Episode Transcript
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niecee---voni_2_12-01-202 (00:00):
Yeah,
we're going to do an intro.
Uh, all right.
We are here, Voni.
Ooh, we are doing it.
Okay.
All right.
We didn't get an error message.
We're cooking with Crisco.
All right.
All right.
All right.
(00:24):
Welcome to the Sister GirlSessions.
This is going to be our firstsession for our new podcast.
My name is Niecee.
I'm Voni and we are creatingthis podcast to talk about our
experiences in life., Love,relationships, work, anything
(00:45):
that we feel like we want totalk about basically.
Um, but we welcome you to comeand join us in this podcast and
us sharing our experiences witha little Gen X vibe.
You get what I'm saying?
So So, sit back, relax.
Uh, today is our first session.
And so we thought what we woulddo today is just kind of give a
(01:06):
brief introduction aboutourselves, tell you a little bit
about ourselves so you can getto know us.
And so with that, I'm going toturn it over to Voni and let her
introduce herself first.
She would do that with me first,right?
All right.
(01:26):
Um, Voni, I am, uh, the oldestof Five children.
Our parents had, I am, working,uh, in healthcare.
I am a mother of one daughter,grandmother of one
granddaughter.
Um, and, but you'll learn aboutus as we kind of go through this
(01:49):
podcast, we have.
A much larger extended family,but, um, at a very high level.
That's Voni to start.
Yes.
Yes.
Um, what should I say aboutmyself?
I'm Niecee, as I said before, Iam a mother, first and foremost,
mother, grandmother.
And just recently I became agreat grandmother just a couple
(02:12):
of weeks ago.
Thank you.
I had a great grandson,Mauriair.
He's the newest member of ourfamily, but I have two
daughters.
And five grandchildren and nowone great grandson.
I also work in, um, like, whatyou call corporate America.
Um, I am, unlike my sister here,she was born for corporate
(02:34):
America.
I was not, I'm more of acreative spirits spirit here.
Hence us being here at thispodcast and I'm real, they're in
my world a little bit, I'm moreof a creative spirit, but you
know, you gotta do what yougotta do to make it in this
world.
You know what I'm saying?
So I, uh, I do work in corporateAmerica.
I work in healthcare as well.
(02:54):
Well I've recently left thedeeper part of healthcare and
I'm working more high level inthe healthcare space right now.
Um, But it's a really greatcompany, really great journey.
I've learned a lot in the workworld along my way.
I'm thankful for the experiencebecause it helped me grow and
evolve as a person and in myconnections and relating to
(03:18):
different types of people.
Um, like Voni said, we are, ourfamily is a big part of our
lives.
And so, Whew.
Yeah, that will come up a lotduring the podcast.
Uh, I will share with you.
I will probably talk a lot aboutthat.
Um, I used to have problems withsubstance abuse, uh, mainly
(03:38):
alcohol.
I did dabble in the wackytobacky, if you know what that
means.
We all had our little moment.
Yes.
Yes.
I dabbled in that a little bit,but you know, uh, it's just, Uh,
one of those things that I haveworked to overcome, I'm really
big into personal development asVoni knows.
And so, um, let's talk about it.
(04:00):
It's a lot of things in lifethat causes twists and turns
and, and what we have toexperience in the world and how
we respond to it.
And so that's some of the thingsI like to explore with this
podcast.
What do you, what do you think?
I love it.
Yeah.
Let's go for it.
All right.
Jump in.
Let's jump in then.
All right.
So, um.
What are we talking about today?
(04:20):
I don't think I had a reallygood topic already set out.
Let's talk about this.
Matter of fact, let's go to thelist because I still think it's
still about the introduction.
So what could be a lead in togive us a more introduction.
Yeah.
So I got the, the sister girlsessions intro, who we are.
(04:43):
We just gave them an update ofwho we are.
Um, childhood perspective,moving into the ghetto,
importance of community andchildren.
You want to start kind of at thebeginning.
The beginning.
Hmm.
I think we go back to that.
I think the community and familypiece, since we've kind of did a
little bit on that in the intromight be good just to kind of
(05:06):
say the importance of, and kindof tying in our parents a little
bit about, you know, how wecreate, like Jackie said, the,
we don't adopt.
Animals we adopt people or youknow, some of that and show the
intersection of family.
All right I don't know.
That's about yeah.
Yeah All right.
(05:26):
So for today's topic, um nowthat we've gotten our
introductions out of the wayMaybe we can talk a little bit
about community and how childrenreally need a community as you
and I growing up, we kind ofgrew up in a community
environment and we were involvedin different community
(05:51):
activities and I think a lot ofthat is important for children
these days and it seems likesometimes in some families, a
lot of kids do still have that,but.
I don't see it as prevalent as Idid when we were growing up.
Yeah.
What's your thoughts on that?
When we were growing up, I wouldsay our parents gave us a sense
(06:11):
of family.
So we had a much larger extendedfamily, mostly on daddy's side,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, uh, but we got to interactwith that community a lot.
And then in the differentneighborhoods that they moved us
to throughout our childhood,Yeah.
We were fortunate enough to.
For our mama, mostly to be aconnector.
(06:32):
She made lots of friends aroundthe neighborhood.
Uh, we ended up being babysat bydifferent people based on my
mama's friendships, but throughall of those different journeys,
we, we got to connect withdifferent people.
I remember auntie, we call themauntie.
We never called people or it waseither miss or auntie or mister.
(06:52):
We never could go and just callpeople by their first names.
That was inappropriate.
No adults, mom and daddy didn'tplay that.
Uh, but I remember auntieShirley, auntie Beverly, you
know, people who used to babysitus when we used to live, uh, In
one, one complex we used to livein, but the most profound one
(07:14):
community that I remember, um,was Parker square when we moved
there.
And it was, it was a lowerincome people with different
social income.
It was low incomes, different,different backgrounds, lots of
single parent families.
Uh, but a really big sense ofcommunity and I remember when
(07:37):
you and I first moved there, Iprobably was about seven, seven.
I was five.
You were five and it was kind ofterrorizing for us initially
because we came in lots of, uh,You the new kid on the block.
And so people have to test youand try you.
And we went on a lot, uh, tryingto find our way there.
(07:58):
Our parents gave us a little bitof tough love, told us we had to
go figure it out.
So we come home crying sometimesfor us, you know, didn't
understand why they were tryingto get us to that self
sufficient state, but it was, itwas very much impactful to my
life as I grew up.
I agree.
I agree.
(08:18):
As I always think back and youknow, you and I have talked
about this when we went downthere, it was like we were when
I was born, we were living inthis same area, but we have
moved away while I was still ababy.
And so when we moved away, andwe were away from that
environment, we were in a commonenvironment, not so many people
(08:40):
and things like that.
And coming back to thatenvironment as a five year old,
and, uh, Back then they had likethe tall buildings with many
floors and people living inthese buildings behind the
fence.
And you know, then you got this,all these different complexes on
each side and all of them werelow income.
So a lot of people moving aroundon foot, a lot of people in
(09:03):
different stages of life.
And so when I was, when I gotthere as a five year old, I was
sitting there and all like, youknow, this is, this is a lot,
this is a lot, you know, Uh,what are they, what are they
doing?
What are they doing?
You know?
But you were, you were alsocurious.
I was very curious.
You were very curious.
You wanted to understand what Iwas seeing and, and I wanted to
explore it, like you said.
Then you get out there and, andwe came in kind of like, yay.
(09:27):
Hey, and I got some toys.
You wanna play with my toys?
I got a big will and them kids,they tore up our stuff.
They tore up our stuff.
The little boys down there inthe hood, as we call it, they
took us.
Stuff and tore him my pole.
Little inchworm, if anybody knowfrom way back in the day, had an
inch worm, I had an inchwormtore my inch worm up.
(09:48):
Yep.
And it, like you said, we justgo in cry, mom, like we ain't in
the same neighborhood.
Y'all gotta get, be get ittogether, get it together, stand
up for yourself and things likethat.
But at the same time, some ofthose same kids or Mm-Hmm.
people we Mm-Hmm.
Lifelong friends.
Yes.
Lifelong friends that we arestill connected with today.
Absolutely.
And so the community piece ofit, like we used to have.
(10:10):
Uh, squabbles, as you wanna say,and Mm-Hmm.
and, and disagreements in theneighborhood, but it was mainly
we, we all were interconnected.
Yeah.
And those things would fly by,we'd be playing again.
Mm-Hmm.
Um, one thing also is like thesummer camps.
Yes.
Day camps, church, you know.
Yes.
Different things like that.
(10:31):
Mm-Hmm.
We couldn't sit idly by.
Oh, no.
Mama said, uh, what is it?
Idle mind is the devil'sworkshop.
Yeah.
She believed in thatwholeheartedly.
So we always had to havesomething.
Summertime, we couldn't just sitaround and do nothing.
We had to have activities allthe time.
And whether even in school time,we had to have afterschool
programs and stuff like that.
(10:53):
So, you know, and developingthose relationships, which were
a lot of the same people thatwere in the neighborhood.
Um, when we were at camping andsharing those experiences of the
different places we went, thedifferent activities we did,
built strong bonds and evenpeople from our old
neighborhood, we are still veryinterconnected and care about
(11:15):
each other a whole lot.
And it's, it's kind ofhistorical, uh, the people
within those, uh, differentapartment complexes that grew up
in that era during that time.
Oh, still, you know, you know,you connect with, you travel
with, even now, even as adults,we interact with all of those
people.
But one of the, the one area tome that was a staple and it was
(11:40):
actually two, two things.
And they were both churches inour community.
Uh, that was St.
Mark's church.
Yes.
And then First Christian Church.
First Christian Church, whichwas also Which also called
Together Center.
That was the community centerside of it.
But we went to the church for alittle while.
We did grow up in church.
Our parents and grandparents,you know, we very much I won't
(12:02):
say every Sunday, but most Andwhen we were heavily into
church, we went two or threetimes a week and we had aunts
and relatives and differentpeople who were, uh, you know,
practicing and, and, andpreachers and different things
in the family.
So we were very tied there, butwe went to, we, we met, um, Gary
(12:23):
Thomas was one of the people whowas very instrumental,
influential in my life and yourlife.
Uh, and in that community, uh,when we first moved down, uh, to
Parker square, he and a ladynamed Christie came and knocked
on our door.
And my mother, it was like, Ithink she said it was like 25 to
(12:45):
20 for the whole summer.
Now see how cheap that was.
You guys could never imaginethis today, but it was like 20.
That was a big deal for my, ourfamily at that time.
By this time we all of us, Forall, for all of us to go$20.
But even still, if youunderstood our family dynamics,
it was all, uh, did we have,yeah, we had, it was all four.
No, Zell wasn't there yet, werethey?
(13:07):
Zell wasn't born yet.
Zell wasn't there yet.
But it was for, yeah, it wasjust for me.
And you, Eva would, Eva wasntthe Sunshine.
Sunshine kids.
Kids.
Yeah.
She sure.
Because I, Zell came to later.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yep.
So all of us went for$20, butthey came knocked on the door.
And invited us there.
And like you said, many of thekids in the neighborhood were
(13:28):
also a part of that.
And even in some of thesurrounding complexes and that
at really young age too, wassome of the foundation of the
relationships we have.
I mean, that's where I got into.
Now, Niecee is very creative asit relates to a lot of this, but
I'm more, I guess I call it theartsy side of Creativity.
Yes.
I like dance.
(13:49):
I like musicals.
I like, uh, uh, those thingsbecause of my experience in
Together Center.
I was in the dance squad in highschool.
So it was always something thatI've, I've always resonated
from, but I got that fromTogether Center.
Oh yeah.
She has to let out hercreativity.
Hers just expresses itselfdifferently than mine.
(14:09):
Mine is totally different, butyes, definitely a creative
person.
I love that about you.
Yeah, but I got it fromtogether.
Yes.
Yes.
I participated in it.
Did you hear that they are aboutto do, uh, The Wiz?
I did.
I saw it on social media.
That's one of the Broadway.
Oh my gosh.
We know every song, every song.
(14:29):
We performed that in so manytalent shows.
I saw that.
I was like, hold up, hold up.
I need to go and see.
I need to go to this play andwatch the performance.
I was so excited.
It's coming to our town.
Yeah.
I can't wait to see it.
I participated in all that, butI think it resonated in your
(14:50):
experience way more.
It was great for me, but I hadother aspirations.
I'm like the type of person I'dbe willing to touch a little bit
of everything.
You know, she likes to trythings.
I usually stick to it.
I stick with stuff.
Make it work.
Verniece try it.
I mean, all over the place.
I was like, well, and I don'tlook at it as just being like
(15:11):
flighty.
You want to see what works foryou?
Yes.
Yes.
I'm still on that journey.
Yeah.
I'm still on that journey, butit's a good journey.
So, um, yeah, but I even noticedthat.
Like with my grandchildren, uh,that a set of them that grew up
(15:32):
in apartment complex and theyhad like a community center that
they could go to, that they'vedeveloped lifelong
relationships, like some thatthey were playing with when they
were from so that they are stillvery close with to this day.
So community for children to meis huge and, and finding ways to
(15:54):
get them connected.
I know a lot of people get theirkids in sports or, you know, um,
acting or, you know, gymnastics,you know, all different types of
things.
There's different avenues thatyou could, Go to to get that for
your children.
But I think it made a hugedifference for us.
And it was, it was a regularthing that, uh, even for those
(16:17):
that were dealing with povertyin our day, more so that I see a
lot of the children that aredealing with poverty that I come
across now, they just kind ofhang out and they, they're just
kind of sitting idle.
And so when, um, To me, mytakeaway is if you have an
(16:38):
opportunity to get your kid moreexposure to different people,
different types of scenarios oflife, because that's what that
gave me some of thoseexperiences.
I saw that there was more thanwhat we were seeing in our
environment, which sometimes canbe a little rough.
Um, you know, no, it's scary.
(16:59):
Yeah.
You know that not everybodylives the same way you do Yeah,
and even even you some peoplecan become resentful of it, but
I think our exposure to it gaveus And desire, a desire to go do
those things or to have thosethings.
So I can say, I can do that.
(17:19):
I want to go there.
And that's what we did.
Yes.
You know, even through our livesas, as adults, it gave me my
travel, uh, outlook.
I was one of the influencers ofme wanting to travel around the
world because I would just seedifferent.
Uh, plays different stories, andit I dreamed through some of
that right about what I could godo.
(17:41):
Right?
And they gave me a, uh,inspiration to.
Like live in differentenvironments.
I know I was one of the firstpeople like in our in our family
to move into like one of theneighborhoods that were like
What's she doing here?
My kids were only black childrenin school, but I was like I want
(18:01):
to experience that lifestyle.
I'm going to move over there.
I'm going to do that.
If they can do it, I can do ittoo.
I've seen different people.
I've met people.
I learned how to talk to people.
You know, I could do it here,you know, as a young, in my
twenties, I took off and didthat.
So I followed right behind her.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I did.
I spent a little time going backand forth with my habits that I
(18:23):
had and stuff like that, buthey, experiences, it's
experiences, you know?
That's what I took away from it.
Any final thoughts?
I think we might be about towrap this up.
Just trying to give you all alittle bit of who we are, where
we come from.
I will say what I was going toadd.
One of the things that you saidthat I resonate with our
(18:46):
community and with our parentsis that our parents raised us
to, with the attitude that therewas nobody, you're not better
than anyone else, but that don'tmean they are better than you
either.
And that's why I think we, youwere confident enough to go try
it, go out and go live somewhereelse.
(19:06):
You're right.
You're right.
Those things, those are thethings, those are the things
that we were instilled to be andknow that we could have or do.
You do work hard.
You go figure it out.
You can go live there.
You can go have that item,whatever that make those people
better than you.
Don't make you better than me.
No.
But it was greatly instilled inus greatly, greatly.
(19:27):
And to accept people for whothey are.
I mean, you don't always have tohave your whole world centered
around people that look and actjust like you, you know, that
that's one thing that, uh, thatour parents instilled in us and
stand strong and be proud of whoyou are.
And I'm forever thankful forthat because it helped develop
(19:49):
us and it helped in us.
Teaching that to our childrenand grandchildren because they
have all have uniqueperspectives and our family is
like a colorful little rainbowand I love it.
Yes, I just want to hear y'allout there watching.
(20:10):
Hi.
We're talking about you.
We'll name you in a littlewhile.
We'll get your name.
We'll start name dropping.
Yes, we will.
Awesome.
Yes, so.
This has been really great.
I'm looking forward to thisjourney of the sister girl
sessions podcast because we wecould touch on a lot of things.
(20:31):
Let's dive into some stuff.
If you're out there, we wouldlove for you to, uh, like
subscribe.
If any of this resonates withyou, if, if you'd like to tune
in and hear our perspective, Imean, we are not here to oh.
Teach anything, but we wouldlike to pour it to you and add
value and offer differentperspectives on how to look at
(20:54):
various things.
So.
Everybody, and we leave us acomment.
Let us know your thoughts.
Let us know your experiences.
Let's take the journey togetherand enjoy the ride.
We will be having videos comeout every week.
I haven't decided on exactlywhat day of the week we will
drop those on, but we willdefinitely post that.
(21:17):
Um, uh, maybe and some communityposts.
I would love to have this becomea community.
For us to all communicate andvibe together is just like we're
talking about being connected topeople is important and we are
not meant to walk this pathalone.
So join us on the journey.
We look forward to sharing theexperience with you all.
(21:41):
Do you have anything you want tosay to close out?
No.
If you hear something thatresonates with you, give us some
feedback about what you want usto dig into a little bit more.
Yes.
We'd love to, to offer that.
Definitely.
Leave us some, leave us sometips on some topics you'd like
to discuss.
We have a list going ofdifferent things we'd like to
(22:01):
talk about, but we welcome thefeedback again.
It's gotta be a community.
So, um, let's get started.
Let's do it.
And we will go ahead and signoff for now, but we appreciate
you taking the time to listen ifyou're still here and we will
see you on the next one.
All right.
All right.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.
Peace.