BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"
Welcome to Be A Baller, where we're building a lifelong legacy for our families, communities, and the world! I'm your host, Coach Tim Brown, and I'm excited to for you join me on this journey.
On this show, we'll be talking about how to be intentional about building a lasting legacy. We'll be exploring what it means to leave a mark that goes beyond just our own lives, but has a positive impact on those around us and even generations to come.
Our guests will be individuals who have built a legacy in various fields – ministry, business, sports, and community service. And what's unique about our guests is that they're committed to the Wisdom Pledge. That means they're not just sharing their own stories and experiences with us, but they're also paying forward and sharing wisdom to empower the next generation.
So if you're looking for inspiration, guidance, and practical tips on how to build a lasting legacy that makes a difference, then you're in the right place!
So grab your earbuds, get comfortable, and let's dive in!
BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"
From Poindexter Village to Primetime: Angela Pace's Inspirational Journey
Send us a comment about the Be a Baller Podcast Episode. Thanks for support.
Angela Pace powerful story weaves through the nurturing community of Columbus's historic Poindexter Village (the "Blackberry Patch") where three generations of women taught her about determination and sacrifice. With candid warmth and infectious humor, she shares how her grandmother and mother instilled in her a love of learning, proper English, and unwavering faith that would become the foundation of her broadcasting career.
One teacher's belief changed everything. When Angela Pace's sixth-grade teacher drove her home and told her mother, "This girl needs to go to college," a new path opened for a young girl from Poindexter Village who had never imagined higher education as part of her future.
The journey wasn't smooth. Angela reveals the heartbreaking challenges she faced – from her mother's death during her high school years to experiencing blatant racism as a young reporter in Newark, where police officials deliberately withheld stories from the "little Black girl with a teeny weeny 'fro." Yet for every obstacle, Angela encountered champions who recognized her talent and created opportunities, including former teachers who literally drove her to Capital University to help her re-enroll after she had to drop out to support her siblings.
Her broadcasting career brought extraordinary experiences – covering Princess Diana's funeral, reporting from the Nagano Olympics, and even meeting Nelson Mandela. But Angela's greatest pride comes from connecting with the Columbus community and inspiring younger journalists who tell her, "I want to be Angela Pace." Now honored as one of Columbus's Top 50 Icons, Angela doesn't see herself as a trailblazer but as "encouragement and maybe hope" for all the other kids from neighborhoods like hers.
What does legacy mean to Angela Pace? It's "doing something that somebody will remember, hopefully for all the right reasons." Listen now to discover how faith, mentorship, and perseverance shaped a broadcasting legend whose grandmother "prayed her through college" and whose story continues to inspire generations.
Albert Leon Tapo was my sixth grade teacher at Kent Elementary School and it was the first male teacher I'd ever had and he was a big, big brother from Louisiana somewhere and I was scared to death of him, scared to death of him. And one day he told me I had to stay after class. I was almost in tears because I thought I was a good kid. I thought what did I do? My mom was home on maternity leave and he knew that and he sat us down and he told my mother. He said this girl needs to go to college. And my mother's looking at me and I'm looking at her and I'm thinking what in the world is college? All my mother had asked of me and my sisters was graduate from high school, get a good job at the phone company, because that's what you did back then if you were a black girl.
Speaker 1:And she said don't bring me any grandchildren before you bring me a son-in-law. Those were the rules. Those were the rules and Mr Tapo told my mother. He said I see something in her she loves learning, she's always prepared, she always volunteers and I can just see her having a successful college career. From that point on, coach, my mother and I were on a mission and that mission was to get me to college.
Speaker 3:Welcome to Be A Baller where we're building a lifelong legacy for our families, communities and the world. Your host, coach Tim Brown, is excited for you to join him on this journey. On each episode, we'll be talking about how to be intentional about building a lasting legacy. We'll be exploring what it means to leave a mark that goes beyond just our lives but has a positive impact on those around us and even generations to come. So if you're looking for inspiration, guidance and practical tips on how to build a lasting legacy that makes a difference, then you're in the right place. So grab your earbuds, get comfortable and let's dive in. It's time to be a baller.
Speaker 2:Welcome to a Be A Baller podcast. I'm your host, coach Tim Brown, where we celebrate the stories of individuals who are making a lasting impact in their communities. Today, we're honored to have in studio Queen Angela. She joins us on the show. As a trailblazer in journalism and community service, angela's legacy is a testament to her dedication and perseverance. From anchoring newscasts to serving on numerous boards of directors, angela has led an incredible mark on Columbus. Angela has won an incredible mark on Columbus. Angela has won three Emmys. In January 2012, angela Pace was named one of the top 50 icons in Columbus by the Columbus Bicentennial Guide. Angela's image is featured on the Longstreet Culture Wall of Fame. There's a joke around that you have a big picture. Your picture is bigger than some other folks.
Speaker 1:That's what they say on the streets. My brothers and sisters came to the ceremony and my brother said why is your head so big?
Speaker 2:that's what they say on the streets, and I think is it Chuck White who was really mad at you oh yeah, he was not happy, he was not happy.
Speaker 2:I want to thank the audience for joining us. We're going to have a good time and we have plenty of laughs, and we just want to thank the audience for joining us. We're going to have a good time, there's going to be plenty of laughs, and we just want to celebrate you. Oh, thank you All that you've done in the community and continue to do. Continue to do. As we sit down with you, we'll discuss your journey, the lessons you learned along the way, and how she's built a legacy that continues to inspire future generations. Angela Pace Queen Angela, welcome to the show. Thank you. You know your impact is legendary. There's a fourth grade student that met you as a student when you visited his elementary school. You impact him so much that he is now your favorite county commissioner, kevin Boyce.
Speaker 1:Kevin will never let me forget that. Yeah, he told me we were at some event. Now I'll tell you when it was. It was when he was being, he had just been named state treasurer of Ohio, and so they had a reception for him. And I was emceeing the reception and he said Miss Angela, when I was a little boy, in the fourth grade, at Ohio Avenue, and I thought here's this grown man, right, right, remembering he was in the fourth grade when I was a grown woman.
Speaker 2:He's one of my favorite guys and he is my favorite commissioner. All right, now let's set the record straight. You know you're growing up in Pointe d'Ache Village. What was it like being part of the Near East community during that time, and how did your childhood experiences shape you today?
Speaker 1:I tell everybody that when I think about myself and when I talk to myself which I do a lot since I'm unemployed now I refer to myself as a little nappy head girl from Poindexter Village, because that's the way I am. That's what shaped me. My mom grew up in Poindexter and when she and my dad split up, when my sisters and I were just babies, we moved in with her mother and my grandmother and spent the first few years of our lives on Clifton Avenue in Poindexter, the Blackberry Patch, and I tell people all the time that you know I'm 112 years old now, but the years that I spent in Poindexter were the happiest and safest I've ever felt. It was a true, true village. Safest I've ever felt. It was a true, true village.
Speaker 1:And that's when I learned about community, about how you don't just live in your little address. There were tons of kids there, so I got a chance to play with tons of kids my age and younger and older, and the grownups had permission from my grandmother to. If they saw us acting up, they could swat us on our butts and then drag us across the courtyard to my grandmother's house where they would say Ms Jones, I saw Angie doing blah, blah, blah blah. My grandmother would say thank you very much, and then she would drag me upstairs and I'd get more swats on the behind. So you learn that there were people who cared about you, even though there was no blood connection. All these grownups were trying to raise all these little colored kids the best way that they could. It was a great place to grow up.
Speaker 2:You know you had a special relationship with your mom and grandmother. Can you talk about their impact and influence that they have in your life that drove your success?
Speaker 1:Well with my mom. First of all, for a few years after my dad left, she was a single mother and she worked hard to take care of my two sisters and myself. We all lived together. There were three generations of women all living together with my two sisters and myself my mom and her sister, my Aunt Jean, and then my grandmother and her sister. So three generations of women, and they were all. We all had jobs. As my grandmother said, her job and her sister's job, my Aunt Ethel, were to go out and clean folks' houses to help bring money in. My mom's job was to get as many jobs as she could to help take care of me and my sisters. My Aunt Jean at the time was in high school, so her job was to finish high school and then get a job. And for me and my sisters, our job was to go to school and learn as much as we could so that we could be the best people that we could. My mother was one of these women who Coach.
Speaker 1:I think that if, in a different age and time, my mother would have gone to college and she'd be running a company or something now, because she was a very, very smart woman, loved reading, loved education From her. I got my love of reading, my love of learning. She instilled that in me and would sit up with me and go over my spelling words and make sure my homework was done. I also got my love of music from her. She played piano.
Speaker 1:We had an old upright piano in our house and she would sit. She had all the jazz albums in the world so we would listen to jazz. She would sit at the piano and play and I'd sit next to her and I could read at this time and if I knew the words to the song I would sing while she played. So I grew up with music in the house, did music all through school. So mom had that incredible influence on me. I always wanted to learn and my grandmother and I'm not going to cry, but my grandmother was always in our lives. It wasn't like we got in the car and went to grandmother's house, because she was always there for most of the time anyway, so she would take care of us when mommy was working.
Speaker 1:And then, even after my mother got married again and my sisters and I moved out and we had our own house, nanny was always always there, always helping out. And when my mom died while I was still in high school, it was my grandmother who stepped in and said I'm keeping this family together. My brothers were very young and I think there had been some talk about maybe children's services coming in and putting them. My grandmother said, no, I'm taking care of my baby's babies. So she somehow provided a way for all of us to have a place to live, have food and also have a religious upbringing. She made sure that we went to church and that we went to Bible study. And basically I tell everybody that my grandmother prayed me through college, through all the jobs that I've had, and prayed me into the career that I've been blessed with.
Speaker 2:You have a story about your grandmother, North Carolina, correct?
Speaker 1:Yeah, North Kakalaki.
Speaker 2:The story goes, she was determined that you wouldn't have that accent. Oh that you would talk good old, proper English. That's the word. Is that the word? Is that right?
Speaker 1:That is the word. She and her sister my aunt were from North Carolina. They came up here as very young women to find freedom in the North, and so they were determined that they weren't going to sound like they were from the South and that my sisters and I were not going to sound like we were from the South. So they spoke very correct English in the house. They listened to their bosses, listened to how they spoke. We watched news. I mean, I was watching news at a very early age because that's where you learned what they call general standard English. So in our house my sisters and I had to speak very correct English, but we knew we couldn't talk like that out with our buddies. I tell everybody I was bilingual because I knew how to talk out in that house.
Speaker 1:And never knowing, coach, that that was going to lay the foundation for me to be able to speak correct English on TV. I didn't have to learn how to do it, I'd done it all my life.
Speaker 2:God has a way of working all things together. All those things come together. You know you attended a South High School. Yes, Bulldogs.
Speaker 1:Sorry.
Speaker 2:You are all in that yearbook. You're all in that 1970 yearbook. Now, you're all in that book. You're all in that book. You're all in that book. You're in the marching band, will and Scroll Class Play, national Iron Society, buckeye Girls, state Sweetheart Ball Queen, come on with your bad self. And commencement speaker. It's even more now. I read the book. There, you, class and student council officer, student newspaper and senior choir, go ahead and sing something for us.
Speaker 1:Lord have mercy. A lot of that was my mother's influence. She wanted me to have a great school life and I was all for it. I mean, I was all for it. It was so much fun and it kept me out of trouble. It kept me engaged. It kept me out of trouble. It kept me engaged. I got to work with a lot of different classmates on a lot of different levels and it gave me exposure to a world that I may never have had.
Speaker 2:I had a group of friends and we were in a lot of those same organizations together and we were what you would call nerds now, I guess, but we were popular nerds. I don't know how that happened. Right, it was an oxymoron, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:It was a great experience. I loved my experience at South High.
Speaker 2:School yeah, that's awesome. And kids miss out on that today just being involved in those different activities, because I bet that class reunion is something else, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:We've got a reunion coming up in September. We've already got they've already sent out the save the dates and it's and a lot, of, a lot of my classmates I still see, because they stayed here and I've stayed in touch with them, which I think is great to be able to form those kinds of friendships that can grow up with you.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know, when you were in sixth grade, your teacher drove you home from school one day and sat down at the kitchen table with you and your mother and said this girl needs to go to college. Then you had your student newspaper advisor. Talk about the influence. Can you talk about the influence that those two teachers had in your life?
Speaker 1:Albert Leon Tapo was my sixth grade teacher at Kent Elementary School and it was the first male teacher I'd ever had and he was a big, big brother from Louisiana somewhere and I was scared to death of him, scared to death of him. And one day he told me I had to stay after class. I was almost in tears because I thought I was a good kid. I thought what did I do? My mom was home on maternity leave and he knew that and he sat us down and he told my mother. He said this girl needs to go to college. And my mother's looking at me and I'm looking at her and I'm thinking what in the world is college? And my mother's looking at me and I'm looking at her and I'm thinking what in the world is college? All my mother had asked of me and my sisters was graduate from high school, get a good job at the phone company, because that's what you did back then if you were a black girl. And she said don't bring me any grandchildren before you bring me a son-in-law. Those were the rules. Those were the rules. And Mr Tapo told my mother. He said I see something in her. She loves learning, she's always prepared, she always volunteers and I can just see her having a successful college career From that point on.
Speaker 1:Coach, my mother and I were on a mission and that mission was to get me to college. So a lot of those activities that I was in that was part of her plan to make sure that I was always engaged, that I was active. So if college admissions looked at my resume they'd say, oh okay, this is a good kid. She would you know. She had five kids and a job, a full-time job. But she always made sure that if I was doing something extra at school, if I was working on a project, she was right there, she was right there.
Speaker 1:And then I had a couple of really great, influential teachers at South who helped me out. There was a guidance counselor, mr Tate, who would call me into his office and just check and make sure that I was on that college path. And I tell people all the time that there were teachers. Teachers have one of the toughest jobs that there is. They really do. But if they see something in you, they got a classroom full of kids, maybe four or five classrooms. If they see that kid who needs something or wants something and they zero in on that, then it makes all the difference in the world.
Speaker 1:It makes all the difference in the world. One of my teachers, mike Rotunda.
Speaker 2:He was a college football coach you know, rotunda, he was doing activities yeah, rotunda, he was a college football coach.
Speaker 1:You know Rotunda, he was doing activities. Yeah, mike Rotunda was my government teacher and got to be just a real good friend, always encouraging me. And when I had to drop out of college after my mother died, it was Mike Rotunda who I was working at Nationwide Insurance trying to help my grandmother support my brothers and sisters. And I'd only had one year of college, I'd had a year at OU and then my stepfather said we don't have any money to send you back, so I had to get a job. I was devastated, ran into Rotunda about three years after that. He said you ought to be about ready to graduate, right, and I told him no, I'm working and helping with the family.
Speaker 1:About a week later, mike Rotunda called me and said can you play hooky from work tomorrow? Mike Rotunda called me and said can you play hooky from work tomorrow? I said okay. He said I'll pick you up at nine or whatever. He came by with John Grossman who was another teacher at South and later became head of the Columbus Education Association. They were both CAP alums. Come on, they drove me to Capital University and they took me from office to office building to building advisor to professor. By the end of the day I was enrolled as a student at capitol university. Wow, what a story.
Speaker 2:What a story teachers wow, teachers, what a story. We had a jordan miller.
Speaker 1:You know jordan oh yeah, I went to high school with his sisters, yeah.
Speaker 2:Jordan said this. He said, tim, it's nice to have mentors, but he said, most important, you got to have a sponsor. You got to have a sponsor. And that's what Mike and John were. They were sponsors, they were sponsors, they were right there. Hey, give her a chance. Give her a chance, you know, walk you through.
Speaker 1:I was by the end of the. I mean seriously. I thought what just happened. Right, right, these two sponsors who said no, this girl, she needs to be in college.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, Wow, what a blessing. What a blessing.
Speaker 1:You know the word is when you went there you wanted to be a lawyer. I can't believe. You know a little bit of the sales.
Speaker 2:Sorry, can you hear my sources? You know, I knew you was coming in. I had to do my homework.
Speaker 3:Now it couldn't be no joke now.
Speaker 2:But you took a radio broadcasting class for easy A. You felt it. What was it about that class Wow?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was pre-law at Capitol. One of my friends was taking this radio broadcast course and said hey, take this class with me, it'll be easy and we can partner on projects. And so I did some projects for that radio broadcast class and I just something clicked. I just fell in love. But I thought no, this is not the career for me. I'm going to be a lawyer. At the end of the class, the professor Armin Langholz pulled me aside and said I know you're a poli-sci major, but have you thought about broadcasting? And I said no, I can't make any money. I'm going to be a civil rights lawyer. That's what I'm going to do. And he said well, just think about it. And I changed my major. Wow, I changed. It just felt you know something when it feels good, it feels good.
Speaker 1:That's the way I felt taking that class, taking that class, and somebody else saw it again. Another sponsor saw that I was halfway decent at it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Speaker 2:You know, people see you now, they see your glory, but they really don't know the story. You know and you started your career as an intern at Channel 4 and became a radio reporter in Newark Ohio.
Speaker 1:You know what was some of the challenges you faced during those early days. Oh Lord, I was still when I was doing my internship at Channel 4, we didn't have a car and I was still living with my grandmother and so I would have to take like three, four buses to get to Channel 4. So that was always a challenge, but I got an opportunity to work in a lot of different departments and one of the best things that happened to me was working with Ann Walker, ann B Walker, who is the real queen of TV here in Columbus.
Speaker 1:She was my internship guidance counselor and I learned so much from her, especially about representing the community, representing all people, giving all people voices. And then, when I got the, I got an opportunity then to work at Channel 4 on a part-time basis while I was still in college and I was a floor director. So for all you kids out there, a floor director is the bottom of the totem pole job at a TV station Sounds important. Oh yeah, you do all the stuff nobody else wants to do. So I did everything from typing in sports scores to painting sets, to wiping out the anchor's ashtrays because they smoked in the studio back in those days to running errands, and I did it all. I did it all. Then I got a job working in radio news in Newark.
Speaker 1:Had to get an old beat up car so I can move to Newark and the big challenge coach with me living in Newark was that Newark back then there were not a lot of Black people in positions of authority. I think there was a judge or two and a couple of lawyers, a great minister, dr Noble, who just had an incredible church there. So I'm this little Black girl had teeny, weeny, fro at the time big hoop earrings, because that was the look. And I had the audacity to go into somebody's office and put a microphone in front of them and ask them hey, can you explain to me how? Blah, blah, blah, blah. And there were a lot of people who did not appreciate that. So I got a lot of folks who would not do interviews with me, a lot of people who would pass me off. If they were the president or the chief they'd pass me off to other folks.
Speaker 1:Morning I did morning drive radio and I used to have to go in early in the morning and stop at the police station and look at police reports, things that had happened overnight, and then take those notes and then put that in my newscast and I would go in and the dispatcher would give me all the notes and then I'd go back, write up stories, have them on the air. Well, after about a month my boss came to me and said you know what you've been missing? A lot of big crime stories, police stories from overnight. And I thought, well, I got all the information. I went in the next day I was devastated. Devastated because this guy had taken a chance on me. I went in the next morning and I asked the dispatcher. I said am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? Because I'm missing big stories. And bless his heart, this guy told me. He said I shouldn't tell you this, but he said the captain will come in, he knows what time you come in and he'll take the big stories out and then you get what you think you're getting and then you leave and then the reporter, the white reporter from the other radio station will come in and she'll have those stories.
Speaker 1:My boss, who God bless him really took care of me. He was a big guy, weighed 300 pounds, jumped in his he had a silver Volkswagen Rabbit Jumped in his car, went downtown and told the police chief. He said look, I put you in this job. I can take you out. You're not going to treat my people like this. You give this girl everything she needs and from then on I didn't have any problem. But it was things like that and people like that who really made it difficult for me. There were some really great people too, but it was people like that who made me see, does racism have to be this tough and ugly? You guys are trying to keep me from doing my job because I'm black, are you kidding me? And that's where my grandmother and her faith came in, because she would call me and say, baby, what's going on? And I would just tell her I'd be crying sometimes. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know these people. These people don't know me. Why do they hate me?
Speaker 1:But again over time and with Mr Pricer's help. Over time and with Mr Pricer's help, I was able to build up a reputation and people started to grudgingly respect me and that made a lot of difference. But it was tough. It was a character building experience.
Speaker 2:Yes yes, it was. You know, you preserved and you got through that. You rose through the ranks weekend anchor. Then you came over to Channel 10. The word is that first day, that first day, you're going on the ranks weekend anchor. Then you came over to Channel 10. The word is that first day, that first day, you're going on the air. The community really showed up for you.
Speaker 1:There were so many roses. When were you getting this?
Speaker 2:Just tell the story. You know my job is to ask the question. Just tell the story. You know how you treat people when you're interviewing them.
Speaker 1:So now you're on that seat, I'm on the other side, I'm not doing well. I'm a coach, I'm not handling this well. Talk about that first day. Well, I was scared to death because I thought, you know, my viewers at Channel 4 were always so kind and that was my family, and I thought, here I've made this change. Did I make the right choice? Are people going to appreciate me making this choice? And that first day it really did look like a flower shop. It was, and I have allergies. Oh, my goodness. So I'm sneezing. My eyes are watery. I can't even tell you how many bouquets of flowers there were. It was so gratifying that people were happy because I had to be off the air for like six. I was off the air for eight months and the people were happy to see me back on the air and that they were setting me up for success at this new station. It was I said this is my city, this is my home, these are my people, these are people.
Speaker 2:My people. You know, what advice would you give to young people who want to break into this industry?
Speaker 1:Oh goodness, I used to say don't do it Run, don't do it Run, don't walk away. But the industry has grown in such a way that it presents so many options. With social media, all the cable stations, all the internet stations, podcasts. Young people today have so many options and I would say, first of all, believe, believe in yourself, believe that if this is something that you really want to do, even if you think you want to be a lawyer, but then, all of a sudden, you hear your voice, I'm ready.
Speaker 1:You're going to say, oh no, this is what I want to do. Believe that you can do it and believe that there are people out there who will help you do it. And then also be strong. Be strong, understand that it's going to be tough. This is a tough business to get into. There are going to be people who will try to discourage you.
Speaker 1:I had a vice president of news over at Channel 4 who told me and I was wearing the short afro then and told me that they needed to change my look if I was ever going to make it, that I needed to do something with my hair and with my teeth, that I needed to look more like Jane Pauley, who was a blue-eyed blonde who was doing the morning news on NBC. I said, well, I don't know how that's going to happen. I don't know how that's going to happen, but, yeah, be strong and understand that there are going to be a lot of bumps in the road. And then, thirdly, I would say be kind. Be kind to other people, because those are the people you're going to need and want, at your side, at your back, along the way, leading the way, but also be kind to yourself.
Speaker 1:There are going to be some ugly moments. There are going to be some ugly moments. There are going to be some times when you don't believe in yourself. There are going to be times when you fail and you just want to stay down. You don't want to get back up. Be kind, give yourself grace and understand that it's not an easy path. But if it's what you really want to do, even if you mess up, be kind to yourself and know okay, I'll get it next time, I'll get it right next time. That's a good word.
Speaker 2:You've had quite a few experiences, stories, experiences. Can you tell us about some of those most memorable stories or experiences you've had?
Speaker 1:It's been a blessing, Coach. I have had an opportunity with this career to go places. I never thought a little nappy head girl from Point Dexter Village would ever get to go. I remember when I was anchoring that six o'clock one day I was getting ready to go off on the set to do the six o'clock, my news director said do you have a valid passport? And I said yeah. She said okay. When I got off the air she said I'm sending you to London. I thought London, Ohio, why is she sending me to London? She was sending me and a photographer to London to cover the death of Princess Diana. She wanted a local presence in London to cover the death of Princess Diana. So here I am, my photographer, Mike Limley, who I just had lunch with the other day, and we're in London covering that huge funeral.
Speaker 1:In 1998, February 98, I spent a month, four weeks, in Nagano, Japan, covering the Winter Olympics, and that was incredible. To be in another country, another culture. That was. I was doing like three, I think three live shots a day, and that was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1:And then one of my greatest experiences, though, was thanks to John Kasich, who was a congressman at the time. He asked me if I wanted to come to Washington the next day. I said, okay. He said we got something special going on in Congress. I said, okay, cool, I got to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives in our nation's capital, just yards away from a podium where Nelson Mandela, who had just been released from a South African prison after, like decades, just been released weeks before, was addressing a joint session of Congress. I got to stand there and breathe the same air that this man was breathing, and then Kasich made sure I got a chance to meet him and shake his hand. So it's just been those great, great moments.
Speaker 1:And then just all the people not just the big people, but all the great people, folks who are doing great work in this community that I've had a chance to meet and do things with.
Speaker 1:I think about people like Jerry Hammond, City Council President Jerry Hammond, who was one of my mentors, Ben Espy, Les Wright these are the folks who helped me when I didn't know what I was doing.
Speaker 1:These are the people who said sit down, we're going to tell you how to do this, and the community out there. And being able to try to help comfort a community during 9-11, to try to help connect a community and inform a community during the pandemic, just all those to try to help people understand what the murder of George Floyd really meant, to try to help tell those stories and it's the people stories that really, really touch me and being able to connect with people, to have somebody say, hey, thanks for coming out and covering the cleanup of our neighborhood or the fact that we're building this new playground at our church, or thanks for coming to our schools and talking to our kids. It's being able to meet people and if I can make a difference by meeting these folks and telling their stories, then that's what I'm here for by meeting these folks and telling their stories, then that's what I'm here for, amen, amen.
Speaker 2:You know what does it mean to you to be a trailblazer for young Black women and women of color in journalism and community service as well.
Speaker 1:It means I'm old but I'm still cute and that's all that matters. No, we're talking about fall off the stool here.
Speaker 2:Kevin told me we're going to be like this.
Speaker 1:But it's funny because I just got a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Professional Journalists here in town and I thought, wow, lifetime, that means I have to be decades and decades older than everybody else in the room and I've been doing this. I've been doing this for 47 years and, if I can, there weren't anybody who not a lot of people who look like me on TV, so I couldn't say, gee, I want to do that.
Speaker 1:When I grow up To be able to have a Yolanda Harris say she told a news director, I want to be Angela Pace, to have like a Sierra, matt, barr, carrie, charles, all my local babies, to have them say I watched you growing up. To have other folks say you know what? I knew that I didn't really want to do TV. But listening to you talk about community service, I want to do something to help my community. Or I've heard you talk about your college story and how hard it was for you to get back into school and work three jobs to finally get your degree. I want to do that.
Speaker 1:So I don't think of myself as a trailblazer. I'd like to think of myself as encouragement and maybe hope, so that all those other little nappy head kids from Poindexter Village or North Linden or the Hilltop or the South Side they can say, oh okay, well, if she can do it and she told me I can do it, so I can do it that feels better than being a trailblazer. Trailblazer makes me sound like Daniel Boone. Right, you were warned. You were warned about me, so don't act surprised it's all true.
Speaker 2:It's all true, it's all true. Once they get you out the studio, you know how Mama and them used to say can't take you nowhere, I lose my mind, you can dress me up, but you can't take me out. As we come around the corner. You know this is a legacy podcast I want you to share about. You mentioned this earlier, about your faith, you know, in a praying grandmother. Can you talk about how faith has played a role in your life?
Speaker 1:My sisters and my brothers and I were first dragged to church by my grandmother. My grandmother was just. If you look in the dictionary under faith, you'll find a picture of my grandmother, you know, coming up from the South and having to work in people's houses cleaning houses and then having to raise her daughter's five kids. She is the epitome of faith, and so my sisters and I always, and my brothers, epitome of faith, and so my sisters and I always, and my brothers always, knew that we had to obey her and that we had to follow her lead.
Speaker 1:My grandmother would, when I was on the air and I was doing the 11 o'clock news, I would come home and there'd be a message on my answering machine from my grandmother at least three nights a week. She'd say hey, baby, I watched you on the air tonight. You look so pretty, I love what you had on. Or she'd say, hey, baby, I watched you, you look tired, Are you okay? And then she would always end by saying I prayed you home Talk. And I prayed you into your garage and I prayed you upstairs.
Speaker 1:Oh no-transcript in me and make me have faith in myself and in God than anybody did before and anybody has since, because I know I tell people all the time, I know she's up there, she's going to pray me into heaven With all my faults. She's going to pray me into heaven.
Speaker 2:Look at you now. You never heard this saying that you are truly epitome of this our ancestors and wildest dreams. When you think about that point, disability experience and the things that your grandmother and mother and it's just a wildest dream. This is really happening to my granddaughter.
Speaker 1:Coach. That's why I don't take it for granted. I'm not doing this just for me. It's been great and I'm very proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm standing on shoulders. I'm standing on shoulders. There are people out there who I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if it wasn't for all those folks, who not just people in the business, people like Amos Lynch and Ann Walker, liz Evans, not just those folks, but all those other folks who came north, stayed here, worked hard so that this next generation and the generations after would have it better. I can't betray that. I can't not honor that. Are you kidding that? I can't not honor that? Are you kidding? I am where I am because all those people, many of whom I was blessed to get to know on a personal level- but even more so all those folks that I never met.
Speaker 1:So their legacy is my legacy.
Speaker 2:You are truly a. This is a podcast about ballers. You are truly a. This is a podcast about ballers.
Speaker 1:You're truly a baller and you know, for us, a baller is building a lifelong legacy. Think about that word legacy. What does that word? First of all, what does that word legacy mean to you done something or are doing something, or are somebody that somebody will remember, hopefully for all the right reasons? It's a gift, even if you don't have a will and testament. It's what you leave behind for friends, family, your community, people you will never, ever know. It's what you leave behind and if you're doing the right thing, it's all good and it's all helpful and it is a thing of beauty. It's something that will.
Speaker 1:If somebody says, oh, I remember Coach Brown, they're going to say I remember how he helped me do that's part of your legacy. That's part of your legacy and I think we all are in a position to leave a legacy. To leave a legacy. What I would want to leave behind is again to tell people this little nappy head girl from Poindexter Village got an opportunity, not just through her own hard work and perseverance, but standing on the shoulders of others and through the love and support and prayers of so many people who cared about her and folks who took a chance folks who took a chance on her.
Speaker 1:She got a chance to live out her dreams and what she wants is for all those other little nappy head kids and other kids, even if you're not nappy headed for all those other kids, kids with dreams, to have dreams and to be able to realize those dreams.
Speaker 2:Well, this has been great. I want to thank you for being a guest on Be A Baller podcast. You are a true legend and encourager to so many young women of color in broadcasting, and you are truly one of our queens. You got the crown. You got the crown. You got the crown, you got the crown.
Speaker 2:You got the crown, and I'm so glad that you decided to become a broadcaster. Instead of that Ben Crump lawyer, you're a civil rights lawyer. You would have been good at that too. Now you would have got it done. Now you would have got it done. But we're so glad that we were able to see your face and I think it was just a blessing growing up in Columbus. When I came to Columbus seeing you and Jerry Rebich, just seeing you every night, that was such an encouragement, I'm sure, to me as an adult and I know it was to some young people- and I certainly hope so.
Speaker 1:Jerry Rebich is one of my favorite people and I think we're both very proud of the fact that there are a lot of young people and young journalists out there who said that's what I want to do.
Speaker 2:So thank you to our listening audience for your continued support of Be A Baller podcast. I'm Coach Tim Brown, continuing to be a baller and building a lifelong legacy.
Speaker 3:If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with family and friends. The Be A Baller podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. This podcast was created by Coach Tim Brown and recorded and edited by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller.