Episodes

  • Lisa A Fanning The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre DNA Project

    Lisa A Fanning The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre DNA Project
    May 2 2025
    Join us for an enlightening conversation with Genetic Genealogist Lisa A. Fanning, as she shares her powerful work with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre DNA Identification Project.

    With over 30 years of family history research, Lisa has explored her deep Southern and Midwestern roots, focusing on the histories of enslavement, migration, and Tri-Racial Isolate communities. A descendant of Kate Anderson—born in 1670—Lisa has traced her lineage to early emancipated families in Virginia and free African American settlements in Indiana.

    As a genetic genealogist, Lisa lends her expertise to impactful initiatives such as the DNA Doe Project and the Tulsa Race Massacre Project. She serves on the Board of the National Genealogical Society and the leadership team of MAAGI, and has presented both nationally and internationally, including for PBS and the United Nations.

    Professionally, Lisa brings three decades of leadership experience from Washington, DC, where she championed diversity and expanded workforce opportunities across the U.S., Africa, and the Middle East. She is also an award-winning photographic artist and currently serves as Director of Culture, Community, and Impact at Indiana Tech. Lisa holds a B.A. in French and an M.A. in Intercultural Communication.
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    54 mins
  • UGR3Day With Dionne Patterson - Stories of Freedom and Resistance on The Underground Railroad

    UGR3Day With Dionne Patterson - Stories of Freedom and Resistance on The Underground Railroad
    Feb 28 2025
    Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for a conversation/interview with Dionne Patterson of UGR3DAY.

    Dee Patterson, also known as Conductor Dee, is the CEO and Founder of
    UGR3DAY Underground Railroad Experiences Inc. She is also an acclaimed
    storyteller and conductor of the Underground Railroad experiences. A historian, Dee is
    also a nationally certified cultural interpretive guide, a certified genealogist, curriculum
    developer and education consultant. She brings her research-based narratives, poetic
    storytelling, and creative energy to each UGR3DAY experience.

    https://ugr3day.com/
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    24 mins
  • The Commemoration of The Early County Massacre - The Descendants Return to Honor The Victims

    The Commemoration of The Early County Massacre - The Descendants Return to Honor The Victims
    Feb 21 2025
    Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for a compelling interview with Orice Jenkins as he recounts his visit to Blakely, Georgia, alongside descendants and cousins of the Early County Massacre victims. Orice will share their powerful experiences from a weekend of commemorative events honoring their ancestors.

    Orice Jenkins is a recording artist, performer, educator, and genealogy researcher from Hartford, Connecticut. His music has been featured in Jazz Times magazine and charted at #11 on the iTunes Jazz chart. Jenkins has performed extensively across all genres, including Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, Gospel, and Classical music. He serves as the Executive Director of Música Franklin, an afterschool music program for youth in Franklin County, Massachusetts.

    Orice is also the author of Chesta’s Children, a genealogy blog that explores his deep stateside roots as a descendant of enslaved Americans. He ties his passions together in his lectures and historical presentations, commenting on the relationships between racism, culture, art, and family. He was a Contributing Author to the book: Black Homesteaders of the South and Author of Early County Massacre, The: Goolsby vs. The State of Georgia.
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    41 mins
  • A Descendant of David Carll - USCT - Shares Her Story/Oyster Bay, New York Community History

    A Descendant of David Carll - USCT - Shares Her Story/Oyster Bay, New York Community History
    Feb 14 2025
    Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for their interview with Dr. Denice Evans-Sheppard regarding Community History in Oyster Bay, New York (Long Island). She will share her connection via her ancestor, David Carll, a United States Colored Troop (US Civil War).

    Dr. Denice Evans-Sheppard recently earned a Doctorate in Education Degree from Molloy University on December 13, 2023. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Oyster Bay Historical Society for the past seven years and has provided the community with lectures, programs and curated exhibits promoting the significance of the Town of Oyster Bay’s incredible history. Her dissertation focused on The Unknown Bedrock: White Perceptions of African American Historical Contributions in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay, NY.

    Currently, Denice serves on the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) Committee for the Oyster Bay East Norwich School District and has collaborated with multschool districts in Great Neck, Syosset, East Woods to discuss an insider’s perspective of Indigenous and African Americans during the colonial period on Long Island. Denice is a tribal member of the Montauk Tribal Nation and has been actively involved with the reinstatement of their tribal recognition since 1997.

    Denice is mostly known for being a family historian and historical gatekeeper of the Carl family
    history which encouraged further research of the history of her great, great, grandfather, Civil War
    soldier, David Carll of Oyster Bay, who voluntarily served in the N.Y. 26 th USCT Regiment. Her research had been utilized to further assist her cousin, celebrity/actress Vanessa L. Williams on the Channel 4 WNBC “Who Do You Think You Are”. Moving forward to 2022, Denice collaborated with relatives, Vanessa Williams, Iris Williams and Francis Carl to garner an Emmy nomination and a successful win for a 10 min historical segment during Black History Month. As a direct descendant of David Carll, she was presented with the Emmy award as a family research contributor through television Ebony Roundtree, producer for WABC Channel 7 Network.

    https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/
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    35 mins
  • Mission Accomplished By Descendants Cheryl Wills and Ethan West

    Mission Accomplished By Descendants Cheryl Wills and Ethan West
    Feb 7 2025
    Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for an interview with Cheryl Wills and Ethan West, descendants of Sandy Wills (U.S. Colored Troop). This is an update to two prior podcast interviews with Cheryl and Ethan and how their determination to confirm where their ancestor was buried and to do everything possible to make sure that he was honored and received a proper burial. The results of their dedication is remarkable.

    Cheryl Wills is a nationally recognized award-winning television personality for Spectrum News’ flagship national news network, New York 1 News, headquartered in New York City which is aired on select cable systems throughout the United States and Japan’s MXTV. She is also the host of the talk show “In Focus with Cheryl Wills”

    Ethan West is a Family Historian and the Founder of Elyria Black Legacy Connection. He has conducted extensive research on his ancestors, contributed to a number of social media platforms sharing his journey to research, document, share, and preserve his family history. Numerous media outlets have covered his journey, and we look forward to him sharing with us.

    CHERYL WILLS HALF HOUR SPECIAL ON SANDY WILLS

    Special on 60 minutes
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • DNA - Contacting Your DNA Matches - Protocols

    DNA - Contacting Your DNA Matches - Protocols
    Jan 31 2025
    Join Janice and Cherekana as they interview Ja'el (YaYa) Gordon for a conversation regarding protocols for contacting DNA matches.

    Louisiana native, Ja’el “YaYa” Gordon is a Professional Historian and Genealogist who specializes in interpreting antebellum history, genetic genealogy, Descendant group research, and conducting oral history interviews. Ja’el has over twenty years of experience as a researcher with a special focus on the Deep South antebellum/plantation history. Most notability, Ja’el is a Contributing Writer and Researcher for ARRAY’s newest learning companion, the Queen Sugar 101 Learning Companion (queensugar101.org), which is based on the critically acclaimed Oprah Winfrey Network series QUEEN SUGAR created by filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

    Her expertise also includes repository research, collection curation, exhibition installations, transcribing and indexing, cemetery preservation, database management, and conducting genealogy and history-related workshops. Ja’el holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge, a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Southern University New Orleans and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education at Jackson State University.

    https://jaelyayagordon.contently.com
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    51 mins
  • Denise Griggs, Author of I Know Who I Am on The Family Tree - A Children's Guide to Genealogy

    Denise Griggs, Author of I Know Who I Am on The Family Tree - A Children's Guide to Genealogy
    Jan 24 2025
    Join Janice Cross Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for an interview/conversation with Denise Griggs, author of the new book, I Know Who I Am On The Family Tree - A Children's Guide to Genealogy. Denise has been the family genealogist for over 35 years. With the help of family, cousins, Internet friends, and others, she has discovered ancestors from various continents and countries. Some countries are Africa, Australia, England, Ireland, and North America. Denise has researched her maternal ancestors from eighth-century England to southwest Mississippi. She has written a book about it entitled, A Mulatto Slave, The Events in the Life of Peter Hunt, 1844-1915. The book received the Phillis Wheatley book award from the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage and earned a Finalist Award from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Ms. Griggs also author’s books for children on subjects of diversity and theology.

    She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), formerly serving as Chapter Parliamentarian. She is also a volunteer for the National Park Service, and the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Committee in Natchez, Mississippi. For the past several years, Denise has been the Exhibit Chair for the board of the Greater Sacramento African American Genealogy Society. She graduated with honors from a Christian University. She is presently the Publisher and Owner of Glass Tree Books® and Blue Eclipse Publishing®. She has several family genealogy presentations on her YouTube channel, D.I. Griggs Media. Denise loves family, friends, history, technology, research, writing, speaking, art, and travel.
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    52 mins
  • Robyne Walker Murphy - Social Justice Rooted in Love! Ancestry, Art, Culture, & Activism

    Robyne Walker Murphy - Social Justice Rooted in Love! Ancestry, Art, Culture, & Activism
    Jan 17 2025
    Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for our conversation/interview with Robyne Walker Murphy.

    Robyne is a nationally recognized art and social justice thought leader and cultural strategist. From
    2016-2022, Robyne served as the Executive Director at Groundswell, a social justice youth
    development program that uses the transformative power of public art-making to ignite personal
    and societal change. Before her position at Groundswell, Robyne held positions at the National
    Guild for Community Arts Education and Dreamyard where she served as the director of the
    DreamYard Art Center in the Bronx. Under her leadership, DreamYard Art Center was recognized
    by the Obama White House as one of the top programs in the nation. Since stepping down from
    Groundswell, Robyne has worked as an arts and cultural strategist and consultant for organizations
    such as the Ford Foundation, The Cricket Island Foundation, and The Billie Holiday Theatre.
    Currently, she is the Leadership Strategist and Curriculum Developer for the Brooklyn Arts
    Leadership Collaborative, an initiative of the Brooklyn Museum and the Joe and Clara Tsai Social
    Justice Fund, which aims to support the work of eight Black and Brown-led arts organizations with
    budgets under 500K.

    Robyne has conducted workshops and delivered keynotes at conferences and
    institutions across the country on art and social activism at institutions such as Harvard University,
    Lincoln Center, Seattle Art Museum, University of Chicago, American University, and many others.
    She is a member of New York City’s Cultural Advisory Committee, a Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Women’s History Month Honoree, and Chair of the Board of Directors of 651ARTS. Robyne
    graduated from Clark Atlanta University (B.A. in English) and the University of Washington, Seattle
    (MFA, Acting). She resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Tarik Murphy, and her son, Ras.
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    44 mins