12:00: Reactions to the State of the Union address
100: Local church leader on his impact as a pastor and "homie"
We break down President Trump's State of the Union address. Our guests analyze his remarks on the economy, tariffs, immigration, foreign policy, and more. Our guests:
- Lauren Hall, Ph.D., professor of political science and associate dean at RIT, author, and co-host of the "We Made this Political" podcast
- Nayeliz Santiago, president of Monroe County Young Democrats
Then in our second hour, we continue our spotlight on Black community members whose work may be under the radar but is making a big difference. This hour, we sit down with Pastor Jerrard Brown. Brown is the youngest-ever senior pastor at Holy Trinity Baptist Church on North Street. He's also the office and facilities manager for Teen Empowerment. Through both roles, Brown has built community and served as a role model, especially for young people. As he told WXXI's Racquel Stephen, "I think the pastor should be the homie." We talk with Brown and his Teen Empowerment colleagues about the impact of his work. Our guests:
- Jerrard Brown, senior pastor at Holy Trinity Baptist Church, and office and facilities manager for Teen Empowerment
- Sahiyra Dillard, program coordinator at Teen Empowerment
- Racquel Stephen, health, equity, and community reporter and producer for WXXI News
"Connections" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.
