StoryCorps Griot

"He said, ‘Man, that’s how we start friends on this block.’"
Celedonia "Cal" Jones (L) tells his friend Robert Harris about moving to a new block in Harlem during the Depression.
New York, NY

"Why are you not still married?"
10-year-old Rahsheed McKenstry interviews his mother, Rhonetta.
Memphis, TN

"I just tried to stay in the background…"
Joe Buford tells his literacy tutor, Michelle Miller, about what it was like not knowing how to read.
Nashville, TN

"We wanted to be treated as men."
Elmore Nickelberry and Taylor Rogers remember why they went on strike as Memphis sanitation workers in 1968.
Memphis, TN

"I couldn’t understand why all the black men had signs that said ‘I AM A MAN.’"
Reverend George Turks, Jr. remembers witnessing the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike as a teenager. Click here to see a photo from the strike.

Memphis, TN

"A policeman was coming down the street…"
Ella Owens (L) tells her daughter, Lynn Reed, about participating in a march during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike.
Memphis, TN

"When Dr. King was assassinated, I was on the air."
Herb Kneeland (L) tells his son Martavius Jones about being a disc jockey at WDIA in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Memphis, TN

"The bulletin came across the TV…"
Kathy Dean Evans remembers the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
Memphis, TN

"She said, ‘You know, there was a time we couldn’t wear no fingernail polish…’"
Mary Ellen Noone remembers a story from her great-grandmother.
Montgomery, AL

"In prison I started painting and drawing…"
Darryl Downes remembers discovering his talent while serving time in Sing Sing Prison.

New York, NY

"We really had some adventures…"
Wydenia Perry and Essie Gregory, who have visited over 125 countries together, talk about their travels.
New York, NY

"I can’t even begin to tell you the misery of rain."
George Hill remembers being homeless. Hill has been off the streets for 10 years.

Santa Monica, CA

"You wouldn’t give me the time of day…"
Joe Hunter, who was Ray Charles’ road manager, and his wife, Trudy, a back-up singer, remember falling in love.
Memphis, TN

"When I was in high school I was afraid of you…"
Master quilter Geraldine Nash (R) talks to her former math teacher, Gustina Atlas, who is now her quilting student, about their friendship.
Port Gibson, MS

"My brother came home wearing an afro."
Judith Wilson tells her husband, Donald Kaufman, about a conversation that changed her life.
Oakland, CA

"How did you get by?"
Jerry Johnson interviews his mother, Carrie Conley, about raising six children as a single mother.
Detroit, MI

"She absolutely knocked me out…"
Donald Taylor tells his son Cheo about falling in love with Cheo’s mother, Doris.
Oakland, CA

"Leon May, who fought as a Marine in World War II, tells his daughter about leaving for basic training."
Leon May tells his daughter, Angela, about serving during World War II.
Detroit, MI

“Recess came and the boys had a football…”
Mweupe Mfalme Nguni remembers his first day at an integrated elementary school in 1965.
Oakland, CA

“I can still hear him hollering and coaching…”
William Haley (L) and his brother Glen remember their father, Joseph Howard Haley, founder of Jackie Robinson West Little League in Chicago.
Chicago, IL

“I got to find a job I can do for thirty years in this place.”
Dorothy Glinton tells her son, Sonari, about becoming a manager at Ford Motor Plant in Chicago.
Chicago, IL

“He saw me and he said, ‘You’re going to be my wife.’”
Rebia Mixon-Clay remembers her late husband, Frank Mixon.
Chicago, IL

“He looked up at me and said, ‘Hamzah,’ and then grabbed hold of me and gave me this tight hug and wouldn’t let me go.”
Homeless New Yorker Larry Chamberlain tells his friend Tobias about his many names.
New York, NY

“We used to go to the Savoy Ballroom every Saturday and stay there until Monday morning.”
Harold Slappy tells his friend Monica about visiting Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom as a youth.
New York, NY

“We were really pioneers. We were the Jackie Robinson of the Air Force.”
Roscoe Brown, Jr., telling his friend Javier Henriquez about being a Tuskegee Airman.
New York, NY

“Another lady heard me talking, and she came over and said, ‘I know this is a God-sent man!”
Norman White to his son, Nome Poem.
New York, NY

“I said, ‘Now I want you to know you may be dying. Are you telling the truth?”
Phyllis Johnson tells her friend Danny Perasa about her first arrest as a beat cop.
New York, NY

“I spend more time with Clarice than I do with my own family.”
Veteran Grand Central Terminal ticket clerk Mike DeMeo to his colleague Clarice Brewer.
New York, NY

“We would drive into whatever was the closest town and approach the police and ask, ‘Where is the colored section?’”
Patricia Adams tells her friend Louisa Stephens about traveling in the South during segregation.
New York, NY

“This little white boy said, ‘Come, let me see your hands.’”
Claudette Colvin remembers her childhood in Alabama.
New York, NY

“Tell me about mom.”
Gregory and Lloyd Porter remember their mother.
New York, NY

“What are the most important lessons that you’ve learned thus far in life? Granted, I know you’re only twelve.”
Melva Hightower and her nephew, Tyler, interview each other.
New York, NY

“What was the saddest moment of your life?”
Ezra Awumey to his grandfather, Sam Harmon.
Washington, DC

“When I was growing up, I didn’t think I was going to live long.”
Tyondra Newton to her youth counselor, Sally Nixon.
Minneapolis, MN

“I was typing, and he kept looking at my legs.”
Peggy Edwards to her granddaughter, Cinema Wood.
Washington, DC

“How is it being legit?”
Anthony Wilson interviews his coworker Leo Smith.
New York, NY

“He really talked that night.”
Retired Memphis sanitation worker Taylor Rogers and his wife, Bessie, remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech.
Memphis, TN

“Let’s talk about Miss Divine.”
James Ransom and Cherie Johnson remember their neighbor and Sunday school teacher.
Sarasota, FL

“The jobs change; managers change; I still stay there.”
100-year-old Arthur Winston tells his great-grandnephew, Eric Givens, about working for 72 years.
Los Angeles, CA

“Well, I had a buddy and he used to dance up and down the docks…”
91-year-old Henry Belcher tells his friend Major A. Mason III about tap dancing in the 1930s.
Pittsburgh, PA

“I’m trying to decide whether I stay in New Orleans or leave.”
John W. Taylor, Jr. talks about how New Orleans has changed since Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans, LA

“It was raining just as hard in the station as it was outside.”
New Orleans Pump Station workers Rufus Burkhalter and Bobby Brown remember the night Hurricane Katrina hit.
New Orleans, LA

“The people never stopped coming in…”
New Orleans police officer David Duplantier tells his wife, Melissa Eugene, about patrolling the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.

“Is there anything you wanted to know about me?”
Hasiyna Price, right, tells her cousin Danette Banks about being a teenager with scoliosis.
New York, NY

“Daddy would come home tired to the bone…”
Samuel Black tells his wife, Edda Fields-Black, about his father, who operated a boiler room.
Pittsburgh, PA

“I put the screen down, took a seat, and the streetcar became hostile.”
Jerome Smith tells his friend Carol Bebelle about an incident from his childhood.
New Orleans, LA

“He asked me, ‘How many black jelly beans are in the jar…’”
Theresa Burroughs tells her daughter Toni Love about registering to vote.
Tuscaloosa, AL

“When I was nine, I weighed 250 pounds.”
Johnnie Tyson tells her niece Sandra Fleming about growing up obese.
Little Rock, AR

“My father was everything to me…”
Dr. William Lynn Weaver to his daughter, Kimberly.
Atlanta, GA

“My grandmother used to take my brother and myself to the south every summer…”
Jim McFarland remembers traveling from New York City to the segregated south as a boy.
Atlanta, GA

“And right then it dawned on me — that’s not family, those aren’t friends.”
Omar Leech (R) tells his friend Lenear Pryor about life as a gang member.
Atlanta, GA

“Who is important in your life right now?”
LeKeisha Williams (L) interviews her best friend, Tia Williams.
New York, NY

“I came to Grady in the 1956 class.”
Murray Brown tells her friend Kerrie Cotten Williams about being a nursing student in a segregated hospital.
Atlanta, GA

“She made us feel like we were royalty…”
Kahlil Almustafa remembers his mother in an interview with his friend Kamilah Duggins.
New York, NY

“He was my best friend in the whole wide world…”
Otis Wade remembers Mandred Henry, in an interview with Mandred’s granddaughter, Beatrice Perron.
Martha’S Vineyard, MA

“He saw this country boy, took me over to the side—he didn’t want to embarrass me.”
Larry Young (L) tells his friend Clyde Cleveland about trying to register for college in the early 1940s.
Detroit, MI

“My husband was the physical training officer for the fliers…”
91-year-old Ruth Ballard (L) tells her minister, Ramonia Lee, about moving to Tuskegee, Alabama during World War II.
Silver Spring, MD

“None of us looked like our mom; but everybody knew we belonged to her husband.”
Yvonne Logan Jones (L) and her sister Ola Mae Logan Allen remember their parents, who migrated north in the 1940s.
Detroit, MI

“I really miss so much about New Orleans…”
Antoinette Franklin (R) and her niece, Iriel Franklin, talk about relocating to Houston after Hurricane Katrina.
Houston, TX

“I said, ‘Is this going to actually be me?’”
Nzingha Masani tells her friend, Noah Hairston, about receiving her name at an African naming ceremony.
Detroit, MI

“I got bussed to a high school in my sophomore year…”
Ricardo Pitts-Wiley tells his son Jonathan about a year that shaped his life.
Providence, RI

“When all the parents leave, it goes crazy…”
Clayton Hall Jr. tells his daughter, Breana, about his first day as a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute.
Richmond, VA