Destination Freedom Black Radio Days
Destination Freedom Black Radio Days presents highy produced orginal Audio Dramas and interviews with people who get stuff done. Produced and directed by award winner filmaker and radio host donnie l. betts. Co produced by audio wiz Maurice (aka Reese) Smith.
Featured guests, Lynn Nottage, Sharon Washington, Charles Wright, Allison Semmes, Idris Goodwin, Marla and Angela Gibbs to name a few.
Audio Dramas, A letter from Heaven to America from Emmett Till, The Voice of The Spirit is Clear
Destination Freedom (now branded Destination Freedom Black Radio Days, this program illuminates a largely unknown, but important chapter in the history of human rights and tells how radio played its part from the very beginning. That boundary-breaking program, Destination Freedom, dramatized the lives of great figures in African-American and other people of color past and present, continues in its spirit with all-new scripts. This series honors and expands on that theme of the orginioal series from Richard Durham.
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S2 Ep 22 The Ballad of Satchel Paige
This episode features Lionel Young, winner of the 2008 and 2011 International Blues Challenge, plus numerous classical and blues awards. The EP also features Blues great Otis Taylor and his daughter Cassie.
31 min
27
S2 Ep21 Stono: An Audio Ritual
STONO is an audio-ritual exploring the eponymous 1739 slave rebellion. While typically depicted as a suppressed insurrection, this piece asks: Is there another story? To find answers, STONO calls on the voices of the beyond-human participants, including ancestors, rivers, mushrooms, guns, and the Black Virgin Mary. Combining music, text, and field recordings from the historic rebellion site, STONO offers a space to imagine a more expansive and surprising story about that fateful event. Next on Destination Freedom Black Radio Days by T. Carlis Roberts, oh make sure wherever you listen that the volume is turned up.
35 min
28
S2 EP20 Of Blood and The Boogie: The Story of A...
Albert Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. His interest in boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice together on the piano in the Ammons household. From the age of ten, Ammons learned about chords by marking the depressed keys on the family pianola (player piano) with a pencil and repeated the process until he had mastered it. This episodic features the late great Oscar Brown Jr. as Ammons, as well as 17 year piano wiz A J Salas. They both join host donnie l. betts for an after-show conversation and performance that is not to be missed.
73 min
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S2 EP19 A Conversation with the writers of Give...
This episode features a conversation with the writers of the three part series Give Me Liberty: A Freeman Story, John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death inspired some before the American Revolution War. The story is decorated with prose, creativity, humor, and lived experience by the husband and wife writing team of John and Sydney Futrell. Stay tuned for a musical performance by Monique and Aaron Brooks Roberts.
24 min
30
S2 EP18 The Eclectic - Interview with Colorado ...
The Eclectic Interview with Gerardo Munzo, 2021 Colorado Teacher of the Year.
33 min
31
S2 EP 17 The Gravediggers Handicap: The Story o...
Folks may be familiar with the fine clothes, big hats, and of course the fast horses. But did you know the first 10 winners of the Derby were Black?
31 min
32
S2 EP16 The Eclectic - Interview with Entrepren...
Jice Johnson is the Founder and CVO of the Black Business Initiative and Principle in the New Community Transformation Fund - Denver.
38 min
33
S2 EP15 Give Me Liberty: A Freeman's Story part 3
Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story, part 3 of 3, is the second chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell.
27 min
34
S2 EP14 Give Me Liberty: A Freeman's Story part 2
Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story, part 2 of 3, is the second chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death inspire some before the American Revolution War. The story is decorated with prose, creativity, humor, and lived experience by the husband and wife writing team.
31 min
35
S2 Ep13 Give Me Liberty: A Freeman's Story part 1
Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story part 1 of 3 is the first chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death inspire some before the American Revolution War. The story is decorated with prose, creativity, humor, and lived experience by the husband and wife writing team.
36 min
36
S2 Ep12 The Eclectic - Interview with Idris Goo...
Next on The Eclectic from Destination Freedom Black Radio Days is Idris Goodwin, a playwright, director, break beat poet and educator. He is the Director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College and a 2021 United States Artist Fellow.
33 min
37
S2 Ep11 The Eclectic - Interview with The Honor...
Next on The Eclectic from Destination Freedom Black Radio Days is the Honorable Judge Gary Jackson. We discuss his 50-year legal career and as he describes it, being the only Black person in the room.
39 min
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S2 Ep10 The Eclectic - Interview with Harold Fi...
We asked Harold Field to join The Eclectic to speak about the Tulsa Race Riot and Black Wall Street. For years Harold has led conversations on Race with the Tuesday Race Group. He works for reparations for former enslaved Africans, and he advises on DEI issues for organizations. His list of involvement in the Colorado community and national community is far too long to list.
45 min
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S2 Ep9 The Eclectic - Interview with Aisha Ahma...
As a companion podcast to Destination Freedom Black Radio Days comes The Eclectic. Aisha Ahmad-Post is the Executive Director of the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver. Previously, she was the inaugural Director of the Ent Center for the Arts at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Producer of Public Programs for The New York Public Library.
35 min
40
S1 Ep17 Interview with Mayor Johnny B. Thomas o...
This interview is a rebroadcast from 2020. The Department of Justice recently closed the case of Emmett Till who was brutally murdered 66 years ago in August 1955. This episode features a conversation with Mayor Johnny Thomas of Glendora, Mississippi about Emmett Till
33 min
41
S2 Ep8 The Eclectic - Interview with Deborah Watts
Destination Freedom Black Radio Days presents The Eclectic. We bring you our interview with Deborah Watts founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and Emmett Till's cousin.
25 min
42
S2 Ep7 A Letter From Heaven To America from Emm...
Destination Freedom Black Radio Days presents A Letter From Heaven To America from Emmett Till
68 min
43
S2 Ep6 James Step Back Williams, A Covid Tale
Destination Freedom Black Radio Days examines issues facing communities of color with James “Step Back” Williams. In the early days of Covid 19, some people suffered because of human error and or biases. This is the story of one patient journey who suffered from both.
59 min
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S2 Ep5 The Lesson and The Conk
The Lesson, written by Kenya Fashaw - Racial biases spark a fuse when a 17 year old Black student starts his first day at a new High School named after a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard. "The Conk," written by Kenya Fashaw - Black hair history is provided with this short excerpt about "The Conk '' hairstyle worn by Black men in the 1940s.
54 min
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S2 Ep4 The Cleaning Ladies and Bound by Blood
The 2021 season of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days will examine the issues facing communities of color beginning with “The Cleaning Ladies” and “Bound by Blood” by Clinnesha Sibley “The Cleaning Ladies” takes place in Manhattan on February 21, 1965 in the Audubon Ballroom, the day of Malcolm X’s assassination. “Bound by Blood” takes us to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, the night of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. These audio dramas will feature Ghandia Johnson, Michaela “Mikki” Murray and Latifah Johnson. They are produced and directed by donnie l. betts.
35 min
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Season 2 Launch Promo
This is a promo for the launch of Season 2 of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days.
1 min
47
S2 Ep3 Interview with Sonja D Williams, profess...
Sonja D. Williams is a professor in the Howard University Department of Media, Journalism and Film in Washington, DC. She has written and produced numerous documentaries for NPR, PRI, Smithsonian Productions, and local radio stations nationwide.
32 min
48
S2 Ep2 Ruth Blue Turnquest, “The Angel of Feder...
“The Angel of Federal Street” tells the story of the great humanitarian of Chicago, Ruth Blue Turnquest.
69 min
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S2 Ep1 Mary McLeod Bethune, One out of Seventeen
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was 1 of 17 children. She was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights, activist.
31 min
50
Season 2 Trailer
The 2021 season of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days will examine the issues facing communities of color - exploring police shooting, immigration, health disparities, and gender bias.
6 min