The Hilltop Glove Podcast | Connie Johnson

[00:00:00] Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Connie Johnson. Connie is an author, healer, storyteller, and entrepreneur, raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She received her Bachelor's of Art and Child and Family Studies in 2009 from Columbia College, followed by her Master's of Arts in Social Justice and community development from Loyola University in Chicago.

After being diagnosed with hiv aids in 2002 as well as an offspring of someone suffering from it, she has since then become an advocate by honoring her mother's legacy. Her work is spec, specifically geared towards women living with H, HIV V and aids that are mothers, or grandmothers doing their best to maintain their health and care for the needs of those that they are responsible for.

In 2015, she became a first time author of Beyond. An autobiographical book depicting the lives of eight amazing Kenyan women living positively with H I V aids. Each story is uniquely [00:01:00] compelling and celebrates the transformative power of compassion and community. Her mission is to help women tell their stories their way, and use their voices to advocate for themselves and their communities.

This book is a testament that every story is. Every Life matters, and that each of us was born with the potential to become powerful beyond measure. She is currently writing her second Marmar titled Survivor Song and recording her first original musical project. Mrs. Johnson is the owner of Golden Life L L C, and the founder of Growing Into Greatness, a grassroots community focused nonprofit, organiz.

That engages and mobilizes historical, marginalized populations throughout, through specialized programs, initiatives, events, and services. That was a lot. How are you doing today? I'm doing well. Really good. Excellent. And from that bio, of course, I can see you are a very busy person and I can see that you are always doing a lot.

So I'm guessing that this Thanksgiving break [00:02:00] is a good thing for. Most definitely. I have been waiting for this break and I am glad to be in it, . We appreciate taking a little bit of time outta your break to speak with us today. Today I know I have Tamaya. Yes, we all and Mike with me. What up?

What up? So we look forward to having a good conversation today. And as always, The first thing we always like our guests to do for our audience is just tell them a little bit more about yourself, your childhood what it was like be being raised in Orangeburg and who are who or what helped to influence you growing up.

So first of all, thank you for having me. And I love the podcast, so I'm honored to be a guest. . So growing up in Orangeburg was, I had a good childhood for the most part. I grew up within the same block of s se state and Lin, so I was surrounded by H B C U. So although I attended a H B C U, later in life, like that culture has always been around.

and that expectation of [00:03:00] excellence, that expectation of, of learning has always been ingrained. My mother and father, when my mother went to Claflin, my father went to state, my grandparents, one went to Claflin, one went to state. So it's like this family legacy kinda thing. But on the other side of that growing up in Orangeburg, there, there was also like a tight village.

So I'm a church kid. And so a lot of my village was very much so involved in the community. My pastor was , disciplinarian in my middle school. So I saw him all week and then I saw him on Sunday too. So I couldn't get away with anything . A lot of my teachers also went to my church. And so there was this tight knit kind of community where I knew for the most part that I was gonna be safe.

But then as time goes on that kind of safety net kind of deteriorated with the crack. And Orangeburg got hit hard. A lot of people don't know that Orangeburg is equal distance between [00:04:00] New York and Miami. So you got 77 in the interstate, 77, 26, and 20 that run you right here into Orangeburg. And although it's a small town, It got hit hard in the crack epidemic.

I lost my first friend at 14 to gun violence. So a lot of what we see now with young people in gun violence is nothing new because Orangeburg has experienced it. And so there's this dichotomy of, of having. Having been raised in this kind of bubble almost, and then having your bubble burst with the social ills around you and the things that you see in school.

So that was my childhood for the most part. I had a fun mom, . My mom was the fun mom. All of my friends wanted to be at my house because my mom was like super, not so much laid back cuz there was structure. But she was just fun. So she was the mom, we are gonna paint nails and we're gonna, do the fun stuff.

And yeah, for the most part, that's my childhood man. I have a question. What do you remember what year it was that you [00:05:00] started to see that change in that bubble? Like you said, when it bursts because of crack? Do you remember what year that was? That's the early nineties. So we're talking 90, 91. Oh.

Now, are you only child? Yeah. No, I have a younger sister. I have a younger sister who's three years younger than me, and I also have a brother who lives in Ohio. And so we didn't, we weren't raised together, but, and so that's a, we talk about people who were, influential in my life. As a child.

My aunt, who is my father's sister, so my father lived in Ohio, but his sister stepped. And, and made the village that much stronger. So anytime I needed, clothes to school or dental appointments or my mom needed babysitters or that kind of thing, but my aunt was also responsible for making sure that my brother spent every summer here so that we could have, that family time and know each other.

Man, that is dope. That's good. That is good to hear. Cause I know that's difficult to. Especially growing up, that family time and being able to [00:06:00] have that time to bond and et cetera is very important, especially for your upkeep, your up, your upbringing and just your future as well. But man do you, is there anything else that you could tell us about your about your raise your up upbringing in Orangeburg that had an effect on where you went with your career?

Yes. Like I said, my sister and I we were raised, my mom was a single mom, but we lived a lot of times with my grandfather. , my mom's father. My parents were divorced when I was really young. And so my mom came back here. They both were living here, but my mom came back here. My dad stayed in Ohio and we lived with my grandfather a lot of the time.

. But a lot of times they would bump heads on how to raise my sister and I, like my granddad was old school children ought to be seen and not heard. And like I said, my mom was the fun mom, so she didn't want us to be, constricted in that way that her generation had. Yeah. And so they would bump heads and so eventually my mom would, she would move out.

And so we moved a lot. And [00:07:00] so when we would move, a lot of times we would move to where she could afford. And a lot of times that was in, low income housing. And it was almost as if I was living in an almost two worlds because I'm living in this area where I see a lot. And for the most part, at that time, low income housing was.

Families, working families, trying their best to make it, and working together to get it done. I remember, my mom dropping off groceries for somebody until they, they, they could get, get enough food for themselves. Or sometimes we'd be on the receiving end of that bag of groceries.

Families like really work together to make sure that the kids were saved. The, if the, there were, uncles or big brothers or whatever, they were. They, it wasn't a problem. If anything, they were outside in the community making sure that the kids were safe.

So I remember being a part of a community where the youth were the center. Wow. And knowing that I was safe. And so a part of what I do and what, the work that I feel called [00:08:00] to do is recreating that village for for such a time as this. We have so many children Wow. That are just falling through the cracks.

And I see that it doesn't have to be that way. There is a way for us to live together among each other because I've experienced. So those are the kinds of things that have framed what I do now. Man. I could hear the passion of your voice on that. And that is a man, that's a, that's interesting.

That's too cool the way that you put that. The fact that you guys should got to see that and see how it affects you and how it's a positive thing. It does give you that ability to. . So how do we do that though? Yeah. Because that's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. My son is three and a half.

 And like we have people that we're close to, but we don't necessarily live on the same block. Yeah. And the people that we do live on the same block with we're not. Communicating when I'm like, yeah, community, we speak, but we're not a community. not like that. Yeah. So you know, like short of like buying some land and like building a planned community where we're all just living [00:09:00] out hippie commune style, like , how do we do communities?

Small village. I think it's a matter of being intentional in being the village, part. Ooh. You have to be what you want, and so you gotta take, church. Yeah. And so I think it's a matter of, not on, like I said, being that, so not just feeling charitable, during the holidays, but Right.

Finding ways that you can, that you can, I guess extend yourself, extend your time to become what it is that, that we want. So if everybody is taking a, an initial. become a part of the village than the village is formed. Like it doesn't just happen like you. It takes effort. It takes time. It takes energy. And then I believe that it's a lot more practical than I think people, think. Like you have a three and a half year old any Sunday, when I'm out and about or or let's say your neighbors or whoever it is that you are close to, picks 'em up and takes them to the zoo, for two hours for you.

Like things like that lighten your [00:10:00] load. So if we think, you think about those small things that we can be doing for. That would help lighten their low, then it's only like law that those kinds of things will come back to you. Do you remember the name of the church that you attended in Burg?

Definitely. I attended New Mount Zion Baptist Church. It is one of the larger Baptist churches in. Orangeburg, and it is located directly across the street from South Carolina State. So my, oh, yeah. My grandfather was a deacon. My uncle is still a trustee . And I, I've recently been a member of there since I think we'll get back to this, but I moved back to Orangeburg and so I've been a member there since I moved back to Orangeburg.

And so yeah, new Mount Zion Baptist Church. Wow. Wow. , we're gonna segue that into this next question. I know before we jump over, cause you're actually about to run right into it, but finding and building self-confidence is something that all women face in their lives. Can you tell us how you gained the courage [00:11:00] to become an advocate as well as uplift women to raise their voices?

I honestly have to go back to New Mount Zion for that. Here we. So a part of, a, part of being a part of the church. So it wasn't, my church wasn't very religious, it was more community. . like I said, if the youth were the center, so there was always like this celebration for the youth.

So if we got good grades or if somebody, did something special in the community, we were celebrated. My mom was over the youth, so it wasn't a matter of when we had productions or , if I was gonna be in 'em, it was just, what part was I gonna play . So through that, like I, that's where I learned to sing in front of an audience and that's where I learned to speak.

Cuz you have your Easter speeches and your Christian speeches, , during the holidays. And I gain confidence, learning how to speak in front of people. And we wrote plays like. Became teenagers rather than giving us a part, they would tell us to write a play and, write a skit.

And so we had these experiences that allowed me not only to be creative, but to grow in [00:12:00] confidence in my creativity. And so that's where it started. Now did it stick? I had to come back to it , because the messages, especially if we're talking about the nineties. In culture, the idea of beauty shifted, the idea of, what femininity was shifted and I lost myself in my teen years. And because of it, some of the experiences that I had were very much so negative and I'm, just to be frank about that. , but what brought me back to it as far as being confident within myself and wanting other women to be confident was seeing how my mom dealt with her illness.

Like she was silent the whole time. And so when, and I'm pretty sure I'm jumping ahead, but it goes into this, but when I was diagnos. I was like, I'm not gonna if I'm gonna leave here, I'm not gonna die silently. I'm gonna, I was gonna, I was gonna ask you about that.

Yeah. Is that something that we think about, like our generation a lot, any kind of [00:13:00] illness, mental health, whatever, it's do we talk about it? Because the previous generation it was like you show strength by not saying anything. , no one will ever see that it's messing with you at all.

but I almost feel like with kids particular, like they need to see examples of yeah, they really going through it. . Yeah. Yeah. It's the only way that somebody knows that they can come out of it is if they know what you're going through. . . And so nobody knew what my mom was going through, so she, I like us.

Talk about how strong that village was. Even though the village was strong and she trusted us, trusted them with her children, she didn't trust them with her secret. That is wild. And yeah. But the nineties was a whole nother mentality around hiv. Was it? Definitely nowaday.

They don't realize it's, it was a totally different perception. They pushing magic outta the nba. Yeah. No, I know, right? Everybody was scared, was gonna get punched in the nose on the court. Yep. And that was gonna be like a mass infection thing. Like we, we had no idea Carl [00:14:00] Malone, one of Kevin's favorite players all time, didn't even wanna get on the court with him.

That's right. That's right. To the point where it was like le levels of bigotry involved in it and it was just like, yo dude, like that's not even you . And anytime there's some science that somebody can latch onto and be like, Hey, here is the evidence for why I should be a. You know what I'm saying?

That's what we really get. Weird. Yeah. . So I wanna know, what was everybody's response when you decided to tell other people about I got outed by a newspaper. Recorded, oh, I did my, yeah, I did my first world Aids Day program as a keynote speaker in 2009. Little tiny church in the Outskirt Orangeburg.

And I did my, I did, I told my story some questions, it was my first time. And I was approached by a newspaper reporter and they asked, I loved your story. Can I, can I please share it? Do you mind if I do a special story on you for the newspaper for World AIDS Day?

And I'm like, yeah, sure. Here's my number. I'm thinking we are gonna do an interview similar to this. So I get to [00:15:00] cherry pick or pick and choose, what parts of the story I get to tell. Yeah. And lo and behold, the next day Sunday paper, I'm on the front page. Wow. What was that like for you?

Like it's I initially went into panic mode. Like my first thought was, I need to get to my sister, like . Cause this is not just my life, this is our right. And so I gave her the spiel look, I didn't do this on purpose. But it's out and here we are. But what it also did was it almost ripped the bandaid.

yeah. For me to be able to tell the story even that much more, because a lot of the response that I got was of encouragement. I didn't know that's what you guys were going through. You're so brave, you're so courageous. So it what year? Say it again. What year was this? This is 2009.

Okay. We been a little bit smarter of a head space as a community, but but we're in the south. trust is the, it's just you're still in the seventies, California, your largest cities. They're grappling with what's happening, but we're still in [00:16:00] the south and it could go anyway. It could really go either way.

But yeah, that's how that's how it got out. A lot of my family members were not happy about the fact that it came out and it honestly it severed, it, it severed some family because of that generation that, secrets off of family, who goes on in this house, stays in this house.

And I was just like I didn't need to put it, out of the house, but it's out. Yeah. Cause it wasn't just out you, it was your mom. It wasn't just me, it was about, and so a lot of times when I know that I'm doing this, for us, like I'm able to speak the words, she couldn't I'm able now and strong enough to be able to tell the truth that she couldn't. And like I said, she was the fun person. She was the, she was the community person. Like she would take in young moms all the time. And so that also informs my. When it comes to, women living with h i v who are mothers.

So it's an extension of who she was yeah. Yeah. That goes right into like our next question. Like many people born in small towns venturing off [00:17:00] to pursue their dreams and aspirations, you begin to see how powerful you are in new environments. So can you tell us a little bit about your journey to Kenya as well as what made you return to South?

Yeah. After my mom passed, I moved to Columbia. I moved to Columbia and I lived there for about 12, 13 years. But while I was there, I started working in afterschool care and I loved it. Like I loved working with kids. I didn't wanna be a teacher, but I loved working with kids. And I noticed that a lot of the kids that I was working with were like living in very poor housing, Condit.

A lot of them could not read on grade level and a lot of them had poor health. And I was like, this cannot be a coincidence. Like within those 12 years I worked with about a thousand families. And they had the same issues. And I'm like, there's no way that this is a coincidence. And so I got my bachelor's degree in 2009 and I.

One of the programs that I was at, they lost their funding. And so it was [00:18:00] meant that I was out of a job. And so I was like, okay, so what do I do next? And like I said, I was steeped in this, thing of education and learning and that kind of thing. And so I was, okay, I'll go in and get a master.

What do I get it in? And I started looking at social justice programs. Like I didn't wanna do social work. I felt like that wouldn't lead me to like the. Causes of what I was seeing, and I said I didn't wanna be a teacher. And so I started looking up social justice programs and there was one in Chicago, one in Arizona.

I chose to look at the one in in Chicago and was accepted to Loyola. And once I got to Chicago I was given this opportunity to apply all of these kind of theories and and frameworks to whatever issues I saw fit. And so I studied the education system, so education inequality. I studied racial inequality particularly in America, and I was able to [00:19:00] study black women and h i v and get to the core of why these things were happening in certain areas among certain populations.

There was a elective course called the Kenya Immersion Course. And I saw it and I was like, I gotta go . Like I just have to go. And so what we did was we studied social justice issues that impact both America and Kenya. and we went to go and look at how Kenyans deal with certain social justice issues.

I chose women in H I V and so we went to several h i v aids co-ops while we were there. This is in 2012. And there was one that stuck out in particular. and it was called Living Positive Kenya. And it wasn't just about, making sure women had their medicine and they go to work, they go to go to the doctor and, that kind of thing.

Like the person who founded this organization, her name is Mary Juan Dairy, and she really wanted these women to live. And it was the first time because in an American context, when [00:20:00] you're diagnosed for the most part, you're gonna you're gonna get connected to medical. If you need it, you'll, you get connected to some sort of mental healthcare, maybe some substance abuse program or something like that.

But for the most part, it was just support groups. . You start off in the support groups and they're helpful when you're first diagnosed. But as you continue to progress in your diagnosis, like you need more support. And so that's what Mary did in her program. Like I said, it was called Living Positive Kenya.

And she was creating entrepreneurs of these women who literally had nothing when they came to her. Oh, wow. So I say they go from desk door to entrepreneur. And she was teaching them how to stand on their own two. and how to earn money for themselves and how to, not only heal from the fact because in Kenya, a lot of times, particularly women when they're diagnosed are excommunicated from their communities.

. But what she did was she created a community of women who had been excommunicated. Wow. [00:21:00] And it was so powerful to me. Like it was so powerful. It was so powerful in. That the next year I, that's where I did my internship. So the first time I went was in 2012 and I spent 10 days in Kenya. I spent maybe four or five hours at living Positive Kenya on that first trip.

But it was so impactful that I went back the next year and I stayed eight weeks with them, like I lived among them, ate with them, laughed with them, song with them, and it was just, . So let me just, okay. So a lot of times in when dealing with different healthcare diagnoses and stuff in this country, in this timeframe right now, in 2020 through two, almost 2023, like the mindset is about inclusion and getting everybody to be accepted inside of general society.

And it sounds like this program, is exact opposite of that. But for the individuals that are going through this, having a like, separate community, you see what [00:22:00] I'm, don't have the words to quite get there exactly, but it's from a Western perspective, it would be like a step backward in social.

. Cause it seems like they would be excluding themselves from Right. The main Right. But rather than trying to fix society and make everybody accepted in society, which might take two, three generations right now you have your own community that you can go and be accepted in and not have to deal with these shenanigans that's happening out there.

Is that Yeah. Yeah. So I think that goes back to what I was talking about when I was saying it, being intentional about being a part of the. This happened? Cause that's what she set out to do. Yeah. She started out as a social worker and usually by the time she would get to a child, because in Kenya's social worker means take children.

And so by the time she would get to these children, the mothers would be dead. So she's going to pick it up. Orphans, basically. Oh my Lord, I get you. Ok. So she's and there outcast. And then what do you do? And so she's you. She's so what do I what? There has to be another way for me to do this [00:23:00] work.

Before, before a woman. Before. Before, yeah. To a point where she's dead and leaving behind children. . So she came up, her motto is, healthy children start with healthy mothers. Yeah. Thank you my love. . Yeah, it was really like simple but practical thinking. She started out with going through the, cause then, here we call it the projects and Kenyon call slums.

So she would go through the slums and, and give food. So she started cooking and feeding the women. And women would slowly, because they're living in secret, cuz they've been ex communi. They're slowly opening their doors because they need food or they're slowly opening their door because they need medicine.

And so she's, able to pray with them and do that, this kind of thing. And she says, okay, I'm gonna start a support group. Five women show up. The first group, by the end of the month, there were 45 women. So this community formed itself. Yeah, it was needed. That's what happens when the need is there.

Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, so I guess that's also a part of, building Village is doing your part to find, to find, to be a solution [00:24:00] to a need. And that's from a ground up kind of situation, really. Yeah. Literally, we already have people looking from a top down trying to decide what needs to happen.

, sometimes we gotta, most of the time we just have to have. Folk actually helping people get what they need on, on, on their ground grassroots level game. Yeah. Just talking to people and listening to what they say. And you said this was around 2012 at this point?

This is 20 this is 2012. Yeah. When I'm there. Yeah. Okay. Because I feel like, especially when we're talking about h i V and AIDS in this American culture, , there has been such a transition over the past 10, 20 years. Yes. That it's a different landscape that every time there's a new generation that starts trying to have to handle these issues.

It's like that is not what it was in the eighties. And particularly like when a, when we were coming up in the nineties and stuff, it seemed like there was always this and it seemed. Ridiculous now, but like this idea of like people would actually do public interviews and be asking like, how you contracted it[00:25:00] and like that there, there were certain me certain ways that were like acceptable in society, be like oh yeah, your spouse cheated on you.

That's still, that's still very much so today. Very much. There's left stigma, that stigma still here, right? When I disclose that's usually the second question, I how did you get really, I didn't get it. So you can decide whether or not I'm moral enough to deserve your opinion.

Yeah. Supposed to get God's judgment. Is this cuz you a sodomite? What are we doing? Yeah. Yeah. Dang. And if you can imagine for women, particularly black women, What that question does. Yeah. Cause it's an assumption that you did something wrong.

My mother contracted h i v from her fiance. Seven outta eight of the women in my book contracted it from husbands. . So what were how did you get it? What were you doing? I was being a wife and a, and a fiance. I was in love. . So what do you do when love is a risk factor?

Right? That's easy that you said that cuz That's exactly, I was like, I don't wanna ask that question when I'm [00:26:00] writing these questions. I don't wanna ask that question. If it comes up, but I wanna get to the root of you, yeah. I really, I noticed that. I really appreciate that I'm doing a, an interview about h I.

and it wasn't like solely h i v related questions. And I absolutely noticed, and I do appreciate it. And I don't mind, I don't mind answering the question of how did you contract it? I was raped as a team. Like I was talking about, we talking about how things changed in Orangeburg so quickly till, some of the neighborhoods weren't safe.

And I went into one of those not safe neighborhoods for a cookout one summer and got allergic to somebody's grandma house, . And I was, raped that day and it didn't show up again 10 years later that I was 16 when it happened. 20 years later, I'm sitting in somebody's office and they telling me that I contracted h I V.

 Man. That must have been like really hard for you, , it was a gut punch. , it's almost so at the time I had like finally [00:27:00] started, wrapping my head around the idea that my mom was gone. And what I had been through, in taking care of her until she passed away.

So that was seven years after she passed. and, I flailed, my, my late teens, early twenties are , just like a blur of a bunch of parties and a bunch of, just stuff. But around 25, 26, I got my barings. I was back in school on the dean's list, like doing what I, you know what I love.

I started working with kids, like I mentioned before, and to get this, information now, at that point in time it was just like, what, what is life, what is happening right now? And yeah, it was hard. Like mentally, how did you like, gather yourself and just continue on?

That's where my faith comes in. That's where my faith comes in. It's almost like you don't know. that you need God until you need God . Cause I was, cognizant enough to know that I couldn't do it by myself. If I was going to make it, if I was going to survive, I wasn't gonna be able to do it alone.

And so I went on this [00:28:00] quest. I was like, Lord , I've been growing in ch growing up in church all this time, so there has to be something out there, but I don't know where to find. And so I dabbled in Hinduism, I dabbled in Islam, I dabbled, I went , I went to first seen a sick, hadn't experienced before searching, I went on this search like, God, I know you out there.

I see, the trees are blowing in the breeze. Like you have to be out there somewhere. You and and so yeah, my. Without God, without knowing that his love is real and that he is all powerful and all knowing I would not be here. So like testimony question, like what are some things that you learned from the women that really made you really decide you wanted to write?

Okay, so people hear my story and they're like, oh, wow. That's a powerful story, . And then I heard their stories and I was like, Uhuh, . I know,

These women. These women. One of the things that really struck me about their stories, each and every one of. Found the strength to forgive [00:29:00] the person who they had contracted h hiv v from. And like I said, most of them it was somebody close to them, right? And so we would, I, they would tell me their stories and then they would, get to the end of, and they said, yeah, I forgive him.

And I'm like, what? Cause that I hadn't processed that yet with as close as I was or thought I was to God. I hadn't processed that whole forgiveness thing. That's an extra leap. Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah. That's a credit report. That's kinda like a real faith, . And so that was something that struck me that they were able to, that they were able to come to this resolve within themselves that I hadn't yet. But also just to see their joy. Like I had never seen joy from people who had experienced such, hell, I was like, , like they, they had this, it was an internal thing that made them sing , you know what I'm saying?

And they dance. And not that they didn't feel the weight or didn't feel the heaviness, it just didn't hinder the joy, and so when I see them and when I experienced them, like they were just [00:30:00] happy enough. Alive and that their children were well fed and that they had a roof over their heads.

And and I'm like, I have so much more to be grateful for. I literally had this moment where I need to get it together cause I'm whining and crying about stuff that does not even matter. But when it came down to writing the book The book is based on Marion Williamson's. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. And that poem or that piece of literature, like literally personifies through these women, and I knew that if their stories impacted me in this, Then the rest of the world needed to hear 'em. And at the time, if you would've told me that I was gonna write a book, I would've called you a liar.

Like I never really saw myself as a, as a writer, but I felt compelled to share these stories. And I have a, I do have this question, and I see this one little line through everything, that idea. Community and village. And its importance, [00:31:00] especially with black women. My lord Jesus.

I'm telling you, man, if I'm telling you, making me understand how important it is as well right now, that even from Orangeburg to Kenya, that idea of having that village to support and uplift and raise , and you gotta remind, it reminds me of the whole strength and backbone of the civil rights movement here.

That church village that was funding and supporting people, making sure they had a place to go meet a place to actually receive funds so that they wouldn't be bothered. All this other stuff and how it led to positive outcomes in our communities. Nowadays. Do you think a model, like what you're doing now with HIV V and aids and women, do you think that type of model and that type of.

Aspect that, that motive of operation, do you think that could be put into other areas of issues that we have in our communities? To be honest, I believe that model is, I'm not gonna say the answer to, but a potential solution. Almost every [00:32:00] social ill , that we experience. Cause for the most part, when we're talking about societal ills, most people are looking for love

And that's really what community and village is. It's love and action. A larger scale. Yeah. You're not gonna get that on. Get that face-to-face interaction. Yeah. Yeah. And so when we talk about, love in action and seeing what it does to transform communities, most definitely.

I've seen it in like in my afterschool care I would manage, I managed the afterschool program and it was about maybe 30. , those 30 kids have brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents and everything else, and so we would, host these literacy nights and, over a hundred people would show up and just, sit around and share a meal and play some games and love on each other.

And they would make their own connections, so yeah, we'd have this mom say, I'll, I'll walk your baby home on this day and I'll, and so they're working together. So really, Community is loving, is love in [00:33:00] action, yeah. And yeah I, and it's some, it's might seem googly-eyed and pie in the sky, , but I'm to the point now we've tried everything else,

Oh, you right. This is the way we used to do it. We already know this works. Yeah. Yeah. And we have this gift now that we don't know how to use. That, that like we can literally talk to somebody on the other side of the planet direct. I was about to ask one to one that point.

Yeah. And we might not even speak the same language, but we can run it through a translator and with a little bit of like thought and effort, you can actually see how somebody, somewhere else feels about everything. And so we're creating this bigger, larger, global community, but at the same time and a national community, like there's all these different levels of community, but at the same time, like empathetic.

Yeah, but how do you get that? How do you get that, that loving on you type feeling? You have to be in person. Like I live and work on the internet, so I'm not hating on internet communities. There's a lot of intellectual exchange that could happen there, but you gotta be in the same room as somebody to really have.

That's that human energetic connection, aesthetic experience. What [00:34:00] community were you in when you were in Columbia? Teaching the kids. Where you at? What's up town? So I lived I lived a lot of times when I was there. I lived on Garnish Ferry. Okay. Okay. I lived out that way. And also, but I worked, so I, my work was in Allen Benedict Court.

Okay. Gonzalez Gardens. Wow. And the find, the last program that I was working with was in the area where Columbia College is, what's the name of that area? Oh yeah. North Main. North Main North Maine. The north main area. So that's where I was doing this work. And so you're talking about people who.

Literally are on the outskirts of the margins. You know what I mean? Like they're literally on outskirts, literally on the margins, But we came and I don't, I dunno if you aware of the Columbia situation, but they didn't remove several of those housing projects. Developments are no longer there.

Yeah. Yeah. And moved everybody out to the counties, which changes the voting districts. We include kinda an election mode right now, but that's something that I think about a lot. [00:35:00] Cause South Carolina is one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation. And we really to the point where when you move people from the inside of the Columbia city limits to the outside of Columbia City limits in the county your.

You're purposefully changing the voting dynamics, flipping the district without having any, and the idea is not to win everything for one thing it's for you to go to vote and feel like the person you voted for won. So then democracy's working. So we end up in these situations where like downtown Charleston Peninsula and me have the same voting representatives because they have this district that.

But I drive across the bridge from Charleston to Mount Pleasant, and it's a totally different representative because that's the white side of town and they are not going to lose when they go to the voting booth, they're going to make sure that the person they vote for wins, like that's.

Anyway, sorry, tangent. You'd be surprised. No, you'd be surprised how that's happening here in Orangeburg. That's happening. Orangeburg, right here in Orangeburg, like where they're the [00:36:00] lines are being redrawn almost every election. To be able Lord, to, to, to maneuver and, get the votes to go a certain way.

And yeah. Yeah. And you feel like the person you voted for won. That's what they want. Everybody, the person I voted for won. They won, yeah. And then the district itself like the person who isn't, who does win, there's no. There's no incentive for them to try to un gerrymander that because they're winning under that and they're right.

That's true. Their district, yeah. Why would you change? They might lose,

they fall back in the shadows. No, man. Shoot. I'm telling you. No, but he, it does affect, it affects how everything works, including what we're talking about with these village. And their ability to be impactful, you're gonna run into the problem of sometimes you need government assistance. Or funds from the government that should be earmarked or given out in certain grants for you to assist in what you do.

Because is it for the community? Yes. It's for the community. It's for you. It's your money. Yeah, exactly. And you're taking it from you anyway. Whatever you do or not, they're taking the taxes. They're taking their [00:37:00] money. Question with what you saw in Kenya. , did they have an amount of government assistance to help with the program that she was running?

Resources. So I have one thing I wanted to add about what happens when villages not only to have love in action, but you become power. Go ahead. So imagine what happens when. The same 100 people come together for meals and decide, I'm gonna walk your child to the, to the school bus or whatever.

And they're introduced to these issues that are happening around them that impact how funding is distributed within their community. And we all show up at the city council meeting. And we all show up at the polls and we all show up with our own candidate and support that candidate. Wow. tough. What happens when that happens?

We get to change. Use the, you use the, you used the rules of the game to shift it. So the same way that they've been using the same rules to, to do what they do. We have the power to be able [00:38:00] to do the same thing, to raise up a candidate and support. Yeah. Oh, cool. Yeah. That's what they used to do, that's what they used to do back in the day.

Yeah, in the village system. Yeah. We used to do that through the village system, and I dunno how many candidates showed up on all of y'all's ballots that were running unopposed for different positions. Every time I see that, I sit there and I go, what? What? People don't know they don't tell anybody about those seats.

And we could, like she said, you, we could find our own person that we, 5,000 signatures you own. That's it. And put 'em in there and be like, Hey, we're running you. Why? Because this person's running unopposed. They don't do anything for us. They don't help us. We're gonna tell you exactly what we want you to do.

We'll get the votes. Cause it doesn't change anything. It just helps you out. Yeah. Like I love that idea. This village thing's making me excited today. Alright, so one thing keeps going, coming up is community meals. Yeah. And it sounds like that's how we really get 'em together. Really wanna do the village thing has, it's always been community meal.

Yeah. That uniform. Yeah. . And so you and it gives [00:39:00] everybody an opportunity to do something. You know what I mean? So that's true. You got, you got this, a group of, young men that, really are flailing, don't have anything to do. They're setting up tables and chairs, , you got the young girls who are putting napkins in, and forks on the table and getting things prepared. You got, the older women who are in the kitchen, but they're teaching some of these younger mothers how to cook. Cause that's a major. Young women dunno how to cook.

You got somebody else who you know, who can take all the babies and they off in their own room and they're playing and doing their own thing and learning their ABCs. That plays a role. Yeah. Everybody has a role to play. And that was one of the, that was one of the frameworks that I learned at Loyola is called Asset-Based Community Development, a, B, C, B.

And rather than, Pointing out the deficiencies of our people. Basically everybody within community has something to bring. , I don't care if you bring, if you can whistle me happy, . Like whatever that you bring to this table, not only is it appreciated. But it is [00:40:00] very much so valued. Yeah.

And so that's another thing. People do not feel valued, especially if you are living on the margins. . Yeah. And so I believe, I honestly believe that the people who have been deemed the problem are the actual solution. The younger generation, of course. Yeah. . Dang. There's strong words. I like that.

I like them. Strong words. Yeah. Yeah. Because there are solutions to these things, and this is why I always like having these types of discussions where we actually dialogue it cuz you're gonna come to a solution and it's nice hearing these solutions and that positivity and the positivity allows you to be stronger.

It gives you a will to push on and move forward despite, the craziness that we see out here. So I always like to hear that type of, So that's a great answer. You actually answered the question right. Very well. , we've been doing this a long time, know about your memoir survivors song. So what can we expect from that?

Yes. Ooh, so Survivors song is, it, is the memoir. It is forthcoming. I'll be honest. It's the hardest project I've ever been thinking about . I have been, it's been a thought for a [00:41:00] very long time. , but I am actually at, cause I have to relive and I have to revisit some really places exactly to write it.

However, I am feeling stronger than ever and and I am able to actually write. So we are looking at spring 2023 for that release. Yeah. Yeah. Dope. Super dope. And what about the also you also have a musical project. Yeah, so I'm working on an ep. I am a singer songwriter and a poet, and so yeah, that's what Kevin was, yeah, that's what Kevin was telling me about you.

He is like, yeah, when she does poetry, unspoken word. and he was letting me read a book and I was like, oh, for real. I wanna see what, kinda tune is she making? . . Yeah. So what the ultimate goal is for that project and the book to be a combo smartest. So you can get the book and the EP.

Together because the, I want the EP to actually tell the story, but musically, oh, and politically yeah, Lord. Love it. Twine both, man. [00:42:00] Good lord. All right, so I gotta ask, all right. I always, we're about to get to the part where you can do shameless promotion, just plug and all that stuff, right?

You can do all your dance, stuff like that. But before I get. One last question. Could you explain to our audience, I know we didn't get into this cuz we started going everywhere. What Golden Life l C is Yes. And your nonprofit too. Yes. Grow, yeah. Grow into greatness. So Golden Life is actually now Golden Life Enterprises.

Golden Life Enterprises is my, is my business. It's the umbrella where I do my speaking, engage. Where I sell products, where I, do tutoring and that kind of thing, but on a larger scale I do see myself on stages across the world. like this is an international mission where I am having conversations like these to, and not only inspire people, but to help transform communities.

, and, and to do what I love and do what I'm passionate about, and also to be lucrative [00:43:00] while doing so. Growing Into Greatness is a nonprofit where there are programs and initiatives that impact historically marginalized communities. And I put that caveat there, historically marginalized because yeah, everybody's marginalized right now.

Yes, but I wanna be specific to historically marginalized people, particularly African-American youth who are the descendants of enslaved Africans. . I know that there are a lot of people who don't want us to be that, but like that's, I'm okay with that. I'm more than okay with that.

And I want our young people to be not only okay with that, but to be proud. both of our history and who we are. And so that's the nonprofit. Excellent. Excellent. We have moved on to that portion of the program. You now can shamelessly promote anything that you have going on for our audience.

can. Exactly. . So on social media, you can find me on Facebook and on Instagram at I am Connie 40. That's [00:44:00] I. C o n i e 40. I do have a podcast. It's called Golden Life Radio. That's g o l d e n l y f E radio and it's on all platforms right now. Yeah. Yeah, everything else is forthcoming.

So if there's anybody who wants to barter and create a website or barter to, help me manage social media cause I dunno what I'm doing. Anything like that. Let's talk. So yeah, to the right people, to the, that website. Let's talk on website a little more. Karma added.

Let's talk on that. Yeah. You're doing good work. You're doing good work. You, I think you done ran into the right people. Awesome. Yeah. We're all you awesome? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I don't wanna hold up too much more more time with us today, but it's been a pleasure speaking with you today. Connie.

You have bought, you made my day, actually. You made sure. I'm gonna stay in a positive light space for the rest of this day. The rest of this. I they really enjoyed the way you talked about the village. Yeah. Because I think that's something, I don't know why we, [00:45:00] it's not, yeah, we gotta figure out how to do this cuz this is what happens.

Every, it makes sense as a people we start getting bigger to a certain point. It's like there has to be some way to organize this larger , so that we're not completely like destroying this blue marble. But then there also has to be like the local and the more closer and it really has to start that direction.

Like we have to, we have. Become conscious as communities become Yes. She's become conscious of it. Yes. , that's what you're working in and it, because it seem, it's so simple. It's almost like you're being slapped upside the head with technology that you already have. Yeah. We just aren't using it and I'm happy that you bought, she said it's the framework.

Yeah, we come together to go to a H B C U game. We can come together and unify as a community. ain't lying. Hey, stop playing. Ain't lying. Homecoming. Homecoming. No. During homecoming, I was like the amount of money that was spent on me alone. Yes. Took care of everything. Yes. Don't let a town say that today is the Sweet Potato Festival or the Crawfish [00:46:00] Festival.

Like all we do is just say that this food item that's agricultural is now a festival and people show up like Okra Festival, the OK Strut, each festival, the peanut strut, a peanut whatever they do with the peanuts and peel. Then boil peanut joint. Yeah. But, and like you said I think this is gonna be a really good episode for people here because it's gonna make them understand, okay.

You really do. Like I say, you really got the power. The power is your hands positive. With this episode,

I do want to sign out. DJing what? Tamaya. Hey y'all, Mike? Yeah. Hey, n All Esteem guest Connie Johnson. Yeah, thank you so much for joining us today on this episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. On everybody. Have a blessed weekend, a blessed month, blessed rest of your year. We will catch you on the flip side.

Make sure you tell somebody around them that you love them. Peace.