Many of those materials are published here, alongside eight episodes of the Children’s Radio Workshop, available for accessible public listening for the first time. Together, they offer an intimate glimpse into what could reasonably be considered the heart and soul of WAFR. They are a thing of beauty. There is no condescension, no hiding from difficult topics. The narrators, guests, and child performers treat every moment on air as teachable; an opportunity to present Black culture and cultivate a love of Blackness without worrying about catering to or sanitizing materials for a white audience. The episodes cover an impressive range of topics: poetry, Black historical figures, self-love, motherhood, children’s folklore, Black power, pan-Africanism, Langston Hughes, and jazz. Every child included in an episode is credited alongside the words and music of established artists and performers featured underscoring the egalitarian nature of the station and program.
Episodes begin with Houston Person’s song “Young, Gifted, and Black” followed by a brief introduction. One of the first episodes preserved in the archives, originally aired in 1973, dedicated a half-hour to the writings, words, and musings of writer Toni Cade Bambara, who had traveled to Durham to support WAFR’s ’73 marathon by giving readings at North Carolina Central University. Announcer Mary McDonald “proudly salutes” Bambara and encourages listeners to “stay with us, for an evening of tales and stories for Black folks, edited by our most beautiful and gracious sister, Toni Cade Bambara.”