Featured image: A photo from the Atlanta Constitution, showing three National Guardsmen defending six black prisoners, whose tale forms the core of Blood at the Root (Patrick’s research began with this photo).
This week’s show starts with Drew University professor and author Patrick Phillips, taking a deep look at his new book Blood at the Root. The novel covers the expulsion of all black residents from Forsyth County, Georgia, which began in violence in 1912 and lasted up through the 1980s. In his expansive historical research, Patrick talks with the descendants of whites and blacks who participated in the evictions, and his book analyzes the deep societal divide that still hangs over modern America. How did this twisted series of events happen, and what can its still-lingering consequences tell us about race in the USA?
Otherwise, the show features exclusively Islamic music, and shares science news (from Saturn to pond goop in Washington) and local science events as always.
Specially recommended extra content:
- American racism is not confined to the South, as detailed in James Loewen’s book Sundown Towns.
- Those making the Great Migration away from the South could rarely escape the supremacist culture they fled: see The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson for more.
- Forsyth County was featured on Oprah in 1987 in this disturbing video.
- Shrimp prices vary when fertilizers deplete oxygen in the sea, a fact only recently shown with statistics.
- Previously classified data on solar weather is now available from GPS satellites! Check it out on data.gov.
The playlist can be found online at WPRB.com or below.
These Vibes Are Too Cosmic 