Last week, all of Lexington was in an uproar over local TV talk show host Lee Cruse’s mockery of the firing of a British DJ who compared the newest Royal baby to a chimpanzee.

The latest development is that Cruse was released from his position at LEX18 and the racist response has been tremendous.

Black people who made public comments of disappointment or even disagreement with Cruse’s comments have been targeted on social media, in the comment sections of online stories and by direct phone call and email .

Author, playwright, poet and former Dir. of Multicultural Affairs in the Univ. of KY College of Journalism, Lisa Brown joins us to share her Facebook comments and this matter and why she chose to go public with her opinion.

Photo aired during an apology by host Lee Cruse after he called the DJ “my new favorite”

By Patrice K. Muhammad

Treena Wright-Burnette was the first response to Lee Cruse’s statement that most people saw online.

          Updated: Via Twitter around 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 17, WLEX18 General Manager and VP Pat Dalbey said, “Our anchor Lee Cruse exhibited a lack of judgement on air this week, and both WLEX and Lee regret this mistake. The statements expressed were inappropriate and do not reflect who we are as a company. After evaluation of the situation, WLEX has decided to keep Lee of the air next week. “

Originally posted online: May 17, 2019

Treena Wright- Burnette spent her Mother’s Day reading the comments under a video she posted on Facebook.

                Concerned and angry, friends and

relatives sent the same video over and over to her inbox and she shared it with

her Urban Conversations radio listeners online.

                WLEX-18 talk show host, Lee

Cruse, laughed throughout the video clip of his show “Live with Lee and Hayley” as he described the actions of a British

radio personality who was fired for posting a picture of two parents holding

each hand of a chimpanzee and captioned it, “The Royal baby leaves hospital.”

The bi-racial Duchess of Sussex Meghan, whose mother is Black, gave birth to the most recent royal baby that has captured the attention of many in the States, including Lee’s co-host Hayley who was

                “When I first saw it, I was appalled and I thought I must share this with my Urban Conversations radio listeners who follow us on our Facebook page,” explained Treena. “I was born and raised here so I know how the community has supported Lee Cruse. I know the Black community supports him and he just boldly, totally disrespected them on TV.”

                Not only did Treena share a clip

from the May 10 TV show, she added her personal commentary at the end and said

there is “zero tolerance for disrespect’’ and said he should apologize.

              Lee’s self-proclaimed egregious error and an apology aired on television May 9th and 10th.                   The apology was posted on the

Urban Conversations Facebook page by a listener and the comments began pouring

in.

Tina Durbin,

who is Caucasian said: Not really an apology … all I heard was “I’m white,

but I’m not a racist.” We know the actuality is … “I’m white, and our systems

are inherently racist and therefore I did not think twice about what I have

learned as a white person of privilege, because I never really had to and I

just see where I stuck my foot in my mouth and was ignorantly racist and I’m

now here to unlearn my white supremacist upbringing.”

An unnamed

Caucasian male commenter said: What’s really a shame is he had to apologize to

the local race hustlers #WannabeSharptons

                Lee’s apology left Treena

unsatisfied. “The thing was, he lied throughout the apology. He said he had no

Not much hotter in the news than the Kentucky Derby controversy, except the announcement that Eastern Kentucky University baseball team has a new recruit with a famous mother that has a lot of brothers looking for season tickets hoping to catch a glimpse of ”her” in the stands! Also, the untimely death of movie Director and Screenplay writer John Singleton of Boyz N the Hood and Shaft fame.

CenterPointe has finally opened downtown, a little and we have Clark Williams interview with Democratic Candidate Adam Edelen and so much more.

We’ll get started with a little help from The Wake UP with Clark Williams. We’ll hear about the concerns of Lexington’s Sanitation Workers and their planned rally April 4, 2019.

For the first time, we’re speaking to a representative of Keeneland to learn ”how to Keeneland” during the Spring Thoroughbred Race Meet which is underway April 4-26 in Lexington.

Lezell and Patrice had a lot more to say about their On The Table 2019 discussion that happened last week. The both have a lot to say about being Black in Lexington, their feelings on freedom and belonging and Patrice’s experience attending her first UK basketball game in 2004.

On the go? Listen to Key Conversations Radio on iTunes and Google Play

Interviewed by Patrice K. Muhammad

Jahi is back home and stopped by our Key Conversations Radio studio to chop it up about shooting photos in the aftermath of the police violence against Black men in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD plus his personal experience with police as a Black man in America. Tune in to hear how Jahi became to set photographer of the 2016 film, The Birth of a Nation and his feelings about being a Blackman from Lexington, KY.

 

Expo Chairperson Marilyn Clark has the details about the speakers, the business ‘’speed dating’’ also known as the opportunity Exchange and some practical advice for Expo goers.

This podcast also includes experts from interviews with the 2017 speakers Dr. Randall Pinkett and Sheri Riley.

The Expo is happening Friday, August 4. Registration information is available online.

 

Published online May 24, 2017 8:24p

Last updated: May 27, 2017 1:11p

Increased minority business participation goals planned

Key Conversations Radio Interview with Jeff Fugate, DDA and John Hollinger, Project Manager following the story.

Mayor Jim Gray released new drawings of Town Branch Commons in March of this year. The Commons will be a park that will wind through downtown which includes a Commons area with retail space and water features.

Once completed, 3.2-mile walking, jogging and cycling trail will close the gap between the not yet completed Legacy Trial in Lexington’s East End and Town Branch trails, creating a 22-mile continuous recreational path.

Planning for the $40 million project will continue through 2017 with construction scheduled for 2018-19 and completion in 2020.

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Bluegrass Community Foundation is providing the next opportunity for input during the on-going planning phase. This Friday, May 26 from 8-10 a.m. at the Plantory 501 W. Sixth Ste. 250, guest Gil Penalosa will deliver the keynote speech “From Talking to Doing: Mobility and Public Spaces’’.

S & A Strategies provided more detail through this social media post, “At the Friday event Gil will present, we’ll get an update of the Town Branch Commons project and there will also be an opportunity to ask questions. The goal of the S & A Strategies team is to engage the communities that are near the trail, those that might have specific programming interests at the common spaces and anyone who supports creation of equitable common spaces.’’

The first public meeting this year regarding the Town Branch Commons was held at a Hunt-Morgan property, specifically the Thomas Morgan House. Morgan was a Nobel Prize winning scientist who is the nephew of Confederate General John Hunt-Morgan. The Hunt and Morgan families are tied to the Confederacy and the slave trade through the operation of cotton plantations.

In a March 2017 Key Conversations Radio interview, historian Bruce Mundy said that most African Americans who are familiar with the Morgan name have negative feelings about that family and their history with enslavement. Regardless of which Morgan’s name is on the house, having a public meeting for a public improvement held there does not give the feeling of inclusion. (Mundy’s full interview is linked below)

Leaders of the project acknowledged that no one place will make everyone feel invited. “There’s going to have to be lots of opportunities for feedback and direct outreach into the community. It’s on us to make sure that we get out there,’’ said Jeff Fugate of the Downtown Development Authority in a Key Conversations Radio interview which aired April 16, 2017.

A relatively large project for the city, the number and dollar amount of contracts awarded to Black contractors and service providers will be scrutinized.

Jonathan Hollinger, Town Branch Commons Project Manager said, “It’s a big enough project that we are developing a Minority and Disadvantaged Business program that Is project specific. I will work with Sherita Miller, Minority Business Liaison for the city to develop a plan that will not only have goals, but tactics to how we’re going to achieve that.’’ (Full Hollinger and Fugate interview is below)

“Your input is critical as the trail and common areas are currently in their design phases. Gil’s knowledge will, hopefully, help to demonstrate to you the importance of resident engagement in projects such as Town Branch, Legacy and other bike lane and trail projects,’’ the S & A Strategies statement concluded.

Details:

Friday, May 29 from 8-10 a.m.

Plantory 501 W. Sixth Ste. 250

Guest Gil Penalosa of 8 80 cities will deliver the keynote speech “From Talking to Doing: Mobility and Public Spaces’’

A jury found the school worker not guilty of assault

Key Newsjournal Staff Report

Originally posted online May 21, 2017 7:23p

Last updated: May 22, 2017 1:30p

The mother of a special needs student at a Fayette County middle school has filed a multi-defendant lawsuit based on an incident that was caught on camera.

WARNING and EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is unedited FCPS bus footage showing the girl slapping Paraeducator James Coleman and Coleman striking the child in response. Contains strong language and violent images.

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According to the civil lawsuit, on April 30, 2015 the special needs student was waiting to exit the bus and enter the building when defendant James Coleman held a conversation with another adult on the bus holding a ”loud” conversation that ”involved audible hand gesturing /clapping”. The student was triggered by the noises and reacted with a ”physical outburst”. The lawsuit claims that Coleman ”violently punched the minor child in the face causing significant damages.”

Coleman sought medical care on April 30, 2015 and found he’d suffered a broken blood vessel in his eye and that he was hit across the bridge of his nose.

After Coleman strikes the girl in the video, she turns and moves toward another adult male on the bus. Someone said, “she’s bleeding’’ and a female adult on the bus got paper towel for her.

The strike to the child’s face by Coleman was ‘’a defensive reaction’’ he says.

On local station WLEX- Channel 18 a reporter states that Coleman knocked teeth from the girls mouth. A photo, of unknown origin, was shown on-sceen during the report.

The photo, which was not part of the legal filings available at the courthouse, shows the mouth of a person that is missing teeth, at least one upper central and one upper lateral.

Speaking exclusively to Key Conversations Radio, Coleman said he’d seen the photo before, however it was not taken by the school, a doctor or law enforcement but was taken by the parents.

In his criminal trial, according to Coleman, witnesses and police said there were no teeth found on the bus and that the child’s mouth did not look like that after the incident.

The video in combination with the photo and lawsuit have angered many people and some social media posts include threats to harm Coleman.

As a result, Coleman says he’s basically withdrawn from the public and had to quit a job managing a local restaurant for fear of his safety.

The suit alleges that Coleman had worked with the girl for months and knew she had a history of violent behavior.

Not so, said Coleman in a May 21 Key Conversations Radio interview. “I’d seen her act out in class and turn her desk over, but that was because she didn’t want to do the work, not because of a loud noise,” Coleman said. The young lady had also attended loud concerts under Coleman’s care, without incident.

James’ Attorney William L. Davis explained that his client was prosecuted for this incident and was charged with assault 4th degree, which could have resulted in a 12-month jail term. But in July of 2016 the case went to trial and Coleman was found innocent by a jury.

However, the mother is now seeking punitive damages from Coleman, Fayette County Public Schools, former Superintendent Tom Shelton and current Superintendent Manny Caulk among insurance companies and the school principal.

Updated Nov. 29, 2012 3:55pm

Harry N. Sykes passed away Wednesday, November 28, at the age of 85.

Harry Sykes was born April 1, 1927 in Mississippi and was raised outside Chicago in Maywood, IL. He came to Kentucky to attend what it now known as Kentucky State University and play basketball. There he majored in physical education, but that was not his first choice of major. He wanted to major in Mathematics however, there was not a degree offered. However, he took many math classes even subbing for a math professor when he was away.

Mr. Sykes married his college sweetheart Geraldine while they were still students in 1951. He shared, during a Key Conversations Radio interview, that during college breaks he played pick-up basketball games at a Chicago YMCA and played with many Harlem Globetrotters. So when the team came to Louisville, Sykes got permission to leave his Frankfort college campus with Ms. Geraldine by his side, to watch the game. When his globetrotting friends saw him, they asked him to suit up and he played the entire game.

Soon he found himself traveling the US and Canada with the team from 1952-54, seeing his wife and young son only a few times a year. He decided to leave his life on the road and put down roots here in Lexington.

In 1954 Sykes became a high school mathematics teacher at the original Dunbar High School and was the assistant to famed Black Coach S.T. Roach.

Harry Sykes then joined the effort to combine Fayette County with the city of Lexington. Sykes had a leadership position and found himself being criticized by Lexington Leader newspaper publisher Fred Wachs, Sr. who said that Sykes was not qualified to handle anything for the city. It was then that Sykes decided to run for commissioner, which is the equivalent of city council today.

Using his mathematical background, Sykes organized voters and asked voters to vote only for him in the at-large style race which allowed voting for several candidates. Sykes was part of a ticket that was endorsed by the Leader but he asked voters to separate the ticket and vote only for him because a vote for an additional commission candidate would cancel out the vote for him, making them equal. His tactic worked and he was elected in1963, in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, becoming Lexington’s first Black city commissioner (councilman).

It would be more than forty years before Lexington would elect a Black woman to city council.

“The time in which Mr. Sykes made his distinct mark in our community is arguably a time where it was the most challenging time to do so,’’ said Andrea James, Lexington’s first Black councilwoman who was elected in 2007.

James marvels at his accomplishments during such a divisive time in history. How fantastic of a statesman he must have been to advocate for all and be certain to glean benefits for the blacks of Lexington while not coming off as a sell-out or an uncle tom. I stand in awe of how masterfully he must have framed his conversations during such a new creation of time in Lexington as a prominent black leader in a town run by whites. I often called upon these thoughts while sitting as the first black woman on our city council. I thought back to his time and realized that if he could prevail in such a trying time, I could, too.’’

From 1964 until 1969, Sykes was also an insurance salesman for Commonwealth Life Insurance selling burial insurance to Blacks and also managed the bowling alley on Georgetown Rd. He was well known throughout the Black community.

Mr. Sykes was reelected in 1965, 1967 and 1969 and in 1971, he ran for mayor of Lexington and lost narrowly to Foster Pettit showing that he had the respect and support of whites too.

Sykes also founded the Lexington chapter of the National Urban League in 1968 and served as its president until 1972.

Chairwoman of Lexington’s Roots and Heritage Festival, Kimberly Henderson-Baird,