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May 6, 2025 41 mins

Leslie and Angella take you through their emotional journey at the Brooklyn Technical High School 45th reunion. This isn't just any school gathering – it's a celebration of one of America's premier STEM education institutions and the diverse bonds that have endured nearly half a century.

The most remarkable aspect? Watching a room filled with people from different racial, cultural, and political backgrounds leave their differences at the door and simply celebrate their shared history. 

 This heartwarming episode reminds us all that while time marches forward and our numbers gradually diminish, the connections formed in our youth can provide lifelong strength, joy, and perspective. 

Join us for this celebration of friendship, diversity, and the enduring spirit of the Brooklyn Technites!

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leslie (00:02):
Hey Ange.

Angie (00:04):
Hey, Les how you doing.

Leslie (00:06):
I'm doing really well.
A little tired, a little sore.

Angie (00:11):
We've been Brooklyn Tech-ing.

Leslie (00:14):
This is the.
It was the All Tech Weekend, sothis is the All Tech Podcast
episode of Black Boomer.
Besties from Brooklyn Welcome.

Angie (00:29):
Welcome.
I'm Angella and that's Leslie,my best friend of almost 50
years, and we are two freethinking 60 something year old
Black women and we come on hereto just share some deep insights
on the way that we see life,and we do bring a lot of joy, a

(00:52):
lot of insight into your lives.
So, before we get started, wejust want to make one thing
clear we are technite s.
We're not techies, we're notall the.
technites and we are techengineers.
So we don't have blue devils,we don't have dragons, we don't

(01:12):
have Vikings, we don't havebears, we don't have tigers we
don't have.
We are engineers, techengineers, technites for short.
Anyway, we just wanted to clearthat up because there's a lot
of foolishness going on in termsof how people identify us as

(01:32):
graduates of the premier highschool in the looking at their
webpage, and it says thatBrooklyn Technical High School
is the nation's largestspecialized public high school
for STEM education, so if,during this episode of the

(02:01):
podcast, we start acting alittle bit more like high
schoolers than we typically do,just forgive us.

Leslie (02:06):
The weekend is over.
We are just unloading fromabout six months worth of
planning our 45th high schoolreunion, the gala right.
Yeah, the gala, so it'shomecoming weekend.

Angie (02:23):
It was homecoming weekend .
It started from Friday and itculminated for the class of 80.
And our classmates KayMoore-Benjamin, sherelle, henry

(02:47):
Taylor Domville, shelly Holderand Cookie Her real name is
Arlene, but Cookie or Cook Brittwe're all members of the class
of reps for Tech 80, and we havebeen planning the gala Leslie
Says Gala for the last sixmonths and we'll talk to you

(03:10):
about it.
We don't want to get ahead ofourselves because there's so
much that we want to talk about.
Listen, we may go long becausethere's a lot.
There's a lot, so we may golong.

Leslie (03:19):
So just a warning up front this institution has
formed who we are and I justwant to say, as you were
describing, that we are theplanning committee for the
reunions and we have been sincewe graduated in 1980.
So every five years or so weplan a big thing.
We've planned a boat ride, weplan over 100 people gala.

(03:41):
We had about 130 peoplegathering here in Brooklyn from
45 years ago In fact.
I'm going to make it a littlemore real and do this.

Angie (03:56):
Leslie, she always has a prop, always has a prop.

Leslie (04:01):
It ain't over, it ain't over, maybe I'll wear it.
On my flight back tonight Iwore my hat and ang looked at me
and was like wait, maybe I needto wear my hat.
What do you think?
What I really wanted to say isno, don't wear your hat.
But you know, I had to listenbecause she's so competitive so
now.
So that's why I wanted to bethe only one wearing that hat.

Angie (04:22):
So now you have the extra , but it's a takeover.
So what does that mean to you?
Only you, only you, really.
No that's not how we.
I'm not going to allow you, I'mnot going to allow you to be
small minded.
I'm not going to do it.
That's how much I love you.

Leslie (04:38):
So let me just when did it all begin?
It all began this weekend, whenwell, I was born in Brooklyn.

Angie (04:47):
I was born a poor black child.

Leslie (04:51):
Where did it all begin?

Angie (04:52):
Let me say Whoever knows that reference, put it in the
comments.
If you guys know where thatcame from, what movie that came
from and who said those words,put it in the comments for us,
please.

Leslie (05:04):
What should they get for knowing I was born a poor black
child?

Angie (05:09):
They will get much love from us.
It's worth all.

Leslie (05:15):
It's invaluable, not a Brooklyn Tech button or
something.

Angie (05:19):
No, because then you know we got to ship.
Everything has to bedigitalized or digitized.
We'll send you a picture of abutton, we'll send you a picture
.

Leslie (05:31):
So, anyway, this year's homecoming weekend started
actually Friday night with whatthey called the Pier 57 Tech
Takeover.
The all-class tech takeover,right.
So I'd say several hundredclassmates not just from 1980,

(05:53):
were told to meet at New YorkCity's Chelsea Piers and there's
food courts and lounges androoftop things and bars and
restaurants.
So we all met there and ofcourse, we're going to add the
pictures.
It was just amazing seeingpeople and people had their tech

(06:16):
t-shirts on and it was.
We met new people from new fromdifferent places and it was
just, it just kept gettingbetter and better because as the
evening went on and we wouldmove from one venue, let's say
from the lounge area to a bar,to this, and started talking to
people.
It's like, wait a minute, oh mygosh.

Angie (06:37):
It's like you get these levels of Different layers
Deepness, yeah, yes, but I'mgoing to say one thing though,
les, that you wouldn't even havenoticed, because I don't live
in New York or close to New York.
I don't live in the tri-statearea, I live in North Carolina,
and so it started gettingexciting for me as I started
seeing the New York skyline.

(06:58):
As I started, and it was likeLeslie, well, I know, downtown
there are all these newbuildings, and so, except for
some of the iconic New Yorkbuildings like the Empire, State
.
Building, chrysler Building,things like that.
There's so many new skyscrapersand I was starting to feel it

(07:18):
from then For you it's, like youknow, regular jagular but
that's when I started to feel it.
So anyway, the skylinecertainly has expanded.
You know regular jagular, butthat's when I started to feel it
.

Leslie (07:24):
So anyway, yeah, the skyline certainly has expanded,
you know, over the years.
And I knew and it's funnybecause as we were driving there
you're like, oh wait, what'sthat?
I said that's lower Manhattan.
And now what's that?
That's Midtown.
And you were taking pictures,like you were a tourist and I'm

(07:45):
like, okay, take the pictures.
We're going through the.

Angie (07:47):
Lincoln Tunnel.
Now it was great.
I remember that feeling becausewhen I went away to college it
wasn't that far right, I was atPenn in Philly.
But whenever I drove back toBrooklyn I would tear up.

(08:10):
When I would see the skyline Iwould really tear up because I
really, I really I love New York.

Leslie (08:14):
I do, yeah, yeah.
So it's like the whole.
I'm going to try to be specificabout Friday night.
Like the whole, I'm going totry to be specific about Friday
night, but the whole weekend wasso layered and very emotional.
There were several people herethat had never gone to a reunion

(08:36):
before.
You know, obviously, we've beenthere every banner year, every
five years or whatever.
So we have been in touch withmany of the people that we
graduated 45 years ago and, asyou all know, because we talk
about it all the time, we stillmany of our core circle of best
friends we met at Brooklyn Tech50, nearly 50 years ago.

(08:59):
So many people we see and speakto, but the people that their
first time or we haven't seenthem in 20 years catching up,
finding out how's the familydoing, and I got to tell you,
the fact that people are stillwith us is becoming more and

(09:20):
more significant.
Yeah, more and more significant.
Yeah, we'll talk about that alittle bit more later, but the
list of our friends who are nolonger with us is expanding.

Angie (09:34):
Yeah, and you know I was responsible for making the
program and one of the thingsthings isn't it nice one of the
things that I had to list is thelist of our classmates who are
no longer with us.
So every time, adding to thelist, adding to the list and

(09:55):
some people you don't even knowuntil you hear, you know, um,
because we're, we're, um, we'realso connected on facebook a lot
of us, us and you hear throughFacebook oh my gosh, you know
they passed away last year andit makes it for us, the class

(10:16):
reps and the planners of thereunion galas, it makes it that
much more a labor of love for us.
Yeah, it makes it that much morea labor of love for us to make
sure that those of us who arestill able are brought together
in this way.
Right, because it's not easy todo this type of thing.
It's a lot of a lot of movingparts, and you know you start

(10:40):
and people say yes, and then youknow the day before we're
supposed to do something oh,sorry, I can't.
You know those types of things.
There's a lot of pivoting andadjusting, and but that's the
reason why we still come back toplan these things, because it's
you never know who's not goingto be there next year Right.

(11:02):
Yeah, yeah, and I should saynext time.

Leslie (11:05):
Yeah, yeah, and over the years it's.
You know you hear that termlabor of love, but as we
approached the weekend andstarted seeing friends, our
hearts really started swellingand becoming emotional.
So many happy feelings.

(11:27):
But if you think about it, italso means that in time our
lives are transitioning todifferent states and different
periods in our lives.
You know many people.
Now we talk about retirement.
Back in the day, at some otherreunions, we would talk about
our families and you havechildren, and now we talk about

(11:48):
the grandchildren?
Yeah, we talk aboutgrandchildren, are your parents
still with you?
So by attending these events,we get to see a measure and a
mark of time, as time is goingby and it's becoming more and
more precious, and we get to seethat.

Angie (12:07):
It's a good way of putting it.
Les, Will you be my?

Leslie (12:10):
co-host.
Thank you, okay, I think I will.
You know me, I heart you.

Angie (12:16):
Oh my gosh, she's so corny, she's so corny, so can we
talk about our outfits?

Leslie (12:23):
Before we talk about the outfits.
Okay, yeah, let's talk aboutthe outfits, because we have to
put some pictures up about that.

Angie (12:28):
Yes, okay, we'll put some pictures up.
So Leslie is a planner, I'm aplanner too, but her plans are
specific.
This time, this date, who'sgoing to be there?
I need that.
I plan like let's going to bethere, what that type of stuff?
I need that.

Leslie (12:44):
I need that in my life.

Angie (12:45):
I plan like let's go move abroad.

Leslie (12:48):
Yeah, yeah, and let's do it this year and just be an
umbrella person.

Angie (12:51):
Let's do it this year, and you know, maybe milestones,
but Leslie is the detail person,so anyway, she had picked out
her outfit well in advance.
She had ordered our.
I helped to design thecommemorative t-shirts for this
reunion.
They were only available onlineand you had to have a lot of

(13:13):
lead time to get them in.
Leslie did that.
I was ready.

Leslie (13:18):
Leslie ordered the t-shirts and t-shirts, because I
knew I had to order one for you, because I knew you would not
be ordering one the T-shirt thatyou designed.

Angie (13:28):
Right, okay, listen, we all have our gifting, exactly.
I'm just stating the obvious.

Leslie (13:34):
Okay, my gift.

Angie (13:39):
I hooked you up.
Okay, helpful Harriet.
Okay, so, anyway.
So she had these like sequinedpants, right, you'll see them
Fabulous, and the T-shirt andeverything looked great.
I didn't have an outfit planned.

(13:59):
I had a few options that I hadstill not nailed down, and so
the day before, I dropped Leslie.

Leslie (14:11):
It was the big scramble and run around.

Angie (14:13):
There was no scramble and run around.
This was alignment.
There was no scramble.
If you call it scramble, thatmeans you're not recognizing
god's move oh, okay, there wasno scramble?
Honestly, there was no scramble.
I knew it was going to work out, but I didn't know it was going
to work out like, but it did,and you guys will see pictures.

Leslie (14:32):
You'll see pictures.

Angie (14:32):
But what happened is so I dropped leslie off at work
because she wanted me to haveuse of the car, and on the way
back I know, I know, I know Onthe way back, I was going oh, I
was going to go to Sally'sbecause I thought, oh, let me
put some color in my hair.
And I was going to put some,you know, temporary color in my
hair.
What did I see?
There was a Macy's.
I ran into Macy's and I found askirt that matched her pants.

Leslie (15:00):
What, my size Exact match.

Angie (15:03):
Exact match and I'm going to tell you even more.

Leslie (15:06):
I went up to buy it Quickly please, because I want
to talk about the visit to theschool.

Angie (15:10):
I went up to buy it, it was marked down from a high
number to like $9 and change.
So they said, do you want toround up?
So I said, sure, I'll round upto $10.
They did the thing, a thing.
Then they're like oh you have a$10 credit from where I don't
know.
I'm not a shopper.
I told you guys there was a $10credit.

(15:31):
It was zero, it was zero.
So the outfit that you will seeme wearing to coordinate with
Leslie was not planned.
It was just the way that thingsoften roll with us.
This is what God does.
He just makes things look, hejust takes it to another level,
and you will see those pictures.

Leslie (15:50):
So you're telling me you got a free t-shirt, yes, and a
free skirt.

Angie (15:54):
Okay, everything was free .
99.

Leslie (16:01):
I love it Free 99.
Oh my gosh.
So the people that we metremember I told you it was an
all-tech takeover at the pier.
We met people from differentyears and at some point we're
going to have a few of them comeon our podcast because the
revelations and oh my God,you're that person was just

(16:24):
crazy.
You went to tech.
What?
What year did you graduate?

Angie (16:28):
So, anyway, it's just incredible, you'll see, because,
as you said, we're going toinvite some of them.
You're going to be shocked.

Leslie (16:36):
Like tech, You're tech too.
You know that kind of thing.
So, anyway, that Saturday wasthe day visit at the school.
Now picture this a nine storybuilding that takes up the
entire block in Fort Greene,Brooklyn takes up the entire

(17:01):
block in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
I did tell you that BrooklynTech is the largest high school
in the country and it probablyhas the largest student body.
I think currently there aremore than 6,000 students.
When we were there I thoughtthey were closer to 7,000
students and in our class wereabout 1,700, in our freshman and

(17:24):
class of 80.

Angie (17:25):
Our graduating class.
George just said it was like1340 something.
So we had one of the largestgraduating classes in tech,
because the year before, I think, was in the seven and the year
after was in the seven.
So it was one of the largestgraduating classes because, you
know, it's 80.

Leslie (17:45):
And Brooklyn Tech recently celebrated their 100th
anniversary, I believe a year ortwo ago, and we were part of

(18:18):
that celebration.
Wow, I actually forgot theother thing that I was going to
diverse, but it wasgenerationally diverse.
There were intergenerations, soa lot of the current tech
students performed.
There was a dance performance,the band played.

Angie (18:34):
A step show, a jazz band, yes, so.

Leslie (18:38):
So we got to see some of the current students that were
there, so they were veryinvolved in mingling with the
people and I just want to.

Angie (18:47):
Oh wait, and the cheerleaders remember, as we
came in, there was like a lineyeah, they greeted everyone and
it was like yay, it was so, itwas, so, it was so good, it was
just yeah, yeah, my heart wasfilled.

Leslie (19:05):
I just want to mention, among the many people, one of
the people that I met there.
That was he was they called himout actually in the audience Dr
Paisel Jackson.
He and I don't know if I'msaying his first name properly,
but he's an African-American man, and the speaker said that this
former tech student, tech gradalum she checks in on him every

(19:28):
now and again to make sure he'sdoing okay.
This man graduated in the classof 1949.
Wow, and he and I startedchatting and taking pictures, of
course, and I said to him DrJackson, how old are you, if I

(19:50):
may ask?
He said I'm 93 years old.
He was there by himself,walking around the school,
chatting with people, and at onepoint he spoke to our group and
said you know?
I said I'm sure you have a lotof stories to tell.
He said I would love to sitwith a bunch of you and just
talk to you all.

(20:11):
I said really you want to talk?

Angie (20:16):
to us.

Leslie (20:18):
Immediately I went into podcast co-host mode.

Angie (20:19):
Have we got a platform for?

Leslie (20:21):
you Exactly so.
We exchanged cards and heagreed to come on our podcast.
That's awesome, so you've gotto stay tuned to hear what an
African-American man, hisexperience of Brooklyn Tech, of
New York City perhaps at thetime, and I just think that he's

(20:45):
going to, in his mind, carry awhole lot of history.
That will be fascinating, soI'm really looking forward to
that.

Angie (20:52):
And you know, what is significant about him being a
Black man is that, as with allthe schools here in America,
there was segregation, and byrace there was also segregation.
Women were not allowed to go totech until, I think, in the 70s

(21:14):
.

Leslie (21:14):
I think we were.
We entered in 76.
We were the fourth or fifthgraduating class of women.

Angie (21:23):
Early 70s.
So you know, these people whobreak barriers, they always have
a story to tell.
You know, they always have astory because, outside of what
might have been going on inschool, they were also living in
a world where these barrierswere still up, some were coming
down, and so we are reallyexcited about having him on as a

(21:45):
guest, especially since hewants to talk.
We're going to have him talkand that should be a really
special episode that we'll havefor you soon.

Leslie (21:57):
So can we talk about the evening of the gala.

Angie (22:00):
Go ahead, go ahead.

Leslie (22:01):
So all right, so picture this folks Picture this I'm 63
years old with a bad left knee.
Let's just start it like that.
I went to work on Friday, racedhome, changed into my silver
lame.
We went hung out in the cityuntil 2 am Friday night, hurried

(22:23):
up, got home, slept about twohours and jumped up again
preparing for the day at Tech,then the evening at this
wonderful Diker Heights GolfClub.
And it was like this oasis inthe middle of Bensonhurst or

(22:45):
Dyke Heights.

Angie (22:46):
It was just kind of this carved out oasis grass and this
old beautiful building and itwas a perfect place.
I'm just going to insert herewhen we talked about how the
planning and the pivots anotherGod thing that showed up Because
we had other venues that we hadthought that we secured and the

(23:09):
last minute two venues didn'twork out- and so we found out
about this one and it was betterthan all the others.
All the others could not havedone what this venue could not
have done what this venue andshout out to the coordinator and

(23:29):
the maitre d and the people whohelped, because they really
made it a great, greatexperience for us.
They certainly did yeah shoutout.

Leslie (23:33):
So when we walked in, they had all of the tables.
They were dressing the tables,the bar was being put together,
the dj that we, which wasamazing, triple Alliance DJ,
what I have.
Never I haven't heard musiclike that so good, probably for

(23:54):
just a number of years, soanyway so when we got to the
venue we set up, set aboutdecorating the tables and
putting the centerpiecestogether and all and just making
sure that it was pretty funny.
I recognized that decorating wasnot my ministry.
They sent me away because allof the flower garlands I was

(24:19):
just leaving petals instead.
Because I'm moving fast, I'mlike, come on, we got to get it
done.
It's like Leslie, walk awayfrom this task.

Angie (24:26):
And see, this is how we.
You know this idea, we havethat, leslie's this and I'm that
.
My role in this was I'm likelook, there's a lot of stuff to
coordinate.
Let me figure out how to do oneand then I'll tell you guys how
to do the rest.
And that's kind of the way it'slike're not all one thing right
.
So I was the one.
Leslie was getting reallyfrazzled.
I'm like you, you're, you'renot helping.

(24:49):
You're like walk away, justwalk away, go find, because
there was tons of other thingsto do there were.
This wasn't her ministry.
Yeah, I got this.
Anyway, they turn out lookingbeautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful.
Yeah, and probably 15 minutes.
Actually, we sent you to go andget ready.

Leslie (25:08):
Yeah, you did so we wanted you to come out.
Yeah, you had to exactly,exactly so and even in that task
I kept walking away.
I would like I would have adrink, and and and and.
I got so tired of sitting andstanding at the table so I stood
there.
But but every time someone cameI would say hey, and then go

(25:28):
hug them.
And other people are coming.
There's nobody at the tablebecause I walked away to start
chatting.
Maybe that wasn't my ministrythat wasn't your ministry either
.

Angie (25:39):
Maybe you're the greeter.
You're not the administrator atthe table.

Leslie (25:43):
So yes, okay had to come in and cook.
I'm admitting now people mayhave walked in without getting
checked in.
Kay didn't hear that.
We've had a couple of pottycrashes.

Angie (25:56):
Compliments of Leslie I just had to keep being
redirected, redirect.

Leslie (26:03):
Leslie, go back to the table.
Go back to the table.
Were you relieved yet?
Back to the table.
Go back to the table.
Were you relieved yet, leslie?
No, go back to the table.

Angie (26:10):
Oh my gosh, it was so, it was, it was.

Leslie (26:14):
I had the best time ever .
I wore the perfect shoes, theperfect dress.
I didn't have to take my shoesoff for like three hours, only
at the end, for like four threehours, only at the end.
And we can't, in this venue,talk too well about the music
that was playing, mostly fromour generation.

(26:34):
There were about, let's say,130 people there and we're in
our sixties and I would say, atany given moment, 80% of the
people were on the dance floorconstantly we jammed ain't no
stopping us now the conga line,the whole thing.
We did it all we did it all.

(26:58):
We did a little step to theright criss cross everybody clap
your hands with the hop.
I was looking at her like don'tgo hurting yourself, so I was
voluntold to do the welcome.

Angie (27:12):
I did the voluntolding.

Leslie (27:15):
Voluntelling, voluntelling.
Yes, so I did the welcomeremarks and it was fun.
She did a great job, it was alittle funny.

Angie (27:23):
She did a great job.
Maybe was a little funny, shedid a great job.

Leslie (27:25):
Maybe we'll post that too.

Angie (27:27):
Yeah, she did a great job , but yeah, yeah.

Leslie (27:31):
It was wonderful when a group of dedicated people get
together regularly.
For six months, I would say inthe last couple of weeks it was
multiple times a day, with Zoommeetings and phone calls, and we
had to check in.
There were people of the groupwho were dealing with the

(27:55):
finances only.
Some of us were just thecommunications people.
Some of us were I don't evenknow what role I had.
Now that I think about it.
I don't think I had a title.
I just kind of sat back andsaid yes, I agree.

Angie (28:14):
No, but one thing that you did when you were always
kind of the next, when we had tocoordinate with the alumni
committee and any other vendor.

Leslie (28:27):
All right, I was a liaison, yeah.

Angie (28:29):
We wanted to have more than one person there and you
were always.

Leslie (28:32):
you know, you were kind of the common person at all of
those things, yeah, among otherthings, you know you did.
All right.

Angie (28:42):
So, but I wanted to.
I know that you wanted to talkabout kind of the makeup of the
people who are in the room andwhat was kind of special and
worthy of talking to ouraudience about just what our

(29:04):
class makeup was.
So you want to go into that, oryou want me to.

Leslie (29:10):
So our class, Brooklyn Tech's class of 80, I would say
was roughly a third white, athird Afro-American or Caribbean
and a third Asian.
Uh, I would say.

Angie (29:27):
Yeah, right, and not precisely that, but anyway, it
was that, it was that mix right.
It was that mix.
We don't know the numbers, butit's that mix and you know so
this this gala represented um ofa very diverse not only

(29:50):
racially diverse, culturallydiverse group of people.
And you know, as you, as youlook at the dance floor, there
are tons of videos that weretaken and we've been kind of
looking at them over the lastday and a half or so and you see
people coming together in thisway.
You know you can't help buthave a sense of hope that we can

(30:20):
come together like this inother spaces as well.
And we're not like magicalthinkers, it's not like we think
we just, oh, this gala is goingto like, but, um, we have kind
of thought about how we could umkind of create, using um

(30:41):
experiences like this to createspaces where we can have
dialogue across differences andand really kind of move the
needle right.

Leslie (30:51):
Move the needle.

Angie (30:52):
That's it.
We're not trying to have anyonedo a 180, or some people say
360, which is not what we want.
We want a 180.
We just want to move the needlea little bit in whatever
direction and it you know, beingable to kind of step back and
see, because we're observers ofthis thing that we created and
see this going on.

(31:13):
You know what I mean I want todance with Lorraine.
I'm going to pull her.
You know what I mean.

Leslie (31:17):
And we just had a great time and what?
What we noticed?
And Ange and I had theopportunity to have this
conversation afterwards, for aday or two after, actually,
because we were observers and wecould see and experience the
camaraderie and the love betweendiverse groups diverse

(31:42):
culturally diverse, racially,diverse, politically.
Yes, for this night.
Yes, we left all of ourdifferences at the door.
That's right.
For this night, the trust thatwe have in each other and the
trust that we've cultivated for45 years and the love that we've

(32:06):
cultivated was the only thingthat was in the room with us
Saturday night and what wepondered was whether or not an
opportunity like this, or ifthese can be recreated, to break
down barriers and meet in themiddle and come up with

(32:30):
understanding between groupsthat are diverse and don't think
alike and groups that have haddifficulty understanding each
other or listening to each other.
Opportunities like this.
When I go to the annual holidaymeeting with members of this

(32:51):
group.
We differ politically, but whenwe meet at Carmine's every
December, we don't talk aboutpolitics, we talk about our love
for each other and we talkabout our days at Tech and we
talk about what our lives arelike right now and our families.

Angie (33:06):
Yeah, and you've heard us on other episodes talk about
the fact that it's so importantto have people who are different
from you in all the varietiesof difference, how important it
is to have them as a part ofyour social group, right, the

(33:30):
more that you do this, the morethat ideas and memes and little
hot topic type things becomeless penetrating, less of the
story when you have other peoplein your circle right, and so I

(33:55):
do think that we see someopportunities there and you know
we're going to explore how wecan do that.
It doesn't mean that the otherstuff doesn't go away, but it
means that this is as real asthat, right.
The love that we felt, you know, on Saturday night was as real
as the vitriol, and so thevitriol doesn't have to win.
It doesn't have to.

(34:16):
It's there just like the love,right.

Leslie (34:18):
And so that is also the real.
What do we want to concentrateand what will move us forward
during difficult or trying timesor fearful times?
It's the love that was in theroom.
It's so funny because BrooklynTech as a whole and the room at

(34:41):
Diker Heights Golf Club Saturdaynight was so indicative of so
many larger things, and that'swhy Ange and I one, we think the
school is such a special place.
But that's also why we chose tospend some time talking to you
all about it, because we'reconvinced that it can be done

(35:02):
just a cohesion and bringingpeople together.
We're not necessarily sayingthat we're going to do it
because Ant and I are on our wayout of the country, we're going
to be watching the stuff fromabroad, but anyway, we may, we
may get, we may, we'll see.

Angie (35:16):
We may get.
Anyway, we may, we may get, wemay, we'll see we may get.
You know, you put things outthere and we'll see how God
aligns things.
But the fact that we're talkingabout it means that we're
thinking about it Right.
It means, you guys know we'redeep thinkers.
It's important to us, it'simportant to us and we know the

(35:36):
importance of moments Right Ofpivotal moments.
We know the importance ofmoments right of pivotal moments
.

Leslie (35:41):
We know the importance of that, and so it's an idea,
and so it might be an idea thatdoes take root and we're hoping
that we can contribute to that.
Yeah, yeah, that's well said,and before we end this podcast,
I just want to say thank you toa few people that some of our

(36:02):
subscribers, some of ourclassmates.
I just want to pull them out Inaddition to the planning
committee.
I'm sitting here sipping on notred wine, I'm sitting on
sipping on sorrel, and one ofour classmates, charles, has a
company, has had a company formany decades now, called

(36:23):
Nature's Coolers, and Charlesgraciously bought his truck and
supplied natural juices to allof the classmates at the place.

Angie (36:37):
As they left, they went to the children's garden.
So I am drinking his sorrow andactually charles charles um has
um, he's still his company, isstill there.
He still has his company.
Someone else is kind ofmanaging the day-to-day, but
he's moved to ghana and he flewfrom ghana.
It was a surprise, we didn'tthink yeah, we didn't know he
would make it and he came infrom Ghana and so a part of the

(37:02):
program we had people who werethe who came in from the
farthest and someone said hecame from Africa he came from
Africa.

Leslie (37:11):
It's like I know we came from Africa, but no, he just
came from Africa.

Angie (37:17):
So Charles, we really appreciate that.
That was a great way.
Can I also?

Leslie (37:22):
talk about our friend Lorraine yes, lorraine oh, matt,
you still have yours.
Listen, listen.
We were in the car eating.
Lorraine made these delicious,as she does every, every reunion
.
She made 140 of thesechocolate-dipped pretzel packets
.

Angie (37:41):
And what was the round?

Leslie (37:43):
one the round is a dipped Oreo and she made these
tags and presented it in theschool colors and these were
part of the grab bags for peopleas people left.
So Ange and I were hungry whenwe left the place at about one a
little after one in the morningand we couldn't find any place

(38:03):
open so we were digging intofood and eating the pretzels on
the drive home.
So the next day I said to AngeI got my pretzels, we ate yours
last night, so yes, I still havemine, thank you.

Angie (38:20):
Lorraine, Lorraine.
Next time don't make the knotso tight, girl, I couldn't get
the damn thing open.

Leslie (38:27):
She made 140 packets for us and these were gifts.

Angie (38:31):
These were gifts we have, the most generous.
I mean we had Classmatessponsor the DJ, sponsor the
photo booths by the way, we hadthe 360, we had the standing
photo booth.
We had upgraded bar.
These were sponsors.
We had people sponsor ticketsso that classmates who could not

(38:53):
or did not have the means inthis moment to pay these were
$165 tickets and we had sponsorssponsored tickets.

Leslie (39:03):
Yeah, people would buy one or two extra.

Angie (39:05):
This is a special special , special group, but I know
there's someone else you want tomention Before I forget.

Leslie (39:09):
I want to mention Twana, because she made flavored
popcorn for everybody in packets.

Angie (39:16):
I do not have those left because those were gone already.
Those are ripped apart.

Leslie (39:21):
Yes.
So I just wanted to mentionthem because we are not the only
ones that feel this way aboutour brothers and sisters that we
met 45 and 50 years ago.
Yeah, you know, everybody stepsup to make this a mat and made
this a magical evening and event, and we just pray that the same

(39:45):
crew was here.
When we do it in five moreyears and we'll be it'll be our
50th anniversary.
We'll join the Silver Club Ithought it was.
The Silver Club is 50 and theDiamond Club is after that.
So that's the Diamond Club.

Angie (39:58):
We'll see about that.
There's no silver, I bet youI'm right.

Leslie (40:03):
No, what Excuse me?

Angie (40:05):
There's no silver.
We go like 50 is silver.
No, ma'am, we will be goinginto the Diamond Club, but we
will be rowdy.
Listen, we have a rowdy, rowdyclass.
We're loud, we are.
We hug everybody.

Leslie (40:18):
Don't give me your hand, bring it in here, we would.
We hug everybody.
Don't give me your hand, bringit in here.
We were, I think, the biggestclass represented there.

Angie (40:25):
Yeah, because I think we were one of the biggest classes
to graduate.
So, but anyway, before I close.

Leslie (40:32):
you put together a little jingle in advertising.
I think it was our 40th reunionand it happened to be part of
the program.
They made me do it, Do you mind?
Do you mind doing that?
It was a video a whole videoshe did.
You don't want me to read it?

Angie (40:54):
Okay, so this is a setup.
This was not discussed prior,but this was like a little rap
that I made up, but I'm going toread it.
I'm not going to.
You don't have to sing it.
We don't mean to brag, we don'tmean to boast, but we are like
hot butter on breakfast toast.
We've made smart, cool anddiversity rule, true, blue and

(41:17):
tight like glue.
We could teach the world athing or two.
And when people ask us whythere ain't no stopping us now,
after 45 years, we say it's morethan a feeling.
You see, we are the champions,my friends, and we'll keep
fighting, loving and supportingeach other till till the end.

Leslie (41:38):
Aww, I got a little emotional as you read that.
Thank you, you're welcome.
So this was the Brooklyn Techedition of Black Boomer Besties
from Brooklyn.

Angie (41:52):
Brooklyn.
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