Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she
Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashan McDonald. I will know he's giving me
Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. In the case you didn't notice,
Speaker 1: I'm not broke, you know he'll be interviewing celebrity CEOs
Speaker 1: and entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what he likes
Speaker 1: to do to what he likes to share. Thank you,
Speaker 1: stephen A. Smith. This is Rashan McDonald and I'm the
Speaker 1: host of money Making Conversation dot com. I recognized that
Speaker 1: we all have different definitions of success. For you, it
Speaker 1: may be the size of your paycheck. Mine is helping
Speaker 1: people wake up and inspiring them to accomplish their goals
Speaker 1: and live their very best life. My guests so Money
Speaker 1: Making Conversations this week are civil rights attorney Benjamin Crost,
Speaker 1: President CEO of the National Urban League, Mark Marial, the
Speaker 1: Interim Executive director at the Center for Law and Social Justice,
Speaker 1: Larie Daniel Favors, and he directs some of the hottest
Speaker 1: TV movies out there, Power Book to Goes, Prodigal Son, Evil, Shameless,
Speaker 1: Black Star Girl, and many more. My man director straordinaire
Speaker 1: Rob Hardy. My next guest is all about playing and
Speaker 1: all aboudy elf and watching his career. Girl, it's a
Speaker 1: great career because it's by motivating people, uplifting people, giving
Speaker 1: them a voice in the community. That is my next guest.
Speaker 1: His attorney being Crump. He's a naturally recognized trial lawyer.
Speaker 1: I was still manager Steve Harvey and I saw more
Speaker 1: TV representative Trayvarn Martin. Then we make back stage at
Speaker 1: the Neighborhood Awards and we have become great friends. He
Speaker 1: had a dream to impact the lives of African Americans
Speaker 1: in the justice system. Ben's fight for justice has covered
Speaker 1: many cases and his dedication they have families received justice,
Speaker 1: including Ahmad Aubrey Martin, Lee Anderson, Beyanda Taylor, Jacob Blake,
Speaker 1: George Florida, and unfortunately many others. All these families have
Speaker 1: turned to Mr Crump to turn the spotlight of their
Speaker 1: injustice on their cases. Please work with the money making conversations,
Speaker 1: Attorney Ben Crump, how you doing mentor thank you sir?
Speaker 1: I appreciate that tyler You've given me because it was
Speaker 1: at the Neighborhood Awards when we started talking about trying
Speaker 1: to have your voice elevated beyond the courtroom, and you
Speaker 1: inspire me in ways and never ever discourage me. And
Speaker 1: because of that, you know, God has blessed me beyond
Speaker 1: anything we could have ever envisioned. We don't to think
Speaker 1: about it. You know, we've done television shows together and
Speaker 1: and those shows are all about injustice, you know. And
Speaker 1: one of the famous quotes you always told me, if
Speaker 1: you want to see the justice ships and play out,
Speaker 1: just sit in the back of any courtroom in America.
Speaker 1: Tell us about that quote, Yeah, you know, when we
Speaker 1: did Evidence of Innocence, which I still think is one
Speaker 1: of the best shows that has ever been put on TV,
Speaker 1: that you produced and helped create this concept of seeing
Speaker 1: injustice everywhere in America. It's not far into any city
Speaker 1: or state. You go in any courtroom. You don't have
Speaker 1: to take being from word for it. Just sit in
Speaker 1: the back of the courtroom and see how justice has
Speaker 1: been at interestate that there are two justice systems that
Speaker 1: govern America, one for white America and one for others.
Speaker 1: And we saw that play out in America when they
Speaker 1: starmed The Capital, these Trump supporters and they were treated
Speaker 1: completely different rashon than any Black Lives Matter protests ever.
Speaker 1: I mean they were able to bust into the capital.
Speaker 1: I mean you talk about no trust pass charges, no
Speaker 1: property damage, no assault, no battery, nothing, nobody that they
Speaker 1: was arrested. And that's just prima facial evidence. But the
Speaker 1: thing that I got from you, Rashan, and people like
Speaker 1: my grandmother is no matter how donting it looks, you
Speaker 1: always got to keep a positive perspective. That's why I
Speaker 1: love doing evidence of innocence with it, because, yeah, you
Speaker 1: recognize the injustice, but you know that we will overcome
Speaker 1: the injustice. And that's important that you say that because
Speaker 1: use your your life. You know you've been putting the spotlight,
Speaker 1: movie appearances, TV appearance as you have an award show
Speaker 1: that's in Los Angeles. We want to talk about that
Speaker 1: in a little bit, but the bottom line is fighting injustice.
Speaker 1: What bothers you the most about the cases that seems
Speaker 1: so eerily similar, similar different stage, different cities, but it's
Speaker 1: the same case. Well, bothers me the most rashon is
Speaker 1: how they tried to intellectually justify it. You know, the
Speaker 1: unjustified by actions that led to Brianna Taylor being killed
Speaker 1: in her own apartment. I mean the saintity of your home.
Speaker 1: They bust in the front door and they mutilate your
Speaker 1: daughter's body, and then they tell her mother and her family, well,
Speaker 1: technically there are no grounds to charge the police officers.
Speaker 1: Or when you think about Philandocers still in Minneapolis, sitting
Speaker 1: in the driver see his girlfriend driving and their baby
Speaker 1: in the back, and he tells the police, I'm a
Speaker 1: register gun owner, aber gun in the glove compartment. You
Speaker 1: want me to get the registration and insurance, I have
Speaker 1: to reach in the glove compartment. He says all of this,
Speaker 1: But then when he goes and gets the the items
Speaker 1: that the police asked for, he sees a gun, he
Speaker 1: sees black man, and he shoots. And yet they intellectually
Speaker 1: justify that rigion. And that's what is most troubling to me,
Speaker 1: because I often think about what Martin Luther King said
Speaker 1: in the letter from the Birmingham jail. He said, just
Speaker 1: because they say it's legal, that doesn't mean it's right.
Speaker 1: He said that everything Hitler did to the Jews in
Speaker 1: Germany was legal, but that didn't make it right. He says,
Speaker 1: slavery was lee Egal but that didn't make it right.
Speaker 1: He says, segregation was legal, but that didn't rake make
Speaker 1: it right. And they try to tell us what they did,
Speaker 1: the trade bond marketIn and Brianna Taylor and Eric Gardner
Speaker 1: and so many others was legal. But I stand on
Speaker 1: my bullet poor pit every chance I get to remind America,
Speaker 1: no matter what you say is legal, that doesn't make
Speaker 1: it right. Well, you know, I'm talking to civil rights
Speaker 1: attorney Benjamin Crump. Well renowned fame, but fame has a
Speaker 1: cutting edge because you're going the airports, people recognize you. Uh.
Speaker 1: You go with restaurants, people recognize you, and then you
Speaker 1: take on the responsibility of that. Sometimes you can't deliver
Speaker 1: what people's expectations are. I knew when we met backstages
Speaker 1: in the the neighborhood many years ago. Now looking at you now,
Speaker 1: your social media's on fire, your television and will front
Speaker 1: page of areas newspaper articles. How has that affected your
Speaker 1: life both professionally and personally? You know, Uh, thank god
Speaker 1: I have a wonderful wife and uh strong family support
Speaker 1: that allowed me to do the important work I do. Um.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's so funny with shine that Netflix is
Speaker 1: doing a documentary UH, my life or the work I do.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say my life. I want to believe I
Speaker 1: got a lot more living to go. Thank you U.
Speaker 1: But Nadia Hagren, who is the award winning director who
Speaker 1: directed Michelle Obama is becoming the most watched documentary and
Speaker 1: Netflix history, is UH now doing a documentary on my work.
Speaker 1: And the one thing I tell a rashine is keep up.
Speaker 1: You all are gonna follow me for a year. I
Speaker 1: mean keep up because so much happens in the course
Speaker 1: of a week that that's my always worst nightmare, that
Speaker 1: I'm running out of time, that they are creating these
Speaker 1: hashtags too much, they're killing our children too fast, that
Speaker 1: we can barely keep up. I mean, every other week
Speaker 1: seems like there is another hashtag, and so that's what
Speaker 1: we're fighting. I told my eight year old daughter Brooklyn
Speaker 1: as I left home the day after Christmas going to
Speaker 1: Columbia Columbus, Ohio, because Andre Hill was killed a couple
Speaker 1: of days before Christmas holding a cell phone and the
Speaker 1: video demonstrated very clearly that he was unarmed and while
Speaker 1: he was on the ground grasping for breath. They then
Speaker 1: had a supervisor come up at the five minutes and
Speaker 1: said he is still breathing, handcuffing, and they did that.
Speaker 1: And so my daughter is trying to understand, but Daddy,
Speaker 1: why do you have to leave the day after Christmas?
Speaker 1: And I told her, well, baby, Unfortunately, police brutality and
Speaker 1: implicit bias don't take a break, not even for Christmas.
Speaker 1: And so that family lost their father. And even though
Speaker 1: it's inconvenient for me to leave you on Christmas holiday,
Speaker 1: can you imagine how convenient baby, it is for that
Speaker 1: family who lost their father father? And my baby told me, Daddy,
Speaker 1: I understand. Wow, that's great now, it was these all
Speaker 1: these cases are rages. But you you was involved in
Speaker 1: the case in the Houston Galveson area where uh police
Speaker 1: officer sheriff was on a horse and he had a
Speaker 1: rope around a black man's neck as he walked him
Speaker 1: down the street. Tell us the status of that case,
Speaker 1: and tell and they explain to everybody exactly detail, uh
Speaker 1: what went down with the case. It was a homeless
Speaker 1: man who had mental health issues and the police, for
Speaker 1: reasons that were still inexplicable, instead of putting him in
Speaker 1: the patrol car and taking him to the jail for Lottering.
Speaker 1: They put a rope around his neck while he and
Speaker 1: his partner were on horseback, and they rode him down
Speaker 1: through the middle of town where in Galveston, Texas, as
Speaker 1: we remember, Rashan was one of the last places where
Speaker 1: the slaves were freed. And so they literally walked this
Speaker 1: black man in two thousand nineteen. Ye look at the
Speaker 1: imagery forty outside of Houston. There's a booming metropolis. This
Speaker 1: is not a little a little little Coyle town, a
Speaker 1: little of all town hidden way down in the south.
Speaker 1: Galvison has an annual Marto Grawl festival. You know, my
Speaker 1: my my friend brother, he's from Galaster, Galason ball big
Speaker 1: football pierhouse down there. So you're not talking about someplace
Speaker 1: that's that's just to the off the map. Like you
Speaker 1: said when you said walking downtown, you're walking them downtown
Speaker 1: in front of a prominent neighborhood, a tourist mecca. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And to answer your question directly, the civil matter has
Speaker 1: been resolved. We represented on the civil matter, but the
Speaker 1: Justice Department is still investigating the matter. But the problem
Speaker 1: I have, Rushin, is that the officer is still working
Speaker 1: on the force. Wow. And you know, and I had
Speaker 1: Michael Eric Dison, who you know, and his book is amazing,
Speaker 1: and the details that he gave me on the armand
Speaker 1: Aubrey case was scary, you know, because you had the
Speaker 1: one guy who's don't want to be a part of
Speaker 1: the case, somebody he was just videotaping. Would you if
Speaker 1: you're the first to call that he should be arrested.
Speaker 1: I remember he said he should be arrested. He should
Speaker 1: be arrested, and eventually he was arrested. When you hear
Speaker 1: the whole story play out, it's even more crazy. How
Speaker 1: they attacked and hunted down this young man, blocked his hiss,
Speaker 1: his point of traffic and trapped him. Yeah, Rishaw, it
Speaker 1: is just outrageous to think that. In we're not talking
Speaker 1: about nineteen thirty and nineteen four. We're talking about a
Speaker 1: young man was lynched and broad daylight for joggon while black,
Speaker 1: and as you correctly stated, they chased him. I mean
Speaker 1: they chased him for over five minutes. So this is
Speaker 1: not like something where he wasn't trying to get away.
Speaker 1: He was doing everything in his power to get away
Speaker 1: from this lynch mob, this murderous father and son duo.
Speaker 1: And so what ended up happening and you sit on
Speaker 1: the video is when they corner him, this guy who's recording,
Speaker 1: who tries to act like he was not involved, even
Speaker 1: though there's text messages that suggests otherwise. But when he
Speaker 1: cornered them, then ahmad. You hear the notion fight a flight. Well,
Speaker 1: Ama had did everything he could to take flight from
Speaker 1: these are nefarious actors. But then at that point he
Speaker 1: literally had to fight for his life. But unfortunately it
Speaker 1: was him fighting with his hands and then fighting with
Speaker 1: a shotgun. A shotgun ray shot. That is what they
Speaker 1: used to take down an elephant when it escapes the zoo.
Speaker 1: My experts tell me, unlike a gunshot wound that you
Speaker 1: cass survived because it's a single projectile that comes out.
Speaker 1: But they explained to me a shotgun, there are multiple
Speaker 1: projectiles that come out, and the jury room is small,
Speaker 1: but when those bullets going then they expand they say
Speaker 1: the exit wound, and there will always be an exit room.
Speaker 1: With a shotgun, he said, a good shot, the bullet
Speaker 1: might stay inside you, but with a shotgun, it's gonna
Speaker 1: exit out. And when you look at that video, you
Speaker 1: see exactly what the experts say. They said that the
Speaker 1: exit one could be as big as a coffee cup saucer.
Speaker 1: And so you see at the last part of that
Speaker 1: video when my turns and run and you see the
Speaker 1: blood spot on his back expand you see it's like
Speaker 1: a teacup saucer. And that is the tragedy of the
Speaker 1: leggion of a Mad Aubrey. And thank god we had
Speaker 1: video because I believe that is the only reason why
Speaker 1: this murderous father and son duo, Travis and Greg McMichael's
Speaker 1: and their friend was charged and that trial will becoming
Speaker 1: in Georgia by the Copps County District attorney. Let let's
Speaker 1: talk about that for a minute, like because you immediately
Speaker 1: and I'm talking to attorney civil rights attorney Benjamin crump here,
Speaker 1: the third guy, the videotape guy, what did you realize
Speaker 1: that he should be you know, prosecuted, he should be
Speaker 1: arrested too. Yeah, you know his story didn't quite add
Speaker 1: up when he said, well, he just saw Ahmad running
Speaker 1: and he just decided that he must be up to
Speaker 1: no good. Let me get and my car grabbed my
Speaker 1: video tape. I just want to record it right right, Well,
Speaker 1: at some point, if you see these guys got guns
Speaker 1: and they're chasing this black guy. Why wouldn't you call
Speaker 1: the police to say how long? Even if my there's
Speaker 1: something wrong. We shouldn't have these people with guns taking
Speaker 1: the law into their own hand. We should have people
Speaker 1: who are professionals to deal with the situation. But he
Speaker 1: didn't do that, and that was telling to me and
Speaker 1: our co councils. We said, nah, this story doesn't add up.
Speaker 1: And then we found out that they had an active conversation.
Speaker 1: When this young man runs through the neighborhood, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get him the next time he runs through here. Oh okay, cool,
Speaker 1: of course. I want to transition to the case that
Speaker 1: change the world, change this country, bro white people out
Speaker 1: of the streets into the streets. I hears say protested
Speaker 1: George Floyd. I I key part of my interview. Would
Speaker 1: you use that because you was on ground zero with
Speaker 1: that and you saw said some things that nobody else
Speaker 1: can see but experienced it personally. Why did George Floyd
Speaker 1: have the impact his rachel injustice through the hands of
Speaker 1: four police officers changed his country in this world? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know? Mentor many people asked me that question, Uh,
Speaker 1: what is it about George Floyd? That galvanized people all
Speaker 1: across America, galvanized people all across the globe. And what
Speaker 1: I tell them is that, you know, most of us
Speaker 1: in society had gotten use to see in reality TV,
Speaker 1: but we were still shocked to see the documentary of
Speaker 1: a human being literally being touched to death by the
Speaker 1: people who were supposed to protect and serve them. I mean,
Speaker 1: the documentary of a man being murdered. And even more
Speaker 1: shocking Rashon was the fact that at he narrated the
Speaker 1: documentary of his own death. I mean, you m say
Speaker 1: I can't breathe twenty eight times, and then he says,
Speaker 1: you know, I can't feel my insize, I can't feel
Speaker 1: my legs. He says, tell my children I love them,
Speaker 1: and then he calls out for his mother, even though
Speaker 1: his mother had been dead two years prior to this
Speaker 1: tragic incident. But again, our experts tell us, our psychological
Speaker 1: experts tell us, when you are conscious that you maybe
Speaker 1: leaving this world, the life is escaping your body. You
Speaker 1: think back two when you first came in this world,
Speaker 1: and who was your first protector. For many of us,
Speaker 1: that person was our mother. And so they say, it's
Speaker 1: very logical to hear George Floyd calling out for his
Speaker 1: mama as this guy has his knee on his neck
Speaker 1: for eight minutes and forty six seconds while another officer
Speaker 1: has two knees on his back compressing to die fram
Speaker 1: where he can't take oxygen in and expand oxygen to
Speaker 1: be able to breathe, and the fact that they offer
Speaker 1: him no humanity, no professionalism, no consideration. I mean, it
Speaker 1: is heartbreaking to watch that video. And the reason I
Speaker 1: think people were marching and cities all across America and
Speaker 1: cities all across the world is because once you see
Speaker 1: that video, you cannot see it and as a permanent
Speaker 1: impression on your psyche. And that is why George Floyd
Speaker 1: literally changed the world and why we have the George
Speaker 1: Floyd Justice and Police and Act that has passed the
Speaker 1: United States House of Representatives and where the victory and
Speaker 1: Georgia returned and control of the Senate to the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1: We believe that George Floyd Justice and Police and Act
Speaker 1: will be signed into the law by President elect Joe
Speaker 1: Biden and President elect Vice President that Kamala has my
Speaker 1: dear friend who will be president and Vice president. I'm
Speaker 1: proud to say what is the law. Explain to my
Speaker 1: listeners and my viewers. Oh, the George Floyd Justice and
Speaker 1: UH Police and Accountability Act is act that is very
Speaker 1: very UH inclusive of any of the things that the
Speaker 1: Congressional Black Caucus has fought for for decades. It includes
Speaker 1: abolishing the chokehole. Many people are not awareishin that the
Speaker 1: chokehole is legal in many cities across America, and the
Speaker 1: fact that seventy percent of the time the chokehole is
Speaker 1: executed by police, it's against people of color, especially minorities
Speaker 1: who are men. And then it's a abolishing the no
Speaker 1: knock warrants, which again is disproportionately executed against black people
Speaker 1: in America. That led to the death of Brianna Taylor.
Speaker 1: And it was foreseable that if you keep knocking in
Speaker 1: black people houses at one in the morning, that innocent
Speaker 1: victim like a Brianna Taylor would be killed. And they're
Speaker 1: not knocking in the doors about brothers and sisters. No,
Speaker 1: they're doing this to black people in America. And so
Speaker 1: it abolishes that. But then it also speaks to transparency,
Speaker 1: which is the body camera video, the fact that you
Speaker 1: have to have your body camera home when you engage
Speaker 1: a citizen for any confrontation, and if they are brutalized,
Speaker 1: and if they are at worst killed and you didn't
Speaker 1: have that body came on, it is a rebuttable presumption
Speaker 1: that you did something nefarious or inappropriate or illegal, and
Speaker 1: you have to Then we're not saying take the police
Speaker 1: officers due process of the law away from him. You're
Speaker 1: all innocent into proven guilty. However, there would be a
Speaker 1: rebuttable presumption that you now have to prove that there
Speaker 1: was not something you did illegal as to why that
Speaker 1: body camera was on, and honory or when I should
Speaker 1: say two more important things. It deals with having a
Speaker 1: national registry. We don't have any national count or registry
Speaker 1: of the number of police involves shootings and killings and
Speaker 1: room for deaths in America. And so now the George
Speaker 1: Floyd at will have the FBI keep track of all
Speaker 1: of those statistics as well as the complaints against police officers.
Speaker 1: So like in Tamil rights to twelve YEO who was
Speaker 1: killed in Cleveland or iiO by a guy who had
Speaker 1: been fired six months earlier, left one police department and
Speaker 1: went right up the street to Cleveland and got another job.
Speaker 1: So people don't know because there's no national registry that
Speaker 1: monitors all of this here. And then finally this notion
Speaker 1: of qualified immunity that the Supreme Court of the United
Speaker 1: States has said, you know, you can't the morning for
Speaker 1: the back to police. Uh, you you were not there.
Speaker 1: And so if he says he had a reasonable fear,
Speaker 1: because you know, that's what the Supreme Court has said,
Speaker 1: all the police have to do is say three words,
Speaker 1: I felt fear, I felt threatened. And then they say,
Speaker 1: but he's justified and using deadly force even if the
Speaker 1: young black person was running away from them, kind of
Speaker 1: like in Jacob Blake Jr. Connosha, Wisconsin, Like Lakwa McDonald
Speaker 1: in Chicago, Illinois, like Walter Scott in uh South Carolina,
Speaker 1: like Terence Crutcher walking away with his hands up in
Speaker 1: broad daylight in tos Oklahoma. You know, in so many
Speaker 1: other cases Stefanie Clark running in Sacramento, California and his
Speaker 1: grandmother's backyard and they shoot us in the back, and
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court and said, well, all the officers got
Speaker 1: to do and say I felt threatened, and that is
Speaker 1: enough to justify the these unjustifiable acts. So George Floyd,
Speaker 1: Justice and police and accountability at is saying that no, no,
Speaker 1: you have to have an objective, reasonable articulation to use
Speaker 1: deadly force, not just that this subjective fear, this imaginary
Speaker 1: fear that you well, I felt threatened because of the
Speaker 1: color of a person's skin. Let me ask you this
Speaker 1: because I text you several times because especially during the
Speaker 1: George Floyd, the covid N team was raging. We didn't
Speaker 1: know it definitely had no vaccine at the time. The
Speaker 1: country was shut down in the month it started to
Speaker 1: reopen in May, and I was worried man, and you
Speaker 1: were still out there on the front lines. You wore
Speaker 1: a mask because sometimes I just see you with a
Speaker 1: mask on. A word that text you said, brother, keep
Speaker 1: that mask on. I love you. And then you have
Speaker 1: to go home talk about this whole journey because you're
Speaker 1: the job to do. But then also you were putting
Speaker 1: yourself on the front lines of Dane, you with covid
Speaker 1: nteen talking about that run. Yeah, you know, I had
Speaker 1: stayed home literally for about two months, didn't leave the house.
Speaker 1: You know, I was trying to follow all the rules,
Speaker 1: and then George Floyd happened, and it was something about
Speaker 1: saying that video that I said, I I can't not
Speaker 1: go to fight for justice for this family when they
Speaker 1: call me heartbroken, you know, his brother for longness, Uh
Speaker 1: reminded me of Sabrina Fulton. Uh, all they could do
Speaker 1: is cry because as Sabrina Fulton was Traybon Martin's mother.
Speaker 1: When we first started, it was just overran with emotions.
Speaker 1: As he said, you know, I slept in the bed
Speaker 1: as a little brother with my big brother, and to
Speaker 1: see them, I mean, kill him like that. Man. We
Speaker 1: gotta have justice. We need you being crump and you
Speaker 1: know softened. I tell people that when God gives us
Speaker 1: these blessings and these talents and these fancy law degrees,
Speaker 1: is to go out and try to help the least
Speaker 1: of these, the people who don't have a voice, to
Speaker 1: people who are disenfranchised, victimized, and marginalized. And so I
Speaker 1: had to answer the bell. And then after George Floyd,
Speaker 1: you have Brianna Taylor, had to Brianna Taylor. You had
Speaker 1: Jacob Blake. After Jacob Blake. Yeah, Andre Helen, for too long,
Speaker 1: you know, I was back to doing what being crump doing,
Speaker 1: Reverend al Sharpton says, you know, being Crump. You are
Speaker 1: Black America's attorney general. Thank you very much. That's how
Speaker 1: you hit the inter you the attorney to guneral Black
Speaker 1: America super right attorney being my brother Megan sci Fire
Speaker 1: from Trayvon Martin. Man, I tell you the journey is
Speaker 1: never gonna to stop for you, but to love that
Speaker 1: the America has for you. You feel it every time
Speaker 1: you go on the airport, every time you see that
Speaker 1: in a restaurant. People respect what you're doing. And all
Speaker 1: I remember, man, who's at the day, but who the
Speaker 1: wards to reach on. I just want to make a difference, man.
Speaker 1: I just want to let people know the talent that
Speaker 1: God has given me and let it shine on people
Speaker 1: so I can help them the justice system. And that's
Speaker 1: what you've been doing. Ben. I love you for it. Man. Hey,
Speaker 1: I love you, mentor, and thank you so much for
Speaker 1: inspired people with money making conversations. Hey, right on that,
Speaker 1: hey been, when you come into town, I got you.
Speaker 1: You gotta sign my picture, your picture right there on
Speaker 1: that back wall. Bro. I love you. I can't wait,
Speaker 1: I can't I love you. All Right. It's finally here,
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Speaker 1: E R dot ai. My next guess is about planning.
Speaker 1: He started early in life and I call him a
Speaker 1: very good seeing friend. We've seen each other many time.
Speaker 1: His name is Mark Mario. He's a president and CEO
Speaker 1: of the National Urban League. The National Urban League is
Speaker 1: the nation's largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization,
Speaker 1: markets a leading voice on the national stage in the
Speaker 1: battle for jobs, education, housing, and voting rights. Equity with
Speaker 1: NANNIE National Urban League affiliates across the country, serving three
Speaker 1: hundred communities. They address at all education, jobs, health, housing
Speaker 1: and voting, and most important, civic engagement. Please work with
Speaker 1: Mindy making conversation, my friend Mark Marial, Hey Rashawn, my pleasure,
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Happy New Year to you, and uh,
Speaker 1: happy Kwanza and happy Marry Christmas and all that good stuff.
Speaker 1: And I know coming at you lake and a little
Speaker 1: bit early Happy king Day. I appreciate it because it's
Speaker 1: coming and it gets way and we're about the uh
Speaker 1: president vice president elected, about to change the world in
Speaker 1: this month. Tell me about this and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: today I was on a call with members of the
Speaker 1: president elect team talking about COVID, talking about racial justice,
Speaker 1: and also talking about this insurrection that just took place
Speaker 1: at the Capitol. So these are very demanding, tough and
Speaker 1: difficult times times. But I think there's great anticipation for
Speaker 1: the coming of the Biden administration, uh and the exiting
Speaker 1: of the Trump administration. But what we've seen over the
Speaker 1: last week is nothing short of distressing, repulsive, noxious, and criminal. Yes, now,
Speaker 1: when you say all these things, let's let's go back
Speaker 1: a little bit When President Obama won his first term,
Speaker 1: he had control of the House and the Senate, but
Speaker 1: he still was blocked. Right now, Biden has control of
Speaker 1: the House and the Senate. When the Senate the vote
Speaker 1: we've broken by our Vice President Kamala Harris. Do you
Speaker 1: feel he will be able to do things versus and
Speaker 1: we know they're racism can do things. I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna have the number one, get off to a fast start,
Speaker 1: an immediate start, uh, to take advantage of the momentum
Speaker 1: and the consensus and the coalition is built. Number two,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to continue to be visible uh and
Speaker 1: and and talking to the people about the transformation and
Speaker 1: change and his vision for the country and how the
Speaker 1: steps he takes further that vision. UH. And then I
Speaker 1: think number three, UH, he's going to have to continue
Speaker 1: to reach out to wide numbers of people, uh to
Speaker 1: engage with them across the board. I don't think he
Speaker 1: can be a Rose Garden president. I think he's got
Speaker 1: to get out and about, even in the midst of
Speaker 1: COVID to the best that he can to engage with people.
Speaker 1: So I think he has a shot. Now he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to keep Democrats unified in the House, in the
Speaker 1: Senate and try to pick up some Republican support, which
Speaker 1: is not easy given the times in which we live.
Speaker 1: But I think there's a great ideal of anticipation. Look,
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is leaving behind a recession and not to
Speaker 1: be part of in a political He's the third Republican
Speaker 1: president in a row to leave a recession behind. He
Speaker 1: leaves job losses, deep economic pain. George Bush the second
Speaker 1: left job losses in deep economic pain and a great recession.
Speaker 1: You go all the way back to the nineties. George Bush,
Speaker 1: the first left a recession that Clinton had to address
Speaker 1: when he took office. Now, let's talk about what role
Speaker 1: with the National Irvan League. You're the president CEO on that.
Speaker 1: What role do you play on all this. We play
Speaker 1: the role of being a legislative advocate and a policy advocate.
Speaker 1: We play the role of being an advocate for what
Speaker 1: the black community and communities of color and urban communities
Speaker 1: want and need. We also play the role in helping
Speaker 1: to mobilize the public in favor of those things we
Speaker 1: think that are good and in opposition to those things
Speaker 1: we think are bad. And we also play a crucial
Speaker 1: role we execute policy no one does it better. No
Speaker 1: one has a stronger track record than we do when
Speaker 1: it comes to after school program for you, when it
Speaker 1: comes to home buyer education programs of people who want
Speaker 1: to become home buyers, when it comes to workforce development
Speaker 1: and helping people get jobs. Are working now as we've
Speaker 1: done for the last fifteen years in the small business space.
Speaker 1: We execute policy from a nonprofit civil rights platform through
Speaker 1: the network of ninety League affiliates. I've got ninety of
Speaker 1: the most talented individuals, men and women across the nation
Speaker 1: who run, manage, lead our programs in our advocacy at
Speaker 1: the national at the national level, at the local level,
Speaker 1: I should say, so, that is the role we are
Speaker 1: going to play, uh today. I was in a meeting
Speaker 1: with the Buying Transition team last week, several meetings. A
Speaker 1: week before that, we had a meeting with the President
Speaker 1: elect himself and Vice President elect Harris. This is gonna
Speaker 1: be an important time when we've got to move quickly,
Speaker 1: Move quickly, Move quickly, move quickly. Now let me answer
Speaker 1: you this mark. You know we've talked to me when
Speaker 1: your book Gumbo Coalition came out and I thought it
Speaker 1: was one of the fantastic books. And it was all
Speaker 1: about diversity, it was all about bringing people together, and
Speaker 1: it was a five point playing in that book. Talk
Speaker 1: about that book and what because my whole thing is
Speaker 1: that I would tell people a good read, a good read,
Speaker 1: a good lesson is a good lesson. That book had
Speaker 1: a plenty of great lessons in it. Talk about that
Speaker 1: book for a minute. So I just want to book.
Speaker 1: You know. Central to that book where Shan is the idea,
Speaker 1: when a new administration starts, they've got to have a
Speaker 1: solid plan and get off on the good foot and
Speaker 1: get off on the fast foot. And nothing's more important
Speaker 1: at the very beginning. When a new administration's popularity, their support, uh,
Speaker 1: their their credibility is usually the highest at the very beginning.
Speaker 1: That book also talks about what you do in the
Speaker 1: face of emergencies. The insurrection was an emergency, and emergencies
Speaker 1: can paralyze leaders, paralyzed governments, paralyzed businesses. How you have
Speaker 1: to respond to the emergency. You have to put the
Speaker 1: interests of people and their safety at the front of
Speaker 1: an emergency, and so you can't be paralyzed. So we
Speaker 1: tell these lessons, uh, and we tell the lessons of
Speaker 1: of working together in collaboration and unity in this environment.
Speaker 1: For us to work together as a nation in these times,
Speaker 1: we must cut out the cancer of racism. If we
Speaker 1: can't get beyond racism and hate, building strong coalitions is
Speaker 1: going to ever be more difficult. Did Dela Trump do
Speaker 1: anything good during these four years as a president? Look,
Speaker 1: the first step, which was a modest if you will,
Speaker 1: but an important step that positively impacted several thousand people, uh,
Speaker 1: is something that Donald Trump signed through Jared Kushness supported.
Speaker 1: It wasn't perfect, it didn't go far enough, but it
Speaker 1: did take a step in the right direction. Donald Trump
Speaker 1: took more credit for that than he deserved because that
Speaker 1: original bill was a bill of Cogressman Hakim Jeffries, a
Speaker 1: bill that cogressman such Richmond supported, a bill that uh,
Speaker 1: many many others in the Congress had pushed for years.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump kind of jumped on board late, and yeah,
Speaker 1: his support helped push it over the finish line. So
Speaker 1: I was single that out is one piece of legislation.
Speaker 1: But everything else he did, his rhetoric, his tone, his
Speaker 1: lack of diversity, and his appointments, this insurrection, his racial
Speaker 1: rhetoric sort of take away his legacy. His legacy has damaged,
Speaker 1: His legacy is foiled. I don't see how I can
Speaker 1: join any other conclusion except that he's the worst president
Speaker 1: in modern American history. And that's that's sad because the
Speaker 1: fact that um, he played on everybody's witnesses, he played
Speaker 1: on fear. He was a bully. Uh, he's used social media?
Speaker 1: Is that bully? Being that I'm based in Georgia, I
Speaker 1: got to see it firsthand. I got to see what
Speaker 1: he did with the Secretary of State Rassenberger, the Governor
Speaker 1: Gabrielle Stirling, and then you saw out of that of Phoenix, Roles, Stacy,
Speaker 1: Abruce tell us about it comes in right foot Rockfael
Speaker 1: Warnock and lit lads Bottoms and Hank Johnson, and I
Speaker 1: could continue the name leaders and uh in Georgia, the
Speaker 1: great Ambassador Andrew Young is a moral voice. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know roll Georgia role us in the spirit Mark Luther King,
Speaker 1: in the spirit of Maynard Jackson, in the spirit of
Speaker 1: Andy Young. That coalition came together for us, off, for Warnock,
Speaker 1: and for Biden. It was a powerful thing. And it's uh,
Speaker 1: it will always be remembered because it tipped the balance. Yes,
Speaker 1: it did gentle balance and gave power to the Democrats
Speaker 1: at a time when doing it is so important to
Speaker 1: the future of the country. Should we be should we
Speaker 1: feel good now? Should we feel there is a voice
Speaker 1: in the White House that would listen? I think we
Speaker 1: should feel that there's now an opportunity to be optimistic. Yes,
Speaker 1: And I say an opportunity to be optimistic because amidst
Speaker 1: all this pain, amidst all these potential foreclosures, an evictions
Speaker 1: of it's the threats of violence that are being if
Speaker 1: you will communicated on the internet. Uh, I can't celebrate.
Speaker 1: I can't spike the ball, I can't pop any champagne.
Speaker 1: It's not time for a traditional celebration. It is time.
Speaker 1: It is time for us to cast our eyes on
Speaker 1: the future and begin to work and keep our sleeves
Speaker 1: rolled up and continue, continue to plow, continue to wreck,
Speaker 1: and continue to Rowe continue to work. You know, you
Speaker 1: crossed that stage as a mayor in the city of
Speaker 1: New Orleans at the very early age mark and just
Speaker 1: to see the journey, and many times you came into
Speaker 1: Steve Harvard mornings You're talking and having passion. What I'm
Speaker 1: like What I love about you is that you've seen
Speaker 1: change and you create a change. Talking about that early
Speaker 1: journey when you first hand an official bans as a
Speaker 1: mayor and I got elected amidst the crisis in my
Speaker 1: old city, almost five murders a year, a broken economy,
Speaker 1: no program for youth, and and it was I was
Speaker 1: motivated by cause, the cause to fix and change and
Speaker 1: revive a place that I loved and cherished, my beloved
Speaker 1: hometown of New Orleans. And uh, you know, we built
Speaker 1: a team of young people, old people, black people, white people,
Speaker 1: Hispanics and agents. We built a team of people and
Speaker 1: just got down to being about the business. Politics was
Speaker 1: not a beginning nor an end. Politics was simply a
Speaker 1: means to make change in the lives of people. So
Speaker 1: I had that incredible opportunity as a man in my
Speaker 1: mid thirties to lead New Orleans, and certainly a tremendous
Speaker 1: opportunity now for the last seventeen years to lead this
Speaker 1: historic civil rights organization. Well, I hope you understand why
Speaker 1: I got you on this call. Listen what you said
Speaker 1: when you came in thirty six years of age in
Speaker 1: New Orleans, civil unrests, murders, economy was out of control.
Speaker 1: There was no direction. I said, Um, I told my Stuf,
Speaker 1: I said, I talked to Bart, I said, because he's
Speaker 1: the king of the Gubble coalition. He's a companion of
Speaker 1: understanding that people need to work together to win together.
Speaker 1: And when I when I talk about and we see
Speaker 1: basically when I look at the Biden ticket, it's a
Speaker 1: go guble coalition. You have Bidenden has put together. Biden
Speaker 1: just put together a gumbo Lord Austin Marsha Fudge. How
Speaker 1: the ever Sarah Pete blew the judge. I mean, he's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's put together a ticket as varied and
Speaker 1: diverses any or rather an administration. Uh so far that
Speaker 1: is various diverses any in American history. When we know,
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the empowering communities and changing lives,
Speaker 1: the five point empowerment agenda that you have out there,
Speaker 1: because my whole thing about the National Urban League is
Speaker 1: that there's a plan there. When you got there, there
Speaker 1: wasn't a plan. In your book you talk about that
Speaker 1: we have to focus. We focus on five areas. We
Speaker 1: focus on five areas, and we focus on programs, policy
Speaker 1: and thought leadership, and we're very focused on the areas
Speaker 1: that we focus on. We focus on education, we focus
Speaker 1: on jobs, we focus on housing, health, we focus on
Speaker 1: UH justice issues. And when we focus on those issues,
Speaker 1: every organization needs to focus. You can't be an ambulance chaser. Now,
Speaker 1: sometimes you gotta be the ambulance. But you can't chase
Speaker 1: ambulances and civil rights and be effective. You gotta respond
Speaker 1: to crisis, but you gotta have a solid, proactive plan,
Speaker 1: and that's what the National Herbly does. That's why we
Speaker 1: serve almost two million people. Yeah, that's why we've got
Speaker 1: this dynamic network of ninety affiliates across the nation with
Speaker 1: talented men and women doing the important work of the
Speaker 1: Air Belief movement. That's why we have UH sustained ourselves
Speaker 1: and survived now for a hundred and ten years. Well, well, Mark,
Speaker 1: I know I didn't. I can't keep you long. I
Speaker 1: wanted to appreciate you with Sean, let's do it again.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your leadership, appreciate your voice, appreciate your friendship,
Speaker 1: and appreciate the chance to be on with you for
Speaker 1: another conversation once again. Gun Boat Coalition. You can buy
Speaker 1: that UH bookstore near you or online. God bless you
Speaker 1: with Sean alright, thank you for coming on Money Making
Speaker 1: Conversations even when they have more money Making Conversation interview.
Speaker 1: Please go to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm your
Speaker 1: host Rushan mcgonnend. We'll be right back with more from
Speaker 1: Rashana McDonald and Money Making Conversations. Don't touch that don
Speaker 1: hi ra Sean mcdonaldi host the Money Making Conversations. The
Speaker 1: Cafe Marka Swag Award is a celebration of black men
Speaker 1: who are making a difference in our community by empowering
Speaker 1: others to reach their life goals. From civic leaders, businessmen, activists,
Speaker 1: celebrities everyday day The Cafe Marca Swagg Award When this
Speaker 1: week is Bishop t d JS. If you long to
Speaker 1: maximize your unique abilities and attitudes, if you strive to
Speaker 1: combine personal fulfillment for professional satisfaction, if you dream of
Speaker 1: creating exceptional goods and offering transformative services for others, and
Speaker 1: you are ready to soar. Most entrepreneurs and the same
Speaker 1: thing that made the greatest killing them. They're so busy
Speaker 1: doing the work that they don't get a chance to
Speaker 1: thank the work, and they cannot confuse business with business.
Speaker 1: The Cafe Marcus Swagg Award represents men that have strength
Speaker 1: that vision as assertive and they are genuine and their spirit.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to money Making Conversations. I'm your host, rus
Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. My next guest is a planner and activists
Speaker 1: sees a lot of things, but more importantly, Luie Daniel
Speaker 1: Favors is on my show. Luis Daniel Favors is an activist,
Speaker 1: radio host, author, and attorney with a long standing commitment
Speaker 1: to racial and social justice. She currently serves as an
Speaker 1: interim executive director at the Center for Law and Social Justice.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on today, y'all, from politics to
Speaker 1: economics and social civil and civil unrest on both sides.
Speaker 1: I'd like to believe Attorney Favorites is on my show
Speaker 1: to talk about it and the upcoming inauguration. Please welcome
Speaker 1: to Money Making Conversation. Larie Daniel Favors. Did I get
Speaker 1: it out correctly? You did, sir, you did, indeed, And
Speaker 1: thank you so much for having me. It's an honor
Speaker 1: to be here. Well, Prince to first of all, you know,
Speaker 1: knowing your schedule, knowing your background. Let's let's let's get
Speaker 1: it into your background because I always like to tell people,
Speaker 1: you know, you you're are a radio host, so you
Speaker 1: a lot of time of serious ExM. Your voice is
Speaker 1: over there. What what direction do you want to take
Speaker 1: your career and all your brand? You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I remember when I was a little girl, I actually
Speaker 1: wanted to be a doctor. I had no interest in
Speaker 1: the law whatsoever, and I had this dream that I
Speaker 1: was going to be I was gonna deliver babies for
Speaker 1: communities that I wanted to live in Black communities largely,
Speaker 1: and I planned on having a clip nick where I
Speaker 1: would deliver the babies of the mothers. The mothers would
Speaker 1: enroll their children into classes that I had I was
Speaker 1: going to have at this clinic, and then the mothers
Speaker 1: would work in the clinic with me and we would create.
Speaker 1: In my seven year eight year old mind, I was
Speaker 1: literally trying to think of a cooperative health care service
Speaker 1: that was going to be able to meet the needs
Speaker 1: of people in my community. I stuck with that dream
Speaker 1: for a really long time. And I'm gen x Uh
Speaker 1: and I grew up in a time where girls not
Speaker 1: being good at math and science was still kind of
Speaker 1: a thing, like we didn't have document stuffins when I
Speaker 1: was little. My daughter has that now her her possibilities
Speaker 1: are completely wide open. And as a result of that,
Speaker 1: I did not get along well with math or science,
Speaker 1: and so I realized that the doctor Ringfield was probably
Speaker 1: not going to be where I ended up staying in
Speaker 1: the medical community. Um. When I was seventeen years old,
Speaker 1: one of my uncles took me to hear a civil
Speaker 1: rights speaker, an attorney all Tomatics, and I believe it
Speaker 1: was at the Slave Theater in New York City, and
Speaker 1: I was completely enraptured with everything that this man had
Speaker 1: to say. He was speaking a lot of truth to fire.
Speaker 1: He was speaking to all the issues that I cared about.
Speaker 1: You know, my my parents raised me to be very
Speaker 1: um engaged with what was happening in our community. You know,
Speaker 1: loving black people proactively was really a part of my
Speaker 1: education as a child. UM. And when I heard him speak,
Speaker 1: I said, Okay, I'm gonna have to let go this
Speaker 1: clinic idea because Matthew Stein and I'm not getting a law.
Speaker 1: I'm going to law school and I'm going to use
Speaker 1: the law to make black people's lives better in some way,
Speaker 1: shape or form. And that's sort of the track and
Speaker 1: the trajectory that I've been on ever since. UM, I've
Speaker 1: been engaged in community activism since my days in college.
Speaker 1: My friends and I put together an organization that you know,
Speaker 1: decades later, are still in existence. And as far as
Speaker 1: where I want my career to go, I definitely see
Speaker 1: it on that path, using my my passion, using my
Speaker 1: training as an attorney, UM and as someone who has
Speaker 1: an expertise in racial justice, to really create an environment
Speaker 1: and an opportunity to where we are setting our own tables.
Speaker 1: We were able to bring our own chair, prepare our
Speaker 1: own food, and then we can invite other people to
Speaker 1: our table instead of needing to constantly feel as that
Speaker 1: we have to be invited to someone else's. Uh So
Speaker 1: that's you know, I don't know what that means in
Speaker 1: terms of next moves I would make politically or are professionally,
Speaker 1: but that's certainly the trajectory I see myself on. Well.
Speaker 1: First of all, my degree is in mathematics, so you know,
Speaker 1: just let you know that, don't beat me up. And
Speaker 1: my minor is very similar to yours in sociology because
Speaker 1: I have a strong emphasis in African American studies and
Speaker 1: I tell everybody, if I had to do it all
Speaker 1: over again, I would have minor the sociology because African
Speaker 1: American studies changed in my life because I realized what
Speaker 1: what was school is really a farce because they don't
Speaker 1: teach you or tell you the true reality. And that's
Speaker 1: why Confederate flags are cool in the South, because if
Speaker 1: it actually did the proper education and show the gym
Speaker 1: pro processes and how blacks really contributed to this world,
Speaker 1: then white people will be ashamed to hang those flags
Speaker 1: in the South. How did African American studies have theympacked
Speaker 1: on life? You know, I think that's a great question
Speaker 1: because what I actually have come to believe is that
Speaker 1: every black college student, and it's a shame that it
Speaker 1: takes getting to college to get access to this information, right.
Speaker 1: You know, my husband and I often talk about the
Speaker 1: fact that, you know, we have all these professional degrees,
Speaker 1: and outside of my Africana Studies degree, which I majored
Speaker 1: in college, I really had no other space in my
Speaker 1: education that prepared me for what it is that I'm
Speaker 1: doing today. And I feel as though every black student
Speaker 1: who was so privileged to be able to go to
Speaker 1: college needs to need a double major in African and
Speaker 1: African American studies or minor in it if it's not
Speaker 1: their primary major. And I think it's important because we
Speaker 1: don't just need political scientists. We need political scientists who
Speaker 1: know how to take the wisdom of one of the
Speaker 1: best political scientists, Marcus Garvey, and fuse them with what
Speaker 1: our issues are today. We don't just need entrepreneurs. We
Speaker 1: need entrepreneurs who can tap into the genius that book
Speaker 1: of T. Washington did have. I know that you know
Speaker 1: there's some controversy there, but he was onto something. He
Speaker 1: and wubed the boy. There shouldn't have been a debate
Speaker 1: because we needed both of what they had to say.
Speaker 1: But we need entrepreneurs who are able to take the
Speaker 1: book or T. Washington approach to trade and two skills
Speaker 1: development and marry it with the job needs that we
Speaker 1: have in our community right now. We don't just need
Speaker 1: black medical doctors. We need black medical doctors who have
Speaker 1: an expertise in the health conditions and the environment that
Speaker 1: produced the health outcomes that black communities find ourselves and
Speaker 1: why because we need them to build hospitals, We need
Speaker 1: them to to lead research, We need them to engage
Speaker 1: in in the types of study that is going to
Speaker 1: center our physical needs. We we don't just need black
Speaker 1: bankers and finances. We need black bankers and finances who
Speaker 1: understand black economics and who can take a Claude Anderson's message,
Speaker 1: who can look at a message, who can look at
Speaker 1: what it means to have a legacy of black banking
Speaker 1: and recognizing the limitations of focusing solely on black banking
Speaker 1: within a racially driven capitalist system, and create economic models
Speaker 1: that are going to not only uh empower us to employment,
Speaker 1: but how do we grow wealth within a society where
Speaker 1: we are at the bottom and having to pull ourselves up.
Speaker 1: We need black professionals who aren't just black professionals. We
Speaker 1: don't just need people getting jobs and great paychecks. We
Speaker 1: need them to have the knowledge that is going to
Speaker 1: be necessary to create solutions so that our community can
Speaker 1: get the benefit. And so I would encourage every parent
Speaker 1: if you have children who are looking to go in
Speaker 1: to college, whether they're going to HBCU or a p
Speaker 1: w Y, majoring in Afrikaan is studies is one of
Speaker 1: the best things they can do. And even if if
Speaker 1: it's a double major, even if it's a minor, quite frankly,
Speaker 1: because we don't have, as you said, any spaces where
Speaker 1: we're able to learn this history. And when you don't
Speaker 1: know who you are, and Marcus Garvey tells, the people
Speaker 1: who are without knowledge of their history, without knowledge of
Speaker 1: their past, their culture, of their origins, are like trees
Speaker 1: with no roots. And we do not have the luxury
Speaker 1: of having Black excellence and intellectual prowess that is not
Speaker 1: grounded in that history, so that they're producing the solutions
Speaker 1: that are people can benefit from. Well, here's the beauty
Speaker 1: of conversation we're about to have. Because of being in
Speaker 1: my er in the social you major, then you got
Speaker 1: to the great BA and African and African American studies,
Speaker 1: your minors in Spanish language. I must admit I'm very
Speaker 1: limited in that conversation. So we won't even go there.
Speaker 1: We won't go there. We'll go there even though I
Speaker 1: grew up in Houston, Texas. Now book because you brought
Speaker 1: him up. I wasn't gonna bring him up in this
Speaker 1: conversation because he's renowned in the black community. But when
Speaker 1: you hear a story he felt that black people should
Speaker 1: be servient in my tone and my learnings to white people,
Speaker 1: because white people think a great maids and great mechanics all.
Speaker 1: And that's where w B. The Boars had issues with
Speaker 1: him because he felt that, sure, you're educating African American
Speaker 1: or black people are negroes at the time, but you're
Speaker 1: telling them that's all they could do. What WB the
Speaker 1: Boars were saying, we should be able to do anything.
Speaker 1: You know in conversation, am I writing that assessment? In comparison,
Speaker 1: you learned it your way. I learned in my way.
Speaker 1: But but but Book Washington really in some ways was
Speaker 1: a disappointment, even though he had the voices of all
Speaker 1: the all the right white people, the rich wants to Rockefellows,
Speaker 1: they all want to him for information, and so when
Speaker 1: he told them just what black people can do, in
Speaker 1: some ways it created an image of our we weren't
Speaker 1: unlimited and opportunities, we were limited an opportunity based on
Speaker 1: these conversations. So I think that what you raise is
Speaker 1: a really good point. And I love the juxtaposition between
Speaker 1: the boys and Book or T. Washington. And I think
Speaker 1: it's important that we recognize that a lot of times
Speaker 1: in history you have these these massive debates between these
Speaker 1: giants of our history. And if you're able to pull
Speaker 1: back a bit and bring yourself back from the forest,
Speaker 1: from the trees, to look at the individual tree, to
Speaker 1: look at the whole forest, what we see is often
Speaker 1: there are truths in every single one of their arguments,
Speaker 1: many of them right. For book or T. Washington advocating
Speaker 1: the routes to trade, advocating that the use of our
Speaker 1: hands manual labor. For him, I think what he was
Speaker 1: saying is that even if we take this college route,
Speaker 1: even if we get our students into college, and at
Speaker 1: that time, you know, Cardegie Woodson tells us a lot
Speaker 1: about the early era of educating black people in this country,
Speaker 1: and Cargi Woodson in his book The Miseducation of the Negro,
Speaker 1: he talks a lot about the fact that you've got
Speaker 1: black people in school who are learning Latin, they're learning
Speaker 1: Greek history, they're becoming professors of you know, the great
Speaker 1: Romance languages, you know, things of that nature. And yet
Speaker 1: the peanut farmer who is an immigrant who cannot speak
Speaker 1: English can come to this country, having just got here
Speaker 1: last month, open up a peanut cart, and we'll go
Speaker 1: become rich by selling to those of us black people.
Speaker 1: Who are often colleges, learning the trades and learning the
Speaker 1: great Romance languages. And I think what what we find
Speaker 1: that kind of brings each of those three men and
Speaker 1: their bodies of thought together, is the idea that, yes,
Speaker 1: we need people who are able to go off into
Speaker 1: the humanities and to study what it means to to
Speaker 1: engage in philosophy. But if the philosophy is Western philosophy,
Speaker 1: and if the philosophy is harmfully exclusionary to black interests
Speaker 1: and to the black existence, then that philosophy and black
Speaker 1: people majoring in that type of philosophy for their academic
Speaker 1: study does us a disservice. I think that when we're
Speaker 1: looking at where we're at right now today, I have
Speaker 1: a very good friend of mine who's a phenomenal, brilliant
Speaker 1: guy finance, and you know, he's done a lot of
Speaker 1: work in the finance industry. He's a VP at one
Speaker 1: of the big banks. And you know, my husband and
Speaker 1: I we were at lunch with a friend of ours
Speaker 1: and and he's there and we're introducing them and realizing
Speaker 1: they worked at the same bank. You know, both of
Speaker 1: them are vps at the same bank. And oh, you
Speaker 1: guys must already know each other. You're both at the
Speaker 1: same and and and they didn't know each other. And
Speaker 1: one of them laughs and says, you know, we might
Speaker 1: all be black, and we might all be bankers, but
Speaker 1: too many black people gathered in at the water cooler
Speaker 1: makes a lot of our white colleagues nervous. And you know,
Speaker 1: we laughed it off and it was like ha ha.
Speaker 1: But later on it struck me that we have these
Speaker 1: two examples of brilliant black men who have done everything
Speaker 1: that we have asked of them. They've gone on to school,
Speaker 1: they've got successful jobs, they're they're making their way, making
Speaker 1: good money, donating to the community. And yet even with
Speaker 1: being masters in their profession, they were limited in their
Speaker 1: ability to even bring their requisite areas of of of
Speaker 1: of expertise together to build something that our community could
Speaker 1: benefit from. And right now we're in an area and
Speaker 1: in an environment where you have, uh, the numbers of
Speaker 1: our people who are in the criminal justice system or
Speaker 1: criminal justice involved as compared to college students are comparable.
Speaker 1: Right now, we have a reality where uh most of
Speaker 1: us who are black professionals who are employed uh in
Speaker 1: in white institutions and white owned spaces um, we're often
Speaker 1: the last hired, which means that whenever rounds of of
Speaker 1: of of reductions and force come about, we're often the
Speaker 1: first fired. We are in an environment where we have
Speaker 1: to sue corporate entities to hire enough of us, and
Speaker 1: we have to hold over these corporate entities the threat
Speaker 1: that by not hiring us and not having diverse workspaces,
Speaker 1: they will then have to face some sort of of
Speaker 1: accusations of discrimination. If we're talking about an economy that
Speaker 1: is largely based on black students mastering the skills of whiteness,
Speaker 1: that Latin, that Greek, learning how to present an a
Speaker 1: way that's going to make our teachers believe in us
Speaker 1: and not fear us by the time we transition from
Speaker 1: the third grade of fourth grade, that year in between
Speaker 1: where a lot of black boys go from being cute
Speaker 1: little Tyrone so, oh my gosh, Tyrone is making me nervous.
Speaker 1: You're so big and aggressive. Maybe you should be in
Speaker 1: special Let right, we're have an environment where our economic
Speaker 1: success models require black children to master white knowledge in
Speaker 1: it and presents it in a way that is acceptable
Speaker 1: to white people, so that we make them comfortable enough
Speaker 1: that they will then hire us, give us entree into
Speaker 1: their economics pathways to success. I think when we look
Speaker 1: back at the history between the Boys and What and
Speaker 1: Book or T Washington and and think about what lessons
Speaker 1: we can learn from that, we need to be able
Speaker 1: to use trade as well as academic pathways to success
Speaker 1: in a way that is going to remove a lot
Speaker 1: of the pressures that come from having to take the
Speaker 1: only pathway to success that our community has largely blobbed onto,
Speaker 1: which is making white people comfortable enough to work in
Speaker 1: these spaces. We need trades. We need black plumbers right now.
Speaker 1: I could be making six figures as a plumber, but
Speaker 1: I was told I needed to master these particular skills.
Speaker 1: I'm glad I did. I'm glad I went to law school.
Speaker 1: I'd be a terrible plumber. But the reality is there's
Speaker 1: economic freedom in the trades. There's economic freedom and vocational pathways.
Speaker 1: We don't all need to go to college. All of
Speaker 1: us are not going to go to college. I want
Speaker 1: my children to go yes. I hope they do go. Yes.
Speaker 1: But I have to recognize that we are living in
Speaker 1: an environment where we need both and it's not an
Speaker 1: either or, and we have to be able to recognize
Speaker 1: that there must be multiple pathways to success for our community,
Speaker 1: because frankly, not all of these pathways are large enough
Speaker 1: to hold all of the genius that we have. And
Speaker 1: that's not the question that W. B. The Boars had
Speaker 1: an issue with. His issue with book Rosington. You know,
Speaker 1: this was he felt that he was very powerful, he
Speaker 1: had the ear, he had available to communicate and said
Speaker 1: we can do more. He he presented an example that's
Speaker 1: all we could do. All we can do is work
Speaker 1: with our hands. That was a struggle and that was
Speaker 1: the issue that he had in man. And I don't
Speaker 1: want to you know, this interview has more to talk
Speaker 1: about the book, something that happened many years ago, but
Speaker 1: I do want to make comment on something that you
Speaker 1: talked about your two VP prayans at the Brain who
Speaker 1: had never met. They were talking about too many black people.
Speaker 1: In nineteen six, I was still working at IBM as
Speaker 1: an executive and that was the same statement we will
Speaker 1: make in the eighty six And it's really tragic that
Speaker 1: thirty or four years later, in the conversation with you,
Speaker 1: I'm he's having the same and he's their VPS. And
Speaker 1: so that means that within the corporate structure. The way
Speaker 1: you walk is still hasn't changed because you would say,
Speaker 1: you know, jokes like you know, five black people together,
Speaker 1: that's a basketball team. You know, held up your brother,
Speaker 1: You need to you need to talk and pass at
Speaker 1: the same time, don't slow down, don't go to the
Speaker 1: bathroom at the same time. All those statements we made
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six are being still being made today.
Speaker 1: But then we see that the white people are the
Speaker 1: white person feels they're becoming a minority, and so now
Speaker 1: they're troubled by this, and their trouble will die. The
Speaker 1: words like camps to culture when you talk about removing
Speaker 1: Confederate flags, and so you're you know, you executive director
Speaker 1: for Law and Social Justice. When you look at council
Speaker 1: culture being tied to the Confederacy, removal the flags, and
Speaker 1: we see people walk around here tearing down bills and
Speaker 1: putting up Confederate flags and want to keep them on
Speaker 1: their car, where do you stand and how does that
Speaker 1: make you feel? Well? You know, I believe that people
Speaker 1: use every opportunity that they can to show you who
Speaker 1: they really are. And when that happens, as the Great
Speaker 1: Maya Angelou and others have said we should believe them, right,
Speaker 1: And we got to remember the Confederate flag really was
Speaker 1: came back into American popular culture as a response to
Speaker 1: the civil rights movements, which were fighting for freedom for
Speaker 1: black people. They didn't you know, pop up spring up
Speaker 1: right after the Civil War. We really see them coming
Speaker 1: back to assist the growth of groups in the early
Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds like the Daughters of the Confederacy, like the
Speaker 1: Ku Klux Klan. We see these Federate statues going up
Speaker 1: in in states that had no connection to the Confederacy,
Speaker 1: some places that weren't even in existence when there was
Speaker 1: the Civil War. Uh, some states that weren't in existence
Speaker 1: and when there was a civil war. Yet they're putting
Speaker 1: up these Confederate statues and monuments not as an ode
Speaker 1: to history, all history, but as an ode to a
Speaker 1: particular angle of history um and as a way of centering. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then you know, we call it the Southern heritage. Yes,
Speaker 1: Southern heritage, which was centered on the preservation of slavery
Speaker 1: and the preservation of the social hierarchy um, which allowed
Speaker 1: slavery to continue. So we often think about slavery in
Speaker 1: terms of free labor, which it absolutely was, but slavery
Speaker 1: was also about the social status that white people held
Speaker 1: in a superior position over black people in an inferior position.
Speaker 1: So when it comes to cancel culture, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: a believer that cancel culture is really just people recognizing
Speaker 1: that there are sometimes you have to be accountable for
Speaker 1: the things that you've said, and there are people out
Speaker 1: there who agree or disagree, and if they disagree, they
Speaker 1: are no longer required to pay you attention. Um. And
Speaker 1: so I think that we should apply that same thing,
Speaker 1: uh to cancel culture, or to the Confederacy and and
Speaker 1: the Confederate flag which we are now seeing waving everywhere,
Speaker 1: including from inside the Capitol building, which is quite a
Speaker 1: feat considering the rebels themselves were not able to accomplish that. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Now when we've talked about moving head and look at
Speaker 1: the inauguration coming up um January twenty and you look
Speaker 1: at so much that has happened in from the standpoint
Speaker 1: of HBCUs. I guess being recognized because of the donations
Speaker 1: that have come their way. Finally people feel their academic
Speaker 1: institutions and maybe they won't sit around and talking about
Speaker 1: do we should we send money over there? What are
Speaker 1: they doing over there. They're educating the best students and
Speaker 1: corporate leaders in America. That's what they're doing at HBCUs. Now,
Speaker 1: when I talk about the inauguration, and you know what
Speaker 1: I'm going to is Kamala Harris and her role. You're
Speaker 1: an African American female. How do you put all this
Speaker 1: in perspective? Ms? Daniel Favors. You know, it's interesting because
Speaker 1: I often have conversations with my friends. You know, we
Speaker 1: are now parents, right, so we all have kids, and
Speaker 1: we're having these conversations about where we want to see
Speaker 1: our children go to school. And I've noticed a shift
Speaker 1: whereas at one point I had a lot of friends who,
Speaker 1: you know, would sail. I would like for my kids to,
Speaker 1: you know, to at least interview at at HBCU. They
Speaker 1: should do a tour. But you know the p W
Speaker 1: I is gonna prepare you for real life, right, you know,
Speaker 1: I want them to go to a predominantly wide institution
Speaker 1: because that's where they're gonna really learn how to get along.
Speaker 1: They're gonna learn how to apply the skills in the
Speaker 1: real world. And I think that Vice President Elect Kamala
Speaker 1: Harris HBCU grab UH newly elected Democrat senator from the
Speaker 1: state of Georgia, Raphael Warnock, HBCU GRAB, the Queen of
Speaker 1: the South, Stacy Abrams, HBCU Grad. I think these three
Speaker 1: folks and so many more have completely put to death
Speaker 1: the lie that an HBCU is not a healthy space
Speaker 1: for black children to be educated. And so, you know,
Speaker 1: I am thrilled about this shift in conversation, this paradigm shift.
Speaker 1: You know, I I wanty oh my god, I want
Speaker 1: to go to HBCU. So but ever since school days
Speaker 1: in a different world, like what child growing up in
Speaker 1: the eighties, did not want to go to hbc U.
Speaker 1: I couldn't afford one, and p Wis gave me scholarship money,
Speaker 1: which is where I went, Which is kind of how
Speaker 1: we see a lot of these things happening. So, you know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the donations that these colleges are getting. I
Speaker 1: am so excited about what this means for expanding opportunities
Speaker 1: for scholarship for black students. And I think that we're
Speaker 1: seeing an increase in in donations to HBCUs from alum
Speaker 1: and from those of us who were just looking from
Speaker 1: the outside, looking in wave and wishing we could have
Speaker 1: got in but recognizing the value of the institution. I
Speaker 1: don't donate to my alma mater, my undergrad I donate
Speaker 1: to HBCUs Um. And so I think that we are
Speaker 1: seeing a real shift in an understanding about the importance
Speaker 1: of centering ourselves, centering our discourse. And you know, even
Speaker 1: our conversation earlier about the Boys versus Washington, we have
Speaker 1: there's so much at excellence, and we have to have
Speaker 1: a critical eye towards how we're moving and informed by history,
Speaker 1: so we can look back and say, I understand what
Speaker 1: the elder was doing. The elder was wrong in this
Speaker 1: particular instance, but here's the nugget I can take out
Speaker 1: of what he or she was advocating for, and here's
Speaker 1: how we can plant that seed and water it differently
Speaker 1: and nurture it differently and produce a different kind of tree.
Speaker 1: And I think that what we're seeing right now. You know,
Speaker 1: I believe firmly in the principle of sun Cofa, which
Speaker 1: is a West African principle that says are it really
Speaker 1: speaks to the point of beneath our history being centered
Speaker 1: and revered because it informs our present and it lays
Speaker 1: the pathways for us going forward, and the paradigm shift
Speaker 1: that we are having right now is grounded on a
Speaker 1: recognition that our past is our present. What we saw
Speaker 1: happen then in Washington, d c U during the certification
Speaker 1: of the vote, that is America's history front and center
Speaker 1: in the present, and so we right now have a
Speaker 1: phenomenal opportunity to center ourselves differently. We've got fifty seven
Speaker 1: years of integrated American history that we can factor into
Speaker 1: our analysis. That was data that our early ancestors and
Speaker 1: newly freed enslaved persons didn't have. What can we do
Speaker 1: with this information, What can we do with the expectations
Speaker 1: that we have now? And how do we ensure that
Speaker 1: we're creating a different set of opportunities for our children.
Speaker 1: I think that conversation is wide open, and I am
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to have Senator or Vice President Alex
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris sort of the symbol of that, because it
Speaker 1: really does mean that we can now begin thinking in
Speaker 1: different ways about not only what is power, but how
Speaker 1: we choose to access it and what pathways we choose
Speaker 1: to get there. She's an activist, she's a radio hope,
Speaker 1: she's an author, she's an attorney. You know the great
Speaker 1: thing about when I when I look at your plan.
Speaker 1: First of all, I love you to death. I'm a fan. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you animation, your animated behaved told I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm like, I'm always watching you morph into
Speaker 1: an animated because you just so passion. But then you
Speaker 1: delivered with such informed information. So I'm I'm really us
Speaker 1: like to talk a lot more, but let me just
Speaker 1: enjoy listening to you talk, because let's they say you're
Speaker 1: spitting fire with information at tattoo and I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: break in with the water holes and drop all that
Speaker 1: knowledge with some ignorance just because I feel like talking.
Speaker 1: You're a special young lady. I'm glad. I hope you
Speaker 1: consider coming back on the show because I'm trying to
Speaker 1: create a vorce for HBCU. I'm trying to create a
Speaker 1: varce for black people on platform where they can come
Speaker 1: and speak and realize that you are stard. Not so
Speaker 1: much that you know that the Densert Washington started. You know,
Speaker 1: you are the new stars, the people who the people
Speaker 1: who are moving information, the people who are moving values.
Speaker 1: That's why it was really fun to have a really
Speaker 1: soft debate with you about Bogat Washington, w b the boards,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I know you not you don't have that
Speaker 1: much of that often because I realized that that's when
Speaker 1: I go back when I talk about people who set
Speaker 1: information for you. I didn't find that out until I
Speaker 1: about Boogety Washington till was later in life. Because people
Speaker 1: were delivering information that they felt was able to you
Speaker 1: now as you and that's all you learn in African
Speaker 1: American studies. Information is. And I will tell you this,
Speaker 1: I was brought to tears when I realized what I
Speaker 1: didn't know and what I was denied. I was denied
Speaker 1: an opportunity to learn history because if you look at
Speaker 1: history that they teach you in the traditional white schools
Speaker 1: or they're all white schools, so just you and you're
Speaker 1: under education is about they brought us over the enslavers,
Speaker 1: they let us go free. Then they then they drop
Speaker 1: all they jump past the Jim Crow and all that
Speaker 1: violence they did when we had an opportunity to seed.
Speaker 1: Then we get up to Brown versus the Board of Education.
Speaker 1: Then we go that I had a dream speech. Then
Speaker 1: we do a civil rights vote and that then Martin
Speaker 1: Luther King assassination and they started talking about black people.
Speaker 1: That's it. Let start talking about black people. And that's
Speaker 1: what we have to do now, is talk about black people,
Speaker 1: talk about why we have a right, and we start
Speaker 1: talking about law and social justice. You are for your leader,
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to bring on the show and
Speaker 1: introduced with Sean McDonald to your world and that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a fan and your special young lady. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1: That means a lot. I very much appreciate it. I
Speaker 1: am honored to sit in this space. You have interviews
Speaker 1: and had conversations with some of the most phenomenal people
Speaker 1: in our community, and so it is. It's such an
Speaker 1: honor for me to be here, and I cannot thank
Speaker 1: you enough. I'm very grateful and appreciate it. Well, we'll talking.
Speaker 1: So like I said, this world is not going to change,
Speaker 1: hopefully it's not by words. But we still have a
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen out there. We still have issues on how
Speaker 1: black people gonna accept forms of vaccination because again, you know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna last. Even though we were overtly effect I'll
Speaker 1: still being overtly affected by COVID nineteen. But more importantly,
Speaker 1: January Twina is going to change another lane. We had,
Speaker 1: you know, President Obama when he came in. You know,
Speaker 1: they blocked a lot of things that he wanted to do.
Speaker 1: And he still gets shade because they feel like he
Speaker 1: didn't do enough. But that's because people didn't know how
Speaker 1: Congress work, how to send it work. But with Joe
Speaker 1: Biden having a fifty fifty in the Senate, we already know.
Speaker 1: Guess who could break that type breaker a black woman.
Speaker 1: Come on, come on, thank you for coming on the show,
Speaker 1: my friend, Thank you for having me. God musn't have
Speaker 1: a great weekend and you talked. We talked to you
Speaker 1: too soon. Whatever business you're in, growth isn't just about
Speaker 1: getting bigger. At ADP, we believe it's about getting stronger.
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Speaker 1: The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
Speaker 1: near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot
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Speaker 1: and the AD Council. Look to your children's eyes to
Speaker 1: see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook
Speaker 1: world for them. You look and see a tree. They
Speaker 1: see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched
Speaker 1: to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see
Speaker 1: a windy path that could lead to adventure, and they
Speaker 1: see you. They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world? Find
Speaker 1: a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover the
Speaker 1: Forest dot org. Brought to you by the United States
Speaker 1: Forest Service and the AD Council. My next guest is
Speaker 1: one of His name is Rob Hardy. He's a graduate
Speaker 1: of fam Mute. He directs some of the TV's How
Speaker 1: This shows, including Power Book two, Ghosts, Power Books three,
Speaker 1: Raising Canaan that comes out this summer product of Song Evil, Shameless, Blackish,
Speaker 1: Star Girl, How to Get Away with Murder, The Flash,
Speaker 1: Criminal Minds, among others. Rob Hardy also executive produced a
Speaker 1: number of movies that you're familiar with, No Good Deeds,
Speaker 1: Think like a Man, That's me Stump of Yard Plus.
Speaker 1: His fund foundation identifies trains and mentors adults career seekers
Speaker 1: from diverse background to pursue lucrative and lasting opportunities in
Speaker 1: the charge of film and television workforce. Please welcome. He
Speaker 1: was on my show before We got a little Fantastic,
Speaker 1: and I think we're gonna do business in one Please
Speaker 1: welcome to the show. Money making conversation that is Rob Hardy. Hey, Rob, Hey,
Speaker 1: how are you doing? Hey? Rob? A lot to say
Speaker 1: about you, Hey, happy one man, and listen. I I
Speaker 1: appreciate all the shoutouts I do. Yeah. Well, you know
Speaker 1: the thing about it, Rob, First of all, one of
Speaker 1: the reasons I brought you on the show. First of all,
Speaker 1: the first time I interviewed you was amazing because you
Speaker 1: one of those those solid warriors. You know you're out there, man,
Speaker 1: just flip the script you do. You're not just a
Speaker 1: minority or black director. Your your resume inclusions are diverse
Speaker 1: platform of sci fi, comedy, uh drama. How do you
Speaker 1: walk in all those different shoes. You know, it's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, when I'm working, it's all about the story.
Speaker 1: And I love different types of stuff, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So whether it is sci fi or team dramas,
Speaker 1: or drug dealers or relationships or doctors, I think that
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's all about a human
Speaker 1: story and trying to figure out what that is. And
Speaker 1: then you get a chance to play in like the
Speaker 1: different world. So today we're in space. You know, it's
Speaker 1: small ware in the South Bronx, so you know that
Speaker 1: and everything in between. I'm just I'm here for that.
Speaker 1: And it's amazing, uh, because I wanted to bring on
Speaker 1: the show because you know, it's amazing year COVID heads,
Speaker 1: civil arrests. But one jewel started shining in. That's HBCUs
Speaker 1: and you're an HBCU Alarm of the Infamous fam Meet
Speaker 1: Absolutely Man the Highest and Seven Hills located in sunny Tallahassee, Florida. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I'm a family rattler and uh and that school has
Speaker 1: been everything to me and it basically laid the foundation
Speaker 1: for me and a bunch of other people from our
Speaker 1: era to really come and uh and and try to
Speaker 1: do our thing. So so I love family, Okay, cool?
Speaker 1: So were originally from and how did you pick family
Speaker 1: to pursue your higher education. I grew up in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: philipp A. And um my mom wound up taking a
Speaker 1: job in Florida and she said, hey, you know, you
Speaker 1: should apply to uh an inn State School so we
Speaker 1: could afford it, and so, um, I wound up getting
Speaker 1: the family that way. Um and you know, I had
Speaker 1: a degree and got a degree in engineering and it
Speaker 1: was probably like the best, one of the best experiences
Speaker 1: ever because it was so many you know, different types
Speaker 1: of people from all over the world that looked just
Speaker 1: like me, um that we're going to school, but they
Speaker 1: also had like a hustle and a passion, and it
Speaker 1: was just the vibe and the energy, you know, being
Speaker 1: in our school at that time that just made you
Speaker 1: want to go and make moose and we felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, if anybody in the world was gonna do it,
Speaker 1: it was gonna be the Famu and that was gonna
Speaker 1: do it. That was kind of like the energy that
Speaker 1: that school gave us. We're really interesting, uh brob. I
Speaker 1: didn't go to a HBCU. A graduate from University of
Speaker 1: Houston and Houston, Texas, Texas Southern was right down the street.
Speaker 1: Further down the street was pre View the next day
Speaker 1: with Southern Grambling. But Famu Man has always had that mystique,
Speaker 1: you know, put us in your shoes because I really
Speaker 1: need to know. I'm from the outside, and I get
Speaker 1: excited when I say fam mute why because you know,
Speaker 1: Famu was a unique place or is a unique place,
Speaker 1: because it's always been the family, you swag, the family
Speaker 1: you hustle, and you know, we always kind of felt
Speaker 1: like when you go to fam yeah, you've got this
Speaker 1: major whatever that is, but then what's your hustle, what's
Speaker 1: your passion? Like, what do you really want to do?
Speaker 1: And everybody has some version of that, right And we
Speaker 1: were cool so we could go, we could we could study,
Speaker 1: we could party, we could hang out and do everything
Speaker 1: in between. But there was always this kind of undercurrent
Speaker 1: of I want to do something, I want to change
Speaker 1: the world, I want to make something happen. And we
Speaker 1: were always doing that at school. And you know, so
Speaker 1: many of my friends when I look out, they're out
Speaker 1: there making it happen. And also too, because you know,
Speaker 1: we were state school, so it wasn't like you know
Speaker 1: some of the other HBCUs that were kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, annoyed or the Crown Jewels or whatever. Family
Speaker 1: we were, we were always you know, solid uh you know,
Speaker 1: and always were respective, and we always felt like we
Speaker 1: were outsiders kind of and we love that. And so
Speaker 1: because of that, it gave us a different kind of edge.
Speaker 1: So when we broke into the industry, we took that
Speaker 1: family attitude with us to say, hey, we Ratlers were here,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna bring some other ratlers with us. And
Speaker 1: so we were like, you know, your cool cousins that
Speaker 1: come around and make the party lib. That's that's kind
Speaker 1: of you know, how we were and how we still are. Well,
Speaker 1: you know the funny part about this, the more you talk, man,
Speaker 1: the more animated you become. Your smile get bigger, and
Speaker 1: you get the bouncing you know, like a boxer. It's listen,
Speaker 1: it's just something and you the more you talk about it,
Speaker 1: you just saill that. So I just, um, you know,
Speaker 1: any time I get a chance to show off my school,
Speaker 1: you know, I always always got to do that. We
Speaker 1: know the interesting thing about it, I know how college
Speaker 1: played the role in my life. I always tell people
Speaker 1: what I'm doing now is what I did when I
Speaker 1: was in college. You know, production and the live events.
Speaker 1: All those things were nurtured in college and in college,
Speaker 1: like your degree is an engineering, but now you're a
Speaker 1: director entertainment. And you met him Will Packer there and
Speaker 1: he was his degree is not an entertainment related field either.
Speaker 1: So how did that relationship come about? And led to
Speaker 1: stump to y'all? So, uh, Will and I met at
Speaker 1: a at a pre college engineering program called e C
Speaker 1: I at FAM You. And so it's like right before
Speaker 1: our freshman year, they bringing all these engineering students that
Speaker 1: are going to be going to the school. And you know,
Speaker 1: I was a guy that thought I was going to
Speaker 1: another school but didn't get the money. He thought he
Speaker 1: was going to another school but didn't get the money.
Speaker 1: We wound up at FAM You and we became fast friends.
Speaker 1: And what came out over are hanging out over that
Speaker 1: summer was that I wanted to be the filmmaker. I
Speaker 1: was a big Spike Lee and John Silson and Robert
Speaker 1: Townsing fan, and he wanted to be a businessman, a
Speaker 1: businessman and have his own business. So just as we
Speaker 1: were hanging out and being friends and then we became
Speaker 1: lion brothers. Um, we're both alpha's. Um. Then when I
Speaker 1: wound up seeing Menises Society, uh, you know, because that
Speaker 1: was the big movie in theaters, a few friends of
Speaker 1: mine were like, well, hey, since you did a small
Speaker 1: movie in high school, you ought to do something here.
Speaker 1: And then that gave Will and I a chance to
Speaker 1: do a project together at FAM. And that project was
Speaker 1: called Chocolate City, Um, you know, and it was it
Speaker 1: was a big deal for us because we were historically
Speaker 1: black college with no film program, and so it kind
Speaker 1: of became our thing. And when we you know, put
Speaker 1: it out there and hustled it into a video deal.
Speaker 1: Ten years later, after we shot that movie, relatively we
Speaker 1: got a chance to shoot Stump the Yard um in
Speaker 1: Atlanta at Morris Brown a little bit over at more
Speaker 1: House and Clark Atlanta, And it was just so crazy,
Speaker 1: like ten years of us kind of being out there
Speaker 1: on the grind to be doing an HBCU movie that
Speaker 1: Sony was paying for and it was like Chris Brown's
Speaker 1: first movie. It was the movie that really put Columbus
Speaker 1: Short on the map, even though he was a great actor,
Speaker 1: and just to be able to do that and have
Speaker 1: so many of our friends behind the scenes and being
Speaker 1: able to celebrate our culture. And then you know, it
Speaker 1: was number one two weeks in a row. It was
Speaker 1: just a real, you know, special moment, and it was
Speaker 1: like our you know, tipping the hats to our schools.
Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting because I told Willis story
Speaker 1: the first time I told the User story because I
Speaker 1: was executive producer co creator Steve Harvey Morting show was
Speaker 1: in New York and when it came out, you know,
Speaker 1: I was telling Steve this stump the yard movie man
Speaker 1: some brothers, and I didn't know you guys, accept I said,
Speaker 1: we gotta keep this movie number one, man. And and
Speaker 1: it's really interesting that the love I had for you
Speaker 1: guys and what you were doing that years later you
Speaker 1: come back into our lives and do think like a
Speaker 1: man the author's book, Act like a lady, think like
Speaker 1: a man. And so that's really amazing. Man. It's about
Speaker 1: when you when you love something and you see something special,
Speaker 1: and you guys were doing something specially. You're still doing
Speaker 1: special things today. But again I always tell people, it's
Speaker 1: not always about the money. It's about the opportunity and
Speaker 1: the relationship. And that's really a testament to your career.
Speaker 1: Correct wrong, Well, listen, Well, first of all, we appreciate
Speaker 1: and I personally appreciate you know, uh, the shout out
Speaker 1: and the love you know that y'all gave us to
Speaker 1: help push that movie. That means a lot, you know. Um.
Speaker 1: And it's funny how those things come back around because
Speaker 1: we really love that book. And you know, I definitely
Speaker 1: got to give a shout out to my wife because
Speaker 1: she was the first one to come talking to me
Speaker 1: about that book, like, Hey, everybody's talking about this and
Speaker 1: we love the book, and you got to turn this
Speaker 1: into a movie and so on and so forth, and
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that over time that that that that
Speaker 1: worked out. But you're absolutely right. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times, you know, when we do things for the love,
Speaker 1: when we do things with the right spirit, the money comes,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, And it just feels different.
Speaker 1: And whether you're doing something just for money or doing
Speaker 1: something because you love it, the grind and the work
Speaker 1: is gonna be hard regardless, so you might as l
Speaker 1: grind and work hard for something that you love, so
Speaker 1: then that when that payoff happens, it's gonna feel a
Speaker 1: lot different. Than if you're just doing something for a check,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, and and and the interesting thing
Speaker 1: about you've always had uh HBCU flavor and your production
Speaker 1: like the crowd that you did t you with my girl,
Speaker 1: Felicia Henderson, I called my baby sister and h you
Speaker 1: know when I when I when I look at what
Speaker 1: you're doing in sports with all American you know again, Frob,
Speaker 1: your gifts man so diverse. How as a director, you know,
Speaker 1: people just want to do Some people are just a
Speaker 1: sitcom director, some people just a sci fi big explosions dramas.
Speaker 1: How are you able to manipulate that level of creative
Speaker 1: creativity in your mind? Um? You know, because I love
Speaker 1: I love a lot of different types of things, you know. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know I would do the sci fi stuff
Speaker 1: with my dad when I was little and we would
Speaker 1: watch the Star Wars and star tracks, and then you know,
Speaker 1: I got more into you know, stuff that looks like
Speaker 1: my neighborhood as as we got older, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: and just and just being able to try to relate
Speaker 1: and make and make the characters relatable, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. And I kind of feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: I want us to be able to do stuff that
Speaker 1: we go and we go to the big movies and
Speaker 1: see and say, what, shoot, why can't we do the
Speaker 1: sci fi and tell this story but also make it
Speaker 1: authentic to our people. So that way, it's not like
Speaker 1: the character or the black character is just there to
Speaker 1: be supportive or just there to say, hey man, let
Speaker 1: me get let me pick you up, but to be
Speaker 1: able to say, I have you know, dreams and aspirations.
Speaker 1: I'm heroic. Also I have a love life too, so
Speaker 1: I want to be able to try to help, you know,
Speaker 1: tell those stories too. Were related to my degree? Isn't
Speaker 1: mathematics and my mind and sociology? So I'm not doing
Speaker 1: nothing tied to my degree. I've done sitcom as a writer,
Speaker 1: produced them, created them reality shows, but I never directed anything, Rob,
Speaker 1: What does a director do? And how did how could
Speaker 1: you become a director? So? Um? As a as a
Speaker 1: sports fan our related like this. A director is like
Speaker 1: the coach of the team. You designed the place and
Speaker 1: then put your actors in the best position to execute
Speaker 1: and win or do a good project. That's what the
Speaker 1: director does. Um. So it's kind of like the head
Speaker 1: coach of the team and the producers the general manager
Speaker 1: the GM. You know, they'll hire me or they'll hire
Speaker 1: the coach um. So you know, I love that because
Speaker 1: it gives me the opportunity to, you know, interact with
Speaker 1: people and talk to them and try and try to
Speaker 1: fit try to get you the truth of the situation
Speaker 1: so they can so we can feel as real to
Speaker 1: them and as relatable as possible to them. So that
Speaker 1: way the audience feels something right, because if you just
Speaker 1: watch a movie or watch the TV show and you
Speaker 1: don't feel anything, then we just wasted your time. But
Speaker 1: even if you feel mad, sad, laugh, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: you feel something, then you know it was worth the
Speaker 1: time that you gave us, you know, to to watch
Speaker 1: our show. Well, you know there's that's amazing just watching
Speaker 1: your talents and the break. So let me slow it down. Man.
Speaker 1: I saw the finale A power Book two Ghosts. I
Speaker 1: would tell you so, man, I didn't see this coming
Speaker 1: in this series. I didn't see that I would be
Speaker 1: spitting my Sunday nights watching pop. I just didn't see
Speaker 1: it because when it came out, I heard your storyline
Speaker 1: drug dealer, club owner. You know, I went, I ain't
Speaker 1: watching that. I ain't watching that I ain't watch. Sounds
Speaker 1: like a bad rap video that I don't want to watch.
Speaker 1: But what makes what made it? Because I want to
Speaker 1: go back to win the beginning, because you were there
Speaker 1: at the beginning and you've been there to the whole process,
Speaker 1: all the job. If I said that, and because you
Speaker 1: did the finale of Paul book to Ghosts, what makes that?
Speaker 1: What makes that series work? So you know, I think
Speaker 1: what makes the Power series work is on the fundamental level,
Speaker 1: it's really relatable. So in the original Power series, you
Speaker 1: had a guy that grew up a certain way ghosts
Speaker 1: and he did what he had to do given his options.
Speaker 1: So he was a drug dealer and he had his
Speaker 1: best friend that was along with him. And then he
Speaker 1: gets to a place to where he wants to make
Speaker 1: a change in his life and do something different, going
Speaker 1: to clubs. But he's got his you know, his wife
Speaker 1: and his best friends, last business partner that don't want
Speaker 1: him to change. And then he meets this other woman
Speaker 1: who to him, represents the change that he can be.
Speaker 1: And that's the fundamental of it all is trying to
Speaker 1: figure out how do I transition into who I want
Speaker 1: to be when the people around me are saying all
Speaker 1: you can be as this, and I think there's something
Speaker 1: like that from a huge from a humanity standpoint that's
Speaker 1: really relatable as we're different parts, you know, positions in
Speaker 1: our lives where maybe you want to do something different
Speaker 1: than your family's a customer you're doing, or your friends
Speaker 1: are a customer you're doing, and you want to transition,
Speaker 1: and here's this guy and it leads to one bad
Speaker 1: decision after another bad decision, and I think we get
Speaker 1: caught up in that and that's the foundation of that
Speaker 1: is what makes power amazing. And then it's in the
Speaker 1: world of clubs and drug dealers and stuff and toys
Speaker 1: and murder, which makes it cool. And so this is
Speaker 1: like the derrib you know, this the Ghost series. It's
Speaker 1: like part two of that. So that it was created
Speaker 1: by Courtney kemp uh and fifty cent and just how
Speaker 1: they you know, interwe with the stories has been pretty amazing.
Speaker 1: Um and they're really smart people. UM. So being a
Speaker 1: part that's been cool and it's been stuff that just
Speaker 1: you know, as a forty something year old guy I
Speaker 1: can relate to on a lot of different levels and
Speaker 1: so many other people. Here's the thing about this series
Speaker 1: you know, the Fast and Furious series works because it's
Speaker 1: about family, you know what I'm saying. And then I
Speaker 1: equate that same thing with the Power series. He just
Speaker 1: wants to be a good dad, but so many elements
Speaker 1: stop him. His lifestyle stops him. His personal won't stop him.
Speaker 1: And that's really what drives even to move. You know.
Speaker 1: He wants to be a good husband, but then again
Speaker 1: he meets the love for his life. He wants to
Speaker 1: be a good father, but then the lifestyle he lives,
Speaker 1: you know, that's not gonna end good. You can't parent
Speaker 1: that life, you know, because you're gonna walk yourself right
Speaker 1: into that danger zone. But I did not see that
Speaker 1: young man who plays his son become the star that
Speaker 1: he is today. He's incredible, man, Yeah, he really is.
Speaker 1: Uh Michael Rainey Jr. Shout out to him. I just
Speaker 1: watched his evolution and growth as an act round. You know,
Speaker 1: when I came on and started working on the original
Speaker 1: Power Show season two, and just his role was a
Speaker 1: lot smaller as far as the amount of stuff he
Speaker 1: had to do, and it's grown, and just working on
Speaker 1: the Ghost finale, Um, just watching his range just changed
Speaker 1: as an actor, you know, and how much more confidence
Speaker 1: that he has. Um has been pretty amazing to watch.
Speaker 1: And it's cool because it's like, you know, for him
Speaker 1: as a character, you know he's doing the best that
Speaker 1: he can, but now you know, you're trying to lead.
Speaker 1: You know, your father wants to keep you out of that,
Speaker 1: out of that business, but that's a part of his
Speaker 1: life and the people that he's you know around, you know,
Speaker 1: our killers and drug dealers, so some of that stuff
Speaker 1: rubs off on him. So it's kind of you know,
Speaker 1: uh interesting that you work your whole life to keep
Speaker 1: your kids from certain things, but because of how you
Speaker 1: do things, sometimes sometimes that stuff comes back. And I
Speaker 1: think that that makes it that makes me good to easy.
Speaker 1: You have not seen the finale. Check out the final.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing about Michael's character, because, like I said,
Speaker 1: it was small, he was weasually. But the episode where
Speaker 1: his sister was murdered, Yeah, I think to me was
Speaker 1: a turning point for his character because for me as
Speaker 1: a person, I became engaged. I hated him, you know,
Speaker 1: I did. I was disappointed in him, but I couldn't
Speaker 1: I hate too strong. I was disappointed because he was young.
Speaker 1: You can't hate a young person, because you make mistakes
Speaker 1: when you're young, and that point on his character development,
Speaker 1: he exploded, Man, when we look at who's our next
Speaker 1: den Sail, who's our next Samuel Man, he's on the
Speaker 1: radar to be that dude. He's on the radar. You know,
Speaker 1: you know, it's so interesting hearing you say that, because
Speaker 1: I totally agree. I think that everything is fun in
Speaker 1: games until somebody gets seriously hurt or killed or gets
Speaker 1: locked up for a long time or something that we did.
Speaker 1: Now it's real. So I think that all the misfit
Speaker 1: like stuff that he was doing, the rebellious type stuff
Speaker 1: that he was doing as a as a kid rebelling
Speaker 1: against his parents, um changed when his sister died. Especially
Speaker 1: knowing that that bullet should have been for him, made
Speaker 1: him a different person because now you you you've crossed
Speaker 1: an invisible line and you can never come back. The
Speaker 1: only next logical step for him was to physically go
Speaker 1: and you know, you know, get retribution, kill the guy
Speaker 1: that that shot his sister. And once that line was crossed,
Speaker 1: it was he can't go back. You know, he opened
Speaker 1: the Indoora's box. And so I think that there's like
Speaker 1: everything else as a result of that has been him
Speaker 1: growing into that new person so character. But the opening
Speaker 1: the pilot of Power, Ghost character looking good, innocent looking
Speaker 1: in the sense that he looked like he could be
Speaker 1: running the Fortune five on the company and he kills
Speaker 1: somebody in that pilot set the tone for the evolution
Speaker 1: of his son in the in the series for Noale
Speaker 1: and you know, he said some things and some phrases
Speaker 1: in there that really signifies that I can't wait too,
Speaker 1: I can't wait till the next episode. You know. That's
Speaker 1: a great story when you when you when you're sitting
Speaker 1: up there going, hey, man, this over with me. I
Speaker 1: didn't see another episode. And that's what you did last
Speaker 1: night in the finale. Man. The finale that you that
Speaker 1: aired on Sunday night was amazing. Man. Congratulations, Man, I
Speaker 1: appreciate that. I'm really glad that you uh that she
Speaker 1: doug it and yeah, he's right. I agree. Listen to
Speaker 1: the pilot to Power. I thought was was really amazing
Speaker 1: to like bring you into that world and it's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah Ghost, we met Ghost there and that's where he
Speaker 1: left us, you know, in that same club. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: And now let's talk about some other things. Outside of Power,
Speaker 1: you know, the hardy your Rainforest Entertainment just partnering with
Speaker 1: lions Gate TV for a first look production here what
Speaker 1: exactly is that? So, what it is is that we
Speaker 1: have a production deal with lions Gate UH ind of
Speaker 1: episodes specifically, so in the episode is the company's Courtney
Speaker 1: Kemp's UH company and she's the creator of Power. So
Speaker 1: that means that we're partnering with to develop content. And
Speaker 1: so first look means that my company, uh, Rainforest Entertainment,
Speaker 1: and I have a partner in my company from family
Speaker 1: Mitsy Miller um who used to be editor in chief
Speaker 1: over at every each that uh. And so we'll have
Speaker 1: projects that we develop and then once we take that
Speaker 1: to end of episode, lions Gate, if they want to
Speaker 1: partner with us on it, then we'll be business partners
Speaker 1: and we'll package it and try to sell the projects.
Speaker 1: If not, then we're free and clear to take it
Speaker 1: anywhere that we want and get it set up. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a big deal for us as a company. UM.
Speaker 1: And so we're really excited about one. You know, the
Speaker 1: really interesting thing about my show money making conversation is
Speaker 1: that and then you have the same personality. Rob You know,
Speaker 1: you just help people, be helping them. And but in
Speaker 1: the way we've learned that that's been mentorship. That means
Speaker 1: that not afraid of competition. You know, I always tell people,
Speaker 1: if I give you an idea and you make a
Speaker 1: million dollars, I'm happy because that was an idea that
Speaker 1: obviously had no value to me. I couldn't do anything
Speaker 1: with it. And so you've established that with your foundation.
Speaker 1: You and your wife have established the foundation to train,
Speaker 1: mentor and give people careers in this and there is
Speaker 1: a Lucratode film and TV business in Georgia. Tell us
Speaker 1: about that foundation. So, UM, we have a company called
Speaker 1: our foundation called UM the Robin Shawn Hardy Amazing Stories Foundation.
Speaker 1: So my my wife and I UH created the foundation
Speaker 1: and the whole purpose of it is to train people
Speaker 1: from our communities in the Atlanta metro area. UM, how
Speaker 1: to get you know, production jobs on sets for TV
Speaker 1: and moves. But this is these are what we call
Speaker 1: below the line positions. So it's not stuff like directors, writers, producers,
Speaker 1: but it's everything from transportation to cameras and special effects,
Speaker 1: hair makeup. UM. So a young lady, Nina Packer, another
Speaker 1: family one runs the foundation, and um, we partnered with
Speaker 1: the city of East Point. Um who's mayor. Dina Ingram
Speaker 1: is another family one. Uh you know, you see like
Speaker 1: the trend here and uh we did uh two, we've
Speaker 1: done two seasons of it, so we've basically gone out,
Speaker 1: found people, trained them, put them on sets, um, and
Speaker 1: a bunch of those people have gotten full time jobs
Speaker 1: working on TV and movie sets. So we have people
Speaker 1: right now on shows like Black Lightning and Dynasty, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and shows like that. UM. So it's a
Speaker 1: really big deal because, especially living in Atlanta, a lot
Speaker 1: of producers would come here and you go on the
Speaker 1: sets and they wouldn't have a whole lot of diversity
Speaker 1: behind the scenes. It wouldn't be a whole lot of
Speaker 1: people that look like us. And they kept saying, well,
Speaker 1: we can't find the people. There's no trained people. So
Speaker 1: my thought was, Okay, well, then we'll create a pipeline.
Speaker 1: We'll create an avenue to where my cousin, your cousin
Speaker 1: that lives in our city can get some training and
Speaker 1: they can drive a truck, they can cook some food,
Speaker 1: they can carry some cable, they can do whatever. And
Speaker 1: then with that they can get a career with a pension, uh,
Speaker 1: with some health insurance, and then they can show other
Speaker 1: people in our communities that this industry, this multi billion
Speaker 1: dollar industry is for us to wow. Well, you know
Speaker 1: I I first of all, you know the only thing
Speaker 1: wrong with this end ofview man, because I'm a remember
Speaker 1: Omega sci Fire and you keeping alpha. You know, I
Speaker 1: got respect for the alpha, but you can't be saying
Speaker 1: at two minute times on my self. Hey well, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you. Look, my dad, my dad, UH wasn't Omega.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. And I I said, I said, listen,
Speaker 1: things get better with time. So you know, you know
Speaker 1: you trained me up, gave me all your gifts so
Speaker 1: that way I can I can take this thing the
Speaker 1: greater heights. And that's what I did. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So hey here we yea, I did a
Speaker 1: little I did a little background tep. But bro Man.
Speaker 1: First of all, the first time with mat Man, we
Speaker 1: was gonna connect the pandemic blue everything. But this year, man,
Speaker 1: you know what I talked about before this call. Uh
Speaker 1: you you you're amazing, and we're going to do business
Speaker 1: in twenty one and uh and carry some of these
Speaker 1: visions and these these skill sets that you have to
Speaker 1: the next level. And uh I drop bought the building
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, So I want to invite you by your
Speaker 1: WiFi so we can sit down and talk. Because I
Speaker 1: got some local productions. I'm gonna be doing that. I
Speaker 1: like to be able to bring some of your some
Speaker 1: of the individuals over here and work them and matriculate
Speaker 1: them into our programs that we're trying to do. Because again,
Speaker 1: if you don't have a resume in the business, you
Speaker 1: don't have an opportunity. And that's all you about. That's
Speaker 1: all I'm about. Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you having me man as always. Man, it's
Speaker 1: good to see you keep representing and doing your things
Speaker 1: in a big way. Good. We'll be right back with
Speaker 1: more from Marchilla McDonald the Money Making Conversations. Don't touch
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Speaker 1: Conversations The Cafe Macha Swag Award is a celebration of
Speaker 1: Black men who are making a difference in our community
Speaker 1: by empowering others to reach their life goals, from civic leaders, businessmen, activists,
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Speaker 1: We've been doing it the last five years, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of a lot of scholarships, a
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Speaker 1: Swag Award represents men that have strength, that vision is assertive,
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Speaker 1: money making Conversations. I'm your host, Sean McDonald. My next
Speaker 1: Years understands committed effort. That's what she does. She publicizes
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Speaker 1: this show because she truly it's a person who talks
Speaker 1: about everybody for very little information about her is known.
Speaker 1: My next guest is Alonda Thomas. She says as the
Speaker 1: director of public relations at Howard University. She's recently named
Speaker 1: the Top Women in PR by PR News. She has
Speaker 1: worked at three historically black colleges uni versus, including her
Speaker 1: alma mater, Fam Mute, and her current role at Howard University.
Speaker 1: Alonda has led the public relations strategy for a number
Speaker 1: of clients including TV one That's where I met her,
Speaker 1: ABC Network, CNN, All Disney Studios, and Fox cert Light
Speaker 1: First Fox search Light excuse me. She's listened to one
Speaker 1: of the top twenty five African American PR millennials to watch,
Speaker 1: and helf of them posts please work with the money
Speaker 1: making conversation. I've settled all of life things about her,
Speaker 1: Miss Alonda Thomas. Thank you, Sean. I appreciate you having
Speaker 1: me on the show. Well did I get enough information
Speaker 1: out about you that I set it up right for you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: It was like a walk down the Relaye listening to
Speaker 1: all of those accolades, but many relays like when there's
Speaker 1: way in the past these accolades, the accolades are that
Speaker 1: I'm talking about eighteen, meaning did you build a momentum
Speaker 1: in your career and it's only going to get bigger.
Speaker 1: Talk about Let's let's talk about first of all, your
Speaker 1: HBCU experience, because in we all know that for some
Speaker 1: reason it came to the forefront. A lot of large
Speaker 1: donations were made to HBCU schools. It was like White
Speaker 1: America discovered it for the very first time. The HBCUs exist.
Speaker 1: And you and I both know the contributions to hbc
Speaker 1: you make, to the academic to the stamp community, to
Speaker 1: the medical community, legal and political community is tremendous. So
Speaker 1: talk about you influence, the influence HBCUs had you academically,
Speaker 1: and why you went there. Yes, well, I got my
Speaker 1: career or my education started at Florida A and M University,
Speaker 1: which is where I had my first taste of getting
Speaker 1: into public relations. I was fortunate enough to be a
Speaker 1: student intern working in the Office of Communications there and
Speaker 1: met Sharon Saunders, who really became a mentor for me
Speaker 1: and helped me learn the craft while I was studying
Speaker 1: the craft in school. UM. She is the person who
Speaker 1: also helped me get my first job out of school.
Speaker 1: I became a communication specialist under her working at North
Speaker 1: Carolina Central Universe City and got to spend almost three
Speaker 1: years creating and writing every UH press release that came
Speaker 1: out of that institution UM, and it really just solidified
Speaker 1: for me the importance of being able to tell our
Speaker 1: own stories properly and appropriately to the media in order
Speaker 1: to use their platforms to leverage the success of an
Speaker 1: institution to tell our stories, to make sure that the
Speaker 1: experts that are coming out of that institution doing research
Speaker 1: are known to the to the greater public. UM, it
Speaker 1: helps to promote the interests of students coming into that institution.
Speaker 1: And so, even though I still had an interest in
Speaker 1: getting into entertainment PR, when I was asked years later
Speaker 1: by Miss Honors to go back UM and work for
Speaker 1: her again, but this time at Florida and M University, UM,
Speaker 1: it was definitely something that I just couldn't say no to.
Speaker 1: And then, of course, when the opportunity came up years
Speaker 1: later to leave TV one and go to work at
Speaker 1: Howard University again, it was something that I definitely didn't
Speaker 1: mind doing because I feel so passionately and strongly about
Speaker 1: making sure that our HBC use, our our precious treasures,
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to get our message out to the
Speaker 1: greater world. For family. For you, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: schools you could have went to for our family, UM
Speaker 1: family was a family school. My father had gone to
Speaker 1: both ba Thoon Cookman and Florida and M University, and
Speaker 1: UH I hadn't spent as much time at Florida and
Speaker 1: M so it was still mysterious to me. So when
Speaker 1: the opportunity to go to one of the other came up,
Speaker 1: I said, I definitely want to go to Famie. It's
Speaker 1: a little farther away from my hometown in Miami, Florida, UM,
Speaker 1: and I just was ready for that opportunity to branch
Speaker 1: out on my own and had my own new experiences
Speaker 1: as a young adult. And it definitely it did not
Speaker 1: disappoint UM. Some of the cultural experiences that I got
Speaker 1: to have their attending the convocations and hearing from renowned
Speaker 1: speakers coming to campus. UM, those are some of the
Speaker 1: things that UH you experience that HBCUs that really helped
Speaker 1: to shape and frame who you are as a person,
Speaker 1: understanding your identity and your background and and the significance
Speaker 1: of our culture and our legacy. UM. And it's just
Speaker 1: carried with me throughout my life in the different places
Speaker 1: that I've been able to work and being at Howard
Speaker 1: University now, UM that continues. Helping to make sure that
Speaker 1: students understand the great breadth of things that we accomplish
Speaker 1: at these institutions is very important to me, and so
Speaker 1: I feel it's much of an honor to be able
Speaker 1: to do that every day, helping to tell our stories
Speaker 1: and if possible, getting them onto national outlets so that UM,
Speaker 1: everyone whether they're interested in h b c U s
Speaker 1: or thinking about places where they can donate their money
Speaker 1: where it's gonna make a significant difference. UM, it's very important,
Speaker 1: you know. Being I've been in entertainment, so PR pr
Speaker 1: agencies have always been a mainstay of my relationship with entertainment.
Speaker 1: I'll run into a lot of people, young people, people
Speaker 1: who are already been stabblished talking about the roles of
Speaker 1: the PR company or the PR person. You are director
Speaker 1: of Public Relations currently at Howard University. Can you help
Speaker 1: some of my listeners who are interested in going into
Speaker 1: the field of public relations. How does that, how does
Speaker 1: it work, and how can one try establishing their their
Speaker 1: feet in the business. Yeah, well, I would certainly recommend
Speaker 1: UM training UM. Getting that college education at a journalism
Speaker 1: school that specializes in public relations like Florida and m
Speaker 1: did or the Communication School at Howard University, which is
Speaker 1: named after Kathy Hughes, one of the legendary women UM
Speaker 1: in the broadcast industry is important because you'll get the
Speaker 1: tools there to learn how to write press releases, articles,
Speaker 1: to learn how to pitch media, to look at the
Speaker 1: news in a different way, to figure out, you know,
Speaker 1: why are they speaking to that particular person today that
Speaker 1: that just happened by happenstance, if there's somebody actually bring
Speaker 1: this person in this message to their attention, and that's
Speaker 1: what a PR person and does behind the scenes. It's
Speaker 1: helped get those stories, whether it's various experts in the
Speaker 1: world of vaccines right now as everybody is being very
Speaker 1: conscious about whether or not they should be taking that UM.
Speaker 1: Those are the things that a publicist can do to
Speaker 1: make sure that the right influencers are connected with the
Speaker 1: right media outlets in order to be able to tell
Speaker 1: a positive story because you said something in your statement
Speaker 1: about the story telling the right story telling us. There's
Speaker 1: so many stories that are that that would mask me
Speaker 1: that you have Fox story, Fox News story, you have
Speaker 1: to see an n story, you have the BBC story,
Speaker 1: you have the MSNBC story, and all of them seemed
Speaker 1: to be leaning on a particular audience that they're trying
Speaker 1: to reach. As in your case, I'm assuming you're trying
Speaker 1: to reach the African American audience. Are you just trying
Speaker 1: to reach our diverse audience When you do public relationships
Speaker 1: for Howard University, well, I look at it as a
Speaker 1: variety of stakeholders that we have at the institution. First
Speaker 1: and foremost are current and existing students UM being able
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're continuing to communicate with them
Speaker 1: throughout their matriculation because they too need to be aware
Speaker 1: of all of the great things that are happening at
Speaker 1: the institution. Prospective students UM helping them to see profiles
Speaker 1: on our students who are doing really well, who are
Speaker 1: achieving wrangle UM fellowship opportunities. UM. It's important for us
Speaker 1: to get out there so that they can envision themselves
Speaker 1: in those roles and then when you look at the
Speaker 1: different schools and colleges, UH, each of those have stories
Speaker 1: that they want to tell. UM. We are one of
Speaker 1: the only one of four HBCUs that has a medical college,
Speaker 1: and so UM it's important for us to be able
Speaker 1: to UM emphasize the importance of black doctors. There's certainly,
Speaker 1: UM not enough of them. And when you think of
Speaker 1: the fact that the majority of black doctors are coming
Speaker 1: out of four institutions across the world, and just demonstrates
Speaker 1: for you how important the role we play UM in
Speaker 1: that field and in that industry. And recently we were
Speaker 1: able to come on the radar of a Mike Bloomberg
Speaker 1: who was able to donate to our institution. So he's
Speaker 1: going to be helping those students UM financially be able
Speaker 1: to get through college, which is extremely important. Well also
Speaker 1: internship programs and potential hiring opportunities. It's really what we're
Speaker 1: trying to communicate when we're talking about going to college
Speaker 1: getting a degree, and it's such a difficult field. Pr
Speaker 1: is it's like all fields, great opportunity for very difficult
Speaker 1: I'll ask you this question, it is a is b
Speaker 1: R a business for the young or the experienced. Well.
Speaker 1: One of the things that drew me to the field
Speaker 1: is UM. I felt that I was a strong writer,
Speaker 1: and a friend of mine suggested that I try a
Speaker 1: public relations course. I actually started off school UM looking
Speaker 1: at going into broad cash journalism UM, but I took
Speaker 1: up PR one oh one course and was hooked from
Speaker 1: there because I found it interesting to be able to
Speaker 1: take the written word, put together an article that could
Speaker 1: easily be dropped into the weekly newspaper if necessary, UM,
Speaker 1: but using that to kind of form an opinion for people,
Speaker 1: so that a journalist could take a look at that
Speaker 1: and say, you know, this is something that I definitely
Speaker 1: want to learn more about. I want to UM talk
Speaker 1: to the experts that are referenced in this press release
Speaker 1: UM and maybe do my own stories about it. And
Speaker 1: with public relations, you can do it in just about
Speaker 1: every industry that there is, so I felt like that
Speaker 1: was another way to broaden my horizons that I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be limited to one particular lane. UM. First, my my
Speaker 1: first internship in public relations was at Jackson Memorial Hospital
Speaker 1: in Miami, Florida. UM. I told you about interning at
Speaker 1: the university in their office. UM. At do entertainment PR.
Speaker 1: I've done higher education PR and at a universe city
Speaker 1: with all of the different schools and colleges that we represent,
Speaker 1: I end up doing PR services for all of those
Speaker 1: UM individual areas as well. So I think it's definitely
Speaker 1: still a industry that's on the rise UM and I
Speaker 1: think students would be well suited to think about that
Speaker 1: as they look at, you know, their place UM in
Speaker 1: the industry that they want to go into. Your clients
Speaker 1: have included TV one, ABC Network or CNN, Walt Disney Studios, Fox, Searchlight.
Speaker 1: Now you and I met at TV one. We we
Speaker 1: we were met before that, but we're working on a
Speaker 1: particular so the attorney Benjamin Crupper and I was doing
Speaker 1: called Evidence of Innocence uh and and then and then
Speaker 1: we were going back with email. We we linked in
Speaker 1: account message and all of a sudden you said, Richard,
Speaker 1: I'm headed to Hollywood. What opportunities did Howard present to
Speaker 1: you that you were not getting the TV one and
Speaker 1: not saying anything it was negative TV one, But Howard
Speaker 1: is one of the court, of course to kind of
Speaker 1: consider the Harvard of HBCUs won't made that transition one
Speaker 1: that you wanted to pursue leaving TV wanted to go
Speaker 1: to Howard. Well, I'll tell you it was definitely a
Speaker 1: difficult decision because working at a television network had been
Speaker 1: a dream of mine. It was on my um, you know,
Speaker 1: board to be something that I tried to accomplish in
Speaker 1: my life. And so when it finally happened and the
Speaker 1: opportunity presented itself to be at a television network and
Speaker 1: I didn't have to go all the way back to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles in order to accomplish it, it it was definitely
Speaker 1: a dream come true. And I enjoyed every minute of
Speaker 1: working on the television shows and the films that I
Speaker 1: got to work on, including Yours and Unsung. UM, you know,
Speaker 1: it's definitely an exciting place to be. So when the
Speaker 1: opportunity presented itself to come to Howard, um, for me,
Speaker 1: it was the right move to continue to matriculate in
Speaker 1: my career as a professional. UM. I would be moving
Speaker 1: from p our manager back to a director position. UM
Speaker 1: I would have a larger team that I was going
Speaker 1: to be able to supervise. And like you said, it
Speaker 1: was Howard. So I was like, well, if it's not
Speaker 1: gonna be Florida and m University Howard is definitely not
Speaker 1: too shabby of a place to go UM, and I've
Speaker 1: enjoyed every minute of it because I look at universities
Speaker 1: kind of like small cities. Anything that could go up
Speaker 1: or down in a city can happen on a university campus.
Speaker 1: So you really get an opportunity to stretch yourself by
Speaker 1: working in this environment. The opportunity needs to be creative
Speaker 1: and think outside of the box. In the way that
Speaker 1: we promote things are endless and even something as simple
Speaker 1: as being able to promote homecoming at a Howard University,
Speaker 1: which you already know has a lot of attention and
Speaker 1: interests UM, there are ways to make sure that we're
Speaker 1: using that opportunity with thousands of alumni coming from across
Speaker 1: the country to be able to tell the messaging that
Speaker 1: we want to share. And so in twenty team we
Speaker 1: wanted to make sure that we got out the message
Speaker 1: about our Howard Ford's strategic plan and ensuring people that
Speaker 1: we were constantly working on moving the university forward. And
Speaker 1: we were able to get that work UM to receive
Speaker 1: some award recognition UM because of the campaign that we
Speaker 1: put together. So I like being able to challenge myself
Speaker 1: to do bigger and better things, and Howard has not disciplined. Well,
Speaker 1: I believe me Howard is UH synics. And I grew
Speaker 1: up in Houston, Texas, So Texas Southern University, UH third Ward,
Speaker 1: a graduate from University Houston, used to walk down to
Speaker 1: Third Texas all the time and third War priv and
Speaker 1: priv you, and it was right down the street. So
Speaker 1: next day was Southern and Grammar. So I've always had
Speaker 1: an hpc U a fluence or influence around my whole life.
Speaker 1: But why in twenty for some reason, did HBCOS suddenly
Speaker 1: be um uh is a fan favor for endowments by
Speaker 1: white corporations. Can you, from a pr standpoint, can you
Speaker 1: explain to me why that happened? In Well, I think
Speaker 1: the world in the US in general is going through
Speaker 1: a reckoning right now with all of the social injustice
Speaker 1: that we're seeing, racial conversations that need to be had. Um.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are looking for solutions,
Speaker 1: and they realize that our hbc use are a fitting
Speaker 1: group of leaders that need to be at the table
Speaker 1: for that. So I believe that we have a lot
Speaker 1: of philanthropists who are looking for the leadership that's going
Speaker 1: to be able to help guide US and hpc US.
Speaker 1: Being that we are already training so many of the
Speaker 1: nation's next black leaders, is a great place to invest
Speaker 1: those dollars so that we can continue to make sure
Speaker 1: that African America can achieve a degree and go on
Speaker 1: to be successful in a variety of careers. UM as
Speaker 1: well as we need to be UM part of the
Speaker 1: solution to help UM this nation heal UM. That's what
Speaker 1: I've been working on with the OXIDE University Communications team
Speaker 1: to find different ways that we can UM take someone
Speaker 1: like a President Frederick and allow him to use his
Speaker 1: expertise in areas that are of important UM in this nation.
Speaker 1: So we've had him be able to talk on national
Speaker 1: television about the health crisis with the coronavirus and what
Speaker 1: we're doing at our HBC used to continue to make
Speaker 1: our students say. He's been able to UM encourage people
Speaker 1: to participate in the vaccination process through a p s
Speaker 1: A that we put together. And as people are seeing
Speaker 1: this on television, I do believe that they want to
Speaker 1: do something to help support the work that is being
Speaker 1: done UM. The fact that we've set up different UM
Speaker 1: sites for vaccine tests UM coronavirus testing to take place
Speaker 1: UM and resources need to be pulled together to make
Speaker 1: something like that happens. So we appreciate when a Bank
Speaker 1: of America steps up with a million dollar grant in
Speaker 1: order to support that testing, or UM when a Thermo
Speaker 1: Fisher reaches out and says, we know that testing for
Speaker 1: your students on campus is going to be very expensive,
Speaker 1: and so we want to underwrite that so that you
Speaker 1: guys don't have to take that expense yourself. And then
Speaker 1: a Gates Foundation jumps in and wants to support Thermo
Speaker 1: Fisher so that again that money is not something that's
Speaker 1: coming out of the university's bottom line. Because in today's
Speaker 1: day and age, we are still UM reaching out to
Speaker 1: a lot of students who are first generation in their
Speaker 1: families to go to college. UM, it's very expensive, and
Speaker 1: there's still students who really can't afford an opportunity to
Speaker 1: go to college, and HBCUs have been standing in that
Speaker 1: gap to help make those financial ends meet UM and
Speaker 1: order to continue to train this very necessary, important generation
Speaker 1: of leaders who are going to be coming out of
Speaker 1: these HP schools. So we really applaud those who are
Speaker 1: stepping up to the table to do their part in
Speaker 1: any way possible, whether that's financially or through their resources. Well,
Speaker 1: with that being said, you know you are PR person
Speaker 1: at Howard University. You know we noticed that this year
Speaker 1: unfortunately Chadwick bose was passed away. That's only overall campus
Speaker 1: global perspective, the brand relationships that he's brought. He's not
Speaker 1: the only famous person from an entertainment perspective that has
Speaker 1: come from Howard University. Then on the sports side, a
Speaker 1: five star basketball recruit and rolled into Howard University explained
Speaker 1: to me how u s the PR director of how University.
Speaker 1: How little both situations, one from a charismatic global talent
Speaker 1: who will passed away suddenly. I think the world was
Speaker 1: shocked when he passed away. And then the unbelievable statement
Speaker 1: of a five star recruits say in basketball, what's going
Speaker 1: to rule at Howard University. Well, Chadwick Boseman is a
Speaker 1: has was a great friend to the university in the
Speaker 1: years leading up to his unfortunate death. Um, we were
Speaker 1: blessed to have him come and serve as our commencement
Speaker 1: speaker in team and that was part of Dr Frederick's
Speaker 1: strategic plan to be able to let our students here
Speaker 1: from people who have been just where they had been, UM,
Speaker 1: inviting alumni to come back and and tell their stories
Speaker 1: so that we can hear from them, you know, give
Speaker 1: them their roses while they're here in a sense. UM.
Speaker 1: So we were so appreciative of the fact that we
Speaker 1: had had that time with Chadwick on campus UM prior
Speaker 1: to his passing away. UM. We were not aware that
Speaker 1: he had been sick at that time, which we later
Speaker 1: found out through the news reports. And UM that day
Speaker 1: when the news broke, you know, that was definitely a
Speaker 1: all hands on board, let's jump together and make sure
Speaker 1: that we celebrate and recognize him in the way that
Speaker 1: was fitting. So UM we immediately put out a a
Speaker 1: notice to social media to let them know that our
Speaker 1: condolences were with the family. UM. A larger note to
Speaker 1: campus was distributed UM talking about the significance of his career,
Speaker 1: his charisma, UM, what he brought to the world through
Speaker 1: the different roles that he played, and how he will
Speaker 1: truly always be remembered UM. And still to this day,
Speaker 1: we get a lot of requests for copies of that
Speaker 1: commencement speech to be included in various shows. So we
Speaker 1: continue to UM monitor and manage those requests as they
Speaker 1: come in. With a student like mccore maker, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: those are the kinds of moments that university's hope will
Speaker 1: happen based off of all of the work that's currently
Speaker 1: being done with the young people that we have, and
Speaker 1: so to have someone at his love will be interested
Speaker 1: in coming to UM Howard University, even though he had
Speaker 1: his pick of the choice of places where he could
Speaker 1: have gone to school to play UM, it's definitely helping
Speaker 1: us to again remind people of everything that we have
Speaker 1: to offer at a Howard University beyond just the sports,
Speaker 1: but the academics that clearly he was thinking about the
Speaker 1: legacy that comes out of here. UM obviously was very
Speaker 1: important to him, and we want all student athletes to
Speaker 1: consider coming to HBCUs because we do definitely have UM
Speaker 1: but know how and the talent and the educators to
Speaker 1: help them get to where they want to be in
Speaker 1: life outside of the sport. So from an athletic standpoint,
Speaker 1: you know, HBCUs are always been recognized as delivering on
Speaker 1: the sports, delivering on the entertainment from the halftime bands.
Speaker 1: Now from an academic standpoint, I've always felt that hpc
Speaker 1: us not been given their just do and that's what
Speaker 1: angers me. And it angers me because I feel that,
Speaker 1: you know, predominant white institution are basically taking credit for
Speaker 1: some of the academic successes that are happening with HBCU graduates.
Speaker 1: So I can't say it's been debunked. What do you
Speaker 1: in the landscape of HBCUs. What can we do? What
Speaker 1: can we do to promote the value to success stories
Speaker 1: of HBCU. So finally is recognized and it's not like
Speaker 1: a surprise. Well, I have to commend the place like
Speaker 1: Howard University and investing in the resources that it needs
Speaker 1: to build the right team to help tell that story. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: because resources are thin um, investing in your communications team
Speaker 1: is just not something that happens um at the rate
Speaker 1: that it needs to at all of our HBCUs. So
Speaker 1: this definitely goes back to funding. You know, of course
Speaker 1: you think of donations to a university, and obviously the
Speaker 1: first and most important place to do that is into scholarships.
Speaker 1: But I would definitely employ your audience to think about
Speaker 1: making sure that they do donations that are unrestricted so
Speaker 1: that the university has options to be able to use
Speaker 1: that those resources in other ways that will still continue
Speaker 1: to support the work that they're doing. UM. Howard University
Speaker 1: has invested in its Office of University Communications and will
Speaker 1: continue to do more as the dollars become available. UM.
Speaker 1: But at a lot of places you might find that
Speaker 1: the PR team is a one or two person shop,
Speaker 1: and so it makes it really difficult to do a
Speaker 1: whole lot with the small team like that versus I'm
Speaker 1: blessed to UM when we're fully UM booked have for
Speaker 1: senior communication specialists that work under me so that we
Speaker 1: can divide people up to different schools and colleges and
Speaker 1: work on helping to spend time diving into what's the
Speaker 1: stories being told here, what research is being told here,
Speaker 1: What students are having significant internship opportunities that we might
Speaker 1: want to profile to let other students know this is
Speaker 1: an opportunity for you when you become a student here UM.
Speaker 1: And so again, just that's another something for people to consider,
Speaker 1: is beyond just investing for the scholarship opportunities at your
Speaker 1: hbc U s UM to think about those other places
Speaker 1: where unreprestricted funds would be definitely UM appreciated and even
Speaker 1: if you didn't go to an hpc U, UM, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you can't um invest your dollars there
Speaker 1: because we all know that it's going to benefit the
Speaker 1: larger community. Well, it's the fun part about my conversation
Speaker 1: because when I look at the h b c U
Speaker 1: s and as we turned into twenty one, you look
Speaker 1: at what happened in Georgia with Stacy Abrams HPCU graduate
Speaker 1: reverend or Raphael warnat hpc you graduate, and then we
Speaker 1: have to talk about the ultimate uh HBCU graduate about
Speaker 1: to make history as the Vice President elect, Kambala Harris,
Speaker 1: who was all a member of the Serrity A K A. S.
Speaker 1: Talk about the impact of her being the vice President
Speaker 1: of the United States, being a graduate of HBCU, being
Speaker 1: a graduate of Howard University, of a pro graduate who
Speaker 1: talk to somebody who communicated brings it up way before
Speaker 1: she was elected. She's always hunger had probably being a
Speaker 1: graduate Howard University. What impact has that had on your brand? Well,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, we are so proud of the p
Speaker 1: elect Tomala Harris and UM it's just been such a
Speaker 1: pleasure to be this close to her transition from candidates
Speaker 1: to VP elect on a national ticket to now just
Speaker 1: days away from becoming the vice president, the first black woman,
Speaker 1: first African well first black first woman to send to
Speaker 1: that role. And UM, it's been amazing, it's been amazing
Speaker 1: the amount of meeting, attention and interest in Howard because
Speaker 1: of the fact that you UM is an alum, a
Speaker 1: very proud alum of our institution UM, as well as
Speaker 1: what it's meaning to the students. I'm particularly in a
Speaker 1: time like as it was, being virtual and and being
Speaker 1: able to turn on television and see someone that looks
Speaker 1: like you in such an impact for role. And like
Speaker 1: she has said herself, she won't be the last person
Speaker 1: to have that opportunity, UM. But before her, there were
Speaker 1: so many people who paved the way through going to
Speaker 1: Howard University, like a Thurvid Marshal and so many other
Speaker 1: elected officials who have transcended through Howard to go into
Speaker 1: the political arena. UM. And we're big in the arts
Speaker 1: as well, we're big in the sciences. And while you
Speaker 1: may not end up knowing every single name, having her
Speaker 1: name out there demonstrates the power of an HBCU education.
Speaker 1: So that I hope that we will be able to
Speaker 1: UH in for good. This conversation about what can an
Speaker 1: HBCU degree do for you because we've been doing the
Speaker 1: walk people like myself quietly for years to come, and
Speaker 1: now she's doing it in a way publicly and visibly
Speaker 1: that everybody can relate to. Wow, I'm so glad you
Speaker 1: took the time in Carminal show. But before we leave,
Speaker 1: I talked a little bit about PR. People want to
Speaker 1: be in a PR field. It sounds so easy. It's
Speaker 1: about relationships. As you spoke earlier, your opportunities were fueled
Speaker 1: by the relationship that you created. Uh, what is your
Speaker 1: career advice for aspiring your professionals that want to go
Speaker 1: into public relations. Well, I would definitely suggest that you
Speaker 1: take the time to intern throughout your college career and experience. Um.
Speaker 1: It was definitely something that was instilled in us at
Speaker 1: famues J School that it was important to intern. But
Speaker 1: not only for you to have that on your resume
Speaker 1: to check it off, but also for you to get
Speaker 1: an opportunity to experience it's a variety of different companies
Speaker 1: of organizations to see what's a good fit for yourself.
Speaker 1: You don't want to end up being at your senior
Speaker 1: year and that's the first time you're going someplace to intern.
Speaker 1: If you can intern in the middle of the fall
Speaker 1: and spring semesters, definitely take the time to intern over
Speaker 1: the summer. And these days a lot more internships are
Speaker 1: end up being paid opportunities than there were years ago
Speaker 1: when I was in school, so definitely take advantage of that.
Speaker 1: And then I would just also encourage you to follow
Speaker 1: your dreams and understand that the path from entry level
Speaker 1: to vice president or president is not always going to
Speaker 1: be a straight path, but it doesn't mean that it's
Speaker 1: something that you can accomplish. They're going to be challenges
Speaker 1: along the way. They're going to be tests that are
Speaker 1: going to happen, in obstacles that's coming in your way.
Speaker 1: But every test is an opportunity for testimony, So just
Speaker 1: put your all into it, move forward, and eventually you'll
Speaker 1: have a story to tell about how you succeeded. Awesome.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for coming on money to
Speaker 1: make conversations. Uh, I know that you are a star
Speaker 1: behind the scenes. I hope why they put too much
Speaker 1: pressure with my coutions. But you tell the great story
Speaker 1: and you take a great tell the great HBCU story
Speaker 1: and My whole thing is about pulling those diamonds. And
Speaker 1: you are a diamond. You are a person that arrested,
Speaker 1: recognized success story and Millennial awards. You're looking like you
Speaker 1: it be a champion back the super Bowl, champion in
Speaker 1: your cabinet. Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversations
Speaker 1: a lot of times. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. If you want to hear more interviews
Speaker 1: on money making conversations, please go to money Making Conversation
Speaker 1: dot com. I'm with Sean McDonald. I am your host.
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