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Hey, humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here.

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Thanks for listening to another episode

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of Hey, Human podcast.

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This is episode 456,

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and my guest is Jewel Chambers.

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Jewel was raised in rural Mississippi, and you've

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probably heard of her famous siblings, the Chambers

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Brothers. They had a huge hit, The Time

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Has Come Today,

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and maybe you've heard of the family gospel

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band,

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the Chambers Family Choir.

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They have music throughout the family for certain.

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I was introduced to her through Bob Zaw,

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who has been on this show,

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and

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he told me about Jewel and said you

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have to to talk to her. Her life

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story is incredible.

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And she's very kind and brought me into

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the house, and we sat down in her

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living room and had this conversation.

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So I'm really

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excited for you to hear it. And she

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shares stories from her childhood

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and nearly a century on the planet.

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Check out heyhumanpodcast.com

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for links and to learn more about my

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guests in the show. Check out susanruth.com

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to learn more about me and my other

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artistic endeavors, including coming to see The First,

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my short film.

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The next festivals that it will be playing,

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Seattle Film Festival, Chicago Horror Film Festival,

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and

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a few more.

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It's gonna be at Shorts Corner and Cannes.

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And,

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yeah, all all those things are on susanruth.com,

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so definitely check that out. You can find

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me on social media under susanruthism,

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and my music is on Spotify, Apple Music,

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Amazon Music, wherever you get your music. It's

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probably on there. Rate, review, and subscribe to

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Hey Human Podcast on Apple or wherever you

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are listening to your podcast.

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And thank you for listening. Be well, be

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kind,

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be love.

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Here we go.

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Joel Chambers, welcome to Hey Human.

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Thank you. Thank you for having me in

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your home. Thank you for being here. Absolutely.

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I like to start these conversations

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with taking all the way back to the

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beginning of life and your childhood. Tell me

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about where you grew up and what childhood

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was like.

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Well,

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my earliest

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memories

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let me let me start here.

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It was 10 of us siblings.

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And I was the first girl born.

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And my mom was sickly,

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and she didn't think she would make it.

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And, I mean, from a little girl about

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I remember, I guess, about six years old,

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she told me that

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she didn't think she would live, you know,

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to see her children get grown.

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And she wanted me

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she didn't want us separated.

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She wanted to make sure that we stayed

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together.

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And so she taught me,

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you know, how to really become a woman.

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I got married at 15.

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I mean, I'm jumping way ahead, but

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that's the type of upbringing,

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you know, that that I had.

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Of course,

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my being six years old, the family had

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not grown

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as, you know, to be a set of

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10.

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The one memory that stands out in my

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mind as a little girl and my mama

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being so sickly all the time,

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we had gone to,

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my grandmother's

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grandmother's house,

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and

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our mode of traveling was mule and wagon.

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And, anyway, we got ready to come home

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and and my sister

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let me let me back up and tell

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you how the order

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that of children, you know, that my mom

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had.

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Three boys, two girls, three boys, two girls.

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And other words so we were at we

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were at grandma's house and,

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mama was not feeling well and it was

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time to go.

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And my sister Bonnie, she wanted to, you

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know, she wanted we both wanted to stay.

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But mama said, no. You have to go

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because I don't feel good.

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And so I was upset, of course. We

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got home, and mama kept getting sicker and

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sicker at you know, the closer we got

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home.

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And

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daddy helped her out of the wagon

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when we got home because she had to

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urinate. And I was helping him, you know.

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And then as I was holding her arm,

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I felt it felt like an egg

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went down her arm and passed my hand

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and she just went limp and I thought

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she had died.

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I took off running

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and screaming and saying my mom is my

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mom is dead, my mom is dead.

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In the area that that we lived in,

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we were the only blacks

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in that area. Mama was she was,

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well loved by everyone.

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The, man's

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property that we lived on,

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he drove a truck

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that hauled bill bills of cotton to the

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gin and stuff.

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Well, I'm running down this road about three

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country miles, if you know what country miles

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are.

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And I'm running. I'm just screaming. No. I

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don't have no mother. My mother's dead. My

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mother's dead.

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And so the the ladies that was

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close by and I'm passing their houses

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and I didn't know it at the time,

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but they just took off. I think one

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lady, she she was milking her cow and,

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because we were in the country, of course,

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you know.

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She was milking her cow. She set her

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her bucket down

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and they all gathered at mama's house.

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And come to find out my mama was

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not dead.

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So the man that the place that we

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lived on, he got in his truck and

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he overtook me. And he told me, he

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said, your mom your mother's not dead. And

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I said, yes. She is. Yes. She is.

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So he persuaded me to get in a

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truck, and he took me back home.

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But and the doctor said she had had

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a nervous breakdown.

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But, anyway, I was glad that I that

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I was there with her. Well, I was

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about six years old, and I was born

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in '34.

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I'm 91 now. You said it was four

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boys first, and then you came along? She

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had us the order she had us had

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three boys Three boys first. And two girls

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Okay. Okay. Three boys

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and two girls. So you were And I'm

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the first

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born girl. So you're the fourth oldest.

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Yes. Yes.

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Yeah. That took me a minute also

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to do that kind of math.

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And what city are we in at this

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point? Let's see. I think that it was

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called Forest, Mississippi.

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Okay. Because later on, we moved to another

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area. It was called Carthage, Mississippi. I feel

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like it wasn't uncommon in at least, especially

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in those days, to

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have multiple children.

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That was pretty much normal. Right? Well, yeah.

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I guess so. Yeah. Yeah.

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Was your family very tight and and close?

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Yes. Very tight. We were very poor, very

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poor.

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And but mama always she always told us,

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she said, you you you children may not

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have what other children have, but always remember

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you have each other.

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And there was a lot of love in

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the family.

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And that's why she wanted

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if anything should happen to her if she

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passed away, she did not want us separated,

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you know, because usually,

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when there's a large family or if there

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are any children at all and the parents

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die, you know, they they people take them

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and, you know, and raise them up. But

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she didn't want that to happen. She wanted

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us to always be together.

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Yeah. And we have always been a very

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close knit family. It's only six of us

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now. We've lost,

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four brothers.

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So but all of the sisters are still

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here and two brothers.

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And

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when we when we get together, it's just

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like we can see each other today

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and hug and go on. And tomorrow, we

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see each other. We still hug and go

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on. You know, it's just

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it's just always been a close knit family.

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When you get together with each other, is

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it like you're little again?

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What we usually do, we just reminisce.

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Yeah.

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We just have a lot of fun,

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just talking about

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old times and the things that happened

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and how, you know, how we survived and

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and,

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when my dad was living. And we used

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to talk about

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things that happened, and

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it would upset him because it was not

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pleasant,

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you know. And he was my dad was

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he was uneducated,

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so he was he was really a poor

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provider.

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And so we had some stories, you know,

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to tell.

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And we were but it was fun because

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we we like I say, we survived. You

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know? But for him to hear it, it

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upset him. And so we had to stop

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when we would get to all get together.

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We had to stop talking about

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things, you know. Sure. You know. So Were

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you expected as the first girl to

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be

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a surrogate mom, especially if your mom was

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unwell?

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Well, I didn't realize, you know, at the

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time, I didn't like the idea that I

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had to do everything like that.

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And I learned to cook when I was,

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like, six years old.

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I remember,

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standing on a wooden box,

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you know, to be up at this at

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the counter.

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I would prepare the food, but my mom

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would always put the seasoning in. I I

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didn't know how to do that. But it's

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just what she instilled,

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you know, in in me. You're she always

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say, you're the oldest girl. You're the oldest

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girl. You know? So you have to you

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have to take care of,

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you know. And she told my siblings, she

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says,

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Jewel is going to

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if something she always used that term, if

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something happens to me. She would never say

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if I die. She just say, if something

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happens to me and I'm no longer with

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you all,

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Jewel is to take over, and you all

276
00:10:11,894 --> 00:10:13,115
better mind her.

277
00:10:13,575 --> 00:10:15,175
So one of my brothers right now, he

278
00:10:15,175 --> 00:10:18,134
calls me sister mom. Mhmm. Lester, you know,

279
00:10:18,134 --> 00:10:20,690
he calls me sister mom. We always lived

280
00:10:20,690 --> 00:10:21,509
on a farm.

281
00:10:21,970 --> 00:10:24,529
My dad sharecropped. He was a really, really

282
00:10:24,529 --> 00:10:25,269
good farmer.

283
00:10:25,809 --> 00:10:26,870
I mean, whatever

284
00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:29,110
whatever seed he planted,

285
00:10:29,570 --> 00:10:31,029
it it just flourished.

286
00:10:31,809 --> 00:10:34,245
I mean, he was he was a farmer

287
00:10:34,245 --> 00:10:36,084
from his heart. You know, he grew the

288
00:10:36,084 --> 00:10:37,384
biggest, I mean,

289
00:10:38,004 --> 00:10:41,044
humongous watermelons, and he would always save the

290
00:10:41,044 --> 00:10:41,945
seed from,

291
00:10:42,325 --> 00:10:42,565
you know

292
00:10:43,365 --> 00:10:45,304
and we he did sugarcane.

293
00:10:46,529 --> 00:10:48,309
His sugarcane was the tallest.

294
00:10:50,129 --> 00:10:50,629
Peanuts,

295
00:10:51,409 --> 00:10:54,289
just a bunch, just a humongous amount of

296
00:10:54,289 --> 00:10:55,509
peanuts on a vine.

297
00:10:56,289 --> 00:10:57,509
He was just a farmer.

298
00:10:58,370 --> 00:10:59,269
And everywhere,

299
00:10:59,714 --> 00:11:00,914
everywhere they lived,

300
00:11:01,394 --> 00:11:03,235
and, you know, which was a lot of

301
00:11:03,235 --> 00:11:05,735
places, he always left fruit trees.

302
00:11:06,355 --> 00:11:08,294
I always planted a fruit tree.

303
00:11:08,754 --> 00:11:10,454
He and my mom got married.

304
00:11:11,394 --> 00:11:14,194
My mom, her mom did not want her

305
00:11:14,194 --> 00:11:15,254
when she was born.

306
00:11:16,940 --> 00:11:18,639
She was, you know, born out of wedlock,

307
00:11:19,179 --> 00:11:22,139
and so she always mistreated my mom a

308
00:11:22,139 --> 00:11:23,600
lot really, really bad.

309
00:11:23,980 --> 00:11:26,539
In the area that they lived in, you

310
00:11:26,539 --> 00:11:29,825
know, the man that that we figured raped

311
00:11:29,825 --> 00:11:30,884
her, you know,

312
00:11:31,264 --> 00:11:33,264
she mama would never talk about it. She

313
00:11:33,264 --> 00:11:34,725
would never talk about it.

314
00:11:35,184 --> 00:11:37,825
So the the message that we got came

315
00:11:37,825 --> 00:11:41,345
from hearsay. You know? But he lived this

316
00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,040
her dad lived in the in the same

317
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:44,540
area

318
00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,200
that my grandmother lived in. And as mama

319
00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,340
grew up, she was just, like, alienated because

320
00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,524
grandma Pearlie, her name was Pearlie, she was

321
00:11:55,524 --> 00:11:57,684
very mean to my mom as the story

322
00:11:57,684 --> 00:11:59,865
goes, and this is what mama told us.

323
00:11:59,924 --> 00:12:01,205
And And it was your mother who was

324
00:12:01,205 --> 00:12:03,465
raped or your grandmother was raped? My grandmother.

325
00:12:03,605 --> 00:12:05,544
Okay. And my mother. Okay.

326
00:12:06,004 --> 00:12:06,504
Incest.

327
00:12:06,884 --> 00:12:10,199
Mhmm. Other words, my oldest bro my my

328
00:12:10,199 --> 00:12:11,179
oldest brother

329
00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,459
is also her brother. You know? Yeah. Incest.

330
00:12:15,319 --> 00:12:16,379
How they met,

331
00:12:17,159 --> 00:12:19,500
well, after she had her first son,

332
00:12:20,279 --> 00:12:20,779
Major,

333
00:12:21,159 --> 00:12:24,245
she I guess, I think when that happens,

334
00:12:24,245 --> 00:12:26,584
it it releases some kind of demonic

335
00:12:27,445 --> 00:12:29,764
thing into children, you know. And they and

336
00:12:29,764 --> 00:12:31,684
then, you know, so she became a little

337
00:12:31,684 --> 00:12:32,184
promiscuous.

338
00:12:33,125 --> 00:12:35,365
And so she was pregnant with her second

339
00:12:35,365 --> 00:12:38,164
son. She was seven months pregnant. I think

340
00:12:38,164 --> 00:12:41,019
it's trauma, not demons. I think it's just

341
00:12:41,019 --> 00:12:42,000
absolute trauma,

342
00:12:42,460 --> 00:12:45,500
you know? Well, I it's bad. Yeah. It's

343
00:12:45,500 --> 00:12:46,800
a very bad situation.

344
00:12:47,420 --> 00:12:50,220
But but, anyway, she was seven months pregnant

345
00:12:50,220 --> 00:12:51,600
with the second son.

346
00:12:52,139 --> 00:12:52,639
And

347
00:12:53,554 --> 00:12:55,475
my grandma had put her out and she

348
00:12:55,475 --> 00:12:58,434
was at somebody's house. And my dad, who

349
00:12:58,434 --> 00:13:00,695
was thirty years older than my mom,

350
00:13:02,195 --> 00:13:04,454
knew the people that she was living with,

351
00:13:04,754 --> 00:13:07,029
and he had come to visit. Well, in

352
00:13:07,029 --> 00:13:07,529
the

353
00:13:07,910 --> 00:13:10,389
meantime okay. He's thirty years older than my

354
00:13:10,389 --> 00:13:12,410
mom. Mhmm. My mom was born,

355
00:13:12,870 --> 00:13:14,250
1910.

356
00:13:14,629 --> 00:13:16,330
He was born 1880.

357
00:13:16,470 --> 00:13:18,789
He was visiting there and my mom, she

358
00:13:18,789 --> 00:13:20,950
said she was washing the dishes or something.

359
00:13:20,950 --> 00:13:23,115
And he was sitting there at the table

360
00:13:23,495 --> 00:13:25,495
just looking at her. And she was said

361
00:13:25,575 --> 00:13:26,634
she said to herself,

362
00:13:27,095 --> 00:13:29,815
why this old man keep looking at me?

363
00:13:29,815 --> 00:13:32,294
You know, just keep looking at me. Well,

364
00:13:32,294 --> 00:13:34,554
he had had two wives previous.

365
00:13:35,259 --> 00:13:38,399
Both had died. So he had two boys

366
00:13:38,459 --> 00:13:40,379
by the first one and a girl by

367
00:13:40,379 --> 00:13:41,600
the second marriage.

368
00:13:42,299 --> 00:13:44,399
And so he's looking for

369
00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:45,759
a woman

370
00:13:46,299 --> 00:13:47,519
to raise his children.

371
00:13:47,899 --> 00:13:50,605
And he's watching my mom, she says,

372
00:13:51,464 --> 00:13:53,865
and and so he, you know, and he's

373
00:13:53,865 --> 00:13:54,365
thinking

374
00:13:55,304 --> 00:13:57,625
she'd make a good mother for my children

375
00:13:57,625 --> 00:13:59,784
because I don't know. Just something about the

376
00:13:59,784 --> 00:14:01,324
way she carried herself.

377
00:14:02,184 --> 00:14:03,004
And so

378
00:14:03,625 --> 00:14:04,924
that's how they met.

379
00:14:05,809 --> 00:14:07,269
Three days after

380
00:14:08,289 --> 00:14:11,669
after they met, they got married. Three days.

381
00:14:12,129 --> 00:14:14,450
Your mom probably thought, here's somebody that at

382
00:14:14,450 --> 00:14:15,889
least I'll be able to have a roof

383
00:14:15,889 --> 00:14:17,250
over my head and I'll be able to

384
00:14:17,250 --> 00:14:18,470
eat and survival.

385
00:14:18,929 --> 00:14:21,274
Yes. That's exactly what she felt

386
00:14:21,815 --> 00:14:24,134
because she'd been like an outcast all of

387
00:14:24,134 --> 00:14:24,875
her life.

388
00:14:25,815 --> 00:14:27,195
You know, so she feels

389
00:14:27,975 --> 00:14:29,754
well, he, you know, he he

390
00:14:30,375 --> 00:14:31,654
can I show you a picture of my

391
00:14:31,654 --> 00:14:32,399
dad? Sure.

392
00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:33,540
Absolutely.

393
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:35,920
Well, this is just like one shot of

394
00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:37,779
him here. That's my mom.

395
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,200
Aw. That's so Uh-huh. And this is a

396
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:43,440
book that I had started making long time

397
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,840
ago that I never got it finished. There's

398
00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,865
all of us together here. Oh, wow.

399
00:14:48,745 --> 00:14:51,544
What humans can endure. I know. That's, that's

400
00:14:51,544 --> 00:14:52,044
my,

401
00:14:52,985 --> 00:14:54,845
my brother, her and her brother.

402
00:14:56,264 --> 00:14:58,524
Did he have any difficulties having

403
00:14:58,825 --> 00:15:00,125
been the result of incest?

404
00:15:00,745 --> 00:15:01,964
I don't think so.

405
00:15:02,264 --> 00:15:02,424
I've never heard of any incidents. And these

406
00:15:02,424 --> 00:15:02,584
are just part of his offspring. He had

407
00:15:02,584 --> 00:15:03,325
four children.

408
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,160
Incidents. And these are just part of his

409
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,019
offspring. He had four children.

410
00:15:08,559 --> 00:15:10,320
My dad, he, you know, he came out

411
00:15:10,399 --> 00:15:12,080
he came in at the tail end of

412
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:12,580
slavery.

413
00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:16,019
Mhmm. You know? So he had no education.

414
00:15:16,735 --> 00:15:19,774
It didn't so education didn't mean anything to

415
00:15:19,774 --> 00:15:21,154
him. Well, sharecropping

416
00:15:21,934 --> 00:15:22,754
was basically

417
00:15:23,455 --> 00:15:26,355
slavery still. But he was a good father.

418
00:15:26,415 --> 00:15:28,654
He never he as, you know, he was

419
00:15:28,654 --> 00:15:29,475
with us and

420
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:31,379
that's important.

421
00:15:31,759 --> 00:15:33,940
He he was he never left us.

422
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,120
Now, mama said he left one time. And

423
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:37,360
he,

424
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,320
and he got down the road a ways.

425
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,034
And he thought, I can't leave her. And

426
00:15:43,034 --> 00:15:44,975
he came back and he never left again.

427
00:15:45,914 --> 00:15:47,534
And, you know, so,

428
00:15:48,315 --> 00:15:50,334
you know, just having a father

429
00:15:51,355 --> 00:15:53,934
around, even if he's not a good provider,

430
00:15:54,554 --> 00:15:56,394
it's just good to have a father. He

431
00:15:56,394 --> 00:15:57,454
was not mean.

432
00:15:57,970 --> 00:16:01,090
I never heard him and mama Arga. They

433
00:16:01,090 --> 00:16:01,730
never had

434
00:16:02,690 --> 00:16:04,690
and and I'm sure she he gave her

435
00:16:04,690 --> 00:16:07,009
plenty of reasons, you know, because he used

436
00:16:07,009 --> 00:16:08,309
to pull us out of school

437
00:16:09,009 --> 00:16:11,490
to, go and work in, you know, in

438
00:16:11,490 --> 00:16:13,029
the field for other people.

439
00:16:13,654 --> 00:16:15,894
And especially after, you know, we got all

440
00:16:15,894 --> 00:16:17,195
got big enough to work.

441
00:16:17,735 --> 00:16:19,575
And, you know, and the joy of having

442
00:16:19,575 --> 00:16:22,554
a big family when when things were rationed,

443
00:16:22,934 --> 00:16:24,855
you know, like they had this little Oh,

444
00:16:24,855 --> 00:16:27,595
the rationing during World War II. Ration. Yeah.

445
00:16:27,654 --> 00:16:28,154
Yeah.

446
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,480
And they issued some kind of books with

447
00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,579
little coupons or something in it. Mhmm.

448
00:16:35,399 --> 00:16:37,879
Well, he never was able to like, for

449
00:16:38,039 --> 00:16:39,100
I think sugar,

450
00:16:39,879 --> 00:16:40,279
they

451
00:16:40,679 --> 00:16:41,179
sugar,

452
00:16:41,959 --> 00:16:44,039
you had to have those coupons to get

453
00:16:44,039 --> 00:16:46,225
sugar. And he had a whole bunch.

454
00:16:46,684 --> 00:16:48,784
And he used to trade them off, you

455
00:16:49,085 --> 00:16:51,325
know, to because he wasn't able to buy

456
00:16:51,325 --> 00:16:52,784
sugar, you know, so

457
00:16:53,404 --> 00:16:55,325
it was a plus for him, you know.

458
00:16:55,325 --> 00:16:57,325
So and and these are some of the

459
00:16:57,325 --> 00:16:59,290
things that we would laugh and talk about

460
00:16:59,290 --> 00:17:01,690
when we would get together and, they would

461
00:17:01,690 --> 00:17:03,870
just irritate him and stuff.

462
00:17:04,289 --> 00:17:04,789
And

463
00:17:05,210 --> 00:17:07,289
and, you know, like like I said, you

464
00:17:07,289 --> 00:17:08,730
know, he'd pull us out of the out

465
00:17:08,730 --> 00:17:11,150
of the out of school and until mama,

466
00:17:12,125 --> 00:17:14,384
would just say she called him mister Chambers.

467
00:17:16,044 --> 00:17:17,664
And he called her dear.

468
00:17:18,444 --> 00:17:21,164
That was I never heard him call her

469
00:17:21,164 --> 00:17:23,664
anything but dear. Her name was Victoria.

470
00:17:24,684 --> 00:17:25,184
And

471
00:17:25,859 --> 00:17:27,480
and because of his age,

472
00:17:28,180 --> 00:17:29,720
she called him mister Chambers,

473
00:17:30,339 --> 00:17:31,880
always mister Chambers.

474
00:17:32,339 --> 00:17:34,680
He he he was just he was precious.

475
00:17:35,619 --> 00:17:38,740
Food, you know, like sometimes food was not

476
00:17:38,740 --> 00:17:40,119
available in our house,

477
00:17:40,984 --> 00:17:42,585
and just a little bit of food, but

478
00:17:42,585 --> 00:17:43,965
my mom was able to,

479
00:17:45,545 --> 00:17:47,625
a little bit of nothing and make a

480
00:17:47,625 --> 00:17:49,705
whole lot of something out of it. We

481
00:17:49,705 --> 00:17:52,345
remember one time she'd had like a cup,

482
00:17:52,345 --> 00:17:55,065
she would take one cup of peas, you

483
00:17:55,065 --> 00:17:56,205
know, dried peas

484
00:17:56,799 --> 00:17:59,039
and make a whole big old pot of

485
00:17:59,039 --> 00:17:59,779
peas and

486
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,000
we'd wad a lot of liquor, pot liquor,

487
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,400
we called it, you know, and make cornbread.

488
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:05,940
And that's what we would eat.

489
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,240
And these are the things that we would

490
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,660
laugh about, you know, when we get together.

491
00:18:11,065 --> 00:18:13,465
There were times when there was no food.

492
00:18:13,465 --> 00:18:15,865
And there was one time it was during

493
00:18:15,865 --> 00:18:17,404
season where watermelons

494
00:18:17,785 --> 00:18:18,845
were in season.

495
00:18:19,144 --> 00:18:20,765
And my mom didn't like watermelon.

496
00:18:21,224 --> 00:18:22,924
And we worried about that.

497
00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,200
And because we worried what was she was

498
00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:27,200
what was she gonna eat and stuff. It

499
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,960
was no problem for us because we love

500
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:29,460
watermelon.

501
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:31,279
But, you know, but,

502
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,799
you know, we we never held it against

503
00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:35,299
him

504
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,220
for not being a good provider

505
00:18:37,804 --> 00:18:39,884
because, I guess, because of the love that,

506
00:18:39,884 --> 00:18:41,984
you know, that we had for him.

507
00:18:42,285 --> 00:18:43,325
Because he he never

508
00:18:43,724 --> 00:18:45,724
you know, like, if he gave us if

509
00:18:45,724 --> 00:18:47,424
he chastised one of us,

510
00:18:47,884 --> 00:18:49,744
you know, his this was his spanking.

511
00:18:50,765 --> 00:18:52,980
It's over. You know? But my mom,

512
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,140
she would get a switch and go,

513
00:18:56,159 --> 00:18:58,399
you gonna do that again? You know? I

514
00:18:58,399 --> 00:19:00,339
mean and she would just go, oh.

515
00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,519
But her weapons were terrible, you know? I

516
00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:05,779
don't I don't ever remember getting one

517
00:19:06,484 --> 00:19:09,285
because I was always, you know, you know,

518
00:19:09,285 --> 00:19:11,445
I was just raised to it's kinda like

519
00:19:11,445 --> 00:19:13,785
being charged type thing. So

520
00:19:14,164 --> 00:19:17,705
she was such a sweetheart. Everybody loved her.

521
00:19:18,085 --> 00:19:19,710
She raised us up with,

522
00:19:20,190 --> 00:19:21,970
I guess, I call them sayings.

523
00:19:23,230 --> 00:19:24,369
It would be like,

524
00:19:25,230 --> 00:19:28,109
for stealing, if it's not yours, don't take

525
00:19:28,109 --> 00:19:28,609
it.

526
00:19:29,309 --> 00:19:31,230
If you make your bed hard, you're the

527
00:19:31,230 --> 00:19:33,615
one have to lay in it. A cow

528
00:19:33,615 --> 00:19:36,015
needs his tail to fan flies with more

529
00:19:36,015 --> 00:19:37,075
than one time.

530
00:19:37,615 --> 00:19:40,575
Don't burn the bridge that takes you across

531
00:19:40,575 --> 00:19:42,335
because you might need that bridge to get

532
00:19:42,335 --> 00:19:45,134
back a little. You know? And every little

533
00:19:45,134 --> 00:19:46,914
saying that she had had a meaning.

534
00:19:47,250 --> 00:19:49,170
You know, dad had a few. You know,

535
00:19:49,170 --> 00:19:51,970
his was always the golden rule, do unto

536
00:19:51,970 --> 00:19:54,369
others as you would have them do unto

537
00:19:54,369 --> 00:19:54,869
you.

538
00:19:55,650 --> 00:19:58,210
And that's how we lived. You know, that's,

539
00:19:58,210 --> 00:19:59,349
you know, that was

540
00:19:59,650 --> 00:20:01,430
our way of, of living.

541
00:20:02,894 --> 00:20:05,475
Did they have conversations with the kids

542
00:20:05,855 --> 00:20:06,355
about,

543
00:20:06,894 --> 00:20:09,075
obviously, you were living in segregated South,

544
00:20:09,695 --> 00:20:10,195
how

545
00:20:10,654 --> 00:20:11,475
how do parents

546
00:20:11,855 --> 00:20:14,575
prepare kids for something like that? How did

547
00:20:14,575 --> 00:20:17,615
black parents prepare black children in that era?

548
00:20:17,615 --> 00:20:20,090
And, I mean even today, obviously, those conversations

549
00:20:20,150 --> 00:20:21,910
have to be made. How did was that

550
00:20:21,910 --> 00:20:23,849
dealt with in the family? And also

551
00:20:24,390 --> 00:20:26,710
with the specter of World War II and

552
00:20:26,710 --> 00:20:28,710
what was going on, how did how did

553
00:20:28,710 --> 00:20:29,289
the kids

554
00:20:30,144 --> 00:20:31,664
How did you all deal with all of

555
00:20:31,664 --> 00:20:32,164
that?

556
00:20:33,105 --> 00:20:35,505
It it was not easy. We have never

557
00:20:35,505 --> 00:20:37,045
known prejudice. Never.

558
00:20:38,065 --> 00:20:40,625
Even in the South, we were just raised

559
00:20:40,625 --> 00:20:41,924
that people are people.

560
00:20:43,460 --> 00:20:45,779
And as the old saying go, we were

561
00:20:45,779 --> 00:20:47,640
raised to stay in our place.

562
00:20:48,579 --> 00:20:50,839
What does that mean? It means that

563
00:20:53,059 --> 00:20:55,460
if, you know, if if they wanna be

564
00:20:55,460 --> 00:20:57,799
called mister whoever I'm miss,

565
00:20:58,224 --> 00:20:59,284
we did it.

566
00:20:59,744 --> 00:21:01,684
And that was just part of living.

567
00:21:01,984 --> 00:21:03,825
We used to have to walk to school,

568
00:21:03,825 --> 00:21:05,984
and there there was one house that we

569
00:21:05,984 --> 00:21:06,884
used to pass.

570
00:21:07,744 --> 00:21:10,144
And it had had children, and they were

571
00:21:10,144 --> 00:21:12,085
always they would be waiting for us,

572
00:21:12,589 --> 00:21:14,349
you know, so they could taunt us and

573
00:21:14,349 --> 00:21:16,210
call us the n word and stuff.

574
00:21:17,309 --> 00:21:19,570
And we just, you know, they never

575
00:21:19,950 --> 00:21:22,990
they never harmed us, but we just ignored

576
00:21:22,990 --> 00:21:25,150
it. That's we were just taught to what

577
00:21:25,150 --> 00:21:27,650
dad had a saying is is he says,

578
00:21:28,224 --> 00:21:30,625
when it comes to fighting, it's better to

579
00:21:30,625 --> 00:21:31,125
say,

580
00:21:32,224 --> 00:21:34,244
yonder he goes than here he lies.

581
00:21:35,744 --> 00:21:37,044
That's one of the words.

582
00:21:37,504 --> 00:21:39,345
And he says, it doesn't make you a

583
00:21:39,345 --> 00:21:39,845
coward,

584
00:21:40,769 --> 00:21:43,670
but you use common sense. But he did

585
00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:45,509
also tell us, don't

586
00:21:46,609 --> 00:21:49,269
let somebody pass the first lick because

587
00:21:49,890 --> 00:21:51,650
you may not get a chance to pass

588
00:21:51,650 --> 00:21:54,529
the second lick. But we just always we

589
00:21:54,529 --> 00:21:55,029
avoided

590
00:21:55,650 --> 00:21:56,150
fights

591
00:21:56,954 --> 00:21:59,755
always with not only with the white children,

592
00:21:59,755 --> 00:22:01,375
but also the black children.

593
00:22:02,075 --> 00:22:03,855
We just always liked peace.

594
00:22:04,315 --> 00:22:06,095
They liked peace in the family.

595
00:22:06,634 --> 00:22:08,794
Other words, you know, at that time, you

596
00:22:08,794 --> 00:22:10,815
know, like if we went into an establishment,

597
00:22:11,194 --> 00:22:13,820
the restroom was colored only.

598
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,339
Well, we didn't try

599
00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:17,339
to go into the white room.

600
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,660
That's called staying in your place.

601
00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:21,500
You do you do

602
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,000
you do the way you what's expected of

603
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:25,820
you to do,

604
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:27,019
and

605
00:22:27,634 --> 00:22:29,894
they like you for it. They, you

606
00:22:30,355 --> 00:22:33,075
know we daddy was he was had a

607
00:22:33,075 --> 00:22:34,055
lot of respect

608
00:22:34,755 --> 00:22:35,255
for,

609
00:22:35,555 --> 00:22:37,815
you know, from white people.

610
00:22:38,595 --> 00:22:40,470
I don't remember the story, but

611
00:22:41,269 --> 00:22:43,769
but he told it. He didn't take nothing.

612
00:22:44,069 --> 00:22:44,730
Other words,

613
00:22:46,549 --> 00:22:47,450
he was short-tempered,

614
00:22:49,589 --> 00:22:51,909
but he stayed in his place. But if

615
00:22:51,909 --> 00:22:54,164
anybody riled him up, I don't care what

616
00:22:54,164 --> 00:22:56,825
color you were. My dad was part Indian.

617
00:22:58,085 --> 00:23:00,664
I don't care if you riled him up.

618
00:23:01,125 --> 00:23:03,525
He was a force to deal with. And

619
00:23:03,525 --> 00:23:06,005
so there was a story that he had

620
00:23:06,164 --> 00:23:06,664
somebody

621
00:23:07,045 --> 00:23:09,259
had gotten in his face with something,

622
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,740
whatever, and he had struck

623
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,059
a white person.

624
00:23:14,839 --> 00:23:16,859
And of course, they came for him

625
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:18,539
and he,

626
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:20,519
you know, made sure that,

627
00:23:21,384 --> 00:23:23,144
I was told that we were all safe

628
00:23:23,144 --> 00:23:23,884
in the house,

629
00:23:24,585 --> 00:23:25,804
but he got his shotgun.

630
00:23:26,744 --> 00:23:28,664
So when they rode, when they pulled up

631
00:23:28,664 --> 00:23:30,845
on their horses or whatever to get him,

632
00:23:31,224 --> 00:23:32,285
he didn't run.

633
00:23:32,984 --> 00:23:34,799
He just told me, he said, okay,

634
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,759
You got you came for me, but one

635
00:23:37,759 --> 00:23:39,860
of one of you guys gonna die.

636
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,580
And nobody wanted to die.

637
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:45,460
But what happened,

638
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:47,220
he gained the respect

639
00:23:48,825 --> 00:23:51,625
of people in you know? And so no

640
00:23:51,704 --> 00:23:53,484
they always called him uncle George.

641
00:23:54,184 --> 00:23:54,684
Nobody

642
00:23:55,065 --> 00:23:57,085
never messed with him after that.

643
00:23:58,424 --> 00:24:00,904
He's he stood his ground. He got the

644
00:24:00,904 --> 00:24:02,744
first lick in. He got the yep. He

645
00:24:02,744 --> 00:24:04,799
did. He let them know he was not

646
00:24:04,799 --> 00:24:07,119
afraid to die. But he said, But what

647
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:08,880
are you what what are you going to

648
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,039
die with me? And when it comes to

649
00:24:11,039 --> 00:24:13,200
that, nobody wants to die. They not ready

650
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:13,859
to die.

651
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,805
But but, anyway, as so as we grew,

652
00:24:18,045 --> 00:24:19,725
we grew up and, you know, and it

653
00:24:19,725 --> 00:24:21,345
got to be when it got to be

654
00:24:21,485 --> 00:24:23,585
all 10 of us and everything.

655
00:24:24,285 --> 00:24:25,744
We always sang.

656
00:24:26,525 --> 00:24:27,585
Just, I mean,

657
00:24:28,125 --> 00:24:28,785
my mom,

658
00:24:29,325 --> 00:24:30,525
she was,

659
00:24:31,725 --> 00:24:35,140
she traveled around with like a community choir

660
00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:36,200
or something like that.

661
00:24:36,740 --> 00:24:40,100
Look, they sang the songs using the do,

662
00:24:40,100 --> 00:24:42,820
re, mi notes. They did, you know, me,

663
00:24:42,820 --> 00:24:45,299
do, me, do, do, la, sa, do, la,

664
00:24:45,299 --> 00:24:47,734
sa, you know. They that's how they, you

665
00:24:47,734 --> 00:24:49,894
know, would sing the songs. And they would

666
00:24:49,894 --> 00:24:51,755
do it in the in the note form,

667
00:24:51,894 --> 00:24:53,734
and then they would do it in the

668
00:24:53,734 --> 00:24:55,355
word form, you know.

669
00:24:55,654 --> 00:24:57,494
So she my mom had a really good

670
00:24:57,494 --> 00:24:59,549
voice. Daddy could sing too, but he didn't

671
00:24:59,710 --> 00:25:01,710
he didn't like singing as much as mama

672
00:25:01,710 --> 00:25:03,890
did. But we we used to sing.

673
00:25:04,590 --> 00:25:06,289
We would come out of the field,

674
00:25:06,590 --> 00:25:08,369
and we would wash our feet

675
00:25:08,750 --> 00:25:10,590
from the you know, you you of course,

676
00:25:10,590 --> 00:25:12,285
you work with no shoes on.

677
00:25:13,325 --> 00:25:15,484
And we would, you know, draw up a

678
00:25:16,205 --> 00:25:18,365
they call it a foot tub, where we

679
00:25:18,365 --> 00:25:20,545
washed our feet before we went to bed.

680
00:25:20,765 --> 00:25:22,684
But we would just sing at night. We

681
00:25:22,684 --> 00:25:25,210
would just sing and sing. And and the

682
00:25:25,210 --> 00:25:27,309
only music that we had was the radio.

683
00:25:28,330 --> 00:25:30,730
And we used to listen to the Grand

684
00:25:30,730 --> 00:25:31,549
Old Opera.

685
00:25:32,410 --> 00:25:34,970
And we'd learn all of those songs, you

686
00:25:34,970 --> 00:25:37,150
know, low and lonely, sad and blue,

687
00:25:37,610 --> 00:25:39,605
you know, just those kind of, you are

688
00:25:39,605 --> 00:25:40,424
my sunshine.

689
00:25:41,524 --> 00:25:43,845
And we would sing. And I guess mama

690
00:25:43,845 --> 00:25:45,065
taught us how to harmonize,

691
00:25:45,845 --> 00:25:47,704
but we all have an ear

692
00:25:48,404 --> 00:25:51,784
for notes, you know, like Perfect pitch. Perfect

693
00:25:51,845 --> 00:25:52,345
pitch.

694
00:25:52,970 --> 00:25:53,470
And

695
00:25:54,089 --> 00:25:55,869
I mean and right now,

696
00:25:56,170 --> 00:25:58,650
to hear somebody off pitch, it's like, you

697
00:25:58,650 --> 00:26:00,089
know, you got a picture on the wall

698
00:26:00,089 --> 00:26:03,130
and that picture's, like, crooked. Well, that's the

699
00:26:03,130 --> 00:26:03,950
same feeling

700
00:26:04,410 --> 00:26:06,730
we get when we hear somebody singing and

701
00:26:06,730 --> 00:26:09,595
they're not on right on that perfect, you

702
00:26:09,595 --> 00:26:12,315
know. It's just it's God given to, you

703
00:26:12,315 --> 00:26:12,815
know.

704
00:26:13,275 --> 00:26:13,775
And

705
00:26:14,315 --> 00:26:16,154
we used to sing and we used to

706
00:26:16,315 --> 00:26:17,055
at night.

707
00:26:17,515 --> 00:26:20,795
And, I remember being we were told by

708
00:26:20,795 --> 00:26:23,055
some people that, could hear us singing

709
00:26:23,650 --> 00:26:25,509
that it sounded like angels

710
00:26:25,890 --> 00:26:28,150
because the harmony was so perfect.

711
00:26:28,849 --> 00:26:30,950
And it and it at night, it traveled.

712
00:26:31,250 --> 00:26:34,549
The sound traveled, you know, over the treetops

713
00:26:34,690 --> 00:26:37,250
or where you know? Really, that's how my

714
00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:37,750
brothers

715
00:26:39,005 --> 00:26:40,625
became the Chambers Brothers,

716
00:26:41,325 --> 00:26:42,304
be well, because

717
00:26:42,605 --> 00:26:44,304
they had that perfect harmony.

718
00:26:46,684 --> 00:26:48,924
And love went with it, you know, just

719
00:26:48,924 --> 00:26:50,460
love for people. And

720
00:26:50,940 --> 00:26:52,940
they wrote a lot of songs and stuff.

721
00:26:52,940 --> 00:26:53,440
But

722
00:26:53,740 --> 00:26:55,839
but that it that's how it all started.

723
00:26:56,539 --> 00:26:58,159
We left after we left,

724
00:26:58,619 --> 00:26:59,119
Mississippi

725
00:26:59,579 --> 00:27:02,000
and we came to California. The whole family?

726
00:27:02,539 --> 00:27:03,359
Not altogether.

727
00:27:04,184 --> 00:27:05,325
My brother Douglas

728
00:27:05,865 --> 00:27:07,244
was the first to leave

729
00:27:08,184 --> 00:27:08,585
because,

730
00:27:08,984 --> 00:27:09,964
our other brothers,

731
00:27:10,664 --> 00:27:12,664
the two that, you know, that dad had

732
00:27:12,664 --> 00:27:13,804
by the other wife,

733
00:27:14,345 --> 00:27:16,744
well, they especially one of them, his name

734
00:27:16,744 --> 00:27:19,085
was Matthew. He stayed in touch with us

735
00:27:19,144 --> 00:27:21,440
all the time when we even when we

736
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,000
were there in Mississippi. And every once in

737
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:25,700
a while, we would see him coming.

738
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,900
And he came to California first.

739
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,700
And then after he came to California,

740
00:27:32,625 --> 00:27:33,525
then Douglas,

741
00:27:34,144 --> 00:27:36,724
we called him Doug, he, Doug, came.

742
00:27:37,744 --> 00:27:38,305
And then,

743
00:27:39,025 --> 00:27:41,424
I got married at 15, and I had

744
00:27:41,424 --> 00:27:42,325
one son.

745
00:27:43,025 --> 00:27:44,325
And my husband,

746
00:27:44,865 --> 00:27:46,085
he came to California.

747
00:27:46,785 --> 00:27:47,789
How did you meet him?

748
00:27:48,269 --> 00:27:48,850
My husband?

749
00:27:49,390 --> 00:27:49,890
Well,

750
00:27:50,910 --> 00:27:53,630
we were just kids together. Mind you, I

751
00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:56,049
was only 15 when I got married. Baby.

752
00:27:57,150 --> 00:27:59,570
But I didn't feel 15. I felt grown

753
00:27:59,710 --> 00:28:02,210
because of You've been raising up children. Yeah.

754
00:28:02,750 --> 00:28:04,025
Yeah. And,

755
00:28:05,605 --> 00:28:07,144
we went to school together.

756
00:28:07,924 --> 00:28:10,244
He liked me. He was a, you know,

757
00:28:10,244 --> 00:28:12,105
he was a nice boy. That's

758
00:28:12,565 --> 00:28:14,565
how we phrase it. He was a nice

759
00:28:14,565 --> 00:28:16,105
boy. In other words,

760
00:28:16,420 --> 00:28:18,740
you know, he he was just a nice

761
00:28:18,740 --> 00:28:21,000
boy. He was not trying to,

762
00:28:21,299 --> 00:28:23,000
you know but anyway,

763
00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:26,200
I know what you're saying.

764
00:28:31,494 --> 00:28:34,634
And anyway, I couldn't stay in school because,

765
00:28:35,095 --> 00:28:37,595
I had had gotten to the eighth grade.

766
00:28:37,894 --> 00:28:39,434
I couldn't go to high school

767
00:28:39,815 --> 00:28:41,734
because they just were not my parents were

768
00:28:41,734 --> 00:28:43,609
not they could not afford for me to

769
00:28:43,609 --> 00:28:45,230
go to high school there in the South.

770
00:28:45,289 --> 00:28:47,069
Are you a depraved, go to high school?

771
00:28:48,250 --> 00:28:49,789
Well, you gotta have clothing.

772
00:28:50,569 --> 00:28:51,470
Oh, I see.

773
00:28:53,529 --> 00:28:55,515
And that peer pressure has

774
00:28:56,394 --> 00:28:58,234
has always been there and I guess will

775
00:28:58,234 --> 00:29:00,494
always still be there. And if

776
00:29:00,795 --> 00:29:02,654
you don't have clothes to wear,

777
00:29:03,275 --> 00:29:05,055
you know, you you can't go.

778
00:29:05,835 --> 00:29:08,555
As we as we was growing up, it's

779
00:29:08,555 --> 00:29:10,315
it's children. The only clothes that we got

780
00:29:10,315 --> 00:29:12,419
were hand me downs. And they came from

781
00:29:12,419 --> 00:29:15,079
white people. They love mom and daddy enough

782
00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:17,000
that

783
00:29:18,019 --> 00:29:20,659
they, you know, there I remember there was

784
00:29:20,659 --> 00:29:21,480
some lady.

785
00:29:21,859 --> 00:29:23,299
We used to look up and we'd see

786
00:29:23,299 --> 00:29:25,515
the wagon coming and it would be her.

787
00:29:25,515 --> 00:29:27,195
And she would have a whole lot of

788
00:29:27,195 --> 00:29:27,695
clothing.

789
00:29:28,394 --> 00:29:31,674
I remember one time, she came in the

790
00:29:31,674 --> 00:29:33,994
bunch of clothing that she brought us. There

791
00:29:33,994 --> 00:29:35,215
was a red coat

792
00:29:35,674 --> 00:29:37,680
and it ended up fitting me.

793
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,400
Well, I was the darkest skin in the

794
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,960
family. Everybody else was a shade lighter than

795
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:43,460
me.

796
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,680
You know how black people are. We got

797
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,080
all different shades of color and stuff. Well,

798
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:49,619
I was the darkest one.

799
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,840
I got teased by daddy used to tell

800
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:52,605
me, he said,

801
00:29:53,005 --> 00:29:55,964
Blacker the berry, sweeter the juice. That was

802
00:29:55,964 --> 00:29:58,144
his saying, you know. But anyway,

803
00:29:58,525 --> 00:30:00,865
I ended up with that red coat

804
00:30:01,164 --> 00:30:02,704
and did I get teased.

805
00:30:03,085 --> 00:30:05,105
Aw. I was I thought it looked amazing

806
00:30:05,164 --> 00:30:07,345
on you. Well, it probably did, but

807
00:30:08,539 --> 00:30:10,539
well, anyway, I I had a yellow coat

808
00:30:10,539 --> 00:30:12,380
and all my friends made fun of me,

809
00:30:12,380 --> 00:30:14,000
so they called me big bird.

810
00:30:15,259 --> 00:30:17,579
Yeah. Well, I you know, they tease Kids

811
00:30:17,579 --> 00:30:19,339
are gonna be mean no matter what. Yep.

812
00:30:19,339 --> 00:30:22,154
Kids kids are gonna be they tease me,

813
00:30:22,955 --> 00:30:23,855
you know, because

814
00:30:24,474 --> 00:30:26,095
of the darkness of my skin.

815
00:30:26,474 --> 00:30:28,575
They related the red coat to a monkey.

816
00:30:28,955 --> 00:30:31,434
You know, like, you know, like, you know,

817
00:30:31,434 --> 00:30:32,894
monkey and, you know anyway.

818
00:30:33,355 --> 00:30:35,515
And I hated that coat, but it was

819
00:30:35,515 --> 00:30:36,414
so cold.

820
00:30:37,359 --> 00:30:38,960
It was so cold down there, and the

821
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,079
coat was really thick, nice winter coat, but

822
00:30:42,079 --> 00:30:43,759
it kept me warm. And I just I

823
00:30:43,759 --> 00:30:46,480
had to endure the, the TB and Ts

824
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,220
about it. But They were just jealous. Jealous.

825
00:30:49,534 --> 00:30:51,454
Probably jealous. A warm coat and they Yeah.

826
00:30:51,454 --> 00:30:53,694
And you look good. But I getting back

827
00:30:53,694 --> 00:30:56,434
to that's that's how I met my husband.

828
00:30:56,654 --> 00:30:58,194
I graduated, like,

829
00:30:58,654 --> 00:31:00,654
twice from the eighth grade and,

830
00:31:01,294 --> 00:31:02,674
and then we got married.

831
00:31:03,299 --> 00:31:05,380
How old was he? He was six years

832
00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,779
older than me. When I was 15, he

833
00:31:07,779 --> 00:31:09,160
was like 21.

834
00:31:09,779 --> 00:31:12,200
And he had a he didn't like farming.

835
00:31:12,259 --> 00:31:13,559
He had a good job.

836
00:31:14,019 --> 00:31:16,279
I was a virgin when I married him.

837
00:31:16,494 --> 00:31:18,335
And he was just he was a really

838
00:31:18,335 --> 00:31:19,875
not really nice guy.

839
00:31:20,335 --> 00:31:22,355
We had our first child. I was 16

840
00:31:23,214 --> 00:31:23,534
when,

841
00:31:24,015 --> 00:31:24,595
you know,

842
00:31:25,694 --> 00:31:28,034
I made 15 on the January 9,

843
00:31:29,130 --> 00:31:32,500
and we got married on the March

844
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:33,869
26.

845
00:31:34,730 --> 00:31:36,190
I had my first son

846
00:31:36,890 --> 00:31:38,109
September eleventh

847
00:31:38,490 --> 00:31:39,789
of nineteen fifty.

848
00:31:40,650 --> 00:31:42,305
So, you know, we

849
00:31:42,684 --> 00:31:44,845
we, you know, we we didn't get pregnant

850
00:31:44,845 --> 00:31:46,924
right away. I gave birth to him at

851
00:31:46,924 --> 00:31:47,424
home.

852
00:31:48,845 --> 00:31:49,085
And,

853
00:31:49,805 --> 00:31:52,525
that was during the time when women had

854
00:31:52,525 --> 00:31:55,085
babies. You know, for some reason, they thought

855
00:31:55,085 --> 00:31:57,519
you should stay on the bed for three

856
00:31:57,519 --> 00:31:58,019
days.

857
00:31:58,799 --> 00:31:59,299
Anyway,

858
00:31:59,679 --> 00:32:01,279
but that's how I met him. He was

859
00:32:01,279 --> 00:32:02,899
good. But he came to California,

860
00:32:03,919 --> 00:32:06,159
got a job washing dishes, and then he

861
00:32:06,159 --> 00:32:09,519
sent for me. And Ray, my our son

862
00:32:09,519 --> 00:32:12,234
was named Ray. He said for us. And

863
00:32:12,234 --> 00:32:13,375
we came to California,

864
00:32:13,914 --> 00:32:15,375
you know. And then

865
00:32:15,674 --> 00:32:18,815
after we came to California and, you know,

866
00:32:19,195 --> 00:32:20,654
and we joined him,

867
00:32:21,115 --> 00:32:22,255
my brother Doug

868
00:32:22,714 --> 00:32:24,974
is the one that, you know, was instrumental

869
00:32:25,115 --> 00:32:26,255
in getting him

870
00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:28,960
from the farm, you know, maybe from

871
00:32:29,579 --> 00:32:30,319
the South,

872
00:32:30,859 --> 00:32:32,799
and brought him to California.

873
00:32:34,059 --> 00:32:36,480
And, he got a job as a dishwasher,

874
00:32:36,619 --> 00:32:38,940
as I said. He saved enough money. And

875
00:32:38,940 --> 00:32:41,099
so he had me and Ray come. We

876
00:32:41,099 --> 00:32:41,599
came

877
00:32:42,464 --> 00:32:44,384
and and Major and his wife. We all

878
00:32:44,384 --> 00:32:45,125
came together.

879
00:32:45,505 --> 00:32:48,065
You referred to Ray as was. Is he

880
00:32:48,065 --> 00:32:50,484
still with us? No. Oh, I'm sorry. No.

881
00:32:50,625 --> 00:32:52,865
Three years ago, he was in no, it's

882
00:32:52,865 --> 00:32:55,045
been about yeah, about three years ago,

883
00:32:56,099 --> 00:32:58,019
I had moved back to Louis I had

884
00:32:58,019 --> 00:32:59,000
moved to Louisiana

885
00:32:59,619 --> 00:33:02,500
after my after my mom died. And he

886
00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:04,920
got kind of sick and stuff. And

887
00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:08,500
so he came there to live with me

888
00:33:08,500 --> 00:33:10,039
there in Louisiana. And,

889
00:33:10,924 --> 00:33:13,005
I found him I found him in the

890
00:33:13,005 --> 00:33:15,345
garage. He was just sitting there asleep.

891
00:33:16,204 --> 00:33:19,005
That's hard, you know. That was a hard

892
00:33:19,005 --> 00:33:19,744
road hole.

893
00:33:20,444 --> 00:33:23,920
But, I'm so sorry. Yeah. He probably knew

894
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:24,740
he was gonna

895
00:33:25,279 --> 00:33:27,920
go. He was 70 years old. He was

896
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,380
born in 1950.

897
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,779
He was, like two years old

898
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,220
when we left Mississippi and we came. And

899
00:33:35,664 --> 00:33:37,345
we, like I said, we got a house.

900
00:33:37,345 --> 00:33:39,525
We got a big house and then

901
00:33:40,144 --> 00:33:42,384
we got the rest of them out, you

902
00:33:42,384 --> 00:33:45,265
know, piece by piece. Not everybody came at

903
00:33:45,265 --> 00:33:46,244
the same time.

904
00:33:46,704 --> 00:33:48,484
My sister, Bonnie, she

905
00:33:48,785 --> 00:33:50,990
was married to a guy in,

906
00:33:52,909 --> 00:33:53,409
George.

907
00:33:53,789 --> 00:33:55,630
You know, I was next to George in

908
00:33:55,630 --> 00:33:56,349
birth and,

909
00:33:56,829 --> 00:33:59,309
George had gone into the service. Everybody that

910
00:33:59,309 --> 00:34:00,349
was left at the,

911
00:34:00,750 --> 00:34:02,849
at the farm was Willie, Lester,

912
00:34:03,309 --> 00:34:03,809
Joseph,

913
00:34:04,595 --> 00:34:05,815
Vera, and Lucinda.

914
00:34:06,434 --> 00:34:08,515
It was five of them still with mom

915
00:34:08,515 --> 00:34:10,594
and daddy at the on the farm. They

916
00:34:10,594 --> 00:34:11,335
were kids.

917
00:34:11,795 --> 00:34:14,434
You know, they were really young when I

918
00:34:14,434 --> 00:34:16,675
left. George wanted to get them out get

919
00:34:16,675 --> 00:34:17,815
them away from Mississippi

920
00:34:18,675 --> 00:34:20,889
in the farm life. Because one of my

921
00:34:20,889 --> 00:34:23,849
brothers, Willie, he's like, was like my daddy,

922
00:34:23,849 --> 00:34:24,349
short-tempered.

923
00:34:26,010 --> 00:34:28,329
And so he got in trouble with the

924
00:34:28,329 --> 00:34:28,829
landowner.

925
00:34:29,610 --> 00:34:30,670
Mama realized

926
00:34:30,969 --> 00:34:32,670
that he was gonna get hurt,

927
00:34:33,234 --> 00:34:35,554
probably killed if they didn't get him out

928
00:34:35,554 --> 00:34:37,714
of there. So she told daddy, you know,

929
00:34:37,714 --> 00:34:39,655
mister Chambers, we're gonna have to get

930
00:34:40,034 --> 00:34:43,074
these children away from here before something terrible

931
00:34:43,074 --> 00:34:43,574
happens.

932
00:34:44,195 --> 00:34:46,375
And, because the landowner,

933
00:34:46,755 --> 00:34:48,295
he, you know, he

934
00:34:48,789 --> 00:34:51,750
did brute force to Willie. He, you know,

935
00:34:51,750 --> 00:34:54,170
he threatened to hurt him. And Willie

936
00:34:55,109 --> 00:34:55,670
took the,

937
00:34:57,829 --> 00:34:59,210
apart from the plow.

938
00:34:59,670 --> 00:35:02,389
Other other words, I forget what it's called

939
00:35:02,389 --> 00:35:02,889
now.

940
00:35:03,974 --> 00:35:05,434
I can't think of it. But anyway,

941
00:35:05,894 --> 00:35:08,135
he was gonna hit Willie and Willie got

942
00:35:08,135 --> 00:35:09,514
this thing from

943
00:35:09,815 --> 00:35:11,114
he took it from the

944
00:35:11,574 --> 00:35:14,534
it's the thing that connects the mule to

945
00:35:14,534 --> 00:35:15,355
the plow.

946
00:35:15,690 --> 00:35:18,589
It goes between the plow and the horse,

947
00:35:18,650 --> 00:35:21,210
the mule. We use mules. And that's what

948
00:35:21,289 --> 00:35:23,690
Willie got that and dared him to hit

949
00:35:23,690 --> 00:35:24,190
him.

950
00:35:24,889 --> 00:35:27,769
He dared, you know, the landowner to hit

951
00:35:27,769 --> 00:35:28,269
him.

952
00:35:28,889 --> 00:35:29,389
And

953
00:35:30,155 --> 00:35:32,155
of course, but you don't do that. You

954
00:35:32,155 --> 00:35:33,855
got it. He was out of his place.

955
00:35:34,474 --> 00:35:35,135
You know?

956
00:35:35,914 --> 00:35:38,554
So mama, you know, mama told daddy, you

957
00:35:38,554 --> 00:35:40,155
know, you got to we don't have to

958
00:35:40,155 --> 00:35:41,295
get him out of here.

959
00:35:41,755 --> 00:35:41,994
And,

960
00:35:42,795 --> 00:35:43,295
so,

961
00:35:44,670 --> 00:35:46,429
we didn't have a telephone or anything. In

962
00:35:46,429 --> 00:35:47,889
fact, we didn't even have electricity

963
00:35:48,190 --> 00:35:49,409
when I left there.

964
00:35:49,789 --> 00:35:50,690
Single tree.

965
00:35:51,309 --> 00:35:53,469
That thing is called a single tree. I

966
00:35:53,469 --> 00:35:55,230
don't know why they call it a single

967
00:35:55,230 --> 00:35:55,730
tree,

968
00:35:56,164 --> 00:35:57,844
But because it's a little it's a thing

969
00:35:57,844 --> 00:35:58,984
about that long

970
00:35:59,284 --> 00:36:01,065
and it has A couple feet?

971
00:36:01,605 --> 00:36:03,945
Yeah. And it has some rings

972
00:36:04,804 --> 00:36:07,204
that you hook Oh, yes. The horse there

973
00:36:07,204 --> 00:36:09,045
and then those then you hook it to

974
00:36:09,045 --> 00:36:11,539
the ply also. Yeah. Yeah. You probably do

975
00:36:11,539 --> 00:36:13,800
some damage with that. Oh, yes. Yeah.

976
00:36:14,260 --> 00:36:16,179
Yes. But but anyway, because it's part male

977
00:36:16,179 --> 00:36:18,500
and part wood, but that's what Willie got

978
00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:20,760
to. I mean, smart. Oh, yeah. So

979
00:36:21,059 --> 00:36:22,440
they made arrangements.

980
00:36:23,885 --> 00:36:25,905
My husband and Bonnie's husband

981
00:36:26,525 --> 00:36:28,385
drove down there, you know,

982
00:36:29,085 --> 00:36:31,724
to to pick him up from Mississippi. The,

983
00:36:32,045 --> 00:36:35,164
landowner's name was Doug Doug Collier. Douglas Collier,

984
00:36:35,164 --> 00:36:37,070
but we call him mister Doug. Where he

985
00:36:37,070 --> 00:36:37,570
lived,

986
00:36:38,110 --> 00:36:40,190
had to pass by his house, you know,

987
00:36:40,190 --> 00:36:41,969
to get to our house, which was,

988
00:36:42,510 --> 00:36:45,010
where mama's because I was already in California.

989
00:36:45,469 --> 00:36:47,949
Had to pass their house to, you know,

990
00:36:47,949 --> 00:36:48,690
his house

991
00:36:49,150 --> 00:36:50,690
to get to mama's house.

992
00:36:51,554 --> 00:36:52,054
And,

993
00:36:52,755 --> 00:36:55,074
you know, that in the South like that,

994
00:36:55,074 --> 00:36:56,135
everybody knows

995
00:36:56,514 --> 00:36:59,315
what's going on. Anybody suspicious come in, you

996
00:36:59,315 --> 00:37:01,494
know, eyes are on them and stuff.

997
00:37:01,954 --> 00:37:03,655
When the car came in

998
00:37:04,355 --> 00:37:04,855
and

999
00:37:05,474 --> 00:37:07,014
mister Doug saw a California

1000
00:37:07,610 --> 00:37:10,170
tag on it, you know. So he came

1001
00:37:10,170 --> 00:37:12,030
down to the house just, you know,

1002
00:37:13,050 --> 00:37:15,610
and see what was going on. Anyway, he's

1003
00:37:15,690 --> 00:37:17,289
see, he made the statement. He said, You

1004
00:37:17,289 --> 00:37:18,809
didn't come to get my n word. You

1005
00:37:18,809 --> 00:37:20,570
know, he he you didn't come, you know,

1006
00:37:20,570 --> 00:37:22,934
and they told him, No. No. Well, they

1007
00:37:22,934 --> 00:37:23,675
had planned

1008
00:37:24,934 --> 00:37:25,434
to

1009
00:37:25,735 --> 00:37:28,055
stay a few days and rest up and

1010
00:37:28,055 --> 00:37:28,795
go back.

1011
00:37:29,494 --> 00:37:31,114
But after he came down

1012
00:37:31,494 --> 00:37:32,715
and was inquiring,

1013
00:37:33,575 --> 00:37:34,235
you know,

1014
00:37:34,775 --> 00:37:37,035
mama, she always had a lot of wisdom.

1015
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:39,300
And she said, You know what?

1016
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:41,539
Y'all will have to get out of here

1017
00:37:41,679 --> 00:37:43,059
as fast as you can.

1018
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:44,659
So she

1019
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,179
fried some chicken and made food, you know,

1020
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:48,400
and,

1021
00:37:49,359 --> 00:37:50,054
so that,

1022
00:37:51,014 --> 00:37:54,108
that very that very same night that they

1023
00:37:54,108 --> 00:37:56,694
came in that day, they packed up the

1024
00:37:56,694 --> 00:37:57,194
car

1025
00:37:57,815 --> 00:37:58,315
and

1026
00:37:59,734 --> 00:38:00,554
took out

1027
00:38:01,094 --> 00:38:02,554
the, you know, the children.

1028
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:04,840
It was five of them. So the car

1029
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,340
was packed. She gave put quilts and stuff

1030
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:09,579
in the car and stuff, so

1031
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:12,940
they left out. And, so what they did

1032
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,320
Mr. Doug lived kind of like up on

1033
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:15,900
a hill.

1034
00:38:17,065 --> 00:38:19,644
And so mama's house was like down, you

1035
00:38:20,025 --> 00:38:22,505
know. And so what they did, they put

1036
00:38:22,505 --> 00:38:25,065
the small kids in, which was Vera and

1037
00:38:25,065 --> 00:38:27,164
Lucinda, those are my other two sisters.

1038
00:38:27,864 --> 00:38:28,364
And

1039
00:38:28,985 --> 00:38:30,765
they pushed that car

1040
00:38:31,650 --> 00:38:33,349
without starting the motor.

1041
00:38:34,130 --> 00:38:36,710
And they pushed that car up that hill,

1042
00:38:37,250 --> 00:38:38,949
past Mr. Doug's house,

1043
00:38:39,650 --> 00:38:41,670
and they would did it very quietly.

1044
00:38:42,609 --> 00:38:44,869
They'd wait I think it was around midnight,

1045
00:38:44,929 --> 00:38:46,869
they knew he would be asleep.

1046
00:38:47,675 --> 00:38:50,074
And then they started their car down the

1047
00:38:50,074 --> 00:38:51,775
hill, and they jumped in.

1048
00:38:52,474 --> 00:38:54,554
And they didn't start that motor until they

1049
00:38:54,554 --> 00:38:55,054
got

1050
00:38:55,755 --> 00:38:58,155
beyond, you know, and they got on the

1051
00:38:58,155 --> 00:38:58,655
road.

1052
00:38:59,355 --> 00:39:01,514
And they were scared. They were so scared

1053
00:39:01,514 --> 00:39:03,730
because they didn't know if they were going

1054
00:39:03,730 --> 00:39:05,510
to be followed and what. But

1055
00:39:05,890 --> 00:39:08,210
when he discovered that they were gone, you

1056
00:39:08,210 --> 00:39:08,710
know,

1057
00:39:09,090 --> 00:39:10,630
it was nothing he could do.

1058
00:39:11,090 --> 00:39:11,590
Because

1059
00:39:12,050 --> 00:39:13,269
daddy was old.

1060
00:39:13,570 --> 00:39:15,670
They were doing new farm work.

1061
00:39:16,130 --> 00:39:17,831
It It was just nothing that he could

1062
00:39:17,831 --> 00:39:20,375
do. Later on, before they left out, you

1063
00:39:20,375 --> 00:39:23,195
know, he told he told mama, he says,

1064
00:39:23,894 --> 00:39:25,494
if you get them back, you know, tell

1065
00:39:25,494 --> 00:39:27,655
them I got a tractor, you know, like

1066
00:39:27,655 --> 00:39:29,575
a John Deere. They wouldn't have to do

1067
00:39:29,575 --> 00:39:31,594
it. We wouldn't have to farm by mule.

1068
00:39:32,090 --> 00:39:33,230
Because, see, they were

1069
00:39:33,610 --> 00:39:35,630
we were this is how we were raised.

1070
00:39:35,769 --> 00:39:38,329
What a mom was saying was, in honest

1071
00:39:38,329 --> 00:39:38,829
days,

1072
00:39:39,130 --> 00:39:39,630
work

1073
00:39:40,090 --> 00:39:41,789
for an honest days pay.

1074
00:39:42,170 --> 00:39:43,070
In other words,

1075
00:39:43,849 --> 00:39:47,255
don't, you know, work, you know, work. Don't

1076
00:39:47,315 --> 00:39:49,074
just get out there, and they call it

1077
00:39:49,074 --> 00:39:50,534
ratting on the job, you

1078
00:39:50,835 --> 00:39:53,315
know, pretending you're working and you're not. So

1079
00:39:53,315 --> 00:39:54,375
we were raised

1080
00:39:56,275 --> 00:39:58,914
to give a good day's work for our

1081
00:39:58,914 --> 00:39:59,280
pay.

1082
00:40:00,079 --> 00:40:02,480
And he knew they were good. They were

1083
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,900
really good at farming. And,

1084
00:40:06,159 --> 00:40:08,559
so, but mama, you know, he took, he,

1085
00:40:08,559 --> 00:40:10,000
this is what he said to mama, you

1086
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:11,760
know, you know, tell them I could tell,

1087
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:13,280
you know, if they'll come back, I got

1088
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:15,704
a, I got a tractor. So she just

1089
00:40:15,704 --> 00:40:18,184
told him, oh, mister Doug, she said, you

1090
00:40:18,184 --> 00:40:20,505
know, I'm sorry, but if you you have

1091
00:40:20,505 --> 00:40:22,744
to drive the tractor yourself because they're not

1092
00:40:22,744 --> 00:40:25,385
coming back. That's how they got up. They

1093
00:40:25,385 --> 00:40:26,045
got away.

1094
00:40:26,985 --> 00:40:29,429
Do you know anything about their journey across

1095
00:40:29,429 --> 00:40:31,130
the country? Because I imagine

1096
00:40:32,789 --> 00:40:34,730
that could have moments of being tenuous

1097
00:40:35,030 --> 00:40:37,589
in those in that era. They made it.

1098
00:40:37,589 --> 00:40:39,829
They still they just still stayed in their

1099
00:40:39,829 --> 00:40:40,329
place.

1100
00:40:41,109 --> 00:40:42,889
They when they stopped for gas,

1101
00:40:43,565 --> 00:40:44,545
you know, they

1102
00:40:44,924 --> 00:40:47,184
they got their gas and they, you know

1103
00:40:48,284 --> 00:40:49,964
because I don't know what their trip was

1104
00:40:49,964 --> 00:40:51,724
like because, you know, I I you know,

1105
00:40:51,724 --> 00:40:54,065
just hearing what they said that Yeah.

1106
00:40:55,005 --> 00:40:55,324
But,

1107
00:40:56,125 --> 00:40:57,105
they got away

1108
00:40:57,565 --> 00:40:58,065
safe.

1109
00:40:58,650 --> 00:41:01,049
So now you're all in California for the

1110
00:41:01,049 --> 00:41:02,829
most part, except for your parents.

1111
00:41:03,369 --> 00:41:06,409
And is the music becoming more important? Is

1112
00:41:06,569 --> 00:41:09,369
are y'all performing out more? Or how's that

1113
00:41:09,369 --> 00:41:11,389
going? When my brothers were in Mississippi,

1114
00:41:11,825 --> 00:41:14,224
they had what they call a quartet. They

1115
00:41:14,224 --> 00:41:16,244
used to sing at churches and stuff.

1116
00:41:16,545 --> 00:41:19,025
So after they got out here, they couldn't

1117
00:41:19,025 --> 00:41:21,365
go they really couldn't go to school because,

1118
00:41:23,105 --> 00:41:24,565
they were so far behind

1119
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,819
not having gone to school enough in Mississippi.

1120
00:41:29,199 --> 00:41:29,699
And,

1121
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:33,440
you know, and their knowledge and comprehension was

1122
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:34,179
so poor

1123
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:36,819
until they and at their age,

1124
00:41:37,199 --> 00:41:38,260
they got teased.

1125
00:41:38,855 --> 00:41:41,275
And so they all dropped out of school.

1126
00:41:41,654 --> 00:41:44,315
And after they formed the, you know,

1127
00:41:45,335 --> 00:41:47,654
the group, what they call themselves, they were

1128
00:41:47,654 --> 00:41:49,755
looking for a name after they got here,

1129
00:41:49,815 --> 00:41:51,514
you know, to call themselves.

1130
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:54,280
And they couldn't find a name. So they

1131
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:56,920
said, Well, we were Chambers, so we'll just

1132
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:58,219
be the Chambers Brothers.

1133
00:41:58,599 --> 00:42:00,139
That's how it got started,

1134
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:02,940
with them being, you know,

1135
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:05,420
the group as the Chambers Brothers.

1136
00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:06,460
And then

1137
00:42:07,284 --> 00:42:08,105
later on,

1138
00:42:08,565 --> 00:42:10,324
because we all did sing and we were

1139
00:42:10,324 --> 00:42:11,304
a large family,

1140
00:42:12,005 --> 00:42:13,385
and I was impressed

1141
00:42:13,684 --> 00:42:16,105
to start a family Chambers Family.

1142
00:42:16,804 --> 00:42:19,144
We call ourselves the Chambers Family Singers.

1143
00:42:20,039 --> 00:42:20,780
And so

1144
00:42:21,079 --> 00:42:22,219
we got organized

1145
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:22,760
and,

1146
00:42:24,199 --> 00:42:26,380
and we sang a lot of different places

1147
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:27,260
because

1148
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,140
our group included the brothers, you know.

1149
00:42:30,519 --> 00:42:32,519
By this time, well, they were, you know,

1150
00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:34,925
already had made a good name for themselves.

1151
00:42:35,065 --> 00:42:35,805
And so,

1152
00:42:36,425 --> 00:42:37,864
you know, I I feel like a kind

1153
00:42:37,864 --> 00:42:40,025
of ride on their coattails, you know, would

1154
00:42:40,025 --> 00:42:42,184
be great, which it was. And,

1155
00:42:43,065 --> 00:42:45,065
I even wrote a play. It was called

1156
00:42:45,144 --> 00:42:47,230
And Then One Day We Stepped Out. It

1157
00:42:47,309 --> 00:42:49,390
that it was the story of, you know,

1158
00:42:49,390 --> 00:42:50,530
how they got out

1159
00:42:50,910 --> 00:42:52,989
by pushing the car and stuff. I wrote

1160
00:42:52,989 --> 00:42:56,190
it and produced it. We played it at,

1161
00:42:56,510 --> 00:42:59,070
Will She Bell Theater, which it turned out

1162
00:42:59,070 --> 00:43:00,690
really nice. You know?

1163
00:43:01,105 --> 00:43:03,585
In fact, I I brought a copy of

1164
00:43:03,585 --> 00:43:04,945
it out. I said I was gonna give

1165
00:43:04,945 --> 00:43:06,945
it to you. I had it taped and

1166
00:43:06,945 --> 00:43:08,965
everything. Oh, look at that.

1167
00:43:09,265 --> 00:43:11,184
I wanna read something to you. This is

1168
00:43:11,184 --> 00:43:13,045
something I like to write,

1169
00:43:13,980 --> 00:43:15,360
and I do poems.

1170
00:43:16,219 --> 00:43:16,719
And

1171
00:43:17,099 --> 00:43:19,179
so this came to me and I you

1172
00:43:19,179 --> 00:43:21,199
know, to write it, and I wrote it.

1173
00:43:21,420 --> 00:43:22,480
I call it Reflection.

1174
00:43:22,940 --> 00:43:24,960
I said, George and Victoria Chambers.

1175
00:43:25,420 --> 00:43:28,375
When daddy met mama, he already had three

1176
00:43:28,375 --> 00:43:28,875
children

1177
00:43:29,414 --> 00:43:31,034
by two previous wives.

1178
00:43:31,734 --> 00:43:34,635
Three days after they met, they were married.

1179
00:43:35,174 --> 00:43:37,355
Mama became wife number three.

1180
00:43:38,054 --> 00:43:39,835
They were married August tenth.

1181
00:43:40,269 --> 00:43:42,369
Mama was born 1910.

1182
00:43:42,910 --> 00:43:44,450
From 1927

1183
00:43:45,470 --> 00:43:47,010
to 1948,

1184
00:43:47,470 --> 00:43:49,329
she gave birth to 10 children.

1185
00:43:50,190 --> 00:43:51,730
The uniqueness of birth,

1186
00:43:52,925 --> 00:43:55,585
Major Douglas and George, three boys,

1187
00:43:56,125 --> 00:43:56,864
two girls,

1188
00:43:57,164 --> 00:43:58,144
Jewel and Bonnie.

1189
00:43:58,684 --> 00:43:59,985
Three years between

1190
00:44:00,925 --> 00:44:01,905
third boy,

1191
00:44:02,525 --> 00:44:03,664
which was George,

1192
00:44:04,204 --> 00:44:06,385
and first girl, which was me.

1193
00:44:07,469 --> 00:44:09,570
Three more boys and two girls,

1194
00:44:09,949 --> 00:44:11,170
Vera and Lucinda,

1195
00:44:11,630 --> 00:44:12,369
were born.

1196
00:44:12,750 --> 00:44:14,050
Four years between

1197
00:44:14,510 --> 00:44:17,789
Willie, the last two girls born, the twenty

1198
00:44:17,789 --> 00:44:19,409
fourth and the twenty sixth.

1199
00:44:19,710 --> 00:44:20,610
Daddy passed

1200
00:44:20,989 --> 00:44:25,945
02/26/1978.

1201
00:44:27,204 --> 00:44:28,985
'1 day after mama's birthday,

1202
00:44:29,605 --> 00:44:31,945
mama passed February 24,

1203
00:44:32,405 --> 00:44:34,345
'1 day before her birthday.

1204
00:44:35,045 --> 00:44:35,864
Three days.

1205
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:36,860
Daddy

1206
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:39,019
was buried March.

1207
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:41,340
Mama, March.

1208
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:42,300
'3 days.

1209
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:45,660
Daddy was buried six days after his death.

1210
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,700
Mama was buried six days after her death.

1211
00:44:49,265 --> 00:44:51,445
Daddy passed 1978,

1212
00:44:51,744 --> 00:44:55,204
'30 years. Mama passed 2,008.

1213
00:44:55,824 --> 00:44:58,164
They both passed on a Sunday evening.

1214
00:44:58,785 --> 00:45:01,684
Daddy was 30 years older than mama. According

1215
00:45:01,744 --> 00:45:03,125
to their death certificates,

1216
00:45:03,659 --> 00:45:04,159
daddy

1217
00:45:04,780 --> 00:45:06,380
passed at 02:41,

1218
00:45:06,780 --> 00:45:07,280
PM,

1219
00:45:07,980 --> 00:45:10,799
mama at 05:35PM.

1220
00:45:11,339 --> 00:45:12,319
If she had

1221
00:45:13,099 --> 00:45:15,914
not passed and waited, if she lived or

1222
00:45:15,914 --> 00:45:17,934
waited six minutes longer,

1223
00:45:18,394 --> 00:45:21,434
it would have been exactly three hours between

1224
00:45:21,434 --> 00:45:22,175
their deaths.

1225
00:45:22,635 --> 00:45:23,855
Thirty years later,

1226
00:45:25,355 --> 00:45:28,655
the fee for daddy's death certificate was $3

1227
00:45:29,119 --> 00:45:31,219
They both died at age 97.

1228
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:33,940
Had mama lived to be 100,

1229
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,019
which is what she wanted to do,

1230
00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:39,059
this uniqueness would have not occurred.

1231
00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:41,679
I feel that mama was so tuned into

1232
00:45:41,679 --> 00:45:42,900
God and daddy.

1233
00:45:43,304 --> 00:45:44,764
It had to be this way.

1234
00:45:45,144 --> 00:45:47,625
Only God could do this. And this gives

1235
00:45:47,625 --> 00:45:49,405
me peace and closure.

1236
00:45:50,984 --> 00:45:52,905
You know So today today is the day

1237
00:45:52,905 --> 00:45:54,125
that she passed away.

1238
00:45:54,425 --> 00:45:57,005
Today is the twenty fifth. The twenty fourth.

1239
00:45:57,784 --> 00:45:59,170
Sure is. Yeah.

1240
00:45:59,789 --> 00:46:01,570
That's interesting that you're

1241
00:46:01,950 --> 00:46:03,390
talking about the history and

1242
00:46:04,670 --> 00:46:06,050
it sure is.

1243
00:46:06,750 --> 00:46:09,329
What was it like raising your children here?

1244
00:46:09,390 --> 00:46:11,309
You have just the one son who passed.

1245
00:46:11,309 --> 00:46:13,394
Did you have other children here? Yes. I

1246
00:46:13,394 --> 00:46:16,035
have, I had three sons and a daughter.

1247
00:46:16,035 --> 00:46:18,195
I had four children. Yeah. Uh-huh. So I

1248
00:46:18,195 --> 00:46:21,175
lost my Jerry was my youngest son

1249
00:46:21,715 --> 00:46:22,695
and he was

1250
00:46:23,635 --> 00:46:24,135
interesting,

1251
00:46:25,954 --> 00:46:27,175
to say the least.

1252
00:46:27,579 --> 00:46:29,760
He got into everything that he could.

1253
00:46:30,380 --> 00:46:31,440
But, you know,

1254
00:46:31,900 --> 00:46:32,299
he,

1255
00:46:33,339 --> 00:46:34,480
well, the circumstances

1256
00:46:35,179 --> 00:46:36,780
about his birth, I'm a,

1257
00:46:37,659 --> 00:46:39,099
I was telling you, you know, about my

1258
00:46:39,099 --> 00:46:40,460
husband coming and,

1259
00:46:41,005 --> 00:46:42,525
ahead of me and got a job as

1260
00:46:42,525 --> 00:46:43,184
a dishwasher.

1261
00:46:43,885 --> 00:46:46,125
At this job, he it was at a

1262
00:46:46,125 --> 00:46:48,625
rest at a restaurant in Leimert Park.

1263
00:46:49,005 --> 00:46:50,704
There was a guy working there

1264
00:46:51,244 --> 00:46:52,065
with him.

1265
00:46:52,364 --> 00:46:54,704
He became a friend of the family.

1266
00:46:55,780 --> 00:46:56,280
And

1267
00:46:57,539 --> 00:46:59,240
me being so naive

1268
00:47:00,260 --> 00:47:01,460
and, you know, like I said, I I

1269
00:47:01,460 --> 00:47:03,160
was a virgin when I got married.

1270
00:47:03,700 --> 00:47:04,200
After,

1271
00:47:04,660 --> 00:47:06,920
you know, coming to our house and stuff,

1272
00:47:07,300 --> 00:47:09,220
well, I I didn't know it then, but

1273
00:47:09,220 --> 00:47:11,264
he was grooming me. I don't I didn't

1274
00:47:11,264 --> 00:47:13,905
know all of this until, you know, I've

1275
00:47:13,905 --> 00:47:15,204
gotten older and

1276
00:47:15,585 --> 00:47:17,924
I'm familiar with terms and things.

1277
00:47:18,304 --> 00:47:19,444
He had a niece

1278
00:47:20,704 --> 00:47:21,605
named Virgimay,

1279
00:47:22,385 --> 00:47:23,844
and he hooked

1280
00:47:24,389 --> 00:47:25,609
Virgil May up with

1281
00:47:25,909 --> 00:47:28,010
my husband, who was named Arthur Lee.

1282
00:47:28,630 --> 00:47:30,549
Well, Arthur Lee was just about as naive

1283
00:47:30,549 --> 00:47:32,170
as I, you know, was.

1284
00:47:32,949 --> 00:47:36,089
And he had, you know, got He established

1285
00:47:36,309 --> 00:47:37,049
this relationship

1286
00:47:37,914 --> 00:47:40,255
with, between my husband and his niece.

1287
00:47:40,795 --> 00:47:43,434
But all, all the time he, you know,

1288
00:47:43,434 --> 00:47:45,134
he had his eye on me.

1289
00:47:45,914 --> 00:47:49,375
So he's grooming me. He became very, very,

1290
00:47:49,514 --> 00:47:52,109
you know, close to us in our family

1291
00:47:52,109 --> 00:47:52,769
and everything.

1292
00:47:54,429 --> 00:47:55,170
My husband,

1293
00:47:55,469 --> 00:47:57,949
Arthur Lee, he was almost like my dad,

1294
00:47:57,949 --> 00:47:59,170
a very poor provider.

1295
00:48:00,429 --> 00:48:00,929
I

1296
00:48:01,630 --> 00:48:02,530
hated that.

1297
00:48:02,925 --> 00:48:05,164
And so as time went on, you know,

1298
00:48:05,164 --> 00:48:07,005
well, my dad got real sick one time

1299
00:48:07,005 --> 00:48:08,445
and we all had to go home, you

1300
00:48:08,445 --> 00:48:10,385
know, because they thought he was gonna die.

1301
00:48:10,925 --> 00:48:13,565
And we all, all of us went back

1302
00:48:13,565 --> 00:48:16,364
to Mississippi, you know, hopefully he wouldn't die,

1303
00:48:16,364 --> 00:48:18,900
which he didn't at that time. This guy

1304
00:48:18,900 --> 00:48:20,760
was named Booker, Booker Langford.

1305
00:48:21,460 --> 00:48:23,299
And he was really good to me. He

1306
00:48:23,299 --> 00:48:24,739
said that, you know, he gave me a

1307
00:48:24,739 --> 00:48:26,500
big donation and he said they took it

1308
00:48:26,500 --> 00:48:27,480
up on the job.

1309
00:48:28,179 --> 00:48:30,434
I'm pretty sure they didn't. But he did

1310
00:48:30,594 --> 00:48:31,414
so many good

1311
00:48:31,715 --> 00:48:32,215
things.

1312
00:48:32,594 --> 00:48:33,655
And by this time,

1313
00:48:34,275 --> 00:48:36,594
you know, and I became aware of the

1314
00:48:36,594 --> 00:48:37,094
relationship

1315
00:48:37,474 --> 00:48:37,974
between

1316
00:48:38,275 --> 00:48:39,815
my husband and his niece.

1317
00:48:40,594 --> 00:48:42,775
So when he made his move,

1318
00:48:43,900 --> 00:48:46,539
he done groomed me, you know. And that's

1319
00:48:46,539 --> 00:48:48,000
how Jerry came about.

1320
00:48:48,619 --> 00:48:50,699
My brothers, you know, they knew about it

1321
00:48:50,699 --> 00:48:53,039
and everything and and they loved my husband.

1322
00:48:53,179 --> 00:48:55,579
And they and so they kind of took

1323
00:48:55,579 --> 00:48:56,639
it out on Jerry,

1324
00:48:57,340 --> 00:48:58,000
you know.

1325
00:48:59,125 --> 00:49:01,525
Like Jerry, you know, it was not Jerry's

1326
00:49:01,525 --> 00:49:02,505
fault that,

1327
00:49:02,885 --> 00:49:04,425
you know. Was it nonconsensual

1328
00:49:04,805 --> 00:49:07,765
sex? It was consensual sex. Okay. And,

1329
00:49:08,405 --> 00:49:10,325
I felt that I owed it to him

1330
00:49:10,325 --> 00:49:12,825
because he had been, you know, so good.

1331
00:49:13,285 --> 00:49:16,109
Because there were times when, you know, I

1332
00:49:16,109 --> 00:49:18,690
didn't have food and he provided food,

1333
00:49:19,389 --> 00:49:21,089
all of this. It took him years,

1334
00:49:21,710 --> 00:49:23,949
but he but he he was successful. He

1335
00:49:23,949 --> 00:49:25,869
had his eye on the prize and he

1336
00:49:25,869 --> 00:49:26,609
he won.

1337
00:49:27,164 --> 00:49:27,664
My

1338
00:49:28,204 --> 00:49:30,125
brothers, they took it out on you know,

1339
00:49:30,125 --> 00:49:30,625
they

1340
00:49:31,005 --> 00:49:33,585
didn't like the guy. They didn't like Booker.

1341
00:49:34,125 --> 00:49:36,204
So they took it out on Jerry. You

1342
00:49:36,204 --> 00:49:37,804
know, they used to thump his head and

1343
00:49:37,804 --> 00:49:40,144
all that kind of stuff, and they mistreated

1344
00:49:40,204 --> 00:49:41,730
him. And so it made him,

1345
00:49:42,690 --> 00:49:43,510
other words,

1346
00:49:44,289 --> 00:49:46,230
I guess, just messed with his,

1347
00:49:47,730 --> 00:49:48,869
he had an inferior

1348
00:49:49,329 --> 00:49:49,829
complex.

1349
00:49:50,690 --> 00:49:52,469
And so he used to just get into

1350
00:49:53,090 --> 00:49:53,590
trouble,

1351
00:49:54,155 --> 00:49:55,295
trouble, trouble.

1352
00:49:56,074 --> 00:49:57,675
And he gave me a lot of trouble.

1353
00:49:57,675 --> 00:49:58,574
And then he,

1354
00:49:58,875 --> 00:50:02,074
you know, as he, you know, grew up

1355
00:50:02,074 --> 00:50:02,574
and,

1356
00:50:03,994 --> 00:50:06,954
and I explained to him what happened because

1357
00:50:06,954 --> 00:50:07,855
he, you know,

1358
00:50:08,234 --> 00:50:09,135
he was upset

1359
00:50:09,659 --> 00:50:11,119
with his dad because,

1360
00:50:11,900 --> 00:50:14,299
he thought it, you know, it was forced

1361
00:50:14,299 --> 00:50:16,880
and everything. But I explained everything to him.

1362
00:50:17,260 --> 00:50:19,039
And he, you know, once he

1363
00:50:19,739 --> 00:50:22,400
became aware of what how the relationship

1364
00:50:22,859 --> 00:50:23,760
went and everything,

1365
00:50:24,554 --> 00:50:26,074
And then as he went to school and

1366
00:50:26,074 --> 00:50:26,894
stuff, and

1367
00:50:27,434 --> 00:50:28,574
he learned music,

1368
00:50:28,954 --> 00:50:30,255
after he was able

1369
00:50:30,875 --> 00:50:33,194
to get rid of the drug problem, he's

1370
00:50:33,194 --> 00:50:35,275
a mama's boy. It's hard for him to

1371
00:50:35,275 --> 00:50:36,255
forgive himself

1372
00:50:37,194 --> 00:50:38,989
for what he put me through. And I

1373
00:50:38,989 --> 00:50:40,989
tell him all the time, you know, don't,

1374
00:50:40,989 --> 00:50:43,309
you know but it's just hard for him,

1375
00:50:43,309 --> 00:50:45,630
you know, to forgive himself. So that's where

1376
00:50:45,630 --> 00:50:47,549
he he's at right now. He's he's a

1377
00:50:47,549 --> 00:50:48,289
good singer.

1378
00:50:48,750 --> 00:50:49,489
He plays

1379
00:50:49,789 --> 00:50:51,409
really good bass guitar.

1380
00:50:51,789 --> 00:50:53,089
Are all the descendants

1381
00:50:53,835 --> 00:50:56,394
part of the choir or part of the

1382
00:50:56,394 --> 00:50:58,954
singers, or is it just still the main

1383
00:50:58,954 --> 00:51:00,894
part of the family that does it?

1384
00:51:01,355 --> 00:51:03,454
We we sang for many years.

1385
00:51:03,994 --> 00:51:07,170
Mama, you know, mama was with us. Daddy

1386
00:51:07,170 --> 00:51:09,250
passed on. A couple of nieces, they kept

1387
00:51:09,250 --> 00:51:09,909
it going.

1388
00:51:10,289 --> 00:51:11,190
But then eventually,

1389
00:51:11,730 --> 00:51:12,389
you know,

1390
00:51:12,929 --> 00:51:14,869
it it just kind of folded up.

1391
00:51:15,170 --> 00:51:18,710
And so the kids now, nobody nobody's interested.

1392
00:51:19,364 --> 00:51:21,925
When we first started out, it was like

1393
00:51:21,925 --> 00:51:22,744
40 something.

1394
00:51:23,445 --> 00:51:26,505
We had 40 something people in the choir.

1395
00:51:26,724 --> 00:51:28,344
The youngest was like three.

1396
00:51:28,965 --> 00:51:31,385
And my mom, she was in her eighties.

1397
00:51:31,925 --> 00:51:33,864
We sang at the Hollywood Bowl

1398
00:51:34,190 --> 00:51:37,309
Under there was, it was called Five Musical

1399
00:51:37,309 --> 00:51:39,410
Families, and our family was chosen.

1400
00:51:39,789 --> 00:51:42,130
So there was like a Chinese, a Russian,

1401
00:51:43,230 --> 00:51:45,809
a black. It was five. It was, I

1402
00:51:45,950 --> 00:51:46,450
forgot,

1403
00:51:46,775 --> 00:51:47,755
maybe Indian.

1404
00:51:48,135 --> 00:51:50,454
But it was five musical families and that's

1405
00:51:50,454 --> 00:51:52,875
how we sang, you know, got an opportunity

1406
00:51:53,414 --> 00:51:55,735
to perform there at the Hollywood Bowl. We

1407
00:51:55,735 --> 00:51:57,035
made pictures and stuff.

1408
00:51:57,414 --> 00:51:59,195
It's been really interesting. And

1409
00:52:00,055 --> 00:52:01,114
I used to sew

1410
00:52:01,519 --> 00:52:02,019
and

1411
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:03,460
I made outfits

1412
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:04,900
for

1413
00:52:05,199 --> 00:52:05,699
everybody.

1414
00:52:06,639 --> 00:52:09,199
I made shirts for the men and dresses

1415
00:52:09,199 --> 00:52:10,019
for the women.

1416
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:13,715
And our first appearance, we stepped out and

1417
00:52:14,175 --> 00:52:16,815
it looked so pretty because everybody had on

1418
00:52:16,815 --> 00:52:18,994
the same identical thing.

1419
00:52:19,295 --> 00:52:21,135
The men had on black suits with blue

1420
00:52:21,135 --> 00:52:22,994
shirts and we had on the blue dresses.

1421
00:52:23,375 --> 00:52:25,295
We did a big event at,

1422
00:52:25,855 --> 00:52:28,015
Trade Tech. You know, are you familiar with

1423
00:52:28,015 --> 00:52:28,710
Trade Tech?

1424
00:52:29,510 --> 00:52:30,329
It's a college.

1425
00:52:31,269 --> 00:52:32,329
Anyway, we did

1426
00:52:33,670 --> 00:52:35,989
a big event there, and I made lavender

1427
00:52:35,989 --> 00:52:37,130
dresses for

1428
00:52:37,510 --> 00:52:38,010
everybody.

1429
00:52:38,469 --> 00:52:38,630
And,

1430
00:52:39,510 --> 00:52:40,730
the men had on

1431
00:52:41,269 --> 00:52:41,769
burgundy.

1432
00:52:42,195 --> 00:52:43,494
Not lavender, burgundy.

1433
00:52:43,875 --> 00:52:45,875
And the men had on burgundy black suits

1434
00:52:45,875 --> 00:52:48,594
and burgundy shirts and just, you know, we

1435
00:52:48,594 --> 00:52:50,914
went in style, you know. I learned to

1436
00:52:50,914 --> 00:52:52,695
sew when I was real little

1437
00:52:53,075 --> 00:52:53,815
to also,

1438
00:52:54,239 --> 00:52:56,079
because my mama sewed. She used to make

1439
00:52:56,079 --> 00:52:56,579
quilts

1440
00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:59,679
by hand, you know, when we were kids

1441
00:52:59,679 --> 00:53:00,420
and stuff,

1442
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,079
coming up. And if somebody complained about being

1443
00:53:04,079 --> 00:53:04,579
cold,

1444
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:07,219
sleeping cold, my mom would,

1445
00:53:08,905 --> 00:53:10,605
she never threw away anything.

1446
00:53:12,105 --> 00:53:13,405
She made our dresses

1447
00:53:14,505 --> 00:53:15,005
from

1448
00:53:15,864 --> 00:53:16,364
flower

1449
00:53:16,744 --> 00:53:17,244
sacks.

1450
00:53:17,704 --> 00:53:19,625
You know, used to be able to buy

1451
00:53:19,625 --> 00:53:22,204
flower in a 25 pound bag.

1452
00:53:22,910 --> 00:53:24,750
And so daddy, you know, when he would

1453
00:53:24,750 --> 00:53:27,329
go shopping and whatever pattern he

1454
00:53:27,630 --> 00:53:31,230
got, she would, you know, next time it

1455
00:53:31,230 --> 00:53:33,150
was time to buy flour, she would have

1456
00:53:33,150 --> 00:53:34,750
him to pick up that same

1457
00:53:35,230 --> 00:53:37,070
another sack with that same so she could

1458
00:53:37,070 --> 00:53:37,394
make

1459
00:53:37,875 --> 00:53:39,175
mine and Bonnie's dresses.

1460
00:53:39,474 --> 00:53:42,034
Mhmm. And we could we could describe to

1461
00:53:42,034 --> 00:53:42,534
her

1462
00:53:43,315 --> 00:53:43,815
what

1463
00:53:44,755 --> 00:53:46,835
how, you know, a dress that we wanted

1464
00:53:46,835 --> 00:53:48,614
made, and she could make it.

1465
00:53:48,914 --> 00:53:49,235
And,

1466
00:53:49,795 --> 00:53:51,719
so that passed on to me. But I

1467
00:53:51,719 --> 00:53:54,139
couldn't I I I I sew by pattern.

1468
00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:55,079
But,

1469
00:53:55,800 --> 00:53:58,199
That's an interesting part of history is that

1470
00:53:58,199 --> 00:54:01,239
the flower companies made their sacks with designs

1471
00:54:01,239 --> 00:54:03,159
and things because they knew that people were

1472
00:54:03,159 --> 00:54:05,260
making clothing from them. Yes.

1473
00:54:05,804 --> 00:54:07,984
Thank God, you know, because

1474
00:54:08,284 --> 00:54:10,304
we they weren't able to buy

1475
00:54:10,764 --> 00:54:11,264
yardage,

1476
00:54:11,565 --> 00:54:14,065
you know. I've seen some of the clothing

1477
00:54:14,125 --> 00:54:15,184
from that time,

1478
00:54:15,724 --> 00:54:19,109
on display. It's really interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

1479
00:54:19,570 --> 00:54:22,530
I I lived through those times. Yeah. Looking

1480
00:54:22,530 --> 00:54:23,989
back on your life,

1481
00:54:25,010 --> 00:54:26,469
what do you think is

1482
00:54:26,849 --> 00:54:28,550
one of the most profound

1483
00:54:28,929 --> 00:54:30,150
moments for you?

1484
00:54:31,409 --> 00:54:33,284
Really, really, really profound

1485
00:54:34,465 --> 00:54:36,885
is once my brothers became famous,

1486
00:54:38,065 --> 00:54:38,565
and

1487
00:54:39,105 --> 00:54:40,885
they would be on the road and

1488
00:54:42,304 --> 00:54:44,164
and get when they would come home,

1489
00:54:45,980 --> 00:54:48,880
invite people and fix big meals

1490
00:54:49,339 --> 00:54:50,960
and just feed people.

1491
00:54:52,460 --> 00:54:54,800
Now, that's something my grandmother did.

1492
00:54:55,900 --> 00:54:57,199
As mean as she was,

1493
00:54:57,945 --> 00:55:00,105
once a year for her husband, for my

1494
00:55:00,105 --> 00:55:00,605
grandfather,

1495
00:55:01,224 --> 00:55:02,445
she would do this,

1496
00:55:03,224 --> 00:55:05,085
second Sunday in August thing

1497
00:55:05,545 --> 00:55:07,965
where people would just come and bring food

1498
00:55:08,105 --> 00:55:09,805
and just feed people.

1499
00:55:10,769 --> 00:55:11,269
And

1500
00:55:11,570 --> 00:55:11,890
that's

1501
00:55:12,530 --> 00:55:14,150
to me, that stands out.

1502
00:55:15,010 --> 00:55:18,390
We still do it. Bob's been invited to

1503
00:55:18,769 --> 00:55:19,910
one of our gatherings.

1504
00:55:20,690 --> 00:55:23,170
You know, we just like to do that.

1505
00:55:23,170 --> 00:55:24,184
That's It's

1506
00:55:24,724 --> 00:55:25,385
a lasting

1507
00:55:26,005 --> 00:55:26,505
impression

1508
00:55:28,324 --> 00:55:30,025
in our lives where we

1509
00:55:30,565 --> 00:55:31,545
just like to

1510
00:55:32,324 --> 00:55:33,625
have people come together.

1511
00:55:34,805 --> 00:55:38,300
No fighting, no cursing, no fussing, no

1512
00:55:39,079 --> 00:55:41,420
violence. Just come together and just

1513
00:55:41,720 --> 00:55:42,220
enjoy.

1514
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:44,140
No

1515
00:55:44,599 --> 00:55:47,720
plan for unless we plan to have some

1516
00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:48,940
entertainment or whatever.

1517
00:55:49,240 --> 00:55:51,525
But just come together, you know, and we

1518
00:55:51,525 --> 00:55:52,824
would just pick anything

1519
00:55:53,324 --> 00:55:53,824
to

1520
00:55:54,324 --> 00:55:55,545
create that,

1521
00:55:56,324 --> 00:55:58,905
you know, to create that event. Yeah.

1522
00:55:59,284 --> 00:56:00,105
Yeah. So

1523
00:56:00,484 --> 00:56:02,964
we did it was for my ninetieth for

1524
00:56:02,964 --> 00:56:04,184
my ninetieth birthday,

1525
00:56:04,710 --> 00:56:06,469
We here, we did a big thing in

1526
00:56:06,469 --> 00:56:07,929
the backyard back there.

1527
00:56:08,469 --> 00:56:08,789
And,

1528
00:56:09,269 --> 00:56:11,190
a lot of people a lot of people

1529
00:56:11,190 --> 00:56:11,690
came.

1530
00:56:11,989 --> 00:56:15,109
We sang, you know, just because always when

1531
00:56:15,109 --> 00:56:17,210
we get together, we always sang.

1532
00:56:17,510 --> 00:56:19,034
That that's profiled

1533
00:56:20,454 --> 00:56:22,695
too. Anytime we would get together, we would

1534
00:56:22,695 --> 00:56:24,875
always sing. It's really, really funny.

1535
00:56:25,335 --> 00:56:25,815
Because,

1536
00:56:26,135 --> 00:56:28,235
my mom, you know, and

1537
00:56:28,614 --> 00:56:30,375
we we okay. This is how it would

1538
00:56:30,375 --> 00:56:31,514
start. We start

1539
00:56:31,815 --> 00:56:33,434
off singing gospel.

1540
00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:35,099
And then,

1541
00:56:35,639 --> 00:56:37,400
you know, and then the music would, you

1542
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:37,900
know,

1543
00:56:39,000 --> 00:56:41,239
then we'd go into rock and roll or

1544
00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:42,219
whatever and

1545
00:56:42,599 --> 00:56:44,920
do that. And we'd dance. And my mom

1546
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:46,440
wouldn't even get up on the floor and,

1547
00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:48,359
you know, in her little way of dancing,

1548
00:56:48,359 --> 00:56:50,515
she would do her little step and stuff,

1549
00:56:50,655 --> 00:56:52,515
but we would always end up

1550
00:56:53,135 --> 00:56:55,215
just doing the gospel. Those are the two

1551
00:56:55,215 --> 00:56:57,954
things that stands out in my life that

1552
00:56:58,894 --> 00:57:00,815
we, you know, we still do. Some of

1553
00:57:00,815 --> 00:57:03,375
your memories around the civil rights movement and

1554
00:57:03,375 --> 00:57:05,394
doctor King and Malcolm X.

1555
00:57:05,750 --> 00:57:07,369
I am not politically

1556
00:57:09,109 --> 00:57:09,609
motivated.

1557
00:57:10,069 --> 00:57:12,730
I just I've never gotten involved with politics.

1558
00:57:13,190 --> 00:57:14,010
How come?

1559
00:57:16,069 --> 00:57:18,329
I think it's perhaps because

1560
00:57:20,244 --> 00:57:21,465
not being educated

1561
00:57:21,844 --> 00:57:22,905
enough to

1562
00:57:24,644 --> 00:57:27,684
realize, you know, what's going on. Mhmm. I

1563
00:57:27,684 --> 00:57:29,625
just never I just I never

1564
00:57:30,085 --> 00:57:31,539
followed it, you know.

1565
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:34,920
What about the wars, Vietnam and Korea? I

1566
00:57:34,920 --> 00:57:37,119
I hate it. Yeah. I hate it, you

1567
00:57:37,119 --> 00:57:39,519
know, because Gerald went into service. He's I

1568
00:57:39,519 --> 00:57:41,460
think he served, like, eighteen months.

1569
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:42,579
In Korea?

1570
00:57:43,055 --> 00:57:44,355
Yes. Yeah. Mhmm.

1571
00:57:44,815 --> 00:57:45,715
I I don't

1572
00:57:46,735 --> 00:57:47,474
talk politics.

1573
00:57:48,175 --> 00:57:50,434
I'm just not politically inclined.

1574
00:57:50,894 --> 00:57:52,035
Never have been.

1575
00:57:52,655 --> 00:57:54,755
And at my age, I never will be.

1576
00:57:55,135 --> 00:57:55,795
You know?

1577
00:57:56,820 --> 00:57:58,280
Do you vote? No.

1578
00:57:58,660 --> 00:58:00,599
I used to because mama

1579
00:58:01,460 --> 00:58:02,119
I mean,

1580
00:58:02,500 --> 00:58:04,340
if probably if mama was still living, I

1581
00:58:04,340 --> 00:58:06,039
would vote because she was,

1582
00:58:06,420 --> 00:58:10,019
you know, my mom really, really she loved

1583
00:58:10,019 --> 00:58:10,519
voting.

1584
00:58:11,355 --> 00:58:12,554
Why why do you think you don't do

1585
00:58:12,554 --> 00:58:13,215
it anymore?

1586
00:58:14,554 --> 00:58:15,934
Because I think it's

1587
00:58:17,755 --> 00:58:18,815
I don't know.

1588
00:58:20,155 --> 00:58:21,114
The politicians are

1589
00:58:23,619 --> 00:58:24,440
I don't know.

1590
00:58:25,460 --> 00:58:27,159
I just don't I think it's

1591
00:58:27,780 --> 00:58:28,519
it's rigged.

1592
00:58:29,619 --> 00:58:31,699
That's how I feel about it. I haven't

1593
00:58:31,699 --> 00:58:32,839
I haven't voted.

1594
00:58:33,139 --> 00:58:35,639
In fact, here, I'm not even registered now.

1595
00:58:35,859 --> 00:58:37,320
I didn't vote in Louisiana.

1596
00:58:38,025 --> 00:58:40,284
I lived there from 02/2009

1597
00:58:41,224 --> 00:58:42,525
to 02/22.

1598
00:58:44,664 --> 00:58:47,484
I mean, 2022,

1599
00:58:47,864 --> 00:58:49,085
I came back here.

1600
00:58:49,704 --> 00:58:51,704
I'm not embarrassed to say it because I

1601
00:58:51,704 --> 00:58:53,460
just, you know, I don't talk about it.

1602
00:58:53,539 --> 00:58:55,539
Yeah. What are your plans for the next

1603
00:58:55,539 --> 00:58:56,280
ten years?

1604
00:58:57,219 --> 00:58:58,119
Just in life?

1605
00:58:59,859 --> 00:59:01,940
Well, I'll I'll tell you like I told

1606
00:59:01,940 --> 00:59:02,420
my,

1607
00:59:02,820 --> 00:59:04,679
cardiologist when I left Louisiana

1608
00:59:05,380 --> 00:59:08,019
and my health got, you know, bad and

1609
00:59:08,019 --> 00:59:08,679
I said,

1610
00:59:09,005 --> 00:59:10,545
I'm going to California

1611
00:59:11,644 --> 00:59:12,385
to live,

1612
00:59:15,244 --> 00:59:16,385
and not die.

1613
00:59:16,684 --> 00:59:19,664
I'm gonna I'm gonna live until I die.

1614
00:59:21,005 --> 00:59:23,885
So for the next ten years, I'm just

1615
00:59:23,885 --> 00:59:24,869
gonna try to,

1616
00:59:25,349 --> 00:59:27,690
well, I want to be 105.

1617
00:59:28,470 --> 00:59:30,329
My mom wanted to be 100,

1618
00:59:30,789 --> 00:59:32,890
and I'm going for 105.

1619
00:59:33,910 --> 00:59:34,410
So

1620
00:59:36,150 --> 00:59:38,150
I, you know, that's a little bit more

1621
00:59:38,150 --> 00:59:39,130
than ten years.

1622
00:59:40,070 --> 00:59:40,570
But,

1623
00:59:41,244 --> 00:59:43,505
well, I'm 91 now, so

1624
00:59:44,525 --> 00:59:46,304
I'm on my way to the hundred.

1625
00:59:48,764 --> 00:59:50,844
So I'm just trying to make it day

1626
00:59:50,844 --> 00:59:52,465
by day. I still drive.

1627
00:59:53,130 --> 00:59:53,869
My hobby,

1628
00:59:55,449 --> 00:59:56,989
is word game.

1629
00:59:58,250 --> 01:00:00,349
I like I play words with friends

1630
01:00:00,969 --> 01:00:03,869
and I win almost all of my games.

1631
01:00:05,369 --> 01:00:07,289
I used to play Scrabble, and this is

1632
01:00:07,289 --> 01:00:08,429
so close to Scrabble.

1633
01:00:08,730 --> 01:00:11,045
So So it keeps my mind, you know.

1634
01:00:12,065 --> 01:00:13,684
And when I'm driving,

1635
01:00:14,704 --> 01:00:16,565
will I know I know the points,

1636
01:00:17,025 --> 01:00:18,644
you know, like what each,

1637
01:00:19,664 --> 01:00:20,164
alphabet,

1638
01:00:20,864 --> 01:00:22,385
I know the points. You know, like m

1639
01:00:22,385 --> 01:00:23,760
is four points and

1640
01:00:24,079 --> 01:00:26,559
j is 10 points and x is eight

1641
01:00:26,559 --> 01:00:27,059
points.

1642
01:00:27,599 --> 01:00:28,340
And, you know,

1643
01:00:28,719 --> 01:00:30,099
so when I drive,

1644
01:00:30,719 --> 01:00:33,219
I play this game with license plates.

1645
01:00:34,480 --> 01:00:37,460
I, I'm always trying to get 40 points.

1646
01:00:38,465 --> 01:00:40,385
So what I do, I really I add

1647
01:00:40,385 --> 01:00:42,005
up the points, you know.

1648
01:00:42,465 --> 01:00:44,304
I add the numbers and I know what

1649
01:00:44,304 --> 01:00:45,445
the what the alphabets.

1650
01:00:45,985 --> 01:00:47,585
I know what I know the points. So

1651
01:00:47,585 --> 01:00:50,065
I I that's what I do. So it

1652
01:00:50,065 --> 01:00:51,985
keeps me, you know, it keeps my mind,

1653
01:00:51,985 --> 01:00:53,664
you know. It seems like a good good

1654
01:00:53,664 --> 01:00:55,320
way to keep the mind active. Yeah. For

1655
01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:57,720
sure. If I'm driving daily, that's what I

1656
01:00:57,720 --> 01:00:59,980
do. Yeah. And every once in a while,

1657
01:01:00,200 --> 01:01:02,626
I find cars that had that their their

1658
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:05,640
the alphabets and the numbers go past 40,

1659
01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:07,579
sometimes 42, 40 three,

1660
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:08,619
you know.

1661
01:01:09,105 --> 01:01:11,764
But the most popular number is 39.

1662
01:01:12,385 --> 01:01:14,545
For the next ten years, I'm just gonna

1663
01:01:14,545 --> 01:01:16,385
take it day by day. I mean, I

1664
01:01:16,385 --> 01:01:18,945
think that's a good attitude. Thank you so

1665
01:01:18,945 --> 01:01:20,965
much for your time and for your storytelling.

1666
01:01:22,050 --> 01:01:23,349
Yep. Thank you for

1667
01:01:24,289 --> 01:01:27,250
listening. Absolutely. It's a I could go on

1668
01:01:27,250 --> 01:01:29,030
and on and on and on and on

1669
01:01:29,489 --> 01:01:31,329
because when I came you know, when I

1670
01:01:31,329 --> 01:01:32,390
when I left Louisiana,

1671
01:01:32,930 --> 01:01:34,610
you know, I I left with the vision

1672
01:01:34,610 --> 01:01:36,230
to take care of my brother, Joe.

1673
01:01:36,614 --> 01:01:38,554
He passed August,

1674
01:01:38,614 --> 01:01:41,094
this past August. He had a problem with

1675
01:01:41,094 --> 01:01:43,655
drugs and stuff. You know, his health got

1676
01:01:43,655 --> 01:01:46,394
really bad. I hung in there with him,

1677
01:01:46,695 --> 01:01:47,755
was able to,

1678
01:01:48,295 --> 01:01:50,339
you know, for him to get a good

1679
01:01:50,339 --> 01:01:52,579
burial. I got all that taken care of

1680
01:01:52,579 --> 01:01:54,599
for him. With him gone,

1681
01:01:54,900 --> 01:01:57,460
my sister, this bunny, you know, she's two

1682
01:01:57,460 --> 01:01:59,000
years younger than I am,

1683
01:01:59,380 --> 01:02:01,000
and her health is bad.

1684
01:02:01,699 --> 01:02:03,795
So right now, I'm, you know,

1685
01:02:04,275 --> 01:02:05,494
I'm kind of

1686
01:02:06,594 --> 01:02:07,974
I always have a mission.

1687
01:02:08,835 --> 01:02:10,835
And we're getting ready to move from here.

1688
01:02:10,835 --> 01:02:13,074
So when after we, you know, get moved

1689
01:02:13,074 --> 01:02:14,594
from here and I get settled in, I'll

1690
01:02:14,594 --> 01:02:16,355
probably be spending a lot of nights with

1691
01:02:16,355 --> 01:02:16,855
her.

1692
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:19,760
She's alone. Her husband had to be, put

1693
01:02:19,760 --> 01:02:23,539
into a a facility because he has Alzheimer's.

1694
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:26,800
So she's alone. She, you know, she'll make

1695
01:02:26,800 --> 01:02:28,579
89 the March 3.

1696
01:02:29,679 --> 01:02:32,994
You know, so I keep myself busy. Yeah.

1697
01:02:33,295 --> 01:02:36,035
Get busy living or get busy dying. Yeah.

1698
01:02:36,095 --> 01:02:38,434
Right? And I I prefer living. Yeah.

1699
01:02:38,735 --> 01:02:40,974
There's a scripture in the Bible, Proverbs, I

1700
01:02:40,974 --> 01:02:43,055
think it's 1821

1701
01:02:43,055 --> 01:02:43,555
says,

1702
01:02:43,855 --> 01:02:45,695
Death and life is in the power of

1703
01:02:45,695 --> 01:02:46,530
the tongue.

1704
01:02:47,230 --> 01:02:49,470
So I speak life to my life, not

1705
01:02:49,470 --> 01:02:49,970
death.

1706
01:02:50,670 --> 01:02:51,410
And so

1707
01:02:51,789 --> 01:02:53,950
when I you know, there are times when

1708
01:02:53,950 --> 01:02:55,230
I don't know if I'll wake up the

1709
01:02:55,230 --> 01:02:57,550
next morning. So I I said, Beau, I

1710
01:02:57,550 --> 01:02:59,950
will live and not die to declare the

1711
01:02:59,950 --> 01:03:01,775
works of the Lord. I wake up the

1712
01:03:01,775 --> 01:03:02,275
next

1713
01:03:02,974 --> 01:03:03,934
Lord. So Seems like a good,

1714
01:03:05,215 --> 01:03:05,715
partnership.

1715
01:03:06,095 --> 01:03:08,494
Yeah. It is. It is. So Thank you,

1716
01:03:08,494 --> 01:03:08,994
Jewel.

1717
01:03:09,375 --> 01:03:11,075
Thank you for listening, everybody.

1718
01:03:11,614 --> 01:03:12,114
Bye.

1719
01:03:17,760 --> 01:03:20,579
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human podcast

1720
01:03:20,799 --> 01:03:23,539
on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

1721
01:03:23,679 --> 01:03:24,900
Thanks. Bye.