December 8, 2025 • 59 mins
This week on The Black Perspective, Katie Gray returns with part two of her conversation with former NBA star Terry Cummings, exploring his second act — leading people through faith and purpose.
Morgyn Wood discusses health, equity, and the future of public policy for Black men and boys with Dr. Okey K. Enyia.
A new social-media app designed for the Black community is launching in Atlanta — Alexandria Ikomoni sits down with the founder of Great Night to find out what’s behind it.
BIN’s Esther Dillard talks with actress and entrepreneur Tia Mowry about her collaboration with the American Cancer Society, opening a vital conversation within Black families during this holiday season.
And Doug Davis returns with an in-depth conversation with San Francisco educator and author Dante King.
Listen now!
Morgyn Wood discusses health, equity, and the future of public policy for Black men and boys with Dr. Okey K. Enyia.
A new social-media app designed for the Black community is launching in Atlanta — Alexandria Ikomoni sits down with the founder of Great Night to find out what’s behind it.
BIN’s Esther Dillard talks with actress and entrepreneur Tia Mowry about her collaboration with the American Cancer Society, opening a vital conversation within Black families during this holiday season.
And Doug Davis returns with an in-depth conversation with San Francisco educator and author Dante King.
Listen now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Sunday, December seventh, twenty twenty five, the first Sunday
of the month, and on today's show, Katie Gray continues
her talk with former NBA player Terry Cummings about his
second career path leading people with his faith in part
two of their conversation. We have part two of Morgan
Wood's conversation with doctor ok Enya about health equity and
(00:21):
the future of policy for black men and boys. There's
a new social media app launching in Atlanta that caters
to the black community. News anchor Alexandria Ecimoni talks with
the founder and creator of The Great Night app Esther Dillard,
sits down with actress and entrepreneur Tia Maury, teaming up
with the American Cancer Society to start a powerful conversation
(00:42):
in black families this holiday season. And Doug Davis is
back with his conversation with the San Francisco black educator
and author Dante King. These stories and more are coming
your way on today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective.
I'm your host, Mike Isla.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Welcome Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program on the
Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on issues important
to the black community.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Good Sunday and Welcome to the Black Perspective.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Katie Gray is back.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
With part two of the interview with the former NBA
player now pastor Terry Cummings, who shares his second act,
which led him to lead a church in Conyers, leading
others on a path of faith in Georgia. Katie Gray
has the story and.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Whether and I'm sure I can imagine that's in either direction,
either one. I could imagine someone, you know, taking that
so seriously where it defines everything for them and they
obsess over it and that feeds into their whole identity,
or what you've mentioned, maybe relying on different ways to
cope with that. You know, that's that's a lot of
intense pressure I can imagine on any individual.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
I think it's about the experience of making choices and
decisions for yourself. When you grew up in the real,
true inner city, you don't have the luxury of being
like a suburban kid or a kid born with a
silver spoon from the day you're born. You like an
animal out not that we are animals, but the concept
(02:10):
of how animals in the wild are born and have
to from the moment they're born, learn to run and
walk and eat and be on the lookout for the enemy.
When you're raised in the inner city, it is not
that much different. I mean, you're making life and death
decisions before you're even nine ten years old. Because one
(02:33):
wrong move down the block, down the alley behind a car,
one conversation the wrong way overheard. I mean, it could
be the end of your life. So you make decisions
from the beginning that by the time you get to
the league or you get to that higher level, everything
(02:55):
is monumental. And I think that the stress of that
has an impact and has had impact on a lot
of guys. I'm looking at some of the young guys
that are playing now that came from the inner City
and they brought the inner city to the NBA. But
don't realize that the NBA don't do that. You don't
get the opportunity to bring your inner city or your
(03:19):
ghetto fabulousness consistently to the NBA level because that's how
they make their money, that's where their brand is. And
it ain't nothing new because truth is, mostly all of
us who have come from the inner city have had
to make the decision or the choice as to whether
or not we would bring it with us when we
(03:40):
got there, because all our friends claimed us, everybody in
the neighborhood claimed us, and they claimed our success too.
You know. My mother told me like this, and I
haven't forgotten that either, because she saw the struggle I
was having with some of my friends that i'd gone
to high school where we were real close, and she
(04:01):
told me, she said, Tarry, she said, you go and
do what you set in your mind in your heart
to do. She said, because I guarantee your friends will
be right where you left them when you come back.
And it's true, a lot of them are still where
they were when I left way back in nineteen eighty
(04:23):
eighty one, you know, and they still live in the
same area. They're still doing some of the same things,
you know. So I think it comes down to choices.
You have to choose a direction, you have to decide
upon it. I mean, it's kind of like love. People say, well,
you know, love is blind. No, it's not. Love is
(04:44):
decisive because it's about the individual who's deciding whether or
not they want a love or not. So when it
comes to love, it's a decision, and the real decision
is that you either choose it or you don't. You know,
and ain't love's fault and it's yours because you're the
decision maker.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Well, I gotta I gotta ask you then, because as
you mentioned, you know, you leaving Chicago and obviously having
you know, your career taking you in so many different directions,
so many places and traveling, what brought you to Atlanta?
What brought you to Georgia because we're pretty far away
from Chicago.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Yeah, but I'd always admired Atlanta, and to me, Atlanta
had always been like a you know, for for ministry.
It had always been like one of those places where
everybody was coming through it was it was a mecca.
That's the word I wanted to use it always Atlanta
(05:45):
had always been. And then my best friends were here
and they were pastoring, and we'd always talked about when
I did retire that I would come back here and
help them in the ministry. And so it wound up
that I wound up at the church working with them
and serving with them for about two or three years
before I started pastoring my own ministry here. So that
(06:09):
was one of the things that brought me here. Aside
from at the time, I think it would have been
like O three. I wound up getting engaged here, so
I was thinking totally like, okay, go in there, let
me go. I don't need to have all the extra stuff,
so let me go get married. And problem was it
just it wasn't the right time and things just didn't
(06:32):
work out, which is probably better for both of us
because we didn't really know each other. You know, sometimes
you can just go in and say, well, you know,
everything is coming together. I guess I could pull this
piece into and make it work. And the thing is is,
the relationships don't work that way. They have a time
on them too, and they have an expiration date, and
(06:54):
whether we like it or not, it's there. That's how
I got to Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Well, and it's interesting. So even when you, you know,
started pulling those pieces, it wasn't necessarily that you were like, Okay,
I'm gonna come to Atlanta. I'm gonna set up my
own church. I'm gonna, you know, have a congregation. That
was not necessarily a part of that picture. That took
a little bit more time to become, to have more
clarity to it.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
It took a little bit more time for me to
be convinced because that was never one of my things.
I always told her I don't want a pastor. I said,
I'll do whatever else. I'll serve in whatever capacity that
you want. But I pastored pastors for almost thirty years,
so I knew the struggle of the pastorships. So I
(07:41):
didn't want that at all, you know, because that's a
it's a heavy burden. I mean, it's the one office
positionally where the people are with you twenty four seven,
seven days a week, you know, three sixty five a year.
You know, these people get real comfortable with you. And
I found is that one of the most difficult things
(08:03):
about being a minister period is that you are never
allowed the same grace that you give to others. In
other words, like others in their weaknesses. And it's like
they forget they tell you all their business and at
the same time they crucifying you over yours.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah, because they see you at that point on. You know,
I don't want to say a pedestal as much as
but you're a role model.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, and not a human being. Because the other part
of it, Katie, is that leaders have every right that
parishioners have to grow up. But growth never happens without failure.
The problem is most people can't handle the failure of
their leaders.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
I mean, in many cases, depending on what that bar
is set for, many people struggle with failure in general.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Yeah. Yeah, And there's no true I learned this very young.
There's no true success without failure. You can say all
people can say all they want about how successful they are,
but if they have had no failures, they're not really successful,
which means that when they do finally have that moment
(09:10):
where they fail or they fall, they'll fall all the
way back to the bottom because they didn't take the
time to do it the right way, which you you
go through those levels, those levels kind of hold you
up because eventually you will fall. And I think it's
another scripture say's counted all joy when you when you
(09:31):
fall into divers temptations, and that when implies that it
doesn't matter who you are, that's going to come a
time when you're going to fall. You know, the temptation
is going to lead you down a road. And it's
really not about the failure of falling. It's the failure
of not getting up. That's where real failure is. Because
(09:53):
as long as you keep getting up. There's no failure
in that. I mean, because everybody, we all fall short.
We all have these things in our lives that calls
us travail and calls us pain and calls us to
move away from the troops as we know them, principles
or whatever. But I've looked at life like this should.
(10:17):
If it hadn't meant for the failures of my life,
I would never honor success the way I do.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I really appreciate you sharing that because it is interesting
just thinking about many different stories are people that we
view as a society as successful. And as you were
explaining that, I was trying to rack through my head
of I think that that's part of the story that
many times we tend to graze over. We focus on
(10:44):
the they started here and they reached here. There's a
lot in between that might be missing.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Yeah, called the process. And the process in life is
the worst and the best, the best because the best
comes out of the worst, Because it's the worst you
will ever look. It is the true and the Greek
the word is metamorphous. It is the true ugliness of growth.
(11:12):
It happens in the process. In the process, we are
never going to be uglier dissatisfying to people on the outside,
and those who hope for the best for us are
so discouraged when they see us in that place, but
they don't realize that they've been there or are there
now too, you know. And the thing is is there's
(11:35):
a certain amount of grace that has to be You
don't really necessarily need it from people. You need it
from God, and you need it for yourself, you know,
a grace which is defined as an unmarrited favor, something
that you don't deserve, but you still need to get
over the process. That to me is that process, I
(11:59):
always say, is the ugliest I've ever seen myself, the
weakest I've ever seen myself, the most distraught I've ever
seen myself as in the process, because that's the place
where the old rider called the potter and the clay.
That's the place where the clay is on the spindle
(12:21):
and the potter is forming it and reforming it, and
it goes through all these different ugly looks and messy
looking things until it comes to the form that the
potter meant for it to be from the start, and
it takes time to get there.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
So part of that process and the insight that you
were were going into it. That was something that kind
of maybe gave you hesitation towards beginning your own church
and really building the congregation.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Yeah, I think important because I felt like I was
first of all, I was inadequate, and then I felt
like I'd gotten married at nineteen and I was divorced
by the time I was thirty four, married about thirteen
fourteen years, but I had never been single. So one
thing about me is I tend to be very transparent
(13:14):
because I want people to be helped when I do
stuff like these interviews. And I struggled with my flesh
because I had never had to. I was married as
a young man, you know, through my teenage years.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
I was married.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
And I found out later that the whole point of
a call on your life, and it doesn't have to
just be ministry. It can be whatever it is your
call to do, but the whole point of it is
to help you with the areas that you can't be
helped with any other way. I mean, the ministry and
(13:50):
pastoring people forced me into a whole nother level of
character because you need to be seen differently, not as
a god, not as an idol, but as a chief
among equals. We're all equal, but they're chief among equals,
and there's a level of respect that goes both ways.
(14:10):
It is a respect that comes because of how you
live and what you preach, and it comes and it
goes to them because they honor the truth or that
character that's in you enough to accept your words that
you're sharing. And when I became single, I found out
(14:33):
I wasn't and that, within itself, was a life lesson
for me that just when you think you're at your strongest,
you're really at your weakest, and you're your most vulnerableness,
you know, very vulnerable in that place where you think
that you're stronger than you really are, because then your
pride is going to be your downfall. You know the
(14:56):
old proverb that your pride comes before or downfall, and
humility before honor. You know, so when you when you
get to the place where you know, I ain't ain't
nothing not that it can get me off my post,
ain't nobody make me slipping fall. I was slipping like
I was on ice, as you know I was. I
(15:16):
was making the kind of mistakes that that that I
never thought I would have made, but I did you,
And in part I'm glad I did because I get
to talk about it from a perspective as a leader
of having visited some things that I think can help
shape and reshape other people and give them hope that
(15:39):
they can get to the other side, because it's a
constant battle, but you can get there.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Do you feel like you are working on or you've
you've found improvements and being able to balance that level
of like the transparency and the honesty about obviously like
being a human being and going through that and conveying
a message of hope and being able to so lead
with character.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yeah. I wrote a book called Limitless and Limitless was
my testimony about how I found myself on the journey
of lives because I think where most people fail in
their attempt to overcome their flesh and their weaknesses is
that they have not taken the time to learn about
(16:27):
themselves and to love themselves. Because most times our failures
are based on the fact that we don't even know
who we are. So we're out there just like rummaging
through all kinds of stuff and all kinds of people
and places and things because we're looking for something that
tells us who we are when it's really inwardly. Inwardly,
(16:48):
you got to get inside yourself and you have to
learn to be honest with yourself. Like I had to
admit to myself that I was who I was. You
understand what I'm saying. I couldn't sit there and say, no,
that ain't who I am. I just made a mistake. No,
that's who I am right now, and that's who I
am until I change, you know. And I can't change
(17:09):
on my own cause if I could have, I would
have already done in it. So there's that other piece
that has to depend on God, I mean, because he's
the one that has the ability to do things for
us that we cannot do for ourselves. And I trust
that with my whole heart.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Thank you, Katie and Terry. The Black Information Networks. Morgan
Woods spoke to doctor okay Enya, a Washington, d c.
Based government relations executive, public health scholar and author of
the John Henry Health Equity Playbook at four Year Health
Policy Agenda for Black Men. The two have an important
conversation about health equity and the future of policy for
(17:47):
black men and boys. Here is part two of that conversation.
Speaker 7 (17:50):
Absolutely and if you're just joining us. We're speaking with
doctor okay Enya, public health scholar and author of the
John Henry Health Equity Playbook. Now we're unpacking how economic stabilities,
civic engagement, and mental and physical wellness all connect, especially
when it's talking about or in regards to black men
(18:12):
and boys and their health. Now, speaking of which, you
know that mental health and masculinity, at least, stigma wise,
do not go hand in hand. You know, that is
not something that we see cross intersect in our community,
even though it really truly does. Right, So, how can
(18:34):
we reframe that stigma, reframe the conversations around being a
man and making.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Sure that you actually have access to.
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Mental health resources and just you know, destigmatizing that in
regards to black men and boys.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
What would you say to that, Yes.
Speaker 9 (18:53):
That's a great question. So I use myself as as
an example. I've been seeing a black my psychologist for
the past every year, is at least once a month,
just at a minimum, like this is my maintenance, this
is so like so, and so that's part of how
I normalize seeking help. And but that has borne out
(19:15):
of my lived experience of you know, growing up in
a in a home where yes, we know Jesus will
fix it, but there are also therapists who are trained
to give you language in context for what's happening.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
Right. And so I've lived.
Speaker 9 (19:33):
The the depression, the anxiety, the trauma of the confusion,
like I've been there at different points in my life,
but I've now I've gotten to a place where because
I've been I've been.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Blessed to have the community.
Speaker 9 (19:48):
And I sell all the time that that you can't
be your best self by yourself. It's it's seeking that support.
And then also for me having an executive coach that
I work with, and so it's talking for me as
a blackmailist. Actually the first step is talking about my
(20:09):
own experience and giving other people, giving other people the
permission to talk about their own experiences. And it's also
about being willing to be an advocate in a voice
for the voiceless and ensuring that black men have safe
(20:31):
spaces to talk and just be and like unmasked. And
so it starts with me, for example, being an example
and saying, hey, you know, these are my challenges, but
here are the ways in which I am seeking help.
Here with some language and some resources that I found helpful.
(20:55):
And yes, there are challenges with access to care and
access to providers who are who are culturally competent. And
that's an entire other conversation. But part of my hope
in writing this book is to is to put the
data in the hands of those who need this data
(21:19):
to say, Okay, we know that there are some disparities here,
but here are some resources. And when you're able to
talk about your own experience, I found that that gives
people permission to be vulnerable, to be transparent about.
Speaker 6 (21:36):
Their own.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Here the link journey, and that helps to build the
community to a place where others feel comfortable doing the same.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
Yes, absolutely, you likened it to maintenance. You likened your.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Visits with your therapist to maintenance. Can you talk to
me and tell me a little bit more about your
own own lived experience and how that has actually been
beneficial to you in terms of that maintenance. How do
you feel once you have put yourself through that maintenance
per se?
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Yes.
Speaker 9 (22:16):
So, my first about with depression that that I actually
knew was depression was when I was in medical school,
and I was several years ago, and and so wh
I started my my my med school journey well, I was.
I was one of maybe I think six other black
(22:38):
men in my foreheart about seventy two students, and so
it was very lonely I studying experience, going to a
school that didn't have many mentors or support uh, and
I fell into depression and just kind of racial trauma.
(23:01):
Being one of the few I uh uh was part
of a community, and in this case my fraternity off
of pay Offa. There were brothers in my life who
were able to put language to what I was experiencing.
And because of that, uh, that community, I was able
to begin to seek out support in a way that
(23:26):
was very timely and helpful.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
And so you know, I it's and.
Speaker 9 (23:33):
So because of those experiences, I know much better and
I put a a robust self care and soul care
regimen in place that incorporates my physical health, my mental health,
emotional health, et cetera. Because I was blessed to have
(23:56):
people in my life to help me get the that
I needed. And so, you know, my hope is that
sharing about my own experience and seeing the benefits of
therapy and the growth and the evolution to be my
best self, to to not just survive, but thrive is
(24:17):
also what.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
Drive me to do what I do?
Speaker 8 (24:24):
Absolutely, and you also mentioned that.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
You talked about being in a space in medical school
where you were one of very few black men. Can
you speak to me about the representation around that. I
have recently been talking to some other medical professionals, black
medical professionals, and many of them say that they are
one of two, one of three, one of five. And
(24:50):
they also to an extent, echo your sentiment about feeling
isolated in that space because they're you know, you're going
through your studies and maybe you're dealing with socioeconomic issues
that the next person may not be dealing with. Can
you speak to me about the importance of having black men,
black women in the field of STEM, in the field
(25:13):
of medicine.
Speaker 9 (25:17):
Absolutely, so, five percent positions in the United States are black,
three percent of your type.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Of of the.
Speaker 9 (25:29):
Of the of the physician workforce in the United States
are black men. And and that has been a long
standing issue for decades. And so it speaks to a
pipeline issue, UH that is rooted in white supremacy and
(25:50):
structural racism and those barriers of how do we UH disrupt, dismountle,
and or transform systems that weren't built with us in mind.
And so even in my doctor program more recently, I
was one of two black men in my cowards of
(26:13):
thirty students, and there were three black women, and I
was the only so out of my doctor program.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
The year that I graduated.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Last year, I was the only black male to earn
the degree from my department.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
Across the entire school.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
And so, yes, and so that's why I'm so passionate
about ensuring that wherever I happened to be, how can
I make this place better than how I found it?
How can I strengthen or lengthen the pipeline for others
that looked like me to again not.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Just survive, but thrive and so and so.
Speaker 9 (27:02):
Yeah, you know, when you have five percent of doctors
that are black and black black in the country and
then you have just three percent that are black male doctors,
you know these lost any issues. We got to do
much more to be able to really help our people.
Speaker 7 (27:20):
Absolutely, doctor, and ya, before I let you go, is
there anything that I did not touch on that you
want to mention regarding your book or just overall health
of black men black boys.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
So you know, first of all, thank you so much.
For having me. I really have enjoyed this conversation.
Speaker 9 (27:39):
I will look forward to more conversations as things evolved.
Speaker 7 (27:42):
I think we will do this again for sure. We've
only been going to scratch the surface here.
Speaker 9 (27:49):
I love it, and I you know, I'm going to
book to it now. I'm going to be going to
a few cities across the country over the next few months,
and then as we look at twenty twenty six, you know,
I'm looking for it to June, which is which is
Men's Health Month, and then looking at the midterms next year.
So I have you know, I'm just really excited to
(28:09):
be able to uh serve in this capacity. My website
is and your Strategies dot com. That's E N Y
I A S t R A uh T E G
I E S dot com. You can find my books there.
Happy to serve as a as a resource for you
(28:31):
and your audience. And yeah, you know, I'm just really
passionate about reimagining black men in terms of their their
health and wellbeing across the country and around the world.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
Absolutely, thank you so much for joining us, doctor Okay
and your government relations executive, public health scholar and author
of the John Henry Health Equity Playbook, a four year
health policy agenda for Black men.
Speaker 8 (28:57):
Now you can, as he mentioned it.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Get a sign copy of that book at Anya Strategies
dot com forwards Lash Books. Of course, again, thank you,
doctor Enya. Conversations like this remind me or us, it
should remind us that health isn't personal. It's also political,
it's cultural, and of course it is about our community.
So I thank you for joining us to have this conversation.
(29:21):
And as I did mention before, I feel like we're
just beginning to scratch the surface, and I think me
and you together at least we can do great work
in amplifying this message.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Thank you. I look forward to it.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Yes, all right, well, I'm Morgan would on the Black
Information Network.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Thanks Morgan and doctor Enya. Actress and entrepreneur Tia Maury
is teaming up with the American Cancer Society to start
a powerful conversation in Black families this holiday season, one
that blends great food, family traditions, and the hard truths
about cancer and early detection. Our own desther Dillard said
down with her to talk about the new initiative, the
(29:58):
importance of screenings, and how families can use the holidays
to protect their health.
Speaker 10 (30:08):
When you know your family history and you get that
or the news about an abnormality in your breast, it's scary.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, we're
speaking with actress, entrepreneur, author, and advocate Tiamari. With the
holidays approaching a time filled with great food, family gatherings,
and traditions, Tia is using this season to spark something deeper,
the hard but necessary conversations about cancer and black health.
As part of her partnership with the American Cancer Society,
(30:43):
she's helping families openly talk about screenings, early detection, and
health disparities that continue to affect our community. She also
shares her personal story from losing loved ones to cancer
to navigating a recent abnormal mammogrant scare. It's an honest,
heartfelt conversation about protecting our families, honoring our traditions, and
(31:04):
changing the odds for future generations. Well, I know that
you are on this tour and you are busy person,
and you look fabulous.
Speaker 12 (31:14):
By the way, Oh my gosh, thank you.
Speaker 10 (31:18):
I'm working on receiving you know, so I really I
receive that, So thank you very much.
Speaker 12 (31:23):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well.
Speaker 11 (31:26):
I know this campaign. I've read a little bit about it,
but I really like you to talk more about how
you're trying to encourage black families to talk about cancer
around the dinner table. That's something that a lot of
us have not been raised to do. Why did you
think that this was really the right time to do
something like that.
Speaker 10 (31:46):
Yes, so, first off, I just want to say, many
people they feel overwhelmed and they don't necessarily want to
talk about the big CEA, right, But I feel like
that is where change happens.
Speaker 11 (31:59):
Change highlight it in the YouTube online series called Changing
the Odds Against Cancer with Tamari and the American Cancer Society.
Speaker 10 (32:08):
I would love for you to join me for something really,
really special. I'm partnering with Pfizer and the American Cancer
Society for a new kind of series, one where people
who have lived with cancer share their favorite family recipes
and the powerful stories behind them.
Speaker 11 (32:26):
Tea is shared with me how tough conversations are what
she believes can transform families for good.
Speaker 10 (32:32):
And it is one of the most simple things we
can do, hard but simple, which is to talk about it.
Speaker 12 (32:40):
And that's what we're going to do today. So cancer.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Unfortunately, when we're talking about the odds, it's not necessarily
the same for everyone black within the Black community or
just Black communities in general. We tend to get a
diagnosis in our later stages, and that's with any and
all types of cancer, which is unfortunate because that can
(33:08):
impact you know, a patient or one's outcome. Unfortunately, the
leading cause of death for black women in the US's
breast cancer, the leading cause of death for Black males
in the US's prostate cancer. Now you said this earlier,
something that we don't necessarily talk about or want to
(33:31):
talk about is of course the big seed, but also
more importantly family history. Family history is one in several
factors that can influence one's risk of a cancer diagnosis.
So it is very imperative and important for us to
understand our family's history and our family's connection to the disease.
(33:55):
And once you have that information, share it with your
doctor and get the proper screenings that you need. Unfortunately,
one in five Black adults in the US know their
family history very well, which is a very very low number,
which is why we believe that there tends to be
(34:15):
this gap or a delay.
Speaker 12 (34:18):
When it comes to cancer screenings. So you asked why
you know.
Speaker 10 (34:23):
Of course, am I passionate about this campaign or part
of this campaign is because unfortunately, cancer has been a
part of my family. I have lost two uncles to cancer,
I have lost my grandmother to cancer, and I just
recently lost an untie to cancer about a year and.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
A half ago.
Speaker 10 (34:43):
Knowing this, I said, okay, you know what I need
to dig deeper and to dive in. I started doing
this in my mid twenties. Even now, I am constantly
doing research. I am seeing genetic.
Speaker 12 (34:57):
Doctors, et ce. I say that all.
Speaker 10 (35:01):
To say, now knowing my family history, now knowing my
health background, I now know my potential risks. Therefore I
am getting all of the proper support and proper screenings
that I need to do. I was also able to
gather this information, share it with my sister, share it
with my brother. So now we as a family, we
(35:23):
are informed. And I personally feel and I know this
may sound cliche, but education is power. So this campaign,
this series that I'm hosting, rewrite the recipe. It's very
personal for me and I am just wanting to encourage
(35:47):
everyone to again gather around the dinner table and have
these difficult but very impactful conversations dinner table. The reason
why I say dinner table is because within our community,
in the black communities, where there.
Speaker 12 (36:05):
Is food and there is family. Okay, where there is
food is badly colla.
Speaker 10 (36:12):
Greens, you know, all the traditional dishes that you know
have been asked down from generation to generation.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
There's family.
Speaker 10 (36:22):
And for me, growing up, my family, we would gather
around the table to have hard conversations.
Speaker 12 (36:29):
So when I was a kid, it was very.
Speaker 10 (36:33):
Important for us to have dinner at the dinner table,
the whole family.
Speaker 12 (36:36):
It was like nobody was missing.
Speaker 10 (36:39):
Everybody was right there and my mom and my dad,
they would start asking us hard questions.
Speaker 12 (36:46):
You know, how is your day? That's not necessarily hard,
but how are you feeling today?
Speaker 8 (36:52):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 12 (36:53):
But as a child, sometimes when you hear how are
you feeling?
Speaker 10 (36:56):
That could be a little overwhelming, you know, But it
was there where it was there, meaning at the dinner table,
where and when I would share Mom, I was bullied today,
somebody was a nice to me, you know. So anyway,
knowing that where there is food, there's family, knowing that
I personally grew up having these hard conversations around the
(37:17):
dinner table with my family. I wanted to do the
same and encourage others to do the same. And you know,
these are some crazy statistics, but what's not crazy is
just having the conversation and talking about it.
Speaker 12 (37:34):
Is simple, but it's one.
Speaker 10 (37:36):
Way that we can close that gap, narrow that gap,
and start changing the odds when it comes to how
cancer has impacted our Black communities.
Speaker 11 (37:45):
So I understand that you had your own cancer scare.
I did abnormal mammogram and you know, watching the episode,
you could see that you were distressed. Where did your
family when you shared it with your family? What was
going on? Were they like, Okay, just you're going to drama, relax?
(38:08):
Did they get in? Did everybody feel you did?
Speaker 10 (38:12):
Of course everybody felt the same way I did, because
we all know our family history. So when you know
your family history and you get that or the news
about an abnormality in your breast, it's scary and it's
(38:33):
very overwhelming. But I will say that, you know, the
coolest thing is knowing that you have that support, right.
I think sometimes people don't necessarily want to talk about
cancer is because they're scared, they're overwhelmed, or they might
fill alone one thing that I did not.
Speaker 12 (38:56):
I mean in the beginning, yes I did fill.
Speaker 10 (38:58):
Alone, but knowing that I had that support from my friends,
from my family, it gave me the courage to move
through it.
Speaker 11 (39:07):
And although our conversation about a heavy topic seemed to
stay in a light note, it emotionally took a turn.
Speaker 12 (39:14):
These stories are so.
Speaker 13 (39:19):
Empowering, courageous, impactful, and I'm just so proud of these
individuals because again, it's not easy to share your story,
but the way that they have with strength.
Speaker 12 (39:45):
Hope is so admirable.
Speaker 11 (39:48):
To hear more about Tea's emotional journey and her advice
for others dealing with similar circumstances of grief around the holidays,
head over to the Color between the Lines YouTube chair
or the Color Between the Lines podcasts on iHeartRadio or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
I'm Ester Dinnard, Thank you, Esther and Tia Maury. One
of the toughest things to do in a big urban
city is to meet people with similar interests and build
relationships with those people in a safe environment. Fortunately, we
now have an app for that, and this app is
designed specifically for the black community. Alexandria Icimoni spoke with
(40:29):
Ray Abram, founder and CEO of the Great Night, aapp,
a new social media platform that just launched in Atlanta
with plans to go nationwide soon.
Speaker 14 (40:38):
This is Alexandria Icimoni with the Black Information Network, and
I have the pleasure of speaking with Ray Abram, who
is the founder and CEO of Great Night.
Speaker 12 (40:47):
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (40:48):
I'm doing great, Alexandra. Thank you so much for this.
Speaker 14 (40:51):
Opportunity, absolutely, and I feel it.
Speaker 12 (40:53):
Great is the word of the day for sure.
Speaker 14 (40:56):
Great Night app it's here in Atlanta, It's in the
app store and for people to be able to go
and find a download that does great things to really,
I guess connect people, That's all I'll say. So I
want you to tell me, from your words and your perspective,
what exactly is Great Night and how beneficial will it
be to people here.
Speaker 6 (41:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (41:15):
So one of the things I always try to get
across is that Great Night is really a social network first.
Unlike many other event apps we get compared to quite
a bit. We're not about selling tickets. We're about helping
people meet folks who like to do the same things
they like to do. But the events are part of
(41:37):
what brings you to the app. So we like to
say you come for the events, but you stay for
the community.
Speaker 14 (41:44):
Absolutely, and you're talking about the community, I will like
to preface that you are the founder, I should say
is a black man. This is great for Atlanta, which
has a great large black community here. So talk to
you more about how important it is for black people
to find community and find a safe space in order
to connect and get to meet new people.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 15 (42:08):
One of the challenges, particularly in our community is loneliness.
You know, we're starting to see you, particularly young people.
Loneliness used to be an elderly or an older person's issue,
where you know, the friends have passed on and so forth,
and now we're seeing even with our twenty year olds
and people in their twenties early thirties are suffering from
(42:31):
chronic loneliness.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
And you probably have seen.
Speaker 15 (42:35):
The reports from the surge in general that being chronically
lonely is as dangerous for your health as smoking up
to fifteen cigarettes a day.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
It actually shortens your life.
Speaker 12 (42:47):
Let's talk about the actual app itself. It's pretty cool, right.
Speaker 14 (42:50):
It has different events that you that you can go
to bas off like interests and locations and then you
earn points. So tell me more about the actual app
itself and what people can experience when they're using it.
Speaker 15 (43:04):
So we have you know, we have a bot that
goes out every night and finds things that are everything
that's going on in the city.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
And then we partner with curators, folks who help.
Speaker 15 (43:17):
Us fill in those little, you know, spots that you
don't hear about. We don't focus on the big things
right that everybody is on the radio and in the papers.
We focus on the small events where people you can
actually sit and get to meet people and get to
know them is where we focus on. So we have
(43:39):
not just the event feed, but we also have communities
where you know, folks who are you know, promoters. It's
a place you can build a community around the things
that you like to do. For instance, we have a
community for you know, creators, and we have a community
for people who are into edim music or house or
(44:00):
you know, if you live in a certain neighborhood and
so you know, anybody you know can you can create
their own community almost like Facebook pages. But you know,
really for folks who live in in your area that
you can actually meet in real life. But the key
I think that people really like about our app is that,
(44:21):
you know, by doing things on the app, whenever you
go to an event or you meet somebody at an event,
you get points, and then we have partners like Uber
and you know, parking lots and food restaurants where you
can go and use those.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Points for free stuff. So those are kind of.
Speaker 15 (44:41):
The big things, you know, finding the events, meeting people,
joining communities, and earning rewards as you built your social life.
Speaker 14 (44:50):
Pretty cool to Bilda's social life here in Atlanta. I
do have a question, though, what is your favorite feature
or favorite part.
Speaker 12 (44:58):
Of the app for you specific Thick.
Speaker 15 (45:01):
Yeah, for me, it's the event chat So every event
has its own chat room, so you can find out
who is you know at the event already and then
jump into the chat room and start talking to people
and finding out you know, how is it, you know,
where did you part?
Speaker 3 (45:18):
You know what time are y'all? You know, getting there,
that type of thing.
Speaker 15 (45:22):
Because one of the things is always frustrating for me
when I'm thinking about going out is I don't know,
is this going to be good? I don't know, you know,
is anybody there? And so having that kind of a window,
that visibility into an event before you get there, for
me is a is really helpful and part of my
(45:42):
favorite part. And then additionally, I'm kind of introverted myself.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
People don't believe it.
Speaker 15 (45:48):
But I tend to when I you know, go by
myself and you know, so I'm just at the spot
and people around having a good time. I don't know anybody,
and sometimes I feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Just walk up the folks and talking.
Speaker 15 (46:01):
But what the app allows you to do is see
all the conversations that are going on in the chat
room and actually you kind of uh, you know, it's
like an onboarding from the screen to real life. And
so that has been for me. That's my personal favorite feature,
being able to uh, you know, kind of meet people.
Speaker 3 (46:23):
Online and then transition to real world. And you know,
for people who.
Speaker 15 (46:28):
Are concerned about giving out their phone numbers to everybody,
it also doesn't require that.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
So now you can just you meet people just with with.
Speaker 15 (46:38):
Their app username and and build those relationships while you're
at the spot and continue that conversation afterward without having
to exchange phone numbers.
Speaker 14 (46:50):
Very very very cool at chat feature sounds amazing. I
do love that you can get a vibe check and
understand parking and talk to people. I think it's very
great to really connect act even before you meet in
person or even after the facts. So that's fantastic. Any
last details you would like to leave with? Who's listening
about the app that I didn't cover?
Speaker 6 (47:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (47:11):
So again, you can download it today. It's in both
apps stores, so Apple or Android. We also have a
web version so you can go to a Great Night
dot us and you.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Know, and just get a preview. It's free to use.
All of our services are free for users.
Speaker 15 (47:30):
And if you have a small business and a lot
of your listeners or business owners, you know, what we.
Speaker 3 (47:36):
Do is have advertising for local businesses.
Speaker 15 (47:40):
So any business that particularly needs to drive foot traffic
like a restaurant or if you own a gym, or
you have a class of some type you need people
to come to your space. We have very affordable advertising
rates that will reach people who live in your market
it and we can target it down to you know,
(48:02):
a certain neighborhood to show that add to them and
and and help you get foot traffic.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
Into your door.
Speaker 15 (48:10):
So that's really our you know, that's how we make money.
And how we support our community.
Speaker 14 (48:17):
I love that now we know that it's here in Atlanta.
What about other cities, other markets.
Speaker 15 (48:23):
Yeah, we're planning that that'll be like you two of
next year, we're starting to look at some other markets,
but right now we're in Atlanta and we want to
just nail it.
Speaker 3 (48:33):
We want to get it right here.
Speaker 15 (48:34):
We believe that if we can be successful in Atlanta,
we can be successful anywhere.
Speaker 14 (48:39):
Absolutely absolutely. Ray Aroun, thank you so much for your time.
We appreciate you and the information you provided today on
the Great Night app.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
Awesome, all right, thank you so much, Alexandra.
Speaker 15 (48:50):
I really appreciate you and this opportunity to speak to
here listeners.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Thanks Alexandria. The Great Night app is available now in
your favorite app store. Be sure to unloaded today. Doug
Davis is back with his conversation with the San Francisco
black educator and author who spoke at this year's Anti
Racism Summit.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Doug.
Speaker 6 (49:09):
Hey, Thanks Mike.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
We are back with part two of our candid conversation
about the global systems of anti Blackness with Dante King,
educator and author of the book Anti Blackness. Dante was
one of a few keynote speakers at the Global Anti
Racism Summit that just happened in South Africa. Dante, welcome
back to the show. Now you're left off saying that
white people in general have a sociopathic disorder towards Black Americans,
(49:35):
and you explain that in your book Anti Blackness, and
you also express that at the Anti Racism Global Summit.
Let's bring back the point you made in our first
interview in case some of our listeners didn't hear why
you feel, in general, the white Americans have a sociopathic
disorder towards black people, and then we'll get more into
the summit.
Speaker 16 (49:55):
So we have to understand that the psychological context by
which white people have been operating where black people are
concerned and where non white people are concerned is one
of inhumanity.
Speaker 6 (50:07):
They have been socialized to.
Speaker 16 (50:09):
Believe for hundreds of years that black and brown people
lack humanity and that they don't deserve the same things
that they deserve. Right and so doctor Bobby Wright, and
one of the one of the philosophies that I use
to ground my work is doctor Bobby Wright's The Psychopathic
Racial Personality, where he talks about how you can literally
(50:31):
see that whites are in the way that they function
with in relationship to black people, that they are psychopathic.
They have a psychopathic disposition that is akin to what
would be clinically diagnosed as like an antisocial personality disorder.
And so I think that within that context, we can
(50:52):
understand that what we're seeing today in today's society extends
from that psychological function.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
Okay, so Dante, let's go back to the summit where
white and black leaders along with researchers and scholars were
present from around the globe. Whether any breakthroughs or moments
of tension at the summit as you dug into the
roots of racial violence.
Speaker 16 (51:18):
Yeah, there are always moments of tension when I speak.
I think the tensions for black and brown people is
they almost immediately are able to see that, you know,
all of the suffering that black and people have gone through,
some of the many of the challenges, all of the
challenges that we face today are the result of this
training that white people have received, and so the conditions
(51:40):
that we face. What I get from a lot of
black and brown people is that they feel validated.
Speaker 6 (51:45):
They feel like, oh.
Speaker 16 (51:46):
My God, for the first time, I'm hearing and seeing
things that explain what I'm going through, what my parents
went through, what my grandparents went through.
Speaker 6 (51:54):
With white people.
Speaker 16 (51:55):
And I've developed recently a framework around this that is
an extension of work that was done previously by doctor
Francis Chris Welsing, doctor Bobby Wright, and doctor Amos Wilson.
But it's called the Psychocognitive Defense Mechanisms of Whiteness. And
there are four key pieces that I point out, and
this typically happens during any training or workshops or talks
(52:18):
that I give, and it happened during my talk in
South Africa. And these four key areas are anytime you
know white people are being confronted with their history, they're
being confronted about their behavior or something racially biased or
racist that they're doing or have done, they either respond
with defensiveness, deflection, denial, or they dissociate, so the four
(52:42):
d's and they detach. And one of the key pieces
to my work that I point out is that as
white people are being terrorized, because we also have to
understand that in constructing and creating whiteness, if you go
back to the seventeenth century, the English government is also
targeting Europeans who associate with black people. They begin to
(53:05):
criminalize marrying black people, being friends with black people, running
away with black people.
Speaker 6 (53:11):
And so you have a group.
Speaker 16 (53:12):
Of people who become a part of this conglomerate that's
now being called white, which is a political function, a
political organization, who are terrorized into.
Speaker 6 (53:23):
Total numbness.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
And this is pre pre colonial America.
Speaker 6 (53:29):
This is in the sixteen hundreds.
Speaker 16 (53:32):
In the sixteen hundred, So there's a law in sixteen
sixty two where they criminalize Europeans for running away with
black people.
Speaker 6 (53:40):
There are laws, there's a law.
Speaker 16 (53:42):
In sixteen ninety, for example, in South Carolina where they
require all white people, all white citizens or you know,
people in the colonies, to become a racial police force
against black people. They each law is authorizing white men
and white women to mistreat black people. It's not even
(54:03):
just authorizing or giving you permission, it's basically requiring them
to mistreat and target. And so these people are learning,
but not just learning, they're developing into monsters where black
people are concerned, and there's really no way out because
when you embed such practices into the law, into the
(54:25):
legal context, this is what shapes society. You know, I
now have to if I see Doug on the street
and there's a law that's been passed, it says I
am now authorized, but I'm now required to apprehend him,
to check and see if Doug should be in this
place at any given time.
Speaker 6 (54:42):
I now have to ask Doug for his papers. This
is shaping in the.
Speaker 16 (54:46):
White mind not only that I'm superior and that these
people are of a lower value and lesser class, but
I have the right, I have total agency and over
this person, over these people. And so we have to
contend with what are the psychological results all of these
hundreds of years later, and as these traditions and these
(55:10):
psychological practices and functions have been passed down generation by
generation by generation, what a results?
Speaker 2 (55:16):
What roles do you see for some legal reform and
reparations in global anti racism efforts? Do you see anything
ever really come in to fruition.
Speaker 16 (55:27):
I don't see much of anything coming into fruition because
we have to understand the objective of white capitalism. The
objective of white capitalism is to ensure that the people
that have access to it can control the resources, can
control their positions and everyone else's positions in the world.
Speaker 6 (55:47):
It's about power.
Speaker 16 (55:49):
And so when you exploit people for hundreds of years,
and you do it intentionally because you want to build
that power for yourself and create, for example, wealth for yourself,
you don't go go back.
Speaker 6 (56:00):
And say, oh, you know, we made a mistake. No,
this was intentional.
Speaker 16 (56:04):
And so the desires of white people are not to
make amends for.
Speaker 6 (56:10):
What they did. They don't feel as though.
Speaker 16 (56:11):
They've done anything wrong, which is why they can offer
a political apology but not do anything meaningful or tangible
or tangibly in order to correct the situation. The other
piece of that, I want to be very clear about
if we are talking about reparations on a global scale,
but even just for African Americans, we need to talk
(56:33):
about there are three entities that should be responsible for
paying black people reparations, and they are the American government,
the US federal government, the English parliament, their government because
they engineered this whole process, along with the Christian Church.
The Christian Church needs to pay reparation.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
Powerful kind of wrapping things up, what kind of message
from the summit do you think are most urgent for
Black Americans and particular black youth to hear right now?
Do you don't know anything about what you're talking about
that are probably being very enlightened by hearing your commentary.
Speaker 6 (57:11):
Well, and I say.
Speaker 16 (57:12):
This in my book, Diagnosing Whiteness and Anti Blackness, and
I hope that people can go to my website, which
is Dante King dot com and follow my work.
Speaker 6 (57:20):
So yeah, go to Dante King dot com.
Speaker 16 (57:22):
I think what is most urgent as for us as
black people around the world, is that we understand these histories,
and not just through a historical context or for the
sake of learning history, but so that we can contextualize
properly the current moment that we're in and the things
that we're seeing and what we're experiencing. Because if you
(57:42):
don't understand history, and you've been fed a story of oh,
this country has been focused on progress and making progress
and making things equal and better for everyone, like I was.
That's what I learned when I was in elementary school
in junior high school. If you learn those falsehoods, those
false narratives, you will once you become an adult, a
(58:03):
black adult, and particularly probably within your thirties or forties,
you will begin to have a nervous breakdown because you
won't understand what's happening to.
Speaker 6 (58:10):
You, even when you follow the rules and you've.
Speaker 16 (58:13):
Done everything that they say that once you do in
this society to be an upstanding human being and citizen.
Speaker 6 (58:20):
For the Dante.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Any final comments and how can people reach you?
Speaker 16 (58:23):
Please reach me at Dante King dot com. It's d
A N T E ki ng Go to Dante King
dot com. Please follow me on Instagram at Dante d
King Official. I think I use that platform out of
all the platforms the most.
Speaker 6 (58:38):
And please get the buck.
Speaker 16 (58:39):
You can go to Barnes and Noble online, Amazon online,
any major global retailer online, go to Ingram spark diagnosing
Whiteness and anti Blackness. And thank you again, brother Doug
for always being a leader and just a source of
inspiration and a supporter of the work for the Dante.
Speaker 2 (58:58):
Thank you, but we appreciate you more. This is Doug
Davis from the Black Perspective of the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (59:03):
Thank you Doug and Dante, and that's our program for
this week. For more on these stories, listen to the
Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio app or log
onto Viinnews dot com for all of the latest news
impacting the black community. We would love to hear from you.
Speaker 3 (59:19):
About the Black perspective.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Log onto VII's Talkback Live feature on the iHeartRadio app
to share your feedback. Also, be sure to follow us
on social media at Black Information Network and on X
and Blue Sky at black Info Net.
Speaker 3 (59:33):
Make the Black.
Speaker 1 (59:33):
Information Network first on your car radio or iHeartRadio app presets.
I'm Mike Island. Have a great Sunday and great start.
Speaker 3 (59:41):
To the month.
Speaker 1 (59:42):
We will see you next week right here on the
Black Information Network.
It's Sunday, December seventh, twenty twenty five, the first Sunday
of the month, and on today's show, Katie Gray continues
her talk with former NBA player Terry Cummings about his
second career path leading people with his faith in part
two of their conversation. We have part two of Morgan
Wood's conversation with doctor ok Enya about health equity and
(00:21):
the future of policy for black men and boys. There's
a new social media app launching in Atlanta that caters
to the black community. News anchor Alexandria Ecimoni talks with
the founder and creator of The Great Night app Esther Dillard,
sits down with actress and entrepreneur Tia Maury, teaming up
with the American Cancer Society to start a powerful conversation
(00:42):
in black families this holiday season. And Doug Davis is
back with his conversation with the San Francisco black educator
and author Dante King. These stories and more are coming
your way on today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective.
I'm your host, Mike Isla.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Welcome Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program on the
Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on issues important
to the black community.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Good Sunday and Welcome to the Black Perspective.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Katie Gray is back.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
With part two of the interview with the former NBA
player now pastor Terry Cummings, who shares his second act,
which led him to lead a church in Conyers, leading
others on a path of faith in Georgia. Katie Gray
has the story and.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Whether and I'm sure I can imagine that's in either direction,
either one. I could imagine someone, you know, taking that
so seriously where it defines everything for them and they
obsess over it and that feeds into their whole identity,
or what you've mentioned, maybe relying on different ways to
cope with that. You know, that's that's a lot of
intense pressure I can imagine on any individual.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
I think it's about the experience of making choices and
decisions for yourself. When you grew up in the real,
true inner city, you don't have the luxury of being
like a suburban kid or a kid born with a
silver spoon from the day you're born. You like an
animal out not that we are animals, but the concept
(02:10):
of how animals in the wild are born and have
to from the moment they're born, learn to run and
walk and eat and be on the lookout for the enemy.
When you're raised in the inner city, it is not
that much different. I mean, you're making life and death
decisions before you're even nine ten years old. Because one
(02:33):
wrong move down the block, down the alley behind a car,
one conversation the wrong way overheard. I mean, it could
be the end of your life. So you make decisions
from the beginning that by the time you get to
the league or you get to that higher level, everything
(02:55):
is monumental. And I think that the stress of that
has an impact and has had impact on a lot
of guys. I'm looking at some of the young guys
that are playing now that came from the inner City
and they brought the inner city to the NBA. But
don't realize that the NBA don't do that. You don't
get the opportunity to bring your inner city or your
(03:19):
ghetto fabulousness consistently to the NBA level because that's how
they make their money, that's where their brand is. And
it ain't nothing new because truth is, mostly all of
us who have come from the inner city have had
to make the decision or the choice as to whether
or not we would bring it with us when we
(03:40):
got there, because all our friends claimed us, everybody in
the neighborhood claimed us, and they claimed our success too.
You know. My mother told me like this, and I
haven't forgotten that either, because she saw the struggle I
was having with some of my friends that i'd gone
to high school where we were real close, and she
(04:01):
told me, she said, Tarry, she said, you go and
do what you set in your mind in your heart
to do. She said, because I guarantee your friends will
be right where you left them when you come back.
And it's true, a lot of them are still where
they were when I left way back in nineteen eighty
(04:23):
eighty one, you know, and they still live in the
same area. They're still doing some of the same things,
you know. So I think it comes down to choices.
You have to choose a direction, you have to decide
upon it. I mean, it's kind of like love. People say, well,
you know, love is blind. No, it's not. Love is
(04:44):
decisive because it's about the individual who's deciding whether or
not they want a love or not. So when it
comes to love, it's a decision, and the real decision
is that you either choose it or you don't. You know,
and ain't love's fault and it's yours because you're the
decision maker.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Well, I gotta I gotta ask you then, because as
you mentioned, you know, you leaving Chicago and obviously having
you know, your career taking you in so many different directions,
so many places and traveling, what brought you to Atlanta?
What brought you to Georgia because we're pretty far away
from Chicago.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Yeah, but I'd always admired Atlanta, and to me, Atlanta
had always been like a you know, for for ministry.
It had always been like one of those places where
everybody was coming through it was it was a mecca.
That's the word I wanted to use it always Atlanta
(05:45):
had always been. And then my best friends were here
and they were pastoring, and we'd always talked about when
I did retire that I would come back here and
help them in the ministry. And so it wound up
that I wound up at the church working with them
and serving with them for about two or three years
before I started pastoring my own ministry here. So that
(06:09):
was one of the things that brought me here. Aside
from at the time, I think it would have been
like O three. I wound up getting engaged here, so
I was thinking totally like, okay, go in there, let
me go. I don't need to have all the extra stuff,
so let me go get married. And problem was it
just it wasn't the right time and things just didn't
(06:32):
work out, which is probably better for both of us
because we didn't really know each other. You know, sometimes
you can just go in and say, well, you know,
everything is coming together. I guess I could pull this
piece into and make it work. And the thing is is,
the relationships don't work that way. They have a time
on them too, and they have an expiration date, and
(06:54):
whether we like it or not, it's there. That's how
I got to Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Well, and it's interesting. So even when you, you know,
started pulling those pieces, it wasn't necessarily that you were like, Okay,
I'm gonna come to Atlanta. I'm gonna set up my
own church. I'm gonna, you know, have a congregation. That
was not necessarily a part of that picture. That took
a little bit more time to become, to have more
clarity to it.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
It took a little bit more time for me to
be convinced because that was never one of my things.
I always told her I don't want a pastor. I said,
I'll do whatever else. I'll serve in whatever capacity that
you want. But I pastored pastors for almost thirty years,
so I knew the struggle of the pastorships. So I
(07:41):
didn't want that at all, you know, because that's a
it's a heavy burden. I mean, it's the one office
positionally where the people are with you twenty four seven,
seven days a week, you know, three sixty five a year.
You know, these people get real comfortable with you. And
I found is that one of the most difficult things
(08:03):
about being a minister period is that you are never
allowed the same grace that you give to others. In
other words, like others in their weaknesses. And it's like
they forget they tell you all their business and at
the same time they crucifying you over yours.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah, because they see you at that point on. You know,
I don't want to say a pedestal as much as
but you're a role model.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Yeah, and not a human being. Because the other part
of it, Katie, is that leaders have every right that
parishioners have to grow up. But growth never happens without failure.
The problem is most people can't handle the failure of
their leaders.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
I mean, in many cases, depending on what that bar
is set for, many people struggle with failure in general.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Yeah. Yeah, And there's no true I learned this very young.
There's no true success without failure. You can say all
people can say all they want about how successful they are,
but if they have had no failures, they're not really successful,
which means that when they do finally have that moment
(09:10):
where they fail or they fall, they'll fall all the
way back to the bottom because they didn't take the
time to do it the right way, which you you
go through those levels, those levels kind of hold you
up because eventually you will fall. And I think it's
another scripture say's counted all joy when you when you
(09:31):
fall into divers temptations, and that when implies that it
doesn't matter who you are, that's going to come a
time when you're going to fall. You know, the temptation
is going to lead you down a road. And it's
really not about the failure of falling. It's the failure
of not getting up. That's where real failure is. Because
(09:53):
as long as you keep getting up. There's no failure
in that. I mean, because everybody, we all fall short.
We all have these things in our lives that calls
us travail and calls us pain and calls us to
move away from the troops as we know them, principles
or whatever. But I've looked at life like this should.
(10:17):
If it hadn't meant for the failures of my life,
I would never honor success the way I do.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I really appreciate you sharing that because it is interesting
just thinking about many different stories are people that we
view as a society as successful. And as you were
explaining that, I was trying to rack through my head
of I think that that's part of the story that
many times we tend to graze over. We focus on
(10:44):
the they started here and they reached here. There's a
lot in between that might be missing.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Yeah, called the process. And the process in life is
the worst and the best, the best because the best
comes out of the worst, Because it's the worst you
will ever look. It is the true and the Greek
the word is metamorphous. It is the true ugliness of growth.
(11:12):
It happens in the process. In the process, we are
never going to be uglier dissatisfying to people on the outside,
and those who hope for the best for us are
so discouraged when they see us in that place, but
they don't realize that they've been there or are there
now too, you know. And the thing is is there's
(11:35):
a certain amount of grace that has to be You
don't really necessarily need it from people. You need it
from God, and you need it for yourself, you know,
a grace which is defined as an unmarrited favor, something
that you don't deserve, but you still need to get
over the process. That to me is that process, I
(11:59):
always say, is the ugliest I've ever seen myself, the
weakest I've ever seen myself, the most distraught I've ever
seen myself as in the process, because that's the place
where the old rider called the potter and the clay.
That's the place where the clay is on the spindle
(12:21):
and the potter is forming it and reforming it, and
it goes through all these different ugly looks and messy
looking things until it comes to the form that the
potter meant for it to be from the start, and
it takes time to get there.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
So part of that process and the insight that you
were were going into it. That was something that kind
of maybe gave you hesitation towards beginning your own church
and really building the congregation.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Yeah, I think important because I felt like I was
first of all, I was inadequate, and then I felt
like I'd gotten married at nineteen and I was divorced
by the time I was thirty four, married about thirteen
fourteen years, but I had never been single. So one
thing about me is I tend to be very transparent
(13:14):
because I want people to be helped when I do
stuff like these interviews. And I struggled with my flesh
because I had never had to. I was married as
a young man, you know, through my teenage years.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
I was married.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
And I found out later that the whole point of
a call on your life, and it doesn't have to
just be ministry. It can be whatever it is your
call to do, but the whole point of it is
to help you with the areas that you can't be
helped with any other way. I mean, the ministry and
(13:50):
pastoring people forced me into a whole nother level of
character because you need to be seen differently, not as
a god, not as an idol, but as a chief
among equals. We're all equal, but they're chief among equals,
and there's a level of respect that goes both ways.
(14:10):
It is a respect that comes because of how you
live and what you preach, and it comes and it
goes to them because they honor the truth or that
character that's in you enough to accept your words that
you're sharing. And when I became single, I found out
(14:33):
I wasn't and that, within itself, was a life lesson
for me that just when you think you're at your strongest,
you're really at your weakest, and you're your most vulnerableness,
you know, very vulnerable in that place where you think
that you're stronger than you really are, because then your
pride is going to be your downfall. You know the
(14:56):
old proverb that your pride comes before or downfall, and
humility before honor. You know, so when you when you
get to the place where you know, I ain't ain't
nothing not that it can get me off my post,
ain't nobody make me slipping fall. I was slipping like
I was on ice, as you know I was. I
(15:16):
was making the kind of mistakes that that that I
never thought I would have made, but I did you,
And in part I'm glad I did because I get
to talk about it from a perspective as a leader
of having visited some things that I think can help
shape and reshape other people and give them hope that
(15:39):
they can get to the other side, because it's a
constant battle, but you can get there.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Do you feel like you are working on or you've
you've found improvements and being able to balance that level
of like the transparency and the honesty about obviously like
being a human being and going through that and conveying
a message of hope and being able to so lead
with character.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yeah. I wrote a book called Limitless and Limitless was
my testimony about how I found myself on the journey
of lives because I think where most people fail in
their attempt to overcome their flesh and their weaknesses is
that they have not taken the time to learn about
(16:27):
themselves and to love themselves. Because most times our failures
are based on the fact that we don't even know
who we are. So we're out there just like rummaging
through all kinds of stuff and all kinds of people
and places and things because we're looking for something that
tells us who we are when it's really inwardly. Inwardly,
(16:48):
you got to get inside yourself and you have to
learn to be honest with yourself. Like I had to
admit to myself that I was who I was. You
understand what I'm saying. I couldn't sit there and say, no,
that ain't who I am. I just made a mistake. No,
that's who I am right now, and that's who I
am until I change, you know. And I can't change
(17:09):
on my own cause if I could have, I would
have already done in it. So there's that other piece
that has to depend on God, I mean, because he's
the one that has the ability to do things for
us that we cannot do for ourselves. And I trust
that with my whole heart.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Thank you, Katie and Terry. The Black Information Networks. Morgan
Woods spoke to doctor okay Enya, a Washington, d c.
Based government relations executive, public health scholar and author of
the John Henry Health Equity Playbook at four Year Health
Policy Agenda for Black Men. The two have an important
conversation about health equity and the future of policy for
(17:47):
black men and boys. Here is part two of that conversation.
Speaker 7 (17:50):
Absolutely and if you're just joining us. We're speaking with
doctor okay Enya, public health scholar and author of the
John Henry Health Equity Playbook. Now we're unpacking how economic stabilities,
civic engagement, and mental and physical wellness all connect, especially
when it's talking about or in regards to black men
(18:12):
and boys and their health. Now, speaking of which, you
know that mental health and masculinity, at least, stigma wise,
do not go hand in hand. You know, that is
not something that we see cross intersect in our community,
even though it really truly does. Right, So, how can
(18:34):
we reframe that stigma, reframe the conversations around being a
man and making.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Sure that you actually have access to.
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Mental health resources and just you know, destigmatizing that in
regards to black men and boys.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
What would you say to that, Yes.
Speaker 9 (18:53):
That's a great question. So I use myself as as
an example. I've been seeing a black my psychologist for
the past every year, is at least once a month,
just at a minimum, like this is my maintenance, this
is so like so, and so that's part of how
I normalize seeking help. And but that has borne out
(19:15):
of my lived experience of you know, growing up in
a in a home where yes, we know Jesus will
fix it, but there are also therapists who are trained
to give you language in context for what's happening.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
Right. And so I've lived.
Speaker 9 (19:33):
The the depression, the anxiety, the trauma of the confusion,
like I've been there at different points in my life,
but I've now I've gotten to a place where because
I've been I've been.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Blessed to have the community.
Speaker 9 (19:48):
And I sell all the time that that you can't
be your best self by yourself. It's it's seeking that support.
And then also for me having an executive coach that
I work with, and so it's talking for me as
a blackmailist. Actually the first step is talking about my
(20:09):
own experience and giving other people, giving other people the
permission to talk about their own experiences. And it's also
about being willing to be an advocate in a voice
for the voiceless and ensuring that black men have safe
(20:31):
spaces to talk and just be and like unmasked. And
so it starts with me, for example, being an example
and saying, hey, you know, these are my challenges, but
here are the ways in which I am seeking help.
Here with some language and some resources that I found helpful.
(20:55):
And yes, there are challenges with access to care and
access to providers who are who are culturally competent. And
that's an entire other conversation. But part of my hope
in writing this book is to is to put the
data in the hands of those who need this data
(21:19):
to say, Okay, we know that there are some disparities here,
but here are some resources. And when you're able to
talk about your own experience, I found that that gives
people permission to be vulnerable, to be transparent about.
Speaker 6 (21:36):
Their own.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Here the link journey, and that helps to build the
community to a place where others feel comfortable doing the same.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
Yes, absolutely, you likened it to maintenance. You likened your.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Visits with your therapist to maintenance. Can you talk to
me and tell me a little bit more about your
own own lived experience and how that has actually been
beneficial to you in terms of that maintenance. How do
you feel once you have put yourself through that maintenance
per se?
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Yes.
Speaker 9 (22:16):
So, my first about with depression that that I actually
knew was depression was when I was in medical school,
and I was several years ago, and and so wh
I started my my my med school journey well, I was.
I was one of maybe I think six other black
(22:38):
men in my foreheart about seventy two students, and so
it was very lonely I studying experience, going to a
school that didn't have many mentors or support uh, and
I fell into depression and just kind of racial trauma.
(23:01):
Being one of the few I uh uh was part
of a community, and in this case my fraternity off
of pay Offa. There were brothers in my life who
were able to put language to what I was experiencing.
And because of that, uh, that community, I was able
to begin to seek out support in a way that
(23:26):
was very timely and helpful.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
And so you know, I it's and.
Speaker 9 (23:33):
So because of those experiences, I know much better and
I put a a robust self care and soul care
regimen in place that incorporates my physical health, my mental health,
emotional health, et cetera. Because I was blessed to have
(23:56):
people in my life to help me get the that
I needed. And so, you know, my hope is that
sharing about my own experience and seeing the benefits of
therapy and the growth and the evolution to be my
best self, to to not just survive, but thrive is
(24:17):
also what.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
Drive me to do what I do?
Speaker 8 (24:24):
Absolutely, and you also mentioned that.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
You talked about being in a space in medical school
where you were one of very few black men. Can
you speak to me about the representation around that. I
have recently been talking to some other medical professionals, black
medical professionals, and many of them say that they are
one of two, one of three, one of five. And
(24:50):
they also to an extent, echo your sentiment about feeling
isolated in that space because they're you know, you're going
through your studies and maybe you're dealing with socioeconomic issues
that the next person may not be dealing with. Can
you speak to me about the importance of having black men,
black women in the field of STEM, in the field
(25:13):
of medicine.
Speaker 9 (25:17):
Absolutely, so, five percent positions in the United States are black,
three percent of your type.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
Of of the.
Speaker 9 (25:29):
Of the of the physician workforce in the United States
are black men. And and that has been a long
standing issue for decades. And so it speaks to a
pipeline issue, UH that is rooted in white supremacy and
(25:50):
structural racism and those barriers of how do we UH disrupt, dismountle,
and or transform systems that weren't built with us in mind.
And so even in my doctor program more recently, I
was one of two black men in my cowards of
(26:13):
thirty students, and there were three black women, and I
was the only so out of my doctor program.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
The year that I graduated.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Last year, I was the only black male to earn
the degree from my department.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
Across the entire school.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
And so, yes, and so that's why I'm so passionate
about ensuring that wherever I happened to be, how can
I make this place better than how I found it?
How can I strengthen or lengthen the pipeline for others
that looked like me to again not.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Just survive, but thrive and so and so.
Speaker 9 (27:02):
Yeah, you know, when you have five percent of doctors
that are black and black black in the country and
then you have just three percent that are black male doctors,
you know these lost any issues. We got to do
much more to be able to really help our people.
Speaker 7 (27:20):
Absolutely, doctor, and ya, before I let you go, is
there anything that I did not touch on that you
want to mention regarding your book or just overall health
of black men black boys.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
So you know, first of all, thank you so much.
For having me. I really have enjoyed this conversation.
Speaker 9 (27:39):
I will look forward to more conversations as things evolved.
Speaker 7 (27:42):
I think we will do this again for sure. We've
only been going to scratch the surface here.
Speaker 9 (27:49):
I love it, and I you know, I'm going to
book to it now. I'm going to be going to
a few cities across the country over the next few months,
and then as we look at twenty twenty six, you know,
I'm looking for it to June, which is which is
Men's Health Month, and then looking at the midterms next year.
So I have you know, I'm just really excited to
(28:09):
be able to uh serve in this capacity. My website
is and your Strategies dot com. That's E N Y
I A S t R A uh T E G
I E S dot com. You can find my books there.
Happy to serve as a as a resource for you
(28:31):
and your audience. And yeah, you know, I'm just really
passionate about reimagining black men in terms of their their
health and wellbeing across the country and around the world.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
Absolutely, thank you so much for joining us, doctor Okay
and your government relations executive, public health scholar and author
of the John Henry Health Equity Playbook, a four year
health policy agenda for Black men.
Speaker 8 (28:57):
Now you can, as he mentioned it.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Get a sign copy of that book at Anya Strategies
dot com forwards Lash Books. Of course, again, thank you,
doctor Enya. Conversations like this remind me or us, it
should remind us that health isn't personal. It's also political,
it's cultural, and of course it is about our community.
So I thank you for joining us to have this conversation.
(29:21):
And as I did mention before, I feel like we're
just beginning to scratch the surface, and I think me
and you together at least we can do great work
in amplifying this message.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Thank you. I look forward to it.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Yes, all right, well, I'm Morgan would on the Black
Information Network.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Thanks Morgan and doctor Enya. Actress and entrepreneur Tia Maury
is teaming up with the American Cancer Society to start
a powerful conversation in Black families this holiday season, one
that blends great food, family traditions, and the hard truths
about cancer and early detection. Our own desther Dillard said
down with her to talk about the new initiative, the
(29:58):
importance of screenings, and how families can use the holidays
to protect their health.
Speaker 10 (30:08):
When you know your family history and you get that
or the news about an abnormality in your breast, it's scary.
Speaker 11 (30:21):
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, we're
speaking with actress, entrepreneur, author, and advocate Tiamari. With the
holidays approaching a time filled with great food, family gatherings,
and traditions, Tia is using this season to spark something deeper,
the hard but necessary conversations about cancer and black health.
As part of her partnership with the American Cancer Society,
(30:43):
she's helping families openly talk about screenings, early detection, and
health disparities that continue to affect our community. She also
shares her personal story from losing loved ones to cancer
to navigating a recent abnormal mammogrant scare. It's an honest,
heartfelt conversation about protecting our families, honoring our traditions, and
(31:04):
changing the odds for future generations. Well, I know that
you are on this tour and you are busy person,
and you look fabulous.
Speaker 12 (31:14):
By the way, Oh my gosh, thank you.
Speaker 10 (31:18):
I'm working on receiving you know, so I really I
receive that, So thank you very much.
Speaker 12 (31:23):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
Well.
Speaker 11 (31:26):
I know this campaign. I've read a little bit about it,
but I really like you to talk more about how
you're trying to encourage black families to talk about cancer
around the dinner table. That's something that a lot of
us have not been raised to do. Why did you
think that this was really the right time to do
something like that.
Speaker 10 (31:46):
Yes, so, first off, I just want to say, many
people they feel overwhelmed and they don't necessarily want to
talk about the big CEA, right, But I feel like
that is where change happens.
Speaker 11 (31:59):
Change highlight it in the YouTube online series called Changing
the Odds Against Cancer with Tamari and the American Cancer Society.
Speaker 10 (32:08):
I would love for you to join me for something really,
really special. I'm partnering with Pfizer and the American Cancer
Society for a new kind of series, one where people
who have lived with cancer share their favorite family recipes
and the powerful stories behind them.
Speaker 11 (32:26):
Tea is shared with me how tough conversations are what
she believes can transform families for good.
Speaker 10 (32:32):
And it is one of the most simple things we
can do, hard but simple, which is to talk about it.
Speaker 12 (32:40):
And that's what we're going to do today. So cancer.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Unfortunately, when we're talking about the odds, it's not necessarily
the same for everyone black within the Black community or
just Black communities in general. We tend to get a
diagnosis in our later stages, and that's with any and
all types of cancer, which is unfortunate because that can
(33:08):
impact you know, a patient or one's outcome. Unfortunately, the
leading cause of death for black women in the US's
breast cancer, the leading cause of death for Black males
in the US's prostate cancer. Now you said this earlier,
something that we don't necessarily talk about or want to
(33:31):
talk about is of course the big seed, but also
more importantly family history. Family history is one in several
factors that can influence one's risk of a cancer diagnosis.
So it is very imperative and important for us to
understand our family's history and our family's connection to the disease.
(33:55):
And once you have that information, share it with your
doctor and get the proper screenings that you need. Unfortunately,
one in five Black adults in the US know their
family history very well, which is a very very low number,
which is why we believe that there tends to be
(34:15):
this gap or a delay.
Speaker 12 (34:18):
When it comes to cancer screenings. So you asked why
you know.
Speaker 10 (34:23):
Of course, am I passionate about this campaign or part
of this campaign is because unfortunately, cancer has been a
part of my family. I have lost two uncles to cancer,
I have lost my grandmother to cancer, and I just
recently lost an untie to cancer about a year and.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
A half ago.
Speaker 10 (34:43):
Knowing this, I said, okay, you know what I need
to dig deeper and to dive in. I started doing
this in my mid twenties. Even now, I am constantly
doing research. I am seeing genetic.
Speaker 12 (34:57):
Doctors, et ce. I say that all.
Speaker 10 (35:01):
To say, now knowing my family history, now knowing my
health background, I now know my potential risks. Therefore I
am getting all of the proper support and proper screenings
that I need to do. I was also able to
gather this information, share it with my sister, share it
with my brother. So now we as a family, we
(35:23):
are informed. And I personally feel and I know this
may sound cliche, but education is power. So this campaign,
this series that I'm hosting, rewrite the recipe. It's very
personal for me and I am just wanting to encourage
(35:47):
everyone to again gather around the dinner table and have
these difficult but very impactful conversations dinner table. The reason
why I say dinner table is because within our community,
in the black communities, where there.
Speaker 12 (36:05):
Is food and there is family. Okay, where there is
food is badly colla.
Speaker 10 (36:12):
Greens, you know, all the traditional dishes that you know
have been asked down from generation to generation.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
There's family.
Speaker 10 (36:22):
And for me, growing up, my family, we would gather
around the table to have hard conversations.
Speaker 12 (36:29):
So when I was a kid, it was very.
Speaker 10 (36:33):
Important for us to have dinner at the dinner table,
the whole family.
Speaker 12 (36:36):
It was like nobody was missing.
Speaker 10 (36:39):
Everybody was right there and my mom and my dad,
they would start asking us hard questions.
Speaker 12 (36:46):
You know, how is your day? That's not necessarily hard,
but how are you feeling today?
Speaker 8 (36:52):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 12 (36:53):
But as a child, sometimes when you hear how are
you feeling?
Speaker 10 (36:56):
That could be a little overwhelming, you know, But it
was there where it was there, meaning at the dinner table,
where and when I would share Mom, I was bullied today,
somebody was a nice to me, you know. So anyway,
knowing that where there is food, there's family, knowing that
I personally grew up having these hard conversations around the
(37:17):
dinner table with my family. I wanted to do the
same and encourage others to do the same. And you know,
these are some crazy statistics, but what's not crazy is
just having the conversation and talking about it.
Speaker 12 (37:34):
Is simple, but it's one.
Speaker 10 (37:36):
Way that we can close that gap, narrow that gap,
and start changing the odds when it comes to how
cancer has impacted our Black communities.
Speaker 11 (37:45):
So I understand that you had your own cancer scare.
I did abnormal mammogram and you know, watching the episode,
you could see that you were distressed. Where did your
family when you shared it with your family? What was
going on? Were they like, Okay, just you're going to drama, relax?
(38:08):
Did they get in? Did everybody feel you did?
Speaker 10 (38:12):
Of course everybody felt the same way I did, because
we all know our family history. So when you know
your family history and you get that or the news
about an abnormality in your breast, it's scary and it's
(38:33):
very overwhelming. But I will say that, you know, the
coolest thing is knowing that you have that support, right.
I think sometimes people don't necessarily want to talk about
cancer is because they're scared, they're overwhelmed, or they might
fill alone one thing that I did not.
Speaker 12 (38:56):
I mean in the beginning, yes I did fill.
Speaker 10 (38:58):
Alone, but knowing that I had that support from my friends,
from my family, it gave me the courage to move
through it.
Speaker 11 (39:07):
And although our conversation about a heavy topic seemed to
stay in a light note, it emotionally took a turn.
Speaker 12 (39:14):
These stories are so.
Speaker 13 (39:19):
Empowering, courageous, impactful, and I'm just so proud of these
individuals because again, it's not easy to share your story,
but the way that they have with strength.
Speaker 12 (39:45):
Hope is so admirable.
Speaker 11 (39:48):
To hear more about Tea's emotional journey and her advice
for others dealing with similar circumstances of grief around the holidays,
head over to the Color between the Lines YouTube chair
or the Color Between the Lines podcasts on iHeartRadio or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
I'm Ester Dinnard, Thank you, Esther and Tia Maury. One
of the toughest things to do in a big urban
city is to meet people with similar interests and build
relationships with those people in a safe environment. Fortunately, we
now have an app for that, and this app is
designed specifically for the black community. Alexandria Icimoni spoke with
(40:29):
Ray Abram, founder and CEO of the Great Night, aapp,
a new social media platform that just launched in Atlanta
with plans to go nationwide soon.
Speaker 14 (40:38):
This is Alexandria Icimoni with the Black Information Network, and
I have the pleasure of speaking with Ray Abram, who
is the founder and CEO of Great Night.
Speaker 12 (40:47):
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (40:48):
I'm doing great, Alexandra. Thank you so much for this.
Speaker 14 (40:51):
Opportunity, absolutely, and I feel it.
Speaker 12 (40:53):
Great is the word of the day for sure.
Speaker 14 (40:56):
Great Night app it's here in Atlanta, It's in the
app store and for people to be able to go
and find a download that does great things to really,
I guess connect people, That's all I'll say. So I
want you to tell me, from your words and your perspective,
what exactly is Great Night and how beneficial will it
be to people here.
Speaker 6 (41:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 15 (41:15):
So one of the things I always try to get
across is that Great Night is really a social network first.
Unlike many other event apps we get compared to quite
a bit. We're not about selling tickets. We're about helping
people meet folks who like to do the same things
they like to do. But the events are part of
(41:37):
what brings you to the app. So we like to
say you come for the events, but you stay for
the community.
Speaker 14 (41:44):
Absolutely, and you're talking about the community, I will like
to preface that you are the founder, I should say
is a black man. This is great for Atlanta, which
has a great large black community here. So talk to
you more about how important it is for black people
to find community and find a safe space in order
to connect and get to meet new people.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 15 (42:08):
One of the challenges, particularly in our community is loneliness.
You know, we're starting to see you, particularly young people.
Loneliness used to be an elderly or an older person's issue,
where you know, the friends have passed on and so forth,
and now we're seeing even with our twenty year olds
and people in their twenties early thirties are suffering from
(42:31):
chronic loneliness.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
And you probably have seen.
Speaker 15 (42:35):
The reports from the surge in general that being chronically
lonely is as dangerous for your health as smoking up
to fifteen cigarettes a day.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
It actually shortens your life.
Speaker 12 (42:47):
Let's talk about the actual app itself. It's pretty cool, right.
Speaker 14 (42:50):
It has different events that you that you can go
to bas off like interests and locations and then you
earn points. So tell me more about the actual app
itself and what people can experience when they're using it.
Speaker 15 (43:04):
So we have you know, we have a bot that
goes out every night and finds things that are everything
that's going on in the city.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
And then we partner with curators, folks who help.
Speaker 15 (43:17):
Us fill in those little, you know, spots that you
don't hear about. We don't focus on the big things
right that everybody is on the radio and in the papers.
We focus on the small events where people you can
actually sit and get to meet people and get to
know them is where we focus on. So we have
(43:39):
not just the event feed, but we also have communities
where you know, folks who are you know, promoters. It's
a place you can build a community around the things
that you like to do. For instance, we have a
community for you know, creators, and we have a community
for people who are into edim music or house or
(44:00):
you know, if you live in a certain neighborhood and
so you know, anybody you know can you can create
their own community almost like Facebook pages. But you know,
really for folks who live in in your area that
you can actually meet in real life. But the key
I think that people really like about our app is that,
(44:21):
you know, by doing things on the app, whenever you
go to an event or you meet somebody at an event,
you get points, and then we have partners like Uber
and you know, parking lots and food restaurants where you
can go and use those.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Points for free stuff. So those are kind of.
Speaker 15 (44:41):
The big things, you know, finding the events, meeting people,
joining communities, and earning rewards as you built your social life.
Speaker 14 (44:50):
Pretty cool to Bilda's social life here in Atlanta. I
do have a question, though, what is your favorite feature
or favorite part.
Speaker 12 (44:58):
Of the app for you specific Thick.
Speaker 15 (45:01):
Yeah, for me, it's the event chat So every event
has its own chat room, so you can find out
who is you know at the event already and then
jump into the chat room and start talking to people
and finding out you know, how is it, you know,
where did you part?
Speaker 3 (45:18):
You know what time are y'all? You know, getting there,
that type of thing.
Speaker 15 (45:22):
Because one of the things is always frustrating for me
when I'm thinking about going out is I don't know,
is this going to be good? I don't know, you know,
is anybody there? And so having that kind of a window,
that visibility into an event before you get there, for
me is a is really helpful and part of my
(45:42):
favorite part. And then additionally, I'm kind of introverted myself.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
People don't believe it.
Speaker 15 (45:48):
But I tend to when I you know, go by
myself and you know, so I'm just at the spot
and people around having a good time. I don't know anybody,
and sometimes I feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Just walk up the folks and talking.
Speaker 15 (46:01):
But what the app allows you to do is see
all the conversations that are going on in the chat
room and actually you kind of uh, you know, it's
like an onboarding from the screen to real life. And
so that has been for me. That's my personal favorite feature,
being able to uh, you know, kind of meet people.
Speaker 3 (46:23):
Online and then transition to real world. And you know,
for people who.
Speaker 15 (46:28):
Are concerned about giving out their phone numbers to everybody,
it also doesn't require that.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
So now you can just you meet people just with with.
Speaker 15 (46:38):
Their app username and and build those relationships while you're
at the spot and continue that conversation afterward without having
to exchange phone numbers.
Speaker 14 (46:50):
Very very very cool at chat feature sounds amazing. I
do love that you can get a vibe check and
understand parking and talk to people. I think it's very
great to really connect act even before you meet in
person or even after the facts. So that's fantastic. Any
last details you would like to leave with? Who's listening
about the app that I didn't cover?
Speaker 6 (47:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 15 (47:11):
So again, you can download it today. It's in both
apps stores, so Apple or Android. We also have a
web version so you can go to a Great Night
dot us and you.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
Know, and just get a preview. It's free to use.
All of our services are free for users.
Speaker 15 (47:30):
And if you have a small business and a lot
of your listeners or business owners, you know, what we.
Speaker 3 (47:36):
Do is have advertising for local businesses.
Speaker 15 (47:40):
So any business that particularly needs to drive foot traffic
like a restaurant or if you own a gym, or
you have a class of some type you need people
to come to your space. We have very affordable advertising
rates that will reach people who live in your market
it and we can target it down to you know,
(48:02):
a certain neighborhood to show that add to them and
and and help you get foot traffic.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
Into your door.
Speaker 15 (48:10):
So that's really our you know, that's how we make money.
And how we support our community.
Speaker 14 (48:17):
I love that now we know that it's here in Atlanta.
What about other cities, other markets.
Speaker 15 (48:23):
Yeah, we're planning that that'll be like you two of
next year, we're starting to look at some other markets,
but right now we're in Atlanta and we want to
just nail it.
Speaker 3 (48:33):
We want to get it right here.
Speaker 15 (48:34):
We believe that if we can be successful in Atlanta,
we can be successful anywhere.
Speaker 14 (48:39):
Absolutely absolutely. Ray Aroun, thank you so much for your time.
We appreciate you and the information you provided today on
the Great Night app.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
Awesome, all right, thank you so much, Alexandra.
Speaker 15 (48:50):
I really appreciate you and this opportunity to speak to
here listeners.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Thanks Alexandria. The Great Night app is available now in
your favorite app store. Be sure to unloaded today. Doug
Davis is back with his conversation with the San Francisco
black educator and author who spoke at this year's Anti
Racism Summit.
Speaker 3 (49:09):
Doug.
Speaker 6 (49:09):
Hey, Thanks Mike.
Speaker 2 (49:10):
We are back with part two of our candid conversation
about the global systems of anti Blackness with Dante King,
educator and author of the book Anti Blackness. Dante was
one of a few keynote speakers at the Global Anti
Racism Summit that just happened in South Africa. Dante, welcome
back to the show. Now you're left off saying that
white people in general have a sociopathic disorder towards Black Americans,
(49:35):
and you explain that in your book Anti Blackness, and
you also express that at the Anti Racism Global Summit.
Let's bring back the point you made in our first
interview in case some of our listeners didn't hear why
you feel, in general, the white Americans have a sociopathic
disorder towards black people, and then we'll get more into
the summit.
Speaker 16 (49:55):
So we have to understand that the psychological context by
which white people have been operating where black people are
concerned and where non white people are concerned is one
of inhumanity.
Speaker 6 (50:07):
They have been socialized to.
Speaker 16 (50:09):
Believe for hundreds of years that black and brown people
lack humanity and that they don't deserve the same things
that they deserve. Right and so doctor Bobby Wright, and
one of the one of the philosophies that I use
to ground my work is doctor Bobby Wright's The Psychopathic
Racial Personality, where he talks about how you can literally
(50:31):
see that whites are in the way that they function
with in relationship to black people, that they are psychopathic.
They have a psychopathic disposition that is akin to what
would be clinically diagnosed as like an antisocial personality disorder.
And so I think that within that context, we can
(50:52):
understand that what we're seeing today in today's society extends
from that psychological function.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
Okay, so Dante, let's go back to the summit where
white and black leaders along with researchers and scholars were
present from around the globe. Whether any breakthroughs or moments
of tension at the summit as you dug into the
roots of racial violence.
Speaker 16 (51:18):
Yeah, there are always moments of tension when I speak.
I think the tensions for black and brown people is
they almost immediately are able to see that, you know,
all of the suffering that black and people have gone through,
some of the many of the challenges, all of the
challenges that we face today are the result of this
training that white people have received, and so the conditions
(51:40):
that we face. What I get from a lot of
black and brown people is that they feel validated.
Speaker 6 (51:45):
They feel like, oh.
Speaker 16 (51:46):
My God, for the first time, I'm hearing and seeing
things that explain what I'm going through, what my parents
went through, what my grandparents went through.
Speaker 6 (51:54):
With white people.
Speaker 16 (51:55):
And I've developed recently a framework around this that is
an extension of work that was done previously by doctor
Francis Chris Welsing, doctor Bobby Wright, and doctor Amos Wilson.
But it's called the Psychocognitive Defense Mechanisms of Whiteness. And
there are four key pieces that I point out, and
this typically happens during any training or workshops or talks
(52:18):
that I give, and it happened during my talk in
South Africa. And these four key areas are anytime you
know white people are being confronted with their history, they're
being confronted about their behavior or something racially biased or
racist that they're doing or have done, they either respond
with defensiveness, deflection, denial, or they dissociate, so the four
(52:42):
d's and they detach. And one of the key pieces
to my work that I point out is that as
white people are being terrorized, because we also have to
understand that in constructing and creating whiteness, if you go
back to the seventeenth century, the English government is also
targeting Europeans who associate with black people. They begin to
(53:05):
criminalize marrying black people, being friends with black people, running
away with black people.
Speaker 6 (53:11):
And so you have a group.
Speaker 16 (53:12):
Of people who become a part of this conglomerate that's
now being called white, which is a political function, a
political organization, who are terrorized into.
Speaker 6 (53:23):
Total numbness.
Speaker 2 (53:25):
And this is pre pre colonial America.
Speaker 6 (53:29):
This is in the sixteen hundreds.
Speaker 16 (53:32):
In the sixteen hundred, So there's a law in sixteen
sixty two where they criminalize Europeans for running away with
black people.
Speaker 6 (53:40):
There are laws, there's a law.
Speaker 16 (53:42):
In sixteen ninety, for example, in South Carolina where they
require all white people, all white citizens or you know,
people in the colonies, to become a racial police force
against black people. They each law is authorizing white men
and white women to mistreat black people. It's not even
(54:03):
just authorizing or giving you permission, it's basically requiring them
to mistreat and target. And so these people are learning,
but not just learning, they're developing into monsters where black
people are concerned, and there's really no way out because
when you embed such practices into the law, into the
(54:25):
legal context, this is what shapes society. You know, I
now have to if I see Doug on the street
and there's a law that's been passed, it says I
am now authorized, but I'm now required to apprehend him,
to check and see if Doug should be in this
place at any given time.
Speaker 6 (54:42):
I now have to ask Doug for his papers. This
is shaping in the.
Speaker 16 (54:46):
White mind not only that I'm superior and that these
people are of a lower value and lesser class, but
I have the right, I have total agency and over
this person, over these people. And so we have to
contend with what are the psychological results all of these
hundreds of years later, and as these traditions and these
(55:10):
psychological practices and functions have been passed down generation by
generation by generation, what a results?
Speaker 2 (55:16):
What roles do you see for some legal reform and
reparations in global anti racism efforts? Do you see anything
ever really come in to fruition.
Speaker 16 (55:27):
I don't see much of anything coming into fruition because
we have to understand the objective of white capitalism. The
objective of white capitalism is to ensure that the people
that have access to it can control the resources, can
control their positions and everyone else's positions in the world.
Speaker 6 (55:47):
It's about power.
Speaker 16 (55:49):
And so when you exploit people for hundreds of years,
and you do it intentionally because you want to build
that power for yourself and create, for example, wealth for yourself,
you don't go go back.
Speaker 6 (56:00):
And say, oh, you know, we made a mistake. No,
this was intentional.
Speaker 16 (56:04):
And so the desires of white people are not to
make amends for.
Speaker 6 (56:10):
What they did. They don't feel as though.
Speaker 16 (56:11):
They've done anything wrong, which is why they can offer
a political apology but not do anything meaningful or tangible
or tangibly in order to correct the situation. The other
piece of that, I want to be very clear about
if we are talking about reparations on a global scale,
but even just for African Americans, we need to talk
(56:33):
about there are three entities that should be responsible for
paying black people reparations, and they are the American government,
the US federal government, the English parliament, their government because
they engineered this whole process, along with the Christian Church.
The Christian Church needs to pay reparation.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
Powerful kind of wrapping things up, what kind of message
from the summit do you think are most urgent for
Black Americans and particular black youth to hear right now?
Do you don't know anything about what you're talking about
that are probably being very enlightened by hearing your commentary.
Speaker 6 (57:11):
Well, and I say.
Speaker 16 (57:12):
This in my book, Diagnosing Whiteness and Anti Blackness, and
I hope that people can go to my website, which
is Dante King dot com and follow my work.
Speaker 6 (57:20):
So yeah, go to Dante King dot com.
Speaker 16 (57:22):
I think what is most urgent as for us as
black people around the world, is that we understand these histories,
and not just through a historical context or for the
sake of learning history, but so that we can contextualize
properly the current moment that we're in and the things
that we're seeing and what we're experiencing. Because if you
(57:42):
don't understand history, and you've been fed a story of oh,
this country has been focused on progress and making progress
and making things equal and better for everyone, like I was.
That's what I learned when I was in elementary school
in junior high school. If you learn those falsehoods, those
false narratives, you will once you become an adult, a
(58:03):
black adult, and particularly probably within your thirties or forties,
you will begin to have a nervous breakdown because you
won't understand what's happening to.
Speaker 6 (58:10):
You, even when you follow the rules and you've.
Speaker 16 (58:13):
Done everything that they say that once you do in
this society to be an upstanding human being and citizen.
Speaker 6 (58:20):
For the Dante.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Any final comments and how can people reach you?
Speaker 16 (58:23):
Please reach me at Dante King dot com. It's d
A N T E ki ng Go to Dante King
dot com. Please follow me on Instagram at Dante d
King Official. I think I use that platform out of
all the platforms the most.
Speaker 6 (58:38):
And please get the buck.
Speaker 16 (58:39):
You can go to Barnes and Noble online, Amazon online,
any major global retailer online, go to Ingram spark diagnosing
Whiteness and anti Blackness. And thank you again, brother Doug
for always being a leader and just a source of
inspiration and a supporter of the work for the Dante.
Speaker 2 (58:58):
Thank you, but we appreciate you more. This is Doug
Davis from the Black Perspective of the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (59:03):
Thank you Doug and Dante, and that's our program for
this week. For more on these stories, listen to the
Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio app or log
onto Viinnews dot com for all of the latest news
impacting the black community. We would love to hear from you.
Speaker 3 (59:19):
About the Black perspective.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Log onto VII's Talkback Live feature on the iHeartRadio app
to share your feedback. Also, be sure to follow us
on social media at Black Information Network and on X
and Blue Sky at black Info Net.
Speaker 3 (59:33):
Make the Black.
Speaker 1 (59:33):
Information Network first on your car radio or iHeartRadio app presets.
I'm Mike Island. Have a great Sunday and great start.
Speaker 3 (59:41):
To the month.
Speaker 1 (59:42):
We will see you next week right here on the
Black Information Network.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.