Category: Audio Archives

Juneteenth: A Long Time to Freedom

June 19, 1865: Union troops land at Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery. Two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is put into effect on January 1, 1863, those still held in slavery begin their search for the meaning of freedom. Celebrations gradually gain momentum out of Texas and spread around the country —to become recognized by those of African descent as Juneteenth Independence Day.

Dr. Althea Sumpter is a researcher and scholar who uses her expertise as an ethnographer to document cultures and preserve the Southern story of the United States. With her native Gullah Geechee culture as a prototype collecting the oral histories of elders, she teaches ways to research the cultural history within a community, then how to use documentation technology to memorialize and preserve the stories of a community for future generations. She presents talks and workshops on documenting cultural history for others wanting to preserve stories in their own community or the cultural story of a family. Her research and work can be viewed at altheasumpter.com.

• Facilitator: Robert Stewart
• Musician: Dr. Jean Heinrich

Juneteenth Atlanta Events

Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival: June 14-16, 2019

http://www.juneteenthatl.com/

Juneteenth Celebration at Atlanta History Center: June 15-16, 2019

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/juneteenth-6

“I Love You, Buddy: A Father and Son’s Complicated Journey to Peace”

Anthony Knight is the President & CEO of The Baton Foundation—a Georgia nonprofit organization that serves the emotional, intellectual and cultural needs of Black boys in grades five through nine. Before founding the Foundation, Mr. Knight worked for twenty-two years as a museum educator and consultant. Mr. Knight has extensive experience with and interest in African American history and culture, public and living history, informal education and Black youth. Mr. Knight’s work with The Baton Foundation reflects his ongoing interest in the issues and practices related to the collecting, preservation and interpretation of information about and material culture from the African Diaspora. Mr. Knight’s undergraduate work was in Spanish and English (Ohio Wesleyan University), and his graduate work was in museum education (The George Washington University). Mr. Knight also holds a degree in Spanish-to-English translation from the Núcleo de Estudios Lingüísticos y Sociales, Caracas, Venezuela. Mr. Knight is a New York City native.

• Facilitator: D. Patton White
• Musician: William Chelton

“Things I’ve Learned from Podcasting”

Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S., is a ukulele instructor, workshop facilitator, ordained minister, and public speaker. Her work as a minister focuses on how the fusion of art and spirituality can enlarge
the ground beneath our feet and enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. In addition, she is also the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast.

She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned a B.A. in Art. She also holds a master of divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a master of science in rehabilitation counseling from Georgia State University.

• Facilitator: Libby Ware
• Musician: Alan Dynin

“African-American Veterans of the Civil War and National Memory”

Robert Baker teaches history at Georgia State University. His work often involves an emphasis on the Constitution, laws, and how citizens behave in the context of moral conflict or ambiguity.

He is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War.

• Facilitator: Robert Stewart
• Musician: Jean Heinrich
• Special Music: Paula Larke

“Finding Your Prophetic Voice”

Connie Tuttle is the pastor of Circle of Grace, a small, progressive, ecumenical, feminist, Christian house church in Atlanta, Georgia. After seminary and before founding the church with a group of spiritual renegades, she directed the Atlanta Hunger Walk and later worked with the Southern Prisoners’ Defense Committee. She is committed to social justice and has a passion for cooking and providing hospitality. Her memoir, A Gracious Heresy: The Queer Calling of an Unlikely Prophet was published in July, 2018.

• Facilitator: D. Patton White
• Musician: William Chelton

“What is the Meaning of Mother’s Day?”

Dr. Toni L. Rossi is a Board Certified Internist who completed her training at Emory University after receiving her medical degree from the Ohio State University College of medicine in 1979. For 25 years, Dr. Rossi has practiced private medicine in the Atlanta area.

Dr. Rossi is a certified HIV specialist who served on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Research Consortium for AIDs (ARCA). Dr. Rossi also served on the Board of Directors for the physicians Association for AIDS Care.

In 2001, Dr. Rossi received the Dennie Doucher Healing Angel Award from the Atlanta Lesbian Cancer Initiative (ALCI). This award is given each year to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the health and well-being of lesbians living with cancer in Atlanta’s women’s community.

Dr. Rossi is the proud parent of triplets: Scott, Skylar, and Morgan.

• Facilitator: Carla DeRosa
• Musician: Kathy McGuire

“Solidarity in Song: Folk-Protest Music of the 21st Century/ Cinco de Mayo”

Marshall Voit is a musician and worship leader based in San Diego, CA. His career as a performer of Jewish music has taken him around the world, from extended residencies in Australia and South Africa, to short-term work throughout the Western U.S., British Columbia and New Zealand, and in Shanghai, China. Marshall is the music specialist for a Reform Jewish congregation in San Diego, works regularly with Unitarian Universalist communities, and often sings at protests, meetings, and fundraisers for leftist social change movements. Marshall’s clear voice and earnest demeanor make connecting and singing along with him easy. Visit www.marshallvoitmusic.com for 2019 tour dates and more information.

• Facilitator: D. Patton White
• Musician: Marshall Voit

“The Sound of Music”

Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S., is a ukulele instructor, workshop facilitator, ordained minister, and public speaker. Her work as a minister focuses on how the fusion of art and spirituality can enlarge the ground beneath our feet and enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. In addition,
she is also the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast.

She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned a B.A. in Art. She also holds a master of divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a master of science in rehabilitation counseling from Georgia State University.

• Facilitator: Libby Ware
• Musician: Mick Kinney

“Here’s to Life”

“Retirement in Albuquerque has provided us the opportunity to develop relationships with family, my sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and delightful grand nieces, ranging in age 2 months to 4 years. We continue to settle
into our new home, enjoying more space, including a music room with a grand piano.”

• Facilitator: Jan Lister
• Musician: Scott Hooker