“Rooted” author Brea Baker explores legacies of land theft

By Leoneda Inge,

Published June 19, 2024 at 10:35 AM EDT

After Reconstruction, free Black citizens in the South acquired land at a rapid pace, despite a litany of obstacles. Then new polices were enacted that made their newly acquired land difficult to hold onto.

In her new book, Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership, Brea Baker explores her own family’s experience with land acquisition and land theft, as well as the history of systemic land loss in the South.

Guest

Brea Baker, author of Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership

Due South

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

See stories by Leoneda Inge

Stacia Brown

Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A, as well as WUNC’s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for WUNC's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway.

See stories by Stacia Brown