100 years ago this October, the world’s first all-black, black-owned professional basketball team was formed here in Harlem. The Rens is a team that predates the NBA, and helped set the stage for the global phenomenon that basketball has become. Our guests have all worked hard to keep the team’s legacy alive. Our guests:

• Claude Johnson, Founder, Black Fives Foundation
• Glenn Hunter, Co-Founder, Harlem Cultural Archives
• Kevin McGruder, Associate Professor of History at Antioch College
• Keisha Sutton-James, Deputy Borough President of Manhattan

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

Comic book storytelling is a unique art form that has graduated to TV, film, animation, video games, action figures and merchandise. We talk with three comic book creators who use the art form to express themselves, promote literacy, create intellectual property and tell their own stories.

Guests:

• Rob Taylor - Founder/CEO, Superhuman Works Studios

• AK Lovelace - Professional Artist/Educator, Chair, Media and Design Dept., Harlem School of the Arts

• Lasana Akachi, Superhuman Works Studios

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer) and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

In 2022, the video gaming industry in the US was bigger than the film industry, music industry and publishing industry COMBINED. On this show , we talked with three experts who are using gaming and advanced technologies as a springboard for getting youth into growth careers and entrepreneurial opportunities. Our guests:

• Clayton Banks, CEO, Silicon Harlem
• Masaya Heywood, Co-Founder, Outfox Games
• Stan Altman, Founder, Gaming Pathways Program

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer) and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

This episode discusses cannabis legalization in New York City. Guests Damian Fagon, Chief Equity Officer of the Office of Cannabis Management, Esther Lelievre (Queen Mixxy), founder of the Lelievre Foundation, and Dr. Stephen Robinson, President of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, join hosts DJ LeRoy and NightWatchman. Topics include expanding retail cannabis licenses, regulations around cannabis consumption lounges, educating the community on cannabis, addressing misinformation, and more. The show covers recent progress New York State has made with cannabis legalization, including efforts to open cannabis retail locations owned by those disproportionately impacted by prohibition. Guests address common concerns around regulated cannabis shops and emphasize the extensive regulations enforced by the Office of Cannabis Management. The episode highlights work being done to open up the legal cannabis market equitably while providing opportunities to communities most affected by the War on Drugs.

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer) and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

It’s finally here! Harlem Festival of Culture is the live event re-imagining of the legendary 1969 “black Woodstock” festival featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul”. Our guests: Musa Jackson and Nikoa Evans, co-founders of Harlem Festival of Culture (harlemfestivalofculture.com)

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

On this show, we talk with author/poet/filmmaker Kim Ferguson, Janifer P. Wilson, co-owner of Harlem;s own Sisters Uptown Bookstore, and Glenn Gilliam about the importance of supporting and cultivating black authors and black bookstores in our communities. Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé)

On this episode, we speak with Carmen Neely, CEO and Co-founder of Harlem Pride, and three of Harlem Pride's long-time collaborators and supporters: John Reddick. Adriane Ferguson and Richard Pelzer II. Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer) and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé) Aired on WHCR 90.3 FM (The Voice of Harlem) on July 3, 2023

Join DJ Leroy and the Night Watchman on this episode of Soul Lounge Primetime, as we discuss what it means to be a Haitian American, with Nancy Chevalier, Dina Simon Leroy, Sam Pierre and Rose Pierre-Louis.

The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti in South Florida as well as in major Northeast cities such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and in Chicago and Detroit in the Midwest. During the 1960s and 1970s many Haitians emigrated to the U.S. to escape the oppressive conditions during the dictatorships of François "Papa Doc" and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Political unrest, economic strains and natural disasters also caused people to emigrate.

In this show we will discuss the long-term effects of debt that Haiti was saddled with after slavery. the importance of education as a path for upward mobility, the US military occupation of Haiti that is almost never taught in American history classes, and potential solutions to Haiti’s current problems.

Hosts: DJ LeRoy (Curtis Archer) and NightWatchman (Bob Poncé) Aired on WHCR 90.3 FM (The Voice of Harlem) on June 25, 2023