EPISODE · Dec 17, 2018 · 29 MIN
The First Two Murders I Witnessed
from The Memoir My Dad Wouldn't Write · host Treasure Shields Redmond
East St. Louis's Black community of the 1940's and 50's was a swirl of influences. Most Black people were recent migrants from the south or the children of southern migrants. They were a new citified version of Blackness, and with that newness came the stresses and pressures of urban life. A closer physical proximity. A different economic competition. More access to drugs and alcohol. More violence. In this burgeoning phase my father became a man and watched other men reckon with each other, even to the point of murder.
What this episode covers
East St. Louis's Black community of the 1940's and 50's was a swirl of influences. Most Black people were recent migrants from the south or the children of southern migrants. They were a new citified version of Blackness, and with that newness came the stresses and pressures of urban life. A closer physical proximity. A different economic competition. More access to drugs and alcohol. More violence. In this burgeoning phase my father became a man and watched other men reckon with each other, even to the point of murder.
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The First Two Murders I Witnessed
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