Peace of the planet.
Charlamagnea god here and as we come closer to closing out this year, I just want to say thank you for tuning it into the Black Effect Podcast Network. There have been so many great moments over the past year. Take a listen to some of those captivating moments in this special best of episode.
I'm Tamika d. Mallory and the.
Shit Boy my Son in general.
We are your host of TMI.
Tamika and my Son's Information, Truth, Motivation and.
Inspiration, New Energy. Yes.
So, you know, for the last five months, we've been heavily engaged in the conversation around what is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza. We have been calling for a ceasefire, which we will continue to do. We've taken a very, very what I believe will be historic position that some people have you know, certainly found fault with us in that, but I know that we're standing on
the right side of history. And one of the things that has continued to be a part of the dialogue is the issue around Haiti and other places, the Congo and so many places where people of super dark skin are also experiencing genocide and or you know, extreme poverty, extreme depression, oppression and suppression, and folks have been saying, why haven't you know, why aren't you talking about these things? And of course violence, and they said, you know, why aren't you talking about these things?
And I don't think that's that it is.
You know it well, certainly, I know that it's not a lack of care, but sometimes a lack of information. I know I'm learning a lot about the Congo Uh And the reason why I can speak so well, the reason why we can speak so well to what is happening to the Palestinian people is because we've actually walked the grounds. We've been there, We visited Palestine, we visited Israel, and we understand and the issue. We understand the occupation.
We are very clear about what has taken place there because we were there firsthand, and in the Congos specifically, we have not been there, and so it is a process of learning and trying to bring people credible information, credible messengers, and I think today we have a very credible messenger who's joining us to talk about Haiti.
Now, I have visited Haiti? Have you been Haity been?
So?
I visited Haiti.
I went not very long after the earthquake, along with doctor Ron Daniels and a number of individuals from African Americans who went there to do very important work to bring of course resources, we helped with the school there.
Several schools also.
Went to feed the community and to be one among the people and to learn the history. And so this is an issue that I've already been tapped in on. I understand so much about the people of Haiti and what they have experienced, and so when again talking about credible messengers, I'm excited, delighted to bring on the show today to TMI, a young woman who I found on Instagram. In fact, I made a comment on someone else's page,
on Teslin's page, Teslan Figero, I made a comment there. Yeah, absolutely, And you know, one day she said, is anybody paying attention to what's happening in Haiti?
Like?
Do we care?
And I wrote that I'm watching images and learning and this whole world just drives me crazy. It's just too many things going on at one time. And someone said, if you want to learn more, you should go to this young woman's page, and I went there and for the day, for the night, you know me, I was up. I was watching videos. I was listening to her commentary, and I found her to be an outstanding advocate not just for the people of Hati, but also for us
as black people, even here in America. And so I'm excited to bring our guests. I reached out. She reached right back. She said, let's get it on, let's talk about it. And so today let me introduce to some and allow others to be reacquainted.
If you're already following her.
Doctor Bertrude Albert, doctor okay, PhD. Bertrude Albert, who is the CEO and co founder of P four H Global, and during her undergraduate agree she and another young lady she was went to University of Florida, Miss Priscilla Zela. I hope that is an appropriate way, but I'm sure
she Zeleiah Zeleah Okay. They co founded pH four Global, which was formerly Projects for Haiti, and they had traveled to Haiti separately on several occasions and realized it realized that they shared an unwavering passion for the Haitian people, and so they decided to start this organization that she gonna tell us all about. Thank you so much for joining tm I today I'm saying, doctor Albert, but I think it's okay for us to call you Bertrude.
Yes, definitely Bertrude.
I am so honored and so thankful to be here with you. You know, a special shout out to you all because with things going on in Haiti, I've been getting like a lot of requests from a lot of stations, international and global stations to speak and my fear has been that people will just take soundbites that sensationalize Haiti, that make things seem like they're not that don't really
get to the root of the problem. But when I went and checked out Tam, I'm sorry, and I was able to learn about the work that you all are doing and exposing and speaking truth. I said, this is a platform, dm, I, this is a platform that I need to partner with that I want to be with. So thank you for this invitation, Thank you for allowing me to be here and speak my truth, our truth today.
Thank you well, thank you for being here. And I just love the energy. You know what I'm saying. You have a beautiful spirit and energy that's welcoming. So we want to thank you for being here. I just want to know give us a little bit about yourself. Just tell us a little bit about yourself, your studies, how you got to where we are today.
So I was born in Haiti, but then when I was a baby, I came to the United States. And it's interesting growing up in South Florida as a Haitian American. I received there was a lot of bullying for Haitians in South South Florida, Sorry South Florida, and so it was definitely a challenging time actually growing up, I kind of hit the fact that I was Haitian. I wasn't really truly proud of my heritage and where I came from because I didn't know who I was. All I
knew was darkness, devastation, poverty. But then when I went to college, when I went to the University of Florida, go Gators to college, and I learned that my people were the first free black republic in the world. When I learned that my people created the first nation to permanently abolish slavery in the Transatlantic slave trade. When I learned that Haiti was the first nation established in Latin
America and the Caribbean. Haiti was the second nation established in the Western hemisphere, when I've learned these hidden gems, these hidden glories of my nation, I said, what have I been ashamed of?
What?
From that moment forward, I knew that the rest of my life would be spent towards seeing my country rise. And so I mean, since college up until now until my dying breath, I am going to continue to fight not only for Haiti, but also for Tanika. As you mentioned the black race, I'm to fight for black freedom liberation because we are much more than this narrative that that just controls us and suffocates us. We will rise and have victory. I could go on for years, but I'm gonna stop there.
I'm thinking in this past couple of weeks where we commemorated the life of George Floyd, that I hope people are able to keep that same exact energy of believing victims who've been brutalized without a video, because the same people who are saying we should believe Cassi, Cassie and others, the first time that they say something, these will be the same people that are be in my comments section, like, well, I see the part where the cop beat him up, but I need to know what happened before that I
need to know what happened off camera. I need to be able to see the parts that I didn't see, so I can know exactly what happened. And if it had not been for George Floyd being choked to death the way that he was on TV, they would have told you the story about an incident, which is alleged. I've never even had a conversation with his family members about this, so all I can say is they say that he hit a pregnant woman, then they would tell
you about the fentanyl that was in his system. They would have told people those things, and I promise you the movement would not have been the same if people did not see him his life literally leave his body. It has been that, and the stories and the cases go on and on, and in fact, there are people who did not see the video of Breonna Taylor being shot to death who still don't believe the story as it is being as it has been told and proven.
Because the officers.
We literally had to learn that the officers went into a garage and made up their story and begin to feed the media lies about Brianna Taylor in order for folks to say, well, damn, because but prior to that. I remember you being on clubhouse one time with some guys who was up there talking about she was a drug dealer and she was getting packages to her house and all of these things. That was bullshit, lies that have now been proven in court. They've been proven by
the witnesses. Who are the witnesses, who are police officers that were involved, right, And so I want us to do that. I want us to do that. I want if we are going to start saying that we have to believe people for what they say at the very moment that.
They tell you their story.
I want people to stop asking us to prove police brutality incidents, even if the person ran, even if the person did this or that. In the third the cop is the one who is the aggressor or who has the most responsibility in the situation because they have a gun, they have training, they have responsibilities that come along with getting a paycheck to protect and serve.
So even this.
Happened, he ran, he did this, this one yelled at me, this one spit at a cop.
They know how to do it.
When the white woman gets in the car and drives off in the police car, they know how to refrain and de escalate, But they don't know how to de escalate and refrain when it comes to our community. And I'm not conflating the two things to say that one is more important than the other. What I am saying is that the same people who often say we're gonna believe folks, then they should also respect the fact that when a victim shows up to us and tells us that they've been.
Brutalized, we believe them.
We believe them, and even if later on we find out that they slapped their mama, they did this, they were on drugs, they were.
This terrible, horrific, horrid person with this background.
That night when that incident happened, and a police officer encountered that person, they had a particular responsibility as a person who.
Is paid by us as.
Taxpayers and paid by the state and or the city municipalities to handle their job with professionalism. And I want to see that. I want to see the energy that we have that is very selective to spread.
I think for me in situations right, it's it's not so much about believing or not believing anyone, right, It's just that I realized that I have a powerful voice, right, and when I speak about something that I don't have knowledge of, I found myself in trouble, right. I found myself just on the side of this is what the news is saying, and then finding out later on that
that wasn't exactly what happened. Not saying that it was totally false or not, but it was just like for me moving forward after I've had situations where I actually spoke up or spoke against somebody. I think for me to speak against somebody, it's a lot different than me speaking up for someone. Right, So if I'm speaking for a victim because I want that person to see to receive justice, it's not me speaking against anyone, you know.
I think in this situation, it took time for me to actually have to see something or have something that I felt comfortable saying, Okay, I'm going to speak against this situation because it was for me because I wanted to make sure that I was honest and I was given true to what I knew knowledge, you know. And I think people have a people have a problem with that.
People want you to speak to something when they want to speak and I think each of us has our own have our own compass of what what it takes for us to speak up right, because things I speak, I'm very vocal about a lot of things. Right when I when I when I see something, I said, okay, for me, it computes in my mind that those are the realities of that situation. I have no problem. I'm going to stand and if it's wrong, then I can say,
you know what, I was wrong. But there's a lot of situations where I look and I say, okay, I don't know the dynamics of that. I don't I never was there. I don't really know. I don't even know anybody that knows.
I don't because I remember I would say that, first of all, in the previous show that we did, I said that I was clear something because people were like, just because you settled with somebody doesn't mean that that you did wrong. And we know that, right. We understand that settlements happen all the time for various reasons. Sometimes insurance companies settle, uh, you know, when when a person of a high network value is being sued. They may feel like it's too much damage to the business or
the brand. Sometimes people settle because there's just a no win situation. Some sometimes people settle because this part is true and this party ain't and.
More to go. So there's different reasons, but in this situation, I was clear. I was very clear my my my instincts.
Told me, my heart told me that something happened, and something bad happened in the way in which that settlement moves so fast. And I said that on our show, let's not fool ourselves and act like we don't understand
human instinct. Right, If you my son or somebody else that's close to me, and a person who is not close to me says that you did something to them and you say you didn't do it, I'm not just about to run out there and say you did, just because the world is telling me that that's what I have to do.
I do value my friendships.
Right, I value my friendships, and I value that if somebody has done nothing to me, they have always been loving and kind to me and helpful to me, that I at least owe them that if they say they didn't do something wrong, that I have to be able to take a moment to try to reflect and gather
and even still in that. When we came on our show a week or two later, I said that I believe something happened, and I all also said that listen, I can love you and know you've done wrong, and people love me and know I've done wrong, And of course it's not this two totally different things, right, So I don't I don't want people to get the impression that I'm inhuman.
It's my walt.
So bonding of the sexes. This has really been good.
I mean, the last several episodes, I feel like I learned the lie. I'm I'm I'm learning what's hot and what's not. You know, you'd be out the streets for a while, you don't really know what's.
Going on in the world.
And then people tell me that my expectations are to this and I don't. I'm never gonna find that, and you know, certain things so just makes me sit down and shut up. But today I would say that this particular couple that we have watched online and I just got to know the wife recently, and this is a woman who is extremely bubbly and popping, like outside doing and going, and you see her in different spaces, looking good and always having a very bright attitude and knowing.
And I can tell from the conversations that we've had that she understands what is happening with social justice in our society. So these are multi dimensional people and they would be in what is considered a traditional marriage, a black man and black woman married together and Holy Matcher of Eramoni. And so I'm excited that they've joined us on tam I today in this series of bonding of the sexist. Thank you so much, Nikita and Keith Gibson.
Absolutely, what a beautiful introduction. Thank you so much.
Well are we happy to have y'all here? Man? You know, it's amazing just seeing black people happy together. We love to see black people happy together in what we call the traditional marriage. So give us like, how did you guys meet? Give us the story, the background.
Let me tell the story, because you know she's gonna add her twist and anything else on. Let me give the real story. So we actually met online. All you remember Aim from from back in the day.
Oh all, wow, wow, you took Aim. You took it all the way back back in the day.
I was in and all. I was in Brooklyn, she was in Florida. You know, I was just on just just just for ruising a little bit. I've seen somebody that kind of caught my eye. Said let me reach out, just say hello. So I said hello.
You know, usually put age sex location right as l that's stuff you used to put on there for age sex location.
Or whatever.
But her profile says she was from Brooklyn, right, So when she said she's Florida, I was like, well, I don't seem right, but all right, no problem. So we spoke for a little bit and then you know, like it's connected to the phone, so now if somebody has to use the phone, you gotta come off. It's online, so somebody have to use the phone. My sister, and she sent me her number and said call her. That's the story right there.
That's sure, sir. Let me let me in your virgin. What is your virgin? Cause you sound like you got another version.
She got the details she could have came back on and found me.
She said call me, yeah, that's the number, and said call me. I did. I did, okay, So.
We want to aim and he took me up and he was trying to you miss the cool guy because he was not trying to have like te conversation. It was kind of like, oh, what's up, Like you look cute. I think he said you're cute something like that, and I was just like, oh, thank you, and he was just like when you live And I'm like, you know, i don't live in Brooklyn anymore, but I'm from Brooklyn, which is why it says Brooklyn locate in my bio or whatever. I don't even know if it was by
you at that time. So we're chopping it up a little bit. And then in my mind, I'm just not taking him seriously because I was so in love with my boyfriend at that time, right, but I don't live in Brooklyn anymore, so like yeah.
So I'm like I don't know whatever.
So my sister was like she has to use the computer. No, she would see the phone. So I was like, call me. So he called me and literally like the greatest friend you could have at a time in your life when you just you know that you and your boyfriend about to end up to Meka, you know what I'm saying, Like, you know that it's not as bis Rocky not gonna go well like y'all none, but then this amazing guy just shows up. You're not trying to date him or
anything like looking to date. It was literally just.
Companionship y'all side of being friends literally.
Friendship, Like we would talk every single day for hours for a long time until I remember the day my sister was like, if you really like this guy, and this guy clearly really likes you, Yeah, you.
Need to you need to let me see.
Yeah, and that has been since done.
How do you work it out from Florida to Brooklyn?
Yeah, I end up coming back to Brooklyn. I was I was like a wild team that they would.
Say, right, not really, but my father had sent me away to Tampa because I wasn't doing too well in Brooklyn like most kids, so he had a place to send me, so he sent me to Tampa.
I was there for like a year and a half and he sent me back.
So when I came back to Brooklyn, Heep was still there, like he was still that guy, and it was like, great, we're in the same city. I remember just knowing, do you do you know that feeling when you just feel like, Okay, this is my person.
I feel like I sent you. That's how I felt.
I felt that he was an angel that was set for me. He was what I needed then and he's stile what I need now. So I feel like it was just and it wasn't continuous the entire time.
That's what we wanted to know. Have y'all had breaks along the way.
Yeah, so we definitely had had needed breaks. I would call it because I definitely do think that women need to be sure, Like I feel like a guy knows, Like I remember keep telling me, like, you're gonna be my wife, like he knew, and I was laughing internally.
I didn't laugh in his face, but.
You know, I'm just like I'm not I'm not gonna be your wife like you know. I'm just like you just here, You're good for now. But I was like not thinking like God, and he knew he wanted to marry me.
He said, You're gonna be my wife. I'll never forget that.
But for me, I felt like I want to make sure that I'm you know, dating another.
Guys or just making sure that this is the right.
Person, right, because that's what they tell us to do.
Absolutely, like I feel like this is my person, but like, how do I know?
Am I sure? And then the world doesn't help with it either, to be honest, because.
I remember having older girlfriends, which I still have up to this day, but I had older girlfriends in that stage of life that would tell me, like, you a so beautiful girl, like you should be out here dating, you should be in this And I'm like that, I'm not into that, Like I'm not why why do I need to date a whole bunch of men, you know, to like figure out if this is my guy. I he honors me, he respects me, he's like the perfect gentleman.
I just knew that this was my person.
I actually knew that he was the person that I wanted to be a father to my future children.
Like I feel like that's how surpassed me. It was like, this is he's a wonderful man.
He comes from a wonderful family, and if he's anything like his father, I need to marry this man. So my mindset became that and my friends were like absolutely not, which is terrible, right, But in the end it worked out for us. But I can only imagine how detrimental that advice would be to another couple because a lot of people try.
To say you're too young, you're too young.
I got married at twenty five and it's about to be ten years in October, and I am still happily married with this man.
And it's not easy.
But the fact that we are still here and still happy right like that to.
Me is like, isn't enough.
Once again, thank you for tuning into the blackfect Podcast Network so you were twenty twenty five for more great moments from your favorite podcast.