KPFTOJ

It seems fitting that we are concluding our portion of KPFT’s Summer Sizzle Fund Drive with one of our very own, financial planner Leo Gold, who for years was host of “The New Capital Show” on KPFT. Leo is a financial advisor with his own firm, New Capital Management.

Lynn Ashby is a Houston institution. A longtime journalist - or should we say newspaperman - who spent most of his career at the Houston post, Ashby continues to churn out weekly columns that appear in the Brazosport Facts, the Heights-based The Leader, Spring Branch’s The Courier and other neighborhood papers. We pleased to have him with us today to give us his views about what’s going on today around the city, state and nation.

We’re more than halfway through a summer most of us will never forget. The Covid-19 pandemic dash a lot of hopes for summer activities. We’ve been stuck at home for months. Spring break came and went but our children never returned to school. Homes turned into offices and all of a sudden, families were together 24/7. With all this family time, coupled with a major change in the way we live our lives, came a lot of stess. But are there still ways to turn summer around and enjoy that time? Sarah Gish of Gish Creative is a culture and family activist and she is with us to offer tips on how to make the best of our time together.

The Internet, social media, and telecommunication are so important to our everyday lives, that it’s hard for some of us to imagine life without them. Yet, we are all too often unaware of the forces that seek to change the way these services work, and how these changes will not only change our lives, but could also change us. Change has already come, and more are coming, so we’re visiting again with our media expert and friend of the show, Dr. Lucas Logan, Asst. Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Houston-Downtown. Dr. Logan keeps an eye on all things internet;from time to time we ask him to break it down for us. Lucas Logan- welcome back to the Open Journal!

Crime Stoppers of Houston is Houston’s top non-profit dedicated to public safety and since 1980 has remained committed to its mission to solve and prevent serious crime in the Greater Houston Area in partnership with citizens, media and the criminal justice system. Crime Stoppers of Houston began in 1980, an some04 years later, it is often recognized for being the largest and most successful Crime Stoppers in the nation. CEO Rania Mankarious is with us to tell about Crime Stoppers and its efforts to reduce crime in our city

Cherry Steinwender, Founder/Co-director, Center for the Healing of Racism & Joel Goza, author/activist Can our current racial and ethnic divide be turned around? Recent events surrounding the police murder of George Floyd and others have brought tens of thousands into the streets. The BLM movement has galvanized the moment. Images of protestors confronted, attacked and gassed by military units in our nation’s capital have exacerbated old wounds and brought others into focus. The Houston-based Center for the Healing of Racism is dedicated to the healing of racism through education and empowerment. The organization’s roots go back to 1989 when an ethnically diverse group of individuals met in Houston to discuss the impacts of racism. Founder and Co-director, Cherry Steinwender of the Center for the Healing of Racism,is with us. Joel Goza is a writer, minister and advocate who has lived with his wife and children in Houston’s 5th Ward for over a decade, where he has provided leadership in urban redevelopment, immigration and educational reform initiatives. He has written for The North Star, The Houston Chronicle, and Salon. His first book, “America’s Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics” - is an examination of the religious and secular thinkers who inspired our Founding Fathers and leaders addiction to racist and classist ideas.