Kim Boettner and Michael Berckenhoff

Recorded October 27, 2021 Archived October 27, 2021 53:51 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: ddv001226

Description

One Small Step partners Kim Boettner (64) and Michael "Mike" Berckenhoff (37) discuss their careers, parenthood, and gerrymandering in Alabama.

Subject Log / Time Code

MB shares that he is participating in One Small Step to learn more about others perspectives. KB is curious about peoples stories and carrying your part in a larger group.
KB and MB read each other's bios. KB asks MB about his experience in Texas. MB shares his experience living in Houston, TX, North Texas, and Fort Worth. MB asks KB about her work in industrial automation. KB and MB discuss software and technology for PLC. KB shares her range from working with cars, rollercoasters, food distribution, and underground mining.
KB asks MB what drew him to stay in Houston. MB shares that he prefers North Texas, but Houston was the best location to start a family. KB shares that she grew up in downstate IL, and her grandparents were farmers. When she went to college she learned more about the world and had a larger scope.
KB and MB share their relationship to small farm towns. MB shares that his wife is from a small farm town and he sees the tough side of farming. KB shares how having a farm is not always the best financial decision.
MB asks KB about her children. KB shares that she had 3 children in 36 months, then had her fourth child shortly after. Her oldest daughters live close to her in AL. Her two younger children are not close but keep in contact. KB asks MB about his family. MB shares he has three younger children
MB shares that the most influential people in his life have been retired veterans. He has learned about leadership and how to share goals with others. He also shares that Glenn Beck has been a major influence. Beck's charity has taught MB how to work with his community to be less divisive.
KB shares that the most influential person in her life has been her high school math teacher Mrs. Polly Wilson. She had a degree in engineering, but could not get a job as an engineer in the 1970s. Mrs. Wilson encouraged KB to study engineering. KB shares how being a woman in her field was difficult, but a manager of hers was adamant on not tolerating sexism in the workplace. This manager was influential and taught her integrity.
MB shares how he did not think deeply about sexism in the workplace until he had daughters. He asks KB how do you teach your daughters how to survive in these spaces. KB shares that through her mentorship and motherhood, she has taught women to be authentically themselves, be courageous, and find trusted allies.
MB talks about the sexist standards associated with sales, his field of work. He shares how he has witness sexism happen to co-workers, and how he is trying to prepare himself as a father to keep his daughters safe.
KB describes her personal political values as community centered. She believes in high-levels of trust with her local community to keep the community strong.
MB describes his personal political values with a focus on protecting the rights that are in the Constitution. He does not rely on the government for aid, but rather the community for assistance. KB agrees with community assistance, but pushes back on the reliance on the constitution since the laws in the document are unfair for certain people in this country.
KB talks about gerrymandering laws in AL, and how it disproportionately effects communities since districts have to be realigned every 10 yrs.
KB discusses how Birmingham is trying to split up the majority Black county to loose its voting power. KB shares that the gerrymandering laws in AL are impacting communities in drastic ways.
KB and MB talk about the work their churches do to assist families in Afghanistan. They share that they financially donate to help those seeking refuge and asylum.
KB shares that she believes that the immigration system is broken. She acknowledges that the borders do need to be secure but as a nation we need to give a helping hand to those in need. MB agrees, but shares that not everyone coming to the US has good intentions. MB shares that he wants those coming in to the US to have good intentions and pave their way.
MB asks KB if she thinks assistance as a government or community responsibility. KB shares that she thinks it is a mix of both. KB volunteers in her community and acknowledges that there are systemic issues that need to be fixed by the government.

Participants

  • Kim Boettner
  • Michael Berckenhoff

Partnership Type

Outreach

Initiatives


Transcript

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00:04 My name is Kim boettner. I'm 64 years old. Today is October 29th, 2021 and I'm in Birmingham, Alabama. And I'm speaking with my one small, step partner Mike berckenhoff.

00:21 And I have my name is Mike. Birkenhof. I am 37 years old. Today's date is October. 29th, 2021. I'm in Houston, Texas. And I'm speaking with my installed one small step partner, Kim.

00:42 Make, you can't answer. First. Why did you want to do this interview today?

00:49 I always.

00:52 It's always a good questions to reflect on on, on why we do things. For me is just meeting new people and getting different ideas, growing up in Texas. While in this day and age 2021. We're getting a lot of transplants. We still have a very, very strong culture and it's a it's a very connected culture. So any chance I get to converse with people from outside of my state. I'm outside of my country. I absolutely Jump On It.

01:29 So, I wanted to do this interview today because I'm insatiably curious about people. I love hearing their stories. I love hearing their background. I had down when I was about 40, I've never sung in my life and I had someone at the choir director at church said, you can sing like no, I can't sing. And he's like, no, you can sing and over the course of a couple of years. Turns out, I'm not, I'm not a professional, but I can't sing. But one of the things that I learned is that I have to carry my part in the choir so that when in a choir you get for parts, he gets its parts and the director puts it all together. My part, I carry my part and let it all get woken together and respect that other people have their parts and they're different than my part till I enjoy list.

02:29 In other people's stories, hearing where there where they come from and how they work.

02:38 Really wise.

02:42 The second question is to video Partners Bayou allow this written and what is a bio. Would you like to know more about something to show that in the trash? Cuz long can angel? I was like we're going to reply to my email. So I it makes him so you can read his last question to ask. Let me see if I can get to the top. How do I get to the top?

03:15 I had to figure out how to get there to see mine at the bottom. If you just scroll you think I can scroll bear his portion. Yeah, I don't see a place to scroll.

03:36 I still see my other is Mike. I am in my late 30s and have lived in Texas. All my life, my political and social views are on the conservative side. They are just in line with the written version of The Constitution and the belief that a person should have the right to chart their way, whether that be successful or not. If I am on the successful side of that journey, I feel it is my responsibility to help those around me. If they need a hand up. I want to spread light and love with others, so that the world is more bearable.

04:10 Nice, I know. Did I write that?

04:16 Kim reading your bio here. I am an engineer who worked on and I have been married for forty-two years and raised four children together, I grew up in a small town in Illinois and was the first my family to graduate from college. We moved to Birmingham and in 1996 my faith as a Christian is Central to who I am my faith, please me to protest. Systemic racism, poverty ecological damage and unequal Access to Health Care in Alabama.

05:02 Or if anything you like to know more about, that was mentioned.

05:09 Yeah, Mike, I'd like it. I'd like to ask tell you're in your late thirties and you've lived in Texas, all of your lives. Same Big Town, small town, rural area. So predominantly, Houston and different parts of Houston. If you're familiar with the, you know, nice, big Target and we're adding another ring now for satellites, but lived on the west side of Houston and I live on the the southeast side of Houston for five to six years. I went to college in north Texas. That was a small town and then move to the Fort Worth area for a little bit.

05:56 I said, I always tell people are jokingly say that I needed to get a worldly IDs. I moved to North, Texas.

06:06 Nice nice.

06:08 Give me just like Michelle. My windowsill don't get the landscapers.

06:19 Sorry about that. They decide to come late today, Kim. I'm actually interested in your profession. Industrial Automation. So factories, Quarries in mind. Are you working with plc's or DCS systems night? Well, automation. Absolutely. What kind of work. Do you do an organization that represents Emerson's delta-v. So I am old enough that I was one of the, I was one of the engineers who wrote The Design specs? For the PLC 5.

07:17 Someone so I love. So you've had a similar experience to my. My favorite part about the job is going into places and having people make stuff. I love and hugs. I love helping people make stuff. Yes. Yeah. We're just in your area. Looks like it's more my name and it's just the coolest thing in the world to see what people are making and doing and knowing that the chemical vessel next to you. If it ruptures. Yeah, I've done, you know, I've done Automotive. I've been eating cornflakes warm off the line at Kellogg's Stars. I got to watch Dow Chemical, make glad wrap. I got two, I've worked on rides at Universal Studio. Every Automotive. I swear every automobile that

08:17 Is assembled in the in the country. I've been in that plant. So yeah, but I have been I have been one of the best things that is I did get to go in an underground mine. A couple of times. I've been in the underground mines at Brookwood and then also in Galena, Illinois, so and and watch them do longwall coal mining there. So yeah, we still cool to see. Yeah, that's right around. We do specialty chemical on the Gulf Coast, so but not but not big chemical like you guys doing you guys to Big Stuff.

09:04 So cool. So what made you what made you stay around Houston? If I absolutely love the the the community up there, that lives there, the atmosphere the weather is awesome. Except for that that little patch in the springtime, in the tornadoes come through. Otherwise, I'm okay with the somewhat cold Winters and then but it came down to when we start a family. Okay. Well, we're going to need some more funding for life. And if you're going to play in Texas and sales, which is what my profession going to be an oil and gas. Since that's the predominant industry oil gas. Just type this weekend, but that brought me back to Houston and say we're here.

10:04 Will we get enough to retire? And then we'll probably move to Central Texas. Probably closer to Austin, San Antonio.

10:12 I grew up in, not in a little town in downstate, Illinois. And my grandparents were farmers and it was a I swear to you. I graduated from a class of 130 and it was a great place to be from. I'm so thankful that I am from there. Just wasn't big enough for me or diverse enough. I got an opportunity to go to college, and I got a shot at the wider world and have found that to be endlessly. Fascinating, to me. I shall have a brother that lives there, but he lives within 10 miles of, where we grew up and, and I'm just like, oh, I love you, but man, I couldn't do this. I couldn't live this close to home.

11:06 Yeah, I could sympathize with that. It's kind of what? What? Let me to North Texas. But even when we move back to Houston, we're still an hour away from where I grew up with, in Houston's close, my wife's upbringing but she grew enough, small farming Community outside of of Austin visiting their. I've always noticed, love to all the farmers, have to get together and help each other. No one person successful without the other. So meet me things to see.

11:49 Maya my son, my son-in-law. One of my son-in-law's is a is a farmer at heart man, if he could his family owns about two hundred and fifty Acres, I'm about an hour away from Birmingham and he would love, I mean, his happy place is sitting on a tractor and bush hogging or cutting grass and doing that kind of stuff, but it could be, he's a smart man and he knows that it's not enough to feed his family. It's not reliable enough to feed his family. And that's what my Grandpa Mike. Grandparents, never own, did they? They farmed the land for the folks that sounded never had two nickels to rub together and just couldn't couldn't make a go of it. You know. So farming is tough farming is to really, really is. And from what I've seen at least, even if you can make it, it, it's

12:46 It's pretty hard life of you know ups and downs and and long work days. And you know, just trying to manage I guess would be a small business, pretty chaotic changes to the process. You have you do for store-bought tomatoes. Have a big garden and we only get a handful tomato is a year, we cultivate, you know, we caught the farmers markets because they know what they're doing and I'm happy to support.

13:35 Now, that's good. That's good. So, see for kids. Are they around y'all or did they dispersed as well? So, professional woman and three children in 36 months and then I was, and then I thought we were done and then hit the road because I was doing a promotion. At the time, we were launching the DLC, 5 stuff, and came back after 10 days on the road, and there was a fire in the fireplace and a bottle of wine in the fridge. And six weeks later. I was standing in my boss's office. So I'm this was a work-related accident or children. The, my the oldest is my daughter Jessie, and my name is a list daughter. Katie live within about 5 minutes of us.

14:35 With her husband. And we have between the two, we had four grandchildren that are nine, eight, nine, eight, seven, and five. And then our son Bob is in. He and his wife are in Charleston, South Carolina. And my daughter. Lizzie is in Baltimore. She's living with her with her boyfriend, Justin. So interesting places to visit and then and we get to go trick or treating with the kids about, you know, that's awesome. I know my minor young so they still are firmly planted underneath the roof. For now, you're old and almost six year old and a four year old just turned, four year old September.

15:35 Our oldest is a boy.

15:42 Parenthood spawn. Yes it is.

15:58 Influential person in your life. And what did they teach you that to Michael?

16:07 Most influential person.

16:12 Oh, that's a tough one. There's quite a bit of people. I draw from what I like to do is study individuals, whether famous or not.

16:28 And get an understanding of how they work. You know, what? What's been their successes, what's been their defeats? How they grown from that in? And what knowledge can I can? I kind of capture from them to better, you know, kind of better what I'm doing trying to do in 02 to progress. My you're my human personal experience. Late. I've been drawing a lot from the retired, military Community play Jocko willink. Marcus Luttrell forces and somehow specifically Navy Seals that keep popping on my radar. I'm just kind of seeing how they dealt with their stripes while in near the wharf theater and then back here at home. And in the lessons you learn specifically for me Jocko has taught

17:28 Are in a ton of leadership material or put content out there that I've learned from, and just being more, you no more well-rounded person and how to interact with others. And if you're trying to motivate someone to share goal. You know, how does that work on top of that? Probably the last

17:52 I don't know, 10 11 years, Glenn Beck has been a big influences. Might as well, his ideas of State open and charity and giving back to others and just trying to make the country. His part of the country that she would say, in his community and audience, just just a little bit better, so that we can help everyone else out, less divisive, and you're just just a better parts of of the US. And like I said, there's ups and downs. I've seen him do awesome things.

18:33 I'm seeing make some comments and and do some things. I'd like a brother that one will have that you have all those three successes and things. We learn from what I say.

18:58 So, I would say early on, I was, you know, I was one of those kids in high school that I was just kind of geeky. I like math. I like science, I had a math teacher in high school or name was Polly Wilson. Mrs. Wilson, and she had an engineering degree was the first person I met had had. It had an engineering degree. Couldn't get a job as an engineer in the early 70s. Nobody would hire her as an engineer. And so she she went to work as a teacher, but she encouraged me to go to college and study engineering and so I did I loved it. Love love the problem-solving aspect of it. Love that. Just the how you put how you put things together, how that whole process for problems.

19:57 All thing I found pretty useful in life. And then when I went to work out of college had I had a number of books that I worked with. One of them was was a gentleman named Steve eisenbraun and he was, he was huge. He's like, he's like 68 and big guy, big boys loud, but had a high degree of Integrity just and mint degree of integrity and we were in an environment.

20:37 Not many women, not much pretty, pretty rough in some of the places that we hung out and I love the work, but it would it was challenging to be a woman in that environment and put up with a lot of things that I wish I had put up with. And Steve was the was the manager who was absolutely over-the-top adamant. That none of that was happening on his watch. He was tolerating none of it and he was the first manager that I had who absolutely had my back and absolutely help people accountable for their actions and that level of integrity and that level of leadership. I found really inspiring

21:34 Yeah, Iva are younger.

21:38 Younger in the workplace. I started what 2006. And so there's a

21:47 And I even thought process, there has never been bored and center, but especially once I had daughters, I had to start asking that question. Like, hey, professional lady that I've been working with now for a few years has been in the industry way longer me. How bad was it in? Is it in? Holy moly, some of the stories I heard on like that.

22:15 Beyond on call. For I mean, I was like, how can the dude even do that? You know, say that or are behaving that way? So yeah, it blew my mind. The question. I always ask them and then I'll send it to you, to make, you want to answer it is, you know, how do you, how do you teach your daughters to be strong? You know, hopefully, that environment still not around, but unfortunately, bias to 21 gender. So, I do may not always see it, but how do you kind of teacher daughter to survive in that environment?

22:50 Drive.

22:52 So, so it is still around. It is not in my experience at as bad as it was in the eighties, were pretty horrific, the Nikes for slightly better, but not much better. I would say that what I Mike's, as I meant her women doing things like this, and whatever is that you've got to, you've got to have the courage to be authentically who you who you are. And in which you'll find. If you do that, my experience has been is that I found and the term that I would use for them our allies.

23:42 Allies who have my back allies, who will speak out and say the right thing cuz cuz of thing that happens Mike is not when they're in the room. It's when they're out of the room and and when they're out of the crib, if people will allow that fly Joker, that degrading comment if they allow about to pass, then then that undermines the conversation, that undermines their ability to be effective. So, finding allies, identifying, those allies and, and allowing those allies to, to be able, to, to be able to speak for you. Is, it's really important. It's really important. Now, having said that as, as a woman, you've got to be courageous. She got to, you know, if you're if you're in the choir, you got to sing your own part.

24:41 You can't, you can't wait. You can't wait for Prince Charming to come and rescue. You.

24:48 38, some, we raised, we raised our daughters, my husband, and I raised our daughters that everybody needs to be able to take care of themselves. And the people, they love our daughters were not raised expecting that. Somebody would come along and take care of them. Son wasn't raised that way either.

25:14 I think that they're raised to on, to be able to, to take care of themselves to have some common sense to do something, and it goes equally well for boys, you got to be able to, our son has to be a, yes, to be able to do is on laundry as to be able to cook. You know, you want to know where the cut off is in the house for the car. There's something said, if you're human, y'all don't know how to change a diaper, you know, everybody on the know that stuff quick as a parent.

25:48 No, it really does and you do it really? For me, for me. It's just disgusting, bro. You don't have to go there.

26:12 Thankfully, I haven't seen cuz I've heard stories from the 80s and the 90s. So thankfully I haven't had experienced any of that. I know when my Preston sales and I don't know if this is just what was in my industry or maybe was in other Industries, but I heard that if you know, he used to be expected that you're bringing your customers to the strip club. And that's just what you're going to do and I'm like, no. I'm like, and I'm like, I'm not going to do it and I said, I respect my wife too much my kids. And yeah, I know I'm not, I'm not to be part of that one bit, and thanks, we haven't had to deal with it, but I imagine still out there. I believe it is.

27:12 Question answer. The last question to me is, could you briefly describe in your own words, your personal political values? And I'll ask him to answer the phone.

27:27 So,

27:31 If I, if I were to find my political, my political values, I believe, simply that Community matters that were connected.

27:44 That we are tied to each other and that in order for my poor me and for my family to thrive that the people around me, my neighbors and my friends need to need to thrive as well. I think that

28:10 High levels of trust are important.

28:14 And so this kind of these kinds of conversations, we're even people that I disagree with politically. If I were still Neighbors, at the end of the day, we're still Neighbors.

28:29 So having those kinds of respectful conversation isn't working through heart issues, together is what I would expect a my political folks, but I expect that we contribute to a community, we sharing a community and we build a community together.

28:53 Yeah, that

28:55 100% agree. I know on our little our little cul-de-sac here in our little subdivision.

29:03 You know, it's it's if there's a hurricane coming and overrun, their buddies doors. Are y'all, I'll settle good and I'll holler. If you need something. I may not run across the street there, in 70 mile an hour winds, but I'll catch you as soon as it's over with and what it is. You know, we're out how you good with generator should go with gas, you know, you would like to get together and and have a subdivision or maybe the street parties just to get to know people, but then you grow that and I'm digging my church. So make sure all those folks are taken care of and know when you get to a level that you're supporting everybody. Okay? Well, let's grow that on you in a little bit more to where, you know, we were part of a group.

29:54 A folks that were raising your millions of dollars to pull Afghanistan people out of Harm's Way a few months ago. And it's it's The Human Experience and we're all linked together. So yes, I absolutely would say that Community needs to be there, to make sure that everyone's taken care of.

30:20 He knows a look at that question though. Personal political views politically and this would go in the form of of governments. I want a government that's protecting my natural rights and more specifically the ones to find the document. We all agree to the Constitution and when things start getting out of line with that. And there's more croach meant from the government into my individual life, that's where I start getting robbed. I had to do, you know, the more emotional side comes out with, with how you doing little values.

31:03 And it's just trying to ignore trying to walk through that and balance those two for me. You know, I don't so much rely on the government to provide the aid. What I want to do is, is have the community in the individuals, provide the 8th. So, not an individual starts with the idea grows into a small group, a larger group, a big group of community at Owl City, you know, a state country to do to help out in and make sure that even a person coming up behind you has a hand to grab in and be pulled up.

31:43 I would agree with that. But I I live in a community in Birmingham where historically, the law. We're not we're not and acted in a way that allowed everybody to have access to the same levels of Freedom. So I've had, I've had the privilege of spending some time with some of the folks that marked that marched in Birmingham and the in The Children's March in 1963. I've got I've got

32:23 I've spent time with people who were with men who were convicted of crimes that they didn't commit and 32 years later when they finally that conviction, overturned, it still took five years to get him out of prison.

32:40 So the the the Constitution is a is is a for me, a good starting point. But where it started? I didn't I didn't have rights as a woman. Black people didn't have rights. And so I don't think I think we're a work in progress and as we reach out to other communities, and communities are isolated and they don't have the resources and to me correcting, that is really is really important.

33:17 I think that's how we build trust, and how we build keys.

33:28 I will tell you I will tell you right now, there's an exercise that we're all going through where we're deciding. What are voting districts are. Right for the rear portioning every 10 years.

33:47 There's a in Alabama, the Jared gerrymandering is Layton and it's one-sided. Now, I believe both Democrats and Republicans engage in that, but I will tell you in Alabama. It's pretty horrific and there is no shame about how it's being done. And I find that problematic.

34:18 Not solutely. We have.

34:22 We have plenty of awkward, looking districts in Texas and specifically in Houston that that make no

34:32 If my understanding is correct of the original idea, the district's it was to link those people that were more closely aligned to a shared idea because they live right next to each other. The original idea or lease in close proximity to Larry's or Farms. But with some of the district's I've seen them like, that's its young to three streets, wide and run straight down this little area, and they quickly making a jog over here and over there. So, yeah. Yeah, I've always

35:07 I never thought that Priceless was correct. I I will admit, I don't know what the right answer is, but I've never liked something about that, doesn't doesn't now, you can't. It's not there. So, there's a in Alabama. There's a, there's a proposal by the League of Women Voters. That's called the whole County proposal, where you take folks. You just take entire County's. Because that's a, that's a structure that already existed as a as a governance. Right? And if you do a whole County proposal, it all falls, well within the lines of representation and doing that. But what it does is it breaks up.

35:50 It is it we get more Blended and less and less polarized. And and our, our legislature is absolutely adamant that they will not do anything like that because there's no political gain to it. And I think, and I think, and on all sides, until we, until we stand together and say, doesn't matter.

36:19 Whether it's whether it's Democratic gerrymandering or republican gerrymandering or somebody guy doing some other General gerrymandering, unless we, unless we

36:30 Unless we force our elected leaders to do something that is transparent, and fair that we're going to, we're going to continue to struggle.

36:42 Do y'all, if y'all were to go to the county idea? Does it balance out with the number of Representatives shall have?

36:51 Yeah, yeah, so it was simple example. Biggest city in Alabama is Birmingham right now. Birmingham is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70% black, under the under the proposal. That's being put forward by the by the Republican legislator. They split it up across three different districts.

37:17 Instead of, instead of allowing

37:21 Now, so they break it up so that there might so that that so that that majority-black County wind up in three different. They didn't wind up as minority populations in three different white districts.

37:37 Is Birmingham, all-in-one County?

37:40 Jefferson.

37:45 And it feels like Houston and spread. Thank you. Since three or four now, and I'm sure.

37:52 Yeah, yeah, so I think so. I think, you know, whether it's my tribe, the other tribe, somebody else's drive until we hold each other accountable. I find it disappointing that we're not holding everyone accountable to that same thing.

38:08 Now cuz I guess they haven't done any research in it. But if you looked at

38:15 Or maybe the other areas you would see that as well. And so, but I think we have to figure out how to fix it.

38:32 Absolutely.

38:35 I think, I think there's a the media has built a business model in this country where they profit on polarizing us.

38:46 And so, I'm very happy to have conversations with real life people, you know, because I think it I think it's I think it's sad and antidote.

38:57 Turn off the television. Turn off my social media feed and have real conversations with real people and see if we can't figure some stuff out. The key to getting back to normalcy is is that it's not

39:14 Will call the far right or the far left in and what we see from our our media contents. Like I said, what is that social or radio or TV or whatever might be now it is just having those conversations cuz we're not all that different. You know, it's it's we're all you know, we're all folks is trying to earn a living and make sure everyone around us is taken care of. And when we have those conversations, I feel pulls us closer together that you spoke earlier about about coming from Afghanistan. We are my little church that my little liberal church that were involved in is active. We think by the end of the year. We will be in the process of resettling about fifty families.

40:04 Al from Afghanistan that are through something called Lutheran immigration, and Refugee Services, is the second largest organization after Catholic Charities to to do that. But they've been active in Immigration and immigration reform for years, but those, but those families, those families were working to make a place for those families here and hoping that they will be welcomed trying to doing everything we can to try to make them, welcome to finding the places where they would normally want to go, which is places where other Afghans have settled, like, Northern Virginia. And some of those places unaffordable there, on a portable in Northern Virginia, initially, looked at Atlanta to Baltimore, Northern.

41:04 Engineer, they look at Atlanta and now they've spread out to Birmingham because it's way more affordable.

41:15 That's awesome. That's good to hear. I love those stories. Those folks were dealt a pretty hard blow here. Recently in

41:27 I seen some stuff like that. And yeah, I want to get them game squared away where they can be safe and happy and prosperous again.

41:36 But I will tell you that a structure exists here because we've been doing that for years or immigrants from Guatemala and Honduras. Good how

41:50 So we, we've been practicing.

41:57 How does that work? Y'all acclimate them to, I guess the area the community, when they come they come and we have we will have resources including things. Like most of them will come with virtually nothing. And so, set them up with Apartments, set them up with Furniture. Help them get their children, enrolled in school, help them figure out how to, how to get employment, support them with resources in the community. That ideally, that are folks that are from their own, their own cultural background, that can help them acclimate and do that. But simple example,

42:52 Computers for kids for high school kids. So last year, the last thing we did before. We went into lockdown as deliver set, up computers to a family that had just gotten here from

43:11 From Honduras had made the trip from Honduras because the fifteen-year-old son had been threatened. That unless he joined a gang, the entire family would be killed and so they did what I would have done, they picked up there. They picked up their family and they ran.

43:29 That's what I would have done, you know, to keep my family safe and when they got here we tried to figure out how to help them.

43:39 It's also.

43:41 I'm like, I like a lot.

43:44 I find that a lot of it in some places people show up without documentation. That's the documentation doesn't exist anymore.

43:53 Or they never existed. Right? Right. And so, you know, we talked about, we talk about the Constitution and the laws, but I think it that the immigration saw that, the immigration system is broken. I think that that both the Democrats and Republicans are making bank by my polarizing us and we need to just we need to sit down together and fix it. We just need to fix it. We need the porters. Do need to be secure. But we also need to take care of people.

44:30 And then people that have enough gumption to pick up and and grab their kids and run to save their lives. I don't think we, I don't think we should be keeping those folks out.

44:43 Now, I agree, especially in Texas, take care of him squared away, but the same time.

44:58 In a lot of people crossing over that river, that aren't aren't good characters. That all Muslims are trying to keep out.

45:10 I don't think it's an either-or. I think it's a both and we got to do both.

45:16 No, absolutely. I've always felt the immigration system.

45:22 You know that's worth say about but needs at least remember all that, you know, the the pathway to my family used to get here, you know for five generations ago, made sense the pathway for an individual to get here. Now, you know, what takes seven years and thousands of dollars hundred, tens of thousands of dollars, maybe even two.

45:47 To get them, I'll get them naturalized, if they want to be, if you want to come here and make this a better place. I do not want to stop you. I want you to absolutely have that ability and you'll have the the right to chart your own path and make your own. What?

46:18 So what else would you? What else would you like to ask me?

46:26 See, what can we?

46:30 So do you think you're how do I, how do I put this?

46:35 When it comes to support will say this Parish folks, folks. Just looking for a hand up or are trying to get going. Do you want to give more to a government idea or a community? And for me? I always go to my church. Which one would you you?

47:01 So I think it's, I think it's both, so we try to do, try to do both and I'll give you an example, my husband and I went on Wednesday night. There's a homeless man shelter here in Birmingham the firehouse shelter and there and that are on the street for whatever reason and every couple of months we go we gather up and we could feed him dinner. I think we fed 76 on on Wednesday night, right? And just go and spend time with them and and feed him dinner. And so that's something that we do, but but I will tell you as well, that I believe that there's two stomach issues.

47:46 And we have to fix this systemic issues and I think it is on the government and us as Citizens to work to fix the systemic issues.

47:57 I'm in a simple. Simple example of that might be might be in Alabama. They are voters rights about 5 years ago. The Secretary of State shut all of the driver's license bureaus within the black belt. So if you're so if you're a person of color and you live in that and you live in the world part of the state, which is primarily black you, now, you don't have to show for forms of identification. You have to drive 2 hours.

48:37 And to try to get to try to get your driver's driver's license, even if even if you've never driven, so, when we, when we say, should people have documentation they should do. I want documentation, when we go to vote, we do. I do, do I want it to be, if you're a citizen, should it be tremendously difficult and expensive to get that? No, it shouldn't be.

49:03 But we work hard here to make it difficult for people to do that and it marginalizes people who are poor and people of color.

49:14 And so I think that the government it is on the government to fix those things.

49:20 I think it's on us as Citizens to fix those things to correct those and that me and then takes money to do that.

49:28 Something about schools we can talk about this difference in funding of schools, right?

49:40 Leah, I guess there is schools are or you can get a bond past. I guess these days and days, at least and Mark are the world. Yeah. I need those guys to be educated. I need them to be able to take jobs that are high tech jobs.

50:02 I need them to be good citizens and educated about the Constitution.

50:06 That means I'm going to have to punt it cuz they can't find it themselves.

50:10 I think that's where I'm at to is.

50:14 Just trying to figure out the avenue to funding that. But yeah, I want everyone to have that equal shot Pathways there. I'm not going to hinder it. The only hindrance will be no your own self discipline and how creative you can make it.

50:36 But I'm at the, I'm at the point where I think we're going to have to find it.

50:45 There are a few clothes and questions, but ours is, is there anything you learned about me today? That surprised you and Mike you can take this one first thing you learned about assoc worked on the original profession, you know, Centric. But that's also cuz I see those everywhere personal level. And I really, really enjoyed the chili. We have with us the daughters part. That's something that I wrestle with. So,

51:29 To learn 1800 from you and your experiences and how you trained. Your kids is a really really beneficial. I appreciate it.

51:42 I was tickled to death to find somebody in the programs and professions. That is awesome. That is awesome to to hear and to do it does not. I'll tell you what doesn't surprise me. It doesn't surprise me that you take care of your neighbors that that that it's important to you to go out and help other people that did not surprise me at all. I'm happy happy to have spent the time.

52:12 And the last question is, was I who you expected me to be and can we sing us a song first?

52:19 I was with Mike who I expected him to be.

52:23 You know, I would say, I would say that I am a, as they say, a, a blue book. In a very red State. I would tell you that my experience with, with my friends, that are more conservative than I am. And most everyone is more conservative than I am. Is that they are good Folks At Heart that they are good folks. And so I expected, I expected that I expected you to find someone with a good heart. So yes.

52:58 Ben and I'll mirror.cim statement there, too. I believe that people are inherently good that coming across an actual person. That means malcontent as, you know, very, very far between so absolutely expected him to to be a nice loving person that we can have a conversation with

53:20 The other I'm on Friday morning, I appreciate it. Thank you, Nia for a tracking me down. I swear I was thinking a room by myself, feeling unloved, make my day.

53:46 Nicki Minaj.