CMI 2020 Annual Report

Events
‘Among Neighbors’ seeks
to spark conversation on
race, power and privilege
Events
The Healing Center launches
medical marijuana podcast
By Nick Ruffolo
By Tyler Polk
Screenshot by Tyler Polk
The Among Neighbors Podcast is a
collaboration between YWCA Greater Pittsburgh
and the Point Park Center for Media
Innovation.
The name of the podcast “Among Neighbors”
comes from the CMI sharing the same
building with the YWCA since its inception.
Andy Conte, the Director of the CMI, and
Barbara Johnson, the Senior Director of
Race and Gender Equity at YWCA Greater
Pittsburgh, are the hosts of this podcast.
The premise of the podcast is to have discussions
about race, power, and privilege
in the Pittsburgh region.
“People are always afraid to talk about
race,” Johnson said. “That was the
inspiration of this podcast, creating an
opportunity to have a person of color
and a white person to have honest
conversations.”
Conte and Johnson will have on guests
to talk about a variety of subjects from
Black people in the media, language,
housing, education, and law enforcement.
“Having guests on the podcast is what
I’m looking forward to the most,” Conte
said. “Having conversations like this
with Barbara, really encouraged us to
start this podcast.”
The goal of Among Neighbors is to create a
space where people in Pittsburgh can share
their experiences, have a conversation and
find solutions to racial issues in Pittsburgh.
Photo by Nick Ruffolo
When The Healing Center reached
out to the Center for Media Innovation,
its workers searched for more than
just a podcast.
They wanted to make a difference.
Even before the Medical Marijuana Act was
signed into law in 2016, Co-Founders Chris
Kohan and Jay Richards were campaigning
for innovation.
Several years later they found innovation
at the CMI.
Bi-weekly the THC team sits behind the
microphone to talk about the history of
medical cannabis and what it can do to
help patients that previously could not find
relief.
For example, host Mike Flick, Kohan, Richards
and Pharmacist/General Manager Dr. Michael
Butler all shared stories of patients prescribed
double-digit amounts of opioids, only to
find relief with the correct medical cannabis
treatment plan.
This aspect of healing led to the dispensary’s
name and the name for the podcast, “Healing
Hearts.”
Screenshot by Tyler Polk
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