Black Oxygen, from the Archives: Esther Monroe, A Life Well Lived
Release Date: 09/15/2025
Reverend Dr. Alex Gee on Being a Black Leader in Madison
Black Oxygen
This season of Black Oxygen is about care and collective care — and this conversation is a candid look at what it actually costs, and takes, to lead as a Black person in a city like Madison. Angela sits down with Reverend Dr. Alex Gee, who has raised roughly $70 million over 30 years, built multiple organizations, and is still, in his words, only ever invited onto the "Community Relations" committee — never Finance, never HR, never the chair. Alex traces his leadership back to his mother, Verlene Gee, a single mom and pioneering social worker who taught him to advocate boldly, hold...
info_outline
Carmella Glenn: The thin line between love and hate
Black Oxygen
Content note: police violence, domestic violence, incarceration, and substance use. In the days after Corey Ruiz was killed by Madison police on Williamson Street, Angela sits down with Carmella Glenn, Alder for District 18. Carmella traces her path into criminal justice reform — a family cycled through the correctional system, years spent working inside the walls herself — and makes the case for civilian oversight as the thing our city can't afford to get wrong. She breaks down what the Office of the Independent Police Monitor actually does, why Madison's has struggled to gain traction,...
info_outline
Kierston Ghaznavi: AI & Art
Black Oxygen
This episode of Black Oxygen is a recording of Black Oxygen Live featuring Milwaukee-based artist Kierston Ghaznavi. Born in Arkansas raised in Milwaukee, Kierston has been doing art most of her life. In conversation with Angela, Kierston talks about her history of making paper dolls, going to school for graphic design but realizing she doesn’t want to design for other people, and AI and art. Of AI and art Kierston states, “AI focuses on the outcome of the piece as opposed to the process itself.” #BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackPodcasters #WisconsinArtists...
info_outline
Keena Atkinson and Gaylene Barber-Sirmons: Community care starts at home
Black Oxygen
Content note: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence and abuse. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 or . When Keena Atkinson joined Black Oxygen last year, she knew the conversation wasn't finished — and she knew exactly who needed to be part of what came next: her mother. In this episode, Keena returns alongside Gaylene Barber-Sirmons, making her podcast debut at nearly 70 years old, and together they open up a conversation about survival, faith, healing, and the...
info_outline
Mandela Barnes: Dream Bigger
Black Oxygen
Mandela Barnes returns to Black Oxygen for a wide-ranging conversation about his Wisconsin roots, his run for governor, and what it actually takes to rebuild trust across a divided state. Angela and Mandela talk about the Milwaukee factory jobs that built his family's foundation, the corporate greed driving both the opioid crisis and the urban-rural divide, why social media profits from division, and what it means to lead from a place of doubt instead of certainty. They close out with Wisconsin hidden gems and Mandela's current playlist. Topics Covered Mandela's family story: his grandfather,...
info_outline
T.R. Williams: On having a perspective beyond your own
Black Oxygen
T.R. Williams, Wisconsin Women's Network Policy Institute lead facilitator, Senior Director of Development at United Way, business owner, and newly initiated member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated — returns to Black Oxygen for an in-depth conversation about the importance of community. TR traces her family's Great Migration story from Mississippi to Milwaukee, and her own winding path from New York City to Madison, where she's been longer than she planned. She and Angela reflect on the particular texture of Black life in Madison — the hidden neighborhoods, east side vs west...
info_outline
What's coming from Black Oxygen
Black Oxygen
A quick update from Black Oxygen host Angela Russell about what's coming up next on Black Oxygen.
info_outline
Tyrone Creech: Chosen Family, Consent Culture, and the Fight for LGBTQ Youth in Wisconsin
Black Oxygen
In this episode of Black Oxygen, Angela sits down with Tyrone Creech, Executive Director of GSafe Wisconsin for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about what it means to serve LGBTQ+ youth in this political moment. Tyrone shares the realities on the ground: the stripping of trans healthcare, the collapse of corporate and philanthropic support, the impossible moral calculus nonprofits face when funding comes with compromises, and the extraordinary courage of young people who are doing activism when they should just be kids. But this episode isn't just about what's...
info_outline
Pastor Marcus Allen: Recovery from Rejection
Black Oxygen
Marcus Allen of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin sits down with Angela for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, service, combat, and community. What unfolds is a portrait of a man shaped by rejection, forged in war, and called to build something lasting. Marcus traces his journey from Clarksdale, Mississippi through Milwaukee's Great Migration chapter, three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a divine detour that landed him in Madison in 2016. Now celebrating 10 years at Mount Zion — which itself turns 115 this year — he talks candidly about what it takes to...
info_outline
Shalicia Johnson: You’re a part of something bigger
Black Oxygen
Shalicia Johnson is a Madison-born photographer and the owner of ArrowStar Photography, where she specializes in community photography, business portraits, and family portraiture. Before picking up a professional camera, she spent 28 years in early childhood education, primarily with infants and toddlers in a continuity of care model. That work, and the deep observational practice it required, shapes everything about how she photographs people today. In this episode, Angela and Shalicia cover a wide range of topics including: Growing up in Madison and the forces that nearly redirected...
info_outlineThis episode features my grandfather, Esther Monroe, who I call Daddy Monroe, recorded in the spring of 2023 when he was 96 years old—still driving, still living independently, and still sharing the wisdom of nearly a century on this earth. Today, he’s 98, no longer driving or living independently - but is surrounded by family, friends and health care providers that love him tremendously.
What you're about to hear is a legacy—a testament to a life extraordinarily well lived.
Daddy Monroe was born during the Great Depression, a Black man in the South who witnessed this country transform in ways that once seemed impossible. He saw wages so low he made just 75 cents a day. He experienced the daily cruelties of racism.
In this conversation with my mom, Brenda Moten, and me, Daddy Monroe shares something profound: one of the best days of his life was watching Barack Obama become president—because for most of his life, he never thought he'd live to see such progress. "There was no way of seeing that things could get better," he tells us.
But they did get better. And in our current moment, when it's easy to lose hope, Daddy Monroe's voice reminds us that change is possible. His formula is simple but not easy: know the difference between right and wrong, be honest with each other, love one another even when we disagree, and treat each other with kindness and respect.
This is more than a family conversation—it's a masterclass in resilience, hope, and the long arc of progress from someone who's lived it all.
Here's my grandfather, Daddy Monroe, in his own words.
#BlackOxygen #BlackOxygenPodcast #PodcastReissue #LegacyStories #GenerationalWisdom #OralHistory #DaddyMonroe #Perspectives #LoveWins #KindnessMatters #LifeWellLived