Chris Norwood joined Dr. James Peterson on Evening WURDs for the weekly Critical Commentary with Cousin Chris segment.

Dr. Angela D. Crawford is an Assistant Principal with the School District of Philadelphia and a 30-year veteran educator. She is the founder of Liberated Soul Leadership and Wellness, where she brings together holistic practices including Reiki, sound bath, reflexology, and energy coaching with her decades in education. She is the author of Crowned in Purpose: Sacred Letters of Love, Healing and Community to My Sistahs, a collection of letters born from that same intersection of classroom and spiritual practice, offering healing, affirmation, and community to Black women navigating their own becoming. Dr. Crawford speaks on resilience, purpose, and the power of collective healing, drawing on both her educational leadership and her wellness work.

Dr James Peterson is the host of WURD’s evening show, Evening WURDS, which airs Monday-Thursday from 4p-7p. He is the author of several books, including The Hip Hop Underground and African American Culture, Prison Industrial Complex for Beginners, and Hip-Hop Headphones: A Scholar’s Critical Playlist. He is a columnist for The Philadelphia Citizen and has written for Fortune.com, Newsweek.com, The Guardian, The LA Times, Reuters, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Grio. Dr. Peterson is also a professional wordsmith who has ghostwritten and edited projects for a variety of individuals and corporate entities across a wide spectrum of professions.

They both join the show to further discuss the context of Dr. Crawford's book.

Dr. Darrin Anderson is the president and CEO of The Urban League of Greater Philadelphia, an organization that empowers Black Americans and other historically underserved communities to achieve social equity, economic independence, civic power, and full civil rights.

Dr. Anderson joins the show to talk about what the Urban League is doing to prep students for the upcoming school year. He’ll also talk about August being Philanthropy Month, and what that means for the Urban League.

For this week's Citizen WURD segment, Evening WURDs welcomes back Malcolm Burnley, a staff writer for The Philadelphia Citizen who is passionate about telling overlooked stories throughout Philadelphia. He joins Evening WURDs to discuss his recent article: “Keeping Gen Z in Philly”.

Jos Duncan-Ase, Founder and CEO of Love Now Media, an empathy-centered media company that uses storytelling to amplify acts of love at the intersection of social justice, wellness, and equity. Jos uses her voice and her platforms to empower diverse communities to create and tell their own stories, like she is with the feature-length documentary that she directed and co-produced, " Queen Mother: Falaka Fattah and The House of Umoja" … a story of what can happen when a family opens its doors, and a community chooses peace.

Eric Morrissette, Senior Fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Deputy Secretary in Maryland state government. Eric joins Evening WURDs to discuss the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and how the EEOC proposal vote aims to dismantle civil rights data.

Evening WURDs' Ready, Set, Grow segment welcomes back Tanya T. Morris, Founder of Mom Your Business, a Philadelphia-based entrepreneurial support organization dedicated to helping founders launch, grow, and scale successful businesses through education, mentorship, networking and strategic partnerships. The organization is committed to creating pathways for entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses that strengthen families, neighborhoods and the regional economy.

In partnership with the Black Innovation Alliance, Ms. Morris joins Evening WURDs today to discuss Mom Your Business’ new system — Source Code.

Dr. Arelia Johnson is a nationally recognized strategist, scholar-practitioner, and former Harris County Chief Officer of Human and Civil Rights.

She is the author of the book, Hijacking Equity and the Fight for Justice: A Practical Guide to Language, Liberation, and Leadership in a Time of Fear. In this book, Dr. Johnson examines how equity language can be diluted, repackaged, or used without producing meaningful change. She can help audiences understand how organizations move beyond statements and symbolic representation toward accountability, shared power, and measurable transformation. She introduces the concept of disruptive justice: a practice of challenging systems, language, leadership norms, and institutional habits that preserve inequity while appearing neutral or inclusive.

Dr. Johnson joins the show to talk about Hijacking Equity & The Fight for Justice, and to also discuss her take on “disruptive justice”, and how it applies in the workplace, and other institutions.

Grant Reynolds is an actor in the play, MAMMA MIA! This musical follows Sophie, a young woman who is about to get married and wants her father to walk her down the aisle. The problem is that she doesn’t know who her father is because her mother, Donna, had relationships with three men around the time Sophie was conceived.

Sophie secretly invites all three men to her wedding, hoping to discover which one is her father. Their unexpected arrival brings back memories from Donna’s past and creates plenty of confusion and comedy.

In this musical, Grant plays the role of “Sky,” Sophie Sheridan’s husband-to-be. Fresh off his Broadway debut, Grant is excited to bring this special anniversary tour to Philadelphia and share what it’s like taking on this beloved role.

MAMMA MIA! Will be on view at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia from Sept. 29th to Oct. 4th.

Freshly off his Broadway debut with this amazing show, Grant’s other credits include: Billy Porter's "Anything's Possible" (Amazon Prime), & The Muny's Sweeney Todd, The Color Purple. Thankful to God, his fantastic family and his amazing team. Carnegie Mellon MT '21. For Grandma & Grandpa.

Joining Evening WURDs is Rev. Sheila Johnson, mental health practitioner and the author of the Word In Black op-ed “When A Child Dies Without Answers, Grief Has Nowhere To Go” … where she explores how the Nolan Wells case has generated anxiety for Black parents and connects it with historical trauma experienced by Black families.