Aftermath: Otras Voces Más Voces

Part of the joy of oral history is talking with interesting people. This series, Geeking with…, features great conversations with fascinating folks. Edward Austin Hall is a perfect person for the first launch.

Ed is a writer, editor, poet, and journalist living in Atlanta. He co-edited Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0989141144/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0). I talked with Ed as part of an oral history project of authors of color of speculative fiction.

In addition, Ed and I have recorded talks where we’ve discussed all manner of geekdom, but that’s for a different episode.

This is part of Change Over Time, a history podcast where I historically think about things I geek. I’m Daniel Horowitz Garcia, the Alternative Historian.

You can find more information at changeovertimepodcast.com.

Music Credits:

Dhalius, "Wonderful Canvas of Life”
Sean Hayes, “Alabama Chicken”
Dhalius, “Todos Somos Una Sola Vida Grandiosa”
Art of Escapism, “Don’t Feel So Low”

The mid-term elections are days away, but what happens after? Actually, there are a lot of people who’ve been doing work for a long time. This episode of Change Over Time features two of them. Emery Wright and Stephanie Guilloud are co-directors of Project South, a national organization working to build social movement. Stephanie and Emery talk about the mission of Project South, what’s drives them, and the need to be one’s whole self. They also talk about the need for organization, vision, and hope.

This episode launches the Feeling Political series on Change Over Time. Feeling Political explores the interaction between politics, emotions, and action. More information at changeovertimepodcast.com.

Check out Project South at projectsouth.org.

Also check out Rebel Diaz, they do the music at the end of the episode, at rebeldiaz.com.

In a small, non-descript strip mall in the middle of a university neighborhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico is a comic book shop. The shop is loud, the tables small. The owner, Gilberto Lopez-Arroyo is neither. His is a stocky man whose voice carries over the cacophony in the store, Capitan Granuja Comics & Games. For a few weeks last year Gilberto’s comic shop became a center of calm. Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico hard. College students were stranded, not knowing what happened to their families. They came to Capitan Granuja to charge their phones and play some games. Gilberto welcomed them all into his capsule of geekdom. This is Change Over Time and the latest installment of the Aftermath series, a look at Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria through the lens of my family. We talk about geeks, and how the community can help even when you don’t know it can.

On January 28, 2017 Donald Trump signed an executive order banning certain people from certain countries from coming into the US. Popularly called a Muslim Travel Ban, the order was met with immediate nationwide protests. This is a selection of interviews from the Atlanta airport protests held on January 29, 2017.

As this episodes goes online the administration is preparing to define transgender people out of existence, the attack on immigrants continues, Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean water, and Puerto Rico and other hurricane impacted areas are on their own. There's a lot of political work to do, and Feeling Political takes a look at how to do it.

This episode is part of the Feeling Political series, a collection that examines the intersection of feelings, politics, and action. Future episodes of Change Over Time in this series will talk about organizing strategies, visions for a new future, and maybe even hope. Stay tuned and check in regularly at changeovertimepodcast.com

When the Inauguration came I did the only reasonable thing I could think of: I ran to my mommy. We will hear from Doña Edna, a retired RN, former union member, Independista, and my mom. Also, I interviewed Walda Katz-Fishman. Walda is a professor and one of the founders of Project South (www.projectsouth.org). She doesn’t pull any punches in this episode about what the political situation is going to be. But she also speaks plainly about what we need to do. This episode is another in the Feeling Political series, a collection that looks at the interaction of emotion, politics, and action. You can find out more about the series as well as this podcast, Change Over Time, at changeovertimepodcast.com. You can find me at alternativehistorian.com

Change Over Time is featuring another in the Feeling Political series, a collection about feelings, politics, and action. This episode features Rita Valenti and Bruce Dixon. Rita, a former board member of Project South and state legislator, thinks we should be asking better questions. Bruce, a writer and editor with Black Agenda Report as well as an activist with the Georgia Green Party, has thoughts on what we should fight for and how we should do it. Find out more at changeovertimepodcast.com.

Change Over Time hosts another episode in the Feeling Political series, a collection of interviews where I look at how feelings, politics, and action intersect.

This episode is a speech by long-time organizer and musician Eric Ward. Given after the November 2016 election, but before Inauguration, Eric lays out what one can expect in the first days of the Trump administration and gives some advice about how to get prepared. Find out more at changeovertimepodcast.com.

This episode launches the Feeling Political series on Change Over Time. Feeling Political explores the interaction between politics, emotions, and action. The series is based on an old podcast of the same name. It features short interviews with various people.

In this episode we hear from Abbie Illenberger and Rose Brewer, board members of Project South. I interviewed both women at the 30th anniversary celebration of Project South back in November 2016 just after the election. We also have some bonus content from George Ciccariello-Maher who points out some possible opportunities for organizing. Find out more at changeovertimepodcast.com.

I start with my mother, Doña Edna Garcia. I had visited Puerto Rico at Thanksgiving last year to see my family and I shoved a microphone in their faces. I talk with my mom about what it was like after Maria hit but mostly about how the politics of the island could change. Originally I aired this as two episodes, but I’ve combined them here. I also refer back to a conversation I had with Dr. Jacob Remes in Disasters, a bonus episode. If you haven’t heard that interview, don’t worry. This will make sense. But you should listen to it because it’s good. Jacob is really smart. 

Additional content about putting the aftermath of Hurricane Maria into historical context. This bonus of Change Over Time includes an interview with Vicki Daniel, a PhD candidate specializing in body identification in the wake of disasters. There are also interviews with volunteers at Buen Provecho, the Puerto Rican restaurant in Atlanta taking donations. If you are in Atlanta, you can donate to Buen Provecho. Check out their Facebook page to see what they need. For those outside of Atlanta, consider donating to the Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund at mariafund.org.