Whooping. Spanking. Beating. Whatever you want to call it, corporal punishment was a central part of Lee’s upbringing. Growing up,... more

We'll be back next week!TranscriptHey everyone, this is Lee Hawkins. Thank you so much for listening to What Happened In... more

Rules were a major part of Lee’s household growing up. But it wasn’t until he started to dig into his... more

When Lee got the results back from his DNA test, he was stunned to discover that he had pages and... more

Around 1910, Black farmers collectively owned over 16 million acres of farmland. A century later, over 90% of that land... more

Lee always knew that his father grew up during Jim Crow, but he never really understood what that meant as... more

Growing up in a middle-class suburb in the 1980s often felt idyllic to Lee. It was the age of crank... more

When journalist Lee Hawkins was growing up, his father, Leroy, would have nightmares about his childhood in Alabama. When Lee... more

What Happened in Alabama? is a series born out of personal experiences of intergenerational trauma, and the impacts of Jim... more