Destination Freedom Black Radio Days

After a global race war the year is 2071. We find a world full of life chips, skin sealers and the beige nation. The world has tried to eliminate all the dark people. There are no traces of dark skinned people, or are there? Cages is an audio drama written by Kenya Fashaw and directed by donnie l. betts. This episode is co-produced, edited and mixed by Maurice Smith. The cast included Nadiya Jacks...

I’m donnie l. betts. "Now I've been very lucky in my life to meet some of my artistic and scholarly heroes. People like August Wilson, Sonia Sanchez, Grace Lee Boggs, and Oscar Brown Junior. Next on the Eclectic, I sit in conversation with another one of my creative idols. He is the co-creator of the Immersive Theater experience Theater of the Mind as well as Here Lies Love and American Utopia. An...

We are joined by Andrew J. Scoville, a NYC-based, Chicago-born theater director and creator of original work. He specializes in immersive layouts, technological landscapes, and hybrid-genre theater-making with an emphasis on integrating science ideas into theatrical experiences. Current projects: Money Heist: The Experience (at One Hanson Place in Brooklyn- association with Netflix, Fever and JJLA...

On this episode of The Eclectic, I'm joined by Charlie Miller, the Executive Director & Curator of Off-Center and part of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Executive Team. Off-Center was originally conceived by Miller and former DCPA Theatre Company Artistic Producer Emily Tarquin, who is now artistic producer at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. Off Center produces artistic work that is surp...

As a follow up to S3 Ep1, this episode features a concert by Lionel Young, Roy Hightower, and Otis Taylor recorded live directly following the audio drama The Tale of Stackalee. Lionel Young Mr. Young has won numerous awards including The Young Artist Award (Pittsburgh Symphony); The Concerto Contest (Carnegie-Mellon); The Passamenic Award (Branchwood String Quartet); and the award for the Best Bl...

As a man, the lowlife pimp and murderer Lee Shelton has all but sunk into obscurity. However, as raised up by more than a century of popular culture, the righteous killer Stagger Lee has become an icon to generations, who see in the folk character defiance of authority, pride of self, and strength in the face of adversity. In this episode we hear Richard Dunham take on this larger-than-life figure...

This is donnie betts producer-director of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. From time to time we like to share one of our shows from our archives. Here is a special one. This episode features Lionel Young, winner of the 2008 and 2011 International Blues Challenge, plus numerous classical and blues awards. The EP also features Blues great Otis Taylor and his daughter Cassie. Leroy Robert "Satch...

This is donnie l. betts, producer-director of Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. Three years ago I reached out to writer composer T. Carlis Roberts to create a piece for the series Destination Freedom Black Radio Days. T said they had a piece that had been living with them for some time. STONO.   STONO is an audio-ritual exploring the eponymous 1739 slave rebellion. While typically depicted as...

Albert Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were pianists, and he had learned to play by the age of ten. His interest in boogie-woogie is attributed to his close friendship with Meade Lux Lewis and also his father's interest in the style. Both Albert and Meade would practice together on the piano in the Ammons household. From the age of ten, Ammons learned about chords by marking the...

This episode features a conversation with the writers of the three part series Give Me Liberty: A Freeman Story, John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death inspired som...

Gerardo Muñoz, 2021 Colorado Teacher of the Year. Gerardo A. Muñoz of Denver, Colorado, is a high school and middle school social studies teacher at the Denver Center for International Studies (DCIS) at Baker in the Denver Public Schools (DPS) district. He has taught every grade from 6-12 and currently teaches grades 7 and 10-to 12. His classes include concurrent enrollment in ethnic studies, Adva...

The Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday of May every year. Folks may be familiar with the fine clothes, big hats, and of course the fast horses. But did you know the first 10 winners of the Derby were Black? The first 3 time winner was Issac Murphy. Many consider Murphy the greatest American jockey of all time. By his own account, Murphy won 44% of his races. Racing historians can only ve...

Jice Johnson is the Founder and CVO of the Black Business Initiative and Principle in the New Community Transformation Fund - Denver. Jice is a U.S Army Veteran, a mother of three, and an astute businesswoman based in Denver, Colorado. We discuss Black Financial Power and investment. Jice has dedicated her life to building a strong economic base in the Black Community. Playing a vital role as an a...

Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story, part 3 of 3, is the second chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death i...

Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story, part 2 of 3, is the second chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death i...

Give Me Liberty: A Free Man's Story part 1 of 3 is the first chapter of the audio drama of historical fiction written by John and Sydney Futrell. The piece was inspired by real events, as described in genealogy documents preserved by John's mother. As the story goes, John's great, great, great, great grandfather was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry who’s famous quote Give Liberty or Give Me Death insp...

Next on The Eclectic from Destination Freedom Black Radio Days is Idris Goodwin, a playwright, director, break beat poet and educator. He is the Director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College and a 2021 United States Artist Fellow. Idris is a highly sought-after writer for multi-generational audiences, produced and commissioned by Regional, Community and Academic Theater ins...

Next on The Eclectic from Destination Freedom Black Radio Days is the Honorable Judge Gary Jackson. He is a Senior Judge in the Denver County Court. We discuss his 50-year legal career and as he describes it, being the only Black person in the room. The Eclectic is a companion podcast to Destination Freedom Black Radio Days that features interviews with difference makers, artists, authors, bold th...

We asked Harold Field to join The Eclectic to speak about the Tulsa Race Riot and Black Wall Street. For years Harold has led conversations on Race with the Tuesday Race Group. He works for reparations for former enslaved Africans, and he advises on DEI issues for organizations. His list of involvement in the Colorado community and national community is far too long to list. The Eclectic is a comp...

As a companion podcast to Destination Freedom Black Radio Days comes The Eclectic. Fresh for your ears: Aisha Ahmad-Post is the Executive Director of the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver. Previously, she was the inaugural Director of the Ent Center for the Arts at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Producer of Public Programs for The...

 This interview is a rebroadcast from 2020. The Department of Justice recently closed the case of Emmett Till who was brutally murdered 66 years ago in August 1955. This episode features a conversation with Mayor Johnny Thomas of Glendora, Mississippi about Emmett Till. The Black Bayou Bridge is the infamous bridge where Emmett Till's body was disposed of and it is located in Glendora, MS. This br...

As a companion podcast to Destination Freedom Black Radio Days comes The Eclectic. First Up: Emmett Till was murdered 65 years ago on August 28 1955 in Money, Mississippi. At only 14 years old, he was kidnapped, brutally tortured, lynched, and killed during a racially motivated hate crime that ultimately helped launch the modern-day civil rights movement. On August 30, 2019, Eli McClain was killed...

Recently the US Justice Department closed its investigation into the murder of Emmett Till and said that no new charges would be filed. This episode was produced in Season 1 as Episode 15. Due to this recent decision we are releasing the audio drama again. Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-white Mi...

Destination Freedom Black Radio Days examines issues facing communities of color with James “Step Back” Williams. In the early days of Covid 19, some people suffered because of human error and or biases. This is the story of one patient journey who suffered from both. This original story, based on real facts, comes from producer/director donnie l. betts and features Ghandia Johnson, Don Randle and...

The Lesson, written by Kenya Fashaw Racial biases spark a fuse when a 17 year old Black student starts his first day at a new High School named after a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard. The student finds himself in unsolicited trouble and is confronted by a Black male Principal. The Principal begins to lecture the student and believes he is teaching the student a lesson but instead, receives a lesson fro...