Bridging Philly Audacy

Author Susanne Munn of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, says her neurodivergent son had a hard time fitting in. She wrote a poem to help him celebrate himself, and 10 years later, she’s releasing that poem as a children’s book with the help of her friend and illustrator, Amy Towers. Susanne and Amy tell us about “The Great Shape Debate”. Plus Kim Wheeler Poitevien, MSW, LCSW, owner of Amel Counseling, joins us to expand on ways to help kids - and adults - stop comparing themselves to others and love who they are. And on Shara in the City, local musicians re-create the iconic “A Great Day in Harlem” photo, with a Philly twist.

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Tahirah Austin-Muhammad was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was six years old. Throughout her life, she has dealt with pain and organ failures - she’s currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, living on 7% kidney function. Despite that, she is raising a daughter and has helped found Crescent Foundation to provide education and resources to others living with sickle cell disease. She joins us along with her physician, Dr. Safiyya Shabazz. And on Shara in the City, Shara Dae Howard learns double dutch with Majestic Jumpers.
Learn more about how to find and support Black physicians in the Philadelphia area from The Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania.

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For many teens and tweens, social media is everything. It’s how they connect with friends and with the broader world - but there are a lot of dangers online. How can parents keep their kids safe from things like predators and bullying on the internet? PA State Representative Brian Munroe worked with three teenagers to write a bill that just passed the House, aiming to help protect kids online. He joins us along with Dr. Desmond Upton Patton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and the director of SAFELab, a research initiative focused on how youth of color navigate violence online. And on Shara in the City, we visit one of the oldest trees in Philadelphia - a treasure that some in the Germantown neighborhood are fighting to save.
For more, read Dr. Patton’s Newsweek op-ed on the links between social media and gun violence.

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The government must provide attorneys for defendants who can’t afford to hire one. Until last year, funding for those public defenders in Pennsylvania came entirely from the counties. Now, the state has set a $7.5 million budget to fund indigent defense, but public defenders’ offices are still underfunded and their staff is overworked. We speak with the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania’s Executive Director Sara E. Jacobson, Vice President Christopher Welsh, and Chief Defender Keisha Hudson about inequities in the legal system and how a lack of funding can impact trial outcomes. And on Shara in the City, we take a tour of the hidden artistic gems inside The Curtis building in Old City.

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2024 KYW GameChanger Hillary Do created the non-profit BOLT (Build Our Lives Together) to support community grassroots organizations with tools, grants and knowledge to bring about change. She introduces us to Cleopatra Robinson of A Home from Shana Foundation, who is working to lower the rate of Black maternal mortality in Philadelphia, and Ron Toles of Ordinarie Heroes, who works with BIPOC youth in Hunting Park.
Then, the hidden history behind the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Central Branch, which includes Charles Dickens’ stuffed pet bird, Grip - widely thought to have inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “The Raven.” The library also has the only handwritten copy of the poem, which is part of its rare book collection.

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For fifty years, Gift of Life Donor Program has helped organ and tissue recipients off the transplant wait list with their growing donation network. Five years after North Philly rapper and hip-hop recording artist Freeway received a kidney, he's raising awareness about routine physicals and organ donation with his music and Freedom Thinkers Academy. Then, Shara Dae Howard takes a ride-along at Berks County's Maple Grove Raceway, which hosts national races, monster trucks, car shows and more. (Gift of Life Donor Program is the sponsor of Bridging Philly.) 

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