This episode of Listen Up! features an excerpt of an interview from CEO Live Talks with Swannie Jett which featured LUL President & CEO Lyndon Pryor. The duo talk about Pryor's upbringing, education, and what led him to the Urban League.

Watch the complete two-part interview on the PDCHC YouTube account part one and part two.

Special thank you to Dr Swannie Jett and Juan Lambert of Park Duvalle Community Health Centers.

Our host LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor, is joined by Dr. John Marshall, ⁠Chief Equity Officer for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS)⁠. Our duo raps about the current state of public education, charter schools, parents' responsibility in school, and how JCPS is so close and so far from getting it right.

Dr Marshall was born and raised in Louisville and completed his undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate studies at Western Kentucky University. The self-proclaimed "Grinch who stole celebration", focuses on those students who traditionally fall through the cracks and creating a truly equitable system.

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor, is joined by Dr. Deonte Hollowell, Program Director of African-American Studies at Spalding University. Our duo rap about the role of higher education in the revolution and how it is important to take the knowledge out of the classroom and back to the community.

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor, is joined by Von Barnes, the founder of Kentuckiana Backyard Farms⁠

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor, is joined by Lance Newman II aka Mr SpreadLove. Newman is a poet, visual artist, actor, educator, and playwright. He experienced bullying in his pre-teen years but used his words through poetry to fight back.

Our host Lyndon Pryor, Interim LUL President & CEO, is joined by Ramona Dallum, Community Foundation of Louisville

Our host Lyndon Pryor, Interim LUL President & CEO, is joined by Ben Johnson Jr, Assistant Director of Recreation for Louisville Parks and Recreation. Johnson shares the vital role parks and recreation play in the community, his love of cooking, and how his time at Florida A&M University helped shape him into the man he is today.

Our host Lyndon Pryor, Interim LUL President & CEO, is joined by Louisville's own Poet Laureate, Hannah Drake⁠. Hannah is an author, spoken word artist, and activist who gained national attention in 2019 when her poem "All You Had to Do Was Play the Game, Boy" was shared by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in his public protest of police brutality against Black men and women.

The duo discuss the work of fighting racism, voter apathy, and the long-term commitment that must be made for justice. Hannah also leads The (Un)Known Project whose goal is to exhume the names and stories of the enslaved that America had buried and hidden.

Our host Lyndon Pryor, Interim LUL President & CEO, is joined by Amber Duke⁠, Executive Director of ACLU of Kentucky. The pair discuss strong leadership, mis- and disinformation, smart justice, and the struggle for civil rights in Kentucky.

Amber Duke has spent her entire professional career finding ways to get into “good trouble,” by shining a light on systemic inequalities that disproportionality impact Black and other marginalized people. She has been with the ACLU of Kentucky for nearly 10 years and is the first Black woman to lead the ACLU of Kentucky in its 67-year history.

This episode features a guest special to the Louisville Urban League. Over four years ago, Courtney Robinson came to the LUL seeking record expungement services. An old criminal infraction limited his employment choices resulting in a string of dead-end jobs. Robinson met with a Workforce Development Specialist who encouraged him to enter the Kentuckiana Builds program. He reluctantly agreed and his life was changed over the six-week course.

Robinson joined Messer Construction in 2019 as a Carpenter Apprentice and is now the Urban Workforce Development Initiative (UWDI) Specialist. He works as a liaison between Messer Construction Company and the Louisville Urban League to support and strengthen the recruitment and career growth of minorities and women in the field. Robinson will officially complete his apprenticeship program in December of 2023 to become a Journeyman Carpenter.