Pride After June
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Grits and Glitterbug podcast. What up? What up? Who you?
Rev Skip:Who you, boo?
Terry:I am Terry Dyer. And who is you, boo?
Rev Skip:Red skip Jennings in the house again.
Terry:Yes. We are back. We are back in blackity, black, black, black.
Rev Skip:I love that saying, going black. Let me go black. Yes. Yes. This is episode 11.
Rev Skip:I know.
Terry:Talk for a minute.
Rev Skip:Listen. You've been doing some work. Somebody just gave a phenomenal concert, my brother. You were dope. It was so good.
Terry:Yeah. Thank
Rev Skip:you. Stage again and singing.
Terry:It was amazing. Yeah. It was it was, I think, just so gratifying because leading up to it, I got super, super sick. It was all congested and, you know, the usual summer cold kind of thing. So once sound check happens, there was this element of, alright, boo.
Terry:You got this. And then I got a little nervous backstage when everybody was coming in and doing the thing, and we are about to start. There's a couple of hiccups, and people weren't arrived yet and that sort of thing, and that was supposed to to speak. And I was like, it was fantastic. I was just overjoyed.
Terry:Caught the the audience seemed to have a phenomenal time. I heard some tears. I heard some some cheers and some call and response because you know that's what our people do. You know. Yeah.
Terry:It was good.
Rev Skip:You know, I'm sorry for interrupting the show because it was all me. I was the 1 crying and cheering and saying
Kemit-Amon:thank you,
Rev Skip:Lord, my brother. Hallelujah. I would sing behind you. I was your backup. I was it was me.
Rev Skip:I was the 1 who was interrupting the show, boo. It was wonderful. I walked away going, you know, I mean, part of it that you actually spoke that that reel that was running of all the statements that we have heard living in Wilton Manors, all the things that I've heard. I'm looking at it, and it brought me to tears. It was like, this is what we experience on a daily.
Rev Skip:We're still experiencing. And then you have pictures of our history. You had historical photos. I'm going, this brother is bringing it. You brought it.
Terry:Thank you.
Rev Skip:The most incredible thing is that people were saying we are now starting a conversation needs to be said. Not only starting a conversation, but we're directing the way the conversation needs to be had.
Terry:Absolutely. There were a couple of people at the end of the night that hugged me and kinda held on to me for a moment, whispered in my ear, and literally said to me, I hope you know this is just the start of the conversation here in our community. So that was very sort of rewarding, and and it humbled me to know that because, you know, sometimes people, especially in our community, are like, oh, lord. She gonna get up and saying, like, it's all about her, blah blah blah. But people realize it wasn't that.
Terry:It was the story. It was the message about empowerment and uplifting and recognizing
Rev Skip:Yes.
Terry:The racism and the discrimination that happens specifically in the LGBTQ plus community. So I
Rev Skip:was very proud. You did a phenomenal job. Congratulations, brother.
Terry:Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
Rev Skip:What's been going on with you? Well, 1 thing that we did not really talk about that we literally had a birthday within, like, the same week. You had a birthday.
Terry:Talking about?
Rev Skip:I had a birthday. Well, we have birthday, Joe. We have birthdays. And I cross the threshold, and I'm very improud of it. I turned 60.
Rev Skip:And, you know, and the great thing about me turning 60, I love when people come up and going, I would have never known. I would have never known. It was a powerful week for me, and, you know, it's part of the new brand that I'm putting out there. How do you thrive past 50? Because there's a lot of people who get to 50 and they go, okay, life is over.
Rev Skip:But, no, life is just beginning. So I'm giving tools in this new book. It's called Timeless Transformation, 10 Steps for Thriving Past 50 or 58 and older words. They're working on that. So I was really in tune with what I was feeling, and this book started 10 years ago.
Rev Skip:I started writing this book 10 years ago. It's taken me 10 years to get to the final edit, and now I'm gonna get more eyes on it. And hopefully, it'll be done by Christmas time. It'd make a great Christmas present for your mamas, for your dad. It's for your brother.
Terry:Stocking stuffer. You're stocking stuffer.
Rev Skip:You know what I'm saying? So it was a powerful time for me, a powerful week, and thank you. We got to share each other's birthday. I went to dinner with you at Lipps, and you came down to Etapa's for my my little celebration, and it was a wonderful experience of love and family because you're my brother. If you don't know that, you're my brother.
Rev Skip:You're my brother.
Terry:That's right. From another mother. Brother from
Rev Skip:another mother. Speaking of brothers, what we got? What we got? What's happening?
Terry:So so I'm just gonna say
Rev Skip:Okay.
Terry:Because he didn't spoil the surprise and and, you know, what was my did you know for
Rev Skip:Sorry.
Terry:Today's segment. I was going to really bring to to the forefront, let the people know that's out there in podcast land, right, that we had 2 amazing back to back birthday celebrations. That was my did you know. That was my did you know.
Rev Skip:Oh my god. Oh, Sam.
Terry:I know. I I think it's so incredibly important to acknowledge. Right? Like, everyone has a birthday. Everyone gets that 1 special day to celebrate themselves.
Terry:And I just wanna, you know, sort of give you your your your flowers a little bit because 60 is 1 of those monumental ages. Right? Like, you're moving into another decade. You're healthy. You're fabulous.
Terry:You're working. You're grinding. Like, this is what it looks like to to be black, gay, 60. You're doing it in such an elevated incredible way that y'all out there in podcast land, y'all need to take note. This is what we are striving to, those of us that are younger, 60
Rev Skip:is
Terry:like 50. 50 is like the new 40 and so forth is the 1. So that was my let you know.
Rev Skip:Oh, whatever. Thank you. I love you. I I received that. I received all of that.
Rev Skip:Yes. Oh my god. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Rev Skip:Thank
Terry:you. Of course. Of course. So we do have some big we did some big things in the month of June. Yes.
Terry:And I'm glad we took a little time off to just breathe and celebrate each other.
Rev Skip:Yes. Indeed. Indeed. Indeed.
Terry:That was important. That was important.
Rev Skip:Thank you. Thank you for my flowers.
Terry:I receive. Yes. Y'all heard that. Right? He got a little he got a little music too.
Terry:He received he he he right.
Rev Skip:He got it too. Yes. Yes.
Terry:We got a little special guest joining us today.
Rev Skip:Yes.
Terry:We do. I'm so so excited. This brother, I met him in South Florida, Wilton Manors. I think we officially maybe originally met through people probably at a bar. You know how it is in our community.
Terry:Right? But this man is so bad. Like, he is just rocking. He's rolling. He's setting the standard of what it means to overcome obstacles.
Terry:He's a bad mofo on the tennis court. I am am proud to call him friend. So why don't we I think we're about to bring on my good buddy, my good man, Kimmett Aman Lewis. Welcome to it, brother man.
Kemit-Amon:Happy to be here with you guys.
Terry:Yeah. It's talking to the glitter.
Rev Skip:Glitter. I kinda think I know you because I've I've seen your many videos. You have some videos on YouTube, and you you are truly an inspiration. Appreciate it.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. I I guess I've heard that word quite a bit. And, interesting enough, I guess, we'll look at the the back story, but a a number of people have have approached and said, I don't think I could have done it. And, you know, 1 of the it's 1 of those things where, like, until you're faced with it, you never know. And I think a lot of people will surprise themselves with what they would be able to accomplish and overcome if they were faced with the situation.
Kemit-Amon:And, I don't know. I guess I'm you know, I see this new chapter as a new purpose, and, I'm walking into it with my head eye. So
Rev Skip:And so for our our listeners and our viewers, they're probably going, what situation did he go through? Because they might not have seen the video. You wanna give us a little bit of what you went through?
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. So the cliff notes of, the the free story. I'm supposed to be writing this book also apparently, as as everyone has said. So in 2019, dinner with my dad for his birthday and the night before, The next day, I wake up not feeling well. Went to a human medical care.
Kemit-Amon:It turns out I had this bacterial infection that I had not known about. It's likely backtracking from our harbor back home on Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands with boaters not doing what they're supposed to do with their waste. Long story short, that bacterial infection, because I had no idea that it existed, turned into, septic shock. And the ER doctors on Saint Croix told my friends and family to come and say their goodbyes because I wasn't gonna make it through tonight. As all things good would have it, a nurse friend, saw a good friend of mine, in the hospital, and he explained Broward.
Kemit-Amon:To South Florida. And that's how I ended up, at Broward, at Broward Health. And, it ended up just staying there because I was close to the prosthetic companies. So because of the septic shock, because it had, the vasopressida were administered to keep me alive, deprived my limbs of oxygen, to give it to my organs. I end up becoming a quadruple amputee out of the the experience.
Kemit-Amon:I was in a coma for 2 weeks when I was there, lifted up, and I woke up from the coma to the head doctor, doctor Hamilton. She's an amazing woman. But she said we're gonna get you back to diving, back on the tennis floor, and back on the tennis court. And I trusted her. I was like, alright.
Kemit-Amon:You know better than I do. So I will I will trust you. And Yes. As and so she said, I've been, you know, diving again. I'm a marine scientist, and so that part is important to me.
Kemit-Amon:I've been diving since high school. I used to teach dance part time, and I performed with our company back in Saint Croix, maybe 2 years after everything happened. And I'm back on a tennis court. I just returned from a tennis tournament in Italy.
Rev Skip:Oh my goodness. We get applause on this. Applause. Applause. Applause.
Terry:Yes. Yes. So I I also wanna back up real quick too and let the folks, know that's watching out there in YouTube land and listening, to wherever they they get their their podcast listens on. Kimit, I wanna tell them a little bit about you as well. I know they caught a little glimpse as you told us your story, and thank you so much for for sharing your story and being here with us today.
Terry:But Kemet was born and raised on the island of Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands. He holds a, bachelor of science degree in marine science, from Savannah State University. He later got his master's in, marine sciences from, SSU. He has an administrative living living marine resource cooperative science center as well. Upon returning, yeah, he worked for the United excuse me, the University of Virgin Islands and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, division of Coastal Zone Management.
Rev Skip:I don't know what the hell that is, child. But you say
Terry:you're a little fancy. All I'm reading is the girl is smart.
Rev Skip:She's smart. She's smart. You know?
Terry:That's what I'm reading. Right? So in addition to that, and I know y'all just heard this.
Rev Skip:And there's addition to that?
Terry:Yes. Yes. So he also started dancing at the Saint Croix at Saint Croix Central High School under the direction of the amazingly talented, Lisa, Lynn Hart. He then danced with several and served as president, or president and instructor, for the Savannah State University dance ensemble and trained with a number of schools and dance, in, intensives. He has been on tour in nor numerous concerts and, production of Wiz.
Terry:He's done, performed in Caribbean Community Theaters, Chicago. He was the rat king. Come on. The rat king, Dance Academy's The Nutcracker Ballet. Y'all heard that.
Terry:He's a black ballet dancer. I know. Like a black opera singer that we know.
Rev Skip:No. Like, we know a black opera singer.
Terry:That's right. That's right. He can sing. He dives. He plays tennis.
Terry:As he just mentioned, he is also a quadruple amputee since 2019, when he had his, health very, very, scary, health scare. He has returned to his first love, which is tennis, playing competitively as a, para standing tennis athlete and is a Wilson 3 60 athlete. I want us to
Rev Skip:talk about
Terry:that when the time comes. Yeah. So this is our friend Hello. Avon Lewis, y'all.
Rev Skip:Puff, applause, applause.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. I
Rev Skip:do I do have 1 question to ask you, brother. I got 1 question to ask you. Why they closing the Wiz so early on Broadway? Because I hear my my niece just went to it and said it was fabulous. My I said, listen.
Rev Skip:My family, the the many of them have gone to to see it, said it was amazing. I'm like, they're closing the list before I can go see it.
Kemit-Amon:Yes. Yeah. We should write a letter.
Rev Skip:Let's write a letter. Let's try a little script.
Kemit-Amon:No. This is an an hour of podcast, but we should write a Karen letter too.
Rev Skip:Yes. Oh, yeah. Not a
Terry:Karen letter. He said a Karen
Rev Skip:letter. Okay. It. I love it.
Terry:I love it. Let's blame it on the Karens.
Kemit-Amon:Let it's out. Anyway
Rev Skip:So, y'all, we gotta get in to the did you know. We already had 1 did you know, but thank you. I got my flowers in the did you know. Yeah. But this is a great conversation, the did you know, because a lot of people don't know this.
Rev Skip:I know a few years back, we're talking about what was going on in Africa, and we're talking about what was going on in Uganda. In May, the Uganda government just released a bill or just passed a bill where they will put penalties on those LGBTQA black folks who are just wanting to love who they're wanting to love even to the penalty of death. And I knew it was happening, but I thought we were making a turn. I was hoping that we were going to actually, you know, get beyond this. But as of right now, this bill is so extreme that we have activists worldwide, global activists that are actually going to Uganda to protest.
Rev Skip:This is how extreme it is. Y'all, when is it gonna stop? Is it gonna stop?
Terry:It's not. It's not. You know, I am all about hope and and not, you know, sort of of diminishing the fact that we have to kinda hold hands and work together to to thread you know, to move needles forward. But listen, I'm also a realist, and I feel like we keep the the moment we take steps forward, we immediately take 4 or 5 backwards in our society. It doesn't matter if it's United States, Uganda, Europe.
Terry:We are constantly moving backwards over and over again. So I don't know. The hope that I typically have, it's lessening every single day now.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. And that's a good point because it's not just Uganda. I mean, Roe versus Wade, for example.
Rev Skip:Right. Right.
Kemit-Amon:US were Right. What is superpower? There's, you know, the elections in in France isn't looking good for, the current sitting president, and, you know, it's it's either far right or far left that's gonna be in our next. And their far right is similar to our far right here in the US. And, you know, there's a lot of, reminders of, you know I I can speak for us here in the US.
Kemit-Amon:Like, you know, the the country essentially wasn't creative for all of us. And, you know, we're that's that's us black black people. But, you know, all these these other groups, these minority groups that are facing the brunt of it, That that that of that reminder that this country was not, you know, y'all messed up and you didn't buy 1 way tickets. And, you know, so we are we're here. That's right.
Kemit-Amon:My Right. That's still talking about it. Most of just about everything that is American culture was created by black Americans. And so, Speak on it. It's it's 1 of these things where, you know, it it's this is the land that we created just literally and literally and, you know, there's there's there has to be we're allowing everyone to or encouraging freedom for everyone, and it's it's insane that those freedoms are trying to are attempted to be stripped from us.
Kemit-Amon:But
Terry:That's right.
Rev Skip:You know, I remember this is during the George Floyd, murder, the lynching of George Floyd and call it what it is. I remember this meme that was going all over social media, and it was a picture of an indigenous brother next to an enslaved ancestor. And it said, this country was built on land that was stolen by people that were stolen from their land. And I I'm like, oh. That's right.
Rev Skip:Wow. That's real talk. And I remember I remember Marianne Williamson, which I believe she's 1 of our our spiritual leaders. She's also running for president, and I'm like, okay. Go another round.
Rev Skip:I'm I'm I you know, whatever. And she said something. I remember being in 1 of her, spiritual meetings on a Monday night. She says that we will never ever heal this country or any country if we're not willing to have a real honest conversation about reparations and how to make it right. What Europe does, and they're 1 of the most progressive, inclusive places, actually in Germany, they they they admit we did some messed up crap with the Holocaust.
Rev Skip:We're not gonna put up a statue, but we're going to not deny it, and we're gonna say, yes. It happened. And, yes, we messed up.
Terry:Right.
Rev Skip:So I'm hoping that this will Oakland, I'm sorry, brother. No.
Terry:I was just gonna say, I think it's a level of accountability. Right? Like, we don't typically like to talk about what's so negative and so, like, oh, that yeah. It happened, but we don't talk about it. Right?
Terry:But the that's the problem. We do need to talk about it. We do need to continue to acknowledge the fact that, you know, the Holocaust happened, that slavery happened. And we are now in a space where we're going kind of back to those days. Right?
Rev Skip:We're trying to. We have to. To to be open and honest about that. Call a spade a spade, right?
Terry:Like that's what it is. We're heading back in that direction, and we're in a world of trouble. Like, we we I I don't know how else to put it. We're in a world of trouble. The fact that we don't hold people accountable, we're not drawing attention to what's really happening.
Terry:We're doing what what we've talked about before, Skip, where, you know, various cultures, especially in black and brown communities, we typically sweep things under the rug. I feel like that's what we're now doing as a society as a whole. We're trying to sweep these things under racism doesn't exist, though. We move for further. We've done.
Terry:Come on. Come on.
Rev Skip:In the words of Whoopi Goldberg, Molly, you in trouble, girl.
Terry:Dude, you you endanger, girl.
Rev Skip:Danger, girl. You in danger, girl.
Terry:Danger, girl. We are we are in danger in serious trouble.
Rev Skip:We are. Oh my goodness. Well, that was a powerful did you know.
Terry:Yeah. Well, to double
Rev Skip:back brother.
Kemit-Amon:To double back to you, did you know, the first thing that came to mind when you, mentioned it was there's an interview with Maya Angelou and James Baldwin. I think it's resurfaced recently. Yes. I think I saw it just yesterday on on my feed, and I think there was something beautiful said about, you know, to love somebody but not be able to express that love is like killing yourself. And there's that the words aren't exactly, those.
Kemit-Amon:But, yeah, I I think it's worth pulling up and and looking looking into if you haven't seen it. But it's a really beautiful article about just
Rev Skip:of
Kemit-Amon:and that's that's it. Powerful. That of the labels and just just being free in this world to experience life and love without question.
Rev Skip:Yeah. Did y'all ever see that movie, I am not your Negro? Oh, yes. Absolutely. That is such, 1 of my favorite documentaries, 1 of my favorite stories of James Bowman.
Rev Skip:I am not Jen Negro.
Terry:That's right. That's right.
Rev Skip:Powerful. Horrible.
Terry:Let's shout out 1 of our sponsors, the amazing AA brokerage. We'd like to shout out to 1 of our most amazing advertisers in Cooper Sign Metz Enterprises, a brokerage firm that carries your trust. Do you hear me? They carry your trust. They are 1 of the world's largest and fastest growing third party logistics worldwide.
Terry:They are based in the amazingly hot Palm Springs, California and transport all of your freight. You can reach out to them if you need some of your things trans transported across the country or into any space at 209-213 7091. And then your website is doubleabrokerageinc.com. Again, that is doubleabrokerageinc.com. And I know it's scrolling across the screen because our production person is fabulous, and we wanna make sure that you've got all of their information to reach out to Cooper Steinmetz Enterprises.
Terry:Thank you all for supporting Ritz and Glitter.
Rev Skip:Thank you. And shout out to our production person, Adam. I don't have to do all the knobs and stuff this week and missing what Jared is saying. I'm so grateful. You're a
Terry:production person now. Yeah.
Rev Skip:See, we expanded. We expanded. Hello? I love it.
Terry:Growth. We call it growth.
Rev Skip:I love it. So I love, Terry, when we're talking about this. We just came off in. Kim and I'm not sure what what you experienced for pride, but it was an intense Pride month. I mean, the whole month we just like, boom.
Rev Skip:We're running, And we were really conscious, and we talked about this on our pride episodes. How often, you know, companies will be I call that that once a year ally, and you change your logo and things are what happens a year after? So we're kinda talking about pride, and later on, we're going to kinda get into how we can continue. But right now, I wanna recap our pride. How was your pride connect?
Rev Skip:What what happened? What'd you do? What was your energy? What did you do?
Kemit-Amon:I don't have much to share actually.
Rev Skip:I was the I literally
Kemit-Amon:moved from from South Florida to to Maryland on June 1st and,
Rev Skip:this Were you in Baltimore? In Baltimore?
Kemit-Amon:In Chevy Chase, just, just next to Silver Spring. My office is in Silver Spring now. That's hence the move. But I literally back in Florida that following weekend and then in in Paris and Turin the next 2 weekends. And so that I've I've just made it back.
Kemit-Amon:And, yeah, my pride this month from this year for me was looking at all your guys having a good time online.
Rev Skip:Yeah. Your own personal pride. You were like, okay. This is my pride.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. Mine mine is, 360. So I am, I, I've I was raised on Saint Croix in the US for John's, Caribbean Island with a lot of, pride about who I am as a Christian, but, it transcends, you know, it everything I I remember I had a hard time with a former employer former supervisor who talked about luck and all that good stuff. I was like, you don't become a black marine scientist by luck. You don't get into the job that I got into by luck.
Kemit-Amon:You know, I think it was talking about a photograph that wanna photo contest like, oh, you were looking like, no, I put myself in that place.
Rev Skip:And I'm like, no.
Kemit-Amon:Where do I have my camera and I have my gear to take that shot. So, so, yeah, I think, a big part of me growing up there is is, being super driven and having a lot of pride in who I am as a person and, you know, it goes beyond any 1 part, but marine scientist, tennis player, dancer, dance instructor, guy who likes other guys, like, all of that. All of that is, like, me who I am every day of the year. So Yes.
Terry:Yes. Listen. I am always and he knows this because I'm always commenting on his social media and stuff. Like this man, I hope y'all I'm trying to get the listeners out there to understand how how bad this young man is, right? Like, he is all over the world.
Terry:He's speaking at universities about overcoming, you know, trauma and hurdles and things that happen. That to me is a level of pride, fact that
Rev Skip:he was faced with something and
Terry:that he had to overcome. He didn't
Rev Skip:let it stop him.
Terry:He went out and continued to conquer. He went out and continued to succeed. He went out and continued to conquer. He went out and continued to succeed. He went out and became an inspiration for for all of us, right?
Terry:Like that to me is pride pride. That to me is pride. So I'm always commenting on his Well, I was so proud. I'm such a proud friend. Look at him beating people up on
Rev Skip:a on
Terry:a clay court
Rev Skip:Italy and in
Terry:the indoor or here. Like, that's my friend. Y'all, that's my friend. Yeah. And I
Kemit-Amon:I think 1 of the important things that I shared. So I do do a fair bit of peer mentorship with, new m g's, for example. When I spoke to so that opportunity was, with Dillard University. Then I got to speak to the, full freshman student body but also spent some time on a tennis court with the tennis, team and put my gear on and actually got the hit with the tennis players. And so there's, I guess something to be said especially for those that are like, I don't know how I would have done it.
Kemit-Amon:And I've, again, I've heard that quite a bit. There's so many doors that have actually opened for me since, that it's, you know, it's it's 1 of those things where, like, if you can find a way to, like, you know, take those lemons and, you know, not just lemonade but some like spiked vodka, some kind of leachy lemonade.
Rev Skip:Like, that's I mean, that's that's been my approach to it.
Kemit-Amon:I love, like, spicy
Rev Skip:vodka? Vodka. I love it. I love it. But
Kemit-Amon:this 1 wants basic lemonade. Like, come on.
Terry:Yeah. Wait. Wait. Wait.
Rev Skip:You in Baltimore with all the black folks, you're not a brown liquor, brother?
Kemit-Amon:No. I'm yeah. I'm I'm a rum well, I'm from the Caribou. But it's
Rev Skip:Yeah. White rum or brown rum?
Kemit-Amon:All of the above. And blackstrap is my favorite. Cruising rum makes the best. Blackstrap rum makes It's a dense dark and stormy. It's just tossing that out there.
Kemit-Amon:But, no, like the thing with Wilson, like that would not have existed if I wasn't if I hadn't become an amputee. Yeah. It's been work. You know, I had to remind a friend, who was depressed about some stuff. It's like every single day, I wake up, I put the leg on, I get in go to the shower, I take the leg off, I get out to shower, put the leg back on, I get dressed, I change it to a different 1.
Kemit-Amon:Fortunately for me, I have, some processes that have built me a leg for walking, 1 for running, playing tennis, and 1 for diving. Like, scuba diving again with this leg that was made specifically for that. It has taken work to get used to navigating this new life. But, as I mentioned, there's like so many doors that have opened since. And if, you know, I appreciate the opportunities to come and talk, but I I love the opportunities to come and do as well.
Kemit-Amon:So it was great to talk to the tennis team, but to put the racket on and to hit with them. And I think, you know, people say a lot of stuff, especially with the, invention of social media. Everybody's an expert in everything, but it's a different thing when you can be on a court and see somebody navigating life a little bit differently, but, holding their own with you. And so, that's been my thing. Like, I I love to go and do.
Kemit-Amon:And if you can look at a video and take inspiration from that to live your life, I think we're all going through stuff.
Rev Skip:Yeah. The
Kemit-Amon:bus is visible. Others is not. We all have our challenges, but, life is is can be a beautiful thing if you if you want it to be a beautiful thing. And you just have to be the 1 that navigates your your own destiny in that Mhmm.
Rev Skip:Everything. So Snapshot. Snapshot. I love it. You know, Kirby or, excuse me.
Rev Skip:Terry, you went on a trip to you were in 1 town. You got on a plane, and then you ended up in our pride in in in in in ultimate how'd you do multiple prides in, like, a weekend? What did you do? You were I
Terry:I was like, you were at
Rev Skip:your pride, and then you were at your pride.
Terry:Teen. I didn't do anything but make myself extremely exhausted. That's what I did. That's what I did. I spent, the week before my birthday, I spent that week in Columbus, Ohio.
Terry:I was there for 2 speaking engagements. 1, I was a keynote speaker for a global diversity, a DEI sports tournament or excuse me, sports, conference. I was their keynote speaker. I literally got on the plane on early Saturday morning, landed at 12 o'clock, had a speaking engagement with the National Task Force for the teachers union at 1:30, then came home, quick change or took the dog out and ran to our pride at 3 o'clock. So and then I was at our pride for the rest of the day until like 1 o'clock in the morning.
Terry:So needless to say, I was exhausted. I will tell you, our pride in Wilton Manors in South Florida was great. I had a good time. It was nice to see. I actually had, you know, 1 of my closest dearest friends from from San Francisco, was here with the teachers union, so I got to spend time with him and then really ended up spending the rest of the night with the with a lot of the members of the teachers union and just talking and understanding the the challenges that that they are facing as educators, in this current political
Rev Skip:climate that we have.
Terry:And so that was all great. I was beyond, impressed with the Stonewall Columbus Pride. And I know we shouted out, the executive director of Stonewall Pride, Denzo Portis, during 1 of our episodes recently. That organization kills it. They have 500, 000 people at their pride.
Terry:What?
Rev Skip:That's huge. I was like, get me out of here.
Terry:That's too many people. It it's it was it was an amazing time. It was an amazing time. I will say something incredibly scary happened, the night, before I left. We were out and there were gunshots that fired off in front of the club that we were in, and so everyone ran inside, you know, the club and kind of hid out until, you know, we made sure that it was safe.
Terry:So that was a little scary, and then, of course, I know we'll talk about it in a few moments, you know, New York pride was just this past weekend and extremely horrific happened there, which I know we'll talk about. But that's where I was. Pride was that whole week insane in Columbus. Shout out to Columbus and all the incredible people that I met. I met some amazing people that really just were they were humbling.
Terry:They were, inspirational as well. Some young kids at 1 of the the, talks that I was at coming up and sharing their story and, you know, how they're trying to navigate being young and gay and and some of the trials and the challenges that they receive from family members or people that even look like us. Right? So it was such a such a week for me, an emotional week to say the least.
Rev Skip:Wow. Powerful.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. Yeah.
Terry:I was glad to take a break. It's all I got a day. Actually, I didn't even get the break because I had to run right into rehearsal after I got back.
Rev Skip:I know. Right? You're preparing for a concert.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah.
Rev Skip:My flight was in between. I would say it was in between, Kim and in between you. And and, I I actually did 2 online events for 2 different spiritual communities that really wanted to focus in on how spirituality and pride intertwined. And part of, I believe, the spiritual movement of pride is understanding that there's nothing wrong with you. You're divine, you're loved, you're created from love, and you're here to express yourself the unique way that God showed up to bring you onto this planet.
Rev Skip:In fact, how boring it would be if everyone was straight and white? How boring would it be? I don't think we would have
Terry:Do you want my political answer or do you want my
Rev Skip:I don't think we have rock and roll. We definitely would have fried chicken.
Terry:Can you imagine life without fried chicken?
Rev Skip:My god. But 1 of the things that we came up to I came up with in in part of the talk, and I hope I can record record it we we call it right now. I do acronyms. I've shared on the show I experienced, a severe case of dyslexia. I experienced I'm not a dyslexia.
Rev Skip:Not not a dyslexic. I experienced it, so where everything is a challenge for me learning. And I realized, oh, acronyms is my friend. So I created an acronym for PRIDE to stand for power, resilience, integration, determine, empowerment. So when we look at what PRI really is, we have the power, and we have moved forward in resilience to integrate, and we're determined to see it so that all may be empowered.
Rev Skip:And if we look at there is a spiritual meaning behind pride. We talked about this. The colors of the pride flag, well, not the new flag because there's a new flag now, but the colors of the pride flags is associated with the chakra system, which is a part of the energy, spiritual energy zone. So there is definitely this connection of spirituality in our pride movement. And I spoke at our, you know, I spoke at, event at Agape International Spiritual Center online.
Rev Skip:I spoke on Inside Timer for a pride event, and it was interesting. We had over a 150 people at the Inside Timer event, the live event for pride. And there was, what, 40 people at the Agape experience. So people are looking to integrate spirituality into our LGBTQA experience. And I think that's huge about about pride.
Rev Skip:I believe we gotta come out of the closet as spiritually minded people. Like, we come out of the closet as LGBT. We gotta come out. Yeah. I'm spiritual man.
Rev Skip:I'm a reverend. I happen to be gay and black, but I'm a reverend, and I am still, you know, who I am. So that was my kinda my pride. LGBTQ folks, we grow up in some
Terry:form of religion. Right? Like, our parents sort of push that on us when we're young or raise us Catholic or raise us Jehovah's Witness or raise us, you know, all these different religions. Right? So introduced to it at an early age.
Terry:We just reach a point where if it works for us or not, right? Like, I think I've also talked about where I don't consider myself. I was born and raised in the church, but I don't consider myself religious by any means. Foundation to determine what level of spirituality works for me. Right?
Rev Skip:Yes. I love it.
Terry:So I feel like what you're talking about with respects to us kind of figuring out how LGBTQ crosses back into that spirituality, I feel like I I think a large portion of us grew up in that world. We just kind of have a problem with it now, realizing what the Bible says and what all of that stands for and how they're using religion to combat homosexuality now. Mhmm.
Rev Skip:But I
Kemit-Amon:you made an important distinction and, Rev, I'll let you chime in, but you made an important distinction between religion and spirituality. And and many people don't recognize the difference between the 2. And I'll agree with you. I was raised from a Catholic Primary school up until 8th grade was Catholic school. And then at the decision to go to Catholic school for high school or the public high school and I ran in the other direction.
Kemit-Amon:I mainly had a scuba club on a marine science program. And I knew that that's where I was going. So I went to this public high school ahead of scuba club, like who does that? But I think, yeah, I think a lot of people just really don't know the difference between spirituality and religion. And I think that they're getting to spirituality through the church and through 1 of these, religious group, but don't realize that there there is a difference and, sitting in a church and paying tithes and eating communion doesn't necessarily equate to, any anything related to spirituality.
Kemit-Amon:And then there's the other part of, like I was named Kemet Aman for a reason. Kemet's original name of Egypt. Aman was 1 of the gods in Egyptian history. And so there's that other aspect of, you know, there's a whole section of the black community that, that prays to our ancestors as opposed to, you know, what the Roman Catholics told us that we should be praying to. And so there are these different nuances.
Kemit-Amon:And, you know, you kind of have to find your own lane and and, embrace it. But, yeah, I think, yeah, going back to the original thought, that separation of religion and spirituality is is important. And I guess you could get 1 from the next, but, it's not Yeah.
Rev Skip:Listen. I ain't gotta say anything. You just screeched my brother. We're gonna take a break and when we come back, we're gonna actually talk about how do we carry on this pride energy throughout the rest of the year. Dog, we'll be right back.
Rev Skip:Hey there. I'm Rev Skip Jennings, and I invite you to join me for a day of transformation, rejuvenation at the Soul Harmony Retreat. Experience the power of yoga, meditation, and holistic wellness on July 20th in the beautiful setting of Wilton Manors, Florida. Discover deeper self awareness, healing, emotional spiritual connection, and a community of like minded souls. This retreat is designed to support your empowerment.
Rev Skip:We connect with your inner self and embrace your true potential at the soul harmony retreat. I look forward to seeing you there. And we're back. And welcome back. We are talking about pride.
Rev Skip:We're talking about pride. And how do we carry this this question of of how do we carry pride into July August September, October, November, December? What are some of the ways y'all know that we can continue to keep pride alive? And I know it's easy to say, well, I do it every day because I'm out. And then people say, do you go to gay bars?
Rev Skip:I say, well, if I go to a bar, it's gonna be automatically gay because I'm there. So it's like you know. So but how what can we give information to the rest of the people who are listening in corporations that might be tuning in? What can we do?
Terry:Well, I got a lot to say.
Rev Skip:So,
Terry:So what I'm gonna say first is if if you corporations or organizations are listening, understand that supporting and being an ally doesn't start on June 1st, and it doesn't end on June 30th. If you are an ally, you are an ally 365 days of the year. Don't become an ally and put your rainbow flag up in your window or put your t shirts, in Target or yeah. I said it. We we don't trouble.
Rev Skip:Don't do that. I love it. I love it.
Terry:Don't do that.
Rev Skip:Speak the words. Speak the words.
Terry:Speak the words. Find partnerships. Find organizations to support that are building and providing resources to LGBTQ youth, that are providing resources for mental health in the LGBTQ plus community, that are doing things for medically to take care of LGBTQ communities. That's how you support and you show as an ally 365 days a year. Right?
Terry:And for us in the LGBTQ community, I think we do show pride all year long. We just decide not that we need another reason to party and drink. Let's be real. That's what that's also June 1st through June 30th. It's just the it's just the moment for us to be half naked running down the street.
Terry:And let's be real. It is what it is. Right?
Rev Skip:Unless you're doing the community work. You, like yourself and myself, and and and we're doing community work. So we know that that's gonna be designated to really speak about it, but we're living it.
Terry:That's right. That's right. So I I don't know. I this this particular subject, it holds such a a deeply rooted place in my spirit, in my heart to talk about the importance of pride all year long. Skip and I just wrote, an incredible article for our partners, shout out to OutSFL in in, South Florida, Broward County, for promoting this article, right, that really truly talks about the importance of embracing pride all year long, not just when it's convenient for corporate America or when it's and and this is the other big piece to me.
Terry:Chad, now see, I told y'all don't let me talk first. Don't let me talk first. Here's the other piece to this pride thing. Right? Let's not forget where pride started.
Terry:Right? Let's not forget that it was our black trans brothers and sisters that was at the forefront, right, fighting. Because the way that we treat that part of those folks in that in in our community now, it's like they are treated as second class citizens by their own people. Right? Right.
Terry:So let's be let's be clear. And my new favorite word over the last 6 months, intentional.
Rev Skip:Intentional.
Terry:Right. Right.
Rev Skip:Right. Alright. I'm a step up. Yeah. Yeah.
Terry:Step off my soapbox.
Rev Skip:Okay. Dada. You know what that noise is? That's Terry stepping off his stove soapbox.
Terry:I thought it was the lawn or SVU.
Rev Skip:I thought that he's stepping off the the soapbox.
Kemit-Amon:Yeah. No. I'll I'll add to that and, you know, Terry, you hinted on it. But, you know, for most of us, just continue to be that example that the younger generation needs to see. And so, like, you know, I I was doing a interview recently for, a tennis thing, and I was like, you know, I Wimbledon for me was on my couch as a young kid, watching HBO and seeing Wimbledon.
Kemit-Amon:And it's because I saw Laura McNeal and Shonda Rubin and Mhmm. Often when I got older, I I saw the article with Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson. And that's how, you know, tennis even became a thing for me because I saw us doing it. And I think the more that we can do that, you know, I have some young black marine scientists from Saint Croix that are have their bachelor's in marine science because, you know, they met me back in the day, and I took them scuba diving. And so I think the more that we can, just live our lives and let that be what people see in its, you know, most authentic way that, you know, that's that's the way we can show pride and encourage you that, you know, there are opportunities.
Kemit-Amon:And what whatever you wanna do, you can be badass with it because, you know, you have examples of others
Rev Skip:that have done it before. And shout
Kemit-Amon:out to
Terry:Coco Gauff. Right.
Rev Skip:The the first number 2 since Serena Black
Terry:Yeah.
Rev Skip:And beautiful and unapologetic. And she I watch her. I'm going, wow. Here we go. This is it.
Rev Skip:And this is the same feeling that I got when I first saw Serena and Venus play. I was like, it's somebody who's killing it on the court that looks like me. That's the reason why I got into tennis. And now it's like, when within the first, you know, round that happened, you know Today's day 1. Day 1.
Rev Skip:Day 1. And I'm I'm, like, trying to do my work, write my book, and it's up on my TV. I'm like, I'm not missing this. And so I got into tennis because of black women. Yep.
Rev Skip:And then you get into the history and you, Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, you go into the history of it and find that we've been here. We've been a part of this for so freaking long.
Kemit-Amon:And, you know, I think what's the beautiful thing about it and, yeah, there are some of the younger guys that are coming up in the same, like, Yannick Sinner is Carlos Alcaraz. You can tell every time you hear Coco Coco speak that she was raised by beautiful people, at her age to have Yeah. Her mindset about it not just being about her. Yeah. You know, she was 1 of the first voices during the George Floyd movement just to publicly say we need to do something different.
Kemit-Amon:And she just a character that she has. I was fortunate to meet her dad in Australia at the Australian Open January this year. We stopped. We we're gonna start, chitchatting about stuff about cookbook. But, I yeah.
Kemit-Amon:They did an amazing job. The same with. When you listen to them speak, the things that stood for early on to for equal pay for women playing this like, there's
Rev Skip:Come on.
Kemit-Amon:There's, yeah, there's a lot of similarities that I see between all of the folks that look like us that play tennis in in the way that they've not just allowed for the sport to bring something to them, but to really open doors for other people and to transcend beyond tennis also because that's a a big thing that you know and Venus did.
Terry:Right. Right. Absolutely.
Rev Skip:I I think your little your little one's trying to get into the conversation. You're little with it. What about me, daddy? He's just shaking his tail and stuff. And and I'm really appreciative of how, you know, Billie Jean might have you know, a lesbian woman might have started this movement, but we're making sure that it's it's being carried on through Serena.
Rev Skip:She's still fighting. Beatrice is still fighting. And speaking of that, on there is a new documentary on ESPN that's coming out July 10th. We should begin AAA payback for this. Hello?
Rev Skip:Serena, we should begin we should begin a sponsorship.
Terry:Hello?
Rev Skip:Yes. We end sponsoring.
Terry:Just saying.
Rev Skip:You know? But, yeah, the new, documentary about Serena in her own words. She produced it. She wrote it. And the history of, tennis is deep.
Rev Skip:It's deep. Mhmm. Love it.
Terry:I love it. Are 2 of the 2 of the biggest people that have, revolutionized a predominantly white sport. Right? Like, you know, as Kim had mentioned, you know, we we were there, you know, every every few years, there was another, you know, up and coming African American player that really took it to another level. And then another 1 came along and took it to another level.
Terry:Right? Then it became this phenomenal story of 2 young black girls from 1 of the roughest, toughest cities in this country in Compton, California. That story is is really and and the way that they did it, right, the way that they went about playing the sport, right, it wasn't about what was, you know, done, historically. It wasn't about, you know, oh, you can't not have them play juniors. They have to come to the ranks like everybody else.
Terry:Right? They decided how to raise good people. Their parents did. Right? They basically said, we we're gonna learn this sport.
Terry:We're gonna turn our children into to to players to earn money. Really, that's what it was about. Right? They wanna, you know, take care of the family and earn some money. Right?
Terry:But to to have to not I I hope people understand exactly what how deep that runs. Right?
Rev Skip:Yeah.
Terry:Yes. Usually, we've got 1 athlete that's changing the narrative in a sport, Tiger Woods. Right? There were 2 in the same sport, and they happen to be siblings. Understand the level of of, like, magnitude that is for a sport that has predominantly, you know, shielded from people that look like us.
Terry:Right? I I can go y'all know I can go on and on and on about the Williams sisters and about the And
Rev Skip:here's the thing. The, you know, King Richard, he said, yeah. She's gonna be the first talking about Venus, but Serena's going to be the legend. And in this documentary, I saw a little bit of documentary, the clip that, you know, Serena goes, I'm so glad Venus went first.
Terry:Absolutely. I saw that.
Rev Skip:Ready to be the first. She was already to be the first.
Terry:I saw that. And and you know what? If you really truly think about that, I love Serena. I am listen. She is clearly the goat.
Terry:What that woman has done. I will always be even though I think she needs to retire now, but I digress. I will always be a Venus boy. Like, I am 6 to a her week. Like, I am just like her.
Terry:Kimmy can attest to this. I am just like her on a court. Right? I move like Gazelle, like like Venus does. And we're I I'm I just have this kindred spirit with her right.
Terry:We're 2 days apart in age. Her birthday is 17th. Mine is 19th. We had a moment, you know, over 10 years ago where we were flirting at a tennis tournament. Like, yeah.
Terry:Like, we I I have a
Rev Skip:special bond with her. Right? You had that moment, and now you play like beat us.
Terry:I did. I did. I did have that moment.
Rev Skip:I love it.
Terry:Can you imagine?
Rev Skip:Let me know. Does he play people to play like Venus? Yeah.
Kemit-Amon:Hold on. He didn't feel it, but it was in the same 11 outfit, but but yeah. There are moves like Venus in the court. And we spend and especially after the net, like, you're not getting anything past 30, 30, 30, than that. So No.
Kemit-Amon:You can try.
Rev Skip:Look. That's your brother for real. That is your brother. He ride and die with you. Yeah.
Rev Skip:You play like Venus. Right.
Terry:Right. I mean, you did hear what he said at first. Right? It's the outfits. Like, I do I I change during the during the process of
Rev Skip:playing You don't. Do you?
Terry:I do. And I take a a layer off. I take a layer off. I take the pants off. Like, I do.
Rev Skip:Do you come on the court with your earphones on? Do you wear your earphones? No. You don't. No.
Terry:And it won't even be a match. We'll just be practicing or we're scrimmaging or whatever. I got ear pods in. I'm warming up. I'm 100%.
Rev Skip:Oh my god. This. I'm coming to watch you play when season opens again. I'm coming to watch you play just to see this. I think I just got
Kemit-Amon:a Do it.
Terry:I love it. I love it. Oh
Rev Skip:my goodness. So
Terry:listen, Jerry,
Rev Skip:I was gonna say, can we can we really tell, the story of what happened in New York to our listeners who don't know what happened in New York? And then we will we'll go to the next segment. But III think we just need to bring to mind because something happened in Baltimore too. There was a chemical thing that went off in pride in Baltimore. There were things that happened this
Terry:year Yeah.
Rev Skip:In this time and date that we're still dealing with.
Terry:Yeah. Yeah. You know, I I will say this before we get into this horrific, horrific story, about what happened, at Pride. I wanna say this past weekend, so 29th, 28th, 29th, 30th weekend, you know, it's kind of obviously the end of of pride month, and so it culminates with 2 of the largest pride celebrations in San Francisco, California, as well as, New York City. And if I'm not mistaken, I have never been to New York.
Terry:I don't know if either 1 of you have been to New York before.
Rev Skip:Many, many times. I used to live in New York. I went to NYU. That's 1 of my favorite prides in the world. So this is why Yeah.
Terry:Yeah. I and so shout out to to those 2. I I heard both pride celebrations, were fantastic. Sounds like San Francisco's pride went off without a hitch, thankfully. Very excited to hear that.
Terry:Unfortunately, that was not the same for, New York City. So the way that, I understand the story is there is a 20 year old man recovering from multiple gunshots near Washington Square Park, in New York City. Shots were fired, around 1, 2 o'clock in the morning, after fights broke out. There were multiple fights, and I understand the story to be women were fighting women, men were fighting men. It was a knockdown, drag out brawl for all intents and purposes, and then bullets started flying.
Terry:So there was 1 particular man who was shot multiple times. I understand that he is in the hospital, you know, trying to recover. 22 people were arrested.
Rev Skip:And this was after the pride event had closed down? Or
Terry:So it was basically the pride celebrations and stuff from Hettonburg. You know, kinda closed down around 11, 12 o'clock at night, but people were still out partying and celebrating and that sort of thing. And so I don't didn't read or or understand, like, why people were, were fighting, but people said it was and I've talked to a few friends, like, in New York. I've talked to people that have watched newscast in New York. People said when I say it was knock down, dragged down fights, it was women slamming women's heads on concrete, people dragging, people by their hairs.
Terry:Like, it was such a a heightened environment and situation. That's sad. That that's really sad to end such a joyous occasion with such negativity. And, apparently, there were about, you know, there was there was, a drones. Police had drones all over.
Terry:There are about 15, 000 officers that were there. There were barricades and barriers in place, but, clearly, this happened. Wow. This happened at the end.
Rev Skip:Yeah. Yeah. First of all, our prayers go out to anybody who was hurt, harmed. This is not the spirit of pride. So first of all, I just from a place of heart of compassion and love, we're sending out healing from grits and glitter.
Rev Skip:We believe that it is, you know, love is love is love. I we wear t shirts to say that all the time. And so this is in the polar opposite of what we're trying to bring together. But I wanna say this to say this is that we gotta keep saying these stories because they're still happening. They're still happening in what's supposed to be positive events.
Rev Skip:We're still having violence, and we're still having these issues where we need to understand that there needs to be, you know, another way. We need to find a new way of of coming together, and and and I this is the reason why I'm grateful that I did not go out because, you know, I did everything online. I stayed at home, and after it was done, boom. Because I've seen people get overly inebriated, And I'm wondering if that was a part of the reason why. Not saying it's giving an excuse, but was there alcohol or drugs involved?
Rev Skip:Do you know, Terry?
Terry:I don't know. I don't know. I've read 2 articles so far, and neither article talked about the cause of the fight. Right.
Kemit-Amon:So
Terry:and I'm pretty sure that I would say they're probably still trying to gather information and and figure out what actually happened and and what was the cause of it. But, you know, again, like you just said, this is this happens a lot when when there's, you know, alcohol and drugs involved. You know?
Rev Skip:Yeah. Well, our prayers go out, and we keep on praying, and we keep on praying, and we keep on praying.
Terry:Absolutely. So so as we we start coming to a close of this episode of grits and glitter, episode 11, Who is making a difference for you, brother?
Rev Skip:Who's making a difference? Well, I wanna shout out, and I have my notes right here. So I had I don't I don't front. I got my notes because I'm at the age of 60. Well, I don't care anymore.
Rev Skip:I don't care. I got my notes. When When I was doing podcast, when I was I know. I've been doing podcasting for it literally since I was 20 I was 30 years old. Do you remember blog talk?
Rev Skip:Do you remember blog talk tell, radio where you used to have to call in the phone? Oh, be quiet you. You had to call in the phone. The first podcast, we have to do it over phone, and it went out over a phone. Right, Kevin?
Rev Skip:Remember that? Nope. Oh. Nope. Y'all just pushed me out to the bus.
Rev Skip:I turned 40 with
Terry:me on the bus you ran over. Yes. Thank you.
Rev Skip:You ran over me twice. Sorry. Anyway, look up locked up, lady.
Terry:Love you, but you're on your own, brother.
Rev Skip:This is 1 of them
Kemit-Amon:more cord. Co for podcast. Whatever.
Rev Skip:Y'all. Right? I wanted to bring a shout out today to, her name is, Sarah McBride. And Sarah McBride is the 1st transgender woman to have a seat in the Delaware Senate. She was been there since, 2021 to 21, and she's groundbreaking.
Rev Skip:This election really pushed us forward. And when we're entering another political system, we're in in the political time, you know, having her, you know, having her there and having, exposure. People saying that I too can make a difference no matter what I'm at, black, gay, straight, whatever, but I can too make a difference. So shout out to Sarah McBride, and we're gonna keep on. She demonstrates, and she goes out there.
Rev Skip:She's making a difference for our transgender brothers and sisters. So we're gonna support you. I'm gonna put our website in our, program notes, so look for that where you know how to support. And the last thing I wanna say to this is you don't have to live in the district to send them some money. Support them.
Rev Skip:So he makes sure that there are more people who can, you know, do what she's doing. So shout out to, Sarah McBride.
Terry:Absolutely. Absolutely. I wanna talk about something that I spent, about 2 hours watching, on Sunday, June 29th. I watched a replay of the, IOC, the International Olympic Committee's, congressional hearing on anti doping for the Olympics. And this was something something.
Terry:I was falling out the bed. Yeah. I was watching in the bed because, you know, trying to get some readers. So the International Olympic Committees and the Anti Doping Agency, I I wanna call them out because I think they're making a huge difference. There are a lot of countries that test athletes very differently than, other athletes from different countries, and I'll give you an example.
Terry:Countries like China, smaller countries don't test. They do the standardized tests that they do here in the United States. For example of that, Michael Phelps and Alison Schmidt, Olympic legends and icons in the world of swimming. Michael Phelps in 1 year was tested a 150 times, drug tested a 150 times. Another athlete from a smaller country can be tested 30 or 40 times in a year.
Terry:So how is this right? How is this fair? So I wanna call out both the International Olympics Committee and the World Anti Doping Agency for holding such a important and and, powerful congressional hearing, to call out, in the past year, China specifically has 22 athletes that have been banned for doping. 11 of them are currently on the swimming team. They've named them to the swim the Paris Olympics swim team.
Terry:So there's a lot of issues I think we haven't necessarily heard about, in certain sports with with the Olympics being less than 30 days away. It's in fact, it's 25 days to opening ceremony. Right? So I I think they're making they're calling things, as we say, calling things in to say, we need to create better processes to make things in equal playing field across the board, regardless of what sport it is. We need equity in these things.
Terry:So I'm shouting out both of those both of those agencies. And here's what's also interesting. What I what they all found fascinating, the president of the world, of the anti doping agency, for, like, global didn't show up to this hearing because he knows he's in the wrong for not holding standardized testing for every single athlete in every single country. So it's a it's a whole thing. It's a whole thing.
Terry:Yeah. Look it up, Google, follow it.
Rev Skip:Did you, I'm gonna say 1 word, Russia. Anyway, but did you see that documentary? I don't know, Kim. And if you saw the documentary on clear, it came out of San Francisco, How all these incredible runners they were will running and they were Americans. And from Barry Bonds in baseball to, you know, Maguire Baseball to runners.
Rev Skip:In fact, they had this thing where they were doping, and they weren't being caught. It was called CLEAR. Remember that? There's a documentary about it. You saw it.
Rev Skip:Yep. Yep. Crazy. Yep. I've heard
Kemit-Amon:about it too. Like, they're, like, just it doesn't matter what what test they're given. They're not gonna it's not gonna signal.
Rev Skip:Right. Yeah.
Terry:And as Michael Phelps said, the fact that we're we were talking about this, this is his 2nd time testifying at a congressional hearing. So the fact that we're still talking about this in 2 from 2008, 2000 12, 2016, and now 2024, and we're still having these types of issues, that means somebody's not doing something right. Somebody is not doing something right in terms of policies, procedures, standardizing all of these tests to be equal for everybody? Come on.
Rev Skip:What was the cyclist's name that got away with it for years? And I I can't remember his name.
Terry:Lance Armstrong.
Rev Skip:Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong. He he got away with it for years.
Terry:So I heard too that a lot of those cyclists were staying in the exact so they talked about this in the congressional hearing. They were staying in the exact same hotel. They all took the exact same bus to get to. So they were doping and doing things in the bus before getting to their competitions. Yes.
Terry:Yes. Trying to hide it and mask it. There's masking agents. See, I learned a lot. Y'all gotta watch a congressional hearing sometime.
Terry:It's so fascinating.
Rev Skip:Oh my goodness. I wish we had more time to talk about this, but we we
Terry:I know.
Rev Skip:We do not. After closing on the show, Kimmy, where can people find you? Because you are so incredible. I love what you're doing, and you are 1 of my heroes and 1 of my inspiration, especially as we're talking about the Olympics and tennis and all that. And you're doing so much more than that, but where can people find you?
Kemit-Amon:So, I I'm not young enough to be on TikTok, but you can find
Rev Skip:I am. I'm with TikTok. I be taking the talking.
Terry:Yeah. Yes. It does.
Rev Skip:Everyday, I TikTok. I do.
Kemit-Amon:I'm on, Instagram, at, kemett_amondorkemettamondlewis on Facebook. We're the 2 biggest ways to find me. It's it's open. It's a public, account. So feel free to add me, at_kemit no.
Kemit-Amon:Atkemit_aman. That's it on Instagram.
Rev Skip:Yeah. Yes.
Terry:And we'll
Rev Skip:put that we'll put
Terry:that in our description too for to have people, follow you and connect with you because his story is so amazing and such an inspiration to all of us. So thank you so much for being here with us, brother. Thank you for kicking it up with us on Tempest though beyond the pride celebration.
Rev Skip:Yes. Yes. Yes. It's good
Terry:to be back, brother.
Rev Skip:And don't forget to y'all make sure you leave a comment, you subscribe, share the love, let people know we're out here. We are the best kept secret that people don't know about that should know about us now. So share the love, share the love, share the love. And we keep saying about our website is almost done y'all. Keep keep keep keep it up.
Rev Skip:Keep it up. Keep it up. Keep it up. Wait. It's gonna be it's gonna rock your world.
Terry:We're gonna splash.
Rev Skip:We're gonna splash. And we always say at the end of the show, be kind to people. Why, Terry?
Terry:Because it's free.
Rev Skip:Because it's free. Alright, y'all. Thank you so much, Kimmy, for being with us. And everyone, peace and blessing. And make sure you tune in and tell people about us.
Rev Skip:Peace, y'all. We love you. Peace. Remember to like, share, and leave a comment wherever you listen to your podcast.
