The Color Between The Lines with Esther Dillard

Esther Dillard
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The Color Between the Lines with Esther Dillard is a storytelling podcast that explores the histories, voices, and truths that often go unheard—but deeply shape our world.*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" tabindex="-1" dir="auto" data-turn-id="4e29b2f2-7c46-4232-803b-4c51b0aa0f0d" data-testid="conversation-turn-6" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant"> Hosted by award-winning journalist and educator Esther Dillard, the show features thoughtful conversations with authors, activists, cultural leaders, and change-makers who use story to inform, challenge, and connect. Each episode goes beyond headlines to uncover the deeper context behind culture, history, and current events—helping listeners understand not just what happened, but why it matters. Listeners come away with a clearer understanding of how storytelling influences public opinion, policy, education, and identity. The podcast also offers insight into how stories can be used more intentionally—in advocacy, leadership, creative work, and everyday life—to communicate with clarity, build trust, and create impact. If you’re curious about history, culture, and the power of narrative to shape perspective and possibility, The Color Between the Lines invites you to listen more closely—and hear what’s always been there.

  1. He Was Shot at 16. Now He Leads The Potter's House. | Pastor Touré Roberts on Knowing

    3d ago

    He Was Shot at 16. Now He Leads The Potter's House. | Pastor Touré Roberts on Knowing

    He was shot at 16 years old. The physical wound healed in months. The trauma rewired his thinking for decades. And right as his new book on divine certainty releases his wife suffers a serious accident he never saw coming. That is where this conversation begins. In this episode of The Color Between the Lines, I sit down with Pastor Tour Roberts co-senior pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas and founder of ONE to talk about his new book Knowing. In a season where the ground keeps shifting under our feet, Pastor Tour says the answer isn't more information. It's something older. Something every person was born with. Something most of us have forgotten how to read.   We cover: What Knowing actually is and why it's the first sense, not the sixth What anchored him when Sarah Jakes Roberts was seriously injured How trauma rewires your inner knower and what misknowing actually feels like The Gregg Braden DNA discovery and how it connects to divine programming How his parents' work in the Black Panther Party shaped his mission today Why his 9-year-old daughter wrote the foreword and why his publisher pushed back What he wishes he had known 20 years ago   Get the book Knowing by Pastor Tour Roberts: https://amzn.to/4y5P1cw   Follow Pastor Tour Roberts on all platforms: @TourRoberts   FOR EDUCATORS: Free discussion guides and classroom-ready educator resources at substack.com/@iamestherdillard and etsy.com/shop/ColorBtwLinesMarket   HEIRSOUND: Embed a loved one's voice inside a printed photograph using Canva and Google Drive. Free tutorial at youtube.com/@thecolorbetweenthelines. Step-by-step guide in description. I'm Esther Dillard. Your story matters.

    24 min
  2. Are White Men Smarter? Steve Phillips on Playing Offense for Racial Justice in America

    Jun 30

    Are White Men Smarter? Steve Phillips on Playing Offense for Racial Justice in America

    White men are 29% of this country and yet they hold 90% of CEO positions, 90% of venture capital, and 98% of the U.S. presidency. If we believe in merit, what explains that gap?   Political strategist and author Steve Phillips doesnt sidestep the question. In his new book Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else? Playing Offense in the Fight for Racial Justice in America, he names the dynamic driving persistent inequality, gives it a framework, and shows us how to fight back on offense instead of defense.   In this conversation with journalist Esther Dillard, Steve breaks down: Why he says weve been asking the wrong question for 50 years What SWAMP (Straight White American Male Preference) means and how to audit it The legal argument that flips the script on opponents of DEI and affirmative action How November 2024 changed the book he thought he was writing Project 2126 why hes building something designed to last 100 years The first thing he wants listeners to do tomorrow morning   This is a conversation for anyone who teaches history, studies power, or is trying to understand what this political moment is actually demanding of us.   Free educator resources and lesson bundles available at substack.com/@iamestherdillard and etsy.com/shop/ColorBtwLinesMarket.   The Color Between the Lines is distributed by the ALIVE Podcast Network the first Black woman-owned podcast network. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, the ALIVE app, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, and Samsung TV.

    25 min
  3. It Could Happen to Anybody | The Possibilities Documentary | Blind, Black & Fighting to Be Seen

    Jun 23

    It Could Happen to Anybody | The Possibilities Documentary | Blind, Black & Fighting to Be Seen

    A new documentary is putting the blind and low vision community at the center of its own story both on screen and behind the microphone. Possibilities, produced by the American Foundation for the Blind, is the first feature-length film made by blind and low vision filmmakers, and the first to fully integrate open audio description into the storytelling itself. In this episode of The Color Between the Lines, host Esther Dillard sits down with two of the voices behind this landmark film. Tony Stephens is Assistant Vice President of Communications at the American Foundation for the Blind, born legally blind, with more than 30 years at the intersection of disability rights, social justice, and media. He is a producer and featured voice in Possibilities and one of the foremost voices on Helen Keller's actual life, legacy, and complicated history. Krystle Allen is a Newark, New Jersey native, founder of Eyes Like Mine, Inc., a nonprofit supporting people who are blind, low vision, and deafblind, and one of the film's featured African American voices. In 2023 she became the first legally blind titleholder of the Ms. Newark USA Pageant. What unfolds in this conversation is something you won't hear anywhere else. Krystle was denied healthcare by a gynecologist who said she didn't feel comfortable treating her because she is blind. She filed a complaint, went through mediation, and was then legally restricted from telling that story for ten full years. She tells it here for the first time publicly. Tony connects the dots between the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the current climate threatening both Black history and disability inclusion making the case that these fights have never been separate. Possibilities premiered at Carnegie Hall on June 27, 2026 Helen Keller's 146th birthday and is now streaming on Apple TV and additional platforms worldwide. This is a story about what it means to be seen. And what happens when the people who are supposed to help you refuse. Watch Possibilities: https://afb.org/news-publications/media/possibilities Eyes Like Mine: https://eyeslikemine.org/team/ Free educator resources: https://substack.com/@iamestherdillard Educator bundles: https://etsy.com/shop/ColorBtwLinesMarket CHAPTER MARKERS (adjust timecodes to match your final edit) 0:00 Cold open: "I didn't know blindness picked you by age" 0:25 Introducing Possibilities and the guests 1:00 What "made by us, for everyone" looked like on set 2:57 Why Carnegie Hall on Helen Keller's birthday 4:04 Krystle Allen: why she said yes 5:08 Being Black and blind: the nuances people miss 7:05 The gynecologist who refused to treat her 11:47 Ten years of silence: the agreement 14:27 Tony: same fight, new face? 15:35 What to take from this if you're losing your vision 16:37 Is disability history under the same threat as Black history? 19:04 Employment, technology, and what's changed 21:02 How Krystle lost her sight at 16 24:05 Final word: what we want you to believe differently

    27 min
  4. She Grew Up in His Studio | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow on Jerry Pinkney, Legacy, and the Book She Had to Write

    Jun 16

    She Grew Up in His Studio | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow on Jerry Pinkney, Legacy, and the Book She Had to Write

    Here is the corrected version two fixes made: Jerry Pickney Jerry Pinkney in the opening line, and Charnelle Pickney Barlow Charnelle Pinkney Barlow in the book credit. Jerry Pinkney illustrated more than 100 children's books over nearly six decades. He was the first solo Black illustrator to win the Caldecott Medal. He designed U.S. postage stamps. He was the most exhibited illustrator in American museums. But his granddaughter knew him differently. Charnelle Pinkney Barlow grew up in his studio watching him work, listening to the music shift from upbeat in the morning to soft jazz in the evening, sitting in the oversized leather chair with her feet hovering off the floor, reading pages of books his readers wouldn't see for another year. Now she's an author and illustrator herself. Her debut picture book, Two Artists: Grandad and Me, is an intimate portrait of a legendary man seen through the eyes of the little girl who loved him most. In this conversation with host Esther Dillard, Charnelle talks about: The private world of Jerry Pinkney's studio what his readers never saw The moment she realized she had always been inside his work Why Black grandfather stories belong in children's literature The grandmother who handed her a two-sided sketchbook and told her to use both sides What she felt while writing this book and who she felt beside her Her advice for young writers who don't yet trust their own ideas This is a conversation about art, grief, legacy, and the stories families pass down without even knowing it. TWO ARTISTS: GRANDAD AND ME by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow Available wherever books are sold. FOR EDUCATORS Free discussion guide available at substack.com/@iamestherdillard Paid lesson bundle at etsy.com/shop/ColorBtwLinesMarket Grades 612 Classroom ready The Color Between the Lines is hosted by Esther Dillard anchor and reporter at the Black Information Network, two-time Gracie Award winner, and founder of ERASED: The Untold American Story. New episodes drop weekly.  Your story matters.

    20 min
  5. ERASED: The Cataract House — How Black Waiters Freed Slaves One Quarter Mile from Canada

    Jun 9

    ERASED: The Cataract House — How Black Waiters Freed Slaves One Quarter Mile from Canada

    Before the Civil War ended. Before Juneteenth and before anyone knew her name a fourteen year old girl stood at the edge of the Niagara River in the dark. Canada was a quarter mile away. And the only people who knew she was there were the Black men in white jackets clearing dinner tables inside a grand luxury hotel. This is the story of the Cataract House a five story hotel in Niagara Falls, New York where Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and two Kings of England were guests. What history never fully told is that the hotel's African American waitstaff, led by head waiter John Morrison, operated one of the most organized Underground Railroad networks in American history. Night after night these men used their invisibility as servants to smuggle freedom seekers across the Niagara River to Canada while wealthy white guests dined and danced above them completely unaware. In 1841 a fourteen year old enslaved girl escaped through the Cataract House with their help. The man who enslaved her wrote a letter to a New Orleans newspaper to complain. The waiters kept their jobs. She never went back. This episode drops on Juneteenth June 19th because this is exactly the kind of story Juneteenth asks us to remember. The freedom that was celebrated on that day in 1865 was built on the courage of people like John Morrison and that unnamed girl who crossed a dark river in the middle of the night and never looked back. Host Esther Dillard a Buffalo, New York native brings this story home. Because Niagara Falls is thirty minutes from Buffalo. Because Buffalo is one of the oldest Juneteenth celebration cities in America. And because some stories don't travel far enough from the people who need to hear them most. This is ERASED. And this story has been waiting too long to be told. HISTORICAL RECORD  The Cataract House operated from 1825 to 1945 on the banks of the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, New York. The full history is preserved at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center niagarafallsundergroundrailroad.org EDUCATOR RESOURCES Free discussion guide and paid lesson bundle available at: Etsy: ColorBtwLinesMarket TPT: Search Esther Dillard ERASED Substack: substack.com/@iamestherdillard ABOUT ERASED ERASED: The Untold American Story is a documentary podcast series hosted by two-time Gracie Award winning journalist and anchor Esther Dillard. Each episode uncovers a person or place that history chose not to remember until now. Previous episodes: ERASED: Elizabeth Jennings Graham ERASED: Robert Smalls ERASED: Harriet Tubman CONNECT WITH ESTHER Website: estherdillard.com Substack: substack.com/@iamestherdillard Etsy: ColorBtwLinesMarket YouTube: @thecolorbetweenthelines

    8 min
  6. We Choose Each Other Again | Martin Luther King III & Arndrea Waters King

    Jun 2

    We Choose Each Other Again | Martin Luther King III & Arndrea Waters King

    They eloped six months after his mother died. No reception, no celebration because after the world had mourned Coretta Scott King so publicly, quiet felt like the right thing to do. Twenty years later, Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King are doing what they never got to do. They are standing before the people they love and saying: we choose each other. Again. On purpose. Right now. Host Esther Dillard sits down with the couple just days before their vow renewal ceremony to ask what twenty years actually looks like from the inside. What you will hear in this conversation: The blind date that almost never happened and the moment Arndrea knew The sign from Coretta Scott King on the 405 freeway on their wedding day Why they chose this particular moment in American history to recommit How Arndrea carries a public legacy without losing her private self What Coretta taught her son about love, leadership, and liberating a child to find their own path The advice they want every couple especially Black couples to carry into their own hard seasons And how two parents are feeling as their daughter Yolanda Renee King prepares to graduate and head to Columbia University This is one of the most honest and human conversations in the history of this show. Put in your earbuds and give yourself the full ride. Educator resources and discussion guides at ColorBtwLinesMarket on Etsy. Free resources at substack.com/@iamestherdillard Your story matters. Esther Dillard

    32 min
  7. The State That Made Black History Mandatory - Dr. Patrick J. Lamy - The Color Between the Lines

    May 26

    The State That Made Black History Mandatory - Dr. Patrick J. Lamy - The Color Between the Lines

    In 2002, New Jersey became the first state in the country to make Black history mandatory not just in February, not just in one subject, but across every grade level and every classroom, all year long. Most Americans have never heard of that law. Dr. Patrick J. Lamy, Executive Director of the New Jersey Amistad Commission, is the man making sure it actually happens.   Host Esther Dillard sits down with Dr. Lamy for a candid conversation recorded during National Teacher Appreciation Week. They cover the 2026 Amistad Summer Institute now the largest in the Commission's 17-year history with 360 registered educators what it actually takes to move 600 school districts without any enforcement power, why Black educators are leaving the profession at higher rates than their colleagues, and why Dr. Lamy says the most compelling argument for teaching Black history isn't coming from him. It's coming directly from students.   This is a conversation for every educator, parent, and community member who believes that knowing the full truth of American history makes better students, stronger communities, and more informed citizens.   REGISTER 2026 Amistad Summer Institute July 2830, 2026  |  Kean University  |  FREE Virtual attendance open through June 15, 2026 njamistad.gov   Free educator discussion guides: substack.com/@iamestherdillard Educator bundles: etsy.com/shop/ColorBtwLinesMarket   The Color Between the Lines is produced by Esther Dillard and distributed through the Alive Podcast Network.

    17 min
  8. Is the World Cup Money Real? What Small Business Owners Need to Know Before Kickoff

    May 19

    Is the World Cup Money Real? What Small Business Owners Need to Know Before Kickoff

    FIFA called it the equivalent of 104 Super Bowls. But with kickoff less than a month away, nearly 80% of hotels across all 11 U.S. host cities are reporting bookings below forecast. International fans are staying home. And the economic picture looks very different than it did six months ago. So what does that mean for the small business owner who was counting on this moment? In this episode of The Color Between the Lines, Esther Dillard sits down with Genera Moore Founder and CEO of Renaissance Global and author of the Sports Renaissance Economic Playbook. Genera cold-called promoters in Dubai in 2009, landed Janet Jackson for the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and generated over $50 million in economic activity in five years. She breaks down exactly how entrepreneurs, creatives, educators, and community advocates can still tap into the World Cup economy with eyes wide open. What you'll hear: Why hotels are calling the World Cup a "non-event" and what that means for local businesses The 5% vs. 95% market principle that could change how you think about your customers How a bakery, a content creator, a hair care brand, and a sneaker business can all profit this summer Why football has literally stopped wars and what that tells us about culture and commerce The collaboration strategy for business owners who don't have the resources yet What it really means to be in a position to receive The Sports Renaissance Economic Playbook is FREE download it at sportsrenaissance.com Browse educator discussion guides and lesson plans built around conversations like this one search ColorBtwLinesMarket on Etsy. Get free resources delivered to your inbox subscribe at substack.com/@iamestherdillard Listen on iHeart Radio and everywhere you get your podcasts.

    16 min
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About

The Color Between the Lines with Esther Dillard is a storytelling podcast that explores the histories, voices, and truths that often go unheard—but deeply shape our world.*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" tabindex="-1" dir="auto" data-turn-id="4e29b2f2-7c46-4232-803b-4c51b0aa0f0d" data-testid="conversation-turn-6" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant"> Hosted by award-winning journalist and educator Esther Dillard, the show features thoughtful conversations with authors, activists, cultural leaders, and change-makers who use story to inform, challenge, and connect. Each episode goes beyond headlines to uncover the deeper context behind culture, history, and current events—helping listeners understand not just what happened, but why it matters. Listeners come away with a clearer understanding of how storytelling influences public opinion, policy, education, and identity. The podcast also offers insight into how stories can be used more intentionally—in advocacy, leadership, creative work, and everyday life—to communicate with clarity, build trust, and create impact. If you’re curious about history, culture, and the power of narrative to shape perspective and possibility, The Color Between the Lines invites you to listen more closely—and hear what’s always been there.

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