For years, the Forest Theater stood empty.

A historic landmark. A cultural icon. A reminder of what once was.

Many people accepted that story.

Elizabeth Wattley did not.

In this Season II premiere of Making Black History Today, the President and CEO of Forest Forward joins us to discuss the effort to bring one of South Dallas' most important landmarks back to life and why the work is about much more than a building.

It's about history.

It's about community.

It's about who gets remembered and who gets left behind.

From the future of the Forest Theater to the future of South Dallas, Elizabeth shares the vision, challenges, and leadership lessons behind one of the city's most significant revitalization efforts.

If you've ever wondered what it takes to preserve history while creating opportunity for the next generation, this conversation is for you.

Topics include community development, historic preservation, leadership, economic opportunity, South Dallas, the Forest Theater, and the power of investing in people.

Follow Making Black History Today for conversations with everyday people making an extraordinary impact.

Naomi Green shares a firsthand experience of discrimination inside a doctor’s office and what it revealed about how bias can show up in everyday healthcare interactions.

What happens when the place designed to care for you becomes the place where you feel dismissed?

In this conversation on Making Black History Today, Naomi opens up about her experience and the broader questions it raises about visibility, treatment, and how different communities are heard and believed in medical spaces and beyond.

We explore:

• A real experience of discrimination in a healthcare setting
• How bias can shape everyday interactions in medical environments
• The impact of being unheard in systems designed for care
• Why these conversations matter for equity, trust, and access

This episode is part of an ongoing series highlighting lived experiences that often go unspoken but deeply shape how people move through the world.

New episodes bi-weekly.

Follow Making Black History Today for conversations with changemakers, leaders, and voices shaping culture, history, and impact.

In this special "BONUS" episode of Making Black History Today, we sit down with Maryum “May May” Ali, author, advocate, playwright, and the eldest daughter of Muhammad Ali.

Maryum shares what it was really like growing up with one of the most iconic athletes in history, the lessons her father taught her about service and humanity, and why her new one-woman play, FLOAT, premiering in Dallas May 27–June 7, is deeply personal.

This conversation explores legacy, Black history, storytelling, purpose, and creating positive impact beyond a famous last name. If you love powerful interviews, cultural conversations, and inspiring stories, this episode is for you.

Follow Making Black History Today on Spotify, save this episode, and share it with someone who believes legacy is built through purpose, impact, and storytelling.

In this episode of Making Black History Today, Dallas ISD Trustee Ed Turner and educator Nakia Douglas discuss what that means for students, schools, mentorship, discipline, leadership, and the future of public education.

Why are so few Black men entering education?

What happens when students never see themselves reflected in positions of authority and mentorship?

And are we paying enough attention to the growing challenges facing students today?

This conversation explores:
• Economics impact on education
• Representation in schools
• The realities facing today’s students
• Public education in Dallas
• Mentorship, accountability, and leadership

Hosted by Liz & Porter, Making Black History Today highlights the voices shaping culture, community, and legacy in real time.

Follow, rate, and share the podcast to help amplify these conversations.

#BlackMenInEducation #EducationCrisis #PublicEducation #DallasISD #MakingBlackHistoryToday#BlackLeadership

The Met Gala just declared "Fashion is Art," but in Dallas, three entrepreneurs have been living that truth long before the red carpet rolled out.

This week on Making Black History Today, hosts Liz & Porter sit down with Cubby the Creator, a custom fashion designer and owner of Untamed Heart and Watch for Smiling Faces and Jasmine & Devon Carter of Balacia, whose custom fine jewelry has graced the Golden Globe Awards and the NAACP Awards.

These aren't just entrepreneurs. They are artists whose work has already made it to some of the biggest stages in the world and they're just getting started.

This conversation goes beyond business. It's about identity, culture, creativity, and what it actually takes to build a legacy while you're still writing the story.

In this episode:

• How Cubby the Creator built a custom fashion brand rooted in culture and storytelling

• The story behind Untamed Heart and Watch for Smiling Faces

• How Balacia's custom fine jewelry made it to the Golden Globes and NAACP Awards red carpets

• What it takes to build a luxury brand from Dallas to the world stage

• Navigating business, creative partnership, and personal relationships

• What legacy looks like when you're still in the middle of building it

Whether you're a fashion lover, a jewelry enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a creative, or someone who believes the most powerful things being built today aren't on a runway, this episode is for you.

🔔 If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think differently, follow Making Black History Today on Spotify so you never miss a moment of history being made.

Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Leave a rating and review, it helps more people find stories like this one.

Making Black History Today documents history as it happens.

New episodes every other week.

Hosted by Liz & Porter | Recorded in Dallas, Texas

What does it actually look like when someone uses power to serve their community instead of leaving it behind?

Dr. Tiffany M. Clark grew up in DeSoto, Texas and instead of moving on, she moved up and came back. Now serving as the Texas State Board of Education Representative for District 13, Dr. Clark is in the rooms where decisions get made about the future of Texas students, and she's making sure those students are seen.

In this conversation, we talk about what real education leadership looks like from the inside, the policy battles, the responsibility that comes with the seat, and the mindset it takes to create change that actually lasts beyond your tenure.

We get into:

*What the State Board of Education actually does and why it matters to everyday families

*The decisions being made right now that will shape Texas classrooms for years to come

*What it meant to come back to DeSoto and lead from home

* How Dr. Clark thinks about legacy, responsibility, and generational impact

* What it takes for more Black women to step into policy and education leadership

This is the kind of conversation that reminds you that history isn't just made in the past, it's being made right now, by people who chose to show up.

Making Black History Today is the podcast that spotlights Black leaders who are actively shaping history through their work, their influence, and their commitment to community.

New episodes drop bi-weekly.

Season 2 launches June 18th, follow now so you don't miss it.

Most people struggle to do one job well. Bessye Adams is a City Councilwoman for Grand Prairie, the Financial Controller for DeSoto ISD, an entrepreneur, and a community advocate , all at the same time.

In this conversation, she breaks down what it actually takes to manage public money in education, why she ran for city council, and what community leadership looks like when it goes beyond the title. She also speaks to her involvement with the National League of Cities and what local leaders can teach the rest of the country.

This is what service looks like when it's built on purpose, not politics.

New episodes every other Thursday, follow so you never miss one.

Emmy winner. Presidential Leadership Scholar. Dallas 500 Most Powerful.

Jerry L. Hawkins has spent his career making sure Black history doesn't disappear. As the leader of Dallas Truth Racial Healing & Transformation for nearly seven years, producer of the PBS/KERA documentary Recovering The Stories, and now writing A People's History of Dallas, dropping in 2027, he's not just preserving the past. He's building the archive the future will learn from.

This conversation goes deep into what racial healing actually requires, why most cities get it wrong, and what it takes to make Black history permanent in a city that's always changing.

New episodes every other Thursday, follow so you never miss one.