Search Results

Season 3: SEASON 3: EPISODE 1 Rare Speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. SEASON 3: EPISODE 2 Yvonne Turner: On of Human Rights True Shero SEASON 3: EPISODE 3 Shelley's 89th Birthday SEASON 3: EPISODE 4 Uncovering the Movement: An Interview with N. H. Fireball Smith SEASON 3: EPISODE 5 Dr. Vincent Harding Discusses The True Meaning of the Struggle SEASON 3: EPISODE 6 James Armstrong and His Story of the Integration of Graymont School SEASON 3: EPISODE 7 An Interview with Tommy Wrenn, Foot Soldier in the Movement SEASON 3: EPISODE 8 Yvonne Willie Author of the Boy Who Didn't Want to Be Black SEASON 3: EPISODE 9 Mayor Ford Talks About Redistricting in the 90s SEASON 3: EPISODE 10 An Open Forum Discussion on William Raspberry, Racism and Economic Power Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Learn More Book For Speaking Engagements

Plumbline News Room 01 The 2025 Radio Hall of Fame Inductees By the Radio Hall of Fame June 2025 02 New York Times By April 2023 03 At Age 88, Birmingham Radio Legend Shelley Stewart: ‘I Ain’t Tired Yet Birmingham Times By Jamaica Harris Bowser February 1, 2023 04 City of Birmingham hosts annual AWAKEN celebration honoring Dr. Shelley Stewart WVTM13 By Mattie Davis October 2022 05 Winnowed by the Hardships of His Youth, This Top Ad Executive is Now an Advocate for Keeping Kids in School American Essence By Karim Shamsi-Basha July 2022 06 Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement The Group Travel Leader By Brian Jewell March 4, 2022 07 A Black Radio Pioneer: One-On-One with Shelley ‘The Playboy’ Stewart CBS 42 By Art Franklin February 28, 2022 08 How Shelley Stewart Subverted the System to Become an Advertising Success Ad Week By Doug Zanger February 22, 2021 09 Groundbreaking partnership quietly defied the days of segregation Southern Jewish Life By Richard Friedman January 9, 2022

Today we continue exploring the Evolution of Black Media and the role Black radio stations played during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. We explore how the Black population began to look to popular disc jockeys such as Jack Gibson, Gertrude Cooper, Georgie Woods, Martha Jean “the Queen,” and the Plumbline’s very own Shelley “The Playboy” Stewart to hear coded messages regarding protests and demonstrations. Images Sources: CBS 1942, Jim Crow Museum, Radio Hall of Fame, and Shelley Stewart Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around (Live) [feat. The Eubie Blake School Choir] The Eubie Blake School Choir 00:00 / 01:57 Season Two: Episode 04 The Evolution of Black Media, Part 2 Today we continue exploring the Evolution of Black Media and the role Black radio stations played during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. We explore how the Black population began to look to popular disc jockeys such as Jack Gibson , Gertrude Cooper, Georgie Woods , Martha Jean “the Queen ,” and the Plumbline’s very own Shelley “The Playboy” Stewart to hear coded messages regarding protests and demonstrations. Black Radio stations gave a voice to Dr. King and other prominent members of the Movement and became the medium of choice for disseminating urgent messages and direction. Shelley Stewart, WAOK Books Black-oriented radio emerged after World War II. Full time programming from sun-up to sun-down; blues, spirituals, rhythm and blues replaced jazz as the primary form of music. These improvising "street rapping" Disc Jockeys dominated the airwaves. Welcome to Black Radio...Winner Takes All! View More After World War II, when thousands of African Americans left farms, plantations, and a southern way of life to migrate north, African American disc jockeys helped them make the transition to the urban life by playing familiar music and giving them hints on how to function in northern cities. These disc jockeys became cultural heroes and had a major role in the development of American broadcasting. This collection of interviews documents the personalities of the pioneers of Black radio, as well as their personal struggles and successes. The interviewees also define their roles in the civil rights movement and relate how their efforts have had an impact on how African Americans are portrayed over the air. View More One of the most innovative and ambitious books to appear on the civil rights and black power movements in America, Just My Soul Responding also offers a major challenge to conventional histories of contemporary black and popular music. Brian Ward explores in detail the previously neglected relationship between Rhythm and Blues, black consciousness, and race relations within the context of the ongoing struggle for black freedom and equality in the United States. Instead of simply seeing the world of black music as a reflection of a mass struggle raging elsewhere, Ward argues that Rhythm and Blues, and the recording and broadcasting industries with which it was linked, formed a crucial public arena for battles over civil rights, racial identities, and black economic empowerment. View More 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. A stint in the army led to electroshock treatments for trying to integrate whites-only dances. But despite numerous setbacks, he never gave up his will to succeed. Eventually, odd jobs at radio stations laid the foundation for a 50-year career in broadcasting. View More Photos of The Plumbline's Host, Dr. Shelley Stewart Scroll/Click Arrow To View Photos Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Podcast Dive Deeper The University of Arizona The Evolution of Black Representation on Television February 21, 2022 Television has served as "a primary source of America's racial education," says UArizona scholar Stephanie Troutman Robbins. Q: What are the main ways that TV's depiction of Black people has changed over time? A: Early television really reflected a very narrow representation of non-white characters. And a lot of the earlier characters were caricatures and racist depictions in many ways. And then as time goes on, we start to see more Black folks and we start to see them move from peripheral or secondary characters into primary focus. But for a while in television, you had extremes. You had the Black criminal stereotype and all the negative tropes associated with Blackness on the one hand, and then you had good, assimilating, respectable Black characters on the other. In the '80s, "The Cosby Show" depicted a Black affluent family who were different from the way that Blacks were mostly portrayed in mainstream TV at the time. Read More Read More National Museum of African America History & Culture Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype Historian Dale Cockrell once noted that poor and working-class whites who felt “squeezed politically, economically, and socially from the top, but also from the bottom, invented minstrelsy” as a way of expressing the oppression that marked being members of the majority, but outside of the white norm. Minstrelsy, comedic performances of “blackness” by whites in exaggerated costumes and make-up, cannot be separated fully from the racial derision and stereotyping at its core. By distorting the features and culture of African Americans—including their looks, language, dance, deportment, and character—white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis. Make sure you check out their collection at https://shorturl.at/btTV3 Doug Battema Pictures of a Bygone Era: The Syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy, 1954-66 Abstract This article seeks to raise questions about historiographical practice, challenge the reliance on apparently stable discourses of nation and race within contemporary historiography, and expand understanding of the potential and multiple sites of influence in which television operated during its early years as a popular medium. Drawing on principles articulated by Foucault and de Certeau about the production and generation of knowledge, the article critiques previous historical examinations of Amos ‘n’ Andy for overlooking salient features of the television program's cultural and industrial context, as well as its syndication run from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Using information about the syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy gleaned principally from entertainment and advertising trade journals, the article points out how a more thorough understanding of the local, regional, and international context and of industrial practices may prove essential for recognizing possibilities about the patterns and circulation of cultural beliefs and historiographical norms. Battema, D. (2006). Pictures of a Bygone Era: The Syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy, 1954-66. Television & New Media, 7(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476403253999 . Read More Lanier Frush Holt Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Abstract Several studies show media messages activate or exacerbate racial stereotypes. This analysis, however, may be the first to examine which types of information—those that directly contradict media messages (i.e., crime-related) or general news (i.e., non-crime-related)—are most effective in abating stereotypes. Its findings suggest fear of crime is becoming more a human fear, not just a racial one. Furthermore, it suggests tbat for younger Americans, the concomitant dyad of the black criminal stereotype—race and crime—is fueled more by crime than by race. Holt, L. F. (2013). Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(1), 108. Read More Lanier Frush Holt Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Abstract Several studies show media messages activate or exacerbate racial stereotypes. This analysis, however, may be the first to examine which types of information—those that directly contradict media messages (i.e., crime-related) or general news (i.e., non-crime-related)—are most effective in abating stereotypes. Its findings suggest fear of crime is becoming more a human fear, not just a racial one. Furthermore, it suggests tbat for younger Americans, the concomitant dyad of the black criminal stereotype—race and crime—is fueled more by crime than by race. Holt, L. F. (2013). Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(1), 108. Read More Upload

In this episode, Shelley tells us about the early days of Black Media and how much of the entertainment for black audiences was produced by whites. Amos N Andy, for example, a well-known radio sitcom, was produced and performed by two white actors. Shelley recalls how the first black man in radio, Jack Cooper, blazed a trail in 1929, and by the time Shelley created his Playboy persona, he wasn’t interested in entertaining just blacks; he used the power of music to bring people together. Images Sources: CBS 1942, Jim Crow Museum, Radio Hall of Fame, and Shelley Stewart Season Two: Episode 03: The Evolution of Black Media, Part 1 This week we kick off the first of a two-part series on the Evolution of Black Media. In this episode, Shelley tells us about the early days of Black Media and how much of the entertainment for black audiences was produced by whites. Amos 'n' Andy , for example, a well-known radio sitcom, was produced and performed by two white actors. Shelley recalls how the first black man in radio, Jack Cooper , blazed a trail in 1929, and by the time Shelley created his Playboy persona, he wasn’t interested in entertaining just blacks; he used the power of music to bring people together. To listen to Part One of The Evolution of Black Media, CLICK HERE Follow us and continue the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn . Excerpt and Blackface examples are from The Jim Crow Museum https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2016/march.htm "During the heyday of radio, many advertisers sponsored entire shows. Advertisers sponsored dozens of shows that featured minstrel type performances. For example, Rinsol, Lever Brothers, Pepsodent, and Campbell’s Soup sponsored the Amos ‘n’ Andy show from the 1930s to the 1950s. The Pick and Pat show was sponsored by Dills Best and Model Smoking tobacco. Postum sponsored the Beulah show, which initially was voiced by a white male actor Marlin Hurt. Molasses and January were featured performers on the Dr. Pepper Parade show. The Jack Benny show, which was sponsored by Jell-O, sometimes featured Eddie Anderson, playing African-American valet Rochester, with blackface performers in skits." The Beulah show was sponsored by numerous sponsors, but this video highlights the advertisements of TUMS and General Foods on the Beulah show. The original Beulah was created and performed by a white actor, Marlin Hurt. Amanda Randolph was the last radio version of Beulah. TUMS and General Foods on the Beulah show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk76BTu1y34 Rinsol, Lever Brothers, Pepsodent, Rexall,and Campbell’s Soup sponsored the Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show. Sponsors the Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVCI2W0Zr1s Amos 'n' Andy was born on radio in 1928. But its stereotypes and caricatures have roots deep in American culture and branches that are still evident today. The negative images in Amos 'n' Andy not only have historical precedents, but that they continued to inform televised representations of black Americans long after the show was no longer available. Read More Only known audio of the Gold Dust Twins show. Excerpt came from a reunion segment on the "Behind the Mike" show from 1940. Goldy and Dusty were two white actors, Harvey Hindemeyer and Earle Tuckerman, who performed skits in blackface and spoke with a broken dialect. The show was sponsored by Fairbanks Gold Dust Washing Powder. Fairbanks Gold Dust Washing Powder ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KrlY-P3DIY Pick and Pat and Molasses n January were blackface characters performed by Pick Malone and Pat Padgett. The duo were featured on shows sponsored by Dills Best Smoking Tobacco and Model Smoking Tobacco, Dr. Pepper, and Maxwell House coffee. Pick and Pat and Molasses n January were blackface characters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuLX1xUakaI The Jack Benny Show was sponsored by Jell-O in 1936. Many segments featured blackface performers. Jack Benny Show blackface performers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7v58XJR60Y Captain Henry’s Showboat featuring Molasses and January at the 4:16 mark. This film is a “picturization” of the Maxwell House Showboat radio show. Maxwell House Showboat radio show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiYYKDoZdxA Read More Read More Aunt Jemima Variety show video produced by the Jim Crow Museum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipamH6EEwI Photos of Plumbline's Host, Dr. Shelley Stewart 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. A stint in the army led to electroshock treatments for trying to integrate whites-only dances. But despite numerous setbacks, he never gave up his will to succeed. Eventually, odd jobs at radio stations laid the foundation for a 50-year career in broadcasting. As an African-American radio personality, Stewart reached out to Jim Crow Alabama, using music to integrate his audience. Along the way, he helped launch the careers of such legends as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Gladys Knight. Instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement, he publicized the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A remarkable witness to and participant in the momentous social changes of the last three decades, Stewart, now a successful businessman and community leader, shares his courageous personal story that shows the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Purchase Now Also, Available On Audible Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Podcast Dive Deeper The University of Arizona The Evolution of Black Representation on Television February 21, 2022 Television has served as "a primary source of America's racial education," says UArizona scholar Stephanie Troutman Robbins. Q: What are the main ways that TV's depiction of Black people has changed over time? A: Early television really reflected a very narrow representation of non-white characters. And a lot of the earlier characters were caricatures and racist depictions in many ways. And then as time goes on, we start to see more Black folks and we start to see them move from peripheral or secondary characters into primary focus. But for a while in television, you had extremes. You had the Black criminal stereotype and all the negative tropes associated with Blackness on the one hand, and then you had good, assimilating, respectable Black characters on the other. In the '80s, "The Cosby Show" depicted a Black affluent family who were different from the way that Blacks were mostly portrayed in mainstream TV at the time. Read More Read More National Museum of African America History & Culture Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype Historian Dale Cockrell once noted that poor and working-class whites who felt “squeezed politically, economically, and socially from the top, but also from the bottom, invented minstrelsy” as a way of expressing the oppression that marked being members of the majority, but outside of the white norm. Minstrelsy, comedic performances of “blackness” by whites in exaggerated costumes and make-up, cannot be separated fully from the racial derision and stereotyping at its core. By distorting the features and culture of African Americans—including their looks, language, dance, deportment, and character—white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis. Make sure you check out their collection at https://shorturl.at/btTV3 Doug Battema Pictures of a Bygone Era: The Syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy, 1954-66 Abstract This article seeks to raise questions about historiographical practice, challenge the reliance on apparently stable discourses of nation and race within contemporary historiography, and expand understanding of the potential and multiple sites of influence in which television operated during its early years as a popular medium. Drawing on principles articulated by Foucault and de Certeau about the production and generation of knowledge, the article critiques previous historical examinations of Amos ‘n’ Andy for overlooking salient features of the television program's cultural and industrial context, as well as its syndication run from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Using information about the syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy gleaned principally from entertainment and advertising trade journals, the article points out how a more thorough understanding of the local, regional, and international context and of industrial practices may prove essential for recognizing possibilities about the patterns and circulation of cultural beliefs and historiographical norms. Battema, D. (2006). Pictures of a Bygone Era: The Syndication of Amos ‘n’ Andy, 1954-66. Television & New Media, 7(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476403253999 . Read More Lanier Frush Holt Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Abstract Several studies show media messages activate or exacerbate racial stereotypes. This analysis, however, may be the first to examine which types of information—those that directly contradict media messages (i.e., crime-related) or general news (i.e., non-crime-related)—are most effective in abating stereotypes. Its findings suggest fear of crime is becoming more a human fear, not just a racial one. Furthermore, it suggests tbat for younger Americans, the concomitant dyad of the black criminal stereotype—race and crime—is fueled more by crime than by race. Holt, L. F. (2013). Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(1), 108. Read More Lanier Frush Holt Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Abstract Several studies show media messages activate or exacerbate racial stereotypes. This analysis, however, may be the first to examine which types of information—those that directly contradict media messages (i.e., crime-related) or general news (i.e., non-crime-related)—are most effective in abating stereotypes. Its findings suggest fear of crime is becoming more a human fear, not just a racial one. Furthermore, it suggests tbat for younger Americans, the concomitant dyad of the black criminal stereotype—race and crime—is fueled more by crime than by race. Holt, L. F. (2013). Writing the wrong: can counter-stereotypes offset negative media messages about African Americans? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(1), 108. Read More References Dunning, J. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998 Internet Archive, archive.org , Last accessed March 2016 Old Time Radio Catalog, OTRCAT.com , Last accessed March 2016 Old Radio World, Oldradioworld.com , Last accessed March 2016 Old Time Radio Downloads, Oldtimeradiodownloads.com , Last accessed March 2016 Radio Echoes, Radioechoes.com , Last accessed March 2016 Upload

Plumbline News Room 01 New York Times By April 2023 02 At Age 88, Birmingham Radio Legend Shelley Stewart: ‘I Ain’t Tired Yet Birmingham Times By Jamaica Harris Bowser February 1, 2023 03 City of Birmingham hosts annual AWAKEN celebration honoring Dr. Shelley Stewart WVTM13 By Mattie Davis October 2022 04 Winnowed by the Hardships of His Youth, This Top Ad Executive is Now an Advocate for Keeping Kids in School American Essence By Karim Shamsi-Basha July 2022 05 Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement The Group Travel Leader By Brian Jewell March 4, 2022 06 A Black Radio Pioneer: One-On-One with Shelley ‘The Playboy’ Stewart CBS 42 By Art Franklin February 28, 2022 07 How Shelley Stewart Subverted the System to Become an Advertising Success Ad Week By Doug Zanger February 22, 2021 08 Groundbreaking partnership quietly defied the days of segregation Southern Jewish Life By Richard Friedman January 9, 2022

Welcome to Season Three We've got new content for you every Wednesday. Make sure you subscribe! Follow us and continue the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn . SEASON 3: EPISODE 3 Shelley's 89th Birthday Celebration! Happy 89th Birthday to Shelley Stewart! Today, we celebrate Shelley's 89th birthday with a recording of a speech Shelley made when he was 63 years old at Friendship Baptist Church . This Church plays a special role in Shelley's life. As a boy of five, he saw his mother murdered just a few blocks away. In spite of growing up without his parents, he would celebrate his graduation in this same Church. Without a doubt, the Friendship Baptist Church has held a special place in Shelley's heart. In today's podcast, he shares a message that he's shared all his life. A message that tells hard truths but also triumphs love, mutual respect, and human rights for ALL people and that faith is the power that enables the unlikely to accomplish the impossible. Today's episode is a heartfelt message from Shelley, one of faith. What we know is if you lose faith, you lose all. Follow us and continue the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn . Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Recently Aired SEASON 3: EPISODE 2 Yvonne Turner: A True Human Rights Shero This week, Shelley continues to explore some of the lesser-known yet powerful foot soldiers in the Movement. One such person is Yvonne Turner. Who is Yvonne Turner? Well, well before the Human Rights Movement of the 60s, the true Movement began in the mid-1950s, and people like Yvonne Turner, Georgia Price, and others were instrumental in organizing voter education drives and meetings. Visit shelleysplumbline.com to see one of the voter education documents Yvonne created and shared so Blacks could be prepared to answer questions in order to vote. She was often referred to as the most loved and hated woman in Birmingham because she helped the Movement so much but also spoke to a truth that many would rather not hear. View Season 3 Episode 2 Details & Resources SEASON 3: EPISODE 1 Rare Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To kick off Season 3 of Shelley's Plumbline, we went through his archives, and Shelley rediscovered some rare recordings of #MLK that he had forgotten about. These are speeches MLK made in Birmingham! Why are they rare? Because for his protection and to keep Bull Conner guessing, Dr. King would often show up to churches unannounced to make speeches. Shelley Stewart was in attendance recording the choir when Dr. King showed up. They left the recorder running when he made these speeches. You can hear them both in this week's podcast. Very timely given that September 15 is the anniversary of bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. In Season 3, Shelley sets the record straight on the "Movement" and how only the media and politicians called it the "Civil Rights Movement." It was, and is, a Movement for the freedom of all people. Please listen, and if you are so moved, share it with others. View Season 3 Episode 1 Details & Resources SEASON TWO: EPISODE 10 The Plantation Ghost Today Shelley shares an interview from 1995 with Ezekwa Abdullah. Ezekwa argues that Blacks still repress themselves and suffer a form of psychological slavery in the collective subconscious psyche because attitudes of repression have been preserved and passed from one generation to the next. The ghost of the plantation exists today because not enough has been done to condemn this point of view. SEASON TWO: EPISODE 9 Free By Choice Inmates Share Their Stories Today, Shelley replays an interview from the Free By Choice program, which brought inmates from Alabama prisons on the air to speak openly about their crimes and the decisions which led to them. These Free By Choice inmates had a strong desire to share their stories so their suffering could serve to help others avoid making the same mistakes. Shelley Stewart LISTEN Season One Episode 1: Internalized Racism Season One Episode 2: Did Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream Become A Nightmare? Season One Episode 3: Homelessness Season One Episode 4: Hate Crimes Season One Episode 5: Is There A Need For HBCUs? Season One Episode 6: Should We End Black History Month? Season One Episode 7: Y outh Gangs & Drug Dealers Season One Episode 8: Part 2 Of Youth Gangs & Drug Dealers Season One Episode 9: Part 3 Of Youth Gangs & Drug Dealers Season One Episode 10: Interview With Jim Porter, Former NRA President Listen Upload EMAIL: CORLETTE@SHELLEYSPLUMBLINE.COM PR & PODCAST ENQUIRIES BUSINESS & SPEAKING ENQUIRIES PRESS EVENTS

Season 4: SEASON 4: EPISODE 1 Shelley's Life in Music: Stories About Riley "B.B. King SEASON 4: EPISODE 2 Shelley's Life in Music: A Conversation About Sam Cooke SEASON 4: EPISODE 3 Shelley's Life in Music: Unknown Stories About Ray Charles. SEASON 4: EPISODE 4 Shelley's Life in Music: A Slice of Soul Heaven with Johnnie Taylor. SEASON 4: EPISODE 5 Shelley's Life in Music: Lou Rawls, Did You Pray Today? SEASON 4: EPISODE 6 Shelley's Reflections on Rosa Parks and the Rosa Parks Award. SEASON 4: EPISODE 7 Shelley's Life in Music: Bobby "Blue" Bland. SEASON 4: SPECIAL EDITION Hosea Williams: Did the Dream of Dr. King Become a Nightmare? [Rebroadcast] SEASON 4: EPISODE 8 Shelley's Life in Music: "The Big O," Otis Redding SEASON 4: EPISODE 9 Shelley's Life in Music: Stories About....Guess Who? SEASON 4: EPISODE 10 Shelley's Life in Music: Stories About the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Learn More Book For Speaking Engagements

Season 6: SEASON 6: EPISODE 1 The Back Porch: Instinct and the Inner Voice SEASON 6: EPISODE 2 Excerpts from the Inside Out Documentary SEASON 6: EPISODE 3 The Genocide of Black Culture. SEASON 6: EPISODE 4 An Interview with Fred Shuttlesworth. SEASON 6: EPISODE 5 Internalized Racism [Rebroadcast] SEASON 6: EPISODE 6 Freeborn Slave: Diary of a Black Man in the South. SEASON 6: EPISODE 7 Black Republicans. SEASON 6: EPISODE 8 Back Porch: Race, Racism and Happiness. SEASON 6: EPISODE 9 A meeting with a Grand Knight of the KKK, A Minister of the Nation of Islam and the Executive Director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. SEASON 6: EPISODE 10 A. H. Parker High School 100th Anniversary Dedication Speech. Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Learn More Book For Speaking Engagements

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

Season 3: Episode 2 Yvonne Turner: A True Human Rights Shero Image: https://www.wvtm13.com/article/civil-rights-foot-soldier-yvonne-turner-dies/3833126 Click An Icon Below To Listen To Shelley's Plumbline Podcast Follow us and continue the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn . A Chapter in U.S. History That's Untold Names To Know From The Movement Of The 1950s And 1960s James Armstrongs Rev. Charles Billups REV. Ed Gardner Rev. C. H. George Colonel Johnson Gloria Lassiter Lilly Nesbitt Tall Paul Georgia Price Rev. George Pruitt, Sr. Rose Sanders Shelley Stewart Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Rev. Herman Stone Yvonne Turner "The Movement started before the 1960s and has always been a fight for human rights for all. We did say that we would commit civil disobedience as we fight for human rights. It became "the civil rights movement" once politicians got involved. We are still fighting for human rights today." - Dr. Shelley Stewart Click to Listen to Hosea Williams During Shelley's Plumbline Season 1 Episode 2 Read Now Upload

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 .

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