September 30, 2025 • 59 mins
This week on the Black Perspective, Alexandria Ikomoni sits down with actors Tyler Lepley and Serayah, stars of the new Netflix film Ruth and Boaz, to talk about the story behind the project and what drew them to their roles.
Misty Jordan speaks with Hall of Fame sportscaster and prostate cancer survivor Ernie Johnson Jr. as he shares his personal journey and his advocacy work with ZERO Prostate Cancer.
Esther Dillard talks with Melody Capote, Director of Harlem’s Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, about the center’s mission and the power of storytelling in preserving community and culture.
And Doug Davis is joined by a leading Black HR consultant for a timely conversation on DEI in the workplace and how Black professionals can navigate today’s challenging business climate.
Listen now!
Misty Jordan speaks with Hall of Fame sportscaster and prostate cancer survivor Ernie Johnson Jr. as he shares his personal journey and his advocacy work with ZERO Prostate Cancer.
Esther Dillard talks with Melody Capote, Director of Harlem’s Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, about the center’s mission and the power of storytelling in preserving community and culture.
And Doug Davis is joined by a leading Black HR consultant for a timely conversation on DEI in the workplace and how Black professionals can navigate today’s challenging business climate.
Listen now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, This is Morgan Wood with the Black Information Network.
Every year, thousands of Black families face the unbearable sorrow
of losing a mom during pregnancy or after childbirth. Learn
how you can support them in bi in's special public
awareness campaign Saving Black Moms a Maternal health Crisis. Black
maternal health.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Is a community issue.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Learn more on our social media platforms and at binnews
dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's Sunday, September twenty eighth, and on today's show, alexandre
Ikimoni is back as she sits down with the cast
of the new Netflix movie Ruth m Boaz, Tyler Lepli
and Sorea. Mister Jordan interviews Hall of Fame sportscaster and
cancer survivor Ernie Johnson Junior as he shares his journey
with prostate cancer and his involvement with the organization Zero
(00:53):
Prostate Cancer. The Black Information That Works. Sester Dildard talks
with Melody Capote, director of Harlem's Care Ribbian Cultural Center
African Diaspora Institute, to talk about the center's mission and
the role of storytelling in our community. And Doug Davis
talks to a top Black HR consultant about DEI and
how black professionals can navigate in today's challenging business climate.
(01:17):
These stories of more are coming your way. On today's show,
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
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 2 (01:34):
Good Sunday and Welcome to the Black Perspective. Alexandria Icimoni
speaks with Tyler Lepley and Sorea of the new Tyler
Perry and Devon Franklin Netflix movie Ruth m Boat Alexandria
take it away.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
What's up?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Guys?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Is a girl Alexandria Ikimoni in the studio with Sorea
and Tyler Leplie. How are you guys today?
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Doing good?
Speaker 6 (01:55):
Good?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Hey you Phil, I'm doing well, feeling great, happy guys.
Speaker 7 (01:58):
How do you have you?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Guys?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Excuse me and studio to talk about the new movie
that we have. Absolutely, absolutely, let's talk about it. We
have a new movie called Ruth and Boaz, modern take
on the Biblical story. But I want to hear it
from your perspective. Tell me more about the movie and
what people can expect when watching.
Speaker 8 (02:19):
Well, it's a adaptation of the Ruth and Boast story
in the Bible, So there's a lot of similarities there
with the story as far as like the storyline and
kind of how it plays out. But it's a twenty
twenty five love story.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
It encompasses.
Speaker 8 (02:40):
Community love, black love. I like to make sure that
I say, and I think most of all, just like family,
that family. You've said this, Tyler has said this throughout
the press run, and I think that's so spot on.
Is the familiar aspect to the movie that you'll feel,
(03:02):
and I think those are some of the main takeaways.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yeah, Tyler, he anything else and music.
Speaker 9 (03:08):
Yeah, yeah, it actually used to be called when we
first started it, it was titled.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
R and B.
Speaker 9 (03:14):
Right, So yeah, there's a there's a music aspect to it,
but it's it's outside of everything, you know, even to
pickyback off of what she said, you know, when we
actually get into you know who Ruth and bo As are,
they're really just two individuals that are that are focused on,
you know, stepping into their own path, serving God in
(03:36):
their own way. And when they're focused on the right things,
you know, God on God unfolds them to each other
and it ends up, you know, just unfolding to a
beautiful love story.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
How would you guys describe your characters though, you know,
for people who are who haven't obviously haven't seen it yet,
how would you describe the character that you play?
Speaker 8 (03:57):
I would say Ruth Mobiley is a very I would
say she is a headstrong person. I think that she
is very determined, also super I would say confident, because
(04:20):
she follows her own gut instinct, not knowing what's going
to happen next. I mean, and these are decisions in
life she has. Over Here on the right hand, she
has a six figure deal that she can say yes too,
and then over here on the left hand, she can
kind of just step out on faith and start a
whole new life. And she chooses that path is to
start a whole new life with nothing, to go out
(04:43):
on the grounds and get it, find a job, do
all these things. So I think that takes a lot
of confidence in oneself to do so. And not only that,
she's she is a a I don't say entertainer, but
she definitely loves music.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
And uh, definitely.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
Super Yeah, she's entertainer. And I would say, like there's
something sweet about her. Although she has this hard show,
there's something like super sweet about her inside.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
So yeah, you'll see that kind of play out in
the movie.
Speaker 9 (05:19):
Yeah, that's one thing I love about you know, Ruth's
arc in the beginning, she leaves everything she's ever known
to you know, chase something that she feels, you know,
in the area of the unknown, which is which is
pretty scary to do in real life.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
You know.
Speaker 9 (05:34):
I think for bo has is similar to Ruth and
the fact that he's also very determined. We were just
talking about some of the uh, you know, at the
end of the day, they have to make it. They
have to make the film. You know, film can't be
three hours long. So we're talking about a few of
the scenes that we saw that were deleted, but like
a few of them, I mean it's it's still in
(05:54):
the film as well, but uh, you know, one of
them really showcased just how determined bo As is in
trying to I mean, even without that scene, he's trying
to really honor this I forget what it is. What's
the what's the wine called? I forget what it's called. Yeah,
as well, it's his most recent wine that he's been
(06:14):
working with uh. He started it with his father. His
father since passed and now he's steadfast on, you know,
winning an award but also bringing you know, just bringing
the intention and the love and the notoriety to his
family's name Bye by bringing this this wine to I
(06:35):
don't know what was it some type of it was
some type of competition the ad. Anyway, he ended up
winning it, but he's just very determining what he and
what it is that he wants to do.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, for sure, absolutely, So tell me more about why
you guys thought these were great fits for you guys
to play these characters. Why did you guys decide to
take on this role?
Speaker 5 (06:56):
For me, I have done roles with music and.
Speaker 8 (07:02):
Inside of the you know, in the project started off
doing Empire and then like kind of like a snowball
of these different roles I kind of like have music
inside of it. So that part felt super familiar. Another
part another reason why I wanted to do the film. Honestly,
I wanted to step away from doing music and film
(07:22):
because I make my own music.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
I am an artist in real life.
Speaker 8 (07:27):
But I was like, you guys know, I don't want
to do music anymore, and Devond's like, but look, it's different,
and I'm telling you like this role. And so I
read the scripts and I loved it. It's a love story.
It's just a great movie too. It feels needed and
wholesome and all those things. So that's what definitely drew
(07:48):
me to the project for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
I love that Tyler.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Yeah, I think a few things. First.
Speaker 9 (07:53):
I've always I've always wanted to be a part of
Netflix in any way that I could be.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Hello, right, Working with.
Speaker 9 (08:00):
Ray is always is always fun, She's always bringing something
new to it. I've I've followed uh Devin Franklin for
a while, so you know, any any chance I can get,
any chance I get to work with Tyler Perry again,
I'm always gonna I'm always gonna do that. So those
were a few of the things initially that attracted me
to it. But then once I got into the script,
(08:20):
I just really liked how Bo has had this uh
he just had this like this contrast to him on
one hand, in order to uh bring that to fruition
everything I was talking about him being determined to do
it takes a certain like rigidity, you know, they kind
(08:41):
of like be rigid and kind of black and white
to in order to to do that. But then on
the flip side, you know, you got to be fluid
enough to serve in ways that you don't know how
it's going to benefit you. So I feel like, uh,
you know that juxtaposition or that you know that yin yang,
that contrast is something that all so really attracted me
to the role of Boaz, you know, by itself, for sure,
(09:04):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And you were talking about, you know, an as an artist,
you weren't sure if this was the right fit for you.
What do you think, like was I guess, how are
you challenged in this role, especially since you weren't sure
if you wanted to take this on per se both
of you guys, how are you challenged by taking on
this role?
Speaker 8 (09:23):
Well, well, let me let me rephrase that. I think
that that is a personal thing for me, was to
you know, have roles that challenged me in different ways
that don't have the music per se makes us. I
want to make sure that I'm also like, you know,
(09:47):
just being able to experience different characters, right. But there's
something special about Ruth Mobley and this film in particular,
and I love that Tyler said it first of all,
it's my first Tyler Perry film.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, let me just say that.
Speaker 8 (10:01):
Devon Franklin I love and I worked with before on
Kingdom Business on BT Plus.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
I think this felt.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
It felt different because one, I got.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
To work with Babyface Hello.
Speaker 8 (10:18):
But more than that, the music was a little different
than I'm used to. It has like this country kind
of feel to it, and I've never sang that like
on record, and so when I was doing that, I
found something a spark that was new for me and
was like that country vibe and it brought something up
different in my voice than I've.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
Ever heard before.
Speaker 8 (10:42):
And even I remember on set one of the actors,
I forget which one it was, when when we were
playing the song back to backing for the scene and
they're like, wait, this is you singing? I'm like yeah,
and he's like, wow, you really sound good on like
this country vibe and I'm like, really, thank you appreciate that,
And I agree, is its country or even gospel, it
(11:03):
brings something else. It brings a different vibration to the room.
And so that was something that super like was super different,
but it was a great nuance that you know, I
was excited to play.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
Yeah, and Tyler.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I mean, you've been in a wide range of roles
as well, So how was this a challenge for you?
If it was, you know, like, did you learn anything
from it, grew any in any way?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 9 (11:28):
Yeah, I think every you know, every role kind of
presents its own challenge for sure. I think for me,
I've never done a love like a true love story.
I think the closest I've I've been to it is Harlem,
but that's like a rom com is a comedic access
to aspect to it. So I think one challenge for
me is, you know, trying to trying to find like
(11:51):
like passion without being angry and nothing like I'm an
angry person, right, but like I'm I'm an aries, I'm
a fire sign.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
I fight for what it is that I want. So, uh,
you know with this.
Speaker 9 (12:03):
Uh you know Boaz is really he's he's for sure,
you know you see him. I don't know, So I
think there was there was much more of a calm aspect.
So to find myself within a calmness was a challenge
(12:24):
that you know, I was up for and it was
a lot of fun trying to figure.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
It out perfect perfect now working with Devon Franklin, Tyler
Perry and even under Netflix. How was that for you guys,
Like did you like the lessons learned or growth? I mean,
talk to me more about the powerhouse that you guys
had behind you.
Speaker 9 (12:41):
Guys Netflix, Tyler Perry, ain't no pressure.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
I remember like pre production, the prep. I would say,
I've never done prep like that before. And I was like, Okay,
welcome to the big leagues. Like driving like I said,
it's my first time working with Tyler per working on
the studio here in Atlanta, and driving just on to
the Tyler Perry studio lot, I was.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Like, hello, yeah, hi, Yeah, oh my god, got a badge.
Speaker 8 (13:14):
I got a little key car. But other than that, honestly,
I remember us sharing this moment that just it was
so vivid it came to my mind. It was one
of the pre prep weeks or whatever, and we're doing
like lighting tests and they have us kind of like
(13:34):
in front of the camera basically just camera testing, not
shooting anything, no lines, no nothing, just hair and makeup.
Let's let's, you know, shoot for lighting to see what
lighting they wanted for the movie. And I remember me
and Tyler like just standing They're like, okay, and now
look at each other.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
Now look away.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
They look back at each other and they're like doing
whatever with the different hues and lighting and things like that.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
And I was like, wow, this is serious and Tyler
was like.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
Oh yeah, and I'm just like I remember thinking like
I've never gone through this type of prep. It just
it just felt bigger. It felt it felt more serious.
The details were intricate, and I remember that being kind
of like the foundation for where we were about to go.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
And even now the press.
Speaker 8 (14:25):
I'm like, well, hello press, you know Netflix.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Netflix employee.
Speaker 9 (14:36):
There's a lot of a lot of attention to detail
because even everything she mentioned it was you know, it
was a full it was a full production day. You
know that all the cameras, they're all, you know, fifty
people there just to take pictures.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
So you saw how much Netflix and Tyler Perry Studios,
and you know, with with Divine's input, how much they
were pouring into this. You know, so it really raised
the bar for us to be. And of course we're professional,
we're gonna we're going to step in and do our thing,
but it really kind of puts you, you know, put
you there when you see Mike Jordan Steff on the
on the floor, we're supposed to be here.
Speaker 8 (15:12):
Yeah, I feel so good. Yeah, because we take our
craft that seriously too.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
So it feels good to be you know, in the company.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Absolute absolutely, we love that. We can't wait to see
the movie. But of course before we get out of here,
we got to get a little personal, just a little
bit little something.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I see the ring, I see the ring gorgeous.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
How can we talk about the engagement a little bit?
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Sure?
Speaker 8 (15:38):
I mean it's you know, the ring is it's it's
definitely a symbol of big love. But I think what's
more important for the ladies it's not the ring's it
is the it's the foundation that you're setting.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
It's it's what do you want?
Speaker 8 (15:55):
And I think that that's the more important thing nowadays,
because don't get me wrong, like I feel like all
the girls want the ring because of what it's symbolizes.
But I think we shouldn't lose what it's symbolizing, right,
It's it's love, it's it's commitment, it's setting a foundation
of family. And for me and my fiance, it's we're
(16:18):
big on just like we're big on black family. Like,
and so it's like, what what does that mean to us?
And in carrying that lineage.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Out, it's big for big for us, big for me.
Speaker 8 (16:32):
Anyways, I don't want to speak for him, he's not here,
but but it's big for me. And I think it's
really important to note that nothing is perfect just because.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
You see this ring here.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
Okay, nothing's perfect, and everyone has their journey in love
and you can't count.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
The years or the the oh because I have.
Speaker 8 (16:56):
Girlfriends right obviously, and it's always like how long they've
been together? How long you know, and you'll start to
feel insecurities if you feel like, oh, well, this happened
for this person, you know, don't Yeah, it's like I
want to I just want to go on record and
just be like, you know, it's not about comparison.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
It's not about.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Goals, you know what I mean, couple goals, Like we
all go through the same ship, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
We all know that's the same ship.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
And I think it's just really important to consider your partner,
know what you want, and to have patience and grace
and and those things are really really important. But yes,
so exciting, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Well, congratulations and Tyler. Of course you Miracle wants everything
with you.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Guys. There were just you know, just just planning, planning
the wedding right now. And I'm learning, I'm learning, you know,
through my experience that y'all change your mind a little bit.
So it was like, you know, first we want to
do something real big. She has a huge family, I
think even for even for our baby shower, we did
(18:06):
it down to Houston where she's from, and there was
like three hundred people.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
They're all real family members, you know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (18:12):
So it was like, at first she wanted to do
something big like that, and then and then she you know,
pulled to one eighty and then she wanted to just elope,
just me and her and do some real intimate and
we kind of settled on the middle ground, do something
like like forty five fifty people, a little more intimate,
but a destination wedding, which we're going to do it
(18:33):
in Cabo in Mexico.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
That's going to be nice.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
Yeah, we love we love Mexico. I mean that's that's
how we're doing it.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Yeah right now, right, Oh, I love that.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Do we probably know around Whanberg next summer.
Speaker 9 (18:47):
Yeah, it's gonna be towards the end of the summer. Yeah,
she got another she got another week or so before
you know, all the locked in, yeah, all the all
the down payment. So she figured out next little seven
ten days.
Speaker 8 (18:59):
I was like, listen, I just dropped the baby. I'm like,
I need a little second.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Yeah, it takes it takes a minute.
Speaker 9 (19:05):
I think there should be no kind of like what
you were saying to everybody has such a you know,
just such a judgment.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Of what you should do.
Speaker 9 (19:12):
I think you should we should all give ourselves, our
partners grace and enough time to figure out what what
you want to day.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
I mean even that, like as soon as we got engaged,
when's the literally like it happened two days y'all? Please yeah,
you know, no, but it's it's definitely it's it's definitely amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
It's a blessing.
Speaker 8 (19:35):
Yeah, congratulations, Thank you again to congratulations.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Congratulations to you both here absolutely so you guys obviously
work on other projects as well. First for you, Tyler,
because I'm a peak balley stand what's going on.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
It's the only way we we We finished it last
We finished it last year towards the end of the year.
I was filming, I was filming this and that at
the same time. And really really hats off to both
of them, Really hats off to both of them because
there was a there was for a for a period
of time.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
After I booked it. They weren't able to figure the
schedule out.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
You know.
Speaker 9 (20:17):
Peter was in the first position, so like for for
a minute, for a couple of days like me and
on the phone like man, I guess I catch you
on the next one.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
But they were able to work it out, you know.
Katoria had you know, and really the what are they?
What are they? What are the are their titles?
Speaker 9 (20:32):
It's a it's a script not a script manager, no, no,
but the I think it's a line producer. Line producer
are the ones that figure the schedules out. The line
producers couldn't make it happen. So like it actually went above.
Katoria had to pick up the phone and get on
the divine and they and they made it happen, you
know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
So shouts out to both of them.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
He was working okay.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
And they're so there's such a different character.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Yeah right, yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
But we finished it up.
Speaker 9 (21:03):
We finished it last year and I know that they
had just wrapped up the post production on it, so
it's like it's officially in the can. I just got
to wait to see see when they want to bring
it out.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Is coming up all right, because.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
I'm ready to to talk to somebody man at this point.
So right now, you obviously have a lot going on
as well. What else are you working on? Are we
working on music to or what's yes?
Speaker 8 (21:25):
So, I actually just dropped a record called PDSO, and
I am working on putting out the rest of my music,
hopefully in the next month or two. So very exciting stuff.
I'm excited about this music. I'm excited about I have
a couple projects on the upcoming as well, so I'm
(21:48):
working on actually producing. I'm actually producing a non scripted show.
I told you about this actually when we were shooting
this show so funny because it's about food and wine
and Ruth and Boaz made me think about it when
we were shooting and I showed him the sizzle. But
it's with my really good friend Brittany wyn Bush. She
(22:11):
is the girl it's called where It's called WTF. I'm sorry,
w y a, Brittany. So it's like, where are you
at Brittany and and she is just that girl in
New York. She's in the city and she knows where
to go, where to be, who to talk to, what
(22:33):
wine to try, what dish to have, and it's it's
a really cool show that we are producing and I'm
really looking forward to getting that going now. We have
just confirmed that it's going to be on key TV,
So shout out to my girl Kiky Palmer on YouTube.
And so we're doing these ten minute segments and we're
(22:55):
looking to start production very soon. But that's it's it's
so cool to be like behind the camera also on
just to be in a creative mode. And then there's
some other films that are like coming up and talk,
so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
That's exciting.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Can't wait to see all that come together. In tylerd Know,
we talked about Pea Valley and of course this movie.
Are you taking a break or do you have anything
else you are wanting to focus on in the short
or near future?
Speaker 9 (23:21):
No, ain't no rest for the weird. So we also
have a film called Goon's Coming Out Sorey and myself.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
When is that coming on?
Speaker 9 (23:33):
I was, I was, yeah, I was talking to him.
He was they were getting last time I spoke to him,
they were getting a distribution.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Amazing.
Speaker 9 (23:42):
So that'll that'll be coming out with say and myself
as well, Michael, Randy Junior, a bunch of lot of
other dope, dope actors. P Valley still on the way.
Oh no, yeah, Harlem came out. Okay, that was earlier.
Restaurant Oh yeah, got a restaurant down intown. But that
keeps me pretty busy, which is so you know what
(24:04):
something like a restaurant, you can't you can't pick up
a brochure and learn.
Speaker 6 (24:09):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 9 (24:10):
It's there's there's an aspect that that you can only get.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
From the experience.
Speaker 9 (24:14):
Yeah, so you know I've had I've had to learn
that from my own experience, lasts of ups and downs.
But then once you get it, you know, I corrected
the ship. Now now it's running smooth. So it was
a learning process. Cool though.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Down in Tampa.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yeah, in Tampa.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Hopefully we get more locations for sure, it'll be nice.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
All right.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Last question for the both of you guys. Holidays are
coming up.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
What's the planes? So many conversations to have down there.
Speaker 8 (24:48):
My family is like, you know, all over and then
we you know, now it's just I don't.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
Know, It's fine. We're taking it day by day.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
We're taking it day by day. We have a lot
of things going on. It seems like before I love November. Yeah,
I am like, yeah, yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
Girls, I am too to decorate as you should, as
you should.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Well, any last words you want to leave with the
people before we get out of here.
Speaker 8 (25:15):
Make sure you see Ruth and Boas on Netflix comes
out on September twenty sixth, and we are so excited
for this, and please let us know what you think.
Have watch parties, yes, yeah, watch parties.
Speaker 11 (25:30):
Right, Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:30):
This is one of those movies that you know, it's
exciting enough to watch by yourself. You just you know,
want to cut something on. But this is really something
that you can watch with the whole family day.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
With the boys, girls, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
It's one of those It's one of those movies.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Thank you both for coming into the studio Todays.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Thank you, thanks Alexandria Tyler and Sorea. Ruth and boa
As is streaming now on Netflix. This is the final
Sunday of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Prostate can answer affects
one in eight men. However, Black men are seventy percent
more likely to be diagnosed and twice as likely to
die from the disease. Zero Prostate Cancer is the nation's
(26:11):
leading prostate cancer organization. They're on a mission to save
lives through awareness, education and support. Mistery Jordan has spent
the last couple of weeks speaking with black men. Known
celebrities like Montell Jordan and Matthew Knowles, all brave enough
to share their stories about prostate cancer in hopes of
saving lives. Misty sat down with Ernie Johnson Junior, the
(26:35):
Hall of Famers, sportscaster and cancer survivor, as he shares
his journey with prostate cancer and his involvement with the
organization Zero Prostate Cancer.
Speaker 7 (26:46):
Joining me, I have Hall of Fame sportscaster and cancer survivor,
mister Ernie Johnson Junior. How are you.
Speaker 11 (26:55):
I'm having a great day. I hope you are too.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
I am. Thank you so much. Talk to me about
the importance it's well if first, it's back up. It
is September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Talk to
me about being a cancer survivor. I like, that's about
a badge of honor. And do you feel that way?
Speaker 11 (27:15):
Yeah, I mean it's been, it's had its, it's had
its moments at non Hodgkins lymphoma back in two thousand
and three and went through chemo and got that into
remission and then uh, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen around there
(27:37):
was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So and here it is
twenty twenty five and I feel pretty good. I look great,
real good. Well, come on, I'm gonna give you twenty
minutes talking like that. I appreciate it. No, but I
feel great. And it's it's one of those things again.
I mean, everybody looks at the numbers and says, hey,
(27:57):
one to eight man, and you know, if you catch
it early, ninety nine percent, you know, treatable. And so yeah,
they call it mine early and had surgery and never
felt better in my life.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
And so now what is the recovery? What is your what?
What is your day to day?
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Now? Do you have to continue to get tests where
it's happening.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
I'm I'm good. You know. In the immediate aftermath, there
were they were regular visits to my urologist and then
always good to see that the PSA number was like negligible,
if anything at all, and so that, yeah, so that's
(28:37):
that's the deal.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
Does prostate cancer run in your family? No, So this
just was something that wasn't even on your radar.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
My number one day, you know, I'm in there for
a I'm in there for a routine physical, and you know,
I've got to call a couple of days later and
they said, you have an appointment with your this yearlogist.
And I was like, I called them, why, Well, the
PSA number was a little elevated. It wasn't like through
the roof, but it was enough that you know, you
(29:09):
need to check it out. And then you do a
you know, go in and get it looked at, and
then you they you know, doctor tells you he said,
we've got a couple of options here and how we
can treat this, and just having it removed seemed to
be the best option.
Speaker 7 (29:30):
And so what would you say to someone who's just
now having their first conversation about crosstate cancer, who's maybe
they don't have family history either, so it's something that's
not on their radar.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Well, if they're already having the conversation, I applaud them.
I think the message goes out to the to the
guys out there who were afraid to get tested and
are hesitant about doing that. All right, you know that's
one of the things about about your health is that.
And I understand it. I get it that you don't
want bad news. You know, you say, man, this is
(30:05):
bothering me. But if I get it checked out, they
might say that I have this and for prostrate it's
so easy. I mean, it's just it's a blood test, yeah,
you know. And so yeah, I just I would encourage
everybody out there just get over yourself a little bit.
(30:26):
Realize that you're doing this for the long term. There
are so many people who want you to be around
for a long time, you know. So sure, I wasn't
thrilled when I went in and they said, hey, we
need to look at this, but it was like, okay,
that's what it is. What are we going to do
about it?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:45):
And so what message do you have to women, daughters, mothers,
grandmothers who want to encourage them men in their lives
to go And is this something that we approached legitly?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Do we give you a big punch?
Speaker 5 (31:00):
What is the best way.
Speaker 11 (31:02):
Both of those have worked on me in the past.
I've been married for forty three years, and.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
The punch method is a good messa.
Speaker 11 (31:09):
Well yeah, but the talking method is a good method too,
you know. Just you've got to you've got to encourage
each other to take care of yourselves, you know, because
you know, and it works the same way with my
wife if I said, Hey, when's the last time you've
been Hey, you need to go and and and so. Yeah,
I think we've we've gotten to that point where we
(31:33):
are free to tell each other you need to get
that checked out, or you need to do this or that,
knowing that it that it comes from.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
It's all long a place of love.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:46):
And sometimes it is the woman in your life that
gives you the nudge.
Speaker 11 (31:49):
Sometimes it is and sometimes that you yourself sometimes that
you're saying something something right, I should get this checked out,
and shoot, I I'll be honest with you. I just
went through that with shortness of breath back in February.
Went to my cardiologist. He said, you're in a fib
(32:13):
and he said, then you've got you're in heart failure.
So I mean, I'm four weeks removed from bypass surgery.
You look fantastic. So it's like, well again, I'm going
to give you twenty minutes to quit talking like that.
But that's what it is. It can't be you don't
ignore it. Yes, something is there. All you do is
(32:34):
hurt yourself by staying quiet.
Speaker 7 (32:36):
But it can be scary, no dot, And I think
that the thought of this is not right. But if
I go to the doctor, this news they could give
me could be worse. And so what do you say
to people who may feel that way.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
You've got to You've got to face that fear and
then all overcome it. You'd be amazed at how good
it feels to do that, you know, to to come
face to face with it and say I'm not just
I'm not going to shy away from this because of
something that I might hear that I don't want it.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 11 (33:11):
No, it really is. It's it's a freeing to do that,
to go and talk to a professional and say, hey,
what's up, what's up with me? And and then really
the that's the toughest part when you get diagnosed with something,
and at least it was with me, it was like, okay,
(33:31):
that's what I got. Now put your head down and
fight it. Yeah, and that's uh. But but you've you've
got to get to that point, and you'll never get
to that point if you stay quiet.
Speaker 7 (33:42):
Thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.
Continue success, no, thanks and the best of hell to you.
Speaker 11 (33:48):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Thank you, Thank you, Misty and Ernie. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Is taking a bold stand against this disease and will
continue to spread awareness in hopes of saving lives. If
you or someone you know would like more information about
getting tested for prostate cancer, or you want to get
involved with Zero's mission, visit their website at zerocancer dot org.
(34:11):
You can follow Misty and submit story ideas to her
on Instagram at Mistyjradio. A new hub for books, art
and performances bringing the African diaspora together in Harlem, The
Black Information That Works. Sester Dillard sat down with Melody Capote,
the director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute,
(34:31):
to talk about the center's mission and the role of
storytelling in our.
Speaker 13 (34:35):
Community conversations, workshops, storytelling children's programming.
Speaker 14 (34:45):
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, I'm
speaking with the director of the Caribbean Culture Center African
Diaspora Institute. Her name is Melody Capote, and she's talking
with me about the opening of a brand new hub
at the center which brings together artists in a brand
new way.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
Here's some of our conversation.
Speaker 15 (35:07):
I know that the CCCADI is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary
and just launched its new cultural hub. But for those
who may not know what your organization is all about,
can you cut of synopsize for them what it does
and how it serves the community in Harlem.
Speaker 5 (35:26):
New York.
Speaker 13 (35:27):
Absolutely well, we are as you said, marking our fiftieth
anniversary next year twenty twenty six. The center was founded
on the premise that we as people of African descent,
share a common threat that wherever in the diaspora, the
dispersal of Africans. Because many people don't know what the
(35:51):
term diaspora means, it's dispersal wherever we were dispersed, wherever
we landed, wherever the ship stopped, wherever we are present today.
The common thread we share is our root culture in Africa,
and so through art, or i should say through culture,
we have been able to use tools like art sacred traditions, music, dance, food,
(36:19):
language as a way of educating our audiences, educating general
audiences about the common thread we share, the similarities we share,
and also some of the differences write a common one language,
the language of the colonizer islands that speak French versus
(36:41):
those of us who speak Spanish versus those that speak English.
But again rooted in African traditions that while our culture
was intentionally ripped away and taken away, the work of
the center speaks to reclaim much of what was lost
in the slave trade and through the business of enslavement
(37:07):
in this country.
Speaker 14 (37:09):
Can you talk a little bit about this launch of
this new hub and what that entails.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
Well, we have a location, a renovated firehouse on East
one twenty fifth Street, which is our main headquartered building.
It houses our offices. We also have gallery space and
public space that we use to gather communities for conversations, workshops, storytelling,
children's programming, and it's the space that everyone recognizes that
(37:38):
we're at. This decommissioned of renovated firehouse is now the
main site. We've been fortunate that during COVID we were
able to secure an additional space and annex about three
blocks away from US on one hundred and twenty sixth
Street and Third Avenue that we are calling ele oh Ying.
(38:01):
The words illo Ying are Yoruba for the house of honey,
and as part of our sacred practice, particularly through the
Yoruba tradition, this particular space honors the deity named Oshoon
who is the mother of us all. She is the
(38:25):
one recognized for her sweetness, for her honey, for her
bringing together a family and community, and so we chose
the words elleo Ying for the space as the beehive
or network or center where artists, culture bearers, community members
(38:48):
can gather and literally work, create, cowork, rehearse, present in
a space that is either affordable or free depending on
this situation, but primarily free for artists to come and
do what it is they do as creatives and also
(39:08):
receive training from US and technical assistance in building that art,
building that discipline into a business should they choose to
want to move in the entrepreneurial route. So the space
has we haves a resident dance company called KR three
D's which means keep Rising to the Top, thirty five
(39:31):
year old dance company based in East Harlem that was
in need of a home. So they are now using
the space and we've installed a professional dance floor and
the space itself it's just it's still rather raw, but
the artists themselves just find it as a beautiful place
(39:51):
to be able to come and really be in community, build, create,
and pass on the traditions that which trying so desperately
to retrieve.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
And hang on to.
Speaker 14 (40:04):
Sounds really wonderful than you. Yeah, I see there's a
significant online presence with a great line of literary storytellers.
I saw on your website. Can you talk a little
bit about that and what people can expect from future
storytellers that you feature there and a lot of there's
a lot of books that you the people that the
authors and storytellers that you have on there.
Speaker 12 (40:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (40:27):
We have a program that we call we Lit Lit
for literature and because real lit, real lit people. But
the program itself celebrates authors, writers, poets, speakers who all
are rooted in African culture, whose work speaks and attests
(40:52):
to the black genius that comes out of our communities.
It's an opportunity to meet to meet authors, to meet writers.
All of our programs allow for an intergenerational and interactive
opportunities for audiences to meet with and speak to artists, writers,
(41:17):
and so on. Historically, our institution has been seen as
a storytelling place, and you know, like everything now, the
notion of storytelling is on everybody's tongue. It's become kind
of the the next thing, the next fad, if you will.
(41:41):
But as an organization, again with fifty years under our belt,
we have been the place to tell our stories and
to capture our stories.
Speaker 14 (41:51):
That's Melody Kupote, director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African
Diaspora Institute. She just reminded us that wild diaspora may
speak French, Spanish or English, the languages of the colonizers.
Our real connection is the stories we tell and the
traditions we carry. To hear more of what she said
next about storytelling, authors, and the future of the diaspora community,
(42:15):
head over to the Color Between the Lines podcast on iHeartRadio,
YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Esther Dillard.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Thanks Melody and Esther. Coming up, Doug Davis talks to
a top black HR consultant about DEI and how black professionals,
human resources officers, and diversity directors can navigate in today's
challenging business climate in relation to equity in the workplace.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
Doug, Hey, thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis back with
our segment titled Euro Black Business, where we spotlight the systems,
strategies and voices that shape Black entrepreneurship today. We're joined
by doctor Fela Fatch, a nationally recognized entrepreneur and business
owner who has worked in HR and DEI and it's
changing how organizations treat black talent, black leadership, and black futures.
(43:05):
She's the founder of Fela Fatch Consulting, an author of
the Diversity Dilemma, a powerful new book unpacking the real
world impact of DEI on Black professionals and communities. Doctor Fach,
Welcome to the Black Information Network, and you're a black
business All right, let's talk some DEI. You've spent decades
helping companies embed equity into their HR strategies when it
(43:28):
comes to hiring and retraining black talent. What are the
most persistent line spots that you encounter?
Speaker 12 (43:35):
Well, thank you so much for having me first of all,
and yes, I've been working in human resources for over
twenty five years. Typically, HR people need to know employment laws,
and there are so many employment laws, federal and state
laws that guide how HR people do their job, and
(43:55):
I think the small business owner is just totally clueless
about that until they run into a claim, whether it's
a worker's claim, a wage hour law claim, discrimination claim,
rasman claim, EEOC claim. So yeah, that's what I see consistently.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you get asked this a lot.
You know, we've seen the big wave of DEI rollbacks
in corporate America, especially, you know, after high profile backlash
from a lot of conservative voices. Right now, what's your
response to companies that are, you know, quietly scaling back
their equity commitments and what should black professionals be watching
(44:36):
out for in these kind of environments.
Speaker 12 (44:38):
I appreciate that question. So my first response is my
book The Diversity Dilemma. And in my book The Diversity Dilemma,
we talk about I talk about how we need to
get through DEI in a survivor's move. So here's my
(44:59):
response to version to the latest attacks we see on DEI,
and it's thank you, thank you for showing us who
you are. Thank you for coming out of the shadows
and coming out of you know, hiding who we need
to deal with what we need to do to put
ourselves in a position where we can be safe as
(45:21):
vulnerable populations and historically marginalized populations. Because I've been talking
about DEI for the past ten years, I didn't always
talk about it in my human resources business. But when
I started talking about it, I started realizing, and this
is what my book talks about, the diversity dilemma. I
started realizing that I had a target on my back,
(45:43):
and I was totally shocked. I was totally shocked that
I was a token in some cases. We are in
a great place right now because we know that we
need to empower ourselves. We know that we need to
make sure or we stay within community. We know that
(46:03):
we cannot rely on certain corporations to give us steady employment,
and that we have to get back to you know,
when as black people and people of color, when we
helped each other find jobs, when we hired each other,
when we created jobs as entrepreneurs, and we really just
need to get back to that and stop relying on
(46:25):
companies and corporations to save us, because what we've learned
this year is that no one is coming to save
us in terms of justice equity, diversity and inclusion.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Let's talk about black employees proper representation. What kind of
advice would you give black professionals right now who may
have either been hired from a quote DEI perspective, but
are black and they're just worried about their positions.
Speaker 12 (46:52):
So I think number one the first advice I would
say is they're not alone. There are people of all
races and sizes and colors in this country right now
who are worried about their position. Get involved in your community.
Get involved. You know, I served as an elected official
(47:13):
and I got involved in issues that affected me in
my community. So my point is, you have to have
professional courage. You have to know your rights. You have
to know the policies that are governing your job or
governing your life, and then you have to do something
about it. You have to open your mouth, you have
to write letters, you have to get involved, figure out
(47:35):
ways to put yourself in a position of power where
you can do something about it. Know when you're supposed
to vote, Know what redistrict came mean?
Speaker 14 (47:43):
Right?
Speaker 3 (47:44):
You know in your book you explore how DEI can
be weaponized, used to someone you know, kind of pacify
rather than empower. What kind of advice do you have
for black professionals who are you know, leading DEI work
inside organization but feel kind of isolated under resource or
(48:04):
like you said earlier, even tokenized.
Speaker 12 (48:06):
Oh yeah, that's one of my favorite questions because that's
how I felt, and I thought that I was being
a martyr. You know, I thought that, oh, what a
great opportunity. I'm representing all the black people, and I'm
going to save all the black people and all the
people of color and all the women. You know, there's
going to be a martyr. I'm going to be the
new Martin Luther King in the workplace, and you know,
(48:29):
be assassinated from the rooftops. And you will be assassinated
from the rooftop. By the way, if you operate in
a silo, you operate by yourself. One of the biggest
regrets I have, and it's not I don't have a
lot of regrets, but rather something I would have done
differently is really connecting myself with organizations that could support
(48:52):
the work I do within in corporation. So, for example,
I should have been more aligned with Black Lives Matter.
I didn't have to agree with everything they were doing,
but I needed to have partnerships there, being aligned with
the Urban League, being aligned with the NAACP. They needed
to know that I was in this position and that
(49:12):
I had influence in this position, and then their influence
may have helped the CEO help influence that person and
making sure equity really stayed at the forefront. But if
you're inside an organization and you're trying to do it
by yourself, you're trying to just kind of hide out,
stay in your office, or if you're just reading the
(49:34):
script that they gave you, then you're going to have
to ask yourself how long will you be operating on
someone else's agenda? And so a lot of times they
offer us these diversity, equity and inclusion roles and they
pay you more than you ever would have received as
a director. Right, so most of my roles started two
(49:57):
hundred thousand up. And at the time when I was
offered the position, I mean when I was yeah, I
was currently making maybe one hundred hundred and fifty thousand
a year, which was a great six figure salary. But
now all of a sudden, you'll get an opportunity where
they'll double your salary. But I ask those people who
are in a DEI role who's struggling and they're not
(50:19):
seeing any movement and they're stressing themselves out and it's
affecting their health, and they're being disrespected, they're being marginalized,
they're dealing with microaggressions, they're being left out of meetings,
they're being talked to like crap, why are you there?
Is it just because you like the title? So you
need to do some soul searching and look for other opportunities,
(50:42):
Like I did you know? I? You know, I left
on one of the jobs that I was working at DEI,
and I said, I want to write a book, and
I want to do speaking engagements, and I want to
get my public At one point I was working in DEI,
I said, I want to get my PhD in public
policy so I could learn learn how to write. How
did certain people get in office? How did certain bills
(51:04):
get passed? That became really important to me to create
policies that protect the workplace and protect our communities, and
a lot and this is some of the work you
would see the Black Panthers would do that people don't
talk about. But a lot of what a Feenie secure.
She created one of the biggest healthcare policies that are
still in existence today that provides equity for people of
(51:27):
color when they're admitted into hospitals. It's called the first
Patient Bill of Rights. That's something that we still have
to this day, the policy or set of hospital rules
that protect the patient's rights, including dignity, information privacy, and
the ability to complain or refuse treatment. So we thought
(51:48):
that we always had the ability to complain and refuse treatment. See,
this is what happens. People think we already had these rights,
and then something like Project twenty twenty five comes along.
They tell you we're getting ready to take some more
rights away from you, and people don't believe it. And
so I talk about it in my book. You know,
Correta Scott King said every generation has to fight for
(52:09):
their rights. You know, every generation has to fight for freedom.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
If you could rewrite the National DEI Conversation from scratch,
you know, based on truth, justice, you know, black empowerment,
what would it sound like and what would you want
every CEO, policymaker, HR leader to understand before they launch
another initiative.
Speaker 12 (52:34):
I would start with making sure people are culturally competent
to understand the culture, biases and stereotypes overtake the workplace
and kind of run rampant because people do not even
(52:54):
understand black people, or gay people or transgender people. So
that's where I was starting. I really don't think we
would need a DEI initiative if we could take the
initiative to really get to know people, understand where they
came from.
Speaker 3 (53:11):
Doctor Thatch, founder of the La Thatch Consulting and author
of the Diversity Dilemma, a powerful new book unpacking the
real world impact of DEI on Black professionals and communities.
Thank you again for joining us on the Black Information
Network and your Black business. I have so many more
questions but love to have you back on the show soon.
This is Doug Davis and you're listening to the Black Perspective.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
Thanks Doug and doctor Thatch. Now we get commentary from
Roland S.
Speaker 11 (53:37):
Martin.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b N and its founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland S. Martin.
Speaker 16 (53:54):
The magat GFP wants America to be white Christian nation.
Don't take it for me. Take it from Joe Walsh,
former hardcore MAGA Republican congressman who has since repented, saying
he has seen the light. This is what he told
me on Roland Martin unfiltered.
Speaker 17 (54:13):
Look cut through all the bs. The Speaker of the House,
Mike Johnson has publicly said that America should be a
white Christian country. This is what animates my former party, Roland.
You know me, right, tea party hell raiser. I don't
(54:33):
come from the left.
Speaker 12 (54:35):
I left.
Speaker 17 (54:37):
I left the Republican Party when the Republican Party became MAGA.
And my fellow Democrats and folks on the left need
to understand that the most powerful force in today's Republican
Party is represented by what Charlie Kirk said. It is
this drive to make America a white Christian nation. I
(55:04):
gotta tell you. This is what they say privately, This
is now what they say publicly. This is what Charlie
Firk said publicly.
Speaker 16 (55:14):
Now, if you can't take it from me, take it
from a white guy like Joe Walsh. He talks to
these people. He was in that camp. He was hardcore MAGA.
I'm telling y'all everything that I wrote in my book
White Fear, How the Brown of America is making white
(55:37):
folks lose their minds. It is coming to pass. I
have been talking about this issue, giving speeches on this
issue since two thousand and nine. It is happening. It
was a prophetic call given to me and I saw it.
And don't think for a second that these people are
(55:59):
not going to try to make it happen. We must
fight back. I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 11 (56:06):
Thanks for Roland.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
Now we get commentary from James T.
Speaker 11 (56:09):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b I N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 18 (56:22):
I'm James Harris, and they have something to say. Kamala
Harris says out on her book tour, and if there's
one thing that shines through, it's this. It's never her fault.
Speaker 10 (56:31):
The sitting vice president enters the race against a former
president of the United States who has been running for
ten years, with one hundred and seven days to go,
and it ended up being the closest presidential election in
the twenty first century. We used to compare the strength
of our democracy to communist dictators. That's what we're dealing
with right now, Donald Trump.
Speaker 18 (56:51):
This is Kamala Harris in a nutshell. And this is
the problem with the Democrat Party. When they lose, they
don't learn, they don't step back and say, hey, maybe
the problem is our leadership. Maybe it's the Marxist wing
of our party dragging us down. No, it's that they
just keep pointing fingers and pushing the same tire rhetoric.
(57:12):
And here's the kicker. There was a lot to learn
from the last election. Donald Trump lost, then came back,
retooled and won. That's called learning from your mistakes. But
Kamala Harris, she doesn't do that. She doesn't know what
she's talking about. And the voters agreed at the end
of the day, Kamala lost because she refused to face reality.
(57:33):
And now she's downright delusional.
Speaker 10 (57:36):
And right now we are dealing with, as I called
him at my speech on the Ellipse, a tyrant. We
used to compare the strength of our democracy to communist dictators.
That's what we're dealing with right now, Donald Trump. Titans
of industry are not speaking and perhaps it is because
his threats and the way he has used the weight
(57:57):
of the federal government to take out vengeance on his
critics is something that they fear and I get that.
Speaker 18 (58:04):
You should get that, Kamala Harris, because that is exactly
how the Democrat Party treated Donald Trump for the last
eight years. Kamala Harris and the Democrat Party are projecting,
not planning, and that is why they will fail again.
Speaker 6 (58:18):
I'm James C.
Speaker 18 (58:18):
Herris for the Black Information Network. Thanks James.
Speaker 2 (58:21):
Be sure to tune in daily for a commentary from
Moel Kelly, Roland S Martin and James T. Harris right
here on the Black Information Network. And that's our program
for this week. For more on these stories, listen to
the Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio app or
log onto binnews dot com for all of the latest
(58:41):
news impacting the black community. We would love to hear
from you about the black perspective. Simply log on to
bi's Talkback live feature on the iHeartRadio app and share
your feedback. Also, be sure to follow us on social
media at Black Information Network and on x and Blue
Sky at Black infone Net. And make The Information Network
(59:01):
first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app presets. I'm
Mike Island 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.
Speaker 1 (59:13):
Hi, this is Timmy Eswick with the Black Information Network.
Speaker 4 (59:17):
Every year, during and shortly after pregnancy, at a time
that should be filled with some of life's most rewarding
and joyous experiences, hundreds of black women die. Join the
Black Information Network as we take a look at the
issue and explore answers to.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
The problem in our special public awareness campaign, Saving Black
Moms a Maternal health Crisis, because every mom and every
life is worth saving.
Speaker 4 (59:43):
Learn more at bionnews dot com.
Hi, This is Morgan Wood with the Black Information Network.
Every year, thousands of Black families face the unbearable sorrow
of losing a mom during pregnancy or after childbirth. Learn
how you can support them in bi in's special public
awareness campaign Saving Black Moms a Maternal health Crisis. Black
maternal health.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Is a community issue.
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Learn more on our social media platforms and at binnews
dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's Sunday, September twenty eighth, and on today's show, alexandre
Ikimoni is back as she sits down with the cast
of the new Netflix movie Ruth m Boaz, Tyler Lepli
and Sorea. Mister Jordan interviews Hall of Fame sportscaster and
cancer survivor Ernie Johnson Junior as he shares his journey
with prostate cancer and his involvement with the organization Zero
(00:53):
Prostate Cancer. The Black Information That Works. Sester Dildard talks
with Melody Capote, director of Harlem's Care Ribbian Cultural Center
African Diaspora Institute, to talk about the center's mission and
the role of storytelling in our community. And Doug Davis
talks to a top Black HR consultant about DEI and
how black professionals can navigate in today's challenging business climate.
(01:17):
These stories of more are coming your way. On today's show,
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
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 2 (01:34):
Good Sunday and Welcome to the Black Perspective. Alexandria Icimoni
speaks with Tyler Lepley and Sorea of the new Tyler
Perry and Devon Franklin Netflix movie Ruth m Boat Alexandria
take it away.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
What's up?
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Guys?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Is a girl Alexandria Ikimoni in the studio with Sorea
and Tyler Leplie. How are you guys today?
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Doing good?
Speaker 6 (01:55):
Good?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Hey you Phil, I'm doing well, feeling great, happy guys.
Speaker 7 (01:58):
How do you have you?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Guys?
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Excuse me and studio to talk about the new movie
that we have. Absolutely, absolutely, let's talk about it. We
have a new movie called Ruth and Boaz, modern take
on the Biblical story. But I want to hear it
from your perspective. Tell me more about the movie and
what people can expect when watching.
Speaker 8 (02:19):
Well, it's a adaptation of the Ruth and Boast story
in the Bible, So there's a lot of similarities there
with the story as far as like the storyline and
kind of how it plays out. But it's a twenty
twenty five love story.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
It encompasses.
Speaker 8 (02:40):
Community love, black love. I like to make sure that
I say, and I think most of all, just like family,
that family. You've said this, Tyler has said this throughout
the press run, and I think that's so spot on.
Is the familiar aspect to the movie that you'll feel,
(03:02):
and I think those are some of the main takeaways.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yeah, Tyler, he anything else and music.
Speaker 9 (03:08):
Yeah, yeah, it actually used to be called when we
first started it, it was titled.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
R and B.
Speaker 9 (03:14):
Right, So yeah, there's a there's a music aspect to it,
but it's it's outside of everything, you know, even to
pickyback off of what she said, you know, when we
actually get into you know who Ruth and bo As are,
they're really just two individuals that are that are focused on,
you know, stepping into their own path, serving God in
(03:36):
their own way. And when they're focused on the right things,
you know, God on God unfolds them to each other
and it ends up, you know, just unfolding to a
beautiful love story.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
How would you guys describe your characters though, you know,
for people who are who haven't obviously haven't seen it yet,
how would you describe the character that you play?
Speaker 8 (03:57):
I would say Ruth Mobiley is a very I would
say she is a headstrong person. I think that she
is very determined, also super I would say confident, because
(04:20):
she follows her own gut instinct, not knowing what's going
to happen next. I mean, and these are decisions in
life she has. Over Here on the right hand, she
has a six figure deal that she can say yes too,
and then over here on the left hand, she can
kind of just step out on faith and start a
whole new life. And she chooses that path is to
start a whole new life with nothing, to go out
(04:43):
on the grounds and get it, find a job, do
all these things. So I think that takes a lot
of confidence in oneself to do so. And not only that,
she's she is a a I don't say entertainer, but
she definitely loves music.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
And uh, definitely.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
Super Yeah, she's entertainer. And I would say, like there's
something sweet about her. Although she has this hard show,
there's something like super sweet about her inside.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
So yeah, you'll see that kind of play out in
the movie.
Speaker 9 (05:19):
Yeah, that's one thing I love about you know, Ruth's
arc in the beginning, she leaves everything she's ever known
to you know, chase something that she feels, you know,
in the area of the unknown, which is which is
pretty scary to do in real life.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
You know.
Speaker 9 (05:34):
I think for bo has is similar to Ruth and
the fact that he's also very determined. We were just
talking about some of the uh, you know, at the
end of the day, they have to make it. They
have to make the film. You know, film can't be
three hours long. So we're talking about a few of
the scenes that we saw that were deleted, but like
a few of them, I mean it's it's still in
(05:54):
the film as well, but uh, you know, one of
them really showcased just how determined bo As is in
trying to I mean, even without that scene, he's trying
to really honor this I forget what it is. What's
the what's the wine called? I forget what it's called. Yeah,
as well, it's his most recent wine that he's been
(06:14):
working with uh. He started it with his father. His
father since passed and now he's steadfast on, you know,
winning an award but also bringing you know, just bringing
the intention and the love and the notoriety to his
family's name Bye by bringing this this wine to I
(06:35):
don't know what was it some type of it was
some type of competition the ad. Anyway, he ended up
winning it, but he's just very determining what he and
what it is that he wants to do.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, for sure, absolutely, So tell me more about why
you guys thought these were great fits for you guys
to play these characters. Why did you guys decide to
take on this role?
Speaker 5 (06:56):
For me, I have done roles with music and.
Speaker 8 (07:02):
Inside of the you know, in the project started off
doing Empire and then like kind of like a snowball
of these different roles I kind of like have music
inside of it. So that part felt super familiar. Another
part another reason why I wanted to do the film. Honestly,
I wanted to step away from doing music and film
(07:22):
because I make my own music.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
I am an artist in real life.
Speaker 8 (07:27):
But I was like, you guys know, I don't want
to do music anymore, and Devond's like, but look, it's different,
and I'm telling you like this role. And so I
read the scripts and I loved it. It's a love story.
It's just a great movie too. It feels needed and
wholesome and all those things. So that's what definitely drew
(07:48):
me to the project for sure.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
I love that Tyler.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Yeah, I think a few things. First.
Speaker 9 (07:53):
I've always I've always wanted to be a part of
Netflix in any way that I could be.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Hello, right, Working with.
Speaker 9 (08:00):
Ray is always is always fun, She's always bringing something
new to it. I've I've followed uh Devin Franklin for
a while, so you know, any any chance I can get,
any chance I get to work with Tyler Perry again,
I'm always gonna I'm always gonna do that. So those
were a few of the things initially that attracted me
to it. But then once I got into the script,
(08:20):
I just really liked how Bo has had this uh
he just had this like this contrast to him on
one hand, in order to uh bring that to fruition
everything I was talking about him being determined to do
it takes a certain like rigidity, you know, they kind
(08:41):
of like be rigid and kind of black and white
to in order to to do that. But then on
the flip side, you know, you got to be fluid
enough to serve in ways that you don't know how
it's going to benefit you. So I feel like, uh,
you know that juxtaposition or that you know that yin yang,
that contrast is something that all so really attracted me
to the role of Boaz, you know, by itself, for sure,
(09:04):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And you were talking about, you know, an as an artist,
you weren't sure if this was the right fit for you.
What do you think, like was I guess, how are
you challenged in this role, especially since you weren't sure
if you wanted to take this on per se both
of you guys, how are you challenged by taking on
this role?
Speaker 8 (09:23):
Well, well, let me let me rephrase that. I think
that that is a personal thing for me, was to
you know, have roles that challenged me in different ways
that don't have the music per se makes us. I
want to make sure that I'm also like, you know,
(09:47):
just being able to experience different characters, right. But there's
something special about Ruth Mobley and this film in particular,
and I love that Tyler said it first of all,
it's my first Tyler Perry film.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, let me just say that.
Speaker 8 (10:01):
Devon Franklin I love and I worked with before on
Kingdom Business on BT Plus.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
I think this felt.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
It felt different because one, I got.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
To work with Babyface Hello.
Speaker 8 (10:18):
But more than that, the music was a little different
than I'm used to. It has like this country kind
of feel to it, and I've never sang that like
on record, and so when I was doing that, I
found something a spark that was new for me and
was like that country vibe and it brought something up
different in my voice than I've.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
Ever heard before.
Speaker 8 (10:42):
And even I remember on set one of the actors,
I forget which one it was, when when we were
playing the song back to backing for the scene and
they're like, wait, this is you singing? I'm like yeah,
and he's like, wow, you really sound good on like
this country vibe and I'm like, really, thank you appreciate that,
And I agree, is its country or even gospel, it
(11:03):
brings something else. It brings a different vibration to the room.
And so that was something that super like was super different,
but it was a great nuance that you know, I
was excited to play.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
Yeah, and Tyler.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I mean, you've been in a wide range of roles
as well, So how was this a challenge for you?
If it was, you know, like, did you learn anything
from it, grew any in any way?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 9 (11:28):
Yeah, I think every you know, every role kind of
presents its own challenge for sure. I think for me,
I've never done a love like a true love story.
I think the closest I've I've been to it is Harlem,
but that's like a rom com is a comedic access
to aspect to it. So I think one challenge for
me is, you know, trying to trying to find like
(11:51):
like passion without being angry and nothing like I'm an
angry person, right, but like I'm I'm an aries, I'm
a fire sign.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
I fight for what it is that I want. So, uh,
you know with this.
Speaker 9 (12:03):
Uh you know Boaz is really he's he's for sure,
you know you see him. I don't know, So I
think there was there was much more of a calm aspect.
So to find myself within a calmness was a challenge
(12:24):
that you know, I was up for and it was
a lot of fun trying to figure.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
It out perfect perfect now working with Devon Franklin, Tyler
Perry and even under Netflix. How was that for you guys,
Like did you like the lessons learned or growth? I mean,
talk to me more about the powerhouse that you guys
had behind you.
Speaker 9 (12:41):
Guys Netflix, Tyler Perry, ain't no pressure.
Speaker 8 (12:47):
I remember like pre production, the prep. I would say,
I've never done prep like that before. And I was like, Okay,
welcome to the big leagues. Like driving like I said,
it's my first time working with Tyler per working on
the studio here in Atlanta, and driving just on to
the Tyler Perry studio lot, I was.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Like, hello, yeah, hi, Yeah, oh my god, got a badge.
Speaker 8 (13:14):
I got a little key car. But other than that, honestly,
I remember us sharing this moment that just it was
so vivid it came to my mind. It was one
of the pre prep weeks or whatever, and we're doing
like lighting tests and they have us kind of like
(13:34):
in front of the camera basically just camera testing, not
shooting anything, no lines, no nothing, just hair and makeup.
Let's let's, you know, shoot for lighting to see what
lighting they wanted for the movie. And I remember me
and Tyler like just standing They're like, okay, and now
look at each other.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
Now look away.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
They look back at each other and they're like doing
whatever with the different hues and lighting and things like that.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
And I was like, wow, this is serious and Tyler
was like.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
Oh yeah, and I'm just like I remember thinking like
I've never gone through this type of prep. It just
it just felt bigger. It felt it felt more serious.
The details were intricate, and I remember that being kind
of like the foundation for where we were about to go.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
And even now the press.
Speaker 8 (14:25):
I'm like, well, hello press, you know Netflix.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Netflix employee.
Speaker 9 (14:36):
There's a lot of a lot of attention to detail
because even everything she mentioned it was you know, it
was a full it was a full production day. You
know that all the cameras, they're all, you know, fifty
people there just to take pictures.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
So you saw how much Netflix and Tyler Perry Studios,
and you know, with with Divine's input, how much they
were pouring into this. You know, so it really raised
the bar for us to be. And of course we're professional,
we're gonna we're going to step in and do our thing,
but it really kind of puts you, you know, put
you there when you see Mike Jordan Steff on the
on the floor, we're supposed to be here.
Speaker 8 (15:12):
Yeah, I feel so good. Yeah, because we take our
craft that seriously too.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
So it feels good to be you know, in the company.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Absolute absolutely, we love that. We can't wait to see
the movie. But of course before we get out of here,
we got to get a little personal, just a little
bit little something.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I see the ring, I see the ring gorgeous.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
How can we talk about the engagement a little bit?
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Sure?
Speaker 8 (15:38):
I mean it's you know, the ring is it's it's
definitely a symbol of big love. But I think what's
more important for the ladies it's not the ring's it
is the it's the foundation that you're setting.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
It's it's what do you want?
Speaker 8 (15:55):
And I think that that's the more important thing nowadays,
because don't get me wrong, like I feel like all
the girls want the ring because of what it's symbolizes.
But I think we shouldn't lose what it's symbolizing, right,
It's it's love, it's it's commitment, it's setting a foundation
of family. And for me and my fiance, it's we're
(16:18):
big on just like we're big on black family. Like,
and so it's like, what what does that mean to us?
And in carrying that lineage.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Out, it's big for big for us, big for me.
Speaker 8 (16:32):
Anyways, I don't want to speak for him, he's not here,
but but it's big for me. And I think it's
really important to note that nothing is perfect just because.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
You see this ring here.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
Okay, nothing's perfect, and everyone has their journey in love
and you can't count.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
The years or the the oh because I have.
Speaker 8 (16:56):
Girlfriends right obviously, and it's always like how long they've
been together? How long you know, and you'll start to
feel insecurities if you feel like, oh, well, this happened
for this person, you know, don't Yeah, it's like I
want to I just want to go on record and
just be like, you know, it's not about comparison.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
It's not about.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Goals, you know what I mean, couple goals, Like we
all go through the same ship, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
We all know that's the same ship.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
And I think it's just really important to consider your partner,
know what you want, and to have patience and grace
and and those things are really really important. But yes,
so exciting, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Well, congratulations and Tyler. Of course you Miracle wants everything
with you.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Guys. There were just you know, just just planning, planning
the wedding right now. And I'm learning, I'm learning, you know,
through my experience that y'all change your mind a little bit.
So it was like, you know, first we want to
do something real big. She has a huge family, I
think even for even for our baby shower, we did
(18:06):
it down to Houston where she's from, and there was
like three hundred people.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
They're all real family members, you know what I mean.
Speaker 9 (18:12):
So it was like, at first she wanted to do
something big like that, and then and then she you know,
pulled to one eighty and then she wanted to just elope,
just me and her and do some real intimate and
we kind of settled on the middle ground, do something
like like forty five fifty people, a little more intimate,
but a destination wedding, which we're going to do it
(18:33):
in Cabo in Mexico.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
That's going to be nice.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
Yeah, we love we love Mexico. I mean that's that's
how we're doing it.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Yeah right now, right, Oh, I love that.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Do we probably know around Whanberg next summer.
Speaker 9 (18:47):
Yeah, it's gonna be towards the end of the summer. Yeah,
she got another she got another week or so before
you know, all the locked in, yeah, all the all
the down payment. So she figured out next little seven
ten days.
Speaker 8 (18:59):
I was like, listen, I just dropped the baby. I'm like,
I need a little second.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Yeah, it takes it takes a minute.
Speaker 9 (19:05):
I think there should be no kind of like what
you were saying to everybody has such a you know,
just such a judgment.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
Of what you should do.
Speaker 9 (19:12):
I think you should we should all give ourselves, our
partners grace and enough time to figure out what what
you want to day.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
I mean even that, like as soon as we got engaged,
when's the literally like it happened two days y'all? Please yeah,
you know, no, but it's it's definitely it's it's definitely amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
It's a blessing.
Speaker 8 (19:35):
Yeah, congratulations, Thank you again to congratulations.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Congratulations to you both here absolutely so you guys obviously
work on other projects as well. First for you, Tyler,
because I'm a peak balley stand what's going on.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
It's the only way we we We finished it last
We finished it last year towards the end of the year.
I was filming, I was filming this and that at
the same time. And really really hats off to both
of them, Really hats off to both of them because
there was a there was for a for a period
of time.
Speaker 6 (20:11):
After I booked it. They weren't able to figure the
schedule out.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
You know.
Speaker 9 (20:17):
Peter was in the first position, so like for for
a minute, for a couple of days like me and
on the phone like man, I guess I catch you
on the next one.
Speaker 6 (20:24):
But they were able to work it out, you know.
Katoria had you know, and really the what are they?
What are they? What are the are their titles?
Speaker 9 (20:32):
It's a it's a script not a script manager, no, no,
but the I think it's a line producer. Line producer
are the ones that figure the schedules out. The line
producers couldn't make it happen. So like it actually went above.
Katoria had to pick up the phone and get on
the divine and they and they made it happen, you
know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
So shouts out to both of them.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
He was working okay.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
And they're so there's such a different character.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Yeah right, yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
But we finished it up.
Speaker 9 (21:03):
We finished it last year and I know that they
had just wrapped up the post production on it, so
it's like it's officially in the can. I just got
to wait to see see when they want to bring
it out.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Is coming up all right, because.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
I'm ready to to talk to somebody man at this point.
So right now, you obviously have a lot going on
as well. What else are you working on? Are we
working on music to or what's yes?
Speaker 8 (21:25):
So, I actually just dropped a record called PDSO, and
I am working on putting out the rest of my music,
hopefully in the next month or two. So very exciting stuff.
I'm excited about this music. I'm excited about I have
a couple projects on the upcoming as well, so I'm
(21:48):
working on actually producing. I'm actually producing a non scripted show.
I told you about this actually when we were shooting
this show so funny because it's about food and wine
and Ruth and Boaz made me think about it when
we were shooting and I showed him the sizzle. But
it's with my really good friend Brittany wyn Bush. She
(22:11):
is the girl it's called where It's called WTF. I'm sorry,
w y a, Brittany. So it's like, where are you
at Brittany and and she is just that girl in
New York. She's in the city and she knows where
to go, where to be, who to talk to, what
(22:33):
wine to try, what dish to have, and it's it's
a really cool show that we are producing and I'm
really looking forward to getting that going now. We have
just confirmed that it's going to be on key TV,
So shout out to my girl Kiky Palmer on YouTube.
And so we're doing these ten minute segments and we're
(22:55):
looking to start production very soon. But that's it's it's
so cool to be like behind the camera also on
just to be in a creative mode. And then there's
some other films that are like coming up and talk,
so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
That's exciting.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Can't wait to see all that come together. In tylerd Know,
we talked about Pea Valley and of course this movie.
Are you taking a break or do you have anything
else you are wanting to focus on in the short
or near future?
Speaker 9 (23:21):
No, ain't no rest for the weird. So we also
have a film called Goon's Coming Out Sorey and myself.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
When is that coming on?
Speaker 9 (23:33):
I was, I was, yeah, I was talking to him.
He was they were getting last time I spoke to him,
they were getting a distribution.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Amazing.
Speaker 9 (23:42):
So that'll that'll be coming out with say and myself
as well, Michael, Randy Junior, a bunch of lot of
other dope, dope actors. P Valley still on the way.
Oh no, yeah, Harlem came out. Okay, that was earlier.
Restaurant Oh yeah, got a restaurant down intown. But that
keeps me pretty busy, which is so you know what
(24:04):
something like a restaurant, you can't you can't pick up
a brochure and learn.
Speaker 6 (24:09):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 9 (24:10):
It's there's there's an aspect that that you can only get.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
From the experience.
Speaker 9 (24:14):
Yeah, so you know I've had I've had to learn
that from my own experience, lasts of ups and downs.
But then once you get it, you know, I corrected
the ship. Now now it's running smooth. So it was
a learning process. Cool though.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
Down in Tampa.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
Yeah, in Tampa.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Hopefully we get more locations for sure, it'll be nice.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
All right.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Last question for the both of you guys. Holidays are
coming up.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
What's the planes? So many conversations to have down there.
Speaker 8 (24:48):
My family is like, you know, all over and then
we you know, now it's just I don't.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
Know, It's fine. We're taking it day by day.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
We're taking it day by day. We have a lot
of things going on. It seems like before I love November. Yeah,
I am like, yeah, yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
Girls, I am too to decorate as you should, as
you should.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Well, any last words you want to leave with the
people before we get out of here.
Speaker 8 (25:15):
Make sure you see Ruth and Boas on Netflix comes
out on September twenty sixth, and we are so excited
for this, and please let us know what you think.
Have watch parties, yes, yeah, watch parties.
Speaker 11 (25:30):
Right, Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:30):
This is one of those movies that you know, it's
exciting enough to watch by yourself. You just you know,
want to cut something on. But this is really something
that you can watch with the whole family day.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
With the boys, girls, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
It's one of those It's one of those movies.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Thank you both for coming into the studio Todays.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Thank you, thanks Alexandria Tyler and Sorea. Ruth and boa
As is streaming now on Netflix. This is the final
Sunday of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Prostate can answer affects
one in eight men. However, Black men are seventy percent
more likely to be diagnosed and twice as likely to
die from the disease. Zero Prostate Cancer is the nation's
(26:11):
leading prostate cancer organization. They're on a mission to save
lives through awareness, education and support. Mistery Jordan has spent
the last couple of weeks speaking with black men. Known
celebrities like Montell Jordan and Matthew Knowles, all brave enough
to share their stories about prostate cancer in hopes of
saving lives. Misty sat down with Ernie Johnson Junior, the
(26:35):
Hall of Famers, sportscaster and cancer survivor, as he shares
his journey with prostate cancer and his involvement with the
organization Zero Prostate Cancer.
Speaker 7 (26:46):
Joining me, I have Hall of Fame sportscaster and cancer survivor,
mister Ernie Johnson Junior. How are you.
Speaker 11 (26:55):
I'm having a great day. I hope you are too.
Speaker 7 (26:57):
I am. Thank you so much. Talk to me about
the importance it's well if first, it's back up. It
is September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Talk to
me about being a cancer survivor. I like, that's about
a badge of honor. And do you feel that way?
Speaker 11 (27:15):
Yeah, I mean it's been, it's had its, it's had
its moments at non Hodgkins lymphoma back in two thousand
and three and went through chemo and got that into
remission and then uh, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen around there
(27:37):
was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So and here it is
twenty twenty five and I feel pretty good. I look great,
real good. Well, come on, I'm gonna give you twenty
minutes talking like that. I appreciate it. No, but I
feel great. And it's it's one of those things again.
I mean, everybody looks at the numbers and says, hey,
(27:57):
one to eight man, and you know, if you catch
it early, ninety nine percent, you know, treatable. And so yeah,
they call it mine early and had surgery and never
felt better in my life.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
And so now what is the recovery? What is your what?
What is your day to day?
Speaker 7 (28:14):
Now? Do you have to continue to get tests where
it's happening.
Speaker 11 (28:17):
I'm I'm good. You know. In the immediate aftermath, there
were they were regular visits to my urologist and then
always good to see that the PSA number was like negligible,
if anything at all, and so that, yeah, so that's
(28:37):
that's the deal.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
Does prostate cancer run in your family? No, So this
just was something that wasn't even on your radar.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
My number one day, you know, I'm in there for
a I'm in there for a routine physical, and you know,
I've got to call a couple of days later and
they said, you have an appointment with your this yearlogist.
And I was like, I called them, why, Well, the
PSA number was a little elevated. It wasn't like through
the roof, but it was enough that you know, you
(29:09):
need to check it out. And then you do a
you know, go in and get it looked at, and
then you they you know, doctor tells you he said,
we've got a couple of options here and how we
can treat this, and just having it removed seemed to
be the best option.
Speaker 7 (29:30):
And so what would you say to someone who's just
now having their first conversation about crosstate cancer, who's maybe
they don't have family history either, so it's something that's
not on their radar.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Well, if they're already having the conversation, I applaud them.
I think the message goes out to the to the
guys out there who were afraid to get tested and
are hesitant about doing that. All right, you know that's
one of the things about about your health is that.
And I understand it. I get it that you don't
want bad news. You know, you say, man, this is
(30:05):
bothering me. But if I get it checked out, they
might say that I have this and for prostrate it's
so easy. I mean, it's just it's a blood test, yeah,
you know. And so yeah, I just I would encourage
everybody out there just get over yourself a little bit.
(30:26):
Realize that you're doing this for the long term. There
are so many people who want you to be around
for a long time, you know. So sure, I wasn't
thrilled when I went in and they said, hey, we
need to look at this, but it was like, okay,
that's what it is. What are we going to do
about it?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:45):
And so what message do you have to women, daughters, mothers,
grandmothers who want to encourage them men in their lives
to go And is this something that we approached legitly?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Do we give you a big punch?
Speaker 5 (31:00):
What is the best way.
Speaker 11 (31:02):
Both of those have worked on me in the past.
I've been married for forty three years, and.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
The punch method is a good messa.
Speaker 11 (31:09):
Well yeah, but the talking method is a good method too,
you know. Just you've got to you've got to encourage
each other to take care of yourselves, you know, because
you know, and it works the same way with my
wife if I said, Hey, when's the last time you've
been Hey, you need to go and and and so. Yeah,
I think we've we've gotten to that point where we
(31:33):
are free to tell each other you need to get
that checked out, or you need to do this or that,
knowing that it that it comes from.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
It's all long a place of love.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:46):
And sometimes it is the woman in your life that
gives you the nudge.
Speaker 11 (31:49):
Sometimes it is and sometimes that you yourself sometimes that
you're saying something something right, I should get this checked out,
and shoot, I I'll be honest with you. I just
went through that with shortness of breath back in February.
Went to my cardiologist. He said, you're in a fib
(32:13):
and he said, then you've got you're in heart failure.
So I mean, I'm four weeks removed from bypass surgery.
You look fantastic. So it's like, well again, I'm going
to give you twenty minutes to quit talking like that.
But that's what it is. It can't be you don't
ignore it. Yes, something is there. All you do is
(32:34):
hurt yourself by staying quiet.
Speaker 7 (32:36):
But it can be scary, no dot, And I think
that the thought of this is not right. But if
I go to the doctor, this news they could give
me could be worse. And so what do you say
to people who may feel that way.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
You've got to You've got to face that fear and
then all overcome it. You'd be amazed at how good
it feels to do that, you know, to to come
face to face with it and say I'm not just
I'm not going to shy away from this because of
something that I might hear that I don't want it.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 11 (33:11):
No, it really is. It's it's a freeing to do that,
to go and talk to a professional and say, hey,
what's up, what's up with me? And and then really
the that's the toughest part when you get diagnosed with something,
and at least it was with me, it was like, okay,
(33:31):
that's what I got. Now put your head down and
fight it. Yeah, and that's uh. But but you've you've
got to get to that point, and you'll never get
to that point if you stay quiet.
Speaker 7 (33:42):
Thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.
Continue success, no, thanks and the best of hell to you.
Speaker 11 (33:48):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Thank you, Thank you, Misty and Ernie. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Is taking a bold stand against this disease and will
continue to spread awareness in hopes of saving lives. If
you or someone you know would like more information about
getting tested for prostate cancer, or you want to get
involved with Zero's mission, visit their website at zerocancer dot org.
(34:11):
You can follow Misty and submit story ideas to her
on Instagram at Mistyjradio. A new hub for books, art
and performances bringing the African diaspora together in Harlem, The
Black Information That Works. Sester Dillard sat down with Melody Capote,
the director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute,
(34:31):
to talk about the center's mission and the role of
storytelling in our.
Speaker 13 (34:35):
Community conversations, workshops, storytelling children's programming.
Speaker 14 (34:45):
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, I'm
speaking with the director of the Caribbean Culture Center African
Diaspora Institute. Her name is Melody Capote, and she's talking
with me about the opening of a brand new hub
at the center which brings together artists in a brand
new way.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
Here's some of our conversation.
Speaker 15 (35:07):
I know that the CCCADI is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary
and just launched its new cultural hub. But for those
who may not know what your organization is all about,
can you cut of synopsize for them what it does
and how it serves the community in Harlem.
Speaker 5 (35:26):
New York.
Speaker 13 (35:27):
Absolutely well, we are as you said, marking our fiftieth
anniversary next year twenty twenty six. The center was founded
on the premise that we as people of African descent,
share a common threat that wherever in the diaspora, the
dispersal of Africans. Because many people don't know what the
(35:51):
term diaspora means, it's dispersal wherever we were dispersed, wherever
we landed, wherever the ship stopped, wherever we are present today.
The common thread we share is our root culture in Africa,
and so through art, or i should say through culture,
we have been able to use tools like art sacred traditions, music, dance, food,
(36:19):
language as a way of educating our audiences, educating general
audiences about the common thread we share, the similarities we share,
and also some of the differences write a common one language,
the language of the colonizer islands that speak French versus
(36:41):
those of us who speak Spanish versus those that speak English.
But again rooted in African traditions that while our culture
was intentionally ripped away and taken away, the work of
the center speaks to reclaim much of what was lost
in the slave trade and through the business of enslavement
(37:07):
in this country.
Speaker 14 (37:09):
Can you talk a little bit about this launch of
this new hub and what that entails.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
Well, we have a location, a renovated firehouse on East
one twenty fifth Street, which is our main headquartered building.
It houses our offices. We also have gallery space and
public space that we use to gather communities for conversations, workshops, storytelling,
children's programming, and it's the space that everyone recognizes that
(37:38):
we're at. This decommissioned of renovated firehouse is now the
main site. We've been fortunate that during COVID we were
able to secure an additional space and annex about three
blocks away from US on one hundred and twenty sixth
Street and Third Avenue that we are calling ele oh Ying.
(38:01):
The words illo Ying are Yoruba for the house of honey,
and as part of our sacred practice, particularly through the
Yoruba tradition, this particular space honors the deity named Oshoon
who is the mother of us all. She is the
(38:25):
one recognized for her sweetness, for her honey, for her
bringing together a family and community, and so we chose
the words elleo Ying for the space as the beehive
or network or center where artists, culture bearers, community members
(38:48):
can gather and literally work, create, cowork, rehearse, present in
a space that is either affordable or free depending on
this situation, but primarily free for artists to come and
do what it is they do as creatives and also
(39:08):
receive training from US and technical assistance in building that art,
building that discipline into a business should they choose to
want to move in the entrepreneurial route. So the space
has we haves a resident dance company called KR three
D's which means keep Rising to the Top, thirty five
(39:31):
year old dance company based in East Harlem that was
in need of a home. So they are now using
the space and we've installed a professional dance floor and
the space itself it's just it's still rather raw, but
the artists themselves just find it as a beautiful place
(39:51):
to be able to come and really be in community, build, create,
and pass on the traditions that which trying so desperately
to retrieve.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
And hang on to.
Speaker 14 (40:04):
Sounds really wonderful than you. Yeah, I see there's a
significant online presence with a great line of literary storytellers.
I saw on your website. Can you talk a little
bit about that and what people can expect from future
storytellers that you feature there and a lot of there's
a lot of books that you the people that the
authors and storytellers that you have on there.
Speaker 12 (40:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 13 (40:27):
We have a program that we call we Lit Lit
for literature and because real lit, real lit people. But
the program itself celebrates authors, writers, poets, speakers who all
are rooted in African culture, whose work speaks and attests
(40:52):
to the black genius that comes out of our communities.
It's an opportunity to meet to meet authors, to meet writers.
All of our programs allow for an intergenerational and interactive
opportunities for audiences to meet with and speak to artists, writers,
(41:17):
and so on. Historically, our institution has been seen as
a storytelling place, and you know, like everything now, the
notion of storytelling is on everybody's tongue. It's become kind
of the the next thing, the next fad, if you will.
(41:41):
But as an organization, again with fifty years under our belt,
we have been the place to tell our stories and
to capture our stories.
Speaker 14 (41:51):
That's Melody Kupote, director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African
Diaspora Institute. She just reminded us that wild diaspora may
speak French, Spanish or English, the languages of the colonizers.
Our real connection is the stories we tell and the
traditions we carry. To hear more of what she said
next about storytelling, authors, and the future of the diaspora community,
(42:15):
head over to the Color Between the Lines podcast on iHeartRadio,
YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Esther Dillard.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Thanks Melody and Esther. Coming up, Doug Davis talks to
a top black HR consultant about DEI and how black professionals,
human resources officers, and diversity directors can navigate in today's
challenging business climate in relation to equity in the workplace.
Speaker 3 (42:42):
Doug, Hey, thanks Mike. This is Doug Davis back with
our segment titled Euro Black Business, where we spotlight the systems,
strategies and voices that shape Black entrepreneurship today. We're joined
by doctor Fela Fatch, a nationally recognized entrepreneur and business
owner who has worked in HR and DEI and it's
changing how organizations treat black talent, black leadership, and black futures.
(43:05):
She's the founder of Fela Fatch Consulting, an author of
the Diversity Dilemma, a powerful new book unpacking the real
world impact of DEI on Black professionals and communities. Doctor Fach,
Welcome to the Black Information Network, and you're a black
business All right, let's talk some DEI. You've spent decades
helping companies embed equity into their HR strategies when it
(43:28):
comes to hiring and retraining black talent. What are the
most persistent line spots that you encounter?
Speaker 12 (43:35):
Well, thank you so much for having me first of all,
and yes, I've been working in human resources for over
twenty five years. Typically, HR people need to know employment laws,
and there are so many employment laws, federal and state
laws that guide how HR people do their job, and
(43:55):
I think the small business owner is just totally clueless
about that until they run into a claim, whether it's
a worker's claim, a wage hour law claim, discrimination claim,
rasman claim, EEOC claim. So yeah, that's what I see consistently.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you get asked this a lot.
You know, we've seen the big wave of DEI rollbacks
in corporate America, especially, you know, after high profile backlash
from a lot of conservative voices. Right now, what's your
response to companies that are, you know, quietly scaling back
their equity commitments and what should black professionals be watching
(44:36):
out for in these kind of environments.
Speaker 12 (44:38):
I appreciate that question. So my first response is my
book The Diversity Dilemma. And in my book The Diversity Dilemma,
we talk about I talk about how we need to
get through DEI in a survivor's move. So here's my
(44:59):
response to version to the latest attacks we see on DEI,
and it's thank you, thank you for showing us who
you are. Thank you for coming out of the shadows
and coming out of you know, hiding who we need
to deal with what we need to do to put
ourselves in a position where we can be safe as
(45:21):
vulnerable populations and historically marginalized populations. Because I've been talking
about DEI for the past ten years, I didn't always
talk about it in my human resources business. But when
I started talking about it, I started realizing, and this
is what my book talks about, the diversity dilemma. I
started realizing that I had a target on my back,
(45:43):
and I was totally shocked. I was totally shocked that
I was a token in some cases. We are in
a great place right now because we know that we
need to empower ourselves. We know that we need to
make sure or we stay within community. We know that
(46:03):
we cannot rely on certain corporations to give us steady employment,
and that we have to get back to you know,
when as black people and people of color, when we
helped each other find jobs, when we hired each other,
when we created jobs as entrepreneurs, and we really just
need to get back to that and stop relying on
(46:25):
companies and corporations to save us, because what we've learned
this year is that no one is coming to save
us in terms of justice equity, diversity and inclusion.
Speaker 3 (46:36):
Let's talk about black employees proper representation. What kind of
advice would you give black professionals right now who may
have either been hired from a quote DEI perspective, but
are black and they're just worried about their positions.
Speaker 12 (46:52):
So I think number one the first advice I would
say is they're not alone. There are people of all
races and sizes and colors in this country right now
who are worried about their position. Get involved in your community.
Get involved. You know, I served as an elected official
(47:13):
and I got involved in issues that affected me in
my community. So my point is, you have to have
professional courage. You have to know your rights. You have
to know the policies that are governing your job or
governing your life, and then you have to do something
about it. You have to open your mouth, you have
to write letters, you have to get involved, figure out
(47:35):
ways to put yourself in a position of power where
you can do something about it. Know when you're supposed
to vote, Know what redistrict came mean?
Speaker 14 (47:43):
Right?
Speaker 3 (47:44):
You know in your book you explore how DEI can
be weaponized, used to someone you know, kind of pacify
rather than empower. What kind of advice do you have
for black professionals who are you know, leading DEI work
inside organization but feel kind of isolated under resource or
(48:04):
like you said earlier, even tokenized.
Speaker 12 (48:06):
Oh yeah, that's one of my favorite questions because that's
how I felt, and I thought that I was being
a martyr. You know, I thought that, oh, what a
great opportunity. I'm representing all the black people, and I'm
going to save all the black people and all the
people of color and all the women. You know, there's
going to be a martyr. I'm going to be the
new Martin Luther King in the workplace, and you know,
(48:29):
be assassinated from the rooftops. And you will be assassinated
from the rooftop. By the way, if you operate in
a silo, you operate by yourself. One of the biggest
regrets I have, and it's not I don't have a
lot of regrets, but rather something I would have done
differently is really connecting myself with organizations that could support
(48:52):
the work I do within in corporation. So, for example,
I should have been more aligned with Black Lives Matter.
I didn't have to agree with everything they were doing,
but I needed to have partnerships there, being aligned with
the Urban League, being aligned with the NAACP. They needed
to know that I was in this position and that
(49:12):
I had influence in this position, and then their influence
may have helped the CEO help influence that person and
making sure equity really stayed at the forefront. But if
you're inside an organization and you're trying to do it
by yourself, you're trying to just kind of hide out,
stay in your office, or if you're just reading the
(49:34):
script that they gave you, then you're going to have
to ask yourself how long will you be operating on
someone else's agenda? And so a lot of times they
offer us these diversity, equity and inclusion roles and they
pay you more than you ever would have received as
a director. Right, so most of my roles started two
(49:57):
hundred thousand up. And at the time when I was
offered the position, I mean when I was yeah, I
was currently making maybe one hundred hundred and fifty thousand
a year, which was a great six figure salary. But
now all of a sudden, you'll get an opportunity where
they'll double your salary. But I ask those people who
are in a DEI role who's struggling and they're not
(50:19):
seeing any movement and they're stressing themselves out and it's
affecting their health, and they're being disrespected, they're being marginalized,
they're dealing with microaggressions, they're being left out of meetings,
they're being talked to like crap, why are you there?
Is it just because you like the title? So you
need to do some soul searching and look for other opportunities,
(50:42):
Like I did you know? I? You know, I left
on one of the jobs that I was working at DEI,
and I said, I want to write a book, and
I want to do speaking engagements, and I want to
get my public At one point I was working in DEI,
I said, I want to get my PhD in public
policy so I could learn learn how to write. How
did certain people get in office? How did certain bills
(51:04):
get passed? That became really important to me to create
policies that protect the workplace and protect our communities, and
a lot and this is some of the work you
would see the Black Panthers would do that people don't
talk about. But a lot of what a Feenie secure.
She created one of the biggest healthcare policies that are
still in existence today that provides equity for people of
(51:27):
color when they're admitted into hospitals. It's called the first
Patient Bill of Rights. That's something that we still have
to this day, the policy or set of hospital rules
that protect the patient's rights, including dignity, information privacy, and
the ability to complain or refuse treatment. So we thought
(51:48):
that we always had the ability to complain and refuse treatment. See,
this is what happens. People think we already had these rights,
and then something like Project twenty twenty five comes along.
They tell you we're getting ready to take some more
rights away from you, and people don't believe it. And
so I talk about it in my book. You know,
Correta Scott King said every generation has to fight for
(52:09):
their rights. You know, every generation has to fight for freedom.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
If you could rewrite the National DEI Conversation from scratch,
you know, based on truth, justice, you know, black empowerment,
what would it sound like and what would you want
every CEO, policymaker, HR leader to understand before they launch
another initiative.
Speaker 12 (52:34):
I would start with making sure people are culturally competent
to understand the culture, biases and stereotypes overtake the workplace
and kind of run rampant because people do not even
(52:54):
understand black people, or gay people or transgender people. So
that's where I was starting. I really don't think we
would need a DEI initiative if we could take the
initiative to really get to know people, understand where they
came from.
Speaker 3 (53:11):
Doctor Thatch, founder of the La Thatch Consulting and author
of the Diversity Dilemma, a powerful new book unpacking the
real world impact of DEI on Black professionals and communities.
Thank you again for joining us on the Black Information
Network and your Black business. I have so many more
questions but love to have you back on the show soon.
This is Doug Davis and you're listening to the Black Perspective.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
Thanks Doug and doctor Thatch. Now we get commentary from
Roland S.
Speaker 11 (53:37):
Martin.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b N and its founding partners and employees. Now
it's time to bring the funk with Roland S. Martin.
Speaker 16 (53:54):
The magat GFP wants America to be white Christian nation.
Don't take it for me. Take it from Joe Walsh,
former hardcore MAGA Republican congressman who has since repented, saying
he has seen the light. This is what he told
me on Roland Martin unfiltered.
Speaker 17 (54:13):
Look cut through all the bs. The Speaker of the House,
Mike Johnson has publicly said that America should be a
white Christian country. This is what animates my former party, Roland.
You know me, right, tea party hell raiser. I don't
(54:33):
come from the left.
Speaker 12 (54:35):
I left.
Speaker 17 (54:37):
I left the Republican Party when the Republican Party became MAGA.
And my fellow Democrats and folks on the left need
to understand that the most powerful force in today's Republican
Party is represented by what Charlie Kirk said. It is
this drive to make America a white Christian nation. I
(55:04):
gotta tell you. This is what they say privately, This
is now what they say publicly. This is what Charlie
Firk said publicly.
Speaker 16 (55:14):
Now, if you can't take it from me, take it
from a white guy like Joe Walsh. He talks to
these people. He was in that camp. He was hardcore MAGA.
I'm telling y'all everything that I wrote in my book
White Fear, How the Brown of America is making white
(55:37):
folks lose their minds. It is coming to pass. I
have been talking about this issue, giving speeches on this
issue since two thousand and nine. It is happening. It
was a prophetic call given to me and I saw it.
And don't think for a second that these people are
(55:59):
not going to try to make it happen. We must
fight back. I'm Roland Martin on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 11 (56:06):
Thanks for Roland.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
Now we get commentary from James T.
Speaker 11 (56:09):
Harris.
Speaker 1 (56:09):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of b I N and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 18 (56:22):
I'm James Harris, and they have something to say. Kamala
Harris says out on her book tour, and if there's
one thing that shines through, it's this. It's never her fault.
Speaker 10 (56:31):
The sitting vice president enters the race against a former
president of the United States who has been running for
ten years, with one hundred and seven days to go,
and it ended up being the closest presidential election in
the twenty first century. We used to compare the strength
of our democracy to communist dictators. That's what we're dealing
with right now, Donald Trump.
Speaker 18 (56:51):
This is Kamala Harris in a nutshell. And this is
the problem with the Democrat Party. When they lose, they
don't learn, they don't step back and say, hey, maybe
the problem is our leadership. Maybe it's the Marxist wing
of our party dragging us down. No, it's that they
just keep pointing fingers and pushing the same tire rhetoric.
(57:12):
And here's the kicker. There was a lot to learn
from the last election. Donald Trump lost, then came back,
retooled and won. That's called learning from your mistakes. But
Kamala Harris, she doesn't do that. She doesn't know what
she's talking about. And the voters agreed at the end
of the day, Kamala lost because she refused to face reality.
(57:33):
And now she's downright delusional.
Speaker 10 (57:36):
And right now we are dealing with, as I called
him at my speech on the Ellipse, a tyrant. We
used to compare the strength of our democracy to communist dictators.
That's what we're dealing with right now, Donald Trump. Titans
of industry are not speaking and perhaps it is because
his threats and the way he has used the weight
(57:57):
of the federal government to take out vengeance on his
critics is something that they fear and I get that.
Speaker 18 (58:04):
You should get that, Kamala Harris, because that is exactly
how the Democrat Party treated Donald Trump for the last
eight years. Kamala Harris and the Democrat Party are projecting,
not planning, and that is why they will fail again.
Speaker 6 (58:18):
I'm James C.
Speaker 18 (58:18):
Herris for the Black Information Network. Thanks James.
Speaker 2 (58:21):
Be sure to tune in daily for a commentary from
Moel Kelly, Roland S Martin and James T. Harris right
here on the Black Information Network. And that's our program
for this week. For more on these stories, listen to
the Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio app or
log onto binnews dot com for all of the latest
(58:41):
news impacting the black community. We would love to hear
from you about the black perspective. Simply log on to
bi's Talkback live feature on the iHeartRadio app and share
your feedback. Also, be sure to follow us on social
media at Black Information Network and on x and Blue
Sky at Black infone Net. And make The Information Network
(59:01):
first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app presets. I'm
Mike Island 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.
Speaker 1 (59:13):
Hi, this is Timmy Eswick with the Black Information Network.
Speaker 4 (59:17):
Every year, during and shortly after pregnancy, at a time
that should be filled with some of life's most rewarding
and joyous experiences, hundreds of black women die. Join the
Black Information Network as we take a look at the
issue and explore answers to.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
The problem in our special public awareness campaign, Saving Black
Moms a Maternal health Crisis, because every mom and every
life is worth saving.
Speaker 4 (59:43):
Learn more at bionnews dot com.
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