America Together: Celebrating Diversity Podcast

In 1950, history was made at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. Juanita Hall became the first Black actor—man or woman—to win a Tony Award for her role as 'Bloody Mary' in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. She is known for her iconic performances of "Bali Ha'i" and "Happy Talk," which she reprised for the 1958 film. We also look at her later career directing the Juanita Hall Choir and honor the legacy of a true pioneer of the American stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We remember a recently lost but vital part of Black history: the resistance of Claudette Colvin. At just 15 years old in 1955—months before Rosa Parks—Colvin kept her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus when told to move for a white woman. We trace the legal battle that left a "juvenile delinquent" mark on her record until it was expunged in 2021, and honor the legacy of a pioneer who died recently at age 86. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey, reopened in 2023, it revived a venue steeped in history where 20 Hall of Famers once played. Among them was Larry Doby, who grew up in Paterson and watched Negro League games there before becoming the second Black man to play in the Major Leagues. We hear from Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh on the legends who graced the field, and Larry Doby Jr. on why his father would be pleased to see the stadium restored. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee, has held a unique place in history as the first radio station programmed entirely for Black Americans. We celebrate the station known as "The Heart and Soul of Memphis." Discover how this AM station remains a powerhouse in West Tennessee today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three years after Hip Hop's 50th anniversary, we celebrate the "Mother of Hip Hop," Sylvia Robinson. More than just an executive, she was a visionary who heard a new sound and knew exactly what to do with it. When three guys rapped the now-iconic lyrics of "Rapper's Delight" and she decided to "marry" them into a group on the spot, creating the Sugarhill Gang, and thus begins the story of a modern musical genre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last August, the surviving members of the 1955 Cannon Street All-Stars embarked on their 70th-anniversary tour, bringing their story to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Their journey is now a permanent part of "The Souls of the Game" exhibit, highlighting the Black baseball experience. In this episode, author Rob Neyer moderates a discussion on the injustice of the past, acknowledging that what happened 70 years ago remains wrong today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1955, the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars stood on the field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, listening to the crowd chant "Let them play." While racism kept them out of the game, shortstop John Rivers remembers sizing up the competition and knowing they could have won it all. In this episode, we fast-forward nearly 50 years to 2002, when the surviving members returned to the Little League World Series for a long-overdue honor. We hear from outfielder Leroy Major about the emotional moment they finally received the banner validating their state title, and how their story has found a permanent home in the Baseball Hall of Fame Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1955, the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars were a team of confident young baseball players from Charleston, South Carolina, who just wanted to play ball. Instead, they faced a wall of segregation: every all-white team in the state refused to take the field against them. In this episode, we hear from team shortstop John Rivers about the frustration of winning a state title by forfeit, only to be barred from the Little League World Series on a technicality. We revisit the emotional moment when they arrived in Williamsport as guests, sparking a chant from the crowd that still echoes today: "Let them play." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1921, a white mob destroyed 35 blocks of the wealthy Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma—historically known as "Black Wall Street." 111-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle, is the last living witness to the massacre following the passing of Viola Ford Fletcher in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As NASA targets a launch before the end of April for the Artemis II mission—the first manned return to the Moon in over 50 years—Pilot Victor Glover is poised to make history. Glover will become the first Black American to orbit the Moon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keisha Lance Bottoms is looking to make history, but she’s no stranger to it. When she took office as Atlanta’s mayor in 2018, she became the first person of any race to serve in all three branches of Atlanta government, having been a judge and a City Council member. This year, she is seeking to do what no Black woman in 250 years of American history has done: be elected governor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know the story of Jesse Owens triumphing over Hitler's "Aryan supremacy" at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. But do you know who stood on the podium right next to him? We shine a light on the silver medalists whose stories are often overlooked: Ralph Metcalfe, who went on to found the Congressional Black Caucus, and Mack Robinson, whose athletic prowess likely inspired his younger brother—Jackie Robinson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Granville T. Woods was more than just a brilliant inventor; he was a pioneer who reshaped modern transportation. Known as the "Black Edison," Woods rose from childhood poverty in Ohio to hold over 60 patents that transformed the world of engineering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breaking down the latest Forbes 400 list to explore a historic shift in American wealth. We dive into the rise of Alex Karp, the co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies, David Steward (World Wide Technology), and private equity powerhouse Robert F. Smith (Vista Equity Partners). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whenever you check your video doorbell or arm your alarm system, you are using technology pioneered by Marie Van Brittan Brown. Working as a nurse in 1960s Queens, New York, she faced the danger of coming home at odd hours. She and her husband Albert designed a revolutionary system using peepholes, cameras, two-way audio, and remote locks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a deliberate fire nearly destroyed Memphis' historic Clayborn Temple last April, the community wasted no time in starting the journey to rebuild. We cover the immediate response from Mayor Paul Young and the collaborative push to secure funding from city, federal, and philanthropic sources to save the site where the 1968 Sanitation Strike was organized. We also feature the pivotal moment when Brent Leggs, from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced a massive $1.5 million grant to aid the restoration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clayborn Temple is more than just a building; it is a hallowed institution of the Civil Rights movement in Memphis. It was the headquarters for the historic sanitation strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the city, and the basement where the iconic "I AM A MAN" signs were created. We also cover the tragic recent arson that destroyed the interior of this landmark, and the resilient community effort now underway to redesign, rebuild, and resurrect the structure from its surviving framework. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just two years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Carl Stokes achieved what many thought impossible: he became the first Black American elected mayor of a major U.S. city. In 1967, against "great odds," Stokes won over Cleveland, Ohio, through a historic coalition of Black support and white participation. . We also trace his path from City Hall to the global stage as a U.S. Ambassador under President Clinton, and look at his lasting legacy in downtown Cleveland today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Barbara Johns was just a high school student in Virginia when she decided enough was enough. Frustrated by the stark inequality between her all-Black school and the facilities white students received, she organized a student strike in 1951 that would change the course of American history. Her action drew the support of the NAACP and became one of the five cases combined into the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. In this episode, we trace her journey from that high school hallway to the U.S. Capitol, where her statue now stands in place of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In America's 250th year, we are marking a convergence of historic anniversaries. This episode explores the century-long evolution of Black History Month, from Carter G. Woodson’s original vision 100 years ago to the official presidential recognitions by Gerald Ford (50 years ago) and Ronald Reagan (40 years ago). Join us as we look at how a single week of "Negro History" evolved into a month-long national remembrance of dignity and the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices