By Tina Antolini
Ed Schoenberger shows SOTRU host Al Letson some of what remains of his collection of old Greensburg photos
There’s a red, white and blue sign in front window of the house where Ed Schoenberger lives in Greensburg, Kansas. It says “Rebuilding Greensburg with Pride.” This is certainly true for Ed, who has lived in this town for decades, and cared for its history with equivalent pride for just as long. Ed is the caretaker of the cemetery in Greensburg, and is also the curator of the town’s historical museum—that is, before the museum blew away, along with most of Main Street, in the tornado that hit Greensburg in May 2007. It took most of Ed’s treasured artifacts with it, whole rooms of lovingly assembled displays, depicting Greensburg in its early days, as frontier town. READ MORE
By Zak Rosen
Our upcoming episode of SOTRU is set in the complicated, and ever-evolving borough of Brooklyn, New York. In the show, we explore housing, development, and the inevitable impact it has on community. In my research, I connected with Michael Premo. He and his creative partner, Rachel Falcone are “oral history artists.” They met while working as facilitators with Story Corps, and have since created an illuminating, expansive, and “ongoing, multi-platform, documentary portrait of the struggle for home,” called Housing is a Human Right.
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By Zak Rosen
From the moment I heard the music and poetry of Blair, I was in love with it and believed in it. He weaves spoken word poetry, with folk rock, trip-hop and punk. On his MySpace page, he writes, “My dad looked like Chuck Berry, played like Hank Williams. My mom cleaned white folk’s houses. She raised five children. On her own. I inherited all sorts of ghosts from both of them. Sometimes I can fly.” READ MORE
By State of the Re:Union
Five years in the making and the winner of more than 20 awards in the U.S. and abroad, Brother Outsider is a feature-length documentary portrait of Bayard Rustin. Described as “potent and persuasive” (Los Angeles Times), “beautifully crafted” (Boston Globe), “complex and nuanced” (Chicago Reader), and “poignant” (TIME), the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast nationally on PBS; it is currently airing on Logo/MTV. Filmmakers Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer shared the following reflections with State of the Re:Union: READ MORE
