#RealTalk

Guests: Kenyari Sawyer and Ronnie King

The 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, Inc. hosts its 19th Annual Infinite Scholar College Fair. This event routinely provides on-the-spot college admission and scholarships. A great opportunity for Black students to attend college. Blackoffee highlights the event and discusses the outlook for Black student progress.

Tia Mitchell is the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Washington correspondent. In this role, she writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.

Tia is here to offer information on the 2020 elections, Georgia’s impact on the outcome and of course, she’ll also give her eyewitness account of the domestic terror attack on the US Capitol that was led by Trump supporters on January 6.

Tracie Davis represents Florida House District 13 in parts of Duval County.

She has served in the Florida House of Representatives since 2016, and has become one of the most trusted voices in Florida’s legislative body.

Prior to being elected to public office, Davis worked for the Supervisor of Elections office, where she would later unsuccessfully run for the seat occupied by her previous boss Jerry Holland.

Davis is constantly engaging constituents to better understand their needs, and how she can best serve the public. She’s a down to earth, cool person who, like her colleagues, is preparing to take on the 2021 Legislative session.

Senator Audrey Gibson represents Florida Senate District 6 in parts of Duval County. She is one of the leading voices in local and state politics. With so many important issues looming (such as Florida’s continued response to the Covid-19 pandemic), Gibson promises to be one of the most important policy voices of the 2021 Legislative session.

Leslie Scott Jean-Bart is a fifth generation Jacksonville native who is dedicated to civil rights and her community. When it comes to serving the people, she has become one of Jacksonville’s leading voices on criminal justice reform and social policy change.

Leslie is an attorney who earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. She serves on many boards of directors (too many to mention) and also volunteers as an Attorney Ad Litem and Educational Surrogate for foster children.

Her life-long interest in public service was inspired by her late grandmother, Mary L. Singleton, the first black woman elected to Jacksonville City Council, who went on to become a state representative.

On this edition of Real Talk we’ll talk with Leslie Scott Jean-Bart. We’ll get her thoughts on race and politics…along with her family legacy and how she got here.

They say “Turnabout is fair play.” With that in mind, I’d like to introduce Real Talk is listeners to someone special. Her name is Vrinda Holmes, and she is my little sister.

She is also the producer and star of her own podcast titled, Simply Making it Happen…and it’s the bomb. Now I’ve been in this business for almost 40 years, and I can tell you that she has gotten off to a great start. It is definitely her time to shine. Needless to say, for some reason, my sister wanted to interview me. And since turnabout is fair play, here we are.

On this edition of Real Talk I will head to the other side of the table and hand over the big mic to my little sister, Vrinda Holmes. We’ll discuss everything from family, fun and business.

Politics, protests and progress. We continue our conversation with Obi Umunna. Obi is a homegrown Jacksonville attorney who has his finger on the pulse of politics and how policy can move the community toward change.

It goes without saying that a lot is going on in our world today. From coronavirus to social justice issues, we are being bombarded with issues, information and attitudes regarding health and culture.

Someone who has dedicated himself to deciphering messages into change is man named Obi Umunna. Obi is a homegrown Jacksonville attorney who has his finger on the pulse of politics and how policy can move the community toward change. Obi is the founder and managing partner of the Umunna Legal Group, and is also known as a busy political operative. Which makes this conversation all the more interesting.

We are all living in a coronavirus new world order. Our communities are grappling with this phenomenon that will likely change our lifestyles as we know it…forever. In fact, it’s been nearly 3 weeks since I’ve worn a pair of dress slacks, or jeans for that matter. Indicating that I’ve been successfully able to practice the stay at home policies recommended by government officials.

Needless to say, while we are still adjusting to isolation practices we still need to be cognizant of the severity of this pandemic.

On this edition of real talk, we are going to speak with two experts from different ends of this pandemic. First, we’ll hear from Dr. Eric Griggs, a community health physician who is on the frontline of the COVID19 response in New Orleans, LA. And if the last name sounds familiar that’s because Dr. Griggs is my cousin. He’s also one of my go to voices on medical issues. He’s going to give his perspective on the response and continue to bang home the message of prevention.

Then, we’ll switch gears. We thought it might be a good idea to lighten things up with a few words about how you can up your food game while in this social distancing quagmire. We’ll talk with Chef Amadeus, and get some tips on how you can be creative with your food choices and other cooking rituals.

Our world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus. However, in the face of all the misinformation, we are here to provide some straight talk. In fact, real talk.

On this edition of real talk, we are going to talk with two very talented journalists, who I also consider good friends.

Ms. Tia Mitchell, Washington DC beat writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. We’ll discuss all the info in the new COVID19 stimulus package intended to keep the US economy afloat during this pandemic.

Then, we’ll have a conversation with Ms. Leah Fleming. Leah is the Morning Edition host for Georgia Public Radio in Atlanta. We’ll be discussing how people are dealing with the COVID19 pandemic across various communities and how it is impacting us all.