Search Interviews

Ross Smith (52) and his partner, Aaron Knight (50), talk about becoming foster parents. They also discuss some of the challenges and highlights they have faced through the fostering and adoption experience.

Sonja Bryant (50) shares a conversation with her friend, Paula Goble (62), about Paula’s childhood, her family, and her siblings. Sonja and Paula also talk about growing up in the Columbus, Georgia area and about a trip they took together...

Sister Gladia Bell (89), Lue Hicks (78), and Willie B. Kennedy (88) talk about their childhood memories, their wonderful parents and their life growing up in the South

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...

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

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.

Delores Thompson [no age given] shares a conversation with her cousin, Davian Chester (28), about the Juneteenth Google Doodle that Davian illustrated and how the reception to that piece of art affected his life and career. Davian also talks about...

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.

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.

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...

Kathy Purnell (54) interviews colleague Buddy Hannah (74) about his life and work in the arts, particularly his approach to building and celebrating community through this work.

Vivian Gibson (74) tells Delilah Righter (25) about her childhood growing up in the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, reflecting on the neighborhood’s disappearance due to urban renewal.

Sisters Sherrie Wallace (52) and Shelia Grimes (66) share memories from their childhood and reflect on how their relationship has strengthened and developed.

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.

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.

Kathleen Benjamin (62) talks with her childhood and lifelong friend Daniel Alonzo (62) about their respective childhoods growing up in Santa Monica. The friends talk about how Santa Monica has changed throughout the years, as well as Daniel's artistic endeavors.

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...

Friends Nathaniel "Nat" Trives (85) and Lynn Washington [no age given] share memories of Santa Monica College and their experiences there.

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.

J.J. (69), a student in the 1950s and 1960s at the Michigan School for the Blind shares stories with Dr. Velma Allen (79), the school's superintendent during the 1980s and 1990s.

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...

Lara Capuano (40) and Naima Tillett (28) share a conversation about navigating the adoption process, about being partners in an open adoption, and about the family they have formed.

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.

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.

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