“If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. The oppressor does not want you to have power, and education is power. The oppressor is not going to help the system meet your needs. “
- Dr. John Henrik Clarke (via Elder Katie Sample)
ALL THINGS Work Together for Good A memoir by Katie Sample, with Kate Towle (In Black Ink 2026)
LISTEN
In this deeply personal episode of Black Market Reads, host Lissa Jones sits down with revered Twin Cities educator, social worker, author, and community elder Katie Sample to discuss her memoir, All Things Work Together for Good. Sample reflects on more than nine decades of faith, family, activism, and advocacy for Black children—from confronting inequities in Minneapolis Public Schools to creating educational spaces where young people could know their history, recognize their brilliance, and thrive. It is a conversation about the power of education, the importance of preserving our stories, and Sample’s enduring belief that, even in difficult times, “there’s still hope.”
GO DEEPER
In this episode elder Katie references the power of community in meetings with community activists Mahmoud El-Kati and Dr. Josie Johnson.
Listen to Lissa’s conversation with elder Mahmoud El-Kati here.
In this episode elder Katie references the power of community in meetings with community activists Mahmoud El-Kati and Dr. Josie Johnson.
Listen to Lissa’s conversation with elder Josie Johnson and co-authors Carolyn Holbrook and Arleta Little here.
LEARN
ALL THINGS Work Together For Good was published by In Black Ink.
In Black Ink is a publishing arts initiative that provide opportunities for communities that have been disenfranchised historically, and continue to be presently. IBI’s cultural literacy programming mitigates the damage of economic, educational, and cultural inequities that are the result of past and current prejudice and discrimination.
Learn more here.
WATCH
Elder Katie talks about early partnerships with African American Academy for Accelerated Learning (AAAL) the Afrocentric School she founded in 1988 and the Givens Foundation for African American Literature. FROM THE ARCHIVES: Watch the video above and learn more about the conferences with presentations by renowned educators Dr. Eric Cooper and Dr. Ernest Morrell here.
ENJOY!
Black Market Reads is a product of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature produced in partnership with iDream.tv. Funding for this series focusing on literature and the humanities is provided by the Minnesota Humanities Center.
Our production team for this episode includes co-producers Lissa Jones and Edie French, technical director Paul Auguston, the voice Yo Derrick, and our artist of inspiration Ta-coumba T. Aiken.