WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:30 — 40.5MB)
Gladys DeVane uses dialogue, colloquialisms, setting and a well-researched contextual understanding of place and time to bring the past alive. And, when history can be made to come alive, it can shed some light on the present.
“A Strange Day” is based on stories about what it was like for enslaved people in the US. These stories were part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Project. “”A Strange Day represents a composite of incidents and commentary across several stories.
DeVane told SoS that writing “The Least Among Them” allowed her to share a journey that, in so many ways, has made her a stronger, more resilient, and more determined person who pushes the system to do the right thing. Glenn, her son, is now a middle-aged man living in this community. People often tell her they learned so much by watching the way she interacted with him and advocated for him.
RELATED
SoS Episode 4 – Gladys DeVane
ABOUT
Dr. Gladys DeVane is a storyteller, writer, actor and educator as well as an IU professor emeritus. She is one of the founders of Resilience Productions, a theater company that brings little-known Black history to the stage She grew up in Texas and Oklahoma. Her book, Come Sit with Me – Life in Poetry Prose and Plays, was published in 2021 and contains many untold stories of African American history.
Special thanks to Danielle Bruce for providing music and sound cues.
CREDITS
Narrator: Gladys DeVane
Producer & Host: Robert Shull
Assistant Producer: Doug Storm
Recording Engineer: Cindy Beaulé
Literary Consultant: Shana Ritter
Musical Theme: “Firetime” by The Keithe Lowrie Duet
Executive Producer: Josh Brewer
