Community Dialogues

Amara McNeil is a sophomore at Fordham University who has found a passion in advocating for racial justice on campus. Talia Mota, PhD, MPH, is an adjunct professor and molecular immunologist currently researching a cure for HIV. In this episode of Community Dialogues, McNeil and Mota discuss the history of racism in science and medical research, as well as the lasting effects of structual racism on modern-day healthcare. 

Our guest on this edition of Community Dialogues is Malene Barnett. She founded the Black Artists + Designers Guild, a collective of makers in various disciplines such as interior design, architecture, fine art, textiles, and product design. The Guild aims to create a more inclusive and equitable arts and design industry, as well as provide a community for the Black artists involved.

This episode we’re joined by Mfalme Sikivu. Mfalme, who’s state name is Dontie Mitchell, is a jailhouse lawyer, activist, scholar, and mentor. He’s been incarcerated in New York State since 1998 when he was 17 on charges of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.

Mfalme is the founder and Executive Minister of a mutual self improvement fraternity, called the Ujamaa Fraternal Dynasty, which is known as UFD. He’s so far been unsuccessful in getting the New York Department of Corrections and Community supervision to approve prison chapters of UFD, though he has a legal case pending.

Mfalme says he was recently sentenced to five months in solitary confinement at Marcy Correctional Facility for possession of documents relating to UFD. He’s applied for clemency so he can continue the work of UFD from the outside, but Governor Cuomo has yet to grant his request. 

The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. And black women are several times more likely to die in childbirth than white women.

Bruce McIntyre is trying to do something about that.  His partner died after an emergency C-section at a Bronx hospital in late April. McIntyre says her death is an example of long-standing inequities in the health care system for women of color. And that’s why he founded the Save A Rose Foundation. It’s dedicated to shedding light on issues of maternal mortality among women of color in the U.S.

WFUV's George Bodarky recently talked with McIntyre on Zoom about the love of his life, Amber Rose Isaac, and his efforts to prevent other families from going through similar heartache. 

Our guest is Shea Shola, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University with her own clothing line inspired by African culture. She says she was surrounded by African prints and fashion while she grew up in Jamaica, and she wants to bring more attention and appreciation to this kind of art.

WFUV's Kiera Mullany sits down with Sam Gross from the National Registry of Exonerations to discuss his recent report Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, said to be the most thorough study ever conducted of police and prosecutorial misconduct in criminal cases in the United States. 

Our guest in this edition of Community Dialogues is Desmon Lewis, a co-founder of The Bronx Community Foundation, which is dedicated to creating a more just and equitable Bronx.

The COVID-19 outbreak has compounded longstanding inequities in our society.  Among other things, the pandemic has exposed the digital haves and have-nots.

In the age of distance learning, The Bronx Borough President’s office has been working with non-profit organizations to sound the alarm over the digital divide in the borough. They say a lack of access to computers and the internet is standing in the way of an education for many students in the Bronx who come from low-income families.

Rose DeStefano is Senior Director of Collective Impact at Children's Aid Society. She’s among those working to level the playing field for low-income families and communities of color, and she’s our guest on this edition of Community Dialogues.