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Every Saturday at 4:00pmAbout the Show
Urban Connections
Urban Connections conducts guest interviews covering issues effecting our local, national, international and global communities from a Black perspective. Subjects include current events, trends, history, education, economics, science, political science, health, race, law and more.
Matthew Westra (Psychology Professor at Metropolitan Community College/ Longview, G.A.M.E. board member), Mike Murphy, KKFI (individual Peace Builder Awardee), and Sean Eagan, co-founder of 816 Bicycle Collective, (organizational Peace Builder Awardee) join us to discuss their activities aimed at expanding peace in our community.
G.A.M.E. Peace Builder Individual Award Recipient Mike Murphy, originally from New York, moved to Kansas City in 1989. He worked for years with the Kansas City office of the American Friends Service Committee, as well as with the regional executive committee. His work was focused on peace building, social justice, and civil rights. Mike also worked with the Kansas City Green Party for similar goals. Mike also worked with Kansas City Indy Media, and Friends of Community Media.
Mike has been involved with 90.1FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio for decades striving to provide a voice to the voiceless. He endeavored to lift up the plight of Kansas City homeless on a national scale. Mike took a microphone to Occupy Kansas City in 2011, to capture the sounds of a new wave of activism in the city. He produced the environmental program, EcoRadio KC on KKFI, lifting up the voices of environmental activists in the city, and co-produced KKFI Global Roots Radio, a program to give a voice to Kansas City immigrant communities, in the studio and onsite. Mike also covered the activities of Peaceworks KC and other peace and social justice issues. Mike is known by his favorite quote: “Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us” – Jerry Garcia
G.A.M.E. Peace Builder Organizational Award Recipient 816 Bicycle Collective is a non-profit collective of individuals from diverse backgrounds working on a volunteer basis to rescue & repair bicycles. They believe in empowerment through education, promoting the use of bicycles as a healthy & ecological means of transportation.
The Collective began in 2007, when a group of enthusiastic cyclists, some of whom worked in commercial bike shops as mechanics, saw a growing need to create a place that could be a resource for all commuters. They have always been and are 100% volunteer.
Low income commuters who rely on their bicycle as their main source of transportation needed a place where they could have access to tools, as well as learn how to do some of the regular maintenance needed to stay on the road. These cyclists collected tools and parts that had been accumulating in their own homes and started a basement shop at 31st and Troost.
In 2018, they moved into a building they purchased and rehabilitated at 31st and Cherry St. Thanks to countless volunteer hours and generous donations they have rescued and repaired thousands of bicycles over the years.
Host and producer: Donna Morrow Wolfe
