0:00 Welcome to Advance the Dream, our weekly community chat, where we celebrate legacy makers and family heroes who are actively advancing the dream in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We talk about health, challenges, highlights and heroes in an intergenerational fashion in hopes that his legacy of hope and equality continue to live on. This weekly series, powered by the Force for Health Network, is aired live on Facebook, YouTube, and linked in at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
0:30 Then shared afterwards at advancedthedream.com. Now, let's meet our hosts, Force for Health Network co-founders, Dr. Robert Giglio and Lucy Howell, alongside our National Director, Joshua Williams Jr., as we dive into this week's topic. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Advance the Dream, our weekly community chat where we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, and we discuss issues, highlights, heroes, and challenges for us as we all become a better force for health, right? Every day, every week, every month.
1:07 So I'm one of your co-hosts, Lucy Howell, founder of the Force for Health Network. I'm joined here by my partner, Dr. Robert Gillio out of Pennsylvania. I'm out of Tucson, Arizona. and our national coach on this wonderful community brand topic, Advance the Dream, Joshua Williams, based out of where are you at right now? New Orleans or Florida? I'm actually in Florida today. In Gadsden, Florida. Okay. So it is March 16th, 2024. And, um, A little blip last week, but two weeks ago on our last community chat, we really talked about the significance of the month of March with the Selma marches and the components of that and the significance of that.
2:02 And so wanted to continue to take that deeper dive into the significant relevance of that particular month. event with a couple videos but you know this first segment is just thoughts of the day you know thoughts of the week um it's again we're leaning into spring rob um how are you as of this week here in 2024 march what are your opening thoughts for this advance the dream segment well you know I've in pennsylvania it's been a cold winter and uh this uh 54-mile Selma to Montgomery virtual challenge march has really caught my attention.
2:46 Being one of the first people starting the march made it easy for me to be on the leaderboard. And I've never been on the leaderboard of anything in my life. So I'm having fun with it. And I'm using it to tease Josh Williams. And I'm noticing he's right on my heels about to pass me with his exercise and such. The point I'm getting at is, as we march in the spring, spring is a new awakening, a new beginning. And part of that beginning is to really work on how can I continue? How can we all continue to reinvent and reinvigorate ourselves?
3:27 And part of it is getting out and moving and realizing how great it is that we have the freedom not only to march and have some app figure it out who's on the leaderboard, but to have the freedom to sit and think about what people in our backgrounds have done to march, so to speak, or to fight for our freedom with that Selma Montgomery movement being one of them. So with appreciation, I'm listening to some podcasts actually while I'm marching. That's why I'm at it. It's springtime. It's not March Madness, it's March Reinvigoration time for me.
4:04 I'm forcing myself to get out, even if it's just a few hundred yards that day. Yeah, the interesting open remarks. And it's interesting also, as we take a look at this, you know, application of movement here in Arizona, it's very easy to move 365 days a year. So, you know, if I'm not moving, it's probably more my fault as opposed to weather. I mean, sometimes it is a deterrent, right? Or a barrier for you to get out there. Although you're always showing me pictures of icicles and snow. So I guess that's not that much of a deterrent for you.
4:44 If I, if you dress for it, you know, it's like dressing for success. If you, if you, if you know you have an adversity or a barrier, you prepare for it. So if you have the appropriate boots or gloves or hat, you can get out and you can enjoy it. But the, The truth of the matter is, though, Lucy, the big box stores is the secret to success for our movement up north. It's a free gymnasium for older or younger alike to walk the perimeter. My local Super X store, a name we all know, but it's not a sponsor of the show, so I'm not going to, you know, whatever.
5:23 I just don't want to mention it. But those big box stores, I walk the perimeter of one. It literally was a half a mile to do the perimeter of the super-sized retail store with food and general merchandise. Interesting. Yeah. It's just something that I have never had to live through in terms of, like, cold weather. I just need to get motivated and do it. And I am not going to let you earn your 54-mile badge without me earning my own 54-mile badge. Right. Lucy, I hate the heat, to be honest with you.
6:00 I don't like to sweat. And when I go to Florida to visit my brother, it's horrible. It's oppressively humid. When I went to visit you in Tucson and use words like, it's only 105, but it's dry heat. It doesn't bother us. It's a lot of bull. Give me the air conditioning. I think, though, it's a good analogy, Josh. And this is where I want to really think about and bring it back to the whole advanced dream thing. I see barriers like walking in adverse weather. The same was like living in a situation where you're challenged and can you, how can you, in part of advancing the dream, how can one prepare to deal with what they know will be an adversity?
6:45 I'm gonna wear a hat and gloves knowing it's gonna be cold out. If I'm walking into a surgery as a doctor, I'm preparing for certain barriers that are going to do certain things to fight infection or to get through a tough spot. I think the part of advance the dream is look at all the barriers in society that different cultures have at different times and different places. I don't know. Is that a good analogy? Is that a silly one? Well, listen, everybody has barriers, right? Everybody. But, you know, and it's, it would be wrong and egotistical of anybody to think that they know of others barriers, you know?
7:22 So, Everybody has their own set of experiences and their own issues to deal with. Josh, what are your opening thoughts coming into Advance the Dream segment this week? Just basically lagging on to what doctors talked about, the adversity piece. It takes you back to 2006 when we actually had the opportunity to experience one of the major national disasters. that took place in Louisiana with Hurricane Katrina and how people had to actually re-situate themselves and really learn how to do with what they didn't have.
8:01 I wouldn't have never thought that as a young person in the year of 2000, that they will be dealing with the possibility of no school, no stores, no big box stores, no gas stations open, no schools open. But you know, it's something that when we talk about change, especially with Dr. King and him advancing the complex of his dream, we have to change. There is gonna be some adversity situation, even the march to Selma. It had to be some adversity there. And with that adversity, you saw that after that, they began to actually achieve from that.
8:50 Six months later, after the march, of course, President Johnson signed the act. So with that adversity comes a positive outcome. even with Katrina, with us going through that idea of being, as the news reported, a refugee or whatever they want to call it. But we were at a situation where we were in a different arena, and we had to adjust to that arena, and we did. And that's the important piece of, I think, even from the standpoint of what we're doing now with the health aspect. Most people are not consumed with the idea of being healthy, but with something that we have to learn and we have to continue to push.
9:39 Well, and thank you. I mean, I so value your perspective and your opinion. And this is a new enough brand and channel. It begs you kind of restating. Refamiliarize everybody with kind of what your role with Alpha Phi Alpha's was. how old you were, but you kind of froze a little bit. Let's see if you're coming back here. Okay, okay. Are you there? Okay, good. You're there. You just froze on the camera. Okay, okay. Actually, we were talking about, as it relates to my introduction to the fraternity, I had an opportunity to experience a lot of guys who were national leaders who tapped me to be an assistant for them and to be able to sit around that table of discussion as it relates to the movement with Alpha Phi Alpha and the actual building of the Memorial Foundation.
10:38 From that standpoint, I was able to actually to learn and to participate and see how important it was to understand my importance of voting, to understand my role in actually getting people out to be more concerned about their own heritage and their own wellbeing. So by being a part of the fraternity, it really, really gave me an opportunity to enhance and to expound on being a better person and to actually appreciate this movement that we're doing here now with Advance the Dream. You know, I'm going to go ahead and let's move into some of the videos that I wanted to share.
11:24 Your video is still frozen. And so hopefully after this video, I'll pull you off stage and then You can change your camera. But this one-minute video is kind of before the major march, after Bloody Sunday. And let's just go ahead and watch this and set the stage here. You know, things happen here today, and I want to reiterate what Reverend Reese has just said concerning the three Unitarian ministers who were beaten about an hour or so ago. I understand one was so brutally beaten that he had to be rushed to the hospital in Birmingham with a possible brain concussion.
12:22 I wish for a moment that we would bow in a word of silent prayer for these brothers who came here to be with us today and who marched with us across the Alabama River, who marched to witness for freedom and to witness their own personal dedication to the cause of justice. Will we pause in prayer and ask for God's guidance and ask that he will cast his long arm of protection around these brothers. You know, things happen. Let me just take that off the stage really fast. It just sets the tone of then, you know, the activities that are now going to take place, right?
13:23 This is Last, not two weeks ago, four weeks ago, or maybe even five weeks ago, I can't, can't remember. We've done so many episodes now, but you know, we, uh, talked about, uh, Bayard Rustin and the, um, the energy and the, and the leadership that he brought to the million man March, right. Um, on, uh, Washington. and kind of set the stage for the, I have the dream speech. And so now this is happening, going back down to Alabama and trying to figure things out. And so that was interesting. What I wanna do now is, well, first of all, any thoughts on kind of part of Part of the reasoning why we wanna do this is because we heard from so many leaders that they fear that the stories and the struggles and the real, real history of our country through the eyes of African-Americans, through Martin Luther King, through the Civil Rights Act leaders are not necessarily being passed down and appreciated and absorbed by perhaps the
14:32 Younger generation. And that really, don't you think, Rob, is one of the key core foundations of why we're trying to do this? Well, it's not just the leaders of the African-American community. It's the leaders of all communities, the ignorance. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean it in an academic way. The lack of knowledge, the blurring of history, or even the absence of topics being covered, let's say, in a white suburban school. or in a white rural, in a white community, Native American history as well.
15:10 There's all these histories that have not really, are not part of the American experience for all, and even for some that it would seem to be more relevant to. So part of why I'm so interested in this is my level of ignorance now is I live through it. I watched the five minutes when I was younger, it was five minutes on the news. at 6 p.m. It wasn't half an hour, let alone hundreds of hours of news cable networks. It was a trivial amount. But I was in grade school in the 60s, high school in the 70s, college in the 70s, med school in the 70s and 80s.
15:52 I lived through a lot of these things, remembering the King March, the King's Speech. Um, remembering that it was just so trivial and never was covered in school. Never. Um, and so I think that's a big reason Lucy, uh, when, when Josh and I were talking after our time in Katrina as a couple, we became friends across, uh, uh, miles and cultures. I think in part, uh, he basically, uh, hosted me as I did some volunteer work down there or facilitated my engagement there. Um, after Katrina, we realized that we both had the same worries about the teenagers coming up, coming through with their lack of knowledge.
16:44 Just the lack of knowledge. How do you not make mistakes in the past if you don't know the past? And, Josh, I mean, and again, even if it was selfishly, you know, for the teenagers to understand that there are disparities that they live with, you know, just based on the fact that they are brown skinned, whether we are Hispanic or African American, there are just kind of built in health disparities. It doesn't mean X equals Y. It doesn't mean that, you know, you're going to, you're, you are going to suffer, you know, from something because you are, but the, um, propensity or the ability to just be able to prevent, protect the gift.
17:34 If you just know that you're at risk of stroke and heart attack more so than your white counterpart, you know, there's nothing more you can do about it other than own that and just hopefully mitigate those risks. and seek resources and access, right? I don't know, Josh, what do you think? We talked about this doc on a different other, some other occasions that we were actually together in New Orleans. And, you know, one of the things that we had talked about, we talked about even the March of Selma because we was planning on taking a group of kids to cross that bridge and actually get the feeling of understanding why it was so important.
18:15 One of the things I think that Dr. King and some of the leaders in which that I had been around and shared information with was the fact of not only just trying to get non African-Americans to understand what this is all about, but also to continue to keep us informed on what it's all about. Even though Dr. King spent a lot of time with trying to convince other people of other nationalities about what he was trying to do, he was also talking to his own people and trying to get them to understand and appreciate how powerful education and communication is.
18:54 You know, it's interesting how powerful education is. I'm just thinking back to the year 1967. and 68. I was at a place at the time called Oakview Junior High School. It was in Skokie, Illinois, predominantly a Jewish, about half Jewish community, half Jewish, half Christian community was 99.99% white, basically white families that left the city when their neighborhood started to change. And I remember something called busing. And our English teacher whose name Mrs. S. Any of you who know me will know her.
19:36 I just don't want to embarrass her or her family. She's probably long since gone. But Mrs. S was so excited because she said, they're going to bust in these black kids. And, you know, they have springs in their ankles. We're finally going to win some basketball games at this school. This was not a joke. This is our teacher, our authority, the person that graded us. with our 20 vocabulary words of the week. We used to write them on one side of the paper, the words from memory. Then on the other side of the paper, we had to put the definitions.
20:11 She was on top of us all the time, but she sincerely believed that and taught that and no frame of reference to question it other than the anchor of my parents that set me straight. But it was... Uh, when people in authority are teaching something of which they have no basis of knowledge goes back to what you're just saying, Josh, when you have people that are talking about what should be taught or not taught in schools. Um, with no base with, with, with a skewed base of knowledge of, or view of that and try and control that it really affects what those kids may or may not learn.
20:54 I think it gives us a role. And I, I don't know, this gets very controversial. But when kids can't get it in school, they got to get it somewhere else. And I'm not talking, you know, critical race theory or this or that. I'm not talking any of this. I'm just talking basic facts of what happened, make your own decisions, and act accordingly based on those decisions. You know, I come from the West Coast, the land of the arts and entertainment, L.A., and so I really credit Hollywood to be able to truly tell some of these incredible, incredible stories, right?
21:32 Because I do think that that is a wonderful way to depict history and get people to kind of watch it. We talked about the Selma productions. But I was able to find some footage from the actual march right there. So I want to take five minutes and let's just take that all in. And then we can talk about John Lewis's role. And then we'll finish off with my woman of the month here at Advance the Dream. But let's go ahead and go. Before you start that, I want to respond to something you said that I think I credit Hollywood also, Lucy, in many ways.
22:09 For championing various causes. But I also blame Hollywood, my youth experience. I'm just going to keep going with this because I think it's very relevant to who I am or some people in my generation are that look like me, is if I look at most of what has come out of Hollywood, it portrays the black African-American male as some ignorant gang warrior, drug user, sociopath again and again and again and again and again in movies over decades. And so I credit Hollywood with coming around at times, but I also credit them with creating horrible, perpetuating horrible stereotypes.
22:56 And that's where the actual footage of actual events that you're about to show becomes so important. What's real and what's imaginary with it. I don't disagree with you. And I think that that has been the beginnings and even the middle. And I do think that it's been within the last decade or so where more brown skin color, you know, people of color are getting into production and producing type of roles and kind of commanding and demanding that these stories be told. So I don't disagree with you, but I do think that the movie space is one of the most influential forms of media out there.
23:40 I agree. I was influenced by it by a couple decades, and I'm glad things are shifting. Go ahead and show your movie. I was just pointing out how there's a history there also. Oh, come on, we've got a new one. We've got a new, we've got a new one. We've got a new one. We've got a new, we've got a new one. We've got a new, we've got a new one. dr king how are things shaping up now for tomorrow things are shaping up beautifully we have people coming in from all over the country I suspect that we will have representatives from almost every state in the union and naturally a large number of people from the state of alabama and we hope to see and we plan to see the greatest witness for freedom ever taken place that has ever taken place on the steps of the capital of any state in the South, and this whole march adds drama to this total strife.
25:05 Last Sunday, more than 8,000 of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. They told us we wouldn't get here. There were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies. Well... All the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying we ain't gonna let nobody turn us around. Today I want to tell the city of Selma. Tell them, doctor. Today I want to say to the state of Alabama. Yes, sir. Today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, We are not about to turn around.
26:04 We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. The wax and release of their known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Yes, sir. Like an idea whose time has come. Yes, sir. Not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. Yes, sir. We are moving to the land of freedom.
26:43 Yes, sir. I know you're asking today, how long will it take? Somebody's asking how long will prejudice blind the visions of men. I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed earth will rise again. How long? Not long. Because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long. Because you shall reap what you sow. How long? Not long. Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future.
27:33 Behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. How long? Not long. Amen. Because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. How long? Not long. Because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He's trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He's loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet. that shall never call retreat. He is shifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat.
28:16 Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him. Be jubilant, my feet. Our God is marching on. Glory, hallelujah. Glory, hallelujah. Glory, hallelujah. Glory, hallelujah. His truth is marching on. I wanted to give credit definitely to democracynow.org. You know, that was a film that was made in the 70s, 1970, and was surprised that... Hold on one second. But just, of course, we can see it in the movie, right? But to see it kind of actual and happen, it just... to me reconfirms why we're doing so that we can continue to say that your grandparents, if you are a teenager or, or my age, anywhere from, you know, if you've got grandparents that are 70 years or older, right, they were part of this and are still kind of walking around and can speak to it.
29:28 But that was powerful comments. I've got another four minute video on John Lewis. And I wanted to include that too, but yeah, Quick comments? Rob? Sexual footage is very powerful. And now what's happened is you don't need to have a multi-thousand dollar production camera. You've got it right here. Yeah. And so can you be a force for health, a force for good, a force for movement? Can you advance the dream capturing moments of wisdom from your seniors who have the memory A legacy to share. Can you capture disparities as they happen and potentially diffuse a situation by getting out your camera and having someone know something's being recorded as one way to diffuse things.
30:24 So actual footage like you just showed, Lucy, is a good lesson that we are now all producers. We are now potentially influencers even if it's influencer of one, yourself or those close to you. Josh, any comments on rewatching that? Oh man, actually awesome, Lucy, from the standpoint that I wasn't even born yet. When he did that, I just find it remarkable every time I hear that speech, it just does something to me that gives me a smile. to see that we had that type of issues or that type of realm going on in that particular time.
31:10 There's a lot to have that adversity to be able to undergo some of the stuff that they went through just trying to make that march and actually be on the other side, listening to someone talk about how important it is. And regardless what people do to us, we're gonna continue to achieve. You know, Yeah, let's watch this because, you know, it never happens by one person. You've got a tribe, you know, you've got a group, you've got a team. And of course, John Lewis played a significant role here.
31:43 Let me go ahead and take this up. And thank you, time, for these fascinating. So much hope, so much optimism. When people laugh, as Dr. King suggested, we went back home, back to the heart of the Deep South. So many of us went into the state of Mississippi. We went into Alabama. We went to Selma. In Selma, only 2.1% of African-American were registered to vote. The only time you could even attempt to register to vote It was the first and third Mondays of each month. You had to stand in line, get a copy of the so-called literacy test.
32:34 And hundreds and thousands of people would fail the so-called literacy test. They were told they could not read or write well enough. African-American lawyers, doctors, teachers. So we started a series of demonstrations standing in line at the courthouse. One evening, there was a demonstration for the right to vote. Nearby Selma, a confrontation occurred and a young man tried to protect his mother. He was shot in the stomach and a few days later he died at a local hospital in Selma. We made a decision to attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, to dramatize to the nation and to the world that people of color wanted to register to vote.
33:23 We start walking. I was one of the leaders of that effort. I was wearing a backpack before it became fashionable to wear a backpack. In this backpack, I had two books. I thought we were going to be arrested and that we were going to go to jail. So I wanted to have something to read in jail. I wanted to have something to eat in that backpack. I had an apple and I had an orange. Since I thought we were going to be arrested and go to jail and I'd be in jail with my friends, my colleagues and neighbors, I wanted to be able to brush my teeth.
33:57 I had toothpaste. toothbrush we get to the highest point on the edmund pettus bridge down below we saw a sea of blue alabama state troopers we continue to walk we came within hearing distance of the state troopers and a man spoke up and said our major john cloud or the alabama state troopers this is an unlawful march it would not be allowed to continue I give you three minutes to disperse and return to your homes or to your church. And a young man walking beside me by the name of Jose William from Dr.
34:37 King's organization said, Major, give us a moment to kneel and pray before we can pass word back for people to kneel and pray. The Major said, Troopers, advance. And you saw these men putting on their gas masks. They came toward us, beating us with nightsticks, trampling us with horses, and releasing the tear gas. I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick. My legs went from under me. I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die. I thought it was the last nonviolent protest for me.
35:17 I don't recall how I made it back across that bridge, across the Alabama River, through the streets of Selma, Back to that little church. But I do recall being back at the church. It's full to capacity. More than 2,000 people on that side trying to get in to protest what had happened. And someone asked me to say something. And I stood up and said something like, I don't understand it. Our President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam and cannot send troops to Selma, Alabama to protect people who only desires to register to vote.
35:55 And the next thing I knew, I had been admitted to the Good Samaritan Hospital there in Selma, Alabama, with 16 other people. And the next morning, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his colleague, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, came to visit us in the hospital. And Dr. King said, don't worry, we will make it from Selma to Montgomery if we get a voting rights act passed. And he told us that he had urged religious leaders to come to Selma So on Tuesday, March 9, more than 1,000 ministers, priests, rabbis, and nuns came to Selma.
36:34 And they marched to the point where we had been beaten two days earlier. That Tuesday night, one of the young ministers went out with two others to find something to eat. And on the way back from the little restaurant, they were attacked by members of the Klan. This young minister, James Reed, was from Boston. He was so severely beaten, he was taken to the hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, where he died two days later. Selma gave us the voting rights act, the way Birmingham gave us the civil rights act and the March on Washington.
37:23 Gave us a civil rights act. Hadn't been for Selma, hadn't been for the March on Washington, we wouldn't be where we are today. And there would be no Barack Obama as president of the United States of America. You know, it's when I hear first account stories like that, and, you know, I believe John Lewis passed away in 2020. And what a significant life, you know, he led there. And another one of the things that we are trying to perhaps encourage or launch is to, you know, honor while they're still here, one of your seniors, right?
38:20 Get one of your seniors in the family and to sit down with them and to go through this process. We call it, you know, a life legacy book here at the Force for Health so that we can encourage families to celebrate and honor their senior loved ones, because they've got an incredible, incredible wealth of history to share, right? Any thoughts or contemplations, feedback from watching John Lewis tell that story, looking back from his own words? Josh? Yes, Lucy. Like I said, every time you get an opportunity to hear stories those words have been spoken and to see exactly what they went through to overcome the adversity in which they have, it's absolutely remarkable to even think that standpoint that regardless, people are getting beaten.
39:18 They were getting trampled. They were getting ridiculed. And they still thought enough to make sure that everyone still had the right and the opportunity to participate in a democratic process. You know, it's absolutely and we're still fighting the fight today. And that's one of the reasons why I'm glad that we have this series going on with Advance the Dream, because we need to continue to advance the dream in which those people, I mean, all the people, not just Dr. King, but all those individuals who stood up, Joseph Lowry, all of those guys who stood up for what we now have a right to do.
39:59 And that's the right to vote. And we don't need to lose that. So with mechanisms such as this and avenues such as this, we need to continue to push the information and the education and how it is so important to actually continue to be a person to advance the dream in America. And Rob, you know, before we kind of go into the last segment of the show, which will be a spotlight on the famous woman, Um, final thoughts on listening to John Lewis and, um, leaning into the 54 mile March. Um, you know, however you do it, you could do it on your own.
40:40 If you'd like to come to force for health, you know, force for health.com, you can sign up for free. Um, we've got plenty of tools out there. Uh, this happens to be part of our ambassador, um, challenge. So if you're actually an ambassador member of the force for health, um, Part of our wellness apps includes the ability to actually go through and count and track your cardio towards the march. The thing I'd like to say regarding this a bit is, for those of you out there watching it, John Lewis was not some wise, experienced senior statesman when he marched.
41:22 He was 25 years old. All right. He was the beginning of a movement of 25 year olds out there. What are you doing to advance the dream? What little challenge or adversity are you looking at? Are you overcoming right now that is going to lead you to change the way medicine is practiced, the way a law is enforced, the way a school board votes, whatever it might be. So, you know, be a John Lewis, you know, be, At 25, at 15, interview the John Lewises in your life. Even if they're a 25-year-old, what legacy are they teaching you?
42:04 Be it their sports, they don't have to be the leader of the civil rights movement. What have they overcome in their family? Capture their legacy. I challenge people, though, Lucy is part of the walk. We give them the links to where they can look at and earn badges for watching some of these videos because it's part of the difference, but also being in shape up here to accept and learn about your history so it's not repeated, at least the bad parts of it aren't. Sometimes I love how I feel like you are reading my mind and you help in the transition because as we transition into a spotlight, because it's also Women's History Month, right?
42:52 I looked at Harriet Tubman because she was born in March and she passed away in March. And of course, everyone knows her. They called her Moses. He led much of the Underground Railroad. She was an abolition social activist. This particular quote, if you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Just keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. Right. But what I learned in doing my research for this was that she was 12 years old when she first stepped in.
43:31 She was seeing somebody. Someone was going to throw a huge heavy weight on on a kind of a fugitive. And she she stepped in. She got hit 12 years old. It reminds me of like reactivating my girl power, you know, that there really is. And of course that honors the power of the eight to 12 year old girl to just really own your voice, know your voice, leave your mark and, you know, know your voice, leave your mark on your health and flex your wings type of deal. But yeah, let's, so I honor Harriet Tubman.
44:10 I know that you recently watched a movie. I want to go ahead and just play this quick little trailer and then we can come back and talk about it really quickly unless you want to go ahead. Okay. Very good. Yeah, there's a little trailer here. Let me go ahead and get this. Where's my little trailer? Oh, here we go. There's not much time. You got to be miles away from here before dawn. Where is she? Follow that north star. If there are no stars, just follow the river. Listen for them. feel is your enemy whoa easy now I'm gonna be free on that I don't know if you know how extraordinary this is but you have made it 100 miles to freedom all by yourself would you like to pick a new name to mark your freedom parrot tumble You are welcome here anytime.
45:43 If I'm free, my family should be, too. I made up my mind. I'm going back. You're confident, composed when trouble comes. You'll be ready. Papers. Says here you're 5 and 1 half feet tall. You ain't more than 5 feet. Must have worn my high boots that day. Why you back here? It ain't safe. I come to get you, bring all of you to freedom. Do you know what would happen if you got caught? You got lucky, Harriet. I made a diss for all my own, so don't you tell me what I can't do. Harriet, welcome to the Underground Railroad.
46:40 Everybody everywhere is looking for you. God don't mean people to own people. Find this thief and burn her at the stake. I will give every last drop of blood in my veins until this monster called slavery is dead. Ready? So let's see. Where's Josh? Did we lose Josh? We may have lost him. But anyways, I'm going to bring this back up because I know you wanted to say something, Rob. Well, I'm just not just it was a leader as a child. She was a leader. as a young adult in the Civil War then, also leading a regiment of soldiers.
47:44 And as a senior, you know, she died in 1931. My mother was born in 1925, and my mother's mother, my grandmother, was a suffragette right alongside Harriet Tubman. Not that they were together, but at the same period of time in New York City, my grandmother's fighting for the rights for women to vote, And so was Harriet Tubman when slavery was over. She was active till the day she died, fighting for people's rights and being a leader. So from a senior force, from a my girl power, all the way on through to a senior force, she's tremendous.
48:24 And frankly, Lucy said, oh, everyone knows about Harriet Tubman and such. No, everyone doesn't. Right. Netflix movie is a must watch, especially for old white guys like me. All right. My kids learned about Harriet Tubman in school. Probably was one of the few African-American heroes that was actually brought up to them, usually during Black History Month, and then forgotten about for the rest of the months. But if you go a generation ahead, the level of ignorance about some of these remarkable human beings, the story was not told or told well or told in a way that I would enjoy it, like sitting in my easy chair watching a Netflix movie.
49:08 So I encourage people to watch it. I'd encourage people to watch it and then let us know their thoughts as they earn a badge as they march in that 54 mile mark from Selma. And they think about a hundred miles of marching and leading family and friends out of slavery. There's a lot of symbolism here, Lucy. I hope we capture that spirit of can do and can do it now. And if we don't do it, who will? If we don't try and influence others, who will? And tough skin resiliency. Sometimes I worry about the younger generation because it seems as if sometimes this propensity to complain or to fight or to find conflict on things that just were like molehills compared to, you know, a generation and a half ago of what the grandparents had to deal with.
50:06 It makes me sad sometimes to think about the priority shift. But Josh, you know, I know you popped off, but came back on. We're rounding out a Today's our for advanced dream. Any final thoughts on Harriet Tubman? Were you on when I said that she was just 12 years old when she got in between? I mean, like that's what we're trying to, you know, really activate here. Dr. Rob stated she was one of the I guess you say one of a few women who are females that actually were talked about. during school and back in that time, like you said, the only time it was really forced upon us was really during Black History Month.
50:54 And one thing that we're trying to do with this is continue to give our people an education in which they should know about what's going on or what went on in their community. It's not to kill the history. but to actually expound from our history, to actually make it better. Some people think that by bringing up such tragedy, during that time brings back old wounds. On my standpoint, the way I look at it from the standpoint, it's more of a learning process. It makes me appreciate where I am today from the standpoint of what they went through back then before I was born.
51:36 So I'm just glad to have the opportunity to continue to advance the dream of our people. Yeah. And I think that it goes to the core of why we're doing this just on a weekly basis. Nobody knows everything all the time. And I believe that if we continue to educate folks and challenge them to not only learn it, right, but to live it and to share it, I am reminded of my 2024 pledge that I say out loud, but quite frankly, it's a way that I live my life always is that if I see something, I'm going to say something.
52:17 And so that's my pledge to advancing the dream. If I'm around people, that they say something or act a certain way that I feel needs to be addressed. I'm going to have the voice and the conviction of voice to stand up and say something. That's just what my commitment is. As we built this platform over the past five years together, we're finally coming out. It is an online learning academy. to learn how to be a better force for health, the physicality of health, right? But also how to be a better force for health citizen.
52:52 You know, this whole concept of practicing healthier citizenship in a real life way, that's what we call the reality health games here. We have a free app, so you could go to the store and you could download it and simply join the Advance the Dream community and connect, right? We have different levels of membership. So just for the folks at home to know, you can download it for free. Go QR code, download it for free, and you'll have access to over, I think, 200 courses, right? You can earn points and badges as you go.
53:27 This ambassador one in the middle is all of less than a dollar a week. I mean, it's $49 for the whole year. And you've got access to all of our wellness platforms and access to prizes and giveaways as we start and kick off the reality health games. But really, I mean, that's what we're trying to do is not only give and share information, but to provide tools and platforms for folks to engage and to be held accountable for what they're learning and how they're moving, learning, serving, and earning, right?
54:01 So thank you so much for joining us. We will be back next week again with a community chat for the Advance the Dream. You can go to theforceforhealth.com And you can download our app. And then, um, if you'd like to join us in the 54 mile, uh, March, then, you know, sign up as an ambassador. They'll have our wellness app, and then we'll go ahead and invite you into our public challenge over there. So, and it's not something that we're going to say like, Ooh, it's, you know, March 25th, you're done.
54:32 And the Selma March is gone, right? We're going to lay out this, uh, Friendly competition over three seasons of the year. We're right now in the spring season. We'll have a summer season. We'll have a fall season. But we encourage you every year right now. Let's go ahead and get our 54 miles in. We have an active march right now. And the very first person who has won her badge, she did it in like five days, six days. Queen. I think she's. I'm not going to say exactly, in her 70s. She's five years older than I am.
55:05 She's smoking us, right? She is. She just walked right past me virtually. I think you said a key word here, Lucy, and it kind of is a parting thought for me on this is community. We want to have this be a community where you can chat, where you can have groups working on things together. as well as your individualized learning. This is more than just an academy and more than just, this is all about creating a community of people that care about each other, especially about the future as they learn and better understand the past.
55:46 Josh, final words. Very much so. Thank you, Lucy. You mentioned Queen, who will be on with us next week. Okay, awesome. She has confirmed, so we'll get an opportunity to speak with her and actually learn some things from her as it relates to her being the first person to complete this challenge. Exactly. Even though she came in after us. I know. And still in the finishing post. And believe me, she knows that. She knows that because she mentioned that. She said, y'all got to get on the ball. That's right.
56:20 You're right. You're right. But we're just glad to have the opportunity. It's my hope next week, Lucy, to introduce some other folks who have joined the challenge who will be participating with us. So we urge everyone to jump in and join this challenge with us as we move, learn, earn and serve to make a difference in our country today. Well, great. So have a great weekend, everybody. Remember to move, learn, serve, and earn every single day. Be a force for health, advance the dream, and be well.
56:53 Thanks for joining us.
Transcript is auto-generated from the broadcast captions and lightly cleaned; timestamps jump to the moment on YouTube.
Advance the Dream · Episode Recap ·