0:03 [SPEAKER_03]: I'm back with bitty sultan, Reverend Charles Jackson, in Pelor Kissham, to discuss the legacy of the 1963 South Carolina State Championship football team. 0:21 [SPEAKER_03]: In the last episode, we looked at the amazing, on-field success of this team, which 0:34 [SPEAKER_03]: This episode we're going to focus more on the legacy of that team, and the way these three men have partnered to preserve it, while serving their community in new ways. 0:45 [SPEAKER_03]: I'm curious what led to the renovations of the field, but I'm also curious after the school was shut down. 0:52 [SPEAKER_03]: I know that you mentioned that right now it's the Brooklyn Lakeview Empowerment Center, but what was the state of the school before it became that center? 1:03 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, let me just, okay, let's go. 1:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Nineteen 68 was the final class of Lakeview High School as a high school, and one of our board members, the retired banker, he was in that last graduating class. 1:17 [SPEAKER_03]: That's Benny Sultan, captain of the 1963 South Carolina State Championship team, who also serves as chairman of the board for the Brooklyn Lakeview Empowerment Center. 1:36 [SPEAKER_01]: So then when integration came, let view became a middle school, those buildings became a middle school, and the name it was Northside Middle. 1:45 [SPEAKER_01]: So for almost 30, 31 years, it was Northside Middle School. 1:51 [SPEAKER_01]: and integrated blacks and whites would go there. 1:54 [SPEAKER_01]: And we know that there was some controversy because a lot of white parents, they were not accustomed to coming down into an area like that, to bring their kids, but they got accustomed to it. 2:05 [SPEAKER_01]: So for 30 years, the school was there. 2:07 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, now this is where it gets really good, and I'm just, I get emotional when I talk about it. 2:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So Northside was there for 33 years. 2:15 [SPEAKER_01]: And as the alumni, we would go down to the district office, 2:19 [SPEAKER_01]: and we would talk to them because all over the state, most of those former old black schools were either torn down or they were left in disrepair and we did not want that to happen to let you. 2:33 [SPEAKER_01]: So we would go down as the alumni and talk, this is all doing the 90s, 80s and 90s. 2:39 [SPEAKER_01]: So we would go down and talk to them and then the district, once Northside, they built a new school and they moved from that site, retain their name, and moved to another piece of property. 2:50 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's where Northside still resides today. 2:53 [SPEAKER_01]: So then the former Northside, late-use school, those buildings became an alternative school. 2:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, and alternative meaning you got kids, discipline problems, great academic problems. 3:04 [SPEAKER_01]: That's where they would go. 3:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so it was that way for about four years. 3:10 [SPEAKER_01]: And then, God answered a prayer. 3:13 [SPEAKER_01]: The alumni, we're about to hold people then. 3:15 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't have the dollars to be able to buy that property. 3:19 [SPEAKER_01]: It's 10 acres, 93,000 square feet. 3:22 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so Hass Jackson, and most of the people 3:29 [SPEAKER_01]: They were not members, although it was a mega church, were not members, and they were from other areas. 3:36 [SPEAKER_01]: They didn't grew up in the community like he did, and like I did, okay? 3:39 [SPEAKER_01]: So he brought it to them that you wanted to get the property because that's the community. 3:45 [SPEAKER_01]: And the church is more than just going the church and serve. 3:48 [SPEAKER_01]: You got to serve the community. 3:50 [SPEAKER_01]: So that was a per answer to us. 3:53 [SPEAKER_01]: as the alumni of Lakeview when the Brooklyn Baptist Church through its foundation acquired the property. 4:00 [SPEAKER_01]: And the rest of it is history. 4:02 [SPEAKER_01]: And for many years, the church, quote and quote, 4:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Unilaterally, the expense of it carried that burden. 4:09 [SPEAKER_01]: And when I got on the board in 2014, I've been a corporate guy, okay, all for some 43 years. 4:15 [SPEAKER_01]: When I got my first financial report and I looked, and I saw that the dollars that the church was rolling out each year to keep the property and to keep it going and keep problems in there, I was just amazed. 4:26 [SPEAKER_01]: And I knew right then that I needed to be a part of this. 4:30 [SPEAKER_01]: So when I was able, 4:31 [SPEAKER_01]: to fully retire. 4:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I just said, this is what I want to do. 4:34 [SPEAKER_01]: But all the credit goes to Passage Jackson and the Brooklyn Church for having a vision to get the property because it wouldn't be there. 4:44 [SPEAKER_01]: And I've done some research of the former Hall Black high schools in South Carolina. 4:56 [SPEAKER_01]: The rest of them that are around, there's either grass growing up in them, or the roofs cave then, they're in disrepair, the young, anything that you want and invest in money. 5:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And they'll let you. 5:08 [SPEAKER_01]: It still needs some work, but all in all, it's in fairly great shape. 5:14 [SPEAKER_01]: And thanks to Pastor Jackson and the Brooklyn Baptist Church, and thanks to Dominion Energy for understanding the big picture. 5:22 [SPEAKER_01]: see because with that feel now and everybody see the girls in development is coming there's other entities that are wanting they want to know what's going on because it's like a jewel there's like a hidden jewel it's on tin acres sitting right there in the middle of West Columbia and if you put a little time and effort into anything it can become something but if you just walk away from it 5:44 [SPEAKER_01]: and like a lot of the former old black high schools, that's what happens to them. 5:47 [SPEAKER_01]: And we even got some of these people that are my age from somebody's schools around South Carolina. 5:54 [SPEAKER_01]: They're reading about it in the newspaper, they're contacting us, they're wanting to know how do we do it, what can we do, how now we're starting to come together as a group and we explain it to them what they need to do. 6:09 [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's great that you guys were able to save the building because it's significant especially for people of my generation. 6:15 [SPEAKER_03]: I'm in my early thirties and of course I didn't live during segregation. 6:20 [SPEAKER_03]: But we hear about segregation and we learn about, we learn about it. 6:25 [SPEAKER_03]: But when we can see buildings and talk to people, it becomes more real to us. 6:31 [SPEAKER_03]: And so when you tear down these buildings, we lose that part of history. 6:35 [SPEAKER_03]: But when we can go places and see those things, that makes it so much more real and much more important. 6:43 [SPEAKER_03]: I would like to ask what led to the renovation of the field now, what were the steps that went behind Dominion being involved? 6:54 [SPEAKER_02]: I went out to a meeting with Reverend Charles Jackson and it was just to really see about putting 7:00 [SPEAKER_02]: because we're in that kind of business. 7:03 [SPEAKER_03]: This is Color Kiss AM, President of Dominion Energy, South Carolina. 7:09 [SPEAKER_02]: And we talked, and that's where our first met, Mr. Solomon, we were there, and I said, OK, if I talk about grass in the field, I said, how about grading the field? 7:18 [SPEAKER_02]: How about grading in this square of the way? 7:20 [SPEAKER_02]: Pastor Jacks has said, you can do that, I said. 7:24 [SPEAKER_02]: They're that for you and we got our heavy equipment group out there and they volunteered to hours. 7:29 [SPEAKER_02]: They went out there and put the laser on it and they knocked it out. 7:32 [SPEAKER_02]: They put what little bit of top soul was on it off to the side on a pile and they came in there and they got it level. 7:39 [SPEAKER_02]: They took all that broken up concrete and fence posts and stuff and took it out. 7:43 [SPEAKER_02]: They had to be very careful and removed the gold post. 7:46 [SPEAKER_02]: Those gold posts were in a lot of concrete so they had to get the gold post out and then we had to set them back. 7:53 [SPEAKER_02]: It was great because we it just so happened in the time and everything is it's got to be divine Providence from a time and stay in point there's no such thing as luck in this world and so we had 8:06 [SPEAKER_02]: eight polls still polls that we were going to scrap we were going to send them to the scrap yard and we were able it just and when I call my guys and transmission Mr. Brandon Ashley I said you got any polls because we got eight right here we get ready to scrap and he said let me go out there and see if they'll work. 8:24 [SPEAKER_02]: and they work perfectly. 8:25 [SPEAKER_02]: They made out of steel. 8:27 [SPEAKER_02]: They aren't going to, they're going to be there forever. 8:30 [SPEAKER_02]: And then here's another thing he talked about his board. 8:34 [SPEAKER_02]: It was a board member there that I said, light, delight by, because that's not something we have. 8:40 [SPEAKER_02]: But I think if you go and talk to the Reformation or you go talk to the school district, 8:46 [SPEAKER_02]: They're building parks, they're building new schools, and they'll leave the old light banks as refuse. 8:52 [SPEAKER_02]: And so they were able, he, one of his board members, went out and contacted the right people and got to bank the lights. 8:59 [SPEAKER_02]: So we sent the polls, we mounted the lights, we had to feel squared away. 9:02 [SPEAKER_02]: He took care of organizing the irrigation, they got in and they saw the grass and hope, this didn't look even. 9:09 [SPEAKER_02]: There was a very warm, 9:13 [SPEAKER_02]: two and a half week period in South Carolina. 9:17 [SPEAKER_02]: That was warmer than normal, actually. 9:19 [SPEAKER_02]: The fall felt like summer, and they turned on that irrigation, and what happened? 9:25 [SPEAKER_02]: That grass rooted in there. 9:28 [SPEAKER_02]: It's solid. 9:29 [SPEAKER_02]: And we did the dedication. 9:31 [SPEAKER_02]: You could reach down and try to pull it up, and you could not. 9:34 [SPEAKER_02]: And so it got rooted in there good. 9:36 [SPEAKER_02]: And I just can't wait until the spring comes, because I know that field is gonna be green. 9:40 [SPEAKER_02]: vibrant and growing. 9:42 [SPEAKER_02]: And Mr. Salt is going to go from being this head of the board, being a full-time grasscutter. 9:50 [SPEAKER_02]: That's going to be beautiful. 9:53 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be beautiful. 9:55 [SPEAKER_02]: And one dream I have personally is I want to get somebody out there to take the old logo from this school out there in the middle of it. 10:02 [SPEAKER_02]: I think that will be the crowning achievement out there in the middle. 10:06 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's something I hope that we can be 10:10 [SPEAKER_02]: It's just, it's just been a labor of community and a labor of love and it's just a, hopefully bring a community together and put young people on the right path. 10:25 [SPEAKER_03]: Last episode, Benny described what the field looked like before the renovation, and with this image of the new field fresh in my mind, I asked Keller to describe it once more. 10:37 [SPEAKER_03]: Before the field was restored, what could people see this is a listening show I'd like to give listeners a description of what it looked like before it was restored if you could. 10:49 [SPEAKER_02]: It looked like saying it looked like dirt absolutely you know they were referred to it as the as the dustball even when they played football back then at the other end you saw some rusted dilapidated fencing you saw some broken up concrete in much one time with basketball courts and tennis courts. 11:08 [SPEAKER_02]: And then you'd see a field you could kind of tell that it wasn't exactly level, but it wasn't until we got our equipment out there and shot the level and things of that nature had about a full foot decline on it from one end zone to the other. 11:20 [SPEAKER_02]: So I look at it like this. 11:22 [SPEAKER_02]: It was a big part of the community, but it was a yard that was in disrepair and it needed people coming together. 11:38 [SPEAKER_03]: And is the school still standing today? 11:42 [SPEAKER_02]: The school buildings are still standing. 11:44 [SPEAKER_02]: It does not function as a school any longer. 11:46 [SPEAKER_02]: This is all part of the Lake View Empowerment Center where people come in and come together. 11:51 [SPEAKER_03]: Wow. 11:51 [SPEAKER_02]: But it is got an amazing future as well. 11:55 [SPEAKER_02]: Because I'll tell you this, just like the community is like these gentlemen with me, the walls may be aged, the foundation is secure. 12:02 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's why it will continue to be built upon as we go full. 12:06 [SPEAKER_03]: I love that. 12:07 [SPEAKER_02]: I love it too. 12:12 [SPEAKER_03]: Before getting deeper into the story of this renovation and the lake view empowerment center, I invited Keller to say more about Dominion Energy as they play such an important role in this story. 12:24 [SPEAKER_02]: Dominion Energy serves about two thirds of the state of South Carolina electricity and then even larger portion electricity and natural gas. 12:34 [SPEAKER_02]: We're a combination utility in South Carolina. 12:36 [SPEAKER_02]: We've got a deep history here. 12:38 [SPEAKER_02]: Our predecessor company was South Carolina Electric and Gas Company established back in the early 1800s prior to it becoming Dominion Energy and we've always had a strong tradition of 12:49 [SPEAKER_02]: our employees being a part of the communities that we serve. 12:53 [SPEAKER_02]: So our linemen, they go to church, it Brooklyn Baptist, and other churches affiliated with Brooklyn, and past Jackson's son has another church, and it's just a community. 13:06 [SPEAKER_02]: And so our employees put a lot of time in the community. 13:10 [SPEAKER_02]: We bring the light, not just electricity, it comes into your home, but given our hearts. 13:15 [SPEAKER_02]: and our time to serve in our communities as well. 13:17 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's why we've got such a fine relationship with both Brooklyn as well as the Lakeview and Parmesan. 13:27 [SPEAKER_03]: What Dominion has done in supporting the renovation of the Lakeview Field and Community Center is remarkable. 13:34 [SPEAKER_03]: Without their involvement, none of this would have been possible. 13:38 [SPEAKER_03]: but they needed someone on the ground to lead the actual projects. 13:43 [SPEAKER_03]: And they needed someone to help keep the project focused in on task. 13:48 [SPEAKER_03]: That's where Benny Sulton and Pastor Jackson came in. 13:52 [SPEAKER_02]: We had an opportunity back when Reverend Jackson had a vision of having a community center and so we talked about it and he actually put it in a commercial kitchen there and we assisted with that that was one of the first projects we did here and that drew people from all over the community. 14:09 [SPEAKER_02]: And there's a lot of space there where people come together and have meetings. 14:12 [SPEAKER_02]: There are a lot of nonprofits that come there and have their board meetings and things at that nature. 14:17 [SPEAKER_02]: There are a lot of seniors that are being served there. 14:19 [SPEAKER_02]: And then there are a lot of our youth that are being served there. 14:22 [SPEAKER_02]: So I look at it as the book ends of society that they are bringing together there. 14:28 [SPEAKER_02]: The youth as well as the seniors. 14:31 [SPEAKER_02]: and people that need help. 14:33 [SPEAKER_02]: They need assistance and they need camaraderie and being brought together. 14:37 [SPEAKER_02]: And it has just become a melting pot for all of this community to be able to come. 14:41 [SPEAKER_02]: So we started out there and were privileged to participate in that kitchen remodeling. 14:47 [SPEAKER_02]: And in the spirit of that is just continued from there, and this field that is located right there, you can walk out of this commercial kitchen and you will see this beautiful reclaimed field that is now got likes on it, and it was just a natural extension of the partnership we have with this community. 15:07 [SPEAKER_03]: Keller compared the new community center to a home field advantage for the people of West Columbia. 15:15 [SPEAKER_02]: not only did we create a level playing field, and only did we create a foundation for success, but we created a home field at banish, finally for these young people to go out in so many different ways, and that's what Lakeview and Paramed said a division of fast ejection has been to create a home field at banish in a area. 15:38 [SPEAKER_02]: that has been neglected and left. 15:41 [SPEAKER_02]: It's like the stone that's been rejected has become the chief corner starts and that's how I feel about that's how I feel about Brooklyn Baptist, that's how I feel about Lakeview and Paramedic Center, a home field advantage. 15:53 [SPEAKER_02]: All we're doing there is helping us establish that corner stuff. 15:57 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's that's that's powerful what he just said and I was at one of the games that's amazing and when I went and first met mr Sultan he was sitting there and I'll tell you something about him. 16:08 [SPEAKER_02]: He is a doer. 16:09 [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot of times and we as a company go in and you know what people won't just write us a check 16:14 [SPEAKER_02]: Leave us alone, right? 16:15 [SPEAKER_02]: It's a check. 16:16 [SPEAKER_02]: That's not what this was. 16:17 [SPEAKER_02]: Did this man was the general contractor on this whole deal? 16:22 [SPEAKER_02]: All we had to do was show up and it's things like we get out there and we can't put the holes in until we get it ready. 16:27 [SPEAKER_02]: We can't do that until we get the irrigation in, can't the side can't be put in. 16:31 [SPEAKER_02]: He coordinated all of that. 16:34 [SPEAKER_02]: A career at that bowl where he rose up through the ranks of that company. 16:38 [SPEAKER_02]: I know why he did, because I experienced it. 16:41 [SPEAKER_02]: I wish he'd come out of retirement. 16:43 [SPEAKER_02]: Come work for us. 16:43 [SPEAKER_02]: He is that good. 16:44 [SPEAKER_00]: He said to volunteer, never receive a dime. 16:49 [SPEAKER_00]: But anything of which he has done or used to. 16:52 [SPEAKER_03]: Remarkably, West Columbia athletes were still playing and winning championships on that same Dust Bowl field. 17:01 [SPEAKER_01]: 50 years after the closure of the segregated Lakeview High School, they were on the same field that we were on when they were winning these state championships in 2019, Project of Pandemic, and some of the old football players we came to wanted a homecoming games 17:17 [SPEAKER_01]: and a tear would come to our eyes when we saw those young people how determined they were and the same things that they trained that we faced 50-something years later when they was winning the fake championship we can't play on the home, we got to try another field and play on and God stepped in and brought Chalice Sam and Dominion Energy to come to a stick step 17:40 [SPEAKER_01]: situation. 17:41 [SPEAKER_01]: So they don't have to deal with that any longer. 17:44 [SPEAKER_01]: So now they're dealing and they're playing on a regulation field. 17:48 [SPEAKER_01]: So we're just really happy. 17:49 [SPEAKER_02]: And the field has a track around it. 17:51 [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely. 17:52 [SPEAKER_02]: And the people have gone part of the community. 17:54 [SPEAKER_02]: They can walk around and we got this lead out there and it's just it's a beacon. 17:59 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a beacon. 18:01 [SPEAKER_02]: The lighthouse not only brings the ship to safety at the shore, but it also helps it avoid danger. 18:08 [SPEAKER_02]: This is a beacon in the community for young people, because it brings them in to a safe harbor where they can grow and go. 18:16 [SPEAKER_02]: But it also puts them around mentors, like Mr. Sultan and others, to say, hey, this, these are the people you want to emulate in life. 18:24 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the people who were discipline and who persevered and all you have to do is apply that and you can be so successful, this is they work. 18:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Let me just say this. 18:37 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm the board chair of the Dicklin League of the Environment Center. 18:40 [SPEAKER_01]: But I got to mention the board, okay? 18:43 [SPEAKER_01]: I've got, there's three board members, I'm sorry, there's three of us, but there's two board members who are, they out of Lakeview. 18:51 [SPEAKER_01]: One of them was like, Pastor Jackson, he went to the eighth grade and then integration came and he's a retired MD. 18:57 [SPEAKER_01]: The other is a retired banker, okay? 18:59 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got two attorneys. 19:01 [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't ask for a better board. 19:04 [SPEAKER_01]: And now I sat down and did some math, 19:06 [SPEAKER_01]: we've got over 450 years of aggregate experience in their respective fields. 19:13 [SPEAKER_01]: And all of these people are volunteers, just like me, we're giving back to the community. 19:18 [SPEAKER_01]: And it really is a moving thing when you see people will give up their time. 19:22 [SPEAKER_01]: And then when you get a corporation like the menu, they see what we're trying to do. 19:27 [SPEAKER_01]: They just wanted to help us and give us the resources so that we could do it. 19:31 [SPEAKER_03]: This is what happens when a corporation and a community come together to save history and set a new trajectory for their hometown. 19:42 [SPEAKER_03]: I asked Bernie to outline some of the services the new community center provides. 19:47 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just going to go into real briefly. 19:49 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got diabetes intervention program, we've got mental health intervention program and just look at when we first started talking. 20:02 [SPEAKER_01]: as exactly what it's still doing but it's at a higher level. 20:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Outreach is there. 20:06 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got tutoring, some of the local schools. 20:09 [SPEAKER_01]: They send their kids there for tutoring. 20:11 [SPEAKER_01]: Under the 21st century, I don't know if you should be with the 21st century education program but there's a program where students can get tutoring and those kinds of things. 20:20 [SPEAKER_01]: So there's a great deal of things going on that we're really proud of. 20:25 [SPEAKER_02]: Now we'll tell you the sense of community, the head paralegal here at our company, her name is Cynthia. 20:32 [SPEAKER_02]: After we had the dedication, Pastor Jackson preached at Brooklyn, and when he finished preaching, she sent me an email, and she was in the congregation on that Sunday. 20:43 [SPEAKER_02]: And she said, I know you probably don't have time to read this email. 20:47 [SPEAKER_02]: I know how busy you are, but I want to let you know how proud I was to be with this company when Pastor Jackson recognized us. 20:55 [SPEAKER_02]: So immediately I quit what I was doing. 20:58 [SPEAKER_02]: I went down a flight of stairs. 21:00 [SPEAKER_02]: I found her in her office. 21:03 [SPEAKER_02]: And we communed and it was an emotional time to be together because she felt a sense of purpose and a true sense of community Because our company where she has worked for a long period of time was recognized by Reverend Jackson from the pool bit that Sunday 21:20 [SPEAKER_02]: It all comes together, brother. 21:22 [SPEAKER_02]: That's what it is. 21:23 [SPEAKER_01]: And let me just add to that. 21:25 [SPEAKER_01]: I spent almost 43 years with a technical company, some of the technology that we're using right now was with the company that I helped develop all of that. 21:34 [SPEAKER_01]: And what the million energy has done, I wish more corporations would understand that whatever products or services that you're delivering to a community, 21:44 [SPEAKER_01]: you almost have an obligation to reach back to help them, because all they see is, yeah, whatever the product or service you're delivering, they need it. 21:55 [SPEAKER_01]: But it helps when the citizens know that the corporation cares about them. 22:01 [SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, all of the changes and things that happen, but they can accept it because they know that it's business, but they know that there is a self-side of, you know, that all corporations are not just a hard-nosed, bottom-line profit center. 22:16 [SPEAKER_01]: you know that they do care about the people. 22:18 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's personal. 22:19 [SPEAKER_02]: When I'm breathing my last, I won't care about the budgets and all the accoutrements and everything it goes on with running our business. 22:26 [SPEAKER_02]: But what I will remember finally is I put myself shoulder to shoulder with decombini salts and the very reverend Charles Jackson, Jr. and we did good things in this community and we served others together with the by pool and our resources. 22:44 [SPEAKER_03]: I asked Keller to describe the dedication ceremony, which happened in the fall of 2022, just a few months ago. 22:52 [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I'll tell you one thing, it was amazing. 22:54 [SPEAKER_02]: Mr. Saltlin is team mates for present. 22:56 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and he passed, and we had a football. 22:59 [SPEAKER_00]: They had to mingin' in on and as a logo. 23:01 [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, boy. 23:02 [SPEAKER_02]: And they brought all of the young people out of the community, because we did this right before Thanksgiving, so the schools were out, and so all these young people out of the community were there. 23:11 [SPEAKER_02]: We also had to head chair leader. 23:14 [SPEAKER_02]: It was out there in the young lady's lined up and she ended all. 23:22 [SPEAKER_02]: the football to them, and then Mr. Salton's teammates lined up. 23:28 [SPEAKER_02]: Someone won't walk us. 23:29 [SPEAKER_02]: Someone will tear. 23:31 [SPEAKER_02]: But they had the biggest smiles on the face. 23:33 [SPEAKER_02]: Some were tears in their eyes, and they handed off that football. 23:37 [SPEAKER_02]: And they lined up all in a row. 23:39 [SPEAKER_02]: And the young people lined up behind them, and they ended up 23:43 [SPEAKER_02]: then the older gentlemen, they faced themselves out and the young people stepped forward between them as they handed them some money to them all off to get. 23:53 [SPEAKER_02]: And if that is not something that captures what we're about and trying to play it and pay it forward for the next generation, I don't know what does. 24:03 [SPEAKER_02]: It was an incredible day and it was on the field on that sacred ground, on that grass, on that transformative day. 24:11 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's what it was, it was one, the half, it was one. 24:14 [SPEAKER_02]: And Mr. Barquet was there and he got up to talk and became so emotional that he almost couldn't finish what he was talking about. 24:23 [SPEAKER_02]: Because he said these words, and it goes to what they were trying to take and I think it underscores it. 24:28 [SPEAKER_02]: And these are his words, not mine. 24:30 [SPEAKER_02]: I learned as a young boy that separate. 24:35 [SPEAKER_02]: does not mean he can easily let you say that and that's what motivated him and he said that from that podium that day and I think the repercussions that just resonated across that entire field you know what it's time we got together and we started making it not separate but together and certainly ensure that it's equal and that's what we do as part of what we're trying to do. 25:01 [SPEAKER_03]: Mr. Berkett's father was a lineman for Dominion in the 60s. 25:06 [SPEAKER_03]: He followed his dad to work on both the white and black football fields of that era. 25:12 [SPEAKER_02]: And what he saw changed him for life. 25:29 [SPEAKER_02]: and he went over to B.C. 25:31 [SPEAKER_02]: High School, which was one of the school's Hawaii schools they talked about. 25:37 [SPEAKER_02]: They were changing out lights. 25:39 [SPEAKER_02]: And they went over there to that school, and when they were changing out lights, he noticed that field was immaculate. 25:45 [SPEAKER_02]: The grass looked like a golf course. 25:48 [SPEAKER_02]: And then he turned around and he came over there to change lights out at Lakeview. 25:53 [SPEAKER_02]: And he looked at it and he saw it was a dustball. 25:55 [SPEAKER_02]: And he was a child at the top. 25:57 [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely. 25:57 [SPEAKER_02]: But it's stuck with them and it's sold and it knotted him and his heart. 26:01 [SPEAKER_02]: He unfortunately had his wife passed away. 26:09 [SPEAKER_02]: or her. 26:11 [SPEAKER_02]: and donated it to the Lakeview and Pyramid Center because of what he saw at that time and what he wanted to accomplish. 26:20 [SPEAKER_02]: Now when he got up and spoke at this dedication, there was not a drive in that place. 26:26 [SPEAKER_02]: And that just shows you the sense of purpose and community you want to talk about the difference in the field is the lighting too. 26:32 [SPEAKER_02]: And he saw that when he was a very impressionable six year old 26:40 [SPEAKER_02]: accounting firm here in this area. 26:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. 26:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for that Kelly. 26:44 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's exactly right. 26:46 [SPEAKER_01]: And for some, he'd mentioned that. 26:47 [SPEAKER_01]: I was prepared to mention that I got emotional body because a child that could see that difference and it's stuck with him. 26:55 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, we're talking, that's 40 shit. 26:57 [SPEAKER_01]: That's 50 years. 26:58 [SPEAKER_01]: OK. 26:59 [SPEAKER_01]: But that stuck with him all the little years. 27:01 [SPEAKER_01]: And when he was blessed to be able to do something about it, he did. 27:05 [SPEAKER_01]: That speaks volumes to what you, him, and his character. 27:09 [SPEAKER_03]: What struck me about this conversation was the character of everyone involved, the humility and selflessness of these men, and the strength of all of those who came up through segregation are things that are going to stick with me for a long time. 27:27 [SPEAKER_03]: I've had a lot of good conversations in my time as a podcaster, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite and most impactful. 27:37 [SPEAKER_03]: Right at the end of our time together, Reverend Charles Jackson asked if he might add a closing thought. 27:45 [SPEAKER_00]: One final word, sir, before closing, if you don't mind, I want to thank Killer and Dominion 27:58 [SPEAKER_00]: And the assignment, God has given us to be a difference maker in our community. 28:06 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that we're at night for Keller and Dominion Energy, believing in us. 28:11 [SPEAKER_00]: We were not able to accomplish the Ian God has blessed us to have. 28:17 [SPEAKER_00]: I say it to him, he may not remember it in 2014 when they helped us with 28:24 [SPEAKER_00]: a commercial kitchen and renovating of a cafeteria to serve the neighborhood, that there were two signature words that guided and gave governance to our ministry. 28:38 [SPEAKER_00]: that we tried to provide and those two words are integrity and excellence. 28:45 [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted him to know that he could believe in us to do the right thing and then that we would try to do the right thing at the very best of our abilities. 28:55 [SPEAKER_00]: And I told him that then, and I want to tell him again now, that we would do everything we can, not the discipline. 29:03 [SPEAKER_02]: and we have such confidence that we're just looking forward to the next opportunity to do we have to partner with these two gentlemen who represent a wonderful community. 29:14 [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't live through segregation, but I live through polarization. 29:18 [SPEAKER_02]: And it tears you up to see how polarized we are as a society that you'd have been on that field that day. 29:24 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, absolutely. 29:25 [SPEAKER_02]: Do you see more love, mercy and grace than has ever been expanded at one time? 29:29 [SPEAKER_02]: It was remarkable. 29:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you again. 29:32 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much. 29:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much. 29:38 [SPEAKER_03]: We've never aired a prayer before and I don't know if we'll do it again. 29:42 [SPEAKER_03]: But one thing I learned a long time ago is that you do not get in the way of a preacher's prayers. 29:49 [SPEAKER_03]: With that said, I'll turn it over to the very Reverend Charles Jackson. 29:55 [SPEAKER_00]: Let us pray. 29:56 [SPEAKER_00]: God, our Father, thank you so much. 29:59 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity given us the share and the story of a people in partnership for the good of all your community. 30:12 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus name Amen. 30:14 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 30:14 [SPEAKER_02]: Amen. 30:15 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 30:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 30:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 30:17 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 30:17 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 30:20 [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, brother. 30:21 [SPEAKER_03]: Was it me? 30:23 [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks so much, Shane. 30:24 [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, guys. 30:27 [SPEAKER_03]: and thank you for listening. 30:29 [SPEAKER_03]: If you would like to know more about the history of Lakeview High School or the Lakeview Empowerment Center, please reach out and we'll help connect you with more information. 30:40 [SPEAKER_03]: This center is a non-profit 501C and if you're interested in partnering with these gentlemen in any way, we can help there too. 30:49 [SPEAKER_03]: You can also find them online at broccalentlakeview.org.
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