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< Back Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement Brian Jewell Mar 4, 2023 Born in the early 1930s in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Shelley Stewart became a major voice in the fight for civil rights. When Stewart was a teenager, his gift for speaking earned him a spot as a radio talk show host, incredibly, for that time in history, at a white-owned station. Yet his popularity continued to grow, landing him gigs as a disc jockey and an emcee for other stations and at popular event venues in the Birmingham area and further afield. Stewart eventually became co-owner of station WATV-AM, and in the 1960s during the height of the civil rights movement, he used his platform and influence to support numerous activists and equal rights causes. Read More Previous Article Next Article

Homelessness affects a diverse range of individuals. It is not limited to a particular demographic, but can impact people of different ages, genders, races, and backgrounds. In this episode, Dr. Shelley Stewart replays an interview from April 6, 1993, where he meets with a former professional football player who has become homeless Episode #3: Homelessness Homelessness affects a diverse range of individuals. It is not limited to a particular demographic, but can impact people of different ages, genders, races, and backgrounds. Among those who are homeless are individuals experiencing mental health issues, addiction, domestic violence survivors, veterans, youth, families with children, and individuals facing economic challenges such as unemployment or poverty. Homelessness can also disproportionately affect marginalized communities, including people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Understanding the diverse range of people who experience homelessness is essential in developing effective strategies and policies to address the complex and multifaceted issue of homelessness. In this episode, Shelley replays an interview from April 6, 1993, where he meets with a former professional football player who has become homeless. The episode also features a harrowing excerpt from his memoir, The Road South , which depicts traumatic events and abuse from his youth (listener discretion is advised). The podcast concludes with a powerful lesson Shelley learned in a bar while working in St. Louis as the disc jockey, "Shelley the Playboy." Did You Know Dr. Stewart Became Homeless At The Age Of Seven? Click An Icon Below To Listen To Podcast VIDEOS Homelessness All Categories Play Video Play Video 00:05 Homeless students 87% more likely to drop out Play Video Play Video 04:54 Stewart Production Who Is Shelley the Playboy? Play Video Play Video 00:28 Stewart Production Shelley's Plumbline Homelessness Excerpt Excerpt for Shelley's Plumbline Episode #3. Listen to entire episode at https://www.shelleysplumbline.com/podcasts or via Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, or iHeart Radio. Play Video Play Video 05:00 Stewart Production The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation The foundation is a national nonprofit organization created in 2007 in honor of Dr. Stewart’s late mother, Mattie C. Stewart. By putting into action her son Samuel’s idea that we can all make a difference, the foundation is dedicated to reducing the national drop-out rate. In creating tools and resources for educators, community leaders and parents, The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation has developed innovative strategies to more effectively address this issue. Learn more at https://www.mattiecstewart.org. Play Video Play Video 00:05 More than 1.3 million children experience homelessness Play Video Play Video 00:34 Stewart Production Shelley Stewart Homelessness Except from Shelley's memoir, The Road South. As a five-year-old in Home-wood, Alabama, Shelley Stewart watched his father kill his mother with an axe. Two years later, Stewart escaped the care of abusive relatives, making a living as a stable hand To fight student homelessness, this school district helps the whole family Dive Deeper Education Leads Home As national leaders in their fields, SchoolHouse Connection, America’s Promise Alliance, CIVIC, and EducationCounsel have released groundbreaking research and powerful resources relevant to education and child and youth homelessness. These five organizations are partners in the work of the Education Leads Home campaign. Learn More National Center for Homeless Education Videos: Awareness Videos On Homelessness and Homeless Education View Resources

Season 7: SEASON 7: EPISODE 1 A Decade at a Time: Shelley's Life in the 1930s. SEASON 7: EPISODE 2 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley leaves the Stables. SEASON 7: EPISODE 3 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: More About the Smith Family. SEASON 7: EPISODE 4 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Learns About Life from Clyde Smith. SEASON 7: EPISODE 5 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: The Last Words of Mattie C. Stewart. SEASON 7: EPISODE 6 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Learns About Black and White Cultures in the 1940s SEASON 7: EPISODE 7 Shelley's Life 1947: The Year Everything Changed for Shelley SEASON 7: EPISODE 8 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Back with Aunt Mamie. SEASON 7: EPISODE 9 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Learns His Name is Shelley. SEASON 7: EPISODE 10 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Heads to High School. SEASON 7: EPISODE 11 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: A Reunion with Bubba and Some Trouble With A Gun. SEASON 7: EPISODE 12 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Escape from Mississippi. SEASON 7: EPISODE 13 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: The Birth of Shelley "The Playboy." SEASON 7: EPISODE 14 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: The Playboy In His Prime. SEASON 7: EPISODE 15 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: "The Playboy" Fights for Human Rights. SEASON 7: EPISODE 16 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Builds A Business. SEASON 7: EPISODE 17 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Gets Arrested in Jackson, Mississippi. SEASON 7: EPISODE 18 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Shelley Stirs the Pot in the 60s. SEASON 7: EPISODE 19 Shelley's Life A Decade at a Time: Bubba's Sacrifice, Georgia Price and Voting Rights. SEASON 7: EPISODE 20 Charles Gray and the Re-Education of Our Children. Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Learn More Book For Speaking Engagements

Drop Us A Line We love hearing your comments on each episode. Complete the contact form below to share your comments or ask questions. We'll do our best to answer all questions within 48 hours. If you have questions regarding sponsorships, speaking engagements, radio appearances, or business collaboration requests, email us at corlette@shelleysplumbline.com .

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Black History Month has been celebrated for decades as a time to honor and recognize the contributions and achievements of Black individuals throughout history. However, some argue that relegating Black history to a single month perpetuates segregation and fails to fully integrate it into the mainstream curriculum. This episode features an interview by Dr. Shelley Stewart with Dr. Horace Huntley in February 1991 Episode #2: Should We End Black History Month? Black History Month has been celebrated for decades as a time to honor and recognize the contributions and achievements of Black individuals throughout history. However, some argue that relegating Black history to a single month perpetuates segregation and fails to fully integrate it into the mainstream curriculum. Ending Black History Month could be beneficial, as it would emphasize that Black history is an integral part of American history that should be incorporated into educational curricula throughout the year. By integrating Black history into the broader narrative, we can foster a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of our shared past, promoting equality and unity. The podcast features an interview with Dr. Horace Huntley in February 1991 and suggests that by ending Black History Month, we might celebrate Black culture and history throughout the year. Click An Icon Below To Listen To Podcast Dive Deeper PBS INDEPENDENT LENS: End Black History Month? Filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman sets off on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. His insightful and humorous journey explores the complexity and contradictions of relegating an entire group's history to one month in a so-called "post-racial" America. Watch Video NPR Why Does Black History Month Matter? About 10 years ago, Shukree Hassan Tilghman tried to cancel Black History Month. Outfitted in a sandwich board with the words "End Black History Month" written across the front, he walked the streets of New York City looking for people to sign his petition to do away with it. To figure out what Tilghman was up to, it helps to know the other side of his placard read "Black history is American history." It also helps to know he was filming all this for a documentary he made, "More Than A Month ." That movie explored an ongoing question about Black History Month; rather than lifting up African American accomplishment, does it instead maintain a segregated history of America? Listen Now Romper Parenting When Black History Month Is Over, The Work Continues. Celebrating Blackness Year-Round Is A Practice That Leads To AA More Equitable Society For All. (Sponsored By Raising Anti-Racists Kids) The end of February marks the end of Black History Month . In our home, we educate our kids about Black history all year round, but this month presented an opportunity for an extra celebration of Blackness —Black joy, Black history, Black future. It’s a time when we as a society are joined by social media and corporate America as we lean into acknowledging Black figures in history. This month holds so much meaning for so many. At the end of Black History Month, though, many people move on and shift their focus to the next month’s topic. But part of committing to anti-racism includes recognizing that historical marginalization of Black people could be just that — history Read More Smithsonian Knowing The Past Opens The Door To The Future: The Continuing Importance of Black History Month No one has played a greater role in helping all Americans know the black past than Carter G. Woodson, the individual who created Negro History Week in Washington, D.C., in February 1926. Woodson was the second black American to receive a PhD in history from Harvard—following W.E.B. Du Bois by a few years. To Woodson, the black experience was too important simply to be left to a small group of academics. Woodson believed that his role was to use black history and culture as a weapon in the struggle for racial uplift. By 1916, Woodson had moved to DC and established the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and Culture,” an organization whose goal was to make black history accessible to a wider audience. Listen Now Additional Resources Beamon, T. (1997, Feb 20). A Black History Month Obligation or Celebration?; African Americans Question Whether Observance Has Become Just Another Uninspired Routine: FINAL Edition. The Washington Post https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/black-history-month-obligation-celebration/docview/408291417/se-2 Franklin, J. H., Horne, G., Cruse, H. W., Ballard, A. R., & Mitchell, R. L., Jr. (1998). Black History Month: Serious Truth Telling or a Triumph in Tokenism? Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 18, 87–92. King, L. J., & Brown, K. (2014). Once a Year to be Black: Fighting against Typical Black History Month Pedagogies. Negro Educational Review, 65(1-4), 23-43. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/once-year-be-black-fighting-against-typical/docview/1650640989/se-2 News and Views: New Web Site Would Transform Black History Month Into a Year-Round Effort. (Undetermined). (2000). Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (Theodore Cross Family Charitable Foundation), 27, 52. Pitre, A., & Ray, R. (2002). The controversy around Black History. Western Journal of Black Studies, 26(3), 149-154. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/controversy-around-black-history/docview/200389889/se-2 VAN DE MIEROOP, K. (2016). On the Advantage and Disadvantage of Black History Month for Life: The Creation of the Post-Racial Era. History & Theory, 55(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/hith.10784

< Back Broadcast Legend Shelley Stewart Launches Podcast, Becoming The Oldest Podcaster In The U.S. Corlette Stewart Apr 20, 2023 At 88 years young, media executive and broadcast legend Dr. Shelley Stewart announces the launch of the podcast, "Shelley's Plumbline ." The show blends fresh commentary from Dr. Stewart with clips from his archive of more than 3,000 shows spanning his 53-year career in radio broadcasting. Stewart hopes the podcast will open channels of communication and understanding while searching for truth on tough social topics. Stewart’s storied career includes spending more than fifty years behind the microphone and over 70 years as a champion of human rights. His career includes time as a radio personality, where he helped the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders disseminate key planning information about demonstrations. As a TV talk show host, he openly discusses tough topics with the Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. He eventually became the owner of the radio station WATV and the advertising agency o2ideas. Stewart also authored two books, The Road South: A Memoir and Mattie C.'s Boy: The Shelley Stewart Story , which retells his life story in vivid detail, following his beginning as a homeless child at seven years of age to his rise to business success. Shelley hopes the podcast will have a tangible impact on communities, the nation, and the world, as it plumbs for the truths in the midst of society’s most challenging problems. "You see, there is this side, that side, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle," said Stewart. After listening to several shows from the archive, Stewart and his production team couldn’t help but notice the irony that 30 to 40 years after their original broadcast date, society still faces similar challenges today. While controversial issues, such as human rights, gender equality, AIDS, youth, and homelessness, remain top world problems, Shelley's Plumbline will acknowledge the similarities and differences between the past and present and lead the audience to thoughtful introspection while providing resources for those interested in pursuing more knowledge and solutions to these challenging issues. But that's not all. "We have interviews with legends, such as Eddie Kendricks, Fred Shuttlesworth, Hosea Williams, and Steve Harvey,” said Dr. Stewart. “Some episodes will share oldies, but goldies hits, and some will even explore comedy," he said. “We want to connect with people and keep our listeners engaged whether we are discussing tough topics or the golden age of Motown." Shelley's Plumbline premieres April 20 on Spotify, Amazon Music and iHeart Radio and will release episodes weekly on Wednesdays. Read More Previous Article Next Article

Today we’ll begin an exploration of Shelley’s fascinating life in the music world. ​We’ll hear a clip of his interview with Eddie Kendricks, a lead singer with The Temptations. The interview traces the evolution of The Temptations, and discusses the surprising strategies of Barry Gordy and Motown Records and how they would manage the careers of groups, giving hit songs to certain groups to increase their popularity and accelerate their careers. Season Two: Episode 01: Shelley's Life In Music Interview with Eddie Kendricks Today we’ll begin an exploration of Shelley’s fascinating life in the music world. Over the course of his career, Shelley worked with many major names in music, such as Jackie Wilso n, Aretha Franklin , Wilson Pickett , and The Temptations . And he became fast friends with musical giants such as Bobby "Blue" Bland , Otis Redding , and Isaac Hayes . Today we’ll hear a clip of his interview with Eddie Kendricks , a lead singer with The Temptations. The interview traces the evolution of The Temptations, and discusses the surprising strategies of Barry Gordy and Motown Records and how they would manage the careers of groups, giving hit songs to certain groups to increase their popularity and accelerate their careers. Eddie also talks about his youth on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, and how his life very nearly went in another, darker direction. Listen to the episode: The Last Interview with Eddie Kendricks Follow us and continue the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn . Shelley Stewart Eddie Kendricks Photo Provided By Shelley Stewart Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Podcast

Season 10: SEASON 10: EPISODE 1 Education is Our Greatest Asset. SEASON 10: EPISODE 2 There's a Leak in the Roof. SEASON 10: EPISODE 3 Still Singing the Blues. SEASON 10: EPISODE 4 Discussing Fatherhood with Marlon Keller. SEASON 10: EPISODE 5 The Unknown Community of Calcis, Alabama. SEASON 10: EPISODE 6 Young, Gifted and Black. A Chat with Artist Erica Chisholm. SEASON 10: EPISODE 7 Sharing Generational Knowledge with Elijah Davis. Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Learn More Book For Speaking Engagements