We first met Carmen Hope Thomas several years ago when we talked about her book, "Why Marry a Man You Don't Need." Fast forward to 2022 when we learn Thomas one night went to sleep with a headache and fatigue, and woke up completely blind the next morning. She found out her blindness was due to a brain tumor, and she was rushed to emergency surgery. After surgery, Carmen lost her hair and found research reports stating that chemicals in her preferred type of hair products could cause her brain t...
May 16, 2022•24 min
She’s been called one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. Her debut novel, THE HATE U GIVE, started as a senior project in college. It was later acquired in a 13-publisher auction and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. THE HATE U GIVE was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by George Tillman, Jr. The Hate U Give (2017) follows Starr Carter, a teen girl who is the only witness to her friend’s fatal shooting by a police officer. CONCRETE ROSE is...
May 16, 2022•24 min
Why are some people so good with technology? In the prevailing view, the answer is “natural ability”—and the lion’s share of those gifted just happen to be affluent white and Asian males. Beyond popular opinion, this assumption dominates education and the workplace, which not only puts women and other racial and ethnic groups at a disadvantage but also makes it harder to fight against inequities in tech. In REDEFINING GEEK: Bias and the Five Hidden Habits of Tech-Savvy Teens, Cassidy Puckett, as...
Apr 27, 2022•49 min
On Easter Sunday we talk with Thomas Fellows. Fellows is an Atlanta native now living in Texas. He has written nine books which seek to interweave the Bible, his faith, history and literature. We talk about 2 of his books, one based on a small character in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird and the other based on the criminal who was crucified with Christ and asked for forgiveness.
Apr 23, 2022•25 min
Ambassador Andrew Young recently celebrated his 90th birthday with a weeklong celebration across the city. To mark the milestone, Young collaborated with AJC race and culture reporter Ernie Suggs and longtime friend Don Bermudez to write "The Many Lives of Andrew Young" available where you find books today. Suggs talks about the urgency in writing this book now with the recent passing of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Dr. C.T. Vivian and Congressman John Lewis. What Young likes about this book is t...
Apr 13, 2022•45 min
First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta joins WSB Radio in its centennial celebration. Messages from the church have been on the radio and exclusively on WSB for a century. It is the oldest, and longest running radio ministry in the world. My guest is Pastor Tony Sundermeier. We talk about how the church will observe the milestone as well as the challenges in reaching the lost in the 21st century.
Apr 13, 2022•25 min
Black men have the lowest life expectancy of any major demographic group in the United States, as CDC figures affirm. Based on Census Bureau projections, the life expectancy for a Black American male born in 2020 is 74 years, nearly five years less than the life expectancy for a white newborn male. In JUST HEALTH: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America author Dayna Bowen Matthew makes a strong, evidence-based case that Black and Brown Americans are disproportionally dying young because of st...
Mar 28, 2022•25 min
Georgia Congressman David Scott and Christopher Nunn, Executive Director of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs join Perspectives to discuss the new Georgia Housing Assistance Program. Federal legislation passed allocates $354 million dollars to Georgia homeowners in need. The money may be used to catch up on mortgage or rent payments and may be used to pay some utilities. Applicants must provide identity and financial information and payments are made directly to the creditors and not t...
Mar 28, 2022•18 min
Dr. Jaqueline Dow is a research scientist who cares deeply about women's s health. When life circumstances dealt her a surprising blow, Dr. Dow was prepared to pivot with her passion: JDow fitness. Her goal is for women to look good and feel good in their clothes, especially two years at home in active wear. She launched an athleisure line that is featured in Target as part of the company's DE&I initiative, Black Beyond Measure.
Mar 14, 2022•31 min
Dr. E. Dewey Smith is a minister working to end the human trafficking in our community. He is pastor of the House of Hope in Atlanta and Macon. In 2013, Dr. Smith launched The Tabitha's House, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, counseling and support to young girls rescued from human trafficking. His congregation is one of the few churches in the nation that owns a resource center and two residences that house and empower victims of human trafficking. In addition, Smith opened the H...
Mar 09, 2022•25 min
What began as a single daily email of encouragement to a cancer patient and friend has turned into a movement of moments to encourage many. Susan Lax is a counselor who works with those touched by illness, grief and loving through death. From the one note to a friend there is now Morning Inspiration and a book, A Heart's Landscape: An invitation into the Garden of Moments.
Mar 09, 2022•25 min
Joining me for this episode are authors Kimberlee Williams and Debby Irving. Kimberlee's new book is "Dear White Woman, Please Come Home." It is a series of 40 letters to a fictional missing white sister. Williams explores with many emotions how white women, often despite their best intentions signal to her and other Black women to proceed with caution when around them. These fictional letters are based on real events and serve as testimonies to the microaggressions that undermine and make Black...
Feb 28, 2022•25 min
As we round out black history month is DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond. Before becoming the DeKalb CEO, he served in the Georgia General Assembly and was the first African American elected to statewide office without having been appointed to the position first. He’s transformed the state department of family and children services, the labor department and the DeKalb county schools. But that’s not why he’s here. He’s here because he’s also a writer. His most recent book, freedom: Georgia’s anti-slave...
Feb 28, 2022•24 min
Richard Hicks leads InspirEDU a nonprofit organization working to close the digital divide in our community. Never had this become more apparent than during this pandemic when students and families did not have access to technology and/or the internet to live and to learn. Next we meet 2 Sisters of the Skies. There are fewer than 200 black female pilots on the flight deck and this nonprofit is working to grow their numbers. Stephanie Grant and Ann Marie Barry had a passion for flying as children...
Feb 21, 2022•48 min
On Feb 13, we meet Leah Henderson, children's author. Her book is A "Daddy Speaks Love" and is a delightfully illustrated story about the importance of a father's love for his daughter. In our conversation we also learn about Henderson's other work and her passions. Then we head over to the Alliance Theater where now through February 27th on the Coca Cola Stage is the story of Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball in the Negro League. We talk with the production's director Ti...
Feb 17, 2022•50 min
My guest is Kimberly Jones. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the aftermath of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Brianna Taylor and far too many others. In six minutes and 46 seconds jones captured the hearts, minds and spirit of a community coming to grips with the racial reckoning that is upon us. Kimberly jones is Atlanta-based. She’s an activist and now an author. She’s written, "How We Can Win: Race, History and Changing the Money Game That’s Rigged. We also ...
Feb 07, 2022•49 min
COVID fatigue is real and it's having an impact on our kids. One metro Atlanta company is working with school systems in Georgia and across the country to make remote learning easier and more accessible to students as well as serving as a one stop repair shop. Stratix frees up teachers to teach and IT staff to work on desktops, not mobile devices. Next, he's one to watch on the Barnes and Noble February list of writers. Antwan Eady of Savannah wrote Nigel and the Moon, a book about a boy and his...
Feb 02, 2022•49 min
More than one-third of Georgia parents with young children say they or someone in their family has had to quit a job, not take a job, or greatly change jobs in the past year because of problems with childcare. The ongoing pandemic has only aggravated the problem. For more than a decade, GEEARS, the Georgia early education alliance for ready students, works to inspire and to provide leadership for a statewide movement on quality early learning and healthy development for all children from birth t...
Jan 24, 2022•24 min
The year was 1964 and the stakes were high. This was the last and only chance for David Harris. He wrestled with being forthright about his race. After all, with his light skin, wavy hair, and green eyes, he could pass for white. But Harris was determined to fly airplanes as a black male pilot – even though in 1964 black men were not commercial airline pilots. This is the story Michael Cottman tells in “segregated skies” David Harris’ trailblazing journey to rise above racial barriers.
Jan 19, 2022•25 min
He's performed with the greatest jazz musicians: DIzzy Gillespie, Betty Buckley, Lou Rawls and many more. What drives Kenny Werner, artistic director of the Effortless Mastery Institute at Berklee College of Music is not playing the instrument, but becoming the instrument. His book, Becoming the Instrument: Lessons on Self-Mastery from Music to Life mixes his philosophical, spiritual perspective with his mastery of Jazz to create a life map. He argues if you clear away life's baggage and pull ou...
Jan 10, 2022•42 min
Thursday, January 6 at 8pm on ABC "Women of the Movement, a six-episode limited series event premiers. It is based on the true story of Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley. For many, it is an unknown story. Till was a 14 year old boy murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman. The men arrested and charged with the crime were acquitted. Last year, the Justice Department closed the case of Till's murder. Last month, ABC screened the first 2 hours of the series and in...
Jan 06, 2022•25 min
In America's Original Sin, author John Rhodehamel examines the life of John Wilkes Booth and his motive for the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. Rhodhamel argues Booth was a White Supremacist and his fear of the integration of a Black community under Lincoln threatened the life he and others like him enjoyed. Next we talk with Karen Comer Lowe, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Atlanta's Hammonds House Museum. On exhibit through the end of January is Exhibiting Culture: Highlights from...
Dec 22, 2021•25 min
Following a year-plus of being stuck inside because of the pandemic, live theater is slowly returning. The Alliance Theatre took the year to reimagine and build a new set for the holiday classic A Christmas Carol on the Coca Cola stage now through December 24. Additionally, a filmed version of the production is available to stream beginning December 17. Another holiday tradition has returned to the stage at the Ferst Center for the Arts on the Georgia Tech Campus. Black Nativity is an African-Am...
Dec 13, 2021•25 min
Our friends in education tell me the pandemic has set learning - especially in our public schools back four years. That's not the half of it. New research from the Atlanta-based organization Learn 4 Life found the number of students applying for financial aid to go to college has fallen. The reason for fewer applications, the lack of personal interaction with a trusted adult to help a student complete the forms. The forms a complicated and require a student gather a great deal of information fro...
Dec 13, 2021•25 min
On this episode we conclude our conversation with educator and social media influencer Dr. Zackory Kirk with his thoughts on the debate over Critical Race Theory and the 1619 project. Next a conversation with Morehouse College senior Elisha Talley. This 25-year-old Chemistry major from Camden, New Jersey is more than a non-traditional student who benefited greatly from his UNCF scholarship. The Mayor's Masked Ball coming up on December 18 hosted by Lynn Whitfield and featuring entertainment from...
Dec 07, 2021•20 min
Topical conversation with educator and influencer Dr. Zackory Kirk about current events including the Atlanta Mayoral election, the race for Georgia Governor, the 2022 midterm elections, the debate over Critical Race Theory and cancel culture. Kirk is a new content creator for Linked In's education hub.
Dec 07, 2021•25 min
Mission Role Call is a nonpartisan movement working to provide America's veterans a powerful and unified voice in Washington. The organization's top priorities are ending veteran suicide, providing easier access to health care and serving as an advocate for unserved veterans. The group is led by Atlanta resident Patrick Griffith. Next, a conversation with the Executive Director of Ahimsa House, Myra Resnick. Ahimsa House helps victims of domestic violence escape their situation and provides temp...
Dec 06, 2021•20 min
November 30 is Giving Tuesday. It is Georgia's greatest day of generosity. After Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Shop Local Saturday and Cyber Monday, the community asks you go support the nonprofit organization that means something to you. For 130 years, Families First has been a change agent for families. This nonprofit seeks to accelerate families toward a permanent path of stability and success. Our vision focuses on two generations – the parent and the child – and combines critical Families Fir...
Nov 22, 2021•25 min
Imagine making the decision to go into business for yourself. Imagine beginning the journey in early 2020. Charise M. Williams has spent much of her career working in the nonprofit sector. In early 2020 she decided to embrace entrepreneurship as a professional leadership coach. What Williams did not anticipate was the start of a global pandemic. Nonetheless she persisted and also wrote a book, The Joy of Thriving While Black. In adversity following the deaths of Ahmad Arbery, George Floyd, Brian...
Nov 22, 2021•25 min
In October, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called a special session of the Georgia Legislature for the purposes of redistricting. This act determines who represents you in the legislature and in Congress. What influence do you have, if any in the process? We put this question to the Political Director of the Georgia ACLU, Christopher Bruce. Then we turn to a community issue. November is National Adoption Month and for 150 years Wellroot Family Services has provided support and fostered adoptions to...
Nov 15, 2021•25 min
