The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp Ken Kemp

In this second installment of Ken's special series, TRUTH QUEST - Exploring the History of Race in America, we launch the Civil Rights tour of the South in New Orleans.  The Whitney Plantation in St. John the Baptist Parish is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of slavery in Louisiana. You'll hear an in-depth description of the exhibits, displays, and elegant plantation house and how those displays impacted our team of pilgrims. In this episode, we are invited to a team "debrief," in which several share their personal responses to a history that has been hidden until now. Then Ken takes us to the French Quarter on a bustling Saturday evening in the heart of the French Quarter. Under the tutelage of master-guide, Leon A. Waters, the team wanders down the Mississippi River and Washington Artillery Park, to Jackson Square, by the St. Louis Cathedral, the Federal Courthouse, and the Slave Exchange, along the narrow streets filled with iconic architecture, surrounded by eager crowds, street vendors and musicians, lively multitudes lined up for the annual Pride Month Parade - New Orleans style.  SHOW NOTES
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TRUTH QUEST brings Ken's participation on the Civil Rights Tour of the South to his podcast. This is the first of five episodes, bringing sixteen voices (of 39 travelers) to the microphone. Each will share what motivated them to join the tour, how the history and sites impacted them, and the commitments that emerge from this quest. In future episodes, we'll visit the iconic sites, from New Orleans to Jackson to Memphis to Montgomery to Selma, and finally, Birmingham.

See SHOW NOTES to meet our contributors, see our itinerary, and enjoy photos. 
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Ken takes ten minutes to catch his valued listeners up on what's been happening in his world and what's coming up in the podcast. He's been busy putting together a five-part series on the Civil Rights Tour. It's intended to counter the current attack on racial history in America, where CRT has been demonized and talk about race has been silenced in schools, libraries, and government agencies. Ken's working titles are "Truth Quest" or maybe "Wade in the Water."
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There is a heaviness in the air - Betsey and Ken have personal connections to Highland Park, Illinois. The review events of July 4th and the horrific shooting by yet another 18-year-old with powerful weapons, legally obtained. America's obsession with guns is nothing new. The dark web is a place that glamorizes and glorifies violence. Ken talks about two California friends who visited Top's Market in Buffalo, New York, and met with a victim's family. Anger can be channeled into purposeful change. The January 6 hearings have filled in the detail with powerful witnesses who have exposed the planning which led to the insurrection. While conservatives (Fox News) complain about the disruption of Justice Kavanaugh's dinner by protesters, at the same time they downplay the assault on the US Capitol. All of this hard news seems to be prompting a positive response - we've got work to do as the mid-terms approach.
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Slayer Pete on Fox News Sunday
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Ken welcomes back Nate Manderson, the guest who became one of Ken's most popular interviews. An outspoken and deeply committed Christian, Nate writes regularly for Salon.com.  He's a fierce critic of the brand of conservative evangelicalism that lines up behind the former President and (his) Supreme Court. According to Nate, many evangelicals have become modern-day Pharisees. Proximity to power becomes more important than Christian character.  Nate gives his take on the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Ken and Nate share their separate experiences in Glendora, Mississippi, where Emmett Till was brutally murdered. Ken concludes that Nate's life is remarkably "Jesus-like." His writing has called out struggling pastors, wounded Christians, and curious seekers - he's an encourager and thinker of the first rank.  SHOW NOTES
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After a break, Betsey Newenhuyse is back for Beach Talk. Ken reviews his experience on the Civil Rights Tour of the South. The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol called a special meeting, introducing Cassidy Hutchinson, top aid to Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff to the former President. Her testimony takes us into the White House as the violent attack on the Capitol as Congress convened to affirm the state-certified electors of the Electoral College. Ken and Betsey sort through the evidence. It's reminiscent of the Watergate Hearings and the breakout testimony of White House Counsel, John Dean. They also review the decision of the Supreme Court to reverse Roe V. Wade, exposing the court's conservative majority as a political friend of the "Pro-Life" political faction. It's the Federalist Society's dream come true - and more is to come. The celebration and claims that the Pro-Life movement will suddenly provide care for needy women sound hollow and disingenuous. Lucy Lark turns 6 months.  
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