249. Lisa Walker and Reilly Sullivan, Part 1

249. Black History Month. Part 1 of our interview with Lisa Walker and Reilly Sullivan, who join us to talk about Alice Dunbar Nelson. Poet, essayist, diarist, and activist Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to mixed-race parents. Her African American, Anglo, Native American, and Creole heritage contributed to her complex understandings of gender, race, and ethnicity, subjects she often addressed in her work. Her first book, Violets and Other Tales (1895), was published when she was just 20. A writer of short stories, essays, and poems, Dunbar-Nelson was comfortable in many genres but was best known for her prose. One of the few female African American diarists of the early 20th century, she portrays the complicated reality of African American women and intellectuals, addressing topics such as racism, oppression, family, work, and sexuality.  

1. This week in Louisiana history. February 24, 1843. Bossier Parish created out of Natchitoches District, named for Pierre E. Bossier.
2. This week in New Orleans history. February 24, 1857. The First Mardi Graw Krewe Parade: the Mystic Krewe of Comus. Comus, the god of revelry, became the first New Orleans Mardi Gras parade with a theme, floats bearing masked riders, parade route and a list of members who participated, on Feb. 24, 1857. The parade came about in a sense because of misfortune, or, better yet, misconduct.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Soul Fest is one of New Orleans biggest celebrations of African American history.
   March 3rd, 2018 - March 4th, 2018
   Audubon Zoo
   6500 Magazine St.,
   New Orleans, LA 70118
   800-774-7394
   Website
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce meets the Gospel Soul Singers in the French Quarter.

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