The Black Perspective: October 27, 2024

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If my voice didn't matter, people wouldn't be trying so
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hard to silence me. And if my vote didn't matter,
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they wouldn't work so hard to take it away. So
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you know why I'm voting this November because I know
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they don't want me to.
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Your voice is powerful, your voice matters. Don't let your
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voice be silenced. To register, confirm your voting status, or
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get information about voting in your area, visit vote dot gov.
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That's vote dot goov a message from the Perception Institute
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and the Black Information Network.
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It's Sunday, October twenty seventh, and on today's show, Bin
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News anchor Amber Payton sits down with stars Debbie Morgan
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and Richard Lawson. B In's Andrea Coleman talks with doctor
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Desire McCarthy Keith about infertility for black couples. Morgan Wood
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speaks with Travis Mitchell in a two part series about
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the nineteen ninety Morgan State University student protest and the
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importance of telling the stories of HBCUs and Esther Dillard
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speaks with the research analyst who conducted several pre election
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polls and gets his opinion about twenty twenty four election climate.
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These stories and more are coming your way on today's program,
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Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
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Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
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on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
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issues important to the black community.
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Good Sunday to everyone, and welcome to another edition of
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The Black Perspective on the Black Information Network. Tyler Perry's
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new Netflix series Beauty in Black is now available to stream.
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The eight part series brings to light the experiences of
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two black women navigating life in today's world. Then news
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anchor Amber Payton sat down with stars Debbie Morgan and
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Richard Lawson, who portray Olivia and Norman, to discuss the
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series heartfelt storytelling and its timely themes.
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But I don't want to ask the both of you,
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Richard and Debbie, or in this case, Norman and Olivia.
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I did a little research a couple of.
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Questions, and Debbie, I'll start with you, because we know
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that this film explores two women that have to very
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different life experiences. Can be a mallory, of course, How
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do their stories, in your opinion, reflect the complexity of
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black women's journeys in today's society.
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Well, you know, you're right about today's society, especially what's
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going on right now with this you know, with this selection,
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and it's so much about the haves and the have nots,
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which is what we have with these two characters of
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Kimmy and and and Mallory. But I think I think
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one of the the good things about that is that
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each of their characters is that for the viewers, each
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of them has something that somebody can identify with and
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see and see themselves in that particular position. And I
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think what's going to be so good about these characters
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is how they ultimately end up coming together or having
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the dynamic of their relationships change when they ultimately come together.
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I can't remember, Richard, if that happens in this first
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eight episodes or if that's in the in the latter part,
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I can't. I can't remember. But yeah, you know, when
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you when you look at what's going on today with
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with with women and women's so many of women's rights
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being taken away from them and being belittled and trying
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to maintain and hold on to the to their power,
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to their own self work, to their own dignity, which
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I think both Kimmy and Mallory are doing, but in
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different ways. They're coming at it in different ways. Uh,
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and I had they were fabulous, weren't they, Kimmy and Mellory?
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Did you watch the first couple of episodes.
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I decided that I am going to binge it tonight.
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Okay, they won't tell anybody, but I'm going to take
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all that'll stay between me and you and I believe
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nineteen million other people.
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Richard, it's great.
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To get your opinion on how you think that this
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is kind of indicative of the complexities that black women
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facing today's society. What are your thoughts.
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I think when we look across the ecosystem of in
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this culture, in this in this UH series, you know,
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we're looking at if we look at Tyler's series To
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Have and to Have Nots, it's really really what it's
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about the have and the have nots, and and what
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happens to the people in between.
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And in this case, you know, these women live to
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diametrically opposed lives and lifestyle and their situation and circumstances.
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But underneath these the disparity between the amount of money
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that they have access to. Mallory having access to hundreds
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of millions of dollars and Kimmy, you know, struggling to
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be able to pay the rent at her motel. You know,
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the pain that they experience is really not different. They
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both hurt, They both are struggling with the people in
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their lives. They both are trying to make way and
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be successful and have they able to control their universes.
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And so we see, you know, the separation of those
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two worlds, but within it's the human struggle that is
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the same at the end of the day, and you know, Debbie,
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at the end of the sixteenth episodes is when these
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two worlds blide. That's when that's when you know, Kimmy
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and Mallory meet in the sixteenth episode, and then from
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there you'll see how those lives are intertwined and how
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they affect each other. And so we don't even know
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what happens after the sixteenth episode going forward, but it's
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really interesting to see, you know, just the reality of
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the world of people trying to just find a way
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and find happiness and find contentment and safety and security.
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It's a universal thing, no matter and money doesn't change that.
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That is a great lesson And then one thing that
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we do know is Tyler Perry movies and series. They
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will teach us lessons, lots of life life lessons and
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so Debbie alcohol, lots.
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Of life lessons that black people experience, particularly right.
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Yes, absolutely, What message do you hope that viewers take
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away from seeing this series and how.
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It unfolds in these first eight episodes?
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I know they're sixteen, but just with part one that
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you know of so far, what's the message?
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I think one of the message messages is how good
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good versus evil, and how one can totally bring down
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a family because we know we have those families that
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as loving as they can be, there might be one
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bad apple in the family, and that one bad apple
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can cause all kinds of habit in the family. And
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I think even with so even with characters such as
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such as Kimmy, because Kimmy, Kimmy is actually a lovable
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character who's just trying to get her dignity back, make
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something out of herself, and and I think for a
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lot of I don't know how many like young ladies
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might be in situations like Kimmy and she can That
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message to take from Kimmy's role is that you got
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to do whatever you have to do, whatever it takes
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to make sure that you get out of what you
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think is pulling you down, is taking away your taking
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away your dignity, take taking away your self confidence. And
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I think anybody who can identify with a role like that,
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that's a good message that they can they can take
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from that with with with Mallory, it's like Richard said,
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you could be clawing trying to get to the top,
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trying to make all the money money in the world,
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and it still does not necessarily bring you happiness, especially
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in your own personal life.
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Mm hmm, yeah. I think you know.
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Listen, I think one of the great lessons at the
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end of the day, when you look across the landscape
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of people, you know every one of those people is
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trying to find some sense of happiness somewhere, you know,
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to find a place where where they can just live
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in this and and with a free spirit, and that
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at the end of the day, we're responsible for our
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own happiness. We can't depend on nobody else for our happiness.
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And so you got to make the kind of choices
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that's going to bring you happiness, because it ain't gonna
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be your money. Your money, it's not your family, it's
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not your husband and wife or whatever.
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It starts.
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It begins and ends with you to find whatever contentment
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that you have. And uh, and I think people will say,
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at the end of the day, I don't care if
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you are rich that it ain't gonna make you happy.
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I don't care. Look, I grew up.
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When I look at it, it was poor, but I
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didn't know I was poor. I lived fine. I was
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happy playing with popsicle sticks making it an airplane. When
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I was a kid, I didn't have I didn't have
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one of them fancy remote control things.
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I didn't know from that, you know what I mean.
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And so at the end of the day, you gotta
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find your own happiness, and you gotta and no one
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can give it to you other than what you discovering
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the choices you make in your own life.
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I grew I grew up in the projects, and most
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of the girls that came up with me, most of
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the you know, the young men and that neighborhood, you know,
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got into hustling and drug addiction. And I could have
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easily felt into that because of the environment I was
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living in. But it was always something in me kind
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of like Kimmy. I was like, this does not have
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to be my life. But I know that I can
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get out of this whatever it takes. I know that
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I can go beyond what has happened. Even with a
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lot of my family members that happened too. I had
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an aunt that said to my mother once, why my
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sister's name is Terry. She said, why are you the
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only sister in the family that have two children? They
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got some sense, you.
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Know, but I'm crazy.
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The last thing that I want to say, even with
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some of the messages that people will be able to
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take away from watching the show, goes right along with
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the entertainment, because you really want to you know, you
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can watch a show and you know, and take certain
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messages away, but audiences want to be entertained as well,
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and they tell you they're going to they going to
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get this plus some more is going to be entertainment
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off the Wazoo Hotel.
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Well, thank you.
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You know, I will be entertained in about two hours,
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so that's what I'm gonna go watch. This has been
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a pleasure. I'm excited now I'm looking forward to it.
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But it's been a pleasure speaking with the both of you.
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I encourage all of our listeners on any platform that
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this is playing going to definitely go and stream Beauty
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and Black on Netflix, which is available now.
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Thanks Amber the Black Information Networks. Morgan Wood spoke with
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Maryland Public Television's Travis Mitchell about his participation in the
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nineteen ninety Morgan State University student protest and the importance
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of telling the stories of historically black colleges and universities.
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I'm Morgan Wood on the Black Information Network and joining
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me now is Travis Mitchell. Professionally, he is the senior
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vice president and chief Content Officer of Maryland Public Television,
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and he is telling the stories of historically black colleges
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and universities. As a proud graduate of Morgan State University
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in Baltimore, we have that in common. Mitchell was also
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pivotal in the nineteen ninety protests and subsequent lawsuit that
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ensured Morgan State and other local HBCUs and Maryland received
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the same funding as the PWIS. Now he is sharing
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that story in a forthcoming short film called Six Days
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The Story of the nineteen ninety Morgan State University Protest.
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Thank you for joining me, Travis. It's a pleasure to
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have you.
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Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm really grateful.
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Absolutely, So take me back to nineteen ninety when you
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were on the campus of Morgan State and tell me
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what inspired students to even protest to begin with.
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Well, I appreciate the opportunity to tell a story, but
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it probably also explains my commitment to HBCUs. Let me
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just kind of give your audience a little bit of
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a background. Sure, I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina,
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and was raised on the campus of Shaw University, the
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oldest HBCU in the South. As you know Morgan. My
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parents couldn't go to p Whigs because of Jim Crow laws,
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but chose to go to Shaw because of this reput
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typation academically and because it was a developer of student leader.
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Shaw University was the place where the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
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Committee was founded in nineteen sixty. These are the students
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who desegregated lunch counters and public spaces across the South
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and a very time of a time of hostility and
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violence towards civil rights workers and so walking on the
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campus of Shaw University was my first experience to what
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I would call my wakanda. It was a place where
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black excellence was demonstrated and expected, but you were affirmed
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for who you were. And so I was Shaw raised.
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But then I came to Morgan, where I became Morgan Made.
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And in nineteen ninety I came to Morgan State University
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as a basketball player. But you know, as as I
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redistarted from basketball, I got involved as the editor of
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the student newspaper. And it was in that capacity that
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began to talk to student leaders across the campus. And
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they came by my office one day and said, you know,
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we're we're fed up. Our living conditions a substandard. We
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know that we're getting a great academic experience, but why
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do we have to live in substandard housing? And why
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are our academic buildings crumbling? And so students wanted answers,
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and so we filed into the office of the Vice
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President of Student Affairs at that time, doctor Raymond Downs.
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The president joined us, and we had a very heated
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and pointed discussion about the things that were wrong at Morgan.
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After holding a town hall forum the next day where
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the president had all the vps come and they provided
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the answers that they thought would help us understand what
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they were facing. The students decided that we wanted more information,
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and so we launched a peaceful sit in. That was
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day one. It was March sixth, nineteen ninety and we
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launched a peaceful sit in and we just didn't leave
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the administration building. There where you began to see students
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coalesce around the common purpose. It was there we had
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students from the Divine nine, you had students from student government,
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student affairs, other auxiliary organizations, and just students who were
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interested on the well being and the future of Morgan.
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Be determined that we were going to get some answers
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for our school. And so it was during this period
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of discovery, why is our campus the way it is?
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Why aren't we more modernized? Why are we studying in
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substandard buildings and living in inhumane conditions, that the administration
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began to share its challenges with very and equitable funding
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with the State of Maryland. And so we've discovered here's
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a key data point that we discovered that were from
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nineteen fifty to nineteen seventy nine, Morgan had only received
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roughly seven hundred and thirty nine thousand dollars in maintenance
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funds for on campus facilities. So you're talking about a
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thirty year period where Morgan annually was only receiving about
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fifteen thousand dollars for on campus maintenance. That that data
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point is what helped us change the course of our
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protests from an internally focused protest to now petitioning the
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state all state leaders, starting with the Governor of the
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State of Maryland, to petition them on behalf of al
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or not Alma Mon because we were still students, but
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on behalf of our beloved Morgan, to make sure that
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we received the equitable investments that other campus received, because
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at that particular time, we realized that many of the
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traditionally white institutions had received millions in maintenance while Morgan
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had only received seven hundred thousand dollars, and that just
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wasn't fair, It wasn't equitable, and it wasn't anything that
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we were going to let continue on our watch. So
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the theme of our protests became six Days of Determination.
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Six days of Determination. Talk to me about those conditions.
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Can you describe those a little bit more?
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Yeah, So, we had healing paint and all on campus facilities,
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we had rodent and pest infestation, and our dormitories you
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had what we were concerned about the walls that were crumbling.
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We were concerned about any exposure to its bestos because
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the buildings were old. Now I need to make the
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point we took no great pride and joy in letting
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the public know the condition that Morgan was in. It
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was not something that we celebrated because we loved our institution.
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Despite the physical plan or the limitations of the physical plant,
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we all fell in love with Morgan State University. We
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just wanted the best for our school. In order to
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prosecute the public case against those who had neglected Morgan's care,
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and these were those who were in state leadership, we
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had to show people the conditions, and so the media
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came in and we were able to walk them around
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to see the conditions while at the same time not
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placing the blame at the foot of our administration. That
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is a key point. We wanted to make sure that
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Morgan got its fair share of investment, and so it
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was during each successive day that we had multiple press conferences.
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I was drafted as the spokesperson for the movement, and
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we just day by day educated the public on the
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injustice and inequitable funding that Morgan had been receiving. We
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were not funded at the level of other institutions, We
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did not receive our fair share of per student investment,
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and certainly physical plan had been neglected. So we sharpened
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our demands and we asked for the governor to immediately
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close down our worst two dormitories. We also discovered that
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the university had a twenty five year campus improvement plan
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that had been filed but had never been funded. So
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we wanted to make sure that we became the catalyst
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to get the governor to shut down some of those
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campus some of those on campus buildings, so that we
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could begin construction on new buildings. That was our point.
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We realized that while we had seized a moment, if
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not us, then who, If not now, then when, And
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so we were fighting for opportunities for future generations to
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come to Morgan and really experience the level of support
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and excellent first class facilities that we were not afforded.
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But we wanted to make sure that future classes would
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come in and get the benefits of the investment that
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we were calling for. And so once we began that
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pri and we kept the pressure up on the governor,
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we decided that during the process, we had a hunger
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strike during that process. We did teach ends. During that process.
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We took about a two to three mile caravan down
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to Annapolis with alumni and with supporters, and everywhere we went,
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our theme song and anthem became all of our love,
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peace and happiness. We're gonna give you more again. So
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when we were showed that level of unity, I'm telling you, Morgan,
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there was a peace, there was a unit, there was
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a spirit of we can do this. It was reminiscent
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of the sixties. And when we got to Annapolis on
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the third or fourth day of the protest, I think
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it was the third day to meet with the governor,
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we had all students wear Morgan paraphernalia or the best
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outfit they could wear, professional outfit, and then we filed
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out of those buses quietly, in single file in order.
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And what we were greeted with is you could hear
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the German shepherds of riot police barking. There were snipers
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on the rules of the buildings because they expected an
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unruly bunch of black students, and we simply were peaceful
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protesters demanding that we get our fair share of funding
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for our school, and I think it was those images,
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early reminiscent of the sixties, that help us win the
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battle in the court of public opinion. And then, of
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course we articulated our demands at the capitol. We met
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with the governor behind closed doors and he made certain promises. Well,
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we went back to campus. We said to the governor
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that we're not going to leave these buildings until you
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honor your commitment. So over the course of the weekend
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we got word that he was indeed going to honor
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the commitment by moving quickly on the things that he
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could execute for the session let out in Maryland. That
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was enough for us to say, Okay, we're going to
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turn the buildings back over to our administrators. It's important
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for people to understand we never were aggressive. Administrators could
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still come to work, but students had a right to
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be in public spaces. We just never went back to
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the dorms, We never put chains on the doors. We
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were not hostile. We took care of the buildings. And
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let me just tell you, Morgan, it was during this
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period of time where we learned what resilience was all about.
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We organized ourselves. We had to feed ourselves, we had
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to go out to the community. The community organizations came
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to us and provided food and support and encouragement. We
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had support from alumni. We had support from then Mayor
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Kirt Schmoke, then a young congressman Kwaisi and Fume, a
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Morgan graduate, a city council member Elijah Cummings who would
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ultimately become a congressman. We had the support of the
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Baltimore community political leadership. We had the support of our
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alumni base. We had to support of the business community
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because people saw that we were right, and so we
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used that moment to articulate our highest ideals and highest
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hope for our institution, our Morgan State Institution, and we
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were able to get the public to get on our side. Now,
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with that being said, when we released the building back
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into the hands of our administrators, we cleaned it from
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top to bottom. It was spotless. And then we decided
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that we were going to go back to school. But
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we told the governor that if he did not act,
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we would be back. And so a couple of months
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went by and the governor had not taken action, and
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so I called a little bit of an audible and
396
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myself and four other students announced that because the governor
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had not kept his word, we're going to return his
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trash to his front doorstep. And we put on trash
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bags as a demonstration of the way he had treated
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us during the negotiation. And we began to walk to
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Annapolis from Morgan, which is forty one miles and so
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we began that walk early in the morning, and we
403
00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:12.279
got there around eleven o'clock at night, and we were
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greeted with all sorts of support. Democrat, Republican, white, Black, Asian,
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Hispanic people showed up with food and blankets, and it
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was just a wonderful celebration of civic engagement. And when
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you're right about a matter, people will join you and
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connect with you, even if they didn't have your experience.
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And I should point out that we had white students
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and black students at PWIS that supported what we were doing.
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It wasn't just HBCUs, but it was students and people
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who thought that there's no way that Morgan should be
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treated the way it's been treated. And it was so
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that next morning, the governor had a press conference on tourism.
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I was able to intervene. It was outside the press conference,
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and the governor shook my hand in front of the cameras,
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in front of the media and said that he indeed
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was going to follow through with our request. Later that summer,
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he agreed to take down our two worst dormitories to
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begin renovation, and he would begin funding that twenty five
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year plan that had been put in place but had
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not been funded. So the net result of our protests,
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and I want to make this clear, we have had
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at Morgan two exceptional presidents. Doctor Earl S. Richardson, who
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was President Morgan for twenty five years and was the
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president for four years by the time we started our protest.
427
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It was his wisdom and guiding us during that process
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and not shutting us down, but encouraging us with right
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information and being supportive. It was his masterful handling of
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the public relations and how he related to the students
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that really was a big reason why we were successful.
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And then doctor Richison took Morgan to a whole another level.
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I think under his watch received about five hundred million
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dollars in capital improvement. And then in twenty ten we
435
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had doctor David Wilson who came in who has now
436
00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:14.079
rebranded Morgan as the National Treasurer en route to R
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one status, and on his watch, Morgan has received another
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billion dollars in funding. So we like to say that
439
00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:24.799
our protest was the catalyst for what became one point
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five billion dollars in funding. And as it relates to
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doctor Richardson, he when he retired in twenty ten, used
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the historic underfunding that we had unearthed during our campaign
443
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:43.720
as a data point to justify that the state of
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Maryland had not only underfunded Morgan, but it similarly had
445
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underfunded three other public HBCUs in the state. And so
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he he upon retirement, mobilized the coalition of the HBCU
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00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:02.000
supporters for the other h used in the state, and
448
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they filed a lawsuit suing the state of Maryland for discrimination,
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00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:10.000
and that lawsuit was settled two years ago for five
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00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:13.599
hundred and seventy seven million dollars for the four HBCUs
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in Maryland. So our Morgan story is an example of
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when you are pursuing justice, there's no reason to wait.
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When you are pursuing what's right, there's no reason to stall.
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When you are presented with adversity, you dig down deep
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and you call upon the faith and the resilience that
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is deep within our people, within our community, and you
457
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fight the good fight of faith. And so we did that,
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and we see years later that the investment of our time, talent,
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and treasure in our Alma Male in nineteen ninety has
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00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:55.160
produced a tree of resources and renovation for our institution
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to the tune of over two billion dollars when you combine,
462
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.759
or at one point six billion dollars when you combine
463
00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.160
the monies that came forth for the university from the
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state and from the private sector, and the money that
465
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:12.079
Morgan will receive as a result of this lawsuit. So again,
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00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:15.720
great leadership has paved the way. We just did our
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part as advocates for our institution.
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Thanks Morgan, and tune in next week for part two
469
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:24.759
of Morgan's conversation with Travis Mitchell. Infertility is an issue
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00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:28.000
many black couples are challenged with. According to Capital b
471
00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:32.000
a black online newspaper, black women struggle with infertility at
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00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:35.480
higher rates than white women. Bi n's Andrea Coleman recently
473
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:39.279
spoke with doctor Desiree McCarthy Keith, a black reproductive health
474
00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:42.480
specialist in Atlanta, who broke down the issue and its
475
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.160
impact on the Black community.
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00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.599
Doctor McCarthy Keith, thank you so much for joining us
477
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.319
today on the Black Information Network.
478
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:49.559
Thank you so much.
479
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:51.720
It's my pleasure to be with you. So I am
480
00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:56.599
a board certified reproductive indochronology and infertility specialist.
481
00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.279
To call ourselves an RII.
482
00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:01.880
So I basically firsted my training in OBGI in and
483
00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:05.000
I practiced women's health and I delivered babies and did
484
00:29:05.160 --> 00:29:08.160
c sections, hysterectomies and things like that for about five years.
485
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:11.440
And then I went back and did additional training just
486
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:15.440
in infertility and reproductive indochronology. So now my practice in
487
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:20.000
Atlanta only focuses on reproductive medicine and infertility.
488
00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:23.440
Talk a little bit about infertility, especially in the Black
489
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:26.119
community from a service level, many of us equate it
490
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:29.279
to couples not being able to have children without medical help.
491
00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:32.599
Is that like an accurate basic definition or is there
492
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.240
much more to it?
493
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.480
It is, but you know, we really base our definition
494
00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:39.240
on how long a couple has been trying. And what
495
00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:41.279
I hope we can touch on today is just how
496
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:45.920
significant female age is in our fertility. And so the
497
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:49.160
definition of fertility is really based on a woman's age.
498
00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:51.839
And so we say that if a woman is under
499
00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:55.440
thirty five, we consider her to have infertility if she's
500
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:59.519
had twelve consecutive months of unprotected intercourse and hasn't gotten pregnant. Well,
501
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:02.799
once over thirty five, we shorten that to six months.
502
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:05.640
Once a woman's over forty, we shorten it to three months,
503
00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:07.359
and say, if you've been trying for just a few
504
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:09.880
months and haven't gotten pregnant and in your late thirties
505
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.319
or over forty, you should really be seeing a fertility
506
00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:13.319
provider sooner.
507
00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.720
Now you're saying unprotected, so that means without the aid
508
00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:17.920
of any kind of birth.
509
00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:21.440
Control, correct, right, So that means you know, no birth control,
510
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:25.359
no condoms or anything, and having intercourse at the appropriate
511
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:27.720
time during the menstrual cycle, like they should be having
512
00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:31.759
intercourse around expected ovulation without any contraception. And if you
513
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:33.480
do that for you know, six to twelve straight months
514
00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:35.640
and haven't gotten pregnant, then we say, yes, this makes
515
00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:38.359
the definition of infertility and it's time to start looking
516
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:40.920
for any fertility factors that might have kept you from
517
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:41.599
getting pregnant.
518
00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:43.000
What are some of those factors?
519
00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:44.200
So you know, when I.
520
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:46.680
See a couple, if there's a male and female partner,
521
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.640
we always evaluate both members of the couple at the
522
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.319
same time. And what we know is that male and
523
00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:55.839
female infertility are comparable. It can be about forty percent
524
00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:58.359
female factor or it can be about forty percent male
525
00:30:58.359 --> 00:31:00.720
factor when there's a couple. So we definitely don't say
526
00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:02.880
we should just test the women and if we don't
527
00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:05.079
find any factors, then we'll look at a male partner.
528
00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:07.160
We want to evaluate both from the beginning, and the
529
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:09.920
basics are there can be sperm factors for a man,
530
00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:12.680
there can be egg factors for women, and then there
531
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:16.480
can be anatomic factors for women, whether it's the Philippian tubes,
532
00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:19.240
are they blocked or open and also house the uterus.
533
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:21.440
And one thing for Black women that we have more
534
00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:23.880
than other ethnic groups as fibroids. And if you have
535
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:26.559
fibrids and the uters, that can affect your fertility.
536
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:29.240
How much of this is treatable? How many of these
537
00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:32.839
conditions can you reverse or correct and provide some kind
538
00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:36.480
of opportunity for pregnancy once those procedures are done.
539
00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:37.240
They're very treatable.
540
00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:39.839
The one that we can't really correct is the aging
541
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:41.279
of our eggs in our ovary.
542
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.279
So I'm probably gonna sound.
543
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.000
Like a broken record on this, but the age of
544
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.559
the eggs matters. But you know, if we have fibroids,
545
00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:49.240
then women can have surgery. You can have a myomectomy
546
00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:52.079
to remove fibroids and get the uterus back to normal
547
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.519
shape and size and make the uterus more favorable for pregnancy.
548
00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:58.920
If women have damage to their tubes or block tubes,
549
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.720
then we usually recommend in vitro, not necessarily going in
550
00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:04.359
and trying to fix or repair a damage to but
551
00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:07.160
there are fertility treatment options for women even if their
552
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:09.680
tubes are not healthy for a pregnancy to occur the
553
00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:12.440
natural way. For men, if there's a sperm factor, we
554
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:15.359
refer them to a urologist where they can have evaluation
555
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.359
to see if there's any hormonal treatment or any surgical
556
00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:20.759
treatments that can improve the sperm parameters.
557
00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:24.640
In a SEMA analysis, we're hearing a lot about infertility
558
00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:29.119
and particular IVF and vitro fertilization. What is that exactly?
559
00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.119
What does that procedure intel?
560
00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:35.680
The actual definition means to fertilize in glass like in
561
00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:38.119
the laboratory or outside of the body is what in
562
00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:40.839
vitro fertilization actually means. And that is where we can
563
00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:44.079
take the whole fertilization process that naturally happens in the body,
564
00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:45.960
and we can do that in the laboratory.
565
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:47.079
So for a.
566
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.160
Woman to get pregnant, there's so many processes in the
567
00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.759
body that have to all line up and happen just
568
00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:56.400
so for pregnancy to happen. It's really pretty amazing that
569
00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:58.599
everything lines up in that we are here. But a
570
00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:01.039
woman needs to ovulate at a certain time in her cycle.
571
00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:03.920
The fallopian two needs to be open to catch that
572
00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:07.039
povulated egg and bring the egg into the two. Women
573
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:09.279
needs to have intercourse at the right time and then
574
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:11.400
semen depositive in the vagina.
575
00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:14.319
The sperm have to travel through the cervix.
576
00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:16.599
The uterus down the Philipian tube in the other direction,
577
00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:19.200
sperm and egg have to interact. The egg has to
578
00:33:19.240 --> 00:33:23.079
fertilize and develop normally, and the embryo has to flow
579
00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:25.480
through the tube back to the uterus. Once it gets
580
00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:27.400
to the uterus, it has to find the best place
581
00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:30.680
to implant and attach and develop for pregnancy to happen.
582
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:31.960
That's a lot, So that's a lot.
583
00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:35.680
Wow, it really is miraculous.
584
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:35.519
And it's amazing.
585
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:39.319
It's a miracle, and so This is why natural fertility.
586
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.519
For a fertile couple who has no fertility factors at all,
587
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:46.279
their chance of pregnancy is about twenty to twenty five
588
00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:49.079
percent per month. And so when women or when couples
589
00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:51.279
are trying to get pregnant, they sometimes feel like it
590
00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.119
must be ninety percent. Everybody's getting pregnant fast, and I'm
591
00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:56.519
the only one. It's really about one in five chance
592
00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.640
of pregnancy every month because of all those processes that
593
00:33:59.720 --> 00:34:02.119
need to happen. And so if we do in vitro,
594
00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:05.640
we take that entire process into our laboratory and we
595
00:34:05.720 --> 00:34:09.320
can collect eggs from a woman's ovary after stimulating the ovaries.
596
00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:12.039
We can get sperm from a partner. Some women have
597
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:14.119
sperm from a donor. We can take the sperm and
598
00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:16.719
eggs and combine them and place them in an incubator
599
00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:20.320
in our laboratory, and our embryology team can monitor those
600
00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:22.960
eggs as they fertilize and grow into embryos over the
601
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:25.519
next couple of days. And then once we have an embryo,
602
00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.599
a microscopic fertilized egg, then we can select that embryo
603
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:32.599
and pass it through the cervix and deposit that embryo
604
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:34.519
directly in the uters where it needs to go. So
605
00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:37.119
that's the in vitro process in a nutshell.
606
00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:40.679
That is amazing where science has taken us. That is tremendous.
607
00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:43.079
So what is the success rate for IVF.
608
00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:45.679
It really depends again on the age of the woman.
609
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.280
It is our eggs so much so cannot just speak
610
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.519
on the eggs first before I answer your questions because
611
00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:52.719
I keep talking about it. So for men, if their
612
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:57.039
testicles functioning normally, they make fresh sperm from scratch every
613
00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.960
two or three months on a cycle, brand new sperm,
614
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:02.719
over and over. And men will usually do that until
615
00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:06.079
they are fifty sixty, sometimes seventy years old, which is
616
00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:08.480
why we have all seen men who are in their
617
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.320
fifties and sixties and father children because they have fresh
618
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:12.760
ferm and they can still be fertile.
619
00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:15.480
Ladies are the opposite. We have the.
620
00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:18.039
Most eggs before we are even born. When we're halfway
621
00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:20.800
through a pregnancy, about twenty weeks, we have six or
622
00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:23.760
seven million eggs in our ovaries. By the time we
623
00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:26.480
are born, we have about one million eggs. So it's
624
00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:29.320
a natural process for us to lose most of our
625
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:32.280
eggs supply in utero before we are even born, and
626
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:34.880
then from the time we're born with at one million eggs,
627
00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.559
we don't replenish those way that men replace their sperm.
628
00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:39.679
So we're starting with a million, and our egg count
629
00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:43.000
is drifting from birth and we are losing eggs over time.
630
00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:46.360
It's a very slow, gradual process. But once we're in
631
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:49.480
our late thirties and approaching in over forty, that curve
632
00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:52.320
gets steeper and we lose eggs faster. And so that's
633
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:55.039
why our fertility changes with our age, because there's a
634
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:57.840
sharper decline in the number of eggs that we still
635
00:35:57.880 --> 00:36:00.480
carry at that point. So in addition to us having
636
00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:03.400
fewer eggs, the quality of the eggs that we have
637
00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:06.599
is changing because we were born with those same eggs.
638
00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:09.360
So as we get older, the eggs are aging, so
639
00:36:09.400 --> 00:36:12.199
it's the age of the eggs also that determines when
640
00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:14.679
we do get pregnant, if it's a healthy pregnancy or not.
641
00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:17.480
So what we observe as we get older is that
642
00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:20.719
the risk of miscarring early or having a baby born
643
00:36:20.760 --> 00:36:23.519
with a chromosome condition like down syndrome of things is
644
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:26.440
directly tied to our age, and that risk goes up
645
00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:27.360
as we get older.
646
00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:30.760
Has science allowed for any kind of techniques that would
647
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:33.280
help now show up the health of those eggs.
648
00:36:33.320 --> 00:36:34.199
Not at this point.
649
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.159
You know, it's still just our biology and we do
650
00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:40.440
not have you know, tried and true treatments that can
651
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:43.639
reverse that natural aging process of the ovaries that we
652
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:46.760
all experience. And the reason our eggcount's going down is
653
00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:48.199
because you don't lose one egg a month when you
654
00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:51.320
have a cycle. Every month, when your cycle starts, there
655
00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:54.880
are usually fifty to one hundred microscopic eggs that start
656
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:56.880
to grow. Some of those will form into what we
657
00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:59.159
call follicles, which are a little egg sacs in the
658
00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:01.239
over and there's an immer your egg inside each one,
659
00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:04.199
and then one follicle develops and that's the one that
660
00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:07.239
you opulate. Once your main follicle develops, all those other
661
00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:09.360
eggs that started that cycle just die off.
662
00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:10.400
You lose all those.
663
00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:13.840
How large an issue is infertility in the black community.
664
00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:14.840
It is a significant issue.
665
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:18.239
And you know, historically in this country there's been kind
666
00:37:18.280 --> 00:37:22.199
of stereotypes about the Black community where we don't have infertility,
667
00:37:22.280 --> 00:37:25.400
where we are usually portrayed as being hyper fertile. You know,
668
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:27.679
we're quick to get birth control and things like that,
669
00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:30.199
but we haven't really been considered as part of the
670
00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:31.559
infertility population.
671
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:34.039
But what we know is that.
672
00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:37.079
Black women or black couples are twice as likely to
673
00:37:37.079 --> 00:37:38.920
have infertility compared to white couples.
674
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:40.320
But when you look at.
675
00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:43.599
Who seeks fertility treatment, it's usually not us. So we
676
00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:47.559
have more infertility, but we're underrepresented when it comes to
677
00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:50.199
patients who are actually going through fertility treatment.
678
00:37:50.360 --> 00:37:52.719
Its cost a reason for that or is it lack
679
00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:53.360
of information?
680
00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:56.679
I think you know, it's many factors. So costs can
681
00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:00.800
be a factor for couples of all ethnic backgrounds. Access
682
00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:03.840
can be an issue. So you know, fertility clinics are
683
00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:07.079
in urban areas and places, so if you're outside of that,
684
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:09.400
you're in a rural area, you may not have access
685
00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:12.480
to that. There's a large historical component though, because we
686
00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:16.119
started doing fertility treatment in this country in the early eighties,
687
00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:21.000
and the initial campaigns and awareness and education about infertility
688
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:22.480
did not reflect us at all.
689
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:24.960
The posters, the outreach and things like that.
690
00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:28.599
You know, you typically saw the typical fertility patient was
691
00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:30.840
a middle class white woman, and so if you were
692
00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:33.480
a black woman, you know, having trouble getting pregnant. You
693
00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:36.400
didn't even see yourself represented, so you really didn't feel
694
00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.639
like those treatments were meant for you. So that that
695
00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:40.559
kind of kept us out of the conversation for a
696
00:38:40.599 --> 00:38:43.360
long time. And we also have to look within there's
697
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.440
a lot of stigma and shame sometimes and misinformation within
698
00:38:47.559 --> 00:38:51.000
our community where we shown some of these treatments sometimes
699
00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:53.840
or are not comfortable to embrace the science, and that
700
00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:56.239
can keep us away from receiving fertility care.
701
00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:59.960
Also, what words of encouragement can you share with Black
702
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.760
couples who may be wanting to sort of family and
703
00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:04.039
have encountered some issues.
704
00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:06.639
I would say, you know, take advantage of the treatments
705
00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:09.320
and the technology that we have. There are other couples
706
00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:11.679
who are benefiting from this, and so we kind of
707
00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:14.760
keep ourselves out of the conversation when we're not comfortable
708
00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:17.519
or we have our own kind of misconceptions about it.
709
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:19.719
But I would encourage couples to be open to that.
710
00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:22.360
I would encourage couples to not wait. What we know
711
00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:24.800
is that you know, we're underrepresented when it comes to
712
00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:27.760
fertility treatment for Black couples, and when we do get
713
00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:31.559
to fertility treatment, we've usually waited longer. We're older, and
714
00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:34.000
like I mentioned, our age is really a big factor.
715
00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:37.119
So you know, if couples have been trying for a
716
00:39:37.239 --> 00:39:39.880
year or so and haven't gotten pregnant, it's okay to
717
00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:42.880
talk to someone to see a fertility provider. Start with
718
00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:45.199
OBGI in and ask for a referral if you're not
719
00:39:45.239 --> 00:39:47.840
sure where to go. But we have to be proactive
720
00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:50.639
about our fertility and our reproductive health.
721
00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:53.079
Doctor McCarthy keith, we thank you so much for your time,
722
00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:54.760
and we thank you also for what you're doing in
723
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:56.960
the hope that you're giving so many in our community.
724
00:39:57.119 --> 00:39:59.599
Absolutely, thank you so much for the opportunity. I hope
725
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:02.159
that the has been good information for your listeners for sure.
726
00:40:02.280 --> 00:40:06.199
Thanks Andrea. Doctor McCarthy keith works for Shady Grow Fertility
727
00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:09.000
in Atlanta. She is accepting new patients if you are
728
00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:12.360
interested in speaking with her. Recent polls say Vice President
729
00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:15.559
Kamala Harris is having a problem reaching young Generation z
730
00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:19.920
X and millennials. The Black Information Networks Ester Dillard speaks
731
00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:23.719
with a research analyst who conducted several pre election polls
732
00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:25.440
with why he Thinks That's happening.
733
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:28.519
Joining me is Alvin Tillery with the political action committee
734
00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:32.119
called Alliance for Black Equality. Thank you for joining us
735
00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:32.679
on the BION.
736
00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:33.760
Thanks for having me.
737
00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:34.239
Well.
738
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.880
Your organization recently released a poll that shows the Harris
739
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:41.320
campaign is picking up as much as fourteen percent gains
740
00:40:41.400 --> 00:40:44.679
among young black voters. Can you explain more about what
741
00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:45.679
your poll revealed?
742
00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:49.280
So, I think what you're referring to is the message
743
00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:52.320
testing component of our poll. So we've had a tracking
744
00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:55.440
poll of black voters since last October. We've done eleven
745
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:59.079
polls of about twenty five thousand Black voters, and what
746
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:04.320
we've been finding pretty consistently is that somewhere between ten
747
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:08.440
to twenty percent of the Black electorate is either not
748
00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:12.639
strongly supporting VP Harris or is interested in other candidates,
749
00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:15.480
be that Donald Trump or one of the third party candidates.
750
00:41:15.960 --> 00:41:19.159
And so we've been testing messages that we hope can
751
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.280
move these what we're calling the new Black swing voters
752
00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:27.719
in the direction of VP Harris to support her historic
753
00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:31.599
run and also because we think that Donald Trump is
754
00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:33.440
bad for democracy and black people.
755
00:41:33.559 --> 00:41:35.840
Well, it's interesting I was reading a little bit about
756
00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:39.840
what your poll was focused on, and part of the
757
00:41:39.920 --> 00:41:45.079
news Reelise mentioned gender generation gap and where there's like
758
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:48.559
a split between Generation Z male and female voters. Can
759
00:41:48.599 --> 00:41:49.559
you talk a little bit about that.
760
00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:52.599
Yeah, So there's an overall there's a generation gap in
761
00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:56.719
that millennial and Gen Z voters are not a supportive
762
00:41:56.840 --> 00:42:00.519
of VP Harris and the Democrats has gen X and boomers.
763
00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:03.079
Gen Xon boomers come in at what we call a
764
00:42:03.159 --> 00:42:07.280
secular level of support for VP Harris, which means they're
765
00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:10.639
supporting her at about the same level of Barack Obama's
766
00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:15.480
support in twenty eight and twenty twelve, somewhere around ninety percent.
767
00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:19.599
Barack Obama only wins those elections because you know, they
768
00:42:19.599 --> 00:42:23.440
were able to hyper mobilize black and Latino supporters to
769
00:42:23.480 --> 00:42:25.519
overcome the fact that only about four and ten white
770
00:42:25.559 --> 00:42:29.239
voters voted for him both times. And so what we're
771
00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:31.840
finding in this cycle, which we found in our eleven
772
00:42:31.880 --> 00:42:34.719
tracking polls, is that the millennial and the gen Z
773
00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:41.239
cohorts are running She's running about anywhere from fifteen percent behind.
774
00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:44.719
With millennial Black women, she's somewhere at around seventy to
775
00:42:44.760 --> 00:42:49.360
seventy two percent. With millennial Black men, she's running at
776
00:42:49.400 --> 00:42:54.320
about sixty six percent. And then it's even worse with
777
00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:57.119
gen Z She's under fifty percent with gen Z Black
778
00:42:57.159 --> 00:42:59.800
men and only at about seventy two percent with gen
779
00:42:59.880 --> 00:43:01.000
z Z Black women.
780
00:43:01.400 --> 00:43:04.760
So there's a generation and gender gap.
781
00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:07.159
And so we've seen a lot of talk about black
782
00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:10.039
men letting the VP down, But you know, what people
783
00:43:10.039 --> 00:43:12.800
really need to understand is that it's really about connecting
784
00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:16.639
with young Black voters under thirty five that's going to
785
00:43:16.679 --> 00:43:19.400
make the difference for her. And you know, I don't
786
00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:23.199
think the traditional groups that mobilize the black community saw
787
00:43:23.239 --> 00:43:27.599
this coming because generational replacement has been so pronounced over the.
788
00:43:27.639 --> 00:43:28.519
Last few years.
789
00:43:28.840 --> 00:43:31.159
About fifty percent of the voting age population in Black
790
00:43:31.199 --> 00:43:34.800
America's under forty years old. So you know, that's who
791
00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:36.760
we need to be talking to if you're interested in
792
00:43:37.320 --> 00:43:40.559
keeping Trump away from the White House and supporting VP Harris.
793
00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:41.920
It's that demographic And.
794
00:43:41.840 --> 00:43:44.000
What are they looking for? What are the generation's the
795
00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:45.119
male voters.
796
00:43:44.840 --> 00:43:47.599
Looking for, well not just male, also female, and so
797
00:43:48.199 --> 00:43:51.360
what Black voters in general have wanted from the Democrats.
798
00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:53.119
We found this when we started our tracking poll we
799
00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:57.320
were pulling on support for President Biden. They basically want
800
00:43:57.360 --> 00:43:59.639
what everyone wants. They want someone who's going to fight
801
00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:03.280
for their issues. They have a lot of frustrate frustrations
802
00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:07.039
with the Democratic Party coming around during election time making
803
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:09.079
a bunch of big promises and then saying, oh, but
804
00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:13.960
the filibuster. We can't get voting rights reformed because the filibuster.
805
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:18.639
We can't get the George Floyd Policing Act because the filibuster, right,
806
00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:22.760
and so these things have left the black community writ
807
00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:26.199
large frustrated. But the gen X and Boomer cohorts are
808
00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:29.199
willing to kind of, you know, get over that because
809
00:44:29.239 --> 00:44:32.000
they want to support the historic firsts. And also they
810
00:44:32.559 --> 00:44:36.559
remember how bad things can get if you're under forty
811
00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:39.719
years old in Black America. Like you don't remember the
812
00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:41.880
Jim pro era, right, Like, so I grew up in
813
00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:45.280
fifty four. I integrated my neighborhood. My parents grew up
814
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:48.760
in the Jim Crow era. My great grandparents, their parents
815
00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:53.960
were slaves, right, So, like I remember very starkly, like
816
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:58.559
the racial inequalities that really were overturned by the Democrats
817
00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:01.880
in the Civil Rights era. You know, millennial black voters,
818
00:45:01.960 --> 00:45:05.280
gen Z black voters, they were like ten thirteen sixteen
819
00:45:05.320 --> 00:45:07.679
when Barack Obama was president. So they don't remember any
820
00:45:07.719 --> 00:45:11.239
of that, so they expect more so, what they want
821
00:45:11.440 --> 00:45:14.480
is for first mister Biden and then for VP Harris
822
00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:18.480
to really push back against the sort of the DEI bands,
823
00:45:18.559 --> 00:45:22.280
the Black history CRT bands, you know, they want push
824
00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:26.400
back on, you know, the notion that policing reform is
825
00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:28.400
just something that the Democrats should be giving up on
826
00:45:28.559 --> 00:45:32.280
because it scares white voters away, and their inability to
827
00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:35.719
deliver messages to convince young voters that they're serious about
828
00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:38.000
those things. That's a big part of the reason why
829
00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:41.719
they're they're where they are in the polls. Not necessarily losing,
830
00:45:42.119 --> 00:45:45.239
but if she had the comfortable support of the black
831
00:45:45.239 --> 00:45:49.400
community that Barack Obama had, she'd be ahead considerably in
832
00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:51.840
the swing states, and that's just not happening.
833
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:52.280
Well.
834
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:56.840
VP Harris recently released a Planet includes like forgiving business
835
00:45:56.880 --> 00:46:01.239
loans for black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships, even studying things
836
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:04.480
like sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African
837
00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:07.800
American men and women. Do you believe that these things
838
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:11.960
will create inroads with the young voter set or Black
839
00:46:11.960 --> 00:46:12.719
folks in general.
840
00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:14.880
Yeah, I mean, I think it will create in roads
841
00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:17.280
with black folks in general. These are great programs, the
842
00:46:17.440 --> 00:46:19.880
sickle cell focus and all of that. But like we
843
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:23.400
also have to be clear, these are mostly race neutral
844
00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:27.760
programs that they're targeting and saying, well, black men need
845
00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:30.719
mentorship more than others. So this kind of mentorship program
846
00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:32.440
is something that we can put in place for you
847
00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:33.519
in the small business loans.
848
00:46:33.559 --> 00:46:34.599
I mean, you know, all of.
849
00:46:34.559 --> 00:46:38.079
These things are nice, but like every other community, black
850
00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:42.719
voters want things that are targeted, right, And so you know,
851
00:46:43.239 --> 00:46:46.480
I don't know what could be a clearer case of
852
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:50.880
drawing a contrast with your opponent than saying, Donald Trump
853
00:46:51.320 --> 00:46:55.079
wants every police department in the nation to do stop
854
00:46:55.119 --> 00:46:58.239
and frisk. We know that that affects Black men disproportionally
855
00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:01.400
and black women, right, I don't know what's a clearer
856
00:47:02.119 --> 00:47:04.920
contrast in saying Donald Trump wants to defund the Equal
857
00:47:04.960 --> 00:47:08.199
Employment and Opportunity Commission, which will make it legal for
858
00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:09.960
employers to discriminate against you.
859
00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:10.960
Right, Like, these are.
860
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:14.079
The things that I think would really energize, that our
861
00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:18.440
polls show really energize. You tell young black men and
862
00:47:18.480 --> 00:47:21.480
that gen Z cohort that Donald Trump wants to do
863
00:47:21.519 --> 00:47:23.960
stop and frisk. That's what my super pack has been doing,
864
00:47:24.320 --> 00:47:27.039
and their support for VP Harris goes up like, you know,
865
00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:30.880
twenty points, right, Like that gets them off the couch.
866
00:47:31.280 --> 00:47:33.960
But I fear that, you know, the campaign hasn't been
867
00:47:33.960 --> 00:47:37.280
able to do that because they rightfully have been worried
868
00:47:37.679 --> 00:47:40.119
that if they talk about those things, it'll scare away
869
00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:43.440
the white Republican voters that they're trying to court.
870
00:47:43.480 --> 00:47:44.800
I don't know if they're the Nicky.
871
00:47:44.519 --> 00:47:47.880
Haley voters this week or the Liz Chainey voters, whomever
872
00:47:47.920 --> 00:47:51.880
they are. Like, you know, the fear for candidates of
873
00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:55.400
color is that if you show your ties to these
874
00:47:55.440 --> 00:47:58.440
minority communities, then you won't be able to win these
875
00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:02.000
you know, mythical swing voters in the white suburbs. The
876
00:48:02.039 --> 00:48:04.480
reality is Barack Obama didn't really win those people either,
877
00:48:04.519 --> 00:48:07.880
and he's still won by comfortable margins both times.
878
00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:09.800
So final word from.
879
00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:14.280
You, The final word is you know, the hours and
880
00:48:14.320 --> 00:48:17.880
now is now. And so the Alliance for Black Equality
881
00:48:17.920 --> 00:48:22.480
is invested in Google ads that are targeting young black
882
00:48:23.199 --> 00:48:27.039
voters with the information about Donald Trump's plans for policing.
883
00:48:27.719 --> 00:48:30.679
And we're doing it in a way that's not preachy.
884
00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:34.239
It uses humor, It points out the facts, and it
885
00:48:34.280 --> 00:48:36.639
tries to meet them on their level, and I think
886
00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:41.280
that that is an effort that the VP's campaign could
887
00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:46.079
easily parrot. I also think that you know, with super
888
00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:48.840
PACs are four is for doing the work that candidates
889
00:48:48.840 --> 00:48:51.760
can't do, and that's why we started ours. We were
890
00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:54.599
so worried that they were missing the message that we
891
00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:56.960
started our own messaging operation.
892
00:48:57.320 --> 00:49:01.039
That's Alvin Tillery with Alliance for Black Equality. Thank you
893
00:49:01.079 --> 00:49:02.280
for joining us on the BION.
894
00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:03.480
Thank you for having me.
895
00:49:03.519 --> 00:49:06.400
Thanks Ester. If you'd like more information about recent polling
896
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:10.079
information or the work of doctor Alvin Tillery, visit Alliance
897
00:49:10.119 --> 00:49:14.280
for Blackequality dot org. Doug Davis takes a pause from
898
00:49:14.280 --> 00:49:17.079
his normal Your Black Business segment to bring you an
899
00:49:17.320 --> 00:49:20.000
icon in the music industry that many don't know who
900
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:23.719
has made significant strides for black musicians and entertainers in
901
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:25.440
the music industry for decades.
902
00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:27.679
Doug, Hey, Thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis and there's
903
00:49:27.719 --> 00:49:30.440
a lot of excitement and inspiration around the musical project
904
00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:34.719
by famed African American musical musician Ray Chu, who's multifaceted
905
00:49:34.760 --> 00:49:38.119
career spans decades. He served as musical director for popular
906
00:49:38.199 --> 00:49:41.119
television shows like Showtime at the Apollo and American Idol
907
00:49:41.199 --> 00:49:43.880
just named a few, and he's currently the musical director
908
00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:46.400
for Dancing with the Stars. Ray, Welcome to the bin.
909
00:49:46.719 --> 00:49:47.920
Thank you for having me man.
910
00:49:47.960 --> 00:49:49.199
It's an honor to have you here.
911
00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:49.400
Man.
912
00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:51.920
Truly have been a fan of yours forever. And so
913
00:49:52.119 --> 00:49:56.840
when I heard your single Jam featuring Stephanie Mills and
914
00:49:57.039 --> 00:50:01.119
mc lie, Dougie Fresh d Jacob Prie, I nearly had
915
00:50:01.159 --> 00:50:03.239
to pull over. I'm like, hold on, wait a minute.
916
00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:06.000
Tell me about the collaboration. How did it come together
917
00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:09.039
and what was the creative process like in the studio
918
00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:13.320
putting together this amazing song to promote your upcoming album.
919
00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:16.360
Well, the first thing is is that out of mutual
920
00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:20.079
respect for these wonderful iconic legends, first of all, I
921
00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:23.719
have to say hey, Deaphity, Kick Capri, mc like Dougie. First,
922
00:50:23.719 --> 00:50:27.599
they're already iconic figures in R and B and hip hop,
923
00:50:27.679 --> 00:50:29.880
and so the good news is that they are my
924
00:50:30.119 --> 00:50:33.559
friends as well. I've already been granted you know, historical
925
00:50:33.880 --> 00:50:37.199
you know favor. When I called them up, I said, hey, listen,
926
00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:41.840
I'm doing my life legacy project called My Journey. They said, Ray,
927
00:50:41.880 --> 00:50:43.599
we want to be a part of it. I said,
928
00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:45.480
you're already a part of it. So the first step
929
00:50:45.519 --> 00:50:49.239
in the process was me getting in the studio with
930
00:50:49.559 --> 00:50:52.440
Kick Capri. I was in there and we started, you know,
931
00:50:52.599 --> 00:50:55.119
banging around some beats and we came up with one
932
00:50:55.159 --> 00:50:58.920
who really really light. And then, uh, after that, we said, well,
933
00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:01.000
we got to get the right vocal on it. I
934
00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:03.559
thought about it for a minute. The first voice really
935
00:51:03.559 --> 00:51:05.519
that came to mind was stepping the mills. So I
936
00:51:05.559 --> 00:51:08.960
was like, perfect, call, step me up. She said, all right,
937
00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:12.239
you know her voice? She said, yeah, I'm on it.
938
00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:15.719
And I said, cool, Now who is going to rock
939
00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:18.960
the body and the party? Come on, you'll hit my heads.
940
00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:22.199
Y'all know that's MC light. And then of course we
941
00:51:22.280 --> 00:51:25.559
got Doug E Fresh. So that's that's the ingredients. That's
942
00:51:25.559 --> 00:51:26.440
how we bake the cake.
943
00:51:26.639 --> 00:51:29.320
That's great. How did you come up with, you know,
944
00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:33.679
the debut solo album title My Journey? I mean, I
945
00:51:33.679 --> 00:51:36.440
guess that's pretty self explanatory, but if you can share
946
00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:39.480
with us the concept and what your album represents for you.
947
00:51:39.760 --> 00:51:42.719
I was inspired by my friend the mental Quincy Jones,
948
00:51:42.760 --> 00:51:45.800
who I always loved how he told each of his
949
00:51:45.880 --> 00:51:49.119
stories almost like in the Stevie Wonders sense. They they
950
00:51:49.239 --> 00:51:52.280
all told the arc and the story about his journey
951
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:54.960
and life. And that's what it felt like to me
952
00:51:55.039 --> 00:51:57.519
at this point. And my journey was said, you know what,
953
00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:00.679
I want my music to represent the arc of my
954
00:52:00.760 --> 00:52:03.920
life and where I'm at now and where I'm centered.
955
00:52:04.199 --> 00:52:07.920
You know, I mean many expressions, R and B, jazz,
956
00:52:08.280 --> 00:52:11.159
classical is all part of who I am, and so
957
00:52:11.639 --> 00:52:14.159
all of that has got to be in whatever I
958
00:52:14.280 --> 00:52:17.639
decide to express. And so my journey is that Rachhew
959
00:52:17.679 --> 00:52:21.360
and Friends styled type of expression, inspired by the way
960
00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:25.360
Quincy Jones did collaborations on his album. He introduced new
961
00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:29.840
artists to Miya, James Angram, Tevin Campbell, and I'll be
962
00:52:29.920 --> 00:52:34.159
introducing new artists as well as working with legendary artists.
963
00:52:34.440 --> 00:52:37.079
So we know that we have on the first single,
964
00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:41.000
but others to come. I have on as part of
965
00:52:41.039 --> 00:52:46.440
My Journey. We have Lisa Fischer, we have Eric Groberson,
966
00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:50.920
we have Marcus Miller, Patty Austin and Ambassawyer. She's a
967
00:52:50.960 --> 00:52:55.280
new artist, Robin Thick. I'm very excited about this because
968
00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:57.800
this is telling my story. Brother.
969
00:52:57.960 --> 00:53:01.360
You have some hitters on this out. Okay, let's go
970
00:53:01.480 --> 00:53:05.000
back to your journey and your destiny and share a
971
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:08.440
little bit about your childhood. And you know your love
972
00:53:08.519 --> 00:53:10.840
for music, And I know this is somewhat of a
973
00:53:11.280 --> 00:53:14.679
common cliche question, but I really want to know how
974
00:53:14.679 --> 00:53:16.880
did you get into the industry? How did it happen?
975
00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:19.280
Did you think it would ever become a quote unquote
976
00:53:19.559 --> 00:53:23.360
manifest destiny that you so much endorse in your life?
977
00:53:23.559 --> 00:53:25.079
Share with us your story.
978
00:53:25.400 --> 00:53:29.039
I'm so glad you reappropriate that term because I do
979
00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:32.679
the same thing with that term. I speak about manifest destiny.
980
00:53:32.679 --> 00:53:35.360
I put a dream first, I put purpose first, and
981
00:53:35.440 --> 00:53:40.159
purpose driven dreams that manifest so manifest into my destiny.
982
00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:43.320
Se have you said that my life started with a
983
00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:46.960
manifest by God has given to me? Is He gives
984
00:53:47.000 --> 00:53:50.280
you talent, He expects that you utilize it because you
985
00:53:50.280 --> 00:53:53.960
know it's of no use unless you glorify Him with
986
00:53:54.320 --> 00:53:57.920
people seeing it. That's how people see goodness and gracious.
987
00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:01.519
When you heard Whitney Houston's Glove Boys, you knew God
988
00:54:01.639 --> 00:54:04.440
touched it. When you hear Stevie Wonder, you know God
989
00:54:04.519 --> 00:54:07.239
touched TV like he touched nobody out. You know when
990
00:54:07.239 --> 00:54:10.599
you see that kind of glorified existence. You know, that's
991
00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:13.320
God's touching. Don't start me preaching because I'll do that.
992
00:54:13.400 --> 00:54:16.199
But any case, this is what I felt in my life,
993
00:54:16.239 --> 00:54:18.199
and from the very beginning, I felt the hand of
994
00:54:18.280 --> 00:54:22.679
God leading, teaching me, illuminating paths, opening doors, making a
995
00:54:22.760 --> 00:54:25.519
way when there was no way, making people, bringing me
996
00:54:25.599 --> 00:54:28.840
into rooms, bringing people to me, and all the wonderful
997
00:54:28.880 --> 00:54:32.119
things that happened, and education my mother and my family
998
00:54:32.199 --> 00:54:36.159
to support, starting you know, my musical education starting age
999
00:54:36.239 --> 00:54:38.880
five and going all the way through, and then starting
1000
00:54:38.920 --> 00:54:42.400
professional at age sixteen with Melbourne Moore and then at
1001
00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:46.320
nineteen with Nick Ash, with Valerie Simpson, joining into the
1002
00:54:46.320 --> 00:54:49.760
New York session scene, recording with great artists down Us,
1003
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:55.239
Donny Hathaway, Global Washington Junior, Roberta Fleck, Shaka Ka, Teddy Peddigrass.
1004
00:54:55.559 --> 00:54:57.400
I was doing a lot of it. They're getting into
1005
00:54:57.480 --> 00:55:01.079
TV when I was twenty one and at sat Night
1006
00:55:01.239 --> 00:55:04.559
Live and working during Eddie Murphy years, then going over
1007
00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:06.440
to but it was my first TV job. My second
1008
00:55:06.559 --> 00:55:11.000
job was show time at the Apollo fifteen seasons with
1009
00:55:11.079 --> 00:55:14.519
Steve Harvey, you know, and and Kicki Sheppard, sand Man
1010
00:55:14.599 --> 00:55:18.280
Simms doing Showtime at the Pollow, the iconic Apollo with
1011
00:55:18.400 --> 00:55:21.679
that audience and that all of the wonderful, the wonderful
1012
00:55:21.719 --> 00:55:25.719
craziness over there. Then then my many years at BT
1013
00:55:25.960 --> 00:55:29.320
working all their specials they had, the BT Celebrates, the Gospel,
1014
00:55:29.400 --> 00:55:34.320
BT Honors, the BT Awards, the BT's Sunday Best. I
1015
00:55:34.360 --> 00:55:37.000
did all the stuff over there, and then shifting over
1016
00:55:37.079 --> 00:55:41.440
into Network TV with doing American Idol during the Dams,
1017
00:55:41.559 --> 00:55:44.599
the Grammys and and all kinds of wonderful things, and
1018
00:55:44.639 --> 00:55:48.719
then this is my TV career, kept expanding, many wonderful things.
1019
00:55:48.719 --> 00:55:51.239
So this all brings me to this point. I know
1020
00:55:51.320 --> 00:55:53.639
I said a whole lot right there, but this brings
1021
00:55:53.679 --> 00:55:57.079
me to this point where I, you know, after doing
1022
00:55:57.079 --> 00:56:02.280
all those wonderful things again tapped me on the shoulder said, Okay,
1023
00:56:02.639 --> 00:56:06.800
you've done well. You know you've done well, young man.
1024
00:56:07.039 --> 00:56:09.280
Now what are you gonna do with the town? By
1025
00:56:09.360 --> 00:56:12.679
the way, the talent I've given you is self expression
1026
00:56:12.960 --> 00:56:17.599
and music as you hear it, and it's wonderful doing
1027
00:56:17.599 --> 00:56:19.519
things for others, and I've done a lot of it,
1028
00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:21.239
but this is my time.
1029
00:56:21.920 --> 00:56:24.719
Amen for that dude. I mean, you said, you said
1030
00:56:24.760 --> 00:56:26.960
a lot, and you did, but brother, I'm just over
1031
00:56:26.960 --> 00:56:29.840
here taking notes. You know, you said one thing earlier
1032
00:56:29.960 --> 00:56:33.440
that really caught my attention. Not that anything that you
1033
00:56:33.559 --> 00:56:36.400
said didn't catch my attention, but in particular, you talked
1034
00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:41.920
about your purpose and your journey and realizing that what
1035
00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:44.719
do you feel? And this is not a music question,
1036
00:56:44.920 --> 00:56:48.039
this is just a real black man the black man question.
1037
00:56:48.440 --> 00:56:51.440
Do you feel that our young black men that are
1038
00:56:51.519 --> 00:56:54.800
disenfranchised coming from some pretty rough areas, you know, I
1039
00:56:54.800 --> 00:56:56.960
mean some of us have gotten out, but a lot
1040
00:56:57.000 --> 00:56:59.840
of us are still there. Do you feel that sense
1041
00:56:59.880 --> 00:57:03.639
of of a dream becoming a reality has been damned?
1042
00:57:03.800 --> 00:57:06.519
What do you feel like we can do as black
1043
00:57:06.599 --> 00:57:11.239
men to help uplift our young black brothers? They don't
1044
00:57:11.280 --> 00:57:11.880
have that shot.
1045
00:57:12.119 --> 00:57:13.800
Well, you know what, I'm glad you mentioned that because
1046
00:57:13.800 --> 00:57:16.199
we do have, We have experience, and we continue to
1047
00:57:16.280 --> 00:57:21.800
experience generational trauma. You know, nobody wants to talk about,
1048
00:57:22.440 --> 00:57:25.960
you know, the effects of you know this slavery. Okay,
1049
00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:27.800
all right, you don't want to talk about it. Okay,
1050
00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:30.920
That don't mean it didn't happen. Once you take the water,
1051
00:57:31.320 --> 00:57:33.400
then the water has been tainted. If you put poison
1052
00:57:33.440 --> 00:57:35.880
in the reservoir, it's still in there all right. Now,
1053
00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:38.920
it may take a while for it to dissipate, but okay,
1054
00:57:38.960 --> 00:57:43.280
So yes, we we have overcome a lot generations Black men,
1055
00:57:43.599 --> 00:57:45.960
we've had to you know, in black women, we've all
1056
00:57:46.039 --> 00:57:50.679
had to struggle through trying to create family with where
1057
00:57:50.719 --> 00:57:54.920
we didn't have a family foundation in this country, people
1058
00:57:54.960 --> 00:57:58.599
don't They tried to kind of overlook that everybody else
1059
00:57:58.639 --> 00:58:02.440
came here was able to families. Our families were torn
1060
00:58:02.559 --> 00:58:05.079
up heart and so it took generations for us to
1061
00:58:05.119 --> 00:58:08.400
now to re establish what a family would look like
1062
00:58:08.519 --> 00:58:11.599
and how to build upon that. Well, here we are,
1063
00:58:11.679 --> 00:58:13.519
so here, you know what we do now. But what
1064
00:58:13.599 --> 00:58:15.960
we do now is that we have to know that
1065
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:19.920
we are standing on the shoulders of all of those
1066
00:58:19.960 --> 00:58:23.719
who bled and died for us. And so yes, there
1067
00:58:23.800 --> 00:58:32.920
are a lot of effects of generations of trauma and misrepresentation, underrepresentation, racism,
1068
00:58:32.960 --> 00:58:35.480
all kinds of things that are still in effect not
1069
00:58:35.519 --> 00:58:38.519
given opportunity and education and all this kind of stuff.
1070
00:58:38.519 --> 00:58:40.440
But one of the things that does, I'll have to
1071
00:58:40.480 --> 00:58:45.239
say is that talent and gifts, they are equally provided
1072
00:58:45.519 --> 00:58:50.599
through all the races and and and and ages. Everybody
1073
00:58:50.760 --> 00:58:58.320
talent is equally distributed. However, opportunity is not equally equally distributed.
1074
00:58:57.840 --> 00:59:00.800
And that's what we're fighting for. The new project, My
1075
00:59:00.920 --> 00:59:03.599
Journey drops in the first quarter of twenty twenty five.
1076
00:59:03.679 --> 00:59:06.440
Thank you for sharing your journey with us and those
1077
00:59:06.519 --> 00:59:09.679
inspirational words for our young black brothers. They really need
1078
00:59:09.719 --> 00:59:11.519
to hear that. We all need to hear that. Thank
1079
00:59:11.559 --> 00:59:13.639
you again. This is Doug Davis. You're listening to the
1080
00:59:13.639 --> 00:59:15.079
Black Perspective on the BION.
1081
00:59:15.639 --> 00:59:18.559
Thanks Doug, and that's our program for this week. For
1082
00:59:18.679 --> 00:59:21.440
more on these stories, listen to the Black Information Network
1083
00:59:21.480 --> 00:59:25.519
on the free iHeartRadio app or log onto binews dot
1084
00:59:25.519 --> 00:59:28.920
com for all of the latest news impacting the black community.
1085
00:59:29.119 --> 00:59:31.639
Also be sure to follow us on social media at
1086
00:59:31.639 --> 00:59:35.079
Black Information Network and on x at black info Net.
1087
00:59:35.679 --> 00:59:38.360
Mike Island wishing everyone a great Sunday. Be sure to
1088
00:59:38.400 --> 00:59:41.079
tune in next week at this time for another edition
1089
00:59:41.320 --> 00:59:44.719
of The Black Perspective right here on the Black Information
1090
00:59:44.880 --> 00:59:45.320
Network