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...

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...

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 Allia...

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 w...

The conversation this week is about the pending vaccine for COVID-19 that is expected to here no later than the beginning of 2021. My guest is Gary Spinner from the Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport. He is a physician's assistant who works with HIV patients and has seen first-hand how effective vaccines can be. One of the big questions surrounding the coronavirus is whether Black Ame...

I think we’re all feeling a little out of it and maybe some mild depression about what has been going on this year. The conversation is about COVID-19 fatigue. Our guests today are Dr. Jeff Dietz and Alex Parkhouse,  two assistant professors from Quinnipiac University -- one a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine and the other, a medical sociologist whose r...

This is our second segment on how people earning $40,000 to $60,000 a year can chip away and find financial freedom My guest is Cornell Wright of the Parker Wright Group, a consulting firm based in Stratford. I know Cornell from my time as senior editor of the New Haven Register, where he writes a weekly column called "Plan Well & Execute. "

The drag queen industry has been hit hard as bars,  nightclubs and restaurants have been shut down due to COVID-19, as well as other places and events where drag queens traditionally perform. My guest today is Robin Banks, a drag queen living in Hamden, who depends on performing to earn a living. Like many drag queens, she does not work a traditional job and the virus is preventing her from t...

I received an email from the company that manages the building where I live, stating it would begin reporting missed rent payments to the three credit bureaus. That is a major problem during this pandemic where more than 30 million people have lost their jobs and more than 28 percent of Americans face being evicted due to the loss of jobs. Here in Connecticut, at least 140,000 are at risk of being...

How do you get on the road to financial freedom when you make $40,000 -$60,000 a year? With the cost of living, it really seems like a pipe dream to save or invest when you’re struggling to pay bills. Stephanie Miller, an assistant professor of accounting and finance at Quinnipiac University, says it's about prioritizing and taking small steps to get bigger rewards

There is a lack of leadership in black communities as we face multiple issues that are familiar such as jobs, housing, health care and crime.  The deaths of John Lewis and the Rev. Cordy Tindell "C.T." Vivian are reminders how important that leadership is at the national level. But who will step up at the local level?

If COVID-19 taught minorities one thing, that is to take better care of your health. You do that by gaining more access to health services and by becoming more knowledgeable about health issues that affect not only you but your race.   My guests today are Leandre Memborn, former New Havener living in Providence RI; Frank Taveres of Waterbury and Jim Rawlings, chairman of the board of director...

Black-on-Black crime and gun violence continues to be a serious problem as bullets continue to take young lives.  My guest is Thayer Barkley, a Bridgeport resident and volunteer for Moms Demand Action. She says the Black community is paralyzed and suffering from PTSD

Kiana Brown, 19, was shot in the head while she was asleep in her home in New Haven. She was the victim of a random bullet. Another innocent, black life lost. Gun violence continues to be a problem in black neighborhoods. What is the solution? Chaz Carmon, president of the anti-gun violence organization "Ice the Beef," says the key is getting to kids while they're young. He talks about how the org...

The spending power of black people in 2018 was estimated to be $1.9 trillion. But you would never know that when you go into black neighborhoods. Most of it did not go to black businesses. It is time black people start making a commitment to spend more of their money in black-owned businesses to get some of that money into black communities. My guest today is businessman Howard K. Hill, the owner...

We have been gaining listeners since we aired our first episode on Oct. 25, with our podcast listened to hundreds of times. But we know new listeners may not be aware of the conversations we've had. Here are snippets of what people in Connecticut are talking about.  

Why do I love my country but at the same time hate it so much? The conversation is about systematic racism within police departments and the protests around the US. My guests today are Wes Johnson from Danbury, Clyde Nickerson from Bridgeport and Miche'lle Sanders of Shelton.

The country is at unrest over the killing of another unarmed black man at the hands of police. My guest is Greg Johnson, president President, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Ansonia Branch. The conversation is about George Floyd and the ongoing murders of black men by police.

It’s no longer a secret that blacks and other minorities are being hospitalized and dying at a higher rate than whites from COVID-19.  I discussed this with my guests, Dr. David Hill and Dennis Brown, two professors from Quinnipiac University.  But it is no secret it is due to what has plagued minorities for decades: lack of access to health care, low-level jobs and poor working conditio...