This is the first episode of a series of shows on Asbury Park and the impact of COVID-19 on the African American community in New Jersey. The series is part of a larger digital history project on African Americans in the history of Asbury Park, historically, a city with one of the largest Black populations in New Jersey called “Paradoxical Paradise: An African American Oral History and Mapping Project on Asbury Park.” Dr. Hettie V. Williams, the Director of this project, is in conversation in this episode with Professor Claude Taylor Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Program Director of the First to Fly Program. Taylor gives us terrific insight into his life growing up in Asbury Park and the impact that COVID-19 is having on the City. These programs were made possible through a grant from the Urban Coast Institute (UCI) at Monmouth University. Music for the show composed and performed by Andrew Andron.