The Black Perspective: September 1, 2024

This week on the Black Perspective, Esther Dillard kicks off a three-part series on Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Andrea Coleman wraps up our Lock & Store It Campaign, and Morgyn Wood interviews Charlamagne tha God and Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson. 

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Andrea Coleman reminding you that your vote matters.
The twenty twenty four election is a pivotal moment for
our democracy. By voting, you can influence the direction of
our country and ensure that your values are represented.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Don't let this.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Opportunity pass you by. To register and check your voter status,
visit innuel dot org board slash reclaim your vote inuel
dot org board slash reclaim your vote. Your vote can
make a difference.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
It's Sunday, September first, and on today's show, Esther Dillard
starts a three part series on September being Sickle Cell Month.
Andrea will close out our locket and store gun safety
awareness campaign. Morgan Wood talks to Charlemagne to God, and
Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson. These stories and more are
coming your way on today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective.

(00:51):
I'm your host, Mike Island.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Good Sunday to everyone, and welcome to another edition of
The Black Perspective on the Black Information Network. September is
Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and this is the first of
a three part series called Sickle Cell a Black Community Crisis.
People of African descent make up ninety percent of the
population who are affected by this genetic blood disorder in
the US, and as the Black Information That Works Esther

(01:23):
Dillard explains, for many, it's a disorder that's hidden to
many black and brown families until a painful episode strikes.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
El Cole is a mom of twin teenage girls. She
says sickle cell disease wasn't on her radar until a
doctor called her and her husband to come in and
talk about some test results during her pregnancy.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
It was very hurtful, and I felt like, you know,
I had gone all of my life with no one's
telling me that I was carriers. So I felt like
both my husband and I had been blindsided.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
They were fraternal twins, and after birth a test determined
one had sickle cell trade line mom and dad while
the other had sickle cell.

Speaker 5 (02:02):
It was really something that I felt isolated within the moment.
Of course, I have a parent that has sickle cell
trade but I did not know that prior to the time,
and so I felt like you know, prior to that
particular doctor's appointment, someone should have tested me and my

(02:23):
husband and told us.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
All is not alone. Prior to two thousand and six,
screening for sickle cell was not mandatory. The CDC says
now all fifty states and the District of Columbia screen
newborns for sickle cell status as part of the newborn
Screening program. Sickle cell is a genetic disorder that affects
the red blood cells, causing them to be mutated into

(02:47):
the shape of a sea.

Speaker 6 (02:48):
So it's a disorder of the hemoglobin, which is the
protein that carries oxygen throughout the body inside red cell.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Doctor Sophie Lanscron is the director of the Division of
Hematology and Jefferson University Hospitals.

Speaker 6 (03:01):
And that's where the abnormality is. There's a mutation in
the genes that make up that hemoglobin molecule, and it
makes the hemoglobin molecule not do the things it's supposed
to do, and under the right clinical conditions, hemoglobin molecules
inside the red cells stick together, and then that changes
the shape of the red cells and causes a lot

(03:22):
of downstream problems, the most common problem being the painful
episodes that patients suffer from.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Well, many people have found that they have no idea
that they're in danger of having this trait.

Speaker 7 (03:33):
Who should be on alert to get tested.

Speaker 6 (03:35):
So the populations that are most at risk are people
of African descent, Middle Eastern descent, East Asian descent, Hispanic descent.
But really, you know, it's possible that anybody could potentially
have sickle trait, right there are Caucasians walking around who
have sickle trait, So it can happen to everyone. But

(03:56):
the population's most at risk and who really should be
aware that they have the potential of having a travel
sickle cell disease are people from African, Medal Eastern, and
Hispanic descent.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
And Elle says most don't understand the kind of pain
patients experience. She recalls her daughter's first episode at five
years old.

Speaker 8 (04:13):
So it was the coldest day of the year.

Speaker 5 (04:15):
I'm actually in Maryland and it was extremely cold. I
homespoiled my kids at the time, and we were going
to the Maryland Science Museum, which was one of our
favorite places, and on the way I started to have
some car trouble and I had to take my kids
out culturple and get some things done, and it was
just so cold for my child. I wasn't able to

(04:38):
pull over in a place where there was a building
for us to go and form up, and so we
were outside waiting for a while. And so when we
got home, she was in pain, and she was in
pain for days, so it's not just hours. She was
in pain for a long period of time, and we
had to give her pain medication. So there isn't a

(04:59):
pain medication that is specifically for people with sickle cell disease.
So when you hear people talking about opioids and things
like that, that's generally what a sickle cell patient takes
for their pain. And so, you know, seeing your child
in that much pain and having to give them narcotics,
as you know, it was definitely a new experience for me.

(05:20):
I could see just her body just throbbing in pain,
and she cried and it was really just this scream
and I felt so helpless because it wasn't something that
I could control. I was, you know, on the phone
with her doctor, just really trying to take care of
her the best way we could.

Speaker 8 (05:39):
And of course it did.

Speaker 5 (05:40):
Subside, and she hasn't had a lot of pain crisis,
but that first crisis was just really it was eye
opening for me and it really caused me to change
the way I taught my children about their health.

Speaker 4 (05:58):
She sayds One of her biggest fears were other serious
complications she didn't at first know about. You'll hear more
on that in part two of our series where we
talk about challenges and racism those with sickle cell experience
when visiting medical professionals. I'm Esther Dillard with the Black
Information Network.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Thanks Esther, and tune in next week for part two
of the Sickle Cell a Black Community Crisis Series. During
the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, the Black Information
Networks Morgan would spoke exclusively with Memphis Representative Justin J.
Pearson about the policies he's pushing the DNC and his
message to young voters.

Speaker 9 (06:34):
Well, talk to me about one of your keys or
some of your key topics that you are fighting for.
There be criminal justice, gun reform, environmental awareness.

Speaker 7 (06:46):
What are some of your topics.

Speaker 10 (06:49):
I mean, our top issues are in of the gun
by this epidemic.

Speaker 11 (06:51):
Gun by this is number one killer children, more than
car accidents or than cancer or anything else. Gun by
this is number one killer children due to the cowardice
of legislators who are not taking this issue seriously enough.

Speaker 10 (07:00):
Another problem that we have as an environmental inclimate.

Speaker 11 (07:03):
Disaster that has been created by corporations and corporate greed
who are focused more on their profits instead of people
who are suffering from pollution and those communities that are
suffering from pollution or lower income typically black, indigenous communities
of color or poor white folks in our country.

Speaker 10 (07:17):
And so we have to do something about that.

Speaker 11 (07:19):
And I think when it comes to economic opportunity, too
much money has been made by the billionaires and the
rich and not getting to the rest of us, and
we need more resources going to people who are struggling
and fighting every single day, who are working class, who
are going to work every day, working eighty hours a
week oftentimes or more, and still not making enough in
order to be able to survive and being able to
thrive in this country. That's unacceptable and it's untenable as well.

Speaker 7 (07:42):
You are one of the Tennessee three.

Speaker 9 (07:44):
Talk to me about that situation, what it meant to you,
the wave of emotions that you went through from and
from being removed to being reinstated and to today.

Speaker 11 (07:55):
Yeah, I mean, my mom always says, with the government
of bad, God will turn into good. It was a
tragedy that led us to the well, the killing of
six people, three of them nine years old, at the
Covenant School, And it was the hubris and the unwillingness
to address that issue by Republicans in the Tennessee General
Assembly that led them to expel us because they thought
that they could expel a movement. They thought they could

(08:15):
expel our hope, They thought they could expel our fight.
But what our constituents have done by first reinstating us
and then by ensuring that we were able to be
elected I got ninety four percent of the vote, was
that you can't expel a movement. Democracy is stronger than
the demi gods who want to rule instead of serve.

Speaker 10 (08:32):
And to be here today is just extremely humbling.

Speaker 11 (08:35):
I'm grateful to distrect eighty six, serving them as done
or my life, and being able to be here with
other people who liked mine, who have justice on their
hearts and on their souls.

Speaker 10 (08:43):
It just makes me so happy.

Speaker 9 (08:44):
You yourself, are one of the younger members of Congress.
Talk to me about voting and vot's your message to
young voters.

Speaker 11 (08:52):
To young voters, this is our time. They're forty one
million of us under the age of thirty six. Who
can win this election for Kamala Harris.

Speaker 10 (08:59):
Let's do it.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Thanks Morgan and stay tuned later in the show when
Morgan talks to the Breakfast Clubs Charlemagne the God. Over
the past three months, The Black Information Network has run
a series of reports on unintentional shootings. The reports were
part of our lockett and stored gun safety awareness campaign.
In this final report for the series, the Black Information Networks,
Andrea Coleman revisits some of the key takeaways of the

(09:22):
campaign and talks with the two women who spearheaded the
special program, Andrea Mike.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Angela Ingram is a senior vice president of Public Engagement
for the Black Information Network in iHeartMedia Chicago. She oversees
a group of community leaders who works with the BI
in regarding issues impacting the black community. Law enforcement expert
Brenda Goss Andrews is a member of that group. Through
Brenda's advisement on the rising number of unintentional shootings taking
place in the black community and their preventability, Angela with

(09:50):
the approval and oversight of BION president Tony Coles, crafted
the plan for Lockett in Store. It the network's first
public safety awareness campaign. As a campaign draws to an end,
we check in with Angela and Brenda on the Locket
and Stored effort and what they hope listeners will take
away from it.

Speaker 12 (10:07):
How satisfied are you with the bion's luck At and
Stored gun safety awareness campaign.

Speaker 13 (10:12):
I'm exceptionally satisfied with the campaign number one, because it
created awareness and that was our ultimate goal. Unintentional shootings
are preventable, and I think it was our responsibility as
a network that serves a black community to drive that
point home. There's so much going on in our world
today and violence and gun violence and everything else, and

(10:35):
for us to know that there are some things that
are preventable and this is one of them. And I
think that we've all done an exceptional job in driving
that point home to our audience.

Speaker 14 (10:45):
Brandon, First, I'm very excited about the campaign and it's
one that, as you know, I'm very passionate about and
continue to be until we really make some inroads into this.
I am so happy that the Black Information Network was
the first net work to really promote this and really
see the value in it in stopping or preventing unintentional shootings,

(11:08):
and they continue to happen. Just the other day right
here in my area, Michigan area, a nine year old
got a hold of a gun and shot his hand
or something. But I don't take that lightly because I
was just looking at some of the campaign and some
of the things that was said during the campaign that
even though a child is not killed, there's trauma in
the family, and there's physical trauma that can manifest later

(11:32):
as that child gets older. So I don't want to
rest and say, well, someone wasn't killed. No, we must
be vigilant in this campaign. I'm so happy the Black
Information Network decided to bring this awareness and reach so
so many people throughout the country.

Speaker 12 (11:47):
Now, you kind of touched on this a little bit
that lest Angela did in her response to the first question,
But what was the aim? If you had to pinpoint
a specific goal for this campaign, would it have been.

Speaker 13 (11:59):
Well for me?

Speaker 14 (11:59):
And Angela did say, is awareness just raising that bar
of awareness to families not only to secure your guns
at home, but the other offshoot of that that we
sometimes miss and that's what happened with this child that
was just killed. They went to someone else's house and
being able to ask that question, are your gun secure?

(12:20):
It's uncomfortable, but we should ask that question. We were
able to impact any families out there to raise that awareness,
you know, I consider that a success now. Sometimes success
people are used to success being measured in numbers and
all of that. But I don't want to get hung
up on numbers right now. It's about awareness. Let's just

(12:41):
reach and touch as many as people as possible. And
the Black Information Network was successful. I believe in doing that.

Speaker 12 (12:48):
Angela, would you like to add anything to that?

Speaker 13 (12:50):
Brittan is right, we can't get caught up on numbers,
but there is one number that I want to highlight.
One If one life was saved, one child's life was
saved as a result of this campaign, than it has
been a success.

Speaker 8 (13:04):
Absolutely.

Speaker 12 (13:05):
What did you feel the campaign accomplished more so than
anything else? And Brenda, you may have touched on it
when you said awareness, but I want to give you
an opportunity to specifically answer that question.

Speaker 14 (13:16):
Well, I think I don't how to expand any further
than just bringing this issue to the forefront. And I
think as we go through it's so many things that
we're all sorting through in life that something like this
maybe just takes a back seat, or people just don't
think about it, so I can't emphasize it anymore. That

(13:38):
and I think just said if we saved one life
or brought awareness to one family, I think that's key.
I think we've accomplished that. It doesn't mean that we stop,
but I think at this point in time, the fact
that we were able to reach hundreds and thousands of people,
I think that's key.

Speaker 13 (13:56):
Andrea, I will add that the response that we have
gotten from the Black Information Network and whether it's from
elected officials, business and community leaders, they've all responded very
faithfully because it is something that kind of stays behind
the scenes. One of the things, outside of Frenda and
her level of expertise with this, that really sparked my

(14:16):
interests was that I was connected in a roundabout way
with someone who their four year old child lost their
life and it was simply because there was a gun
in the home, but it was quiet. No one said anything.
You know, only because I had background knowledge that I
know that the child actually is the one that got
the gun and shot himself. No one said a word,

(14:38):
And I think that's the challenge, is the silence that's
behind it. So whether it's the family, whether it's law enforcement,
we need to be upfront that this is a challenge,
this is an issue, and it's something that can be prevented.
Here's the one thing that we have somewhat of control over.
And I think that's the key is understanding it can

(14:59):
be stopped if we just if we just b lock
and store our firearms.

Speaker 14 (15:05):
Point And I'm so glad that Black Information Network stepped up.
Media was not taking a step to bring awareness to
the community. They talked about everything else. They wanted to
talk about how many shootings was over.

Speaker 13 (15:17):
The weekend in this city and all that.

Speaker 14 (15:20):
That's all that dominated the news, but no one talked
about this issue. So I think, you know, certainly heads
off to Black Information Network for seeing the value of
this messaging and that you all are I call you
the big megaphones. That's one of the things I talked about,
is how do we reach people. You know, Brenda can

(15:41):
continue to talk all around, but where are the big
megaphones in our communities? Big megaphones is the media it's
our large organizations and our churches, our physicians, and that's
my continued path is to find those with the big
megaphones that have huge audiences, because to hit critical masks,

(16:03):
you have to be able to impact large audiences.

Speaker 8 (16:07):
One on one.

Speaker 14 (16:08):
I talk to people every day whenever I have an
opportunity to talk about it. But right now my next
path is who can I get that has that big
megaphone that can talk to a huge audience.

Speaker 12 (16:20):
This issue is a very important one to you, Brenda,
and you have worked with it for a long time,
even when you're overseeing Noble.

Speaker 13 (16:25):
So if you can talk a little bit.

Speaker 12 (16:27):
About what you're seeing as the answer to bring complete
resolution to this issue.

Speaker 13 (16:33):
We have a long ways to go.

Speaker 14 (16:34):
I do realize that, but we're at the tip of
the Iceberg Noble National Organization of Black Law Enforcement exec
We're not elected with volunteers, but you know, we have
kind of laid that path. But even after no longer
being the president, I knew I couldn't just stop the
messaging because I was no longer president. I'm still a

(16:55):
Noble member naturally, and I'm still a person in the community.
I'm an African American in person, and this does impact
our community tremendously that we have to continue.

Speaker 13 (17:05):
We can't just say well.

Speaker 14 (17:06):
We've done this and now I'm happy, and la la
la LA's move on. But it has to be some
type of continued you know, messaging. Maybe not on this
type of grand scale, but I think the discussion now
is what next, you know, what do we do now?
Certainly there's research. I noticed that some of the speakers

(17:26):
that you had talked about research. We need to continue
with the messaging and being able to reach as many
people as possible.

Speaker 12 (17:34):
Angela, did you want to come in on this.

Speaker 13 (17:36):
I think one thing that came out of this. You know,
we focus so much on the children and the teenagers
that are affected by unintentional shootings, but suicide also came
to the surface as we were going through this campaign.
Because again, there's a gun in the home, you're thinking
about committing suicide, it's convenient, it's there for you. If

(17:56):
it is not locked and stored, then that adds to
the suicide as well. And that surfaced quite a bit
during this campaign with our various speakers.

Speaker 12 (18:05):
Talk a little bit about how this came to be.
The Black Information Networks first public safety awareness campaign.

Speaker 13 (18:11):
We have what we call the bi in Local Roundtable,
and it was designed as a forum for business and
civic leaders from local communities across the US to provide
perspective and to collaborate with Bion's leadership team regarding the
networks programming and our local engagement. Brenda Goss Andrews is

(18:32):
a member of the bi Local Roundtable, and as we
were talking about what's the number one issue that's affecting
the black community, what is it that we can do
as a network to raise awareness? And so Brenda stepped
up to the plate. I mean, she is a retired
deputy police chief for the City of Detroit, so this
is something that was not only near and dear to her,

(18:54):
but she was on the front lines of it every day.
I mean, she knew the statistics, she knew the challenges.
She was our law enforcement advisor on this. The campaign
I do not believe would have existed without Brenda's input,
and if it did, certainly not to the depth that
we've been able to go in with this campaign. But
that is a blessing of the roundtable because we have

(19:16):
close to twenty members and on that roundtable in different
sectors in the community and they all bring something to
the table, and we agreed that this is an issue
that is affecting the black community, and as the Black
Information network that's focused on the black community, this is
something that we need to use our resources to amplify.
And Brenda was really our conduit to that Brenda talk.

Speaker 12 (19:38):
If you will a little bit about what all you
do do? You have a long and a lustrous career
in law enforcement, but if you will just share with
our listeners a little bit about your career and then
what you're doing now.

Speaker 14 (19:49):
Well, my career is banned about thirty years with the
Detroit Police Department. I came on during the time when
Detroit had about one point five million people. We had
a first black mayor, Coleman Young that has stepped into place,
so Detroit was kind of moving forward but moving backwards.
At the same time, crack cocaine, heroin, all that was

(20:10):
on the state. So I came on doing that era
and fighting that and crime and homicides were very, very
high because of the drug trade.

Speaker 8 (20:18):
And I moved up.

Speaker 14 (20:19):
I started working in sex crimes, helping you know, women
and domestic violence. Then I continued on in my career
getting promoted all the way to deputy chief and as
deputy chief, I was in charge of our budget and
the money. You know, anybody just in charge of the money,
you know, that's a headache. And then that that I
sold real estate. So I'm always in that position on
how can I help others. I'm also continue to work

(20:40):
with It starts at home in the program that I started,
you know while at Noble.

Speaker 12 (20:46):
So, Angela, what is next for the b on LR.
We've now done or seen, you know, the Black Information
at Work do its first public safety awareness campaign. Your
thoughts on what may be next for the BONLR and
any other campaign you feel is on the horizon for
the network.

Speaker 13 (21:00):
Well, as we come to the end of the Locket
and Story campaign, and as Brenda said, it's not really
the end because we've now created the awareness and that's
something that will be a mainstay for the network in
making sure that we have information on our websites that
are available for this campaign. But next up is we're
going to go all out in really educating the black

(21:22):
community on the necessity of voting in November. We can't
tell you who to vote for, but we can tell
you that it's important that you vote, and here are
the reasons why you need to vote. And so that's
going to be our focus from September until November fifth,
Why vote and providing all the necessary information that our
community needs in order to get out and vote. After that,

(21:44):
together with the BLR team, we will look at the
next campaign.

Speaker 12 (21:47):
You've worked with iHeart now for many, many years. How
does it feel for you to be able to spearhead
these kind of campaigns.

Speaker 13 (21:55):
Well, last week I celebrated my forty second year in
this industry, and I've spent all of my career really
with iHeart and its predecessors. Started as an intern when
I was in college and worked my way up, and
the majority of the positions that I've held have been
rooted in marketing and communication strategy for top radio stations
across the country between Louisville and Charlotte, North Carolina, and

(22:16):
New Orleans and now I've spent a significant amount of
time in Chicago. But in the midst of all of that,
the foundation of what I have been able to accomplish
has always been centered on community. I have a heart
and a passion for the community and creating awareness for
issues that affect our community. And I just believe as

(22:36):
broadcasters we have a responsibility. You know, when we look
at iHeart and the Black Information Network and our reach,
we would be remissed if we did not use those
resources to better inform the communities.

Speaker 8 (22:47):
That we serve.

Speaker 13 (22:49):
That's why we exist is for the community, and so
we have a responsibility to super serve our communities and
give them the information and the education that they need
in order to survive in the communities in which they've
chosen to live, work and play.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
And that includes bringing the community campaigns like lock it
in Store It to raise awareness about the importance of
gun safety and preventing unintentional shootings, all with the hope
of keeping our children safe. I'm Andrea Coleman on the
Black Information Network.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Thank you, Andrea, and you can learn more about Vin's
lock It and Stored gun safety awareness campaign at binnews
dot com. During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the
Black Information That Works Morgan would caught up with Charlemagne
the God from the Breakfast Club. They spoke about his
new book, Get Honest or Die, Lying, Why small Talk Sucks,

(23:38):
his battle and advocacy around mental health, and his advice
to the next generation of media makers, Charlomagne.

Speaker 7 (23:45):
The guide from the Breakfast Club. What's going on? How
are you feeling?

Speaker 15 (23:47):
What's happening? What's happening now?

Speaker 7 (23:48):
You tell me? So what's going on? You have a
new book out, talk to me about it.

Speaker 15 (23:52):
Yes, be honest with Die line wife mart Talk sucks.

Speaker 16 (23:55):
The book is about how we all need to stop
blying to ourselves and stopvolunteering those lives to other people.

Speaker 15 (24:01):
And it's about how I just hate small talk.

Speaker 16 (24:03):
I hate literal small talk, like like when people just
sit around and try to make to check conversations with you.
But I also just hate micro conversations, like I feel
like there's too many macro big issues that we need
to be discussing that we really don't know how to
talk about it anymore because we.

Speaker 15 (24:18):
Put everything on the same scale.

Speaker 16 (24:19):
So you know, these these small issues we put on
the same scale as the big issues, and we make
these small issues the biggest things in the world.

Speaker 15 (24:27):
But these the big issues we don't even know how
to talk about.

Speaker 7 (24:30):
Can you give me an example, Yeah, damn it.

Speaker 16 (24:33):
Anything you see on social media every day, like every
day social media will happen. Like I was literally looking
at social media last night, and I'm like, why is
this even a story? Like it was something like a
like Ana Navarro had helped President Obama with his tie.

Speaker 15 (24:47):
And I'm like, why is everybody like why is this
a story?

Speaker 16 (24:49):
Like I'm like, I'm literally like this is so small,
but everybody was talking about it like it was some
big macro thing. That's an example of how we make
you know, micros macros in this era.

Speaker 9 (25:00):
So what type of how would you prefer, like deep
dive conversations and think about.

Speaker 15 (25:05):
Everything that's going on in the world right now.

Speaker 16 (25:06):
Like I've been watching the DNC all week and we
had a Senator Chuck Schumann on on last night at
the DNC broadcasting and you know, we started talking about
the Supreme Court, and one of the things that you know,
I've been bringing up a lot is the fact that
the Supreme Court is no longer a legitimate institution, not
because you know, it's a six three conservative majority, but
because of the rulings that they're putting in place, Like

(25:28):
when you see the presidential immunity ruling, when you see
the fact that they made it legal for elected officials
to take bribes, when you see that they overturned Roe v. Wade, Like,
these are things that they're they're they're scaling back constitutional rights,
and so why are people having more of that conversation,
especially leading up to the election, because you're starting you
see all of these different, you know, county officials around
the country that you know that probably won't certify the

(25:50):
results of the election. You know, come November and when
Trump challenges and it goes to the Supreme Court, and
light of their recent rulings, what are they going to do?
How do we know they wouldn't just overturn the results
of an election. Why aren't more people speaking about this?
You know, I saw your guy from Maryland. I can't
remember the name right now.

Speaker 7 (26:04):
What's more?

Speaker 15 (26:04):
No, not, What's more?

Speaker 7 (26:05):
He's a Jamie Raskin.

Speaker 15 (26:07):
Amy Raskin.

Speaker 16 (26:07):
Jamie Rakin is the only person I saw at the
DNC this week, unless I missed it. Say straight up,
let's go out there, make sure we win in the
landslide of the Supreme Court game.

Speaker 15 (26:14):
Attempt to steal it.

Speaker 16 (26:16):
That is a macro issue that should be discussed, like
the fact that we have less constitutional rights now in
twenty twenty four and I did when I was born
in nineteen seventy eight. Those are macro issues that should
be discussed. We're not having no conversations.

Speaker 9 (26:28):
It sounds like we're having a conversations now, and you
have the conversations well on your platform of course, the
Breakfast Club.

Speaker 7 (26:33):
So maybe it's just a sign of the times.

Speaker 9 (26:35):
Maybe you know, they're at one time the micro conversations
were a thing, and now we are starting to have
the macro conversations. You don't think that, you know, the
trajectory could just change.

Speaker 16 (26:45):
It could I hope it does, But I just still
feel like we still focus on the miners more than
the majors a lot in our society.

Speaker 15 (26:53):
And maybe because ignorance is bliss.

Speaker 9 (26:55):
Absolutely does it concern you being that you have a family,
you have children and things of that nature.

Speaker 16 (26:59):
Yeah, I got four daughters, Like you know, I have
four daughter though beautiful wife, like the future of my
daughter's reproductive rights, Like who with our lifetime would ever
think that women's reproductive rights would be under such blatant
attack the way that they are.

Speaker 9 (27:17):
Absolutely, and it's not just about abortion. I mean we're
talking about contraception, IVF all of the things. So how
does that make you feel? I mean, being at your dad.

Speaker 16 (27:26):
Makes me feel like I need to do something, you know,
It makes me feel like this is what we got
to be using our platforms for. It makes me feel
like this is what I got to use my voice for.
But it makes me feel like I got to bring
attention to these issues. Like I'm not a legislator. I'm
not going to sit here and act like I know
what it is that needs to be done. This is
my job. My job is to amplify those issues and
bring the people on that are you know, doing the
work to protect those.

Speaker 15 (27:47):
Kind of racts.

Speaker 9 (27:47):
But I think you're doing a good job because at
least in the time that I've spent with you on
Front Page News and you know, doing the show with you,
it seems like the issues that you bring up, before
you know it, a few weeks you're going by and
you know, you're seeing the Supreme with the Supreme Court,
you're seeing like President Biden starting to you know, do
something about it. So I would just say, don't underestimate yourself.
I mean, and you yourself will probably say the same thing.

(28:09):
Don't underestimate your yourself and your platform.

Speaker 16 (28:12):
So that's a great uh, that's a great point that
you just brought up because you know, even being at
the DNC this week. Yeah, people have been telling me that,
Like I mean people like like actual figures, like you know,
like Dodt of Brazil said some real positive things to me,
and you know, uh, the Marshall Fudge and you know,
Chuck Schumer, like there are people like gun To Shapiro
has said these things and me before. So yeah, you

(28:33):
know that I'm happy to be in the position to
raise a way and.

Speaker 15 (28:36):
It's to certain things.

Speaker 9 (28:37):
Yes, you have a big voice, Charlotte. I think you
should give yourself a little bit more credit.

Speaker 15 (28:41):
I'm just happy to be here. God is good. Oh
what else do I have going on? I mean a lot.

Speaker 16 (28:45):
I mean I don't know, like your Black Effect podcast network,
my book. I just said that get onto the down line.
While small talk.

Speaker 7 (28:51):
Sucks, mental health and black men.

Speaker 9 (28:54):
Yes, that's an issue that you, yourself and a few
others have brought to the forefront. That's something so I
mean again, never underestimate yourself, your voice, and your platform.
How do you feel in terms of mental health in
the black community amongst black men right now based on
when you first brought it up to now? I mean

(29:15):
the conversation is starting to be had, is you're starting
to have the deep dive conversations and it's not so
micro like you said, So what do you make of that?

Speaker 15 (29:22):
I love it.

Speaker 16 (29:23):
I think that, you know, mental health is one of
those things that you can't run from, right, Like I
think that we are the generation, the first generation that
had the luxury of healing.

Speaker 15 (29:33):
I feel like the generations.

Speaker 16 (29:34):
Prior to us, our parents, grandparents, they were literally just
trying to survive. And so we have the tools, we have,
the language, we have the resources, we have people who
aren't afraid to speak about, you know, what they're dealing
with in regards to their mental and emotional well being.
So it makes everybody else more comfortable to tell their stories.
Like in order to eradicate the stigma around mental health,

(29:55):
you know, everybody has to tell their story. And I
think that's happening more and more. It's happening on you know,
various platforms. You see it on podcasts, you see it
on television, you see people writing books about it, you people,
you see people just talking about it, like they're talking
about going to the gym, going to the gym, Like
I remember that when the gluten free craze happened and
everybody everything was gluten free, even still is now right.
So it's like that with mental health, people are like, no,
I gotta go take the mental health break. I literally

(30:16):
was just on the broadcast and tell one of our producers,
I'm taking the mental health break. Tomort Like, it's really
just that simple, And when somebody says it, it's not
even nothing the question. You don't ask them what's wrong,
you know, just like go take some time for yourself.
And I think that, you know, the last few years,
several years of us just having these conversations, not me personally,
but just the world has has made room for that.

Speaker 7 (30:35):
Well, what inspired you to even bring it up as
a topic.

Speaker 9 (30:38):
Is there something that you know maybe somebody doesn't know
or the audience doesn't know that you went through my
own issues?

Speaker 16 (30:43):
Is my I've been dealing with anxiety and depression my
whole life, like literally, and like when I was young,
I didn't know what those, you know, panic attacks were.
When I'm walking down my dear road, the monk on
the side line, and just all of a sudden you get
hit with this feeling of dread and fear and go
hide in the woods, like I was that, like, you know,
uncont rollable cryme getting dropped off first day of school
in first grade, members of the elementary and nobody can

(31:04):
calm me down. I've always dealt with those that anxiety
and those panic attacks, and so like twenty sixteen, I
just finally started to I finally started to go out
and go to therapy, Like I started to go seek help,
you know, because my life was supposed to be so good, right,
like more money than I've ever made in my life,
because I was six years in the breakfast club, you know,

(31:24):
more success, more opportunity, like everything's supposed to be peaches
and cream, but it wasn't. And so that's when I
just started to go to therapy and you know, started
doing the work on myself and you know, just sharing
that journey with my audience.

Speaker 15 (31:38):
Like that's that turned into me finding.

Speaker 16 (31:41):
This whole village of people who also were dealing with anxiety,
who also were dealing with depression, PTSD, just everybody, different
forms of trauma. Everybody was on there. Some people were
on their own healing journey. Some people got the script
to go on their own healing journey because they heard
me talking about it. So it all started with just
me sharing my experiences what I was going through.

Speaker 9 (31:59):
And you mentioned that you sought out therapy, which is
absolutely amazing. And there's a stigma in the black community,
especially amongst men, that you know, we don't.

Speaker 7 (32:07):
Need, know therapy, if you go see a therapist, you're
crazy or whatever. Outside of therapy, which I to believe
is very valuable.

Speaker 9 (32:13):
For you know, mental health awareness and bring you know,
bringing your mental health up.

Speaker 7 (32:17):
What are some ways that.

Speaker 16 (32:18):
You cope, oh man, Meditation. Meditation is real big for me.
I love I love nature, grounding, you know. I'll take
my shoes off, you know, go walk in the grass,
you know, go put my hands on the tree, Go
put my forehead on the tree, like, put my back
against the tree, Go read a book in the tree,
under a tree. I like to go into water, like
I love being on the beach barefoot, walking in the sand.

(32:38):
You know, just go in the water, you know, look
up to the sun, say a prayer.

Speaker 15 (32:44):
I love.

Speaker 16 (32:45):
I've done plant based excursions, you know, I've gone out
there and experience with different plant based you know, medications.
I've done reiki, I've done a little bit of a
bit of everything, and and all of that stuff works.

Speaker 7 (32:57):
Playing based medication. You're talking about smoking weed, I.

Speaker 16 (33:00):
Do that on the regular, but I mean I do
that just that's right. I'm talking about the ayguasca and
you know, shrooms stuff like that.

Speaker 15 (33:06):
I've done all of it. I've done all of that.

Speaker 9 (33:07):
Yeah, because that's some I was gonna say, that's starting
to be a little bit more normalized and you know
in regards to mental mental health.

Speaker 15 (33:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, but that's not something you do for recreation.

Speaker 16 (33:17):
Like ayahuasca really is a spiritual journey, Like it really
is going to be a spiritual surgery done on you.
Like you have to do that in the right space
with the right people. It's nothing to do recreationally at
all in any way, shape or form. Like I don't
even like to I really shouldn't mention it when you
mentioned like the weeds and the shrooms and stuff like that,
Like it's really sacred medicine, like and you have to

(33:39):
be with you know, sacred doctors. You know, you know
when they're when they're giving you that medicine. Because it's
really it's really that intense. But it's really worth it.

Speaker 7 (33:49):
Speaking are worth it. I think it's worth it.

Speaker 9 (33:51):
That I'm here with you today and I'm going to
switch gears and just talk about working in media. Working
in media, what's their advice to someone who might be
young and upcoming, might want to be in your shoes
one day?

Speaker 15 (34:06):
Be yourself.

Speaker 16 (34:09):
That's the most valuable piece of advice I can give anybody, Like,
always be the most authentic version of yourself. I know
that sounds cliche, but we live in an era where
you have a lot of people trying to be second
rate versions of others. Why be a second arate version
of other people when you can be a first rate
version of yourself. Because what God has given you to
give that God gave you, he only gave you. And

(34:30):
if you tap into that uniqueness about yourself, if you
tap into that, you know that that's certain genes, a
quad that only you have you can't lose. Like, you know,
there's plenty of people who I'm inspired by. Oh, yeah,
I'm inspired by Oprah. Yeah, I'm inspired by P. D.

Speaker 15 (34:45):
Green. Yeah, I'm inspired by Howard Stern.

Speaker 16 (34:47):
Yeah, I'm inspired by the John Stewarts, the Barble Walters
of the world. But I was inspired I'm inspired by
our Senio Hall. But I don't I can't be them.
Everybody I just named is so unique. Everybody Body I
just named has a distinct, you know, quality about themselves,
and I think that we all have that. You know,
you just got to be you can't be afraid to

(35:09):
tap into it. I think that you know, it's it's easier,
it's easier to have the cloak in the mask of
something else because you're afraid to step out there on
your own because you don't know how it's going to
be received. And when when you step out there on
your own with your own thoughts, your own mind, your
own voice, and you don't know how it's going to
be received, that sometimes hurts a lot more. When you're

(35:31):
pretending for whatever reason, it don't hurt you as much
because in your mind, you know what, that's not really me.
So they don't really dislike me. They just really like
what I presented to the world. But that's that's whacked
to me. Like I'm I'm willing to take whatever comes
with truly being me, the good, the bad, you know,
the criticism, the low. Yeah, that's the game though, And

(35:54):
if you don't understand, there's nobody in the world who
does not experience that Oprah was on last night. Oprah Winfrey,
who's been one of the most positive, purest people we've
seen all year, all our lives, and she gets super
criticism and super backlash. Like so it's just like who cares?
Like we used to, We used to always say what

(36:15):
they even hated on Jesus. I still say that sometimes,
but I like to use new modern people. They still
they even hate on Beyonce, they even hate on over
So it's like it's like it comes.

Speaker 15 (36:25):
With the territory.

Speaker 7 (36:26):
Can't please everybody.

Speaker 16 (36:27):
You can't please everybody, and you can't my therapist told
me one time. My therapist said, you can't have this
whole life and existence you have without that criticism. It's
all part of it. Anybody who tells you otherwise is
a liar. So you got to be careful what you
wish for them. You gotta be careful what you work

(36:48):
for because you're going to be talked about, You're going
to be criticized. You know, you're going to be misunderstood,
you're going to be taken out of context, and you
just gotta be willing to deal with all of that
because to me, the love outways all of.

Speaker 7 (36:59):
That anyway, I'll just leave it there on that note then.

Speaker 16 (37:01):
Absolutely thank you, Thank you, Morgan, and thank you for
holding down our front a paid news segment this year.
You've been doing a phenomenal job and we just appreciate
having you and having a Black Information Network as a
part of the Breakfast Club.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Thank you, Thanks Morgan.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Check out Morgan Wood's daily reports with Front Page News
on the Breakfast Club Monday through Friday at six am
and seven am. As the Democrats looked to the future,
there was also a nod to the past. Homage was
especially paid to a black woman warrior in the struggle
for civil rights, as the Black Information Networks, Vanessa Tyler
reports on her podcast black Land, respect was paid on

(37:34):
the name of Fanny lou Hamer.

Speaker 17 (37:36):
Say her name, Fanny lou Hamer, Fanny lou Hamer, Fanny
lou Hamer, Fanny lou.

Speaker 18 (37:41):
Hamer, Fanny lou Hamer's spirit was all over the Democratic
National Convention. Decades later, we're still talking about Fanny lou Hamer.

Speaker 19 (37:50):
Mister Chairman, and to the Credective Committee, my name is
missus Fanny lou Hamer.

Speaker 18 (37:57):
And if you don't know her history, you have to
say stay tuned to hear why her name will always
live on in Blackland and.

Speaker 20 (38:05):
Now as a brown person, you just feel so invisible.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
And where we're from, brothers and sisters.

Speaker 18 (38:12):
I welcome you to this joyful and day, and.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
We celebrate freedom. Where we are no cloud. I know
someone's heard something.

Speaker 18 (38:21):
And where we're going, we the people meets all the people.

Speaker 21 (38:24):
The Black Information net Worth presents Blackland with your host
Vanessa Tyler.

Speaker 19 (38:29):
By the time I was ten or twelve, I just
wish to God I was white.

Speaker 18 (38:34):
You're listening to the voice of Fanny Louhamer, who went
through sheer hell for the right to vote. Her story
starts on a Mississippi plantation. Her parents were sharecroppers. She
was born into it, working a white man's land most
of her life, the time nineteen sixties, Yet she couldn't
leave the plantation without permission. It was slave labor and

(38:58):
disgustingly low pay. So when she went with the group
to register to vote in an effort to change things,
of course, she lost her sharecropping job. But that was
just the beginning.

Speaker 19 (39:09):
I was met down by my children who told me
the plantation owner was angry because I had gone down
tried to register, and after they told him, my husband
came and said. The plantation owner was raised and came
because I had tried to register. And before he quit talking,
the plantation owner came and said, Fanny Luda, you know,

(39:33):
did Pap tell you what I said? And I said yes, sir.
He said, well, I mean that said if you don't
go down and withdraw your registration, you will have to leave.
Said then if you go down and withdo so, you
still might have to go because we are not ready
for that in Mississiptis.

Speaker 18 (39:52):
Mississippi wasn't ready at all. Those who wanted to vote
literally risked their lives. Fanny Luhaimmer had to get out
of town that night, leaving her children, her husband, love
plantation all she's ever known, but she never left her
resolved she would vote and get others to exercise their
rights too, despite her arrests. Listen how she was tortured,

(40:13):
left with life altering injuries.

Speaker 19 (40:16):
And it wasn't too long before they came back. He said,
you if they moved with all right, and he used
the curse news and he said, we ought to make
you wish you was being I was carried out of
that fail into another fel where they had two Negro prisoners.
The state Highway patrolman ordered the first Negro to take
the black jack. The first Negro prisoner ordered me my

(40:39):
auto from the State Highway patrolling for me to lay
down on a bunk bed on my faith, and I
laid on my face. The first Negro began to be
and I will feed by the first Negro until.

Speaker 15 (40:50):
He was big gold.

Speaker 19 (40:51):
I was holding my hand behind at that time on
the left side because I suffered from coolio when I
was six years old. The fast nigo had beat until
he will gull. The Shane Highway patrolman out of the
second Negro.

Speaker 8 (41:06):
To take the black guess.

Speaker 19 (41:07):
The second Negro began to beat, and I began to
work my feet, and the State Highway patrol and out
of the first nig goo ahead beat the set on
my feet to keep it from working the fief. I
began to spreame, and one white man got up and
began to beat me in my head and tell him
at the hood.

Speaker 18 (41:24):
Fanny Louhamer telling her story before the Democratic National Convention
in Atlantic City in nineteen sixty four. She is speaking
before the Credentials Committee. Her blockbuster testimony itself wasn't without
dirty tricks. The President of the United States at the time,
Lyndon Baines Johnson, scheduled an impromptu address to get the

(41:45):
live television coverage off of her. It worked, but eventually
backfired because all the networks reran her speech, which lives
until this day, and it is why Pat Brady, who
I met and is from Mississippi, is proud to be
the delegate Fannie lou Hamer fought so hard to become.

Speaker 17 (42:04):
I grew up in Wenona, Mississippi, which is where Fanny
Luke Hamer was terrorized in nineteen sixty three in the
jail cell, which was one mile from where I was born.
I was three months old, so that would have been
around June ninth, nineteen sixty three. So for me, it's
everything because she was there at a blast stop and

(42:28):
she got off the bus and was arrested for nothing,
and she was almost dead, but she survived her injuries
and still continued the work of the voting process. So
I have no other choice but to do the work.
And I'm from Mississippi, and there's a lot of good
things in Mississippi, but there's a whole lot of things
that need to be done and need to be changed.

Speaker 7 (42:49):
So I'm part of the change. I am honored to
be here.

Speaker 17 (42:52):
In Chicago, and I just thank God for the opportunity
to serve in my community and do the things that
I know it's pleasing to his work.

Speaker 18 (43:00):
So as this year's convention celebrates the first Black female
Democratic nominee for President, Kamala Harris, who was standing on
the shoulders of the legacy of Fanny Lou Hamer, Congressman
Jonathan Jackson mentioned the Hamer effect on his father, the
Reverend Jesse Jackson, who although Reverend Jackson ran for president
twice in nineteen eighty four, in nineteen eighty eight, it

(43:21):
was in the spirit of registering voters like Fanny Lou
Hamer during her time, That's how black people built real
political power.

Speaker 15 (43:29):
What happened, there.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
Were enough registered voters.

Speaker 22 (43:32):
After this campaign, David Dinkins became the first African American
mayor of New York City. There was enough registered voters
behind that. Doug Wilder became governor of Virginia. There was
enough voters behind that. Willington wabb an African American and
a predominantly white district and city became mayor of Denver, Colorado.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
So it was so much more that he lifted up.

Speaker 22 (43:51):
And you'll see when the history has written, how many
more African Americans got into the Congress after he had
done the hard work of the voter registration. Was motivated
in that regard by Fanny Loulhamer just twenty years earlier,
in nineteen sixty four. So sixty years later we honor
the memory of Fannie Lhamer and the Mississippi Democratic Freedom
Party the met in New Jersey, and then twenty years

(44:13):
after that with Reverend Jackson, my father, running for president
in eighty four, culminating today and this in our lifetime,
we can see two African American presidents. We can see
the first female, and it's a give us a lot
of joint hope.

Speaker 18 (44:26):
Keeping hope alive. There was a special honor for Fannie
Lou Hamer straight from the floor of the twenty twenty
four convention. Hello delegates, the tribute from the always fighting
for the people. California Congresswoman Maxine waters I.

Speaker 23 (44:42):
Was just twenty two years old when Fanny Lohamer made
her presence known at another Democratic convention. It was in
nineteen sixty four in Atlantic City and share right with
a group of black delegates from Mississippi. And she simply asked,

(45:07):
She simply asked, can her delegates be seated in police
of the state's all white delegation. She told the people
in the room about the violence she suffered at the
hands of white police because she, a black woman, had

(45:27):
demanded her right to vote. When she finished, she asked
the country a simple but profound question.

Speaker 19 (45:37):
Question America's America.

Speaker 23 (45:40):
She didn't get the outcome she was hoping for in
Atlantic City, but you can bet that when the official
Mississippi delegation was seated at the convention four years later,
Fanny Luhaimo was sitting there.

Speaker 8 (45:59):
We're there.

Speaker 18 (46:02):
Fanny Lou Hamer not only became a delegate, she ran
for office herself. She filed to run for Congress under
the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. A colleague in the struggle,
civil rights fighter Charles McLaurin, was with Hamer as she
filed the paperwork. In the Mississippi Public Broadcasting documentary on
Fanny Lou Hamer, he tells of the typical racist reception

(46:25):
they received walking into the office.

Speaker 21 (46:28):
Walked into the Sanitary of State's office, and this white
lady said, what.

Speaker 15 (46:34):
What you wrong.

Speaker 21 (46:37):
We looked at her and then the same and said, well,
I want to run for Congress. And if she's surprised,
she she looked at us, and then she go back
in there. She said, hey, so this dude, because out
here said they want to run for congress. Ten fifteen
eyes are now on us, you know. And so we
started standing there and said she come and put this

(47:00):
pile of papers on the counter.

Speaker 15 (47:02):
He said, fill these out. Family.

Speaker 21 (47:04):
We went out, go out into the car, the orders
up there and fill out the papers.

Speaker 15 (47:10):
Bring them back.

Speaker 21 (47:11):
She says, okay, this this is okay, but you need
a cashier check five hundred dollars made out to the
Democratic Party Executive Committee. So we go out into the
card or to the phone booth called the kofort office
in here and tell them that we need five hundred dollars.

(47:34):
They said, don't move, stay there, somebody will be there
with the money. Okay, sit around a while. Then a
guy shows up with the check. We take the check
into the office, give it to the lady and start
to leave. She said, hold it, said, there's one more
step said at the time the candidate qualifies, the campaign

(47:56):
manager has to sign these papers. And she said, this
is the last es day to qualify. It's four o'clock.
We're gonna shut this down at four thirty. And if
you don't get this all in the day, you're out
of luck.

Speaker 15 (48:11):
You won't be able to run.

Speaker 21 (48:14):
Fanny Laima looked at me and she said, Mac, go
in there and put your name on them papers and
let's go home.

Speaker 15 (48:22):
I said, all, miss hey, i'mna come home now.

Speaker 21 (48:23):
You know I don't know nothing in the world about
being a campaign manager. She said, Mac, you know it's
much about being a campaign manager as I know about
running for Congress. Put your name on the papers and
let's go home.

Speaker 18 (48:36):
No, she didn't get elected, but she is a winner
anyway for what she did for the black vote, This
fearless fighter from Mississippi.

Speaker 24 (48:46):
All of that on account of we're want to register
to become first class settle And I said, when I'm
Democratic Party is not seated, not I question America.

Speaker 19 (48:59):
It's mause the line of the friend in the whole
of the brain.

Speaker 24 (49:04):
Wow, we have to sleep with the telephones out of
the hook before my lines and thread David, because.

Speaker 8 (49:12):
We want to live. It's been a human beings gentle mare.
Thank you.

Speaker 18 (49:19):
I'm Vanessa Tyler. Join me next time on Blackland. There
is a brand new episode dropping every Friday.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Thanks Vanessa. Coming up in Atlanta later this month is
a one of a kind conference designed for women who
suffer from a particular disease that, as some say, strip
a woman of her womanhood.

Speaker 3 (49:40):
Doug, Hey, Thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis back with
another segment of Your Black Business, where we feature inspiring
stories about black entrepreneurs and organizations with us Today it
is Felicia Floores, an example, i should say, an exceptional
example of an amazing Black woman. She's a motivational speaker, philanthropists,
w Hesia Warrior, and founder of Baldi Con, which is

(50:03):
an empowering conference created by Felicia aimed at celebrating strength,
self acceptance, and community among women experiencing hair loss. The
event is designed to redefine traditional beauty standards and provide
a supportive environment for those affected by alopecia. Welcome to
the BI and Felicia.

Speaker 8 (50:20):
Thank you. Thank you for having me that I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
No problem at all and very proud of you too.
Let's talk about your personal journey, right, share with us,
you know, the whole alopecia thing and how it'd shape
your identity, your mission, your existence, and your future.

Speaker 8 (50:36):
Right.

Speaker 20 (50:36):
So, I first noticed these spots after I have my
daughter in two thousand, about two thousand and one, I
started noticing like balls patches that were coming up. And
it will grow back, you know, sporadically, but it will
fall out maybe now and then. And I didn't know
what was causing it. I finally went to a dermatologist

(50:58):
and they said, look, you probably have alopecia areata, and
it's where the hair follicles kind.

Speaker 8 (51:04):
Of attacked the body.

Speaker 20 (51:05):
The immune system kind of attacked the hair follicles, causing
their hair to fall out or not grow. And now
it has developed into alopecia totalis where I don't have
any hair on my body, well eighty percent, let's say that.
But so basically that's what alopecia is, is where the
body attacks the hair follicles and the hair falls out.

(51:27):
So I started developing those patches about a year after
giving birth, and then it has just gotten it got
progressively worse. I went through like a traumatic I went
through a traumatic experience in two thousand and.

Speaker 8 (51:40):
Six, and my hair literally completely.

Speaker 20 (51:43):
Fell out, like clumps of hair was just coming out,
and I mean literally I was just pulling and touching it,
and it was just falling out from the root.

Speaker 8 (51:51):
As you have thought, I was probably going through cancer
treatment and the chemo was doing it, and no, I
don't have cancer.

Speaker 20 (51:58):
It was just it was alopecia and it literally was
just falling out by the clumbs, and so I shaved
it and I immediately put on a wig to you know,
hide it, because I was just I was scared that
it was happening, but then I wasn't because I was
going through a traumatic experience.

Speaker 8 (52:12):
So it I just threw away on. I just said,
give me a wig. I said, give me a wig,
and that was it.

Speaker 20 (52:20):
I put the wig on and wore the wig until
twenty fifteen, and then there was this don't judge Me challenge,
and my daughter convinced me to do it, and that's
how I exposed to everyone or let the world know
that I had alopecia and I was really bald underneath
my wig. So that journey began in twenty fifteen and

(52:40):
so ever since then, you know, I've been living with alopecia,
and I just said, you know, what can I do
to give back to the community or what can I
do to be of service because of what I was
going through? And then that's how Baldicoon was birthed.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
Right, So today, you know, boy, things changed in your life.
You've been featured on Good Morning America, Black Enterprise Essence.
Vogue covered you last year with your baldy con, your
your mom, your hairstylist, flight attendant, philanthropist. How do you

(53:16):
do it all? You've got the nonprofit and baldy Con.

Speaker 20 (53:20):
I ask myself, how do I manage it? I mean,
it can be a lot. I think first and foremost
is the passion and the drive that that's driving me.

Speaker 8 (53:29):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 20 (53:29):
It's it's more so the will of wanting to genuinely
help the next person deal and overcome and be able
to build their self esteem and know their work and
kind of.

Speaker 8 (53:41):
Redefine society standards.

Speaker 20 (53:43):
Of what beauty is. So that passion has been driving me.
And I love my kids, so I'm going to go
you know, hard for them as well. So all these
things that are happening now, it's really just a passion,
and when it's your passions, it's a lot, but it
doesn't necessarily feel like work. So I'm just constant lea,
you know, trying to find ways to how can I
make this bald community better as far as building that sisterhood,

(54:06):
giving them the resources that they need.

Speaker 8 (54:08):
And so through Baldi Con, that.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Was like, what what made you want to come up
with the conference?

Speaker 15 (54:14):
You know?

Speaker 3 (54:15):
I mean, you know you can be giving back in
many different ways, but you came up with a conference
called Baldi Coon? Like, how'd that come about?

Speaker 19 (54:23):
Oh?

Speaker 20 (54:24):
Because you know, to me, something was missing within that
Baldy community, right, there was something missing where we can
all come together as a community and celebrate each other,
empower each other.

Speaker 8 (54:37):
There's nothing, there was nothing like it.

Speaker 20 (54:39):
Right, So I'm I'm bold, and I'm I'm like and
I have alopecia, and I'm like, Okay, what can I do?
What can I do to what can I do to
make you know? What can I do for us to
you know.

Speaker 8 (54:53):
To empower us? And I was like, you know something,
all these.

Speaker 20 (54:55):
Conferences going on, you got Comic Con, you got you
got Dragon Con.

Speaker 8 (55:00):
Why don't there be a boaldicon?

Speaker 20 (55:01):
You know what? I mean, so one of the first
things I did was I said, you know what, this is,
what's this, this is what we need. And my first
thing I did was trademarket smart. The first thing I
did was trademarket smart. And then after I did that,
it was just like working on the background, the paperwork
and all that stuff like that, just because I knew, like, Okay,
this is gonna be something, because there's nothing like it,

(55:23):
nothing like it where baldise are coming together and not
just talking about the medical aspect of it, because you
do have other nonprofit organizations that are more focused driven
towards the medical side of it, but more so Baldicon
is more the acceptance side of it. And it's not
just bald from alopecia. It's whether you're balved from loupis
cancer treatment, ball by choice, hair loss. It just doesn't

(55:46):
matter if you're bold by any reason. This conference is
for you. So that's what makes it a little bit different,
which is more inclusive. And like I said, I just
felt like we needed something to celebrate us.

Speaker 3 (55:56):
That's great, and you're in your third year, You've got
your third event coming up. Let's get some dirty details
on that date. The time the location, the city and
what will be transpiring at this third conference that is
different from the past two.

Speaker 8 (56:11):
This year we have grown. We're now going to be
at the JW.

Speaker 20 (56:14):
Marriott at the Atlanta Buckhead location in Atlanta, Georgia, September
twenty seventh to the twenty ninth, and it's going to
be just an incredible three day weekend just empowerment, vendor expo,
our gala, our black tie affair, our brunch, like we're
just really gonna We're really doing it special for these

(56:34):
ladies this year, and so we have so many surprises
so they can look forward to our vex X well.
We have different activations that I'm not gonna let to
cut off the bag, but trust me, picture taking will
be in abundance. We have great panel guests. We have
guests from Azeiza Schuler, CBS news anchor, award winning news

(56:55):
anchor from CBS Philly. We have Paula Fontana, We have
Kim Rod from Lenique Beauty.

Speaker 8 (57:02):
We just have a wonderful lineup.

Speaker 20 (57:04):
We have Abby Wren coming out from l A, wonderful
artists and makeup artists as well.

Speaker 8 (57:10):
We have fashion.

Speaker 20 (57:11):
Designer else of all who is She's alopecia. Her work
was just featured in Neiman Marcus and she's hosting a
showing her designs and fashions. And we picked some lucky
winners from Baldicon attendees that will be modeling in her
on designs.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
Uh.

Speaker 20 (57:27):
So, you have our performances, you have like DJ You're
gonna have brunch, breakfast, uh, gift giveaways you have. We
have our black Tie Affair, our Valdy Ball, which is
the highlight of the weekend where you get to wear
your ball gowns and just really strut your stuff, played

(57:47):
at dinner, awards ceremony, and then we're gonna close it
off with our jazz our Brunch, Our Sunday Jazz Brunch
will will be have a special surprise with that too
as well.

Speaker 3 (57:57):
Sounds great. How can people follow you on social media
and learn more about the event.

Speaker 8 (58:01):
Yes, so follow us on social media.

Speaker 20 (58:03):
Tickets are on sale, Registration is on sale, and once
again people ask it after pay is available at checkout.
Just simply go to www dot baldycon On dot com
or Baldinfree dot org and you can simply register online
and we have it to war. Look if you're not
able to come to an entire conference. You can come
to Friday, you can come to just a conference alone.

Speaker 8 (58:24):
You could just come for the gala, or you can
just come for the brunch.

Speaker 20 (58:28):
It is all broken up to where if you just
want to come on separate days, you don't necessarily have
to do the entire conference. And look, it's not just
for bald this as well, it's for people who support
the movement. It's for you as well, because there's going
to be some wonderful, wonderful speakers there that will really
pour into the attendees and you can get some great
knowledge regardless of your bald or not.

Speaker 8 (58:48):
So I definitely definitely take advantage of that.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
It's great. How can people reach you? Are you in LinkedIn?

Speaker 20 (58:53):
Yeah, so you can reach you on LinkedIn at Felicia
Flores And we also have a Baldiicon page as well
as LinkedIn. You can follow us on Instagram at Baldicon
and also on Facebook at Baldicon as well. And me
personally is called and free on all social media platform.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
Thank you so much, Felicia of Baldicon. Coming to Atlanta
later this month. I'm Doug Davis. You're listening to the
Black Information Network and the Black Perspective.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
Thanks Doug, and that's our program for this week. For
more on these stories, listen to the Black Information Network
on the free iHeartRadio app or log onto binnews dot
com for all of the latest news impacting the black community. Also,
be sure to follow us on social media at Black
Information Network and on x at Black Info Net, I'm
Mike Island, wishing everyone a great Sunday, and be sure

(59:37):
to tune in next week at this time for another
edition of The Black Perspective right here on the Black
Information Network