Real talk, Real people

My guest is Bernard Macklin, a flu vaccine outreach coordinator from Southern Connecticut State University.

He is urging people of color to stop potentially putting their lives at risk by clinging to myths, not facts, when it comes to vaccines and the flu.

Can you imagine losing two daughters and a granddaughter at the hands of men filled with rage?

My guest is West Haven resident Corrinna Martin, the founder of Mothers of Victim Equality, a nonprofit to help women victimized by domestic violence.

If anyone can speak to the horrors of this disease, she can.

The conversation continues about Black women and breast cancer. This is part 2.

In Part 1, breast cancer survivor Lolita Bonilla Brooks shared her story and the support she received.

My guest today is Kaprice Miller, the recording secretary from Sister’s Journey, a New Haven, faith-based support group founded in 1999 by the late Linda White-Epps. The group helps women on their journey to recovery and beyond.

Nearly 34,000 Black women were expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, and sadly, an estimated 6,540 were expected to die from it.

My guest today is breast cancer survivor Lolita Bonilla Brooks, a native of Stratford, now living in Virginia.

Due to the importance of this issue, we are doing two segments on it. Part 2 will highlight a local support group founded for Black women by the late Linda White-Epps.

Eating healthy isn’t cheap and that is where community gardens comes in.

My guests are Eliza Caldwell, a community gardens manager at Gather New Haven who oversees 50 gardens; and Alexander Morales, an operations assistant at the Green Village Initiative in Bridgeport, which has 12 gardens.

They’re here to talk about how their gardens are benefiting low-income communities.

If you’re following the national news, the focus from COVID-19 is shifting to its effect on mental health across the nation.

But while the media reports on the nation’s mental health, we are going back to a conversation we had with Rahisha Bevins and Louis R. Reed about the lack of mental health resources in the black community -- and also the black community’s reluctance to seek it

The conversation is with Samantha Williams, president of samsword, based in East Haven

You may not think a business that offers online writing services would be successful, let alone profitable, but Sam says with a nationwide clientele that includes state contracts, businesses, individuals and students, she is busier than ever. The key to success? Sam says "raise your price!"

When Andrew Yang was running for president, many people -- myself included -- scoffed at the idea of the government sending people $1,000 a month to improve their living conditions.

But I think as we all wait anxiously to see if more stimulus money is coming our way, many people may now agree that Universal Basic Income is needed to close the income gap.

Think you can't start your own business? Well, think again. Many blacks are using the loss of a job from COVID-19 as an opportunity to strike out on their own, setting up shop in their homes -- sometimes with as little as a $1,000 to get going.

Black business leaders say now is the right time for Blacks with an entrepreneurial spirit.

My guest today is Anne-Marie Knight of the Black Business Alliance, based in New Haven. She has a lot of encouraging words for those thinking about starting their own biz but are a little wary.

My guest is Bridgeport Board of Education member Joseph Sokolovic, who helped plan the reopening of  Bridgeport schools, which are set to reopen Sept. 8

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association reports that children account for nearly 10 percent of COVID-19 cases nationwide and figures show COVID-19 is rising in schools that have reopened. Should parents be worried?