We Ask If We’ve Overcome Or Are Still Rising And Map Real Ways Communities Move Forward

The show opens with a powerful spoken-word piece that asks what history sounds like—and then we test the answer against today’s reality. We celebrate milestones like President Obama’s election and Vice President Harris’s trailblazing role, but we don’t stop there. We zoom in on where the real levers live: city councils, school boards, judges, and statehouses that quietly shape voting access, curriculum, and opportunity. From San Antonio’s march legacy to current school closures and curriculum fights, we connect policy to lived experience and ask whether we’re overcoming—or still rising.

We talk unity without the buzzwords. For us, it looks like roles that lock together: parents advocating in board rooms, educators protecting truth in classrooms, elders mentoring, and young organizers leading with sharp digital skills. We share how HBCU culture, local history tours, and real-life immersion rebuild pride and counter erasure. You’ll hear stories of kids meeting Tuskegee Airmen, students walking out to oppose injustice, and families choosing leadership over conformity. Culture isn’t a side dish; it’s the strategy.

We also make a grounded case for reading as resistance. Go past the algorithm and into archives: Douglass, Bethune, Height, Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and local giants like Myra Davis Hemings. The blueprints for coalition-building and policy wins are there. Literacy sharpens advocacy, widens language, and keeps us steady when the room gets hot. Still rising means showing up early, not after the vote; investing in youth programs; directing dollars to Black businesses; teaching financial literacy at home; and celebrating scholars as loudly as we mourn losses.

If this conversation moved you, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a review with one action you’ll take this week to help us keep rising. Your voice and your vote matter—let’s make them count.

Transcript

Opening Poem: What History Sounds Like

Monique Robinson 0:21

Welcome to a Better Chance for Youth television show with your host, Monique Robinson, where we highlight, celebrate, and recognize students from all over the country who are doing great things in the classroom, community, and athletics. Every student deserves an opportunity, an opportunity for hope in a future. So let's celebrate our students, the next generation of teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and future leaders. Join us on another incredible segment of a Better Chance for Youth show with your host, Monique Robinson.

SPEAKER_05 1:01

Gonna lay down my burdens down by the riverside, down by the riverside, down by the riverside, gonna lay down my burdens down by the riverside, gonna study no more. Someone asked me, What does history sound like? I said history sounds like nine months, like birth of a new life, like a calm whisper over creep, sweet melody over a tight beat. It doesn't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing. Like jazz, even when we're beaten, black and bruised, back spit, back barely bleeding. History still somehow sounds like the blues. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child. Sometimes I feel like a mother child.

SPEAKER_10 2:17

Sometimes I feel like a mother child a long way from home a long way from home.

SPEAKER_05 2:40

History sounds like Harlow, like Duke, like Marcus, W. E. B. De Bois, Langston, Mamie Smith, like survival, like the homes, bongos like clicking of a railroad track. It sounds like old Negro spirites. Swing low. Sweet chariot coming for to carry me home. Swing low. Sweet. Coming for to carry me home. Celebration in safe houses. It sounds like Harriet's underground maps to freedom land where freedom ain't so free. Sounds like 1913 and everything in free. The beats of women marching like the banging of a glass. We walked with charge on our neck and in between our feet. I ain't gonna let nobody turn me around. Turn me round. Turn me around. I ain't gon' let nobody turn me around. Gonna keep on walking, keep on talking, marching up to freedom lane. Keep your glass slipper. A woman that's supposed to do no heavy lifting. We belong in the kitchen, in the house, in the city, in the oval office. History sounds a lot like Cherokee, like Michelle, and now common unbossed and unbossed. Sometimes history is a silent moving powerhouse. Sounds a lot like the clipping of Jim Crow's wings. History sounds like Dr. Martin Luther King, like Booker T. Washington. History sounds like unsung heroes we didn't hear much about. She sounds like Johnson, Vaughn, and Jackson. Black women being out of this world and staying behind chalkboards. These figures are still undercalculated. Sometimes we forget that we are history. Days we wake up and don't hear the history within us. Days where little black girls and boys forget to listen. To the magic pumping through their veins, history sounds a lot like you. The beautiful, the black, the gifted.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

The beautiful, the black, the gifted. The beautiful, the black, the gifted. The beautiful, the black, the gifted.

Monique Robinson 6:08

Good evening, everybody. And I know we didn't start the show like we normally do, but today is the last day of what they say. You know, Black History Month. But if you know us here at A Better Chance, Black History is 365. So welcome. Today we actually have two guests, and we are going to be discussing a very relevant topic. Um, and I will be joined with some of my board members because sometimes we just have to come on here and have these discussions. And so um I have Dr. Goshe and I have Pisha Mapry today. Hey Dr. Gosher, how are you? Hey Pete. So welcome, welcome. How are you, ladies? How's it going?

SPEAKER_03 6:57

It's been a long month, you know. Everybody wants to learn about something black in 28 days when we're black every day. So it's been a long month for me.

Monique Robinson 7:11

That's understandable. I mean, you know, I I do 365, so I don't know if you all do that. I do 365.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yeah, yeah. Dr.

Monique Robinson 7:19

Gilche, how how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Good. It's been well, it's been a long day uh uh for me with the San Antonio African American Authors Book Festival. So I was very proud to be a part of that, and thank you, Dr. Robson, for definitely being there to support. So that was that was very, I'm very touched so and honored.

Monique Robinson 7:41

Oh, well, I had I had a good time there. Y'all know um I got super excited, not because I was there to support and you know be kind of incognito, but it was a person there that y'all know how I love my school. I thought I was bad. She had in-cat, earrings, t-shirt, shoes. I think she had socks too. But I said, look at that. I'm not the only person. So it's somebody worse than me. Well, not worse, but we love our school, we can't help it. So today um it's kind of a non-traditional show because sometimes I have topics that come in my head, and then it's like, you know, I really want to process this because we I we we live in San Antonio, which is already different. Um it's different. And I think I volunteered with Pisha this year for the March, and I still have this question in my head. So it's like, are they gonna answer this question or not? So I said, let me pull my board and see who is willing to actually have a discussion with me. So my overhead question, and you both, you know, you all can tag team, we can have a discussion, however you want to answer it. Um, but have we really overcome anything? Or are we still rising?

Have We Overcome Or Still Rising

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Well, I would say, I mean, I believe we, you know, we celebrate the milestones, you know, um that has come, you know, all the way from the election of President Barack Obama, you know, first president of the United States, and then to have Kamala Harris to be the very first elected vice president of the United States. I mean, to have lived to see that, and to, you know, with my children having to have told them over the years, you could be anything that you want to be, just strive in education, education, education, and to see it, that's a milestone for me.

Monique Robinson 9:56

That's fair. That's that's truly fair. Um, I I can agree. I remember um I think I was in Florida when um President Obama had won uh that election, and to see, you know, how many people actually wanted to get out and participate in voting and how many people were actually excited about voting. And then now we look at it as like, oh, my vote don't count, it doesn't matter. You know, it's the attitude a lot of people have. And I'm like, so did we overcome or we going backwards?

SPEAKER_02 10:28

You know, we um go ahead, I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

No, no, go ahead, don't finish, finish what you have to say.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

No, I I was just gonna, you know, add because I kind of um kind of went over some of this, and um for me, I celebrate the milestones, like I said, of having witnessed um the African Americans elected, you know, for president of the United States. But also I remember when Jesse Jackson ran for president, and my siblings and I were leaving church, and we saw a multitude of people marching down Lennox Avenue in New York City, and I'm just elated that I was, you know, now to be a part of the voting process, you know, of seeing, like I said, the first woman to be vice president, even though we should have been able to have Kamala Harris as the president, but you know, we still rising. So we got a ways to go. But the accomplishment of being a part in history of seeing black people willing to actively vote and not sit back to see what happens. Um, so seeing that mindset shift is is I think we're moving in the right direction for that. But I believe that folks still need to understand that it's not just about the presidency. And I think that's where we're where we're getting that hang up at. You know, you have to vote for your mayors, your councilmen, your congressmen, your senators, and these judges.

Monique Robinson 12:13

That's fair. Pisha, what's your take on it?

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Um, have we overcame honestly? No. Um, I think what happens is that we look at these milestones and they use it against us when all honesty we have to think about the fact that everything is being reversed, and it's not even my mom's like lifetime that these reversals are happening. We're talking about you know, laws and acts that were passed maybe 60 years ago, and the fact that it's still happening. I think people fail to realize when we think about emancipation that it was in 1865, right? And then we had the Civil Rights Act, what, in 1964, so pretty much a year, but you're talking, I mean a hundred years. So you're talking about a hundred years of reconstruction, you're talking about a hundred years of Jim Crow, and they passed this law, and then less than 60 years or 60 years, let's say, now they're reversing everything. And they're reversing it because of this idea of milestones, right? Well, y'all have the black president, y'all have billionaires, y'all have these things. We no longer need to offer these programs to you. And now that we know in this day and age, particularly black women, even though we're like one of the most educated populations, we're also the ones who are losing jobs at a rapid rate, right? Our education system for our black babies is shot. We know that. Um, we know that the incarceration rate is still high because America believes to have a slave class, regardless. And so it makes me nervous when we say that. And I think about the first time that I attended a MLK march at San Antonio because we have the largest march in the nation. And I remember this is like '92 or '93, and they were singing We Shall Overcome. And my mom was like, but we overcame. Why are we still singing this song? And a couple of years later, we have someone named Bill Clinton who signs a bill for mass incarceration in order to build the slave class once again. And so I kind of grapple with the idea of have we really overcome, or do we allow the limited access that they give to us? And because it provides us a certain lifestyle, we're thinking we're okay and we'll think we're good. So I think about the fact of black rurality, I think about the fact of urban life, I think about all those things in the intersectional lens and ask myself how we really overcame. And I could honestly say we haven't overcame at all. We still have to fight the fight. And so I need the folks who are living this lifestyle of being comfortable to start feeling uncomfortable, and it's time for us to fight. We have a huge fight that we have to do. If we could see the fact that monuments are being torn down, history is being hidden once again because they are afraid of wired fragility. I'm just concerned about this idea of saying, yes, we have.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

So, but there are different um ways in which African Americans are being more creative. We're using more of our creative way of educating our children, our youth, our community to reunite it because it seems like the only time when we really start banding together is when we have to fight.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

I think we're talking about a percentage of African Americans who have access to that, and I think that's what bothers me. That's why I said we have to look at an intersectional lens, right? We have to look at the social economic status of things. We also can't make an assumption that everybody has this opportunity to be introduced to certain things, and so I think that's what is scary for me and knowing that. So when I go into these schools and I see the disparities between different districts or even within the districts, I'm concerned about it, right? Um, I'm concerned about the fact that two school districts, two main, well actually three main school districts in our city are closing down schools, and particularly that serve black students. I'm also concerned about certain schools that mission is to serve black students are either closing or they're not actually serving black students at all, or they're not even giving them giving black students the opportunity to even learn about somebody simple like Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks just because they are afraid that they'll be shut down, or they are afraid to not have money to continue the school. That's concerning. I get it that we have creative ways, but black folks have always been creative, have always been entrepreneurs. We've literally built this city. The reason why we have San Antonio Independent School District because of a black man who helped develop public schools, right? Um, if you look at like if you look at the green book and you see all those businesses, we've always been that way. My concern is the fact of we forget because we get access to things, we forget the fight. And so sometimes when it is not directly affecting us, then we don't do anything until it's too late. And I don't want our people to wait too late to do something about it. We're lucky that we live in a city with Democratic mayors. Think about if we were in a city where it was Republican mayors that were pro-Trump, and we had to really kind of deal with like sundown town mentalities. We don't have that problem. So I think that is my concern when I talk about we haven't really overcame because I'm looking at the social political aspect of what is happening with our community, whether if it's in Texas, whether it's in San Antonio or nationally, we're seeing a decline in a lot of things. And so that's what my question is.

Monique Robinson 20:22

Well, you both have given some really, really good insight. Um, but we have to take a quick, quick, quick commercial. Um, so we could go into question three, but two all of the yeah, question two.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

You shouldn't have academics because Dr. Gaucher is putting me in the hot seat right now. You shouldn't have academics on here, okay? First of all.

Monique Robinson 20:50

I mean, most of most of the time when we own here, we be so silly, you know, to get to get to the end. Like, oh, they really are, you know, they really can't have an intellectual power against the job right now.

SPEAKER_09 21:10

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SPEAKER_01 22:11

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Reversals, Jim Crow’s Echo, And Data

Monique Robinson 22:41

Welcome back. Welcome back. I am here with uh two of my board members. And usually, I know we usually have um very intel into uh very rarely have these type of conversations. Let me just say it like that. We usually are silly, fun, play games, but today we are strictly, you know, strictly business today. And you know, Dr. Crochet and Misha had me worried for a minute because I'm like, oh, they about to go at each other. So I kind of felt bad. But um, so yes, they are still here, and I they made me skip a question. And I'm can't, y'all know I get to push in buttons and then I can't see nobody, so I don't know what I did. Okay, there goes Dr. Okay, there she go. I'm about to say, uh oh, I done lost them. So y'all got me tongue tied today. Um so yes, I did skip question two, probably because y'all answered. Um, got so good, y'all done made Pinda show up to the parties. And I was like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_13 23:52

So let's welcome um today in here showing up, girl.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

America didn't know that Monique did this on purpose, like America. Monique that I was on that question.

SPEAKER_13 24:15

So I mean these ladies would I mean I'm like, y'all, we on the same team.

Monique Robinson 24:26

We we like we look on the same board. What's going on here?

SPEAKER_03 24:32

All love, all love, all love different philosophies, different different philosophy and apologies. That's all okay.

Monique Robinson 24:42

So I'm gonna ask this next question, but y'all and at least we got a person in here that is you know I had to skip. I'm on question three because it's oh okay, okay. So the next question. Um, the next question that I have for our ladies, um, leaders like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks demonstrated courage and unity. What does unity look like in our families and communities today? How can we continue? Uh-oh, the peace already thinking, I see that head going, building strong supportive environments for future generations. That was so really it's like what is strength and growth look like in the community?

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Well, I I have previous generations were prone to violence when moving into predominantly Caucasian neighborhoods. Socioeconomical status improvement is more reachable throughout history. When African Americans innovated something, their achievements were buried in history. Knowledge is more accessible because of the internet. Today, we are able to publicly acknowledge African Americans that are making positive impacts in their communities and beyond. And access to college is more attainable because of scholarships, grants, and my least favorite loans. And the schools do need to do better in getting the information to students wanting to attend.

Monique Robinson 26:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_13 26:30

Come on with it.

Youth Activism And Community Organizing

SPEAKER_03 26:31

Come on, ring it, ring it, ring it. Can we first give it up to call that that's that's race her name up the the the original, the original woman who said, I'm not gonna get up. Okay, you back the bus who, what, okay. Um, so I will say this. You're talking about the family unit, and so we really need to talk about the fact that the family unit, especially when it comes to African Americans, has been displaced since we were brought on this continent. Right? That's true, and so it's always been an issue with us of them strategically making sure to break up the family union unit. And when we, as black women, fought for welfare, because a lot of people don't know, welfare was actually for white women, particularly veterans, um, wives. And so we fought for that because that was a part of the civil rights. Like, why are we living in destitute when these women are able to have assistance from the government? And so when the government decided that hey, you could get assistance, but the father can't be in a home, that's true, that killed the unit. Now, I can't say this is that we as our generation have allowed ourselves to step back from the church because of the internet, like Monique knows I'm bedside back this all day, every day. But once we kind of stepped away from the church, once we stopped having, you know, black schools, once we stopped coming together as a community to raise children and things of that nature, I think it really, you know, weakened the familiar unit. And so we need to go back to those principles. We need to go back to our African principles of how we raise our village. And so that's what I think. And I'm just gonna leave it alone because you know she's gonna talk about me.

Monique Robinson 29:04

I'm gonna go back and listen.

SPEAKER_11 29:08

I'm gonna go back and listen. I I I'm sorry, I I was late. I had had to eat something before I got on here.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

I think that got me militant today.

SPEAKER_11 29:24

Yeah, can't show up hangry to the to the work. But what does unity growth and and strength look like today? The first thing that came to my mind was Jasmine Crockett. You know, I think about all these other women that you know, um Rosa Parks and Claudette, and all these other women that have been Mary McLeodhoon and you know, Shirley Chisholm, and so many women who did so many things, and we don't say their names enough. So what they did was they found how to utilize their skills and their talents to bring us together, and I think we need to do more of that. How you build a whole college from sweet potato pie that is still in existence today is amazing to me. And Dorothy Height was married to the movement. She said she never wanted to get married because it was too much work to be done. I think that today, in 2026, it looks like what we're doing right now. Unity looks like we're putting our heads together, we're cracking jokes, but we're serious about the work that we do. So when we get in the room, we know that we're not leaving anybody the same. Sometimes we show up and we ruffle some feathers. Sometimes we show up and we have everybody cracking up, but I think it's important because that's in the small pockets, that's where the magic happens, and the magic spreads as a result of us getting together. That's what the strength looks like, that's what the unity looks like, and for growth, I think we definitely can be more vocal, more visible, more supportive of each other. I'm not out there like rah, rah, siskoomba, like I should be for all the things. I got Dr. Monique up here writing 10 songs a day and publishing 25 books a month. You know, Dr. Gaucher is out there at all those events, Pecia is changing lives. We got Dr. Anthony, Dr. Popcorn, he's doing all these amazing things, and I think it's important for us to acknowledge that about each other and acknowledge what we're doing well, especially because our history is being erased slowly but surely. Yeah. Good question.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

I will say this um, something that Penda said that kind of triggered something for me, and the fact of we need to pay attention to how these kids are really doing this social movement right now, how they're utilizing the internet. They're the I know here in San Antonio, they're the ones who are walking out and and protesting against ICE and all other things that are happening. And I think what hurts my heart is when I look at the comments on social media of 40 and 50 and 60 year olds laughing at these kids, or this is stupid, failing to realize that your parents did this, right? Or this was done so that you could have certain rights. You know what I mean? So why don't we give you a pizza? Yeah, like let me get you some pizza, baby. Like, it's just it's like it's very much comforting to know that they are calling us out, and I love it, and I'm excited about it, and it's like, yeah, keep going.

SPEAKER_11 33:25

Yeah, okay.

Monique Robinson 33:26

So I got another question for y'all because y'all did good with that one, okay. And y'all didn't like the first one. What are you talking about? Like the first one, I was like Peace about to go look for Dr. Gauche. No, I was looking for Dr.

SPEAKER_03 33:41

Gauche to help me with chapter two of this dissertation. That's what I was doing.

SPEAKER_11 33:45

Yes, dissertation.

Monique Robinson 33:46

Yes, all right, y'all. So the next question is Black history includes achievements in education, business, faith, arts, and leadership. Where do you see black excellence making a positive impact today? How can we encourage young people? Y'all know I love inviting young people to see themselves as part of this excellence. Because some young people they don't identify because colorism is real. I'm just gonna name the elevator.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

I I really cringe at that statement when when kids say that, but I'm gonna I'm gonna say this. This is my response to your question.

unknown 34:29

Uh uh.

Break: HBCU Apps And Trivia

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Now, back in the day, we used to eat at the tables as a family. The neighbors looked out for each other. Uh, discipline was not go sit in the corner and reflect on what you did wrong. Talking back was unheard of. As children, we played games outside. We watched family sitcoms like The Jeffersons, What's Happening, Good Times, etc. We played Hopscot, Double Dutch, Red Light, Green Light, etc. We handled conflict by talking and occasional fist fight. Uh, not as much gun violence as it is today. Toughness did not equate to you shooting someone as a community. Parents need to be parents, babies need to stop having babies. We need to continue to support and educate our youth. We need to encourage one another by spending money in our own communities and teach our youth about finances and building legacies.

Monique Robinson 35:47

I don't know. So I'm scared to call him Peace X. Like come on, come on. Keisha, thank it.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Come on.

What Unity Looks Like Today

SPEAKER_03 36:02

Okay, so there's there's a there's a generational gap there. Okay. I'm gonna smoke without saying we old. Is that what you're doing? I'm not saying I'm not saying we're old. I'm not saying y'all old at all. Y'all were born in the 70s. I was born in 77, Pisha. I was born in 77. It's it's still it's still different. It's just like like people who are born in like 88, it's like it was very different. We was born in 82, right? So I will say this. I really do.

SPEAKER_11 36:41

So funny.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

What you said is what my mama, no, what my grandmother said about this my grandma. No, no, seriously. No, I'm thinking about it, right? Like, I'm thinking about the fact that the 90 kids, they said the same thing. There's literally documentaries uh in the in the you know in the late 80s showing young girls having babies, right? And this issue of it, and so it was always like you know, babies are having babies, and there's so much violence. I mean, we have boys in the hood and gangster rap, we had all the same things, uh, and so we have to we have to kind of recognize the fact of what did we do or what did we not do to stop that cycle from happening? Because I remember hearing that as a child, uh and I and I was I was privileged, I was privileged to be raised in a salon atmosphere, so I was always in the room of the conversation, I knew how to be seen and not heard, right? I remember exactly what Dr. Goshe said. I remember that, and then I catch myself saying the same thing of when I was a kid, I was outside, we made we had like Nintendo and we could play it every now and then, like all these things, what's going on with this youth, and then I had to stop myself and say it was the same in the 90s, it's just that now that I'm older and now I'm questioning why I didn't help fix the problem, or why, or what am I gonna do now to fix the problem because now it's my responsibility, you know what I mean? So it's like it's like one of those things of when I was in when I was in sixth grade, I went to two baby showers in sixth grade.

SPEAKER_13 38:50

Wow, babies was having babies, yes, babies was having babies, right?

SPEAKER_03 38:56

So it's like baby shower, sixth grade. There's still that that's still an issue, but we haven't figured out how to fix it yet. But so what are we gonna do to fix it as change agents? What are we gonna do to fix it?

Monique Robinson 39:12

That's that's true because our school in high school, I remember them having a separate wing for uh kids, well, students that had kids. Like it was a girl pregnant in graduation. I mean, I ain't gonna lie, I love my parents, but my parents, they were strict. I ain't gonna pin the laugh because she's bring back the paddle. That's enough to get in trouble, but not go like completely over. Because I just it cleaned, like my parents, they they believed in you know, spare the ride.

SPEAKER_11 39:49

Like that was uh yeah, telling my baby, they didn't know, and I was telling her, like, you know, you lucky because if daddy was alive, he'd have been up at that school. You could be sitting in class and he just walk in now, so it's it's different now. That you can't just walk into school no more, you can't just you can't do the same things that we used to do back in the day of you know, safety precautions and things like that. But I think that the way that we incorporate young people is to ask them, and the interesting thing is some young people. I remember a couple years ago, somebody's like, Why are we off on Month the King Day? What he ever do for me? You know, I'm like, girl, right? She's like a junior in college now, but she, you know, back then she was just like, I don't understand. We're not teaching about what black excellence excellence is anymore. Daddy used to make us sit down and watch Lou Raw every year. That's why we all went to HBCUs because he's like, Oh, you won't watch this Lou Raw, you know, we don't have we don't have speech contests, and we i mean we're not doing parades with drill teams, like we're not doing things like that that show that it's it's okay and it's important to pee up. I wonder if people of the generation now understand how significant Jesse Jackson was.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

Well, well, I have a question, Penda. I wonder if my generation understands how important Jesse Jackson was. Oh my generation, if millennials understood how important Jesse Jackson was, and they instilled that in their children now, yeah, it would not be an issue, or the issue would be smaller, right? So that's why I'm saying, like, I tell my mom, I said, you know, you're a civil rights baby, but in the 70s, y'all kind of like didn't pass the ball to us, yeah. It kind of dropped like between the it kind of dropped in between, yeah. So now it's like it's our job to keep up alive. It's like I'm gonna let you know, Jesse. He has somebody, but let me tell you something.

SPEAKER_13 42:24

That dude comes, like you feel power, feel powerful being black, like yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 42:35

Um did y'all watch Joe's college trip, the movie, the Tyler Perry movie. I haven't watched, I mean, it has some parts in there. I was like, okay, we could have left this out, Jesus. But um the part about the the grandson like being so desensitized to everything black.

Monique Robinson 42:58

Yes, that's what I'm talking about.

Schools, Closures, And Curriculum Fights

SPEAKER_11 43:06

To even consider, I don't want to go there, I'm gonna go, you know, until he got around his people and got around the community and began to understand like this is who we are, this is what we've done, and I think that's what's what's missing. That's how we yes, thank you. I couldn't remember what it was called. If we could do more of those real life immersions, yes, then I can shine the gyms.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Oh yeah, I I remember when my kids were very young, and the the thing was is we wanted, I wanted better for my kids, right? So I didn't raise them in the hood. I didn't, I'm sorry. Um, but the thing was they went to some of the best schools, but with that, they found themselves, they they was the only one, right? But I made sure that like when when when there were black events, so because we lived in Colorado for over 20 plus years, but when there were black events, they got to meet the Tuskegee Airmen uh in person. So every time when there was something that would educate them, you know, I made sure that, oh no, we're gonna sit you down, we're gonna we're gonna talk about this. I remember one day my daughter came home and she told me that she hated the fact that she was black. And that was very, very disturbing for me because as a mother and I'm single mom, four kids, that was that was very heartbreaking because you know, I'm I'm trying, I'm thinking that I'm trying to set the example of, you know, raising my kids, doing the best that I can, providing them in the best neighborhoods that I could. And for her to come home to say that, it put me in in kind of a disheveled uh feeling here of, you know, okay, do I, you know, take them back home to New York so that they can see what the ghetto is like and that kind of stuff, so they can appreciate it. Um, or do I continue to keep them um safe? You know, I mean, that's really what it boiled down to for me. So um, so what I did was I began to research um some things like uh there's uh an unknown author where it tells us, you know, what would the world be like if there was no black people? And so I made all of my kids read that, okay, right? And and I would bring that up every now and then, every time when they would would seem like they acting like, oh, I don't like that I'm, you know, that I'm not black because my hair, my hair is a little more kinky than, you know, uh the Caucasian children and stuff. I'm like, oh no, because we can style our hair. So I made sure that I did my daughter's hair to the point that when she would go to school, they'd be like, oh, who did your hair? Oh, can you have your mom do my hair? That's how I made it because I I had it, it was like I had to hit where I saw there was a need. And so when I saw that that that they were not feeling proud of who they were, I had to remind them and I told them, don't you be a follower, you be the leader, you set the example. If they think that you're different, great, because because you are different, you're gonna find that they're gonna start wanting to follow you. So if you dress more appropriately, like you about something, guess what they're gonna want to do? Yeah, they may talk about you initially, but I promise you, you're gonna be the fad. So, so that was the thing. So now all of my kids carry that trait of being a follower, I'm sorry, being a leader and not the follower. So when they walk into the room, they own the room, and that you know, so you know, they attribute some of that to my militant style in a sense, but you know, hey, being a uh a single mom with three boys and one girl, yeah, you gotta I had to be strong, had to be strong.

Monique Robinson 47:21

Well, ladies, um y'all making me skip all over the place, but I am on um our question, our next question. When you hear the phrase still rising, you hear the phrase still rising, what does that mean to you personally? Is it rising about education? Is it rising about faith, financial stability, kindness, leadership, or something else? What is one way each of us can continue rising in our own lives? Uh oh, I got them quiet.

Culture, HBCU Pride, And Immersion

SPEAKER_02 47:59

I think I might oh no, oh no, no, I got you. I got you. I can't prepare for this. Okay, I read the point. I'm I'm prepared. I'm telling you, okay. Look, I I ain't had much time, but but hey, I'm I'm I'm with you. So I'm I'm gonna start you off here. Y'all, y'all come on back, back assistant. Look, if yeah. Here we go. So I see black excellence making a positive impact by creating business opportunities and being a role model for our youth and others that are secretly watching you behind the scenes. Continue to provide programs that will keep them out of the streets, provide affirmations to remind them of who they are and celebrate their achievements. If we can talk about when Joe Smoke got killed, we can definitely make a big deal about our youth scholars. Now, I would be remiss, I would be remiss if I did not put this out there. Uh, we need to remember to pray one for another every day. If you have the means to help your brother or sister, do it. Remember, God will reward us. Do good even when no one is looking, because he knows all and sees all. And last but not least, you do not know who is watching you and taking notes on how to walk in your shoes or be better. And I'm gonna turn that over. I'm still rising.

Monique Robinson 49:52

Yes, Keisha, you ready?

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Come on, Keisha. Come on, bring it out. Yeah, so I'm I'm gonna say this. I need y'all to read. Uh I need y'all to read. I need y'all to do deep dives in history. I need y'all to read folks' diaries or journals. I need you to go to the archives and look at like the Northern Star. Um, yeah, I need you to understand the difference between Ogre T. Washington and WD De Voice.

SPEAKER_11 50:32

Indeed.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

Are you attempting the 10th or no? Right? Uh I need you to go, you don't walk over that.

Monique Robinson 50:40

You're gonna walk over there like really, you attack it.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

I need you to watch the original roots from the first all the way to the 12th, not the one where they had the iPhones on BET. I need you to watch the original roots, and then I want you to watch Queen because she was Librous. You realize that she was literally like I need you to watch all of these things, I need you to study it, and I need you to develop the plan. History is what's going to help us get further along as we are rising, and I think what happens is that we try to reinvent the wheel, and our ancestors who survived, not the ones who died, but who survived it, they're the ones who gave us the blueprint a long time ago. We need to be abolitionists. So, guess what? If I want to be an abolitionist, I need to read Frederick Douglass, I need to go back to Harriet, you know. You know what I mean? So that's what I would ask people to do is to go back and actually start reading. Go to the archives, man. I mean, when Pendle was talking about Bethune and she was talking about Heights, you know what I mean. And I'm even gonna talk about one of her her founders, you know, um Myra Davis Hemings, right? And I think about what Myra did, not just on the Howard campus, but what she did in San Antonio and how she built the legacy here. Yeah, that is the kind of things that like even just go to your local heroes and you will be so proud of your city. And so that's one of the things that I would say needs to be done. Wow, regardless of your affiliation, just read it, just read it, just just just try to understand it.

SPEAKER_02 52:56

I'm I'm with you on the reading part. I I don't know why. I I was so disappointed when I saw a young lady, she had written her first book, and she did her first book signing, and she promoted, promoted, promoted. And she she put this story on Facebook, but she said she promoted and she was so discouraged because nobody showed up. I mean, I felt so bad for her, but I did send her some tidbits. You know, like I said, I'm still gonna be in that education arena. I'm gonna educate, educate. I'm gonna tell you if you if you if you slipped up on that, if I know better, I'm gonna do better. And so, what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna share that with you too, so you can do better as well. And that's what I did with that young lady. So she did, you know, send a feedback to me and tell me thank you. But I'm gonna tell you, I mean, it it was just so discouraging, and and it just goes back to what Keisha was saying. We have gotten to a world where we just don't want to pick up a book, we don't want to read nothing, we we want to go on on nothing against Kindle, but I'm just saying, you know, you improve your vocabulary when you read, so and that's just uh you know, when you find yourself when you get upset, you can express yourself so much better by not using all of the F bombs and all that other stuff by your ability to read. One of the most comical things that my daughter, she's 35 years old, and I'm gonna tell you when she gets mad, you know how I know she's mad when she starts using them those words that you gotta look up in a dictionary.

SPEAKER_13 54:41

That's what I know she pissed off.

SPEAKER_02 54:45

So and folks sitting there looking at her, like, but I remember it goes back to something that she told she reminded me that I used to say to the kids all the time. As a time, I said, No, I want you not to sit up here and act like the typical what they stereotype us to be the angry black person, but I want you to go in there and make and talk to them to the point that they are looking at you dumbfounded, and they're like, What did she just say? Did she call really call me stupid in English? And that is exactly what with my daughter does that everywhere she goes, so so it's like they're like, Well, wait a minute, she's not acting like the typical black person, she ain't going off and doing the head roll and all that kind of stuff. No, she's looking me dead in my face, she is commanding the room, she is not angry, she's not raising her voice, she is talking to me calmly, so that is more scary, and she uses some words I do not know. Did she really call me stupid?

SPEAKER_13 55:54

But yeah, she actually agreed with me on this one, y'all.

Parenting, Identity, And Leadership At Home

SPEAKER_03 56:02

I will say this real quick. Um, so I work with a lot of youth, and and so I always talk about Mary Lillian Sutton, who was 14 years old, and she actually was one of the organizers for the lunch sit-ins in San Antonio, and so I talked to 14-year-olds, and I'm like, she was 14 when she was doing that. Wow, you know what I mean? To the point where Jack, to the point where Jackie Robinson mentioned her when he was working in Austin at Houston Tillison, like you got kids who are organizing protests in San Antonio, 14. That's black excellence. So what are you gonna do? I just need you to read a book, right?

Monique Robinson 57:00

An unedited one that they haven't banned from the libraries. Go get the original to kill them I can burn to learn something. Yeah, I understand. So we have to take um a quick, quick because we're coming to a close. So I'm gonna give y'all your closing reflection. Yeah, he plays.

SPEAKER_03 57:19

I'm gonna let Miss Pinder go first.

Monique Robinson 57:22

Yeah, come on. Yeah, you start, you start us up, Penda. Okay after the break. After the break, I'm gonna read y'all your closing reflections.

SPEAKER_13 57:31

Okay, okay.

Monique Robinson 57:32

All right.

SPEAKER_07 57:37

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SPEAKER_08 58:36

Looking for inspiration, motivation, and the good news of Jesus Christ, look no further. The Daily Gospel Network has what you need. With more than 300 ministries from all over the country broadcasting every week, you're sure to get your dose of spirit-filled encouragement from the great programs on the Daily Gospel Network. Catch the Daily Gospel Network on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, all mobile devices, and the internet.

Monique Robinson 59:03

Welcome back. Welcome back. So we have had a very, very good discussion with my board members. Uh, you know, they they volunteered for this, but they scared that that first question almost took me out. But I truly, truly appreciate them because everybody's so used to us being silly. So when we be serious, they're probably gonna look at this like, are these the same people that were playing? We we educated, but we we silly too. So um as we conclude, um, let us remember we honor those who come before us, we appreciate the progress that all of them have made, and we commit to continuing the rise together. Black history is not just the month of February. As you are watching this, I challenge you. Do like I do, 365. When I have a classroom, I just put a black history fact on the board every day and used to drive everybody crazy, if you know what I mean. But um, as we go, um, I want each of my guests, my my lovely, powerful guests that answer these questions. I'm sitting there like, ooh, they took me to school. Um, I want you to answer the question that we pretty much discussed today. Have we overcome or are we still rising?

SPEAKER_11 1:00:28

Have we overcome or are we still rising? Some people don't even know who Maya Angelo is, um, but I'm gonna leave you with some words of wisdom. You may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust. We are still rising. Really, I heard somebody tell me today, she said, Penda, there are gonna be people in your life who are like rocket boosters. She said, they are the ones that are designed to elevate and help you get to the next level. But when you get there, they fall off because they're not designed. Everybody can't go with you where you're going. And when you get to the atmosphere and get everything that you're praying to God for, you go back down, come back down to earth, and you become a rocket booster for somebody else. So I'm gonna pass that on because that's what somebody said to me today, and it really resonated with me because I'm in this season in my life where it seems like all my relationships are changing with people, but I'm trying to go higher, and as I rise, I know that the people around me are rising too. We are still rising, it's not gonna, we cannot go back, we won't go back, we won't go back, you know, we cannot go back, we are continually rising, and we have to want to keep nobody should want to stay the same or live the same way. If you do and you're comfortable in that, it might change if you get exposed to something you've never experienced before.

SPEAKER_13 1:02:22

Wow, good one. So true. So true, so cheap.

Monique Robinson 1:02:28

That was good.

Read, Research, And Know The Blueprint

SPEAKER_02 1:02:29

Yes, it was. Yes, it was. I like that. I like that. So so so keep Keisha, you want me to go? You you won't you gonna go to the house?

SPEAKER_13 1:02:43

I wait. It's Keisha, it's it's Keisha with me.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:48

I'll say this since since we're doing poems and stuff.

SPEAKER_13 1:02:52

Oh come on, come on.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:56

This was a great song from a movie of Sister Act Two.

SPEAKER_11 1:03:02

Oh god, somebody if you want to be somebody, yep, wanna go somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

You better wake up and pay attention. Y'all, you know, if you are not woke, you need to wake up, yes, ma'am. Pay attention because things are happening, and and y'all wait it, y'all wait till it's too late, yeah. Yeah, like like this health care thing. Oh, oh my god, my health care triple. We knew that back in September that was gonna triple. Now all of a sudden you see the bill. But if you were paying attention and you knew it was going on, there could have been some little things that we could have done. That's what I need y'all to do. I think about Monique calling me about a certain board member at a school district who literally said we're gonna take this school back, the school district back, and then what six months? The black superintendent is terminated. Pay attention, wake up.

SPEAKER_11 1:04:23

Bring us home with a poem or a song, Dr. Gaucher.

SPEAKER_13 1:04:26

Come on, oh, oh, oh, we ain't we ain't we ain't gonna bring bring the book out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

We won't do that. Uh I'm gonna I'm gonna take it light. I'm gonna take it light. Okay, so so here we go. Personally, still rising means never stop learning, keep pushing through the roadblocks, keep my head up, keep improving my strengths, and reduce my weaknesses, stay in the fight, and always remember my why. I believe rising is a facet of each of those categories. I feel whatever you are most passionate with is where you need to continue to rise. And one way I feel to continue rising in my life is when I know better, I must do better.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:31

So good.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

That was so thoughtful. That was thoughtful. That was so thoughtful.

Monique Robinson 1:05:36

I had to come on something from the dome, and she's like taking us back to Sister Egg, you got Pinda starting out, you know, with her, you know. I'm like, I can't even keep up with them today. They keep the vote moving with the other thing. So, but honestly, you know, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all, ladies, for Uh coming on, sharing your voices, your thoughts. I told y'all my board members at the gates, they are entertaining. I love them to life. I literally love them to life. So thank you all. So my take on it is, you know, I agree with you all. We are still rising. As Keisha said, if we don't wake up and pay attention, yeah. Don't wake up and pay attention, you know. We we may be um going back. So as we close African American History Month, we are now. That's why I have, you know, we got all female squad because we are going into Women's History Month. Can y'all believe that?

SPEAKER_13 1:06:41

Yes. Amen.

Monique Robinson 1:06:43

So I'm excited for this year, this women's history month, because um I will I'm gonna challenge other people to do it as well. Start celebrating women who are impacting your life. Um, I usually start off Women's History Month with just showing a um picture and writing a bio of something exciting that a woman is doing because we don't celebrate each other enough because sometimes that self or jealousy gets in the way. And it's just you know, we rise by litting others. That's my take on it. So uh again, you have been watching a better chance television. My board took over the show today. Um, I appreciate them all, you know. They scare me at first, but I appreciate them all. But definitely um like, share, comment. Also, don't forget our events that we have coming up because y'all know it's uh our board president and my birthday in May. But make sure you get your tickets uh for the HBCU community awards, people's choice awards. This year we have our first class of icons. I'm so excited about that. Um, and then we also have our registration for our send-off. Yay, so if you are a vendor, you got a high school student, anything like that, please, please, please sign up. Um, that's like my favorite event, other than my birthday that I celebrate the whole entire month of May with. Um but um please, please, please sign up for the send-off because this year we might even have a majorette battle.

SPEAKER_13 1:08:27

It's in the work since the parents lost last year.

Monique Robinson 1:08:33

I don't have a team to choose. I'll get out there and be a majorette.

SPEAKER_13 1:08:36

See, I don't know, Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:38

Pastor being gay, yeah, pastor being gay. Yeah, because I know I'm gonna need it.

Monique Robinson 1:08:49

Y'all can't be serious for five seconds. It's been fun, but we are out of here. Like, share, comment. And if you are interested in any of the events, uh, let us know. You can inbox, email, definitely follow the Twitter. But uh, thank you for your time until next time. We'll see you.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:08

Everybody for inspiration, motivation, and the good news of Jesus Christ. Look no further. The Daily Gospel Network has what you need. With more than 300 ministries from all over the country broadcasting every week, you're sure to get your dose of spirit-filled encouragement from the great programs on the Daily Gospel Network. Catch the Daily Gospel Network on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, all mobile devices, and the internet.

Monique Robinson 1:09:35

Tune in to a better chance for youth television show with host Monique Robinson on the Daily Gospel Network. A television show dedicated to highlighting incredible students on the change the world. Join us every week as we uplift the youth and help them on their journey to what future they deserve. At the Better Chance for Youth Television Show with host Monique Robinson on the daily.