0:02 Welcome to Advance the Dream, our weekly community chat, where we celebrate legacy makers and family heroes who are actively advancing the dream in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We talk about health, challenges, highlights and heroes in an intergenerational fashion in hopes that his legacy of hope and equality continue to live on. This weekly series, powered by the Force for Health Network, is aired live on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
0:32 Then shared afterwards at AdvanceTheDream.com. Now, let's meet our hosts, Force for Health Network co-founders, Dr. Robert Giglio and Lucy Howell, alongside our National Director, Joshua Williams Jr. as we dive into this week's topic. Josh, how are you? Everybody, welcome to our sixth episode of Advance the Dream, our weekly community chat where we are celebrating family heroes, legacy makers, all in the spirit of the thoughts and the intentions and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Josh, I'm thrilled to continue and launch this series with you based on your history of the movement and everything that you've kind of dedicated your life to do.
1:22 So welcome to February 24th, 2024. Thank you, Lucy. It's great to be here. So my name is Lucy Howell. I'm the co-founder of the Force for Health Network. Normally we are joined by my partner, Dr. Robert Gillio, our chief medical officer, but he is tending to family business today. And so, you know, Josh, today there's a couple of things that I wanted to tee up for discussion. I think the first part of the show we will show re-show. I know it's on Martin Luther King Day, January 15th, but the fact is that this is a message that we want to carry out throughout the year.
2:05 And it had been many, many, many years that I had actually listened to the speech. And when I listened to the whole speech, I was not in the same frame of mind that I am now. And when I listened to it last week for the first time in a long time, I was like, wow, I can't believe that we didn't do this on January 15th on the very, very, very first show. So part of what I want to do is actually spend a couple of minutes this first segment and let's all retake in the words of what he actually said.
2:45 Wanted, what the advanced gene, what this whole foundational project is all about. And then I also wanted to tap upon one of my force for health heroes. I learned something today. And again, in preparing for this show. We'll learn about, on this day in history, what's happened with the first African-American doctor in the U.S. to be named. So we're going to talk about that. At the bottom of the hour, I'm excited that we have a youth reflection segment with Telly Medina, a 10th grader out of New Orleans that you've been working with, actually, for several years from, I believe, elementary school.
3:29 And now he's a 10th grader, right? So I'm excited to bring him on and have him reflect on what Advance the Dream means to him and what maybe some of his highlights have been on. working with you and um you know talking about some challenges and then uh the last part of the show will be leaning in towards march you know and we've got some cool things teeing up for uh the selma march and again every month let's see if we can continue to carry on a strong message and remind ourselves what the actual pledge was that folks were being asked to do on the Million March.
4:10 Again, we kind of go after, last week we talked about Bayard Rustin's movie, the gentleman that was kind of behind Martin Luther King in terms of organizing that particular march, right? And it takes a team and a village and a community. But those are just some of my opening thoughts. What's on your mind as we sit here February 24th, 2024? I think, Lucy, anytime that we're able to reflect and really listen to the words in which Dr. King spoke on the monument on that day, it was I could see why it was such, you know, of course, it was before my time, but I could see why it was such an inspiring experience.
4:54 Presentation that he made because it gave people an opportunity to think about, you know, especially those ones who are in the movement, who actually walk the walk, who talk the talk and had an opportunity to experience some of those things that were not just to them, I think was an excellent opportunity for him to hear those words, for the people to hear those words and understand those words and why they were so powerful, because it was spoken from a standpoint of we've actually lived this. And one day is our hope and is, as Dr. King would say, his dream to make sure that everyone would have an opportunity.
5:38 Yeah, and it's interesting to listen to this speech, 51, 52. I'm not going to do the quick math right now. I'll say I'm 54. I think it's about 55 years later, right? Coming into now, not to give my age away, but... And to re-listen to it and then to challenge and test ourselves to say like, wow, how different is it in some of the states that he called out during his speech, right? I think right now, before we even go into some of the reflections that our executives have shared with us over the last...
6:15 Weeks, which are some of the things I wanted to recap with you based on who you brought as leaders. Let's listen to the speech all together, right? And of course, we are live on Facebook and YouTube. and LinkedIn. So if you are joining us there, please feel free to interact. The latter part of the show, we can interact with comments and really be engaging with the audience here. But let's set the stage right here and let's go ahead and watch this speak. Did I bring up? Oops, I'm on the wrong. I have the pleasure to present to you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
7:15 I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves. who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free.
8:29 100 years later, The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. 100 years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners Will they be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood?
9:41 I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream. My poor little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification.
10:43 One day right now in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all such shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the start with, with this faith.
11:27 We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discourse of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, my country tears at thee. Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
12:13 Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
12:58 Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside. Let freedom ring and we get out of here. When we allow freedom to ring, When we let it rain from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last.
13:51 I mean, it's hard to listen to that and not feel chills. Like I just got the whole body chills again, you know, listening to those words, because as we listened to them on February 24th, 2024, you know, I wrote down Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama. you know, really calling those places out, calling out Tennessee and then asking New Hampshire, New York, going to Colorado, California. So, you know, I think it's just an interesting point of discussion to have right now, right, with you. Well, how do you feel?
14:29 When's the last time you listened to that speech? You probably, I don't know. How does that play into your world and life? And what did that do right now, just re-listening to it? Before his birthday, Last birthday was the last time actually when the Memorial Foundation had its annual MLK celebration in DC on, of course, that birthday celebration day. And it's actually done, played, and basically pretty much surfaced again to everyone to hear those words that he cried out as it relates to trying to have freedom and getting freedom present.
15:15 The cry still stands out there, Lucy, from the standpoint of what he was dreaming about. And some people say it's still a dream, but it's a dream that we're trying to work towards. And he made sure that he spelled out, I think he spelled out very prophetically what that dream was about. And as you listen to those words, when you talk about young black boys and black girls joining hands together in one accord, you know, that was a whole different animal back there in that time because there was, you know, you couldn't even drink from the same water fountain.
15:54 You couldn't even walk in the same areas. So, you know, that has, as it relates to that dream, it has changed some point. It has changed some. But are we there, I think, to where he really wanted us to be? No, we're not. But we're going to continue to strive and keep that dream alive. And by segments such as this, we get an opportunity to expound on that and to continue to advance his dream that he had, not just for civil rights, but for just basically everything as it relates to being a person in totality.
16:30 Well, and I've been talking about this much with my friends, and I've just been spot checking. And it's very much a part of, you know, your woven fabric, you are an alpha, you know, you were there at the core. But as I speak to some of my friends, and again, advance the dream is for all of us this is not a black thing this is not a white thing this is a for everybody in a humanity type of fashion um so that we can all be judged by right the character the content of our character not the color of our skin but when I'm talking to my friends you know um non-black friends I i When I say that, I just mean my general peers, right?
17:17 They know, they don't know if they have watched the whole thing or can't remember when they had. And so it's just a matter of a reminder of like, okay, if this is a standard that we could potentially hold ourselves against, you know, how are we doing, you know, um, uh, Adrian Wallace. You know, last week when we talked and just as a way of reminder, Adrian Wallace was a former 30th general president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He also served as president and chair of both the Divine Nine and the MLK Memorial Foundation.
17:53 And he really helped lead the way towards getting this memorial on the D.C. Mall. And he was, by the way, Josh's mentor, right? So Josh was there as a young youth getting to take it all in to see the incredible effort that we... When I look at this picture and when I hear, you know, the... coming out from the mountain and despair and, you know, the stone of hope. And like, now you, you just look at the monument in like a different way. You appreciate the creative nature that I believe in Asian artists, sculpture was hired to do right.
18:35 Adrian mentioned that as well, but yeah, it's just, it's just spot checking, you know, society right now and peers and say, Hey, you know, let's listen to some of these words. Coming back to my point, Adrian Wallace, I believe, what was it, Alabama? He was talking about the voting rights. I mean, the things that are happening in the South still. So I'm challenging you as the leader here on this program. Let's bring some, you know, community leaders in from Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.
19:12 So we can kind of do a, then and now comparison and really start like saying and and highlighting the advancements or the pauses or the barriers that are still in place there what do you think I think that's an excellent idea and like I said some of the so you know we've had we want us uh fifth show. Now with this series, we've had individuals that have represented different components, geographical locations across this country already. But like you said, coming from those south areas, those southern areas, where we still have some challenges to cross, we have some people on the schedule already.
19:59 That would be representing us from Alabama, around the Tuskegee area, who will be representing us from Mississippi, who's around the Delta, Mississippi area, where a lot of this injustice has occurred. So, you know, we're gonna be bringing some people in to talk about those situations and to get further information, because like I said, a lot of our watchers have not really heard or understand the truth in totality coming from individuals who were actually there. And that's what we're going to try to do by bringing these people to the forefront, to actually have this conversation with them.
20:41 Yeah, and that's I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. But, you know, part of what we're really trying to do is inspire action, you know, move, learn, serve and earn, learn it, live it, share it, you know, whether it's advancing the dream, the legacy of Martin Luther King, whether it's 9-11, you know, lessons learned, whether it's Katrina, you know, these things we should keep alive in our history and hopefully make sure we communicate. Remember one of the reflections of all five of our leaders.
21:15 And, you know, to recap, we had Joseph Byrd. I can't even do that right now. But Joseph Byrd and Adrian Wallace. Charles Teamer. Yeah, exactly. Charles Teamer. They all said the same thing. that they really feel the most important thing right now to advance the dream and continue the legacy is this communication channel, this intergenerational communication channel. Before we bring on our youth, I wanted to just take a moment and recognize a figure from this day in Black history, February 24th. And her name is Rebecca Lee Crumpler.
21:58 Now, if I said Rebecca Lee Crumpler, is that a name that you've heard of. Josh, or I'm not going to bring Kelly on, but I love learning about things. And let me just kind of bring up. So Rebecca Lee Crumpler, I learned On this day, she graduated from New England Medical College. New England Medical College was actually the first country in the nation to teach women to be doctors. And she was the first doctor, African-American doctor to graduate. So Rebecca Lee Crumpler. I've got a... i had a little video on her that I wanted to watch really quickly and we're going to go ahead and do that so let's learn something oops see if we can get that going technical difficulties Yeah, Lucy, you look at that year that she's had, 1864, and you don't need to guess where New England is.
23:39 It's definitely not a part of the southern region. I'm sorry. I was trying to show a video. Was the video not coming through on the broadcast? No, it's not. I was just talking about it. Oh, you know what? Let me see if we can actually do this really quickly because it isn't interesting. Let's go ahead and go to... believe it's here. Are you seeing this now? Yes. At the pioneers of medicine. One person that many don't know too much about is Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.
24:22 Born in Delaware and raised in Pennsylvania, Dr. Crumpler was exposed to medicine through her aunt. who provided care for people. In 1860, Rebecca Crumpler herself earned a coveted spot at the New England Medical College during a time when many medical students barred black students regardless of gender. Well, the school had allowed Crumpler to enroll. Dr. Crumpler graduated in 1864, becoming the country's first female African-American doctor. At the end of the Civil War, Crumpler found herself in Richmond, Virginia, where she collaborated with the Freedmen's Bureau and other charity and missionary groups to care for freed slaves.
25:05 Understanding that the Black community's health was not crucial for all doctors at the time, Dr. Crumpler made it her mission to help those who had little access to medical care. Dr. Crumpler's accomplishment not only challenged the prejudice that prevented African Americans from pursuing careers in medicine, but helped pave the way for so many other Black doctors to exist today. For more Black History Month coverage, head to PIX11.com. So I thought that was, I thought that was interesting. Right.
25:46 As we lean into March as women's month. And then also it's just amazing how much we don't know about so much. And so, okay, so let's go ahead and move. So final words on, you know, what we just talked about, which is basically let's revisit really the, the words, specific words of the speech. And again, it's in, ingrained in you, but not in me. And I'm so close and passionate to it that I know my peers and I know others really don't give it a second thought. And so this, to come back again to this Rustin movie that we talked about last week and really understand what it takes and what the struggle still is.
26:35 I'll share with the audience and us at the end of the show, one of my colleagues out here in Tucson, who's leading the Tucson Juneteenth Festival, right? So every year you kind of start with Martin Luther King, this remembrance to be a good citizen and to be culturally sensitive and to fight justice and equality. The middle of the year is kind of a Juneteenth thing. August 28th is Million Man March, right? So there's some things throughout the year that will just force us to kind of remind us to back here.
27:14 Let's see. So we've got, let me go ahead and allow you to introduce our next speaker. I'm very excited to have youth reflections come on. board and this is a multi-generational project. Can you go ahead and introduce Telly? Of course, it's my pleasure. Lucia and audience, I had an opportunity to meet this young man and he's in the third or fourth grade as a part of the You Do Matter Foundation. I was introduced to this young man by his dad. Taylor Medina Sr., who happens to be a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, who happens to be one of my proteges because I had a hand in actually bringing him through some Alpha history as well.
28:10 He was actually my assistant when I was chairing the regional conference for the Southwestern region. of Alpha Phi Alpha, he was my co-chairman. And we have had a, he got introduced and baptized into actually understanding the importance and working with these group of men. But his son is following those footsteps very carefully. He has been with me for a while now. I'm proud to see him as he has developed. into a young man from a little boy. He also had an opportunity to work with us, Lucy, during our four-week summer program a few years ago when COVID struck.
28:54 And we'll get a chance to talk about that a little more as we go along. But I would like to introduce and welcome to everyone and also him to the stage, Mr. Telly Medina Jr. Good morning, everyone. How is everyone doing on this great morning? We're hanging in there, Telly. We're hanging in there. We're doing fabulous. You are based in New Orleans, right? Yes, ma'am. Currently at St. Augustine High School. Just making it through. Just getting through. Telly is a 10th grader at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans.
29:35 St. Augustine is known for his ability to train young men. It's an all-male high school there in New Orleans. The only keyword. The only keyword. And they are very proud of that signature. So we're glad to have him with us this morning. We wanted to basically just talk with him a little bit about, of course, some of your experiences as a youth. And I guess we'll start off. I wanted to know and have you to explain to the group, as a young man, how do you feel? or how do you think the You Do Matter organization played an important role in the development of your life?
30:25 Well, first I will say thank you all for having me. It's great to be on. It's a great morning, first off. And I guess to that question, I would say, The You Do Matter organization was a blessing in disguise because there's a lot of stuff that, you know, I saw within those couple of years that I was with the You Do Matter Foundation. And then it just built on what I was already building on from obviously my dad and a bunch of other people that I personally knew. It was really a blessing. I'm greatly appreciative to Mr. Josh for it.
31:08 For those great four years that we did have together. And obviously the You Do Matter online thing that we did have in 2020 when COVID struck was very important because we were constantly connected to other young black men, women who were experiencing the same thing that I currently am now as a young black man in America. And it's, you know, unfortunately that's just what it is, but you know, I'm glad I was able to be that for it. Glad you mentioned that, Telly. That four-week program that we did was, of course, a program that we had came up with with the Force for Health.
31:48 To actually try to be a support mechanism since COVID has struck and we wanted to be person to person. So we tried a new different approach where we could actually go online and still provide some of the same activities that we were providing at that time. And I think Lucy, you had an opportunity to participate with that program as well as one of the coaches. Yeah, when Telly came on, I was like, whoa, you've grown up because I think you were like 10 years old or 11 years old. You were one of the youth of that program.
32:24 Yeah, I was right around 12, yeah, 12, 13, yeah. And for those of you that don't know, I mean, so Josh also has a program called You Do Matter. And he's really created this program as almost a subset of, you know, Advance the Dream to really reach out to the youth and actually multi-generational teams and support them. over a course of time, maybe a four-week program that these guys were just talking about, maybe a 12-week program that you just finished, right, with technology and me. But that's why I'm excited to partner with people like Josh who actually put the time and effort into supporting their families and their communities and stuff.
33:07 So I just wanted to inject that so people aren't like, what's You Do Matter? Yeah, so You Do Matter is a special program that was designed because we want to help advance the dream and bring STEAM and access and resources to youth in the mixed generations, right? You even wrote a book on it called All Aboard for STEAM, right? Yes, yes, yes. And Lucy, it's always good for someone else to talk about your program versus you talking. Yeah, no, exactly. But, you know, tell me, tell... And I know that you had some questions prepped up, so I'm going to go ahead and keep going, Josh.
33:44 I'll interject some questions after. All right. Also, Telly, while we were talking, you had an opportunity, like I said, and this is different than a lot of other kids. Because your dad is a member of an organization called Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Operating. You've had an opportunity to really, really endure something that a lot of other kids have not had that opportunity to. Correct. Like I said, knowing your dad and congratulations to him for being appointed to this whole committee. We're next year in New Orleans.
34:18 Wow. You'll be at the game. OK, look, I'm just a guy, OK? I'm just, you know, just going on. You're right. You're riding a coattail. I understand. Nothing wrong with that right now. Nothing is wrong. So what we wanted to do was see how you feel. About, you know, being in a situation such as being around these businessmen. You had an opportunity to go to conferences. You had an opportunity to sit down with these businessmen over lunch to talk about and to understand and appreciate some of these doctors, some of these lawyers, some of these judges, some of these businessmen really, really beginning to impart information to you.
35:06 How a young man, how have you been able to receive that? And is that intimidating or is that, you know, sort of comes along with the with the territory? How do you feel about it? Well, I've always thought that it just comes along with the territory. And when you have the dad that I do have, you're going to be exposed to a lot of stuff. And obviously him being a part of Alpha Phi Alpha, it's been a very big, important piece of my life as most of the men that I do center my life around and are, you know, I'm very close with our alphas, right?
35:47 Especially when I'm in school. There's Mr. Crawford. There is, and that's just one, but I could keep going, but that's just one of the very central figures in my life. I would say that it was never intimidating. Obviously, they're obviously grown men. I'm 16. That's one way. Some people will look at it, okay, they might be intimidating. But in the truth of the matter is, to me, they're just men that I know actually care about me and actually want to see me succeed. I never really, you know, I never found that intimidating.
36:30 Just found that that's a way of life and something that's very important to me. And people who will eventually, when I get old and I start doing bigger things, they'll in part say, hey, I helped out. Can I, you know, put a little bit in and help you out? As obviously you helped me out and I played a big part when you were growing up. I saw you at a Hornets game. Yeah. Pelicans, yeah, not Hornets, but Pelicans. And I heard that you were interested in broadcasting. Yeah, yeah. Interested in doing some interviewing, stuff of that nature.
37:12 Lucy, I think it'd be a good idea for us to role reverse. And let him interview us. Oh, Jesus Christ. And ask us a question to get his feet wet in the broadcasting arena. I think that that's awesome. And then I have a challenge for you, an Advance the Dream challenge for you. So go ahead. Do you have a question for Josh or I? Yes, I actually have a question for both of you guys. So my question to y'all would be, why do y'all want to play such a big part in the, right? Because obviously as a young man, I see a lot of people who want to play a part, but they obviously don't have the funds, the resources, and just don't know the right people.
38:06 So my question to y'all obviously would be why play a part in the youth? So I'll go first. And that's an excellent question because a lot of people might look at me, even my own husband looks at me and he's like, why are you doing this? You're not black. And I'm like, wait a minute, wait a minute. I am married to an African-American man. My kids are African-American. And when you tell me that there are disparities out there, whether they are socially based because of the institutionalized racism that My kids or my family are going to experience just based on the fact that they are black that I wouldn't.
38:50 That's crazy. And when you look at the biological differences of health disparity, we're just from the womb, from the womb. There are health disparities that are occurring in black and brown skin folks. That's huge. Right. I mean, my husband is already older than what his father was when he passed away at a stroke. I want to know about that stuff. So personally, I'm all about wanting to make sure and I'm always calling people telly on things. And so like my advanced dream pledge is when I hear something, I say something.
39:27 If somebody says something that they don't understand is an implicitly biased thing to say out loud, I just feel compelled to say something. So I've always been a fighter and an equalizer in that regard, but my family is what pushes me because if there's disparities, I'm going to stake my claim and have my voice be loud. That's my answer. What about you, Josh? Well, you know, I was born in the southern part of the United States, in Florida, where we grew up in the crop field, as you say, the son of a sharecropper.
40:07 We grew up doing that type of stuff. And when I came through college being one of the first ones to go to college, it was a big thing to leave home. because a lot of people did not leave home because of whether it was financial, whether it was the fact of academia, they did not leave home. So when I left, I was out of a class of 172 people. We might have only had about 10 or 15 people that went out of state to go to school. It was not that many at all. But what that did in terms of me gave me the opportunity to say, well, OK, I'm going to leave this world a little better than I found it.
40:54 Because I didn't have doesn't mean that my kids would not have an opportunity to not have. So by doing that and by creating this program, it gave me an opportunity to give back and to make a life a lot better for somebody else other than myself. So it's always been about giving back, trying to push people forward. to be a little bit better than I was. Some people get in their head, well, I got mine, you get yours. No, I can add to you being a broadcaster or a famous film person. Hey, all the best things in the world could go towards that.
41:33 But my advanced dream piece, like Lucy has stated, has always been from the standpoint that I want to make sure that everyone, not just young boys, young girls, But old men, elderly people have an opportunity to experience technology or to learn technology. So it may be a useful tool in the development of their lives. So if I ain't done, if I haven't done anything else, when I leave here, they can say he tried. And I'm living by that same implement every day, just like Dr. King did. I just want to make sure that I'm able to be a positive influence on someone's life, whether it's a boy, young boy, young girl, adult, Protestant, Jew, Baptist, whatever he is.
42:25 As long as I become a positive influence on their lives, I'm okay. And that's what my Advance the Dream pledge will be centered around, making sure that everyone is equitably tied to having a benefit of learning by technology. I think she wanted to hear your. Yeah, I was going to say I was testing him to see because part of the broadcasting interview process is to be able to add follow on questions. Right. Listen to it. Do you have a follow on question or would you like to answer? What does it mean to you?
43:03 Why do you care and why? Well, I think he answered pretty much all of my questions, and you obviously did answer my question too, Ms. Lucy. But I guess for me, I think that, you know, making sure that people can put into the youth, right? And what I mean by putting to the youth, I mean by no matter what your situation is, no matter what the child's situation may be, I'm just asking that if you can help, please do, right? Because most youth, like myself, some people or some of you don't have a father figure, don't have a mother figure to look up to.
43:55 And I've obviously been blessed enough to have my mother and my father in my life for the past 16 and hopefully beyond. But obviously I know most kids who don't have a mother, don't have a father. And shout out to Son of a Saint. Those are the kind of people that I want to be like. I want to be able to be a mentee to someone or some young kid growing up who doesn't have a father figure in their life. So that's kind of My advanced dream, I want to be able to play a part in someone's life. And obviously, I play a part in someone's life already as it is because I have a younger brother who's obviously not going on 10, just looking up to me.
44:45 And I'm obviously trying to play a part in his life. Sometimes he doesn't like, sometimes he likes me, sometimes he doesn't. And it goes the same. But, you know, that's my advanced dream to be what I want to be. I have to say something because you opened up the question on some people want to do something, but they don't have money or they don't know people, you know. And it reminded me of when I watched Rustin, the movie of the organizer of the Million Man March that was a backdrop of this speech, right?
45:24 There was an envelope that was going around and there was some debate as to whether or not they should ask people for money during this march. And it wasn't an ask for money. It was a simple pledge card. And I'm going to read this pledge card right now because that's really at the core of maybe just leaning in and just making the choice. I do solemnly swear. Let me just put this up here so I'm looking at the camera. I do solemnly swear to commit myself to the civil rights struggle. I pledge my heart, mind, and body unequivocally and without regard to personal sacrifice, to the achievement of social peace, to social justice.
46:02 I pledge to carry my message of the march to my friends and neighbors back home and to arouse them to an equal commitment and an equal effort. I will march and I will write letters. I will demonstrate and I will vote. I will work to make sure that my voice and those of my brother, brother are determined and are heard from every corner of this land. And so, you know, to me, an act of advancing the dream, if you really want to get involved, I mean, that's almost like a first step just as a reminder and pledge in.
46:38 And I really truly try and live my life where I'm, being an example of what I'm saying on my, on my big planter in my house that I see a million times a day, it says, happiness is when what you think, do and say. are in harmony and it's from Gandhi. And so, you know, I don't want to just say I'm advancing the dream and then sit silently if somebody says something. I mean, I even called my twin brother out yesterday because he's moving here from Maine and was making some statements about Mexicans.
47:13 And I said, listen, you've just used that tone twice in the last 60 seconds and I don't like it. Okay. And so it's just a matter of like, can you call people out and can you exercise what you're pledging to do? I don't know. That's just some of my feedback. I do have a challenge for you. Okay. So part of this reality health games that we're trying to spark off is like, you know, challenging leaders and folks to produce content and perhaps, move, learn, earn, and share. Move, learn, serve, and earn.
47:49 And so I want to show you this video. I've done about eight of these videos so far. So I challenged Josh and the You Do Matter team to get to 10, right? Maybe we should call it 12. That would give us a video per month, right? So that we can kind of take a look at the year. But it's just getting out in the community. It's creating a two to five minute video with somebody to ask them, what does Advance the Dream mean to you? What is your Advance the Dream message to youth? What is your 2024 Advance the Dream pledge?
48:31 That's it. Three questions. Tell us about yourself and your organization. And then put it into this template. And then I'm going to go ahead and let's go ahead and show this to you right now. And then that's my challenge to you. Maybe you start with your dad. I'll probably start with him. Okay, cool. So let me go ahead and pull this up. Make this full screen. And before, yeah, it doesn't even need an introduction because it'll say. You guys seeing this? Yeah, I see it. Perfect. Hi, my name is Larry Starks.
49:13 I'm the current president of the Tucson Juneteenth, as well as the president of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. I'm here for the community. I'm here to advance Tucson Juneteenth Festival, just to let people know that we're gearing up for this year to get ready and just to see who's available and support the Black and Brown Health Fair. Well, the Tucson Juneteenth Festival has been in Tucson for over 50 years. It started at Vista Del Pueblo Park. Of course, it's to commemorate June 19th, 1865, where the remaining 250,000 slaves were freed from Galveston, Texas.
49:53 And it's a big celebration. You know, it's just to bring out the community, Southern Arizona, to enjoy the best of what we have to offer. What it means to me is not forgetting. It's about understanding where we came from and understanding where we need to go. So there's a lot of work to be done. Advancing the dream is really taking steps up, not just staying at the bottom of the stairwell, but taking the steps all the way. We'll probably never be able to reach the top, but as long as we keep climbing, then we'll get there.
50:32 Oh man, just get involved, just understand where we are and where you're, where you're at and understanding that why you have some of the liberties that you do is because people who were continuing to advance the dream and didn't stop. So that's why you're able to do the things that you can do. So it won't stop. We keep getting older. You're going to get older. So we just want you to join us in the fight. I'm always working. I'm in the community. I'm about being and doing what I say. You know, I'm about a man of my word.
51:02 If I'm going to ask someone to do something, I'm going to be out there doing it first. So that's the main thing with me is advancing the dream is being seen and showing up. So that's what I try to do is show up. So, three to five basic questions. We'll give you a template. Are you up for a challenge? You think he could do a video like that? And 30 points for your team there. You do matter for Mr. Josh. Yeah, I think I could do it. Just give me the stuff and I'll see what I can do. Yeah, exactly.
52:32 That's my challenge to you, Josh, to catch up with me. I've got 10 videos already done. So Team Up Greater Tucson is, you know, out and about. We had several videos. I took about seven videos from the MLK Memorial Day and it was just out there. Right. No, no, no. But see, if if Josh has a team of eight to 10. on his team, then everybody just celebrates a community leader once a month and starts sharing the word and the heroes. I also took a phone and basically just did that off a phone. You can take your phone and do the same thing.
53:17 We'll have a little course on, on how to do it too. So you can earn your little, you know, producer badge. That would be good. Let's go ahead and do that. So, you know, wrapping it up, Telly, you know, it was, I'm always interested to see kind of the energy and the perspectives that our youth bring. And you were phenomenal. I hope that everybody in the future brings the same type of, you know, energy to, to the interview stage. Thank you, Josh, for, for inviting him. Um, do you have any kind of final thoughts?
53:49 You know, you, I'm curious, uh, you were a foundational member of the force for health. You do matter teams. So you basically have an embedded membership for life. So if you do not have the app still on your phone, you know, I encourage you to get back involved, lean back in because we're going to be doing some really cool virtual health challenges together. That's my challenge right here, Lucy. I like the challenge that you put forth. I'm going to put one a little closer. When we get off this show today, you are going to contact me to make sure that you have access to your application.
54:25 I should, but I'll check. We'll make sure that we got access there. Therefore, we know that you at least can communicate with us. Yeah. And I wanted to give you a chance to, when I asked you to share a picture with me and you sent this over, I just, I love it, right? So what do you remember about this and maybe tie it into perhaps advancing the dream as we roll out this session with you? So to speak on this picture and to speak on this picture in particular, I was out in D.C. with my school, St.
55:09 Augustine High School. And we were or excuse me, I was out with my school in Washington, D.C. with the Close Up Foundation. And so we had the opportunity to walk through the Capitol. And so obviously, so obviously I've seen a lot of greats. I've seen Huey P. Long, a man who has his name on a bridge. I was Andrew Jackson, someone who played a very important part in this in this state being what it is. And then I stumbled across Miss Rosa Parks. Obviously, Miss Rosa Parks is one of the most influential people to ever walk in this country, walk on these grounds, walk in this world.
55:55 And so when I took this picture and I saw her name, the statue, her top hat, it all kind of just brought memories back from, and obviously I've seen so much about her, read so much about her that all of the stuff that I remember reading and seeing about her just rolled back. And obviously when I sent you that picture about 30 minutes ago, well, a little bit more than that, a little bit more like 45 minutes, I just started thinking about her the things that she did and the amount of power she has in this country and what she did for us, for Black people.
56:41 Obviously, people might say she has more of an influence than Martin Luther King. My personal opinion, we don't know. Obviously, I reverence both of them. And this lady is one of the main reasons why we walk the way we walk and we sit wherever we want. Because if it wasn't for that time that she sat in the front and she took that white man's seat, we'd probably be doing the same stuff that she was doing before that ever happened. So that's right. I mean, her action was actually an inaction because she refused to move.
57:26 Right. And so that was interesting. So I just wanted you to I wanted you to be able to comment on this. I also want to bring in. We've got Virginia Smith, who has been watching, which I love. She's been making some great comments along the way. Earlier, she was talking about advancing the dream as the opportunity to give back to people. Also, working in the community makes a difference. So, Virginia, if you're still listening, thank you so much for participating. And, yeah, she wanted to just share a quick great show, Mr. Josh Williams, on that.
58:05 So, well, again, I'm going to go ahead and take this off. And I wanted to just thank you all for joining. Telly, I also challenge you to talk to your peers. You can actually watch this show either live or now recorded on our Force for Health YouTube channel. So you literally can go to an 80-inch TV and watch yourself back. I don't have an 80-inch TV. Okay, well, I have an 80-inch TV. I'm like, okay, yeah, pretty good. My husband also does a radio show, and I like to just watch on the TV. So we are on YouTube.
58:44 And this is also on our Facebook stream and will be on advance the dream.com. So next week, you know, we will be talking more about, we didn't really get to the Selma March, but that's okay. Next week will be our first. We still got some time. Yeah, well, you know, it's 10.06. We're going to kind of stay true to the hour format here. But next week, you are always welcome to join, but let's go ahead and see if we can share the message that, you know, every Saturday we're having this conversation.
59:15 It's multi-generational. We want to always highlight heroes from the past. celebrate our current, you know, uh, warriors, uh, fight in the fight now and to, uh, put a spotlight on the youth reflections coming into. Okay. So thank you for joining us. Um, my name is Lucy Howell. Thank you. Telly Medina for joining us from new Orleans, uh, Josh Williams coming in from Gadsden, Florida. And of course I'm representing Tucson, Arizona. Have a great weekend. Everybody remember to be a force for health for yourself.
59:49 For your family, for your community. And, you know, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, advance the dream and we will see it next week. Thank you, Kelly. Welcome to Advance the Dream, our weekly community chat where we celebrate legacy makers and family heroes who are actively advancing the dream in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We talk about health, challenges, highlights and heroes in an intergenerational fashion in hopes that his legacy of hope and equality continue to live on.
1:00:24 This weekly series, How
Transcript is auto-generated from the broadcast captions and lightly cleaned; timestamps jump to the moment on YouTube.
Advance the Dream · Episode Recap ·