Ricky Codio is a photographer, visual artist, entrepreneur, and owner of the Ricky Codio Foundation, his own mentorship program where he coaches youth on how to better their photography skills. Through photography, mentorship, and advocacy, we strive to inspire, empower, and uplift individuals, leveraging art as a catalyst for meaningful change. Ricky is also the founder of the Mannequin Factory (MQ Factory), which is his own production and podcast studio.

Ricky joins the show to further discuss his foundation, production studio, and his work as a photographer.

Patricia Wilson Aden is President & CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which leads, strengthens and amplifies the voices of the region's diverse cultural ecosystem—including museums, visual artists, dance companies, community art centers, musicians, historic sites, zoos, and more.

Patricia joins the show to talk about this year’s findings in the 2025 PA CultureCheck report: a statewide report that shines a light on the pandemic recovery progress and community engagement efforts of cultural, arts, and humanities organizations.

Attorney and WURD Radio Host Michael Coard joins us to talk about the movement to stop the Trump administration from erasing Black history at the President's House exhibit at Independence National Historical Park.

“Wake Up With WURD” host Solomon Jones joins Dr. Peterson on Evening WURDs to share his thoughts on the National Guard takeover in Washington, D.C. He also joined to discuss Building The Black Agenda’s next cash mob event this Saturday August 16th at 1225 East Street Road in West Chester, PA starting at 1PM.

Chris Norwood joined Dr. Peterson for this week's Critical Commentary segment on Evening WURDs to discuss the Trump administration taking away the $60 million grant from Miami's Underdock project and the National Guard take over in Washington, D.C.

Kurt Faustin is a mental health and emotional intelligence educator, and founder of The Dropout. The Dropout is an educational platform helping individuals, and organizations break free from limited thinking.

Through his signature framework, The G.R.A.D. System, Kurt teaches emotional intelligence, goal setting, and stress management as both performance tools and healing tools to empower people to grow through what they go through. His work has impacted over 55,000 individuals across schools, nonprofits, and corporate settings.

He joined Dr. Peterson on Evening WURDs to discuss the impact of emotional intelligence, mental health in the black community, the G.R.A.D. System, and the 5 day mental health challenge.

In the third piece of our Summer of Freedom series, Solomon Jones takes us on a musical journey through the rise of Philadelphia International Records, the role Sigma Sound Studios, and the impact of the Sound of Philadelphia.

Dr. Lake Paul has expanded his bio tech company BioAnalysis LLC over the past 4 years on a range of civic-minded projects. The company’s team members have provided STEM instruction at after school programs, organized donation drives, and opened doors for aspiring scientists from underprivileged backgrounds.

BioAnalysis LLC has about 30 employees and a 20,000 square feet lab and office space in Kensington. He joined Dr. Peterson for this week's Citizen WURD segment on Evening WURDs to discuss his work with his bio tech company and in Kensington.

Philadelphia Citizen Article: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/bioanalysis-kensington/

Award winning journalist, TV host, podcast and producer Gia Peppers, is passionate about creating spaces for people to share their full stories whether it’s on her “Healed Girl Era” podcast, which allows guests to share impactful lessons they’ve learned in transformative eras of their lives, or as an entertainment journalist.

She joined Dr. Peterson on Evening WURDs to discuss her “Healed Girl Era” podcast, the new Creatives of Faith community, the long history of Black folks vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, and the recent federal takeover of law enforcement in Washington, DC.

Future Cain is a social-emotional leadership and workplace wellness expert who is the CEO and Founder of Future of SEL- an organization geared to improve social & emotional leadership across multiple workplace environments.

Future joins the show to talk about mental health challenges in high-pressure industries (healthcare, law, tech, finance), her thoughts on managers getting trained to respond to mental health concerns, and examples of companies successfully integrating mental health into policy.