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Oct 14, 2019

Teen Zach Thomas and his mom, professor and author Duchess Harris, focus this time on some black girl magic. They tell the stories of Ruby Bridges, who in 1960 at age 6 integrated New Orleans schools, and Barbara Jordan who, at the same time was breaking down barriers facing black women in the US Congress. Making this...


Aug 19, 2019

Teen Zach Thomas and his mom, professor and author Duchess Harris, explore the story of the arrest in 1931 of nine falsely accused black teen boys in Scottsboro Alabama and the impact of the trials – spanning decades – that followed.

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  • For more information about the Freedom's Promise books and the Duchess...


Jul 9, 2019

In this episode of Freedom's Promise, Duchess and Zach continue their exploration of slavery in the United States. This time they talk about U.S. Presidents who owned slaves focusing specifically on the story of Oney Judge who was owned by our first president George Washington and his wife Martha and who used her...


Jun 20, 2019

Zach takes over as host to interview his mom, Duchess Harris, about her book The Grand Contraband Camp. They discuss the various ways slaves gained their own freedom prior to the Emancipation Proclamation and relate the rarely told story of the Grand Contraband Camp where previously enslaved blacks lived freely in the...


Jun 6, 2019

Duchess Harris and her son Zach present the story of the black women "hidden human computers" of NASA. Duchess' own grandmother -- Zach's great grandmother -- Miriam Daniel Mann was one of these amazing women who made significant contributions to NASA from the 1940s to the 1960s. They connect their personal family story...