The Black Perspective: July 6, 2025

This week on The Black Perspective, we’re revisiting powerful conversations that continue to shape our community. Gracie Award-winning journalist Esther Dillard returns with A Shade Deeper—a special segment from her podcast The Color Between the Lines. This week, she sits down with acclaimed author Sharon G. Flake, whose groundbreaking novel on colorism left a lasting impact on the Black community more than two decades ago. We also revisit key interviews from across the network:

• Vanessa Tyler speaks with BIN President Tony Coles about the network’s five-year journey
• Morgyn Wood talks to Sheena Edwards about autism awareness
• Alexandria Ikomoni catches up with power couple Raashaun “DJ Envy” Casey and his wife Gia about family, love, and their new book
• And Mike Eiland shares his conversation with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency on new homebuying opportunities for residents across the state

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mark Morio here, President CEO of the National Urban League,
And on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland
at our national conference with Tony Coles, president of the
Black Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's
exactly what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic inequality,
health disparities, photo suppression, and this manly of our democratic institutions.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You must be a part of this conversation.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Join us in Cleveland, the Register, go to NUL conference.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Got on them.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
It's Sunday, July sixth On. On Today's show, Esther Dillard is
back with a Shade Deeper. It's a special segment from
our own Esther Dildart's podcast from The Color Between the Lines.
This week she talks with Sharon G. Flake, an author
who made a huge impact on the black community more
than twenty years ago with a book that examined colorism.
And we replay interviews from Vanessa Tyler and the president
of the Black Information Network, Tony Coles, Morgan Wood and

(00:49):
Sheena Edwards talking about autism. Alexandria Caamoni talks to Power Couple.
iHeartRadio's very own Rashaan DJ mvy Casey from the Breakfast
Club and his wife Jia, and my interview with the
Ohio Housing Finance Agency and what new home buying opportunities
they have for Ohio residents. These stories are more coming
your way on today's program. Welcome to the Black Perspective.

(01:10):
I'm your host, Mike Island.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
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 3 (01:20):
Good Sunday, everyone, and welcome to the Black Perspective. We
are marking five years here at the Black Information Network.
We came on the air at a time America was
in a fight for black lives and we've been covering
what's impacting the black community ever since. We replay the
Black Information Networks Vanessa Tyler's sit down with the president
of the Black Information That Worked, Tony Coles, to talk

(01:40):
about the network's beginning.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
Here.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hello, it is to find a big Boy. Thank you
for tuning into this important announcement.

Speaker 6 (01:47):
Hey what you all CJ MV What angela yee?

Speaker 7 (01:50):
Can I go by the name of Charlamagne God And
with the World's most Dangerous Morning to show the breakfast club.

Speaker 8 (01:54):
In today right now to the birth of a completely new.

Speaker 9 (01:57):
Network and with rock we were on the air on
BION stations nationwide.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
Hey y'allis Jumaya Steve Harvey and this is the launch
of the first and only all news audio network and
by the Black community.

Speaker 10 (02:12):
Well, history was made five years ago, a twenty four
to seven news network solely focused on reporting news impacting
the Black community. The president of the Black Information Network, Tonicoles.

Speaker 11 (02:25):
Welcome, Thank you.

Speaker 6 (02:28):
Buck.

Speaker 12 (02:31):
Timing is everything.

Speaker 10 (02:33):
The BI N launched at a time when racial policing
could not be ignored. I mean, we saw a black
man die right before our eyes, and I just wanted
to talk about how bi launched at that time but
was already in the works.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
Talk about that absolutely. You know, it was tragic what
happened to George Floyd. It's tragic what had happened to
so many Black Americans. But the nie of BION and
the launch of the Black Information Network started long before
that moment. We had had so many conversations over the

(03:09):
years about how we truly serve the black community. We
own radio stations in black communities throughout America, and when
we look at how as a company, we can provide
the best service to our listeners. News and information was
something that was missing, and we had had so many
conversations about the need for this, and as we saw

(03:30):
in our own research, the growing belief in the phrase
fake news, that was deeply concerning, and so in twenty nineteen,
we made a mission to build a network that served
the communities that we lived in, served the communities that
we were a part of for many, many years, and

(03:51):
at the foundation of that was going to be a
network based in truth, in fact based reporting, but more importantly,
having reporters, journalists and writers who reflect those cities, and
we're able to tell the stories of the day's news
from a black perspective.

Speaker 8 (04:09):
I'm Doug Davis, I'm Terry McCready, I'm Mike Island, I'm
Esther Dillon, I'm Kevin Brown.

Speaker 9 (04:15):
With more than a dozen top journalists located throughout the country,
delivering news impacting the black community with fact based reporting,
bi N is a news voice that stands apart and
lately standing alone.

Speaker 13 (04:29):
This is America's Black voice, a black information network.

Speaker 10 (04:34):
When we launched, there were also a lot of black
voices on larger national platforms than there are now, and
I'm just thinking about don lemon joy read even Lester
is gone from the national news platform, and I'm just wondering,
you know, whether that makes our role I would think
much more important at this point, because here we are

(04:57):
with the national platform in a national voice.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
It's a really good point and a great question.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
You know.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
I am really proud of the collection of black journalists
who call bi home. And as you mentioned, there are
so many incredibly talented and powerful black journalists who are
no longer a part of traditional forms of media, and
they're certainly doing amazing work in new platforms and new venues.

(05:27):
But when it comes to one home dedicated to black
journalism in America, we stand alone.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
At this point.

Speaker 10 (05:35):
You travel a lot. I'm just wondering the feedback you're
getting from people who listen to the network. What's been
the worried out there on the streets.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
The feedback has been very, very positive and very powerful
from day one. Something that we've done over the past
five years to your point, is getting out into the
communities and making sure that the reporting on BI in
and the work that we do is not limited to
what it's like to be black in Atlanta. Or what
it's like to be black in New York City, but

(06:07):
really going into so many of the communities that we serve.
Our vision from the beginning was to not only be
in cities with the largest Black populations in America, but
some of the smaller cities that have the highest concentration
of African Americans, making sure that not only are we serving,
but our news content reflects those communities. And I think

(06:31):
that that's part of the great feedback that we've gotten
is the fact that you can listen to BION and
not only hear about what's happening in Washington and how
that impacts Black America, but also telling the stories of
a black farmer in the rural South.

Speaker 7 (06:46):
I'm Alexandria Ikamoni on your Home for twenty four to
seven News Nationals b in ninety seven point five.

Speaker 9 (06:52):
I'm Amber Payton on your Home for twenty four to
seven News, Norfolk's b I in one o five point three.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
I'm Mike Island on your Home for twenty four seven
news is BI in the Black Information Network.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
We've always been rooted, as I said, in telling the
untold stories of our community. But what has been most
exciting to me and what I see evolving and will
continue to is is the depth of our reporting, again
being very intentional of telling the stories of black life
and how it looks in various parts of the country

(07:25):
and seeing that grow and develop. The partnerships and the
collaborations that we've made so that we're uncovering new aspects,
new stories, new perspectives every day, and that has really
changed and evolved, and I'm excited about the growth that
we've had in those areas.

Speaker 10 (07:42):
What is a future for the network? What do you
see some of the big things that are happening.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
Really continuing to scale what we've done over the past
five years. I think that when you look at the
level of talent that we have as a part of
this network today.

Speaker 12 (07:59):
We started out with some incredible journalists.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
We've continued to grow that, but really making sure that
we're making our content available wherever people are consuming news
about Black America. Looking at continuing our platform growth, the
markets that we serve, the way that we are delivering news,
whether it's through our network, which was the foundation, things

(08:24):
like providing news content now for the Breakfast Club, working
with black owned newspapers throughout America, and sharing Bion stories
there really just continuing to grow and scale and making
sure that wherever someone is in this country they have
access to BI news.

Speaker 9 (08:43):
Tony Cole's, president of the Black Information Network, says, the
future also holds collaborations.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
We are incredibly excited about the collaboration that we now
have with the Obama Foundation, and this is something that
we've worked on for quite some time, and we want
to do more of these kind of collaborations, specifically as
it pertains to the Obama Foundation and the Obama Presidential
Center which is opening in twenty twenty.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Six in Chicago.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
We are always looking for what are those stories about
work that is being done in the black community to
help build the next generation of leaders, not just political leaders,
but community leaders, activists, people who are having an impact
in the Black community. And when you look at organizations,

(09:31):
and there are a lot of great organizations doing this
work every day, but the Obama Foundation is doing some
of the most advanced work, some of the most aggressive work.
And really it goes beyond the building of the Presidential Center,
which is going to be incredible. I just can't even
tell you how excited I am to see the work

(09:52):
that they are doing. But the active engagement in communities
throughout America, in building and deva great black leaders, great
leaders in general, but especially great Black leaders, and being
able to collaborate with them to bring those stories to
light is something that we're really proud of.

Speaker 10 (10:12):
And it certainly gives us a lot more material to
tell those stories. Tony Coles, thank you so much for
stopping by and giving us a chat, and thank you
for your vision for our network.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
Thank you, and thank you for being such an important
part of it, right from.

Speaker 9 (10:26):
The beginning with a twenty four to seven news cycle
that never stops. I'm Vanessa Tyler on the Black Information Network,
your home for black news first with a Black perspective.
Mike back to you.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Thanks Vanessa and Tony, and continue to listen to the
Black Information Network for your number one source of black news.
Now it's time for this week's a Shade Deeper. It's
a special segment from our own Esther Dillar's podcast from
the Color Between the Lines. This week she talks with
Sharon G. Flake, an author who made a huge impact
on the black community more than twenty years ago with
the book that examined colorism, and now she's with a

(11:00):
new book that is just as impactful.

Speaker 12 (11:07):
On this edition of The Color Between the Lines.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
The messages, the messages that fourth hour community class.

Speaker 6 (11:15):
It's almost not listening.

Speaker 8 (11:17):
I'm speaking with Grizel Howard and she's giving a wake
up call about the impact of HIV and AIDS in
the Black community. Hey, it's Esther Dillard with the Color
Between the Lines, where I speak with authors, writers, producers,
and thought leaders who have a black and brown perspective.
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, I'm
speaking with a woman by the name.

Speaker 12 (11:34):
Of Brazil Howard.

Speaker 8 (11:35):
She's the board chair of the Black Aids Institute, and
she hasn't written a book, but she sure could with
all the knowledge she dropped on me in our last conversation.
She wants to raise awareness about the impact of HIV
and AIDS on the Black community and how they are
new tools out there that not only impact homosexual Black men,
but really impact heterosexual Black women.

Speaker 5 (11:58):
That HIV is not a gay disease, That HIV specifically
in the Black community, impacts and affects all of us,
because if one community member has HIV, then we are
all impacted. And that HIV is a preventable virus that

(12:18):
currently is disproportionately impacting the Black community. And can we
define black maybe sure, black community is obviously African Americans,
but it is also our immigrant brothers and sisters who
hail from Cara combinations, the West Indies as well as Africa,
so that is the diaspora to the continent.

Speaker 6 (12:39):
If you identify as Black or as an African.

Speaker 5 (12:42):
Descendant, you should be articulate and understanding the facts of
HIV and the myths of HIV. And today we have
an opportunity to bend the tide of HIV in all
our Black communities.

Speaker 8 (12:59):
The CDC reports that black heteral sexual women account for
about fifty percent of the new HIV diagnosed diagnosis among women.
What factors have you found in the research that contribute
to this disproportionate impact and what is BIA doing, I
should say BAI doing to address this alarming statistic.

Speaker 5 (13:21):
The Black Aids Institute has a long history seat in
communicating with Black women. Were the first HIV AIDS organization
in the country to assemble a conference exclusively for Black
women about Black women.

Speaker 6 (13:36):
And if you allow the timeline.

Speaker 5 (13:37):
To go back to forty years when HIV frightened the
world frightened science and specifically ravaged the homosexual gay community.
The messages were messages that force our community, black women
so almost not listen why they said it was a

(13:58):
gay disease.

Speaker 6 (13:59):
We received the messages that HIV.

Speaker 14 (14:05):
Was not about us and for us, and like usually
went to a time and Oprah Winfrey and others finally
gloved on that this was an epidemic. And unfortunately, rather
than that episode being impactful and informative for the entire community,
it took a salacious spire and that solation's bend was

(14:26):
when UPPERH. Winfrey ushered in Jlking rather than actually the
founder of the Black Aids Institute, because he was on
the stage as well, and that would have been the
opportune time to say, Black people, we all need to
be in this together. HIV is contracted through sex, IVY,
drug use, and bodily fluids. That means it can attack

(14:47):
or attract anyone fair it can you know anyone.

Speaker 6 (14:51):
Is susceptible that engages in hy risk behavior. Let me
say it like.

Speaker 12 (14:53):
That two IVY drug use.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
IVY drug use is a way you can contract them
virus exchange of bodily fluids.

Speaker 12 (15:03):
Very simple, right.

Speaker 5 (15:05):
However, if you don't know that the myths become true
and rapidly spread faster than the facts. So then you
had fear, Oh you can't drink water in my house,
Oh you can't use my bathroom. Oh I can't hug
or kiss you. Oh we can't bury our loved ones.
That still occurs in some countries. So with all of
that said, the first messages about HIV went against our culture,

(15:31):
and now here we are forty years later, still battling myth, shame, stigma,
which is also a.

Speaker 6 (15:40):
Word that's not really ours.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
We really don't use the word stigma in our community
because we're all stigmatized because we can't underzip our black skin.

Speaker 6 (15:49):
But let's speak about words we know, shame, fear.

Speaker 8 (15:54):
I'm going to ask there is you know, really be
concern now because your organization deals with black women and
deals with black people and AIDS, and now we have
an administration which does not want to give funding to
organizations that deal with quote air quotes DEI, how are

(16:15):
you going to be able to, I guess, ride this
tide and still help your community when you have individuals
who are basically trying to cut off funding in many ways, So.

Speaker 5 (16:28):
This is the double edged sword, and we must speak
truth at all times. The Black Aids Institute is uniquely
and unapologetically black, addressing HIV in all fear and segments
of the Black community and in the current construct, HIV

(16:48):
is not gay. The administration is targeting and focused on
LGBTQ queer and other organizations and nonprofits that focus on
the LGBTQ plus community.

Speaker 12 (17:03):
In the state of HIV.

Speaker 5 (17:05):
We are speaking about health and wellness and that is
an entitlement of every citizen of these yet United States.
And I will give you this tidbit because it's factual.
Earlier I referenced that the Black Aids Institute held the
first Black women's conference on HIV. The title of that
conference was called Sisters Get Real About HIV.

Speaker 6 (17:26):
It was a national conference.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
Supported by public and private organizations. One of our earliest
funders was mister Donald Trump known as today President Donald Trump.
My name is Griselle Howard, and I must inform you
that mister Donald Trump, native New YORKA, was one of
our earliest sponsors. Oh the Sisters Get Real About HIV innates.

(17:52):
This national campaign was a billboard campaign. It was also
a Black women's organization campaign representation from every traditional HIV
you know, every traditional black women's organization and augmented by
HIV organizations, and those doing the HIV work most successfully
at that time happened to be Black Muslims. So we

(18:14):
also had middle school students supported by actually movie stars,
and so Hollywood showed up as well as daytime TV
because many people were impacted, so people who were passionate
about social work, people who are passionate about force to care.

Speaker 6 (18:34):
So we were.

Speaker 5 (18:34):
Trying to bring in the full nucleus that where black
women showed up to give the message. Middle school students
came from Los Angeles County, high school students came from
Los Angeles County, and the women representation came from around
the country as young as eighteen to ninety.

Speaker 6 (18:49):
And in that meeting, we thought we were addressing all
the fears of.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
Black America, that we as black women could go back
in our community and say, hey, this is not just
about gay people.

Speaker 6 (18:59):
Hey, the people that contract the virus aren't bad people.

Speaker 8 (19:02):
What do you say is the biggest challenges that black
women face and accessing HIV prevention, testing and treatment. How
can community leaders help address those barriers?

Speaker 6 (19:12):
We can level.

Speaker 5 (19:12):
Set and demand that the messenger matters. Once you want
to agree that the messenger batters, then you must have
some cultural fluency. Black people are not low. Wolves were
like grapes, and so have you ever seen one grape
one of plate that you want to grab it? It
looks appealing. So you must allow us to come together

(19:35):
as black people and then allow us to go into
our self selected dialogues. What do you mean, Mizelle Allan,
Allow young black men who have sex with men to
have a conversation, Allow women over the age of fifty
to have a conversation, Allow big pop over fifty five
to have a conversation. Why Because when HIV represented itself

(19:59):
or presented its so, there was no performance enhancing drugs.

Speaker 6 (20:03):
No viagara, no saalis.

Speaker 5 (20:06):
We did not have the super highway in a way
that you had ticket top social media, So pornography has played.

Speaker 6 (20:11):
An interesting role for the youngs.

Speaker 5 (20:13):
And then lastly, we did not have this open acceptance
of group sex and partying and free love. So we
first must refresh our hard drives with an HIV and say,
black people, what you heard forty years ago is not
true today. Why because we have biomedical interventions, we have
medical technology, that allows for people to love who they want,

(20:36):
when they want safely. And we also allow people who
have been impacted by HIV living with HIV to live long,
thriving lives, so it's no longer a death sentence.

Speaker 12 (20:46):
We need hip hop to come back.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
We need hip hop to come back hard and bring
the messages that they brought fifty years ago.

Speaker 12 (20:55):
Thirty years ago.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
Come on, everybody was rapping about it, everybody was sicking
about it.

Speaker 12 (21:00):
Today.

Speaker 6 (21:01):
Mom's the word. In fact, it's reverse. If you look
at Love and.

Speaker 5 (21:03):
Hip hop and the Housewives, they could be our biggest
partner and just show all the love and lust and
lavish and lux and oopa lups. Now safely, let's talk
about it again. Let's talk about the spis. Here's the
fact that I'd like you to think about crap. The
pre perphylactic that if you are HIV negative and you

(21:26):
choose to engage in high risk activities, you can take
this one pill a day and love safely.

Speaker 6 (21:33):
The cautionary tale to that is is that you.

Speaker 5 (21:36):
Still are not protected from other sexually transmitted viruses that
are ravishing the community, that have shown up post COVID
to really be resistant to drugs.

Speaker 8 (21:47):
If you'd like to hear the rest of that conversation,
you can head over to the Color Between the Lines
podcast on iHeartRadio or YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 12 (21:55):
I'm Ester Dillard.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Thanks Ester Dillard. Now we come momentary from Moe Kelly.

Speaker 15 (22:01):
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.

Speaker 16 (22:11):
I'm Mo Kelly on the BI in with your two
minute one and there you have it. Sean Ditty Combs
was delivered a mixed verdict, but notably not convicted on
the most serious charges. Specifically found not guilty on one
count of racketeering conspiracy, not guilty on two counts of
six trafficking by force, fraud or corersion, but guilty on

(22:35):
two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The prostitution
transportation charge carries as much as ten years in prison
per count. Federal prosecutors said they would seek the maximum
of twenty years without a doubt. It's a mixed bag
given the status of Ditty, the high profile nature of
the seven week trial, and the exhaustive media coverage, it
would make sense if it feels a bit incomplete or empty.

(22:55):
You knew where I stood. I set out right that
Ditty wasn't done, and I openly questioned whether the prosecution
had met its high burden, especially with the most serious charges. Well,
here we are not full vindication for Diddy, but not
the end of his life presumably either. My concern, given
the somewhat lackluster verdict, is whether this deters women and
men for that matter, with similar stories from coming forward.

(23:16):
The weight of the federal government came down on the
head of Ditty, and yet he will emerge more unscathed
than not. Don't get me wrong. The prosecution seeking twenty
years is nothing to scoff at, But the likelihood is
that they won't get that, which would make the overall
effort fall short of the ultimate result which came out
of it. And then there's the prospect that President Trump
could pardon Ditty outright and Diddy would not see another

(23:37):
day in prison. Trump and Didny Do have a rapport,
and Trump has shown a pensiant for pardoning hip hop figures.
But another way, this trial could still end up meaning
absolutely nothing. I'm mo Kelly at mister mo Kelly on
social media and at your two Minute Warning on the
Black Information Network.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Thanks Moe, and make sure you listen to the Black
Information networked daily for more commentary from mo Kelly. James T.
Harris and Roland S. Martin, a well known power couple,
continues to help other parents navigate raising children today and
share tips on how families can thrive. iHeartRadio's very own
DJ MVY from the Breakfast Club and his wife Gia Casey.
They share it all with Black Information Network news anchor

(24:14):
Alexandria Kamoni.

Speaker 7 (24:15):
One some guys is a girl Alexandria Kamoni in the
studio with Gia Casey Lo and we have envy.

Speaker 12 (24:21):
Yes, how are you doing today? Guys? Well, how are
you doing well?

Speaker 7 (24:25):
So happy to have you guys in the studio webbing. Yes,
absolutely got you in the ad from Jersey, New York.
How did you go to be in Atlanta right now?

Speaker 12 (24:32):
Tot as it should be tod it's hot? Why do
you want a forty degrees all year round?

Speaker 11 (24:37):
It's not that cold in New York. It's like seventy
degrees in New York right now.

Speaker 17 (24:40):
I think it's like seventy seven.

Speaker 12 (24:41):
Here now it feels like you know, it feels humid.
It's a little bit more human.

Speaker 17 (24:46):
I get it.

Speaker 12 (24:47):
Yeah, I get it.

Speaker 7 (24:47):
But also, what's hot is this next book that you
guys have coming out focused on parenting. Tell me more
about the book and what people reading it can really
get and expect from it.

Speaker 11 (24:56):
You can start now.

Speaker 12 (24:57):
I've got to pull the book out there. Yeah, so
it's cool.

Speaker 18 (25:00):
Real Life, Real Family, A Guide to Raising Empowered Children.
Love it, and we chose the subtitle a guide to
Raising Empowered Children because we really want to stress the
importance of raising kids with a very strong self identity,
because when you have children with a strong self identity,
then you're not leaving it up to others, people in
their orbit, people in school, people that they encounter to

(25:21):
tell them who they are or who they should be.
When they feel as though they belong. Because they come
from a family unit that instills that in them, they're
able to go out and radiate that energy and basically
to help people and show up as who they authentically are.
And that's the beginning of raising an empowered child.

Speaker 15 (25:38):
I love it.

Speaker 13 (25:39):
Anything to add to that, I mean, I think craising
empowered child. I think the main thing is I always
say is time and patience. And the reason I say
that is kids don't care about a lot of times
what you have, what you drive, how big your house is,
what you can provide for them. They care about time.
And one thing which I learned a lot from Gia

(25:59):
is being patient. So we have six kids, so Gia
will sit on the bed with the kids, on the
bed with them and sit there and actually listen when
the kids are talking about their day. You know, hey, mom,
today I had decorated my locker and this, that and
the other, and where most of the time where I
would be like, oh yeah, yea, yeah right, but the
Nickson on, let me call you right back. Like Gea
is engaged. Kids feel they feel special, they feel they're

(26:22):
giving them attention. So doing those type of things are
the way to have children that are empowered, that feel themselves,
that feel great. You know, we always talk about one
of the biggest things that everybody want is attention. Right,
everybody wants attention. If you go out to eat with
your friends, somebody wants attention. They want to talk to you,
how is your day. They don't want you on your
phone and when you give those kids attention, they don't

(26:42):
look for a validation anywhere else. They don't look for
an outside on social media. They don't look it for
it for their friends. They get it at home and
they don't need it anywhere else.

Speaker 7 (26:50):
And we're talking about that getting it outside though social
media plays a big role. I hate to say in
like the upbringing in a sense is nowadays, what advice
do you have for parents, especially in regards to the
focus of this book, to really break through that barrier
of social media and getting through to your kids.

Speaker 13 (27:07):
Well, I'll start. We teach our kids to use social
media as a tool, right, meaning you use social media,
don't let social media use you. So the first thing is,
like I said, to validation, make sure that your kids
feel validated and safe at home. So you know, social
media is a negative place, right. It's people that's attacking people.
They're going to try to put you down, or it
could be something that you might have done. And we

(27:28):
talk about it all the time. If if you got into
a fight, and when you were in high school or
when you're in elementary school, on Monday Tuesday is gone
with social media now it lives on forever so if
you got your butt.

Speaker 11 (27:39):
That's going to be online.

Speaker 13 (27:43):
So, you know, we teach our kids that don't worry
about social media. You're validated at home. What does your
mom think, what does your siblings think, So they don't
look for that outside validation, and use social media for
what it's used for.

Speaker 11 (27:54):
If you're doing.

Speaker 13 (27:55):
Something to find Like my daughter's dance, they compete in dance,
so sometimes they follow dances to see other dance moves
to see what they can do. While the son plays football,
he goes on social media to see different training routines
that he can do that's different outside of him. I
go to hear music, I go to hear the see
funny things. You know, we just purchase two dogs. I
go to talk see how people raise their dogs. So

(28:15):
use social media as a tool. Don't let social media usual.

Speaker 15 (28:17):
Absolutely.

Speaker 18 (28:18):
Also, I want to add to that, we teach our
kids a lot. We extract lessons out of everything. And
because we have such an open dialogue and our entire
existence within the house is based on communication, our kids
trust us. So when I tell them something or I
warn them about something, it's not in the sense of
here's this warning. It's in the sense of a communication,

(28:41):
a conversation that we're having. I teach them about social media,
so they understand terms like brain rot. They understand how
social media affects the brain, and why it stimulates certain
parts of the brain, and why they may feel addicted,
and when to kind of wean off. They're also limited.
They're also limited. They're only allowed about four five minutes
on their phone a day, which is also easy to

(29:03):
manage because they have so much extracurricular activities. And that's
something that a lot of parents really should think about.
When your child comes home from school and they're at
home at three o'clock and they don't go to bed
until nine thirty ten o'clock. If they're like a middle
school age child, what are they doing that entire time?
They have to entertain themselves somehow. When we were kids,

(29:23):
we probably watched TV or we were on the phone
with our friends. You schedule a little time to do
your homework, but the rest you're just kind of, you know,
entertaining yourselves. Now they have so much technology, so many
devices that are providing all types of entertainment, and it's endless.
It becomes so addictive. So to kind of ward that
off we give them a lot of extracurricular activities. So

(29:44):
now they're out there, they're actually interacting with other human
beings so that they're not tainted, their view of relationships
and communication isn't tainted and regulated to a device, and
it only leaves a small portion of time during the
day for them to spend on their devices. And then,
like I said, I educate them like you're addicted because

(30:04):
of this reason. Because even with our twenty three year old,
with a little bit that she's on social media, it's
already affected her attention span. Now she has to watch
everything on ten time speed because she's not consuming the
information and the entertainment fast enough. And that's a scientific
thing that's happening within our brains. So even with our
eight year old, we explain that to her, so they're like,

(30:24):
oh wait, I don't want I don't want my brain
to write, so I'm going to turn this thing off, which.

Speaker 17 (30:28):
I think is very smart. And I love the approach
that you guys have.

Speaker 7 (30:30):
I never thought about, you know, forty five minutes a
day limiting to that for killing it really does make
a difference. Yes, And if you guys go put into
words one parenting advice each that you really want to
instill in other parents.

Speaker 12 (30:41):
What would that be for me?

Speaker 18 (30:44):
It would be attention, but true attention, not where your
child sits down and as Rashan said earlier tells you
about their day and you listen and then they're dismissed.
It's about actively listening, actively participate, painting in the stories
and the conversations that they approach you with. Because attention

(31:05):
is probably the world's biggest drug. That's what we all crave.
When you pay attention to someone, when you really listen,
when you lean in and you give them verbal cues,
non verbal cues, and they know that they're important to you.
They feel that that's how they feel loved, that's how
they feel important. So raising kids that feel important and
feel as though when they speak they're worthy of being heard.

(31:28):
Kids that feel as though what's going on in their
mind going on in their mind is actually worthy of
someone listening to, and the things that they want to
communicate being valid. That feeds their souls. And those are
the kids that are going to go out into the
world and feel as though they can be an entrepreneur,

(31:49):
that they can raise funds to start a business that
they can be a doctor, that they can own a
slew of nail salons or whatever it is that they
want to do. They'll have the confidence to go out
and try to tackle that because they're not waiting for
someone else to tell them who they are or what
their limitations are.

Speaker 13 (32:04):
Absolutely me, I think time, Yeah, I think time is
the most important thing. And if you have multiple children,
giving each child their own time, like me and my daughter, Like,
what's one thing that me and Maddie did together?

Speaker 12 (32:16):
Oh, they grew grocery shopping together every sudday.

Speaker 11 (32:18):
That's how I think.

Speaker 13 (32:21):
We wake up at six o'clock in the morning and
she goes grocery shoping. Now she has her own home
and her own life, but it's just one thing that she.

Speaker 11 (32:27):
Does with dad.

Speaker 13 (32:27):
And the other day I went grocery shopping. It was
like a Wednesday, and we're all on the Life three
sixty app. Right, So the Life three sixty app. Every
one of my kids is on there, so they know
where we're at.

Speaker 11 (32:36):
I know where they am.

Speaker 13 (32:37):
A yeah, And she called me. She was like, Dad,
you at the grocery store. I'm like, yeah, she goes,
you're by yourself. Yeah, she was like why didn't you
call me? I was like you at work? She was like,
I'm on my way and she met me there and
grocery shopping.

Speaker 11 (32:49):
We also cooked with each other.

Speaker 13 (32:50):
So there's certain days that Gea cooks and she's caribbing,
so she cooks her oxtail us acting soffish and all
that other stuff. But there's other times with me and
my daughter, we cooked together and we clean together. That's
where we have those conversations about life and her boyfriend
and whatever it is. And my other son, you know,
he likes to ride bike and play soccer. I know
nothing about soccer nothing. I was basketball, football, baseball, so
I had to learn soccer, what a striker is, what

(33:12):
this one is, what does offside mean?

Speaker 11 (33:14):
And he teaches me and we have our own time.

Speaker 13 (33:16):
My other daughters is dance I and I'm one of
those days dads that first of all.

Speaker 12 (33:21):
He's a dance sad for real love that.

Speaker 11 (33:22):
It's not like Fats that's out there. There's definitely not
too many black fathers out there.

Speaker 13 (33:26):
But I know my kids drew teens and what they do,
and I'm able to tell him, now, you need to
do this more, and.

Speaker 18 (33:31):
They just competed the other day and I said, okay.
After London was finished with her solo, I was like,
what did you think he was like in the beginning,
she didn't lift her knees the way that she usually
lifts her knees. I said, I didn't notice that. He's like,
I love that part and she didn't do it, so
I noticed, So he yes, he does know their chance.

Speaker 12 (33:47):
Yeah, yeah, so.

Speaker 13 (33:48):
You know, we all we give each one of our
children time where they can just have they could just
express you know, they might be mad. You know, it's
times when the kids have been mad at me, they
talked to mom and then Mom puts back and be like,
well they didn't like this.

Speaker 11 (33:58):
At the same time, same thing with me with meet
with her. But we just give each our kids the
time that they need.

Speaker 17 (34:03):
Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (34:03):
I think time and that attention are really too strong
important things that they need to have.

Speaker 11 (34:07):
Absolutely.

Speaker 17 (34:08):
And speaking of time, let's talk to the parents for
a second.

Speaker 7 (34:10):
Now with kids, and now we know six kids here,
how do you guys really make time for yourselves as
a couple managing not just obviously the kids, but you
guys have other business en deffers and other shows and whatnot.

Speaker 17 (34:22):
So how do you guys manage that? What's the balance?

Speaker 11 (34:24):
Like you want to rate it all?

Speaker 12 (34:24):
Version of the PG version, I mean tell me.

Speaker 17 (34:26):
I mean you were for iHeart, so you know a
version we need.

Speaker 13 (34:29):
So like we tell everybody that, you know, we try
to get the time when we can. So for instance,
we tell you that our daughters compete, so when they compete.

Speaker 11 (34:38):
They also have classes.

Speaker 13 (34:39):
So we'll be at a hotel and downstairs is the
ballroom and they'll be down there for an hour and
we have to you know, come back in an hour.

Speaker 11 (34:46):
We want upstairs at the hotel. We'll get it in
right fast.

Speaker 12 (34:49):
Kids do nothing.

Speaker 13 (34:49):
Yeah, you know there's times like when you know, we're
out here in Atlanta, our kids at home. We'll go out
tonight for date night and we'll you know, watch the
game together and do things like that. We try to
get as much time as we can poss together and
we make time for each other. Like we will say,
you know what, let's see if Madison, which is our oldest,
can watch the kids this day and let's go just
go to the movies, let's do let's go get let's
go to the restaurant, let's drive around or if I

(35:12):
have to make a run somewhere, she'd be like, a
baby'll come with you in that conversation that we're driving
might be a thirty forty minute drive, and that thirty
forty minute back.

Speaker 11 (35:18):
We make time for each other.

Speaker 17 (35:20):
Yeah, absolutely, are you agreeing?

Speaker 18 (35:22):
Yes, But it's also appreciating what it is that is
in a way holding us apart. So with our kids
and all of their activities. It's a blessing to have
all of these kids and for them to have found
things that they love, that they're successful at, that they've
put the time into, and you get to see the
fruits of their labor start to blossom. And you know,

(35:44):
whether it's a soccer championship or a basketball championship, or
like you said, a dance competition, that brings a certain
amount of joy, which is why as a dad, and
it really is strange that he goes to every single
competition and he schedules all of his work around it.
So we're only here until tomorrow because on Thursday we
have a dance competition that we have to get back to.

(36:07):
So like, yeah, we're promoting our book and everything, but
our kids come first, you know, So respecting that it
gives you a different perspective. I know that you know,
we'd love to spend more time together, but respecting that
and loving that and finding the joy in that. It
doesn't substitute for the time that we don't get to
spend together. But that's something that we get to sit

(36:28):
back in our private time and be like, wow, that's
so amazing, or how we talk about how happy it
makes us. So I guess what I'm saying is that
it's worth it. Yes, absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 7 (36:37):
I mean, you guys have still the test of time
been together for so long, so people really do see
you know, it really does make a difference when you
have those factors included. Now, gee, I want to talk
to you really quickly as a mom, super mom, that's
super woman here. How are you, like what I guess
advice or if you want to share your own personal
story for moms who are present moms, active moms, present wives,

(36:57):
active wives, and have other things that they want to
do for themselves or their goals and career wise and whatnot,
how do you really balance and make it all work?
And what can you tell other people who want the
same things like you. I think that ultimately it's about mindset,
and some people may challenge me or disagree, but I

(37:17):
think that we get to dictate our own happiness even
when life sucks. And life has definitely sucked for us
at times. You know, everything isn't sunshine and rainbows. But
I'm definitely a glass half full type of individual, and
I'm going to choose to be happy regardless of what
it is that I'm going through. So if you have

(37:38):
all of these things going on, and as wives, as mothers,
we are heavily burdened because we have to be responsible
for ourselves, our health, our upkeep. We like to look
good because that helps us to feel good. And when
you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,
all these responsibilities, all these people that are expecting things

(38:00):
from you. You may have a husband or a wife
or a partner that you have responsibilities to them. You
may have one, two, three, or more children. You have
to get up. You have to make them breakfast, you
have to make them lunch, you have to bathe them.
You got to get them to school. Up.

Speaker 12 (38:13):
Did they brush your teeth? You got to make sure
they brush your teeth. They get to school.

Speaker 18 (38:17):
You have to take that little bit of time which
feels as though it's only an hour and a half. Meanwhile,
it may be several hours before you have to go
pick them up from school or meet them at the
bus stop, or wait for them to come home. If
they're a lastly kids, then you got to feed them,
get them off to their extracurricular activities, and at some
point during there, you have to really worry about what
it is about that you want in life and make

(38:38):
sure that you find your own happiness, because it's so
easy to get caught up in the happiness of all
of the people around you that you love and neglect
yourself because as women, that's what we do, because we're nurturers.
And a lot of women get lost in that and
they get overwhelmed with that, and a lot of women
become depressed and they become sad, and they let themselves

(38:59):
go because they you really do have an excuse to
let yourself go. So what I would say to those
women is to start by having a schedule with six kids.
And just because I have two grown kids doesn't mean
that they don't require a lot of my time. I
speak to my twenty year old, my twenty one year
old son who goes to University of Miami about five
times a day, maybe six times a day. My oldest daughter,

(39:22):
I speak to her just about the same. I see
her often, and I'm always talking to them about what's
going on in their lives. And then I have an
eleven year old girl, an eight year old girl, a
ten year old son, and a three year old girl.
And I'm speaking from a plethora of experience. I do
need time for myself. Oh and my husband's relatively demanding.

(39:43):
I get up at about five o'clock in the morning,
and I do that so that I can have an
hour to myself where I can take my shower, I
can do my skin care, I can put on maybe
a little bit of makeup. I can part my hair
down the middle and make sure it's slip back behind
my ears, throw on like a nice little comfy something
to get my day started. A lot of women like
even getting dressed is a stressful thing because they don't

(40:04):
have outfits that are coordinated. They don't have things that
are set up to make their lives easy. So when
you simplify your life and you're not spending money on
tons of things that you don't know whether you're going
to wear these things and whatnot. You say, I'm going
to spend money on things that are coordinated essentials. I'm
going to put together outfits in the beginning of the week,
maybe on a Sunday, so on Tuesday morning, that's something

(40:25):
I don't have to wake up and think about. You
take your shower, you get yourself together, you pick out
an outfit. You do everything in like a scheduled, routine
type of way. That takes off some of the stress
and some of the burden. When you're organized and you
have a clean house and you dedicate time to take
care of those responsibilities, it makes things a little bit easier,
but you have to spend time on yourself, and there
are times that you just have to shut down the

(40:47):
needs of others and concentrate on yourself.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
Thanks Alexandria Djmvy and Ga Casey. Real Life, Real Love,
a Guide to Raising Empowered Children is available wherever you
get your books and audio books. Was Autism Awareness Moth.
The CDC reports one in thirty six children are diagnosed
before the age of eight, with black and brown children
impacted at disparaging rates compared to white children. The Black

(41:10):
Information That Works Morgan Wood spoke with Sheena Edwards of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She is an autism advocate, the author of Along Came
Autism and a Mom to a Child on the Spectrum.
Edwards aims to raise awareness about the importance of fair
treatment and equal rights for people living with autism.

Speaker 15 (41:26):
Joining me on the Black Information Network is Sheena Edwards
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is an autism advocate the author
of Along Came Autism and a Mother to a Child
on the Spectrum. She aims to raise awareness about the
importance of fair treatment and equal rights for people living
with autism.

Speaker 12 (41:44):
Thanks for speaking with me today.

Speaker 6 (41:46):
Hi, how are you?

Speaker 15 (41:47):
I'm doing well for me of course. So your book,
Along Came Autism shares a personal journey. What inspired you
to write that book and what message do you hope
your readers take away from it?

Speaker 6 (41:58):
Well.

Speaker 19 (41:58):
I wrote Along Came Autism during the first two hundred
weeks of my daughter's diagnosis.

Speaker 6 (42:03):
Basically I wrote it in real time.

Speaker 19 (42:06):
What inspired me was just the lack of support I
had in the moment. I felt like I didn't know
anybody with children with autism at the time. I didn't
have anybody to relate to, so it was kind of
like therapeutic one. I needed to release those emotions and
I really just wanted to tell our story because I
felt so alone and I felt like it was something
that needed to be shared more so like with the world,

(42:28):
with the community, especially in the black community. I felt
like we were more so ignorant to what autism was,
how it affects the family, and because she's a girl
is not really it wasn't really as prevalent in girls.

Speaker 6 (42:40):
And the way it presented itself in our life.

Speaker 19 (42:42):
I just felt like people needed to know and I
really just wanted to not feel alone.

Speaker 6 (42:47):
So that was my biggest reason for writing it.

Speaker 15 (42:50):
So kudos to you for that, because then I'm sure
that created the community that you were looking for in
terms of support, or did.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
It it did?

Speaker 19 (42:57):
I think especially in my family because i work primarily,
like in the beauty industry, and I'm used to being
so surrounded by people, and I think when you are
an extrovert, like I'm not an introverted person. I'm always out,
I'm always being social, and when you are going through
things something as hard as a diagnosis like autism, you

(43:20):
people don't expect that you need help, or they don't
expect that you are hurting or you are in a
position where you need So I think that for my
family personally, it was like, well, we didn't even know
you was going through this, Like you could on a
smile so much like you look, you still look the
same while you was bad on such a hard thing.
So I think for that reason, and then again just

(43:41):
the basic the awareness factor of it, just letting people know,
like you never know what people are going.

Speaker 6 (43:48):
Through, and you have to be kind.

Speaker 19 (43:50):
To other people because it's such a hard transition from
what you expect as a mother having a child, especially
for us, because my daughter didn't show any signs of
delay or anything. It just happened all of a sudden,
So it was like we had a pre planned focus
for her life and what I wanted to do with
a daughter. I was so excited to have a daughter

(44:10):
from being a boy mom for so long, and so
it was like a disappointment a little bit. So it
was that, you know, I needed people to understand what
I was going through because as a parent you go
through a creeving process as well.

Speaker 15 (44:24):
Absolutely, and that speaks to the resilience of just yourself
and black people alone, that your own family was like
dag we didn't even know. So talk to me about
your advocacy work. What are some of the biggest challenges
families face when navigating a child on the spectrum when
it comes to education, healthcare, and just everyday life.

Speaker 6 (44:44):
I think getting a diagnosis.

Speaker 19 (44:47):
My daughter's thirteen now, so I wrote Along Came Autism
a little while ago, but I think it is such
an important tool to teach parents how to first get
the diagnosis. We can be again in a black community.
We are so used to one back in the day,
our parents saying, you.

Speaker 6 (45:03):
Don't let a doctor tell you something is wrong with
your child.

Speaker 19 (45:06):
But in this case, you do let a doctor tell
you that there could be a delay with your child.

Speaker 6 (45:11):
You do pick up on things that might be embarrassing.

Speaker 19 (45:14):
You know, it might be a little embarrassing, and it
might come with a little guilt or shame, and it's
okay to feel that way. But you do your child
at this service by not speaking up, by not saying
the things that may be slightly embarrassing or hurtful to
you as a parent. But we have to put those
feelings aside to get their early intervention.

Speaker 6 (45:31):
That's so important.

Speaker 19 (45:32):
I think education is lacking, especially in a public school setting.
There's a lot of things that are not happening, especially
with black children, minority children, there are a lot of lacks,
you know.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
I used to do a.

Speaker 19 (45:45):
Lot of advocacy in the Philadelphia community. I don't no
longer live exactly in the city, but I do a
lot of advocacy in the city because I'm from West
Philadelphia and I'm the type of person like I'm a
reach back type of person, So i always go back
to my hometown, to my community and try to do
things for the community. So education, the early intervention is important,
and that community support. And one important thing I'll always

(46:08):
try to make a point is it might sound harsh
to some parents, but parents that have children that are
not autistic, you have to teach your children how to
interact and how to be kind to children with special
needs because it makes a big difference on how our
children feel about themselves and how parents like me feel
about even bringing our children out and having our children

(46:29):
be a part of the community. Because the village that
raised us, we need that same village to help raise
these children. Because the prevalence of autism has grown tremendously
unfortunately over the last ten.

Speaker 15 (46:41):
Years absolutely talk more about that, the gap between awareness
and real inclusion.

Speaker 12 (46:46):
What do you think what else do you think?

Speaker 15 (46:48):
Excuse me, I mean you mentioned a parents working with
their children in a way so that they know how
to interact with a child on the spectrum. What else
do you think society needs to change to support individuals
with autism and of course the families.

Speaker 19 (47:04):
Well, me and my daughter actually wrote another book. It's
called Get to No One Row. It's a children's book
that's really geared towards children at ages five to maybe
ten years old that explains what autism is and how
it presents itself in a visual way to non autistic
children so that they understand why she may be looking
at you that way, or why she may be or

(47:24):
he or she may be behaving in that way, so
that it's like a tool to teach children how to
engage or if they are engaging, why they child may
not be responding in a way.

Speaker 12 (47:33):
When my daughter was.

Speaker 19 (47:33):
Around like maybe six or seven, after she became verbal,
we were like at like a pool one day and
she was like, why why are those kids being mean
to me? And I'm like, no, pop, they not being
mean to you. They just don't understand how to interact
with you. So as parents of non autistic children, it's
very important that you have those hard conversations. Unfortunately, it's
probably a child in your family at this point, or

(47:55):
a close friend or relative or an associate that has
a child with autism. So maybe say, like, do you
want to have a play date? You know, like let's
get these kids together so that they can.

Speaker 6 (48:04):
See it in real time.

Speaker 19 (48:05):
And there are a lot of places, at least in
most urban cities where there are inclusion like they play
different like play centers and stuff like that. They might
have the autism Awareness particular day or Autism center play time,
so maybe just take your kids on that day so
that they understand, like these kids are a part of
the community. Every public school has an autistic support classroom.

Speaker 6 (48:28):
Maybe on like a certain day of the.

Speaker 19 (48:30):
Week, asks the special needs teacher, can my kids volunteer
in that classroom, just so that they can understand what
these children need with supports they need in real time.

Speaker 6 (48:39):
Because it's one thing to say like be nice, but.

Speaker 19 (48:42):
If all your other all the kids' friends aren't being nice,
you know, kids are going to behave like their peers.

Speaker 12 (48:47):
It just is what it is.

Speaker 19 (48:48):
So if you can do it in real time, I
think any change that you want to see, you can
kind of have to just like be the change and
push the change. And it's okay to do that. Like
I always tell my kids, you don't have to be
of the world to be in the world. Of got
to just like, you know, break the.

Speaker 12 (49:02):
Mood a little bit, well said.

Speaker 15 (49:03):
I'm speaking to Sheena Edwards of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is
an autism advocate, the author of Along Came Autism, and
a mother to a child on the spectrum. Now, what
are some specific policy changes that you'd like to see
our initiatives that you're passionate about that could improve the
lives of those on the spectrum and of course those
surrounding them, the families.

Speaker 19 (49:24):
I would love to see more funding again, of course
in underprivileged communities, more funding for education, after school activities,
things for the children to do because they don't have
a lot of programs have been cut.

Speaker 6 (49:41):
I would love to see.

Speaker 19 (49:43):
The teachers, the special education teachers have more support. Since COVID,
there's been so many budget cuts in public schools for
just supplies.

Speaker 6 (49:55):
Therapies.

Speaker 19 (49:56):
If you can't a lot of parents can't afford private school,
so the public schools need help. They need funding, They
need to be able to give these children what they
need on a day to day basis. Our kids are
in school more than they are at home. I would
love to see that that really they need help. I
talk to a lot of teachers every day. They need
the tools and the classroom, the technology. These kids need

(50:18):
the technology to learn on a higher level, especially with maths, science,
and they're really good at coding and things like that
in STEM.

Speaker 6 (50:26):
So some things in STEM to help these kids realize.

Speaker 19 (50:28):
That they can be scientists, they can be chefs, they
can be sometimes some of them want to be firefighters
and police officers, regular you know careers that if the
career training is there in.

Speaker 6 (50:39):
The public schools.

Speaker 19 (50:39):
A lot of private schools have those things in place,
but public schools don't have that.

Speaker 6 (50:44):
And if a.

Speaker 12 (50:44):
Parents mental health.

Speaker 19 (50:48):
Mental health funding because again, like I said, it takes
an emotional toll on parents, especially single parents that don't
have a partner there.

Speaker 6 (50:56):
To support them.

Speaker 19 (50:57):
So a lot of mental health advocacy is needed and
the funding there to do that. Because we need a
safe place to land after you're dealing with a child
that may be nonverbal, a new diagnosis, and again you
might not have family or friends that you can relate to.
So I would love to see some outreach in loud
outreach like let people know is there there are programs?

Speaker 6 (51:16):
Well, why do we have to dig so deep to
find them? Right?

Speaker 19 (51:19):
You know, like they should be ready and able and
there for people to get I think that will be
a huge health especially in minority communities.

Speaker 6 (51:24):
We definitely need that the mental health.

Speaker 19 (51:26):
Component in job training for our children so that they
know that they can be excellent adults and thrive in
a community after the age of twenty one after they
get out of school.

Speaker 12 (51:35):
Absolutely.

Speaker 15 (51:36):
You know, one thing I've noticed on a personal note
that you know, my interaction with people on the spectrum
is that they just it just seems like they maneuver
just a little bit differently.

Speaker 12 (51:45):
It's certainly not.

Speaker 15 (51:46):
A lack like you said, It's just they take a
different route to get there.

Speaker 12 (51:50):
And it's so fascinating with that.

Speaker 15 (51:51):
At the same time, they're so smart and they're so
intrigued by whatever the topics are, you know, and it
is a mater of just having that support probably and
honing those skills. Because I have seen autistic people do
amazing things when they do have the support. And to
your point as well, with the families, having support with

(52:13):
the families, because you're no good as a mom or
as a sister or you know, a friend if you're
not in a good mental space to handle someone with
those those special needs.

Speaker 12 (52:24):
So well said, before I let you go, is.

Speaker 15 (52:28):
There anything else that you'd like to share that we
didn't touch on? Because you don't know what you don't know,
and I don't know what I don't know. But if
there's anything that you would like to share that I
didn't touch on, please, I.

Speaker 19 (52:37):
Mean, my biggest thing is my daughter gets older. But
I'm realizing that again is like so redundant for me.
But it's just like whoever's listening again, it doesn't have
a child on a spectrum. My biggest thing every birthday,
my daughter always say she's thirteen now. So she always says, like, mom,
I went friends and like when we and the more
she see, you know, typical teenagers, she likes seals as

(52:58):
the kind of friends I want, like you know, like
it's just like the kindest component. Like this past Halloween,
we were out and she tried to like approach, you know,
like a group of girls. It's just like you can
tell when somebody has like a little difference to them,
a little quirk or whatever.

Speaker 6 (53:12):
But it's just like teach you all kids to be kind.

Speaker 19 (53:14):
It really really breaks my heart to like know that
my daughter, she knows that she's autistic, she knows how
to self advocate for herself, and she's an amazing, remarkable
young lady. And it's other kids like her who are
just they just want friends, They just want people not
to treat them different. Because once you get to know her,
you have a conversation with her, you are so surprised
at what you have in common and so surprised.

Speaker 6 (53:36):
That the things that she can teach you. And it's like.

Speaker 19 (53:39):
Teach your children to be kind. Kindness goes a long way.
It's not gonna hurt you. It add a bounty of
blessings to your life. And we don't know when autism
could come rere it's ugly here unfortunately, and be a
part of your family. And I wouldn't wish you on anybody.
I'm not that kind of mom. It came out of

(54:00):
nowhere from me, and it's changed my life. It has
made some of my dreams come true. I always wanted
to write. I've always been a writer, but I always
wanted to write a book too. It was like my
daughter came and now, okay, I'm an author. Now, thank
you for that. But it's a hard place to be.

Speaker 6 (54:14):
And sometimes some days are good, some days are bad.
But be kind. Teach your children to be kind, and
you know, we're here.

Speaker 12 (54:21):
I'm always here to talk.

Speaker 6 (54:22):
I always tell other moms like you can slide in
my DM.

Speaker 19 (54:24):
I'm always there to vent and talk and hear the
stories because there's so many stories.

Speaker 6 (54:29):
And our children are remarkable.

Speaker 12 (54:30):
Never forget that.

Speaker 19 (54:31):
And you know, don't let people tell you what your
child can't do.

Speaker 6 (54:34):
They can do.

Speaker 19 (54:35):
All things is just about resources. It's just about knowing
your child and fighting for your child and being their
biggest advocate.

Speaker 6 (54:42):
And you know, getting in the community and.

Speaker 19 (54:44):
Finding like mothers like us and fathers too, because I'm
not going to dis to autism dance. Some great autism
dance I know in the world. But you know, let's
stick together and let's be the change.

Speaker 15 (54:55):
Gina Edward's a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania autism advocate and author of
Along Came Autism, and a mom to a child on
the spectrum. How can we continue to follow the work
you do and purchase you and your daughters.

Speaker 19 (55:05):
But okay, along came autism and get to Noma ro
Or on Amazon. I think Bornsandobles dot com as well.
My website is i amshenae dot com and I am
on Instagram at i amshenae and you can find me there.
Be on the lookout for some really cool things. I
had took a step back from really really doing things,
but we are back. My daughter is ready to get

(55:27):
back in the game, so we are back outside and
you could catch us on social media. And again, like
I said, I'm always available to talk chat Vince.

Speaker 6 (55:34):
You can come in my DM.

Speaker 19 (55:35):
I'll talk to a lot of moms every day and
I wish you all the best.

Speaker 15 (55:39):
Yes, thank you Sheena for joining us, Thank you for
having me. I'm Morgan with on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 3 (55:44):
Thanks Morgan and Sheena. For more info about Sena, go
to www dot imshena dot com. The Ohio Housing Finance
Agency partners locally with the Black Information Network in the
state of Ohio to help the dream of home ownership
become a reality. Here's a replay of the conversation I
had with John from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and

(56:05):
we are with John Dewey, single family Relations program manager
for the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
How are you doing doing great? Thanks for having me today.

Speaker 3 (56:13):
Well, thanks for taking time to be with us. What
does the Ohio Housing Finance Agency do?

Speaker 12 (56:18):
So?

Speaker 20 (56:18):
Our agency offers financial assistance programs to help home buyers
get into a home, and we offer a variety of
different programs like down payment assistants and lower interest rates
for those in public service careers.

Speaker 3 (56:31):
There's a lot of people they want to be homeowners,
but they don't have this type of information that you provide.
You have a lot of programs in there, and which
one is the most popular.

Speaker 20 (56:40):
Our most popular program is definitely the five percent your
choice down payment assistance, and that is five percent of
the purchase price towards down payment and closing costs into
giving an example, if somebody was purchasing a two hundred
thousand dollars house and they're getting our five percent down
payment assistance, that would be ten thousand dollars towards their
down payment and closing cos.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
That's a pretty generous amount that helped a lot of
people get started.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
Absolutely, yes.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
Can you tell us about the Ohio Heroes program for
people in public service careers. We don't hear much about that.

Speaker 20 (57:11):
The Ohio Heroes Program offers a slightly lower interest rate
than our standard mortgage interest rates, and it's for those
that work full time in a bunch of different occupations,
including veterans, active duty military, members of the reserve components.
And this also includes police officers, firefighters, volunteer firefighters, EMTs,

(57:31):
and paramedics, and then physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and then
pre k through twelve teachers, administrators, and counselors.

Speaker 3 (57:40):
Our heroes, our first responders are included in here and teachers.
Two of my favorite people. We're talking with John Dewey.
He's the single family Relations program manager for the Ohio
Housing Finance Agency. They're working hard to get people into
a home, potential home buyers, and we're glad to have
them with us today. Now, those using the Ohio Heroes
Program they also be eligible for down payment assistance.

Speaker 20 (58:03):
Yes, they can combine the Hero's program with our down
payment assistance program.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
What is the potential home buyer's first step to see
if they qualify? Because this is where the hardest part
is just getting started. Where do they start?

Speaker 20 (58:14):
Their first step is to go to our website, my
Ohio home dot org. Again, that's my Ohio home dot org.
And they're going to contact one of our OPA approved
mortgage lenders, and we have lenders that work all throughout
the state of Ohio. You meet with one of those
lenders and they can prequalify you and let you know
if you qualify for our home buyer programs in down
payment assistance.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Now this is all through Ohio right correct.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
Anywhere in the state of Ohio they can use their programs.

Speaker 3 (58:37):
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency getting home buyers into a home,
the many different programs. You can go to my Ohio
home dot org and get more information anything else you
want to add, mister.

Speaker 20 (58:49):
Doing on our website, my Ohio home dot org. We
have a bunch of really helpful information on the basic
steps of starting the home buying process. Are mortgage lenders
that are listed down there, and then all the information
on our home buyer programs.

Speaker 3 (59:01):
Well, thank you for your time, and this is a
very valuable program Ohio Housing Finance Agency does, and all
that can be done at my Ohio home dot Org.
Thank you for your time.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
Today, absolutely, thank you for having me.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
Thank you John and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. And
that's our program for this week. Thanks to all of
our contributors. 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 X
and blue sky at black Info neet, and make the

(59:34):
Black Information Network first on your car radio or iHeartRadio
app presets I Mike Island wishing everyone for a great Sunday.
Thank you for listening to the Black perspective right here
on the Black Information Network.