osahon obazuaye

In this final episode of the summer series TRUTH QUEST, our travelers make their way to Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In March of 1965, civil rights protesters were met by a lineup of armed police (many on horseback) with attack dogs and billy clubs who ordered them to turn back. When the marchers refused, they were brutally attacked on a day that became known as Bloody Sunday. SNCC Director John Lewis (later Congressman) was viciously beaten and nearly died that day. We take a ceremonial walk across that bridge. We proceed to Birmingham, known in the 50s and 60s as "Bombingham," where Martin Luther King  (along with Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth) were imprisoned in 1963 for their civil disobedience. We hear a reading of King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail (Osahon Obazuaye). Several months after King wrote his letter, a bomb exploded on a Sunday morning as the congregation gathered for worship in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four young girls. A fifth, Sarah Collins, lost her sister and best friends but survived the blast. All these years later, she met with our group in the memorial park across from the church and shared her story. Ken wraps the series with some reflections, from several fellow travelers and then some concluding reflections of his own. SHOW NOTES

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Listen to the entire series - TRUTH QUEST: Exploring the History of Race in America - in their own words.

In this final episode of the summer series TRUTH QUEST, our travelers make their way to Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In March of 1965, civil rights protesters were met by a lineup of armed police (many on horseback) with attack dogs and billy clubs who ordered them to turn back. When the marchers refused, they were brutally attacked on a day that became known as Bloody Sunday. SNCC Director John Lewis (later Congressman) was viciously beaten and nearly died that day. We take a ceremonial walk across that bridge. We proceed to Birmingham, known in the 50s and 60s as "Bombingham," where Martin Luther King  (along with Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth) were imprisoned in 1963 for their civil disobedience. We hear a reading of King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail (Osahon Obazuaye). Several months after King wrote his letter, a bomb exploded on a Sunday morning as the congregation gathered for worship in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four young girls. A fifth, Sarah Collins, lost her sister and best friends but survived the blast. All these years later, she met with our group in the memorial park across from the church and shared her story. Ken wraps the series with some reflections, from several fellow travelers and then some concluding reflections of his own. SHOW NOTES

Listen to the entire series - TRUTH QUEST: Exploring the History of Race in America - in their own words.

Ken marks a major milestone: 200 episodes since the podcast was launched in April of 2020. He reflects on the journey that has transformed his life, cemented his friendships and broadened his horizons. A good number of Ken's listeners. partners and friends check in, including Ken's life partner Carolyn who makes her debut appearance sharing her perspective on her husbands wild retirement project. 

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Kemp and Fong come together for a different TWO KENS conversation. They both like to listen to the other's podcasts. Kemp comments on Fong's interview with non-profit fund-raiser Vu Le. Fong heard Ken's exchange with Osahon Obazuaye and asked if the two might spend the majority of this podcast exploring how Kemp transitioned from the conservative friend Fong new three decades ago to the Beached White Male, today interacting with a young African American on a deep level about race in America. Fong probes into Kemp's journey, from education in conservative academic institutions, to a major secular university (UCLA), to a career in business. While he had formative experiences in race, he became a conservative in both religion and politics. He confesses his early preoccupation with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Promise Keepers introduced the Year of Racial Reconciliation and it killed the movement. Fong shared the stage with Franklin Graham.  That changed with the election of Barack Obama, for whom he voted in 2008. In a series of awakenings, The Beached White Male podcast took off, including a commitment to the Center for Racial Reconciliation and a deep friendship with Osahon - and Ken Fong. They end with a reflection on the cost of the journey, and more, the benefit.

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Ken and Carla take their first Beach Talk for 2022 indoors - to a crackling fire for a Fireside Chat. They record this first conversation of the New Year on January 5, 2022, the day before the one year anniversary of the January 6 Insurrection of 2021. They share their thoughts. Players like Sean Hannity, Jamie Raskin, President Joe Biden and Secretary Pete among others are discussed.  In anticipation of the New Year, just they closed out 2021 with Five Reflections each, they each share their Five Hopes for 2022. They include family, politics, the pandemic, personal commitments and travel plans.  Ken begins his fourth Table Talk this month unpacking the 1619 Project with his partners, Osahon Obazuaye.

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