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This month the TCU Race & Reconciliation Initiative debuted the pilot episode, “The BluePrint,” of Reconcile This! — an academic podcast where RRI Chair Frederick Gooding Jr., Ph.D., and Graduate Research Assistant Marcellis Perkins interview guests who share a passion for “doing the work” of reconciliation.

Created last fall by the charge of Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. and the TCU Board of Trustees, RRI is making an academically based historical inquiry into TCU’s relationship with slavery, racism and the Confederacy. Through RRI, TCU is aligned with more than 60 universities worldwide as part of the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium, a movement designed for sharing research and strategies.

The biweekly podcast is the latest step in RRI’s journey to help the university embrace an active role in understanding and healing within our community. We asked Dr. G, also an associate professor of African American studies in the John V. Roach Honors College, to share the inspiration behind and the aspirations for the new podcast.

How did the idea come about?

Dr. G.: In looking at our efforts to research and promote reconciliation thus far, it is very clear to us that research is absolutely a form of actionable change, but its process may be more deliberate than what some may like. Thus, we want to be creative in letting people know about our efforts to connect people on campus along the way.

Why a podcast?

Dr. G.: Podcasts are an incredibly accessible source of information — they are user-friendly and free of scheduling constraints. Plus, podcasts allow listeners to hear from real people with real personalities who are involved in this reconciliation process, which hopefully will make it more personable. 

Who do you hope to reach with the podcasts? 

Dr. G.: We hope to reach TCU students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as general members of the greater Fort Worth community.

What is the format like?

Dr. G.: Each episode (save the first and last episodes for this season) will follow the same general format: two 10-minute interviews of various members of our TCU community who are working toward racial reconciliation in their own ways, with a “Doc Talk” — a five-minute, hard-hitting look at some historical document or photograph discovered in our TCU Special Collections relevant to race and reconciliation — sandwiched in between.

How did you choose your topics and guests?

Dr. G.: We simply asked students, faculty and staff: “Who do you know is doing the work?”

What do you hope listeners will take away from the podcasts?

Dr. G.: One key takeaway is that racial reconciliation both affects and connects us all. We all have a role to play and should assume this responsibility collectively.

Anything else to add?

Dr. G.: Come listen to Graduate Research Assistant Wunderkind Marcellis Perkins, as he leverages his past radio experience into a smooth but scintillating delivery of key cogent questions to our guests!

Anchor will host Reconcile This!, and you may listen on Apple, Spotify, RRI’s web page, plus other options.

Follow RRI on Twitter @TCURRInitiative and Instagram @TCURRInitiative.

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