In this episode of The Last Generation, Civil Rights, three generations of the Jenkins family, grandfather Abe Jenkins, his son Jayanta Jenkins, and grandson Phoenix Jenkins, come together to talk about freedom, legacy, and what gets passed down.

Abe reflects on the Civil Rights era, his friendships with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and being drafted into the Vietnam War while still denied full freedom at home. In the midst of that contradiction, music became his refuge, and a way to feel free.

That love of music, and what it made possible, was passed to Jayanta, and now to Phoenix. This conversation captures how freedom isn’t only fought for, it’s felt, heard, and carried forward through family.

This episode marks the beginning of a powerful new chapter of The Last Generation, expanding the project’s mission beyond the Holocaust to explore the lived legacy of the American Civil Rights Movement through intergenerational conversation.

Hosted by Maddy Kramer, the episode introduces collaborators Jimmy Smith and Sequel Smith, whose work and lived experience anchor this chapter with depth, urgency, and humanity. Together, they set the intention for what’s to come: preserving firsthand stories from elders who shaped history, alongside the grandchildren who carry those stories forward.

The episode also introduces Agosto as the project’s new music house partner. Agosto’s original compositions establish the emotional tone of the chapter, underscoring the intimacy, weight, and resonance of these conversations.

This is not a history lesson. It is a living archive.
A space where memory, identity, and legacy meet, across generations, across movements, and across time.

This is the story of Evelyne Appel, a French girl who survived the war thanks to the courage and bravery of her parents and sister.

Evelyne’s family was deeply involved in the resistance, helping Jews escape persecution with clever tools like handbags with false bottoms, filled with forged papers.

Evelyne endured a challenging childhood, including a perilous solo journey across the border to Switzerland to ensure her survival. After the war, Evelyne and her family relocated to New York, where they rebuilt their lives.