Perspectives with Condace Pressley

In 1974 John Egerton wrote a book called the Americanization of Dixie. In 2022, Pulitzer Prize-winner Cynthia Tucker and award winning author Fry Gaillard carry that work forward in their book, The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance. In this work they take a deep dive into Nixon's Southern Strategy, the party of Reagan, the backlash against Barack Obama and so much mor...

Mark Adam Wood aka 'The Captain' is one of the founding members of the funk band, Lakeside. The group will be performing along with Cameo and Confunkshun at the Mable House Amphitheatre on May 29. The band is originally from Dayton, Ohio and has been around for more than 40 years. He takes us back to the band's formation, their nine hit albums and the performers' balance between playing the hits a...

During their lifetimes, the late C.T. and Octavia Vivian collected more than 6,000 books on African American literature, history, poetry and more. The C.T. and Octavia Vivian Museum and Archives will honor their life and their legacy. DeAna Jo Vivian, their daughter-in-law heads the archive and recently honored authors including Natasha Trethewey, Taylor Branch, Tayari Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates and...

We first met Carmen Hope Thomas several years ago when we talked about her book, "Why Marry a Man You Don't Need." Fast forward to 2022 when we learn Thomas one night went to sleep with a headache and fatigue, and woke up completely blind the next morning. She found out her blindness was due to a brain tumor, and she was rushed to emergency surgery. After surgery, Carmen lost her hair and found re...

She’s been called one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. Her debut novel, THE HATE U GIVE, started as a senior project in college. It was later acquired in a 13-publisher auction and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. THE HATE U GIVE was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by George Tillman, Jr. The Hate U Give (2017) follows Starr Carter, a te...

Why are some people so good with technology? In the prevailing view, the answer is “natural ability”—and the lion’s share of those gifted just happen to be affluent white and Asian males. Beyond popular opinion, this assumption dominates education and the workplace, which not only puts women and other racial and ethnic groups at a disadvantage but also makes it harder to fight against inequities i...

On Easter Sunday we talk with Thomas Fellows. Fellows is an Atlanta native now living in Texas. He has written nine books which seek to interweave the Bible, his faith, history and literature. We talk about 2 of his books, one based on a small character in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird and the other based on the criminal who was crucified with Christ and asked for forgiveness.

Ambassador Andrew Young recently celebrated his 90th birthday with a weeklong celebration across the city. To mark the milestone, Young collaborated with AJC race and culture reporter Ernie Suggs and longtime friend Don Bermudez to write "The Many Lives of Andrew Young" available where you find books today. Suggs talks about the urgency in writing this book now with the recent passing of the Rev....

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta joins WSB Radio in its centennial celebration. Messages from the church have been on the radio and exclusively on WSB for a century. It is the oldest, and longest running radio ministry in the world. My guest is Pastor Tony Sundermeier. We talk about how the church will observe the milestone as well as the challenges in reaching the lost in the 21st century.

Black men have the lowest life expectancy of any major demographic group in the United States, as CDC figures affirm. Based on Census Bureau projections, the life expectancy for a Black American male born in 2020 is 74 years, nearly five years less than the life expectancy for a white newborn male. In JUST HEALTH: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America author Dayna Bowen Matthew makes a strong...

Georgia Congressman David Scott and Christopher Nunn, Executive Director of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs join Perspectives to discuss the new Georgia Housing Assistance Program. Federal legislation passed allocates $354 million dollars to Georgia homeowners in need. The money may be used to catch up on mortgage or rent payments and may be used to pay some utilities. Applicants must...

Dr. Jaqueline Dow is a research scientist who cares deeply about women's s health. When life circumstances dealt her a surprising blow, Dr. Dow was prepared to pivot with her passion: JDow fitness. Her goal is for women to look good and feel good in their clothes, especially two years at home in active wear. She launched an athleisure line that is featured in Target as part of the company's DE&I i...

Dr. E. Dewey Smith is a minister working to end the human trafficking in our community. He is pastor of the House of Hope in Atlanta and Macon. In 2013, Dr. Smith launched The Tabitha's House, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, counseling and support to young girls rescued from human trafficking. His congregation is one of the few churches in the nation that owns a resource center and...

What began as a single daily email of encouragement to a cancer patient and friend has turned into a movement of moments to encourage many. Susan Lax is a counselor who works with those touched by illness, grief and loving through death. From the one note to a friend there is now Morning Inspiration and a book, A Heart's Landscape: An invitation into the Garden of Moments.

Joining me for this episode are authors Kimberlee Williams and Debby Irving. Kimberlee's new book is "Dear White Woman, Please Come Home." It is a series of 40 letters to a fictional missing white sister. Williams explores with many emotions how white women, often despite their best intentions signal to her and other Black women to proceed with caution when around them. These fictional letters are...

As we round out black history month is DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond. Before becoming the DeKalb CEO, he served in the Georgia General Assembly and was the first African American elected to statewide office without having been appointed to the position first. He’s transformed the state department of family and children services, the labor department and the DeKalb county schools. But that’s not why...

Richard Hicks leads InspirEDU a nonprofit organization working to close the digital divide in our community. Never had this become more apparent than during this pandemic when students and families did not have access to technology and/or the internet to live and to learn. Next we meet 2 Sisters of the Skies. There are fewer than 200 black female pilots on the flight deck and this nonprofit is wor...

On Feb 13, we meet Leah Henderson, children's author. Her book is A "Daddy Speaks Love" and is a delightfully illustrated story about the importance of a father's love for his daughter. In our conversation we also learn about Henderson's other work and her passions. Then we head over to the Alliance Theater where now through February 27th on the Coca Cola Stage is the story of Toni Stone, the firs...

My guest is Kimberly Jones. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the aftermath of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Brianna Taylor and far too many others. In six minutes and 46 seconds jones captured the hearts, minds and spirit of a community coming to grips with the racial reckoning that is upon us. Kimberly jones is Atlanta-based. She’s an activist and now an autho...

COVID fatigue is real and it's having an impact on our kids. One metro Atlanta company is working with school systems in Georgia and across the country to make remote learning easier and more accessible to students as well as serving as a one stop repair shop. Stratix frees up teachers to teach and IT staff to work on desktops, not mobile devices. Next, he's one to watch on the Barnes and Noble Fe...

More than one-third of Georgia parents with young children say they or someone in their family has had to quit a job, not take a job, or greatly change jobs in the past year because of problems with childcare. The ongoing pandemic has only aggravated the problem. For more than a decade, GEEARS, the Georgia early education alliance for ready students, works to inspire and to provide leadership for...

The year was 1964 and the stakes were high. This was the last and only chance for David Harris. He wrestled with being forthright about his race. After all, with his light skin, wavy hair, and green eyes, he could pass for white. But Harris was determined to fly airplanes as a black male pilot – even though in 1964 black men were not commercial airline pilots. This is the story Michael Cottman tel...

He's performed with the greatest jazz musicians: DIzzy Gillespie, Betty Buckley, Lou Rawls and many more. What drives Kenny Werner, artistic director of the Effortless Mastery Institute at Berklee College of Music is not playing the instrument, but becoming the instrument. His book, Becoming the Instrument: Lessons on Self-Mastery from Music to Life mixes his philosophical, spiritual perspective w...

Thursday, January 6 at 8pm on ABC "Women of the Movement, a six-episode limited series event premiers. It is based on the true story of Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley. For many, it is an unknown story. Till was a 14 year old boy murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman. The men arrested and charged with the crime were acquitted. Last year, the Justice Departme...

In America's Original Sin, author John Rhodehamel examines the life of John Wilkes Booth and his motive for the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. Rhodhamel argues Booth was a White Supremacist and his fear of the integration of a Black community under Lincoln threatened the life he and others like him enjoyed. Next we talk with Karen Comer Lowe, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Atlanta's...