Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Uplift: She uses power of dance as activism, and honoring sacred spaces tied to African-American heritage.

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Uplift: She uses power of dance as activism, and honoring sacred spaces tied to African-American heritage. · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rashon McDonald.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: I host this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: interviews and information that this show provides are for you
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  Speaker 2: and everyone. It's time to start reading other people's success
• 0:11
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• 0:17
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  Speaker 2: and click.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: The b a guest, Butudon.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: If you're an entrepreneur, small business owner, influencer, motivational speaker,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: I've got a product. I want you on my show,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: So let's get your show started. My next guest is
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  Speaker 2: the founder and artistic director of Nil's Daughter's Movement Collective,
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  Speaker 2: a professional dance company committed to creating and supporting art
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  Speaker 2: and wellness initiatives through the lens of Black women and girls.
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  Speaker 2: Stacey is the author of two children's books and recipient
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty four Children's Publication Award from the
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: National Association of Multicultural Education. Please welcome to Money Making
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Conversation Master Last Stacey Allen.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: How you doing, Stacey?
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  Speaker 3: Hello? Hello, thank you so much for having me. How
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  Speaker 3: are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm great, pretty good, I'm doing really good stacy telling.
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  Speaker 2: Is your background on dance? Why is dance importing to you?
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  Speaker 4: So I decided in about high school that I wanted
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  Speaker 4: to study dance when I got to college, and at
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  Speaker 4: the time, I had to say that it was more
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  Speaker 4: of a hobby. But as I've matriculated through my dance
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  Speaker 4: education and then ultimately became a dance educator, I realized
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  Speaker 4: the storytelling.
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  Speaker 3: Power that dance had right and I.
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  Speaker 4: Understand how specifically as people of African descent, dance and
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  Speaker 4: music have always been critical in us being able to
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  Speaker 4: keep our histories and tell our own stories.
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  Speaker 3: So that's why dance.
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  Speaker 1: Now where did you go to college yet?
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  Speaker 4: I did my undergraduate degree at sam Houston State University
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  Speaker 4: and I got a degree in that And I always
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  Speaker 4: say that I had very supportive parents, because a lot
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  Speaker 4: of times, you know, more traditional families are less inclined
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  Speaker 4: to support their children getting find arts degrees. But I'll
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  Speaker 4: say that my parents were a little bit ahead of
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  Speaker 4: their time. They supported me and getting that degree from
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  Speaker 4: sam Houston, a Bachelor of Arts and Dance. And then
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  Speaker 4: I went to graduate school at University of Houston Clear
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  Speaker 4: Lake and received a master's and cross.
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  Speaker 3: Cultural studies where I studied a.
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  Speaker 4: Lot of dance anthropology and did a lot of other
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  Speaker 4: research on dance and music.
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  Speaker 2: Let's talk about that because I think it's important because
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people out of fear, don't follow their
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  Speaker 2: dreams based on what people would think of. People try
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: to push you to what they think you should be,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: and I think it's important that you are living the
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: life that you wanted to live. Talk about the impact
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  Speaker 2: of having that support system, following your dreams and living
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  Speaker 2: a life without fear.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you so much for asking that. I think that
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  Speaker 4: that is really critical. When I believe that God puts
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  Speaker 4: a purpose inside of us, and when we are able
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  Speaker 4: to live out that purpose and have support, I think
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  Speaker 4: that the guy is the limit. It has been super critical.
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  Speaker 4: My family still supports me. My dad transitioned about eleven
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  Speaker 4: years ago, and my mom is still very supportive of
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  Speaker 4: all the work I do, my husband, even my children.
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  Speaker 3: I have a strong village and I can.
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  Speaker 4: Just see how their support really helps to bring this
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  Speaker 4: art forward.
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  Speaker 2: Ok let's talk about this station. Because the power of
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  Speaker 2: dance of activism. Okay, you know, because your dance and
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  Speaker 2: engages social injustice and political movement, and through dance talk
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  Speaker 2: about it. You know, you are really interesting and and
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  Speaker 2: I gotta appreciate you even more in this interview because
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  Speaker 2: sometimes you know, people say dance and they all they
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  Speaker 2: see is just the dance, but they don't understand the
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  Speaker 2: story that you're telling what you're dance. Talk to us
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  Speaker 2: about that, because this is not a normal interview for me,
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  Speaker 2: because it's always it's always fun when I talk to
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  Speaker 2: people I've never talked to and I've never talked to
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  Speaker 2: a person like you. And along the way in this conversation,
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  Speaker 2: I'm more and more engaged because it's like I thought
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  Speaker 2: it was this, but I'm realizing there's so much more.
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  Speaker 2: So let's talk about dance as a power of activism.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so there's a long legacy of people who have
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  Speaker 4: used their art as activism tools. You know, artists are
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  Speaker 4: some of the forefronts of the people who led movements
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  Speaker 4: like the civil rights movements. And clearly some of the
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  Speaker 4: things that we're seeing right now come from a long
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  Speaker 4: legacy of dance makers who are activists. And so my
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  Speaker 4: goal in the art that I create with dance is education.
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  Speaker 4: Like we've talked about people uncovering things that they did
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  Speaker 4: not know about themselves, people feeling embodied in their own selves,
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  Speaker 4: having autonomy, knowing that they can.
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  Speaker 3: Realize the dreams that they have.
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  Speaker 4: One of the things I was really intentional about when
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  Speaker 4: I wrote my children's books was explaining African American expressive
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  Speaker 4: culture in the history of it.
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  Speaker 3: So the first book, A.
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  Speaker 4: Little Optimism Goes a Long Way, teaches students about who
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  Speaker 4: Catherine Dunham is. And so I wrote that book because
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  Speaker 4: Catherine Dunham is a legendary dance maker anthropologists, and when
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  Speaker 4: I was teaching in elementary school, I was teaching elementary
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  Speaker 4: school dance in a public school. Often my students not
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  Speaker 4: only did I know who she was, but there weren't
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  Speaker 4: many educational materials to support me teaching who she was.
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  Speaker 4: So I created that right. The same thing with my
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  Speaker 4: second book, d is for Dance. Dancing through the Diaspora
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  Speaker 4: is a through z of different African diaspora dance styles
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  Speaker 4: for each letter, and it's very much informed through my
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  Speaker 4: research and my travels and what I have learned about
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  Speaker 4: all the powerful styles of dance throughout the African diaspora.
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  Speaker 4: And so that is my activism is making sure that
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  Speaker 4: people are more educated about themselves, and sometimes it comes
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  Speaker 4: in the shiny package of a performance, and sometimes it
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  Speaker 4: becomes in a book form, sometimes it becomes it comes
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  Speaker 4: out through film.
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  Speaker 3: And so that's truly.
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  Speaker 4: My activism is making sure we know who we are because,
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  Speaker 4: like you said it, you make the groundwork by saying,
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  Speaker 4: when you.
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  Speaker 3: Know who you are, you can start making some different choices.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Stacey Aloy you stone in Okay, I'm from Houston, Texas.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody knows that.
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  Speaker 2: Who listens to my podcast podcast No, I love Houston, Texas. Now,
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  Speaker 2: I'm no dancer, but I've seen artistic dance scene throughout
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  Speaker 2: the Black community. It always appears at events, especially culture
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  Speaker 2: true events.
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  Speaker 1: Why is that the case?
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  Speaker 3: Because Black people love to dance and we're good at it.
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  Speaker 1: Stop that.
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  Speaker 4: No, Like I was saying earlier, dance is a critical
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  Speaker 4: part of our expression. Even when you think about our
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  Speaker 4: ancestors that lived on the continent of Africa, dance is
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  Speaker 4: what told the stories.
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  Speaker 3: The Grios used drum.
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  Speaker 4: And dance to be able to communicate the history from
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  Speaker 4: one generation to the next. And so my goal is
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  Speaker 4: to keep up that legacy. Yes, if any of you
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  Speaker 4: have you have you all seen the movie Centers and
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  Speaker 4: that powerful scene whenever.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know spoilers, I'm sorry if you haven't seen it.
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  Speaker 2: Us Spauler, let's that scene, that dance scene. I saw
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  Speaker 2: Centers twice. So definitely he used music, he used culture.
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  Speaker 2: All that was what made that movie significant.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, and so that is our goal with the work
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  Speaker 4: that we produce a lot of our work, specifically when
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  Speaker 4: Nias Dard's movie Collective is surround the African American history
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  Speaker 4: in Texas. Our first show that we really put out
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  Speaker 4: that has been touring for the last three years is
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  Speaker 4: called The fairy Tale Project, and the fairy Tale Project
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  Speaker 4: is based on the love story of Jim and Winnie Shankle,
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  Speaker 4: and those are two founders of the Texas Freedom Colony, Shankleville.
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  Speaker 4: So I know you've been, you know, playing around with
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  Speaker 4: me about not being from Houston, being from Houston, being
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  Speaker 4: from a different part of Houston. But did you know
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  Speaker 4: that in Texas alone that there are over five hundred
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  Speaker 4: freedom colonies. A freedom colony is defined as a historically
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  Speaker 4: significant community where essentially, from emancipation through the Great Depression,
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  Speaker 4: black people started their own towns, and a lot of
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  Speaker 4: those towns are.
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  Speaker 3: In rural Texas.
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  Speaker 4: A lot of them are in rural East Texas and
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  Speaker 4: there's a significant amount in Central Texas. And so what
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  Speaker 4: we've been able to do with Dan is tell the
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  Speaker 4: story of these freedom colonies, specifically Shankoville. We have a
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  Speaker 4: performance that we premiere at Discovery Green in twenty twenty two,
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  Speaker 4: but we've been touring it over the last three years
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  Speaker 4: and it's about that. And then from there we have
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  Speaker 4: created even more work about African American history in Texas.
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  Speaker 4: We spent a significant amount of time in Crockett. Crockett
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  Speaker 4: is a small town kind of situated between Houston and Dallas,
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  Speaker 4: and the women who created the Mary Allen Seminary, which
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  Speaker 4: was the first colored women's college in the area. So
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  Speaker 4: our goal with Dance is essentially to carry that legacy
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  Speaker 4: that our ancestors have done and to tell our stories
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  Speaker 4: through movement.
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  Speaker 3: And it has been a beautiful.
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  Speaker 4: Experience when we are able to share history through movement.
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  Speaker 4: Just yesterday, we had the beautiful opportunity to perform this
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  Speaker 4: piece the fairy Tale Project at the Juvenile Justice Detentions.
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  Speaker 4: So we had a group of about fifteen young women
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  Speaker 4: who are you know, just dis impacted at the moment
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  Speaker 4: and they dance with us, We get a workshop with them,
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  Speaker 4: We talk to them about black history, we talk to
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  Speaker 4: them about Junge teenth, We talked to them about all
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  Speaker 4: these things, and we did the show inside of their facility.
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  Speaker 3: So we really find this work.
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  Speaker 4: Not only fun and engaging, but also critically important.
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  Speaker 2: For empowering people because sometimes if you don't know your history,
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  Speaker 2: then you don't know your history. And when I say that,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: because of the fact that you don't know the relevancy
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  Speaker 2: of you when you step out of your house, the
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  Speaker 2: culture that you bring, the tone of precentation that you
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  Speaker 2: should be presenting yourself of if you realize you are
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  Speaker 2: from king you are from Queens, you are from the Motherland.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Now let's talk about the importance of Juneteenth, Okay, because
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  Speaker 2: I'm talking to a true culture, a true authority, authority
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  Speaker 2: of Texas black history.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Tell us about the significance of June teenth, because now.
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  Speaker 2: It's national, but you and I both know Texas was
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  Speaker 2: way ahead of Juneteenth before it went national.
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  Speaker 1: Talk to me, Stacy.
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  Speaker 4: So that's something we can agree on as Texas Natives.
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: We know that June teen started in Galveston, right, not
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: too farward either. One of us grew up and we
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: spent a lot of time, and so I think it's
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: this is one hundred and sixtieth year of June teenth.
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  Speaker 4: I think that it is critical for us to make
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: that pilgrimage, make that return. Not only is Galveston the
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: home of June teenth, Galveston is the largest port that
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  Speaker 4: received our ancestors west of the Mississippi.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: So, just like I got the chance to take a.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Beautiful trip to Senegal last summer, and I spent time
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  Speaker 4: in Gory Island, where a lot of the slaves castles
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  Speaker 4: was and as you can imagine, that was an emotional
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  Speaker 4: and spiritual transformative experience. And what it really made me
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  Speaker 4: think about as I came back home, it was like,
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: you know, just as these places in Senegal and Ghana
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  Speaker 4: our slave ports where our ancestors were taken, places like
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  Speaker 4: Galaston and Charleston are places where they were receiving, and
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  Speaker 4: so they both served as sacred and ground, sacred grounds
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  Speaker 4: that we should be commemorating. And so I think this
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  Speaker 4: is the time, during all the things that are occurring,
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  Speaker 4: for such a time as this is a time to
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  Speaker 4: make that pilgrimage back to Galveston Let's.
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  Speaker 1: Talk about the station.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I'm talking to Stacey Allen, the founder and artistic director
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: of Nia's Daughter's Movement Movement collective.
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk about their emotional moment, because I've been there.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when you go to places where you read
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: about in the book, you read it and.
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  Speaker 1: Then you see it. You see in disbelief the conditions.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's what grabs you the most and you realize, Okay,
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  Speaker 2: they went across the ocean and this was the conditions.
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  Speaker 2: Talk about that emotional moment you did, that you had
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: and what was your takeaway from the experience when you
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: went over there.
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  Speaker 3: Step So you have.
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  Speaker 4: To take a ship like a boat, a fairy if
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  Speaker 4: you will, to get to Gory Island, right because it's not.
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  Speaker 3: On the mainland.
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  Speaker 4: So even as soon as you step onto the ship,
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  Speaker 4: for me, I have to have full embodied experience. I
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: could feel my gut dropped, like, oh this, what if
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: we get Like in many ways I kind of went
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: into a mini panic, like what if we get stuck here?
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  Speaker 3: What happens? And then when we arrived.
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  Speaker 4: There, what felt in addition to like the emotional pull
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  Speaker 4: that understanding what our ancestors went through in that Middle Passage.
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  Speaker 4: It was also coming to terms with the hustle and
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  Speaker 4: bustle of Gorey Island. And in many ways, Gorey Island
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  Speaker 4: is a tourist attraction, so like making sense of that
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  Speaker 4: in your mind, like, you know, this is something that
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  Speaker 4: happened to our ancestors, but this land has also been repurposed,
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: if you will, utilized for a different purpose. And how
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: do you make sense of that? And it's actually grappling
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  Speaker 4: with that is what I had to make sense of.
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  Speaker 4: Galveston galvesin is a tourist attraction. People come to Galveston
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  Speaker 4: for you know, recreation and also like but this is
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  Speaker 4: also a slave port. It's been an interesting emotional journey.
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  Speaker 4: I don't have all the answers yet because I have
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  Speaker 4: been engaged.
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  Speaker 3: In doing several returns.
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  Speaker 4: In twenty twenty four, not only did I go to Senegal,
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  Speaker 4: but I also went to East Texas for the first
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  Speaker 4: time since COVID. That's where my maternal family is from.
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  Speaker 4: They're from a Freedom Colony in Panola County, East Texas.
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  Speaker 4: And then I also went to Mississippi, where my dad's
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  Speaker 4: family is from Arts as well, and they sew at
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  Speaker 4: a church called the Aki Chapel that which is still
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: in existence. So grappling with all those histories, my own
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  Speaker 4: personal family history, that wasn't my first time on the
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  Speaker 4: African continent, but that was my first time in West Africa,
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  Speaker 4: which we understand that's where specifically our ancestors are from.
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  Speaker 4: And then coming back to Texas and being like, oh,
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: a lot of this area we live on our plantations. Like,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: grappling with all of that has been definitely emotional journey.
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  Speaker 3: But I have been able to.
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  Speaker 4: Use that in the art that I create and help
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  Speaker 4: people to start thinking about it, because, like you said,
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: when you don't know where you come from, it's hard
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: to know where you're going. And so just helping people
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: to identify all these sacred grounds, all these migration stories
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: that our people have been through, has been critical in
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: helping them to reshape and redefine their own identity.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: Please don't go anywhere, be right back with more Money
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making Conversations
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: At least they needn't know how to get in touch
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: with you, telling Stacey, the.
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: Best way to get in touch with us is through
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: our website www. Dot MEA's Dartist n I a is
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: Darters felt traditionally dot com and to sign up what
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: I on our email is. We also are on social
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: media on Instagram at me A's Darters and on Facebook
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: at MEA's Darters.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: That's the best way.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: But I will tell you we do have some tour
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: dates coming up in the South very very soon that
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: we'll be announcing.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: First of all, I'm impressed with your passion. Can I
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: say that your passion because you know, I'm an emotional
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: person and I think that a lot of people who
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: live live live their life are really engaged in what
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: they do. You know, they just you know, they go
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: get a job, it pays well, oh that's the only
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: job they can get, and they just wake up not happy.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I get the impression. Stay say you're a happy person.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: You really are at a point in your life where
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: you're about to change the world with information and artistic
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: direction through your dance.
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  Speaker 4: Correct, Yes, thank you better speak life and to me,
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: I appreciate that.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Yes, now I got to because you know, because your
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: knowledge when you you know, when I hear people talk
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: emotionally about something that I want to come see what
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: you're doing.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I want to see your presentation.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: I want to see because to me, I immediately went, Okay,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: she needs to do a whole put on her website
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: all those five hundred freedom cities she was talking about
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: in Texas. I said, that seems like, you know, that's
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: that's as big to me as Harriet tumas you know
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: underground Railroad. Because the fact that if we don't know,
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: we living in the world today where people are tearing
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: down information about our community, denying us our past, so
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: that means we may not have our history. So when
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: I heard you say that, I went, Okay, now I
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: got an asd station. What is she doing with that?
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: What is she doing with that information? Is she putting
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: that information on the website? If she being the ultimate
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: storyteller about black history in Texas? Because that's what I
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: see you becoming, Stacy.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: So I do want to say that the Texas Freedom
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: Colonies Project is a project led by it's the scholarship
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: of doctor Andrea Roberts. And there is a website is
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: www dot Texas Freedomcolonies Project dot com. And the site
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: is everything you just said. It has an at list.
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: You go into the site there's a map you can
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: type in by county and you can find those freedom
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: colonies if you are from those freedom colonies. You can
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: also input oral history. And there's another side of the
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: portal that you know that are only for descendants. And
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: there's lots of work that has come out of that project.
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: And I am so thankful to be able to work
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: with the Texas Freedom Colonies Project through artistic expression to
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: help evangelize if you will, this large body of scholarship.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: I'm teasing station born and raised Houston, Texas, knowledgeable god,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: a degree in math Okay, considered one of the leaders
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: and pillars of Houston.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Never heard of it? That angers me.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: What do we have to do to get the word
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: out as well as promote the fact that you are
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: out there with your dance, Nia's Daughter's Movement collective as
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: well as this Texas whe was a freedom what's the Texas?
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: Yes, the Texas Freedom Colonies Project. So let me tell
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: you something because I know we was joking around about
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: being from Houston.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: I know you've heard of Freedman's Town and for them.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Actually, my sister, my oldest sister, works over there. She
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: constantly wants me to participate in different fundraising events.
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, and then you also probably have heard about
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: independent Heights.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: That's not happen, Okay, okay, But.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: Freeman's Town is the one that most people have, and
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: you know Dallas also has a Freeman's Town.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: So what has happened is that most people.
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: Are more familiar with the freedom towns that are in
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: a major metropolitan area. The part that people don't know
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: are all the freedom towns that are in rural areas
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: because a lot of them due to of course systemic injustices,
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: but also environmental concerns such as climate disaster. They have
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: been they're no longer in existent or right. But what
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: the Texas Freedom Colonies Project has done is to place
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: make all of those places.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Generally, a freedom colony.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Has a like a stone or something like that, a plat.
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: Yes, sometimes they have a Texas Historical marker, but a
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: lot of times they're define. They usually have a school,
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: they usually have a cemetery and the church. But let
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: me ask you this, because I know you grew up
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: in Fifth Ward, but where are your people from.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: I'm sure they're from the country or Louis.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they they're from Sweet Port. Louisiana. Bochy, come on,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: come on now, I.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: Ain't gonna run from who I am now, six sisters,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: two brothers.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: We was out there putting out some kids.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: So a lot of you.
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: Stonians actually have a similar story. Their families are from
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: East Texas or West Louisiana, and Freedom colonies are all
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: throughout that region, so you probably are more familiar with
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: these places then.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: You know, first of all, I don't want to You
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: came came on my show to talk about dance. Now
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: we've gotten into cultural history and I'm I'm really zero
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: in on this because I'm being educated and I'm mad.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I was getting mad Stacey when I don't know what
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I should know, And it really tells me a lot
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: about the education system that we have in this world.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I denied you.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: I believe important from me and the fact that I
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: and I'm kind of sadden. I'm saddened by the information
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: you're giving me because you know, I'm.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Just one person. But what can I do? You know?
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: But I think that this mouthpiece that I've become in
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: money Making Conversations master Class allows me to hopefully through
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: curiosity people who are listening to this interview will not
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: only contact you about your Nia's Daughter's movement collective, but
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: also about these freedom collectives that are out there that
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: nobody knows about.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: And I have to say that nobody knows.
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: Talking about dance to me is talking about history. That's
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: the purpose of why we do this. Education is the
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: core of why we do this. We do it through arts,
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: educational programming, programming through the community, programming through the schools,
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: and also performances. And this is why. So this is
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: actually what I like to see happen. People learn a
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: little bit more about themselves, a little bit more about
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: this surroundings by engaging you.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Know you you you're just a teacher, that's all. You're
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: a teacher. You're an educator. That's what you're doing. You're
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: an educator.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: You know I'm gonna teach something. Couldn't I stop you, Stacy.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Your mama couldn't stop, your daddy couldn't stop, your husband
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: can't stop you.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: I can't stop you, because just in hearing you, I
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: want to know more. I'm gonna tell you something. Stay.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Thank you for coming on my show. First of all,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: you know you make me mad because what I do.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you so I remember in college when
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I was I took my degree is in mathematics, right,
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: and my minders in sociology, and I took a black
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: sociology course, and if I had to do it all
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: over again, I would have got my degree of sociology
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: because it changed my life.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: It changed my perspective.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: It maybe realized how much information I didn't know about
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: the culture of that I was born into, because the
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: information that they shared with me was is only at
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: even one percent. And so this interview angers me because
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: I'm sitting here trying to say, how can I share
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: this story to so many people, so many thousands of people,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: because you are a blessing, young lady.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: You are blessing. Do not stop.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, if it's a wall up, then you run
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: through that wall.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Okay. And you have a friend in Rashaan McDonald.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm an interroy that we can get to make
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: sure my oldest sister, I'm a caller and tell her
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: about you. She's the Freedom town. She's always doing things
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: down there. She's just like you. She she's always sharing information,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: she always uplifted, she's always educating, and she's a blessing.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: And as my oldest sister Carolyn, but you.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: Are a blessing young lady. I'm so happy you contacted
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: us in a lot the privilege of interviewing you.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Stacy, thank you, thank you so much.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: It's been a pleasure.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: posted by me Rushaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: on the show today and thank you our listening to
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the audience now. If you want to listen to any
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: episode I want to be a guest on the show,
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: leave with your gifts.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Keep winning.