Sheniqua Roberson and Marcus Roberson

[00:03] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Hi, I am doctor Shaniqua Roberson. I'm 45 years old, and today is October 27, and I live in Mobile, Alabama. And I'm here interviewing today with my partner, Marcus Roberson, who's also my husband.

[00:21] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes, I'm Marcus Roberson I'm 44 years old, October 2723. I also live in Mobile, Alabama.

[00:37] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Okay. So sitting here, I was thinking, what is your proudest moment in life?

[00:47] MARCUS ROBERSON: My proudest moment in life? I had a couple. One is meeting you. Meeting you is one of my proudest moments. You changed my life inside out. Also, having my son was the next proudest moment and my third proudest moment when I took over the Alabama Kings basketball organization. So I have about 120 kids in the organization. So developing kids for basketball is a big purpose of my life. And what about you?

[01:36] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: I will look at it as the proudest moment in my life. I have several as well. The first one is actually being able to accomplish and receive several degrees, educational degrees. The second two, which is, I won't say is a particular order. It's just all of them are linear, is actually two meeting you, because I think once we got together and we have the same goals, the same dynamics, you kind of push me into things because I'm the type that has a certain. If I get comfortable in a certain situation, I stay there because that's comfortable for me, and I'm used to it. So meeting you and having several degrees that I wasn't using that you kind of pushed me into to say, hey, you'll be great. And this would be a proud moment because of the fact that you said, hey, you can do this. And you believed in me, and you believed in what I did and or could do. And the other, which makes it a proud moment for me as well, is because in meeting you, I would have never, ever opened up a business to say, okay, I can do this. I can actually be successful in a business, and especially because I'm a little bit scary scarier rather than you. And I tend to kind of fall back with different things. And you said, hey, you know, you can do this. And opening up an educational service in mobile, AEI educational services, you're saying, you can do it. And it was in the middle of the pandemic, and I noticed that that's where students needed me the most. And I just remember the nights that you were up there with me to 1011, 12:00 at night, making sure things were right, and you kind of took ownership of it, too. So. But I think that was a design or where we both got together and just partner and made sure that everything that we put our name on, we do it, and we do it to fidelity. So that was a proud, my proudest moment is you and just pushing to where we can just be in life.

[04:19] MARCUS ROBERSON: Saying and say this. What's your favorite, favorite moment for you?

[04:26] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: My favorite moment? Oh, gosh. The part that I keep going back to when I think about us is we got married so untraditionally. You know, we didn't do the church, church wedding or the big wedding or the fancy wedding.

[04:47] MARCUS ROBERSON: My family's a big church.

[04:48] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: And, yes, my family, we're big church people, but we got married at the courthouse. And so, and just going through that ceremony of things, and I was thinking, oh, my gosh, the way we laughed and through the ceremony and just had fun with it. And I'm thinking, oh, my gosh, are we going to take our life and just laugh through that one and everything will be funny? Because, of course, it was interesting at the day of the courthouse. So that is probably the most favorite memory that I have, is because we started the journey together. What about you?

[05:32] MARCUS ROBERSON: Mine was the first year anniversary Cruz cosmetics. You was pregnant.

[05:38] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Yes.

[05:39] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes. So I feel that that was one of my favorite moments, memories. Just because, you know, that was your first time on a cruise ship and enjoyed the moment. So.

[05:53] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Being big.

[05:54] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes, yes, yes. But we made the best out of nothing on that trip, so we always.

[05:59] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Make the best out of nothing.

[06:00] MARCUS ROBERSON: That was a moment to remember forever young, dying to know how you guys met. Oh, my God. Oh, Mandy. See? Do you want to tell this story?

[06:16] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: You could tell it.

[06:18] MARCUS ROBERSON: I worked two jobs, and one of my jobs, my part time job was at a doll store, so we sold DVD's and different stuff. And her. And her friend came in the store because, oh, one of friends came in, wanted a gift for her. What was her brother. Her brother, yes. And I pointed to the DVD section and go, his dvd's over there. So she was shy. She was shy. She didn't want to come in the room, in the. In the building at all. And she finally came in, and I pointed in the right direction, and her friend said, hey, my friend was interested in you. Then you got. I gave you the number, right? No, you actually.

[07:16] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: No, I have a friend who's very outgoing, and like I said, I'm very reserved. And so Myra was like, come with me because I got to send Derrick some dvd's overseas. And I was just like, oh, I'm not going in that store. Are you kidding me? And she was like, oh, whatever. You gotta live a little. So we went in, and she was talking to Marcus, and she was talking to you, remember? And she asked you for some DvD's and you said, is it for you and your partner? And she was like, no, that's not my partner. I'm getting it from my brother. And so what she ended up doing, she paid for the DVD's, and we both got into the cardinal, and she told me, hey, I left my debit card in the building. And so I said, you better hurry up and go back and get it before he takes your information and use it on your card. So she came back into the car, and she handed me a piece of paper, and I was like, what is this? And she said, it's. The guy's in their phone number. His name is Marcus. And I think that y'all will be good together. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I know you didn't do that. You didn't go in there and tell that man that I wanted him, did you? And she was like, no, but y'all will be good together. And she actually called you, if you.

[08:35] MARCUS ROBERSON: Remember that night, why you didn't call your friend? Why didn't you call?

[08:39] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: No, she called you and she said, oh, I was just making sure that this was the right number so I wouldn't come in there and have to beat you up or something. So that's kind of basically how we met. And then she ended up calling you to ask you, are y'all gonna talk? Because I wouldn't. I wouldn't call. I think I was kind of scared to call.

[08:58] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah, sure.

[08:59] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: And so she kind of, like, navigated all that, and that's how we got together. So I contribute her for everything. But in looking at that, I think it was God intervention, because I never would have said anything if she didn't kind of, like, stir the. Steer, the stern wheel with that one.

[09:23] MARCUS ROBERSON: God intervening at the adult store.

[09:28] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Yes. Yes, that's it. We always wondered if we were going to tell our kids that story, how we met. That's gonna be funny. So, yep, that's the. That's the biggest thing. So, in looking at favorite memory. My favorite memory that I have of you is the day that Marcus was born, because you were so in tune to the delivery. And so. And then I thought it was funny, too, because once we had Marcus, I don't even know if you remember that. I was throwing up from the anesthesia, and your mom and my mom were trying to take care of me. And so, and I'm looking like, where's my husband? And he's over there taking pictures up and down. Marcus is this size. He's this. This size. And I'm like, okay, so he is so in tune with his baby being born. And just to see that dynamic of how he was or how you were the day of, I knew then that you would be the best father to have. And so, and looking at that, I think that has spilled through in every dynamic of your life right now, because, of course, he started playing with the Alabama Kings, and then you were in tune with that being his coach, and that you're still coaching him to this day in this organization, and you took over the organization just to make it better for students and for players that indirectly or directly say, helps him as well. I think your true desire of the father figured has carried through from him to Alabama Kings to you helping with Theodore High school's basketball fall league. So I think that family, that father dynamic has carried out through, and it started with that moment of when you laid eyes on him in the hospital, when you realize that your baby was born. So.

[11:47] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes, I saying that, to say this, that stems me in that direction, dealing with other kids that didn't have the opportunity of fathers that would be there. So from the city league to the AAU side of it, that pushed me to coach and keep the gym open for the other kids that don't have the opportunity to play the game or have someone there to talk to.

[12:24] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: I remember when you started this organization, and I want to see if you remember this and how all these young men used to come over our house and spend the night on the weekends. And I used to say, marcus, I'm tired of other folks kids staying here because I felt like I had more of everybody's kids, more than my own kids. But now it seems like I have a line to your thoughts, because we started with, okay, having these kids, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, every weekend we have Alabama kings kids, we have West Mobile kids at our house because of all these sports. And so now it just has. It has filtered through, because we still have kids at our house, and it doesn't bother me whatsoever, because now I look at it to say, I'd rather them be at our house than to be at somebody else's house or be somewhere in the streets.

[13:20] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah. That was the whole purpose of it. Just keep them around. Build a bun bun I didn't have when I was young. It was a young bond. When you start young, it's easy to deal with keeping the kids around. So that was my biggest thing. I didn't have that when I was a kid. So that's definitely one of the things I want to push. Friendship, brotherhood, keep them around the house. Then you know what they doing. Won't get in no trouble or less. Less trouble. They definitely gonna get in trouble some kind of way.

[13:56] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Now, that leads me to ask you this.

[13:58] MARCUS ROBERSON: What's that?

[13:59] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Since you said that you didn't have this growing up, how has your life been different than what you imagined? So when you. You look at where you are now and where you started or your adolescent, teenage, young adult years, look at it from there, how do you think, or how has your life been different than what you imagined, what you saw that you wanted your life to be as you were growing up?

[14:29] MARCUS ROBERSON: Well, my mom raised me a single parent. I didn't have the opportunities I had. You know, she put me in a position. But the opportunities and exposure that my son and his teammates have was different. We played in the city, city league, inner city. So we stayed right here in Mobile. The kids around me now, oh, man, they been in Atlanta, New Orleans, up and down Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia. They travel a bit more on football than basketball, so they got a little bit more exposure. That's the biggest thing, exposure, getting out, playing different levels of basketball. I didn't have that, you know, because my mom, like I said, she was a single parent, so she didn't have the means or didn't. She had the means. She just didn't do it. The vision of me exposing the kids exposed the kids, got them more opportunities to play different levels of basketball.

[15:43] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: I look at that because I laugh, because, of course, you know me growing up, I always said I was going to be an attorney. I'm being attorney. I went to school, majored in English, so I can go to law school, but then I ended up teaching, and I realized after maybe the second or third year that I like teaching. And so I never imagined me staying in education for 25 years and saying that, I'm gonna do this, because I always said, nope, I'm not teaching anybody's child. I don't like children, and realized that I did like children. And so now I feel like I'm the biggest or one of the biggest advocates for kids. And I see that with AEI now and the educational service I have in Mobile, and just listening to the parents that every day that I come and talk to, that tells me, hey, I'm glad that you did this. The biggest accomplishment or the thing that I had yesterday. One of my students who started coming to me never said one word. He just came and got tutored and just kept going. And so we just had that dialogue. So yesterday he came up to me while we were, I was tutoring some students and he handed me a letter. And so I'm reading a letter and it was from the University of Mobile who offered him a 50% scholarship. And just to look up at him that he's never really talked much. And he was like, thank you. And I said, why are you thanking me? And he said, because you helped me make this possible. And I was just like, really? I said, and I always like to look and see how their mindsets are and what they're thinking about. And I said, well, how do you think that I'm going to help you make this possible? He said, because I wouldn't have gotten it if you didn't tutor me on the act and making sure that I got my act score up. So I was like, oh, okay. So he made that connection. And to look at his face to see how he was so happy that this was his very first, because he's a senior, this is his very first scholarship offer. And so it made me feel happy because I said, oh, he noticed that I'm instrumental in helping him get to this point. And that's where I always wanted to do and wanted to be with students is to help them get to levels that they felt like they would never get to. And then I look back on it and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I didn't realize that I would be that person. I would be that person that will help kids and help them on a whole different level of life. So that's the part that I didn't imagine. I thought I was going to be this high profile attorney fighting cases and making money, I guess looking at what television would give you. And then now I'm still fighting to get kids what they need in life so they could be successful. So I just thought that that was interesting to see how that had totally shift. But I still have a higher purpose.

[19:11] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah. You know, with the education system, you dealing with more and more, I mean, how you feel about the, you know, the teacher shortage we have? You see a big deal when you're doing a tutoring, right?

[19:25] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: I do. And that's probably the saddest moment. So, like, if people ask me, just like this morning, I was having a conversation with a parent and I was trying to get him to understand because he was very upset about his son's grade. And he said, and I don't understand how he made a straight a last year in math and now he's struggling. And I said, well, last year he didn't have a teacher the whole year. He had a teacher half of a semester. I said, so you have to understand, he got 50% of the work and now he's in a class. Not only a class, but a dual enrollment math class and math bills on each other. He didn't get 100% of the work last year. So now you're seeing the effects of it. And unfortunately, that's where our nation is going to. A lot of parents think that, oh, I'm sending my kid to school and they are asking our students, how was school today? Some parents make that an equivalence of, if I didn't get in trouble, I'm doing good in school. And so, but they're not understanding that. It's not about just the trouble. It's about, I wonder how many parents actually have to ask their students, do you have a teacher? Because in kids mind if you say, well, how was school today? And they're like good in their parents eyes, oh, that's great. I never got a phone call, so I'm okay with that. And then, or they'll say, you know, such and such, oh, my teacher was there. And half the time the kids don't even know unless, you know, especially if they're older, it's a sub. And so when parents look at a report card, they don't realize that if you have a sub, legally they can't fail your student. They have to give them a minimum grade.

[21:22] MARCUS ROBERSON: So that's why you see an influx of kids needing help with the tutoring.

[21:28] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Yes, because of the simple fact that they'll get in. And once they do get a teacher, that teacher picks up where they are. If you think about it, it's 30 kids in a class. It's hard to meet everybody where they are. So the teacher meets the middle ground and you either have kids that will rise to that occasion or they get lost in the shuffles. And that's because some of them don't have a teacher. Think about it. I'm working in Montgomery this week at a school, and they're short twelve teachers in the entire school. And so with that, you got another school that's just right down the street that's short nine teachers. And people think, oh, it's just nine, it's just twelve. But think about when twelve teachers are teaching 100 kids, you got 12,000 kids. That's just boom. So with that, I think about what the future holds for me and what the future holds for us. Like you and I in general. With that, I believe that. I believe AEI will grow, the educational service will grow some because of the need of education and getting things together also. I even looked at it with you because I was actually telling one of our parents this when she was talking about it. And she said that I just felt like my son is not learning how to be an athlete or what. And I said, put him with my husband. If you want him to be a basketball player, put him with my husband. I told her, I said, Marcus has free trainings on Tuesdays nights, talk about basketball skills. And so. And I even told her, I said, and once he does that, you got to look at it. I said, because what Marcus is doing right now is all of his high school players are playing AAU ball. He's taking them around the southeast. He's getting them exposed. And that exposure is a bigger picture because unfortunately, being in education and being a former school counselor, they're not recruiting anymore in the schools. They're recruiting in AAU ball, they're recruiting in travel ball. And especially down here when you have mobile, mobile thinks that football city is we the football city. So basketball kind of gets pushed in the background and they're like, oh, it's just basketball. So when you have an organization like yours that's saying, okay, let's show students that basketball, let's show athletes players that basketball is more important, or actually equally important, rather, and they're going to get it. And so when I talked to your basketball players that you put in the act camp, you would just, I don't know. Did you, did you talk to your parents when they did?

[24:47] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah. Yes. They was excited about it. I mean, that's just something that I want to continue on doing is pushing that act for them. So that's one of my biggest things I want to work on in the future, pushing that from park ball to AAU to pushing those act scores up.

[25:12] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: And they were, they were excited. And that was, I think that was just a piece that I feel like mobile is missing.

[25:20] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes.

[25:21] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: You know, especially not being originally from mobile and being, you know, living in California, then coming to Mississippi and then migrating to mobile. I can see the difference in what people put their focus and their attention on because, like, you know, Terrell, my brother, he went to college for basketball. California at that time was a basketball state. You know, basketball was equally important. And then you come to Mississippi. And you see now it's a shift in not only basketball, but football. And then once you definitely come to mobile and you see the community in mobile, it's football, football, football, you know, get them in football. Football is gonna be their way out. And I'm like, no, you got so many avenues that will help a student get out. And so to hear that, to say a parent, to say, well, I want my child to learn how to play basketball, and I wanna see what avenues can lead them to other places. To me, that's great. That's great that they're only, they're not just pushing football, they're pushing the basketball. And not only basketball, but they're pushing the academics, which I feel like is the key to both of them to get somewhere. So that's what I see the future holding, not only for me with the educational part, but for you with the athletic part. And I think that by us being married and understanding that from both of our perspectives, we can partner and conquer and do something with it.

[27:03] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes, yes, definitely saying that, I mean, that's one of the biggest things. Getting the kids young into the program. You know, being from being five u to eleven u, pushing the kid out of, to the middle school, making the middle school team, middle school team to AAU side of it, that's my biggest drive from five to eleven, is getting those kids on a middle school team. So that's a strong point of my organization. I'm pushing more then when you get to that level from middle school, getting the grades for.

[27:46] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Excuse me, AeI and act.

[27:49] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes.

[27:50] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Now let me ask this. Cause I know, I always know that we can't do this forever.

[27:54] MARCUS ROBERSON: What's that?

[27:55] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Just anything. We can't do it forever.

[27:57] MARCUS ROBERSON: Right?

[27:58] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So when we are 65, 70 years old, okay. And, you know, at that age, people tend to start reflecting back on their life because they're in that phase. So when you get to be 70 and you're reflecting back on your life, what would you like to be remembered by? What you want people to remember you by?

[28:30] MARCUS ROBERSON: That I was a fair guy. I was fair. Gave the kid a. A chance. Honest, real. Yeah, he's a real guy.

[28:50] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So then I'm gonna make it a little bit deeper.

[28:52] MARCUS ROBERSON: What's that?

[28:52] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So mj, when mj turns 40 and mj has to, and somebody asks, mjdeheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh what's the best quality about your dad? What do you want, marcus, to say?

[29:10] MARCUS ROBERSON: My dad was there. He was there at every game.

[29:16] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Good.

[29:17] MARCUS ROBERSON: Or bad, he was there. He didn't play in the game. As you see this year, doing football, I was there. I was at every game. I supported him, talked to him, someone that I did listen. Even though times he did get in trouble and he was on his butt, I listened, understood.

[29:46] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So I thought about that, because I remember being at my grandmother's funeral, and so when we were getting ready to walk out the church, and I looked, just actually had the time to look at the crowd and look at the balcony and look at all the people outside, I was just, like, in awe, because I realized how many people remembered her. And then, you know how when someone passed and they come and talk to you about your family members or they come and visit you just to see what they said about her. And so it made me realize that in that moment, especially being in education, how heavy I'm in education, I want the biggest thing that people to remember me by, what I did to help them, how I moved them. I get so proud when I see, and I know I'm telling my age again, but I get so proud to see that. I look at Katina, and I don't even know if I told you this, but yesterday, when I was working with teachers in Montgomery, this one of the teachers, she kept looking at me, and she kept looking at me. And of course, you know, I'm looking at her, and I'm like, she looks like Katina, but I know she's not Katina. And then she finally just got up the nerve to ask me, and she said, are you miss good? And I said, yes. I said, that's my maiden name. She said, I don't think you remember, but you taught me at Blunt high school. And I said, are you Katina's cousin or sister? I said, no, I knew Katina didn't have a sister. I said, are you related to Katina? She said, that's my cousin. She said, but you taught me 9th grade English at blunt. And I was like, okay. And then as soon as she told me her name, I remembered it. And so I said, what are you doing now? She said, I actually teach English here. And she said, do you know I loved you? You know, you inspired me. And she said, I remember the biggest. I said, so what you really remember in my class? I said, oh, my God, did I knock you out? And she said, no, I was one of the good ones, remember? And I was just. We were just laughing about it. And she said, the biggest thing I remembered was you teaching us Romeo and Juliet in such an unconventional. She said, I still remember that. And she said, and I actually teach Romeo and Juliet, just like you. And so that made me proud. I said, that's the things that I can feel like I've accomplished in life, to know that once I get 20, 30, 40 years down the road, people still remember something about me that carried them through. So that was a proud moment for me.

[32:58] MARCUS ROBERSON: Mm hmm.

[33:02] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So in looking at that, what do you think? What do you think the future holds for us? If I said, okay, Marcus, what you want us to be doing next year or the year after?

[33:16] MARCUS ROBERSON: Building more, just continue on with both organizations. I want to add more to what we do, help more kids. This year, I trained free for one month. Next year, I want to do two months of free training for the kids. Just continue on building both programs.

[33:48] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: And it's funny, because the time that I've been sitting here, I said, you know, I think people outside of us in a conversation like we're having now, because I know we live through both the programs that we have, but like I told someone before, we have such a great relationship, we have a great dynamics. You know what I love? I know what you love. And because we both have passions that we believe in, I think our life revolves around that. And then when you look at it, and we got our kids, our kids fitting in, that dynamic of the education, of the athletics and moving with them, I think that's our biggest thing, because I know every goal that we have is a goal that not only helps community, but in turn, once we're accomplishing things in a community, I think that's the driving force, because we're on the same page with, that's the thing. Those are the things that we want to do. And so that's why I always ask that, because I know we got two more years of our boys being in high school. So after that, do you see yourself still continuing in the path with helping kids?

[35:10] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah. I say yes because it's like a parent asking me the other day, Tuesday, I was tired going in, going in the gym, but when those kids stepped in the gym, it's like I had.

[35:27] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Another burst of energy.

[35:29] MARCUS ROBERSON: Burst of energy. I mean, that what motivates me keeps me going. Long day of work and come to the gym and watch kids get excited, want to be there, running up to you. So that's something I want to continue on doing. Keeps me going. What does it keep you younger?

[35:51] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Keep you younger?

[35:52] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yeah. Yep.

[35:55] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: So if you said, hey, Shaniqua, this is in five years, this is what I think that you should be doing. What do you think I should be doing in five years.

[36:04] MARCUS ROBERSON: Five years. School. What about a school doing your school, doing study? Yes, I think getting to the school system, having your own cause. Yes, I think that's a direction because I feel like your heart and the people that surround you, they heart out more. They are in it. You know what I'm saying? So that's a big accomplishment, but that's something that can happen. You know what me and you talked about, you know, from a small building where you at now to get a bigger building and push a school start, something like that.

[36:57] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Okay.

[36:58] MARCUS ROBERSON: I think the support is there. You have a good supporting cast with teachers right now, qualified teachers, so that all your teachers are want to be there.

[37:12] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: I can say I'm blessed with that. I'm blessed that I do have a.

[37:16] MARCUS ROBERSON: Good group of teachers who likewise with me. I feel like with my basketball organization, I got guys that want to be there training for free. They come into the gym, want to be there. And that's where you got to surround yourself around people that have that same desire and want and go, it's not about money, it's about helping the kids.

[37:43] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: And I know because they, I hear that all the time, they're like, you're the cheapest tutoring service around here. And even one parent asked me one time before, she said, the quality must not be there because you're cheap. Is it quality? I said, yes. I said, but, you know, we all have full time jobs and we do this because we love to do it. And that's the biggest difference is we know that there's a need for it. And it's not about us trying to become millionaires here. It's about trying to change lives. I think we had a good conversation today. You know, we used to have these and we still have them if we can stay up late.

[38:25] MARCUS ROBERSON: Yes, I know, right?

[38:28] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: Cause I know I'll be talking to you and all of a sudden I look and you are just like knocked out. Cause I know I'm the late person that stays up to one or 02:00 in the morning. So this was a great conversation.

[38:43] MARCUS ROBERSON: Anything else you wanna hit on?

[38:45] SHANIQUA ROBERSON: No, that would be all it.