The Black Perspective: March 30, 2025

This week on the Black Perspective, Andrea Coleman and Mimi Brown close out Women’s History Month with inspiring conversations featuring Dawn Kelly, founder of The Nourish Spot in Queens, NY, and Maryland’s First Lady, Dawn Moore.

Katie Gray returns with part two of her interview with Rici De’ Forest, curator and creative director of WERD Atlanta and the Madam C.J. Walker Museum, diving deeper into the rich Black history of Atlanta’s Historic Auburn Avenue.

Esther Dillard revisits her 2025 Gracie Award-winning segment on Daughters Beyond Incarceration, and Mimi Brown shares another preview of her upcoming podcast To Altadena with Love, highlighting the real-life stories of Black victims of the Altadena wildfires.

Listen now! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Sunday, March thirtieth, and on Today's show, Andrea Coleman
and Mimi Brown close out the final Sunday of Women's
History Month with Don Kelly from The Nourish Spot in Queens,
New York, and the First Lady of Maryland, Don Moore.
Katie Gray is back with part two of her conversation
with Recy DeForest, the curator and creative director of Werd

(00:21):
or Word Atlanta and the Madam C. J. Walker Museum
on Atlanta's historic Auburn Avenue. Esther Dillar replays her twenty
twenty five Gracie Award winning segment on the Daughters Beyond Incarceration.
Mimi Brown gives us another preview of her new podcast,
To Altadena with Love, as she retells real stories from
black victims of the Altadena Wildfires. These stories and more

(00:44):
are coming your way. On today's program, Welcome to the
Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
On issues important to the Black community.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Good Sunday, everyone, and Welcome to the Black Perspective as
we wrap up our celebration of Women's History Month, we
caught up with down Moore, one of the first few
black women ever to serve as first Lady of a
US state. The Black Information Networks Andrea Coleman spoke with
First Lady Moore about an upcoming event she's spearheading, as
well as the legacy she and her husband are building

(01:20):
as Maryland's first black first couple.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
I always say I never thought I would be married
to a governor that was not on my BINGO card.

Speaker 5 (01:28):
While not on her being go card, wife apparently had
a different plan for down Moore, the wife of Maryland
Governor Wesmore.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
I have spent my career in service pretty much right
after I graduated from college to the University of Maryland,
I went right into service, and I went right into
working for the State of Maryland, and so I have
had the privilege of doing that for many decades. I
feel that the First Lady is absolutely my highest calling

(01:57):
to service, and I really try to honor that office
and the work that I feel is required in this moment.

Speaker 5 (02:05):
A native of the Bayside Queen's Community in New York,
Don Moore is now Maryland's first Lady. She is a
first black woman to hold the on our own and
so in.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
The state of Maryland, it's very exciting that my husband
and I can go out and work together and work
on initiatives. I'm also a mom, and so we have
two young children that we are obviously adore and love,
and we are raising in this you know, public space,
and so we spend a lot of time with them.

(02:35):
I'm going to sports and dances and reversinos and all
sorts of things. So you know, we are very involved
in our children's lives. Obviously, in like parents, we face
the joys and challenges that parents face, and then we
go to work, right and we spend a lot of
time on our jobs. So as First Lady, I feel

(02:56):
very proud to be able to do all of those things.

Speaker 5 (02:59):
Part of that work is to move the State of
Maryland forward economically. With that, First Lady More has conceived
and planned the first ever Preakness Festival, a week long
event starting May eighth this year, celebrates the Preakness Stakes,
the second leg of the prestigious Triple Crown race series
for thoroughbred horses, one of the most revered horse racing
events in the world.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
Wes, my husband, the Governor of Maryland, sixty third Governor
of Maryland, when we went to the Kentucky Derby together
when he was governor elect. I was wowed by the
experience we enjoyed at the derby. We were guests of
the Governor and the first lady there and I said

(03:40):
to Wes, I said, this is something that we should
do in Maryland, and he said, we'll go do it,
and so you know, I was joking, said we almost
have a great job in the moor household. This is
something that we have five timpole events that are attached
to this. We have a family Day, we have a

(04:01):
Governor's golf tournament, which my husband is quite excited about.
We have d Nice who's coming to Baltimore. He is
bringing Club Quarantine. That is something that is just people
are so excited they can't wait for the tickets to
go on sale. He's going to bring his friends with him,
so everybody knows d Nice is a great show. And

(04:21):
then we're having an event at Government House and that
event is really important because all of these events go
to support the Preakness Festival. But this is something where
the state is making a really important statement about what
Preakness means to Maryland and what it means to this administration,
the more Miller administration, and so we're super excited about that.

(04:44):
And then we rolled right into the Prekness State.

Speaker 5 (04:46):
As with the Preakness Stakes, the festival offers the state
and local community an economic boost as both are attached
to the equine industry and industry that accounts for billions
of dollars of this state each year.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
It accounts for about twenty five percent of our state's
agricultural base right It supports about twenty eight thousand jobs,
and it's a three billion dollar total economic impact, So
that is quite significant. Now when we think about the Preakness,
which traditionally has been a two day event that was

(05:19):
a forty million dollar economic impact, and what we were
able to see with the Kentucky Derby is that they
had a four hundred million dollar economic impact. So we
have an opportunity to grow ten times what we're doing
currently in Maryland.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
It's an area of enterprise and leisure that first Lady
Moore says, everyone including black Americans, should explore.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
I mean, Maryland is one of the most diverse states
in the mid Atlantic region. And we are very proud
of that. And we have a rich history of our
horse industry and our heritage here and in fact, we
have folks, whether it is through our Maryland State Archives
or people who are wanting to be a part of
this moment. We want to share that rich history with

(06:03):
anybody who's willing to learn about it. And so when
we think about, for example, the Piblical Racetracks where the
breakness takes place, that takes place in the Park Heights
community that is a majority Black community that has not
always enjoyed the benefits of this preakness experience, Well we're changing.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
That this year.

Speaker 4 (06:23):
They have been doing a tremendous job of having this
family day, but they bring in horses into the community.
They bring in farmers and people who raise horses, So
we can learn more about that. For Maryland State Archives,
as we rethink the racetrack we will be reopening after
this year, we're going to go into a renovation of

(06:44):
the racetrack. The state of Maryland hasn't invested four hundred
million dollars into the Piblical Racetracks and that surrounding community,
and what we will see is an opportunity to learn
about the history. So we'll have a museum there, we'll
have great new hotels and so one p fifty is
very important and it's very exciting, but it's also about

(07:05):
one fifty and beyond. So I'm just so happy for
your listeners to stay tuned to what we're doing in
Maryland and please come to Maryland to enjoy all the
things we have to offer.

Speaker 5 (07:15):
But for many Black America, and it's part of the
taurarm and Lord of Maryland at this point in history
is her husband's governorship. You and Governor Wes Moore and
your children are going into your third years Maryland's first
family currently the only Black States first family we have
in our country. What has experience been like for you?

Speaker 4 (07:33):
I think this is the prost experience of our life
to be able to serve at this level. As you said,
my husband is the first African American governor in the
state of Maryland.

Speaker 7 (07:44):
He is only the third in the history of this country.
And he is the only sitting Black governor in the country.
And that is something we are very proud of. But
we know that that is not the assignment.

Speaker 8 (07:56):
Right The assignment is to create a legacy that benefits
the lives of the people that we serve, and that's
what my husband has been so proudly doing as governor.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
So we will continue to work with our stakeholders and
our communities that live here in the state of Maryland,
and we are just so proud and privileged to be
able to serve in this way. I do have something
called the Government House Foundation, which allows us to have

(08:30):
programming in addition to some of the arts and cultural
events that we have here. So, for example, mental health
is something that I care deeply about and I work
on issues around mental health as it related to our children.
So recently, with our partners at Care First, I had
a healthcare event here, but we did yoga on the lawn,

(08:52):
We had experts in the mental health space. We also
brought in young people to have a conversation with them
about the things that affect their health because we didn't
want to have a conversation about them without them. And
so those are some of the things that I feel
so proud to be able to do, both with the
nonprofit partners that we have through the public partnership you

(09:15):
know that the state can bring and also through the
private sector. When I think about the festival, when we
think about the previous festival. That's the three legged stool
that's making this opportunity viable. So when we think about
the state being involved, the City of Baltimore, we have
a number of private sector partners that have stepped up

(09:37):
and make this opportunity work. We also have so many
volunteers who are making this opportunity what it is going
to be. And so it's very, very exciting what you
can do when we all come together and put our
like minded ideas to work.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
First, Lady Moore's care also extends to issues of wellness
and economic growth and stability as well less service to others.

Speaker 9 (10:01):
What has been the highlight of your service on that level?

Speaker 4 (10:05):
I have, You know, I have many platforms that I
really feel proud of. I have been serving the veterans
community in our state. As the wife of a veteran,
I understand what it means to have someone who served
their country in war and in a war time, and
I understand what that means to be even though I

(10:26):
was a girlfriend at the time we were engaged, but
I do understand what that means to our families who
are serving as not just one person. My husband would
be the first to say that that is the entire
family serving. So I've taken on military families as an
initiative that I'm very proud of. I also enjoy arts
and culture, and so we have done a lot of

(10:47):
work in Government House, which is the official resident of
the governor and their family since eighteen seventy. And what
we have worked to do is to make this home
feel that it represents all Marylanders. And so that was
one of the first things that I came in and
partnered with our arts institutions, the Baltimore Museum of Art,

(11:09):
the Bank or Douglas Tugman Museum, and so we've curated
spaces in here so that people see art from women
is people see art from African Americans, and people see
art from the Native people. And so we are just
so proud that someone can walk into this home and
see themself.

Speaker 9 (11:28):
Being elected to any state office in this country is
quite challenging. And when we look at that and we
hear young people who may be aspiring to work in
public service or make a career move into that space,
what advice can you offer them? What should they consider
and how can they prepare to do that strategically and successfully?

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, I think in this current climate, those who want
to serve, who have the heart to serve, it's needed
more than ever in this moment. And service comes in
many forms. And if you choose to run for office,
that is, you know, a very noble profession to take on.

(12:11):
But there are ways to serve in your local community,
and it doesn't require you to run for office, whether
you are volunteering in a local shelter, whether you care
deeply about animals and you want to make sure that
you are working to keep them safe. If you care
deeply about your government running efficiently, working in state government,

(12:36):
working in local government is a very noble profession.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
Hard for enough service is one of the many characteristics
don Moore Hope's history will note of her husband's historic legacy.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
You know, I hope that it will note that he
fought for the most vulnerable communities, that when he said
leave no one behind, he meant that. I hope that
they understand that service for him is the greatest honor
in his life. My husband served in our military. My husband,

(13:10):
I'm proud, he's a Rhodes scholar. He's worked a private sector,
he's worked in the nonprofit sector, and there's many things
that he could do, but he chose this life of
service because he understands the importance of what service and
what government means to the lives of Marylanders. And so

(13:34):
I'm just so proud of him. He's tireless. He is
one of the best listeners you'd ever want a news
He's a tremendous partner, and you know, he says this.
He says, I am data driven by I am heart led,
and that is true. He has compassion, he has empathy,
and he really is the ultimate team builder.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
As for her note in history, it will likely be
one of a first lady who brought us sincere love
for the people she served and a desire to truly
make their lives better.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
I hope that people will remember that I was approachable,
that I listened to their ideas, that I was a
great connector and convener, and that I always say, you know,
I tell this to my children. There are no monopolies
on good ideas, and so when we come together and

(14:27):
do things together, it's amazing what we can create. When
I think about the Prettiness Festival, yeah I had the
vision for this, but I quickly pulled together the people
who I know know how to make these opportunities exist.
No one does anything alone, no one does anything on

(14:47):
their own, and so I hope that people will say
that I pulled the best and the brighters together to
help the initiatives that I worked with, and that's, you know,
that's the only thing that I hope would be my legacy.
I'm looking forward to the previous festival. I hope it's

(15:08):
something that's going to far outlass the war Miller administration
because I think the economic opportunity that exists with this
is tremendous. And so if I'm associated with starting the
inaugural Preakness Festival.

Speaker 5 (15:23):
I'd be very proud of that as well the thousands
of Marylanders who stand to benefit from hers and her
husband's work with this Women's History Month feature. I'm Andrea
Coleman on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
Thank you, Andrea. You can learn more about the Preakness
Festival at Preakness Festival dot com. Mimi Brown is back
to take us inside the heart of a California community
forever changed by the heat and fire. Here's a preview
from episode two in her new five part docu series,
To Altadena with Love.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Altadena Isn't just a neighborhood. It's California's first black middle
class community. Since the early nineteen hundreds, black families have
built their lives there, creating a space to race families,
establish businesses, and built generational wealth. During the Great Migration,
millions of African Americans left the Jim Crow South seeking

(16:15):
an opportunity and refuge from systemic racism and economic hardship.
For many, Altadena became that refuge, one of the few
places in California where black families had a real shot
at home ownership. But that opportunity came with barriers. To
understand how black families came to Altadena and why so

(16:36):
many of their homes were lost in the Eton Fire,
we have to go back back to the nineteen thirties.
During that time, the federal government, through the Homeowner's Loan Corporation,
created a system to assess neighborhoods for mortgage lending. On
the surface, it was meant to help banks determine where
it was safe to approve loans, but in reality, it

(16:58):
was a tool for segregation. The Homeowner's Loan Corporation ranked
neighborhoods using a color coded system. The best areas marked
in green were the white, wealthy neighborhoods considered desirable. The
worst areas marked in red were black and immigrant communities
labeled as high risk. This is where the term redlining

(17:19):
comes from. If your neighborhood was outlined in red, you
couldn't get a mortgage, you couldn't buy a home, you
couldn't build wealth. You were locked out. By the nineteen
forties and fifties, black families began moving into Altadena, mainly
settling in West Altadena, the only area where real estate
agents would sell to them. They found a tight knit community,

(17:43):
started businesses and began laying roots, but the restrictions remained.
I MEI ME Brown.

Speaker 6 (17:49):
And in this.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Series you'll hear stories told firsthand by the people who
lived them. These are their stories, their memories, and their truth.
This is to out toa Dina with love. Meet Robert
and Jeff Childs.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
Hin my dad's house, se Gard's hands right now.

Speaker 10 (18:12):
Well, actually I moved there in probably nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
I was probably only the.

Speaker 6 (18:19):
Two blacks on the neighborhood, and I'm raised my two
kids there.

Speaker 11 (18:23):
At the time, they were doing the bust and they
would bus from there over to Sea Madre and I
worked for the city of Pasadena for forty forty five,
forty six years.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Fellow smoke coming out.

Speaker 12 (18:36):
I paid thirty three thousand dollars voy for now covered
two million was worth two million.

Speaker 6 (18:42):
We were gonna buy half over and Hicky bread.

Speaker 13 (18:44):
And at the time we didn't have black over it,
and there was a petitioning sign got kept up out
of hating events. It was like, no, you got black
chemical over.

Speaker 6 (18:56):
This is the truth got true.

Speaker 14 (18:58):
The house that I was going to purchase, the High
Post bought it up bout the house so I couldn't
get it.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
As the recent fires in the Los Angeles area have
taught us, fire does not discriminate. It consumes everything in
its path, striking the rich and the poor, the old
and the young, the famous and the forgotten. Henry Sanders
knows this firsthand. You might remember him from the movie
Selma or as Proper Dentin on Aver Duvernet's Queen Sugar.

(19:30):
He's part of a long and rich tradition of black
actors like Sherman Hemsley and Ruby Dee, who once called
Altadena home. But on January seventh, everything changed as the
flames closed in Henry and his family had no choice
but to flee. His wife, his son, his granddaughter, and
his mother in law, who was in a wheelchair all

(19:51):
escaped with their lives, but not much else. Their home,
their memories, the life they built in Altadena gone. Meet
Henry Sanders.

Speaker 13 (20:02):
You know, the first thought you have is the things
that you didn't take out. You know, It's like, oh,
maybe I should have listened to the warning, and maybe
I should have done this, and all these maybes and
it's you know, and the reality was I didn't and
what has happened has happened. And I'm old enough of

(20:25):
going through tragedies before, you know, the first time, you
kind of fall apart and you start to making mistakes,
and I know a family depend on me to kind
of hold it together. So I've been there for almost
thirty years. Kids grew up there. There's been fires at
Eaton Canyon before, so we didn't quite think it would

(20:49):
get it as far west as it did.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
That was just a glimpse of to Altadena with Love,
A powerful new podcast from Bi and anchor Mimi Brown.
Episode two is available tomorrow. Listen, download, and subscribe wherever
you get your podcasts. Kad Gray sits down with Rec DeForest,
the curator and creative director for.

Speaker 3 (21:09):
The Madam C. J.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Walker and werd Or Word Studio Museum, to talk about
the history being both made and preserved in Atlanta. Here's
part two of their conversation.

Speaker 15 (21:20):
I bet you know, exploring the area more and going
into you almost would have, especially right now, more of
the pockets. But it's almost as if your mission is
to set out to connect those individual pockets so that
there is more of that sense of community and connection.

Speaker 10 (21:36):
That is exactly what's taking place. And I was delighted
to get a text from HDDC, which has been preserving
the legacy and promoting the legacy of Auburn Avenue over
the past like thirty or forty years, reach out to
me and say exactly what you just said. We are
going to connect these various entities and see how we can.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Help one another.

Speaker 10 (21:58):
And then you've got this care to my left, Chicago Mike,
who walks in, and I'm thinking, you know, okay, my
forte is music from nineteen twenty up into the nineteen seventies.
Here comes Chicago Mike. When he comes in. I learned
so much about an area of music that I'm not
familiar with Chicago. Brings an insight from the inside of

(22:21):
the music industry. Everything that I have is from the
outside looking in. So he's able to turn the mirror
around this way and show me what it's like on
the inside. So anyway, Chicago, mydas Anyway, Chicago my doas thing.

Speaker 15 (22:33):
Man, I was so excited to chat with you because
it's funny to me.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
You're like, oh, I'm nobody.

Speaker 15 (22:38):
I'm like, Okay, we need to talk about the significance
of the radio station and the industry, and I'm so
excited to hear from you.

Speaker 16 (22:45):
Go ahead, Well, in my opinion, I have the least
least of all the reason to be here. But I'll
tell you a little bit about myself and Cooling a Gang.
I'm from the South. I started with Cooling a Gang
in nineteen eighty five. The band celebrated its sixtieth a
year last year, twenty twenty four. The band was started

(23:08):
in nineteen sixty four. We're celebrated because of the song
celebration get Down on It Ladies' Night, and how I
met this young man to my right, I was, of course,
I'm into history, coming from Chicago, and when I moved
here in two thousand and five. I thought I was
just passing through, been here twenty years, and as being

(23:34):
into history, I found out about the Historical barbershop. So
I wanted to get my haircut at the historical barbershop,
and I did that. But as I came out of
the Historical barbershop, this historical music was playing and it
was next door, and I just I had to find
out who, what where it was coming from. And this

(23:58):
was a few years ago, and I went in and
got a chance really to meet this gentleman here. I
call him international, you know, because he's been around the
world just.

Speaker 17 (24:10):
Like I have.

Speaker 16 (24:11):
And we just clicked right away because of his fundness
for music, and of course my fundness for music, because
it's my business, you know, it's my profession, it's my career.
And we just started talking and I just started looking
at the place and just fell in love with the history,
with the knowledge that he has and the things that

(24:33):
he's done to really teach people, because that's really what
he is.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
He's a teacher.

Speaker 6 (24:38):
To me, he's like a professor. And I just I
was stopping in for.

Speaker 16 (24:44):
A minute, and I ended up being there three or
four hours really because the place really does that to you.
And with that being said, we really became good friends
over the years, and every time I get my haircut, I'm.

Speaker 15 (24:58):
There about I'm really curious from your perspective the significance
of the radio station, the WERD being preserved in that space,
and everything that came from that. As a musician, what
are your thoughts, what are your impressions of that?

Speaker 16 (25:15):
Well, basically, and I'm glad you asked that question. I've
run into a lot of people here in that line
of young people and they've done a shortcut and what
I mean by that learning music and learning how to
play instruments. And one of the reasons is because of technology.
That computer really has done damage to young musicians because

(25:40):
they don't learn how to play instruments. They can go
right to laptop and play any instrument they want to play,
and that takes away the essence of what God has
given us. Whenever you know how to play an instrument,
that comes from above. And if you get the young
people to learn how to play instruments, still know where

(26:00):
they came from and then they'll know where they're going.
So it's easy, but it's hard because you have to
put it in. My dad always says you have to
put it in to get it out.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yep.

Speaker 10 (26:14):
The DNA of hip hop and or rap music dates
back to the nineteen twenties. This is not an art
form that is new on the scene. Every decade from
nineteen twenty to present day had rap artists.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
It was not called rap. There's an evolution that took place.

Speaker 10 (26:37):
Louis Armstrong taught Cab Callaway and Ella how to scat
nonsensical sounds to a rhythm. Scat elevated to vocalese. In
the nineteen thirties and forties, Negro artists would create instrumentals,
but there would be another Negro over here listening to
your instrumental and make up a story, a lyrical story
to your instrumental. That's called vocalese. Eddie Jefferson, John Hendrix,

(27:02):
Scatman Brouthers. And then going into the sixties and seventies,
you got the great brother Gilscott hearing the Revolution will
not be televised, Whiting on the Moon, the bottle too.
Into the eighties.

Speaker 6 (27:19):
Well, and I don't know if you were called that.

Speaker 15 (27:22):
You told me this when we first met, when I
came in on Sunday, we were talking about the aspects
about creating, you preserving, but in many ways trying to
expand that space where it was giving you this generation,
the next generation a space where they can come in
and experience it. Because I will say aside, and this
is a personal testimony, and I would be curious on
if you had the same experience when.

Speaker 6 (27:44):
I walked in.

Speaker 15 (27:45):
I'm born and raised in Georgia. I can't think of
a space other than growing up and my dad playing
those records where I could go in and really experience
that and have that immersion of history. I don't know
that we really have that as much preserved.

Speaker 10 (27:59):
Yeah, this is a unique space, very unique space. My
son said it uh best when he said it's disarming,
racially sized religion whatever. That space will disarm you, it owns.

Speaker 12 (28:09):
You, and it heals you.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
The room of truth.

Speaker 10 (28:11):
Because these artists that are celebrated within the WERD years
were artists that created music where the music was in
front of the money. Money is in front of the
music now, so there's a corrupting factor. It's just inevitable.
It's just what money does you know. It's no disrespect
to the artists.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
It's just a.

Speaker 10 (28:34):
Spiritual and cultural reality. These artists produced the music straight
from their heart. They weren't going after any kind of
dollar amount.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
You know.

Speaker 10 (28:43):
It's regretful that they didn't benefit from all of their art,
but they gave their lives for this music, and so
we owe a debt of gratitude. So I'm in perpetual
state of gratitude and promoting this legacy. First of all,
our seniors are cut off. We take music to senior

(29:05):
homes because the seniors are cut off from the music
they grew up with. That's where that vinyl collection came from.
I used to volunteer and do hair at ag Rhodes
and then COVID hits, so I had to stop. But
I asked the director, can I bring music to the
senior home because I can have the speaker over there
and I could be a safe distance and still volunteer.

(29:26):
So my client, her name is Chantell Mallin. Her father
was a DJ in Arkansas. Chanteale saw what I was
doing with my volunteer time her father passed away. She
donated that entire library of music that is in the
museum to the museum.

Speaker 3 (29:43):
And it's insane.

Speaker 10 (29:44):
It's like fifteen thousand records from the nineteen twenties through
the nineteen eighties. We're talking seventy eights because we have
an actual victrola that you have to crank, and we
play that for young people so that they get an
idea of what it was like in nineteen thirty For
young people to lit the music, they had to walk
to the controller and crank it up and put the
seventy eight on.

Speaker 15 (30:05):
When albums are albums are coming out today versus the
ones that you have in your museum.

Speaker 10 (30:11):
Yeah, there's a complete difference in the pressing. All of
our music is original pressing, so there's an acoustic value
that you're not going to find today in today's music.
But I have all due respect for the artists that
want to go to the thirty three and a third
format because that album cover and the whole process of

(30:31):
picking up an album, the ritual of putting it on
the turntable and laying the stylist down on the wax,
is a completely different experience.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
It's a much warmer sound, and it brings you to
the period.

Speaker 10 (30:44):
You know, the generation that I was privy to grow
up in. We actually listen to the whole freaking side.
We didn't skip from one song yet. If Isaac Caves
was playing, you play the whole freaking side of Isaac
Cays and then you lifted over, you know.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
So it was interesting. I was writing with some young.

Speaker 6 (31:04):
People and there's something they were.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Listening to one song and be their song.

Speaker 10 (31:08):
Next thing, you know, somebody's finger is up there, you know,
hitting the buttons so that they could jump to another song.
That's and it's cool. It's just that I noticed the
generational difference. We were just listening to the whole thing.

Speaker 15 (31:21):
What are your thoughts on it?

Speaker 16 (31:23):
Well, basically music truly, it's so cerebral, it really is.
It touches the spirit like nothing else. And just like
you was saying, Vinyl the warmth when years ago, when
they were creating albums and records, you can really get

(31:46):
the true essence of what the musician was doing. When
today it's it's computerized, so it's mechanical. So you're not
getting that warmth, you're not getting that knowledge, you're not
getting that essence from music. You're just hearing it and
you enjoy it. But if you will just spend time

(32:07):
in the museum and just listen to some of the
music from way back. You can really get a feel
from what they were thinking, what they were feeling, and
it's easily transposed to you and it will give you
that feeling that, Wow, this is what they were feeling
back then, you know, And you can't get that from

(32:28):
a CD. You can't get that from table to eight
tracks or I'm dating myself right now cassettes so real
to real, real real.

Speaker 18 (32:41):
That's why I love, you know, being in rec Space
to be able to have the gap filled between wisdom
and application. It took them a long time to apply
because they had to learn. It takes us a short term,
short time to apply because we don't have to learn.
So now we can enhance our essence as a young
person with the historical knowledge, because you're you're going to

(33:02):
radiate different when you know you can push buttons, but
the connections that you're going to have the impact that
your music is going to have is going to be
short lived because you didn't have the essence of longevity. Right,
rec space is going to have longevity. Cooling a gang
is going to have longevity because they understood essence, not
just practicality. And so I encourage all young people to

(33:25):
think about if you want to be eight generations in
longevity or do you want to be now? You know,
because if you want to be now, push buttons. But
if you want to live across generations in forever and
truly be timeless, truly create generational wealth, you're going to
have to learn the essence.

Speaker 6 (33:43):
And the only way you're going to.

Speaker 18 (33:44):
Learn the essence is if you partner with older people.

Speaker 6 (33:47):
We can't pout her now.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
I need to spend more time with Fatima.

Speaker 6 (33:50):
I learn every day. It's abundance of wealth and knowledge.

Speaker 15 (33:57):
I really appreciate you saying that and like simplifying that way,
because it's interesting where the impatience piece right, Like it's
the I went to a it's just a sidebar. I
went to a conference last year and it's aspects of
like a lot of mentors and you know, and it
was interesting where one of the ongoing themes with so
many entrepreneurs, so many professionals today, it's the just do

(34:18):
it now, Just do it now, figure it.

Speaker 6 (34:20):
Out, fail fast.

Speaker 15 (34:22):
That was the theme.

Speaker 6 (34:24):
And it's it's interesting.

Speaker 19 (34:27):
Where you can do that.

Speaker 6 (34:29):
I guess it does.

Speaker 15 (34:29):
You always have that one percent it works out for
but it is interesting of the perspective and the vision.
Do you want to create something that you're right gets
the codes viral for a day? Or do you want
to make something that lasts? And when you said that,
when I think about is do you want something that
you know when you hear it or when you feel it,
like invokes an emotion and it moves you and it

(34:51):
changes you that way forever. And I can't say that
there are a lot of speaking of the musical piece,
there's a lot of things that when they came out
and when I heard them again, it's like, eh, you know,
oh it's great, and then a year later it's it's yeah,
it kind of gets it dates itself.

Speaker 18 (35:06):
Yes, you're investing in the people, right, Yeah, because you
can you know, you can google things, but when you
get to learn from someone that's been doing it. I
am twenty seven years old, and literally Recie said, I've
just been curating the museum for twenty six years, right,
which means that he had a whole life even before
he started curating the museum, that way, before I was born, Right,

(35:30):
So that wisdom can't be lost, and I encourage all
young people to value that wisdom and to value the
relationship that that wisdom actually brings, not just the information
that you receive.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Thanks Katie and reci To learn more, visit the museum,
located off of Sweet Auburn Avenue in downtown Atlanta at
fifty four Hilliard Street, or follow them on Facebook. On
this final Sunday of Women's History Month, where spotlighting down
Kelly a force from Jamaica Queens who turned a corporate
layoff into purpose. She didn't just start a business, she

(36:02):
sparked a movement with her wellness hub, the Nourish Spots,
and it's more than a juice bar. It's a symbol
of health, empowerment and second chances. B I An anchor
Mimi Brown shares her unforgettable story.

Speaker 20 (36:15):
My job was eliminated in September of twenty fifteen, and
I my life was kind of thrown into like, I
don't know what I'm going to do with the rest
of my life because at that time, I was in
my fifties, my early fifties, and.

Speaker 6 (36:35):
I didn't quite believe that I was finished, right.

Speaker 20 (36:39):
I didn't think that I was ready for a retirement,
and rather I knew that I had more to give
to this world. So I you know, I cried a
little bit and then got about the business of figuring
out what I wanted to do with the rest of
my life.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
And so when you after you because we all have
to cry a little bit, and after we get it out,
tell me about that decision.

Speaker 11 (37:05):
What happened.

Speaker 20 (37:07):
I started talking to myself about, you know, what did
I really want to do because the previous years of
my life were more about what I had to do.
I had to take care of I was a single mom.
I had to take care of my son whose birthday
is today, and my daughter, and I had to provide

(37:28):
them with a home. I had to provide, you know,
three square meals a day, clothes to wear, so pretty
much most of what I did before I became an
entrepreneur was duty bound. Right after not being a corporate employee,
I realized that for the first time in my life,

(37:50):
I was free to make my own decisions about what
I wanted to do with the rest of my life,
and through prayer, God told me it was time for
me to dream as large as I possibly can, because honestly.

Speaker 6 (38:05):
The world is our oyster.

Speaker 20 (38:06):
We're the one that put the limits on ourselves, and
so I was on my own health journey, because when
you work in corporate America, not everybody but me.

Speaker 6 (38:18):
I put on some pounds and that was from you know,
not sleeping.

Speaker 20 (38:24):
Right, you know, drinking socially right, not eating all the
correct foods.

Speaker 6 (38:30):
I'm a New Yorker. I loved a bagel with cree cheese, okay.

Speaker 20 (38:35):
And so my doctor told me that, you know, he
may have to put me on some prescriptions if I
didn't get myself together. And I am not a fan
of pharmaceutical drugs. Food is medicine, and I've known that
my whole life. And so I asked my doctor for
a couple of months to see if I could get

(38:57):
myself together, and I did.

Speaker 6 (39:00):
I lost all the weight.

Speaker 20 (39:01):
I was a size sixteen when I started the journey.
I got it all the way down to a size
eight and I'm not on any medications.

Speaker 6 (39:13):
And I'm so very proud of myself for that.

Speaker 20 (39:15):
But I realized that if I needed that in my
community where I raised my children, I knew that other
people needed.

Speaker 13 (39:26):
That as well.

Speaker 20 (39:27):
And so I decided, with God's help and God's favor,
to create the nourished spot in Jamaica, Queens where my
family enjoys an eighty three year history.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
Health disparities in the black community. They are a real problem.
It's deeply rooted. And so not only is the Nourished
Spot helping those disparities, it's shifting the culture. Talk to
me about when you knew that you were making an impact,
you were making a difference.

Speaker 20 (40:00):
You're right about the fact that most African American communities
are food deserts, and the one in which I reside
in has been one for years because I had a
customer who's a researcher, and she provided me with all
that data, okay, to tell me just how impactful what
we were doing was to our community. And so what

(40:24):
happened one day is we have a lot of school children,
you know, that go back and forth in front of
our store and guy oar Baral boulevards, and there were
two young girls in the fourth grade that would come
by every day and just say hi, I'm miss Dawn,
and you know, like, you own this, you know like
and I say yes, and they're like, oh, when I
get when I become a doel like you, I want

(40:46):
to own my own thing. So I started when they
would come, I started sharing.

Speaker 6 (40:52):
Fruit with them right, and not usual fruit.

Speaker 20 (40:56):
Right, I was sharing like the blackberries and the berries
and key.

Speaker 6 (41:02):
We like things that people don't normally use.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Right.

Speaker 20 (41:06):
Most people use oranges and apples and bananas, right, because
that's the usual and normal fear. But you know, if
you come from other countries, you might try some fruit
that's outside of your normal fear. And so what happened
was I had the little girls come in and I
would test them on their knowledge of fruit. And they

(41:29):
didn't know what some of those things were, and I
got them to actually eat it and like it. So
that's the first thing I introduced the babies in my community,
whom I love. I introduced them to new fruits and
vegetables that they could consume and they could run home

(41:50):
and tell Aymami about.

Speaker 11 (41:51):
Right.

Speaker 6 (41:52):
The second thing that I think that.

Speaker 20 (41:54):
We've done that's so so impactful is we work with
nonprofits brought the city to provide internships within the Nourished
Spot for young student scholars in the tenth grade through college.
And so that gives me, I'll tell you, I get

(42:15):
so excited to work with the young people because I
remember when I was a kid and I got my
first job and what that meant to me to have
my own money and my own agency around the things
that I wanted in the world, and that really much
was my foundation for who I am today. So I

(42:38):
love the opportunity to give these young students the chance
to work at the Nourish Spot, to learn about culinary
to learn about hospitality.

Speaker 6 (42:49):
And to also learn how to eat better for themselves. Right,
I have changed lives.

Speaker 20 (42:55):
Because kids tell me they don't even eat at school.
They wait till they come to the nervous spot so
they can make themselves a healthy meal or a delicious beverage.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
You built this business with your daughter, How what does
that mean to you to watch this grow with your family,
your daughter in particular.

Speaker 20 (43:14):
I raised my children with my community, of course, right
with my tribe, but for the most part, I'm a
single mom. And I always called us three the hard
way because I have my son who's the oldest, and
my daughter who's the youngest, and we pretty much did
everything together. I mean, even though when I was in

(43:36):
Corporate America, I traveled this nation and this.

Speaker 6 (43:39):
World, and I took them with me.

Speaker 20 (43:40):
I took them right out of school, and because I
always thought that learning, learning can happen not just in
the classroom, it can happen on the go too, And
so being in partnership and in business with my kids,
oh my god, it makes my It's like my heart
is a on the outside of my chest right like

(44:02):
watching my daughter engage, like in the store, managing the
catering opportunities that we give, working with me inside the
actual schools, delivering our entrepreneurship training to young scholars as well.
We're about to do something with PTAS. So I'm I

(44:25):
can't even tell you how working with my daughter makes
me proud. And it also solidifies the work that I
used to do at my former employer, because one of
the last things that we did was a survey about
African American finances.

Speaker 6 (44:47):
And wealth, and a study showed that.

Speaker 20 (44:53):
Generational wealth sharing in the African American community was dismal
and that out the wealth got between us and others
was incredulous. And so I'm just so happy that I
have been able to change that trajectory.

Speaker 11 (45:12):
For my family.

Speaker 20 (45:14):
After working for almost forty years in corporate America, I
never in my life thought that I would be an entrepreneur,
and now to be an entrepreneur and our brand, being
a concession at the US Open. We've been there for
the last three years. Like every time I say that,
I'm gonna tell you my heart beats faster than.

Speaker 6 (45:36):
My toast girl, because I can't believe it right.

Speaker 20 (45:40):
We've also been a concession at City Field where the
Met's played. We've been a concession at the Hall of Science.
We've catered for big brands like Bloomberg. We just catered
yesterday for sd lutter, for the weekend for Nike. So

(46:02):
I am over the moon with the opportunities that we've had.
And the greatest one, one that I know will set
my family up for generation, for years and years to come,
is our partnerships with a Volta in Terminal five at

(46:25):
JFK Airport.

Speaker 6 (46:27):
Like I can't even say that to you without going,
oh my god, we at JFK Airport.

Speaker 20 (46:34):
All of these developments are developments that I would tell you, Darling,
I never in my wildest dreams, when I was sitting
at my dress in Newark, New Jersey, working for that
major financial services firm, I never in my life felt that.

Speaker 6 (46:50):
This would be my future.

Speaker 20 (46:52):
But I would tell you that it's important to have faith,
it's important to believe in yourself and it is important
to just move forward and learn, never stop learning.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
And so I just want to thank you for sharing
your story with us. Where can people find you online?
What's your website? Your social media? Give us all the
good information.

Speaker 20 (47:18):
Well, MEMI, thank you very much, and yes, I ask
your audience to come let us nourish them in Jamaica, Queens,
New York. We're located at one seven five guy are
Brewer Boulevard. We're open eight am to six pm Monday
through Friday and ten am to five pm on Saturday.

(47:40):
You can find us at www dot the Nourish Spot.

Speaker 6 (47:45):
You can also find us on Instagram.

Speaker 20 (47:48):
And Facebook at the Neurish Spot. We try a little
at TikTok that's the Nourish Spot I NC and you
can also find us on LinkedIn.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
Thanks Memi and Dawn. More information check out theneuriship spot
dot com and in Queen's at one seven five guy
are Brewer Boulevard. The Black Information Network and The Black
Perspective is celebrating this week our own Esther Dillard, won
her second Gracie Award for a story featuring her right
here on The Black Perspective. Because it aired at the

(48:19):
end of twenty twenty four, we thought we'd dust it
off and give those of you who missed the news
feature a chance to listen to it again. Is called
Daughters Beyond Incarceration.

Speaker 19 (48:29):
For Dominique Johnson, celebrations like birthdays and holidays have always
been a bit bittersweet.

Speaker 12 (48:35):
My father is on his forty second year of a
life sentence. He's been in prison my entire life. So
I grew up in prison. I've spent many birthdays, holidays, celebrations,
you name it. I've spent them behind bars, and so
much so that I have people that I have like

(48:56):
prison uncles, and so the world in which I I
know it was always centered around incarcerating black men.

Speaker 19 (49:04):
Dominique was in a college program that challenged her to
build a nonprofit organization, and while mentoring two young girls,
she had an epiphany.

Speaker 12 (49:13):
Because their dad and my dad was housing the same institution.
We lived less than ten minutes apart, and there was
no way that I could navigate life knowing that I
know how to overcome the obsocles that I faced and
not share with other people. And so the organization that
we were with they took that opportunity to raise millions

(49:35):
of dollars off of our story and gave us fifty
out of gift cards.

Speaker 19 (49:39):
She and her father decided they would start their own
organization and make an impact and write before the pandemic.
She made a unique connection to Troy Hankton.

Speaker 14 (49:48):
I was sentence to fourteen years in prisoner I did
ten years.

Speaker 6 (49:51):
In five months.

Speaker 19 (49:52):
For those who live in the New Orleans, Louisiana region,
this last name, Hankton came with a family history connected
to crime. Something anyone who turns on the news like
WVUE can hear.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
The cousin of drug kingpin Telly Hanton was found dead
in his prison dorm early this morning.

Speaker 19 (50:09):
It was back in twenty sixteen, the DA's Office of
the Eastern District of Louisiana announced thirty two year old
Troy Hankton pled guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms. He
was sentenced to serve one hundred and sixty eight months
behind bars. His case file says he was one of
many involved in the Handon Group, a criminal racketeering enterprise
involved in murder, bribery, money laundering, and drug trafficking. And

(50:33):
although Hankton officially pled guilty to purchasing a handgun and
shooting a man sitting in his car at a Red
Rooster about four years before his indictment. Troy says things
on the outside were not as cut and dry as
they seemed when everything happened.

Speaker 14 (50:47):
After college, I won some money I want eighty six
thousand dollars in a casino and Harris's casino. So on
perception change, I went from just a regular guide to
a lot of people looked at me as like I
was a drug deal or something like that. So because
of everything changed instantly, and most people don't see.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
That change that fast.

Speaker 14 (51:05):
So you know the perception change. And my last name
in New Orleans has a reputation of negativity, crime and violence.
So at that moment, I started embracing that I became
something that I wasn't. I embraced that I got into
an incident where I got.

Speaker 3 (51:21):
Into a shooting.

Speaker 14 (51:22):
I was legal to carriage gun. It was my own gun.
I got into a situation and I didn't stand on
the scene. So my family got into all types of
incidents where they start getting into they're going to jail
for violence and things of that nature. In twenty eleven.
It was four years and seven months later I was indicted.

Speaker 19 (51:40):
Troy says being separated from his daughters, Traniah and jerry
On was heartbreaking and so connecting with Dominique Johnson and
her nonprofit Daughters Beyond Incarceration was a godsend me being.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
A father that I am.

Speaker 14 (51:54):
You know, I was always in my kids life.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
I was always there.

Speaker 14 (51:56):
Now knowing that I'm gonna be going for such a
long period of time, it's like the worst feeling. It's
one of the worst things, like in the world, one
of the worst feelings, knowing that you can't be there
when you kids need you the most.

Speaker 11 (52:06):
Well, it was very different because like they used to
have like all their daughter dances or like as far
as they even to school, and like you know, you
used to see all the other kids with their dance
and you was sure dad was there.

Speaker 17 (52:20):
I it really was difficult, But at the same time,
it wasn't that difficult, but because I still had another
parent that I could look up to. But I just
wish that I could have had my dad feel like
for the daughter dances and stuff.

Speaker 19 (52:32):
What about How did the program help you?

Speaker 17 (52:38):
The program helped because like they built bonds with us,
and they listened to everything that we had been through,
and they actually like they hurt us out.

Speaker 11 (52:48):
The program helped because it's like you have other girls
and mentors to cope with, and so like you can
talk about your problems with them and you all y'all
already it was related to each other without getting judged.

Speaker 19 (53:00):
Dominiq Johnson says the program is designed to give the
girls who participate tools she wishes she had when coping
with life with a dad who she couldn't see daily
outside the prison laws.

Speaker 12 (53:11):
We worked to teach children that you are not your
parents' mistake. You're your own person. You have your own identity,
you have your own name, you are an individual, and
so changing the narrative was a really big step that
we needed to take with the Hanson family, and showing

(53:32):
people this side of Troy and his children is the
way to change that narrative. My ultimate goal is to
create youth leaders, but also to make education more equitable
for children that have parents in prison, and that means
making sure those incarcerated parents have an opportunity to parent
from prison. So in prison, I had to learn how

(53:53):
to be more friends with my kids. I had to
learn to be a mediated between them and their mother.
I had to learn to listen to both sides because
my baby and mother. When I talked to her, my
children's mother would always tell me problems that was going on.
So I, you know, it's easy just to take her
side and just to get on the kids. But then

(54:14):
I'm behind a prison wall on the phone. They don't
have to talk to me. They can hang up, they
don't have to answer. So I had to like be
more open minded. So I had to learn to talk
to them.

Speaker 14 (54:25):
So when I would hear the problem from the mother,
I would talk to them before I give an opinion
of a solution to anything.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
I want to hit a side.

Speaker 19 (54:33):
Troy says help from the daughters beyond incarceration helped him
get out of prison early, and so these days he
spends holidays, birthdays and special times with his family at home.

Speaker 14 (54:43):
When the pandemic hit, nine people died instantly, like so
it was like the most people when the pandemic first started,
So they reached out. I think Fox News reached out
to talk to them and dump asked did they have
any faults in that prison? And they had They didn't
do my kids so during the interview, I was basically
in special housing unit.

Speaker 12 (55:03):
Through that, Fotunes reached out.

Speaker 14 (55:05):
To some legislators and things like that, so they did
research on my case and when that happened, it started
the kars Act. So with the it was free phone calls,
so then I was able to call and talk to them.
But through that and through on the Karzact and new legislation,
I was cut. They cut nineteen months off.

Speaker 19 (55:22):
My sentence, and the day he came home, he says
he'll never forget.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
You know, it was just a moment and like.

Speaker 14 (55:27):
A moment of joy, a moment of like I tell people,
it's like, you know, getting out of prison is like
on it's like taking the last shot of a basketball
game and you just waiting on it to go in.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
You know your time is right there, you just wait.

Speaker 14 (55:38):
So it's so much excitement build up into it to
whereas as if like that moment is just unmatched, Like
for me, it's like and to see them in the
joy and the tears and to see that, it was
like it was a moment that made me realize that
on how much you mean to your kids and how much.

Speaker 19 (55:54):
They actually really loved you and Daughters Beyond Incarceration is
hoping to expand so they can help more children in
the region find hope during the holidays and beyond so.

Speaker 12 (56:03):
Esther, my program is specifically set up for girls who
go and visit their parents over the weekend. And let's
think about this. Sunday comes Sunday's visitation day. You get
up early, you get excited, and you go see your
love when incarcerated. But then you have to leave, and
it's like you're leaving half of your heart in a

(56:26):
place that you don't have access to all. Right, Esther, Now,
I want you to go to school, and I want
you to sit still for eight hours, and I want
you to listen to me give you directions and instructions.
But I don't know what you went through Sunday. I
don't know that you cried in the shower, you cried

(56:48):
in the bathtub, or you miss your loved ones phone
call before getting before coming to school. I don't know that.
But you need to sit still for eight hours. The
school program works to heal, to restore, and to support
those girls holistically. They're not coming here to get school

(57:09):
work done, They're coming here to learn about mass incarceration.
They're coming here to identify their traumas their triggers, and
they're coming here to learn how to heal from those.
DBI started out with Roshly about ten to fifteen girls,
and as of today, we have supported over one hundred
families locally. Statewide, we work to support the ninety four

(57:29):
thousand children that are impacted by parental incarceration, and we
work to support them through legislation.

Speaker 19 (57:34):
It's legislation that helps incarcerated parents attend graduations and other
milestones in their children's lives. In Louisiana, It's a step
toward healing that Dominique Johnson knows is important.

Speaker 12 (57:46):
I got my panther changed on my dad's lap in
the visitation room. My dad fed me lunch on his
lap in the prison room. My dad taught me how
to color inside the lines in the prison visitation room.
My dad learned how to comb my hair inside of
the prison visitation room. And mind you, I had a

(58:07):
Jeri girl. My dad and I had the sex talk
inside of a prison visitation room. My dad learned when
I got my cycle inside of a prison visitation room.
So most milestones that children experience with their parents outside
and their homes. We experience inside of prison bars. Every

(58:27):
time I broke a track meet record or and I
became a Saint Champion, we celebrated inside of the prison
visitation room. There was no outside celebration at any point.
We were inside, locked up, and no jold should.

Speaker 9 (58:42):
Have to endure that.

Speaker 19 (58:45):
If you'd liked to help with continuing efforts to help
children who have incarcerated parents, go to dB I and
ola dot org. I'm Esther Dillard for the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
Thanks Esther, and congratulations again on your reporting and production
for this story. For those of you who want to
revisit the story, go to our website at binnews dot
com and search for Daughters Beyond Incarceration.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
And that's our.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
Program for this week. For more on these stories, listen
to the Black Information Network on the iHeartRadio app or
log onto binnews dot com for all of the latest
news impacting the black community. Make the Black Information Network
number one on your car radio and iHeartRadio app. Presets.
Also be sure to follow us on social media at
Black Information Network and on X and Blue Sky at

(59:34):
Black Info Net. I'm Mike Island, 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