Listen Up!

This week's episode of Listen Up! is a change from our normal formula. Our show Producer Cherilyn Martin, LUL Marketing Manager, revisits previous episodes where our guests discuss their hopes for the city of Louisville. Our aim is to inspire you, the listener, to think about your hopes for Louisville and be empowered to make the change.

"We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better." President Obama

Interim President & CEO Lyndon Pryor covers recent news stories including the Supreme Court decision to end Affirmative Action in college admissions and the selection of Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.

Host Lyndon Pryor the Interim LUL President & CEO is joined by Kamari Wooten a member of the University of Louisville Athletics staff. Wooten shares his path from growing up in Detroit, playing college-level basketball at Kentucky State University, and working in university academics.

Wooten is the local coordinator for the African American Male Wellness Agency. There, he is responsible for the Annual Male Wellness 5k Walk where they provide free health screenings to black males. He serves as a mental wellness advocate by facilitating monthly sessions for black men in a program called Real Men Real Talk (RMRT). The RMRT program meets every 4th Tuesday from 6-8 pm at the Louisville Central Community Center.

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Dr Eddie Woods of No More Red Dots a violence interruption program working to end gun violence and recidivism. Dr Woods is an O.G. and respected community member who has dedicated himself to getting ahead of the problem of community violence. His non-traditional methods of intervention allow him and his team to provide real "community policing". Dr Woods shares his background from being a kid in the California neighborhood to going off the college with "$75, a pack of cards, and a pair of dice."

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Kendall Boyd an HR and DEI Professional with Louisville Water Company. Boyd shares his diverse employment background as a Prosecutor in Terre Haute, IN; an Assistant County Attorney for Jefferson County, KY; Chief Equity Officer for Louisville Metro; and now as the Employee Relations Manager for Louisville Water Company. He confesses his hopes for Louisville including eliminating the 9th Street divide and how businesses can use Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a starting point to do more for the community.

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by licensed mental health therapist Elishia Durrett-Johnson of Begin to Talk, LLC. Nicknamed the Community Therapist, Durrett-Johnson is a community partner with the League providing mental health education through A Path Forward. She shares how traumatic events can indirectly and directly affect our well-being and how Black people experience life differently by looking through the lens of trauma. Durrett-Johnson raps about her personal experiences coping with the loss of loved ones and how moving forward looks different. Our duo discusses the contrast between surviving versus living and how we are conditioned to just go.

The Community Self-Care Program gives Black people spaces to find rest, process life, and increase their self-care. The 8-week wellness group program is co-led by therapists who guide participants through mental health concepts that can connect to their daily lives. Groups are organized to create homogeneous safe spaces for Black women, Black men, LGBTQ+, high school, and middle school students.

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by LUL CFO, Anthony Leachman to discuss his history with civil rights activism, the science of money and finance, and his unorthodox path from a kid in Owensboro, KY to Assitant State Auditor. Leachman also shares his experience as being the 44th Black CPA in the Commonwealth and many times the first and only Black accountant in the workplace.

Anthony Leachman is the spouse of LUL Housing Director, Nichole Leachman who was featured on Episode 8 Sometimes the Ends Don't Meet.

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Dr. Ricky Jones former Chair of the UofL Pan-African Studies department. Jones divulges his reasons for stepping away from the Dept Chair position and announces his new role with the UofL Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute as the Baldwin-King Scholar-in-Residence. In what is our longest interview to date, Pryor and Jones volley over political discourse, the future of Black Louisville (and Kentucky), and the rise of anti-intellectualism. Jones speaks freely on why he believes Louisville is at a political apex and in danger of losing its position as Kentucky's last beacon of hope.

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Latoya Cook-Bradley owner of Brew & Sip Coffee Bar and Flavorfull Catering. Cook-Bradley shares her professional path and how she snuck into the food industry despite being discouraged by her family. She provides an honest opinion on what it takes to be an entrepreneur, her successes and failures, and why she feels there is room for many in this space. Cook-Bradley along with her husband Alphonza Bradley opened Brew & Sip in 2020 to serve as a safe space for the community to gather. Since then they have opened a second location and are working on a third along with tackling the issue of food apartheid in West Louisville.

Brew & Sip Coffee Bar locations are in West Buechel at 3800 Shepherdsville Rd, Louisville, KY 40218, and Downtown at 505 West Broadway, Louisville, KY, 40202