0:01 Welcome to Advance the Dream, our interactive 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 and multicultural fashion to help his legacy of hope, duty, and equality live on. This bi-weekly series powered by the Force for Health Network is streamed live to Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn at eight a.m. Pacific time and eleven a.m.
0:34 Eastern time, then shared afterwards at advance the dream dot com. We welcome your comments from any platform you are watching from to join our discussion and encourage you to get engaged and to join our community for free. Now let's meet our hosts, Dr. Robert Giglio and Lucy Howell from the Force for Health Network, alongside our strategic partner and National Community Director for Advance the Dream, Mr. Joshua Williams. We hope you enjoy the show. Good morning, good morning, good morning, everybody.
1:07 Welcome to another edition of Advance the Dream. My name is Lucy Howell. I am one of the co-founders of the Force for Health Network based in Tucson, Arizona. I am joined by my partner, Dr. Robert Gillio, out of State College, Pennsylvania. And of course, as always, being led and directed by our national strategic partner on this whole initiative, Mr. Joshua Williams, who is based in Gadsden, Florida, sometimes New Orleans, right? Louisiana. But I believe you are sitting right there in Gadsden, Florida.
1:41 I'm in Gadsden today. Yes, ma'am. That's right. Well, you know, we did go ahead and set season two up as a bi-weekly format. And we had a show last week with one of our guests who's actually sitting in the back studio right now, Stephen L. Jones. and we've got a big big big election coming up on tuesday so it was brought up saying hey can we go ahead and maybe do a special edition show on the second the last call because we've got so much activity going on and we've got so much to say and kind of do this last push and last call and of course we've got some students you know, who are actively doing their thing, boots on ground across the country, coast to coast with Christopher Williams and this Union of Black Men project with the Alpha.
2:33 So there's so much going on that we said, of course, we're going to do a special edition. So that's us. We are live on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn. So if you are watching on any of those platforms, please feel free to join the conversation. It is meant to be an interactive conversation. And before we kind of kick it off, and I really do want to reserve most of this hour with our esteemed guests, which I'm very excited, Josh, thank you so much for rallying the troops and bringing them on board. Today is November second.
3:07 We always like to hit off with, you know, health awareness factors. Diabetes is a big deal for kind of everybody in the United States. And so I will go ahead and pass the baton to Dr. Rob Gilio, if you want to go ahead and make a quick comment. But that's what we're here to do. The first part of the show, we have some executive leaders who are really leading the initiative with... on this initiative to get out the vote and the a vote list people as a hopeless people, which is a very interesting program devised and led by the alphas.
3:44 This is not just an alpha thing. It seems pretty heavy on alphas, right? Just because of our leader and because of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, but that is who we've got on. And so Rob, how would you like to open the show executive comments? Well, I'm here in State College, Pennsylvania, and Penn State and Ohio State are about to have a big football game. One hundred and ten thousand people will fill the stands. And you know what? They can cheer all they want, but it won't affect the outcome of the game.
4:15 It's what you do on the field that counts. And so as we look at the vote to be a cheerleader and a loudmouth, And whatever on the sidelines doesn't count unless you go and get down on the field and get in one of the plays. You got to vote. So I'm proud to learn more about the impact programs that the office have done, see what these young men have done about getting out the vote. But I also, Josh, maybe later on, I want to talk about getting out the actions for advancing some of the health disparity issues that men are facing.
4:56 But thank you for letting me sit back and watch and learn about the impact program and getting out the vote. Get on the field. Don't just be in the sidelines this week, especially this week, especially this election. I think that that is an excellent and relevant play here. I think that we are going to deflect and hold our regular conversations about the actual health awareness parts for next week's show. So we're not going to not address it right now, but let's just go ahead and kind of defer it to next week, just so that we can really focus on the special edition of action, right?
5:36 And duty, right? and obligation as a US citizens. Josh, how would you like to open the show? Ah, the same way that Dr. Rob just opened it with expressing our appreciation and our ability to try to get the word out to everyone that needs to vote. Vote and be heard is our theme of the day. This is, of course, the last weekend before the large election. And we're continuing to not only just ask people to get out and vote to see if they're registered or not, we're asking people, hey, how can we help to make sure that your vote counts?
6:15 And that's from the standpoint of even in Gadsden, we had, of course, our supervisor of elections to actually try and put voting polls in areas where seniors could not able to travel far to extend their vote. That has been done. Of course, the fraternity is around and actually trying to ask, okay, friends and neighborhoods to actually check on your neighbors, make sure that they had the opportunity to vote and et cetera. So the day is all about continuing to enhance and give our people an opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
6:49 I think that's great. I want to just lean right into executive roundtable now. And let's introduce the folks that you've got around the table here. Let's just go into. So we had Stephen L. Jones on the show with us last week. He is the national chairman. of the vote list people as a hopeless people. And we went through actually a presentation that he's been using across the country. So, so great to have him back. Welcome back, Steven. And then we've also got, let's see. I mean, This is a man of my own heart because I am a magazine girl.
7:27 You know, I love the quality and the content and the storytelling that you can tell with both imagery and depth inside of a magazine. So the fact that Alpha prints and circulates even just, I don't even know if you guys do a print anymore, but of course this is a regular, you know, a deal that you bring to the table, the Alpha Sphinx. And so let me kind of take that off, but we've got Eric Webb, who is the National Communications Director and Editor of the Sphinx. And of course, he's the CEO of ECW Enterprises, his own venture.
8:01 So Eric and Stephen, and I don't believe Thomas Hinson, who I believe we were waiting on as well, is on the backstage. So if I see him join, then I will bring him in. But otherwise, Eric, Stephen, great to see you again. Good morning. And Eric, I love that, you know, welcome and it's great to meet you. And let's just kind of kick it off. I'm curious, what do you feel the State of the Union is? How do you feel when it comes to people really understanding their right and duty? Well, I think these are scary times.
8:39 We're seeing a mood and an atmosphere that's been created that's very hostile. A lot of issues, a lot of our rights and a lot of our freedoms are at stake with this election. It's so important that people tune in and not tune out. Understand these issues that are at stake and how these issues impact not only themselves, but their loved ones, their mothers, their daughters, their sisters. their neighbors, everyone across the country, you know, not even in just and also in the other U.S. territories, Puerto Rico.
9:25 We've got to be very cognizant of what is happening and the need to get out there and vote and understand that there is It's almost like freedom is being attacked. You're seeing voter boxes being firebombed or set on fire and things of that nature. You've got more voter disenfranchisement. You've got people at voting polls. I think someone was arrested because they were in the parking lot with a MAGA supporter was in the parking lot of a voting with a machete or whatnot. There's all kinds of things happening.
10:04 They're trying to distract people and prevent people from voting or prevent people from having their voices heard. And this is important. We've got to get out here and make sure our voices count and our votes count. You know, Stephen, you've been at the forefront of this initiative as well. I mean, do you feel that... most people understand their right, duty, and privilege to exercise this important, you know, this thing called voting, this thing called suffrage, right? I mean, do you feel like most people do, or what do you feel like some of the challenges are out there?
10:45 Well, at this juncture, as kind of a recap from last week, we talked about the myth about black male voters and we show that pretty much there's only a ten percentage gap between black men, black women, same gap between white men, white women. Well, I like to focus in and I apologize, but there is a slide that I sent this morning where we as African-Americans need to think about nineteen sixty three and poll taxes. The fact that voter suppression, it's changed. There's no longer a poll tax, but now it's voter ID.
11:20 It's not the ability to give water while you're standing in line in Georgia. There's a whole lot of restrictions that have been placed in our communities that we need to step up and remember that the past can be repeated if we don't take steps to prevent it. And to me, that's the challenge we're faced with today is that people think that their vote doesn't matter. Wrong. If your vote didn't matter, why would it be voter suppression? Why would it be a poll tax? So people need to understand the value of their vote.
11:51 Their vote does count. And elections are won on margins. One thing about this election, either side, a big swing needs to be made so there can be no contention of a stolen election. Because quite frankly, Democrats could argue the election was stolen as well. So to avoid that, I encourage everyone, exercise your right to vote, make a strong showing, get out and vote. In certain states, you can vote. Early voting ends, I think, in Georgia at three o'clock today. Other states, it's already ended.
12:21 So if your state has same day voter registration, if you haven't voted yet, if you haven't registered, look at your state requirements, be engaged, be informed, get out and vote. That's great. That's great. When you say a voteless people is a hopeless people, it's, it's an interesting title for a program. Um, do you want to expand either of you? I mean, I'm just kind of going back and forth, right? Um, but the, a voteless people is a hopeless people is an alpha specific program, correct? Correct.
12:53 As a matter of fact, uh, it was a started in the mid-nineteen thirties. That's how far it goes back because at that time, our founding fathers, what we call the jewels, as we expanded our chapters, we were aware of the voter suppressions that was occurring for our community. And that's the reason why we came up with the title, or they came up with the title, of a Voteless People as a Hopeless People, because our leadership understood, even in the thirties, that without having the right to vote, we were basically reduced to second-class citizens or no citizenship at all.
13:25 So that was the emphasis for this national program. The D-line and others have their own social action committees which do the same thing that we do, but we Alpha Alpha, we have a specific targeted program. And I view my role as the chairman of this committee We're like the more the engagement arm of our strategy. We have a social chairman, brother Carl Pickney, who deals with the social issues, social engagement. We have brother Ward, former general president, who basically leads our PAC, our political action committee.
13:56 So we, not only Alpha Alpha, but the other D-Nine have our own ways of encouraging our membership and our communities to be engaged in the election process. The other thing I would mention is, it's not the presidential election, it's all the elections. It's the down by the elections. People need to understand that divide a House and Senate and a presidency is gridlock. People need to think about how do you want to move forward? How do you want to empower the various branches of government to be effective?
14:25 So, Brother Webb, if you have some additional perspectives from the story of BPHB, for short, for a hopeless people, hopeless people, please add your thoughts. Well, again, as Brother Jones has stated, that those people was a hopeless people started in the nineteen thirties. And so Alpha Phi Alpha has always been at the forefront. of advancing our rights and fighting for social justice as far as for equality for African-Americans and equal for African-Americans and things of that nature and people of color.
15:00 So we were founded upon that and we continue to fight upon those grounds. So it's as I said, it's this it's crazy how we are still fighting the same battles and the same kind of fights. We're dealing with voter suppression, as Brother Jones said, in the same way, in a different way now, but it's still voter suppression. And so we've got to continue to be vigilant as far as this is concerned. And we can't forget that this has happened. So the irony is that we're where they don't wanna teach certain things in school about what we've endured through our history, and that is it.
15:40 I mean, Malcolm X said, of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research. So when you study history and understand history, Everything that's happened has happened before. And some people are leaning into history more than others, as we saw with the recent rally at Madison Square Garden that was supposed to be a nod to American Nazi rally. So, you know, again, Alpha Phi Alpha is nonpartisan, but we are mindful of the issues that are surrounding every candidate and the issues that surround this election.
16:18 I think Josh has come and has delivered. I mean, this is going into our second season. So we've done probably about twenty shows and each one of those shows has some type of executive leadership. Right. And most and I love the multigenerality of it. So we try and have both and all perspectives. You got Gen X. Right. You got the boomers and you got the millennials and got Gen Z coming in. I'm so happy to see Gen Z coming in right behind us right here. But the part of the commonality and the theme of the boomers, right?
16:55 And I've put us all into the boomers. Well, I'm Gen X, but the common theme is the fear that this struggle, this fight, this importance of history and the need to stay engaged is getting disseminated a little bit and a little diluted and it's not getting passed to the next generation. And you're correct in that there are issues still today, not that long ago, you know, not that long ago for us who are in our fifties, sixties and seventies, right? We're still walking around and it's been incredible to meet the leaders that that Josh has brought because you guys were the leaders who were helping make it happen, right?
17:44 Shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Martin Luther King and then the legacy that followed. So I just kind of state that just to restate this multi-generational impact that we're trying to have here. And this multicultural, right? We've got Rob, who's like in Appalachia, Pennsylvania, who's been very quiet. Rob, chime in here. Well, you got to have the experts talk. I'm just an old white guy in rural Pennsylvania. You guys probably picture me with a pickup truck and a couple rifles as one of your voter suppressants.
18:20 But the thing that I meant, my grandmother was a suffragette, my ninety nine year old mother reminds me of. I'm very proud of my wife and that her mother, ninety three, got a mail in ballot because she's disabled. Then she put it with the recycling and threw it away, not realizing it was a ballot. So with aggressiveness, we found that the ballot was sent, but they can't send another one. She has to come to the voting office, but she can barely get out of the house. So my wife drove her to the county capitol and down the hallways in the big building in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where she was given another ballot and allowed to vote.
19:02 The two of them voted. The point I'm getting at is they're not activists. We're celebrating activism and the legacy of brave people then and now. But it's hard to be an activist, but it's easy to vote and be an activist for yourself, to find your way through those little threats or even big threats, God forbid. But the point is, Go and find a neighbor that can't get to the polls and offer them a ride is activism also and something to be proud of. At this stage, we can't change a lot of the stuff that's happening.
19:45 And it's frustrating. We also, I'm going to throw a question out there, Lucy. You can hear the jets in the background. I'm at the airport. This is a big football game. So the nation has a squadron of four planes that are coming over at halftime. They keep practicing over at my house. You mentioned political action committee. And I dare to say that the PACs and the Supreme Court ruling that allowed companies to be creating political action committees has ruined democracy more than almost anything else.
20:24 Where one billionaire can give out a million dollars a day in a phony lottery as a bribe for people to register or to sign a petition, those types of things. I've got ten dollars, maybe a hundred, maybe even a thousand dollars. If I really wanted to sacrifice, I could donate to a local or national candidate. I don't have the millions that corporations do. And if I was a candidate getting millions that changes about what we're doing about, say, electric cars and batteries or what we're doing about how we harvest fruits and what pesticides we use.
21:03 How do I how do I turn that down as a candidate? It's because my opponent will have, I have, five hundred million dollars have been spent on this campaign in Pennsylvania. How do you compete if I wanted to run? As an ethical, just good old American. How can we get rid of political action committees or should we? You mentioned the office have one. Dr. Rob, a couple of things I'd submit to you. Help me out here, yeah. One is, money is important, but money doesn't vote. It can influence you. It can kind of set the stage.
21:39 However, what really decides elections is the ballot box. So that's why we stress voters should be informed, be aware, and get out and vote. You've seen a lot of candidates that have spent tons and tons of dollars and haven't won because their message was off point. It didn't reflect the needs of the citizen they want to represent. So I understand the Supreme Court ruling corporations are people, but we've got to deal with the landscape we're faced with. So no matter how much money you get, people understand the candidates, understand the issues and exercise your right to vote.
22:11 That's the difference maker. Well, I just wanted to jump in on two things. One, and I wanted to clarify, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated is not officially aligned with Alpha Pac, although members of Alpha support Alpha Pac. That's right. There are five of one C seven. So the organization, those two entities are entirely separate. now the second part of that is you're talking about you know campaign finance and political action committees in in a in a previous life I was a washington news correspondent for thompson newspapers and so I I covered the second clinton administration or whatnot and and I covered the fec so uh when we think about political action committees and money to going into these campaigns, I mean, yeah, that's a major, major influence on candidates and candidates' decisions and platform.
23:07 But at the end of the day, as Brother Jones said, the ballot box counts. And you're not necessarily going to be voting for everything you want, but voting for the candidates that may least hurt you, that may do you the least amount of harm, because we are in a capitalistic system. And money does impact decisions. We can't shy away from that. Money does impact decisions. Every policy has an economic attachment to it. Every policy that is enacted. So you have to be very mindful of those policies that various candidates are supporting and pushing on their platform.
23:49 And know what you can live with and what you can't live with. And that's what it comes down to. and just hope that the candidate you choose will do you the least amount of harm. I hate to hear, you know, folks say, oh, what is this candidate done for black people or that candidate? know black people and the black community is not monolithic right we we have all kinds of socioeconomic levels within the black community uh however certain issues affect us more than others we all we we not we shouldn't tenor our decisions based on race on what someone has done or who's blacker or if they're not black enough if you're a person of color it is about what issues impact you And at the end of the day, that's it.
24:42 And when you understand special interest groups, yes, special interest groups are going to want what they want. Understand what special interest groups are attached to which issues. And watch that and become informed about that. That's your job as an American citizen to become informed and become engaged and make a decision that you are comfortable with. It could affect not only your generation, not only you, but future generations, because we see What happened with the Supreme Court? Your decision not only impacts you on one issue, but depending on the candidate you choose, it could impact a whole slate of other issues you did not plan to because someone stacks the court.
25:28 And I think that it's important, what Stephen Jones said earlier on, you know, it's so easy to get up here at the presidential level, right? And ignore the state and the county and even the local school board. And, you know, that's why really I'm on the media side of things instead of the nonprofit side of things, because we want to vote. We want to use our voice, you know, in this way that can tell both sides of the story. And the... For example, I would really encourage people, don't just go down party line and vote.
26:03 I mean, I'm an independent, right? So I feel like I can exercise my, I'm going to vote Democrat here and Republican here, Democrat here, Republican here, because I've exercised my informative nature to know the difference between, okay, Arizona Corporation Commission is overseeing energy policies, and I happen to know and agree with what, you know, this party says versus this party. So it's just a reminder. It's more than just, but, you know, if you look at some administrations who are going to, you know, decrease stuff at the federal level, you better know who's in your backyard, you know, making policies in your county and in your state.
26:47 We're coming up on the end of this segment, and I would highly, highly encourage both you, Christopher, and and Stephen to stay because at the end of the youngins that we will bring up here, we will kind of bring back a round table so we can kind of have this multi-generational discussion towards the end. But let's go around the horn really quickly as we kind of close out this session of executive chat. I hand the baton to you, Christopher. What's kind of like a final words of wisdom as we lean into this lovely next Tuesday?
27:22 Mean eric I'm I'm saying christopher I'm saying christopher I'm thinking christopher williams because I have him coming up eric I'm sorry where's my middle name though that's right again vote your interest vote the interest of your families vote the interest of your community Vote your interests. Know the issues and vote your interests. All politics are local. It trickles down. It's going to affect you in your community. Things that you don't think are going to affect you on a national level will affect you on a local level because folks will be marching in lockstep sometimes.
27:57 So it's very important to know those issues and vote your interests. And Steven. I agree with Brother Webb and thank him for correcting me on the pact issue. That's very important. We keep them separated. Once again, folks, get out the vote. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote. One vote per person, let's not get crazy. But let's vote, thank you. And a reminder that this is our government. The democracy is defined by the power of the people. And so we all have to be ready to accept you know, whatever leader is voted in, however the people state, to bring this kind of angst and anxiety to, oh my gosh, what's going to happen?
28:46 I mean, it's the office of the president. And I just want to kind of maybe remind folks that there is a certain level of, you know, honor and obligation to honor that office. And if... Depending on how the people vote, that's why you got to get out and vote so we can truly say that it's reflection of the people who are voting, right? Okay, well, thank you so much for joining us. And again, if I see you still backstage, I will bring you back on at about eight forty five. But let's go ahead and. pass the torch on to our youngins.
29:23 So thank you so much, Eric and Stephen, for joining us again. We are excited to even kind of bring some cool and new and exciting things with Advance the Dream as we lean into the end of the year. This is not just a media broadcast type of play. We've got some tools in here that can help us, you know, really even connect further with And to be able to own our health a little bit more together, maybe put some fun competition together. So it'll be fun to kind of, you know, engage you guys here in the days and weeks to come.
29:56 Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Steven and Eric, thanks a lot, guys. Okay, great. So now we get to shift over to, you know, our up and coming stars. And I've got a couple of folks that Christopher has brought to the table, but I'm going to kind of lead with introducing, oh my gosh, I've got some typos in there and we're going to take that off right there. Let's take Christopher Williams, who has been leading the charge for the Union of Black Men and Alpha Phi Alpha, you're over at UNC, right? And you're kind of leading this get out the vote coast to coast initiative.
30:33 So welcome Christopher to the stage. And let's see, you've got also some other folks. Chandler and Isaiah should be on. They have also been sort of like... If we got Isaiah coming in. Isaiah and let's see Chandler. I don't see Chandler back here right now. But if I see him, we will go ahead and pull him on. So, Christopher, welcome to Advance the Dream. Tell us a little bit about what it is that you're doing. I'm going to bring this up. And... You know, the Union of Black Men and you have been, let's see, Ashton Hutchison, Isaiah Caldwell and Chandler.
31:16 So we've got Isaiah on the line. But tell us a little bit about what you've been working on. Yeah. First, I'll say it is good to be called a young and I was doing a tour with some high school students and they were calling me grandpa yesterday. So, yeah. to know that I'm still pretty young um and I also before we get into it I want to acknowledge uh isaiah on the college his birthday today he's turning twenty two oh wow hey to you Happy birthday. Thank you. To sort of speak a bit about what we've all been doing, sort of me and Isaiah sort of started this sort of Get Out the Vote Coast to Coast RV edition that happened in the summer.
31:56 We both, well, he just graduated and left me at UNC Chapel Hill, but we both attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the first public university in America. And It was an interesting time. There was major campus protests like what was happening on the national scale. And we had reached an impetus where it just felt like a war zone. The flag had gotten torn down and there was turmoil on all sides. And I know like the particular day it happened, there was a lot of protesting. There was a lot of armed guards and things of that nature on campus.
32:35 A lot of us left that day feeling this was not handled properly and it's not being handled properly at and a lot of the different local and national spaces that we find ourselves in. And so that sort of for me led to, OK, this is all connected to the vote. This is all connected to who represents us? And so that led to really a conversation at the dinner table with myself, Chandler, Isaiah. Chandler's in the house now. Yes, Chandler, good to see you, Chandler. Chandler, Isaiah, a few others as well.
33:17 And we were literally just talking about how we can get engaged and do something that reaches our demographic. So not the the fifty, sixty, forty, thirty, like the eighteen to twenty five year old demographic in a way that they haven't necessarily been reached. I want to I want to toss it to either Chandler or Isaiah to sort of speak more about how it got to the idea of like an RV trip. Yeah, I can take over a little bit. So as Chris said, we were kind of just having a casual dinner table conversation.
33:49 And finding ways to make our summer meaningful and impactful. Chandler and I both graduated in May. Christopher and Ashton are still at UNC now, but it's kind of our last hurrah. We were all roommates living together. But before Chandler and I kind of got up and moved away, we were trying to figure out a way we could all be impactful and have a meaningful summer. Um, and we arrived on the idea of, you know, getting out the vote for these eight and the twenty five year olds across the country.
34:18 Um, because as we saw, you know, the election was upcoming, up and coming, and we were trying to find ways, um, to impact people that looked like us. Um, so we identified, I think it ended up being like eight or nine cities. We were on the road for twenty days where we would travel in an RV. Across the country. And, you know, we identified cities that had low voter turnout for this eighteen and twenty five year old demographic go out and kind of host events, get engaged with students and young people and also publish this content for people all across the country, all across the world to see and kind of be inspired and learn more about the importance of their vote.
35:04 I think sort of to add a little bit more to the framing of an RV and sort of the social media element of it all, we felt that it is, there's a certain way you have to reach our demographic, the A lot of people our age like to tune into a story, like to follow a journey. And so that's what we wanted to sort of bring about with the RV trip. You're going on a trip with a bunch of guys with our own personalities, not necessarily experts at all in voting or civic engagement. Obviously, we're excited about all of it, but we're not experts in it, but we're exploring it.
35:48 We're exploring it between ourselves. We're exploring it with the people that we meet on the road, the candidates, the experts, random people. And we're also sort of doing it while living life and exploring the beauty that is America that makes this whole experiment work. If you will. And guess what? Your vote is as important as my vote is and is as important as Dr. Rob's vote is. So really experience doesn't necessarily play into the power of the vote at the ballot. Right. So huge, huge kudos to you guys.
36:25 I have to have to call something out here. You know, if I bring this up to the stage. And, you know, I see Tucson on there, right? So I'm here in Tucson. So, you know, I'm going to ask about Tucson. What was your experience out here in the desert? Oh, my goodness. It was hot. That's right. Summertime in Tucson. Yes, it was hot. But our main stop in Tucson, and I think we arrived at five in the morning in the RV. But we went to the University of Arizona and At the time, a lot of incoming freshmen were doing like pre-semester courses and just kind of getting settled in.
37:05 So we were able to speak with a lot of those young folks that weren't even eighteen years old yet who had never voted before. Some of them came from backgrounds where it wasn't really encouraged in their household necessarily. And so hearing their perspectives, hearing kind of what they come from, what they've been influenced to do and kind of just because at this point we had engaged with people from all different backgrounds, age ranges and everything. And so we had heard so many different stories and perspectives and getting to share that with some of these young incoming college freshmen and get them kind of inspired and just educated on the importance of their vote, not just at the presidential level, because they're hearing things, they're seeing all this propaganda things on social media saying, well, it's just at the time it was Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
37:50 These two kind of bad candidates in a way, and it's a lesser two evils and being Generation Z, they're constantly consuming social media and just seeing all these things, conflicting messages. And so getting them to understand that it's not just about these two candidates for one, and that it starts at the local level, but also just inspiring them to do their own research and learn for themselves what really matters to them. I mean, what did you guys, Chandler, you're kind of quiet over there.
38:23 What did you guys learn? What was your biggest takeaway from this experience? Personally, I had a lot of takeaways because we talked to so many different people across the nation and everybody has a different perspective, a different experience. And that's what makes this so interesting. Because the people that we talked to and say Alabama had totally different concerns than the people in Tucson. But one thing that was a really big takeaway for me is that we give our vote more power by showing up to vote.
39:07 And what I mean by that is when you go out and you show these people that are running for office that you're going to show up and vote, then they will pay attention to your demographic more. And they'll pay attention to the voice of your demographic. Because they know that you're going to show up on election day and ultimately decide who's going to be in office. Would you guys do anything different? Oh, you know... I used to joke, so a part of RV living is taking care of the RV and living on the RV and all of that stuff.
39:46 So the RV got us from coast to coast, but it didn't get us back. It broke down in California. Oh, no. So we had to make our way back, hit our different stops flying. And I used to joke and say, man, I would do it without the RV and figure out another way. But honestly, I loved every bit of it. I think it required that sort of turmoil because it allowed us to see what we saw, like sort of what Chandler was saying. the beauty of going coast to coast in a car and a large vehicle is you really get to see how vast this nation is and how very different it is.
40:27 And at first you think, how do we even make this work? All of these different types of people, beliefs, backgrounds, people just living in like completely different areas, different spaces. How do we make this all work? And the beauty of it all sort of is connected to this idea of we do when we engage in one of the most fundamental practices, which is exercising your vote at the polls. I think that one thing that I learned, and this was spoken about when we had our interview in California with Dr. Shirley Webber, And then in Birmingham, Alabama, with Black Voters Matterhead by the name of D. Reed, sort of this idea of bringing your people with you to the polls.
41:11 And Chandler hit on this as well. But it was really just like, I think, the crux of this conversation. Does like answering the question of does your vote matter or not? If you bring your people with you, it serves as a protection method, if you will, for the candidate that you're trying to get to push your interests. Though people are less likely or other candidates, representatives are less likely to sort of go against the candidate that you want in office if they have a bunch more people behind them.
41:43 If the margin is that much greater, which is why it's important to win big. If you win big, it's irrefutable. Yeah, no question. You take it off the table. You make an interesting point on the importance of just kind of being boots on ground across the country. I've been to every single state in the country by car. It's one of my little claim to fame because I was traveling Griswold. And you're absolutely right. I mean, just to kind of experience the differences of our wonderful, beautiful country and the way that, you know, we work is something to learn about.
42:19 You know, I'm curious, just go around the table really quickly. What are you guys studying? What's your field of study right now? Yeah, I'm the only one in school, so I'm a senior, but I'm majoring in peace, war, and defense and double minors in conflict management and entrepreneurship. Holy cow. That is a mouthful, and I have no doubt that you're going to be successful in whatever you choose to do. What about you, Chandler? Yeah, I studied computer science while I was in school, and now I work in tech.
42:51 Okay, awesome. I was a business administration major at Carolina and an entrepreneurship minor. I'm curious, are most people your age when you're approaching them and talking to them, do they care? Are you finding yourselves having to, like, pull people into the process more often than you thought? Or do you feel like most people are like, oh, yeah, I'm ready to vote? I would say that for the purpose of our trip, trying to reach the eighteen to twenty five year old demographic, a lot of people did have that initial appetite.
43:29 And like Isaiah said earlier, it was a different election at the time. It was Joe Biden versus Donald Trump. And so a lot of younger people didn't identify with other candidates. And so once you don't identify with other candidates, you start to think, oh, they're not going to represent my needs either way. So then they kind of tune out. So we do have to kind of sometimes like walk them through the conversation of why it's so important to vote regardless of if you necessarily identify with either candidate.
44:03 Go ahead. Yeah, I was going to touch on what you asked earlier, if there's anything we would do differently, because I think there's a difference between the demographics around college campuses and then eighteen to twenty five year olds that aren't on these campuses. And so I feel like a lot of our stops were centered around what schools can we partner with and what student demographics can we target? But when you look beyond that, I feel like there's so many people who might not be as engaged and might not feel as empowered and that sense of apathy is definitely there as well.
44:43 So finding ways, and this all comes into planning as well, but finding ways to target those people as well as the college students to get everyone engaged in this process. I think, you know, I, anytime I see youngins, and y'all are youngins to me, right? Anytime I see youngins actively engaged, I'm just very excited about that. And I think that anytime that we can talk in a multi-generational fashion about this, I think is also super important. I want to go ahead and bring Stephen Jones back in.
45:18 We had lost Josh, but he's back in here. So let's, you know, and if Christopher, I mean, if Eric, sorry. Gosh, Eric, it's that Christopher that I see right there that I keep messing up on. And I will say that I'll do it. Thank Brother Jones publicly and the fraternity publicly for all of their support. for us because it was a heavy lift. I tell you, I am excited for after election for a lot of different reasons. One of them, because this has been fun, but it's also been some hard and tiring work.
46:00 And Brother Jones doesn't play about his lectures. And so he's trained us up. I remember having some good conversations with him sort of about how to approach all of this. And I appreciate it, even though it may not have seemed like it. Christopher, could you imagine, could you imagine What that felt like? I mean, you're out there on a paved land just working momentum, not like fighting the hard, hard front line. You didn't need a green book, did you, of where to stay? You didn't need that thing.
46:37 Yeah, Google that. Christopher, you make me sad. As exciting as this is, I'm saddened by it. Because right now I'm going to play the medical professional population health epidemiologist expert here. You will only vote, you and your colleagues at age twenty will only vote ten more times in a national election. Your white counterparts will vote eleven or twelve times because they will live four to eight years longer than you. OK, I challenge the Brotherhood looking at African-American and voting rights, peace, equity, disparities.
47:18 Look at hypertension. I challenge you to do a road trip with pop-up blood pressure checks and men's health education events at your alpha regional meetings or at your local campuses. But Josh is significantly younger than me, but his chances of being alive for the next election are twenty four percent worse than mine. Just given he's got a little bit of a health issue I know about. It's not cancer, but it puts him at risk for dying from heart attack or stroke. All right. So the point is I have access in America to certain things that make it more likely, just like the voting booth, access to good health care and good healthy environments, transportation, food, education, economics, entrepreneurism, the ability to support my community makes it more likely that wherever I'm living, if I'm black and I'm twenty years old, I will be dead at age sixty nine or seventy.
48:26 If I'm white, I will be dead at age seventy four to seventy eight, depending on the community. You guys only have ten more elections. Your white counterparts have eleven or twelve. So I am throwing it into the context of I'm so proud of what you're doing and I'm happy and enthusiastic about it. But now during this next four years, why don't we do an impact road trip? Let's fund an RV with some blood pressure cuffs and some premeds and some peace, love, peace, war and defense, entrepreneurs and activists.
49:00 And literally a small RV, a pop-up blood pressures and a scale and or just sign up for Josh's Advance the Dream. Download the app. I don't mean this to be a commercial, but download the app. I'm doing a fifty four mile virtual walk to Selma and the old northern white guy is on the leaderboard. You know, let me temper that a little bit. That sounded really sobering and kind of like, I hit you to the gut. No, no, no. It is sobering. I get it. But part of, I think- It was a bit of a switch. Right. But part of, I think, the- The premise of what it is that we're really trying to do is just, listen, my husband is African American.
49:41 That means my kids are African American. So if there are any type of disparities out there, we're just trying to bring them to the table. It has nothing to do with, you know, you're not as good or any. It has nothing to do with any of that. It's just a fact of life right now. Where we are on the historical context of, you know, four hundred years in slavery and access, you know, we're only really seeing a first generation of like full access to health care. Many of the disparities that we've seen are coming because perhaps there's a segment of black men who aren't going to the doctor earlier.
50:20 So it's more of like a stage four type of thing. you know acknowledgement you're getting seen later there's implicit racism in the health care system the study of drugs has been done with a bias towards white men versus white women way above black men and black women on on the statistic that this is it's the system is rigged against um uh The system, not necessarily on purpose, but it has evolved into a system where just like access to voting, you have to fight for it. People have to be advocates for their own health.
50:58 That's all I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to sound like a cringeworthy racist comment here about anything. That's the reality. That is the reality. And that's what we're connected to. Josh and I have been connected since we were doing health fairs and education activities after Katrina about twenty years ago. Maybe it's fifteen or twenty. But he sees it and he's on the foots on the ground on a local basis doing what he can. But he's got tools that have the ability to elevate this to every alpha chapter or every divine nine chapter or every every cheerleading club.
51:44 On any campus or in any neighborhood church. We got to start at a hyperlocal level or the voters won't be there. As we advance the dream of King, you got to be healthy enough and alive to show up to vote. Dr. Rob, I agree with you with your observations. And I'm going to just divulge this right now. I'm seventy one years old. Yeah. And I do believe in going to my doctor. I get my annual checkups. But I'm retired where I have good health benefits, even with Medicare. So I strongly understand what you're saying.
52:19 And I think this will take back to our leadership about not only trying to take a look at these tours and our chapters, but also dental care, as was covered last week. There are a lot of issues that we as African-American males and females need to understand and address. It's not. No, it is what it is. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. I appreciate that. And you got to look at just Brother Joshua Williams as a resource for you got to just have at the meetings to talk to. Brother Webb, I believe.
52:52 I forget your first name. I'm afraid I can't remember now. Okay. But sir, you made a comment. I'm going to bring it back to voting, Lucy. He made a comment about your self-interest. I think that's fine because it's one vote. But the self-interest in this election will vary carefully at who is supporting things like Obamacare or the Access to Care Act and who is playing games with words about it. Because you're going to end up without access with previous conditions or access to health care with only a hundred thousand or ten thousand dollar deductibles.
53:31 Which in a sense is not health care. It's bankruptcy care. But on a regular basis, if the mammogram, if the pap smear is not covered, if the colonoscopy is not covered, things are found too late and you die earlier. And there's a health literacy issue across the whole board. I mean, that's really the core of the Force for Health network. We really do have to burn the candles at both ends. If you notice the logo up there, there's a person inside those rings, right? That person represents the individual.
54:07 That person has to know that we can't have decades of saturated oils and things of that nature that are going to clog arteries or make your... pipes around your heart hard in two or three decades. So it's more of just a, and there's also this thing called social determinants of health, right? There's a pie. And if you were to guess what percentage of that pie was individual decision-making on your ability to thrive and be healthy, does anyone want to take a guess on what percentage of the pie is defined as a personal decision to be healthy?
54:49 Is it eighty percent of that pie or is it fifteen percent of the pie? Christopher, you want to take a guess at that? Fifteen. Close? Chandler or Isaiah? I was going to say eighty percent. That's interesting. Most people think that most people think just get healthy. What are you talking about? Right. Isaiah, you have a guess. Yeah, I was initially going to say like sixty seven, like two thirds. Yeah. I mean, according to the CDC and with this whole study about the social determinants of health, it is in around that eighteen to twenty percent range.
55:28 That means that access to healthcare, access to transportation, access to policies that support the access of health. Many of these cities are living in a fifty, sixty, seventy percent supported by Medicare, Medicaid deal. That is a public sector health provider, people. Public sector health providers are going to follow the administration of whoever you vote into that county or that state. Yeah. And so it's just that's kind of how this whole intersection between economics is a big part of it. So as I look at three entrepreneurs on the screen there in their twenties, you guys are health care workers creating companies that create revenue and income for people to allow them to have access to them, better education for their kids, live in certain neighborhoods, be able to buy food, be able to buy medicines.
56:16 Entrepreneurism is health care. So in voting is health care. See in me. everything is health care. With some of you guys, everything is get the vote out. But it's a crossover. We need to be healthy enough to vote. And I really applaud the work you guys are doing. And so I'm going to loosely give you my final comments now because I've been talking too much. But proud to be on with leadership across generations across the country and inspired by, I get excited by the road trip with pop-up men's health disparity, or for that matter, women's health.
56:58 But hello, Lucy. But we can talk to someone else in the Divine Nine, a different sorority type of thing. But that colonoscopy, that skin check, that mammogram. I mean, Josh's dad's a barber. We've got a program where the barbers and hair salon folks can look at the skin and find a skin cancer long before they go to the doctor and it's too late. Things like that. Little things like that can be done in a pop-up, well-informed, health literate advocate. We'd love to support staffing that vehicle with people, at least getting them trained and supporting them along the way.
57:37 Just a thought. And I think we want to go around the circle as we round up. I'm going to go right after Rob because a lot of you don't know Rob like I do, so sometimes he can hit hard. And I did kind of see this like, wow, this kind of expression. When he said that you aren't going to be around or that you will die, those are hard statements just to jolt, okay? Those are statements of fact right now if you just look at data. But your generation right there, you have the control. You are young enough to be able to define how you treat yourself, how you feed, nourish, and move your bodies.
58:13 So I just kind of wanted to, I'm a mama. I am not a medical expert. I will always play the role as coach mama here. I've got kids your age. So don't take that as like a boom. You're gonna die. That wasn't a chance like that. Okay? Go ahead, guys. Lucy. Lucy. No, I don't. I don't. I don't believe. It's like a pole. You can influence it one way or the other. Yes. I just. That's the tip. What I just wanted to shake around that. OK, so let's go around the table. Let's let's go to, you know, the executives first.
58:46 Eric, final thoughts as you listen to, you know, this younger generation speak this kind of conversation about health and the intersection with voting. What are you what are your final thoughts? Well, one, I'm definitely impressed with my with my young alpha brothers that are out here. out here doing the work, doing the work. So I think we're leaving the world in good hands and whatnot. The stark comments about us not being around, it's true. I mean, I'm I'm fifty five years old and I realize now that I've got more years behind me than I have in front of me.
59:22 So I'm very tied into that. And I love the comment when you talked about health literacy, health literacy. I used to be in one of my previous labs, I was the board of directors, chair of Florida Literacy Council of Prince George's County. So I understand how literacy and all these things impact voting and access to health that health disparities and all these different things so they're all related they're not isolated and I think if if we're being socialized to understand that we can protect ourselves and protect our communities excellent stephen yes uh I too want to congratulate our collegiate brothers for their efforts I just also reflect that being born in I was a ten years old in So I've seen the struggles of our communities.
1:00:13 I've seen the dogs, the firebombs, the churches, just the whole struggle. So I would encourage people to take a look at their six docuseries they have for their RV Coast to Coast, understand how they engage with various communities. And the future really, as Brother Webb said, now, I got a few years ahead of me and then behind me. But I want to make sure these last decades, because last time I thought if I can get to hundred twelve, I need a new doctor. So I'm looking forward to voting many more times.
1:00:43 I want the youth as well to enjoy and enjoy and understand the issues in front of them. So once again, Collegiate Brothers, thank you very much for your efforts. And thank you for the opportunity to be on this webinar. Awesome. Isaiah, the birthday boy. Yeah, I was really just inspired by our whole trip and all the efforts that I'm seeing nationally, especially around this time. I think Vice President Kamala Harris described Generation Z as impatient for change. And I think that's something that you're really seeing these days.
1:01:15 Like people really want to see things change and people are putting themselves out there and making an effort doing their part. So I think that's something that's very common and prevalent in our generation. I'm excited for what the future holds. Impatience for change. Interesting, because there's some lessons in and around that, but it's a great starting point because that will be the impetus, right, to engage and to move into action. Christopher. Yeah, I think this sort of centers some of what was talked about and talking about how voting is connected to everything.
1:01:50 And I would encourage, so going onto our YouTube and looking at this, but in California, when we spoke with the California Secretary of State, Dr. Shirley Weber, we centered around this whole conversation of health and finances and all of these things and how it's connected to your vote. And she said something that encompassed it all, that I really got out of this sort of endeavor and voting. Voting is your life. That simple. It is your life. And she meant that not not. not to be dramatic or anything else, but exactly as what we just said, it is connected to everything else.
1:02:30 The policies that you see that affect your health, all of the different things. So I really just want to echo that. I think a lot of youth, when we were on the road, they spoke about how they feel like candidates don't care about them they feel um that nothing is being done for them and then something hits close to home and they realize oh this is connected to a candidate which is connected to voting which is connected um so uh that that's one thing that I really learned and one I want to get across it is your life voting is your life so yeah chandler yeah um I would say that One of the things that I've heard on this call is how important voting is for many different reasons.
1:03:23 It affects you in different ways down from the laws that you have to live under to your health, as we talked about for a long time. But I would just like to say that because of that, it's so important that we exercise our right. Because if you're not at the table, you end up on the menu. Yeah, exactly. You can't say anything if you're not at the table. Josh, our fearless leader here who's been able to continue to bring this incredible team together to the table to have these conversations. How has today gone?
1:04:03 What are your takeaways? What are your final thoughts, sir, for the group? First of all, to Brother Webb, let me thank you for giving us a few moments of your time to come on and represent us nationally As we discussed, one of the important elements of the fraternity's aim is the boldest people are the hopeless people. You know, I hold you at the highest regards because in nineteen eighty five, I was introduced to the fraternity by a guy that sits in that sat in your seat by the name of Michael J. Price.
1:04:40 Who was then the editor of the Sphinx and the director of communications. The longest seated. Yes, he did. He did. But he was he was absolutely magnificent. I served as my first position in Alpha was serving under him. as an assistant during the general convention. So I've learned so much from that seat or that position that you now sit in. And a lot of it is because of those type of guys that were there during that particular time in my life. And I appreciate him as much as I appreciate you standing in that seat now and being able to take the helm in which he set forth and lead us continuously as he would have looked so into the future.
1:05:29 The Brother Jones, once again, that impact grant was right on time. What you did to make sure that all the brothers around the country had an opportunity to participate in that grant process was absolutely superb. I think we need to continue to do more of those things that you had stated to me on the numerous times I called you to actually check up and make sure that we were on target. that this is the first time. And we will have some hiccups, but through it all, we will make sure that we're able to reach the people that we are continuing to reach.
1:06:03 And I appreciate that. And of course, the chapter is indebtedly grateful to both of you guys for continuing to have the tenacity for us to continue to move the fraternity forward. To our college brothers, Chandler, Christopher, And Isaiah, you guys have been absolutely magnificent. You make me proud to say that I'm an alpha man. And it took us a while to kind of hone down on you guys, but I appreciate that because that shows me how important you all are. So we are very pleased that you guys gave us an opportunity.
1:06:46 And I would just like to say, keep up the excellent work, man. The best is still yet to come. We will continue to push and step forward as Dr. King in all of his speeches wanted us to do. And we're going to look forward to we have new and innovative things coming down the pipeline. But I wanted to thank all of you guys for coming on with us this morning to actually continue to push the importance of getting out and exercising your right to vote. Thanks a lot, guys. You know, and I'm just here, I just want to, you know, remind folks that we've got kind of free and low-cost resources here.
1:07:24 We're going to be working with Josh to kick off some real, real reality health challenges. So can you kind of imagine the chapters going up against each other and getting points for moving, learning, serving, and earning? So, you know, many of the... You can join for free. You can get started and connect for free. And then if you guys want to turn it into any type of fundraiser, you know, the Alphas, Josh's, you know, You Do Matter is kind of an alpha-led. It's not alpha-led, but it's kind of alpha.
1:07:58 I won't even say it's alpha-endorsed. You Do Matter is a nonprofit that we work with on behalf of Josh. And if folks were to go ahead and purchase a forty nine dollar ticket all year long, you've got access to health information and can play the reality health games. And half of those dollars can stay with Josh or whatever team is hosting it. So I just wanted to kind of say that we are more than just a broadcast show. We are an engagement platform and we are challenging folks to get involved, understand their own health.
1:08:31 And work towards increasing health literacy in a fun virtual challenge. So thank you so much for joining. We will be here next week because it is the second Saturday. But between now and then, let's just go ahead and just breathe. Let's just breathe and know that we will all be OK. whoever, you know, and however the people speak. And we will know that we've done our part because we've all stepped into the voting box and, you know, participate in this wonderful thing called democracy. Okay. Till next week.
1:09:10 Thank you very much. Remember, be a force for health, advance the dream, and you can go to advance the dream.com for more information or the force for health.com for more information. Thank you so much, Eric and Steven and Christopher and Isaiah. and Chandler and happy birthday Isaiah take care everybody thank you thank you
Transcript is auto-generated from the broadcast captions and lightly cleaned; timestamps jump to the moment on YouTube.
Advance the Dream · Episode Recap ·