Duke Ellington
Ryan NewswangerMarch 26, 2020
Many Vermonters know Reuben Jackson as the host of Vermont Public Radio’s Friday Night Jazz. In this episode, Jackson shares some evocative Duke Ellington recordings, and discusses Ellington’s love for trains. He also describes the Ellington orchestra’s work in the segregated United States.