How do stories help us challenge, shape, and navigate our democracy? In this two-part series created with Voice of Witness, we’ll explore oral histories as powerful tools of resistance and belonging. In this first episode, host Maya Rupert sits down with Ashley Hemmers, a member of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, whose path winds from growing up on her reservation to attending Yale to returning home again. Now a tribal administrator, Ashley shares how storytelling is both a bridge to the past and a pathway to her tribe’s future.

This episode is created in partnership with Voice of Witness, an oral history nonprofit that advances human rights by amplifying the stories of people impacted by—and fighting against—injustice. To learn more, visit voiceofwitness.org.

You can read Ashley’s full story in the Voice of Witness book How We Go Home, along with the powerful oral histories of eleven other Indigenous narrators fighting for justice: https://voiceofwitness.org/books/how-we-go-home-voices-from-indigenous-north-america/

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Nurturing relationships with safe and dependable adults, like early childhood educators, can make a profound difference for kids who’ve experienced early adversity. Early childhood expert Kai-leé Berke knows this firsthand and she’s spent her career working to improve resources for early childhood educators. Through training and awareness, these educators can help prevent the damaging impacts of trauma, and instill skills like how to love, how to trust, and how to learn.

This episode is made possible with support from Lillio, whose mission is to elevate early childhood programs with innovative design, quality content, and professional growth opportunities, delivering joyful learning experiences for all children. To learn more, visit lillio.com.

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Danielle Atkinson has been organizing mothers of color since 2012 to not only knock on doors, but to knock down the doors of power. Danielle is the founder and executive director of the grassroots advocacy organization Mothering Justice. With the 2024 election upon us, host Maya Rupert talks with Danielle about how BIPOC mothers can shape some of the most critical issues this election, like childcare, paid sick leave and improving wages. And what it looks like to build a future that truly centers families and caregivers.

This episode is presented by Mothering Justice, a grassroots policy advocacy organization that provides mothers of color in America with the resources and tools to use their power to make equitable changes in policy. Learn more and get involved at motheringjustice.org.

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