 Aloha, welcome. I'm Sharon Thomas Yarbrough and today we are going to celebrate in honor, Jerry land, our beloved queen, Jerry lands Bay Area media legend social activist educator and author. Our beloved Jerry land, one of the first African American journalists and television top show host in the San Francisco area, passed away peacefully on April 10 2021 from natural causes at 96. Despite several physical challenges, Jerry remain positive and powerful force and continued to share her wisdom and experiences with her vast circle of friends, family and admiring. Jerry is divided by her two sons. James Cohen, a print media businessman and Ted land, a playwright and actor best known for his stellar performance on Isaac. As Isaac on the television series, the love boat. Along with Ted two sons Jerry's grandson TV for and Turner Ted for and Turner Jerry George response, the late Michael ledge a playwright after a professor in heaven. Jerry was an award winning journalist who from 1969 to 1979 post a community based television shows in the Bay Area. And where she became the first black woman to host a national talk show turnabout and where she serve on the board Jerry interviewed so many television legends rock cousin Maya Angelou Sammy Davis junior and so many, many more. It's her passion to empower people, especially young black Americans, and I am so thrilled to have a group here from the Bay Area who they're going to talk about the Jerry ledge experience. Welcome to city power. Thank you Sharon. You know, I'm going to start with you Barbara, you know we were speaking earlier. You are the founder and executive director. Well, that's, that is the deep but I'm going to start with Barbara because last year, you were. I met Juliana Richardson and she is the founding executive director at the history makers. Now you have received numerous honors for your community service and your life was added to the National archive of African American oral histories being collected by the history makers. Congratulations and welcome. Thank you, thank you. I was so honored when they called me and said they wanted to add my story. And then year before last they said we notice very nicely done like a engraved look like a wedding invitation, but it was really to say that I had been chosen as one of the biographies that would be permanently housed in the Library of Congress. I started to cry, because you know I grew up very poor in Tennessee during segregation and I just wished that my parents were still alive to see that their little girl was going to be permanently housed in the Library of Congress in Washington DC is one of those kinds of things that you just don't expect is ever going to happen when you're growing up the way I grew up. I think when I met Jerry I saw that same kind of spirit in her. I did not ever get to see her when she was doing her regular programs because she finished in 79 and that's when I came to the Bay Area in 1979 to work for the CBS station KPX TV. So I met her out and about in the community where she was all the time, but I really met her sons before I met her and didn't link the two until much later. But she was always so much fun to meet out and about because she was so energetic, you know, and I knew she was older than I was but I didn't know how much older, because she had the same level of energy. It was hard to tell she was sort of one of those ageless women, you know, you really never went when she died and I, and they said she was 96 I was really shocked because I didn't actually know she was that she was 96. I was kind of thinking she was 80 something. And so, you know, it was just it was just wonderful to meet her and to talk with her. She had had so many interesting experiences and knew so many interesting people and it traveled and I am really one of those people who loves to travel so we had a lot in common. Oh, good. Did you feel that there were some similarities between Jerry's life and yours. Oh yes. In addition to what I was saying about how I grew up and then never quite expecting that that was where I was going to wind up in the Library of Congress. One of the other similarities was that I recognized about her very early on, is that she was a risk taker, and she wasn't afraid to confront to speak as as Barbara and it's congresswoman Barbara Lisa likes to say, speak truth to power. And, and she also was a visionary. You know she sort of saw things ahead. And when I was very young when Robert Kennedy was running for president of the United States and he used that quote you know some people see things as they are and say why I see things as they could be at ask why that really resonated with me I think I was in ninth grade when that happened ninth or 10th grade. And I always sort of was like that to where I looked ahead. When we were in ninth grade we had to do career scrapbooks. And at that time I did not know I was going to get to go to college because my parents had no money to send me to college. So I did my career scrapbook on becoming a secretary which is what I thought I was going to do because I would be able to take typing and shorthand in high school. But it was interesting on my mother had saved everything and I didn't even remember I had done this but on the front page of my career book. I was only 14. I found a quote in a magazine that said what man has done man can do, and these days so can women too. So I was a feminist before I even knew the word. I mean, just that amazing that that spoke to me at age 14. That quote, and I put it on the very first page of the book so you know you never know what's what lies ahead I mean I had no idea the life I was going to be living 50 years later, but that quote said something about what was in my head even before I knew what to call it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah we're here celebrating Jerry at black woman's life in the media. And I'm going to come to you D, you know founder and executive director of the land a foundation widely known for providing low income. You know, with students with school supplies during the year, your organization supplies during your organization provided over at 98,000 school supply bags to children in youth that's and that is awesome. Thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for having me on the show. I'm just so in awe. When I got the call from Carmen and just been waiting to hear what we were going to do about our dear Jerry. And she said well here's an opportunity for us to come together and just speak some of her truth and just how amazing she was and the fact that when she first met me. She just took to me, and she wanted to know who I was and for me I was just D Johnson graduated from the climate high school that's all. And, but she saw something in me and she just encouraged me and I just will never forget her. She's amazing woman I was just reading and part of an anthology that she did. And it talked about I know it had to be probably 2015 or so maybe 2016, and she talks about how we could make the change in the world. If we have time I'd like to read a little bit of that. Okay, we're going to make so powerful. Yes, we're going to make time, because you know, Jerry was such an instrumental woman when it comes to organizations that give back. She came out here and helped me with the Hawaii Valentine's Day for veterans, and she was my speaker and the veterans were just. They were told me about that too. I want to ask you D. What do you remember most about Jerry. Her passion, her energy as they all say and her loving to dance and live and love life and she often talked about making sure when you're speaking speak positive, put out the positive keep out the negative. If you keep the positive going then that's when the positive things will continue to be in your life. And if people put out love that will just take care of everything. Wow, you know, and she lived on a street named Alice, and that was my mother's name. I just fell in love with her all over again. She became my second mom I lost my mom, you know, you know, 1510 years ago, but there's a mural. She sent me that Jerry is on that mural. Oh my God, that is just such an honor, an honor for that. So comment, I'm going to come to you again thank you for putting this panel together. You know you're a public relations consulted and document design specialist who worked with many large corporations and organizations. You help to design programs in beautiful documents from Jerry lens for many special events. Perfect, perfect. I love doing events. So I want to know from you, Carmen. You know, how does she inspire you. Wow. Just like everybody said Jerry inspired me with her level of energy. I used to tell friends that this beautiful woman would run circles around a 40 year old, you know, that she had such a wealth of information and experiences. Not Jerry, I was at the black history event KPI X this was 2011 person Michael brought me over and she was sitting there with her book, Jerry, a black woman's life in the media. And that was inspirational right there. But as I got to talking with her. It just kind of felt like we had known each other forever. And I thought maybe I was like a really special person because I was having this connection with her. And then I actually came to find out that Jerry has this type of connection, or had this type of connection with pretty much everybody that came into her circle. She was just a very loving, brilliant woman who just love to share her information. One of the things that stood out for me about Jerry is that she had had some really hard knocks in her life. She had a few job opportunities that just kind of went south did not pan out. She never let that discourage her. She just kept herself together. And it seemed as if when one job didn't work, the phone rang for Jerry miraculously and there was another opportunity, even better than the last one. And that just was really something that it stuck to me because I had similar experiences out there in corporate America and corporate Japan where things were just not panning out in the way that I had hoped maybe they would but then there was another opportunity that was better. And so Jerry and I connected in that way. Yeah, that's Jerry. Yeah. Here's a passionate. He was so generous with her wisdom in Roy. Yes. And the area mobile DJ and historian. Yes, over 30 years of experience has also worked on a variety of special celebratory events for Jerry. And we all, you know, no Jerry love music. Music is she love to dance. Yes, she did. Well, your relationship involved with Jerry. Well, like my wife, Carmen was saying, we met Jerry first at, at a black history event at Channel five API X and that was the first time that we had met Jerry, and just, you know, a vibrant person just a presence to behold I mean you know when you were in her she made everyone feel special. You know she just had that, that way about her. And I can recall. I think it was probably a couple months after we had known Jerry. I used to work for Caltrans transportation department here in the Bay Area, and I retired three years ago, and we used to do a yearly black history month program so we asked Jerry if she would mind being our guest speaker. For one of the events and, one, behold, she accepted she said yes I would love that. And she was just amazing I mean she was so good and, and just, you know just had the audience mesmerized with with her stories and things that she shared that they wanted her back the next year. That's how good she was so she came back again the next year and just did it again so just an amazing person and just someone that you know we just just through the love so much and you know she just had that motherly instinct and she was just a very special person. Yeah, I Jerry was here years ago, and I didn't show that she was a guest speaker. Women was wisdom speak and that was just awesome they wanted her back here and there you your friend Dr Barbara cannon. Also a company with the governor's wife Lynn why hey hey yeah you want her back to come back to you. And what will you remember most about Jerry. One of the things that really sort of fascinated me and I hadn't noticed it much until I was reading more about her background after she died. And whenever she encountered something new. She would talk about how it changed her life, and it really at first when I saw that you know I thought well a lot of people say that, but she was, she meant that literally. She meant that she would make changes in her life based on new information that she brought in, and she was keeping that learning going for a whole lifetime. And one of the last public appearances she did when she talked about the fact that she was thinking about becoming a professional photographer, after she had come back from Japan with all these photographs, and I, and like I said I didn't know her exact age until she died but I'm assuming now that I know she was 96 that she was probably 92 when she made that statement that she was getting ready to become a professional photographer. I love that though, because the society, especially for women and especially for black women, tries to put us into little boxes, where they want us to stay forever and as I said earlier, you know, my parents had no money to send me to college I went to college for a scholarship, but I didn't know that early on so there were the options that were available to me without a college education as a black girl in Tennessee during segregation, made. I was aspiring to be a secretary, that was a high goal because I did not know any black woman in Knoxville Tennessee who was a secretary to anybody, and I thought, maybe I can learn to type and take shorthand and I can be a secretary, but really made a super, you know, there really weren't that many options if you did not have a college education on, you know, even a high school education sometimes you couldn't get much. So, I looked at her and I thought, isn't it wonderful that she can come out of that box that they put us in, especially the one that they put us in for age, and she can say, I'm going to become a professional photographer at the age of 92. I mean, you know, and to have that as a goal whether she did it or not is not the most important thing, but to think in those terms, and to work and live your life in those terms that anything you do and she talked about you know how, when she got a chance to go to college that's one thing that I really identified with she didn't know that she was going to get to go at first and she said how education changed her life, and meeting certain people that she talked to changed her life. Every time she'd have a change she'd add something new that just enhanced her life and I that's what I'll remember most about her. You know, Jerry was so generous with her wisdom. This is what I admired about her and she was just, as my husband said school is never out. It's so deep. How did Jerry inspire you. Wow. We first had our conversation at an event. She just really took to me and she asked me, What are you doing and I told her about Linda hand. And then I also told I was trying to write this book she said what do you mean you're trying to write it. I say I am I put it I picked it up I put it down I picked it up. And she said I'm putting it down I think I'm in my second year of putting it down she said oh no you have to write you have to tell your story. And I don't care how many times I would say well Jerry I don't know where to start she said that's okay meet me at my house on out of the street. And I'm going to show you what to do. I got there she had some music for me and Carmen you're going to have to help me with the gentleman's name. Yeah, Andre gone y'all. Thank you. And she said I want you to take this home. And I want you to listen to this relax get in a quiet place and trust me, you're going to write. And I did that. And I was amazed. And I was my quiet time. And the music just really so like it just touched my soul. And I just started writing, and I wrote and she edited and I wrote and she edited and we would that went on for pretty good while, until I became a what a finished product. She was there for the book signing. And she was just such a joy so much wisdom encouragement. I don't care because trust me, I kept putting it down. Because it was a lot to tell, and you know, growing up, poverty, just all the challenges that I have faced. So every time I start writing I'd have to relive those times. And she kept saying just keep pushing. Just keep pushing is going to be okay because this is what God wants you to do. So that's, that's it. Yeah. Yes. What would you like people to know about the important work that Jerry. You know, I would like them to know that Jerry worked for everyone. She didn't go out and do a job to earn money. Jerry didn't do a job, because it was prestigious Jerry did a job because she had like D said a story to tell. And she had a vision for what life could be like like Barbara said what life could be like for people. She basically just kind of let the world know that she was there to create a purpose to create a drive to create a force for people. Her work was all about peace, really about bringing peace to the world about inspiring women especially to know that they have power that they are great that you're beautiful no matter who you are, and that you're intelligent and that there is so much to do to learn Jerry used to say in her in her work that if you're bored with what you're doing then you're obviously a boring person because there's just too much out there there there's just so many things that we can be involved in. So one of the things that I think that was most important about Jerry's work is how she loved people how she brought people together how she wanted to share her friends, you know, lots of times people want to hold their friends for themselves and you can't be a friend of that person because that's my friend, but these lovely ladies here are friends of mine because of Jerry, and so many more so her work was all about peace about integrity and passion commitment. She strived for not perfection, but for realistic improvement of lives, and she just has touched me. She's changed me for life, and I am just so grateful. And as our sister part views, you know, a note we're all wearing Jerry's favorite color red, you know, she had a heart of gold, always giving and boy, I'm going to come to you, and I'm going to ask you what are the most important lessons you learned from Jerry. Wow, that's a very, very interesting and deep question but I'd have to say, number one would be value, value yourself or who you are, and, you know, treating others the way you want to be treated. Those were two big things that I think that, you know, I really picked up and learned from Jerry, and, you know, just moving forward in life, those are values that you just have to carry it. And, you know, learning those from someone as powerful as she was and all the things that she went through in her life, those to me were very, very valuable lessons and so I think that, you know, I will use those and pass those along just as she passed them to me. So, you know, I'm loving this and I just, we don't have enough time, we're going to have to do a part two and three. Yes. But thank you, Carmen, Roy, Barbara and D for your wisdom. In closing, I want to leave everyone with something very special that Jerry put in her book here, the magic of the power and magic and imagination of media. In closing, Jerry Land will leave you with this. Dare to dream. Having dream, fulfill that dream at all costs. For without a dream, you cannot move one inch. With it, you can reach the star. Thank you for sharing Thomas Yarbrough. Thank you for tuning in alone.