What’s Next?

For over 40 years, Dr. Henry Louis Taylor at the University of Buffalo's Center for Urban Studies has looked at the challenges that face Buffalo's communities of color. In today's interview with Jay Moran, he turns to the disparities laid bare during the Christmas blizzard.

Today we discuss the release of video in Memphis showing police beating Tyre Nichols. Prof. John Torrey from SUNY Buffalo State is a member of the city of Buffalo's Police reform commission. Then Attorney Miles Gresham, a policy fellow with the Partnership for Public Good, and a longtime advocate for more police accountability weighs in.

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you a collection of recent interviews around 1 topic: the disproportionate blizzard-related deaths, and discussion about the way poor people and people of color could have been helped more during Winter Storm Elliott. Guests include: Jessica Bauer-Walker, Executive Director of the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo, Karina Tefft of The Nati...

Former Buffalo Police officer Cariol Horne gained fame when she was removed from the force after trying to stop another officer from using a chokehold on a handcuffed suspect. But more recently, she was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice, and harassment, as police responded to reports of looting during the Winter Storm Elliot. Now she's speaking out about how people...

Today we take you to an interesting session convened by the University at Buffalo's Center for K thru 12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. Every few weeks they convene "Black History Nerds Saturday School" to give teachers a range of ideas and resources on how to teach Black history. This past week's session focused on a collective effort to create "The Buffalo Syllabus"- an archive of...

Today we explore the latest on a community benefits agreement approved by the state agency that will be the Buffalo Bills landlord in their new facility. It includes funds for food insecurity, mental health, anti-gun violence and job training. Then hear from Al and Vivian Robinson from Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry on how their sanctuary on Gold St. became refuge for over 100 people during the re...

Charley Fisher from BUILD has an optimistic take on the possibility for business development on Buffalo's East side, and points to a surge in the Broadway-Fillmore area as proof of what might occur elsewhere. Then, University at Buffalo family sociologist Ashley Barr, Assoc. Professor of Sociology at SUNY Buffalo, reveals some of her recent research on how racial discrimination has an effect that...

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Dr. Lori Quigley, interim president Medaille University, on the Native American residential schools in WNY that stripped hundreds of their families and culture, Activist Alex Burgos on his work and combating the triple threat of racism, homophobia and transphobia, Mike Lee, COO and Liza, a client...

Jessica Bauer Walker from the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo looks at what the community can do -- and what government should do to help people of color and the poor during crises like a blizzard, the COVID-19 pandemic or even the Tops shooting. Then Jay Moran begins an occasional series with candidates who are challenging incumbents on the Buffalo City Council this coming year. Up fir...

Jay Moran talks with Greg Brown, a longtime East side resident and the sports columnist for the Challenger Newspaper. Then Emyle Watkins talks with Garrett Bush, a sports talk show host in Cleveland who went viral for a video discussing disability benefits in the NFL. He discusses some of the issues and myths about SSDI before taking a look at the financial and physical risks that NFL players with...

On the National Day of Racial Healing, we delve into healing rituals in African and African-American culture, with Rev. Kwame Pitts, a scholar and practitioner of various rituals, and the pastor at the Community of Good Neighbors - a mobile food pantry in Buffalo. Pitts is an outspoken activist on racial equity, and also runs the Oasis Community, a growing group of spiritual yet not religious peop...

On the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hear highlights of this year's 43rd Annual Community Celebration honoring Dr. King, Including remarks from emcee Clifford Bell, Erie County legislature chair April Baskin, storytelling from Sharon Holly and Karima Amin , a series of monologues from students at the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and a poem from Buffalo Poet Laureate Jil...

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Jerome Wright, NYS HALT Solitary campaign on a NYS study that shows disproportionately harsh discipline of people of color in prisons, Rev. Denise Walden Glenn and Tyrell Ford from VOICE Buffalo on criminal justice and re-entry issues, Teresa Watson and Sarah Frasier from PUSH Buffalo on housing i...

Jay Moran visits the Community Missions in Niagara Falls to talk with Eric Boerdner about their SNUG anti-violence program. Then Dave Debo chats with Dawn Askew from Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) to learn about their Strong African American Families classes.

Of the 43 people who died in Erie County during Winter Storm Elliott, at least 20 victims were Black, 18 were white and one was Hispanic. Today we hear from two strong East Side voices asking why almost half were people of color, in a county that is only 13 percent Black. First up, Dave Debo talks with Buffalo Poet Laureate Jillian Hanesworth. Then Thomas O’Neil White continues the conversation wi...

With all the data on health outcomes that an insurance company like Independent Health has, and all the community contacts that a pastor like Rev. George Nicholas has, it only makes sense that the two would team up on health disparities. Hear Nicholas, with Independent Health Pres. & CEO Dr. Michael Cropp MD. Then St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute student Dion Anderson, joins Project Flight’s Gera...

Today's Buffalo What's Next episode, is a special Producers' Picks program with the storytellers behind #Lake of Betrayal, a PBS documentary that aired Jan. 6 on WNED PBSIt tells a story of the Seneca Nation and the sacrifice that was thrust upon them when the US government flooded their land, created the Kinzua Dam, and forced their removal in breach of the United States’ oldest treaty. Hear from...

Thank you for listening to Buffalo, What's Next? on WBFO. Buffalo, What's Next? will be taking a short break for the holidays and will return in January, with new content for the New Year. As we take this break for the holidays, please continue to tune in to WBFO Monday through Friday at 10am and 9pm for encore presentations of some of our favorite episodes of Buffalo, What's Next?

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Ed Koban, Music Director of the Native American Music Awards and Mental Health Counselor, Hamadi Ali and Dao Kamara from the Providence Farm Collective, and April Baskin, Chair, Erie County Legislature. Thank you for listening to WBFO’s Buffalo, What's Next?. The daily podcast will be taking a sho...

At least once each year, Pastor Kinzer Pointer from Agape Fellowship Baptist Church on Northland Avenue in Buffalo takes new UB Medical students on a tour of Jefferson Avenue, pointing out the issues that they need to have awareness of and people they should have empathy for. Then Jay Moran brings us excerpts from a recent “Making Spaces” discussion at Buffalo Arts Studio with Artist Matt Kenyon,...

After a NYS Inspector General report earlier this month found that Black and Hispanic incarcerated individuals were more likely to be disciplined than white incarcerated individuals in New York prisons, we talk with Jerome Wright, (Twitter:@JMrWright316) who spent 30 years in prison and now leads the HALT Solitary Campaign (http://nycaic.org/) and (Twitter:@NYCAIC). Then Teresa Watson, Housing Jus...

In 1996, a group of community leaders from labor, business and notably churches came together to work on community justice and equity issues, long before the Tops shooting on May 14. Today, Rev. Denise-Walden Glenn, the director of that group, VOICE Buffalo talks of their work and what the community needs. She’s joined by VOICE Buffalo Lead Community Organizer Tyrell Ford. They’ll look at advocacy...

Marvin Askew, Executive Director of the Buffalo City Ballet and school shares his personal story, and talks about their holiday performances of "The Nutcracker" in the Box Theater on Leroy Avenue. Then noted preservationist Tim Tielman, Executive Director of the Greater Buffalo Campaign for History, Architecture & Culture shares information from his recent public forum on "Wrecking Jefferson" look...

In our weekly “Producers’ Picks” episode we bring you highlights of recent important interviews with: Dr. Myron Glick, MD. of Jericho Road Community Health Center, Chandra Redfern, CEO of Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers, Tiffany Lewis, at Confident Girl Mentoring Program, and Jennifer Parker of Jackson Parker Communications.

Mike Lee, COO of Evergreen Health (Twitter: @EvergreenHS) joins Liza, one of their clients to talk about what they feel is a major threat at the state level, (Twitter: @Leave340B) which would reduce funding for community health centers that provide help in underserved communities and populations. Then, activist Alex Burgos (Twitter: @AlexBurgosNY) talks about racism, homophobia and transphobia - a...