Mental health in Skid Row plus two new plays

Are we going to be around this town? And let what I've been saying come true? Get off of me, I can get up if you want to understand me I can get up if you really want to help me I can get up, but in Jesus' name, I'm gonna get up If you get off of me, I can get up if you want to understand me I can get up if you really want to help me I can get up, but in Jesus' name, I'm gonna get up The people who are talking to me Are we going to be around this town? And let what I've been saying come true? Good for nothing, baby Oh, figure Just the boy who's grown my shit with his jigger Now we gonna stand the ground Or is that really what we're saying? I'm your brother As you stand in your glory I hope you're mine And I tell the whole story Pardon me, sister I know you think you've come a long way I know you think you've come a long way As I walk the street To see it roll You can see my hands ain't shaking And my legs ain't trembling I turn the corner and keep looking trash Look up at the street sign It says San Julian Look back down and make eye contact with my brother And now I'm feeling like I'm standing somewhere I shouldn't be He looks around a thousand of his friends That raised their crackpipes to the lips And plays them simultaneously Telling me, yeah, I'm getting high I'm feeling good And sister, don't you knock it till you try Now I'm standing here with visions of crooked politicians And mission directors Like me, I'm not gonna let you go Lying in their greedy pockets Some think it's a joke That folks are living low from social injustice And we know that's not how it's supposed to be So if you can get up, stand up With their solutions They'll know you and me Make me poor or dark I'll be golden around this town And never ever be sick of it A darker than blue Willie San Shante Welcome to the Cone Round Report May the peace and blessings Of the life-giving people And the loving, creative spirit Be upon you and upon your family My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson And I'm in the studio with my co-host Earlene Anthony This week we will be talking about Mental health and the arts With Larry Hurst From the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health And also we'll be talking about Two new plays running here in Los Angeles Tree of Fire by Jesse Bliss And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild And Sick and the Wild A play about Fannie Lou Hamer Now I'd like to start off with Larry From the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Larry, welcome to the Cone Round Report Thank you, Melvin Thank you both, Melvin and Earlene For inviting me on Can you tell us a little about yourself And how did you get into this line of work? Well, that's a long story But I know your time is limited So I'll keep it short Being a child of the 60s During a momentous era of change in our country With the Civil Rights Movement I got involved in a community organizing effort at age 17 In the Pico Union area Organizing tenants and tenant landlord negotiations That sort of thing Wasn't my intent to go into mental health at that time But my career sort of evolved over the years Since I became a social worker some 37 years ago Okay Now I want to talk about clients in the Skid Row area Who have what they call co-occurring mental health issues That is, they're dealing with both mental illness and substance abuse How do you deal with clients who have mental health issues? How do you deal with clients who have mental health issues? How do you deal with clients who have mental health issues? How do you deal with clients who have mental health issues? of both mental and substance abuse issues? Well, contrary to many years ago when people with co-occurring disorders were kind of bounced from mental health to substance abuse treatment programs with the answer at both doors being not here, go get the other problem addressed first. For the last 15 years, the Department of Mental Health has had an integrated approach to treatment of people with people who are co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. So we believe in treating, addressing both issues simultaneously. There's no judgments about or coercion to get clean and get sober. We start where the client is. Whether they've made up their mind, whether they're motivated at whatever stage their use or addiction is at, we work with them certainly in terms of an approach called harm reduction. That is to minimize the unintended negative consequences of substance use. As you may know, there are many people who are using, particularly if they have no source of income, use other means to obtain access to substances, be it prostitution, be it petty theft, and certainly with those who are using prostitution as a means to obtain illicit substances, or legal substances for that matter. And so, we're working with them. Our biggest problem we face in this country is with alcoholism, certainly. And prescription drug abuse is right behind that. So, if someone's using prostitution, we make available, not directly, unfortunately, but certainly emphasize the use of condoms. If someone's an IV drug user, we, we encourage their participation in needle exchange programs, not sharing needles, and that's all. Okay. Okay. Now, how do you get to mentally into programs? That's really not one of our major challenges in Skid Row. We see over 200 people a day at our main clinic on, at 529, South Maple. We do, one of the things that I focused very strongly on when I took over downtown mental health back in 2002, was building coalitions and relationships with other provider agencies in Skid Row. Housing providers, substance abuse providers, social services agencies, primary health providers, and letting them know what we have to offer. Okay. And so, referrals come from those agencies. They come by, in large part, by word of mouth. If you have someone who's in a shelter, and they've been helped by our programs, they're, quite often will share, share the word of mouth with you. And, and, and, and let them share, share the wealth, share the information. Now, is there a process about educating the mentally ill about their rights? Well, it's a requirement that any of our mental health programs have posted in the lobby. What, what the rights of clients are. We have brochures. We have, appeals processes. In addition to that, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, we have, appeals processes and forms that are made available right on the lobby of each of our programs. And a client of our services can appeal any decision that affects their treatment. Now, how about medication? What are your thoughts on medication? How does that help fundamentally you? For many serious and persistent mental illnesses, if you look at mental illnesses as you would a physical health condition, because it is actually a physical health condition that only affects the, it's only different in that it affects the brain. So if a doctor, a doctor, your primary care physician prescribes something for control of your diabetes or hypertension, our psychiatrists are no different than that. There are some mental disorders. I think a depression studies have shown with some people, traditional talk therapies. And there is now some evidence based practices, such as, cognitive behavioral therapy that have proven to be equally as effective as medication with some people. Like we were talking about physical health conditions. As with hypertension or diabetes, you can have a severe case of that. You can have conditions, you know, that run the gamut from mild to severe. So, I think that's a good point. And I think that's a good point. And I think that's a good point. And I think that's a good point. Not every medication, not every form of treatment works with every client. So it's a matter of finding what works for that one person. Okay. And you mentioned housing as a possibility of just networking with a lot of the other social workers. Now, one of the programs we do have, and after the Mental Health Services Act passed back in 2004, and that was a 1% tax on millionaires, and it's now over 500 million dollars in the state of California. With the downturn in the economy, many of our indigent services previously were funded by county general funds. Okay. Since the county's been in a pinch, the city, as well as state government, those Mental Health Services Act dollars have become a major part of funding for county mental health services. Now, how important is it to you to support mental health services in the state? family contact to the mentally ill, especially down in the Skid Row area? It's extremely important and certainly one of the major challenges we have with our clients in Skid Row, many of them, as you reference, suffering from co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders are estrangement from their family, from their community of origin. Interestingly enough, in Skid Row, over 50% of the clients we see are African American. Their community of origin is typically due south of Skid Row. But because we've concentrated over the decades, starting with the faith-based community, faith-based missions, LA Mission, Midnight Mission, have been in the area for almost in some in excess of 100 years, historically treating people with alcohol problems. But the single room occupancy hotels have sort of built up around this area and there was a conscious decision made by the city. The city has been able to provide a lot of services to the community, mothers and fathers, to concentrate homeless services in Skid Row. Now, you mentioned earlier about 50% African American, you know, the African American probably in this city, what, about 9, 10% of the population? Exactly. What do you think, you have such a high rate, you know, 50% of the clients are African Americans. Think it's something unique to the community? I... I think it's unique to Skid Row. I think it's unique, it speaks to, in addition to the economic and educational challenges that African Americans and for listeners out there, I am African American, born and raised in South Central LA. But I think it speaks to that issue. The... The... The remaining challenges that we have in realizing King's dreams, certainly. But substance abuse is a major issue in our community. And I think that's what we see, the economics, educational system. And... And... And I think that at some point we're going to have to focus on building more on the family as a unit in the community and supporting our neighbors and family members in their efforts towards their own wellness and recovery. Do you think mentally ill have a lot to do with African Americans still trying to adjust, to see their family? Yeah. Do you think they're trying to adjust to city life since most of the African Americans come from rural areas? Well, I don't know, like, how much that is in existence today in Los Angeles. Certainly, I'm a second generation Angeleno. My folks came from New Orleans. Mm-hmm. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. Mm-hmm. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. And I'm a second generation Angeleno. Mm-hmm. So, but my father liked to say he was a city boy. He called my mother country because she grew up in St. Tammany Parish across Lake Pontchartrain. And but certainly I believe there are a number of factors that affect where we are. Certainly, it doesn't help that, you know, we have 50%, only 50% graduates. Yeah. And the other thing is that the graduation rates in LA Unified are that the least skilled teachers get sent to South Central LA. Mm-hmm. And the less desirable schools. So there's a lot of work to do. Right. But as we were saying before the show, or your other guests were saying, there's, you know, there's a lot of work to do. Mm-hmm. And so, there's, needs to be a concerted effort to organize the community again. Mm-hmm. To focus on, you know, if you don't demand your rights and advocate for yourself, it's probably not gonna happen. Mm-hmm. Now, a couple more questions I wanna ask you. So, what is the biggest challenge that you think for the mentally ill in the Skid Row area? I think there are multitude of issues. One is certainly setting priorities. If you're new to the Skid Row area, it can be quite overwhelming. It can be intimidating. It can be scary. So sort of getting your bearings, feeling safe. We... One of the other services that we emphasize initially when someone applies for services at one of our programs is housing. Yeah. So, if you're secure, do you have a steady, stable living arrangement? If that starts out with just us providing a temporary shelter somewhere in an SR, or a shelter in the city. Yeah. In the Skid Row, that's certainly better than being on... Sleeping on the streets. Although we have people that actually refuse housing. Yeah. Some people don't wanna go in shelters, particularly if they're dormitories type... Sleeping arrangements. You know. People build up communities, support systems. you know, on the corner. So we had an outreach project about a year or so ago near the old Plaza Church. And you had people there that we encountered and engaged, worked with who had been out on the streets for 20 years. We had one particular woman who was in her 70s, hadn't seen her family. She was originally from El Salvador. She hadn't seen her family in over 20 years. And by some very hard work on part of our staff, they were able to make contact, track down her family in El Salvador and actually accompanied her, reunited her in El Salvador. And the family was actually middle class. It was just how people can lose contact. Beautiful. One more question. How do the mentally ill handle their financial situation? Well, hopefully better than I do, than I handle mine. But that's another story for another show. But one of the other things we focus on is benefits establishment. People who have a mental endorphin, physical disorder, who cannot, because of their illness, engage in what the federal government calls substantial gainful employment, may be eligible for supplemental security income. Now, you're not going to get rich on SSI, but most of our clients that we are able to get benefits, they're going to get benefits. They're going to get benefits for, can manage their own funds. They've been in treatment. They're compliant with treatment. They're functioning better. But we do have our full service partnership program as a money management program where the county is actually the representative payee for their funds. LAMP community also, which is a contract agency with, the Department of Mental Health, also has a similar program for their clients. And we set up a budget. Again, it's a voluntary program. The client's in charge of it. They have to agree to the budget. And we see that their rent is paid, for instance, that they have funds for incidental needs and the like. Well, one more thing I forgot to ask you. If a person find themselves in trouble out here, they're under pressure, mentally pressure, is it any kind of hotline that they can call? The Department of Mental Health actually has a 24-7, 365 days a year access number. If I may, I can give that. It's 1-800-854-7771. And that, that number is staffed 24-7. And they have information. They can actually, if there's a person threatening to harm themselves or to harm others, they can dispatch our psychiatric mobile response team to go out and evaluate that person. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Larry Hurst. He's with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Thank you very much, Larry. It's been my pleasure. Thank you. Okay, now let's take a break for our community calendar. And then we'll come back and talk about these plays here that's here in the Los Angeles area, Tree of Fire and Sick and Tired about Fannie Lou Hamer. This is the community calendar for the month of March. The Veterans Community Workshop is held every Tuesday, 5.30 PM to 8 PM. The workshop is held every Tuesday, 5.30 PM to 8 PM. The workshop is held every Tuesday, 5.30 PM to 8 PM. The workshop is free to veterans as well as non-veterans. The participants are currently working on writing individual stage plays. The location of the vortex is 2341 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles. It's near the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic. The Metro bus number 60 and 66 stop near or close to the corner. If you're interested or for more information, you can call 213-908-6587. Wednesday, March the 6th at 6.30 PM, the downtown Los Angeles neighborhood council, public safety and health committee meeting will be held at the California Hospital Medical Center. The location is 1401 South Brad Avenue at the Leakey Hall. The location is 1401 South Brad Avenue at the Leakey Hall. The meeting will be held at the California Hospital Medical Center. The location is 1401 South Brad Avenue at the Leakey Hall. The meeting will be held at the California Hospital Medical Center. We will be focusing on the outbreak of TB We will be focusing on the outbreak of TB in the downtown area. We will be focusing on the outbreak of TB from the County Health Department and the Center for Disease Control. Friday and Saturday, March 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 9th at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinee, March 3rd and 10th at 4 p.m. Theater Perception Consortium presents Sick and Tired, a stage play about the journey of freedom, the journey of family Lou Hamer. Tickets are on sale at $20, advanced seniors and group, $25 at the door. The seating is limited. For more information, please contact Tanisha Webb at 323-251-9022. The location is the Performance Corner, 214 Hardy Street in Englewood, California. You can also call 310-910-0392. For more information, Friday, March 8th through Saturday, March 30th at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 31st at 2 p.m. The Roots and Wings Project presents the world premiere of Tree of Fire. The playwright is Jesse Bliss and the producer is Peter Woods. Tree of Fire is about a magnolia tree catching fire in an aged woman's prison. Tree of Fire opens on Internet. The play is on the National Women's Day, which is March the 8th. The location is the Inner City Arts, the Rosenthal Theater, 720 Kohler Street in downtown Los Angeles. For ticket information, call 310-994-3167. The upcoming guests on the Quran Report, Monday, March 11, 2013, will be spoken word artists and poets Lee Beck, Matt Cedillo, and La'Khia Hicks. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com, attention Earlene Anthony. And a reminder, the call-in number for the show is 800-893-9562. Now, back to our host. Okay, thank you, Miss Earlene Anthony. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Now, I'm delighted to have you on the show. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Thank you, Miss Earlene. Have with us on the phone, Miss Jessie Bliss. She is the writer director of the beautiful play Tree of Fire. How you doing, Jessie? Hello, Jessie. Hi, Melvin. It's an honor to be here. Hey, how you doing tonight? I'm happy to be connecting with you, Melvin, always. I love your work. I love your show. How are you doing? Oh, just fine. Hey, tell us a little about... Just a little about your background. Tell us about the play. Yeah. Tree of Fire has been in progress for five years. It was written after another play I wrote for an incarcerated population called Between Fingertips. The play went inside of a jail. It was powerfully effective. It really touched the audience in there. But I quickly realized that that was not where I wanted to put my energy with this subject matter, that we're in an emergency here with the prison industrial complex, and that I wanted to craft a piece of work for the public to help bridge the gap between what is going on in our prison system and what the public actually thinks is happening. And so this play has been in progress for five years. We've had readings at UCLA, at Lincoln Heights Jail, at Spark, at the old jail in Venice. And now here we are finally after all these years in this very exciting moment where the play is being fully realized. It's being realized in full production at the Rosenthal Theater at Inner City Arts right in the heart of Skid Row. Very exciting. Looking forward to it. Now, let me ask you a question. How can we get more community support for plays, for community theaters and plays like this? I think it's about encouraging each other's work and really standing behind each other and attending each other's shows, letting people know about maybe, a play that's not even your own. If you go to see something that moves you, making sure you help get the word out. Being creative in the way we think of promotion. Like I know the Mumia film just opened up at the Lindley, like, you know, bringing flyers over there. That community is going to care about this subject matter. So maybe just more creativity in the way we think of theater audiences because they're changing. We don't need to always, you know, rely on the same sort of elderly, you know, population of maybe not such a mixed race population. I think theater is becoming more eclectic and so we can spread wider in terms of who we're trying to get to come to shows. Yes. Yeah. You know, we also had a cast in the studio from the play by Fannie Lou Hamer called Sick and Tired of, I know Fannie Lou Hamer, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired. And it was my hope that we could get theater, especially plays by females, about females. How can we create some kind of working relationship between productions? I'm really glad you're bringing this up, Melvin, because, you know, I mean, women have only been considered citizens since 1850. We've only been allowed in college for 100 years. And our work has certainly not been nurtured in the way that it needs to be. And so I'm so happy you're bringing this up, because, you know, we're going to be working with our female cast, because it's really, really important for us to start nurturing each other. I know I've had other women nurture me. I was nurtured by Josefina Lopez at Casa 0101. I've been nurtured by other female writers and, you know, like my mentor, Linda Laurie, she came from the original actor's studio. I've been nurtured by these women. And I also toured for years with an all-female troupe, and it was these experiences, Melvin, that allowed me to be a part of that. And it helped me to realize women can have a voice. And so I hope to nurture other artists as a woman. I know in my play, Tree of Fire, four out of the five characters are women. So it starts there. I'm giving opportunities to female artists. I'm nurturing female artists. And I think that's really how we gain momentum in terms of getting our voices heard, because right now, we have a long way to go, you know, in terms of just getting ourselves out there. You know? Yeah. Yeah, because I'm hoping that both of these productions can figure out some kind of way to keep these productions going, because I hate to see productions with two-week runs and then they disappear. You know, when I think a play should pick up momentum and as much momentum as possible. I agree. And it's so hard these days to make that happen with funding being so low and things like that. I agree with you. Sometimes you see, you think that the momentum is going to be there and it's not for whatever reason. So yeah, we can only hope to gain it and keep it. Yeah. Okay, Jessie, also, you have a couple of tickets that I hope you can give away to some of our guests. We're going to continue to promote the play and try to get as many people out as possible to check it out. Looking forward to seeing your work. Thank you, Melvin. And we're happy to give tickets away. We open this Friday on International Women's Day. We're super excited. All original score for the play and original visual projections were also created for the play. So it's very exciting. It's a very strong cast of actors as well. Once again, tell us all of the basic information, the location, the address, time, etc. Sure. The play is opening at Inner City Arts, inside of Inner City Arts on 7th Street and Kohler. And we're going to be opening at 7th Street and Kohler. And the show is the Rosenthal Theater. It's a brand new multi-million dollar theater. It is absolutely beautiful. Right in the heart of Skid Row, 7th and Kohler Streets. And tickets are available at treeoffire.brownpapertickets.com. treeoffire.brownpapertickets.com. And the shows are every Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. for the entire month of March. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. How many seats does the theater hold? The theater holds 99 seats. And also, Melvin, I should really say that each Sunday there'll be a special guest speaker to follow the show. And it will be a liberated lifer or, you know, somebody who's been through the system firsthand. And they will come and talk for probably about 10 or 15 minutes. So I did want to mention that because it's also our aim to raise dialogue around this play. I know you're going to have big urns speaking. Oh, we are going to have big urns. Most definitely. Absolutely. We would be, of course. We're very excited about it. Yeah. Okay, Jessie. Thank you. Jessie Bliss. Thank you very much for taking the time. Thank you so much, Melvin. We appreciate you. And we look forward to seeing you right at the show. We'll be there. Okay, Melvin. Thank you so much. Right. Jessie Bliss. Three or five. She's the writer, director. Now, I am delighted to have with us in the studio the cast of Sick and Tired, a play about Fannie Lou Haynes. Yeah. Now, welcome to the Coonbound Report. First of all, let's go around. And the first thing, can you tell me your name and the part that you play? Start over here with Shahid. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. My name is Larnie Dapper Johnson, and I play two roles as well. Mr. Marlow, who's a plantation owner, who kicks Fannie Lou Hamer off the plantation because she went to register to vote. And I play Charles McLaurin, who recruits her to join SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Yeah. And my name is Carla Dupree Clark, and I'm one of the writers, one of the producers, and the director. Okay. My name is Jody Ray. I play Eugene, and Eugene is a character who has Fannie's back on the journey, and he's always there for her. And I just want to say Shahi is one of the dancers too. Okay. Thanks, Jody. My name is Julian Voskas. I play two roles as well. I play Melvin Hawkins, the county registrar, and Earl Sayre, restaurant owner, depicting the racist attitudes back in 1964 in Mississippi. Ooh. My name is LaToya Dawson. I play Mae Ethel, and Mae Ethel is one of Fannie's good friends. I'm also one of the dancers in the play. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. And they've been incredible connections since they've been away. the role of Elroy. Now, Elroy is the one that doesn't want change. Not so much for change, but he's more concerned about his neighbors and his friends. He's seen legends and so forth, and he's really concerned about them getting involved in stuff that he thinks that's going to hurt them. So he kind of goes against the grain. Okay. Elroy. Okay, y'all. You know, I'm Leilani Sashay. I'm playing the role of, I just call her Mama. She's a historical woman who comes out of the 60s and she gives a descriptive, and she's very upset about, she's dealing with political issues as they are now. I really think this play is something that's been written for such a time as this. We are now still talking about our position as black people. To vote. So I guess we'll go into depth with that more. And I also play Ernestine, Elroy's wife. And I just want to mention Phillip Bell and Ilana, who are not here, but they're here in spirit. They're working right now, and they're playing the characters. Ilana's playing the character of Fannie Lou Hamer, and Phillip Bell plays, I believe, two roles, Jasper and Elana. Also, he plays Pappy, Fannie Lou Hamer's husband. Jasper's a blind character. And then Larry. What part did Larry play? Oh, Larry's one of the writers and the producers. He's also a stagehand, set director, but he also plays our preacher. Reverend Bill? Reverend Bill. Mm-hmm. Okay. Do we have a call on the line? Hello? Yes, hello. Hello. Speaking with? Hi, this is Ilana Barksdale. Hi. Hi. Hey, Ilana. Hey. Hey. Hey. Ilana. Yeah, they just got to talking about you in a good way. I heard her. I heard it all. I heard it all. What's up, y'all? Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hi, Fannie. So, do you have a question or a comment? You have a question or a comment? I just wanted to say that, this cast is great and the production is great and we love Carla and Tanook and Larry and I'm having a really good time and I want you guys to come and see it because not only is it entertaining but it's educational too. So, come on out and see it. Yes. Hey, let me ask you this. What, what, what, what, first of all, tell us again what part you play? I am Fannie Lou Hamer. Okay. Who the story is actually written about and it tells a little bit about her life and the struggle that she went through getting registered to vote in the 60s in Mississippi which they have some issues still today. Yeah. So. Yeah. That's my hometown. We ain't gonna beat them up too much now. We're still gonna beat them up. But look. Can you vote? Did you vote? Look. I know you voted. There she goes. There she goes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was a little farther down the road. Now, how much did you know about Fannie Lou Hamer before you got the role? Nothing. Never heard of her. At all? I had never heard of her. At all. No, I had never heard of her at all. No. Now, what's, what's it like because, you know, one of the persons that really am I, that's what made me start staring at her a lot is that Malcolm X had high praise for this woman. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? I think that one of the problems that we have as a race, as a black people today, is that we don't know about all these struggles that these people went through in the past. I was born in the late 60s, so by the time I was old enough, I didn't have a lot of the struggle that they were having. And these kids today definitely don't know anything about these struggles. And that's why they act like they act and do the things that they do, because they don't know what black people had to go through. They don't realize. They just think that, you know, we just were born with all these rights and things. And so they take it for granted. And I include myself in that. And I think playing this role, I'm a voter, I've always been, but I do know some black people today that don't vote. They say, my vote won't count, my vote doesn't matter. But it really, whether it matters or not, people died so that we could do this. You know, so playing this role has educated me. And it makes me even. Know even more, even though I always vote. You know, I'm really getting out to the polls. I'll be out there tomorrow bright and early getting my vote in, getting my say in, because people died for this. That's right. Let me ask you this. You mentioned earlier, how do you think we lost the disconnect with that history, especially since we live in the high tech Internet age with so much information, just punch the button, you can get any information you want. How do you think we lost that since we don't know about all of these historical figures? I think we just people are teaching. It's the responsibility of the schools, the parents to say something about it. Because if you don't, you don't know, you don't know. And when I went to do this play and they said Fannie Lou Hamer, all I had to do was Google Fannie Lou Hamer and her date of birth and everything about her. I learned everything I needed to know right on the Internet. Came, popped right up. I went to YouTube and you can go to YouTube and actually see her do her speeches. But the kids don't know because they're not educated. The parents aren't talking. They're not talking about it anymore. You know, the schools, we have one month of black history month. And other than that, you know, and you can't get to everybody in one month. So it's so many people that we don't know about. So we need to get it back in the schools. And it's the parents responsibilities to teach their children these things and to, you know, look into these things themselves. But now that we have the Internet, it's easier to do. Yes. OK. To help. Carla, you want you want to say anything to you? You want to ask some questions? No, I just like to add. And I. I definitely do agree with Ilana because we do work with students in Manchester Elementary School. And we have two students from Manchester in this play. They joined our drama program that we have over there. And we saw their potential and invited them to join this professional cast. And they are remarkable. They do a great job with this show. But we also teach at Englewood High School. And we found that. They're not being educated within the core of the school system. And that's what we're doing with these productions. We write historical productions. I mean, it is our intent to do that so that we can teach in this way, in a way where children and everybody else who is not, you know, who doesn't know the history like Ilana. You know, she's born in the late 60s, but she doesn't know. Yeah, I know a little bit about it because I am one of seven. I went to integrate schools in the South in the 60s. Oh, yeah. Where? So in Texas. OK. So I know the struggle, you know, firsthand because I was a part of it. And that's one of the reasons why when the voting situation occurred with Barack Obama and his presidential, his last presidential election. And I saw all of that stuff going on. And I said, oh, wait, I think we need to write about this. And so there. And therefore, Fannie Lou Hamer, the freedom journey of Fannie Lou Hamer, sick and tired, was born. Yeah. And now it is being presented on stage and people should really come and see it. It's very educational. OK. How long did it take? First of all, what was the motivation that drove you to be involved with putting this together on Fannie Lou Hamer? As I just stated, my motivation is I came out of the struggle. I came out of the struggle. I was one of seven to eight. I was one of seven to eight. I was one of seven to eight. So whenever I see any type of situation like this that came up with this last presidential election, it just strikes a chord in me. OK. And so therefore. All right. I wanted to have us make a statement, a huge statement relative to voting rights. OK. Let's open up the floor. I. Who are we speaking with? Tell them. Tell them. Hi, I'm Jody Ray, who plays Eugene in the play. I look at the lack of education that black people have about black people. That's part of the backlash of the integration. It's like once black people was able to go to white schools and do white people be around white folks. All they learned was about what white people wanted to teach you. And I think had integration has had integration been really studied. And and thought about before wanting to be a part of another group of people. They should have been really thought about holding on to your own and bringing your own with you. And I say a lot of black people didn't bring they bring themselves with them when they got connected with white America. And so this is the backlash of it. And this is in which sat me. Satins me the most is when Obama got when he became president. So many black people, even well-known and very important black people said when they made the statement, said, I thought I'll never see a black president in my day. That let me know how many people have been brainwashed and and and don't and lost faith because in the young kids, the young kids accepted Obama. They it wasn't nothing new to them because they they born with. They're free state of mind like they equal. But it's the it's the their parents and all the people behind them. And that's let me know those people gave them the wrong advice to young people about breaking their dreams of stepping up to the top of what their dreams are. OK. All right. And we still got you on the phone now. Feel free to come in. We want to hear we want to hear from you, too. You play family. Yeah. I feel like when you want to say. So. I had. The meeting. OK. Yeah. This is Julian. I play to the white racist characters. And I have to say that this is very enhancing for me because I didn't know who lay who Fannie Mae Hamer was. But it enhances my life because I know who she is now. She made a difference. But I want to say it's not just about black people make a difference. I did a play called Wallenberg and he was Jewish. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He's not. He's Swedish. But he's he is. He's credited with saving over one hundred thousand Jews. Yet a lot of Jews don't know who he was, which was surprising to me. So I think part of it is just maybe we as adults are teaching this this history. Maybe I don't know if that's good or bad. I think, you know, nobody taught me about it. And I learned so much more about what the Johnson administration did and did not do. Yeah. And what the Kennedy administration did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, all these people got hurt because somebody was trying to vote? Yeah. Are you kidding me? Yeah. And then not only that, the fact that, you know, Mississippi, such a huge majority black population at the time. And it wasn't represented. Anybody else want to comment? I think that like everybody has stated, my name is Shahid Chappelle and I play Hoover and also the White House secretary. I think like the cast has stated, it's an amazing show. It's very informative. It's educational. And there's great dancing in the play. I myself, like Jodi stated, I have a dance piece in there. We have a great choreographer and there's Latoya. And she's done all of the choreography for this production. But I think there's great hymns, great songs, great music. And it's just like the hymns that we're singing. It's very important because most of the hymns that were sung back in the 60s, the civil rights movement up until, you know, the Jim Crow law, most of them were passed down through word of mouth. So, you know, the people working in a cotton field would be singing hymns. When they're picking a cotton, they would have their daughters or their children around them. And the children would pick up on those hymns. But the hymns were also spiritual songs. But there were also messages displayed in those hymns for the black slaves. And I think those messages that were sung needs to be passed down through. Our people. And like Julian stated, it's not about black, black, black. It's about the world as a whole and humanity as a whole. But for us as black people, those messages needs to be passed down from our grandfathers, from our grandmothers. So that those these people like Fannie Lou Hamer and so many more black men and black women can be revealed and live. OK. Now, the choreographer, what was your approach to arranging all of the dance scenes? Well, my approach was to basically create based on what I was feeling. I let the music lead me and guide me and direct me into creating a piece that I thought would be amazing. And I just let the music take over my body. And, of course, filling all of the lyrics and all of the things that was being said and the great choice of music that Carla decided to put in the play, I thought was really amazing. OK. Hey, now, before we run out of time. Let's let's do a little scene. Can you do the setting for the scene that we're going to hear? OK. They're going to do a scene that we incorporated. It's a little bit comical, but it has a serious side to it. And it is like Elroy said before. He is the antagonist and he's, you know, hey. OK. It's about him getting in trouble. OK. With his wife. Let's let's roll. We three minutes and some. Let's get this in so we can wind down. Trying to stop progress, huh? Elroy, that's what you about. Tell her. I dare you. Yeah. He up here trying to talk us out of taking up the calls. Ernest. Stay. Our plantation owners going to throw us off the land. If you don't start with this road mess. First of all, Elroy Jeremiah. Ellis Jenkins. You ought to know by now that you can't tell me what to do. And second of all, how do you know Mr. Rome going to get rid of us? Did he tell you that? I just know. Take my word for it. I ain't taking your word for nothing. You is a liar. And I wants to know how you know. Did Mr. Rome tell you that? In so many words, he did. In so many words. What that mean in so many words? What words did he use? Exactly. Exactly. Oh, did he write it down for you, huh? Did he write it down on a little piece of paper that look like a check? And did it have some numbers on it that look like a two? And a zero? And another zero? And a dot? And a zero? And a zero? I'm full. I seen that check in the drawer sign by Mr. Roman made out to you. He done paid you off, ain't he? He done paid you. He done made trouble for you. Oh, God. Okay. Okay, now we got about 30, quick 30 seconds for a comment on the Fannie Lou Hamer that's online. Can you say something right quick and then we will run to... She hung. Okay. I was just going to say that TPC has done several other plays. They've both been award-winning shows. One out of NAACP has 15 theater awards. We were nominated for nine. We won four. I just wanted to throw that in. She can take over the Fannie Lou Hamer. Okay. Yes, the show is running this weekend, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, March 8th, 9th, and 10th. And Sunday is looking pretty sold out. So I think if you want to come and see it, you need to get on the phone and get to calling and reserving your seats for Friday and Saturday's show. And call. We may be able to squeeze you in on Sunday if you call right away. Okay. Thank you. The number is 310-910-0392. 310-910-0392. You're going down now, yeah? All right. Tanook, we love you. Thank you for your playwright and everything. Thank you. Now, I'd like to extend a special thank to my co-host, Earlene Anthony, and my in-studio guest, Larry Hurst, from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. On the line with Jesse Bliss from the Ruth and Wing Project and the Art of Three at Five. The cast of this great play are sick and tired about Fainter Lou Hamer. And remember, every Saturday and Sunday morning, 9 a.m. to 11, for the broadcast of this show and two hours of the Qumran Report, that's from 9 a.m. to 11, every Saturday and Sunday morning. Just Google in skidroad.le. Please listen to the Qumran Report on iTunes, Facebook, and skidroad.le. Thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Report. From your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and your family. I leave you with the song that opened the show, Darker Than Blue, by Willis and Shante. All right. We'll be back. We'll be back. Great show. We're having it. Yeah, great. We're having it. We're having it. I get up, run in Jesus' name, I'm gonna get up If you get off of me, I get up If you wanna understand me, I get up If you really wanna help me, I get up Run in Jesus' name, I'm gonna get up The people who are talking to me Are we gonna let it ride us down? And whatever we say, it comes true Good for nothing, they all figure Just a boyish rope, a ship is jiggered Now we gonna stand for that Or is that really what they say? I'm your brother