Discovery & Action Featuring Bremond MacDougall, Lisa Cooper and Tomekia Moore

WEBVTT

00:00:00.017 --> 00:00:06.117
Welcome. I'm Eric Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.

00:00:06.417 --> 00:00:08.977
I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast.

00:00:09.337 --> 00:00:12.737
If you like what you're hearing, then I need you to do a few things.

00:00:13.257 --> 00:00:19.377
First, I need subscribers. I'm on Patreon at patreon.com slash amomentwitherikfleming.

00:00:19.757 --> 00:00:24.637
Your subscription allows an independent podcaster like me the freedom to speak

00:00:24.637 --> 00:00:27.957
truth to power, and to expand and improve the show.

00:00:28.557 --> 00:00:32.837
Second, leave a five-star review for the podcast on the streaming service you

00:00:32.837 --> 00:00:35.577
listen to it. That will help the podcast tremendously.

00:00:36.437 --> 00:00:41.917
Third, go to the website, momenterik.com. There you can subscribe to the podcast,

00:00:42.297 --> 00:00:47.257
leave reviews and comments, listen to past episodes, and even learn a little bit about your host.

00:00:47.857 --> 00:00:51.877
Lastly, don't keep this a secret like it's your own personal guilty pleasure.

00:00:52.577 --> 00:00:57.097
Tell someone else about the podcast. Encourage others to listen to the podcast

00:00:57.097 --> 00:01:02.417
and share the podcast on your social media platforms, because it is time to

00:01:02.417 --> 00:01:04.177
make this moment a movement.

00:01:04.537 --> 00:01:10.197
Thanks in advance for supporting the podcast of our time. I hope you enjoy this episode as well.

00:01:11.337 --> 00:01:16.377
The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.

00:01:56.366 --> 00:02:01.006
Hello, and welcome to Another Moment with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.

00:02:01.326 --> 00:02:05.666
Happy holidays, everyone, as we are officially in the holiday season.

00:02:05.666 --> 00:02:13.026
I hope you and yours will have a good holiday season, and I'm honored that you're

00:02:13.026 --> 00:02:15.706
spending some of that time with me.

00:02:16.206 --> 00:02:23.346
On the show today, I have a young lady on who is doing her part to try to make

00:02:23.346 --> 00:02:28.766
her state better in our own unique way of serving the underserved.

00:02:29.206 --> 00:02:34.426
And then I have some returning guests to talk about their new project.

00:02:35.066 --> 00:02:38.986
And it's always a joy to have them come on.

00:02:40.126 --> 00:02:46.826
Still want people to subscribe as this is the season of giving. Give us a subscription.

00:02:47.286 --> 00:02:54.146
Give us your support financially. You can go to patreon.com slash amomentwitherikfleming,

00:02:54.766 --> 00:02:59.986
and do that, or you can go to momenterik.com and do the same thing.

00:03:00.526 --> 00:03:06.246
If you are a first-time listener, you can go to the website and catch up on,

00:03:06.966 --> 00:03:09.126
other episodes that, you know,

00:03:09.166 --> 00:03:12.766
get you fancy and all that and just kind of peruse around the website.

00:03:12.766 --> 00:03:17.526
You'll find out a little bit about me, all the different guests that I've had on the show.

00:03:18.206 --> 00:03:22.326
And again, like I said, ways to support the work that we're doing.

00:03:24.326 --> 00:03:27.886
So, you know, I'm not going to waste any more time. We're just going to go ahead

00:03:27.886 --> 00:03:29.106
and get this show started.

00:03:29.626 --> 00:03:32.606
And speaking about returning, Grace G is back.

00:03:32.846 --> 00:03:38.386
So, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for a moment of news with Grace G.

00:03:45.788 --> 00:03:50.268
Thanks, Erik. U.S. authorities have arrested a suspect believed to have planted

00:03:50.268 --> 00:03:54.168
pipe bombs at the Democratic and Republican National Headquarters in Washington

00:03:54.168 --> 00:03:58.268
on the night before the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault.

00:03:58.808 --> 00:04:02.928
The suspect, accused of ambushing and shooting two National Guard members in

00:04:02.928 --> 00:04:06.968
downtown Washington, D.C., was charged with murder, along with other offenses,

00:04:07.248 --> 00:04:10.528
and ordered held without bond after his not-guilty plea.

00:04:10.948 --> 00:04:15.408
President Trump caused anxiety among members of Congress by abruptly declaring

00:04:15.408 --> 00:04:20.008
the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela closed in its entirety.

00:04:20.308 --> 00:04:25.388
President Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Democratic Representative

00:04:25.388 --> 00:04:29.448
Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda for bribery charges.

00:04:29.948 --> 00:04:35.768
Federal immigration officials began an operation in New Orleans to arrest immigrants in the U.S.

00:04:35.928 --> 00:04:40.448
Illegally, focusing on criminal offenders released from local custody due to

00:04:40.448 --> 00:04:42.428
non-cooperation policies.

00:04:42.888 --> 00:04:47.328
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed the Crown Act into law,

00:04:47.568 --> 00:04:53.908
making Pennsylvania the 28th state to ban discrimination based on hairstyle, type, or texture.

00:04:54.188 --> 00:04:58.868
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration

00:04:58.868 --> 00:05:04.948
from enforcing a provision in 22 states that would deny Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.

00:05:05.128 --> 00:05:10.148
Four people were killed and 10 others injured after a mass shooting at a child's

00:05:10.148 --> 00:05:12.348
birthday party in Stockton, California.

00:05:13.048 --> 00:05:17.748
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the first black woman to serve three consecutive terms,

00:05:18.028 --> 00:05:21.228
announced she will not seek re-election in 2026.

00:05:22.088 --> 00:05:28.288
Camp Mystic, a Texas Christian summer camp where 27 campers died in a July 4th

00:05:28.288 --> 00:05:34.708
flash flood, announced plans to reopen in May at a nearby location with enhanced safety measures.

00:05:35.148 --> 00:05:41.408
And Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last and oldest survivors of the 1921 Tulsa

00:05:41.408 --> 00:05:44.808
Race Massacre, died at age 111.

00:05:45.148 --> 00:05:49.188
I am Grace G., and this has been A Moment of News.

00:05:56.213 --> 00:06:01.173
All right. Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news. And now it is time for

00:06:01.173 --> 00:06:06.733
my first guests, Bremond MacDougall and Lisa Cooper.

00:06:07.453 --> 00:06:13.213
Bremond MacDougall is a graduate of University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Spanish.

00:06:13.573 --> 00:06:16.873
While raising her three children between Austin and New York City,

00:06:17.093 --> 00:06:20.873
she amassed a collection of many thousands of books that make up what she calls

00:06:20.873 --> 00:06:24.073
a reader's library as opposed to a collector's library.

00:06:24.930 --> 00:06:28.170
Rather than first editions, it contains dog-eared favorites,

00:06:28.430 --> 00:06:32.350
collections from both of her grandmothers, complete with personal notes,

00:06:32.410 --> 00:06:33.970
and books she has yet to read.

00:06:34.250 --> 00:06:37.670
She and her husband helped to establish Eleanor Hall at St.

00:06:37.790 --> 00:06:41.850
Andrew's School in Austin, a kindergarten building named after her late mother

00:06:41.850 --> 00:06:43.670
who was a champion of joyful learning.

00:06:43.970 --> 00:06:47.490
Board member of the Citizens Committee for Children of New York,

00:06:47.810 --> 00:06:51.810
a nonprofit that aims to advance well-being, equity, and justice for all of

00:06:51.810 --> 00:06:54.550
New York's children, she lives in Manhattan.

00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:58.010
Lisa Cooper is a lawyer by profession

00:06:58.010 --> 00:07:02.530
and attended Amherst College and the University of Texas School of Law.

00:07:02.810 --> 00:07:08.810
She has worked at a small Bay Area law firm that specializes in immigration law since 2008.

00:07:09.070 --> 00:07:13.710
A lifelong reader and book lover, her stint as the communications director for

00:07:13.710 --> 00:07:18.850
a school in Palo Alto undergoing a rebrand sparked her interest in publishing.

00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:24.610
Working with a graphic designer to rethink the school's print magazines in an

00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:30.370
age that prioritizes digital experiences was an exciting and rewarding challenge.

00:07:30.690 --> 00:07:34.850
The mother of two adult daughters, she recently relocated to New York City.

00:07:35.130 --> 00:07:41.450
Now, these two ladies, Ramon and Lisa, are the publishers of quite literally

00:07:41.450 --> 00:07:44.890
books, and they are return guests.

00:07:45.810 --> 00:07:53.170
And so they came on the first time with their first three books that they had published.

00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:59.450
And now they have three more books just in time for the holiday season, y'all.

00:07:59.990 --> 00:08:03.650
And so we're going to talk about those three books. So ladies and gentlemen,

00:08:03.870 --> 00:08:10.070
it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as guests on this podcast,

00:08:10.070 --> 00:08:12.850
the owners of quite literally books,

00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:16.070
Bremond MacDougall and Lisa Cooper.

00:08:26.488 --> 00:08:32.608
All right. Bremond McDougall and Lisa Cooper. How y'all doing? Happy holidays.

00:08:33.228 --> 00:08:36.768
Happy holidays to you too. We're doing great. How are you?

00:08:37.068 --> 00:08:41.328
I'm doing good. Doing good. Especially get y'all to come back on.

00:08:41.568 --> 00:08:44.628
So for those listeners, this is your first time listening.

00:08:44.988 --> 00:08:49.548
My rule is that if I have guests on, they have an open invitation to come back.

00:08:50.068 --> 00:08:54.148
And Ramon and Lisa took advantage of that. They were on in April,

00:08:54.148 --> 00:08:59.928
if I'm correct, with their basically introducing the world to their publishing

00:08:59.928 --> 00:09:01.488
company, quite literally books.

00:09:02.108 --> 00:09:05.248
And they had come out with three books to start it off.

00:09:05.628 --> 00:09:09.928
And so now they have three more books that they want to share with the world.

00:09:10.268 --> 00:09:14.248
And so they said, can we come back on? Yes, ma'am. Both of y'all.

00:09:14.388 --> 00:09:18.848
Yeah, y'all can come on. So we're here. But I'm really glad that y'all are here.

00:09:19.108 --> 00:09:23.568
Thank y'all for doing this. Well, thank you for having us. I think we did say

00:09:23.568 --> 00:09:25.308
it just like that. Can we come on?

00:09:26.988 --> 00:09:31.968
Yes. All right. So y'all know the rules. So the first thing we're going to do

00:09:31.968 --> 00:09:34.408
is get your responses to a quote.

00:09:35.292 --> 00:09:40.812
And the quote is, everybody wants to rule the world, but women might actually be better at it.

00:09:42.252 --> 00:09:46.512
We've heard that before. My response to that quote, I think,

00:09:46.612 --> 00:09:48.692
is that we like to think that.

00:09:49.452 --> 00:09:52.792
And yet, you know, we like to think that if women ruled the world,

00:09:52.812 --> 00:09:55.592
it would be a more rational and humane place.

00:09:55.592 --> 00:10:00.152
But I think that may actually be only in literature, only in fiction,

00:10:00.152 --> 00:10:01.512
because women are human.

00:10:01.512 --> 00:10:08.232
And I'm not sure if the women who have positions of power right now in our country,

00:10:08.232 --> 00:10:11.852
I'm not sure that they're living up to that quote necessarily.

00:10:12.832 --> 00:10:18.152
I definitely understand that. The quantifier would be I've had a lot of social

00:10:18.152 --> 00:10:22.052
workers on, so they would say social workers that are women.

00:10:23.352 --> 00:10:25.992
We can rule the world better. I'd be right. Right.

00:10:27.632 --> 00:10:32.752
Add to what Brouwens said, it just would sort of be interesting to find out, wouldn't it?

00:10:33.092 --> 00:10:38.372
And that particular quote is about one of our books in which there is a world

00:10:38.372 --> 00:10:40.832
where there are no men at all.

00:10:40.932 --> 00:10:46.652
So that's an added sort of, you know, facet to that question.

00:10:46.652 --> 00:10:50.912
Like, what happens if there is a world of only women, right? Okay.

00:10:51.792 --> 00:10:56.852
And we'll get into that book and the other two as well.

00:10:57.272 --> 00:11:03.012
All right. So now it's time for 20 questions where you can give me a number

00:11:03.012 --> 00:11:08.572
between one and 20, but you can't give me number 11 because that's the one you did last time. Woo-hoo!

00:11:10.212 --> 00:11:16.252
All right. Choose one. Let's do it. Okay. Do you want to know what it is? Yes.

00:11:17.692 --> 00:11:25.332
12. Go on with 12. Okay. What advice do you have for recognizing fake news?

00:11:26.312 --> 00:11:34.512
Oh, what advice? I mean, what I do is I don't read news on my phone.

00:11:34.712 --> 00:11:42.952
I don't read breaking news that's on the Internet. I try to use sources that

00:11:42.952 --> 00:11:48.452
are actually reporting what's happening and not making stuff up.

00:11:49.432 --> 00:11:57.012
It's sort of similar. I trust the news outlets that tend to vet their news,

00:11:57.012 --> 00:12:04.212
and I'm also aware of any biases that those particular outlets may inherently

00:12:04.212 --> 00:12:08.292
hold and try to get news from more than one source.

00:12:08.572 --> 00:12:11.652
Yeah yeah it's kind of hard not

00:12:11.652 --> 00:12:16.352
to get news from your phone now um because

00:12:16.352 --> 00:12:22.832
the technology and all that but you know i'm old enough to remember going downtown

00:12:22.832 --> 00:12:29.332
and and and seeing the ticker on the on one of the places uh billboards downtown

00:12:29.332 --> 00:12:33.392
is like oh the war ended okay great you know.

00:12:35.772 --> 00:12:38.752
Keep it moving but i would think that

00:12:38.752 --> 00:12:43.412
tiktok is maybe not the best place to get your news which i think a lot of young

00:12:43.412 --> 00:12:49.832
people now are doing yeah yeah well you know maybe one day maybe one day we'll

00:12:49.832 --> 00:12:54.652
get a walter cronkite to show up on tiktok i don't know i get i'm dating myself

00:12:54.652 --> 00:12:58.092
boys and girls some of y'all don't even know who roger cronkite is anyway,

00:12:59.284 --> 00:13:03.324
Where do y'all look for these new books to publish?

00:13:03.564 --> 00:13:09.324
Because like I said, this is your second release, so that's a total of six books.

00:13:11.384 --> 00:13:18.464
Where is the treasure trove to find these books, especially these new books that you've put on you?

00:13:18.804 --> 00:13:24.464
Well, most of the time we're doing a lot of research, either online or going to libraries.

00:13:24.704 --> 00:13:28.124
But with these three new books, it was a little different, wasn't it?

00:13:28.124 --> 00:13:30.744
One of them we found at a used bookstore.

00:13:31.644 --> 00:13:38.344
One, we were recommended this author by someone that we knew came to us and

00:13:38.344 --> 00:13:39.864
was like, hey, have you ever heard of this author?

00:13:40.004 --> 00:13:44.544
And we were like, nope, and went down that rabbit hole and we ended up publishing one of her books.

00:13:45.344 --> 00:13:52.884
And we also looked to authors that may be familiar to us, but have works that are unfamiliar to us.

00:13:53.024 --> 00:13:56.824
So that's how we ended up with Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Her Land.

00:13:57.384 --> 00:14:03.064
Okay. Yeah, whereas three were more research and serendipity in the library,

00:14:03.444 --> 00:14:09.164
I think they were all three library sort of things that we found. Yeah.

00:14:09.916 --> 00:14:16.636
Yeah. How is your personal satisfaction in publishing lost books grown over the last year?

00:14:17.296 --> 00:14:24.276
Oh, that's a good question. I think, I mean, it is very satisfying to have in

00:14:24.276 --> 00:14:28.256
your hot little hands a book that you have conceived of, you know,

00:14:28.416 --> 00:14:30.916
from beginning to end, the whole production of it.

00:14:31.036 --> 00:14:33.296
And when you get it, it's thrilled.

00:14:33.496 --> 00:14:38.336
That's true. I think that what we've learned in this intervening time period

00:14:38.336 --> 00:14:43.836
is that it is one thing to make a book, and it is a very different thing to

00:14:43.836 --> 00:14:48.156
market a book, and then different again to sell the book.

00:14:48.256 --> 00:14:52.836
And we've had to spend a lot more time doing the not-so-fun stuff, right?

00:14:53.036 --> 00:14:57.916
And that's been a really steep learning curve for us. The publishing book,

00:14:58.036 --> 00:14:59.816
we still love. We love doing that.

00:14:59.936 --> 00:15:04.316
We love finding the books and talking about them and reading different books,

00:15:04.516 --> 00:15:08.176
all of that, the selling has been a drag.

00:15:08.416 --> 00:15:12.376
Yeah. It's been a drag because it's not, that's not the fun part.

00:15:12.516 --> 00:15:17.576
It is really fun to, to have conversations with people who are excited about it.

00:15:17.756 --> 00:15:21.176
So that aspect of, you know, selling, so to speak, is really exciting.

00:15:21.396 --> 00:15:25.936
And the idea that we're getting books in people's hands, that is like,

00:15:25.936 --> 00:15:28.896
When you sell a book, that's really exciting.

00:15:28.896 --> 00:15:36.416
It's more the sort of business aspect of how do you sell books that is exciting.

00:15:37.598 --> 00:15:40.458
I don't know, different and harder, I think, than we thought it would be.

00:15:40.958 --> 00:15:44.798
And the publishing world is not set up for the success of small presses.

00:15:45.138 --> 00:15:50.558
It's not. It's a David and Goliath kind of thing, you know, and finding the channels.

00:15:50.718 --> 00:15:54.678
Like, you have to have a distributor, and we do have one, but it's a small distributor.

00:15:55.178 --> 00:15:59.458
It's not the one that, you know, that the most bookstores rely on.

00:15:59.858 --> 00:16:03.738
And just, like, finding, like, every time we think we're making some headway,

00:16:03.738 --> 00:16:07.958
There's a roadblock or something that we have to sort of be creative in our

00:16:07.958 --> 00:16:11.858
approach to getting around it. And we're new to this.

00:16:11.978 --> 00:16:15.378
We don't have years and years of experience figuring this out.

00:16:15.778 --> 00:16:20.598
But we are figuring it out. And we have some good people advising us.

00:16:20.698 --> 00:16:26.238
And I feel like every day we meet people who are just so excited about what

00:16:26.238 --> 00:16:28.578
we're doing and are so happy to

00:16:28.578 --> 00:16:34.578
jump in and advise and share expertise and knowledge. So it's been good.

00:16:35.178 --> 00:16:38.718
Yeah, and that was kind of like my follow-up question. You know,

00:16:38.858 --> 00:16:42.418
since the last time we talked, what have you learned about the publishing business?

00:16:43.827 --> 00:16:51.187
Since then. And it's obviously sounds like you're learning about distribution and sales and all that.

00:16:51.267 --> 00:16:55.427
Is there anything else that's been kind of nuanced to y'all?

00:16:55.807 --> 00:17:00.227
It is a business. I think we did not pay as much attention maybe,

00:17:00.267 --> 00:17:03.907
or we didn't think as much about how, you know, this is, it's a business.

00:17:03.907 --> 00:17:05.327
We are running a small business.

00:17:05.507 --> 00:17:10.447
We're not just doing the fun stuff that we got it. We have to do all of it.

00:17:11.387 --> 00:17:15.807
You can't really, you know, cut out this stuff that you don't want to do.

00:17:15.967 --> 00:17:19.887
That probably sounds really obvious to your listeners, as you're saying,

00:17:19.967 --> 00:17:22.587
and I'm like, oh gosh, we sound like idiots.

00:17:22.807 --> 00:17:27.887
But it's more just that before, you know, when you're in production,

00:17:28.047 --> 00:17:30.027
when you're searching for the books and you're designing books,

00:17:30.067 --> 00:17:31.827
you're very much in that world.

00:17:32.167 --> 00:17:36.347
And now we've had to shift our focus and sort of wear two hats.

00:17:36.527 --> 00:17:40.767
And that's, it's hard. And And we had this dream, right?

00:17:40.887 --> 00:17:46.027
Like, we had this idea and this dream, and it was going to be so much fun, which it has been.

00:17:46.407 --> 00:17:51.047
But I don't, you know, that's all sort of pie in the sky. It's not really the

00:17:51.047 --> 00:17:54.267
nuts and bolts of, like, how do you do it?

00:17:54.407 --> 00:17:56.827
Right. And, you know, there's a difference there.

00:17:57.747 --> 00:18:02.187
Well, politics is the same way, ladies. I can tell you, you know,

00:18:02.287 --> 00:18:07.547
it's like it's one thing to say, yeah, I would like to, I'd like to pursue that

00:18:07.547 --> 00:18:10.067
position. I think I could do well in that.

00:18:10.227 --> 00:18:14.827
I can, yeah, I've got some ideas and all that stuff. And then you get out there

00:18:14.827 --> 00:18:19.707
and you start campaigning and, and then somebody says something about your mama

00:18:19.707 --> 00:18:22.487
and stuff. And then it's like, whoa, wait, wait, wait, hold on.

00:18:23.879 --> 00:18:26.519
And in the background, you have to be raising money, right?

00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:31.459
Oh, my God. I used to hate that, Lord. It was almost like I was on punishment.

00:18:31.639 --> 00:18:35.879
The fundraiser would say, all right, it's call time, and I got to sit there.

00:18:35.979 --> 00:18:37.799
And it's like, hey, Jim, how you doing?

00:18:37.979 --> 00:18:40.879
Yeah, yeah, Representative Fleming, look. That time.

00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:45.019
Oh, my God, I hated that part of it. But it was like, you know,

00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:48.779
all that stuff is necessary in order to get stuff done.

00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.119
So I feel your pain. I've been there. You know what I'm saying?

00:18:52.379 --> 00:18:56.099
I got you. To build a dream, you have to do some stuff that, you know.

00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:59.899
Yeah, you got to make the dream a reality. Yeah, I think. I think,

00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:03.839
too, it's probably like politics in the sense that, like, we did sort of have

00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:08.059
an idealized version about, you know, how we could do this.

00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:12.119
And some of the realities, you know, again, because we're so small,

00:19:12.379 --> 00:19:15.559
trying to get attention, trying to get traction, trying to get into stores.

00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:23.119
Like, it's not really for the idealistically pure. Like, it's hard to kind of

00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.939
hang on to that pie in the sky, you know, feeling.

00:19:26.439 --> 00:19:31.639
But it's maybe not unlike a sort of grassroots political campaign.

00:19:31.879 --> 00:19:35.659
You know, I mean, it's sort of a grassroots, you know, come join us,

00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.879
come with us, come, you know, turn away from the big boys a little bit and,

00:19:39.979 --> 00:19:43.579
you know, look at what somebody else is doing over here.

00:19:43.999 --> 00:19:47.639
Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. All right, so let's talk about these

00:19:47.639 --> 00:19:52.699
books. Now, we mentioned the first book, Her Land by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

00:19:52.999 --> 00:19:57.359
So as we go through the books, just kind of tell the listeners who the author

00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:01.579
is and then kind of go into what the book is about.

00:20:02.543 --> 00:20:07.103
So Charlotte Perkins-Gillman was writing in the early part of the 20th century.

00:20:07.443 --> 00:20:13.323
She wrote a short story called The Yellow Wallpaper, which a lot of kids still read in high school.

00:20:14.423 --> 00:20:18.443
It's anthologized a lot, and that's how we knew her.

00:20:18.803 --> 00:20:22.423
And she was a great champion of women's rights and a great feminist.

00:20:22.723 --> 00:20:29.323
She was also a eugenicist, which seems to happen a lot with progressive thinking

00:20:29.323 --> 00:20:32.503
people in the early part of the 20th century.

00:20:32.543 --> 00:20:39.983
So, you know, there's some nuance there in how we look at her a little bit.

00:20:40.503 --> 00:20:46.723
And the world that she's created in her land is this idealized female utopia

00:20:46.723 --> 00:20:50.923
that has been in existence for 2,000 years.

00:20:51.083 --> 00:20:57.323
There are no men. It is a peaceful and prosperous and beautiful society.

00:20:58.203 --> 00:21:03.303
They have developed a way to reproduce without men, which there's a name for

00:21:03.303 --> 00:21:04.643
that, and I cannot remember what it is.

00:21:05.803 --> 00:21:09.183
Parthenogenesis, yes. Parthenogenesis? I may be adding a syllable.

00:21:09.383 --> 00:21:16.763
Anyway, and so the story is sort of about these three explorers come into their

00:21:16.763 --> 00:21:21.503
world and find this world that they just, they cannot fathom that there are

00:21:21.503 --> 00:21:23.383
not men there. They just keep looking for the men.

00:21:23.543 --> 00:21:27.043
Why, you know, the roads are so straight and beautiful, and the buildings are

00:21:27.043 --> 00:21:31.303
If everything is perfectly done, men must have done it, is their conclusion. Yeah.

00:21:31.783 --> 00:21:36.083
Anyway, and the end of it is sort of, I don't know, don't want to give that away.

00:21:36.303 --> 00:21:39.503
Yeah, we won't give away the ending, but it is, I mean, it's a really interesting

00:21:39.503 --> 00:21:44.243
exploration of what would happen if not only women ran the world,

00:21:44.323 --> 00:21:46.583
but if the world actually didn't have men in it.

00:21:46.663 --> 00:21:52.643
And then what happens when men literally drop in from the sky and start mixing it up?

00:21:53.595 --> 00:22:00.075
So it's kind of like the Tocqueville showing up, like he discovered,

00:22:00.275 --> 00:22:02.235
you know, his book about America.

00:22:02.435 --> 00:22:08.575
So these people are like the Tocquevilles and they find this female utopia and

00:22:08.575 --> 00:22:13.195
they're trying to figure out how does this work and all that kind of stuff.

00:22:13.335 --> 00:22:17.995
Is that kind of a good gist of that? Yes, that sounds about right.

00:22:18.675 --> 00:22:23.955
It's a very, you know, it's written by a woman, but I think she does a really

00:22:23.955 --> 00:22:29.115
good job of characterizing these men. And they're very familiar.

00:22:29.415 --> 00:22:36.915
They are very familiar in their desire to explore and conquer a new world and

00:22:36.915 --> 00:22:42.255
be the first ones to be there, even though there are millions of people already living there.

00:22:42.515 --> 00:22:46.115
They're not the first ones there, right? There are already people there.

00:22:46.415 --> 00:22:51.515
And each of the male characters, there's three of them, they all sort of represent

00:22:51.515 --> 00:22:55.595
misogynists we have known and loved over the centuries.

00:22:56.055 --> 00:23:01.035
I mean, they represent an archetype. And the way she has them interact with

00:23:01.035 --> 00:23:04.475
each other and with her land is pretty funny. Okay.

00:23:05.095 --> 00:23:11.175
All right. So now the second book is called Who Would Have Thought It by Maria

00:23:11.175 --> 00:23:16.035
Amparo Ruiz de Burton. I hope I said that right.

00:23:16.715 --> 00:23:18.755
Yeah, we think so.

00:23:19.575 --> 00:23:24.915
We think that sounds right to us. So that was the one that was recommended to us.

00:23:25.035 --> 00:23:28.535
Someone came to us and said, hey, have you heard of this author? We had not.

00:23:28.735 --> 00:23:31.275
So she wrote this book in 1872.

00:23:31.935 --> 00:23:38.675
She was born in Baja, California, I believe. to land-owning Mexican family.

00:23:38.815 --> 00:23:44.255
She gets married to a rising star in the Union Army right around the time,

00:23:44.315 --> 00:23:47.095
you know, the Civil War is percolating.

00:23:47.315 --> 00:23:49.615
And this has her.

00:23:50.454 --> 00:23:55.974
Going around the country, living in different areas, and having access to the

00:23:55.974 --> 00:23:58.014
politically elite, to those circles,

00:23:58.154 --> 00:24:03.494
you know, and she's there as a participant and as a fly on the wall,

00:24:03.674 --> 00:24:06.434
and as a Mexican-American woman.

00:24:06.654 --> 00:24:15.274
And so, basically, this book that she wrote is a very witty satire.

00:24:15.494 --> 00:24:24.254
It's a rollicking Civil War saga that pretty much skewers the northern abolitionists

00:24:24.254 --> 00:24:29.234
in a way and at a time when I don't think they were expecting to be skewered.

00:24:29.334 --> 00:24:36.014
But we found it to be not only super funny, it's very insightful and very applicable

00:24:36.014 --> 00:24:43.234
to our country today. I found it fascinating and page-turning and,

00:24:43.891 --> 00:24:49.131
And really, really funny on top of it. It's like Mark Twain, I guess, a little bit.

00:24:49.651 --> 00:24:53.571
Burr thinks it's a little bit like Louisa May Alpiad as well.

00:24:53.891 --> 00:24:55.871
There's something, yeah, there's some feeling there.

00:24:56.291 --> 00:24:59.891
But it was a very unexpected book for us.

00:25:00.011 --> 00:25:07.751
And it reads, it does not seem like a book that was written 150 years ago. It was a long time ago.

00:25:08.431 --> 00:25:13.371
It does not feel like something that has been sitting around that long.

00:25:13.371 --> 00:25:15.311
And it has kind of been sitting around.

00:25:15.691 --> 00:25:22.931
It's not well-known. And it was the first novel written in English for an English-speaking

00:25:22.931 --> 00:25:25.791
audience by a Mexican-American woman.

00:25:26.071 --> 00:25:32.451
And it's actually, a lot of our books did really well at the time that they

00:25:32.451 --> 00:25:34.371
were printed. This one didn't.

00:25:34.791 --> 00:25:37.971
And when you read it, you kind of figure out why.

00:25:37.971 --> 00:25:45.211
Because, you know, it's like poking fun and being critical of this sort of like,

00:25:45.391 --> 00:25:50.651
I think people who after the war felt pretty good about themselves and how things had gone down.

00:25:51.191 --> 00:25:57.591
But she's pointing out the hypocrisy of people who would put their lives on

00:25:57.591 --> 00:26:04.651
the line to free Black people who are enslaved and yet would have a really hard

00:26:04.651 --> 00:26:07.351
time having one sit down at their dinner table.

00:26:07.971 --> 00:26:13.251
Or even walk down their sidewalk. Yeah, like the inherent hypocrisy sometimes

00:26:13.251 --> 00:26:15.171
that is, you know, you can be

00:26:15.171 --> 00:26:19.771
abolitionist and still be tool of white supremacist. Frankly racist, yeah.

00:26:20.311 --> 00:26:25.351
Yeah, well, that definitely sounds intriguing. I, you know, I didn't get a chance

00:26:25.351 --> 00:26:29.531
to read any of these books before we got started, but that definitely sounds

00:26:29.531 --> 00:26:30.951
intriguing. And you're right.

00:26:31.131 --> 00:26:33.771
And that kind of gets me to a question I'm going to ask later.

00:26:34.745 --> 00:26:40.705
The third book is called The Little Dinner by Christine Terhune Herrick.

00:26:41.145 --> 00:26:45.865
And this one definitely is a little different than what y'all are looking for.

00:26:45.985 --> 00:26:47.005
So kind of talk about that.

00:26:47.605 --> 00:26:52.145
It is. Letha found this one on the shelf in a used bookstore and I think was

00:26:52.145 --> 00:26:54.965
attracted to it just because it looked sort of interesting.

00:26:55.105 --> 00:26:57.545
The cover was... It was cute. Yeah, it was cute.

00:26:58.525 --> 00:27:02.745
And then when we read it, we were struck. So it's a cookbook,

00:27:02.785 --> 00:27:09.505
but it's also a sort of a manual on how to give this thing that she calls the

00:27:09.505 --> 00:27:13.265
little dinner, which is a meal for six to eight people.

00:27:14.364 --> 00:27:19.084
Which now we would, I mean, I never, yeah, if I have people over for dinner,

00:27:19.304 --> 00:27:21.604
I would never have more than six or eight.

00:27:21.724 --> 00:27:25.984
That's a lot. But at that point in time, this is 1892, is that when it's written?

00:27:26.644 --> 00:27:31.944
1892, a little dinner, a regular dinner might have, you know, 18 people.

00:27:32.064 --> 00:27:37.504
And so this is sort of a peering down of that and a, and a sort of a how to

00:27:37.504 --> 00:27:42.184
have this kind of dinner if you don't have more than one servant,

00:27:42.424 --> 00:27:46.664
if you don't have, you know, it's sort of, it's pared back, but not in a way

00:27:46.664 --> 00:27:48.784
that we would necessarily recognize today.

00:27:49.504 --> 00:27:52.484
But it is so funny.

00:27:52.724 --> 00:28:00.804
Her wit is biting, and Lisa and I just sort of howled with laughter as we were reading this book.

00:28:00.924 --> 00:28:06.584
And then, so the first part of it is sort of her prose about how you do this,

00:28:06.624 --> 00:28:10.624
how you pick the people that come to your meal, how you pick the meal, how you set your table.

00:28:10.904 --> 00:28:18.284
And she's particularly biting in how you pick the people that come to your meal. Boars need not apply.

00:28:19.184 --> 00:28:24.484
He says, life is too short for busy people to waste any portion of it in cultivating

00:28:24.484 --> 00:28:26.484
uncongenial acquaintances.

00:28:27.104 --> 00:28:31.324
Uninteresting people doubtless have their uses in the great economy of nature,

00:28:31.324 --> 00:28:37.904
but their place of service is not at the dinner table which we just love yeah

00:28:37.904 --> 00:28:42.644
and then the recipes are some of them are are they're very you know they're,

00:28:43.217 --> 00:28:47.877
They're old-fashioned, and some of them are goofy things like peas,

00:28:48.417 --> 00:28:54.177
canned peas, which is you open the can of peas and drain them and then cook them in butter.

00:28:55.257 --> 00:28:58.397
It was delicious. It was. We made it.

00:28:58.717 --> 00:29:02.397
Oh, so y'all cooked everything that was in the cookbook.

00:29:02.637 --> 00:29:06.657
Not everything. No, we stayed away from— We have avoided the haunch of venison

00:29:06.657 --> 00:29:09.057
and the race of pheasants.

00:29:10.317 --> 00:29:13.217
We haven't done the oyster pates and things

00:29:13.217 --> 00:29:15.897
like that but we did try a few of them just because we

00:29:15.897 --> 00:29:20.557
were like oh yeah the roast reed birds what even are the broiled woodcock yeah

00:29:20.557 --> 00:29:25.517
we didn't do those but we did do the the peas and we did the cream spinach which

00:29:25.517 --> 00:29:31.297
was also delicious we did a few things so it's just it's fun and funny and she

00:29:31.297 --> 00:29:33.537
was an interesting person to the author so,

00:29:34.117 --> 00:29:40.017
Herrick was sort of like the Martha Stewart of the time, and she wrote a bunch

00:29:40.017 --> 00:29:43.937
of books and articles all on housekeeping, homemaking.

00:29:44.837 --> 00:29:47.277
Child-rearing, cooking, all the above.

00:29:47.397 --> 00:29:52.617
And she did it because her husband died of typhoid, leaving her with small children.

00:29:52.857 --> 00:29:54.817
And this is, she turned to the pen.

00:29:55.257 --> 00:29:57.297
And we've seen that happen over and over again. Yeah.

00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:01.239
Ruiz de Burton was similar, the woman who wrote Who Would Have Thought It.

00:30:01.419 --> 00:30:07.119
She was widowed young and had to make her way in the world with two kids.

00:30:07.299 --> 00:30:13.779
And she originally published her book under a pseudonym because a female Mexican-American

00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:19.659
author would have sold even more poorly than she did as, what is she, H.S.

00:30:19.779 --> 00:30:23.179
Burton, I think, is what she published under. But yeah, The Little Dinner,

00:30:23.459 --> 00:30:28.099
it is different than anything else that we have, but it's funny and fun.

00:30:28.479 --> 00:30:33.019
And we just thought it was a good one to put out there. People have responded really well to it.

00:30:33.199 --> 00:30:34.839
So when you were describing the

00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:39.879
book, I kept thinking about that ChatGPT commercials. Have you seen those?

00:30:41.419 --> 00:30:47.979
So it's like this, it's one particular one. And it's like this guy and this

00:30:47.979 --> 00:30:52.959
girl is sitting in the car, and she's, like, trying to get him to tell her where

00:30:52.959 --> 00:30:54.319
we're going and all that stuff.

00:30:54.459 --> 00:30:59.599
And they drive off on this country road, and you see mountains and trees and all that.

00:30:59.679 --> 00:31:05.059
And then a chat GBT starts scrolling. He said, this is how you do a surprise

00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:07.839
getaway. And just started going through all the stuff.

00:31:07.979 --> 00:31:11.899
He said, take these roads and all this stuff. And I kept saying,

00:31:12.099 --> 00:31:16.679
when you were describing the book, I said, that would be what we would do now.

00:31:19.139 --> 00:31:22.239
It's like, okay, we want to have a little dinner. What would we do?

00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:25.799
And then Chat GPT would roll all that stuff down. Yeah.

00:31:27.579 --> 00:31:32.619
It's just amazing how we've gotten to this point, you know.

00:31:33.701 --> 00:31:40.561
And I'm guilty of it because of my schedule and, you know, with the podcast and with my real job.

00:31:40.721 --> 00:31:46.641
So a lot of books, I don't, I very rarely get to hold a book in my hand.

00:31:46.801 --> 00:31:48.841
Usually it's like, is it an audible?

00:31:49.061 --> 00:31:53.381
Okay, cool. Can I put it on Kindle and then just, you know, and read it that way.

00:31:53.841 --> 00:31:59.441
But we talked about this the first time about just the feel of being able to read a book.

00:31:59.441 --> 00:32:04.241
Just to hold it in your hand and just, you know, like I said,

00:32:04.461 --> 00:32:10.561
nowadays, it's like, hey, AI, what you think we should be doing?

00:32:10.981 --> 00:32:16.161
Because, I mean, they've got programs now where I want to write a book about

00:32:16.161 --> 00:32:21.501
a murder mystery and with a political background.

00:32:22.041 --> 00:32:25.021
And AI will crank out a book for you.

00:32:25.021 --> 00:32:31.001
How do you, as people that, you know, look for these authentic,

00:32:31.001 --> 00:32:37.181
you know, writings and all that stuff, how does that make y'all feel? Do y'all...

00:32:37.681 --> 00:32:40.801
Do y'all feel some kind of way about it, or is it just kind of like,

00:32:40.941 --> 00:32:43.381
you know, this is what we're competing against?

00:32:43.541 --> 00:32:46.021
How do y'all navigate through that?

00:32:46.421 --> 00:32:51.141
Well, I would just say right off the bat that I just think it's sad.

00:32:51.481 --> 00:32:54.981
I mean, it feels sad to me for two reasons.

00:32:55.161 --> 00:33:02.961
I mean, I honestly don't believe that AI can reproduce human creativity.

00:33:03.061 --> 00:33:09.041
I don't see that happening. And I've looked at, you know, AI-generated art.

00:33:09.161 --> 00:33:11.581
I've even read AI-generated, like, short stories.

00:33:11.761 --> 00:33:14.801
Like, I can't remember who it was, but someone a few months ago,

00:33:14.981 --> 00:33:18.901
a short story writer, sort of went up against, you know, ChatGPT.

00:33:19.081 --> 00:33:21.501
Like, they were given the same prompt, basically, and they wrote it.

00:33:21.581 --> 00:33:25.141
And then it was given to us to determine which one was, you know,

00:33:25.501 --> 00:33:27.081
which one we liked better, I guess.

00:33:27.481 --> 00:33:32.381
And I thought that even though I could immediately tell which was which.

00:33:32.381 --> 00:33:35.581
And one was like very perfectly constructed and

00:33:35.581 --> 00:33:38.521
like hits all the things that your you know seventh grade English teacher

00:33:38.521 --> 00:33:41.861
told you to hit like when you're writing a short story but

00:33:41.861 --> 00:33:44.761
thank you Margaret Marcus our beloved seventh

00:33:44.761 --> 00:33:49.901
grade English teacher but but it just there was there were no surprises in it

00:33:49.901 --> 00:33:55.481
and it was kind of flat you know and so I don't believe that that it's ever

00:33:55.481 --> 00:34:02.301
going to really replace human creativity and I think that books we keep forgetting that And then we say,

00:34:02.401 --> 00:34:09.421
AI is such great technology, but books are the ultimate technological advancement

00:34:09.421 --> 00:34:11.941
and tool, and they still continue to be.

00:34:12.121 --> 00:34:18.341
Nothing is going to spark your, I think, imagination and allow you to live a

00:34:18.341 --> 00:34:24.561
different life for a moment, be in someone else's shoes the way that this book will.

00:34:24.881 --> 00:34:27.941
This is technology, y'all. It is.

00:34:28.121 --> 00:34:34.841
And we forget that. yeah yeah that's that's cool out of the three books which

00:34:34.841 --> 00:34:37.741
ones which one do you think.

00:34:40.021 --> 00:34:44.161
Encapsulizes where we're at now. Do you think all three books do it,

00:34:44.241 --> 00:34:49.061
or is there one particular book that kind of like, yeah, this is kind of like

00:34:49.061 --> 00:34:50.601
what we're dealing with at the moment?

00:34:51.141 --> 00:34:57.901
I feel like who would have thought it is extremely relevant at this moment.

00:34:59.481 --> 00:35:06.221
The political situation that she describes, the different, the factions,

00:35:06.581 --> 00:35:14.241
you know, that the way the society is split, it just seems, and the politicians that she describes,

00:35:14.761 --> 00:35:21.921
it just feels, gosh, a lot like what we're dealing with right now.

00:35:22.781 --> 00:35:28.681
There is, I think he's a Danish historian who just recently did a,

00:35:28.841 --> 00:35:31.021
gave a speech that was then.

00:35:32.721 --> 00:35:35.821
Censored by the bbc and i cannot remember what

00:35:35.821 --> 00:35:38.841
his name is but I saw an excerpt

00:35:38.841 --> 00:35:41.761
of his speech and one of the things and by the way he was censored

00:35:41.761 --> 00:35:45.161
because he called trump like the most

00:35:45.161 --> 00:35:53.641
I think outwardly corrupt you know president ever but the rest of his speech

00:35:53.641 --> 00:36:01.861
that I did get to hear He talks about this rise in or the success of, like, shamelessness.

00:36:02.221 --> 00:36:07.401
Like, these are the shameless are the ones who are in power right now.

00:36:07.541 --> 00:36:11.601
And this book, who would have thought it, is all about that.

00:36:11.841 --> 00:36:20.201
It's about populism and incuriosity and mercenary. Mm-hmm.

00:36:20.641 --> 00:36:25.921
Mm-hmm. And being mercenary. Yeah, it's a mercenary.

00:36:26.121 --> 00:36:31.461
Yes, of us. And shamelessness being just the most...

00:36:32.811 --> 00:36:39.691
It is the road to power. It's like how shameless and mercenary can you be?

00:36:40.011 --> 00:36:44.731
We will reward that. We will give you more power. And we see that throughout

00:36:44.731 --> 00:36:48.051
this book, and we are certainly seeing it now.

00:36:48.411 --> 00:36:52.511
Yeah, it's amazing. There's the old saying, there's nothing new under the sun.

00:36:52.811 --> 00:36:57.251
And I try to tell people in the podcast, it's like, in America,

00:36:57.251 --> 00:37:03.351
we've been through this before. It seems crazy now because we're inundated with

00:37:03.351 --> 00:37:06.071
stuff, like you said, through our phone and everything else.

00:37:06.931 --> 00:37:10.831
But yeah, human nature is human nature.

00:37:11.071 --> 00:37:15.931
And so how we navigate through all that, you know what I'm saying?

00:37:16.031 --> 00:37:18.391
That's what defines us in the moment.

00:37:18.991 --> 00:37:23.391
Yeah, so I'm definitely, okay, who would have thought it? All right,

00:37:23.471 --> 00:37:24.771
I'm definitely going to mark that.

00:37:26.091 --> 00:37:30.691
Yeah, we would like to rename it, maybe. We've been calling it just,

00:37:30.711 --> 00:37:32.731
you know, behind the scenes, who to thunk it.

00:37:32.951 --> 00:37:38.271
Because, like, we couldn't remember the title for the longest time.

00:37:39.811 --> 00:37:44.851
All right. Well, whichever title, y'all decide. I think I'm going to get that.

00:37:45.511 --> 00:37:49.211
What's your timetable for finding and publishing the next set of books?

00:37:50.563 --> 00:37:54.583
Well, we've been talking about that, actually. Yeah. We, you know,

00:37:54.603 --> 00:37:58.203
this first year we did six books because we wanted to lay some tracks.

00:37:59.023 --> 00:38:03.983
Six a year is tough for us, given the fact that we have to sell them and that

00:38:03.983 --> 00:38:08.223
there's limited space in Vermont's basement, which is where we keep our books right now.

00:38:08.743 --> 00:38:14.803
So, yeah, we're thinking maybe three. Yeah, I think we're thinking three by

00:38:14.803 --> 00:38:16.123
next, probably next fall.

00:38:17.103 --> 00:38:19.823
Give us time to market and sell the

00:38:19.823 --> 00:38:23.163
ones that we've got and then it takes five months

00:38:23.163 --> 00:38:26.063
to get books ready for a publication is that or

00:38:26.063 --> 00:38:31.723
less than that okay yeah i mean it's funny like the first round we didn't know

00:38:31.723 --> 00:38:34.923
what we're doing we had lots of people helping us but it could have been that

00:38:34.923 --> 00:38:38.703
there were more cooks than we needed in the kitchen which sort of yeah made

00:38:38.703 --> 00:38:42.063
our process longer and so one of the things we're doing this round is we're

00:38:42.063 --> 00:38:44.323
just trying to be smarter and more efficient about it,

00:38:44.563 --> 00:38:48.503
streamline the process, I think we can actually get it down after having some

00:38:48.503 --> 00:38:49.563
conversations with people.

00:38:49.563 --> 00:38:55.623
I think we can get it down, excuse me, to about maybe a month and a half to the most, actually.

00:38:55.883 --> 00:39:00.823
And then the actual printing doesn't take that long. It takes like six weeks, I think, total.

00:39:01.203 --> 00:39:04.523
But, you know, human nature being what it is, and you're all humans,

00:39:05.103 --> 00:39:08.183
a month and a half to two months will absolutely be three or four.

00:39:08.523 --> 00:39:11.963
There's no... Why don't we have just a production process? No doubt.

00:39:12.343 --> 00:39:16.763
Production process only. Making anything. If we get everything teed up,

00:39:16.943 --> 00:39:19.143
then the actual making of the book is not that long.

00:39:19.323 --> 00:39:23.903
So it'll be a minute before we have anything new out, but we'll let you know. Okay.

00:39:24.263 --> 00:39:29.403
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll do that. So since this is the holiday season and people

00:39:29.403 --> 00:39:33.903
are looking for great gifts and we need to get these books out of Vermont's basement.

00:39:35.963 --> 00:39:42.303
How can people reach out to y'all and get the books and even reach out to y'all

00:39:42.303 --> 00:39:47.743
for some ideas about, you know, publishing or being in the book business?

00:39:48.529 --> 00:39:53.909
Well, first of all, please come to our website, which is quiteliterallybooks.com.

00:39:54.029 --> 00:39:57.069
You can order our books directly from us. And when you order them from us,

00:39:57.149 --> 00:39:58.309
they come already wrapped.

00:39:58.469 --> 00:40:01.589
They look so pretty and ready for the holidays.

00:40:01.949 --> 00:40:05.549
And you can, of course, get them through your local independent bookseller.

00:40:05.569 --> 00:40:09.729
If we are not on their shelves, they can get us on their shelves using either

00:40:09.729 --> 00:40:14.409
Asterism, which is our distributor, but you can also ask them to order directly from us as well.

00:40:14.489 --> 00:40:18.769
We wholesale our own books as well. So those are two really great ways.

00:40:18.929 --> 00:40:24.629
And we love getting emails from people who like want advice on what to buy or

00:40:24.629 --> 00:40:27.049
want to chat about a book or anything.

00:40:27.169 --> 00:40:29.729
Have a book that they love that they love to see in print.

00:40:29.969 --> 00:40:33.069
Please tell us what you want to see in print. We love that. And that's,

00:40:33.229 --> 00:40:39.449
you know, you can get to us through our website, but it's writeusatquiteliterallybooks.com.

00:40:39.889 --> 00:40:43.729
And we're on Instagram. Oh, yeah. On Instagram. Boy, are we.

00:40:46.309 --> 00:40:46.409
Yeah.

00:40:48.311 --> 00:40:54.971
I look, I understand that social media, it's, it's, I, I, I'm on it just because of the podcast.

00:40:55.211 --> 00:41:01.331
And it's just like, oh my God, just, you know, I think the term they use is doom scrolling.

00:41:01.971 --> 00:41:06.711
Yeah. And I, I, I'm really trying to wean myself from that. I'm just, okay.

00:41:06.891 --> 00:41:09.711
Just the people that are talking to me, that's all I want to do.

00:41:09.791 --> 00:41:11.371
I don't want to deal with anything else.

00:41:11.571 --> 00:41:14.071
You get sucked in. Oh my God. Yeah.

00:41:14.851 --> 00:41:18.731
So look, Bremond, Lisa, thank y'all for coming back on.

00:41:18.931 --> 00:41:22.691
I wish you much continued success on the books.

00:41:22.791 --> 00:41:27.091
And again, ladies and gentlemen, it's Christmas time. And they said that the

00:41:27.091 --> 00:41:28.511
books come already gift wrapped.

00:41:28.811 --> 00:41:33.571
I love that. I wish I could go every store.

00:41:33.831 --> 00:41:36.551
There used to be a time where you could do that, where it was like you go to

00:41:36.551 --> 00:41:39.871
the store and then they have a little service department and you run as like,

00:41:39.911 --> 00:41:42.351
hey, I need this wrapped and they'll do it for you and all that.

00:41:42.751 --> 00:41:46.831
It's like, it's, it's, yeah. So that's, that's a nice touch,

00:41:46.831 --> 00:41:51.371
but ladies, again, thank y'all for doing this again, much success and,

00:41:51.371 --> 00:41:54.931
and, and happy holidays to both of y'all. Thank you so much.

00:41:55.611 --> 00:41:57.631
All right, guys, we'll catch y'all on the other.

00:42:16.586 --> 00:42:22.846
All right, and we are back. And so now it's time for my next guest, Tomekia Moore.

00:42:23.646 --> 00:42:28.606
Tomekia Moore serves as the executive director of the Arkansas Community Action

00:42:28.606 --> 00:42:33.706
Agencies Association, where she leads statewide efforts to address poverty,

00:42:33.926 --> 00:42:40.206
build organizational capacity and advocate for low income to moderate income Arkansans.

00:42:40.986 --> 00:42:47.306
Since stepping into this role in 2023, she has focused on advancing results-oriented

00:42:47.306 --> 00:42:51.066
initiatives, engaging policymakers at the state and federal levels,

00:42:51.226 --> 00:42:54.786
and amplifying the voice of community action across Arkansas.

00:42:55.446 --> 00:43:00.766
Tomekia played a pivotal role in securing a $600,000 capacity-building grant

00:43:00.766 --> 00:43:04.926
in partnership with the University of the Ozarks, launching a groundbreaking

00:43:04.926 --> 00:43:09.466
initiative to work alongside churches to drive community-level change.

00:43:10.206 --> 00:43:15.366
This initiative integrates a statewide approach to food and nutrition insecurity

00:43:15.366 --> 00:43:19.806
with a particular focus on underserved and rural communities.

00:43:20.286 --> 00:43:26.166
She also leads the Arkansas Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Initiative,

00:43:26.206 --> 00:43:32.086
a coordinated multi-sector strategy addressing the complex and interconnected

00:43:32.086 --> 00:43:37.086
drivers of poverty through regional task forces and collective impact frameworks.

00:43:38.204 --> 00:43:43.704
A champion for leadership development, Tamika initiated the ACAAA Leadership

00:43:43.704 --> 00:43:50.044
Academy, which equips emerging and current leaders across Arkansas with the skills,

00:43:50.344 --> 00:43:55.244
confidence, and tools to thrive in their roles and better serve their communities.

00:43:56.124 --> 00:44:01.884
Her journey with ACAAA began in 2022 as the Director of Professional Development,

00:44:01.904 --> 00:44:06.884
where she created and delivered training opportunities to strengthen the statewide

00:44:06.884 --> 00:44:08.164
community action network.

00:44:08.544 --> 00:44:12.824
Her background also includes frontline and community-centered roles as Unit

00:44:12.824 --> 00:44:18.764
Director of the Boys and Girls Club of McGhee and as a Head Start teacher with

00:44:18.764 --> 00:44:20.304
community service offices,

00:44:20.524 --> 00:44:25.104
giving her a firsthand understanding of the programs and people she now leads.

00:44:25.964 --> 00:44:29.744
Tamika holds a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education degree from

00:44:29.744 --> 00:44:34.324
the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff and a Master of Public Service from the

00:44:34.324 --> 00:44:39.024
Clinton School of Public Service, where she was selected by her peers to serve

00:44:39.024 --> 00:44:40.624
as the student graduation speaker.

00:44:40.924 --> 00:44:46.744
She is a nationally certified ROMA trainer, certified family development instructor,

00:44:47.044 --> 00:44:48.724
and certified group facilitator.

00:44:48.904 --> 00:44:53.704
She was recently recognized and marquised Who's Who in America for her professional

00:44:53.704 --> 00:44:55.944
accomplishments and civic impact.

00:44:56.144 --> 00:45:00.204
Her deep commitment to children and families is reflected in her service across

00:45:00.204 --> 00:45:05.844
numerous boards and coalitions, including the Arkansas Kids Coalition.

00:45:07.740 --> 00:45:12.420
Steering Committee Member for Economic Justice and Citizens for Congress.

00:45:12.940 --> 00:45:17.680
A collaborator with Excel by Eight. Co-chair Bank on Arkansas.

00:45:18.460 --> 00:45:22.420
Member State of Arkansas Weatherization Policy Advisory Council.

00:45:22.740 --> 00:45:25.680
Member of the Business Diversity Committee.

00:45:26.060 --> 00:45:31.440
Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. And member of the Finance and Advocacy

00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:33.740
Committees for the Junior League of Little Rock.

00:45:34.440 --> 00:45:39.400
Tamika is a respected thought leader, advocate, and connector dedicated to building

00:45:39.400 --> 00:45:45.240
systems that empower communities and ensure that all Arkansans have a fair opportunity to thrive.

00:45:45.540 --> 00:45:51.040
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest on this podcast. Tomekia Moore.

00:46:03.287 --> 00:46:07.267
All right. Tomekia Moore, how are you doing this morning?

00:46:07.987 --> 00:46:11.887
Okay, awesome. Yeah, doing well. Very glad to be here this morning and glad

00:46:11.887 --> 00:46:15.527
to share. All right. Well, happy holidays to you, by the way.

00:46:16.707 --> 00:46:19.427
Well, same to you. Yeah. All right.

00:46:19.587 --> 00:46:25.487
So normally how I do these is that I do like a little icebreaker period to kind

00:46:25.487 --> 00:46:32.247
of get the conversation going. And so the first icebreaker is a quote that I want you to respond to.

00:46:32.927 --> 00:46:38.947
Okay. And the quote is, when every day our Arkansans win, we all win.

00:46:39.267 --> 00:46:40.627
What does that quote mean to you?

00:46:42.627 --> 00:46:45.727
You're using my own words this morning. I love it.

00:46:45.947 --> 00:46:49.687
You know, in community action, we believe in all people.

00:46:49.887 --> 00:46:53.747
So that's the premise there. It doesn't matter what your background is,

00:46:54.067 --> 00:46:57.267
where you come from, how much money you have, what you look like.

00:46:57.447 --> 00:47:02.307
Everyone deserves that pathway to a quality life, a life in which they can thrive

00:47:02.307 --> 00:47:06.007
and flourish, and just be proud, right?

00:47:06.247 --> 00:47:10.947
So that's where that comes from. When every day our camps is when we all win,

00:47:11.107 --> 00:47:16.107
and we know that when everybody's on that path, they're contributing positively

00:47:16.107 --> 00:47:19.707
to their community, and that's just a plus for everybody.

00:47:20.767 --> 00:47:25.747
Okay. Now, my next icebreaker is what we call 20 questions.

00:47:26.367 --> 00:47:31.667
So I need you to give me a number between one and 20.

00:47:33.387 --> 00:47:39.387
Between one and 20. I'm going to go with the far end, 20. Okay.

00:47:40.127 --> 00:47:46.527
What is one thing you'd like to learn from someone with a different perspective than yours?

00:47:47.702 --> 00:47:54.542
One thing that I would like to learn from someone with a different perspective than mine,

00:47:55.502 --> 00:48:06.582
I think it would be the ability to commit, I think, without condition,

00:48:07.002 --> 00:48:10.182
without pressure, if that makes any sense.

00:48:10.182 --> 00:48:20.482
I think that I admire, I think, a person when they are just fully in,

00:48:20.722 --> 00:48:24.082
fully committed to whatever that cause may be.

00:48:24.402 --> 00:48:28.282
There's something to be said about that level of commitment.

00:48:29.122 --> 00:48:32.482
And they're not afraid. There's no limits.

00:48:33.502 --> 00:48:41.342
Albeit, you know, sometimes the commitment to which that is attached to is questionable.

00:48:42.882 --> 00:48:48.482
But it's being able to commit without fear and without limits,

00:48:48.682 --> 00:48:52.102
without boundaries, if you will.

00:48:52.582 --> 00:48:58.422
I've always been very curious as to how that works. And that's not to speak

00:48:58.422 --> 00:49:02.762
illy of my commitment to my line of work in community action.

00:49:03.242 --> 00:49:07.482
But also we go about our processes with a level head.

00:49:07.882 --> 00:49:12.622
We apply logic to what we do and we think things through.

00:49:13.042 --> 00:49:19.522
But again, just being able to jump straight in and it almost seems as though

00:49:19.522 --> 00:49:22.982
there is no question as to how this is going to work out.

00:49:22.982 --> 00:49:28.742
I have to say, I do admire that inner person, just being able to fully commit

00:49:28.742 --> 00:49:31.342
without fear, without limits, without boundaries.

00:49:32.722 --> 00:49:39.582
Yeah, that's interesting. I often wonder that too sometimes how people can do it.

00:49:40.302 --> 00:49:45.362
I think there's been certain people in our lives, maybe when we were younger

00:49:45.362 --> 00:49:50.062
that we did that too, but as we got older and more professional, I guess,

00:49:50.262 --> 00:49:56.342
we started applying, like you said, logic and trying to, is this person really making sense?

00:49:56.462 --> 00:50:01.302
Do I really want to stick my neck out for that person? yeah so I'm with you

00:50:01.302 --> 00:50:03.822
on that I'm always always been curious,

00:50:04.442 --> 00:50:07.882
how can you do that how can you sleep at night but that's a whole nother conversation

00:50:07.882 --> 00:50:12.982
anyway talk to the listeners about your journey to become the executive director

00:50:12.982 --> 00:50:17.102
of the Arkansas Community Action Agencies Association Inc,

00:50:17.942 --> 00:50:19.262
well I you know,

00:50:19.975 --> 00:50:25.755
I always refer to my career path as being whimsical in that it doesn't make

00:50:25.755 --> 00:50:28.375
sense, but it does make sense in perfect harmony.

00:50:29.315 --> 00:50:36.475
And I'll tell you, just thinking back to my younger years, I had no idea that

00:50:36.475 --> 00:50:38.235
I would end up in this line of work.

00:50:38.435 --> 00:50:44.935
I always thought that maybe psychology, maybe teaching, which I did end up teaching for a while.

00:50:44.935 --> 00:50:50.395
And funny thing, little third grade Tamika, I declared,

00:50:50.835 --> 00:50:56.895
and my parents will confirm this, I declared as a third grader that I would

00:50:56.895 --> 00:51:02.295
actually go on to be the first black woman to be the president of the United

00:51:02.295 --> 00:51:06.435
States in the third grade from the east side of Pine Bluff.

00:51:06.435 --> 00:51:08.975
I just knew this was going to happen.

00:51:09.135 --> 00:51:14.695
And I was very confident in that belief, which I'm thankful today because I

00:51:14.695 --> 00:51:18.955
did go on to become the first Black woman to lead community action across the state of Arkansas.

00:51:19.255 --> 00:51:22.775
So I'm very proud of that. But it's something that I'm very passionate about.

00:51:23.015 --> 00:51:27.835
But just thinking back to that career path, when I finally figured it out,

00:51:27.895 --> 00:51:31.015
and we don't fully figure things out, right? We're always learning.

00:51:31.855 --> 00:51:36.995
But when I got an idea of what purpose looked like in my life,

00:51:37.295 --> 00:51:40.535
I knew that I just wanted to show up and be there for others.

00:51:41.095 --> 00:51:44.975
Others that needed a voice, others that needed a champion in their lives.

00:51:45.275 --> 00:51:48.615
So initially that started out as teaching.

00:51:48.895 --> 00:51:56.175
I wanted to influence young people and young lives and be there for children and their families.

00:51:56.175 --> 00:52:02.655
And eventually that led into youth development work where I started and founded

00:52:02.655 --> 00:52:05.835
my own youth development program in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

00:52:06.695 --> 00:52:10.555
Went on to become unit director for the Boys and Girls Club of McGhee,

00:52:10.795 --> 00:52:15.695
and then eventually landed at the State Association for Community Action in Arkansas,

00:52:16.115 --> 00:52:24.055
first in the role of professional development director and now as the executive director.

00:52:24.846 --> 00:52:29.686
Yeah. Yeah. I, I wanted to be president when I was three years old.

00:52:31.366 --> 00:52:36.186
And cause I, I just, I just thought in the, you know, the world book encyclopedia,

00:52:36.326 --> 00:52:40.106
I just thought that was the coolest article. Cause like the first two pages

00:52:40.106 --> 00:52:41.026
were done with pictures.

00:52:41.246 --> 00:52:45.646
Right. And then, you know, I said, I want to be one of those portraits. Right.

00:52:46.426 --> 00:52:49.966
And so I, I, you know, I, everybody, everybody, like you said,

00:52:50.186 --> 00:52:55.446
deviates in their path, but you know, and I didn't get where I wanted to be. to be president.

00:52:55.726 --> 00:53:01.486
But, you know, I'm just glad that, you know, I was able to do something in politics,

00:53:02.786 --> 00:53:04.566
and achieve some things.

00:53:04.786 --> 00:53:10.186
So I definitely feel you on that. What is a community action agency?

00:53:11.252 --> 00:53:15.792
So Community Action has deep roots across the nation. Actually,

00:53:16.032 --> 00:53:18.892
we are a 61-year-old network nationwide.

00:53:19.152 --> 00:53:24.752
We spend 1,000 plus local agencies and state associations.

00:53:25.192 --> 00:53:32.252
So just looking at Arkansas, there are 15 local agencies across the state of Arkansas.

00:53:32.692 --> 00:53:37.752
These agencies have reached across all 75 counties in Arkansas.

00:53:38.372 --> 00:53:45.252
And the infrastructure is so interesting because we're able to do a lot with a little.

00:53:45.572 --> 00:53:49.132
We are congressionally mandated to fight the war on poverty.

00:53:49.172 --> 00:53:50.692
So I guess I'll start there.

00:53:51.012 --> 00:53:55.972
And of course, we know that there are many complexities when it comes to poverty, right?

00:53:56.292 --> 00:54:03.692
There's no one sure path to how to eradicate it and to speak to the needs of communities.

00:54:03.972 --> 00:54:08.852
So with that infrastructure across our agencies and across our network,

00:54:09.172 --> 00:54:11.952
agencies speak to the immediate needs of their communities.

00:54:12.212 --> 00:54:18.052
So that is why with community action agencies, you're going to see a variety

00:54:18.052 --> 00:54:22.452
of services, which might include Head Start and child care services.

00:54:23.312 --> 00:54:28.052
Housing services, services that speak to workforce development,

00:54:28.272 --> 00:54:32.232
economic mobility, health care, et cetera, et cetera.

00:54:32.472 --> 00:54:38.292
If there is a need across a community, we do have boots on the ground that are

00:54:38.292 --> 00:54:39.592
delivering those services.

00:54:40.112 --> 00:54:45.172
And again, that's the work that I'm so proud of because it speaks to the empowering

00:54:45.172 --> 00:54:50.792
of communities. So we don't just go in and start a service or program or an initiative.

00:54:50.992 --> 00:54:55.632
We actually check in with our communities. We're in conversation with our communities.

00:54:55.792 --> 00:54:59.612
We're speaking to our communities and we're hearing and we're listening to our

00:54:59.612 --> 00:55:04.752
communities because the thought there is, after all, they are experts.

00:55:05.752 --> 00:55:09.792
On what's going on in their communities, right?

00:55:09.992 --> 00:55:15.232
So they definitely should have a say in solutions that speak to the challenges

00:55:15.232 --> 00:55:16.672
across their communities.

00:55:16.752 --> 00:55:22.272
So that's my favorite piece to the whole process is that empowering piece in

00:55:22.272 --> 00:55:26.572
which we are championing our communities, giving them agency,

00:55:26.892 --> 00:55:29.712
voice, and choice throughout the entire process.

00:55:31.132 --> 00:55:38.252
Yeah, and like you said, This was an offshoot of the war on poverty legislation

00:55:38.252 --> 00:55:41.332
that President Johnson pushed forward.

00:55:42.092 --> 00:55:46.132
And like you said, y'all have been doing it. And, you know, in Mississippi,

00:55:46.452 --> 00:55:51.092
that, you know, the first time I had ever heard the term community action agency,

00:55:51.092 --> 00:55:53.112
it was connected to Head Start.

00:55:53.432 --> 00:55:59.812
That was each agency responsible for the Head Start and Head Starts in their area.

00:56:00.692 --> 00:56:04.632
And, you know, and as I, you know, got more involved and engaged,

00:56:04.672 --> 00:56:07.212
it was like, oh, they do this and they do that, too.

00:56:07.352 --> 00:56:13.192
So I'm glad you kind of explained a little bit about some of the services that you provide.

00:56:13.872 --> 00:56:18.652
There's two particular things in Arkansas that y'all are doing.

00:56:19.492 --> 00:56:27.712
So kind of talk to the listeners about the Kids to College program and the R Connect program. Sure.

00:56:28.312 --> 00:56:30.392
So I'll start with Kids to College.

00:56:30.612 --> 00:56:34.552
That is a program that we do in partnership with Entergy Arkansas.

00:56:35.092 --> 00:56:39.092
And I will just say, you know, throughout history, traditionally,

00:56:39.272 --> 00:56:45.452
Entergy Arkansas has been a really good partner to community action in Arkansas.

00:56:45.652 --> 00:56:51.412
They've been very supportive of a number of works and initiatives that we do.

00:56:52.105 --> 00:56:59.065
But specifically Kids to College, it is a program, it actually hits a couple of components there.

00:56:59.585 --> 00:57:05.585
Number one, we're teaching or promoting, rather, youth financial literacy.

00:57:05.965 --> 00:57:12.525
And so the way that that works is through Kids to College, children as old as

00:57:12.525 --> 00:57:19.645
16, and so from birth to age 16, they're offered a free child savings account.

00:57:20.445 --> 00:57:26.965
And Andrew G. Arkansas, being as awesome as they are, when the family actually

00:57:26.965 --> 00:57:32.645
opens up the account, they see the account with $50 off the top.

00:57:32.785 --> 00:57:34.865
So there is nothing they have to do.

00:57:35.065 --> 00:57:39.425
There is no requirement or anything connected to that.

00:57:39.745 --> 00:57:48.125
Once you enroll, once you open the account, you automatically get $50 just for opening the account.

00:57:48.125 --> 00:57:52.945
And then throughout the remaining part of this year, we don't have long in 2025,

00:57:52.945 --> 00:57:56.305
but throughout the remaining part of 2025.

00:57:57.125 --> 00:58:04.585
Entergy will match any money that's put into that account by the family up to $300.

00:58:05.345 --> 00:58:09.205
Now, I don't know what that's going to look like going into 2026,

00:58:09.605 --> 00:58:14.225
but that offer is still on the table as 2025 remains.

00:58:15.325 --> 00:58:21.125
Now, looking at some components of the program, again, the intent is to promote,

00:58:21.665 --> 00:58:27.605
youth financial literacy, but the other tenant to that is that we also want

00:58:27.605 --> 00:58:31.925
to promote the pursuit of higher education, right?

00:58:32.205 --> 00:58:36.305
So, the name of the program is Kids to College, so I guess that's a given,

00:58:36.305 --> 00:58:39.205
but we also understand that there are.

00:58:40.078 --> 00:58:47.778
Multiple ways, right, to achieve higher education today or to achieve some form

00:58:47.778 --> 00:58:50.318
of education post high school.

00:58:50.958 --> 00:58:56.458
That doesn't always look like a two-year college or a four-year university, right?

00:58:56.738 --> 00:59:01.438
Our kids are so resourceful today. In fact, we have children that are making

00:59:01.438 --> 00:59:09.038
millions of dollars just from being TikTokers and YouTubers and all of these really neat things.

00:59:09.678 --> 00:59:15.478
So we want to make sure that the door remains open. So not just limiting that

00:59:15.478 --> 00:59:18.858
to a two-year college or four-year university.

00:59:18.958 --> 00:59:25.358
We also want to make sure that children have a path to, let's just say,

00:59:25.978 --> 00:59:29.138
trade programs, to certifications.

00:59:29.798 --> 00:59:35.338
We realized that as we went through COVID, right, that we had a shortage of

00:59:35.338 --> 00:59:40.598
essential workers across our country, people that did electricity.

00:59:40.598 --> 00:59:43.318
So where were the electricians? Where were the plumbers?

00:59:43.558 --> 00:59:45.878
Where were, you know, all these different people that we needed?

00:59:46.138 --> 00:59:50.538
So we want to make sure those pathways are there. And through this program,

00:59:50.538 --> 00:59:53.198
it is certainly opening up the door.

00:59:53.198 --> 00:59:59.318
So with this child savings account, the families can actually take the monies

00:59:59.318 --> 01:00:01.758
from this account, including what they deposit,

01:00:02.098 --> 01:00:06.638
including what Entergy Arkansas deposits as they provide the matches,

01:00:06.638 --> 01:00:14.018
and apply this to any cost affiliated with the pursuit of higher education or

01:00:14.018 --> 01:00:17.618
seeking a trade or certification or that sort of thing.

01:00:18.218 --> 01:00:22.258
And let's just say we're in a perfect world. And the child hates it through

01:00:22.258 --> 01:00:25.118
high school and they get all sorts of scholarships, right?

01:00:25.578 --> 01:00:30.518
So tuition is covered. But what about a cost for a car?

01:00:31.256 --> 01:00:34.996
What about costs for lodging? What about costs for books?

01:00:35.256 --> 01:00:39.556
What about costs for food, et cetera, et cetera? They can take this money and

01:00:39.556 --> 01:00:43.636
use it in any way to cover those expenses.

01:00:44.116 --> 01:00:45.676
So it's very flexible.

01:00:46.416 --> 01:00:52.516
It's there for the child. They can actually withdraw this money at any time.

01:00:53.616 --> 01:00:59.176
There's no maturation date in which, let's just say, they have to wait till

01:00:59.176 --> 01:01:03.876
they're 18. No, they can actually withdraw this money at any time.

01:01:04.296 --> 01:01:07.716
So there are no strings attached. It is free.

01:01:08.156 --> 01:01:12.936
Again, you get $50 just for opening it. And Entergy throughout the remaining

01:01:12.936 --> 01:01:19.336
part of 2025 will match the deposits from the family up to $300.

01:01:20.356 --> 01:01:22.576
There are a few things. Uh-huh.

01:01:24.076 --> 01:01:28.136
No, I just wanted to put out there as far as requirements. I did mention that

01:01:28.136 --> 01:01:31.296
the children have to be from birth to age 16.

01:01:31.776 --> 01:01:38.796
But also in looking at income, a dual income earner household, that's up to $80,000.

01:01:39.516 --> 01:01:43.156
Single parent earner household, that's up to $60,000.

01:01:43.696 --> 01:01:47.696
And we wanted to try to make sure that we could capture as much or catch,

01:01:47.896 --> 01:01:52.696
rather, as much of the population as we could in that ceiling there.

01:01:53.376 --> 01:01:56.776
So to make it available to as many families as possible.

01:01:57.336 --> 01:02:00.756
And other than that, just being an entity customer, having an entity account

01:02:00.756 --> 01:02:06.256
number, that sets you up for being eligible for Kids to College.

01:02:06.796 --> 01:02:13.876
Yeah, and before you get into the AR Connect part, I had some questions.

01:02:15.276 --> 01:02:21.736
So the cutoff to start an account is 16, but you can keep the account all the

01:02:21.736 --> 01:02:24.036
way to your 18 or 19, whatever.

01:02:25.009 --> 01:02:29.189
Yeah, as long as you get it before you reach the age of 17.

01:02:29.609 --> 01:02:34.989
So as long as you're still 16 years old, you can still open up an account.

01:02:35.169 --> 01:02:40.009
And yes, you can keep it as long as you need to. Once it's open, it's open. Okay.

01:02:40.449 --> 01:02:48.949
So now when you say the match, so let's say I decide every paycheck I want to

01:02:48.949 --> 01:02:51.609
give, put $50 in my child's account.

01:02:51.609 --> 01:02:58.369
So every time I make a deposit, Energy, Arkansas is going to match whatever I deposit?

01:02:59.029 --> 01:03:03.229
That is correct. Oh, that's correct. Throughout the remaining part,

01:03:03.369 --> 01:03:07.069
now I will say, as a disclaimer, throughout the remaining part of 2025,

01:03:07.069 --> 01:03:11.669
I'm not sure if that is going to continue into 2026 yet.

01:03:11.929 --> 01:03:14.049
We haven't discussed that part yet.

01:03:14.669 --> 01:03:19.949
But if funds are there, you know, there's been some discussion around that.

01:03:19.949 --> 01:03:22.209
So we will have to see going into 2026.

01:03:22.609 --> 01:03:26.609
But yes, throughout the remaining part of this year, the answer is yes. OK.

01:03:27.289 --> 01:03:34.369
Yeah, that sounds a lot like the individual development accounts that they had tried to start up.

01:03:34.489 --> 01:03:39.009
And I think it was supposed to go through community action agencies to where people could put.

01:03:40.250 --> 01:03:45.870
X amount of dollars in, but they had to, they had to have like a certain amount

01:03:45.870 --> 01:03:47.550
of money when they withdrew.

01:03:48.030 --> 01:03:51.430
And then the federal government was going to match that. And then you could

01:03:51.430 --> 01:03:56.810
use that like to go to school or buy a car or put down payment on a house or

01:03:56.810 --> 01:03:57.910
wherever the case may be.

01:03:58.370 --> 01:04:02.490
So that's, that's, that's pretty cool. All right, go ahead and talk about our connect.

01:04:04.130 --> 01:04:08.850
Okay. So there needs to be, and we are in the process of updating our website.

01:04:08.850 --> 01:04:13.110
And the reason I say that is that R-Connect is one of those former programs

01:04:13.110 --> 01:04:14.770
in which we were affiliated with.

01:04:14.930 --> 01:04:19.390
So you can definitely look for some updates to the ACCA website.

01:04:19.730 --> 01:04:24.170
However, one of the things that's in connection to that that I would love to

01:04:24.170 --> 01:04:27.890
talk about today is Arkansas Pathways to Self-Sufficiency.

01:04:28.310 --> 01:04:30.350
This is a program in which we've

01:04:30.350 --> 01:04:35.350
brought together 122 organizations from across the state of Arkansas.

01:04:35.630 --> 01:04:42.030
And this coalition is really unique in that there are so many different perspectives

01:04:42.030 --> 01:04:43.690
that have been brought to the table.

01:04:43.890 --> 01:04:49.470
So across these 122 organizations, you have people from corporate America,

01:04:49.690 --> 01:04:52.150
such as Energy Arkansas.

01:04:52.890 --> 01:04:58.230
Baptist Healthcare, and then you have your non-profits, as well as government

01:04:58.230 --> 01:05:00.670
organizations and legislators.

01:05:01.050 --> 01:05:06.390
So everyone's at the table and a part of this conversation in which we're really

01:05:06.390 --> 01:05:10.250
taking a hard look at how do we move Arkansans forward.

01:05:10.550 --> 01:05:16.570
The end goal is to create a self-sufficiency model that speaks to the needs of the entire state.

01:05:16.750 --> 01:05:21.450
So regardless of what your physical capabilities are, regardless of a.

01:05:21.822 --> 01:05:27.862
Any other factors, we want to make sure that all Arkansans have a pathway to

01:05:27.862 --> 01:05:34.262
a life that speaks for of quality, to a life that speaks to being able to flourish

01:05:34.262 --> 01:05:36.362
and thrive in our great state.

01:05:36.642 --> 01:05:41.762
So the reason I'm talking about that in connection to AR Connects is that there

01:05:41.762 --> 01:05:45.642
are eight task forces within this initiative.

01:05:45.982 --> 01:05:50.042
One of those is our Digital Opportunity Task Force.

01:05:50.042 --> 01:05:56.602
And in this task force, we have members from the Arkansas State Broadband Office,

01:05:56.602 --> 01:06:02.482
as well as some great partners from the University of Arkansas and their Division of Agriculture.

01:06:02.482 --> 01:06:10.962
And their main goal is to increase digital access across the state,

01:06:10.962 --> 01:06:16.622
as well as the capacity right across the state, because it doesn't work if you

01:06:16.622 --> 01:06:22.202
have access and you don't really know how to utilize the tools that you have available to you.

01:06:22.202 --> 01:06:26.502
So that is something that we're really taking a hard look at across our state.

01:06:26.722 --> 01:06:33.222
How can we leverage those opportunities across our state and make sure that

01:06:33.222 --> 01:06:36.002
more Arkansans have that access? Okay.

01:06:36.482 --> 01:06:39.002
Yeah, that sounds great. And.

01:06:39.818 --> 01:06:46.458
You know, that was something that, you know, I haven't been in the legislature

01:06:46.458 --> 01:06:49.218
in almost, it's almost been 20 years now.

01:06:49.738 --> 01:06:55.078
And, you know, so like in the early 2000s, we were talking about that in Mississippi,

01:06:55.078 --> 01:07:00.078
about making sure that everybody had Internet access and, you know,

01:07:00.158 --> 01:07:02.338
broadband in the whole state and all that stuff.

01:07:02.798 --> 01:07:10.318
I don't know if they've ever done it. But like I said, it's been a conversation

01:07:10.318 --> 01:07:16.598
that now the technology is advancing, but government moves slower than technology.

01:07:16.598 --> 01:07:27.678
And so, you know, I really hope that every state has access for their people,

01:07:28.098 --> 01:07:34.598
especially those in underserved communities, that they have access to the Internet or digital access.

01:07:35.198 --> 01:07:39.918
And like you said, know how to utilize it so our children can have a chance

01:07:39.918 --> 01:07:42.898
and not only compete with other children across the country,

01:07:43.058 --> 01:07:46.758
but kids around the world. I think that's important.

01:07:47.058 --> 01:07:51.398
And I'm glad that y'all are a major part in making that happen.

01:07:51.758 --> 01:07:56.918
What challenges are the community action agencies facing in this current political climate?

01:07:58.030 --> 01:08:03.830
I think right now, what's coming across all nonprofits and people that provide

01:08:03.830 --> 01:08:08.130
direct services just in general, of course, is the funding structure.

01:08:09.070 --> 01:08:14.710
And when you look at that with funding being as limited as it is right now and

01:08:14.710 --> 01:08:21.810
the need being so great, that does become a really valid conversation, right?

01:08:21.810 --> 01:08:26.410
But one of the things that we're doing to combat that in Arkansas,

01:08:26.870 --> 01:08:32.390
as I just mentioned, Arkansas Pathways to Self-Sufficiency, we realize now that

01:08:32.390 --> 01:08:34.630
we have to come together now more than ever.

01:08:35.830 --> 01:08:42.430
So, coalitions, right? That's the key. And I think funders, individuals working

01:08:42.430 --> 01:08:43.810
in philanthropy, right?

01:08:44.190 --> 01:08:48.390
All of these different sources, they love a good coalition. And I think we are

01:08:48.390 --> 01:08:52.930
stronger in numbers. So as we identify these challenges and we work through

01:08:52.930 --> 01:08:57.910
these challenges, we realize that the answer lies in working together.

01:08:58.670 --> 01:09:06.030
Yeah. So that was that was very good. And I appreciate you giving the answer that you say.

01:09:06.930 --> 01:09:15.710
You know, my experience in government has been learning that it's not a funding

01:09:15.710 --> 01:09:18.290
shortage as it is a priority shortage.

01:09:18.530 --> 01:09:27.870
Right. I think that, you know, in this country, we have the money to do what we want to do.

01:09:28.270 --> 01:09:36.470
And I think the challenge that you and other of your contemporaries have is

01:09:36.470 --> 01:09:43.870
that our priority is we're going to spend money on the fence and we're going to spend money on.

01:09:44.550 --> 01:09:45.850
Oh, I don't know.

01:09:46.630 --> 01:09:49.870
Bitcoin or something like that. but we're not putting money into...

01:09:51.125 --> 01:09:54.745
People or putting money into health care, whatever the case may be.

01:09:54.905 --> 01:09:59.325
So that's my answer to that, to my own question.

01:10:00.225 --> 01:10:05.665
And that is a priority deal. And I think, go ahead.

01:10:06.225 --> 01:10:10.985
Well, no, and sorry to interrupt, but you're, you know, spot on with it.

01:10:11.065 --> 01:10:13.385
I think it's a matter of just reframing that, right?

01:10:13.725 --> 01:10:20.685
Because we know that the purse strings are attached to the things that we care about, right?

01:10:20.965 --> 01:10:25.285
The things that we prioritize, right? And when I say that, I'm referring to

01:10:25.285 --> 01:10:28.205
our policymakers and those that do have the power of the purse.

01:10:28.725 --> 01:10:34.545
But I always like to kind of flip things, if you will, when I identify like a negative.

01:10:34.785 --> 01:10:38.265
I always like to try to apply a positive to it because I just believe that's

01:10:38.265 --> 01:10:39.585
being solution oriented.

01:10:39.865 --> 01:10:45.265
So even in looking at that challenge within itself, I know that I have an opportunity.

01:10:45.265 --> 01:10:46.965
I'm not even going to say a challenge.

01:10:47.245 --> 01:10:53.745
I have an opportunity to become louder, to push my story out there.

01:10:54.245 --> 01:11:01.225
I have an obligation to the communities that I serve to paint the picture,

01:11:01.445 --> 01:11:07.465
if you will, so that they can see the need, so they can make this a priority.

01:11:08.165 --> 01:11:11.145
And I'm just going to keep up a lot.

01:11:12.145 --> 01:11:15.765
We'll keep fighting and we'll keep pushing. That's right. That's all you can do.

01:11:16.225 --> 01:11:21.065
The late Congressman John Lewis is famous for encouraging others to get into good trouble.

01:11:21.445 --> 01:11:25.565
Why have you adopted this as your personal mantra?

01:11:26.757 --> 01:11:33.777
Because that's what it takes, right? At the end of the day, get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

01:11:35.557 --> 01:11:40.977
And in this line of work, we realize that in order for work to happen,

01:11:41.137 --> 01:11:46.077
in order for change to take place, that you just have to speak truth to power.

01:11:46.897 --> 01:11:50.157
We have to continue to tell our story. we

01:11:50.157 --> 01:11:53.317
have to continue to be a

01:11:53.317 --> 01:11:56.417
voice for the people who need us most

01:11:56.417 --> 01:11:59.417
and sometimes that's not always the

01:11:59.417 --> 01:12:02.857
most popular thing to do but while

01:12:02.857 --> 01:12:08.697
it may not be the most popular thing to do it is the right thing to do and not

01:12:08.697 --> 01:12:14.057
only is it the right thing to do it's the critical thing to do and I think The

01:12:14.057 --> 01:12:22.617
huge fail in this sometimes is that we don't see the bigger picture, right?

01:12:23.297 --> 01:12:26.837
But what I talked about earlier, that statement that you opened up with,

01:12:26.977 --> 01:12:31.677
that icebreaker, when everyday Arkansans win, we all win, that's what it takes.

01:12:32.197 --> 01:12:34.077
We live in ecosystems.

01:12:35.037 --> 01:12:38.857
And when one level of that system is not doing well, guess what?

01:12:38.917 --> 01:12:40.277
We're all going to feel that impact.

01:12:40.997 --> 01:12:44.137
So we have to keep pushing and fighting for one another.

01:12:44.777 --> 01:12:48.357
And that is what that statement means to me. Get in good trouble,

01:12:48.697 --> 01:12:51.197
necessary trouble. Yeah. Yeah.

01:12:52.977 --> 01:12:56.357
That's one of my guests started it and I've been carrying it on.

01:12:56.517 --> 01:12:59.557
It's like when people say something like that, it's like, say that a little louder.

01:12:59.997 --> 01:13:03.177
So the folks in the church, back in the church can hear it.

01:13:04.637 --> 01:13:06.177
I mean, just, you know.

01:13:08.032 --> 01:13:15.092
People need to understand. And I hope that, you know, it's been 250 years and

01:13:15.092 --> 01:13:18.792
we still ain't quite got to that level political maturity yet.

01:13:18.912 --> 01:13:24.752
But I hope that at some point in time that in America, people understand that

01:13:24.752 --> 01:13:30.652
when everybody, when people are succeeding, that benefits everybody.

01:13:31.592 --> 01:13:36.592
And, you know, and just, you know, holding other people down or not lifting

01:13:36.592 --> 01:13:42.872
other people up. whether it's deliberate or not, hurts everybody.

01:13:43.052 --> 01:13:45.892
And so I appreciate the way that you framed that.

01:13:46.412 --> 01:13:51.852
Last question. I did have one more, but I don't want to take up too much more of your time.

01:13:52.012 --> 01:14:00.592
But my last question was, or is, what has been your most satisfying moment in your current role?

01:14:01.232 --> 01:14:06.032
I would have to say my most satisfying moment.

01:14:07.652 --> 01:14:12.192
Every day I wake up, I'm like that person that wakes up every morning so full

01:14:12.192 --> 01:14:16.912
of energy, and I can see it, right?

01:14:17.252 --> 01:14:23.872
And it's a crazy thing because I always think about how God gives each of us

01:14:23.872 --> 01:14:26.052
purpose. He gives each of us a vision.

01:14:27.332 --> 01:14:35.092
And I don't know I have so many and and not to sound you know I don't know one

01:14:35.092 --> 01:14:40.252
way or the other but I have so many moments in which I feel like that like,

01:14:41.331 --> 01:14:46.931
This work is truly rewarding for me. If I could scale it down, I guess,

01:14:47.151 --> 01:14:51.571
maybe to one thing, if you will,

01:14:51.731 --> 01:14:59.031
it's just knowing that when I wake up in the morning,

01:14:59.031 --> 01:15:06.591
when I send an email or when I attend a meeting or when I'm in front of this

01:15:06.591 --> 01:15:12.531
person or that person, or that those occurrences matter,

01:15:13.671 --> 01:15:13.891
right?

01:15:14.351 --> 01:15:22.551
That each action is going to impact somebody's life in a positive way.

01:15:23.211 --> 01:15:30.551
And that for me is the most gratifying thing. I can't just scale it down to one single thing.

01:15:31.151 --> 01:15:35.011
But looking at the sum of it all, like it all matters.

01:15:35.691 --> 01:15:39.051
And I may not see the change in my lifetime the

01:15:39.051 --> 01:15:44.731
change that I like because you know leaders as leaders like we have this thought

01:15:44.731 --> 01:15:50.811
right of what change is going to look like like for Martin Luther King it was

01:15:50.811 --> 01:15:55.771
the mountaintop right for Moses Moses even went up a mountain.

01:15:57.191 --> 01:16:00.851
And for Nehemiah he had his wall and

01:16:00.851 --> 01:16:03.691
sometimes we don't get to see that in completion in

01:16:03.691 --> 01:16:07.471
our lifetime but it's having the faith that that

01:16:07.471 --> 01:16:10.411
change is going to take place and

01:16:10.411 --> 01:16:13.611
I look at it like this like little Tomekia

01:16:13.611 --> 01:16:18.691
I'm doing my part but somebody's going to come behind me so I have the opportunity

01:16:18.691 --> 01:16:23.911
to plant the seed somebody else can part of the seed somebody else can grow

01:16:23.911 --> 01:16:30.831
it and nurture it into something beautiful so I'm saying all that to say this I think it all matters,

01:16:31.391 --> 01:16:36.451
And for me, that's the rewarding part of it, just knowing that I have a hand

01:16:36.451 --> 01:16:38.171
to play in that somewhere.

01:16:39.540 --> 01:16:43.700
Somewhere. Yeah. So in summary, you're saying that your most satisfying moment

01:16:43.700 --> 01:16:47.900
is being present and being at the table and being in the moment.

01:16:48.540 --> 01:16:52.120
That is a great way to put it. Yes. Yeah. I feel you on that.

01:16:52.240 --> 01:16:59.020
And then, you know, you talked about the seeds and the watering and the cultivation

01:16:59.020 --> 01:17:02.580
and the growth, but there's got to be a harvest too, right?

01:17:03.200 --> 01:17:10.300
And that's the ultimate goal we want, No matter where that happens in our timeline

01:17:10.300 --> 01:17:16.100
or is beyond our timeline, if what we're doing now, there's a harvest at the end,

01:17:16.420 --> 01:17:20.880
then that makes that work satisfying.

01:17:20.880 --> 01:17:22.340
So I feel you on that.

01:17:22.420 --> 01:17:30.700
I do. If people want to get involved with the Arkansas Community Action Agency Association,

01:17:30.700 --> 01:17:35.040
whether it's through the state organization or through their local community

01:17:35.040 --> 01:17:37.600
action agency, how can they do that?

01:17:37.860 --> 01:17:42.020
And if people want to get in touch with you directly, how can they do that?

01:17:43.024 --> 01:17:47.164
Sure. So there are several ways that they can do that.

01:17:47.464 --> 01:18:01.324
My email is T as in Taw Moore, my last name, M-O-R-E, at A-C-A-A-A dot org. They can email me.

01:18:01.584 --> 01:18:05.984
They can hit us up on any of our social media pages. We're on Facebook.

01:18:06.724 --> 01:18:10.084
TikTok, Instagram, and X.

01:18:10.264 --> 01:18:16.664
And they can just type in Arkansas Community Action Agencies Association, and we will pop up.

01:18:17.004 --> 01:18:21.364
They can also visit our website. I did mention that we're upgrading it,

01:18:21.464 --> 01:18:29.884
but they can still utilize that link, which is www.acaaa.org.

01:18:30.224 --> 01:18:40.944
And the final point of contact, they can always reach us at the office at 501-372-0807.

01:18:41.524 --> 01:18:46.084
All right. Well, Tomekia Moore, I really appreciate having the time with you

01:18:46.084 --> 01:18:50.424
this morning for you to come on. It's really been an honor to do that.

01:18:51.084 --> 01:18:56.944
I wish you much continued success in the good work that you're doing and being

01:18:56.944 --> 01:18:59.304
present where we need to have a presence.

01:18:59.924 --> 01:19:05.764
And, you know, I just wish you and your staff and everybody out there doing

01:19:05.764 --> 01:19:09.824
the work at those 15 community action agencies throughout the state of Arkansas

01:19:09.824 --> 01:19:12.944
continued success and a happy holiday season.

01:19:13.384 --> 01:19:16.304
Well, same to you. This was fun. Thank you for the opportunity.

01:19:30.789 --> 01:19:38.249
All right, we are back. So I want to thank Bremond MacDougall,

01:19:38.889 --> 01:19:44.009
Lisa Cooper, and Tomekia Moore for coming on to the podcast.

01:19:44.589 --> 01:19:48.709
It is always a delight to have Bremond and Lisa come on.

01:19:48.709 --> 01:19:58.309
Their enthusiasm for finding these literary works and republishing them and

01:19:58.309 --> 01:20:02.409
getting them back into the hands of readers.

01:20:04.053 --> 01:20:10.953
It's infectious and is, like I said, it's always a joy to talk to them.

01:20:11.973 --> 01:20:18.453
And, you know, they're engaged politically and pay attention to things.

01:20:19.333 --> 01:20:25.313
But the cool thing is, is that instead of like running for office or being part

01:20:25.313 --> 01:20:32.033
of this group, they find these books that are very, very relevant to what's

01:20:32.033 --> 01:20:33.953
happening now that were written like.

01:20:34.053 --> 01:20:45.213
100, 150 years ago, you know, and that's an incredible talent and very, very resourceful.

01:20:45.913 --> 01:20:51.453
And I greatly appreciate what they do to contribute to our enlightenment.

01:20:52.073 --> 01:20:56.833
Because again, enlightenment is the goal, right?

01:20:57.213 --> 01:21:01.773
And then having the privilege for the first time to talk to Tomekia Moore,

01:21:01.993 --> 01:21:06.993
who is basically the leader of all the community action agencies in the state of Arkansas.

01:21:08.053 --> 01:21:17.653
You know, those organizations were created by Congress to make sure that rural communities,

01:21:18.173 --> 01:21:25.493
underserved communities, you know, had access and resources to things they need.

01:21:25.613 --> 01:21:32.993
Primarily the biggest or their most known service is Head Start, which has,

01:21:33.993 --> 01:21:41.373
contributed to more black children being ready for college than any other program

01:21:41.373 --> 01:21:42.873
that's ever been created.

01:21:43.613 --> 01:21:47.633
You know, so much so that everybody else started talking about,

01:21:47.713 --> 01:21:54.113
well, we need to have a pre-K program and all this stuff because that's what Head Start is. And,

01:21:55.483 --> 01:21:58.603
It's one of the most successful government programs ever created.

01:22:00.503 --> 01:22:08.283
So, you know, and just to be in that kind of work to make sure that people are

01:22:08.283 --> 01:22:12.243
not only taken care of, but they're heard, right?

01:22:13.743 --> 01:22:20.123
Because as you heard in the interview, sometimes the most important thing is just to be in the room,

01:22:20.243 --> 01:22:29.403
just to be a presence, just to be able to sit at the table and voice your concerns.

01:22:30.163 --> 01:22:35.883
Sometimes that's all that's needed. It's not necessarily that you have to pass

01:22:35.883 --> 01:22:40.743
a bill or have a big protest. Just get in the room.

01:22:41.943 --> 01:22:45.323
And once the voice is heard, it can't go back.

01:22:45.883 --> 01:22:49.523
They can try to deny, but it's in their brain.

01:22:49.523 --> 01:22:54.923
And even if you don't get credit for what happens, if it happens,

01:22:55.123 --> 01:23:01.363
it's because you had that presence in the room, right? Good trouble.

01:23:03.843 --> 01:23:11.043
Getting engaged. That's all we really ask people to do is just get engaged.

01:23:11.743 --> 01:23:16.423
And you don't have to be paid to get engaged. That doesn't have to be your job.

01:23:16.423 --> 01:23:20.683
But as a citizen, we need you to be engaged.

01:23:21.643 --> 01:23:27.423
Sometimes that means you're a little angry. Okay. But just like I tell people,

01:23:27.583 --> 01:23:32.043
don't go to the grocery store hungry, don't go to the voting proof angry, right?

01:23:33.223 --> 01:23:38.683
The motivation to get engaged might have been anger, but you've got to be reasonable

01:23:38.683 --> 01:23:43.523
and rational in choosing leadership, right?

01:23:43.523 --> 01:23:51.463
And on that note, I had several friends in different states running in runoffs. They didn't win.

01:23:52.891 --> 01:24:00.351
But in a couple of cases, you know, the person that won, I'm not, I knew them too.

01:24:01.291 --> 01:24:05.591
And I don't think that they're bad people. I think they're going to do a good

01:24:05.591 --> 01:24:08.431
job. I just happened to be running against my friend.

01:24:10.431 --> 01:24:18.151
You know, on the one hand, though, in one particular race, I was disappointed.

01:24:18.151 --> 01:24:24.631
And that's with Dontaye Carter because Dontaye, one, was a guest on the show. And then two.

01:24:26.831 --> 01:24:35.651
The person who won has been the mayor, this city has only had two mayors and

01:24:35.651 --> 01:24:37.011
this guy is the second mayor.

01:24:39.151 --> 01:24:45.731
And that race was an aberration compared to the trend that's happening nationwide.

01:24:46.471 --> 01:24:51.731
Because in the neighboring town, the incumbent mayor got beat, right?

01:24:51.991 --> 01:24:59.611
The same people that supported Dontaye supported this young lady in Roswell, and she won.

01:24:59.971 --> 01:25:02.371
But the folks in Sandy Springs didn't get the memo.

01:25:03.771 --> 01:25:09.811
Nonetheless, it is what it is, you know, and hopefully, you know,

01:25:09.951 --> 01:25:15.711
in four years, you know, Sandy Springs will catch up with everybody else.

01:25:16.571 --> 01:25:20.851
That's not an indictment on Sandy Springs. It's just that I guess they didn't

01:25:20.851 --> 01:25:24.911
see the current mayor as part of this group,

01:25:24.911 --> 01:25:33.211
even though his history would say that he's old school as far as this group is concerned.

01:25:34.111 --> 01:25:38.231
You know, but it's kind of interesting when people run against an incumbent.

01:25:38.751 --> 01:25:42.271
They don't make it to the runoff and then they endorse him.

01:25:43.394 --> 01:25:48.494
The incumbent that they were running against instead of building an alliance

01:25:48.494 --> 01:25:50.634
with somebody that's going to beat that incumbent.

01:25:51.174 --> 01:25:54.594
I think that's always a fascinating thing in politics. People can do what they

01:25:54.594 --> 01:25:58.174
want to do. This is not a judgment. I just think it's fascinating.

01:25:58.934 --> 01:26:02.174
You wanted this person out so bad, you signed up to run.

01:26:02.794 --> 01:26:08.814
And then when it comes down to somebody who made it to the runoff against the

01:26:08.814 --> 01:26:13.054
incumbent, you turn around and support the person you were trying to get out

01:26:13.054 --> 01:26:15.574
of office. I think that's fascinating.

01:26:17.094 --> 01:26:23.914
You know? But it is what it is. You know? It would have made a difference. I don't know.

01:26:24.874 --> 01:26:30.454
But anyway, it is what it is. I'm very proud of Dontaye for how he ran his campaign

01:26:30.454 --> 01:26:36.814
and the support that he gathered will go a long way for him,

01:26:37.594 --> 01:26:39.574
whatever political future he has.

01:26:40.674 --> 01:26:44.474
You know, I just... I just hate it for Sandy Springs.

01:26:44.654 --> 01:26:48.854
I think they missed out on an opportunity to go in a different direction.

01:26:49.454 --> 01:26:51.094
But, you know, they made a choice.

01:26:52.314 --> 01:26:55.654
And that's all we can do is offer ourselves up.

01:26:57.254 --> 01:27:01.734
And, you know, if the people respond to us, so be it.

01:27:02.114 --> 01:27:07.174
If they don't, it is what it is. At least you were present.

01:27:07.794 --> 01:27:13.774
At least you got your voice out there. and just like Ms. Behn in Nashville.

01:27:15.163 --> 01:27:19.463
Who ran in a district that was designed for a Republican to win forever,

01:27:19.663 --> 01:27:25.863
or at least for the next 10 years, you know, she, she made it a close and competitive race.

01:27:25.863 --> 01:27:30.863
And in her concession phone call, according to her, in her phone call,

01:27:30.943 --> 01:27:34.943
she basically said, look, the reason why this election was close because people

01:27:34.943 --> 01:27:36.763
want this and the people want that.

01:27:37.263 --> 01:27:43.123
So whatever agenda you talking about, you need to incorporate that.

01:27:43.563 --> 01:27:48.523
What the people want, in your time in Congress. And it may be a short time because

01:27:48.523 --> 01:27:50.583
this was a special election.

01:27:50.983 --> 01:27:56.883
So he's got to turn right around and start campaigning now because the regular

01:27:56.883 --> 01:28:00.583
election is less than 365 days away.

01:28:01.163 --> 01:28:07.763
No, actually, yeah, about 330 some days. So, you know, we'll see.

01:28:08.463 --> 01:28:13.623
It didn't sound like he was too receptive based on his speech that he gave and

01:28:13.623 --> 01:28:15.023
his victory speech, but we'll see.

01:28:15.163 --> 01:28:20.543
We'll see, especially the way the political winds are blowing.

01:28:21.083 --> 01:28:30.923
And it's still encouraging that people are getting engaged some places more

01:28:30.923 --> 01:28:33.323
than others, but they're getting there.

01:28:34.183 --> 01:28:39.823
And if the voices of reason and the voices of logic continue to prevail,

01:28:40.303 --> 01:28:45.383
we'll see a change on the first Tuesday of November in 2026.

01:28:45.863 --> 01:28:50.503
We'll see it. And I don't know how big of a change it'll be,

01:28:50.663 --> 01:28:51.723
but it'll be significant.

01:28:52.443 --> 01:28:58.903
It will set a foundation, I think, for a generation.

01:29:00.483 --> 01:29:06.403
It's kind of lofty language for an election, but that's just the way I feel.

01:29:06.603 --> 01:29:10.643
I just think that people are tired of being disappointed.

01:29:12.273 --> 01:29:18.553
Now, you know, we're all human beings, and, you know, whether you have a favorite

01:29:18.553 --> 01:29:24.293
sports team or, you know, whatever, you know, family member,

01:29:24.693 --> 01:29:26.613
you know, somebody's going to disappoint you.

01:29:27.293 --> 01:29:34.333
But when government disappoints you, that really hurts, you know,

01:29:34.613 --> 01:29:41.573
because that, when government makes decisions, could be a life or death decision for you.

01:29:42.273 --> 01:29:47.133
It's definitely quality of life decisions for you. But in some cases,

01:29:47.133 --> 01:29:48.873
it could be life or death.

01:29:49.513 --> 01:29:53.733
And some people don't look at government that's serious, but you should.

01:29:54.553 --> 01:29:59.813
Because if, you know, for all these years, we've been saying people need to

01:29:59.813 --> 01:30:03.813
get vaccinated. And now we have an administration that says, yeah, not so much.

01:30:04.453 --> 01:30:06.053
And now measles are back.

01:30:08.412 --> 01:30:11.712
So, you know, life and death decisions.

01:30:12.472 --> 01:30:16.152
It's real. Whether people can afford their health care or not,

01:30:16.312 --> 01:30:17.772
that's a life and death decision.

01:30:18.612 --> 01:30:26.192
So, you know, I want people to pay attention and take this stuff really, really serious.

01:30:26.812 --> 01:30:28.572
I don't want it to be consuming.

01:30:29.672 --> 01:30:32.512
Again, don't want you to be a political junkie like me.

01:30:32.832 --> 01:30:37.132
I just need you to be engaged. I need you to pay attention. And I need you,

01:30:37.592 --> 01:30:41.792
like I say in my promo, I don't want you to keep this a secret.

01:30:42.072 --> 01:30:48.472
I need you to tell people. I need you to do what Jesus told the disciples. Spread the good news.

01:30:49.252 --> 01:30:54.872
Talk to folks. That they're, you know, and debate people.

01:30:55.412 --> 01:30:58.272
Whether it's your family members, your friends, whether co-workers.

01:30:59.192 --> 01:31:04.832
Talk to them. Say, hey, look, I think there's a better way to do X, Y, and Z.

01:31:04.832 --> 01:31:08.772
I'm going to vote for somebody that I think is going to take us in a different

01:31:08.772 --> 01:31:12.352
direction and not worry about whether you're going to get kicked out of the

01:31:12.352 --> 01:31:14.892
country club or not, or, you know,

01:31:15.492 --> 01:31:21.352
they're not going to invite you to poker night or somebody's bar mitzvah. It doesn't matter.

01:31:22.132 --> 01:31:25.512
You have a right as an American to voice your opinion.

01:31:25.512 --> 01:31:31.352
You know, and that's the one thing that I guess the current conservatives,

01:31:31.672 --> 01:31:34.512
the MAGA people don't get, is that,

01:31:35.172 --> 01:31:39.372
excuse me, we get that you may feel as though you haven't been heard.

01:31:40.092 --> 01:31:46.092
We make the argument that in the history of the country, that opinion's been out there for a while.

01:31:47.172 --> 01:31:51.312
And sometimes we agree with that, but most of the time we don't.

01:31:51.612 --> 01:31:56.332
And it all depends on the issue, right? If you're talking about something,

01:31:56.952 --> 01:32:01.592
again, like health care, yeah, we can have pros and cons about that when it

01:32:01.592 --> 01:32:04.452
comes to the liberties of human beings, human rights.

01:32:06.279 --> 01:32:12.159
Yeah, most of us are not going to agree with that. So you just have to deal

01:32:12.159 --> 01:32:15.739
with the fact that people are not going to agree with you all the time.

01:32:16.459 --> 01:32:23.999
Does it frustrate you? Sure, because it frustrates us. We don't see the value of human life, right?

01:32:25.459 --> 01:32:27.499
Except, you know, before birth.

01:32:29.379 --> 01:32:37.459
Anyway, I just really want people to get to a point where they can be comfortable

01:32:37.459 --> 01:32:43.459
respecting something different and not be afraid of it, right?

01:32:44.079 --> 01:32:47.379
You know, when we was little, we used to play this game called the cooties.

01:32:47.859 --> 01:32:52.419
And it's like, it was basically a game of it or tag.

01:32:52.999 --> 01:32:56.239
It's like somebody said, well, you got the cooties and then everybody tries

01:32:56.239 --> 01:33:01.219
to run away from it. You know, try to get back to home base before you get tagged or whatever.

01:33:01.899 --> 01:33:04.979
And then if you get tagged and you got the cooties and everybody runs away from

01:33:04.979 --> 01:33:07.779
you, right? Political thought is not like that.

01:33:09.079 --> 01:33:15.239
Not inherently bad, you know, progressive ideas are definitely not the cooties.

01:33:16.979 --> 01:33:24.319
You know, it's just a change. I mean, don't you feel strange that you can go

01:33:24.319 --> 01:33:30.579
to certain countries and you can see clean streets and no homeless people?

01:33:31.459 --> 01:33:37.979
You know, you see high speed rail and then you come back here where we talk

01:33:37.979 --> 01:33:40.999
about we're the baddest and best country to ever exist.

01:33:41.639 --> 01:33:46.599
We're the wealthiest country on the planet. We have the most powerful military, yada, yada, yada.

01:33:47.319 --> 01:33:49.879
But we ain't got the cool stuff like these other people do.

01:33:50.839 --> 01:33:58.259
Again, you can make as much money as you want, but I don't think we need to

01:33:58.259 --> 01:34:03.199
have anybody worth a trillion dollars if people don't have a place to live.

01:34:03.899 --> 01:34:08.799
I don't think we need to have a trillionaire, if healthcare is not free for

01:34:08.799 --> 01:34:10.599
every American citizen.

01:34:11.119 --> 01:34:16.599
I don't think we need to have a trillionaire if college education is not free, right?

01:34:17.079 --> 01:34:21.219
I just don't think that. I think that if we're the wealthiest nation in the

01:34:21.219 --> 01:34:24.139
world, we need to show that. Everybody needs to have a house.

01:34:24.619 --> 01:34:27.339
Everybody that can work needs to have a job.

01:34:27.959 --> 01:34:35.359
Everybody that wants to go to college can go, You know, and that's not necessarily a liberal idea.

01:34:36.459 --> 01:34:42.719
Dwight D. Eisenhower created a student loan program as a national security measure, period.

01:34:43.419 --> 01:34:49.319
You know, the Freedmen's Bureau was created so that enslaved people could buy

01:34:49.319 --> 01:34:57.079
property and become full citizens, live a life that was abundant after being enslaved.

01:34:57.599 --> 01:35:03.259
That was supposed to be the reparations. There was literally a government agency

01:35:03.259 --> 01:35:08.339
set up for enslaved, the formerly enslaved. And we let it slip away.

01:35:11.756 --> 01:35:16.096
So if you had done what you were supposed to, it's like the old Fram commercial.

01:35:16.096 --> 01:35:17.936
You can pay me now or you can pay me later.

01:35:18.296 --> 01:35:22.896
People are upset about reparations, but it's like if the Freeman Bureau had

01:35:22.896 --> 01:35:29.116
not been undercut, if it was created as a standalone agency rather than stuck

01:35:29.116 --> 01:35:30.396
in the Department of Defense,

01:35:31.296 --> 01:35:36.836
we wouldn't have this conversation about reparations now because it would have been taken care of.

01:35:37.496 --> 01:35:43.256
If you don't follow through, You don't know what direction things are going to go.

01:35:43.556 --> 01:35:48.696
In golf, if you don't follow through on your swing, you can't control the flight of the ball.

01:35:49.456 --> 01:35:52.176
It's the same in public policy. If you don't follow through,

01:35:52.636 --> 01:35:55.936
you don't know what direction that legislation is going to lead to.

01:35:56.356 --> 01:36:00.616
If there's no controls, if there's no commitment, then go off the rails.

01:36:01.696 --> 01:36:04.516
There's no checks and balance, right?

01:36:06.036 --> 01:36:09.796
So, you know, that's where we are.

01:36:10.336 --> 01:36:14.176
And we got to fix it. We got to get it right.

01:36:14.736 --> 01:36:17.316
We got to do capitalism right.

01:36:18.236 --> 01:36:21.476
I don't care how much money you make.

01:36:21.936 --> 01:36:29.496
I don't. I do care that I'm paying double what you're paying in taxes and I

01:36:29.496 --> 01:36:31.436
make considerably less money than you.

01:36:31.996 --> 01:36:34.816
I do care about that. I don't think that's fair.

01:36:35.816 --> 01:36:41.936
Nonetheless, that's what we are. And I think we need to change that, right?

01:36:42.556 --> 01:36:51.376
I mean, it's just common sense things that don't seem common because we let

01:36:51.376 --> 01:36:58.996
greed and avarice and all this other stuff take hold, right?

01:36:59.996 --> 01:37:03.856
So as far as Gump would say, that's all I got to say about that.

01:37:05.721 --> 01:37:13.281
I just really hope that in my lifetime. We just had a sister who passed away at the age of 111.

01:37:14.461 --> 01:37:23.641
I pray that if I get to be 111, that I will see the seeds that are being planted

01:37:23.641 --> 01:37:27.561
now come to fruition and get harvested.

01:37:28.781 --> 01:37:34.121
That's what I was talking to Sister Moore about. You know, I would love to see

01:37:34.121 --> 01:37:37.681
this nation really live up to its fullest potential.

01:37:38.561 --> 01:37:44.401
And the only way we can do that is if we stop worrying about how much melanin

01:37:44.401 --> 01:37:47.421
somebody has in their skin and...

01:37:49.463 --> 01:37:53.563
Are concerned with how much talent that they have to offer.

01:37:54.423 --> 01:37:58.903
I don't care how you wear your hair. I don't care how many tattoos you got.

01:37:59.563 --> 01:38:03.063
I don't care who you live with or love.

01:38:03.703 --> 01:38:09.303
I just want you to contribute to society in a positive way.

01:38:09.863 --> 01:38:16.223
I want you to be involved in the uplifting of everyone around you.

01:38:17.143 --> 01:38:21.943
Whatever my religious beliefs are, are my religious beliefs.

01:38:22.343 --> 01:38:25.943
And it's my choice, it's my life to live.

01:38:26.443 --> 01:38:28.423
Can't judge anybody else.

01:38:29.303 --> 01:38:35.463
What I do want is that regardless of our differences, physical,

01:38:36.123 --> 01:38:37.603
psychological, whatever,

01:38:38.923 --> 01:38:45.743
sociological, that when we decide that we need to do something to make this

01:38:45.743 --> 01:38:49.463
country better, we can lock arms and make that happen.

01:38:51.343 --> 01:38:56.543
That's all I care about. And maybe that's a kumbaya moment. I don't know.

01:38:57.023 --> 01:39:05.043
But I think in order for this country to move forward, we got to take those steps.

01:39:05.043 --> 01:39:10.343
You know, nobody thought that a colony,

01:39:11.023 --> 01:39:18.143
whether it was 13 colonies or one colony of enslaved people,

01:39:18.503 --> 01:39:23.143
that they could defeat a major power.

01:39:24.716 --> 01:39:28.736
Americans did it. The American colonists did it. The Haitians,

01:39:28.936 --> 01:39:30.536
the Haitian slaves did it.

01:39:31.576 --> 01:39:37.196
And throughout history, we've seen the French Revolution. We've seen that, right?

01:39:37.836 --> 01:39:43.756
Where the people make a decision, hey, look, it's time to change what's happening.

01:39:44.556 --> 01:39:50.776
And throughout history, people are not really too keen on being part of an empire.

01:39:51.336 --> 01:39:56.616
They kind of want to have, even if it's just an illusion, right?

01:39:57.536 --> 01:40:04.116
They want to have independence. They want to have the right to live their lives

01:40:04.116 --> 01:40:05.276
the way that they want to.

01:40:05.816 --> 01:40:10.576
All of us have to circumscribe the rules, right?

01:40:10.816 --> 01:40:15.576
We call them laws, but that's part of a society.

01:40:16.476 --> 01:40:20.036
But we still want to feel free.

01:40:20.776 --> 01:40:25.296
We still want to have the liberty to pursue what we want.

01:40:26.156 --> 01:40:29.656
It's just a basic common thing.

01:40:29.956 --> 01:40:35.496
I think that's why pamphlets like Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence

01:40:35.496 --> 01:40:38.316
and the Constitution of the United States were written the way that they were

01:40:38.316 --> 01:40:41.496
written, with the addition of the Bill of Rights.

01:40:42.056 --> 01:40:44.796
You can go back to the Magna Carta. You can...

01:40:46.681 --> 01:40:50.821
People wanted to govern. They wanted to have rights and freedom.

01:40:51.021 --> 01:40:53.321
They wanted to have their voices heard.

01:40:53.661 --> 01:40:55.341
They wanted to be respected.

01:40:55.901 --> 01:40:59.881
And I don't understand a political party that doesn't get that.

01:41:00.541 --> 01:41:05.081
I don't understand a political ideology that doesn't get that.

01:41:05.761 --> 01:41:08.501
Not a select few. Everybody.

01:41:09.601 --> 01:41:14.201
So, I don't know. Like I said, I hope that we can get there.

01:41:14.721 --> 01:41:21.301
And if we can get there in my lifetime, I hope that me and others will have

01:41:21.301 --> 01:41:24.901
done enough to plant that seed.

01:41:26.981 --> 01:41:34.761
And I think where we're at now, there's going to be a lot of seeds planted and

01:41:34.761 --> 01:41:37.181
we're going to get there.

01:41:38.181 --> 01:41:41.181
Because, you know, each time we keep saying it can't get worse,

01:41:41.301 --> 01:41:44.941
it can't get worse. It probably can if we don't change our ways.

01:41:45.861 --> 01:41:51.541
But I think we're moving in the right direction. And I appreciate those of you all who listen.

01:41:52.221 --> 01:41:57.461
And I appreciate those of you all who are engaged. And now we just got to get more.

01:41:58.221 --> 01:42:04.101
I could have talked about what's going on with HEGSF and, you know,

01:42:04.101 --> 01:42:08.541
what's going on with the redistricting stuff and all that. But all that falls

01:42:08.541 --> 01:42:13.181
under the broad picture about respecting others.

01:42:14.061 --> 01:42:20.561
We got to respect other human beings. That is the only way that a country that

01:42:20.561 --> 01:42:24.701
is supposed to be the greatest in the world can live up to that title.

01:42:25.501 --> 01:42:26.721
All right, that's all I got.