Bridging Philly

Tahirah Austin-Muhammad was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was six years old. Throughout her life, she has dealt with pain and organ failures - she’s currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, living on 7% kidney function. Despite that, she is raising a daughter and has helped found Crescent Foundation to provide education and resources to others living with sickle cell disease. She joins us along with her physician, Dr. Safiyya Shabazz. And on Shara in the City, Shara Dae Howard learns double dutch with Majestic Jumpers.

Learn more about how to find and support Black physicians in the Philadelphia area from The Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania.

For many teens and tweens, social media is everything. It’s how they connect with friends and with the broader world - but there are a lot of dangers online. How can parents keep their kids safe from things like predators and bullying on the internet? PA State Representative Brian Munroe worked with three teenagers to write a bill that just passed the House, aiming to help protect kids online. He joins us along with Dr. Desmond Upton Patton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and the director of SAFELab, a research initiative focused on how youth of color navigate violence online. And on Shara in the City, we visit one of the oldest trees in Philadelphia - a treasure that some in the Germantown neighborhood are fighting to save.

For more, read Dr. Patton’s Newsweek op-ed on the links between social media and gun violence.

The government must provide attorneys for defendants who can’t afford to hire one. Until last year, funding for those public defenders in Pennsylvania came entirely from the counties. Now, the state has set a $7.5 million budget to fund indigent defense, but public defenders’ offices are still underfunded and their staff is overworked. We speak with the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania’s Executive Director Sara E. Jacobson, Vice President Christopher Welsh, and Chief Defender Keisha Hudson about inequities in the legal system and how a lack of funding can impact trial outcomes. And on Shara in the City, we take a tour of the hidden artistic gems inside The Curtis building in Old City.

2024 KYW GameChanger Hillary Do created the non-profit BOLT (Build Our Lives Together) to support community grassroots organizations with tools, grants and knowledge to bring about change. She introduces us to Cleopatra Robinson of A Home from Shana Foundation, who is working to lower the rate of Black maternal mortality in Philadelphia, and Ron Toles of Ordinarie Heroes, who works with BIPOC youth in Hunting Park.

Then, the hidden history behind the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Central Branch, which includes Charles Dickens’ stuffed pet bird, Grip - widely thought to have inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “The Raven.” The library also has the only handwritten copy of the poem, which is part of its rare book collection.

For fifty years, Gift of Life Donor Program has helped organ and tissue recipients off the transplant wait list with their growing donation network. Five years after North Philly rapper and hip-hop recording artist Freeway received a kidney, he's raising awareness about routine physicals and organ donation with his music and Freedom Thinkers Academy. Then, Shara Dae Howard takes a ride-along at Berks County's Maple Grove Raceway, which hosts national races, monster trucks, car shows and more. (Gift of Life Donor Program is the sponsor of Bridging Philly.) 

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Al Schmidt clears up myths and realities of voting, including automatic voter registration, mail-in voting, and protections for voters and election workers. Then, Barnes Foundation’s assistant curator Corrinne Chong leads a tour of the 20th-century artist who inspired commercial art at the exhibit “Alexey Brodovitch: Astonish Me.”

As childcare wait lists grow, many busy families are opening their homes to a young person from another country as an affordable care alternative. Cultural Care Au Pair’s Natalie Jordan describes their multi-step screening process and cultural exchange benefits.

Then, the number of people roller skating has increased since the pandemic, and Great On Skates’ co-founder India Bernadino discusses accessible and affordable “Dope Skate Classes In Philadelphia” at three locations for all skill levels.

How can Pennsylvania public school students who live in a lower-income school district receive an equitable and adequate education like their affluent counterparts? Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes and education advocate Priyanka Reyes-Kaura discuss how state legislators must work with Governor Shapiro and his budget proposal to invest in our communities.  

Then, we hear why regulars and new guests at Germantown's home-grown, black-owned Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books come for the vibe, books, coffee, and stay for music and community.

Former fashion editor Cheryl Ann Wadlington has been mentoring urban girls to rise above their circumstances to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty for 20 years at Evoluer House with workforce, professional and personal development programs.

Then, engineer Patrice Banks leads a tour of her Girls Auto Clinic in Upper Darby – an auto repair service - that caters to women where she can get a manicure and car maintenance tips while waiting for her car.

Marian Anderson Hall will soon be the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. President and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Matias Tarnopolsky, explains how updating the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall should reflect the diversity and demographics of Philadelphia. Then, a tour of the repair and restoration of the Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society with its CEO, Jillian Patricia Pirtle. She has been working to put the museum back together after a flood to keep Marian Anderson's music and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement alive.