In Black America

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents highlights and commentary from the 2026 State of Black America Report, since 1976 one of the most highly anticipated benchmarks and sources for leadership around racial equality in the United States, led by Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Mark S. Robinson, veteran advertising, marketing and communications executive and author of Pitch Black: The Best Black Ads of the Past 50+ Years, discussing the untold history of African American advertising, from the earliest depictions of African Americans […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Mark S. Robinson, veteran advertising, marketing and communications executive and author of Pitch Black: The Best Black Ads of the Past 50+ Years, discussing the untold history of African American advertising, from the earliest depictions of African Americans […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation about racial healing, community leadership, and African American intellectual life with Dr. Catherine Meeks, PhD, founder of the Turquoise and Lavender Institute for Transformation and Healing, and author of Bridging the Rivers of Difference: A Proclamation of Unity in […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation about racial healing, community leadership, and African American intellectual life with Dr. Catherine Meeks, PhD, founder of the Turquoise and Lavender Institute for Transformation and Healing, and author of Bridging the Rivers of Difference: A Proclamation of Unity in […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Nicole Carr, four-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, visiting Assistant Professor at Morehouse College, and author of The Price of Exclusion: The Pursuit of Healthcare in a Segregated Nation, discussing the history of systemic discrimination against African American medical […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Nicole Carr, four-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, visiting Assistant Professor at Morehouse College, and author of The Price of Exclusion: The Pursuit of Healthcare in a Segregated Nation, discussing the history of systemic discrimination against African American medical […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Honorable John R. Lewis, the U.S. Congressman who represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, and who dedicated his life to the protection of human rights, securing civil liberties through his work in the Civil Rights Movement alongside […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Tracye McDaniel, president of TIP Strategies, Inc and a trusted advisor to CEOs, non-profits, and public and private organizations and businesses. Formerly president and chief executive of the Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne, she brings a global […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents the first part of his conversation with Tracye McDaniel, president of TIP Strategies, Inc and a trusted advisor to CEOs, non-profits, and public and private organizations and businesses. Formerly president and chief executive of the Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne, […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Michael Carter, Jr., a fifth-generation farmer in Virginia and author of Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture, exploring the history and generational stewardship and preservation of agricultural practices with […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Michael Carter, Jr., a fifth-generation farmer in Virginia and author of Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture, exploring the history and generational stewardship and preservation of agricultural practices with […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents highlights from excerpts from a discussion by representavies of civil rights organizations, and state and federal legislators organized by National Urban League CEO in response to the April 29, 2026 Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana vs. Callais, which dealt a devastating […]

On this week’s edition of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Donald Cravins, Jr. president and CEO of The National Minority Supplier Development Council, and former CEO of The National Urban League’s Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., discussing his career as an advocate for expanding opportunities for minority-owned small […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Marion E. Orr, political scientist, professor of Public Policy and Political Science and Urban Studies at Brown University, and author of House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs, Jr. […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with attorney Jason Green, former Special Assistant and Associate White House Counsel to President Barack Obama, co-founder of SkilSmart, CEO of Evergreen Labs, and author ofToo Precious To Lose: A Memoir of Family, Community, and Possibility, with a discussion […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with attorney Jason Green, former Special Assistant and Associate White House Counsel to President Barack Obama, co-founder of SkilSmart, CEO of Evergreen Labs, and author of Too Precious To Lose: A Memoir of Family, Community, and Possibility, with a […]

On this edition of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with former U.S. Marine, Compton, California police officer and undercover FBI agent, Larry Wansley, discussing his new book, Tough Streets, Rough Skies and Sunday Sidelines, which details Wansley’s career in law enforcement, the military, and the world of […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Larry Wansley, former Marine, Compton, California police officer, FBI undercover agent, and author of Tough Streets, Rough Skies and Sunday Sidelines, discussing his military and law enforcement career, as well as his tenure as the first Director of […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Mark S. Robinson, author of Black on Madison Avenue, about his four decade-long career working at a high level in marketing and advertising, providing rare and valuable insight into the lack of diversity in the advertising world, and […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Mark S. Robinson, a forty-year veteran of high-level, prestigious advertising and marketing agencies and author or Black on Madison Avenue, an inside look at the lack of diversity and the obstacles faced by African American professionals in the advertising agency […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the life and legacy of pioneering African American basketball player Harry “Bucky” Lew with Chris Boucher, author of Harry “Bucky” Lew: A Biography of Basketball’s First Black Professional, shedding light on Lew’s perseverance and triumph over racial discrimination and his pivotal […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Dr. Rosenna Bakari, psychologist, empowerment expert, educator and author of Seven Exits: Leave Behind What No Longer Serves You, discussing her career as a counselor and educator, and her work to support a cultural shift from focusing on mental wellness […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Gladys H. DeClouet, a pioneering executive and engineer who began her professional career as the first female engineer in offshore oil and gas exploration and later became an executive leading divisions at major corporations like British Petroleum, Burger […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Gladys DeClouet, a pioneering executive leading divisions at major corporations like British Petroleum, Burger King and Jack in the Box, who began her professional career as the first female engineer in offshore oil and gas exploration. She is […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson presents a conversation with Ed Welburn, Vice President of Global Design at General Motors, the first African American to head one of the largest design organizations in the world, leading design centers in eight countries, responsible for the design and development of all […]

On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. remembers the late William F. “Bill” Williams, the pioneering philanthropic co-founder of Glory Foods, Inc. in 1989, developing the concept of producing and distributing food products targeting African American consumers and promoting the growth of ethnic food distribution. Williams died December […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a 2024 conversation with Dr. Tameka Gillum, Associate Professor of Community Health in the College of Population Health at the University of New Mexico, and author of a study examining the multilevel societal factors that contribute to disparities in gun violence […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Michelle Adams, law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and author of Containment: Detroit, The Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North, which tells the epic story of the struggle to integrate […]

On this week’s edition of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Dr. Blair LM Kelley, a noted scholar of Black History and the African American experience, Director of the Center for the Study of the American South and The National Humanities Center, and award-winning author of Black […]

On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Earl Graves, Sr., entrepreneur, publisher, philanthropist and advocate of African American businesses, who founded Black Enterprise Magazine in 1970. He died April 8, 2020, at the age of 85. The full transcript of this episode […]

On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson presents an interview recorded in 1985 with Robert C. Maynard, a newspaper journalist and editor who became the first African American owner of a major daily newspaper, The Oakland Tribune. Maynard was also a co-founder of The Institute For Journalism Education, a non-profit […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson pays tribute to the life and career of legendary biographer, screenwriter and novelist Alexander Murray Palmer Haley, best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, with an interview recorded in February 1988. […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with pioneering music video director, DJ and VJ Ralph McDaniels, who in 1983 created Studio 31 Dance Party, a television program presenting recordings of music performances that evolved into the long-running music video program he created and co-hosts, Video Music Box. […]

On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson speaks with Jeffery Lorenzo Williams, real estate broker, creator of the shoe and fashion brand JLORENZO, and author of My Feet Are Off The Ground: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph, the inspirational story of his journey from suffering permanent paralysis from an accidental […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 97th anniversary of his birth, featuring commentary by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the Honorable Andrew Young, and former President Barack Obama, as well as excerpts from Dr. King’s […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Chuck Bishop, Senior Vice President and Head of Diverse Segments at Wells Fargo Home Lending, discussing pathways to home ownership and wealth creation for underserved communities, which disproportionately include people of color.

On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late John Hope Franklin, a noted scholar of African American history, whose career of more than 60 years in scholarship, teaching and advocacy included a distinguished professorship at Duke University, helping prepare the landmark Supreme Court case […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the wealth gap between White and Black Americans with Phillip Washington, Jr., registered investment adviser, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Stone Hill Wealth Management, and host of the Wealth Building Mad Simple podcast.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Katrina Montgomery, the new Chief Financial Officer of the Austin Independent School District, whose chosen mission is to ensure the financial health and stability of the district, focusing on transparency, accountability and efficient resource allocation.

On this edition of In Black America, producer and host John L, Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the lives of the late Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, one of the most revered couples of the American stage and screen, whose careers spanned six decades and were distinguished for their work as actors and as […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents an interview recorded in 1982 with the late Shirley A. Chisholm, the former Congresswoman from New York’s 12th Congressional District, the first African America woman elected to Congress, and the first major-party African American candidate for President of the United States.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Denise Nicholas, veteran actress, writer, activist and author of Finding Home: A Memoir, discussing her new memoir, her personal and professional experiences during her six-decade film and television career, and her participation in the Civil Rights Movement. In […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. begins a conversation with Denise Nicholas, veteran actress, writer, activist and author of Finding Home: A Memoir, discussing her six-decade film and television career, her participation in the Civil Rights Movement, and her memoir. In Black America is a listener-supported production of […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a previously aired conversation with Joceyn Robinson, founding Director of the Ohio-based HBCU Preservation Project and Director of the Center for Radio Preservation and Archives at WSYO, whose mission is to preserve the rich history of radio stations affiliated with historically […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a previously aired conversation (Ep. 25) with Vanessa P. Daniel, social justice activist and organizer, and author of Unrig The Game: What Women Of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning, offering on-the-ground perspective on the obstacles community, union and electoral activist […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Jordan E. Cooper, Tony Award-nominated actor, playwright, producer and director, and founder of Cookout Entertainment, discussing Cooper’s many accomplishments as well as the anticipated opening of his stage production Oh Happy Day!, in which he plays a leading role as […]

On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the failure of mainstream bioethics to include the perpectives of African American women, and the resultant disparities in health outcomes, with Wylin D. Wilson, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School and author of Womanist Bioethics: Social Justice, […]

On this edition of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses police and community relations with M. Quentin Williams, attorney, author, founder and CEO of Dedication to Community, chairman and CEO of Williams Media and Marketing Group, LLC, former FBI agent and Federal Prosecutor, and former NFL and NBA executive.

On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Fran Harris, former WNBA Champion, member of Pan American, Jones Cup and FIBA World Championship teams with USA Basketball, captain and leading scorer for the undefeated 1986 National Championship team at the University of Texas, and recipient of […]