August 11, 2025 • 59 mins
Episode Notes My guests include LaTricea Adams, founder and president of Young, Gifted and Green. They are an environmental justice organization that influences policy change through political advocacy, mentorship, and training. We recently heard that 24 MSCS schools were found with excessive amounts of lead in the water. She explains the dangers of lead exposure and what needs to happen to keep students safe. Next, Rise Memphis empowers people to become self-sufficient by building and sustaining human and financial assets. Their executive director Malcom Rawls explains how they do that and why it’s so important. Finally, the City of West Memphis is on the rise in a very big way. I ask their Mayor, Marco McClendon to share the latest projects and how they got one of the biggest travel center franchises in the country! That and more both on air and online Monday, 6 pm on 91.7 WYXR. Also, the wyxr app, TuneIn, Facebook Live, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. It’s time to talk!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What an awesome little bring you up to speed what
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Speaker 3 (01:10):
And here we go.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Here we go on this Monday evening, a warm one
in the city. It is the eleventh day of August
twenty twenty five, which means it is time, ladies and gentlemen,
six o'clock straight up for another live and all new
edition of Real Talk Memphis. Glad to be here this evening.
Glad to have you out there if you are actually here,
(01:35):
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(01:59):
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Speaker 3 (02:51):
How about that? There you go, So that's how you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Find us and what we're doing and hanging around on
around here on a Monday evening. In terms of our guests,
my first guest in just a few minutes. Her name
is Latricia Adams. She is the founder, CEO, and president
of an organization, an environmental organization called Young.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Gifted and Green.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
We are going to be talking a little bit about lead.
Many of you checked out the news you saw that
twenty four schools within the Memphis and Chevy County School
District have elevated levels of lead in their water. So
we're gonna talk with her a little bit about that
and about how dangerous it is in reference to lead
(03:36):
and situations such as that. So stay tuned for that.
That's just coming up in just a couple of minutes.
A little bit later on, will be speaking with Malcolm Rawls.
Malcolm is the executive director of Rise Memphis and they're
an organization that wants to encourage uplift and get folks
on the road to financial independence. And he's going to
(03:58):
talk about his organization. There a big event coming up
soon and we will hear about that from him and
a little bit later on in the broadcast. You know
that bridge that connects us with West with Arkansas. Well,
the folks in West Memphis are doing big things, I
mean big things, and it's time for a check up,
ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to have the West Memphis mayor.
(04:21):
His name is Marco McClinton. He will be joining us
in the second half hour of the show to talk
to us about You may have heard about the water
park and and they have one of the largest, one
of the largest facilities in terms of I don't know,
I don't know what you call it exactly, but let
me just put it this way. It's a very big
(04:44):
facility and it begins with a B. Well, we'll fill
you in on all of that a little bit later
on in the broadcast, But first things first, on this
eleventh day of August, the many of you are celebrating
a birthday, or some of you had birthday celebrations over
the week, you know, maybe even coming up this week. Well,
this is the time of the broadcast where we dedicated
(05:06):
to you. We give you the shout out, We let
you make you feel good about being alive and being
around for one more year. And I can't do that
until I say hit it brand, all right, Happy birthday,
going out to the following. Nick Mills celebrating his birthday today.
Happy birthday, Sir Jim Brown, Happy birthday to you. Kim
(05:28):
Owen celebrating today, Pamela Junior, Happy birthday to you. Happy
birthday to Anita Taylor, to Mary Singleton, Happy birthday Beth
Andy Williams celebrating on this eleventh day of the month.
So hala ko who actually I know she's celebrating her
birthday today, and happy birthday Sayler and Jonathan ahearn is
(05:51):
celebrating his birthday today.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Now I don't see Lola sauntering over to the MICC.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
No birthday is coming from her today, But from all
of us here at Real Talk, Memphis Peop, wish you
a happy birthday. We hope that this day has been
filled with fun and laughter, and we also hope that
we are here with you next year to celebrate your
next trip around the sun.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Thanks Brah.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
All right, let's get into some news and notes. There
was a ruling today in the injunction case regarding former
Superintendent of Education Marie Fagins. Doctor Marie Fins. She had
a preliminary injunction filed that would have put her back
(06:35):
in charge of the Memphison Sheby County School District. Plet's
pay her back pay well. A judge denied that motion
today that would have her back in her seat immediately.
And of course, she alleged in this injunction that memphiship
In Chevy County School's board members had met secretly before
(06:59):
the January vote that terminated her contract and installed interim
Superintended Roger Richmond, where she lost the injunction.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
However, the trial will go on.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I don't know when the child starts between her and
Mefferson Chevy County Schools, but that will continue. And would
she have a chance in that with both sides popping
up motions? Yeah, probably so the judge said, you know,
she might have a case, but in reference to this
particular injunction, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So we'll have to wait and see how the trial
lays out.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Twenty four Memphison Chevy County schools have reported lead excessive
levels of lead in the water at the schools. Now
all the effective schools obviously have been notified and they
are now all using bottled water for the faculty and
the staff and the students. Kids don't drink a lot
of water, but of course folks on the faculty, I'm
(07:55):
sure that they do as the day goes by as well.
Twenty four schools seems like a lot to me. Now
as a whole, in the total of schools in the district,
maybe not, but twenty four schools, that's a lot. And
lead poisoning is a serious deal that can cause some
very serious damage, not only to adults, but to children
(08:16):
as well. And we'll be talking with Thetricia Adams about
that in just a few minutes. The city of Memphis
held a wonderful celebration of life earlier this morning at
a public memorial commemorating the life of Fred Smith. That
(08:37):
happened at the FedEx Forum today would have been in
his eighty first birthday, by the way, and there were
just there were thousands of people that showed up, and
everyone talked about how important a man he was and
what he did not only with FedEx, but just in
the general nature of our city and making our community better.
So it was a wonderful, wonderful send off for him today.
(09:01):
And uh, you know, you may have heard that there
was a proposal laid out last week for by a
construction group for a future home of the Shelby County
Jail complex. They proposed it at a committee meeting of
(09:23):
the County commissioners last week. Said that it would be
a three phase project that would include the men's jail,
the women's jail, and juvenile court, and it would cost
anywhere from nine hundred million to one point three billion dollars.
The proposed site that they had in mind was over
in New Chicago at of course, the old Firestone Plant.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
A lot of you.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Native Memphians know about the know about that, know about
the plant. It's been, it was, it was, it was
very very big at one time around here. Now of
course it's been clothes has been down for what decades,
decades and decades. There's seventy one acres out there that
they could use and that they brought up. Well, now
(10:10):
all of this is starting to percolate here in the
community and people are starting to starting to bubble up
a little bit about this. Oh, I don't know, you know,
North Memphis again and this and that and the whole
nine yards and we don't want it over here, and
why they have to put it over here. Well, first
of all, nobody said they were gonna put it over there.
That's the first thing. This was a proposal, Okay, a
(10:31):
first proposal too the County Commission, just to give them
something to think about. This is not gonna happen overnight.
This is gonna take quite a while for this to develop.
But how do you feel about that? Do you think
that a new jail complex would be okay? Or over
in that part of town? Over there would bring new
construction obviously, might bring new businesses, restaurants, and a lot
(10:55):
of other things that people would need over in that
part of town that has pretty much been the minutes
for a very very long time. So that's the story
that could have some legs as we moved further down
the road.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And one more thing.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Remember, the County Commission was looking at changing the election
cycle for the memphisis Shelby County school Board and moving
it to next year's election cycle, which is twenty twenty six. Now,
the folks who were electing twenty twenty four would actually
if they passed that, they would actually lose two years
(11:27):
on their urn. Well guess what. They sort of put
it back into committee after last week's debate. Well, guess
what they're bringing it out of committee tonight, and they're
gonna have a conversation about it this evening. It will
be I heard it was the last thing on the agenda. Well,
of course it was, so we don't know how that's
gonna shake out, but yeah, they're going to talk about this,
(11:48):
whether or not they are going to move this election cycle,
you know, for the school board into the county election cycle,
which was next year. Now, there was another referendum that
one of the other county commissioners, Erica Sugarman, put on
the table, which basically said, well, less allow the ones
(12:08):
who were elected in twenty four to keep their full term,
which would mean they would be up in twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Meanwhile, that's half the board.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
The other half of the board was elected in twenty two,
so their election cycle is going to be up in
twenty twenty six. So what they want to do is
they want to have everybody, you know, kind of all
together here. So the ones who were elected last year
follow me closely, would be up for election in twenty
twenty eight under this new referendum.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
The others would.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Be up for election in twenty twenty six. I'll say
say everybody won, all right, So in twenty twenty eight,
which would be the next election cycle. Everybody on the
school board would be up for a two year term,
which would take us to twenty thirty. And in twenty
thirty then I will consolidate everybody and put them under
(13:02):
the county election cycle. It sounds confusing, right, So we'll
see what happens with this. If there's going to be
a decision one way or another later on this evening,
this should be very interesting. Let us take a break
and when we come back, we're gonna talk about lead
and water. We're gonna talk about lead period, and we're
gonna talk about just why it is so important for
(13:22):
us to understand what that's all about and how we
deal with it. This is real talk, Memphis. I am Chip,
you know who you are. And I see some folks
on the Facebook Live line tonight, Jerry Gardner and Cita
She's on there as well as Mike Harris as well.
So yala, good to see you all. Let's take a break,
We'll be right back. Don't go away.
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It's It's, It's.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
It's and welcome back to Real Talk Memphis on this
beautiful Monday evening in the city.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Chip with you and uh you know we have.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
We found out last week that there were twenty four
schools in the Memphis and Chevy Hunty school system UH
that tested for lead in the water and some excessive
levels of lead in the water. Now we know that
many of the schools were built, you know, a long
time ago.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
And just like some of the houses and some of
the neighborhoods and communities out there that had lead, lead,
base painting, a lot of other things. Well, this is
obviously something that people need to pay attention to because
anything with lead in it is not a good thing.
So that made me invite my first guest this evening.
She's the founder, CEO, and president of Young Gifted and Green.
(16:22):
It is an environmental organization and their leader and their
founder is Ltrecia Adams that she joins me. Now, Lotrecia,
it's good to say you. Welcome to Real Talk Memphis.
How are you well?
Speaker 7 (16:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Thank you for taking the time to be with us
this evening. Okay, so you know this is what you
do for a living. This is this is this is
this is in your wheelhouse. And somebody told me that
when it comes to lead in all situations like this.
You're the expert now, you actually worked in Flint, Michigan.
You remember a few years ago when they had when
(16:56):
that's all anybody was talking about with all the lead
in the water and all the dangers in reference to
all of that.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Didn't you have something to do with that up there? Yeah?
Speaker 8 (17:07):
So, actually, how the organization got started is in the
week the wake of the Flint water crisis. So we
work very closely with the activists that were working on
the ground that looked the miriad of ways. It went
from trying to advocate on the hill while former President
Obama was still in office to door knocking. We used
(17:30):
a lot of strategies in the beginning of the water
crisis that we learned quite a bit from.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Absolutely that and you know, I know that that, like
I said, that had been in the news for a
very very long time and brought real attention to the
dangers of lead, you know, and paint and water. How
important is understanding what that's all about. I want people
to really get an understanding of how serious a situation
(17:57):
this could be.
Speaker 8 (17:59):
Yeah, so that exposure is extremely dangerous any level of lead. Okay,
it could be what's called one part pervilion. There's no
safe level of lead. There's a miroad of ways in
which you can be exposed to lead. In this instance,
this exposure by water. Essentially how water, how lead leaches
(18:21):
into water. It can lead through less service lines, which
we know that we have a significant amount of less
service lines throughout Memphis and Shelby County, as well as
outdated infrastructure like inside of a building. So as you mentioned,
a lot of our schools are really really old. So
(18:43):
once upon a time it was actually legal to make
indoor plumbing like pipes, water fixtures, so at the actual tap.
So in some of these buildings, I mean, it's really old,
and it's a possibility that there could be lead that
is actually leeching at the source or at the tap,
(19:04):
whether that be at the tap when you are in
the restroom, in the kitchen. We've seen some of those
reports as well water fountains. It also includes like sinks
inside of classrooms as well. I'm a former educator, I
once upon a time had a classroom that had a
sink in it. But why this is so so critical
(19:26):
and should be a priority is because lead poisoning is irreversible.
It causes a significant amount of symptoms. From a public
health perspective, particularly children and pregnant people. Pregnant women people
looking to conceive are definitely at a higher risk. There's
(19:47):
also something called body burden or cumulative body burden, meaning
that if you're exposed to lead over time, it accumulates.
Speaker 7 (19:55):
In the body.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
So when lead enters the body, some of it may
come out, It might be excreted through our bodily fluids,
but what does not leave out of the bloodstream is
actually redeposited into the bones. So you talk about children,
if some of the lead goes into their bones, I
mean they could be re released, especially for girls later
(20:18):
on in life as well.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Yeah, that that all sounds pretty critical, And I know
I can be a bit critical sometimes when I talk
about issues like this, But I would have thought that
because many of us who were born here, raised here,
and went to school here, know that some of these
schools have been around for a very long time, that
checking for lead in water would have been something that
(20:41):
might have been done before school started as a preventative measure,
or at least a knowledgeable measure. Maybe I'm wrong in this,
but I just think that isn't this something that I
don't know what your thought process is on this that
maybe we should have looked into before school actually started,
because now we're dealing with twenty four schools.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Uh, you know is a fairly healthy number. Uh.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
But I mean, isn't this something that could have been
at least looked into and maybe, uh, I don't know,
testing for before school started.
Speaker 7 (21:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (21:12):
So typically with the district, their remediation typically starts before
school starts. So you know, I don't want to miss
quote to you know, get an understanding of when their
timeline was. Sure, but it's it's really important to try
to reconcile or fix whatever issues are before children and
(21:33):
teachers are in the building because remember teachers come back
first that too, and children. In addition to that, the
the biggest safety precaution, particularly at this point, is just
to take these water take the water out of commission, right,
So in an instance where you do have elevated levels,
(21:53):
you know, find alternative mechanisms like with bottled water. I
know there has been some reservation with some folks around
the water filtration.
Speaker 7 (22:03):
The thing with water filtration, you have to be on it.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
You have to make sure that you're replacing the filters
in the timely fashion. You also need to make sure
that they are reputable brands that you're using for filters.
So the ideal situation is that they would have already
tested and would have been ready at day one with
you know, the proactive measures to make sure that children
(22:26):
have access to clean water.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Now, to be fair, all of the schools that you
know had reported elevated levels of lead are now using
a bottle water. All those schools are bottle water, and
all of the water faces are off and all of
that kind of stuff. But I just think it's something
that you know, we hear about, but we don't really
talk about, uh and really about the dangers of it
(22:50):
in reference to all of this. Now, you're you're an
environmental group, uh and and and a big part of
what you do is is it monitoring businesses and organizations
groups and things like this. That situation up in Flint,
Michigan was just absolutely I mean, it was almost overwhelming
just to hear about it on a daily basis, But
(23:10):
it really is that the focus of what you all
do as an organization a daily.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
Yeah, so our focus is around lad ports and prevention
and other environmental issues, but lead poison prevention is kind
of our sweet spot, so we do a significant amount
of educational awareness.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
We work with youth.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
We also work with young adults around building their knowledge
and capacity not just understanding some of the harms of
lead poisoning, but also understanding ways that you can use
policy to better prevent lead exposure, ways in which that
you can engage with elected officials. A miread of different
(23:51):
strategies that we use to build capacity with community members
to be knowledgeable. It's almost like the con ex up
with sank kofa. Each one, teach one, reach back and
fetch it, so that we are trying to reach as
many people as possible. And then the other part of
the work that we do. I actually had an opportunity
(24:14):
to work with mayorly Harris at the beginning of his
first term to establish something called the Shelby County Lead
Prevention and Sustainability Commission. So a large role of that
commission is to provide community oversight around the implementation of
the law making it mandatory for testing in school drinking water.
(24:34):
In fact, we actually have a meeting which is very timely,
this Wednesday, so we can really put our heads together
to talk about how can we truly get to a
place where we don't have these instances where lead is
reoccurring in our schools drinking water.
Speaker 9 (24:50):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Have you found that it's almost impossible really to control
this because of and we talked about it earlier, the
age of some of these facilities.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I mean, these schools.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
A lot of these schools have been aroun for a
very very very long time, as do a lot of
some of the historical UH communities in in in Memphis
and Shelby County as well. Is it is it really
kind of an uphill battle? Do you find in in
reference to all of this, just because we're dealing with
UH with a city with aged UH facilities now not
(25:21):
only homes but schools as well.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
Yeah, so there is a bit of optimism. So we
also work in cities outside of Memphis. So for example,
I use Washington d C. So Washington, d C also
has a mandatory law for testing for lead in school
drinking water, and they invested a significant amount of resources
into filtering. Filtering, if done appropriately, is a good mitigation strategy.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Now it is costly.
Speaker 8 (25:54):
So for example, in d C, they you know, in
an instance where there were elevated levels and water sources
inside schools, then they would in turn pay to actually
put those filters on. So there are you know, mechanisms
where you can intervene. I mean, other than that, I mean,
(26:15):
it would be a huge investment if you just completely,
like took out all of the indoor plumbing and started
over like that. I can't even really fathom that on
top of some of the other deferred maintenance issues that
we have besides just issues with drinking water quality. So
filtering is the most ideal way to approach this issue.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
Yeah, there's a lot to obviously, there's a lot to this,
you know, but I think it's important for people to
really realize and understand, as you stated earlier, that lead
is harmful and it could cause some big time issues,
not only in adults, but our babies you know as well,
you know, as they're coming up in situations like this.
(27:02):
The mitigation aspect of it, the filter, the filter filteration
aspect of it. As you said, being honest, that's a
very costly proposition. So in the meantime, what do we
do well, what I mean as a community, you know,
as a city, as a as a county, what do
we do in the meantime, as we are considering, you know,
what to do next about a problem that could be
(27:23):
a serious problem.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (27:25):
So my recommendation is particularly since Shelby County has the
most led poisoned children in the entire state of Tennessee,
even though we have a state statue, right we have
a state law. Because Memphis is so vulnerable, in my opinion,
my recommendation is for us to be a bit more
intentional around the policy. So the way that the state
(27:49):
law is ridden, every single district creates their own policy. Right,
so Memphis Shelby County Schools, the school board can actually
do an amendment to their current policy.
Speaker 7 (27:58):
One.
Speaker 8 (27:59):
The state require school districts to test biannually, so.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
Every other year. I think that the district should test
every year.
Speaker 8 (28:07):
Right. The other thing that's really important there needs to
be an update to our state law because the EPA
released new guidance around the lead and copper rule where
the level of remediation.
Speaker 7 (28:20):
Has been lowered.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
So right now the action level is still a bit
too high.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
So you know, some.
Speaker 8 (28:27):
May ask if it may not be fifteen parts per billion,
it may be ten.
Speaker 7 (28:33):
We still need to know that.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Right.
Speaker 7 (28:36):
The other thing that is.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Really critical is around transparency. What are the test results
for all of the schools, regardless of what the level was,
if it was over or under. I'll use DC for
an example. They post all of their school tests and
results every single source on the website that anyone can access.
I would love to see our district be more transparent
(28:59):
and it will with parents and child advocates.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Not just being in panic mode.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
But the first stuff is just knowing, right, So there
there should be a bit more transparency around what these
tests reveal at each school, regardless of what the level
may be.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Latricia Adams, ladies and gentlemen, she is the founder, CEO,
and president of Young Gifted and Green, this environmental organization
that is trying to keep us all safe. Lo Tricia,
thank you for coming on the show tonight and really
laying things out for us. Lots lots to think about here,
but appreciate the work that you do on a daily basis.
Thank you for coming on. Appreciate it, thank you all right,
(29:40):
take care, thank you. Uh that's that's that's that's good stuff.
But we need to understand that you know, this is
this is the for real deal here, and that of.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Course you need to be due diligent.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Uh, and you need to make sure that you're paying
attention to what your young folks are consuming, especially in
our school system. So a great conversation. Now let's take
a break. When we come back, we will continue on
this Monday ride. We like to call Real Talk Memphis.
I'm Chip, don't go away.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
More to come.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
If you like Real Talk, here's the way you can
get involved. Do you have a show topic, idea or
a suggestion. Want to be considered a guest or have
a guest idea, Then send Chip a message on his
Real Talk show page and you can be a part
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go out and tell somebody, We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
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(31:13):
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(31:33):
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Real Talk with Zip Washington.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
And welcome back to Real Talk, myth on this Monday
evening in the city Chip with you. And we have
another institute your guest, ladies and gentlemen, and we were
talking about this at the top of the show, an
organization called.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Rise Memphis.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I'm sorry, I'm looking around here at this air coming
from someplace and I can't.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Refive something blowing somewhere around here.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
But in any event, uh yeah, but they are an
organization that empowers people to become self sufficient by building
and sustaining human and financial assets. And uh, we're very
fortunate to have their executive director in studio with us.
His name is Malcolm Rawls, and Malcolm, welcome to Real
Talk Memphis. Good to see you man, glad to be here.
(33:40):
Thanks for having me absolutely So as an overview, tell
folks who may not have heard of Rise Memphis what
your organization.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Is all about.
Speaker 9 (33:50):
So, Tim, you you talked about it a little bit,
but Rise Memphis is about financial literacy and financial empowerment
for all Memphians. What we do you we have programming
that touches everybody, whether you're a junior or senior in
high school about to get your first paycheck, to you,
whether you're a senior citizen trying to plan and navigate retirement.
(34:13):
So do we cover the whole gamut of financial literacy.
What we know is a lot of what we get
from financial literacy depend on conversations at the table. What
did you learn from mom and dad? Who's talking about
money at the house And we don't get those, We
don't get those in depth conversations, those strategic plans on
how to navigate and run the household bills. And we
(34:36):
are building community around these conversations about creating generational wealth,
about understanding our credit, about becoming homeowners, how to navigate
all of these things.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
You know you said that during the break ya you
don't hear a lot about this, and there are not
a lot of conversations about this, and this is something
that you're really working hard for people to know and
to understand because we're all growing up young people into
young adults, growing to older adults, and they have to live.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
They have to do this thing called life.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Life is lifeing, but it's important to understand, uh, the
steps involved, especially if you want to be a successful person.
Speaker 9 (35:13):
Correct, that's correct. Too too many times we see uh,
you know, people learning after the fact. You say, life
is life, and life can be a hard teacher. Sometimes
what we want to do is, uh, you know, provide
the wisdom, provide the resources so you don't have to
avoid some of these mistakes. Uh. You know, we talked
about working with seniors in high school how to navigate
(35:36):
when you arrived to college, the scholarship process, the loan process,
and not signing away your credit signing up for a
credit card just for a box of pizza. That was
kind of pitfalls.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
So you're teaching them, I mean, honestly, you're you're really
you're teaching them how to do it properly. When kids
you're talking You talked about, you know, when they get
to a certain age, and they can apply for credit cards. Man,
the eyes getting biggat saucage and uh and and there
are companies out there that that are I'd like to
think that they're sort of predatory lenders. Absolutely, they're looking
for young people. Man, and they press me, send press.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Me right and and and so they send you our
man three hundred dollars credit Oh my god, I got
a credit card.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
And then they just go crazy, that's right, you know.
So how do you teach them to to to moderate?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
How do you teach them uh, to to understand that
not everything that comes your way is a good thing?
Speaker 9 (36:27):
Absolutely so, Uh. The biggest thing in what it ties
in tomorrow with this financial literacy fair.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Yeah, we're gonna talk about that is again not it's.
Speaker 9 (36:36):
Not just not just the budgeting. It's uh, I guess,
understanding and seeing a complete picture of your finances. Most
people think it's you know, clipping q pons or ballotsing
the checkbook, But like I said, it's about understanding, uh,
the system as a whole and being prepared to navigate
that and thrive in this system.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
It's a step by step process.
Speaker 9 (36:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Now this is the is the event that you're did
you mentioned, uh, the little Street event that you're listening
that you talked about tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
What what what? What are you hoping to gain? What
people who are going to participate in all of this,
you know, what are they in for? What? What types
of are things that are they going to learn?
Speaker 9 (37:14):
So what I want, what I want Memphis to get
from this? You come out, you get the resources, you
get the information, but more importantly, you getting the one
on one support. You can go to YouTube, you can
get on these podcasts and they're talking about you know,
general situations. What we have is a team of GMFBC
financial education counselors and they're going to walk you through
(37:37):
this thing one on one. How it works is when
I'm talking about I save a program. You come in
with an asset in mind. What it's home ownership, purchasing
your vehicle, education, and my favorite where we've added entrepreneurship,
the ability to start a business. So you come in,
you go through this common since course. Uh and that's
(37:59):
a final actual education. Four weeks of that with us,
and then we put you with a banking partner and
we create a savings account and we're with you when
I talk about this one on one support.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So this is the partnership from beginning to end.
Speaker 9 (38:11):
It absolutely, it's not no, it's not come in for
a class and get this hand out and gone batch
your way. Good luck. We're with you in this step
by step, one on one.
Speaker 11 (38:23):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (38:23):
The save Up program is two years. So in that
two years, you save up a thousand dollars and at
the end of it, we give you two thousand for
a total of three thousand for that home, for that car,
for that business man.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
Okay, that's that's insensitive and motivation as well as training
at the same time.
Speaker 9 (38:41):
While breaking these cycles of generational poverty. You for two
for two years now you've been putting away. This mindset
carries on in the family. Now the family is a
part of this plan for saving. No, we can't do
McDonald's day. We gotta we gotta go to the house
because we're saving for this. We're building towards this.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
You mentioned a key word in in that in that
last in that last little section there, poverty.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Poverty in Memphis is a big deal.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
And I think that we all know that the poverty
is a is a big uh situation in our city.
A high poverty rate and UH, it filters down. If
they even break it down to adults versus children, it's
even a high poverty rate for children, which I think
is extraordinarily said, which which I'm really excited about the
fact that you're starting. How young is young in terms
(39:31):
of starting the financial aspect of learning.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
We start with fifth grade. We start with fifth grade,
so we have ten eleven years old. And and what's
important is this multi generational approach. So you could be
a kid fifth grade through twelfth grade getting you know,
all these years of financial literacy, financial experience, you know,
budgeting what to do with your paycheck, running a house,
(39:57):
go is not foreign to you. So you have that
opportunity to get that education. And when we talk about
multi generational approaches, so I mentioned the Save Up program.
We currently have a mom. She's she's in her first year,
but she's saving up to get a business. Her daughter
is a junior at one of our MSCs high schools
(40:19):
and she is in the Gold Card program. So we
got mom going through this financial literacy saving up for
her business, while her daughter is right behind her learning
getting the same information, getting ready and prepared to go
to college with a financial plan in mind.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Save up, Save up. Okay, is there is there a
certain amount that they save up?
Speaker 9 (40:39):
So what we do you know, saving is unlimited. But
with us, if you when you once you hit that
save a thousand with us, then we match two thousand
for a total of three thousand.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
So if they save a thousand, correct, then you gonna
match that with two thousand for you.
Speaker 9 (40:55):
Yes, the right. Yeah, that's a big thing. That's right,
And we're there again. We're by your side through this
whole two year process.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Yeah, I mean, so any questions, any any any, any
any anything that they need to know or understand about that.
Speaker 9 (41:08):
They have people dedicated to your unique financial situation.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
How about you guys been around ship.
Speaker 9 (41:14):
We're celebrating twenty five years this year, twenty five years,
twenty five years one of the best kept secrets.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
And I was gonna say, we're gonna we're gonna pull
the cover off for now. You got me?
Speaker 4 (41:23):
After after saying that this is uh, this is an
amazing program. Uh and and and and in reference to
the event that you're having tomorrow, it's that's correct, mam.
Is this any is this a yearly thing? Is the
first time you've done it? If you haven't done it
in a while.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
I mean, how does that going? How's that? Hows that?
Speaker 9 (41:37):
So this is the first time for us. Microsoft obviously
does has a huge footprint in this technology space and
we know with this, you know impenning ail rush and
uh this transition into the technical space. What we wanted
to do is again be curing and be up to
date and how in the resource that we're providing for Memphis.
(41:58):
So we're to partner with them, and what they're doing
is with Microsoft, with Microsoft whereever to partner with Microsoft.
And for those who are not familiar with power b I,
what is this gonna do? It's gonna pair this your budget,
your respective budget. We got a template and kind of
(42:19):
a worksheet that we're gonna go through. Take the time
and let you list it out step by step. Listen
to your budget. And then for the second part, now
we're gonna introduce the power b I And now you
can have this visual picture of what your finances look like. Say,
for instance, you paid off this, you paid off your
recent credit card? Are you paid off your car? Now
(42:41):
what does it look like in this picture with that
payment being closed? And you can see how do I
apply what if I keep making that same payment I
was making for that credit card. What if I put
it in this savings, this investment account, you can immediately
see in real time what that financial pierre looks like.
With this knowledge of power beyond, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
If I hope that you are paying attention to what
we're talking about here, and if you like what you hear,
I hope you're telling other folks about it. Or when
year when you watch this, do you tell folks about
this program? Because I had no idea this is an
amazing program, Malcolm were we're out of time, man, but
thank you for coming, Thank you for being a part.
Thank you for what you're doing. This is a big deal,
uh of my My producer Lola was sitting back. When
(43:28):
you get Lola's attention, she was She was paying attention too.
When when you get her attention, that means you're talking
to you're doing something.
Speaker 12 (43:34):
Man.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Listen, thanks for coming, man. I really have appreciate having you.
Speaker 9 (43:37):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
Absolutely that Malcolm Rawl' ladies and gentleman, Executive director of
Rise Memphis doing big things there in the community. We're
gonna take another breaking when we come back. We will
continue on on Monday ride called Real Talk Memphis. I'm Chip,
Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
If you like Real Talk, here's the way you can
get involved. Do you have a show topic, idea or
a suggestion. Want to be considered a guest or have
a guest idea, Then send Chip a message on his
Real Talk show page and you can be a part
of the Real Talk experience. So as he always says,
go out and tell somebody, We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
It's real, it's real, it's real talk, it's real.
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hit subscribe. Now back to more Real Talk with Chip Washington.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
And welcome back to Real Talk Memphis on a great
Monday evening. I hope that you are enjoying this show
as much as I am this evening. And my next
guest is no stranger uh to us here at Real
Talk Memphis.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Or any of you.
Speaker 4 (46:59):
Uh yeah, you talk about somebody getting stuff done. Uh
this uh this, this young man here the current mayor
of West Memphis, Arkansas. His name is Marco McClinton, and
he joins me. Now he's been on this show before.
And mister Mary is great to see you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
How are you?
Speaker 11 (47:16):
Thank you, Chip, thank you for having me. I'm honored
to be here with you again.
Speaker 4 (47:20):
Man, Listen, I'm I'm honored to have you. Boy, you
talk about some big things that are going on. I
know every time I talk to you in the past,
up until this point, you've always said, boy, we got
some big things going, we got some big things coming,
and a lot is happening. You tease folks here recently
about this water park, proposed water park.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
That you that you're going to have.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
We'll talk about that in a minute, but you have
a huge project that is coming. I think it may
have just broken ground. Tell us a little bit about
something I think a lot of people are aware of.
Speaker 11 (47:55):
Well, you know, we got a lot of projects going on,
so really don't know which.
Speaker 16 (47:58):
One you want to see.
Speaker 3 (47:59):
It begins, it begins with a B.
Speaker 11 (48:02):
All right, Well, I think that may be BUCkies.
Speaker 3 (48:04):
That would be it.
Speaker 11 (48:05):
Yes, ready to come to the city of West Memphis.
Is going to be actually the third largest BUCkies in
the country. Wow, it's gonna be a seventy five thousand
square foot facility with one hundred and forty one gas
pumps and electrical charging stations.
Speaker 16 (48:24):
It's on the second business in the state.
Speaker 11 (48:26):
Travel through the country, which is our forty and fifty five.
You going to Chicago, to New Orleans or La Washington,
at some point you got to come to the city
of West Memphisis It's gonna be definitely good for us,
gonna bring another tax a greater tax base. Yes, this
was going to offer great jobs for the people of
West Memphis surrounding area.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
Yeah, you have to have You're gonna have to have
a lot of folks. Man a building that big that
you just mentioned, and that that's a that is a big, big,
big boon for you as the third largest in the country. Now,
for anybody who's been to the BUCkies, and I have
a couple of them, it's a pretty neat place, it
really is. It is your It is your ultimate one
stop shop, isn't it in terms of I mean you
(49:05):
can buy food there, you can buy groceries there, you
can get gas there. You can do a whole lot
of things there as well.
Speaker 16 (49:11):
Right, you know, Bucket it's a cult following.
Speaker 11 (49:14):
You know, you walk in, you see kids ain't grown
up in the Buckey outfits. I mean, it's just totally different.
Some may say it's a big gas station. FACS can
guarantee you is much.
Speaker 16 (49:24):
More than that. Oh yes, sir, I guarantee you none.
Speaker 11 (49:27):
That I've been introduced to it in the time I'm
out and around the country and I'm near one, I
definitely have to stop. And then, like I said, you know,
I was looking at some def of very strategic for
West Memphis. If you got an interstate that got ninety
thousand vehicles coming through yes city that day, you have
an opportunity to get through calls up the interstate to
stop them, to spend money in your city, which is
(49:48):
going to generate taxes for your city so you can
take other people out of your city. And they are
predicting to bring one hundred thousand people a week to
West Memphis.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
Wow, that's huge. That's huge. That's huge, big time. Congratulations
on that. Lay out some of the other projects that
you have going on across the bridge, my friend.
Speaker 16 (50:06):
Well, definitely.
Speaker 11 (50:06):
You know, we proved the tax back in November, a
onceience tax that was good for our community that were
going to address quality of life, public safety, and infrastructure right.
And you know, during the quality of life part, we
were able to be a brand new empathy of the
right in the heart of our city at High Tower Park,
(50:27):
which is great as well as we was able to
build were starting to be an aqualit center with a
six with an eight lane competition pool and a therapy pool,
as well as a UH recreational center that's gonna have
six basketball size courts that's interchangeable to pickleball, volleyball, gymnastics, uh,
(50:50):
anything that you want in there. As well as we're
going to build a brand new police department that's been
in an old bank building in our city for so
long and a new forestation is gonna be the whole
the apparatus that the new Barmans have to have in
that line of business after infrastructure works. So yeah, those
things are pretty big that's going on. It's gonna change
the internal infrastructure. But also West Memphis right now is
(51:14):
on the cusse closing the deal with Epic waters and Resorts.
Every has an NFL size indoor water part, are you serious? Yeah,
for the five hundred room hotel adjacent to it with
a big outdoor lagoon that show water shows on the basis,
(51:35):
as well as a new four new restaurants, and you
know one of the restaurants that have been rumored to
be coming is Papa Doos, So that's definitely gonna.
Speaker 16 (51:48):
Be big for us. Yeah, that's gonna be major.
Speaker 11 (51:51):
Then on top of it, I'm sure you all have
heard about well, let me tell the recreation right now,
we gotta be a mixed big pump track, gonna be
the largest pump track, BikeE punk track in the country.
It's gonna be connected to our big River Cross and
our Doune some limited across where everyone racked their back
and wall. So they're gonna be major, major competitions coming
here that's gonna be exposed in our city to the world.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
And you know.
Speaker 16 (52:18):
Major that's getting ready to happen right now.
Speaker 11 (52:20):
Have you really bout our big Dalla Center that're getting
ready to announce on the twenty fourth of this month.
You Uh, it's the big it's the biggest uh investment
in this in the state of Arkansas. It's a six
billion dollar investment. And that happens to be the g word.
Speaker 16 (52:40):
You know.
Speaker 11 (52:41):
Uh, it's gonna be major for our community. A lot
of stings that Memphis have been experiencing with x AI,
we don't have ny of that. You know, we have
a zero and I mean zero gas turnbines.
Speaker 9 (52:53):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (52:54):
We already worked out a deal with letting them allow
them to use our wastewater coming through our wastewater treatment
in the use of watching North effect on our water
in northfact, on our utility energy in West Memphis boats
to go on the service, so you got more power.
One you want to have to worry about any rolling
in the blackouse, and you have to worry about no
air quality, no one getting sick of possibly getting cancer.
(53:16):
And then they're going together our city a large amount
of money every year for the next thirty years to
make sure that we continue to take a public safety,
quality of life projects as well as infrastructure. So that
is definitely going to be big for our city.
Speaker 4 (53:31):
You have, well, I'm sure you do, but you have
really done an extra an extraordinary job in building up
that city for many people are not only here in Memphis,
but even people in West Memphis who grew up there
have been around for a long time.
Speaker 3 (53:50):
And didn't I have.
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Now you're putting yourself right in line with major competition.
You're competing in terms of businesses with some of the
bigger cities.
Speaker 3 (54:00):
In this country.
Speaker 4 (54:01):
And you mentioned Bucket's coming the third largest in the
United States of America. That's no small that's no small task.
And so you had you had an agenda when you
first became mayor. And are you reaching all of the
goals that you that you set out to reach or
are you exceeding goals? I know that there's always more
(54:23):
on the plate for you, But in terms of your planning,
where are you in that process?
Speaker 11 (54:29):
But I think that God has allowed me to fulfill
allow of the division that He has given me, and
for the people that are city, I think West Smiths
had always been for the potential.
Speaker 16 (54:38):
We all have always had the land.
Speaker 11 (54:41):
You know, Coca Cola Consolidation has done another big over
twenty five to thirty million dollar expansion. We have always
had the potential. We always have the mighty Mississippi River
that's in right there. We had more than fifty five
that going through our city. We had first right right
across the bridge, no more than ten miles away for us.
It's where we had five out of the six major
(55:02):
railroads you know, Union Pacific, all those that come right
to our city. It never shouldn't have been with Westman,
should have been in a position where we were not
leading the state and part of the country and distribution
and manufacturing, and I think that all of the other
things that we're doing that we're making our city more
of a tour destination. When you look at tidy Rogers
(55:23):
when you got eight baseball field that's all thur fields
with new splash pants is coming in with our door
saying volleyball court, pickleball, basketball course, sports and sports time
players that everyone can enjoy along with people that's coming
through our city. You only continue to make our city better.
And you're looking at the right now, we're in the
process of negotiating buying a municipal golf course, which I
(55:47):
think has major potential for the thing that can offer
for our people and not only just for people, for
the business community and people coming to our city.
Speaker 4 (55:55):
Man a one stop shop all the way around. I
gotta tell you, I am so proud of you. And
there are so many people are over here in this
in Memphis who are so proud of what West Memphis
is doing. I mean, you really are, and you know
taking this thing to two extraordinary levels. Congratulations on everything.
Speaker 11 (56:14):
I need to tell you one quick thing. I'm sorry
I felt the air was here. It is August and
West Memphis is on the head. One murder in our city.
Speaker 3 (56:25):
Wow.
Speaker 11 (56:26):
And the murder was between a two family member of
fourteen and a sixteen year old should have never been
in that position anyway.
Speaker 16 (56:33):
For our city is a safe city. People that come.
Speaker 11 (56:37):
Here and people that move here and know that you
can be safe in our city.
Speaker 16 (56:41):
You can know that everything is going good.
Speaker 11 (56:43):
And then you can live five minutes away from downtown Memphis.
We are close to downtown Memphis and East Memphis, North
memphild and South Memphis.
Speaker 16 (56:52):
You can come over here be safe. You can work
the whole night.
Speaker 11 (56:55):
You can work, live and play right here in West
Smith And if you have to go, call the bridge
for five minutes, run across we and come back home
to a place.
Speaker 16 (57:01):
They're gonna work on you and embrace you at all times.
Speaker 4 (57:04):
Mayor Marco McLendon, Ladies and gentlemen doing it and doing
it big. Mister Mayor. It's always good to see you,
and it's always good to talk to you.
Speaker 16 (57:11):
Man.
Speaker 3 (57:11):
Continue to continue luck the best of luck with everything.
Speaker 16 (57:14):
Thank you so much, Thank you man. It's all you
need me I see.
Speaker 4 (57:17):
Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Well, there you go,
ladies and jim My boy dog garn it man. West Memphis,
Arkansas is hitting on all cylinders. They truly truly are.
This has been a great show. I have really truly
enjoyed this broadcasting that we've got a lot of great information.
I hope that you have as well. You can always
find it. You can always check out the show as
we live streaming on Facebook as well. I want to
(57:39):
thank may I m cleanton and all our guests this
evening for a really vitally full of information show. Now,
before we get out of here, the next show you
will hear is by our guy Brent Butler, and it
is called Event Horizon Brand.
Speaker 3 (57:57):
What can the audience expect from you musically.
Speaker 17 (57:59):
To night tonight, Chip, as you like to say, sometimes,
it'll be a bit of a.
Speaker 2 (58:06):
Journey.
Speaker 17 (58:08):
It'll be a bit multi genre. There'll be some heavy rock,
some hip hop, some electronic stuff. Okay, but yeah, I'll
take you into uh to eight pm.
Speaker 4 (58:18):
You are doing it, man, your show is really you
know what I think. I think your show is catching
on and a lot of folks that enjoyed We enjoy
it as well.
Speaker 3 (58:26):
And you know, Lolan and I are your biggest support.
Speaker 4 (58:28):
But as you play us out, we're looking forward Event
Horizon ladies and gentlemen, and about a minute or two
coming our way. Uh So, for all of us here
at Real Talk Memphis, another great show tonight. If you
like what we do, please tell somebody. So for all
of us, but lovely Lola, yes she is you see,
and for Brands who you'll be hearing, and about a
(58:48):
minute or so, thank you for being a part of
this experience we like to call Real Talk Memphis opship
of course, and we couldn't do anything that we do
around here without you. Out there, So for all of
us at the Wiotops Memphis, have a wonderful week, Be safety,
careful out there, and.
Speaker 3 (59:05):
We are out see as soon.
Speaker 2 (59:08):
It's really, it's it's it's free.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
It's real. It's real. It's real.
Speaker 2 (59:25):
It's real. Yeah,
What an awesome little bring you up to speed what
you need. He's a hope and they should white new feed.
Let's talk about it whole guy. I can do something
about it. And she's got to throw wide over and you've.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Got questions about it.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's man, It's the show that brings into your row
to solve all problems.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's talk, real talk, real cold, it's real cough. It's
real talk. It's a real cop. It's real. It's a
real cop.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
It's real cold.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Like it's real. It's real. It's real talk. It's real toe.
It's real talk. It's real. It's real talk. It's real tough.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, welcome to Real Tell.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Your real host him wants him like you like it.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's a real cop, it's a real talk, it's real cough.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
And here we go.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Here we go on this Monday evening, a warm one
in the city. It is the eleventh day of August
twenty twenty five, which means it is time, ladies and gentlemen,
six o'clock straight up for another live and all new
edition of Real Talk Memphis. Glad to be here this evening.
Glad to have you out there if you are actually here,
(01:35):
like acting a little here this evening. There we go. Anyway,
glad to have you out there as well tonight, Mikes
at some point because this thing is acting really funny. Anyway,
we have a good show for you tonight as always,
so we hope that if you're in the house, stay
in the house, picture some dinner and relax and sit
(01:59):
back and and get into this for the next hour
or so of a good conversation with some great guests.
Now you can always find this fine feace of radio
broadcasting anytime. Right now, we are live on ninety one
point seven wyx R on your FM dial. You can
also find us on the WYXR app. We are also
(02:21):
on the tune in app to you N E I N.
The show will be live stream tonight on Facebook Live.
So if that's your thing, head over to my page
and you'll see the show live on Facebook and when
the show posts next day or two, you will be
able to listen to it on YouTube. And as we
are a podcast, once the show post, you can listen
(02:44):
to it wherever it is. You listen to your favorite
podcast or your favorite podcast platform to listen to this show.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
How about that? There you go, So that's how you.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Find us and what we're doing and hanging around on
around here on a Monday evening. In terms of our guests,
my first guest in just a few minutes. Her name
is Latricia Adams. She is the founder, CEO, and president
of an organization, an environmental organization called Young.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Gifted and Green.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
We are going to be talking a little bit about lead.
Many of you checked out the news you saw that
twenty four schools within the Memphis and Chevy County School
District have elevated levels of lead in their water. So
we're gonna talk with her a little bit about that
and about how dangerous it is in reference to lead
(03:36):
and situations such as that. So stay tuned for that.
That's just coming up in just a couple of minutes.
A little bit later on, will be speaking with Malcolm Rawls.
Malcolm is the executive director of Rise Memphis and they're
an organization that wants to encourage uplift and get folks
on the road to financial independence. And he's going to
(03:58):
talk about his organization. There a big event coming up
soon and we will hear about that from him and
a little bit later on in the broadcast. You know
that bridge that connects us with West with Arkansas. Well,
the folks in West Memphis are doing big things, I
mean big things, and it's time for a check up,
ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to have the West Memphis mayor.
(04:21):
His name is Marco McClinton. He will be joining us
in the second half hour of the show to talk
to us about You may have heard about the water
park and and they have one of the largest, one
of the largest facilities in terms of I don't know,
I don't know what you call it exactly, but let
me just put it this way. It's a very big
(04:44):
facility and it begins with a B. Well, we'll fill
you in on all of that a little bit later
on in the broadcast, But first things first, on this
eleventh day of August, the many of you are celebrating
a birthday, or some of you had birthday celebrations over
the week, you know, maybe even coming up this week. Well,
this is the time of the broadcast where we dedicated
(05:06):
to you. We give you the shout out, We let
you make you feel good about being alive and being
around for one more year. And I can't do that
until I say hit it brand, all right, Happy birthday,
going out to the following. Nick Mills celebrating his birthday today.
Happy birthday, Sir Jim Brown, Happy birthday to you. Kim
(05:28):
Owen celebrating today, Pamela Junior, Happy birthday to you. Happy
birthday to Anita Taylor, to Mary Singleton, Happy birthday Beth
Andy Williams celebrating on this eleventh day of the month.
So hala ko who actually I know she's celebrating her
birthday today, and happy birthday Sayler and Jonathan ahearn is
(05:51):
celebrating his birthday today.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Now I don't see Lola sauntering over to the MICC.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
No birthday is coming from her today, But from all
of us here at Real Talk, Memphis Peop, wish you
a happy birthday. We hope that this day has been
filled with fun and laughter, and we also hope that
we are here with you next year to celebrate your
next trip around the sun.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Thanks Brah.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
All right, let's get into some news and notes. There
was a ruling today in the injunction case regarding former
Superintendent of Education Marie Fagins. Doctor Marie Fins. She had
a preliminary injunction filed that would have put her back
(06:35):
in charge of the Memphison Sheby County School District. Plet's
pay her back pay well. A judge denied that motion
today that would have her back in her seat immediately.
And of course, she alleged in this injunction that memphiship
In Chevy County School's board members had met secretly before
(06:59):
the January vote that terminated her contract and installed interim
Superintended Roger Richmond, where she lost the injunction.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
However, the trial will go on.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I don't know when the child starts between her and
Mefferson Chevy County Schools, but that will continue. And would
she have a chance in that with both sides popping
up motions? Yeah, probably so the judge said, you know,
she might have a case, but in reference to this
particular injunction, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So we'll have to wait and see how the trial
lays out.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Twenty four Memphison Chevy County schools have reported lead excessive
levels of lead in the water at the schools. Now
all the effective schools obviously have been notified and they
are now all using bottled water for the faculty and
the staff and the students. Kids don't drink a lot
of water, but of course folks on the faculty, I'm
(07:55):
sure that they do as the day goes by as well.
Twenty four schools seems like a lot to me. Now
as a whole, in the total of schools in the district,
maybe not, but twenty four schools, that's a lot. And
lead poisoning is a serious deal that can cause some
very serious damage, not only to adults, but to children
(08:16):
as well. And we'll be talking with Thetricia Adams about
that in just a few minutes. The city of Memphis
held a wonderful celebration of life earlier this morning at
a public memorial commemorating the life of Fred Smith. That
(08:37):
happened at the FedEx Forum today would have been in
his eighty first birthday, by the way, and there were
just there were thousands of people that showed up, and
everyone talked about how important a man he was and
what he did not only with FedEx, but just in
the general nature of our city and making our community better.
So it was a wonderful, wonderful send off for him today.
(09:01):
And uh, you know, you may have heard that there
was a proposal laid out last week for by a
construction group for a future home of the Shelby County
Jail complex. They proposed it at a committee meeting of
(09:23):
the County commissioners last week. Said that it would be
a three phase project that would include the men's jail,
the women's jail, and juvenile court, and it would cost
anywhere from nine hundred million to one point three billion dollars.
The proposed site that they had in mind was over
in New Chicago at of course, the old Firestone Plant.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
A lot of you.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Native Memphians know about the know about that, know about
the plant. It's been, it was, it was, it was
very very big at one time around here. Now of
course it's been clothes has been down for what decades,
decades and decades. There's seventy one acres out there that
they could use and that they brought up. Well, now
(10:10):
all of this is starting to percolate here in the
community and people are starting to starting to bubble up
a little bit about this. Oh, I don't know, you know,
North Memphis again and this and that and the whole
nine yards and we don't want it over here, and
why they have to put it over here. Well, first
of all, nobody said they were gonna put it over there.
That's the first thing. This was a proposal, Okay, a
(10:31):
first proposal too the County Commission, just to give them
something to think about. This is not gonna happen overnight.
This is gonna take quite a while for this to develop.
But how do you feel about that? Do you think
that a new jail complex would be okay? Or over
in that part of town? Over there would bring new
construction obviously, might bring new businesses, restaurants, and a lot
(10:55):
of other things that people would need over in that
part of town that has pretty much been the minutes
for a very very long time. So that's the story
that could have some legs as we moved further down
the road.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And one more thing.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Remember, the County Commission was looking at changing the election
cycle for the memphisis Shelby County school Board and moving
it to next year's election cycle, which is twenty twenty six. Now,
the folks who were electing twenty twenty four would actually
if they passed that, they would actually lose two years
(11:27):
on their urn. Well guess what. They sort of put
it back into committee after last week's debate. Well, guess
what they're bringing it out of committee tonight, and they're
gonna have a conversation about it this evening. It will
be I heard it was the last thing on the agenda. Well,
of course it was, so we don't know how that's
gonna shake out, but yeah, they're going to talk about this,
(11:48):
whether or not they are going to move this election cycle,
you know, for the school board into the county election cycle,
which was next year. Now, there was another referendum that
one of the other county commissioners, Erica Sugarman, put on
the table, which basically said, well, less allow the ones
(12:08):
who were elected in twenty four to keep their full term,
which would mean they would be up in twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Meanwhile, that's half the board.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
The other half of the board was elected in twenty two,
so their election cycle is going to be up in
twenty twenty six. So what they want to do is
they want to have everybody, you know, kind of all
together here. So the ones who were elected last year
follow me closely, would be up for election in twenty
twenty eight under this new referendum.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
The others would.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Be up for election in twenty twenty six. I'll say
say everybody won, all right, So in twenty twenty eight,
which would be the next election cycle. Everybody on the
school board would be up for a two year term,
which would take us to twenty thirty. And in twenty
thirty then I will consolidate everybody and put them under
(13:02):
the county election cycle. It sounds confusing, right, So we'll
see what happens with this. If there's going to be
a decision one way or another later on this evening,
this should be very interesting. Let us take a break
and when we come back, we're gonna talk about lead
and water. We're gonna talk about lead period, and we're
gonna talk about just why it is so important for
(13:22):
us to understand what that's all about and how we
deal with it. This is real talk, Memphis. I am Chip,
you know who you are. And I see some folks
on the Facebook Live line tonight, Jerry Gardner and Cita
She's on there as well as Mike Harris as well.
So yala, good to see you all. Let's take a break,
We'll be right back. Don't go away.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
If you like real talk, here's the way you can
get involved. Do you have a show topic, idea or
a suggestion, want to be considered a guest or have
a guest idea. Then send Chip a message on his
Real Talk show page and you can be a part
of the Real Talk experience. So, as he always says,
go out and tail somebody, We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
It's It's, It's Real.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Support from w yaxart comes from Sunset Jazz at Court Square,
a free, family friendly concert series presented by Just Jazz
in downtown Memphis and City of Memphis. Held every second
Sunday from May through October. This annual event brings the
smooth sounds of Memphis jazz to the heart of downtown
at sixty two North Main Street. Each show spotlights local
(14:44):
talent and a wide range of styles from straight ahead
to swing. More information can be found at Sunset Jazzmmphis
dot com.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Get Real Talk on the tune in mobile app under
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and you can also catch a rebroadcast on YouTube. Just
put w y x R in the search box and
hit subscribe. Now back to more Real Talk with Zib Washington.
It's It's, It's.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
It's and welcome back to Real Talk Memphis on this
beautiful Monday evening in the city.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Chip with you and uh you know we have.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
We found out last week that there were twenty four
schools in the Memphis and Chevy Hunty school system UH
that tested for lead in the water and some excessive
levels of lead in the water. Now we know that
many of the schools were built, you know, a long
time ago.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
And just like some of the houses and some of
the neighborhoods and communities out there that had lead, lead,
base painting, a lot of other things. Well, this is
obviously something that people need to pay attention to because
anything with lead in it is not a good thing.
So that made me invite my first guest this evening.
She's the founder, CEO, and president of Young Gifted and Green.
(16:22):
It is an environmental organization and their leader and their
founder is Ltrecia Adams that she joins me. Now, Lotrecia,
it's good to say you. Welcome to Real Talk Memphis.
How are you well?
Speaker 7 (16:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Thank you for taking the time to be with us
this evening. Okay, so you know this is what you
do for a living. This is this is this is
this is in your wheelhouse. And somebody told me that
when it comes to lead in all situations like this.
You're the expert now, you actually worked in Flint, Michigan.
You remember a few years ago when they had when
(16:56):
that's all anybody was talking about with all the lead
in the water and all the dangers in reference to
all of that.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Didn't you have something to do with that up there? Yeah?
Speaker 8 (17:07):
So, actually, how the organization got started is in the
week the wake of the Flint water crisis. So we
work very closely with the activists that were working on
the ground that looked the miriad of ways. It went
from trying to advocate on the hill while former President
Obama was still in office to door knocking. We used
(17:30):
a lot of strategies in the beginning of the water
crisis that we learned quite a bit from.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Absolutely that and you know, I know that that, like
I said, that had been in the news for a
very very long time and brought real attention to the
dangers of lead, you know, and paint and water. How
important is understanding what that's all about. I want people
to really get an understanding of how serious a situation
(17:57):
this could be.
Speaker 8 (17:59):
Yeah, so that exposure is extremely dangerous any level of lead. Okay,
it could be what's called one part pervilion. There's no
safe level of lead. There's a miroad of ways in
which you can be exposed to lead. In this instance,
this exposure by water. Essentially how water, how lead leaches
(18:21):
into water. It can lead through less service lines, which
we know that we have a significant amount of less
service lines throughout Memphis and Shelby County, as well as
outdated infrastructure like inside of a building. So as you mentioned,
a lot of our schools are really really old. So
(18:43):
once upon a time it was actually legal to make
indoor plumbing like pipes, water fixtures, so at the actual tap.
So in some of these buildings, I mean, it's really old,
and it's a possibility that there could be lead that
is actually leeching at the source or at the tap,
(19:04):
whether that be at the tap when you are in
the restroom, in the kitchen. We've seen some of those
reports as well water fountains. It also includes like sinks
inside of classrooms as well. I'm a former educator, I
once upon a time had a classroom that had a
sink in it. But why this is so so critical
(19:26):
and should be a priority is because lead poisoning is irreversible.
It causes a significant amount of symptoms. From a public
health perspective, particularly children and pregnant people. Pregnant women people
looking to conceive are definitely at a higher risk. There's
(19:47):
also something called body burden or cumulative body burden, meaning
that if you're exposed to lead over time, it accumulates.
Speaker 7 (19:55):
In the body.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
So when lead enters the body, some of it may
come out, It might be excreted through our bodily fluids,
but what does not leave out of the bloodstream is
actually redeposited into the bones. So you talk about children,
if some of the lead goes into their bones, I
mean they could be re released, especially for girls later
(20:18):
on in life as well.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Yeah, that that all sounds pretty critical, And I know
I can be a bit critical sometimes when I talk
about issues like this, But I would have thought that
because many of us who were born here, raised here,
and went to school here, know that some of these
schools have been around for a very long time, that
checking for lead in water would have been something that
(20:41):
might have been done before school started as a preventative measure,
or at least a knowledgeable measure. Maybe I'm wrong in this,
but I just think that isn't this something that I
don't know what your thought process is on this that
maybe we should have looked into before school actually started,
because now we're dealing with twenty four schools.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Uh, you know is a fairly healthy number. Uh.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
But I mean, isn't this something that could have been
at least looked into and maybe, uh, I don't know,
testing for before school started.
Speaker 7 (21:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (21:12):
So typically with the district, their remediation typically starts before
school starts. So you know, I don't want to miss
quote to you know, get an understanding of when their
timeline was. Sure, but it's it's really important to try
to reconcile or fix whatever issues are before children and
(21:33):
teachers are in the building because remember teachers come back
first that too, and children. In addition to that, the
the biggest safety precaution, particularly at this point, is just
to take these water take the water out of commission, right,
So in an instance where you do have elevated levels,
(21:53):
you know, find alternative mechanisms like with bottled water. I
know there has been some reservation with some folks around
the water filtration.
Speaker 7 (22:03):
The thing with water filtration, you have to be on it.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
You have to make sure that you're replacing the filters
in the timely fashion. You also need to make sure
that they are reputable brands that you're using for filters.
So the ideal situation is that they would have already
tested and would have been ready at day one with
you know, the proactive measures to make sure that children
(22:26):
have access to clean water.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Now, to be fair, all of the schools that you
know had reported elevated levels of lead are now using
a bottle water. All those schools are bottle water, and
all of the water faces are off and all of
that kind of stuff. But I just think it's something
that you know, we hear about, but we don't really
talk about, uh and really about the dangers of it
(22:50):
in reference to all of this. Now, you're you're an
environmental group, uh and and and a big part of
what you do is is it monitoring businesses and organizations
groups and things like this. That situation up in Flint,
Michigan was just absolutely I mean, it was almost overwhelming
just to hear about it on a daily basis, But
(23:10):
it really is that the focus of what you all
do as an organization a daily.
Speaker 8 (23:15):
Yeah, so our focus is around lad ports and prevention
and other environmental issues, but lead poison prevention is kind
of our sweet spot, so we do a significant amount
of educational awareness.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
We work with youth.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
We also work with young adults around building their knowledge
and capacity not just understanding some of the harms of
lead poisoning, but also understanding ways that you can use
policy to better prevent lead exposure, ways in which that
you can engage with elected officials. A miread of different
(23:51):
strategies that we use to build capacity with community members
to be knowledgeable. It's almost like the con ex up
with sank kofa. Each one, teach one, reach back and
fetch it, so that we are trying to reach as
many people as possible. And then the other part of
the work that we do. I actually had an opportunity
(24:14):
to work with mayorly Harris at the beginning of his
first term to establish something called the Shelby County Lead
Prevention and Sustainability Commission. So a large role of that
commission is to provide community oversight around the implementation of
the law making it mandatory for testing in school drinking water.
(24:34):
In fact, we actually have a meeting which is very timely,
this Wednesday, so we can really put our heads together
to talk about how can we truly get to a
place where we don't have these instances where lead is
reoccurring in our schools drinking water.
Speaker 9 (24:50):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Have you found that it's almost impossible really to control
this because of and we talked about it earlier, the
age of some of these facilities.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I mean, these schools.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
A lot of these schools have been aroun for a
very very very long time, as do a lot of
some of the historical UH communities in in in Memphis
and Shelby County as well. Is it is it really
kind of an uphill battle? Do you find in in
reference to all of this, just because we're dealing with
UH with a city with aged UH facilities now not
(25:21):
only homes but schools as well.
Speaker 8 (25:24):
Yeah, so there is a bit of optimism. So we
also work in cities outside of Memphis. So for example,
I use Washington d C. So Washington, d C also
has a mandatory law for testing for lead in school
drinking water, and they invested a significant amount of resources
into filtering. Filtering, if done appropriately, is a good mitigation strategy.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Now it is costly.
Speaker 8 (25:54):
So for example, in d C, they you know, in
an instance where there were elevated levels and water sources
inside schools, then they would in turn pay to actually
put those filters on. So there are you know, mechanisms
where you can intervene. I mean, other than that, I mean,
(26:15):
it would be a huge investment if you just completely,
like took out all of the indoor plumbing and started
over like that. I can't even really fathom that on
top of some of the other deferred maintenance issues that
we have besides just issues with drinking water quality. So
filtering is the most ideal way to approach this issue.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
Yeah, there's a lot to obviously, there's a lot to this,
you know, but I think it's important for people to
really realize and understand, as you stated earlier, that lead
is harmful and it could cause some big time issues,
not only in adults, but our babies you know as well,
you know, as they're coming up in situations like this.
(27:02):
The mitigation aspect of it, the filter, the filter filteration
aspect of it. As you said, being honest, that's a
very costly proposition. So in the meantime, what do we
do well, what I mean as a community, you know,
as a city, as a as a county, what do
we do in the meantime, as we are considering, you know,
what to do next about a problem that could be
(27:23):
a serious problem.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (27:25):
So my recommendation is particularly since Shelby County has the
most led poisoned children in the entire state of Tennessee,
even though we have a state statue, right we have
a state law. Because Memphis is so vulnerable, in my opinion,
my recommendation is for us to be a bit more
intentional around the policy. So the way that the state
(27:49):
law is ridden, every single district creates their own policy. Right,
so Memphis Shelby County Schools, the school board can actually
do an amendment to their current policy.
Speaker 7 (27:58):
One.
Speaker 8 (27:59):
The state require school districts to test biannually, so.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
Every other year. I think that the district should test
every year.
Speaker 8 (28:07):
Right. The other thing that's really important there needs to
be an update to our state law because the EPA
released new guidance around the lead and copper rule where
the level of remediation.
Speaker 7 (28:20):
Has been lowered.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
So right now the action level is still a bit
too high.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
So you know, some.
Speaker 8 (28:27):
May ask if it may not be fifteen parts per billion,
it may be ten.
Speaker 7 (28:33):
We still need to know that.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Right.
Speaker 7 (28:36):
The other thing that is.
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Really critical is around transparency. What are the test results
for all of the schools, regardless of what the level was,
if it was over or under. I'll use DC for
an example. They post all of their school tests and
results every single source on the website that anyone can access.
I would love to see our district be more transparent
(28:59):
and it will with parents and child advocates.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
Not just being in panic mode.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
But the first stuff is just knowing, right, So there
there should be a bit more transparency around what these
tests reveal at each school, regardless of what the level
may be.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Latricia Adams, ladies and gentlemen, she is the founder, CEO,
and president of Young Gifted and Green, this environmental organization
that is trying to keep us all safe. Lo Tricia,
thank you for coming on the show tonight and really
laying things out for us. Lots lots to think about here,
but appreciate the work that you do on a daily basis.
Thank you for coming on. Appreciate it, thank you all right,
(29:40):
take care, thank you. Uh that's that's that's that's good stuff.
But we need to understand that you know, this is
this is the for real deal here, and that of.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Course you need to be due diligent.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Uh, and you need to make sure that you're paying
attention to what your young folks are consuming, especially in
our school system. So a great conversation. Now let's take
a break. When we come back, we will continue on
this Monday ride. We like to call Real Talk Memphis.
I'm Chip, don't go away.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
More to come.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
If you like Real Talk, here's the way you can
get involved. Do you have a show topic, idea or
a suggestion. Want to be considered a guest or have
a guest idea, Then send Chip a message on his
Real Talk show page and you can be a part
of the Real Talk experience. So as he always says,
go out and tell somebody, We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
It's real, It's it's.
Speaker 10 (30:50):
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(31:13):
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(31:33):
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Real Talk with Zip Washington.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
And welcome back to Real Talk, myth on this Monday
evening in the city Chip with you. And we have
another institute your guest, ladies and gentlemen, and we were
talking about this at the top of the show, an
organization called.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Rise Memphis.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
I'm sorry, I'm looking around here at this air coming
from someplace and I can't.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Refive something blowing somewhere around here.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
But in any event, uh yeah, but they are an
organization that empowers people to become self sufficient by building
and sustaining human and financial assets. And uh, we're very
fortunate to have their executive director in studio with us.
His name is Malcolm Rawls, and Malcolm, welcome to Real
Talk Memphis. Good to see you man, glad to be here.
(33:40):
Thanks for having me absolutely So as an overview, tell
folks who may not have heard of Rise Memphis what
your organization.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Is all about.
Speaker 9 (33:50):
So, Tim, you you talked about it a little bit,
but Rise Memphis is about financial literacy and financial empowerment
for all Memphians. What we do you we have programming
that touches everybody, whether you're a junior or senior in
high school about to get your first paycheck, to you,
whether you're a senior citizen trying to plan and navigate retirement.
(34:13):
So do we cover the whole gamut of financial literacy.
What we know is a lot of what we get
from financial literacy depend on conversations at the table. What
did you learn from mom and dad? Who's talking about
money at the house And we don't get those, We
don't get those in depth conversations, those strategic plans on
how to navigate and run the household bills. And we
(34:36):
are building community around these conversations about creating generational wealth,
about understanding our credit, about becoming homeowners, how to navigate
all of these things.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
You know you said that during the break ya you
don't hear a lot about this, and there are not
a lot of conversations about this, and this is something
that you're really working hard for people to know and
to understand because we're all growing up young people into
young adults, growing to older adults, and they have to live.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
They have to do this thing called life.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Life is lifeing, but it's important to understand, uh, the
steps involved, especially if you want to be a successful person.
Speaker 9 (35:13):
Correct, that's correct. Too too many times we see uh,
you know, people learning after the fact. You say, life
is life, and life can be a hard teacher. Sometimes
what we want to do is, uh, you know, provide
the wisdom, provide the resources so you don't have to
avoid some of these mistakes. Uh. You know, we talked
about working with seniors in high school how to navigate
(35:36):
when you arrived to college, the scholarship process, the loan process,
and not signing away your credit signing up for a
credit card just for a box of pizza. That was
kind of pitfalls.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
So you're teaching them, I mean, honestly, you're you're really
you're teaching them how to do it properly. When kids
you're talking You talked about, you know, when they get
to a certain age, and they can apply for credit cards. Man,
the eyes getting biggat saucage and uh and and there
are companies out there that that are I'd like to
think that they're sort of predatory lenders. Absolutely, they're looking
for young people. Man, and they press me, send press.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Me right and and and so they send you our
man three hundred dollars credit Oh my god, I got
a credit card.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
And then they just go crazy, that's right, you know.
So how do you teach them to to to moderate?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
How do you teach them uh, to to understand that
not everything that comes your way is a good thing?
Speaker 9 (36:27):
Absolutely so, Uh. The biggest thing in what it ties
in tomorrow with this financial literacy fair.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Yeah, we're gonna talk about that is again not it's.
Speaker 9 (36:36):
Not just not just the budgeting. It's uh, I guess,
understanding and seeing a complete picture of your finances. Most
people think it's you know, clipping q pons or ballotsing
the checkbook, But like I said, it's about understanding, uh,
the system as a whole and being prepared to navigate
that and thrive in this system.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
It's a step by step process.
Speaker 9 (36:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Now this is the is the event that you're did
you mentioned, uh, the little Street event that you're listening
that you talked about tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
What what what? What are you hoping to gain? What
people who are going to participate in all of this,
you know, what are they in for? What? What types
of are things that are they going to learn?
Speaker 9 (37:14):
So what I want, what I want Memphis to get
from this? You come out, you get the resources, you
get the information, but more importantly, you getting the one
on one support. You can go to YouTube, you can
get on these podcasts and they're talking about you know,
general situations. What we have is a team of GMFBC
financial education counselors and they're going to walk you through
(37:37):
this thing one on one. How it works is when
I'm talking about I save a program. You come in
with an asset in mind. What it's home ownership, purchasing
your vehicle, education, and my favorite where we've added entrepreneurship,
the ability to start a business. So you come in,
you go through this common since course. Uh and that's
(37:59):
a final actual education. Four weeks of that with us,
and then we put you with a banking partner and
we create a savings account and we're with you when
I talk about this one on one support.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So this is the partnership from beginning to end.
Speaker 9 (38:11):
It absolutely, it's not no, it's not come in for
a class and get this hand out and gone batch
your way. Good luck. We're with you in this step
by step, one on one.
Speaker 11 (38:23):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (38:23):
The save Up program is two years. So in that
two years, you save up a thousand dollars and at
the end of it, we give you two thousand for
a total of three thousand for that home, for that car,
for that business man.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
Okay, that's that's insensitive and motivation as well as training
at the same time.
Speaker 9 (38:41):
While breaking these cycles of generational poverty. You for two
for two years now you've been putting away. This mindset
carries on in the family. Now the family is a
part of this plan for saving. No, we can't do
McDonald's day. We gotta we gotta go to the house
because we're saving for this. We're building towards this.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
You mentioned a key word in in that in that
last in that last little section there, poverty.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Poverty in Memphis is a big deal.
Speaker 4 (39:09):
And I think that we all know that the poverty
is a is a big uh situation in our city.
A high poverty rate and UH, it filters down. If
they even break it down to adults versus children, it's
even a high poverty rate for children, which I think
is extraordinarily said, which which I'm really excited about the
fact that you're starting. How young is young in terms
(39:31):
of starting the financial aspect of learning.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
We start with fifth grade. We start with fifth grade,
so we have ten eleven years old. And and what's
important is this multi generational approach. So you could be
a kid fifth grade through twelfth grade getting you know,
all these years of financial literacy, financial experience, you know,
budgeting what to do with your paycheck, running a house,
(39:57):
go is not foreign to you. So you have that
opportunity to get that education. And when we talk about
multi generational approaches, so I mentioned the Save Up program.
We currently have a mom. She's she's in her first year,
but she's saving up to get a business. Her daughter
is a junior at one of our MSCs high schools
(40:19):
and she is in the Gold Card program. So we
got mom going through this financial literacy saving up for
her business, while her daughter is right behind her learning
getting the same information, getting ready and prepared to go
to college with a financial plan in mind.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Save up, Save up. Okay, is there is there a
certain amount that they save up?
Speaker 9 (40:39):
So what we do you know, saving is unlimited. But
with us, if you when you once you hit that
save a thousand with us, then we match two thousand
for a total of three thousand.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
So if they save a thousand, correct, then you gonna
match that with two thousand for you.
Speaker 9 (40:55):
Yes, the right. Yeah, that's a big thing. That's right,
And we're there again. We're by your side through this
whole two year process.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Yeah, I mean, so any questions, any any any, any
any anything that they need to know or understand about that.
Speaker 9 (41:08):
They have people dedicated to your unique financial situation.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
How about you guys been around ship.
Speaker 9 (41:14):
We're celebrating twenty five years this year, twenty five years,
twenty five years one of the best kept secrets.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
And I was gonna say, we're gonna we're gonna pull
the cover off for now. You got me?
Speaker 4 (41:23):
After after saying that this is uh, this is an
amazing program. Uh and and and and in reference to
the event that you're having tomorrow, it's that's correct, mam.
Is this any is this a yearly thing? Is the
first time you've done it? If you haven't done it
in a while.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
I mean, how does that going? How's that? Hows that?
Speaker 9 (41:37):
So this is the first time for us. Microsoft obviously
does has a huge footprint in this technology space and
we know with this, you know impenning ail rush and
uh this transition into the technical space. What we wanted
to do is again be curing and be up to
date and how in the resource that we're providing for Memphis.
(41:58):
So we're to partner with them, and what they're doing
is with Microsoft, with Microsoft whereever to partner with Microsoft.
And for those who are not familiar with power b I,
what is this gonna do? It's gonna pair this your budget,
your respective budget. We got a template and kind of
(42:19):
a worksheet that we're gonna go through. Take the time
and let you list it out step by step. Listen
to your budget. And then for the second part, now
we're gonna introduce the power b I And now you
can have this visual picture of what your finances look like. Say,
for instance, you paid off this, you paid off your
recent credit card? Are you paid off your car? Now
(42:41):
what does it look like in this picture with that
payment being closed? And you can see how do I
apply what if I keep making that same payment I
was making for that credit card. What if I put
it in this savings, this investment account, you can immediately
see in real time what that financial pierre looks like.
With this knowledge of power beyond, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
If I hope that you are paying attention to what
we're talking about here, and if you like what you hear,
I hope you're telling other folks about it. Or when
year when you watch this, do you tell folks about
this program? Because I had no idea this is an
amazing program, Malcolm were we're out of time, man, but
thank you for coming, Thank you for being a part.
Thank you for what you're doing. This is a big deal,
uh of my My producer Lola was sitting back. When
(43:28):
you get Lola's attention, she was She was paying attention too.
When when you get her attention, that means you're talking
to you're doing something.
Speaker 12 (43:34):
Man.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Listen, thanks for coming, man. I really have appreciate having you.
Speaker 9 (43:37):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
Absolutely that Malcolm Rawl' ladies and gentleman, Executive director of
Rise Memphis doing big things there in the community. We're
gonna take another breaking when we come back. We will
continue on on Monday ride called Real Talk Memphis. I'm Chip,
Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (44:07):
If you like Real Talk, here's the way you can
get involved. Do you have a show topic, idea or
a suggestion. Want to be considered a guest or have
a guest idea, Then send Chip a message on his
Real Talk show page and you can be a part
of the Real Talk experience. So as he always says,
go out and tell somebody, We'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
It's real, it's real, it's real talk, it's real.
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hit subscribe. Now back to more Real Talk with Chip Washington.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
And welcome back to Real Talk Memphis on a great
Monday evening. I hope that you are enjoying this show
as much as I am this evening. And my next
guest is no stranger uh to us here at Real
Talk Memphis.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Or any of you.
Speaker 4 (46:59):
Uh yeah, you talk about somebody getting stuff done. Uh
this uh this, this young man here the current mayor
of West Memphis, Arkansas. His name is Marco McClinton, and
he joins me. Now he's been on this show before.
And mister Mary is great to see you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (47:15):
How are you?
Speaker 11 (47:16):
Thank you, Chip, thank you for having me. I'm honored
to be here with you again.
Speaker 4 (47:20):
Man, Listen, I'm I'm honored to have you. Boy, you
talk about some big things that are going on. I
know every time I talk to you in the past,
up until this point, you've always said, boy, we got
some big things going, we got some big things coming,
and a lot is happening. You tease folks here recently
about this water park, proposed water park.
Speaker 3 (47:39):
That you that you're going to have.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
We'll talk about that in a minute, but you have
a huge project that is coming. I think it may
have just broken ground. Tell us a little bit about
something I think a lot of people are aware of.
Speaker 11 (47:55):
Well, you know, we got a lot of projects going on,
so really don't know which.
Speaker 16 (47:58):
One you want to see.
Speaker 3 (47:59):
It begins, it begins with a B.
Speaker 11 (48:02):
All right, Well, I think that may be BUCkies.
Speaker 3 (48:04):
That would be it.
Speaker 11 (48:05):
Yes, ready to come to the city of West Memphis.
Is going to be actually the third largest BUCkies in
the country. Wow, it's gonna be a seventy five thousand
square foot facility with one hundred and forty one gas
pumps and electrical charging stations.
Speaker 16 (48:24):
It's on the second business in the state.
Speaker 11 (48:26):
Travel through the country, which is our forty and fifty five.
You going to Chicago, to New Orleans or La Washington,
at some point you got to come to the city
of West Memphisis It's gonna be definitely good for us,
gonna bring another tax a greater tax base. Yes, this
was going to offer great jobs for the people of
West Memphis surrounding area.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
Yeah, you have to have You're gonna have to have
a lot of folks. Man a building that big that
you just mentioned, and that that's a that is a big, big,
big boon for you as the third largest in the country. Now,
for anybody who's been to the BUCkies, and I have
a couple of them, it's a pretty neat place, it
really is. It is your It is your ultimate one
stop shop, isn't it in terms of I mean you
(49:05):
can buy food there, you can buy groceries there, you
can get gas there. You can do a whole lot
of things there as well.
Speaker 16 (49:11):
Right, you know, Bucket it's a cult following.
Speaker 11 (49:14):
You know, you walk in, you see kids ain't grown
up in the Buckey outfits. I mean, it's just totally different.
Some may say it's a big gas station. FACS can
guarantee you is much.
Speaker 16 (49:24):
More than that. Oh yes, sir, I guarantee you none.
Speaker 11 (49:27):
That I've been introduced to it in the time I'm
out and around the country and I'm near one, I
definitely have to stop. And then, like I said, you know,
I was looking at some def of very strategic for
West Memphis. If you got an interstate that got ninety
thousand vehicles coming through yes city that day, you have
an opportunity to get through calls up the interstate to
stop them, to spend money in your city, which is
(49:48):
going to generate taxes for your city so you can
take other people out of your city. And they are
predicting to bring one hundred thousand people a week to
West Memphis.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
Wow, that's huge. That's huge. That's huge, big time. Congratulations
on that. Lay out some of the other projects that
you have going on across the bridge, my friend.
Speaker 16 (50:06):
Well, definitely.
Speaker 11 (50:06):
You know, we proved the tax back in November, a
onceience tax that was good for our community that were
going to address quality of life, public safety, and infrastructure right.
And you know, during the quality of life part, we
were able to be a brand new empathy of the
right in the heart of our city at High Tower Park,
(50:27):
which is great as well as we was able to
build were starting to be an aqualit center with a
six with an eight lane competition pool and a therapy pool,
as well as a UH recreational center that's gonna have
six basketball size courts that's interchangeable to pickleball, volleyball, gymnastics, uh,
(50:50):
anything that you want in there. As well as we're
going to build a brand new police department that's been
in an old bank building in our city for so
long and a new forestation is gonna be the whole
the apparatus that the new Barmans have to have in
that line of business after infrastructure works. So yeah, those
things are pretty big that's going on. It's gonna change
the internal infrastructure. But also West Memphis right now is
(51:14):
on the cusse closing the deal with Epic waters and Resorts.
Every has an NFL size indoor water part, are you serious? Yeah,
for the five hundred room hotel adjacent to it with
a big outdoor lagoon that show water shows on the basis,
(51:35):
as well as a new four new restaurants, and you
know one of the restaurants that have been rumored to
be coming is Papa Doos, So that's definitely gonna.
Speaker 16 (51:48):
Be big for us. Yeah, that's gonna be major.
Speaker 11 (51:51):
Then on top of it, I'm sure you all have
heard about well, let me tell the recreation right now,
we gotta be a mixed big pump track, gonna be
the largest pump track, BikeE punk track in the country.
It's gonna be connected to our big River Cross and
our Doune some limited across where everyone racked their back
and wall. So they're gonna be major, major competitions coming
here that's gonna be exposed in our city to the world.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
And you know.
Speaker 16 (52:18):
Major that's getting ready to happen right now.
Speaker 11 (52:20):
Have you really bout our big Dalla Center that're getting
ready to announce on the twenty fourth of this month.
You Uh, it's the big it's the biggest uh investment
in this in the state of Arkansas. It's a six
billion dollar investment. And that happens to be the g word.
Speaker 16 (52:40):
You know.
Speaker 11 (52:41):
Uh, it's gonna be major for our community. A lot
of stings that Memphis have been experiencing with x AI,
we don't have ny of that. You know, we have
a zero and I mean zero gas turnbines.
Speaker 9 (52:53):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (52:54):
We already worked out a deal with letting them allow
them to use our wastewater coming through our wastewater treatment
in the use of watching North effect on our water
in northfact, on our utility energy in West Memphis boats
to go on the service, so you got more power.
One you want to have to worry about any rolling
in the blackouse, and you have to worry about no
air quality, no one getting sick of possibly getting cancer.
(53:16):
And then they're going together our city a large amount
of money every year for the next thirty years to
make sure that we continue to take a public safety,
quality of life projects as well as infrastructure. So that
is definitely going to be big for our city.
Speaker 4 (53:31):
You have, well, I'm sure you do, but you have
really done an extra an extraordinary job in building up
that city for many people are not only here in Memphis,
but even people in West Memphis who grew up there
have been around for a long time.
Speaker 3 (53:50):
And didn't I have.
Speaker 4 (53:51):
Now you're putting yourself right in line with major competition.
You're competing in terms of businesses with some of the
bigger cities.
Speaker 3 (54:00):
In this country.
Speaker 4 (54:01):
And you mentioned Bucket's coming the third largest in the
United States of America. That's no small that's no small task.
And so you had you had an agenda when you
first became mayor. And are you reaching all of the
goals that you that you set out to reach or
are you exceeding goals? I know that there's always more
(54:23):
on the plate for you, But in terms of your planning,
where are you in that process?
Speaker 11 (54:29):
But I think that God has allowed me to fulfill
allow of the division that He has given me, and
for the people that are city, I think West Smiths
had always been for the potential.
Speaker 16 (54:38):
We all have always had the land.
Speaker 11 (54:41):
You know, Coca Cola Consolidation has done another big over
twenty five to thirty million dollar expansion. We have always
had the potential. We always have the mighty Mississippi River
that's in right there. We had more than fifty five
that going through our city. We had first right right
across the bridge, no more than ten miles away for us.
It's where we had five out of the six major
(55:02):
railroads you know, Union Pacific, all those that come right
to our city. It never shouldn't have been with Westman,
should have been in a position where we were not
leading the state and part of the country and distribution
and manufacturing, and I think that all of the other
things that we're doing that we're making our city more
of a tour destination. When you look at tidy Rogers
(55:23):
when you got eight baseball field that's all thur fields
with new splash pants is coming in with our door
saying volleyball court, pickleball, basketball course, sports and sports time
players that everyone can enjoy along with people that's coming
through our city. You only continue to make our city better.
And you're looking at the right now, we're in the
process of negotiating buying a municipal golf course, which I
(55:47):
think has major potential for the thing that can offer
for our people and not only just for people, for
the business community and people coming to our city.
Speaker 4 (55:55):
Man a one stop shop all the way around. I
gotta tell you, I am so proud of you. And
there are so many people are over here in this
in Memphis who are so proud of what West Memphis
is doing. I mean, you really are, and you know
taking this thing to two extraordinary levels. Congratulations on everything.
Speaker 11 (56:14):
I need to tell you one quick thing. I'm sorry
I felt the air was here. It is August and
West Memphis is on the head. One murder in our city.
Speaker 3 (56:25):
Wow.
Speaker 11 (56:26):
And the murder was between a two family member of
fourteen and a sixteen year old should have never been
in that position anyway.
Speaker 16 (56:33):
For our city is a safe city. People that come.
Speaker 11 (56:37):
Here and people that move here and know that you
can be safe in our city.
Speaker 16 (56:41):
You can know that everything is going good.
Speaker 11 (56:43):
And then you can live five minutes away from downtown Memphis.
We are close to downtown Memphis and East Memphis, North
memphild and South Memphis.
Speaker 16 (56:52):
You can come over here be safe. You can work
the whole night.
Speaker 11 (56:55):
You can work, live and play right here in West
Smith And if you have to go, call the bridge
for five minutes, run across we and come back home
to a place.
Speaker 16 (57:01):
They're gonna work on you and embrace you at all times.
Speaker 4 (57:04):
Mayor Marco McLendon, Ladies and gentlemen doing it and doing
it big. Mister Mayor. It's always good to see you,
and it's always good to talk to you.
Speaker 16 (57:11):
Man.
Speaker 3 (57:11):
Continue to continue luck the best of luck with everything.
Speaker 16 (57:14):
Thank you so much, Thank you man. It's all you
need me I see.
Speaker 4 (57:17):
Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Well, there you go,
ladies and jim My boy dog garn it man. West Memphis,
Arkansas is hitting on all cylinders. They truly truly are.
This has been a great show. I have really truly
enjoyed this broadcasting that we've got a lot of great information.
I hope that you have as well. You can always
find it. You can always check out the show as
we live streaming on Facebook as well. I want to
(57:39):
thank may I m cleanton and all our guests this
evening for a really vitally full of information show. Now,
before we get out of here, the next show you
will hear is by our guy Brent Butler, and it
is called Event Horizon Brand.
Speaker 3 (57:57):
What can the audience expect from you musically.
Speaker 17 (57:59):
To night tonight, Chip, as you like to say, sometimes,
it'll be a bit of a.
Speaker 2 (58:06):
Journey.
Speaker 17 (58:08):
It'll be a bit multi genre. There'll be some heavy rock,
some hip hop, some electronic stuff. Okay, but yeah, I'll
take you into uh to eight pm.
Speaker 4 (58:18):
You are doing it, man, your show is really you
know what I think. I think your show is catching
on and a lot of folks that enjoyed We enjoy
it as well.
Speaker 3 (58:26):
And you know, Lolan and I are your biggest support.
Speaker 4 (58:28):
But as you play us out, we're looking forward Event
Horizon ladies and gentlemen, and about a minute or two
coming our way. Uh So, for all of us here
at Real Talk Memphis, another great show tonight. If you
like what we do, please tell somebody. So for all
of us, but lovely Lola, yes she is you see,
and for Brands who you'll be hearing, and about a
(58:48):
minute or so, thank you for being a part of
this experience we like to call Real Talk Memphis opship
of course, and we couldn't do anything that we do
around here without you. Out there, So for all of
us at the Wiotops Memphis, have a wonderful week, Be safety,
careful out there, and.
Speaker 3 (59:05):
We are out see as soon.
Speaker 2 (59:08):
It's really, it's it's it's free.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
It's real. It's real. It's real.
Speaker 2 (59:25):
It's real. Yeah,
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