We Are Speaking Podcast: Recent Episodes
Keith Owens and Pamela Hilliard Owens
Married couple Keith Owens and Pamela Hilliard Owens speak on American History and Culture, Government, Education, and Politics from a Black perspective. The podcast is sponsored by the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community.
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Issue #1059 Today In Black History Monday, August 10, 2026
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Issue #1057 Today In Black History Monday, August 3, 2026
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Issue #1055 Today In Black History Wednesday, July 29, 2026
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Issue #1,055 The Choice, Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Every Tuesday until the end of 2026, we will publish a post about each of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution.
I plead the 5th!
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Issue #1054 Today In Black History Monday, July 27, 2026
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Issue #1053 Today In Black History Monday, July 20, 2026
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Special Issue Tuesday, July 20, 2026 The 4th Amendment
Every Tuesday until the end of 2026, we will publish a post about each of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution. This post was originally published in July 2025.
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Issue #1053 Today In Black History Monday, July 20, 2026
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Issue #1051 Today In Black History Wednesday, July 15, 2026
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Issue #1050 Today In Black History July 13, 2026
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Issue #1048 Today In Black History July 6, 2026
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Issue #1047 Today In Black History July 6, 2026
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Issue #1,030 Today In Black History, Monday, May 25, 2026
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Issue #990 Today In Black History, Wednesday, February 11, 2026
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Issue #986 The Complex History of "Jingle Bells" Today In Black History, Monday, February 2, 2026
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Issue #969 Today In Black History, Dr. Wangari Maathai, Wednesday, December 17, 2025
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Issue #968 Today In Black History, Viola Ford Fletcher, Wednesday, December 10, 2025
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Issue #967 Today In Black History, Paul Revere Williams, Monday, December 8, 2025
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Issue #964 Today In Black History, William Grant Still, Wednesday, December 3, 2025
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Issue #963 Today In Black History, Monday, December 1, 2025
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Issue #961 Today In Black History, Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Homer Adolph Plessy was an American shoemaker of mixed race and a civil rights activist, best known for his role in the landmark 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson.
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Issue #960 Today In Black History, Monday, November 17, 2025
Celebrating Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray: A Trailblazer in Civil and Gender Rights
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Issue #957 Today In Black History, Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Grace Bumbry was a Grammy-winning international opera diva.
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Issue #956 Today In Black History, Monday, November 10, 2025
Richard Spikes was an African American inventor whose work spanned various industries, leaving an indelible mark on automotive technology, among others.
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Here at We Are Speaking, we publish an article about each of the Amendments to the Constitution every Friday. You can search the archive on our website to view previous articles.
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Here at We Are Speaking, we publish an article about each of the Amendments to the Constitution every Friday. You can search the archive on our website to view previous articles.
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Our September 2025 subscriber goals are 150 new free subscribers and 75 new paid subscribers! You can help us reach our goal!
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Issue #948 Today In Black History, Monday, October 27, 2025
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Here at We Are Speaking, we publish an article about each of the Amendments to the Constitution every Friday. You can search the archive on our website to view previous articles.
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Our September 2025 subscriber goals are 150 new free subscribers and 75 new paid subscribers! You can help us reach our goal!
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Issue #944 Thursday, October 23, 2025
As we look forward to 2026 as the year (hopefully) when Democrats take back control of the House, and maybe even the Senate, there are a few things we need to be mindful of, and that we don’t seem to be mindful of enough.
First, we need to prepare ourselves for the very real possibility that there won’t just be the standard level of voter intimidation next year, as in requiring ID, long lines, etc.
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Issue #947 Monday, October 20, 2025
Herbert Nipson’s career skyrocketed when he joined the esteemed Ebony Magazine in 1949. Founded by John H. Johnson in 1945, Ebony was created to focus on African American culture, achievements, and issues—an endeavor that Nipson passionately supported. As managing editor and later executive editor, he played a crucial role in shaping the magazine into a significant platform that provided a voice to the African American community during the civil rights movement and beyond.
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Issue #935 Today In Black History, Wednesday, October 1, 2025
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This episode commemorates Herbert Nipsey, former executive editor of Ebony Magazine, highlighting his early life, achievements, and lasting impact on African American journalism. The segment also recounts notable events in Black history that occurred on October 20th across various years.
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The #NoKingsDay peaceful rallies nationwide and in a dozen other countries on Saturday, October 18, 2025, are just a very much larger repeat of the original #NoKingsDay, July 4, 1776. That is the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the day that this country began as a nation.
If Republicans think that being Antifa, meaning ANTI-FASCIST, and protesting against a man who would be king through tyrannical methods, as guaranteed by the FIRST AMENDMENT, is “terrorism,” then they are the ones showing their true ANTI-AMERICAN colors.
Period. Full stop.
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The Choice #945 Friday, October 17, 2025
As the current administration and MAGA Republicans continue to take illegal and unconstitutional actions on practically a daily basis, a reminder that here at We Are Speaking, we are publishing an article about each of the Amendments to the Constitution every week on Fridays. You can search the archive on our website to view previous articles.
The 18th Amendment, ratified on January 16, 1919, and going into effect on January 17, 1920, established the prohibition of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States by banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.
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As the current administration and MAGA Republicans continue to take illegal and unconstitutional actions on practically a daily basis, a reminder that here at We Are Speaking, we are publishing an article about each of the Amendments to the Constitution every week on Fridays. You can search the archive on our website to view previous articles.
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Season 3, Episode 75 Tuesday, October 14, 2025
We Are Speaking is a Substack publication and podcast by married couple Keith and Pamela Owens that addresses history and current events from a Black perspective.
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Trump is trying to get people used to the fact that he is going to use the United States military to attack American cities in the United States, especially during the 2026 midterm elections. Trump and MAGA are working to destroy America, including everyone who disagrees with them. Trump has been in office for about 10 months now.
Prices are up, inflation is up, unemployment is up, and the tariffs are wreaking havoc both here and overseas. U.S. manufacturing has shrunk for the past seven months.
Every single day, things get worse and worse. Meanwhile, Trump and everyone in his administration lie every single day about what’s going on and what Trump is and isn’t doing.
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Day of Recognition and Reflection
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day is more than just a holiday; it’s a movement towards acknowledgment and respect. It’s about recognizing the historical and ongoing injustices faced by Indigenous communities, and about celebrating their profound contributions to society—including their art, knowledge, culture, and their longstanding sustainable stewardship of the environment.
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Issue #935 Today In Black History, Wednesday, October 1, 2025
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Issue #941 Friday, October 10, 2025
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Ratified on April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment fundamentally altered the structure of American democracy by changing the election process for U.S. Senators. Before its ratification, senators were chosen by state legislatures. This process was intended to ensure that the Senate would be a body representing the states, providing a balance to the popularly elected House of Representatives.
However, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the process was marred by corruption, deadlocks in state legislatures, and a growing disconnect between Senators and their constituents.
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Issue #940 October 9, 2025
So it’s clear that most of us will require a translator for the Super Bowl Halftime Show next year, thanks to Bad Bunny, a three-time Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican American rapper who raps in Spanish (American citizen since birth because Puerto Rico is an American territory, BTW). Bad Bunny is also the most-streamed artist IN THE WORLD for the past three years!
Bad Bunny was hired for the gig by African American rapper Jay-Z (American citizen since birth because, you know, Brooklyn), who now works for the NFL as their Live Music Entertainment Strategist (lots to unpack there, I know) since 2019, when his Roc Nation partnered with the NFL.
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Today in Black History #939: Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Jackie Ormes was born Zelda Mavin Jackson on August 1, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ormes made history as the first African-American woman cartoonist, who often commented on the social issues of her time.
Ormes started in journalism as a proofreader for the Pittsburgh Courier. She also worked as an editor and as a freelance writer, writing on police beats, court cases, and human-interest topics.
In 1937, Ormes debuted her first comic strip, “Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem,” in the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s leading Black newspapers. The strip followed the adventures of Torchy Brown, a young, ambitious Southern girl who migrated to the North to pursue her dreams.
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The Colored Hockey League (CHL) of the Maritimes in Canada was established in 1895 and continued until 1930.
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The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1913, grants Congress the power to levy and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without being required to apportion these taxes among the states based on their population.
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Thursday, October 2, 2025
Woefully incompetent people tend not to be very comfortable around those who are as competent as they are ignorant. Especially when they are placed in charge of really competent people. Because then their ignorance becomes almost blinding, as it is hard to miss. But when they are surrounded by others equally or more ignorant and sycophantic than themselves, then all feels right with the world. Everything feels just Trumpy and nice.
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Clay joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1965 and played a pivotal role in launching its computer division. Clay’s leadership in developing software for the HP 2116A, one of the company’s first mini-computers.
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Monday, September 29, 2025
A quick reminder: if you haven’t already, please subscribe to “We Are Speaking” Substack and podcast. They are free, but you can also financially support us by becoming a paid subscriber for as little as $5.00 a month or $50 a year.
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and paid subscribers can comment!
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A quick reminder: if you haven’t already, please subscribe to “We Are Speaking” Substack and podcast. They are free, but you can also financially support us by becoming a paid subscriber for as little as $5.00 a month or $50 a year.
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and paid subscribers can comment!
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Tuesday, September 24, 2025
A quick reminder: if you haven’t already, please subscribe to “We Are Speaking” Substack and podcast. They are free, but you can also financially support us by becoming a paid subscriber for as little as $5.00 a month or $50 a year.
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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Tuesday, September 22, 2025
A quick reminder: if you haven’t already, please subscribe to “We Are Speaking” Substack and podcast. They are free, but you can also financially support us by becoming a paid subscriber for as little as $5.00 a month or $50 a year.
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The 14th Amendment is a cornerstone of civil rights, written to ensure that ALL persons within the nation's borders are granted equal protection under the law.
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Ratified on July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment was born out of the period following the Civil War, when the nation was grappling with the remnants of slavery. Alongside the 13th and 15th Amendments, it forms part of what are known as the Reconstruction Amendments. These amendments collectively abolished slavery, defined citizenship, and laid down the legal foundation for racial equality.
Amendment XIV
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The 14th Amendment comprises five sections, with the first section being the most profound. It confers citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby granting formerly enslaved individuals the full rights of citizenship. This was a direct response to the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, where the Supreme Court had ruled that African Americans could not be citizens.
Notice that the wording is “all persons born…,” which means even the children of undocumented immigrants are conferred citizenship.
Furthermore, the Equal Protection Clause mandates that no state shall deny any person "the equal protection of the laws." This clause has become a critical tool in the fight against discrimination. Over the years, it has served as the foundation for landmark Supreme Court decisions that have expanded civil rights across various fronts, including race, gender, and sexual orientation.
The 14th Amendment states ALL persons have equal protection under the law, not just the people you like. This includes undocumented immigrants and LGBTQA+ people.
Section 3 states that no person who was part of an insurrection can run for office. Several states kept Donald Trump off their ballots due to this section of the 14th Amendment, but some courts ruled that this section of the 14th Amendment did not apply to Donald Trump.
The 14th Amendment was instrumental in the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ended legal segregation in public schools. Additionally, it underpinned the Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Despite its significance, the 14th Amendment has not been without controversy. Its broad language leaves room for interpretation, prompting debates over issues such as affirmative action, voting rights, and immigration.
Moreover, while the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection, realizing this protection in practice remains a struggle. Persistent social and economic inequalities underscore the disparity between the amendment's promise and its reality.
Our Choice:
We must continue to champion the 14th Amendment's vision, striving towards a future where the rights and privileges of citizenship are enjoyed by all, without discrimination.
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Season 3, Episode #74
September 16, 2025
Donald Trump and members of his administration, especially White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have declared war on immigrants in the United States. They are particularly targeting non-white immigrants, including those who have green cards or are in the process of obtaining their legal residency documents.
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Issue #927 Today In Black History, Monday, September 15, 2025
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With the growing fascist and authoritarian government of the Trump Administration and the majority of Justices on the Supreme Court, we are fighting to save and expand the rights we’ve been fighting for the entirety of the 249 years of American history.
Even though the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution were ratified between 1865 and 1870, here we are more than one hundred years later still fighting the same fights.
In the 1960s, Black people were still being denied their basic civil rights, as segregationists used all kinds of laws, policies, and outright violence to maintain white supremacy and suppress the voting rights of Black Americans.
The civil rights movement, which was reenergized in the 1950s with the murder of 14-year-old Emmitt Till and the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, was still in full force in the early 1960s.
In Alabama and other Southern states, whites were doing everything they could to suppress the voting rights of African Americans, which were supposedly granted with the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870, more than 90 years earlier.
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, four young African American girls lost their lives in a bombing that shocked the nation and again galvanized the civil rights movement.
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was a spiritual and social hub for the African American community, serving as a site for meetings, discussions, and planning of civil rights activities. On this particular Sunday morning, the church was filled with families attending the Children's Day program. Unbeknownst to those gathered, a bomb had been planted by members of the Ku Klux Klan under the steps of the church.
At 10:22 a.m., the bomb detonated. The blast reduced much of the church's interior to rubble and claimed the lives of four innocent girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Carol Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14). This act of racial terror wounded 22 others and struck a devastating blow to the community.
I remember this incident well, as I was just about one month shy of my 13th birthday.
The impact of this tragic event, just sixty-two years ago, was immediate and far-reaching. News of the bombing and the deaths of these four "little girls," as they came to be known, spread across the nation, drawing attention to the violent resistance faced by those advocating for racial equality. The outrage was not confined to Birmingham or even the Southern United States; it resonated globally, highlighting the stark realities of racial hatred in America.
The bombing exposed the brutality faced by African Americans and brought about a crucial shift in public consciousness. Civil rights leaders, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., condemned the attack as an act of "unspeakable inhumanity," urging the nation to confront its systemic racism and calling for legislative change.
The tragic loss of these young lives contributed to the momentum for major civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as a majority of the nation realized the need to dismantle institutionalized racism.
Yet, justice for the victims was delayed. It took years for the perpetrators to be brought to trial and convicted. Despite the immediate outrage and the clear evidence of racial terrorism, justice for this atrocity was painfully slow.
The FBI identified four KKK members as suspects: Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash. However, due to the political climate of the time, including significant resistance from local and state officials and widespread systemic racism, no immediate prosecutions occurred.
For years, the case languished. J. Edgar Hoover, then Director of the FBI, reportedly blocked the prosecution of the identified suspects, claiming insufficient evidence. This inaction highlighted the deep-seated racial biases within the justice system.
-
It wasn't until 1977, 14 years after the bombing, that Robert Chambliss was brought to trial for his role in the attack. Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case and pursued charges against Chambliss, who was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Carol Denise McNair, the youngest of the four girls, and sentenced to life in prison. Chambliss maintained his innocence until his death in 1985.
-
Decades later, the quest for justice continued. In 2000, a state grand jury indicted Thomas Blanton on first-degree murder charges. Blanton's trial, held in 2001, relied heavily on new evidence, including recorded conversations between Blanton and an informant. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Blanton died in prison in 2020.
-
Bobby Frank Cherry was indicted alongside Blanton but was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial initially. However, in 2002, a jury convicted Cherry of the bombing after a trial that included testimonies from family members and former Klan associates. Like his co-defendants, Cherry received a life sentence and died in prison in 2004.
-
Herman Cash was never charged in relation to the bombing. He died in 1994, and no legal proceedings were brought against him during his lifetime.
The bombing remains a poignant reminder of the violent resistance to racial integration and equality in the United States. The courage of those who continued to seek justice for the "four little girls" serves as an enduring testament to the resilience and determination of the civil rights movement.
The last of the bombers was finally convicted in 2001, a testament to the slow, often painful journey towards justice.
Today, the memory of the four little girls serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of freedom and equality. Each year, as we commemorate their lives, we are reminded of the enduring impact of their loss and the imperative to remain vigilant against hatred and inequality.
The legacy of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley is a call to action—a reminder of the power of resilience and the enduring quest for justice that defines the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
Today In Black History
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In 1791, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, Jr., a Congregational minister, preached a strong anti-slavery sermon before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage.
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In 1898, the National Afro-American Council was founded in Rochester, New York, promoting a program of assertion and protest.
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In 1923, the governor of Oklahoma declared martial law because the state was in rebellion and insurrection due to KKK activities.
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In 1943, actor and activist Paul Robeson, the son of an escaped slave, portrayed Othello for the 296th time at the Schubert Theater in New York City.
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In 1952, the United Nations turned over Eritrea to Ethiopia.
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In 1964, Dr. Stanley Smith and Rev. K.L. Buford were elected to the Tuskegee City Council, making them the first Black elected officials in the 20th century in Alabama.
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In 1978, Muhammad Ali became the first Black prizefighter to gross more than five million dollars in a bout at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Ali won a 13-round unanimous decision against Leon Spinks and also became the first fighter to win the heavyweight title three times.
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In 1991, Black inventor Jan E. Matzeliger was commemorated on a U.S.postage stamp.
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Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Claressa Shields recently defended her undisputed middleweight title for a record-breaking twelfth time, further solidifying her status as a legend in the sport. Shields' success has transcended the confines of the ring, inspiring a new generation of female athletes to pursue their dreams with vigor and confidence.
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Monday, August 25, 2025
Recy Taylor was a gang rape victim who received no justice.
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Thursday, August 21, 2025
Please enjoy this podcast episode for today’s “Choice” post.
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Wednesday, August 20, 2025
The Smith twins were photographers and artists in Harlem from the 1930s to the 1950s.
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Issue #909 The Choice, Friday, August 15, 2025
Every Friday until the end of 2025, we will publish a post about each of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution.
The 9th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
The 9th Amendment, primarily written by James Madison, was ratified as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791 to acknowledge that the people hold additional rights beyond those specifically mentioned.
The 9th Amendment is also interpreted to mean that certain rights in the Constitution should not be construed to mean that the Constitution does not protect rights that are not enumerated.
The 9th Amendment serves as a reminder that the people inherently hold other fundamental rights, integral to the nation's ethos of liberty and justice.
Through the centuries, the 9th Amendment has been at the periphery of constitutional interpretation, and courts have often been reluctant to ground decisions solely on this amendment due to its open-ended nature.
However, one notable Supreme Court case is Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), where the Court recognized a right to privacy. Although not explicitly stated in the Constitution, the decision underscored that such a right was implied by the broader principles of liberty enshrined in the document, including the 9th Amendment.
This right to privacy has been used in many ways over the years, including with issues such as digital privacy, reproductive rights, and emerging technologies.
The 9th Amendment encourages citizens and lawmakers to consider what rights are inherent and essential, even if they are not explicitly enumerated.
The 9th Amendment continues to safeguard the principle that individual rights are expansive and not confined to those formally articulated within the Constitution.
Have you ever considered how the 9th Amendment applies to you?
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Here is the podcast version of Choice Post #908, August 14, 2025.
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Issue #908 The Choice, Thursday, August 14, 2025
Foreign policy is not my strong suit, but you don’t have to be a foreign policy expert to understand that genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza right now. Normally, that story would be much more prominent in the headlines, especially considering that the Israeli government now appears to be assassinating journalists. Except that we have a criminal sexual predator for a president whose increasingly unsuccessful attempts to deflect attention away from his depraved nature are making it more difficult for editors to decide what’s likely to get more hits.
Pursue a play-by-play covering the latest developments with the Jeffrey Epstein files? Or keep an eye on government-sanctioned mass genocide sanctioned by a government that is supposed to be a staunch US ally that nobody is supposed to criticize for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic?
Yeah. That’s a tough one.
Meanwhile, from yesterday’s The Guardian:
“Israel always boasted that it was the only country in the region to support press freedom. That boast rang hollow even before the current war. Now, it’s not even pretending. On Sunday, Israel openly and brazenly killed six journalists as they were sheltering in a tent that housed reporters and media workers.
“Israel accuses one of those journalists – Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif – of being a terrorist. It has not said what crime it believes the others have committed that would justify killing them. The laws of war are clear: journalists are civilians. To target them deliberately in war is to commit a war crime.
“It is hardly surprising that Israel believes it can get away with murder. In the two decades preceding 7 October, Israeli forces killed 20 journalists. No one has ever been held accountable for any of those deaths, including that of the Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, whose killing in 2022 sent shock waves through the region. Abu Akleh, a dual US-Palestinian citizen, was a household name in the Middle East, just as al-Sharif became a familiar face for audiences for his coverage of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”
Had the 2024 election gone the other way, I think it’s highly unlikely things would have gotten anywhere near this bad. Although I think President Joe Biden was far too lenient and accommodating of Israel’s outrages, and it’s possible that Vice President Kamala Harris may have been similarly accommodating if she was now in the driver’s seat – we’ll never know – I do think it’s safe to speculate with a fair degree of certainty that Harris would not have simply twiddled her thumbs and played golf while a genocide was being perpetrated against the Palestinians. At the very least, before Biden left office, he and Harris were working round-the-clock toward the creation of a ceasefire plan that had actually begun to take hold before Trump stumbled into office and told Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to do whatever the hell he wanted. From the U.S. Department of Defense website, dated January 16, just before Biden was about to hand over the keys to a madman:
“In his final address from the Oval Office yesterday, President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire and hostage-exchange deal between Israel and Hamas — a truce that Defense Department officials believe signals a possible end to 15 months of conflict in the region.”
Would that ceasefire have held up? Who knows. But it was at least a step toward ending the carnage. At least he wasn’t talking about turning Gaza into another Trump resort. After the Palestinians had all been swept away, of course.
From NPR on February 26 of this year:
“The video [posted by Trump on his social media) also shows children running out of the rubble into a world of palm trees and luxury buildings, and a towering golden statue of Trump. It depicts men in apparent drag dancing in bikinis on the beach, Trump enjoying a belly dancer and a man resembling Elon Musk being showered with cash in the form of U.S. currency.
“The post comes weeks after Trump suggested the U.S. should take over the Gaza Strip and relocate Palestinians.”
Today, August 14, 2025, marks 205 days since Trump was sworn into office. There are 1,255 days left until January 20, 2029. If Trump is defeated, then that is how much longer we have to endure this. Except that Trump has no intention of voluntarily leaving office in January of 2029.
1,255 more days.
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Welcome to Season 4, Episode #73 of the We Are Speaking Podcast, dated Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Today I am discussing a topic that's been at the center of much debate recently: the fate of public education in the United States.
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Issue #907 Today In Black History, Monday, August 11, 2025
My paternal grandparents did not leave Fort Smith, Arkansas, during the Great Migration of the early and mid-20th century, but most of their surviving thirteen children did leave and established new lives and families elsewhere in the U.S.
My father was the 12th of the thirteen children. Effective medical care was almost non-existent in that place at that time. Two of his older sisters died of TB in the mid-1930s when he was a teenager. One sister contracted the disease and gave it to the other sister, who left behind a three-year-old daughter. My father was also an identical twin, but when they were four years old, his brother died of gangrene after stepping on a nail while they were playing outside barefoot. The ambulance refused to take the young boy to the hospital.
My maternal grandparents did leave Eufaula, Alabama, in the early 1900s and moved to East Chicago, Indiana, because my grandfather secured employment in the nearby steel mills.
My mother was the second of three daughters, but in 1934, her older sister died at age thirteen after suffering a mild concussion in gym class. The white hospital in East Chicago would not admit her, and before my grandparents could drive to the Black hospital in Chicago, about thirty miles away, she died.
My parents met in the mid-1940s in the biology lab at St. Louis University. They planned to live in St. Louis after they married in 1949, but my father could not get a job in that city because of racism. They moved to Detroit soon after they married because my father was hired by the Detroit Health Department. He stayed with the Health Department until he retired more than thirty-five years later, and my three younger sisters and I were born and raised in Detroit.
I tell this quick history of my family and racism to emphasize how important the 1965 Voting Rights Act was during the Civil Rights Movement. My paternal grandparents and maternal grandfather died in the 1950s, before they could legally and easily vote for people who would not have allowed them to experience the racism they did, which resulted in the deaths of their children.
My maternal grandmother died in August 1965, just a few months before the passing of the Voting Rights Act, but she was very active in local politics in her adopted home of Detroit for ten years from 1955 through 1965. She dragged five-year-old me with her as she went from house to house to house registering people to vote in the 1950s.
My father allowed me, as a ten-year-old, to “vote” for Senator John F. Kennedy for president in 1960 by letting me “pull the lever” that opened the privacy curtain on the voting booth and registered his votes.
My father and I marched with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Detroit in June 1963 during the first “March for Jobs and Justice.”
I remember watching on TV as President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in August 1963, just as I remember watching the Civil Rights Movement on TV in the 1950s and 1960s.
Before the VRA, African Americans and other minority groups, especially in the Southern states, faced numerous obstacles when attempting to exercise their right to vote. These included literacy tests, poll taxes, and other discriminatory practices often supported by local laws and enforcement.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought significant attention to these injustices. Events such as the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 highlighted the violent opposition faced by Black Americans seeking to register to vote. These events garnered national attention and increased pressure on the federal government to act.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law on August 6, 1965. The law aimed to remove barriers to voting for all citizens, particularly those affecting African Americans. It prohibited any voting practice or procedure that discriminated on the basis of race or color and included special provisions for jurisdictions with significant histories of discrimination.
My grandparents were unable to exercise their right to vote, both in the South and in the North, before they died.
The necessity of the VRA arose from the pervasive and systemic disenfranchisement of minority voters, primarily in the Southern states, but also in other parts of the country. By enforcing the 15th Amendment, which was ratified in 1870, the VRA sought to ensure that no citizen would be denied the right to vote due to race or color. Key provisions included:
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Section 2: Prohibited nationwide voting discrimination.
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Section 5: Required jurisdictions with significant histories of discrimination to obtain federal approval before making changes to voting laws or practices (preclearance).
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Section 4(b): Contained the formula used to identify which jurisdictions would be subject to Section 5 preclearance.
Conservatives have attempted to suppress the votes of Black people, women, and other non-white United States citizens since the passage of the 15th Amendment, primarily by calling for “states’ rights.” Over the decades since 1965, the VRA has faced multiple legal challenges, leading to significant changes in its enforcement:
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Shelby County v. Holder (2013): The Supreme Court invalidated the coverage formula in Section 4(b), which effectively nullified the preclearance requirement of Section 5. This decision led to a wave of new voting laws in several states, some of which were criticized for potentially suppressing minority votes.
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Ongoing Debates: The ruling in Shelby County v. Holder sparked ongoing debates on voting rights and led to calls for Congress to modernize the VRA to restore its full protections.
In response to the Supreme Court's decision, there have been efforts to pass new legislation to restore and update the VRA. Notably, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act seeks to modernize the preclearance formula and strengthen voting rights protections, but as of 2025, it has yet to be passed into law.
Meanwhile, Republicans at the state and national levels continue to work hard to suppress the votes and dilute the representation for Black and brown voters throughout the country.
The VRA's current framework, post-Shelby, has led to increased scrutiny of state-level voting laws. Critics argue that some of these laws disproportionately affect minority voters, while supporters claim they are necessary to prevent voter fraud, which is actually practically non-existent.
Today In Black History
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In 1960, the African nation of Chad gained its independence from France.
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In 1965, an 11-day insurrection started in the Watts section of Los Angeles.
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In 1965, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Thurgood Marshall as United States solicitor general.
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In 1982, Lt. General Roscoe Robinson, Jr. became the second Black Four-Star General in U.S. history.
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In 1992, Black inventor Anthony Phills received a U.S. patent for a ruler template for the computer keyboard.
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In 2020, Democratic Presidential candidate former Senator Joe Biden selected Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate. Senator Harris is the first woman of color selected by a major political party.
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This episode is from our weekly series on the amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
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Season 3, Episode #71 January 13, 2024
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the top five news stories and other news from this past week.
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Summary and Timeline Outline
We Are Speaking Podcast: Season 3, Episode 71 Highlights
In Season Three, Episode 71 of the “We Are Speaking” podcast, co-hosts Pamela Hilliard Owens and Keith Owens provide an overview of the top five news stories of the week from a black perspective. Topics include the hospitalization of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the associated criticisms; Trump's attempt to claim immunity from prosecution in the context of his Georgia election interference case; a joint defense effort by the US and UK intercepting Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea; the attempt by House committees to hold Hunter Biden in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for closed-door testimony; and finally, former President Trump's criticism of New York judge Arthur Engeron during a civil fraud trial.
00:35 Introduction and Welcome
00:41 About the Podcast and Hosts
01:52 Discussion on Lloyd Austin's Hospitalization
06:04 Trump's Immunity Claim in Election Interference Charges
12:08 US and UK Intercept Houthi Barrage in the Red Sea
18:25 Hunter Biden's Contempt Case
24:29 Trump Slams Judge in New York Fraud Trial
28:08 Conclusion and Farewell
Click the links below for more information:
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 3, Episode #70 January 6, 2024
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss three top news stories and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
ALSO! Scroll to the end to read a summary of the podcast along with a timeline outline!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Summary and Timeline Outline
We Are Speaking Podcast - Season 3, Episode 70: A Discussion of Top News Stories from a Black Perspective
In this episode, Pamela Hilliard Owens and Keith Owens discuss some key news stories. They explore the resignation of Dr. Claudine Gay, Harvard University's first black president, following right-wing pressure and false accusations against her. They also discuss the increased threat of violence in the United States, demonstrated by recent events such as a fatal school shooting in Perry, Iowa, and the closure of several state capitol buildings due to bomb threats. Finally, the duo touches on the volatile political landscape and the upcoming 2024 election.
00:35 Introduction and Welcome
00:49 About the Podcast and Hosts
02:01 Discussion on Dr. Claudine Gay's Resignation
08:31 Impact of School Shootings
13:53 Sponsorship Message
14:49 Bomb Threats to State Capitol Buildings
19:32 Closing Remarks and Future Discussions
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
December 16, 2023
Recently, Substack has had some technical difficulties uploading longer audio files like our 30-minute podcast.
So we’re putting our podcast on hiatus until the 1st Saturday of January, ironically, January 6, 2024, for Season 3.
Thank you so much for your support as a free or paid subscriber!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #68 December 9, 2023
We apologize for the delayed publishing of this post. Substack had some technical difficulties with the new audio upload functionality.
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss five top news stories and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
ALSO! Scroll to the end to read a summary of the podcast along with a timeline outline!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Summary and Timeline Outline
In this episode of the We Are Speaking Podcast, the hosts, Pamela Hilliard Owens and Keith Owens, cover a variety of topics including American history and culture, government, education, the arts, and politics from a black perspective.
They also discuss their company, the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy, and the services they offer to independent authors and creative professionals.
The hosts talk about the upcoming college football playoffs, the performance of the Detroit Lions in the NFL, economic indicators such as job growth and low unemployment rates, issues with CEO salaries and corporate greed, the state of the Republican party, and the impact of the MAGA Republicans, and the legal situation of former President Donald Trump.
Overall, this episode provides a wealth of information and insights on various current events and issues.
Outline:
-
Introduction
-
Welcome to Season 2, Episode 68 of the We Are Speaking Podcast
-
Overview of podcast topics and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy
-
College Football Playoff
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Final four spots and upcoming matchups
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Exclusion of Florida State and controversy surrounding the current bowl system
-
Detroit Lions and NFL
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Surprising performance of the Detroit Lions in the NFC North division
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Personal connection to the Broncos and the revitalization of Detroit
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Economic Indicators
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National Association for Business Economists survey results
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Job growth, low unemployment rates, and the impact of Biden-Harris policies
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CEO Salaries and Corporate Greed
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Criticisms of excessive salaries and profits in certain industries
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Impact on consumer prices and the perception of economic well-being
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Political Updates
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Tommy Tuberville's blocking of military promotions and objections to reproductive healthcare policies
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Kevin McCarthy's resignation from Congress and the changing dynamics within the Republican party
-
Legal Situation of Donald Trump
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Gag orders and indictment as a criminal defendant
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Discussion on the need for accountability and potential imprisonment
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Sponsor Message and Conclusion
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Sponsorship by the Team Owens 313 Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy
-
Recap of main points discussed and encouragement to visit the website for more information
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #67 November 18, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss five top news stories and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
ALSO! Scroll to the end to read a summary of the podcast along with a timeline outline!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Summary and Timeline Outline
In this episode of the “We Are Speaking Podcast,” Pamela Hilliard Owens, in partnership with her husband Keith Owens, discusses various pressing issues in American culture, politics, and education from a black perspective.
They are particularly disturbed by a potential government shutdown slated for November 17th, 2023, which they attribute to the reluctance of the House of Representatives to pass the necessary bill.
Keith and Pamela also analyze President Biden's administration, praising it for its handling of the country's pandemic-stricken economy. They caution against the danger of misinformation, emphasizing the significant accomplishments of Biden and Kamala Harris.
They end the podcast by focusing on recent developments within the Democrats, particularly the non-re-election bid of Senator Joe Manchin and the potential complications that third-party and independent candidates pose for the Democrats.
00:35 Introduction and Welcome
00:54 About the Podcast and Hosts
02:00 Top Five News Stories Discussion
02:18 Government Shutdown Concerns
03:06 2024 Election Speculations
03:53 Defending President Biden's Performance
05:01 Student Loan Forgiveness Controversy
05:51 Biden's Judicial Appointments
08:13 Role of Vice President Kamala Harris
14:58 Sponsor Message and Podcast Availability
15:57 Election Results and Abortion Issue
16:17 Racial Bias in Aurora Police Department
21:47 Strikes and Labor Movements
25:11 Potential Third-Party Candidates for 2024
28:40 Conclusion and Subscription Reminder
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #66 November 11, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss five top news stories and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
ALSO! Scroll to the end to read a summary of the podcast along with a timeline outline!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Summary and Timeline Outline
In this episode of the “We Are Speaking Podcast,” Pamela Hilliard Owens, in partnership with her husband Keith Owens, discusses various pressing issues in American culture, politics, and education from a black perspective.
They are particularly disturbed by a potential government shutdown slated for November 17th, 2023, which they attribute to the reluctance of the House of Representatives to pass the necessary bill.
Keith and Pamela also analyze President Biden's administration, praising it for its handling of the country's pandemic-stricken economy. They caution against the danger of misinformation, emphasizing the significant accomplishments of Biden and Kamala Harris.
They end the podcast by focusing on recent developments within the Democrats, particularly the non-re-election bid of Senator Joe Manchin and the potential complications that third-party and independent candidates pose for the Democrats.
00:35 Introduction and Welcome
00:54 About the Podcast and Hosts
02:00 Top Five News Stories Discussion
02:18 Government Shutdown Concerns
03:06 2024 Election Speculations
03:53 Defending President Biden's Performance
05:01 Student Loan Forgiveness Controversy
05:51 Biden's Judicial Appointments
08:13 Role of Vice President Kamala Harris
14:58 Sponsor Message and Podcast Availability
15:57 Election Results and Abortion Issue
16:17 Racial Bias in Aurora Police Department
21:47 Strikes and Labor Movements
25:11 Potential Third-Party Candidates for 2024
28:40 Conclusion and Subscription Reminder
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #65 November 4, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss five top news stories and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #63 October 7, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the dysfunctional Republican caucus in the House of Representatives and other news from this past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you. If you find this podcast informational and valuable, you can financially support us by subscribing at the paid level for no more than $5/month.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #62 September 30, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the impending government shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is blaming the President, the Senate, and everyone else except himself. An agreement was made last spring, and McCarthy reneged. This is ALL on him.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
NOW! When you click to listen, check out the tab for a full written transcript of the podcast!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #61 September 23, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the seven candidates who have qualified for the next Republican presidential debate. We know how bad Trump is, but the rest of them are bad, too!
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #60 September 16, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam feel that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that support the current president and vice president and look past the media bias that treats Trump as a regular candidate.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you.
Click the links below for more information:
The QR Code for the Branding and Marketing Academy
Here is the link for the Branding and Marketing Academy:
Detroit Stories Quarterly QR Code
Here is the link for Detroit Stories Quarterly:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 2, Episode #59 August 26, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam feel that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that the true history of America, including the “bad” parts is taught and exposed. So this week, we are presenting a list of Race Massacres of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you.
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Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #59 August 19, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam encourage listeners to ignore the quadruply-indicted, twice-impeached, liable for sexual assault and rape, two-time popular-vote loser, and disgraced former president and instead learn about and promote the multiple achievements of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section, in the Notes feature available on the web, or in the app with your subscription!
Our paid subscribers and the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy bring this podcast to you.
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Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #58 August 12, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss their choices of the top five news events of the past week.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section or in the Notes feature available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
This podcast is brought to you by our paid subscribers and by the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy.
Click the links below for more information:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #56 August 5, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss in detail, their separate points of view, navigating today’s political climate and what we all can and should do.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section or in the Notes feature available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
This podcast is brought to you by our paid subscribers and by the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy.
Click the links below for more information:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it, and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription for yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #55 July 15, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss in detail how and why President Joe Biden and the Democrats had a very good week, and how the Republicans are still trying to destroy our democracy.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments section or in the Notes feature available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
This podcast is brought to you by our paid subscribers and by the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy.
Click the links below for more information:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public, so feel free to share it and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #54 July 8, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss in detail how the Republicans are still trying to destroy our democracy, and the Democrats are putting in the work to improve the lives of ordinary, regular Americans.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
Click the links below for more information:
Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public so feel free to share it and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #53 July 1, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss in detail one topic: the current Supreme Court.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Thank you for listening to this podcast. This episode is public so feel free to share it and if you refer people who subscribe, you can receive up to six months of a free paid subscription yourself.
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Season 2, Episode #52 June 17, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss three topics: the Republication response to the Trump indictment, the C.R.O.W.N. Act, and the history of Juneteenth.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #51 June 10, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the recent SCOTUS surprise positive decision with the Voting Rights Act and the indictment: United States v Donald J. Trump.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #50 May 27, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the formation of the EPA and the Clean Water Act, and how conservatives and SCOTUS decisions are destroying the guardrails for combating climate change.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #49 May 20, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss five of the Republicans’ missteps out of the many, just this week. Then they offer 5 ways Democrats can make sure we win now through November 2024.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #48 May 6, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the history of seditious conspiracies and the recent convictions of several Jan 6 insurrectionists.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #47 April 29, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the current abortion debate, why abortion must be thought of as “women’s health care,” and some of the other ways the Republicans are quickly eliminating our human rights.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #46 April 22, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the details of the settlement of the lawsuit where Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for defamation and the coming crisis of voting to lift the debt ceiling for the American and global economies.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments or in the Notes section available on the web or in the app with your subscription!
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Season 2, Episode #45 April 15, 2023
In this free 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss how the actions of the extreme MAGA Republicans are driving the Democrats toward making a new Reconstruction in our politics.
The fundraiser for the Justins is temporarily closed. Watch this space for more info.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode #44 April 8, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss everything that went on this week, from successful elections to indictments to legislative expulsions to far-right activist judges.
What are your thoughts about what happened this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Our Sponsor:
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Season 2, Episode 43 April 1, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the indictment of the 45th president of the United States and the importance of the April 4 election for a new Supreme Court Justice in Wisconsin that will affect all of us.
What are your thoughts about what happened this week and what will happen next week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode 42 March 25, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss some of the other creative events they’ve experienced recently. So much fun!
Did you enjoy learning about some of the other things we do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode 41 March 11, 2023
President Joe Biden submitted his budget proposal on March 9, 2023, as promised. The Republicans did not.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the Biden budget proposal and the Republican response. Spoiler alert: Repubs said NO!
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode 40 March 4, 2023
As we record this episode the metro Detroit area is experiencing 100s of 1000s of people without power—AGAIN. We are also experiencing the rare “thunder snow,” a snowstorm with thunder and lightning.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the expected and unexpected reasons for so many power outages in the United States. We should be better than this.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode 39 Politics February 25, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss Joe Biden’s surprising and triumphant visit to Kyiv on Monday prior to his speech to the NATO Allies on Tuesday.
They also remind people of the 3rd party “lost cause” interference during the 2016 election that allowed Trump to win the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Season 2, Episode 38 February 18, 2023
Super Bowl LVII was played on Sunday, February 12, 2023. It was an exciting game.
The pre-game show included a performance of “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” also known as the '“Black National Anthem” by Emmy award-winning singer and actor Sheryl Lee Ralph. The halftime show featured actual billionaire Rihanna.
The right wing went crazy because Black History and Culture were featured.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam have a vigorous discussion on all sides of this “debate.”
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Season 2, Episode 37 February 11, 2023
This week at the annual State of the Union (SOTU) Address, President Joe Biden showed that he can give it as well as take it. Meanwhile, even House Speaker Kevin McCarthy couldn’t control the classless crazies in the MAGA wing of his caucus.
The SOTU response given by Republican Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was so bad, even Steve Bannon said it bombed.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam give their thoughts about all of that.
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Season 2, Episode #36 February 4, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the ongoing hypocrisy of today’s Republican party, especially now with the very slim House majority under Barely Speaker Kevin McCarty (R-CA).
We also talk about how the Republicans are deliberately conflating the debt ceiling issue. It is not about “spending…” it is about making sure the US fulfills its obligations and cutting back on unnecessary military spending.
Let us know in the comments or W.A.S. Chat Forum what you think.
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Season 2, Episode #35 January 28, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, in preparation for Black History Month that begins on February 1, 2023, Keith and Pam discuss the true meaning of “Critical Race Theory” and “The 1619 Project,” not what the right-wingers have tried to tell us they mean.
We also talk about the latest (but unfortunately, not the last) murder of an innocent Black man at the hands of police. This time, the accused officers are all Black.
Tyre D. Nichols was an amateur photographer, dedicated to capturing beauty and truth in all its forms. He was looking to grow and hone his artistic skills and establish himself as a professional. Here is his website.
Keith recently published an article about police brutality and the current discussions around policing in America these days.
Let us know in the comments or W.A.S. Chat Forum what you think.
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Season 2, Episode #34 January 21, 2023
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the continuing discussion of reparations for African Americans starting with just before the end of the Civil War up to the present day.
For reference, here is the January 17, 2023 “40 Acres and a Mule” article that gives some historical background. The article is free to read until January 23, 2023.
Keith and Pam also discuss some events where attempts at reparations have been made.
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Season 2, Episode 32 January 14, 2023
In this week’s 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam first talk about the false equivalency between the classified documents Trump stole from NARA and refused to give back, and the classified documents Biden’s staff found and immediately reported and returned.
In the 2nd half of this episode, Keith and Pam discuss the murder of three non-white men at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department in just the first three days of 2023.
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Season 2, Episode 32 January 7, 2023
Happy New Year!
Watching the chaos last week that led to the election of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as the newest Speaker of the House was a lesson in dysfunction and appeasement on the part of the Republican Party, and also a lesson in unity and leadership from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and the Democrats.
In this 30-minute episode, our first episode for 2023, we discuss what happened this past week and what the situation may mean for the next two years in the 118th Congress.
I am also posting the video of Leader Jeffries’ dynamic and historic first speech in his new position.
You can find the “We Are Speaking” podcast on our app, on Apple and on Spotify, or on your favorite podcast host.
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Season 1, Episode 31 December 17, 2022
Happy Holidays and Happy 11th Birthday to our one and only Grandson, Rylee!
So many news items this week, but we are discussing the history of journalism in America and the current attempts by some authoritarian wannabees to control journalists.
Keith is an award-winning journalist and I started on Twitter in 2008.
In this 30-minute episode, our last episode for 2022, we discuss the rise and fall of journalism with Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Elon Musk.
You can find this podcast on our app and on Apple and Spotify.
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Season 1, Episode 30 December 10, 2022
Happy Holidays! In today’s 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam reminisce about celebrating the holidays when they were children, including the difference between growing up as an only child (Keith) and as one of four sisters (Pam).
Celebrating now as “empty-nesters” is quite different. Listen as Keith and Pam talk about joyful things amidst all of the doom and gloom these days.
The podcast is also available on many of your favorite podcast players.
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Season 1, Episode #29 December 3, 2022
In this week’s 30-minute episode of the “We Are Speaking” podcast, Keith and Pam discuss 1) why defending and assisting Ukraine should be important to us as Americans, and 2) the decision by President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to restructure the 2024 primary season, replacing Iowa with South Carolina as the first primary state.
This podcast is brought to you by the wonderful paid subscribers to “We Are Speaking” and our company, the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy (GCCBMA). We offer branding and marketing training, products, and services to independent writers and creative and solo professionals.
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Season 1, Episode #28 November 12, 2022
The 2022 Midterm Elections are almost over. At the time of this podcast episode, the votes in some very close elections are still being counted. But the predicted “Red Wave” turned into a “Red TRICKLE.”
In this 30-minute episode, Keith, an experienced and award-winning journalist, and Pam, a retired history teacher, discuss the results of the midterms so far, and also the role of the media before and during the election season.
The Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy (GCC BMA) brings this podcast to you. We offer online training, a unique private membership cohort, and group and one-on-one coaching. Click the button to find out more information.
The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or you can subscribe to receive every episode.
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Season 1, Episode #27 Saturday, November 5, 2022
As we are recording this episode, it is just three days before Election Day. In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the dystopian plans the Republicans have to destroy our democracy and install permanent minority rule, what’s going on with Twitter, our new Substack Chat Room, and why we should continue to support Ukraine.
This podcast is brought to you by our paid subscribers and our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community.
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Keith A. Owens and Pamela Hilliard Owens
Season 1, Episode #26 October 29, 2022
The Republicans and Trump supporters have shown us time after time that they do not care about those who may be disabled, even temporarily, and that they directly or indirectly support political violence against Democrats, as long as it helps them to regain power.
This week, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, who is the Democratic candidate for an open seat in the Senate and is recovering from the stroke he suffered last spring, debated his Republican opponent, New Jersey resident and Turkish citizen Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman acknowledged that he is still struggling with getting his words out clearly and succinctly and that he needed digital help to answer questions. He said that he is fighting to heal and that he will similarly fight for Pennsylvanians who are down and need help. Dr. Oz, on the other hand, told people that a woman’s right to choose should be between her, her doctor, and the local politicians. Wow.
Also this week, early Friday morning, a 42-year-old man who is a believer in all kinds of rightwing conspiracy theories, broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 3rd in line for the presidency after Vice President Kamala Harris.
The assailant, who repeatedly yelled “Where’s Nancy?” savagely attacked the Speaker’s husband, Paul Pelosi, and said he would tie him up until Nancy came back. The SFPD disarmed the attacker and Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital with a broken skull and other injuries. The attacker was arrested on California state charges and Mr. Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss these events in the wider context of the danger to our rights and to our very democracy because of Republicans.
This podcast is sponsored by our paid subscribers and our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community, where we work with independent authors and creative professionals on branding and marketing themselves and their businesses. Visit our website here.
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Season 1, Episode #25 October 22, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss how they work together as TeamOwens313. We talk about:
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How we met.
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How we’re alike.
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How we’re different.
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What we do together.
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What we do separately.
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Why it works.
The podcast is available on our website and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast players. Enjoy! Let us know what you think.
You can listen to the podcast on our Substack app.
Help us to grow by sharing our publication and by supporting us as a free or paid subscriber.
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Season 1, Episode #24 October 15, 2022
“This is the most important election of our lifetimes!” Yes, you’ve heard that before, but this time, our democratic republic itself is on the ballot.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam talk about the upcoming midterm elections and some of the issues that are on the ballot: locally, statewide, and nationally.
We are urging our listeners to get informed, check their voter registrations, check their ballots, vote early and/or absentee if possible, and check that their votes are counted!
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Season 1, Episode #23 October 8, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss their recent 2-week trip to Morocco: why we went, what we experienced, and what we learned about visiting a country very different from the U.S.
The podcast is brought to you by our wonderful paid subscribers and our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community (GCC), through which we offer online training, private networking, and group coaching opportunities.
Pam also discussed some interesting facts about Morocco in our regular Friday Funday article on October 7, 2022.
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Welcome to the “Find Out in Fifteen” Global Creative Community (GCC) podcast!
Starting on October 5, 2022, each week, I will record a brief but informative 15-minute podcast about business building, branding, and marketing for independent authors and creative and solo professionals. Each episode will be published on Wednesdays.
Each weekly episode will have relevant information and educational content for independent writers and creative or solo professionals.
The podcast is sponsored by our paid subscribers and our company, the Global Creative Community. The podcast will be a part of our “We Are Speaking” Substack publication.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Season 1, Podcast Episode #22 September 10, 2022
This was a huge week for news at home in the U.S. and across the pond in the UK.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss all of the political, historical, and cultural takes on the biggest news stories.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments and please share and subscribe or upgrade your subscription. Enjoy!
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Season 1, Episode #21 Our Thoughts About Serena September 3, 2022
Yes, there was a lot in the news this week: everything going on around “NARA-lago,” President Biden’s “Soul of our Country” speech, the horrific water conditions in Jackson, Mississippi, and much more.
However, in this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam talk about Serena. As she herself said, “Just Serena.”
The weekly “We Are Speaking” Podcast is brought to you by our wonderful paid subscribers who help support us and our work. Thank you! You subscribe for free or upgrade your subscription to a paid level by clicking the button here.
The “We Are Speaking” Substack publication, including the podcast is sponsored by our company, the Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy (GCC BMA), where we offer online training, group and one-on-one coaching branding and marketing services to independent writers, creative and solo professionals, and small business owners. Find out more at our website: teamowens313gcc.com or by clicking the button below.
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Season 1, Episode #20 August 27, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss how they grew up speaking American Standard English, how the term “woke” has been misappropriated by the right-wing, and the upcoming AAVE (African American Vernacular English) dictionary being written for the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), with editor-in-chief Dr. Henry Louis Gates.
The “We Are Speaking” podcast is sponsored by our paid subscribers and by our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community, where we offer online training, coaching, and private networking focusing on branding and marketing to independent authors, creative and solo professionals, and small business owners.
“We Are Speaking” is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcast episodes and to support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber for 35¢ an issue.
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Episode #18 August 13, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss 1) the good news about everything that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress have achieved in about 18 months, but especially in the last few weeks, and 2) the good news about all of the bad news Trump received this week.
We remind our listeners that especially in the current Senate, the Democrats range from progressive Bernie Sanders to conservative Joe Manchin.
We also remind listeners that as Democrats, we are the ones who want the best outcome for the greatest number of people, even if our particular “pet cause” has not been dealt with—yet.
THE most important jobs we have this November are 1) saving our democracy, and 2) holding and increasing our majorities in the House and the Senate.
That is why we MUST Vote Blue all up and down the ballot this November.
We know that not everyone follows politics as closely as we do, so we hope you learn something new from this week’s episode. Let us know in the comments.
It helps us immensely when you share our publication and podcast with others you think may “Like” Us!
If you haven’t yet subscribed or if you are considering upgrading your subscription, please click here.
Our Sponsor: The “We Are Speaking” podcast is sponsored by our company, the Global Creative Community, where we offer training, business, group, and one-on-one coaching to independent writers and creative and solo professionals. Find out more:
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Podcast Episode #18 August 6, 2022
In this week’s 30-minute episode, after clarifying what the “Dog Days of Summer” phrase actually means, Keith and Pam discuss several stories that happened this past week:
The continued rise of authoritarianism and fascism in the United States.
A string of legislative and policy wins for Joe Biden and the Democrats
Why elections matter, specifically moves made by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in the Breonna Taylor case when Trump A.G. Bill Barr and the Kentucky state A.G. refused to do so.
How the process of freeing Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from Russian prison is progressing.
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Episode #17 July 30, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the difference between climate change and weather, and how the climate has changed (and not for the better) since humans started using fossil fuels in the mid-1800s.
Keith and Pam also discuss the recent passage by the Senate of the Inflation Reduction Act that caught the Republicans off-guard and made Mitch McConnell very angry.
“We Are Speaking” is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcast episodes and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you!
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Season 1, Episode #16 July 23, 2022
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss how and why they became Democrats, their definition of being liberals, and why and how they are progressives, but pragmatic progressives.
They also explain, again, why voting for Democrats in November is so very important, even if you think President Biden and the Democrats aren’t doing things exactly as you would want them to.
Professor Heather Cox Richardson, as usual, does a masterful job explaining what President Joe Biden has done right in the first 18+ months of his administration and what the Republicans have not done, and how the Senate Republicans and Joe Manchin have blocked just about everything Joe promised to accomplish.
Think about it: If Republicans regain the majority in the House and/or the Senate, this is what we’ll get:
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Podcast Season 1, Episode 15 July 2, 2022
In the United States, Juneteenth (June 19) is now an official Federal holiday. June 19, 1865, is the date when the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were notified that they had been freed when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, two and one-half years prior.
In 1776, 12 of the 13 colonies ratified the Declaration of Independence written primarily by future president Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration was intended to solidify the Colonies breaking away from British rule as they were already fighting in the Revolutionary War. (New York ratified the Declaration 11 days later.)
Because of the racist and discriminatory experiences of Black people in this country even before its official founding, many Black people feel that they shouldn’t celebrate July 4th, and have decided that Juneteenth is their actual “Independence Day.” They don’t feel the need to celebrate July 4th.
Also, because of the recent Roe v Wade decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to repeal a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion or not and abolish a woman’s freedom over her own bodily autonomy, many women also do not feel very celebratory this upcoming July 4th.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss both “freedom” days and detail why Black people can and should celebrate both because Black people have been in this country since 1619, helped to build America throughout the centuries, and also bled and died for the freedoms promised by the Declaration of Independence.
What do YOU think? Let us know in the comments.
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Season 1, Episode #14: The Lyin’ SCOTUS June 26, 2022
A lot of people may not know that the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) often announces several rulings at the same time, and that is what happened this week.
What is different about this week is that several high-profile and life-changing rulings were announced on Friday, June 24, 2022. “Roe v Wade” was THE most important, but not the only. What do these rulings on particular cases mean for the rest of us?
In this 35-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss:
On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, the SCOTUS ruled that public funds in Maine can be used by parents to pay for the religious education of their children.
On Thursday, June 23, 2022, the SCOTUS ruled that two Republican members of the North Carolina legislature can intervene in a lawsuit already being litigated by the Democratic state Attorney General.
On Thursday, June 23, 2022, the SCOTUS ruled that a death row inmate in Georgia could decide for himself how he wanted to be executed.
ON Thursday, June 23, 2022, just as Congress was passing the first gun safety bill in more than 30 years, the SCOTUS ruled by a one-hundred-year-old New York law that restricted open-carrying a gun outside of one’s home was unconstitutional.
Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent in making their decisions. Stare decisis means “to stand by things decided” in Latin.
On Friday, June 24, 2022, the SCOTUS struck down the 49-year-old decision that federally protected a woman’s right to have an abortion, even though FOUR of the Associates Justices declared UNDER OATH during their confirmaion hearings that they would adhere to stare decisis.
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Season 1, Episode 13 June 20, 2022
This podcast episode was recorded a couple of days later than usual because we needed more time to collect some research and mostly to collect our thoughts.
Being apathetic about the midterms and/or considering not voting at all because Biden and the Dems “aren’t perfect” is NOT an option.
The Republicans are chomping at the bit to retake the House of Representatives and the Senate after the 2022 Midterms.
If that happens, it will be a disaster for Democrats and for the majority of Americans in general. The Republicans don’t care about anyone or anything but themselves and increasing their grip on political power.
They are not interested in actually governing, nor are they interested in any program or policy that actually helps people.
All the Republicans care about is restricting people’s rights, eliminating most social safety nets, sucking up to their corporate supporters like the NRA and the oil companies, and “owning the libs.”
Here are four things the Republicans say they will and will not do if and win they gain power again:
Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is literally measuring the drapes in anticipation of becoming Speaker of the House next term. However, he said that what he will mostly be doing is impeaching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, knocking all Democrats off committees, and holding hearing after hearing that will accuse Democrats of anything he can think of. What does he plan to do to help people? Nothing.
Current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is looking to become Senate Majority Leader again, will do what he always does when a Democrat is the president: everything he can to obstruct, delay, and destroy everything Joe Biden does, including any nominations for judges, SCOTUS Justices, or even agency heads. He won’t let Senate Republicans vote for any bills sponsored by Democrats.
Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who was found more than to have committed the largest health care fraud in American history among other fraudulent practices, revealed his “11 Point Plan to REscue America.” To him that means that everything liberals want is “socialism: and all Democrats are the enemy within. Although Mitch McConnell said this plan was not a Republican plan for 2023 and beyond, Scott has said that this is exactly what Republicans want to do: put Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid “up for a vote” every five years, dismantle the Federal government, force ALL Americans to pay taxes (while continuing the Republican tax CUTS for themselves), end all public discussions of race and gender, and force all children to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school, even though the SCOTUS ruled that it was unconstitutional. And that is only part of his “plan to save America” from the “secular, socialist, radical leftists.” If case you haven’t noticed, the right-wing is always touting violence against their fellow Americans who just happen to be Democrats or left-wing.
We are still waiting to see if Roe v Wade is eliminated, but as bad as that would be, it is even worse when you realize why Roe V Wade was passed: it was based on the part of the 14th Amendment that guarantees “privacy.” That’s the part that says that any reproduction decisions should be only between the woman and her doctor. But same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and many other hard-won rights are also based on the privacy portion of the 14th Amendment. The Republicans want to eliminate them all.
This is the 2022 midterms “platform” for the Texas GOP. Many other state GOP platforms are now or soon will be similar. Is THIS what we want for America?
Delegates to a convention of the Texas Republican Party today approved platform planks rejecting “the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and [holding] that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States”;
requiring students “to learn about the dignity of the preborn human,” including that life begins at fertilization;
treating homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice”; locking the number of Supreme Court justices at 9;
getting rid of the constitutional power to levy income taxes; abolishing the Federal Reserve;
rejecting the Equal Rights Amendment;
returning Christianity to schools and government;
ending all gun safety measures;
abolishing the Department of Education;
arming teachers;
requiring colleges to teach “free-market liberty principles”; defending capital punishment;
dictating the ways in which the events at the Alamo are remembered;
protecting Confederate monuments;
ending gay marriage;
withdrawing from the United Nations and the World Health Organization;
and calling for a vote “for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.”
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Season 1, Episode 12 Friday, June 10, 2022
*Scroll all the way down to see a full video of the June 9, 2022, public hearing.
This week we are doing something a little different for our free and paid subscribers.
Instead of publishing a separate issue about the hearings and then a podcast, we are combining the two with this introduction to the hearings and the audio file of the podcast.
Over the next couple of weeks, for both our free issues and our exclusive paid issues, we will be exploring the ramifications of the hearings, from a historical perspective (Pam) and from a journalism perspective (Keith).
Stay tuned!
My Key Takeaways from the 1st Hearing:
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) reminded the audience that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats originally requested an independent commission, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the January 6 attack. The Republicans, of course, refused. Then when Speaker Pelosi formed a House Committee, she asked for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s recommendations for members for the new committee, and he wanted people like Rep. Jim Jordon, etc.; people who were not only election deniers, but only people who would turn the hearings into a circus of lies and conspiracy theories. When Pelosi rejected those recommendations, McCarthy pulled all of his preferred Republicans from consideration. Then Pelosi chose Republicans Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to be on the Committee, assuring that it would be bipartisan. The Republicans continue to attempt to frame the committee and the hearings as illegitimate and a “radical leftist” attack on Donald Trump.
The live witnesses, Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, and professional documentary filmmaker Nick Quested, provided first-hand verbal and video corroboration of the evidence the Committee has presented so far. Mr. Quested stated that he was at the hearing in response to being presented with a subpoena.
Except for several biting monologues by Representative Cheney, squared aimed at her Republican colleagues, the Committee members mostly let the evidence and the live testimonies make their points.
The next televised hearing will be on Monday, June 13, 2022, at 10 am Eastern Time.
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*You can view the entire June 9 televised hearings at this link:
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Season 1, Episode #11 June 4, 2022
In 1978, music producer Kenny Gamble started the Black Music Association and founded Black Music Month. On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter held the first-ever Black Music Month celebration and began the annual celebration of African-American Music Appreciation Month.
On May 31, 2022, President Joe Biden declared June 2022 as “Black Music Appreciation Month.”
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the history of Black Music as a cultural foundation of music in America since the 19th century.
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Season 1, Episode #10
May 27, 2022
In addition to all of the “regular” news about horrible things going on all over the world, we have been rocked to our core by TWO mass shootings within ten days by 18-year-olds armed with military-style assault rifles: Buffalo, New York on May 14 where 10 Black people were deliberately targeted and murdered, and Uvalde, Texas on May 24 where 19 children and two teachers were slaughtered. “Good guys with guns” could do nothing to stop the carnage by “bad guys with bigger guns.”
Enveloping all of this is the fact that COVID is still with us; we are in the third year of the pandemic with new variants seeming to appear every few months.
In “We Are Speaking,” we have discussed all of these topics lately, and we still have more to say.
But this week on the podcast, we decided to take a break from all of the negativity and discuss how we as a couple have managed to travel and take several national and international trips in the last couple of years.
Enjoy this episode.
We would love to hear how you are coping these days. We know it’s not easy for any of us.
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Season 1, Episode #9 May 21, 2022
On May 14, 2022, at 2:30 in the afternoon, an 18-year-old self-described white supremacist and anti-Semite dressed in body armor and carrying assault rifles went into the only full-service grocery store in a majority-Black neighborhood in Buffalo and opened fire. He shot 13 people and killed 10, all of them Black.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss this horrific episode, just the latest mass shooting in America.
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Season 1, Episode 8 April 23, 2022
Prince and Jimi, in addition to being two of Keith’s FAVORITE musicians, were enormous influences on the American and international music culture and music business.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss how Prince and Jimi, plus other musicians like Sammy, Stevie, Michael, and Jay-Z maximized their musical talents, but also how they branded themselves and grew their artistry into profitable businesses.
Let us know what you think!
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Patrick Lyoya Traffic Stop Photo Credit: WireAP
Season 1, Episode 7 April 16, 2022
On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya, an immigrant from the Congo, was executed by a Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer who shot him in the back of the head after tackling him to the ground after a routine traffic stop.
About nine years ago, Lyoya and his family escaped the violence in. their home country and settled in the United States, hoping to find a safe space to live, work, and thrive.
In this 30-minute podcast, Keith and Pam discuss the seeming recent rise in these incidents over the past several years.
Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Season 1, Episode #6
U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed for a seat on the Supreme Court by the full U.S. Senate on Thursday, April 7, 2022. It was a historic day in American History for sure.
Of course, Judge Jackson cannot officially be called “Justice” until she takes her last oath after Justice Stephen Breyer, who she will be replacing, retires at the end of June.
But now that the confirmation process is complete, what happens next?
Keith and Pam discuss this question and more in this 30-minute episode.
The “We Are Speaking Podcast” is brought to you by our company, the TeanOwens313 Global Creative Community, through which we offer online training and business coaching for branding and marketing for independent writers and creative and solo professionals.
Find out more at our website: https://teamowens313gcc.com.
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Welcome to Season 1, Episode 6 of the “We Are Speaking” weekly podcast!
Our podcast is sponsored by our paid subscribers and by our company, the Global Creative Community, through which we offer branding and marketing training and business coaching to independent authors and creative and solo professionals.
Check out all of our products and services at our website: teamowens313gcc.com.
In this week’s 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss the history of lynching in the United States and the recent passage of the Emmitt Till Anti-Lynching Bill that was signed by President Joe Biden this week.
Our 2nd topic was the recent unionization of an Amazon Warehouse that was successfully completed by a fired former Amazon employee. Pam also gives a quick history of the labor union movement in America.
Let us know your thoughts on this topic!
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March 25, 2022
This week, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee current D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson.
In this 30-minute episode, Keith and Pam discuss their thoughts on Judge Jackson and on the hearings.
This weekly podcast is sponsored by our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community. We work with independent writers and creative and solo professionals with online training and customized one-on-one coaching for branding and marketing issues.
“We Are Speaking” is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcast episodes and to support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you!
Get full access to We Are Speaking at wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Hello and welcome to Season 1, Episode 4 of the “We Are Speaking” Podcast.
This week, our overall topic is the importance of local issues and local politics.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Tip O’Neill of Massachusetts, famously said, “All politics is local.” That is so true!
During each weekly 30-minute episode, we address some of our favorite topics, including American History and Culture, Government, Education, and Politics from a Black perspective.
We are very glad you are joining us today!
The podcast is brought to you by our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community. We offer branding and marketing services, including online training and one-on-one coaching, to independent writers, creative and solo professionals, and very small business owners. You can find out more at our website: teamowens313gcc.com
As a free or paid subscriber to the We Are Speaking Publication, you can access the podcast episodes through the website or on your favorite podcast player. We are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
My name is Pamela Hilliard Owens, and I am one of the cohosts of We Are Speaking, in partnership with my husband and business partner, Keith Owens, who also wrote and. performed the intro and outtro music for the podcast.
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By Pamela Hilliard Owens
OK. I admit it. Not only do I watch a lot of shows on the History Channel and on the Discovery Channel, but one of my favorite series is “Ancient Aliens.” Don’t laugh.
But recently, on one of those shows, the subject was the Olmecs, and that reminded me that the Olmecs was the oldest civilization in Mesoamerica. Really old. Really REALLY old.
It is estimated that the Olmecs lived from roughly 1500 BCE (Before the Common Era) to 400 BCE. The Olmecs were the first Mesoamerican civilization and the foundation and the ”mother culture” for all of the civilizations that followed, including the Maya, the Zapotec, the Totonac, and the Teotihuacán civilizations.
The Olmec civilization is considered an archaeological culture because the knowledge of the Olmecs was learned from artifacts rather than texts. Olmec artifacts have been found primarily in central and western Mexico, but also as far south as Guatemala.
The name Olmec is derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Olmecatl, which means “inhabitant of the rubber country.” The area around where many of the Olmec artifacts were found is known for its rubber production, and rubber was an important part of an ancient Mesoamerican ballgame similar to racketball thought to be invented by the Olmecs. The rubber ball used in the game weighed as much as 9 lbs.
In about 1200 BCE, the Olmecs established a city on a river island; the modern name of the city is San Lorenzo and it was the largest and most magnificent city in Mesoamerica at that time.
5 Facts about the Olmec
The Olmecs were extremely talented sculptors and artists. The Olmecs worked in stone, jade, wood, and other materials. They crafted statues, masks, figurines, and more. They are best known for their colossal heads, which many people feel have distinctly African features. However, most Mesoamerican scholars dispute that theory and contend that recovered DNA samples prove that the Olmec share mitochondrial characteristics of the American indigenous populations.
The Olmecs were also highly-skilled architects and engineers. Not only did the Olmecs build entities like aqueducts, but they also built pyramids, some of which rival in size among the largest pyramids in the world.
The Olmecs had a complex religious system and set of gods. They had a class of shamans, and “Ancient Alien Theorists believe” that they communicated with the cosmos and had explanations about the heavens. They identified gods were also believed to be some kind of supernatural beings.
The Olmecs traded with other cultures all over Mesoamerica. Objects found in other regions of present-day Mexico and Central America have been found at Olmec archaeological sites.
The Olmec may have been the first to invent writing, a calendar, and the concept of zero in the Western Hemisphere. Although the area around Mesopotamia is considered to be “the cradle of civilization,” and responsible for the concept of “zero,” it is also widely admitted that many global cultures developed art, architecture, calendars, and mathematics relatively simultaneously BCE. The concept of zero did not reach western Europe until the 12th century CE (in the Common Era).
The history of the Olmec was unknown until the mid-19th century.
Mexican travelers documented the first colossal Olmec heads initially found by farmers. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the Olmecs were recognized as the first civilization in Mesoamerica.
The point is that many of us were taught that “civilization” started in ancient Greece, although there is massive documentation that many civilizations and relatively highly developed cultures existed in Africa, Asia, and Mesoamerica many centuries before Europeans finally exited their caves.
What do you know about the Olmecs and other very ancient civilizations? Did you learn about them in school? Let us know in the comments.
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By Pamela Hilliard Owens
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With so much “disinformation” and “misinformation” out there these days, I thought it would be a good time for this retired government teacher (that would be me) to remind all of us what each of the three branches of government actually does!
Because people perceive the election of the president every four years to be of such importance, it is easy to forget that the executive branch is mentioned second in the Constitution.
Our country is intended to be a country of laws and therefore the Legislative Branch, which actually makes the laws, is listed first in the Constitution.
There were actually other political reasons why, during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that it was decided that Congress should be listed first.
Of course, the framers also wanted to make sure that the president did not have too much power; they had just fought a war against a monarchy, and they weren’t interested in having another one.
The Executive Branch, whose job it is to enforce the laws, is listed second.
The Judicial Branch, with its purpose to interpret the laws is listed third.
Each branch of the government is intended to be both a check of and a balance to the other two branches, however, each of the three branches is supposed to be “co-equal,” meaning no branch is more important than another.
Because the president is the head of the country and has so much visibility, people think she or he has the most power. That is not true. Except for executive orders, which can immediately be undone by the next president, there is almost nothing the president can do alone; everything has to come from Congress first.
The president is the Head of State, the Leader of the Federal government, and the civilian Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Through the Electoral College, American citizens vote for the president and vice-president via free, fair, and confidential ballots. The president serves a four-year term and can only be elected twice.
Until relatively recently, the president and vice-president did not always run for office together. In the 19th century, candidates for the two offices were sometimes even from different political parties!
The vice-president is there to support the president and the only actual job of the vice-president is to preside over the Senate. The vice-president is also the person who becomes president if the president is unable to serve for any reason. Unlike the president, the vice-president can be elected to an unlimited number of four-year terms and can serve under different presidents.
The President’s Cabinet is made up of the vice-president and other high-level advisors to the president. Except for the vice-president, all cabinet members are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate in a simple majority vote.
Like all politicians, presidential candidates make a lot of promises on the campaign trail. However, those promises can only come to fruition if approved by Congress by voting on bills that are then signed by the president.
The executive branch of almost all states works much the same way. The governor is the head and leader of the state and in charge of the state’s National Guard. Again the governor can do little without the cooperation of the state legislature.
As we fight for our very democracy in the upcoming two elections, it helps to remember what the jobs and responsibilities are for each branch of the government, and just as importantly, remind the candidates what their jobs would be if they won, and highest of the list, that they work for us, not the other way around.
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As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Keith and Pam discuss the growth of authoritarianism and the decline of democracy around the world and here in the States.
One of the major goals of Vladimir Putin is to destroy democracy in Ukraine and in as much of Europe as possible.
Unfortunately, one of the major goals of most of today’s Republican party is the same: destroying America’s “experiment” as a democratic society and government and replacing it with their own version of authoritarianism.
This 30-minute podcast episode is brought to you by our company, TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community. Please visit the website: teamowens313gcc dot com for more information.
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Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
By Keith A. Owens
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For nearly two weeks now, there has been virtual nonstop ‘round the clock coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and justifiably so. Russia is a military superpower run by a brutal and possibly unstable and unbalanced madman, and Ukraine is a sovereign nation that did absolutely nothing to provoke the attack. Putin needs to be stopped, and every nation represented in the United Nations (minus about five Putin like-minded dictators and crazies) is in united agreement that whatever measures that need to be taken must be taken.
Cool.
Because I don’t have any problem with that. I support pushing back against bad guys, especially those who are in charge of entire countries, and Putin is way up there near the top of that list. I also support the global support of Ukrainian refugees that we keep hearing about. Seems like every news story has an update about all the concerned people and churches and organizations and countries that are seemingly trying to outdo each other in showing how much unconditional love and support they are prepared to shower down upon the heads of Ukrainian refugees.
And that’s great. Except…
Wasn’t there a refugee crisis going on prior to the invasion of Ukraine?
I seem to remember quite a few stories about the hundreds - even thousands - of refugees from Southern and Central America risking their lives trying to get to the United States to escape unbelievable brutal conditions in their home countries. Stories that we heard about throughout the term of The Other Guy, and that remained in the headlines after President Biden took office. And then there are the African immigrants, many of whom are also trying to flee war-torn nations and extraordinarily dangerous conditions, who have become a highly visible presence throughout Europe; and who have been the victims of brazenly racist and unwelcoming treatment by many of these same European nations and cities who are now falling all over themselves trying to make room for the Ukrainian refugees.
As a matter of fact, even in Ukraine, there are African students and residents trying to escape the country and seek refuge elsewhere in Europe. Except that, at least according to this story in The New Yorker, it seems the world isn’t extending the same bubbly warm welcome to them, even though their lives are equally in danger. Oh, and then there’s this story from CNN. And here’s another from the Washington Post.
And so one does have to wonder what, exactly, could be the reason for this discrepancy unless it’s…
Well, I’ll be damned. It’s you again, isn’t it? Yep, it’s that same pesky word (racism) that nobody wants to hear right now – or ever. Because it’s always inconvenient. There’s never a really good time for racism, right? Because to say out loud that white European refugees are quite obviously receiving a level of love, compassion, and concern that most darker-skinned refugees could only dream about would result in a tainted national and global narrative and might possibly require a slight shift in focus that would be…yeah…well…inconvenient.
And so we continue to sit and listen as the overwhelming amount of coverage concerning Ukrainian refugees focuses on how bad it is for them and how the world wants to embrace them, even though the world has had little interest in embracing so many others who experienced at least the same amount of hardship, if not worse, for far longer.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, also known as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
Growing numbers of people in Central America are being forced to leave their homes. Worldwide, there are now around 470,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – a figure that registered an increase of 33% as compared to 2018. Compounded by socio-economic instability and poverty, they are escaping gang violence, threats, extortion, recruitment into gangs or prostitution, as well as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people – collectively known as LGBTI – are also fleeing persecution. Many more are displaced more than once within their own countries or have been deported back home, often into dangerous situations.
And that’s just in Central America. There’s also what’s going on in the African nation of Ethiopia:
A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding as thousands of refugees flee ongoing fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region to seek safety in eastern Sudan. Since the violence began in early-November 2020, refugees have been arriving at remote border points that take hours to reach from the nearest towns in Sudan. Many are women and children. Most left with barely any belongings and arrived exhausted from walking long distances over harsh terrain.
And then there’s Yemen:
After more than six years of conflict, Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and millions of displaced Yemenis are only a step away from famine.
The ongoing conflict has displaced four million Yemenis, devastated the country, and fractured its health services and food supplies, leaving 66 percent of the population dependent on humanitarian aid.
There are worthy (white) refugees, and then there are, well, the rest.
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Friday, March 4, 2022
Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of the weekly 30-minute We Are Speaking podcast. At We Are Speaking, Keith and Pam discuss issues pertaining to American History and Culture, Government and Politics, and Education.
This podcast is sponsored by our company, the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community, where we offer products and services designed for independent writers, creative and solo professionals, and very small business owners.
You can find out all about our company on our website, TeamOwens313gcc.com.
Our topics this week include our take on Ukraine, the State of the Union Address, and the continued Republican stances on racism, anti-everything and everyone who does not fit their version of America and/or threatens their quest for power, and the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court.
Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next week!
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Please leave your comments and thoughts, and remember to check out our website, TeamOwens313gcc.com.
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