This week the US commemorates the MLK Day holiday - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. He would have been 97. The third Monday of January has stood as the official holiday for 40 years, and no matter what the current US administration attempts at erasure, the Black American Diaspora will never forget. I remember growing up, before 1986 when the day became an official holiday, the majority of my Black classmates did not attend school on January 15th. This is the activism that the Civil Rights Movement inspired for two generations, and activism + grassroots organizing are prime topics in this two-part conversation with long-time comrade, fellow Brooklynite, poet, performer, jazz/soul vocalist, musician, producer, designer, and community strategist, Tai Allen.

A native New Yorker by way of Panama, Jamaica, and Virginia, Tai’s life story is filled with a history of progressive stands. From his mother’s family being among those that contributed to the suit that integrated schools across the United States—Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka to his father’s influential network of academics and thought leaders, his craft was in the making for his entire upbringing—without him necessarily knowing it. #Listenandlearn more!

Where to find Tai?
https://taiallen.com/
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube
On Soundcloud

Other topics of interest:
About Yonkers, New York
Perspective on Jamaican Migration to Panama
About Colón and Panama City in Panama
About Saint Ann and Saint Elizabeth Jamaica
The Maroons of Jamaica
How Scots became a presence in Jamaica…
Flyght Tyme, the band
About Tai’s connection to Roots Author, Alex Palmer Haley and Palmer Family Ancestry
The Five Cases that lead to Brown v. Board
About recently shuttered community hotspot, The Brooklyn Moon Cafe and Michael Thompson
What was Real Player?
The Last Poets
Amiri Baraka
Yosef Ben-Jochannan “Dr. Ben”
About Leonard Jeffries
Who is Chi Ossé?
Revisit Anna Malaika Tubbs on Glocal Citizens
CBC - Congressional Black Caucus
What’s happening in policy in Utah?
A timeline of policing, law enforcement and resistance in the US

Special Guest: Tai Allen.

Episode 303: When Lineage Meets Craft and Other Notes on Community with Tai Allen Part 1