UPDATE: Allentown Council to seek residents' input on 2024 budget after likely violating Sunshine Act

Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act requires local agencies “provide a meaningful opportunity for public comment at every public meeting,” a legal expert said.

Read more here



Wake Up With WURD 10.4.23 - Yvonne Blake is the owner of Hakim’s Bookstore.

Hakim’s Bookstore, the city’s oldest African American bookstore, receives state marker after 64 years in business

WURD Radio · Wake Up With WURD 10.4.23 - Yvonne Blake

In 1959, a young, bookish accountant named Dawud Abdel Hakim started doing something highly 
unpopular: selling books about African American history written by African Americans — first from 
the trunk of his car and later from his namesake store on S. 52nd St. in West Philadelphia.

During a time when the Black Power movement was gaining adherents and then-FBI Director 
J. Edgar Hoover was issuing memos saying that bookstores such as Hakim’s were “outlets for revolutionary and hate publications and culture centers for extremism,” Hakim was focused on his mission: to ensure that African Americans knew they had a rich history that predated slavery.

Last Saturday, over six decades after the store’s launch, a state historic marker was unveiled before a group of about 100 friends, customers, and family members who braved a cold rain to pay tribute to the man who nurtured generations of budding intellectuals, scholars, booksellers, 
and civil rights activists. Read more here:

Festival UnBound coming up Sept 27 - Oct 1, 2023 to Bethlehem Pennsylvania

 

Touchstone Theatre proudly presents
Festival UnBound

Five days. Fifteen events. One community.
Join us in the radical act of envisioning our future together!

September 27 - October 1, 2023
Pre-Festival Events throughout September

Jay Pharoah @ SteelStacks Thursday, September 28, 2023


Jay Pharoah


Thursday, September 28 · Price: $36-$39 Venue: 

Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling



Doors and Dinner: 6:30 p.m. | Show: 8 p.m.\$10 minimum Food and Beverage for all reserved seating.

Actor and comedian Jay Pharoah is one of the industry's most highly-anticipated leading men.

Pharoah most recently starred in the biopic SPINNING GOLD as Cecil Homes, the right hand man of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart who co-founded Casablanca Records. Together they were behind the success of stars like Donna Summer, Kiss and The Village People. He also starred in the Toronto International Film Festival triumph, THE BLACKENING as Shawn. The film performed so well it was sold out of the festival to Lionsgate and will be released this upcoming Juneteenth weekend.

In the last few years, Pharoah has appeared in Comedy Central’s OUT OF OFFICE alongside Ken Jeong and Oscar Nuñez and in the independent comedy MORT IN SHERMAN OAKS with Lucy Hale and Jim Gaffigan. He starred in Netflix’s RESORT TO LOVE with Cristina Milian for producer Alicia Keys and in the Lionsgate thriller PRIVATE PROPERTY. Pharoah also co-starred opposite Harry Shum Jr. in Universal’s ALL MY LIFE, in Justin Simien’s critically acclaimed feature film BAD HAIR for Hulu, and in Lionsgate’s 2 MINUTES OF FAME for director Leslie Small.

On the small screen, Pharoah starred as “J.J. Evans” in ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Live in Front of a Studio Audience version of ALL IN THE FAMILY and GOOD TIMES. He currently hosts and produces the Nickelodeon hit gameshow UNFILTERED.

Best known for his his spot-on impressions, Pharoah spent six seasons as a cast member on NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In 2017, he shifted to his first leading role as ‘Floyd Mooney’ in Showtime’s WHITE FAMOUS, which was executive produced by Academy Award-winner Jaime Foxx and inspired by Foxx’s real-life experiences.

Additional film and television credits include Sony Picture’s animated feature, THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, Steven Soderbergh’s UNSANE, Universal’s animated feature SING, CBS Films’ GET A JOB, CBS’s All Access’s REMOTE, FOX Searchlight’s LOLA VERSUS, FOX’s FAMILY GUY, FOX’s THE SIMPSONS, Netflix’s BOJACK HORSEMAN, and Cartoon Network’s ROBOT CHICKEN.

In addition to acting and his stand-up, Jay released his first EP titled “Spittin Image” in August 2021. The tracks are a marriage between Jay’s spot-on impressions and his love of songwriting and rapping. All songs are written by Jay and produced by Andrew Hypes.

Pharoah continues to headline comedy clubs across the country throughout the year.

This show will contain adult language and/or situations. Anyone coming in between the ages of 13 and 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No child 12 or under will

Your View by Ce-Ce Gerlach: Lehigh County's refusal to put policing proposal on ballot was a slap in the face to Allentown voters

September 23, 2023 | Morning Call, The: Web Edition Articles (Allentown, PA) 

 | Section: Opinion

Who do you call when you see someone sleeping in the hallway of your building? What number do you dial to get a counselor to intervene in a mental health crisis? Currently, there is not anyone to call for help instead of handcuffs.

Allentown had an opportunity to start a mobile community response team consisting of mental health experts to handle nonviolent calls, such as mental health, homelessness and addiction. However, the Lehigh County Board of Elections killed the proposal before our community had a chance to vote on it.

After neighbors delivered nearly 4,000 signatures to establish an MCRT via ballot referendum this fall, our county board of elections unilaterally and without reason failed to put the question up for a vote. Their decision — and ability to eliminate an opportunity to increase mental health services in Allentown through a ballot referendum — is anti-democratic. This three-person unelected board (none of whom live in Allentown) delivered a huge slap in the face to Allentown voters. 

2023 Pennsylvania African American, Latino, Asian Pacific American Roundtable



2023 Pennsylvania African AmericanLatinoAsian Pacific American Roundtable: Educating empowering and uplifting our communities as part of America and the American Dream. The Roundtable is FREE and open to everyone but you must register.