From the Vault continues marking Black History Month with rare and significant recordings from the Pacifica Radio Archives, but this week, with a twist. Our guest host is Joanne Griffith, BBC journalist who each week produces short segments of From the Vault for BBC’s Radio 5 Live.

We will share what the United Kingdom audiences hear each week. Joanne covers – for the U.K. audience – segments on Kenya with audio of Tom Mboya, Kenya’s General Secretary of the Kenya Federation of Labor, from 1959; commentary from KPFK’s Jerry Quickley on a rare 1965 radio documentary on the Watts Riots in Los Angeles entitled The Fire This Time; a tribute on the 20th anniversary of the passing of author and political activist James Baldwin; finally, a conversation with Jose Moya, a professor of Latin American history at UCLA – and Cuban himself – who recalls his memories of the revolution, marking the resignation of Cuban President Fidel Castro. We’ll also hear a special 1968 Revolution Rewind Moment, Tommie Smith and the 1968 Summer Olympics.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this program:

BB0286 Search for Freedom / Tom Mboya MORE INFO

BB1353 The Fire This Time / produced by Trevor Thomas MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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This week’s From the Vault, hosted by KPFK’s Margaret Prescod, showcases restored recordings of women who have given their voices, time, and energy to civil and human rights — proud women who have stood against racism and sexism, whose battlefield was grounded in America’s civil rights movement. In this episode, we honor Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Lorraine Hansberry by hearing them, remembering them, thanking them for all they have taught us, and acknowledging that their hard work changed not only the United States, but also the world. From deep within the vault, thanks to the Preservation and Access Project, these historic recordings surface once again, and shine with relevance as Pacifica Radio Archives continues its celebration of Black History Month.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, The Power of African American Women:

BB0566 Rosa Parks: Commentary of a Black Southern Busrider MORE INFO

PZ0142.03 Collected Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer CD MORE INFO

BB4497.01a-c Lorraine Hansberry: In Her Own Words MORE INFO

PZ0719.01-09 The Power of African American Women Box Set MORE INFO

PZ0667a-f Women of the Civil Rights Movement Box Set MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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Mr. Ossie Davis will always be remembered around the world as a passionate playwright, actor, and director — but, aside from his profession, he was equally devoted to the African American struggle for justice and equality. With his resounding voice, Ossie Davis was often put in a position to verbalize the collective pain, anguish, and outrage of Blacks in America during the tumultuous 1960’s. This week, on From the Vault, our ears travel back over forty years to hear choice selections of Ossie Davis himself — recordings that show a deeply concerned artist and activist speaking out against U.S. imperialist interventions, and doing his best to advance the African American community.

We begin with a selection from the 1964 Literary Conference, where we glimpse the complexity of Davis as he reads selections from Purlie Victorious and The Wonderful World of Law and Order. Next we hear Davis deliver the eulogy for slain leader Malcolm X in 1965, and then from Davis and his wife Ruby Dee, as they reflect on their extraordinary lives in a 1998 interview by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash of WBAI’s Building Bridges. Finally, those close to Ossie Davis speak at his memorial service in February 2005 at Riverside Church in New YorK: Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, daughter Dr. Hasna Davis, Miss Atallah Shabazz, and son Guy Davis. Pacifica Radio Archives is proud to present these recordings of Ossie Davis as a tribute to his influence and living legacy.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Forty Years of Ossie Davis:

PZ0627a-c Ossie Davis Remembered Box Set 3 CD MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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This week on From the Vault, we remember the 2nd anniversary of Mrs. Coretta Scott King’s passing, and the 106th birthday anniversary of Langston Hughes. We’ll begin by featuring the voice of the late Coretta Scott King, well known and respected for her work with her husband Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and her tireless work for peace and justice, and to end poverty, nuclear proliferation, and racism. Introduced today by Pacifica Radio WPFW’s We Ourselves host Ambrose Lane, this address was made in New York’s Central Park in late April 1968, at the 27th Peace March Against the War in Vietnam, and includes the famous reading of the ‘Ten Commandments’ — notes that Mrs. King found in her dead husbands coat pocket shortly after his untimely death.

In 1963, in the studios of Pacifica Radio WBAI, a young producer named Eve Corey sat down with late writer Langston Hughes for a conversation that 45 years later is the focus of the next segment in this episode of From the Vault. Eve Corey’s fond memories of the interview set the tone for a friendly and revealing chat with this influential 20th Century author and poet. This week, Langston Hughes would have turned 106 years old.

And, finally, this year the Pacifica Radio Archives is marking 40 years since the historic events of 1968. Who can forget the Mexico City Olympics, the Democratic Convention, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the ongoing conflict in Vietnam? The Pacifica Radio Archives proudly presents a 1968 Revolution Rewind Moment.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Remembering Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Langston Hughes:

BB1331 Coretta Scott King MORE INFO

BB3671 Langston Hughes / interviewed by Eve Corey MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download