December 20, 2024 • 9 mins
I recently had the privilege of speaking with a group of middle school young men, each dressed impeccably in suits and ties. They are members of a remarkable mentoring program called Distinguished Young Gentlemen, which focuses on teaching courtesy, life lessons, and so much more. Their commitment to personal growth and excellence is truly inspiring.
Distinguished Young Gentlemen
Distinguished Young Gentlemen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballart Morrow. Some months ago I
aired an interview with the Yates family, mom, Rochelle Yeats Whittington,
and brothers Tony Yates and Malcolm Yates. They lost five
year old Marcus Yates in nineteen eighty eight in a
(00:20):
shooting that galvanized the city at a time when the
murder of a child still had the power to shock
over Thirty five years later, in a journey of healing,
the family decided they wanted to speak with the two
men sentenced to life for the murder of Marcus, Michael
Gaynor and Mike Johnson. What they discovered, and they now
(00:41):
believed strongly, is that Michael Gaynor was innocent and not
even present when the crime was committed. The family is
now dedicated to supporting the overturning of what they believe
was a miscarriage of justice. Fast forward to now, when
Barbara Laker, investigative report for The Inquirer, wrote a six
(01:02):
part series that uncovers police misconduct and other factors that
make the case powerfully that what occurred was a wrongful conviction.
I speak to Barbara about the series. But first we're
re airing an interview with some amazing young men and
their mentors. I have the special privilege of hosting a
(01:25):
group of very handsome and distinguished young men. In fact,
this is an organization called Distinguished Young Gentlemen. And joining
us in the studio are the distinguished Young Gentlemen. Tell
us who you are, what's your name and how old
are you?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
My name is Sofie Sally and I'm thirteen.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Years old, okay, And tell us about the distinguished young gentlemen.
Who are you?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
The Distinguished Young Gentleman is a very special organization that
teaches young men as myself and a few of my
friends to learn etiquette across the board and how to
treat people, and learn how to things out without struggling,
and learn how to live without trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It helps you stay on the right track. Yes, that's awesome,
and I have to this is radio, so obviously you
can't see these young men, but they are all dressed
in suits and ties and they look amazing and I
will be sharing on social media exactly what they look like.
But what I'm going to do is I'm going to
ask each of you to tell us your name and
(02:26):
how old you are, and what your dream? What job
would you like to have or what is your dream?
What is your goal in life? So I'll start with you.
You already said your name and how old you are?
So what is your dream? What do you want to
First of all, you're very tall. I guess I'm not
the first person to tell you that you look a
lot older than thirteen, but I'm I'm delighted that you're
(02:49):
doing this at thirteen. And so where do you want
to go from here? What are your ambitions?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I would like to be my own business owner and
you know, being at Channel six news, the other you know,
radio station, movies at I would like to be a spokesperson.
I would like to do things like that.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Okay, very good. He's handsome and very tellogenic, so that's
very possible. All right, So let's move down and talk
to some of the other folks. So, who else wants
to go? You do next?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
My name is Shire Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I'm ten years old.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
My goal is I want to be a firefire because
I want to help people.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love that that. It's beautiful. Okay, great, thank you.
Who's next? Hi?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
My name is Jerry Scott and I'm eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Own a car dealership because I like cars.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
My name is Logan and I would like to be
a firefighter.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I'll do you. I am ten years old, okay. Continue.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I want to help people out instead of just letting
him be alone, because one they need somebody else to
help them out because they're young.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I love that you're never too young to help. What's
your name? And held of you? And what do you like?
My name is Prince.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And I like to be a soccer player.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
My name is key IMF is Donald McCaw. I'm ten
years old. I want to be a football player or
a scientist.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Hi. My name is now Brown. I'm eleven years old.
My goal in life, the future life is to make
it to the NBA.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
My name is Cassio Bna.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I'm eleven years old and I want to be a chef. Hello.
My name is khalifh Jamal Wilder And when I grow older,
I would like to be an engineer because when you're
an engineer, you have to do a lot of math,
and one of my favorite subjects is math.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
How old are you?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I'm eleven years old?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, excellent. Hi, my name is Hoddy Everbrooks.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I would like to be as I'm eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I would like to be scientist and an engineer. Okay,
very good. My name is Lance Epps.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I'm thirteen years old and I'm my plan has become
mayor for Philly.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Fantastic, you heard it here first.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
My name is Jim Francois.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I want to be a judge so I can say
if someone is it's going to jail, so we can
make the world safe.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That's great. How old are you? Eight?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Eight?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Okay, very good? Making the world safe? I love that. Okay,
do anyone of the grown ups want to say something?
Speaker 5 (05:13):
My name is Gordon Stuart Harrison. I am a Board
of Education on volunteer. I volunteer with mister Fraser with
this wonderful group of d YG distinguished all right, and
it's uh. It is a special feeling to be able
to pour into these young men and see what mister
(05:36):
Fraser and I have given them, and to see it
unfold in front of us when we're out to dinner
and when we're on trips and here at WDAS Radio.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Thank you for having us love that. If people want
more information, about Distinguished Young Gentlemen? How do they find
out more? Tell us who you are.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
My name is Dwayne Eric Fraser. I'm a retired Philadelphia
fire Friday and I'm a school team at Lewis C.
Cassidy Elementary School. The Distinguished Young Gentleman is a nonprofit organization.
It's an after school program where we're teaching the boys
male etiquette, how to have self respect, how to treat ladies,
(06:17):
how to become productive citizens. And that's our goal.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
How long have you been around?
Speaker 5 (06:22):
For three years?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
We meet every Thursday from two fifteen to four o'clock.
My goal is that this would be placed in every
school in the city.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
That's the goal.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
We have a weekend retreat that we take the boys out.
We meet usually it's about twenty to twenty five boys.
We have about ten to twelve male chaperones and we
pour into them for a weekend. That's coming up August ninth.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And if people want more information about Distinguished Young Gentlemen,
and if they want to volunteer or maybe be a
part of the program, how do they do that?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Were on Facebook look up Thistinglish Young Gentlemen. Our website
isn't up chest yet. But you can we just through Facebook.
Distinguished young gentlemen on Facebook fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well, I want to thank you all for coming by.
Very impressive. You're all so handsome and so well spoken,
and clearly you are all distinguished young gentlemen. You've done
a great job in supporting these young men to be
everything that they need to be and they want to be.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I thank you.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
We'll have more insight after these messages.
Speaker 6 (08:26):
Adopt Us Kids Presents. What do you expect when you're
expecting a teenager learning the lingo?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Goat GA t acronym stands for greatest of all time,
as in spaghetti sandwiches for dinner. They're my fabe, Dad,
You're the goat.
Speaker 6 (08:43):
You don't have to speak teen to be a perfect parent.
Thousands of teens in foster care will love you. Dress
the same. Visit adopt us Kids dot org, brought to
you by the US Department of Health and Human Services
adopt Us Kids in the ad Council.
Speaker 7 (08:56):
Tom has been to teach you for over forty years.
One day, I think one of the students had asked
the question and he didn't remember the answer, and I
also noticed that he was letting his class out earlier
than they were supposed to let out. I was really
starting to worry.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Levi and I talked about how it would change our lives,
but he was there beside me.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
When something feels different, it could be Alzheimer's. Now is
the time to talk.
Speaker 6 (09:19):
Visit alz dot org slash our stories to learn more.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
A message from the Alzheimer's Association and the AD Council
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballart Morrow. Some months ago I
aired an interview with the Yates family, mom, Rochelle Yeats Whittington,
and brothers Tony Yates and Malcolm Yates. They lost five
year old Marcus Yates in nineteen eighty eight in a
(00:20):
shooting that galvanized the city at a time when the
murder of a child still had the power to shock
over Thirty five years later, in a journey of healing,
the family decided they wanted to speak with the two
men sentenced to life for the murder of Marcus, Michael
Gaynor and Mike Johnson. What they discovered, and they now
(00:41):
believed strongly, is that Michael Gaynor was innocent and not
even present when the crime was committed. The family is
now dedicated to supporting the overturning of what they believe
was a miscarriage of justice. Fast forward to now, when
Barbara Laker, investigative report for The Inquirer, wrote a six
(01:02):
part series that uncovers police misconduct and other factors that
make the case powerfully that what occurred was a wrongful conviction.
I speak to Barbara about the series. But first we're
re airing an interview with some amazing young men and
their mentors. I have the special privilege of hosting a
(01:25):
group of very handsome and distinguished young men. In fact,
this is an organization called Distinguished Young Gentlemen. And joining
us in the studio are the distinguished Young Gentlemen. Tell
us who you are, what's your name and how old
are you?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
My name is Sofie Sally and I'm thirteen.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Years old, okay, And tell us about the distinguished young gentlemen.
Who are you?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
The Distinguished Young Gentleman is a very special organization that
teaches young men as myself and a few of my
friends to learn etiquette across the board and how to
treat people, and learn how to things out without struggling,
and learn how to live without trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It helps you stay on the right track. Yes, that's awesome,
and I have to this is radio, so obviously you
can't see these young men, but they are all dressed
in suits and ties and they look amazing and I
will be sharing on social media exactly what they look like.
But what I'm going to do is I'm going to
ask each of you to tell us your name and
(02:26):
how old you are, and what your dream? What job
would you like to have or what is your dream?
What is your goal in life? So I'll start with you.
You already said your name and how old you are?
So what is your dream? What do you want to
First of all, you're very tall. I guess I'm not
the first person to tell you that you look a
lot older than thirteen, but I'm I'm delighted that you're
(02:49):
doing this at thirteen. And so where do you want
to go from here? What are your ambitions?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I would like to be my own business owner and
you know, being at Channel six news, the other you know,
radio station, movies at I would like to be a spokesperson.
I would like to do things like that.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Okay, very good. He's handsome and very tellogenic, so that's
very possible. All right, So let's move down and talk
to some of the other folks. So, who else wants
to go? You do next?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
My name is Shire Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I'm ten years old.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
My goal is I want to be a firefire because
I want to help people.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love that that. It's beautiful. Okay, great, thank you.
Who's next? Hi?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
My name is Jerry Scott and I'm eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Own a car dealership because I like cars.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
My name is Logan and I would like to be
a firefighter.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I'll do you. I am ten years old, okay. Continue.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I want to help people out instead of just letting
him be alone, because one they need somebody else to
help them out because they're young.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I love that you're never too young to help. What's
your name? And held of you? And what do you like?
My name is Prince.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And I like to be a soccer player.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
My name is key IMF is Donald McCaw. I'm ten
years old. I want to be a football player or
a scientist.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Hi. My name is now Brown. I'm eleven years old.
My goal in life, the future life is to make
it to the NBA.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
My name is Cassio Bna.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I'm eleven years old and I want to be a chef. Hello.
My name is khalifh Jamal Wilder And when I grow older,
I would like to be an engineer because when you're
an engineer, you have to do a lot of math,
and one of my favorite subjects is math.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
How old are you?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I'm eleven years old?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, excellent. Hi, my name is Hoddy Everbrooks.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I would like to be as I'm eleven years old.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I would like to be scientist and an engineer. Okay,
very good. My name is Lance Epps.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I'm thirteen years old and I'm my plan has become
mayor for Philly.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Fantastic, you heard it here first.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
My name is Jim Francois.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I want to be a judge so I can say
if someone is it's going to jail, so we can
make the world safe.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
That's great. How old are you? Eight?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Eight?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Okay, very good? Making the world safe? I love that. Okay,
do anyone of the grown ups want to say something?
Speaker 5 (05:13):
My name is Gordon Stuart Harrison. I am a Board
of Education on volunteer. I volunteer with mister Fraser with
this wonderful group of d YG distinguished all right, and
it's uh. It is a special feeling to be able
to pour into these young men and see what mister
(05:36):
Fraser and I have given them, and to see it
unfold in front of us when we're out to dinner
and when we're on trips and here at WDAS Radio.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Thank you for having us love that. If people want
more information, about Distinguished Young Gentlemen? How do they find
out more? Tell us who you are.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
My name is Dwayne Eric Fraser. I'm a retired Philadelphia
fire Friday and I'm a school team at Lewis C.
Cassidy Elementary School. The Distinguished Young Gentleman is a nonprofit organization.
It's an after school program where we're teaching the boys
male etiquette, how to have self respect, how to treat ladies,
(06:17):
how to become productive citizens. And that's our goal.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
How long have you been around?
Speaker 5 (06:22):
For three years?
Speaker 4 (06:23):
We meet every Thursday from two fifteen to four o'clock.
My goal is that this would be placed in every
school in the city.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
That's the goal.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
We have a weekend retreat that we take the boys out.
We meet usually it's about twenty to twenty five boys.
We have about ten to twelve male chaperones and we
pour into them for a weekend. That's coming up August ninth.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And if people want more information about Distinguished Young Gentlemen,
and if they want to volunteer or maybe be a
part of the program, how do they do that?
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Were on Facebook look up Thistinglish Young Gentlemen. Our website
isn't up chest yet. But you can we just through Facebook.
Distinguished young gentlemen on Facebook fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well, I want to thank you all for coming by.
Very impressive. You're all so handsome and so well spoken,
and clearly you are all distinguished young gentlemen. You've done
a great job in supporting these young men to be
everything that they need to be and they want to be.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I thank you.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
We'll have more insight after these messages.
Speaker 6 (08:26):
Adopt Us Kids Presents. What do you expect when you're
expecting a teenager learning the lingo?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Goat GA t acronym stands for greatest of all time,
as in spaghetti sandwiches for dinner. They're my fabe, Dad,
You're the goat.
Speaker 6 (08:43):
You don't have to speak teen to be a perfect parent.
Thousands of teens in foster care will love you. Dress
the same. Visit adopt us Kids dot org, brought to
you by the US Department of Health and Human Services
adopt Us Kids in the ad Council.
Speaker 7 (08:56):
Tom has been to teach you for over forty years.
One day, I think one of the students had asked
the question and he didn't remember the answer, and I
also noticed that he was letting his class out earlier
than they were supposed to let out. I was really
starting to worry.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Levi and I talked about how it would change our lives,
but he was there beside me.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
When something feels different, it could be Alzheimer's. Now is
the time to talk.
Speaker 6 (09:19):
Visit alz dot org slash our stories to learn more.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
A message from the Alzheimer's Association and the AD Council
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