Erin Williams

The prevailing wisdom about how Generatio­n­­ Y likes to consume media usually begins and ends with: they like it ironic, short and only online.

But Uzoamaka Maduka — co-creator of the new literary journal the American Reader and a Howard County native — isn’t buying it.

Living in New York, the 25-year-old and her Princeton classmate, Jac Mullen, came up with the idea last winter after recurring 

conversations about the state of the literary industry. Since its debut last fall, the duo has published three issues, built a thriving online presence and created larger-than-life buzz about Maduka in the New York literary scene. She’s become the darling of New York City media as well, with write-ups in publications such as the New York Times and the New York Observer.

Recently, Maduka talked with The RootDC about how she plans to sustain a print magazine in today’s fledgling subscription industry, paying homage to the legacy of writers who have inspired her, and why it’s so important for younger generations to go beyond their Web browsers and keep craving good literature.

When Deborah Nelson Linck, curator of the Hands On Black History Museum, found a collection of antique photos of African Americans at a mall last summer, she bought them - both out of novelty, and awe.

It was rare for her to find antique photos of black people in such ordinary settings - off to war, with friends, standing next to new cars - like she did for other races, and she knew that there was something to be done with her discovery.

The wheels began to turn. She called upon friends and family to donate their old photos of relatives and started compiling them into an exhibit. Her goal of 100 images tripled, and the result became ‘As If We Weren’t There,’ a showcase of images set up to fill in the missing pages of black history.

The exhibit’s images, curated by Linck, specifically focuses on moments dating between the Emancipation Proclamation to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement, where African Americans are not in the spotlight, and are simply being themselves.

The collection opens February 1st and is on display until February 28th in the knave of Christ Church Cathedral.

Original airdate: January 22, 2013:

In the mid-1800s Elizabeth Keckley was a slave living in St. Louis.

As a highly skilled dressmaker, she was eventually able to earn the money to buy her freedom.

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of a new book about Elizabeth Keckley.  She writes about Keckley moving from St. Louis to Washington D.C. and becoming First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s personal dressmaker.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Erin Williams talked with Chiaverini about her new book, “Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker.”

Original airdate: January 18, 2013

Americans are well-aware of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. His fight for justice was aimed at changing the world, but during the fifties and sixties sought to resonate most heavily in his home country. Today his legacy has been celebrated tenfold – there are numerous streets and landmarks dedicated in his honor, the government designated his birthday as a national holiday in 1986, and just last year he became the first African American to have a monument designed in his honor on the National Mall.

But, if the United States isn’t your home country, what does Martin Luther King Day mean to you? Maybe you are from a country that experienced its own war-torn history, or his presence just wasn’t that focused on in your country’s history books. Once the day rolls around, do you celebrate, count it as just another day, or reflect?

Sukrija Dzidovic, publisher of St. Louis’ Bosnian newspaper, SabaH, came to the United States in 1995. Growing up in his native country, he says the idea of Dr. King stood out to him and other Bosnians because they simply didn’t know of or hadn’t seen any other black people.

Dzidovic says he was glad to realize how much freedom African Americans had once he arrived. On MLK Day, Dzidovic he has always made sure to include articles on King in his paper to serve as a reminder of his work.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have such a person in our country before war, so war won’t happen in Bosnia if we had Dr. Martin Luther King in our country,” he says. “Every country needs a person like he was to  open our eyes to people before blood starts to [shed].”

Juan Montana, a St. Louis-based photographer and social activist who is from Colombia, remembers hearing about his work in the Civil Rights Movement in high school, but didn’t understand the impact of his work until he began focusing on social issues. His message of equality and fighting for human rights stood out the most to Montana, but he doesn’t think that other Latinos are as aware.

Says Montana, “I think a lot of people don’t know enough. I think  Latinos, given the situation in which we are now, the issues that have been going on the past few years, we should know much better what he stood for and what his life is supposed to teach us.”

He understands that just because there is one day dedicated to honoring King, that his message can be put into action well after the parades and fanfare are over.

“The fight for equality and equal rights goes every day, so if you believe in his legacy then you are probably fighting every day. It’s not so much about his birthday.”

Born and raised in a war-torn Afghanistan, Ahmad Barekzai was fully aware of a life lived under struggle and turmoil. When he was 15, his brother brought home a contraband book that first introduced him to Martin Luther King. His interest was piqued by King’s idea of nonviolent solutions to the struggle.

Barekzai first studied the teaching of Islam when he arrived in the United States twelve years ago, but as he began working with the underprivileged, identified more with the teachings of Dr. King.

“It gave me more of a sense like how I can help people - oppressed people – how can I stand for their rights,” he remembers. “He was more effective to me – the way that he acted was more effective than the other movements that I noticed.”

He now works at the International Institute. As for his home country, he feels that it’s up to the next generation to change things.

“The doors are open and we can export new ideas. Same old Martin Luther King, but it’s new to some people there, and they learn from it a lot.”

Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, and would have been 84 this year. His nonviolent teachings and speeches still continue to make an impact today. 

Before I moved to St. Louis last year, my impressions of the city were based mainly on memories from a few family trips in my childhood, in which, of course, the famous Arch loomed larger than anything else. Well, except for the Christmas when it snowed 12 inches (!) — one of only two white Christmases I’ve experienced in my life.

Ever since then, I’ve associated St. Louis with wintertime in my mind. And now I’m living here — and it’s winter! So what does an honest-to-goodness St. Louisan do for fun in “the Lou” when the weather turns cold (if not necessarily snowy)?

Original airdate: January 15, 2013

In the 32 years she has worked for the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center, former CEO Angela Starks has always made serving both the community both in and outside of the building her main priority.

She stepped down in December, with her role to be carried on by Darryl Wise, who has worked with Annie Malone for the past five years. When she first began her work as a therapist, Starks was amaze by how dedicated her coworkers were to providing help to their young patrons.

“I never met so many people who worked so hard. It was all about the kids, it was all about making the children feel their self-worth was everything in a home-like atmosphere,” she remembers. “There was this kind of stigma - kids that came from homes or from orphanages at the time had a certain look. And the workers and the staff really made sure that that did not occur.”

“We used to have a saying when we’d had to go to the school -  ‘The only time they knew you were from Annie Malone is when you’d act out and we’d have to come up here for you.’ They worked very hard in making sure the kids fit into any community they went in.” Starks slowly worked her way through the development ranks, becoming Vice President of Program and Planning in 1995, and later the Chief Operating Officer. She also helped create the guidelines for the organization’s “Teen Take Charge of Your Life Program.”

“I felt my strengths were direct service, but I soon learned that I understood programs, I understood that I learned how to write contracts, and I was negotiating for programs and activities and things for the agency – and I became good at it,” she says.

In her 2 ½ years as CEO, Starks is most proud of having kept the facility open despite budgetary woes. “We didn’t have to do a massive layoff – I was able to change some of the programs and utilize what our strengths were.” The choice to close the facilities residential program but keep the crisis intervention program open was difficult, she admit, but “it kept our doors open…and I’m proud that I was able to do that.”

For the 125 year-old organization’s future, Starks feels it is key to reinforce the fact that Annie Malone is not only a part of the community, but is there to help.  “Whatever the neighbors or whatever that community needs,   that we can be at least a referral source, or that we can be a help to them.”

Original airdate: January 11, 2013

For the past year, artist and businessman Cbabi Bayoc has attempted to create a portrait a day of a father interacting with his kid.

The resulting project, titled “365 Days With Dad,” goes beyond showing fathers who go through the motions of parenthood, and shows engaging and teachable moments.

Originally from O’Fallon, Illinois Bayoc began this project as a means of stability, but over the course of a year it morphed into a means of preserving memories and encouraging parents to be their best selves when with their kids.

He has also used social media to create a following of his work. Bayoc posts his completed images on Facebook, allowing viewers to contact him to recreate memories shared with their own fathers. The images vary from the fun and lighthearted (going fishing, piggyback rides) to the bittersweet and solemn (returning home from war, saying goodbye to a parent). 

Though Bayoc fell short of completing 365 photos in 2012, he plans to finish the project this winter and  find a place to exhibit his work.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Erin Williams talked with Cbabi Bayoc about the memories he has with his own father, who died when he was twelve, being a father to his own three children, and using his talents to promote a positive image of fatherhood.

Here is an edited excerpt:

On deciding to focus on “father figures” as well as typical dads:

“That’s something I struggled with in the beginning too – ‘Is it just going to be dad?’ [But I realized] that’s not everybody’s reality. In order to heal what’s going on in the community it has to be more than concentrating on dad.  You got pieces that are more about the uncle or the older brother who stepped in, or your granddad. It’s really just about the male figure who’s been important in your life. Letting kids know ‘Dad’s not home. You can’t make him come home, but I’m sure there’s somebody around you who has either tried or you need to seek out somebody you honestly and sincerely can trust to be that figure that you need to show you the way.’”

On using his work as bonding time with his three children:

They are always around. I paint right in the dining room of the house. Several of my kids have actually helped me paint some of the pieces. They do the underpainting, they’ve blackened the canvas, they go to Kinko’s with me to ship the paintings off. They’ve been immersed in it. They’re 7, 9, and 12. I’m sure they’ll be able to express themselves more about it when they’re 20 or so and they get it. But right now, that’s all they’ve known – Dad as an artist. We might not go to the park as much, but we’re always right there.”

On painting the future:

“The very reason I did it - there are a lot of dads who are present and doing what they’re supposed to do, even though it always doesn’t seem so. On a practical level, I want kids to know you can be an artist and make a living, make an impact, do something responsible with your time – just that you have other options. A lot of kids come into [Sweet Art] and see the paintings or they’ll see me in the corner with the easel and they’ll be shocked. I don’t know where they though where the pieces come from or who’s doing them – to see them, they’re just amazed…that I’m doing it now, means they can too.

Just showing that art’s still important, and imagery’s still important.  Sometimes it’s important to paint what we want to have happen as opposed to just what we always see and think. You can paint possibilities.”