This week on From the Vault we revisit selections from a ten-part series called Plain Speaking: A Counter History of the United States that was produced in 1976 by Pacifica radio station KPFA in Berkeley. Produced for the country’s bicentennial celebration as an alternative to traditional American history taught in public schools, the series traces the nation’s history form the arrival of Christopher Columbus, through the various social movements of our first 200 years, giving voice to the many unheralded people who fought for equality and justice and who helped facilitate change so that all could prosper.
Part Four revisits World War I, The Great Depression, the Harlem Renaissance, and the 1930’s Puerto Rican Independence Movement through the voices of Utah Phillips, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Lillian Smith, Billie Holiday, Tillie Olsen, and Julia de Burgos.
From the Vault is proudly presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.