Urban Roots

EXCITING NEWS…Season 3 is coming soon! If you’re not subscribed to our podcast or our newsletter, please do so now! You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. That way, you’ll know immediately when a new episode drops. 

Today we have a high-energy conversation with Justin Garrett Moore, program director for the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program and a renaissance man of urbanism. We talk with Moore about his childhood in Indianapolis, IN, his formative professional moments (at a high school internship and at the University of Florida), and the particular challenges he sees facing preservation today (including its fragmentation, over-emphasis on credentials, and the under-valuing of narrative). Plus, we dive deep into the Humanities in Place program, which funds nonprofits doing cultural preservation, urban development, placekeeping, and storytelling.

We talked to Justin about:

• His youth and the internship that changed his life [4:23-11:23]

• Going South and getting an education — in more ways than one [11:24-17:10]

• The challenges facing preservation and the power of narrative [17:11-43:48]

• Spotlighting organizations funded by Humanities in Place [43:49-51:21]

• Humanities in Place: What it does and doesn’t do [51:22-1:15:08]

• What’s close to his heart: Flanner House and Urban Patch [1:15:09-1:20:13]

Mentioned In this Episode: 

• Scalawag Magazine - A magazine focused on the South 

• Ekvn-Yefolecv - an intentional ecovillage community of Indigenous Maskoke persons who bought land in Alabama to build a place where they could preserve their culture through language. 

• New York LGBT Sites - broadening people’s knowledge of LGBT history beyond Stonewall and placing that history in its geographical context

• The American Indian Community House - a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization serving the needs of Native Americans residing in New York City.

• Flanner House - An African-American community service center in Indianapolis

• Urban Patch - An Indianapolis-based organization focused on inner cities. 

Credits: 

Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Deqah and Vanessa and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Thanks again to Justin Garrett Moore and Zuri Phelps. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Housekeeping first! Please give to our GoFundMe Campaign – we need your help to earn $5,000 by December 31: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

We’re also up for an Anthem Community Voice Award! Vote for us (Sign in and click “Celebrate”) by December 21! 

Now our amazing guest: Zahra Ebrahim, the co-founder of Monumental, a social purpose business working to advance equitable city-building and urban development. Earlier this year she also helped start FutureBuilds, a BIPOC Real Estate Development Incubator. She’s currently an Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, a Next City Vanguard Civic Leader, and one of the Urban Land Institute’s WLI Champions. 

Mentioned In this Episode: 

• A refresher on who we are [0:00-2:16]

• Please donate to our GoFundMe! [2:17-5:51]

• Please vote for us for the Anthem Awards! [5:52-7:10]

• Introducing Zahra Ebrahim [7:11-8:26]

• Zahra’s background and journey into this work [8:27-25:17]

• Community engagement and moving at the speed of trust [25:18-31:34]

• Deep and human, not broad and cold [31:35-44:35]

• Do your homework and listen [44:36-53:39]

• What do we preserve and why? [53:40-1:03:20]

• Why diversifying real estate matters [1:03:21-1:10:29]

• Credits [1:10:30-1:11:50]

Credits: 

Thank you to Zahra Ebrahim and Elaine Gant. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Or drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Today, pod squad, you’re in for a treat: Rukaiyah Adams is one of our favorite, most inspiring people on the planet. Rukaiyah had a long, successful career in investment banking before she moved back home to Portland, Oregon and joined the board of the Albina Vision Trust, an organization dedicated to restoring the historic Black neighborhood of Albina, where Rukaiyah grew up. Today, she’s the Chief Executive Officer of the 1803 Fund, and she’s raising hundreds of millions of dollars that she will invest not only in Albina but in community-based organizations in education, place, and culture and belonging across Portland, Oregon. 

Credits: 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture.

Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Thank you to Rukaiyah Adams. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Jenell Walton and all the folks at Cincinnati Public Radio for the opportunity.

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Union Baptist Historian Chris Hanlin. 

Sources 

Union Baptist Cemetery website

Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Lesson Plan – Union Baptist Cemetery and Cincinnati’s African American History (Grades 6-12)

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Urbanist Media board member and Queens of Queens City’s Sean Andres for making this episode possible!

Sources 

Wendell P. Dabney, Cincinnati’s Colored Citizens. Dabney Publishing Company, 1926. 

Sean Andres, Queens of Queen City, “Sarah Maryant Walker Fossett”, 2022.

Credits: Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Queer Cincinnati's Jake Hogue for his help making this episode possible!

Sources: Cincinnati’s West End by John W. Harshaw. Page 118. / “Josephine Baker, 3 Cats, Tons of Luggage Arrive.” Cincinnati Post. June 15, 1951.

This year, Urbanist Media's Urban Roots podcast partnered with Cincinnati Public Radio (WVXU)⁠ to celebrate Juneteenth!

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts are weekly, 90 second tributes to people and places important in our region’s African American history. This first one is all about the historic Regal Theatre, located in the West End.

Find each episode here, or, tune in to 91.7 WVXU on Thursdays at 5:49 and 7:50 a.m. during Morning Edition and again at 4:50 p.m. during All Things Considered. Additionally, episodes will air on sister station 90.9 WGUC each Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Next week's short will feature "Intersectionality at the Cotton Club", with special thanks to Queer Cincinnati's Jake Hogue.

Tune in on the Juneteenth Holiday -- Monday, June 19 -- where WVXU will present a one-hour special featuring some episodes from Season 1 of Urban Roots podcast in a special series titled "Juneteenth Cincinnati: Urban Roots", which will air at noon and 8 p.m. on Juneteenth!

Credits: Your host is Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. This short was produced by Deqah Hussein-Wetzel (host/producer) by Vanessa Quirk (editor/producer) and Connor Lynch (editor/mixer/producer). Theme music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

For the past eight years, the nonprofit Vanport Mosaic has been collecting oral histories from Vanport survivors and descendants and putting on an annual festival to celebrate their memories. May 30 will be the 75th anniversary of the Vanport flood — and this Vanport Mosaic festival will not be one to miss. 

We are collaborating with Vanport Mosaic to develop a podcast series about Vanport and the lessons it still teaches us today. The whole team is on planes to Oregon now, as we speak, and we would love to see you at the Festival, too. Admission is free! See you there?  https://www.vanportmosaic.org/festival2023

Voices Heard in This Teaser (In order of appearance): 

• LaVeta Gilmore

• Luther Avery

• William Stacey

• Chisao Hata

• Janice Okomoto

• Bea Gilmore

• Ed Washgington

Credits: 

Thank you to Laura Lo Forti, LaVeta Gilmore, and Chisao Hata. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and Connor Lynch and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. 

Visit Urbanist Media for more information.

We’re working on a bonus episode now of the interview with Nick and Nina, but that’s only the beginning. We’re also collaborating with folks at Northern Kentucky University — including Black church expert Dr. David Childs and Dr. Brian Hackett — to create a documentary series about the African American and abolitionist history of towns along the Ohio River (“River to Freedom”).

That said — we need your help! If you’d like to make this episode, and series, possible, please consider donating to our 501c3 Urbanist Media. 

You can also support us via PayPal or Venmo. Please just note the word “Pod” when you donate. If you want to mail us a check, please first contact us at urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com.

Credits: 
Thank you to Nick and Nina Clooney, Carina Kolodny, and Dr. Brian Hackett at Northern Kentucky University. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and Connor Lynch and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Brent Leggs! If you’re in historic preservation – or a similar field– you probably heard of Brent. But for those of you who haven’t — Brent is a Senior Vice President at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. And while Brent has done many amazing things to preserve African American heritage, as the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, he’s raised over 80 MILLION DOLLARS for Black heritage organizations.

We talked to Brent about:

• Brent’s education at University of Kentucky [6:35]

• Brent’s childhood in Paducah, Kentucky [9:52]

• Preserving the intangible as well as the tangible [16:34]

• Preservation-Based Economic Development and who’s doing it well [33:44]

• The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund: deciding who to fund? [59:18]

• Training future preservationists [1:09:14]

• Brent’s ideal Urban Roots episode [1:10:46]

Mentioned In this Episode: 

• Lejuano Varnell, Sweet Auburn Works - Atlanta, Georgia

• 8th of August - Paducah, Kentucky

• Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative - Montgomery, Alabama

• Jair Lynch and Howard University, U Street development - Washington, D.C. 

• Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Phylicia Rashad, Actor and director - Co-Chairs of Advisory Council for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund

• Civil Rights Trail - Alabama

• Dr. David Childs, Director of Black Studies at Northern Kentucky University  

• Palmer Pharmacy - Lexington, Kentucky 

• Eldorado ballroom - Houston, Texas 

• Faith Ringold - Englewood, New Jersey

• James Weldon Johnson (and Sheryl Lee Ralph)

• Lucille Clifton - Baltimore, Maryland

Credits: 

Thank you to Brent Leggs. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 
Follow us on IG @urbanrootsculture. Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Happy April Fool's...but it's no April fools here...today, we’re 100% introducing you to two boss women doing dope work with Main Street America revitalizing urban main streets across America: Dionne Baux, the Vice President of Urban Development, and Amanda Elliot, Senior Program Officer and Director of California Programs.

We met Dionne and Amanda last year at HAANDS —  the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit — and this episode concludes our series with HAANDS attendees. BUT don’t fear, we will still be introducing you to more all-star practitioners in equitable preservation-based development in some upcoming bonus episodes. Stay tuned! 

Mentioned in This Episode: 

• Sweet Auburn Works

• Betty Reid Soskin, Park Ranger

• Richmond, California / Richmond Main Street

• The East Oakland Black Cultural Zone

• Destination Crenshaw in LA 

Credits: 
Thank you to Dionne Baux and Amanda. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and Connor Lynch and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

The interview was so fun that we asked Nicholas if we could share it on our feeds, and he  graciously agreed. So, here, dear listeners, is that episode. Enjoy — and subscribe to The Intangible wherever you listen to podcasts.

First up, Tanya Debose, a fourth-generation Houstonian, the Executive Director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council, and the founder of Preserving Communities of Color in Houston.

Then, Desiree Powell, a program coordinator for The Congress for the New Urbanism and the founder of Do Right By the Street (DRBTS), a planning firm that facilitates the creation of community-driven places in South Dallas, like the Sunny South Dallas Food Park.

We’ll be publishing more interviews with HAANDS attendees — and introducing you to more practitioners of preservation-based economic development — in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Credits:

Thank you to Tanya Debose and Desiree Powell. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.

Rita Cofield is an associate project specialist working on the Los Angeles African American Historic Places (LAAAHP) at the Getty Conservation Institute.

Deqah first met Rita virtually on a National Trust panel on preservation podcasting, and Vanessa was connected to Rita by LA Principal City Planner Ken Bernstein (our special guest at the Biddy Mason Listen & Learn, which you should check out if you haven’t yet!). We got to know Rita in-person at the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit in Atlanta, HAANDS. We recorded this conversation there, and will be publishing more with HAANDS attendees in the coming weeks. So stay tuned :)

In this conversation, Rita shares her exciting work on the LAAAHP, which expands on work that was started with the SurveyLA project, a previous partnership between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Los Angeles City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources between 2010 and 2017 to survey and inventory parcels in the city and surface places historically significant to communities of color.

Rita also volunteers as Executive Director of the Friends at Mafundi, an advocacy organization that seeks to protect and preserve the historic Watts Happening Cultural Center (also known as the Mafundi Building) in Watts, California, a project close to Rita’s heart. She mentions a great mentor who she worked with on the project: Roger E. Mosley, actor, director, coach, and beloved mentor to creatives, academics, and athletes. The Watts community also recently lost Oscar Neal, a Watts activist, advocate, historian, business owner and former owner of the historic Jordan’s Café in Watts.

Credits:

Thank you to Rita Cofield. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.

Lejuano Varnell is the co-founder of the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit, HAANDS, and the executive director of Sweet Auburn Works, which does preservation-based economic development along the historic Auburn Avenue corridor in Atlanta.

We met Lejuano when we were in Atlanta for the first, in-person HAANDS, and were lucky enough to receive a tour from him of Auburn Avenue, which is home to many historic African American sites, such as the Atlanta Daily World building (the headquarters of the first African American newspaper) and the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge (which used to house WERD Radio, the first African American owned radio station in North America). We were really inspired by the work he and the landowners on the Avenue are doing to make sure it remains a hub of African American culture and entrepreneurship moving forward. In this conversation, Lejuano breaks down their approach — which weaves both tactical programs and narrative storytelling — and gives us some insight into the future of HAANDS.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Sweet Auburn Works
• HAANDS
• HAANDs Summit 2021: America's Black Wall Street w/ Dr. Jelani Cobb and Hannibal Johnson
• Sweet Auburn Bread Company
• Main Street America

Credits:

Thank you to Lejuano Varnell.  This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and Connor Lynch and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.

Handles

IG: @_haands / @sweetauburnworks

TW: @_haands / @sweetauburnwork

LN: HAANDS / Sweet Auburn Works

Audiogram - Audio

“The more you uplift the place-based narrative … the harder it is to erase it.”

Lejuano Varnell is the co-founder of @_haands — the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit — and the executive director of @sweetauburnworks. Every day, he does whatever it takes to improve his historic Atlanta corridor — and make it a place where small African American businesses can thrive. Listen to our full episode to hear more about Lejuano and how he’s building on the work of his predecessors to strike a path for preservation-based economic development in Atlanta — and beyond.

We’re back from the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit (HAANDS) and we’re still buzzing! Deqah and Vanessa discuss the many things they learned about preservation-based economic development — and gush over the great people they met who are working to help their communities stay in place, connect with their past, and thrive into the future.

Our experience at the summit really crystallized the importance of storytelling (and the work we do) when it comes to preserving communities of color. We have so many ideas for future episodes; we just need support from listeners like you to make them a reality.  If you believe that the work we do matters, and want to see more of it, please donate to our PayPal page or Venmo. If you donate today (Giving Tuesday), your donation will be matched. 

If you want to know more about HAANDS, check out our previous conversation with co-founder Elijah Davis.

Credits:

Thank you to Claudia Polley and Krista Weatherholt of the Urban Legacy Lands Initiative who made our trip to Atlanta to attend the summit possible. Thanks to HAANDS co-founders Elijah Davis of Urban Impact and Lejuano Varnell of Sweet Auburn Works. This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.

Elijah Davis is the co-founder of the Historic African American Neighborhood and District Summit, HAANDS, for short. HAANDS brings together professionals in historic preservation and storytelling, economic development and entrepreneurship, and community organizing to share ideas about what can be done to “preserve, enhance, and elevate” Historic Black places.

In this conversation, we learn more about Elijah’s family connections to Mobile, his work in community economic development with Birmingham-based Urban Impact, and how he started HAANDS with his co-founder Lejuano Varnell of Sweet Auburn Works.

This year’s summit will take place over November 17 and 18 in Atlanta Georgia — and guess what, listeners… we’ll be there! Claudia Polley of the Urban Legacy Lands Initiative, which we featured in our Indianapolis episodes, has offered us a travel stipend to attend.

To help us cover the remainder of our travel costs, we’re hoping to raise $500 dollars from our listeners. If you believe in the work we do, sharing and preserving the histories of underrepresented people and places, then please donate to us via our PayPal page or Venmo. Note the word “HAANDS” when you donate.

If you’re interested in the future of black heritage lands, we think you’ll really enjoy this conversation — and maybe even get inspired to join as at the summit! Hope to see you there!

Credits:

Thank you to Elijah Davis, Claudia Polley, Krista Weatherholt, and ULLI.  This episode was edited by Vanessa Quirk and Connor Lynch and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk.

After we aired the season, Dr. Hayden Shelby, an Assistant Professor of Planning at the University of Cincinnati, reached out saying she was teaching a class on housing systems and institutional investors — and, instead of papers, she was asking her students to make a podcast. As part of Urbanist Media — the community preservation not-for-profit that produces Urban Roots — we've been helping Dr. Shelby, guiding her and her students to develop a new podcast, If Walls Could Talk.

In this conversation, we sat down with Dr. Hayden Shelby to learn more about the issue of institutional investors broadly and how they specifically operate in Cincinnati.

Dr. Shelby and her class will be hosting two community conversations about institutional investors (details below). We hope as many people as possible in Cincinnati take part in these conversations — it’s time to collectively create the solutions Cinci neighborhoods need to curb the negative impact of institutional investors and allow these communities to, once again, thrive.

• In-Person: Saturday, November 12th from 9-1 AM at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning Building.
• Zoom: Friday, November 18th from 2-4 PM on Zoom (register via link or email shelbyhm@uc.edu)

First up is a fascinating conversation with Vishaan Chakrabarti, the co-founder and creative director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. Vishaan, who has years of experience in the urbanism and architecture fields (check out his TED Talks and New York Times collaborations for some examples of his work), and the folks in his studio are doing the good work of trying to make our cities more equitable. In this conversation, we talk about a seismic shift happening in preservation and planning: a move away from preserving buildings and towards communities.

We also pull back the veil a bit on what we’re up to — and give you some backstory about Urban Roots and Urbanist Media, Deqah’s anti-racist community preservation not-for-profit.

Tell us what you think! Send an email or voice memo to urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com, rate us on Apple podcasts, or follow us on Instagram @urbanrootsculture. And if you want to support Urban Roots, please consider donating to our Paypal @urbanistmedia.

Our Guests: We talk with Claudia Polley of the Urban Legacy Lands Initiative; Kaila Austin, an artist and historian (who also shared her oral history with Flinora Frazier with us); Judith Thomas, the Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement for the City of Indianapolis; and Paula Brooks, the Environmental Justice Program Manager at the Hoosier Environment Council.

Our Sponsors: This episode, the first of a two-part series on Black Indy, was made possible by a grant from Indiana Humanities. We need help for future projects so please consider donating to Urbanist Media on PayPal, Venmo, or Patreon!

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

About Us: Urban Roots unearths little-known stories from urban history, especially histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten. Our mission is to elevate underrepresented voices and help preserve the places significant to them.

Find Us Online: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Our Guests: We talk with some incredibly distinguished Black Indianapolis experts: journalist and Madam C.J. Walker biographer (and descendent) A’Lelia Bundles; Susan Hall Dotson of the Indiana Historical Society; Claudia Polley of the Urban Legacy Lands Initiative; Wildstyle Paschall, an artist and community advocate; Devon Ginn of the Walker Legacy Center; and centenarian/Indiana Avenue author, Mr. Thomas Hart Ridley.

We also reference the research of Dr. Olon Dotson of Ball State University. You can find the aerial photographs we mention in the episode here: https://maps.indy.gov/MapIndy/

Our Sponsors: This episode, the first of a two-part series on Black Indianapolis, was made possible by a grant from Indiana Humanities. To help us fund future projects please donate to Urbanist Media on PayPal, Venmo, or Patreon!

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

About Us: Urban Roots dives deep into little known stories from urban history, unearthing histories of women and people of color that are in danger of being forgotten. Find us at Website | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

But a group of organizers and historians fought back to keep the mural — and Biddy’s story — safe from destruction. Now, the Biddy Mason Collaborative is uncovering more and more about this woman who built Black L.A. — and working hard to keep her memory alive.

Our Guests: This episode we speak with folks from the Biddy Mason Collaborative. We talk with co-directors Sarah “Sally” Barringer Gordon, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Kevin Waite, an American history professor at Durham University (in the UK) and author of West of Slavery, and Jackie Broxton, executive director of the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation. We also speak to Laura Voisin George, an architectural historian (and PhD candidate at the UCSB) and Sky Lea Ross, a phD candidate at UCLA and a therapist with Peace Over Violence.

About Us: Urban Roots is a podcast that dives deep into little known stories from urban history. It is an offshoot of Urbanist Media, a not-for-profit anti-racist community preservation collaborative.

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Find Us Online: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

This season, we are dedicating two full episodes to telling the remarkable story of Biddy Mason. In Part 1, we talk about Biddy’s beginnings: how she went from an enslaved woman in Mississippi to one of the most renowned healers in Los Angeles. We also talk to a group of organizers and historians from the Biddy Mason Collaborative (or ‘the Biddy Mason Justice League’ as we like to call them) who are collaborating and uncovering more about this woman than we ever knew before — and working hard to keep her memory alive.

If you like this episode, make sure to stay tuned for Part 2, when we tell the second half of Biddy’s life: her journey to becoming one the wealthiest women in the West — and a founder of Black Los Angeles.

Our Guests: This episode we speak with folks from the Biddy Mason Collaborative: project co-directors Sarah “Sally” Barringer Gordon, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Kevin Waite, an American history professor at Durham University (and author of West of Slavery); as well as Jackie Broxton, Executive Director of the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation and Laura Voisin George, an architectural historian (and PhD candidate at UCSB).

About Us: Urban Roots is a podcast that takes a deep dive into little known stories from urban history. It is an offshoot of Urbanist Media, a not-for-profit anti-racist community preservation collaborative.

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Support us: Venmo | PayPal

Founded in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery is one of the earliest (and most famous) rural cemeteries in America. Its grandiose, park-like setting is scattered with notable burial sites and architectural masterpieces. But, in our interviews with Green-Wood staff members (Neela Wickremesinghe, Jeff Richman, and Darryl Jones), we learn about a lesser-known area: the Freedom Lots, where African Americans were buried.

In 2017, these seven lots were in very rough shape — some of the graves were destroyed past recovery. This episode tells the story of the people of color who took action to not only preserve what was left of these physical graves, but to commemorate the memories of the people buried there.

Our Guests: Green-Wood’s Director of Restoration and Preservation, Neela Wickremesinghe; staff Historian, Jeff Richman; and Darryl Jones (Neela’s former intern who now works for the cemetery full time)! 

About Us: Urban Roots is a podcast that takes a deep dive into little known stories from urban history. The pod is an offshoot of Urbanist Media, a not-for-profit anti-racist community preservation collaborative.

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Support us by Donating: PayPal | Venmo

Find Us: Website | PayPal | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Our Indianapolis episodes are made possible thanks to funding from Indiana Humanities!

Credits

• Host and Executive Producer: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel.
• Host and Executive Producer: Vanessa Maria Quirk.
• Editor: Connor Lynch.

About Us

Urban Roots is a podcast that takes a deep dive into little known stories from urban history and is brought to you by Urbanist Media, an anti-racist community preservation organization.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook — @urbanrootsculture

Follow us on Twitter — @urbanrootspod and @urbanistmedia

Subscribe to our Urban Roots Podcast YouTube channel!

In this episode, the final of our Lost Voices of Cincinnati series*, we’re exploring the history of South Cumminsville, a neighborhood that, like many Black neighborhoods in Cincinnati, has been divided and diminished by top-down urban planning decisions and years of disinvestment. But it’s also a place with a long history of Black entrepreneurship, ownership, and activism — going back to the late 1800s, when unsung Cincinnati hero Sarah Fossett helped make South Cumminsville a vibrant community for African Americans. Today, it remains a place where residents support each other and fight every day to improve their community. *If you missed our prelude episode, then take a pause and listen to that show first! Also, check out our previous episodes on the Evanston and Avondale neighborhoods!

Our Guests: South Cumminsville community council president, Tim Canady, vice president Derek Fagin, Annie Williams, Alberta Warton, Queens of Queens City’s Sean Andres, Wilbur Canady, and Working in Neighborhoods’ Rigel Behrens.

Our Sponsors: The Lost Voices of Cincinnati series was made possible by a Truth & Reconciliation grant from ArtsWave. We need help for future projects so please consider donating to our Fundly fundraising campaign!

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

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In this episode, the third of our Lost Voices of Cincinnati series*, we’re exploring the history of Avondale, a neighborhood that experienced a different kind of white flight and is still recovering from transformative events that occurred during the mid-century such as race riots and housing discrimination. We will discuss how these trends triggered decades of disinvestment and explain important historical terms like blockbusting and redlining. And we talk to the people who are fighting hard to preserve the neighborhood’s housing stock, promote local businesses — and bring the community back together.*If you missed our prelude episode, then take a pause and listen to that show first! Also, check out our previous episode on the Evanston neighborhood!

Our Guests:  Avondale neighborhood community council president, Ms. Sandra Jones-Mitchel, Councilwoman Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, and Invest in Neighborhoods board president, Andria Carter. We also got a deep dive into the history of housing in Avondale by retired University of Cincinnati history professor, Dr. Fritz Casey Leininger.

Our Sponsors: The Lost Voices of Cincinnati series was made possible by a Truth & Reconciliation grant from ArtsWave and our Fundly patrons. 

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

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In this episode, the second of our Lost Voices of Cincinnati series*, we’re exploring the history of Evanston, the home of King Records, which was pivotal to the creation of Rock n' Roll music. We not only discuss King, but also another important anchor in the neighborhood, St. Mark’s, that has also been left to deteriorate over time. We explain how the highway divided the neighborhood, and kicked off years of disinvestment. And we talk to the people who are fighting hard to preserve the neighborhood’s precious landmarks — and bring the community back together. *If you missed our prelude episode, then take a pause and check out that show first!

Guests: Evanston neighborhood community council members, Mr. James Stallworth (president), Ms. Marye Ward, Ms. Beverley Lamb, and Ms. Veta Uddin as well as members of the King Legacy committee, Kent Butts and Elliott Ruther, and also historian Dr. M. Christine Anderson, and preservationist and AmeriCorps member, Carrie Rhodus.

Our Sponsors: The Lost Voices of Cincinnati series was made possible by a Truth & Reconciliation grant from ArtsWave. 

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Find Us Online: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Support us by Donating: Venmo | PayPal

Our Lost Voices of Cincinnati series was made possible by a Truth & Reconciliation grant from ArtsWave and our Fundly patrons. We’d also like to thank Invest in Neighborhoods for their support.

Urban Roots is a podcast that takes a deep dive into little known stories from Urban history. 

Credits: Hosts and Executive Producers: Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Maria Quirk / Editor and Executive Producer:  Connor Lynch / Mixer: Andrew Callaway. Music/Composer: Adaam James Levin-Areddy.

Find Us Online: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Support us by Donating: Venmo | PayPal

Urban Roots is hosted by Deqah Hussein (historic preservationist and urban planner) and Vanessa Quirk (journalist and producer). This podcast offers a holistic narrative of urban America by utilizing rich archival materials, interviewing passionate local experts, and exploring “untold” stories.