The 'Truth Be Told' podcast provides Virginians access to the first hand experiences of how de facto and de jure racism and classism influence African American neighborhoods and livelihoods. The audio tour also provides ways to interact with the bright side of the now and future.
Each season focuses on different cities within the region — so far Sobol, Glass and their team at Heard Productions have explored Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. Season 5 of the podcast is now in production.
We caught up with Sobol recently to learn more.
How did you and Jackie get connected?
I first met Jackie at an event at the Slover Library called "Yoga So White" which she was hosting as part of her podcast, Your Neighbor's Hood. We hit it off immediately, and eventually, I became her co-host. Right after we partnered, I got to see Jackie host an Indie Lens screening talkback at WHRO--and it was an event I'll never forget, both because of the growth opportunity provided by the film and talkback and because it was my first exposure to the [Emerging Leaders Board at WHRO].
How did the podcast come about?
We started recording Your Neighbor's Hood in March 2020, from our respective closets. It was a heightened time for important conversations about race, and monuments were on the collective mind. We started to think about what could take the place of monuments that were being removed. When Jackie drew my attention to street names, I started to notice things that I hadn't paid attention to before--the scope of how the names all around us still honored a skewed section of history and people.
Both of us call Hampton Roads our chosen home, and so we were very curious about zooming in on the history of this area; like what stories my neighbors knew that I might never get to hear because our paths don't naturally intersect. Out of those conversations came the idea to create a modern history podcast that explored stories from Black residents that hadn't been widely heard before.
From there, we found alignment with the Virginia African American Cultural Center who landed a grant from the Virginia Tourism Commission to bring the project to fruition.
What your goals for the podcast?
Our goals are:
To mark spaces that are unmarked.
To share stories that walk history forward.
To build a common language cross-racially.
To strengthen our understanding of community.
We got to work with Jackie Malbon, a historian in Virginia Beach who said "This is just ordinary people doing extraordinary things in life and nobody knows the contributions that they're making because we tend not to focus on people right around us. We don't know the greatness that's right in our midst."
What’s been the effects or results so far that you’ve seen from the episodes that have been shared?
In each city, we have a launch event to celebrate the stories. At the events, we invite a community partner who works on a theme in each story. For example in Virginia Beach, we had a woman share her experience of shadowing her Grandmother as she worked as a midwife during the days when Black women weren't welcomed into the hospital for delivery. We invited Kenda Sutton-El from Birth in Color, VA as her community partner who could give modern-day context to what triumphs and challenges still exist for Black maternal health today. On stage both women discovered that their Grandmothers were both midwives, and neither of them ever lost a baby. It was a particularly poignant moment for everyone in the room to witness while also holding on to the fact that Black maternal health is currently a health crisis.
There have been moments like that in each city.
We have also seen children hear their parent's interviews and hear a story, maybe for the first time. In Norfolk, the first Black male nurse at DePaul Hospital shared his experience working at Norfolk Community Hospital--and his family got to hear that story fully for the first time, and were so happy to hear all of the experiences he shared.
As far as audience reactions, we can see from the reviews that people are gaining a better understanding of their communities after listening. One healthcare provider who is new to the area said "This will help me care more thoughtfully for my patient population, many of whom grew up here."
What are a few of your favorite episodes and why?
All of the stories fit together to make an experience, so it is impossible to name a favorite. However, "(Take Me to) The Bridge on 16th St.", an episode in our Newport News season strikes very close to what was at the heart of what we set out to do. The episode underscores the significance of an 85ft. bridge that connects two very different communities. The city council was prepared to tear down the bridge rather than pay a million dollars to fix it, but because of cross-cultural conversations that the storyteller, Dr. McKinley Price had been facilitating-they opted to keep this important connection point. It's a place that I might have passed by, and never known the lesson that was hiding in the story.
To me, it feels like a coloring book of the city, and a little part gets colored in each time I listen instead of making assumptions.
Could you share a little about being a member of the WHRO Emerging Leaders Board and what that means to you?
Joining the Emerging Leader's board has connected me with people who are lifelong learners and changemakers that I might not have crossed paths with otherwise. It has thrown me into the path of great books, and inspiring films, and given me local resources through which I can better grasp our community. One of the Indie Lens films this year (The Tuba Thief) was an exploration of Deafness. I had the opportunity to help produce that event, which meant finding interpreters and learning more about how to make the event truly accessible and welcoming for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. I love new experiences that help me better show up in the world, and being on this board has provided that for me.
How can people get more involved in the issues addressed by the podcast once they have heard the stories?
In the show notes listeners can find a link to the community partner that joined us at the launch. Starting with that connection point, listeners can dig deeper into issues that resonate with them. They can also share the episodes with their circle so that these stories can be heard by more people. Subscribing, and leaving a review also help to magnify our reach.
Anything else you want to share?
We have just completed our fourth season, and are excited to be back in Norfolk placing stories along the Elizabeth River Trail through a National Parks Service Grant under the Chesapeake Gateways grant program. Those episodes will be available both on the trail via signage with a QR code, but also anywhere you get your podcasts by searching "Truth Be Told: Virgina", and looking for Season 5. We have also received a grant from Virginia Humanities that will enable us to share these stories with schools by transforming the trail into an outdoor classroom.
For more information about our work, check out our website: heardofem.com, and follow us on Instagram @heardofem.
Click here to listen to this podcast, or search "Truth be Told: Virginia" wherever you listen to your podcasts.