February 1, 2024 • 30 mins
Embark on a heartfelt exploration of friendship and service as I, Charlie Shaw, reconnect with Ron Tatum, the man whose actions echo the values of the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award he's just received. We're not just old friends, we're witnesses to each other's lives, and in this episode, we unravel the threads of Ron's commitment to bettering our world. From his humble beginnings influenced by his mother's wisdom to his role steering Families and Aging Services Incorporated, Ron's journey is a testament to the power of genuine community contribution.
Weaving through the narrative of Ron's book "Kiss My Babies," we uncover the poignant tribute to the unsung heroes of our neighborhoods, those whose impactful efforts often remain in the shadows. Ron's recent initiative, a clothing drive for children echoing his mother's legacy, amplifies the silent strength of quiet activism. The discussion pivots around the importance of purposeful speech in leadership, a nuanced approach to making a difference that Ron himself embodies. This episode is not just a conversation; it's a celebration of the quieter, yet resonant forms of activism that propel our communities forward.
As we touch on our shared experiences and the broader challenges within the African-American community, we shed light on the pivotal role of education, understanding our history, and the necessity for peaceful, informed activism. The dialogue extends into the realm of change and collaboration, emphasizing the value of fresh perspectives in leadership and the importance of maintaining connections as we navigate the complexities of life in our 50s. So join us, as this episode serves as a reminder of our collective responsibility and the enduring power of friendship.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Charlie Shaw (00:01):
All right, allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Charlie Shaw and this isthe Lil' Mel: Unfiltered podcast
.
I'm here today with Ron Tatum.
Ron Tatum is a good friend ofmine from back home in Racine,
Wisconsin.
We actually grew up together.
We know each other ever sincemiddle school, right, Ron?
Ronald Tatum (00:20):
Oh yeah, man, Knowing each other for a long
time, proud of you, my brother.
Excited to be on this call withyou this afternoon.
Charlie Shaw (00:26):
I appreciate you, man, I appreciate you.
Ron and I have been staying intouch with each other pretty
much since we got out of highschool.
You know, off and on we pick upwhere we left off.
.
He's raised his family, asraised mine.
We're going through life, youknow, to help some downs of life
and, you know, persevere manDid our thing and very proud of
(00:48):
you as well.
Right, one of the main reasonswhy I got in touch with Ron this
last time I was at home I wasmeeting him to catch up with you
over Christmas time when I wasat home, my brother, I got so
sick man I didn't even want tosee anybody so I kind of laid
low.
But we're on Facebook togetherand we follow each other.
(01:08):
And notice Ron got an award.
He was recognized for MartinLuther King Award.
I'll stand as citizen.
Ron, you want to tell me aboutthat award?
Ronald Tatum (01:21):
Yeah, man, you know what God is good man, you
know I am truly blessed man.
I was recently acknowledgedwith the Martin Luther King
Humanitarian Award.
The great thing about this isthe war man is from Pierce, that
you work with and who admire,you know, some of the work that
you do from afar.
And though we don't do this tobe seen I don't do this to be
(01:42):
seen man, it's great to beacknowledged with such an honor
in his namesake.
First and foremost.
An honor with Martin LutherKing's junior name on it just
says a lot.
You know, within the nameitself Before this would be.
You know, a nomination fromthose who admire the work and
the servant here that you dofrom afar just speaks volumes,
(02:03):
man, and I'm truly blessed andfortunate man.
I was just telling someone theother day, man, that this one,
this one's for my mom, charlie,you know this is.
Miss Tatum.
You know, callie, this is fromMiss, and you know, train a
child up the way she's youshould go, man.
You know Proverbs 22 and 6.
And you know, I'm just tryingto reap the benefits and rewards
(02:24):
of Jesus Christ himself andwhat was instilled in.
You know, you and I, as youngboys and girls, man, our family
was, was tight, was tightgrowing up man, it's the shows
in the.
Tatum?
Yes, we were.
So you know we're carrying onthis legacy, so I'm just
thankful and blessed and humbledto be acknowledged again with
honor in his namesake.
But you know, to have thesemorals and values instilled in
(02:47):
me as a young man payingdividends to the communities
that we serve is just a blessing.
Charlie Shaw (02:54):
Well, I appreciate you saying that, Ron.
I do want to let you know whenyou, when you made mention about
Haven't been friends for yearsthe Tatums and the Shawls know
each other for going all the wayback to our fathers and your
uncles, and all of them, thenext generation, grew up
together.
(03:14):
Well, went to park.
I have nephews that went toschool with your, with your
daughters and your and yournephews.
And he mentioned, he mentionedKathy, and the first thing I
thought about was how Kathy usedto get on us back in the day,
go over and McDonald's lookingfor some free French fries.
He wasn't getting no freeFrench fries, but you could pick
up that mess out there and allin the dining room.
Ronald Tatum (03:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie Shaw (03:34):
Kathy didn't play with, but that's all right.
How's she doing?
Ronald Tatum (03:38):
Kathy's still doing it, man.
She's open to return in acouple of years.
Man, that's beautiful.
I'm so proud of theperseverance.
You know she's my spiritualpartner and so she's still doing
it.
Charlie Shaw (03:50):
But she was always a sweetheart man, always a
sweet absolute.
Yeah, jerome all alone, yolandaall alone, man, they were all
good folks.
Well, you know you mentionedabout the community what's going
over.
You know I was going over yourresume around.
You are very active in thecommunity.
I see you're.
You're in a lot of outreachprograms President's president
(04:13):
of cops and kids reading program.
Former president of big bigbrothers, big sisters in racing
and Kenosha counties.
National lines of mental,mental illness.
Former board member, academiesof racing, community members,
board member.
Racing foundation club wrote arotary, rotary of racing racing
(04:36):
county workforce committeemembers, your outreach and
everywhere.
Man Tell me.
And you and your executive,with what you changed jobs up on
me lately, not as a likely, butyou're out there in Kenosha
area.
Families and agent servicesincorporated in Kenosha now
(04:56):
Congratulations.
Yeah exactly yeah.
Ronald Tatum (04:58):
I appreciate the executive director just finished
up a year, year and a fewmonths, so really excited about
that.
But you know again, man, justjust giving back to the
community, man, you know I hadan opportunity to have a
front-world seat to really knowand understand what serving hood
was as a young boy my mom isstill in the very young age is
(05:18):
not about us, right?
So I'm talking about the man.
I saw people eating my foodthat mom made for us.
I saw people with my clothes onin the neighborhood.
I never could understand that,right, until, you know, I got
older and started to realize.
You know, something spectacularwas happening right in front of
my face.
Right, I had a had a matriarchwho was teaching us how to serve
(05:43):
others before Right.
Now, if you think about that howto serve others before
ourselves, let that digest for amoment.
You know some people can'treally quite copy in that you
put someone else before yourself.
Yes, and you know my mom didthat and it took me a while to
(06:04):
sort of understand what thatmeant.
And this is why I'm in anonprofit work man business,
nonprofit work for over 20 plusyears.
I can go somewhere and make alot more money.
But you know the gratitude andthe appreciation and the feel
good stories that I have everyday to go home and tell my
family, my significant other, myloved ones, my friends, that I
(06:26):
had an impact on somebody's life, each and every day.
You know that's something youcan't put a monetary cost to.
You know we.
So this is why.
Charlie Shaw (06:35):
We actually touched that the last time we
was together, for last time Ivisited and we actually been
able to sit down and talk.
I was wondering.
I was like man, you're doing alot of you know nonprofit work.
I was wondering why didn't yougo into the corporate field?
And you was qualified.
Ronald Tatum (06:54):
And you were just hanging out.
Yeah, yeah, a lot of Don't getme wrong a lot of corporate
people have knocked on my door,you know, and I was very
entertained.
But you know, in this type ofwork, man, you know you can't be
driven by money, you gotta bedriven by happiness, your morals
and values.
Morals and values have to meansomething.
Charlie Shaw (07:13):
I have to agree with you on that man.
I have to agree with you onthat.
I also serve my community, butin a different aspect.
But there, you go and it allcircles back.
You know, taking care of othersis the way it goes, and I'll
there you go, you pay, theultimate sacrifice.
(07:35):
Well, I'm still here with us.
We have fallen.
You still here.
We have fallen.
Heroes that I'd like to call,you know responders, mercy
responders, and that's just notpolice officers, that's firemen,
that's people that drive toambulances, people that work in
the hospitals, even the socialworkers that end up, you know,
(07:56):
in situations that they've losttheir lives for others.
And now and later on, I'm gonnado a show about that and I'm
glad that you touched on thatbecause it keeps reminding me
that it's not just about us,it's about others also, because
a lot of people don't have theknowledge or the resources to
(08:16):
help themselves and theirfamilies.
You know they need people outthere to help them along the way
.
You know, give them back, andyour mother did a great thing by
instilling that in all of us,and I'm gonna say in all of us.
And a lot of people don't knowthat you come from a big family
man and she's still.
She was still taking care ofeverybody else in the
(08:37):
neighborhood and a lot of peopledon't know you lived right
across the street from thecenter, so she had access to
everybody.
She saw what you know, saw whohad and who didn't.
Ronald Tatum (08:50):
So you know, yeah, yeah, man, there was three
brothers.
Three brothers, three sisters,man, big family Right.
Just a little I thought we wasrich man.
You know, that's how my mommade us feel man.
And the Bray Center 924 CenterStreet is the Bray Center.
923 Center Street is the TatumHouse.
(09:11):
Old man Was the safe haven, wasa great resource, Saved my life
, man.
It wasn't for the Bray Center,there'd be no rontain.
I just you speak a lot on Godand Christ and yes, tell me,
you're evangelist now huh, yeah,man, I've been in the ministry
(09:31):
man for nine years, man, andwell over nine years, not 12
years, I'm sorry, but for 12years I've been an evangelist.
For 12 years now, you know, gotthat calling man.
It's always been in us, it'salways been in me.
You know, I got that call.
Actually I was in Cancun,Mexico.
(09:53):
Right, you're over a great orgreat or great temple correct
yeah, great or great temple nowand got the calling man to just
pour back into God's people, man, and just to use me as a vessel
.
You know, and this is the workwe're doing, we're all
evangelists in a sense, thosewho do this type of work, those
(10:13):
serving hood Right, you happento speak evangelists from a
Christ-like perspective.
Charlie Shaw (10:22):
I'm glad you touched on that, man.
It might instill that power inothers to help others.
So I'm bringing that up.
Absolutely, ron, how do yourelax, because it sounds like
you're busy?
What's your hobby?
What do you do?
What's laughing at me, man?
(10:42):
You gotta relax, you gottarelax you gotta relax.
Ronald Tatum (10:47):
Yeah, listen, man, I love to read, I love to write
.
Right now, a lot of peopledon't know I'm writing a book.
Charlie Shaw (10:56):
About who?
About who?
One guess yes, right.
Book by mama, aren't you Right?
The book about mom.
Talk to me about it.
Ronald Tatum (11:05):
Yeah, the book is called kiss my babies.
The book is because my babiesis something that when we should
have conversations into mymom's passing After the end of
our calls, we talked everysingle day.
I mean she talked to all sevenof us and every time she needed
the cause she would say, okay,kiss my babies, meaning kiss her
grandkids and Everybody, andyou know so this book is
(11:31):
dedicated to her.
It's called kiss my babies.
It's about, you know, growingup on Center Street, having a
matriarch.
You know, like my mom, some ofthe work that she's did in the
community many people didn'tknow about and how silent she
did it, but how loudly she was.
(11:51):
Impactful, right.
Charlie Shaw (11:52):
And your mother wasn't miss both your what?
Your mother wasn't a big womanat all, man.
She was, you know, but she wasvery.
Ronald Tatum (11:58):
Her voice was Very powerful and even in this voice
yeah, yeah, she spoke up.
Charlie Shaw (12:04):
Right, you know, you know, and so we speak you
know, recently, over theholidays, you did a clothing
drive and honor your mother aswell.
Ronald Tatum (12:15):
Right yeah over the holidays we do a drive.
One thing that people don'tknow about my mom is that, you
know, after her retirement shewanted to keep herself busy so
she became a bus aid, which youknow.
She arrived the buses withstudents, make sure they behaved
, and from first grade all theway up to eighth grade, and what
(12:37):
she would notice is some ofthese kids and have hats and
gloves and coats in thewintertime.
And what we didn't know, what alot of people didn't know, is
that my mom would use her ownfunding to provide hats and
gloves and coats to these kidswho didn't have it.
So there are some kids out herein the community that have hats
and gloves and coats.
(12:58):
Parents probably didn't knowwhere they got it from.
They came from.
They came from Cali Tatum.
She did that for over 20, camefrom an angel is where it came
from.
Charlie Shaw (13:08):
There you go, there you go, so it's a good
thing to have a good job.
Ronald Tatum (13:12):
So Over 20 years, man, but she did it silently.
So when you say silent, me, butyet powerful, you know that's
the servant hood that she isstill to me.
So when you see me, this is,this is, this is as a reflection
of her.
Everything that I do isreflection of her.
I don't do this to be seen.
People acknowledge it and youknow I give all glory to God for
(13:32):
almost when people cannot.
But I don't do it to be seenand I do it because I saw it
being done right.
Charlie Shaw (13:39):
Well, Ron, I'm gonna just be honest with you,
man.
One of the main reasons why Iwanted you to be a guest on my
show is because you do do thingsthat's not being seen.
You do a lot of stuff behindthe cover and I just want to
bring you out.
I want the people to know RonTaylor was out here helping your
community and he's doing itwith a team of people.
You're not doing it by yourself.
(13:59):
You know that it takes a teamand you organize yourself as
such.
So no, that has to be applauded, it has to be saluted and it
has to be recognized, and I'mglad that they recognize you on
MLK with that Emanitarian Award.
So be proud.
Ronald Tatum (14:15):
And.
Charlie Shaw (14:15):
I know you're not gonna toot your horn, but I'm
gonna toot it for you.
I'm gonna toot it for you.
I appreciate it.
You know, there was somethingelse that we talked about and I
had to do a little research onit Well, research on myself and
think about what you said and itwas very interesting Speaking
(14:37):
up versus speaking out and thereason we brought that up was
because, you know, a lot ofthings go on in the community
and we have a lot of people thathave voices, but are they
directing their voices in theright direction and are they
using it?
Are they using their voice inthe right capacity to the right
(14:58):
audience?
And we had a little dialogueabout that the other day and I
want you to explain to me whatis your thoughts, what is your
thoughts about speaking upversus speaking out and how is
that effective?
Ronald Tatum (15:14):
Absolutely, man.
There's a difference, andthat's what people need to know.
There's a difference betweenspeaking up and speaking out
right, and so one of the thingsI shared that I love about
Martin Luther King is that hespoke up.
There was purpose behind, hehad a vision behind Everything
that he did, and he had aknowledge-based understanding as
(15:38):
to why he was doing thosethings right, and so he spoke up
.
I think we have a lot of peoplewho speak out who don't quite
understand.
You know the journey of youknow just let's use
African-Americans, for exampleeverything that we've been
through.
A lot of people don't know thehistory right.
Charlie Shaw (15:56):
A lot of people don't know about the.
Ronald Tatum (15:57):
Oklahoma massacre, Black Law Street and these
things, you know, and why someof these things matter today and
why it matters that we honortheir people from the past, like
we should be doing today.
And so there's no homework done, you know we, you know we get
angry and we get frustrated.
(16:17):
We don't quite understand as towhy.
So, as because of that, becausewe're not educating ourselves
and taking a moment to reallyunderstand how long this thing
spans, and the people before uswho fought for us, for our
rights to vote, and you know,and things like that and you
know all the riots and thingsthat have taken place.
(16:38):
You know we don't educateourselves on why that is so
important right now, how weshould collectively come
together and take a stand andtake a front to speak up.
Instead, we have a lot ofpeople who speak out who are
rioting, don't even know whythey're rioting, looting, don't
even know why they're looting.
We're burning down things.
(16:58):
Don't even know why we'reburning down things.
Charlie Shaw (17:00):
Burn down communities that you live in.
Ronald Tatum (17:03):
And, right now, communities.
You know so.
So you have to have a clearunderstanding and educate
yourself as to why not justbecause it's something cool to
do right Speaking up.
You identify with all thosethings.
You understand why it'simportant To vote right, not
(17:23):
just for the president, but foryour order men, your city
councils, your mayors and yoursenators and your congressmen,
etc.
You understand how that impactsus as the people.
You understand why you're takinga stance against racism and
politics inside the workplaces,inside your communities, etc.
Right, because you took time togather that knowledge and that
(17:44):
understanding of historicallywhat it has meant and just using
African American people as anexample, black people as an
example what has meant to usover time right In our history,
in our history.
And so one thing I like aboutsome of the young people that
are up and coming now I don'tknow if they call them the Gen X
(18:05):
or what they call them rightnow is that we're seeing them
sort of go back and look atthings historically.
That puts us in a lot oftrouble because it's not all
negative.
We have some young people whoare coming up who get it right,
but there's still some of us whodon't, that choose to speak out
, not educate and equip us withknowledge, and so the more
(18:28):
you're equipped with knowledge,the more impactful our voices
can be.
Charlie Shaw (18:33):
You can speak on that.
You can do the time you canspeak on it better.
Ronald Tatum (18:39):
There you go the more in PAC-4 our voices can be,
the more we can speak on it,right, and so that's where this
is how we progress, right, wedigress when we don't do that,
because I mean, just look at it.
So the media will play trickswith our mind.
They'll just show all theprotesting and things that are
(19:01):
negative have negative content,right, but there's a lot of
peaceful process that are goingon, with people who are speaking
up, that they never show, right?
Until we identify and educateourselves that this is happening
, they're gonna continue tofocus on the people who are
speaking out as opposed topeople who are speaking up.
But if we come togethercollectively, they have no
(19:22):
choice but to look at it as thisis one Right.
Charlie Shaw (19:26):
That's powerful, bro.
I can't argue that point.
Sometimes we're just talking.
A lot of people are justtalking and not really saying
anything, and you broke it downas simple as speak up versus
speaking out.
Take your time.
Take your time, find out whatthe real issues are, because a
lot of issues are hidden withother agendas.
(19:48):
Not everything is as what youthink it is.
You could be looking atsomething that is really not
what it is or listening tosomething that's really not what
it is.
There's a different agenda.
Find out what the agendas are.
I think that people shouldreally study what's going on in
(20:10):
their own, in the community thatthey live in, the community
that they go to the store in.
Find out what's going on inthat community before you try to
figure out what's going on on anational level, Because when
you grow up and start payingtaxes and home or association
fees and all the other fees theimpact fees in the community
that you're living in, that'shaving more of an effect on you
(20:34):
than what's happening nationwide.
Ronald Tatum (20:37):
So you go, man, educate ourselves on red zone,
your gentrification.
Educate ourselves so we can bemore powerfully equipped.
Charlie Shaw (20:46):
There's a reason why certain neighborhoods are
being effective and otherneighborhoods are being left
alone.
Find out why.
There you go, go down to thecity hall, go to the meetings in
the evenings Not everybody.
Sometimes you do have free timeat 6.30 when that monthly
meeting or that quarterlymeeting's going on.
(21:07):
Take that time out to go seewhat's happening.
There's nothing wrong with it.
The doors are open.
The doors are open, just likethe church Doors are open.
Ronald Tatum (21:17):
Absolutely and right on the nail, sir.
Charlie Shaw (21:23):
Do you have any thoughts on starting anything
like that up, starting up ongroups like that and in your
region?
Ronald Tatum (21:34):
Yeah, I've had conversations with a few people
in my community.
We have some things that we'reworking on towards that bringing
more young people to the table.
We're challenging people tochange up.
Who's at the table too, charlie?
We have some of the same peopleat the table and the needle's
not moving Right.
I ask you to write questions.
(21:55):
So we're challenging Ishouldn't say challenging.
We're having conversations withsome community leaders about
looking at themselves internallyand sort of gauging what type
of results have they garneredover time.
So we're asking some of thedifficult questions in a
professional way because we wantto see results.
(22:18):
A lot of people talk to us andthey put dollar signs in front
of us.
One of the things we don't askis the people is let us see some
data metrics of that needlemoving.
What percentage have moved fromtwo years ago until now?
Why isn't?
Charlie Shaw (22:32):
this needle moving .
Ronald Tatum (22:33):
In the case that we think it should move, we talk
about housing in the blackcommunity.
A lot of people throw money athousing in the black community
and everybody's oh yeah, they'rethrowing money for black people
to get homes, but there's stillnot a lot of black people
owning homes.
So we got to ask the questionwhy?
Well?
Charlie Shaw (22:51):
you're talking about.
That's a great subject.
There's not enough people ofcolor owning homes and sometimes
you got to ask yourself okay,well, they're not if you can't
own a home, but what aboutaffordable living?
Are there places where they'resafe with their families in
(23:11):
affordable housing in a decentcommunity?
And does any community can beterm, any community can be safe
is where the resources being put.
I work in law enforcement.
Are we using the properresources in that area for with
the services that are availableto them?
Those are a lot of things thatyou're gonna ask also.
Ronald Tatum (23:34):
Right, absolutely.
And then you know, quitefrankly, a lot of organizations
and agencies who have theseboard meetings and people on the
board have people who wannaagree with them at the table.
Charlie Shaw (23:45):
Right, and I'm not gonna agree with everything,
and I know you're not.
You're not that type of personeither, especially when you see
a problem that's been occurringfor years and you're still not
addressing that.
Or you may mention earlierabout Committees being stagnant
or people staying on board.
Yeah, sometimes you need afresh, sometimes you need a
(24:07):
fresh set of eyes.
Ronald Tatum (24:09):
Yeah, you need a fresh set of eyes, man.
You know we can have impactfulconversations professional but
you just need to change thedynamic at your tables and take
a really good look at who'ssitting at the tables.
I've had to personally pullmyself off a couple of boards
because there was no movement.
Right, I can't sit on the board, charlie, and then just leave
(24:33):
there and say, okay, I, you know, I serve my duty.
For two hours I was at a boardmeeting, right?
That doesn't fit well with me.
There's there's a lot of peoplewho are, there's a lot of
people depending on me while I'msitting at that table.
So help them garner the resultsthat they're looking for.
Charlie Shaw (24:49):
So I take it home.
Well, that's all the part ofbeing a leader too.
Now, and you know, yeah, that'sall the part of being a leader
addressing your, addressing yourpros and cons of yourself,
identifying where where you'reweak as well and how can you
make it better.
Sometimes I was just discussingwith somebody the other day
Sometimes you got to take a stepback, take two steps, for and
there's nothing wrong withstepping off of something She'll
(25:11):
let somebody else take thefront.
You know, absolutely.
You know we're all in, we'reall in the same building, but
we're looking at things, and indifferent, you know, in
different windows.
So you know that might besomething that you know you
might want to look at.
As a leader, sometimes I mighthave to step back, unless
somebody step up, and to get abetter, better view of it.
Ronald Tatum (25:31):
Here you go.
That's, that's a great, that'sa great point.
Charlie Shaw (25:36):
Well, Ron, I didn't want to keep you all day.
I'm really enjoying theconversation.
Is there anything else that youwant to touch?
Touch on?
Ronald Tatum (25:45):
And you know what, charlie man, I know again, I am
so proud of you, my brother man.
You just don't know, man, butyou know, I'm just truly blessed
man, I'm humbled, I'm thankfulman.
I give all the glory to my Lordand Savior, man, and I Thank
him for this platform that he'sgiven, this platform that he's
given me, in all the platformshe's giving people who have a
(26:08):
heart to serve and give back toothers.
Man, some of us wear uniforms,some of us wear suits, some of
us wear doctor clothes, etc.
Man is all about servanthood,man, and if we collectively
Identify with that, the morebetter off we will be, the more
better off we can help so manypeople Around us in our
(26:29):
communities, and that's wherethe work starts.
But we have to get back to that923 Center Street mentality and
when we were.
Where we could run in our ownneighborhoods without hesitation
.
Where the parks were full right, they weren't empty right, and
so that's what I'm trying towork on.
Man, you know, you want to knowwhat my driving determination
(26:49):
is what to what is that?
My is to make a difference inthis community on this journey
we call life.
Man, you know I'm gonna leaveyou with this.
Things you do for yourself aregone when you're gone.
Right, but think you do, butthings you do for others remain
as your everlasting legacy.
Listen, man, that's all I'mtrying to do.
Charlie Shaw (27:12):
Well, you know.
Ronald Tatum (27:12):
I was.
Charlie Shaw (27:13):
I was actually gonna let, I was actually gonna
give you a minute to Put thatout there, and if you wasn't
gonna put that out there, I wasgonna ask you about it because
you're all your.
Your bride actually posted thatin and I love that statement,
yeah and that's, that was whatthat was.
That was one of the reasons whyI called you.
I was like you know what I needto talk to me?
(27:35):
Talk to that brother real quick, because I know that you out
there doing that.
I know that you stand on it aswell, so you're not just you're
not just talking, you, you'rejust.
You're not just talking, youare, you are active in your
community and people.
Ronald Tatum (27:49):
Say this to Charlie Acknowledgment to my
family man, my bride, my kids,my grandkids.
Man, you know this, this workpulls, pulls me.
You pulls me away a lot.
You actually, what do I rest,man?
Sometimes it's difficult to,and my family has Understand,
(28:10):
understood that and has given methe platform to know that
sometimes your husband and yourdaddy won't be at home because
they know that everything I'mdoing is trying to help other
people as well as leave a legacyfor them to carry this torch.
There you go.
So I wanted just a man.
I'm blessed with a great wife,great kids, great grandkids and
a sort of supporting group andfriends like yourself, man, so
(28:30):
I'm thankful for all of you, noproblem.
Charlie Shaw (28:32):
Listen, I do want to have you back on the show At
a later time, whenever you'reready or there's a topic that
you want to discuss.
And, matter of fact, if there'sanybody out there that want to
come on to the show and talkabout anything that they think
is important to them, that theywant to share, hey feel free.
We're brought, we're here foryou and we're posting everything
(28:53):
every Thursday.
So, ron, tell us, when is thatbook air be out?
Which mother?
Ronald Tatum (29:00):
Man look for 2025.
Charlie Shaw (29:01):
What's up.
Ronald Tatum (29:02):
So my goal so 2025 .
It will be coming out.
Man, you'll be one of the firstto get a copy.
Charlie Shaw (29:08):
My brother, Well, I'll be at the signing.
Just let me know.
You know I'm retired now, man,I like to travel for for any
reason.
So please give me anopportunity, please give me a
reason to come.
Come home, not that I need areason to come.
Come home, I love to come home.
You know, hit all the you know,hey, ron, stay in touch.
(29:31):
Oh, you know what?
Let's not let it be, let's notlet time go too far from one
another.
Let's just check in with eachother, just see how each other
is doing.
We've been pretty good aboutthat in the last couple years
and I want that to continue.
Matter of fact, we need to dothat with more of our More to
people that we grew up with.
We need to check on one anotherman.
We don't got, we don't gotolder.
(29:52):
Now we're yeah, well, yeah,we're in our 50s now, but we
still, you know we we need tocheck on one another man because
you know life, life has a wayof Testing us and we need to.
You know a lot of people needto speak to one another.
Just see how they're doing it.
So let's do that after you, ifwhoever's listening to this show
, check on your family, check onyour friends from past and
(30:13):
present.
All right, ron, take care ofyourself, brother, I appreciate
it and, like I said, don't be astranger.
Ronald Tatum (30:20):
You two brother double.
Charlie Shaw (30:21):
All right, all thanks.
Thanks for tuning in to alittle metal podcast show and
we'll see you next time.
All right, allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Charlie Shaw and this isthe Lil' Mel: Unfiltered podcast
.
I'm here today with Ron Tatum.
Ron Tatum is a good friend ofmine from back home in Racine,
Wisconsin.
We actually grew up together.
We know each other ever sincemiddle school, right, Ron?
Ronald Tatum (00:20):
Oh yeah, man, Knowing each other for a long
time, proud of you, my brother.
Excited to be on this call withyou this afternoon.
Charlie Shaw (00:26):
I appreciate you, man, I appreciate you.
Ron and I have been staying intouch with each other pretty
much since we got out of highschool.
You know, off and on we pick upwhere we left off.
.
He's raised his family, asraised mine.
We're going through life, youknow, to help some downs of life
and, you know, persevere manDid our thing and very proud of
(00:48):
you as well.
Right, one of the main reasonswhy I got in touch with Ron this
last time I was at home I wasmeeting him to catch up with you
over Christmas time when I wasat home, my brother, I got so
sick man I didn't even want tosee anybody so I kind of laid
low.
But we're on Facebook togetherand we follow each other.
(01:08):
And notice Ron got an award.
He was recognized for MartinLuther King Award.
I'll stand as citizen.
Ron, you want to tell me aboutthat award?
Ronald Tatum (01:21):
Yeah, man, you know what God is good man, you
know I am truly blessed man.
I was recently acknowledgedwith the Martin Luther King
Humanitarian Award.
The great thing about this isthe war man is from Pierce, that
you work with and who admire,you know, some of the work that
you do from afar.
And though we don't do this tobe seen I don't do this to be
(01:42):
seen man, it's great to beacknowledged with such an honor
in his namesake.
First and foremost.
An honor with Martin LutherKing's junior name on it just
says a lot.
You know, within the nameitself Before this would be.
You know, a nomination fromthose who admire the work and
the servant here that you dofrom afar just speaks volumes,
(02:03):
man, and I'm truly blessed andfortunate man.
I was just telling someone theother day, man, that this one,
this one's for my mom, charlie,you know this is.
Miss Tatum.
You know, callie, this is fromMiss, and you know, train a
child up the way she's youshould go, man.
You know Proverbs 22 and 6.
And you know, I'm just tryingto reap the benefits and rewards
(02:24):
of Jesus Christ himself andwhat was instilled in.
You know, you and I, as youngboys and girls, man, our family
was, was tight, was tightgrowing up man, it's the shows
in the.
Tatum?
Yes, we were.
So you know we're carrying onthis legacy, so I'm just
thankful and blessed and humbledto be acknowledged again with
honor in his namesake.
But you know, to have thesemorals and values instilled in
(02:47):
me as a young man payingdividends to the communities
that we serve is just a blessing.
Charlie Shaw (02:54):
Well, I appreciate you saying that, Ron.
I do want to let you know whenyou, when you made mention about
Haven't been friends for yearsthe Tatums and the Shawls know
each other for going all the wayback to our fathers and your
uncles, and all of them, thenext generation, grew up
together.
(03:14):
Well, went to park.
I have nephews that went toschool with your, with your
daughters and your and yournephews.
And he mentioned, he mentionedKathy, and the first thing I
thought about was how Kathy usedto get on us back in the day,
go over and McDonald's lookingfor some free French fries.
He wasn't getting no freeFrench fries, but you could pick
up that mess out there and allin the dining room.
Ronald Tatum (03:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie Shaw (03:34):
Kathy didn't play with, but that's all right.
How's she doing?
Ronald Tatum (03:38):
Kathy's still doing it, man.
She's open to return in acouple of years.
Man, that's beautiful.
I'm so proud of theperseverance.
You know she's my spiritualpartner and so she's still doing
it.
Charlie Shaw (03:50):
But she was always a sweetheart man, always a
sweet absolute.
Yeah, jerome all alone, yolandaall alone, man, they were all
good folks.
Well, you know you mentionedabout the community what's going
over.
You know I was going over yourresume around.
You are very active in thecommunity.
I see you're.
You're in a lot of outreachprograms President's president
(04:13):
of cops and kids reading program.
Former president of big bigbrothers, big sisters in racing
and Kenosha counties.
National lines of mental,mental illness.
Former board member, academiesof racing, community members,
board member.
Racing foundation club wrote arotary, rotary of racing racing
(04:36):
county workforce committeemembers, your outreach and
everywhere.
Man Tell me.
And you and your executive,with what you changed jobs up on
me lately, not as a likely, butyou're out there in Kenosha
area.
Families and agent servicesincorporated in Kenosha now
(04:56):
Congratulations.
Yeah exactly yeah.
Ronald Tatum (04:58):
I appreciate the executive director just finished
up a year, year and a fewmonths, so really excited about
that.
But you know again, man, justjust giving back to the
community, man, you know I hadan opportunity to have a
front-world seat to really knowand understand what serving hood
was as a young boy my mom isstill in the very young age is
(05:18):
not about us, right?
So I'm talking about the man.
I saw people eating my foodthat mom made for us.
I saw people with my clothes onin the neighborhood.
I never could understand that,right, until, you know, I got
older and started to realize.
You know, something spectacularwas happening right in front of
my face.
Right, I had a had a matriarchwho was teaching us how to serve
(05:43):
others before Right.
Now, if you think about that howto serve others before
ourselves, let that digest for amoment.
You know some people can'treally quite copy in that you
put someone else before yourself.
Yes, and you know my mom didthat and it took me a while to
(06:04):
sort of understand what thatmeant.
And this is why I'm in anonprofit work man business,
nonprofit work for over 20 plusyears.
I can go somewhere and make alot more money.
But you know the gratitude andthe appreciation and the feel
good stories that I have everyday to go home and tell my
family, my significant other, myloved ones, my friends, that I
(06:26):
had an impact on somebody's life, each and every day.
You know that's something youcan't put a monetary cost to.
You know we.
So this is why.
Charlie Shaw (06:35):
We actually touched that the last time we
was together, for last time Ivisited and we actually been
able to sit down and talk.
I was wondering.
I was like man, you're doing alot of you know nonprofit work.
I was wondering why didn't yougo into the corporate field?
And you was qualified.
Ronald Tatum (06:54):
And you were just hanging out.
Yeah, yeah, a lot of Don't getme wrong a lot of corporate
people have knocked on my door,you know, and I was very
entertained.
But you know, in this type ofwork, man, you know you can't be
driven by money, you gotta bedriven by happiness, your morals
and values.
Morals and values have to meansomething.
Charlie Shaw (07:13):
I have to agree with you on that man.
I have to agree with you onthat.
I also serve my community, butin a different aspect.
But there, you go and it allcircles back.
You know, taking care of othersis the way it goes, and I'll
there you go, you pay, theultimate sacrifice.
(07:35):
Well, I'm still here with us.
We have fallen.
You still here.
We have fallen.
Heroes that I'd like to call,you know responders, mercy
responders, and that's just notpolice officers, that's firemen,
that's people that drive toambulances, people that work in
the hospitals, even the socialworkers that end up, you know,
(07:56):
in situations that they've losttheir lives for others.
And now and later on, I'm gonnado a show about that and I'm
glad that you touched on thatbecause it keeps reminding me
that it's not just about us,it's about others also, because
a lot of people don't have theknowledge or the resources to
(08:16):
help themselves and theirfamilies.
You know they need people outthere to help them along the way
.
You know, give them back, andyour mother did a great thing by
instilling that in all of us,and I'm gonna say in all of us.
And a lot of people don't knowthat you come from a big family
man and she's still.
She was still taking care ofeverybody else in the
(08:37):
neighborhood and a lot of peopledon't know you lived right
across the street from thecenter, so she had access to
everybody.
She saw what you know, saw whohad and who didn't.
Ronald Tatum (08:50):
So you know, yeah, yeah, man, there was three
brothers.
Three brothers, three sisters,man, big family Right.
Just a little I thought we wasrich man.
You know, that's how my mommade us feel man.
And the Bray Center 924 CenterStreet is the Bray Center.
923 Center Street is the TatumHouse.
(09:11):
Old man Was the safe haven, wasa great resource, Saved my life
, man.
It wasn't for the Bray Center,there'd be no rontain.
I just you speak a lot on Godand Christ and yes, tell me,
you're evangelist now huh, yeah,man, I've been in the ministry
(09:31):
man for nine years, man, andwell over nine years, not 12
years, I'm sorry, but for 12years I've been an evangelist.
For 12 years now, you know, gotthat calling man.
It's always been in us, it'salways been in me.
You know, I got that call.
Actually I was in Cancun,Mexico.
(09:53):
Right, you're over a great orgreat or great temple correct
yeah, great or great temple nowand got the calling man to just
pour back into God's people, man, and just to use me as a vessel
.
You know, and this is the workwe're doing, we're all
evangelists in a sense, thosewho do this type of work, those
(10:13):
serving hood Right, you happento speak evangelists from a
Christ-like perspective.
Charlie Shaw (10:22):
I'm glad you touched on that, man.
It might instill that power inothers to help others.
So I'm bringing that up.
Absolutely, ron, how do yourelax, because it sounds like
you're busy?
What's your hobby?
What do you do?
What's laughing at me, man?
(10:42):
You gotta relax, you gottarelax you gotta relax.
Ronald Tatum (10:47):
Yeah, listen, man, I love to read, I love to write
.
Right now, a lot of peopledon't know I'm writing a book.
Charlie Shaw (10:56):
About who?
About who?
One guess yes, right.
Book by mama, aren't you Right?
The book about mom.
Talk to me about it.
Ronald Tatum (11:05):
Yeah, the book is called kiss my babies.
The book is because my babiesis something that when we should
have conversations into mymom's passing After the end of
our calls, we talked everysingle day.
I mean she talked to all sevenof us and every time she needed
the cause she would say, okay,kiss my babies, meaning kiss her
grandkids and Everybody, andyou know so this book is
(11:31):
dedicated to her.
It's called kiss my babies.
It's about, you know, growingup on Center Street, having a
matriarch.
You know, like my mom, some ofthe work that she's did in the
community many people didn'tknow about and how silent she
did it, but how loudly she was.
(11:51):
Impactful, right.
Charlie Shaw (11:52):
And your mother wasn't miss both your what?
Your mother wasn't a big womanat all, man.
She was, you know, but she wasvery.
Ronald Tatum (11:58):
Her voice was Very powerful and even in this voice
yeah, yeah, she spoke up.
Charlie Shaw (12:04):
Right, you know, you know, and so we speak you
know, recently, over theholidays, you did a clothing
drive and honor your mother aswell.
Ronald Tatum (12:15):
Right yeah over the holidays we do a drive.
One thing that people don'tknow about my mom is that, you
know, after her retirement shewanted to keep herself busy so
she became a bus aid, which youknow.
She arrived the buses withstudents, make sure they behaved
, and from first grade all theway up to eighth grade, and what
(12:37):
she would notice is some ofthese kids and have hats and
gloves and coats in thewintertime.
And what we didn't know, what alot of people didn't know, is
that my mom would use her ownfunding to provide hats and
gloves and coats to these kidswho didn't have it.
So there are some kids out herein the community that have hats
and gloves and coats.
(12:58):
Parents probably didn't knowwhere they got it from.
They came from.
They came from Cali Tatum.
She did that for over 20, camefrom an angel is where it came
from.
Charlie Shaw (13:08):
There you go, there you go, so it's a good
thing to have a good job.
Ronald Tatum (13:12):
So Over 20 years, man, but she did it silently.
So when you say silent, me, butyet powerful, you know that's
the servant hood that she isstill to me.
So when you see me, this is,this is, this is as a reflection
of her.
Everything that I do isreflection of her.
I don't do this to be seen.
People acknowledge it and youknow I give all glory to God for
(13:32):
almost when people cannot.
But I don't do it to be seenand I do it because I saw it
being done right.
Charlie Shaw (13:39):
Well, Ron, I'm gonna just be honest with you,
man.
One of the main reasons why Iwanted you to be a guest on my
show is because you do do thingsthat's not being seen.
You do a lot of stuff behindthe cover and I just want to
bring you out.
I want the people to know RonTaylor was out here helping your
community and he's doing itwith a team of people.
You're not doing it by yourself.
(13:59):
You know that it takes a teamand you organize yourself as
such.
So no, that has to be applauded, it has to be saluted and it
has to be recognized, and I'mglad that they recognize you on
MLK with that Emanitarian Award.
So be proud.
Ronald Tatum (14:15):
And.
Charlie Shaw (14:15):
I know you're not gonna toot your horn, but I'm
gonna toot it for you.
I'm gonna toot it for you.
I appreciate it.
You know, there was somethingelse that we talked about and I
had to do a little research onit Well, research on myself and
think about what you said and itwas very interesting Speaking
(14:37):
up versus speaking out and thereason we brought that up was
because, you know, a lot ofthings go on in the community
and we have a lot of people thathave voices, but are they
directing their voices in theright direction and are they
using it?
Are they using their voice inthe right capacity to the right
(14:58):
audience?
And we had a little dialogueabout that the other day and I
want you to explain to me whatis your thoughts, what is your
thoughts about speaking upversus speaking out and how is
that effective?
Ronald Tatum (15:14):
Absolutely, man.
There's a difference, andthat's what people need to know.
There's a difference betweenspeaking up and speaking out
right, and so one of the thingsI shared that I love about
Martin Luther King is that hespoke up.
There was purpose behind, hehad a vision behind Everything
that he did, and he had aknowledge-based understanding as
(15:38):
to why he was doing thosethings right, and so he spoke up
.
I think we have a lot of peoplewho speak out who don't quite
understand.
You know the journey of youknow just let's use
African-Americans, for exampleeverything that we've been
through.
A lot of people don't know thehistory right.
Charlie Shaw (15:56):
A lot of people don't know about the.
Ronald Tatum (15:57):
Oklahoma massacre, Black Law Street and these
things, you know, and why someof these things matter today and
why it matters that we honortheir people from the past, like
we should be doing today.
And so there's no homework done, you know we, you know we get
angry and we get frustrated.
(16:17):
We don't quite understand as towhy.
So, as because of that, becausewe're not educating ourselves
and taking a moment to reallyunderstand how long this thing
spans, and the people before uswho fought for us, for our
rights to vote, and you know,and things like that and you
know all the riots and thingsthat have taken place.
(16:38):
You know we don't educateourselves on why that is so
important right now, how weshould collectively come
together and take a stand andtake a front to speak up.
Instead, we have a lot ofpeople who speak out who are
rioting, don't even know whythey're rioting, looting, don't
even know why they're looting.
We're burning down things.
(16:58):
Don't even know why we'reburning down things.
Charlie Shaw (17:00):
Burn down communities that you live in.
Ronald Tatum (17:03):
And, right now, communities.
You know so.
So you have to have a clearunderstanding and educate
yourself as to why not justbecause it's something cool to
do right Speaking up.
You identify with all thosethings.
You understand why it'simportant To vote right, not
(17:23):
just for the president, but foryour order men, your city
councils, your mayors and yoursenators and your congressmen,
etc.
You understand how that impactsus as the people.
You understand why you're takinga stance against racism and
politics inside the workplaces,inside your communities, etc.
Right, because you took time togather that knowledge and that
(17:44):
understanding of historicallywhat it has meant and just using
African American people as anexample, black people as an
example what has meant to usover time right In our history,
in our history.
And so one thing I like aboutsome of the young people that
are up and coming now I don'tknow if they call them the Gen X
(18:05):
or what they call them rightnow is that we're seeing them
sort of go back and look atthings historically.
That puts us in a lot oftrouble because it's not all
negative.
We have some young people whoare coming up who get it right,
but there's still some of us whodon't, that choose to speak out
, not educate and equip us withknowledge, and so the more
(18:28):
you're equipped with knowledge,the more impactful our voices
can be.
Charlie Shaw (18:33):
You can speak on that.
You can do the time you canspeak on it better.
Ronald Tatum (18:39):
There you go the more in PAC-4 our voices can be,
the more we can speak on it,right, and so that's where this
is how we progress, right, wedigress when we don't do that,
because I mean, just look at it.
So the media will play trickswith our mind.
They'll just show all theprotesting and things that are
(19:01):
negative have negative content,right, but there's a lot of
peaceful process that are goingon, with people who are speaking
up, that they never show, right?
Until we identify and educateourselves that this is happening
, they're gonna continue tofocus on the people who are
speaking out as opposed topeople who are speaking up.
But if we come togethercollectively, they have no
(19:22):
choice but to look at it as thisis one Right.
Charlie Shaw (19:26):
That's powerful, bro.
I can't argue that point.
Sometimes we're just talking.
A lot of people are justtalking and not really saying
anything, and you broke it downas simple as speak up versus
speaking out.
Take your time.
Take your time, find out whatthe real issues are, because a
lot of issues are hidden withother agendas.
(19:48):
Not everything is as what youthink it is.
You could be looking atsomething that is really not
what it is or listening tosomething that's really not what
it is.
There's a different agenda.
Find out what the agendas are.
I think that people shouldreally study what's going on in
(20:10):
their own, in the community thatthey live in, the community
that they go to the store in.
Find out what's going on inthat community before you try to
figure out what's going on on anational level, Because when
you grow up and start payingtaxes and home or association
fees and all the other fees theimpact fees in the community
that you're living in, that'shaving more of an effect on you
(20:34):
than what's happening nationwide.
Ronald Tatum (20:37):
So you go, man, educate ourselves on red zone,
your gentrification.
Educate ourselves so we can bemore powerfully equipped.
Charlie Shaw (20:46):
There's a reason why certain neighborhoods are
being effective and otherneighborhoods are being left
alone.
Find out why.
There you go, go down to thecity hall, go to the meetings in
the evenings Not everybody.
Sometimes you do have free timeat 6.30 when that monthly
meeting or that quarterlymeeting's going on.
(21:07):
Take that time out to go seewhat's happening.
There's nothing wrong with it.
The doors are open.
The doors are open, just likethe church Doors are open.
Ronald Tatum (21:17):
Absolutely and right on the nail, sir.
Charlie Shaw (21:23):
Do you have any thoughts on starting anything
like that up, starting up ongroups like that and in your
region?
Ronald Tatum (21:34):
Yeah, I've had conversations with a few people
in my community.
We have some things that we'reworking on towards that bringing
more young people to the table.
We're challenging people tochange up.
Who's at the table too, charlie?
We have some of the same peopleat the table and the needle's
not moving Right.
I ask you to write questions.
(21:55):
So we're challenging Ishouldn't say challenging.
We're having conversations withsome community leaders about
looking at themselves internallyand sort of gauging what type
of results have they garneredover time.
So we're asking some of thedifficult questions in a
professional way because we wantto see results.
(22:18):
A lot of people talk to us andthey put dollar signs in front
of us.
One of the things we don't askis the people is let us see some
data metrics of that needlemoving.
What percentage have moved fromtwo years ago until now?
Why isn't?
Charlie Shaw (22:32):
this needle moving .
Ronald Tatum (22:33):
In the case that we think it should move, we talk
about housing in the blackcommunity.
A lot of people throw money athousing in the black community
and everybody's oh yeah, they'rethrowing money for black people
to get homes, but there's stillnot a lot of black people
owning homes.
So we got to ask the questionwhy?
Well?
Charlie Shaw (22:51):
you're talking about.
That's a great subject.
There's not enough people ofcolor owning homes and sometimes
you got to ask yourself okay,well, they're not if you can't
own a home, but what aboutaffordable living?
Are there places where they'resafe with their families in
(23:11):
affordable housing in a decentcommunity?
And does any community can beterm, any community can be safe
is where the resources being put.
I work in law enforcement.
Are we using the properresources in that area for with
the services that are availableto them?
Those are a lot of things thatyou're gonna ask also.
Ronald Tatum (23:34):
Right, absolutely.
And then you know, quitefrankly, a lot of organizations
and agencies who have theseboard meetings and people on the
board have people who wannaagree with them at the table.
Charlie Shaw (23:45):
Right, and I'm not gonna agree with everything,
and I know you're not.
You're not that type of personeither, especially when you see
a problem that's been occurringfor years and you're still not
addressing that.
Or you may mention earlierabout Committees being stagnant
or people staying on board.
Yeah, sometimes you need afresh, sometimes you need a
(24:07):
fresh set of eyes.
Ronald Tatum (24:09):
Yeah, you need a fresh set of eyes, man.
You know we can have impactfulconversations professional but
you just need to change thedynamic at your tables and take
a really good look at who'ssitting at the tables.
I've had to personally pullmyself off a couple of boards
because there was no movement.
Right, I can't sit on the board, charlie, and then just leave
(24:33):
there and say, okay, I, you know, I serve my duty.
For two hours I was at a boardmeeting, right?
That doesn't fit well with me.
There's there's a lot of peoplewho are, there's a lot of
people depending on me while I'msitting at that table.
So help them garner the resultsthat they're looking for.
Charlie Shaw (24:49):
So I take it home.
Well, that's all the part ofbeing a leader too.
Now, and you know, yeah, that'sall the part of being a leader
addressing your, addressing yourpros and cons of yourself,
identifying where where you'reweak as well and how can you
make it better.
Sometimes I was just discussingwith somebody the other day
Sometimes you got to take a stepback, take two steps, for and
there's nothing wrong withstepping off of something She'll
(25:11):
let somebody else take thefront.
You know, absolutely.
You know we're all in, we'reall in the same building, but
we're looking at things, and indifferent, you know, in
different windows.
So you know that might besomething that you know you
might want to look at.
As a leader, sometimes I mighthave to step back, unless
somebody step up, and to get abetter, better view of it.
Ronald Tatum (25:31):
Here you go.
That's, that's a great, that'sa great point.
Charlie Shaw (25:36):
Well, Ron, I didn't want to keep you all day.
I'm really enjoying theconversation.
Is there anything else that youwant to touch?
Touch on?
Ronald Tatum (25:45):
And you know what, charlie man, I know again, I am
so proud of you, my brother man.
You just don't know, man, butyou know, I'm just truly blessed
man, I'm humbled, I'm thankfulman.
I give all the glory to my Lordand Savior, man, and I Thank
him for this platform that he'sgiven, this platform that he's
given me, in all the platformshe's giving people who have a
(26:08):
heart to serve and give back toothers.
Man, some of us wear uniforms,some of us wear suits, some of
us wear doctor clothes, etc.
Man is all about servanthood,man, and if we collectively
Identify with that, the morebetter off we will be, the more
better off we can help so manypeople Around us in our
(26:29):
communities, and that's wherethe work starts.
But we have to get back to that923 Center Street mentality and
when we were.
Where we could run in our ownneighborhoods without hesitation
.
Where the parks were full right, they weren't empty right, and
so that's what I'm trying towork on.
Man, you know, you want to knowwhat my driving determination
(26:49):
is what to what is that?
My is to make a difference inthis community on this journey
we call life.
Man, you know I'm gonna leaveyou with this.
Things you do for yourself aregone when you're gone.
Right, but think you do, butthings you do for others remain
as your everlasting legacy.
Listen, man, that's all I'mtrying to do.
Charlie Shaw (27:12):
Well, you know.
Ronald Tatum (27:12):
I was.
Charlie Shaw (27:13):
I was actually gonna let, I was actually gonna
give you a minute to Put thatout there, and if you wasn't
gonna put that out there, I wasgonna ask you about it because
you're all your.
Your bride actually posted thatin and I love that statement,
yeah and that's, that was whatthat was.
That was one of the reasons whyI called you.
I was like you know what I needto talk to me?
(27:35):
Talk to that brother real quick, because I know that you out
there doing that.
I know that you stand on it aswell, so you're not just you're
not just talking, you, you'rejust.
You're not just talking, youare, you are active in your
community and people.
Ronald Tatum (27:49):
Say this to Charlie Acknowledgment to my
family man, my bride, my kids,my grandkids.
Man, you know this, this workpulls, pulls me.
You pulls me away a lot.
You actually, what do I rest,man?
Sometimes it's difficult to,and my family has Understand,
(28:10):
understood that and has given methe platform to know that
sometimes your husband and yourdaddy won't be at home because
they know that everything I'mdoing is trying to help other
people as well as leave a legacyfor them to carry this torch.
There you go.
So I wanted just a man.
I'm blessed with a great wife,great kids, great grandkids and
a sort of supporting group andfriends like yourself, man, so
(28:30):
I'm thankful for all of you, noproblem.
Charlie Shaw (28:32):
Listen, I do want to have you back on the show At
a later time, whenever you'reready or there's a topic that
you want to discuss.
And, matter of fact, if there'sanybody out there that want to
come on to the show and talkabout anything that they think
is important to them, that theywant to share, hey feel free.
We're brought, we're here foryou and we're posting everything
(28:53):
every Thursday.
So, ron, tell us, when is thatbook air be out?
Which mother?
Ronald Tatum (29:00):
Man look for 2025.
Charlie Shaw (29:01):
What's up.
Ronald Tatum (29:02):
So my goal so 2025 .
It will be coming out.
Man, you'll be one of the firstto get a copy.
Charlie Shaw (29:08):
My brother, Well, I'll be at the signing.
Just let me know.
You know I'm retired now, man,I like to travel for for any
reason.
So please give me anopportunity, please give me a
reason to come.
Come home, not that I need areason to come.
Come home, I love to come home.
You know, hit all the you know,hey, ron, stay in touch.
(29:31):
Oh, you know what?
Let's not let it be, let's notlet time go too far from one
another.
Let's just check in with eachother, just see how each other
is doing.
We've been pretty good aboutthat in the last couple years
and I want that to continue.
Matter of fact, we need to dothat with more of our More to
people that we grew up with.
We need to check on one anotherman.
We don't got, we don't gotolder.
(29:52):
Now we're yeah, well, yeah,we're in our 50s now, but we
still, you know we we need tocheck on one another man because
you know life, life has a wayof Testing us and we need to.
You know a lot of people needto speak to one another.
Just see how they're doing it.
So let's do that after you, ifwhoever's listening to this show
, check on your family, check onyour friends from past and
(30:13):
present.
All right, ron, take care ofyourself, brother, I appreciate
it and, like I said, don't be astranger.
Ronald Tatum (30:20):
You two brother double.
Charlie Shaw (30:21):
All right, all thanks.
Thanks for tuning in to alittle metal podcast show and
we'll see you next time.
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