The Black Perspective: February 2, 2025

This week on the Black Perspective, BIN’s Andrea Coleman speaks with civil rights attorney Lee Merritt about the latest legal battles shaping the fight for justice. Esther Dillard sits down with a political analyst to break down the Trump administration’s impact. BIN news anchor Alexandria Ikomoni talks with Christian artist Ryan Ellis about his new album, his personal journey through loss, and the devastating California wildfires. Mo Kelly interviews Carl McNair, educational consultant and older brother of the late astronaut Ronald McNair, to discuss his brother’s contributions to NASA and his lasting legacy.

Plus, Doug Davis explores the significance of HBCUs and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Sunday, February two and the first Sunday of the month.
And on today's show, the Black Information Networks, Andrea Coleman
speaks with civil rights attorney Lee Merritt. Esther Dillard talks
to a political analyst about the Trump administration. Bin News
anchor Alexandria Ecamoni spoke with Christian artist Ryan Ellis about
his album California Wildfires, Loss of Family, and Moore Moe

(00:21):
Kelly sits down with Carl McNair, educational consultant and older
brother to Ronald McNair to discuss his brother's contribution to
the NASA Space program and legacy. And Doug Davis talks
HBCUs and PBIS. These stories and more are coming your
way on today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm
your host, Mike Island.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
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 (00:52):
Good Sunday to everyone, and Welcome to the Black Perspective.
The trial of former Glenn County, Georgia District attorney Jackie
Johnson got under last week. Johnson is accused of instructing
officers not to arrest Travis McMichael, who is now serving
a life sentence in the death of a Maud Armory,
which took place nearly five years ago. The Black Information
That Works Andrea Coleman spoke with Lee Merritt, the civil

(01:14):
rights attorney representing a Maud's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, about
the significance of this latest trial.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
In the case against Jackie Johnson. It's the third part
of three trials that we've seen since the murder of
a mod in twenty twenty. First, the state criminal charges
against the three men who were responsible for his murder
resulted in three sentences of life without the possibility of
parole at the state level, and then we had hate
crime charges pursued by the dj at the federal level,
and all three men were again convicted or sentenced to

(01:42):
life without the possibility of parole. To me, this trial
that we just began is one of the more important
trials in terms of the national implications of the criminal
accountability following the death of a mad ar Burier. It's
so important to me because it's the first time in
my practice and the first time that i've seen that
as he was facing repercussions for failing to uphold their
duties of office. Now, Jackie Johnson has already been voted

(02:05):
out of the Glenn County District Attorney's office for failing
to take their appropriate steps and follow the appropriate protocol
when one of her employees, Gregory McMichael, participated in the
murder of a mad Arbery. But it's going beyond now
her just being removed from office, which is probably the
most accountability that she ever expected. But she was indicted

(02:26):
three years ago and we finally began to try. How
hopeful I give the outcome, I am guardedly optimistic. The
Glenn County jury system has delivered accountability for this family
over and over again. They delivered accountability in the voting
polls when they voted Jackie Johnson out of office. They
delivered accountability from the jury box when they convicted all

(02:47):
three of these men of murder. They continue to deliver
accountability when they passed a hate crime statue in a
mad Arbery's name. So this community is demonstrated over and
over again that they will not allow the good old
boy system to do what it normally. He does here,
but that system is still in place, and it's been
fixed in Georgia for hundreds of years. And as we
listened to juris just yesterday expressed their opinions on the case,

(03:08):
many came in and said, you know, a mob was
a criminal and the men who murdered him were escapegoaded
or are victims of a witch hunt political prosecution, and
that they hope that the mood will change now that
Trump's back in office, and so that remains a concern.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
Yeah, talk about that a little bit. It seems as
though now we're seeing a more conservative swing and mood
and tenor taking over again, and especially in some of
these southern states. How concerned are you regarding the justice
system with his return to office and the conservative grip
of federal government that we've seen after this past selection.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
And my practice, Trump represents a sort of a constant
threat to the rule of law, although he kind of
holds himself out as a law and order figure. You know,
we saw him pardon violent protesters, violent insurrectionists, just recently,
sweeping pardon for people who are really responsible for really
horrific things. We saw that despite the fact that he's

(04:04):
been convicted of a felony himself. He continues to sort
of denounce the judicial process, the jury process, and he
is introducing in a time where it's almost by post
facts errors more how individual people who hold power feel specifically,
you know, this conservative agenda that is less concerned with

(04:25):
doing justice for family. So it's a concern. But I
always believe that this fight is a grassroots fight. It
takes place on a local level, and there are people
on the ground from the Prosecutor's office in England County
who have committed themselves to accountability in this case, the
family of amount of our various mother wander Cooper Jones,
her strategy hasn't changed. Our office, Our strategy hasn't changed,

(04:46):
and when we were successful in the past, we often
did it in a republican jurisdiction. During the time that
we went through the initial trials, Georgia was solidly in
the red category, in the conservative category. But the Attorney
General's office on down the govern office continue to deliver justice.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
Well, that's encouraging. Hopefully that can continue. So in October,
I think it was the defendants asked for a new trial.
How likely is that going to take place? Considering this
now again, Conservative SUITEP On the federal level, a lot of.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
People are going to begin to claim that any prosecutions
and convictions that took place over the last four years
at least, if not longer, were the result of a
political witch hunt, because that is the mantra, the verbiage
that Trump continues to feed the public concerning his own
convictions and anybody associated with him. And so the three

(05:34):
men who are now serving life sentences in a Georgia
state prison for the murder of a mod they're going
to avail themselves of those opportunities through their legal team.
It is a concern because the courts are now doing
something I've never seen them do, because these aren't standard courts.
These are courts that are packed with Trump judges that
are unmooring themselves from historical precedents, and so there's a concern. However,

(05:56):
we knew that at the time that we refuse plea deals.
For you, one of these men who were convicted both
at the state and federal level, we rejected plea deals
that would have taken away their ability to appeal in
the future. They would have signed it off if we
would allowed them. For example, with the DOJ if we
would allow the DOJ to sign a plea agreement that
these men could spend the rest of their lives in
federal prison, then they wouldn't be able to do these appeals.

(06:19):
We didn't want that. We wanted to face the stiffest
possible penalties in some of the worst prisons in the
world in here in the state of Georgia. And we
knew that if we wanted that, we would have to
deal with the appeal and their right to appeal. And
that's something that we took on soberly.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Okay, that makes a lot of sense. It's been five
years now, coming up on a Modd's death. Are you
surprised at the changes in the sentiment toward racial justice
and d E and I and this resistance we've seen
over the past few years. Are you surprised that this
is where we are today in those five short years

(06:53):
since his killing.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
I don't know if the word I would use would
be surprised about where we are disappointed. Maybe when Ahmad
was murdered, we saw a national reaction to his death
and the death of Breonna Taylor and the death of
George Floyd and victimizations of black people in black communities
without accountability really take the center stage and people make
commitments to see different outcomes. And for us, it wasn't

(07:16):
just for these cases, it was different outcomes going forward
to give African American citizens in this country the full
rights of all other citizens, particularly when it comes to
the courtroom, which has always been a two tier justice
system of a black court system and black justice and
white justice. And so to see it return to that,
it's not a surprise. It's disappointing. But I think that

(07:36):
part of the reason that we saw twenty twenty and
the racial reckoning that came from the George Floyd uprising
was because Trump was in office and people wanted to
fight against what he represented. Well, he's back, and I
think the people will stand up, use their voices, and
then we'll discover again that when we collectively come together
and speak with one voice, we are in fact powerful
and we can see different outcomes. I hate that we

(07:57):
have to continue on the seesaw, where you know, you
have to invite the boogeyman back into the White House
in order to motivate people to get back out into
the streets and to demand justice. But I am not
completely discouraged by the fact that he's there. I know
that we can have and we have had a proper
response to it from an organizational standpoint.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yeah, how is miss Wanda Cooper Jones doing? This will
be her third court proceeding. How is she holding up
in her mind? Having been five years now since the
death of her son, she's still facing these proceedings. How
hopeful is she that this will be resolved in a
way that will give her some comfort and some peace.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Miss Cooper Jones is holding together well. This is obviously
a very anxious time for her, and the conviction of
Jackie Johnson is important because when Wanda first lost her son, Ahmad,
and she didn't know what happened to him, she went
to the local prosecutor's office. She spoke with Jackie Johnson,
she asked for justice, and not only did she callously

(08:53):
turn Wanda away, but I think this trial will reveal
that she put her thumb on the scale of justice
to try to allow these men to escape accountability, something
that was deeply offensive for Wanda into the community. And
so she is very anxious about seeing this woman prosecuted
and convicted. But she has learned a lot. You know,
this is not the year after her son's murder, which

(09:14):
was a whirldwind. It's a discussion that she and I
had recently. She remembers the media, she remembers the attention,
She remembers showing up and giving the courtroom statement. But
it was an outer body experience, and so now she
has the wisdom of that experience in the time to
do the grief healing. You never fully healed, but she's learned.
She has a process in a support system. She knows
to decline interviews when she doesn't feel like she has

(09:37):
a better understanding of how she best processes this moment.
So she's in a slightly better place than she was
five years ago.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
Very good, and lastly, Attorney Merrit, any message you have
for the American people considering this conservative sweep that we're
seeing on the federal level in many Southern states that
may be nervous about interacting with the criminal justice system
and feeling that there may be bias, there are some partiality.
Any words of encouragement or wisdom you have for people

(10:05):
that may be feeling that kind of anxiety.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
The same four words I ran for Texas Attorney General
in twenty twenty one against Ken Paxton, and it was
a long shot campaign because Texas has been conservative since
the last time the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl,
which is a very long time ago. And so together
we are powerful, is my only words of encouragement. Despite
what it may look like in national politics, when we

(10:30):
come together, when we come up with a plan, we
commit ourselves to these plans. On a grassroots level, we
have proven to be extraordinarily successful. It's only small groups
of people coming together that brought down the Nazi regime,
that takes down corrupt governments, and that we've been in
dark places before, and you know, sometimes it's darkest right
before the light. And I'm not discouraged at all. I'm

(10:53):
in a way excited to see the community's response this time,
because I was encouraged by community's response at twenty sixteen.
Was deeply frustrated. I was deeply scared in twenty sixteen
when I learned that Trump and Jeff Sessions were taking
over the Department of Justice. And I have to take
my hats off to Kristin Clark and what the Bidings
DJ has been able to do over the last four years.
It has been encouraging. We can get there again. And

(11:15):
until we get there in terms of having the national
reigns of something like a Department of Justice to bring
accountability for communities, then we're going to have to do
it on a grassroots.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
Level and we can.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, very good, very good, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Thanks Andrea alhmaud Arbury was shot to death on February
twenty third and twenty twenty after being accosted by three
white men in Brunswick, Georgia, while out jogging. His death
was followed by Breonna Taylor's on March thirteenth and George
Floyd's on May twenty fifth that same year. Each of
their deaths sparked national protests. Stay tuned to the Black
Information Network for the latest on Jackie Johnson's trial, which

(11:50):
continues this week. It is the start of week three
for the Trump administration, and a lot has happened. That's
why the Black Information Networks Ester Diller decided to check
in again with a black political analyst. He's the same
one who was sending out a warning before the election
that if Democrats didn't get black swing voters to choose
their ticket, Trump would win the presidency.

Speaker 6 (12:10):
On Martin Luther King Junior Day, the same day that
President Donald Trump took the oath of office for a
second time. On inauguration Day, he signed twenty six executive orders.
They've ranged from immigration to citizenship, as well as partning
those who attacked the capital. On January sixth, twenty twenty one,

(12:31):
I spoke with political analyst Alvin B. Chillery. He's a
Northwestern professor and founder of the twenty forty Strategy Group.
Last year, he warned democratic leadership if Trump were elected
back to office, there would be consequences. I spoke to
him about his feelings after inauguration Day and if he
had an answer for many black folks who are asking

(12:52):
what do we do now?

Speaker 7 (12:53):
Well, it's unfortunate.

Speaker 8 (12:53):
I mean, I think that the worst nightmares of those
of us who campaigned to wake up black voters to
the dangers of Project twenty twenty five and Agenda forty
seven and mister Trump's white nationalists agenda, you know, are
seeing what we feared coming to fruition, and probably in
a slightly faster time frame than some had anticipated. So

(13:19):
it's really dangerous times for black people and other vulnerable
populations in the country.

Speaker 6 (13:29):
This morning, the State Department said that the Trump administration's
directive directive was to refrain from openly observing Black History
Month in February.

Speaker 7 (13:39):
Is this a surprise, No, it should not be a
surprise to anyone. I think.

Speaker 8 (13:46):
You know, the Republican Party writ large has been hostile
to black people since Barry Goldwater ran his campaign in
nineteen sixty four on the plank of overturning the Civil
Rights Act.

Speaker 7 (14:04):
Now, of course he was clobbered in that election.

Speaker 8 (14:06):
But you know what people need to understand about mister
Trump is that there are hundreds of people behind him
in right wing think tanks and other sort of spaces
that are living out their dream to try to reduce
black people back to a condition of a racial caste system,

(14:28):
whereby you would be denied opportunities in this country.

Speaker 7 (14:32):
And so you know, that's what's happening.

Speaker 8 (14:36):
And you can't pray that away, You can't post about
your black excellence or you know, just wait calmly for
the next election.

Speaker 7 (14:46):
It's game time now and people need to wake up
to that.

Speaker 6 (14:49):
What is your administration, your organization doing to try to
thwart some of this this huge wave of change.

Speaker 8 (15:02):
Yeah, well, what I'm trying to do as a democratic
strategist and also through my work with the Alliance for
Black Equality is we're trying to remind black voters and
black people in our communities that we have a lot
of power right now in this real moment. When Doctor
King and the other civil rights leaders, Ms. Rosa and
everyone worked to pass the Civil Rights Act in nineteen

(15:24):
sixty four, there were three black members of Congress, and
Congress was a segregated institution. They had to enter through
different doors, they couldn't eet in the lunch room, et cetera.
There are sixty three black members of Congress, including four
black senators, who have the power to filibuster.

Speaker 7 (15:39):
So what the.

Speaker 8 (15:39):
Alliance for Black Equality is going to try to do
in Black History Month is wake up and activate Black
constituencies to put pressure on black democratic elected officials at
every level to respond with protections for our community.

Speaker 7 (15:56):
And so that's what we're mobilizing to do right now.

Speaker 6 (16:00):
What should the average person, like the mom at home,
the teacher, the bus driver, what should they be doing
to help in this effort because they're concerned likely as well.

Speaker 8 (16:14):
Well, you know, they can go to the Alliance or
Blackequality dot org and sign some of the petitions that
we'll have coming out in the next couple of weeks
that we want to deliver to the politicians that we
want to reach. If you can give a dollar, that
would be fantastic. We're asking if listen, if every Black
voter of voting age gave one dollar to Progressive Change campaigns,
we'd have a pool of like one hundred million dollars

(16:36):
that we could use to maintain pressure on these politicians.
If you can't do that, then give to the NAACP,
Reverend Sharpton's organization that are trying to sustain boycott's right
boycotting corporate brands. We've got to put pressure not on
the Trump people and the people that are serving in
his administration as much as we do on the opposition.

Speaker 7 (16:58):
And the opposition includes.

Speaker 8 (17:00):
Corporate leaders who would probably willingly defend our interests if
we made them do it. And so, you know, the
kinds of boycott efforts that are that are coming underway,
I think that those can be really productive if we
can sustain them. Let's not do what we did with
Colin Kaepernick, when you know he was trying to get
everyone to take a knee and talk about police brutality,
and black viewers flocked right back to the NFL right.

(17:23):
So let's try to, like, you know, earn some respect
from these institutions that are courting us for votes, for
dollars for support, and put pressure on people to push
back because the things that mister Trump is trying to
do are not legal.

Speaker 7 (17:39):
No one can ban equity people.

Speaker 8 (17:41):
Equity is enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil
Rights Act of nineteen sixty four. So despite what he's saying,
he is not banned equity. No one can take away
our history. If we tell our history, if we become
obstinate and demand that our stories are told, we can
push back against white supremacy hiring. You look at Pete

(18:03):
Hegseth and mister Trump himself. I see black women online
posting you know, well, these are DEI hires. No, they
are not DEI hires. Are of qualified people who are
just being given access to a pool so that their
talents can shine.

Speaker 7 (18:18):
Pete Hegseth is Secretary.

Speaker 8 (18:19):
Of Defense because he is pledged to uphold white supremacy.
He's not qualified by any other metric, and so let's
start calling that.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
What it is, right, Capital punishment. There is a big
thing on the table in regard to that and their
reinstatement of I guess that federal death penalty. What is
that going to mean for African Americans, for just Americans
in general, is versus our communities? What's this mean?

Speaker 7 (18:48):
It's awful.

Speaker 8 (18:49):
And so what Joe Biden did on his way out
the door as he commuted the sentences of all but
two of the federal death row inmates. So the people
that are already there, Trump won't be able to execute them,
but for new prisoners going forward, you know, they will
be able to put that back into place. The bigger
problem with criminal justice issues, and this is what the

(19:13):
Alliance for Black Equality tried to show all through the
election cycles. Mister Trump promising federal stop and frisk that's
likely coming, but him also promising to pull back from
all of the Department of Justices can sent decrees and
investigations of local police departments. He's already written in executive
order doing that. And so what that means is that

(19:34):
if you're in Chicago or Saint Louis or you know,
Milwaukee or Los Angeles, if your police department was being investigated,
or even if they said, you know what, we agree
we had some patterns and practice of discrimination. We want
to cut a deal. We want to pay settlements to
people that we've brutalized. Mister Trump is saying that if
you do that, you will lose federal access to Department

(19:56):
of Defense dollars that pay for a lot of this
police equipment. And so we've got them now lean on
our local governments to say.

Speaker 7 (20:04):
Pull out of the Department of Defense.

Speaker 8 (20:07):
Do we need tanks and all these things that they
want to give to us anyway?

Speaker 7 (20:10):
Probably not. So that that's a big part of the puzzle.
And that's a much bigger piece than capital punishment.

Speaker 6 (20:17):
Is I know you mentioned birthright citizenship. Is that anywhere
that we Is that just a bunch of bells and
whistles that people, you know, look over here, look over here,
a destruction versus something that's really important that people should
be paying attention to.

Speaker 8 (20:33):
Yeah, I think I think we should absolutely be paying
attention to it. I mean, I think, you know, the
corrupt Roberts Court has made mister Trump a king. They've
given him an immunity grant that no one had ever
given to any other president. It is not above Roberts Alito,
you know, Thomas, all of those people to say, Okay,

(20:57):
while mister Trump does have a line item veto because
he controls immigration, and we're going to allow him to,
you know, to say that you can't kill birthright citizenship altogether,
but we'll say that he can give some parameters to
what that means. I believe that they are capable of that,

(21:17):
and you know, we should be ready for that. Black
people should also be ready for them to define us
as beyond the birthrate because birthright citizenship was put in
place to protect us.

Speaker 6 (21:33):
There's just so much that we could talk about, but
I know we only have a limited amount of time.
What other areas do you think that people should you know,
a really top of mind, top of the list that
you know that people should start putting on their list
as to what they should do, what they should pay
attention to. So then in the next time we come

(21:53):
back together and talk, you have a progress report.

Speaker 7 (21:57):
Yeah, well, what happened last night?

Speaker 8 (22:00):
Freezing of federal funds for head Start school launch snap.
You know, all of that is going to have a
disproportionate effect on black and brown communities, and people should
be paying real attention to that. We should also be
paying attention to, you know, Trump's ability to freeze money

(22:20):
for all of the five to one C three groups,
the NAACP, the Urban League, all of these groups.

Speaker 7 (22:25):
That are nonprofits.

Speaker 8 (22:28):
Right, he has wide discretion to under national security laws.
Now to you know, deem people as supportive of Hamas
or whatever right to freeze their funding. That's the same
thing they did to our civil rights leaders in the
nineteen forty, fifties and sixties. Oh, they support the Soviets,
and so let's spy on them wy or tap them,
hurt them that way. I could see that happening with

(22:50):
someone like cash Ptel in charge of the FBI, and
so we need to be prepared to step up, give
our dollar, two dollars whatever we can afford to those organizations,
grow their following in such a way that we can
we can embrace them and support them and the critical
work that they're doing.

Speaker 9 (23:08):
Well.

Speaker 6 (23:08):
I appreciate all that you've shared with us, and I
know that this is going to be not the last
conversation that we have in regard to what's happening in Washington.
So thank you, doctor Chillry for joining us on the BION.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
Thank you Esther, Thank you Esther, one of the og
Jabbowaukee's Turn to Christian artist, has just released a new album.
It comes at a time where he's still dealing with
the death of his son, which is seen on the
album cover. Black Information News anchor Alexandria Icamoni spoke with
Ryan Ellis about his album, California Wildfires, losses and more.

Speaker 10 (23:40):
What's up, Guys to Grow Alexandria Icamoni in the studio
with Ryan Ellis, How you doing today?

Speaker 7 (23:46):
Good?

Speaker 9 (23:46):
I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 10 (23:48):
Oh yeah, so happy to have you. Great things to
talk about. Siding with your new album, I love it.

Speaker 7 (23:53):
I am a fan.

Speaker 10 (23:54):
A listen to the whole album the day released and
it is titled Real Love. But I really want you
to tell me more more about your new album because
it's really personal. It's really vulnerable and really.

Speaker 11 (24:04):
Something people need to hear.

Speaker 12 (24:05):
So you tell me.

Speaker 10 (24:06):
More about why you decide to put this project out
right now.

Speaker 9 (24:10):
You know, I decided to put this project out right
now just because I felt like you knows as a culture,
you know, Christians in church, you know, we have our songs,
we have our worship songs. And we have artists. But
for me, I really felt as an artist, I wanted
to be a little bit more vulnerable my music, a
little bit more dynamic and the imagery that I was

(24:30):
painting and make it really feel like a conversation sometimes
with God instead of it rather just being like, you know,
very vertical, which I love. I love worship. That's where
I got my start, you know, it's house church worship.
But then growing as an artist, I learned, you know,
vulnerability is a huge part of what makes a good artist,

(24:51):
you know, knowing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So there's some songs on here where you know, might
be a little sad boy vibes. You know, you know,
you're not a hundred sense sure, there's a lot of
things that are left open ended, you know, where I
feel like a lot of Christian music, there's not a
lot of that, you know, it's very matter of fact,
but songs like better Days, you know, you know, it's

(25:14):
really like a faith cry, you know, really standing in
the place that you're at, being honest with with where
you're at, what you're dealing with, but also giving the
hope that is the gospel. So I really felt like
I wanted to just challenge myself and also challenge the listeners.

Speaker 10 (25:31):
Which is beautiful actually, because I love that you're talking about,
you know, like saboy vibes and a sense or being vulnerable,
because some of my favorites were, you know, a little
on the sat or side, better days, like you said,
calling on Heaven, satisfied, save my Love, some of those
are some of my save love. Yes, oh my goodness,
I absolutely love it. And you are not new to this,
by the way, Grammy nominated one a few awards here,

(25:54):
tied to Maverick City. Tell me more about your background
and how that really influenced this project or do you
feel like it's different than things you've done and put
out in the past.

Speaker 9 (26:03):
Yeah, well, thank you first of all saying that. Yeah,
it's kind of a trip to hear that out loud,
you know. Oh I am Grammy nominated. Okay, we are here. Yeah,
it was it was cool. I mean, the journey from
just being a songwriter. I started off just as a songwriter,
you know, and and really it was more just for me,
just for me and and my mom and my brother.

(26:24):
You know, we started going to church together. You know,
we didn't grow up going to church. I started going
to church in my in my twenties, and and so
me picking up the guitar writing songs was really my
way to commune with God on my own terms, you know,
and and just commune with my family. And then I
had a song get picked up by a pretty well
known Christian artist by the name of Chris Tomlin, and

(26:47):
he released a song called Resurrection Power, and and that
kind of just changed the whole spectrum for me. I
didn't know people got in rooms and wrote songs and
labels and a and rs and public and all this stuff.
And and so I really got thrown into it, you know,
and so I had to really learn how to swim
or sink. So you know, I got into the writing rooms.

(27:09):
And and I was a writer for a long time,
just writing for other artists, and you know, had amazing
cuts from you know, Maverick City. Uh, that was the
one that got nominated for a Grammy. God Problems It
just wanted to double ward And wrote some other songs
for Natalie Grant, Meredith Andrews and house Fires and a
bunch of other people, Brandon Lake and and so it

(27:32):
was I liked it because, you know, I got to
go in do the thing and then let them carry
the responsibility, you know, like you all got to go
out there and perform it and market it and and
I love creating, so that was a joy for me.
But then when I felt like God was like, okay,
you need to step out and and own these songs,
because not only I was writing them, but there's something

(27:53):
different about you know, you as an individual representing you know,
the artistry. So that was a huge step of faith
for me, you know, just being like, Okay, I'm going
to sing these songs myself, I'm gonna be on stage,
I'm going to try to connect and it's a whole
different vibe from just being a songwriter. But it's definitely
it's been an amazing journey.

Speaker 10 (28:10):
So I did see the post about the celebration of
life that you do. It's very beautiful, and of course
there are others who are in similar situations that could
really resonate and appreciate the efforts that you're doing just
to bring light you never forget. Of course, definitely celebrate
that life every way you can, so we appreciate that.

Speaker 9 (28:27):
Now.

Speaker 10 (28:27):
Switching Gears, though you are based out of Orange County,
a lot is happening over there in California, specifically of
course South California there. What are your thoughts, like, I mean,
from your perspective being out in California, how has it
been like being in an environment like that.

Speaker 9 (28:42):
I mean, it's crazy. I mean California, you know, definitely
is an interesting state. I think to everybody in the country.
You know, every time I go places, you know, if
I'm like out in the South or anything, and I'm like, hey,
what's up, I'm riding. I'm from California, They're like, we
don't want you out of here.

Speaker 5 (28:57):
I've heard that before.

Speaker 9 (28:59):
Like, man, California gets a lot of hate and you know,
but I also feel like that's the reason why I
stayed out there for so long, is because I really
feel like God is doing something in California. Yeah, and
I've had the opportunity. I almost moved to Atlanta, almost
moved to Decatur.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
All this time.

Speaker 9 (29:13):
I always know I might still who knows, get a vacation.
I was out here, but I mean because I just love,
you know, the culture out here is just amazing. Everyone's
super nice, down to earth, art shopping, everything is just
amazing out here. Yeah, But California. You can go to
the mountains in the beginning of the day and then

(29:33):
you can go surfing the ocean in the afternoon, you know.
And so it's and just it's beautiful and just the
different spots. But the people too, you can feel, I
don't know, it's skinny, it's kin interesting. I think in
just the country in general, you know, a little a
little hairy. But what my mission is is just to
spread light, you know. So I know a lot of

(29:55):
people that moved out of California, like it's getting too
crazy out of here. I'm like, but if y' all leave,
who's going to be the light? I'm saying, If everybody
leaves here, then how's you know. So me and my
wife who planted our flag in the ground, and we've
seen amazing things. But with everything happening right now, with
the fires, I mean, it's just devastating. It's heartbreaking. But
you know, that's what the Bible says. There's gonna be

(30:16):
hard times. There's gonna be hard times. There's gonna be
things that you don't understand. There's gonna be things that
are confusing, and there might be you know, the principalities
of the air. You know, you know, the enemy's still roaring,
running around trying to do what he wants to do.
But I really do believe in twenty twenty five that
we're going to see one of the most dramatic shifts
in music and in culture when it comes to Christianity,

(30:38):
with music and with just I think people in general.

Speaker 10 (30:41):
And you're talking about people who are mainstream. I do
want to touch on there's just a little bit the Jabbawakes.
I mean, I was a huge bad I'm like, I'm
so excited. I'm sitting with one of the OG's here.
Tell me more about that, because I also want to
know how you transitioned from something like the jabbawakee's into
writing music, making music. Tell me more about that experience.

Speaker 9 (31:02):
Well, I'm Filipino, so we have to do whatever we can,
you know what I'm saying. Like my mom, she sang,
she was in theater. She just an amazing personality, and
so she passed that on to me, and so I
got into performing arts at a young age with tap dance, ballet.
I had a scholarship to a ballet school, did musical

(31:24):
theater growing up. My mom was my first my first
musical theater or my first play. My mom was in
a play called Showboat, and I went to the rehearsal
with her and the director was like, can he skip?
Can you skip across the stage? And that was my
first performance, you know. And so I was like maybe
six years old, and so I've always kind of been
on the stage, you know. Yeah, And so when I

(31:46):
got into hip hop dance, I was actually transitioning from
being a cheerleader, and so I was a competitive cheerleader.
We took first place. I mean it was like it
was not like high school football cheerleading. This was like
competitive ESPN. I was seven years old on an all
girls squad. They took first place every competition. We took
nationals twice. So it was high level, elite, high performance.

(32:08):
And this was back in like ninety two or something
like that. And then we used to share the space
with a hip hop class. And so after cheer practice,
I'd start hearing the hip hop music. I hear Missy
Elliott and I love it, you know. I was like, Yo,
what is this? And so I go across and I

(32:30):
started doing the classes, and then there was my cheer
coaches would try to give me back over to cheer practice,
and I kind of made the decision. I was like,
I'm going to get I'm going to do this hip
hop thing. And so that's when it was first starting
in San Diego was kind of like the birth center
for choreographed hip hop dance cruise like you know New
York break dancing for sure, but like on the West coast.

(32:51):
San Diego. Angie Bunch and a Cerarro, they were the
creators of the movement of hip hop dance teams in Soco.
So I was there from the very beginning. And then
we had these boys come from Sacramento and they had
a whole new style. They're from the Bay, you know,
so it was a whole different vibe. And that's and
they were the ones who created the jabwuaarkis and so

(33:12):
they were like in their twenties. I was probably like
fifteen fourteen years old, so I was like the young bro,
and I was good enough to hang out with them.
I didn't know why they was one to kick with me,
but I was like, yo, okay, this is dope. These
guys are amazing. They're like kung fu masters. It's like
new kung fu masters that come in and You're like,
I'm trying to learn from you know, let me follow
your waist and say, And eventually came to me one
day like, yo, bro, we're starting a group called Jabwaukees.

(33:34):
You want to be in it? And I was like, man,
as long as we're all kicking it, I don't care,
you know. And and so we started with our first
couple of shows. You know, we're amazing, and it was
cool to be a part of that in the very
beginning process. But you know how life is, and I'm
only fourteen years old. My mom said we're moving up north.
We're moving to Fresno. So I had to leave San
Diego the totally different you ever seen footloose, That's what

(33:58):
it was like. I was dripped out. I mean, magine
green visors. Remember when the advisors were in and I
walk up and all these kids are wearing cowboy boots
and bell buckles, and I'm like, I am not in
Kansas anymore. But and then and then I joined the
Navy after high school. And then that's when I saw
them on America's Best Dance Creweah, and I was like, dang,

(34:21):
I was happy for the homies, you know, I was
happy for them, but I was like, bro, I could
have met you know, Mario Lopez too, that would have
been dope. But it was funny though, because I was
in the Navy, I still had like five years left
and and I said, I'm just getting my head down
do this thing. And I just kind of put that
on the back burner. But when I got saved and
I started making music, you know, the Jabberwaukeees weren't even

(34:43):
in my on my radar. I was just like, I'm
just trying to serve the Lord, trying to become better myself.
And then and this is where it happened, which was
so funny. My wife we got married and she wanted
to bring me to a Jabwaukee show in Vegas. And
at this time, I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't making music.
I don't even I had a job at the time.

(35:05):
And I said, no, I don't want to go. I
had her cancel the tickets, I had to cancel the flight.

Speaker 10 (35:09):
Everything was my birthday.

Speaker 13 (35:10):
I felt bad, but I was like.

Speaker 9 (35:11):
I'm not about to see these homies yea on an
l you know what I'm saying. And for some reason
inside of me, I felt like God said you guys
are going to link up when it's time. And that
was before I even had a record deal, even before anything,
and so it was funny and I was looking at
my photos. But just like twenty twenty three, we went
to the Jabwaukee Show for the first time and by

(35:32):
the end of the year we had to collapse with them.

Speaker 14 (35:34):
I love that.

Speaker 10 (35:35):
I love it. Ending on a positive note here for
twenty twenty five New Year's Resolutions goals. Give me one
that you're playing on, accomplishing or doing this year.

Speaker 5 (35:43):
What do we got.

Speaker 9 (35:44):
I'm trying to get jacked, you know what I'm saying.
I want to get like a six pack. I mean,
at least once in my lifetime, you know. I'm trying
to get healthier, trying to work out more, definitely, want
to go to more basketball games with my son, trying
to go to the Lakers games, so just a little
bit more, you know, just those types of things.

Speaker 10 (36:00):
I love it. Trying to go before you know, Brown retires,
or exactly before he retire, but who knows.

Speaker 5 (36:05):
Man, he's the go He might.

Speaker 9 (36:06):
Give us another five six years, that's what he said.

Speaker 10 (36:08):
Yeah, yeah, we'll see, we'll see. I can see you
by the same time, okay, forty, I know.

Speaker 7 (36:16):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (36:17):
I love it.

Speaker 10 (36:18):
Any last words you want to leave with the people
and how can they follow you?

Speaker 5 (36:22):
Yes?

Speaker 9 (36:22):
Thank you guys so much for listening, and thank you
for you guys do here. iHeartRadio and I appreciate all
the love and support from all the fans and all
the new listeners that are showing love on this project.
And if you want to follow me, you can follow
me on Instagram, Ryan Ellis and on TikTok. I think
it's Ryan Ellis c A. But we'll see if we

(36:43):
still have TikTok by tomorrow.

Speaker 10 (36:45):
Wait a minute, don't break my heart right now morning. Yeah,
we'll see what happens and TikTok stays. Honestly, they've been
back and forth for so long, so let's keep making
viral videos until then. And I see your TikTok flourishing
as well, so follow on there as well. But thank
you so much, Ryan, We appreciate you coming into the studio.

Speaker 9 (37:04):
Thank you for having me. Thank you guys.

Speaker 10 (37:06):
I love it once again, Alexandra COMMONI in the studio
with Ryan Ellis.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Thanks Alexandria, and check out Ryan Ellis's new album Real
Love available now it's been thirty nine years since we
lost black astronaut Ronald McNair and the rest of the
astronaut team that perished during the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy.
On the anniversary of this event, then commentator Moe Kelly
sat down with Carl McNair, educational consultant and older brother

(37:30):
to Ronald McNair, to discuss his brother's contribution to the
NASA Space program and his ongoing legacy as a black astronaut.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
I'm Mo Kelly, and this is the Black Information Network.
In nineteen seventy eight, doctor Ronald McNair was selected as
one of thirty five applicants from a pool of ten
thousand for the NASA Astronaut Program. McNair flew as a
mission specialist on STS forty one B, a board Space
Shuttle Challenger, back on February third through February eleventh, nineteen

(37:58):
eighty four, becoming the second African American to fly in space.
But on January twenty eighth, nineteen eighty six, McNair Paris
is part of the Challenger crew team.

Speaker 15 (38:07):
Managers can go nine or eight seven six. We have
main engines start four three two one and lift off
lift off of the twenty fifth Face Shuttle mission and
it as clear as the.

Speaker 5 (38:23):
Tower controlling.

Speaker 12 (38:27):
Roger Chounger, Good Road program confirmed. Challenger now heading down range.
Engines beginning throttling down now at ninety four percent normal

(38:48):
croddles for most of the plant one hundred and four
percent will trottle down to sixty five percent shortly on
a minute fifteen seconds at the twenty nine hundred pet
per second altitude nine out mouths down range, just at
the seven nautical.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Miles, it looks like a couple of the solid rocket
boosters blew away from the side of the shuttle in
an explosion.

Speaker 12 (39:19):
My controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously
a major malfunction.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
We have no down link right now. His older brother,
Carl McNair, founder of McNair Achievement Programs, author and STEM
education consultant, joins me now on the show as we
pay remembrance to him and the rest of the Challenger crew. Carl,
my friend, great to talk to you again. How have
you been.

Speaker 14 (39:47):
Oh, I'm doing very well. Brother Mo. Did I call
you brother Moe?

Speaker 5 (39:50):
Yes, you can't because we are brothers, that's right. Aside
from your brother, your younger brother's exploits, his academic exploits,
which included a PhD in physics from Mit. Ronald McNair
was a saxophonist, a jazz enthusiast. He was a man
of Omega Sci Fi fraternity like you and me. He
was a fifth degree black belt in karate. When I

(40:10):
was a young teenager, I wanted to be Ronald McNair.
But who was your brother? Beyond what most often is
publicly shared.

Speaker 14 (40:18):
Well, Ron was like anybody else of many people think
he was like a bookworm, but Ron was As we
were growing up, he was on the football team, the
baseball team, ran track and just like any other kid.
But he had a sociable for knowledge that was Ron
in a nutshell.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
When he was doing his thing, be it a baseball
diamond or track field or any of his other exploits,
did you see something in him which said he's not
going to choose any of that. He's going to be
a scientist. He is going to do something in the
stem field.

Speaker 14 (40:54):
Yes, not to mention that he was very good at
science and math, and as he was very good at
this fortune what have you. But I think this was
this particular time when he hamil accident at home where
he cast his kneecap, and instead of going through the
pain and agnity of having gassed your kneecap, he started

(41:15):
showing me the ligaments and the muscles. I knew something
was strange about what was home like for you and
your family?

Speaker 5 (41:27):
Were your parents really tough on you as far as school?
Did they encourage you to pursue certain careers? What was
life like growing up in the McNair household.

Speaker 14 (41:35):
Well, my mother only went to the eleventh grade rather more,
and my father only went to the eighth grade. And
my mother only went to eleventh grade because they would
allow black people to go past eleventh grade in this
segregated town in South Carolina. But she did find a
way to go on to school, and we saw her

(41:57):
the nasty throughout our lives for education, and I think
that inspired us. My dad he would say, hey, look,
whatever you want to do, just be a just do
it well. If you're going to be a bomb, be
a good bomb. That was his advice.

Speaker 5 (42:13):
Do you remember when or was there a singular moment
when doctor Minair maybe came to you and said, Carl,
I have this dream of becoming an astronaut or I'm
going to apply for the NASA astronaut programs. Do you
remember that moment? Was there a moment like that?

Speaker 14 (42:28):
Well, there was a like that, and I'll tell you
about that moment, but I'll tell you how he got
to that point.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
Ron.

Speaker 14 (42:36):
I remember, Ron had finished his education at A and
T where he and I started at the same time.
That's North Carolina A and T and Greensboro, North Carolina.
And it was through A and T where he got
the opportunities to spend a summer at MIT and thereby
having a look at MIT. MI I T had to

(42:56):
look at him, and he knew the professors and that
made it I won't say easier, but sometimes when you've
made relationships and connections in your network, it makes it
a little easier. But it wasn't before he had some
self doubts early on while he was at a INC
whether he could compete, because he ran into these guys
who was in the physics program, and they came from

(43:19):
the WOWM up North. They had all of these great
math and science courses. In fact, they had physics, thermodynamics
and classical mechanics and modern physics, and Ron only had
a class of physics one oh one, taught by a
teacher who never saw a book of physics. So he
came in at a disadvantage, almost quit but to become

(43:40):
a music major. But his advisor what you could only
find We'd like to think that way, but usually at
HBCUs you'll find folks who will make certain that you
get what you need. She encouraged him to go try physics.
That was the confidence that he needed. He went on
and tried physics, and the rest is history.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
If you just to me, and I'm speaking with Carl McNair,
the older brother of the late doctor Ronald McNair who
perished aboard the Challenger, a Space Shuttle challenger. And Carl,
I think I remember, and I know you remember the
Space Shuttle program. It was after the Apollo missions. The mandate,
the direction of the space program was just different. What

(44:21):
was your brother's aspiration beyond the Space Shuttle program? Did
he want to go, maybe one day, back to the moon.
Where did he think his astronaut career would take him?

Speaker 14 (44:30):
Well, all along Ronald wanted to be a college professor.
But when the opportunity came to apply to NASA, he
knew there was a latent desire to become an astronaut.
But remember now, during the times of the Gemini and Apollo,
you had to be military, you had to be a
fighter pilot, you had to be twenty twenty visions. Didn't

(44:51):
You couldn't be black, okay, And of course he certainly
did just fit the requirement of being a fighter pulot
because he never looked playing, never was in the military.
So when the Space Shuttle program came around, this was
Nassa's opportunity to have a more diverse space program. So
you had women, you had other ethnicities like white, et cetera.

(45:14):
And that's when he took advantage of that. So that's
how he took advantage of it. And there was always
this late desire. As I said, I think Star Trek
that was a big plus for a lot of young
people to consider science degrees or work in the area
of science or stem if you will, and improve was

(45:35):
motivated product by one person more so than anyone else,
and that was Lieutenant Yuhura played by Mishall Nichols on
Star Trek. Let me tell you, folks will go back
that time will understand that was how halle Berry doing
those babies.

Speaker 5 (45:51):
Carl, Let me ask you this because I have to
ask you within the context of what's going on today.
The whole idea of DEI diversity, equity and inclusion is
controversial for lack of a better description, and it's been
met with a lot of resistance. But you're telling me,
if not for the public calls to diversify NASA, we
would not have heard about doctor Ronald McNair or his

(46:14):
ex voice or his contributions within NASA. Is that correct?

Speaker 14 (46:17):
Absolutely? And probably for women as well. They didn't have
any women and it was a new space program where
they had decided to diversify. I might add that what
was under the administration Jimmy Carter, President of Jimmy Carter's administration,
So that kind of kind of fits, doesn't it, And
so that's how that came about. It would be very
challenging today. I thought about this recently. Obviously, that would

(46:41):
being that I posted a picture of the Space Shuttle
Challenger of fifty one L crew, and I thought to myself,
wouldn't this have been possible today? Would have been possible?

Speaker 5 (46:53):
Since we're there, let's talk about it now directly. I
remember where I was when I got the news that
the Challenger Space Shuttle fifty one L had exploded shortly
after takeoff. Thirty nine years ago. I was a junior
in high school. I was walking in between Spanish and
ap English classes. I remember the cloud around the very
public investigation afterward. You know, all this is just like

(47:14):
seared in my memory. There have been plenty of documentaries
and movies over the years, And Karl McNair, I've known
you for some twenty years and I've never asked you,
but I'm asking you now. Have we, the general public,
or at least the families, gotten the full truth surrounding Challenger?

Speaker 14 (47:30):
Quite frankly, we have no real idea. We know the
SVIL reports, We've seen some documentaries and found out more,
but the answers.

Speaker 5 (47:40):
No, how do you look upon that some thirty nine
years later, Well.

Speaker 14 (47:45):
I'm very after, quite frankly, somebody said, whatever they tell me,
it's not going to bring ron back, not going to
bring any of the crew back. So I focus on
the positive. As you well know, we have Ronald McNair's
scholars program. We have over five thousand mcneir's scholars program,
McNair's scholars in the program right now we've seen folks

(48:08):
go on to do remarkable things in the areas of science, technology, engineering, math,
as well as other profession as well. You know, for instance,
Congresswoman Nakeima Williams from Georgia, she's a McNair scholar, and
there's others who have achieved great things who are mcnear's scholars.
And it had it not been for the program, as
I hear hear from a person as early as today,

(48:30):
and had not been for that program, they never would
have achieved the level of the success that they have.
And the whole high there is part of the going
to grad school ultimately to get a PhD or some
other doctoral degree and return and be that person in
front of the classroom that many of them found themselves
absent of. So that's the essence of the program.

Speaker 5 (48:53):
He is Carl McNair, founder of McNair Achievement Programs, author
and STEM education consultant. He, like me and doctor Ronald McNair,
are men of Omega PSI FI Fraternity Incorporated Crawl. McNair
I said it early. I'll stayed again. I've known you
for about twenty years. I've appreciated our dialogues off air
about your brother and your brother's achievements, and I want

(49:15):
to celebrate you and yours as well, and let's keep
Ronald McNair's memory alive.

Speaker 7 (49:20):
Thank you, brother Kelly for.

Speaker 5 (49:21):
The Black Information Network. I'm Moe Kelly.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Thanks Mo, and rest in power to the late Ronald McNair.
As we begin our Black History Month celebration, it's important
to honor our historically black colleges and universities. However, pbis
are making a difference in the lives of black students
every day. Doug Davis as more.

Speaker 13 (49:41):
Hey, thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis, and we are
continuing our conversation about the power of predominantly Black institutions
or pbis at a time when some of the nation's
one hundred and seven ahpcus have seen record application and
enrollment numbers and despite it overall decline in college enrollments,
pbis offer a crucial alternative for black students seeking a
supportive and empowering learning environment. See Scott is back with us.

(50:03):
She's the president of Chicago State University and happy Black
History Month. Could you explain the characteristics that define the
predominantly black institution versus an HPCU. What distinguishes them from
other types of colleges and universities.

Speaker 11 (50:17):
Well, first of all, our HBCU institutions were started prior
to nineteen sixty four, and most of our PBI institutions
were merely created based on housing patterns and gentrification and housing.
So if you look at what pbis are, they're about
sixty seven of them throughout the United States. They're a
creature of federal law. Going to give a nod and

(50:39):
a nod to Senator Barack Obama when he was in
the US Senate and he was one of the proponents
of legislation that really recognized the work of institutions called pbis.
In order to be a PBI under federal law, you
have to have at least forty percent black students on
your campus, and you have to have at least a
thousand undergraduates students, and at least fifty percent of those

(51:02):
students have to be low income or first generation degree seeking.
And then your capacity is to support those students who
are considered a fragile population is evaluated based on economics
by the Department of Education, and if you meet the criteria,
receive your certification letter and then become eligible for specific

(51:23):
grant funding from the Department of Education.

Speaker 13 (51:25):
Gotcha, absolutely are pbis? Is it a state funded institution
or are these private or house it class fight.

Speaker 11 (51:33):
Mostly state funded institutions. For example, in Illinois there are
six pbis. We're the only four year PBIS PBI institution.
The remainder are community colleges that are all supported by
public or state funding.

Speaker 13 (51:48):
Earlier this week, you spoke about some of the great
achievements with Chicago State University. I've never heard of Chicago
State University being such a powerful PBI. How do you
get the message out to people?

Speaker 11 (52:02):
Since I've been president of Chicago State the last six
and a half years, we've had a great relationship with
the Publicist Group and you may be familiar with puplises.
They they own company subsidiaries like Leo Burnett. They own
a company called Spark, they own our Worldwide. And these
are companies that are that are globally known for their

(52:22):
advertising and marketing work and PR work for some of
the nation's biggest companies. And what they've done is they
first recreated our brand identity. They came in for to
work with us for about a year and a half
pro bono and really got to know our campus and
got to know our campus community and stakeholders. Recreated a
new brand, a rallying cry that we now use on

(52:45):
our printed materials, you know, and that was marketed and
introduced to our community and introduced to our border trustees.
They then stuck with us and they said they're looking
at their you know, their workforce and said, look, we've
had an opportunity to get to know your students, and
we want to make sure our marketing resources and our

(53:08):
employee base looks like the people that we're selling too.
So they're now teaching two classes on our campus that
are being taught by you know, their executives. One is
on digital marketing and digital media and the other one
is being on PR that's being taught on our campus.
It's part of something called the Pencil Project. And both
of those courses, the Pencil Project is co taught by

(53:31):
faculty and the digital media is taught by one of
their employees. And through those programs, our students get internships
and then move from those internships into jobs. I couldn't
think of a better way to have a PR marketing
relationship with a company. And then one of our partners
called Win Trust, which is a bank in this region

(53:53):
of the country. You know, part of their support as
a partner is that they give us resources on billboards.
Now to your point about you know, it's not necessarily
crying out Chicago State, but that brand recognition of Chicago
State on a billboard that somebody else is paying for
good is a good deal for us. You know, these
relationships are consistent. But you know, to really blow yourself up,

(54:19):
you need a real you know, you need real resources
and real money to drive that interest and interest in participation.
I want to say something else to you, though. One
thing that we as people need to pay attention to
is what's going on with black people when it comes
to going to college. You know, the rate at which

(54:39):
black people are going to college in this state has
dropped thirty seven percent in the last ten years, and
that's a huge, huge deal. If you look nationally, the
rate at which black people are going to college has
dropped twenty three percent. Both of those numbers should signal
a crisis and a civil rights issue. Is as has
been said by mar morel from the National Urban League,

(55:03):
what is happening to to really interfere with access of
black people to college are to be looked at, and
we are looking at it. We study it. We have
a center on our campus that's doing academic research and
community based resource to really improve access, retention, and completion
of college for our students. But we cannot do this alone,

(55:25):
and we cannot do this without the support of the
sum of the people that you talked about. We've seen
our retention rates go up, we've seen our access to
college go up among our freshman students. But we can't
do it. But we can't do it alone. I mean,
Chicago State freshman year is free, no charge at Chicago
State University. Our tuition, fees, books, and access to technology

(55:50):
is free for our freshmenal. It's intentional. It's intended to
improve access on that fragile handoff from high school to
college for our institutions in the state and outside of
the state.

Speaker 13 (56:05):
Beautiful, are you a two year or four year?

Speaker 7 (56:08):
Four year?

Speaker 12 (56:08):
Four years?

Speaker 11 (56:09):
We're the only four year book PBI in the state.

Speaker 7 (56:12):
Wow.

Speaker 13 (56:12):
I mean that that that right? There is another level
of sensitivity. Let's talk DEI affirmative action, which the Harvard
case is, you know, pushing black people away from those
prestigious institutions is that hurting or helping pbis.

Speaker 11 (56:30):
I do think it's a benefit. I do think it's
a benefit for our students. And we talked to students
who transfer to Chicago State. Most are saying they went
to institutions where they didn't feel the learning environment was
inclusive or they didn't feel as if they were they belonged,
So you know, they so they they choose a different
experience for their for their college experience, like a Chicago

(56:55):
State where you can get an opportunity to be in
one of those top three percent for degrees in physics
or nursing or education. I mean, you can get a
quality academic experience that puts you into a job with
family sustaining wages. So that's where I think we have
and we offer opportunity for our students. Now you can

(57:18):
go to Harvard if you can get in. But you
saw that this past year they're entering class for the
law school went down when it came to black students.
And being a lawyer myself, I know that law is
the least diverse profession on this planet. Because as a
law firm partner, which is what I did prior to
come into Chicago State, I was you know less than

(57:41):
one percent of all lawyers partners in large law firms
in this country. Wow, less than one percent. So you know,
if you're less than one percent, you never see yourself.
So I think that what we have to think of
when we're thinking about choosing a college for your child.
You want not only for it to be a great

(58:01):
academic experience that make sure that your child transitions from
college to career, but you want them to also have
an experience where they feel that they belong. You know,
DEI because whatever you call it, whether you call it diversity,
equity inclusion, or you call it creating a sense of
belonging and giving people space to be who they are

(58:22):
and authentic and spaces where they are.

Speaker 5 (58:24):
That's great.

Speaker 13 (58:25):
Any final words comments, shoot the website and any other
information you'd like to share.

Speaker 11 (58:30):
Well, first of all, CSU dot edu we're here for you.
We have everything a student would need to access a
great job on completion of that degree. I would also
say that funders, when you're thinking about places where you're funding,
would make a difference to a student and their ability

(58:51):
to not only access a college education and college education,
but complete think about Chicago State University, we are a
great partner, and we are looking for willing partners to
engage with us.

Speaker 13 (59:03):
Z Scott, President of Chicago State University, a amazing PBI.
It's Black History Month. This is the Black Perspective. I'm
Doug Davis, I'm the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
Great stuff as always, Doug, thank you, 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 binnews dot com for all of the
latest news impacting the black community. Also, be sure to
follow us on social media at Black Information Network and
on blue sky at black infoone Net. I'm Mike Island.

(59:34):
Wishing everyone a great Sunday, and be sure to tune
in next week at this time for another edition of
The Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.