The African American Folklorist Podcast Series –
Charlotte Forten Grimke –
The First series of the African American Folklorist will be covering the works, journals and lineage of Charlotte Forten Grimke. Documented as the first person to record Black Spirituals on her excursion to Sea Island in 1864, Charlotte, a teacher, anti-slavery activist and poet, comes from four generations of successful, free abolitionist African Americans. The series will raise awareness and discuss the people and experiences she’s had during a turbulent time in America for Black people that shaped her views and propelled her to achieve many feats. Not taking away from her story, we delve into the achievements and mind set of her elder relatives that not only molded Charlotte, but formulated the way free blacks and abolitionists attacked slavery with ferocity. From funding abolitionist publications to being major participants in the Underground Railroad system, The Forten family and their in-laws were trailblazers in the contributions to African American history, liberation and freedom.
This episode, Episode one, focuses on the beginning of Charlotte’s legacy, and the places and experiences that lead her grandfather, James Forten, to begin a work and plant a seed that would harvest in Charlotte and the rest of the Forten family, and extended family.
