May 5, 2023 • 10 mins
Guest Host Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati speaks with Oliver St. Clair Franklin CBE, Honorary Consul of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland about the upcoming coronation of King Charles III. Franklin is also the subject of this month’s feature “What is Philadelphia Reading?” https://www.consularcorpsofphiladelphia.org/united-kingdom/
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning and welcome to Insight,I show about empowering our community. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Marl and as she doesonce a month every month, we are
joined by Vaness Lloyd's Gambadi, thefounder of the African American Children's Book Project
and the Book Fair, as wellas being a literary publicist and world traveler.
(00:20):
Vanessa always a pleasure, well tosee, a pleasure to be here.
This is May. It feels likefall. I even had to cut
back on my heat. I'm justnot willing to freeze. But before we
get down to business, a shoutout to my niece who's living her best
life like going off to Jamaica tocelebrate her birthday and happy Mother's Day in
advance to all our listeners and mysisters Brenda, Michelle, Karen and Ramona,
(00:44):
who my mother Helen ainez Bets wouldbe very proud of. And of
course you Lorraine, the mother ofpublic service. So everyone was a busy
month for me. And again thanksto my WDYZ family, DC, Lorraine,
Patty, Frankie and Mimi who keepsmy dance party going on Saturday night.
Also shout out to Jody and Beckythe real Becky and all the mothering
folks in the listening audience. NowBLS Journeys is a segment about books,
(01:10):
travel and entertainment. So I kickedoff the month with a trip to New
York on May first. No,I didn't go to the met Ball,
but that was secondary to the opportunityto go to a preview of Carl Lagerfel,
a line of beauty which is producedby the Constitum Institutes at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. In my formerlife, I was a fashion journalist for
(01:30):
the Rome Daily American Rome Daily News. I covered the Italian couture and ready
to wear collection of some of thebiggest fashion houses in the world. I
even interviewed Armani, Versacei, LarviaJolti, and of course Carl Lagerfel,
a host of Fendi's and Gucci's.So I was great to be back into
space. The streets are all talkingabout the ball. Who when who didn't
(01:52):
go? When you don't get invited, you don't tell anybody you didn't get
invited. So the ball helps tofinance the Costume Institute, and this is
something that everybody in the listening audiencecan participate in and I'll tell you about
that in a second, because thetickets go for fifty thousand dollars. But
the preview was all that in abag of chips. When you go to
the preview, I have to metit's the question is what do you wear?
(02:15):
Leave those LV bags at home,Do not walk in there. Channel's
were running rampant. Anything that waschannel, from handbags to accessories and of
course clothing. And the thing thatI really enjoyed about the exhibit was that
Carl larger Felt was keeping it real. When you walk into the exhibit,
you see this chaotic desk was theway Andrew Bolton describe it. But it
(02:38):
was a high ghetto mess and itwas books and things, just stuff piled
on top of each other. Herecreated that desk, but he also had
a can of diet coat because apparentlyhe drank that like it was water.
And they're over two hundred amazing piecesin the collection. And Carl lager Felt,
for some of you who don't know, really is the person who recreates
(03:01):
Chanel and for some of us inthe you know as working class folks.
He's now at macy as Carl largerFilm. And the thing that I really
really enjoyed about the exhibit is thatit reminded me of my mother that a
well made garment never goes out ofstall. And the exhibit runs from May
fifth to July sixteenth. If you'rea New Jersey resident, you pay what
(03:23):
you want to pay for all theothers who are not New Jersey and New
York residence is twenty dollars, Sodefinitely go and check this out. I'm
keeping you on the road this summer, so every month, I'm going to
give you something that you can do. But I didn't get a chance to
go across the pond, so Icouldn't go across the pond, so I
went as close as I could possiblyget, and that would be Oliver Saint
(03:46):
Clair Franklin, who is the HonoraryCounsel to Great Britain. Thank you for
coming in a lot of people,thank you so much for having me.
A lot of people say I knowthat name. You will affiliate with the
Black Writers Conference, right, theBlack Film Festival, and you were at
one time the Deputy City represented forArts and culture. Now we got a
(04:08):
lot under Wilson Good Yes, wegot a lot to cover. So how
did you get selected the Honorary Council. Well, I went to Lincoln University,
I graduated from there, and thenat my grad school, I went
to Oxford University. And while Iwas at Oxford University, I made a
lot of relationships with British people,and as we moved up in our careers,
I kept in touch, going backand forth. They'd come and visit
(04:30):
me. And when the position becameopen in Philadelphia, they suggested that I
should certainly apply for the position,which I did and I was very fortunate
to get it. Now tell mesomething. I lived abroad and the Council,
the consulate as it is officially called, as a very important part of
a day to day life of anexpatriate living abroad. And so you're honorary.
(04:55):
So what's the difference between you anda regular consulate. Well, the
and is an honorary is really acitizen of the host country. So you
have to be a US citizen tobe an honorary. And I have a
very small office, but I'm inthe investment business, so I have another
career as well. But I doa lot of the blocking and tackling,
(05:15):
the handling of people want to knowinformation. I report to the New York
Consulate and send really difficult cases upthere where they have a staff of you
know, two hundred to handle it. But it's three parts. It's you
know, looking after British citizens andBritish people here Commonwealth people. I's trade,
an investment and the most important partis the public relations. Now we're
(05:40):
getting out and talking about Britain tocitizens affilling. Now, of course we're
up against the clock and the question, since its honorary, you don't get
paid, correct, well, no, what you get is a stipend to
allow you to have an office.Ain't nothing like a stipend. So it's
good. I mean you can't write, so you have to be able to
afford job. Okay, So thattells me you got it going on in
(06:01):
that sector. Now, you recentlybecame the honorary Commander of the Order of
the British, the British Empire.You got a title. Can you be
called sir? Not yet? Imean the next title up is called night
of I'm one step below a night. So when the king comes in and
people have to sit in order ofprecedent, the first row of the nights,
(06:26):
I'm right behind them. That's thecommanders and the row behind me would
be the Office of the British Empire, and the row behind them would be
the members of the British Empire.So as we say, I'm at the
table, so you're at the table. So if you had gone abroad,
would you have been invited to thecoronation? I don't think I would have
(06:47):
been invited. I am going overa week after to meet with the people
the coronation itself. This king isvery modern and he reserved eight hundred and
fifty seats for British people who arevery much involved in charities and doing good
work. So what you're going tosee on TV is not just an all
white group for a change. You'regoing to see a multi cultural, multi
(07:10):
racial audience in Westminister. In Westminister, and he has changed the rules for
doing a coronation to the extent thathe's modernized it a lot. Well,
you came to the table prepared.I remember you calling me up when the
first Lady, the then first Lady, Dolma Good was going to roam,
(07:30):
and I sat down with her inher home and gave her the protocol what
she was supposed to wear and whatshe was supposed to do. But not
only that. When she went abroad, a dear friend of mine was a
close friend of the president, andshe loved it. I mean it was
it was. She said, wheredid you find her? And I said,
(07:54):
well, she went to Temple andI'm a Philly girl. So we've
come to my barole office. Yeah, we've come to my favorite part of
the program. It's called what isPhiladelphia Reading? So here are the questions,
and the responses are sweet and short. Suck it. What book are
you reading? The Odyssey of PhillisWheetley. First book you read? A
(08:15):
book of poems by Lengths and Hughes. Best book you've read, Souls of
Black Folks. Worst book you've read. I can't really think of the worst
book. They're all good, allthe words I read. A buyer a
barrow, a borrower now used tobe a buyer. What books should everyone
have in their library? The Soulsof Black Folks and beloved fiction or not
(08:37):
fiction? Fiction? You have aliterary dinner named three people from the literary
community. You must have Billis Wheatley, James Baldwin, and Tony Morrison.
If you read a book about yourlife, it would be the title How
I Got over woo. I knowwhat that means. Thank you, Oliver,
and we'll be looking at you.Thank you, and of course I'll
(08:58):
be looking to be invited to someregal evente. The minute we get a
royal in town, You're going tobe on the front. Bro. Thank
you so much, Vanesse. Ireally appreciate it as always, continue to
read, buy a book and havea blessed day. This is VLS Journeys
and that was Vaness Lloyd's gumbody.I'm Lorraine Ballard. Tomorrow we'll have more
insight after these messages. Do youknow who you're going to choose from mayor?
(09:46):
Do you want a mayor whose priorityis our children? Watch the Kids
Campaign conversations with some of the topcontenders on the w DA ASK Facebook page
live on Monday May eighth, atfive pm
Good morning and welcome to Insight,I show about empowering our community. I'm
Lorraine Ballard Marl and as she doesonce a month every month, we are
joined by Vaness Lloyd's Gambadi, thefounder of the African American Children's Book Project
and the Book Fair, as wellas being a literary publicist and world traveler.
(00:20):
Vanessa always a pleasure, well tosee, a pleasure to be here.
This is May. It feels likefall. I even had to cut
back on my heat. I'm justnot willing to freeze. But before we
get down to business, a shoutout to my niece who's living her best
life like going off to Jamaica tocelebrate her birthday and happy Mother's Day in
advance to all our listeners and mysisters Brenda, Michelle, Karen and Ramona,
(00:44):
who my mother Helen ainez Bets wouldbe very proud of. And of
course you Lorraine, the mother ofpublic service. So everyone was a busy
month for me. And again thanksto my WDYZ family, DC, Lorraine,
Patty, Frankie and Mimi who keepsmy dance party going on Saturday night.
Also shout out to Jody and Beckythe real Becky and all the mothering
folks in the listening audience. NowBLS Journeys is a segment about books,
(01:10):
travel and entertainment. So I kickedoff the month with a trip to New
York on May first. No,I didn't go to the met Ball,
but that was secondary to the opportunityto go to a preview of Carl Lagerfel,
a line of beauty which is producedby the Constitum Institutes at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. In my formerlife, I was a fashion journalist for
(01:30):
the Rome Daily American Rome Daily News. I covered the Italian couture and ready
to wear collection of some of thebiggest fashion houses in the world. I
even interviewed Armani, Versacei, LarviaJolti, and of course Carl Lagerfel,
a host of Fendi's and Gucci's.So I was great to be back into
space. The streets are all talkingabout the ball. Who when who didn't
(01:52):
go? When you don't get invited, you don't tell anybody you didn't get
invited. So the ball helps tofinance the Costume Institute, and this is
something that everybody in the listening audiencecan participate in and I'll tell you about
that in a second, because thetickets go for fifty thousand dollars. But
the preview was all that in abag of chips. When you go to
the preview, I have to metit's the question is what do you wear?
(02:15):
Leave those LV bags at home,Do not walk in there. Channel's
were running rampant. Anything that waschannel, from handbags to accessories and of
course clothing. And the thing thatI really enjoyed about the exhibit was that
Carl larger Felt was keeping it real. When you walk into the exhibit,
you see this chaotic desk was theway Andrew Bolton describe it. But it
(02:38):
was a high ghetto mess and itwas books and things, just stuff piled
on top of each other. Herecreated that desk, but he also had
a can of diet coat because apparentlyhe drank that like it was water.
And they're over two hundred amazing piecesin the collection. And Carl lager Felt,
for some of you who don't know, really is the person who recreates
(03:01):
Chanel and for some of us inthe you know as working class folks.
He's now at macy as Carl largerFilm. And the thing that I really
really enjoyed about the exhibit is thatit reminded me of my mother that a
well made garment never goes out ofstall. And the exhibit runs from May
fifth to July sixteenth. If you'rea New Jersey resident, you pay what
(03:23):
you want to pay for all theothers who are not New Jersey and New
York residence is twenty dollars, Sodefinitely go and check this out. I'm
keeping you on the road this summer, so every month, I'm going to
give you something that you can do. But I didn't get a chance to
go across the pond, so Icouldn't go across the pond, so I
went as close as I could possiblyget, and that would be Oliver Saint
(03:46):
Clair Franklin, who is the HonoraryCounsel to Great Britain. Thank you for
coming in a lot of people,thank you so much for having me.
A lot of people say I knowthat name. You will affiliate with the
Black Writers Conference, right, theBlack Film Festival, and you were at
one time the Deputy City represented forArts and culture. Now we got a
(04:08):
lot under Wilson Good Yes, wegot a lot to cover. So how
did you get selected the Honorary Council. Well, I went to Lincoln University,
I graduated from there, and thenat my grad school, I went
to Oxford University. And while Iwas at Oxford University, I made a
lot of relationships with British people,and as we moved up in our careers,
I kept in touch, going backand forth. They'd come and visit
(04:30):
me. And when the position becameopen in Philadelphia, they suggested that I
should certainly apply for the position,which I did and I was very fortunate
to get it. Now tell mesomething. I lived abroad and the Council,
the consulate as it is officially called, as a very important part of
a day to day life of anexpatriate living abroad. And so you're honorary.
(04:55):
So what's the difference between you anda regular consulate. Well, the
and is an honorary is really acitizen of the host country. So you
have to be a US citizen tobe an honorary. And I have a
very small office, but I'm inthe investment business, so I have another
career as well. But I doa lot of the blocking and tackling,
(05:15):
the handling of people want to knowinformation. I report to the New York
Consulate and send really difficult cases upthere where they have a staff of you
know, two hundred to handle it. But it's three parts. It's you
know, looking after British citizens andBritish people here Commonwealth people. I's trade,
an investment and the most important partis the public relations. Now we're
(05:40):
getting out and talking about Britain tocitizens affilling. Now, of course we're
up against the clock and the question, since its honorary, you don't get
paid, correct, well, no, what you get is a stipend to
allow you to have an office.Ain't nothing like a stipend. So it's
good. I mean you can't write, so you have to be able to
afford job. Okay, So thattells me you got it going on in
(06:01):
that sector. Now, you recentlybecame the honorary Commander of the Order of
the British, the British Empire.You got a title. Can you be
called sir? Not yet? Imean the next title up is called night
of I'm one step below a night. So when the king comes in and
people have to sit in order ofprecedent, the first row of the nights,
(06:26):
I'm right behind them. That's thecommanders and the row behind me would
be the Office of the British Empire, and the row behind them would be
the members of the British Empire.So as we say, I'm at the
table, so you're at the table. So if you had gone abroad,
would you have been invited to thecoronation? I don't think I would have
(06:47):
been invited. I am going overa week after to meet with the people
the coronation itself. This king isvery modern and he reserved eight hundred and
fifty seats for British people who arevery much involved in charities and doing good
work. So what you're going tosee on TV is not just an all
white group for a change. You'regoing to see a multi cultural, multi
(07:10):
racial audience in Westminister. In Westminister, and he has changed the rules for
doing a coronation to the extent thathe's modernized it a lot. Well,
you came to the table prepared.I remember you calling me up when the
first Lady, the then first Lady, Dolma Good was going to roam,
(07:30):
and I sat down with her inher home and gave her the protocol what
she was supposed to wear and whatshe was supposed to do. But not
only that. When she went abroad, a dear friend of mine was a
close friend of the president, andshe loved it. I mean it was
it was. She said, wheredid you find her? And I said,
(07:54):
well, she went to Temple andI'm a Philly girl. So we've
come to my barole office. Yeah, we've come to my favorite part of
the program. It's called what isPhiladelphia Reading? So here are the questions,
and the responses are sweet and short. Suck it. What book are
you reading? The Odyssey of PhillisWheetley. First book you read? A
(08:15):
book of poems by Lengths and Hughes. Best book you've read, Souls of
Black Folks. Worst book you've read. I can't really think of the worst
book. They're all good, allthe words I read. A buyer a
barrow, a borrower now used tobe a buyer. What books should everyone
have in their library? The Soulsof Black Folks and beloved fiction or not
(08:37):
fiction? Fiction? You have aliterary dinner named three people from the literary
community. You must have Billis Wheatley, James Baldwin, and Tony Morrison.
If you read a book about yourlife, it would be the title How
I Got over woo. I knowwhat that means. Thank you, Oliver,
and we'll be looking at you.Thank you, and of course I'll
(08:58):
be looking to be invited to someregal evente. The minute we get a
royal in town, You're going tobe on the front. Bro. Thank
you so much, Vanesse. Ireally appreciate it as always, continue to
read, buy a book and havea blessed day. This is VLS Journeys
and that was Vaness Lloyd's gumbody.I'm Lorraine Ballard. Tomorrow we'll have more
insight after these messages. Do youknow who you're going to choose from mayor?
(09:46):
Do you want a mayor whose priorityis our children? Watch the Kids
Campaign conversations with some of the topcontenders on the w DA ASK Facebook page
live on Monday May eighth, atfive pm
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