WEBVTT - IDKMYDE: Mjr Charity Adams

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<v Speaker 1>On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.

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<v Speaker 1>I got a question, do you ever feel overwhelmed at work?

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<v Speaker 1>Like your email inbox got five hundred unread messages and

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<v Speaker 1>you just want somebody to stop the earth so you

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<v Speaker 1>can get off. Well, let me tell you about Major Charity.

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<v Speaker 1>Adams and the six Triple eight. These women looked at

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<v Speaker 1>a pile of seventeen million pieces of mail and said,

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<v Speaker 1>light work. I didn't know. I didn't know. No, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.

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<v Speaker 1>But but but before we get into that, let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about major charity. Atoms born in nineteen eighteen in Cottrell,

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<v Speaker 1>North Carolina. That's right. She's a Carolinian and she was

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<v Speaker 1>raised in Columbia, South Carolina. Her dad was a minister,

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<v Speaker 1>her mom was a teacher, and together they basically raised

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<v Speaker 1>a human LinkedIn profile. I mean, she a valedictorian math

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<v Speaker 1>degree from Wilberforce University, teaching career, and then, because clearly

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<v Speaker 1>she didn't have enough on her plate, she joined the

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<v Speaker 1>Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War Two, and then

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<v Speaker 1>she just casually became the first black woman commissioned as

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<v Speaker 1>an officer. Now fast forward to nineteen forty four, the

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<v Speaker 1>army gives her a mission lead the sixth Triple Eight,

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<v Speaker 1>the only all black, all female battalion deployed overseas. Their

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<v Speaker 1>job soort seventeen million pieces of backlog mail for soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>stationed all across Europe. Now, these women were dealing with

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<v Speaker 1>warehouses full of letters stacked Florida ceiling. I'm talking about

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<v Speaker 1>rotten packages, a smell you could probably never forget, probably

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<v Speaker 1>smell worse than circus dirt. And then I mentioned racism

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<v Speaker 1>and sexism, because of course it was the nineteen forties.

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<v Speaker 1>They weren't just fighting the male they were fighting people

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<v Speaker 1>who didn't think they deserved to be there in the

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<v Speaker 1>first place. But Charity Adams wasn't having it. She was like, look,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna sort this mail, and we're gonna do it

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<v Speaker 1>better than anyone expects. They set up three shifts working

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<v Speaker 1>around the clock, sorting sixty five thousand pieces of mail

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<v Speaker 1>a day. Meanwhile, I'm over here struggling the archive one

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<v Speaker 1>thousand posts on my Instagram. And here's the kicker. They

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<v Speaker 1>were given six months to sort through seventeen million pieces

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<v Speaker 1>of meal. They did it. In three three months. They

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<v Speaker 1>basically invented efficiency. Their motto was no mail, low morale

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<v Speaker 1>cause they knew the stakes. These letters were more than

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<v Speaker 1>just paper. They were lifelines. Soldiers got letters from their moms, girlfriends,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe a side chick or two. Hell, I ain't judging,

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<v Speaker 1>warn't stressful, but in all seriousness, what they did was

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely incredible. And here's why it matters today. Major Adams

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<v Speaker 1>and the six Triple Eight proved that black women could

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<v Speaker 1>take on impossible task and knock them out the park,

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<v Speaker 1>even when the world doubted them. That story is a

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<v Speaker 1>our resilience, excellence and not letting anybody tell you what

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<v Speaker 1>you're capable of. So the next time you're drowning in

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<v Speaker 1>emails or a coworker sends you one of those per

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<v Speaker 1>my last email passive aggressive messages, just channel you're in

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<v Speaker 1>a six Triple eight. Think hell, if they could sort

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen million letters, I can damn sure Handlekaren from Accountant

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<v Speaker 1>And as a matter of fact, Tyler Perry did a

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<v Speaker 1>movie about the six Triple eight. Carrie Washington was the lead.

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<v Speaker 1>You can find it on Netflix. Shouts to the six

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<v Speaker 1>Triple eight, a group that I didn't know maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>didn't either. Listen up, man, if you love this series,

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<v Speaker 1>you can now listen to us every single week starting

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<v Speaker 1>in March for all types of things that I didn't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you didn't either. Did you know snails have two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand teeth at least and they're all on their tongue.

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<v Speaker 1>Or did you know that J'alil White rkle was supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to be Rudy in The Cosby Show, but then Keisha

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<v Speaker 1>Knight Pulliam pulled up and sprinkle some black girl on

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<v Speaker 1>it weekly starting in March. I didn't know. Maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>didn't either. Make sure you're following the show on the

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart app so that you can hear more. Okay, Bye,