Seizing Freedom

VPM

Highlighting true stories of Black people’s fight for liberation, progress and joy from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. Seizing Freedom illustrates the myriad ways Black people have sought and defined their own freedom in spite of the monumental forces at work to keep them from it. read less

Our Editor's Take

Seizing Freedom is a podcast about Black history. It tells stories of perseverance in the face of oppression and violence. Writer and American historian Dr. Kidada E. Williams hosts the program. She is the author of I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction.

In Seizing Freedom, Dr. Williams examines the events of Reconstruction. This was a period of history that followed the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The podcast examines the role that Black people played in organizing for equality. It also explores the violence and discrimination they faced during this time.

The podcast is a fascinating examination of the Reconstruction period. With the help of archive footage, the host brings this important period in American and African-American history to life. Extracts from speeches, diaries, and letters feature in the podcast. Dr. Williams tells real stories of Black men and women who fought for the liberties they deserved.

Seizing Freedom also features interviews with expert guests. One such guest is historian Crystal Feimster. She explains that there is a myth that the history of Reconstruction only belongs to white men. Feimster and Dr. Williams discuss how historians can and should challenge this myth.

Other podcast episodes describe specific events and influential figures from the Reconstruction period. One such episode is about Susie King Taylor. She was the first African-American nurse during the Civil War. Another segment, "A Powerful Black Hand," examines how Black men and women battled to join the fight to abolish slavery. Dr. Williams explains how the decision to allow them to participate changed the shape of the war.

Seizing Freedom might interest fans of history and politics. Listeners who want to learn more about African-American history might also enjoy it. During each season, a new podcast episode is available every week.

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Seizing Freedom: Official Trailer
Jan 18 2021
Seizing Freedom: Official Trailer
In most history classes, you learn that the Emancipation Proclamation and Union victories “freed the slaves.” But ending slavery in America required so much more than battlefield victories or even official declarations. Black people battled for their own freedom, taking incredible risks for a country that had actively denied their right to it. After the Civil War, they made freedom real by organizing for equality and justice during Reconstruction.  On Seizing Freedom, you’ll hear stories of freedom taking and freedom making directly from the people who did both. Using stories selected from diaries, newspapers, letters, and speeches, we’ll take you straight to the sources of lived experience. Through them, you’ll hear voices from American history that have been muted time and time again.  Support the show: http://donate.vpm.org/site/Donation2?1557.donation=form1&df_id=1557&mfc_pref=T

Season 2

Introducing Season 2 of Seizing Freedom
Jan 25 2022
Introducing Season 2 of Seizing Freedom
Coming February 1, 2022. The promises of Reconstruction were left unfulfilled. The violent system of Jim Crow was being built in real time, brick by brick. And Black people had vibrant debates about how to make a way out of no way; about the best strategy for life after emancipation and Reconstruction; to continue to achieve their ancestors’ dreams. Voice actors will use letters, diaries, newspapers, and autobiographies to bring you stories from luminaries like Ida B. Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. DuBois, as well as everyday freedom fighters forging their own paths forward. Dr. Kidada Williams' interviews with artists, activists, thinkers and historians will bring the themes of these stories to the present day and give us visions for free Black futures. Seizing Freedom is a production of VPM and Molten Heart. For more info about the series, visit seizingfreedom.com.
The Fight of the Century
Feb 1 2022
The Fight of the Century
Black southerners and their allies were experiencing the brick and mortar of Jim Crow being installed in real time. Racial terror killings had been climbing, lynchings were becoming more shocking and segregation was gaining traction. And through all this, Black people were still fighting to find a strategy for surviving the afterlife of slavery so they could achieve the Promised Land of their ancestors’ dreams. Black people had to decide what that strategy was going to be for them and for Black folk beyond their lifetimes. And they were not always in agreement. Conservatives like Booker T. Washington, moderates like W.E.B. Du Bois, and radicals like William Monroe Trotter and Ida B. Wells-Barnett were each confident that they had the best strategy to secure black people’s future by dismantling Jim Crow. And they were each determined to have their own way. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Adam Serwer
Feb 8 2022
Interview - Adam Serwer
Kidada speaks with Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic who covers race, politics and justice, about the role of the Black press in America, both historically and in the present.  They look at how conspiracy theories, misinformation and slander have been used as a form of media propaganda since the formation of the Ku Klux Klan, and how pioneering journalists like Ida B. Wells-Barnett laid the groundwork for identifying and calling out these campaigns.  Additionally, they discuss the evolution of legacy media outlets over time to include more diverse voices, and what it means to tell the truth objectively when reporting on American history as a Black journalist. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
On The World's Stage
Feb 15 2022
On The World's Stage
The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago was an opportunity for the United States to showcase its spectacular growth and signal its arrival as a world power, but it failed to highlight Black Americans’ role in its development, and they took notice.  So when Paris hosted the Exposition Universelle in 1900, African Americans knew creating space to showcase their progress to the world was of major importance.  Among the exhibition’s attendees was W.E.B. Du Bois. He seized the opportunity to present factual evidence of Black achievement to dispel international stereotypes and convince world powers to apply pressure to the United States to dispel white supremacy and live up to its founding principles. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Kinshasha Holman Conwill & Paul Gardullo
Feb 22 2022
Interview - Kinshasha Holman Conwill & Paul Gardullo
Kidada speaks with Kinshasha Holman Conwill, the deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; as well as writer, historian and curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Paul Gardullo. They reflect on The World’s Fair in Paris in 1900 and how they would curate a similar display of progress in 2022, alongside a discussion of the transformative power of museum exhibits, generally, and the value of African American exhibits, specifically.  Additionally, they share what the recent backlash against the teaching of Black history means for their work and the future of trusted institutions focused on telling more inclusive, complete stories of America’s past. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Walk! The Streetcar Boycotts
Mar 1 2022
Walk! The Streetcar Boycotts
With white supremacist strategies for segregated societies solidifying in towns across America’s South, Black people needed to respond in ways that would ensure the freedoms their predecessors had fought to codify into law remained available to them.  Between 1900 and 1910, in more than two dozen cities, African Americans tried to stem the tide of their exclusion from public life by taking the fight to the streets, boycotting streetcars that divided Black and white passengers. The pressure applied by these protests wasn’t successful in every instance, but the victories that were won inspired continued activism and pushback against the expansion of Jim Crow laws across the nation. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Blair L.M. Kelley
Mar 8 2022
Interview - Blair L.M. Kelley
Kidada speaks with historian Blair L.M. Kelley about how segregation grew out of pushback against Black upward mobility, and how Richmond, VA serves as an example of how boycotts can be a powerful tool for collective success to combat issues of justice following the streetcar boycotts in the city at the turn of the 20th century. They also discuss the role failure plays in laying the groundwork for future successes in social justice movements, encouraging current activists to look to history for examples of how to continue the fight even in the face of defeat.   Additionally, they look at the current political landscape with a new wave of voter suppression laws. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Children of the Sun
Mar 15 2022
Children of the Sun
Many Black Americans at the end of the nineteenth century relied heavily on themselves, prioritizing self-determination and securing their collective destiny through solidarity, self-help, and economic independence.  But blatant racism saturated media, entertainment, and education. Parents pushed for less harmful representation of Black life for their children, resulting in the creation of lifelike dolls and print media focused on chasing away the shadows of white supremacy with the light of Black love, consciousness, and possibility. The lessons Black children learned from their parents and surrounding adults empowered them to grasp the freedom torch and blaze new trails in the fight for liberation. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Paula Austin
Mar 22 2022
Interview - Paula Austin
Kidada speaks with historian Paula Austin about the shift in American society to protect childhood innocence in the early 1900s, and how that concept doesn’t apply to—or help us understand—the experiences of Black children who grew up during the early days of Jim Crow.  Despite only white children being recognized as “properly innocent” and deserving of protection, Paula shares that Black children generally had a strong sense of self and were proud of their community and history.  They also look to survey responses from Black youth in the nation’s capital in the 1930s to reveal a clear sense of resistance and activism against racist restrictions that foreshadow the Civil Rights Movement. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Recommended Listening: Home. Made.
Mar 25 2022
Recommended Listening: Home. Made.
Today we're sharing an episode of Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. --- When Michael Atkins applied for a job as a teacher’s aid, he was offered a position as a part-time custodian. But he took it, because of a promise he made to his daughter: To be the father he never had. Michael proved he had a talent for relating to kids, and he worked his way up to teacher, and eventually, principal. But as he showed up for his school community, he struggled to show up for his family at home. Suddenly, Michael had to figure out how to be present both at home and school…or risk losing it all. --- Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
The Land of Milk and Honey
Mar 29 2022
The Land of Milk and Honey
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several million African Americans left the South for the North and West. They wanted to raise their kids in a place where they could live and work undisturbed by violence and out from under a racist social order. And California was advertised as the land of milk and honey. But, contrary to what they had been sold, Black migrants to California—like Verna Deckard and her family, who left Texas for Los Angeles in the 1920s—had to fight to live and to play. They faced segregation in public spaces like beaches, Klan violence, government interference and racist housing covenants. But they continued to fight for their freedoms, staging public protests and finding clever ways to circumvent the racism that had followed them to the west coast. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Jamelle Bouie
Apr 5 2022
Interview - Jamelle Bouie
Kidada speaks with New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie about the legacies of discriminatory housing policies in the United States and their impact, primarily on Black and other marginalized communities, from the beginning of the nation to today, as well as how they might be addressed in the future. They examine the differences in how that discrimination manifests explicitly and implicitly, as well as the roles both institutions and individuals play in contributing to these housing problems. They also discuss ways in which federal and local governments can play a positive role in expanding the availability and security of living spaces for lower income Americans to improve their circumstances. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Inside Harlem's Speakeasies
Apr 12 2022
Inside Harlem's Speakeasies
Black workers were expected to take on “respectable” employment in the early twentieth century, essentially a racist dog whistle to keep them in the dirtiest, most dangerous and low-paying jobs. While some Black people had the means to reject these types of jobs, most couldn’t afford to.  But power was there to be seized if you were willing to break the rules of respectability. In the “Negro metropolis” of Harlem, a complicated world developed in the shadows, one where Black men played by a different set of rules to claim freedom no matter the cost.  Whether by reform or by violence, though, there were also those determined to keep these race rebels at bay. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Saeed Jones
Apr 19 2022
Interview - Saeed Jones
Kidada speaks with writer, poet and social commentator Saeed Jones about the many facets of Black masculinity, how it has been shaped and reshaped over the years, and the challenges that have arisen around cultural expectations for the type of Black man you should be in order to be a credit to the race. They dig into the role of white supremacy in establishing and upholding these cultural norms and discuss how the system is operating and iterating and wreaking havoc even without active involvement from white people.  They also discuss “doing the work” of dismantling harmful ideas about gender and masculinity, the relationship between safety and freedom, cultivating freedom by helping to liberate others, and finding joy by transforming pain into love. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Dethroning Disease
Apr 26 2022
Dethroning Disease
Attendees of the 1914 “Fifty Years of Negro Health Improvement in Preparation for Efficiency” conference, with speakers including Booker T. Washington, heard staggering information about the Black population’s “health”, which was in crisis. Life expectancy for African Americans at the time was about 35 years.  African Americans rallied public health professionals to confront disease. They understood how poor health outcomes endangered their collective destiny and compromised their ability to fight for full equality. They knew that illness, disease, and lack of means and systems to treat them compromised freedom.  Clean communities could improve living conditions. But clean living couldn’t undo the harm or violence of the Jim Crow era that was gradually becoming systematized in law and society. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Julia Craven
May 3 2022
Interview - Julia Craven
Kidada speaks with health reporter Julia Craven about health and wellness for African Americans, both historically and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.  They explore how health outcomes are influenced by systemic forces and not purely the result of the personal decisions people make on a daily basis, as well as the responsibilities of individuals to make an impact within the larger framework of public health. They also touch on the relationship between capitalism and mental health, and how that is a contributing factor to the recent Great Resignation. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Reframing the Narrative?
May 10 2022
Reframing the Narrative?
African Americans couldn’t seize much universal freedom as the brick-and-mortar of Jim Crow walled them off from their rights. Still, race men and women fought. Following the death of three friends, instigated by the white press, Ida B. Wells committed herself to investigating and reporting the evils of lynching across the south, starting a newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee. It wasn’t long before her printing press was burned to the ground and she was forced to relocate to Chicago.  The windy city was witnessing the rise of Black Hollywood, inspiring race leaders like Wells and film producer Oscar Micheaux to harness the power of media to challenge the narratives being reinforced by racist newspaper reports and deeply problematic films like Birth of a Nation. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom
Interview - Mariame Kaba
May 17 2022
Interview - Mariame Kaba
Season 2 Finale. Kidada speaks with activist and organizer Mariame Kaba about the ways many of us practice abolition without realizing it, how ordinary people have the power to collectively free themselves, and why safety can only be found through community.  They discuss how the prison industrial complex and the systems it encompasses do more harm than good and identify solutions that address the underlying causes of criminalized activity and provide the resources and support needed for everyone to thrive. Additionally, they touch on the power of public libraries to offer a safe haven for all, as well as cultivating a practice of hope to navigate difficult circumstances. --- Episode Artwork by Lyne Lucien. Transcripts, resources, list of voice talent and more available at seizingfreedom.com. --- This episode of Seizing Freedom is supported by Home. Made., a podcast that explores the meaning of home and what it can teach us about ourselves and each other. Listen to episodes of Home. Made. at https://link.chtbl.com/homemade?sid=podcast.seizingfreedom

Season 1

Seizing Freedom: Official Trailer
Jan 18 2021
Seizing Freedom: Official Trailer
In most history classes, you learn that the Emancipation Proclamation and Union victories “freed the slaves.” But ending slavery in America required so much more than battlefield victories or even official declarations. Black people battled for their own freedom, taking incredible risks for a country that had actively denied their right to it. After the Civil War, they made freedom real by organizing for equality and justice during Reconstruction.  On Seizing Freedom, you’ll hear stories of freedom taking and freedom making directly from the people who did both. Using stories selected from diaries, newspapers, letters, and speeches, we’ll take you straight to the sources of lived experience. Through them, you’ll hear voices from American history that have been muted time and time again.  Support the show: http://donate.vpm.org/site/Donation2?1557.donation=form1&df_id=1557&mfc_pref=T
Spotlight: Ambrose Headen
Feb 1 2021
Spotlight: Ambrose Headen
Follow the incredible journey of Ambrose Headen, a man born into slavery who eventually played a pivotal role in founding one of the nation’s first Black colleges. Support the show: http://donate.vpm.org/site/Donation2?1557.donation=form1&df_id=1557&mfc_pref=T