JB Podcast - A Candid Chat with John White Jr. - Jimmy Bonds Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Music.

(00:05):
Lights, camera, action. Some people thought I quit and I ain't giving satisfaction.
From a different era, writing rhymes up on napkins. What you had to say was
more important than attracting. Yeah, I'm talking back to you.
What's good, family? Welcome to WPEB Radio, 88.1 FM, 95.1 FM,
West Philadelphia. Jimmy Voss Podcast.
What's good, family? What's good? What's good? What's good? Welcome back.

(00:28):
We was out last week, but we are back today.
And I have to say, I'm very happy for us to be back. back very
happy for us to keep this conversation going but family
you know i got to introduce our co-host so let me just first give a shout out to our
co-host i was good to how you feeling all good in
neighborhood jb live from the 215 live from the 215 and you know i can't forget
our co-host lady miss t with the t what's up t how you doing thank you fellas

(00:52):
for the red carpet and the flowers appreciate y'all and how we did we get bouquets
of it for you bouquets of them move right along Remember,
you call us with your comments or your question at 215-472-0881.
Again, that's 215-472-0881.
You can also email us at jimmybondspodcast at gmail.com. Again,
that's jimmybondspodcast at gmail.com.

(01:13):
It's J-I-M-M-Y-B-O-N-D-S podcast at gmail.com.
And again, family, tonight is a very special episode.
We have recently kicked off our new campaign, our new initiative for Philadelphia
Radio, our title, Broken, a podcast series on Black men's mental health.
So even though this is doing the Jimmy Watts podcast, you know how we do.

(01:35):
This is actually an episode about Broken.
A lot of struggling Black men out there with mental health crises and challenges.
So we wanted to make sure we focused on that and try to find some solutions
and some things that would help them out out there.
So with that being said, family, with that being said, with that being said,
yes fam we have a guest tonight and.

(01:59):
That is one that we are very humbled to have in our, in our, in our presence.
And I don't mean like, you know, he told me coming in, he's like,
yo, bro, I'm from West Philly, man. I'm like, I know, bro.
I know you from West Philly. I got to keep it kind of formal and formal,
but you got to know he's already family.
So we greatly appreciate him coming on and we're going to give him an introduction.
Make sure we be, make sure we give him his due as we do with all our guests

(02:22):
that come on. So y'all ready? I don't know. I don't know. I got to get this
thing together. Y'all ready?
I'm super excited here. All right, so before we introduce our guest,
let's get this show going. Mr. John White Jr.
Is president and CEO of The Consortium, which is an award-winning behavioral
health provider that serves over 15,000 people every year at five locations

(02:44):
in West and Southwest Philadelphia.
Mr. White is a former Pennsylvania State Rep, Philadelphia City Councilman,
Secretary of Welfare for the State of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Federal Housing
Chief. In 1987, he was appointed by Governor Robert P.
Casey to be Secretary of the Department of Public Welfare, and he was the first

(03:05):
African-American to hold that position. Happy Black History Month, Robert.
He graduated from West Philly High Class in 1966.
Shout out to the Speed Boys and Speed Girls. West is boss this class.
He has a B.A. in health and physical education from West Chester University.
He has a B.A. in journalism from Lincoln University.

(03:28):
He attended the Fells Institute of Government of the University of Pennsylvania
and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In addition, he played the French horn in the prestigious All-City Orchestra
and was inducted into the Selma Music School Hall of Fame.
He has an illustrious career in government as well as in the private sector,

(03:49):
but his dedication to the community has never wavered.
He is a CEO, a president, an advocate, a reformer, a musician,
an organizer, an ambassador for change, a social change agent,
a negotiator, a West Philly native, a husband, and a father of five.
I like to describe him as compassionate, devoted, dedicated,

(04:13):
committed, decorated, pivotal, encouraging, and invaluable.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce
you to the CEO and President of the Consortium, the Honorable Mr.
John White Jewel. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show.
Welcome to the show. John Westfield.

(04:33):
Let me say from the outset, I've been fortunate, I guess, to have been asked
to make any number of appearances and do interviews. Yes, sir.
But there was a special feeling as soon as we stepped up this is where I'm supposed
to be tonight and I'm with the right people in the right spot and we're going

(04:56):
to be talking about the right thing.
And I'm humbled at the invitation I really am you have to know that we are humbled
to have you here I know we keep our feet on solid ground I know we do you know
I understand and that's the most that's the most important aspect You know,
no matter what we accomplish in life, it's important to keep our feet on solid

(05:17):
ground. I understand that. That's exactly right.
But, brother, like, you have done some things in your career.
But let's not get it twisted.
I'll get credit, but I don't do nothing by myself. Ego? Ego.
I've always wanted to be surrounded by people who are smarter than I am about what they do.

(05:38):
At the consortium, all I do is lead. I'm not a therapist. I don't counsel. I don't do billing.
I don't bring in no money. All I do is lead.
You know, and the effectiveness that I think that leadership has is that it
allows people to do what they do best and not be satisfied at just being the best.

(06:03):
I want our folks to be experts. And there's a difference.
You know, we do stuff out the box and we're not, we're part of the system,
but we're not in the clique.
That's the, Tyler is shaking his head right now. Like that's part of the system, but not a clique.
Exactly. And that's important because the needs of our community go beyond what

(06:25):
the system can provide. Oh, yes.
We'll get into, you know, some examples of what I'm talking about when,
you know, as the show goes on. Yeah. But that is important.
You know, I've seen a lot, man. Yeah, man.
I've seen a lot. You know, I would have thought that you might have known my
mentor, Tyree Johnson. What's that? Get out of here, boy.

(06:46):
Get out of here, boy. I know you know it. I know you know it.
Get out of here, boy. We go back to the game world. Get out of here, boy.
We go back to the game world. Yeah, well, I'm just. I know you was in there.
I know you was in there. Yeah, man. That's my mentor.
That's a good one. And the guy that's doing our media thing,
you've met Joel Avery. His mentor was A.C. Moore.

(07:06):
He would go again. See? Black man. Yes, very much so. Black man.
And the thing is that you get an opportunity.
It's an opportunity to give that opportunity to somebody else.
Yes, sir. And that's what I appreciate about what y'all are doing.
You know, you're giving people, well, not only an opportunity to have a voice,
but you're also giving people an opportunity to hear, to learn, okay, and to question.

(07:33):
Question so let me shut up and answer your
hard questions i know you got i'm gonna
let you start off since you you can i can i
tell the truth about her you can definitely i was i was gonna say you know just
for her stance maybe we keep it a secret but at the same time i think i think
we should tell the family you know who she is and you know definitely now bro

(07:58):
go tell them let's go we ain't ain't got no secrets on me.
I wrote T a message the other night, and I said to her, called her one of my
favorite co-workers. Thank you.
T works in our business office, billing department, our fiscal department.
Yes. And she works in my suite.

(08:19):
I flirt with her every day.
But I keep moving. I don't invite her in the office. I just, hey, my baby.
And she'd say, am I lying? Am I telling the truth? I flirt with her every day,
and I don't care who's around.
She makes a tremendous contribution to what we do. It takes everybody. I can't do what she does.

(08:45):
And that's a perfect example of what I said earlier.
People who are smarter than I am about what they do. Yeah. Yeah.
I didn't even know she had the podcast. Her mother.
But that's that's about her humility that's about her humility you know so T

(09:09):
thank you babe you still don't get that raise though.
I'm happy to work for you that's it I'm glad to work with you as long as we're
making a difference that's the only thing that matters tell me about it.
Let's go open that you got let's get it to me so i guess i'll just you know
start the ball off from here okay so um with all of your success and all of

(09:35):
the things that you have done when did you know,
that you were really a pill a pillar to the community like when did it kind
of hit you that you're like you know what i'm actually making a difference when
did you know that that you were making a difference in the community?

(09:55):
When I do, I used to, well, I still meditate, but I remember a specific thing
that I would ask of him some years ago.
I would ask him to allow me to be a blessing to someone else so that I too can be blessed.
And I never considered myself a pillar.

(10:18):
We just had the thing in Mount Airy, right, where we did the street renaming. me.
And the guy I mentioned earlier, Joel Avery, he did a lot of research on,
I did not read press clippings. I never saw myself on TV.
I didn't listen to myself on the radio. I wanted to feel that pain, okay?

(10:40):
But I just was never about that. And he brought to life some of the things that
we were able to accomplish that really made me feel.
That I'm fulfilling my purpose.
If I can, on purpose.

(11:00):
I was doing really well in the 70s and 80s. I was really doing well.
And my son, my middle son, the van, was in a car accident.
Hit by a drunk driver in a pickup truck and had serious, serious,
serious brain injuries.
He was in a coma for seven days. And he was at Christiana Hospital.

(11:23):
I was living at the time upon Gorgas Lane.
I was there every morning. I was there at lunchtime.
I would be there at night. I was broke. Same routine, you know, trying.
And I woke up in the middle of the night and I realized that I had not asked God to save my son.

(11:45):
I remember it was around 3 o'clock in the morning. I drove down to Christiana Hospital.
I walked into his room. I got down on my knees.
And I did what my grandmother said you never do. you. I made a deal with God.
And I told him, if you save my son, I will serve you all the days of my life.

(12:08):
I fell asleep in a chair and I woke up and when he said, dad, is that you?
Now you could easily say.
That I was serving before that. I was. I'd been in office. I was,
you know, at school. Yeah.
But the reason why I was serving became crystal clear. Yeah.

(12:29):
You put it in the context of, basically,
when did I know I was making a difference, you know, consciously?
It was never about that. Sometimes the most difficult question for people to
answer is why. Yeah. Yeah.
Bureaucrats don't ever want you to ask them why.
Without realizing that and being selfish in asking him to heal my son,

(12:57):
I realized that I did have a purpose, that what we were doing was not by accident.
It wasn't something that, you know, in practice, right?
Yeah. It happened, and we happened to be in the right place at the right time
with the right motivation, with the right people, and the right commitment. That's all it was.

(13:21):
I asked him to heal my son. My son told the right frontal lobe of his brain
had 28 facial fractures, lost all of his cognitive skills.
My son graduated from Morgan. There you go. He got his master's in psychology at Arcadia.
And works at DVH now. Wow. That wasn't supposed to happen. No,

(13:43):
it wasn't? I didn't do anything.
I had nothing to do with it, but I asked, and what he did was he revealed my purpose.
That's when it changed for me.
You know how I am now, okay? Yeah, man. But there's something inside of us.

(14:04):
There is a spiritual side of us is that when you get in touch with it,
it will inspire you without you even knowing it. I've been at the consortium 22 years.
I got fired. If I had not gotten fired, I would not have been at the consortium.
I wasn't looking for a job. I got fired on a Friday.

(14:24):
I was interviewed for this job on a Tuesday. I got a call, asked me if I was
interested. I hung up on her.
Because I thought it was a joke. Yeah. Right? Yeah. There are other folks called
Cajuns. I'm like, you know.
And fortunately, she called me back. Left that Friday.

(14:45):
Tuesday, I walked in and was hired to be the president CEO of the consortium.
I wasn't looking for a job. I wasn't looking to be the secretary of welfare.
I wasn't looking to be a Philadelphia housing authority. I saw city council.
I didn't want to run for city council. I was encouraged to run for the legislature by students, okay?

(15:08):
We had the Youth Action Council of the European League, which was bringing young
people together from different high schools, exposing them to different stuff,
talking about subjects and whatnot.
And we had a young lady who wanted to go to college. Her father,
a strange father, they were separated.
Father was well off, and mom wasn't doing that good. She didn't have the money to go to college.

(15:31):
So she thought, well, boom, her father died. So she's thinking, I'm next.
Now, in Pennsylvania, an estranged father, a child of an estranged father,
had no entitlement to inheritance.
Wow. It was deep. Okay? So, the kids, high school students said, we ought to change that.

(15:58):
We took a school bus up to Harrisburg. Nobody talked to us. Oh, wow.
On the way back, the late Rochelle Dukes stood up in the aisle of the bus and
said, Mr. White, you ought to run.
I can't make that story up. I had never thought about running for office before.
Yeah. I was dealing with gangs. I was dealing with people in the street there. Okay.

(16:21):
I wasn't in a suit and tie. You know what I'm saying?
And what happens? The first time, I lost.
Two years later when I ran, the 18-year-olds got the right to vote.
So don't say I'm 18. Don't say I'm 16-something-year-olds that you was dealing
with then. Now they're 18. Now they're 18. Okay?
I go to Harrisburg. The first bill that I signed on to was to change that law.

(16:46):
Your records are no longer stamped illegitimate.
There's no longer a rubber stamp on your file that says, out of wedlock.
No. No. Now, dad now pays your health insurance.
Okay. I mean, those were kids. Yeah. Right? Those were kids. They had no idea.

(17:07):
All they said was, nobody was speaking for us. So that's how I got there.
And from that point on, that's where the advocacy thing started.
Definitely. You know? So to folks out there, listen, everybody can make a difference.
You know, control the space that you occupy. It's not your title,

(17:28):
right? It's not your label. I don't even wear name tags.
Okay? I don't. Okay? I'm John. And I mean that. Okay?
That's called keeping your feet on the ground. But keeping your feet on the
ground also means you have to have some consciousness of what is going on around
you. And whatever you can do.

(17:48):
Whatever you can do, you do it. If you sit in a window and you see some strange
people on the street, don't ignore it. Say something.
You know, you want to clean your neighborhood? Come together and do that. I'm sorry.
Don't apologize. This is a conversation we talk about all the time. Unless we organize.

(18:08):
Yeah. Nothing happens. Yeah. Right? Yes, we have strength as individuals,
but the collective is even stronger.
Yes, it is. So I would urge people, get involved, man. Get involved.
And don't be shy about it. Get involved. Because the solutions to our issues,
we got the answers to. See?

(18:29):
You see, Ty, I can't say this is something we expected, right? Yeah.
This is kind of like one of the things where you're just like,
yeah, it's going to be a great interview. And you sit there and you sit there
like, oh, my goodness. Like, really?
So, you know, we're going to spend this first segment talking about Reverend
John because I'd rather just do that for right now.
And then we'll come back on the second segment and focus on societal pressures of black men.

(18:49):
Yeah. I got some questions for him just just in general terms of what he's accomplished,
not even when it's his career.
I don't like to say what you accomplished because it's really about what will
be where you are today. You know.
So, I mean, with that being said, if you are from West Philly,
with that being said, if I said to you.

(19:12):
Right. If I said to you, in your own words, what does Westfield mean to you? It's home.
It's home. It's home. I left Westfield in 69 and came back in 91. I lived in Mount Airy.
And I hate to put it this way, so forgive me, but I used to joke around and

(19:34):
say, you know, this is where Westfield and Northfield is, and Westfield, I know who shot me.
You know, there's a sense of pride. Well, Philadelphia's neighborhoods,
black neighborhoods, all bring a sense of pride, you know. But Westfield in particular,
The description village came much later, but that's what it was.

(19:58):
I remember Miss Marion Campbell. She crossed the street. Man, she, Newsy.
And we had to roll in the White House. No company when my parents were in the home. Okay.
Well, we would sit down and go straight to Robin's house. We'd play pinochle, seven steps.
So one day, they were sitting on my porch. We were playing pinochle,

(20:22):
having a good time. My father used to get home about 4.30.
Quite before, boom, everybody was gone, right? My father came and said,
look, they had these pepper heads in my house.
I was literally 14 or 15 years old before I finally figured out how he would
always know. It was Miss Campbell.
You know? Right. But that's the history, though.

(20:45):
That's something that... We can hang out on the... That is the village.
It is. We hang out on the corner.
You're doing our thing. and Sonny Hamilton was driving by. Man,
he had a bad Riviera, beautiful Riviera, man. And he would pull up and say, what you doing?
You know, now we're scared. Now we're scared to say something.
And we looked out for each other. That's what the... Well, you know,

(21:07):
some people might not know who Sonny Hamilton is.
Sorry. When you drop that name, that's a... Particularly for the youngins that's
grown up now at Westfield, they might not know who Sonny Hamilton,
who that was. Well, Sonny Hamilton was a mentor of mine.
And we all admired him. He was slick, smooth, good looking, got a nice car.
He grew up with Sonny, Johnny Sample, the football player. They were best friends.

(21:30):
And Sonny played ball and he hooked up with Sonny Hill and they did the Sonny Hill Leagues.
Yeah. Would you say, Ty? Yeah, I know about that one.
Ty, you showing your age over here. There you look.
But West Philly was different, too. It was. Look, I was telling you earlier
that it's a group of us, fraternity brothers.

(21:53):
We hook up Friday nights, every Friday, 7 o'clock, do a Zoom thing.
So check out. Check it out.
Some of us have been together since 1961.
The majority of the people on this call are West Philly graduates.
You know? And we're still tight. And that's a camaraderie that growing up in West Philly built.

(22:14):
It built. I'm not sure people know too much about that, but the camaraderie
in West Philly, particularly in generations.
You asked me about somebody. Yeah, I did. Right? Yeah.
From, what, two years after I graduated, and it was boom. Yeah.
You knew exactly who she was. That was my mom. His mother.
Right. That's my mom. Right. And the teachers that I was fortunate to have at

(22:36):
West, they were amazing.
I was in the motivation program. That was a program that took knuckleheads who
had potential and tried to get them straight academically and whatnot.
Bill Adams. Bill Adams was a journalist, radio personality, and an English teacher.

(22:57):
Mr. Subra, my math teacher.
Arnold Jackson was my track coach and football coach. Cornelius Steffens. Dorothy Davis.
Al Vaughn. I can remember the black teachers, right?
Because of how they invested in us. Yes, they do.
Right? They do. So from that class, I'm going to slight some people,

(23:20):
but you've got a deputy attorney general, you've got a dentist,
two pharmacists, doctors,
a housing specialist, educators.
This is just off the top of my head. Yeah. Okay. I'm not, you know.
Yeah. That class of knuckleheads.
Look where they are now. Yeah. Because somebody said, you know what?

(23:43):
Come here, man. And we need that today. Like, so bad.
So bad. It's today. So bad. And the question is, how do we do it?
And that's, you know, as much as you can talk about what you need,
it's all about solutions with me.
And Ty, I'll tell you the same thing. How do you find a solution?
Right. How do you create those solutions?
Right. You know, I think a lot of times you got to break those barriers with
people psychologically because they have them up already.

(24:05):
You know, they don't think that there are any resources out there for them in
terms of moving them forward in their careers and their lifestyle.
I got to find that peace. that I was saying that describes who we are.
Yes. It speaks to, have you ever been rejected?
Have you ever been denied when you felt you were worthy? Yes.

(24:26):
Have you ever been ignored?
Yes. Always. Have you ever been lost? Yes. Have you ever been in a position
where you couldn't tell nobody? Yes.
Those are the same people who are now treating you. They get all fancy now,
right? They call it lived experience. Yeah.
The people that we work with, and T, I know she can attest to this.

(24:50):
Yeah, it's like. The people who do the work are the same people who are in need.
Sure. And as you even say, the people that do the work are the same people that are in need.
I always say, who's going to help the ones helping everyone else?
Who's going to help them? Because, you know, there's so much pulled from them.
And sometimes, or there are limited times where they're refilled. That's right.

(25:14):
You know what I mean? Where people pull back into them what they need in order
to keep going, to do what they do.
Because when you serve the public, when you serve certain demographics.
That's what you're doing.
That's what you're doing. Okay. But the feet on the ground is understanding.
Not judging. Not being curious. I tell my folks, you shouldn't hear this because

(25:36):
you're not in a recovery unit.
Cover up my ears. But I have no problem. I'll send you there.
I've done everything you did, except I never used a needle. The difference is I never got caught.
I stood in the same line you stood in on Ruby Street.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. And that'll keep, that'll let you know.

(25:56):
Right? But then the question is, how'd you get through it?
Right. When I do orientation, I will tell, ask people. I'm real simple.
When you come to work, come to work every day to help somebody.
Come to work every day to learn something. Come to work every day to teach.
The days that you don't feel like you can do all three of those, stay home.
You got sick time, vacation time, leave time. Why?

(26:18):
Because we can't afford to have you bring your baggage and unload that on somebody else. Yes.
And the most important thing that I ask people to do is remember how you came through it. Yes.
Whatever brought you through, maybe you can share that because it may be the
key to unlocking somebody else's issue.

(26:41):
Yeah. You never know. For sure. So I don't have any problem letting people know.
I get depressed, bro. Okay?
Believe me, I got 250 co-workers, 250 families that I'm responsible for.
You damn right I get depressed.
The responsibility is major. Can you get a hug from me and have me come in and

(27:02):
look like you? I'm telling you. I'm telling you, you know?
It's real. It is real. It is real. The difference, I got a network that lifts me up. Yeah.
Okay? It's tea in the morning. I'll say, boom, you give me a hug, right?
It's the brunch on Friday night. Man, I had a bad week, right?
It's my wife at home, okay?

(27:24):
I've got that network, but...
Got to use it yeah if you it's no
good if you don't you got it how many times i'm sorry
i know this would have been the interview i'm just running off his mouth okay
but for me but for me this is real talk okay yeah how many times did somebody
ask you how you feeling and they don't hear your answer he just spoke about

(27:47):
that yeah he just spoke yeah that's that was one of the main things the brothers
were saying like you asked me how i'm doing but you don't really you don't hear.
I've come in she hadn't said a word she went up she
could look at me okay but at the
same time I'm not bashful about telling her
hey babe Samara Mack yeah if you walk away from the situation I'm frustrated

(28:10):
okay right I'll come out of that boardroom sometimes boy I'm you know yeah and
we have to understand that there is nothing unmanly,
about admitting you need help.
So when you talk about that, now we're going, now, see how I segwayed by you

(28:31):
to that thing? I'm pretty good at this, bro.
I got a good engineer. I got two good interviews. I'm good, man. We're good.
Go ahead, man. Go ahead, bro. I'm more about the history part.
When you came into PHA, what was it like through your eyes, the Black communities through PHI?

(28:55):
I cried more in that position than I did in the other job I ever had.
I was fortunate, blessed. I didn't grow up in that.
The only thing I knew about back then, the project that we call it public housing,
a well-known secret, not too well-known.
You can go off some of that if you want to, but people don't know that.

(29:17):
When I was Secretary of Welfare, I
would go to Pittsburgh and stay in the projects. I would stay at a hotel.
Wow. When I would go to Erie, I'd stay in the projects.
The politicians didn't like that because they wanted to feel and touch me.
You know, why is he still invited? We'll take me to dinner.
I'd be in the projects. I learned so much not having any idea what was going

(29:43):
to be down the road in my life. I gained respect.
I learned that people did not want to remain in this situation.
You know, people who were on public assistance or welfare didn't want to be on welfare.
Nobody wanted to be told what to do, right? What to do with your money,
what foods you can buy and what you can't. Nobody wanted that.
But where was the opportunity?

(30:05):
So when I got to the housing authority, we did some crazy stuff, right?
We got almost 200 people jobs, okay?
We sent people to school. We have residents rebuilding their own communities, right?
We did daycare. We did a health center in Richard Allen, okay?

(30:25):
OK, when a hill district on Adams Avenue. Right. Health care. Boom.
Did it. Took down the high rises.
We gave people green grass.
Nice. Who had never seen green grass in their neighborhood.
And I'm not even going to get into the fact that some very well-known elected

(30:48):
officials were against that.
I was going to say, I'm sure you were met with a lot of backlash and a lot of
resistance in terms of what you were doing.
They couldn't because we helped the tenants organize.
Before every board meeting, every resolution that was going to be considered

(31:10):
by the board came to them.
Every time the board with anything that
the board was taking action on i first gave it
to the tenant councils that's what it's supposed to
right and and we always didn't have a lease okay i said come on y'all let's
be real about this yeah give them a voice okay everybody told me man they want

(31:33):
he they will take so listen to me matt okay they know what it takes to be better
yeah so we and that But believe it or not,
the press, they did an editorial.
And one of the things that they highlighted in my career at the Housing Authority,
believe it or not, was that I got tenants to sign a lease.

(31:57):
I know. We said it quietly. Read it. There's an editorial that was very complimentary.
Okay. What you did. Right. Was this in the Philadelphia Inquiry? Yes.
Yeah. It talked about, we started a police force. I got my police force trained at the academy.
They're real cops. Okay. Why?
Because I found out that the Philly police didn't come into projects.

(32:21):
The Philly police didn't want to climb the stairs when the elevator was broke.
Okay. So, hey, so we did it.
Outstanding officers, man. They did a tremendous job. And they knew the community.
They knew the community. Yeah. And all I ask you to do is check the crime statistics
during that period in public housing.
I mean, I read articles that said that you turned the public housing situation around.

(32:45):
It came from such a dire, corrupt situation. So when you came in,
I mean, the Clinton administration called you in to, like, we need somebody
to do this. I don't know who's going to fix this or who's going to make this
right. But we need to call somebody.
And he needs to look like them, okay? I came from Wall Street.
Right. Exactly. You were working at a— I was an investment banker,

(33:06):
vice president at Kidder Peabody. Yes, sir.
And I got the call. And my son hung up on me. The baby.
White House called. He hung up.
Man, see, they called back, too, right? Yeah. That's two for two right here.
So that was emotionally trying because I was up close, man. I saw people suffering.

(33:32):
I could tell you some stories that were horrific, man, the way people were living,
the conditions they were living in.
They had given up hope. Yeah. They were throwing up hope, man.
We had a conference in Princeton, and before I got in there,
there was a young, late, young girl, eight or nine years old,
that had gone missing. Couldn't find her. Look at this call.

(33:54):
They found her. Boom, rushed back. They found her in the wall, covered up. Wow.
Right across the hall from where she lived. Oh, my goodness.
That's crazy. Touched. I reacted.
I wouldn't hurt to react the way I reacted. The mother.
I said, ma'am, I'm not mentioning any names, okay?

(34:16):
I said, ma'am, wherever you want to move to, you got it someone moved downstairs what wow yes.
Wow. That's all she knew was that? Yeah. That's all she knew.
No, that's it. Yeah. She wanted to move downstairs. Yeah.
She could have moved anywhere she wanted to. She wanted to move downstairs.

(34:37):
You talking about not having hope? I don't know.
Tell me, what's your favorite thing? What do they say? Without hope?
People become dangerous. Whoa.
Yeah. Yeah. Because that's what you're seeking. Yeah. You may not call it that.
Yeah. That's the realness. That's the real, man. Thank you. Can I use that?

(34:58):
I'll tell them that I got the quote. I'll tell them.
But that's a, we've got to get to the point where we do what we can where we are.
People look to public officials.
And when I teach it, I teach this. And I mentor or give suggestions to people,

(35:23):
elected officials, just like this. You have three things.
You have power you have influence and you
have authority we got black power yeah we
got black power we sure have power is the last thing you want to use because
that leaves bloodshed right wars start over power someone's got influence some

(35:46):
of us can whisper in somebody's ear to change the whole state change the whole
thing up yeah what we don't do we don't use our authority Yeah.
We don't use our authority.
We don't. If you have the authority to act and you don't.
They talk about me awarding the largest state contract at that time in the country.

(36:08):
It's a billion-dollar contract.
We gave to some brothers for healthcare, managed care. Gotcha.
Right there. First black HMO.
And school, they finished second.
It's a billion-dollar contract. It's a billion-dollar contract,
it's not a hundred dollars, it's a billion-dollar contract to transform the

(36:29):
health lives of 88,000 people in West Philadelphia.
They treated Saka by three percentage points.
I had the authority to go up to seven.
Did you use your authority? I used my authority. The reason that people are

(36:51):
reluctant to use their authority,
because of those three, power, influence, and authority, authority is the only
one that requires courage. Yeah.
Yeah. You're lying. I ain't got to be brave to fight you, bro.
Yeah. I ain't got to be brave to whisper in your ear about something.
But to exercise your authority, that takes courage.

(37:16):
The morning that I was going to make this award, my press secretary and I used
to run every morning along the river in Harrisburg.
And she said, I prepared two press releases.
One giving it to these folks, one giving it to these people.
She said, you know, if you give it over here, I'll probably go home this afternoon.

(37:36):
School's fine. We're running. And she says, but if you give it to HMA,
it's going to be a long night.
It was a long night. Hospitals had to sign an agreement.
But we're like going through it to get it done, right? They refused to sign the agreement.
Because of these brothers. Because they're black. Yeah. I'm saying it because

(37:58):
that's what it was. Yeah.
We flipped the switch on Saturday. By that, I mean, we started turning everybody
over on Saturday morning.
Wednesday afternoon, the hospital said I signed up.
Wednesday night, I called a meeting.
President, Children's Hospital, Penn, Hahnemann, and Temple,
and Einstein was the other one, and Jeff.

(38:21):
And we met in the boardroom right at Presbyterian Hospital, right down the street.
I had no experience. How do we know we're going to get paid?
The brother, Anthony Welters and Walter Lomax, they made a commitment that I'm
not sure I would have made.
Said, if we are 30 days late on any payment, we will double your rate. Wow.

(38:49):
When they asked me why I chose them, I said because the entity that won was
going to give away turkeys and chickens and fruits and vegetables.
These people were going to give people a pager and a t-shirt that had the dates

(39:11):
of when their next appointment was to be due if they were pregnant.
These people were in your pager to remind you that you had an appointment.
And then I made a commitment. You reduced low birth weight births.
You reduced the number of emergency room visits that your patients have. I'll give you a bonus.

(39:33):
Okay? I'll give them a bonus. Right? Wow.
Birth weights went down. Emergency room visits. It went down.
Okay. I had the authority, man. I had the authority to say Temple,
Penn, Presbyterian, then Jeff, Hollerman, Einstein.

(39:53):
You serve more poor people than any other health clinics around here.
Yes. Yes. I gave him a higher rate.
I mean, I'm just saying, like, these are things that no one really knows.
You wouldn't know this just sitting there and you wouldn't know that this HMO
was created based on someone having the authority to do this.

(40:14):
But let me tell you how it happened.
My youngest son had chronic asthma. And we would go to a women's medical or
Henry Avenue. I'm dating myself.
I'm sitting in the emergency room. I'm seeing all these kids.
Oh yeah. The emergency room was their physician.
That's why I said something wrong with that. Okay? Now everybody got a doctor.

(40:40):
Your HMO plan, you select your primary care. I'm telling you,
brother. You do what you do. That was not the case.
That's why we started it. Okay? That's why we started.
And so many of the things that we were able to accomplish came from real people.
Right? A lady gets her utility shut off on Friday.

(41:03):
She can't pay it until Monday. She can't do that no more. Yeah.
Yeah. They turn off your heat in the middle of the winter. You can't do that.
No, we said they're not going to do that.
October 15th, then he comes on, and it stays on until April 15th.
Your landlord doesn't pay the utility bill.
They shut you out. No, no, no, you can't do that no more. Okay?

(41:23):
They care. I took my son across the street.
Okay? Across the street. She was taking care of my kids. She didn't qualify for the subsidy.
Changed up that. No, no, no, no, no. Uh-uh. You got a choice. Come on, man.
I'm not going to pay $300 a week for daycare when I really ought to be paying $100.

(41:47):
You know, you're saying something. You're really talking about something that
I think a lot of regular community folks,
they really have a lack of understanding about the authority that people can
use to make their lives better.
Politicians ought to be glad that they don't and
and so that and my politicians the words

(42:10):
out of my mouth to be glad that they don't because if they did if had had if
they knew that they would you knew what they could do and what they don't do
well okay okay kensington that's a prime example that pride.
Everybody has forgotten.

(42:30):
The government said, y'all can come up here and get high and nobody's going to bother you. Yes.
Cops are going to lock you up. Yeah. Now you're going to lock me up doing what you said I could do.
I know. I know. How come there's not a treatment center right there?
Your choices are go to the prevention point and get a needle.

(42:53):
And people go up there and they drive past and they're just like,
oh my, I can't believe this. It's horrible. No, no, no.
Go up and walk through there. Step on your vials. See people getting it on on the steps of the L.
See the kids on their way to school.
Pick up four tons of trash and looked like you didn't do nothing.

(43:13):
I know. Who created that? Yeah.
Heroin. We had a heroin epidemic for decades. Come on, man. Forever.
Come on, man. Forever. People were shooting up inside.
Yeah. Yeah. They're outside because if they're overdosed, somebody's going to find them. Yeah.
They created their own community. Yeah. They look out for each other. Yeah, they do.

(43:35):
They don't let you get ripped off. They see somebody getting robbed, you're nodding out.
And they see somebody trying to, like, take your stuff. Somebody speaks up, bruh. We don't do that.
We don't. And we had an amazing situation. He did say the same thing. He said, they did.
They did. And they're going to be punished. Yeah. Should they be out there? No.

(43:57):
I'm all with that. Okay? But first of all, you told them to congregate here.
Right? Then you got fentanyl. Yeah. And you got Trang. Yeah.
And you were totally caught on by surprise. Why?
The Street Brothers told you what was coming. You didn't listen.
Now you got a situation. What are they going to do? What are they going to do?

(44:20):
Well, they're not going to just be able to lock people up. This is not a law enforcement issue.
People don't like what they see. I understand that.
We can change the visual, but I'm looking to change the outcome.
Right? You can't force somebody to go into treatment.

(44:40):
Will relapse five, six times before you get clean. You got to understand that.
So tell me you got an option.
You can go to jail, or you can seek treatment. Okay, where?
Where you going to seek treatment? Where you going to seek treatment?
I got to try and eat your flesh.
Where am I going?

(45:00):
I'm on the street. I can't go to a recovery house because I'm a needler.
I can't go to a shelter because I'm a needler. Where am I going?
How are you going to help me get off this? Do you realize that withdrawal can kill you?
They help put them on it, but don't have no options. To get them off of it, yeah.
They will tell you, many will tell you, their number one fear of coming off

(45:22):
of heroin is getting sick.
I mean, you heard that back in the day, back in the day, that dope sickness.
Everyone would always talk about that. About the dope sickness. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Everyone would go through that. I was on fentanyl for 14 years for pain.
Don't lock me up. It was a prescription.
And I'll get to that in a second because that's what you say don't lock me up,

(45:45):
it was a prescription so what's the difference between why are you going to
take me there you're going to make me really joke with you,
what's the difference between somebody buying it in the streets and then going
to a pharmacy if you get it from a pharmacist that means you're supposed to
be on medical supervision,
supposed to be but I went through with Joel three times.

(46:11):
Overdose because of being in the sun, right? The sun, all that.
What's wrong? No, man. No. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to Allah.
March 21st 2020 I walked it off. It's a pain medicine.
I haven't had one a patch since.

(46:33):
I'm in pain every day. But all we really tell you, pain medicine It said,
don't cure nothing. It's this. Allegiance.
It's this. It's the head, right? It's the head.
Heroin, that's a physical addiction.
Cocaine, that's a mental addiction. Violence.
People think I'm crazy. Violence is an idea.

(46:54):
Is it? Violence is an idea.
It's an idea? An idea comes from a thought. Yes, it is. If I change the way you think...
Then I can reduce the incidence of violence. Okay. Exactly. What do we do for
a living? That's what we do.

(47:17):
I mean, on the real tip, everybody comes to our clinic, right?
I want you to change where you see yourself. Change where you see others.
You don't have to be that insecure. Yeah. You got other things to do when you get mad.
Change the way you think. that's a long process but guess what if you're not

(47:42):
thinking about doing it you know how you work with them girls man.
When you talk about some things and you get it off your chest it stops you from
acting in a certain manner because you're able to talk about it and get it off
your chest who do you talk to you know what I mean and who's listening to you,

(48:06):
That's the flip side of it, right? Who is it?
Gosh, I want to say it's a public enemy. What good is talking if you're not listening? Yeah, yeah.
These are, I may make it sound so simple and so easy because in my eyes it is.
It is. It's not for everybody. No, it's not.

(48:26):
But repetition is the best teacher. Yes. If you keep telling people you can
do this. Yeah. You know, people need victories. Help them win.
Yeah. I'm going to win something. They need small victories to make the big
victories. Right. For sure. When a patient comes in and says, hey, man, you know what?
I didn't hit my wife last night. You got to celebrate that. Yeah.
Okay. I didn't get mad at my boss.

(48:49):
That's a victory. That is. That's a victory. Yeah. And you have to accept those, right? Why?
Because unless you let that person know you won that day, they will continue
to think they are losers. Thanks for watching.
So, no, listen, he over here, so. He dropping off as it goes.

(49:10):
So, Brother John, let me tell you, Brother John, what you dropping over there,
we call it dropping bars, right?
Because that's really what you're doing. You're over here dropping jams,
dropping jazz, talking about things that, you know, first of all,
some people are privy to.
And then second of all, some things people need to know about.
So, it touched me, Ty, because I'm like. Are you serious right now?

(49:32):
I'm in a head-stabbing classroom now. And, you know, there are very few times
that we have guests come on and we are just silent because we listen and we're
being educated and we're being taught.
So just even for that, for all the knowledge you're dropping on us,
like we're greatly appreciative of what you're talking, what you're exposing for us.

(49:52):
Listen, man, the opportunity is to provide the opportunity to somebody else.
That's right. And that's what you do.
Coming in the door, I told you I was grateful. Yeah, right. I meant that.
If I help, I'm down. But that don't have to be the only time.
Back in the day,

(50:14):
Black Talk Radio was the catalyst for change.
Yes, it was. I mean, I grew up in D.C. You? Mm-hmm. Kathy Hughes.
Kathy Hughes. Yes. Petey Green. We had Mary Mason. Yes. Yes.
Georgie Wood. Yes. You hear me? Yes. And they held black elected officials accountable.
They called your name out.

(50:35):
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right? Yeah. You don't hear that now. Yeah.
And, oh, I mean, I don't mean to cut you off, Brother John, but I'm- I'm not
cutting you out. Look, I'm talked out. I'm about to, my teeth about to fall out.
I'm telling you, this is what me and Ty, we have friends, your name has told
me this before, about Black media in general.
It's, it's, there is, there is something, there's a vast void left within Black media.

(51:00):
And there aren't, because of who we are, always like, we have to fill this void
somehow, some way. You don't have a choice.
We don't. You don't have a choice because. We don't. Because you got a purpose.
And it didn't take you long.
It didn't take you long to realize you did. This ain't a job.
This ain't a job. No, it is not. This is a career and this is a passion.

(51:25):
Sometimes I get it right.
Sometimes I get it right. You did it right. I said, as soon as we dapped up. You knew it.
It's like my mom and spirit were sitting there wrestling with you.
This is a story I tell all the time.
Me and Ty started out doing the podcast. started
the radio station and we was like hey let's do

(51:45):
a podcast right so you just said
let's do this yeah no we we both wanted to
do one so i was like let's do a podcast like let's do it how did y'all get started
this was in 2020 okay so long story i'm interviewing you we love to tell it
right yeah long story short ty started uh london radio in 20 2018 yes uh right

(52:05):
out of west philly right right out of his house he started he started the radio
station you west Yes, born and raised.
Right off Udall Street Market.
So he started the radio station and called me up one day. I do music as well.
So he called me up one day and said, hey, I want to make you an artist spotlight on the radio station.

(52:26):
I'm like, Brian, ready for that? What do you mean artist spotlight?
You want me to be an artist? Come on, man.
So then he probably told me one day and a couple of weeks later,
he started sending me his numbers from the radio station.
And every time he's sending me the numbers, the numbers just keep going up.
They just keep going up, just keep going up.
And I told him, I'm already playing your music going there anyway,
so. So from that point on, I said, you know, Ty, this is right when COVID hit.

(52:47):
I said, you know, Ty, I said, I've been wanting to do a podcast,
man. He said, you know what? I've been wanting to do one too.
So in April of 2020, we started out. We just started raw, as raw as possible.
We started off our first episode was with artists.
International artists. International artists in Israel. That was our first interview. Okay.

(53:08):
The second interview we did, the second conversation we had was covering a topic
called His Black History Losses Prestige.
And so my mom was a teacher. She taught D.C. public schools for 25 years.
And... Melanie Russell. Melanie Russell. She embedded Black history into her children, all of us.
That was something that was real important for us.

(53:29):
So I had grown up like, you know, I don't know why patients are Black history.
They're more like they used to.
And we played the episode, put it on the radio. That was the first episode and
the last episode my mother never heard.
And what she said to me was, she said, baby, you got to call them.
Sometimes we get it right. Listen, listen. And from that moment on,

(53:50):
me and Ty have been running.
Yeah. And then we met T. I used to work at a credit union. And T was one of my members.
She has credit?
Yes, I do. She came up to me. She said, she saw me in a parking lot.
I don't know why I was standing in a parking lot at this day. Who knows, right?

(54:12):
I'm supposed to be in the office. I'm standing in a parking lot.
And she said to me, she said, you know, she says, I didn't know you had a radio
show. I said, yeah, I got a radio show.
She said, well, you know, I used to do radio too. If you have any co-hosts, let me know.
I said, oh, that's, I said, oh yeah, I'm on it. We definitely,
but I let her pass. I let her go. I was like, yeah, I'll see you again.
I woke up the next morning. It was like, where's she at? I'm trying to find

(54:34):
her. For two weeks, I'm waiting on her to come in. For two weeks,
I'm waiting for her to come back to the office.
She come in the office. I said, I've been looking for you for two weeks.
I said, I need you. She said, put a ring on it.
I said, I need you. And from that moment on, she says, well, let's get it.
And she's been with us, what are we going to say, since October?

(54:55):
Yeah. October last year.
And this has just been our journey. This is what we like to do.
We have a passion for it. We cover topics that people in our city talk about.
We like to focus on things that aren't as comfortable as people like to make them.
We don't like to do the regular media trendy things. We'd like to focus more
on the community and things that affect our community on a daily basis. Thank you.

(55:17):
So I guess our mission is to bring awareness to our community about things that
they might not be aware of.
Well, I don't know what your time is like, but I want to say something.
I'm a word dude. Words mean a lot to me.
There's a difference between telling somebody that you want them to do something and you need them.

(55:40):
I was struck by that. Yeah. I was struck by the fact that you said, I need you.
That's something else that I try to emphasize. Yeah. Yes. If I am important
and you need me. Yeah. Tell me that.
The difference between me saying to T, I want you to do this,

(56:02):
and me leaning over her cubicle and saying, T, I need your help.
Didn't I do that? Yeah, always.
There's a difference. There is a difference. That speaks to you too.
I don't read resumes. I interview from the inside out.
Did I say about that? We had a story last week. Todd said he applied for a job.

(56:25):
FedEx. He didn't give him a resume.
They said, why come in and give him a resume? I said, I guarantee you some of
your employees put some stuff on their resume and they're not doing it. Okay.
And I said, they can get into my office for an interview. You already got that.
Right? I wanted something different.
I wanted something different. Listen, listen, Tal, we can talk to Brim John

(56:48):
all night. No, you're not, man. I'm going home.
I'm ready. I'm still young. I ain't got the right. It's all God's thing.
What's the issue? But, you know, I didn't, we brought you on to talk about.
Come back. Can I come back? No, no, you have to.
You have to come back. I want to come back. And I'm not saying,

(57:10):
I'm going to put it to you this way. We need you. Oh. We need you.
Oh, there you go. This has been my pleasure, man.
Listen, when my man hears this, he's going to, I had a great time,
you know, learning about your history, seeing my girl, your listening audience,

(57:31):
you know, and letting me be me.
Yes. I probably shouldn't be saying that to the media people, but y'all let me be me.
I didn't have to put on the, I could be me. I mean, even the way I'm sitting
here, you know, it's like, you let me be me.
I'm grateful for that because so much of my day, I got to be what somebody else expects me to be.

(57:55):
So this was a mental health moment for me.
I can't thank you enough this was a mental health moment for me just because
of that my brothers my sister I can't y'all let me be me that's love man,
that's a mental health break bro remember that,

(58:17):
look the man come as you are right there you go.
It's true it's true that's what you said if you
can see it right now that's what that's what he said what did he
say yeah as you are
yeah i mean this is one of those things no come

(58:38):
as you are come who you are as authentic as you can
be yes you know and look look we i told you about the fcc thing if we i didn't
say nothing no no you you didn't say nothing wrong absolutely nothing at all
but all I'm saying is I'll let it get you when you can even come on man let
it all out because you let me know.

(59:00):
This is it. Now, as long as it's not Thursday night, it's Chicago police,
Chicago PD and all. So I'm going to do that, right?
But when is it that we can do this? You know, we can do this. I have enjoyed myself.
And I want to know how I can support you beyond this.
And I want to come back. I really want to come back.
Man, well, listen, we'll talk offline about support, but I got to tell you,

(59:24):
you know, just for me, I'm going to let them talk for themselves.
But just for me, I am extremely humbled and taken back just by the knowledge
that you have provided tonight.
You know, you talk about you're praying, man. You meditate. You know,
I spent about 45 minutes to an hour a day in that state.
And it's really just to get closer to the energy and spirituality and all those

(59:46):
things. Calm your spirit. Exactly.
And allow you to kind of gather yourself.
So I can even tell you, before you came in today, I did so much work in finding
out who I was talking to tonight. night.
And the man that I might see on a piece of paper on my screen is not the man
that's sitting in front.
I tried to tell you. I tried to tell you. I kind of knew this already, but I didn't know it.

(01:00:11):
And to really find out in the most authentic way is what the blessing is for me.
And I appreciate you just for sharing your story. It's not easy to share to people all the time.
Thank you for allowing me to make my cell phone, because I almost got picked
up a couple times on that, you know.
But in all fairness, being a public official, it's hard to allow yourself to be vulnerable.

(01:00:37):
I don't want to prolong. I know y'all got bills to pay and all that,
but we want public officials to be like us to a point.
Okay. Yes. We want public officials to feel our pain to a point.
Because if their life experience mirrors my pain, now you got a problem.

(01:01:01):
That's true. And I, I'm going to do real talk. Okay.
Real talk. Okay.
Real talk. It's true. I can't make the life mistakes that others do.
That's very true. Yeah. That's right. You and I could have grown up together since birth.
Yeah. Did everything together. Right. Everything together.

(01:01:24):
I mean, everything. Everything, right? Yeah. Boom. You get caught.
Nobody knows. I get caught. Oh, yeah. It's the headline. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So I'm good. I'm out, y'all. Thank you.
It's been my pleasure. I think you're going to be in tomorrow,
right? You better believe I'm coming in tomorrow.

(01:01:45):
And I'll be there right in the morning. She will be. Congratulations,
man. Congratulations. Thank you.
Congratulations. Thank you for the vision. Yes, thank you. And you, boy, I don't know.
And two of y'all, I guess, that's a problem. Yeah.
To you. I'm going to prove it. Because you need it. Come on, T.
I'm saying go ahead. Listen, family, we're going to be right back.

(01:02:05):
I want to thank you all for listening to WP&E Radio. We're on FM 95.
I'm on FM West Philadelphia.
We want to thank Brother John White, Junior CEO, President of the Consortium.
Family, you know, you don't get these blessings on a regular basis.
So when they come, you say thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Too much powerful words in the universe.
Listen, man, we're going to take a break. We'll be right back, family.

(01:02:26):
Family, that's going to wrap the show. We want to thank you for listening to
Jimmy Bond's podcast on Philadelphia Radio.
We ask you to leave your comments and questions at 844-844-1244.
Again, that's 844-844-1244. You can also email us at jimmibondspodcasts at gmail.com.
Again, that's jimmibondspodcasts at gmail.com. That's J-I-M-M-Y-B-O-N-D-S podcast at gmail.com.

(01:02:51):
Also, remember to take nothing for granted and value every opportunity you have
with With your friends, your family, and your loved ones.
For in these times, every moment is sacred.
So until the next episode, you can find me on Good Hope Road.
Screaming stay up, don't sleep in your dreams.
Music.

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JB Podcast - A Candid Chat with John White Jr.

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