Porchtales

HumanitiesDC

Porchtales is a podcast by HumanitiesDC, Washington's humanities council, and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Each season we work with a guest producer to focus on a historic or cultural topic and dig deeper to learn and celebrate the unique experiences that shape our fascinating city. Whether jogging by the capitol or driving along the California coast, Porchtales listeners get to experience DC through the eyes of those who make up the fabric of our nation's capital. Have an idea or a question, send us a note at programs@humanitiesdc.org *Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders. read less
Society & CultureSociety & Culture
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The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose
Jun 1 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose
"The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose” is a collaboration between HumanitiesDC’s Porchtales and DC historian and podcaster Prof. D. Boose. Through stories shared by local resident Sister Koko, we’ll explore the city’s rich history of activism and civic engagement and its connection to international Black Freedom struggles. Sister Koko is a Black activist radical and elder who has dedicated her life to the support and liberation of Black people in the United States and the African Diaspora. For nearly 60 years Sister Koko has been a Black freedom fighter in America. She was a former Civil Rights activist, a one-time Black Panther Party associate, a core anti-apartheid activist in the US, and a decades-long Pan-Africanist organizer. Yet today, she lives in Metro DC unknown to most. But why? And what's lost in her disappearance? In this six-episode series, we will meet Sister Koko and listen as she details her interactions and relationships with people like Stokely Carmichael, Miriam Makeba, Cleveland Sellers, Afeni and Tupac Shakur, and as she shares harrowing stories of fighting racism, existing COINTELPRO, and nuances of Black living in twentieth-century America. Time and circumstance have tried to disappear Sister Koko, yet she still rises through our collective listening. Tune in and be a witness to stories of Black freedom activism in America you haven't heard.

Episodes

Lanier: The Park
Sep 13 2023
Lanier: The Park
At the end of Lanier, there is a park that began as wilderness that was walked by Native Americans. Then it was farmed, and later became home to two burial grounds. In the 1960’s, neighbors took control of the land and made a park. We go to the park in this episode- to Walter Pierce Park.Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.   Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at info@wdchumanities.org, or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.  To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/
Lanier: Snake Hill
Aug 23 2023
Lanier: Snake Hill
A kid on a bike can go places and discover a neighborhood. Pedaling slow and pushing fast, they have perfect balance and the thrill of floating free down a steep hill known as “Snake Hill.” They feel free and in control. Katie Davis shares stories of a Fix-a-Bicycle summer camp that started on Lanier in July 2000.Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.   Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at info@wdchumanities.org, or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.  To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/
Lanier: Bring It Home
Aug 9 2023
Lanier: Bring It Home
People know who causes trouble on their block. Who goes to jail or prison. Some criminals though return to the scene of their crimes to try to undo. We follow the story of Bobby, as he tries to make things right by coaching a little league baseball team in Adams Morgan.Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.   Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at info@wdchumanities.org, or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.  To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/
Lanier: Mayor of Adams Morgan
Jul 26 2023
Lanier: Mayor of Adams Morgan
A lot of people just walked by the man on his porch. Turns out that John, the porch sitter, was the thread that kept his block together. Neighbors called him the Mayor of Adams Morgan, and they knew he wouldn’t let things get out of hand on his street. Meet this unexpected hero.Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.   Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at info@wdchumanities.org, or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.  To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/
Lanier: The Corner Store
Jul 13 2023
Lanier: The Corner Store
Katie Davis takes us on a walk she has taken hundreds of times. Down Lanier Place to a corner store in Adams Morgan. It’s been called Wayne’s, Mattie’s and the Kim’s and each era has different stories. Katie Davis collects history on the street she grew up on in Washington D.C.-- the street she still lives on. It's a familiar walk, and yet one that constantly brings new revelations and lessons.  Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.   Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at info@wdchumanities.org, or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.  To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Freedom Ain't Free
Dec 21 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Freedom Ain't Free
What becomes of a life of Black freedom activism? In this final episode of the series, Sister Koko recounts the resolution of the firearm charges against her, details ongoing FBI surveillance, and explains her trajectory from SNCC and the Black Panther Party to Pan African and anti-Apartheid activism. Along the way, she supports the Wilmington 10, builds a friendship with Miriam Makeba, becomes a United Nations delegate, and even meets a young Tupac Shakur. But as Sister Koko thinks back on her incredible life, she ponders the roads not traveled, too. Living in near obscurity now, Sister Koko grapples with assessing her life in the struggle. This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Black Rebellion
Dec 14 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Black Rebellion
As the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sparked rebellions across the US, Sister Koko describes her experience of the uprising in DC and how King’s death personally affected her. She explains the underlying entrenched and long-standing systems of racial oppression, especially poverty, that fueled the outpouring of violence and destruction in April of 1968. She takes us through the streets of DC overrun with troops and the fractured infrastructure that attempted to quell the rebellion. Throughout it all, Sister Koko persisted in her community organizing and her work with Stokely Carmichael in SNCC. But the federal government saw her activism as a threat, a radical for the FBI to keeps tabs on, which led to a suspicious infiltrator and a raid on Sister Koko’s apartment that uncovered a closet of firearms. This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Becoming A Black Power Activist
Dec 7 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Becoming A Black Power Activist
What was happening in the rest of the world as Dorothy Jean McQueen reinvented herself as Sister Koko, and how did it affect her? Prof. D. Boose explores how entwined rising anxieties over the spread of nuclear weapons, poverty, and the Vietnam war, were with the ever-increasing Black Freedom activism in the mid-1960s. Listen as Sister Koko explains how these international and national events had an impact on her and local Washington, DC, communities. In this episode, Sister Koko turns her attention from Howard University to centering her work with the United Planning Organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Stokely Carmichael. She focused on combating poverty, protesting US involvement in Vietnam, organizing voter registration on a grassroots level, and promoting the idea of Black Power. Yet change remained slow, and Black Freedom fighters increasingly turned to militant action to defend themselves against white supremacy and to make their demands heard.This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Howard’s Doorway to Activism
Jun 15 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - Howard’s Doorway to Activism
How did Dorothy Jean McQueen become Sister Koko? Explore her memories with Prof. D. Boose as she reflects on being a student at Howard University amidst the March on Washington and organizing for Freedom Summer. They’ll talk about 1960s era racism and segregation and new community efforts to fight it, especially in protests against discrimination in travel. Hear how these developments encouraged Sister Koko to join the Nonviolent Action Group of Howard University (NAG) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) alongside Stokely Carmichael, and to reinvent herself as Sister Koko. This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - A Freedom Fighter Next Door
Jun 1 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose - A Freedom Fighter Next Door
Who is Sister Koko? What roles has she played in Black freedom struggles? Why do many people–even in DC–not know about her? Join Prof. D. Boose as we meet Sister Koko, learn about events during her childhood in Newport News, Virginia, that began her community organizing work, and start to explore her experiences as a Black freedom fighter and what we risk losing if her stories disappear. Please be advised that this episode includes descriptions and experiences of state violence, lynching, and rape. It also includes brief profanity. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose
Jun 1 2022
The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose
"The Disappearing of Sister Koko with Prof. D. Boose” is a collaboration between HumanitiesDC’s Porchtales and DC historian and podcaster Prof. D. Boose. Through stories shared by local resident Sister Koko, we’ll explore the city’s rich history of activism and civic engagement and its connection to international Black Freedom struggles. Sister Koko is a Black activist radical and elder who has dedicated her life to the support and liberation of Black people in the United States and the African Diaspora. For nearly 60 years Sister Koko has been a Black freedom fighter in America. She was a former Civil Rights activist, a one-time Black Panther Party associate, a core anti-apartheid activist in the US, and a decades-long Pan-Africanist organizer. Yet today, she lives in Metro DC unknown to most. But why? And what's lost in her disappearance? In this six-episode series, we will meet Sister Koko and listen as she details her interactions and relationships with people like Stokely Carmichael, Miriam Makeba, Cleveland Sellers, Afeni and Tupac Shakur, and as she shares harrowing stories of fighting racism, existing COINTELPRO, and nuances of Black living in twentieth-century America. Time and circumstance have tried to disappear Sister Koko, yet she still rises through our collective listening. Tune in and be a witness to stories of Black freedom activism in America you haven't heard.