Latest / Divas That Care Network / Authentic You!
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: It's Divas That Care Radio.
- 0:02SPEAKER_00: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
- 0:06SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
- 0:12SPEAKER_00: This is a global movement for women, by women, engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
- 0:21SPEAKER_00: To find out more about the movement, visit DivasThatCare.com after the show.
- 0:25SPEAKER_00: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
- 0:30SPEAKER_02: Hello.
- 0:37SPEAKER_02: Hello.
- 0:39SPEAKER_02: Hello.
- 0:39SPEAKER_02: Welcome, welcome, welcome.
- 0:43SPEAKER_02: How exciting to hear your voice.
- 0:48SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness, it is just a pleasure to be invited to be on Divas That Care.
- 0:54SPEAKER_02: I can't wait.
- 0:57SPEAKER_02: I just love Divas That Care.
- 1:00SPEAKER_02: I'm at home.
- 1:02SPEAKER_02: You even hear the name and you say,
- 1:04SPEAKER_01: yes.
- 1:06SPEAKER_02: So I'm honored to have you here looking at your Bible, of course.
- 1:15SPEAKER_02: I mean, where do I start?
- 1:18SPEAKER_02: I say, This journey, oh my goodness, what you've done, your achievements, and what you're still achieving.
- 1:28SPEAKER_02: So this is an honor.
- 1:29SPEAKER_02: Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
- 1:36SPEAKER_02: Oh my, and I'm hoping you didn't hear that ring, but that is my ring.
- 1:43SPEAKER_02: Someone coming in my door.
- 1:45SPEAKER_02: Where shall I start?
- 1:49SPEAKER_02: Let me start at the beginning, and that is that I am so proud of my maternal lineage, so I always have to give honor to my mother, and all deceased, my mother, my grandmother, and her mother, and
- 2:06SPEAKER_01: her mother.
- 2:07SPEAKER_02: And they are the grace, the grace and the stamina that I bring with me.
- 2:15SPEAKER_02: So on this journey...
- 2:18SPEAKER_02: I have been blessed to do so many different things, starting out with teaching.
- 2:24SPEAKER_02: I taught middle and high school and absolutely loved it, loved the children, loved the students.
- 2:34SPEAKER_02: From there I then ran for political office.
- 2:39SPEAKER_02: And one of the reasons why was because, I mean, probably one of the major reasons why, was because this is in my background.
- 2:46SPEAKER_02: My father was a former legislator, both a representative and a senator, and then came back to the city to be the first African-American county commissioner.
- 2:58SPEAKER_02: So it was in my blood, but I just always had it.
- 3:01SPEAKER_02: a stiff arm on it where I said to myself, nah, I don't want to do that.
- 3:06SPEAKER_02: That's just, gosh, daddy's always doing things for people.
- 3:10SPEAKER_02: He's always on the phone.
- 3:12SPEAKER_02: He's always gone.
- 3:13SPEAKER_02: And so as you're younger, you're always wanting to do your own thing.
- 3:17SPEAKER_02: So I didn't think that elected office or political life was what I wanted, but the bud bit.
- 3:25SPEAKER_02: And I ran for county commissioner.
- 3:29SPEAKER_02: Okay.
- 3:31SPEAKER_02: And served one term and then ran for House of Representatives and served four terms, eight years there.
- 3:38SPEAKER_02: And all during this time, the owner with my late husband, Larry Miller, of Miller's Barbecue, Miller's Inc.
- 3:48SPEAKER_02: now, which is a premium food product business.
- 3:52SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of...
- 3:56SPEAKER_02: a snapshot of what it is that I've been blessed with, and then along the way just so many different organizations and civic groups, being able to be an activist within the community on the ground, and always working to improve the quality of life for women, children, and all people.
- 4:17SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, yes.
- 4:19SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
- 4:20SPEAKER_02: You know what?
- 4:22SPEAKER_02: Never say never as the saying goes.
- 4:25SPEAKER_02: Just like you said, my mother taught school, and I said I will never be a teacher.
- 4:32SPEAKER_02: Because whenever we went, she would say, oh, my child is here, and how are you?
- 4:36SPEAKER_02: And when we were walking to church, you know, we walked to church several miles, she would stop everywhere.
- 4:43SPEAKER_02: These children, this child, I said, I will never, never, never be a teacher.
- 4:48SPEAKER_02: Guess what?
- 4:51SPEAKER_02: Where am I now?
- 4:52SPEAKER_02: Okay.
- 4:54SPEAKER_02: That is so interesting.
- 4:57SPEAKER_02: It
- 4:57SPEAKER_01: is so
- 4:59SPEAKER_02: interesting.
- 5:00SPEAKER_02: I mean, it seems like we all come full circle.
- 5:03SPEAKER_02: Full circle.
- 5:03SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 5:04SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 5:05SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 5:05SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 5:06SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 5:07SPEAKER_02: And, of course, teaching middle school, that is quite a gift.
- 5:12SPEAKER_02: You know, at high school, you know.
- 5:14SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I would survive.
- 5:16SPEAKER_02: You either love it or you just don't.
- 5:19SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 5:19SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
- 5:20SPEAKER_02: The high schoolers are kind of, you know, hey, I've taught high school and they've come around.
- 5:25SPEAKER_02: Middle school, I don't know.
- 5:27SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've visited and done programs, but every day in the classroom, they're so cool.
- 5:34SPEAKER_02: They're so cute.
- 5:35SPEAKER_02: Oh, my God.
- 5:35SPEAKER_02: But I don't know if I would survive.
- 5:38SPEAKER_02: Well, you can go on and on and on.
- 5:41SPEAKER_02: You are so cool.
- 5:42SPEAKER_02: Yes, we could.
- 5:58SPEAKER_02: I'm receiving everybody, and I say, where does she get the time and the calmness?
- 6:04SPEAKER_02: And you did mention the women of grace in your family, that blood and that seed.
- 6:11SPEAKER_02: Isn't that wonderful?
- 6:14SPEAKER_02: Isn't that
- 6:15SPEAKER_01: wonderful?
- 6:16SPEAKER_02: Many times I ask the question, do you think women have arrived now to live in public?
- 6:25SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
- 6:26SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
- 6:32SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes.
- 6:33SPEAKER_02: Women have arrived.
- 6:34SPEAKER_02: There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
- 6:38SPEAKER_02: What I'd like to say is that women have always been on the scene.
- 6:41SPEAKER_02: They sometimes, unfortunately, were not allowed to take a front row seat.
- 6:47SPEAKER_02: However, we have always.
- 6:50SPEAKER_02: always been the backbone, the strength, the ingenuity, the, oh, my gosh, the love, the care, the nurturing.
- 7:02SPEAKER_02: We have always been present, always came with our best.
- 7:08SPEAKER_02: Today, I'm so thankful that women are taking their time their righteous place, which is right there, leading so many across the world.
- 7:21SPEAKER_02: We have so many women leaders that are prime ministers, are presidents, are holding the office as the highest office in their nation.
- 7:34SPEAKER_02: And I believe that that will happen in the United States as well.
- 7:39SPEAKER_02: As we look at our long journey in the United States of giving rights, particularly the right to vote, how long it took for that to happen.
- 7:50SPEAKER_01: Then I
- 7:51SPEAKER_02: think about minority women and more specifically black women that
- 7:56SPEAKER_01: it
- 7:56SPEAKER_02: took even longer for
- 7:58SPEAKER_01: us to become
- 8:01SPEAKER_02: individuals that were seen as powerful, smart, and having the ability to lead in these roles
- 8:13SPEAKER_01: so
- 8:15SPEAKER_02: currently the class of women and I'm thinking politically now at the national and local levels, women, we are doing it, you know, just to say it in a phrase.
- 8:29SPEAKER_02: We are making things happen.
- 8:31SPEAKER_02: And we already know, you and I both know, that we're the decision makers.
- 8:36SPEAKER_02: We don't mess around when it comes to being able to make quick decisions and decisions that benefit all people, that there's care, that there's thought.
- 8:49SPEAKER_02: That comes into our decision making.
- 8:51SPEAKER_02: So, yes, we are women.
- 8:55SPEAKER_02: Now is the time.
- 8:56SPEAKER_02: Now it's been the time and now we are definitely soaking it up and blossoming so beautifully.
- 9:07SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 9:07SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
- 9:09SPEAKER_02: The preacher in me wants to say amen.
- 9:17SPEAKER_02: I mean, I grew up in Africa, but guess who raised me?
- 9:21SPEAKER_02: Strong women.
- 9:22SPEAKER_02: Oh, my grandmother lost her entire family in battle and yet became such a leader.
- 9:30SPEAKER_02: you know, and others, and others, and others, the village women.
- 9:34SPEAKER_02: A lot of knowledge that sustains me today, you know, is from those women, you know.
- 9:41SPEAKER_02: Yes, politics, medicine, you name it.
- 9:44SPEAKER_02: I mean, they deliver the babies.
- 9:46SPEAKER_02: Yes, indeed.
- 9:46SPEAKER_02: And in speaking about black women here in this country, usually I ask in my women's studies class, you know, about leadership, and I say, But you're forgetting black women.
- 10:03SPEAKER_02: You know, they've always led, you know, always, always, always.
- 10:09SPEAKER_02: So it is interesting that women from all kinds of backgrounds, you know, just coming out and saying, hey, we've always led and now we're here.
- 10:20SPEAKER_02: That's wonderful.
- 10:23SPEAKER_02: Then another question for you.
- 10:26SPEAKER_02: I know you are a mother.
- 10:29SPEAKER_02: of three girls, right?
- 10:32SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
- 10:33SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm very successful.
- 10:36SPEAKER_02: Which means you have empowered women both in the public and in the private, not just women alone.
- 10:45SPEAKER_02: I see the aura around you, you know, men and, you know, the respect you have in the community.
- 10:52SPEAKER_02: But yeah, so you are three girls.
- 10:56SPEAKER_02: My
- 10:56SPEAKER_01: goodness.
- 10:57SPEAKER_02: If you were to share some strategies, what did you give them?
- 11:03SPEAKER_02: Which ones did you share with them to make them so successful?
- 11:08SPEAKER_02: Oh, my.
- 11:09SPEAKER_02: I think that probably what was most impactful was what I modeled.
- 11:18SPEAKER_02: They watched me, and they watched me do multiple things at one time.
- 11:27SPEAKER_02: That's not always the best, however.
- 11:30SPEAKER_02: It tends to be what we as multitaskers, as chief multitaskers, it's what we do, and to do them successfully.
- 11:40SPEAKER_02: So I think modeling was probably the best teacher.
- 11:45SPEAKER_02: And then there was one mantra, maybe two mantras that I consistently said to them, and one was you're equal to the task, any task that comes your way.
- 11:56SPEAKER_02: You are equal.
- 11:58SPEAKER_02: And then the other mantra is always have a plan and work your plan.
- 12:08SPEAKER_01: So
- 12:08SPEAKER_02: don't just go into things blindly.
- 12:11SPEAKER_02: Always have a plan and work your plan.
- 12:15SPEAKER_02: So when things were idle, I'm saying, are you working your plan?
- 12:20SPEAKER_01: They'd have to
- 12:21SPEAKER_02: step back and think, I probably need to work a little harder.
- 12:26SPEAKER_02: So I think those are two mantras besides the modeling that they actually saw.
- 12:32SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 12:36SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 12:54SPEAKER_02: Then I say, oh, gosh, I guess I did.
- 12:58SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm the one who did this.
- 13:01SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
- 13:05SPEAKER_02: I remember my mother came from Uganda and actually lived with us for three years.
- 13:11SPEAKER_02: She passed on in 2010.
- 13:14SPEAKER_02: But she came and found me in all these things, you know, just sitting there, there, there, there, writing, writing, writing.
- 13:20SPEAKER_02: As you know, you and I, we're going, we're going.
- 13:23SPEAKER_02: And my mother said, oh, my God, oh, my God, you are doing so much.
- 13:28SPEAKER_02: Sit down, have your cup of tea.
- 13:31SPEAKER_02: Please, have your bread.
- 13:33SPEAKER_02: No, I'll have it in the car, mother.
- 13:34SPEAKER_02: Oh, no, child.
- 13:36SPEAKER_02: But mother, you are the one who taught me this.
- 13:38SPEAKER_02: You rode a bicycle in the village, which was a hard road for a woman to ride a bicycle.
- 13:45SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
- 13:46SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
- 13:47SPEAKER_02: People said, oh, my God, how can a woman ride a bicycle?
- 13:50SPEAKER_02: One leg here, another leg there.
- 13:52SPEAKER_02: She wanted to go to her school and teach and get their own time.
- 13:56SPEAKER_02: Well, interesting.
- 13:58SPEAKER_02: Oh, my goodness.
- 13:59SPEAKER_02: You and I could talk all evening.
- 14:01SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, when we sit together, we don't stop.
- 14:05SPEAKER_02: We continue on and on.
- 14:07SPEAKER_02: Now, let me ask you, I know one of the areas you are involved in that I've seen you, you know, you know, talk about is women's health.
- 14:19SPEAKER_02: Can you speak a little bit about that?
- 14:23SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 14:27SPEAKER_02: Actually, it is a PCORI, which is patient-centered outcomes grant funded, and it's Women's Health Network is what we are, myself and two doctors that are on Wichita State campus.
- 14:45SPEAKER_02: So it's a WSU collaborative with PCORI.
- 14:48SPEAKER_02: And we've actually created a Women's Health Network.
- 14:52SPEAKER_02: And it's all about increasing health equity across the lifespan.
- 14:59SPEAKER_02: So it's not just for a certain age, but it's really from 15 years of age to 99.
- 15:07SPEAKER_02: And so with that increasing health equity, we have three specific areas that we are focused on.
- 15:16SPEAKER_02: And that's my dog in the background.
- 15:19SPEAKER_02: Excuse me.
- 15:19SPEAKER_02: The three specific areas are reproductive health, mental health, and health literacy and health education.
- 15:28SPEAKER_02: And we have created the most vibrant and collective group of organizations, and we've really started to break down barriers because that's a problem.
- 15:44SPEAKER_02: That can be a challenge for us is to work across barriers and complement one another into what it is, first of all, know what we're doing out here as a community, but then to also work collectively and work together.
- 15:58SPEAKER_02: So I'm very proud.
- 16:00SPEAKER_02: of the work that we've done thus far by creating this network.
- 16:04SPEAKER_02: And we've been able to give out$60,000 in grant funding, micro, micro, very many grants, very small grants for the organizations to do what they do.
- 16:17SPEAKER_02: And, you know, example would be women's crises.
- 16:19SPEAKER_02: Another one would be health and development.
- 16:24SPEAKER_02: Another one would be the children's home.
- 16:29SPEAKER_02: We actually funded the emotional circles, which is all about healing and just several, several small grants, organizations that are doing the work at the So, yes, that's a wonderful initiative that I'm thankful to be a part of.
- 16:51SPEAKER_02: I'm one of the eco-investigators.
- 16:54SPEAKER_02: It sounds wonderful.
- 16:55SPEAKER_02: I think I've participated in one of those emotional circles.
- 17:00SPEAKER_02: You did.
- 17:01SPEAKER_02: But something that has really shocked me is the infant mortality rate, particularly among black women.
- 17:13SPEAKER_02: And some of those rates are even higher than in the so-called developing countries.
- 17:28SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
- 17:29SPEAKER_02: What is going on here?
- 17:31SPEAKER_02: Wow.
- 17:31SPEAKER_02: I didn't expect that.
- 17:34SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 17:35SPEAKER_02: I am so glad that you brought that up.
- 17:37SPEAKER_02: That was another project that I was actually the...
- 17:41SPEAKER_02: lead, principal investigator on and continue to weave it into everything that I do.
- 17:47SPEAKER_02: There's another organization that I'm on their board now.
- 17:50SPEAKER_02: It's called Birth Outcomes.
- 17:55SPEAKER_02: It's the Birth Outcomes Society.
- 17:57SPEAKER_02: It's all about increasing positive birth outcomes.
- 18:03SPEAKER_02: With infant and maternal mortality rates in the United States, we are actually We have a higher rate.
- 18:13SPEAKER_02: We're number 22 in quote-unquote the developing countries.
- 18:17SPEAKER_01: There are
- 18:18SPEAKER_02: countries, Czechoslovakia, for example, has a less infant mortality rate than the United States.
- 18:27SPEAKER_02: Japan, Sweden, those are probably the top, top Norway.
- 18:34SPEAKER_02: They have very low infant mortality rates.
- 18:38SPEAKER_02: And when you think about Immortality rates across the board, then you accentuate the number and increase the number when you actually drill it down to women of color and even more specifically black women.
- 18:53SPEAKER_02: Our babies die three to four times, and that's in Sedgwick County, right here where we live, 3.5 times our white counterparts die.
- 19:04SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't matter your education.
- 19:06SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter your income.
- 19:08SPEAKER_02: It's across the board.
- 19:10SPEAKER_02: Maternal infant, maternal mortality rates for the United States is unbelievably high.
- 19:19SPEAKER_02: An example of that would be Serena Williams.
- 19:23SPEAKER_02: I think she shared her experience as a black woman and saying that she did not feel quite right but no one really did anything um and proactively or actively and she almost you know she almost died and so that is just a what I would say a thumbnail of
- 19:43SPEAKER_01: what
- 19:43SPEAKER_02: happens far too often um in America with black women our mortality rates are are extremely high also in comparison to other developing countries.
- 19:57SPEAKER_02: You've got to ask, what is going on?
- 19:59SPEAKER_02: We have supposedly one of the best health care systems.
- 20:02SPEAKER_02: It is not universal health care, but we should really look at the system that's in place because it's obviously failing us.
- 20:16SPEAKER_02: So many, too many.
- 20:18SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, yes.
- 20:21SPEAKER_02: And you know, when one life is lost, you know, whatever that is, all of us, it's too many.
- 20:34SPEAKER_02: One is too many.
- 20:35SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, indeed.
- 20:37SPEAKER_02: Yes, indeed.
- 20:39SPEAKER_02: We are one world, and yes.
- 20:42SPEAKER_02: So we'll have to talk more about those issues, of course.
- 20:46SPEAKER_02: But I need to ask you another question before we close.
- 20:51SPEAKER_02: I know you have been a fast in so many places.
- 20:55SPEAKER_02: Fast in this, you know.
- 20:58SPEAKER_02: And I know many women, you know, all ages, But I see that even among young, you know, college-educated, bright young ladies, you know, they fear being the first in there.
- 21:12SPEAKER_02: There is that fear, you know.
- 21:15SPEAKER_02: So how did you manage to be the first in so many areas?
- 21:21SPEAKER_02: Oh, my goodness.
- 21:23SPEAKER_02: I have to give all, you know, I first have to give all glory and honor to God.
- 21:30SPEAKER_02: who's the author and the finisher of my life, within my family, we were able to, we were very close-knit, and just all sorts of confidence was instilled.
- 21:47SPEAKER_01: So
- 21:48SPEAKER_02: I've been blessed.
- 21:50SPEAKER_02: I've been blessed with a positive attitude, blessed with confidence that some people sometimes don't quite understand that it's just It is who I am.
- 22:02SPEAKER_02: And I've been blessed to have, once again, wonderful role models.
- 22:10SPEAKER_02: And the role models have come at different junctures in my life.
- 22:16SPEAKER_02: Some were educators.
- 22:18SPEAKER_02: Some were PTA mothers that
- 22:22SPEAKER_01: just...
- 22:22SPEAKER_02: I would see.
- 22:23SPEAKER_02: They would be working with my mother in the cafeteria, and
- 22:26SPEAKER_01: they would be
- 22:27SPEAKER_02: loving on me.
- 22:28SPEAKER_02: So I knew I was wonderful.
- 22:30SPEAKER_02: I knew I was loved.
- 22:31SPEAKER_02: And I knew that these women were doing good things, so I would see them.
- 22:37SPEAKER_02: And then I saw them at the political level.
- 22:42SPEAKER_02: I would see someone on television or in person and wonder, I mean, yeah, wonder, should I do that?
- 22:52SPEAKER_01: Will
- 22:54SPEAKER_02: that be me someday?
- 22:59SPEAKER_02: And you walking into my life, to be able to see how someone moves, transitions from one country to another and just so easily melds in to what it is that we do here and adjoins with what you've been doing.
- 23:22SPEAKER_02: making it once again that collective that I'm always looking for is for us to work collectively so I've just been so blessed to have the experience growing up to be exposed to women at all junctures of my life and to know that I have been given a gift and to not waste it
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: to act
- 23:49SPEAKER_02: on
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: it and to not be afraid
- 23:52SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
- 23:53SPEAKER_02: All I can say.
- 23:55SPEAKER_02: All you can say is say it.
- 23:58SPEAKER_02: Are you going to say something else?
- 24:00SPEAKER_02: Okay.
- 24:01SPEAKER_02: You know what?
- 24:02SPEAKER_02: You, of course, have inspired me so much.
- 24:05SPEAKER_02: As I've shared with you, I heard of your name immediately.
- 24:08SPEAKER_02: I moved to Wichita.
- 24:09SPEAKER_02: And, of course, when I met you in person, you know, I said, oh, my God, that representative, oh, my God, oh, my God.
- 24:18SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm in trouble here.
- 24:20SPEAKER_02: Let me wash myself.
- 24:21SPEAKER_02: You know,
- 24:22SPEAKER_01: it's so
- 24:23SPEAKER_02: simple.
- 24:25SPEAKER_01: So accepting.
- 24:25SPEAKER_01: And
- 24:25SPEAKER_02: then, of course, you ate my mandarin.
- 24:28SPEAKER_02: I said, Oh, my God.
- 24:29SPEAKER_02: Oh, my God.
- 24:31SPEAKER_02: Oh, my God.
- 24:33SPEAKER_02: And my children, yeah, my granddaughter always asks.
- 24:38SPEAKER_02: Thanks
- 24:54SPEAKER_00: for listening.
- 24:54SPEAKER_00: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
- 24:57SPEAKER_00: Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on DivasThatCare.com where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.