December 30, 2025 • 59 mins
This week on The Black Perspective, we close out the year with a special replay of some of our most powerful and memorable interviews from 2025.
Esther Dillard sits down with A’Lelia Bundles, the great-great-granddaughter of legendary entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, to reflect on legacy, history, and Black excellence.
Vanessa Tyler speaks with living legend Melba Moore about her groundbreaking career and lasting impact on music and culture.
Alexandria Ikomoni talks with Ray Abrams, founder and creator of the Great Night app, about innovation and community.
Doug Davis dives into Black wealth and financial empowerment with financial literacy consultant Will Roundtree.
And Roland S. Martin and James T. Harris join us for some commentary.
Listen Now!
Esther Dillard sits down with A’Lelia Bundles, the great-great-granddaughter of legendary entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, to reflect on legacy, history, and Black excellence.
Vanessa Tyler speaks with living legend Melba Moore about her groundbreaking career and lasting impact on music and culture.
Alexandria Ikomoni talks with Ray Abrams, founder and creator of the Great Night app, about innovation and community.
Doug Davis dives into Black wealth and financial empowerment with financial literacy consultant Will Roundtree.
And Roland S. Martin and James T. Harris join us for some commentary.
Listen Now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Holidays. It's Sunday, December twenty eighth, twenty twenty five,
the last Sunday of the year, and on today's show,
we replay some of the best interviews on this year's
Black Perspective with bim's Esther Dillard and the daughter of
Madam C. J. Walker Alilia Walker. Vanessa Tyler talks to
the living legend the marvelous Melbom Moore. Alexandria Ecimoni talks
(00:25):
with the founder and creator of the Great Night app
Ray Abrams. Doug Davis talks Black wealth with financial literacy
consultant Will Roundtree, and we get this week's commentary from
Roland S. Martin and James T.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
These stories and more are coming your way on today's program.
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Good Sunday, Happy Kwanza, and happy Holidays, and welcome to
the Black Perspective. We are playing some of the best
interviews of the year. We start off with the daughter
of Madam C. J. Walker, the first self made black
woman millionaire. But Alilia Walker became a cultural icon in
her own right. Here's the Black information Networks Esther Dillard
(01:20):
with Moore on the woman they called the Joy Goddess
of Harlem.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
But it wasn't just parties. It was bringing people together
from uptown and downtown in New York. Her international circle
of friends included visitors from Europe and from Africa.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
That was the voice of Alilia Bundles. Her great great
grandmother was Madam C. J. Walker, the first black woman
millionaire who built an empire in black haircare. Walker's daughter
was Alilia. Some call her the Joy Goddess, and she's
the great grandmother of the woman we're speaking to on
this episode. Alilia Bundles wrote a detailed book of her
(02:00):
family legacy called Joy Goddess, A Lilia Walker and the
Harlem Renaissance, and she reveals the emotional cost of legacy,
the burden of being a black woman in the spotlight,
and while reclaiming this history matters more than ever, Let's
dive right into the conversation. I know this book wasn't
something that came together in just a few months. This
(02:21):
has been a journey for years of research on holding
on the history and just piecing together the life of
someone that wasn't just family but legacy. So before we
even dive into Joy Goddess, I wanted, I was just curious,
When did you figure out that this was really the
(02:42):
book you had to write? Was it during the writing
of the first book about your great great grandmother, Madame CJ.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
Walker? Or was it before that?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
There were little steps all along the way. And yes,
while I was writing on her own ground, the life
and times of Madame Cjal I thought I was writing
a double biography, But at some point I realized Alilia
Walker needed her own biography. Madam Walker's story was eighteen
sixty seven to nineteen nineteen. It was about building a
(03:14):
business and being involved in politics. Aliliah Walker's story really
was about the nineteen twenties and all of the artists
and writers and musicians who she knew, and her own
charismatic life. But I will say that the seeds were
planted before I could read. When I was a toddler,
(03:34):
I would go to my grandfather's apartment with my mother,
and my late grandmother's bedroom seemed to have been untouched
since nineteen forty five when she died, and I was
born in fifty two. So as a little girl, I
was exploring the dresser drawer and there were things in
the dresser that had belonged to Alilia Walker, and particularly
(03:56):
these miniature mummy charms that just fit into my little
girl's hands, and that I realized many years later Aliliah
Walker had bought when she was in Cairo in nineteen
twenty two. So this story has been with me all
my life.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
It's fantastic. I was reading that part and you brought
it back to mind. Aliliah Walker was once called the
joy Goddess of Harlem in the nineteen twenties. What does
that nickname mean to you? And what should we understand
about her influence during the Harlem Renaissance beyond just parties.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, I couldn't resist the title. Langston Hughes in his
memoir The Big Sea called Aliliah Walker the joy Goddess
of Harlem's nineteen twenties. So that's just an irresistible title.
And it was because of the great party she gave,
but it was also because she was a convener. She
was a very charismatic person who loved having people around her.
(04:55):
She was a great party giver, but it wasn't just parties.
It was bringing people together from uptown and downtown in
New York. Her international circle of friends included visitors from
Europe and from Africa. But she also at a time
when people weren't comfortable having being at interracial parties, she
(05:17):
made sure everybody was welcome. You know, we take that
for granted now that you can have a party where
all of your friends across the spectrum are there, But
that was unusual, and she was one of the only
people in a position to do that because she had
her mother's three beautiful homes, the mansion in Irvington, the
townhouse in Harlem, the small apartment in Harlem, and she
(05:42):
could bring people together who ordinarily wouldn't have been in
the same room at the same time.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
You mentioned that in the book that well, many people
know Madam C. J. Walker has a business icon. Alelia's
story is often misunderstood or overlooked. What our guests are
some of the biggest myths you wanted to correct about
or truths that you wanted to bring out about Alilia's story.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Sure, yeah, I think when people have read a little
bit about the Harlem Renaissance, because it's such a fascinating
period of time and people enjoyed, and they say, oh,
I wish I had lived then, because I would have
met all of those famous people, those writers, and those
musicians who I admire. And when Alilia Walker has been
included in some of those really well known histories of
(06:30):
the Harlem Renaissance, in some ways she's been caricatured. I mean,
it's easy if you haven't really done the research to
just say, oh, she had parties, she spent her mother's money.
One famous historian said she spent the nineteen twenties playing bridge,
and she had a short attention span. So these were
really put downs. But as I read her letters and
(06:53):
talked with people who had known her, did those interviews,
oral histories, I realized what an interesting person she will,
what a complex person. She was not a perfect human being,
but you know who among us, And so I really
wanted to create a multi dimensional view of her and
to take her beyond this cliche that sometimes has surrounded
(07:17):
her image, you know. And I will say that the
Netflix series Self Made, which was as they say, inspired
by my nonfiction book Octavia Spencer, was great, but the
character of that was a Lilia Walker in self made
is about one hundred and eighty degrees different from the
(07:38):
real life person. So I've had, like I was starting
from trying to like erase that image of her.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Yeah, I read that you really did not You weren't
a big fan of the series, and that was one
of my last questions. But since you brought it up,
I wondered, if joycott Goddess were adapted to like by
a studio, what scene would you have I guess wanted
to see on screen for sure, and who would play
a Lilia.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Well, you know, I already actually am working on a
project about Joy Goddess. This time around, I'm starting off
working with people who are friends and people who have
a track record and whose work I really like, so
it'll be a very different experience. I learned a lot
of lessons the last time around. I haven't picked and
(08:28):
sometimes you can't always get who you want. But I
really think that the sister who played Annie in Sinners.
I'm just gonna put that out there. He has the stature,
she has the presence, So you know, I'm putting that
out there into the universe. Yes, But I just think
Alilia Walker's story is a story first of a person
(08:53):
who is trying to carve her own way with a
larger than live mother. That's not a new story. There
are lots of family stories like that, and I think
that we would be able to see what that meant
to be the child of a larger than life person.
But seeing how she was the center of so much
(09:15):
of the life and culture of the Harlem Renaissance, and
it gives it would give me an opportunity to introduce
some of these amazing writers and musicians and artists and
to show black folks in Harlem in the nineteen twenties
creating their own community.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
To hear the full episode, head to the Color Between
the Lines podcasts available now wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Esther Dillard.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Thanks Esther and Alilia. Now we get commentary from Roland S.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Martin.
Speaker 8 (09:51):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
and its founding partners and employees. Now it's time to
bring the funk with Roland S. Martin.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
No one is shocked that Barry Wise, the editor in
chief of CBS News, would spike a sixteen minutes segment
because it speaks to the Trump administration and their treatment
of migrants Venezuelan migrants who were shipped to in a
(10:28):
El Salvador prison. CBS had been promoting this report for
several days and in two hours before the broadcast, all
of a sudden, it gets spiked. That's because Barry Wise
said that, oh, it needed additional reporting.
Speaker 7 (10:50):
Now. The reporter on the story said that.
Speaker 9 (10:56):
It went through CBS lawyers, it went through States practices,
it went through five rounds of vetting, and it was approved.
Yet Weiss steps in and says, oh, well, we need
to at least have an administration voice in the story.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Where's the problem.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
The reporter and the producers reached out to the Department
of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House,
and they got no response. What this is is very
Wise protecting the Trump administration. This means that the folks
(11:38):
who run Paaramount, they are clearly in the pocket of Trump.
He approved the merger of Trump. He set up for
the father of Paramount's leader, David Ellison, his father's Larry Ellison,
to take over TikTok. It is a right wing takeover
(12:01):
of CBS News period and the most vulnerable journalistic institution today.
Speaker 7 (12:08):
Sixty Minutes is caught in the cross hairs.
Speaker 9 (12:11):
Expect more of this over the next three years as
long as Trump is in the White House.
Speaker 7 (12:17):
I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Thanks for Roland, and stay tuned for commentary from James T. Harris.
Later in today's show, continuing our look back, we turned
to a profile interview our Vanessa Tyler did on a
living legend, the marvelous Melba Moore and.
Speaker 10 (12:35):
Now ladies and gentlemen, Tony Award winner, three time Grammy
Award nominee, the marvelous Miss Melville Moore.
Speaker 11 (12:47):
We've been loving Melbourne Moore for decades. She's still making
us stand and applaud the marvelous Melburn Moore. Welcome to
the Black Perspective.
Speaker 6 (12:57):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 11 (13:00):
You've been entertaining us for more than fifty years. What
is the key to your staying power?
Speaker 6 (13:06):
Well, it's a calling. If you were up to me,
I'm sure I would have given up. There is a God.
Some people don't believe that, but I do. I do too.
Speaker 11 (13:15):
There is a God and we have to thank him
for letting us experience the talent of Melbourne Moore. That's
(13:38):
what put Melbourne Moore on the map the year nineteen
seventy the play the musical adaptation of Pearly Victorious.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
He's about a creature trying to get his church back.
Speaker 11 (13:52):
He was so good in that. That's when you won your.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Tonys that tiny award for that. Yeah.
Speaker 11 (13:56):
Before Pearly, Melbourne Moore made her debut You appearance and
the hit musical Hair and what happened there had never
been done on Broadway before.
Speaker 6 (14:07):
So the Hair was the first rock musical and it
was essentially about the hippie movement. I had the pleasure
with the good luck of getting into the musical because
they were casting while I was in a studio backup
background singing, and the gentleman who wrote the music for
(14:30):
the play, his name was Galton of Germantt, was doing
his own version of the music from Hair, and I
was on the recording session and they invited everybody on
that session to come and sing for the producer because
they were still looking for strong singers. And I went
and I sang for the producer and the director and
I got into the play.
Speaker 11 (14:51):
Now Melbourne was in the play, but not the lead.
Until the lead Diane Keaton left, the spot was opened,
but a black actress as lead and essentially a white
play back.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
Then eventually I said, well, could I audition for the part?
Did she had to be white? And they said no,
we just didn't think that. I auditioned for the lead
and I got the lead.
Speaker 11 (15:14):
It was a magical time early in her career. The
vocal music teacher from Newark, New Jersey, with the spunk
and the voice was going places and going fast.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
I didn't even have an agent, so it's like I
knew so a little about who to go to her
where to go to get into these different areas, but
they still happened for me.
Speaker 11 (15:39):
So from Hair to Pearley, where by the way, she
was so good with Showstopper. After Showstopper, she wanted Tony.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I got it a featured actress, a musical, and I
think the play got it for the best musical. We
got a lot of Tonya wards. Well, that really really,
really really really put me on the map. And then
from there I got invited to do so much television, which,
of course, instead of reaching maybe a couple hundred people
in a theater. Now you meet every time you do
a show, you reach that thousands, but millions.
Speaker 11 (16:37):
Television was the next step, and it was a big one.
The summer of nineteen seventy two never had an African
American female co hosted a network variety show.
Speaker 12 (16:48):
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Speaker 13 (16:50):
Melvimore and Clifton David.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
We invited to have our own TV show as a
matter of that, and Clifton invited because we were going together,
we were dating, we were an item.
Speaker 11 (17:05):
They used the fact they were a couple as comedic
material in the show.
Speaker 14 (17:10):
Welcome to our last show of the summer season.
Speaker 15 (17:13):
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Speaker 12 (17:16):
Who are you talking to them or me?
Speaker 14 (17:20):
Well, I mean, if you're talking to them, I can
understand it because we're going to miss all these marvelous people.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
But if you're talking to me.
Speaker 14 (17:27):
I don't know what you're talking about, because you ain't
gonna part nowhere.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
No, of course not.
Speaker 16 (17:32):
No.
Speaker 15 (17:33):
Melville. Hey, look we've got four weeks free after these
this for a vacation.
Speaker 17 (17:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 14 (17:41):
And I was thinking, you weren't thinking you were scheming.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
I was not scheming.
Speaker 14 (17:46):
I was thinking, Clifton, I know you now when you're
thinking you close your eyes and when you're scheming they
start to blink a lot.
Speaker 18 (17:54):
Really.
Speaker 12 (17:56):
Well, I was thinking.
Speaker 15 (18:00):
That perhaps we could have three weeks together and then
I could have one week vacation by myself.
Speaker 14 (18:06):
Well if you were thinking that you can have it
all by yourself, really, oh.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Now, Melba, it was more for you than for me.
Speaker 15 (18:13):
For me, well, I mean we're together all the time money,
I mean on camera and off.
Speaker 11 (18:19):
Eventually, Melburah moved on from Clifton Davis and The Show
and married Charles Huggins, music executive and her new manager. Melbah,
with her five octave range, recorded a whopping thirty three albums,
many of her songs hits Remember Falling from nineteen.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
Eighty six.
Speaker 16 (18:46):
I'm Honing a.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Funny.
Speaker 11 (18:58):
Although her R and B was so smooth, she got
one of her Grammy nominations in the rock category, extremely
rare for a black R and B singer. The only
others were Tina Turner and Donna Summer. Melbourn's nominated song
read my Lips.
Speaker 19 (19:20):
You're historic rendition of our national anthem.
Speaker 11 (19:31):
Wow, that's in the Congressional record. And I understand when
you were asked to do that you wanted others to
join you as well.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Well, I wasn't asked to do it. Once again, let
me get a credit to God.
Speaker 20 (19:45):
M hm.
Speaker 6 (19:46):
I met an incredible woman by the name of Drothy
Height who was the head of the National Council of
NEMO Women and she was being honored by the NAACP
on television. I saw the event and I said, oh
my goodness. I was loved to meet her, and I
had some time off, so I gave her a call
and asked her could I really wanted her to mentor me,
(20:07):
just in social issues and political issues and community service
issues that had to do with empowering the Black families
and Black community. I just wanted to travel under her
and be around her. But she invited me to be
the membership chair, and that was my position that she
allowed me to come and be a part of the
(20:28):
National Council of Unal Women. But then as we were
traveling the world, she said, no, but why don't you
seeing something for one of the paragraphs. I said, fine,
why aren't you seeing the neuro national Hymn? I said,
oh my goodness, I don't know it.
Speaker 11 (20:41):
So she learned it and invited a few friends to
sing along the collaboration with practically everybody.
Speaker 14 (20:48):
But I decided I don't want to see if I
myself anymore, So I invited some of.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
My dear friends to help me sing about and cause.
Speaker 12 (21:05):
Nice and see.
Speaker 11 (21:09):
You, of course, have been through our civil rights era,
like you said, working with the amazing misheights. When you
think about where we were then and what all the
things you had to overcome, and where we are right now,
what are your thoughts?
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Well, in some ways we're in the worst place. So
much has opened up, and we have so much, and
we've done so much, and we have so much to
be proud of and be thankful for. But our next
election could destroy this democracy with either candidate. My humble opinion,
don't mean to be political, but you have to be.
We have an aging candidate that has a heart, but
(21:51):
I don't know how much ability he has because of
his age to do the job. We have another candidate
who's aging too, but has no heart.
Speaker 11 (22:00):
Magical career came with so many blessings. A street is
named after her in her hometown of Newark. She also
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her
speech a recap of her life full Circle.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
I was born in Harlem Hospital, New York City, to
a single parent mother. Her first profession was as a
big band singer. My father's name was Teddy Hill. He
was a well known big band leader and he also
managed Mitton's Playhouse, one of the most famous jazz nightclubs
(22:45):
in Harlem during the Bebop and Modern Jazz era. Musicians
like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and many many other jazz
greats played at Mitton's Playhouse and in my father Teddy
Hills band.
Speaker 11 (22:58):
Many likely didn't know it then, but there was a reason.
Comedian Kat Williams was there and got a special shout out.
But he revealed why during his blockbuster appearance on podcast Club.
Speaker 18 (23:11):
You know, the sole sponsor of Melbourne Moore getting starting
the Hollywood Walker fame. You you did all that on
your own. Why do you have a personal relationship with Melbourne? No?
Speaker 7 (23:23):
No I.
Speaker 16 (23:27):
I understood that she was a black woman at a
time where it mattered what you looked like, and they
had a certain thing that they needed you to look
like and act like in order to be successful, right,
and she just never did that. She wasn't tall enough,
They didn't like her look. They didn't like that her
(23:49):
hair was natural. They talked crazy about her, and yet
she still made all of these achievements. And I'm like,
I'm already in the comedy Hall of Fame. I'm already
going to heaven no matter what happens, if it ends
in a second, I'm up there. So it gives me
(24:13):
the lean way to do some things that are simply
because it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 11 (24:19):
The generous gift, another blessing out of the blue. She
attributes it all everything to God.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
If you make Jesus and God your study, that's that's
your your focus and your vocation, then daily he will
give you a word, something personal for you for that
particular day, because you can't do it all at once.
And you have this wonderful dream, but how are you
going to get from here to there? And you got
to go like step by step by step by step
(24:47):
by the you know, breath by breath by breath.
Speaker 11 (24:51):
What's new now? As you continue to shine and I
might add well into your late seventies, what's new?
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Oh God, I'm going to do? Oh, I guess I
can talk about it. Yes, I'm going to be a
part of a seven part documentary series on the Winans
family and how they got their name, going all the
way back to the time when the family was in slavery.
So I have a suspicion that may be something and
it's finished comfortable to roots.
Speaker 11 (25:22):
She also does independent films that I know firsthand since
she started a movie where I played the role of
a reporter the extent of my acting ability. And yes,
of course there is always her music, which DJ d
Nice featured on Club Quarantine during the pandemic in producing
Melbourne Moore to a new generation.
Speaker 6 (25:44):
I have a fairly new album called Imagine that was
spehitted by my daughter, which is my attempt to ask
a ton onto her. In terms of our business.
Speaker 11 (25:55):
How our listeners follow you and you know, keep with
Do you have so much going on? Keep up with
you and make sure we know what.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
You're doing well Melbournmore, dot com, YouTube, all the normal platforms,
the incomparable Melbournmore. Thank you for stopping by to say hello.
Well all we can tell I enjoyed it. I love
talking about myself.
Speaker 11 (26:21):
Right, I love talking about you too.
Speaker 6 (26:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Thanks Esther and the legendary Melbourne More, one of the
toughest things to do in a big urban city is
(26:53):
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 that app is designed specifically
for the black community. Alexandria Icimoni spoke with Ray Abram,
founder and CEO of the Great Night App, a new
social media platform that just launched in Atlanta with plans
(27:17):
to go nationwide soon.
Speaker 20 (27:18):
This is Alexandria Ikimoni with the Black Information Network, and
I have the pleasure of speaking with Ray Abram, who
is the founder and CEO of Great Night. How are
you today?
Speaker 10 (27:29):
I'm doing great, Alexandra, Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Speaker 20 (27:34):
Absolutely, and I feel great is the word of the
day for sure. 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
(27:55):
beneficial will it be to people here?
Speaker 10 (27:58):
Yeah, so I wanted the things I always try to
get across is that Grade 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
(28:21):
part of what brings you to the app. So we
like to say you come for the events, but you stay.
Speaker 12 (28:27):
For the community.
Speaker 20 (28:29):
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
(28:50):
to connect and get to meet new people.
Speaker 12 (28:52):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
One of the challenges, particularly in our community is loneliness.
Speaker 12 (28:59):
You know, we're starting to see, you know, particularly young people.
Speaker 21 (29:02):
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 when our twenty year olds
and people in their twenties early thirties are suffering from
chronic loneliness.
Speaker 22 (29:21):
And you probably have seen the reports from the surge
in general that being chronically lonely is as dangerous for
your health as as smoking up fifteen cigarettes a day.
Speaker 12 (29:34):
It actually shortens your life.
Speaker 20 (29:37):
Let's talk about the actual app itself. It's pretty cool, right.
It has different events that you can that you can
go to based 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 10 (29:55):
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, and then we partner
with curators, folks who help us fill in those little,
you know, spots that you don't hear about.
Speaker 12 (30:14):
We don't focus on the.
Speaker 10 (30:16):
Big things, right that everybody that's 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 not just the event feed, but we
also have communities where you know, folks who are you know, promoters.
(30:41):
It's a place you can build a community around the
things that you like to do.
Speaker 23 (30:46):
For instance, we have a community for you know, creators,
and we have a community for people who are into
ed M music or house music, or you know, if
you live in a certain neighborhood and so you know
anybody you know can you can create your own.
Speaker 12 (31:01):
Community almost like Facebook pages, but.
Speaker 10 (31:05):
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, 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
(31:26):
partners like Uber and you know, parking lots and food
restaurants where you can go and use those.
Speaker 12 (31:34):
Points for free stuff. So those are kind of the big.
Speaker 10 (31:39):
Things, you know, finding the events, meeting people, joining communities,
and earning rewards as you built your social life.
Speaker 20 (31:48):
Pretty cool Toabilla's social life here in Atlanta. I do
have a question, though, what is your favorite feature or
favorite part of the app for you specifically?
Speaker 10 (31:59):
Yeah, for me, yes, 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.
Speaker 12 (32:16):
Where did you part?
Speaker 10 (32:17):
You know what time are y'all, you know, getting there
that type of thing, because one of the things is
always frustrating for me when I'm thinking about going out
is I don't know, is.
Speaker 12 (32:29):
This gonna be good? I don't know, you know, is
anybody there?
Speaker 10 (32:34):
And so having that kind of a window, that visibility
into an event before you get there, for me is
is really helpful and part of my favorite part. And
then additionally, I'm kind of introverted myself.
Speaker 12 (32:48):
People don't believe it.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
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 just walking up to folks
and talking. 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,
(33:13):
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 online and then transition to real world.
Speaker 12 (33:31):
And you know, for people who are.
Speaker 10 (33:33):
Concerned about giving out their phone numbers to everybody, it
also doesn't require that. So now you can just you
meet people just with with their app user name and
UH and build those relationships while you're at the spot
and continue that conversation afterward without having to exchange phone numbers.
Speaker 20 (33:56):
Very very very cool to chat feature sounds amazing.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
I do love it.
Speaker 20 (34:00):
You can get a vibe check and understand parking and
talk to people. I think it's very great to really
connect 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 10 (34:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (34:18):
So again, you can download it today. It's in both
apps stores, so Apple or Android.
Speaker 10 (34:25):
We also have a web version so you can go
to a Great Night dot us and.
Speaker 12 (34:32):
You know, and just get a preview. It's free to use.
All of our services are free for users.
Speaker 10 (34:38):
And if you have a small business, I know a
lot of your listeners or business owners, you know.
Speaker 12 (34:44):
What we do is have advertising for local businesses.
Speaker 10 (34:49):
So any business that particularly needs to drive foot traffic,
like a restaurant, or if you own a gym, or
you have a class 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, and
(35:10):
we can target it down to, you know, a certain
neighborhood to show that add to them and and and
help you get foot traffic into your door. So that's
really our you know, that's how we make money and
how we support our community.
Speaker 20 (35:28):
I love that now we know that it's here in Atlanta.
What about other cities, other markets.
Speaker 24 (35:34):
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 12 (35:45):
We want to get it right here.
Speaker 10 (35:47):
We believe that if we can be successful in Atlanta,
we can be successful anywhere.
Speaker 20 (35:52):
Absolutely absolutely, Ray Araun, thank you so much for your time.
We appreciate you and the information you provided today on
the Great Night.
Speaker 12 (36:00):
Awesome. All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 10 (36:03):
Alexandra, I really appreciate you and this opportunity to speak
to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Thanks Alelexandra and Ray. Now we get commentary from James T.
Speaker 7 (36:12):
Harris.
Speaker 8 (36:13):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of bi N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I'm gmc harris, and I have something to say.
Speaker 13 (36:28):
Washington, DC is still talking about one of the most
unorthodox police chief exes in recent memory, and it finished
with the fiery message no one expected from the top
cop heer. South Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, the
first black woman to lead the city's police force, announced
her resignation last Friday. Her departure comes amid intense scrutiny
(36:52):
over allegations that she pressured subordinates to downgrade or reclassify
crime reports in order to create the pairs of declining crime.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Chief Smith took.
Speaker 13 (37:04):
Umbrich and denied any wrongdoing, saying she never told anyone
to manipulate numbers and insist that her record shows commitment
to public safety. And then things went off the rails.
At her public sendoff, Chief Smith looked out at critics
and said about those questioning her leadership, So I'm going.
Speaker 25 (37:26):
To the Bible when I say this to my haters.
Speaker 13 (37:30):
F you, Oh my, this might not be the right
time to question an angry black woman, but I would
like to ask Chief of Pamela A. Smith from which
chapter and verse was she quoting from?
Speaker 25 (37:43):
Never what I compromise my integrity. Never would I compromise
twenty eight years and law enforcement for Foo so shand
to be held accountable if I had to do it
all us again.
Speaker 13 (38:02):
When public trust is in question, leadership doesn't curse the public.
Leadership answers the public right or has the first black
female police chief of Washington, DC ushered in a new
standard as she is literally walking out the door.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I'm James C. Harris for a Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Thank you James T. Harris, and make sure you tune
into the Black Information Network daily for commentary from both
Rolands Martin.
Speaker 7 (38:31):
And James T.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Now we hear from Doug Davis and black wealth financial
literacy consultant Will Rowntree.
Speaker 26 (38:38):
Thanks Mike, this is Doug Davis and you're listening to
your Black Business where we highlight them any achievements of
black entrepreneurs and business owners while touching on how black
Americans can achieve wealth. It's Black History Month and we
have renowned financial literacy consultant and founder of we Management
Services with us, Will Rowntree. He's also an investor and
(38:59):
specializes in real to state wealth creation. Will Rowntree. We're
happy to have you with us as we delve into
the historical context of Black Americans financial literacy, the economic
challenges we face and how we can overcome them, the
business of credit, how race impacts credit. Welcome back again to.
Speaker 17 (39:17):
The BI Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 26 (39:19):
Bill, blessing to have you here man, particularly during this
very important month of ours. If you can, let's get
into some historical context of our lack of financial education
as a whole. Can you provide like an overview of
the historical barriers that have kept Black Americans back and
have hindered our financial literacy and economic progress.
Speaker 17 (39:43):
Yeah, no, absolutely so. I'll often say it first started
with me knowing that this was something that I was
not taught, you know, growing up in a household where
you know, we were just taught, you know, the basics
of how to become success school, go to school, get
good grades, get a good job, and on that journey.
(40:04):
And me actually you know, accomplishing most of that. Does
the one thing that we never talked about in my
household or when I actually went to college, was finances.
We never talked about credit, We never talked about anything economics.
And then as I got into the real world, you know,
in my early twenties, I found out that there was
(40:27):
no place that taught us anything. So as most of us,
we went through the school of hard knocks of understanding
that credit is important, having bad credit is expenses, and
that because there's this this this gap of information that
we are not taught in the black household, we go
(40:49):
out there and we have to we're already starting at
a deficit.
Speaker 18 (40:53):
You know.
Speaker 17 (40:54):
I started to actually learn that a lot of my
peers already had a you know, we're starting out a
deficit because their parents use their credit as kids, putting
utility bills in their name. So it almost became like
an epidemic of what it was that we did not
know about credit. And so it really just sent me
(41:16):
on my quest and why I got into what it
is that I actually do and why I'm so passionate
about going out educating and teaching the importance of it,
because the only thing that I've learned of what we
do know about credit is all consumer based. We only
learn how to use credit to spend, but not how
(41:37):
to use credit to create wealth.
Speaker 26 (41:40):
That's really impactful. Explain a little bit about what you
do right now. I mean I gave you somewhat of
an illustrious intro, but I know you can expound more.
Speaker 17 (41:51):
Coming from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You know, like I mentioned, I
went on the journey of doing everything that you know,
I was conditioned to do. But on that journey, Doug,
in two thousand and three, I lost my job. I
got laid off, didn't know what I was going to do.
And so during that was time. During that time period,
(42:12):
I was on this quest, in this search, and I
started reading books on just you know, business and entrepreneurship.
And while on that journey, I met an individual who
became a mentor of mine, who said, will eventually credit
will become the new dollar. He told me this in
two thousand and three. Didn't know what he meant by
(42:33):
that at the time two thousand and five, I was
fortunate enough to move to Las Vegas. I quickly found
out what he meant though, Doug. I moved to Las
Vegas only had five hundred bucks to my name, and
I couldn't rent an apartment without putting two times a
deposit down, couldn't buy a vehicle without putting thirty percent down.
(42:54):
And I just started to see that having bad credit
was expensive, and so I decided to kind of go
on this journey of learning everything I could about credit,
and I ended up coming across a book by Robert Kiyosaki,
Rich Dad or Dad, where he talked about how he
leveraged other people's money, and he was essentially talking about credit,
(43:18):
and so I started to learn the difference between what
it's called structured debt and unstructured debt. Structured debt is
where you leverage credit in order to be able to
create a well building through purchasing assets. And as I
kind of dig a little bit in the weeds here,
this is essentially what they talked about in the book
(43:41):
The Creature of Jecko Islands, which is how the Federal
Reserve got started. And so I started to just really
learn and research and talk about all of these different
concepts versus what we What I was taught growing up
was unstructured debt or unstructure or credit. Whereas we're using
(44:02):
credit or debt to go and buy things that put
us in debt, for example, using my credit to go
and shop, to go to dinners, to take vacations, to
buy vehicles, to buy the home. Most people overspend on
their homes, and so I had to learn the difference
and just understand that these are concepts that have been
(44:25):
around far longer than I have. It's just unfortunately we
wasn't invited to the meetings where they talked about these
different type of strategies and concepts well before most of
us were even old enough to even learn about these things.
So once I started to learn about it, man, it
took me on this journey where I literally, for the
(44:48):
past ten years have traveled the country, even on my
own dimes, doing free workshops, free seminars where I would
set up in the middle of a neighborhood do a
free financial literacy workshop teaching about home ownership, credit, finances,
and different things of that nature, speaking in school, speaking
(45:10):
at colleges, anyone who would listen. Because again, one of
the number one contributor to a lot of you know,
our I always say financial fatigue is because the lack
of the information we have on finances, credit economics, and
different things of that nature.
Speaker 26 (45:31):
Let me put a hypothetical out there. I'm a thirty
eight year old African American woman, professional, two kids, single,
struggling to make ends meet. Got a great job, but
the economy's killing me. I can't even save and I
can't keep up with my credit, you know, because I
have to, you know, continue to borrow from Peter to
pay Paul. How can I get out of this situation?
Speaker 17 (45:54):
So, believe it or not, that's actually the normal avatar
of who I speak to on a day to day basis.
And the very first thing is what always go back
to is elementary and as cliche is this sound, The
first thing that I do with every client, what I
sit down with them is first always say we need
(46:15):
to know what your number is. And what I mean
by that we need to know exactly how much money
you bring in versus your expenses, because what I find
is that a lot of people, it's even though things
are increasing, I do still find that people are over
leveraged because we don't really know how much money we make.
(46:40):
And here's what I mean. Does if a company pays
you fifty thousand dollars a year, how much goes through
your actual bank account? Does And that's a question.
Speaker 26 (46:52):
I would probably say a little more than half of that, But.
Speaker 17 (46:57):
What do most people budget? There ain't answers Again for
fifty they budget against the fifty thousand, so mathematically they're
always going to be in a deficit. Because we don't
know our number, and so whenever I sit down with
a client, that's the very first thing I do. There's
(47:18):
no amount of credit or strategy that can help you
if everything you're doing there's more month at the end
of your money, because you're always going to be You're
always going to operate at a deficit. So that's the
very first thing we have to do. Then once we
find that out, now we're going to go in and say, Okay,
(47:38):
we may need to cut out some of these streaming services,
we may have to cut out the snack machines that
work like. We got to start figuring out where we
can cut within the within the expenses first, because there
is going to have to be a level of sacrifice.
And always tell people, look, let's rip the band aid
(47:59):
early and it doesn't have to be boring. In different
things of that nature, there's actually several alternatives and this
is the exact same thing I have to go through.
And so all while we're going through that, I'm also
helping them to recondition the way they think, because usually
the reason a lot of people end up in these scenarios, Doug,
(48:20):
is because we've been taught a completely different ideology about
money and credit. We think the more we make that
we're in a better position.
Speaker 26 (48:29):
Man. That's good. Final comments regarding Black History Month, the
importance and our financial future.
Speaker 17 (48:38):
As of now, per the Wall Street Journal, in twenty
twenty four, the average net worth of a black household,
we're already pretty close to their, Doug, it's like seventeen
to twenty four thousand and so I often tell people we
need to wake up. You know, this space of what
(48:59):
I call financial literacy. It's no longer a luxury to
want to learn this, it's mandatory.
Speaker 26 (49:06):
Renowned financial literacy consultant, real estate wealth creator and founder
of WE Management Services, Will Aroundtree can't thank you enough,
brother for this information. Got to bring you back soon, man,
thank you so much again. This is Doug Davis. You're
listening to the Black Perspective, Your Black Business on the
bi in.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
Thanks Doug and Will, 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 Bionnews
dot com for all of the latest news impacting the
black community. We would love to hear from you about
the Black Perspective. Simply log on to the Black Information
(49:44):
Networks Talkback Live feature on the iHeartRadio app and 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 and make the Black Information
Network first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (50:01):
Presets.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
I'm Mike Island. Have a great Sunday, Happy Kwanza, and
happy New Year, and we'll see you in the new
year right here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (50:11):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of bi N and its founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland S.
Speaker 7 (50:26):
Martin.
Speaker 9 (50:27):
In this age of Donald Trump and MAGA, it is
rare for Republicans to show backbone, to show they actually
understand decency, morals, values, principles, ethics. Well, that's what happened
in Indiana when the Senate Republicans stood up to a
(50:49):
massive pressure campaign and refuse to pass a jerry mandret map.
Donald Trump, jd Vance, Mike Johnson, turning point, the USA
Heritage Foundation. All these right wingers were pressuring Indiana to
change their map. Their map right now has seven Republicans
(51:11):
to Democrats. They wanted to eradicate both Democratic seats to
go nine to zero. The Indiana House passed the new map,
their Senate rejected it in a vote of thirty one
to nineteen.
Speaker 7 (51:27):
Now what happened.
Speaker 9 (51:28):
Many of those senators said they were ashamed and were
offended by the bullying that took place. They could not
stand the fact that they were getting pressured. There were
some people getting death threats, their homes are being swatted.
In fact, the idiots that the Heritage Foundation literally sent
(51:48):
out a tweet blasting them, saying President Trump has made
it clear to Indiana leaders. If the Indiana Sendate fails
to pass the map, all federal funding will be from
the state.
Speaker 7 (52:01):
Roads will not.
Speaker 9 (52:02):
Be paved, guard bases will close, major projects will stop.
These are the stakes in every no vote will be
to blame hashtag pass the map. They said that is
a bridge too far, and so they stood up to
Magam and they dare said if you want to oppose us, fine.
Speaker 7 (52:20):
But also the people in that state said no.
Speaker 9 (52:23):
So I applawed Indiana Center Republicans for standing up to
the thug and cheap and saying no, well did our
maps four years ago and we're not going to do
it now. I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (52:35):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this comments sary
are those of the author and do not necessarily represent
those of bi N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 13 (52:47):
I'm James Harris and AOC had something to say, and they.
Speaker 27 (52:52):
Are able to radicalize and target and exploit a generation
of young boys in particle away from healthy masculinity and
into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others
who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them.
(53:12):
And that is why they are resonating online, because they
are appealing to the most basest and worst parts of
human nature.
Speaker 13 (53:20):
So Republicans are radicalizing and exploiting young boys, pushing them
towards a masculinity built on dominance, and this is primarily
of the poor, the dark, and the different. I have
to tell you this statement tells you far more about
AOC's world view than it does about conservatives, because what
AOC just did was an analysis, it was character assassination.
(53:41):
Conservatives are not teaching boys to dominate anyone. They are
teaching them the work to build, to control themselves, to
protect others, and to take responsibility for their lives. And
that's what terrifies the left, Because a young man who
believes his future is earned, not oled, it's harder to manipulate.
Nice trick here alc. She redefines masculinity as inherently dangerous
(54:05):
and then labels discipline, faith, competition, and leadership as radicalization.
That's not concerned for young boys, that's ideological grooming. Meanwhile,
the same political movement telling boys that they are toxic,
their country is evil, and their success is stolen now claims.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
To be worried about their well being.
Speaker 13 (54:24):
Stop stop it. This is projection wrapped in moral language.
The truth is simple. Masculinity built on responsibility, creates men
who don't need the state to parent them, excuse them,
or subsidize them. And that's the real difference, because strong
grounded men are the one group progressives can control.
Speaker 2 (54:44):
I'm James T. Harris for the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (54:47):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of BN and its founding partners and employees. Now it's
time to bring the funk with Roland S Martin.
Speaker 9 (55:03):
It has been ugly hilarious watching all of these white
progressives go crazy and lose it because Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
is running for the United States Senate boy Czech social
media and they are attacking her at every turn. They
(55:23):
are slamming her, saying, oh, she's awful, she's this, she's
a piece of crap.
Speaker 7 (55:29):
And you name it.
Speaker 9 (55:30):
And they all are backing Texas Republic's Representative James tall Rico. Now,
James tall Rico is a Democrat. He got lots of
attention criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others.
Speaker 7 (55:46):
For various bills. But here's a deal.
Speaker 9 (55:49):
James tell Rico has lower name recognition in the state
than Congressoman Jasmine Crockett. Now his negatives are lower than
hers because Donald Trump has been attacking her and she's
also been on national news shows.
Speaker 7 (56:06):
So here's a deal.
Speaker 9 (56:08):
The primary in Texas is in March. That means that
we're just talking about the rest of December, January, and
in February.
Speaker 7 (56:18):
In order to.
Speaker 9 (56:19):
Get voters to know you who are who you are,
run across the state and try to win. Now, former
Texas Congressan Colin Allred has already dropped out, and Crockhead
said you need to drop out, and he should have.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Why because he.
Speaker 9 (56:36):
Raised eighty million dollars in twenty twenty four and lost
to Ted Cruz by more than nine hundred thousand votes.
So what made them think he had a shot at
winning this time against Texas Centator John Cornyn or if
Ken Packs the Texas Attorney General upsets him. But what's
hilarious is to watch a lot of these white progressives
(56:57):
who are not even from Texas opiney on what Texas
voters are going to do, and I'm like, y'all don't
even know the state. It's hilarious, folks. This is why
they have elections. You make the case and you run.
Let's see what happens. I got my money on Crockett.
I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (57:16):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b N and it's founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland s Martin.
Speaker 9 (57:33):
The charter network of doctor Steve Perry in Connecticut is
filing a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut saying that
they were completely screwed over when it comes to funding.
Speaker 7 (57:44):
Even though they were ranked number one.
Speaker 9 (57:48):
Steve Perry talked to be a Roland Martin unfiltered and
laid out how absolutely crazy this decision is and that
they've been fighting them for the past.
Speaker 3 (57:57):
Couple of years, regardless of the skullduggery, the inappropriateness of
the senators that Senator Matt Lesser, Senator and union bosson
and Hakadel, and Senator President pro tempt of the state
Senate Marty Looney, despite the fact that they have in
(58:18):
fact conspired and broken the law. If the State Department
of Education did what it was supposed to have done,
which was to determine which school was funded first, based
upon what the law says ten sixty six Subsection E
E K, then we wouldn't be in this conversation because
this General Assembly only gave itself the authority to determine
(58:42):
whether or not charter schools are funded large, not if
any individual charter school is funded. Think about this for
a second. What the state is arguing is that state
legislators can individually determine which charter schools are or are
(59:02):
not funded, period, even after they've gone through a transparent
RFP process, even after they've gone through public hearings, that
in a backdoor deal. They're saying that the law says
that a backdoor deal allows for it. Any senator, any
(59:22):
or represent any district can determine. I know that they're
number one. I know they've gone through the RFP process.
I know we've gotten overwhelming support, but I, by myself
don't want it. So I have a one man veto
and they get and they say that's the argument of
the state Department of Education.
Speaker 9 (59:41):
We'll keep following this lawsuit. I'm Roland Martin, the Black
Information Network.
Happy Holidays. It's Sunday, December twenty eighth, twenty twenty five,
the last Sunday of the year, and on today's show,
we replay some of the best interviews on this year's
Black Perspective with bim's Esther Dillard and the daughter of
Madam C. J. Walker Alilia Walker. Vanessa Tyler talks to
the living legend the marvelous Melbom Moore. Alexandria Ecimoni talks
(00:25):
with the founder and creator of the Great Night app
Ray Abrams. Doug Davis talks Black wealth with financial literacy
consultant Will Roundtree, and we get this week's commentary from
Roland S. Martin and James T.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
These stories and more are coming your way on today's program.
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Good Sunday, Happy Kwanza, and happy Holidays, and welcome to
the Black Perspective. We are playing some of the best
interviews of the year. We start off with the daughter
of Madam C. J. Walker, the first self made black
woman millionaire. But Alilia Walker became a cultural icon in
her own right. Here's the Black information Networks Esther Dillard
(01:20):
with Moore on the woman they called the Joy Goddess
of Harlem.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
But it wasn't just parties. It was bringing people together
from uptown and downtown in New York. Her international circle
of friends included visitors from Europe and from Africa.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
That was the voice of Alilia Bundles. Her great great
grandmother was Madam C. J. Walker, the first black woman
millionaire who built an empire in black haircare. Walker's daughter
was Alilia. Some call her the Joy Goddess, and she's
the great grandmother of the woman we're speaking to on
this episode. Alilia Bundles wrote a detailed book of her
(02:00):
family legacy called Joy Goddess, A Lilia Walker and the
Harlem Renaissance, and she reveals the emotional cost of legacy,
the burden of being a black woman in the spotlight,
and while reclaiming this history matters more than ever, Let's
dive right into the conversation. I know this book wasn't
something that came together in just a few months. This
(02:21):
has been a journey for years of research on holding
on the history and just piecing together the life of
someone that wasn't just family but legacy. So before we
even dive into Joy Goddess, I wanted, I was just curious,
When did you figure out that this was really the
(02:42):
book you had to write? Was it during the writing
of the first book about your great great grandmother, Madame CJ.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
Walker? Or was it before that?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
There were little steps all along the way. And yes,
while I was writing on her own ground, the life
and times of Madame Cjal I thought I was writing
a double biography, But at some point I realized Alilia
Walker needed her own biography. Madam Walker's story was eighteen
sixty seven to nineteen nineteen. It was about building a
(03:14):
business and being involved in politics. Aliliah Walker's story really
was about the nineteen twenties and all of the artists
and writers and musicians who she knew, and her own
charismatic life. But I will say that the seeds were
planted before I could read. When I was a toddler,
(03:34):
I would go to my grandfather's apartment with my mother,
and my late grandmother's bedroom seemed to have been untouched
since nineteen forty five when she died, and I was
born in fifty two. So as a little girl, I
was exploring the dresser drawer and there were things in
the dresser that had belonged to Alilia Walker, and particularly
(03:56):
these miniature mummy charms that just fit into my little
girl's hands, and that I realized many years later Aliliah
Walker had bought when she was in Cairo in nineteen
twenty two. So this story has been with me all
my life.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
It's fantastic. I was reading that part and you brought
it back to mind. Aliliah Walker was once called the
joy Goddess of Harlem in the nineteen twenties. What does
that nickname mean to you? And what should we understand
about her influence during the Harlem Renaissance beyond just parties.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, I couldn't resist the title. Langston Hughes in his
memoir The Big Sea called Aliliah Walker the joy Goddess
of Harlem's nineteen twenties. So that's just an irresistible title.
And it was because of the great party she gave,
but it was also because she was a convener. She
was a very charismatic person who loved having people around her.
(04:55):
She was a great party giver, but it wasn't just parties.
It was bringing people together from uptown and downtown in
New York. Her international circle of friends included visitors from
Europe and from Africa. But she also at a time
when people weren't comfortable having being at interracial parties, she
(05:17):
made sure everybody was welcome. You know, we take that
for granted now that you can have a party where
all of your friends across the spectrum are there, But
that was unusual, and she was one of the only
people in a position to do that because she had
her mother's three beautiful homes, the mansion in Irvington, the
townhouse in Harlem, the small apartment in Harlem, and she
(05:42):
could bring people together who ordinarily wouldn't have been in
the same room at the same time.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
You mentioned that in the book that well, many people
know Madam C. J. Walker has a business icon. Alelia's
story is often misunderstood or overlooked. What our guests are
some of the biggest myths you wanted to correct about
or truths that you wanted to bring out about Alilia's story.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Sure, yeah, I think when people have read a little
bit about the Harlem Renaissance, because it's such a fascinating
period of time and people enjoyed, and they say, oh,
I wish I had lived then, because I would have
met all of those famous people, those writers, and those
musicians who I admire. And when Alilia Walker has been
included in some of those really well known histories of
(06:30):
the Harlem Renaissance, in some ways she's been caricatured. I mean,
it's easy if you haven't really done the research to
just say, oh, she had parties, she spent her mother's money.
One famous historian said she spent the nineteen twenties playing bridge,
and she had a short attention span. So these were
really put downs. But as I read her letters and
(06:53):
talked with people who had known her, did those interviews,
oral histories, I realized what an interesting person she will,
what a complex person. She was not a perfect human being,
but you know who among us, And so I really
wanted to create a multi dimensional view of her and
to take her beyond this cliche that sometimes has surrounded
(07:17):
her image, you know. And I will say that the
Netflix series Self Made, which was as they say, inspired
by my nonfiction book Octavia Spencer, was great, but the
character of that was a Lilia Walker in self made
is about one hundred and eighty degrees different from the
(07:38):
real life person. So I've had, like I was starting
from trying to like erase that image of her.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Yeah, I read that you really did not You weren't
a big fan of the series, and that was one
of my last questions. But since you brought it up,
I wondered, if joycott Goddess were adapted to like by
a studio, what scene would you have I guess wanted
to see on screen for sure, and who would play
a Lilia.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Well, you know, I already actually am working on a
project about Joy Goddess. This time around, I'm starting off
working with people who are friends and people who have
a track record and whose work I really like, so
it'll be a very different experience. I learned a lot
of lessons the last time around. I haven't picked and
(08:28):
sometimes you can't always get who you want. But I
really think that the sister who played Annie in Sinners.
I'm just gonna put that out there. He has the stature,
she has the presence, So you know, I'm putting that
out there into the universe. Yes, But I just think
Alilia Walker's story is a story first of a person
(08:53):
who is trying to carve her own way with a
larger than live mother. That's not a new story. There
are lots of family stories like that, and I think
that we would be able to see what that meant
to be the child of a larger than life person.
But seeing how she was the center of so much
(09:15):
of the life and culture of the Harlem Renaissance, and
it gives it would give me an opportunity to introduce
some of these amazing writers and musicians and artists and
to show black folks in Harlem in the nineteen twenties
creating their own community.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
To hear the full episode, head to the Color Between
the Lines podcasts available now wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Esther Dillard.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Thanks Esther and Alilia. Now we get commentary from Roland S.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Martin.
Speaker 8 (09:51):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
and its founding partners and employees. Now it's time to
bring the funk with Roland S. Martin.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
No one is shocked that Barry Wise, the editor in
chief of CBS News, would spike a sixteen minutes segment
because it speaks to the Trump administration and their treatment
of migrants Venezuelan migrants who were shipped to in a
(10:28):
El Salvador prison. CBS had been promoting this report for
several days and in two hours before the broadcast, all
of a sudden, it gets spiked. That's because Barry Wise
said that, oh, it needed additional reporting.
Speaker 7 (10:50):
Now. The reporter on the story said that.
Speaker 9 (10:56):
It went through CBS lawyers, it went through States practices,
it went through five rounds of vetting, and it was approved.
Yet Weiss steps in and says, oh, well, we need
to at least have an administration voice in the story.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Where's the problem.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
The reporter and the producers reached out to the Department
of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House,
and they got no response. What this is is very
Wise protecting the Trump administration. This means that the folks
(11:38):
who run Paaramount, they are clearly in the pocket of Trump.
He approved the merger of Trump. He set up for
the father of Paramount's leader, David Ellison, his father's Larry Ellison,
to take over TikTok. It is a right wing takeover
(12:01):
of CBS News period and the most vulnerable journalistic institution today.
Speaker 7 (12:08):
Sixty Minutes is caught in the cross hairs.
Speaker 9 (12:11):
Expect more of this over the next three years as
long as Trump is in the White House.
Speaker 7 (12:17):
I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Thanks for Roland, and stay tuned for commentary from James T. Harris.
Later in today's show, continuing our look back, we turned
to a profile interview our Vanessa Tyler did on a
living legend, the marvelous Melba Moore and.
Speaker 10 (12:35):
Now ladies and gentlemen, Tony Award winner, three time Grammy
Award nominee, the marvelous Miss Melville Moore.
Speaker 11 (12:47):
We've been loving Melbourne Moore for decades. She's still making
us stand and applaud the marvelous Melburn Moore. Welcome to
the Black Perspective.
Speaker 6 (12:57):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 11 (13:00):
You've been entertaining us for more than fifty years. What
is the key to your staying power?
Speaker 6 (13:06):
Well, it's a calling. If you were up to me,
I'm sure I would have given up. There is a God.
Some people don't believe that, but I do. I do too.
Speaker 11 (13:15):
There is a God and we have to thank him
for letting us experience the talent of Melbourne Moore. That's
(13:38):
what put Melbourne Moore on the map the year nineteen
seventy the play the musical adaptation of Pearly Victorious.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
He's about a creature trying to get his church back.
Speaker 11 (13:52):
He was so good in that. That's when you won your.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Tonys that tiny award for that. Yeah.
Speaker 11 (13:56):
Before Pearly, Melbourne Moore made her debut You appearance and
the hit musical Hair and what happened there had never
been done on Broadway before.
Speaker 6 (14:07):
So the Hair was the first rock musical and it
was essentially about the hippie movement. I had the pleasure
with the good luck of getting into the musical because
they were casting while I was in a studio backup
background singing, and the gentleman who wrote the music for
(14:30):
the play, his name was Galton of Germantt, was doing
his own version of the music from Hair, and I
was on the recording session and they invited everybody on
that session to come and sing for the producer because
they were still looking for strong singers. And I went
and I sang for the producer and the director and
I got into the play.
Speaker 11 (14:51):
Now Melbourne was in the play, but not the lead.
Until the lead Diane Keaton left, the spot was opened,
but a black actress as lead and essentially a white
play back.
Speaker 6 (15:03):
Then eventually I said, well, could I audition for the part?
Did she had to be white? And they said no,
we just didn't think that. I auditioned for the lead
and I got the lead.
Speaker 11 (15:14):
It was a magical time early in her career. The
vocal music teacher from Newark, New Jersey, with the spunk
and the voice was going places and going fast.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
I didn't even have an agent, so it's like I
knew so a little about who to go to her
where to go to get into these different areas, but
they still happened for me.
Speaker 11 (15:39):
So from Hair to Pearley, where by the way, she
was so good with Showstopper. After Showstopper, she wanted Tony.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I got it a featured actress, a musical, and I
think the play got it for the best musical. We
got a lot of Tonya wards. Well, that really really,
really really really put me on the map. And then
from there I got invited to do so much television, which,
of course, instead of reaching maybe a couple hundred people
in a theater. Now you meet every time you do
a show, you reach that thousands, but millions.
Speaker 11 (16:37):
Television was the next step, and it was a big one.
The summer of nineteen seventy two never had an African
American female co hosted a network variety show.
Speaker 12 (16:48):
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Speaker 13 (16:50):
Melvimore and Clifton David.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
We invited to have our own TV show as a
matter of that, and Clifton invited because we were going together,
we were dating, we were an item.
Speaker 11 (17:05):
They used the fact they were a couple as comedic
material in the show.
Speaker 14 (17:10):
Welcome to our last show of the summer season.
Speaker 15 (17:13):
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Speaker 12 (17:16):
Who are you talking to them or me?
Speaker 14 (17:20):
Well, I mean, if you're talking to them, I can
understand it because we're going to miss all these marvelous people.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
But if you're talking to me.
Speaker 14 (17:27):
I don't know what you're talking about, because you ain't
gonna part nowhere.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
No, of course not.
Speaker 16 (17:32):
No.
Speaker 15 (17:33):
Melville. Hey, look we've got four weeks free after these
this for a vacation.
Speaker 17 (17:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 14 (17:41):
And I was thinking, you weren't thinking you were scheming.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
I was not scheming.
Speaker 14 (17:46):
I was thinking, Clifton, I know you now when you're
thinking you close your eyes and when you're scheming they
start to blink a lot.
Speaker 18 (17:54):
Really.
Speaker 12 (17:56):
Well, I was thinking.
Speaker 15 (18:00):
That perhaps we could have three weeks together and then
I could have one week vacation by myself.
Speaker 14 (18:06):
Well if you were thinking that you can have it
all by yourself, really, oh.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Now, Melba, it was more for you than for me.
Speaker 15 (18:13):
For me, well, I mean we're together all the time money,
I mean on camera and off.
Speaker 11 (18:19):
Eventually, Melburah moved on from Clifton Davis and The Show
and married Charles Huggins, music executive and her new manager. Melbah,
with her five octave range, recorded a whopping thirty three albums,
many of her songs hits Remember Falling from nineteen.
Speaker 7 (18:39):
Eighty six.
Speaker 16 (18:46):
I'm Honing a.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Funny.
Speaker 11 (18:58):
Although her R and B was so smooth, she got
one of her Grammy nominations in the rock category, extremely
rare for a black R and B singer. The only
others were Tina Turner and Donna Summer. Melbourn's nominated song
read my Lips.
Speaker 19 (19:20):
You're historic rendition of our national anthem.
Speaker 11 (19:31):
Wow, that's in the Congressional record. And I understand when
you were asked to do that you wanted others to
join you as well.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Well, I wasn't asked to do it. Once again, let
me get a credit to God.
Speaker 20 (19:45):
M hm.
Speaker 6 (19:46):
I met an incredible woman by the name of Drothy
Height who was the head of the National Council of
NEMO Women and she was being honored by the NAACP
on television. I saw the event and I said, oh
my goodness. I was loved to meet her, and I
had some time off, so I gave her a call
and asked her could I really wanted her to mentor me,
(20:07):
just in social issues and political issues and community service
issues that had to do with empowering the Black families
and Black community. I just wanted to travel under her
and be around her. But she invited me to be
the membership chair, and that was my position that she
allowed me to come and be a part of the
(20:28):
National Council of Unal Women. But then as we were
traveling the world, she said, no, but why don't you
seeing something for one of the paragraphs. I said, fine,
why aren't you seeing the neuro national Hymn? I said,
oh my goodness, I don't know it.
Speaker 11 (20:41):
So she learned it and invited a few friends to
sing along the collaboration with practically everybody.
Speaker 14 (20:48):
But I decided I don't want to see if I
myself anymore, So I invited some of.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
My dear friends to help me sing about and cause.
Speaker 12 (21:05):
Nice and see.
Speaker 11 (21:09):
You, of course, have been through our civil rights era,
like you said, working with the amazing misheights. When you
think about where we were then and what all the
things you had to overcome, and where we are right now,
what are your thoughts?
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Well, in some ways we're in the worst place. So
much has opened up, and we have so much, and
we've done so much, and we have so much to
be proud of and be thankful for. But our next
election could destroy this democracy with either candidate. My humble opinion,
don't mean to be political, but you have to be.
We have an aging candidate that has a heart, but
(21:51):
I don't know how much ability he has because of
his age to do the job. We have another candidate
who's aging too, but has no heart.
Speaker 11 (22:00):
Magical career came with so many blessings. A street is
named after her in her hometown of Newark. She also
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her
speech a recap of her life full Circle.
Speaker 6 (22:21):
I was born in Harlem Hospital, New York City, to
a single parent mother. Her first profession was as a
big band singer. My father's name was Teddy Hill. He
was a well known big band leader and he also
managed Mitton's Playhouse, one of the most famous jazz nightclubs
(22:45):
in Harlem during the Bebop and Modern Jazz era. Musicians
like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and many many other jazz
greats played at Mitton's Playhouse and in my father Teddy
Hills band.
Speaker 11 (22:58):
Many likely didn't know it then, but there was a reason.
Comedian Kat Williams was there and got a special shout out.
But he revealed why during his blockbuster appearance on podcast Club.
Speaker 18 (23:11):
You know, the sole sponsor of Melbourne Moore getting starting
the Hollywood Walker fame. You you did all that on
your own. Why do you have a personal relationship with Melbourne? No?
Speaker 7 (23:23):
No I.
Speaker 16 (23:27):
I understood that she was a black woman at a
time where it mattered what you looked like, and they
had a certain thing that they needed you to look
like and act like in order to be successful, right,
and she just never did that. She wasn't tall enough,
They didn't like her look. They didn't like that her
(23:49):
hair was natural. They talked crazy about her, and yet
she still made all of these achievements. And I'm like,
I'm already in the comedy Hall of Fame. I'm already
going to heaven no matter what happens, if it ends
in a second, I'm up there. So it gives me
(24:13):
the lean way to do some things that are simply
because it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 11 (24:19):
The generous gift, another blessing out of the blue. She
attributes it all everything to God.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
If you make Jesus and God your study, that's that's
your your focus and your vocation, then daily he will
give you a word, something personal for you for that
particular day, because you can't do it all at once.
And you have this wonderful dream, but how are you
going to get from here to there? And you got
to go like step by step by step by step
(24:47):
by the you know, breath by breath by breath.
Speaker 11 (24:51):
What's new now? As you continue to shine and I
might add well into your late seventies, what's new?
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Oh God, I'm going to do? Oh, I guess I
can talk about it. Yes, I'm going to be a
part of a seven part documentary series on the Winans
family and how they got their name, going all the
way back to the time when the family was in slavery.
So I have a suspicion that may be something and
it's finished comfortable to roots.
Speaker 11 (25:22):
She also does independent films that I know firsthand since
she started a movie where I played the role of
a reporter the extent of my acting ability. And yes,
of course there is always her music, which DJ d
Nice featured on Club Quarantine during the pandemic in producing
Melbourne Moore to a new generation.
Speaker 6 (25:44):
I have a fairly new album called Imagine that was
spehitted by my daughter, which is my attempt to ask
a ton onto her. In terms of our business.
Speaker 11 (25:55):
How our listeners follow you and you know, keep with
Do you have so much going on? Keep up with
you and make sure we know what.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
You're doing well Melbournmore, dot com, YouTube, all the normal platforms,
the incomparable Melbournmore. Thank you for stopping by to say hello.
Well all we can tell I enjoyed it. I love
talking about myself.
Speaker 11 (26:21):
Right, I love talking about you too.
Speaker 6 (26:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Thanks Esther and the legendary Melbourne More, one of the
toughest things to do in a big urban city is
(26:53):
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 that app is designed specifically
for the black community. Alexandria Icimoni spoke with Ray Abram,
founder and CEO of the Great Night App, a new
social media platform that just launched in Atlanta with plans
(27:17):
to go nationwide soon.
Speaker 20 (27:18):
This is Alexandria Ikimoni with the Black Information Network, and
I have the pleasure of speaking with Ray Abram, who
is the founder and CEO of Great Night. How are
you today?
Speaker 10 (27:29):
I'm doing great, Alexandra, Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Speaker 20 (27:34):
Absolutely, and I feel great is the word of the
day for sure. 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
(27:55):
beneficial will it be to people here?
Speaker 10 (27:58):
Yeah, so I wanted the things I always try to
get across is that Grade 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
(28:21):
part of what brings you to the app. So we
like to say you come for the events, but you stay.
Speaker 12 (28:27):
For the community.
Speaker 20 (28:29):
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
(28:50):
to connect and get to meet new people.
Speaker 12 (28:52):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 10 (28:54):
One of the challenges, particularly in our community is loneliness.
Speaker 12 (28:59):
You know, we're starting to see, you know, particularly young people.
Speaker 21 (29:02):
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 when our twenty year olds
and people in their twenties early thirties are suffering from
chronic loneliness.
Speaker 22 (29:21):
And you probably have seen the reports from the surge
in general that being chronically lonely is as dangerous for
your health as as smoking up fifteen cigarettes a day.
Speaker 12 (29:34):
It actually shortens your life.
Speaker 20 (29:37):
Let's talk about the actual app itself. It's pretty cool, right.
It has different events that you can that you can
go to based 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 10 (29:55):
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, and then we partner
with curators, folks who help us fill in those little,
you know, spots that you don't hear about.
Speaker 12 (30:14):
We don't focus on the.
Speaker 10 (30:16):
Big things, right that everybody that's 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 not just the event feed, but we
also have communities where you know, folks who are you know, promoters.
(30:41):
It's a place you can build a community around the
things that you like to do.
Speaker 23 (30:46):
For instance, we have a community for you know, creators,
and we have a community for people who are into
ed M music or house music, or you know, if
you live in a certain neighborhood and so you know
anybody you know can you can create your own.
Speaker 12 (31:01):
Community almost like Facebook pages, but.
Speaker 10 (31:05):
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, 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
(31:26):
partners like Uber and you know, parking lots and food
restaurants where you can go and use those.
Speaker 12 (31:34):
Points for free stuff. So those are kind of the big.
Speaker 10 (31:39):
Things, you know, finding the events, meeting people, joining communities,
and earning rewards as you built your social life.
Speaker 20 (31:48):
Pretty cool Toabilla's social life here in Atlanta. I do
have a question, though, what is your favorite feature or
favorite part of the app for you specifically?
Speaker 10 (31:59):
Yeah, for me, yes, 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.
Speaker 12 (32:16):
Where did you part?
Speaker 10 (32:17):
You know what time are y'all, you know, getting there
that type of thing, because one of the things is
always frustrating for me when I'm thinking about going out
is I don't know, is.
Speaker 12 (32:29):
This gonna be good? I don't know, you know, is
anybody there?
Speaker 10 (32:34):
And so having that kind of a window, that visibility
into an event before you get there, for me is
is really helpful and part of my favorite part. And
then additionally, I'm kind of introverted myself.
Speaker 12 (32:48):
People don't believe it.
Speaker 10 (32:50):
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 just walking up to folks
and talking. 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,
(33:13):
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 online and then transition to real world.
Speaker 12 (33:31):
And you know, for people who are.
Speaker 10 (33:33):
Concerned about giving out their phone numbers to everybody, it
also doesn't require that. So now you can just you
meet people just with with their app user name and
UH and build those relationships while you're at the spot
and continue that conversation afterward without having to exchange phone numbers.
Speaker 20 (33:56):
Very very very cool to chat feature sounds amazing.
Speaker 7 (33:59):
I do love it.
Speaker 20 (34:00):
You can get a vibe check and understand parking and
talk to people. I think it's very great to really
connect 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 10 (34:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (34:18):
So again, you can download it today. It's in both
apps stores, so Apple or Android.
Speaker 10 (34:25):
We also have a web version so you can go
to a Great Night dot us and.
Speaker 12 (34:32):
You know, and just get a preview. It's free to use.
All of our services are free for users.
Speaker 10 (34:38):
And if you have a small business, I know a
lot of your listeners or business owners, you know.
Speaker 12 (34:44):
What we do is have advertising for local businesses.
Speaker 10 (34:49):
So any business that particularly needs to drive foot traffic,
like a restaurant, or if you own a gym, or
you have a class 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, and
(35:10):
we can target it down to, you know, a certain
neighborhood to show that add to them and and and
help you get foot traffic into your door. So that's
really our you know, that's how we make money and
how we support our community.
Speaker 20 (35:28):
I love that now we know that it's here in Atlanta.
What about other cities, other markets.
Speaker 24 (35:34):
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 12 (35:45):
We want to get it right here.
Speaker 10 (35:47):
We believe that if we can be successful in Atlanta,
we can be successful anywhere.
Speaker 20 (35:52):
Absolutely absolutely, Ray Araun, thank you so much for your time.
We appreciate you and the information you provided today on
the Great Night.
Speaker 12 (36:00):
Awesome. All right, thank you so much.
Speaker 10 (36:03):
Alexandra, I really appreciate you and this opportunity to speak
to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Thanks Alelexandra and Ray. Now we get commentary from James T.
Speaker 7 (36:12):
Harris.
Speaker 8 (36:13):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of bi N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I'm gmc harris, and I have something to say.
Speaker 13 (36:28):
Washington, DC is still talking about one of the most
unorthodox police chief exes in recent memory, and it finished
with the fiery message no one expected from the top
cop heer. South Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, the
first black woman to lead the city's police force, announced
her resignation last Friday. Her departure comes amid intense scrutiny
(36:52):
over allegations that she pressured subordinates to downgrade or reclassify
crime reports in order to create the pairs of declining crime.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Chief Smith took.
Speaker 13 (37:04):
Umbrich and denied any wrongdoing, saying she never told anyone
to manipulate numbers and insist that her record shows commitment
to public safety. And then things went off the rails.
At her public sendoff, Chief Smith looked out at critics
and said about those questioning her leadership, So I'm going.
Speaker 25 (37:26):
To the Bible when I say this to my haters.
Speaker 13 (37:30):
F you, Oh my, this might not be the right
time to question an angry black woman, but I would
like to ask Chief of Pamela A. Smith from which
chapter and verse was she quoting from?
Speaker 25 (37:43):
Never what I compromise my integrity. Never would I compromise
twenty eight years and law enforcement for Foo so shand
to be held accountable if I had to do it
all us again.
Speaker 13 (38:02):
When public trust is in question, leadership doesn't curse the public.
Leadership answers the public right or has the first black
female police chief of Washington, DC ushered in a new
standard as she is literally walking out the door.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
I'm James C. Harris for a Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Thank you James T. Harris, and make sure you tune
into the Black Information Network daily for commentary from both
Rolands Martin.
Speaker 7 (38:31):
And James T.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Now we hear from Doug Davis and black wealth financial
literacy consultant Will Rowntree.
Speaker 26 (38:38):
Thanks Mike, this is Doug Davis and you're listening to
your Black Business where we highlight them any achievements of
black entrepreneurs and business owners while touching on how black
Americans can achieve wealth. It's Black History Month and we
have renowned financial literacy consultant and founder of we Management
Services with us, Will Rowntree. He's also an investor and
(38:59):
specializes in real to state wealth creation. Will Rowntree. We're
happy to have you with us as we delve into
the historical context of Black Americans financial literacy, the economic
challenges we face and how we can overcome them, the
business of credit, how race impacts credit. Welcome back again to.
Speaker 17 (39:17):
The BI Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 26 (39:19):
Bill, blessing to have you here man, particularly during this
very important month of ours. If you can, let's get
into some historical context of our lack of financial education
as a whole. Can you provide like an overview of
the historical barriers that have kept Black Americans back and
have hindered our financial literacy and economic progress.
Speaker 17 (39:43):
Yeah, no, absolutely so. I'll often say it first started
with me knowing that this was something that I was
not taught, you know, growing up in a household where
you know, we were just taught, you know, the basics
of how to become success school, go to school, get
good grades, get a good job, and on that journey.
(40:04):
And me actually you know, accomplishing most of that. Does
the one thing that we never talked about in my
household or when I actually went to college, was finances.
We never talked about credit, We never talked about anything economics.
And then as I got into the real world, you know,
in my early twenties, I found out that there was
(40:27):
no place that taught us anything. So as most of us,
we went through the school of hard knocks of understanding
that credit is important, having bad credit is expenses, and
that because there's this this this gap of information that
we are not taught in the black household, we go
(40:49):
out there and we have to we're already starting at
a deficit.
Speaker 18 (40:53):
You know.
Speaker 17 (40:54):
I started to actually learn that a lot of my
peers already had a you know, we're starting out a
deficit because their parents use their credit as kids, putting
utility bills in their name. So it almost became like
an epidemic of what it was that we did not
know about credit. And so it really just sent me
(41:16):
on my quest and why I got into what it
is that I actually do and why I'm so passionate
about going out educating and teaching the importance of it,
because the only thing that I've learned of what we
do know about credit is all consumer based. We only
learn how to use credit to spend, but not how
(41:37):
to use credit to create wealth.
Speaker 26 (41:40):
That's really impactful. Explain a little bit about what you
do right now. I mean I gave you somewhat of
an illustrious intro, but I know you can expound more.
Speaker 17 (41:51):
Coming from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You know, like I mentioned, I
went on the journey of doing everything that you know,
I was conditioned to do. But on that journey, Doug,
in two thousand and three, I lost my job. I
got laid off, didn't know what I was going to do.
And so during that was time. During that time period,
(42:12):
I was on this quest, in this search, and I
started reading books on just you know, business and entrepreneurship.
And while on that journey, I met an individual who
became a mentor of mine, who said, will eventually credit
will become the new dollar. He told me this in
two thousand and three. Didn't know what he meant by
(42:33):
that at the time two thousand and five, I was
fortunate enough to move to Las Vegas. I quickly found
out what he meant though, Doug. I moved to Las
Vegas only had five hundred bucks to my name, and
I couldn't rent an apartment without putting two times a
deposit down, couldn't buy a vehicle without putting thirty percent down.
(42:54):
And I just started to see that having bad credit
was expensive, and so I decided to kind of go
on this journey of learning everything I could about credit,
and I ended up coming across a book by Robert Kiyosaki,
Rich Dad or Dad, where he talked about how he
leveraged other people's money, and he was essentially talking about credit,
(43:18):
and so I started to learn the difference between what
it's called structured debt and unstructured debt. Structured debt is
where you leverage credit in order to be able to
create a well building through purchasing assets. And as I
kind of dig a little bit in the weeds here,
this is essentially what they talked about in the book
(43:41):
The Creature of Jecko Islands, which is how the Federal
Reserve got started. And so I started to just really
learn and research and talk about all of these different
concepts versus what we What I was taught growing up
was unstructured debt or unstructure or credit. Whereas we're using
(44:02):
credit or debt to go and buy things that put
us in debt, for example, using my credit to go
and shop, to go to dinners, to take vacations, to
buy vehicles, to buy the home. Most people overspend on
their homes, and so I had to learn the difference
and just understand that these are concepts that have been
(44:25):
around far longer than I have. It's just unfortunately we
wasn't invited to the meetings where they talked about these
different type of strategies and concepts well before most of
us were even old enough to even learn about these things.
So once I started to learn about it, man, it
took me on this journey where I literally, for the
(44:48):
past ten years have traveled the country, even on my
own dimes, doing free workshops, free seminars where I would
set up in the middle of a neighborhood do a
free financial literacy workshop teaching about home ownership, credit, finances,
and different things of that nature, speaking in school, speaking
(45:10):
at colleges, anyone who would listen. Because again, one of
the number one contributor to a lot of you know,
our I always say financial fatigue is because the lack
of the information we have on finances, credit economics, and
different things of that nature.
Speaker 26 (45:31):
Let me put a hypothetical out there. I'm a thirty
eight year old African American woman, professional, two kids, single,
struggling to make ends meet. Got a great job, but
the economy's killing me. I can't even save and I
can't keep up with my credit, you know, because I
have to, you know, continue to borrow from Peter to
pay Paul. How can I get out of this situation?
Speaker 17 (45:54):
So, believe it or not, that's actually the normal avatar
of who I speak to on a day to day basis.
And the very first thing is what always go back
to is elementary and as cliche is this sound, The
first thing that I do with every client, what I
sit down with them is first always say we need
(46:15):
to know what your number is. And what I mean
by that we need to know exactly how much money
you bring in versus your expenses, because what I find
is that a lot of people, it's even though things
are increasing, I do still find that people are over
leveraged because we don't really know how much money we make.
(46:40):
And here's what I mean. Does if a company pays
you fifty thousand dollars a year, how much goes through
your actual bank account? Does And that's a question.
Speaker 26 (46:52):
I would probably say a little more than half of that, But.
Speaker 17 (46:57):
What do most people budget? There ain't answers Again for
fifty they budget against the fifty thousand, so mathematically they're
always going to be in a deficit. Because we don't
know our number, and so whenever I sit down with
a client, that's the very first thing I do. There's
(47:18):
no amount of credit or strategy that can help you
if everything you're doing there's more month at the end
of your money, because you're always going to be You're
always going to operate at a deficit. So that's the
very first thing we have to do. Then once we
find that out, now we're going to go in and say, Okay,
(47:38):
we may need to cut out some of these streaming services,
we may have to cut out the snack machines that
work like. We got to start figuring out where we
can cut within the within the expenses first, because there
is going to have to be a level of sacrifice.
And always tell people, look, let's rip the band aid
(47:59):
early and it doesn't have to be boring. In different
things of that nature, there's actually several alternatives and this
is the exact same thing I have to go through.
And so all while we're going through that, I'm also
helping them to recondition the way they think, because usually
the reason a lot of people end up in these scenarios, Doug,
(48:20):
is because we've been taught a completely different ideology about
money and credit. We think the more we make that
we're in a better position.
Speaker 26 (48:29):
Man. That's good. Final comments regarding Black History Month, the
importance and our financial future.
Speaker 17 (48:38):
As of now, per the Wall Street Journal, in twenty
twenty four, the average net worth of a black household,
we're already pretty close to their, Doug, it's like seventeen
to twenty four thousand and so I often tell people we
need to wake up. You know, this space of what
(48:59):
I call financial literacy. It's no longer a luxury to
want to learn this, it's mandatory.
Speaker 26 (49:06):
Renowned financial literacy consultant, real estate wealth creator and founder
of WE Management Services, Will Aroundtree can't thank you enough,
brother for this information. Got to bring you back soon, man,
thank you so much again. This is Doug Davis. You're
listening to the Black Perspective, Your Black Business on the
bi in.
Speaker 1 (49:23):
Thanks Doug and Will, 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 Bionnews
dot com for all of the latest news impacting the
black community. We would love to hear from you about
the Black Perspective. Simply log on to the Black Information
(49:44):
Networks Talkback Live feature on the iHeartRadio app and 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 and make the Black Information
Network first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (50:01):
Presets.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
I'm Mike Island. Have a great Sunday, Happy Kwanza, and
happy New Year, and we'll see you in the new
year right here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (50:11):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of bi N and its founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland S.
Speaker 7 (50:26):
Martin.
Speaker 9 (50:27):
In this age of Donald Trump and MAGA, it is
rare for Republicans to show backbone, to show they actually
understand decency, morals, values, principles, ethics. Well, that's what happened
in Indiana when the Senate Republicans stood up to a
(50:49):
massive pressure campaign and refuse to pass a jerry mandret map.
Donald Trump, jd Vance, Mike Johnson, turning point, the USA
Heritage Foundation. All these right wingers were pressuring Indiana to
change their map. Their map right now has seven Republicans
(51:11):
to Democrats. They wanted to eradicate both Democratic seats to
go nine to zero. The Indiana House passed the new map,
their Senate rejected it in a vote of thirty one
to nineteen.
Speaker 7 (51:27):
Now what happened.
Speaker 9 (51:28):
Many of those senators said they were ashamed and were
offended by the bullying that took place. They could not
stand the fact that they were getting pressured. There were
some people getting death threats, their homes are being swatted.
In fact, the idiots that the Heritage Foundation literally sent
(51:48):
out a tweet blasting them, saying President Trump has made
it clear to Indiana leaders. If the Indiana Sendate fails
to pass the map, all federal funding will be from
the state.
Speaker 7 (52:01):
Roads will not.
Speaker 9 (52:02):
Be paved, guard bases will close, major projects will stop.
These are the stakes in every no vote will be
to blame hashtag pass the map. They said that is
a bridge too far, and so they stood up to
Magam and they dare said if you want to oppose us, fine.
Speaker 7 (52:20):
But also the people in that state said no.
Speaker 9 (52:23):
So I applawed Indiana Center Republicans for standing up to
the thug and cheap and saying no, well did our
maps four years ago and we're not going to do
it now. I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (52:35):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this comments sary
are those of the author and do not necessarily represent
those of bi N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 13 (52:47):
I'm James Harris and AOC had something to say, and they.
Speaker 27 (52:52):
Are able to radicalize and target and exploit a generation
of young boys in particle away from healthy masculinity and
into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others
who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them.
(53:12):
And that is why they are resonating online, because they
are appealing to the most basest and worst parts of
human nature.
Speaker 13 (53:20):
So Republicans are radicalizing and exploiting young boys, pushing them
towards a masculinity built on dominance, and this is primarily
of the poor, the dark, and the different. I have
to tell you this statement tells you far more about
AOC's world view than it does about conservatives, because what
AOC just did was an analysis, it was character assassination.
(53:41):
Conservatives are not teaching boys to dominate anyone. They are
teaching them the work to build, to control themselves, to
protect others, and to take responsibility for their lives. And
that's what terrifies the left, Because a young man who
believes his future is earned, not oled, it's harder to manipulate.
Nice trick here alc. She redefines masculinity as inherently dangerous
(54:05):
and then labels discipline, faith, competition, and leadership as radicalization.
That's not concerned for young boys, that's ideological grooming. Meanwhile,
the same political movement telling boys that they are toxic,
their country is evil, and their success is stolen now claims.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
To be worried about their well being.
Speaker 13 (54:24):
Stop stop it. This is projection wrapped in moral language.
The truth is simple. Masculinity built on responsibility, creates men
who don't need the state to parent them, excuse them,
or subsidize them. And that's the real difference, because strong
grounded men are the one group progressives can control.
Speaker 2 (54:44):
I'm James T. Harris for the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (54:47):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of BN and its founding partners and employees. Now it's
time to bring the funk with Roland S Martin.
Speaker 9 (55:03):
It has been ugly hilarious watching all of these white
progressives go crazy and lose it because Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
is running for the United States Senate boy Czech social
media and they are attacking her at every turn. They
(55:23):
are slamming her, saying, oh, she's awful, she's this, she's
a piece of crap.
Speaker 7 (55:29):
And you name it.
Speaker 9 (55:30):
And they all are backing Texas Republic's Representative James tall Rico. Now,
James tall Rico is a Democrat. He got lots of
attention criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others.
Speaker 7 (55:46):
For various bills. But here's a deal.
Speaker 9 (55:49):
James tell Rico has lower name recognition in the state
than Congressoman Jasmine Crockett. Now his negatives are lower than
hers because Donald Trump has been attacking her and she's
also been on national news shows.
Speaker 7 (56:06):
So here's a deal.
Speaker 9 (56:08):
The primary in Texas is in March. That means that
we're just talking about the rest of December, January, and
in February.
Speaker 7 (56:18):
In order to.
Speaker 9 (56:19):
Get voters to know you who are who you are,
run across the state and try to win. Now, former
Texas Congressan Colin Allred has already dropped out, and Crockhead
said you need to drop out, and he should have.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Why because he.
Speaker 9 (56:36):
Raised eighty million dollars in twenty twenty four and lost
to Ted Cruz by more than nine hundred thousand votes.
So what made them think he had a shot at
winning this time against Texas Centator John Cornyn or if
Ken Packs the Texas Attorney General upsets him. But what's
hilarious is to watch a lot of these white progressives
(56:57):
who are not even from Texas opiney on what Texas
voters are going to do, and I'm like, y'all don't
even know the state. It's hilarious, folks. This is why
they have elections. You make the case and you run.
Let's see what happens. I got my money on Crockett.
I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 8 (57:16):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b N and it's founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland s Martin.
Speaker 9 (57:33):
The charter network of doctor Steve Perry in Connecticut is
filing a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut saying that
they were completely screwed over when it comes to funding.
Speaker 7 (57:44):
Even though they were ranked number one.
Speaker 9 (57:48):
Steve Perry talked to be a Roland Martin unfiltered and
laid out how absolutely crazy this decision is and that
they've been fighting them for the past.
Speaker 3 (57:57):
Couple of years, regardless of the skullduggery, the inappropriateness of
the senators that Senator Matt Lesser, Senator and union bosson
and Hakadel, and Senator President pro tempt of the state
Senate Marty Looney, despite the fact that they have in
(58:18):
fact conspired and broken the law. If the State Department
of Education did what it was supposed to have done,
which was to determine which school was funded first, based
upon what the law says ten sixty six Subsection E
E K, then we wouldn't be in this conversation because
this General Assembly only gave itself the authority to determine
(58:42):
whether or not charter schools are funded large, not if
any individual charter school is funded. Think about this for
a second. What the state is arguing is that state
legislators can individually determine which charter schools are or are
(59:02):
not funded, period, even after they've gone through a transparent
RFP process, even after they've gone through public hearings, that
in a backdoor deal. They're saying that the law says
that a backdoor deal allows for it. Any senator, any
(59:22):
or represent any district can determine. I know that they're
number one. I know they've gone through the RFP process.
I know we've gotten overwhelming support, but I, by myself
don't want it. So I have a one man veto
and they get and they say that's the argument of
the state Department of Education.
Speaker 9 (59:41):
We'll keep following this lawsuit. I'm Roland Martin, the Black
Information Network.
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