Hosts Dave and Len welcome Hon. Sherry Dorsey Walker to News and Trends to discuss her trailblazing career, efforts to add Black history to Delaware schools, and her role at DHSS supporting homelessness and community outreach.
The episode also covers the recent Mother African Union Church fire and the outpouring of community support, reflections on August Quarterly, and quick takes on cultural moments and local news.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:19 Of News and Trends with your host, Dave and Lenny.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 Talk to him, Loke. How could I possibly be inconspicuous?
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 With my flow as f***ing ridiculous.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 That's quite an accent. See, I'm from the south.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 Welcome, welcome, welcome to News and Trends with Dave and Lenny.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 This is one of your hosts, Mr.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:38 Dave Coker, proprietor of Dave Mark Inc., promoter, event planner,
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 and all-around good guy, hanging out with my partner, Mr.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:48 Leonard Young. And we want to remind you that we are on the MBG Podcast Network,
00:00:48 --> 00:00:54 along with a host of great shows that you can tune into and listen to.
00:00:55 --> 00:01:01 And you can also catch us. If you don't catch our show on Tuesday nights when
00:01:01 --> 00:01:08 we normally play the show, you can always listen to the playback on Internet radio on Saturdays,
00:01:08 --> 00:01:16 101.5 The Fever with DJ Ribs and his partner, Mr. Bobby Keys.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 And that's at 10 a.m.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23 Eastern Time on Saturday. Saturday mornings, that's every Saturday.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:28 You can listen to the playback of our Tuesday night show. So I'm hanging out,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 like I said, with my partner, Mr. Leonard Young. What's going on, sir?
00:01:31 --> 00:01:36 Hey, Dave, all is well. This is Leonard Young, CEO of National Black Guide,
00:01:36 --> 00:01:41 DelawareBlack.com, black media expert, all-around good guy. How goes it, Dave?
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 Man, I can't call it. I guess it's summertime, right? Oh, man.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 It was hot today. Like pass out weather hot.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:54 Yeah, yeah. Well, yesterday was hot, too. But yesterday wasn't like today.
00:01:55 --> 00:02:00 Today was a different type of high well you know when yeah I guess so because
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 you were out there in the field yeah yeah picking yeah.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 Yeah well you know well people been waiting
00:02:11 --> 00:02:15 on the warm weather whatever have you opened up your pool down there yet no
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 so you know we're actually working on i mean after this i'm about to go back
00:02:18 --> 00:02:22 out there and uh finish trying to get it ready for memorial day weekend but
00:02:22 --> 00:02:26 we i think we open thursday or friday so okay all right we we got a couple more
00:02:26 --> 00:02:30 days okay all right you you coming and then I'll take a dip?
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 Yeah, yeah, I'll take a dip, all right.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:40 Be like, be like, you still gonna be your lifeguard this year?
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 No, you remember I told you the kids hate the campground? Oh,
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 yeah, that's right. I forgot, yeah.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:51 We cannot pay them to come to the campground. They will not come down there.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:58 Yeah, well, you know, believe me, they'll love the campground in about 10 years.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 Right, right. You know, just keep that in mind. They'll love it then.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:10 But, okay, well, I mean, you know, that's right. Memorial Day is next, this weekend, right?
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 Yeah. Yeah, it came up quick.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 Yeah, it kind of snuck up on us. Okay. Yeah. All right.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 Okay. Dave, I do want to give one quick shout out. Okay.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:27 My sister Danielle's son, my nephew, this weekend, he was in the state championships
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 for track. And even though I'm a hardcore A.I.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 DuPont graduate, I'll give him credit because he goes to Silesiana,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 which was our arch rival every year in every sport.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:45 But he was part of the winning four by 100 relay team at state.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:50 So they they got first place. And I think Sally's took the team title for their
00:03:50 --> 00:03:55 division. So very, very exciting to, you know, see him as part of that state
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 championship relay and state championship team.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 Yeah. Okay. Cool. Cool. That's, that's great.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:08 Now, is he, is track something that he's planning to keep on doing?
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm pretty sure. I mean, he, well, I'll put it like this.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 He is very motivated and dedicated.
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 So, you know, I don't see him stopping anytime soon.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 Now, Dave, on the second note, I don't know if you ever been to Dover High School,
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 the new Dover High School.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 No, I've been down to the new one. huge huge their
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 their stadium is a college stadium like
00:04:30 --> 00:04:34 i i kid you not they have a very nice school look
00:04:34 --> 00:04:39 their school looks like a um a corporate headquarters kind of from the outside
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 like it doesn't really look like a school like a traditional school i've seen
00:04:42 --> 00:04:49 pictures of it very nice well it must be nice they got all that dover money
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 coming in there you know i see.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:58 Yeah well no when i when i went down there it was the old school it wasn't that one yeah,
00:05:00 --> 00:05:06 yeah because like i said you know that's when uh yuki washington was playing ball there so,
00:05:08 --> 00:05:14 okay well that's you know we know where dollars are going then right well were
00:05:14 --> 00:05:19 they well spent well spent because that i mean that thing is nice they should
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 be producing champions on a regular basis.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Okay.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:30 All right. All right. Well, congratulations again. And that's right. It is track season.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 I was seeing some, there was a track on briefly the other night.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:40 I missed it though. I was mad because I caught it the last minute. So, yeah.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 For those of you that don't know, me and Leonard are big track and field enthusiasts.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:50 So, you know, normally when it's on, if I see it on, I'll hurry up and hit Leonard
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 up and say, man, track and field's on, man. Where you at?
00:05:53 --> 00:05:59 You know, so we both enjoy the track and field event. So, but, okay. All right.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:06 Well, let's see. Well, I think we have somebody very special on the show with us tonight.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:11 We need to let people know that she's with us.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:15 So I guess, why don't you read the bio of the person that we have on with us tonight?
00:06:16 --> 00:06:20 Sure, Dave. So today we have the Honorable Sherry Dorsey Walker.
00:06:20 --> 00:06:25 She is a Wilmington native and a trailblazing Delaware leader who became the
00:06:25 --> 00:06:30 first person of color elected to Delaware's third house district in 2018.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:39 And the first woman and first person of color elected to Wilmington City Council 6th District in 2012.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:43 She's a graduate of Howard University and University of Delaware.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:49 She currently serves as a Chief of External Affairs for Delaware Department
00:06:49 --> 00:06:54 of Health and Social Services, focusing on homelessness and community support.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:58 During her legislative career, Walker championed major initiatives,
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 including adding Black history to Delaware school curriculum,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:07 establishing Juneteenth as a permanent state-paid holiday. I know they love you.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:16 Expanding police body cameras, supporting veteran spouses and education careers,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 and increasing diversity in large state contracts.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:26 She had received numerous honors including WDAS Women of Excellence Shiro,
00:07:27 --> 00:07:31 Legislator of the Year, and multiple Community Leadership Awards.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:36 Walker is deeply involved in community service through her organizations,
00:07:36 --> 00:07:44 including Bethel AME Church, Teen Warehouse, WRK Group, and Kind to Kids.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:51 She's also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and is
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 married to her college sweetheart, Dwight.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 So without further ado, I'd like to welcome my cousin, not yours,
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 Dave, Sherry Dorsey Walker. How are you?
00:08:02 --> 00:08:07 It is well with my soul. How are both of you? Good, good. For that lovely introduction, family.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 I couldn't do it to anybody if you wrote it and gave it to me yourself.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:18 So I guess to start out, and I guess I probably haven't been able to do this
00:08:18 --> 00:08:23 for a long time, but Sherry, I don't know if you remember when I first met you.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 So when I first met you, I didn't even know we were related.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 But I met you when you were doing, you were producing movies.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 You know, you had a film company.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:41 Yes, still do. Oh, do you really? Okay. Well, here, tell us a little bit about the film company.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:47 So the name of the film company is SWAP Productions, and that's an acronym for Sisters with a Purpose.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 And I actually named my company after the nuns at St.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:56 Elizabeth's who educated me, as well as my biological sisters. Gotcha. Okay.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:01 And I'll tell you, Dave, and I thought this was just so nifty.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:07 One thing that I found out about the Honorable Sherry Dorsey Walker,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:16 and it was this summer when I went to my stepmother Loretta's birthday surprise birthday party.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:21 Sherry dorsey walker is funny i
00:09:21 --> 00:09:26 mean like dave i kid you not like like when i talk about someone having you
00:09:26 --> 00:09:33 laughing like the whole time and dave i must have been under a rock i did not
00:09:33 --> 00:09:40 know but but now i know like she is funny funny funny funny i enjoy family yeah yeah definitely,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:46 all right well you know i guess to get started so of course you were the first
00:09:46 --> 00:09:52 person of color elected to Delaware's third house district and the first person
00:09:52 --> 00:09:56 of color elected to Wilmington City Council, sixth district in 2012.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:04 I guess, you know, taking it back to 2012, what made you want to run for that
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 position and, you know, I guess enter a politics?
00:10:07 --> 00:10:14 That's a great question. I, honestly, I never really wanted to be in elected office.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:18 My dad and I would knock doors to help other people get elected.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:24 And one of the persons that we worked on the campaign feverishly was President Ted Blunt.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:29 And he came to my dad and I, he was at the Bayard School and he was speaking
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 and afterward made a beeline to my father and I.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:36 And he was like, listen, I'd like the two of you to be on my campaign. And we did.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:42 And it was really exciting because he won. And fast forward to 2018,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:48 my dad went on to Glory 2007 unexpectedly, a Vietnam veteran.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:52 And President Blunt told both of my parents, he was like, I'm going to continue
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 to help her no matter what the situation or circumstance.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 So 2018, I'm running for state representative.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 And, well, I ran for state representative and I got a call from President Ted
00:11:02 --> 00:11:08 Blunt saying, hey, Sherry, don't you live right smack dab in the middle of that
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 district where the woman is retiring?
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 And I said, yes. And he said, well, I think you should think about running.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:18 And he hung up the phone. And I was like, okay, like, I said,
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 well, let me, I need to talk to some people. Then he hung up the phone.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:25 So I called his daughter, Marla, talked to my family, prayed about it, talked to my pastor.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:30 And I called him back and he said, Well, since you decided to run,
00:11:30 --> 00:11:36 I'm going to give you X amount of dollars, which he said he was going to do.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:40 And he said, I made a promise to your parents that I would always have your back.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:46 And he literally walked the streets of the West Side with me to get me elected.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:52 So I truly honor him with the work that the Lord has called me to do.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 I honor he, my father, my parents, my family.
00:11:56 --> 00:12:00 And I'm just so grateful. And early on, I was taught, my dad was taking me to
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 community meetings, and my brother came home from the community meeting,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 and my mother, my Uncle Bubby, my aunt's lesson, my dad, we were all having
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 a conversation, and they said to me,
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 if you are going to help other people, love, don't judge.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:18 And I carry that with me. I understand.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 So, you know, I guess after, you know, he provided, I guess,
00:12:23 --> 00:12:30 assistance, guidance and support after winning that position for district house
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 district, the third house district.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:38 How did it feel? Did you feel accomplished? I know they say a lot of people,
00:12:39 --> 00:12:45 when they accomplish milestones or significant landmark,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:51 experiences, that a lot of times they don't have a chance to revel in the accomplishment.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:55 They're already kind of looking at the next step or the work that needs to be done.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:00 So I guess for that position in 2018, did you have a chance to sit back and
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 reflect and say, like, I did it.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 You know what I mean? Like, you know, this is what I went out to do.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:11 You know, I got it accomplished. You know, I made Delaware history.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:13 Okay.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:21 Honestly, what I did is I just prayed and I asked God to lead me and guide me.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:28 And so I think I'm still trying to, now I take a minute and just really think about it.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:36 But for me, it was, I felt a heavy weight because I knew that this was a calling.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 This wasn't just something that you just check off a box and say,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 oh, I was able to do that. I knew that I was called to do this work.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 And so I do it differently.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:50 I don't do the backbiting. I don't try to hurt people intentionally just because
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 I have power, privilege, prestige.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 My mother always says, use your power to benefit the people.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:02 And I need to be able to look at my family and know that.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 And it doesn't make me a perfect person. I'm not trying to project that image.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:12 But what I am is a thoughtful person and I know that there's purpose in what
00:14:12 --> 00:14:17 I do And so i'm really I was excited, but I also knew that,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:22 I needed to do things differently and so there were times when I voted no and
00:14:22 --> 00:14:27 sometimes I stood by myself But I knew it was the right thing to do For the
00:14:27 --> 00:14:34 people who elected me to do it and so many times people get in these positions and they change.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38 And it's like, you weren't this person when you were campaigning.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:42 Why did you become this person now? And now that you've become this person,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:47 it's hard to go back to the person that you previously were because now people know you as.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 In some cases, you know,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:54 a very unkind individual, that's just a word that I can use in this moment.
00:14:55 --> 00:15:01 Gotcha. And how do you feel that your upbringing or kind of like the skills,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:05 the political skills that you gain while serving those terms,
00:15:05 --> 00:15:10 do you feel like that kind of transferred over to your current position in the
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 Department of Health and Social Services?
00:15:12 --> 00:15:17 It absolutely did because I did not see a promotion coming in less than a year.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 And now I'm still the chief of external affairs But
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 in the office of the secretary for DHSS Which
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 I absolutely love And all of
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 the Like spirits are transferable Your skills
00:15:29 --> 00:15:35 are transferable too And so how I look at things is The approach How am I going
00:15:35 --> 00:15:40 to approach this particular situation How do I approach the circumstances With
00:15:40 --> 00:15:46 which I'm faced And I always think about What Like,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:53 I told someone the other day, when you're married and when you're a daughter, a son, an aunt,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:58 uncle, cousin, whatever your godmother, whatever your title is, cousin.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:03 Will your family look at you and be proud or will your family look at you and
00:16:03 --> 00:16:07 be shamed for the things that you have done? And I never wanted to be the latter.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 Right. Yeah, I definitely understand that. And I think Dave and I talked about
00:16:12 --> 00:16:16 before and I can't actually put my finger on it.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:21 But one of the things I always think about is what type of legacy am I going to leave?
00:16:21 --> 00:16:25 You know, so like, you know, besides the people who know me personally,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:29 you know, like what about the people who I touch who I don't know I touch and,
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 you know, how will they view me after this?
00:16:32 --> 00:16:36 You know, so I definitely agree with that. Now, going back real quick,
00:16:36 --> 00:16:40 so for the people who may not be familiar with the position of chief of external
00:16:40 --> 00:16:45 affairs, what exactly does that consist of for health and social services?
00:16:46 --> 00:16:51 Great question. I was in charge of the cooling and the warming stations.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:57 And right now what I do is I literally go out into the community and help people.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 And I'm so grateful that we have a secretary, Secretary Young,
00:17:00 --> 00:17:08 who understands and appreciates having someone go out into the community and
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 be willing to touch the people.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:15 For instance, at Tent City, not only did I go, But I took some of my sorority
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 sisters out there as well, brought the community out there.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:22 I am an adjunct at University of Delaware, brought some of my students out there.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:28 And so I feel like it's important that people get an opportunity to see that
00:17:28 --> 00:17:34 there are people in government who truly care about the people who we're supposed to be servicing.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:39 Having the opportunity to work with people like Mr. Coker and yourself, it just, it matters.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:44 Like being at the Mother Church today, helping to put together the press conference,
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48 taking that burden off of the pastor and the first lady, who was also a member
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 of Alpha Cap Alpha Sorority Incorporated.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 You know, the pastor came up to me. I'm just throwing it out there.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:59 The pastor came up to me today and he said, you know, I really wanted you to speak.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:03 But I was literally standing with his wife, my sorority sister.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:08 And he said, but I feel like you're on your post right now. you know,
00:18:09 --> 00:18:13 We have to think about that she's the first lady of this church.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:21 She is his wife. The burden that she is carrying right now as a result of that fire at the church.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:26 But that fire is not going to destroy the spirit of the living God,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 which falls afresh upon all of us.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:32 And we know that greater is he that's within me than he that's within the world.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 And so when they build it back, it's going to be better.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:39 Yeah, I definitely agree. And of course, I saw you out there today.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:45 Now, I know you said you were helping with the press conference.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:52 How did you or I guess what what are since since you are a Delaware native?
00:18:54 --> 00:18:58 What are what are your experiences with the August quarterly,
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 which most people know, you know, Mother African Union Church from? Mm hmm.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:06 Wow. So I've been going to August Quarterly since I was a child.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:10 I had my family, we've never missed an August Quarterly. While I'm a member
00:19:10 --> 00:19:14 of Bethel A&E Church, Mother Church is a second home for my family.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 Many of my family members, our family members attend the Mother Church.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:25 And so just a few months ago, we, well, last year we had a, we had a birthday
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 party for our Aunt Sarah who turned 100.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 And just a few months ago, we had our celebration of life.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:34 And I was telling someone earlier today when we had that birthday party for
00:19:34 --> 00:19:38 Aunt Sarah at the church, which she was so happy that the church member,
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 every church member was there.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:45 And Aunt Sarah got up and sang, Lead Me, Guide Me. Aunt Sarah's been singing
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 that song since I was a child in the choir.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:52 And my mother said, look, her voice is so strong. She's strong.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:57 And God had called her home. And I said, maybe, there's no maybe.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 God knows what He's doing.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:04 Because had Aunt Sarah been here and seen that, that may have done something to her.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:09 So we have, when people talk about August Quarterly, I can talk about it from
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 the perspective of knowing my history.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 August Quarterly, and I said this to a reporter.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 The Mother Church, as well as my old church and many other churches,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:25 but the Mother Church helped get House Bill 198 passed, which is adding Black
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 history to the state's curriculum.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:31 The Mother Church taught us the importance of knowing and learning and sharing
00:20:31 --> 00:20:35 our history because Black history is indeed American history.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:42 And so August Quarterly, the oldest celebration of Black religious freedom in
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 this country, that's what August Quarterly is.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:53 August Quarterly is two centuries of celebrating the rich heritage of Black people in this country.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:58 And so as a Native, I get to experience that. I have experienced it since I was a child.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 I shall continue to experience it. And last year, August Quarterly gave me an
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 award for being like a citizen of the year.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 So August Quarterly just, it's within me.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:14 It dwells within me. And now our students will learn about it in classrooms,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:22 thanks to House Bill 198 and my pastor, Stanley Hurst II, and Bishop Beeman, and Reverend Dr.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 Livingston, and Reverend Dr.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:31 Lawrence Livingston, I mentioned him, and Reverend Dr. Ronald Whitaker II,
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 and many others. That's just to name a few.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:38 But that legacy, that legacy of Black history, Black richness,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 that's what August Quarterly means to me.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45 Yeah, I agree. My grandparents, well, actually, my grandfather,
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 he was born and raised in Wilmington, left but came back.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:54 And I remember when I was young, he said that, I guess, before August,
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 Corley was held on the East Side.
00:21:56 --> 00:22:06 And he said that all the churches, everybody would attend that festival.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:13 It was almost like a citywide Black festival that everyone went to.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:18 And even today, I thought it was interesting. And this was the first time I
00:22:18 --> 00:22:22 heard this, even though I wasn't too knowledgeable. Reverend Livingston was
00:22:22 --> 00:22:28 talking about Peter Spencer going and Dave, this was very interesting.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:32 I'd never heard this. So he was talking about Peter Spencer during the early
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 days of August quarterly.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:41 He would travel, I mean, I guess up and down the state and he would convince
00:22:41 --> 00:22:45 slave owners to allow their slaves, some of them,
00:22:46 --> 00:22:51 and, you know, probably with conditions to attend spend August quarterly for
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 the day and then to go back.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 Can, can you imagine that? I mean, yeah, I didn't know that.
00:22:57 --> 00:23:01 Yeah. I mean, I know that. Yeah. And, and, and I do agree. And,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 you know, Sherry, I think it's very sad because, you know, I didn't even think
00:23:04 --> 00:23:09 about till after the fact, but I remember before when I had gone to mother African union church,
00:23:09 --> 00:23:14 all the artifacts they have and all of these, you know, the,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:20 the, well, I guess, I guess the artifacts and, you know, things from that time.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 And, and when I thought about that, then it made me feel a different way.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:27 Cause I mean, like, you know, this is not just the building,
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 you know, this is our history.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 So, you know, it will never be erased. It will never be erased.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 It will never be erased. And.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:42 Just like Nehemiah. Nehemiah said, look, I'm going to rebuild my city.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:49 Reverend Dr. Whitaker, Ron Whitaker II, and the congregants of the Mother African
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 Union Church, they are going to rebuild that church.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 Members of my family are going to help build that church.
00:23:56 --> 00:24:03 We as a community will help rebuild that church because no one can take away the spirit.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:08 No one can take away our legacy. And no matter what happens,
00:24:08 --> 00:24:12 and we don't know what the source of the fire is, we're not going to speculate about that.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 And I was glad that the pastor said so on today.
00:24:16 --> 00:24:19 But what we shall do is pray. We shall touch and agree and pray.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:25 And the beauty of the fact that Minister Louis Farrakhan sent a representative
00:24:25 --> 00:24:31 to come to the press conference today, what does that tell you about solidarity, unity?
00:24:32 --> 00:24:40 J. Edgar Hoover said it best. The biggest threat to American security is Negro unity. Amen. Facts.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 Amen. Yep. Still to this day.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:49 Still to this day. And so we can't allow these factions to exist.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:55 What you saw today is who we really are coming together for such a time as this.
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 And seeking the peace of the city. Because, see, we know the plans that God
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 has for us, plans to prosper us.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:07 When you talked about Michael being a track star, that's in his DNA.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:12 We all ran track. We all were stars. I'm just saying what I'm saying because
00:25:12 --> 00:25:15 I'm saying what I'm saying like they should be what I'm saying. Right.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:21 All right. So, Sherry, my last question before I pass it over to Dave.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:26 So I know you mentioned a couple of times a House bill regarding adding Black
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 history to the Delaware school curriculum.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 Was that a hard bill to get passed? It absolutely was.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:40 It was probably the hardest piece of legislation that I passed while a legislator.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:49 Okay. For those of us who may not be as knowledgeable, what made it that hard?
00:25:49 --> 00:25:55 I mean, in my mind, you know, I mean, we're biased, but Black history is American history.
00:25:56 --> 00:26:02 But, you know, what made it so hard to get past? I'm assuming the other people, but.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 Help me, Holy Ghost, with this answer.
00:26:12 --> 00:26:15 What made it difficult is. Yeah.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:21 You don't know who you're putting in those rooms when you push the button next
00:26:21 --> 00:26:28 to their names until something like that comes forth, until a bill that says,
00:26:28 --> 00:26:34 we want to make sure Black students, we're not trying to minimize anybody else's history.
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 We're just uplifting our community.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:40 And the minute something comes out and the word Black is in it,
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 you find out who's who and what's what in those rooms.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 And that's what makes it difficult. That's what made it difficult,
00:26:47 --> 00:26:50 because some were like, well, I don't know. What's the big deal?
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 What's the big deal? Well, I learned about Irish history.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:56 I learned about Polish history. I learned about Italian history,
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 and nobody complained about that.
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 So why is it an issue now that we
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 want our children to know that they are descendants of kings and queens?
00:27:04 --> 00:27:09 And I stayed cool through the whole process, but what we also did with that
00:27:09 --> 00:27:14 particular bill is made sure that the voices of our students were magnified.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:19 And so myself, Dr. Adriana Bone, we empowered our students. Dr.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:27 Laura, excuse me, Dara Law Savage, downstate, we had a multitude of people who
00:27:27 --> 00:27:31 empowered our young people and they created the Delaware Black Student Coalition.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 And all those students still stay in touch with one another.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 Some of them have graduated from college.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:43 I was at a ceremony yesterday for two students who helped pass House Bill 198.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 Madison Times and Kellen Williams.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:52 Both of them received $5 scholarships from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:57 Of all the applicants, they only gave two scholarships for the entire state,
00:27:57 --> 00:28:01 and both of them received it. And to know that they both had a hand in passing
00:28:01 --> 00:28:06 this legislation, I sat there with pride at that event yesterday.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11 Because when you, the word says, and a child will lead them.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:16 And I asked them, I said, how did you stay calm when those microaggressions
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 were coming? And they said, because you taught us.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:23 And we did. We prepared them. We prepared them for everything that was going to come their way.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:28 And they said, and we watched you. So be mindful of what we're doing and how
00:28:28 --> 00:28:32 we're doing it because our children are always watching.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:34 Right. All right. Thank you.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:40 Okay. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, you hear her.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:44 You see how she talks. It's always inspiring.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:51 You know, and this is a boss. Okay? A B-A-W-S-S.
00:28:52 --> 00:29:02 Okay? All right. So, and that's why, you know, you get to be honored as a Women
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 of Excellence Award winner.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:12 Tell us about that When you found out and everything about that Tell us about
00:29:12 --> 00:29:17 the whole experience About the Women of Excellence Award Now that was an experience
00:29:17 --> 00:29:21 To receive a call from WDAS,
00:29:21 --> 00:29:27 And I'll tell you When the call came It said iHeartRadio on my phone And I was
00:29:27 --> 00:29:32 like iHeartMedia I said iHeartMedia And I did just like this I said oh man I
00:29:32 --> 00:29:35 know we paid for those ads Ha ha ha ha.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:43 I mean, I inhaled, exhaled, and I did the, hello.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:50 And the woman said, is this Sherry Dorsey Walker? I said, this is she.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 And she says, well, I'd like to let you know that we'd like to honor you as
00:29:54 --> 00:29:58 a woman of excellence, WDAS. I'm sure you've been hearing it on the radio.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:04 And we're going to put your name out there, blah, blah. And it just went on,
00:30:04 --> 00:30:08 and I said, may I be very transparent with you?
00:30:08 --> 00:30:11 And she said, sure. I said, I thought this was a bill collector.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:19 She just laughed, and she said, no, sweetie, your bills are all paid.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:27 She said, listen, you've been nominated. Your community sees the need to put
00:30:27 --> 00:30:31 you in this position and to honor you. It was 1 people there.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:37 Speaker of the House for Philadelphia, Joanna McClinton, a dear friend of mine, was also honored.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 Ashley Christopher, HBCU Week was also honored.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:45 And one of my other sorority sisters, Tamron Hall, was honored.
00:30:46 --> 00:30:50 And she received a Lifetime Achievement Award. It was really nice because they
00:30:50 --> 00:30:56 were ushering her out, and the security said, I knew the person who was running
00:30:56 --> 00:30:59 her security, the person said, she's an AKA.
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 She stopped everything she was doing. She said, she's an AKA.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:04 Wait a minute. The other reason AKA stopped, we're taking this picture,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:07 so it was really nice to see.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:10 I've actually seen that happen a couple of times when people mention,
00:31:10 --> 00:31:14 you know, say, you're an AKA, and everything just stops, you know?
00:31:14 --> 00:31:17 They just say, they'd love the world stops. Yeah, I know.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:22 And you mentioned Peter Spencer earlier. He's a mason. He was a mason.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 My husband is a past master.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:31 So just having that rich history in our own home, all of that matters. It all matters. I heard.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:36 Leonard knows, too, because he has one in his home. Oh, yes. Well, listen.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:44 She is beauty info. Yeah, there you go. And let me not be remiss.
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 She told me to tell you hi.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 So just in case she listens to this show, I don't want her to be like,
00:31:48 --> 00:31:51 I told you to tell her. I love her. I love her.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54 She is so sweet. Yeah.
00:31:54 --> 00:32:03 Yeah. Well, what I could say in reference to everything that's kind of going on this year,
00:32:03 --> 00:32:10 and I don't want to get deep into the politics part of it, but I'm just saying,
00:32:10 --> 00:32:16 as a person who has ran for office and been in office and so forth.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:30 What do you see the outlook is for us as people, and I mean us as people,
00:32:30 --> 00:32:36 going forward with everything that is going on?
00:32:36 --> 00:32:44 What do you see that needs to be done in order to make the improvements that we need to make?
00:32:45 --> 00:32:55 We need to look at each other as allies and not be ashamed and not be envious
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57 of what someone else has.
00:32:58 --> 00:33:01 We all work together. We're better together.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:09 And I think when we realize that it's a good thing when you have representation
00:33:09 --> 00:33:16 because it's a slave mindset that you have to have someone of another ilk to be in charge.
00:33:17 --> 00:33:22 And that's why it was important to pass the legislation because the mind has to change.
00:33:23 --> 00:33:26 We have to shift how we think about each other.
00:33:27 --> 00:33:31 In this moment, we have the ability to elect the first Black woman governor
00:33:31 --> 00:33:36 in this country, the former mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:43 It is my prayer that Georgia comes forth and does what needs to be done in the
00:33:43 --> 00:33:48 peach state because she's worthy to have this position.
00:33:48 --> 00:33:52 She has paved the way for others.
00:33:53 --> 00:33:59 And I'm excited about her future because when we see that one can do it,
00:33:59 --> 00:34:01 we know that we all can do it.
00:34:01 --> 00:34:05 And so we just need to lift as we climb.
00:34:05 --> 00:34:09 And that's the way I live my life, Lift as I climb.
00:34:10 --> 00:34:20 Okay Alright That is definitely Words for all of us To build on and to To keep
00:34:20 --> 00:34:26 In our minds and our hearts And just push forward To try to make the things
00:34:26 --> 00:34:29 that are About to come You know,
00:34:29 --> 00:34:37 make them Fit into our lives Where we can either If they're good things go with them.
00:34:38 --> 00:34:43 If they're not that good for us, definitely figure out a way to make them better.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:50 And, you know, we have the people like yourself and Keisha Lancebottom,
00:34:51 --> 00:34:57 You know, we have people all over the country who we are looking to lead us.
00:34:58 --> 00:35:04 The world is in a very strange place right now. And I don't mean just United
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 States either. I mean the world.
00:35:06 --> 00:35:09 There's stuff going on all over the place.
00:35:10 --> 00:35:14 And I know my pastor talked about this yesterday and talking about,
00:35:14 --> 00:35:18 you know, you know, it's easy to say then times it's coming.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:27 But it's also easy to say we have to try to do what we can to fix this and to
00:35:27 --> 00:35:33 do it in a way that it definitely it doesn't just fall on one person or one
00:35:33 --> 00:35:36 type of person or people who.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:45 Don't who just look need to incorporate some other people to help us if they're
00:35:45 --> 00:35:49 willing to help us or we can do it by or we'll have to do it by ourselves but
00:35:49 --> 00:35:51 when you look at pictures,
00:35:53 --> 00:36:00 that we've always looked at as kids of heaven they look like just one particular race there,
00:36:01 --> 00:36:06 because it was a group of people and different from all different places so
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 we got to band together to be able to do this.
00:36:08 --> 00:36:12 It's just like when we look at, and I'm going to go back to something that we
00:36:12 --> 00:36:16 talked about, and since this is one of our topics, we might well talk about it right here.
00:36:17 --> 00:36:21 What happened over the weekend? Well, yesterday, to be exact.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:26 When you woke up, I know it happened with me.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:30 I don't know how you guys found out, but I know it happened with me.
00:36:30 --> 00:36:36 I got a text about 7 o'clock in the morning from a member of the church saying,
00:36:37 --> 00:36:40 this is my situation at this moment.
00:36:41 --> 00:36:46 And I looked at the picture and I said, now keep in mind, half sleep.
00:36:46 --> 00:36:51 I looked at the picture and I'm like, oh, okay, that's the church on fire.
00:36:52 --> 00:36:57 Then I got ready to text her back. I said, well, that looks like Mother Church.
00:36:58 --> 00:37:05 And so when I hit her back, I said, whose church is this? And she said, my church.
00:37:05 --> 00:37:12 And I knew it was Mother Church then. And I was like, okay, what's going on?
00:37:13 --> 00:37:20 When you got the news, and Leonard, you too, when you got the news about that church being on fire,
00:37:22 --> 00:37:27 What did you think? Let's start with you, Sherry. Let's start with you.
00:37:28 --> 00:37:35 My first thought was fire may have destroyed the physical plant,
00:37:35 --> 00:37:38 but God always prevails.
00:37:39 --> 00:37:43 And of course, you go through a gamut of emotions.
00:37:44 --> 00:37:50 You go through all the joy and the memories, and you think about the walls that
00:37:50 --> 00:37:53 were littered with our history in the museum.
00:37:54 --> 00:37:58 And you think about the Freedom School. That church started the Freedom School.
00:37:58 --> 00:38:04 Freedom Schools are for our children to learn about their history every summer.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:13 And then they take trips on Fridays and to know all the great things that happen at the church.
00:38:14 --> 00:38:18 And then I thought about it. And I said, even more great things will happen
00:38:18 --> 00:38:20 at the church upon the rebuild.
00:38:22 --> 00:38:26 But my heart was heavy. Yeah, I'm sure it was. It was heavy.
00:38:27 --> 00:38:29 And our church, we just started praying.
00:38:30 --> 00:38:36 We started praying. We started praying. We started praying. But Bishop Gibson gave us a charge today.
00:38:36 --> 00:38:41 And he said the first Sunday in June, churches, mosques, synagogues,
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 everybody can participate.
00:38:43 --> 00:38:49 Set aside some funds for the Mother Church. And then the funds will be distributed on Juneteenth.
00:38:49 --> 00:38:53 How powerful is that? Bishop Gibson said he's doing an executive order. I loved it today.
00:38:58 --> 00:39:04 So I personally shall be a part of the rebuild. I am committed to it.
00:39:06 --> 00:39:10 Lem, what was your thought? So to be honest, my thought was more of disbelief.
00:39:10 --> 00:39:14 So I was actually probably late to finding out about it.
00:39:14 --> 00:39:19 So I didn't, somebody, and actually it was my wife who sent it to me.
00:39:19 --> 00:39:24 It was around maybe 4 o'clock p.m. And I think,
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 You know, so she sent it to me. So I was looking at it and, you know, I saw.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:33 So what I saw was where it was a video of the church actually burning on fire.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:38 And, you know, to be honest, I thought it was just, you know,
00:39:38 --> 00:39:42 another I mean, I'd say another church, but, you know, just another video.
00:39:42 --> 00:39:47 So I just happened to look and I saw Mother Church. I was like, hold up.
00:39:47 --> 00:39:52 And then I watched the video. And, you know, it's so funny because,
00:39:52 --> 00:39:56 you know, this is how I think social media plays with us now.
00:39:56 --> 00:40:00 I didn't think it was real. I was like, OK, like this must be AI.
00:40:00 --> 00:40:03 You know, this must not. So I actually had to Google.
00:40:03 --> 00:40:08 And I Googled. And when I Googled, I saw the news, you know,
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09 some of the news articles.
00:40:10 --> 00:40:14 And to be honest, I was just in disbelief. And, you know, unfortunately,
00:40:14 --> 00:40:18 just the way the world is, you know, my first thought was, OK,
00:40:18 --> 00:40:22 like, you know, who would do this? You know, why would they do that?
00:40:22 --> 00:40:27 But then at the same point, you know, I think it was very fortunate that nobody was in the building.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 Nobody was hurt. Nobody was injured.
00:40:30 --> 00:40:33 So, you know, those were the first thoughts that came to my mind.
00:40:33 --> 00:40:37 And I had just come in contact with Dr.
00:40:38 --> 00:40:42 Whitaker maybe a couple of weeks ago, and we've just been communicating on some
00:40:42 --> 00:40:43 like advertising stuff.
00:40:44 --> 00:40:47 So, you know, the first thing I did was send him a text message saying,
00:40:47 --> 00:40:51 you know, I'm just sorry to hear that. Anything I can do, you know, please let me know.
00:40:51 --> 00:40:55 But, you know, that I mean, my first thought was really just disbelief.
00:40:55 --> 00:40:58 And, you know, it wasn't kind of like I was saying to you, Sherry,
00:40:58 --> 00:41:02 earlier. It wasn't until later I thought about the artifacts in there and just,
00:41:02 --> 00:41:04 you know, a lot of the history.
00:41:04 --> 00:41:09 And I was like, oh, you know, I mean, the history does live with us.
00:41:10 --> 00:41:15 But, you know, I mean, they had some great items in there and,
00:41:15 --> 00:41:21 you know, some great visual history that, you know, we may or may not get access to again.
00:41:22 --> 00:41:27 Yeah, that's true. I mean, when you look at the things, I've been in that church
00:41:27 --> 00:41:32 a few times and, you know, you look around and you just say,
00:41:32 --> 00:41:35 wow, you know, the history.
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 I mean, you know, the church stood over 100 years.
00:41:38 --> 00:41:43 I mean, you know, you know, there's a lot of history there, you know, because of that.
00:41:43 --> 00:41:50 I mean, and even with everything that went on with that fire yesterday,
00:41:51 --> 00:41:56 it just tells you about, you know, there's a couple of places in the Bible they
00:41:56 --> 00:42:02 talk about, you know, destroying my church and I will rebuild it.
00:42:04 --> 00:42:08 You know, and you couldn't, you know, and even with all that went on,
00:42:08 --> 00:42:13 you know, the crosses were still standing at the top of the building,
00:42:13 --> 00:42:16 you know, and the structure,
00:42:17 --> 00:42:20 you know, that was so amazing.
00:42:20 --> 00:42:26 You know, so that just tells you about, you know, when you look at these churches
00:42:26 --> 00:42:30 and especially these old churches, because, you know, they were built on the
00:42:30 --> 00:42:35 backs of hardworking people, you know,
00:42:35 --> 00:42:41 the, you know, and it was built with conviction and honor and so forth.
00:42:41 --> 00:42:49 And making sure that that building was something that we can have a refuge for
00:42:49 --> 00:42:58 us to go to and pray and worship and be able to feel safe while being there.
00:42:59 --> 00:43:04 I'm sure with all the outpouring. Now, the good thing was...
00:43:05 --> 00:43:12 The people, the people came out. People was, I know there were people crying,
00:43:13 --> 00:43:15 there were people, you know, just in disbelief.
00:43:16 --> 00:43:19 The kids, the kids were upset, you know.
00:43:19 --> 00:43:24 You know, it's hard to get kids to be upset about this type of stuff now, you know.
00:43:24 --> 00:43:27 Because they're not really concerned with history, you know.
00:43:27 --> 00:43:30 So they have an after-school program, too.
00:43:30 --> 00:43:36 Yeah, and there you go. So, you know, people, you could see the disbelief on
00:43:36 --> 00:43:37 people's faces, you know,
00:43:37 --> 00:43:42 as the fire was going on and then after it was out and then all the prayers
00:43:42 --> 00:43:46 and everything that were going out on the street, whatever, you know.
00:43:46 --> 00:43:49 So you could see it became a community thing.
00:43:49 --> 00:43:53 It became something bigger than just a fire.
00:43:53 --> 00:43:56 You know, it became a community thing.
00:43:57 --> 00:44:02 So hopefully with everything. People of all nationalities came. That's what I'm saying.
00:44:02 --> 00:44:06 It was a community thing. It brought everybody together. And maybe,
00:44:06 --> 00:44:10 we just don't know how God does what he does, but everything he does, he does it well.
00:44:10 --> 00:44:14 And he has a way of bringing people together for such a time as this.
00:44:14 --> 00:44:19 And we can see a tragedy, but God sees triumph.
00:44:20 --> 00:44:27 Yeah, there you go. Because there was definitely triumph today having Leonard there.
00:44:27 --> 00:44:31 Absolutely. absolutely yeah that was the time in itself right there yes it was
00:44:31 --> 00:44:37 soon it calmed your spirit thank you god thank you god so shut up.
00:44:40 --> 00:44:46 The other alphas were great before he was there yes they were great don't worry
00:44:46 --> 00:44:49 Dave joke went over both of our heads at the same,
00:44:50 --> 00:44:55 anyway that's because it wasn't a joke we know it was true but anyway so,
00:44:57 --> 00:45:02 but what we're going to do since Sherry only has a limited period of time there
00:45:02 --> 00:45:05 were a couple of subjects that topics that we were going to talk about that
00:45:05 --> 00:45:10 was one of them so I know she wanted to talk about our next topic too.
00:45:11 --> 00:45:15 So, Len, you good with us just moving in?
00:45:16 --> 00:45:18 Yeah, you know, I saw this one
00:45:18 --> 00:45:22 in particular, and it says he had money to throw a big fundraiser at me.
00:45:23 --> 00:45:25 Oh, yeah, that was.
00:45:27 --> 00:45:31 Leonard's favorite part of the show. See, that's the question that I asked at the end of the show.
00:45:32 --> 00:45:37 I'm getting caught. I'm being beckoned, but I would like to answer that question for you.
00:45:38 --> 00:45:41 Well, let's do it right now. Let's do it right now, man. We'll do it right now.
00:45:41 --> 00:45:46 All right, so this is Leonard's favorite part of the show. Everybody who listens
00:45:46 --> 00:45:49 to us knows this is Leonard's favorite part of the show, but it's called Dave's Corner.
00:45:50 --> 00:45:55 So, you know, so this is what we use. Don't worry, Sherry, that went over our
00:45:55 --> 00:45:57 heads, too. Yeah, I know. Go ahead, Dave.
00:45:58 --> 00:46:02 Okay, anyway. So what's going to happen, you know, is, you know,
00:46:02 --> 00:46:07 we talk about these. I ask a philosophical question or a question and give everybody
00:46:07 --> 00:46:11 a chance to answer the question. So this is the question for today.
00:46:11 --> 00:46:16 If you had the money to throw a big fundraiser event, and this,
00:46:16 --> 00:46:20 of course, is in light of what's happened, you know, what happened yesterday,
00:46:20 --> 00:46:22 made me come up with this.
00:46:24 --> 00:46:24 Okay.
00:46:26 --> 00:46:31 Where money was not an object, what type of fundraiser event would it be,
00:46:31 --> 00:46:33 and what would it benefit?
00:46:34 --> 00:46:37 So, go ahead. I think that's pretty easy.
00:46:39 --> 00:46:40 Yes.
00:46:42 --> 00:46:47 With everything that's happening in the world right now, upon throwing a fundraiser,
00:46:47 --> 00:46:55 all the funds would benefit the Mother African Union Church for the rebuilding of the infrastructure.
00:46:57 --> 00:47:03 And listen, I could use money to make films, and I would definitely help the
00:47:03 --> 00:47:05 homeless, too. I would do both.
00:47:06 --> 00:47:10 Help the people at Tent City and help Mother Church.
00:47:10 --> 00:47:13 And you know why I would help both? Because Mother Church would take some of
00:47:13 --> 00:47:15 the money and turn around and help Tent City.
00:47:16 --> 00:47:19 So that would be what I would do in this moment.
00:47:20 --> 00:47:26 Be a blessing to the Mother Church and be a blessing to the people at Tent City.
00:47:26 --> 00:47:29 And make sure that they had some level of permanent housing.
00:47:30 --> 00:47:35 Both entities. Okay. Well, you do have an unlimited amount of money,
00:47:35 --> 00:47:38 so you could do both. That's right.
00:47:40 --> 00:47:44 Well, I have enjoyed my time with you. Thank you for having me.
00:47:44 --> 00:47:47 All right. All right. Well, thank you for coming on with us,
00:47:47 --> 00:47:49 and we really appreciate it.
00:47:50 --> 00:47:55 And, you know, oh, you want to give your, do you want to give any contact information on social media?
00:47:56 --> 00:47:58 Certainly. For people that want to reach out to you?
00:47:58 --> 00:48:01 And you should be writing a book. Sherry Dorsey Walker. You should be writing
00:48:01 --> 00:48:03 a book about now, by the way.
00:48:04 --> 00:48:06 On Instagram, at Sherry Dorsey Walker.
00:48:08 --> 00:48:12 Facebook, Sherry Dorsey Walker. LinkedIn, Sherry Dorsey Walker.
00:48:12 --> 00:48:13 Are you catching a theme here?
00:48:17 --> 00:48:22 Yes. Simple and easy, right? Yes, simple and easy. My name. Yes.
00:48:22 --> 00:48:27 And I love to hear from people about ways that we can work together to make
00:48:27 --> 00:48:30 a difference in the lives of others throughout the whole entire state of Delaware.
00:48:31 --> 00:48:37 Okay. All right. Great. There you have it, folks. The Honorable Sherry Dorsey Walker.
00:48:38 --> 00:48:40 Thanks for having me. All right. Thank you. Really appreciate it.
00:48:41 --> 00:48:43 Thank you for hanging out with us, okay? Blessings upon you.
00:48:44 --> 00:48:46 All right. You too. Take care. All right.
00:48:47 --> 00:48:53 All right, Mr. Leonard. Yes, sir. We're going to move into the rest of our show.
00:48:53 --> 00:49:02 So we're going to start out with the story that I saw on Dr. Jamal Bryant.
00:49:04 --> 00:49:07 How many times have we talked about Dr. Jamal Bryant on this show?
00:49:08 --> 00:49:11 He always seems to give us something to talk about, doesn't he?
00:49:12 --> 00:49:17 But this one's a pretty good one, I think. It says, Atlanta Megaturgs leader,
00:49:17 --> 00:49:21 Pastor Jamal Bryant has had enough.
00:49:22 --> 00:49:27 The comedian, formerly known as the funniest little guy in Hollywood,
00:49:27 --> 00:49:32 was roasted on the Kevin Hart, the roast of Kevin Hart.
00:49:33 --> 00:49:36 On Netflix. I'm sure by now a lot of people have seen it.
00:49:36 --> 00:49:44 Leonard and I touched base on it last week. It featured a Tony Hinchcliffe joke about George Floyd.
00:49:44 --> 00:49:51 You know the one. It was the joke that made Terrence Floyd issue statement.
00:49:51 --> 00:49:54 Now, Pastor Brian is piling on.
00:49:54 --> 00:50:01 In a thread post that spread faster than bad church gossip, Brian wrote The
00:50:01 --> 00:50:04 Kevin Hart roast wasn't comedy.
00:50:04 --> 00:50:08 It was disrespect dressed as jokes.
00:50:09 --> 00:50:14 In this climate, for it to go unchecked is to give consent.
00:50:15 --> 00:50:19 He is right. But also, it is a roast.
00:50:19 --> 00:50:24 The entire genre is built on disrespect dressed as jokes.
00:50:25 --> 00:50:34 That is like going to a strip club and complaining about the lack of business casual attire.
00:50:35 --> 00:50:39 Still, Henscliffe's joke was undeniably ugly.
00:50:39 --> 00:50:43 And Kevin Hart as the host sat there and let it happen.
00:50:44 --> 00:50:51 That is the real sin here. As far as some are concerned, that silence is violence,
00:50:52 --> 00:50:56 or at least it's bad producing. So...
00:50:57 --> 00:51:04 That was a pretty interesting take, but I'm sure he's not alone in thinking the way that he did.
00:51:04 --> 00:51:10 I kind of touched on this last week about some of the stuff that was said.
00:51:10 --> 00:51:13 I thought it was over the top, a lot of it was.
00:51:14 --> 00:51:21 And for him to come out and say, Kevin Hart's responsible for this,
00:51:21 --> 00:51:23 and he allowed it to happen.
00:51:24 --> 00:51:28 What's your thoughts about that? Excuse me, sorry. I mean, I agree.
00:51:28 --> 00:51:32 I mean, we kind of talked about it last week. Like, I think a lot was over the top.
00:51:32 --> 00:51:40 And, you know, I think there's a fine line of comedy and racism and disrespect.
00:51:41 --> 00:51:47 And to be honest, I think everything was crossed. Yeah, it was interesting that
00:51:47 --> 00:51:50 they were allowed to do what they did.
00:51:51 --> 00:51:55 Now, of course, you know, everything had to be viewed first,
00:51:55 --> 00:51:59 I'm sure. I mean, everything was put in the teleprompter, so I'm sure it was read.
00:52:00 --> 00:52:04 But it seemed like, you know, I've been watching Rose for a long time.
00:52:05 --> 00:52:09 And of course, you know, it's a chance to take shots at people and so forth
00:52:09 --> 00:52:11 and so forth. That's all well and good.
00:52:12 --> 00:52:21 I've never seen anything go so far as they did that night with some of the things that were said.
00:52:21 --> 00:52:26 And when you start talking about dead people, you know, connected to people
00:52:26 --> 00:52:28 who were sitting there, that's not right.
00:52:30 --> 00:52:34 Kevin is sitting there laughing, you know, allowing it to happen.
00:52:34 --> 00:52:38 You know, I think I said this last week, and I'm going to say it again.
00:52:38 --> 00:52:46 I felt it was them making us look foolish again, if you know what I'm saying.
00:52:47 --> 00:52:52 And I'm sure people read between the lines without me having to say it clearly.
00:52:52 --> 00:53:01 This is what they've always done. I mean, why not fake and do a roast on,
00:53:01 --> 00:53:05 let's say, BET, where you don't have the cussing?
00:53:05 --> 00:53:11 You can say some things but you can out just like you outline what could be
00:53:11 --> 00:53:17 said on that show you could outline it on a regular channel or BET on one of
00:53:17 --> 00:53:22 our stations well it's not really our station because I'm sure you know what I'm saying they're on,
00:53:23 --> 00:53:26 phone by somebody else you know but still,
00:53:27 --> 00:53:32 keep it friendlier because I know somebody had to I know there was some look
00:53:32 --> 00:53:36 they can say all they want about Cat Williams Because Kat took the moment to
00:53:36 --> 00:53:39 do what he wanted to do, and he got out.
00:53:41 --> 00:53:45 But I'm sure there was probably at least one or two people that had to be in
00:53:45 --> 00:53:47 their feelings about some of the stuff that was said.
00:53:48 --> 00:53:53 You can look at the people's expression on their faces and see they wasn't feeling all of that.
00:53:54 --> 00:54:02 So, do you think that Kevin Hart got played, allowing that to happen the way that it did?
00:54:02 --> 00:54:07 I don't feel that he got played. I feel like he allowed us to get played.
00:54:08 --> 00:54:13 Because, you know, just like when a Catwoman joke, he's like, Kevin's a puppet.
00:54:13 --> 00:54:17 And he's like, a guy from Netflix has his hands so far. Yeah.
00:54:17 --> 00:54:20 You know, so, I mean, I kind of feel like it's that where,
00:54:20 --> 00:54:28 you know, I feel like Kevin sold out the roast to be a mockery of black culture
00:54:28 --> 00:54:33 and people who have passed away and killed, suicide, you know.
00:54:34 --> 00:54:37 You know. Well, that's, but think about it.
00:54:37 --> 00:54:45 The two, you know, the main person who was talking about dead people were white people, right?
00:54:46 --> 00:54:49 Mm-hmm. The minority on the roast.
00:54:49 --> 00:54:56 And they both, I mean, you know, the hosts of the Gillis and Shane Gillis and
00:54:56 --> 00:55:01 Fitzgillis are MAGA supporters. Why are they on the show?
00:55:01 --> 00:55:07 I mean, they must. So either they're good for ratings or they are Kevin's friends
00:55:07 --> 00:55:09 and maybe a combination.
00:55:09 --> 00:55:11 Yeah, well, they probably did it because
00:55:11 --> 00:55:15 they knew that they were going to probably, well, it was clickbait.
00:55:15 --> 00:55:20 I mean, basically, I mean, you think about it, they did exactly what they needed
00:55:20 --> 00:55:25 to do because everybody talked about that roast and everybody watched it, at least parts of it.
00:55:26 --> 00:55:28 So, yeah.
00:55:29 --> 00:55:35 And it proved the Cat Williams point when he was on with club Shay Shay saying
00:55:35 --> 00:55:37 that he was the industry plant.
00:55:38 --> 00:55:43 Yeah, basically, that's what it did. It proved the point, right? You know, so.
00:55:44 --> 00:55:50 I'd like to know what you guys think. I mean, is Dr. Jamal Bryant correct in what he's saying?
00:55:50 --> 00:55:58 I know we don't always give him credit for some of the things that he says, but was he right here?
00:55:58 --> 00:56:03 I tend to agree with him personally on this one. I don't think he's far off
00:56:03 --> 00:56:06 from telling the truth on this.
00:56:07 --> 00:56:11 So let us know what you guys think on this. You know, I know,
00:56:11 --> 00:56:15 you know, some parts were funny and some people held their own,
00:56:15 --> 00:56:19 but too far is too far. Definitely.
00:56:21 --> 00:56:25 All right. Leonard, what you got for us? All right.
00:56:25 --> 00:56:28 So, and I mean, we talked about briefly Keisha Lance Bottom.
00:56:28 --> 00:56:31 She wants to become Georgia's first black female governor.
00:56:32 --> 00:56:37 And I mean, I really think Sherry kind of covered it all. But I mean,
00:56:37 --> 00:56:39 you know, already we know that she's going to be qualified.
00:56:40 --> 00:56:46 We know she's going to have the experience but i think it also goes to is georgia
00:56:46 --> 00:56:53 ready for a black that's what i'm saying i i feel like that's going to be the
00:56:53 --> 00:56:54 biggest question that's coming,
00:56:55 --> 00:57:01 and that state that state has always been was that that's a real state right
00:57:01 --> 00:57:05 i think for the most part i believe so yeah yeah that's a real state yeah yeah
00:57:05 --> 00:57:08 so you know and then even the biggest question is,
00:57:08 --> 00:57:10 hopefully there is not.
00:57:12 --> 00:57:16 You know, hopefully she doesn't get Jasmine Crockett-ed, you know,
00:57:16 --> 00:57:21 have another Democrat running for governor and, you know, so we'll see.
00:57:22 --> 00:57:27 So, but I mean, definitely when she was mayor of Atlanta, you know,
00:57:27 --> 00:57:29 I mean, I thought she did a pretty good job.
00:57:29 --> 00:57:32 You know, she was very classy, very intelligent.
00:57:32 --> 00:57:35 And, you know, I think it's one of the things in any political position,
00:57:36 --> 00:57:37 we probably should have said to Sherry, too.
00:57:38 --> 00:57:42 You're not going to like every politician and you're not going to agree with everything they do.
00:57:42 --> 00:57:46 Just like Sherry said, she held her own sometimes and she was the only one who
00:57:46 --> 00:57:51 may have voted no when everyone did vote it yes, because, you know, that's how she felt.
00:57:51 --> 00:57:56 So I'm I'm rooting for Keisha Lance Bottoms. Of course, I don't have a vote,
00:57:56 --> 00:57:58 but I'm definitely rooting for her.
00:57:59 --> 00:58:03 Yeah, well, he's definitely a brilliant, brilliant person. and I love to hear
00:58:03 --> 00:58:09 her talk anytime I'm going through a channel or I'm on my phone and I see an
00:58:09 --> 00:58:13 interview or a clip from her, I always stop to listen to hear what she has to say.
00:58:14 --> 00:58:20 She is definitely a woman who can do the job. Now, of course, you know.
00:58:22 --> 00:58:27 The thing is, if she's going to get the support that she needs to do that job, you know,
00:58:29 --> 00:58:40 You know, you mentioned Jasmine Crockett, and they're two different people, but both very educated.
00:58:40 --> 00:58:44 And, you know, of course, we know Jasmine lost her bid to get into the seat
00:58:44 --> 00:58:45 that she was trying to get into.
00:58:45 --> 00:58:53 But, you know, I think she's going to find her way into a really good seat where
00:58:53 --> 00:58:55 she can help a lot of people.
00:58:56 --> 00:59:01 And just like just like this governor this chance of becoming governor in Georgia
00:59:01 --> 00:59:07 I really believe that she can do it we just need the people to go out to the polls to make sure that,
00:59:08 --> 00:59:13 yeah so let's do that people you know let's go.
00:59:15 --> 00:59:16 Isn't she a soror too?
00:59:17 --> 00:59:20 Is she a is she a Delta?
00:59:21 --> 00:59:25 Or is she I forget what she I think she is, but I'm not sure.
00:59:25 --> 00:59:30 Okay. Every time I turn around, there's an AKA somewhere, you know.
00:59:30 --> 00:59:34 You know, these days, man, they're killing it right now.
00:59:35 --> 00:59:41 Okay. All right. Well, I guess we covered everything now. Okay. All right.
00:59:42 --> 00:59:46 You know, not our usual little run of things, but we got everything covered.
00:59:46 --> 00:59:53 But we still want to take the time to once again say thank you to the Honorable
00:59:53 --> 00:59:58 Sherry Dorsey Walker for coming on and hanging out with us.
00:59:59 --> 01:00:04 And thank you guys for tuning in and always holding us down.
01:00:05 --> 01:00:10 And I guess, Len, you got anything you want to add before I say anything?
01:00:10 --> 01:00:12 Nope, it's all you, Dave. Okay.
01:00:13 --> 01:00:16 Okay, well, I guess we will talk to you guys again next Tuesday.
01:00:17 --> 01:00:20 And, you know, we'll see you soon.
01:00:28 --> 01:00:33 Tune in next week, ladies and gentlemen, for another edition of News and Trends
01:00:33 --> 01:00:35 with your hosts, Dave and Lynn.