Episode 06: Where Do We Go?

“In civics, my teacher taught that the 4th of July was when we gained our freedom from Great Britain. I waited for her to talk about the rest of the Americans and when we gained our freedom. But that part never came.”

- Jorie

Erica‘s quest to advocate for her niece, Jorie, hits a wall when Jorie’s teacher doesn’t respond to an offer to learn about the history of Juneteenth and visit nearby Eatonville, the first all-Black municipality that Erica‘s family established. To support Jorie’s critical consciousness, Erica guides her in writing a letter expressing her feelings of exclusion in school, and knowledge about her people’s history. But due to the anti- “critical race theory” legislation in Florida and across the country, Jorie‘s mother does not want Jorie to deliver the letter. Through a unique collaboration with a young music artist in Chicago, Jorie‘s letter becomes a song and a shared call to action.

Show Notes

Created by: Bill Healy, Katie Schneider Gumiran, Rosa Gaia, and Erica Young.

Original music, audio engineering and mixing by Sean Brennan

Artwork by Rosa Gaia

Original song by Larii, “Is It Freedom?.”

Theme music adapted from an original song by Javy Polanco, “You Forgot.”