Colleges & Universities

On May 26, 2020, Philonise Floyd learned that his older brother, George “Perry” Floyd, Jr. had been murdered by four police officers in Minneapolis after a store clerk alleged that he passed a counterfeit $20 bill. The world watched as named officer, Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. George’s death sparked a worldwide outpour of protests against police brutality, especially toward black people. Philonise vowed that George’s death would not be in vain, another hashtag on a t-shirt, and started the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, actively working to eliminate the daily impacts of police brutality, criminal justice reform and systemic racism.

APB speaker and "Maria" on Sesame Street, Sonia Manzano, has a new book called Coming Up Cuban, and it will be out in April of 2022. Coming Up Cuban is set in 1959 and follows the lives of four children who each represent different intersections of race and class in Cuba. Publishers Weekly recently revealed the cover.   

APB speaker, producer, and educator Michael Davis wrote the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street and is a co-executive producer of the documentary, Street Gang, which is gaining immense praise on HBO.   

APB speaker and civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers is representing the family of Andrew Brown Jr. Sellers criticized the police for showing disrespect to Brown's family, in addition to local prosecutor Michael Cox swearing at Sellers himself. Newsweek reports when Andrew Brown Jr. was being served an arrest warrant for felony drug charges, he was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies in North Carolina. Sellers also accused Cox of attempting to stop the Brown family attorney's from viewing the footage.   

We recently sat down with Susie Reynolds Reece, a violence prevention strategist and consultant acclaimed for her expertise in suicide awareness, suicide prevention and postvention, depression, bullying and other issues facing families and youth today. Skillfully adept at blending the realms of science and research with experiences and storytelling, she engages and compels any person to be equipped to confidently stand up for social issues. Read the full interview:

Heather Abbott’s life changed forever when she was struck by bomb shrapnel at the Boston Marathon and lost her left leg.  After receiving a prosthetic leg for walking, she was then told by her insurance that they would not cover anything additional. This became the catalyst for the Heather Abbott Foundation, which is dedicated to mission of giving fellow amputees the prosthetics insurance won’t cover.  Now recognized by CNN as the complete embodiment of a hero, Heather Abbott captivates audiences with her inspirational story of pain, anger, optimism and resilience.

We recently sat down with Susie Reynolds Reece, a violence prevention strategist and consultant acclaimed for her expertise in suicide awareness, suicide prevention and postvention, depression, bullying and other issues facing families and youth today. Skillfully adept at blending the realms of science and research with experiences and storytelling, she engages and compels any person to be equipped to confidently stand up for social issues. Read the full interview:

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only affected people physically, but also mentally. It has accelerated a mental health and substance use crisis in the United States. The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Behavioral Health Integration Task Force calls for the Biden administration and Congress to put an emphasis on the integration of primary care, mental health and substance use services because these issues will last long after the pandemic. Regina Benjamin, M.D., Founder and CEO, BayouClinic, Inc. and the 18th U.S. Surgeon General, is one of those task force members.   

Emmy Award winner and founder and president of Futuro Media Group, APB speaker Maria Hinojosa created Futuro Media, an independent, nonprofit newsroom based in Harlem, NYC with the mission to create multimedia content from a POC perspective. On April 17th Maria will be featured in Finding Your Roots with APB speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.!  Finding Your Roots highlights 20 fascinating new guests who are game-changers in their fields, with family histories that illustrate the power and diversity of the human experience. The show airs every Tuesday at 8/7c.  

We are excited to share that APB's Justin J. Shaifer will be featured on ABC's new series Soul of a Nation on Tuesday, March 9th! A rising star in STEM education and advocacy, Shaifer is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology and popular science communicator with a talent for understanding and inspiring GenZ. The series will focus on the black experience in America. “The way we have been talking about the show, internally, was sort of a news variety show,” Robe Imbriano, executive producer along with Eric Johnson, said during the network’s Winter Press Tour panel. “And we are covering real life. We are telling these stories. We are out in the field doing very cinematic, sort of short film documentary features.”