0:15 All righty. Welcome, everybody. Today is January twentieth, the third weekend of the wonderful two thousand twenty four. And my name is Lucy Howell and I am the president and co-founder of the Force for Health Foundation. We think everybody can be a force for health for themselves, their friends, their family and their community. But do recognize that not everybody has equal footing, equal access and equal resources to make that happen. So we are here to offer free and low cost solutions and resources, platforms and challenges to help level up.
0:52 And get that health literacy game up and to be more kind, thoughtful, and engaged citizens. And so we are excited. We've been working on this, partner and I, Josh Williams, this concept called Advance the Dream. for a couple of years now, right Josh? And we're finally bringing it in to a perfectly imperfect new weekly series called Advance the Dream. As we get going here every Saturday, eleven o'clock Eastern, And of course, we're starting at eleven fifteen Eastern due to a little technical glitch here.
1:31 But it really is meant to be an interactive community chat. We are live streaming on Facebook and on YouTube and on LinkedIn. And for those who are watching live, if you'd like to lend a comment, come on in. I will be there. watching the stream and may, may, may even shoot you a quick studio link if it's something that we want to do and bring you up onto the studio. But Josh and I met A couple years ago, he is a wonderful human being. In fact, my co-partner, Dr. Robert Gillio, who is not able to join us today, actually met Josh in response to Hurricane Katrina.
2:20 And that's where the Force for Health was really born. kind of born together, working with the teens out of the dryad YMCA, post Hurricane Katrina. So Josh, you know, take us back before you're also an Alpha Phi Alpha, which gives you kind of a unique insight and perspective to the men who really paved the way in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an Alpha Phi Alpha himself. If you don't know what that is, it's one of the Divine Nine fraternities that is developed for African American males.
3:01 It really has a historic context. I mean, if you really look at the historic context of the Divine Nine sororities and fraternities and look who came out, It's stunning to see how much history can be taught through the leaders of those fraternities and sororities. But I'm going to kind of stop talking. Tell us again, remind the audience who you are, what you're doing, and why you think this message of advancing the dream is so, so, so important to continue with the legacy of it and the ripple effects of what he had originally intended.
3:40 Thank you, Lucy. I appreciate that. As you stated earlier, being in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, I had the opportunity to meet some interesting individuals. And one of those individuals was Dr. Robert Gillio, who actually came to New Orleans to actually offer aid to the citizens there who were stranded from Hurricane, about Hurricane Katrina. And when Dr. Rob got there, we met, we talked, we kind of shared stories. We kind of, we kind of found it. Well, we did find a bond. between the both of us and actually what he was doing and what we were doing in New Orleans as a whole.
4:29 From that, as Lucia just alluded to, we actually formalized pretty much the force for health. And could you be a force for health and how could you be that from a student standpoint all the way to a grandparent standpoint? At the Dryas YMCA, we were one of the first schools to reopen after Hurricane Katrina because everything was shut down. Our director at the time actually thought it was necessary to return because there was a lot of kids still there and a lot of people still there in the community, even though what we saw on television was the fact that everybody is getting out of town.
5:08 But you had a lot of people that were actually kind of stranded in New Orleans and basically with no operations, restaurants, medical attention, et cetera. So the Dryas YMCA stepped up, made phone calls. We established a base back in New Orleans And we were one of the first schools to reopen after Hurricane Katrina. Once we did that, Dr. Rob and actually his colleagues that came from all over the country to support and aid those individuals and citizens that were still in New Orleans, we funded a bond with the school there, which was the James Singleton Charter School.
5:50 Uh k through eight uh kids that actually we got together and actually created what we call the force for health and could could our kids be a force for health the biggest thing was that we tried to actually uh get a point across was actually while we were in hurricane katrina could the students be a force to actually teach our adults how to be more safe and how to protect themselves during a time of destruction. And that we actually had students to participate in projects that actually formulated ideas, concepts, and scenarios that actually helped to improve the understanding of what to do in a natural disaster.
6:41 Yeah, it was really based on the premise of we need to make sure that our youth, our teens, our tweens know how to thrive. in ordinary times so that they can survive in extraordinary times, right? Wasn't one of the, wasn't one of the issues really, well, swimming was one issue, right? Just the ability to know what to do in and around water. It's as simple as that, right? What's one of your most memorable things that come out of that One of the biggest ones I think that actually everyone should be understandable of, it was the fact that we had a lot of kids, some were sixth graders, seventh graders, that were actually acting as the head of the household.
7:37 Meaning that they had to care for their grandmother, they had to care for their grandfather. They had to make sure, and they had to understand what it was to prepare for a disaster. How do I get my medicines? My grandma needs this. What medicines does she take? Is that written down anywhere? Where are we going in case of a major disaster? Who do we know that's outside of this area? Or who could we contact? You know, when we actually exported people out of New Orleans, the Drives YMCA was a site to leave, where people gathered to leave New Orleans.
8:13 So we boarded buses at the Drives YMCA with people getting out of New Orleans. Now, the only thing, problem that was, was that people did not know where they were going or where they were gonna end up. You gotta remember that, you know, cell phones weren't active at the time. regular telephones weren't accurate at the time. So people actually ended up in places, some ended up in Idaho, places that were really unfamiliar to them. So teaching them how to prepare became very, very important as it relates to how to situate themselves just in case another major disaster happened.
8:52 And so at the time, what were you doing? Were you, because you were also, you also served as the state president for the Alpha Phi Alphas there in Louisiana. Were you doing that at the time or were you just working with the Y or what were you doing? I was actually a state president before Katrina actually took place. And actually mobilizing as a fraternity, we mobilized members who were located all around the state of Louisiana. that could to participate in our recovery efforts. Of course, American Red Cross, of course, the VA, everyone came down lending a helping hand.
9:34 Of course, the troops were there passing out water, passing out ready to eat meals, et cetera, because there were no stores that were open, nowhere where you can go and buy groceries. So you had to actually partake in what was actually there. Well, and I think we just passed the twenty something, I think it's twenty two years. I should probably know this for Katrina. You know, fast forward to twenty twenty four, you know, the One of the quotes that we really is the grounding quote of this initiative here, Advance the Dream.
10:16 And again, in honor and in support and in alignment with the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha, and then to extend that off to everybody. So I want to be very clear and important and clear in that message. My husband is an African-American man. That makes my kids African-American. If there are disparities present, I want to know about that. When I say disparities, I mean health disparities, much less than all of the inequities out there. If a Black baby is born and out of womb, they are already at a disadvantage on certain health issues just based on the toxicity stress syndrome call it regardless of socioeconomic status when they're in their thirties or forties or fifties, you can still look at a white human and a black human and There are differences health equity wise.
11:23 So it's very important for doctors to know that. And again, I don't say this coming in from the side. We worked on a pretty significant project with the Ohio Medicaid and through the government. college resources in the state of Ohio because the Cuyahoga County, Cleveland had the highest percentage of infant mortality rates in the whole country. And that's just not something that Cleveland wanted to be known for, right? The state does not want to be known for that. And so here in, you know, There is a real issue with implicit bias.
12:02 And so part of this whole advance the dream concept, again, is how do we interact with each other in such a way that it is positive? We are recognizing differences. And when you if this is going to tag me into one of the topics, like what's your twenty twenty four pledge? Right. To advance the dream. My advance the dream. Two thousand twenty four pledge is what it always has been. And I continue to do this, which is when I hear something, I say something. And it can start as simple as that. You know, going back to the Ohio Medicaid project that we worked on, we actually filmed and followed and studied about fifty African-American moms and fathers who were going through the Ohio hospital system to bear children.
12:58 And we interviewed them and then we even did a mock type of situation on some of the things that they experienced something as simple as walking up to the front desk and then just having a head not even look up and acknowledging you and when they finally do acknowledge you you know there is a set of uh uh prejudgments about you and, um, things like that just weigh down and it really, um, creates a unpleasant experience for, um, for those that people just don't realize, you know? And so perhaps maybe that front desk person just needs to be trained.
13:42 Hey, within five seconds, look up, greet with a smile and treat everybody the same. That could be, that could be real simple, you know, instead of setting it off for the rest of the appointment, like they don't even care. They think I'm here, et cetera, you know? Um, so part of advance the dream for me is when I hear something, I say something and do it in such a way that it's not attacking. I'm not saying, Hey, you Karen, you can't talk like that. It's like, Hey, do you realize that, you know, um, She's been waiting here and it would be nice just to have a smile.
14:19 It's just something like that. That's just an example of how I might approach something. Do you have an example? Like what does advance the dream mean to you? Basically, I started off when we first talked about this was trying to give youth an opportunity. to understand and advance themselves actually in technology. From that standpoint, I've actually grown from the standpoint by teaching them, I have been taught myself. meaning from the standpoint that a lot of things that they learn comes from our adults.
14:59 And how can we get our adults to participate more, especially in technology, of dealing with our kids? A lot of adults fray away from technology because they don't truly understand it. So while we work with our kids during the day at school and they go home, they get no assistance from parents because parents don't know, neither do they feel comfortable with explaining technology. So what I want to do is see if I can bring that family component together. Meaning standpoint, not only just teaching the kids now, I wanna actually have the parents to sit in as well.
15:37 And we develop projects from Advance the Dream to actually work with the entire family and not just one segment of the family, because eventually we're gonna need this whole village to raise our children. And you've been, and that's exactly the state of some of the pilot testing that we've been doing with you over the last two years, is this wonderful intergenerational and extended family approach connecting youth, teens, and seniors with the working adults sandwiched in between, helping them make that happen, and then taking them through these kind of hybrid programs so that the knowledge base of the historic context of the sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety year old seniors can be transferred down to the youth.
16:31 And then the youth can help the seniors connect digitally We even did a workshop together on my healthy smartphone basics for seniors. Because if you are a senior and you are not connected, you are at a disadvantage for access to resources and care. Way more so now than pre-COVID. But now it's just like... expected, it's an expected skill sets that you would know how to get on and do a telehealth appointment. Right? Yes, there's a lot of seniors African-American, Hispanic, and white, we'll just say seniors in general.
17:19 And my dad, my dad, you know, white guy from Pennsylvania, he is a perfect example of being one of the most brilliant men I've known. He did the missile systems guidance for AMRAAM. You know, he coded stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of code for this incredibly complex missile system. air-to-air mid-range missile. And yet he gets so frustrated sometimes just trying to get online and do the simplest of tasks. And he is a seventy-five right now. So I love that program. I'm gonna share my screen here for a second.
17:59 Because I wanted to just give an example of some of the types of programs and content that we are developing for Advance the Dream. And most of these are free. Some of these are coming in under Josh's You Do Matter program. which is an Advance the Dream STEAM team here. But technology and me is one example that he was just talking about where we took the computer parts and hardware and compared it to the human systems. And this was a wonderful way to increase digital health and technology literacy together as a family and to be able to give them an opportunity to present and confirm, right?
18:55 They're going to learn it, they're going to live it, and then they're going to share it. So that was wonderful. I was just trying to give an example of that. And then, you know, maybe this is a good time, Josh, to, well, I'm going to stop sharing because let me go ahead and transition to the next topic, which is really challenging folks to know our history, our real history. this is not to get political. This is not meant to be a political show, but it is meant to host and house difficult conversations.
19:38 Okay? So let's see if we've got any comments coming in yet. Just kind of watch that for a moment. Not yet. But when I hear someone like a Nikki Haley saying, who's running for president, saying that, We are not a racist country. We've never been a racist country. I'm just a brown-skinned girl, you know, and it just is shocking to me. Like, how can you say that? You know, we've got... We've got a little badge. It's called, um, four hundred years since slavery. Maybe Nikki needs to go earn this badge.
20:27 And it's just a series of ten videos that kind of takes, you know, us through the history of the African American history. Since slavery and I thought it would be a good idea maybe throughout this show Let's just play one video talk about and if we have time to play one more then we will but it kind of sets the stage of Listen, it's important that everybody understands the real history. It is good bad and ugly But if we can't even sit here toe to toe, right, and understand that these ugly things happened in our history, and it might be a hard pill to swallow if you are a, you know, white American who is not racist in any way, shape or form and doesn't want to believe that these things can happen or did happen.
21:22 I just thought we'd set the stage for this next deal, which is, let's do that. Go ahead and share screen here. Come to this. And then this is the, now you can go to forceforhealth.com right now or advancedthedream.com and go ahead and I challenge you. This is going to be the challenge across the country is how many people can we get to earn this badge reflecting on four hundred years of American history. Now you can watch this publicly, but if you join for free, then you'll earn points and you'll earn a badge.
21:59 But let's just go ahead and watch this very first video. The history of African Americans in the United States is commemorating a major year. Twenty nineteen marks four hundred years since slavery. What has transpired since has been the story of a people searching for equality, respect and freedom. To fully realize this dream, we must understand the history of their struggles, triumphs, tribulations, and the movements that today define a new generation of those seeking to build on their forbearer successes.
22:52 Understanding the history of African Americans is imperative to understanding where our country has been and the decisions and actions of the years to come will define the future and legacy of not only this generation, but of many generations to follow. The lessons in this course will bring understanding to the past and with this knowledge, we can shape a brighter future. Now, that was just very simple. It's just a reminder that let's just take a moment and remember, let's just watch the next one and then we'll go ahead and come back and let's see.
23:42 Let's go. A little background noise there. Do you hear that background noise? Okay, let's do this again. We're going to watch one more. And again, if you're an educator or if you are just a curious citizen or if you really want to level up your healthy citizenship and be a better force for health, this whole concept of cultural sensitivity and historic knowledge is so important. So let's go ahead and watch this second one really quickly. Thus beginning the slave trade in the Americas. This practice would bring more people than free or bound immigrants from Asia and Europe combined during this time.
25:04 The conditions that the Africans faced on the voyage across the Atlantic were brutal. Forcefully separated from family, friends, and fellow tribe members, they were securely chained to the plank beds in the belly of converted cargo ships and tightly shackled to each other in crowded, filthy, and fall conditions that exposed them to dysentery, scoliosis, dehydration, and other diseases that killed as many as fifteen percent during the journey. Spanish ship captains remarked that the stench of the hull where the slaves were kept was such that a man would become ill upon smelling it.
25:47 Alonso de Sandoval wrote that most slaves, quote, arrived turned into skeletons, unquote. The Spanish would create a massive slave market in Latin America and slavery eventually made its way north to the United States, where there was a strong demand for free labor on southern plantations. slave ships would continue bringing over captive African people until. Slavery persisted another five years when the Union, comprised of the northern states of the United States, defeated the southern Confederate states in a bloody civil war that resulted in the deaths of over six hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
26:31 In total, the United States engaged in two hundred and forty-six years of slavery and the scars from this trade persist to this day, four hundred years later. Upon the conclusion of the Civil War, the Civil War Amendments were passed, which included the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. These amendments ended slavery, made black slaves citizens of the United States, and gave black men the right to vote and hold public office. The transition following the Civil War called Reconstruction would aid in the integration of former slaves into American society.
27:18 So, you know, our fearless colleague is watching the broadcast, you know, from, he's doing some parental care up there in Chicago, but he notes, you know, the generations that follow will do so because of what people did today. Cultural sensitivity is so important. Nice work, colleagues. Thank you, Dr. Rob, for calling in and making that note. And again, watching those two videos back, I've watched those several times as we develop them, but even just watching them back, is powerful. Josh, how do you react to watching both of those kind of back to back?
27:56 Oops, I'm sorry. I muted you off because there's a little bit of background. Go ahead. I think that it's definitely a cultural piece that I think everyone should have an opportunity to actually experience and learn. A lot of people take, I think, what we're doing now as it relates to the civil rights movement in a negative standpoint, meaning that, of course, Some legislatures and legislators are actually saying that, you know, well, haven't we done enough? Have we sufficed this piece of slavery?
28:34 Let's stop talking about it. It is a part of history, no matter how you put it. This did happen. It happened. It's not a made up ship or anything. It actually happened. So it is a part of our history, our legacy. Now, what we have to do, we have to teach people to understand that history. Even though it was, of course, a terrible time, we still need to make sure that we are prepared, we learn from this, we don't get upset over it, but we learn from it. And we try to improve ourselves. And that's why we're talking about advance the dream and how important it is to actually continue us and compile us to continue to advance the dream as we move forward.
29:21 And advance the dream piece could be in several different aspects, Lucy. It doesn't have to be about civil rights. It could be about health. It could be about employment. It could be about family lifestyles. It could be about any subject that we want to have. But we want to make sure that people understand and can grasp the concept of that we are working to advance the dream. the dream that Dr. King had when he spoke about America and the way he would like to see it. Well, you know, I'm glad that you said that because when we talk about, I'm going to take Rob's comment off right now.
30:03 When you talk about the advancing the dream and if we were to kind of stay in the health and equity space, you know, another topic is called social determinants of health, right? And so where somebody lives has a lot to do with their health. with their ability to thrive. So here's a little quiz for the audience and for even you and I to kind of toss around. If you took a pie, a pie, and you were to slice out a piece of that pie that was called individual responsibility. So you've got other pieces of the pie saying transportation, access to healthcare, access to transportation, access to safe environments.
30:57 What percentage of that pie would you allocate to individual responsibility when it comes to being healthy? Do you think it's eighty percent? What percentage of being healthy really is an individual decision when compared to all the other factors? Are you asking me, Lucy? Yeah, just for conversation's sake. I would say health becomes up there at the top. What you're talking about, maybe if I had to develop, I would say definitely three-fourths of that pie would be health. Because it's about...
31:46 Extending your life, your life for yourself, for your children, for your grandchildren. So I think health plays a very important piece in that pie. If you're not healthy, you can't work. So it's not really the status of health that I'm asking you. I'm saying like, is it the fact that somebody's just deciding? So what percentage of that health pie is determined by an individual's decision to do so. Individual responsibility, what percentage is that in the pie? I would still say that's a very huge part because if you are not satisfied or understand the importance of health, then that could be the determining factor of a downside.
32:40 Right, and most people would think like that. Most people would be like, what is the issue? Just walk and eat better, right? Just take care of yourself. It's up to you. You're lazy. You just don't care. You're not driven. But according to the CDC, when you look at the social determinants of health pie and all of the factors that come into place, that number comes closer to thirty six, thirty seven percent. Mm hmm. which is a huge statement if you think about it. I mean, maybe it makes me feel a little bit better because I'm like, okay, it's not my fault.
33:16 There is still a huge personal accountability, right? The person in the middle of our logo is the individual person. But the rings on the outside are the first ring would be friends and family, right? Are your friends and family even safe to be around? Is it loving, nurturing? You know, some folks it's not. Right. The next ring is community, and then you go advocacy and policy. Oftentimes, access to healthcare or anxiety alone could be the reason why more African-American men are being negatively affected by colon cancer and have higher death rates because they're not coming in until stage four type of diagnosis, as opposed to being more preventative along the way.
34:13 Those are just some of the examples that I've heard in having this conversation with folks around. It's a combination. It's not like, oh, they're predisposed for more disease. Maybe that's the case in some cases, but oftentimes it's access to healthcare combined with this distrust or kind of anxiety about... not having enough black doctors to go to for them to kind of trust and feel comfortable with, you know, and that goes back to what we were talking about earlier with this implicit bias and, uh, perhaps doctors that don't look like them just treating them, um, subpar and maybe it's unintentionally that's why it's called implicit bias yes right um so just thought that that was another important fact that you know again if you don't know what social determinants of health are they are real and um again we've got a little ten part three minute video, under thirty minutes, up your force for health game, up your healthy citizenship game,
35:15 And know what social determinants of health are. It'll help you with your own health and it'll also help you be more empathetic to those in the neighborhood. But let's go ahead and these last ten minutes, let's get a little bit more positive spin on this, right? So again, you've got to Learn, live, you know, our motto here is learn it, live it, share it. Our reality health games is all about moving, learning, serving, and earning. And of course, MLK was all about, you know, this emphasis on service.
35:45 But our response back is like, we need our servants to be healthy first so they can better go out and serve. So I hit my MLK day, and it was a fabulous event. I've got one or two videos that I just wanted to pop on. One was from Cherie Meeks, and she is the current president of the NAACP out here, and I just asked her a couple questions. So let's go ahead and watch that video, and then we can comment on it, okay? Let's go ahead and come up here. My name is Cherie Meeks and I serve as the president of NAACP Tucson and I am here to celebrate and to honor the life and legacy of Dr.
36:40 Martin Luther King Jr. To me, advancing the dream really means thinking about what we're doing for our communities to come together. It's important to think about the things that Dr. King fought for as it relates to justice for people. And it's one thing to talk the talk, but I think it's important to take action. And there's progress that can be made in so many different ways. Run for office. Consider being a leader of an organization. Sometimes it may be as simple as having a conversation with your family and friends, but I think there's something for all of us to do.
37:19 So my personal pledge is to pay attention, pay close attention to what's happening in the legislature. I strongly believe that what happens and what becomes law and policy really drives the direction of decisions that are made. So for me, it's really important to be mindful of what our elected officials are voting on and to make sure that my voice is heard along the way, be a part of the process, not just a spectator. And I think that's really important. And so that is what I commit to do. And I commit to bringing others along with me.
37:54 Young people just get involved, pay attention. I interact with a lot of young people and they often say that these issues that we're fighting for aren't their issues and perhaps they just may be experiencing discrimination and injustices in a different way or perhaps they don't recognize it or maybe they haven't experienced it yet but to remind them that the things that we're fighting for are real, they are systemic and so there's something for everyone to do is to start to teach them at a young age so that when they are older they'll be prepared to vote and to do some things that will make change.
39:01 My name is Willie Blake Jr. I'm here to celebrate Martin Luther King Day because if it hadn't been for Martin Luther King, we wouldn't be allowed to be as we are today, mixed races, and that's why I'm here. It is just like it says. It's a dream. His dream would be all of us would be together like we are right now. Children, young people, old people coming together just to have a good time with one another. I have already done my work. My work shows for itself in my communities. I work for free every day in my community and other communities to make sure that life is easy for others who can't help themselves, regardless of the color and regardless of the time.
39:55 It's easy to love. It's easy to get along with one another. Stop and think before you respond to anything. That's all it takes. And show a little love, kindness, and understanding. So, you know, I wanted to kind of pull it back to these wonderful, you know, representations of different voices. And what I challenge you, Josh, you know, we talked about this yesterday, you know, a challenge for your kids, whether they are in Florida or Louisiana or, you know, along the South where you've got reach and through your extended family, ask these same questions.
40:50 And let's see if we can extend that. the spirit and honor and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the entire year. That's really what this, you know, Advance the Dream brand and channel and community building is all about. And every week, you know, let's see if we can bring somebody to the table and ask them, what do you think Advance the Dream means to you? You accept that challenge? Because I've got up to ten videos now for Team Arizona, my Healthy Arizona team, and Team Up Greater Tucson.
41:24 And so a very simple advance the dream challenge is how many people can you get on your team to watch the videos and earn their badges, you know, the social determinants of health badges, and to make a video pledge on advancing the dream. No problem. Consider it done. I think that's an excellent idea. As you know, I was listening to her speak on MLK Day and we had a couple of events here that I was able to attend. And we had some real positive points that were presented. uh during that particular day and one was the fact that not only kids but our adults need to fully understand as well uh the importance of why dr king did what he did and how it affected our lives today um you know getting out to vote since someone died because for us to have the right to uh we got to really understand and appreciate that Because that wasn't always the case.
42:23 Today, people are born into this concept that, okay, yeah, that's life and it is what it is. Politicians are going to do what they do no matter what we say. That type of attitude, we have to change. And I think by doing these type of steps here, at least slowly, we can actually get to that change. It's not going to happen overnight. We know that. We've been working on this piece the last two years. So it shows you the time that and the efforts that need to be actually placed on it because it is a big job.
42:54 But if we can change one mind at a time, just one, I think we can do this thing. And that's right. And you mentioned even adults need some education. You helped us co-develop this Advance the Dream Social Justice Challenge. It has Martin Luther King's speech for a blueprint, which is one of his lesser known speeches to high school. But this is some good stuff in here. So bring it back to our last comment from Rob, because again, he's known you for so long. You know, you really are setting the stage.
43:33 And we talk to people all over the country every single week, multiple times. And there really is this momentum towards the family unit and really speaking to how to engage the family on things that can help them be better forces for health for the whole family. Right, and you've done an excellent job on that. Your Saturday STEAM teams, you got your little logo in the back, you know, You Do Matter. Let's give a plug for You Do Matter. Tell the folks what You Do Matter is and what the focus is on it and why you're working on it.
44:07 We started an organization to actually pretty much expound on what we had started doing back in New Orleans. with our youth. When we got to You Do Matter, we wanted to understand, we wanted adults and children to understand that, hey, we were here for both. You do matter no matter what people say, you do matter. And when we say you do matter, we're talking about you. and however we could actually situate or however we could help. And one of the things that we were utilizing to assist people in was technology.
44:46 We wanted to bring that to the front. and actually show people that, okay, maybe you didn't understand what a cell phone, how to voice speak into a cell phone, or how to join a Zoom call, or how to send a message by phone. We have all of those concepts that are included because we want people to understand and appreciate. And sometimes we know that it may not be as easy as a lot of people think. That's why we sometimes spend a little more time with working with our adults because we don't want them to get frustrated and not learn because that could easily happen as well.
45:29 So our program is pretty much initiated where we can actually spend time with those individuals, not saying that, okay, after this third week here, it's over with, that's it, no, we're done. No, we're going to continue. As long as you're interested, we are interested. So much to talk about. And perhaps maybe next week we can bring on a couple of the participants from there. It just warms my heart to see an eighty year old grandmas and aunties, you know, showing up. regularly at the local church, which is where, you know, faith-based organization where you host so that you can be there and handhold, but then feed in the Zoom so that the virtual family members can also play along and increase their digital health.
46:18 And that's a historical piece as well, too, Lucy. It's a reason why we're in the church. If you go back to your history, you'll see that Dr. King started Majority of it, he is right there in his church. So we try to set that foundation and try to move everyone forward so they can pretty much understand and appreciate what we're trying to do. Well, thank you so much. We're gonna just keep on pace and every week we're gonna have this conversation, dialogue and challenge. We're excited to bring, you might notice this little logo, Reality Health Games.
46:50 February first is really where we're gonna open up this fun competition, this virtual health competition. where we're going to challenge our coaches across the country. You, for example, representing Advanced Dream or You Do Matter, representing Louisiana, representing rural northern panhandle Florida, right, on what we can do as individuals, small groups, and teams to make a difference here. I challenge you to bring some guests in, have them answer some questions, you know, do some templates and let's earn some points together.
47:29 We'll even be doing a fifty four mile virtual Selma challenge coming up. So we'll see how many folks we can get up and earn their points. that will be coming up February first. But until then, it's kind of pregame. Let's get ready and let's continue to have these conversations, okay? Advance the Dream is for everybody. It really is advancing the honor and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King so that we can all be judged by the value and context of our character and not by the color of our skin.
48:00 So with that, Lucy Howell with the Force for Health, Josh Williams with You Do Matter, our national coach for Advance the Dream and You Do Matter, signing off until next Saturday. Be a force for health, for yourself, for family, for community, for the planet. Take care and advance the dream. Thank you, Lucy. We're off.
Transcript is auto-generated from the broadcast captions and lightly cleaned; timestamps jump to the moment on YouTube.
Advance the Dream · Episode Recap ·