Listen Up with Host Al Neely
Hi, I'm Al Neely. I've spent most of my life asking, " Why do people behave a certain way? Why don't people understand that most everyone wants basically the same thing? Most everyone wants their fundamental need for peace of mind, nourishment, shelter and safety."
What I have learned is that because of an unwillingness to open one's mind to see that some of the people you come in contact with may have those same desires as you do. We prejudge, isolate ourselves, and can be hesitant to interact, and sometimes we can be belligerent towards one another. This is caused by learned behavior that may have repeated itself for generations in our families.
What I hope to do with this podcast is to introduce as many people with as many various cultures, backgrounds, and practices as possible. The thought is that I can help to bring different perspectives by discussing various views from my guests that are willing to talk about their personal experiences.
Hopefully we all will learn something new. We may even learn that most of us share the same desire for our fundamental needs. We may just simply try to obtain it differently.
Sit back, learn, and enjoy!
Listen Up with Host Al Neely
The Legacy of Coach Field: Fast-Paced Basketball, Harlem Globetrotters, and Empowering Youth
Step into the fast-paced world of Coach Field's basketball philosophy, where shooting every seven seconds was the norm and camaraderie was key. This episode takes you on a journey through the experiences of players thriving under his guidance, much like the modern-day Golden State Warriors. Discover the significance of the "last supper," a unique pre-season tradition that helped shape team dynamics, and understand the depth of Coach Field's commitment as he lived and bonded with his players beyond the court. Despite their successes, we reflect on the underappreciation of past players, particularly at institutions like Norfolk State.
Join us as we welcome a former Harlem Globetrotter who shares his incredible journey from college days to playing with this iconic team. From being invited to their camp in 1969 to facing the challenges of tryouts, his story is one of resilience and grit. Hear firsthand accounts of the camaraderie with notable players like Mel Lock and Curly Neal, and the life-changing experiences of traveling across the U.S. and South America. This narrative provides a fascinating glimpse into the financial contrasts between the Globetrotters and NBA players, and the pride that comes from representing a legendary basketball institution.
We also shine a light on the importance of respect, community, and the power of mentorship. Drawing from the wisdom of influential figures such as Coach Dick Price and Coach Ernest Donald Fears Jr., we discuss how these values can empower individuals to dream big and overcome challenges. This episode addresses the pressing issues of bullying and youth violence, highlighting the critical need for investing in community programs and youth mentorship. Through personal anecdotes and historical reflections, we underscore the enduring values of teamwork and resilience, encouraging today's youth to learn from past legacies and build a brighter future.
Do us a favor and like, comment, share, and subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes.
Reach out to us on our socials and hit us up with any questions!
Email: Info@listenup.biz
Instagram: ListenUp4U
Facebook: Let's Talk About It - Listen Up
Twitter: ListenUp@Listenup4U
Website: listenup.biz
He said there ain't no way in the world an NBA game can't compete to what we just saw out there, the way we were running that break and shooting. Coach Field's philosophy was shoot the ball every seven seconds. You don't do no whole lot of dribbling, you pass and boom, let it go. And Bonaparte was perfect for that. Sometime I passed him.
Speaker 2:That's the shoot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I passed him the ball Before it became popular.
Speaker 2:That's the shoot. Yeah, I passed him the ball Before it became popular Before.
Speaker 3:That's all they do now. Right, Golden State.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's all they do now it's like everybody does it. But Bone, he'd be so far out sometime I'd hear him grunt, you know, when he shoot is so deep and Dan is all because the operator you know Dan is a smart player, you know Dan is a smart player, you know, and he could get his inside out or whatever. You know handle the ball. Yeah, but we always look forward to the last supper. That's when you practice, get ready for the season, right, and then Coach Fields will invite you to his house for the last supper.
Speaker 1:Oh man the last supper mean that he had to let somebody go. And you see, the tight coach, well, he didn't want to, yeah, so he would keep people on the team. You know, we could scrimmage against him and stuff like that, against him and stuff like that, coach. And see, coach was the type of man that we were 22 and 0, and we went to this college that was 22 and 0, and damn, he just got hurt. What?
Speaker 2:conference. Were you guys in back then?
Speaker 1:CIAA.
Speaker 2:See, okay, and who was in the conference? Roscoe.
Speaker 3:Earl Monroe came out of that conference what schools? Winston-salem, livingston Virginia. State Hampton Hampton yeah, a&t, yeah, a&t Okay.
Speaker 1:North Carolina Central. Yeah, and we were 22-0 against Delaware. We went up to play Delaware and Dan just got hurt. The night before we were supposed to play we were having a pickup game. Coach Fields played pickup games with us because he played in college. I mean, we played harder sometimes in the pickup game than we would in a regular game. So when the next night without Damien Damien was averaging 30 or something Without him we'd lost that first game. So when the next night without damage damage to Abner's third or something without him we'd lost that first game. But we had used up so much energy the night before playing against one another. Right, you know, that's the kind of we were close and tight, but we played hard all the time, you know. Right, you know, and that's hard all the time. Right, that's what Coach demanded.
Speaker 1:Coach was the type of player. Where Coach would, we would go somewhere. Back then they had no money in the CLAA so we lived on campus. Sometimes it looked like a little box, like all of us jammed up in there. But you know what? Coach wouldn't live in no hotel or nothing like that. Wherever we lived, that's where he stayed. Wherever we ate, that's what he ate. That's the kind of man he was. You know. You know, and that's why I brag and talk about him and I want his legacy to live on. I don't think Northwest State talk about him enough, and do you know that Didn't?
Speaker 2:talk about him when I was.
Speaker 1:Do you know?
Speaker 2:I didn't know much about him, but I didn't play basketball. I mean, I wasn't into basketball as much as I was before.
Speaker 3:When were you there?
Speaker 2:Late mid to late 80s.
Speaker 1:Oh no, okay okay. But look, I'm going to tell you something. Do you know that at Norfolk State I'm not considered as a professional athlete? They don't even mention my name nowhere.
Speaker 2:All right, so let's talk about that. So after college what happened?
Speaker 1:After college I tried out. I got invited to the Harlem Globetrotters camp.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what year was this?
Speaker 1:This was in 69, right after college.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So when I went out there, who was the owner back? Then Do you remember? It was a black guy, I don't know. He had sold it to abe sappers abe, he had died.
Speaker 2:He paid after weight, right yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, it was a black guy manny jacks okay.
Speaker 1:So when, when I got out there, I had I had to prepare, yeah, and I had never prepared for anything without bonaparte and daniel. So I was kind of lost, you know. But I knew that this was my opportunity and I said I can't blame nobody but me if I don't make it. So I went out there in Chicago and it's not like the NBA or nothing like that. See, they invite certain people, then they have an open invitation where people can come in and try out. I know it was 100 people coming in and out trying out. They only had two positions and what I had some of those other guys didn't have. Right, I had a burning desire, something inside of me, that these other guys I saw that I could pull something out of them. Other guys in there, I had people praying and hoping, wishing for me to be successful. That was a driving point for me. You know, to be successful, you know, right, that was a driving point for me.
Speaker 1:And I ended up, you know, making the team and getting hooked up with Mel Lock, curly, neal and those guys, bobby Hunter, which was my roommate and we still are great friends. Now we do things together. Now he invites me to different things that we have former players doing. Like we was in Washington DC with the unveiling of Mattoon Cookman, the statue. We participated down in Alabama, at Tuskegee, at the Tuskegee Airmen. We had a thing down there so he let he put me involved in a lot of stuff where I fly around and, and you know, just being involved, giving back so when you played, you played with, with the ones that are the most notable Curly Neal Curly.
Speaker 2:Neal Mel Lark he was coming towards the end of when he was playing right, yeah, who else would you play?
Speaker 1:with Jackie Jackson. All of them. They're from the CIAA, you know Okay. Now the CIAA had this book, you know okay. And now the ci double a had this book. Uh, they produced this book about all of the former players, different colleges and stuff. So some schools like, uh, john c smith, for an example, had some of their players and then they had curlyal. They had a big picture and another page of write-up and this and that. But when you got to Norfolk State they had Bob Danridge and a couple of pages and then pictures of other players at Norfolk State. But they had something about this big. So Tommy Long, a player with Harlem Globetrotters, played on the coach fields, didn't have no picture. But this is how I've been throughout my career. You know I've been slighted, you know, but what it does, it gives me the motivation and drive to get out and do things. You know, not for recognition, but to do things to reach out and help pull over people up Right, right.
Speaker 2:Um, how long did you play with the Globetrotters?
Speaker 1:Uh, about two years. The second year I was out in 1971. That's when, you know, I got drafted Okay. So you know, I went out there in six and nines so and then I got injured in the military playing ball I had. I got two knee replacements and I messed my back up. So I got a knee replacements and I messed my back up, so I got a bad back. And that's how I got the 100% disabled veteran. But Dan Ricks always joked me about it. He said man, you're a 100% veteran and never been on the battlefield, but you don't have to go on the battlefield to get hurt.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I served. A lot of people didn't serve. You had to make sure you're in charge of troop morale. Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:That's right, that's right, all right.
Speaker 2:So I have a little bit of. I was wondering back then how much did guys make for the Harlem Grove Tribe? Because over the year they were well paid, well below NBA players, that's right, that's right. What were you guys making back then?
Speaker 1:Well, I made my first year. I made about, I think about 7,000. But we play when you get married. I got married in 19 in 1981 okay, good, yes but see, but if you look at what I was making and Ravs was working, ravs was teaching or something he made 4,000 so but I travel. A poor boy like me, I never thought I would see all of the stuff. It was worth it. Where did you go?
Speaker 3:I went all over the United States, south America you know.
Speaker 1:So I never you go. Where's some of the places you've been? I went all over the United States, south America, you know. So I never expected to go anywhere because I had no money to go. I never. I didn't leave my community until I was 12. Wow, you see what I mean. Yeah, and the only way I did that is I had an elementary school in my community and the junior high school was across town. So that's when I started going across town. I left my community when I had to go over to the eighth grade at junior high school. I was raised in Waltham town and we were surrounded by white neighbors, so we was locked in a little circle.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And I never left that circle, you know. So, yeah, my life has been, you know, to get out and do some of the stuff that I've done. You know it's been rewarding and made my mother proud, you know, right, and that's what life was about for me, right Is to make her proud and people that reached out and helped me to make them proud, you know, and so that's what I've tried to do. And even though my mother has passed, been passed, I still do stuff with her in mind. And I made a lot of mistakes. I made some right here in Norfolk. But another reason that I write is because I want people to know me that don't know me.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, so I'm going to. I have several of your books here. I'm going to pull one out. You tell me what was your inspiration behind these books. So we already talked about the amigos. So you wrote this, the Forgotten Legends, hillside High School, right? So what was your?
Speaker 1:The reason I wrote that book is because the year after I left several of the players that played in 1965 with me. We was the 4A state champions and the next year those players was still going to Hillside and they led the nation in scoring. They was averaging 109 points a game in high school. That's a lot.
Speaker 2:And nine points a game in high school.
Speaker 1:That's a lot, and so I wrote that book so that their legacy would not be forgotten, because even in Durham, a lot of people don't talk about them, right.
Speaker 2:All right, this is the Evolution of the Hawk. It features Wally Jones of the 76ers. What was your inspiration behind that?
Speaker 1:Well, I feel like I just needed people to know something about me and how I got to the point that I am, and that book explained how each one of those books played a part of my life. And then I talked about Wally Jones, my association with him. We did a couple of things together and I really admire him for the work that he's doing. Former professional athlete don't require to be paid for everything he get. Professional athlete don't require to be paid for everything he get. He show up and does an outstanding job and he's there for the kids to ask questions and he can give them an answer.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. All right, here's another one. This looks like you're in your Harlem Globetrotter outfit. Yeah, it's an autobiography. Four streets and four blocks.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's about in the community I lived in. I lived in a community of four streets and four blocks. I talk about everything that went on within that area, including the splow houses and some of the other stuff that was going on up in there.
Speaker 2:Oh, this is interesting. I can't wait to read that. All right, here we have one entitled Can we All Get Along?
Speaker 1:I wrote that book in honor of a pastor that lives in Emporia. I used to rent from him and he he died a couple of years before that. I wrote that book. But he, he and his family meant a lot to me and they took me in. And. But that book is about how you you just how. You need to learn from various experiences on how to get along with everybody, and it's particularly being respectful, regardless of what your agenda or whether you are male, female, black, white, whatever. We need to learn to respect one another and get along, and I-.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what we don't do right now.
Speaker 1:And I say it all begins in the home. You know stuff that you learn and the people that works around you, as those are the people you work for.
Speaker 2:So, like the bond that you guys have, your coach had. You developed that you need each other to be successful at things and we're in a place now where everybody wants to be an individual.
Speaker 1:We need encouraging words sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Now another book, what's that? I don't I think you got which one? It's a book I call the. Let me see. See Coach Price. A lot of people See back in the day Northwest State the coaches. They didn't care whether you played football or basketball, those coaches cared about all the players. So Coach Dick Price played a vital part in me finishing college and he stuck with me throughout the years. He had his own players to be concerned about, own players to be concerned about, but it was something about me that drew me to him and he stuck with me all over the years. You know, and it hurt me when he passed.
Speaker 2:I couldn't get here to you know, attend his funeral because he meant a lot to me. Okay, steps leading to me. Okay, steps leading to success.
Speaker 1:I was just trying to let kids know some of the steps you know it take. You know you know to to be successful. You know to be humble and be respectful and that way you know you always can somebody out there willing to reach down and try to help you. But if you don't know how to control yourself, be respectful, all out of control in the community doing things, people get afraid of you and they afraid to reach out and help you.
Speaker 2:So I Okay, I like that Tommy Hawk addresses issues of bullying and violence.
Speaker 1:10 little big words, right, and that book is about see. A lot of parents do not know how see a lot of this. They're in denial about the kids and so in that book it highlights some of the things to look forward to if you're raising a bully. I like some of the things to look forward to if you're raising a bully and I talked about some of the experiences I had right here in Norfolk State when I was here. You know, some of the guys in Norfolk community tried to bully me one night but they found out it was the wrong thing to do.
Speaker 2:I mean, you probably had all your brothers and best friends.
Speaker 1:No, it was just me. It's one thing about me If you ever get me riled up, it's hard to stop. I could be tenacious. You don't want to get me riled up.
Speaker 2:Okay, I won't rile you up. Okay, I'll be nice to you. All right.
Speaker 1:That's Coach Price right there.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's called the Ten Little Big Words and Beyond. That's right.
Speaker 1:And so in that book it's full of words to be successful, and I use a minimum amount of words to give a description of what that word means, and I did that so that the kid would have to explore and research the word and understand it for themselves.
Speaker 2:Okay, this one is Coach Ernest Donald donald fears jr that's right and that's.
Speaker 1:That's a man that we all love and respect and that's a man that demands respect when you walk in the room. He just lightened the room up and he knew how to go beyond the X and O's of a basketball court. I mean he loved his players and Coach Fields.
Speaker 2:When did he pass?
Speaker 1:Let's see. I can't remember exactly, but I was working in DC when he was real sick and because I was working there I could visit him. Is this him?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seemed like he was much older than you guys, was he? No, no.
Speaker 1:He was a young man at Norwood State. He was young, started out young. He was about 39? Something like that.
Speaker 2:So he's only 18 years old.
Speaker 1:But with him. I used to visit him and he was sick and I left out crying because he was, he was. I went to visit him. He asked me could I break a banana for him? That's how weak he was. He couldn't break a banana. And that's a strong man, 6'3, 250 pound, tenacious man. And he asked me could I break a banana for him? And I just I cried.
Speaker 1:He used to pick up with you guys that book this one is a coach's journey to victory I'm gonna let raz brown tell you about that um, yeah, he laid out the elements of Coach Price.
Speaker 3:That's what it looks like.
Speaker 2:Who is it? That's me? That's him.
Speaker 1:That's me at Correction. That's when I worked in the pilling system right there at Southampton.
Speaker 3:Talk about that, Tom.
Speaker 1:Okay, at Southampton, as the athletic, as the recreation director, as the athletic, as the recreation director, the warden and I got approval. My basketball team played back in the day. A four-year college had freshman teams. So my basketball team at Southampton we played against freshman college teams, we played community college teams and we played in the largest community tournament in Smithfield. They had former professional athletes, college players and stuff. I took my players in there. We won the whole tournament, didn't lose a game Right at the end, though of course I had to come in and seal it. We won the whole thing, Wow, With no incidents or anything.
Speaker 2:Okay, thomas, long Path to Fulfilling Dreams. Okay, the Ten Little.
Speaker 1:Big Words. I encourage all kids, particularly black kids. I was so sick and tired of hearing people dream, dream big. Just don't dream Dream big. Stay focused, work hard and believe in yourself. You know all things are possible when you do that, wow.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, now we have the Coach and the Players. Words Like the Ten Little Big.
Speaker 1:Words. That book is dedicated to Charles Bonaparte. He was an outstanding player coach and I communicate with some of his players right now. They loved him, you know, and I wrote that book in honor of him.
Speaker 2:All right, father and son talk.
Speaker 1:I wrote that book in honor of Coach Fields. Coach Fields was more than a coach to us. He was a father figure and you know we loved him for that.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:This is the last one folks, grandmas or grandparents that I knew of. But other kids in the community had grandparents that reached out to other kids and I knew when I wanted to A biscuit. I knew which grandmama I could go to to get a biscuit with some jelly in it to eat, right, gotcha.
Speaker 2:Not necessarily your grandmother, but no, it wasn't my grandmother.
Speaker 1:But in the community, right, see, black communities had certain older women. In that community, everybody respect yes In the church. Everybody respect yes In the church, community or whatever. Yes, and that's what. Where I came from, walled Town, you was raised as a village, right, they didn't care who child you were, they would encourage you and if you was wrong they'd get in your hind parts too. You know. So you know, that's the way, you know, it all shaped that.
Speaker 2:Wow, all right. So what do you have going on? What's next? Do you have anything going on? Roscoe you're working on.
Speaker 3:Well, we're always working on. You know, just like the affair I met you at Right Virginia Beach, tommy was asked to be a part of that. We've also done some work with the Emporia City, in fact instrumental in getting the mayor selected, the current mayor. Is her tenure up now? Yeah, she was the wife of one of the persons indicated in the book there, right, yeah, but that kind of thing trying to search and see what we can initiate- many of the programs, or some of the programs that we've done over the years that have been successful.
Speaker 3:You know, we put together camps. You know, chowan College in Murfreesboro, north Carolina, we've done 10 years of that. We've done camps at William Murray I worked in Richmond during the early 2000s, you know and the city manager's office. And then we just edge in Durham too, yeah, yeah, we remember we had 100 kids a week coming out public housing, you know, no kid. Yeah, all without incident, you know. And St Murray's College in St Murray's County, maryland, okay, salisbury State on the Eastern Shore, we've had caps buoy state. You know, uh and uh, there we do a combination of, uh, educational kinds of things along with, uh, athletic kinds of things right get speakers in.
Speaker 3:Wally jones has been a big part of that. Now other connects and all of this goes back to the start of services we did under Concerned Athletes in Action. That was the first company that I put together. Wally Jones was a big part of that. They had a Philadelphia chapter. We also had one in San Antonio that we did around George Gerven. We had a lot of Virginia squires working with us in the beginning. You know the ABA, yeah, so roving clinics that we did in many of the cities and that was just a part of the programs that we did. You know we had an AmeriCorps program, AmeriCorps VISTA, Volunteers in Service to America, Employment and training programs through the Department of Labor. We did a number of things touching on kids left and right. We truly believe that that's what is hurting now Nobody is investing in the programs like they were before.
Speaker 3:Right and Tommy mentioned, you know, what do kids have now you know, and we need to get back to some of that. I don't know how we're going to bring that about in the next four years with the administration.
Speaker 2:That's in that now, but we have to keep striving, fighting to to get those things back back on the maps again vital because I think my generation up to now they haven't really had to deal with the things that your generation had to deal with or face or acknowledge. I feel like my generation forward up to now have had way more opportunities. Like my generation forward up to now they've had way more opportunities. But you guys growing up you knew what it was like to be in situations where people feel like they're gonna be facing with the Trump administration right Adverse, yeah yeah. So it's probably going to be a lot of experience and conversations you guys are going to need to have with people.
Speaker 1:You know the difference, see. When we were growing up, some of us was afraid to do certain things. These kids, now they're not afraid. Yeah, yeah, they've not faced it right. To do certain things, these kids, now they're not afraid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, because they've not faced it right, that's right.
Speaker 1:See these kids now. When we had a disagreement we would auger and box fight, fist fight. Right these kids now pick a gun up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they don't know how to have conflict resolution.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:They don't realize.
Speaker 2:You know this stuff, in the grand scheme of things, is just really minuscule. You have all of this way much better.
Speaker 1:But see, these programs teach social skills and stuff. They don't have that. So this is by not having programs for them to participate and learn teamwork and other social skills and interactions. We don't have that now. So what they rely on is brutal strength, or you know, or whatever Intimidation yeah, to get their message across or whatever you know, right. So this is why it's so important to have old timers like us, even though somebody told me say, are y'all old? Don't, nobody listen, don't, nobody know you. They might not, but this is the purpose of what I do, particularly at Norfolk State.
Speaker 1:See, those students need to know who came. They don't know a guy named James. What is his name? Jim Bean. Jim Bean Brandon, who averaged 26 points a game, 16 rebounds and blocked all them shots. He was a human highlight over there at Northwest State. They don't know nothing about him. They don't know about someone they don't know about what's the coach up there? Joe Dean. Joe Dean Davidson, one of the greatest and most outstanding high school coaches out of Washington DC, you know, coached all those outstanding teams. Or Avery, right here, seek Avery, right here, they're walking around them. Who coached? Or Johnny Pep Morris, who scored 127 points in one game. See, they need to know something about these people coached. Or Johnny Pep Morris, who scored 127 points in one game Right.
Speaker 1:See, they need to know something about these people.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean I know One of the things that I listen to with the basketball people. So right now they're always having I'm just getting a little bit off the topic that right now they have a lot of conversations about who was the best big man and who was the most dominant, or who was the greatest player the GOAT, yeah, that thing, especially the big man and they always have to put Shaquille O'Neal in that conversation. And I keep explaining to them growing up in Philly, I know about Wilt. They don't know how good Wilt was. They don't know how strong Wilt was. They don't even know Shaquille O'Neal only played under the basket. Wilt, when he played for the Globetrotters, he played guard for a year, a seven-foot guard. They don't know any of that stuff. I'm like because it's just relevant, it's in their forefront right now. They think that's the end-all, the be-all.
Speaker 1:They don't look back to anything. Are you taking off his face? Pop Pitts was all. They don't look back to anything, I'm just taking off his face. Yeah, pop pitch was unstoppable. I ain't seen nobody the whole four years I was there. I mean he was. I played with him for two years. I ain't seen nobody could stop him. How big was he? He was about 6'6 and weighed about 280 pounds. You couldn't get around him and you couldn't stop that little baby. He had two moves and he was unstoppable. Coach Fields took it personally, taught him yeah, taught him and trained him and he became the most dominant person in the CRAA. He couldn't nobody stop him. Hook shot Grant, shoot a left and right hand hook and instead of making a layup, he'll run to the corner and shoot a hook. I mean I ain't seen nobody like him. Yeah, and Bernie Clarence Bernie, yeah, doing warm-up.
Speaker 2:See, these people don't know because they don't, they Because they don't.
Speaker 1:Lou Graham, one of the most talented. He was about 6'7". Could do it all Right.
Speaker 2:You know Right. So what do you have coming up? What's on your agenda?
Speaker 1:Well, right now, about two weeks ago, I had Raz down in Durham and we're having a lot of problems down there with young folks. We found out that young people 16, 17, they were slinging these guns and killing one another. So we're trying to come up with a program down there and I thought of no one else than Reyes Brown to get him down there and try to let people know what it takes to get this thing off the ground.
Speaker 3:It's a men's group at his church that's helping do that too. Okay, good, we're putting a 501c3 together for them and just giving them some initial steps as to how to incorporate and to do an initial program and where that funding might come from. You know they're going to start with a day camp this summer on the head, so we look to, even though they have good facilities there to provide the food this USDA program, summer feeding program, is still available that they can utilize to feed the kids free. They can look to get college students through the summer work program to serve as staff and get that part of it free and initiate a program that will begin to show the community what they're doing and then hopefully advance from there and do other things. The AmeriCorps VISTA program is also a very important one. I don't know if you've heard of that.
Speaker 3:Volunteers in Service to America is funded through the Corporation for National Service. It was initiated under the Clinton administration and still is in service to America. It's funded through the Corporation for National Service. It was initiated under the Clinton administration and still is in existence now, if it doesn't get wiped out with all of these changes that the Trump administration is proposing to do. Right, right, but that will provide a mechanism for people to get funded, for corporations, non-profits to be funded. They can actually bring in persons from 18 to my age 83, their salaries are paid for by the government.
Speaker 3:You know a lot of people don't know about that and what you tend to get is college students that can work part-time. Tommy's daughter we had the largest one in the state company and retirees it's a supplement to their retirement and provide services for the nonprofit. So we can do a lot of things through that. So a lot of it is creative thinking, looking to see where we can tap in and assist people to start programs or help them expand it where they exist. But so much is needed, as you know. I agree we need to reinvest in the communities, you know.
Speaker 1:Yes, my daughter graduated from Northwest State. You know what she asked me what Did you really go, graduate from Northwest State? Because she didn't hear nothing about me and seen no pictures. But let me tell you this See, I write other people too. I've sent Spike Lee Oprah Winfrey. I've written the athletic director at Northwest State. I wrote the mayor in Durham. I try to talk about it. But when I tried to get Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey to look at, instead of all of this violence and stuff, I sent them a book to read, something uplifting, to encourage and motivate people Instead of all of this killing and drama. You know these kids need to be motivated and encouraged. You know I have an idea.
Speaker 2:What is it? To be motivated and encouraged, you know? All right, I have an idea. What is that? Yeah, why don't you write a? Uh? Why don't you do, um, screenwriting, and let's see if we can get it turned into a movie you like to write? There ain't no doubt that you like it, right? Yeah, so why don't you write a story, or take one of the ones you think's there? So it's something we can talk about later. Okay, sounds good. All right, all right. Folks, thanks for joining us today. We'd like to just say thank you, follow us, like us, subscribe and we'll see you next time on Listen Up. Thanks For anyone watching this channel. I ask that you please like and subscribe for upcoming videos. Thank you.
