Bridging Philly

PA Youth Votes’ Angelique Hinton, Kamryn Davis and a high school senior explain how they engage future leaders with education and events programming to connect the dots between the issues they care about, voting, and holding elected officials accountable. Then, artists and curators lead a tour of the collective public art initiative, “Legacy Reclaimed: A 7th Ward Tribute,” encompassing the blocks between 6th and 23rd Streets and Spruce and South Streets, whose residents once included Richard Allen, Octavius Catto and W.E.B. Du Bois.

South Philly’s Tyrique Glasgow shares his story about owning his South Philly neighborhood drug corner at 12 to founding the Young Chances Foundation, which provides a clothing bank, educational and feeding programs, and school supplies.

Then, Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler describes how a $90,000 National Trust for Historic Preservation grant to help preserve Richard Allen’s Mother Bethel AME Church, a beacon of hope and inspiration for those resisting white supremacy. The church is still growing in 39 countries and five continents.

Fine art should be experienced by all people, according to  philanthropic Philadelphia art collector Albert C. Barnes. The Barnes Foundation's Martha Lucy leads a tour of modern art and African masks, demonstrating the founder's legacy of accessible and diverse arts education. Lucy has edited a new book, "The Barnes Then and Now: Dialogues on Education, Installation and Social Justice."

Is everyone ready for love? A relationship coach and a social worker discuss the humility, inspiration and personal growth it takes to make heterosexual, same-sex, and non-traditional couples last.

Then, taking and leaving banned books by Black authors at Visit Philly's 13 Little Free(dom) Libraries.

Philadelphia’s civil rights movement included the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters, the "young militants" who protested and helped desegregate Girard College, which was a school intended for “poor, white male orphans.” We hear stories of police harassment and songs of freedom from the former teenagers who followed their leader and Philadelphia NAACP branch’s president’s words: “If you stand together, you can make a difference.”

Then, Vashti DuBois shares good news about the future of The Colored Girl Museum, which has received a zoning variance to continue living in the Germantown house that is her home and museum.

Tammy Murphy, First Lady of New and U.S. Senate candidate, describes the new state law that protects a mother’s right to a doula throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Then, creating a deeper bond between parents and young children through music with the Philadelphia Lullaby Project.

Pa. Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton looks back on the successes and challenges of her first year as the first woman and the first person of color to hold the gavel. With a razor-thin majority, Speaker McClinton negotiated tax credits for working families’ daycare expenses, violence reduction programs, and a public defender fund. Then, Philly hosts the Youth America Grand Prix, an international student ballet competition that draws about 20,000 dancers whose finalists are selected to win cash prizes and scholarships at top schools and companies.  

Co-founders Don Jackson and Hameen Diggins describe their community organization Urban Navigation as a GPS for urban youth that points the next generation of non-shooters towards gun education and technician training in the inner city and Philadelphia suburbs. Then, this year is the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and Global Citizen’s Founder and President Todd Bernstein describes the many opportunities in which to embrace MLK’s legacy of social justice at the 29th Annual Great Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service at Girard College.

Dry January has become an annual international event inspiring all kinds of drinkers to leave the bottles on the shelf for 31 days. The market for mocktails, non-alcohol spirits, wines and beer is growing, and there are "safe spaces" for those who choose not to drink, but still want to be social. We learn about the benefits of temporary abstaining and the resources people can use to help them overcome their habit. Guests are Erin Goodhart, Executive Director of Core Programming, Pennsylvania at Caron Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers: Fergie Carey, proprietor of several bars and restaurants in Philadelphia; and Drew Davis, co-founder of Pitman New Jersey’s no-alcohol bottle shop and pop-up bar, Gem Life + Bar.

Then, an introduction to the only city-based multi-service goat program: Germantown’s Philly Goat Project, which has programs including education, community wellness, animal-assisted therapy, and teen job training with the help of trained goats. Shara in the City talks to Karen Krivit, Director, and Kelly Corrigan, Therapy and Wellness Director of The Philly Goat Project.

Bridging Philly Host and Executive Producer Racquel Williams, "Shara in the City” Reporter Shara Dae Howard, and Producer Patty McMahon look back at their favorite guests and topics from 2023. Segments include Cambodian refugee-turned-Secret-Service officer Leth Oun, FarmerJawn's urban agriculture, and a road trip to Ocean City, N.J. to meet the families behind the book "The West Side: Ocean City in True Color."