This is a story about storytellers.  Janis Ware has published the Atlanta Voice for 42 years.  It's a newspaper written for the African-American audience in Atlanta, GA.  

But there's more to her life's work.  It starts with her father, J. Lowell Ware an immensely talented and hardworking man who honored a deathbed request that changed his life.  Lowell was far-sighted, creative and had an extremely strong personality.  When he paid his only daughter's college tuition at the University of Georgia - she had planned to work with him only long enough to pay off her debt to him. It didn't work that way.

Instead, her father directed her to get a real estate and real estate broker's license and she discovered her passion for financial literacy.  She also developed a talent for flipping properties at a time when white Atlanta residents were moving to the suburbs.  She asked for and received 75 separate houses as donations to a community organization she and her father created.  They rehabbed the homes and sold them to families who wanted to live within the city limits.

Janis also talks about the incredible shifts that have taken place within the print industry and how those shifts have affected the reading habits of her audience.  Her ability to adapt is both admirable and amazing, but the good news about this story is that there is a third generation in the family that has already started to take the reigns of publishing the paper.  The younger generation is also adding ideas and potential streams of income to an Atlanta publication that has served its audience for 57 years - and counting. 

This podcast is about two legal warriors who have spent the last 30 years protecting the concepts of equity in the courts, through analysis and by helping municipalities create policies that withstand assault.  

Rodney Strong and Delmarie Griffin are also a married couple who have come together from very different backgrounds. 

Delmarie was raised in Columbus, GA and attended an HBCU as an undergraduate and the University of Georgia for her law and business degrees. 
Rodney Strong was raised in Memphis, TN by parents who were active in the NAACP.  One of his strongest memories is being a 5-year-old child who couldn't go to McDonald's because it was segregated. 

Both came of age as Jim Crow racial separation ended and the struggle to merge ideals in the newly integrated workplaces began.  Rodney Strong was mentored by people who were looked at as giants in his home state and Atlanta, GA.  He gained a reputation for combatting, and winning against, court rulings that threatened the concepts of DEI  (diversity, equity and inclusion).  His life's work started when former Mayor Andrew Young hired him to be the compliance officer for the City of Atlanta.  It continues through his firm, Griffin & Strong PC.  
Delmarie worked as a corporate attorney for Hughes Aircraft for ten years.  She handled compliance and HR in government contracting with high clearance levels. 

The unexpected factor in this couple's story  is their  London School of Economics trained, Ph.D.-holding daughter.  She received a top-rated education and brought her skills back to the family firm as its director of operations.  

When this interview took place, one of the most unsettling court cases on affirmative action in higher education  in recent history had not taken place.  But Rodney and Delmarie  knew it was on the horizon and were already prepared to tackle its ramifications.  They also showcase that the skills and experience they bring to clients are often stronger than those offered by majority-owned firms that dabble in Griffin & Strong's chosen legal fields of compliance and equity.   

This podcast is both a profile and a story about family.  You will learn more than just what Delmarie Griffin, Dr. Imani Tucker and Rodney Strong do; you'll learn a great deal about who they are.  

This  podcast is a 30 minute history lesson.  

When you listen, you'll hear stories about Black entrepreneurs who lived in  1800s, 1900s and 20th century that will make your jaw drop.  That's because William F. Pickard, Ph.D.  qualifies to be a part of this series for two reasons.  He's a very successful Black business owner  with more than 50 years of experience that includes owning a McDonald's franchise, a casino co-owner and being a parts supplier to major car manufacturers in Detroit, MI.  He's also a researcher and his field of choice is Black business history.  

He's a great story teller and  shares facts most people have never heard. 

He spends a little more than 30 minutes describing what Black people did about banking - in the days before white owned financial institutions would accept their business.  He tells a fascinating tale about the family of Horace L. King, a Black builder who started constructing bridges while enslaved.  He also explains why there were devastating financial penalties attached to several Black industries after integration swept the nation. 

Along the way he drops hints to the fact that he's a billionaire.  But he's one who is committed to Black business development and has backed that belief with his dollars.  

However,  it's probably the final story of the podcast that may stick with you the longest.  Dr. Pickard talks about how the  Negro Education Association in Georgia,   made all Black schools teach civics and political science classes - in 1920.  He doesn't say it.  But listeners will understand that a 20-year-old person taking one of those courses that year, wouldn't be able to apply what was learned - until 1964.  If that doesn't make sense to you - listen to the podcast.  It will.   You'll also see why it's a privilege and is of incredible value to have a gifted successful and articulate person,  show such passion for Black business history.