August 27, 2020 • 54 mins
There has been a lot of racial unrest across the country, and Coryonna Robinson joins us in today’s episode to talk about how she has been dealing with that as a young black woman recently out of college teaching the next generation. She talks about breaking generational curses, and rising above racial inequality to be successful.
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Jennifer Malcolm (00:10):
Welcome to the Jennasis Speaks podcast, The
Transformative Power of Women'sStories, a platform that
empowers women storytelling, topromote collective
vulnerability, acceptance andhealing. I am your host,
Jennifer Malcolm, self madeentrepreneur, women advocate and
life balance expert. Welcomeback to the next episode of
(00:31):
Jennasis Speaks where everywoman has a story and every
story matters. I'm JenniferMalcolm, your host, and with me
today is Coryonna Robinson.
Coryonna is one of my husband'spast students prize pupil I will
say, and he readily spoke up andsaid that this is a story that
we should capture. So I'm gonnaread a little intro about you.
(00:54):
And then we're just gonna jumpright in, Cory. So we're happy
that you're here. You're astudent, just a recent graduate
of Baldwin Wallace University asour teacher.
Coryonna Robinson (01:08):
Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (01:10):
I do believe that you are now officially our
youngest interviewee for thispodcast, which is powerful,
though, and I'm looking forwardto interviewing my two teenage
daughters, they're a littlehesitant to jump into this. But
I want this piece to be aboutall age, all walks of life, all
(01:30):
purposes of healing so thatwomen find their place to come
alongside each other to empowerand heal along with each other.
So welcome, Coryonna.
Coryonna Robinson (01:40):
Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (01:44):
So we'll start with some easy questions. So
this actually is our first timereally chatting. I have known of
you through I call him hot.
Chad, and you.
Coryonna Robinson (01:55):
You call Dr.
Malcolm
Jennifer Malcolm (01:57):
I call my husband hot.
But yes. You know, him as Dr.
Malcolm, and he was a few yearsback when he was very you were
in his class. And you were goingthrough some stuff at BW and
kind of having some breakouttimes to speak to fellow
teachers, professors, studentsat VW. And he just we loved who
(02:18):
you are who you represented.
Your you went to Ghana I think,
Coryonna Robinson (02:27):
yes, I went to Ghana last year graduation,
right. graduation, I wascongratulating the day before
and I flew out the next day, Iwas like, wow, first time with a
plane to terrify.
Jennifer Malcolm (02:40):
Like an easy, I'm gonna jump on a plane and
just go to like Tennessee orsomething you're going across to
the other side of the world?
Coryonna Robinson (02:46):
Yes, it's terrifying.
Jennifer Malcolm (02:49):
Let's jump into you your story. And just
tell me about when you weregrowing up and what that look
like. And I know you're a nativehere of Cleveland, Ohio, as
well. But just give the audiencea little bit of a glimpse of you
know, how you were raised.
Coryonna Robinson (03:03):
Okay, um, well, for people who are
listening to this, if you are inCleveland, I was born in inner
city, Cleveland 55th. Inwoodland, actually, I grew up,
not not poor, but mycircumstances were very Nolan
Boyd. And I'm going to try topaint a picture. So imagine
(03:28):
walking outside, and all you seeis dead grass, apartment
buildings that are extremelyclose. Brick was closed down
buildings, and just a mainstreet, there's no flowers,
there's no nature parks. Andit's just the gas station up the
street. And it just came onvery, to me depressive, kind of,
(03:53):
I couldn't really go to thepark. Because it was always a
situation where some one mighttry to do something to me at the
park. So I had to stay on theporch for most of my childhood
life. And looking at that, Ithought it was sad because I was
deprived of opportunity that alot of other kids get I couldn't
(04:15):
go to the playground, I couldn'treally swing on the swings. I
had to worry about somebodydoing something to me, I had to
worry about somebody eitherfighting or doing something to
someone else. And just grown upin that atmosphere and that
mindset, it made me a toughcookie, as I'm going to call it
has always watched my back. Andthere was one situation
(04:35):
actually, um, where I wassleeping. I mean my little
sister, we shared a room I wassleeping and my bed was right
next to the window. And thewindow you had to like pop it
kind of open to get in. So Itried to break in as we were
sleeping. And I kind of got upand I started clapping and
making a bunch of noise and theyran away. But I was really
(04:56):
young. I had to do like six orseven and to have that mindset
as such. A young age, it kind ofI don't say it took away my
childhood, but I feel like itdid. Because I had to grow up, I
had to worry about things that Ishouldn't have to worry about as
a child. My job as a child is togo to school, come home and play
like. But I grew up kind oftough. But my mom, she tried to
(05:17):
make sure that we had everythingwe needed. And she tried to give
us the best childhood that wecould ever ask for. We were
extremely grateful for thethings that she could do for us.
But she couldn't control thecircumstances. Because she
didn't have the means at thetime. And I'm not pointing the
finger like, well, you shouldhave done this. And she was an
(05:39):
amazing mother. And she did whatshe could she sacrificed for us.
But it still didn't take awayfrom the atmosphere, and
everything like that. So I kindof I grew up a little tough. A
little tough.
Jennifer Malcolm (05:52):
Yeah. So were you aware and it sounds like you
were but for clarity. Were youaware that this was not a normal
childhood that you being on ayou know, front porch, as your
playground and that as far asyour world really went? Were you
aware of that? Or did youhindsight as you grew up,
realize that that wasn't, youknow, normal?
Coryonna Robinson (06:13):
I was aware of it as a child. When I went to
school, we read books, and thenthese books, it was presented
that these kids were going toparks going to zoos, on
vacations with their families.
And I'm like, I'm not doing anyof that. Like, is this a normal
childhood? life? Right? Like, weweren't able to do any of that.
And so it kind of put a damper.
(06:39):
Sure. Yeah. Cuz I was like,dang, I can't, I can't do any
thing.
Jennifer Malcolm (06:46):
That a normal child and a normal, you know,
the joys of you know, exploringand romping, and playing and
imagination, and all of thosethings that you did not get the
chance to experience. So it wasit just you and your sister and
your mom living together
Coryonna Robinson (07:04):
for the first 11 years of my life. And then
this amazing person came intoour lives. I call him my papa.
He's my stepdad. And he justmade everything seem okay. Like
we were still in predicaments.
But he came in our lives and hewas like, Look, ladies, we're
going to try to make the best ofthe situation. I we're going to
(07:26):
start doing family thingstogether. And we will we will
try to go places don't see yourcoin. Um, pioneer water land.
Where else do we go? The zoo?
Sounds like okay, we're gettingthere. All right. Yeah, just the
(07:48):
four of us. That's great.
Jennifer Malcolm (07:50):
And I love that you call them step, pop,
you said step pop, pop, pop pop.
One thing can be called Chadinstead of step dad, my kids
calm step, Chad. But then itbecame step chatty, so they call
them instead of step Daddy, theycall them step chatty. So we all
have those little names forthose that are so important to
us, and really put theirfingerprints and love into our
(08:13):
lives. And it sounds like he wasone of those that expanded your
world in that regard. So as youas you were growing up, what did
Junior High High School looklike? Then? You know, as you
have now have a stepfather andseeing a little bit more of an
experience a little bit more ofthe world, like a lot of
(08:33):
children get the opportunity toso how did that unfold through
your junior high in high schoolyears?
Coryonna Robinson (08:41):
junior high, I'm going to be honest with you,
I don't remember it. I just gotthrough a
Jennifer Malcolm (08:47):
survival.
Coryonna Robinson (08:48):
Yes, I was extremely bullied in junior
high. So I think I just kind ofjust dismissed it. Um, when I
got to high school, my first twoyears were awesome. I went to
jarhead architecture and design.
Like I forced myself to go therebecause I didn't want to be a
statistic. So I'm like, let mego to one of the schools that is
like, top in Cleveland, let mepush myself to do better even
(09:13):
though I didn't have. I don'tsay the proper education. But I
just I didn't know the things Iwas supposed to going into. But
I still learned them. It washard. It was tough. And I was
one of those eight plusstudents. I was always on it
like that. Yes. I was a readerand everything like my mom, my
(09:33):
mom she used to hate when I usedto fact check her shoe like
Cory, please stop. I'm like, Butmom, this is not that. That's
not enough. I came with posterboards one day when I wanted to
present to her. I forget what wewere talking about. I think it
was I think I was readingchicken soup for the teen soul.
(09:54):
And I was talking to her aboutdepression. I remember And I
can't wear a whole poster boardand I'm like, Nah, this is what
depression is. You had it allwrong. You said it was xiety and
stuff. No, this is what it issure, like, really? That's
another
Jennifer Malcolm (10:14):
day just like the whole PowerPoint
presentation of, here's yourdiagnosis. And here's, here's
what it really is. This is whatit really means. That's
outstanding.
Coryonna Robinson (10:23):
And I'm high school, I worked. I worked a lot
in high school, because Istarted helping take care of my
sister a little more. My mom wasworking, just a lie. She was and
I saw that she needed help. Likeshe needed help, even with my
pop out there. And I was like,You know what, I got to pull him
(10:44):
away around here. I was 16. AndI had three jobs. And I was
going to school. And I was like,wow, this is it wasn't rough,
because I trained myself to bein a routine of it. And I was
like, Okay, I have to help takecare of my sister. I would buy
our school clothes, buy ourshoes, just anything to help my
mom buy groceries, just to showher like, Look, I'm able bodied.
(11:09):
I can go to work. And I workedat the king Kennedy Boys and
Girls Club. I was a junior staffmember. I spent most of my time
in the computer world or eitherhelping out with homework, the
other junior staff, they will beat the gym. I wasn't really
active. So I was like, No, I'llstay here. I'm okay. also worked
(11:33):
for cmha, which is the housingthat we stayed in. I worked
literally right up the street.
It was like the king KennedyBoys and Girls Club was right
around the corner from the cmhaoffice. So I could just walk
right around the corner. Andthen I later on became a hymens
employee at the downtownlocation. And I worked there for
(11:55):
years. years like I graduatedhigh school was a college I was
still working this summer andwinter breaks. I love that
place. So beautiful. is so
Jennifer Malcolm (12:13):
what's the age difference between you and your
sister? So as you're taking careof her trying to help take care
of your sister and buy her extrathings? What'sthe age
difference?
Coryonna Robinson (12:20):
We're seven years apart.
Jennifer Malcolm (12:22):
so you're now 15? She's eight. So you're
really helping raise a young?
Yes. Soul body? Wow. Yes,I have a quote from you that we
did in our pre recording that Ithought was powerful. And I do
want to share it with theaudience. You said, I'm not a
statistic, I'm a seed that wasplanted in a concrete jungle and
(12:45):
blossomed into somethingbeautiful. I accepted my
hardships. And instead ofcracking under pressure, I
turned into a diamond. Can youshare from your heart with
audience what that really meansto you.
Coryonna Robinson (13:01):
Um, when I say concrete jungle, when you
think of a jungle, you think ofa bunch of flowers, you think of
just beauty? Well, that's why Ithink of a jungle just beautiful
flowers everywhere. And then weput the word concrete there, I
want you to get into the mindsetof just breaks and just
buildings. That's it, there'snothing pretty about it. It
(13:25):
wasn't, there was nothing prettyabout it. Um, so I have to plant
myself within those means andforce myself to grow through
hardships through statisticsthrough oppression. I blossomed.
Ad didn't crack under pressure.
And I didn't become a statisticI forced myself out of those
means I wasn't supposed tograduate high school. According
(13:48):
to statistics, I wasn't supposedto go to college. When you read
on statistics, it says you'regoing to stay within the socio
economic status that you wereborn into. I did it, I did it. I
said, I cannot accept this. I donot want to be under the poverty
line. I don't, I don't want thatfor myself. I don't want that
(14:11):
for generations to come. So letme force myself to not crack
under all this pressure. And letme get out of here. And that's
what I that's what I did.
Jennifer Malcolm (14:26):
It's powerful.
Where do you feel like thatinternal drive or desire to say
like, this is not going to beyou know, my, my future and I'm
really going to push through.
Where does that internal drivecome from?
Coryonna Robinson (14:43):
My mom and my grandmother, um, they are some
of the most intelligent women inmy life. And even though my mom
and I we but it's it's so muchshe instilled in me to always be
want better for myself? And mygrandmother, she was always
(15:03):
there to tell me the truth, andto kind of not cushion the
blows. But to just help guide mealong this path. anything
positive I wanted to do? Theboth of them joined together and
they were like, Look, go ahead,go do it. If I wanted to go to
Cal, go do it like you You wantto get out of here? That's
(15:25):
please.
Jennifer Malcolm (15:26):
Yeah. And having that that support from
two amazing, powerful women andadvocates in your life had to at
least continue to fanned theflames of a spark that was in
your soul to you know, overcomeand to get through some of this
as well. What do you did yourealize that you wanted to go to
college?
Coryonna Robinson (15:46):
I always wanted to go to college.
Jennifer Malcolm (15:54):
And, and for the audience, you're first
generation, correct? Yes, I am.
That's so good. That's sopowerful. And in honor of
meeting you through my husband,who was your professor, you
know, what a joy and a giftthat, you know, you have
impacted our lives. Even youdon't know how you've impacted
(16:18):
our lives. And thosefingerprints that you have in
our soul, and the beauty thatyou've given to both Dr. Malcolm
Chad and I, that that's amazing.
And I just wanted to honor youin this in this podcast as well.
Coryonna Robinson (16:35):
Thank you so much. Thank you very welcome.
So tell us about your experienceas a woman of color growing up
in Cleveland, in yourneighborhood, and then through
high school on into bonalabecause I'm a bond Wallace
graduate as well. I my yellowjacket for life 1998 for my
(16:57):
undergrad, and 2020 for my MBA.
Jennifer Malcolm (17:01):
I went to BW for my MBA. And so it's been my
alma mater. And yes, we sharedthat in common as well. But what
was that being for you growingup as a person of color.
Coryonna Robinson (17:15):
It was hard.
I'm not even going to stay herea lie. It was difficult. Because
I was already looked at as lessthan or as dangerous whenever I
went somewhere that wasn't in mycommunity. And I was like, Oh my
goodness, like I just I want toeat like we would go to
restaurants. And we were justgetting looked at and I'm like,
(17:38):
Oh my gosh, we would be the onlyblack family there to like,
like, we just want to eat justlike you want to eat like what?
Why are you looking at us likethat? It didn't really start
hitting me until I got tocollege because I was in the
middle of the suburbs. Short.
And who can I see about oneexperienced attitude in my
(18:00):
freshman year?
Jennifer Malcolm (18:01):
Absolutely.
Coryonna Robinson (18:03):
Um, my friend and I we were walking from the
gymnasium to Finley Finley Hall,which is probably close to the
gymnasium. We were in thecrosswalk walk in and the Big
Four truck was a confederateflag plastered on the back
window. It wrote, like it triesto hit us basically is Spanish
(18:24):
tried to hit me and my friend.
And as it got closer to us, theywrote with windows down, tried
to spit at us and call usinward. And I was like, Are you
serious? We just want to go toour door. Right? That's great.
It will happen in classes like Iwas forced to we're not forced,
but x to speak over the wholeblack community. I'm like, I'm
(18:47):
not every black person. Justbecause I'm black. Yes, I can
speak to my black experience. Ican't speak for their like
experience. Jesus Christ. Oh, itwas it was a lot. I had to pull
my professors aside sometimes tolike, look here, please stop
calling me we start talkingabout interceding because don't
(19:07):
assume I'm front the inner city.
Even though I am But still, likeyou assumed I was right or even
asking me?
Jennifer Malcolm (19:18):
No, that's and that's huge. Because that's you
when you start gettingstereotyped or that you are the
one advocate to carry a blackwoman's voice or black culture
voice or inner city voice. Iknow that I have a friend that
they in their community, theyhave one gay man working there.
So anything that goes into, youknow, it's like, please be our
(19:40):
your token representative. Andit's it's emotionally
exhausting. When you're like, Ijust want to be me. I want to be
a woman. I want to be a student.
I want to experience collegelife just like everyone else
does. I want to experience myclasses just like everyone else
does. And if I choose to use myvoice, if I choose to contribute
more, because of the experiencesthat I've had that's my power.
That's my that's my choiceversus nursing. Can you be our
(20:03):
token? Black woman? Speaker forthis?
Coryonna Robinson (20:09):
Yes, yes. It happened in group projects to
like people, which isautomatically kind of pair up,
and it will just be me sitting.
I didn't think too much of itbecause I was like, I kind of
expected it to happen. I didn'treally hang out with the, my
peers. So I'm like, I'm tryingto expected it to happen. I was
kind of isolated. Um, I waslike, Okay, I'll sit by myself
(20:29):
and just wait for whoever elseis by themselves. Like, I want
this group project together. Ijust I tried my best not to
allow it to affect me, exceptenough going on to college.
Like, it wasn't done before inmy family. That was hard. That
was so hard to do.
Jennifer Malcolm (20:48):
Did you live on campus, or were you back and
forth.
Coryonna Robinson (20:51):
I lived on campus because I was a
workaholic, stayed at home, Iwould have ignored my classes
and just been at work. So I waslike, You know what, I'm going
to stay on campus, I did have awork study job, but it didn't
take over. Okay, my life.
Jennifer Malcolm (21:09):
And it's interesting, because being, you
know, a graduate choice of bw,and being Caucasian, what how I
experienced bw in college andhow you experience it, you know,
is different. And my, my highschool actually went to a small
Christian High School on theeast side, orange Christian
Academy, and half of the schoolwas African American, and half
(21:32):
was white. And so junior high inhigh school for me, you know, it
was a very, very small school.
But it was, you know, 50, it was50/50. And then I went to BW,
you know, if that's not thecase, it's, you know, very
suburbia, mostly white people.
And, again, if you're in thatbubble of, I'm trying to a learn
(21:57):
college, it's scary for anyfreshmen going into college,
learn how to do things on yourown and be responsible. If the
good grades you are, I'm likeyou and I was a plus student, I
got my first C on a test in myfreshman year at BW. And I was
like, oh, and like, I never wentout. Like, I ended up becoming
(22:19):
like this nerd of a student ofbw, Double, double majored got a
minor, and you graduate withalmost straight A's. But the
same way, like that driven pneusof that piece, but you and I
obviously had very differentexperiences. And, and it's
interesting to be in the sameumbrella of something, and have
(22:39):
vastly different, you know,experiences with, you know,
peers, professors, community,even just the the city itself of
this, this truck that rolled byyou probably had nothing to do
with that campus. But it wasjust someone that was in the
area.
Coryonna Robinson (22:55):
Yes. It, it came in microaggressions to
throughout my collegeexperience, through professors
through my peers. And just itwas a lot going on, like, for
instance, um, the I don't wantto say the black fraternities
and sororities, but I don't knowthe technical term for it. They
(23:20):
weren't on campus. So I couldn'teven I couldn't get into Greek
life, even if I wanted to. Itwasn't represented on campus.
They said they were there when Icame for, like freshman
orientation. But once you getinto that, they're not there.
Well, I got to go to either CSUor to Ohio State or yes to, to
(23:42):
engage have an even Greek life.
Yes. Wow. I did not know that.
And it will be situations wheremy friends and I we will go out
to eat. And either Lang Hall,because I didn't eat their
cafeteria. So I'm sorry. We willgo to main hall. And I remember
(24:04):
I talked to Dennis the managerbecause I later on became an
employee. And I was like, can'twe have cell phone here? Please?
He was like, Yeah, sure. Like,I've never thought about that.
And the night we had soul food.
What I'd say it was so manycomplaints. complaints from the
students told me this food isn'thealthy. Why is it here? And I
(24:27):
don't want to say it was acertain crowd of people. Sure. I
was really cool with the blackcommunity. There was coming in
like who thought it is Cory. Didyou notice that? I was like,
Yeah, like, thank you. Like, wewanted a little piece of home
away from home and I was like,geez, why did they complain
about the fool like if thiscampus is promoting inclusion
(24:51):
and diversity? Why is it thatwhen it is that door is open Why
is it McDowell? Why is itcomplaints about it? If this is
supposed to be a campus wherepeople can feel like they can be
themselves, especially if wehave a think, diversity day?
Yeah, well, we have that bigevent. Really like your show for
(25:14):
this, but
Jennifer Malcolm (25:19):
when it's right day to day, well, it's,
it's the inclusion until itaffects my my food or my, what
I'm comfortable with. And thenit becomes very white and very
Caucasian, because I'm not usedto culture or food or
experiences. And so, you know,we can say it's a situation of
(25:41):
family a community is, you know,does diversity inclusion, but
until it really affects, youknow, my my space, and then it
will pull some feathers. So whatwas it like being a first
generation college student whenyou've got that that acceptance
letter from for for college? Howdid it all transpire?
Coryonna Robinson (26:02):
It was a lot of emotions. I was scared, I was
excited. I was nervous. And Iwas like, Okay, I got the
acceptance letter. What's next?
Now APA. That is a wholedifferent beast with itself. Oh,
my goodness, my mom and I satthere for hours trying to figure
that thing out. I'm like, Idon't even know what this stands
(26:22):
for. Like, what is this?
Jennifer Malcolm (26:25):
I don't think anyone understands it. Because
we have to fill that out everyyear for our two in college. And
I, we still struggle, like it'sridiculous. The complexity and
the language. Like, can you justsimplify?
Coryonna Robinson (26:39):
This is this?
I was like, Whoa, we were reallydoing this family like, Okay,
I'm going to school. I went toschool and my family was so
supportive. But I wanted to kindof separate myself, from my
family, because I got into thismindset of becoming my own
woman. Who did I sure want tobe, I was Cory. I was sure
(27:05):
Rita's daughter, I was Alice'sgranddaughter, and it was like,
well, who am I really. And so Ichose college to find myself.
And also make my family proud ofme. And when I graduated, that
was the best day of my life, myfamily came together. And, um, I
(27:26):
found was kind of dismissed. I'mnot one of them to be completely
transparent here. They put alltheir differences aside, and
they came and they supported meto walk the stage and they were
so so proud of not to thebragging started the social
media posts. They were like, shegraduated college like, we have
college grads here. Okay. And toknow that I was able to do that.
(27:55):
For my family, there would be nomore dirt thrown on the
Robinsons name like a familydoesn't do much, right? No, they
have a college grad, they havesomeone who's trying to plant
seeds and become better. And nowI try to enforce it within my my
baby cousins. Like No. Do youwant to live in this for the
(28:17):
rest of your life? Like we gotto get out of this. And I just
aim to inspire them. I even ifyou don't want to go to college,
like I want you to try to dosomething? Absolutely. Because
it's easy to just give up onyourself. But do you want a life
of regrets? Or do you want alife of I did it I failed I
tried it again. And I wassucceeding at it. Like choose
(28:41):
choose your heart. Choose yourheart because you both
situations are hard to livethrough.
Jennifer Malcolm (28:46):
Absolutely.
And that piece of when we fail,you know they say you you learn
the most through failing. Whenyou overcome and you succeed
that level of confidence thatraising of your chin, the the
demeanor that you now carry thejoy, the everything that's in
your soul that may not have beenthere that that it dispels doubt
(29:07):
it dispels fear, it dispels theI can't do it. And doesn't mean
that you're going to overcomeevery time doesn't mean you're
going to succeed every time. Sothe benefits and joys of
learning from the failures andand we learn some of the deepest
lessons about ourselves andovercoming through those. But
(29:28):
that when you succeed it reallychanges your DNA. It changes
something in your heart and yoursoul in your mind that now you
are a vocal piece for yourcousin's for other people in
your community to say okay, Idid it and I I know it's tough.
I know it seems insurmountablebut it is doable. What made you
(29:50):
want to become a teacher?
Coryonna Robinson (29:54):
I always wanted to be a teacher. I was
such a little nerd
Jennifer Malcolm (30:01):
nerds rule the world.
Coryonna Robinson (30:05):
My sister and I used to play school when she
was like about three or four. Asa guy for a few years to kind of
get into the magic of being akid. I used to play school with
her we shared a bit row. And wehad a bunch of teddy bears, like
teddy bears were our thing.
Sure, and we had the storagetotes, we will flip those over,
I will give her some notebookpaper, we'll do addition
(30:28):
problems, vocabulary words, andI was standing in and play
teacher to her and those teddybears. For years, I always
wanted to be a teacher, evenwhen I worked at the Boys and
Girls Club. They were like foryou to be so young. Like how do
you know how to engage with kidswho basically your age like
(30:49):
there, they were around my agegroup? And I was telling like,
no, get it to get it going or doyour homework. I had to do mine
to have a gardener do to get itdone. Come on, I'll help you.
You need help. Right. And Iwould try to find creative ways
to help them and then when I gotto college, that was the Okay,
you took the professional. Thisis the you are always teaching
(31:12):
but here's the actual, um, whatam I trying to say? The
Jennifer Malcolm (31:19):
Was it the structure, the knowledge?
Coryonna Robinson (31:21):
The structure.
Jennifer Malcolm (31:22):
Yeah, it gives you the, the railroads to be
able to now assign other people.
That's awesome. And I rememberthey love that you're saying
that you you played with yoursister and teddy bears and
school. So my sister and I, wegrew up in in Grafton, Ohio, and
it's a little country, Podunktown, and we just me and my
(31:44):
sister during the summer. And sowe had, we played bank, we
played school, and we playchurch. And we did the same
thing, setting up our dolls, orsetting up our our teddy bears
and animals and making fakemoney and having like checkbooks
and doing math problems. So Ilove I love the similarities of
(32:07):
some of our stories andexperiences and how you're wired
and how I'm wired. And I endedup becoming a high school
science teacher for three years.
And until I was pregnant with myson, who's now 19. And so I did
have a chance for you know,several years to you know, give
(32:27):
back and put my heart and soulinto teenagers. And and that's a
fun nuance of that a lot ofpeople don't know either of my
story. So
Coryonna Robinson (32:40):
Thank you.
Unknown (32:40):
Oh you're welcome. The school that you are now teaching
at is also one that you were astudent at for what I hear.
Coryonna Robinson (32:50):
Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (32:51):
So tell the audience a little bit about
that.
Coryonna Robinson (32:54):
Oh, is based in inner city, Cleveland. It's
right by I think that's Metrohospital. Like you know, all
your Patrick day is I'mliterally in the back of William
teaching. And my mom, we used tolive on 30th before we moved to
55th. And she walked me down. Itwas a preschool. So they're
(33:18):
probably working with kids, twoto five. I teach three to five.
I teach the actual preschoolers.
That is the funnest job I'veever had. It was so hard. I just
got through my first year. June10 was my first official year.
How's that? Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (33:37):
And you survived COVID teachings.
Coryonna Robinson (33:39):
Yes. So that is
Jennifer Malcolm (33:42):
the caveat of your first year of teaching.
Coryonna Robinson (33:45):
Wow. That was that experience and how I got
that job is so funny. It was ajob fair that we w told us
about. And I wish I didn't knowthese people. I pretended to I
was like, You know what? Talk tome. Talk to me. And I went up to
(34:06):
them. And everyone's like, doyou know? Are you familiar with
the signature family andchildren? I was like, Yes, I am.
I was not I I was walking aroundthe job fair. And I was just
collecting stuff. And theladies, I guess, like they
weren't at the table yet. But Ihad took like a brochure and I
went and I sat down and read it.
And when I went back, like areyou familiar with them? I'm
like, Yes, I am. I was like, Iliterally thought about you all
(34:29):
like, Uh huh. Yeah, it was like,five minutes ago and really?
Like, yes, she was like, oh, mygoodness, I thought you I'm
like, you know me. Oh, we'regonna go with it. That's
awesome. And she she directlysent me the link to the
(34:51):
application. I went in that wasmy first official interview is
well post b, w, and R Like, thisis it like I have I prepped, I
took all my notes, all thetheories, all of the just
everything, I took it with me tothe interview. And the examples
I had of students work when Iwas student teaching. I had that
(35:12):
too. When I went in, they werelike, We love you like, we're,
we're hiring you right now. AndI was like, Oh my god, like,
wow, I got a job. I graduatedlike two weeks, and I got a job
already. Thank you. And I eventold him, I was like, Yeah, I
attended the center as a child,I made sure to wait until after
(35:34):
the interview, to tell them thatbecause I wanted them to hire me
because of the knowledge I had.
And the credentials, I didn'twant them to hire me just
because I went there. I wantedto know, like, I went to school,
I got this education. And I knowwhat I'm talking about.
Jennifer Malcolm (35:55):
You're qualified, you're qualified for
the job, and you'reknowledgeable for the job not
giving not give me a mulligan,because I attended here. No,
that's, that's powerful.
That's powerful. What are thewhat are the things that you're
hoping to teach your three foursand five year olds, as as you're
now able to plant seeds intotheir hearts and souls and help
(36:21):
build confidence and laughterand play, but what are some of
the things that are really onyour heart to instill to this
young generation,
Coryonna Robinson (36:28):
um, it's two things. I want them to know that
they are human beings as well.
to not allow someone todisrespect them. And to be
respectful about it, I apologizeto my students, when I'm wrong,
I do. Um, if I raise my voice, Iapologize. Like you're human.
You deserve respect. If I'mexpecting you to give me
(36:49):
respect, I need to give it toyou as well. And the second
being, you can do anything youwant to literally, I, I
experienced so many differentelements and personalities, but
just little things that theylove to do on a day to day
basis. Because I, I work yourway out. Okay, we, we only have
like major holidays off, but I'mthere all the time. And I have
(37:13):
students who love to paint, butthey also want to dance and they
also want to sing. So I tellthem instead of trying to be
great, at one thing, it's okayto be good at multiple things.
And they took that and for themto, to take that in and actually
apply it to their their teachingwhat they're learning. I mean,
(37:40):
they do a great job at it. Everyday is a new adventure with the
they plan my hair because theywant to be hairstylist one day,
but the next day they want to beastronauts like Okay, let's do
it. Let's do it. My classroom isvery big, free, like we still
have structure. sure the kidsknow, you come in you you wash
your hands, you sign your name,and you go eat breakfast because
(38:03):
they eat in the classroom withthose. But after that, go
explore go be a kid I want youto explore. I want you to ask me
those questions. And they are sosmart. Oh, my goodness. It
amazes me. It does. These littlethree year olds are talking to
(38:27):
me about this pandemic, as ifI'm talking to you about this
pandemic. They were? Yeah, theysit me down almost every day.
Miss Robinson, why don't whyaren't they wearing a mask?
Like? Do they know they can getsick? Wow.
Jennifer Malcolm (38:43):
No aware, right? while we're there. I love
when you said at the beginningof your lessons with your
students about really instillingthat they're humans. And they
matter and that you apologizefor raising your voice or
yelling or or not being kind.
Because in our family, my fatherwas the first to always say he
(39:06):
was sorry, whether he was rightor wrong. He always modeled that
we're going to be in communionwith each other, we're going to
have reconciliation with eachother. And I'm going to model
what it means to a ask forforgiveness or say I'm wrong.
And it's powerful. And so as I'mraising, I was a single mom for
almost a decade, and raisingteenagers on my own. I often
(39:29):
said to my kids, it's not evenwhat you say it's how you say
it. So you could say the exactsame words but drop the tone or
the attitude. And the other thewhat the last several years is
just be kind. Be kind in yourwords doesn't mean that you have
to give up your boundaries.
doesn't have to mean that youhave to give up your wines or
(39:51):
your names. But you can berespectful and to be kind in
your words. And I think whenyou're pouring that into the
heart of 3-4-5 five year olds,the flowers and the seeds that
will bloom when they're 16 1718.
When they're 30-35, raisingtheir kids when they're
40-45-50. You know, all that isgoing to be remember what Miss
(40:13):
Robinson, you know, is sayingabout human kindness and saying,
I'm sorry, when we're human, wemake mistakes, we're all gonna
make mistakes, we're all goingto cop an attitude, we're going
to not respond in the way thatwe hope to or want to. But when
we're humble enough to say, I'msorry, it goes a long way.
Coryonna Robinson (40:32):
It does.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:32):
That's a powerful lesson, you're teaching
those little ones.
Coryonna Robinson (40:35):
Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:36):
You should be proud of that.
Coryonna Robinson (40:38):
Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:39):
So over the last several months, with all
black lives matter, GeorgeFloyd, how were you personally
impacted or your familyimpacted? You know, through,
really, the last three, fourmonths.
Coryonna Robinson (40:56):
I'm going to be completely transparent here
too. It's been rough to seethat, because you see both
sides, you see people fightingfor our rights, and you see the
people fighting against blackrights. And I'm like, these are
human rights, like we humanbeings, we shouldn't have to be
(41:16):
gunned down or suffocated orkilled in our sleep. And I'm
like cheese that we can't, itseems as if we can't do
anything. And I had to take abreak from the media. I did,
because it was so much to digestat one time, and I fell into
like a just like a funk. I wasin a funk. And I'm like, oh, my
(41:40):
goodness, are we ever going toreceive racial equality? racial
equity? Are we ever going toreceive any of those things? We
we kneel, we're wrong, weprotest, we're wrong. We don't
say anything. Oh, you're doing agood job. They're like, Don't
speak on your rights. Don'tstand up for yourself. And
(42:01):
that's the message that I feellike is being portrayed right
now. But I said, No, I'm notwanting to just sit down and
take it like, I'm sorry, I'mnot. I fight in a different type
of way. I speak up for myselfwithin our organization. I've
been asking for like months nowcan we wear head wraps is a part
of our culture. Even though Iknow it's, it's not acceptable I
(42:24):
carry is a part of who I am, andwhere they're at. Or I teach,
teach my students about who theyare because I feel you learn a
lot from your history, becauseyou can know where you're going
from there. I've had days wheremy students and I we will sit
in, we would do breaks because Ilike to break here. I do Fox
(42:45):
breaks. We break hair. I talkedhim about head wraps. We're
right now talking about whoBarack Obama was. They call him
brock obama. It's close enough.
And I'm reading a little moremulticultural books to them. Not
only black culture, but alsoother cultures, as well, because
(43:05):
I feel this is not only a blackperson's issue, it's also any
persons of color issue is well,and you're seeing all of that,
at one time with this with thekids that's in the camps right
now that's been separated fromtheir families. And all these
black people being gunned downshot at the protest across the
(43:29):
world. that amazed me, that thatreally touched me because I'm
like, not only are we fightinghere in America, they're
fighting across the world for usto receive our human rights. And
this is so beautiful to me,because we're all tired. We're
tired of being treated less thanwhen I'm going to say this. And
(43:49):
I apologize in advance. We kindof built this country like we
helped build this country, itwas on our backs, my ancestors
are slaves. And it hurts to whatthey were slaves. And it hurts
to say that. Because that's myreality. That's my truth. But my
(44:09):
ancestors were also kings andqueens. And they don't tell you
that part. They took that awayfrom us. When we came over on
almost ships, they separated,separated us from our families,
they took our names from us. Andwhen you have that stuff, you
know, like my family did this. Ican go this far. I don't know
(44:30):
who my ancestors are, as far asslaves, I don't know. And to see
that. We're now starting toembrace who we are as a culture.
And we're not just taking thecraft anymore. It's a beautiful,
it's a beautiful thing in thataspect. But it's also ugly
(44:52):
because it's like we still havea ways to go. But we cannot give
up. We can't at all It's, it'san amazing thing to see that we
are taking steps to strive for abetter future for ourselves. And
I love that,
Jennifer Malcolm (45:11):
thank you for your willingness to share with
me, you know, and and I didn'treach out to you. And Chad
didn't encourage me to reach outto you because you're African
American, he encouraged me toreach out to you, because you
(45:31):
are one of the students thathave really stood out to him for
multiple reasons. Through theyears that he, you know, he was
your professor. And as we'recapturing different stories, it
is about different nuances thatbring healing, different nuances
of having voice and givingcourage. And I've shared this on
(45:56):
the podcast previously, that mystory is going to fall flat on a
lot of women, it's not going toimpact them at all. But my story
is also going to impact a lot ofwomen. And it's going to give
them courage and voice andconfidence to heal, have a
deeper conversation, journal,sing, dance, whatever that is,
(46:18):
and capturing your story isgoing to do the same thing,
there's going to be a lot ofpeople, they're like, Alright,
there's just another story. Butthere's gonna be other ones that
are like, Wow, she's powerful.
She's an overcomer. And she, sherose out of some of the concrete
jungle. I love that I love thatphrase, you know, rising out of
the concrete jungle, into aperfect diamond. And now as an
(46:38):
adult, you're able to sow thoseseeds back into the next
generation, from a very youngage, to give them a lot of what
your grandmother and mother gaveyou. And, and to give them
courage and hope andperspective, and, and voice and
that's a very powerful positionthat you know, that you're in.
(47:01):
And that's beautiful. So thankyou for sharing that part of
your story.
Coryonna Robinson (47:07):
Thank you so much for allowing me to
Jennifer Malcolm (47:10):
Very welcome.
What are some as we wrap thisup? What are some closing
remarks that you may give toother young women that you want
to encourage or empower to breakout of and it doesn't even have
to be a poverty, inner city,African American, but what are
some things to say, you know,what, you're stuck in a
(47:30):
situation you're young, it couldbe I'm being sexually abused, I
mean, emotionally abused. I am,I'm a part of a military family
that, you know, packs up andmoves, you know, every, you
know, 369 months. But there's,there's young women that are
stuck in different places forwhatever, for whatever mentality
(47:52):
and there's that, that thatblock that says, This is how
it's always going to be what aresome words of encouragement that
you can give to the nextgeneration of women?
Coryonna Robinson (48:06):
Um, first want to touch base on don't
allow yourself to stay withinthat stuckness. And I know it's
easier said and done. But I wentthrough a lot of that stuff you
just mentioned. And it was amindset change for me and I'm
(48:27):
not going to say it's anovernight fix is not at all it's
going to take time you're goingto cry, you're going to just
feel low, you're going to haveyour day so you might have your
weeks but don't allow yourselfto just stay there because you
are worth way more than you aregiving yourself credit for. You
are important you are wantingyou are valued. And I want women
(48:48):
to know that we sorry, I'm
Jennifer Malcolm (48:54):
Tears are we come.
Coryonna Robinson (48:59):
We are amazing. Ever. Anyone who just
who fears moving on or justfears the unknown, don't allow
that fear to hold you back. ItDon't. Don't. It's okay to be
scared. But don't allow fear tohold you back. I'm sorry, I have
(49:23):
notes. Good. I got one. Don'tallow fear to dictate your life.
You will rather say I try and itdidn't work meant to say I never
did this. Don't have regrets.
And yes, I'm just selling.
Jennifer Malcolm (49:43):
Okay, it's powerful. It's powerful. And
that's a beauty is I love whenyou said you know, having a
mindset that I can get throughit is one thing. But knowing
that it's it's gonna be rough.
There's gonna be tears. You'regoing to overcome trauma, you're
going to need a community aroundyou to heal, you may need
(50:05):
counseling, you may needmedication, you may need
advocacy. But all of that if youtake one tiny step at a yes in
your heart to believe that I canget out of this. And that's the
piece here is we want thiscommunity to be one that we
believe we see, we value whereyou're at. And we want to
(50:26):
partner alongside women,wherever they're at, in their
journey, whether they're healed,and using their voice, or
whether they're coming out to behealed, and need an advocate and
a voice in support, that we'reall on this journey of life. And
that through human compassion,and kindness, and understanding,
(50:49):
and willingness to bevulnerable, this is what it is.
Coryonna Robinson (50:57):
Going through that right now. Actually, that's
why I'm getting a littleemotional, I'm coming out of a
lot, I am letting my wife down.
And I forced myself to just getout of bed in the morning. And
that's even a great start. Andasking for help is okay, like,
I'm learning that like it's okayto ask someone like, Hey, I'm
(51:19):
going through a rough patchright now, can you? Can you just
listen? Or can you please comeover? Can we go out for ice
cream, it's okay to ask forhelp. And it's okay to go
through those things. Becausewhen you get through it, that is
going to be such a joyous thing.
(51:41):
And for me, I always thought,whenever you feel like you're at
your lowest, that's when abreakthrough is coming through.
That's when you're about toelevate on to something even
greater, because it's going toget hard before it gets easy.
And I put myself in thatmindset. And it has happened
every time whenever I feel likeI'm at my lowest, something
(52:03):
great happens. And it's coming.
And that's what I want thesewomen listening to now something
great is coming. If you're goingthrough it, something great is
coming your way. This is thelowest you're going to feel
Jennifer Malcolm (52:18):
I love it, and the wisdom that you have in your
heart, Cory, the depth of whoyou are as a woman. And I think
I'm 20 plus years older thanyou, your world before you you
are going to impact the nextgeneration and women and African
American community, the whitecommunity in ways that you can't
(52:39):
even imagine yet. And as youpress in, and you take that step
to continue to heal, and useyour voice, to teach and to
laugh and giggle and to create,you know, the breakthrough that
you're going to a personalexperience with be gift to those
around you is powerful,powerful. Thank you so much.
(53:03):
very welcome. Do you have anyclosing remarks for the
audience, as you're like, we'reboth crying here. I always bring
tears to the studio because Ican't get through the stories.
And that's the beautiful part isis it's one woman at a time. And
today we're honoring you. So anyclosing remarks for the
audience?
Coryonna Robinson (53:24):
I will like to say, even if I don't know
you, I love you. You havesomeone out there rooting for
you. And just keep pressingforward. And just focus on
loving yourself. It's well loveit.
Jennifer Malcolm (53:42):
Well, thank you so much for taking your time
today, to spend with me andhonored to be a part of your
journey. And Dr. Malcolm, and Iare here for you at any point.
Please know that
Coryonna Robinson (53:55):
thank you so much for this podcast. I
literally want to thank you forthis. This is opening a lot of
doors. And it's allowing womento gain their power back through
their words and through theirstory. So I thank you most.
Jennifer Malcolm (54:16):
So, okay, s as we're both crying here now.
I'm going to try to wrap this upSo thank you guys so much.
hank you, Cory, for being hee with us today. And stay tuned
next week for the nexstory of transformational
tories of women. And where everywoman has a story and every stor
matters. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Subscribe to the Jennasispeaks to empower women's v
(54:39):
ices and reclaim the power overyour own n
Welcome to the Jennasis Speaks podcast, The
Transformative Power of Women'sStories, a platform that
empowers women storytelling, topromote collective
vulnerability, acceptance andhealing. I am your host,
Jennifer Malcolm, self madeentrepreneur, women advocate and
life balance expert. Welcomeback to the next episode of
(00:31):
Jennasis Speaks where everywoman has a story and every
story matters. I'm JenniferMalcolm, your host, and with me
today is Coryonna Robinson.
Coryonna is one of my husband'spast students prize pupil I will
say, and he readily spoke up andsaid that this is a story that
we should capture. So I'm gonnaread a little intro about you.
(00:54):
And then we're just gonna jumpright in, Cory. So we're happy
that you're here. You're astudent, just a recent graduate
of Baldwin Wallace University asour teacher.
Coryonna Robinson (01:08):
Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (01:10):
I do believe that you are now officially our
youngest interviewee for thispodcast, which is powerful,
though, and I'm looking forwardto interviewing my two teenage
daughters, they're a littlehesitant to jump into this. But
I want this piece to be aboutall age, all walks of life, all
(01:30):
purposes of healing so thatwomen find their place to come
alongside each other to empowerand heal along with each other.
So welcome, Coryonna.
Coryonna Robinson (01:40):
Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (01:44):
So we'll start with some easy questions. So
this actually is our first timereally chatting. I have known of
you through I call him hot.
Chad, and you.
Coryonna Robinson (01:55):
You call Dr.
Malcolm
Jennifer Malcolm (01:57):
I call my husband hot.
But yes. You know, him as Dr.
Malcolm, and he was a few yearsback when he was very you were
in his class. And you were goingthrough some stuff at BW and
kind of having some breakouttimes to speak to fellow
teachers, professors, studentsat VW. And he just we loved who
(02:18):
you are who you represented.
Your you went to Ghana I think,
Coryonna Robinson (02:27):
yes, I went to Ghana last year graduation,
right. graduation, I wascongratulating the day before
and I flew out the next day, Iwas like, wow, first time with a
plane to terrify.
Jennifer Malcolm (02:40):
Like an easy, I'm gonna jump on a plane and
just go to like Tennessee orsomething you're going across to
the other side of the world?
Coryonna Robinson (02:46):
Yes, it's terrifying.
Jennifer Malcolm (02:49):
Let's jump into you your story. And just
tell me about when you weregrowing up and what that look
like. And I know you're a nativehere of Cleveland, Ohio, as
well. But just give the audiencea little bit of a glimpse of you
know, how you were raised.
Coryonna Robinson (03:03):
Okay, um, well, for people who are
listening to this, if you are inCleveland, I was born in inner
city, Cleveland 55th. Inwoodland, actually, I grew up,
not not poor, but mycircumstances were very Nolan
Boyd. And I'm going to try topaint a picture. So imagine
(03:28):
walking outside, and all you seeis dead grass, apartment
buildings that are extremelyclose. Brick was closed down
buildings, and just a mainstreet, there's no flowers,
there's no nature parks. Andit's just the gas station up the
street. And it just came onvery, to me depressive, kind of,
(03:53):
I couldn't really go to thepark. Because it was always a
situation where some one mighttry to do something to me at the
park. So I had to stay on theporch for most of my childhood
life. And looking at that, Ithought it was sad because I was
deprived of opportunity that alot of other kids get I couldn't
(04:15):
go to the playground, I couldn'treally swing on the swings. I
had to worry about somebodydoing something to me, I had to
worry about somebody eitherfighting or doing something to
someone else. And just grown upin that atmosphere and that
mindset, it made me a toughcookie, as I'm going to call it
has always watched my back. Andthere was one situation
(04:35):
actually, um, where I wassleeping. I mean my little
sister, we shared a room I wassleeping and my bed was right
next to the window. And thewindow you had to like pop it
kind of open to get in. So Itried to break in as we were
sleeping. And I kind of got upand I started clapping and
making a bunch of noise and theyran away. But I was really
(04:56):
young. I had to do like six orseven and to have that mindset
as such. A young age, it kind ofI don't say it took away my
childhood, but I feel like itdid. Because I had to grow up, I
had to worry about things that Ishouldn't have to worry about as
a child. My job as a child is togo to school, come home and play
like. But I grew up kind oftough. But my mom, she tried to
(05:17):
make sure that we had everythingwe needed. And she tried to give
us the best childhood that wecould ever ask for. We were
extremely grateful for thethings that she could do for us.
But she couldn't control thecircumstances. Because she
didn't have the means at thetime. And I'm not pointing the
finger like, well, you shouldhave done this. And she was an
(05:39):
amazing mother. And she did whatshe could she sacrificed for us.
But it still didn't take awayfrom the atmosphere, and
everything like that. So I kindof I grew up a little tough. A
little tough.
Jennifer Malcolm (05:52):
Yeah. So were you aware and it sounds like you
were but for clarity. Were youaware that this was not a normal
childhood that you being on ayou know, front porch, as your
playground and that as far asyour world really went? Were you
aware of that? Or did youhindsight as you grew up,
realize that that wasn't, youknow, normal?
Coryonna Robinson (06:13):
I was aware of it as a child. When I went to
school, we read books, and thenthese books, it was presented
that these kids were going toparks going to zoos, on
vacations with their families.
And I'm like, I'm not doing anyof that. Like, is this a normal
childhood? life? Right? Like, weweren't able to do any of that.
And so it kind of put a damper.
(06:39):
Sure. Yeah. Cuz I was like,dang, I can't, I can't do any
thing.
Jennifer Malcolm (06:46):
That a normal child and a normal, you know,
the joys of you know, exploringand romping, and playing and
imagination, and all of thosethings that you did not get the
chance to experience. So it wasit just you and your sister and
your mom living together
Coryonna Robinson (07:04):
for the first 11 years of my life. And then
this amazing person came intoour lives. I call him my papa.
He's my stepdad. And he justmade everything seem okay. Like
we were still in predicaments.
But he came in our lives and hewas like, Look, ladies, we're
going to try to make the best ofthe situation. I we're going to
(07:26):
start doing family thingstogether. And we will we will
try to go places don't see yourcoin. Um, pioneer water land.
Where else do we go? The zoo?
Sounds like okay, we're gettingthere. All right. Yeah, just the
(07:48):
four of us. That's great.
Jennifer Malcolm (07:50):
And I love that you call them step, pop,
you said step pop, pop, pop pop.
One thing can be called Chadinstead of step dad, my kids
calm step, Chad. But then itbecame step chatty, so they call
them instead of step Daddy, theycall them step chatty. So we all
have those little names forthose that are so important to
us, and really put theirfingerprints and love into our
(08:13):
lives. And it sounds like he wasone of those that expanded your
world in that regard. So as youas you were growing up, what did
Junior High High School looklike? Then? You know, as you
have now have a stepfather andseeing a little bit more of an
experience a little bit more ofthe world, like a lot of
(08:33):
children get the opportunity toso how did that unfold through
your junior high in high schoolyears?
Coryonna Robinson (08:41):
junior high, I'm going to be honest with you,
I don't remember it. I just gotthrough a
Jennifer Malcolm (08:47):
survival.
Coryonna Robinson (08:48):
Yes, I was extremely bullied in junior
high. So I think I just kind ofjust dismissed it. Um, when I
got to high school, my first twoyears were awesome. I went to
jarhead architecture and design.
Like I forced myself to go therebecause I didn't want to be a
statistic. So I'm like, let mego to one of the schools that is
like, top in Cleveland, let mepush myself to do better even
(09:13):
though I didn't have. I don'tsay the proper education. But I
just I didn't know the things Iwas supposed to going into. But
I still learned them. It washard. It was tough. And I was
one of those eight plusstudents. I was always on it
like that. Yes. I was a readerand everything like my mom, my
(09:33):
mom she used to hate when I usedto fact check her shoe like
Cory, please stop. I'm like, Butmom, this is not that. That's
not enough. I came with posterboards one day when I wanted to
present to her. I forget what wewere talking about. I think it
was I think I was readingchicken soup for the teen soul.
(09:54):
And I was talking to her aboutdepression. I remember And I
can't wear a whole poster boardand I'm like, Nah, this is what
depression is. You had it allwrong. You said it was xiety and
stuff. No, this is what it issure, like, really? That's
another
Jennifer Malcolm (10:14):
day just like the whole PowerPoint
presentation of, here's yourdiagnosis. And here's, here's
what it really is. This is whatit really means. That's
outstanding.
Coryonna Robinson (10:23):
And I'm high school, I worked. I worked a lot
in high school, because Istarted helping take care of my
sister a little more. My mom wasworking, just a lie. She was and
I saw that she needed help. Likeshe needed help, even with my
pop out there. And I was like,You know what, I got to pull him
(10:44):
away around here. I was 16. AndI had three jobs. And I was
going to school. And I was like,wow, this is it wasn't rough,
because I trained myself to bein a routine of it. And I was
like, Okay, I have to help takecare of my sister. I would buy
our school clothes, buy ourshoes, just anything to help my
mom buy groceries, just to showher like, Look, I'm able bodied.
(11:09):
I can go to work. And I workedat the king Kennedy Boys and
Girls Club. I was a junior staffmember. I spent most of my time
in the computer world or eitherhelping out with homework, the
other junior staff, they will beat the gym. I wasn't really
active. So I was like, No, I'llstay here. I'm okay. also worked
(11:33):
for cmha, which is the housingthat we stayed in. I worked
literally right up the street.
It was like the king KennedyBoys and Girls Club was right
around the corner from the cmhaoffice. So I could just walk
right around the corner. Andthen I later on became a hymens
employee at the downtownlocation. And I worked there for
(11:55):
years. years like I graduatedhigh school was a college I was
still working this summer andwinter breaks. I love that
place. So beautiful. is so
Jennifer Malcolm (12:13):
what's the age difference between you and your
sister? So as you're taking careof her trying to help take care
of your sister and buy her extrathings? What'sthe age
difference?
Coryonna Robinson (12:20):
We're seven years apart.
Jennifer Malcolm (12:22):
so you're now 15? She's eight. So you're
really helping raise a young?
Yes. Soul body? Wow. Yes,I have a quote from you that we
did in our pre recording that Ithought was powerful. And I do
want to share it with theaudience. You said, I'm not a
statistic, I'm a seed that wasplanted in a concrete jungle and
(12:45):
blossomed into somethingbeautiful. I accepted my
hardships. And instead ofcracking under pressure, I
turned into a diamond. Can youshare from your heart with
audience what that really meansto you.
Coryonna Robinson (13:01):
Um, when I say concrete jungle, when you
think of a jungle, you think ofa bunch of flowers, you think of
just beauty? Well, that's why Ithink of a jungle just beautiful
flowers everywhere. And then weput the word concrete there, I
want you to get into the mindsetof just breaks and just
buildings. That's it, there'snothing pretty about it. It
(13:25):
wasn't, there was nothing prettyabout it. Um, so I have to plant
myself within those means andforce myself to grow through
hardships through statisticsthrough oppression. I blossomed.
Ad didn't crack under pressure.
And I didn't become a statisticI forced myself out of those
means I wasn't supposed tograduate high school. According
(13:48):
to statistics, I wasn't supposedto go to college. When you read
on statistics, it says you'regoing to stay within the socio
economic status that you wereborn into. I did it, I did it. I
said, I cannot accept this. I donot want to be under the poverty
line. I don't, I don't want thatfor myself. I don't want that
(14:11):
for generations to come. So letme force myself to not crack
under all this pressure. And letme get out of here. And that's
what I that's what I did.
Jennifer Malcolm (14:26):
It's powerful.
Where do you feel like thatinternal drive or desire to say
like, this is not going to beyou know, my, my future and I'm
really going to push through.
Where does that internal drivecome from?
Coryonna Robinson (14:43):
My mom and my grandmother, um, they are some
of the most intelligent women inmy life. And even though my mom
and I we but it's it's so muchshe instilled in me to always be
want better for myself? And mygrandmother, she was always
(15:03):
there to tell me the truth, andto kind of not cushion the
blows. But to just help guide mealong this path. anything
positive I wanted to do? Theboth of them joined together and
they were like, Look, go ahead,go do it. If I wanted to go to
Cal, go do it like you You wantto get out of here? That's
(15:25):
please.
Jennifer Malcolm (15:26):
Yeah. And having that that support from
two amazing, powerful women andadvocates in your life had to at
least continue to fanned theflames of a spark that was in
your soul to you know, overcomeand to get through some of this
as well. What do you did yourealize that you wanted to go to
college?
Coryonna Robinson (15:46):
I always wanted to go to college.
Jennifer Malcolm (15:54):
And, and for the audience, you're first
generation, correct? Yes, I am.
That's so good. That's sopowerful. And in honor of
meeting you through my husband,who was your professor, you
know, what a joy and a giftthat, you know, you have
impacted our lives. Even youdon't know how you've impacted
(16:18):
our lives. And thosefingerprints that you have in
our soul, and the beauty thatyou've given to both Dr. Malcolm
Chad and I, that that's amazing.
And I just wanted to honor youin this in this podcast as well.
Coryonna Robinson (16:35):
Thank you so much. Thank you very welcome.
So tell us about your experienceas a woman of color growing up
in Cleveland, in yourneighborhood, and then through
high school on into bonalabecause I'm a bond Wallace
graduate as well. I my yellowjacket for life 1998 for my
(16:57):
undergrad, and 2020 for my MBA.
Jennifer Malcolm (17:01):
I went to BW for my MBA. And so it's been my
alma mater. And yes, we sharedthat in common as well. But what
was that being for you growingup as a person of color.
Coryonna Robinson (17:15):
It was hard.
I'm not even going to stay herea lie. It was difficult. Because
I was already looked at as lessthan or as dangerous whenever I
went somewhere that wasn't in mycommunity. And I was like, Oh my
goodness, like I just I want toeat like we would go to
restaurants. And we were justgetting looked at and I'm like,
(17:38):
Oh my gosh, we would be the onlyblack family there to like,
like, we just want to eat justlike you want to eat like what?
Why are you looking at us likethat? It didn't really start
hitting me until I got tocollege because I was in the
middle of the suburbs. Short.
And who can I see about oneexperienced attitude in my
(18:00):
freshman year?
Jennifer Malcolm (18:01):
Absolutely.
Coryonna Robinson (18:03):
Um, my friend and I we were walking from the
gymnasium to Finley Finley Hall,which is probably close to the
gymnasium. We were in thecrosswalk walk in and the Big
Four truck was a confederateflag plastered on the back
window. It wrote, like it triesto hit us basically is Spanish
(18:24):
tried to hit me and my friend.
And as it got closer to us, theywrote with windows down, tried
to spit at us and call usinward. And I was like, Are you
serious? We just want to go toour door. Right? That's great.
It will happen in classes like Iwas forced to we're not forced,
but x to speak over the wholeblack community. I'm like, I'm
(18:47):
not every black person. Justbecause I'm black. Yes, I can
speak to my black experience. Ican't speak for their like
experience. Jesus Christ. Oh, itwas it was a lot. I had to pull
my professors aside sometimes tolike, look here, please stop
calling me we start talkingabout interceding because don't
(19:07):
assume I'm front the inner city.
Even though I am But still, likeyou assumed I was right or even
asking me?
Jennifer Malcolm (19:18):
No, that's and that's huge. Because that's you
when you start gettingstereotyped or that you are the
one advocate to carry a blackwoman's voice or black culture
voice or inner city voice. Iknow that I have a friend that
they in their community, theyhave one gay man working there.
So anything that goes into, youknow, it's like, please be our
(19:40):
your token representative. Andit's it's emotionally
exhausting. When you're like, Ijust want to be me. I want to be
a woman. I want to be a student.
I want to experience collegelife just like everyone else
does. I want to experience myclasses just like everyone else
does. And if I choose to use myvoice, if I choose to contribute
more, because of the experiencesthat I've had that's my power.
That's my that's my choiceversus nursing. Can you be our
(20:03):
token? Black woman? Speaker forthis?
Coryonna Robinson (20:09):
Yes, yes. It happened in group projects to
like people, which isautomatically kind of pair up,
and it will just be me sitting.
I didn't think too much of itbecause I was like, I kind of
expected it to happen. I didn'treally hang out with the, my
peers. So I'm like, I'm tryingto expected it to happen. I was
kind of isolated. Um, I waslike, Okay, I'll sit by myself
(20:29):
and just wait for whoever elseis by themselves. Like, I want
this group project together. Ijust I tried my best not to
allow it to affect me, exceptenough going on to college.
Like, it wasn't done before inmy family. That was hard. That
was so hard to do.
Jennifer Malcolm (20:48):
Did you live on campus, or were you back and
forth.
Coryonna Robinson (20:51):
I lived on campus because I was a
workaholic, stayed at home, Iwould have ignored my classes
and just been at work. So I waslike, You know what, I'm going
to stay on campus, I did have awork study job, but it didn't
take over. Okay, my life.
Jennifer Malcolm (21:09):
And it's interesting, because being, you
know, a graduate choice of bw,and being Caucasian, what how I
experienced bw in college andhow you experience it, you know,
is different. And my, my highschool actually went to a small
Christian High School on theeast side, orange Christian
Academy, and half of the schoolwas African American, and half
(21:32):
was white. And so junior high inhigh school for me, you know, it
was a very, very small school.
But it was, you know, 50, it was50/50. And then I went to BW,
you know, if that's not thecase, it's, you know, very
suburbia, mostly white people.
And, again, if you're in thatbubble of, I'm trying to a learn
(21:57):
college, it's scary for anyfreshmen going into college,
learn how to do things on yourown and be responsible. If the
good grades you are, I'm likeyou and I was a plus student, I
got my first C on a test in myfreshman year at BW. And I was
like, oh, and like, I never wentout. Like, I ended up becoming
(22:19):
like this nerd of a student ofbw, Double, double majored got a
minor, and you graduate withalmost straight A's. But the
same way, like that driven pneusof that piece, but you and I
obviously had very differentexperiences. And, and it's
interesting to be in the sameumbrella of something, and have
(22:39):
vastly different, you know,experiences with, you know,
peers, professors, community,even just the the city itself of
this, this truck that rolled byyou probably had nothing to do
with that campus. But it wasjust someone that was in the
area.
Coryonna Robinson (22:55):
Yes. It, it came in microaggressions to
throughout my collegeexperience, through professors
through my peers. And just itwas a lot going on, like, for
instance, um, the I don't wantto say the black fraternities
and sororities, but I don't knowthe technical term for it. They
(23:20):
weren't on campus. So I couldn'teven I couldn't get into Greek
life, even if I wanted to. Itwasn't represented on campus.
They said they were there when Icame for, like freshman
orientation. But once you getinto that, they're not there.
Well, I got to go to either CSUor to Ohio State or yes to, to
(23:42):
engage have an even Greek life.
Yes. Wow. I did not know that.
And it will be situations wheremy friends and I we will go out
to eat. And either Lang Hall,because I didn't eat their
cafeteria. So I'm sorry. We willgo to main hall. And I remember
(24:04):
I talked to Dennis the managerbecause I later on became an
employee. And I was like, can'twe have cell phone here? Please?
He was like, Yeah, sure. Like,I've never thought about that.
And the night we had soul food.
What I'd say it was so manycomplaints. complaints from the
students told me this food isn'thealthy. Why is it here? And I
(24:27):
don't want to say it was acertain crowd of people. Sure. I
was really cool with the blackcommunity. There was coming in
like who thought it is Cory. Didyou notice that? I was like,
Yeah, like, thank you. Like, wewanted a little piece of home
away from home and I was like,geez, why did they complain
about the fool like if thiscampus is promoting inclusion
(24:51):
and diversity? Why is it thatwhen it is that door is open Why
is it McDowell? Why is itcomplaints about it? If this is
supposed to be a campus wherepeople can feel like they can be
themselves, especially if wehave a think, diversity day?
Yeah, well, we have that bigevent. Really like your show for
(25:14):
this, but
Jennifer Malcolm (25:19):
when it's right day to day, well, it's,
it's the inclusion until itaffects my my food or my, what
I'm comfortable with. And thenit becomes very white and very
Caucasian, because I'm not usedto culture or food or
experiences. And so, you know,we can say it's a situation of
(25:41):
family a community is, you know,does diversity inclusion, but
until it really affects, youknow, my my space, and then it
will pull some feathers. So whatwas it like being a first
generation college student whenyou've got that that acceptance
letter from for for college? Howdid it all transpire?
Coryonna Robinson (26:02):
It was a lot of emotions. I was scared, I was
excited. I was nervous. And Iwas like, Okay, I got the
acceptance letter. What's next?
Now APA. That is a wholedifferent beast with itself. Oh,
my goodness, my mom and I satthere for hours trying to figure
that thing out. I'm like, Idon't even know what this stands
(26:22):
for. Like, what is this?
Jennifer Malcolm (26:25):
I don't think anyone understands it. Because
we have to fill that out everyyear for our two in college. And
I, we still struggle, like it'sridiculous. The complexity and
the language. Like, can you justsimplify?
Coryonna Robinson (26:39):
This is this?
I was like, Whoa, we were reallydoing this family like, Okay,
I'm going to school. I went toschool and my family was so
supportive. But I wanted to kindof separate myself, from my
family, because I got into thismindset of becoming my own
woman. Who did I sure want tobe, I was Cory. I was sure
(27:05):
Rita's daughter, I was Alice'sgranddaughter, and it was like,
well, who am I really. And so Ichose college to find myself.
And also make my family proud ofme. And when I graduated, that
was the best day of my life, myfamily came together. And, um, I
(27:26):
found was kind of dismissed. I'mnot one of them to be completely
transparent here. They put alltheir differences aside, and
they came and they supported meto walk the stage and they were
so so proud of not to thebragging started the social
media posts. They were like, shegraduated college like, we have
college grads here. Okay. And toknow that I was able to do that.
(27:55):
For my family, there would be nomore dirt thrown on the
Robinsons name like a familydoesn't do much, right? No, they
have a college grad, they havesomeone who's trying to plant
seeds and become better. And nowI try to enforce it within my my
baby cousins. Like No. Do youwant to live in this for the
(28:17):
rest of your life? Like we gotto get out of this. And I just
aim to inspire them. I even ifyou don't want to go to college,
like I want you to try to dosomething? Absolutely. Because
it's easy to just give up onyourself. But do you want a life
of regrets? Or do you want alife of I did it I failed I
tried it again. And I wassucceeding at it. Like choose
(28:41):
choose your heart. Choose yourheart because you both
situations are hard to livethrough.
Jennifer Malcolm (28:46):
Absolutely.
And that piece of when we fail,you know they say you you learn
the most through failing. Whenyou overcome and you succeed
that level of confidence thatraising of your chin, the the
demeanor that you now carry thejoy, the everything that's in
your soul that may not have beenthere that that it dispels doubt
(29:07):
it dispels fear, it dispels theI can't do it. And doesn't mean
that you're going to overcomeevery time doesn't mean you're
going to succeed every time. Sothe benefits and joys of
learning from the failures andand we learn some of the deepest
lessons about ourselves andovercoming through those. But
(29:28):
that when you succeed it reallychanges your DNA. It changes
something in your heart and yoursoul in your mind that now you
are a vocal piece for yourcousin's for other people in
your community to say okay, Idid it and I I know it's tough.
I know it seems insurmountablebut it is doable. What made you
(29:50):
want to become a teacher?
Coryonna Robinson (29:54):
I always wanted to be a teacher. I was
such a little nerd
Jennifer Malcolm (30:01):
nerds rule the world.
Coryonna Robinson (30:05):
My sister and I used to play school when she
was like about three or four. Asa guy for a few years to kind of
get into the magic of being akid. I used to play school with
her we shared a bit row. And wehad a bunch of teddy bears, like
teddy bears were our thing.
Sure, and we had the storagetotes, we will flip those over,
I will give her some notebookpaper, we'll do addition
(30:28):
problems, vocabulary words, andI was standing in and play
teacher to her and those teddybears. For years, I always
wanted to be a teacher, evenwhen I worked at the Boys and
Girls Club. They were like foryou to be so young. Like how do
you know how to engage with kidswho basically your age like
(30:49):
there, they were around my agegroup? And I was telling like,
no, get it to get it going or doyour homework. I had to do mine
to have a gardener do to get itdone. Come on, I'll help you.
You need help. Right. And Iwould try to find creative ways
to help them and then when I gotto college, that was the Okay,
you took the professional. Thisis the you are always teaching
(31:12):
but here's the actual, um, whatam I trying to say? The
Jennifer Malcolm (31:19):
Was it the structure, the knowledge?
Coryonna Robinson (31:21):
The structure.
Jennifer Malcolm (31:22):
Yeah, it gives you the, the railroads to be
able to now assign other people.
That's awesome. And I rememberthey love that you're saying
that you you played with yoursister and teddy bears and
school. So my sister and I, wegrew up in in Grafton, Ohio, and
it's a little country, Podunktown, and we just me and my
(31:44):
sister during the summer. And sowe had, we played bank, we
played school, and we playchurch. And we did the same
thing, setting up our dolls, orsetting up our our teddy bears
and animals and making fakemoney and having like checkbooks
and doing math problems. So Ilove I love the similarities of
(32:07):
some of our stories andexperiences and how you're wired
and how I'm wired. And I endedup becoming a high school
science teacher for three years.
And until I was pregnant with myson, who's now 19. And so I did
have a chance for you know,several years to you know, give
(32:27):
back and put my heart and soulinto teenagers. And and that's a
fun nuance of that a lot ofpeople don't know either of my
story. So
Coryonna Robinson (32:40):
Thank you.
Unknown (32:40):
Oh you're welcome. The school that you are now teaching
at is also one that you were astudent at for what I hear.
Coryonna Robinson (32:50):
Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (32:51):
So tell the audience a little bit about
that.
Coryonna Robinson (32:54):
Oh, is based in inner city, Cleveland. It's
right by I think that's Metrohospital. Like you know, all
your Patrick day is I'mliterally in the back of William
teaching. And my mom, we used tolive on 30th before we moved to
55th. And she walked me down. Itwas a preschool. So they're
(33:18):
probably working with kids, twoto five. I teach three to five.
I teach the actual preschoolers.
That is the funnest job I'veever had. It was so hard. I just
got through my first year. June10 was my first official year.
How's that? Yes.
Jennifer Malcolm (33:37):
And you survived COVID teachings.
Coryonna Robinson (33:39):
Yes. So that is
Jennifer Malcolm (33:42):
the caveat of your first year of teaching.
Coryonna Robinson (33:45):
Wow. That was that experience and how I got
that job is so funny. It was ajob fair that we w told us
about. And I wish I didn't knowthese people. I pretended to I
was like, You know what? Talk tome. Talk to me. And I went up to
(34:06):
them. And everyone's like, doyou know? Are you familiar with
the signature family andchildren? I was like, Yes, I am.
I was not I I was walking aroundthe job fair. And I was just
collecting stuff. And theladies, I guess, like they
weren't at the table yet. But Ihad took like a brochure and I
went and I sat down and read it.
And when I went back, like areyou familiar with them? I'm
like, Yes, I am. I was like, Iliterally thought about you all
(34:29):
like, Uh huh. Yeah, it was like,five minutes ago and really?
Like, yes, she was like, oh, mygoodness, I thought you I'm
like, you know me. Oh, we'regonna go with it. That's
awesome. And she she directlysent me the link to the
(34:51):
application. I went in that wasmy first official interview is
well post b, w, and R Like, thisis it like I have I prepped, I
took all my notes, all thetheories, all of the just
everything, I took it with me tothe interview. And the examples
I had of students work when Iwas student teaching. I had that
(35:12):
too. When I went in, they werelike, We love you like, we're,
we're hiring you right now. AndI was like, Oh my god, like,
wow, I got a job. I graduatedlike two weeks, and I got a job
already. Thank you. And I eventold him, I was like, Yeah, I
attended the center as a child,I made sure to wait until after
(35:34):
the interview, to tell them thatbecause I wanted them to hire me
because of the knowledge I had.
And the credentials, I didn'twant them to hire me just
because I went there. I wantedto know, like, I went to school,
I got this education. And I knowwhat I'm talking about.
Jennifer Malcolm (35:55):
You're qualified, you're qualified for
the job, and you'reknowledgeable for the job not
giving not give me a mulligan,because I attended here. No,
that's, that's powerful.
That's powerful. What are thewhat are the things that you're
hoping to teach your three foursand five year olds, as as you're
now able to plant seeds intotheir hearts and souls and help
(36:21):
build confidence and laughterand play, but what are some of
the things that are really onyour heart to instill to this
young generation,
Coryonna Robinson (36:28):
um, it's two things. I want them to know that
they are human beings as well.
to not allow someone todisrespect them. And to be
respectful about it, I apologizeto my students, when I'm wrong,
I do. Um, if I raise my voice, Iapologize. Like you're human.
You deserve respect. If I'mexpecting you to give me
(36:49):
respect, I need to give it toyou as well. And the second
being, you can do anything youwant to literally, I, I
experienced so many differentelements and personalities, but
just little things that theylove to do on a day to day
basis. Because I, I work yourway out. Okay, we, we only have
like major holidays off, but I'mthere all the time. And I have
(37:13):
students who love to paint, butthey also want to dance and they
also want to sing. So I tellthem instead of trying to be
great, at one thing, it's okayto be good at multiple things.
And they took that and for themto, to take that in and actually
apply it to their their teachingwhat they're learning. I mean,
(37:40):
they do a great job at it. Everyday is a new adventure with the
they plan my hair because theywant to be hairstylist one day,
but the next day they want to beastronauts like Okay, let's do
it. Let's do it. My classroom isvery big, free, like we still
have structure. sure the kidsknow, you come in you you wash
your hands, you sign your name,and you go eat breakfast because
(38:03):
they eat in the classroom withthose. But after that, go
explore go be a kid I want youto explore. I want you to ask me
those questions. And they are sosmart. Oh, my goodness. It
amazes me. It does. These littlethree year olds are talking to
(38:27):
me about this pandemic, as ifI'm talking to you about this
pandemic. They were? Yeah, theysit me down almost every day.
Miss Robinson, why don't whyaren't they wearing a mask?
Like? Do they know they can getsick? Wow.
Jennifer Malcolm (38:43):
No aware, right? while we're there. I love
when you said at the beginningof your lessons with your
students about really instillingthat they're humans. And they
matter and that you apologizefor raising your voice or
yelling or or not being kind.
Because in our family, my fatherwas the first to always say he
(39:06):
was sorry, whether he was rightor wrong. He always modeled that
we're going to be in communionwith each other, we're going to
have reconciliation with eachother. And I'm going to model
what it means to a ask forforgiveness or say I'm wrong.
And it's powerful. And so as I'mraising, I was a single mom for
almost a decade, and raisingteenagers on my own. I often
(39:29):
said to my kids, it's not evenwhat you say it's how you say
it. So you could say the exactsame words but drop the tone or
the attitude. And the other thewhat the last several years is
just be kind. Be kind in yourwords doesn't mean that you have
to give up your boundaries.
doesn't have to mean that youhave to give up your wines or
(39:51):
your names. But you can berespectful and to be kind in
your words. And I think whenyou're pouring that into the
heart of 3-4-5 five year olds,the flowers and the seeds that
will bloom when they're 16 1718.
When they're 30-35, raisingtheir kids when they're
40-45-50. You know, all that isgoing to be remember what Miss
(40:13):
Robinson, you know, is sayingabout human kindness and saying,
I'm sorry, when we're human, wemake mistakes, we're all gonna
make mistakes, we're all goingto cop an attitude, we're going
to not respond in the way thatwe hope to or want to. But when
we're humble enough to say, I'msorry, it goes a long way.
Coryonna Robinson (40:32):
It does.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:32):
That's a powerful lesson, you're teaching
those little ones.
Coryonna Robinson (40:35):
Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:36):
You should be proud of that.
Coryonna Robinson (40:38):
Thank you.
Jennifer Malcolm (40:39):
So over the last several months, with all
black lives matter, GeorgeFloyd, how were you personally
impacted or your familyimpacted? You know, through,
really, the last three, fourmonths.
Coryonna Robinson (40:56):
I'm going to be completely transparent here
too. It's been rough to seethat, because you see both
sides, you see people fightingfor our rights, and you see the
people fighting against blackrights. And I'm like, these are
human rights, like we humanbeings, we shouldn't have to be
(41:16):
gunned down or suffocated orkilled in our sleep. And I'm
like cheese that we can't, itseems as if we can't do
anything. And I had to take abreak from the media. I did,
because it was so much to digestat one time, and I fell into
like a just like a funk. I wasin a funk. And I'm like, oh, my
(41:40):
goodness, are we ever going toreceive racial equality? racial
equity? Are we ever going toreceive any of those things? We
we kneel, we're wrong, weprotest, we're wrong. We don't
say anything. Oh, you're doing agood job. They're like, Don't
speak on your rights. Don'tstand up for yourself. And
(42:01):
that's the message that I feellike is being portrayed right
now. But I said, No, I'm notwanting to just sit down and
take it like, I'm sorry, I'mnot. I fight in a different type
of way. I speak up for myselfwithin our organization. I've
been asking for like months nowcan we wear head wraps is a part
of our culture. Even though Iknow it's, it's not acceptable I
(42:24):
carry is a part of who I am, andwhere they're at. Or I teach,
teach my students about who theyare because I feel you learn a
lot from your history, becauseyou can know where you're going
from there. I've had days wheremy students and I we will sit
in, we would do breaks because Ilike to break here. I do Fox
(42:45):
breaks. We break hair. I talkedhim about head wraps. We're
right now talking about whoBarack Obama was. They call him
brock obama. It's close enough.
And I'm reading a little moremulticultural books to them. Not
only black culture, but alsoother cultures, as well, because
(43:05):
I feel this is not only a blackperson's issue, it's also any
persons of color issue is well,and you're seeing all of that,
at one time with this with thekids that's in the camps right
now that's been separated fromtheir families. And all these
black people being gunned downshot at the protest across the
(43:29):
world. that amazed me, that thatreally touched me because I'm
like, not only are we fightinghere in America, they're
fighting across the world for usto receive our human rights. And
this is so beautiful to me,because we're all tired. We're
tired of being treated less thanwhen I'm going to say this. And
(43:49):
I apologize in advance. We kindof built this country like we
helped build this country, itwas on our backs, my ancestors
are slaves. And it hurts to whatthey were slaves. And it hurts
to say that. Because that's myreality. That's my truth. But my
(44:09):
ancestors were also kings andqueens. And they don't tell you
that part. They took that awayfrom us. When we came over on
almost ships, they separated,separated us from our families,
they took our names from us. Andwhen you have that stuff, you
know, like my family did this. Ican go this far. I don't know
(44:30):
who my ancestors are, as far asslaves, I don't know. And to see
that. We're now starting toembrace who we are as a culture.
And we're not just taking thecraft anymore. It's a beautiful,
it's a beautiful thing in thataspect. But it's also ugly
(44:52):
because it's like we still havea ways to go. But we cannot give
up. We can't at all It's, it'san amazing thing to see that we
are taking steps to strive for abetter future for ourselves. And
I love that,
Jennifer Malcolm (45:11):
thank you for your willingness to share with
me, you know, and and I didn'treach out to you. And Chad
didn't encourage me to reach outto you because you're African
American, he encouraged me toreach out to you, because you
(45:31):
are one of the students thathave really stood out to him for
multiple reasons. Through theyears that he, you know, he was
your professor. And as we'recapturing different stories, it
is about different nuances thatbring healing, different nuances
of having voice and givingcourage. And I've shared this on
(45:56):
the podcast previously, that mystory is going to fall flat on a
lot of women, it's not going toimpact them at all. But my story
is also going to impact a lot ofwomen. And it's going to give
them courage and voice andconfidence to heal, have a
deeper conversation, journal,sing, dance, whatever that is,
(46:18):
and capturing your story isgoing to do the same thing,
there's going to be a lot ofpeople, they're like, Alright,
there's just another story. Butthere's gonna be other ones that
are like, Wow, she's powerful.
She's an overcomer. And she, sherose out of some of the concrete
jungle. I love that I love thatphrase, you know, rising out of
the concrete jungle, into aperfect diamond. And now as an
(46:38):
adult, you're able to sow thoseseeds back into the next
generation, from a very youngage, to give them a lot of what
your grandmother and mother gaveyou. And, and to give them
courage and hope andperspective, and, and voice and
that's a very powerful positionthat you know, that you're in.
(47:01):
And that's beautiful. So thankyou for sharing that part of
your story.
Coryonna Robinson (47:07):
Thank you so much for allowing me to
Jennifer Malcolm (47:10):
Very welcome.
What are some as we wrap thisup? What are some closing
remarks that you may give toother young women that you want
to encourage or empower to breakout of and it doesn't even have
to be a poverty, inner city,African American, but what are
some things to say, you know,what, you're stuck in a
(47:30):
situation you're young, it couldbe I'm being sexually abused, I
mean, emotionally abused. I am,I'm a part of a military family
that, you know, packs up andmoves, you know, every, you
know, 369 months. But there's,there's young women that are
stuck in different places forwhatever, for whatever mentality
(47:52):
and there's that, that thatblock that says, This is how
it's always going to be what aresome words of encouragement that
you can give to the nextgeneration of women?
Coryonna Robinson (48:06):
Um, first want to touch base on don't
allow yourself to stay withinthat stuckness. And I know it's
easier said and done. But I wentthrough a lot of that stuff you
just mentioned. And it was amindset change for me and I'm
(48:27):
not going to say it's anovernight fix is not at all it's
going to take time you're goingto cry, you're going to just
feel low, you're going to haveyour day so you might have your
weeks but don't allow yourselfto just stay there because you
are worth way more than you aregiving yourself credit for. You
are important you are wantingyou are valued. And I want women
(48:48):
to know that we sorry, I'm
Jennifer Malcolm (48:54):
Tears are we come.
Coryonna Robinson (48:59):
We are amazing. Ever. Anyone who just
who fears moving on or justfears the unknown, don't allow
that fear to hold you back. ItDon't. Don't. It's okay to be
scared. But don't allow fear tohold you back. I'm sorry, I have
(49:23):
notes. Good. I got one. Don'tallow fear to dictate your life.
You will rather say I try and itdidn't work meant to say I never
did this. Don't have regrets.
And yes, I'm just selling.
Jennifer Malcolm (49:43):
Okay, it's powerful. It's powerful. And
that's a beauty is I love whenyou said you know, having a
mindset that I can get throughit is one thing. But knowing
that it's it's gonna be rough.
There's gonna be tears. You'regoing to overcome trauma, you're
going to need a community aroundyou to heal, you may need
(50:05):
counseling, you may needmedication, you may need
advocacy. But all of that if youtake one tiny step at a yes in
your heart to believe that I canget out of this. And that's the
piece here is we want thiscommunity to be one that we
believe we see, we value whereyou're at. And we want to
(50:26):
partner alongside women,wherever they're at, in their
journey, whether they're healed,and using their voice, or
whether they're coming out to behealed, and need an advocate and
a voice in support, that we'reall on this journey of life. And
that through human compassion,and kindness, and understanding,
(50:49):
and willingness to bevulnerable, this is what it is.
Coryonna Robinson (50:57):
Going through that right now. Actually, that's
why I'm getting a littleemotional, I'm coming out of a
lot, I am letting my wife down.
And I forced myself to just getout of bed in the morning. And
that's even a great start. Andasking for help is okay, like,
I'm learning that like it's okayto ask someone like, Hey, I'm
(51:19):
going through a rough patchright now, can you? Can you just
listen? Or can you please comeover? Can we go out for ice
cream, it's okay to ask forhelp. And it's okay to go
through those things. Becausewhen you get through it, that is
going to be such a joyous thing.
(51:41):
And for me, I always thought,whenever you feel like you're at
your lowest, that's when abreakthrough is coming through.
That's when you're about toelevate on to something even
greater, because it's going toget hard before it gets easy.
And I put myself in thatmindset. And it has happened
every time whenever I feel likeI'm at my lowest, something
(52:03):
great happens. And it's coming.
And that's what I want thesewomen listening to now something
great is coming. If you're goingthrough it, something great is
coming your way. This is thelowest you're going to feel
Jennifer Malcolm (52:18):
I love it, and the wisdom that you have in your
heart, Cory, the depth of whoyou are as a woman. And I think
I'm 20 plus years older thanyou, your world before you you
are going to impact the nextgeneration and women and African
American community, the whitecommunity in ways that you can't
(52:39):
even imagine yet. And as youpress in, and you take that step
to continue to heal, and useyour voice, to teach and to
laugh and giggle and to create,you know, the breakthrough that
you're going to a personalexperience with be gift to those
around you is powerful,powerful. Thank you so much.
(53:03):
very welcome. Do you have anyclosing remarks for the
audience, as you're like, we'reboth crying here. I always bring
tears to the studio because Ican't get through the stories.
And that's the beautiful part isis it's one woman at a time. And
today we're honoring you. So anyclosing remarks for the
audience?
Coryonna Robinson (53:24):
I will like to say, even if I don't know
you, I love you. You havesomeone out there rooting for
you. And just keep pressingforward. And just focus on
loving yourself. It's well loveit.
Jennifer Malcolm (53:42):
Well, thank you so much for taking your time
today, to spend with me andhonored to be a part of your
journey. And Dr. Malcolm, and Iare here for you at any point.
Please know that
Coryonna Robinson (53:55):
thank you so much for this podcast. I
literally want to thank you forthis. This is opening a lot of
doors. And it's allowing womento gain their power back through
their words and through theirstory. So I thank you most.
Jennifer Malcolm (54:16):
So, okay, s as we're both crying here now.
I'm going to try to wrap this upSo thank you guys so much.
hank you, Cory, for being hee with us today. And stay tuned
next week for the nexstory of transformational
tories of women. And where everywoman has a story and every stor
matters. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Subscribe to the Jennasispeaks to empower women's v
(54:39):
ices and reclaim the power overyour own n
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