by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810
Janet Powell, Radio Personality at WNWR,
1540AM. Activist and Advocate for children.
Word is she’s not afraid to speak her piece and reflect on where any community is and which direction that community needs to go. I’m speaking about Janet Powell Dailey, radio personality, media professional, and advocate to end gun violence. Janet’s House, on air live Mondays from 2PM to 4PM, 1540am, is a program that can help shed some light on coping with a specific problem that any neighbor might face.
Powell often times talks about Philadelphia’s youth and the city becoming a high crime city and how children must battle to go to school. She can help out where kids are afraid
to walk the streets, and feel like they must join gangs to survive. When life starts to become unbearable for teenagers living in Philly or any major city Janet has a lot of discussion tools to support needed guidance. One such discussion tool that she has is her trade when she is not doing live on airtime. The trade is a mortician.
A third generation mortician, Powell enlists the help of some of her funeral director friends who witness the same street trouble to collaborate with each other to do something about gangs and gun violence. Her actions has done so well that eventually it led to what’s called “Wake-Up Campaign” for Philadelphia, PA. Janet worked with several radio stations, television groups, school districts, churches, and other youth organizations to discuss broadcasting, health, and life in general. Janet has even traveled to Los Angeles to present the message to school age kids and adults.
Interestingly, Janet brought caskets and students on stage together to make the message of think before you act as real as possible. Reducing violence in the lives of children involved in gang has worked very well because of Powell’s style of proactive work.
She is involved in the full education of funeral service, radio service, and community services. When she is not doing radio work Janet operates the funeral home of Powell Mortuary Services. The Powell Funeral Home was founded in 1929 by Janet’s grandfather, Thomas L. Powell in Philadelphia, PA. When Mr. Powell passed away it was Janet’s mother Isabelle who took the lead responsibility of operating the funeral home.
Janet became the renowned facilitator for educational workshops both regionally and nationally today. She consults with the local funeral association as needed, as well as the NFDMA, Inc. at their national meetings and events.
Once a month she focuses on end of life issues. And at anytime during the radio show she can talk with her callers about the need to believe in having an entrepreneurial hope.
She also is involved with recording and has established Warm Wind Publications and Records. She has published the book called “Gone! A Children’s Book.” She is also the author of “Evergreen Dust: A Book of Blackenized Poetry,” and “Black and Red.”
In other news: Local activists are very concerned about Governor Rendell’s inability for reaching a budget agreement with the Pennsylvania State Legislature.
Locally, this is affecting state workers, employees of businesses contracted with the state, and residents who qualify to accept state services from vendors to better themselves.
The Rendell cutback situation could put area workers in a crisis of taking personal loans to hold them over during the payless paydays. In some areas state workers are protesting outside the State office building. Local activists are talking amongst themselves about workers who did not receive any pay at all because of benefit deductions, and welfare recipients who did not receive any enrollment into welfare-to-work programs at all. Three such activists, John Moore, Jr., Association of Community Organization for Reform Now, Sharif Street, real estate attorney, and the son of former Mayor Street, and Warren Bloom, Youth Voter Education Registration, are watching.
Vendors provide social services such as foster care, care for the elderly and disabled, as well as health care and other services. Many of these facilities such as the KRA Corporation, Earn Center have been discussing closing doors, laying off workers and cut back on services. Residents are loosing an initiative for employment.
