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The USPS has changed the way mail is postmarked. Learn how to make your gift count in 2025.

The Lumbee Tribe's long journey to full federal recognition. Plus, Black Santas further expanding representation with 'Santas Just Like Me.'

Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe and Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren in studio, discussing their work with 'Santas Just Like Me'
Erin Keever/WUNC
Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe and Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren in studio, discussing their work with 'Santas Just Like Me'
Stafford Braxton, CEO of Santas Just Like Me, outside the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, preparing for a Black Santa event.
Leoneda Inge/WUNC
Stafford Braxton, CEO of Santas Just Like Me, outside the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, preparing for a Black Santa event.

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'Santas Just Like Me'

Stafford Braxton was working as a photographer with a mall Santa when he noticed a trend: Black families would approach him and ask if there was a Santa their kids could visit who looked more like them. Braxton realized there was a need to fill and "Santas Just Like Me" was born.

Braxton talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about getting that business off the ground, the joys and challenges of the work and the persistence it often takes to recruit his Santas.

Later in the hour, Warren Keyes and Joe Griffin, also known as Santa Warren and Santa Joe, meet Leoneda in the studio to talk about how they got into their work with "Santas Just Like Me" and what it means to them to be part of this expanding group of Santas from Charlotte to Greensboro to Durham to Raleigh. (This interview originally aired on Dec 6, 2023.)

Stafford Braxton, founder of "Santas Just Like Me"

Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe

Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren

Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren and Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe, in studio, discussing their work with 'Santas Just Like Me'
Erin Keever
Warren Keyes, aka Santa Warren and Joe Griffin, aka Santa Joe, in studio, discussing their work with 'Santas Just Like Me'

0:33:00

The Lumbee Tribe's long journey to full federal recognition

After more than 130 years, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has gained full federal recognition. Due South co-host Jeff Tiberii talks with Sarah Nagem of the Border Belt Independent about that journey. We also hear from three past Due South guests who share their reactions to the news and their hopes for the future of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Sarah Nagem, editor, Border Belt Independent

Brittany Hunt, Assistant Professor, School of Education at Virginia Tech

Ronny Bell, Fred Eshelman Professor and Chair of the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ryan Emanuel, Associate Professor, Duke University, and author of On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice

Listen to Due South's previous conversations with Brittany Hunt, Ryan Emanuel, and Ronny Bell and his brother Joseph Bell, MD. Dr. Joseph Bell, the first Native American pediatrician in North Carolina, passed away in June.

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.
Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.
Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.