Episodios

  • Black WWI Soldiers: The Forgotten Story

    Black WWI Soldiers: The Forgotten Story
    May 10 2019
    16 m
  • Espresso Talk: The End of Black History Month

    Espresso Talk: The End of Black History Month
    Apr 30 2019

    Does the end of Black history month mean the end of learning Black history? Do we still need Black history month? How can we continue to learn Black history AFTER Black history month has ended? Doug and Robin (siblings and historians) discuss these questions over a cup of espresso.
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    8 m
  • May Podcast #2: Why I love history

    May Podcast #2: Why I love history
    May 21 2018
    Why love history? Does history matter?   Welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Hi, I’m Robin the host and one of many history lovers at this great and groundbreaking podcast show.  Right now, you are at an exciting place to remember African American history, a peaceful place to reflect on the African American experience and a bold place to keep MAKING history every single day.     I’m so glad that you’re here so we can share in this journey together. History should be a shared experience. So, let’s get started.   Hello, habari gani, nangadef! As promised, I will explain these greeting a bit later in the show.     People often ask me why I love history. They say “it’s so boring!” “it’s pointless” and my personal point of debate: “it’s all lies anyway.”   Hmmm…I would love to say that none of those comments are true.  But let me just say that they’re not completely wrong either.  Or at least they don’t have to be.   In elementary and high school, I actually hated history.  Yes, it’s true that I was not always the history lover that I am today.  But, when I was younger I found history to be boring and I definitely didn’t get the point of learning about dead people and past events.   Then I discovered something: History isn’t about past events and dead people. It’s about events and people. As one of my favorite historians put it, “History is not about the past. No one ever lived in the past. They lived in the present. The difference is that it was THEIR present. Not ours. They were caught up in the living moment exactly as we are today. And with no more certainty of how things will turn out we have.”   History does talk about past events—but all (or the vast majority) of those events were people driven. They didn’t happen in isolation. People made them happen.  And those people are just like us today: Making events happen today.   So, why do people think that history is boring, pointless, or untrue? It’s mostly in the presentation. History is usually taught as a series or names, dates and death counts. That’s a pity because history is so much more. It is a story, it’s our story.    That’s why I love history; I have always been captivated by a good mystery, moved by a tender love story, excited by a dramatic adventure story or inspired by a story of victory or triumph.   Judging by the number of people at the movies or people browsing bookstores, I’m not the only one who loves a good story.   So ANYONE with a reasonable amount of curiosity or interest in people can love history. There is no end to the amazing stories. And history being made today and every day.   About history being a bunch of lies…well people can take a bit of “creative license” when retelling a story. But they can and do cross the line. There are definitely untruths in history and that is especially relevant for people of color. African American history has been retold in ways that, at best, diminish our contributions and, at worse, eliminate not only our contributions but also our very presence and significance in those stories. And that’s the very reason why we should learn history—so we can tell the truth. That’s the very purpose of rememberinghistory.com—to tell the truth of African American history, including the contributions, the victories, the defeats, the challenges, the struggles—whole range of the human experience.   On that note, let’s get started with the history or…the stories.   Let’s start with a few birthdays.       May 9 is the shared birthday of two history makers—white men, actually—who played an important role in African American history.  We will talk about one today and the other will be a surprise for next week’s show. You might think it strange to open today’s show by honoring a white person.  This is a show about African American history, after all. Well, this man’s work has been very influential in the African American community and actually on a global scale. I’m talking about the German philosopher, economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist. I’m talking about Karl Marx who was born on May 9, 1818.   What importance does he have in African American history? Karl Marx believed in a classless, stateless egalitarian society, stating in his landmark book, The Communist Manifesto “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” The Communist Party was the only political movement on the left in the late 1920s and 1930s to place racial justice and equality at the top of its agenda. In fact, As the Great Depression unfolded, the Communists launched intensive campaigns against lynching, evictions, whites-only trade unions, job discrimination in jobs and police brutality.    In the 1960s and 70s, the Communist Party in the US fought for civil rights, ...
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    39 m
  • Activists and Events Issue: April

    Activists and Events Issue: April
    May 8 2018
    This is Robin Lofton and I want to welcome you to rememberinghistory.com where are remembering history and we’re making it. Hello, habari gani, nangadef! I’ll explain that one a bit later. Right now, you are at a safe place to remember African American history, a quiet place to reflect on the African American experience and a powerful place to make history every single day.   I’m so glad that you’re here so we can share in this journey together. History should be a shared experience. So, let’s get started.   This is the month that we, at rememberinghistory.com, remember and acknowledge the activists who are working for a better world, we reflect on the importance of activism in the African American community and we resolve to keep up the work of the activists—past and present—to make changes in our communities, our country and yes even our world.   In April, we remembered the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (one of the world’s foremost activists) who, sadly, was assassinated on April 4, 1968. This year, 2018, marks the 50thanniversary of his death. His legacy definitely endures. However, the goals and visions that he had for a better world have definitely NOT been realized.  Poverty, injustice, economic, political and social inequality, violence, group supremacy. They are still a part of the American experience—the global experience, in fact—so we still have LOTS of work to do. And I’m so impressed with the constant, fearless of work of activists that are working and fighting to make a better world.   Music   Do you like movies?   I don’t really care for movies. But there are exceptions. I’ve noticed that there are more movies about history and cultural experiences.  And I really enjoy those kinds of movies. I’ve noticed, in particular, that there are more movies about African American history (or American history, actually) like Marshall, Loving, Twelve Years a Slave (based on the amazing book), Hidden Figures (again, based on the amazing book) and lots of others.  They always make me think a lot—then I start doing research. And I learn so much.  I was asked to make a presentation about the movie, Selma. Remember that movie about the Bloody Sunday march—it happened on March 7, 1965, on the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama. (Yeah, that name should be changed; he was a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.) My presentation was simply to introduce the movie then we would watch the film and the audience would have a discussion about the importance of the march itself and voting rights in America.   To prepare for this presentation, I watched Selma. I had already seen the movie but I watched it again just to be more familiar with it. I had forgotten what a powerful movie that it was so I was kinda seeing it again for the first time.  Several things struck me about the movie.   First, the importance of the activists in the film. Yes, there was Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, John Lewis and SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee).  Yes, they were important and powerful.   But I was also impressed with people who showed up for the march for voting rights, the people who went to register to vote in Alabama like Annie Lee Cooper but was turned away by the registrar. By the way, Oprah Winfrey plays this role stunningly in the opening scene of the movie. I remember hearing so many people gasp when the registrar demanded that she name all of the judges in Alabama!  There was Jimmy Lee Jackson, a 26-year old woodcutter, army veteran and father.  Yes, he was a Black man. He had repeatedly tried to register to vote for many years and had been repeatedly denied.  In the movie and in real life, he (along with his mother and grandfather) participated in a night march to protest the arrest of another activist—James Orange—who was being held in the county jail. During that night march, the local police attacked the marchers and chased them through the night, beating them. Jimmie Lee and his mother and grandfather ran into a café to hide but police found them and continued beating them. As Jimmie Lee tried to help his mother who had been hit with a billy club, a state trooper shot him repeatedly in the stomach. Bleeding and in terrible pain, Jimmie Lee ran outside where troopers continued to beat him until he collapsed. Jimmie Lee died 8 days later in the hospital. That part was one of the most moving and difficult scenes of the movie. By the way, it is commonly thought that the Bloody Sunday march was about voting rights. This is a misconception. The march was actually held to protest the shooting and murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by the Alabama police. (Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of those marches in the past few years too.)   Let’s discuss another activist from the movie: Reverend James Reeb.   After the Bloody Sunday march, Dr. King had asked all people of conscience from around the country to come ...
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    43 m
  • The Celebration of Kwanzaa Day 7: Imani (faith)

    The Celebration of Kwanzaa Day 7: Imani (faith)
    Dec 28 2017
    Hello history lovers and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Habari gani,   I’m Robin the host and in-house historian at rememberinghistory.com and I’m so glad that you’ve come back for this great and groundbreaking show. We’ve been doing something a bit different from our usual podcast show when we talk about different issues affecting the African American community, and discuss the great contributions of African Americans to their communities, the country and world. Today we are celebrating the last and final day of Kwanzaa. Wow, what an experience but it’s coming to an end. And we will focus on an issue that is deeply rooted in African and African American culture: faith (or as we say in Swahili: Imani).   I’ll begin—as usual--by bidding you the traditional greeting of Kwanzaa in the Swahili language: Habari gani! If you’re just joining us, you’re very glad to have you with us and I would strongly urge you to listen to the 7 previous podcasts that introduce Kwanzaa and explain each of the days of Kwanzaa.   We learned yesterday that Kuumba or creativity is linked to finding and living your purpose (called Nia). They are both founded on knowing your historical and cultural identity. Your creativity is YOUR unique way of making the world into a better place; a place that is more beautiful, more beneficial and more productive than when you were born. If you have any questions, please contact us at rememberinghistory.com website or the Wiki History Podcast page on Facebook. Stay with us today—everyone is welcome around the Kwanzaa mat (the mkeka)—but please take time to listen to the previous shows.   Let’s prepare ourselves to begin to Kwanzaa celebration for the seventh and final day. Take a deep cleansing breath before the celebration begins or find another way to quiet and focus your thoughts and energy. Perhaps you want to stand and do a few stretching movements. Just take a moment to get centered and ready to begin the celebration. Remember Kwanzaa IS a celebration but please also show respect for this solemn ritual.   Day 7: Imani (faith)   Habari gani! Your response: Imani!   One more time: Habari gani! Imani!   Now please give me the Swahili greeting. (pause) Imani!   The 7th day of Kwanzaa falls on January 1st. That’s right on New Year’s Day.   The last day of Kwanzaa...the first day of the New Year...has been a time of serious appraisal for African people. Also known as the "Day of Meditation" or "Day of Assessment," it is a period of self-reflection related to things done and things yet to be done. Following in this tradition, it is a time to ask yourself AGAIN the following three questions that we started with on Day 1: "Who am I?" - "Am I really who I say I am" - "Am I all I ought to be?" In addition, this is also a day when many Kwanzaa participants choose to pay particular homage to the ancestors...those of the community as well as those of the family.   This seventh day of Kwanzaa is Imani! Again, it means faith. What does faith mean in the context of Kwanzaa?   Dr. Karenga thought of Imani as believing in ourselves, our people, our parents and teachers, our leaders and the righteousnessness and victory of our struggle. It also stresses the importance of our vision for a better community and for a better world.   In the context of African spirituality, faith begins with a belief in the Creator (God) and in the positivity of the creation. Recognizing that all African spiritual traditions believe that we are formed in the image of the Creator, we are capable of self-mastery and development in the context of positive support, the ability to self-correct, care for and be responsible for each other. This allows us to also believe in our ability to create a just and good society. Faith in ourselves is essential.       We must also believe in the value and validity of our struggle for liberation, equality and justice and for a higher level of living. Many people link this to the belief in our capacity to carry out our role in history with dignity. This role is to start a new path and history for other oppressed people and establish a new paradigm for humanity.   This faith gives us the strength to invent, innovate and reach inside ourselves to find our true selves. We must not imitate others, particularly people who do not have our best interests at heart. We have the strength to struggle and ultimately prevail.   In the final analysis, we must have faith in ourselves and the people who support us. With love and understanding, we can step back onto the stage of human history as a free, proud and productive people.   Faith in our Creator (for many African Americans, this would be Jesus Christ) is well-established in the African American community. From the Negro spirituals, AME church, the Church of God in Christ and numerous other churches, faith is our source of strength and our ability to...
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    20 m
  • The Celebration of Kwanzaa: Day 6 (Kuumba)

    The Celebration of Kwanzaa: Day 6 (Kuumba)
    Dec 23 2017
    Hello history lovers and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Habari gani,   I’m Robin the host and in-house historian at rememberinghistory.com and I’m so glad that you’ve come back for this great and groundbreaking show. We’ve been doing something a bit different from our usual podcast show when we talk about different issues affecting the African American community, and discuss the great contributions of African Americans to their communities, the country and world. Today is a very special day because we are continuing with our celebration of Kwanzaa! We are already on day six of this uplifting and inspirational celebration. Today we will focus on the concept of Kuumba, which means creativity.   I’ll begin—as usual--by bidding you the traditional greeting of Kwanzaa in the Swahili language: Habari gani! If you’re just joining us, you’re very glad to have you with us and I would strongly urge you to listen to the 6 previous podcasts shows.   We learned yesterday that Nia or finding and living your purpose is founded on knowing your historical and cultural identity. And that your purpose should be a goal that contributes something great to your community or the world. It must be something larger than yourself and larger than the pursuit of money. I think of it as a “magnificent obsession.” If you haven’t heard the previous Kwanzaa podcasts, I strongly recommend that you do so. If you have any questions, please contact us at rememberinghistory.com website or the Wiki History Podcast page on Facebook. Stay with us today—everyone is welcome around the Kwanzaa mat (the mkeka)—but please take time to listen to the previous shows.   Let’s prepare ourselves to begin to Kwanzaa celebration for the sixth day. Sometimes I take a deep cleansing breath before the celebration begins to quiet and focus myself. Perhaps you want to stand and do a few stretching movements. Just take a moment to get centered and ready to begin the celebration. Remember Kwanzaa IS a celebration but please also show respect for this solemn ritual.   Day 6: Kuumba (creativity)   Habari gani! Your response: Kuumba!   Let’s do it again: Habari gani! Kuumba!   Now please give me the Swahili greeting. (pause) Kuumba!   The 6th day of Kwanzaa falls on December 31st and it is an extra special day! As it is New Year’s Eve, the day is an especially festive day because it marks the last day of the calendar year.   On this special final day of the year, the home is specially decorated with traditional Kwanzaa colors of black, red and green. Special dishes are made for the family and guests. On December 31, families and communities hold a karamu which is a special feast, including readings, remembrances and a festive meal. The karamu feast may consist of traditional African dishes, as well as those featuring ingredients that Africans brought to the United States...sesame seeds, peanuts, sweet potatoes, collard greens and spicy sauces, for example. This celebration may be held at a home, church or community center.   The sixth day of Kwanzaa is Kuumba! Again, it means creativity. Everyone has a different vision of creativity so let’s ask what does creativity mean in the context of Kwanzaa?   Dr. Karenga thought of Kuumba as always doing as much as we can in the way that we can in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than when we inherited it.   Kuumba follows logically from the principle of Nia. (Nia means purpose which we discussed it yesterday). Kuumba is the commitment to expressing your creativity within the context of your purpose (your magnificent obsession). It is the commitment to leave the community and your world in a better position than when you came into them.   This principle was deeply rooted in ancient Egyptian culture. Creativity was considered both an original act of the Creator (or God) and a restorative act of God. There was a spiritual and ethical commitment and obligation to constantly renew and restore the legacy of the ancestors and the great works of history. This was considered as Ma’at, which we discussed in the first day of Kwanzaa called Umoja or unity. Each pharaoh saw his or her reign as a reaffirmation and renewal of the good, the beautiful and the right.   Creativity is viewed much differently in modern western culture, including African American culture. In that context, it is viewed as a method of personal and individual expression. Perhaps the missing element is the Nia, which links creativity to a larger purpose serving humanity. However, Kuumba is rooted in African philosophy and, therefore, is a part of African American heritage. Regaining and reconnecting with our historical and cultural identity is an essential step toward expressing our Kuumba and finding our Nia. These principles are, indeed, closely connected, both being dependent on learning and teaching African (and African ...
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    14 m
  • Kwanzaa: Day 5 (Nia)

    Kwanzaa: Day 5 (Nia)
    Dec 21 2017
    Hello history lovers and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Habari gani, I’m Robin the host and in-house historian at rememberinghistory.com and I’m so glad that you’ve come back for this great and groundbreaking show. We’ve been doing something a bit different from our usual podcast show when we talk about different issues affecting the African American community, and discuss the great contributions of African Americans to their communities, the country and world. Today is a very special day because we are continuing with our celebration of Kwanzaa! We are already on day five of this uplifting and inspirational celebration. Today we will focus on the concept of Nia which means purpose.   I’ll begin by bidding you the traditional greeting of Kwanzaa in the Swahili language: Habari gani! If you’re just joining us, you’re very glad to have you with us and I would strongly urge you to listen to the 5 previous podcasts: the introduction to Kwanzaa podcast, the first day of Kwanzaa podcast (called umoja or unity), and the second day of Kwanzaa podcast (called kujichagulia or self-determination), day 3 of the Kwanzaa podcast which is called Ujima and yesterday, we did day four of Kwanzaa, which is called Ujamaa.   We learned yesterday that cooperative economics of Ujamaa) is a commitment to shared social wealth and working not only to help people that are disadvantaged or impoverished, but actually ending poverty itself. We learned that Julius Nyerere (who was the first president of Tanzania) was a strong advocate of Ujamaa or African socialism for his people and he was much beloved by them. Remember they called him Mwalimu, which is a name for a beloved and respected teacher. And you might remember that Dr. Martin Luther King fought against poverty and materialism, which he said created a sick society. He was a true radical. If you haven’t heard the previous Kwanzaa podcasts, I strongly recommend that you do so. If you have any questions, please contact us at rememberinghistory.com website or the Wiki History Podcast page on Facebook. Stay with us today—everyone is welcome around the Kwanzaa mat (the mkeka)—but please take time to listen to the previous shows.   Let’s prepare ourselves to begin to Kwanzaa celebration for the fifth day. Sometimes I take a deep cleansing breath before the celebration begins but I always find some way to quiet and focus myself. Perhaps you want to stand and do a few stretching movements. Just take a moment to get centered and ready to begin the celebration. Remember Kwanzaa IS a celebration but please also show respect for this solemn ritual.   Day 4: Nia (Purpose)   Habari gani! Your response: Nia!   Let’s do it again: Habari gani! Nia!   Now please give me the Swahili greeting. (pause) Nia!   The fifth day of Kwanzaa is Nia! It means purpose. That’s a rather vague concept so let’s ask what does purpose mean in the context of Kwanzaa?   Dr. Karenga thought of Nia as building our communities together, maintaining them, and restoring them to greatness.   Nia is essentially a commitment to the collective vocation of building, developing and defending our national community, its culture and history in order to regain our historical initiative and greatness as a people. This requires an understanding that our role in human history has been and remains a significant one and that we, as an African people share in the grand human legacy that Africa has given to the world. We have the legacy of not only being the fathers and mothers of humanity but also the fathers and mothers of human civilization. It’s unacceptable that we who are the fathers and mothers of human civilization have been playing the role of cultural children of the world. The principle of Nia brings awareness to our purpse in light of our historical and cultural identity.   Inherent in this discussion of deriving purpose from our historical and cultural identity is the focus on generational responsibility. Franz Fanon (remember him from our discussion of self-determination/kujichagulia) poses this responsibility in competing terms by saying “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission and then fulfill or betray it. He suggests that this “mission” should be framed within the larger context of the needs, hopes and aspirations of the people. He goes further to state that each of us is morally and culturally obligated to participate in creating a context of maximum freedom and development of the people.   Finally, Nia suggests that personal and social purpose do not conflict but rather complement each other. The highest form of personal purpose is, in the final analysis, a social purpose. And a social purpose is a personal purpose that translates into a vocation and commitment which involves and benefits the collective whole AND gives fullness and mean to a person’s life in a way that ...
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    19 m
  • Kwanzaa: Day Four (Ujamaa)

    Kwanzaa: Day Four (Ujamaa)
    Dec 20 2017
    Hello history lovers and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Habari gani, I’m Robin the host and in-house historian at rememberinghistory.com.   I’m so glad that you’ve come back for this great and groundbreaking show that will inspire YOU and your FAMILY with true stories, real experiences, practical lessons, cultural traditions, and fun celebrations—all inspired by African American history and culture. And today is a very special day because we are continuing with our celebration of Kwanzaa! We are already on day four of this uplifting and inspirational celebration. Today we will focus on Ujamaa.   So, I’ll bid you the traditional greeting of Kwanzaa in the Swahili language: Habari gani! If you’re just joining us, you’re very welcome but I would strongly urge you to listen to the 4 previous podcasts: the introduction to Kwanzaa podcast, the first day of Kwanzaa podcast (called umoja or unity), and the second day of Kwanzaa podcast (called kujichagulia or self-determination) and day 3 which is called Ujima.   We learned yesterday that collective work and responsibility (or Ujima) is a commitment to active and informed togetherness on matters of common interest. And we learned a powerful lesson that African freedom is indivisible, meaning that if any African anywhere is oppressed then all Africans are oppressed. If you haven’t heard the previous Kwanzaa podcasts, I strongly recommend that you do so. If you have any questions, please contact us at rememberinghistory.com website or the Wiki History Podcast page on Facebook. Stay with us today—everyone is welcome around the Kwanaa mat (the mkeka)—but please take time to listen to the previous shows.   Let’s prepare ourselves to begin to Kwanzaa celebration for the fourth day. Sometimes I take a deep cleansing breath before the celebration begins but I always find some way to quiet and focus myself. Remember Kwanzaa is a celebration but please remember to show respect for the solemn ritual.   Day 4: Ujamaa (cooperative economics)   Habari gani! Your response: Ujamaa!   Let’s do it again: Habari gani! Ujamaa!   Now please give me the Swahili greeting. (pause) Ujamaa!   The fourth day of Kwanzaa is Ujamaa! It means cooperative economics. That’s a strange and curious term but what IS cooperative economics?   Dr. Karenga (remember he founded Kwanzaa) said that cooperative economics means to build our own businesses, control the economics of our own community and share in all its work and wealth.   It sounds like a complicated term but it is actually quite simple. Ujamaa (cooperative economics) is a commitment to the practice of shared social wealth and the work necessary to achieve it. Cooperative economics is built on the fundamental communal concept that social wealth belongs to the masses of people who created it and that no one should have more than his or her fair share. It is the principle and practice of shared wealth. I really like that the Kwanzaa principles are not just theoretical but require action and practical effects.   One famous African president strongly believed in Ujamaa. He was Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, following colonialism. Much loved by Tanzanians and the British, Nyerere (known to most people as Mwalimu, meaning teacher) was an African socialist who strongly believed in Ujamaa. He said, “Ujamaa is based on the assumption of human equality, on the belief that it is wrong for one person to dominate or exploit another , and on the knowledge that every individual hopes to live in a society as a free person able to lead a decent life, in conditions of peace with his or her neighbor.” Mwalimu (President Nyerere) told us that ujamaa is above all human centered, concerened foremost with the well-being, happiness and development of the human person.     Ujamaa also stresses self-reliance in the building, strengthening and control of the economics of the community. Mwalimu said that we must depend on ourselves and our own resources. Closely related to self-reliance is the respect for the dignity and obligation of work and appreciation for the value of work. Inherent in this belief is harnessing our resources and putting them to the best possible use. All of this is for the community and society at large.   A strong (though possibly not obvious) element of ujamaa is generosity. Generosity is thought to generate its own reward. An African proverb (in the book of Ani) says “small gifts return greater and what is replaced brings abundance.” And the Book of Ptah-Hoptep teaches “be generous as long as you live. What goes into the storehouse should come out. for the bread is made to be shared.”   This is an ancient African ethic of care and responsibility which forms the concept of shared wealth. This ethic is expressed in one of the earliest books—called the Book of Coming Forth by Day—which defines generosity as ...
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    15 m
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