March 29, 2024 • 49 mins
On this episode of The Middle we're asking you: do you feel a call to serve your country? Jeremy is joined by Major General (Ret.) Linda Singh and AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith. The Middle's house DJ Tolliver joins as well, plus callers from around the country.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson here at our house.
DJ Tolliver, who I will remind our podcast listeners is
only a DJ on the radio version of the show
because Tolliver Big Music doesn't allow us to play music
on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I was trying to hold me down.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
You guys are missing out.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
On some E d M, some classics.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, Tlliver, we do have some new listeners this week
on k t OO all the way in Juno, Alaska,
the capital of Alaska.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Oh, I did not know those capitals?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Alasta? You did, yes, okay, so sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
One more thing by the way, Tulliver, it is there's
a birthday today that we need to celebrate.
Speaker 5 (00:40):
You hear that?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, the middle is six months old and that is
a six month old baby. Sound then that I found?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
All right, So this hour we're asking do you feel
a call to serve your country. We're going to be
taking your calls at eight four four four Middle, That
is eight four four four six four three three five
three in a moment. But first, last week we were
at Colorado Public Radio in Denver, and we asked you
what should be done to reduce gun violence? In America.
We got so many calls, so many voicemails, such a
(01:10):
wide range of opinions. Here is just a bit of
what some of you had to say.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Hi, this is Claire from Madison, Wisconsin.
Speaker 7 (01:19):
Hey, my name is Jason.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I'm calling from Fayeblee, North Carolina.
Speaker 8 (01:24):
Hi.
Speaker 9 (01:24):
My name is Alison Aldrich. I'm calling from Highland Park, Illinois.
Speaker 10 (01:28):
We am from London, Kentucky. There is no easy solution.
Speaker 11 (01:32):
The problem is you're never going to stop all gun violence.
Speaker 10 (01:35):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 12 (01:35):
We're going to win the war on drugs.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You can't do it.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
The phrase in the Second Amendment as part of a
well regulated militia is conveniently forgotten by all the pro
gun people. Well regulated.
Speaker 10 (01:51):
Hello, it's about education.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
If we're not teaching safety, then nobody's going to know safety.
Speaker 9 (01:57):
The NA has a strong that is extraordinary, and I
would love to see responsible gun owners developed something to
counter the NRAs impact.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Thank you so much to everyone who called in and
left a message. So this hour we're asking do you
feel a call to do some public service to serve
your country. That could be in the military, as a
police officer, a firefighter, a teacher, an election worker, Tolliver.
What is the number for people to call.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
It's eight four four four Middle. That's eight four four
four six four three three five three. You can also
email us by going to Listen to the Middle dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So let's meet our panel. From Prince George's County, Maryland,
retired Army Major General Linda Singh, former head of the
Maryland National Guard with more than three decades of military service.
General sing Welcome to the Middle, Thank you so much.
And from Las Vegas, Nevada, Michael D. Smith, who is
the CEO of AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Michael D.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Smith, Welcome to the.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Middle, Jeremy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So before we get to the phones, I want to
hear from each of you because you both have really
interesting stories of your own about getting into public service
in general, saying, I want to start with you. You
got into the military at a young age because you
were going through a very very difficult time as a teenager.
Speaker 13 (03:12):
That's correct.
Speaker 14 (03:13):
I mean I joined the military at age seventeen because
I was homeless, I was a trouble teen sexual abuse,
really didn't know what I was going to do to
try to get my life back on track. And that's
really hard when you're young. And I got the amazing
opportunity to run into a recruiter in the mall or
(03:33):
the Maryland National Guard, and this particular recruiter, I don't
know why I looked like the you know, the right person,
but he something made him stop me and have a conversation.
And I had not considered the military, and I will
tell you it was probably one of the best choices
that I made. And it's not so much because it
(03:54):
was You can't look at it as if it was
a last resort for me, because I think there were
other options. I just didn't understand the options available to me.
But this gave me an out.
Speaker 13 (04:04):
It gave me a way to really get out.
Speaker 14 (04:07):
Of the town and the environment that I was in
at the time, and it showed me what life could
be like outside of the.
Speaker 13 (04:16):
State of Maryland.
Speaker 14 (04:17):
So going to Basic training was the first time that
I had ever gotten on a plane, and so it
really was an opportunity that opened up doors for me
much broader than I probably would have had I just
stayed where I was.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Did you find and have you found in your years
of military service that there were others like you that
got into it for the same kinds of reasons.
Speaker 14 (04:39):
So, I mean, the stories are so wide and varied,
but I think once I started telling my story, I
found more people that connected to that story, and mainly
because they may not have had the same exact path,
but I think they, you know, we could connect.
Speaker 13 (04:57):
I think it was a way that you.
Speaker 14 (05:00):
Find other people that may not have had a voice,
and so I start sharing my story that gives voice
to a lot of folks that have a trouble past.
But here's what I would say is now, you know,
we see, you know, folks that join the military and
they're coming in with you know, these high level college degrees,
and it's just a much different level of, you know,
(05:22):
of service.
Speaker 13 (05:23):
And so what I would say is.
Speaker 14 (05:25):
You know, starting my service was the military, but I
continue to serve in the community in a wide variety
of ways today, and I think it's for me, it's
something that is very self fulfilling, but it allows me
also to contribute very very differently to my environment, to
my community and to others that I just you know,
(05:48):
wouldn't do if I was just working my my regular job.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
What about you, Michael D. Smith, what was your first
interaction with public service.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, I've been fortunate to build my whole career in
public service start working in the profit sector. And the
reason for me was I grew up in a single
parent household. My parents were both sixteen years old when
I was born. We were poor, not a whole lot
of money, but we had this rich community. My mom
sent me to my local Boys and Girls Club for
what she said was cheap daycare. She just needed a
place to put her kid. But what she didn't know
(06:19):
she was getting is this village of people that loved
and lifted up and kept her son in mine. But
it was also a place where I learned how to serve.
And I didn't know it was service. You know, when
we had the monthly food distribution for the seniors and
they told me to go lift the boxes, I didn't
know that's what we were doing. I just when we
went down to the food pantry, I didn't know that's
(06:39):
what we were doing. When we were raising money, I
didn't know. But I loved it, and it was an
opportunity to give back. It was an opportunity to build skills. Also,
through my church, we did a lot of that work
and I learned at an early age that I loved it.
I loved this opportunity to be of service to my community.
And I looked up to the voluntar tiers that I met,
(07:00):
I looked up to the youth development staff that I met,
and I wanted to be like them. And at a
very early age, I decided, how do I create a
career path that was about service? And I've been really
fortunate to do that ever since.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, and now you're leading AmeriCorps, which has some two
hundred and fifty thousand members and volunteers. Just for people
who don't know what is AmeriCorps, what is it that
you do?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, AmeriCorps is the federal agency for Volunteering and Service.
We have a simple mission, how do we strengthen communities,
transform lives in folls specific engagement through the power of
volunteering and service. We're celebrating our thirtieth birthday this year
since President Clinton signed the legislation to create amer CORPS.
And the idea was really simple back then, you know,
it was we'd never have enough money to pay all
(07:43):
of the people to do all of the things that
we need to address challenges in communities. But there is
something that is in this unique American spirit where no
matter how much money people have or a little money
they have, we want to take care of each other.
We want to help each other out. And there are
some people that are willing to give a year, give
two years in service to their country. And so fast
(08:04):
forward to thirty years. We now have about more than
two hundred thousand air Coorp members and senior volunteers serving
in forty thousand locations. You may have heard of public
Allies or City Year or Teach for America. Those are
all AmeriCorps members. Those are all AmeriCorps grantees. So we
enable folks that want to do long term, continuous service
to make a difference in their communities.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Let's get to the phones in Gerald, who's in Detroit? Gerald,
Welcome to the middle Go ahead. Do you feel a
call to serve your country?
Speaker 13 (08:32):
Well?
Speaker 15 (08:32):
I do, and I did have twenty eight years in
the Air Forces and Air Force navigator. I joined initially
just to fly and I run to be a pilot,
but my eyes weren't good enough. But as I went along,
I found out that a service for our country is
the best thing, and I belong had a seriy that
we founded this country on religious freedom, and yet when
(08:53):
the Catholics showed up in Massachusetts, they were not allowed
to stay. So that's how we got Rhode Island and
so forth, and we moved in. People kept on moving
to the West coast, and now we got to the
Pacific coast and we have to figure out how we're
going to get along.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Do you think do you think that public service do
you think your military service?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And people that serve their country, do you think it
fosters unity?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Yes?
Speaker 15 (09:18):
No, I mean right when in the military, you find
that you have to work as a team, and that's
one thing, especially as a fly and flying everybody has
a specific job and it could be the lowest person
on the crew rank wise, but if he's if he
or she sees something wrong, they'll call the shot and
the crew will have to respond. So but you know,
(09:38):
I think I'm talking to a lot of friends. The
polarization that exists in our country today. I think, in
my opinion, if I were king, i'd make everybody right
out of high school spend two years in public service
or join the military. And if they were going to
go to one of the military academies, definitely would have
to go into the military and learn what it's like
to be down at the lower levels. So but it
teaches you that you everybody puts their shoes on the
(10:01):
same way, skirts and ansk whatever. Yeah, may look different,
speak a different language, but you get along because you
learn you have to work as a team to save
each other.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Jerald, thank you so much for that call. And I'll
go to you General Sing on the question that Jerald
just brought up about a mandatory year of service or
two years of service for every American. What do you
think about that?
Speaker 14 (10:22):
Well, a number of years ago, I actually testified on
this particular topic, and I do believe that getting everyone
to have this level of service, and it doesn't necessarily
have to be military service, because I think most of
the time when we talk about service, it's always towards
the military. I would like to see where we do
(10:44):
institute this level of service, and you know, everyone should
have to do it right out of high school. And
you know we already asked our high school students to
do this level service. Well why not continue that and
deepen that to a level that it's going to help
them to learn some more leadership skills a different you know,
(11:05):
management skills, how you know, how you can actually work
in the community to uplift the community. And I think
when you start bringing in those types of pieces and
then having them, you know, kind of launch their careers,
it's going to give them more than.
Speaker 13 (11:20):
Just Okay, well this is what it was like to
you know, kind of serve my community. It's going to
give them an ideas and what their purpose is.
Speaker 14 (11:27):
Right, So we really you know, want them to start
very early on and start figuring out where can they
actually drive purpose.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
You know, tolliver. These days, public service is voluntary, but
it has not always been that.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Way, Yeah, Jeremy. In nineteen forty, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted
the draft. Keep in mind this is a year before
the US formally entered World War Two after the bombing
of Pearl Harbor. Here is FDR.
Speaker 16 (11:50):
It is a program obviously of defensive preparation and of
defensive preparation only. So the sixteen million young men who
are register today, I say, the democracy is you all cause.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Wow, chilling to hear that right now. By the way,
if you haven't already, please go to listen to the
middle dot com and make a contribution. Tax deductible in
any amount to the Middle. We're trying to raise some
money so we can keep this show going beyond it's
one year birthday, which will be in six months.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Let's Listen to the Middle, divisent training wheels.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Thank you so much, and we'll be right back with
more in a minute. This is the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
If you're just tuning, in the Middle is a national
call and show. We're focused on elevating voices from the
middle geographically, politically, and philosophically, or maybe you just want
to meet in the middle. This hour, we're asking you,
do you feel a call to serve your country in
the military, as an election worker, as a volunteer Tulliver,
(12:49):
what is the number to call in?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
It's eight four four four Middle. That's eight four four
four six four three three five three. You can also
write to us at Listen to the Middle dot com
or on social media.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I'm joined by a retired Major General Linda Singh, formerly
head of the Maryland National Guard, and AmeriCorps CEO Michael D.
Smith and the phones are lighting up, so let's go
to Michael, who's in Layton, Utah. Michael welcome to the middle.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Hi, thanks, Jeremy. Yeah, my name is Michael Lambert and
I'm running for office for the first time. I'm just
north of Salt Lacon, Davis County, and I'm running as
an unaffiliated candidate for Davis County Commissioner. And I gathered
a bunch of signatures, spent several weekends, lots of weekends
and evenings trying to gather signatures to qualify to file
(13:36):
as an unaffiliated candidate. And I, you know, I believe
by partisanship and that's why I'm going that route. And
I obviously have to get elected, but I just want
to be involved. I've got a young family and want
to influence things in our community. So that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So you're not scared about how dirty politics has become.
To get into that.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Profession, Yeah, I I am a little scared, but it
feels meaningful enough for me to try. I care about
certain issues enough, and I care about the world that
my kids are growing into. And I'm a social worker,
so that's been my career and so I've been working
more on micro levels, but I believe in the power
(14:19):
of macro level impact and I think it's worthwhile despite
some of those less appealing sides of politics.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, well, Michael, good luck to you, and thanks for
that call. And I'm going to go to Michael D.
Smith about the question of people who are going into
public service, whether it's politics or whether it's volunteering. Are
you having any issue right now recruiting people that want
to do work with AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Well, we're excited that there's always folks that want to serve.
One of the things that happens with AmeriCorps is whenever
the job market is great and unemployment is low, it's
a little harder, right. Peace Corps used to have a
slogan that was it's the toughest job you'll love, so
hard when Meta and Google and everyone is trying to
offer you signing bonuses to say, I make next to
nothing and work harder than you've ever worked before. So
(15:09):
it has been a little challenging with the job market,
but we are seeing incredible trends. And one example we
run President Biden's American Climate Corps, which was just launched,
and we have found that in the first six weeks
of that opportunity being out on the street, fifty thousand
people expressed interest in signing up. So while it may
have been challenging in some moments, it's moving in the
(15:30):
right direction. And when we find a connection to issues
that this next generation cares about and pathways to careers,
the doors are being thrown wide open and folks are
running in.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
What about the military, General Singh, I saw that recruitment
has been down in recent years. In twenty twenty three,
the Army and the Air Force fell short of their
respective goals by around ten thousand. The Navy was down
by six thousand. What's going on do you think in
terms of recruiting people to go into the military.
Speaker 14 (16:00):
Well, I mean, I think it's the same thing that
Michael mentioned right, Like, we're starting to see where we're
competing against all of the large employers, we're competing against government.
It's not just military where we're seeing things trending down.
We're seeing it also in public service, like government service.
And so I think the challenge that we all have
(16:21):
right now just across the country is really trying to
get more people interested and maybe even more people that
are qualified to go. And I think that's the challenge
for the military, is that we find that a lot
of folks are not necessarily qualified to even go into
the military, and the biggest issue they have has to
do with weight and the way that they live. And
(16:44):
so we have to get back to really helping our
young people think about exercising and eating well and being
a little bit more physically ready to go into the military.
Speaker 13 (16:55):
And then for some.
Speaker 14 (16:55):
Of our males, we're also finding that they're getting into
trouble and so if you get you know, certain types
of violations early on, you're not going to be able
to necessarily qualify for all of the different places that
you'd like to be. And so I think, you know,
just looking at our pre qualifications is huge.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Michael.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I know that you all have a variety of programs
that you're running an AmeriCorps, but like, is there a
profile for the kind of person who typically signs up
for AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Sure, but I would love to wag it into this conversation.
We've actually been working closely with the Department Defense and
the Selective Service. There was this National Commission on National
Military and Public Service which was launched in twenty sixteen.
Recommendations came out in twenty twenty saying we needed to
work better together. So we actually just signed an MoU
with selective service saying, hey, we're talking to a lot
(17:45):
of males who maybe will never see a draft fingers crossed,
but you can serve your country. So come think about
americrps and hey, all of those kids that are being
turned away from military service will take them. And so
we are figuring out a way to work together that
are saying national service is honorable no matter what way
you do it, and so we're trying to help each
other out. Oliver. In terms of your question, you can
(18:07):
be an America member if you are eighteen or eighty
and I meet with them all the time. If you
care about education, if you care about health, if you
hear about climate, we've got something for you. The traditional
AMERICORP member that's doing the year or two of service
tends to be lean, more female, tends to be somewhere
between that eighteen to twenty four year old range. But
we see folks coming in at all types. Obviously, there's
(18:30):
time of life. Younger, you have a little bit more time,
you have your family, you have less time, and then
you get a little older and you have more time
to give.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Again, let's get back to the phones in Marty, who's
in Jacksonville, Florida. Marty, welcome to the middle. Go ahead.
Speaker 13 (18:44):
Hey.
Speaker 17 (18:45):
So for me, I volunteer, you know, with the community.
I always have for years. But when I think about
getting myself involved in like local government that type of thing,
not interested, mainly because of you know what I see.
We don't really have the same goals. So, I mean,
that was a registered independent until they've done away with
(19:06):
the Independent Party in Floridas because like, you know, no
party affiliation, but it's politics just really seems very caddy
and I can't It's like nobody's getting anything done unless
it's their party. That is, I don't know, nobody can reason.
I don't really like that. So, I mean, I hate
to sound pessimistic, but I don't really see anything worth
(19:30):
getting involved with.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, what kind of volunteering do you do? I'm sorry,
what kind of volunteering do you do?
Speaker 18 (19:38):
Oh?
Speaker 17 (19:39):
So I volunteer at the community. I'll work with the youth,
and I do some homeless volunteering. So I've done that
for many, many years. I received a Presidential Volunteer Service
Award a couple of times. So I do a lot
of a lot of that, But as far as you know,
I do want to be involved in politics, but I'm nervous.
(20:00):
It makes me nervous because of the clickiness with it,
and it seemed like we wouldn't get anything done, we
wouldn't get anything accomplished.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Marty, Thank you for that. Michael D. Smith, I actually
want to ask you about politics because you've mentioned a
couple of times the Climate Corps, which is one of
President Biden's initiatives. I can just imagine on some media
in this country that that would be made as a
total joke and that you have to deal with. And
I know you've had to deal with Republicans who want
to defund Americ Corps to some degree. They haven't been
successful in doing that. But what about the politics of
(20:30):
volunteering and civil work.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
You know, you can't win everybody all the time, but
AMERICRPS is proud to have strong bipartisan support. You know,
when there had been times, for instance, where the previous
administration wasn't the biggest fan of AMERICRPS, it was Republicans
in Congress who saved the agency and actually allowed the
budget to grow. After Hurricane Katrina, we had forty thousand
americ Corps members that were in Louisiana, Mississippi for ten years.
(20:56):
Some of our biggest champions were Republican governors and mayors
in states where they saw Americorp members showing up, and
so there's excitement. You know, some folks don't like the
word climate, but they care a whole lot about conservation.
They care a whole lot about wildfires. And so when
the folks show up in their community making a difference,
then politics goes out the window. And we find all
(21:17):
the time, like when you're rolling your sleeves up and
you're doing something to solve a problem in your community,
it allows you to see each other's humanity. And so
we know that service unites, and I think that's why
we've been so fortunate to have such strong bipartisan support.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Let's go to Joseph, who's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Joseph,
welcome to the middle.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
Go ahead, thanks for having me. Yeah, so I am
one of the young people who keeps, I guess, kind
of getting mentioned. And I will say that, you know,
I guess me and my peers at least sort of
(21:54):
do feel a draw to service, but it's not necessarily
in sort of a short way, I think that, you know,
there are certain underlying health issues that that draw young
people away from the military as well as other things.
But I think there's also kind of an ideological disconnect
that hasn't really been said yet, where you know, a
(22:18):
lot of people from my generation, many people who I've
spoken with, feel that, you know, the US military really
doesn't act in the interest of the American people, and
and so why would I devote my time to to
to serve an organization like that. And so a lot
of the service that I see happening, I study and
(22:42):
work in kind of fields related to environmental design, and
I think that a lot of what's going on, and
it's really exciting that people people uh serving the country
in kind of new ways, engaging with communities and sort
of helping us to do the work to survive the
you know, fifty two one hundred years where our environment
(23:05):
and our climate is going to change, and all of this,
you know, could for all we know, is irrelevant.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Joseph want to I want to take your thought there,
because you made a pretty strong statement there. I want
to take it to General Singh. What do you say
to that General sing that Joseph and feels that he
and his peers don't believe that the military is serving
the American people.
Speaker 14 (23:29):
Well, I mean so, I think it takes really all
types of individuals to find out, you know, what is
going to really draw their attention. And when you think
about the military and what we're doing, I mean, we
are serving on behalf of the people very differently, and
I think it's challenging for individuals that have not really
(23:52):
had to make these hard, tough decisions about whether or
not we go to this country, or whether or not
we get involved in the next you know, war, the
next conflict.
Speaker 13 (24:04):
I think it's really really hard to.
Speaker 14 (24:06):
Kind of just do the broad statement to say that
we're not fighting on behalf of the American people. It
is really you know, the things that we do, not
just in the military, but even you know, some of
the crazy politics that is out there, right like our
crazy politicians.
Speaker 13 (24:21):
It is it is the.
Speaker 14 (24:22):
Fight that we are trying to do to ensure that
we can remain a free country. And so whether we
kind of agree on that, you know, that level or not,
but it's also the young people who are doing their
duty in very different ways, right like just you know,
like he mentioned that they're out, you know, taking care
of things very differently. We need that as well, So
(24:45):
we can't really say that everybody has to fit into
this one cycle. What I would just love to see
is people just continue to serve in what they're passionate
about and then allow that to come through, because that's
what makes our three what it is.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Let's go to Christopher who's in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and
again our number is eight four four four Middle. That's
eight four four four six four three three five three
Christopher in Saint Petersburg. Welcome to the middle.
Speaker 12 (25:13):
Well, thank you for having me. So about twelve years ago,
I graduated college and I tried to join the Navy.
They were going to have me be like a like
a sub mariner. I wanted to be like like an astronaut,
but I couldn't do that, so being underwater seeing like
the closest thing, I ended up not being able to
actually join because I have a spine like a her
(25:35):
needed disc and so I didn't pass the the medical exam.
So another way that I that I think that I
found to be able to serve as I went and
I taught English in Japan for a little while. And
I know that's not quite the same as as like
military service or or something like that, but it was
it did give me an opportunity to spread, at least
(25:58):
I think anyway, like American culture and sort of making
that cultural connection between you know, and I was in
rural Japan too, so it was like I was the
first like white person that anybody had seen there, and
it was pretty awesome to be able to share that, like, well,
this is how things happen in America compared to Iwadeshi Japan.
(26:19):
And so that's sort of my call to serve the
country if you want to call it though.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That's great, Christopher, thank you for sharing that. Michael D. Smith,
your thoughts on that. I'm sure that you've talked to
a lot of young people who have done exactly what
Christopher has done.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Service comes in many different forms. We actually have something
called the Harris Wofford Award, who is named for the
person that was both the CEO of AmeriCorps and helped
create amer Corps and helped Sergeant try or create Peace
Corps scause we have a lot of folks that serve
in both Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. People who have a
heart of service want to serve. I was just with
someone who was in the Air Force for thirty years
and is now serving as an AmeriCorps member here in Nevada,
(27:00):
and so we love it. Go serve your country. Serve
through the military, server, broad serve and Peace Corps. Served
through amer Corps. It is all service and it is
all honor.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Let's get another call in here. Charles is in Houston, Texas. Charles,
welcome to the middle Go.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
Ahead, thank you for having me. Excuse me, well myself,
I am a member currently a member of the United
States Navy Reserve twenty three years of service, are currently
at the rank of a kind of commander. Come from
a family of those who have served in uniform, father relatives,
(27:39):
other extended relatives. Currently, my oldest son is a member
of the Texas National Guard and also while the Utense College.
He's also a member of the Army ROTC. But just
to say, I think the color that was a little
while ago that said that he didn't see how the
United States military it's serving the American public. However, I
(28:03):
would say that the military thought for everyone. However, service
is and he as well as anyone else. Just needs
to find that fit. And I think the General had
mentioned that earlier, but everyone just needs to find their
fit and find a way to serve at whatever level
(28:25):
that they can find.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Charles, thank you and thank you for your service. And
I also love when one caller talks about what another
caller said, it's the beauty of live radio. General sing
you though your thoughts on Charles.
Speaker 14 (28:41):
No, well, so, yes, thank you for your service. And
I and I think what we're also hearing from from
Charles is that he has a family of service, and
we're starting to see that we don't have those traditions
a lot, right Like I didn't come necessarily from a
family of deep, deep service, at least from my parents' side.
(29:01):
I and so having that connectivity, I think is what
you also typically see. We're a family, you know, kind
of generational going into the military, and we would love.
Speaker 13 (29:12):
To see that a lot more.
Speaker 14 (29:14):
But just the whole thing of service, that to me
is the underlying piece, right like, how can you serve
if that means going out and volunteering it, you know,
whether it's with AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Easter Seals, going down
to your local soup kitchen, and literally if you just
(29:35):
want to go out and pick up trash along the
side of the road and you know, have the name
out there right like, that is service, you.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Know, Tolliver. One thing that we have seen recently is
kind of disturbing is an effort to go after ordinary
people who serve the public as election workers.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Yeah, listen here to Ruby Freeman, who is an election
worker in Georgia in twenty twenty and was targeted by
people including Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay nearly one
hundred and fifty million dollars for defaming her.
Speaker 19 (30:04):
I can never move back into the house that I
called home. I will always have to be careful about
where I go and who I choose to share my
name with. I miss my home, I miss my neighbors,
(30:25):
and I miss my name.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Wow powerful. By the way, three out of four election
officials say threats have increased in recent years, and one
in six has been threatened. That's according to a survey
from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
It's so so awful. We will be back with more
of your calls in a minute. On the middle, This
is the middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. We're asking you this hour,
do you feel a call to serve your country? You
can call us at eight four four four Middle. That's
eight four four four six four three three five three.
We're joined this hour by AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith
(30:59):
and retired Major j General Linda Singh, former head of
the Maryland National Guard. Before we go back to the phones,
one of our listeners, Paula from Cheyenne, Wyoming, sent us
a voice memo about her call to public service.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Take a listen.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
I have felt the urge many times to serve my country.
I've really been doing that since I got out of
graduate school, when I went to the Peace Corps for
three years. Then I came back and I taught. But
recently I've been feeling the urge to do something locally,
so I have looked in to teach for America. Not
usual for a person who's been teaching for thirty years
(31:34):
in a school district in overseas to do something like that,
but I just think that the only way to make
our country better is to try to raise critical thinkers
and have people that will see things from more than
one viewpoint and try their hardest to have that inspiration
to improve the country as well.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I love that she sent us that well walking Michael
de Smith, do you see a lot of that career
professionals going back later in life to volunar tier in
that way.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yes, we've actually seen certainly more of it during the pandemic.
We were actually just with a Congresswoman, Chrissy Hulihan from Pennsylvania,
who was a veteran and when she was forty five
years old, she decided she wanted to do more in
her community, and so she became a teacher for America
AmeriCorps member. And so you do see these sorts of
things happening all the time. I was actually we're here
(32:22):
in Nevada for our Tribal Nations gathering and visiting some
other sites. I was with three AmeriCorps members today who
are in their thirties and above who have children and
families and are using an America as an opportunity to either
help them with their education or change career paths. And
so it's a great opportunity. Paula, do it. Become a
teacher for America Americorp Member. It will be it will
(32:42):
help you and you'll get a little additional money for
school and it will be great. You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All Right, let's go to the phones and Janice, who's
in Barrington, Rhode Island. Hi, Janis welcome to the Middle.
Speaker 16 (32:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Thanks, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 11 (32:58):
Hello.
Speaker 8 (33:00):
Yeah, So I'm calling because I was the executive director
of a nonprofit in Providence, Rhode Island for many years,
and for oh fifteen years at least, we had an
AmeriCorps program. And I am a huge supporter of AMERICRPS,
mister Smith. But I do want to point out that
(33:25):
the burden on the administrative end of running a program
like that in an organization is tremendous, and the organization
has to commit to a rather large burden of reporting
(33:51):
of you know, so there's that that I think it
sounds like, oh, free volunteers. Well no, it isn't pre volunteers,
it is not Jennis.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Thank you, Michael D. Smith, the administer the red tape.
Do you hear about that a lot?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Jennis. I wasn't expecting to hear that on the Middle
But I'm glad that you love AMERICRPS. It is something
that we actually we've hired our first ever chief Modernization officer,
and we are working hard to modernize this thirty year
old agency and make it simpler. We are a federal agency,
we have an inspector general. There have to be background checks,
there are checks and balances. So it's you know, if
(34:29):
you are a tiny, little nonprofit, maybe not starting with AmeriCorps.
That's why we love to see a lot of cities.
They serve as an intermediary and then disperse AmeriCorps members
to different places. A lot of universities play that role
as well, So that's a good way to start if
you're a small nonprofit, while we work hard to make
it simpler and easier for folks that want to administer
(34:50):
in AmeriCorps programs.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Let's go to Derek, who's in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Derek, welcome to the Middle.
Speaker 20 (34:58):
Hi, thank you for to can I call. I think
this is a really great conversation. And I am one
of the people that actually has been or tried to
be a part of both sides here. So I come
from a very strong military family. Everybody, at least on
(35:18):
my dad's side was Navy, and I had also applied
for Peace Corps during my college years, and so I
tried to participate in both of those, and you know,
ultimately decided that my best contribution to my community was
to do what I'm interested in and what I'm good at,
(35:43):
which is doing the research. And about fifteen years later
now I'm doing research to help perhaps legislation at the
state level and feel really really good about that. I
mainly called in because I wanted to say that there
is a very very strong need and desire amongst millennials
(36:10):
gen Z to participate and to contribute and to be
a part of this national ethos that you know, likened
to the John Kennedy speech. Yeah, and if it's not military,
if it's not peace Corps, I think we need some
(36:33):
sort of return to that to provide options beyond those
two things, because I do feel like there's a very
strong need to participate. And yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Thank you, Derek, Thank you so much. Linda sing He
brings up millennials Generation Z. Do you notice a generational
difference in terms of willingness, let's say, just to join
the military.
Speaker 14 (36:57):
I mean, there's a huge difference today versus when I
came in. And I don't think people realize how long
ago that was, But when I came in It wasn't
too long ago, too long after women were allowed to
actually join the military, and so I think, you know,
just the mindset is completely different. But what I love
because I work in the community all the time with
(37:20):
a multi generation of.
Speaker 13 (37:22):
Types of individuals. But what I love is the.
Speaker 14 (37:25):
Thinking that I get from our young people and you know,
working beside them in different types of organizations, whether it's
at the state level, because I do state level, I'm
you know, still engaged supporting militaries, still doing nonprofits, and
so what I love is just looking at their energy
and when something excites them and.
Speaker 13 (37:45):
They really really engage, we get like infinite possibilities from them.
Speaker 14 (37:52):
And that's it just makes me smile because after spending
a week with a bunch of entrepreneurs and it just
really is re invigorating to be able to see that.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Let's go to Gabrielle, who's in Chicago. Gabrielle, welcome to
the middle Go ahead.
Speaker 21 (38:08):
Thanks so much, and actually I'm really excited by what
was just said. I have led a number of nonprofits
and worked with young people for decades. One of the
things that troubles me sometimes is that when we talk
about service. I think we often overlook the role that
youth organizing and organizing outside of these formal structures is
(38:31):
really playing to essentially make our country better. So, whether
that's Standing Rock or here in Chicago a group like
Good Kids Mad City, I feel like sometimes the structures
we have, which are so critical, like the ones we've
been talking about, missed the opportunity to also recognize and
(38:52):
partner with organizing that's happening on the ground. And I
think that's all the way from teens who organize protest
us or what's happening on college campuses, and so I
just would love to have us think about service in
terms of maybe it's through formal structures, but if we
care about service, how might we connect these structures and
(39:13):
incorporate the informal work that's happening through youth organizing. And
thank you so much for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Thank you, Gabrielle, Michael D. Smith your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Look, I think this country only works with a good,
strong inside outside game. You're going to need people that
are trying to reform the system from the inside, and
you're going to need people that are holding up a
mirror and forcing and demanding change. From the outside. You're
going to need a Nelson and a Wendy. Wendy, You're
going to need a Martin and a Malcolm, and so
all of that is valuable, and I think we only
see the progress that we want to see when you
(39:48):
have both of those forces working together, Toliver.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Some people are writing in online and listen to the
middle dot com.
Speaker 4 (39:54):
Absolutely, Tony and Illinois says, as a first generation American,
getting drafted help me feel like I belonged, Blenn required
positively affecting my life thereafter. But I would say there
are a great many powerful people who fear the power
of the people, and so they actively work against universal
military service. They'd rather re concentrate on working for them
and making them rich.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
Scandalous, General Singh, Do you think that the all volunteer force?
Of course, nobody's going to say they want the draft
right now. I guess back to maybe some people would
say that they want the draft. But do you think
that the all volunteer force works in terms of making
sure that we have a diversity of people, economic diversity,
all kinds of diversity of people going into the military
(40:33):
and serving their country in that way?
Speaker 14 (40:35):
Absolutely, Because when we look at the all Volunteer Force,
we get people from all shapes, walks in life, gender background,
and I think if we look at still how the
legislation is structured for draft, we would not get that right.
Speaker 13 (40:51):
So the draft still is.
Speaker 14 (40:53):
Not focused on drafting women for say, So as long
as we have the all volunteer force.
Speaker 13 (40:58):
It allows us to be to get the best.
Speaker 14 (41:00):
Talent and you know, from every single community. And that's
what I think is the biggest thing. I think if
we don't stay in that direction, my fear would be
is that we start becoming our grandpa's army, I mean,
or Navy or Air force.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Right, So Brendan in Kanki Kee, Illinois is with us,
Hi Brandan, Welcome to the middle Hi, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (41:30):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 10 (41:31):
I just wanted to echo some of what's already been
said about getting involved and organizing, because it was stated
that MLK Junior was a great servant and he was
calling for the change of a lot of systems. So
in my opinion, it seems that getting involved in movement
organizations and getting involved in community organizations locally is the
(41:56):
most important thing you can do to make a positive
impact in the world.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Are you Are you? Involved in in community organizations.
Speaker 10 (42:05):
Yeah, I don't want to go into specifics, but I organize,
and I've just seen that in every city across the
country there's already going to be uh these organizations and
other nonprofits as well that you can get involved with.
But you also have to be careful with nonprofits because
we kind of focus on getting more grant money and
there can be a that can sort of limit some
(42:29):
of our ability to build power.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Brendan, thank you for that. And I will say, by
the way, I now know how difficult it is to
get grant money, so I totally respect people that have
to do that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
For all of the show.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
Really, let's let's go to Mark, who's in Houston, Texas. Mark,
go ahead, Welcome to the.
Speaker 18 (42:48):
Middle fantastic program, first time caller. I just wanted to
share that I came from a family and generations who
served their country, and my grandfather served in World War One,
my uncle served in World War Two, my dad served
(43:11):
in the Korean War, and I served in the Golf
War as a United States Navy sub mariner. And just
want to let you know that that had an influence
of bearing on me serving my country. And I also
want to let you know that I served in the
AMERICRPS Vista after I got my MBA. Wow, and now
(43:34):
I work for a federal agency that helped small businesses
called the SBA, and I just wanted to share those comments. Wow,
I'll stop there.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Well, thank you for a lifetime of service. Mark. That's awesome.
Michael D. Smith, what about the sort of generational thing
that he brings up their families that get into the military,
and then that continues on through the generations and then
even he goes into Americorp Vista at a later age.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Well, Mark, thank you for your service. Thank your ancestors
and generations before for their service. We see this all
the time. We've got fifteen thousand veterans that are serving
today as AmeriCorps members, and in turn we're serving about
two hundred and fifty thousand veterans in military families. So
when there's a heart of service, it just keeps reciprocating.
And what I love too about what you said with
(44:23):
Mark speaking to one of your other carllers, AmeriCorps Vista
is a way where if you don't want to do
direct service, if you love research and evaluation, if you
love marketing and fundraising and communications. You can be an
AmeriCorps member that's helping to build capacity and not necessarily
being on the front lines doing direct service. But yeah,
Mark demonstrates this generational thing that we see all the time.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Thanks Mark, I think we have time for one more call,
and I'm going to go to Paul, who is outside Minneapolis. Paul,
welcome to the middle.
Speaker 22 (44:52):
Go ahead, Hi, that you're squeezing me in. Thank you
so much conversation. When I grad cuated from college in
nineteen seventy, it was Vietnam or the Peace Corps. And
for me that was an easy decision because I wanted
to see the world without a gun. And I became
a teacher, came home, got a teaching certificate, and I've
(45:14):
been involved in nonprofits and hunger poverty. Now I just
got back from DC where we lobby Congress once a
year for Peace Corps reauthorization, and then I go back
in June with the Citizens' Climate Lobby working on climate solutions, bipartisan.
Bringing people together in the community is where it all starts.
(45:34):
And you know, Peace Corps talks about the domestic dividend,
like what happens to volunteers when they come home. Most
of eighty six percent of the studies say that they
stay very engaged in their community.
Speaker 7 (45:47):
So it's a big conversation.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Well, thank you very much for that call, Paul. We
squeezed you in there. Lin using, by the way, did
you ever consider going into the Peace Corps instead of
into the military?
Speaker 14 (46:00):
I didn't even know. Okay, So I grew up in
the country. I didn't grow up in the city. Uh,
And maybe you can say that I had a very
small mind at that point. I think I really did,
and so my universe only was you know, what was
in front of me, and so I didn't I didn't
even learn about the Peace Corps until much later.
Speaker 13 (46:18):
But I was part of the Youth Conservation Corps very
early on.
Speaker 14 (46:22):
I got I spent a summer with the Youth Youth
Conservation Corps, and so I just think sometimes it's a
matter of where you come from and what you're exposed to.
And what I love about this conversation is, I think
we've talked about so many different things in terms of service.
It's helping people to see that you can really find
a place to serve anywhere, whether it's government, military, with AmeriCorps,
(46:45):
Peace Corps.
Speaker 13 (46:46):
There's so many places.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Yeah, Michael the Smith. Actually I wonder you know, as
you listen to these calls coming in. I'm sure you
talk to people all the time who are volunteers, but
anything surprise you in the in the calls that you've
heard this hour.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
You know, I just get reinforces what I already know, spending.
You know, we're headquartered in Washington, and you spend a
lot of time with folks that are feeling concerned about
the state of the American democracy and how polarization. And
I tell folks all the time, come on the road
with me, and when you see the rubber hitting the road,
Americans get tough, when the get tougher, when the going
(47:19):
gets tough, and they take care of one another. And
so you know, the General said it, I am AmeriCorps.
I think it's like a cheesecake factory menu. We've got
something for everybody. And if you want to come in
and get involved, we can figure out a way to
put your talents to use and service of our country.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
Well, the thing that we like to do at the
end of the middle, just in case the topic got
too heavy, is to bring Tolliver in for a quiz
for our guests. So now we have a one question
quiz for both of you. Tolliver to Flora's yours.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
I'm still thinking about the cheesecake factory.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
So, according to Census dot gov, which state has the
highest rate of volunteerism and civic engagement? Illinois, Nebraska, New
York or Utah?
Speaker 1 (48:00):
Either one of you.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
We we run that study. So that's totally I know
the answer to that.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
General Illinois, Nebraska, New York or Utah. General Singh, what
do you think?
Speaker 14 (48:12):
Oh, I'm gonna because I haven't looked at the study,
So I'm going to say Illinois.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
And Michael D. Smith, the answer is it's Utah.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
It is they love.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
To volunteer in Utah.
Speaker 7 (48:23):
They do.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
I'm just there. Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Well, I want to thank my guests. Retired Major General
Linda Singh, who led the Maryland National Guard. Her book
is called Moments of Choice, My Path to Leadership. General Singh,
thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 13 (48:34):
Thank you so much, Jeremy.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
And also AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith, thank you so
much for joining us as well.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
Thank you, Jeremy, Thank you, Tolliver, thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
General and Tolliver. I am so excited about next week's show.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Yeah me too.
Speaker 4 (48:49):
Next week, we're joined by none other than astrophysicist Neil
deGrasse Tyson. He'll be with us for the hour answering
your questions on space the Final Frontier just days before
a total solar eclip that will be visible in much
of the United States. You can call us at eight
four four four six four three three five three All
right in at Listen to the Middle dot com and
while you're there, sign up for our news later.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
And the Middle is brought to you by Longnook Media,
distributed by Illinois Public Media in Urbana, Illinois, and produced
by Joeann Jennings, Harrison Patino, John Barth, and Danny Alexander.
Our technical director is Jason Croft. Our theme music was
composed by Andrew Haig. Thanks also to Nashville Public Radio, iHeartMedia,
and the more than four hundred and ten public radio
(49:29):
stations that are making it possible for people across the
country to listen to the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Talk
to you next week.
Welcome to the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson here at our house.
DJ Tolliver, who I will remind our podcast listeners is
only a DJ on the radio version of the show
because Tolliver Big Music doesn't allow us to play music
on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I was trying to hold me down.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
You guys are missing out.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
On some E d M, some classics.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, Tlliver, we do have some new listeners this week
on k t OO all the way in Juno, Alaska,
the capital of Alaska.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Oh, I did not know those capitals?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Alasta? You did, yes, okay, so sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
One more thing by the way, Tulliver, it is there's
a birthday today that we need to celebrate.
Speaker 5 (00:40):
You hear that?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, the middle is six months old and that is
a six month old baby. Sound then that I found?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
All right, So this hour we're asking do you feel
a call to serve your country. We're going to be
taking your calls at eight four four four Middle, That
is eight four four four six four three three five
three in a moment. But first, last week we were
at Colorado Public Radio in Denver, and we asked you
what should be done to reduce gun violence? In America.
We got so many calls, so many voicemails, such a
(01:10):
wide range of opinions. Here is just a bit of
what some of you had to say.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Hi, this is Claire from Madison, Wisconsin.
Speaker 7 (01:19):
Hey, my name is Jason.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I'm calling from Fayeblee, North Carolina.
Speaker 8 (01:24):
Hi.
Speaker 9 (01:24):
My name is Alison Aldrich. I'm calling from Highland Park, Illinois.
Speaker 10 (01:28):
We am from London, Kentucky. There is no easy solution.
Speaker 11 (01:32):
The problem is you're never going to stop all gun violence.
Speaker 10 (01:35):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 12 (01:35):
We're going to win the war on drugs.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You can't do it.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
The phrase in the Second Amendment as part of a
well regulated militia is conveniently forgotten by all the pro
gun people. Well regulated.
Speaker 10 (01:51):
Hello, it's about education.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
If we're not teaching safety, then nobody's going to know safety.
Speaker 9 (01:57):
The NA has a strong that is extraordinary, and I
would love to see responsible gun owners developed something to
counter the NRAs impact.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Thank you so much to everyone who called in and
left a message. So this hour we're asking do you
feel a call to do some public service to serve
your country. That could be in the military, as a
police officer, a firefighter, a teacher, an election worker, Tolliver.
What is the number for people to call.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
It's eight four four four Middle. That's eight four four
four six four three three five three. You can also
email us by going to Listen to the Middle dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So let's meet our panel. From Prince George's County, Maryland,
retired Army Major General Linda Singh, former head of the
Maryland National Guard with more than three decades of military service.
General sing Welcome to the Middle, Thank you so much.
And from Las Vegas, Nevada, Michael D. Smith, who is
the CEO of AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Michael D.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Smith, Welcome to the.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Middle, Jeremy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So before we get to the phones, I want to
hear from each of you because you both have really
interesting stories of your own about getting into public service
in general, saying, I want to start with you. You
got into the military at a young age because you
were going through a very very difficult time as a teenager.
Speaker 13 (03:12):
That's correct.
Speaker 14 (03:13):
I mean I joined the military at age seventeen because
I was homeless, I was a trouble teen sexual abuse,
really didn't know what I was going to do to
try to get my life back on track. And that's
really hard when you're young. And I got the amazing
opportunity to run into a recruiter in the mall or
(03:33):
the Maryland National Guard, and this particular recruiter, I don't
know why I looked like the you know, the right person,
but he something made him stop me and have a conversation.
And I had not considered the military, and I will
tell you it was probably one of the best choices
that I made. And it's not so much because it
(03:54):
was You can't look at it as if it was
a last resort for me, because I think there were
other options. I just didn't understand the options available to me.
But this gave me an out.
Speaker 13 (04:04):
It gave me a way to really get out.
Speaker 14 (04:07):
Of the town and the environment that I was in
at the time, and it showed me what life could
be like outside of the.
Speaker 13 (04:16):
State of Maryland.
Speaker 14 (04:17):
So going to Basic training was the first time that
I had ever gotten on a plane, and so it
really was an opportunity that opened up doors for me
much broader than I probably would have had I just
stayed where I was.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Did you find and have you found in your years
of military service that there were others like you that
got into it for the same kinds of reasons.
Speaker 14 (04:39):
So, I mean, the stories are so wide and varied,
but I think once I started telling my story, I
found more people that connected to that story, and mainly
because they may not have had the same exact path,
but I think they, you know, we could connect.
Speaker 13 (04:57):
I think it was a way that you.
Speaker 14 (05:00):
Find other people that may not have had a voice,
and so I start sharing my story that gives voice
to a lot of folks that have a trouble past.
But here's what I would say is now, you know,
we see, you know, folks that join the military and
they're coming in with you know, these high level college degrees,
and it's just a much different level of, you know,
(05:22):
of service.
Speaker 13 (05:23):
And so what I would say is.
Speaker 14 (05:25):
You know, starting my service was the military, but I
continue to serve in the community in a wide variety
of ways today, and I think it's for me, it's
something that is very self fulfilling, but it allows me
also to contribute very very differently to my environment, to
my community and to others that I just you know,
(05:48):
wouldn't do if I was just working my my regular job.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
What about you, Michael D. Smith, what was your first
interaction with public service.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, I've been fortunate to build my whole career in
public service start working in the profit sector. And the
reason for me was I grew up in a single
parent household. My parents were both sixteen years old when
I was born. We were poor, not a whole lot
of money, but we had this rich community. My mom
sent me to my local Boys and Girls Club for
what she said was cheap daycare. She just needed a
place to put her kid. But what she didn't know
(06:19):
she was getting is this village of people that loved
and lifted up and kept her son in mine. But
it was also a place where I learned how to serve.
And I didn't know it was service. You know, when
we had the monthly food distribution for the seniors and
they told me to go lift the boxes, I didn't
know that's what we were doing. I just when we
went down to the food pantry, I didn't know that's
(06:39):
what we were doing. When we were raising money, I
didn't know. But I loved it, and it was an
opportunity to give back. It was an opportunity to build skills. Also,
through my church, we did a lot of that work
and I learned at an early age that I loved it.
I loved this opportunity to be of service to my community.
And I looked up to the voluntar tiers that I met,
(07:00):
I looked up to the youth development staff that I met,
and I wanted to be like them. And at a
very early age, I decided, how do I create a
career path that was about service? And I've been really
fortunate to do that ever since.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, and now you're leading AmeriCorps, which has some two
hundred and fifty thousand members and volunteers. Just for people
who don't know what is AmeriCorps, what is it that
you do?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, AmeriCorps is the federal agency for Volunteering and Service.
We have a simple mission, how do we strengthen communities,
transform lives in folls specific engagement through the power of
volunteering and service. We're celebrating our thirtieth birthday this year
since President Clinton signed the legislation to create amer CORPS.
And the idea was really simple back then, you know,
it was we'd never have enough money to pay all
(07:43):
of the people to do all of the things that
we need to address challenges in communities. But there is
something that is in this unique American spirit where no
matter how much money people have or a little money
they have, we want to take care of each other.
We want to help each other out. And there are
some people that are willing to give a year, give
two years in service to their country. And so fast
(08:04):
forward to thirty years. We now have about more than
two hundred thousand air Coorp members and senior volunteers serving
in forty thousand locations. You may have heard of public
Allies or City Year or Teach for America. Those are
all AmeriCorps members. Those are all AmeriCorps grantees. So we
enable folks that want to do long term, continuous service
to make a difference in their communities.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Let's get to the phones in Gerald, who's in Detroit? Gerald,
Welcome to the middle Go ahead. Do you feel a
call to serve your country?
Speaker 13 (08:32):
Well?
Speaker 15 (08:32):
I do, and I did have twenty eight years in
the Air Forces and Air Force navigator. I joined initially
just to fly and I run to be a pilot,
but my eyes weren't good enough. But as I went along,
I found out that a service for our country is
the best thing, and I belong had a seriy that
we founded this country on religious freedom, and yet when
(08:53):
the Catholics showed up in Massachusetts, they were not allowed
to stay. So that's how we got Rhode Island and
so forth, and we moved in. People kept on moving
to the West coast, and now we got to the
Pacific coast and we have to figure out how we're
going to get along.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Do you think do you think that public service do
you think your military service?
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And people that serve their country, do you think it
fosters unity?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Yes?
Speaker 15 (09:18):
No, I mean right when in the military, you find
that you have to work as a team, and that's
one thing, especially as a fly and flying everybody has
a specific job and it could be the lowest person
on the crew rank wise, but if he's if he
or she sees something wrong, they'll call the shot and
the crew will have to respond. So but you know,
(09:38):
I think I'm talking to a lot of friends. The
polarization that exists in our country today. I think, in
my opinion, if I were king, i'd make everybody right
out of high school spend two years in public service
or join the military. And if they were going to
go to one of the military academies, definitely would have
to go into the military and learn what it's like
to be down at the lower levels. So but it
teaches you that you everybody puts their shoes on the
(10:01):
same way, skirts and ansk whatever. Yeah, may look different,
speak a different language, but you get along because you
learn you have to work as a team to save
each other.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Jerald, thank you so much for that call. And I'll
go to you General Sing on the question that Jerald
just brought up about a mandatory year of service or
two years of service for every American. What do you
think about that?
Speaker 14 (10:22):
Well, a number of years ago, I actually testified on
this particular topic, and I do believe that getting everyone
to have this level of service, and it doesn't necessarily
have to be military service, because I think most of
the time when we talk about service, it's always towards
the military. I would like to see where we do
(10:44):
institute this level of service, and you know, everyone should
have to do it right out of high school. And
you know we already asked our high school students to
do this level service. Well why not continue that and
deepen that to a level that it's going to help
them to learn some more leadership skills a different you know,
(11:05):
management skills, how you know, how you can actually work
in the community to uplift the community. And I think
when you start bringing in those types of pieces and
then having them, you know, kind of launch their careers,
it's going to give them more than.
Speaker 13 (11:20):
Just Okay, well this is what it was like to
you know, kind of serve my community. It's going to
give them an ideas and what their purpose is.
Speaker 14 (11:27):
Right, So we really you know, want them to start
very early on and start figuring out where can they
actually drive purpose.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
You know, tolliver. These days, public service is voluntary, but
it has not always been that.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Way, Yeah, Jeremy. In nineteen forty, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted
the draft. Keep in mind this is a year before
the US formally entered World War Two after the bombing
of Pearl Harbor. Here is FDR.
Speaker 16 (11:50):
It is a program obviously of defensive preparation and of
defensive preparation only. So the sixteen million young men who
are register today, I say, the democracy is you all cause.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Wow, chilling to hear that right now. By the way,
if you haven't already, please go to listen to the
middle dot com and make a contribution. Tax deductible in
any amount to the Middle. We're trying to raise some
money so we can keep this show going beyond it's
one year birthday, which will be in six months.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Let's Listen to the Middle, divisent training wheels.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Thank you so much, and we'll be right back with
more in a minute. This is the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson.
If you're just tuning, in the Middle is a national
call and show. We're focused on elevating voices from the
middle geographically, politically, and philosophically, or maybe you just want
to meet in the middle. This hour, we're asking you,
do you feel a call to serve your country in
the military, as an election worker, as a volunteer Tulliver,
(12:49):
what is the number to call in?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
It's eight four four four Middle. That's eight four four
four six four three three five three. You can also
write to us at Listen to the Middle dot com
or on social media.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I'm joined by a retired Major General Linda Singh, formerly
head of the Maryland National Guard, and AmeriCorps CEO Michael D.
Smith and the phones are lighting up, so let's go
to Michael, who's in Layton, Utah. Michael welcome to the middle.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Hi, thanks, Jeremy. Yeah, my name is Michael Lambert and
I'm running for office for the first time. I'm just
north of Salt Lacon, Davis County, and I'm running as
an unaffiliated candidate for Davis County Commissioner. And I gathered
a bunch of signatures, spent several weekends, lots of weekends
and evenings trying to gather signatures to qualify to file
(13:36):
as an unaffiliated candidate. And I, you know, I believe
by partisanship and that's why I'm going that route. And
I obviously have to get elected, but I just want
to be involved. I've got a young family and want
to influence things in our community. So that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So you're not scared about how dirty politics has become.
To get into that.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Profession, Yeah, I I am a little scared, but it
feels meaningful enough for me to try. I care about
certain issues enough, and I care about the world that
my kids are growing into. And I'm a social worker,
so that's been my career and so I've been working
more on micro levels, but I believe in the power
(14:19):
of macro level impact and I think it's worthwhile despite
some of those less appealing sides of politics.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, well, Michael, good luck to you, and thanks for
that call. And I'm going to go to Michael D.
Smith about the question of people who are going into
public service, whether it's politics or whether it's volunteering. Are
you having any issue right now recruiting people that want
to do work with AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Well, we're excited that there's always folks that want to serve.
One of the things that happens with AmeriCorps is whenever
the job market is great and unemployment is low, it's
a little harder, right. Peace Corps used to have a
slogan that was it's the toughest job you'll love, so
hard when Meta and Google and everyone is trying to
offer you signing bonuses to say, I make next to
nothing and work harder than you've ever worked before. So
(15:09):
it has been a little challenging with the job market,
but we are seeing incredible trends. And one example we
run President Biden's American Climate Corps, which was just launched,
and we have found that in the first six weeks
of that opportunity being out on the street, fifty thousand
people expressed interest in signing up. So while it may
have been challenging in some moments, it's moving in the
(15:30):
right direction. And when we find a connection to issues
that this next generation cares about and pathways to careers,
the doors are being thrown wide open and folks are
running in.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
What about the military, General Singh, I saw that recruitment
has been down in recent years. In twenty twenty three,
the Army and the Air Force fell short of their
respective goals by around ten thousand. The Navy was down
by six thousand. What's going on do you think in
terms of recruiting people to go into the military.
Speaker 14 (16:00):
Well, I mean, I think it's the same thing that
Michael mentioned right, Like, we're starting to see where we're
competing against all of the large employers, we're competing against government.
It's not just military where we're seeing things trending down.
We're seeing it also in public service, like government service.
And so I think the challenge that we all have
(16:21):
right now just across the country is really trying to
get more people interested and maybe even more people that
are qualified to go. And I think that's the challenge
for the military, is that we find that a lot
of folks are not necessarily qualified to even go into
the military, and the biggest issue they have has to
do with weight and the way that they live. And
(16:44):
so we have to get back to really helping our
young people think about exercising and eating well and being
a little bit more physically ready to go into the military.
Speaker 13 (16:55):
And then for some.
Speaker 14 (16:55):
Of our males, we're also finding that they're getting into
trouble and so if you get you know, certain types
of violations early on, you're not going to be able
to necessarily qualify for all of the different places that
you'd like to be. And so I think, you know,
just looking at our pre qualifications is huge.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Michael.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I know that you all have a variety of programs
that you're running an AmeriCorps, but like, is there a
profile for the kind of person who typically signs up
for AmeriCorps.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Sure, but I would love to wag it into this conversation.
We've actually been working closely with the Department Defense and
the Selective Service. There was this National Commission on National
Military and Public Service which was launched in twenty sixteen.
Recommendations came out in twenty twenty saying we needed to
work better together. So we actually just signed an MoU
with selective service saying, hey, we're talking to a lot
(17:45):
of males who maybe will never see a draft fingers crossed,
but you can serve your country. So come think about
americrps and hey, all of those kids that are being
turned away from military service will take them. And so
we are figuring out a way to work together that
are saying national service is honorable no matter what way
you do it, and so we're trying to help each
other out. Oliver. In terms of your question, you can
(18:07):
be an America member if you are eighteen or eighty
and I meet with them all the time. If you
care about education, if you care about health, if you
hear about climate, we've got something for you. The traditional
AMERICORP member that's doing the year or two of service
tends to be lean, more female, tends to be somewhere
between that eighteen to twenty four year old range. But
we see folks coming in at all types. Obviously, there's
(18:30):
time of life. Younger, you have a little bit more time,
you have your family, you have less time, and then
you get a little older and you have more time
to give.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Again, let's get back to the phones in Marty, who's
in Jacksonville, Florida. Marty, welcome to the middle. Go ahead.
Speaker 13 (18:44):
Hey.
Speaker 17 (18:45):
So for me, I volunteer, you know, with the community.
I always have for years. But when I think about
getting myself involved in like local government that type of thing,
not interested, mainly because of you know what I see.
We don't really have the same goals. So, I mean,
that was a registered independent until they've done away with
(19:06):
the Independent Party in Floridas because like, you know, no
party affiliation, but it's politics just really seems very caddy
and I can't It's like nobody's getting anything done unless
it's their party. That is, I don't know, nobody can reason.
I don't really like that. So, I mean, I hate
to sound pessimistic, but I don't really see anything worth
(19:30):
getting involved with.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, what kind of volunteering do you do? I'm sorry,
what kind of volunteering do you do?
Speaker 18 (19:38):
Oh?
Speaker 17 (19:39):
So I volunteer at the community. I'll work with the youth,
and I do some homeless volunteering. So I've done that
for many, many years. I received a Presidential Volunteer Service
Award a couple of times. So I do a lot
of a lot of that, But as far as you know,
I do want to be involved in politics, but I'm nervous.
(20:00):
It makes me nervous because of the clickiness with it,
and it seemed like we wouldn't get anything done, we
wouldn't get anything accomplished.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Marty, Thank you for that. Michael D. Smith, I actually
want to ask you about politics because you've mentioned a
couple of times the Climate Corps, which is one of
President Biden's initiatives. I can just imagine on some media
in this country that that would be made as a
total joke and that you have to deal with. And
I know you've had to deal with Republicans who want
to defund Americ Corps to some degree. They haven't been
successful in doing that. But what about the politics of
(20:30):
volunteering and civil work.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
You know, you can't win everybody all the time, but
AMERICRPS is proud to have strong bipartisan support. You know,
when there had been times, for instance, where the previous
administration wasn't the biggest fan of AMERICRPS, it was Republicans
in Congress who saved the agency and actually allowed the
budget to grow. After Hurricane Katrina, we had forty thousand
americ Corps members that were in Louisiana, Mississippi for ten years.
(20:56):
Some of our biggest champions were Republican governors and mayors
in states where they saw Americorp members showing up, and
so there's excitement. You know, some folks don't like the
word climate, but they care a whole lot about conservation.
They care a whole lot about wildfires. And so when
the folks show up in their community making a difference,
then politics goes out the window. And we find all
(21:17):
the time, like when you're rolling your sleeves up and
you're doing something to solve a problem in your community,
it allows you to see each other's humanity. And so
we know that service unites, and I think that's why
we've been so fortunate to have such strong bipartisan support.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Let's go to Joseph, who's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Joseph,
welcome to the middle.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
Go ahead, thanks for having me. Yeah, so I am
one of the young people who keeps, I guess, kind
of getting mentioned. And I will say that, you know,
I guess me and my peers at least sort of
(21:54):
do feel a draw to service, but it's not necessarily
in sort of a short way, I think that, you know,
there are certain underlying health issues that that draw young
people away from the military as well as other things.
But I think there's also kind of an ideological disconnect
that hasn't really been said yet, where you know, a
(22:18):
lot of people from my generation, many people who I've
spoken with, feel that, you know, the US military really
doesn't act in the interest of the American people, and
and so why would I devote my time to to
to serve an organization like that. And so a lot
of the service that I see happening, I study and
(22:42):
work in kind of fields related to environmental design, and
I think that a lot of what's going on, and
it's really exciting that people people uh serving the country
in kind of new ways, engaging with communities and sort
of helping us to do the work to survive the
you know, fifty two one hundred years where our environment
(23:05):
and our climate is going to change, and all of this,
you know, could for all we know, is irrelevant.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Joseph want to I want to take your thought there,
because you made a pretty strong statement there. I want
to take it to General Singh. What do you say
to that General sing that Joseph and feels that he
and his peers don't believe that the military is serving
the American people.
Speaker 14 (23:29):
Well, I mean so, I think it takes really all
types of individuals to find out, you know, what is
going to really draw their attention. And when you think
about the military and what we're doing, I mean, we
are serving on behalf of the people very differently, and
I think it's challenging for individuals that have not really
(23:52):
had to make these hard, tough decisions about whether or
not we go to this country, or whether or not
we get involved in the next you know, war, the
next conflict.
Speaker 13 (24:04):
I think it's really really hard to.
Speaker 14 (24:06):
Kind of just do the broad statement to say that
we're not fighting on behalf of the American people. It
is really you know, the things that we do, not
just in the military, but even you know, some of
the crazy politics that is out there, right like our
crazy politicians.
Speaker 13 (24:21):
It is it is the.
Speaker 14 (24:22):
Fight that we are trying to do to ensure that
we can remain a free country. And so whether we
kind of agree on that, you know, that level or not,
but it's also the young people who are doing their
duty in very different ways, right like just you know,
like he mentioned that they're out, you know, taking care
of things very differently. We need that as well, So
(24:45):
we can't really say that everybody has to fit into
this one cycle. What I would just love to see
is people just continue to serve in what they're passionate
about and then allow that to come through, because that's
what makes our three what it is.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Let's go to Christopher who's in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and
again our number is eight four four four Middle. That's
eight four four four six four three three five three
Christopher in Saint Petersburg. Welcome to the middle.
Speaker 12 (25:13):
Well, thank you for having me. So about twelve years ago,
I graduated college and I tried to join the Navy.
They were going to have me be like a like
a sub mariner. I wanted to be like like an astronaut,
but I couldn't do that, so being underwater seeing like
the closest thing, I ended up not being able to
actually join because I have a spine like a her
(25:35):
needed disc and so I didn't pass the the medical exam.
So another way that I that I think that I
found to be able to serve as I went and
I taught English in Japan for a little while. And
I know that's not quite the same as as like
military service or or something like that, but it was
it did give me an opportunity to spread, at least
(25:58):
I think anyway, like American culture and sort of making
that cultural connection between you know, and I was in
rural Japan too, so it was like I was the
first like white person that anybody had seen there, and
it was pretty awesome to be able to share that, like, well,
this is how things happen in America compared to Iwadeshi Japan.
(26:19):
And so that's sort of my call to serve the
country if you want to call it though.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That's great, Christopher, thank you for sharing that. Michael D. Smith,
your thoughts on that. I'm sure that you've talked to
a lot of young people who have done exactly what
Christopher has done.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Service comes in many different forms. We actually have something
called the Harris Wofford Award, who is named for the
person that was both the CEO of AmeriCorps and helped
create amer Corps and helped Sergeant try or create Peace
Corps scause we have a lot of folks that serve
in both Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. People who have a
heart of service want to serve. I was just with
someone who was in the Air Force for thirty years
and is now serving as an AmeriCorps member here in Nevada,
(27:00):
and so we love it. Go serve your country. Serve
through the military, server, broad serve and Peace Corps. Served
through amer Corps. It is all service and it is
all honor.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Let's get another call in here. Charles is in Houston, Texas. Charles,
welcome to the middle Go.
Speaker 7 (27:15):
Ahead, thank you for having me. Excuse me, well myself,
I am a member currently a member of the United
States Navy Reserve twenty three years of service, are currently
at the rank of a kind of commander. Come from
a family of those who have served in uniform, father relatives,
(27:39):
other extended relatives. Currently, my oldest son is a member
of the Texas National Guard and also while the Utense College.
He's also a member of the Army ROTC. But just
to say, I think the color that was a little
while ago that said that he didn't see how the
United States military it's serving the American public. However, I
(28:03):
would say that the military thought for everyone. However, service
is and he as well as anyone else. Just needs
to find that fit. And I think the General had
mentioned that earlier, but everyone just needs to find their
fit and find a way to serve at whatever level
(28:25):
that they can find.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Charles, thank you and thank you for your service. And
I also love when one caller talks about what another
caller said, it's the beauty of live radio. General sing
you though your thoughts on Charles.
Speaker 14 (28:41):
No, well, so, yes, thank you for your service. And
I and I think what we're also hearing from from
Charles is that he has a family of service, and
we're starting to see that we don't have those traditions
a lot, right Like I didn't come necessarily from a
family of deep, deep service, at least from my parents' side.
(29:01):
I and so having that connectivity, I think is what
you also typically see. We're a family, you know, kind
of generational going into the military, and we would love.
Speaker 13 (29:12):
To see that a lot more.
Speaker 14 (29:14):
But just the whole thing of service, that to me
is the underlying piece, right like, how can you serve
if that means going out and volunteering it, you know,
whether it's with AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Easter Seals, going down
to your local soup kitchen, and literally if you just
(29:35):
want to go out and pick up trash along the
side of the road and you know, have the name
out there right like, that is service, you.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Know, Tolliver. One thing that we have seen recently is
kind of disturbing is an effort to go after ordinary
people who serve the public as election workers.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Yeah, listen here to Ruby Freeman, who is an election
worker in Georgia in twenty twenty and was targeted by
people including Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay nearly one
hundred and fifty million dollars for defaming her.
Speaker 19 (30:04):
I can never move back into the house that I
called home. I will always have to be careful about
where I go and who I choose to share my
name with. I miss my home, I miss my neighbors,
(30:25):
and I miss my name.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
Wow powerful. By the way, three out of four election
officials say threats have increased in recent years, and one
in six has been threatened. That's according to a survey
from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
It's so so awful. We will be back with more
of your calls in a minute. On the middle, This
is the middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. We're asking you this hour,
do you feel a call to serve your country? You
can call us at eight four four four Middle. That's
eight four four four six four three three five three.
We're joined this hour by AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith
(30:59):
and retired Major j General Linda Singh, former head of
the Maryland National Guard. Before we go back to the phones,
one of our listeners, Paula from Cheyenne, Wyoming, sent us
a voice memo about her call to public service.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Take a listen.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
I have felt the urge many times to serve my country.
I've really been doing that since I got out of
graduate school, when I went to the Peace Corps for
three years. Then I came back and I taught. But
recently I've been feeling the urge to do something locally,
so I have looked in to teach for America. Not
usual for a person who's been teaching for thirty years
(31:34):
in a school district in overseas to do something like that,
but I just think that the only way to make
our country better is to try to raise critical thinkers
and have people that will see things from more than
one viewpoint and try their hardest to have that inspiration
to improve the country as well.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I love that she sent us that well walking Michael
de Smith, do you see a lot of that career
professionals going back later in life to volunar tier in
that way.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yes, we've actually seen certainly more of it during the pandemic.
We were actually just with a Congresswoman, Chrissy Hulihan from Pennsylvania,
who was a veteran and when she was forty five
years old, she decided she wanted to do more in
her community, and so she became a teacher for America
AmeriCorps member. And so you do see these sorts of
things happening all the time. I was actually we're here
(32:22):
in Nevada for our Tribal Nations gathering and visiting some
other sites. I was with three AmeriCorps members today who
are in their thirties and above who have children and
families and are using an America as an opportunity to either
help them with their education or change career paths. And
so it's a great opportunity. Paula, do it. Become a
teacher for America Americorp Member. It will be it will
(32:42):
help you and you'll get a little additional money for
school and it will be great. You won't regret it.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All Right, let's go to the phones and Janice, who's
in Barrington, Rhode Island. Hi, Janis welcome to the Middle.
Speaker 16 (32:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Thanks, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 11 (32:58):
Hello.
Speaker 8 (33:00):
Yeah, So I'm calling because I was the executive director
of a nonprofit in Providence, Rhode Island for many years,
and for oh fifteen years at least, we had an
AmeriCorps program. And I am a huge supporter of AMERICRPS,
mister Smith. But I do want to point out that
(33:25):
the burden on the administrative end of running a program
like that in an organization is tremendous, and the organization
has to commit to a rather large burden of reporting
(33:51):
of you know, so there's that that I think it
sounds like, oh, free volunteers. Well no, it isn't pre volunteers,
it is not Jennis.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Thank you, Michael D. Smith, the administer the red tape.
Do you hear about that a lot?
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Jennis. I wasn't expecting to hear that on the Middle
But I'm glad that you love AMERICRPS. It is something
that we actually we've hired our first ever chief Modernization officer,
and we are working hard to modernize this thirty year
old agency and make it simpler. We are a federal agency,
we have an inspector general. There have to be background checks,
there are checks and balances. So it's you know, if
(34:29):
you are a tiny, little nonprofit, maybe not starting with AmeriCorps.
That's why we love to see a lot of cities.
They serve as an intermediary and then disperse AmeriCorps members
to different places. A lot of universities play that role
as well, So that's a good way to start if
you're a small nonprofit, while we work hard to make
it simpler and easier for folks that want to administer
(34:50):
in AmeriCorps programs.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Let's go to Derek, who's in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Derek, welcome to the Middle.
Speaker 20 (34:58):
Hi, thank you for to can I call. I think
this is a really great conversation. And I am one
of the people that actually has been or tried to
be a part of both sides here. So I come
from a very strong military family. Everybody, at least on
(35:18):
my dad's side was Navy, and I had also applied
for Peace Corps during my college years, and so I
tried to participate in both of those, and you know,
ultimately decided that my best contribution to my community was
to do what I'm interested in and what I'm good at,
(35:43):
which is doing the research. And about fifteen years later
now I'm doing research to help perhaps legislation at the
state level and feel really really good about that. I
mainly called in because I wanted to say that there
is a very very strong need and desire amongst millennials
(36:10):
gen Z to participate and to contribute and to be
a part of this national ethos that you know, likened
to the John Kennedy speech. Yeah, and if it's not military,
if it's not peace Corps, I think we need some
(36:33):
sort of return to that to provide options beyond those
two things, because I do feel like there's a very
strong need to participate. And yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Thank you, Derek, Thank you so much. Linda sing He
brings up millennials Generation Z. Do you notice a generational
difference in terms of willingness, let's say, just to join
the military.
Speaker 14 (36:57):
I mean, there's a huge difference today versus when I
came in. And I don't think people realize how long
ago that was, But when I came in It wasn't
too long ago, too long after women were allowed to
actually join the military, and so I think, you know,
just the mindset is completely different. But what I love
because I work in the community all the time with
(37:20):
a multi generation of.
Speaker 13 (37:22):
Types of individuals. But what I love is the.
Speaker 14 (37:25):
Thinking that I get from our young people and you know,
working beside them in different types of organizations, whether it's
at the state level, because I do state level, I'm
you know, still engaged supporting militaries, still doing nonprofits, and
so what I love is just looking at their energy
and when something excites them and.
Speaker 13 (37:45):
They really really engage, we get like infinite possibilities from them.
Speaker 14 (37:52):
And that's it just makes me smile because after spending
a week with a bunch of entrepreneurs and it just
really is re invigorating to be able to see that.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Let's go to Gabrielle, who's in Chicago. Gabrielle, welcome to
the middle Go ahead.
Speaker 21 (38:08):
Thanks so much, and actually I'm really excited by what
was just said. I have led a number of nonprofits
and worked with young people for decades. One of the
things that troubles me sometimes is that when we talk
about service. I think we often overlook the role that
youth organizing and organizing outside of these formal structures is
(38:31):
really playing to essentially make our country better. So, whether
that's Standing Rock or here in Chicago a group like
Good Kids Mad City, I feel like sometimes the structures
we have, which are so critical, like the ones we've
been talking about, missed the opportunity to also recognize and
(38:52):
partner with organizing that's happening on the ground. And I
think that's all the way from teens who organize protest
us or what's happening on college campuses, and so I
just would love to have us think about service in
terms of maybe it's through formal structures, but if we
care about service, how might we connect these structures and
(39:13):
incorporate the informal work that's happening through youth organizing. And
thank you so much for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Thank you, Gabrielle, Michael D. Smith your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Look, I think this country only works with a good,
strong inside outside game. You're going to need people that
are trying to reform the system from the inside, and
you're going to need people that are holding up a
mirror and forcing and demanding change. From the outside. You're
going to need a Nelson and a Wendy. Wendy, You're
going to need a Martin and a Malcolm, and so
all of that is valuable, and I think we only
see the progress that we want to see when you
(39:48):
have both of those forces working together, Toliver.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Some people are writing in online and listen to the
middle dot com.
Speaker 4 (39:54):
Absolutely, Tony and Illinois says, as a first generation American,
getting drafted help me feel like I belonged, Blenn required
positively affecting my life thereafter. But I would say there
are a great many powerful people who fear the power
of the people, and so they actively work against universal
military service. They'd rather re concentrate on working for them
and making them rich.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
Scandalous, General Singh, Do you think that the all volunteer force?
Of course, nobody's going to say they want the draft
right now. I guess back to maybe some people would
say that they want the draft. But do you think
that the all volunteer force works in terms of making
sure that we have a diversity of people, economic diversity,
all kinds of diversity of people going into the military
(40:33):
and serving their country in that way?
Speaker 14 (40:35):
Absolutely, Because when we look at the all Volunteer Force,
we get people from all shapes, walks in life, gender background,
and I think if we look at still how the
legislation is structured for draft, we would not get that right.
Speaker 13 (40:51):
So the draft still is.
Speaker 14 (40:53):
Not focused on drafting women for say, So as long
as we have the all volunteer force.
Speaker 13 (40:58):
It allows us to be to get the best.
Speaker 14 (41:00):
Talent and you know, from every single community. And that's
what I think is the biggest thing. I think if
we don't stay in that direction, my fear would be
is that we start becoming our grandpa's army, I mean,
or Navy or Air force.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Right, So Brendan in Kanki Kee, Illinois is with us,
Hi Brandan, Welcome to the middle Hi, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (41:30):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 10 (41:31):
I just wanted to echo some of what's already been
said about getting involved and organizing, because it was stated
that MLK Junior was a great servant and he was
calling for the change of a lot of systems. So
in my opinion, it seems that getting involved in movement
organizations and getting involved in community organizations locally is the
(41:56):
most important thing you can do to make a positive
impact in the world.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Are you Are you? Involved in in community organizations.
Speaker 10 (42:05):
Yeah, I don't want to go into specifics, but I organize,
and I've just seen that in every city across the
country there's already going to be uh these organizations and
other nonprofits as well that you can get involved with.
But you also have to be careful with nonprofits because
we kind of focus on getting more grant money and
there can be a that can sort of limit some
(42:29):
of our ability to build power.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
Brendan, thank you for that. And I will say, by
the way, I now know how difficult it is to
get grant money, so I totally respect people that have
to do that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
For all of the show.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
Really, let's let's go to Mark, who's in Houston, Texas. Mark,
go ahead, Welcome to the.
Speaker 18 (42:48):
Middle fantastic program, first time caller. I just wanted to
share that I came from a family and generations who
served their country, and my grandfather served in World War One,
my uncle served in World War Two, my dad served
(43:11):
in the Korean War, and I served in the Golf
War as a United States Navy sub mariner. And just
want to let you know that that had an influence
of bearing on me serving my country. And I also
want to let you know that I served in the
AMERICRPS Vista after I got my MBA. Wow, and now
(43:34):
I work for a federal agency that helped small businesses
called the SBA, and I just wanted to share those comments. Wow,
I'll stop there.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Well, thank you for a lifetime of service. Mark. That's awesome.
Michael D. Smith, what about the sort of generational thing
that he brings up their families that get into the military,
and then that continues on through the generations and then
even he goes into Americorp Vista at a later age.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Well, Mark, thank you for your service. Thank your ancestors
and generations before for their service. We see this all
the time. We've got fifteen thousand veterans that are serving
today as AmeriCorps members, and in turn we're serving about
two hundred and fifty thousand veterans in military families. So
when there's a heart of service, it just keeps reciprocating.
And what I love too about what you said with
(44:23):
Mark speaking to one of your other carllers, AmeriCorps Vista
is a way where if you don't want to do
direct service, if you love research and evaluation, if you
love marketing and fundraising and communications. You can be an
AmeriCorps member that's helping to build capacity and not necessarily
being on the front lines doing direct service. But yeah,
Mark demonstrates this generational thing that we see all the time.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Thanks Mark, I think we have time for one more call,
and I'm going to go to Paul, who is outside Minneapolis. Paul,
welcome to the middle.
Speaker 22 (44:52):
Go ahead, Hi, that you're squeezing me in. Thank you
so much conversation. When I grad cuated from college in
nineteen seventy, it was Vietnam or the Peace Corps. And
for me that was an easy decision because I wanted
to see the world without a gun. And I became
a teacher, came home, got a teaching certificate, and I've
(45:14):
been involved in nonprofits and hunger poverty. Now I just
got back from DC where we lobby Congress once a
year for Peace Corps reauthorization, and then I go back
in June with the Citizens' Climate Lobby working on climate solutions, bipartisan.
Bringing people together in the community is where it all starts.
(45:34):
And you know, Peace Corps talks about the domestic dividend,
like what happens to volunteers when they come home. Most
of eighty six percent of the studies say that they
stay very engaged in their community.
Speaker 7 (45:47):
So it's a big conversation.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Well, thank you very much for that call, Paul. We
squeezed you in there. Lin using, by the way, did
you ever consider going into the Peace Corps instead of
into the military?
Speaker 14 (46:00):
I didn't even know. Okay, So I grew up in
the country. I didn't grow up in the city. Uh,
And maybe you can say that I had a very
small mind at that point. I think I really did,
and so my universe only was you know, what was
in front of me, and so I didn't I didn't
even learn about the Peace Corps until much later.
Speaker 13 (46:18):
But I was part of the Youth Conservation Corps very
early on.
Speaker 14 (46:22):
I got I spent a summer with the Youth Youth
Conservation Corps, and so I just think sometimes it's a
matter of where you come from and what you're exposed to.
And what I love about this conversation is, I think
we've talked about so many different things in terms of service.
It's helping people to see that you can really find
a place to serve anywhere, whether it's government, military, with AmeriCorps,
(46:45):
Peace Corps.
Speaker 13 (46:46):
There's so many places.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Yeah, Michael the Smith. Actually I wonder you know, as
you listen to these calls coming in. I'm sure you
talk to people all the time who are volunteers, but
anything surprise you in the in the calls that you've
heard this hour.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
You know, I just get reinforces what I already know, spending.
You know, we're headquartered in Washington, and you spend a
lot of time with folks that are feeling concerned about
the state of the American democracy and how polarization. And
I tell folks all the time, come on the road
with me, and when you see the rubber hitting the road,
Americans get tough, when the get tougher, when the going
(47:19):
gets tough, and they take care of one another. And
so you know, the General said it, I am AmeriCorps.
I think it's like a cheesecake factory menu. We've got
something for everybody. And if you want to come in
and get involved, we can figure out a way to
put your talents to use and service of our country.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
Well, the thing that we like to do at the
end of the middle, just in case the topic got
too heavy, is to bring Tolliver in for a quiz
for our guests. So now we have a one question
quiz for both of you. Tolliver to Flora's yours.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
I'm still thinking about the cheesecake factory.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
So, according to Census dot gov, which state has the
highest rate of volunteerism and civic engagement? Illinois, Nebraska, New
York or Utah?
Speaker 1 (48:00):
Either one of you.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
We we run that study. So that's totally I know
the answer to that.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
General Illinois, Nebraska, New York or Utah. General Singh, what
do you think?
Speaker 14 (48:12):
Oh, I'm gonna because I haven't looked at the study,
So I'm going to say Illinois.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
And Michael D. Smith, the answer is it's Utah.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
It is they love.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
To volunteer in Utah.
Speaker 7 (48:23):
They do.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
I'm just there. Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Well, I want to thank my guests. Retired Major General
Linda Singh, who led the Maryland National Guard. Her book
is called Moments of Choice, My Path to Leadership. General Singh,
thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 13 (48:34):
Thank you so much, Jeremy.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
And also AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith, thank you so
much for joining us as well.
Speaker 2 (48:43):
Thank you, Jeremy, Thank you, Tolliver, thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
General and Tolliver. I am so excited about next week's show.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Yeah me too.
Speaker 4 (48:49):
Next week, we're joined by none other than astrophysicist Neil
deGrasse Tyson. He'll be with us for the hour answering
your questions on space the Final Frontier just days before
a total solar eclip that will be visible in much
of the United States. You can call us at eight
four four four six four three three five three All
right in at Listen to the Middle dot com and
while you're there, sign up for our news later.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
And the Middle is brought to you by Longnook Media,
distributed by Illinois Public Media in Urbana, Illinois, and produced
by Joeann Jennings, Harrison Patino, John Barth, and Danny Alexander.
Our technical director is Jason Croft. Our theme music was
composed by Andrew Haig. Thanks also to Nashville Public Radio, iHeartMedia,
and the more than four hundred and ten public radio
(49:29):
stations that are making it possible for people across the
country to listen to the Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. Talk
to you next week.
Host
Jeremy Hobson
Popular Podcasts
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!