Bridging Philly

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.

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.

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.”

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 of a 9-year-old Bensalem boy who just earned his high school diploma, and is deciding which Ivy League university he will attend. He attributes his remarkable success to having academic resources and love from his family.

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.

This week on Bridging Philly: child welfare agencies here and across the country were established to protect children. But after decades of research, our guest Dorothy E. Roberts tells the stories of Black children who are more likely to be torn from their families and placed in foster care than their white counterparts. The University of Pennsylvania professor of sociology and law believes the current welfare system should be abolished. Then, Motown Philly’s Boyz II Men reflect on how today's kids can stay away from the streets of crime by listening to the people who came up before them.

This week on Bridging Philly - building foundations and bridging gaps between the police and the community. Many of us have viewed or heard about the fatal beating in Memphis, Tennessee of Tyre Nichols, the Black victim of a traffic stop gone wrong at the hands of Black police officers. Host Racquel Williams checks in with book author, columnist and radio host, Solomon Jones to discuss the unsettling event. Then, Dr. Angela Roman Clack helps us cope with the trauma of witnessing these violent videos by recognizing complex, underlying psychological processes and dynamics. Finally, showing youth experiencing homelessness new options and more opportunities to home ownership with NoMO Inc.’s CEO Rickey Duncan.

This week on Bridging Philly, we celebrate the pages of Philadelphia’s African American book authors and book sellers. Host and KYW community impact reporter Racquel Williams discusses the legacy of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University with its curator, Dr. Diane Turner, who worked closely with the scholar. She and art director Eric Battle describe the historic contributions of Black Philadelphians in their recent graphic novel, BLAM! Black Lives Always Mattered! Next, children’s book author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow shares how important it is to publish pictures of young, Black Muslim children for kids to see images that look like them. Finally, West Philly’s Hakim’s Bookstore earns a blue historic marker for the distinction of the city’s longest-operating, Black-owned bookshop. Yvonne Blake continues her father’s dream of sharing knowledge.

This week on Bridging Philly, host and KYW community impact reporter Racquel Williams goes back to 2014, when a killing of a three-year-old girl shook the city. She discusses the solutions Unity in the Community’s Anton Moore is providing for neighborhood kids. Moore and his co-filmmakers say they hope their work will eliminate a “part three” to their newly released part two of “The Weight of Death” documentary series. Also, can Germantown Avenue become a version of the Avenue of the Arts? And astrology predictions for 2023.

This week on Bridging Philly, KYW Community Impact Reporter Racquel Williams shines the spotlight on an initiative that involves grassroots organizations, clergy members and the city's District Attorney's Office, all collaborating to end gun violence.

The newsmaker of the week is Senator Sharif Street. KYW's Shara Dae Howard checks in with the Democratic state representative of the 3rd Senatorial District Office.

The Philly Rising Changemaker of the Week is a man who just wants to see clean neighborhoods. KYW's Antionette Lee talks with Hakeem Devore about the Inner City Peace Organization.