Speaker 1: KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, and God bless I'm Dominique Kaprima.
Speaker 2: This show is called First Things First, and my first
Speaker 2: thing every single day's prayer, giving, thanksgiving, praises and asking
Speaker 2: for blessings from God, asking for the blessings of.
Speaker 1: The ancestors and the elders. And let's go. You know
Speaker 1: how we do it. I hope you do. If you're
Speaker 1: new here, welcome.
Speaker 2: So it's a Freedman Friday, because that's what every Friday
Speaker 2: is around here. On First Things First. That means that
Speaker 2: our one we look local, what's going on on the
Speaker 2: left coast side of town. Our two we focus on
Speaker 2: reparations every week, as we have for over two years.
Speaker 2: We want to be up on it. We want to
Speaker 2: pass the test. We want to be part of the
Speaker 2: vanguard that makes this happen for our people locally, nationally
Speaker 2: and internationally. So we will do that. Doctor Quicku Ramel
Speaker 2: Smith joins us today and we'll talk about the mental health,
Speaker 2: the psychological aspect of repair. And then hour three we
Speaker 2: do well, it's kind of a grab bag. On Fridays,
Speaker 2: we do a thing, we do something today. I'm really
Speaker 2: excited because I get to talk to two young people
Speaker 2: who have just graduated from Saint Mary's. The valedictorian and
Speaker 2: the salutorian will be here, which I try to bring
Speaker 2: more young people's perspectives. I think we talk to our
Speaker 2: own generations a little too much and not enough intergenerational conversation.
Speaker 2: So Rema tech Le and Sofia Ometo will be here
Speaker 2: to chop it up with us, and we'll get their
Speaker 2: views on what's going on in the world and also yours.
Speaker 2: So you're invited in at eight hundred nine to oh
Speaker 2: fifteen eighty, eight hundred nine to oh fifteen eighty, you're
Speaker 2: invited in every hour, and not only that, you can
Speaker 2: see us on Facebook where we are streaming every day
Speaker 2: Monday through Friday, and then on YouTube there's a whole
Speaker 2: conversation in the comments section where my kblad allegation has
Speaker 2: a lot to say, and you are more than invited.
Speaker 2: I love to peep out what you have to say
Speaker 2: in real time as we move through this. So go
Speaker 2: to YouTube dot com and then KBLA fifteen eighty. We're
Speaker 2: starting off live today. We're starting off live and in
Speaker 2: studio and giving you just.
Speaker 1: A full Friday as we celebrate.
Speaker 2: However, many years have gone by since nineteen sixty five.
Speaker 2: This is the anniversary this week of the Wats Uprising
Speaker 2: and certainly the tradition of.
Speaker 1: Rebellion.
Speaker 2: I guess you could say of this area, LA will
Speaker 2: celebrate that right now. Joining us right now live in
Speaker 2: the studio, we have the pastor of the historic Fame Church.
Speaker 2: He serves as pastor one of the nation's oldest and
Speaker 2: mostly influential African American congregations. You know that if you
Speaker 2: live here, you know that if you track churches. He's
Speaker 2: an advocate for justice as well as a preacher committed
Speaker 2: to proclaiming the Gospel, he says while addressing spiritual, social
Speaker 2: and economic needs within the community, Doctor Timothy Tyler, Welcome,
Speaker 2: good morning, Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 3: I'm glad to be here and have a little tag
Speaker 3: along with me.
Speaker 2: Your minders here.
Speaker 3: Yes, the Reverend Judy Wortham is the executive director of
Speaker 3: our five o' one c three at Fame First Amy Church,
Speaker 3: Los Angeles. Slack Deck and I'll let her tell you
Speaker 3: what slack deck stands for.
Speaker 4: Good morning and thank you for having us. Slack Deck
Speaker 4: is South Los Angeles Community Development and Empowerment Corporation.
Speaker 3: Yes, and together Fame and Slack Deck will be doing
Speaker 3: some great things this weekend.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, thank you for coming in to Reverend
Speaker 2: mar them, It's nice to meet you.
Speaker 3: And to her defense, I made her come.
Speaker 1: Killing. I'm not going to ask for the backstory about that.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna leave that all the way Ala. But you know,
Speaker 2: I think one of the things we think of when
Speaker 2: we think of Fame is exactly that, the combination of
Speaker 2: worship and activism.
Speaker 1: Would you call it activism, community organizing justice.
Speaker 3: I called it activism, community organizing justice. And I would
Speaker 3: even throw the word politics in there. A. It was
Speaker 3: Fame that gave birth to the first black mayor of
Speaker 3: Los Angeles, Thomas Bradley, who was a trustee at Fame
Speaker 3: under the leadership of the then Reverend H. H. Brookings,
Speaker 3: one of the famous freedom fighters of Los Angeles, and
Speaker 3: then social justice community activism. Of course, everyone knows the
Speaker 3: historic cecil Chip Murray, who brought calm to the city
Speaker 3: during the Ridney King uprising. And so I would say
Speaker 3: that all of that goes into make Fame a very
Speaker 3: special place, and I think a very biblical place if
Speaker 3: we look at the Jesus, who we really serve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I love that you're not afraid to say politics,
Speaker 2: even in this environment that we're in right now, right, yeah, right.
Speaker 3: It needs to be said more than ever. And if
Speaker 3: we don't get involved in this politics, we are hitting
Speaker 3: down a slippery slope based on where we are in
Speaker 3: our society.
Speaker 1: Reverend Wartham, are we do you see us getting more involved?
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like I don't know. I'm not an.
Speaker 2: Expert, but from folks I've talked to and what I've
Speaker 2: observed that we are moving into an era when the
Speaker 2: Black Church is returning more to it its roots of
Speaker 2: help and social justice.
Speaker 4: I think that our roots definitely tell us where we
Speaker 4: need to go back to. And I also believe that
Speaker 4: I'm looking at your sign then, apologic, unapologetically progressive. That's
Speaker 4: who we are and that's who we have to be.
Speaker 4: The church has been in a place where we can
Speaker 4: do what we need to do as people of color.
Speaker 4: Black folk need to get back to our roots, and
Speaker 4: that's what we're doing now.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And when you say roots, you're talking about all
Speaker 1: the way to the roots. It's funny. I was I
Speaker 1: was writing.
Speaker 2: Just a little article that I was writing outside of here, Yes,
Speaker 2: and I mentioned Biddy Mason, and this friend of mine
Speaker 2: was looking at it.
Speaker 1: She's from New York.
Speaker 2: She said, well, not everybody knows who Bittty Mason is.
Speaker 2: And I say, what, Maybe.
Speaker 1: That's an LA perspective. So talk to me.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about Bitty Mason because maybe people don't know.
Speaker 2: And certainly that would be an inspiring thing for your
Speaker 2: Friday if you learn.
Speaker 3: Bitty Mason will be the reason for our celebration this weekend.
Speaker 3: Biddy Mason. We will be celebrating her birthday coming up
Speaker 3: this weekend at Fame Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Betty Mason
Speaker 3: was born in eighteen eighteen, and I call her one
Speaker 3: of the mother founders of Los Angeles back in the
Speaker 3: early day. Betty Mason is our hero and our hero.
Speaker 3: She walked all the way from Mississippi to Los Angeles,
Speaker 3: literally walk literally walked.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I remember reading that and thinking, okay.
Speaker 3: Literally literally.
Speaker 1: Give me a few months.
Speaker 3: I told my wife the other day, you left them
Speaker 3: ask me to walk, so I don't even like walking
Speaker 3: to the bathroom. She walked from Mississippi to Los Angeles
Speaker 3: and that walk was revolutionary because she became an entrepreneur
Speaker 3: and she founded First Am Church along with other founders
Speaker 3: who saw the need for a place of spiritual strength
Speaker 3: while they were while they were while they were fighting
Speaker 3: for their liberation. And so we're going to lift up, remember,
Speaker 3: celebrate and help people to know who Bridget Biddy Mason was.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to also just add a little context.
Speaker 2: Here before we move on. Yes, she walked from Mississippi
Speaker 2: to Los Angeles and became one of the founders and
Speaker 2: most influential persons in early Los Angeles. But it's not
Speaker 2: like she was just leaving Equinox Club and going to
Speaker 2: twenty four hours.
Speaker 1: This is a woman who was enslaved.
Speaker 3: She was enslave and she was she was forced to walk,
Speaker 3: and in fact, when she got to Los Angeles, they
Speaker 3: tried to they tried to drag her back to They
Speaker 3: tried to drag her to Texas and put her back
Speaker 3: in slavery, and she took the She went to court
Speaker 3: over the issue and she won the court case, which
Speaker 3: was phenomenal back then. We can't hardly win court cases now.
Speaker 1: Into right, So she she was enslave when she left.
Speaker 2: Came to California, which we know has its own history
Speaker 2: of enslaved minifies. If you're unclear on that, just check
Speaker 2: out the Reparations Task Force reports about twelve hundred pages.
Speaker 1: But they were trying to when she got here. She
Speaker 1: got her freedom.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she got her freedom, and she.
Speaker 2: Took that freedom to court and tested it. That's something
Speaker 2: that didn't happen too often.
Speaker 1: Did it.
Speaker 3: No, it didn't happen too often. As I said then,
Speaker 3: and I want to say it doesn't happen too often
Speaker 3: now that we go to court.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't even want to try it, you know, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't even know you report to Seacott.
Speaker 4: And I'd like to add something about Absolutely, I love
Speaker 4: she was a midwife, so as she walked across the
Speaker 4: with the wagon train, she birthed all the humans and
Speaker 4: all the animals that were born all the way across
Speaker 4: the country. That always just makes me like, wow, you
Speaker 4: were all that Anta baggageis I have on this dress
Speaker 4: today because it has black women on the front.
Speaker 1: Its beautiful dress, by the.
Speaker 4: Way, and it's my she will dress, So I wore
Speaker 4: it onn of her.
Speaker 3: That's why I brought her.
Speaker 1: But absolutely, I mean imagine I had not. I don't know.
Speaker 1: May I may have read that, but I hadn't.
Speaker 2: Really that detail hadn't sunk in walking from Mississippi to California,
Speaker 2: you know, leaving a trail of little babies living, you know,
Speaker 2: safe babies in your wake is pretty amazing.
Speaker 3: And then giving birth to a great church.
Speaker 2: And yeah, well we'll go a little deeper into that
Speaker 2: when we come forward. Reverend one of them is here,
Speaker 2: Reverend Tyler is here, and yes it's Friday, not Sunday.
Speaker 1: And listening to the.
Speaker 2: Kids right now, right now, if you're in l A,
Speaker 2: you know First day e Church. If you're not in LA,
Speaker 2: you're going to get to know it a little right now.
Speaker 2: But not just the church. Everything that stands for the
Speaker 2: church has been was founded in eighteen seventy two.
Speaker 3: Is that correct? That's correct.
Speaker 2: So Bittty Mason born in eighteen eighteen. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: if we know exactly when she arrived in LA.
Speaker 1: But she ends up winning her court case, yes.
Speaker 2: And then somehow, and this is the part that is
Speaker 2: not always clear, ends up owning massive swaths of real
Speaker 2: estate in LA.
Speaker 3: It is amazing. And I was thinking about that this morning.
Speaker 3: A lot of her real estate is right was right
Speaker 3: across from what we call Pershing Square today, and there's
Speaker 3: a mass effort by the community to have that area
Speaker 3: renamed after bridge of Bittty Mason. But it's amazing because
Speaker 3: I was thinking, how much would I have to pay
Speaker 3: if I purchased the property across from Persian if I
Speaker 3: could today, how much money would that be?
Speaker 4: And also fascinating about that is that she was not
Speaker 4: just the first black woman to purchase land in downtown
Speaker 4: she was the first woman to purchase land in downtown LA.
Speaker 4: That's amazing to me. The first woman.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is amazing. Do we know how she managed that.
Speaker 4: Through her midwifery, Yeah, she saved it her my name
Speaker 4: became a serious entrepreneur.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know one thing about formerly enslaved and
Speaker 2: enslaved black folks.
Speaker 1: We were saving, right.
Speaker 6: Yes, people were saving trying to exactly whether we're trying
Speaker 6: to buy our freedom or buy land or buy you know,
Speaker 6: a whatever it was.
Speaker 1: We were saving our.
Speaker 3: Back and then if we got it, we were saving
Speaker 3: it because we didn't know when it was coming back again.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, and some of us are waiting for it today.
Speaker 2: See yeah, yeah, Well, so I mean that at what
Speaker 2: point does she become one of the founders of the church.
Speaker 2: Connect the dots if you will.
Speaker 3: Now, Well, at one point I don't know the exact year. Uh.
Speaker 3: And and we often say she was the founder, but
Speaker 3: I'm always prouded by my history historians to underscore that
Speaker 3: she was the primary founder, but they were. There were
Speaker 3: a group of founders who saw the need to start
Speaker 3: a worship center.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: And it did not start out as First Am Church.
Speaker 3: That name evolved over years. Uh. There was the one
Speaker 3: of the original names, Saint Stephen's uh Church, and so
Speaker 3: that name evolved over the years, but it was but
Speaker 3: she along with the group of founders, were the primary
Speaker 3: prime movers of the worship space that we know as
Speaker 3: First Am Church today. Uh. And we've over the years
Speaker 3: in our history, we've always tried to live up to
Speaker 3: that that high standard that Biddy Mason set for community
Speaker 3: activism and for entrepreneur entrepreneurial spirit. And it's just I'm
Speaker 3: very proud to be the past of a church, especially
Speaker 3: where a black woman is the I call it the
Speaker 3: patron Saint.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I also think there is something very
Speaker 2: powerful about the mission of First Church, the position of
Speaker 2: First Damn Church coming from that ancestor who was, as
Speaker 2: you pointed out, not just you know, clearly an activist,
Speaker 2: but also an entrepreneur. You don't buy up downtown l A.
Speaker 2: I don't care how low the prices were. Those were,
Speaker 2: you know, you know those were those price those were
Speaker 2: eighteen seventy prices for eighteen fifty.
Speaker 3: Price equivalent for them. Yeah, for them, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2: So the fact that the church has main attained a
Speaker 2: commitment to that spirit is quite remarkable.
Speaker 3: It has maintained a commitment to that spirit. And in
Speaker 3: the history of First Ami Church, it is no secret
Speaker 3: in our community that First Aami Church has had some
Speaker 3: major ups and some very creative downs at times. But
Speaker 3: I often say to I've been at First Amy Church
Speaker 3: as their pastor for ten months now, and one of
Speaker 3: the things that I remind the congregation is that you
Speaker 3: have had times in your history when you have been bent,
Speaker 3: but it is a credit to your history that you've
Speaker 3: never been broken. And that's the spirit of Bitty Mason.
Speaker 3: She had bad times and good times, but her legacy
Speaker 3: is strong, and First Ammy Church is legacy is strong,
Speaker 3: and the people there, I just I don't think any
Speaker 3: other church could have gone through some of the years
Speaker 3: and struggles that First Aami Church has gone through and
Speaker 3: even be here today. But it just it it amazes me.
Speaker 3: It oftentimes make it. I pinch myself in church to
Speaker 3: make sure I am the person that they sent to me,
Speaker 3: the pastor, and I'm just grateful for their history and
Speaker 3: for how they have overcome so much.
Speaker 4: And our model is first to serve. And I'm so
Speaker 4: proud of that because I'm always asking myself what else
Speaker 4: can we do to be first to serve? People need
Speaker 4: to be able to look at us, and they do
Speaker 4: as the place that go to for what they need,
Speaker 4: and we need so much right now. So it's a
Speaker 4: blessing to be serving at a place where our primary
Speaker 4: focus is first to serve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I imagine as a pastor stepping into a spot
Speaker 2: with the legacy of you know, Reverend Brookings and you
Speaker 2: know pastor of Murray. Yes, you know, it's a little
Speaker 2: could be a little daunting.
Speaker 3: Well it's a little it's very dauntant. I grew up
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles, uh, and so I'm coming back home.
Speaker 3: I was my last stop. I was in Denver for
Speaker 3: seventeen years, but I remember growing up in Denver, I
Speaker 3: was I was brought into the ministry and ordained under
Speaker 3: Bishop Brookins and Cecil Chip Murray helped to finance my
Speaker 3: seminary education and he also mentored me during my working
Speaker 3: on my doctoral education. And so these men were part
Speaker 3: of my preparation. And so I'm very proud of that,
Speaker 3: and I honor that as I don't want to say
Speaker 3: I'm stepping into their shoes, but I'm certainly aware of
Speaker 3: their footsteps at fame and I'm honored.
Speaker 1: So they planted the seeds for their succession.
Speaker 4: What you're saying, I also think, Pastor, you should share
Speaker 4: who your mother is.
Speaker 3: So my mother is a longtime Los Angeles activists. She
Speaker 3: was then presiding Elder Carolyn Tyler Guidry. She worked with
Speaker 3: law Pack and my mother was the first black, first female,
Speaker 3: second female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. And
Speaker 3: it's two hundred and thirty years uh, and she served
Speaker 3: proudly in the Caribbean. She served in Mississippi, Louisiana. She
Speaker 3: retired and uh, she passed away last year. But thank you,
Speaker 3: But my mother has a strong history here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: And so while I'm dealing with Bishop Brookings ghosts and
Speaker 3: Reverend Cecil Chip Murray's ghosts, my mother's ghost office show.
Speaker 3: I needed all the shows up in.
Speaker 2: My office full of ancest es, full of ancest but
Speaker 2: also your mom, you know, being such a mover and
Speaker 2: shaker in law pack as well as you know in
Speaker 2: the church. So it sounds like that combination of activism
Speaker 2: and church, sort of the classic Martin Luther King Junior
Speaker 2: blend Is is a tradition in your own family, it's
Speaker 2: a tradition in my family.
Speaker 3: And also the spirit of my father. Carrie Tyler, you
Speaker 3: were talking about the anniversary of the wats Uprising in
Speaker 3: Los Angeles. My parents moved us here in nineteen sixty four,
Speaker 3: eight months after I was born, and they were coming
Speaker 3: from Jackson, Mississippi. They were the last people to see
Speaker 3: Edgar MegaR Evers before he was shot. They were at
Speaker 3: a meeting with him, and they were the last person
Speaker 3: to see him before he died. And I think they
Speaker 3: may have thought that coming to Los Angeles may have
Speaker 3: been kind of coming to a different place than my
Speaker 3: dad used to talk about. It was in sixty five
Speaker 3: when the Wats Uprising happened that he gathered us all
Speaker 3: in the car and was driving around the city looking
Speaker 3: for some milk for his babies, and the police pulled
Speaker 3: their guns out and told him to go back home.
Speaker 3: And then I think that was when reality hit that
Speaker 3: you can be in Mississippi, you can be in Los Angeles,
Speaker 3: and you can still be in danger. And so I
Speaker 3: have all of that inside of me, and I'm grateful
Speaker 3: for what my parents gave me because I don't want
Speaker 3: to live my life in danger and I want to
Speaker 3: help the people of God and the people in the
Speaker 3: community not be in danger.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we only have a minute here before news, traffic
Speaker 2: and sports, and we'll keep the conversation going on the
Speaker 2: other side. So it's probably not fair to ask, but
Speaker 2: we can do the thirty second version and then continue
Speaker 2: on the other side, which is how do those how
Speaker 2: does that mission manifest today? Like what are the programs,
Speaker 2: what are the services and of course this weekends events
Speaker 2: that that are the manifestation of that legacy.
Speaker 3: You want to do that in thirty seconds?
Speaker 1: You want to start it? Okay? Started, Okay, we'll finish it.
Speaker 4: So we we have a dermatology services at the Wellness Center.
Speaker 4: We have a Bitty Mason Community wellness center that I
Speaker 4: am the proud director of. And in addition to that,
Speaker 4: we have mental health services, we have have caregivers program.
Speaker 4: We also have a eight bed garden in the backyard
Speaker 4: that is flourishing. We have classes that are going to
Speaker 4: start on cooking. Amazing quilter is that thirty seconds?
Speaker 1: That seconds? That's good.
Speaker 2: We're gonna keep it going because these are important things
Speaker 2: for folks to know about, news, traffic, and sports. Then
Speaker 2: more on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty and we are talking
Speaker 2: with the folks from First Amy Church. But we're talking
Speaker 2: Biddy Mason. We're talking history. We're talking LA history and
Speaker 2: service service, social justice activism, the things that First Ammy
Speaker 2: Church is known for. The pastor of that church, doctor
Speaker 2: Timothy Tyler, is here, and Reverend Judy Wortham is here.
Speaker 2: Can you tell me your title again, Reverend war.
Speaker 4: Them executive director of Flack Deck, our nonprofit of.
Speaker 2: An Okay, yes, So we're talking about a lot of things,
Speaker 2: really the history of Bitty Mason, which is what you
Speaker 2: are celebrating this weekend. And if you don't know who
Speaker 2: Biddy Mason is, well now you know you can call
Speaker 2: in if you have something to say about it eight
Speaker 2: hundred and nine two oh fifteen eighty. I feel like
Speaker 2: she should be more known nationally, but even here in
Speaker 2: La should be on the level of you know, the
Speaker 2: people we talk about all the time, the Tom Bradley's,
Speaker 2: the Popicos.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, if it were not for her, I don't think
Speaker 3: any of those people would have found their their footing
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles. So we owe a lot of our will,
Speaker 3: We owe a lot of who we are to Bridgie
Speaker 3: Biddy Mason and the reason.
Speaker 2: That she her descendants don't still own Pershing Squores. She
Speaker 2: ended up selling that land.
Speaker 1: Correct, Yes, yes she did.
Speaker 2: I mean I say that because we assume, oh it
Speaker 2: was stolen from her, you know, she was terrorized, it
Speaker 2: was taken by eminent domain. No, she actually made a
Speaker 2: business decision to sell it. So in a way I
Speaker 2: think of Bitty Mason. I mean, she had a hard life,
Speaker 2: but she definitely had agency.
Speaker 3: She had agency. Yeah, and we want to hopefully we
Speaker 3: will be able to get will at least mark that
Speaker 3: space in a way that will that people will always
Speaker 3: know that her legacy and her spirit is still there
Speaker 3: even though she had to sell it, or she chose
Speaker 3: to sell it.
Speaker 2: Now we were going through the list, Reverend worthm of
Speaker 2: the kinds of things that we know for Stammy for
Speaker 2: But some people may think, oh, well that was back
Speaker 2: in the day, it's not anymore. You said mental health,
Speaker 2: a caregivers program. I'm assuming you're talking about the Sandwich
Speaker 2: generation and those folks who are caring for elder family members.
Speaker 2: You talked about a thriving garden.
Speaker 1: And would you like to add on to that.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Tyler First, Amy is still known in the community
Speaker 3: to be that church that that we want to be
Speaker 3: proactive and not reactive to what happens in our community.
Speaker 3: We are still interested in making sure that we have
Speaker 3: part a role to play in gang intervention and violence
Speaker 3: prevention in our community. I'm oftentimes told the stories of
Speaker 3: how Cecil Chip Murray would just come out of his
Speaker 3: office and walk around the neighborhood and make sure everything
Speaker 3: was in order, and if it wasn't in order, he
Speaker 3: would grab some church members and he would get it
Speaker 3: in order. And I want to have that kind of
Speaker 3: legacy where sometimes I will walk out of Now I
Speaker 3: need to walk out of my office also because I
Speaker 3: need to walk We all I need to, but it
Speaker 3: is it is I see my role as not only
Speaker 3: to be the pastor inside those four walls, but to
Speaker 3: be a community pastor, such as the Bishop J. H.
Speaker 3: Brookins and Cecil Chip Murray. They were community pastors.
Speaker 1: And I have a feeling if we were in Denver,
Speaker 1: we would know that that is your legacy already. It's
Speaker 1: not something you just started up ten months ago.
Speaker 3: It was a story.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, for those who you know follow these
Speaker 2: things which a lot of our KBLA delegation do. The
Speaker 2: death of an unhoused man named Marvin Booker, Yes this
Speaker 2: is in twenty ten. This was a battle that you,
Speaker 2: as a pastor, took up from a social.
Speaker 3: Justice Yes, it was a battle, and the whole church,
Speaker 3: the entire shorter community Ammy Church, took up this battle
Speaker 3: when very few people wanted to. And it taught us
Speaker 3: that sometimes the church has to give leadership. Short as
Speaker 3: a historical church in Denver, first black church older than
Speaker 3: the state of Colorado.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, but that I mean, even though obviously we
Speaker 2: couldn't bring back mister Booker, the family was awarded a
Speaker 2: sizeable settlement, which was the biggest excessive force yes settlement
Speaker 2: in Denver history.
Speaker 3: Right awarded by an all white jury in an all,
Speaker 3: in a very white city, in a very white state.
Speaker 3: That was telling.
Speaker 2: And I imagine the presence and activism of the church
Speaker 2: around this had a huge role in that.
Speaker 3: I think it did. And it was a five year process,
Speaker 3: so it didn't happen overnight, but the church played a
Speaker 3: major role in that.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's notable too, because there are some folks
Speaker 2: that like to, you know, not just in churches, in
Speaker 2: community organizing, in the media, like to run out when
Speaker 2: a story is so called hot, correct and then leave
Speaker 2: it and go to the next so called hot story,
Speaker 2: leaving a grieving family or an impacted community to fend
Speaker 2: for themselves after the cameras go yes, yes.
Speaker 3: And it happened when when the fight first started, there
Speaker 3: there were a lot of leaders who chose and churches
Speaker 3: who chose not to be a part of it. And
Speaker 3: then when the when the jury came back with their
Speaker 3: verdict in that case, a whole lot of people all
Speaker 3: of a sudden became a part of that victory.
Speaker 5: And that's okay, Yeah, that's okay, Well it's not okay,
Speaker 5: but yeah, it's what happens, right, And so we celebrated
Speaker 5: with that family and hopefully that opens the door.
Speaker 3: Denver is a rough place. It's just a rough place.
Speaker 3: It's it's a historical place for black people. It has
Speaker 3: quite a history in itself. But it's rough. It's not
Speaker 3: it's not Los Angeles. It is a very small black community.
Speaker 3: So we we celebrate our victories there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think we should celebrate the mayor too. Yes,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I actually.
Speaker 2: Spent a little bit of time there. My mom would
Speaker 2: teach in Colorado summers, and it is quite a shell
Speaker 2: shock if you're used to I was used to the
Speaker 2: Bay Area and then lak you know, there's they'd say
Speaker 2: we're a small in number here, but eight percent of
Speaker 2: four million is a lot of black people. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's definitely, it's definitely yeah, it's definitely a different energy,
Speaker 2: even though they say it's a democratic state. Anyway, Another
Speaker 2: thing I noticed, pastor about you, doctor Timothy Tyler's who
Speaker 2: I'm talking to in case you're just waking up, is
Speaker 2: that you actually have your commitment to black lives matter
Speaker 2: in your bio. Most pastors wouldn't want.
Speaker 1: That, how do you?
Speaker 2: I mean, or they would be if they wanted it,
Speaker 2: they might be too afraid to put it there.
Speaker 1: Why do you do that and how does that connect to.
Speaker 2: Your way of preaching, your way of reaching your congregants.
Speaker 3: It's important to me because I always, I always marked
Speaker 3: the period of Black Lives Matter. First of all, I
Speaker 3: think that it should always be in our history alongside
Speaker 3: the Civil Rights movement and the Middle Passage, and I
Speaker 3: think it was a time and a space in our
Speaker 3: country where but I think it also it was a
Speaker 3: wake up call to the Black church, because I think
Speaker 3: Black Lives Matter was the first and maybe the only
Speaker 3: large movement of black people in our nation where the
Speaker 3: church did not start it or give leadership to it,
Speaker 3: or was not much involved in it. And so Black
Speaker 3: Lives Matter always reminds me that that if the church
Speaker 3: is not a part of the struggle, then the church
Speaker 3: is not fulfilling its mission and its call. And so
Speaker 3: I keep it in front of me so that when
Speaker 3: I'm preaching, when I'm having a church meeting, when even
Speaker 3: when we just downstairs eating fried chicken, God and help us,
Speaker 3: we are always reminded that community is first, and that
Speaker 3: the struggle should always be that the church should always
Speaker 3: have its feet in the struggle. And so Black Lives
Speaker 3: Matter I celebrated and we should be reminded in the
Speaker 3: Black church that black lives do matter. All lies and.
Speaker 2: Of course the boots on the ground aspect of black
Speaker 2: lives matter.
Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter. Grassroots was born in la Yes, and yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Do remember the conflict between some members of the church
Speaker 2: and the organizers. Now the organization has fifty six chapters,
Speaker 2: and there are pastors involved, not too many, but a
Speaker 2: few pastors like Pastor Starsky Wilson of the Children's Defense.
Speaker 3: Stark Wizard is my mentee and my student, my seminary students,
Speaker 3: and so I'm proud of it.
Speaker 2: Or dots get connected, you know, it's hard to talk
Speaker 2: about your own way of preaching or your own way
Speaker 2: of organizing. So maybe that's why one of the reasons
Speaker 2: why Reverend Judy worthm is here. What would you say
Speaker 2: about what he just said?
Speaker 4: So the reason why I want him to about his
Speaker 4: preaching is because he is not afraid to tell the
Speaker 4: truth about what's going on. And so many times we
Speaker 4: want to, as fallowers of Jesus Christ, we want to
Speaker 4: sugarcoat things. This man right here, he lays it out.
Speaker 4: And anybody who I have friends who are not going
Speaker 4: to church, they are watching him because they hear the
Speaker 4: truth and we hide the truth streaming.
Speaker 1: Yes, so you can stream.
Speaker 4: The services now, Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: I left since twenty twenty exactly.
Speaker 4: But I'm so pleased to hear when they call me
Speaker 4: and say your pastor's off the chain, and I say,
Speaker 4: why do you say that? Because he's telling the truth.
Speaker 4: He tells the truth about Trump, about what we need
Speaker 4: to do, about how we should not be afraid, how
Speaker 4: this is. We've been through this before, we can do
Speaker 4: it again the same God. So we hear that over
Speaker 4: and over again, and we leave excited. And I don't
Speaker 4: want to use the word pep rally, but that's what
Speaker 4: I think about it, right, But we feel like we
Speaker 4: feel energized and ready to fight the good fight.
Speaker 2: And for the folks in the chat room, Reverend Judy
Speaker 2: worthm is over the Community Foundation, right, some folks are
Speaker 2: just assuming that you're.
Speaker 1: At doctor Tyler's life. She might have the last name Tyler.
Speaker 4: They need to meet her though. She's brilliant. I call
Speaker 4: him Michelle Obama.
Speaker 2: She's brilliant, the first lady two PC yes, yeah, yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: Well she also made the bio, which I mean and
Speaker 2: not just like oh and my beautiful ones, not just that.
Speaker 3: You know, her section is probably longer than mine.
Speaker 2: Doctor Juanita Moseby Tyler, who is known for equity and
Speaker 2: a usion, which is quite a battle right.
Speaker 3: Now, quite a battle, quite a battle. But she's she
Speaker 3: has weathered the storm. And I tell her to her
Speaker 3: to her credit in a time when those are bad words.
Speaker 3: Evidently the people that have relied on her think that
Speaker 3: she's doing her work well because she has she still
Speaker 3: continues to do it, and we're very proud of her.
Speaker 2: Indeed, well, we are talking with yes, we're talking with
Speaker 2: the pastors.
Speaker 1: But don't be shy.
Speaker 2: If you want to call, you're always welcome in eight
Speaker 2: hundred nine to oh fifteen eighty. Eight hundred and nine
Speaker 2: to oh fifteen eighty is the number. If you want
Speaker 2: to say something, you can hop on YouTube at KBLA
Speaker 2: fifteen eighty. Reverend doctor Timothy Tyler, Reverend Judy Wortham are
Speaker 2: with me. Betty Mason might be somewhere in here, Yeah,
Speaker 2: she's here, might be around here too. We're celebrating la
Speaker 2: we're celebrating activism. We're celebrating the birthday of Bitty Mason.
Speaker 2: On KBLA Talk fifteen eighty community. But if you need
Speaker 2: some church Sunday mornings at nine.
Speaker 3: Sunday mornings at nine am.
Speaker 2: Old school, get up, go to church. But also it's
Speaker 2: sounds like very modern in terms of you can stream
Speaker 2: it on the website. On the Fame website.
Speaker 3: Is that the first AMI Church Los Angeles website and
Speaker 3: see how worship service. I'd love to see you in person, but.
Speaker 2: Absolutely Fame Church La dot org. Famed Church La dot
Speaker 2: org show up at nine at YouTube visit or on YouTube.
Speaker 1: Okay is a streaming.
Speaker 2: And a lot of churches are saying that they're having
Speaker 2: trouble getting folks in and that people are either leaving
Speaker 2: the faith altogether, going into a sort of more generalized
Speaker 2: relationship with God that's not tied to any particular institution
Speaker 2: or faith tradition, or that they just want to watch online.
Speaker 2: And we're still in the post COVID era.
Speaker 3: It's an interesting phenomenon. I have met so many people
Speaker 3: in Los Angeles since I arrived who have introduced themselves, Oh, yes,
Speaker 3: I'm one of your online members, so I'm like, I'm
Speaker 3: glad to meet you. Or we've had people now they're
Speaker 3: they're they're joining the church online so they'll tell me, Well,
Speaker 3: they were about five people the day and they said
Speaker 3: they want to join the church, and they were watching
Speaker 3: us online, and so I have somebody to contact them.
Speaker 3: So it has forced us to broaden our imagination of
Speaker 3: how we include people in church. And I'm okay with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you also have people showing up, is what
Speaker 2: I'm yes, yes, yes, yeah, And maybe I mean I'm
Speaker 2: sure it's you know, you're you're preaching, but also maybe
Speaker 2: what Reverend Wortham was talking about is that folks need
Speaker 2: encouragement right now. I mean people are and it's not
Speaker 2: just I mean yes, I don't mean to say just,
Speaker 2: but only in the sphere of religion.
Speaker 1: It's also people need encouragement for the fight right politics
Speaker 1: and social justice in life.
Speaker 3: A lot of boomers especially, but also young adults. Uh,
Speaker 3: we're we're living in a time you're where where military
Speaker 3: people are jumping off of ships, you know, and it's
Speaker 3: we're living in a crazy time. We're living I call
Speaker 3: it in the Trump era, and people need encouragement. People
Speaker 3: need hope, and it's my prayer that they're coming to
Speaker 3: church and they will come to church in order to
Speaker 3: look for that hope and to find that hope, and
Speaker 3: so that puts a heavy oness on us as people
Speaker 3: of faith to make sure that what we are giving
Speaker 3: to people is that thing that they are looking for.
Speaker 2: Willie from Palmdale, what are you looking for? You're home
Speaker 2: with Reverend Tyler and Reverend Wortham and me.
Speaker 7: I thank you for taking my call. I was just wondering,
Speaker 7: how do you balance serving God and living in the
Speaker 7: political world.
Speaker 3: That's an interesting question the way that I balance, And
Speaker 3: thank you for that question about balancing, balancing living for
Speaker 3: God and living in the political world. I always remind
Speaker 3: myself that Jesus had to live in a political world.
Speaker 3: Oftentimes they would come to him, remember when they asked
Speaker 3: him about, uh give do you give to God or
Speaker 3: do you give to the government. He was always balancing
Speaker 3: issues about politics and about religion. And so I realized
Speaker 3: that I have to do that as well. And the
Speaker 3: Black Church has always been involved in politics because it
Speaker 3: was our religion that got us through a lot of
Speaker 3: political crisis. And so it's not really even a balancing,
Speaker 3: it's just a natural, natural sinking up of the things
Speaker 3: that we have to deal with in the world and
Speaker 3: our goal to get to the other world, and so
Speaker 3: it comes very easy for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. Willie appreciate good to hear from you.
Speaker 2: Will He usually calls in when he needs some solace,
Speaker 2: so I guess he's feeling feeling us today. So tell
Speaker 2: me about the weekend. What is going on at the weekend?
Speaker 2: I assume folks are invited, Yes.
Speaker 3: And it's going to be a very exciting week And
Speaker 3: it starts today at eleven o'clock am. We're going to
Speaker 3: gather at the Evergreen Cemetery and we are going to
Speaker 3: pay homage to the founders of fame, and we're going
Speaker 3: to lay a wreath at the burial place of Bridget
Speaker 3: Biddy Mason, and we're going to acknowledge and see where
Speaker 3: some of her other family members have been buried. And
Speaker 3: so it will be a day of remembrance and a
Speaker 3: day of solace as we honor our founder at the
Speaker 3: place where she is resting.
Speaker 4: And then on Saturday, on Saturday, we have the Bitty
Speaker 4: Mason Birthday Brunch. It is actually her birthday on Tomorrow,
Speaker 4: August fifteenth. We will be starting at eleven am going
Speaker 4: to two pm and it's like a reception to honor
Speaker 4: her and there as a home that we own that
Speaker 4: is beautiful.
Speaker 3: Twenty two forty one Home Barks Yes, twenty one South,
Speaker 3: built in nineteen ten, and the builder of that house
Speaker 3: is also the founder of the Grand Central Market downtown.
Speaker 3: It's a historical home that first day and Me purchased
Speaker 3: and it's going to become the same community house. So
Speaker 3: we will do our gang intervention, We're going to do
Speaker 3: a liberation academy stepping in to teach history to adults
Speaker 3: and children. We're going to do micro business work, and
Speaker 3: all that will happen at the same community house. So
Speaker 3: tomorrow we're going to be feeding you and we're going
Speaker 3: to ask you to feed us with donations yes, so
Speaker 3: that we can renovate that beautiful We're going to keep
Speaker 3: it in that nineteen ten spirit, but we're going to
Speaker 3: renovate it and we've already started working on that. And
Speaker 3: so we're going to ask the community to help us
Speaker 3: to remember Biddy Mason's entrepreneurial spirit tomorrow as we celebrate
Speaker 3: her birthday. And then on Sunday.
Speaker 4: Our Biddy Nation Worship celebration service, where we will asking
Speaker 4: to have an actress who is going to her whole
Speaker 4: life is around impersonating Beatty Mason costume and everything. Yes,
Speaker 4: so she's gonna come in full costume, and the whole
Speaker 4: service is dedicated to honoring Biddy Bridget Mason excited.
Speaker 3: The famed mass choir will will sing on Sunday close
Speaker 3: to one hundred and it's gonna be. It's gonna be.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be a great worship service. I'm not sure
Speaker 3: if I'm gonna be preaching. I think I'm gonna be
Speaker 3: preaching Sunday.
Speaker 1: My question.
Speaker 3: Uh uh. They told me. They told me I better
Speaker 3: preach Sunday. So somewhere between the dancing, the singing, the acting,
Speaker 3: and the celebration, I'm gonna get two or three words
Speaker 3: in there. But it's gonna be a great, great weekend.
Speaker 3: We wanted everyone to come and share it with us.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway.
Speaker 2: Is this the first annual?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 1: Amen? Yeah, you should say it.
Speaker 2: You should.
Speaker 3: I think it's the first time we've done it in
Speaker 3: this way, in this magnitude. Yes, because why why wouldn't we?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 1: I like that, it just it kind of makes sense.
Speaker 4: I like it.
Speaker 2: Tell us we only time flies when you're on the radio.
Speaker 2: We only have a couple minutes left. Tell us about
Speaker 2: how to contact you, track you access the services other
Speaker 2: than coming this weekend. I mean you've got three opportunities Friday,
Speaker 2: Saturday and Sunday. Yeah, today today at eleven, starting at eleven.
Speaker 1: At the Evergreens Cemetery.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow the brunch is at.
Speaker 1: Twenty to forty one Hobart, Yes South.
Speaker 3: So we're going to give people an opportunity to experience
Speaker 3: that space much like it was in nineteen ten and
Speaker 3: it's a beautiful space.
Speaker 2: And then Sunday, of course at nine, yes for the
Speaker 2: regular services. That won't be the regular services because it
Speaker 2: sounds like right right, No, it won't be there and
Speaker 2: cosentry and honoring of Biddy Macey.
Speaker 4: Yes, the website is the best place to find us,
Speaker 4: famed Church la dot org.
Speaker 3: That's the best place to get our contact information, to
Speaker 3: call the church office and to get a handle them
Speaker 3: on all of the wonderful activities that will be happening
Speaker 3: this weekend. Now, the premier way to find us is
Speaker 3: just to get up at about Sunday, get in your car,
Speaker 3: Amen pastor seventy Harvard Boulevard.
Speaker 2: So why do we have to get up at Can
Speaker 2: we get up at eight forty three?
Speaker 4: Well, okay, that works my wife.
Speaker 3: Wife, My wife would agree with you.
Speaker 1: We'll take it. We just want to see you just
Speaker 1: get there. Love to see us get there. Well, it's
Speaker 1: been a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 2: Thank you for this opportunity, and doctor Timothy Tyler, thank
Speaker 2: you so much for coming in. Thank you, thank you,
Speaker 2: and happy h Biddy Mason weekend, all of us, thank
Speaker 2: you so much. Indeed, we're talking reparations next hour. Doctor
Speaker 2: Quaiku will join us and we're going to look at
Speaker 2: the psychological aspects of our repair. Boy, the ancestors are
Speaker 2: dancing around here today. It's KBLA Talk fifteen eighty