Change The Narrative with JD Fuller

Kole Patterson is a 26 year old police officer born and raised in the Dayton Ohio area. Kole played college football at an HBCU in Charleston, West Virginia called West Virginia state university. He was a four year starter and a three-year captain. He won many awards, but takes the most pride in winning the teammate of the year award the spring of his junior year.Kole went on to become a police officer and has been doing so for three and a half years. He began to really gain social media presence during the pandemic, just showing who he was in uniform and being himself while maintaining a level of professionalism. Since then Kole's presence has taken on many forms and CTN can not wait to learn more about the man behind the moves.

What You Will Hear:

• Kole’s journey growing up and attending an HBCU
• Becoming a police officer
• Making a difference in a system that’s built on a lot of distrust
• Social media
• What community policing means to Kole
• What happens when Kole encounters challenging situations with other cops
• How police culture needs to change

Quotes:

“It was such a life changing experience to  put myself in that situation, to be the minority was just amazing and it helps me in everyday life, not just my career.”

“I like to be very proactive and not reactive.”

“It's just having a conversation with people and being genuine and showing your heart and showing that, I'm not a badge.”

“You wear a badge on your left, uh, left pectoral to protect your heart.”

“I view community policing as just putting yourself in the community in any capacity.”

“The cops are a team. They always say go home safe, but you also gotta make sure the community goes home safe as well.”

“I've always been one to advocate for just fairness, just complete fairness to everyone and all.”

Mentioned

Tiktok @officerkd  @koledallas

Instagram @lordkoledallas

Facebook @kolepatterson

JD continues her conversation with Leteria Bailey.  Leteria is a motivated Jamaican-American professional with a passion for serving and advocating for youth and people of color (POC). Through her work serving 5 NGOs in Montgomery County, Maryland, Leteria has researched and developed digital platforms, coordinated public facing organization events, and supported the distribution of over 1.3 million dollars to fund countywide youth development programs. She is currently working with Amgen in Senior Associate Business Communications on their Salesforce Platform.  In 2016 Leteria founded Young Black and Aware to bring national awareness to police brutality and racism in communities of color. Young Black and Aware has garnered international recognition by highlighting social justice issues on a daily basis. As of January 2021, online engagement surpasses 350,000 persons monthly. Notable supporters of Young Black and Aware include American Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Activist Brittany Packnett-Cunningham, and Artist Bisa Butler. 

What You Will Hear:

• Raising children 
• Amir Locke Go Fund Me
• Keeping the memory of those murdered by the police alive
• Authenticity and mental health
• Social media
• What is next for Young, Black and Aware
• Black censorship on social media
• What Changing the Narrative means to Leteria
• Being transparent and authentic

Quotes:

“The police can kill someone and then the taxpayers pay for it when comes to the settlement.”

“I feel like we have a cultural responsibility to come together. We don't have to wait on these schools to do anything, we have the power of the internet, social media. We don't have to wait on these systems to teach us.”

“I'm just hoping that in being transparent and authentic, I can inspire other black people to do the same.”

Mentioned:

Young Black and Aware Instagram facebook  tik tok

Leteria Bailey is a motivated Jamaican-American professional with a passion for serving and advocating for youth and people of color (POC). Through her work serving 5 NGOs in Montgomery County, Maryland, Leteria has researched and developed digital platforms, coordinated public facing organization events, and supported the distribution of over 1.3 million dollars to fund countywide youth development programs. She is currently working with Amgen in Senior Associate Business Communications on their Salesforce Platform.  In 2016 Leteria founded Young Black and Aware to bring national awareness to police brutality and racism in communities of color. Young Black and Aware has garnered international recognition by highlighting social justice issues on a daily basis. As of January 2021, online engagement surpasses 350,000 persons monthly. Notable supporters of Young Black and Aware include American Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Activist Brittany Packnett-Cunningham, and Artist Bisa Butler. 

What You Will Hear:

• Leteria’s background and how identifying as a Jamaican-American woman informs who she is.
• DACA
• The experience of the  black immigrant 
• Young, Black and Aware inception and growth
• Developing a language and validation for processing racial trauma
• Building community through Young, Black and Aware
• White people’s responsibility in the  deconstruction of white supremacy

Quotes:

“ if I was motivated by number of followers or number of likes. I would've stopped doing this years ago.”

“I can atleast show and speak out about stuff that's going on, if one person is affected, then I've done what I needed to do.”

“It's not that young people don't care. It's not that older, black people don't care. It's that not everybody has the emotional bandwidth to take in the impact of that which we deal with on a daily basis. Most of our community is not taught how to process racial trauma.”

“ I don't watch black men or women being shot and killed and I'm not gonna share it either. That's just something I can't do anymore. Personally, it's too much.”

“ White people are not allies in this struggle.  It is their war and you can't be an ally in a war that you created. The war against white supremacy is their war. This deconstruction has to happen at their hands.”

“You love me or you know me and we have relationships with each other, but you see people like me being killed and you don't say anything?”

Mentioned

Young Black and Aware Instagram facebook  tik tok

Ava Duvernay

13th

When They See Us

Roberto is an award-winning Dominican American educator with over 15 years of educational administrative experience. Since teaching 9th grade English, he has worked in and led schools from Prek to 12th grades in the public, private, and charter sectors. He has brought innovative leadership ideas to revamp school cultures in order to meet student needs and help them improve. His work is characterized by a passion for supporting young people, prioritizing social justice, and a dedication to excellence. Currently, he’s Co-Founder and Executive Director of Multicultural Classroom and lives in Tampa, FL.

What You Will Hear:

• Collective immigration
• Conversations cultivated in their home for their children
• State politics and challenges 
• Balancing different realities.  The 1/3 and 1/3 policy
• The migration patterns of African-Americans
• The importance of conversation and knowledge of your own history
• Diversity and learning in classrooms
• Being present and authentic as a teacher, leader, therapist
• Creating an intentional space to speak honestly, be transparent and grow
• Starting Multicultural Classroom and its mission.
•  Change the narrative by not being afraid to have the courage, to build community, to love radically, to stand on our values

Quotes:

“The immigrant stories, not just at the core of who we are, it's really at the core of all of our experiences.”

“We're not afraid to engage in those conversations with our children. And we think that doing so better, equips them as they continue to navigate through their own experience. We're giving them language. We're giving them tools. We're giving them the resources to, to be able to talk about these experiences that are relevant to them and to do so in a way, in which they're knowledgeable, to the extent that they're young minds permits them to be.”

“Let's not start making stuff up just for the sake of trying to protect our comfort as it relates to.

engaging in conversations about race and equity and and anything that it, doesn't reinforce the hierarchical power structures that exist in this country.”

“We all should come into it with an open mind. Now we might not agree on everything at the end of the day, but we can't even start the conversation. If we don't come in with a willingness to remain open to hearing things that challenge us open to experiencing something different. Open to seeing things from a different lens.”

“We all should come into it with an open mind. Now we might not agree on everything at the end of the day, but we can't even start the conversation. If we don't come in with a willingness to remain open to hearing things that challenge us open to experiencing something different. Open to seeing things from a different lens.”

“Even white folks in this country, many white folks are not necessarily fully tapped into their histories,”

“We have a lot of young people who don't feel that they are celebrated. They don't see themselves reflected in the curriculum. And in many cases, they also don't see themselves reflect. In school leadership and school staff.”

“I would love for our school leaders and our teachers to lead with curiosity, especially in those areas, in which they may feel some discomfort. Wrestle with that discomfort.”

“In these uncertain times where there is a constant tension in the air that derives from racial undertones. Let us not be afraid to have the courage, to build community, to love radically to stand on our values. This is a beautiful and ugly country in many ways. I love to see us commit to making it more beautiful than ugly.”

Mentioned

Anthony Elden is self-described as a progressive Democrat, a history teacher, a change maker, a social media content creator, and a community builder. He has campaigned and is currently running his own social media channels and platforms. Tony has been able to develop social media community, building skills, such as copywriting. Marketing. Advertising community engagement management, and much more. Tony is always teaching and helping us to learn. He is critical race theory. 

What You Will Hear:

• Anthony’s upbringing and how it has informed who he is today
• Messages from immigration
• Conscious parenting and teaching
• Being the class clown, even as a teacher
• Teaching middle schoolers in Florida and adults Washington DC 
• Running for the State Senate in Florida 2020 election
• 50 Inspiring Black Stories
• Youtube
• Generational wealth
• Policy reform
• Racial trauma and burn out
• Black unity 

Quotes:

“I wanted her to see herself in what she had,”

 “In Bahamas it's harder to be a class clown because if you ever take it too far, the teachers can beat you.”

“I never, for the rest of my,  high school career even thought about fighting anyone, I was no longer a hothead. I was still a class clown, butI found my barriers and my, my boundaries and I stuck to 'em.

“Adults can be pretty childish.”

“I got so caught up in doing something more, I was forgetting to live”

“Ever since I could talk, I was like, mom and dad, I am going to be the first black president.”

“Every time I, I kind of saw something that I just wanted to pursue. I pursued it.”

“I don't believe that I'm indicative of all black people, but I've wanted to provide my perspective.

“it is expensive to be poor.”

Mentioned

@Blk.thought instagram, tiktok, 

50 Inspiring Black Stories

Laura Jane Peterson is a civil rights activist and community organizer who has been a sales director with a demonstrated history of growing account revenue, clients, and sales. She has the ability to imagine it and then makes it happen. Since October 2020 this innovator became the founder of Say Their Names LA which is an established network of support, mutual aid and resources for families whose loved ones were killed by police violence in LA.  Laura identifies as an abolitionist, activist, beacon, explorer and empath.

What You Will Hear:

• Say Their Names and Families United collaborations
• Laura’s background and upbringing
• Learning about different cultures
• Working on Wall Street
• Lessons learned and coping through the loss of her father 
• Police education and training
• America built on tenants of racism and white supremacy 
• Tombstone graveyard
• Say Their Names LA
• Lobbying, NRA and Police Unions
• Mental Health
• Grassroots organizations
• Training clinicians to have a multicultural lens
• Changing the Narrative

Quotes:

“The reason why white America can separate themselves from the experience that is clearly before their eyes is because they have the privilege to not feel.”

“I wanna learn ways of interrupting, eradicating and addressing the realities of racism and oppression. We have to be able to impact and find our voice “ -Dr. Thema

“We know that they know how to deescalate certain situations, when it's a white person, but when it's not, they don't use those skills, they do the opposite.  So it's not about training and it's not about deescalating.”

“Itt's an evolution. You have to learn. You have to learn what you believed and then unlearn that and apply something else.”

“We have a number of families who have turned their fight into getting more resources and getting police out of mental health services.”

“For us it’s really is about coming together and providing each other with support and resources that the government doesn't offer.”

“Do something. Go out. Just try, put one foot in front of the other and just try and no goal or dream is too big. If you fail, you will learn and just keep using those learns and always feel your feelings.”

Mentioned

Say Their Names LA  Instagram facebook

Families United

Dr. Thema

Dijon Kizzee

David Sullivan

David Ordaz Jr

Lexipol

Dignity and Power Now

Phoenix Gibbs is a motivational speaker, affirmations, author, and self embodiment coach for single, free-spirited, aquarius lesbians.  Through self embodiment, she guides them through releasing emotional and mental detachment to help attract the person who will accept them for who they are.  Phoenix is also a wedding officiant and the author of a book called 365 Days of Affirmation for the Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit, an affirmation biography about turning trauma and abuse she experienced into triumph. Phoenix’s passion is to help women unleash their full potential and show the world exactly who the F they are with no fear, no excuses, no explanations or apologies. 

What You Will Hear:

• Phoenix early life and traumas
• Confronting her father
• Phoenix’s mother and grandmother’s impact
• Near death experience
• People pleasing
• Married to a man and becoming lesbian
• Deep awakening and energy shift
• Being unapologetic
• Your Life, Your Purpose, No Explanations
• 365 Days of Affirmation for the Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit.
• Changing the narrative

Quotes:

“Our parents really don't talk about their traumas. They don't talk about their stories. They don't talk about their challenges. They just wing it day by day.”

“The legacy of regret is enough to inform anyone's journey if you're paying attention.”

“People pleasing is not as selfless as it. It's often you're trying to fill a cup that's empty so you try to get this gratification that never actually comes.”

“I realized I was entertaining one sided relationships.”

“The one constant for me was live life to the best of my ability.”

“Every minute of the day, someone's taking their last breath. And before they take their last breath, they have two choices. They think about the regret or they think about all that they did.”

“Changing the narrative means to me is being committed to shift and change wholeheartedly in all aspects of your life. Because if you want better, you have to do better”

Mentioned:

Selfembodimentphoenix.com

Socials @phoenixgibbs or @phoenixsky

Linktree/phoenixgibbs

Just call me Cora. She says to everyone she meets, and we do.  Cora Jakes is a dedicated warrior. She's a pastor, an author, a mother and daughter to the world renowned Bishop Jakes, the first lady Serita Jakes of The Potter's House. Cora is unafraid to show the delicious imperfectly perfect human that she is, mirroring humanity for all to savor. She is a leader in the community and is a healer who also is the director of the children's ministry at The Potter's House of Dallas. We are thrilled to have this compassionate, artistic, and loving voice on our show today to share her story.

What You Will Hear:

• Growing up in a legacy
• Pressures of being the middle child and oldest daughter
• Becoming a preacher
• Religious and culture shock
• Faith and white supremacy
• Remaining grounded and Therapy
• Mental health
• Church and therapy
• Faithing It and Ferocious Warrior
• Being a mentor and blogging
• Call Me Cora
• Changing the narrative 

Quotes:

“I've always been the middle man the anchor between the siblings and kind of the pillar of faith for my family.”

“I made white people comfortable using my comedic value.”

“I'm learning that therapy doesn't have to be a red button emergency. It can be just something that you use to anchor yourself and navigate through those traumatic experiences that are above you.”

“I try to keep people around me that don't think mental health is a crazy lane but that they are seeing the benefits of us being able to manage our trauma and navigate through our trauma in a healthy way.”. 

“We go to church because we need help. It's the hospital. It's a place for patients.”

“Try people by the fruits that they show, not what you hear..”

Mentioned

The Potters House

Faithing It 

Ferocious Warrior

Have you ever heard of the Real World, Big Brother, Biggest Loser or American Gladiator?  JD’s guest in this episode is the greatest packaging agent of all time and the architect of television as we know it today. Some call it reality, some call it nonfiction and some call it unscripted. Whatever you wanna call it, Mark Itkin is responsible for it.  Mark is the most respected agent in the business, even today,  post-retirement. Mark is a true visionary who never takes no for an answer. If he believes, he believes.  He doesn't care if it takes years to sell an idea, when he believes he's always right. How is he still making headlines? Because he doesn't stop. He's doing what he does best, packaging, creating and selling his newest show, College Bowl, is a huge hit and has been picked up for its second season.

A native Angelina Eden Alpert has grown up in and around the music industry. Her dad is an icon, the legendary Herb Alpert. Eden is a true connector. She truly loves to connect people to worlds that they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.  Eden, who has her degree in fashion from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising uses her sense of style to create spaces where people come together to make music and often donate for her special causes. She's managing director of the incredible jazz club Vibrato Bar and Grill where everyone has played, including I AM Music production company’s, Giovanna Clayton, and Stevie Wonder, just to name a few.  She was taught early on about philanthropy, and she's here to tell us all about her life today. 

What You Will Hear:

• Growing up as a celebrity child. 
• Moving to Chicago in search of a normal life.
• Learning to redirect patterns.
• Being adopted and meeting her biological mother.
• Biggest mistakes and greatest lessons
• Philanthropy and getting involved.
• Being raised by an alcoholic parent.
• Abuse and choosing to make change.
• Sympathy vs empathy
• The importance of changing the narrative one person at a time.

Quotes:

“The pain of familiarity is better, sometimes people think, than the pain of the unknown.”

“Somewhere in my forties, I discovered everyone likes me for me.”

“Oftentimes from our big, biggest mistakes come our greatest lessons.”

“Boundaries are offensive to people who don't like boundaries.”

 “When you're abused as a child, any kind of abuse seems familiar.”

“We all can make choices and we all can change our story.  One of the lessons I learned is to not let my story define me” 

“You can love people and have nothing to do with them.”

“The more privilege you have, the more voice you should use.”

Mentioned

Vibrato Bar and Grill

Fb @EdenRueAlpert

IG @EdenAlpert