Latest / DA CREW Podcast / Michelynn Moss & Cheryl Northern LeGrand; 2 OF 20 QUEENS OF H.O.P.E. sharing about THEIR particpation in this project and THEIR BRANDS!!!

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Michelynn Moss & Cheryl Northern LeGrand; 2 OF 20 QUEENS OF H.O.P.E. sharing about THEIR particpation in this project and THEIR BRANDS!!! · DA CREW Podcast

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Aspiring Authors Magazine is a founding sponsor for doc cru podcast. Get featured inside
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Podcast three tune what is going to Town Like Day or two on one again.
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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, I want to welcome you guys to the
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Crew Podcast. I am the Queen of Collaborations, and tonight eight I have
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some amazing queens that have stopped to share with me. This is a new
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book that has dropped. This is our newest book. I'm just grateful to
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be able to be an outlet, to be able to help individual share what
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it's late in their spirit, those things that they are passionate about, those
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things that they would like to speak upon, those things that they would like
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to share. And I'm just excited to be able to be one of those
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outlets as a person that loves to do anathologies. But welcome, Welcome,
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welcome, welcome. For those that do not know who I am, I
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am affectionately known as the ques of Collaborations because I love to collaborate, I
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love to network, I love to partner. I am the visionary of the
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Crew Podcast, Aspiring Authors, Magazine, and A A L. A C.
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My desire is to be the change that I desire to see in this
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world and to help as many people as I can do the same. It's
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all about bringing people along with you. But tonight I'm gonna move out the
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way and allow these amazing queens that have decided to be a voice. They
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have decided to be that change that they wanted to see in this world.
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They're not just a part of this anthology, but they've been a part of
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many anthologies. They are authors of their own books, and they are doing
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so many things outside of being authors. They are mothers, and I just
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want them to be able to share from their perspective tonight and talk about what
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they have coming up for twenty twenty four. Gonna bring them up and then
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I'm gonna allow them to introduce themselves, and then we're gonna dive into the
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conversation because I have some questions for them tonight. Y'all know I don't usually
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do questions, but yeah, I'm I'm mixing it up for two or we're
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gonna try some new things, so I'm gonna bring them up. M m
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hmm. Good even. But first off, I want to thank you guys
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for coming. Of course, we know that it is storming outside, so
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we may have some technical issues. Y'all bear with us. Know that we're
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just here on a mission. We're just here trying to be that change.
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And I'm gonna give these and queens an opportunity to tell you guys a little
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bit about themselves, and then we're gonna dive into the conversation. We're gonna
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start with Ms Michelin if you will introduce yourself, let them know where you're
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from and all that good stuff, and then Miss Cheryl, if you would
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do the same. Hello, Hello everyone. Min is Micheline Moss. My
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friends and family call me Missy. I was raised in New Jersey, born
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in Pittsburgh, and I now live in Memphis, Tennessee. I'm an author.
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I'm so glad to be one, and I'm grateful that I had a
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platform to become that and just you know, let my dreams come true.
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I'm a mom of three sons, I have six grandchildren, and I love
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the Lord, I love traveling, and I just love, you know,
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letting my voice be heard. Yes, good evening everyone. My name is
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Cheryl Northern La Grand. I'm a mother of three young adults, one in
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grad school and two in college. A single mom. I'm originally from Jersey.
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I live in Nightdown. I am an author as well, where five
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books, two journals, or co author of many Women. To answer Thompson,
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not just with her books for her magazine, I don't want to like
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to motivate, inspire if it's only but one person, and it is truly
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an opportunity once again to be on her platform and be here tonight as well.
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Hey man, Amen, Well, I definitely want to thank you guys
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for coming and stopping by. I want to give those that are tuned in
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an opportunity to get to know you guys a little better tonight. So I
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decided to pull out one of my my journalist tricks and go to the book
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and get me some questions. So I'm gonna ask you some questions tonight.
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Yeah, y'all don't normally see this, but hey, guess what the journalist
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in me is coming out in twenty twenty four. Okay, so we're going
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to start with Ms Mitchelin. What is PA to become an author? I
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pursue writing multiple anthologies in your own books. I think it started at a
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very early young age where I just love to read, you know, And
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I told this story before, but I thought I was special because when I
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was in elementary school, you know, you go to the library, check
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out your one book, and you know, return it the following week.
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Well, the librarian used to call me out of class and she would say,
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you know, I got this book, and I think you would be
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interested in it. So I thought I was like a big shot because I
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was able to have two books out when you know my classmates had one.
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And then I also had an older brother and he was really into poetry and
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the Harlem Renaissance, and you know, Langston Hughes was one of his favorite
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poets. So I probably was around eight nine years old and he introduced me
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to that. So I always wanted to be in a book, but I
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just didn't know how to go about it. I didn't do any research.
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So the first book I was in was called Wake Up Girlfriends, and a
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friend of mine was trying to get co authors to just tell a girlfriend's story.
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So you know, I was I was nervous because I'm like, what
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if people don't like what I said or how I wrote it. But I
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was like, I'm just gonna step out on faith because God presented that platform
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for me. And so from there I just kept it moving. And you
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know, I was in the second book, as you know, Finding Joy
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in the Journey, and you know, we became best sellers and we were
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on a billboard in New York. So I lived in New York too,
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and I used to walk forty second Street Times Square, you know, always
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wishing I could be up there. So that was like a dream come through.
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And then I met you and did a couple books you know with you.
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So to me, like I stated before, I feel like it's therapy,
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you know, I get to get things off my chest and heal.
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And also, like Cheryl said, if I could just touch one person and
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motivate one, I feel like I did my job. So I feel like,
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you know, that's my purpose. God had a plan for me.
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And I also just want to say it doesn't matter what age you are or
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what you know, position you are in life, you still can do it.
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So I'm truly grateful. I'm blessed to have met you. And as
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far as a legacy, I was like, I want to leave a legacy
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for my children, but I have three granddaughters and it was just like I
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want them to see that their grandmother did it. She wasn't afraid, she
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didn't listen to the naysayers. And anything that you want to do, you
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know, with God by your side and the right people that He put in
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place for you, and it's not always your family and your friends, you
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know, So I thank God for you of being a blessing and giving me
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the platform. So I just wanted to write and share, you know,
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a word to whoever reads it or wants to hear it. And I just
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wanted to be an inspiration to those who may have been struggling and they can
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hear a kind word or a testimony, you know, would help them out.
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And so I'm just truly grateful. And that's been my author experience.
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And I've been now and maybe like about ten twelve books, so you know,
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it's been a delight to my heart. And every time I get the
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book in the mail and I'm able to share it with somebody else, I
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just feel like it's a blessing. Yeah, man, that's amazing. And
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that's why I do what I do. It's because I want to be able
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to provide people with an outlet. And so many others that do the same
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thing that I do. You know, we do this because we know that
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sometimes everybody don't always have a whole book in them, but they have something
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that they want to share and they want to get it out, but they
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don't know how to get it out. Like you said before, you didn't
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know how to get it out. But I am so happy that you stepped
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out of your box and you stepped out on faith, and you believed in
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yourself. You believed in that that was on the inside of you, and
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you are leading by example. So I definitely I appreciate you, and I
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thank you for all that you do and for being obedient, because you could
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walk away and not even be a part of these projects, but you have
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listened to what was laid on your heart and you have been a part of
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all of these projects and been able to pour into people around the world because
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most of these books have went international and we're able to touch lives in different
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languages, in different countries, different nationalities. You know, everybody don't believe
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the same, but we all go through the same thing. We go through
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the same thing. We may not go through it at the same time and
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the same amount of it, whatever, but we all go through some things
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and we all have something that we can share. I often hear people say
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that everybody got a story. Yeah, everybody got a story. They truly
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do. And I have learned that on this journey. So Cheryl, you
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in the hot seat, now, questions on you so can you tell me
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a little more about this anthology. If everybody look around, they can see
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these people in the background, so they are part of this anthology, the
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Forgotten Queens. What motivated you to share inside of this anthology? What motivated
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me first of all is that we never know a life where we're going to
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be at in life, and we got to remember that I am a cancer
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survivor. I deal with lupez and heart failure. And also what started me
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writing and said because I had a family member or I said you have a
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story. I went from retelling to keeping kids. Had no idea about writing
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books at all, but this book here just let us know at any given
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time, our life can change and we take stuff for granted. But my
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life in the last couple of years has made me very humble and grateful.
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So when I wanted to do this book, I started putting myself in that
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shoe. Sometimes we need to do that we get comfortable, and I never
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want to get comfortable. And when I think about women who've been falsely accused
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or maybe got in there because of circumstances or abuse or whatever the case may
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be, made me want to be part of this journey because someone needs to
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hear that. Someone needs to hear you know what, le grhat deal with
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heart your loopers, a cancer survivor and she is still pushing regardless of being
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a mother of three younger daughters. They need to hear about you. And
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if we look at the world like that instead of looking at us as an
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individual, and look at us giving back and serving, you know, to
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each other, then it would be a better place. We are not in
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competition. We are here to motivate women all over the world to let them
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know. Guess what, you have a purpose in your life. We all
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have a story inside of our heart, and you know, sometimes fast circumstances
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push that out of us. It's not always when everything is good. When
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I went through my story, my books all tell about the story married to
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single, behind closed doors, life behind loopers, growing in darkness, and
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even the one I just did you know, for me, my pain brought
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courage, My pain brought strength. My pain motivate me and inspirations that I
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wanted to motivate others. Like I said, if it's nothing but one sure
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or one Mary or one job, we need to look at life like that
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that it's not about us. We are here to serve the goals and stuff
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that we had. God put it in us, and that's what he wants
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us to do. He want us to give it back. When we get
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to the point that we are selfish and that we don't want to help someone
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else, that's when our goals and the things we doing a life fall.
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And I always said, I have a daughter and I have two sons,
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and I pray the things that I do in life, not what I say,
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but what I am doing, what I show and show them when the
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storms come. No matter what it is, you can keep pushing, you
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can keep going. And I've actually had a flare up like two weeks ago.
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Mister Angela been talking to me. I'm truly blessed to be a cancer
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survival. But one thing I could tell anyone, it's up in here in
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your mind. If you whatever's going on with you, The minute we fail
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is the minute that we stop believing. We have to not only listen to
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God, you know, it's at faith with our works is dead. I'm
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not saying, you know, don't listen to the doctors, don't listen,
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but everything starts because whatever it is in our mind going to come out of
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our heart. So with this book here to all the sisters that's locked up,
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I want you to know you got a chance. Brother, you've been
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in there one year, two years, of five years, because guess what,
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some of us are locked up and we not even in prison. We
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are locked up in our mind. We are locked up in our heart.
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And what we do we are you know, we are damaging our family.
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So I pray that I could tell somebody that we no longer have to be
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locked up in our minds. Regardless of what happened. We all have a
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past or only differentings. We just didn't get caught because they did not have
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a video but if they had a video camera, a lot of us would
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be there. So I pray that my informations, my prayers have encouraged another
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shirrel in that book and say, you know what, my sister, you
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got this. Don't look at what happened, don't look at your past,
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because we all have more the future. Guess what is yours at any given
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time, But it got to start in your mind to come at your heart.
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So, by me being a survivor, guess what if they see nothing
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else what I said, they are also a survivor as well. And Angel
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Thompson have given me that opportunity to be on this platform to share that,
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and that alone is truly a blessing. Amen. Yes, Amen, Amen,
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And you touched on something. And I say this a lot because I
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am truly a advocate for prison reform and those that are behind prison walls.
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I have dedicated this year to really push prison reform, and not just in
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the State of Tech says, but everywhere that anybody needs me. I want
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to share because I did not realize. And when you don't know, you
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don't know. But when you come into the knowledge, just a scripture in
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the Bible that says, when you come into the knowledge, you are accountable.
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And once you come into the knowledge, you are accountable. So now
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I got to be accountable for this because now I know. So when you
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know better, you have to do better. So I I when I begin,
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when this book was dropped in my spirit, and I begin to reach
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out to the queens and try to get people to be a part of the
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book. You know, I was so focused on the women that were incarcerated
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and the women that were behind prison walls, you know, not realizing that
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there are a lot of free women that are still going through that they're still
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prison and they mind their heart and they spirit, you know, and they
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need to release two. They need to know that, you know, hope
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is still here. Yes, Jeremih twenty nine and eleven is not gonna return
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to him boy that he's gonna watch over his word and Towoars performed. So
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the question for you, Micheline was, this is the question the Forgotten Queens
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focused on spreading hope to those in prison physically and mentally. What's your thoughts
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on this statement and how does it resonate to you? Well, it resonates
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to me because one of the reasons why I wanted to be a part of
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this project was because I actually had two brothers that were incarcerated, and they
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were incarcerated at the same time and two different states, and you know,
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just seeing what my mother went through, and it took a toll on the
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family, as you know with a family period. But you know, my
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oldest brother, he had a wife and he had children, and I just
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remember that they both would call, and especially my oldest brother, he would
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always say, tell me something good, you know, and he always wanted
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to know what was going on, you know, in the outside world.
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And I remember, you know, seeing and talking to him behind a glass
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and you know then when he had he was in prison at one particular time.
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So it always meant something to me because I loved them. I knew
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what type of person that they both were. I knew with my oldest brother,
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he had got addicted to heroin and that's that caused his downfall. You
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know, my brother rob the bank, you know, and he did different
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things to you know, support his drug habit, and you know, I
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loved him, you know, tremendously, and so I also didn't like the
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fact that, you know, people judge you because you're in you're in jail
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and when you get out and try to find jobs or you're a convicted fell
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in, uh, you know, or whatever. And I just always knew
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the love that they had in their heart and the mistakes and and why they
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got there. And just like Cheryl said, people are there because of abuse
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and certain circumstances. So I just knew that, you know, regardless to
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what people thought, my brothers were still kings to me. The younger brother,
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he decided to sell drugs and that was why he was incarcerated. And
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you know, us trying to visit them and accept these calls and different things.
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But I had just love for them. I had a girlfriend, she
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is my best friend. She got addicted to crack and she had to spend
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some time and you know, jail. So this is something that's kind of
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like near and dear to my heart that you know. I know, I'm
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talking about my brothers, and the book is about the Forgotten Queens, but
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people forgot my brothers, and so I was just feeling like I can only
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imagine what their families and their children are going through. So it was like,
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yes, I wanted to be a voice because I just knew how my
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brothers felt in there. And they wanted the letters, and they wanted you
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to pick up the phone, and they wanted you to, you know,
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put some money on their books or whatever, which you know, my mother
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did. She was a single mother. And you know, and my brother's
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friends at once a month, the younger brother, he used to like gambling,
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so his friends that gamble once a month, they would take the pot,
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bring it to my mother's house and you know, give her the money
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to send to them. So my oldest brother actually died in prison, and
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my youngest brother, like he got out and the way they did his case
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and whatever that he kind of was wrongfully convicted of a search that they did
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and you know, which didn't really have too much to do with him.
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He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. And I went
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through that for years, you know, of my life as a little girl
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and when I was an adult. So I was just like, yes,
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I can relate. I understand how you know, the forgotten queens felt from
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just situations and stories my brother told. I can relate to the mamas and
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the grandmas who still loved their children and wanted the best for them, and
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the stress and the told that you know, it put on my mother to
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try to go there, and what my nieces and nephews you know, went
26:32
through. So like this was more like a no brainer for me, you
26:37
know. So it was like, definitely, I have to say something,
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I have to give back. I mean, part of what I wrote is
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letting my brother's voices be heard of how they felt in there and what they
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went through. So I just basically want to say that just because some body
27:00
is incarcerated doesn't mean that they're bad people. Like both my brothers really had
27:07
a heart of gold and you know, they would do anything, you know,
27:11
for you. So I'm just saying, don't forget about them. Remember
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who they are and who they you know, what they went through and what
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got them there. And we all make mistakes and just like Cheryl said,
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we just didn't get caught. You know, we didn't have videos and cell
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phones and cameras on every corner. But I just know that I love them.
27:38
If you really just take the time to know their heart and the people
27:42
who they are, then you would have a different mindset. And I also
27:48
feel like there needs to be some type of reform because people serve their time.
27:53
They get out, they can't get a job. You know, people
27:56
don't act like they change used and some don't, some do, you know,
28:02
but it's just like they still want to be a part of society.
28:06
They can't vote, you know, they got children and mouths to feed and
28:10
rent to pay, and I just know what they went through. And I'm
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just saying I have a certain love for people in there, and and sympathy
28:21
and a compassion you know for women, women and men that are are locked
28:27
up, and they're all not bad. So that was like why I wanted
28:33
to be a part And you know that's my feelings on the whole prison and
28:37
people who are in jail. Wow. And and those are a lot of
28:47
my sentiments as well. And we have not we have not forgotten the kings.
28:53
King, you are not forgotten. It's going to be dropping March the
28:59
first, because I didn't forget them. You know, they are often forgotten.
29:04
Those queens were just dropped on my spirit during the holiday season because I
29:11
had some females to stop by show and to share on my show, and
29:17
to think that these babies, they were babies when they went to prison,
29:22
and to think that every day their babies getting locked up. Because these are
29:26
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen year olds that they're locking up and throwing
29:30
away the key. They're treating them worse than they're They're giving them tougher crime
29:37
charges and sentences. Then they're given the adults that actually commit the crime.
29:42
Because a lot of these kids, they have capital cases in the state of
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Texas. They gave them capital cases and then they gave the ones that actually
29:51
did the crime. They they've gotten out, a lot of them have gotten
29:56
out. And these babies got to go happy in prison year before they could
30:02
even come up for parole, and then the person that did actually did the
30:07
murder, the person that actually committed the crime. Like some of these babies
30:11
were just sitting in the car. They didn't even know what these people were
30:14
doing in the store, what they was doing inside these people houses and none
30:18
of that, you know, They just sitting in the car, just waiting
30:22
on them to come out. Had one young guy say, they all went
30:25
in the store. They all went in to get things out of the store.
30:30
Two of them had got what they was gonna get. I think one
30:33
got a pop and some one the other one got some chips or something.
30:37
But they got what they was gonna get. They were back in the car
30:40
and they was waiting on the driver to come. They was waiting on the
30:42
driver to come. And when she came, she came after she kept somebody
30:48
she yepp But it just be so much and we don't know. But we
30:56
don't know what these people go through. We don't know what they are experiencing.
31:02
Suicide is on the rise. Suicide is on the rise. You got
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you got I have? Oh my god. It was one two three inmates
31:21
that has called me and told me three deaths and one attempt. One guy
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only had eleven months and he was gonna be going home. Eleven months and
31:37
he was gonna be going home. So I'm grateful for y'all sharing and being
31:44
a part of this anthology and sharing your perspective and giving people hope spread and
31:52
hope spread and love. You know, encouragement through your words, through your
31:56
poetry, through your affirmations, through your short stories, through your letters.
32:04
Ella, you was laid on your heart to share. I thank you from
32:09
the bottom of my heart. I tell you this means so much to me.
32:15
Like I I'm so grateful we're able to send these books to the prison
32:22
because they are they're not wire bound. They're able to go directly from the
32:28
publishing company or the bookstore to the prisons. I know, at least in
32:32
the state of Texas they can get them. I've already sent some. I
32:37
am doing a campaign right now. I want to put twenty five more books
32:42
insideide the state of Texas, and anybody else that want to put some of
32:47
these books inside of the prison system for these women, please reach out to
32:54
me so we can get them inside of the prison system, so these women
32:58
can have some hope. And we have not forgotten the men it's just like
33:02
I'm trying to get the men to get signed up so they can share.
33:07
I have five men that that jumped on it, and it's just like I
33:12
can't get nobody else to sign up, but I'm sharing. I'm trying to
33:16
get them to share. I'm just finding a lot of men find it hard
33:23
to be able to share. I don't know why. A lot of them
33:28
feel like it's just like we just talking to a brick wall and like nothing
33:37
is happening. But I believe that in order for change to come, we
33:43
got to keep evolving. We got to keep changing. We got to keep
33:49
meeting people where they are. You know, we can't overlook we can't overlook
33:53
them babies. We got to bring them babies along. We got to pull
33:58
them up. We can't overlook them, you know. So I've been charged.
34:05
It's a mandate. I've been charged to have to do this and to
34:09
have to pour into these babies because guess what, I could have been one
34:15
of them. I could have been one of them. I'm telling you I
34:19
could have been one of this. And I think I've only shared this story
34:22
live one time. I could have been one of them. I could have
34:27
been these people wanted to give me twenty years. I could have been one
34:32
of them for making a fake diploma. I made a fake diploma for somebody,
34:36
y'all. Hm, I made a fake diploma, and they wanted to
34:42
give me twenty years. They said I committed mail friud because I mailed at
34:46
diploma to the school. They said I defrauded the school because I mailed it
34:51
to a higher institution of learning. And I mean, they was trying to
34:54
throw the book at me. Wow, But let me tell you the God
35:00
that I serve. Yeah, it was the god that I said. I
35:02
tell people they say second chance. He gave me my second chance way back
35:07
then, and then he gave me another chance when he spared my life in
35:13
the mess violence shot pot black range with it's all shot done. So I
35:16
can't keep saying second chance because he ain't. He don't gave me that second
35:20
chance. So he keep giving me another chance. Oh yes, so he
35:24
gave me another chance to get it right. So when he gave me that
35:28
another chance, I have no choice. Every day I wake up, every
35:35
day I wake up, I want to be empty when I lay down.
35:37
I want to have given the best version of myself in his image that I
35:44
could have given throughout this day. So I have to show up when he
35:47
telled me to show up. I have to show up with excellent. I
35:51
can't show up at half stack when he told me to show up. So
35:58
if I push y'all a little hard, then it's because I see something in
36:04
you and because I didn't have that push. So when I see it in
36:09
other people, I just push because I didn't have that push. Thirty years
36:16
later, you're looking at somebody that walk across that stage, schoon coom Lottie
36:22
with two degrees, back in school, working on my masters, because so
36:27
many people counted me out, so many people threw me to the wolds,
36:30
so many people buried me. So many people tried to stop for me.
36:36
They tried to cut off my oxygen. But God, but God. So
36:43
I have no choice but to show up and allow him to be who he
36:46
said he would be for me. And just as he do that for me,
36:53
he do it all of y'all. But I'm excited about this project.
37:00
I'm excited about you guys being able to share. I'm just thrilled. Before
37:09
we leave tonight, I want you all to be able to share with anyone
37:15
that's tuned in how they can connect with you guys, and if you have
37:19
something going on, how they can follow you so that they can be a
37:24
part of what y'all have going on for twenty twenty four. Hopefully, I'm
37:30
hoping that I'll be able to work with these young ladies so that we can
37:36
get the AA L A C. Chase and your dream Book to an expo,
37:38
to their city, to their state. We definitely want to come to
37:45
Tennessee and North Carolina, so I definitely want to get with you guys and
37:51
see what we can do to make that happen. But Michelin, if you
37:54
would please tell everybody how they can connect with you, how they can follow
37:59
you, if we have something going on, how they can connect with that
38:05
as well. On all my social social media sites, I'm Michell and Moss
38:10
on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok all Michell and Moss. At the
38:21
moment, I'm just trying to stay plugged in. I'm dealing with a domestic
38:29
violence organization and Memphis is called Melodies of Color, So I've been working,
38:37
you know, with them with different little events that they have going on.
38:42
I stated before that this is my year. I want to do a children's
38:46
book with my granddaughters, and it's going to be based on their father,
38:53
you know, going blind and them having to deal with it. I also
39:00
want to figure out and get the ball rolling on a support group for parents
39:07
that you know, my son is forty and he was able to see up
39:14
up until thirty six, thirty seven years old of his life, and I
39:19
mean that bothers me every day. I have my moments where you know,
39:25
I cry, you know, I don't understand. So I just want to
39:31
you know, start a support for those parents to tell their stories and we
39:37
can all cry together and heal together. So that's my objective for twenty twenty
39:45
four to you know, really get that going. And then for me,
39:50
it's like he lives in Georgia. I'm in Memphis. I didn't know the
39:54
resources. I don't have a friend to our family member to say, well,
40:01
what's the blueprint you know for this? How do you get over this?
40:06
How do you deal you know with this? And you know, what
40:09
do you tell your grandkids? So that's my objective and I just really,
40:15
you know, whoever here is my voice, if you got you know,
40:22
some resources are a story to tell or just to lead me in the right
40:28
direction. That's what I want to do because one thing I found through him
40:34
also is I always used to just think of grief at one time of you
40:39
know, death. I didn't know you could grieve that, you know,
40:45
a certain situation. I'm thankful and I'm grateful that my son is is still
40:51
here, you know, and I get to see and talk to him.
40:55
He's still raising you know, his daughters. But like I agree that on
41:01
a deli and then with your other book of Silently Hurt Inside, I heard
41:07
inside, you know all the time with that. But anyway, Michell and
41:10
Moss all the platforms, and I just want to start something for you know,
41:17
parents. And you said something that was just so profound just now you
41:28
did you you said something And it can be loss of a job, it
41:35
can be any type of loss. You can grieve any type of loss.
41:42
So you're right, you know, you wonder you know why, you know,
41:49
So I understand, you know, that's a loss, that that's a
41:52
major loss. So I understand. And for people not to understand, you
41:58
know, you people grieve different ways, people grieve different periods. How long
42:06
you grieve and in the process of your grief, that's on you. You
42:09
have to find ways to cope when you have to find ways to deal with
42:13
it, and nobody can tell you how, nobody can tell you when,
42:17
and nobody can tell you when it's over. So look, you just continue
42:23
to do what you're doing, stay motivated, stay in carriage, and keep
42:29
impacting lines and keep creating legacy. That's what it's all about. That's what
42:32
it's all about. I truly appreciate you, I love you, and I
42:37
just wish you so much success in four So we're definitely gonna stay plugged in.
42:42
We're gonna stay connected so we can see what kind of resources we all
42:46
can come up with, because you never know who may have the resources that
42:51
you need. Because, like I say, we have people on the platform
42:54
that that that are legally blind. Chantay inside of the book with us,
43:02
the Suddenly Hurt Inside book. Yeah, she's in that book. She's one
43:13
of the poets. She's legally blind. She has a glass high she lives
43:17
in Houston, Texas now, but she's from Georgia. But yeah, definitely
43:22
we'll put you in contact with her. And then we got a couple of
43:24
more people that have been a part of the probably anthologies that you are part
43:29
of that are legally blind. So yeah, we we have the connection.
43:34
We just have to we just have to move maneuver and get people connected connected.
43:39
And see, you know, we have another young lady. She's a
43:43
part of the South Carolina Deaf and Blind School and she's done several projects with
43:51
me. Matter of fact, she did a presentation for the City of Parts
43:58
when we was trying to do an event at the at the Park blind with
44:02
her cane. And she writes books too. Okay, yeah, so you
44:08
you you have you have people right here it miss. You just gotta it's
44:14
gotta connect to just gotta connect with them and and and just see how how
44:19
it works out. That's that's it. But you have some right in the
44:22
miss. See, we never know. That's why I tell people, we
44:27
never know who is in the miss. That's why when we are in these
44:31
groups. You know, people in in that poetry book, you know,
44:37
you we should have connected with at least a third of those forty people.
44:43
You know. I bring people together just for that reason because you never know
44:47
what the next person may have that you may need, or how the next
44:52
person can assist you. You know. That's areas where I'm weak. That's
44:57
areas where you may be strong, Like right now, I need I need
45:00
so many people to help me because this chasing your dream book tour and XPO.
45:07
I need speakers, I need keynote speakers, I need workshop facilitators,
45:12
and I need ambassadors to help me. So I need a lot of people.
45:16
And this for all of us. It's not just for me. We
45:20
all benefit. We all have the opportunity to come together. We get to
45:24
meet people that we may not normally meet. And if y'all look back at
45:30
some of the events that I've hosted. Back in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen,
45:35
before the pandemic, we did a big event and about ooh, it
45:40
was about thirty authors, about fifteen a book store warehouse. And when I
45:51
tell you it was amazing, That'll have to go back and look at those
45:53
pictures. And I'm trying to recreate that everywhere I go. That was an
45:59
amazing experience. And why not when you become an author, you're not just
46:02
an author to go sit at and then at tables no more. You are
46:07
an entrepreneur. You got multiple strings of income that you can be making,
46:12
just like we're on this platform tonight, sharing we should be out in the
46:15
community sharing just like this, because you can take your chapter, and your
46:19
chapter can be a whole platform. It can be a speaking platform, of
46:24
course, it can be all kinds of stuff. But you got to be
46:28
willing to do the work. And see a lot of us don't want to
46:30
do the word. But know what you got around you. You got a
46:34
lot around you. We gotta utilize those resources. So just reach out to
46:38
me. Okay, just reach out to you. Share. Yes, it's
46:45
only it's on you to tell a little. How people can follow and support
46:50
you if you got something going on, how they can see what you got
46:53
going on. Okay, you can follow me on Facebook Cheryl Nordan the Grand.
47:00
And you can follow me on Instagram Northern La Grand. You can follow
47:05
me on TikTok Survival sixty six. You can follow me on my author page
47:09
Cheryl la Grand. And also I just finished my journal Prosperity Purpose Journal and
47:16
Proferbity me condition of being successful thriving. The reason why I decided to do
47:24
another journal because that's when we have our most intimate thoughts privately sometimes and writing
47:31
them down about anything is so important. Preparing writing down and before I started
47:42
writing. I remember my antset write, start writing. I said, we
47:45
do the first thing I need to do. She said, right, What
47:51
I want to do this year? Number one? I want my health to
47:53
florish. Number one. We have to be careful what we speak, what
47:58
we claim, what we say. I want to be an inspiration to whether
48:02
it's a man, woman, single or married. And I want my life
48:07
to continue to sign in all different platforms that I'm involved with, whether it's
48:12
my ministry, whether it's another business. Because we all have a story,
48:17
and my story of my life, it may be another chirl sitting there right
48:22
now saying Okay, I'm single. I was married for eighteen years. I
48:25
was a military wife. I lost everything and I went from a home to
48:31
an apartment. But I never stopped. I never blamed him. What I
48:37
start doing is looking at the purpose that God had for me. Was it
48:39
easy? No? Did I have to cry? Yes? Did I have
48:44
to get on my knees yes, But order for anything in life, we
48:49
have to, like Miss Andrews said, be able to say, you know
48:52
what, I'm going to be uncomfortable. The minute that we start getting comfortable
48:59
is the minute that to me, we fall. Whatever happened last year or
49:04
the year before. I gotta look at you know what, this is a
49:07
different year. I'm blessed to be on a Miss Angela calendar. Not only
49:12
am I'm on one, I'm on three of mister Angela calendars. I'm in
49:15
her magazines. You can find me connected to her. So collaboration is important
49:23
as well as as sharing our platform for ourselves. We grow so much more
49:30
together because, like she just said, we meet other people. You just
49:34
told me you've been following me for years. We don't know who's looking at
49:37
us. We don't know who follow us, and ain't neither one of us
49:40
perfect. But guess what, like I said, if it's that one giant
49:45
or that one sir, we have already set that goal. Even if it's
49:49
the youth, I would should I want to break that generational cycle for my
49:54
kids. I want them to see when I fall, I want them to
49:59
see when I get up. I want them to see what I go through.
50:02
And not making a long story, but I was thinking about what y'all
50:07
said in prison. My kids are in college and my son, the middle
50:10
one, was working for a moving company in the summer, and this is
50:15
what changed me. He's sitting out there waiting on his boss, and the
50:20
police came to my son, he don't know what's going on and said,
50:23
I'm here. They said that it's a black male lurking the neighborhood. Thank
50:30
the Lord. His boss came up and said what is going on and he
50:34
said, this is my work up, And them cops never left and said
50:38
I'm sorry or anything or not. All cops are bad. Not all people
50:43
that get locked up bad. We do have some. But that's what made
50:46
me think, while we ignoring the men and women that's getting locked up,
50:51
what happens when they hit at home? What happens like you know my children
50:57
now or older younger daughters, and they ain't And I got one going for
51:00
a lawyer, one going for soology, one going for music. But the
51:05
end of the day they still looked at And we gots to remember that.
51:09
And I pray that my prayers life inspire not only out here but in my
51:19
home. I tell my children all the time, regardless you got, you
51:23
can't get. We can't get comfortable because they are in college, we can't
51:28
get comfortable. We never can be still and be comfortable. So I pray
51:32
that the legacy that I'm leaving for my family and my friends. They remember
51:37
when I was out here wild'n out, they remember when I was drinking.
51:40
But guess what, God did not give up on me, So why should
51:45
we give up on somebody else? Because I am not perfect, I do
51:49
things, but He loved me. So when it comes to somebody else,
51:52
we need to always think about that. When we are serving and we are
51:57
giving, and we are doing this, we should never say this is about
52:00
us. So my year is that I get better in each and every area
52:06
of giving back and what I mean by that giving back of words of encouragement,
52:10
letting somebody know that you know what if le Grahat had cancer and then
52:15
the loops and the heart flooding my heart, people don't even know. It's
52:17
at forty five percent right now in the pumping area right now as we speak.
52:23
But guess what it is okay, because God is using me as a
52:28
tool to let somebody know, and using your son as a tool. It
52:34
is not about the fame and the glory. The power is in the strength
52:42
of what God is doing, not what we are doing. But when we
52:46
fall, what do we do? How can we get up here and tell
52:50
somebody? Not always when everything is perfect and everything is good. How can
52:54
we tell somebody when we lost everything, how can we still give when we
53:00
have death in our family like you were saying, or we lost something.
53:02
That's the power of strength that I want to encourage. The women in prison.
53:07
You know, guess what. They don't know my story behind closed doors
53:12
till I share it. So I pray that each and every person that's listening,
53:15
regardless of your circumstances, Because there's somebody homeless right now. I was
53:21
on missus Angela one of her blocks, and this young lady to be on
53:25
crack and homeless is a filion that said she was sitting in cars. But
53:31
if we judged them, we have already killed them. And God would take
53:36
somebody on crap, take somebody that's sick, take somebody a's blind, and
53:42
say, you know what, these are the ones that I want to use.
53:45
So I pray that he don't never take his hands off of me and
53:51
my family, that we continue to serve, stay humble and grateful, and
53:55
let our life shine. And that's what my goal is for twenty forte Amen.
54:01
Amen, thank you, That's what I want to say, and thank
54:07
you amen, amen, Amen. But I thank God for both of you
54:13
guys. Yes, thank you, amen, Amen, well, I thank
54:21
you both for stopping by. Y'all know it's it's the weather is bad.
54:27
So there's been some some some blotching in the internet, but we don't stop.
54:34
We keep pressing. God is the good. We was able to share
54:37
on tonight and that was the most important thing, is that we was able
54:43
to share. And I hope that someone was blessed by something that was shared
54:47
on tonight. Make sure that you connect with these queens because they are doing
54:52
some amazing things. And I tell you, you never know the impact that's
55:00
no one can have on your life. You never know what you can do
55:05
to help someone. There's individuals out there with resources. Somebody have the know
55:13
how for this and the know how for that. But if you don't open
55:16
your mouth and let people know that you have these resources, no one knows.
55:22
That's why I said, those mouths never get fed close hand, they
55:27
never get fed. You you, you gotta let somebody know what's going on,
55:31
y'all. We we have to communicate. Don't don't be afraid to communicate
55:37
with individuals because that's what it's gonna take. It's gonna take us collaborating.
55:43
It's gonna take us looking out for getting that village. Mentality back is what's
55:46
gonna take when we looked out for one another and we had each other's back.
55:52
That's why I am so I'm telling you if you connected to this platform,
55:57
you're definitely connected to and amazing platform. And guess what, there's gonna
56:01
be some things happening in twenty twenty four. It's gonna blow some people.
56:06
So if you're not connected, I want to encourage you to get connected.
56:09
If you are connected, I want to encourage you to stay connected and to
56:14
do something. Don't just sit, but to do something. There's a lot
56:17
that can be done, and there's a lot that we all can do together,
56:22
and we can push each other platforms. It's not about Angela, but
56:25
it's about all of us. It's about that village. So I thank you
56:30
guys again, Michelin and Cheryl, thank you guys for stopping by. Most
56:37
importantly, I thank you for being a part of this anathology and for all
56:42
that you guys do. I love you, guys, and I prayed the
56:45
rest of your evening is blessed beyond what you can see in the natural.
56:49
And I will talk to you guys soon. Y'all have a right evening,
56:54
Love you guys, Bye bye, bye, y'all one. The book A
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