0:15 All righty, welcome to Saturday, February third, to our official launch of our weekly community chat series called Advance the Dream. My name is Lucy Howell. I am the co-founder of the Force for Health Network. I'm joined in partnership with Dr. Robert Gillio. Hey, Rob, how's it going? It's going well. As a co-founder and chief medical officer, I'm thrilled to meet... Again, someone who has inspired me over a decade ago with our work in the community and the power of an organization like Alpha Phi Alpha and various universities and efforts.
0:56 So I'm thrilled today. I can't wait. Go ahead, Lucy, get started. Yeah, so let me go ahead and bring up one of our panelists. Strategic National Advisory Councils, if Josh comes off of frozen a little bit. How you doing there, Josh? I'm fine, Lucy and Doc, how are you guys doing? We're doing okay. We got, just for the audience's purpose, We have been working on this concept, Advance the Dream, with Josh for about three years. The fact that Josh comes from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, he almost has an inside look and handle and access to many of the incredible, incredible men that we're originally associated with Dr.
1:46 Martin Luther King, of course, as an Alpha Phi Alpha himself. And we've been doing some pilot programs together. And it really has come to the point where we want to take this out to the world. Advance the Dream is about celebrating legacy makers and heroes and family heroes. That's where it's really settling into. And the generation that we've been talking to African-American men, seventy, eighty, ninety years old, one of their biggest concerns has been that they fear that this younger generation isn't quite as knowledgeable or perhaps aware that even within a single generation, the incredible effort that has taken place to move towards equality and equity in the spirit and the legacy and light of Dr.
2:42 Martin Luther King. So, you know, this isn't just a black thing. It isn't just a white thing. It is a healthy citizen thing for us to come together. I myself, I'm married to an African-American man. So I worry very much if there are real health disparities, if there's real issues, I worry and I want to know and be a better person to prepare both my family and ourselves for the community. My kids are African-American, um, in blood. And so, yes, at a core need as a mama of a family, I care. And so, um, Dr. Rob, tell a little bit about the history of you and Josh and how you guys met and, um, We were working with the Surgeon General's office and others to set up a clinic after Katrina at the zoo and dealing with people that had gotten no care for three or four months.
3:40 And people suggested, hey, why don't you go to one of the schools that is first opened up? And that's where Josh and I got involved with working with middle school kids at the Singleton School at the Dryads YMCA in New Orleans. And we got kids involved with being a force for health for their families to plan for the next hurricane. And we proved, in fact, Joshua with his master's thesis about this, we proved that a teenager aged thirteen or fourteen can dramatically alter the outcome in a hurricane evacuation.
4:15 Those teenagers were a force for health for their families, getting their families to have an evacuation plan. And that led to other issues about safety, about health, about disparities. Josh introduced me to the issue of premature cardiac death in New Orleans and in the Mississippi Delta and other areas, and in his brothers at the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He had me speak at a graduation. He had me speak to the Alpha Phi Alpha Regional Convention about just this very issue. We've been working back and forth to how do we empower teenagers, young adults, and now senior citizens, Alpha alumni and others, including family members, to be a force for health for themselves.
4:58 Josh has educated and inspired me dramatically. We've become friends and professional colleagues. And Josh, you know, how long has it been? So Katrina was how long ago? Two thousand five. Two thousand five. Yeah. One over the twenty year. yeah exactly and so um talk to us a little bit you know before we bring on our special guest today um what you've been doing with advance the dream um kind of focusing in on this whole fit family force this multi-generational effort that you've been doing over the last couple years it's been fabulous as dr ron has um very eloquently explained our past history.
5:47 We did meet back in New Orleans doing Katrina as one of the first schools to reopen for the students there in the city. We realized that there was a lot, we didn't think, Katrina hit, it was a situation where a lot of people have never experienced anything of that nature. And when it hit, a lot of people were ill-prepared. and unprepared to deal with it. So what we did was actually channel our efforts with the support of individuals such as Rob, the medical station. They had them come in and they could see that we had individuals in New Orleans that hadn't had any medical care, that was stranded, that didn't have access to their prescriptions.
6:35 A whole plethora of mass, as we would call, mass destruction issues. And we actually began to work with the students there at the Drys YMCA to get them to become better prepared to deal with those situations. A lot of those students were the male, was the man of the family. So they had to carry on the tradition. So they had to step up. They had to find out what their grandparents needed. They had to find out the description of their grandparent. They had to find out where were they going to go.
7:04 In the case of an emergency. And I was so proud that we had an opportunity to work with Dr. Rob and some other physicians in the area to actually begin to actually teach that information. Hurricane Katrina was a bad and sweet thing. It was a bad thing for New Orleans as it relates to physically, but it was a good thing because we got an opportunity to kind of wipe the slate clean. and begin this new process of teaching and people learning about their health and situations in which they could control.
7:39 So the whole aspect of dealing with the kids were one thing, but now we're actually dealing with adults. We want to take a multifamily approach because we realize while the school system is telling our kids to go and go home and we're relying on the parents to kind of be that bridging gap to actually support our students, well, the parents didn't know. anything about computers. So how do we deal with that situation? Well, we started a class that's ideal for parents and students to participate together and learn this process of technology innovation together and become a household study partner versus just being a student-teacher relationship.
8:21 Now we have the parent involved. And when you say that, just so that it's clear, it's been, you know, the execution of that has been basically that you've hosted, and you froze again there, that you've hosted a Saturday STEAM team family club, call it, right? Under your, you know, nonprofit, You Do Matter. And I love how you are speaking to the, as young as eight, nine, and ten-year-olds are coming online, and participating in this club, you've got teens, you've got collegiates, you've got parents, and you've got grandparents.
9:06 And you are accommodating the grandparents by actually having them come in to a brick and mortar facility so that you can help them and guide them and digitally connect to them. That's eighty percent of the challenge here when we're talking about maintaining and preserving this equity piece when it comes to health this whole digital divide is very very very real and we can just take seniors in its own category of people and they will be challenged no one wants to admit that they need help and so the natural deflection i see from seniors is like i don't need that I don't need that.
9:54 My own dad is like that. That's coming with our other adults, yes. It's been so fun to watch your multi-generational family come together in a hybrid fashion and really increase the confidence of your eighty-five, eighty, you know, eighty-four year olds to come on and actually present because that was their assignment and they're getting in front of Zoom. And they've done their learning, online learning. And now that they're presenting, I just think it's been fabulous. It has been a challenge.
10:30 And it also has been a great experience to see them actually learn who say, well, at their age, computers are a past thing that they never got an opportunity to experience. And now they're saying, hey, I would have never thought I would have known what the inside of a computer looked like. Or I never would have thought I'd been able to dial into a Zoom call And I actually have a conversation with my family across the country. So now we have a pillow of thought. How old is she? How old? Say it again.
11:02 How old? Ninety-one. Ninety-one. She comes every Saturday ready with her little pad to actually learn something new. So we are very excited about that process. And the city, the county, and the state has also made some remarkable statements. So I've got some dogs here under my desk going a little crazy. So I'm going to mute here for a second. But to set the stage before we bring on our esteemed guest, Dr. Teamer, I wanted to, since this is really Martin Luther King's birthday in January, just is kind of almost serendipitous because I feel like part of being who he is, it's just a reminder every single year to come to the table and make a pledge in his vision.
12:07 How do you, how, what does advance the dream mean to you? What kind of pledge can you take to be a more empathetic and culturally sensitive citizen? so that we can have more civil discourse when it comes to addressing these differences and issues that are very, very real. That's why Rob and I coined this whole thing called reality health games. Health is a real deal for real families, and it's not to be just lightly covered over. So we want to, in this show, kind of get to the heart and the deep soul of some of the issues, the challenges, the heroes, the highlights of everything that has to do with maintaining and elongating out his legacy.
12:59 He once said that the Injustice in healthcare is the biggest injustice of all because it affects so much of us so critically to the health. So before we get started, let me kind of show a highlight of the younger generation youth from Martin Luther King's birthday. This was from a couple of years ago, but I love how it sets the tone for what the younger generation can actually aspire to be like, and then we're gonna connect it in with Dr. Timmer here afterwards. So let's just go ahead and take a look at this, and we'll be back to talk about it.
13:43 My name is Alejandro Bailey, and I'm a graduating senior at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Currently, I am committed to Tulane University, All of this was made possible by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many other African Americans throughout history who stood up for our rights. Because of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I was given the same education as people of other skin colors. Because of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I was able to dream big and actually chase those dreams.
14:16 Because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I found a community I can call a family. Because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am able to live like all human beings should. And lastly, because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am judged by the contents of my character instead of the color of my skin. just as he intended. Because of his sacrifices and contributions, I stand before you today, a young, gifted, proud Black scholar whose dreams and aspirations are endless. Thank you and happy birthday, Dr.
14:51 Martin Luther King. Okay, so I just thought that that was, I know we played that two weeks ago in our little preview, but I wanted to play it again because it's just such a beautiful capture of his lasting legacy into youth. But now we've got a special guest to help kind of tie it all together. Now, Josh, you keep freezing up on us, so just making sure that you're still there. Yes, yes. Got it. So I'm going to go ahead and let you introduce Dr. Charles Teamer and why you asked him to join us, and then we'll bring him onto the stage.
15:33 All right. About thirty years, thirty plus years ago, I had an opportunity as a young high school student to actually be accepted to one of the most powerful HBCUs in this country. And that was at Dillard University. When I got to Dillard University, of course, being a little country boy from the country, never went to a big city like that, I began to do some of the things in which I was taught as a young man by my father and mother. And that was my work ethic. I actually met Dr. Tima. He was at that time the incoming national president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.
16:14 I had an opportunity to look at him, to study him and to see the things that he did as a businessman, not only in just New Orleans, but in the actual entire USA. He has been an advisor, he has been a mentor, he has been a friend, and he has been a brother. Like I said, for over thirty years, I've actually had the opportunity to be by his side, or as we call it when we're riding and talking, riding on his coattail. Because his coattail was leading to a lot of places that people of my color did not have an opportunity to experience.
16:56 And because I knew him, because he shared a love for me, I was able to be able to enter those places and meet some people that I would have thought I would have never met. I mean, like presidents of banks, presidents of energy boards and so forth. Dr. Timmer has, Dr. Timmer, I think it was like in the nineteen eighties, then Governor Tring, appointed him as the first African-American ever to sit on the Port of New Orleans board. He has a list of firsts. He was one of the first African-Americans to be entered into the Mardi Gras King Rex Carnival Club.
17:41 He has actually exemplified what Dr. King was talking about. And today at the age of ninety plus, he's still carrying on that legacy. And it gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce my brother, my friend, my colleague, my mentor, to actually share with us some of that information in which he's already shared with me, has been so valuable to me in making my life what it is today. I would like to introduce to the community and the world, Dr. Charles C. Timmer Sr., I knew he was going to laugh.
18:21 Good morning, Baxter. How you doing? I am delighted to join you this morning and to discuss, first of all, I guess some of the things that we have been able to do early. And I hope that... As part of this discussion, you will be able to describe some of the things that need to be done now and that should be done in the future. But I'm delighted I've known Josh since he was a young student. And not only have I known Josh, but I'm very fortunate to have a long list of young men that I've known for many years.
19:09 And I'm proud of that because I have been able to achieve some things because of the men who helped me when I was Josh's age as a young man. So I've always recognized the fact that I was unusually blessed because I had some mentors at a very early age who were able to help me. And so I do not consider it a challenge to work with young men or young women, but that's the thing that I enjoy because of the people who helped me. I, um, uh, that's fascinating because you, uh, Josh shared already your age.
19:54 So I'm going to be able to say that without getting in trouble here. So at ninety years old, as an African American man, where, who was your mentors? Like what type of men, um, came into your life and how old were you and how do you recollect? Let's just kind of start there. Well, I could start a long time ago. I grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina. Fortunately, I lived a block from Livingstone College. And I was fortunate enough in growing up in Salisbury that living a block from Livingstone, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Livingstone to play in their gymnasium and to also meet young men whose parents came to Livingstone from Africa.
20:51 And their children, I met young African students at an early age. And so some of the things that many people learn by books, I learned by just plain experience on a day-to-day basis. And I must say that one of my greatest experiences was to go to Africa as an adult and meet some of the people in the areas there that I had known their members of their families for generations. Wow, and you were a teenager then, or kind of like a tween? Well, I grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina, a block from Livingstone College.
21:37 Livingstone was one of the early institutions founded by Black ministers, the AMEZ Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zionist Church. Although my parents were not members of that church, in living a block from the campus, I was able to take advantage of all of the things that they offered. So I was very fortunate in just growing up in a college community. That's right. Just having that access and awareness that it was a possible pathway. But that takes us back to, what is that, And then so in the nineteen thirties, I was I am ninety years of age.
22:30 So you can figure out. Yeah, well, clearly I was trying to just do that. And it hurt my brain a little bit. And of course, started school at a very early age because I was the youngest of a large family. The last in a family of seven, I was fortunate enough to have brothers and sisters who helped me. And so when I started the school, all my brothers and sisters had left home. And I was able to do some things that many young people are not able to do, just simply because my brothers and sisters were looking out for me.
23:14 And then walk us through then where you went to school, how you got involved with the Alphas, what was going on in the world when you were, you know, just an eighteen to twenty four year old. How many days do you have available? We will do a part two, part three if you need. I'll give you a brief story. Sure. I grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina. I went to J.C. Price High School, graduated, and ended up going to Clark in Atlanta. I went to Clark in Atlanta because Atlanta, Clark had a recruiter who traveled throughout area and recruited me because normally I would have gone to Livingstone College, which was a block from my home.
24:03 But Clark had a recruiter who traveled primarily through North Carolina recruiting students. And so I had an opportunity to go to Clark College in Atlanta. And that's where I started school. Going to Clark as a student And knowing a little bit about colleges and universities, I, of course, wanted a job at Clark. So my very first as a student assistant was in the business office at Clark. And of course, later on, I became a business officer in predominantly black colleges and universities and spent a lifetime doing that.
24:45 Ended up retiring from Clark. in Atlanta, where I served as the business officer. That gave me an opportunity to experience things that many young people did not experience. By working as a business officer, I had an opportunity to meet the leaders of many banks and get a chance to understand the banking world. And later on, of course, one of the things that I was able to do was to purchase a bank and start a bank with a group of African Americans. But I think that I want to congratulate our young leader here, Josh, for all that he is doing.
25:33 But Josh has always been a leader in his own right. And I think one of the challenges that we face in America today, and that is making sure that we produce more leaders, not only leaders in the black community, but leaders in the country. Because part of the challenge that we face in America today is that many of the men and women who are in the leadership roles on men and women who have not had good experience throughout the country and understanding firsthand some of the challenges that we face.
26:09 So you've asked me to talk about a few things. Yeah, and I'm curious, I come from the banking world also where I used to sell whole loan portfolios for bank execs as they were managing capital ratios. And one of my mantras that I always shared with my daughters in learning that business was if you know where capital flows, you can be where money grows. But to get inside of that capital flow momentum oftentimes was very difficult. And so it was interesting to see how banks formed and for what reason.
26:49 And covering banks nationally and really focusing on the Western region. It is interesting that you took it upon yourself. In what decade did you start your bank with how many people and what was the asset size of that bank and what was just kind of a quick little experience from those banking executive days? Well, that in itself would take a long time to learn. But just to tell you that as My ability financially started at Clark in Atlanta, where as a student, I was a student employee in the business office.
27:34 And serving as a student employee in the business office, I became early on acquainted with the challenges that other students had in taking care of their financial requirements. And, of course, from that, I later on with a group of friends happened to start a bank and spent a lot of time. But I've been involved in banking off and on most of my life. And I found that it takes one to know one. And if you are involved in banking, then you will understand a lot of things. And so... That in itself would take a day to explain to you my involvement in banking.
28:25 But I think that it's and I will just share with you today that I happen to have met and to know the CEO of one of the largest banks in New Orleans, Hancock Whitney Bank. And it's interesting when you know people who are in banking, that you think of ways in how you can help others understand how important it is to have a relationship with a financial institution. I think there are many challenges that we face today, but I'll be happy to respond to any questions that you have. You know, Lucy, that is correct.
29:11 And I would just add to what you just stated. because when I came in, I did not know what he did, but as the vice president of fiscal affairs, he hired me on as a student. I was one of those individuals that was not supposed to make it. Like a lot of other students, I had a large bill that Dillard University was looking for, and he being the man that actually processes and makes sure that Dillard gets their money, I ended up working for him in the business office. He gave me a job. I remember very clearly when that bill got high from the standpoint, and I didn't have the funds to cover it, I had went to him and then President of University Doc and told him, I said, well, I gotta go home.
30:05 Uh because we don't have enough money to pay let me go home work a year save up some money pay this bill and i'll be back that cook said no because if we let you go home you ain't coming back so we got to keep him around here so they asked me i said well you don't have no problem with not graduating uh on time i said no sir i just want to graduate he said all right we'll take care and everything i know dr tim had offered me a position in the office of business affairs and i worked there for a year and a half Full time.
30:36 I didn't take any classes, but I was there full time, making enough to pay my way through college and things like that where he didn't have to actually, he didn't have to do that because that's kind of, but he saw enough in me to make sure that I had that experience and I didn't lose it because of a financial reason. He has been the, when you talk about someone who's been the vice president of University, someone who has been the president of the Financial Advisory Committee for the Southern Association of Colleges.
31:14 This man is looked at all around the country for his fiscal advice. And one of the things I wanted him to share with us today was a standpoint of what is essential as it relates to our younger generation. To truly understand, you know, I've listened to the colloquial that he gave me, he said, cash is king. Get it, Josh, cash is king. I remember when, you know, at most universities back some years ago, the credit card companies was all, they were loving the university campus. They can come in and sign a kid up for a credit card for three thousand dollars.
31:51 And, you know, being from a country town, I didn't know anybody. They gave me three thousand dollars. Let me go use it. So it was the conversations that we had. He said, don't be, he told me plenty, don't be no fool. I know. Why don't they teach what compound interest is in high school? Everybody should be signing off on that principle alone before graduating and being able to get a credit card. Rob? I think, you know, as the kind of the guy thinking of this from a medical standpoint, people watching this, why is this guy on force for health?
32:26 And we look at health as not just your health care or your genetics or your diseases or your wellness, but what are the things that can advance your health? And you're making a very key point here, sir. I think, and I'd love you to speak to, we think health includes financial literacy understanding by young people as well as older ones. We think health includes access to education. And the example Josh just gave, you enabled him to go from an almost impoverished son of a barber that wasn't going to make it to being one of the national leaders in cross-generational mentoring and technology advancement in health education.
33:12 So could you speak a little bit to what advice would you have for young people, high school, college, young adults about does financial literacy make a difference? Does education make a difference? What are some of your keys to success advice? Because if you can advance those things, access to health care and medications and things seems to follow, has been proven to follow. Any advice, sir? Well, communication is crucial. And part of our challenge that we face today is that how do we utilize communication to get to the people who really we need to communicate with?
33:53 Unfortunately, everyone is looking at television and the funny things that happen, but that keeps us away from the communication of individual to individual. And part of our challenge that we face, and of course, banks are guilty of this too, is unfortunately to begin to communicate with youngsters early on and adults so that you will know why it is important for you to have a relationship with your employer and with your bank if necessary, because communication is crucial. And those of us who are parents find that, for example, I have two sons and And one of the things that they are challenged early in is how to take care of the funds that you earn when you begin work.
34:55 And first of all, you've got to work. And no one can encourage their children to work earlier than parents. So I think part of it is just really basic information that we somehow fail to pass on to those who follow us. that, for example, my two sons learned early that while I will pay for your college education, you still must work. And you don't have to pay for your college education, but you have to learn the value of working to earn money on a regular basis. And I think that that is something that we could use to encourage everyone to understand that no matter how much money you have, if you do not work and take care of it, you won't have it long.
35:53 One of the things that I love about your whole RAPT experience is that you've got a little Well, you've got a lot from wide, right? Public sector. You served. You're a veteran, right? Yes. Yes. Tell us how you served and when and for who. Well, I served for the United States Army. I was drafted. And I served my basic time as drafted, did not try to go to officer's school, but served, came out as a corporal and served my term in the military. And I think that that is what And while I was in the military, I had an opportunity to share my experience with a lot of other men around me.
36:50 Because as you know, in the military, if you're private, you are private. And you sleep and eat with other privates. And one of the things that I was able to observe is that the regular men in the army who did not have educational experience found out that when they were working with young men who did to take advantage of the advice that they could get from young men who have college experience. And I think that part of the challenge that we face today is the inability to have communication at all levels of experience.
37:35 As we say, it takes one to know one. And I call that wing tapping because as an individual, you have to always seek help. That is correct. Mentorship, seek the improvement process. And so I call that wing tapping where you reach up, but you also have to, you know, you are who you hang with often. Right. So to just kind of look at your lateral landscape and like, who are you wing tapping with laterally? How can you learn from each other? And then, Wing tapping down means you're mentoring up. You're always looking down and kind of helping.
38:14 So I love that. You also have served in the private sector side, right? Of course, banking, you can't get more private sector than banking. But then you also, in your nonprofit work, much of it had to do with maybe the Chambers of Commerce or the commissions and the Boy Scouts, United Way, and of course, your role with education. So I love, I both love and hate that it's taken half an hour already. I feel like we could have this conversation for, again, five more hours. But as you look back now with all of this wealth of experience and knowledge, and you can look at New Orleans.
38:57 Are you still living in, where do you live now? I live in New Orleans. New Orleans. Okay, got it. So New Orleans is its own little, you know. I live in other cities, but I happen to live in New Orleans now. You got New Orleans as a community and then you've got the country at hold. What is your take on on the world right now? What is your take on advancing the dream status? Like, do you feel like Martin Luther King would be proud of where we are as citizens? What do you feel we can share? Rob asked earlier what you can share with teenagers.
39:37 I want your wisdom for business owners and community leaders right now. What's your kind of take on? And you can use New Orleans as an example and then broaden up to the national. Of course, communication is crucial. Self, yeah, it comes down. Communicate. And of course, to encourage those of us who do fairly well to help others do well. And among the things that I can tell you that I am I still do it, talk to a lot of young men about the things that you need to do. But part of the challenge that many of our leadership organizations fail to do, and that is fail to identify exactly what you've just said, how to expand and provide information to those who need information.
40:34 I have two sons. who both are employed. I do not loan them any money. They understand the importance of going to work every day and doing well. And I think that that is something that organizationally we have not done in our community as well as we could and should. And that is to provide information to those people who are not who do not have that information. And I'm not talking about earned degrees particularly, but it is an old saying that it takes one to know one. And it would be very helpful for many people to understand how important it is to understand the importance of having a relationship with a local bank.
41:22 So that when you go to the bank to talk with someone, you're not just another name or face, but you are a customer. And that also can start with many of the business concerns in our community. To understand just how important it is, because very often it is assumed that people, when they have a job, that they understand things that they really do not understand. And I think communication is very important. Is there a role for fraternal organizations to really be facilitated and to communicate.
42:05 Those that have been successful, let's say in Alpha or any other fraternal sorority or fraternal organization, to where those that are successful and have done well, to kind of be those wing tappers down, those mentors down, to help them if they run a company, if they are an officer in a company, if they are a mayor, if they are a governor, if they lead a chamber of commerce. Recruiting, stepping down into that college crowd and vice versa. Josh is showing how even teenagers can help communicate and learn from technology.
42:43 Is there a role also for those that are currently more knowledgeable than some of the alumni about health issues to encourage things like, oh, who knows, prostate screening? Cardio, knowing your numbers cardiovascular, it's hard by health month. And we have twenty percent more folks dying early if they're of color, if they are not in part because they're not treating their blood pressure properly. So mentoring, is there a role for fraternal organizations in to facilitate that communication? Well, there are roles for all of the organizations that you have mentioned to do this.
43:21 Unfortunately, I would say a large percentage of our organizations fail to follow through on the things that they know to be essential in the community. And you put your finger on a very important item. It is important. It's very difficult to communicate with a lot of people in the communities, even today. And banks and other organizations can also do it. That we have forgotten how important it is to communicate with our constituents on every level, on how to move from one level to another. And I think this could be the beginning identifying some organizations that could take a challenge and see what they could do over a six months or twelve months period.
44:22 That's interesting. Would you be interested in potentially being on a future call with potentially an organizational or government leaders or industry leaders? I think specifically that the whole recent movement of the diversity, equity and inclusion officers and companies The success stories of what they are doing in their own companies and communities, they could have a communications challenge. How could they use their platform to communicate how to build a relationship with that company?
44:53 Let's say this pharmaceutical firm or with that college or with, for that matter, that bank. The DIE officers, I think, are struggling to find their role. And I think you're suggesting a potential role that could be of high value with your focus on communication, of building relationships and making it easier maybe for someone who's not yet an employee to have a relationship with that company, even in high school or college. or as a young student. But let me, and before you answer that, I think it's even rooted deeper than this though, because even the DEI is getting attacked.
45:33 The word diversity has turned into a bad word. And so that goes back to my original question. Like, what do you feel the gauge and temperature is right now? Do you think Dr. Martin Luther King would be proud of us as we are in two thousand twenty four? Do you feel like we're slipping a little bit due to some of these trends out there? And lastly, I was just thinking about this. I'm watching these two states, Florida and Arizona, adopt these Department of Education conservative type of resources that are designed specifically to change minds and to kind of reap present history in a kind of a different world.
46:14 We come from the fact of history is history, good, bad, and ugly, and we all need to know it so that we can learn from it and we can adopt from it. But does that fall on the parents? You just said it earlier. Your kids know they went through school, but they know they had to work. Does it come from the parents or do we have to demand or rely on the schools? You know, part of what Rob and I are saying is like, I don't honestly care right now what the schools want, because as a citizen, a family member, to be a culturally empathetic, global kind citizen is a non-school thing.
46:51 It is a family oriented thing. How do you react to that? Well, I think you've made some very good points. And I think part of the challenge that all of us face today is that many of the things that we did previously, we do not do them anymore. And that's communication. And I find that even in our church groups, we fail to communicate with the people who are members of the church. How important it is to have a relationship with your bank or financial organization. And when I stop and think sometimes about the organizations that we did have at one time in our churches and our schools, that we made an unusually strong effort to provide information to young people coming out, going into the world.
47:45 We are not doing that anymore. We take for granted that you know when you really do not know. And I think that you're right. I think it would be very helpful for many of our organizations to understand that it is very, very important to know some of the very basic things that you need to know. And as parents and grandparents, I find that as a grandfather, that part of the challenge that I face, and that is to make sure that the people in my family understand how important it is to have a relationship with your bank or other people in the community so that you can handle your business a lot.
48:31 And all of us are guilty of not doing business. as much as we could or should to pass information on to the people in our communities. But if we do, you know, if we do start How long? Lucy, we lost your audio while you put up the graphic. Oh, bummer. So what I was going to say is part of what Josh has just done such a spectacular job on and why we're focusing on this whole family force unit is, you know, it really is kind of like us working adults here, taking the effort to make sure that our seniors are taken care of.
49:39 That is correct. And then bringing our youth to the table. and then celebrating and improving the status of our family together. And this whole connection with teens and the youth with seniors has just been magical for us. And so again, I kind of default back to darn it. I don't want to keep looking at schools and depending on, now my mom was a fifty years teacher, right? Quality teachers and education is so, so, so important. But this whole concept of it doesn't really matter what's going on in the school.
50:15 Come on, parents, step up and make sure that your kids know right and wrong, how to thrive, where health and wealth intersect. And we're coming into the last five minutes. Let's pose a question back to you, sir. Advance the dream. What does that mean? What does that mean to you? Well, it means you want to be a little bit better than you have been. Most of us dream about things that we can't accomplish, but there are some things that we can dream about that we can accomplish. And I think that today's communication could be the beginning of starting a real challenge rather than just dreaming about it.
51:12 Doing something about it. And I think that, for example, it's caused me to think a little bit more about it than I have before, because I must confess that as a grandfather, I am guilty too of not emphasizing to the young people in my family as much as I could or should. And so if I do not do it, and Josh and others, you know that the other folk are not going to do it. So I think that what you have done today through this communication, it has challenged me to do better in my family with my grandchildren than I have done.
52:04 And it sometimes means that they probably wouldn't listen to me, but they would listen to you. So the question is, how do you come up with an organization that can go directly to the challenges that we face? And not that difficult, but it's caused me to think a little bit about the fact that My grandchildren very seldom come to me for advice. I don't think they go to anybody for advice. And so if they aren't going, what about the kids who don't have any advice to go to? You know, it's interesting and what you're saying right now, and I think you answered my next question, which was, what is your two thousand twenty four pledge to advance the dream?
52:54 Because I just heard you say this is making me think I'm going to start practicing this with my own family. And one of the things that has come out of our You Do Matter exercises in the family is how do we celebrate our seniors? My mom passed away when she was seventy one and I learned more about my mom preparing for her eulogy. Mm hmm. than I did when she was alive. And it's one of my biggest, biggest regrets in life. So we started this project called Legacy Makers. And so Josh has been teaming up family members.
53:26 They sponsor and adopt one of the seniors in their lives and they go through this ten, twelve week process and they're pulling answers, questions, taking a life and dividing it up into four quarters. And so I think that if One of your family members wanted to get involved and help tell Dr. Teamer's story. You know, it's a beautiful exchange of information, both up and down that, you know, I've done this for one of my clients, you know, an eighty five year old white woman. It doesn't matter. It's just the extraction of stories and experiences in a way that celebrates, you know, what they've done with their lives.
54:06 I think his his adopted son is taking care of that. Oh, yay. You've already started him on that. I already started on that. Yeah. We're excited to see that output then. Um, I can't wait. Cause I've been motivated and educated on this call. As I look at, um, you know, my advance, the dream, uh, vision has been inspired now by my conversation with you. I'm, I'm watching. I I've, I've got five, uh, daughters that I've raised their whole life or part of their life. Um, And I'm watching they're all doing well, very well financially, but some of them are doing just well enough financially, and others are making multiples of what the other one is making, and they are all struggling financially.
54:53 They are all struggling financially with certain spending habits, with certain credit issues, with certain size of their home, or how much coffee they drink each week, or how much travel they're doing in their youth. as opposed to savings or in addition to savings. And so the financial literacy, the relationship with the bank is beautiful, valuable information that I've learned the hard way. I've had a million dollar check in my hand. I've also talked to a bankruptcy attorney at one point and missed it.
55:27 But I've been up and down sharing that wisdom, teamerizing my family, so to speak, with that knowledge and awareness. It's something I pledged to do this year to help my kids. I'd love to involve certain wisdom of other financial leaders, yourself or others, as we look at things like dealing with school loans right now. Do I pay my school loan or do I put the money in my four or one K? What do I do with that? I'm not sure how to answer that, advise that. You're right, Doc. That's one of the concerns we got.
55:59 We got a regional convention coming up, Doc, in New Orleans on the twenty third of March this year in a few weeks. And I have a group of kids that actually will be. We started this some some years ago where they were attending convention just to see how businessmen and business sessions go on. I was actually pleased fro next week we have some f kids uh going to visit at of the MLK monument in D had an opportunity to rep one of the past general p in actually casting out the first shovel to actually begin construction.
56:44 But we will be honoring, some of them will be coming back for that Alpha Convention in March. And a lot of them have received the Charles C. Timmer scholarship that we were giving out, are now graduating. So we're going to be glad to have them. Alpha has already welcomed them in to come in and partake. with the convention to see exactly how businessmen act and how they react. They will be dressed apart. And of course, Doc's team will be there. And the other past general presidents will probably be represented as well.
57:21 So we're looking forward to actually continuing that legacy. We had a financial, you know, we talked to Dr. Tim and talked about his bank, but he didn't also mention the fact that we had kids. He authorized these kids to start bank accounts with five dollars. So he did with that. He had to bring a deposit slip. to the meeting to actually show that they had made a deposit. We didn't care if it was for a quarter, a dime, a nickel, whatever it was, but we wanted to make sure that they went to the bank, they performed that operation so they can get accustomed to it, to actually be changed in their lives.
58:03 So we actually are still competing, still completing that method of understanding for our kids. And it's gonna continue to be a financial literacy piece for all of the kids in You Do Matter. You Do Matter is a wonderful organization, an example based on what your mentor has done. I'm just going to end with my parting thought here, Lucy, is we have a term we use often in many of our lessons, learn it, apply it to your life, learn it, live it, and then share what you know. Learn it, live it, share it.
58:37 And Dr. Teamer, you typify that. You've lived that your whole life. So proud to be on with you. OK. Thank you. And as we as we as we come to a close here, I'm just going to go around the horn really quickly. Dr. Teamer, last parting pearls of wisdom for this show. We will have you back because there's so much more that we want to talk about. And maybe we can work together and put a little fiscal health badge on. together so that somebody can go to the force for health and earn that for free just general principles of finding that's it let me let me just share this with you this discussion today has uh challenged me uh i must confess that uh i have been uh daydreaming a lot lately.
59:37 And my wife reminds me of that all the time. But no, I think that you've challenged me. And we've got to do a better job. expanding and utilizing the knowledge that we have, not only with our immediate families, but with people that we do not know. And I can tell you that, you know, I'm guilty of not providing this information to a couple of my grandsons, you know, that I know they're not doing the right thing. But I have not made an effort to really talk to them. And if I'm not talking to my grandsons, you know I'm not talking to anyone else.
1:00:26 And I think that anything you can do to encourage me and my peers to do something formally rather than informally that can be used for people that we know. And as I said, I know I'm guilty because when I think about, I'll just share this with you. One of my grandsons is with one of the NFL football. And I know he has several children. And I have asked his father sometimes on the side how they're doing, but I've not made any major effort to try to provide him with the kind of information that he does not have to pay to go And so I'm as guilty as anyone else in not following through on some of the things that we could and should do.
1:01:19 And perhaps this session today leaves me challenged that I do have some free time that I could use better to do some things, rather than the fact that I've been very fortunate that I have a a great wife who is good at paying bills and doing things. So as a former banker, I don't even bother to look and see. I love that you are ninety years young and are still amenable to being challenged. One of the gentlemen that I interviewed on MLK Day about what's it mean to advance the dream and what's his pledge, he said, honey, I've done my work.
1:02:03 I continue to work for free every day, which is true, right? I mean, you kind of come through this warrior stage and you feel like now I'm looking to the new generation. So it's just a different way to look at this, but I will let you know, you know, it's interesting that your grandson is professional sports yeah you know I come from the angel investing space and it's kind of like once you are an NFL player you become an angel investor day one whether you like it or know it or not because everybody comes to you and that treasure can disappear like that And no other time will they have the opportunity for that type of wealth accumulation, right?
1:02:46 And so I do challenge you to go have that conversation with your son and you come back and report to us. Oftentimes the family doesn't want to hear from direct family. It's going to take somebody else from outside the family to make that penetration. Well, I think you've got a good man in Josh Williams. I knew him when he had a head full of hair. That's a long time ago. That's a long time ago. Yeah. Josh, one minute maybe as your final recap. I know that you have another call that you have to do in a couple of minutes because your very capable assistant has already informed me before we got on this one.
1:03:32 What was your next step? I'm going to follow her guideline. I'm going to let you make sure you have time. But I just wanted to, on behalf of myself and, of course, the Force for Health organization, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for imparting your wisdom, your knowledge, your experience as it relates to continuing to advance the dream that Dr. King led as it relates to him laying a foundation for our society. you would always be advancing the dream I know we probably have had more conversations between me and you.
1:04:07 Yeah. And you actually had with some of your biological children because I understood how to hang around the man that knew the man. So I understood how important that was. So I thank you. You know that without me. Well, let me just say this. For the first time in ninety years, I have three times that I have that. When you enjoy life, you embrace every single day as it comes. And thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Dr. Rob. I appreciate you and I'm excited to continue this really important conversation.
1:04:54 And we want this platform really to be able to host the challenging, uncomfortable type of conversations that, we know we need to have in order to affect change and to make a difference here. So, you know, with that regard, Lucy House. Be sure to tune in next week. Exactly. Same time, same place. As we bring forward another national president of Alpha Alpha in the wake of our twenty ninth general president. And then after him, our thirtieth general president, as we come in to celebrate Dr. King's legacy as it relates to advancing the dream.
1:05:33 Wonderful. Wonderful. So see you next Saturday, Dr. Teamer. Thank you very much and have a great weekend, everybody.
Transcript is auto-generated from the broadcast captions and lightly cleaned; timestamps jump to the moment on YouTube.
Advance the Dream · Episode Recap ·