WURD Radio

Onz Chéry is a Haitian correspondent for The Haitian Times. Chery started his journalism career as a City College of New York student with The Campus. He later wrote for First Touch, local soccer leagues in New York, and Elite Sports New York before joining The Haitian Times in 2019. Onz joins the show to talk about various logistics for the World Cup, such as security measures for fans & reporter...

Reginald Streater, President of the Philadelphia School Board, joins us to talk about the future of Philadelphia Schools at a time when money is short.

Janet M. Taylor Host of the "Got Clutter? Get Organized" Podcast and Dr. Abike James, an OB/GYN at Penn Medicine join the show. They talk to us about "Making Space for You" as it relates to decluttering and wellness.

Angela Rye is an award-winning host, social justice advocate, legal analyst, and CEO of IMPACT Strategies - a policy advocacy, social impact and racial equity firm where she creates strategic partnerships and coalitions with Capitol Hill, third party organizations and influencers to ensure society change. She joined Dr. Peterson to discuss Michelle Obama's name being brought up at the UFC White Ho...

Natalie Shieh and Sarah McGinnis are from the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, NAIOP Philadelphia. They are the authors of the Philadelphia Citizen article — “A Philadelphia Where Workers Can Afford To Live: If we want people who work in Philly to be able to live in Philly, change must start with bringing down the wage tax, argue champions of commercial real estate and urban develop...

Ebony Roberts is a Philadelphia-area filmmaker, festival director, and creative producer best known as the creator and director of the United We Heal Film Festival, a social justice-focused short-film festival that amplifies the voices of Black and Brown filmmakers and fosters community healing through cinema. Kota the Friend is a multi-instrumentalist and self-made artist. He is one of the perfor...

Nathalie 'Talie' Cerin is a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter and cultural worker originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her music, a mixture of Haitian folk and soul, is a testament to the two cultures that have shaped her as an artist and woman. Debora Reaves Charmelus is a Haitian-American cultural producer and founder of Kontan Creative Studio, a Philadelphia-based practice rooted in Afro-C...

Christopher Stevens is an actor and musician. He not only leads his own band, Vertical Current, but he also served as the horn section leader for John Legend, toured with Eric Roberson, and worked on projects for Diana Ross, Tye Tribbett, and Ms. Lauryn Hill. He earned a GRAMMY nomination for his work on Tye Tribbett's "Get Up". Chris joined the show to talk about his band and his overall journey...

Dr. Stacy Holland is the Executive Director of Elevate 215, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing educational outcomes for Philadelphia students. A new charter school application program, Apply Philly Charter, is helping Philly students connect to the schools they want most while improving efficiency for schools across the city. The new system allowed 26,696 students to rank up to fifteen...

Felicity A. Williams, Esq., Executive Director and Laura Beltrán Figueroa, Policy Research and Legislative Strategy Director at the Pennsylvania Policy Center, discuss where PA ranks in state school funding, highlights from Gov. Shapiro's proposed budget, and money in politics.

Kam Middlebrooks, Deputy Executive Director of Onyx Impact, discusses the comprehensive Blackout Report documenting how the Trump administration has negatively targeted Black communities.

Senator Nikil Saval represents Pennsylvania’s First Senatorial District, which runs through the heart of Philadelphia. Senator Saval serves as Democratic Chair of the Senate’s Urban Affairs & Housing Committee, and leads the Senate’s Philadelphia Delegation. He joined Dr. Peterson to discuss upcoming HOMECOMING 2026: A Day for Justice-Impacted Philadelphians event in conjunction with Councilman Ni...

Carmina Taylor is a fierce advocate for public education and civil rights leader. She leads the Pennsylvania Black Mayors Caucus, which is partnering on a series of events with the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition regarding literacy and civic engagement. She joined Dr. Peterson to discuss the final version of the PA Black Mayors Civic Engagement Initiative, and the launch of the Public Education Te...

Weadé James is the Senior Director of K-12 Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, whose research and expertise advances equity for historically marginalized groups, particular students with disabilities, low-income students, and students and educators of color. She joined Dr. Peterson for this week's Center for American Progress segment to discuss policies addressing cellphone use i...

Helen Salahuddin is an entertainment attorney, cultural activist and community leader whose work spans law, education and cultural preservation. She joined Dr. Peterson to discuss this year’s PAJI Juneteenth Parade that WURD Radio will be broadcasting from at Malcolm X Park at 52nd and Pine Streets on Sunday, June 21st at 12:00 PM.

Tiffany Bacon is WURD Radio’s Creative and Production Director, who led last Thursday’s WURD Radio’s Black Music Month event — “Beats, Flows and Neo Soul”. She joined Dr. Peterson to discuss WURD’s Black Music Month and the importance of acknowledging OUR Philadelphia-based music, and co-hosting WURD’s Odunde broadcast with TechLifeSteph.

Aaron Moselle of WHYY joins the show. He drills down on the city’s housing plan in the newly approved $7.1 billion dollar budget.

Adam Garber joins the show. He is Ceo of CeaseFire, and talks to us about the push for more state funding for gun violence prevention

Councilman Curtis Jones joins the show. He talks to us about the city’s $7.1 million-dollar budget, and public safety after three police officers were shot during an altercation with a former fire fighter.

DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jeffrey Allen Townes) is an American DJ, producer, and actor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He rose to fame as one half of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. The pair won the first Grammy ever awarded for a rap performance in 1989 for “Parents Just Don't Understand.” Jeff is widely respected for his innovative turntable skills and influence on DJ cul...

Jasmine Nelson is the founder of Umber by J. Lenay, a beauty brand created to help women reduce unwanted hair and reclaim confidence. Founded in 2019 and expanded from Oakland to Houston, Umber has stayed grounded in handmade, all-natural principles while growing into a dermatologist-tested, plant-based brand. Jasmine’s work also extends beyond products through a Facebook community supporting wome...

Amber Mays is the director of events at the African American History Museum in Philadelphia, the first institution funded and built by a major municipality to preserve, interpret, and exhibit the heritage of African Americans The 2026 Juneteenth Jubilee Block Party & Free Museum Day at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) takes place on Friday, June 19, 2026. AAMP will also have free...

Dr. Monica A. Nwokocha (en-wah-KAH-chuh), a board-certified family medicine physician and author of the Amazon bestselling memoir Custody MD: Fighting for the Woo. In Custody MD: Fighting for the Woo, Dr. Adwoafuaa Nwokocha delivers a raw, gripping memoir chronicling her descent into the high-stakes hell of family court. What begins as a love story between two med school students unravels into a d...

Ben Tinsley is a French teacher based in Colombia, South America. A teacher of almost 2 decades and a lifelong student, Ben has dedicated his professional and personal life to the pursuit of substantive diversity, equity, and belonging in education. In the classroom, he has had the opportunity to work with teachers and schools around the world to develop curricula that center Black Indigenous Comm...

WURD radio celebrates live at the 51st anniversary of the Odunde Festival, the largest African American street festival in the nation with hosts Tiffany Bacon of the Midday Braek Room and co-host Tech Life Steph of Life & Tech with Tech Life Steph. Together, they speak to various vendors at Odunde to find out what they sell and why the Odunde Festival is so important to the community. This broadca...