Hasshan Batts
Program HostDr. Hasshan Batts is the Director of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley and is a content and context expert who works to uplift the voices of those most impacted, who possess the intimate and creative solutions yet are often ignored. He is a champion in the Lehigh Valley for trauma-informed care, restorative practices, reentry, community engagement and collective impact. Hasshan is a survivor, healer, son, father, husband, champion, neighbor and friend. Dr. Batts possesses a unique lens as someone with lived experience, as well as being a practitioner, nonprofit administrator and community-based participatory researcher. He recently joined WDIY as a volunteer and host of Let's Talk.
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Dr. Batts welcomes guest Keenan Hudson, who was incarcerated at 15 years old for his role in a fatal armed robbery, spent 15 years in adult prisons, and has since transformed his life. -
Dr. Batts welcomes Tyrone Russell and Kevin Greene from the Cleveland School of Cannabis to talk about entrepreneurship and entering the growing cannabis industry.
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Dr. Batts is back for a timely and important conversation about what mental health and mental illness really are with NAMI Lehigh Valley's Leo Rooney and Darnell Scott.
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Dr. Batts welcomes Dr. Cynthia Mota, president of Allentown City Council to talk about the current matters of importance to the community, the importance of communication, as well as her background and connection to the city.
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Dr. Batts welcomes Dwayne Jones of Preventive Measures, Inc. and the Preventive Measures Foundation to talk about giving back to the community through philanthropic support, Black charitable giving, Preventive Measures' future plans, and more.
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With the recent spate of mass shootings throughout the nation, Dr. Batts welcomes a conversation about gun violence in America and Pennsylvania with CeaseFirePA Executive Director Adam Garber, the Commonwealth’s leader in advocating for an end to gun violence and Freedom School Director Katarah Jordan, who provides an educator's perspective on this deadly issue.
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Dr. Batts explores the history of racism and recent controversy around the issue with faith and community leader Dr. Gregory Edwards of the Resurrected Life Community Church.
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Dr. Hasshan Batts brings another tough, important topic to listeners’ ears – Islam, and what it means to be Muslim in the Lehigh Valley – through conversations with Shaykh Mohammad Elshinawy from the Islamic Education Center of Pennsylvania, and Monerra Laila Hosin about unjust stigmas and stereotypes, Islam's peaceful reality and the holy month of Ramadan.
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Dr. Hasshan Batts sits down with Ivan Watson from the Watson Organization and Clayton Mitchell from Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals to talk about the work being done in Philadelphia to overcome neighborhood violence and reduce recidivism within the criminal justice system.
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For Black History Month, Dr. Batts brings focus to the personal history of two mothers, Jeani Garcia and Movita Johnson-Harrell, who share their stories of tragic family loss due to violence and incarceration that can be traced to the social determinants of law enforcement, the legal system, and justice.
