Hey, it's Tanya. I am so excited to tell you about another podcast from American Public Media and

APM Studios called What Happened in Alabama. It's hosted by award-winning journalist Lee Hawkins Jr

and it's a series that was born out of his experiences as a kid

watching his father suffer from nightmares. Now what Lee comes to learn as an adult about those nightmares and what they reveal is so powerful

like the impacts of Jim Crow beyond what we understand about segregation and intergenerational trauma.

Lee does this thing that so many of us want to do, and that's to go deep with his family

and also with experts on the Black American experience to understand those who may have had similar

generational and present day experiences. This is such an important investigation and like my sister's story in the series, she has a name, which you can also listen to on this feed,

what happened in Alabama is an American story that we all should know.

I'm sharing episode one with you today. Here is what

happened in Alabama. We wanted to give a heads up that this episode

includes talk of abuse and acts of violence.

You can find resources on our website, what happened in Alabama.org,

listener discretion is advised.

In 2004, when I was 33 years old, my dad called me for the first time in a year. I remember it so well. It was a Saturday. It wasn't long after his retirement you, but you have to understand. My dad and I used to talk every day.

He was my best friend. We stopped talking because I asked my parents to go to

therapy.

I wanted them to confront some things from our past

that had started haunting me as an adult.

But they refused.

And then a year later, dad called.

That one call turned into hundreds over several years and what he told me would change my life forever.

...