Community & Nonprofit

Juneteenth (short for June 19th) marks the day in 1865 when enslaved African Americans throughout Texas learned that they were free—news that took approximately two months after the Confederate surrender of the Civil War and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation to reach them.  As our nation recognizes the legacy of Juneteenth during a time of heightened consciousness over pervasive racism and persecution in our nation, we urge everyone to continue to do their part in igniting change.

How can you tell if someone is struggling with addiction or chemical dependency? APB speaker Dr. Nii Addy, Neuroscientist, Yale Professor and Mental Health Advocate, recently shared his thoughts on the subject on the PBS show Healthy Minds With Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein. 

Former NCAA Division I women’s basketball head coach and APB speaker Joanne “Coach P” McCallie visited the set of Big 10 Network’s Big 10 Today show to share her story of battling bipolar disorder and to promote Mental Health Awareness Month.

Iranian Activist and APB Speaker Masih Alinejad was recently named by Time magazine as one of its 2023 Women of the Year. Alinejad was selected along with 11 others who Time says are "using their voices to fight for a more equal world."

Experts in their fields, these voices lead the charge in supporting environmental protection. 

In Promises of Gold, a groundbreaking new collection of poems from award-winning spoken word artist José Olivarez, every kind of love is explored―self, brotherly, romantic, familial, cultural. Grappling with the contradictions of the American Dream with unflinching humanity, he lays bare the ways in which “love is complicated by forces larger than our hearts.”

Many of our speakers attribute their opportunities, successes and passion for change to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Founded during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement in 1965, APB is honored to have worked with Dr. King during his lifetime, as well as many other civil rights leaders that who shared his vision. Devoted to spreading positive messages about love and equality, our speakers have fought tirelessly to realize the vision of justice, equality and freedom for our country. During Black History Month, they all provide perspective on how far we have come and how far we have left to go:  

Tara Schuster thought she was on stable ground. For years, she’d worked like hell to repair the emotional wounds inflicted during what she refers to as her “mess-wreck disaster” of a childhood. She’d brought radical healing rituals and self-love into her life. On most days, she was a happy, stable adult. She even wrote a book about it! But then she lost her job, the one on which she had staked her entire identity. Cue a panic-attack-doom-spiral that brought her harshest childhood traumas to the surface. Isolated at home during a global pandemic, she felt piercing loneliness and a lack of purpose like she had never known.

Many of our speakers attribute their opportunities, successes and passion for change to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Founded during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement in 1965, APB is honored to have worked with Dr. King during his lifetime, as well as many other civil rights leaders who shared his vision. Devoted to spreading positive messages about love and equality, our speakers continue to honor Dr. King's legacy. Read their reflections below.

A feature film depicting the life of APB speaker Coach Keith Adams and his two sons has been greenlighted by MGM’s Orion Pictures. Adams, who is deaf, is a football coach for the California School for the Deaf, Riverside. Both of his sons play for the school. After seven losing seasons, his team—the only deaf school in the division—made it to the state championship in 2021, where they lost. In 2022, they won it all—beating the same team. It is the only deaf school to win the state championship.