This episode of News and Trends with Dave and Len covers a range of stories: a D.C. homeowner wins a court battle to evict an Airbnb squatter after a months-long occupation; a memorial for Mary Turner, a 1918 lynching victim, is placed on display in Atlanta after repeated vandalism; and Maryland high school students launch a viral campaign that catches Michelle Obama’s attention.
Hosts Dave and Len discuss local impacts, community responses, and how persistence and vigilance shape outcomes in each story.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 That's quite an accent. See, I'm from the South. With some of the most beautiful.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 Welcome, welcome, welcome to News and Trends with Dave and Len.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:38 I'm one of your hosts, Mr. David Coker, proprietor of Dave Mark Inc.,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 promoter and all-around good guy.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:46 If you guys get a chance to, tune in to the MBG Podcast Network,
00:00:47 --> 00:00:51 where you can find this show along with a host of other great podcasts.
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00:00:58 --> 00:01:04 And for those of you who may not get a chance to catch the show on Tuesdays,
00:01:04 --> 00:01:11 or you just want to listen to it again, you can go to our internet radio station.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:17 Who we formed a great relationship with, and that's 101.5.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:22 The Fever and DJ Ribs with his partner, Mr.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:27 Bobby Keys, who was our guest last week. We had a great time with Mr. Bobby Keys last week.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:34 So definitely check out 101.5. The Fever at 10 o'clock on Saturdays.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:40 That's when they replay our Tuesday show, just in case you're missing on Tuesday
00:01:40 --> 00:01:46 and you don't get a chance to listen to it, you can always go to 101.5 to listen.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 I'm hanging out with my partner, Mr. Leonard Young. What's going on, sir?
00:01:50 --> 00:01:55 Hey, Dave, everything is good. This is Leonard Young, CEO of National Black
00:01:55 --> 00:02:00 Guide, DelawareBlack.com, black media specialist, all-around good guy.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 How goes it, Dave? I can't call it, man.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:09 You know, we are still digging out from the snow we had on Sunday.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 Well, we woke up to on Sunday, I should say.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:19 And our first winter blast. And then we had some more snow flurries on Monday night.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:25 So, I mean, looks like, I don't know, Leonard, we might be getting some snow
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 this summer. I mean, this winter. I wish it was summer.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 But, you know, this winter. Yeah.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:35 What do you think? Yeah, I mean, to be honest, you know, I feel like the snow
00:02:35 --> 00:02:40 doesn't affect me too much anymore. I feel like shoveling snow where I live is pretty easy.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 The only thing I hate, and of course I don't have a nine to five,
00:02:45 --> 00:02:49 is having to go somewhere right after it snows.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:54 So my daughter, well anyway, long story short, my daughter got off at 5.30pm.
00:02:55 --> 00:03:02 Sunday morning and I had to go, go pick her up in the snow. Dave, it was horrible.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:06 It was horrible. And then as soon as I picked her up 530 AM,
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 cause she had to work the overnight shift as a high schooler,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:10 which I still don't understand.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 I don't get that. Why would they have her working those kinds of hours?
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 Dave, I don't know. She worked 11 to 530 AM.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 And is this the first time she did it or?
00:03:23 --> 00:03:29 Either first or second. I can't remember. But then my son had to be at his swim.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:33 They had some type of all-day swim camp at his swim club.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 And that started at 6 a.m. And I kept on asking him, I'm like,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 are you sure it's not canceled? He's like, nope.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 And I was like, Dave, these places don't even care about these kids.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 Because, you know, 6 a.m., they hadn't plowed. Nothing was salted.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 It was still snowing. It was dark.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 I was like, geez. Did everybody come?
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 I think a majority of people came. Everyone may not have been there at 6,
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 because we actually got there at 6.15, because, you know, I was just driving
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 slow. You know, I wasn't trying to risk anything.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:09 But, you know, I was just surprised that, you know, they ain't postpone it, cancel it.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:14 But like I said somewhere else, you know, these kids, they don't care that we're
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 risking our lives to get on places. All they care, you know,
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 about is, are we there yet? Are we late?
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 What time are you picking me up? You know what I mean?
00:04:23 --> 00:04:29 Well, that's crazy because were they delayed as far as school today?
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 Yes. I mean, well, Monday. I meant Monday.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:38 Yeah, yeah. My daughter's school and my son's school were both delayed on Monday.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:43 But yet they had your son out there with the swim meets, though.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 I mean, your son's out there with the swim club, though. Yeah,
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 swim club. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:54 It's crazy. I don't know. It's crazy. I don't get it. I really don't.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 I still can't get over to have your daughter working overnight like that. I know.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 You know, that's the same thing I said. Because, you know, I was like,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 hold on. Do I need to call them and remind them that you're in high school?
00:05:05 --> 00:05:10 Well, her mother didn't say anything about it? Well, she didn't tell her mom
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 to come to last minute. Okay.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 All right. Okay. All right. Yeah.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 Yeah. Okay. She didn't want to get in trouble with her boss, I guess.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:24 I don't know. I don't know what it is. so is that something she's going to do again,
00:05:25 --> 00:05:29 No, so it's not a regular basis thing, but I think she had to do it because,
00:05:29 --> 00:05:33 because of her school schedule, activity schedule, dance schedule,
00:05:33 --> 00:05:38 they have to work every other weekend. Oh, just co-op?
00:05:39 --> 00:05:43 Yeah, and she had, like, missed, well, actually, I think that's hospital policy,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:48 but because of her schedule, she had missed some stuff, so she was trying to,
00:05:48 --> 00:05:53 in her mind, she said she was making it up so she would not get in trouble. I said, okay.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:59 Okay. All right. Okay. Well, man, that's crazy.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:06 I don't know. I really don't. I don't know. I don't know if I had my kids out there doing that, man.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:14 I would be like, you can have a high school kid working, you know, adult hours.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:19 That means adults don't even want to work those hours.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:27 I've worked those hours before I remember working 11 to 7 in the morning and
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 that was not fun for me it really wasn't so,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:38 but okay alright well I tell you must be nice that's all I got to say,
00:06:40 --> 00:06:44 well let's see well we got a few things that we're going to talk about tonight
00:06:44 --> 00:06:49 so I guess we can go ahead and get into the show I thought I thought this first
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 story you wouldn't appreciate since you, you know,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 you deal in this kind of stuff.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 So I don't know if you heard this story or not.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 I did. Oh, you did hear about this? Yeah, I did.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:05 Okay. So the story is about a D.C.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:13 Air B&B squatter evicted after Judge sides with homeowner. Okay.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:24 And let's see here. it says what begun as a 32 day Airbnb rental in D.C.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:31 Ended up in a month-long squatter standoff.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:40 Shadija Romero rented homeowners Roxanne Douglas' property in February 2025
00:07:40 --> 00:07:45 after claiming her previous home was damaged by fire. But when...
00:07:48 --> 00:07:53 When the booking ended on March 29th, Romero refused to leave the residence.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 Romero claimed that tenants' rights under D.C.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 Law would sometime offer its protection after 30 days of occupancy.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:09 Douglas found herself locked out of her own home, unable to sell or access the
00:08:09 --> 00:08:13 property while still paying mortgage and utility bills.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:18 Romero's eviction history raises red flags.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:23 It said court documents show that Romero had a past pattern of similar behavior.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:31 Records show and revealed she owed roughly $35 and $50 in unpaid rent
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 from two separate properties in the D.C. area.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:42 Both involved previously in previous evictions and legal battles with landlords.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:50 Despite this history, Romero was able to book Douglas' property through Airbnb when no red flags raced.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:55 Airbnb only interviewed once the case
00:08:55 --> 00:09:03 received media attention and legal proceedings escalated in late 2025.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:09 While Romero stayed in the house, she allegedly tampered with security systems
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 and blocked Douglas from accessing her own property.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 Damn, that's crazy. I know, that's crazy, right? I know.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:25 She also reportedly stopped paying rent by July 2025, five months after her initial stay began.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 Douglas was stuck paying for a property she couldn't use.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:35 Legal fees, mortgage payments, and utility costs continued to pile up.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:43 She shared her story publicly, gaining support from neighbors and housing advocates like Judd's alight.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:49 Judd's ruled against Romero orders immediate eviction.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:58 On December the 11th, a D.C. judge ruled that Romero had no legal tenancy rights.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:06 The court cited a signed agreement where Romero acknowledged she was not a tenant and had no lease.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 The judge authorized immediate eviction.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 Later that day, Romero was removed from the property. Douglas,
00:10:14 --> 00:10:19 with help from her community, cleared out Romero's belongings and regained control
00:10:19 --> 00:10:24 of the home. The swift action marked the end of nearly a nine-month ordeal.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 This is crazy.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:35 They, I guess, with somebody who kind of knows a little bit about tenant rights
00:10:35 --> 00:10:39 and rules and regulations as far as squatters' rights and so forth,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 this could be something that could happen on a regular basis.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:47 I know you're a person that has rental properties and so forth.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:52 What's your thoughts about this whole story? I know you said you heard about the story.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 What's your thoughts about it? You know, Dave, really, I think it's really crazy
00:10:56 --> 00:11:01 because this person, basically what they were doing was cheating the system.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:06 You know, they knew exactly what they were doing, you know, and really they
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 just use that to their advantage.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:12 If I can give you an example, Dave, and as crazy as it sounds,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:18 we have some people right now who are living at the campground, right?
00:11:19 --> 00:11:23 Right. And it's a homeless family. It's a mother and her son.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:28 And the son is full grown. He's probably 20 plus.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:33 And they are living in tents on the campground.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:42 And I say they're homeless in terms of they don't have anywhere to go and they
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 stay in the tents. I guess enough said.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:50 Now, one of the rules that we try to enforce,
00:11:50 --> 00:11:57 and I mean, sometimes we can't enforce it, but if somebody stays in our campground
00:11:57 --> 00:12:03 for 30 days or more in the same, let's say, lot or site number,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 they technically can claim what she's claiming,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 like tenant rights or whatever.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:17 So what we do is for the people who may be long-term like that,
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 someone tenting and we know they're homeless.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:28 We have them every three weeks. They have to leave the campground for at least three or four days.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:35 And then they can come back because that breaks that 30 day continuous time
00:12:35 --> 00:12:39 where after that they could be considered a tenant.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:43 And if we were trying to get them out, we would probably have to go to court.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 And, you know, of course, that's going to take two to three months.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:50 Of course, you know, they they may not pay those two to three months.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:57 So in order for us to avoid a lot of people, potentially, and I mean,
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 not everybody's going to do it, but some people will take advantage of it.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:07 In order for us not to fall into that category, we'll ask people to leave every,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:12 you know, three to four weeks, but we will not let them stay 30 days or more.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:18 So Dave, you may say, well, what happens if they refuse to leave?
00:13:19 --> 00:13:26 Then sometime prior to those 30 days, you know, we can call the police and have them removed.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:31 If they stayed longer than 30 days, sometimes the police will say,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 you know, it's not my business. You know, you need to invest landlord tenants.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:40 And with the campground, it's a very gray area because we don't fall under landlord
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 tenant, but there's not really campground rules in Delaware.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 So a lot of time they'll place us under there.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:54 So if they wanted to, they could just move around on the campground,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 just move different places, right?
00:13:57 --> 00:14:04 No, no, because once it got to 30 days, if we thought they were not good tenants,
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 if we thought they were trying to, like, sneak the system, if they refused to leave,
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 you know, prior to 30 days, we
00:14:11 --> 00:14:15 can call the police and it's guaranteed the police will have them removed.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:20 If they stay. So, so, I mean, it's kind of on us to kind of keep track of those
00:14:20 --> 00:14:25 days, but if they stay after 30 days and then they start causing issues,
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 don't want to leave, whatever, whatever,
00:14:27 --> 00:14:31 don't want to pay, it's possible the police may not help us.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 Now, have you had anybody to do this? Of course.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:41 But, you know, at the end of the day, you know, sometimes we have to make it,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 undesirable for them to stay, you know, like even if we got to,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 and I mean, not really harassment,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 but if we got to go to them every day and say, where's our money?
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 You need to leave. When are you leaving? When are you leaving?
00:14:52 --> 00:14:57 You need, you know what I mean? Like, so, I mean, we've have had it and eventually
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 people leave because, you know, nobody wants to, you know, go through issues.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 But we, we have never had to take anybody to court.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 You know, most people kind of leave on their own.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:14 And similar, the state parks, the state parks only let you stay there a maximum
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 of three weeks, and then you have to leave for a week.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:23 So that's kind of, and, you know, I see why they do that. Interesting.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:29 Yeah. So this woman, she really found a way around the system, huh?
00:15:30 --> 00:15:34 Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, you know, people, Dave, you know,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 you work in social services.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:41 People who people become skilled at living off the system, whatever it may be,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:46 housing, food, you know, what, you know, people become skilled and they know
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 what to say, not to say, do not to do.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 And then, you know, once that hookup ends, they just jump on,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 you know, they just kind of jump to the next one.
00:15:56 --> 00:16:02 I mean, have you ever had anyone at social services who kind of scammed the
00:16:02 --> 00:16:08 system and then maybe they told other people they know and now other people
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 are trying to scam the system too?
00:16:09 --> 00:16:16 Let me tell you, there are certain things that people do that we know either
00:16:16 --> 00:16:21 had to be told by a person who worked for social services at one time or maybe
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 working now for social services,
00:16:23 --> 00:16:31 or they know somebody who knows people,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 knows how social services system works.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:38 Because there's certain things that people tell us that we know,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:44 the only way they know to tell us this is that somebody told them to text it.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:49 Okay? Because otherwise it's not something that would normally come out of their
00:16:49 --> 00:16:55 mouths or they write on their paperwork or whatever the case may be because it shows up.
00:16:56 --> 00:17:03 We know that legitimate people wouldn't know to say certain things.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:09 Yeah, I'm gonna put it that way. We we we and we know that even though the people
00:17:09 --> 00:17:13 don't think we are paying attention, we know because the first thing we'll we
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 always have our little conversation to work with. Look at this.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:21 Read this. Now, you know somebody told them to say this, right?
00:17:22 --> 00:17:27 So, you know, so those type of things, yeah. We know when somebody's trying
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 to scam us or whatever the case may be.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:35 It's just like, you know, well, I bet not. I know, Dave.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 Don't mess around and tell all your secrets.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 I'm not going to put that out there. But just know we know. Just put it that
00:17:43 --> 00:17:48 way. But I did want to say this statement from the story.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:53 It says, Airbnb confirmed that it has been monitoring the situation following
00:17:53 --> 00:18:00 the court roll and the platform permanently removed Romero, citing violations of its policies.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:08 The case highlighted potential weaknesses in vetting repeat housing offenders.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:14 Airbnb pledged to review internal procedures for identifying risk factors like
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 past evictions or legal disputes.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:24 So, do they do that much digging when people are renting?
00:18:25 --> 00:18:30 Are you asking me? Yeah, I'm asking you. You know, it's just like anything else.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 Like, some do, some don't. Okay.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:38 All right. Okay. And, you know, I was reading a story online the other day about
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 the amount of, oh, you may find this funny.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:48 They said the amount of people forging their resumes and, you know,
00:18:48 --> 00:18:53 submitting to, you know, HR people are like off the roof now.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 But that's always been. Yeah. That's always been.
00:18:57 --> 00:19:03 But, you know, now it's okay. If it was easy before, now it's really easy.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 Well, now you got AI to help you and all that stuff. So, yeah.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:14 Yeah. It's interesting. People will scan the system as quickly as they can and
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 as often as they can if they can get away with it.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:22 And it's really a shame that we had that going on in the world today.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:26 But believe me, I see it almost every day at work, man. I really do.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:33 Almost every day, Leonard. Get some paperwork. Somebody will say that they're not working.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:37 And I'll just hit a couple keys and I'll see their whole job history.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:46 Right, right. So, you know, so, but, you know, we'll see what happens with, with, with this person.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:51 And what if the person just changes her name and then decides to rent another Airbnb?
00:19:52 --> 00:19:58 I mean, it's possible. You know, these people are slick. Yeah, I know. I know.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:02 Well, let's just hope you don't come through Delaware anytime.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 Yeah, I know. Yeah, so.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:10 Okay. Alright, we're going to move on to our next story Let's see,
00:20:11 --> 00:20:18 I thought this was interesting considering the climate in the world today, where we are.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 And this story kind of caught my eye, and I figured I'd share it with everyone.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:34 There was a marker that memorializing 1918 lynching goes on display in Atlanta.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 There's a story around this.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:44 It said Georgia was among the most active states for lynching. I didn't know this.
00:20:44 --> 00:20:49 I thought it would be maybe Texas or Mississippi, Alabama or whatever.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:57 But according to the Equal Justice Initiative catalog of more than 4 documented
00:20:57 --> 00:21:01 racial terror lynchings in the United States,
00:21:01 --> 00:21:12 a historical marker from the site of a 1916 lynching that was repeatedly vandalized
00:21:12 --> 00:21:16 in recent years is now safely on display in Atlanta.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:21 In an exhibit that opened on Monday, December the 8th.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:29 It memorializes an event that some people in the rural southern Georgia have tried hard to erase,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:37 the killing of Mary Turner by a white mob that was bent on silencing her after
00:21:37 --> 00:21:41 she demanded justice for the lynching of her husband,
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 Hayes Turner, and at least 10 other black people.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:56 It said, pocked with bullet holes and cracked at the pedestal by an off-road
00:21:56 --> 00:22:01 vehicle, the Georgia Historical Society marker read in part,
00:22:01 --> 00:22:06 Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was burned,
00:22:06 --> 00:22:14 mutilated, and shot to death by a mob after publicly denouncing her husband's
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 lynching for the previous day.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:22 No charges were ever brought against known or suspected participants in this crime.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:27 From 1880 to 1930, as many as
00:22:27 --> 00:22:34 550 people were killed in Georgia in these illegal acts of mob violence.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:41 Now, each word damaged by bullets is projected on a wall, and visitors hear
00:22:41 --> 00:22:46 these words spoken by some of Turner's six generations of descendants.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:53 I'm glad the memorial was shot up, great-granddaughter Katrina Thomas said Saturday
00:22:53 --> 00:22:59 night after her first look at the exhibit in the National Museum for Civil Rights and Human Rights.
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 Millions of people are going to learn.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:11 Her story, that her voice is continuing years and years after.
00:23:11 --> 00:23:14 This shows history does not disappear.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:19 It lives and continues to grow. Americans learned about these lynchings in 1918
00:23:19 --> 00:23:25 because they were investigated in the immediate aftermath by Walter White,
00:23:25 --> 00:23:30 who founded the Georgia chapter of the National Association for advancement
00:23:30 --> 00:23:36 of colored people and would become an influential voice for civil rights nationwide.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:42 The light-skinned black man who could pass for white interviewed eyewitnesses
00:23:42 --> 00:23:47 and provided names of the suspects to the governor of Georgia,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:52 according to the reports in the NAACP publication, The Crisis.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:57 Georgia was among the most active states for lynching, according to the Equal
00:23:57 --> 00:24:04 Justice Initiative catalog of more than 4 documented racial terror lynchings
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 in the United States between,
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 Reconstruction and World War II. That's deep.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:18 I've never heard of her either. Have you? No, I have not. Okay.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:23 And the fact that they had this memorial that had been all tied up,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:27 but they still have it, you know, as a memorial for this thing.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:31 Now, I'm sure that when it coming out and they're getting the backing that it's
00:24:31 --> 00:24:37 getting now, I'm sure that they'll probably be putting something out either
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 documentary wise or movie wise, I'm sure, pretty soon.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 But this story sounds like it's one that needs to be told.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:49 And it's really crazy that they had so many lynchings down there in that area.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:57 And they said Atlanta. You would think it would be maybe some of the other suburbs of Atlanta.
00:24:57 --> 00:25:01 There are some places down there that they say you don't want to be in Georgia.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:12 I remember in the Ray Childs movie, he was talking about when he made that song, Georgia.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:19 A lot of it had to do with what was going on down there at that time when he
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 started singing about it because of the racial divide down there.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 So what's your thoughts on, on all of this?
00:25:26 --> 00:25:31 I mean, you know, the fact that we have all of this, well, here's a story that
00:25:31 --> 00:25:36 neither one of us ever heard, but it seems to be a very important story. Yeah.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:41 And, you know, I'm not surprised because I don't remember.
00:25:41 --> 00:25:45 And I Googled it. I thought I thought what I thought was right.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:53 But I don't know if you remember the Emmett Till sign had had the same issues. And I looked it up.
00:25:53 --> 00:26:03 So the Emmett Till sign was first erected in 2008 and later it was stolen and
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 thrown in the river within months.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:12 The second sign, the replacement sign, was put up in 2013 or 14.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:20 And this sign was soon riddled with numerous bullet holes and became a national symbol of racism.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:24 The third Emmett Till sign put up, this is all in the same place.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:28 This one was shot up in just 35 days.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:37 The fourth sign was put up in 2019, and this one was the new bulletproof sign,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:44 and it was dedicated featuring armored steel and security cameras to further
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47 deter vandalism and racism.
00:26:48 --> 00:26:55 Can you believe that they made a bulletproof and armored steel and put security cameras? Wow.
00:26:56 --> 00:27:00 So, so it's kind of like, okay, are people that hateful that,
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 you know, I mean, they're going to go through all of this for someone they did
00:27:04 --> 00:27:09 not personally know, you know, someone who was already had their life,
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12 you know, was already a victim of violent crime.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 I mean, it's just crazy.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:19 Yeah, the fact that people, that you had to go that far to, you know,
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 every time they put a sign up, it gets vandalized.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:27 And then now you got to go, you got to go that far to put bulletproof material
00:27:27 --> 00:27:35 around the sign and then put security cameras and still, I mean, come on now, it's a sign.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:41 Yeah. So if you're willing to shoot a sign up like that, that just says a lot
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 that there's some problems still down there.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:52 Mm-hmm. Yeah, and that if they're shooting signs, they're shooting people who are there. I know.
00:27:53 --> 00:28:00 You know, because that's not a coincidence. I mean, you talk about a real hate
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 crime when you start shooting that sign. Yeah.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:07 Yeah, yeah. And the fact that it goes on down there.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:18 When I read and I look at some of the movies that have depicted stuff that went
00:28:18 --> 00:28:22 on back during the 40s and the 50s and the 60s down south,
00:28:23 --> 00:28:29 and how a lot of people, you would think to yourself, because a lot of people
00:28:29 --> 00:28:34 move north to get away from what was going on down there in Jim Crow and the
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 Jim Crow south and all of that stuff.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 Because they had more opportunities, they were more accepted.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:47 You would think that all the Black people or all the minorities would have moved
00:28:47 --> 00:28:52 north to get away from what was going on down there.
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 But a lot of them had their roots there, and they didn't want to leave.
00:28:57 --> 00:29:01 A friend of mine was telling me about their family in South Carolina and how.
00:29:02 --> 00:29:06 He was telling me about his great-great-grandmother and hearing stories about
00:29:06 --> 00:29:11 what apparently his great-great-grandfather was lynched down there in South Carolina.
00:29:12 --> 00:29:16 And, you know, they lived right next door.
00:29:17 --> 00:29:22 Well, not necessarily next door, but I mean, country road next door,
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 you know, that goes to the person that did it.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:32 And they knew that these people did it. but they couldn't convince the authorities
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 down there to do anything about it.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:41 Well, you know, so, I mean, it's really sad, but, I mean, it looks like that
00:29:41 --> 00:29:48 these people are going to make sure that they're going to make sure that this memorial is,
00:29:49 --> 00:29:53 people are going to pay attention to this memorial and make sure the story is told.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 And, you know, because, I mean, man, she was pregnant.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:05 You know, they killed her when she was pregnant, and after seeing them kill
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 her husband, I mean, you know,
00:30:08 --> 00:30:12 Mary Turner had to be a strong woman, when you think about it,
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15 because of all that she probably went through.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:20 But eight months pregnant, and then they burned her body and they mutilated her.
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 How much hate can you have for a
00:30:24 --> 00:30:29 person? you're going to burn her body and mutilate her and she's pregnant,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:35 man it makes you mad it makes you mad but anyway,
00:30:36 --> 00:30:42 hats off to those people for keeping Mary Turner's name alive and for bringing
00:30:42 --> 00:30:48 attention to all that was not right down there in Georgia especially when you
00:30:48 --> 00:30:53 got over 500 lynchings that have been reported not included of the ones that
00:30:53 --> 00:30:55 people probably don't know about.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:58 Right. Okay, so...
00:30:59 --> 00:31:06 Good luck to everyone down there, and hopefully they're able to get that rectified.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:13 All right, moving on to our next story. So this was a feel-good story because
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 you never know what may happen.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:20 You ever said to yourself,
00:31:20 --> 00:31:27 man, I wonder, it would sure be nice if I can get this person to speak at my
00:31:27 --> 00:31:32 event or to, you know, do a special appearance at your event,
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 but then you said to yourself, oh, they would never come,
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 they're too busy, they're this, they're that.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:38 You just never know unless you try.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:44 This is one of those situations where these people said, well,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:48 we don't know if they'll come, but all we could do is try to get them to come.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:55 So this Maryland high school goes to great lengths to convince Michelle Obama
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 to speak at their graduation. Thank you.
00:31:58 --> 00:32:01 It says a social media campaign launched by
00:32:01 --> 00:32:05 hopeful groups of the graduating seniors eventually garnered
00:32:05 --> 00:32:12 a reaction from the former first lady graduating seniors at a Maryland high
00:32:12 --> 00:32:20 school went to great lengths to gift the first lady Michelle Obama to give the
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 commencement speech at their graduation next year.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:27 The ideal dream was dreamed
00:32:27 --> 00:32:33 up during a student government association meeting at Bethesda Chevy Chase High
00:32:33 --> 00:32:39 School and resulted in an aggressive social media campaign to reach America's
00:32:39 --> 00:32:44 first black first lady and wife of former President Barack Obama.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:49 In one video, throngs of students standing on the stadium bleachers erupted
00:32:49 --> 00:32:55 into a thunderous chair after SGA Vice President Noah shouts out,
00:32:55 --> 00:33:04 This is day two of asking Michelle Obama to speak at our high school.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 Oh, I see where they're going with this.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:16 Graduation. Another video shows students singing Michelle Obama on a school campus football field.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:21 I've watched her documentary Becoming on Netflix, and you know,
00:33:22 --> 00:33:25 we grew up with her, her being a great speaker,
00:33:25 --> 00:33:30 her really emphasizing youth voices, and I just thought she would be a major
00:33:30 --> 00:33:33 speaker, and we'd be honored to have her at BCC.
00:33:33 --> 00:33:39 Noah told NBC Washington, since the group of high school seers didn't know what
00:33:39 --> 00:33:44 the process was to getting one of these most famous political figures in the world to speak,
00:33:47 --> 00:33:52 At their graduation, they decided to turn to algorithms of social media.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:55 Uh-oh, they're getting smart, Leonard. They're getting smart.
00:33:55 --> 00:33:58 The videos have garnered millions of views.
00:33:59 --> 00:34:04 Eventually, their persistence and creativity strategy worked, sort of.
00:34:05 --> 00:34:11 Michelle Obama commented on one of the videos, giving the class of 2026 hope
00:34:11 --> 00:34:14 that their wish might just come true.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:19 She said, I'm so moved by your videos.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:26 It is a credit to what you and so many others in your generation can get done
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 through the power of organizing.
00:34:28 --> 00:34:33 The author of The Look wrote, My team is in touch with your school,
00:34:33 --> 00:34:35 and we're working on something special.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:39 In the meantime, I want to hear more from you.
00:34:39 --> 00:34:46 What gives you hope? I think that's what gives me hope is the fact that Mrs.
00:34:46 --> 00:34:52 Obama, she heard what we were saying, and she reached out to us.
00:34:52 --> 00:34:57 And that really shows that if we care about something and we try hard and we're
00:34:57 --> 00:35:01 persistent at something, then our voices can have an impact.
00:35:02 --> 00:35:07 And we can make a difference, said Noah, the president, vice president of SGA.
00:35:07 --> 00:35:15 It remains to be seen that Mrs. Obama, who lives just eight miles away in Washington,
00:35:15 --> 00:35:21 D.C., will actually deliver the commencement address at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School.
00:35:22 --> 00:35:28 However the SGA says things are moving in the right direction I think that's
00:35:28 --> 00:35:35 so cool the fact that they are doing things to try to make that happen and the
00:35:35 --> 00:35:38 fact that they got her attention I mean,
00:35:39 --> 00:35:42 how could she say no now that it's become I know.
00:35:43 --> 00:35:50 At least do a video or something but I mean I think she's gonna I think she's
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 going to do something for him.
00:35:51 --> 00:35:55 That's by the way the tone of the story sounds. It sounds like she's going to do something.
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 What, you know...
00:36:00 --> 00:36:03 Do you think your kids would do something like this?
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 Do you think either one of them would want to do something like this?
00:36:07 --> 00:36:11 I think they would participate. I don't think they would spearhead it.
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13 So, I mean, I definitely give a lot of kudos.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:19 Dave, you know, even though as bad as we talk about this young generation,
00:36:19 --> 00:36:22 there really are a lot of standout people, too.
00:36:23 --> 00:36:26 Yeah, well, we've done many stories on this young generation,
00:36:26 --> 00:36:30 and some of them are really killing it right now. You know, I think,
00:36:31 --> 00:36:35 you know, maybe maybe it's just my kids who I mean, but, you know,
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37 my kids, they stand out in their own way.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:42 You know, I think it's one of the things where I I I look for them to stand
00:36:42 --> 00:36:45 out the way I think they should stand out.
00:36:45 --> 00:36:50 But I mean, I will say both of them, they excel in their own way,
00:36:50 --> 00:36:52 which, you know, I guess it's a good thing because, you know,
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 everybody's different.
00:36:54 --> 00:36:59 Yeah, that is true. That is true. I mean, I know my granddaughter is,
00:37:00 --> 00:37:06 you know, she's very quiet, but, you know, but she, same thing you just said,
00:37:06 --> 00:37:08 she excelled in her own way, you know what I mean?
00:37:08 --> 00:37:11 So, you know, they're definitely different.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:14 They don't have the social skills.
00:37:15 --> 00:37:19 A lot of them don't have the social skills that we have because they're not,
00:37:19 --> 00:37:23 you know, having social media, having
00:37:23 --> 00:37:27 the phones, having the computers and everything at their fingertips.
00:37:28 --> 00:37:30 They don't have to talk to people.
00:37:31 --> 00:37:34 Right. And that's what's so interesting.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:38 And that's why when you see something like this story that's what caught my
00:37:38 --> 00:37:43 eye when you see that they're going out of their way to reach out verbally and
00:37:43 --> 00:37:49 to do the things that are necessary to get her attention now I know.
00:37:50 --> 00:37:54 In my day, we probably would have done something like that.
00:37:54 --> 00:37:57 The kids I went to school with, if we wanted to try, we would have probably
00:37:57 --> 00:37:59 did something like that. You know?
00:38:00 --> 00:38:03 But then, and we would have talked about it and tried to make it happen.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:07 You know? And we probably would have tried to do it without the principal being involved.
00:38:08 --> 00:38:11 But now, you know, nowadays things are so different.
00:38:11 --> 00:38:16 You imagine how crazy things would be if he actually shows up there? Oh, I know.
00:38:18 --> 00:38:20 Those tickets for the parents would be.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:25 The parents are probably trying to be there. You know, they probably try to
00:38:25 --> 00:38:27 take all the seats up themselves.
00:38:27 --> 00:38:32 Because people don't understand the history that's involved with her and her
00:38:32 --> 00:38:34 husband. They really don't understand.
00:38:35 --> 00:38:39 And especially the fact that these young kids want her to be there.
00:38:39 --> 00:38:43 That's a blessing. But she's a very big advocate for young people.
00:38:44 --> 00:38:50 So she goes out of her way to try to appeal to them. So that's really cool.
00:38:50 --> 00:38:52 But I thought this was a very cool story.
00:38:52 --> 00:38:57 And I just wanted to throw it out there because we do so many crazy stories.
00:38:57 --> 00:39:01 But I thought this was a really, really cool story involving young people.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:05 And I hope that they get their way.
00:39:05 --> 00:39:12 I hope they get her to do something. If it's not in person, maybe a video directed to them.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:17 And, you know, hopefully we'll get a chance to see the follow-up to this story.
00:39:19 --> 00:39:22 But I just wanted to bring it up because I thought it was a feel-good story
00:39:22 --> 00:39:25 we don't get a chance to do those too often so.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:32 There's a lot going on in the world today and it's really a shame,
00:39:33 --> 00:39:38 but this is a good story so we gotta pay attention to it and we gotta talk about
00:39:38 --> 00:39:42 it so that's why I wanted to bring it up so alright,
00:39:44 --> 00:39:47 That brings us to Leonard's favorite part of the show. He, you know,
00:39:48 --> 00:39:54 folks, he smiles every time I say Dave's Corner because he just says,
00:39:54 --> 00:39:58 gosh, I was just waiting for you to get to this part. I was just waiting for you to get to this part.
00:39:59 --> 00:40:01 So, okay. So today's Dave's Corner.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:05 And by the way, thank you for your feedback from last week's question because
00:40:05 --> 00:40:09 there were quite a few people that commented on their three songs that,
00:40:09 --> 00:40:14 you know, kind of would be the soundtrack of their lives. a lot of people was
00:40:14 --> 00:40:16 wondering what leonard was talking about when it came to his but anyway.
00:40:20 --> 00:40:27 But the today's question as far as the corner is concerned the corner yeah i
00:40:27 --> 00:40:35 know how you like that the corner yeah okay all right yeah don't be hate don't
00:40:35 --> 00:40:40 be hate don't be i'll i'll try not to dave Dave, it's really hard.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:42 It's really hard not to hate, but I'm going to try.
00:40:43 --> 00:40:51 Oh, man. But anyway, it says, I was actually watching iRobot the other day.
00:40:51 --> 00:40:54 It's one of my favorite movies. I don't know why I like that movie so much, but I do.
00:40:55 --> 00:41:02 And I wanted to know, would you want a robot in your home, like the robots that
00:41:02 --> 00:41:04 they ended up giving away at the end?
00:41:04 --> 00:41:09 If so, what would be the main things you would have the robot doing for you?
00:41:10 --> 00:41:15 Well, Dave, just like Jay-Z said, I'm a business man.
00:41:15 --> 00:41:21 So with that said, that robot would be my personal assistant.
00:41:21 --> 00:41:26 It would be pretty busy, huh? Yeah, man, that robot would be my personal assistant.
00:41:26 --> 00:41:32 Yeah. So, I mean, you know, adding articles to the website and doing social
00:41:32 --> 00:41:38 media, contacting people, selling ads, doing the back end. Dave,
00:41:38 --> 00:41:41 I have man, I may burn that robot out.
00:41:41 --> 00:41:44 Ain't no telling. But yeah, long story short,
00:41:44 --> 00:41:51 that robot be my assistant slash business partner slash IT department slash
00:41:51 --> 00:41:56 marketing department slash advisory board, you know, all that.
00:41:57 --> 00:41:59 So I'm going to put that robot to work.
00:42:00 --> 00:42:03 Oh, okay. All right. All right. Well, that's smart.
00:42:03 --> 00:42:06 Okay. So you're looking at it from a business point of view.
00:42:06 --> 00:42:09 Now, I'm a little surprised that you would look at it so much on a business
00:42:09 --> 00:42:12 point of view, even though that's smart. I get it.
00:42:13 --> 00:42:16 With that campground and all the stuff that you have to do, man,
00:42:16 --> 00:42:19 that robot would be the maintenance man. Everything, you know,
00:42:19 --> 00:42:20 it'd be doing everything.
00:42:21 --> 00:42:25 Well, I mean, you know, he could do some of that, too. Yeah.
00:42:25 --> 00:42:29 Every move, every place you go, that robot should be with you. You know what I mean?
00:42:31 --> 00:42:37 I know if I had one of those robots I guess I would never shovel snow again
00:42:37 --> 00:42:42 I can tell you that for sure Shoveling snow is fun What are you talking about?
00:42:43 --> 00:42:47 Okay, alright, I'll keep that in mind The next time I need snow shoveled Y'all
00:42:47 --> 00:42:54 heard Leonard say that Leonard has a business people You can hire Leonard to shovel your snow For you.
00:42:56 --> 00:43:00 I definitely Would not do any chores anymore.
00:43:00 --> 00:43:03 So washing clothes, all that stuff would be out the window.
00:43:03 --> 00:43:10 And if I could teach it to cook my favorite meals on a regular basis, I'm good for that.
00:43:11 --> 00:43:16 And yeah, definitely help with the business side of things, trying to help me
00:43:16 --> 00:43:20 motivate and incorporate Great.
00:43:21 --> 00:43:28 And become even bigger so that my retirement will look real good thanks to the robot, of course.
00:43:29 --> 00:43:36 But do you think that we would come to depend on them too much, though? Of course.
00:43:37 --> 00:43:42 I mean, I'd almost compare it to the cell phone.
00:43:42 --> 00:43:48 Yeah. Do you feel like there's some people who lean on the cell phone too much?
00:43:48 --> 00:43:54 Yeah. Yeah, but these cell phones then made it hard not to, you know,
00:43:54 --> 00:43:57 what do you call them? Do you watch Abedale Elementary?
00:43:57 --> 00:44:01 Yeah, occasionally, yes. Did you see the episode they did when they took everybody's
00:44:01 --> 00:44:02 cell phone away from them?
00:44:03 --> 00:44:08 They had to go a whole day without their cell phone. And, you know, what do you call them?
00:44:08 --> 00:44:10 Shirley Ralph's character was
00:44:10 --> 00:44:13 up there saying, oh, that's easy because I'm used to not having a phone.
00:44:13 --> 00:44:16 We didn't have a phone for years. And so she was the one that was feeling the
00:44:16 --> 00:44:21 most You know When they took her phone away But it's hard to go without.
00:44:23 --> 00:44:27 Your phone has become almost like a appendage, you know? Yeah, no, I'm sure.
00:44:27 --> 00:44:31 You know? So, and that's even the people like me who, who's,
00:44:32 --> 00:44:35 who live most of their lives without the cell phone, you know?
00:44:35 --> 00:44:41 So, you know, but, but you guys, if you guys had a robot, you know,
00:44:41 --> 00:44:47 like the iRobot, robots, what would you have those robots doing? Let us know.
00:44:47 --> 00:44:51 And let's see, as long as you're not doing any crazy stuff with them, you know?
00:44:53 --> 00:44:59 So, but anyway, that's our show for tonight. Len, you got anything you want
00:44:59 --> 00:45:00 to add before we sign off?
00:45:01 --> 00:45:04 No, I mean, that's about it. You know, Dave, this year winding down,
00:45:04 --> 00:45:06 if you try and get anything done before the end of the year,
00:45:06 --> 00:45:08 you may want to start today.
00:45:08 --> 00:45:13 Yeah, man, we're two weeks away from January, man. It's crazy.
00:45:14 --> 00:45:16 The year just flew by again. I'll tell you, man.
00:45:19 --> 00:45:23 You know, it's funny when January comes around, Don't it go like from January to March real quick?
00:45:25 --> 00:45:29 I can't say that, but it does fly by.
00:45:29 --> 00:45:34 Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, let's see how quick one this one fly by.
00:45:35 --> 00:45:39 And I don't know. This might be a snowy next couple of months the way things
00:45:39 --> 00:45:42 are going. So we'll see. I know. Yeah.
00:45:43 --> 00:45:46 But anyway, we want to thank you guys for taking the time to listen to us.
00:45:46 --> 00:45:49 And come back and join us next Tuesday.
00:45:49 --> 00:45:54 Same bat channel. same bad time. We'll see you then. Have a good night.
00:46:04 --> 00:46:08 Tune in next week, ladies and gentlemen, for another edition of News and Trends
00:46:08 --> 00:46:11 with your hosts, Dave and Lynn.