logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2020
27m 42s

Race in America: My enslaved ancestors

Bbc World Service
About this episode

As Americans call for change following the killing of George Floyd, three women share the history of slavery in their families and discuss its impact on society today. Sharon Leslie Morgan in Mississippi is the founder of Our Black Ancestry Foundation, which provides resources for African American genealogical research. She's also co-written a book on the subject called Gather at the Table. Bernice Alexander Bennett is a blogger and radio host in Silverspring, Maryland. Shonda Brooks is a therapist in New Jersey. They've been reflecting with Nuala McGovern on what they uncovered when they researched their own family trees.

Up next
Today
How to spend billions – fast: Carney’s Defence Deadline
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has given his generals and admirals an unusual command: spend money. Lots of it. Quickly. For years, it was the other way around. Canada wore the uniform of a serious NATO ally – while undershooting the alliance’s 2% of GDP defence spendi ... Show More
26m 48s
Yesterday
Mariam Issoufou: Designing a museum
Architect Mariam Issoufou has always been very ambivalent about museums: "Who decided that the only way to look at art is inside this intimidating, grand building, full of looted objects? For me, they are where history goes to die". So she was sceptical about accepting the job of ... Show More
26m 30s
Mar 15
How the Oscars went international
On Sunday, many of the film industry’s biggest stars will gather in Los Angeles for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 98th annual Academy Awards.Looming over the celebrations are some major upheavals in Hollywood: big corporate mergers, the incursion of AI, and mass layoffs. And it’ ... Show More
28m 1s
Recommended Episodes
May 2022
Tracing forgotten female ancestors
<p>Kim Chakanetsa meets two genealogists passionate about uncovering the forgotten stories of their clients' female ancestors. </p><p>Kenyatta D Berry is a lawyer and genealogist from the USA. She is the author of The Family Tree Toolkit and the co-host of The Genealogy Roadshow ... Show More
27m 32s
Aug 2020
American Caste with Isabel Wilkerson
Lately everyone has been talking about race, but Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson wants us to look at caste as well. We may associate that strict social hierarchy with India, but Wilkerson argues it has been present in the U.S. for over 400 years. She talks with Don about h ... Show More
21m 17s
Dec 2021
Ebony & Ivy
<p>Although Harvard is one of the Blackest Ivy League schools, Black students still make up just 11 percent of the student body. Many Black students at Harvard experience a level of culture shock when they first arrive to such a historically white space. There’s the whiteness of ... Show More
34m 38s
Feb 2021
Black History: The Black Panthers
<p>As part of our Black History coverage we look back at the Black Panthers and ask Professor Clayborne Carson of Stanford University "How radical was the US black rights group?" Also, we bring you an archive interview with Mary Wilson of the Supremes, we delve into the question ... Show More
50m 24s
Oct 2022
The Truth About Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
November 5, 1998. Using DNA evidence, the scientific journal Nature publishes findings that put to rest a centuries-old mystery: Was Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello, the mother of six of Thomas Jefferson’s children? Until then, the historical consensus had been thi ... Show More
37m 51s
Dec 2017
The Assets
Rachel Swarns of the New York Times joins us to discuss what she discovered when she followed the money trail of one of the nation's top financial institutions all the back to the 19th century. Further reading: You can read more of Rachel Swarns's reporting here, and check out he ... Show More
31m 25s
Feb 2022
Reconstructed, Ep 1: Birth of a Black Nation
<p>One question has plagued our nation since its founding: will Black people in America ever experience full citizenship?  </p><p>In searching for an answer, Into America is collaborating with the Smithsonian’s <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/" target="_blank">National Museum of A ... Show More
54m 42s
Feb 2021
Isabel Wilkerson on Caste and William Darity on Reparations
<p>Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson talks to Alec about her best-selling book, <em>Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents</em>. Wilkerson says America’s caste system began in 1619, when enslaved people first arrived in the Jamestown colony. Drawing comparisons be ... Show More
45m 55s
Jul 2020
A blueprint for reparations in the US | William "Sandy" Darity
With clarity and insight, economist and author William "Sandy" Darity discusses how the grievous injustice of slavery in the US led to the immense wealth gap that currently exists between Black and white Americans. He explains how reparations for descendants of enslaved people wo ... Show More
31m 28s