5 Little Known Black History Facts

Foreign.

To our Brothers in Conversation podcast, powered by Jesse and Shondell.

Shondell, you are from Bed Stuy do or Die Brooklyn. That little town.

That's a little town. That's nothing like Hawthorne, Nevada, population 5,000 cats and dogs. So welcome to our Conversations podcast, powered by Jesse and Shondell. Absolutely. And this is Black History Month with a special showcase of Michelle.

So why you don't sound black if it's black history?

Because I work. Working on it, brother. Give me a minute. Give me a minute.

You have to have your black coffee.

Right, right. He clearly didn't get his coffee. So Michelle Johnson is more. She's more than. I don't know what you call yourself because you've got so many talents that I've. That I've witnessed myself. I know you got great pipes as a singer. I know that you're intelligent. I know you got technical expertise. I know you could do everything from Apple to wash the car.

And she was born in Brooklyn.

Oh, no. I didn't know that. Oh, no. I'm outnumbered.

Born in Queens, but from Brooklyn.

Okay, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So you've got so many talents. It's. We're super excited to have you on the program.

Right, right.

Oh, yeah. And. And Sankofa. Tell us about that, because that's. That's something. Sankofa.

Yes. Well, sankofa is a word that comes from the twee tribe of Ghana that means go back and fetch it. Go back and get it, or look back and get it.

Nice.

And it has come to become a concept that the African American community has embraced in terms of going back to their history or going back to lessons from the past.

Okay.

And it's all about looking at the past, reflecting on the past, learning from the past, and then taking that and parlaying what you've learned so that you have a better future.

Love it.

Say it again.

So everybody knows how to pronounce Sankofa.

And so you.

I am Sankofa.

Oh, you sound like the Black Panther.

You could adapt it as a name, I suppose.

No, no, I mean concept.

But you're gonna do a program featuring the music, and all that sort of choices are going to lend itself to this whole.

Well, the program, the show that I'm doing, we gave it that name because it's a retrospective of African American history and culture.

Oh, nice.

And, of course, it's impossible to do everything that ever happened in African American history in two hours, but we're doing a broad sweep of music and poetry and dance to a small degree because it's a small stage. But we're. We're basically paying homage to our past through this musical show. It's a concert.

Where. Where is this? What time?

Cabaret Jazz at the smith center at 3 o' clock this Sunday.

It's an intimate venue.

It's a very.

And the Smith center is a very special place to be able to perform.

Honored to perform there.

I mean, you feel like you're in downtown New York somewhere because of the structure and the building, and it's just really, really classy.

I love it there.

You perform there quite a bit. I have.

This is my 15th show.

Get out. Well, why. Wait a minute.

Where have you been before?

Before I tell you where I've been. Hold on. I'm gonna tell you where I'm going. So.

And that's the theme, by the way. Where you've been and where you're going.

See, the brother catches on quickly.

So check it out.

How many times have you performed at the Smith Center?

How many times have I performed?

Yeah. Or spoken. Performed.

You don't really want to.

Okay, so that means zero. And so I got one. So it's 15 to one. To zero.

I haven't performed there, but I've been there anytime.

No, no, not sitting there. As you. The feature. You're the featured talent. I'm never the feature. I spoke.

What were you speaking?

I spoke to city council.

Oh, excellent.

And it was. It was on leadership and development. Excellent. Yeah, I got paid. So. So the quick. So a quick sidebar story about getting paid working at Bellagio backtracked to 1998 to 2001. And this is the first time in my marketing career that I was ever more of an order taker than a marketer. Because when Bellagio opened, they just busted down the doors to get in the highest and biggest levels of clients. Seriously, this is really true. And I always like to help everybody that's in front of me. So I'm on the phone and I'm in. And I'm in the credit office. And so I was a credit executive host there. And. Hello, is Jesse. May I ask you to hold one moment? Hello, is Jesse. May I ask you hold one moment? I do that eight times now. Go back to the top of the line and help him in the proper order. And this guy from Alabama was sitting across from me watching the whole thing, waiting for me to serve him. And when I finished about 15 minutes later, after handling all those calls, he says, bullet, man, you ought to get paid by the word Now I do get paid by the word.

Oh, right on.

Yeah. That's why Scott from Alabama.

That's why he talks.

No, that was my uncle. My uncle from Louisiana said, boy, you sure do talking.

Paid by the word.

But isn't that something? Get paid by the word. So that was it.

So you know what?

I'm.

I'm really into that same culture.

Yeah, it's.

It's February 23rd.

Makes sense.

It's sold out, though.

It is sold out. That's cool. It is my 15th sold out show, so I'm very proud of it.

Could they go and stand by just in case? Right, yeah, yeah, that was a.

You could. But the box office will hate me if I tell people to do that.

We didn't tell them that.

You didn't hear that try to get in type thing. And I mean, it's a small venue.

Yes, it is.

And I, I prefer working in venues that are around that size. It's. I think it's 240 seats.

Yeah, something.

I like it because I can see everybody and feel everybody and it's not that arena setting where I can't connect with people the same way, you know?

Oh, I love the connection part. Say your thing, you know? You know, I love that connection.

So I don't want. I want people to miss this because. So say again what you said the theme is Sankofa. Okay?

It is, it is looking back. It means to go back and fetch it.

Right. But you said something about looking back on your history so that you can.

I said that the purpose of Sankofa or the meaning of the concept is to reflect on the past and look back on the past and take those lessons and parlay them into your future.

Here's the thing that I need, like. And I'm always on this soapbox, so you gotta. You gotta. You know how.

Get on the soapbox.

Let's think about this one. African Americans, Americans in general have to understand what this history is all about. The history is for us to learn lessons and then to take those lessons and to become better than we were in the past.

Which means it's not just about black people. And we are all one people. Anyway, by my persuasion, I said, just.

Let me make this point in general, because sometimes I feel like when I was in college, this is an example, when I was in college, I went to Yale and I was an English major. And I remember the professor didn't address me very often, but whenever there was a topic that had to do with. With race or African American, whatever they Go. Well, Michelle, what do you think of that? And I remember thinking, you know, we're not invisible. We're part of this fabric of this country and this world, period. So I think when you're talking about African American history and Sankofa and Black History Month, it's important to remember that this is. This is a permanent mark on this world. This isn't just a small, divided topic that's only important in February. And our history is American history.

Well said.

Let's talk about German American history. You'd give me the RCA dog tilt because you wouldn't know quite what I was talking about because it's like, well, what do you mean? And it's sort of the same thing. I think it's important to embrace our past and where we've come from and where. Excuse me, where we're going. Because you don't know where you're going if you don't know where you came from.

Right.

And let me tell you why that's a good point. Because a lot of people that. Funny you should say that because I. I've had people that I've served where they didn't know their father and the mother said, I don't know who your father is, okay? And that notion right there leaves them on tilt for the rest of their lives to the point you just made. To have a sense of foundation of where you've come from and who you are and who you are and who you also are becoming to the point of this whole thing is extremely important. Without it, it's a missing. Yeah, it's like a certain missing.

I just. I don't. I just think that fills the puzzle of your life. If you can look at your ancestors.

I think that's important to get a sense of knowing.

But I also think it's important that we share. Because my father say this all the time. Why don't we share it with other people so they understand. Like, you know, we're here in Guy Martin's house. Right. This is Martin Harris. We thank you, Guy. Thank you, Austin. Thank you, Colton, everybody who made this happen. Thank you, Raven, for hooking us up. And Lisa, of course, is the mastermind behind all of this. But Guy Martin came to an event last year where they were featuring African Americans and they happened to be featuring me at the Clark County Government center and some others. And these were people who made contributions. Guy said, I am not. I'm even more proud of my city for recognizing these people who I've never. I never would have known existed had I Not been here. And so what it does is.

You'Ve.

Taken a guy who's grown up here, was very disconnected with the African American community. Now he eats at Grits Cafe every week.

Because it's good.

Yeah.

Because he's like, I loved it. Right.

And he walks. Or Shondell will say, sure enough.

Yeah, right, Exactly. Showed up. But that's the key to it, is helping everybody to understand that it is American history.

It is American history.

It is American history. So he saw this world history.

It is world history. And we've got some facts we're going to come to that's going to tie back to that world history point that you made. But still, congratulations to you for selling out anywhere, especially the Smith Center. It's a big deal. It's not easy. You say that that rolled off your tongue very smoothly and softly, but there's a lot of labor and intense behind that. People don't really get that. People usually only see the COVID the shiny stuff. The depth of what you just said is really huge.

To her credit, she puts the work in. She just said, hey, you know, I do a lot of work. I do my marketing. I do my outreach. I connect to people. People here, they're her fans.

And here's what I like about what you just said. And Shondal, back me up on this one. I literally lived for many years by the modem of being good enough. I wanted to press hard to be a great professional, a great speaker, a great communicator, a great executive coach, life coach, blah, blah, blah. And I did all that I could do to continue to aspire to those levels, thinking that was enough. Once I get there, that's it. Until I watched 20ft from stardom, that's my life. I know that's your life. When I watched the movie 20ft from stardom, it was the wake up call. You have to feel me on this one. So I'm in a broken place because I'm thinking, but all the education and all the experience and all the wins and all the. My average score on a 10 point scale is 9.7, so. Right. And then I watched 20ft from stardom. And you know what I learned from that? Good enough is not good enough. You got to go beyond that. It's not just about those angelic voices like the one you have. I thought, you know, Lisa Fisher singing for Luther Vandross and the Rolling Stones, that's it. No, that's not it. That's a start.

Yeah.

It feels like a finish for most of us. But it isn't.

I will say that. And my friends. That my close friends will back me up on this. I do. I have realized that if you are a type A personality, which you kind of have to be in my business, at least to be successful, I think that I. I'm trying to tie this into Sankofa a little bit. One of the things I'm teaching myself is not to be so focused on just where I'm going, that when I hit a certain level of success, I don't acknowledge it or take time.

Right.

Because I rarely do. You can clap for that. I rarely do. My brother, actually, who is also a musician and an attorney, told me, you know, when you do a show, you know, you just. You're already the next day on Facebook promoting the next show.

Right.

Of course, it's not about resting on your laurels.

I'm not talking about that. No.

But just take a minute to breathe in what you just accomplished. I. I don't do that enough. And so I don't look at my past and say, okay, that was great. Let me breathe that in. Let me take a minute. Let me enjoy that success before moving forward, and let me take that bag of what I learned with me to the next thing.

I love.

That's a. That's a trait that a lot of us have. And I was watching an interview with Kobe Bryant, and, you know, same thing. We're talking about this thing with the Mamba mentality. It's like, he will win a championship, and then he's. He's ready and preparing for the next championship.

Right.

Because we do. I think it's. Because a lot of times, and I do. I do that a lot with my business. Right. It's like, okay, we won this contract. We doing this thing, but you know what? It's on to the next thing, and I move quick.

I do, too, because it's like I'm already thinking about the next thing, and we haven't even done the show yet. But I'm trying to combat that, because I don't think it's healthy. Well, I think that it puts you into this loop of not appreciating your journey.

I like that. I want to come back to that. I want to. I want to go right back to that very point. I might need you to remind me. But check it out.

In.

In the 24. Well, I want to stay focused. Focus. 20ft from. 20ft from stardom.

Stardom, yes.

She. There was a very prominent singer that said, this. This is what changed it all for me. To get the. Well, I'll have Gloria Estefan. No, no. Yes, yes.

Was it the youngest one?

No, she. She's. She started in the 60s and stuff. Her first name is. I can't think of it right now because I had.

Not talking about Mary when it. Forgot all their names all of a sudden. And I know them all.

When it comes, we'll bring it in. But what she said was she's super pred singer, just fabulous voice and great career track. And when they said, well, what do you think is what's holding you back? What's going on with you? What's the challenge? And when she said this, it changed everything for me. She says, I'm working to make a success of my talents and my gift.

Yeah, right.

So that said to me, even though you have the talents and gifts, even if you're good enough, the work then starts on how to propel that and get that out there and stay relevant and stay doing it and stay successful.

Well, if I may, if we're talking about 20ft from stardom, 20ft from stardom, for those who don't know, is a wonderful documentary movie about a series of background singers who you all have heard on iconic records, but you may not know their names. The whole point is, the point of the title of that movie is that you are about in an arena setting at least 20ft from the headliner.

Right.

So if you're singing backgrounds for Elton John or whoever, Paul McCartney, whatever icon, that's about where you would stand.

Right.

Depending on the state.

That's right.

And that's where it comes from. And these women have given their careers, they've given their dream of originally wanting to be a headliner. People think they've given that up because they're stuck between themselves and that star. And so it's kind of a poignant look at that career. Career. And it takes both sides. It looks at both. The sad part of that for someone who wanted more, but it also. And what I love about the movies, it comes full circle to point. To point out that you're doing your work right. And that it's not always just about being that headliner. And Lisa Fisher, who I know, yes, her. Her arc in that story is my favorite because she's at peace with it and she's not BS at peace with it. She's really at.

She really is. You can tell. You can see it and feel it.

And in this.

She used to tour with Luther Ye.

And the Rolling Stones and everybody else. And in this city, we have a lot of local talent who I'm featuring in my show, by the way.

Nice.

If you just go to any lounge in Vegas. Not any lounge, but most of the lounges that are left. On a Saturday night, you're gonna hear vocals that rival anyone on the Grammy stage. Not that that's saying much anymore, but you're gonna. They're amazing talents that could do anything. They could all be stars. They could all be recording artists. And so have they settled? Or are they working and making a living and doing something every night or every week that some only dream of? So it's all about perspective.

It is perspective. And many of the many talks are.

Like, Bubba Knight, right? I talk to Bubba.

Bubba.

Here's the crazy part about all. Like you said with Lisa Fisher, she's in that space. She's like, I love it.

She's happy.

She's phenomenal. Bubba is the same way.

I know. I used to work with Bubba. I used to tour with Gladys. And Bubba's good.

Bubba's like, look. Hey, Gladys, let her be the. Let her be in the.

He's a great example.

He's a wonderful example of that. And he said, look, we all. We all rise together. We all fall together. So it's not like she gets the glory. And we sit back. We. We all went to the hall of fame together, right? So they got his jacket up there. I went to the African American museum out there. They got his jacket in there in the case and all that. So, you know, you may be in the background, but, you know, you're. You're contributing to the success of the group.

It's just a question of recognizing that all you have to do is focus on your gift and be genuine in your craft and not be attached to a result as soon as you. It doesn't mean you don't have to have a good goal, but if you only attach yourself to whether that goal has been accomplished in a set amount of time, and if you obsess on it, you probably won't get there. I mean, it's kind of like if a runner. I used to run track, believe it or not, years ago, and I remember our coach telling us the worst thing you can do when you're running is do this and look back. He said, not only does it aerodynamically screw up your path, it literally changes how the wind hits your body, but it changes your focus, and you are not running your race. And so we can take the lessons that we've learned, like what my show is about, but eventually, you will have to take them and run your race. So what I take away from our history might be very different from what you take away, but it's how I take it and run my race.

And what do you do with it?

In my singing or my business or whatever I'm doing, that's what. That, to me, is what life is about. It's about being specific to where you're going.

Yeah, it's.

It's.

It's what. It's what. What God has for you, he has for you. Right. So now. Now you take my boy Teddy. He was on the drums. They figured out he had to get to the front.

Right. He has to bring Teddy.

That's right.

Explain.

Explain who Teddy is.

Teddy Pendergrass. You know, Teddy Pendergrass was a drummer originally, and then, you know, he came out with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and he, you know, he took off on his solo career.

But Luther Vandross was a backup singer.

That's right. Yeah. Then all those headliners that you're talking about, they said in this 20ft from stardom that they would not be who they are without those people 20ft behind.

Well, a good artist, a good headliner knows that.

Right.

And a smart headliner knows that it's probably a good idea to get singers who sing circles around you singing behind you, so that if you're a horse or if you're not strong.

Right.

That wall of sound makes you sound good. I'm certainly aware of that.

Well said.

In this show, everybody in the show has sung backgrounds for each other.

Right.

And others. And everyone's a lead and a backup singer as far as their capacity.

Right.

And if you can do that, you're a much better musician than someone who can only do lead.

I would also imagine you probably inspire one another, too.

You get.

You get moved by, wow, she hit that note. You know, I do.

I mean, I. I'm always inspired by people who can do things I can't.

Right.

What motivates me more than anything, watching people do something that's not related to what I do and being inspired by it.

Right.

Whether, you know, I used to work for Apple and Steve Jobs inspired me because I couldn't think the way he did or do what he did.

Right. And so nor could Wozniak could do.

All the other stuff with the singers. Yeah, we inspire each other, we encourage each other. We come from different disciplines, but when we come together, it's just a great mashup of talent and focus and intent. And the intent is to not just entertain, but hopefully to Educate and to inspire. That's the key to what I do.

There's a lesson in all that. I gotta tell you that there's. There's this official black Las Vegas Facebook page. And a lot of times, I think. I think people don't realize I keep saying this.

Don't.

Don't make black people monolithic. Right. What you're talking about.

Okay, wait a minute.

Appreciation.

Explain me to me the space so. So of the Facebook page.

So the Facebook page is supposed to be out to inspire. Because a lot of times, going back to what Jesse was talking about, a lot. A lot of black people don't know how to connect to other. Don't know how to connect. I'm telling you, a lot of people are lost. They either haven't heard it. Like, for me, I'm fortunate. My father, that's all he talked about was being black, being black, being black. So in my mind, I understand clearly what it's like to be black. But a lot of people are searching for that, especially a lot of people who haven't had the connection through their parents, through culture. A lot of people that grew up in Vegas keep saying, we don't know because we don't know what we don't know. See, in New York, we go. You know, you go to museums, you see black people. You see black people in different places.

When you say they don't know what. What are you meaning?

They don't understand that. They have a question of what is it really like to be black? What is an African American? What. Why. Why do people make a big deal about Black History Month? Why do people talk about these things? My father used to always tell us, the main thing for us is to understand that if you are constantly searching, that means you don't understand the history.

So when you say what it's like to be black, it sounds like what you're saying is what it's like to understand your history and your culture and how that applies to your life.

Because if you're.

If your only perspective is your parent and your parent, all you see is your parent going to work in the casino and coming home.

Then you're lost.

Right? But I think you used a word that I love, which is monolithic. And that is something that drives me nuts. And people do it to Asians and Hispanic people. And it's like this broad brush, and there is no broad brush. There's a unified history, but we're all individuals.

And there's two things I want to share from Shondal's point. This is straight from this book, Black Lives, White Lies by Tony Brown.

Show the COVID Okay, I'm going to.

Show that cover to you if you can zoom in on that. And Shondell made a huge point. I want to make two points on this. First, this will weigh in in my second point. Second, I think is even more powerful. But the first is a quick reading. It says most blacks that I know are just like the average red, white, yellow, or brown person. And like the average person, they depend on their leaders to blaze the path for them. If the leaders are not good trailblazers, the lives of the followers are diminished. This is exactly the point Shonda is making. In the American capitalistic free market economy, where the majority of leaders of other racial and ethnic groups are blazing trails, many black leaders are passive participants. Many even resent free market opportunities instead of playing the game of competitive economics.

Yes.

And that's sort of. That's sort of like what he just mentioned.

Let me tag on to that. So how many of you know David L. Stewart? Right. Oh, she knows. Right, of course. That's my daughter Tiara over there. David L. Stewart just was. Is on the Forbes list as one of the wealthiest people in.

In the world.

Right. His company just went over $10 billion worldwide. Technology.

People don't know who he is, but.

People don't know who he is. Right, right.

And is that what you were getting at, Jesse?

Yeah. Right.

What was the other thing you.

So the other point is when you talk about this, and I like to see you two weigh in, I really don't know which way you're going to go with this, but I think it's very curious as there was a time many years ago, I'd say probably, Well, I was 21. So many years ago. And many, many an incident happened that made me question my blackness because someone made a very heavy dark comment about if I wasn't this color, something else would have benefited me. Okay. And I asked my. I stood in the mirror and I asked myself, do I wish that I was a different color so that I would not lose this benefit? Okay. And I thought about, well, where do I come from? Well, to look at me, you might not know, but there's French, Indian and African. I have brothers and sisters that to look in their faces, you know, there's something else going on with me. They just think I'm black. I said, because the skin's dark. And I thought, well, where did we come from? And I thought about the most dominant thing that people can see is the black part so where does that come from? Well, Africa, of course. Well, how did I get here? Well, the white man in America went over to Africa and the black man or black folks in Africa sold them the people and they came across the waters. But they only chose the best of the best. They didn't buy them all. They, they wanted the best of the best. And then I thought, but what's your.

Question as far as.

Here it comes. So I'm saying to myself, I'm a descendant of the best of the best.

Yes, you are.

So I have no reason to be shameful or embarrassed or wish I was anything other than what I am, because I came from a wonderful stock that was hand picked.

Right.

So then I said, so how do I get on that beyond this? I said, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna use communication. I just made it up. I'm talking to myself in the mirror. I'm going to use communication to raise my game to. Yes, I'm proud to be a person of color, but that's not all I am. Right. So I'm going to use communication to raise my game to a level that I want to transcend the color, meaning I want to be able to express that I'm more than just that. And so that's what I spent my life doing.

Well, that's why, that's why I hate the word monolithic. Because I think even, even, even before that, you read it, you read a book called before the Mayflower.

Right.

That book actually tells you that there was a time before that transatlantic boat ride or whatever you want to call.

Sure.

You know, the cruise that we didn't want. Right, sure. So. So there's something more than that. It's like you, you are bigger than that. And again, it goes back to the fact that, you know, as, as my father got us those black encyclopedias. So if, if most, if most of the Bible is written in Africa and most of history is written in Africa. And by the way, people try. And Dr. Naim Akbar said this in his book papers in African psychology, people try to separate Egypt from Africa.

Right. Well, that's an interesting.

Many, many, many years. Yeah.

Well, they've done it in North Africa. You know, I grew up.

You grew up in North Africa?

I grew up in Egypt.

Oh, for how many years?

12.

Wow. But think about how the media, when you used to watch like movies like Tarzan, right. Tarzan had a white guy flying on the vine, running Africa. And all, all Africans were slow.

Right.

Let's just call it what it is. But that's what Dr. Neem Akbar said. Then when you go to Egypt, right, It's like Egypt is like this place outside of Africa, but really it's all part of the same continent. Right. And also, if. If, if, if, if. If Africa is the birthplace somewhat of man, then aren't you already great before. Before you start thinking about the transatlantic journey, the slavery and all that.

We come from kings and queens, right?

Yeah, for sure.

So start there.

So 10 to 12 years. What ages did you grow up there?

I. I lived there from age 4 to 18.

Wow.

Except for two years in the middle. I lived in Hong Kong. We moved.

You are a universal girl. You're a global girl in Egypt.

And I will tell you that if you're walking down the street in Egypt and you look like me, people assume I'm Egyptian. It helps that I speak the language. But even if I didn't speak the language, Egypt has people of very different complexions.

Sure.

Their lineage. Egypt obviously was conquered by many different peoples at different times in history. But for sure, we need to remember that we come from kings and queens. And if you're walking down the street, they'll say, my sister, my sister. They'll call me my Nubian sister, my Nubian princess. And I'm like, how you doing? And then, you know, try to sell you a trinket or something. But I know that for me, it's important to me, like Jesse said, to be seen as a human being first. But I don't mind identity politics to a degree. I don't mind at putting myself in a box when I'm addressing a certain group of people or connecting with a certain group of people. I just don't want to have to only be in that box. I believe you can hop around and be different things to different people at different times as long as you have a core, which is your character.

I love that.

It's more important than anything. Your gender, your race, your sexual preference, whatever. It's your character.

Yeah.

Take a totally different position.

What's your.

I am greater than everybody. I'm just telling y' all straight up, that's how I feel. I walk into a room, I feel like I'm the greatest thing. Like I. And I feel that way because I believe that. I believe that that's what it. That's what our history tells us. Right? Because if you really, really think about it, if. If. If you take somebody like a Jackie Robinson and he walks in, he expected to be in the. In the major league. He's like, what do you mean I'm coming in to integrate the. I'm. I'm better than all these cats here? You know, Tiger woods walked in and said, I'm better than all these cats here. So it's not. It's not like they're going in saying, I want to be accepted. No, no, that's not what I. Well, it's just saying what I'm saying. I'm saying. But what you're saying, how Shondell walks into a room. Like, I feel like not. Not only do I belong there or do I need to fit, I actually. This is my space.

I understand.

Interesting you say that. I don't.

Because in gaming, you notice.

I do.

When we went into gaming and hospitality in the 90s, you walked into a boardroom, you didn't see us, so everybody was looking at you like, why are you here? Is it.

Is.

Is it affirmative action? Affirmative action people? I earned this spot.

People did. People didn't look at me like that. They asked me the question out loud.

See, they didn't ask me because I'm.

From Brooklyn, but whatever. But. Right. Fair enough. But I like. I like your greatness. Tell. I don't. I. I respect that. I look at it differently for men, but I think it's very similar. When I walk into a room, I walk into a room with intention, no matter what the room is, where it is. And my intention is this. My intention is to leave that room better than I found it, and my intention to see who can stand under my light. If my light needs to be on a dimmer switch to bring it down for whatever reason, it's oscillating all the time. My goal is to walk into the room, and I want to continue to aspire to be a changer of energy. When I walk into the room, I want the energy in that room to change to whatever it is, just something that rises positive because I am in that room, even if I'm not talking.

That's pretty much what being on stage is about.

Exactly.

It's about transforming people.

Exactly.

And impacting people and touching people and inspiring people. And as far as greatness goes, I hear. I do hear what you're saying, and I really. I really like that. I like what you're saying. I think that especially when I look at African American young boys in particular, but young girls and young boys, I. I often just want to take them by the shoulders and say, do you understand? You're already great.

Yes, you are already. That's my point.

Just because of who you are.

Yes.

And your history.

Yes.

I get teared up thinking about it.

Right.

You see this lack of knowledge and lack of awareness.

Awareness.

And you see these images on television and in the movies that are so limited. Even now, even as far as we've come, it's still such a narrow thing. It's like sports or music. I remember once in Brooklyn, I was in a cab with a gentleman, he was Pakistani, and he said, what do you do? And depending on the driver in a cab in New York, you either say what you do or you just say you're a cop. If you don't want to talk, you just say you're a cop. And then they just. Because if you say you're a singer, it can go many different places that you don't want to go.

Right.

And so. But this gentleman, I felt cool and I said, I'm a singer. And he said, why are all African Americans either musicians or basketball players? That was his comment to me. And so we had this long talk all the way from Brooklyn into the city to Manhattan about how that's not true. But I. But I remember that. Sticking with me. And I think it's so important for young African American kids to know that there's more out there than just entertainment and sports and that we are allowed to be in any space we choose to.

Exactly.

And that there's a history of invention and culture that people don't know. They don't know about math and science and where all that came from.

And.

And who invented and created so many things based on what we do today.

Algebra.

I mean, there's so much that our history is.

Well, funny you should say that, because I wanted to hit you.

Let me piggyback on it real quick.

Okay? Okay.

That's my point about David Stewart. David Stewart has more money than Tyler Perry, than Jason.

People don't know who he is, but that's because he's not celebrated. Why is that?

And he was in the tech world. So again, it goes back to, hey, he's in the tech world. Even. Even if we promote him.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, okay. That brother's cool. But. But he ain't Jay Z.

Right, but that's on us.

Right? Exactly. That's my point. My point is exactly. That's on us. Because we have. We have given more credence to. And nothing against entertainment, nothing against those.

Those.

Those iconic people, but we are bigger than that.

Correct.

We are much big. We are business owners. We are technology gurus. I bet you that Steve Jobs looked around and saw a whole bunch of Black folks putting him up, lifting him up to a higher. Right. So.

So. So that's.

That's my concern always, is that I tell my kids that all the time. Everybody has met is that, well, you got, you know, Tiara's your daughter, and she does this and that. What are the other kids? I said, well, my. Some of my kids, honestly, they have. I told them, access your greatness.

Right?

Don't. Don't keep trying to find yourself. All you got to do is look at me and your grandfather right there. Just start there, right? Stop. And no, you know, again, nothing against all those people that are out there on TV and all that, but you don't have to look there. Look at your family. Look at your grandfather, who owned a brownstone in Bed stuy in the 1970s, making $30 an hour. That is history. Stop trying to figure out what.

I think that's so true.

You know what I mean? You going too far. And they look at me like, well, dad, you know, I like to see what this person's doing that. No, look at your family. You got rich history right in your family. And I think that's what other people do well, is they look right within their family and they say, wow, these people are amazing. Right next to me.

Yeah, yeah, fair enough. No, those are solid points. Well, I wanted to say thank you to Martin Harris. First off. That was. I was trying to get that out because this is wonderful establishment that we're at. They. They've offered us, got a wonderful audience out there, and we wouldn't be here without them, so. And also, we wouldn't be here without Shondale, because Shondale was the connection for all of that. And this is. We were going to talk about 10 little known black history facts.

Okay, let's do it.

And we're not going to get all 10 of them because we've. We've had so much great conversation. We won't get to them, but I'll just hit a few of them. Okay. I'll read them and you guys comment on it. I do my best not to let it be too dense. So this one says, before there was Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin.

Right.

Lisa actually discovered these facts for us, and I was really surprised. I didn't know this. Most people think Rosa Parks as the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a. On a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. There were actually several women who came before her, one of whom was Claudette colvin. It was March 2, 1955, when the 15 year old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus. Nine months before Rosa Parks stand that launched the Montgomery bus boycott, Claudette had been studying black leaders like Harriet Tubman in her segregated school. Those conversations had led to discussions around the current day Jim Crow laws they were all experiencing. When the bus driver ordered Claudette to get up, she refused. It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing, pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side pushing me down. I couldn't get up. Claudette Colvin's stand's. Yep. Claudette Colvin's Stan didn't stop there. Arrested and thrown in jail, she was one of four women who challenged the segregation law in court. If. If Browder vs. Gayle became the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in Montgomery and Alabama, why has Claudette's story been largely forgotten? At the time, the NAACP and other black organizations felt Rosa Parks made a better icon for the movement than a teenager. As an adult with the right look, Rosa Parks was also the secretary of the NAACP and was both well known and respected. People would associate her with the middle class, and that would attract support for the cause. But the struggle to end segregation was often fought by young people, more than half of which were women. Your thoughts?

So I just came from the museum. They just put. The museum is about a month old in D.C. the Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks Museum is part of the women's suffrage piece. So during, during the time, my time between advocating for small businesses, I stopped in those museums.

Sure.

So I stopped in that one. That story is there.

And. And here's the thing that I never knew that. Did you know that?

Nope.

Yeah, I knew that.

Wow. Well, because you were at the museum.

Not only that, but, you know, my dad was Bobby Newsome. He made sure we knew all that stuff. So. So the big thing is, you know, there was some. There were some things that was. That were done during those times that were strategic. Like they said, number one, do they want to expose a young girl to all of that?

Right.

All of that.

Too heavy.

Yeah, that's heavy. That's pretty heavy for a teenager. And then if you get to go to the museum, you'll see that her husband, Rosa Parks.