John L. Hanson Jr.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dan C. Goldberg, a health care reporter with Politico and author of The Golden 13: How Black Men Won The Right To Wear Navy Gold. 

Through oral histories and original interviews with surviving family members, Goldberg brings to life 13 forgotten heroes. He reveals the opposition these men faced: the racist pseudo-science, the regular condescension, the repeated epithets, the verbal abuse and even violence.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Steve Perry, noted educator, founder and head of Capital Preparatory Schools. Perry is the voice of a generation, a people's champion who has been fighting for disadvantaged children and families for 30 years.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Michael I. Meyerson, the DLA Piper professor of law and director of the Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence at the University of Baltimore School of Law. This program represents a revolutionary and comprehensive approach for addressing the lack of diversity in legal education and the legal profession.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Erika Rickard, director of civil legal modernization at the PEW Charitable Trusts. From 1993 to 2013, the number of debt claims filed in civil courts across this country increased to the point where it became the single largest share of civil court business over that period, particularly as people used civil courts less for other issues. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Cheryl Grace, senior vice president of strategic community alliances and consumer engagement at Nielsen. According to Nielsen, African-American consumers make up $1.3 trillion in annual buying power.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer, NPR’s Weekend Edition contributor and author of Full Dissidence: Notes From an Uneven Playing Field. Whether the issues are protests, labor, patriotism, or class division, it’s clear that professional sports are no longer simply fun and games.

In his book, Bryant talks about the player-owner relationship, the militarization of sports, the myth of integration and the erasure of African-American identity as a condition of success.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Michael and Pele Bennett. Michael is a professional football player, Super Bowl Champion, activist, author and co-host of the podcast Mouthpeace. Pele is a food advocate, a skilled Polynesian dancer, co-founder of the Bennett Foundation and co-host of Mouthpeace.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Charles Whitaker, the newly appointed dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

Whitaker talks about his new appointment, working for Ebony magazine, why Medill is a leader in journalism education and the lack of people of color in newsroom management.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. revisits a conversation with Dr. Robert F. Jefferson Jr., associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico and author of Brothers in Valor: Battlefield Stories of the 89 African Americans Awarded the Medal of Honor.

Brothers in Valor is a history lesson on 89 men who were awarded the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents an encore discussion with Dr. Albert D. Chester, owner of New Town Pharmacy and founder and director of Capstone Institute, both located in Jacksonville, Fla.

Chester talks about training future health care workers, opening a pharmacy in the neighborhood his grandfather grew up in, and being the primary resource for all health care needs.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents an encore conversation with Selena Sage, publisher, inspirational speaker and author of Get Free: 7 Simple Steps to Free Your Mind & Live Your Dreams.

Born and raised in Austin, Sage graduated from the LBJ Science Academy (now LASA), and then went on to graduate from Northwestern University's Honors Program of Engineering and Management, with degrees in industrial engineering and business.

On this archived edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with the late Ron Banks. The singer was a founding member of the Detroit vocal group The Dramatics, which formed in the mid-1960s and continued to play for avid audiences around the country for years.

Banks talks about growing up in Detroit, not signing with Motown Records, forming the soul group and what distinguishes them from other male vocal groups, and wanting to be a professional baseball player.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents an encore conversation with Corey Minor Smith, attorney; former Canton, Ohio, City Council member; motivational speaker; and author of #Driven.

Minor Smith talks candidly about her childhood, her path to becoming an attorney and how her family's struggles with mental illness inspired her to become a motivational speaker.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a rebroadcast of a conversation with Robert Townsend, comedian, actor, film director/producer, writer and former cable network programming CEO. His projects include Hollywood Shuffle, The Meteor Man and The Five Heartbeats.

Townsend talks about growing up in Chicago, being an independent filmmaker, his first big movie break, working with Eddie Murphy and why he believes The Five Heartbeats is a classic film.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Laura W. Cheever, MD, a physician and the associate administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

On Feb. 7, we commemorated the annual observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents highlights of the 15th Annual Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Salute To Excellence Awards presented by the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation held during Super Bowl LIV week.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a panel discussion on the legacy and impact of historically black colleges and universities football. Featured on the program are former Miami Dolphins Larry Little and De’Lance Turner; Arthur McAfee, NFL senior vice president of player engagement; and Dr. Derrick E. White, associate professor of history and African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Derrick E. White, associate professor of history and African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky and author of Blood, Sweat and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. concludes his conversation with Regina E. Mason, international speaker, executive producer and author of The Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave, published by Oxford University Press, and Sean Durant, the producer/director of Gina’s Journey: The Search for William Grimes.

The Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave is the first fugitive slave narrative in American history. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Regina E. Mason, international speaker, executive producer and author of The Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave, published by Oxford University Press, and Sean Durant, the producer and director of Gina’s Journey: The Search for William Grimes.

The Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave is the first fugitive slave narrative in American history. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Juan Pablo Segura, co-founder of Washington, D.C.,-based Babyscripts. In recent years, as high rates of maternal mortality in this country have alarmed researchers, one statistic has been especially concerning. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-American mothers in this country die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, one of the widest of all racial disparities in women's health.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Richard Cahan, author of Revolution in Black and White: Photographs of The Civil Rights Era by Ernest C. Withers. Withers was a self-made man. He was one of the most prominent African-American photographers during the civil rights years. During the course of his career, he took thousands photographs that document the Movement. 

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. presents a conversation with the late George E. Curry, formerly editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine. Curry was a staunch champion of the black press until his death on Aug. 20, 2016. He was 69.

Curry talks about growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, working for Sports Illustrated, and his commitment to the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Newspaper Publishers Association and BET’s Lead Story.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Spencer Haywood, NBA/ABA legend and Hall-of-Famer.

Haywood will always be remembered as the person who opened the door for underclassmen college basketball players to leave college early to enter the NBA, thereby creating the "Spencer Haywood rule."

In celebration of Black History Month, In Black America presents an encore presentation of "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music," an extended interview with her that originally aired in March 1983.

The legendary singer, dancer, actress and Civil Rights activist died in 2010 after a career in film, television and theater that spanned 60 years.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Timothy M. George, medical director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center of Central Texas at Dell Children’s Medical Center and adjunct professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. George died on November 10th, 2019. He was 59.

Dr. George talks about growing up in New York, attending medical school, his love of racecar driving, his commitment to healing children and his fascination with the human body.  

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Monique W. Morris, Ph.D., social justice scholar and author of Sing A Rhythm, Dance A Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls published by The New Press. She’s also the founder and president of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with the Honorable Mitch Landrieu, author, speaker, advisor and the former Mayor of New Orleans. This past fall, Mayor Landrieu released a report titled Divided by Design: Findings from the American South.

Landrieu talks about the 15 key insights; how southerners are impacted by race, equity, economic opportunity and violence; the importance of the study; and why diversity matters.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. pays tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. King would have turned 91 this week.

Featured on the program are the voices of former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, former President Barack Obama, and civil rights activist D'Army Bailey.

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with J.C. Watts, co-founder and chairman of the Black News Channel, and Gray Wordlaw, its vice president of news and programming.