Season 2

DeRay Mckesson and his instantly recognizable blue down vest have become synonymous with advocacy for victims of police violence and an end to mass incarceration. With his one million twitter followers, a best-selling book (“On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope”), and his hit podcast “Pod Save the People,” who also is co-founder of the police reform initiative Campaign Zero, is creating space for conversation and action.

Dr. Andre Perry of The Brookings Institution has made exploration of race and structural inequality his life’s work. He is a columnist for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization that specializes in in-depth education reporting, and his writing also regularly appears in The Nation, The New York Times and The Washington Post. His new book is titled “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities” (Brookings Institution Press, May 19, 2020).

Rue Mapp founded Outdoor Afro, a “social media community that introduces African Americans to the great outdoors” in 2009, and its success garnered her a role in the organization of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative, a National Wildlife Federation’s Communication Award, and a 2019 Heinz Award in the environment category. “Nature doesn’t judge anyone,” says Rue. “The outdoors is a refuge from all the ‘-isms.’ ” 

Phil Buchanan, founder and president of The Center for Effective Philanthropy and author of “Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count,” is working to make certain people have the best possible information to ensure those hard-earned dollars do the most possible good. 

“The Things They Carried” brought National Book Award-winning author Tim O’Brien fame, and the unparalleled poetic beauty and honesty of his novels, short stories and memoirs have cemented his status as one of our most revered contemporary writers.  “We need to be open to the ‘maybe-ness’ of our lives,” Tim says of his latest release, “Dad’s Maybe Book.” “We need to be open to learning, to leaning toward decency, beauty and humility.”

As the national rhetoric about refugees skews toward outright xenophobia, Hello Neighbor Founder and CEO Sloane Davidson is “creating an army of support” that is changing their lives and strengthening the fabric of neighborhoods. “Just like any other family in America, refugees are just trying to get by, do right by their kids, thrive, survive, and find joy,” Sloane says. “One-on-one interaction helps make our similarities crystal-clear.”

Journalist and “Blindsided by the Taliban: A Journalist’s Story of War, Trauma, Love and Loss” author Carmen Gentile gives his frank, first-hand account of the true cost of our 18-year war in Afghanistan, why it’s considered un-American to question our military, and how he came to turn his efforts to reporting and producing stories that lift up innovators of the Rust Belt and Greater Appalachia through Postindustrial’s print and digital media outlets.

Emmy-winning composer, in-demand director and respected mentor Emmai Alaquiva is candid about what rescued him during his early hard times: “The arts saved my life.” CEO of the media production entity Ya Momz House and a centrifugal force of light and positivity, Emmai shares his story of homelessness; his early ‘90s hip-hop days with Pensoulzinakup; and how he’s built a career that has included working with The Roots, Dr. Maya Angelou, Solange Knowles and Common. 

In part two of host Grant Oliphant’s two-episode conversation with Dr. Cornel West and Bakari Kitwana, they examine the revolution in priorities our society needs if we are to thrive, the young activists that are driving their hope, and why empathy – on both sides of the aisle – is key.

In part one of a two-episode conversation, Dr. Cornel West and Bakari Kitwana examine why joy is important in our lives (especially for those in the social justice realm), what reparations could mean to our nation, and why artists are the indispensable ingredient in society today.

When Wasi Mohamed led the Muslim community in an international fundraising effort that raised a quarter of a million dollars for the families of those killed in the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the world got to know the man many have called “a 24-hours-a-day bridge-builder.” Wasi speaks with refreshing candor about how he’s seen the United States’ “wheel of oppression” roll in his lifetime, and why he believes we can, indeed, be “different but united.”

Theme music by Josh Slifkin; incidental music by Giuseppe Capolupo.

Survivors of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. that left 17 dead know the trauma of gun violence all too well. But Parkland students are organizing, speaking out, and reaching out to offer support to others who have survived or been affected by gun violence, including members of the Pittsburgh community still reeling from the attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Parkland students Adam Habona and Alyssa Fletcher share their journey to activism.

Dr. Chris Howard, president of Robert Morris University since 2015, grew up in Plano, Texas, the great-great-grandson of an enslaved man, and the son of parents who instilled in him the values of humility and service. In this episode of “We Can Be,” Dr. Howard discusses the “only-ness” of being the singular black student in fourth grade, the Zulu word that is his North Star, and why he is using his capital to speak up for veterans and gender equality. 

“I got into art-making because I want show the different ways that people show up in the world, and to represent voices that are often not heard,” says janera solomon, executive director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. Hear janera explain the role her immigration story plays in her artistic vision, the three things she believes today’s art world must consider, and how her mom taught her to look fear in the eye.



Theme music by Josh Slifkin, with incidental music by Giuseppe Capolupo.

Emily Collins is founder of Fair Shake, the nation’s first nonprofit law firm devoted to providing environmental legal services regardless of the client’s ability to pay. Hear about Emily's journey from the woods of her family’s Ohio homestead to the courtroom where she works with individuals, community groups, nonprofit organizations and farmers to give them a fighting chance in their environmental battles.  “The environmental fights many are facing are not just David versus Goliath, but more like David versus two Goliaths,” Emily says.



Theme music by Josh Slifkin, with incidental music by Giuseppe Capolupo. Guest image by Josh Franzos. Audio clips at marks 23:51 and 25:29 feature the voice of environmentalist and “Silent Spring” author Rachel Carson. 

“He was my youngest boy,” says Sybrina Fulton of her son Trayvon, the unarmed 17-year-old who was followed and shot to death in 2012 by a neighborhood watch coordinator for “looking suspicious” in a Sanford, Fla., gated community. Sybrina shares her moving journey from grieving mother to author (“Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin”) and activist. Her story has helped to inspire millions – including Jasiri X who wrote a song titled “Trayvon” – to speak up against gun violence, “stand your ground” laws and racial profiling. 

With more than 2.5 million weekly “Very Smart Brothas” website readers, a GQ column, and a lauded book “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker,” Damon Young is artfully illuminating life as a black man in 21st century America. “So many of the narratives about being black in America are ensconced in deep trauma,” says Damon. “And yes, we do deal with racism, oppression and structural inequality, but I hope my writing shares that there is also beauty, love, passion, and humanity in that experience, too.”

Cut-out letters on a black steel billboard frame stating “THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE” stood high above Pittsburgh’s rapidly changing East Liberty neighborhood, bringing national acclaim to interdisciplinary artist and cultural producer Alisha Wormsley.  “I don’t consider myself an activist,” Alisha says, “but my art is active.” It is indeed active, and vibrant, weaving family history, an archeologist’s sensibility, and a love of sci-fi into photographic, film, mural, performance and multi-dimensional works of art. 

In this second episode of a two-part series, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s executive director, Brian Schreiber, and The Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement’s Rabbi Ron Symons. share their distinct and moving perspectives of what happened on Oct. 27, 2018, when a lone gunman opened fire on worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. 

In part one of a two-episode series, host Grant Oliphant speaks with Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh CEO Jeff Finkelstein about the morning of Oct. 27, 2018 – and the days that followed – when a lone gunman opened fire on worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, killing 11 people in what would become the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in our nation’s history. “We know that, for those closest to the tragedy, the pain will last a lifetime,” Jeff said. “But we can’t turn away.”