Valerie Jackson and Justeia Taylor

00:00 Hello, my name is just a timer. Thanks for taking the time to speak me today. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am 15 years old and I 10 South Atlanta High School this summer. I had the pleasure of working at school programs supported by the miers you program it off the office of cultural Affairs. I'll project This song is called we're listening or at school has partnered with store cards to put salt to preserve the stories of members of the Atlanta Community who created change in the Olympic Community. These stories will be preserved in the Smithsonian by the store corpse organization. The other goal of the project is to let to show your generation in the Elgin why she needs watching this to you all. So thank you once again for taking time to take me stay it's my pleasure, but I would like to say that you look wonderful today. Thank you. So do you?

00:50 Okay, so unfortunately I was not born with your late husband was elected is Elijah first African American African American mayor. So I was like, wow when I am not understand the relevance of his victory. Will you talk to me in this much detail as possible with his life for him to become the first black African-American mayor Maynard Jackson was certainly an exceptional man, but even for him becoming mayor was a really tough battle he had to fight fear and Prejudice before and after his election. He got death threats frequently.

01:33 One of his biggest issues with that he had to deal with the exaggerated fears of white people and the exaggerated expectations of black people. So he had to try to balance both those emotions. You know that we're wrap it in the city black people felt all while we've got a Black Mirror now, everything's going to be alright why people were thinking oh my God, we got a black Mare and now everything's going to go to pot, you know, so he had to be able to bring those two elements together, which was not very easy.

02:12 How much do you want me to go into that if you want to ask the next question?

02:19 Well, I don't want to run into your next questions. Can you edit that out? Okay, well made its leadership style could probably be called one of determination. First of all, he had a vision and then he developed a plan for that vision and then he acted on that plan. He was a very persuasive man people often talked about his oratory skills. As a matter of fact Bill Clinton president former President Bill Clinton at Maynard's funeral said that Maynard could charm an owl out of a tree. That's just how persuasive he was and I think some of that came from his experience as an encyclopedia salesman because he had to learn how to knock on doors and

03:19 Coach people Cole, you know as they would say a cold call. That means you going up to someone that you don't know and you going to try to convince them to buy your product while he was very good at the salesmanship skills. As a matter of fact, we utilize those skills when we teach our young people at the Manor Jackson Youth Foundation about leadership skills salesmanship is so important because if you do know how to sell something you'll always be able to sell yourself and the things about salesmanship that's important is being able to know who your audience is or who your customer is knowing what your product is and how that product can help your audience or your your customers. And that was basically what the main it had to do. He had to convince the city of Atlanta that his vision was a good solid one for the city and gave them reasons why he

04:19 Felt that the city could be so much more than it was may not believe in positive thinking he was always looking for the good in something or somebody that attitude is so important having a positive attitude because if you got a positive attitude you you have faith you can believe in something especially yourself and it it keeps you from

04:54 #say it positive attitude will keep you from feeling hopeless. Keep you from getting frustrated often made it often said that the speed of the boss is the speed of the crew.

05:12 And that means that the boss has got to be a role model for the crew if the boss is not doing what's right, how can he expect you know his crew or his his worker to do what's right. So he did not expect anyone that work for him to work any harder than he did because he was a hard worker and he just one of them to work as hard. Harder but as hard he demanded excellence in himself and those around him when he was in the mayor's office and one of his zerohedge with bring him up a proposal or a written report.

05:56 Heat make grammatical Corrections on it and send it back to them and have them correct their grandma or there or whatever it was that was wrong about the piece. He was constantly teaching those who work with them in even though they were grown ups and college-educated maybe even Masters. Some of them still had things that they couldn't learn and he was constantly teaching.

06:21 I know that he went to Morehouse College was he mental about anyone there?

06:27 Probably his favorite Mentor at Morehouse College was Benjamin e Mays. He loved that man. And so did I he was really a very special person?

06:39 And speaking of Morehouse. You've heard that story with that saying you can always tell a Morehouse man. You just can't tell him much with the way to say that Morehouse men really thought they knew it all and in many cases they knew a lot. We might not have known it all but they knew a whole lot. So it was it's that kind of attitude that main it got from Morehouse Maynard into the Morehouse at 14 years old. He was an early admission scholar and could Morehouse at 14 graduated at 18. But what I wanted to say about Benjamin e Mays in terms of being a role model for Maynard Jackson and thousands of other men black and white

07:30 I think probably the most important thing one of the most important things that he caught the manager was in a quote that he often used and Benjamin e Mays would say if you believe in something you must act on it if you don't act on it, it's not a belief. It's just an opinion.

07:55 Now a whole lot of us can be opinionated most of us are the important thing is that we act on those opinions then things that we will act 4

08:11 As matter fact main its nickname was Action Jackson. That's just how much he took that motto to Heart.

08:22 Do you want to run for mayor may not want to run for mayor? Well, let's see.

08:30 I think you felt compelled to run for mayor right after the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 may not immediately decided to challenge u.s. Senator Herman Talmadge. Herman Talmadge was a southern Powerhouse. I mean, he was the man that got things done. He was the leader in the old boys network. Nobody could beat Herman Talmadge or so. They thought well-mannered decided that he is not was going to let this man walk back into office on challenge when he was not doing all he could for all the people of Georgia, especially black people and so he decided to run for the US Senate sure. It was a, you know, probably at one in a thousand chance that he would win but you must act on what you believe and that's what he was doing. So he qualified to run for the US.

09:30 Set against Herman Talmadge. He lost that race Statewide but he did carry Atlanta and I think that was the beginning of his belief that he could be a force a positive force in Atlanta. He ran for vice mayor in 1969 and was the first black vice mayor of Atlanta. Most people forget about that or don't even realize it but he was the first black vice mayor of Atlanta and then having won that election as vice mayor that gave him the impetus that they had the courage to run for mayor in 1973 and as usual as you know, he won that race, even though it got pretty nasty in the end and the his opponent is flight opponent try to use fear to key.

10:30 People from voting for Maynard implying that if a black man became mayor that the city would die, you know at his motto was there was a big campaign on TV where you saw this old but look like a ghost town and tumbling see weeds or bumbles of of of of I don't know what those things were those bushes that would Roll Along, you know, you just saw this devastated looking town in. The motto was Atlanta is too young to die, you know.

11:05 That was acting on the fears, you know of up. Like I said those white people who had exaggerated fears as to what a black mayor would do for Atlanta.

11:17 Well when main it did become there in 1973, the interesting thing was that that was the year that the city adopted a new Charter issued by the state of Georgia under the Old Charter the mayor was a week.

11:33 Character in in in the city of Atlanta. In other words. He didn't have a whole lot of power. He was almost basically a figurehead, you know, but after made it was elected in the new Charter kicked in that new Charter gave the mayor of tremendous amount of power that he did not have previously and so made it was able to make some changes that really shook the city up the appointed the first black females as head of major department and believe it or not before main it became mayor less than 1% I think was like about .03 less than 1% of the city's contracts went to minardi's and women think about that now less than 1%

12:24 Of course, he change that when he got into office and when he left office 8 years later, it was approximately 25 to 28% of the contracts that went to Lunardi's to women and African-Americans his probably his biggest contribution to the city was his stand on affirmative action opening up the city to everybody giving opportunities to minorities through joint ventures giving joint ventures joint ventures meant the black minority firms were able to to work with majority-white firms create a joint venture between the two of them and then go into the City and seek business. And so that's what made it demanded that some of these white firms find some qualified blacks to work in their companies, and we'd be happy, you know to excel

13:24 Their proposals for bid now quite often the first thing that some of the businessmen would so would be well we can't find any qualified blacks.

13:38 Well, I mean it knew that that was not true because we certainly have qualified blacks back and even 1970. There were many many many qualified blacks and so Maynard said to him or to them rather you said well and he was in particular talking to a group of bankers and he sent them. Well, I am so sorry that you cannot find any qualified blacks to serve on your boards or in your management department. And he said so I tell you what I must do so I'm going to have to take the 15 million dollars that if you think that we have and put it in a bank in Alabama where they do have qualified blacks on their boards. Well guess what right away all the sudden the bankers found some qualified blacks because made it wasn't playing and he used his power to move that money as a threat to those who did not want.

14:38 Participate in sharing the wealth of Atlanta as a matter of fact

14:45 Prominent businessman here in Atlanta Herman Russell

14:51 I said that Maynard was the Martin Luther King of affirmative action.

15:02 How is how is he meant when he became mayor?

15:06 How is he meant? Well, he had very few mentors because as you know, he was the first black mayor of any major southern city, the youngest black mayor of any major city. In the country cuz bkt became mayor at 35 years old. So he really had no mentors to speak up other than people like Benjamin e Mays and rev, Otis Moss who was a Morehouse man also and you know that type of of mentor

15:44 He basically had to to learn by trial and fire in terms of what could work and what couldn't work. A lot of people thought that he was a bull in a china shop. Some people thought he was too aggressive but the situation sometimes called for a bull in a china shop. If you can't get attention in the other way you got to do what you can do to get the attention to focus on what the problem is. And so yes, he was aggressive at times, but he was also a very loving gentle kind compassionate leader. He looked out for his people and I don't mean just black people. I mean anybody that was in his foal. That was a friend. He looked out for him. He had their back as the kids would say, which meant loyalty was important to him. Your word was important to him.

16:40 Integrity was his Hallmark there. A lot of people that didn't like me to do specially business people but they always said they may not have liked him but they had to respect him because he was a man of integrity and to me that's that's more important than being liked, you know winning a popularity contest. I'd rather have a man of integrity any day been a popular flower boy or whatever they're called. So he was like I said, he had to kind of find out the hard way about how to be a good mayor.

17:18 I know you've accomplished a lot is already Ojos and of Atlanta. Peace, and I'm sure being a former first lady has had his ups and down. Will you share with me one of the best memories of being the wife of Maynard Jackson and one of the worst?

17:35 There are a lot of good things about being mana Jackson's wife.

17:41 One being that he was very romantic and you used to write me poetry and do things like that and surprise me, but I think we're talking more about his business. So

17:53 Probably one of the most fantastic.

18:03 Probably one of the most fantastic. Was out quest to win the 1996 Olympics. I got to meet so many Fascinating People in to travel to so many fascinating places as we went around the world trying to win the Olympics and also the unit and the cohesiveness of the Atlanta citizens excitement that they had about the Olympics coming. That was truly. I think one of the most memorable parts of an opening in the mayor's office for us the good the good parts as far as the worst. I don't even have to think twice about that the worst. Was they. The morning murdered and missing kids

18:56 I mean it was so troubled by that cold. Not just because these were young boys in Atlanta that were being affected by this murderer, but he also had a son who was the same age as the target group of young boys. Our son. We lived in southwest Atlanta in the area. If you know where this killer was was, you know, praying on these young boys and so it was a very personal issue for him as well as a political issue. And when that phone won't ring at 2 a.m. In the morning, all he could do was it say, oh my God because he was always afraid that it was another body.

19:44 Be the reason why in a way this was important.

19:51 That main it

19:55 That made it kept is so close to his heart was because the the city the whole

20:05 Racial relationship in the city was at stake. There were rumors so many ugly rumors about who was doing the killing the Klu Klux Klan, you know whites who didn't like black people they were just

20:22 Awful rumors. Nobody really knew what to believe and then there was an explosion in a one of the public housing areas one time a boiler exploded well before they can determine what had happened. That was a great deal of few that went out thinking that you know, maybe some white people had sabotaged didn't whatnot because they were killing young boys and so they will kill anybody else to weld Maine or Pepto to hold the lid on all of that explosive emotional reaction on both sides of the of the fence. And so it was very important that he kept a steady hand on the issue that he worked closely with those who were investigating it that he worked closely with the parents and those people who are the parents of the victims to let them know that he was doing everything he could and his power to solve this problem and to find the Killer

21:29 How did you deal with the challenges they came along with these high-profile position me and the wife of a mayor?

21:38 Well, like made it I did it by trial and error to I had no Role Models either they weren't you know, really not a whole lot of first black ladies around the country. Show me to call and say how did you handle this? So I basically had to kind of fall back on my but my childhood upbringing and the kind of things that I had to do, you know growing up. I was one of eight kids started working at 13 years old cleaning houses on Saturdays and then when I turn 16, I got to a job at the telephone company of the telephone operator being the only once again the only black person in the on the job and I work my way through college. I was the first one in my family to go to college. So I work my way through college earned an MBA at Wharton the best business school in the country.

22:38 Bristol Pennsylvania, and all of that the experience of working hard from being a young girl to working my way through college and then to graduate school dealing with discrimination not only you know any places that I worked but in the school that I attended my two brothers not into greater than all white High School in Richmond, Virginia when we were just well I was just twelve and we had a great deal of harassment Not only was a cross burned on a yard but they the white students thought that the NAACP had hired us to integrate their school, which was not true. My mother just wanted us to go to a neighborhood School. The closest black school was 20 miles away from us this brand new white school was three miles away from us a my mother said I am not going to send you 17 miles past a good school to go, you know down into a an area.

23:38 That served, you know only blacks. So we integrated the high school.

23:48 Had a great deal of harassment at long as we burn daily the boys would walk behind me and call me Sapphire and thick lips and and might I add that right now. I'm very proud of these thick lips because all of them all these women in Hollywood and get these injections to get these thick lips. Right so girlfriends, they were a blessing we didn't even know it then right. So I just focused hard on trying to do what's right trying to work hard and dumb.

24:25 That kind of experience is what helped me to face the demands of being a wife to a high-powered public servant and the demands were things like being having to take care of the family basically by myself not being a single mother per se but because my husband was gone a great deal. I basically had to raise the children, you know, I had that basic responsibilities in addition to whatever work that I was doing but he had a great deal of support for me in terms of whatever I wanted to do if I wanted to work full-time. He said, you know, that's fine. If you want to be a stay-at-home mother that's fine. I basically did a combination of the two but being having a very supportive husband was what gave me the ability to deal with the challenges of the demands on his time and the family time because often

25:25 People would ask me to speak at functions or to share things with the you know be involved in the community. So that was an additional job that had that I had in addition to being wife mother TV or radio host whatever I was doing at that particular time.

25:47 So

25:50 How has mr. Jackson's passing influence with the continued his cause for change?

25:56 Well, well, first of all, I just think it's so important that his legacy be continued. He worked so very hard but this city Investments like for the city. He literally gave his life for this city and I do believe that because the stress that was placed on him as the first black mayor.

26:21 Affected his heart

26:23 The stress affected his heart and it's 65 years old. He had a heart attack and died. And I really believe that a lot of that had to do with the stress and he had to deal with as Atlanta's first black mayor, but I know that he would give his life over again. And again if it was necessary, you know for that said he loved the city that much and so I think it's important that we remember him remember what he stood for his action his integrity and his principles and

27:01 Be sure that we share that remind young people about a man of that caliber. So often at Heroes today, we think they're great man. And then we find out that they're only humans when we find out that they have problems. As you know, many of the celebrities today, you know what their Fidelity issues and things like that. This was a man really that was truly a wonderful leader husband father and servant the city of the city of Atlanta. So it's important that when we talked about the airport, it's important that we stay Hartsfield-Jackson and not just cut it off and continued stay hard to feel like sometimes they do in the news or in the paper every time they do I call him and tell him that the name of the airport is not hard to feel it's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport because too many people thousands of people signed a petition.

28:01 And went to City Hall to get his name on that airport. And I think it's important that we hear that name because especially in the evening on the evening news, when mostly all you hear about in terms of black people would be raped and murder and crimes and so forth and so on well, but they always have to give the weather at the end of the news report and they always bring the weather to you from the airport. So when they say the weather is brought to you by Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, then you got the name of a positive strong black man that's being left in the airwaves as opposed to what you might have just heard about all the bad things that might come out of the minority community. So it's important that we say his name over and over again, but Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It's very important because when we

29:01 Speak their name. I do believe we call up their Spirits. There is power in the spoken word. And when you call on people when you say their names, you're calling on their Essence to help come and two to lift you up. So say the name off and Loud. Okay in American leadership days, very something around the community. We see it is when married. Why do you think this lady is still running strong?

29:34 I think Atlanta's Legacy of leadership continues to be strong for several reasons one. We have a very strong academic and education Community here in Atlanta. I think we've got about 25 degree-granting of schools universities and so forth in Atlanta with God Morehouse Spelman Clark Emory, Georgia State just tremendous amounts of of education and that in itself in education enlightens people enlightened people have a tendency to do the right thing. So we thought we had we have a strong Educational Center. We have a strong Church environment here in Atlanta and it is a matter of fact the early efforts for leadership usually came out of the church. Most of our early civil rights leaders were involved in the church and the third thing that I think keeps out Legacy of leadership strong is that

30:34 Early on we became involved in the economic development of the city Sweet Auburn Avenue was a major Avenue of Converse for black people not only in Atlanta but in the nation, so we had prosperous businesses, you know back and back before integration and the leaders back then used the power of the black vote to get what they needed leaders like John Wesley Dobbs who was maintenance grandfather and they used to call John Wesley Dobbs, the mayor of Sweet Auburn Avenue, isn't it ironic or maybe even isn't it? Wonderful that his grandson would actually turn out to be the real mayor of Atlanta one day, but John Wesley Dobbs would go into meetings with the former mayors black with Hartsfield when Hartsfield was married they would take

31:34 Meeting with him and tell him if you want the black support then you're going to have to give us Services. You're going to have to give us streetlights. You going to have to give us sidewalk and these were things are already in the white Community. We're begging for them in the black communities and and saying, you know will vote but you if you give us basically what we already are supposed to have but that's what they what had to be done. That's the way it was done back in those days. They the balance of power and that's how blacks, you know manifested their power know John Wesley Dobbs had a saying that he thought was how we could maintain out.

32:18 Leadership roles if you will or how how the black community could just sustain itself. And he called it the 3 B's he said we will succeed by the book The Buck and the ballot the book is education, which I mentioned earlier. It's very rare. That was very very important to the dogs family. All of his daughters went to Spelman College and graduated. So he was very much aware of the necessity of education and not just academic education, but the Bible also that book also so the book

32:59 The buck which means the economic power in the black community and The Ballad which speaks to the political power in the black community. You felt that both. All three of those issues had to be present in order for us to be successful as a race the book The Buck and the ballot.

33:20 In what ways are you still helping make Atlanta a better place for young people like me who wants to be a part of this long Heritage of greatness.

33:30 Well

33:32 Probably the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundations Leadership Academy that's maynerd started that years before he died. And what we did was to select 15 to 20 students from 11th grades in in schools throughout the city who may not have had everything going for him. But there was something that we saw and then some kind of a spark some kind of initiative some kind of want to learn some kind of drive to do better. And so we bring those kids together in a program for the entire school year from September to June we made every other Saturday from 9 to 2 and every other Saturday Aiko instruct with the President John Holley these classes and we talked about leadership skills. What are the things necessary for us to develop young leaders because y'all are going to be the ones who going to determine my social security benefits and another 10.

34:32 For 15 years. So it's important that we start to bring up and develop the Next Generation so they can be able to deal with these serious issues that are going to continue to face us as a nation and as a city and as individuals, so the we we speak to the young students about hard work.

34:56 About critical thinking critical thinking meaning to just go beyond the obvious question things analyze things just don't accept stuff that people tell you for granted, you know be sure that it's the truth we talked about Finance. How do we balance checkbook? What's the stock exchange all about we track a stock through the system every year and we go to the stock exchange in Chicago every year we take this young students. Well in the past, it's been in Chicago this year. We taking him to DC to the White House but in the past in Chicago, we take them to Johnson publishing company and let them see how the magazine was produced and I'll never forget the year that they got to select the cover for Ebony and they had to pick which Bow Wow photo. We're going to go on the cover of the magazine. That was really exciting to me. So we try to expose students to all those things.

35:56 What's that might necessarily have been available to them. I know I didn't have a lot of stuff in my life when I was growing up in terms of motivating me or leading me. So I want to be sure that young people as many as possible can be exposed to this open-mindedness to this. Did this want to learn, you know, the a curious mind is the best thing that a young person or an old person can have frankly Leonardo DaVinci. The great great painter said that a curious mind is the beginning of genius genius start by starting by asking questions.

36:45 Another one of my favorite quotes is by Einstein the great Einstein a physicist and mathematician. He would often say the imagination is more important even than knowledge because if you have knowledge what good is it if you can't imagine how to apply it if you can't imagine what it relates to so it's imagination is the is one of the keys to success. I believe using your imagination thinking outside the box asking yourself questions. Why is this that why did that happen? Who caused that? So constantly asking questions will keep your mind open I think and I believe that

37:49 I believe that regardless of what you might grow up with in your family, whether you got a lot of supportive people around you or not. The onus the responsibility still on each of us individually to plot a future to work on a future to determine a future to develop their own self, esteem, you know, and how do we develop self esteem by little successes? Maybe maybe it's a B+ on a test. That's that's an accomplishment you maybe it's an A+ that's even better would be mean or maybe someone complimented you on on the song you sang in church. Maybe you did a project for the community for the Girl Scouts or for the YWCA all of these little success stories just doing something and and accomplishing it and finishing it that

38:45 How we build self-esteem in ourselves by noting the little accomplishments that build up to make a positive self-esteem.

38:57 And the other thing I probably would recommend to young people.

39:04 Is to read that's how I got out read read read and read more.

39:16 I learned about everything outside of my family and school through Reading I read about foreign countries and I would say to myself. I want to visit there one day or I read about a particular company or read about a particular person and say, oh, I'd like to the top of that person when they I wish I could if I knew somebody like that reading opens so many doors to you. If you have nothing reading is free. You can go to the library. You don't have to buy the book and now online, you know, what computers my goodness gracious the the amount of information that's available to you. You don't know how blessed you are but in a way it's a curse to because sometimes you can get overloaded with all of this information. So you have to really kind of you know where the parameters are.

40:02 And I think

40:05 When you're well informed you make better decisions, and the other thing I would probably

40:15 Speak to Whitby respect self-respect and respect for others. Now. You don't have to love everybody but you should respect everybody.

40:27 I think that's more important than love even because her so if you can't respect anybody, how can you love them at least not for me? If I don't respect you it's going to be difficult for me to love you. So respect for your self respect for others your family your friends your teachers because that will bring you so much more than an I don't care attitude or who cares or that it can't happen to me if you believe

41:02 And I think I'd clothes with with with maintenance Three B's his grandfather talked about the book The buckin the ballot Maynard had three bees also.

41:12 Belize Breeze and behave

41:16 Believe meaning have yourself a steam strong and know that you can do whatever it is that you want to do.

41:24 Breathe meaning stay calm take a steady Pace. Don't let your emotions. Get out of control. Don't react, you know overreact issues breathe.

41:36 And increase behave behave meaning act the way that you're supposed to act if you want to get this thing or to be this thing in other words, if you want to lose weight act like it don't eat all that junk food. You know what I'm saying? If you want to go to college act like it do your homework every night. If you want to be a singer act like it practice everyday or or any type of musician what your behavior is really going to dictate what you eventually end up being or doing so believe breathe and behave

42:21 Will you show me in as much detail as possible one of your most memorable stories about that Land Community?

42:36 What do you want to talk about the coming to get it update Olympics, you know that they residents coming together for the Olympics. I think that would still be one of my favorite Community stories and the fact that Atlanta.

42:54 What used to be called the city too busy to hate?

42:58 And we just want to be sure that it's not too busy to care now, you know with movie on the hate, but let's start caring and taking care of each other.

43:10 And I think we do that.

43:12 How art school metal music music music lyrics to teachers research and interviewing skills. We listen to Marvin Gaye's song what's going on. Are you familiar with that song? I mean that was the song that I grew up with them when I was a teenager.

43:36 And as a matter of fact, it has special meaning to me because

43:41 I was engaged to a young man who was killed in Vietnam and so as as Marvin Gaye.

43:49 Talk about

43:52 All the lies that were being lost in the war.

43:57 It was especially meaningful to me. And so

44:03 Yes, it was some I could relate to it very much. So and and even today though some of those same issues. I mean, we're facing War again today we ever learn, you know, I was still asking asking what's going on. You know, what's going on with this BP oil spill what's going on with this war in Afghanistan and Iraq. So yeah, it's it's a question that still needs to be asked what's going on.

44:33 Does my next question goes off. Switch and State?

44:40 There's also this song by a rapper named sleep read this song This song is called. Hey young world. Are you familiar with this song? I saw I am believe it or not and I tell you.

44:54 I think those lyrics should be distributed to every middle and high school student in the city young people too often turn off when adults are talking to them about respect and manners and doing good and doing right but when you hear it coming from one of your peers, you have a tendency to pay a little bit more attention, especially if it's in a hip song, so I think it's extremely meaningful that this young man. It is talking about issues that are going to be crucial in the development of a young person's life. You don't like I talked about respect love caring. I admire his courage to speak up and speak about the lack of values and and the lack of motivation that seems to exist today among a lot about young people. It's it's not

45:52 I know it's not easy to stand outside the crowd but sometimes that's one of the key.

46:03 Parts of being a leader and that's being Having the courage to speak out and talk about something that all of your friends are for and and I'll tell you a short story here. If we have time my youngest daughter went to came home from school one day and she said mom Susan the sixth grade. Just let Mom everybody in school today was talking about who was a virgin and who wasn't and I said in the sixth grade and she says yeah. She said they were asking all the girls if they were a virgin. So, what did you say when they asked you if it will I didn't say anything cuz they didn't ask me I said what what would you have said if they had asked you and she said one of them and I'll tell you what you should have said and what you will say. I said you say yes, I'm a virgin and I'm proud of it.

46:57 You know when I went on to talk a little bit more about how she had to have self respect for herself and so forth, but then you went to school the next day. She came back home and she says mom there was still talking about who was a virgin and who wasn't until when they ask me. I told them yes, I'm a virgin. I'm proud of it and she said and guess what Mom three other girls said. Yeah. I'm a virgin and I'm proud of it, you know, and I said you see what happens when one person will take the risk of standing up against the norm, you know, and I said that little bit of what you did that little bit of Courage that you showed empowered. Those are the three girls and gave them the courage to say. Yes. I'm a virgin and I'm proud of it. That's how leadership begins

47:42 Little things like that for you make the decision that you're going to do something a little bit better, you know, then maybe is expected of you.

47:56 I understand that you are one of the first blacks in middle and Senior High School in Virginia and that you are now a famous radio hosts. Can you tell me in this much detail as possible how you became a radio host having come from the kind of struggle where you were judged by the color of your speed of your skin.

48:13 I think I mentioned a little earlier how my two brothers and I integrated this all white high school and that's certainly prepared me for a lot in terms of having to deal with people that didn't particularly accept me. Not only where we harassed but this many students would refuse to sit next to us in class. And so it was through this kind of these kind of challenges having to work my way through college at night every night at come home from school. Go to work from 6 to 10. Come home do homework from about 10 to 1 get up at 7 in the morning to go start my 8 Class the next day and you know, that's that was my life for 4 years.

48:56 So I suspect it was dealing with those challenges because once again Not only was I in a white high school, but I went to a white undergrad College also and predominantly white graduate school also, so I have always been in a minority position. If you will in spite of the fact that I'm fair-skinned and sometimes call it is not the issue. Even if it's just the race, you know what I'm saying? But you said well, you know judge you by the color of your skin. Will they Judge Me Not only by the color of my skin or Not by the color of my skin, but because I'm African-American

49:32 So I've been dealing with those kind of you know, discriminatory comments and end behavior for so long and I went to graduate school graduated went to New York started working in a major advertising agency there. Once again being the only black person on the staff were in management rather and then I moved to Atlanta after main it made me an offer I couldn't refuse to you asked me to marry him. So I went from promoting Kool-Aid brand soft drink mix which is my product in the advertising company that I work for General foods with my client and Kool-Aid brand soft drink mix with my product, but then I became the marketing supervisor in the southeastern region the marketing manager for TWA Airlines and that allowed me to be able to fly in and have dinner with Nana and fly back because I was able to fly free being

50:32 Airline employee and so we were able to develop a relationship that way but I so I went from selling Culebra and soft drink mix to the city of Atlanta basically cuz I volunteered my work for the City of Atlanta. Once I got here and started working in the mayor's office of Economic Development helping to generate business for the city. And then I had I guess I was in the right place at the right time. I was in leadership Atlanta and there was a media panel and I sit up and ask some rather pointed questions to the panel afterwards a producer from wsp came up to me and said have you ever thought about being in TV like maybe a female Phil Donahue and I said what I said not really like you to come in and interview me and that since he was saying I want to give you a screen test wreck. So I went in interview him coal they like the way that I handled the interview and so I started working for Georgia public television us.

51:32 Post on a radio on a TV show their the radio manager here at WABE was familiar with my work at the TV station and when that budget was cut and I decided not to pursue that because they changed it a lot for a lot of reasons most of the day change my take time to 10 at night, which I couldn't deal with as a mother and wife but that's when I started working here at the radio station and doing between the lines and the station manager or rather the president of the corporation.

52:08 Tell me that I could do whatever I want it in terms of type of show. I knew I loved to read I knew I love to learn new things. I knew I wanted to show that other people would be able to learn things from and that's the goal of my show each show. I want somebody I want everybody to walk away Having learned something one little thing. You know, that's why my motto is My slogan for the show is there's always more to learn when you go between the lines and that's how I got to be a radio host.

52:43 Okay. I have one last question. Where words would you like to share with me as a young person who wants to be successful and not become a victim of my surroundings?

52:52 Remember what I just said about believing in yourself.

52:58 Reading

53:00 Thinking outside the box

53:03 And working hard hard work.

53:08 Is it still?

53:10 Probably the biggest element and anybody success because what you put into the universe is what you're going to get out of the universe and the old people used to say what you what you what is that saying you reap what you sow, so that's basically what the new age is saying when they say, you know, what you put into the universe is what you going to get out of the universe. And so I say to you put out positive thoughts have a positive attitude dream big and you may not get everything that you want on the timetable that you think you supposed to get it.

53:48 But eventually if you stay focused and you work hard you get close enough to whatever it is that you want it to be happy. I think and happiness is not about how much money you make

54:00 It's about how much a piece you are with yourself.

54:04 Are you a good person? Do you try hard? Do you try to be to do the right thing? That's what's going to give you peace of mind and that's what's going to bring happiness.

54:18 I must say thank you for this wonderful interview. You help me accomplish before we end this. Is there anything you want to add? Ask or say?

54:27 How much I enjoyed this interview and what excellent questions you have? I'm going to hire you to write some of my questions from I guess. Thank you very much.