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Podcast and Harriet Tubman documentary top new offerings from Loyola’s Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice

Karson Institute of Race, Peace, and Social Justice

The Karson institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice is extending its offerings to the community with two new initiatives. The Institute is launching a podcast and partnering with Maryland Public Television on a Harriet Tubman documentary:

New Podcast: “Strands of Our Nation: Conversations with Dr. Kaye”

The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University Maryland will launch a podcast, “Strands of Our Nation: Conversations with Dr. Kaye,” on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. The 14-week podcast will stream episodes highlighting racial and social justice issues, peace in Baltimore and around the world, and unpacking and understanding America’s history. A new episode will be released every Wednesday at noon.

“The Strands of our Nation podcast features conversations with thought leaders, politicians, activists, and community leaders from diverse backgrounds, communities, and perspectives,” said Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., professor of communication and African American Studies and founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice. “We believe that our goal is to continue to provide spaces to engage in some of our nation’s most challenging and difficult conversations. From discussing Black COVID stories to conversations about the wage pay gap; from the long-term impact of the #MeToo Movement to democracy in Kenya and in America, Strands of Our Nation will ask the hard questions and then work to both find and implement the best solutions.”

Whitehead hosts conversations with important voices, such as Deputy President of Kenya, William Ruto, Rev Nontombi Naomi Tutu, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Leonard Pitts, and Representative Kweisi Mfume, during the first season of the podcast. Listen to the podcast online and on Spotify.

The Karson Institute to co-host Maryland Public Television’s Conversations for Change on Harriet Tubman

In addition to the podcast, the Karson Institute is partnering with Maryland Public Television to co-produce a Conversations for Change special on the life of Harriet Tubman in honor of her 200th birthday this month. During the special, clips from the film, Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom, will be previewed and discussed.

“There are so many versions of Harriet Tubman’s story that it is often difficult to discern where the truth of her life and the myths of her work as a freedom fighter and activist diverge from one another,” said Whitehead, who was recently named one of The Daily Record’s 2022 Top 100 Women. “She is one of a few enslaved women whose stories are still being told and whose lives are still being researched, reinterpreted, and rediscovered. As we look to celebrate Tubman’s life, we must do so by embracing and telling her entire story. She was more than what we talk about but a little less than what we try and pretend that she was. As researchers and teachers; historians and lovers of history; our job is to learn and reclaim her story and tell it to all who will listen, particularly our students.”

The special will air on Thursday, March 31, 2022, at 7 p.m. on Ovee.