Bonus: Musician Rhiannon Giddens on Harriet

11/01/19 • 19 min

This bonus episode is a condensed version of our interview with musician, artist and activist Rhiannon Giddens. She’s a Grammy-winner, and you might know her as a founding member of the band Carolina Chocolate Drops.

As we were really examining the experience of African Americans in the 19th Century, we discovered Rhiannon’s song, “At the Purchaser’s Option.”

Rhiannon was inspired to write this song after seeing an advertisement where a man was attempting to sell a young woman he had enslaved. The end of the ad said that the young woman for sale had a nine month old baby who was “at the purchaser’s option.”

We talk to Rhiannon here about the song, her music and Harriet Tubman.

If you’d like to learn more about visiting places that tell the story of Harriet Tubman, The Underground Railroad and the 19th Century African American experience, especially in the state of Virginia, go to https://www.virginia.org/harriet.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office.

As we were really examining the experience of African Americans in the 19th Century, we discovered Rhiannon’s song, “At the Purchaser’s Option.”

We talk to Rhiannon here about the song, her music and Harriet Tubman.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office.

Previous Episode

Harriet’s Legacy Today: Strength, Courage & Triumph

In this episode, we pull Harriet’s story and the story of the African American experience in 19th Century America right through to the present. We talk about why a movie like Harriet is so important to us as Americans at this time.

In this episode we heard from historians Ed Ayers, Elvatrice Belschese, Jessica Millward (Finding Charity's Folk), Catherine Clinton (Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom) and Erica Armstrong Dunbar (She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman). We also heard from Niya Bates and Gayle Jessup White from Jefferson’s Monticello, Christian Cotz from Madison’s Montpelier, Stephanie Arduini of the American Civil War Museum, Kasi Lemmons, director of the new Focus Features biopic called Harriet, and Malcolm “Jamie” Jamieson, who owns the Berkeley Plantation where parts of the film were shot.

“Following Harriet” was produced by INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) with Tanner Latham as executive producer and Tanya Ott as the writer and director.

”Following Harriet” is sponsored by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Film Office. Special research thanks to the Black History Museum in Richmond and the City of Petersburg, Virginia and the Petersburg Preservation Task Force.

Next Episode

Bonus: The Ultimate Outdoorswoman from Out There

Subtitle: How Harriet Tubman could change your perspective on who belongs outdoors

Episode description: You probably learned about Harriet Tubman in school growing up — how she led slaves to freedom on the underground railroad. But she was a lot more than an activist and freedom fighter. She was a daughter, wife, entrepreneur — and a talented outdoorswoman.

This bonus episode from the podcast Out There explores Tubman’s relationship with nature; we unpack how that history shapes the way Black Americans engage with the outdoors today; and we show how a closer look at Tubman could offer new perspectives on who belongs outdoors. Victoria Marin has the story.

Credits: This episode was inspired by the podcast Following Harriet and was produced in collaboration with INGREDIENT (https://www.ingredientcreative.com/) and the Virginia Tourism Corporation (https://www.virginia.org/harriet) To learn more about Virginia’s history and land as it relates to the Black experience, visit https://www.virginia.org/plan-your-trip/black-travel/.

Special thanks to Sheeba Joseph, who spearheaded the project, co-produced the episode, and facilitated the collaboration.

For Further Listening: In honor of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, we’ve compiled a playlist of stories that highlight Black experiences outdoors and celebrate the diverse and meaningful ways that African Americans engage with the natural world: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3U6y7GdHv6rHZ8OjUt3f3A.