Race to Social Justice

Ray Solomon, a legal history scholar, recounts his early years growing up in the Mississippi delta region of Arkansas, the location of a September 19, 1919 Elaine Massacre of 200 Black people, an event which generated a U.S. Supreme Court case that laid the foundation for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education case.

Entrepreneur and equity consultant Jill Meriweather describes how her mother’s mentoring and early church education gave her pride in being a Black woman and the inspiration to apply to Harvard and dedicate her life’s work to childhood education. In the process, she gives us a tutorial on contemporary issues of race.

Eric Doherty, a law enforcement officer from Washington State takes you with him right into the neighborhood, sharing the choices he has to make in policing, and candidly describes what “reform” should look like in reaction to the “Defund the Police” narrative.

Ana Pujols McKee, M.D., a nationally-prominent physician executive whose Puerto Rican parents cherished her as a person of color, and The Honorable Theodore (“Ted”) McKee, a Black Chief Judge of the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals, share how their respective education and career paths overcame discriminatory obstacles and how discriminatory practices continue to impact their respective professions.

Clinton Drees, an active member of the Philadelphia LGBTQ community and educator, speaks candidly about how as a young man he navigated within anti-gay environments and describes the variety of, and dynamics within, the “alphabet” of people in the LGBTQ community.

Sha Alheem, a/k/a “Goldie Pipes”, a singer/songwriter from Houston, describes how his rich music repertoire and varied style has: deep roots in his family; the gospel, soul, blues and rock music he heard growing up; and slavery and African drumming. Enjoy a few examples from his new album too!

Marion Biglan, an executive coach, talks candidly about growing up white in the south, her work as founding executive director of Teach for America in Chicago and her transformative work teaching white people about racism and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Tim Massaquoi, a retired NFL player and founding social worker at KIPP High School in Camden, NJ, shares his race experiences growing in a Black environment in Newark, NJ and a White environment in Allentown, PA and as an elite athlete and professional counselor to traumatized youth.

In tandem with the first podcast, Mr. White digs into the race-related personal and career experiences of John Kepner, a 75-year-old retired health care executive/consultant/lawyer who, though a progressive “child of the ’60’s, only recently has come to grips with the benefits of white privilege.

In this kick-off Race to Social Justice podcast, John Kepner, “The White Guy”, interviews Keva White, “The Black Guy”, exploring Keva’s early years in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood, the challenges of an all-white high school and college and other critical underpinnings of his calling to promote racial justice knowledge through education.