Search Interviews

Friends and co-organizers Nureaka Ross (28) and Lynette Mejia (51) discuss their involvement in advocating for their local library system and obstacles they have faced along the way.

Kiplyn Primus (61) talks with her conversation partner Ralph Baker (71) about his ancestor Jesse Maxwell Barber and the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre.

One Small Step partners Jayme Hightower (41) and Steve LaPorta (60) discuss missionary work, systemic racism, and how to improve schools in our country.

Daughter and mother Adria Dunn (52) and Dr. Irene Dunn (74) discuss their family history, legacy, and Irene's decision to join the Army Reserve.

One Small Step conversation partners Xuanning Fu (69) and Shantay Davies-Balch (42) talk about the importance of social capital in social mobility, interracial relationships, and the role of the DRIVE initiative in increasing equity in Fresno.

Friends Natasha Herring (47) and Milton Washington [no age given] discuss their origins of inspiration as writers. They begin the conversation with how they met as writers and the similarities between their experiences as children who experienced housing instability/being orphans....

Sara Skinner (49) interviews her friend and colleague Chantale Niyonkuru (23) about her upbringing, culture, life experiences, and journey from a refugee camp in Tanzania to graduating college in Boise, Idaho.

Ava Floyd (65) shares a conversation with her aunt Eloise Floyd (88) about Eloise’s experiences of high school, her time in college, and her career as a teacher.

Diane Mack (74) interviews her friend and mentee Margaret McCaskill [no age given] about her childhood memories, her passions for reading books and writing poetry, and her hopes for the future.

Friends Tiara Evans (27) and Asha John (27) reflect on hard periods of their lives and how those experiences made them who they are today. They discuss what adulthood means for their generation and the importance of not forgetting to...

Yolanda Lakes (50) sits down with her father, Raymond "Ray" Lakes (72), to ask about his upbringing in Columbus, GA and the world events, as well as personal experiences, that have shaped his current worldview.

Friends and colleagues, Erma Banks [no age given] and Callie McGinnis (77), discuss their former workplace: Columbus Area Library Association (CALA). They talk about the formation of the organization, pivotal characters in its development, and the events they created to...

Deborah Davidson (68) sits down with her friend Patricia Thomas Ivery (63) to ask about Patricia's childhood, the wisdom that she has gained throughout her life, and the dreams that she still hopes to achieve.

Best friends Dee Armstrong [no age given] and Martha Jones [no age given] talk about Martha's career as a teacher, Dee's career as a news anchor, and what makes the two of them such great friends. They also discuss the...

Monica Whatley (32) interviews her friend, Bandele [no name given] (73), about his incarceration in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bandele reflects on what he learned during the 33 years during which he was detained, his relationship...

Sarah Padgett (24) interviews new friend Brandy Tolbert (34) about Brandy’s childhood, her family, and her children. Brandy also talks about her role as the director of the Literacy Alliance and how she discovered her passion for literacy work.

Coworkers Silvia Bunn (67) and Deborah Clark (60) gather to honor and appreciate Deborah's years of service at the Mildred L. Terry Public Library, the first public library for African Americans in Columbus, GA. Deborah reminisces about coming to the...

Friends, Doreen Richardson (52) and Sandra Taitt-Eaddy (58), discuss their Barbadian identity and the differences in their experience as migrant women.

Friends and coworkers Shawanda Jackson (28) and Kendall Jameson (31) share a conversation about their experiences as youth participants, now staff, of Thread and the importance of youth education.

Abraham Williamson (29) talks with his mother Angela Williamson [no age given] talk and friend Guy Adam [no age given] about how Guy came from the Darfur region in Sudan to eventually arrive in the United States.

Michael Johansson (71) interviews his friend Ken Yon Greer Sr. (36) about his experience growing up in the Mississippi Delta and the road that led him to college, and eventually, to becoming president of the historically black fraternity, Phi Beta...

Friends and colleagues Courtneay Small (61) and Richard Harris (58) talk about their upbringings, experiences as mentors, and the importance of their work with Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts.

One Small Step conversation partners Carolyn Cacho-Bowman [no age given] and Robert Shwab (65) talk about their political beliefs, immigration, and the division in our country.

Xolani Yaaba (31) is interviwed by StoryCorps facilitator Laura Saenz (47) about his early childhood and experiences in the Chicago Public School system and how that influenced him in his work studying the school to prison pipeline.

Vernon Taylor (88) is joined by his daughter, Valerie Taylor [no age given], as he remembers his life's journey as a black apprentice and later as an Air Condition Refrigeration Engineer and Instructor.