Black Perspective: November 5, 2023

This week on The Black Perspective, we speak to a woman who survived Breast Cancer, a lawyer turned children's book author; Aloe Black joins us to talk about the Big Brother Big Sisters of America, and John Hope Bryant talks to Doug Davis about business.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's November fifth, and today wespeak to a woman who survived a breast
cancer. A lawyer turned a children'sbook author, Alow Black joins us to
talk about Big Brothers and Big Sistersof America, and John Hope Bryant talks
to Doug Davis about business, thosestories and more. Welcome to the Black
Perspective. I'm your host, MikeIsland. Welcome to the Black Perspective,

(00:22):
a weekly community affairs program on theBlack Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and
the Black Information Network had the opportunityto talk with several survivors of the disease,
including Micah Logan. Logan spoke withour bree Would about her journey and

(00:43):
passionate mission to inform Black women oftheir risks of developing the disease, no
matter their age. Here's brief onthis first Sunday episode of The Gospel Truth.
We are talking to Black women abouttheir stories of survival. Although breast
cancer for women under the age offorty is not as common, every woman
should remain vigilant in being aware oftheir individual risk factors. For Black women,

(01:04):
were diagnosed with cancer at a lowerrate than white women, but the
American Cancer Society says we have aforty percent higher death rate as young women.
We've been told not to worry aboutgetting mammograms due to lower risk,
but as we know, cancer strikesat any age. Today, I have
the pleasure of speaking with media personality, author, advocate, and breast cancer
survivor Micah mL six logan. Micah, thanks so much for joining me.

(01:27):
I appreciate you for having me.Thank you, thank you for having me.
I've been following you on social mediafor a while, so I've kind
of had a front row seat toeverything that you've shared about your personal health
journey and struggles, but also howyou've overcome those challenges and helped other young
women along the way. Would youplease share a bit of your story with
our audience about the news that changedyour life forever for sure. So in

(01:49):
twenty thirteen, I was already goingto the doctor because I was having issues
with my cycle. I was tryingto figure out what was going on with
it. And what happened is itled us up to my annual So you
know, we go to our annuals. No Biggie you gotta do what it
is, what it is. AndI'm laying down on the counter and you
know, she's doing the test.You know, when they do the test,
they ask you, have you doneyourself? Resume them. Then you're

(02:12):
just like you don't want to lie, but you're kind of like you don't
want to look bad, and you'relike, yeah, I mean sometimes.
And so she's filling around my rightbreast and she goes hm, and I'm
like, hmm, what is that. She goes to my left, she
goes back to my right, andthen she says hold on, and then
she comes back with my ob andshe's feeling around and they continue with the
test and they say, you knowwhat, We're gonna send you to get
a mammogram. Now, I'll behonest with you, I didn't even know

(02:34):
how to spell mammogram. It wasn'ta part of my vocabulary. I was
like, what are you talking about? To the point that I left the
number at the doctor's office because Iwas like, nothing's wrong with me.
They called me the next morning andthey were like, hey, you need
to go to this appointment. SoI go to the appointment and I see
this machine and I have to liftand big press, and I'm like,
what is happening. I'm doing allthese tests and they're like, you know,
we'll let you know. I haveto come back do a biopsy.

(02:57):
Like a week later. I'm onair. Was a Friday, and I
get the call and I answered,because in my mind, surely you're not
about to tell me anything bad,so I can answer while I'm on air.
She's talking to me. She said, hey, we tested it.
One came back behind, but theother one we need you to come in.
And I'm sorry. I said,I'm sorry, what And she said,
we need you to come in andwe found something. She was talking,

(03:17):
but I didn't hear nothing she wassaying. So we get off the
phone. I finished my show.I go and talk to my boss and
he looks at my face because Ilet him know that I had been going
to the doctor, and he said, let me know what they say.
Get to the doctor's office. Mygrandmother, who was living at the time,
my aunt, my cousins ain't metme down there. But I'm not
hearing what she's saying. My auntand my grandmother are taking notes. All

(03:38):
I heard was you have stage twoin base abductor carsonoma, breast cancer.
I'm thinking, in my mind,what did I do to deserve this?
I was thirty one years old,thirty thirty one one, and in my
mind you always see older women,They always capitalize it to be an older
woman's disease on the billboards, ontelevision, see younger women talking about it.

(04:00):
So I'm thinking, what is happeningshook. After that, it was
just NonStop doctor's appointments, visits,hoking, pridding, trying to figure out
where did it come from. Buthere's the crazy thing. At the beginning
of twenty thirteen, I asked Godto do three things. Increase my faith,
helped me to appreciate my job more, and for me to be more
active in the community. And youknow when they say, be careful what

(04:23):
you asked for. Ironically, thosethree prayers were answered through my diagnosis.
Wow, I went through eighteen weeksof chemotherapy. I had to have a
lumpectomy. They had to wait tillits shrunken side because they did not know.
I remember when my doctor told meshe cried because I was her youngest
patient. She had never had apatient with breast cancer as young as I
did. No imagine I'm on air, I'm doing events. I've already had

(04:44):
my hair. My hair at thetime was already cut short. I was
doing crazy things with my hair backthen. And I remember after my first
chemo treatment, my hair started fallingout, and I called my dad and
he was like, why don't weget in front of it. I said,
what do you mean? He waslike, let's go to the barber
shop. Instead of you waiting foryour hair to fall out, let's take
it for So I called one ofthe homies. My daddy was on the
phone, went to the barber shop. When I sat down at the barber
chair, it was really interesting aboutit. The barber at the time,

(05:06):
his wife had just gone through it, so he was familiar, and he
talked me through it. He talkedme through my tears. I remember getting
out the barber chair and everybody applaudedme. I went to the mag got
me some cute earrings and got mesome glasses. It was hot. It
was in the summertime. Girls,it was like you could weren't a wig.
And I rocked my baldy and Irocked it with such pride, and

(05:27):
at that time, nobody knew reallywhat I had going on. I didn't
want to tell my listening audience untilI was halfway through my treatments. And
when I decided to do it onair, all the men at my station
they walked in and they shaved theirheads and they stood behind me and they
stood with me. As I toldthe Tennessee Valley what was going on with
me. The phones blew up.Husbands calling talking about their wives and you

(05:50):
know they're going through with their wives. Women telling me, Oh my goodness,
I've had to go. I'm scaredto go. It was just crazy,
the conversations within our que unity thatwere kind of tucked that there was
a freedom in it by me announcingmy story, and it's so many of
us, and I committed to myself, no matter how old I get,

(06:12):
I'm going to always advocate for theyoung woman because those voices need to be
heard. They do, those storiesneed to be told, especially within our
community. And the problem is someof these young women, myself included,
have gone to the doctor and maybehad a complaint and were not taken seriously.
And you're not taking That opens awhole nother conversation. But it's just
like if you feel internally that somethingis wrong, and you have a doctor

(06:34):
who is telling you, hey,no, you're too young. You don't
need that right now. Listen,you can wait. If you know deep
down within that something is not rightwith you, you need to go get
a second opinion and keep you toadvocate for yourself exactly, have to advocate
for yourself because had I not goneto my appointment, real talk, if
I had not gone to my appointment, my my annual, just my basic

(06:56):
annual, mind, I go everyyear. Within a year's time, I
had a tumor growing in my sizethirty four sea breasts almost the size of
an range like and the thirty fourseed isn't that big. You have to
imagine how much of that tumor wasinside my breast and also was an indicator
for me, I had an invertednipple. I just thought that, you
know, it was a birth defector something I didn't know. Come to
find out that was a symptom.These are things that I had no idea

(07:19):
about. And it's all because youkept your appointment, and with all that
so important, Yes it is.And you've talked about losing your hair and
just kind of rocking it from thejump even though it was. It probably
hit your confidence a little bit.And we have women who may be listening
who are like, listen, I'mnot that strong. You know, some
of us are attached to our hair. We don't know what we would look

(07:40):
like bald. The fact that youhave chosen to maintain that look and you
look amazing, by the way withshort hair, I mean, it's just
incredible. Did that help you regainyour confidence by just accepting that look and
rocking it to the best of yourability? What brought you to that level
of acceptance with your new appearance?My dad, it really was my dad.
The voice of your father. It'shard for my mom takes upt but

(08:01):
my dad really, you know,it was his little chocolate drop. And
it's so ironic because today is theanniversary of his death, and so even
me talking about him today, that'swhy I've just been like all over the
place. I've just been deep inmy feelings. So when you, even
when you reached out for the day, I didn't realize that it was today.
But it's so on brand. It'sit's just so on brand because he
was so influential in my healing processand in my self esteem and in my

(08:24):
confidence. He let me know,Like, listen, you have this,
but it don't have you. Yougonna be okay. You're still beautiful,
You're still strong, you're still powerful, you're still intelligent, you gonna rocket.
And real talk, getting in theshower with no hair and not having
to worry about anything in your waywas like the best feeling liberating, right,

(08:45):
Like I just started looking at thepositive things that were happening in the
midst of the negative and really likemoving forward. It was really a mental
thing. Like as much as ifit was happening to me physically, the
mental aspect of it. I hadto find spaces within myself to keep pushing,
right, I had to, Butthere was nothing like getting in that
shower and it was this great liberationand freedom. And I have been chasing

(09:09):
that liberation and freedom and standing init ever since ten years later. Like
I don't even know what to lookfor at the beauty supply store, like
all this new stuff. I don'thave any idea like what it is like
anymore. No, it's not.I am free from all of that.
But I say this though, forthe women out there that aren't there,
it's okay, you know what I'msaying. Like it's okay. I never

(09:31):
push that on anybody. That isreally something that you have to feel within,
because it's not for everybody. WhenI was told that I might have
to have a double missectomy or theymay have to cut it off, I
didn't realize how important my breastword ofme and to you know, just me
as a woman. But then Ihad to say to myself, well,
even when I wanted to get thebreast augmentation, like I wanted to get
inmplants and stuff, I couldn't likeright now, like my breast are extremely

(09:52):
uneven, like they just are,but I couldn't because of where my scar
is and where my surgery was,And so I had to think about it.
Me having perfect breast worth my life. No, but I had to
remove the vanity aspect from what wasin front of me and really pay attention
to the main thing. So everyday even now, when I look at
my little aren't even bread for me, it's like your scars are like the

(10:13):
proof that God is good, andfor me, the uneveness the scars are
the proof that God is good.Like I am still here. When I
was going through the process, Iwent to Young Women's funerals. It was
so hard, like you're looking atyourself like this could be me, but
it's not. I'm here and Itold God, no matter what happens,

(10:35):
as long as I live, Iwant to tell the story of how I
made it over because it was nothingbut his grace that pulled me through.
There were nights where I felt likeMike Tyson, Boy Mayweather and the vander
Holyfield were literally beating me up atnight from the medication. But I would
get up every day and I wouldgo to work. The only days I
didn't go to work is when Ihad Keema. I was determined to live

(10:56):
in the midst of everything. Nowlooking back at it, I probably should
have rested more. I was determinedto live. That means if I was
going to go to a baby shower, I might be sleep in the corner,
but I'm gonna celebrate life, right. I wanted to go on a
family trip. I had to getdouble chemo, but I wanted to celebrate,
and I'm so glad I did becausethat was one of the last family
trips that I was able to takewith my dad. Like, I just
had to change my perspective on it. I had to really look at life

(11:18):
differently, cut out all the stress, like some stuff really doesn't matter right.
And I had to realize that noteverybody can go through everything with you,
and that's okay. It's nothing tobe mad about. Maybe you guys
can pick up on the other end. But I'm not gonna sit here and
make you feel better about my diagnosis. I don't have time for that.
But what I can do is say, listen, when I get better,
we can talk about it. Afteryou deal with your emotions. I'm gonna

(11:41):
deal with my hamming. And it'sokay. Some people really just can't be
along with you on the journey.That's very true. And you speak about
that. You've written a book andit's called Yeah, just first Season.
I had cancer, but it didn'thave me. I loved that title.
Was that therapeutic for you in away to get all of that out out?
It was? And here's the thing, it's just one long chapter because

(12:01):
it was one chapter in my life. That's it. It was just that
season. And when I felt likewriting, I would the things and the
emotions that I felt in moments thatI could remember, I wrote it down.
I wanted to give a very personallook at what it is for a
young woman at the age of thirtyone going through cancer, what it looks
like when you're trying to date,when you're trying to just be you know,

(12:24):
go on vacation and planning trips andthings of that nature. There was
no information out there, There wereno stories out there that I could relate
to. And I just wanted tohave something for young women to go to
to just have to read, evenwhile they're sitting at their three hour treatment,
that they could say, y'all,I relate to this. That's so
important. And you ten years cancerfree. Congratulations again, that is amazing.

(12:46):
Every day is a celebration. AndI saw that you recently shared on
your social media that your mother iscelebrating five years cancer free. Yes,
so ironically after me, she gotit. And that was so crazy because
it was the year after my fatherpassed. It's been a crazy ten years.
And I remember going to I wasat the nail shop when she told
me, and I remember it prayingto God, all right, God,

(13:07):
but this is where we are.Just please don't have her go through what
I went through. I didn't wantto have to go through the chemo.
I didn't want to have to gothrough the surgery, things of that nature.
It was stage one and all shehad to do was radiation and she
had to do appeal, and Iwas grateful for that. And for me
to get it first was so baffling. Yeah, and then for her to
get it grin HER's was stage oneand it not being our gene test.

(13:28):
We were just like, Okay,God, what's going on here? Watching
me go through it was so hardfor her, and it was certain things
that she didn't understand, and Inever wanted her to have to go through
it to understand what I went through. And again, our journeys were different.
However, I say this, Ibelieve God allowed me to get it
first, to hold her hand throughher journey. I love my mom like
it was me and her before sheeven met my dad. He and my

(13:52):
dad married when I was ten,and so a lot of her push has
come for me, you know,like Wayne State and then getting two PhDs,
having her own private practice in Detroit, Like a lot of that came
from her having me single mom.There was a strength that was early in
me, and I believe that thatstrength God allowed to be amplified to help
push her through. I remember hercalling me from the doctor's office because she

(14:13):
didn't want to take the pill.I said, put me on the phone
with the doctor. I said,listen, what is it that she needs
to do? I said, Idon't even understand why we even going back
and forth with this. Please writea prescription. Mom, You're going to
take the pill. This is whatyou're gonna do, and you're gonna do
it for how long you need todo it. Because I've already lost one
parent, I'm not losing another discussionover And that was just that. And
it was just like I had toparent my mom through it, like we're
not about to play with this.And so I believe that God allowed that

(14:37):
to even happen because he knew likeshe was going to leave my voice and
my strength. Wow, that's incredible. Thank you so much for sharing with
me today. And where can peoplefind you on social media? If they'd
like to follow your work and youradvocacy. Hit me up. I am
always available in my inboxes m LUnderscore six. The best way to hit
me is on Instagram. I havea Facebook, but Facebook is different,

(15:00):
real ghetto over there. If michaehLogan on Facebook and my thcha LGN,
but the best way to contact meis definitely Instagram, m L Underscore six
Micah mL six logan, thank youso much for your time today. I
appreciate you. Thank you for havingme. We have a Michigan connection.
My hometown is Detrait, Michigan,so I'm so grateful that you spoke to

(15:24):
me today, and this is goingto help a lot of people. It
was great information. I appreciate you. Thank you, no problem, be
blessed, and remember, ladies,do your checks and advocate for yourself.
That's right. Thank you, Thanksbre and again. The title of Micah's
book is just for a Season.I had cancer, but it didn't have
me. You can purchase the bookonline at micahlgan dot com. If you've

(15:48):
ever thought about writing a children's book, this next interview might just inspire you
to buckle down and write one.This next guest was an attorney who was
going through a nasty divorce when shedecided to try her hand at writing the
first of a series that is nowan international success. The Black Information Networks.
Esther Dillard set down with the authorand creator of The Dork Diaries.

(16:11):
I'm Aster Dillard on the Black InformationNetwork, chatting with writers and authors who
offer an added perspective for our listeners. This is the color between the lines
on this edition of the color betweenthe lines. We're talking to the author
and the illustrator of a very popularbook series called The Dork Diaries, and

(16:34):
to give you an idea how successfulthis book is or this series is.
I should say this is the fifteenthedition and my research shows that they're over
fifty five million copies of the DorkDiary books in print in the United States
and publishing rights have been sold inforty two different countries with translations in thirty

(16:55):
eight different languages. So that issome of the idea of how popular or
this book as. Some of theawards include two Children's Books Awards and NAACP
Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work forChildren and the Milner Award for Children's Literature.
Welcome Ray Children, Nae Russell andNikki Russell to the bi n Thank

(17:17):
you for having to be here.That's awesome. I guess can you explain
because for some of our readers whomay not know about The Dork Diaries,
what is a dork and why doyou think that so many kids identify with
this word? I want to answerto that. Sure. So, a
dork is somebody who stands out becausethey are unique. They dance of their

(17:40):
own drummer. They may be atheater kid, they might be a math
whiz. They might be somebody who'sjust really good at something, or they
might be somebody who's still trying tofind their talent and their gift and their
voice. But whatever it is theydo, they tend to stand out and
they tend not to fit into anyparticular clap, crowd, group or click

(18:02):
and for that reason, they canget bullied, teased, or made fun
of because they make other kids whoare more afraid to stand out feel insecure.
And that my understanding is that themain character is based on you,
Nikki, who was the door thatthe inspiration for the character. I wanted
to know, Rachel, what canyou tell our audience why your daughter inspired

(18:25):
you for this character? And Ihave to ask you why did you make
her white in the book? Okay, First of all, Niki has inherited
her dad's hide. Her dad islike six' four, so she got
his gene for tallness. So inkindergarten she looked like maybe a third grader
in the third grade. She lookedlike a fifth or sixth grader, and

(18:45):
so on and so on. Sobecause Nikki was tall and stood out,
kids just they if it wasn't eventill the extreme of bullying, they teased
her and they made her feel uncomfortable, and there was just an issue something
that her older sister had the samething, same issues. The kids just
were, you know, not alwaysthe kindest to both of them. The

(19:08):
character ended up being white because weinitially had a black Nikki and it was
based on my daughter, and unfortunatelywe could not sell it. We cannot
publishers. And this was in twothousand and nine, so it's not today.
As a matter of fact, asIdols saying goes, I walked so
the authors behind me, especially AfricanAmerican authors, could run. So I

(19:30):
was kind of a guinea pig beforeme. Most of the books that were
sold to publishers, and the booksthey were interested in dealt with slavery,
civil rights, the teen moms beingpregnant, young black men you know,
ending up in jail or president wasare as they call it, black pain.

(19:51):
So and again I'm not criticizing,you know, black authors that write
about black pain, because that isvery very much a part of our culture.
But for middle grade, which areyounger kids. I wanted to do
something upbeat and more inspiring, eventhough I dealt with bullying and when to
have a black main character that wasnot dealing with the standard tropes that black

(20:14):
characters have to deal with. Thatwas, you know, something they hadn't
seen, you know. And again, even though it was still bullying,
it was a lighthearted book. Itwas funny, and it's a very very
funny book, even though we're dealingwith some serious issues issues and the challenges
that Nicky Maxwell has, but withan African American character, I wish it
would have gotten picked up with theLittle Brown Girl as a main character.

(20:37):
So I had to make the decisionto either give it up or kind of
you know, go back to thedrawing board and rework it, knowing that
once I could get published, onceI could launch a series. Now I
can write whoever I want to,whatever color I want to, and whatever
story I want to and the sameperson. And this was inspiring to me.
Sean de Ryan said the same thing. If I'm correct, her original

(21:00):
television show that was based on thehouse. I can't recall the name right
now, but Ray's Anatomy had ablack doctor, a black cast. I
think it was set in an urbaninner city hospital. And then when she
went to sell it, they like, we love the idea, but we
want to change things up. Soit ended up you know what it is
today. So she had the samepredicament. Does she say no, it

(21:23):
has to be this or I don'twant to do it, or does she
take that opportunity make those changes knowingthat down on the line there's a possibility
she'll have a clout and the abilityto write what she wants to down the
line. So Shadda rises where Iwant to be because she has television shows
and black days and whatever. I'mstill trying to get there. I think

(21:47):
I have the clout to pretty much. And well, yeah, we're our
planning a fantasy and it's I shouldn'tprobably tell you, but it's a fantasy
and it does have black main characters. Well, Renee, I really I
love the fact that you were ableto explain that very well, because I
knew I had to ask that question, and I said, I had to
get asked out a lot, andI appreciate being asked and I'm not said

(22:08):
because I don't just want to complainand you know whatever, But that is
fine. Nikki. We have theoriginal draft of Door Diaries and it was
it's just like Nikki, little browngirl with curly hair, and then the
other weird things. The book onewith the real Nicky Maxwell, she was
going to Paris, if you canbelieve that, in two thousand and seven,
I was sending the Nikki that lookslike this, Nikki two Paris.

(22:30):
It was our book one was Paris. Whereas we've evolved and now for the
our current Nicki Maxwell, she's goingto Paris in her fifteenth book, whereas
our original Nicky Maxwell was going.The whole theme of that first book was
her trying to get to Paris withthe French clubs. It's wonderful that you're
able to be such an inspiration tomany other writers who are trying to get

(22:51):
where you are and having it's easiernow now, I mean, oh my
gosh, especially young black authors thatare writing black you know, magicians and
dancers and just everything. So it'snot always about you know, black pain
if we want to call it,and now you know, just lighter hearted,

(23:11):
just a lot of characters. Butwhat I was able to do in
spite of Russians, in spite ofbut Nicky Maxwell, we did have to
change her race to kind of getpublished. But her best friend Zoe is
African American, her best friend Chloeis Latina, and we have like all
ethnicities, and we have a violenceand a wheelchair. So in spite of

(23:33):
kind of having that setback of notbeing able to make Nicky Maxwell look like
the real of making her namesake,we were still able to make it probably
one of the books that have themost diverse main characters. Well, interviews
I've seen with you in the past, you've explained how you and your daughter
collaborate with each other, and you'vedone that over the years, and you

(23:53):
do the illustrating. How did thatall come about? As far as the
illustrations coming from you, What aresome of the challenges to writing writing these
kind of books? So I willstart by describing, well the first parts
kind of it has two answers.Number one, I started off as an
elementary school teacher. I was teachingfirst grade when my mom asked me to

(24:18):
join her Dork Diaries team, andI've been the illustrator ever since because I
really enjoy working with her. Anddoing what I love, which is our
and drawing. And then the secondanswer to the question is we have a
collaborative process that works like a cycle. Mom starts off by creating a rough

(24:41):
draft of the book, and thenshe includes art instructions, and she provides
those art instructions to me along withthe pages, so I can read them
and get some context with the artwork. I can use it as a chapter
at a time, also chapter andthen the second chapter book after she gets
the first chapter. So I useher instructions to create artwork, and then

(25:03):
I give the artwork to her,and then she looks at the artwork,
and then she goes back and refindswhat she writes. Sometimes she even starts
to other guys everything I did startover, because it's almost like I had
in my like imagination the artwork,and the when I get it back,
it's always like ten times better thanthe art work, I imagine. So
in some cases I'll even just startover from scratch and just write purely off

(25:26):
of the images that she's given me, and it's always better, bigger,
bolder, and funnier, you know, than my initial draft. For those
of you who are just joining us, I'm Ester Dillard from the Black Information
Network, and I'm speaking to bestselling author Rachel Renee Russell and her daughter
Nikki about the latest installment of TheDork Diaries, tails from a not so

(25:48):
posh Paris adventure. What can youtell us that we can expect from Nicky
Maxwell and her friends in the fifteenthinstallment of the best selling series. Okay,
i'll tell you too. I woulddon't want to tell you too much
because I want you to read thebooks, so no spoilers. But Nikki
and her band get offered to bethe front cover of a major magazine in

(26:10):
Paris. So the offer is thatif she can get her friends together and
get everybody available and scheduled, thatthey would fly them to Paris for this
event. The problem is that it'ssummer and it's actually just a few weeks
before school starts again, so allof her friends are like, you know,
going places and traveling, and they'resome of us are in competitions,

(26:32):
and so she can't reveal what thetrip is about because she can't because it's
she was told that by the producer. So she has to try to rain
in all of her friends, getthem all scheduled and get them all in
line to be available to go toParis for ten days, but she can't
tell them why. So that's partof her challenge. And then after it

(26:56):
becomes apparent that they may be going, she has she was getting to the
air forward is just one problem afteranother. But it's a very very interesting
story. Yeah, it has alot of little ins and outs that I
watched a lot of ins and outsfor Nikki. I know that you probably
kind of try and make your illustrationsinteresting and everything else. How did you,

(27:17):
I guess were you an art majorand that you moved into this.
You know you mentioned that you werea teacher, but was that art's always
part of your life and that youwere able to hone it into this.
So I've always loved art, enjoyingas a kid and then growing up my
mom let me do arts summer camp, growing up at Kindle Art College in

(27:42):
Grand Rapids, Michigan, where welived at the time. Wow, and
are always stuck with me now.When I went to the University of Michigan,
I majored in elementary education, butI also had a minor in fine
arts and that's how I kept donePattic seeing my art skills. But I'm

(28:03):
very grateful for how I am turningmy hobby into a career. I'm glad
that my mom gave me that opportunityand it's been a lot of fun and
a blessing. Yeah, and you'redefinitely inspiring to probably a lot of young
artists who don't think that they couldever do something like this, and you

(28:26):
say, no, I did it, and that was that wasn't my focus
at the beginning, right, Absolutely, That's what I say too, with
all the people that feel like theycould they have a book in them,
or they want to sit down andtry to write a book, be it
fiction or nonfiction. If I cando it, everybody else can do it.
So you have to just be disciplinedenough to sit down and you know,
work through your project. So that'smy message to that if anybody that's

(28:49):
inspired to write a book, especiallychildren's books, just sit down and put
in the time and go for it. Well, I understand you started this
series at a very very difficult timein your life. You're in the middle
of a divorce, I believe.Can you can you talk about that?
Oh? Yeah, it was itwas kind of the I would say it
was probably the most difficult time inmy life period. My marriage had pretty

(29:15):
much fallen apart. My ex husbandwas living in another state, and I
was still at home in our marylhome. Financially things were bad. So
in the end, my house orour house ended up in foreclosure, car
got repossessed. It was just reallyreally bad. But you know, everybody's

(29:37):
an adult and people make decisions,and so he wanted to start a new
life in a new state. Andthen I was pretty much, you know,
just I'm wondering, you know howI got hit by this trade.
So in the end, I andsince the house was in foreclosure, I
packed up and moved to northern Virginia. That's where we are now. This

(29:59):
was like in two two thousand aChristmas, who was like two days before
Christmas, as you and I,we spent Christmas at my sister's house because
we moved out of the other houseat Michigan. And at that time the
manuscript had been sent out. Andthen gentlemen, and he was very young
too, because I didn't know hewas like only a few years older than
Nikki and the same age as myolder daughter. But he was a brand

(30:21):
new literary agent and hungry. AndI was hungry to this disastrous time of
my life. And I'm a consumerbankruptcy attorney too, so basically I had
the finances to survive very well.But I had two children in University of
Michigan, and because I'm an attorneyand my exubnan was a dentist, they
were giving us no financial aid.So every penny I got went to University

(30:44):
of Michigan to keep both of mygirls in school so that they can graduate.
So, to make a long storyshort, we ended up moving to
Northern Virginia because I have a sisterhere that's a dentist and she was building
a new home. She had asmaller home that she was going to run
out, and I'm like, well, maybe I can read it, So
we moved here. The manuscript wentto the literary agent. Not only was

(31:07):
their interests in it being purchased,it went to auction because there were several
publishers that wanted it. And insteadof I mean, we could just pick
what publisher, but the best wayis to say, Okay, if you
want it, let's say who paysme the most money. And that's what
happens when a book is auctioned off, So Dork Diaries went to auction.
I think my divorce was finalized inMay of two thousand and nine, and

(31:30):
I made the New York Times Bestsellersthe first week in June of two thousand
and nine. Is there a godds, Oh my god, this is a
lifetime movie. Oh my goodness.So yeah, my divorce was finalized,
like I said, end to May, and then like within I'd say ten
days to fourteen days. Dork Diarieswere released and immediately hit the New York
Times bestseller's list, and I'm like, oh, okay, that's gonna work,

(31:52):
you know. Thank you. Iappreciate both of you coming, and
thanks so much for joining us onthe vin. Thank you so much for
having us. Oh that's it forthis edition of The Color Between the Lines.
The book is The Dork Diaries,Tales from a not so posh Paris
adventure. I'm Ester Dillard on theBlack Information Network, Thanks Alster. Since

(32:19):
nineteen oh four, Big Brothers BigSisters has operated under the belief that inherent
in every child is incredible potential.As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported
mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sistersmakes meaningful monitored matches between adult volunteers called
bigs and children called Little's ages fivethrough young adulthood, and communities across the
country. The Black Information Networks rams'sJaw speaks to music artist Alo Black and

(32:45):
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Presidentartist Stevens. They talk about their new
initiative to recruit mentors. Thanks Mike. Today, one in three kids in
America is growing up without a sustainedadult mentor in their lives. In addition,
over thirty thousand young people on theBig Brothers Big Sisters of America's national
wait list, with the majority beingboys of color, waiting to be matched

(33:06):
with a mentor. This urgent needfuels the purpose of the bbbsa's Game Changers
initiatives as an opportunity for influential leadersfrom diverse backgrounds to reinforce that mentorship isn't
just nice to have, it's anecessity. Current Game Changers include Damon John
Offubu and today's very special guest,Alo Black. All right, mister Alo
Black, welcome to the show.How are you doing today, sir?

(33:29):
Thank you, I'm doing great,and thank you for having me on the
show. Absolutely and you brought afriend. You brought the one the only
artist, Stevens, who is theCEO, Big Dog of Big Brothers,
Big President of I had the opportunityto meet artists at an event where I
was singing and we had a conversation. He told me about the organization and

(33:50):
how mentorship was extremely important for youth, and it inspired me and inspired me
to get involved in the best waythat I know how, which is to
use my voice to help amplify theorganization. So I decided to write a
song about the concept of mentorship.I was inspired by these adults would lend
their time, their hearts, theirexperience to these young folks who are really

(34:16):
just looking for a friend, lookingfor a way to navigate the world.
Sure, sure, and artists.So what was this like getting to work
with Alo and to get this newmusic out that kind of helps bolster your
mission with the Big Brothers Big Sistersof America. Yeah, well, you

(34:36):
know, I'll tell you. Anyonewho've had the opportunity to meet Alo,
I know a lot of times yousee him. Of course you hear his
incredible talent in music. But whatI always say to people is that he's
more incredible if I could even bebelieved as a person right in his humanitarian
efforts, his sense of purpose andimpact. And I think that's why Big

(34:59):
Brothers, Sisters and Alo instantly connected, right, we connected, but he
connected with this mission. And whatI'll share is that in creating this song,
what it's done for us is createda platform to raise the awareness about
our mission and the work of mentorshipacross this country and access for kids.
As you mentioned earlier, you know, we had thousands of young people on

(35:22):
our waiting lists. Most of thoseyoung people are boys. Most of those
boys are boys of color, andwe're looking to attract more mental color in
our organization. And the power ofsong, the power of engagement, the
power of the community. It's sothreaded within the song that allows us to
talk about the relationships that Big BrothersBig Sisters help create every day and the
opportunity to do more. Sure Sure, And you know something that's interesting about

(35:46):
this particular partnership and connection is youknow, as we heard in the beginning
of the show, Alo, you'vefamously used your platform to highlight lots of
different and political and social issues throughoutyour career. So I could see this
partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters ofAmerica being particularly meaningful instead of just lending

(36:09):
your celebrity to something, this feelslike a cause that actually moves you.
And I know that for you artists, it moves you. I can feel
it in your voice. So anythoughts on what I'm saying in terms of
like the attractiveness of this particular synergy, how did it hit you initially as
a hip hop artist and then movinginto singing. I'm informed by artists who

(36:34):
use their voice for positive social transformation, So I consider myself an artist,
and this particular relationship with Big BrothersBig Sisters of America stems from the kind
of work that I've been doing inthe realm of criminal justice reform, juvenile
justice reform, looking at the landscapeof our prison systems and wanting to transform

(36:55):
basically the Carcel State, but reckingthat we can't just keep putting a band
aid on the solution. We haveto go systemic, We have to go
deep, and the real healing balmis what Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's
doing is creating mentorships, relationships,creating connection to eliminate sort of the loneliness,

(37:16):
the depression, the lack of selfconfidence, and building a whole generation
and generation after generation of youth whocan grow up feeling confident, feeling like
they understand themselves and they understand theirposition, their place in the world,
and how to be a constructive andpositive citizen in the world. I think

(37:37):
that by me, getting engaged witha song is the first and easy step,
right and working with different organizations,quite often I'm asked to sing out
an event or post a social mediaasset. But those things are ephemeral.
They mean a lot, and theyare very symbolic. But a song is

(37:59):
a legacy and last forever, andwith that attachment, this song will always
continue to speak about mentorship and BigBrothers Big Sisters and continue to highlight the
work that they do and call infolks to be part of the mission and
artists. You know, we heardAlo kind of touch on it a little
bit, but I'd like to askyou too, of course, at the

(38:21):
helm of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, what are some of the outcomes that
the organization is hoping to see,Like something that's along the lines of a
mission statement for the Big Brothers BigSisters of America. One of the things
that we always talk about and aspart of this initiative that Alo is helping
to lead with a group of otherambassadors called game Changers. Right. So,

(38:43):
the whole idea of Game Changers isto create this kind of generational changing
type of opportunity in young people's lives. I think many of us remember growing
up in our communities where that wholeconcept of you can see it, you
can be it, right, andthat resonates in terms of our story and
what we see impacting with kids.By the way, you know, I'm
the first black CEO of this organizationone hundred and nineteen years and one of

(39:06):
the things that I credit to thatis that in my community, I saw
I saw men, I saw peoplethat look like me, right, who
had the same background experiences in methat showed me that I could be in
a role like this. Right.I wasn't thinking about this role at that
moment, but I saw those typesof experiences in connection. And that's what
we want for more kids. Right. So here's what it means for us.
It means more. It means morementors coming into this organization. Right,

(39:30):
So we want to be able todouble, the triple the number of
mentors that come into this organization togrow the size and scale. As you
said up on top, one inthree kids don't have positive sustained mentors.
We want to open up doors andopen up access for millions of more kids,
right fifteen to sixteen million kids inthis country to have access points and
opportunities and exposure. Our fastest growingpopulation that we're serving today. We traditionally

(39:54):
served five to eighteen young adults.Our fastest growing population is eighteen to twenty
five young adults, and a lotof people don't realize that. And the
reason why for your listeners is becausekids are graduating high school or getting close
and they're asking what's next? Howdo I even throw out the fast foot
form? How do I interview fora job? So what we want to

(40:14):
do is ensure that there's more careermentoring and workplace mentoring so that we can
help young people get into skills,into jobs and it makes something for some
it may be education in college,for others, it may be direct to
job, entrepreneurship, other opportunities.But if they don't get accessed, if
they don't understand the pipeline and theexposure the way to get there, then
it's hard to be able to supportkids don't know what's out there and what's

(40:36):
available. And then the last thingI'll say to your question is we have
an epidemic in our country around mentalhealth, right and social isolation and young
people feeling like they don't belong andthey don't feel connected in their sense of
themselves. So one of the thingsthat we're trying to do is to train
volunteers, positive adults and staff andwhat we call mental health first A and

(40:58):
what that essentially is. You don'thave to be a mental health expert,
but it's the idea of more peopleunderstanding how to identify and support young people
in their lives when there are mentalhealth challenges or mental health things that they
go through, and to be ableto connect with them in positive and constructive
ways so that we're supporting those typesof relationships and that young people are navigating
life much more successfully. Right.It doesn't take a lot, that's the

(41:22):
bottom line. It just takes alittle to truly make the type of impact
that it takes people being present,showing up and giving their time. So
let's talk a bit more about yourrole alo as a game changer. Game
change is all about sharing stories,you know, for me sharing the stories
about how mentorship helped me as artistsmentioned, you know, young adults from

(41:43):
eighteen to twenty five of the largestgrowing demographic looking for mentorship. And that's
when I was able to have areally great mentorship relationship with some folks who
offered me an opportunity for an internship. Showed me what corporate America looked like,
made me understand that I was capableand I was deserving. That was
really important. And it's our jobas well as you know, as a

(42:04):
game changer to make connections to opendoors. I have a huge network of
different folks who could potentially be mentors, but not only that, folks who
can help to amplify the message,and all the folks who can donate to
the cause to big brothers big sistersin America so that they can continue to
do the amazing work that they're doing. And just to create experiences, you
know, I have concerts and eventsand opportunities for young folks who are potential

(42:31):
mentees to get involved and have oncein a lifetime experiences. So this is
the way that I will engage.All right, So let's talk about your
new song. Never let You Down, as that's what you were teasing at
the top of the show. Whatwent into the lyrics. I had a
chance to hear it sounds. It'sa new sound for me. I know
you've kind of been on this fora while, but you know kind of

(42:52):
the reggae sound to it. Iwas like, okay, I see it.
So talk about kind of the thoughtprocess that went into writing this song,
comes from lived experience or if thisis something that you're envisioning or you
know, just talk about for sure. Never let You Down is a song
about the relationship between someone who ishelping another person find their way and just

(43:15):
feel comfortable in their own skin.And it was inspired by the organization's meaningful
work of pairing a big with alittle adult mentor with a youth mentee who
is really just looking for connection.When I write the lyric and the chorus,
when it's your time to shine,I'll never let you down. Your

(43:36):
struggle is mine, I'll never letyou down. These are the kind of
things that make somebody feel like they'reseen, and I feel like the song
helps to represent that unique relationship.Artists, I want to talk to you
about because you mentioned something that wetalk about quite a bit on the show,
which is mental health. I wantyou to talk to us about maybe

(43:57):
some of the stories that you mayhave come across, may have heard or
witnessed yourself firsthand, where mental healthsupport and advocacy may have made a difference
in the lives in the life ofa young person. So we have a
program called Bigs and Littles of theYear where we celebrate and honor every year

(44:19):
the national ward to who's our Bigof the Year, who's a positive adult,
and then our Little of the Year, the young person with their match
with and one of the littles hisname is Jalen and he's at our Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles.And I always think about Jalen because Jalen
is one of these kids who willsay, hey, When I first got

(44:42):
into the program, I was veryshy, insular, right. That gave
him challenges in terms of his ownmental health and finding his own strength.
But it's when he had the opportunityto meet his big that he started to
come out and I feel, well, Okay, I have much more anchor
and who I am and what I'mabout in my belief in myself and a

(45:06):
lot of it. Again, wasn'tso much about you know, this this
thing of an adult having to bea therapist. It wasn't about that at
all. It wasn't having that levelof expertise. But it's just being a
friend and being connected and being presentin their life. And Alo used the
word. I think it is justso powerful because we use it all the
time. Right, village. It'sgrown and expanding this village. So one

(45:29):
of the things that's part of gamechanges in this campaign that takes a little
to be big is the idea abouthow do we tell this story, engage
people in their own personal stories,right, about creating the village around young
people, right, and young peoplecontributing to that village. So one thing
that we're doing is this concept calleda Million Little Moments right where people can

(45:50):
go to our website at bebig nowdot org and they can share their own
story, right, they can sharetheir own connection of mentorship. Right.
We want to collect these types ofstories and we want to be able to
tell them much more broadly, toelevate that so that we get more people
to join in this mission and tojoin in mentoring. And then the other
thing that I'll just say is whenwe talk about creating villages, we've got

(46:13):
to create the type of community andthe type of services that allow for these
types of programs to reach more kidsin the community, particularly kids who don't
always have access to it and sometimesare in communities that always don't get connections.
So one of the things that we'redoing is creating programs that go into
communities across this country that you maynot always see the deepening level of these

(46:36):
types of resources, places like NewOrleans, places like in some of our
rural communities as well. What weset as an organization, and what I've
made is a mandate from my leadershipin this organization, we are going to
show up in the places that noone else shows up, because that's what
our mentorship and our mission has alwaysbeen about for one hundred and nineteen years.
That's why we were founded to bein an organization that go to where

(46:57):
kids need us, not ask kidsto come where we are. So our
organization is going to go forward,but we can only do that by having
volunteers and by having people who investin our mission and say, hey,
we're going to be on along withyou to help expand services to these types
of communities to these types of identitiesacross our country and to make it much
more connected and powerful for us tomake positive change. Well said listen,

(47:21):
I need for you to let peopleknow where they can get more information if
they can donate social media. Ineed you to lay all that out.
I'll I'll come to you in asecond, but first, artist, I
need you to that was powerful,So please Yeah, how did we do
so? So? I mentioned thewebsite the url b big now dot org
again, that's bbignow dot org.You can go to that website and here's

(47:45):
what you can do. You canjust put in your zip code. If
you put in your zip code,it will take you directly to the local
Big Brothers Big Sisters that's nearest youthat you can sign up to volunteer to
support, to do anything for somepeople. May you may want to donate,
right you may want to give andinvest in the power of our mentorship
and the power of our mentoring.So you can feel free to give a
gift and it's going to help supportmore matches, more people on the ground.

(48:08):
But also what Alo talked about,not just one to one, but
we're doing all types of mentoring,group mentoring, career mentoring, technology mentoring,
but that really builds community and buildsa village around young people. And
then the last thing I'll say isthat if you're listening and you want to
connect with me on LinkedIn, youcan find me on LinkedIn. I always
love staying connected, and we canlearn more about our story and you can

(48:29):
also get content that you can createand be an ambassador on your social media
channels because we got twenty million alumniout there and we need more of our
alumni, people who've been in thisprogram to raise their hand and say I
want to tell my story as well. So we'd love to have them to
come back home and join us.Fantastic, Okay, ala, I need
you to yes. The website iswww dot ilo black dot com. Black

(48:51):
is with two c's, and fromthere you basically define everything. Okay,
and then one more time, let'splug the song. Where can people go
to get it, to buy it, to hear it, to see it,
etc. Absolutely the name of thesong is never Let You Down.
It's available on all streaming platforms andreally really important to check it out on
YouTube because you get to see theinspiration for the song, which is the

(49:15):
relationships between the actual bigs and middleswho are working with and affiliated with the
BBBSA fantastic well. I'd like tothank you both very much for your time
today. Hopefully didn't use too muchof it. You are both inspirational Black
men and that's something that we appreciateand celebrate around here. Once again,
Today's guest Grammy Award nominee singer songwriterAlan Black as well as artist Steven Ceo

(49:39):
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America,Mike, Thanks Ramses. Doug Davis speaks
with a successful black business entrepreneur andinfluencer who feels he has the solution to
get Black America out of our economiccrisis that has plagued our families and communities
for far too long. Doug,Thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis with
another secon of your black business andwith us today is mister Black Business,

(50:02):
himself, financial literacy entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of the nonprofit Operation
Hope, John O'Bryant. He's withus today to talk about his plan to
create one million black businesses by twentythirty and to get Black America out of
debt. Welcome to the BIM,Sir, Hey let's jump right in one
of the biggest obstacles holding black peopleback from achieving the American dream and acquiring

(50:23):
generational wealth. Well, is whatMalcolm X said. We've been bamboozled,
we've been tricked, we've been full. It is what we don't know that
we don't know that is killing us. But we think we know we're brilliant.
Man. You get us in abasketball court and we will tear it
up. We'll tear a remdam.You get us on a football field,

(50:45):
same thing. Professional sports will farmclub you on football and basketball to go
into college and the pros. Butwho's farm clubbing us on business management,
the biggest business in the world,real estate, on technology, stem science,
technology, you know, engineering andmath. Who's farm clubing us?

(51:07):
You know for a county or thelaw. Where's the farm club? Meaning
the feeder system from elementary school tomiddle school, to high school to college.
If that's your If that's what youwant, everybody should go to college
again, by the way, andinto enterprise. They're in the biggest economy
on the planet. No one's teachinghalf of the people who are black and

(51:30):
brown forty percent. Then another groupwho are poor, white, call that
another twenty twenty five percent. Noone's teaching sixty five percent of the people
on this planet. Also in America, how free enterprise and capitalism works.
So then what's happening. We're ateach other's throats. We're going at it
during slavery, poor whites overseeing poorblacks being manipulated by wealthy whites who own

(51:51):
the plantation. And I like mathbecause it doesn't have an opinion. And
the math is that, for thefirst time in American history or world history,
you can't grow American GDP without blackand brown people coming up from nothing.
You can't. There's not enough collegeeducated white men who are successful to
drive GDP gross domestic product economic activityof the country for the next twenty to

(52:14):
thirty five years. That's never happenedin the history of America, though never
You've always been able to have whiteonly whatever, and that was good enough,
and you just sort of ignore blackpeople, I guess. So let's
talk about your plan. I wantto take half of the American society and
become their private banker. That's mygoal. I'm going to finish with the
Freedom's Bank started in eighteen seventy five. We start we've launched the eighteen seventy

(52:35):
five project and our Operation Hope.We're going to have the largest network of
Hope in side locations across the country, which are raising credit scores fifty four
points in six months one hundred andtwenty points in twenty four months. Nothing
changes your life more than God orlove than moving your credit score on twenty
points. We're lowering your debt forsomebody making fifty eight fifty thousand dollars a
year, sorry, lowering the debtthirty eight hundred dollars in six months to

(53:00):
a year. We're increasing their savings. That same person making fifteen thousand dollars
fifty thousand dollars a year, increasingtheir savings by fifteen hundred dollars. So
you're taking somebody who was not bankable. The bank's telling you no. You
think it's racism, It might justbe your credit score stunt. Because half
of black people, not half ofpoor people, dug half of all black

(53:21):
people in America, forty million ofus have a credit score will low six
twenty. You can't get an autoloan, a decent one at six point
thirty. You can't get a mortgageloan before interest rates went up at six
point eighty not a good mortgage.You can't get a small business loan,
which is the riskiest credit you canYou can get at low seven hundred credit

(53:45):
score. So if half of BlackAmerica today, even with college degrees,
people were watching this, listening tothis, driving on the street in their
fancy least car or whatever, allgood, by the way, they probably
have never checked the credit And ifthey, if they have, literally have
people in their circle. Is acredit score that's tow up from the flow
up. So how do you accesscapital? So half of us a lot

(54:08):
out of the free enterprise system whenwe wake up in the morning in the
largest free enterprise democracy on the planet, no wonder we're frustrated. So if
I can become the private banker tothe working class and get your credit score
up, your debt down, andyour savings up, and retroduce you to
the banking system that helped me outwhen I was nine years old, and
get you approved for prime credit sothat you can become a homeowner, an

(54:31):
entrepreneur, a small business owner,get that credit card at a decent rate,
so on and so forth. Getyour financial literacy up so that you
can now participate in the system.How can we not succeed? My goal
is ten percent. I'll be tenpercent of the entire banking system. And
right now about a thousand branches betweenmy eight hundred and fifty branches that are

(54:52):
satellite branches in two hundred and seventytwo branches that are physical in forty states
and growing. And then we haveother initiate just like the One Man Black
Business Initiative and financial literacy for all. And let's talk about the you know
your plan to create one million blackbusinesses by twenty thirty. We talked about
entrepreneurship and how in my opinion personally, that's that's one of our keys to

(55:14):
success. And so when I seemy young brothers out here, you know,
doing what they feel like they haveto do, and sometimes those means
aren't as legal as they should be, but they still have that entrepreneurialistic spirit,
they still have that mindset them.They had a chance to flip that
into something that could be legal,they would jump at it. How and
what's your approach to reaching those folksthat some feel are unapproachable in some of

(55:38):
our hardest economically hit communities to beable to turn their lives around. One
of the things I really want todo is to go into the prison system.
I want to go on the penalsystem. I want to go on
the probation system. You have allthese cats man, as you've noted,
who have incredible talent, incredible hustle. I mean, what is a drug

(56:00):
dealer if not in an illegal,unethical entrepreneur with a bad business plan.
A drug dealer understands import, exports, the NaN's marketing, wholesale, retail,
customer service, security, territory,logistics. You know, and I
can go all along and all.What is a gain leader in the neighborhood

(56:21):
that you and I are familiar withif not a frustrating a frustrated union organizer.
Uh, these these folks have incredibleskills. And for anybody listening to
this and doesn't think that somebody cantransition and transfer these skills, what do
you think NASCAR came from? NASCARcame from from moonshine running in the Appalachian
Mountains. These folks realized, Doug, that was not a long term career

(56:45):
choice. Running from the police,shooting, running and gunning, and and
and training and illegal then illegal,uh substance which is back then alcohol moonshine.
That was not sustainable. So theyhad to take the skill that was
driving and release the part that wasn'tand that they start driving on the beach
and driving on dirt roads and drivingon in the fields. That became driving

(57:07):
ovally on OVAL's and that became whatyou now know is a multi multi billion
dollar business called NASCAR. The presidentof NASCAR is actually on the board of
directors for Operation Hope. So wecan have a rainbow after the storm.
All these folks with all this talent, you can't go get a job real
talk, because you have a criminalrecord. You may not be able to

(57:29):
vote if it's a felony, butbut you can. If you can't get
a job, you can create one. If you can't cash that check as
an employee at a major corporation,you can write the check as an employer
at a new corporation. So youknow, you you know. It reminds
me of my Jewish brothers and sisters. I really think the only thing I've

(57:51):
ever said this on a radio interviewor a media interview for but I'll say
it now. What black folks reallyneed is a black Jewish business plan.
My Jewish brother and sisters, camehere with nothing, run out of Europe
by Hitler. There were eighteen millionof them. Hitler killed six million.

(58:13):
Six million were here. Six manaround the world is now seven and a
half million here, seven half millionaround the world, and came here with
no job, went door to doorand started selling financial services whatever you know,
hustle they had. By the way, the company Goldman Sachs is literally
Goldman and Sacks. You know twopoor guys, one who was selling financial
services door to door. And Iknow one family of the Wrestler family that

(58:37):
has three billionaires in the same familyand it's not the same money, and
it's three different like it was justa working class family and went in three
different directions in business and each ofthe three of them are billionaires. Why
can't we do that in the blackcommunity. And what's my point here is
that financial freedom may just be theonly real freedom you've got. John,

(58:58):
sir, if you don't mind,we're going to have to bring you back
for a part two. There's nodoubt about that. John O'Brien, financial
literacy entrepreneur, businessman, and thefounder of the nonprofit Operation Hope. Thank
you so much for joining us hereon your Black Business. My name is
Doug Davis, and you're listening tothe Black Perspective. Thanks Doug for more
on these stories. Listen to theBlack Information Network on the free iHeartRadio app

(59:19):
or log onto Bionnews dot com whereyou can hear this program in its entirety
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x formerly known as Twitter at BlackanthoneNet. We thank you for joining us
on the Black Perspective and look forwardto continuing to have needed conversations for the
Black community. Next week, I'mMike Island on the Black Information Network.