'Let's Read': Tulsa Woman Founds Greenwood Beat Radio Station With Reading Program For Children

Dr. Angela K. Chambers is the CEO of Greenwood Beat Radio which is Oklahoma's first black woman-owned radio station.

Angela recently launched "Let's Read" a show offering children's stories as an alternative to Saturday morning cartoons. She joined News On 6 on the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch to share more about the organization.

Autumn: Let's first start off with, What inspired you to start this radio station?

Dr. Chambers: Well, I wanted to be a part of the resilience of Greenwood. And we wanted to give Greenwood a voice. And so the green would be a radio station.

Autumn: Lovely and you have a special reading program on Saturdays. What was the thinking behind the program?

Dr. Chambers: Well, with all the controversy regarding the children, the low performances in schools, we understood that the bottom line is that the children are failing. And reading is a fundamental basic foundation that our children need. And we know that a lot of children, they just don't have the opportunity to read to someone or they're not being read to. And so we offered our platform to help with that with let's read.

Autumn: That's wonderful. How are you choosing the books? Are you featuring local people here in the community?

Dr. Chambers: Right, correct. So, Troy J Pettit. Mr. Pettit is an educator with TPS and he helped us kick off our first segment on January 6, with his book Hugs of Love. So we have authors who have written books that are geared towards children of color. But we also have all types of books for kids zero to eight years of age.

Autumn: And I'm sure this means a lot to families in the area. Are you starting to see more viewers generate because of this initiative you've started?

Dr. Chambers: We are so Saturday, listeners are picking up, we receive a lot of good feedback that this is a great idea. People are tuning in, they're excited. A lot of people are excited about the different books that they're hearing and that they are learning about. So, it's been really good.

Autumn: And you know, this is something you recently started. We're hoping to see it grow...

Dr. Chambers: Absolutely! So, we would like so we start at noon on Saturdays. And we would really like to grow to an eight-hour day. So the more volunteers the more books that are being read, the more opportunities for children to tune in and listen.

Autumn: And so I know you were telling me that you've read a book on air, and then the author Troy J. Pettit, he read one as well. But you know, you're looking for any kind of volunteers to help

Dr. Chambers: We are. So if you are a book author, children's book, we'd love for you to either send books for us to read or even come and read a book on air yourself. We've had Esther Jones, who's a book author read her books, and she reads quite often for us. Dr. Tamika Rogers's books have been read. And just a variety of different books is really exciting.

Autumn: Wonderful. Well, Dr. Chambers with the Greenwood beat Radio. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.