December 14, 2023 • 19 mins
Katie and Yves talk with Ambar Johnson, an oral historian who created a guide specifically to help collect family stories. We discuss the dos and don’ts of gathering family histories, and Yves uses the guide to interview a family member.
Download Ambar Johnson’s guide on collecting family stories at dandelyonsstudios.myflodesk.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
On theme is a production of iHeartRadio and fair Weather
Friends Media.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You are stars.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
When I think back to family gatherings past, I don't
really remember the food I ate or the gifts I received.
I don't remember what the weather was like, or who
(00:36):
was on CPE time showing up to the function. I
remember the laughter. I remember the story share Like when
I visited my grandma after my grandpa had passed, she
told me about the time he won the casino jackpot
on Friday the thirteenth. He didn't speak the entire way home.
(00:56):
He was gripping his gun and had his head on
a swivel. Or when my big cousin came by the
kid's table to let us know that everybody at the
club mistook her for Eve because she had platinum blonde
hair and Paw Prince tatted on her. And the thing is,
those stories aren't going in nobody's American history textbook, but
it's still a part.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Of my family history.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
These small anecdotes make up a tapestry of what life
was like for Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, Daddy, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins,
that one person you're not really sure how you relate
it to them, but they always around.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So they family.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
It all adds up and it's all important.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Sometimes the stories flow freely and other times they need
some prompting, like that quiet uncle who just smokes his
cigarettes and minds his business, but has a ton of tales.
So today we're talking with annebar Johnson, an oral historian
who created a guide specifically to help us keep the stories,
(01:57):
the laughter, and the learning going. And i'm eves join
us as we become armchair archivists.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My name is Ambar Johnson.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'm an urban planner and oral historian based in New
York City.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Ambar created a guide to help us collect family oral
histories just in time for gatherings.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
What goes into preparing to collect these stories.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Just being really curious and having the time and space
to really absorb and listen. In terms of oral history
as a practice, it really is a preparation of the mind, body,
and soul. You know, you have to really show people
that you're listening. So that doesn't mean like scroll on
(02:51):
on your phone while people are talking, like maintaining eye contact,
being open that the questions that you want to ask
or not the questions they want to answer, and being
ready to go on the journey that they want to
take you on, not the one that you thought that
you were about to be on. So it's a lot
of surrender that I think you have to have, and
(03:12):
surrender and some humility as well.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm glad that you brought up humility because I was
thinking that it seems like you need to have a
certain level of confidence too, so I could see how
that doesn't need to venture too far into arrogance. But
you have to be confident to be like, I'm the
one to ask these questions and to get these answers
from my family members. So what is your experience of
(03:37):
gaining confidence to be able to collect these stories?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
The confidence it really came from curiosity, to be quite frank, like,
I never thought of myself as like I'm the anointed
one to go and ask these questions. I really just
notice everyone's busy, and they're living their lives, and people
are living in different places, and I just got cheered
a lot of the times. I think some of the confidence,
(04:05):
especially if you're in a larger family, is being okay
with multiple truths, being that like you can grow up
in the same household and there's how many people are
in that household, there's that many perspectives. I noticed that people,
especially family members, they are as comfortable with answering the
questions as you are asking them.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So if you're like him and and HI like, uh,
you know, well I don't know, you know, but.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I mean if you want to it's like nobody but
I want why should I talk to you?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
You know, like you don't even know? Your question is
what do you want to say?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
So just like clearly asking the question and creating the
space for it to be answered starts to develop the
confidence between both people to really open up. Because when
you think about it, especially with black Southern families where
the culture can be you know, children are meant to
be seen and not heard of. A lot of us
(05:00):
grew up with that, and also makes you think, well,
when's the last time that my elder or this older
person in my family, when was the last time they
were truly heard?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
You did talk about like different family members having different
perspectives on the same situation same time. How do you
balance that when you're talking to family members? If you
do balance it, because I know that in your guide
you say it's not for social media or it's like
for your family, But is there are you like, this
(05:31):
is the record of what happened? Or do you just
let it be that everybody says something half in a
different way.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, everybody says their piece.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So one of the things I think is awesome about
oral history and the practice two things.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
One, it's not.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Necessarily about getting all the exact facts and when we're
correct in that moment. It's really about understanding the events
that happened over time from the perspective of the person
who shared it, and in their perspective, you understand more
(06:08):
about the context of their life, society and how that's
shaped them. And two, the awesome thing about oral history
is that you're recording these events for the future to
take into consideration as they're moving through life.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
How do you navigate emotionally charged topic?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
One?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I prepare myself what before even going in of like,
am I even able to retain how I think of it?
It's almost like if you were to ask someone how
are you doing, and then they really told you how
they felt, do you even have the capacity to listen
to that and hold that no matter what it may be.
That's really the orientation that I have just asking some
(06:48):
of the questions in general, and then knowing that I
may ask something a little personal.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
In relations to our black families.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Sometimes I ask a heads up or I just test
before like doing like a formal thing with them where
I'm like recording and all.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
They'll be like, oh, well, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Like that's really hard, or I affirm the hard feeling
or touchy subject, and if they want to share more,
I let them. If they don't, I really just.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Are there any centering practices that you have before asking
the questions to prepare or any that you've seen anybody
else do that you would recommend.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I make sure to take lots of walks and meditate.
I create a lot of stillness for myself before and
after to make sure that I'm fully present and I'm
aware of how these stories are impacting me as well.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Are there any other lessons or themes that you see
as you collect these oral histories.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I've really learned how to see people as people. I
think at times within families that can be really hard
to do because there's like particular roles that people play.
It's just really inspiring to just see them as these
as people, not just folks that I'm tethered to by
blood or like the systems that I'm meant, but it's like, oh,
I would actively choose to talk to you, like it's
(08:09):
it's been really interesting to see how the relationships have
changed by understanding their life more. And it's been really
great too to just understand their values. I think that's
that's really been a game changer.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah, it's amazing how long you can know someone but
not really know them because you never ask them much
and they vice versas, never asked you that much, so
you just know them as this like archaetype, like the
bodybuilding uncle.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Or you know the one who can cook real well, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Like you. But it's like, yeah, like everyone's living like
these whole complicated, messy, interesting lives and then all those
stories are right there if if only you take some
time to let them open up and you open up
to them. You mentioned recording, Like, what are some tools
(09:01):
that you use while collecting oral histories?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
You can use your phone if you want to record,
just like the recording button that you have, and I
would say it's even valuable too, it's just not record
at all, like just being able to be present and.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So once you record how do you save it? How
do you preserve it? What's that process? Looking like?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
It's always good to have, like it's saved in three
different places because you never know what will happen with technology.
I use like my external drive to like organize by
like date family member, and I've been thinking about like
finding ways to transcribe those and print those so it
can at least have it for the record, not just
like for myself, but to share with other relatives too,
(09:44):
and like future generations so that they can ask some
follow up questions to another family member who may have
that answer.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Okay, this there's a multi layered process going on.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Yeah, it's it's a lot of work, like honestly, like
it's a lot of steward and like fine combing and
typing and all that other stuff. So I don't recommend
you doing it by yourself, like and like really like
getting help because it's I don't think it's something that
someone should be doing alone because it is just so much.
(10:18):
But often I think everybody knows that person and their
family who's the one who has all the photos and
knows all the stories.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, but also everyone has such different relationships with each other,
and I saw in the guide you said start with
dessert first, like the people who you like and who
like you, So that's going to be different for everybody, right,
So having multiple people is like, okay, well, I know
you really get along with cousin Pam, and you know,
I want to go talk to Peaches, And.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I know you were going to say Peach.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Everybody got to Peaches. You gotta teaches in your family. Yes, too.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Do I know her real name? Absolutely not. I know
it's not Peaches, but like spreading that around so everybody
is involved, and like there's more skin in the game
for everybody in the family or for more people in
the family. Where can folks be in contact with you
or follow you on the inner webs.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
So you can find me for the most part of
my newsletter, my Dandelion Studios newsletter on flow desk. You
can find me there to share more stories practices than
my journey as I try to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Thank you so much for coming on with us, and
I love this conversation. I am getting ready for when
I see my family on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, a lot of people will get a lot of
value out of this and be able to have such
intimate and loving conversations with people and their family from
this in ways that I think feel so accessible that
they don't have to, like you said, feel intimidated by it.
So I think it's really nice that you've provided this
for everybody.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Oh, thank you so much for making space to talk
about because it's really exciting.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Thank you and thank you anytime. Thanks y'all.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
More on collecting family histories after the break. Okay, So
to summarize Ambar's astute points, be upfront. Let your family
members know what you want to do, that you want
(12:26):
to ask them some questions, and have those questions prepared.
That being said, let the conversation flow. The guide is
just that, a guide, it's not a roadmap. Other things
might come up and that's great. And remember to not
press too hard. If someone isn't comfortable answering certain questions,
that's okay. Let the conversation flow and move on to
a different topic. This guide is for the entire family,
(12:49):
Ambar says. Don't feel pressure to put it all on
yourself to collect these family stories. Get some folks who
are interested too to join you. You'll have fun and you'll
create a stronger bond. And now eas will put Mbar's
guide to use as she speaks with one of her
family members, Larry Miller.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I wanted to talk to you about some of your
family stories. Where were you born and when were you born?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And what's your name?
Speaker 5 (13:14):
My name is Larry Thomas Miller. I was born in Atlanta,
October to twenty eighth, nineteen forty nine, Grady Memorial Hospital.
I'm a Grady baby. My parents, I loved them so
and they was from Jonesboro, Georgia, And that's basically who
(13:36):
I am and where I came from.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So do you have any favorite memories from your childhood?
Speaker 6 (13:41):
Yeah, one was my father.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
I never will forget. I was in high school and
he allowed me to go to a basketball game. And
my high school was Samuel Howard Archer. We lived in
Perry Holmes, which was the Projects, and basically he told
me I could go, and so when I went out
the door, he came out of the door and he screamed.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
You better be home by ten thirty, and all of
my friends laughed.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
And that was my nickname all the way through high school,
ten thirty. In my year book, they called me ten thirty.
So that's one that I'll never forget. That my dad
giving me the nickname ten thirty.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Were you back by ten thirty?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
No, I figured And all this was in Atlanta, right.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
Yes, And it lasted in period home of a period boulevard.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So he was strict.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
He was very strict.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
So do you still feel like that, you still enjoyed
your time in your childhood?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:51):
I wouldn't.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
I wouldn't. It made me the man I am today.
I never would forget. One of the first jobs I
had was I to Plains Georgia and I met Jimmy
Carter when he was just a peanut farmer. He wasn't
he was just he was growing peanuts, him and his
brother's Billy, and he hadn't he wasn't even the air
and even been the governor yet. And he allowed us,
(15:15):
gave us a little plot of land where we put
up our first brick creek plant and we started making
brick creek and which was a hollow, low bearing block
but the size of a brick. And we built houses
out of that. And the first project was in Plains Georgia.
(15:36):
We built African Village in Plains Georgia, which is there today,
and we built it for the black people.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And I think my last question is how do you
feel about your life today? I know that's a big question.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
At my age of seventy four, I can really say
that I'm proud of myself, of who I am. I'm
really at peace. Came a full circle. But at seventy four,
I'm still full of energy and I'm just really waiting
to be spiritually led. Everything I ever did, I've been
(16:10):
spiritually led. And one thing I found out is that
when I spiritually led to do something, all resources are
there for me. But when I try to force things
and as they say, plan and before and push things
forward without first being heaving the vision, it fails. So
(16:35):
at this point I'm still a visionary, I'm still spiritually led,
and I just thank God for the life that I have. Now.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
That was a great interview, Eves. I never knew all
that about Larry.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I want to thank you. I learned quite a bit
from Mbar's guide, and I was really happy to talk
to Larry. I mean, he has a great story, so
it was a good time.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Larry makes your job easy exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Thanks Larry.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
And now it's time for role credits, the segment where
we give credit to a person in place or thing
throughout the week.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
And today we'll be doing our role credits with Ambar
from the beginning of the.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Episode, Eves, Who or what would you like to give
credit to this week?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I think that I would like to give credit to
people who are really open, So people who are open
to strangers and being personable and loving and operating and
loving kindness with people that they don't know, people who
are empathetic. I think that's what I want to give
credit to today.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Nice, I would like to give credit to workers. I've
been thinking more about my position, my class position, and
we've seen a lot of strikes and union organizing, labor
organizing this year, and I've I've been thinking more of
myself as working class. I feel like middle class is
(18:04):
like a fake term they've given us to make us
a little complaceance.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And middle has a wide range. Middle can mean a lot.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Of things, but it's like you're working class if you
have to work to live. Yes, and that's me. So
I would give credit to the workers of the world,
am Bar. Who or what would you like to give
credit to?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I think, naturally, who I would like to give credit
to are all the family historians, the unsung heroes of
our memories us and stewards of our culture. They do
a lot of research and spend a lot of time
figuring out the things that a lot of us want
to know and having those answers for us and passing them.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
So yeah, shout outs to all the family historians. I
love it.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And you can keep up with Ambar through her newsletter
Dandy Lyons Studios. And you can find a link to
Ambar's guide on collecting family stories in this episode's description
or in the show notes for this episode at on
Theme dot Show.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
And that's all for this week. See you next time.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
See you on the Flip Side. On Theme is a
production of iHeartRadio and Fairweather Friends Media. This episode was
written by Eves Jeffco and Katie Mitchell. It was edited
and produced by Tari Harrison. Follow us on Instagram at
on Themeshow. You can also send us an email at
hello at on Theme dot Show. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
(19:38):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
On theme is a production of iHeartRadio and fair Weather
Friends Media.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You are stars.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
When I think back to family gatherings past, I don't
really remember the food I ate or the gifts I received.
I don't remember what the weather was like, or who
(00:36):
was on CPE time showing up to the function. I
remember the laughter. I remember the story share Like when
I visited my grandma after my grandpa had passed, she
told me about the time he won the casino jackpot
on Friday the thirteenth. He didn't speak the entire way home.
(00:56):
He was gripping his gun and had his head on
a swivel. Or when my big cousin came by the
kid's table to let us know that everybody at the
club mistook her for Eve because she had platinum blonde
hair and Paw Prince tatted on her. And the thing is,
those stories aren't going in nobody's American history textbook, but
it's still a part.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Of my family history.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
These small anecdotes make up a tapestry of what life
was like for Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, Daddy, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins,
that one person you're not really sure how you relate
it to them, but they always around.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So they family.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
It all adds up and it's all important.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Sometimes the stories flow freely and other times they need
some prompting, like that quiet uncle who just smokes his
cigarettes and minds his business, but has a ton of tales.
So today we're talking with annebar Johnson, an oral historian
who created a guide specifically to help us keep the stories,
(01:57):
the laughter, and the learning going. And i'm eves join
us as we become armchair archivists.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My name is Ambar Johnson.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'm an urban planner and oral historian based in New
York City.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Ambar created a guide to help us collect family oral
histories just in time for gatherings.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
What goes into preparing to collect these stories.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Just being really curious and having the time and space
to really absorb and listen. In terms of oral history
as a practice, it really is a preparation of the mind, body,
and soul. You know, you have to really show people
that you're listening. So that doesn't mean like scroll on
(02:51):
on your phone while people are talking, like maintaining eye contact,
being open that the questions that you want to ask
or not the questions they want to answer, and being
ready to go on the journey that they want to
take you on, not the one that you thought that
you were about to be on. So it's a lot
of surrender that I think you have to have, and
(03:12):
surrender and some humility as well.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm glad that you brought up humility because I was
thinking that it seems like you need to have a
certain level of confidence too, so I could see how
that doesn't need to venture too far into arrogance. But
you have to be confident to be like, I'm the
one to ask these questions and to get these answers
from my family members. So what is your experience of
(03:37):
gaining confidence to be able to collect these stories?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
The confidence it really came from curiosity, to be quite frank, like,
I never thought of myself as like I'm the anointed
one to go and ask these questions. I really just
notice everyone's busy, and they're living their lives, and people
are living in different places, and I just got cheered
a lot of the times. I think some of the confidence,
(04:05):
especially if you're in a larger family, is being okay
with multiple truths, being that like you can grow up
in the same household and there's how many people are
in that household, there's that many perspectives. I noticed that people,
especially family members, they are as comfortable with answering the
questions as you are asking them.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So if you're like him and and HI like, uh,
you know, well I don't know, you know, but.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I mean if you want to it's like nobody but
I want why should I talk to you?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
You know, like you don't even know? Your question is
what do you want to say?
Speaker 4 (04:39):
So just like clearly asking the question and creating the
space for it to be answered starts to develop the
confidence between both people to really open up. Because when
you think about it, especially with black Southern families where
the culture can be you know, children are meant to
be seen and not heard of. A lot of us
(05:00):
grew up with that, and also makes you think, well,
when's the last time that my elder or this older
person in my family, when was the last time they
were truly heard?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
You did talk about like different family members having different
perspectives on the same situation same time. How do you
balance that when you're talking to family members? If you
do balance it, because I know that in your guide
you say it's not for social media or it's like
for your family, But is there are you like, this
(05:31):
is the record of what happened? Or do you just
let it be that everybody says something half in a
different way.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, everybody says their piece.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So one of the things I think is awesome about
oral history and the practice two things.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
One, it's not.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Necessarily about getting all the exact facts and when we're
correct in that moment. It's really about understanding the events
that happened over time from the perspective of the person
who shared it, and in their perspective, you understand more
(06:08):
about the context of their life, society and how that's
shaped them. And two, the awesome thing about oral history
is that you're recording these events for the future to
take into consideration as they're moving through life.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
How do you navigate emotionally charged topic?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
One?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I prepare myself what before even going in of like,
am I even able to retain how I think of it?
It's almost like if you were to ask someone how
are you doing, and then they really told you how
they felt, do you even have the capacity to listen
to that and hold that no matter what it may be.
That's really the orientation that I have just asking some
(06:48):
of the questions in general, and then knowing that I
may ask something a little personal.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
In relations to our black families.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Sometimes I ask a heads up or I just test
before like doing like a formal thing with them where
I'm like recording and all.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
They'll be like, oh, well, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Like that's really hard, or I affirm the hard feeling
or touchy subject, and if they want to share more,
I let them. If they don't, I really just.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Are there any centering practices that you have before asking
the questions to prepare or any that you've seen anybody
else do that you would recommend.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I make sure to take lots of walks and meditate.
I create a lot of stillness for myself before and
after to make sure that I'm fully present and I'm
aware of how these stories are impacting me as well.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Are there any other lessons or themes that you see
as you collect these oral histories.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
I've really learned how to see people as people. I
think at times within families that can be really hard
to do because there's like particular roles that people play.
It's just really inspiring to just see them as these
as people, not just folks that I'm tethered to by
blood or like the systems that I'm meant, but it's like, oh,
I would actively choose to talk to you, like it's
(08:09):
it's been really interesting to see how the relationships have
changed by understanding their life more. And it's been really
great too to just understand their values. I think that's
that's really been a game changer.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah, it's amazing how long you can know someone but
not really know them because you never ask them much
and they vice versas, never asked you that much, so
you just know them as this like archaetype, like the
bodybuilding uncle.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Or you know the one who can cook real well, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Like you. But it's like, yeah, like everyone's living like
these whole complicated, messy, interesting lives and then all those
stories are right there if if only you take some
time to let them open up and you open up
to them. You mentioned recording, Like, what are some tools
(09:01):
that you use while collecting oral histories?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
You can use your phone if you want to record,
just like the recording button that you have, and I
would say it's even valuable too, it's just not record
at all, like just being able to be present and.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So once you record how do you save it? How
do you preserve it? What's that process? Looking like?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
It's always good to have, like it's saved in three
different places because you never know what will happen with technology.
I use like my external drive to like organize by
like date family member, and I've been thinking about like
finding ways to transcribe those and print those so it
can at least have it for the record, not just
like for myself, but to share with other relatives too,
(09:44):
and like future generations so that they can ask some
follow up questions to another family member who may have
that answer.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Okay, this there's a multi layered process going on.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Yeah, it's it's a lot of work, like honestly, like
it's a lot of steward and like fine combing and
typing and all that other stuff. So I don't recommend
you doing it by yourself, like and like really like
getting help because it's I don't think it's something that
someone should be doing alone because it is just so much.
(10:18):
But often I think everybody knows that person and their
family who's the one who has all the photos and
knows all the stories.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, but also everyone has such different relationships with each other,
and I saw in the guide you said start with
dessert first, like the people who you like and who
like you, So that's going to be different for everybody, right,
So having multiple people is like, okay, well, I know
you really get along with cousin Pam, and you know,
I want to go talk to Peaches, And.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I know you were going to say Peach.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Everybody got to Peaches. You gotta teaches in your family. Yes, too.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Do I know her real name? Absolutely not. I know
it's not Peaches, but like spreading that around so everybody
is involved, and like there's more skin in the game
for everybody in the family or for more people in
the family. Where can folks be in contact with you
or follow you on the inner webs.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
So you can find me for the most part of
my newsletter, my Dandelion Studios newsletter on flow desk. You
can find me there to share more stories practices than
my journey as I try to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Thank you so much for coming on with us, and
I love this conversation. I am getting ready for when
I see my family on Christmas.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yes, a lot of people will get a lot of
value out of this and be able to have such
intimate and loving conversations with people and their family from
this in ways that I think feel so accessible that
they don't have to, like you said, feel intimidated by it.
So I think it's really nice that you've provided this
for everybody.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Oh, thank you so much for making space to talk
about because it's really exciting.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Thank you and thank you anytime. Thanks y'all.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
More on collecting family histories after the break. Okay, So
to summarize Ambar's astute points, be upfront. Let your family
members know what you want to do, that you want
(12:26):
to ask them some questions, and have those questions prepared.
That being said, let the conversation flow. The guide is
just that, a guide, it's not a roadmap. Other things
might come up and that's great. And remember to not
press too hard. If someone isn't comfortable answering certain questions,
that's okay. Let the conversation flow and move on to
a different topic. This guide is for the entire family,
(12:49):
Ambar says. Don't feel pressure to put it all on
yourself to collect these family stories. Get some folks who
are interested too to join you. You'll have fun and you'll
create a stronger bond. And now eas will put Mbar's
guide to use as she speaks with one of her
family members, Larry Miller.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I wanted to talk to you about some of your
family stories. Where were you born and when were you born?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And what's your name?
Speaker 5 (13:14):
My name is Larry Thomas Miller. I was born in Atlanta,
October to twenty eighth, nineteen forty nine, Grady Memorial Hospital.
I'm a Grady baby. My parents, I loved them so
and they was from Jonesboro, Georgia, And that's basically who
(13:36):
I am and where I came from.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
So do you have any favorite memories from your childhood?
Speaker 6 (13:41):
Yeah, one was my father.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
I never will forget. I was in high school and
he allowed me to go to a basketball game. And
my high school was Samuel Howard Archer. We lived in
Perry Holmes, which was the Projects, and basically he told
me I could go, and so when I went out
the door, he came out of the door and he screamed.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
You better be home by ten thirty, and all of
my friends laughed.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
And that was my nickname all the way through high school,
ten thirty. In my year book, they called me ten thirty.
So that's one that I'll never forget. That my dad
giving me the nickname ten thirty.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Were you back by ten thirty?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
No, I figured And all this was in Atlanta, right.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
Yes, And it lasted in period home of a period boulevard.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So he was strict.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
He was very strict.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
So do you still feel like that, you still enjoyed
your time in your childhood?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:51):
I wouldn't.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
I wouldn't. It made me the man I am today.
I never would forget. One of the first jobs I
had was I to Plains Georgia and I met Jimmy
Carter when he was just a peanut farmer. He wasn't
he was just he was growing peanuts, him and his
brother's Billy, and he hadn't he wasn't even the air
and even been the governor yet. And he allowed us,
(15:15):
gave us a little plot of land where we put
up our first brick creek plant and we started making
brick creek and which was a hollow, low bearing block
but the size of a brick. And we built houses
out of that. And the first project was in Plains Georgia.
(15:36):
We built African Village in Plains Georgia, which is there today,
and we built it for the black people.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And I think my last question is how do you
feel about your life today? I know that's a big question.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
At my age of seventy four, I can really say
that I'm proud of myself, of who I am. I'm
really at peace. Came a full circle. But at seventy four,
I'm still full of energy and I'm just really waiting
to be spiritually led. Everything I ever did, I've been
(16:10):
spiritually led. And one thing I found out is that
when I spiritually led to do something, all resources are
there for me. But when I try to force things
and as they say, plan and before and push things
forward without first being heaving the vision, it fails. So
(16:35):
at this point I'm still a visionary, I'm still spiritually led,
and I just thank God for the life that I have. Now.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
That was a great interview, Eves. I never knew all
that about Larry.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
I want to thank you. I learned quite a bit
from Mbar's guide, and I was really happy to talk
to Larry. I mean, he has a great story, so
it was a good time.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Larry makes your job easy exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Thanks Larry.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
And now it's time for role credits, the segment where
we give credit to a person in place or thing
throughout the week.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
And today we'll be doing our role credits with Ambar
from the beginning of the.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Episode, Eves, Who or what would you like to give
credit to this week?
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I think that I would like to give credit to
people who are really open, So people who are open
to strangers and being personable and loving and operating and
loving kindness with people that they don't know, people who
are empathetic. I think that's what I want to give
credit to today.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Nice, I would like to give credit to workers. I've
been thinking more about my position, my class position, and
we've seen a lot of strikes and union organizing, labor
organizing this year, and I've I've been thinking more of
myself as working class. I feel like middle class is
(18:04):
like a fake term they've given us to make us
a little complaceance.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And middle has a wide range. Middle can mean a lot.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Of things, but it's like you're working class if you
have to work to live. Yes, and that's me. So
I would give credit to the workers of the world,
am Bar. Who or what would you like to give
credit to?
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I think, naturally, who I would like to give credit
to are all the family historians, the unsung heroes of
our memories us and stewards of our culture. They do
a lot of research and spend a lot of time
figuring out the things that a lot of us want
to know and having those answers for us and passing them.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
So yeah, shout outs to all the family historians. I
love it.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And you can keep up with Ambar through her newsletter
Dandy Lyons Studios. And you can find a link to
Ambar's guide on collecting family stories in this episode's description
or in the show notes for this episode at on
Theme dot Show.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
And that's all for this week. See you next time.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
See you on the Flip Side. On Theme is a
production of iHeartRadio and Fairweather Friends Media. This episode was
written by Eves Jeffco and Katie Mitchell. It was edited
and produced by Tari Harrison. Follow us on Instagram at
on Themeshow. You can also send us an email at
hello at on Theme dot Show. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
(19:38):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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