1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:14,319
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Katie Kurrigan. This is next question. Yes,

2
00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,840
Speaker 1: the new year is upon us and we're winding down

3
00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,680
Speaker 1: this podcast season, which has been a really special one

4
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,880
Speaker 1: for me, sharing the making of my memoir and some

5
00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,160
Speaker 1: of the most impactful moments for my personal and professional life.

6
00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,479
Speaker 1: But we're not done yet. People. If you didn't get

7
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,760
Speaker 1: a chance to make it to any of the stops

8
00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,800
Speaker 1: on my book tour, and frankly even if you did,

9
00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:45,519
Speaker 1: I have something special, stand vibe lights check, audience is in. Okay, Katie,

10
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,280
Speaker 1: let's get ready. In three two, we're going there live.

11
00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,200
Speaker 1: Thank you. You guys are so nice to be here,

12
00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,320
Speaker 1: to pay good money to come see me. Thank you

13
00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,280
Speaker 1: so so much. Hi. Today, I'm sharing some moments from

14
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,040
Speaker 1: my nine city Whirlwind tour after going there, came out

15
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,640
Speaker 1: and laid October. I went there to talk about my

16
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,679
Speaker 1: book in person. Here's a little taste. Let's rewind, shall we,

17
00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:24,720
Speaker 1: to a time long ago and far away. My big

18
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,520
Speaker 1: break came at w r C at local station in

19
00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 1: d C, located right upstairs from the Washington Bureau of

20
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,200
Speaker 1: I was proud as a peacock to be part of

21
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,080
Speaker 1: the NBC family. I had woken up that morning with

22
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,040
Speaker 1: a healthy husband, our lives stretching out before us. I

23
00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,560
Speaker 1: went to sleep with a husband who had stage four

24
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,200
Speaker 1: calling cancer and a colostomy back. As Peter Parker in

25
00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:55,720
Speaker 1: Spider Man reminds us, with great power comes great responsibility,

26
00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 1: and Matt unfortunately seriously abused his. After my first broadcast

27
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,160
Speaker 1: on the CBS Evening News, it was open season on me,

28
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,560
Speaker 1: my makeup, my hair, the fact that I wore a

29
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,440
Speaker 1: white jacket after Labor Day. What has been a raging

30
00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:18,880
Speaker 1: success though, is my merger with Muelner. Yeah. So for

31
00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,200
Speaker 1: all of you who may not believe in second chances,

32
00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,960
Speaker 1: I'm here to tell you it is possible. But I

33
00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000
Speaker 1: also got to share the stage with some of my

34
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,720
Speaker 1: very favorite people like Eina Garten and Jenn Garner, Chance

35
00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,560
Speaker 1: the Rapper, and Kim and Brad Paisley. You know what

36
00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:41,520
Speaker 1: he's He's going there, Katie, he is now. In addition

37
00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,240
Speaker 1: to those celebrity interviews and more on those in some

38
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,880
Speaker 1: bonus episodes to come, yeha, I also about to sit

39
00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 1: down with people you may not know but should. Many

40
00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 1: of them who I met along the way. They were

41
00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,600
Speaker 1: at the center of some of the biggest stories of

42
00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,880
Speaker 1: my career, ordinary people who responded to extraordinary, often traumatic

43
00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 1: events in inspiring and life changing ways. On this episode

44
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 1: of Next Question, I'm sharing the best moments from those conversations.

45
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,480
Speaker 1: We'll begin where the tour did in Boston. I want

46
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,840
Speaker 1: to give you all a warning. This is our first

47
00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:25,799
Speaker 1: night of doing this, so so so seriously, please please

48
00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,560
Speaker 1: be gentle because who knows what's going to happen. But

49
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,840
Speaker 1: I'm so happy you're hearing. My guest was Celesque Corkrant.

50
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 1: Celeste was watching her sister Carmen run the Boston Marathon

51
00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,880
Speaker 1: on April two and was at the proverbial wrong place

52
00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,200
Speaker 1: at the wrong time. When one of those bombs exploded.

53
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,440
Speaker 1: Celesque would lose both her legs. How do you put

54
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,800
Speaker 1: your life together? How do you not let anger win?

55
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,840
Speaker 1: How do you find purpose through the pain? How do

56
00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,400
Speaker 1: you go on? Well, I'll tell you because she is,

57
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,080
Speaker 1: and she's here tonight, so please welcome Celesque, poor friend

58
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,320
Speaker 1: and her sister, Carmen Icabo. Celesque came on my talk

59
00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 1: show back in just a few months after the bombing.

60
00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,800
Speaker 1: Back then, she walked carefully on ill fitting prosthetics, but

61
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,920
Speaker 1: in Boston this past October. She walked across the stage

62
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,440
Speaker 1: confidently and securely, accompanied by her sister Carmen. Here's a

63
00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,559
Speaker 1: portion of our conversation. You've come such a long way,

64
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,800
Speaker 1: I think since that day when you were on my show.

65
00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,640
Speaker 1: And I think we should also mention that their daughter, Sydney,

66
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,560
Speaker 1: who was seventeen at the time, suffered critical injuries that

67
00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:51,360
Speaker 1: day as well, had to go through numerous surgeries. And

68
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,920
Speaker 1: I can't imagine as a mom, you are dealing with

69
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,560
Speaker 1: your own injuries, and yet Sydney had her injuries too,

70
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,360
Speaker 1: and you all ended up being sharing a hospital brand didn't. Yeah,

71
00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 1: that was just luck that we ended up at the

72
00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,480
Speaker 1: same hospital and everything. And then they put us when

73
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,880
Speaker 1: they realized that we were mother and daughter, they put

74
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,480
Speaker 1: us in the same room. But yeah, to be there

75
00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,239
Speaker 1: my mother everybody, like I've always been like that, and

76
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,720
Speaker 1: to not be able to to be in a hospital bed,

77
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,039
Speaker 1: to have my legs in these casts, and then and

78
00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,000
Speaker 1: to know that Sydney was so hurting, you know, I

79
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,960
Speaker 1: would see her crying um and he couldn't get up

80
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,839
Speaker 1: and go to her, and I was I was always

81
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:37,520
Speaker 1: that's my baby. Of course I'm going to be there.

82
00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,000
Speaker 1: It was. It was overwhelming because it was the two

83
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,559
Speaker 1: of them, and celest really wanted to be her mom

84
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,400
Speaker 1: and she really couldn't. Um. I mean she could and

85
00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,600
Speaker 1: she was. But I think the hardest part about it

86
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,920
Speaker 1: it was like, you know, we thought our life everything

87
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,119
Speaker 1: was going to be so horrible because Cels lost her legs.

88
00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,120
Speaker 1: But Sydney was so so sick, and so that was

89
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,200
Speaker 1: what was so hard. Like her, her injuries were much

90
00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,479
Speaker 1: worse than selesces. If you can even imagine that, you

91
00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:12,200
Speaker 1: had to obviously deal with this sort of huge life change.

92
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,000
Speaker 1: And I don't think we should underestimate how challenging it was,

93
00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:23,000
Speaker 1: because not only physically for you, uh, Celeste, but also

94
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,000
Speaker 1: just mentally and emotionally. It was really really tough. There

95
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,840
Speaker 1: were days where you just wouldn't get out of bed.

96
00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,480
Speaker 1: Understood days like that. Really, Yeah, I had, I've been

97
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,040
Speaker 1: out of my legs. I'm just kind of I started

98
00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,280
Speaker 1: almost all over again. I had surgery from my nerve

99
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,480
Speaker 1: pain um three years ago maybe it was it was

100
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:52,039
Speaker 1: about three years ago over for COVID, and that was

101
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,200
Speaker 1: a long recovery and I was out of my legs

102
00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:55,880
Speaker 1: um for a long time. I was just in the

103
00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,880
Speaker 1: wheel chair. So for the last like I don't know,

104
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,960
Speaker 1: three years more in my chair than in my legs.

105
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,400
Speaker 1: But um, but I felt like I needed that two

106
00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,400
Speaker 1: like ground myself or something. You know. Here I am

107
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 1: up on these stilts. And before I lost my legs,

108
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,320
Speaker 1: I used to walk barefoot all the time. I love

109
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,720
Speaker 1: to walk barefoot. And I felt like there was some

110
00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,360
Speaker 1: gonna sound goofy, but I felt like there was some

111
00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,080
Speaker 1: kind of connection that was lost. You know, I needed

112
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,000
Speaker 1: to be like down on the ground. You I know,

113
00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,160
Speaker 1: were introduced to other people who were amputees who had

114
00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,160
Speaker 1: lost their legs, and it was sort of helpful, but

115
00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 1: not that helpful at first. Why was that? Um, some

116
00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,000
Speaker 1: marines came to see me, and um, a lot of

117
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,320
Speaker 1: military people. So it was a lot of men and

118
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,040
Speaker 1: a lot of um single leg amputees that I met

119
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,680
Speaker 1: with or that you know, came to encourage me. And

120
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,160
Speaker 1: that was fantastic. I needed that, but I was sort

121
00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,680
Speaker 1: of like missing, I don't even know how to say it,

122
00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,640
Speaker 1: like a female connection really right, that's exactly how to

123
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,840
Speaker 1: say it. And so and so um and and luckily

124
00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:13,200
Speaker 1: you got connected with this incredible woman in California who

125
00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,480
Speaker 1: have lost her her legs because of frost bite when

126
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:21,679
Speaker 1: she was nineteen years old, and you all became best friends.

127
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,160
Speaker 1: And I feel like that relationship really turned things around,

128
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,520
Speaker 1: didn't it. It really did. We I met her in

129
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,079
Speaker 1: New York and she was going to an event and

130
00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,000
Speaker 1: she said that we had had numerous conversations on the phone,

131
00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:40,960
Speaker 1: and then she was like, I want to meet So

132
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,480
Speaker 1: she was gonna go to the function in New York,

133
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,080
Speaker 1: but she had my number, let me tell you, because

134
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,760
Speaker 1: she was like, Celeste, if I fly across the country

135
00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,680
Speaker 1: and show up there, you can't back out. And I

136
00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,400
Speaker 1: so would have. There was on a good day, you know.

137
00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,520
Speaker 1: I was just like, New York, I'm not gonna be

138
00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,679
Speaker 1: able to like what you know. And I was just

139
00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,839
Speaker 1: freaking out. And then this one was like don't you go?

140
00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:10,080
Speaker 1: And and so that I gave you, um, you know,

141
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,920
Speaker 1: it gave you back your fighting spirit in a way,

142
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,040
Speaker 1: didn't it. It did? Because that's how Jamie is. She's

143
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,760
Speaker 1: very um. She's just a go get her and she's

144
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,600
Speaker 1: just if I would cry, like say I had to

145
00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,640
Speaker 1: crawl to get into the car or something like, you know,

146
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:30,960
Speaker 1: get out of my wheelchair, get in the back of

147
00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,160
Speaker 1: the car, fold my wheelchair, put it in the car.

148
00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,800
Speaker 1: I would call her and just be like, oh my god,

149
00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 1: this is you know what I have to do. And

150
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,160
Speaker 1: she was like, yeah, but you can do it. And

151
00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,440
Speaker 1: it's so true. And and now I went from crying

152
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,400
Speaker 1: because I had to do something a certain way to yeah,

153
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,400
Speaker 1: I've got this, Okay, I got it. I know that

154
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,160
Speaker 1: you have started to do a lot of ad because

155
00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,920
Speaker 1: he worked with an organization called fifty Legs, which which

156
00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:04,320
Speaker 1: helps peep who who need help getting post prosthesis a prosthetic.

157
00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:08,880
Speaker 1: I always have a hard time saying that, yeah, we

158
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,520
Speaker 1: help people get yeah, and um that has that has

159
00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:17,080
Speaker 1: that helped you to by helping other people? Absolutely? Um,

160
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,440
Speaker 1: she has really been helped to so many people, Like

161
00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,040
Speaker 1: there are people in the hospital or whatever, and just

162
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,240
Speaker 1: throw out all of our work with fifty Legs and

163
00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:26,439
Speaker 1: what has happened to thee last Like you know, we've

164
00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,480
Speaker 1: always said from the beginning, with bad comes good, and

165
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,320
Speaker 1: I think that's the over you know, the overwhelming theme

166
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,000
Speaker 1: in our life, as we always have to say, with

167
00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,640
Speaker 1: bad comes good, and she has She's helped in so

168
00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,920
Speaker 1: many people. And in my situation, I feel strongly about

169
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,600
Speaker 1: this in my situation, I had so many people. I mean,

170
00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,719
Speaker 1: the whole city of Boston was behind all of us. Right,

171
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:57,440
Speaker 1: talked about Bostons and people that I've met over the

172
00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:04,040
Speaker 1: years have car accidents, diabetes whatever, and lose limbs and

173
00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,760
Speaker 1: don't have any of that support that I had. So

174
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,600
Speaker 1: I felt very strongly because I had so much help

175
00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,440
Speaker 1: and it helped me so much, and I don't know

176
00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,240
Speaker 1: what I would have done without that much help. So

177
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,360
Speaker 1: every time when I can help somebody, I feel like

178
00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,600
Speaker 1: I'm just paying it forward, you know, And I hope

179
00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,880
Speaker 1: that and I tell them that if they need somebody

180
00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,960
Speaker 1: else they had some too. Wow, you're you're really a

181
00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:32,040
Speaker 1: remarkable person, and not you are. I just don't. I

182
00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,319
Speaker 1: just dealt with a situation that came to me as

183
00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,960
Speaker 1: best as I could. You know, I didn't choose this,

184
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,760
Speaker 1: but I'm not done living, so of course has gone.

185
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,200
Speaker 1: That was Celesque Corkran and her sister Carmen Icabo in Boston.

186
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,640
Speaker 1: In New York, I got to talk with Lauren Manning

187
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,520
Speaker 1: in two thousand one. Lauren was a Wall Street executive

188
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,640
Speaker 1: at Candor Fitzgerald, which was located it in the Twin

189
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,360
Speaker 1: Towers on September eleven, Lauren was just entering the lobby

190
00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,599
Speaker 1: of the North Tower when the first plane hit and

191
00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:13,280
Speaker 1: a fireball from the elevator shaft enveloped her, burning more

192
00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,480
Speaker 1: than two of her body. Lauren, who is also a

193
00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,520
Speaker 1: wife and mother of two sons, Tyler and Jagger, had

194
00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:25,640
Speaker 1: a slim chance of survival. And yet you will not

195
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,920
Speaker 1: believe how far she has come since I met her

196
00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,120
Speaker 1: two decades ago. She is a real force of nature.

197
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:40,600
Speaker 1: Please welcome the extraordinary Lauren. Manny. You know I wanted.

198
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,320
Speaker 1: I was so thrilled, Lauren, first of all, that you

199
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,839
Speaker 1: were willing to come back and and sort of reconnect

200
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,800
Speaker 1: with me, because you're such an amazing person. It's such

201
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,200
Speaker 1: a inspiration to me still to this day. And I

202
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,960
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you just about this whole healing process,

203
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:04,679
Speaker 1: because obviously we just passed the twentieth anniversary of nine eleven. Um,

204
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,160
Speaker 1: do you do you have any residual effects from the

205
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:13,720
Speaker 1: injuries that you sustained that day? Completely so, my life

206
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,920
Speaker 1: on a daily basis is lived through a different prism

207
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:22,320
Speaker 1: of what happened to me, and every aspect of it

208
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,960
Speaker 1: is compromised from the way any limb works to the

209
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,199
Speaker 1: way my voice works. Learning how to walk again and

210
00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,800
Speaker 1: speak again, and to really live again is all a

211
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:39,120
Speaker 1: study in an ongoing series of pain UM, only punctuated

212
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,120
Speaker 1: by sometimes, uh, the blessings that I have in life

213
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 1: of a husband and children who are even more painful

214
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,640
Speaker 1: in certain moments. You know, Lauren, you were you were

215
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,080
Speaker 1: a badass before this happened, and I'm curious if you're

216
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,959
Speaker 1: kind of tough. You're such a determined woman. I mean,

217
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,520
Speaker 1: when I met you at that rehab center, you I

218
00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,520
Speaker 1: just couldn't believe how focused you were on getting better.

219
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,720
Speaker 1: Do you think your personality type really contributed to your healing?

220
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:13,000
Speaker 1: And You're you're a singular focus on that, I think

221
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,840
Speaker 1: so certainly. You know, we all come from a different

222
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,680
Speaker 1: place in a sense. But my family and my my upbringing,

223
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,600
Speaker 1: and UH also being in a business that was dominated

224
00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,560
Speaker 1: by men who are all wonderful in so many ways,

225
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,440
Speaker 1: but highly misogynistic and many others, really difficult to make

226
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,320
Speaker 1: the grade and to get paid what you should. And

227
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,560
Speaker 1: it created within me a thesis, along with my family's

228
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,960
Speaker 1: service through the years, UH in the armed services, back

229
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,920
Speaker 1: to the Revolutionary Revolutionary War, that I UM was there

230
00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,960
Speaker 1: in ninety three when the first Trade Center terrorists detect occurred,

231
00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,680
Speaker 1: and I knew in a sense and believed, as many

232
00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,280
Speaker 1: of us did, they would come back. And when I

233
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,560
Speaker 1: looked up and knew that most of my friends and

234
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:08,080
Speaker 1: colleagues were certainly gone, I had this chance, and uh,

235
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,480
Speaker 1: I was not going to squander one minute of it.

236
00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,200
Speaker 1: And and so many people from Canada. Fitzgerald died that day.

237
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,320
Speaker 1: Was over six hundred, right, six hundred and fifty eight.

238
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,440
Speaker 1: That's just so hard to believe. Meanwhile, you and you

239
00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,480
Speaker 1: and Greg, and your husband is such a sweetheart. Please

240
00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,800
Speaker 1: give him my best. You had another son after this,

241
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,200
Speaker 1: You have a son named Jagger. So Tyler is now

242
00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:38,160
Speaker 1: twenty one, and Jagger is now eleven. Is that right?

243
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,320
Speaker 1: But we just turned twelve. Tyler just turned twenty one,

244
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,080
Speaker 1: and he's at Jay's alma matera the wonderful Trinity College,

245
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:51,280
Speaker 1: and Jon Mohlner's alm alma mater, Trinity College and Hertford. Yeah,

246
00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 1: and uh, Jagger turned twelve. And I don't know how

247
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,360
Speaker 1: many of you have children, but twelve is like fifteen.

248
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:05,160
Speaker 1: And I've never been so wrong in my life. Uh,

249
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,640
Speaker 1: this was a reprieve to be here. To this evening,

250
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:13,600
Speaker 1: so like happy to say goodbye to my young boss. Um,

251
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,720
Speaker 1: I am just so happy to see you. How so

252
00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,560
Speaker 1: life today. You have the challenges of having an adolescent son,

253
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:25,120
Speaker 1: but and you're you're You're also still this tough businesswoman.

254
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:27,240
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of you. You've got to start up,

255
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,800
Speaker 1: You're working, you know, really hard on that. So things are,

256
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,680
Speaker 1: things are good. How would you describe your life today?

257
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,800
Speaker 1: I mean, they are what they are. I think for

258
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,960
Speaker 1: most of us, they're wonderful days and challenging days. But

259
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:46,400
Speaker 1: the blessing of having the moment to prevail over the

260
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,320
Speaker 1: fears of failure, which were very easy to let go

261
00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,200
Speaker 1: after nine eleven, has um really given me an opportunity

262
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,320
Speaker 1: to be in a space of doing what I need

263
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,360
Speaker 1: to do in terms of supporting things like sanctuary for

264
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,080
Speaker 1: families and I pads for soldiers and helping wounded and

265
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,280
Speaker 1: injured soldiers and starting a startup based on social commerce

266
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,520
Speaker 1: and the nexus of privacy for consumers and allowing us

267
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,960
Speaker 1: all to get paid for it. So that's a long

268
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,159
Speaker 1: winded answer, but well, it sounds like your life is

269
00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:24,760
Speaker 1: very full and rich and purposeful. It is purposeful, yes,

270
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,880
Speaker 1: if not always divinely well choreographed. I'm trying to get

271
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,760
Speaker 1: from here to there, and you have been certainly someone

272
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,720
Speaker 1: I've always looked to as a woman that has led

273
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,600
Speaker 1: the way for so many of us. I feel so

274
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,959
Speaker 1: blessed and privileged that I got to meet you, Lauren,

275
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,640
Speaker 1: and I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished and all

276
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:51,879
Speaker 1: that you've become despite everything that you face. So thank

277
00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,200
Speaker 1: you for coming back and and being here with us tonight.

278
00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:03,439
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you Laura and Manning. Everyone. We'll be

279
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,760
Speaker 1: back with more highlights from my book tour right after this.

280
00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,480
Speaker 1: At each city I traveled to for my book tour,

281
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,760
Speaker 1: I reconnected with some of the people I've met during

282
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:27,480
Speaker 1: my career who have left a lasting impression, people like

283
00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,440
Speaker 1: Tom and Pam Bosley, who I got to know through

284
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,399
Speaker 1: a documentary I produced in called Under the Gun. The

285
00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:40,120
Speaker 1: Bosley's have worked tirelessly to reduce the amount of gun violence,

286
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,719
Speaker 1: not only here in Chicago, but all across the country.

287
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,840
Speaker 1: They've joined forces with other families and are a real

288
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,880
Speaker 1: example to me of turning their tragedy into action. I

289
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,199
Speaker 1: just love them so much, so please welcome Tom and

290
00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:01,040
Speaker 1: Pam Bosley. Tom and Pam lost their oldest son, Terrell,

291
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,159
Speaker 1: to gun violence in two thousand and six. He was

292
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,240
Speaker 1: just a nineteen year old kid on his way to

293
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:11,880
Speaker 1: band practice at his local church. His murder remains unsolved

294
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,879
Speaker 1: to this day. You know, it's been fifteen years since

295
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 1: you lost Terrell and he would be thirty three years

296
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,399
Speaker 1: old today, which is so hard to believe. And you

297
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,240
Speaker 1: all did everything right. You kept him busy, you kept

298
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,359
Speaker 1: him involved in sports and extracurricular activities. It just broke

299
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,040
Speaker 1: my heart to see him on those videos. I'm sure

300
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,040
Speaker 1: it's just crushing for you all. But um, what you

301
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,879
Speaker 1: know when you think about Terrell today, what do you

302
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,000
Speaker 1: think about Tom? What? Well, probably by now we would

303
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:51,120
Speaker 1: be grandparents hopefully, and uh, you know, we just miss

304
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,879
Speaker 1: everything about him, the music, the personality. And you know

305
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,159
Speaker 1: a lot of his friends have are now they're grown

306
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,880
Speaker 1: and they're married wickid, so you know when we see them,

307
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,040
Speaker 1: we flashed back a little bit. You have two other sons,

308
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,960
Speaker 1: Trey and Terrest. I know, tell us how they're doing. Actually, trade,

309
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,520
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start with the rest. So this is my

310
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 1: mildest son. So that's the one nobody never sees. But

311
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,000
Speaker 1: he's my one that keeps me a courage. Um. He

312
00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,680
Speaker 1: was actually closer to Terrel. So he the one to

313
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,840
Speaker 1: be like, mom, you've got this, um and he's always

314
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 1: in the background. But Tray is my uh my rock my,

315
00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,480
Speaker 1: he's my baby. But he's an activist. He's outspoken. Uh,

316
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,239
Speaker 1: he's the one that more like me, you know as

317
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 1: far as coming out talking about tell story. So his

318
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,240
Speaker 1: goal is he's an activist and his goal is to

319
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 1: um reduce gun violence. And I know that when you

320
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:52,280
Speaker 1: lost Terrell, you felt so alone and and and there

321
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,840
Speaker 1: was nobody to really talk to about what you all

322
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,159
Speaker 1: were going through. And that was the impetus for you

323
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:04,200
Speaker 1: to start this incredible organization called Purpose over Pain. Tell

324
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 1: us about that we did that first year when um,

325
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 1: my life went throughout our life was destroyed because through

326
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,879
Speaker 1: our life was taken. I try to take my life twice, UM,

327
00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,680
Speaker 1: so I didn't have nobody to turn to. And what

328
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,560
Speaker 1: I myself, um A Nettop She's Blare the MoMA Blair

329
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,719
Speaker 1: Hope who was killed on the bus and some more

330
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,800
Speaker 1: of us. We came together and we started Purpose over

331
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 1: Pain because we knew God had a purpose for our life.

332
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,680
Speaker 1: So what we started doing was supporting other parents like us, uh,

333
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 1: because we didn't you know. Actually, throughout the years we've

334
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,080
Speaker 1: been meeting people who who didn't make it, you know,

335
00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 1: because of this. So we support parents by doing events

336
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,000
Speaker 1: like uh, this Christmas coming up, it's a hard time

337
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: for us. So we actually put together sneakers ball Um.

338
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,920
Speaker 1: We do different things to support them, and we advocate

339
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,679
Speaker 1: for comments since gun maagers, we mentor young people. So

340
00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,879
Speaker 1: we just try to stay busy helping each other and

341
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,760
Speaker 1: try to get our cases stived because in the city

342
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,760
Speaker 1: of Chicago, over the cases we may unstave. So we

343
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,120
Speaker 1: walked the streets and we try to solve our cases.

344
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: So we united together to help each other and just

345
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,040
Speaker 1: to support each other. And you won't get phone calls,

346
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,480
Speaker 1: I mean at all hours of the night from grieving parents,

347
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,919
Speaker 1: which must be so difficult. Tom, It's tough because it

348
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,439
Speaker 1: never stops. Um. You know, you hear about some cases

349
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,639
Speaker 1: in the news, but then we get the ones you

350
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,800
Speaker 1: don't hear about in the news, and and every time

351
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 1: you get that call, it takes you back to the

352
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 1: day that you got that call, you know, so you're

353
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,879
Speaker 1: constantly reliving it. So at times it's difficult. But the

354
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,880
Speaker 1: joy you get, if there's a joy, is that you're

355
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,080
Speaker 1: helping a parent get through this process as best you

356
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,479
Speaker 1: possibly can so that you know, um, they can keep

357
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 1: the memory of their kids alive and we can bind

358
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,280
Speaker 1: together and hopefully make a difference. Just have support, right

359
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 1: exactly because it's it's we get like forty five phone

360
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:04,360
Speaker 1: calls a week. Actually have the number in my pocket.

361
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 1: I've brought it with me, um, because we really need

362
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 1: to always say these numbers. UM. Year to date here

363
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 1: in Chicago, we had three thousand, nine hundred and seventy

364
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,639
Speaker 1: eight people shot and six dred and eighty eight people

365
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 1: did and nobody really talked about it. And and November

366
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,679
Speaker 1: just you know, we just started November, we had fifty

367
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 1: two people shot and we have twelve dead. And these

368
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,400
Speaker 1: are the phone calls we get every single day. We're

369
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,160
Speaker 1: getting forty five calls a week trying to help buried children.

370
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: And that's what purpose of the paying do we make

371
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 1: donations to burying our children Because some people don't have insurance,

372
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 1: they don't have anything, so they you know, want to

373
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,080
Speaker 1: cremate their children because they don't have money to bury them.

374
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,680
Speaker 1: So UM, we we there for them, We support them

375
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: all kinds of ways. Why why hasn't it gotten better? Um?

376
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,920
Speaker 1: You know the statistics in Chicago or worse than ever.

377
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,520
Speaker 1: And I know that the governor has been very supportive

378
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 1: and is channeling a lot of money million dollars to

379
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,360
Speaker 1: to to address some of the systemic issues that are

380
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: creating these problems. But you know, how do you how

381
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: do you explain that it's it's worse than effort? You know,

382
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: I was, I was speaking earlier. It's a will issue

383
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 1: in my opinion, Um, just like the pandemic. You know,

384
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 1: if you can bring resources together to come up with

385
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 1: a cure, uh for a vaccine, you can do the

386
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 1: same thing for the pandemic of gun violence. But there

387
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 1: is a will, there's a lack of a will to

388
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,520
Speaker 1: h to do that. Well, I know one thing that

389
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 1: gives you hope is your son Trey has become an

390
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 1: activist as well, and he gave a speech um at

391
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: the the two thousand eighteen March for Our Lives event.

392
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 1: I was actually there in Washington, d C. Let's show

393
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 1: tray in action. It's time to care about all communities eating.

394
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: It's time to stop judging some communities it's worth as

395
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: some community word. It's time to stop judging you that

396
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 1: look like me or my brother, that come from a

397
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:12,919
Speaker 1: privates communities any different than anyone else. It's time for

398
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 1: America to notice that everyday shootings are everyday problems. I'll

399
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: close with this Pope by Marlotha King was said, we

400
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 1: must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. I

401
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:26,679
Speaker 1: said this to say, no matter the hurdles we may

402
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 1: face along this journey, we must remain hopeful, and we

403
00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: must continue to stand together and fight for the lines

404
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: that we deserve. Thank that's awesome. I know you're very

405
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,600
Speaker 1: proud of him, aren't you. Yes, we are. Well. I'm

406
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: so grateful that you both came to to actually see

407
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 1: me and to share your story with everybody in the audience.

408
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,680
Speaker 1: Thank you for everything you're doing. And let's not let

409
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 1: four years past before I get to visit with you

410
00:25:52,680 --> 00:26:03,160
Speaker 1: all again. Thank you, Sam and Tom Boss everyone. Meanwhile,

411
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,159
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, I met up with Amy Copeland in a

412
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,359
Speaker 1: zip lining accident resulted in a gash in Amy's leg

413
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 1: that required twenty two staples. The wound was infected by

414
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,919
Speaker 1: a flesh eating bacteria that's incredibly rare, but also incredibly deadly.

415
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,320
Speaker 1: It cut off her blood flow and five of Amy's

416
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,119
Speaker 1: organs shut down completely. She was on life support for

417
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: several days. To save her, doctors had to amputate both

418
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: of her hands, her left leg, and most of her right.

419
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: She was twenty four years old. The last time I

420
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: got to talk to Amy was back in just a

421
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 1: few months after her injury. So much has changed since then. Well,

422
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 1: let's talk about sort of what's been going on with

423
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,440
Speaker 1: you physically, because I know you still do occupational therapy.

424
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 1: What twice a week? Still tell us a little bit

425
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: about the healing because you continue to work and to

426
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: make sure that you're as as independent as you possibly can.

427
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,440
Speaker 1: Tell us what that involves. Ye, So physically, I'm a swimmer,

428
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: so I swim. I woke up and swam a mile

429
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 1: this morning. Wow. And I'm also a registered yoga teacher,

430
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 1: so I also practice yoga on a daily basis, and

431
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: I work out with weights because having a disability, one

432
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 1: of the most important things is that I'm fit. And look,

433
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,040
Speaker 1: I know you you are a beast in the gym. Amy,

434
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Do you work out every single day about

435
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 1: five or six days a week. I try to give myself,

436
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 1: you know, even God rested for a day. And how

437
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,400
Speaker 1: important that must be incredibly important for you to make

438
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: sure that you're as strong as you possibly can be, right,

439
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,120
Speaker 1: especially shoulders strength to prevent injuries. I use my shoulders

440
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,600
Speaker 1: and compensate with my shoulders for a lot of movements,

441
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 1: So being able to keep that strength is really important

442
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 1: to protect my body. So let's talk about what you're doing.

443
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: First of all, tell everyone what you got your two

444
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 1: master's degrees in show off um and what you're doing

445
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 1: with those degrees because it's so interesting. Yeah. So, first

446
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,920
Speaker 1: master's degree in psychology, second in social work. I'm now

447
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 1: a licensed clinical social worker in Georgia and in Arizona,

448
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 1: and I run my own counseling group. So I have

449
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: about eight therapists who I direct and consult with, and

450
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 1: we create affordable mental health opportunities for people in Atlanta

451
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,920
Speaker 1: who may not have health insurance coverage, so with fees

452
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,640
Speaker 1: as low as thirty five dollars. And then I also

453
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 1: run a nonprofit organization which is so Amy Copeland Foundation. Yeah,

454
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 1: so tell everyone what the Amy Copeland Foundation does, because

455
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: I think it's so awesome what you're trying to do,

456
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:49,840
Speaker 1: and we also want to sell these nice people that

457
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: you're still fundraising for it, so explain what it is.

458
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: So our mission at Amy Copeland Foundation is to bridge

459
00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: the gap between nature and accessibility, particular for people who

460
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: are in wheelchairs. One thing I realized waking up with

461
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: the disability is I didn't have the same freedom I

462
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 1: used to to be in nature, and that was what

463
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 1: I studied. After a while, I realized people in wheelchairs

464
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 1: really needed that most. So we're doing that in two ways.

465
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: One is by creating accessible workshop retreats, so we go

466
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 1: to beautiful places in nature and people can come out

467
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 1: and learn pain management and self regulation techniques for improving mental, physical,

468
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: and spiritual well being. In addition to that, we just

469
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 1: started our All Terrained Georgia program, which actually allows people

470
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 1: in wheelchairs to visit their own community parks any time

471
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,400
Speaker 1: they want with their family and friends, which is so great.

472
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,840
Speaker 1: And I know that these wheelchairs are expensive, and so

473
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 1: you want to make sure that you get them and

474
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,680
Speaker 1: make them accessible for people who need them all across

475
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,880
Speaker 1: the state of Georgia and all all state parks. Right

476
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: that's right, and right now we actually are doing our

477
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: been cutting next Monday for the first ten shares, which

478
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: will be housed at ten state parks within about an

479
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 1: hour or two of Metro Atlanta, and those will be

480
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,640
Speaker 1: available for free rental by people with disabilities starting in April.

481
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: This is the first program of its kind in the

482
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 1: United States, but I've already gotten interest from North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee,

483
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: South Carolina. That's where all want to start programs there.

484
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:29,239
Speaker 1: So we're out. He's so great. I was gonna ask you,

485
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 1: and we wanted to replicate it in other states across

486
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: the country. And you know, I know that you that

487
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 1: you do ecotherapy, So is that mean sort of the

488
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,680
Speaker 1: idea of healing out in nature, and that's why you

489
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: have these workshops where you bring folks who kind of

490
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,080
Speaker 1: you believe in in that kind of healing and the

491
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,960
Speaker 1: power of nature to help people, right, that's right. Yeah.

492
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 1: I studied ecopsychology, and what we learned there is that

493
00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,239
Speaker 1: we're from the earth, We're related to the earth, we

494
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: are a part of the earth, and so being pulled

495
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: out of nature and being really sedentarian indoors can create

496
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: a lot of secondary issues for people who already have

497
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: physical disabilities, so the idea that it is only natural

498
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: for us to be in nature, and there's all sorts

499
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: of impacts that has on the human psyche. I know

500
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 1: that you are. You struck me even I mean even

501
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,520
Speaker 1: when I met you all those years ago, four months

502
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: after you were dealing with everything. You are an incredibly

503
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:38,440
Speaker 1: positive person, but you also deal with some challenges and

504
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: there have been dark days for you to amy and

505
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: and how have you gotten through that. I know that

506
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: you're a big believer in kind of seizing on those

507
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: those tough emotions and letting that happen. And you have

508
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 1: an interesting story about falling down and just kind of

509
00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 1: literally mentally and physically collapsing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was

510
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,520
Speaker 1: right after Actually I got the van on your TV show.

511
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 1: I got donated my wheelchair accessible van and I would

512
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: drive down to Valdosta. And the very first time I

513
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 1: ever went down there, they brought me this tiny little

514
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: shower bench to use. It was my first time showering

515
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: outside my house. And as soon as I reached for

516
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,200
Speaker 1: the shampoo, I slipped right off and I was all alone.

517
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: So I reached for the grab bar. That's what those

518
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,600
Speaker 1: are there for. Right, my arms slipped in between the

519
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 1: grab bar and the wall, and I'm sitting on the

520
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,960
Speaker 1: floor of the shower with my arm twisted behind me,

521
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 1: and y'all, I just started screaming and crying and it

522
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 1: was amazing what happened after my twenty minute timber tantrum. Nothing.

523
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,280
Speaker 1: I was still sitting on the floor of the shower

524
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: of my arm saying the grab bar, but I felt

525
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: a lot better. And it was kind of in that

526
00:32:55,520 --> 00:33:00,920
Speaker 1: moment that I realized life is this whole wave of

527
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: emotion and we have to experience all of it. And

528
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 1: once all the emotion came out of me, I saw

529
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 1: the conditioner there, and I've learned being in a wheelchair

530
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,760
Speaker 1: you can dive or anything with duct tape or w

531
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,560
Speaker 1: D forty, and that conditioner might as well have been

532
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,880
Speaker 1: w D forty because I was then able to squirt

533
00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,520
Speaker 1: it on my arm and a wriggle free. But I

534
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 1: truly believe that it was experiencing all of it that

535
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: allowed me to have the clarity. So that's kind of

536
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: how I deal with it, by inviting in whatever experiences

537
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 1: I have without judgment and letting them move, because when

538
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 1: they get trapped, that's when they turn into something else.

539
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 1: That's a good life lesson, I think for everyone right

540
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: to let to let it go and to feel the

541
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: pain so you can move on. And I know meditation

542
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: has helped you enormously with pain management as well, right, Amy,

543
00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,640
Speaker 1: That's right. And you know meditation is really about witnessing

544
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: our experience without judgment, just seeing what is and breathing

545
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,800
Speaker 1: through it and being with it. And so that's how

546
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,320
Speaker 1: I've managed to control my pain is actually through relaxing.

547
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 1: Usually when we experience pain, we tense against it, we

548
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,600
Speaker 1: try to get away from it, and that creates a

549
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: more painful experience typically than the initial stimulus. So what

550
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:25,160
Speaker 1: I've learned is that through relaxing eases the pain and

551
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,920
Speaker 1: I can welcome and breathe through anything, which means I'm

552
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,320
Speaker 1: really not scared of very much anymore. Freathe through it.

553
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 1: Amazing and and and and getting to a high point.

554
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,840
Speaker 1: You got married last year. I'm so happy for you. So, um,

555
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,200
Speaker 1: tell me a little bit about your husband. How you met.

556
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: I know he shy and kind of introverted. I wanted

557
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,120
Speaker 1: him to come tonight, but he told Amy, go do

558
00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:53,680
Speaker 1: your thing. I'll be waiting at home. But he's a teacher,

559
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 1: tell me about it. Yes, he's a ninth grade teacher,

560
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: so teacher, social worker. We get along real well. We

561
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 1: have great communication, great communication. He would be rolling his

562
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 1: eyes right now if he was here, because he would

563
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,040
Speaker 1: say I over communicate. But that's another story. But yeah,

564
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,360
Speaker 1: we met after my injury. The relationship I was in

565
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: at the time did not make it through that trauma,

566
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,359
Speaker 1: which was one of the most heartbreaking parts of it

567
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,600
Speaker 1: for me. But I got back into the dating world

568
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:26,000
Speaker 1: and a wheelchair and all and online, mind you, very

569
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,919
Speaker 1: interesting experiences were had. But luckily I met this one

570
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,040
Speaker 1: and he saved me from all of that. Um. It

571
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,840
Speaker 1: turned out we had about fifty mutual friends on social

572
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: media when we met, so he actually went to the

573
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,399
Speaker 1: same school I did, so we had an instant recognition

574
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 1: and connection. And I'm so happy for you. What's his name, Stephen, Stephen.

575
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 1: We'll tell Stephen. We're so happy for him and for you.

576
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,400
Speaker 1: And before before you leave, you once wrote about your

577
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,399
Speaker 1: accident and your life and you said, if you had

578
00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,120
Speaker 1: to do it all over again, you wouldn't change a thing,

579
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 1: And that, to me is quite a miraculous statement. Amy Copeland,

580
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: Why tell me how were you able to say that?

581
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:13,759
Speaker 1: And why are you able to think that? Well, Stephen one.

582
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 1: But also I've always had this much energy, Katie, and

583
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 1: now I get invited here to talk to you and

584
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,640
Speaker 1: to share this message with all these beautiful people, and

585
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:26,879
Speaker 1: to start a program, the first of its kind. This

586
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 1: is really exciting for me to be able to make

587
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: this impact, and for me this is the reason, this

588
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: is the meaning that this happened to me, and for

589
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,319
Speaker 1: that I will be forever grateful. Well, you're my hero,

590
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:45,640
Speaker 1: Amy Copeland. Honestly, thank you for coming. Thank you, I mean,

591
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:52,080
Speaker 1: come on when we come back. The story of one

592
00:36:52,120 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: of the most remarkable women I had ever met. One

593
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:10,879
Speaker 1: of my last stops was to the Golden City, San Francisco. Uh.

594
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: The fog made things a little tricky for us to

595
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: get here, but we got here and we made it.

596
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 1: Thank God. The Bay Area is home to one Miss

597
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: oral Lee Brown. For more than two decades, the Oral

598
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 1: Lee Brown Foundation has been paying for kids who are

599
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 1: living in some of Oakland's toughest neighborhoods to go to college.

600
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,239
Speaker 1: It all started on a whim after Earl met a

601
00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 1: little girl who asked for change outside a corner store.

602
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,800
Speaker 1: It was at that moment that Oral realized the kids

603
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:45,319
Speaker 1: in these neighborhoods were in trouble and college was their

604
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:49,719
Speaker 1: way out. So in n she adopted a class of

605
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:53,080
Speaker 1: twenty three first graders, and she made a promise to

606
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:56,880
Speaker 1: them that if they graduated from high school, she would

607
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,400
Speaker 1: pay for each and every one of them to go

608
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,480
Speaker 1: to college. Now Oral wasn't some millionaire. She was a

609
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: real estate agent who grew up picking cotton in Mississippi.

610
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,479
Speaker 1: But Oral kept that promise and she didn't stop there.

611
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 1: How cool is Orally Brown? So I'm super excited because

612
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,440
Speaker 1: Orally is back, and please welcome her to the stage.

613
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:30,720
Speaker 1: Miss Orally drow So, Um, you adopted that first class

614
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:35,799
Speaker 1: of first graders, thirty twenty three kids thirty four years ago,

615
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 1: and since then, you, Orally Brown, has have sent one

616
00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty two kids to college. Where me and

617
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:50,040
Speaker 1: God God more than me, you and God where I mean,

618
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:52,799
Speaker 1: you were just one of the most extraordinary people I've

619
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 1: ever met in my whole career. Orally really, so I

620
00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: want I want people to learn a little more about you.

621
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,359
Speaker 1: Orally tell us about your childhood, because that makes your

622
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 1: story even more phenomenal, well good evening. Um. I was

623
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,960
Speaker 1: probably born in the worst state in the Union, and

624
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 1: that was in Mississippi, and I started working at the

625
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,919
Speaker 1: age of eight. My father had a saying is that

626
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,640
Speaker 1: if you ate, you contributed to the food. So if

627
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 1: you ate it, you had to help bring it in,

628
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: take care of it, or pick it a hot chocolate

629
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,240
Speaker 1: or what have you. So at the age of eight,

630
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,480
Speaker 1: my mother started me cooking. I was too little at

631
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 1: the time to know what a warm was, so she

632
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,960
Speaker 1: would take and pick the greens, but everything else onmade cakes.

633
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,239
Speaker 1: At the age of eight, I was making it and

634
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,440
Speaker 1: I was standing in the cottonfield and I will just

635
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,440
Speaker 1: tell God, please get me out of here. I will

636
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,839
Speaker 1: do whatever. And you were one of twelve one or

637
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 1: twelve kids the baby set up. A little before my

638
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: twelfth birthday. My mother sent me to stay with my

639
00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:10,239
Speaker 1: sister because she had eight kids, and so kids was

640
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:15,359
Speaker 1: the least thing on my mind. And so when you

641
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 1: make a promise to God, sometimes he will make sure

642
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,080
Speaker 1: that you keep it. Because see my promise was Lord

643
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:25,080
Speaker 1: getting me away from Mississippi. I'll do whatever you know.

644
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:31,120
Speaker 1: And so from Babyson to adopting twenty three students and

645
00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 1: at the time, I'm making for to five thousand miles

646
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 1: a year. So I was crazy. You work and and

647
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:41,160
Speaker 1: and you. So you started, before you started this foundation,

648
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,480
Speaker 1: you were doing it on your own. Early you were

649
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:47,600
Speaker 1: putting money away every single month. You learned to do that,

650
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,080
Speaker 1: you were investing it. And by the time those first

651
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 1: graders graduated, you paid for nineteen kids to go to college.

652
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,560
Speaker 1: How in the world did you do that? You're like

653
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: an investment gene. No, when God is mother climate, it

654
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 1: would go a long ways. And You're right. By the

655
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,720
Speaker 1: time they graduated out of mind forty five thousand knowledge

656
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,320
Speaker 1: each year, I was able to save ten thousand dollars,

657
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:23,200
Speaker 1: still paid my ties, and still paid my obligation. And

658
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,400
Speaker 1: one of my friends said to me one day, or

659
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,239
Speaker 1: how do you do it? And I reminded her that

660
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 1: I lived at one time off for two dollars a day.

661
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:37,080
Speaker 1: Let me repeat that, two dollars a day, and so

662
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 1: living off for two thousand a day, then four to

663
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:43,000
Speaker 1: five thousand, all I was a millionaire. And some sense,

664
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: what would these kids have done without you? Orally I

665
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:51,160
Speaker 1: was thinking about that all these kids that you have helped,

666
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:57,480
Speaker 1: because they were from tough circumstances, weren't they. Um At

667
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 1: that time, there was at least four or five young

668
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 1: people's killed in Oakland every week. You could go to

669
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,120
Speaker 1: the film home and it's almost like a repeat now

670
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 1: with the COVID. But the COVID was a disease. The

671
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 1: killing was manifest right there in the Stokeland and it

672
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,520
Speaker 1: was no way out. And the kids would tell me,

673
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:19,040
Speaker 1: and so many I'm saying, Mama Brown, if it was

674
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 1: not for you, I would be dead. And I would say, baby,

675
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:24,560
Speaker 1: don't say that. No, Mom is the truth. And so

676
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,160
Speaker 1: I think we all have an obligation to do. And

677
00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 1: once again a child, a kid, not me, not me,

678
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:36,560
Speaker 1: but see God said, oh, yes, you made me a

679
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: promise to get you out, and you will do. He

680
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 1: got me out of Mississippi and I did. And you know,

681
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,399
Speaker 1: you stay in touch with some of these kids. I mean,

682
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:54,480
Speaker 1: after all, the first group would have graduated twenty years ago.

683
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,880
Speaker 1: So do you keep in touch with them? And and

684
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,160
Speaker 1: do you see them out in the world thriving? And

685
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 1: and that must give you so much satisfaction. It does.

686
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 1: And not only do I say in touch with them,

687
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,080
Speaker 1: they say in touch with me, And they remind me.

688
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 1: You know, mom, you gotta be there for my wedding.

689
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,360
Speaker 1: You gotta be there from when I had my first baby. No,

690
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,080
Speaker 1: Mama Brown is gonna Oh no, Mom, you gotta be there.

691
00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:21,600
Speaker 1: So No, they are family. We are a family, and

692
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 1: I think the success probably come from some of that

693
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,400
Speaker 1: because one of the things I've tried to do is

694
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:33,160
Speaker 1: always sent at least two kids to college together. There's

695
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:37,719
Speaker 1: success rate doubles and maybe even triple because that's right

696
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:40,200
Speaker 1: when one want to leave the No, no, just state

697
00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:42,680
Speaker 1: to the semester and then let's see what happened and

698
00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: so it works out. So No, they they're on their way.

699
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 1: They are on their way. I wish that was some

700
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 1: of them. You know. When I interviewed you on the

701
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 1: Today's Show back in two thousand two, I surprised you

702
00:43:55,719 --> 00:43:57,879
Speaker 1: with a couple of your students, and one of them

703
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 1: is Jeffrey Tony, And I'm super excited because Jeffrey is

704
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: also here tonight and he was one of the first graduates.

705
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,840
Speaker 1: So Jeffrey, come out and tell us how you're doing.

706
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 1: Come closer, Jeffrey. I mean, it's so thank you for

707
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:28,280
Speaker 1: first of all, it's great to see you again. Almost insane.

708
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:31,520
Speaker 1: Is that you're one of the first of the graduating

709
00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 1: students that that Ms Brown supported and and sent to college.

710
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:39,840
Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about your journey, where

711
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:42,359
Speaker 1: you went, and how you're doing now and what you're

712
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:46,200
Speaker 1: doing now. Well, thanks for having me. Uh. This lady

713
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 1: sitting to the right of me, I consider her a

714
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:57,200
Speaker 1: real life angel. She saved my life. I grew up

715
00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:02,319
Speaker 1: in Oakland, poverty, single parent, home, drugs, what you name

716
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:04,759
Speaker 1: it violence. He's seeing things you shouldn't see at a

717
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: young age, and uh, you don't really have dreams and hopes.

718
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:13,160
Speaker 1: But this lady came in and made a promise to

719
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 1: adopt the entire first grade class because of an experience

720
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:19,400
Speaker 1: that she had, and it saved my life. Uh in

721
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:26,160
Speaker 1: n I graduated uh Castlemount High School and I attended

722
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:30,160
Speaker 1: Columbia College in Chicago and I studied business management. So

723
00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:34,720
Speaker 1: that is awesome. You know. UM, A lot of people

724
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,719
Speaker 1: through the years have asked you, Jeffrey, where would you

725
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:41,080
Speaker 1: be without Oralie Brown? And what do you tell him?

726
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:46,000
Speaker 1: Dead or in jail? J She saved my life. Like literally,

727
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:50,280
Speaker 1: the things that I was engaged in in high school

728
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:54,839
Speaker 1: I could have easily died could easily with the jail.

729
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:57,640
Speaker 1: But I was out hustling because I was homeless at sixteen,

730
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 1: so I was out trying to feed myself and just survive.

731
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:06,319
Speaker 1: And that opportunity came and I ran with it, jump

732
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,040
Speaker 1: on that plane, went to Chicago and here I am,

733
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:13,040
Speaker 1: and tell us what you're doing today and how you're doing,

734
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:17,160
Speaker 1: and all is well. Of course, because of Corona, things

735
00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:20,839
Speaker 1: is a little shaky. Um, but I've turned all of

736
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:25,640
Speaker 1: my passions and the hobbies into the revenue stream, so

737
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: things that I enjoyed doing, like graphic design. Um, I

738
00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:32,239
Speaker 1: have a recording studio fly Drone, so I do a

739
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:35,200
Speaker 1: lot of video work. I just released a poem book

740
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:39,200
Speaker 1: called Poetry Hidden behind the Heart. It's on Amazon. Uh

741
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:44,360
Speaker 1: you can check that out. And UH, still doing music.

742
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:49,560
Speaker 1: I just got a song picked up from UM sitcom

743
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:51,880
Speaker 1: called All American, and they picked up one of my

744
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:56,840
Speaker 1: songs because and look, Orally is very proud of you,

745
00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:00,680
Speaker 1: and I know that you have a found dation now

746
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:02,839
Speaker 1: and you've got a whole team that helps you out

747
00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:12,000
Speaker 1: because um, you're seventy eight now seventy six, sorry, but

748
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:16,120
Speaker 1: I know that you want to continue this legacy and

749
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:19,200
Speaker 1: you want to pay it forward. Hand this off so

750
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:24,279
Speaker 1: someone picks up whenever you decide that you need to

751
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:27,359
Speaker 1: take a break. Um, so how are you doing that?

752
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:32,920
Speaker 1: You know, Katie, Honestly, the only thing that can help

753
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 1: some students is to be there twenty four hours a day,

754
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:40,359
Speaker 1: and a mother and a father. No matter how good

755
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,320
Speaker 1: you are, you cannot do it. And so my goal

756
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,719
Speaker 1: is to have a boarding school. I have met with

757
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:52,560
Speaker 1: some individuals that almost agree with me. Uh, there's one

758
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:56,520
Speaker 1: boarding school in Pineywood, Mississippi, another one in Chicago, and

759
00:47:56,560 --> 00:48:01,360
Speaker 1: then Marva Collins in in um Cincinnati, and so it's

760
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:05,320
Speaker 1: the way to free them. You know, with a boarding school,

761
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,480
Speaker 1: they are there twenty four seven, so you know they're

762
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:11,320
Speaker 1: gonna get the nutrition. They're gonna get the food. Half

763
00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,880
Speaker 1: of the kids failed because they're not in school. But

764
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:18,480
Speaker 1: with a boarding school, there's no truancy. If you're not

765
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:21,279
Speaker 1: in the classroom, that Mama Brown is gonna be up

766
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:23,879
Speaker 1: in the dorm or someone that looked like me and

767
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,600
Speaker 1: both of us cannot stay at no dorm between eight

768
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,120
Speaker 1: and three, so you know, we just can't do it.

769
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: So someone have to leave, and it's not gonna be

770
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:36,120
Speaker 1: me and so you know, I think that once we

771
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,040
Speaker 1: get the boarding school up and running, we will be

772
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:42,040
Speaker 1: able to say at least four or five students per

773
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 1: year right in the Bay area, because the need is there.

774
00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 1: And and where do you get your huge heart? I mean,

775
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 1: to to sacrifice so much and to give so much

776
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:58,080
Speaker 1: two kids who have so little, I guess the one

777
00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:00,560
Speaker 1: thing that always come to my mind. And we was

778
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:03,560
Speaker 1: in Mississippi and my mother, just like I said, she

779
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 1: would pick the greens. Because I'm eight years old, I

780
00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:07,359
Speaker 1: don't know what a warm meals. I mean, I know,

781
00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:08,560
Speaker 1: but I don't know. If he's supposed to be in

782
00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:10,600
Speaker 1: the pot, he's supposed to be down on the floor,

783
00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:12,840
Speaker 1: you know. And maybe they meet for the greens, I

784
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:17,040
Speaker 1: don't know. And my mother had put the meat in

785
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,080
Speaker 1: the pot to cook the greens. And one of the

786
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:23,319
Speaker 1: neighbors came down to my mother's house and wanted to

787
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:25,839
Speaker 1: know if she had some salt pork meat. Her mother

788
00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 1: was cooking greens, and I'm looking at my mother put

789
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:31,120
Speaker 1: the salt pork meat in the pot, so I know

790
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:33,440
Speaker 1: it's no more, and so I'm waiting for it. Say no,

791
00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:37,600
Speaker 1: my mother takes the pot off the stove, take the

792
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,520
Speaker 1: piece of salt pork meat out, cut it in half,

793
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,440
Speaker 1: put one piece back in the pot and give the

794
00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,600
Speaker 1: other two sister to take the Miss Bess of Main.

795
00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:52,040
Speaker 1: And I said, Mama, that was our meat. She said, still,

796
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:54,000
Speaker 1: I was the ones in the body, the one that

797
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:56,359
Speaker 1: I gave the siss. It's going to Miss BESSI man.

798
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,520
Speaker 1: And so if you can share a piece the slip

799
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:03,520
Speaker 1: for me, God knows, I can give away half of

800
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:10,160
Speaker 1: what I have. Yea, Orally and Jeffrey, I'm so happy

801
00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:13,319
Speaker 1: to see you, more happy to uk you know. I

802
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:19,240
Speaker 1: love you. I love you well yeah, yeah, well about

803
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:22,720
Speaker 1: my cative right back at you. Thank you so much.

804
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:25,399
Speaker 1: And if people want to help and support the work

805
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:27,520
Speaker 1: you're doing, how can they do that. It's the Early

806
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,799
Speaker 1: Orally Brown Foundation dot org and the phone numbers five ten,

807
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,839
Speaker 1: four three or three or four one. Just go on

808
00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:37,680
Speaker 1: the website and look at Early Brown. They tell me

809
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:41,319
Speaker 1: it's eighteen pages of literature and students and you know,

810
00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:44,400
Speaker 1: all the information is there. Well, thank you for everything

811
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 1: you've done. Thank you Jeffrey much love you. That was

812
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:58,560
Speaker 1: Orally Brown. We'll have links to all the organizations we've

813
00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:02,359
Speaker 1: mentioned in this podcast. The episode description, and if you're

814
00:51:02,400 --> 00:51:05,680
Speaker 1: able or in the giving mood this holiday season, I

815
00:51:05,719 --> 00:51:10,400
Speaker 1: hope you'll consider donating to their very worthy causes. A

816
00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:14,920
Speaker 1: huge thank you to Celeste Corkran, Lauren Manning, Tom and

817
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:19,960
Speaker 1: Pam Bosley, Amy Copeland, Oral Lee Brown and all of

818
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,279
Speaker 1: the people I got to talk to on my tour.

819
00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:26,080
Speaker 1: And actually there's more of the tour to share. This

820
00:51:26,160 --> 00:51:28,520
Speaker 1: may be the last episode of the season, but keep

821
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:31,439
Speaker 1: your ear to the podcast because over the break will

822
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:35,560
Speaker 1: be releasing a few bonus episodes featuring some really fun

823
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:38,799
Speaker 1: and famous friends who joined me on my book tour.

824
00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:42,160
Speaker 1: Next Question is taking a little hiatus, but we'll be

825
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,600
Speaker 1: back with a whole new season, new guests, new hot

826
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 1: topics in early Meanwhile, Happy holidays to you and yours

827
00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:59,120
Speaker 1: from all of us at k c M. Next Question

828
00:51:59,120 --> 00:52:02,160
Speaker 1: with Katie Kurig. The production of I Heeartmedia and Katie

829
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:06,880
Speaker 1: Curic Media. The executive producers Army, Katie Curic, and Courtney Litz.

830
00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:12,160
Speaker 1: The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen. Associate producers Derek Clements

831
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:15,879
Speaker 1: and Adrianna Fasio. The show is edited and mixed by

832
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:19,680
Speaker 1: Derrek Clements. For more information about today's episode or To

833
00:52:19,719 --> 00:52:22,279
Speaker 1: sign up for my morning newsletter, wake Up Call, go

834
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:25,040
Speaker 1: to Katie currek dot com. You can also find me

835
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,800
Speaker 1: at Katie curic on Instagram and all my social media channels.

836
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:32,160
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I

837
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:35,880
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to

838
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:36,960
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.