1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: You know, boys, it's back and reoded all in your mind. Yeah, 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,559 Speaker 1: not deep throating. This is for the streets, the reel, 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: the railroading, the distant franchise, the truth escape building, and 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: they ain't knowing we speak the truth, so they ain't 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: quoted because we wrote it. The North South East coat 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: g be my twe keeping your head bothering, it ain't 7 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: no stopping and wants to be drops head by. And 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: then the system is so corrupt they throw the rock 9 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: out of their heads and then blame it on us. 10 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: Don't get it twisted on code and we danced for 11 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: no frontament biscuits. It's Willie d y'all scar faces not 12 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: in the building, but I got his back. Collectively we 13 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: are the ghetto Boys. Reloaded with another episode of information 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: and instructions to help you navigate through this wild, crazy, 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: beautiful world. In the studio, Dctor Chandra Richardson that afternoon, 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: you got one of those names that the people gotta 17 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: be mindful. It's it's Chandra, not Chandra. Yes, sir, yeah, 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: that's correct. How you feel. I'm great. Thank you for 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: allowing me to have the opportunity to be here and 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: to meet you and to share what may be important 21 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: to some and not so much to others. Uh huh. 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: I like how you said that this is this is 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: about to be very very interesting. You have a very 24 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: interesting life. Some would say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So 25 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: you're a Houston native born in the trade. I always 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: tell my students Third War to the day I die. 27 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: Raised in Sunnyside. What's so special about the third Ward 28 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: Sunny Side? It's it's home um Home Street, Baptist Church, 29 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: a little kid, the big tree on the corner, my 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: my uncle playing dominoes. My grandfather had an auto mechanic 31 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: shop in the neighborhood. My father in law didn't know 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: it was going to be my father in law. He 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: also had an auto mechanic shop in the neighborhood. They 34 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:15,559 Speaker 1: were actually best friends. And of course Jackie's high school. Okay, 35 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: so you raised with your mother and father. It was 36 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: my mother, my grandmother and my grandfather your grandfather. Okay, 37 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: now where's your father? Going on to glory that way 38 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: what I'm saying, where was your father? I never knew 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: it was growing up. In actuality, I didn't find out 40 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: until right about three years ago who my father was. 41 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: M hmm. He was never in the scene. So did 42 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: you find out before he died? No, I was the 43 00:02:53,600 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: secret child, and I actually was okay with it as 44 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: an adult, but somewhere in the back of my mind 45 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: there was always that I wonder, I want to know 46 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: who My mother took the identity of my father to 47 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: her grave. She died, it'll be it will actually be 48 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: three years in May, and um, I just wanted to know. 49 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: So I stepped out and did what you see people 50 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: do on TV. I did ANCESTR DNA and next thing 51 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: you know, someone was reaching out to me and it 52 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: was a female and I said, well, she's definitely not 53 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: my dad. But we communicated and we talked, and she said, 54 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: what do you have any family in Beaumont? I said no. 55 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: She said, well what about Louisiana. No. Keep in mind, 56 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: I only know my mother's side, so all the people 57 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: in places she was naming meant nothing to me. And 58 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: I said, I'm looking for a male and obviously he's 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: going to have to be somewhere close to my mother's 60 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: eight each and my mother's not telling me anything. At 61 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: that particular time, my mother was still alive, but it 62 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: was never a subject that she wanted to discuss. So 63 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: the young lady that I kept talking to, she said, well, 64 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: let me do some more research. Well, she was really 65 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: into ancestry DNA, and she dug deeper and deeper and deeper. 66 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: She said, okay, I got some names. And I was like, okay, 67 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: that means nothing because I I have nothing. My birth 68 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: certificate says I know. So she said, well there's this 69 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: person that again nothing and I said, uh, well, my 70 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: birthday October nineteen fifty nine, and surely they would have 71 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: to be older than me. So the dates that she 72 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: was coming up with were within a year or two 73 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: of me. And I said, well, definitely not my dad. No, no, 74 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: no relationship. So she said, well, let me ask my 75 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: mom to do the DNA test. She actually asked her mother, 76 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: and her mother did the DNA test and it came 77 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: back that we were half siblings, and she asked her aunt. 78 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: Test came back, we were half siblings. She asked her 79 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: other aunt. Test came back, we're half siblings. She said, 80 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: well that means you're my aunt and my grandfather was 81 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: your father. So she actually set everything up. We had 82 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: a meeting right during the Christmas holidays. As I said, 83 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: this was almost three years ago, and my half sisters 84 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: and the half brother all showed up. All of our 85 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: parents were deceased, and I look like them. M I 86 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: looked exactly like them. And then uh, my niece named Michelle, 87 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: she said, what about the little toe? Was like, what 88 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: about the little toe? She said, let's see your little toe. 89 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: These people are must be crazy. Okay, I showed him 90 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: a little too. That's Grandpa's told that's the toe. Yes, 91 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: she is ours, she is ours. So I found out 92 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: I have these half sisters and a half brother and 93 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: lots of nieces and nephews, and uh, everyone was very welcoming. 94 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: But I told him up front, I said, please understand, 95 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: I want nothing from you. I am whole, I am healed, 96 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: I know who I am, but I wanted to find 97 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: out who the unknown was and ancestor. DNA has the 98 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: disclaimer that says, please be prepared because the results that 99 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: you received may not be the ones that you expect. 100 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: So I got what I did not expect, which was 101 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: a lot of siblings and cousins and nieces and nephews. 102 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: And it's okay, but we're very friendly. Every now and 103 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: then we'll get together. But I was raised as an 104 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: only child. So for me, I'm good. I don't get 105 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: on the phone and call a lot. We make text 106 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: every now and then just to say hi or how 107 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: are you doing? But it's nice to be able to 108 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: fill in the blank and know who unknown was. I mean, 109 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: blens do you have but wherever you my father? The 110 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: four half sisters and one half brother. One half brothers 111 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: deceased and one half sister is deceased, and it's good. 112 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: Now is it fair to call them half brothers and 113 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: half sisters like you know, like biologically? Yes? Well, for example, 114 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: like I have four sisters and brothers and we have three. 115 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: Daddy is between us and we. I've never called them 116 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: my half brother my half sisters. Why do we say 117 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: that if, like if the dad have like we have kids, Like, 118 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: if you have a sibling, that's by where of your 119 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: dad will say half? But if it's mama, we just 120 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: say that's my siblings, right exactly? Is that fair? I 121 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: think all is fair in love and war. But nevertheless, 122 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: I could have come up with any number of names 123 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: referred to my father, my biological father, and my story 124 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: was always centered around I don't know who my earthly 125 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: father is, but I know who my heavenly father is. 126 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: So I found out who my earthly father was, and 127 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: I'll still say my father. The best part is I'm 128 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: not angry. I wasn't angry then and I'm still not 129 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: angry now. Um I can't say that for some of 130 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: the members who were upset to find out that I existed, 131 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: and I said, well, I'll just call it what it is. 132 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: I was the bastard child. I was the one who 133 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: was kept the secret. I was the one who was 134 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: literally poor. But I was never made to feel that 135 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: way with my mother and my my grandmother and grandfather. 136 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: How did you feel growing up like not knowing who 137 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: your father was. Do you think that that affected your 138 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: childhood at all? I didn't miss. It's kind of hard 139 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 1: to miss what you didn't have because my my grandfather, 140 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: oh my god, she was amazing. He was the best 141 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: grandfather ever. But the flip side of the story is 142 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: I found out through doing ancestor DNA he was not 143 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: my biological grandfather. He was not my mother's father. He 144 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: was someone that married my grandmother when she was fourteen 145 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: or fifteen years old because my grandmother had had a 146 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: baby and her parents told her she needed someone to 147 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: help take care of her and her baby. And how 148 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: old was he when he married your grandmother in his thirties? 149 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: M but he loved me beyond measure. Your great grandparents 150 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: told your grandmother she needs she got pregnant by your 151 00:09:54,240 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: biological daddy and grandfather, right, they subsequently had gotten killed. 152 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: They told a fifteen year old girl she needs to 153 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: marry this thirty year old guy so he can take 154 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: care of the baby exactly. You know, that wouldn't fly today, 155 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,959 Speaker 1: But that was a different time, that was a different 156 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,599 Speaker 1: show that that definitely that definitely would not fly today. 157 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: So you are a military woman, you are educator, you 158 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: um an activist. That's fair. Where does all this come from? Yeah? 159 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: I say there's a an inner spirit where being. And 160 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: only many times you don't have anybody to talk for you. 161 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: You don't have anybody to talk up for you. And 162 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: I said that it seems like I just kind of 163 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: stumbled my way into blessings. They weren't just there on 164 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: the table for me to say, oh, let me get 165 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: that or let me pick that one up. It wasn't 166 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: like that. I just knew I was cared for by 167 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: my grandmother and my grandfather, and that if I didn't 168 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: speak up, I wouldn't get anything. Sometimes if I didn't 169 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: open my mouth, going back to the scriptures, a close 170 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: mouth doesn't get fed. So I had to start learning 171 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: because that wasn't at the beginning. But as I got older, 172 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: I had to open up and say I want to, 173 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: I need to, I have to, I must, And more 174 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: times than not, I did and also received whatever it 175 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: was I was asking for. But if I didn't say anything, 176 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: well I got nothing or I didn't get what I 177 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: want or what I expected. Mm hmm. So walked me 178 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: into the moment that you decided that the military was 179 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: your calling. I was a student at Houston Community College. 180 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,599 Speaker 1: I had to actually decided that I wanted to be 181 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 1: a surgical technologist, and I was going to school for that, 182 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: and I was doing pretty decently. I had one instructor 183 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: who sailf Honey, you'll never make it in this profession. 184 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: You're too slow. You don't know what you're doing. And 185 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: she was not a person of African American descent, I'll 186 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: put it that way. And we just called her the 187 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: dragon Lady because she was. She cut people. I mean, 188 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: she cut you in your mind. She knew how to 189 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: say things to you to be offensive and make you 190 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: want to quit and make you want to drop out, 191 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: and literally used that h worth to hate words. Oh 192 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 1: my god, this lady. What is wrong with her? Something 193 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: that's wrong world. You don't talk to people like that. 194 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: You don't treat people like that. And I wasn't good 195 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: at what I was doing, and it was hard for me, 196 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:53,079 Speaker 1: but I was determined she was not going to make 197 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: me quit. If I wanted to quit, that was me. 198 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: But I wasn't going to let her, a person, make 199 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: me quit. So I just started working harder. And one 200 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: day she came in she said, oh, y'all, guess what 201 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: I did. And we're like what she said, I signed 202 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: up for the Navy. Oh, and I'm gonna have these 203 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: cute little uniforms and I'm gonna make all this extra 204 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: money and I'm gonna do this a lot extra money. 205 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: That that sounds kind of good to me. So next 206 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: thing you know, I finished the program and I got 207 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: certified and I was actually working in the hospital scrubbing 208 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: as a surgical tech. My favorite was labor and delivery, 209 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: and I could do cardiovascular surgery without blinking an eye 210 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: because I had grown into it. I learned to love it. 211 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: So you got your PhD before you went to No, no, no, 212 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: this is the last. This was on the last leg 213 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: of the career. So I actually went to a recruiter 214 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: and said, well, my teacher says she was enlisting and 215 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: I wanted to find out about doing that. And the 216 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: guy said, okay, uh, what do you do? And I 217 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: told him. He said you have certification. I said yes. 218 00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: He said you have a degree, and said yeah, I 219 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: have associates degree and my associate's degree was in biology. 220 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: I wanted to have a medical field, so he said, okay, 221 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: sign here, and I said, well, do I have to 222 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: do all the stuff that everybody else has to do. 223 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: He said, well, we'll write that in so you don't 224 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: have to do a lot of the initial things. And 225 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: I said okay, So I signed up. That was all 226 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: she wrote and I was in for a minute. And 227 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: next thing you know, came there as a storm and 228 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: I was supposed to ship out, and at that time 229 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: I had gone to the what we used to have 230 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: facilities on OST. I went to OST to pick up 231 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: my sea bag and I had to do all the 232 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: medical tests to go out. That's the Green Military Duffel 233 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: bag where you put everything, that's the value, your whole 234 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: life is in there, right. I still have mine, So yeah, 235 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: don't have my tags. I don't know where they are. 236 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: But I got my bag. I got my bag. So 237 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: um I went and they called me into another area 238 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: and so, okay, we're doing some tests and we're not 239 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: sure about these tests. We need to do some more 240 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: tests they're talking about. And they said, oh, you're not 241 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: gonna ship out. You need to go over to this 242 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: other room. What the heck? Why? Why? I don't understand 243 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: what's going on. Well, I was pregnant and didn't know 244 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: I was pregnant. My grandmother subsequently, right about that time, 245 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: had passed away. She has to come to breast cancer 246 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: and I've been with her all my life. And I 247 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: started to feel bad, really really bad. Need to send. 248 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: My grandfather passed away when I was about nine or 249 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: ten years old, but my grandmother that was that was 250 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: my rock, and I just I just couldn't shake the funk. 251 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: I just I couldn't stop crying. I was feeling bad, 252 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: and it's like, Okay, it's the it's the death. I 253 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: know it's the death. But when the Navy people said, 254 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 1: and I say, oh, I know that can't be true. 255 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: So I went to the doctor, who actually was the 256 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: doctor that I was working with on a lot of 257 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: the surgeries, and she said, okay, we're gonna do the 258 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: test and uh, congratulations. No y'all are in the wrong room. 259 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: That's no, no, that's that's not mean, that's and no, 260 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: that is you. And I started crying. She said, what 261 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: are you crying for? You know what you did. What 262 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: you're crying for? I said, well that she was a 263 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: very wonderful woman, needless to say, and I thought, oh, 264 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: this wasn't what I was expecting. She said, well, you 265 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: need to get yourself together and decide what you're going 266 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: to do. If we're going to have a baby, I 267 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: will help you and we will have a help healthy, 268 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: happy baby. If you're not going to have the baby, 269 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: I don't do that, but I will send you somewhere 270 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: where they take care of that. And then I started 271 00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: crying even more. She said, Okay, I'm gonna give you 272 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: about two more minutes to get it together and stop crying. 273 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: I said, do I have to make up my mind today? 274 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: Because at that time, my daughter's father and I we 275 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: were not together. I had discovered right about the time 276 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: that my grandmother had passed away, that he was a 277 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: kind of person that I don't want to spend the 278 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: rest of my life with. And he was doing things 279 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,199 Speaker 1: that I was not agreeing with, and he was an 280 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: habitual liar. And I started catching him more and more 281 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 1: and more right about that time, and I said, you 282 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: know it's over. We're done. I can't do this with 283 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 1: you anymore. And he was like, oh, it's it's just 284 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: your emotions. Your home a little that I know it 285 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 1: was my emotions, that my hormones was still the veil 286 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,640 Speaker 1: had been pulled away, and I realized, he's a idiot. 287 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,959 Speaker 1: I cannot do this, I cannot knowingly do this, so 288 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: so I'll just be on my own. And his family 289 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,440 Speaker 1: was adamant that if I chose not to with him, 290 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 1: they would not help me. When I said, okay, that's fine, 291 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: I'll be all right because I had a job, and 292 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: I had a career and I had a degree, so 293 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: Navy it was on whole. I went back to working 294 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,919 Speaker 1: in the hospital. I worked all the way up until 295 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: it was time to have my baby. Had my baby 296 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: there in the hospital, my mom was there to support 297 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: me and my baby was ill and I was ill. 298 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: I stayed in the hospital maybe about a week. When 299 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: we came home, she was very jaundice and my blood 300 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: pressure was through the roof. Never had blood pressure problems, 301 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: and just for whatever reason, things were not going as 302 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: well as we had thought. Next thing, you know, um, 303 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: about a week or two later, baby and I are 304 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: out and we're going to visit the nurse who helped 305 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: deliver my daughter, because till this day that's over thirty years, 306 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: were still very good friends, and someone rear ended me, 307 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: at which point I went back up in the hospital, 308 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: staying there another two weeks, and my baby was home. 309 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 1: So I was going through it all kinds of ways 310 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: because I couldn't see her, I couldn't be around her. 311 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 1: I wanted to bond with her, so my friends would 312 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: bring her for me to see her. And obviously I've recovered, 313 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: because here I am, but I was not necessarily in 314 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: the best of physical shape. And I was told because 315 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: of the car accident that I could not go back 316 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: into the career that I've had, which was surgery. And 317 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,880 Speaker 1: if you see the TV shows, people are standing, they're 318 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: not sitting doing surgery. So they said well, no, that 319 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: that wouldn't be good for you. And I thought, oh 320 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: my god, what am I supposed to do? I never 321 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: thought about not doing that, and now I've got a 322 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: baby to take care of. So my military connections said, well, 323 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: you know, you got a lot of college hours. Have 324 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: you ever thought about teaching? Teaching? Teaching? What? That's not 325 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: what I planned on doing. I don't even know how 326 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: to do that. And they said, well, we got g 327 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: I money, got military benefits. We'll pay for you to 328 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: go to school. And are you still enjoying the benefits 329 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: of military in a roundabout way? Not? Because he was right, 330 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: So that's that's a work in progress. I'm sorry. Where 331 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: how long were you in the military? I got credit 332 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: for eight years honorable discharge. H But I see, well 333 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 1: that's more than what a few people I know that's 334 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: eating good off off their military benefits. I mean they should. 335 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: Oh that's the that's next. If you need some help 336 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: to I know somebody who's very very good and get you. 337 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: Remember what I said about the clothes mouth doesn't get fed. 338 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: So I'll say it right now. I need some help. 339 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: I got and I'm ready to receive it. Absolutely. We 340 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: shall talk after this agree boys reloaded podcast will be 341 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: right back after the pot Let's go back to the military. 342 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: While serving in the military, did you ever experience any 343 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: type of sexual harassment in the military, Because I know 344 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: it's a big deal. That scares me about women in 345 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: the military, because I have family members who are in 346 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: the military or female, and that always scared the hell 347 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: out of me about that. How pervasive it is. You 348 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: ever experienced something like that, um to the degree of 349 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: where it was flirtatious, only no one ever put their 350 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: hands on me. I was never in an area where 351 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,439 Speaker 1: I was isolated or secluded where I had to concerned 352 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: about my safety. Yeah, so I was blessed in that 353 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: aspect that didn't happen to me. But as far as 354 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: quote unquote hitting on me, oh heck, yeah, that was 355 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: all the time and perverse conversations or just inappropriate language. Yeah, yeah, 356 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: for sure. Are you familiar with the case of Levina Johnson. 357 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: Vina Johnson, she's a black woman who was found murdered 358 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand and five. She was found murdered in 359 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: a tent that was owned by UM was a k 360 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: KBR you know, Ronnie Route who at the time it 361 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: was a it was a time, Yeah, it was at 362 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:54,159 Speaker 1: the time. It was a subsidiary of had A buried. Yeah, 363 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: so she her death was rude a suicide. But checked 364 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: this out. The autopsy found that she First of all, 365 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: they said that she committed suicide with the with the 366 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: M sixteen rifle. She's a right handed woman. The bullet 367 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: wound was on the left side of her head. She's 368 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: a right handed woman. The bullet wounds on the left 369 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: side of her head. And they said she killed herself 370 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: for the rifle. They found lacerations on a you know, 371 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: on a private areas. They found on her face, they 372 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: found they somebody put some type of flammable liquid on 373 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: her body. They burned her. Uh, they poured died on 374 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 1: her vagina. Uh. They did a bad They did a 375 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 1: real bad and they told the parents. They told the 376 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: family that it was suicide. And as far as I know, 377 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 1: the families still don't have justice. And uh and then 378 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: recently here uh fort Hood. Uh, they had the case 379 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:16,360 Speaker 1: of Vanessa Yea who you know, was murdered and they 380 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: tried they she was brutally murdered, decapitated, and they uh 381 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: just totally ignored the evidence. And that was people are 382 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: saying like this, God, right here is a suspect held, 383 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: you should talk to him, and they just totally ignored it. 384 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: It's like and I and and that's just that's just 385 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: uh two cases. But I see it's very very rare. 386 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: But I remember reading something where it said that it 387 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: was like out of the like it was like ninety 388 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: nine six women who was murdered who died like in 389 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: in in in Iraq, uh and Afghanistan. It was like, uh, 390 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: thirty six of those women something around that number, like 391 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: about thirty six of those women were uh, we're murdered. Uh, 392 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: we're murdered outside of combat, so it was unco it 393 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: was non combat related. So and almost all of them 394 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: were raped. There was some type of rape involved. You know, America, 395 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,320 Speaker 1: I'll say America has a major problem with rape. I 396 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: mean day one, we could go all the way back 397 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: to slavery, but even today, people get excited when certain 398 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: people get convicted or accused of rape or whatever. They 399 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: want to bring them down or whatever. But I would 400 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: dare say that this country really don't care about victims 401 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: of rape because, uh, last I check, of all rape 402 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: kits in America are sitting in evidence rooms. Untested. So 403 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: I was just curious about that when I first when 404 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,160 Speaker 1: I found out that, you know, you had that military background. 405 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: Uh do you have any uh any any of your 406 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: your friends or your fellow soldiers female soldiers experienced something 407 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 1: like that. I don't know anyone exees me personally, but 408 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: I belonged to some women veteran programs where I know 409 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: it's there, but it does not get discussed openly. What 410 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:54,959 Speaker 1: trips me is like, if you can't be protected on 411 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 1: your base, your home, your home, think about it. This 412 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: is your base, this is ground this is ground zero 413 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: for protection. These the people that you're amongst your co 414 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: workers and all these people, these are the This is 415 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: the US military, and they're supposed to be the first 416 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: line of defense for US as citizens. But to take 417 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: it further, you actually are employed directly by the military, 418 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: being the military from you employed to go out and 419 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: serve the country. And you're supposed to be going out 420 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:42,120 Speaker 1: here to get justice for other people and free other 421 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: lands and all this stuff, But you can't get justice 422 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: for yourself right here. You know, how do you reconcile that? 423 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: Like when you know knowing that you know, like I'm 424 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: I'm I'm serving I'm serving my country, but my country 425 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: ain't necessarily serving me. It's to her for excuse me, 426 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:08,360 Speaker 1: it's a hurtful thought to know that. UM. I participate 427 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: with Dress for Success Houston. They also have a veterans portion, 428 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: so tons of women every branch of the military that 429 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: you could think of, and sometimes and now more so 430 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: because of COVID, and we do a lot of things virtually, 431 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: so we don't get to do the relational building that 432 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 1: we were previously. But when you hear other women saying 433 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,919 Speaker 1: their PTSD, you know, or they're having some kind of 434 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: a psychotic or psychosis that they're having to deal with, 435 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: and just like you say, it's not necessarily military related, 436 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: it's about something else that occurred while they were in 437 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: the military. Yes, people on the base sometimes their personal relationships, 438 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: their spouses who may also be in the military, or 439 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: they're married to a military spouse, and the way they 440 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: have to handle the stress. I have no answers. I 441 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: have no answers. I don't know how to UM excuse it. 442 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: But it's just the idea that they experienced it. And 443 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: as you have said, the help, the help is there, 444 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: but some people are so afraid, just so afraid to 445 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: come up against powers that they feel are bigger than them. Yeah, 446 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: that that was the case definitely with Vanessa gil Yam. 447 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,239 Speaker 1: You know she gil Ya and she uh told her 448 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: family that she had she was going through something. This 449 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: guy had sexually assaulted her and she was scared to debt. 450 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: And then it got out of something happened where dude 451 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: thought that he was going to be found out, so 452 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: he murdered and then like the cowardy he was, he 453 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: killed him. Two boys revoting podcast will be right back 454 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 1: after the point. M So you take your military uh background, 455 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: and you kind of like, uh you you move on, 456 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: you move forward, and you because you can't do the 457 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: military thing anymore, you get into education. What brought you 458 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: into education? Well, when I was given that offer, my 459 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: first thought, as I says, I don't know how to 460 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: do that? A little did I know? I knew a 461 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: lot more than I had actually given myself credit for. 462 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: So it was easier than your thought. Like actually teaching, 463 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: and I'd had an instructor who was a history teacher. 464 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: Prior to that. I had the medical background and the 465 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: biology because that was the career that I wanted. But 466 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: this one particular history teacher and I went back to 467 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: a c C. And she did something. It was like 468 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: sprinkling fairy dust on a person. And I loved the stories. 469 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: I fell in love with the stories. I want to 470 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: do that. I want to tell stories. She made everything 471 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: that you saw in a book come alive, where if 472 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: you close your eyes you could see yourself there. And 473 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: I thought, oh my gosh, how did I do that? 474 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 1: I want to do that. I really want to do that. 475 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: She was amazing. What's her name, would you believe? I 476 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: don't remember Diana. Diana was the first name, but the 477 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: last name I don't remember because it was quite some 478 00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: time ago. But she was an awesome teacher, and I 479 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: didn't like her. I didn't like her. I thought she 480 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: had something against me in the beginning, because every paper 481 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: its history class. You're gonna write. Every paper that I 482 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: turned in came back just blooded up. She just read 483 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: all over. And I thought, oh my gosh. I said, oh, 484 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: she hates me because I'm black. That was my first 485 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: thought because of it's like, surely i know I'm doing 486 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 1: everything right. And she said, oh, I'm gonna give this 487 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: paper back to you, fix it, turn it back in. 488 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: She gave her I said, well, I don't know what's 489 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: wrong with her. It was perfectly paper as far as 490 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,760 Speaker 1: I was concerned. I'm literate, I know how to write. 491 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: I don't know what she's talking about. So I went 492 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: and I changed some things around. Keep in mind I 493 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: had iff at first. I turned it back in and 494 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: I got a d about, Oh what is wrong something 495 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: it's wrong with this woman? And she said, okay, I'm 496 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: gonna give you one more chance. Take it, fix it, 497 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: turn it back in. She hates me. I know she 498 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,719 Speaker 1: hates me, because now there's nothing wrong with this paper. 499 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: Did you try to get any help from anybody else? 500 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: Did you act? I'll just look at it, look at it. 501 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 1: I couldn't. I was the only person in my family 502 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:22,719 Speaker 1: who had graduated from high school, so I couldn't. And 503 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: I went and did some more stuff, and I turned 504 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: it back in again. But I'm thinking, I'm a genius 505 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: and I know these things. So I turned it in 506 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 1: and she said, let me talk to you. Oh my god, 507 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: what does she want now? Is I can't get away 508 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: from her now? But she told good stories, and that's 509 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: what I liked. And she said, I see in you me, 510 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: I see you making the same mistakes that I used 511 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: to make, and it wasn't until somebody stopped me that 512 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 1: I was able to fix it. I'm stopping you now 513 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: because I want you to fix it, because you have 514 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: a great opportunity. But if you don't get this writing part, 515 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: it's not going to be all that you wanted to be. 516 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: At that point, my whole outlook about her changed tremendously, respectfully, 517 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: and I was so appreciated because no one had ever 518 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: said that they would just take the works. Oh yeah, 519 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,320 Speaker 1: you did, you turned in here's a So of course 520 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 1: I thought I knew what I was doing. I was 521 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 1: a really good student in high school. I could look 522 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: at something, learned, take the test, make a but I 523 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,840 Speaker 1: didn't know how to study. So when I first graduated 524 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:33,800 Speaker 1: from high school, I went to the University of Houston 525 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: as a part of my testimony to my students and 526 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: the parents that I had a full scholarship got in 527 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: the University of Houston. Keeping mind, this girl had nobody 528 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 1: in her background. This she could ask about school. So 529 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,240 Speaker 1: here I am in a place that was far into 530 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,359 Speaker 1: my family, and in my first year of college, I 531 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 1: ended up with a point seven five g P A. Yes, 532 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: that is an F that is the grandfather of f's. 533 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: And it was so bad that University of Houston said, 534 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: do not enroll here anymore. Like ever, it's so bad. 535 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: And I thought, okay, so I went and got a 536 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,120 Speaker 1: dead in gonna wear a job. The lady on the job, 537 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: wonderful older lady, Mr Do Lories, who said, baby, why 538 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: are you here? And I said, because I have a 539 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: car note and I need a job. She said, no, 540 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,919 Speaker 1: I don't mean that. I mean why are you here 541 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: in this place? Why are you doing this job? I 542 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: was filing papers. That was my job to file papers. 543 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:42,040 Speaker 1: And um, I said, well, I got bills and I 544 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: failed in college. How do you make a point seven? Easy? 545 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: Come to class, don't go a class on time, don't study. 546 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: And I parted like nobody's business. And I had a 547 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 1: good time because but I should have got an eight 548 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 1: for pardon when I said, sister, did that? I did that? 549 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: And I cannot lie. I have to own my truth, 550 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,440 Speaker 1: and that is my truth because that's what makes me 551 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,120 Speaker 1: be who I am now. And then what campus was 552 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:25,919 Speaker 1: this central campus? The third ward the day downtown? Oh well, yeah, 553 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: well I don't even know if they had downtown. Write 554 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: about them. But nevertheless, uh, they said, they put me out. 555 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:37,320 Speaker 1: And that's how the circle. Literally it was like the 556 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 1: children in the desert wandering. That's how the circle started. 557 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:43,479 Speaker 1: You know, I do this, and so that's not working. 558 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: Let me do that. Oh that's not working. That's how 559 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,720 Speaker 1: military peace came up. That's how all of these things 560 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 1: came up. Because I failed out of high school. I 561 00:36:54,320 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: graduated wonderful, but at that point eighteen, I lost my mind, 562 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: didn't know what I was doing, didn't know how to 563 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 1: do it, and had nobody to ask, and didn't have 564 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,840 Speaker 1: sense enough to know I needed to ask. So what 565 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,960 Speaker 1: did that teacher say to you specifically that turned you around? 566 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:21,000 Speaker 1: She saw me, and so when she said that, that 567 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:23,319 Speaker 1: was all the motivation you need. You felt like she 568 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:28,880 Speaker 1: cared about you. She cared right, absolutely. Okay, So, so 569 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: I mean almost freshman high school and I go into 570 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: my homeroom teacher who happens to be my science teacher. Also, 571 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 1: I go into a room, me and my buddy, and 572 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:46,319 Speaker 1: we got on trench coach and gangstads and we walk 573 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 1: in singing, singing slave walking down the street watching ladies. Right, 574 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: We just jamming. So she just sat back and just 575 00:37:55,600 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: watching the class erupts going crazy. They're loving it, laughing Nick, 576 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,799 Speaker 1: get it. We finished, she said, okay, you come sit 577 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:06,759 Speaker 1: right here. So she made me sit up in the 578 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,800 Speaker 1: front since she made me sit sit in front of class. 579 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:16,880 Speaker 1: And then um, she tells me to write the daily 580 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,800 Speaker 1: objective on the board the next day. Now, up until 581 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 1: that point, I always thought that right in the daily 582 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,759 Speaker 1: objective on the board. Objective on the board was for 583 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:32,720 Speaker 1: the smart kids. I never I never particularly considered myself 584 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: smart because I didn't make the grades. But when she 585 00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 1: when she delegated authority to me, it gave me a 586 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:49,359 Speaker 1: sense of pride. And I'm writing the daily objective, I'm heah, 587 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 1: you know, stipid chest out something right. And then next 588 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,320 Speaker 1: thing she does is she tells me to keep names 589 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 1: when she leave her room, she tells me to keep 590 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:04,040 Speaker 1: the name. That's huge. Well, I didn't understand what she 591 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:06,799 Speaker 1: was doing to me, but she really made me out 592 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,040 Speaker 1: out of a rat. But I didn't have to rat 593 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:11,960 Speaker 1: on nobody because she understood if I can get him 594 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,720 Speaker 1: under control, I can get my whole class room under control. 595 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:23,360 Speaker 1: So every time she came back into the room, the 596 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: room was quieter than it was before she exited the room. 597 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:31,319 Speaker 1: And so again I did not figure out what she 598 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,840 Speaker 1: was had done to me until a few years later. 599 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:40,120 Speaker 1: But I made straight a's in her class when I started. 600 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,880 Speaker 1: When I made an A in science, I thought I 601 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,360 Speaker 1: could make an A in anything, because you know, blowing 602 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: up you think you think of science is something difficult 603 00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:53,560 Speaker 1: to do because people tell you it's difficult, right, so 604 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 1: you're think in your mind it's difficult. But she worked 605 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:01,080 Speaker 1: with me. She showed me, you know, the science, you know, 606 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:09,160 Speaker 1: of of of studying and learning. And I aced her classroom. 607 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,360 Speaker 1: So I was like, well, I'm gonna try to with 608 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: the other classes. So I ace math, I aced history, everything. 609 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:21,880 Speaker 1: I just as everything. So out of nowhere, I go 610 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: from you know, bees and seeds and d's two straight a's. 611 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,320 Speaker 1: And back then, they used to announce your name on 612 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,880 Speaker 1: the on the intercom if you made the honor roll. 613 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:38,400 Speaker 1: So when they announced my name, everybody started looking around it. 614 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: I mean, what you do is threatened to teach you 615 00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:42,640 Speaker 1: what you beat up to teaching something and all that stuff, 616 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:45,120 Speaker 1: and and so I had to deal with that every 617 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:47,920 Speaker 1: time after I would make the honor roll, you know, 618 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:51,360 Speaker 1: uh yeah, after I would make the honor roll. I 619 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,640 Speaker 1: have to deal with that all the time. But I said, 620 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 1: I just say, you know, you get the right teacher 621 00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,759 Speaker 1: in your life. They could change life. And this is 622 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:05,000 Speaker 1: why I respect teachers so much. I respect educators. You 623 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:07,120 Speaker 1: get the right one and they can change your life. 624 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:11,759 Speaker 1: If it was not for Mrs Oliver at Forest Brook 625 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:16,040 Speaker 1: High School, I probably would be a different man. I 626 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,000 Speaker 1: think she saved my life, you know, because I mean 627 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,520 Speaker 1: she she sold it to me. She took the time. 628 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,359 Speaker 1: She could have easily said, get out of my room, 629 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,160 Speaker 1: you know, go to the principal's office like everybody else did. 630 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,480 Speaker 1: But she understood. She's like, okay, we got us right here. 631 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: We got a class clown basically, uh yeah, class ground. 632 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,200 Speaker 1: But you know, hey, you know I can work with him. 633 00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: You know he you know, I'm gonna work with this kid. 634 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: And it was because she took a chance on me. 635 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:48,600 Speaker 1: I took I take chances on people all the time 636 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 1: because I see I can see me in a lot 637 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:59,239 Speaker 1: of these youngsters. And you know, I think all of us, 638 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:03,120 Speaker 1: whether we want admit it or not, everybody likes to 639 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:08,120 Speaker 1: be acknowledged. And you're going to either get some attention 640 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:12,440 Speaker 1: to good way or the bad way, good or bad. 641 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:18,319 Speaker 1: People like to be acknowledged. People likes to be acknowledged. 642 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:22,080 Speaker 1: So at that time I was doing getting it a 643 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,400 Speaker 1: bad way by being a class clown. But she's taught 644 00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,080 Speaker 1: me how to get it a good way. And so 645 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 1: uh again, shots, ms, I gotta not. This ain't no 646 00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 1: shot at right now. That's salute to Miss Oliver, Mrs Oliver, salute, salute, salute, shot, 647 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:47,160 Speaker 1: Shout out to the first one. My first grade teacher, 648 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 1: Mrs Eppel Route Wilson Reynolds Elementary School. You know she 649 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:59,600 Speaker 1: owed school ethel my first great teacher who I know 650 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,960 Speaker 1: all day long, I was teacher's pet, and she would 651 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:09,719 Speaker 1: take me home in the car. I wrote in the 652 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,840 Speaker 1: teacher's car on the front seat. She would give me 653 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:14,880 Speaker 1: books and tell me, now you take this book home 654 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 1: when you better learn how to read it. In kindergarten, 655 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:21,360 Speaker 1: I didn't know how to spell my name. And again 656 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,520 Speaker 1: I tell that because that's a part of my journey. 657 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:27,720 Speaker 1: She would always tell me you're gonna be my sister 658 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,959 Speaker 1: one day? Can I be her sister? She I don't 659 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:35,560 Speaker 1: know how that's gonna happen. Till this day, I am 660 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:40,759 Speaker 1: her sister. We're in the same sorority. She made sure 661 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:44,239 Speaker 1: I didn't get to look in any other direction. Was 662 00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:48,600 Speaker 1: Zeta far Beta Sorority Incorporated? And I'm in Lamba Zeta chapter. 663 00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:55,640 Speaker 1: I've been her sister since that little boy that you've 664 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 1: got to meet at the time, he was right about 665 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:05,879 Speaker 1: six months old. No regrets, Taylor. At some point in 666 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: your educational career, you became the dean of discipline at 667 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,600 Speaker 1: Milby High School. What exactly is a dean of discipline? 668 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:19,720 Speaker 1: What are your task? What are you task to do? Well, 669 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:23,200 Speaker 1: as the title says discipline, I dealt with everything that 670 00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:27,600 Speaker 1: students did that were violations or infractions according to the 671 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:32,080 Speaker 1: Student Code of Conduct, and more times than not, anything 672 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 1: that involves sending students to j j a P, which 673 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:41,520 Speaker 1: is the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education program the county, sending 674 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:46,759 Speaker 1: them to ABC East or West, which is for students 675 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:52,319 Speaker 1: who commit violations but they also have some sort of 676 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:57,240 Speaker 1: a mental disorder that may cause them to do these 677 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:01,879 Speaker 1: quote unquote violent acts. It seemed like a bad guy 678 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,279 Speaker 1: type job, like you know, like you know, it's like 679 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:12,799 Speaker 1: the guess the dr Doom, you know, like you come 680 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,640 Speaker 1: and see me bad things happening. You know, you only 681 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:19,880 Speaker 1: come to see me still hand out the punishment at 682 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,160 Speaker 1: the same time. Yeah, I had a student once who 683 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:26,759 Speaker 1: had a traumatic brain brain injury. He had been hit 684 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:31,040 Speaker 1: by a car. Young, Hispanic male, but because of the 685 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:36,560 Speaker 1: brain injury, it caused him to have a very dangerous 686 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:38,960 Speaker 1: side to him. That was a part of his effect. 687 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: He literally took a baseball bat and beat his grandfather. 688 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:47,000 Speaker 1: He didn't kill him, but he beat his grandfather. And 689 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:50,560 Speaker 1: he would come to school and he was very intimidating, 690 00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:54,319 Speaker 1: very frightening. And students like that. You can't just send 691 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:57,920 Speaker 1: them away or send them to an alternative setting. You 692 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:00,840 Speaker 1: have to go through a process which is with special 693 00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:04,240 Speaker 1: education and make sure that you're not violating their rights. 694 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:08,760 Speaker 1: And it's called an m DR Manifestation determination review, which 695 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: shows that what the student did is or is not 696 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: related to their illness for their disorder. I was so 697 00:46:17,719 --> 00:46:22,360 Speaker 1: engaged into that that I just recently got another credential 698 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:26,080 Speaker 1: or certification as an educational diagnostician because I wanted to 699 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:29,320 Speaker 1: be able to ensure that students who were having mental 700 00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:33,000 Speaker 1: or psychological disorders were being diagnosed properly. But how do 701 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:38,520 Speaker 1: you not violate their rights and keep the greater student 702 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,920 Speaker 1: body safe. Sometimes the students have to be in a 703 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:46,440 Speaker 1: contained area where they're not mixing with the general population. 704 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,799 Speaker 1: And then there are other times that is a part 705 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:54,680 Speaker 1: of their UM i e P. Their educational plan, their 706 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:58,399 Speaker 1: individual educational plan that they do mix, but they may 707 00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:01,879 Speaker 1: have to have a co teacher with them. Um they 708 00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:06,160 Speaker 1: may only have two or three courses out in the 709 00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:09,680 Speaker 1: general population, and then others they have to be in 710 00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:13,279 Speaker 1: a more contained area. It just depends on the situation. Yeah, 711 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,000 Speaker 1: can you share that story that you were telling me 712 00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:19,560 Speaker 1: about where the kid came up to you one day, 713 00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:21,480 Speaker 1: I think it was after school or something that he 714 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:25,839 Speaker 1: wanted you to leave the school stop staying so late, 715 00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,640 Speaker 1: and share that story. UM. I was at an alternative 716 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:34,320 Speaker 1: school on the West Side and I was the principle 717 00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:38,279 Speaker 1: over this particular section. We had elementary, middle, and high 718 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:42,600 Speaker 1: school all under the same roof. And this particular student 719 00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:47,279 Speaker 1: he was tatted up, he had his gang signs on him, 720 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,560 Speaker 1: he had a little tear drop by his eye and everything. 721 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:53,239 Speaker 1: And one day he came to he say, miss uh, 722 00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:55,759 Speaker 1: you need to stop staying late. I said, what are 723 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:59,560 Speaker 1: you talking about? He said, I know you're here. I 724 00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,880 Speaker 1: know you he at the school. It gets late. Stop 725 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,439 Speaker 1: staying here. I need you to go home. I said, 726 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,120 Speaker 1: how do you know that I'm here? He said, I know. 727 00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:12,440 Speaker 1: I got people watching. But I told him she's okay, 728 00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:18,880 Speaker 1: don't bother her. Let's stop staying because one time I 729 00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:23,440 Speaker 1: might not be able to stop somebody. M hmm. Thank you. 730 00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:27,400 Speaker 1: That let me know that he liked me because he 731 00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:30,600 Speaker 1: didn't have to warn me and I stopped staying. How 732 00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,800 Speaker 1: come YEA, I don't have security after iurs when teachers 733 00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:38,600 Speaker 1: are standing putting in over time. Well, UM, as far 734 00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:41,759 Speaker 1: as H I. S D Is concerned, we do have 735 00:48:41,880 --> 00:48:46,640 Speaker 1: security now. Even our security guards. They generally clock out 736 00:48:46,680 --> 00:48:49,600 Speaker 1: at five o'clock. So if you're staying after that, then 737 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:52,560 Speaker 1: more times than not, that's your choice. Is not something 738 00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:55,040 Speaker 1: that you have to do. And if it's not an event, 739 00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:58,920 Speaker 1: then you may not have security there for that event, 740 00:48:59,440 --> 00:49:03,280 Speaker 1: which is I I do not um advice for myself 741 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:06,359 Speaker 1: or even the individuals who work under me, that they 742 00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:10,319 Speaker 1: stay late, especially when it starts getting dark, leave at 743 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:12,960 Speaker 1: a decent amount of time and don't stay by yourself 744 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:18,560 Speaker 1: or don't walk out alone in regards to respect. You know, 745 00:49:18,760 --> 00:49:25,800 Speaker 1: I cover a lot of stories where kids challenge teachers. Today, 746 00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:32,200 Speaker 1: they will swing on teachers, call them all kinds of names, 747 00:49:32,239 --> 00:49:36,239 Speaker 1: everything but a child of God. Sir, what are some 748 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:42,040 Speaker 1: particular challenges that you have faced when trying to rank 749 00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:48,759 Speaker 1: order and in the schools that you have worked there? Well, 750 00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,200 Speaker 1: my first school, and I'll never forget, I was a 751 00:49:51,239 --> 00:49:55,680 Speaker 1: green teacher like the curtains on the wall, and I 752 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:59,880 Speaker 1: had a student who was kind of acting up. Nothing 753 00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:03,640 Speaker 1: two unusual. Generally my classes were pretty decent, but this 754 00:50:03,719 --> 00:50:06,640 Speaker 1: one particular day, a young man was very agitated and 755 00:50:06,719 --> 00:50:10,239 Speaker 1: he said he was leaving. And I'm four ft ten 756 00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:13,240 Speaker 1: and I stood in front of the door like wonder woman. 757 00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:16,480 Speaker 1: I said, you are not boy, said that you're not leaving. 758 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:19,200 Speaker 1: You're gonna stay. And he said, Miss, you need to 759 00:50:19,239 --> 00:50:22,439 Speaker 1: move and I said, no, I need you to sit down. 760 00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:25,040 Speaker 1: You're you're not leaving today. I need you here in 761 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,640 Speaker 1: this room with me. I need you to stay. And 762 00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:29,400 Speaker 1: he said, Miss, I'm telling you I don't want to 763 00:50:29,480 --> 00:50:32,080 Speaker 1: hurt you. And that was the first time I've ever 764 00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,359 Speaker 1: had a student to say something like that to me. 765 00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,799 Speaker 1: And I thought, Okay, this is not a drill, this 766 00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:41,279 Speaker 1: is real. And I refused to move. I was going 767 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,359 Speaker 1: to be stoic and stand there, and I say, no, 768 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,520 Speaker 1: I need you to stay in the room. He politely 769 00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:50,920 Speaker 1: came up. He grabbed me by my elbows and moved 770 00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:54,799 Speaker 1: me over to the side and said, I told you 771 00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:57,759 Speaker 1: I don't want to hurt you. And he walked out 772 00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,680 Speaker 1: the room. Needles to say, I was traumatized, and the 773 00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:05,000 Speaker 1: kids in the room they were like, miss are you okay? 774 00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:07,400 Speaker 1: And I was like, okay, I gotta hold it together 775 00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:10,960 Speaker 1: because they're watching me. And I said, uh, somebody pushed 776 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:15,320 Speaker 1: the button. Just somebody just pushed the button, the emergency button, 777 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:20,640 Speaker 1: and nobody came. And I said, okay, y'all sit down. 778 00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:24,200 Speaker 1: Don't you move. I cannot protect you if you leave 779 00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:28,880 Speaker 1: the room. You stay in the room. I'm going to 780 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:32,000 Speaker 1: get help. So I went to get my own help. 781 00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:35,560 Speaker 1: And at that time, when I share what had happened, 782 00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:38,160 Speaker 1: they said, well, that's the straw. I said, what do 783 00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:41,799 Speaker 1: you mean that's the straw? We needed one more thing 784 00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:45,760 Speaker 1: for that student to move him out of the school. 785 00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:52,040 Speaker 1: He touched you. I was like, wow. I felt sorry 786 00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:55,239 Speaker 1: for him, but I was so scared. I was more 787 00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:57,840 Speaker 1: afraid than I was sorry for him at that moment, 788 00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,640 Speaker 1: and then that's when they told me that he had 789 00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:05,839 Speaker 1: a psychological imbalance and he has seen his mother's boyfriend 790 00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:13,000 Speaker 1: blow her brains out and it affected him and there 791 00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:18,719 Speaker 1: were psychotic disorders in his family. Steve tuned for part 792 00:52:18,719 --> 00:52:20,640 Speaker 1: two of the Sharne Richardson episode of the Gettle Boys 793 00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:26,520 Speaker 1: We Vote Podcast. This episode was produced by A King 794 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:30,279 Speaker 1: and brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network 795 00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:32,240 Speaker 1: at i Heart Radio