Black Reconstruction 8.2.13

Host:

LaShawn Allen-Muhammad

Dr. Freya Anderson Rivers is a retired Elementary School principal and former director of The Genius Academy, an international educational consulting group.  She is the founder and creator of Sankofa Publishing Company, Sankofa Shule College Preparatory Public School Academy and Sankofa Watoto Preschool. Sankofa, an Afrocentric charter school was called an "Educational Powerhouse" under her leadership by U.S. News & World Report and was also highlighted in The Wall Street Journal. She has diversified experience as a teacher, educational consultant, publisher, retail business owner and a leader in government, economic and social issues.

Her recent publication, “Swallowed Tears” is a story of an African American family's courage and perseverance. This story is about one family but there were thousands of unknown individuals and families who daily put their lives on the line to end segregation. Dr. Dupuy H. Anderson was one of these individuals who persisted in spite of numerous threats to his life to change the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was one of the many in Baton Rouge who fought for change. When the moment began in Baton Rouge, no one knew that the impact of the 1953 bus boycott would create universal hope for the rights of equality, justice and freedom. The leaders did not know that Martin Luther King, Jr. would use their model as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Yet, challenging oppression in the struggle for truth, justice and righteousness, Dr. Dupuy H. Anderson, one man, made a difference