Scratchwerk ^EDU
"Scratchwerk ^Edu," hosted by Ronnie King, CEO of Scratchwerk Tech and founder of the MyVillage Project, is a dynamic podcast at the nexus of Black communities, technology, business, education, and current events. Each episode dives deep into the role of emerging technologies in promoting equity, enhancing workforce development, and reshaping education.
Join Ronnie as he explores how technology can be leveraged to uplift and empower marginalized communities through insightful discussions with experts, activists, and innovators. From the practicalities of tech entrepreneurship to the impact of community-led initiatives, "Scratchwerk Edu" is an essential resource for anyone interested in the intersection of technology and social change.
Learn about the success of tech incubators such as "Coding in Color", which has trained over 2,000 students in emerging skills and secured over $800k in funding to support young Black tech entrepreneurs, and discover how initiatives like the MyVillage Project Community Fund has united organizations and disbursed over $4M to support 220+ Black-led nonprofits across the country. Tune in to be informed, inspired, and involved in reshaping a more equitable tech future.
Scratchwerk ^EDU
Conversation with Dr. Johnnetta Cole - Using Generational Wisdom to Move Forward
An intimate conversation with Dr. Johnnetta Cole reveals the extraordinary journey of a woman who has repeatedly made history throughout the years. From entering Fisk University at just 15 years old to becoming the first African-American woman president of Spelman College, Dr. Cole's life exemplifies resilience, vision, and purposeful action.
Dr. Cole shares the remarkable story of her journey to presidency at Spelman—a position she initially resisted. This fascinating tale of destiny and determination offers a glimpse into how pivotal moments can shape our life's direction when we remain open to possibilities beyond our own imagination.
With ancestral knowledge that traces back to Senegal—Dr. Cole embodies the concept of Sankofa: "You've got to look back in order to go forward." Her connection to American Beach and A.L. Lewis (Florida's first Black millionaire) demonstrates how knowing our history empowers our future action.
Addressing today's challenging social climate, Dr. Cole offers perspective that only her decades of experience can provide: She advocates for hope, inspiration, and activism rather than despair or retreat.
Her parting wisdom for younger generations emphasizes self-care as foundational to activism. Listen now to be inspired by the living legacy of a woman who has transformed institutions, shattered barriers, and continues to light the way forward with the eternal truth that "we who believe in freedom cannot stop until it comes."
Hey, good afternoon there, Dr Cole.
Speaker 2:Good afternoon. I had trouble. I had to call on my hubby, who is my tech support. All right, how are you all?
Speaker 3:Good, how are? You, I'm pretty good, dr Cole, I'm so excited to see you.
Speaker 2:Is all well.
Speaker 3:All is well.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you joining us. Dr Cole, yeah, we've been looking forward to this. Tia said that she fixed you a crab tray. She said she. She didn't crab trade, she said she.
Speaker 2:She threw me down with it. The queen of the crab boil, that is her new title.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I have to ask, though, what kind of crab we talking about? Snow crabs, dungeon?
Speaker 2:crabs, blue crabs, we had both, and everything else went in it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1:That might be a new side hustle to you.
Speaker 3:It could be True Florida girl. I think I was more excited to prepare the crab than for her to eat the crab. I was so happy.
Speaker 2:We were outrageously into them. Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 3:Dr Cole, we are so happy that you are joining us for the Scratchwork EDU podcast and we've been doing this neat thing. So we have been using ChatGPT. Have you ever heard of that?
Speaker 2:I am technologically challenged, so the answer is no.
Speaker 3:Okay. Well, chatgpt is a bit like Google, but on steroids. So we've been putting inside of that system. Give us a bio on and then we'll state the person and then we'll read it and see what ChatGPT has for them. So we're hoping to do the same for you. So I don't have your actual bio, but I'm going to put your name into ChatGPT and I'm going to say we're interviewing Dr Jonetta Betch Cole. Please give me her bio, and then at the end you just kind of tell me how it was, if it was good or not.
Speaker 2:All right, are we ready?
Speaker 3:Ready. I'll tell you what it says With Dr Jonetta Betch-Cole. Dr Jonetta Betch-Cole is a distinguished American anthropologist, educator and museum director renowned for her groundbreaking leadership in academia and cultural institutions. Born on October 19th blah blah blah in Jacksonville, florida.
Speaker 2:You can say it I don't get it 1936 in.
Speaker 3:Jacksonville, Florida. That's right. She embarked on her higher education journey at the age of 15, initially attending Fisk University before transferring to Oberlin College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1957. She furthered her studies at Northwestern University, obtaining both a master's and a PhD in anthropology by 1967.
Speaker 3:Dr Cole's academic career includes teaching and administrative roles at institutions such as Washington State University, the University of Massachusetts and Hunter College. In 1987, she made history as the first African-American woman to serve as president of Spelman College, significantly enhancing its endowment and academic reputation during her decade-long tenure, she later led Bennett College from 2002 to 2007, becoming the only individual to preside over both historically Black colleges for women in the United States. Beyond academia, Dr Cole directed the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art from 2009 to 2017, of African Art from 2009 to 2017, reflecting her deep commitment to cultural preservation and education. She has also been a trailblazer in corporate governance, being the first African American to chair the Board of United Way of America and serving on the boards of major corporations like Home Depot. Throughout her industrious career, Dr Cole has been a steadfast advocate for diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion, addressing issues concerning Africa and the diaspora. She has authored and edited numerous publications and has been recognized with over 50 honorary degrees.
Speaker 2:No, no and has been recognized with over 50. It's now over 70 honorary degrees, so I'm afraid it's a little outdated.
Speaker 1:Let's get it right. Let's get it right.
Speaker 3:With over 70 honorary degrees and numerous awards for her contributions to education and social justice. Awards for her contributions to education and social justice. Dr Cole's enduring legacy continues to inspire future generations through her dedication to leadership, cultural understanding and the relentless pursuit of equality. What do you say about that?
Speaker 2:Say about that Wow, that's what I say about it.
Speaker 3:I say it's work I've been called to do. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2:Dr Cole, anything in that bio strike you as I don't know if I would have said it that way, or did they miss anything that you would have put in your bio that they didn't have? I'm not sure if they graduate. That description graduated me from Oberlin College in 1967. It should be 1957. Just because I'm a stickler for accuracy, I think it's. I think it's as good as a bio can be. Sure, look, an individual should never be captured totally by a bio. It's the work that matters, so I don't think we ought to spend any more time talking about it. That's what I say.
Speaker 3:Perfect, you know. What I want to talk about is how did you end up, at 15 years old, starting this particular higher ed journey?
Speaker 2:I can respond very quickly and very accurately. My parents believed in education like the devil believes in sin. That's a lot of belief. So they sent me off to the first grade when I was five. Sent me off to the first grade when I was five and oh, how fortunate I was to end up. Yes, it was a segregated school, but it was Miss Bunny Vance's classroom. And then I went to Boylan Haven in Jacksonville At that time an all-girls school under the ownership of the Methodist Church. But then after that, I begged my parents. But then after that I begged my parents. Could I please in my 11th year, 11th grade, sorry, could I go to Stanton? And they agreed. So I was so happy I was playing in the band the French horn. I could not have been happier. And then one day my parents said well, we made a decision. You're going downtown and you're going to take a test. If you pass it, you're going to go to an early entrance program at Fisk University. Program at Fisk University.
Speaker 2:Brother Ronnie, sister Tia, I didn't want to go to Fisk, I didn't want to go anywhere. I wanted to stay at Stanton. But like an obedient daughter, I went downtown. But then I was stupid. Think what I could have done If I really didn't want to go. All I had to do was check the wrong answers. No, no, no, no, no. I checked all the right boxes, and so that is how, at age 15, I went to Fisk. Now let me just say and then I'll be done with this.
Speaker 2:it was an era when, across our country, many African Americans were going into these early entrance programs. I was 15 when I went to Fisk, maynard Jackson was 14 when he went to Morehouse, and so that was, for that period of time, an enormously important recognition. An enormously important recognition that in the African-American community, like in other people's communities, there were very studious young black people who, I would say, were not only into books but who had also been taught that they had to be of service.
Speaker 3:Absolutely beautiful. I think about your parents. You know, these days we ask children so much about what they want to do. Do you want to do this, do you want to do that? Your parents say you're going to take the test and then, if you pass, this is what's happening next. Thinking back on that, why do you think they wanted you to do that? So, knowing that you probably could pass and could get into college early? And you're saying that the early entrance was happening across, I guess several people getting that opportunity. What was their passion behind making sure you were one of those?
Speaker 2:Well, let me first say that my parents were very, very fortunate Back in the day, very fortunate Back in the day. Those two black people went to HBCUs and got college degrees. My mother went to Wilberforce now Wilberforce University my father went to Knox College in Knoxville, Tennessee, and so they knew the value of an HBCU education and they thought here is this nerdy daughter of ours who can't get herself out of a book. This will be really good for her. There's a sadness about this that I must share. First, let me say I loved Fisk. I was in my element, whether it was being able to go into that collection of black art or go to the library where Arnaud Bontemps, of all people, was the head librarian.
Speaker 2:But it was a period of great sadness and trauma. That was the year while I was at this that my father died unexpectedly and I was my daddy's baby girl. No, I wasn't the talented musical genius, the beach lady, my older sister, and no, I would not become a great jazz drummer like my baby brother would become. But I have to say that nothing had ever happened to me that was so sad as losing my daddy happened to me. That was so sad as losing my daddy. So my mom and my sister again the famous beach lady got together and said how about, if you go to Oberlin, your sister is there. She's a double major in voice and piano in the conservatory. Be near your sister, It'll help. And it did so. That's how I left Fisk after only one year, Went to Oberlin and it was there that I did my undergraduate degree.
Speaker 3:I just want to highlight the resilience. You knew what that meant to both your parents, and even in the absence of your father, something tells me you never considered stopping just because you were sad. Is that true?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's absolutely true, Because I had been taught one of the lessons, the many, many lessons that one can learn in the African-American community. I had been taught that the way, no one of the ways that you can honor someone that you really love is by doing well and doing good, especially by doing good.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love that. Dr Cole, you know and I feel a little ashamed saying this and I'm not originally from Jacksonville, but I've had the pleasure of working with you on this AL Lewis Opportunity and Impact Fund and it was really through that that I learned about the story of AL Lewis and obviously I had heard about and knew about you and your great work but didn't know about that connection between you and AL Lewis and that whole history with American Beach. I know when, when I went out there with you and some others and kind of got a little bit more information about that, I personally was inspired. You know, not only about the individual success of AL Lewis and those things, but just that entire community and Black folks doing for each other and providing for each other. You know, if you don't mind, you know taking maybe a moment just to talk about that and you know I'm sure that has some connection in terms of what you've done throughout your life, but you know, any thoughts on that that time?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I do want to say that and I'm being very sincere I don't think the AL Lewis, black Opportunity and Impact Fund could do the righteous work it is doing without your voice, work it is doing without your voice. I am a deep, deep, deep, deep believer in intergenerationality and you bring into that setting all of the learnings and the excitement and the possibilities of a younger generation than I. But let me just say how extraordinarily fortunate I am to know so much about where I have come from. And because I do, I know how wretched it is, how very harmful it is when we are told we shouldn't look back. We don't need to keep concentrating on our history and our story and their story. As that wonderful Adinkra from Ghana says, sankofa, you've got to look back in order to go forward, back in order to go forward. So, my dearest brother, ronnie, I know you know an incredible amount about AL Lewis. After all, you wouldn't have signed up for all of this if you didn't. But what you and Tia may not know is that I can trace the maternal side of my family back to a young girl.
Speaker 2:Wolof was her ethnic group. She was of a royal family in Senegal. Her name was Anta Medijin N'Djai, born in 1793. When she was 13, she was captured, shackled, marched from her home in Senegal to that off-the-coast place called Goree Island, where there is a door of no return. I have stood in that door and wept like a baby. She was pushed through that door and onto a ship and thus began her horrific experience of the Middle Passage. Andemajigin Jai was offloaded in Havana, cuba. Put a pin in that she's placed on the auction block.
Speaker 2:From about 15 minutes away from where I'm seated right now in the American Beach community had gone a British enslaver by the name of Zephaniah Kingsley, and you may have heard of the Kingsley Plantation and you may have heard of the Kingsley Plantation. He went to Havana, cuba, for the explicit purpose of buying human beings. He saw Anta Majidin Jai and he said I must have her. He bought her, impregnated her before they reached the Kingsley Plantation. Now why have I taken up so much of our time to tell you?
Speaker 2:Abraham Lincoln Lewis married. He had two wives in succession. His first wife was Mary Frances Sammas. Who was she? She was the great-granddaughter of Zephaniah Kingsley and Antimagician Jai. So my knowledge of my ancestors on the maternal side and I've got a lot of work to do to balance it with my father's side, which is German, which is where Betch comes from. That was a gift given to me to be a descendant of these extraordinary human beings Now Ronnie and Tia.
Speaker 2:I believe if you're going to tell the story, you got to tell the whole story, even the parts that are not good. So I'm going to bring closure on this by saying Antum Adjidjit Njai, who became one of Zephaniah Kingsley's four common law wives. Common Law wives Became so wealthy, so central to him In the running of the plantation. I have no pride in this. In fact it is a point of great concern that she actually owned herself A few slaves or a few enslaved people. But we got to tell the whole story, including the engagement of African people in the enslavement trade. So AL Lewis marries Anton Magidgenin Njai and Zephaniah Kingsley's great-granddaughter.
Speaker 2:He was born in 1865. That's why his recently freed parents named him Abraham Lincoln. He was born very poor, but AL Lewis went on, out of sheer grit and God's grace, to join with six other black men in founding the first insurance company in the state of Florida. And let me tell you how Afrocentric he was, because, given the task and he was of naming that newly formed company he could have named it the colored or the Negro Company which became the Afro-American life insurance company he chose Afro-American.
Speaker 2:It's 1901. Where did he get this Afrocentrism from? It's what drove him, with his second wife, to go to Egypt and to see the pyramids with his own eyes. And so AL Lewis also became Florida's first black millionaire. But, far more importantly, he was one of the great philanthropists of his era. He believed, as he taught me, doing for others is just the rent you got to pay for your room on earth. The rent you got to pay for your room on earth. And so AL Lewis set an extraordinary example for the organization that you, brother Ronnie, and I have been associated with. If we have some means, how dare we not figure out how others can be where we are?
Speaker 1:Beautiful, beautiful and to your point, you know, kind of looking back in time, one of the things that I got from that whole story sometimes we're thinking that whatever worked back then, you know, wouldn't necessarily work now. But that story about what he and those other brothers did, I mean, I feel like in a lot of ways, that's exactly what we need to be doing right now, almost verbatim. But you know, I must ask you, you know, with all of the recent kind of current events that's kind of happening in America, particularly as it relates to African-Americans and we're talking about your, your history dating back to Africa we have a lot of African-Americans that you know we're nervous right now. We have a lot of African-Americans that you know we're nervous right now. I mean myself included.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, I mean you're hearing more people now than ever saying, man, we might have to get up out of here or we need to move back to Africa, or, and trying to come up with solutions. Now, me personally, you know I can't help it Right, I am an African-American, this is my home in a lot of ways. This is all I know. What are your thoughts as it relates to particularly our African-American experience and how we should be conducting ourselves in these really trying times and is there any relationship or any coordination that we should be thinking about strategically back with our brothers and sisters in Africa.
Speaker 2:Well, it doesn't take much to know to own that we are in profoundly troubling times, are in profoundly troubling times, and so the inevitable question is so what is to be done? We, as African Americans, as we listen to and experience what is going on in our country, we could become so depressed that we just say, look, I've got to do one of two things I've got to either find my little corner over here or I've got to leave this country. I think neither is what we should do. If ever there was a time when we have got to figure out how we get through this troubled time, it is now. First of all, if anybody says this is the worst that we've ever seen, I ask them to remember enslavement. Suppose our ancestors all of them had just said, the majority of them had just said this is too much, I got to just jump overboard and some did, but the majority did not. From somewhere, they found what they needed Hope. They also found something that they needed Inspiration, that they needed Inspiration. And they, thirdly, in my view, found what they needed, and I'm going to call it activism. And so how dare we.
Speaker 2:As troubling as these times are, when some folk are using language like An attack Of enormous magnitude On American democracy, how dare we say we don't have what it takes To get through this when our ancestors did, and we're not the only people. Look what the Holocaust did and how people resisted nevertheless. Think about what happened to the indigenous sisters and brothers who were already on this land when white folk came here, who didn't give up and are, yes, still struggling, but they didn't give up and are, yes, still struggling, but they didn't give up. I think, in more recent terms, about Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez and what they did For that movement.
Speaker 2:When I was at a certain point in my life with my children, being an activist that I was, my children thought that that fruit that we call grapes had only one word that described them they were union grapes, because we wouldn't let anything into our household that didn't reflect the unionizing that Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez fought for. Think about that period of internment of Japanese Americans and how they nevertheless found a way to come through. And I guess I'm now going to have to share an exceptional Japanese saying. I mean, you both know I love proverbs, I love sayings from the peoples of the world. There's a Japanese saying, and here it is Down seven up eight, down seven up eight. We have no choice right now but to have hope, to find inspiration, to get into the struggle somehow and to be the activist that I, as a woman of faith, believe my God calls on me to be All right.
Speaker 1:I, whenever, obviously, you know when we are around each other, at least I know we we are having what I would kind of classify as serious conversations with other groups of stakeholders in our community about these things. Obviously, right here in this conversation that we're having, we're talking about very serious matters. One of the concerns and I'm just going to speak for my generation, I'm not sure, not that we can't smile, not that we can't laugh discussions that are happening in our community around these topics. Enough, you know, and again, not from a place of fear, but simply from a place of strategy, activism, so on and so forth. But I'm sure a lot of people that engage with you are probably coming with a serious conversation, I hope. But what are you seeing, I guess, from your vantage point? Are you seeing us having enough of these conversations? Are we being serious enough as a community about our next steps?
Speaker 2:I don't think we have any possibility right now of having too many conversations, because it is out of conversations and we will often call them courageous conversations that we come up with ideas, with strategies, with actions. It could be in someone's living room where a group of African Americans first are giving voice, because there's nothing wrong with giving voice to how troubling these times are. But if you stop there and that's all you do, shame on us, because out of that small gathering in that living room might come somebody saying look, there's whole business about banning books, about not permitting certain things to be taught in classrooms. You and Tia and I are in the state of Florida.
Speaker 2:Out of that gathering in that living room, in that courageous conversation, might come not just hope that things can get better, not just inspiration to do something, but activism, as everyone in that living room says, and we will go together to the next meeting of the school board. Maybe we will do no more than just sit there. We shall see. We are a people who have experienced incredible amounts of oppression, but we are also a people who have put forward untold amounts of resistance and of activism, and I'm not foolish In the climate that we're in. Of course we need to be careful, but we can be both careful and find ways to be activists.
Speaker 3:That's great, dr Cole. What I love so much about these intergenerational conversations is the been there and done that that you get to share as a part of your journey and your story, and I think about a lot of my peers don't seem to necessarily just have the courage that it takes. I'm not sure where that comes from, but there are these ideas or this, sometimes the opportunity but not necessarily just having that boldness to just do it, even if you are scared.
Speaker 3:I'm super curious about Selman College, about your quest, I'm going to say but you may correct me if you didn't desire it and somebody maybe came and got you and said why don't you think about doing this? But just for our listeners, to have a bit of your experience in this bold journey of charting a path that no African-American female had ever taken in heading to Spelman College and becoming the president, will you give us a little bit of that story for our listeners please?
Speaker 2:I'll be happy to, because it's a wonderful story, if I must say so myself. I want to go back and describe how this really happened. I had collaborated with some others in the CUNY system City University of New York system. I was at Hunter College and with some other professors we did a very exciting project in Brazil, in Sao Paulo, where we looked at comparisons enslavement in the United States, enslavement in Brazil, the status of women in the United States in Brazil. Well, at the end of the project, a woman who is also an anthropologist said to me this is the kind of thing an anthropologist would do for an anthropologist. She said would you like a reading? I said yes. She said I am going to take you to Maruka, and off we went in Silvita's car, the name of my anthropology sister friend.
Speaker 2:We drove up in a very working class neighborhood in Sao Paulo, parked, she parked a car, we went into Maruca's home and when we opened the door, nothing but women were seated there. Now, I don't speak any Portuguese, I command some Spanish and so as we sat, I'm picking up maybe just a teeny bit of the conversation among the women and then the door opens and it is like this force walks in, it is Madoka. And one of the women said and I could figure this out said in Portuguese, she must go first. She's a stranger. These women had been waiting for the readings, but they, let me go first. Maruca looked at me and she just stood like this Come. We went into what is her bedroom. She sat on the end of her bed. There was a table and then chairs, and Silvita and I sat in the chairs. I looked at the table and the anthropology in me knew ah, there is the chairs. I looked at the table and the anthropology in me knew ah, there is the fist, there is a glass of water, huh, there is a snake plant and there are some cowrie shells. So I knew Maruka was probably going to throw those cowrie shells and she was going to read my future. And so we sat and she first looked at me and said in Portuguese, and then Silvita said to me what's your name? Yo me llamo Jonetta. Maduka then took the cowrie shells and I, out of my anthropology experience in Africa, assumed she's going to hold them and then she's going to read, depending on the pattern up and down, my future. She grabs the cowries, at which point, mia and Ronnie she became possessed and I, because I'm an anthropologist, I knew what was happening and so I just sat there until she came out of it, in which case she then looked at me, put her hand up so I could see her skin and she said to me you. And she rubbed her hand and she said you will do in your country what women in my country and your country rarely do you are headed for a leadership role that is bigger than you can imagine, almost done. I don't know what Maruka is talking about, but I know enough to know she knows something that I don't know.
Speaker 2:I go back to Hunter College, get in the elevator. After I've settled back in, go up to my office on the top floor in the anthropology department, and on my desk there are two urgent notes from my mentors From the president of Hunter, donna Shalala. President of Hunter, donna Shalala, john Netta, see me immediately. From Marion Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children's Defense Fund. Call me the moment you're back from Brazil. From both of my mentors I heard you will apply for the presidency of Spelman College. My first thought was oh my God, this is my new class, this is what she's talking about. But I said but I don't want to be the president of Spelman College. I'm a happy professor. My mentors would not let up the president of Spelman College. I'm a happy professor, my mentors would not let up.
Speaker 2:Here's the last chapter of this story. After I was appointed to the presidency of Spelman College, I went back to Brazil, this time with the well-known black preacher of all black preachers, james Forbes, and his wife, betty Forbes. They were both at that time at Riverside Church in New York and they asked me to go with them for this trip they were making to Rio. I did what I had to do and then I jumped on a plane and I went back to Sao Paulo. I found Silvita and I said Silvita, you have got to take me back to see Maruca, maruca. And we went as we pulled up and Silvita parked her car and we both got out. Maruka happened to be getting out of her car and I'm screaming Maruka, maruka. You won't know what happened. And this is what she said Shh, shh, I know.
Speaker 3:Listen, dr Cole, I had no idea. I'm so glad I asked that question. I don't know what to do. There's so much in what you just said and really, first of all, I would have sat down just so you know, and seen all those same things on the table, had no idea. So the moment she was possessed I might have been out of there because I don't know any other things that you knew. But I'm glad, and I am certain that it was you for a reason, because you knew exactly what to do in that moment to wait it out and hear the word that was sent directly to you.
Speaker 3:And I don't know how much of that's happening anymore.
Speaker 3:And just for the sake of the podcast and our listeners, I really want to kind of stress that sharing of whatever's happening that we think we should be saying to people, through intuition or otherwise.
Speaker 3:I don't have the concluding moments of a bit of a prophecy that was spoken over me as well, but I think knowing those things and having that information allows you to actually be bold when it's happening, because it registers. This is what they were talking about. So you know I'm walking in this no matter who understands, because I know that this was spoken ahead of me to fulfill this particular mission, so I'm glad that you shared that. I hope that there are people on the call that hear that message and it resonates, or they remember something somebody said to and it hasn't quite come out yet to have the boldness of Dr Jonetta Bench Cole. Even when she said I don't want to do that, I'm enjoying teaching, I want to be a professor. You knew that was the next thing to do and you walked boldly into that and you, I'm sure, couldn't even imagine all the ways that that was going to shape your life and the next steps thereafter.
Speaker 3:I plan to share this interview with a student that I know at Spelman College. And I want to encourage her to share it with many, many of her peers and because I know from that birth date you allowed me to say you'll be 90 next year.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I'm 88. I will be 89 next year.
Speaker 3:And 26?.
Speaker 2:I am now 88.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And I will next year be 89. And then the big nine. Oh, as our people would say, the good Lord willing and the creek don't Right.
Speaker 1:That's right, all right.
Speaker 3:Right, ok, well, for this, I want you to share a message to those college students, or just to those younger that are walking around the campus, that you poured into, that you had a vision for, that you made changes in expectation of this generation after generation that are there, of this generation after generation that are there. What words would you share with them regarding what they can do in this moment with what they're seeing on television and everything else? Could you just kind of give some encouraging words to the younger generation of listeners that may hear this particular podcast with you?
Speaker 2:with you. The first counsel that I move to give is to say to my young sisters and my brothers if any righteous brothers are listening you got to take care of yourself. I go first to self-care, because if you don't take care of yourself, how are you going to help us get out of this mess? When three years ago I was in the hospital, didn't know if I would get out. The chronic obstructive disease that I have from being stupid and smoking like a chimney when I was in graduate school had caught up with me. But good Lord wasn't ready for me and I did come out of that hospital. And I got a gift when I got home and it's a pillow that is in my walk-in closet.
Speaker 2:I read those words every day. They're the words of Audre Lorde, clearly someone who I met at Hunter College and who helped me deal with my homophobia. Audre Lorde, perhaps the most well-known and cherished lesbian black woman poet, and she would insist that I say warrior, hear the words on the pillow. The last words aren't there, but I'm going to add them. Doing for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, it is a political act. Think about that. Taking care of yourself is a political act.
Speaker 2:The second thing that I respectfully say to young'uns and I use that term with great affection and respect Dr Maya Angelou's words you've been paid for. You've got to understand a whole lot of folk have gone through a whole lot because they dreamed of you. And when you feel that you don't just say it, it's not just a pretty statement, but you feel it, then you've got to be motivated to get up and do something. Something, whether it is deciding this is the time for you to be a big sister or a big brother through that program, or deciding that this is the time for you to start your own process of mentoring those who are actually younger than you.
Speaker 2:Or you don't know why you've been putting off Joining the National Council of Negro Women, but surely this is the time. And so, after self-care, I'm really calling On my Younger sisters and brothers. I'm really calling on my younger sisters and brothers, my siblings, to do something. I know it ain't pretty out here, but there is something you can do each and every day so that at the end of the day, you can say I did something. No matter how good black language T-N-I-G-E it was, no matter how itsy bitsy it was, I did something to push back against what is happening.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. That's a beautiful, beautiful message. Matter of fact, my, my daughter right now is in in college. I'm going to send this to her as well. She is a, not a Spelman, but she is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta. Matter of fact, dr Cole, I have to try to pull or convince Tia to allow Omegas and Deltas on this podcast, and so I just want to say I was advocating for you to be on this podcast here. She finally allowed it, so we really, really appreciate.
Speaker 4:I know you don't believe that oh listen.
Speaker 2:If we can't joke within our Divine Nine family, then something is really wrong with us.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. We hear that word of yours.
Speaker 2:Where is she?
Speaker 1:Ronnie, she's right here at University of North Florida, yep University of North Florida. She just crossed about six months ago, so she is running around being a very, very proud neophyte.
Speaker 2:Well tell my sorrow and my young sister that I believe in her and tell her something that I say that is really so self-centered it may sound almost selfish. Your daughter, her generation and those younger Are the only Future that I have got.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. We really want to thank you, dr Cole, for taking the time today. This was amazing. This was the one we were absolutely waiting on, the conversation that I know we were waiting on. Again, I'm just happy that we have the opportunity to share your words with our small network and circle of folks. We just hope that people like you said continue to fight and continue to push the ball forward for all of us. We really, really appreciate you taking out that time today. I know that Tia does as well.
Speaker 3:Yes, we will never forget this moment, and I know that Ronnie wants to sponsor you another seafood fest.
Speaker 2:Oh, I am grateful. I am grateful, and I will leave the two of you with words of, I think, one of the great civil rights activists of all times, ella Baker, and her words are captured in the song that Bernice Reagan and Sweet Honey and the Rock sing. The words are we who believe in freedom cannot stop until it comes. Be well, my sis and my bro.
Speaker 1:Be well. Thank you, dr. My bro Be well. Thank you, dr Cole, take care.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much. I guess the endurance is bliss. Take me back to before the noon. Take it out of cue. Innocence can be a human's game. Signed up for the hall of shame. I wish I knew how much I missed. I know that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I like to be away and more patient. Stay up. I feel so outdated. How can we look the other way? Sun is out, but the sky is gray. What would happen if I took a chance? It's always hard at first glance. I don't wanna, but I know I gotta do it. The truth is hard to swallow. I think I knew how much I miss, not knowing that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I wish I knew how much I miss. I know that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I wish I knew.