Speaker 1: Good morning, good after noon, good evening.
Speaker 2: You are tuned in to the Vitamin D with Dawn
Speaker 2: Dae podcast and I am your host, Dawn Day, here
Speaker 2: to get you excited about your life so that you
Speaker 2: can live life on purpose and for a purpose.
Speaker 1: If this is your first.
Speaker 2: Time tuning in, welcome Vitamin D. It's upon of my name.
Speaker 2: My name is Dawn and you get Vitamin D from
Speaker 2: the sun. So I'm here a shed light into your life.
Speaker 2: And I do this with inspirational insights and conversations with
Speaker 2: celebrities and everyday people like you and me, because if
Speaker 2: you want to be better and you want to do better,
Speaker 2: then you're going to have to be able to see better.
Speaker 2: So join me on this journey of living our best
Speaker 2: lives and understanding and realizing how you are your greatest
Speaker 2: ass at get.
Speaker 3: Your vitingy right here with me and get excited about
Speaker 3: your life.
Speaker 2: They say health this wealth, Well, what's your account looking like.
Speaker 2: We're going to have a conversation today about a matter
Speaker 2: that's important near and dear to all of us in
Speaker 2: the African American community, and that's the health of our
Speaker 2: African American males. Are you taking care of yourself? And
Speaker 2: more importantly, do you know your numbers? Did you know
Speaker 2: that African American men die twelve years earlier than their
Speaker 2: white counterpart?
Speaker 1: Why is that?
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to discuss that with our special guests,
Speaker 2: but first I want to play this video about an
Speaker 2: event that's happening Saturday, November eleventh at eight am right
Speaker 2: here in Los Angeles is going to work in an
Speaker 2: effort of closing the health equity gap.
Speaker 4: Take a look, Los Angeles, black men are dying from
Speaker 4: preventable diseases.
Speaker 5: You can be part of the solution. Come out to five.
Speaker 4: Zero zero one Obama Boulevard on Saturday, November eleventh at
Speaker 4: eight am for the African American Male Wellness Walking Run
Speaker 4: featuring Honorary Chair tr Main Anchrum of the Los Angeles
Speaker 4: Brown This is a free family event with free health screenings,
Speaker 4: kids area entertainment, and much more. Visitaawellness dot org and
Speaker 4: we'll see you on Saturday, November eleventh, Walking to save
Speaker 4: black Man's lives.
Speaker 2: All right, so now let's get ready for this conversation.
Speaker 2: Get your radio waves, get your podcast waves, just get
Speaker 2: ready for me.
Speaker 1: To welcome our very special guest. We have Jade Barnes.
Speaker 2: He is the chairman of the Los Angeles African American
Speaker 2: Wellness five k Walk Run, which is the health and
Speaker 2: wellness arm of the African American Mail Well Agency too
Speaker 2: the National Center for Urban Solutions. So without further ado,
Speaker 2: please help me welcome mister Jay Bondes.
Speaker 5: Good afternoon. It's great to see you. How's it going, Darth.
Speaker 1: You know, what's a great day to be alive?
Speaker 5: Anytime on this side of the earth is a blessing.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you.
Speaker 2: And speaking of which, on being on this side of
Speaker 2: the earth, we got something important to talk about African
Speaker 2: American males. They are known to die twelve years earlier
Speaker 2: in their white counterparts.
Speaker 6: So the African American Male Wealdness Agency is really tasked
Speaker 6: on a national level that increase the life expectancy for
Speaker 6: Black men specifically and their families.
Speaker 5: It has always been our theory and our model that.
Speaker 6: If we can get the black men healthy, they can
Speaker 6: then work longer, they can be more fiscally responsible, they
Speaker 6: can take care of their families, their children, and really
Speaker 6: be a greater ad to the overall community.
Speaker 5: And we launched this awareness campaign about twenty years.
Speaker 6: Ago where we were spreading the gospel about just knowing
Speaker 6: your numbers. Awareness is the key thing. So one note
Speaker 6: to add about the nine twelve years earlier, these are
Speaker 6: all from preventable diseases. So that means if you just
Speaker 6: go to the doctor annually, get a check up. When
Speaker 6: you start feeling those pains or those aches, it's not
Speaker 6: just sit down, let's sleep it off, get some ginger ail.
Speaker 5: It's like, let's go speak with a physician, actually get.
Speaker 6: Some understanding about what's going on inside of our bodies.
Speaker 6: So what we're gonna do is create the most fun
Speaker 6: you'll ever have at a doctor's appointment. Next Saturday, on
Speaker 6: the eleventh, we are going to have DJs out there.
Speaker 6: We've got the Lovely Dawn Day on the Red Carpet
Speaker 6: doing live interviews. We've got yoga, we've got sound bass,
Speaker 6: we've got meditation, we've got men circles so we can
Speaker 6: just talk. What we found is that black men really
Speaker 6: need to talk to each other.
Speaker 5: We're not crazy. We're just going through eggs and pains.
Speaker 2: You know, it seems as though we have gotten to
Speaker 2: a point when we're kind of used to the ache
Speaker 2: and pain because for whatever reasons, there's some type of
Speaker 2: fear or stigma when it comes down to seeing the
Speaker 2: doctor and I'm raising my hand.
Speaker 1: Listen.
Speaker 2: I have been known to be guilty of myself to
Speaker 2: not feel something right in my body and say, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna sleep it all for or you know, the
Speaker 2: whole idea ginger rail.
Speaker 1: And wait till your stomach cel. But here's the thing.
Speaker 2: If you are feeling something in your body, that's your
Speaker 2: body communicating with you. And when we talk about having
Speaker 2: a successful relationship, any type of relationship, the key is communication.
Speaker 2: And it's like, well, if we can't communicate with ourselves,
Speaker 2: how can we expect to communicate with anything else in
Speaker 2: our lives? Preach you know, so many people are afraid
Speaker 2: of knowing. But when you know better, you can do better.
Speaker 2: And it's time to do better.
Speaker 5: We do not have a choice at this point.
Speaker 6: We've got to be responsible for ourselves, our bodies, our
Speaker 6: health and wellness. You know, historically black folks just don't
Speaker 6: trust the medical profession in general with different experiments. You
Speaker 6: think about the Skegee and the historical context about the
Speaker 6: government really just not taking care of us, are really
Speaker 6: looking after our best interests. There's some issues in terms
Speaker 6: of just trust and building relationships. We build a rapport
Speaker 6: vet those screeners and our community partners. That way, when
Speaker 6: they get to you, most likely you'll have a black
Speaker 6: face talking to you. But in addition, you know, folks
Speaker 6: have talked, embedded and established that there are good medical
Speaker 6: practices so that you get the help and care that
Speaker 6: you need. And most of the time it's free or
Speaker 6: low cost with our community partners.
Speaker 2: So we're going to be amongst family, people that look
Speaker 2: like us, that could communicate with us so that.
Speaker 1: We can beat us.
Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2: And you know, when we talk about this walk too,
Speaker 2: another thing that I thought that was so great is
Speaker 2: that this is a family event. You don't have to
Speaker 2: worry about going along, because sometimes that can be a
Speaker 2: little hard, that can be a little tricky.
Speaker 1: And let's just say, sometimes we're a bit scared. Look,
Speaker 1: you don't have to admit it, but it's true.
Speaker 2: Sometimes we are apprehensive about going for a checkup, going
Speaker 2: to talk to somebody because we feel as though it's
Speaker 2: just us. Well, in this case, you can bring your family,
Speaker 2: you can bring the kids. There's going to be entertainment,
Speaker 2: there's going to be vendors. What else can we expect.
Speaker 6: Listen, think about a fan of reunion style activity where
Speaker 6: we're just going to get a little check up while
Speaker 6: we're there. So you're bounceizers for kids and maybe with
Speaker 6: some sack races, some sprints, some face painting for the kids.
Speaker 6: You're gonna have a couple of DJs that'll be rocking out.
Speaker 6: Of course, our partners with KJLAH and iHeart Radio and
Speaker 6: Vitamin D with Dawn Day. And I'm missing some folks
Speaker 6: kb LA passing the Black Pages. If they're black and
Speaker 6: they care about us, they're gonna be at this event
Speaker 6: and we're gonna have a good old time. So friends, brothers, cousins, uncles, dads,
Speaker 6: you know, sons, everybody come out. And women come too,
Speaker 6: because we have several vendors that have resources specifically for women.
Speaker 6: We know that women specifically in our Black community are
Speaker 6: really the backbone that have been the anchor for us
Speaker 6: to stay together. So we don't forget about you. We've
Speaker 6: got stuff there for you, and we know if you come,
Speaker 6: bring the kids, bring a husband, bring the boyfriend, bring
Speaker 6: the brother. We've got something for everybody to have a
Speaker 6: good old time.
Speaker 2: Okay, And so as we mentioned, this is being brought
Speaker 2: to us by the African American Male Wellness Agency. Can
Speaker 2: you tell us a little bit about the organization and
Speaker 2: why it got started.
Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 6: So the agency started really in a response to figure
Speaker 6: out why black men weren't going to work. We did
Speaker 6: a research project and we were finding that black men
Speaker 6: weren't going to the work because of health issues. So
Speaker 6: part of it was in order to get your check
Speaker 6: every week, you had to do a quick physical so
Speaker 6: to know those numbers, your blood pressure, checking on those
Speaker 6: and once we started implementing that as the agency, they
Speaker 6: were showing up, they were getting a check.
Speaker 5: So then we said, hey, let's elevate this.
Speaker 6: You got all these other organizations who don't focus on us,
Speaker 6: that do these race for the Cure and five K
Speaker 6: for this, So we said, we're going to do something
Speaker 6: for black folks that mirrors these efforts. Where we can
Speaker 6: bring awareness, we can bring fun that we can bring
Speaker 6: entertainment and make sure that we're saving our people. And
Speaker 6: we don't only do this, so it's more than a walk.
Speaker 6: We have something called a Fire Initiative where we do
Speaker 6: cooking with dads and fishing with dads. We also do
Speaker 6: financial wellness where we can partner with different financial institutions
Speaker 6: help us out when it comes to this day to
Speaker 6: day budgeting or I've got this credit card debt, how
Speaker 6: am I going to pay this off?
Speaker 5: What's the strategic plan around that?
Speaker 6: How do we build our credit so that we can
Speaker 6: then purchase a home where we can get more blood
Speaker 6: folks and homes that have home ownership and equity versus paying.
Speaker 5: Rent that can fluctuate from time to time.
Speaker 6: So we really try to take a holistic approach when
Speaker 6: it comes to health and wellness. Again, if we know better,
Speaker 6: we can do better. And our goal is to educate,
Speaker 6: provide resources, provide love and a sense of community where
Speaker 6: you can live longer. There was one other thing don
Speaker 6: that I missed was our best program in my opinion,
Speaker 6: It's called Real Men, Real Talk, which is a farbershop
Speaker 6: style Black men getting together and we're going to shoot
Speaker 6: the funts of the speak and we talk about what's
Speaker 6: going on, our stresses, our problems, our headaches. And you've
Speaker 6: got thirty forty fifty other men in the room that says, hey, brother,
Speaker 6: you ain't crazy. I've been through this. This is how
Speaker 6: I navigated. These are some things that I did to
Speaker 6: remove the stresses, and really create a sense of communities.
Speaker 6: So when those dark times come, you've got a brother,
Speaker 6: the call, text, email, jump in a group chat, but
Speaker 6: really make sure that you're not alone and.
Speaker 5: That you can make it through whatever adversity that you
Speaker 5: may be experiencing during the time.
Speaker 2: So hold on this, real man, real talk is going
Speaker 2: to be there on Saturday, November eleven.
Speaker 6: So we'll have the small version and we really partner
Speaker 6: with our group called Black Men Build LA to facilitate
Speaker 6: our Men's Circle, So very similar setup, but not the
Speaker 6: official event so to speak. But we're not egotistical. If
Speaker 6: we've got community partners who have similar programming and resources,
Speaker 6: we are always looking to partner and collaborate. There's no
Speaker 6: sense in reinventing the wheel. We can just come together
Speaker 6: and do the same work to say the same people.
Speaker 5: So Black Men Bill LA would.
Speaker 6: Be facilitating that conversation on Saturday instead of us.
Speaker 2: Well, I love this because you know when you said
Speaker 2: the whole situation of sitting down having a barber talk,
Speaker 2: it's like, at some point, I don't know if history
Speaker 2: did it. You know, sometimes just life be lifeing, but
Speaker 2: just as well as we've forgotten how to communicate with ourselves.
Speaker 2: It's like communicate with your brothers and your sisters, communicate
Speaker 2: with your community. Because you are not alone. We know
Speaker 2: that we can go farther together. We can be stronger
Speaker 2: together than we can by ourselves. And if we can
Speaker 2: get back to the point of what it means to
Speaker 2: stick by each other, to be your brother's keepers, to
Speaker 2: be your sister's keepers, to be your kids siblings keeper,
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, how far we can get there. And
Speaker 2: as you were talking, you said the screenings. Now, the
Speaker 2: screens that will be taking place, we're talking about blood pressure,
Speaker 2: glucose cholesterol, HIV, STD STI, and prostate cancer, which we
Speaker 2: know prostate cancer is one that takes out men immediately.
Speaker 2: That's one of the along with pancreatic cancers that is
Speaker 2: very intense when it talks about taking a toll on
Speaker 2: the body.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, we'll also have some foot screenings, but to speak
Speaker 6: to the prostate, the colorectal cancer, those are all things
Speaker 6: that are I mean, the numbers are off the charts
Speaker 6: in terms of how biased it is to black folks.
Speaker 6: So it's important even at a young age. So I
Speaker 6: think the medical professionals say around forty. I'm encouraging black
Speaker 6: men around thirty five is when we need to start
Speaker 6: having those screenings. And what I can tell you because
Speaker 6: I'm of that age, it is no longer that invasive procedure.
Speaker 5: We can take some blood and figure it out versus
Speaker 5: having to touch on you.
Speaker 6: And that's one of the things that I really really
Speaker 6: want men to know, Like you don't have to get
Speaker 6: violated to figure that out. Let's draw some blood, Let's
Speaker 6: have some conversation and do some other ways to figure
Speaker 6: it out. But like, we can solve this. There's no
Speaker 6: reason to die early. But we can work together now
Speaker 6: and figure.
Speaker 5: It out and take preventive measures and steps to help
Speaker 5: out with that.
Speaker 2: So I'm curious, Jay, because your passion it runs deep.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: We first got our conversation on the FM DOL and
Speaker 2: then when I saw it come back around, I said, wait,
Speaker 2: what's going on? Why are you so passionate about this work?
Speaker 6: Last year alone, I lost two of my brothers, my
Speaker 6: frat brothers, to pancreatic cancer, and one at thirty one
Speaker 6: in their early sixties.
Speaker 5: Thirty years old, yes.
Speaker 6: Thirty years old, Like yeah, that took me out. So
Speaker 6: like this is my guy. We just went on vacation together.
Speaker 6: We're down in Mexico kicking it, and pancreatic cancer moved
Speaker 6: extremely fast and it is fatal.
Speaker 5: The survival rate is extremely low.
Speaker 1: Did he seem as though he was sick?
Speaker 5: No? No. We got back from vacation maybe a month
Speaker 5: or two.
Speaker 6: Afterwards, and it's just like, hey, I've been diagnosed. I'm like, well,
Speaker 6: what does this mean? So of course I'm going and
Speaker 6: googling and looking it up. And the more and more
Speaker 6: I read, the more and more my mouth.
Speaker 5: Dropped and was like, this isn't good.
Speaker 6: So, I mean, he made it a long time in
Speaker 6: terms of about nine months after diagnosis, but in general,
Speaker 6: it is extremely fatal, and you.
Speaker 5: Know, just get Having those continuous.
Speaker 6: Visits and checkings and touch points with your physician will
Speaker 6: help identify that as well as other things that may
Speaker 6: exist that we aren't keeping an eye on. And everything's
Speaker 6: not going to be where you're down and out, where
Speaker 6: you're feeling bad or you're sluggish, where there's visible signs
Speaker 6: we need to do some blood work, and a lot
Speaker 6: of times it's not that much we're talking about the fingerprint,
Speaker 6: like we're not giving out pints of blood. When you
Speaker 6: get there Saturday, you're going to get a fingerprint and
Speaker 6: then you'll get a nice little band aid and we're done.
Speaker 6: Like that covers all your screenings, So just keep in
Speaker 6: mind like we're not giving up your whole body.
Speaker 5: It's not invasive. The goal is just to get some
Speaker 5: quick diagnosis.
Speaker 6: See some key indicators that say hey, we may need
Speaker 6: to have further conversations.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 6: We are super blessed to have partners with the company
Speaker 6: called Para Suite, as well as a few local physicians
Speaker 6: that will be there. So after you get your screening numbers,
Speaker 6: you're then able to review them with a black physician
Speaker 6: to tell you, hey, maybe we need to change the diet,
Speaker 6: maybe we need to increase exercise, maybe we need to
Speaker 6: follow up with your primary care provider to check some
Speaker 6: levels or do some X rays. But all of this stuff, again,
Speaker 6: it's free. It gives you the opportunity to increase your
Speaker 6: life expectancy. That is one hundred percent in line with
Speaker 6: our goal to save lives of black folks and increase
Speaker 6: their life expectancy.
Speaker 2: So I can imagine, you know, sometimes people may not
Speaker 2: have insurance and the first thing that they're afraid about
Speaker 2: is like, how much is going to cost?
Speaker 1: How much is it going to cost for these screenings?
Speaker 5: Chain again, this is free. Do you understand? Like that
Speaker 5: said all year.
Speaker 2: All somebody has to do is pull up on Saturday,
Speaker 2: November eleventh at the Rancho Cianca Park right behind Dorsey
Speaker 2: High School and find at their numbers.
Speaker 6: Pull up, show up, run up, fly up, however you
Speaker 6: want to get up, but be there, be there.
Speaker 1: That all it.
Speaker 2: Takes for you is to show up, And you can
Speaker 2: only wonder is are you willing to.
Speaker 1: Show up for yourself? Show up for your life?
Speaker 2: Because if it's not for you, what about your family,
Speaker 2: your legacy. We are so quick to show up to
Speaker 2: a job or a paycheck, but what if you can't
Speaker 2: show up for yourself to get to the job. Then
Speaker 2: the question becomes then watch Because the whole notion that
Speaker 2: African American males are dying twelve years earlier then their
Speaker 2: white male counterparts, that's something to have a conversation about.
Speaker 2: That's something that we need to dig into, explore furthermore
Speaker 2: to know that there is a community where you don't
Speaker 2: have to worry about feeling like you are alone because
Speaker 2: you got people that look like you people who are
Speaker 2: concerned just like you, people who have gone through the
Speaker 2: same things, just like you. To have a conversation and
Speaker 2: how you going to elevate your life. That's amazing, It's
Speaker 2: profound and it's something to talk about. And I understand too.
Speaker 2: You have quite a few community leaders coming out. You
Speaker 2: have an honorary chair. Can you share more?
Speaker 6: Absolutely, we've been blessed with the Walter Payton Man the year.
Speaker 6: When it comes to philanthropic effort, it's a Tremaine anchorum
Speaker 6: who plays guard for the La Rams.
Speaker 5: He is our honorary chair and really driving and.
Speaker 6: Supporting us with our engagement when it comes to spreading
Speaker 6: the words saving black men's lives, make sure that we
Speaker 6: know our numbers. He's been instrumental in connecting us with
Speaker 6: community partners and resources to really evangelize you know, the
Speaker 6: normalcy of health and wellness for black folks. We also
Speaker 6: have you know, Heather hut which is our councilwoman in
Speaker 6: the tenth district, who's been instrumental in terms of supporting
Speaker 6: and helping and make sure we have every resource needed
Speaker 6: to make sure that the venue location, all the tent,
Speaker 6: tables and chairs are taken care of. Like, she's absolutely phenomenal,
Speaker 6: and then I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our
Speaker 6: county supervisor, Holly J. Mitchell, who has done the same.
Speaker 6: Her and her office have been instrumental. So these are
Speaker 6: black women, black men who care about us and putting
Speaker 6: their money where their mouth is and showing up for
Speaker 6: us when it comes to getting things done, so this.
Speaker 5: Event doesn't happen without them. We also are wonderful sponsors.
Speaker 6: We can touch on them later, but people who care
Speaker 6: about us are actually showing up with money, time and
Speaker 6: resources to say Black men's lives matter, our health matters,
Speaker 6: our families matter, and this event is really here to
Speaker 6: make sure that we scream that at the top of
Speaker 6: our lungs and have a good old time doing it.
Speaker 2: I love that, and you know it's the organization. The
Speaker 2: mission is to increase the life expectancy of African American
Speaker 2: male and physical health, mental health, financial health, fatherhood and research.
Speaker 2: For somebody that may be new to this and they're
Speaker 2: listening to this episode or perhaps e've ben watching us,
Speaker 2: what does health equity mean?
Speaker 5: So health equity means that.
Speaker 6: One the availability, the costs and access to care and
Speaker 6: resources is essentially even for all races and.
Speaker 5: Other groups in general.
Speaker 6: So making sure that there's no barriers from an education standpoint,
Speaker 6: is there a black position that is in your neighborhood?
Speaker 6: Can we get you, know you, representation with people who
Speaker 6: understand your needs as a black person, and with that,
Speaker 6: can they speak to you in terms that you understand?
Speaker 6: Medical terms are like I went to college, I read
Speaker 6: a lot.
Speaker 5: I still look at reports.
Speaker 6: I'm like, I don't know what the hell is saying
Speaker 6: like I need someone to break this down in some
Speaker 6: stuff that I understand that says, what's the LDL? Well,
Speaker 6: I don't know what the LDL is, but I know
Speaker 6: when you say my sugar's high, and I know when
Speaker 6: you say my pressures up. I can to understand that commonality.
Speaker 6: And when it comes to quality and equity when it
Speaker 6: comes to healthcare, communication is one of them, as well
Speaker 6: as access and making sure that you have representation.
Speaker 2: Representation matters. Support matters because you matter. So are you
Speaker 2: willing to show up for yourself better?
Speaker 5: Yet?
Speaker 1: How much do you love yourself?
Speaker 2: You know, we say we're here for a good time,
Speaker 2: not a long time. So how are you making this
Speaker 2: time count in your life? With the greatest asset, which
Speaker 2: is you, because everything and extension of earth is in existence. Well,
Speaker 2: if you don't exist, then what's what you say?
Speaker 5: That?
Speaker 2: You love your family, You say that you want this house,
Speaker 2: you say you want to travel on this vacation, you
Speaker 2: say you want to see the world.
Speaker 1: You say you got these big dreams.
Speaker 2: Well, if you aren't taking care of yourself to ignite
Speaker 2: those dreams, to live out that life, then what does
Speaker 2: it all matter? So this is your time to show
Speaker 2: up for yourself. Saturday, November eleventh, from eight am to
Speaker 2: twelve pm. Come out so we can support on what
Speaker 2: it means to close this health equity gap.
Speaker 1: And it starts with you.
Speaker 2: My brothers, tell a friend, to tell a friend, tell somebody,
Speaker 2: it's time to love on ourselves.
Speaker 1: What would you say?
Speaker 2: Have you ever had a health scared day?
Speaker 5: No major scarce, knock on woods?
Speaker 6: You know I tried not to, you know, I try
Speaker 6: to stay active. I try to golf, I try to
Speaker 6: play tennis. I'm out in the yard, door, physical work,
Speaker 6: and you know, try try to do the things to
Speaker 6: be responsible.
Speaker 5: Now the health. The biggest health scare for me was alcohol.
Speaker 6: I loved me some alcohol, you know, and could drink drink, drink.
Speaker 6: So like last year, December tenth was my last day
Speaker 6: of drinking alcohol and making.
Speaker 5: That change because I wasn't myself anymore. I was no
Speaker 5: longer the fun.
Speaker 6: Drunk and entertaining and a good time. I'm emotional, I'm angry.
Speaker 6: So when I thought about my mental health and mental
Speaker 6: wellness and how it was showing up for my fiance
Speaker 6: at the time, now, my wife, I wasn't the guy
Speaker 6: that she needed to marry or wanted to marry as
Speaker 6: a result of my consumption alcohol. So with that, you
Speaker 6: have to start making some adult decisions and changing your life.
Speaker 6: If I want this woman, if I want this house,
Speaker 6: if I want to keep going to work and staying employed, Like, hey,
Speaker 6: I got to change my behaviors and hopefully that translates
Speaker 6: when it comes to medical, mental, physical, all these things aligned.
Speaker 6: We have to make decisions to win and show up
Speaker 6: for each other and show up for ourselves most importantly,
Speaker 6: if we're no good, we're no good for anyone else.
Speaker 6: And really having that self awareness and self care to
Speaker 6: make a tough decision. Now, I tell you, it's not
Speaker 6: fun going to party still, you know where everybody's taking
Speaker 6: shots and having a good time.
Speaker 5: But I am glad that I can be there, I
Speaker 5: can be present.
Speaker 6: I remember things now, not blacking out, but really taking
Speaker 6: ownership when it comes to that was a big important
Speaker 6: step when it comes to health and wellness for.
Speaker 1: Me, Thank you for choosing yourself.
Speaker 5: Ject that's the only person I got.
Speaker 2: All the time, we talk about having so many commitments
Speaker 2: to other things in our lives, and it's like, wait
Speaker 2: a minute. The longest commitment to whomever is going to
Speaker 2: be yourself. So why wouldn't you make yourself a priority?
Speaker 2: You're hearing how people are falling left and right, and
Speaker 2: to know that all it's about is choosing yourself. And yes,
Speaker 2: it's going to be uncomfortable, but you asked to grow,
Speaker 2: didn't you.
Speaker 1: You didn't want to say the same, did you.
Speaker 2: If you don't like how you're feeling, if you don't
Speaker 2: like what you're doing, well, here's an opportunity for you.
Speaker 1: To show up.
Speaker 2: So show up on Saturday, November eleventh, from eight am
Speaker 2: to twelve pm right here in Los Angeles, California, the
Speaker 2: African American Male Wellness five K walk one will be happy.
Speaker 1: The question is will you? Now you talked.
Speaker 2: About some sponsors who are some of the sponsors of
Speaker 2: this year's walk.
Speaker 5: We've been super blessed.
Speaker 6: Our major sponsor is going to be Johnson and Johnson
Speaker 6: who has committed to our agency nationwide. We are in
Speaker 6: sixteen different cities, so they have a national partnership as
Speaker 6: well as genin Tech that helps us out tremendously. Again,
Speaker 6: Heather hud Holly Mitchell are A Health Foundation is also
Speaker 6: a major sponsor. Probably miss oh Parsuite is another one.
Speaker 6: Cover California as well as La Care No. Cover California
Speaker 6: is going to be doing something. It's open enrollment season,
Speaker 6: so we're gonna have a couple of different open enrollment sessions.
Speaker 6: You'll be able to meet with the Chief Medical Officer.
Speaker 6: Day Lamar will also be over there facilitating that segment
Speaker 6: from from the FM channels and you and Monica, who
Speaker 6: is the black woman chief Medical officer over there, will
Speaker 6: be over there just telling you.
Speaker 5: About open enrollment.
Speaker 6: The resources with Cover California, We've got so many different
Speaker 6: partners that have literally said, hey, this is the cast
Speaker 6: that we need to stand behind. And again, none of
Speaker 6: this happens without this cost. It's you know, it's an
Speaker 6: expense to have an event to have entertainment.
Speaker 5: Listen.
Speaker 6: We probably spend over one hundred thousand dollars to make
Speaker 6: this event come to LA and we don't take it
Speaker 6: over to you know. So far, we're not going downtown
Speaker 6: to La Lot.
Speaker 5: We are in our community next to Dorsey High School.
Speaker 6: Were talking Bray and Obama at the Michelle and Barack
Speaker 6: Obama Sports Complex. We are for the people with the people,
Speaker 6: and we want to make sure that we win. So
Speaker 6: we are here. Companies are behind us, and we're going
Speaker 6: to continue to grow. This is just the first phase
Speaker 6: of the work that we're doing. I will let the
Speaker 6: cat out of the bag a little bit, so it
Speaker 6: will no longer be the African American Male Wellness Walk
Speaker 6: and Run.
Speaker 5: After this event, it will now.
Speaker 6: Be the Black Wellness Day that is encompassing men, women
Speaker 6: and children directly. Now, we did launch a program in
Speaker 6: Columbus at Houston where we have a program called Uplift Her,
Speaker 6: which is the equivalent of with the Black Male Walking
Speaker 6: Run is for men.
Speaker 5: So women get screenings.
Speaker 6: They are very health specifics, tobamograms and all types of
Speaker 6: different resources that are specific to women. Having them come
Speaker 6: together and be able to you know, work through those things.
Speaker 6: Collectively and have a good time. And sometimes they do
Speaker 6: the mimosas and maternity conversations and all types of women
Speaker 6: nuanced stuff. But next year it's gonna be a wellness
Speaker 6: stage for black folks. Overall, we're gonna have a ton
Speaker 6: of fun. We're growing our partnerships. There is a major
Speaker 6: celebrity that I can't announce it, but any.
Speaker 5: If you watch football, if you watch football.
Speaker 6: And you really really enjoy it, and like people talking
Speaker 6: about theme music maybe coming on board to help us
Speaker 6: out and evangelize mental health and wellness across the board.
Speaker 6: But there's a lot of fun. Pacman Jones that's been
Speaker 6: on board with us. They're doing a real memorial talkdown
Speaker 6: in Houston. Anthony Hamilton's been a part, Bubba Wallace, Penny Hardaway, Music,
Speaker 6: Soul Child across the board. Like when we tell black
Speaker 6: folks what we're doing, celebrities, entertainers, they say, Hey, there's
Speaker 6: a cause we can get behind. And now the only
Speaker 6: thing that's missing is you've got to get behind it.
Speaker 6: As people come out and support us, have a good time,
Speaker 6: show up, listen. If you can bring three people, that'd
Speaker 6: be great. If you go to church, every church in La.
Speaker 6: Bring ten men and we're in good shade that really
Speaker 6: make an impact. And this will just cascades. So for
Speaker 6: contexts Columbus where it started, where headquarters is, they do
Speaker 6: about forty thousand black folks out for this event. Wow,
Speaker 6: forty forty thousand people in the streets walking through the
Speaker 6: community getting health screenings.
Speaker 5: We're lying, dancing, we got the Greeks out.
Speaker 6: I'm a cue, so we're out, We're strolling, we're hopping around.
Speaker 5: You know, it is a good time. So like you know,
Speaker 5: I may even break out the three sixty booths this
Speaker 5: year in LA just to add add a little something
Speaker 5: to it. But listen, think about fun.
Speaker 6: Think about fun like you have the best time at
Speaker 6: your face and a reunion, or cousins hung out on
Speaker 6: the weekends, you have sleepovers. Think about that when you
Speaker 6: come to this event. We'll just get your little check
Speaker 6: up in between. And I've literally had my wife enlist
Speaker 6: all the church aunties and deaconesses and the most attractive
Speaker 6: women that we can find. They are gonna be a volunteer.
Speaker 6: So don't try to swerve them. Talking about you went
Speaker 6: to a doctor last week last month. We don't play
Speaker 6: that because you know, they're gonna grab you. Come on, baby,
Speaker 6: we're gonna get your screen right now. And for black women, listen,
Speaker 6: I hear the a lot of single black women in
Speaker 6: LA hard to find a man. This just might be
Speaker 6: the event to show up to since we are focusing
Speaker 6: on black men and they at least care enough to
Speaker 6: show up about the help.
Speaker 5: So I don't like.
Speaker 6: Bribing people, but I'm telling you, if you want to
Speaker 6: do something, this might be the time to find a.
Speaker 5: Good man, real good good.
Speaker 1: A good man. I don't need help.
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, yeah, good clean man.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm telling you if that didn't right there, do
Speaker 1: it for you. I don't know will what will?
Speaker 5: I mean?
Speaker 2: It's going to be free. There is no cost. What
Speaker 2: we did not talk about? How do we register? Do
Speaker 2: we need to go online? Can we just show up?
Speaker 2: Do I need to have a group?
Speaker 1: What's going on day?
Speaker 6: There are a few different ways. The easiest way is
Speaker 6: to go to LA dot AA Wellness dot org and
Speaker 6: you can register there. Registration's free.
Speaker 5: If you want to register as a group, you click
Speaker 5: the passion teams.
Speaker 6: A passion team is simply a group of two more
Speaker 6: people walking for a call. So whether that's your brothers,
Speaker 6: whether that's your family, whether you've lost someone, whether you're
Speaker 6: part of a Greek organization, whether you're part of a
Speaker 6: social club, whether you want to do a church, you
Speaker 6: got a book group, whatever it is, you come out.
Speaker 6: Y'all want to look alike, wear save t shirts, wear
Speaker 6: the same color, Come hang out, come walk, take some pictures,
Speaker 6: get screened, and have a good time.
Speaker 5: But the other thing is the event is still free.
Speaker 5: If you show up.
Speaker 6: We're not turning you away, So pull up even if
Speaker 6: you don't get a chance to register. But there will
Speaker 6: be some giveaways and some free books, some resources, and
Speaker 6: people that have told their story and donate the items
Speaker 6: that we want to hand out. Great opportunity. When you
Speaker 6: register to get those things, we can call you out
Speaker 6: or mail you. And then if you care about any
Speaker 6: of the other services or programs that we're doing throughout
Speaker 6: the year, this is the way we can get in
Speaker 6: contact with you. So we're not going to blast and
Speaker 6: spam you. You probably get maybe one email a month.
Speaker 6: Our goal is not.
Speaker 5: To bombard you with stuff. The things just to make
Speaker 5: you aware about the free resources.
Speaker 6: We don't do anything that's ever charged for people, So
Speaker 6: everything that we do in the community, and the work
Speaker 6: that we do is free to the community, and it
Speaker 6: is my job to find sponsors and people to pay
Speaker 6: for it so it's free.
Speaker 2: So this event is all about love. This event is
Speaker 2: all about love and on yourself. This event is all
Speaker 2: about when you know better, you can do better, You
Speaker 2: ready to be better. I'm just saying, as you know,
Speaker 2: I end the episode each and every time talking about
Speaker 2: how you are your greatest asset. Are you ready to
Speaker 2: show yourself as such? Because if your health isn't there,
Speaker 2: what else matters? That is your top priority. You're talking
Speaker 2: about this job, You're talking about your kids, You're talking
Speaker 2: about the family, You're talking about this car you want.
Speaker 2: You talking about the outfit you want to wear. You're
Speaker 2: talking about that vacation you want to go on. But
Speaker 2: if you ain't got you, what are we really talking about. Well,
Speaker 2: we're talking about closing the health equity gap. We're talking
Speaker 2: about the fact that our African American males are twelve
Speaker 2: are at twelve years earlier dying than our white male counterparts.
Speaker 2: But why is that You said that you want to
Speaker 2: find a loved one, a partner.
Speaker 1: Would you got to be in good health to do that?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 2: One thing that I really appreciate that you discussed, Jade,
Speaker 2: is that you said that this.
Speaker 1: Isn't an opportunity for open enrollment. I feel half the.
Speaker 2: Time, especially if you are of low income or you
Speaker 2: just may not know, it can become confusing when it
Speaker 2: comes down to sign up for health insurance. It can
Speaker 2: become a confusing about what type of physician that you need. Well,
Speaker 2: if you pull up, you walk up, you drive up,
Speaker 2: you get up, this is an opportunity for you to
Speaker 2: speak to somebody that can answer the questions that you have.
Speaker 2: So I'm assuming we need some type of identification.
Speaker 5: Just show up. Well, take care all of the people
Speaker 5: of resources that we work with.
Speaker 6: Our HIPPOC compliance means they're not going to tell sell
Speaker 6: or give away your information. But show up to show
Speaker 6: up again, You're a meeting with the chief medical officer
Speaker 6: who is a black woman, who will be there live
Speaker 6: and in person to answer those questions. Not going on
Speaker 6: the website and trying to figure out what do I
Speaker 6: click here?
Speaker 5: What do I move here? You got it straight from
Speaker 5: the goats mouth.
Speaker 6: She's a boss, she is smart, she is an enjetic,
Speaker 6: she shines, and she's here to care about our people.
Speaker 6: They're going to have two different information sessions. When you
Speaker 6: go to the website, the register, you'll see the full
Speaker 6: agenda where you want to be, how you positioning yourself.
Speaker 6: But you'll get all your questions answered. And you know
Speaker 6: you can get medical insurance and coverage for free the
Speaker 6: low costs, but.
Speaker 5: You have to be taken care of and we're here
Speaker 5: to do that.
Speaker 6: And I've called upon everybody i can to make sure
Speaker 6: that those resources are here for you. So please don't
Speaker 6: let me down. Come on out, take advantage of what
Speaker 6: we're doing.
Speaker 5: And make sure that you live longer so that we
Speaker 5: can win longer.
Speaker 2: Listen, you ready to write this book? Are you coming
Speaker 2: on with an album day? I'm telling you, okay, catch up,
Speaker 2: pick it up, pick up this information. Make sure you
Speaker 2: share and you tell this with somebody else if they matter.
Speaker 2: In fact, share with yourself, look over and review, because
Speaker 2: you matter. We need you. Outside on Saturday, November eleventh,
Speaker 2: right there at Rancho Sienaga Sports Center, Yes, the Michelle
Speaker 2: and Barack Obama Sports Complex at five hundred and one
Speaker 2: Obama Blok all of our right here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: They have free health screenings. We're talking about screens that's
Speaker 2: going to detect your blood pressure, glue close cholesterol, hi
Speaker 2: v ST, d STI, and prostate cancer and so much more.
Speaker 2: We need you to go ahead and visit at the
Speaker 2: website LA dot AA Wellness dot org if you or
Speaker 2: somebody you know.
Speaker 1: Wants more information.
Speaker 2: And guess what the honorary cheer is La Rams Guard
Speaker 2: Tremaine Ingram. We got community leaders out there, we got
Speaker 2: music out there, we got fun, we got entertainment, but
Speaker 2: more importantly, we have the education about your health. So
Speaker 2: we hope to see you there because you're loving on
Speaker 2: yourself and you don't have to be afraid j do
Speaker 2: you because you got people that look just like you,
Speaker 2: that are trying to get the same answers just like you.
Speaker 2: And it's something comforting to know that you can look
Speaker 2: to your left, you can look to your right, you
Speaker 2: can look forward, and you can look behind and you
Speaker 2: see people that look like you. That's your language, and
Speaker 2: know you don't have to know everything, and know you
Speaker 2: don't have to have everything figured out. You just need
Speaker 2: to pull up. You just need to walk up. You
Speaker 2: just need to drop up. I just need you to
Speaker 2: get up and stand up for yourself. Stand up for
Speaker 2: your life, stand up for your family, stand up for
Speaker 2: what matters most, and that is you. Why because you
Speaker 2: are your greatest assents day. Is there anything else you
Speaker 2: want to share with the people?
Speaker 5: One last thing, follow us on Instagrams. That's where all
Speaker 5: the hot content comes.
Speaker 6: You get all the updates, all the latest news, all
Speaker 6: the latest.
Speaker 5: Information around it.
Speaker 6: Plus you get a chance to see some of the
Speaker 6: folks who are going to be there. You'll hear testimonies
Speaker 6: about lives that we were impacted. It is very very simple.
Speaker 6: AA Wellness walk La. Find us on Instagram AA Wellness
Speaker 6: walk La and we'll follow you back as long as
Speaker 6: you got good stuff, will like, share, comment, and do
Speaker 6: all types of good stuff for you.
Speaker 5: Give. We are we are the people for the people.
Speaker 5: Always well Dad.
Speaker 2: I commend the work that you're doing. I'm grateful, I'm
Speaker 2: honored to be a.
Speaker 5: Part of it.
Speaker 1: You can you continue to share the word.
Speaker 2: And spread the word and more importantly be the word
Speaker 2: because the word is living. And if we don't take
Speaker 2: care of our health and then what are we are
Speaker 2: we living? And you know here on Vitamin D we
Speaker 2: talk about how you are your greatest asset. So if
Speaker 2: you'd like to be a guest, I encourage you to
Speaker 2: shoot an email at Vitamin D as down daispeaks dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also check us out on all social media
Speaker 1: at Vitamin D Dawn Day. What do I say? We
Speaker 1: here for a good time, not a long time, so
Speaker 1: we gotta.
Speaker 6: Make it count.
Speaker 2: So pull up on me and if you want to
Speaker 2: follow me personally, you can find me on all social
Speaker 2: media at dawn Dais Speaks. Now, before I head out
Speaker 2: of here, you know I always say I'm in the
Speaker 2: business of making dreams come true.
Speaker 1: Ad damn She'll like, oh, forget about mine.
Speaker 2: So until next time, always about you.
Speaker 3: You're Gretta, get your vit in Indy, ride with me
Speaker 3: and get excited about your life.