43. Interview with Isabel Wilkerson

43.  Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson joins us to discuss her book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, which depicts the move of African-Americans away from the Jim Crow South to the north and west.  We focus on the experience of Dr. Robert Foster, who moved from Monroe, LA to California in search of opportunities to practice his profession.  We also learn more about the experience African-Americans had living in north Louisiana in the 1950s.

1. This week in Louisiana history. Winter 1713-1714. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis founded Natchitoches.
2. This week in Louisiana.  March 20-23, 2014
   Louisiana Crawfish Festival/Redfish Cup
   8201 W. Judge Perez Dr.
   Chalmette, LA 70043
   504-271-0537 | 504-329-6411
   The Crawfish Festival will be held on Thurs. - Sun. at Torres
   Park. There will be live music, rides, games, food and lots of
   good crawfish.

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42. Interview with Debra Faircloth.

42.  We interview writer Debra Faircloth.  Debra has just released a book of short stories set in Louisiana, The Fifth Guest and Other Louisiana Stories.  We also have one of her stories, "Dinner at the Spindletop Cafe," posted on the Louisiana Anthology.  In addition to her writing, she has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse (Louisiana Domestic Violence Hotline 1-888-411-1333).  Join us as we learn both about her writing and her important work countering domestic abuse.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 8 1836 New Orleans is divided into three independent "cities": French Vieux Carre and two American areas:
   
   1. The First Municipality included the original city of New Orleans, now known as the Vieux Carre or French Quarter. It lay between Canal St. and Esplanade Ave. In 1852 it became the Second Municipal District.
   2. The Second Municipality, sometimes called the American Sector, lay above (upriver from) Canal St. It included the area of the city previously known as the Faubourg St. Mary. In 1852 it became the First Municipal District.
   3. The Third Municipality, below (downriver from) Esplanade Ave., included the section previously known as the Faubourg Marigny. In 1852 it became the Third Municipal District.
2. This week in Louisiana.  March 14, 2014.
   Ghost Ships on the River
   236 Hwy. 61
   Jackson, LA 70748
   225-654-3775
   Port Hudson State Historic Site, Zachary - Ghost Ships on the River, 6:30 p.m. To commemorate Admiral Farragut's naval attack on the Confederate river batteries at Part Hudson (March 14-15, 1863), a park ranger will lead the visitors on a walk to Fort Desperate and will share stories with the visitors of paranormal phenomena that have taken place in and around the Port Hudson battlefield. The tour will then return to museum where the staff will conduct a special night firing of the site's three artillery pieces including the always popular 42- pounder cannon. There will also have a presentation at the site's pond with the model gunboat fleet and pyrotechniques about Admiral Farragut's attack on Port Hudson.

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41. Interview with poet Mona Lisa Saloy, Part 2

41.  Part 2 of our interview with Mona Lisa Saloy, Author & Folklorist, Educator, and Scholar.  An award-winning author of contemporary Creole culture in poems about Black New Orleans before and after Katrina, as a Folklorist, Saloy documents sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, and clap-hand games to discuss the importance of play.  As a poet, her first book, Red Beans & Ricely Yours,  won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award and tied for a third. She's written on the significance of the Black Beat poets, on the African American Toasting Tradition, on Black & Creole talk, on conditions  and keeping Creole after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and her new book, Second Line Home,  is a refreshing collection of poems that captures the day-to-day New Orleans speech, contemplates family dynamics, celebrates New Orleans, and all in a way everyday people can enjoy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 1, 1932 La. State Capitol Building completed (in just 14 months).
2. This week in Louisiana.  March 4, 2014.  Mardi Gras!

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40. Interview with poet Mona Lisa Saloy, Part 1.

40.  Part 1 of our interview with Mona Lisa Saloy, Author & Folklorist, Educator, and Scholar.  An award-winning author of contemporary Creole culture in poems about Black New Orleans before and after Katrina, as a Folklorist, Saloy documents sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, and clap-hand games to discuss the importance of play.  As a poet, her first book, Red Beans & Ricely Yours,  won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award and tied for a third. She's written on the significance of the Black Beat poets, on the African American Toasting Tradition, on Black & Creole talk, on conditions  and keeping Creole after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and her new book, Second Line Home,  is a refreshing collection of poems that captures the day-to-day New Orleans speech, contemplates family dynamics, celebrates New Orleans, and all in a way everyday people can enjoy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. Feb 22-23, 1895.  Largest snowfall recorded in Lake Charles - 22 inches.
2. This week in Louisiana. 
   Cajun Country Mardi Gras
   Downtown Eunice, 300 S. Second St.
   Eunice, LA 70535
   337-457-7389 | Fax: 337-457-2565
   Five day celebration beginning the Friday before Mardi Gras Day. Jam sessions, street dances, cooking demos, Mardi Gras Exhibits and special Liberty Theatre show. Les Jeunes and Lil' Mardi Gras runs for children on the Saturday and Sunday. Old time boucherie on the Sunday. Mardi Gras Day activities include traditional Courir de Mardi Gras and downtown daylong celebration - live Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music and dancing,ff food, children's walking parade and return of revelers.

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39. Interview with Daniel Rasmussen, Author of American Uprising

39.  We talk to Daniel Rasmussen about the German Coast Uprising, January 1811.  It was the largest slave uprising in the United States history, with effects that are still felt.

1. This week in Louisiana history. February 16 1724 Gov. Beinville was recalled to France in disgrace. 
2. This week in Louisiana.  February 15, 2014
   Krewe of Janus Mardi Gras Parade
   Streets of Monroe/West Monroe, Monroe, LA 71201
   Family friendly Mardi Gras parade rolling through the heart of downtown West Monroe and crossing the bridge into Monroe.  The Krewe was established in 1984; by 2013, the crowd for the parade numbered around 175,000.   

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38 Interview With Reginald Owens, Part 2

38.  We finished talking to Dr. Reginald Owens, who was a student at Louisiana Tech during the early days of integration and the first African-American editor of the Tech Talk, Tech's student newspaper.  Now he has come full circle, having returned to Tech as the head of the Journalism Department. He is also the director of the news bureau at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He is an associate professor and holds the F. Jay Taylor Endowed Chair of Journalism. He teaches news writing, media and culture, advertising, public relations and civic journalism. He also works with The Tech Talk student newspaper and Lagniappe student yearbook. Research interests include the social history of the African-American press, race and diversity in the media, and African-American tourism.

1. This week in Louisiana history. February 8, 1898 Grandfather clause enacted for anti-voting purposes.Louisiana the first state to enact it. If your ancestor voted in 1867 or before, you didn't have to take tests or pay poll taxes.
2. This week in Louisiana. February 15, 2014
   Fasching Karneval & Parade
   Downtown Minden
   Minden, LA 71058
   318-371-4258
   Celebrating our German Heritage! "Fasching" is the German version of Mardi Gras. Karneval activities 10am until dark. Parade at 2:00pm. Enjoy German food, music, vendors and fun. 

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37 Interview With Reginald Owens, Part 1

37.  We talked to Reginald Owens, who was a student at Louisiana Tech during the early days of integration and the first African-American editor of the Tech Talk, Tech's student newspaper.  Now he has come full circle, having returned to Tech as the head of the Journalism Department. He is also the director of the news bureau at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He is an associate professor and holds the F. Jay Taylor Endowed Chair of Journalism. He teaches news writing, media and culture, advertising, public relations and civic journalism. He also works with The Tech Talk student newspaper and Lagniappe student yearbook. Research interests include the social history of the African-American press, race and diversity in the media, and African-American tourism.

1. This week in Louisiana history. February 1, 1929.  Ida B. Leboeuf became the first woman hanged in LA for murder--the murder of her husband in Franklin, LA.  Conspired with Dr. Thomas E. Dreher.  They hired hunter James Beadle.  
2. This week in Louisiana.  February 2, 2014
   Cajun Ground Hog Day
   102 W Main St
   New Iberia, LA 70560
   337-365-6773 | Fax: 337-367-9640
   Annual event where New Iberia's own version of the traditional groundhog, Pierre C. Shaddeaux, a native nutria, emerges to predict weather the weather for the next six weeks…either a long or short spring depending on if Pierre sees his shaddeaux or not. 

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