KPFTOJ

The COVID-19 Wall of Memories is the brainchild of Mohammed Nasrullah. Observing the steady rise in the numbers of sick and dead from the disease, he began thinking of a way to memorialize them, to keep them from being merely statistics. When the United States reached 100,000 deaths, he felt called to action, to create something to remember and honor their lives. Mohammed imagined a digital version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He shared his vision with his wife, Ruth, a freelance journalist who proposed that the website also provide context and details through a news and analysis page. Mohammed’s brother added his software design skills and the Covid-19 Wall of Memories was begun.

Based in Galveston, Artist Boat was founded in 2003 as a nonprofit to promote awareness and preservation of the coastal margins and the marine environment through land conservation and fun, educational, inspiring adventures. Founder and Executive Director, Karla Klay has over 25 years experience in arts and environmental education.

We’ve long heard the nursery rhyme: March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers. April is a good time to start harvesting water so plants can drink during dry days. Nell Wheeler & Dean Cook design systems that can collect and store as much as 3,000 gallons of rainwater in metal tanks. Veterans of the KPFT’s former beloved program, Eco-ology, Nell and Dean have been involved in the environmental justice movement for many years.

Houston Media Source provides education, equipment, and a content-neutral platform for people who want to produce their own television or radio programs. By giving Houstonians access to the mass media, HMS empowers them to address issues and tell stories that are not covered by traditional media outlets, highlighting the rich cultural tapestry of our city. Executive director Tom Richards, who is no stranger to the KPFT airways, is with us to tell us about HMS, how they have been handling the pandemic and what’s ahead.

For nearly a week in mid-February, most of the state suffered through subfreezing temperatures. Millions lost power and heat. When pipes burst and water systems shut down. Just this week, the New York Times reported that 111 people had died in the freeze, almost doubling the number of deaths officials had reported earlier. A month and a half since the freeze hit Texas, we’re still trying to make sense of what happened. A decade ago, University of Houston Energy Fellow, Ed Hirs predicted this failure would happen. He is an energy economics professor at UH and he’s with us today to help understand how the system collapsed, the fallout since then and what can be done to prevent this from happening again.

Kim Perry is the Food Access Director with Urban Harvest. Prior to that she was County Extension Agent for Prairie View University within Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension system. Kim hails from Denver, Colorado, where she studied Social Work with an emphasis on Child Welfare and the Law. She received her Master's degree in Agriculture Science from Texas A&M - Kingsville. In 2009, Kim co-founded and operated Healthy Habits produce co-op that grew from 2 to over 300 families. For the past six years Kim has been a Harris County Master Gardener, and was awarded their Outstanding Service Award in 2020.
Gabriel Borja serves as Urban Harvest’s Mobile Market Manager. He is a garden educator, permaculturalist and chicken-wrangler.

Stephen L. Williams joined the City of Houston as the director of the Houston Health Department in June of 2004. He serves on several boards of community, professional and civil rights organizations and is a past president of the Texas Association of Local Health Officials.
Under his leadership, the HHD launched community outreach programs such as Project Saving Smiles, See to Succeed, Assessment, Intervention, and Mobilization (AIM) efforts and in 2006, Williams and his incredible team initiated the Hip Hop for HIV Awareness intervention project and collaborated with Enroll Gulf Coast to aid in providing access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act of 2010 to the region’s estimated 1.4 million uninsured while also gaining national attention and White House support. His most recent endeavor includes pioneering the recovery efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic.

-As many of us are trying to understand the difference between allergies and flu symptoms or determine if we are an asymptomatic superspreader for COVID-19, it seemed now would be a good opportunity to get some facts. So, we on OJ thought it might be timely to have a little sit-down with subject matter experts that have a background in public health to talk thru some of what we are all dealing with right now. Hopefully, we might gain some insights and perhaps obtain access to information and tools to help us during these trying times.

Micki Fine

Lelia Rodgers, owner of Rudyards joins KPFTOJ