race

An Extraordinary Couple: William Cohen & Janet Langhart Cohen

August 7, 2024August 3, 2024Bill Thompson

We’re all familiar with the old saw that “opposites attract.” But how opposite is too opposite?

At first glance it might have seemed that William Cohen and Janet Langhart were just too opposite to succeed as a couple

Cohen was white, Jewish, Republican.

Langhart was black, Christian, and Democrat.

But when journalist Langhart interviewed Senator Cohen, something sparked. And in 1996, they were married. The following year President Bill Clinton appointed Cohen his Defense Secretary.

Get your copy of William Cohen & Janet Langhart’s book

The Cohens’ marriage has been sustained by a mutual empathy, as both have
faced racial or religious discrimination each has experienced since childhood.

In 2007 William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen co-wrote a book called Love in Black And White. That’s when I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with both of them to talk about it.

So here now from 2007, William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen.

William Cohen is now 82. Janet Langhart is also 82. They celebrated their 28th anniversary last February.

Paul Robeson Jr

August 7, 2023August 6, 2023Bill Thompson

Paul Robeson Jr was the grandson of a slave, and son of a prominent and controversial African American actor, singer, and activist.

Formally trained as an electrical engineer, Robeson soon followed in the footsteps of his famous father, becoming an activist in his own right.

He also spent time organizing and archiving his father’s papers, films, and music memorabilia.

I first met and interviewed Paul Robeson Jr. In 1993. We met again in 2007, when he wrote a book called A Black Way of Seeing.

And keep your mind open as you hear this interview, Robeson will challenge you to think differently about everything, regardless of your background.

So here now, from 2007, Paul Robeson Jr.

Paul Robeson Jr. died in 2014. He was 86.

bell hooks

January 19, 2022January 16, 2022Bill Thompson

How and where do race, gender, class, art, and capitalism come together?

That question was at the heart of some 30 books written by author bell hooks.

That was actually the pen name that Gloria Jean Watkins adopted for herself.

But being a black female activist and feminist also often made her a target.

In her 1999 book Remembered Rapture hooks recalled some of her challenges as a writer and activist and that’s when I have the chance to meet her for the first of our several conversations.

So here now from 1999 bell hooks.

bell hooks died last month. She was 69.

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Barack Obama

August 3, 2020August 2, 2020Bill Thompson

A few years before he was an Illinois state senator, long before he became a U.S. Senator and years before the nation elected him our first African-American president, Barack Obama was a law professor and community organizer.

Barack Obama — Photo: Official White House Photographer

Just before he went off to law school, Obama traveled to Kenya to learn more about his father, and to try and put some perspective on his mixed-race heritage.

The result was his book “Dreams From My Father.”

So here now, from 1995, Barack Obama.

Tomorrow, August 4th, is Barack Obama’s 59th birthday.

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