A story of Randy Stakeman and an interview with Sean Alonzo Harris

The Maine’s Black Future podcast boldly visits stories of historic Black Mainers and the legacies they carved into the state. Then we connect this longstanding history to Black changemakers weaving Maine’s Black future today!

We define terminology, keep it real, and invite you to connect deeply with Black Mainers creating the future that we want to live in. We showcase Black excellence occurring all over Maine and feature original music production from the GEM CITY Maine collective.

Episode 7 starts with Genius Black telling the story of Randolph Stakeman, who came to Bowdoin College in 1978 to teach African history.

Randy grew up in New York and attended Phillips Exeter and Wesleyan University before beginning his career as a professor in Maine.

Randy helped shape Bowdoin College’s Africana Studies program, spending 17 years as the director. He is also one of the foremost scholars of Maine’s Black history.

In this episode, Genius and photographer Sean Alonzo Harris connect about growing up in Cambridge, Mass., his introduction to photography, and how it was inspired by his family.

Sean reveals how magical it feels when he is on set with his cameras and crew, as well as how music inspires his photography.

The pair reflect on Maine’s foodie culture, and Sean’s early days as a Mainer. Sean highlights a few of his most impactful accolades as a photographer, including earning a James Van Der Zee award and appearing in LensCulture magazine.

He is currently pushing people to spend more time with photography and art, hoping for a return to deeper, honest engagement. Genius and Sean end up reflecting on Sean’s thoughts for Maine’s Black future.

You can listen below to the episode or you can find it on some of your favorite podcast hosting platforms including Spotify , Apple Podcasts , iHeart Radio , Amazon Music , TuneIn + Alexa , Podcast Addict , Podchaser , Deezer , Player FM , Listen Notes , Podcast Index , Goodpods and Pocket Casts .

Past Episodes

Episode 1: The history of London Atus and an interview with Alfine Nathalie .

Episode 2: The history of Pedro Tovookan Parris and an interview with Junes Thete

Episode 3: The history of John Brown Russwurm and an interview with Adilah Muhammad

Episode 4: A story of Sherman Kentucky Ferguson and an interview with David Patrick

Episode 5: A story of Gerald E. Talbot and an interview with Angela Okafor

Episode 6: A story of John D. Carter and an interview with Lisa Jones

Podcast Series Notes

Maine’s Black Future Podcast is supported by Maine Initiative’s Grants for Change program and receives editing and multimedia support from The Maine Monitor, which also serves as the fiscal sponsor for Maine’s Black Future.

This relationship also means you can now give your tax deductible gift or donation to the Maine’s Black Future Podcast, via The Maine Monitor .

Genius Black, or Jerry Edwards, was awarded the 2024 Media Arts Fellow for the Maine Arts Commission. This podcast is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Theme music produced by Genius Black, composed by Genius along with Bill Giordano on bass and Ben Noyes on acoustic piano.

Podcast recorded and produced by Genius Black at So Po Co.Works for The Maine Monitor.

Episode References & Links

Interview with Randy Stakeman by Marcus Williams

Randy Stakeman’s blog: Digital Black Professor

Sean Alonzo Harris’s website

Connect with Genius and Sean on Instagram