Porchtales

What was happening in the rest of the world as Dorothy Jean McQueen reinvented herself as Sister Koko, and how did it affect her? Prof. D. Boose explores how entwined rising anxieties over the spread of nuclear weapons, poverty, and the Vietnam war, were with the ever-increasing Black Freedom activism in the mid-1960s.

Listen as Sister Koko explains how these international and national events had an impact on her and local Washington, DC, communities. In this episode, Sister Koko turns her attention from Howard University to centering her work with the United Planning Organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Stokely Carmichael. She focused on combating poverty, protesting US involvement in Vietnam, organizing voter registration on a grassroots level, and promoting the idea of Black Power. Yet change remained slow, and Black Freedom fighters increasingly turned to militant action to defend themselves against white supremacy and to make their demands heard.

This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.

As the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sparked rebellions across the US, Sister Koko describes her experience of the uprising in DC and how King’s death personally affected her.

She explains the underlying entrenched and long-standing systems of racial oppression, especially poverty, that fueled the outpouring of violence and destruction in April of 1968. She takes us through the streets of DC overrun with troops and the fractured infrastructure that attempted to quell the rebellion. Throughout it all, Sister Koko persisted in her community organizing and her work with Stokely Carmichael in SNCC. But the federal government saw her activism as a threat, a radical for the FBI to keeps tabs on, which led to a suspicious infiltrator and a raid on Sister Koko’s apartment that uncovered a closet of firearms.

This episode includes brief profanity and offensive historical language. Listener discretion is advised. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.

A lot of people just walked by the man on his porch. Turns out that John, the porch sitter, was the thread that kept his block together. Neighbors called him the Mayor of Adams Morgan, and they knew he wouldn’t let things get out of hand on his street. Meet this unexpected hero.

Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.

Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at [email protected], or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.

To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/

People know who causes trouble on their block. Who goes to jail or prison. Some criminals though return to the scene of their crimes to try to undo. We follow the story of Bobby, as he tries to make things right by coaching a little league baseball team in Adams Morgan.

Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.

Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at [email protected], or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.

To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/

A kid on a bike can go places and discover a neighborhood. Pedaling slow and pushing fast, they have perfect balance and the thrill of floating free down a steep hill known as “Snake Hill.” They feel free and in control. Katie Davis shares stories of a Fix-a-Bicycle summer camp that started on Lanier in July 2000.

Did you enjoy this episode of Lanier hosted by HumanitiesDC Presents Porchtales? Tell a friend about it! Make sure you’re subscribed so you can know about future episodes and consider leaving a review.

Porchtales is produced by HumanitiesDC in partnership with history, culture and arts experts and doers in the District. If you would like to share your DC story, find out more about what we do, or help support our programs, visit us at HumanitiesDC.org, email us at [email protected], or follow us on social media @HumanitiesDC. This season is made possible due to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of HumanitiesDC or the project’s funders.

To learn more about the latest news and events, check out HumanitiesDC’s Events Calendar at https://humanitiesdc.org/events/