William F. Bengston is a professor of statistics and research methods, and the President of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an international group of scientists and researchers who study anomalies.  Dr. Bengston has been researching anomalous healing for over thirty five years, and has numerous publications in scientific journals.  He has also lectured widely in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

His memoir, The Energy Cure, is published by Sounds True.  Bill’s research has produced the first successful full cures of transplanted mammary cancer and methylcholanthrene induced sarcomas in mice by energy healing techniques that he helped to develop.  He has also investigated assorted correlates to healing such as EEG and fMRI entrainment, and geomagnetic micropulsation anomalies in healing space.  His current research focuses on the attempt to record and store healing in both biological and physical systems, and to be able to reproduce the healing effect without the healer.

Former Washington, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt was born on January 30, 1944 in Washington, D.C. Pratt is the daughter of Mildred Petticord and Carlisle Edward Pratt. Pratt graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1961 and earned her B.S. degree in political science in 1965 from Howard University. Pratt attended Howard University Law School where she earned her J.D. degree in 1968.

Pratt served as in-house counsel for the Joint Center for Political Studies from 1970 to 1971. From 1971 to 1976, she worked as an associate for the law firm Pratt & Queen PC. In 1972, Pratt became a law professor at the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C., and worked there until 1976 when she became the Associate General Counsel for the Potomac Electric Power Company, known as PEPCO. In 1982, Pratt directed the failed mayoral campaign for Patricia Robert Harris. That same year, Pratt married Arrington Dixon, a Democratic Washington, D.C. City Councilman. Pratt was promoted to the Director of Consumer Affairs for the Potomac Electric Power Company in 1979 and then later to Vice President of Consumer Affairs in 1983. In 1988, Pratt announced that she would challenge Mayor Marion Barry in the 1990 mayoral election in Washington, D.C. Pratt was elected Mayor of Washington D.C., the first African American female to hold this position. In 1994, she lost her bid for re-election as mayor to Marion Barry. From 1997 to 2001, Pratt served as the President of @ The Center, a start-up electrical marketplace for Africa. In 2002, Pratt began Pratt Consulting, working with companies and governments developing Homeland Security/Emergency Management Plans. She is also the Executive Vice President for BI Solutions.

Pratt’s past and present board memberships include: the Center For Creative Leadership, the Democratic National Convention, Society for PSP, Emmitsburg St. Mary’s College Board, Opportunity Funding Corporation and a trustee at Howard University. Pratt is also the recipient of the Presidential Award from the NAACP, Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year Award, the Congressional Black Caucus’ Mary McCleod Bethune-W.E. Dubois Award and the Clean Cities Award.

The Executive Office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the University of the District of Columbia are launching an Institute of Politics Policy and History. The Founding Director of IPPH will be former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt. MISSION Rediscovering District of Columbia history – and its consequential role in determining contemporary politics and policy.VISION IPPH, housed at the University of the District of Columbia, will encourage constructive, spirited dialogue about tough issues of the day; illuminating these conversations with insights from our city and our nation’s history. The Institute of Politics Policy and History, housed at the University of the District of Columbia, one of the country's oldest HBCUs, will encourage constructive, spirited dialogue around the issues of the day – illuminating these conversations with insights from our city and nation’s history. http://ipph.org/

Pratt is divorced, has two children, Aimee A. Dixon and Drew Willliams, and is also a grandmother.

Pratt was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on July 26, 2007.

'M   E   L   A   N   I   E'

S  A  F  K  A

SONGWRITER-MUSICIAN

AND

​THE VOICE OF A GENERATION

Melanie Safka (Melanie) was once hailed as the female Bob Dylan. Her awe-inspiring lyrical connotations were accompanied by her majestic voice and an acoustic guitar. She was a lone entity onstage but radiated a powerful force that became the voice and spirit to one of the most important generations the world will ever know.

When I asked Melanie how she developed her unique and sensational singing style she said … “I went out to imitate Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf and got it wrong.”

Melanie was born in Queens, New York to a Russian-Ukrainian Father and an Italian Mother. Her musical career began in Greenwich Village and eventfully landed her first recording contract with Columbia Records. She released several singles on the label but retained greater success after signing with Buddah Records.



Her debut album Born to Be (1968) was acclaimed for her independent music styles. It became clear that there was an exciting new singer on the block. In 1969, the single “Bobo’s Party” a track from her debut album reached #1 in France. Her second studio release Affectionately Melanie (1969) spawned the single “Beautiful People,” the song became a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands.



Melanie’s songs began gaining momentum but she was still, for the most part, considered an unknown to the U.S. music scene until August 15th 1969. Melanie was invited to perform at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair held on a dairy farm in Brethel, New York. Her mother drove her to the event. She had been clueless to the size and significance of the concert until she witnessed Sly Stone walking around and Janis Joplin sipping Southern Comfort while being interviewed by reporters. After arriving at the hotel she was separated from her mother and rushed onto a helicopter. While descending towards the stage area, she was in total disbelief over the mass of people attending the three-day event. Melanie shared a tent with folk musician and composer Tim Hardin while she awaited her turn to perform at the most famous concert event in music history.

  

Several hours later, she was called upon to perform after Ravi Shankar’s set. Melanie was terrified … a lone woman performer with a guitar in front of a half a million people. Without a setlist to guide her, she opened with “Close to It All” followed by “Momma Momma,” “Beautiful People,” “Animal Crackers,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Tuning My Guitar,” and concluded with “Birthday of the Sun,” a song she chose simply because it was raining.

Before and during her performance, concert organizers had distributed candles throughout the crowd. The lit candles during her performance while it rained inspired her profound composition, “(Lay Down) Candles in The Rain” (1970 #6 Billboard Hot 100 singles chart). She also inspired the etiquette of raising candles and cigarette lighters at concerts while portraying an audience of fireflies. 

  

After Woodstock, Melanie became the concert festival queen, performing at such outdoor events as The Isle of Wight, Strawberry fields Festival and Glastonbury Festival. She was also asked to perform on numerous Television programs including Dick Cavett, Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson.



“(Lay Dow) Candles in The Rain” was followed by “Peace Will Come (According to Plan)” (#32 Hit),” and her Rolling Stones cover, “Ruby Tuesday” (#52 Hit). 



Melanie and husband/ producer Peter Schekeryk formed their own record label called Neighborhood Records in 1971.

Also in 1971, Melanie landed her biggest commercial hit entitled, “Brand New Key” (#1 Billboard Hot 100 singles chart). A song inspired after a stop at a McDonalds fast food restaurant.



Melanie also released “What Have They Done to My Song Ma’” which was also covered by The New Seekers and Ray Charles. The New Seekers also covered “Beautiful People” and “Nickel Song” composed by Melanie.



Melanie set a record for the first female performer to land three simultaneous Top 40 hits … “Brand New Key,” “Ring the Living Bell” and “Nickel Song.”



Melanie was awarded Billboard’s #1 Top Female Vocalist for 1972. She also became a UNISEF Ambassador that same year.



In 1973, Melanie spawned the hit “Bitter Bad” (#36 Billboard Hot 100 singles hit).



In 1989, she won an Emmy Award for writing the lyrics to “The First Time I Loved Forever” the theme song for the TV series 'Beauty and The Beast.'



Melanie’s songs have been covered by countless musicians over the years.



She has sold more than 80- million records to date.

​Dr. John Michael Mooney is the clinical director of Premier Healthcare in Placerville, California. He received the Chiropractor of the Year award, is President of H.E.L.P., an organization that provides shelter and food for people in need and is a member of the Rotary Club.  John spent 30 years collecting his favorite quotes while writing them in the margins of his Bible and then handing them out to patients. One Christmas, as a gift, his son compiled all the quotes into a book format. Thus, Treasures in Truth: Quotes to Nourish Your Soul came to be published by Innervisions Publications. John has a bachelor’s degree from Long Beach State University and a Doctorate degree from Pasadena College of Chiropractic.

My name is Russ Baker. For more than two decades I have been an investigative journalist, doing what I believed journalists were supposed to do — seek the truth and publish nothing less. Over the years, however, I have learned how the media gatekeepers, both “mainstream” and “alternative,” will not allow the biggest, most disturbing revelations to see the light of day.

I started WhoWhatWhy because I was tired of the cynicism, self-interest, and cowardice that I witnessed in the news media. I started WhoWhatWhy to show how good — and how consequential — journalism can be when the only mandate is to dig relentlessly, and reveal, without exception, what we uncover.

What we do

WhoWhatWhy embodies a form of investigative reporting that is rigorous, relentless and scientific — we call it forensic journalism.

Forensic journalism requires skepticism towards power and credentialed expertise; a determination to unearth the facts interested parties want to keep hidden; and an unflinching commitment to follow the trail wherever it leads. We are truth seeking-not quote seeking.

We take on controversial topics others will not touch and dig deep to uncover and name the institutions and persons shaping our world. Our organization is neither partisan nor ideological and only provides accounts based on extensive research and thorough sourcing.

In addition to producing rigorous investigative reporting, we seek to further the long-term survival and betterment of the news industry as a whole.

We pair senior reporters who have decades of experience with dedicated young journalists new to the field. We facilitate the transfer of values, methods and culture as our talented and varied investigators shape an improved and adaptive form of journalism to fit our times.

Provide us your ideas

We strongly encourage our readers to join us in our mission. If you know of a news, academic or literary source that relates to one of our stories, tell us about it. If there is a story of interest that hasn’t received coverage or documented facts we are missing, let us know! Consider yourself the media watchdog for the media watchdog.

Donate to Us

We are a non-profit organization. We need readers, supporters and citizens passionate about and committed to strong investigative journalism. Please consider a donation to help us produce the next story.

The People

THE BOARD AND STAFF

WhoWhatWhy is made up of a combination of full-time journalists, expert advisors and other specialists.

Chief Executive Officer and Editor in Chief Russ Baker

Russ Baker is an award-winning investigative reporter with a track record for making sense of complex and little understood matters — and explaining it to elites and ordinary people alike, using entertaining, accessible writing to inform and involve.

Over the course of more than two decades in journalism, Baker has broken scores of major stories. Topics included: early reporting on inaccuracies in the articles of The New York Times’s Judith Miller that built support for the invasion of Iraq; the media campaign to destroy UN chief Kofi Annan and undermine confidence in multilateral solutions; revelations by George Bush’s biographer that as far back as 1999 then-presidential candidate Bush already spoke of wanting to invade Iraq; the real reason Bush was grounded during his National Guard days — as recounted by the widow of the pilot who replaced him; an article published throughout the world that highlighted the West’s lack of resolve to seriously pursue the genocidal fugitive Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, responsible for the largest number of European civilian deaths since World War II; several investigations of allegations by former members concerning the practices of Scientology; corruption in the leadership of the nation’s largest police union; a well-connected humanitarian relief organization operating as a cover for unauthorized US covert intervention abroad; detailed evidence that a powerful congressional critic of Bill Clinton and Al Gore for financial irregularities and personal improprieties had his own track record of far more serious transgressions; a look at the practices and values of top Democratic operative and the clients they represent when out of power in Washington; the murky international interests that fueled both George W. Bush’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns; the efficacy of various proposed solutions to the failed war on drugs; the poor-quality televised news program for teens (with lots of advertising) that has quietly seeped into many of America’s public schools; an early exploration of deceptive practices by the credit card industry; a study of ecosystem destruction in Irian Jaya, one of the world’s last substantial rain forests.

Baker has written for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Esquire, and dozens of other major domestic and foreign publications. He has also served as a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. Baker received a 2005 Deadline Club award for his exclusive reporting on George W. Bush’s military record. He is the author of Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America (Bloomsbury Press, 2009); it was released in paperback as Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government and the Secret History of the Last Fifty Years. 

Board of Directors and Their Affiliations

Russ Baker

• Award-winning investigative reporter
• Contributor: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Esquire, and dozens of other major domestic and foreign publications
• Contributing editor: Columbia Journalism Review
• Deadline Club Awardee
• Author: Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America (Bloomsbury Press, 2009); in paperback as Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government and the Secret History of the Last Fifty Years

MARK S. SAUER, JR.

Mark Sauer is the Founder & CEO of AllOneWealth, a Socially Responsible & Impact Investment Advisory Firm.  AllOne’s mission is to be a vehicle for change – to be the means of transferring money and energy from that which extracts value from our world, to that which creates value and contributes.  Mark’s mission is to empower investors, giving them the tools they need to vote with their investment dollars so that we, collectively, can create a more prosperous and sustainable future for our communities and the world.

AllOne does not invest in products associated with alcohol, tobacco, firearms, war related products, gambling products or oil.  AllOne utilizes ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) metrics to assist in further identifying socially conscious investment products.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Caitlin, and their fluffy black cat, Mia.

CA Ins. License: OL88386

DAVE CIPRIANI

GABRIEL GOCOBACHI

Gabriel Gocobachi created SuperCellular, the first healing micro superhero for kids when he was only 2 ½ years old.

After meeting a young boy at the Woodbridge Park who was very sick, Gabriel came home and declared that the world needed a healing superhero for kids, because the ones that Marvel Comics made didn’t do anything for a rotten cell! LOL

He said the boy told him he had good cells and bad cells inside of him and the good cells had to fight the bad guys.  This is how a two-year-old boy came up with the name SuperCellular!

The first book Gabriel made was called THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERCELLULAR and it’s been for sale on Amazon for 8 years now.

The 1st Adventures Of SuperCelular 2008 on Amazon

Over the past 8 years Gabriel has helped to create more books:

SUPER CELLULAR

HEALING MY HEART

FIGHTING CANCER CELLS WITH SUPERCELLULAR

GOING TO SLEEP WITH SUPERCELLULAR

STOPPING A HEADACHE WITH SUPERCELLULAR

COUNTDOWN TO CALM

Gabriel has also created 3 bravery awards for kids to help give them encouragement through tough times.

He’s taken these awards to the City of Hope Children’s Hospital and donated hundreds of them, but he’d like to see these bravery awards in the hands of all kids who have to go to the doctor or to the hospital to get shots or procedures.

Gabriel is currently starting a program at his school to teach other kids about Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and Adobe editing with animation.

Gabriel also co-starred with his mother in #BadMutha The Music Video where he plays an “overexposed” child exploited by his super liberal mother! #BADMUTHA MUSIC VIDEO with Jill Gatsby & Gabriel Gocobachi