True Voice Life Stories

Creation Science — Richard Faison

Richard is the last of nine children born to a mother who gave him up. He grew up with loving adoptive parents, a few minutes from his biological sister, although unknown at the time. I learned about him facing the Vietnam war draft, his 16 years of International Guard service, and his role in building a science-rooted church organization that has taken him across the globe.

Regulating Medicine (Hydroxychloroquine) — Dr. Jane Orient

Dr. Orient was born in Tucson, Arizona, where she graduated college in ‘67. She wanted to attend medical school right after but didn’t have the courage. We talk about how she mastered that courage through teaching and her current role as the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. An organization leading a lawsuit involving a medicine used by lupus patients and recently linked to preventing COVID-19.

Lupus Awareness Part II — Tonyelle Cook-Artis

Tonyelle Cook-Artis was diagnosed with lupus a few months before college. But that did not stop her from graduating with a 3.5 GPA, being a Resident Assistant, and working two jobs. We talk about giving birth to her post-mature son - now 18. And her career in politics.

Lupus Awareness Part I — Cheri Perron

Cherri Perron went from meeting Bill Clinton in high school, one of five black students in her college program to being diagnosed with lupus - an autoimmune disease overwhelmingly affecting women of color. She is dedicated to helping people living with lupus and not letting it define her. I spoke to her about lupus and the topic of race in Arkansaw, where she lived under Jim Crow law.

A Bias For Action — Bill Blount

Bill was born to a mailman and stay-at-home mother in a multicultural town of working-class families chasing the ‘American dream.’ He served in the military and later embarked on a career in HR, which all began after being accidentally enrolled in a cleck course instead of computer programming.

The Model Activist — Bernyce Mills-Devaughn

Bernyce has devoutly been a Christian and Muslim at different times in her life. From becoming a young mother, a model, and featuring in an Emmy-winning film - we talk about her life and zeal for fighting racial injustice and helping others.

The Educated Mind & Body — Ronald Bond

Ronald Bond shared a room with his six brothers in Chester, a then boomtown in Philadelphia, thriving on manufacturing ships for the World Wars. I talk to him about sharing a one-bedroom house with a family of three in New York, the first step to his career as a Recreation Director, giving people opportunities to be active.

The Boy From The Ditch — Dennis Turner

In 1985, CBS brought national attention to a county in Mississippi, known as Sugar Ditch. The documentary exposed Tunica's Sugar Ditch as the poorest in the USA. We talk with Dennis about first beating the odds of being the fourth miscarriage to making it out from the poor and dirty ditch of Mississippi. Now a successful, educated, motivational speaker and singer.

Organizing Change - Denise Perry

Denise Perry has been preparing and training leaders to dismantle racial injustice for almost a decade. While barely ten years old, Denise began her journey as an ‘organizer’ helping working-class Americans navigate deteriorating working conditions and the dilution of labor unions because of the Reagan administration’s neoliberalism in the 80s.