Racism Is a Disease

“Until you change inside, all the laws you can pass ain’t gonna do a bit of good.” Produced by Emmanuel Higgins for Flight Paths. Thanks to Mr. Allison for sharing this story.   Transcript for Racism Is a Disease I grew up right here in Gary. I was born here in 1938. Gary used to […]

Demonized Community

“… people bought into this notion that no one wants to live in Gary…”   Editing by Welcome Project intern Brandi Casada. Transcript for Demonized Community The first neighborhood that I remember growing up in was on the East Side of Gary on Massachusetts Street. And my parents brought me home from the hospital there, […]

Black Mecca

“That period of time—growing up in Gary, Indiana, I would not want to be anywhere else in the world.” Editing by Welcome Project intern Brandi Casada. Transcript for Black Mecca 1967 is when Mayor Hatcher won. And I was at Bailey then. That was an exciting time for me because on the weekends, we would […]

We Just Want to Run

“…it is actually possible for something so wrong to go on with everybody just assuming it’s normal.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for We Just Want to Run Race was never discussed around me. Nobody on the block would ever talk about […]

Really Nice Subdivision

“I think that a lot of the affluent white people here, if you really got inside their heads, they’d just prefer it to be lily-white.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Really Nice Subdivision In my neighborhood, in Glen Park, nobody had […]

Drumbeat

“Their own coverage began to contribute to what was going on in Gary.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Willow Walsh for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Drumbeat The newspaper did a whole project looking at race. The executive editor at the time, Ilene Brown, decided to take one year […]

Dodged A Bullet

“I don’t know why I was anxious. I guess everything just looked so distressed.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Dodged A Bullet I took music lessons from a guy that lived in downtown Gary, so I had to get on the […]

Iron Curtain

“You know, growing up, race was never discussed… There were no signs: ‘Whites only,’ ‘Blacks only.’” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. To find more stories from Flight Paths, click here. It was produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Iron Curtain In my neighborhood, in Glen Park, nobody […]

A Long Way to Go

“It was hysteria…and fear.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative.   Hold a Conversation In addition to the questions below, please see How to use the questions for reflection. Clarification Questions How has the speaker experienced issues of race across her life? What are some of the key moments or chapters in […]