 Double Nichols Theater Company, what we do is collect true stories from seniors while they can still hear their applause. We take those stories and create productions from them. The productions are a combination of live true stories frequently told by the senior themselves in a play format. Fierce Angels Tonight will feature several. Count them nine. Maybe eight, but I'm sure we'll have nine by the time we get finished. Fierce Angels. We have the author of the book. Fierce Angels. Living with a legacy from the sacred dark feminine to the strong black woman. The author who is my friend, but more importantly, the associate dean at the University of Maryland is the author, Sherry Parks, Dr. Parks. Sherry is going to talk to us about Fierce Angels in terms of what you meant by a Fierce Angel. I have my idea and I'm sure everyone around here can tell you something as well. But I want to start with forming a place where we will begin from. And that is, what is a Fierce Angel? I wrote Fierce Angels because of the way people were treating me. That strangers were coming up to me expecting me to be interested and solve their problems. And I was doing it for students, for people in the street. And then I realized that other black women were doing the same thing. It felt like I was in a play that nobody had asked me to be in. And I know in theater, you know exactly what I mean. It's like there was a script and everybody else knew it and I was playing the part and I didn't know why. So I wanted to explain to me and I ended up writing the book so that black women could choose whether they want to do this role. But what I mean is that black women who is strong and brilliant and caring and takes responsibility for everybody else but sometimes not for herself. And you know that's a good transition note because tonight we have here with us representatives from six generations of black women. And as I've spoken with them, the differences are not that broad. So at least a hundred and ten years and probably a lot longer, we have assumed a role. We have assumed a role that we just took, just as Sherry has said. And at that point I'm going to ask a woman who if you see her you know that she's fierce, sitting on my right, Dr. Bernice Harper. Now the doctor isn't so important, it's that woman that got that doctor in front of her name. By getting a Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1959. And today takes the subway to her appointment and has no use for computers. Dr. Harper, tell me when you knew how fierce you were. You know I've been thinking about that. And I think I was probably about ten years of age and I had went to work for a lady. I worked all day long, I scrubbed the kitchen and then when I was ready to leave she gave me a dime. And when I got home I said to my mother, I'm not going to work for Mrs. Anderson anymore. And that was the beginning of my knowing that I had some set work and that I was worse more than that. And so I didn't go back to Mrs. Anderson anymore. But I went to another Mrs. Anderson and she gave me 35 cents. So I was making it up to the highway with money. And then the next job was $3 and the next job was $6. And now I'm a full-fledged farmer, worker from the Department of Health and Human Services. And so I don't have to worry about the 10 cents, but it was at that moment that I knew that I had self-worth. And then at the age of nine or ten I wanted to be a missionary to Africa. And I didn't get to Africa until 1996. But you got there. I got there. That's a fierce woman. That's a fierce angel. I'll stop for a second because Dr. Harper has reminded me of a very, very brief story that passed down in my family. I was not allowed to work for the Miss Anstons. I was not allowed to do housework. And you can argue with that one way or another. But the reason was because my great-grandmother used to stand. One time she stood on a corner and at that corner people, women with cars, meaning middle-class women, white women, would come and pick and choose the black woman to take home that day to do the cleaning. And she said she was picked. She got in the car. The woman drove her to her home. And when she walked into the house, the first thing the woman did was set the clock back an hour. My grandmother's never stupid. She said she did her work. She let the woman take her back to the corner where she picked her up at the end of the day's work. And when the woman went to pay her, she said, and I know you're going to pay me for that extra hour, aren't you? She said she couldn't do that in the car in the woman's neighborhood. But she waited. But she said she never went back to that corner again. And she passed that story to my grandmother, to my mother, and none of us were ever allowed to work for people doing housework because we knew our self-worth back then. And those are the little things. You don't know what they mean when they tell you. But they tell you something. And I'm going to ask at this point if we can get from one of the other women, a vignette, when did you know how fierce you were? Deborah. I knew how fierce I was. And it's similar to Dr. Harper. And your story is amazing that you both shared your story. Isn't it amazing? My mother and my grandmother were domestics. They worked in a home. And my grandmother asked me to come and assist her with a job that she had a party. And I said, okay. I said, but Grandma, I cannot go out in the uniform and serve. She said, this is how we earn our money. This is what we do. I said, Grandma, I can do whatever you need back here. But I cannot go out into the area and serve with a uniform on. So my grandmother agreed to that. I'm in the back. I'm assisting. At the end of the night, my grandmother came back and she asked me if I could go out. And it was the end of the night. It was the end of the party. She asked me to go out if I could go out and to collect things from the party. She said she almost died because she came out and she looked through. And I was sitting in the chair where the gentleman who was the homeowner, a white man in Georgia. I'm from Georgia. I was sitting in the chair and the white men were around me. And I was telling them how degrading I thought it was that they would have my grandmother come out and serve them when they were more than able to come in and get the food that they needed. I knew that I was a fierce angel at that point because I stood up for what I thought was the right thing. They were able to come back to get their food. From that point, what did they say? They were amazed that I would say that. And the gentleman who was the host of the party, he thought it was just amazing that I would take that stand and I would talk to them that way. That he wanted to hear more about what I had to say. Really? He did. I was able to get from that experience my college tuition pay for the first two years of my college. They talked to me. They engaged me. They were very interested in what I had to say. I started to tell them all about the black experience and what I thought was going on. How old were you, Deborah? I was 15. 15? 15 in Athens, Georgia. I think that the fast forward on that, that today you have a successful catering company. You know why? Each time that I put any type of event together, I honor my grandmother. I honor my great-grandmother. I honor my aunts who all were domestic. They all had to do these fabulous parties for, at that time, white people. That's who they worked for. I want to do that every time I give an event for us. I want to have a fabulous spread. I want to have a fabulous setting. I want it to be beautiful. My company is called Southern Comfort S&G. It's southern and gourmet. I say you take southern to school a little bit becomes gourmet. You have the basics of what southern food is. You always want it to taste good. You want it to be beautiful. I honor my grandparents and my ancestors each time that I do an event. You know what's really, I call it the connecting thread. I can almost begin to envision the writing of the play that's coming out of this because we've started from a point in history. I dare not say how long ago, but a long time ago. We come to a World War II and a Korea War period. And we're moving closer and closer to today and the stories are similar. We are still fighting the same fights, doing it well and being fierce. But what's next? What's next? And I can see that I'm looking at Monica and Monica. I want to hear your story because I just experienced it. But if that's not the one when you found out you were fierce, tell us another one because they're all going to be a part of this. So I felt I was fierce when I was knee-high to a duck. First, let me say this. I am fifth generation. Fifth generation college graduate. Fifth generation. And so to me, I knew that it was unacceptable to be anything except for successful. Prime example, let me give you a little family history. My mom, a single mother, educated, but at the same time had all three of her children by three married men. Three different married men, but still went to college to do what she had to do. At the same time, my mom, she never received any child support from any of these men, including my dad, but she still went to college and got a master's in taxation. Still putting myself and my sisters through private school and college. So I knew for me it was unacceptable to be anything except success, even though I went and had a baby in the ninth grade. Okay? My son, believe it or not, is 32 years old. Yes, I'm 48 years old today. And I have a 30-year-old baby. Exactly. And so therefore, I knew that what my mom did as far as the challenges that she faced, as well as even though she had these children with these married men, and she still did what she had to do. But at the same time, I knew that it would be with everything that she did, it would be a sump in her face, not to be a success. So therefore, everything that I did was to be a success to make my parents and to make my ancestors proud of who I am. Okay. I like that. I like that. I like it because what you've done, you are not defined yourself by titles or anything else, but your experiences. And your experiences are quite candidly, no disrespect, quite ordinary. I will throw in that I'm the first person in my family to go beyond the eighth grade. While when I went past the eighth grade, they thought I was a genius. But the point was, the family love, the support, regardless of where it was, it makes you know, if you will accept the consequences, you can do anything you choose to do. Exactly. Okay. The event, that which made you feel, I know I'm fierce. The event that made me fierce, made me feel fierce, is when I stopped teaching and started running an automobile dealership, working with adults, I had been very soft in teaching children. And I was KT at that time, which is my given name, but I was called K by some friends. So when I went into the automobile business, the K took over because I had to be really fierce with these adults, some of them who did not want me in the business, some of them who just deported looking at me coming in every day. The thing that really got to me is the males. It wasn't the females who worked for us. It was the males and the white males, I must say, are the ones who were really, really taken aback when I took over this business. When I took it over and I would tell the managers, I want to see everything you're buying and what you're doing. Well, there was this one manager in the service department who was very adamant about it. He was not going to show me anything that he bought. And this is our dealership. This is my dealership and I'm telling him, you tell me, show me what it is that you want and I'll tell you if you're going to buy it. Becoming fierce now. Because he is not respecting me. Eventually, I heard him knowing that I might get some repercussions from some of these others, but it's time for him to go. He was surprised when I fired him because he thought that he could continue to disrespect me by buying what he wanted to buy. And I thought, no, you're not. The others kind of came into line after he was fired. I guess so. Things went right along. You know, it's amazing how you test it in ways that you don't consider test and the indignation of how dare you do this to me. Some of you that have known me a while know that I used to run a plant for General Motors a press metal, metal fabricating plant where you wore heavy towed shoes. Well, in the auto industry, as Kay knows, it's not that you're a woman so much or you're black so much, but you weren't born on their doorsteps. You didn't grow up there. Right. And they had flown me in from Detroit. You know, all of this. And the plant that I had, the foreman, the General Foreman, he was so mad that I had actually gotten the job of plant manager. He couldn't understand that. His way of dealing with it, his name was George. George had four teeth and one eye. He was mad. The way that he would deal with it, I would come in there in my Armani suits and high heel shoes. I had to take the shoes off at the door because I had to go into the steel toes but I still had on my suit and my soft, pretty blouses. And he would cuss like a sailor in our meetings. Well, if I cussed back, I've diminished myself. If I say nothing, they've intimidated me. And I worked overtime to figure out how was I going to deal with this man, but I knew I would. I found friends and personnel at General Motors and I asked them to give me all the history. As plant manager, I was equated. I was able to get that. He had been at the plant something like 29 years. He had children in college. He had a lot going on and he needed his retirement. I came to work one day in my baddest navy blue suit and my baddest shoes. And in a plant floor, you don't have offices. You have these little cages, things. And I pulled up all the blinds and I sat on the edge of my desk and I crossed my legs and I called George in. And I had George come and sit. He was sitting so he had to look up at me. And I said to him with a smile because you couldn't hear anything I was saying outside. But he could hear me, but no one else, but they could see. And I said, George, I know that you can't afford to keep your children in school if you don't have this job. And I know that you need this job because you've just had triple bypass too. And I know that you want to retire from here, but if you do one more, and I did use some words that I shouldn't use, me one more time, it will be your last day at Gemma Motors. And as plant manager, I can't affect that. Do you understand? And I kept smiling. And it hurt. But that's one of the reasons I also left because I didn't want to live like that. That was not me. But you do what you've got to do. I had no more problems out of George. But they didn't understand. Megan. Yeah. Growing up and hearing the stories from my mother who started in the workforce in the 70s, I just want to ask you guys, during that time, how did you find yourself as starting asserting yourself in a male dominated workforce and things that I can take away with me going into a workforce that's more diverse, but still more male dominated? When I came to the University of Merrill and I was faculty in the radio TV film department, I was the only woman. I was the youngest by decade. There was one other black person, but he was pretty alienated already. They would be very careful about me. One day I was at a reception in this very tall, very stylistically dressed, beautifully dark-skinned black woman walked up to me and she said, you're Sherry Parks. And I said, yes. And she didn't introduce herself, so I knew she was important, right? And she said, are they treating you well? And I said, actually they are. And she said, good. And if they don't, you let me know. And the next day, my chair, an older white man came over and said, are you happy? And I said, yes, because they didn't know what to do with me. I mean, they couldn't treat me like a secretary. They couldn't treat me the way they treated each other. I mean, they couldn't say, you know, back then, you know, sexual things that they were used to saying. And he said, because the president's office is very concerned that you'd be happy. So you let me know. And so one of the things that you do is there's all kinds of power. She was the president's chief of staff. And one of the people, and you were talking about rank a minute ago, one of the people with just pure, raw power. So when she spoke, the president would just say, you know, what did we say? Okay, what did we say? I'm beautiful when we say still now. Figure out where the power really is. Understand the power of secretaries and nurses and people who make things run because they're essential and everybody knows that they're essential. So don't be blinded by, you know, gender or social class. Figure out who's making the thing run. And they will probably already be watching you. She was watching me. She was watching them, but she was also watching me, which is why she decided that they needed to keep me. And people will, in my experience, often, you don't know where your support is coming from. And they'll be quiet letters or support or nods or smiles. And people will figure out that one we have to take care of. Sure. Come on, and I'm sure all of us have something that we can share and give to Megan. For example, Megan, people like to be asked for help. So that if you don't mind making a mistake, or if you can handle the effects of a mistake, if you introduce yourself to someone and tell them who you are and what you're doing, and you're also being very, very good at what you do, it will be their sense of identity. They want to know who you are. So what they find out is positive. If not a friend, you'll have made someone who's interested in you. I don't know how old you are, but I'm assuming I'm probably like 10 years old. Oh, I'm 31. Okay, so I'm 15 years old. So when I graduated from undergrad, my first job out, I worked for Anderson Consulting. So this was in 1991. So when I started working, women at my firm were not allowed to wear pants. So you had to wear suits, and they could not be pants. And my first manager was a white man Mormon. And he loved me. And you know why? Because I said, what's Mormon? I was just myself. I just learned that this man had a job that I wanted, and I had to work for him. He attached himself to me. He's like asked a lot of questions, made stakes are okay. And he got me to every level in Anderson Consulting up until I left. And this is a white man Mormon. So what I took from that is don't, I don't want to say don't think about it too much, but be yourself. If you are afraid to ask a question, I always say, I'm afraid to ask you this, but, and I'll ask it. And oftentimes it kind of solvents a little bit, but you'll get an honest answer from the person. I think it's important for you not to let someone take your power from you. If you have power and you utilize power and knowledge is power. And in all of this work that we do, loving and caring for one another, even working for men and women, it doesn't matter. You mentioned the black experience. I was going to a conference in South Carolina to the black experience. So when I came into the hotel, the Bellman said, I understand you're here for the black experience. So I looked at him and I said, I am the black experience. I like that. You know, it's opening something else for me to ask and to generate conversation. And that is each of us has in some way identified the fact that we have more than one personality. We can be who we need to be on the stage that we perform. Tell me about your stage. I want to hear about you, Miss Willie. I want to hear from you about when that lady took your clothes. Well, it was a hard family of us. And my older sister decided she wanted to go to West Virginia State College. So she did. So it's the first time she came home on visit. I had already put a few clothes in the wheel car. And it was paid, I think, 50 cents. And we could deliver it out. Well, I had one of the dresses on that I had gotten out. I didn't know that she was home on this weekend for something. But anyway, she had taken my new dress, which I had worn one time, and had it on. And I wouldn't have known it until I went to put it on. This morning, I think it was on a Monday, she was going back to school. And her train was late going to West Virginia State College. And I kept looking and looking. And here she had all my new dress. I said, what's your... She tried to hide. But I said, what's your doing with my dress on? I just got it. I just wore that dress. She said, well, Mama told me I could take the dress. I said, Mama told you Mama didn't pay for that dress. I'm on the stone. I was on my way to school because I was still in high school. And I went on to school. I was crying and crying. Everybody said, what's your problem? And when she said it back to me, that we got in the dirt, I guess you kept it on so long as you got in the dirt. She washed it. It was said, Cole had some kind of satin. It turned. The dress was pleated all the way around. Nice collar on it. And she said it back. I think I got it back in time for Sunday. I couldn't wear it because it looked so bad. And she had messed it up so bad. And she was much tighter than I was. And it busted. I said, I'm going to get up when she come home. I said, no, you wait until she comes home. I wouldn't wear it. I started to throw it in. I don't know what I'd done with it. But I couldn't wear it because she had messed it up so bad. And I said, well, maybe the Lord will open the way for me to get another one. But I guess I cried so much. My eyes were all swollen. So that was part of my story. So a whole lot of stories to the right. I guess I stopped there. But he's still the best though. What I'd like for you to share with us is, that was important to you. You are still recalling that story this many years later. However many years that is. But you are still recalling that story. What would you share with us? What would you tell us about how you get to this point in life where you can just say, let it go. You can tell it, but you can laugh. You were crying when you did it, but you're laughing now. How do you reach the point where you, in life, can just kind of let things go? I didn't understand what you said. I guess really what I'm asking you is, what would you tell us so that we could get to be where you are in life? What have you done in your life that's made you so beautiful? So self-confident? And even so humorous at this point? This many years down your road? I still can't make myself out here. That's okay. Well, someone else can ask another way. What can you tell us that makes you who you are? What has gotten you to the point where you are to make you such a diva? That makes you just not care as much about the little things. What got you to the point where you are right now, at over 100 years old, and being fierce? What made you this way? How did you get to this road? To where you are right now? This piece that you add? That's the only probability that I have that I can hear too good. Okay. Okay. And that's okay because that's Reagan you say something? No, that was going to, because I'm sitting right across from this sign that says fierce angels living with a legacy from the sacred dark feminine to I have readers now Lord, to the strong black woman. And it takes me to us because we never got to what made us fierce. Go ahead. I think we just saw it. But what it takes me to, like, you know, like my K, few people know I've always kind of beat, you know, to my own drum. And the story that I, I don't know if I realize I was fierce, but I knew that there was some fierceness in my family was I was 12 years old. It was summertime. Martha's vineyard and I woke up and I had started my cycle. And what was supposedly like everyone else was like this thing. So I'm like, my mother comes in and she's like, I got gifts, money. I got a necklace. Oh, wow. So by the end of the day, my cousin Kim was like, I can't wait. I'm talking about it. And I'm just kind of like, so there was some fierceness, some quirkiness. Cause it was, I mean, like my uncle was like, oh, we got to go get raked in a necklace. And my father was like, well, we were, we were marching through a vineyard. Hey, guess what? My daughter is a young woman. And we're the only black people. I hope that's like, so I don't have any ill stories to become a woman. Like I don't have those terrible, you know, oh, it was awful. I don't, I don't have that. I was like, oh, be at a party. And it's interesting that you say that, Reagan, because the way that was how I was brought into when I first received my mentees because it was, it was straight on down the line of those fierce women. Because one of the things they said was, do you know how powerful their words, how powerful this makes you? Do you know what you can do? And you don't. And it doesn't make any sense then, but you carry the tradition. And that, that makes me feel good. Did you remember that? I mean, literally, it was not me, my cousin, because we were there for a month. My cousin was like, I hope I get mine. I hope I get mine. This summer, she was like, hold on for the next summer. I mean, if he wasn't. She was upset. She was upset. She didn't get you. I hope I get mine. That's great. Yeah. So it was kind of, you know, there was fierceness. I didn't feel fierce at 12, but I knew that there was some fierceness. You knew that we were a different circle. Yeah. But what do you also, we didn't get to, when did you know about your fierceness? Sure. So growing up, I did have a lot of similar stories, including barring my sister's clothes. But I wanted to share a more recent story about fierceness. I want to talk about hair. I didn't always wear my hair like this. Coming into myself and really being comfortable going natural was a really hard thing for me. Growing up, it was all about straightening the hair, letting the flow and whatnot. And once I went natural and the reactions I got to people in my life, getting over that fear of people judging me, especially strangers or people who aren't African American, who aren't used to this type of hair and really being passive and being confident with my hair and being okay so that I don't have to apologize for my hair was a big deal for me. So again, I love wearing my hair straight. I love putting a weave or a wig or whatnot. But just feeling that I can have the option to just let it flow was a big deal for me. And that was a recent fierceness. We can do a tremendous production on hair. And we all have hair stories. That may be the topic that we want to open next. And I'd like to, I don't want to guide too hard or too formally. But I like the idea of also those double and triple and quad personalities. And if we can talk about, maybe there's some hair stories in that. But this stuff let us bring out a different personality. Tell us, okay, who is this? This is I don't care anymore. People think so. So I do have that timid, quiet Megan with a bun. Then I have the fierce Megan who was on a dance team for the NBA with the weave. And now I have the, I don't care anymore. I'm just going to be me, my true self. And it feels really good. And how does it tell? Tell us more, because I think that we're there. I think we're all there and for different reasons and different ways. But tell us, but keep on going with that story. Oh, with my image of being confident. Sure, because these are, these are where these are where the productions are made. These are where the productions are made. Well, growing up there, my grandparents being from the south, it was kind of a thing within the black community about, about here and about the way you looked. Or even in our family, if someone was lighter than someone else in the family, there was the complex of image. And I always had that growing up of, oh, she had her hair so pretty or, well, doesn't she look great? But she was a lighter skinned person in the family. So I've always felt that. And so growing up ahead that in the back of my head and then getting out into the real world by myself and finding my own self and being excited about my own individuality and not trying to blend in, it's been a big deal for me. I think we were several persons. I was named after probably three or four aunts from Africa, Bernice, Ola, Catherine, Harper. Now, the Bernice is the person that you don't want to go near. She's the one she mentioned the ghetto. You have to climb up. Bernice Catherine is a little nicer. Dr. Bernice Catherine Hopper is the person you want to deal with as often as you can. I've had people call me and say, am I talking to Bernice today? Am I talking to Bernice Catherine today or am I talking to Dr. Hopper? The answer is it depends on the question. So I'm going to say away from Bernice as much as you can. Always deal with you can with Bernice Catherine or Dr. Bernice Catherine. And which one is wearing that hat? Bernice Catherine. That's my sister's hat she gave me the hat. She gave it to you. Or did you borrow it? I started to go to a wedding and then she told me I could keep it. And I used to love hats. But then when I started wearing my hair high, I couldn't wear hats. So I put it on tonight in honor of you. You're a sweetheart, thank you. Because there is something special about us and hats. I want to just talk a little bit about those different personalities because I know and I have cultivated. She has six. Yes, I do have six. Did not have you counted them? Not met them. I've hidden from some of them. Which one do you want to deal with? Well, she's no longer exist. I killed her. Pia, Pia was the best thing. Pia was a little whiny, nice, sweet. I haven't seen her since I was a child. Pia paraded me through. Pia was when I was attempting to be a nice, sweet, soft-spoken young lady bride. They didn't work too long. But Tony is who you usually meet. Tony is self-confident. Tony is real. Tony doesn't have much BS with her. Antoinette is formal. Antoinette is the woman that you meet when she doesn't know you and she's not sure she wants to. And the conversations will decide if you'll be allowed to be introduced to Tony. But then there is Jamila. And Jamila is who you want to travel with. Jamila is the woman that you will never meet. And you will not know very closely. I've seen her. But me and Sharon just might be out. And who you will also... If I go to Philadelphia, you'll definitely be there. That's Ramona. Ramona runs my family. Ramona deals with all those crazy people who we all have in our family. The crazy uncle, the weird aunt. And all the others that we love but we can't stand to be around very much. But Ramona got them under control. But the one you never want to meet is Darth Vader. Darth Vader, don't take no T for Darth Vader. I think I have to give him a name. She doesn't have a name. But I do have a story about when I had to slip into another personality. It was my first job out of college. Again, I was the youngest by a couple of decades. I was the first black professional woman. The first week they told me I couldn't have lunch with the black bookkeeper down at the hall. They said, no, you can't do that. You have to hang with us. And there was an older black woman who had been there for a very long time. She wasn't the black bookkeeper. She had been there for a very long time. And she took a decided disliking to me. Because I was the first black woman on the professional side. And we were subcontracting from the Department of Labor. And so we had to go on site visits. And I was in New Hampshire. And the man who was running the contract for the next level up for a different country showed up. And I thought that was kind of odd that I was on a site visit. And he was on a site visit too. He was African-American man. Maybe about 10 years older than me. And so he was in the same hotel as me. And then it was clear we were supposed to go to dinner together. And then it became quite clear that he thought I was dessert. And I was making very clear that I was not dessert. And he got very angry. And he blurted out her name. He said, but Jerry, Jerry had decided that she was going to bring me down to her level. Because one of the white men had said, when Jerry was young and pretty, she could... Well, this is what he said. Because that's how they used to get contracts was with Jerry. And Jerry could fuck a man, smoke a cigarette, eat a sandwich and still have a hand loose. That's what he said. Whoa, excuse me. So Jerry had decided that maybe I needed to be more like her. And so I said, okay, this is not going to go. This is not going to go. I was just so angry. So when I got back to work, the only person Jerry was afraid of was the president of the company. And I went to his secretary and said, is Jerry here yet? She said no. And I said, does he have a nine o'clock appointment? She said no. And I said, may I be his nine o'clock appointment? And Jerry hurt me, save us. And I just walked back past my desk. And it hurts when you have to do this with another black woman. It really hurts. So I really had to kind of, you know. And so I went back to my office and was doing my little job. And he came, I walked in and I said, you know, this is what happened. The contract was very angry. She was trying to get me. She really hurt you. And as I walked out, he yelled Jerry. And she went in his office and I went back and did my little tactic. And I was writing a report. And then when she came out, she was kind of rattling. And I said, come here. And I'm not very tall, right? But there was an office in the back with a desk. And I took her in the room and I shut the door. And I mean, and you probably heard it from the way I said it. I don't curse, but I leaned, I backed her over that desk. She was leaning back and I said, you see what I can do. Don't fuck with me. And that took a lot. There's a time and a place where you got me. I turned on my heel and walked back to my office. And we were cool for the rest of the time. You know, it's amazing that she said it. Because I had to come up with this person, Veronica. Okay. And everyone now, even today, someone asked me, is it Veronica's birthday too? I said it's sure the shit is. And the reason why I had to come up with Veronica is because me, I've always been like a very nice timid person. And I can't believe it. Nobody could believe it. Exactly. You could not believe it. But believe me, I've just been always just a sweet angel. And believe it or not, people will take advantage of it as tall as I am, statuettes and all that. But people will take advantage of that sweetness. And that is who Monica is. I am Monica Gaskin at all times. And I'm 100% that person. I'm always the sweetheart that helped her. My friend, sister by car. My car for free with no help. I am that's who I am. However, sometimes people will sit there and will try to take advantage of that sweet kind Monica. And that's when Veronica steps in and says, wait one goddamn minute. I'm going to say what she wouldn't. And it's funny that I need those two personalities. What happened that made you have to create Veronica? Well, gosh, where do we start? No, but I mean, there was a moment when Veronica rose. When did you first meet her? When did you first meet her? When I think when I first met her was, well, I was married for 12 years. I got married in 1990. And my husband, I was in love with my husband. I'm talking from the day I met him, even to the point of, even when I divorced him. Okay, I was still in love with him. However, for a man to cheat on you four times. Four times? Four times. And believe me, and I've always kept myself up. And then on top of that, to give me a disease called herpes, that I have to live with for the rest of my life. In fact, listen, this is the thing about herpes. It starts off as a sexual disease, but all of us have the change. But it starts off as a sexual, but at the same time, you're not even allowed to get upset, because what happens is if you get stressed, that's when you get the flare up. So I can't even get upset like everyone ordinarily could. I have to always stay calm. And so what happens is, and having to be monocle and stay calm all the time was a bit much. Knowing what this man has done to me and everything. So meanwhile, all of a sudden, I think, at that last time that he achieved on me and the young lady had the nerve to call my house and say, and say, yes, I heard that you're pretty and I heard all of these wonderful things about you. However, your husband likes this. And all of a sudden, and she said, oh, and she said to me, she says, ah, yeah, no, no, you're supposed to be so fierce and you're supposed to look like Tony Braxton or whatever. But at the same time, your husband likes me. All of a sudden something clicked in my mind and then all of a sudden, Veronica was born. Veronica said, don't let the smooth taste fool you. Because I'm going to protect you and I'm going to do exactly what she wants. Okay, Deborah, you've got more than, I mean, I know you're sweet and I know you're nice, but you also run a company and I know what it takes to run a company. It's hard. I mean, for me, you know, my personality, I have maybe some, but I think I'm basically who I am most of the time or all of the time. I don't have a Bernice Catherine or whatever the many. I'm pretty much who I am most of the time. I think I probably internalize it and become probably self-inflicting when it's something, I don't become a Veronica and say, oh no. We have a middle name, Vernay. But no, I think I'm pretty much, I can't necessarily decipher the various... And you've never killed anybody with kindness or any of that? I can't say that I have. Kay, have you ever been other than the Kay that I know which is Kay? No, I've never met Kay-Tee. Kay-Tee makes peach pancakes. I know. Peach and apricot pancakes. Oh, you know. Okay, I've never met Kay-Tee. Kay-Tee is a sweet one. She's a sweet one. As Reagan said, make peach pancakes or whatever. She's a little baby. Love babies and, you know, children take them to the museum do all these kinds of things. They like some of it and some of it they didn't. Brian and Bridget and Reagan and I used to go to the museum every Saturday we'd go someplace. Sometimes we would see Joseph and they'd be like, hey dad. And he'd blow his horn wherever he was going, you know. And we would go on about our business. And that was Kay-Tee. Kay-Tee went into teaching but then Kay came out during the automobile business because it was during that time that I decided I was going to bring on female salespeople. They were not available. They were not on at that time. And they kept coming in asking me for jobs. So I thought, I'm going to bring them on. Oh, those guys don't look like me. They were fierce. Female salesperson on. This is a man's job. I thought, we're going to see how much man this job is. I brought them on. They did great. And before I knew it, all of those other guys who don't look like me begin to bring in female salespeople. And that was the That was the initiation of females into the automobile business as salespersons. I used to be a car salesperson too. I sold cars for many years and that's why I know how to broker deals to make sure that my sisters don't get taken for a ride in the car business. A black female up. You know what the word up is in business. A black female up is the best thing you believe in. You want her. I'm a college educated and everything we may be as black women. When it comes to the car business the in and out of how to buy a car, we don't know. A lot of people don't, including men. Exactly that's why they take me with them. I want to at this point for those of you who are listening talking, hearing us that is the fierce angels from Washington, D.C., who are being a part of Double Nichols Theatre Company's discussion of what it means, what it takes to be a fierce angel. Here we are. If you have any questions, send them in. If you have any comments, let us know. Because we want you to know that come September 2016, you will hear a combination, an accumulation of all of these built into a production. Think something like, oh I don't know, maybe for color girls who consider it suicide when the rainbow is enough. That's a series of poems, but they're also the stories and vignettes of black women's lives. That's not where we're going per se because those weren't true stories. We celebrate seniors while they can still hear their applause on the basis of the true stories that they give us. So we're back and we've got a number of key words that we've talked about. But I want someone else. I'm going to ask, Sherry why don't you take it? Okay, you reminded me of a story. I asked you if you ever killed anybody with kindness. My mother was a very sweet, loving woman. Take me multiplied by 10 in terms of how sweet and lovely this woman was. She was a school teacher. When you left Helen Parks' class, you were healed, you could read, you could do math, you know, whatever. And she taught the first half of her career in a segregated black school. And then when they integrated, they sent her across town to the richest of the predominantly white school. My mother was very light with straight hair. And she thought, well, this is civil rights time, you know, I'm going over. And when she got there, it was quite clear that her colleagues did not know she was black. The principal knew she was black. But he, I think, was doing a social experiment. He hadn't told anybody else that she was black. And she, she heard and listened for two weeks, what people said. And she had had, you know, graduate work. And so they made her chair of the grade. And one day, a white teacher came in and they had busted in poor white kids and poor black kids. And this woman said, I'd rather touch you. And she used the n-word any day than poor white trash. Yeah, my mother's a boss. My mother just turned around. Very sweet. She said, Gladys, I'm black. And Gladys sank into her chair and turned red. And she came to her mother's, um, retirement party when she retired and said, I love this woman. So it took years for them to work past that. Wow. But they did. You know, that's a point where we're going to close for the evening because we have, I think, about just a few more minutes. And what I'm going to do since we're going to go around just very, very quickly. And I mean, when I say quickly, I'm talking about 10 seconds, say something, see something that you want someone in the world to remember you by tonight. Not a dramatic overstatement. Just 10 seconds. Go around. I want to say from this evening, it takes me back to something my great grandmother taught me to always have someone a friend 20 years older than you and 20 years younger than you because your friends, your age can't help you because you're all going through the same thing. Someone who's 20 years old has been through it and can help you. And then you can stay youthful and grounded with someone 20 years younger. Thank you, Megan. And I also feel from this, from this meeting, just meeting all these wonderful beautiful ladies, there's a connection there and meeting people that you don't know, no matter what their ages is always a great addition to your life and you learn so much. And I'm okay. And Miss Wright, would you like to say something for the evening? Last words last word. Would you like to give us a last word? Yes, I'd like to thank God for each one of you. Yeah, play your present on your way home and give God the thanks. Thank him every minute of my life. I'm so glad you invited us and let us come again. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. I sincerely appreciate that you do my home and honor. Thank you. Okay, I have a special little friend and his name is Zupo. He's a penguin and Zupo is all about we have 10 seconds. Okay, that's it. Zupo is all about bullying. And I want the world to know that bullying is wrong. Thank you. I'm very passionate about women and how women are presented. I just want every woman to know that it starts at very young building your brand and building your brand on who you are and what you stand for. And I think it's very, very important that you just start that as early as 10 years old or who you are and what you are and what you stand for. Thank you very much. I just want women to understand and appreciate and find their peace. It's so much to be said for finding your peace. That's when you know that you've lived a good life and you can go out of this life just the way you want it to be. Beautiful. And find your wisdom. I believe that we are all related no matter how black, how red, how white, how tall or how educated or whether you have a home or whether you live in a shack. We're all related. And you? I just got to say I am forever grace grateful and thankful to have people, women, black women like these friends in my life. Thank you all sincerely. Thank you. Thank you. We're still on air. Talk to me. Yes, we are. I thought you told me we're still on air. Then I we can't have dead airtime. We can't do that. So I guess I do need to say that Reagan's great grandmother was my grandmother. And my grandmother had all kinds of things to say. I remember she said one, two things that I always remember. One was, you know, you're getting old. When you have more doctors than you have boyfriends. And the other thing that she said was, it was very, it was very interesting. She said the one about the friends, because I used to wonder why should I be friends with somebody 10 years old? She said, honey, that don't last long. Just keep them as friends. She told me that's why I was 10. I was like my mom's still I'm all about it. She was a wise, wise woman. Yeah. And let's see about the doctors. And what was the other one? I can't I can't remember. I can't remember it now. It'll come back. But but my mother used to always say, you can do anything in this world that you want to do. You just have to be willing to accept the consequences of the results. And that's all she ever said. Do anything you choose. Don't let anybody else decide what you do or how you do it. So no fear. No fun. But we celebrate each other. We celebrate each other. We can toast. You know, you know, let's have a toast. Let's have a toast. Because tonight, what we have as a closing, I think, is an opportunity to say thank you to a woman that did the research to validate what we already knew. Yes, exactly. We knew that we were fierce. We also know that we're angels and they're all angels and good angels. But they're all powerful. But they're all powerful. And for someone to have put the time, energy and validation into, yeah, this is real, no matter if you're 30 or if you're 300, we've all been there done that got the same results almost. You remind me, I interviewed Eleanor Holmes Norton, the delegate from DC. And I said at the end, what would you like for me to tell women read this book? And she said, tell them they already know how. Can I just say, I just want to say that it has been a pleasure to spend my birthday night with this group of women, you know, I have a million friends who would have loved to have been with me. But it made me it gave me great pleasure to be with each one of you on my birthday. Well, let's have a toast. And Dr. Harper, I'm going to ask if you would give the toast to the women of today, the women of tomorrow, carry on and continue to make not only a world of change, but a world of improvement and change. We really appreciate that. This has been a very special evening. This has been a very special evening. And we're going to do it again. You will receive invitations to the production. No, I do not have a photographic memory that goes to my husband. But I do know from these stories that my my thanks go to our crew, we have not acknowledged that is the director. That is, Floyd Parks, back there in the dark where you don't see him, but he's making certain that we do this properly is Igwe Bondelé. And those two men in conjunction with our board member, Kay McLaughlin and other board members, make it so that double nickels theater company really has the opportunity to celebrate the lives of seniors. While they can still hear their applause. What it is. We're gone. We're all we are off air. How long were we on? Do we get any tweets? Oh, no.