Listen Up!

Our host LUL Interim President & CEO Lyndon Pryor addresses recent hot topics surrounding the start, stop, and restart of the JCPS 2023-24 school year, the bussing fiasco that had children arriving home at 10 pm, and the the district's response. Pryor also announces the launch of the Urban League's Urban Farming Initiative: Project Kilimo .

We are back from our hiatus with host Lyndon Pryor, Interim LUL President & CEO, who is joined by Dr Cynthia Bethel Hines. Bethel Hines is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center, an Associate Professor at the University of Louisville, and President of the Louisville Coalition for Black Maternal Health . The duo talks about the dangers of maternal health locally a...

This week's episode of Listen Up! is a change from our normal formula. Our show Producer Cherilyn Martin, LUL Marketing Manager, revisits previous episodes where our guests discuss their hopes for the city of Louisville. Our aim is to inspire you, the listener, to think about your hopes for Louisville and be empowered to make the change. "We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as...

Interim President & CEO Lyndon Pryor covers recent news stories including the Supreme Court decision to end Affirmative Action in college admissions and the selection of Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel .

Host Lyndon Pryor the Interim LUL President & CEO is joined by Kamari Wooten a member of the University of Louisville Athletics staff. Wooten shares his path from growing up in Detroit, playing college-level basketball at Kentucky State University, and working in university academics. Wooten is the local coordinator for the African American Male Wellness Agency . There, he is responsible for t...

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Dr Eddie Woods of No More Red Dots a violence interruption program working to end gun violence and recidivism. Dr Woods is an O.G. and respected community member who has dedicated himself to getting ahead of the problem of community violence. His non-traditional methods of intervention allow him and his team to provide real "comm...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Kevin Dunlap, Executive Director of REBOUND Inc . REBOUND, Rebuilding Our Neighborhood Dwellings, was created to increase community development and neighborhood revitalization in West Louisville. Dunlap, a West Louisville native shares his history in the housing industry and with the Louisville Urban League. The duo discuss what is afforda...

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Kendall Boyd an HR and DEI Professional with Louisville Water Company. Boyd shares his diverse employment background as a Prosecutor in Terre Haute, IN; an Assistant County Attorney for Jefferson County, KY; Chief Equity Officer for Louisville Metro; and now as the Employee Relations Manager for Louisville Water Company. He confesses...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by licensed mental health therapist Elishia Durrett-Johnson of Begin to Talk, LLC . Nicknamed the Community Therapist, Durrett-Johnson is a community partner with the League providing mental health education through A Path Forward . She shares how traumatic events can indirectly and directly affect our well-being and how Black people experien...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by LUL CFO, Anthony Leachman to discuss his history with civil rights activism, the science of money and finance, and his unorthodox path from a kid in Owensboro, KY to Assitant State Auditor. Leachman also shares his experience as being the 44th Black CPA in the Commonwealth and many times the first and only Black accountant in the workplace...

Our host Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor welcomes Dr. Ricky Jones former Chair of the UofL Pan-African Studies department. Jones divulges his reasons for stepping away from the Dept Chair position and announces his new role with the UofL Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute as the Baldwin-King Scholar-in-Residence. In what is our longest interview to date, Pryor and Jones volley ov...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Latoya Cook-Bradley owner of Brew & Sip Coffee Bar and Flavorfull Catering . Cook-Bradley shares her professional path and how she snuck into the food industry despite being discouraged by her family. She provides an honest opinion on what it takes to be an entrepreneur, her successes and failures, and why she feels there is room for m...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Dr Tamea Evans and Nick Judd of CenterWell Primary Care. The trio talks about health disparities in the Black community, wellness, and the new CenterWell facility being constructed on the site of the Louisville Urban League Sports & Learning Campus on W Market Street. CenterWell has a temporary trailer located in the parking lot behind...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Daryle Unseld Jr., President and CEO of The Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana . Unseld shares his career path from serving in the US Air Force to his current position with the Boys & Girls Club and the reason why he is so passionate about creating safe spaces for youth in Louisville.

LUL Interim President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined again by LUL Director of Policy, Felicia Nu'Man to discuss Kentucky's upcoming primary election, why this election matters, and why your vote is more powerful than you think. The Kentucky Primary Election date is Tuesday 5/16/23. Find more information .

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by members of the LUL Health Navigators team Heaven Guinn and Melvin BJ Boyd, along with Health Director, Angela Wilson to discuss health services and how the league partners with other community agencies to provide solutions for problems like homelessness, mental health, rental assistance, and job training. The team shares their experiences...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Cassandra Webb, Director of Innovation and Research at Cities United . Lyndon and Cassandra discuss economic justice for Louisville's West End, the hurdles of development, and what legacy building means. Cassandra is a Millennial on the move creating the Young Leadership Fellowship in 2018, becoming Director of Russell: A Place of Prom...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Honorable Brian Edwards, Circuit Court Judge Division 11 (and also Louisville Urban League Board Member). Judge Edwards shares his professional history from his early years as a public defender, to over a decade in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, and his appointment to circuit court judge in 2009. When he's not serving...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Savvy Shabazz, founder and CEO of Life Coach Each One Teach One REentry Fellowship. Shabazz shared his trials and tribulations as a formerly incarcerated person including his struggles to find meaningful work, housing, and campaigning for a pardon from the Governor to have his voting rights restored. But it isn't enough for Shabazz to...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by LUL Housing Director, Nichole Leachman to discuss housing and financial counseling services and the League's long history of assisting home ownership as the oldest HUD-certified counseling agency in the state of Kentucky. Nicole also shares her own personal struggles with housing instability as a youth and how it lead her to this caree...

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by AMPED President & CEO, Dave Christopher to discuss the Russell Technology Business incubator, the creation of A Path Forward, and the future Innovation Center. Dave also talks about his musical abilities and how he stumbled into the non-profit sector. References: Amped Louisville https://ampedlouisville.org/ A Path Forward https://apat...

Former Louisville Urban League (LUL) Chief Engagement Officer, Lyndon Pryor discusses recent changes to leadership at the LUL including his new appointment as Interim President & CEO, what these changes mean to the organization, and what are our next steps. Pryor also shares a bit of his background from a kid growing up in Houston, TX to the present.

Louisville Urban League Chief Engagement Officer, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Cynthia Brown, the League's Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, to discuss innovations around Black businesses and the work the Path Forward in that space. Cynthia talks about how she leverages her unique background and skill set to advance equitable opportunities on behalf of Black entrepreneurs to ensure tha...

Louisville Urban League Chief Engagement Officer, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Cities United Executive Director and Louisville native, Anthony Smith, to discuss his journey into the work of organizing and community building. Anthony also discusses his work in disrupting systems and cycles of violence in communities across the country and together, Anthony and Lyndon examine the hurdles that exist in...

Over the past 3 years, there have been a number of hot-button topics to rise to the forefront of the education conversation in Louisville and Kentucky. From masks to guns, to identity; opinions on what is best for students have come from lots of people, but not too many students. In this episode of Listen Up! LUL Chief Engagement Officer, Lyndon Pryor is joined by JCPS students, Mort and Jaylin to...