August 6, 2024: Frozen diasporic language

Sweet treats for the people!

Which is exactly what we all can get at Flayvors of Cook Farm. 5 generations and 115 years in the cows are still coming home to their location in Hadley and we chat with generations 3 & 4, Debbie and Gordy Cook, about bringing ice cream into the equation, the virtues of their multiple prize winning herd, and how the times have changed lifting their cream to the top. 

It's in congregation as well. This weekend Springfield hosts the African Community Festival. The event celebrates the people, food, music, and culture of the African Continent and Afro-Caribbean diaspora, but is bringing much more than just that to Marshall Roy Park on August 10th. We chat with organizers Naefia Padi, Emmanuel Owusu, and Georgina Mensah of Unity Hearts Foundation, which is the organization that is helming the festivities, as well as Country Coordinators for Jamaica  Doreen Dawes, Latoy McDowell, and Ali McDowell, and general coordinator Jammie Glen, and get to hear from their many voices the many ways in which this event enriches the community. 

And there's something sweet about the things you love being re-envisioned. Double Edge Theatre Ensemble member Tomantha Sylvester found herself cast as C-3PO for a brand new Ojibwe dub of "Star Wars: A New Hope." So of course we had to speak with her about the experience, how immersion in the language changed her view of the world, and why tools like these can be important to the preservation of our most endangered languages.