Tell Me Your Story

From Syracuse to the university to Albany to the streets of Baltimore, Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride has made a difference. She was part of Art Night in Schenectady, shown inside the Schenectady County office buildings, first two floors, in a photo exhibit entitled “An Artist's Perspective: Defying a Broken System in celebration of Black History Month.

For the first time, McBride's photos will be displayed as part of an essay entitled “Broken Concrete.”

She was the first featured artist of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission.

I called Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride at her home in Maryland to learn about her journey as an artist and community officer with the City of Baltimore.

Five years ago, Steve Derrick found himself working from home ... indefinitely.

The game developer and artist took the time to work on his craft and focused on portraits. He went from friends and family submissions on Facebook to finding the true heros of the pandemic - essential workers in some of their most trying moments.

Steve Derrick drew those portraits and sent them to the subjects free of charge, for months.

He said it helped him, but it also helped so many others - including myself and my family.

We both took moments to pause during our conversation because we still feel the memories deeply.

Introducing artist Steve Derrick who was kind enough to 'Tell Me Your Story'.

For the past 22 years, Maggie Fronk has been front and center at Wellspring, the domestic violence and sexual assault services resource for Saratoga and Washington County in New York.

April is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and April 30th is Denim Day.

On a beautiful spring day, I sat down with Maggie Fronk, who shed light on Wellspring's mission, the history of Denim Day, and what everyone can do to help others who are in need of their services.

For the past 22 years, Skidmore College professor Daniel Nathan has taught American Studies on the Saratoga Springs campus. With the liberties given to him and his students, his '10 Books that Changed America' spurred on a new course - '10 Movies that Changed America.'

Nathan discusses creating the new course, what movies ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor, his favorite films, and the upcoming Academy Awards.

His work is incomplete as he remains busy as a writer, editor, professor, and sports enthusiast, so I plan to invite him again to this podcast.

Link to The Daily Gazette 'Getting to Know' story.

Winston Grady-Willis is a Skidmore College professor and the founding director of Black Studies. He was an associate professor of American Studies from 2008 to 2011. He became the inaugural director of the School of Gender, Race, and Nations at Portland State University and chaired Africana Studies at MSU Denver. He returned to Skidmore College in 2019 with his wife, Lisa Grady-Willis, program director and teaching professor of intergroup relations, at Skidmore College.

I sat down with Professor Grady-Willis on campus to talk about his journey and the role of Black History Month and Black Studies on campus and beyond.