Our Common Ground Voices ::: Tuning the Conversation, Igniting the Black Voice

Tuning the Conversation, Igniting the Voice

OCG VOICES

For more than three decades, OUR COMMON GROUND has brought into conversation scholars, activists, organizers, journalists, authors, artists, theologians, attorneys, educators, cultural workers, movement veterans, public intellectuals, and people whose lived experience gave testimony to the realities of our time.

They were more than guests. They helped tune the conversation.

Their scholarship, analysis, witness, and experience deepened our understanding of the forces shaping Black life. They challenged assumptions, recovered history, exposed systems of power, sharpened our questions and helped inform strategies for freedom, justice, and self-determination.

Across generations and disciplines, these voices brought knowledge to the microphone—not simply to describe the world as it was, but to interrogate it, challenge it and imagine what might be possible.

Some joined us once. Others returned again and again, becoming recurring voices, interlocutors and colleagues in an ongoing conversation. Some came from the academy; others from movement work, journalism, law, faith communities, cultural practice and the front lines of struggle. Some brought the authority of scholarship. Others brought the authority of lived experience. Many brought both.

Together, they represent an extraordinary body of knowledge, memory, resistance and imagination.

They tuned the conversation.
They informed the strategies.
They ignited the voice.

What follows is an alphabetical record of the people who have joined OUR COMMON GROUND with Janice Graham, transforming truth and knowledge into “seeing” and to power for thousands of people. Voices that helped us examine our history, confront our present, and think more deliberately about the work required to build our future.

We call them OCG VOICES.

Tuning the Conversation. Igniting the Voice.

⇐ And they all get a badge.

A

HUNTER HAVELIN ADAMS III, Professor
Consciousness and cultural neuroscience researcher, educational consultant, social entrepreneur, lecturer and writer whose work explores the relationships among African-centered knowledge, consciousness, culture, neuroscience, health and human development. Adams is co-founder and Vice President of the Royal Circle Foundation, an international health and education organization established in 2002. His work brings scientific inquiry into conversation with African cultural and intellectual traditions.

OCG Conversations: Consciousness • Cultural Neuroscience • African-Centered Knowledge • Education • Health • Culture

MARISSA ALEXANDER
Criminal-justice reform advocate whose Florida prosecution became a nationally significant case involving domestic violence, self-defense, mandatory-minimum sentencing, and racial and gender disparities in the criminal legal system. Her case became an important organizing point for advocates examining how Black women and survivors of domestic violence are treated by the justice system.

OCG Conversations: Criminal Justice • Domestic Violence • Self-Defense • Black Women & the Law • Mandatory Minimums • Racial & Gender Justice
OCG Record: Original OCG interview; later rebroadcast on PowerView, May 15, 2012. Original broadcast date to be recovered.

DR. NA’IM AKBAR
Psychologist, author, educator and pioneering figure in African-centered psychology. Dr. Akbar’s scholarship examines the psychological consequences of racism and oppression, Black identity, cultural consciousness, education and the processes necessary for psychological liberation and self-determination.

OCG Conversations: African-Centered Psychology • Black Psychology • Identity • Education • Racism • Psychological Liberation • Black Self-Determination
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

MOLEFI KETE ASANTE, Ph.D.
Professor, author, and foundational theorist of Afrocentricity. At Temple University, Asante established the nation’s first doctoral program in African American Studies and became one of the most influential scholars in the development of African-centered approaches to history, culture and intellectual thought.

OCG Conversations: Afrocentricity • African-Centered Intellectual Thought OCG Record: March 3, 2009

B

DJENE RHYS BAJALAN, Ph.D.
Historian specializing in Middle Eastern affairs and Kurdish history and politics. His scholarship places Kurdish political development within the broader histories of empire, nationalism, ethnicity and Islam.

OCG Conversations: Middle East • Kurdish History • Geopolitics • Solidarity • Political History
OCG Record: September 4, 2021 — “As America Falls: Finding Solidarity”

ROSE BANKS
Mother of IRP6 member David Banks and an advocate for the six Black technology executives whose federal prosecution and imprisonment became the focus of a national justice campaign. Banks joined OCG to bring the family perspective to the case and the struggle for justice for the IRP6.

OCG Conversations: IRP6 • Criminal Justice • Federal Prosecution • Black Business • Incarceration • Family Advocacy • Racial Justice
OCG Record: January 25, 2014 — “The Case of the IRP6: When a Business Debt is Black, It Requires FBI Intervention?”

AJAMU BARAKA
Human-rights activist, organizer and political analyst whose work addresses racial justice, Black liberation, international human rights, U.S. foreign policy and movement building. Baraka has been a prominent advocate for understanding Black struggle within both a national and international human-rights framework.

OCG Conversations: Human Rights • Black Liberation • Racial Justice • International Affairs • U.S. Foreign Policy • Movement Building
OCG Record: December 13, 2014 — “Claiming Our Humanity”

JOHN H. BRACEY JR., Ph.D.
Historian and longtime professor of African American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose scholarship focused on Black nationalism, Black social movements, and African American intellectual history. Bracey was among the scholars who helped establish Black Studies as a serious academic discipline.

OCG Conversations: Black Nationalism • Black Studies • African American History
OCG Record: April 20, 2009 — Understanding Black Nationalism

ELLEN HODGSON BROWN, J.D.
Attorney, author and public-policy researcher whose work examines banking, debt, monetary policy, public banking and the structure of the financial system. Author of Web of Debt, Brown became a prominent advocate for public banking and for reconsidering how money and credit are created and controlled.

OCG Conversations: Banking & Debt • Monetary Policy • Financial Power • Public Banking • Economic Justice
OCG Record: June 2, 2012

OSCAR BROWN JR. — OCG Guest Co-Host
Legendary singer, songwriter, poet, playwright, actor and social commentator whose artistry joined Black music, politics, humor, history and social criticism. A singular figure in American cultural life, Brown used jazz, spoken word and theater to illuminate the Black experience and confront racism, poverty, politics and the contradictions of American democracy.

Brown’s relationship with OUR COMMON GROUND extended beyond a conventional interview. During the WPOM-AM 1600 era, Oscar Brown Jr. joined Janice Graham as OCG Guest Co-Host for an entire week, bringing his distinctive combination of music, wit, political analysis and cultural insight directly into the daily conversation.

OCG Conversations: Black Culture • Jazz • Music • Poetry • Theater • Politics • Race • Social Commentary • Black Arts
OCG Relationship: Guest Co-Host — one week
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

KIM BROWN
Journalist, broadcaster and political commentator whose work centers on Black politics, racial and economic justice, media, labor, electoral politics and movement struggles. Through independent media, Brown has brought a critical Black and working-class perspective to national political analysis.

OCG Conversations: Black Politics • Political Economy • Racial Justice • Labor • Movement Politics • Independent Journalism
OCG Record: October 9, 2021 — Burning It Down

C

Dr. DEIRDRE COOPER OWENS, Ph.D.
Historian, author, and scholar of the history of medicine whose work examines race, gender, slavery, reproductive medicine and Black women’s experiences within American medical history. Her acclaimed Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology documents how medical experimentation on enslaved Black women contributed to the development of American gynecology while restoring those women’s experiences to the historical record.

OCG Conversations: Black Women’s Health • Medical Racism • Slavery & Medicine • Reproductive Justice • Medical Ethics
OCG Record: May 16, 2020 — “One Side Dark, Other Side Hard: Black America in the GAP”

GEORGE E. CURRY
Award-winning journalist, editor, columnist and champion of the Black Press whose career placed him among the most influential African American journalists of his generation. Curry served as editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, where its uncompromising coverage confronted race, politics, criminal justice, and issues often marginalized by mainstream media. He later led the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service, and his syndicated column appeared in more than 200 Black newspapers. Curry was also the first African American elected president of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

His journalism could also become advocacy: Emerge’s sustained coverage of Kemba Smith’s case helped build national attention around the young woman’s severe federal drug sentence; President Bill Clinton ultimately commuted her sentence in 2000.

OCG Conversations: Black Journalism • Black Press • Race & Politics • Criminal Justice • Media • Civil Rights • Black Political Thought
OCG Era: BTR/Digital Era

TOMMY J. CURRY, Ph.D. — OCG Interlocutor
Philosopher, author, and leading scholar in the development of Black Male Studies. Curry’s scholarship challenges conventional approaches to race, gender, and Black masculinity and examines the racial, sexual, economic and institutional vulnerabilities of Black men and boys. His The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood received an American Book Award.

OCG Conversations: Black Male Studies • Black Masculinity • Race • Gender • Philosophy

D

WILLIAM A. “SANDY” DARITY JR., Ph.D.
Economist and leading scholar of racial economic inequality, the racial wealth gap, stratification economics and reparations. His scholarship has played a major role in developing the contemporary economic case for comprehensive Black reparations. With A. Kirsten Mullen, he co-authored From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century.

OCG Conversations: Black Economics • Racial Wealth Inequality • Reparations
OCG Record: 2009 • 2021

CARMEN DEL ROSARIO
Founder of Roots of Transformation, an activist whose work brought women, men and children together in efforts to confront violence and build peace within African communities. Her OCG conversation explored an approach to transformation that engaged men in challenging violence while working to protect and strengthen women, children and families.

OCG Conversations: Africa • Peacebuilding • Violence Against Women • Community Transformation • Women & Children • Men & Social Change
OCG Record: March 29, 2015 — “Teaching a New Peace in Africa and Hoping to Change a Nation”

Dr. RUTLEDGE M. DENNIS, Ph.D.
Sociologist whose scholarship encompasses race and ethnic relations, Black intellectual history, social theory, Du Bois, political sociology and the sociology of knowledge. His work examines how race, class, power and intellectual traditions shape American social life.

OCG Conversations: Reparations • Race • Social Theory • Black Intellectual History
OCG Record: June 12, 2021 — “Reparations: The Paradigm Shift”

CHAUNCEY DEVEGA — OCG Regular Voice
Political essayist, cultural critic, and commentator whose work examines race, American politics, popular culture, masculinity, democracy and white supremacy. Founder of We Are Respectable Negroes, DeVega brought political and cultural analysis to OCG as a regular Friday second-hour BTR voice.

OCG Conversations: Race & Politics • Popular Culture • White Supremacy • Democracy • Political Culture
OCG Record: BTR/Digital Era — Regular Friday Second-Hour Guest

Dr. TOMMY J. CURRY, Ph.D.
Philosopher, scholar, and author whose work critically examines race, Black masculinity, gender, racism and the intellectual traditions used to understand Black male life. His scholarship has challenged conventional frameworks in gender studies and Black feminist thought and developed new approaches to the study of Black men and boys.

OCG Conversations: Black Masculinity • Black Male Feminism • Black Liberation • Gender • Race • Philosophy • Black Intellectual Thought
OCG Record: September 20, 2014 — “Black Male Feminism and Black Liberation”

BRUCE A. DIXON
Journalist, political organizer, editor and veteran Black Power movement activist whose work addressed Black independent politics, electoral politics, movement organizing, mass incarceration and economic justice. A co-founder and managing editor of Black Agenda Report, Dixon helped build an influential independent Black political publication outside conventional party boundaries.

OCG Conversations: Black Power • Independent Black Politics • Movement Strategy • Political Economy • Black Journalism
OCG Record: November 19, 2016

DR. MARVIN DUNN — WPOM OCG Voice
Psychologist, historian, author, educator, filmmaker and community activist whose work has become an important record of Black life and racial history in Florida. Dr. Dunn spent 34 years at Florida International University, ultimately chairing its Department of Psychology, and became a leading scholar of Black Florida history. His books include Black Miami in the Twentieth Century, A History of Florida Through Black Eyes, and The Miami Riot of 1980: Crossing the Bounds.

His work has documented histories frequently omitted from conventional accounts of Florida, including racial violence, segregation, Black Miami and Rosewood. He founded the Miami Center for Racial Justice and developed Teach the Truth tours taking participants to sites associated with Florida’s history of racial violence.

OCG Conversations: Black Florida History • Race Relations • Miami • Racial Violence • Education • Black Historical Memory • Community Empowerment
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

E

Dr. CHRISTOPHER EMDIN, Ph.D.
Scholar, author, educator, and educational innovator known for reimagining how science is taught to urban youth. His work connects science education, hip-hop culture, race, identity, and culturally responsive teaching, recognizing students’ cultural knowledge and lived experience as educational assets.

OCG Conversations: Urban Education • Science Education • Hip-Hop Pedagogy • Black Youth • Educational Innovation
OCG Record: September 15, 2012

TORIN ELLIS
Diversity strategist, author, speaker, and organizational consultant whose work focuses on workplace equity, diversity and inclusion, talent acquisition, organizational culture and accountability. Ellis has challenged organizations to move beyond symbolic diversity efforts toward measurable institutional change.

OCG Conversations: Workplace Equity • Diversity & Inclusion • Employment • Organizational Change • Leadership • Race & the Workplace

CHRISTOPHER EVERETT
Filmmaker whose work has helped recover and preserve the history of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, the violent white-supremacist overthrow of Wilmington, North Carolina’s elected multiracial government. His work uses documentary storytelling to bring suppressed Black history into public memory.

OCG Conversations: Wilmington Massacre of 1898 • Black History • White Supremacy • Political Violence • Historical Memory
OCG Record: January 18, 2014 — “The Wilmington Massacre of 1898”

F

GLEN FORD — OCG Cross-Era Recurring Voice
Pioneering Black journalist, broadcaster, political commentator and co-founder and executive editor of Black Agenda Report. Ford’s work offered sustained analysis of Black politics, political economy, U.S. foreign policy, imperialism, capitalism and independent Black political thought.

OCG Conversations: Black Politics • Political Economy • International Affairs • Independent Black Journalism
OCG Record: WPOM + BTR/Digital Era — Recurring Voice; July 31, 2021 OCG memorial broadcast, “Remembering Glen Ford.”

NNENNA FREELON
Internationally acclaimed jazz vocalist, composer and multiple Grammy Award nominee known for her interpretive approach to jazz and the Great American Songbook. Her OCG appearance brought artistic experience into a larger conversation about Black music, culture and political expression.

OCG Conversations: Black Music • Culture • Political Movements
OCG Record: June 4, 2009 — with Pierce Freelon

PIERCE FREELON
Musician, educator and scholar whose work joins hip-hop, Black culture, education and political engagement. A member of The Beast, Freelon has used music and education as vehicles for cultural expression and community engagement.

OCG Conversations: Black Music • Political Movements • Hip-Hop • Education • Culture
OCG Record: June 4, 2009 — with Nnenna Freelon

G

LIA GAINES — OCG Cross-Era Recurring Voice
Community leader, economic-justice advocate and political commentator whose work has centered on Black civic participation, economic justice, community empowerment and Florida politics. Gaines brought a grounded community and political perspective to OCG across both its terrestrial and digital eras.

OCG Conversations: Black Florida Politics • Economic Justice • Community Organizing • Electoral Politics • Black Political Power
OCG Record: WPOM + BTR/Digital Era — Recurring Voice

KEVIN ALEXANDER GRAY — OCG Recurring Voice
Political organizer, author, activist and commentator whose work encompassed Black politics, grassroots organizing, electoral politics, racial and economic justice and independent Black political thought. A veteran South Carolina organizer, Gray became an important critic and analyst of American electoral politics and Black political leadership.

OCG Conversations: Black Politics • Electoral Politics • Movement Organizing • Racial Justice • Black Political Power
OCG Record: BTR/Digital Era — Recurring Voice

NORMAN GOLDMAN — Broadcasting Colleague
Attorney, nationally syndicated radio broadcaster and political commentator whose The Norman Goldman Show combined progressive political analysis with legal commentary and a strong emphasis on justice. Goldman joined OUR COMMON GROUND for a conversation about the changing character of American radio, consolidation and the loss of independent political voices from the public airwaves.

OCG Conversations: American Radio • Independent Media • Progressive Talk • Media Consolidation • Politics • Justice
OCG Record: March 8, 2014 — “The Death of American Radio”
OCG Relationship: Broadcasting colleague; Janice Graham also appeared as a guest on The Norman Goldman Show.

H

DUCHESS HARRIS, Ph.D.
Political scientist, legal scholar and Black feminist scholar whose work examines Black women’s political activism, law, race and gender. Her scholarship traces Black feminist political thought and organizing across modern American political history.

OCG Conversations: Black Feminist Politics • Law • Race • Gender
OCG Record: August 5, 2009

YUSUF HASSAN
Abolitionist activist and broadcaster whose work addresses incarceration, prison slavery, the 13th Amendment and the continuing struggle for abolition and human rights. He co-hosted Abolition Today, using independent radio for abolitionist education and organizing.

OCG Conversations: Attica • Prison Abolition • Human Rights • Mass Incarceration • Prison Labor
OCG Record: September 18, 2021

DEONA HOOPER
Social-work advocate, writer and media publisher whose work brought the perspective of social work and human services to questions of justice, public policy and community well-being. The OCG broadcast identified Hooper as founder and editor-in-chief of SocialWorkHelper.com.

OCG Conversations: Social Work • Human Rights • Social Justice • Community Advocacy • Public Policy
OCG Record: December 13, 2014 — “Claiming Our Humanity”

BYRON HURT
Award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, lecturer and anti-sexist activist whose work interrogates masculinity, misogyny, violence and hip-hop culture. His documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes became an important examination of masculinity, sexism and homophobia within hip-hop.

OCG Conversations: Black Masculinity • Gender • Anti-Sexism • Hip-Hop • Culture
OCG Record: May 21, 2009 — Black Man Inside: Rethinking Black Male Masculinity

I

DAVID IKARD, Ph.D.
Scholar, author and leading voice in Black feminist criticism, Black masculinity, African American literature, gender studies and race. His scholarship is particularly important for examining Black male identity through a Black feminist lens and challenging patriarchal assumptions within discussions of race and liberation. He is the author of Breaking the Silence: Toward a Black Male Feminist Criticism.

OCG Conversations: Black Male Feminism • Black Masculinity • Gender • Race • Patriarchy
OCG Record: May 19, 2009 — Black Man Inside: Rethinking Black Male Masculinity

J

DR. MATTHEW V. JOHNSON SR.
Theologian, minister, scholar, educator and broadcaster whose work brings together Black theology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, peace activism and the Black Church. A graduate of Morehouse College, Dr. Johnson earned his master’s and PhD degrees in Philosophical Theology from the University of Chicago and pursued postgraduate study in psychoanalysis.

A veteran of ministry, Dr. Johnson served as Pastor of Church of the Good Shepherd-Baptist and as National Executive Director of Every Church A Peace Church. His scholarship and ministry brought a critical theological perspective to OCG’s examination of the role, responsibilities and condition of the Black Church in contemporary Black life.

Dr. Johnson first joined OCG for “Black Church on Fire” on June 23, 2012. The depth of that conversation led to a continuation on July 14, 2012. Those OCG discussions ultimately resulted in an invitation to join the TruthWorks Network, where Dr. Johnson became host of Soul A’Fire.

OCG/TWN Relationship: OCG Guest → Returning Voice → TruthWorks Network Host, Soul A’Fire
OCG Conversations: Black Church • Black Theology • Philosophical Theology • Ministry • Psychoanalysis • Peace & Justice • Black Community • Institutional Responsibility
OCG Record: June 23 & July 14, 2012 — “Black Church on Fire”
TWN Record: Host — Soul A’Fire

K

RICHARD KING, M.D.
Physician, psychiatrist, researcher and author whose work explored melanin, neuroscience, biological psychiatry and African-centered interpretations of human biology and history. His writings include African Origin of Biological Psychiatry, Melanin: Key to Freedom and The Black Dot.

OCG Conversations: Melanin • Neuromelanin • Biological Psychiatry • African/Egyptian History • African-Centered Science

BAKARI KITWANA
Author, cultural critic and political analyst whose work focuses on the hip-hop generation, Black youth politics, cultural expression and political engagement. His work has been influential in examining hip-hop not simply as entertainment but as a political and generational force.

OCG Conversations: Hip-Hop • Black Youth Politics • Culture • Political Engagement
OCG Record: April 13, 2009

L

JOYCE A. LADNER, Ph.D. — Witness from the Bridge
Civil Rights Movement pioneer, sociologist, author, academic leader and public-policy scholar. As a young activist, Ladner participated in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She went on to a distinguished career in sociology and higher education, bringing the experience and intellectual legacy of the Movement into scholarship, public policy and institutional leadership.

OCG Conversations: Civil Rights Movement • SNCC • Black Freedom Struggle • Sociology • Black Women & Leadership • Public Policy • Movement History
OCG Record: April 5, 2014 — “Witness from the Bridge: They Came to Change a Nation and Raise Up a People”

WILMER J. LEON III, Ph.D. — OCG Recurring Voice / Broadcasting Colleague
Political scientist, author, broadcaster and commentator whose analysis connects race and American politics with foreign policy, war, imperial power and global affairs. Leon brought a Black political perspective to questions often separated in mainstream political discourse. The relationship extended beyond his OCG appearances: Janice Graham also appeared as a guest on his program.

OCG Conversations: Black Politics • Race • Foreign Policy • War & Empire • Ethics • Political Power
OCG Record: BTR/Digital Era — Recurring Voice; documented January 21, 2017

THABITI LEWIS, Ph.D.

DR. THABITI LEWIS
Scholar, author and cultural critic whose work explores race, literature, popular culture, sports and Black life in America. A native son of St. Louis, Dr. Lewis joined OCG immediately following the Ferguson uprising to place contemporary events within the deeper racial and historical experience of St. Louis and its surrounding communities.

OCG Conversations: Ferguson • St. Louis • Race & History • Black Life • Sports & Culture • Racial Violence • Historical Memory
OCG Record: August 30, 2014 — “BLACK in St. Louis: THEN and Now — A Native Son Reflects”

TAMURA A. LOMAX, Ph.D.
Scholar, educator, writer and Black feminist thought leader whose work engages race, gender, religion, sexuality, popular culture and Black feminist thought. A co-founder of The Feminist Wire, Lomax has helped bring feminist and intersectional analysis to contemporary politics and culture.

OCG Conversations: Anti-Racism • Black Feminism • Gender • Culture • Feminist Thought
OCG Record: November 3, 2012 — Black Women in the Prism / Conversations from Deep Waters

GLENN C. LOURY, Ph.D.
Economist and public intellectual whose scholarship has concentrated on racial inequality, incarceration, social policy and the economics of discrimination. Loury became the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard and has been an influential voice in debates about race and American public policy.

OCG Conversations: Economics • Racial Inequality • Incarceration • Social Policy
OCG Record: August 2009

M

HAKI R. MADHUBUTI
Poet, author, educator, publisher, and major figure in the Black Arts Movement. Founder of Third World Press in Chicago, Madhubuti has spent his career building independent Black literary institutions and advancing Black thought, culture, education, and self-determination. His extensive body of poetry and nonfiction examines Black manhood, family, community, race, liberation and the responsibilities of Black intellectual and cultural life.

OCG Conversations: Black Literature • Black Arts Movement • Black Men • Black Family • Independent Black Publishing • Education • Culture • Black Liberation
OCG Record: December 17, 1990 — First OCG appearance — discussion of the forthcoming Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

BRUCE MARKS
Founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) and longtime housing activist. Marks became nationally known for confronting predatory lenders and developing programs intended to restructure unaffordable mortgages, prevent foreclosure and expand access to affordable homeownership.

OCG Conversations: Subprime Mortgages • Foreclosure • Predatory Lending • Housing Justice
OCG Record: March 30, 2009

REV. IRENE MONROE — OCG Voice
Public theologian, ordained minister, syndicated religion columnist, broadcaster and activist whose work brings together race, religion, gender, sexuality and social justice. A graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary, Monroe served as a pastor in an African American church and later came to Harvard Divinity School as a Ford Fellow. She also served as children’s minister at Old Cambridge Baptist Church and has taught at several theological and academic institutions.

A longtime Cambridge voice for justice, Monroe’s writing and public ministry have challenged racism, sexism, religious intolerance and other intersecting forms of oppression. Her later broadcasting work includes All Rev’d Up on GBH/Boston Public Radio.

OCG Conversations: Black Church • Theology • Race • Gender • Social Justice • Religious Intolerance • Black Community • Civil Rights
OCG Era: WPOM-era OCG Voice (based on your recollection; broadcast date still to be recovered)

A. KIRSTEN MULLEN
Writer, folklorist, museum consultant and scholar whose work examines race, history, culture and the continuing consequences of American slavery. With economist William A. Darity Jr., she co-authored From Here to Equality, an extensive historical and economic case for federal reparations for Black Americans.

OCG Conversations: Reparations • Slavery’s Economic Legacy • Historical Accountability • Reparative Justice
OCG Record: June 5, 2021 — Reparations: The Debt That Is Owed

N

MARK ANTHONY NEAL, Ph.D.
Scholar of Black popular culture, music, masculinity and gender whose work has helped expand critical discussion of Black male identity, popular music and cultural politics. His books include New Black Man, Soul Babies and Looking for Leroy.

OCG Conversations: Black Masculinity • Black Feminism • Popular Culture • Music • Gender
OCG Record: May 18 and September 17, 2009

DAVID NEIWERT
Investigative journalist and author whose work has documented the American radical right, white-supremacist movements, domestic extremism and political violence. His The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right examined the movement of extremist rhetoric from political fringes into mainstream discourse.

OCG Conversations: White Supremacy • Radical Right • Political Extremism • Hate Rhetoric • Political Violence
OCG Record: June 15, 2009

EFEYA NKENGE
Writer, activist and cultural commentator whose work has engaged Black liberation, political struggle, culture and community empowerment. Nkenge joined OCG during its examination of the Troy Davis case, contributing to a conversation about capital punishment, racial justice and the broader struggle against inequities in the criminal legal system.

OCG Conversations: Troy Davis • Criminal Justice • Death Penalty • Black Liberation • Political Activism • Racial Justice
OCG Record: September 24, 2011 — “The Murder of Troy Davis”

PATRICIA A. NEWTON, M.D., M.A., M.P.H.
Psychiatrist and behavioral scientist whose work has focused on Black mental health, culturally informed psychiatric care and relationships between African cultural traditions and psychological well-being. The OCG banner identified Newton as President of the Black Psychiatrists of America and recognized her international work with traditional healers.

OCG Conversations: Black Mental Health • Psychiatry • African-Centered Approaches to Healing • Culture & Mental Wellness

EFIA NWANGAZA
Attorney, human-rights advocate, Black liberation activist, veteran organizer and independent broadcaster whose work has encompassed Black Power, political prisoners, human rights, community organizing and independent Black media. She founded the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination in Greenville, South Carolina.

OCG Conversations: Black Power • Human Rights • Political Prisoners • Black Liberation • Independent Black Media
OCG Record: April 24, 2021

O

IRAMI OSEI-FRIMPONG, Ph.D. — “The Funky Academic”
Philosopher, educator, writer and political thinker whose work engages freedom, race, democracy, citizenship, ethics and Black political life. His public work brings philosophical inquiry directly into contemporary political and cultural debate.

OCG Conversations: Freedom • Philosophy • Black Political Thought • Democracy • Race • Ethics • Citizenship
OCG Record: July 16, 2016 — “What Is FREEDOM?”

N

OCG Conversations: Black Masculinity • Black Feminism • Popular Culture • Music • Gender
OCG Record: May 18 and September 17, 2009

DAVID NEIWERT
Investigative journalist and author whose work has documented the American radical right, white-supremacist movements, domestic extremism, and political violence. His book The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right examined the movement of extremist rhetoric from political fringes into mainstream discourse.

OCG Conversations: White Supremacy • Radical Right • Political Extremism • Hate Rhetoric • Political Violence
OCG Record: June 15, 2009

OCG Conversations: Black Mental Health • Psychiatry • African-Centered Approaches to Healing • Culture & Mental Wellness

EFEYA NKENGE
Activist and organizer identified on the OCG announcement as affiliated with The New Liberator Counterpunch. She joined the conversation examining the execution of Troy Davis and the broader struggle over capital punishment, racial injustice and the American criminal legal system.

OCG Conversations: Troy Davis • Death Penalty • Criminal Justice • Racial Justice • Activism
OCG Record: September 24, 2011 — “The Murder of Troy Davis”

OCG Conversations: Black Power • Human Rights • Political Prisoners • Black Liberation • Independent Black Media
OCG Record: April 24, 2021

O

OCG Conversations: Freedom • Philosophy • Black Political Thought • Democracy • Race • Ethics • Citizenship
OCG Record: July 16, 2016 — “What Is FREEDOM?”

P

MAX PARTHAS
Abolitionist organizer, broadcaster, writer and activist whose work has focused on modern slavery, prison labor, mass incarceration, the 13th Amendment and abolition of involuntary servitude. As co-host of Abolition Today, Parthas has used independent media for abolitionist education and organizing.

OCG Conversations: Attica • Prison Abolition • Human Rights • Mass Incarceration • Prison Labor
OCG Record: September 18, 2021

JAMES PERRY
Fair-housing and civil-rights advocate whose work has focused on housing discrimination, equitable access to housing and enforcement of the protections established by the Fair Housing Act. Perry joined OCG to examine both the historic struggle that produced federal fair-housing protections and the continuing challenge of securing housing justice.

OCG Conversations: Fair Housing • Housing Discrimination • Civil Rights • Housing Policy • Racial Equity • Economic Justice
OCG Record: January 24, 2015 — “The Future of the Fair Housing Act”

WENDELL POTTER
Former health-insurance industry communications executive who became a prominent whistleblower and advocate for health-care reform. His insider accounts exposed insurance-industry practices and corporate influence during the national health-care debate.

OCG Conversations: Health-Care Reform • Insurance Industry • Corporate Power • Public Policy
OCG Record: August 24, 2009

JOHN A. POWELL
Civil-rights scholar and legal theorist whose work examines structural racism, housing, poverty, opportunity, othering and belonging. His scholarship has been influential in understanding racial inequality as a product of systems and structures rather than simply individual prejudice.

OCG Conversations: Structural Racism • Civil Rights • Housing • Opportunity • Belonging
OCG Record: October 7, 2009

DR. BYRON E. PRICE
Scholar, author and educator whose work examines criminal justice, incarceration, the prison-industrial complex and public policy. Dr. Price joined OCG for an explicitly organizing-centered broadcast focused not simply on analyzing mass incarceration, but on developing strategies for local action and community responsibility.

OCG Conversations: Prison Industrial Complex • Mass Incarceration • Criminal Justice • Community Organizing • Public Policy • Black Community Empowerment
OCG Record: April 19, 2014 — “Organizing Strategies for Local Change: Dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex”

Q

QUEEN QUET
Chieftess and Head-of-State of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, cultural preservationist, historian and activist whose work has been central to protecting Gullah/Geechee culture, land, language, heritage and self-determination along the southeastern coast of the United States.

OCG Conversations: Gullah/Geechee History & Culture • African Cultural Retention • Land • Heritage • Self-Determination
OCG Record: Black History programming, 2014

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VERNELLIA R. RANDALL, J.D.
Attorney, legal scholar and educator whose work examines race, racism, health disparities, law and human rights. Her scholarship has addressed how legal structures and public policy create and perpetuate racial inequities and the continuing institutional consequences of slavery and racism.

OCG Conversations: African Americans & the Law • Racism • Human Rights • Racial Justice • Health Disparities
OCG Record: May 5, 2012 — “Modern Day Enslavement of African Americans”

TOURÉ F. REED, Ph.D.
Historian and scholar of African American political and labor history whose work examines race, class, inequality, public policy and the political economy of racial justice. His Toward Freedom: The Case Against Race Reductionism argues for understanding racial inequality in relationship to class and broader economic structures.

OCG Conversations: Black Economic Inequality • Race & Class • Political Economy • Labor • Public Policy
OCG Record: May 9, 2020 — “Black Economic Inequality: #RACEMatters”

LA FRANCIS RODGERS, Ph.D.
Scholar and educator featured in OCG’s Black History programming, bringing historical knowledge and educational expertise to the annual interactive exploration of African American history.

OCG Conversations: African American History • Black Historical Knowledge • Education
OCG Record: February 15, 2014 — OCG Annual Interactive Black History Game

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Dr. Rev. Ruby N. Sales Witness from the Bridge

Civil Rights Movement veteran (SNCC), theologian, public intellectual and human-rights activist whose life and work bridge the Black Freedom Movement of the 1960s with contemporary struggles for racial, social and spiritual justice. Sales brings a distinctive moral and theological analysis to questions of race, state violence, democracy and the continuing struggle for Black freedom.

OCG Conversations: Civil Rights Movement • Ferguson • State Violence • Human Rights • Black Freedom Struggle • Theology • Racial Justice

OCG Record: August 23, 2014 — “Ferguson Under Siege: Occupation in America” / “ACTwitness from Ferguson.” Sales joined OCG from a local Ferguson community center while events were unfolding, as Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou reported from the streets.

ZAKIYA SANKARA-JABAR — OCG Recurring Voice
Racial-justice and educational-equity organizer whose work centers on Black children, Black parents, school discipline, educational justice and dismantling structural racism in public education. A co-founder of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, Sankara-Jabar has worked nationally to amplify the organizing power of Black parents and communities confronting racial inequities in schools.

OCG Conversations: Educational Justice • Black Children & Families • Structural Racism • Community Organizing • Race & Public Policy
OCG Record: October 31, 2015 • June 11, 2016

FRANK SCHAEFFER
Author, filmmaker and former participant in the conservative evangelical movement who became an outspoken critic of the Religious Right and its relationship to American politics. His memoir Crazy for God recounts his upbringing within that movement and his later rejection of much of its political ideology.

OCG Conversations: Religious Right • Evangelical Politics • Political Culture
OCG Record: August 11, 2009

REV. OSAGYEFO UHURU SEKOU
Minister, theologian, author, organizer, and activist whose work joins faith, nonviolent resistance, racial justice, and grassroots movement building. During OCG’s August 2014 Ferguson broadcast, Rev. Sekou was on the streets in Ferguson in the midst of the demonstrations and police response, giving OCG a direct connection to events as they unfolded. His vocal music is used as part of OCG broadcasts. “I Know That We Can Win” and “Freedom Now”

OCG Conversations: Ferguson • Movement Organizing • Police Violence • Nonviolent Resistance • Theology • Black Freedom • Racial Justice
OCG Record: August 23, 2014 — “Ferguson Under Siege: Occupation in America” / “ACTwitness from Ferguson”

JEFF SHARLET
Journalist, author and scholar of religion and political power. His book The Family investigated the secretive Christian organization associated with the National Prayer Breakfast and helped illuminate relationships among religion, political influence and elite power.

OCG Conversations: Religion & Political Power • Christian Right • C-Street • American Politics
OCG Record: July 27–28, 2009

HILARY O. SHELTON
Longtime civil-rights and public-policy advocate who served as Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, the organization’s federal legislative and public-policy arm. His work has encompassed voting rights, criminal justice, economic policy and federal civil-rights legislation.

OCG Conversations: Civil Rights • Federal Policy • Voting Rights • Criminal Justice • NAACP
OCG Record: August 31, 2009

REV. DR. SUSAN K. WILLIAMS SMITH — OCG Recurring Voice

Minister, author, theologian, and social-justice advocate whose work engages race, faith, politics, and the prophetic tradition of the Black Church. On this broadcast she discussed her book The Book of Jeremiah: The Life and Ministry of Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., examining the life, ministry, and theological legacy of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. She was chosen as Gordon Cosby Seasoned Fellow at the Spirit House Project.

OCG Conversations: Black Church • Theology • Jeremiah Wright • Prophetic Ministry • Race & Religion • Social Justice
OCG Record: February 8, 2014 — “The Book of Jeremiah Wright: The Life and Ministry of Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.”

OCG Conversations: Black Church • Liberation Theology • Racial Justice • Faith & Activism • Soul Care
OCG Record: OCG Voice since 2014; documented February 15, 2014 and July 17, 2021 — “Rest for the Justice Seeking Soul”

REV. GEORGE AUGUSTUS STALLINGS JR.
Clergyman and religious leader whose ministry challenged questions of race, authority, culture, and institutional power within American Catholicism. His advocacy for an African-centered expression of Catholic worship and religious autonomy made him a significant and controversial voice in national conversations about Black religious identity and institutional Christianity.

founding of Imani Temple, the African-American Catholic Congregation, his break with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the development of an explicitly African-centered Catholic expression, and the larger questions his work raised about race, religious authority, Black cultural identity and institutional independence.

OCG Conversations: Black Church • Catholicism • African-Centered Worship • Race & Religion • Religious Authority • Black Institutional Independence
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

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MATT TAIBBI
Journalist and author known for investigative and critical reporting on Wall Street, finance, politics and media. His reporting during the financial crisis brought national attention to financial institutions, political power and the conduct of the banking industry.

OCG Conversations: Wall Street • Financial Crisis • Political Power • Journalism
OCG Record: July 9, 2009

JAMES L. TAYLOR, Ph.D. — OCG Interlocutor / Co-Host / Lecturer
Political scientist, author and scholar of Black politics, Black nationalism, electoral politics and African American political movements. Author of Black Nationalism in the United States: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama, Taylor became one of the scholars with whom OCG sustained an ongoing intellectual and political conversation.

OCG Conversations: Black Nationalism • Black Political Movements • Electoral Politics • Political Strategy • Race & American Politics
OCG Record: Multiple appearances; June 11, 2016 • OCG #HistoryMatters lecture series • “Rebooting for a New Era of Struggle” co-host

QUINTARD TAYLOR, Ph.D.
Historian of African American history and the Black American West and founder of BlackPast.org, a major digital repository of African American and global African history. His work helped expand public access to Black historical scholarship through digital archiving.

OCG Conversations: African American History • Black West • Digital Black History • Archiving
OCG Record: August 27, 2009

MAKANI THEMBA — OCG Recurring Voice
Social-justice strategist, author and organizer whose work focuses on racial justice, community organizing, narrative strategy, communications and movement building. Founder of The Praxis Project and later Chief Strategist at Higher Ground Change Strategies, Themba has helped grassroots organizations understand how narrative, media, policy and political power intersect.

OCG Conversations: Racial Justice • Movement Strategy • Narrative • Communications • Community Organizing
OCG Record: May 5, 2009 • January 16, 2021

LARRY RENI THOMAS
Author, journalist, historian and researcher whose work has documented African American history and the 1898 Wilmington Massacre. Thomas has been an important voice in recovering the history of the violent overthrow of Wilmington’s elected multiracial government and restoring that history to public consciousness.

OCG Conversations: Wilmington Massacre of 1898 • African American History • White Supremacy • Political Violence • Historical Memory
OCG Record: January 18, 2014 — “The Wilmington Massacre of 1898”

NINA TURNER
Political leader, educator, organizer and progressive advocate known for work on voting rights, economic justice, health care, labor and grassroots political organizing. A former Ohio State Senator, Turner became a prominent national surrogate for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.

OCG Conversations: Presidential Politics • Black Electoral Politics • Economic Justice • Voting Rights • Grassroots Organizing
OCG Record: March 26, 2016 — “#FEELING THE BERN”

AGYEI TYEHIMBA
Educator, author and activist whose work focuses on Black youth, education, self-knowledge, empowerment and community responsibility. Author of Truth for Our Youth: A Self-Empowerment Book for Teens, Tyehimba brought to OCG a liberation-centered approach to educating, preparing and empowering young Black people.

OCG Conversations: Black Youth • Education • Self-Empowerment • Black Consciousness • Community Responsibility • Liberation
OCG Record: April 26, 2015 — OCG LIVE

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FRANCES CRESS WELSING, M.D. — OCG Cross-Era Recurring Voice
Psychiatrist, author and influential—and controversial—theorist of racism and white supremacy. Welsing developed the Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation and authored The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors, bringing psychological analysis to questions of race and systems of white supremacy.

OCG Conversations: Racism • White Supremacy • Psychology • Black Identity
OCG Record: WPOM + BTR/Digital Era — Recurring Voice; multiple documented 2009 appearances

GINGER WHITE
Businesswoman who became a national news figure during the 2011 Republican presidential primary after publicly discussing a long-term relationship she said she had with presidential candidate Herman Cain. Her OCG conversation moved beyond the immediate political controversy to questions of truth, political power and human frailty.

OCG Conversations: Presidential Politics • Gender & Political Power • Media • Truth & Public Leadership
OCG Record: December 16, 2011 — “In Conversation with Ginger White”

TERRIE M. WILLIAMS
Author, mental-health advocate and public-relations executive whose work helped bring depression and emotional suffering in Black communities into public conversation. Her Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting challenged the silence and stigma surrounding depression and the expectation that Black people conceal psychological pain behind strength.

OCG Conversations: Black Mental Health • Depression • Emotional Wellness • Stigma • Community Healing
OCG Record: Original 2009 OCG interview • October 2, 2021 archival rebroadcast. Original 2009 date remains to be reconciled.

DR. AMOS N. WILSON
Psychologist, author, theorist and one of the influential voices in African-centered psychology and Black political thought. Dr. Wilson’s work examined Black child development, education, psychology, economics and—most critically—the relationship between power and liberation. His writings challenged Black communities to move beyond understanding oppression toward developing the institutional and economic power required for self-determination.

OCG Conversations: African-Centered Psychology • Black Child Development • Education • Power • Economics • Black Liberation • Self-Determination
OCG Era: WPOM-AM 1600

RAYMOND A. WINBUSH, Ph.D.
Scholar, psychologist, author and reparations advocate whose work examines racism and white supremacy, Black male development and reparative justice. Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University, his books include Should America Pay?, The Warrior Method and Belinda’s Petition.

OCG Conversations: Reparations • Black Psychology • Racism/White Supremacy • Black Male Development
OCG Record: June 22 and July 8, 2009

TIM WISE
Anti-racism author, educator and commentator whose work examines white privilege, racism and the persistence of racial inequality in American institutions and culture. Wise joined OCG to examine white racial resentment and the political and cultural forces driving what the program described as “White Rage Unhinged.”

OCG Conversations: White Privilege • Racism • White Rage • Racial Inequality • Politics • Anti-Racism
OCG Record: December 6, 2014 — “White Rage Unhinged”