Native Drums

Savannah Grove Baptist Church

Explore the powerful symbolism of drums in African American culture, once tools of communication and resistance during the darkest times of slavery. We confront the lingering shadows of economic exploitation and the pervasive influence of media and religion in controlling black narratives. Let’s reexamine the role of the black church and its mission to fight systemic injustices, urging a return to prophetic ministries that prioritize humanity and community over material wealth. This podcast episode is not just a reflection of the past but a call to action for the future, urging us to build a more just and liberated world.

  1. قبل يوم واحد

    How Girl Scouts Are Fighting For Corporal Waverly Woodson’s Medal Of Honor

    Send a text Courage deserves a clear record. We sit down with historian and philanthropist Lloyd Gill to follow a remarkable path from a family’s memorial scholarship to a full‑scale community campaign to honor Corporal Waverly Woodson Jr., the Black medic who worked 30 straight hours on Omaha Beach saving lives while wounded. What began as a student research challenge turned into a mission for Girl Scout Troop 423, who wrote to museums, military commands, and even heads of state to document a story that bureaucracy lost and a warehouse fire tried to erase. Across the conversation, we unpack the overlooked impact of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the all‑Black unit whose balloons forced enemy aircraft higher and shielded the landings from strafing runs. We trace Woodson’s path from scoring high in training and being blocked from a commission due to segregation, to serving as a medic attached to the 320th on D‑Day. The details are visceral: shrapnel wounds before he reached shore, a makeshift field hospital in the sand, amputations and artery ties under fire, and reviving drowning British soldiers before finally collapsing. Commanders recommended top honors, a three‑star general advanced the case for the Medal of Honor, and yet the trail stalled—downgraded, delayed, and eventually buried under lost records. What stands out is how everyday people can move history. Lloyd lays out exactly how listeners can help: visit house.gov, find your representative, and ask them to push the Medal of Honor upgrade and accept alternative documentation. Share the story with veterans’ groups, churches, schools, and civic leaders. Tap the network effect of social media and local press to make it impossible to ignore. Along the way, you’ll learn about D‑Day tactics, award protocols, and how a determined troop of Girl Scouts turned research into advocacy. If this story moved you, help us move Congress. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review with one action you’ll take today to support Corporal Waverly Woodson Jr.’s rightful recognition. Support the show

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  2. ٢٥ يناير

    Four Voices That Changed American Literature

    Send us a text Four voices. One enduring throughline: language as liberation. We shine a bright, human light on Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker—women who transformed American literature and widened the world’s sense of what stories can hold. We start with Maya Angelou, tracing a path from childhood silence to a global stage. Her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings broke barriers for Black women in nonfiction, while her poem On the Pulse of Morning echoed from a presidential inauguration. Beyond the page, we explore her work as a performer, civil rights organizer, and teacher, and how travel, mentorship, and ceaseless experimentation fueled a life where genre served the truth rather than confined it. Zora Neale Hurston emerges as the folklorist who made field notes sing. From Harlem salons to Florida porches, Haiti to Jamaica, her ear for vernacular and eye for ritual shaped Their Eyes Were Watching God and a body of work that honored everyday Black life. We unpack the hard years—controversy, poverty, and an unmarked grave—and the later revival led by Alice Walker that returned Hurston to the canon, influencing generations of writers and readers. Toni Morrison’s arc moves through scholarship, editing, and a breathtaking sequence of novels—The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved—that confront history’s hauntings with lyrical rigor. We talk about her Nobel Prize, her defense of free expression, and how her classrooms and editorial rooms became incubators for voices too often dismissed. Finally, we turn to Alice Walker, whose The Color Purple changed how tenderness and survival could live on the page, then leapt to film and stage. Her essays, poetry, children’s books, and activism reveal a writer committed to empathy and unflinching truth. If you love literature, cultural history, or simply the kind of story that stays in your bones, this episode offers context, connection, and reasons to read deeper. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reading spark, and leave a review telling us which book you’re picking up next. Support the show

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  3. ١١ يناير

    Exploring A Century Of Black Achievement And Why Studying It Today Still Matters

    Send us a text A hundred years after Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week, we step back and ask a simple question with big consequences: how do we choose what to remember?  Educator and former coach Daryl Page  charts the living map of Black history—its origins, its overlooked corners, and the practical ways we can study and share it with the next generation. We begin with the roots: why February, how the month became official in 1976, and the milestones that give it muscle—from the Greensboro sit-ins and Rosa Parks’s catalytic act to Jackie Robinson’s debut and the elections of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Daryl brings it home with a curated reading list for classrooms and book clubs: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, James Baldwin’s The Rockpile, Langston Hughes’s Cora Unashamed, and Eugenia Collier’s Marigolds. Each piece is grounded in place—Arkansas, Harlem, Iowa, rural Maryland—turning geography into character and history into lived experience. We also spotlight the backbone of movements: Black women who organized, calculated, invented, and led. From Harriet Tubman and Ella Baker to Katherine Johnson, Marie Van Brittan Brown, and contemporary trailblazers, their work links abolition, civil rights, STEM innovation, and cultural change. And we trace the power of sport to challenge systems, celebrating pioneers like Jesse Owens, Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Wilma Rudolph, Bill Russell, and modern icons such as Serena and Venus Williams, Simone Biles, and Michael Jordan—athletes who turned excellence into advocacy. This conversation blends story, strategy, and actionable ideas. If you’re a teacher, parent, or lifelong learner, you’ll leave with a reading plan, historical context, and ways to use media to spark curiosity. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves great books and big ideas, and leave a review with the title you’ll read first. What will you study this month? Support the show

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  4. ٠٧‏/١٢‏/٢٠٢٥

    Inside The Education Oversight Machine: Scores, Standards, And Spending

    Send us a text Education isn’t a scoreboard—it’s a future. Representative Terry Alexander joins us to open the black box of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee, explain how standards get set, and question whether rising rankings reflect real learning or just better spin. We talk plainly about what data can and can’t tell us, where budgets actually land, and why too many graduates still need remedial classes even as spending climbs. From the difference between standards and curriculum to the messy politics of federal shakeups and states’ rights, we follow the threads that tie policy to classrooms. The voucher debate takes center stage: who truly benefits when public dollars follow a student to private schools, and who gets left out when families must cover the gap? Terry offers a grounded view on equity, access, and accountability—across teachers, administrators, the state, and parents—showing how any weak link undermines the whole. We also look forward. Community-led charter schools, especially those anchored by Black churches and local partners, emerge as a powerful model to pair high standards with relevant, culturally rooted learning. We spotlight Florence’s visible progress—new facilities, stronger performance—and talk about how resources, libraries, and civic will can turn buildings into real opportunity. If we want students ready for a global, digital world, we need to fund classrooms first, teach for mastery over metrics, and build schools that fit our kids. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find us. What’s the one change you’d make to your local schools today? Support the show

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    How A Community Program Rebuilds Bonds At Home

    Send us a text Real change at home often starts with small, repeatable habits: a shared meal, a calm conversation, a clear boundary. We invited Elder Alexis Pipkins to walk us through the Strengthening Families Program and how 11 structured sessions help parents and kids trade conflict for connection. From the first dinner to the final booster, this skills-based approach (not therapy) leans on the five protective factors—parental resilience, social connections, concrete support, parenting knowledge, and social-emotional development—to make families stronger where it counts most: daily life. We talk about who can join—any caregiver of a child aged six to seventeen—and what to expect each week: parents and children learn in separate groups, then reunite to practice family skills. You’ll hear practical tools that work in real homes, like reward charts that motivate, family meetings that give children a voice, and positive discipline that teaches instead of punishes. We dive into ACEs and risk factors with clear language, and we show how coaches deliver the model with fidelity while adapting to local needs across Lee, Florence, Darlington, Williamsburg, and Sumter Counties. Barriers don’t get ignored here; they get removed. Site coordinators help with transportation, gas cards, childcare, and connections to utilities assistance, food banks, and partners who sponsor meals. We also spotlight male engagement, volunteer opportunities, and why the dinner table is more than furniture—it’s a ritual that anchors listening, choices, and bonding. Stay to the end for enrollment details, upcoming cycles hosted at Savannah Grove, and ways to refer a family through Children’s Trust. If this conversation sparked an idea for your home or your community, share it with a friend, subscribe for more stories like this, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more families find a seat at the table. Support the show

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  6. ١٦‏/١١‏/٢٠٢٥

    Consistency Is The Quiet Superpower Of Fatherhood

    Send us a text What if fatherhood support felt practical, human, and free of judgment? We sat down with the Man to Man Fatherhood Initiative team to explore how their intervention specialists help dads steady work, court, and home—so kids see a parent who shows up consistently and with purpose. We start where many fathers need help most: employment. The team runs a hands‑on job development boot camp that covers resumes, interviews, body language, punctuality, and the hidden world of digital footprints. Employers visit for live conversations, Friday brings a confidence‑boosting graduation, and financial literacy ties it all together so a new job turns into a lasting career. Alongside this, Reality Check goes into high schools and adult education to map real‑life choices—education, job, marriage, then children—while also preparing teens to navigate co‑parenting, child support, and detours when life happens out of order. Legal stress often shadows families, so we dig into how Man to Man supports parents through family court, visitation modifications, CPS treatment plans, and up‑to‑date child support guidance. This is practical help paired with dignity: clear information, realistic timelines, and connections to legal aid, housing, and vocational rehab. Health anchors the work too. Men’s mental health groups, blood pressure and cancer screenings with community partners, and a welcoming space to decompress give fathers room to breathe and plan. From Florence to Darlington, Marlboro, Dillon, and Marion counties—and even inside prisons for reentry planning—the program tracks progress, serves meals during sessions, and stays present long after the paperwork. Results are measurable and moving: licenses restored, jobs kept, parent‑child bonds rebuilt, and teens thinking further ahead. Services are 100% free, backed by strong reporting and community support, as the initiative celebrates 25 years of impact. If this mission resonates, help spread the word—subscribe, share this episode with a friend who could use it, and leave a review to help more dads find a path forward. Your support helps a father take the next step. Support the show

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    How A Veteran Turned Counseling Into A Movement For Families

    Send us a text What does it take to rebuild the village around a family—practically, not just in words? We sat down with Representative Robert Williams to trace the journey from a fatherhood , to a comprehensive Families Engagement Program serving parents, youth, veterans, and seniors across the PEE DEE  area. The throughline is simple and powerful: exposure, consistency, and community support can change a household’s trajectory. We dive into school‑based mentoring where neighbors, not teachers, meet students where they are and open doors to real careers—medicine, broadcasting, public service, and the skilled trades. Sports mentoring in golf, tennis, and basketball becomes a training ground for discipline and teamwork. Monthly workshops focus on relationships, conflict reduction, and social skills that cut through online noise and reduce harmful peer dynamics. The program also champions youth volunteering to reintroduce a service mindset—small acts like carrying groceries or holding a door that rebuild trust and strengthen soft skills employers value. Money skills anchor long‑term change. We unpack budgeting basics, habits for saving even small amounts, and the path from credit repair to homeownership so families can build equity and legacy. Environmental awareness projects at local schools connect daily choices to community health. And for those who served and those in their golden years, we highlight resources, VA benefits navigation, mental health support, ceremonies that honor service, and practical transportation to medical appointments and activities. With plans for dedicated vans and an annual October golf tournament funding the mission, this is a blueprint for making care visible. If this vision of a living, working village resonates, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the show. What’s one small action you’ll take this week to strengthen a family near you? Support the show

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    Choice, Equity, And The Fight For Honest Classrooms

    Send us a text What if the single most powerful lever in education isn’t a new curriculum or app, but a teacher who truly knows the student? We sit down with Dr. Larry Jackson—former superintendent and now executive director of the PEE DEE Education Center—to explore how personal connection, consistent family “non-negotiables,” and community partnership lift kids higher than any quick fix. From interest inventories to real-life examples, he shows why engagement beats poverty, and why the best classrooms are built on trust, relevance, and care. We take a hard look at school choice and the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, tracing how tax dollars gave way to lottery funds and what that means for equity, public schools, and the future of honest curriculum. Dr. Jackson doesn’t stop at critique; he challenges churches and community anchors to seize the same opportunities, launch excellent schools, and protect rigorous, truthful learning. If the rules change, our communities can adapt—and lead. Technology and AI enter the spotlight as tools, not saviors. We talk about practical guardrails for academic integrity, the risk of outsourcing thinking, and smart ways to use digital resources to deepen, not dilute, student voice. Parents get a playbook too: homework expectations, summer learning, reading habits, and proactive communication that turns schools from silos into true partners. The takeaway is clear: when adults align—teachers, administrators, and families—students rise. If this conversation sparked ideas or resolve, share it with a parent, teacher, or pastor who cares about kids. Subscribe for more candid talks on education, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell us: what’s your top non-negotiable at home or in your classroom? Support the show

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حول

Explore the powerful symbolism of drums in African American culture, once tools of communication and resistance during the darkest times of slavery. We confront the lingering shadows of economic exploitation and the pervasive influence of media and religion in controlling black narratives. Let’s reexamine the role of the black church and its mission to fight systemic injustices, urging a return to prophetic ministries that prioritize humanity and community over material wealth. This podcast episode is not just a reflection of the past but a call to action for the future, urging us to build a more just and liberated world.