This is the first time I've ever done a segment on Experience Michiana sitting on a porch, but it feels lovely right now.

The weather is absolutely beautiful and I'm here with Brother Sage.

Thank you so much for inviting us here to talk to you.

I know that on August 8th, you have an event coming up at the History Museum.

Can you tell me a little bit about what that is?

I'd love to, but first of all, I would like to acknowledge WNIT and Kelsy Zumbrun and all the staff for bringing us the gentle spirit by the name of Kelly Morgan Burget.

And you stuck with her during the most difficult period of her life, and that really touched a lot of people.

Yeah, we enjoyed it.

So thank you.

It.

And thank you, Kelly.

Because her spirit will always live.

Absolutely.

You know, how did you know Kelly?

Well, few times I've been fortunate enough to be on Experience Michiana.

Yeah, but away from that, we did programs together.

We respected each other.

And I actually met her at the center for history about 20 years ago.

So that's how I knew Kelly and her daughter.

And thank you for carrying that spirit on the season.

The universe and the stars.

Yeah.

And we'll see her again someday.

We sure will.

And you know, I didn't get to meet her that often, but at her funeral, seeing how love she was was just overwhelming.

I mean, she really was such a beautiful light in this community, a gentle spirit.

And thank you.

Yeah.

She was.

And thank you for acknowledging her.

And I know you also want to acknowledge your history at the History Museum.

Can you tell me a little bit about what's happening on August 8th?

On August 8th, from 2 to 330 and maybe a little beyond that.

A cousin I learned 3 or 4 months ago that I had.

His name is Reverend Doctor Michael Nichols.

Out of business in Illinois.

He's pastor of Second Baptist Church.

He's not only an Ampy.

My mother's maiden name was Ampy His name is Nick.

Last name is Nichols, but he is the descendant of the amp tree.

There are four trees with limbs and branches.

And we put it together.

We're worldwide.

And we have nine generations we can report on.

And we're going to share that.

And he took sabbatical from his church duties as senior pastor to research the family name through the Bureau of Statistics, that the Atlantic slave trade.

Different libraries, different genealogical associations.

And he will share along with me, and I'll interview him and also share my side of the family story.

And so for people watching this, you know, what do you think the appeal for them would be?

Because obviously it's about your family.

But there's a kind of broader message that goes across a lot of families, right?

Like, what is it like?

Why would people watching really want to come and watch this at the History Museum?

It's a good question.

Really, the reason is we want to know that African Americans have a proud story also.

And in this case, we've been in this country for a number of years.

We landed in the latter 1600s.

And we've built we've had judges, doctors, lawyers, educators, athletes, mayors.

We've done some remarkable things in this country, and we want to be able to tell our story from our perspective because they don't do that in school.

Very seldom.

You're positive about Mother Africa, the beginning of civilization.

Yeah.

And we will share that with and show how we've evolved and dropped some teaching points that I think people will really enjoy sharing.

And you talk about educating people.

And you were an educator yourself.

You were a principal in East Saint Louis and Illinois.

And what was your time like then and how did you end up in South Band?

That's interesting.

I actually came here to seek employment, which did not work out, but I did a program at the University of Notre Dame that went over really well, and people there saw me and they got me involved, especially folks from Elkhart.

And once they got me involved, doors just started to open up.

I became director of the Urban League.

I also started another television station.

Did TV and radio work together for 12 years, then ended up working with Indot in Northwest Indiana in 13 different counties.

So doors just opened for me, even though the main thing I came here for didn't happen.

Yeah.

And as far as my life is concerned, I've been blessed with a lot of skill development.

When I can work with people, especially youth.

Many youth have touched my life and I appreciate that.

So all that has brought me to the point of being able to describe what I consider valuable.

And that's the beautiful story of being an African American.

I am a proud diaspora, an African American man, and I want to share that with as many people who would like to understand it.

And, you know, I grew up in a different country, so I'm from Ireland originally, and I just moved here 11 years ago, and so I didn't grow up in the educational system here of I don't know what it taught.

You know, I don't understand often the divide, but I know that when you meet people in person, there's very little divide.

But I feel like we're told a lot of things and educate in a lot of ways that kind of wants to separate us and not celebrate us.

And so I think events like this are important, that you can hear it from the actual source and, and believe it because it's true and not just what you're told.

I think not only should we teach them what to think, we should teach them how to think.

And in the case of African American children, very little in education enforces who they are.

They don't know about Mother Africa.

All they ever hear about Africa are the negative things, but there are positive things.

Since Africa was the beginning of human civilization.

Yeah.

Many people have gone there and found how beautiful it is because the highest continent in the world.

So therefore it has natural resources.

A lot of other countries don't have.

Yeah.

So we need to emphasize the youngsters of all cultures, the uniqueness of their cultural edifice, as opposed to not wanting to tell their story.

Yeah.

There was something I was looking at recently.

And when you see how small Africa looks on a map, say, compared to like Russia or something, you know, and then you actually look at the geography and the distance and you realize that Africa is actually bigger and you think, why is the mindset to make it look smaller?

You know, like it's almost like to not focus on it and give it give it the credit that it deserves, you know.

And so I know that's not the point of this interview, but it was just a small thing.

It is, but it is.

Yeah.

Africa is 13,500mi².

America is 3500mi².

You can fit America and Africa almost four times.

Yeah, okay.

Africa has the highest elevated continent.

It's closer to the sun than any other continent.

So therefore, the resources are abundant.

Yeah.

So there's so much that needs to be shared.

And I like to use what I know knowledge wise to motivate youngsters to check out their family history, because they'd be surprised who they're related to.

They'd be surprised what we've done.

The richest man ever walked the face of the earth was Mansa Musa.

Okay?

One of the greatest war generals ever was Hannibal, who climbed the Alps with elephants.

There's just so many stories that we need to tell which was reinforced.

Learning and learning is the key thing, and we need to do it with love.

I think if you start everything with love, it's a good place to start.

Right.

Right.

Whether it's a conversation sitting down like this or whether it's learning something.

And too often we jump to judgment or jump to not wanting to learn because it's so much easier to just be ignorant.

But in the end, I don't think that's our purpose here on earth precisely to learn and love.

You know, because I love and learn maybe in that order.

So and so.

August 8th, you mentioned from two until 330.

Is it a free event then for people to it's free.

It's free.

Not one red cent will be charged.

Yeah.

Doctor, neighbor and I will share with you our experiences.

He's up in age.

Also not as old as I am, because only Methuselah has me.

But I think you'll enjoy what he has to say.

And you'll find it to be very inspirational.

Because we want people in search of truth, to be able to come to spot, to find it.

Like our public library.

And what was the word you said that you used?

That it's an African storyteller.

What is the I'm with known as an African American grill grill.

The storyteller grill.

Okay.

My ancestry comes from Ghana, home of Aesop with the fables.

I'm starting to think, though, if you're a storyteller, the event might go on past 330, you know?

I didn't hear that.

I said, I'm starting to think, considering your a storyteller, the event might go on past 330.

Well, if it does go on beyond 330, we welcome that.

Because when Doctor Neighbor's book comes out in the beginning of next year, he wants to come back and have a book signing.

So we want to build and bring people together, because I think the world could use some peace and some unity in creating that love.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your porch, sharing your time, and sharing your story.

Thank you very much.

God bless.