1 00:00:00,340 --> 00:00:03,230 my family does have some military 2 00:00:03,230 --> 00:00:05,230 history . The earliest that I could 3 00:00:05,230 --> 00:00:07,397 find is back to the civil war . We had 4 00:00:07,397 --> 00:00:09,563 people that were actually fighting for 5 00:00:09,563 --> 00:00:09,530 their own freedom . My great 6 00:00:09,530 --> 00:00:11,586 grandfather actually was in normally 7 00:00:11,586 --> 00:00:13,752 Marvin Logan , he was actually wounded 8 00:00:13,752 --> 00:00:15,752 in battle over there . And my other 9 00:00:15,752 --> 00:00:17,919 grandfather Preston Macquarie was also 10 00:00:17,919 --> 00:00:19,752 over there . He had a non combat 11 00:00:19,752 --> 00:00:21,697 related job . But they both served 12 00:00:21,697 --> 00:00:23,919 their country in World War Two . And my 13 00:00:23,919 --> 00:00:26,141 grandfather Cleophas Williams served in 14 00:00:26,141 --> 00:00:28,308 Vietnam . So black History month . And 15 00:00:28,308 --> 00:00:30,141 what it means to me and why it's 16 00:00:30,141 --> 00:00:32,308 important to me for me . Black history 17 00:00:32,308 --> 00:00:34,308 month is different . It's different 18 00:00:34,308 --> 00:00:36,363 because I'm a little closer than the 19 00:00:36,363 --> 00:00:39,110 average to the history . The reason I 20 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,090 say that my great grandmother and my 21 00:00:42,090 --> 00:00:44,280 great great aunts and my great great 22 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,630 uncle's helped raise me And they kind 23 00:00:46,630 --> 00:00:49,780 of give you date ranges 1913 . My aunt 24 00:00:49,780 --> 00:00:52,500 Vibe was born right ? That generation 25 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:54,722 with her and my uncle paul and my uncle 26 00:00:54,722 --> 00:00:57,260 Felix , they were survivors of the 27 00:00:57,270 --> 00:01:00,540 Elaine Arkansas massacre . Right ? A 28 00:01:00,550 --> 00:01:03,410 lot of the hardships that we see or 29 00:01:03,410 --> 00:01:05,920 hear about people enduring , they lived 30 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,510 it firsthand . Right . And so when 31 00:01:08,510 --> 00:01:11,280 people mention black history , it is 32 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,447 history , but it's also like a part of 33 00:01:13,447 --> 00:01:15,669 my life . The same way that your mother 34 00:01:15,669 --> 00:01:18,250 father's experiences are part of yours . 35 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,584 What does it mean to me ? It means 36 00:01:20,584 --> 00:01:22,751 remembering those that I love and that 37 00:01:22,751 --> 00:01:24,970 I've known . It's recognizing that I 38 00:01:24,970 --> 00:01:27,303 come from a people that are very strong . 39 00:01:27,540 --> 00:01:29,707 They can endure and watch their family 40 00:01:29,707 --> 00:01:31,873 be murdered and and and and burned and 41 00:01:31,873 --> 00:01:34,040 hide out . It shows me that all people 42 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,262 aren't bad because the reason my family 43 00:01:36,262 --> 00:01:38,373 is here is because people were hiding 44 00:01:38,373 --> 00:01:40,540 them right ? Uh some of them made it , 45 00:01:40,540 --> 00:01:42,651 some of them did not , but because of 46 00:01:42,651 --> 00:01:44,873 their strength and because of what they 47 00:01:44,873 --> 00:01:47,040 were able to do , I'm able to sit here 48 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:46,960 right now and have this conversation . 49 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,810 Why am I such a big proponent of Black 50 00:01:49,810 --> 00:01:52,350 History Month to remember that ? And it 51 00:01:52,350 --> 00:01:54,461 helps give me perspective of who I am 52 00:01:54,461 --> 00:01:56,740 and what I'm capable of . I come from 53 00:01:56,750 --> 00:01:58,694 those people , those people are my 54 00:01:58,694 --> 00:02:01,480 people . So when I hit some controversy , 55 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,702 when I hit something that's difficult , 56 00:02:03,702 --> 00:02:05,813 I need to be resilient . I can say if 57 00:02:05,813 --> 00:02:07,536 they can make it through these 58 00:02:07,536 --> 00:02:09,758 situations , I can recall the situation 59 00:02:09,758 --> 00:02:11,813 that they told me from youth all the 60 00:02:11,813 --> 00:02:14,036 way up until today . And I can also say 61 00:02:14,036 --> 00:02:15,869 within Terrell , you can make it 62 00:02:15,869 --> 00:02:15,860 through , right .