Collected Item: “A'Lelia Bundles Oral History, 2023/01/06”
Title
A'Lelia Bundles
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
A'Lelia Bundles
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#AfricanAmerican, #apps, #author, #Christmas, #COVID+, #DC, #GeorgeFloyd, #friendship, #historian, #masking, #Paxlovid, #reading, #telehealth, #Tuskegee, #TV, #vaccination, #Washington, #women
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Washington, D.C.
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
she/her
What is the age of the interviewee?
65 to 74
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
Black
Describe the oral history.
Some of the things we discussed include:
Working as an author in journalism, media, and history.
Having a television series based on a book, (Self Made 2001) come out in 2020, publicity pre- and mid- lockdown.
Giving a talk in early 2020 pre-lock down and navigating contact with audience members; touch, keeping distance, and personal safety at that period of uncertainty.
Handshakes.
Comparisons between riding the train the day after 9/11 and in March 2020.
Having the husband of friend die early in the pandemic; uncertainty about cause of death.
Making friends when older.
Being a part of a monthly book club of seasoned, accomplished, African American women and having that club transition online; beginning a new hybrid model.
Easing back into public events, masking.
Testing etiquette and regulations before events.
Felicia Horowitz hosting scientists on Clubhouse.
The politicization of the pandemic and safety precautions.
The manipulation of people under emotional distress.
Racial tension bubbling to the surface after the murder of George Floyd.
Increased public discourse about the 1921 Tulsa massacre.
Conservative backlash.
Banning books in American schools that teach about race and LGBTQ+ issues.
Father and both brothers died in 2019, recognizing the privilege of being able to travel to see them before they died and attend funerals.
The difficulties of consistent safety practices in 2023.
Being diagnosed with COVID on birthday; Paxlovid and rebound/breakthrough COVID-19.
The Tuskegee experiment as an example of people being denied medicine, and yet some using it to advocate people not take medicine.
Having easy access to vaccination, seeing others have slower and less convenient access.
Pandemic Christmas celebrations.
Parents modeling caring about the wellbeing of others when growing up.
Biases in the writing of history; representations of enslaved people as “contented” and “better off” than free Black people because they were “clothed and fed” in history textbooks growing up in Indianapolis; having older family members teach Black history and compensate for the classroom’s lies.
Coming from a family history whereby free people of color migrated across America and seeing how one’s own family is a part of American history.
Other cultural references: Netflix series Self Made (2020), Octavia Spencer, Amtrak, Jim Crow, Madame C. J. Walker, The Chronicles of Higher Education, Freedom Schools, JHU’s COVID tracking map
See also:
https://aleliabundles.com/
https://archivesfoundation.org/alelia-bundles/
https://www.womensmonument.org/alelia-bundles
https://smpa.gwu.edu/alelia-bundles
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/3/30/harvard-author-spotlight-alelia-bundles-profile/
https://www.britannica.com/contributor/ALelia-Bundles/9861592
https://sjcpl.org/news/an-evening-with-alelia-bundles/
https://www.amacad.org/person/alelia-bundles
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/alelia-bundles-39
https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=A%26rsquo%3BLelia+Bundles
https://neighbors.columbia.edu/news/meet-alelia-bundles-journalist-historian-and-community-champion
https://www.daughterdialogues.com/product-page/bundles-a-lelia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDBAYy82GSw
Working as an author in journalism, media, and history.
Having a television series based on a book, (Self Made 2001) come out in 2020, publicity pre- and mid- lockdown.
Giving a talk in early 2020 pre-lock down and navigating contact with audience members; touch, keeping distance, and personal safety at that period of uncertainty.
Handshakes.
Comparisons between riding the train the day after 9/11 and in March 2020.
Having the husband of friend die early in the pandemic; uncertainty about cause of death.
Making friends when older.
Being a part of a monthly book club of seasoned, accomplished, African American women and having that club transition online; beginning a new hybrid model.
Easing back into public events, masking.
Testing etiquette and regulations before events.
Felicia Horowitz hosting scientists on Clubhouse.
The politicization of the pandemic and safety precautions.
The manipulation of people under emotional distress.
Racial tension bubbling to the surface after the murder of George Floyd.
Increased public discourse about the 1921 Tulsa massacre.
Conservative backlash.
Banning books in American schools that teach about race and LGBTQ+ issues.
Father and both brothers died in 2019, recognizing the privilege of being able to travel to see them before they died and attend funerals.
The difficulties of consistent safety practices in 2023.
Being diagnosed with COVID on birthday; Paxlovid and rebound/breakthrough COVID-19.
The Tuskegee experiment as an example of people being denied medicine, and yet some using it to advocate people not take medicine.
Having easy access to vaccination, seeing others have slower and less convenient access.
Pandemic Christmas celebrations.
Parents modeling caring about the wellbeing of others when growing up.
Biases in the writing of history; representations of enslaved people as “contented” and “better off” than free Black people because they were “clothed and fed” in history textbooks growing up in Indianapolis; having older family members teach Black history and compensate for the classroom’s lies.
Coming from a family history whereby free people of color migrated across America and seeing how one’s own family is a part of American history.
Other cultural references: Netflix series Self Made (2020), Octavia Spencer, Amtrak, Jim Crow, Madame C. J. Walker, The Chronicles of Higher Education, Freedom Schools, JHU’s COVID tracking map
See also:
https://aleliabundles.com/
https://archivesfoundation.org/alelia-bundles/
https://www.womensmonument.org/alelia-bundles
https://smpa.gwu.edu/alelia-bundles
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/3/30/harvard-author-spotlight-alelia-bundles-profile/
https://www.britannica.com/contributor/ALelia-Bundles/9861592
https://sjcpl.org/news/an-evening-with-alelia-bundles/
https://www.amacad.org/person/alelia-bundles
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/alelia-bundles-39
https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=A%26rsquo%3BLelia+Bundles
https://neighbors.columbia.edu/news/meet-alelia-bundles-journalist-historian-and-community-champion
https://www.daughterdialogues.com/product-page/bundles-a-lelia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDBAYy82GSw
On what date did you record this oral history?
2023-01-06T17:08