What’s Next?

Kareem Weaver, an Oakland California NAACP activist, believes literacy is our most important civil right. With a focus on Black and brown children, Kareem demands to bring science-based reading instruction to Oakland schools and has garnered national interest by taking on the publishing industries. Between a series of meetings with Buffalo-area educators recently, he stopped to have this important conversation with WBFO's Jay Moran.

Activist Nate Boyd updates his campaign on behalf of Tops workers and survivors who were not necessarily in the store at the time of the shooting but are still impacted by it. Then, a team from the University at Buffalo Law School has started to look at freedom from debt as a civil right. The School of Law’s Civil Rights and Transparency Clinic Supervising Attorney Paulette Campbell, and student attorney Glenaida Garlock talk of the concept — and the free advice clinics they offer.

Once again today, instead of our usual selection of highlights from a variety of previous interviews, we are bringing you excerpts of a single episode from an outstanding guest: Rev. Kwame Pitts. Pitts runs the Community of Good Neighbors mobile food truck in Buffalo, and works with the Oasis Community of spiritual people who aren't necessarily religious. She's outspoken on racial equity and is a scholar and practitioner of various rituals.

WBFO’s Thomas O'Neil-White talks with Jelicia Jimenez and Ruqayyah Simmons, co-founders of Black Boys Read Too about ways to address the large disparities in literacy achievement by getting books in children’s hands in Erie and Niagara Counties. Also today, entrepreneur, musical artist, publisher, and producer Robert Grant. He wants to educate more people of color through his payment processing expertise.

Inside Buffalo’s food desert, Rita Hubbard-Robinson takes Dave Debo on a tour of the East Side site where she hopes to develop a food hub, with hydroponics, a farmer’s market and a health education center. Then on a day when SNAP (food stamp) benefits drop back to pre-pandemic levels, Trina Burruss, CEO of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County looks at what that sudden $200 cut means for under-resourced people and the working poor.

Fruit belt activists Dennice Barr and Kelly Camacho pull back the curtain on tenant troubles at McCarley Gardens. Then, Black history storyteller, Karima Amin shares some of her work.

LaShelle Roberson of TOLL (To Our Legacy and Legends) talks of her work with children who have lost their parents to homicide. Then Mark Overall from the Urban League Young Professionals stops by.

Today's Producers' Picks program features highlights of only one interview. Instead of our usual segments, we spend the entire hour bringing you an early February interview with Rev. Darius Pridgen - taped shortly after he announced he would not run again for Buffalo city council. In a wide-ranging chat, he discusses why, looks back on his terms as President of the Buffalo Common Council, and talks about race, education and economic development.

Today a look at Black history in Buffalo and the influence Marcus Garvey had on the region in the early 1900s. Malik "Lion" Blyden, president of Buffalo's branch of Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League talks about the historic sites in Buffalo, how Garvey's ideas on self-reliance can resonate today, and why he feels many of those ideas have been ignored in favor of a more traditional telling of Black history.

Aitina Fareed-Cooke talks with Jay Moran. She is an artist and entrepreneur who was born and raised in Buffalo. In early life, she lived in a foster home and speaks freely about how that experience--and the labels of low expectations attached to it--drove her to find herself through art and creativity. Her Get Fokus'd Production is a media arts company that works, in part, to highlight emerging local artists.

Author and lecturer Emmanuel Kulu talks at length about his work with Buffalo Public Schools and elsewhere, infusing African history - from Egypt and the entire continent of Africa - into the teaching of Black history.

A chat with Dr. Peggy Brooks-Bertram, an author and longtime advocate for the teaching of black history, she is one of the founders of the “Uncrowned Community Builders” database of prominent African-American men and women in Western New York and is the author or co-author of several books, including one that gathered letters to First Lady Michelle Obama, and another similarly for Vice President Kamala Harris.

This week's Producers' Picks program is a complete summary of Wednesday's victim impact statements and sentencing of Payton Gendron for the racist massacre at Tops on May 14.

One day after the Tops shooter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, we hear the bold remarks from Judge Susan Eagan, humanizing those he killed, and outlining the scope of systemic racism. Then, we go in depth with Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

Hear a complete recap of Wednesday's court proceedings, including family members talking of those Gendron killed in the Tops Massacre on May 14. Also legal analysis, and blunt commentary from Judge Susan Eagan as she sent him to jail for life without parole.

Deidra EmEl is the Executive Director of the WNY Peace Center. She joins Jay Moran for a preview of their Women's March 2023, their Embracing Buffalo: Frank Conversations series in May, and a range of other initiatives promoting social justice and equity.

Fresh off her recent Black History Month speech at Buffalo State University, author Jessica Wilson talks with Jay Moran. She is a clinical dietitian and consultant, whose experiences navigating the dietetic fields as a Black, queer dietitian have led her to write "It's Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies." Then a visit with Penny Beckham, the volunteer director of The Plate of Love Soup Kitchen on Glenwood Ave. to chat about the scope of community needs in Buffalo.

Instead of a typical Producers' Picks program that includes highlights of previous interviews, today our producers have picked three intense interviews on opioid addiction and treatment. Jay Moran talks with Nick Gazzoli, Senior Program Director at Horizon Village, "Karl" a 27-year old in the residential treatment program at Horizon Village, and Horizon Health's Parent and Family Support Coordinator Colleen Babcock. Today's program is in conjunction with a statewide public media overdose epidemic initiative. The effort also includes the premier of “Love in the Time of Fentanyl” on WNED PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS Monday, February 13, at 10:00 p.m. A special screening of the documentary, including a NARCAN demonstration and various overdose prevention resources, will be held at our studios on February 16 starting at 5:30.

Jay Moran talks with three vendors from the Broadway Market’s Buy Black Buffalo initiative. Hear from Alisa Officer of Unapologetic Coffee, Lynette Elliott of E-Scent-ials Body Care and Shawn Thurmond from Glamorous Embellishments. Then hear a conversation with Jodi Lynn Maracle, an artist in Buffalo working to bring a greater awareness of Indigenous culture, legacies and lived experiences to the public space.

SUNY Buffalo State University Professor Steve Peraza talks about his work documenting Buffalo's civil rights history, contrasting it to the more traditional narrative that is put forth about racism in the South. Then Sherman Webb-Middlebrooks and Antoine Johnson explore the fatherhood initiative at the Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network talking about ways to help support fathers and families in Buffalo.

Today as part of Black History Month, we tell the story of LeRoi Johnson. He shares his journey from the Perry Projects in Buffalo to being a student activist at Canisius College in the late 60s, and his role as manager for his brother Rick James, the MaryJane Girls and other acts in the 80s. A prominent attorney, he is an internationally known artist with the exhibition "LeRoi: Living in Color" underway at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. With earlier shows in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Canada, his work is global, and incorporates African, Caribbean, and South American cultural influences depicting dreams, visions, and African ancestry.

Hear a Black History Month talk with Dr. LaGarrett King, director of the University at Buffalo's Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. Also Northwest Bank's Jonathan Graves and Rick Hamister on some new home ownership and financial literacy programs on Buffalo's East Side.

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent interviews with: —Rev. Kinzer Pointer on training UB Med students on poverty and empathy--Charley Fisher III, BUILD Inc. --UB family sociologist Ashley Barr on how racism effects families and romantic partners--Greg Brown, longtime East side resident and the sports columnist for the Challenger Newspaper

Just after he announces he is leaving his Ellicott district seat on the Buffalo City Council, president Darius Pridgen of True Bethel Baptist Church joins us for the entire hour to talk about his future, what the city needs to progress, and a overview of the changes in education, segregation and related issues over his 12 year tenure.

We start off Black History Month with documentary filmmaker Tarabu Betserai Kirkland and the story of his mother's eyewitness account of civil rights struggles in the south before moving to Buffalo. He's the director of "100 Years From Mississippi" and also tells his own story of fighting for civil rights at Canisius College with Buffalo-based artist LeRoi Johnson. Then NAACP President Mark Blue joins us to discuss plans for a 5/14 Memorial in Buffalo.

For over 40 years, Dr. Henry Louis Taylor at the University of Buffalo's Center for Urban Studies has looked at the challenges that face Buffalo's communities of color. In today's interview with Jay Moran, he turns to the disparities laid bare during the Christmas blizzard.

Today we discuss the release of video in Memphis showing police beating Tyre Nichols. Prof. John Torrey from SUNY Buffalo State is a member of the city of Buffalo's Police reform commission. Then Attorney Miles Gresham, a policy fellow with the Partnership for Public Good, and a longtime advocate for more police accountability weighs in.

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you a collection of recent interviews around 1 topic: the disproportionate blizzard-related deaths, and discussion about the way poor people and people of color could have been helped more during Winter Storm Elliott. Guests include: Jessica Bauer-Walker, Executive Director of the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, Karina Tefft of The National Center for Law and Economic Justice and Jalonda Hill from the Fair Fines and Fees Coalition and Colored Girls Bike Too. Also, Buffalo Poet Laureate Jillian Hanesworth.

Former Buffalo Police officer Cariol Horne gained fame when she was removed from the force after trying to stop another officer from using a chokehold on a handcuffed suspect. But more recently, she was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice, and harassment, as police responded to reports of looting during the Winter Storm Elliot. Now she's speaking out about how people were treated during the blizzard. Then Rosalind Burgin, President of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors, talks about the discrimination they have seen at open houses, and a new video series to combat it.

Today we take you to an interesting session convened by the University at Buffalo's Center for K thru 12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. Every few weeks they convene "Black History Nerds Saturday School" to give teachers a range of ideas and resources on how to teach Black history. This past week's session focused on a collective effort to create "The Buffalo Syllabus"- an archive of resources about Buffalo's racism before and after the mass shooting on May 14th. Then hear from artist Julia Bottoms, a Buffalo-based muralist and artist who helped create Buffalo's Freedom Wall, and has a variety of other paintings that look at race, identity, and representation of people of color.

Today we explore the latest on a community benefits agreement approved by the state agency that will be the Buffalo Bills landlord in their new facility. It includes funds for food insecurity, mental health, anti-gun violence and job training. Then hear from Al and Vivian Robinson from Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry on how their sanctuary on Gold St. became refuge for over 100 people during the recent blizzard - and hear what they have to say about storm management, community needs and more. And listen to a conversation with Sara Sadri, a native of Tehran, Iran who came to the United States when she was 17 to go to college and is an activist fighting locally for Women's rights in Iran.

Charley Fisher from BUILD has an optimistic take on the possibility for business development on Buffalo's East side, and points to a surge in the Broadway-Fillmore area as proof of what might occur elsewhere. Then, University at Buffalo family sociologist Ashley Barr, Assoc. Professor of Sociology at SUNY Buffalo, reveals some of her recent research on how racial discrimination has an effect that spreads among family members and romantic partners, beyond the person facing any individual racist act.

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Dr. Lori Quigley, interim president Medaille University, on the Native American residential schools in WNY that stripped hundreds of their families and culture, Activist Alex Burgos on his work and combating the triple threat of racism, homophobia and transphobia, Mike Lee, COO and Liza, a client at Evergreen Health Services on the various community health centers’ effort to save state funding, Bishop Michael Badger of the Bethesda World Harvest International Church and the Urban Think Tank on East side disinvestment.

Jessica Bauer Walker from the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo looks at what the community can do -- and what government should do to help people of color and the poor during crises like a blizzard, the COVID-19 pandemic or even the Tops shooting. Then Jay Moran begins an occasional series with candidates who are challenging incumbents on the Buffalo City Council this coming year. Up first: Eve Shippens in the North district.

Jay Moran talks with Greg Brown, a longtime East side resident and the sports columnist for the Challenger Newspaper. Then Emyle Watkins talks with Garrett Bush, a sports talk show host in Cleveland who went viral for a video discussing disability benefits in the NFL. He discusses some of the issues and myths about SSDI before taking a look at the financial and physical risks that NFL players without multi-million dollar contracts, such as Damar Hamlin take when they step on the football field.

On the National Day of Racial Healing, we delve into healing rituals in African and African-American culture, with Rev. Kwame Pitts, a scholar and practitioner of various rituals, and the pastor at the Community of Good Neighbors - a mobile food pantry in Buffalo. Pitts is an outspoken activist on racial equity, and also runs the Oasis Community, a growing group of spiritual yet not religious people in greater Buffalo.

On the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hear highlights of this year's 43rd Annual Community Celebration honoring Dr. King, Including remarks from emcee Clifford Bell, Erie County legislature chair April Baskin, storytelling from Sharon Holly and Karima Amin , a series of monologues from students at the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and a poem from Buffalo Poet Laureate Jillian Hanesworth. Also, Jay Moran has more on Dr. King's time in Buffalo with author, historian, and columnist Eva Doyle

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Jerome Wright, NYS HALT Solitary campaign on a NYS study that shows disproportionately harsh discipline of people of color in prisons, Rev. Denise Walden Glenn and Tyrell Ford from VOICE Buffalo on criminal justice and re-entry issues, Teresa Watson and Sarah Frasier from PUSH Buffalo on housing issues in Buffalo and the push for a tenant's Bill of Rights, and Tim Tielman, from The Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture looks at the rise and fall of Jefferson Avenue as a business district.

Jay Moran visits the Community Missions in Niagara Falls to talk with Eric Boerdner about their SNUG anti-violence program. Then Dave Debo chats with Dawn Askew from Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) to learn about their Strong African American Families classes.

Of the 43 people who died in Erie County during Winter Storm Elliott, at least 20 victims were Black, 18 were white and one was Hispanic. Today we hear from two strong East Side voices asking why almost half were people of color, in a county that is only 13 percent Black. First up, Dave Debo talks with Buffalo Poet Laureate Jillian Hanesworth. Then Thomas O’Neil White continues the conversation with Fair Fines and Fees Coalition members Karina Tefft, an attorney with The National Center for Law and Economic Justice and Jalonda Hill from Colored Girls Bike Too.

With all the data on health outcomes that an insurance company like Independent Health has, and all the community contacts that a pastor like Rev. George Nicholas has, it only makes sense that the two would team up on health disparities. Hear Nicholas, with Independent Health Pres. & CEO Dr. Michael Cropp MD. Then St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute student Dion Anderson, joins Project Flight’s Geraldine Bard and Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Director John Spears to discuss how they assembled a diversity book collection for kids that is at the Merriweather and Central libraries.

Today's Buffalo What's Next episode, is a special Producers' Picks program with the storytellers behind #Lake of Betrayal, a PBS documentary that aired Jan. 6 on WNED PBSIt tells a story of the Seneca Nation and the sacrifice that was thrust upon them when the US government flooded their land, created the Kinzua Dam, and forced their removal in breach of the United States’ oldest treaty. Hear from Director Paul Lamont, Writer & Producer Scott Sackett, and Associate Producer Caleb Abrams with WBFO's Brigid Jaipaul-Valenza.

Thank you for listening to Buffalo, What's Next? on WBFO. Buffalo, What's Next? will be taking a short break for the holidays and will return in January, with new content for the New Year. As we take this break for the holidays, please continue to tune in to WBFO Monday through Friday at 10am and 9pm for encore presentations of some of our favorite episodes of Buffalo, What's Next?

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Ed Koban, Music Director of the Native American Music Awards and Mental Health Counselor, Hamadi Ali and Dao Kamara from the Providence Farm Collective, and April Baskin, Chair, Erie County Legislature.Thank you for listening to WBFO’s Buffalo, What's Next?. The daily podcast will be taking a short break for the holidays and will return with new episodes on January 9th. While we are taking a break from producing new episodes, please continue to tune in to WBFO for encore presentations of some of our favorite episodes of Buffalo, What's Next?

At least once each year, Pastor Kinzer Pointer from Agape Fellowship Baptist Church on Northland Avenue in Buffalo takes new UB Medical students on a tour of Jefferson Avenue, pointing out the issues that they need to have awareness of and people they should have empathy for. Then Jay Moran brings us excerpts from a recent “Making Spaces” discussion at Buffalo Arts Studio with Artist Matt Kenyon, Fruit Belt activist Dennice Barr, UB professor Henry Louis Taylor Jr. and others on art, urban planning and economic justice.

After a NYS Inspector General report earlier this month found that Black and Hispanic incarcerated individuals were more likely to be disciplined than white incarcerated individuals in New York prisons, we talk with Jerome Wright, (Twitter:@JMrWright316) who spent 30 years in prison and now leads the HALT Solitary Campaign (http://nycaic.org/) and (Twitter:@NYCAIC). Then Teresa Watson, Housing Justice Organizer, with People United for Sustainable Housing/PUSH Buffalo (Twitter:@PUSHBuffalo) discusses reforms that would change the housing climate across the all of Buffalo.

In 1996, a group of community leaders from labor, business and notably churches came together to work on community justice and equity issues, long before the Tops shooting on May 14. Today, Rev. Denise-Walden Glenn, the director of that group, VOICE Buffalo talks of their work and what the community needs. She’s joined by VOICE Buffalo Lead Community Organizer Tyrell Ford. They’ll look at advocacy work on behalf of the disabled, the fight against gun violence, their work with the incarcerated, and criminal justice reform.

Marvin Askew, Executive Director of the Buffalo City Ballet and school shares his personal story, and talks about their holiday performances of "The Nutcracker" in the Box Theater on Leroy Avenue. Then noted preservationist Tim Tielman, Executive Director of the Greater Buffalo Campaign for History, Architecture & Culture shares information from his recent public forum on "Wrecking Jefferson" looking at how a neighborhood of houses, family businesses, and busy sidewalks disappeared into neglect.

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Dr. Myron Glick, MD. of Jericho Road Community Health Center, Chandra Redfern, CEO of Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers, Tiffany Lewis, at Confident Girl Mentoring Program, and Jennifer Parker of Jackson Parker Communications.

Mike Lee, COO of Evergreen Health (Twitter: @EvergreenHS) joins Liza, one of their clients to talk about what they feel is a major threat at the state level, (Twitter: @Leave340B) which would reduce funding for community health centers that provide help in underserved communities and populations. Then, activist Alex Burgos (Twitter: @AlexBurgosNY) talks about racism, homophobia and transphobia - and his efforts to combat them in the Hispanic community of Buffalo.