The Black Perspective: September 15, 2024

This week on the Black Perspective, Vanessa Tyler highlights Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. Esther Dillard wraps up her three-part series on Sickle Cell Awareness Month, while Alexandria Ikomoni discusses Back to School season with Black author and literacy specialist Yvette Manns. Plus, Morgyn Wood interviews R&B artist and DC native Raheem DeVaughn.

Listen now!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Sunday, September fifteenth, and on today's show, Vanessa Tyler
talks about Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. Esther Dillar closes
out her three part series on September being Sickle Cell Month,
Alexandria Icamoni talks back to school season with evett Man's
Morgan Wood talks to R and B artist and DC
native Raheem DeVaughn, and I get to talk to the

(00:22):
COO of Life remodeled a wide reaching effort to revitalize
communities through meaningful collaboration. These stories and more are coming
your way. On today's program, Welcome to the Black Perspective.
I'm your host, Mike Island.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Good Sunday to everyone, and welcome to another edition of
The Black Perspective on the Black Information Network. September tenth
through the sixteenth is Direct Support Professional Recognition Week and
More Than Work New York is commemorating the occasion by
an honoring the entire Direct Support workforce the Black Information
That Works. Vanessa Tyler speaks with a woman who says

(01:06):
DSP work is more fulfilling than an ordinary nine to five.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Everyone loves payday, but what if your job gives you
more than just a check. What if it gives you
a fulfilling sense of helping others? Well. Lenia Abraham Chaplin
can tell us all about that. She's a DSP a
direct support professional. Lenia, welcome, thank you. Tell us what
is a DSP?

Speaker 4 (01:29):
A direct support professional helps people with disabilities, either in
their home setting or in a group setting during the day,
throughout the evening, through the weekends.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
That's what a direct support professional is.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Why are DSPs so special?

Speaker 4 (01:46):
DSPs are very special people because they are like family.
I've been in this field industry for fifteen years, and
the people that I care for are my family, and
they would consider me there is if you were to
encounter any of them, they would say that we're family.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
What does the work entail?

Speaker 4 (02:06):
A direct support professional helps with life skills cooking, cleaning, bathing,
creating activities, running a household. So I would even say
I started here when I was twenty years old. So
just let basic life skills for me, learning how to

(02:26):
budget a house, clean, cook, run a family, those were
all things that someone as a DSP would do.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
You know, it's interesting. I know you said you started
a twenty but I think I've read somewhere that you
really started just to make ends meet, like any college student,
and then what changed when you really got into the work.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
So I was starting my junior year of college and
I was looking for a part time job that was
flexible for my schedule in school, and with being a DSP,
I came into a new world I didn't even know about.
I mean, you probably see people in grocery stores.

Speaker 5 (03:04):
At the mall, at parks.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Taking care of people with special needs or disabilities, but
you don't know what they are. So getting engulfed and
learning about it and finding out what comes to play
and how many people on a team come together to
make a house or program run for these people with
something that we take for granted, either walking by yourself

(03:28):
or eating by yourself, or advocating for yourself that as
a direct sport professional comes into play.

Speaker 5 (03:34):
When you're a DSP, this.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Is personal to you, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
Yes, Why so I get I said, it becomes family.
So I always joke about how when I started, I
would take the people I take care of out to places.
Let's safe for instant of place where you go to
be twenty one to get in. So it was kind
of comical because I'm the chaperon make sure that they're
taking care of and reality they were the of age.
So it taught me that I want to make sure

(03:58):
that our community is safe, that are a community understands
one another, and that despite maybe some obstacle that may
come in the way, that we're all the same. These
individuals just need a little bit.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Of help and we are their support.

Speaker 6 (04:10):
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Talk a little bit about the clients, the people themselves,
what are some of the conditions, and how do they
get along with each other, and how do they get
along with the ds.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
We Fortunately, the house that I am starting in there
are five guys, so they were in their twenties and.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
It was like a dorm room.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
There's love, there is drama, there is goals, wanting different jobs,
wanting different experiences, going to baseball games, basketball games, concerts,
all the aboves. So working with them is basically running
a family. If you were to live with your siblings,
or if you were to live with roommates, it would

(04:48):
be the same thing.

Speaker 5 (04:49):
As what can we do to help these.

Speaker 4 (04:52):
Individuals live the same or even better life than what
we have.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
We are speaking with Lenia Abraham Chaplain is providing the
behind the same story of love and fulfillment of becoming
a direct support professional. Is this a job for anyone?

Speaker 4 (05:08):
Easy to say, because there's some oftentimes a shortage of
DSPs that will take anyone, But that's not the case.
You have to want to make someone achieve goals, because
they do have goals. Goals to either budget goes, to
walk or make food in your own or study and
explore or even go to school. So these are all

(05:30):
things that you want to come with the heart to
want to serve, want to help, to want to.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
Educate the community. My why is to educate the community
that we are all the same.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
You know a lot of time we would work and
then nine to five we're home and we kind of like,
maybe not think about it till tomorrow. But this is
the kind of work where you're probably thinking about them
all the time.

Speaker 5 (05:50):
So you take on the worry.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
I guess you would say for me a mom, I
have two tatlers now, but I'm was well prepared because
of working in this environment you do think about them,
they become your family, like I said before, or even
if you had a loved one that's in the nursing room.
Let's say you think about them, you don't ever forget them.
They make impact on you and it just changes your

(06:13):
whole world.

Speaker 5 (06:13):
I would not be the same person i am.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
I wouldn't know how to run a household or budget,
or cook, or take care or make doctor's appointments without
this job. So this job has taught me a lot
of life skills that you can't learn in a book
or at school.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
What about the families of your clients, what's their response
to the DSV?

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Very grateful because you're leaving your loved one with people
to take care of you.

Speaker 5 (06:38):
So you do become a great community.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
The communications is very important and we don't push the
families away. We want them there. We want them to
include them in their lives. What is it that they
liked before they came to live at the group homes?
Not a place of you don't see your family anymore
or your community?

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Is it only in home of ser or would you
have the DSPs go to the family home to help
or is it usually in a facility Some individuals.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
They live at home still with their families, and then
they come to day program where they will have DSPs.
Some go out with the DSPs in a group setting
to either the mall or to functions throughout the day.
Some will go to even like work and maybe have
like a DSP stay with them to help job coach
them with that. Some come to the facilities and do

(07:28):
arts and crafts.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
Or watch movies or skill sets there.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
And then is it twenty four hour things, so we
have people working in the morning properly, getting them ready,
doing breakfasts. Then they go to program or stay home
or do the craft of the day. And then there's
the evening shift where you make dinner and do evening.

Speaker 5 (07:48):
Crafts, maybe go to bingo.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
And then on the weekends a lot oftentimes some do
either baseball or horseback riding.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
You name it.

Speaker 4 (07:56):
What is it that they really love or enjoy, and
we try to make it so that they can enjoy
it and really enjoy life.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Any training involved, you.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
Do CPR training first aid as well. The DSPs also
will administer medications, so you have to get medication certified,
so knowing how to read the script, knowing how to
administrate the medications. There is also training on how to
handle situations.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
I mean some individuals may.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
Have triggers that may make them upset and so figuring
out how to alleviate the stressors or prevent things from happening.
I would say I had an individual that but gets
so upset if a change was made quickly, So knowing
that ahead of time to make sure that it's a
smooth transition, explaining that.

Speaker 5 (08:42):
So take it as a toddler. Like I said, it
taught me life skills.

Speaker 4 (08:46):
So my child we're transitioning to the doctor's office really quickly,
having a conversation to speak with him and say, hey.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
We're going to the doctor. Then after the doctor, we're
going here.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
So preparing them for those situations that are quickly snapping
to something because life gets busy. We just want to
move forward quickly and just do what life has to give,
but just take it a moment back to step back
and listen and understand and learn.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
So those are also training skills we learn.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Any other jobs in that particular profession other than the
direct service with the client.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
Yeah, so most group homes have nurses.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
So if we start with LPNs, there's urns as well,
they make appointments, make sure that the medications are being
administrated correctly. There's also the home assistant or coordinator. They
help create crafts, activities, plan events for them to go
out in the community. And then there's a house manager
as well, so it is a stepping stone too. There's

(09:42):
different levels of DSPs as well, so that also helps
me with school too. I learned so much from them
to help incorporate into my learning and education.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Tell me about the trajectory in this particular career. You
can start as a DSP and then where can you go?

Speaker 4 (09:58):
So there's so many apps news of mental health and
people with developmental disabilities. There are some colleges that are
now offering direct support professional trainings, so you become a
direct support professional.

Speaker 5 (10:14):
Level one, two three.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
You can become a house coordinator or assistant manager or
health managers running the homes. You could also then venture
out afterwards into mental health. You could become a care
manager or a job developer, finding jobs the community for
people with special needs or disabilities, and then you can
also go into human resources. There's many different avenues to

(10:37):
follow to get to where your goal may be. But
in organizations such as this every part matters, every part
counts to make the lives and the individuals feel as
if they're getting all that life has to offer.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Well, you know, that's great news to see that there
is growth. So you can start one place, but you
can literally make a career out of it. Yes, linea
where can people learn more of they're interested in this
type of work.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
So if you're interested in becoming a direct support professional,
one website you can check out is www dot direct
Support careers dot com where you can vend you out
and apply for a job today.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Well, this is all so awesome. Lenia Abraham Chaplin, thank
you for your care, compassion and inside scoop unto the TSPs,
thank you so much.

Speaker 5 (11:26):
Thank you so much. Just appreciate it. I just love
what I do.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
It's a great place to work and you leave every
day knowing that you made a difference.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Is this a path for you? Discover the rewarding journey
of the direct support professional from people who live it
every day. Again the website Directsupport careers dot com.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Thanks Vanessa and for more info go to direct Support
careers dot com. September a Sickle cell Awareness month. People
of African descent make up ninety percent of the population
who are affected by this generic blood disorder in the US.
In Part Time three of our series called sickle Cell
a Black community Crisis, our own Esther Dillard shares how
one woman's sickle cell journey started with a marriage proposal,

(12:08):
then led to a discovery that she was from a
bloodline of African royalty.

Speaker 7 (12:20):
I applied for a job as a residential summer camp
counselor the.

Speaker 8 (12:25):
Moria Brandon says. That was around nineteen seventy in Chicago, Illinois.

Speaker 7 (12:31):
And when I went to the orientation, this man, Walter Brandon,
saw me walk in and he pulled the chair out
next to him, like that was to be my chair,
which normally I wouldn't respond to that, but I sat
in that cheer.

Speaker 8 (12:47):
It started a relationship that blossomed into love. And then
one day Walter popped the question.

Speaker 7 (12:53):
He said, you know, I've never shared this with you,
but I have sickle cell disease. Well, I really didn't know.
I knew the words sickle cell and know much about it,
and so I said, why would you tell me this?
You know now you're proposing to me. He said, because
I wanted to make sure that you cared about me

(13:14):
as a person, and that you didn't feel sorry for
me because I have a disease.

Speaker 8 (13:19):
He told her, his father, twin sisters, and brothers all
had sickle cell disease. Sickle cell is a genetic disorder
that affects the red blood cells, causing them to mutate,
some having cells that appear like a letter C or
sickle in the bloodstream. It often causes painful episodes and
can lead to stroke and early death. The CDC says

(13:40):
around one hundred thousand people have sickle cell in the US,
and ninety percent of them are black. Despite knowing the risks,
Zamoria still said yes to marriage and the couple started
a journey that led them to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Speaker 7 (13:55):
Once he graduated from college getting his master's degrees, he
was offered a job in Philadelphia and Walter got involved
with the support group at one of the major hospitals
and became like an organizer with that group. And then
when the federal government cut off the funding, it was

(14:16):
a social worker that challenged Walter and the group, don't
sit around waiting for a handout, why not start your
own organization.

Speaker 8 (14:25):
That's how her organization started, which is now the Sickle
Cell Disease Association of America Philadelphia Delaware Valley chapter. These days,
she advocates for sickle cell patients, many who need strong
drugs to deal with painful episodes.

Speaker 7 (14:39):
Children are on morphine for pain children, you know, So
this is not something you decided you want to take.
This is your prescription throughout your life that you're going
to have to take this pain medication. So that's a
sore issue. And the other issue that we don't even

(14:59):
talk about and people don't know about is those that
are incarcerated that have sickle cell disease. At least in Pennsylvania,
sickle cell is not on the Chronic Disease Registry and
so therefore there is no particular protocol. So we have
certain doctors that have been contacted to speak with the
medical director about what does this mean? What do we

(15:22):
need to do In the prisons system, you don't get opioids.

Speaker 9 (15:27):
You know.

Speaker 7 (15:27):
They think you're supposed to have like a tilerol or
you know, something like that, or even an aspirin. They
don't know. So we're fighting that battle.

Speaker 3 (15:37):
She told me.

Speaker 8 (15:38):
Thankfully, the daughter she had with Walter, who is now
thirty nine does not have sickle cell disease. Her husband,
Walter Brandon, died in nineteen ninety eight at fifty nine
years old, but that didn't stop her from advocating for patients.

Speaker 7 (15:51):
Philadelphia is a very cultural city. We have a lot
of immigrants here and I've partnered with different Immigrants organization,
specifically African and Caribbean because our work impacts that community,
so being supportive of them, being supportive of what we're doing,
and we're supportive of what they're doing, we can reach

(16:12):
out and use them as a resource to help those
that are coming in or that are here that have
sickle cell disease, that may be undocumented, may be afraid
to go to a hospital program, you know, because they're
not trusting, they don't know what might happen to them.

Speaker 8 (16:31):
Zamoria is also an ordained interfaith minister who has always
had a love for African influenced culture and art, and
just out of curiosity, she took a DNA test to
see what connection she had to the African continent.

Speaker 7 (16:44):
My DNA showed that I was My mother's ancestral line
goes back to the Akan people in a Kragana, so
that kind of like the set the tone for me
getting a phone call from a doctor Samuel Corte, who's
a pediatrist whose office was across the street from my house.

(17:06):
And he called me and he says, Zamoria, I'd like
to nominate you to be installed as one of our queens.
And I said, you know me. Why would you want me?
He said, because I've watched your work. I've watched your walk,
and I've watched how you have been so attentive to
your husband with sickle cell. October of twenty eleven, the

(17:30):
Kingmaker Ni a Marquis, the third of the Austri royal family,
came to Philadelphia and instilled four people. I was one
of being four people that was installed. I am an
installed queen through the Ashri Royal family in Akra, Ghana.

(17:51):
My royal name is not day de Ota, the first.
I have a village in Ghana called Ajin.

Speaker 8 (17:58):
Koto Ku says it's something she knows. Had her mother
still been alive, she would have been shocked, but yet
proud and.

Speaker 7 (18:05):
It's so interesting esther My mother said, when my sister
and I we were growing up. I have two brothers.
She would say, I am raising you girls. So that
you can walk among kings and queens. So get it together.
And unfortunately, my mom passed two years before I was installed,

(18:29):
so she never but she planned to the seat.

Speaker 8 (18:33):
An African queen with a royal assignment of shining the
light on the challenges of sickle cell disease. In fact,
her organization helped usher in world Sickle Cell Awareness Day,
celebrated every year on June nineteenth. She's partnered with dozens
of organizations around the country to get tall buildings to
illuminate their roofs in red on that day as a

(18:54):
reminder for others to acknowledge sickle cell disease.

Speaker 7 (18:57):
Donating blood is a major major issue and people can
go and donate blood now and designate that it goes
to the sickle cell program, whether it be pediatric or
what have you. And in Pennsylvania, well all over, they
put a special blue tag on that blood, so that's

(19:21):
how it's identifiable.

Speaker 8 (19:23):
She added that every black person should make sure that
they ask their doctor to check for sickle cell trait.

Speaker 7 (19:30):
With the fact that one out of every ten to
twelve African Americans is a trade carrier and because they're
very minor symptoms with it. Most people don't know that
they are trade carriers. And so now with the Red Cross,

(19:50):
the American Red Cross, if you go to a blood
drive and you are a person of color, black or
brown person, you can be screened for sickle cell trade.
Is this like we think about HIV and AIDS? We
say do you know your status? And so that's what
we're saying. Now we're at a healthfare and someone comes

(20:10):
up and they want to talk about sickle celler the trade,
We'll say do you know your status? And they'll say,
well no, and I'll say, you know, this is how
you can find out.

Speaker 8 (20:22):
And knowing your status can mean a world of difference
for you and generations to come. I'm Esther Dillard with
the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Thanks Esther, and if you'd like to get involved with
your local sickle cell association, go to Sickle Cell Disease
dot org and find a chapter near you.

Speaker 10 (20:41):
The Black Information That Works.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Morgan would call up with an R and B singer
who is also her fellow DMV native at the Democratic
National Convention, and he talked about the stereotype around entertainers
when they speak publicly on politics and how he uses
his music to spread a message.

Speaker 9 (20:57):
So talk to me about tonight DNC to the Obama spoke.

Speaker 6 (21:02):
How do you feel?

Speaker 11 (21:02):
It's amazing you know that I wasn't. I was at
a different stage of my career, you know, during during
the Obama campaign. Although I've always been one of those
one of those persons that believes is very important to voting,
you know, exercising my vote for you know, ever since
I've turned eighteen. Uh, but yeah, to be where I'm at,
where I'm at in my career right now, to be

(21:24):
in my season, you know, to see that this is
to bear witness to what the VP you know, her
being in her season and you know, and to be
able to uh be be the editainor as I prefer
to myself as not an entertainer but an editainer that
I am. You know, I feel I feel right at home.
You know, it's very surreal. I'm learning a lot, you
know what I mean? And uh, and to doing my part, man,

(21:46):
you know, we got to do our part.

Speaker 9 (21:48):
Where you talk about women, strong women women woman.

Speaker 11 (21:51):
Yeah, I've always been I think I've been coined as
one of those artists you know amongst my PIDs who
you know is zoos and just wants to, you know,
make women feel beautiful, you know, through the lyrics and
and uh on and off stage, you know, whether whether
it's my love life foundation and doing community work, you know,

(22:12):
pertaining the domestic violence, or just things that you know,
that that that that that that that that make them
feel good, you know what I mean.

Speaker 10 (22:19):
Yeah, make the women feel good.

Speaker 7 (22:20):
You know.

Speaker 11 (22:21):
I think about my mother, who's eighty now and who's
home watching these moments. I think about my grandmother, who's
one of the strongest women I know growing up, you know,
along with my mother, So I feel right at home.
And yeah, it's it's this is this is it's your time.

Speaker 9 (22:37):
Talk to me about Some people say that, you know,
people like or entertainers should stay away from politics, things
of that nature.

Speaker 6 (22:45):
What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 11 (22:45):
I think I think I don't. I'll never say that.
I'll never say what anybody should stay away from. I
think I think rather than saying that, I think that
as entertainers, as public figures, as humanitarians, as human beings,
we should we should we should be be willing to
be the sponge. And it's just and learn, you know
what I mean. Yeah, it's it's about learning. And you know,

(23:09):
getting the information and disseminating the information getting out to
the people. And uh yeah, I think I think it's
a learning process. I think we should focus on on
the learning process. And as you and if you're an
artist that is bold, you're bold enough to use your art,
you know, uh as a as a means to advocate, teach, learn, protect,
you know, heal, love. You know, when I make music,

(23:32):
I did with that five twenty eight megahartz energy, So
you know what I mean, Like I get it. And
you know this is a you know, I don't do
what I do as a promise to myself, but I
do it as a promise to the creator, you know.
And and I'm a fun believer that you know, you're
doing the biggest You're probably doing the biggest the service
to God by now utilizing your talents for what they

(23:54):
should be used for.

Speaker 6 (23:55):
So thank you appreciation.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Problem Life Remodeled works with communities and organization to create
neighborhood revitalization that lasts. This unique model repurposes vacant school
buildings into one stop hubs of opportunity where families can thrive.
The hubs are filled with the best and brightest nonprofit
organizations and facilitate collaboration to create far greater life transformation together.

(24:18):
Starting off in Detroit, the program is destined to reach
cities around the country. With me to talk about this
life changing community effort is Life Remodeled. Chief Operating Officer
Diallo Smith.

Speaker 12 (24:28):
Thank you for having me, all right.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
You have a great organization. There are a lot of
good moving parts to this, but I want to start
off with you and a little bit about you and
how what inspired you to do something so amazing?

Speaker 12 (24:42):
Great question. I like to answer that by always stating
that I'm at my heart, I'm just a kid from
the east side of the tree, and I had an
opportunity to go to undergrad in your hometown, home state,
at Wilberforce University, and then from there, I was a
young guy and it's just wanted to go into the

(25:03):
corporate arena. So was happy and excited to get invited
to start my career down in Houston, Texas in the
energy sector and worked there for a long while, did
very well, working for some very large oil and gas
firms there, and then my wife and I we got
married and we were both doing very well. But you know,
something hit us and that was that we while we

(25:25):
were doing very well financially, we felt like we wanted
to do more to have an impact on the ground
and with the people that we love and the people
that looked like it, sound like and feel like us.
And so, you know, a long story short, we moved
from Texas back home to Detroit, where my wife and
I was from and just wanted to be a part
of the growing energy that was happening in Detroit. A

(25:47):
lot of great things were happening and are happening at
the time, and we didn't know how all that was
going to shake out for us, but we just knew
we were We felt called to be a part of
the upward trend that Detroy was moving in and to
be a blessing were the people in it. And so
for me, working with Life and Model, which is a
nonprofit focused on Detroit neighborhood revitalization, was just a one

(26:10):
to one match, apples for apples match or dream come
true because I get to do what I have always
longed to do, and that is helped create a better
future for Detroit neighborhoods. And so here I am utilizing
a lot of those skills, a lot of those experiences
from our previous line of work to hopefully add some
benefit to the city that we love.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah, and the key word here is blessing, just being
a blessing to others and sharing the wealth in a
lot of ways through the organization. Let's talk a little
bit about the organization itself and how you got started
with that. And I know there are somewhere in there
is a tale of two nations.

Speaker 12 (26:49):
Yeah, yeah, you know, Detroit is a very interesting city, right,
And I know we had a little bit of a
back and forth before we started to interview, with you
being from Ohio and me being from Michigan and the
two of us coming together. But I think I think,
you know, in my heart, our hearts, I believe that
what can happen with Detroit is indicative of what can

(27:09):
happen anywhere where you have a large urban area, this
urban area that has a large black and brown population,
and that's what Detroit represents and so likely modeled. Our
scope is our why is this and this is why
we get up in the morning, why I get up
in the morning. What fuels us, and that is we
believe detroiters have all the talent that they need but

(27:33):
many don't have access to the opportunities that they deserve,
right and they don't know what exists, and they don't
know it exists. And so our scope was, you know,
let's let's there's lots of great things happening in the
in the city Detroit proper, a lot of great developments
going on in downtown and Midtown and some of those areas,
but let's really focus on on what's happening in our neighborhoods.
And so what we do is we repurpose vacant school

(27:58):
buildings into what we call opportunity hubs and to kind
of get some lens into what opportunity hub is. If
you can imagine, even where I'm sitting at right now
is a former classroom that's been converted into an office space,
but this building, which encompasses one hundred and forty four
thousand square feet, was a former middle school that was

(28:19):
closed by the Detroit Public School District and now habits
thirty five nonprofits who are all bringing direct services to
this particular neighborhood, whether that's job opportunities through some great
workforce development organizations that are here, or youth led organizations

(28:39):
like a Big Brother Big Sister who are also a
house here Metro EHS, which serves young people with autistic skills,
helping them with speech therapy and socialization skills their house here.
So just a network of different organizations that are here,
all informed by what the community indicated where the biggest

(29:01):
opportunity gaps that they wanted to see filled in their neighborhood.
That's kind of the thumb bail description of what we
do here, what an opportunity of is, in what our
in what our focus is and re purposing Vacan school buildings.

Speaker 10 (29:16):
That is amazing.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
You sort of created a one stop shop for those
who need several services.

Speaker 12 (29:20):
That's what we call it. You know, so what we
found in our communities. You may have a gymnasium here
or maybe a computer lapp there, but what we found
is that when you for example, one of our organizations
here is called Metro Detroit Youth Club, is there are
young people. They have some have the school studies, they
have some athletic things that they do. But when a

(29:42):
parent drops their their child off here, then as they're
walking around, they may see other resources that may help
and support them. We have a federally qualified health center
here so they may need some health resources and services
that they can be attracted to. Again, I mentioned our
Michigan work Office with Grizzel's employment opportunities, So it's all

(30:03):
here to serve the whole family and to make a
very comprehensive network of resources and services that can bridge
those opportunity.

Speaker 10 (30:13):
Guts well for individuals and families alike. That is amazing.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
Absolutely, be sure to tune in next week for part
two of my interview about Life Remodeled. For more information,
visit liferemodeled dot org. Now Alexandria talks back to school
season with evet Mans. Kids all across the country are
now back in school and black author and literacy specialist
vet Man's shares tips for parents to improve their reading

(30:38):
and much more. Bi In News anchor Alexandria Icimoni talks
with her to get all of the details.

Speaker 13 (30:44):
What's if guys, He's a girl. Alexandria Icimoni iHeartRadio in
the studio with a one and only author and literacy specialist, Evetman.

Speaker 14 (30:53):
How you doing today?

Speaker 6 (30:54):
Hello, I'm great, so excited to be here.

Speaker 14 (30:56):
Yes, happy to have you. Beautiful smile by the way,
beautiful personality.

Speaker 6 (31:00):
Thank you. I appreciate it.

Speaker 14 (31:01):
I love it. I love it.

Speaker 13 (31:02):
I cannot wait to dive into the conversation today because
you do so much for the kids. We're back to
school and there's honestly so much to talk about. So first,
tell me more about what you do and how you
specifically help kids in the classrooms.

Speaker 15 (31:14):
Absolutely so, I started as a classroom teacher. I grew
up in New York City, moved to Atlanta to go
to clock Atlanta University and started teaching third grade.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
I taught fifth grade in.

Speaker 15 (31:25):
Kindergarten, and then had transitioned to work at a research
center where we study the brain science with how humans
acquire language. So over the years, I've become a certified
dyslexia practitioner, and I've also worked for curriculum companies to
ensure authentic, accurate representation of black and brown children in
the textbooks when you turn pages, and then it all depends.

Speaker 6 (31:49):
Sometimes I do trainings for.

Speaker 15 (31:50):
Schools and I just came off of my third keynote
speech at a literacy conference this summer.

Speaker 14 (31:56):
I love it.

Speaker 13 (31:57):
You do so much, a lot of great stuff, so
that is fantas So tell me more about what you're
working on right now as kids are going back to school.
I mean, I see a lot of books here too.
So what's going.

Speaker 14 (32:07):
On in your world right now?

Speaker 15 (32:09):
Okay, so my world is very, very busy, but in
a good way. I'm so blessed to be able to
fulfill my purpose in my passion simultaneously. And I've created
a line of books that are called phonics Read alouds.

Speaker 14 (32:21):
I love it.

Speaker 15 (32:22):
And so a lot of us realize, you know, even
if we're engaging with people on the online space or text,
that there seems to be a disconnect with how we communicate.
And there was a while in the United States that
we were not teaching explicit phonics, like we were not
teaching children how to directly decode or break.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
The code of letters and language.

Speaker 15 (32:42):
So we went through some transitions in our education ecosystem
where we were doing something called whole language, where children
were just supposed to get the words in its whole entirety.
Then we went to something called balanced literacy.

Speaker 6 (32:54):
But now we.

Speaker 15 (32:55):
Are implementing something called structured literacy, which is based on
a body of research. It's called the science of reading,
and basically, educators and neuroscientists work together to understand how
we acquire language. That can be a lot for educators, right,
and a lot for parents too. So as parents, I
believe that we are our child's first teacher, and so

(33:17):
it's important for us to lay the foundation for our
children to be successful. So I've taken all those years
of experience and all that knowledge and created a series
of books. And these books are educative in their nature.
So a lot of teachers use the books in their
classroom to help their kids understand difficult concepts.

Speaker 14 (33:36):
I love it.

Speaker 13 (33:37):
So if you could, I know, they're all amazing, right,
all very functional and really helpful for the kids. If
you could pick one that you feel like every single
classroom across the country needs to have, what would that
one book be?

Speaker 15 (33:51):
And it's hard, Yes, I would say this one. It's
called the Very Special Heart Words. And heart words are
high frequency words or what we used to call site words.
So back in the day, we used to do killing, drill,
skill and drill with flash cards and try to get
our children to memorize these words. But what happens is

(34:11):
when you use that strategy is that you're overloading your
child's brain cognitively. They're developing, they're learning so many things,
and if they're committing these words just to cite, it
doesn't really give them the strategies to read and engage
with words. So Heard Words is an approach that helps
students to understand which parts of words match and parts
of words need to be memorized by heart. So there's

(34:35):
a strategy is called phoneme grapheme mapping. So a phoneme
is a sound in English, and we have twenty six
letters in English, but there are forty four phonemes, forty
four different sounds, and children have to know how to
map that or match it to the letter that represents it.
So some words are phonetically irregular, like the word of

(34:56):
O typically says, a F typically says, but together it
sounds like a un a V.

Speaker 6 (35:01):
That would be a hard word.

Speaker 15 (35:02):
So this book helps educators and parents work with children
so that they can figure out which words have the
little irregular parts so they can move past it and
grow their vocabulary.

Speaker 13 (35:12):
I love it very very helpful for the kids to
really have, you know, the best tools in their hand
to be successful in life and in reading. So thank
you for that very quick question, because you mentioned like
parents should be teaching their kids at home.

Speaker 14 (35:27):
There I see it on social media.

Speaker 13 (35:28):
The whole movement not movement, but a lot of people
are vocal about the fact of you know, I might
not need to teach my child at home because they
have their teacher in school for eight hours a day.

Speaker 14 (35:40):
That should take care of it.

Speaker 13 (35:41):
What are your thoughts on really having parents teach their
kids reading or any other subject at the house in
order for them to be successful.

Speaker 15 (35:51):
Yes, so I would ask a parent, if you could
give your child an advantage in life that would pay
off dividends and wealth and opportunity and potential, would you
give that to your child? Most parents would say absolutely,
I would, And that's what you're doing by teaching your
child at home. But teaching your child at home does
not have to be complicated at all. There are things
that you can do, like talking to your kids that

(36:13):
exposes them to oral language.

Speaker 6 (36:15):
So when they learn.

Speaker 15 (36:16):
How to decode words, and let's say they're reading a
word like canoe, then they can reference the conversation that
you had at home with them and build a connection.
And the brain actually connects the synapses of the oral
language they hear and the school language. But it's so
important and it's really easier than we think. We can
do something very simple. So I'm a mom also, and

(36:38):
my son is two years old and he is just
the sweetest and he's really into dinosaurs. So all toddlers
are into dinosaurs for some reason. I don't know what
it is, because it's adorable. But as a parent, it's
my responsibility to tap into my child's interest and build
off of that.

Speaker 6 (36:56):
So if I see.

Speaker 15 (36:57):
He's interested in dinosaurs, we could discuss dinosaurs, or I
can talk with him as we're playing and say, oh, wow,
I noticed the dinosaur leaped over the volcano. And I'm
giving him language that he'll use later on. And then
there's there's things like nursery rhymes. Remember we used to
say nurse wars. Yeah, that does something in a child's
brain called developing their phonological awareness. So it's the awareness

(37:20):
of the sounds that make up the words and word parts.
But just by singing a nursery rhyme to your child,
you're helping them to get ready to read, and you're
really really giving them an advantage.

Speaker 14 (37:30):
I love it.

Speaker 13 (37:30):
Like you said, that kind of wealth and power that
you can give to your kids. I mean you would
say yes to it, and there's nothing better than education
and literacy. So thank you for that. And you were
talking about this too, you touched on it briefly, just
you know, helping, you know, making sure they're reading and
understanding and really excelling. From the pandemic. We have noticed
that kids really aren't reading on their grade levels anymore,

(37:54):
and the pandemic is to blame, whether that's virtual or
not having classes for some time, whatever the case may be.
So I'm curious to get your thoughts on where you think,
you know, how that hall transpired and where.

Speaker 14 (38:06):
Do we go from there.

Speaker 6 (38:07):
That's a great question.

Speaker 15 (38:08):
Yeah, So my personal opinion about the pandemic is that
it brought to the surface the reading crisis in the
United States. But the reading crisis has been there for
at least thirty years. If you look at the data
from the National Association of Education Progress, you'll see that
for the last thirty years we've been very stagnant in
literacy and now post pandemic, we see it more because

(38:29):
it's been brought to the surface, but it's always been
there and it's been quiet. So now we have the
responsibility to go back and meet our children where they
are and give them what they need so they can
go where they need to go.

Speaker 13 (38:42):
Yeah, and what would they need from your perspective, what resources,
what methods to really help them.

Speaker 15 (38:48):
Excel So in their classroom, I would really encourage parents
to make sure that their teachers are using a structured
literacy approach. So basically that means that children are directly
learned learning like a. It says A, and it says
a and it also makes another sound when it's next
to the letter M or N, and they're getting that
direct instruction and nothing is implied and it doesn't necessarily

(39:12):
matter about the age of the child. I've seen children
in fifth and sixth grade who don't know all the
letter sounds, and so when they're trying to read longer
words with more than one syllable, they're struggling. So it's
important that we meet our students where they are make
sure we use evidence based practices to really fill in
the gaps. And as parents, there's so much power in

(39:33):
things that we do. When things we expose our child to,
even reading to them or getting caught reading and building
a habit of reading has been statistically shown to improve
a child's attitude and motivation.

Speaker 6 (39:44):
And interest in reading too.

Speaker 13 (39:46):
I love that a lot of great knowledge and power
and resources that can be really used to advance our kids.
So I do want to also ask, because you're talking about,
you know, things that they that can be done in schools,
what about parents? What advice can you give to parents
for them to help make sure their kids are at
least reading on their grade level or even advancing in
that area too.

Speaker 6 (40:06):
Okay, great questions.

Speaker 15 (40:07):
So I think of all the opportunities that we have
to engage with our child with language and literacy because
they go hand in hand. Our bodies and our brains
work that we have expressive functions and receptive functions. So
receptive functions are taking in language and reading books, but
expressive functions are reading or are actually writing and speaking.

(40:28):
So even if your child can just scribble, get in
them to be able to hold a marker and give
a recap of a story in a picture that makes
sense to them. All those things are priming your child
for that. If you want to go a little deeper
into some things that are more streamlined, you can actually
practice your letter sounds with your child, so you can say,

(40:48):
like a says at what sound does a say? And
then have your students say act. But remember there's the
twenty six letters. But then we've got those forty four sounds,
so th says, but it also says, So there's a
couple of variations. There's a really good video on YouTube
where you'll actually see me articulating the forty four phone ames.

Speaker 6 (41:08):
So if you want to look at that as.

Speaker 15 (41:09):
A reference and practice that with your child, you're giving
them a leg up so when they get to school,
they already know their letter sounds and they'll be ahead.

Speaker 6 (41:17):
Of the ball.

Speaker 15 (41:18):
You can also do activities like at home, we do
activities with gummy bears, and I'll have my son, it's
so funny, first of all, trying to get him to
not eat the gummy.

Speaker 14 (41:27):
Bears, but challenge yes.

Speaker 15 (41:29):
But I'll say the dog is running, and I'll tell
him to move a gummy bear for every word that
he hears in the sentence, so he'll say the dog
is running, and it builds word level awareness within a sentence,
and that's one of the things that your child would
need to do in kindergarten and beyond.

Speaker 6 (41:48):
But we can do that at home and then make
the game of it.

Speaker 15 (41:50):
Let them eat the gummy bears once they got it right,
or you know, talk them through it positively.

Speaker 6 (41:55):
But building a culture of.

Speaker 15 (41:57):
Reading and a love for reading and then doing those
things that we can do with what we have really
sets our child up to be very successful and learn
to love to read.

Speaker 14 (42:05):
I love that.

Speaker 13 (42:06):
And you're speaking of success, how or what tips can
you give parents or the students right now who are
going back to school for a successful school year of learning.

Speaker 6 (42:17):
My first thought is, of course, to get.

Speaker 13 (42:19):
Respt that's real, that's so necessary, absolutely, and there are
things that we can do, like even making sure that
our child wakes up on time but has a nutritious breakfast,
because if your stomach is growling so loud, you're not
paying attention anything that's happened, even as adults, or if
you're falling asleep, you may not be as engaged.

Speaker 6 (42:40):
And then for parents, I always say to advocate for
your child. So if that.

Speaker 15 (42:44):
Means going to meetings and learning and making goals with
your child's teacher about where's my child now and where
can my child go? What things can I work on
at home that you're doing in the classroom. Or some
parents have formed something at one school called parent university
where they go to meet with the teachers a week before.
So let's say next week they're going to learn about

(43:04):
a main idea and supporting details. They'll go to the
school and meet with the teacher the week before so
that when their child comes home they can reinforce it
and explain it and support them not just with homework,
but in connecting with their child too.

Speaker 14 (43:19):
Okay, now that's great, very helpful advice. So thank you
for that.

Speaker 13 (43:22):
And you touched on this. People should check out the
YouTube video with you in it. What is this YouTube
page for them to really go reference and get some
educational tools and tips and help as well.

Speaker 15 (43:31):
Yeah, so the YouTube page is for organization I used
to work with that's here in Atlanta. It's a great
organization and they have courses that parents, caregivers, healthcare workers
and teachers can take. And so that website is called
Coxcampus dot org and it's a great group of people
and it's over at the Atlanta Speech School.

Speaker 6 (43:49):
I loved working there for six years.

Speaker 15 (43:51):
And so they have a video on YouTube and it's
called forty four Phone Memes and it's a really up
close video but it goes through how you place your tongue,
your lips and your teeth to express different sounds, like
the letter G. That sound comes from the back of
your throat, but the F comes from the front of
your mouth with.

Speaker 6 (44:09):
Your teeth forward.

Speaker 15 (44:11):
You have to blow out air, so it goes through
all that stuff. But it really really helps children. Teachers
and parents love it.

Speaker 14 (44:17):
Very helpful.

Speaker 13 (44:18):
People don't think about those small details of small things,
but it makes a difference in how we speak and
also in reading as well, So thank you for that.

Speaker 14 (44:26):
But also the books. Where can people go get the books?

Speaker 13 (44:28):
Because there are plenty to choose from, plenty of helpful ones,
and we need to make sure we get them all right, Yes, yes.

Speaker 15 (44:33):
So the books are available on phonics read alouds dot
com and they're available on Amazon, and each book if
you go to the website, you'll see that there's a
guide for parents and teachers to use that explains the
vocabulary and explains the concepts before they read it, so
you're not trying to figure it out at the same
time while you're reading it to your kids. But these
stories are really fun to write. I've gotten a lot

(44:56):
of letters and testimonials from teachers about what.

Speaker 6 (44:58):
They call at the car effect.

Speaker 15 (45:01):
So children who are reluctant readers, you know, it's like
time to come to the carpet.

Speaker 6 (45:05):
We're going to read aloud.

Speaker 15 (45:06):
And at first they send the back of the classroom
arms folded. Then they would inch a little closer, inch
a little closer. And now they're starting to learn to
love reading because I've got to seeing characters. They know
what to expect with the story structure. But these stories
really supplement and support what teachers are teaching.

Speaker 6 (45:22):
So that's been the best part of it all.

Speaker 15 (45:24):
And just to see the impact, we just found out
we're in over thirty five thousand classrooms in Canada, United
States and Australia.

Speaker 6 (45:32):
It's amazing.

Speaker 15 (45:33):
And yeah, it's really great to put this information to
knowledge because as a steward of information, it's your responsibility
to share that with others who can benefit from it
and really change the landscape of literacy in our community
and other communities as well.

Speaker 13 (45:47):
I love it, very helpful. Can't wait for more classrooms
to have them. But over thirty five is truly fantastic.
So congratulations to.

Speaker 14 (45:55):
You and your success.

Speaker 6 (45:56):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 13 (45:57):
Yes, and for those who want to keep up with
you or my how questions on you know, certain methods
or advice or whatever the case may be.

Speaker 14 (46:04):
Where can they reach out to get in contact with you?

Speaker 15 (46:07):
Absolutely so on Twitter or x as it's called, I'm
called at the Lit Teacher one.

Speaker 14 (46:12):
I love it, She's Lit.

Speaker 15 (46:16):
And on Instagram it's the Underscore Lit Underscore Teacher. But
there's also a page with the Phonics read Allows where
I share tips and tricks for parents and educators to
do at home. So you can follow at Phonics read Allows.

Speaker 6 (46:29):
And that's on all.

Speaker 15 (46:29):
Platforms, Facebook, TikTok. I'm not dancing on there, but maybe
one day.

Speaker 14 (46:34):
It's okay. Your page is your page? Yes, yes, I
love it.

Speaker 13 (46:38):
Well, thank you so much for coming into the studio.
It was great having you.

Speaker 6 (46:42):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 15 (46:43):
And I just want to wish everyone a very happy
back to school season, an abundant year that is full
of thriving opportunities and a love of learning.

Speaker 13 (46:52):
We love it, We love it, Thank you, Eve, Thanks Alexandria.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Black women are getting more involved in skilled trade positions
such as trucking, instruction, and plumbing, and a sister out
of Las Vegas is moving forward with a bill to
help give women the apprenticeship they need to get employed
in public works projects. Doug Davis is here to talk
to a black woman who's taking the bull by the
horns by doing her best to open doors for women

(47:17):
of color to get good paying, highly skilled trade jobs.

Speaker 10 (47:20):
Doug, Hey, thanks Mike.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
This is Doug Davis, and welcome to another segment of
Your Black Business where we feature inspiring stories of black entrepreneurs, businesses, organizations,
and various facets of business pertaining to Black business. And
with us today is Evelyn Pacheco, who had a powerful
purpose when she founded Nevada Women in Trades. In her

(47:43):
organization prepares women in Nevada for successful careers in high skilled,
blue collar trade occupations groups that they serve and so
these women include ex offenders, veterans, and the underrepresented as
well as the underemployed and of course minorities African Americans.

Speaker 10 (48:04):
Evelyn, welcome to the bi in.

Speaker 16 (48:05):
Thank you, Thank you, great to having you.

Speaker 10 (48:08):
Likewise, great to have you here.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
What inspired you to start the Nevada Women in Trade
Organization back in twenty eighteen?

Speaker 17 (48:14):
Two reasons, my grand babies, because I've been raising them
and I wanted to make sure that I was empowering
them as young black women, and they're going to be
older black women, right, and I think it's good that
we inspire the young generation continue that. And I was

(48:35):
told I couldn't, shouldn't, can't, And you know what happens
when you tell black women she can't, shouldn't.

Speaker 10 (48:41):
Know what was on with that, right? Right?

Speaker 2 (48:42):
So I mean, you know, like I want to inspire
my daughters and the younger women in my family to
be great, But I didn't start an organization. What led
you to really going forward and starting this organization? Are
you a former trade worker? You know what was the
real push behind it?

Speaker 17 (49:01):
It was a real push, Yes, it is to start
an organization like this. And when I became the first
black women to get a plumber's license in a state
of Nevada in two thousand and seven, it really inspired
me to find other women organizations that do construction work trades,

(49:22):
and I found out there was others in different states,
and then I realized Nevada did not have anything to
do with women getting in trades and helping them because
it's a lot of work behind this. It's just not oh,
we're going to go take the test and it don't
work like that.

Speaker 16 (49:38):
It doesn't because there's.

Speaker 17 (49:40):
Some tests that have to do with construction math, not
regular math. There's a lot going on with this, and
again it's about information, right, and Nevada again did not
have this. So when I talk with my mentors on
how should we go about this, and here we go, how.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
Does the organization and support women, particularly Black women when
it comes to overcoming barriers to entering skilled trade positions
like construction.

Speaker 17 (50:08):
Yes, because that is something interesting because in the eighty
second legislation, because I thought about what you're saying, right.

Speaker 16 (50:16):
And how do we improve it?

Speaker 17 (50:18):
How do we move the needle, how do we make
sure black women know? And plus I'm a black woman, right,
and so we need to get the information out here.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
Yeah, what kind of strategies have been most effective in
increasing the representation of black workers skilled trade workers through
your organization?

Speaker 17 (50:38):
I believe making sure I have relationships with all the
unions and non unions to say, hey, we were here, right,
and what's your numbers?

Speaker 16 (50:49):
Right? You got to be upfront a little bit and
ask what are their numbers?

Speaker 9 (50:53):
Right?

Speaker 17 (50:53):
What's your numbers on how many black women are in there?
How many black men are in there. That's I mean,
to be blatant about it. You got to ask about numbers.
Numbers is a big thing. And we gotten five women
in five different unions and they all been women of color.
But I think we need to know about their numbers.
What are they doing to help to be inclusive.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
Have you come across a lot of racial discrimination and
sexism within trade unions?

Speaker 17 (51:20):
Well, I mean that's part of this right and that's
the fight to make sure we change that. And that's
why the inclusive diversity has been out now and every
actually every union is supposed to have some type of
committee that reflects diversity and inclusive.

Speaker 10 (51:42):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
Are there any community partners, local businesses after supporting your mission?

Speaker 17 (51:48):
Yes, I have seven unions that are supporting my mission
as right now, and it's beautiful. We have Archie Wallden
from eight seventy two Labors, We have of Steve from
six six to nine sprinter Fitters.

Speaker 16 (52:04):
We have five to five.

Speaker 17 (52:07):
There's a few members there that are helping with making
sure I can get.

Speaker 16 (52:12):
The tours that I need.

Speaker 17 (52:13):
We got Chris from Local twelve Operator Engineers.

Speaker 16 (52:18):
We got IBW, We have Robert dis from Chic Metal.

Speaker 17 (52:24):
We got Javon Jackson from Carpenter's Union, So yes, I
and do we even have in DOT that's helping to
Sunnybride is helping with for CDL.

Speaker 16 (52:37):
We have the Culinary Union. I have a good group
over there that's helping.

Speaker 17 (52:41):
We have Enterprise Mobility that helps with mechanical work. So
we do have some significant MGM. It's a sponsor CSN
Women's Alliance, Native Alliance. I mean there's some really good
partners that we have.

Speaker 10 (52:54):
That's great.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
I could ask you about a million more questions, but
we're almost at a time. So I want to ask this.
If I'm a black woman listening right now and I
want to get into construction right, I may have had
a pepper pass, but I want to get into construction.

Speaker 10 (53:09):
I live in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
How does the process go if I reach out to
you and say I need your help?

Speaker 16 (53:15):
And it's very easy and the biggest part to.

Speaker 17 (53:18):
Me is making the move to do it right. We
can talk about this all day long, should it good?
Or would have right?

Speaker 16 (53:25):
But you can give me.

Speaker 17 (53:26):
A call at seven zero two eight zero one, six
' five nine to one, or you can jump on
our website which is www. Dot Nevada spelled out wit
dot org and we have an email too, info at
Nevada spelled out again, wit dot org.

Speaker 16 (53:48):
And just do it right, Just do it. Jump off
that cliff. There's nothing that's going to happen when you
do that.

Speaker 17 (53:56):
But the whole part of this is that you'll be
able to have a house rental or if you want
to rent a car.

Speaker 16 (54:03):
You better do different things right.

Speaker 17 (54:06):
And don't think that because you did something or that's
part of it. No, just step out there right.

Speaker 10 (54:11):
You know, this is a national platform.

Speaker 2 (54:13):
Have you heard of any other cities around the country
that are doing what you're doing right now? I know
of one in San Francisco or the Bay Area that
does a lot of training for women to get into
these fields.

Speaker 17 (54:25):
And the Bay is really leading a lot of this,
along with Chicago Women and Trades and Ohio Women in
Trades and Washington and Alaska, Missouri, West Virginia, Canada, Ireland.
That's where I got this from. Like I said, this
is not new, y'all. Is this has been happening Utah.

Speaker 16 (54:44):
There's a Utah Women in Trades, y'all.

Speaker 17 (54:46):
Ten Utah did this and it was again because Nevada
was not doing this, and there's big support out here
for women. There's even a conference coming up the last
weekend of it's Trading Women Build Nations. It's to be
over four thousand Union women in one location in New Orleans.

Speaker 10 (55:07):
Get out of here.

Speaker 16 (55:08):
We's in a rocket. We sure are.

Speaker 17 (55:10):
And I'm doing the Civics class there because that's important
to talk about.

Speaker 16 (55:14):
Civits right and why we vote. What we're doing out here.

Speaker 17 (55:18):
I have a summit coming up in September and that
is to bring awareness to women in non traditional careers.

Speaker 10 (55:25):
Love.

Speaker 16 (55:25):
But there's some things that I'm doing, and I have
a pipeline class.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
Let's talk about that real quick, real quick. Let's get
the pipeline class in.

Speaker 17 (55:33):
It's online. It's Monday through Friday with three Saturdays. We
start October twenty first, and we have two weeks of
an application process. The first week and sets historic West
Side School. The second week would be at the County Building. Again,
you need to info at Nevada WIT if you're interested

(55:55):
in doing this class, and you gotta better get on
and we got fifteen seats open that we're gonna have.
But it's just an application. You fill out, You take
a little math.

Speaker 16 (56:04):
Don't let the math scare you, because that's a big thing. Right.
Everybody here math and they start running for the heels.

Speaker 17 (56:12):
But every trade pretty much is going to have you
take some type of tests to be able to.

Speaker 16 (56:16):
Get into that.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Evelyn Pacheco of Nevada Women in Trade, keep up the
good work and go You welcome back here anytime. Keep
us up to date with how things are going with
you and that legislation. On Friday, September twentieth is the
fourth Annual Alliance of Women in Trades Summit, happening in
Las Vegas, taking place at the College of Southern Nevada.

(56:37):
More details can be found online at nevadawit dot org.
This is Doug Davis and you're listening to the Black
Perspective and Your Black Business on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
Thanks Doug, and that's our program for this week. For
more on these stories, listen to the Black Information Network
on the free iHeartRadio app or log onto bimnews 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 at Black Info Net.
I'm Mike Island, wishing everyone a great Sunday.

Speaker 10 (57:10):
Be sure to tune in next week at.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
This time for another edition of The Black Perspective right
here on the Black Information Network.

Speaker 18 (57:17):
The Third at Marshall College Fund or TMCF, is helping
black students in the black college community achieve their dreams.
Students like Brandon Smith, who is the first college to
graduate in his family.

Speaker 19 (57:28):
There's a lot of pressure, but when you get through
and you get to the other side, you didn feel
like you know, you're that person to your family where
they can look at you and believe that you know,
these things can be done even though they haven't been before.

Speaker 18 (57:40):
After graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
in May, Brandon now works as a Global security and
Investigations associate at Fidelity Investments in Dallas, Texas. He gives
partial credit for his success to the TMCF, which gave
him a fifteen thousand dollars scholarship.

Speaker 19 (57:57):
That scholarship in the programs that I've been able to
be a part of through TMCF have significantly increased and
assisted me in graduating college, not only you know, financially,
but also like the networks I've built have made my
college journey super smooth. Stress free and super insightful to
the future.

Speaker 18 (58:15):
The Free Application for Student Aid are FAFSA was also
instrumental in Brandon's college experience.

Speaker 19 (58:21):
Being black, students were always thinking that, you know, I
can't pay for college, I can't go Well, the FATA
definitely opens doors to a lot of funding from various places,
and a lot of institutions do require you to do
your FASTA because without your FASCA, most companies also don't
allow you to get outside scholarship opportunities.

Speaker 18 (58:41):
Brandon is now helping the GMC up and they're finished
fast Find Your Future campaign, which aims to get black
college students to submit their application as soon as possible.
He says, completing the FATA is worth the time and
energy it takes to do so.

Speaker 19 (58:54):
It's a super easy form that has a lifelong benefit.
It prevents you from having a pay back thirty forty
fifty thousand dollars a day by just simply completing that
faster forms. Do your faster it will change your life.

Speaker 18 (59:10):
Visit finish FAFSA dot com and get your FAFSA in today.
You'll be glad you did.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
I'm Mike Island on the Black Information Network reminding you
that your vote is your voice. Did you know that
your vote can shape the policies that affect your daily life.
The twenty twenty four election is a critical opportunity to
make your voice heard on issues that matter to you.
Learn more and get ready for Election Day by visiting
NUL dot org forward slash reclaim your vote. Your vote

(59:41):
is your power.