Seizing Freedom

Latest Episodes:

Interview: Kate Masur May 10, 2021

Show notes

A discussion of the central role African Americans played in securing constitutional change for their civil and political rights during Reconstruction, as well as the long-lasting impacts of their efforts in the first civil rights movement.

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The Final Word On Liberty May 03, 2021

Show notes

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, but African Americans knew the “freedom” of emancipation was incomplete without universal citizenship and rights protected by law. Learn how their insistence on having a full stake in American freedom helped transform federal policy and codify the rhetoric of “liberty” into law.

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Interview: Kelly Brown Douglas Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

The Reverend shares what church has meant to the Black community, both historically and currently, as well as how to find God in times of struggle and injustice.

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Equal Children Of God Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

How a thirst for soul liberty and the freedom to worship as they saw fit sustained Black Americans through centuries of enslavement. And how the sustenance they found in religious community emboldened them to fight for—and demand—concrete social and political change.

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Interview: Hilary Green Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Conversation about family histories and education, how many of the stereotypes that have been associated with Black people in the United States came to be, why they’re simply not true, and what the pursuit of knowledge meant and looked like to African Americans during and after Reconstruction.

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Truth Makes The Free Man Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Education was regarded as the "real liberation" by many African Americans following emancipation from slavery, and they were willing to go to extreme lengths to secure literacy for themselves and their kin.

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Interview: Tera Hunter Mar 29, 2021

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Kidada speaks with Princeton Historian Tera Hunter about how Black workers wanted to shape their working lives after the Civil War, what communal labor looked like, and what activities they found joy in.

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They Can't Keep Me Out Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Further exploring the stakes of making a living as a Black person following emancipation and how, despite violent retaliation in light of their successes, African Americans never lost sight of what made Black life worth living.

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A New Joy Awaiting Me Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

How newly emancipated African Americans established communities and expanded their labor on their own terms to build livelihoods for themselves and their families, and how they were met with extreme repercussions from whites through the introduction of Black Codes.

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Interview: Deborah Willis Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

Photography professor Deborah Willis speaks with Kidada about the power of photography during the Civil War era, and the stories images can reveal to us about the lives Black people led and wanted future generations to understand.

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