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Feb. 18, 2025: Border crossing

Malcolm X once said “Mississippi is anything South of the Canadian border.” And, when it comes to the legacy of slavery, northerners often tout our abolitionist history but overlook what happened above the Mason-Dixon line for the 200 years before abolition.

So today, we introduce you to Charmaine A. Nelson, provost professor of Art History at UMass Amherst and founding director of the Slavery North Initiative, supporting research on the study of slavery in Canada and the American north. We hear how her background in art history has shaped Slavery North’s approach to tell this history. You can catch some of the tales she and her colleagues have discovered so far at a talk at Historic Northampton.

And speaking of borders, we preview the documentary,Borderland: The Line Within,” screening tomorrow at Amherst Cinema. The film discusses how the U.S. border is not just a geographic marker, but is everywhere, creating a chilling effect for undocumented families under the threat of deportation. We talk with thedirector, Pamela Yates, and producer, Paco de Onis, about their work on and surrounding the film. We also speak to Jim Hicks, guest curator of the 32nd Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival: Documenting Dissent, about this year’s free program.

Charmaine A. Nelson of Slavery North
"Borderlands: The Line Within"

Christopher “Monte'' Belmonte is host and executive producer of NEPM's The Fabulous 413. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been a radio host in western Massachusetts for the last 20 years — the last 17 of them as host of Mornings with Monte on The River 93.9/WRSI.
Kaliis Smith is a radio host and producer for NEPM's The Fabulous 413. She was most recently host and producer at The River 93.9/WRSI where she appeared on Mornings with Monte for the Nerdwatch segment and hosted weekday evenings.