The Value of Our Stories
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.
Words in the Woods with Geof Hewitt
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
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.
JAG Talks with Keelay Gipson and Stacey Rose
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.
Opportunities to Help
Suggestions on actions you can take in response to the horrific murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Please send us ideas that we can add to this list.
Salt of the Earth: The Rhetoric of White Supremacy
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”
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.
After the Crossing
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
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.
How the Great Migration Changed American History
In the early 20th century, black southerners fled racial violence and sharecropping for steady work in northern cities like New York and Chicago. But these migrants still faced challenges once they arrived. In this talk, Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield explores the Great Migration and its great influence on American history.
