Janet Dewart Bell ’74, ’15 (Maryland, BA and GSLC, PhD; and a member of Antioch’s Board of Governors) recently joined Tavis Smiley to discuss her new book, Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Women’s Speeches From the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century (The New Press, 2024).
Dewart Bell is a communications strategist and management consultant with a multimedia background, as well as experience in policy advocacy, strategic planning, fund development, media training, and education. She is a social justice advocate, activist, executive coach, and motivational speaker. She founded the Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society series at the New York University School of Law. Her previous book Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She is the co-editor (with Vincent M. Southerland) of Carving Out a Humanity and Race, Rights, and Redemption (both published by The New Press).
“Tavis Smiley” is the flagship program for KBLA, America’s newest progressive radio network, and LA’s first Black-owned talk station. The podcast presents the best of Tavis Smiley’s conversations with activists, influencers, thought leaders, and cultural vanguards. Listen to the podcast here.
Learn more about Dewart Bell and read her dissertation African American Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: A Narrative Inquiry here.