Flashpoint

Music and arts lovers are able to fully enjoy outdoor festivals for the first time since 2019! Susan Slawson, General Manager of The Dell Music Center, Cathy Cahill, President and CEO of the Mann Music Center, and Jesse Lundy, talent buyer for Rising Sun Presents, have weathered pandemic restrictions and describe their summer music series offerings of 2023. Then, East Oak Lane-born-and -raised Sabrina Revelle explains how the Disney+ series , The Crossover - in which she stars - represents diversity and families in a realistic way. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We remember Charles L. Blockson, the curator emeritus and founder of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University with Diane D. Turner, the current curator of the collection, who worked closely with the man who preserved and disseminated information about people of African American descent. Then, Molefi Kete Asante, a professor in the Department of Africology at Temple University, reflects upon the “Robesonian character” whose 700,000 piece collection is one of the most important collections of African American and African materials in the U.S. Finally, Isaac Moody describes his cousin, Nathaniel Moody, the South Jersey truck driver who died in the fiery crash on I95, as a family man and careful driver. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2023 is the second year Juneteenth is recognized as a national holiday, which is based on the day in 1865, when enslaved African Americans were told they were free - more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. African Americans have been celebrating this day since the late 1800s. Our guests discuss the importance of education, in addition to the celebrations of this significant date. Timothy N. Welbeck, Esq., Director of Temple University’s Center for Anti-Racism and VanJessica Gladney, a History PhD Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania examine how to reconcile the fraught event and its cultural legacy. Then, a city-wide poem’s voices of freedom and calls to action include Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth, Philadelphia poet laureate Yolanda Wisher, Marsha Wesley Coleman, Director of Learning and Development with Friends Services Alliance, Dr. Reverend Malcolm T. Byrd, organizer of the Juneteenth Schools initiative, and Vashti DuBois, founder of the Colored Gi

How can we future-proof our economy? Our guests believe that free or inexpensive community college can help strengthen and stabilize our workforce, but the idea of community college is often misunderstood. Dr. Donald Guy Generals, President of the Community College of Philadelphia, Dr. Lovell Pugh-Bassett, President of Camden County College, and Sara Goldrick Rab, author of the book, Paying the Price: College Costs, Financial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream, discuss the varied programs, certificates and scholarships that can help pave a pathway to success. Then, we meet Philadelphia lawyer Angela Giampolo, who is touring the United States in her Caravan of Hope to offer her legal services in support of civil rights for the LGBTQ + community. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We find out how the new Philadelphia Parking Authority is making it easier to park, bike, and walk our city streets by improving customer service. Executive Director Rich Lazer and Philly 3.0’s Engagement Director John Geeting discuss safety issues including bike path clearing and ghost car removal. Then galaei’s Executive Director Tyrell Brown describes how this year’s Philly Pride festival is providing safe spaces & resources, in addition to marching in the street. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Loneliness is more than just a bad feeling," according to a recent op ed by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy. Our guests, Drs. Hallie A. Lightdale and Matthew Hurford, describe the mental and physical risks heightened by social disconnection, including heart disease, dementia and stroke. Joining them is writer and poet, Athena Dixon, who explains what inspired her to write The Loneliness Files. Then, we meet longtime civil rights advocate Rue Landau, Philadelphia’s first LGBTQ City Council nominee. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recent research shows life expectancy improves when African Americans live near Black doctors, and Temple University primary care physicians, Dr. Delana Wardlaw and Dr. Menachem Leasy, explain why they're not surprised by this data, as they see it every day in their practices. Then, Oshun Family Center’s founder, Saleemah McNeil describes how her holistic approach to birthing as a reproductive psychotherapist, certified lactation consultant and birth doula, can reduce the rising number of Black maternal and fetal death rates. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Navigating the mental health care system is a challenge for the most sophisticated of patients, but what about people looking to see a therapist for the first time? Where do you start? Do you go to someone who matches your demographic? Is tele-health private? Host Racquel Williams asks these questions and more with our panel of therapists. Then, Shara Dae Howard introduces us to the poets and musicians who are inspired by the historic Germantown Awbury Arboretum. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We pickup with the second half of host Racquel Williams’ interview with Philadelphia-born book authors Richard Dilworth and Brett Mandel, who share their ideas of solutions to make city government more transparent. Then, Shara Dae Howard talks to voters in the city’s varied neighborhoods, and finds growing gun violence to be the biggest problem they want their next mayor to fix. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Philadelphia-born book authors, Richard Dilworth and Brett Mandel, talk to host Racquel Williams about corruption in Philadelphia. Then, Shara Dae Howard remembers Harry Belafonte's civil rights activism through his collaborations with Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Philadelphia area has an expanding 378 miles of recreational trails, connecting nine counties along rivers and trees that are used by individuals and families for exercise, commuting and socializing. Iresha Picot tells host Racquel Williams how she has been introducing women to the trails for self-care and community with her cycling club, Black Girl Joy Bike Rides. Also, Shara Dae Howard walks the grocery aisles of Bebashi’s FoodFirst Pantry, which is helping to feed families in need since pandemic-era assistance has been terminated. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant money from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office is helping to transform guns into garden tools in Kensington. Host Racquel Williams speaks with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and RAWTools Philly's Shane Claiborne about how the non-profit organization is using the anti-violence prevention funds redistributed from civil asset forfeiture. Then, Shara Dae Howard sits with Janice Sykes-Ross, Executive Director of the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and Paul Robeson House and Museum to celebrate the singer, actor, lawyer, athlete and scholar’s 125th birthday at the residence he called home. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sister Mary Scullion and Candice Player of Project HOME tell host Racquel Williams that if everyone had a safe place to call home, equal and livable wages, and quality health care, they could break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. For 35 years, the non-profit has been working towards creating access to affordable transitional and permanent housing programs in Philadelphia’s most challenged neighborhoods. Then, Shara Dae Howard talks to the curators of the exhibition, Rising Sun: Artists in An Uncertain America. It's a new collaboration between the African American Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts featuring 20 artists who explore the question, "Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy?" To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Leth Oun, who was among the thousands of Cambodian refugees who found a home in South Philly in the 1980s. He is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime, which eliminated a quarter of the country’s population. He talks to host Racquel Williams about writing his new memoir, A Refugee’s American Dream: From the Killing Fields to the Secret Service with his co-author Joe Samuel Starnes. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to our guest, Dr. Carmen Guerra, the number of people under the age of 50 diagnosed with colorectal cancer is growing, and researchers don’t know why. But they do know the age to begin getting screened for this type of cancer is 45. By the time most people feel symptoms it’s often too late for successful treatment for survival. The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine's physician is joined by Patti Hollenback, a nurse who lost her husband to colorectal cancer, and who has become an oncology nurse navigator at Crozier Health System. Then, alto saxophonist and composer, Immanuel Wilkins, describes his journey from Upper Darby to Juilliard and beyond, guided by Philadelphia jazz legacies, including Sun Ra. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the game of chess, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. But it wasn’t until the 1500s that she gained these advantages. Two-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade shares the history of chess with Racquel Williams and our Philadelphia-based panel of young, female chess players. She says chess became a better game after the queen’s role changed, and she is working to make top level chess more inclusive. Then, we check in about the fire damage to Camden’s MLK House with Pastor Amir Khan. The owner and founder of the non-profit is confident that they will rebuild the structure where Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying when his civil rights movement work was inspired, while studying at the now-closed Crozer Theological Seminary. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Bridging Philly, host Racquel Williams examines the sources of and solutions to Philly’s youth violence with Youth Art and Empowerment Project’s Gabriel Jackson and Lutheran Settlement House’s Richie Schultz. Then Shara Dae Howard sits down with advocate Kendall Stephens to hear how her brutal 2020 attack has help strengthen some legal protections for the LGBTQIA+ communities and people of color in Philadelphia. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spring has sprung early in Philadelphia, and the nation’s largest and longest running horticultural event has arrived. The annual Philadelphia Flower Show has moved back inside to the Pennsylvania Convention Center after two years, which runs from March 4-12. Host Racquel Williams walks through elaborate installations, and finds out how this year’s theme, “The Garden Electric” powers professionals and non-professional horticulturists’ work. She meets the President of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Black Girl Florists, and educators and students who are learning from each other in creative installation builds. And Shara Dae Howard asks Mural Arts’ Jane Golden how the country’s largest public art program became a feature on the hit TV show series, “Abbot Elementary.” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Bridging Philly marks a year since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, causing millions of Ukrainians to flee the Texas-sized country. In addition to Europe and other safe harbors, the United States has been a refuge to hundreds of thousands displaced Ukrainians. Host Racquel Williams talks to two people from the Philadelphia region who have been helping victims of the conflict. Immigration attorney, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, the Executive Director of HAIS Pennsylvania, an immigrant-assistance organization in Philadelphia, clarifies that most of the Ukrainians here are not legally designated as refugees, but have entered the U.S. through a complicated sponsorship program. Cooper University Health Care Emergency Medicine Physician, Joshua S. Rempell, MD, MPH, describes his experience as part of a 12-member medical professional team who recently flew to Ukraine to train local medical workers and civilians in emergency medical care, trauma and life support methods. Then, Shara Dae Howard taps into the mind o

This week on Bridging Philly, we learn how the Philadelphia-based Gift of Life organ and tissue donation program connects donors and organ recipients – and continues to support families through their lives in crucial ways, including grief counseling. A lung recipient and donor mother share their stories with host Racquel Williams. Then, civil rights history meets vintage and thrift clothing in a West Philly fashion boutique. KYW’s Shara Dae Howard talks to Dr. Kimberly McGlone, a former high school teacher, who has taken her social justice lessons from the classroom to the storefront. Bridging Philly is sponsored by Gift of Life. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices