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  • A Legacy Rebuilt: Renewing the African American Cultural Center

    A Legacy Rebuilt: Renewing the African American Cultural Center
    2025/12/15
    The African American Cultural Center has completed phase one of its renovation, marking a major moment for this historic East Side institution. Interim dance and drum director Robin Hibbert, Board Chairwoman Thembi Duncan, and Executive Director Leah Angel Daniels join Jay Moran to discuss the challenges of rebuilding, the community’s response, and what lies ahead as the center prepares for new programs and its upcoming Kwanzaa celebration.
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    55 分
  • Digitizing History: A Smithsonian–Buffalo Collaboration

    Digitizing History: A Smithsonian–Buffalo Collaboration
    2025/12/10
    The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is partnering with Buffalo’s Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor to preserve local stories and family histories. In this episode, Dr. Doretha Williams shares an update on the community curation project and why documenting everyday lives matters.
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    55 分
  • Refugees, Families, and the Power of Support

    Refugees, Families, and the Power of Support
    2025/12/08
    On this episode of What’s Next?, we explore two ways Western New York communities are responding to need and opportunity. Jennifer Rizzo Choi, Executive Director of the International Institute of Buffalo, joins us to unpack recent shifts in U.S. immigration policy, including the review of hundreds of thousands of recently admitted refugees and the pause on asylum applications. She also shares upcoming events at the Institute, from a Meet the Ambassador series to a regional Model UN conference, designed to foster cultural understanding and engagement. We also hear from Alicia Stark of Child and Family Services about their Adopt-a-Family program. She explains how the annual initiative supports over a thousand people each year, providing everything from winter boots and books to essential household items, and how community support is critical as local needs continue to grow.
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    55 分
  • Building Buffalo’s Next Chapter

    Building Buffalo’s Next Chapter
    2025/12/03
    Mayor elect Sean Ryan begins building his new administration, and co-chairs Dr. Marie Cannon and Trini Ross join us to discuss the work behind the transition. With more than a thousand applications for leadership positions, they outline the team’s focus on inclusivity, transparency, and community engagement. We explore the key issues shaping Buffalo’s future, including housing, public safety, and financial stability, and how Ryan’s vision aims to address long standing inequities with fresh, community driven solutions.
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    55 分
  • Gardens, Pride, and the Power of Local Leadership

    Gardens, Pride, and the Power of Local Leadership
    2025/12/01
    This week on What’s Next? we highlight two organizations strengthening connection, access, and belonging across Western New York. First, Tim Chen of Grassroots Gardens Western New York returns to discuss the expansion of their school garden network, now reaching thirty-five schools with the support of the Buffalo Bills Foundation. He reflects on the educational and community benefits of gardening, the importance of local leadership, and the challenges created by federal funding cuts. Then, Niagara Pride leaders Ron Pia Chesney and Sherry Fossett return to share the organization’s evolution from a small meetup group to a nonprofit offering festival, youth and senior programs, scholarships, and legal support for the LGBTQ community. They speak about the growing demand for safe, affirming spaces and the obstacles that come with sustaining community-driven work. A conversation about resilience, visibility, and the power of grassroots leadership.
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    55 分
  • Entrepreneurs Rising and Communities Healing

    Entrepreneurs Rising and Communities Healing
    2025/11/26
    Buffalo’s East Side is growing, creating, and healing in ways that deserve the spotlight. On this episode of What’s Next?, we explore two community-driven forces shaping that future. First, we dive into REACH East, a marketing accelerator designed to elevate local entrepreneurs. Program founder Tamara Zantell and entrepreneur Zandra Cunningham share how the initiative invests directly in East Side businesses through hands-on mentorship, strategic marketing training, and funding that builds long-term visibility and resilience. Then, author, counselor, and animator Dorian Withrow Jr. joins us for a powerful conversation about mental health, creativity, and emotional truth. He reflects on the realities of grief and suicide in the community, the importance of connection, and how writing and animation can become pathways to healing and understanding. A conversation about growth, care, and the future of Buffalo’s East Side.
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    55 分
  • The Haudenosaunee and the Erie Canal: A Hidden History

    The Haudenosaunee and the Erie Canal: A Hidden History
    2025/11/24
    On this episode of What’s Next? we speak with Terry Abrams, curator at the Niagara History Center, about the often-overlooked consequences of the Erie Canal on the Haudenosaunee people. Abrams traces the history of dispossession that accompanied the canal’s construction, beginning with the Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794, which affirmed Seneca territory, and the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797, which drastically reduced it. He also examines the environmental impact of the canal, including the spread of invasive species, and the cultural and economic adjustments Native communities were forced to make as the region transformed. Through his exhibit and public talks, Abrams invites audiences to reconsider a familiar chapter in American history and confront the deeper, more complex legacy of the Erie Canal.
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    55 分
  • From Resilience to Recognition: Dr. LaGarrett King on Black History Education

    From Resilience to Recognition: Dr. LaGarrett King on Black History Education
    2025/11/19
    On this episode of What’s Next? we speak with Dr. LaGarrett King following his “Black Boy Joy, Black Girl Magic” conference, which brought together nearly two hundred attendees to examine the history of Black childhoods and the creativity and resilience of Black youth.
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    55 分