Episode 5 - May 2026 | NAACP Akron Power & Community Podcast

In this May 2026 episode of the NAACP Akron Power & Community Podcast, Dr. Lathardus Goggins II and Willie B reflect on the continuing struggle for civil rights, opening with a Black History Moment honoring Charles Hamilton Houston, the NAACP’s first general counsel and the legal strategist known as “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow.” His legacy frames a larger conversation about voting rights, judicial accountability, education equity, and the need for organized community power.

The episode recaps the May 21 NAACP Akron general meeting, including updates on the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board, School Resource Officer policy discussions, housing advocacy, ACT-SO, the Youth Council’s HBCU tour planning, and upcoming community events. A major focus is Ohio Senate Bill 113, the proposed anti-DEI legislation targeting K–12 education, and the NAACP Akron Chapter’s opposition to vague policies that threaten honest teaching, student support, academic rigor, and meaningful access for all students.

The episode closes with reminders about the NAACP Akron Scholarship Luncheon, Juneteenth events, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, anti-racism workshops, and the new PBS documentary on W.E.B. Du Bois. Throughout the episode, the message remains clear: knowledge is power, but organized power makes change happen.

NAACP Akron Power & Community Podcast is available now wherever you get your podcasts or visit - https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/2500020/episodes.

NAACP Akron website - www.NAACPAkron.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to the NAACP Akron Power and Community Podcast. We believe that knowledge is power and organize power makes change happen. We're this is a monthly podcast where we review the last monthly meeting and do a deeper dive into a particular topic. We hope to inspire you to action. And so with that, we'll we'll get started. I'm your co-host, Dr. Lothardus Goggins II.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

And I'm Willie B.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

And we are here to inspire and encourage you to take up your advocacy and make change happen. Well, with that, we can say that uh this last month has been a bit much. Uh there has been so much has been going on. It has seemingly been rapid fire. You know all the some of the different changes that we've been talking about. If you've been paying attention to the news, uh you know that there are one thing after another, and it's all has been accumulating, and and um the struggle is real. The struggle is real, as they say. So, Willie B. We've been talking a little bit here. Uh there's a lot, and and a lot of it still uh is consistent with the the the work that the NAACP has been doing. And uh we'll we'll we'll we'll get going with that. Uh we start each month, um it was each month with this podcast with a a uh Black History Moment. And so for this week or this uh podcast, we're we shared um I'm sharing Charles Hamilton Houston, one of the most important legal minds in the history of the NAACP, and might I add the United States, and the broader civil rights movement. If you're not familiar with Charles Hamilton Houston was the first general counsel for the NAACP and became known as the man who killed Jim Crow. Long before Brown versus Board of Education, Houston developed a legal strategy that exposed the lie of separate but equal. His work challenged segregation by showing that unequal schools, unequal access, unequal protection under the law were not just social problems, they were constitutional violations. He was the dean of the Howard School of Law. Houston also trained well, Houston also trained generations of civil rights attorneys, including Thurgood Marchall. Thurgood, who would later become the Supreme Court Justice and one of the primary lawyers in arguing Brown versus Board of Education. Houston once reminded us that the struggle for education opportunity cannot stand alone, that all our struggles are connected, that we must support one another, that message remains relevant for the NAACP today, as we continue to advocate for safe schools, equitable education, voting rights, fair treatment, and justice in every public system. That was our black history moment. Uh Willie B, any thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 4:34

I think it just amazing how you come up with these black history facts. And uh it's almost it reminds me of the little known black history facts that Tom Jordan used to do on the Tom Jordan morning show. Uh I would like to add to that because uh uh recently Sonny Rollins, who didn't necessarily have a connection to NACP, but he recently passed. Uh Sonny Rollins was one of the 20th century's most influential jazz saxophonists. He was known for his monumental 1956 album, Saxophone Colossus. He uh grew up in Harlem and he was a giant of the Bebop and Harbop eras, using his music and public platform to advocate for civil rights. So I think even in this time today where we're continuing to advocate for civil rights, understanding the connectivity between policy, between economics, between culture, um, and culture inclusive of music has and continue to has uh on our outlook on how we determine how we move forward, how we really tap into the heartbeat of what's happening in different cities, towns, villages, is really important. So yeah, that's really that's really dope.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Well, now that you brought it up like that, because I was well, now you brought it up, because one of the things that we talked about in the meeting, and we'll get to it, uh, was the impact of the recent Supreme Court gutting of the the Voting Rights Act, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

And one of the things that I'm talking about Charles Hamilton Houston, he he understood you just you have to set the precedence, you have to do the legal strategy to build the foundation for the big decision. Our opponents, I don't quite say the NACP is a nonpartisan organization that serves for the interest of civil rights for all people. So with that said, those who oppose the idea of civil rights for all people, they went about building the case step by step, doing the strategy, be it uh supporting certain candidates who could then appoint judges, uh laying down the the foundation for argument, oddly enough. Uh one of the primary authors of Project 2025 has been revealed that, or people recognize, that his dissertation was the study of black folk, particularly black women, and their political power, right? So they do the study and then develop the strategy to dismantle so much of the work that has been gained. We need to make sure in this moment that we're not just taking this stuff for granted. There's there's that's a whole nother discussion there, but but we need to maintain we we need to make sure that we recognize and honor the fight that has been fought, but also in that recognition is what was fought for needs to be maintained and defended. And the things that was done to win the fight are going to be some of the things that we need to do to maintain the game. So the strategy, the the working together, understanding we are not isolated, that the work that needs to be done in coordination with one another, and do so with an intentionality that we are putting people in place to protect what we believe to be uh the civil rights that are a part of our um uh heritage of being citizens of this country. Uh we need to make sure that we are holding elected officials accountable for not just talking about giving lip service to values, but your value should show up in your actions in ways that point to a protection of first recognition of protection of and and building a foundation for those rights. Uh so with that said, the NAACP National uh announced a program or an initiative called Out of Bounds, uh uh essentially requesting or charging athletes, particularly African-American athletes, that if you are being recruited by a college in a state in which your voting rights are not being guaranteed, where they are actively redistricting uh to eliminate representation of black folks in particular, that you should reconsider going to that uh school, or um well reconsider going to that school, going out of state, or going to a state in which your your your your community's voting rights are secured, or uh if you're within that state looking at attending an HBCU, uh taking your talents it to a place where you know that you are uh respected, acknowledged, and supported.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

No, I I mean I I would have called the program hit the portal, but that's another that's that's neither here nor there. But I think that's very important to really recognize here because it is disingenuous for a university to quote unquote prioritize these athletes, especially in the age of name, image, and likeness, to make money off of a player's name, image, and likeness when we now know that the courts have allowed politicians to gerrymander black voices into silence. And so we can't sit idly by and just put our hands up and say, well, it is what it's gonna be. No, that's that's that's not what we we do right now. And I think in today's time, we are increasingly, as black folks at least, I believe, starting to see the continuous importance of making sure that we have those in the court system who are interpreting these laws in ways that are not uh I I want to be careful with my words here, but not that in ways that are not pushing black folks back centuries, millennia. Right, right, right. And if we don't have court systems, and we're not just talking about the Supreme Court of the United States, we're talking about state legislatures. We're talking about your local and municipal legislature, uh, not legislature, but your your local and municipal court system, your your state court systems. We have to make sure that we know who these judges are. We have to make sure that we know who is actually interpreting these laws and where they stand on a lot of these issues. Because I if if it's anything like how I used to be, I ain't no name judge on the list when it comes election time. I ain't done seen nobody, I ain't talked to nobody, have no idea where they stand, and a lot of people end up voting because like, well, I saw their name on their sign, or they show up, you know, showed up to my organization's breakfast breakfast or something. Well, of course, because they want your vote, but where do they stand?

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Right, right, right, right. And and that that goes back to the strategic, right? Because a lot of the the state judges started off at local judges. A lot of the the folks who are at the district attorney's office um shows up on a national or a state level for the attorney general. We have to be engaged, intentional, and knowing uh, like I say, who these people are, voting every time that the ballot is open. It is not just on the four-year presidential cycle. The president while have a bully pulpit and a lot of bombast in some cases, the president has less influence on your day-to-day than your local and state, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah, whatever, what whatever state w across all of the branches of government. So we're talking executive, legislative, judicial, uh, your state and your local and municipal arms of government are going to have much more of an effect on your day-to-day life. And who the president is. Yes. Right. I mean, by and large, I mean, the governor of Ohio affects much of the education and what the parameters are around that for the state of Ohio.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

And we don't engage in those conversations enough. Not enough. Like people don't have an idea around, nor, I mean, sometimes I wonder, do we do we have the capacity, oftentimes on the individual level, to keep up with everything? And I think the answer is no. But in some way, shape, or form, how are we entertaining conversations around, like, hey, do you know that your governor appoints seats to the state board of education? And there's quite a few. Quite a high percentage, it's around roughly 40%. At this point, maybe higher.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

I think that some of that changed, right? Because at one point there was it was all government, uh governor appointed, and then it switched to an election. But I think it kind of switched. Some of no some of it switched back. Uh, and so, but all of that, right? All of that. And so we then may not know one person is gonna be the expert on everything.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Right? That's also another reason why it's important we say organize, power makes change happen. Knowledge is power, organize, power makes change happen.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

So we're gonna get done with t-shirts for y'all. We're gonna do it. We're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

So that means that if I'm if I know education, you know housing and and and and governance and and some other stuff. Uh, we have a sister, uh Leah Houghton, who is on criminal justice. We got another sister, uh uh uh Elizabeth Vild, who is on uh on the environmental justice. Uh Solaria on housing. Uh we uh we have uh uh uh the brother Polk who dealing with veteran affairs. So no one person has to know everything. Not at all. But when you get organized, you can get into an organization, you can get to people that you can trust who says, Look, I'm spending my time on education. This over here is on environmental. So when she says, trusted individual, hey, pay attention to this, or look, I looked at it, here's my thoughts. She's not telling you what to do, but she's informing you with the time that she spent in it, she's trusted. I can just say, okay, I got you. Or in this bench cases, it'll be like, hey, explain this to me. I heard about this, does this make sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then I'm still not gonna be as deep as she is on environmental, but I have a trusted voice in an organized system, organization that has a long history of commitment for justice and for all people, those kinds of things. So that helps inform me. It can be overwhelming.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Absolutely. And oftentimes it is.

SPEAKER_03 17:29

And and sometimes that is a particular political strategy. If we keep so much stuff going on, almost got me cussing. Got so much stuff going on. I didn't do nothing. What you mean? What you mean? That it can be overwhelming and people just tend to walk away. But that is sometimes that is a political strategy.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Because if they can get you to walk away from the issue, they can get you to walk away from the polls. If they can get you to walk away from the polls, then they can have your voice be silenced. If they can have your voice be silenced, and that means they can then just have free reign to make and declare and claim whatever they would like to have be done.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

With the supposed validation of the people, only though that 20-some odd percent voted. Right? Well, we went to the people. But we we made it hard for 80% for them to even want to, or for those who who might want to, but we switched up the district, we asked you to do this extra thing over here, all this kind of stuff. Some of that is the political strategy itself to silence your voices. One person said, if you vote didn't matter, why would they go so hard on silencing it?

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Absolutely. Because if it mattered, they wouldn't be trying to take it away.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

And I think that has still not really gotten to a place of being understood in an internal manner. I think, you know, in our heads, we kind of get that. Even when you talk to your friends, you know, they're like, well, I don't get why I really should, you know, just go out and vote, whatever. It's like, well, you take it away, you know what, you know, what's gonna happen then? You ain't gonna have no say. And they're like, oh, well, that makes sense. And I think on a cerebral level, maybe people may understand it, but I don't think at a heart level, I don't think at a gut level, a lot of people really understand that people fought, bled, and died to have a say.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

To have a say, not to be able to just have some unilateral rule over something, to have a say. And when we understand the power in a collective say, then that is what becomes world-changing. Right, right. And so that's I mean, I I ain't mean to take us in about five different directions.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

But no, no, no, that's that's that's the thing too, you know. And and I'll say, I'll end it with this, that you know, folks who say it doesn't matter, that I'm like, still, I want you to lie to me. You know, I'm gonna, no, no, you, I'm not gonna be silent. You have to steal it. Because what I also believe that when you do the when you do the foul thing, karma is real. You reap what you sow, but I'm gonna make you say it. So that energy is out there that you're gonna have to deal with. Right? At the minimum. And you never know. Because if you vote, and another person vote, and the other person vote, that begins to stack. So we we we we way off of of agenda here, but but at the end of the day, these are the issues that the NACP is is is fighting for and dealing with. So let's get into the the meeting. The meeting starts, so our last meeting was May 21st, uh, scheduled for 5:30 at the Bayard Rustin Center. Uh we had a little bit of a uh some some some some let's say uh starting issues uh uh that got worked out, and we got a brother over there to to deal with it. And and so the meeting started at 5 42. Uh opening up with prayer, as we always do. Um uh your co-host Willie B serve as the I guess what what what we can call you well what you you you let the you let the meeting. You shared the meeting, yeah, yeah. And and did a great job and keeping it nice and efficient. That was that was cool. That was hey, uh we take this as a point of information keep it moving uh we as always we we went over the the the finances and the treasurer's report not no no we didn't do a formal formal treasurer's report but we did a uh uh a review of the finances uh and and uh as i say each time it's always good to be in an organization where the transparency is there so you know what's being done how the resources resources are being used and that is so so so important um we had uh we had information from um the criminal justice uh report Leah Holden chair um she shared that the Citizen Police Oversight Board had a meeting the previous night uh she and yours truly had an opportunity to share um the NACP's policy brief the the review board was taking up a request from the police auditor to uh develop a task force that would be uh that would include the community NACP as well and other community partners to to um create uh take a look at what the uh school resource officer program would look like uh and and to make uh recommendations to the mayor and the police chief and uh uh the the lieutenant who's over the uh um uh student resource officer program. Um that was a very interesting discussion um I'll say that uh there's a commitment though due to a couple of new people um there there was there was asked for uh some more time to to review the auditors' particular recommendations about how this thing would uh uh be implemented uh if you would be interested in in looking at that uh there's a uh you go to our our website or our Facebook page there's a link there uh to the uh citizens police oversight board uh or go to uh the oversight board's uh webpage and YouTube channel and you can see that that that meeting play out there uh we had report from our housing um uh miss solaria uh was is the chair and uh particularly she talked about the importance of of partners doing some partnering with uh senior home repair and and uh also some partnerships with uh veterans and fair housing um i encourage you to go to our website and again our facebook and and you should be able to find information uh there as well uh we had a uh report from our AXO uh which took place in I want to say it was it was April 18th I think it was excuse me uh Jacena Chapman uh who is the co-chair uh reported that we had four I think we had four gold four four gold yeah uh uh participants uh in um music poetry uh I'm missing the other because no there was two two categories under music poetry uh and I forgot the other two I'm sorry but we're we're taking four students to uh the national uh convention in Chicago which is July 15th through the 19th July 15th through the 19th that's the AXO part I believe okay the because the the uh the full goes to the 22nd I believe the AXO the the well yeah I know the AXO AXO takes place in the uh first few days and then they enter into the full uh NACP convention which is the 18th through the 22nd 18th through the 22nd uh in Chicago and we're excited about that and it's always a uh a good time to to one see because during the convention you see the uh the various winners of the AXO competition there's a whole display that they have uh and it's it's it's it's inspiring it's beautiful it's it's it's all these kinds of things and and we talked about it last time on the on the podcast all the kind of people who who came out of uh AXO right and so some of your favorite artists are are are uh AXO winners and and so it's a beautiful thing um we the the youth council shared some information um if you are interested in having your student or knows you know know a a child that would like to um do the HBCU tour uh we're having a parent meeting which is uh joint with the uh youth council next meeting on July 11th at 6 p.m at ed Davis our deep dive is is if you don't mind me taking a bit of port of order I'm gonna talk about some of the education stuff that has been been popping off and and and I did a report uh for education so this is gonna be part of our deep dive so if you remember Will uh when we had an executive board meeting I mentioned hey uh results of the May primaries some stuff happened and you know just shows that things are are you know maybe turning the corner uh I was talking about that there's been a uh Senate Bill 113 which is an anti-DEI bill for K through 12. You know we know that after many years of of fighting back and delaying and and and uh they were eventually were able to pass a bill that that was anti-DEI at the college level. So over this past year that they've been actively trying to do something now at the K through 12. And we've been providing some pushback I'm gonna say we this is the NACP in conjunction with uh our our we are part of a larger coalition um Honesty for higher education so all that to say the three primary sponsors of that bill lost their primaries and we were looking like okay cool maybe they'll you know because it was clear that the that uh in their various districts the voters were not interested in this kind of pseudo culture war kind of stuff you know they're they're fighting over taking out DEI and and they're not passing or not dealing with bills that actually impact the day is in the day-to-day lives of of their constituents and so we was kind of hoping that this is gonna just die because the the bill had been tabled but lo and behold a couple of days after that conversation uh the the call went out and said no there they scheduled a a hearing for the bill this upcoming Tuesday so this is Friday night I think I first saw the indication on on Saturday. So now people in the coalition are scrambling uh uh pulling out stuff we you know we had had just some different work and some different uh preparation that we had kind of set down because it had been tabled so that um so we ended up submitting we the NACP Akron we submitted a a testimony uh opposing uh Senate Bill uh 113 there were over 80 submissions from the various organizations across the the state opposing there were only nine supporting uh the hearing happened Tuesday um as so so what Tuesday so uh as of as of the recording of this podcast that'd have been uh last Tuesday or a week ago and now they're on memorial break so they there's two weeks before anything's gonna happen so during this two weeks we're asking for uh people to sign an open letter uh we're going to check out the NAACP uh uh Facebook page uh the youth council uh will have some information or have some stuff out but we're asking to spread the word uh because this bill just on the face of it you know it's anti-DEI but when you look at the details of it it doesn't define what diversity is it doesn't define what equity is it doesn't define what inclusion is it just leaves it as DEI but then there's all these various ways of punishing those who practice it right so what happens when you when something's vague undefined people tend to overcomply right because if it's it's a choice of of possibly being you know being sued losing a license any number of things you run too many people let's just say like that practically and then not and and and and I'm not judging anybody's heart on this but on a practical level you know if it's a matter of do I comply or do I lose my house or I do I comply and I am challenged with being able to support from my family most people are going to comply right and but without definitions. So you know if I can't do diversity in school what does that mean? If I can't equity I I I can't provide a student what they need in order to succeed I'm not supposed to develop individualized lesson plans or do differentiated learning right because that's that's equity right I'm not supposed to identify resources for students so that they have the support that they need in order to learn and complete the work. I'm not supposed to do that you can't it's against the law to include so we can't have special accommodation we don't have special strategies to make sure that a person who might have a special need can participate we can't have we can't have a program that identifies people with special needs or particular type of needs or particular type of of resources that are required for them to participate we can't we can't do that now right and some of the authors of the bill are like no no no we don't mean that well then say that put it in the bill what is that you mean but they don't want to do that.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Yeah because it sounds silly to say we want monolithic inequitable and exclusionary practices pertaining to education right right like so on one end it sounds completely asinine to to say the silent part out loud but in many cases the silent part is being said out loud all throughout the country and I think that is what's really scary right now.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

And that's the part where and he kind of has this well you know what I mean no no no no no write it down say it I mean it hark it it it almost harkens like a thought to uh George Wallace and in the thought around uh his inaugural address in the 1960s talking about segregation now segregation tomorrow segregation forever but he said it with his whole chest with his whole chest right so if that's what you mean say it go ahead write it down put it in there because when you don't then anything can be everything but you say I don't mean everything well then if you don't mean everything then you know what you mean put it in the bill won't do it so that's where we are and we are um gonna be putting out some next actions and some things there's a toolkit that's been developed uh so we hope that you would visit again our Facebook page look for it uh I'll I'll go so far as even say um feel free to to to visit my web my my website and and my Facebook page I'll have information there as well um uh the NAACP Akron again has uh wrote a opposing testimony you can go to our Facebook page you'll see a copy of our testimony there but as you hear and you're seeing things we also host also hope that you will share uh because the thing that they won't say out loud we need to say what we support what we mean and we need to show and say what we value we value diversity we value the idea that multiple perspectives should be considered multiple perspectives must be engaged quite actually you cannot have a rigorous act you cannot have a rigorous educational experience if as you say is only monolithic the very definition of intelligence is the ability to adapt and and understand multiple perspectives a a rigorous academic education requires the ability and to understand multiple perspectives so when we talk about diversity we are saying yes we can explore our nation's history from various perspectives and look at where there's commonalities where there's conflicts how do those conflicts get resolved what are strategies that various people use to attain what was promised in our Constitution that gives you a deeper understanding and appreciation of who we are as a nation limiting that diminishes that type of academic rigor and the ability to to be full citizens frankly what if we are committed to equity that we yes we believe particularly in our public schools with our public dollars that we should identify what resources are necessary not to guarantee an outcome but to guarantee access to the opportunity right of the governor has a program where students or all the students are tested with with reading in their eyesight and where they can be they get the glasses that they need so they can see the board they can they can see the writing the the reading right that's an equity issue what resources do you need what resources do I need to have what to have access to the possibility to meet the standard right and even we we we talked about this uh on I was talking this on another podcast but even the idea of glasses right because we all can get glasses that's equality but my you know what I need for for clarity may not be what you need for clarity right equity is making sure that I have what I need you have what you need and if you don't need glasses there may be some other right but maybe I need a pound a hundred right but whatever it is what's the necessary resource to reach to have access to the opportunity to meet the standard it's not a guaranteed outcome you still got to put in the work you still got to have personal accountability but as a society it is it frankly it's it's it's a it's a better return on investment I'd rather invest in a child getting reading glasses so they can read than dealing with paying for having an illiterate adult who can't get a job who more likely to be on on on uh uh social programs and that kind of thing right so it's just a good investment and then inclusion like you say hey we believe in the public education and a particularly with public dollars that all of us should be included accommodated uh and and invited to this opportunity right so that is uh some things that we we we we we talked about and uh we want you to to pay attention and and do a takeaway lastly we we talked about um some of the upcoming events we have um so as of the airing of of this as the recording of this podcast and and and what we intend for the release date will be uh we have the scholarship luncheon on May 31st two o'clock at the uh uh grief grief the Greek Annunciation uh uh the Orthodox Church is on 129 South Union Street Akron Ohio uh and we have a keynote speaker you have that up um a phenomenal young lady who is a uh member of the fire um uh fire fire fire persons fire response yeah she's an acrifier fighter firefighter jasmine fisher jasmine fisher is uh and she's also a up-and-coming designer yeah I think she's uh done quite a few lines uh uh of boutique or couture uh clothes I'm not I'm not a huge fashion person I don't know what the right words are y'all is a couture like what's the difference between boutique and couture and uh collection and line I I think I need I need some fashion literacy in my book but whatever it is all of it that she's been been been uh been doing and and is upcoming and we're excited to uh support our scholars you you'll they'll uh we'll have our scholars uh scholars recipients scholarship recipients um uh uh uh there we'll have uh we'll be celebrating um our AXO uh uh participants and winners we'll um be acknowledging previous uh scholarship award winners and uh and of course again the the inspiration That is Jasmine's sister. So um we have the Juneteenth that's coming up.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Yeah, it's gonna be June 20th at the Akron Urban League. And then also that's part of a weekend of events uh that different community organizations have come together to be a part of. So June 19th is gonna be over at the Freedom Block at 848 West Market Street, and the 20th is gonna be at Akron Urban League at 440 Vernon Odom Boulevard.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Right. And if you know what they do for uh Freedom Block or for Freedom Day, Freedom Block Show.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03 44:38

Uh uh so uh don't want to miss that. And then like I said, yes, the next day. And uh the the Urban League is is I'm just gonna say it's it's the big event. Um there are some other things that there's a a parade.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

Uh the West African Parade is also on the 20th, and that goes until 12 o'clock. I'm not sure what the start time is at this point in time.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

But you can find that out. There'll there's there's gonna be flyers and information that's coming up uh around that. Um and and so there's there's there are plenty of things to do, uh and we encourage you to to to come out, reflect, have fun, uh, and celebrate. Uh and and particularly at there at the Urban League from 11 to 6 on June 20th. From 11 to 6 down at the Verdun Odom Boulevard, the Urban League, uh, right next to um Helen Arnold School. So is there anything else co-host?

SPEAKER_00 45:49

No, just making sure that you reflect intentionally on uh this upcoming month of June. We talk a lot about freedom. We don't often talk about how it's also uh black music history month. So I brought up Sonny Rollins just in your and his death in 95, but I mean there's so much black music that has shaped the culture of what we see as American music. Uh reflect on that as well as we enter the month of June and be intentional about not only what you're listening to, but what you're continuing to pay to pay attention to. Uh stay up to date on what's happening in our state legislature uh as it pertains to education. Um, when you're talking about, you know, this uh Senate Bill 113 and uh trying to gut diversity, equity, inclusion. Have a have an understanding of like how what the ramifications are for our students, what the ramifications are for those who are trying to have a more equitable learning experience. It ain't just got to do with black, um, it has to do with raising the level of access so each and every student can have what they need. And also pay attention to what's going on as far as this conflict in Iran. We have been spending billions of dollars. At the time of this recording, we're at almost $93 billion spent on this conflict. What does it look like if we could have spent that elsewhere?

SPEAKER_03 47:24

Yeah. There was a particular uh uh post I saw, and uh we'll we'll get this on the NACP uh Facebook page as well, that did the analysis. We spent this amount of money, what could we have spent it on otherwise? That all too often people say we don't have the money for those type of programs, but for the money that has already been spent, we could have in terms of teacher salaries, in terms of of providing free education, uh when I say education, I'm I'm talking about K through 16. Right? We've spent enough to, in terms of infrastructure, uh there's so many things that we could have done with that $93 billion. Right? Uh that's crazy, that's crazy, that's crazy. We'll we're gonna get that on the uh NACP website or I'm sorry, uh Facebook page as well. You're talking reminding me, and and I would have been hurt if I didn't get through this. We have a couple other workshops and that we do, you know, that the NACP supports with our partners. Um and and so let's start with this one. This is uh Jennifer Boswell, one of our members, uh provided the um for moms demand action, and this is also students demand action to end gun violence. National Gun Violence Awareness Day is June 5th. June 5th. Uh and the ask is uh wear a orange ribbon, and and um we have some in our NAACP office, or if you um know Jennifer Boswell, um reach out to her. She's made literally thousands of a thousand or so of these, and she has them available. But the ask is to wear an orange ribbon on June 5th in support of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Uh and we can say, you know, many of you, you you too much, too much gun violence. Uh um there's been a number of incidences this year here in the Akron area. Um so you know be aware and and know uh what's going on. Indivisible Akron has a workshop series, do the work. This uh is a six-section workshop where we'll share what we learn from doing um the work, um the work, an anti-racist activity book um uh by W. Kamal Bell and Kate uh Shatz, I'm gonna say. Uh Do the Work, anti-racist activity book. And so the workshops are going to be June 13th, uh June 27th, July 11th, July 25th, August 8th, and August 22nd. Um you can uh these workshops are going to be at uh from 10 to noon at the first congregational church in Akron, and that is 292 East Market Street. Um go to indivisibleankron.org for more information and to register for those uh uh workshops. And with that, one last thing. If you've he is my intellectual hero. Um W.E.B. Du Bois. There is a PBS has a new documentary, um W.E. Du Bois, A Rebel with a Cause, if I'm if the uh uh name is correct. Um and had a chance to watch it. Uh thank you for my nephew for for uh sending me the link. A few months ago I've heard and saw a couple of uh trailers on it, and and now that it's out, uh had a chance to watch it the last couple of days. It is phenomenal. Phenomenal. Revel with the cause, W. Du Bois. Uh it is again fascinating. It's a detailed um look at his at his at his life, right? Uh uh it goes from quite literally from birth through his death. Uh and and it is it is just phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal. Uh, we'll we'll have a link uh to that on our Facebook page as well. So that I think is gives you an update uh on everything that's going on. Well, most of these is going on uh in with the NAACP. Uh so as we close, Willie B, is there any last last words you got? No. You get last words for me. All right. Uh this has been the NAACP Akron Power and Community Podcast, where we believe that knowledge is power, and organized power makes change happen. We do this monthly podcast to inspire you to action, and we encourage you to do just that. There is so much out there that requires putting our hands, putting your hands to the plow. We need you, we need you, we need you. Until next time, peace.

SPEAKER_01 54:19

Peace out, y'all. Stan Hewitt and and there was a there was a lot of places.

SPEAKER_00 54:30

That's gained it off. That's not.

SPEAKER_03 54:32

But that's that's my point. There's a lot of places that those who had have for themselves. And there wasn't this intentionality of having a space where the common folk can gather. Right? Yeah. You think about the uh the metro part? They were all on the outskirts. Open area. But for those who can go. You gotta be able to get there. It's not something you're gonna happen upon.

SPEAKER_00 55:34

The the auspices around like an urban gathering space, like I feel like we don't just have we don't have that here. But and there doesn't seem to be any thought around design of that, because like I said, those things have to be intentional. Those things have to be thought out, there has to be input around that. But the flip side of that is there are characteristics of what those spaces are that are just repeated everywhere that we know works. And that I think I liken it to the conversation that uh Kyle Julian had regarding issues around housing and what we're allowed to build. And you brought up the whole, well, if we know that this is bad, why don't we just change it? And that's where I've been sitting with a lot of things or where it was where it's like we know this isn't it, and we at least know that there's a pattern around what have seemed to work elsewhere, and we are all human and in in in in it's it's not like Akron is some radically different city than than elsewhere. So it's like we don't seem to implement concepts to any degree that are that we can just take from other places that we like and implement them to some degree here. And that goes that goes for policy, that goes for design, that goes for how we how we implement aspects of culture. That goes with how we lay out uh our our economic structure and how we how easy or difficult we allow it for businesses to be. It's just it's things which is like, oh, we should just take this because this works.

SPEAKER_03 57:15

Yeah, and and the un for me when I hear that, some of the underlying issue is at the end of the day, what's the want-to?

SPEAKER_00 57:24

For for a for a government entity, the actual goal is to like not do as much.

SPEAKER_03 57:32

And and and that becomes some of the frustration because they sell the inclusive but operate in a way that limits it, right? Uh and every once in a while there are there are people who who advocate as if all that needs to be done is enlighten and they will change. And then you start looking back at the various reports, studies, stuff, and you're like, no, we know this. They know this. This isn't an issue of lack of knowledge. This is at some point an issue of will and want to.

SPEAKER_00 58:28

And that's what I think has been drastically different in what we've seen from the Mamdani administration versus uh, I mean, either our local administration and even other mayoral administrations around the U.S., I think there was an understanding of like what the desired uh goals or outcomes were from community, and more of a push towards what do we have on the books that we need to change to make these outcomes from these conversations we've always been having happen? And when administrations come in come into office, I think there becomes this, and this goes even with nonprofits. There's like, we're gonna have these listening sessions, and we're gonna talk to people, and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, well, we didn't, we you know what people want, you know what people have been thinking. Like, what what where do where do people's desired outcomes have a uh hit a wall when it comes to what policies, procedures, standard operating procedures, um, things that this company has been doing that don't necessarily fall in line? Where where is there no uh me where where does where are the issues that where the butting of heads happens there? Because then it becomes more of a let's make these changes. Because for years people have been saying this and this answers these changes, as opposed to let's go look, let's go listen to the people. Because going listening to the people, albeit commendable, is the easy thing to do. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:03

And and getting people to talk comes after having listened, do it. Right? Because there's only so many times you can ask me to share my thoughts before I'm gonna be like, I'm not sharing my thoughts no more.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:26

Right. Why? Why, wire. Well, who do why do you need my thoughts? If you never, if you didn't, you've shown me that you don't care about my thoughts. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:33

Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's that's that is one of the things.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:39

Um, okay. This is the Power and Community Podcast. Uh we started talking a little bit. I don't know if we're gonna cut this out or not. I'm gonna let Dr. Goggins do his intro and whatnot. But we we were just having some food for thought uh for the for the pod. Because a lot of times in community, we've already talked about the solutions to a lot of our issues, and and it really turns into those who have the particular power to make those changes happen, but also continue to be a listening ear for community to guide those changes and be the accountability mechanism for what those changes continue or don't continue to be. Yeah, so formally.