Item
Horace Graydon: I want to live peacefully with you, politically, socially…
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Horace Graydon: I want to live peacefully with you, politically, socially…
Horace Graydon, Oral History, 2020/09/24
Description (Dublin Core)
Horace Graydon is a community volunteer, avid walker, and advocate for disrupting the pipeline to prison for youth of color. Horace tells his story against the backdrop of his long-term sentences in federal penitentiary. In the end, Horace is hopeful, though, finding that his passion for his work now. Stating that he "took so much out of our black communities by when" he committed acts that led him to prison that, now, he is
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Creator (Dublin Core)
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
LongIslandCommunity
Partner (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
oral history
screenshots
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
Long Island
New York
incarceration
Black Lives Matter
tutor
volunteer
community organizer
domestic violence
gangs
Collection (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
11/23/2020
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
11/23/2020
12/08/2020
11/12/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
09/24/2020
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Juilee Decker
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Horace Graydon
Format (Dublin Core)
video
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Interview by Juilee Decker and Joysetta Pearse with Horace Graydon Recorded September 24, 2020
5:30 pm ET
Conducted over Zoom, lasting 24 minutes
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Joysetta Pearse: Yeah, this is Horace great and and he's going to be taken to see here
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Juilee Decker: Oh, good. Oh, hi Horace.
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Joysetta Pearse: Enjoy.
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Juilee Decker: Good. Okay, so I have your name, your first name is h o our AC is that right
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Juilee Decker: Yes, perfect. Okay, so here's the way it works. I'm asking people about what what COVID has been like for them. So I have questions. So I asked each question. There's five questions.
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Juilee Decker: And then you can answer the question, and we can take it, you know, in a little different direction. If it goes that way. And so the first question is, before coven
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Juilee Decker: By the way, my name is Julie. I didn't say that. I was talking to George said, and I get all wrapped up when I'm talking to Joe cetera you know how it is.
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Juilee Decker: So before COVID. What would you say an average day was like for you. And then, what's it like now.
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Horace Graydon: Well, before COVID. I was working with community partnership program CPP community partnership program and other various organizations that I've worked with African American Museum
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Horace Graydon: And after school program. I had a very busy schedule my schedule was very my work schedules and then not talking about
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Horace Graydon: All of the work that I do. I don't drive but I walk a lot. I walk at least eight to nine miles a day through Hempstead
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Horace Graydon: Through him stand Freeport all around through there. Plus my various jobs. I go to the homestead high school free for high school, I go to a big school. I do. I did a lot of work with my job COVID that came
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Horace Graydon: And went into lockdown low.
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Horace Graydon: The first month, my whole schedule change was that I was working from home.
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Horace Graydon: I was working from home and I'm not that good at the computer.
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Horace Graydon: And so I had to work from home. I had to make call I had to do intakes and I had to do various things from home, plus in in in during the COVID
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Horace Graydon: I was cleaning out my sister's house I was she had the house was sold and sold for about a year and a half.
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Horace Graydon: So I took the time to clean the house out so we could be out of the house when the COVID was over the people's told us when the COVID over when they give the full clear that's when they wanted to move in.
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Horace Graydon: So we cleaned out clean the house out and and and that was very traumatic for me because my sister kept everything
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Horace Graydon: I mean everything thing from I'm 75 years old.
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Horace Graydon: And
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Horace Graydon: Ah, I had to go through all that stuff memories and so forth and so forth. Yeah, yeah.
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Juilee Decker: That's the part
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Horace Graydon: That's, yeah that's that's the hard. That's very hard. And so what I did was we clean the house out
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Horace Graydon: I still was working from home and I was spending a lot of time at home but i what i was doing is I was, I was reading, I was reading I'm I spent 32 years in the federal penitentiary.
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Horace Graydon: And so I locked down really didn't mean that much to me other than my work schedule was messed up in my exercise schedules. Mr.
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Horace Graydon: But yet, but I did, I did started back reading. I started reading some of them. Some of my own books that I've had for a long time that I always wanted to get back to read. I started reading James Baldwin, Richard Wright
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Horace Graydon: Content from a lot of old books and old poetry books in it. What it did was revised me. And during this time we were doing the Black Lives Matters will happen. And I was doing a Zoom
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Horace Graydon: Some Zoom some virtual resume with some young kids and some of the conversations we were having was about the Black Lives Matters about the COVID virus.
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Horace Graydon: So, it changed it changed my schedule that my, my whole schedule was was geared to the house. Yeah, yeah, you know,
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Horace Graydon: I did not go out. I did not get to do my exercise with my walking like I generally do I didn't get to go to the gym. I didn't get to go around and meet a lot of people. So I lost contact with a lot of people like with everyone else to COVID saw it really
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Horace Graydon: Hindered me from doing the work. I know I had friends that were passing out food and stuff, but I did not take those chances are going out.
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Horace Graydon: So now what we're doing now, I find myself getting out more. I'm out more. I'm almost back on my schedule working but i'm i'm still being very, very safe and land my mass keeping my social distance and by me being social being a person that gets out into the community.
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Horace Graydon: The touching and stuff really, you know, people, you know, the element of people are mess with you know they
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Horace Graydon: You know, they want to hit a dental get bow, bow, you know, hit them. They want this. The fifth. And I said no and and i will see into some people will get offended. Yeah. Yeah. Some people will get very offended attitudes that change.
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Horace Graydon: Even when you when you go into some of the stores attitudes have changed. They asked for mass and some of them don't.
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Horace Graydon: These movable, they use data, you know, they did not run in no money away. You have a mass going on, you don't. You can still come in Moscow. That's it. That's, that's the attitude. Oh.
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Juilee Decker: Let me ask you this with your walking, because I'm a walker to
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Juilee Decker: Okay, do not eight miles, like you goodness Horace, but I still walk deep. Do you find that now that you're able to get back into the walking that you feel a little bit better in your head like walking for me is like a way to clear my mind like I do it for exercise.
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Juilee Decker: But I also walk because I need to like clear my thoughts and
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Juilee Decker: My wipe the slate clean. Do you feel like now that you're able to pick back up with your walking you feel a little bit better up in your head a little bit
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Horace Graydon: Yes. Well, I, I feel good. I never get have any any
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Horace Graydon: Any negative stuff coming out. But I found that I found in walking
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Horace Graydon: I found a difference in the neighborhoods that would go through
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Juilee Decker: Okay.
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Horace Graydon: From a real
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Horace Graydon: I went to Garden City.
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Horace Graydon: Right here in Garden City rich neighborhood, but I found that they were speaking to me. You know, when I come by and
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Horace Graydon: Say hello. They were, you know, how you doing, I am a mask on, give me some
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Horace Graydon: Water and I found all people will
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Horace Graydon: People were a little more sociable than I've seen in a long time.
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Horace Graydon: I mean in some of the neighborhood. You know, somebody would net
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Horace Graydon: When I first started back wall and it wasn't a suspicion of you coming through a neighborhood that you didn't come from, but that chain and and and i change. I think the political climate change and I found that
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Horace Graydon: just the other day.
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Horace Graydon: I went to Glengrove a walking out that way. And I, and I found that a lot of people were staring. I was being. In fact, I got stopped one time and now people want to know what I was doing in this particular neighborhood. I told them, I'm just walking and
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Juilee Decker: Doing your thing.
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Horace Graydon: I'm just doing me, man.
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Horace Graydon: Yeah yeah
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Horace Graydon: I engage them in conversation. And I asked him, you know, I mean I wouldn't hostile, but they came on very aggressive. What are you doing through here. Yeah, you know, well, you know, one guy said, “What is this a Black Lives Matters thing as it all?” I'm just walking.
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Horace Graydon: You know, so, but I but it changed. I had been to bear. I had never been harassed, an area and it changed during the, during the COVID . I think it changed because of the political environment.
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Horace Graydon: Around me change that first started back walking with the COVID and everything. You can see people giving you a companionship comradeship wanting to know is you. All right, you know,
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Horace Graydon: The Black Lives Matters in COVID virus in the political field change greatly. Yeah, yeah.
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Juilee Decker: That's, yeah, that's interesting. And it's it's sad because
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Horace Graydon: Yeah.
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Juilee Decker: You haven't changed.
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Horace Graydon: No, I haven't. I think I've gotten know I think I've gotten on or I've gotten a lot of new insight. A lot of new insight. A lot of new things, then I'm done, I'm trying out. I, I do a lot of stuff but COVID I see right now that is going to cut a lot of a lot of activities. Now,
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Juilee Decker: So what you started to answer this to the next question is, you said about what you're doing occupy your time, but the one. So that's number three. Number four is
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Juilee Decker: How has it affected any groups you're with. And I think you talked about that with the work and you were just touching on it there. But is there any other group like church or with joy says group or anything. Is there any other group that you feel like it's different with
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Horace Graydon: Now, of course, I work with, I work on 100 Terrace (PEACE Program) in the
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Horace Graydon: after school program from 330 to 630
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Horace Graydon: I work up there.
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Horace Graydon: To run on Council of there and we can't. We used to have 30-40 kids we only can have 10 kids 15 kids because we have to practice safe distance
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Horace Graydon: So we had to make the choice between letting the robotics club. We had a robotics club that started three years ago and they they've been placing each year, getting better and better. And so what we're doing. So we had to make the choice of dealing with the robotics.
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Horace Graydon: And what would be best. So we started dealing with the robotics clubs and we started doing the virtual. We do Virtual School, and we help the kids to after school kids with the kids. They go to the charter school and ABG [Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School] in Hempstead.
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Horace Graydon: We do the virtual on the Zoom and we help them with their homework from 330 to 630.
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Juilee Decker: Let me ask you what subject. Do you like helping the kids with like, what's your because I always like helping with math, but not anymore. I like helping with reading. But what's the thing you like how
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Horace Graydon: Well i i don't…I do a little math, but what I do is, are we, is two other teachers that are very good at math, but what I generally do is
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Horace Graydon: They read I teach him to read and now they're reading it reading books of the one of the younger girls was reading a book of Claudette Colvin. She was the lady that was before Rosa Parks with the boycotts around.
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Horace Graydon: And one of the little young girls. And so I began to give them. And I am a history person, you know, I know a lot
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Horace Graydon: I know a lot of history. I know a lot of my history African history medical history about countries. And so I always give them a
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Horace Graydon: Tell them about how to be safe.
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Horace Graydon: I had a group, I have a group called “The Kigs” and I teach them if they approached by our law enforcement what to say, what to do, how I act.
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Horace Graydon: And make sure they have the school ID and the first thing I tell them is let them know that you're 12 YEARS OLD AND THIS IS YOUR SCHOOL ID and you're going home.
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Juilee Decker: Yeah yeah yeah
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Juilee Decker: That's good.
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Juilee Decker: Thing with the, the history. I love history too. I
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Juilee Decker: I teach history.
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Horace Graydon: And we would have this part of history do you teach?
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Juilee Decker: So my my period of history is American history and I research monuments and memorials from like 1850s to 1920s. And so it's American history and I teach classes on that and I love history, but I read history from any period. I love it. I absolutely love history. So I'm in your boat.
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Horace Graydon: Uh
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Horace Graydon: We're doing that, as you said about the memorials. I lived in Washington DC for about 15 years
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Juilee Decker: Oh, goodness.
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Horace Graydon: I knew
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Horace Graydon: And I always in Washington is full of statues of
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Horace Graydon: People that you wouldn't even believe
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Horace Graydon: You know that have
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Horace Graydon: That have a statue and a lot of more
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Horace Graydon: Like soldiers out of the Civil War soldiers, a lot of Civil War generals and I often ask myself, why was this and then I remember that.
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Horace Graydon: Washington was the capital after Philadelphia and the reason Washington became so pro black was that it was the capital in the soldiers were there, it was safe for the blacks to be there.
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Juilee Decker: Yep. Now let me ask you this, that, that when you were in DC.
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Juilee Decker: Did you ever see the work. It's by Ed Hamilton, who's a black sculptor from Louisville and I used to live in Kentucky. I'm from the Deep South. I'm from Atlanta.
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Juilee Decker: But I lived in Kentucky and Ed Hamilton is a sculptor from Kentucky. He did a piece in DC. It's called but I'm not sure on the exact name, but it's the US Colored Troops Memorial and it's up there on K Avenue.
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Horace Graydon: Oh, yeah, I've seen that.
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Juilee Decker: A circle piece, and it's got the Colored Troops it's it's
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Horace Graydon: Not
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Juilee Decker: It's pretty big.
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Juilee Decker: But it's just
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Juilee Decker: It is my one of my favorite pieces of all time.
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Horace Graydon: It’s over by Malcolm X’s park.
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Juilee Decker: Yep, yep, that's, that's a good and when I teach that one in my class I have a class on monuments memorials and we focus on America just because there's too many. It's not like I don't like other countries, it's just
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Horace Graydon: It's
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Juilee Decker: Too much in my head right
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Juilee Decker: Here when when we talk about that piece, the students. Well, first of all, most of them don't know it. And second of all,
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Juilee Decker: They don't know about the Colored Troops right because it's Civil War history and they only know North and South. They don't know about the Colored Troops they like to. But they love it. They love that piece. So I'm so glad you brought that up the Washington DC like that is a
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Juilee Decker: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, okay.
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Juilee Decker: So let me ask you, what word. So what we talked about groups. Number five is what word would you use to describe your feeling at the beginning of COVID. So what were you feeling like them and what word would you describe the way you feel now.
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Horace Graydon: Well, I would say I was
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Horace Graydon: Energized in passion.
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Horace Graydon: I was
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Horace Graydon: deeply committed
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Horace Graydon: I am before and an after COVID and even now as I'm beginning to move around. I find that my passion has grown
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Horace Graydon: My passion for my work has grown tremendously.
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Horace Graydon: I'll have a passion because I took so much out of our black communities by when I was in prison for things. I went to prison for I went, you know, went to prison for armored car robbery and bank robbery.
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Horace Graydon: And so I took so much out as a community, and I'm energized even more now because I see what's going on. I'm right here, the African American Museum is right here in the heart of the one of the
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Horace Graydon: biggest drug streets there is. And so I look around and I watch and I still see the Crack Head is still out there never moved, he never came on in. The homeless never came in.
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Horace Graydon: The kids that are here, when a parent, so stuff they don't get along with the parents. They are still out in the street. There is still gang violence has has has stepped up a lot.
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Horace Graydon: There's been several shootings and killings, just in Hempstead alone.
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Horace Graydon: Domestic violence, I'm talking with I do a lot of counseling with adults. There's domestic violence has hit a record number in the black community.
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Horace Graydon: And you'll find a lot of lot of lot of men and women are on the street due to domestic violence. And so even doing now, I'm energized even more. I have a more, deeper passion for my work now than I ever had and
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Horace Graydon: I have no problem at all now about I'm really
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Horace Graydon: Focused on on the work that I do and I tried to remain as positive as I possibly can in everything that I do. But I'm tracking and I have more passion, I have
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Horace Graydon: Seen like my my my my deep down in my spirit, I have this passion that that is going to be some changes in the community.
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Horace Graydon: That is going to be some changes or just in people's lives, you know, if I can make a change in their lives, too. Because I go around. I do speak in the gamers I speak about the
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Horace Graydon: prison, the pipeline. I speak about that, which was is prevalent in our, in our community young black men and black kids.
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Horace Graydon: by the time they get out of middle school, they’re heading straight to the juveniles facilities and stuff that they do. Okay.
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Horace Graydon: Good.
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Horace Graydon: Excuse me one minute.
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Horace Graydon: But just let them know. Okay.
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Horace Graydon: Yeah, or What was that again was the
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Juilee Decker: This was the question about the feeling, then, and the feeling now.
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Horace Graydon: Okay, well, ok. Yeah. Well, yeah, my feelings all that. None. I'm on or I'm on a different plane.
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Horace Graydon: I'm on a higher plane. I'm just as energize I'm just as healthy. I have no really heavy healthiest you for my age, I'm still moving around good people, people are listening more. I think people are listening more
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Horace Graydon: to what we have to say.
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Juilee Decker: That's good. I understand that I do.
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Juilee Decker: Yeah. And the last question is, is there anything else about this whole COVID thing that you think other people need to know where that you want to share
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Horace Graydon: Well, I think one of the things about this COVID thing is that they haven't really looked, i don't think even with the deaths, if they would look around and look at some of some of these guys that a lot of people have died and they said, oh,
966
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Horace Graydon: Specially the deep, the under, the disenfranchised, the drug addict and stuff. It's been a lot of ODs [overdoses] that they just that came from COVID
967
01:46:26.820 --> 01:46:43.440
Horace Graydon: but they say is OD. There is not counting the neck and neck vertical or is not counting in a particular day would count it, but they are not counting these people. I found that all I think our country is in a state.
968
01:46:44.610 --> 01:46:50.880
Horace Graydon: In a political state, we have divided in I don't want, I don't want to see us in such a divided
969
01:46:51.780 --> 01:47:01.290
Horace Graydon: Like we are, I think we have to fight decisively. I think our leader, the leaders that we have, and the prejudices, and so I think they are fueling
970
01:47:01.650 --> 01:47:13.530
Horace Graydon: The racial divide and then that's that my ah... And I think that all white people, brown people black people, I think that we should know that that you are not my enemy.
971
01:47:14.130 --> 01:47:34.410
Horace Graydon: I'm not holding slavery against you though slavery happen. I'm not holding slavery against you. I'm not holding, because George Floyd got killed. I'm not saying how all or white folks or whatever are bad, but I think that people should know that.
972
01:47:36.060 --> 01:47:47.010
Horace Graydon: I want to live peacefully with you, politically, socially, a while and I want to know that this this thing just now, the political atmosphere, our country right now.
973
01:47:47.970 --> 01:48:00.270
Horace Graydon: Is going. It has to change. You know, it has to change. Because if it doesn't change, I think that will be heading into errors that we have no business while back into slavery time and I
974
01:48:01.380 --> 01:48:10.170
Juilee Decker: Understand that and I uh, I pray. So I pray that things get better because I can't, I can't have them get worse like
975
01:48:10.200 --> 01:48:11.160
Horace Graydon: Would be
976
01:48:11.220 --> 01:48:12.780
Juilee Decker: That would be that would be bad.
977
01:48:13.380 --> 01:48:19.320
Juilee Decker: Oh well Horace. I thank you so much for your time. It was so nice to meet you. I am so
978
01:48:20.520 --> 01:48:22.620
Horace Graydon: Maybe sometimes you come out to the museum.
979
01:48:23.460 --> 01:48:24.270
Juilee Decker: I told Joysetta…
980
01:48:24.360 --> 01:48:26.520
Juilee Decker: already told her. I'm coming over. I have to come visit
981
01:48:26.520 --> 01:48:29.940
Juilee Decker: Joysetta. So when I come visit Joysetta, I'll see you too.
982
01:48:30.180 --> 01:48:31.200
Horace Graydon: This is my favorite person here.
983
01:48:32.340 --> 01:48:34.230
Juilee Decker: She can’t be your favorite and my favorite at the same
984
01:48:34.230 --> 01:48:35.250
Juilee Decker: Time or can she?
985
01:48:38.010 --> 01:48:38.940
Joysetta Pearse: Do we have one more.
986
01:48:39.420 --> 01:48:39.990
Juilee Decker: We do.
987
01:48:40.170 --> 01:48:41.190
Joysetta Pearse: Okay, okay.
5:30 pm ET
Conducted over Zoom, lasting 24 minutes
820
01:26:38.400 --> 01:26:41.970
Joysetta Pearse: Yeah, this is Horace great and and he's going to be taken to see here
821
01:26:42.120 --> 01:26:43.650
Juilee Decker: Oh, good. Oh, hi Horace.
822
01:26:45.150 --> 01:26:45.600
Joysetta Pearse: Enjoy.
823
01:26:46.020 --> 01:26:51.810
Juilee Decker: Good. Okay, so I have your name, your first name is h o our AC is that right
824
01:26:51.990 --> 01:27:01.770
Juilee Decker: Yes, perfect. Okay, so here's the way it works. I'm asking people about what what COVID has been like for them. So I have questions. So I asked each question. There's five questions.
825
01:27:02.100 --> 01:27:12.120
Juilee Decker: And then you can answer the question, and we can take it, you know, in a little different direction. If it goes that way. And so the first question is, before coven
826
01:27:13.590 --> 01:27:19.410
Juilee Decker: By the way, my name is Julie. I didn't say that. I was talking to George said, and I get all wrapped up when I'm talking to Joe cetera you know how it is.
827
01:27:20.430 --> 01:27:26.760
Juilee Decker: So before COVID. What would you say an average day was like for you. And then, what's it like now.
828
01:27:29.250 --> 01:27:41.280
Horace Graydon: Well, before COVID. I was working with community partnership program CPP community partnership program and other various organizations that I've worked with African American Museum
829
01:27:41.940 --> 01:27:51.630
Horace Graydon: And after school program. I had a very busy schedule my schedule was very my work schedules and then not talking about
830
01:27:52.620 --> 01:28:00.570
Horace Graydon: All of the work that I do. I don't drive but I walk a lot. I walk at least eight to nine miles a day through Hempstead
831
01:28:01.530 --> 01:28:15.630
Horace Graydon: Through him stand Freeport all around through there. Plus my various jobs. I go to the homestead high school free for high school, I go to a big school. I do. I did a lot of work with my job COVID that came
832
01:28:16.770 --> 01:28:19.050
Horace Graydon: And went into lockdown low.
833
01:28:20.850 --> 01:28:26.040
Horace Graydon: The first month, my whole schedule change was that I was working from home.
834
01:28:27.570 --> 01:28:31.200
Horace Graydon: I was working from home and I'm not that good at the computer.
835
01:28:32.700 --> 01:28:41.190
Horace Graydon: And so I had to work from home. I had to make call I had to do intakes and I had to do various things from home, plus in in in during the COVID
836
01:28:42.600 --> 01:28:48.570
Horace Graydon: I was cleaning out my sister's house I was she had the house was sold and sold for about a year and a half.
837
01:28:49.020 --> 01:28:59.250
Horace Graydon: So I took the time to clean the house out so we could be out of the house when the COVID was over the people's told us when the COVID over when they give the full clear that's when they wanted to move in.
838
01:29:00.030 --> 01:29:07.830
Horace Graydon: So we cleaned out clean the house out and and and that was very traumatic for me because my sister kept everything
839
01:29:08.910 --> 01:29:12.390
Horace Graydon: I mean everything thing from I'm 75 years old.
840
01:29:13.590 --> 01:29:13.980
Horace Graydon: And
841
01:29:16.110 --> 01:29:21.540
Horace Graydon: Ah, I had to go through all that stuff memories and so forth and so forth. Yeah, yeah.
842
01:29:21.570 --> 01:29:22.230
Juilee Decker: That's the part
843
01:29:22.320 --> 01:29:29.370
Horace Graydon: That's, yeah that's that's the hard. That's very hard. And so what I did was we clean the house out
844
01:29:31.440 --> 01:29:43.890
Horace Graydon: I still was working from home and I was spending a lot of time at home but i what i was doing is I was, I was reading, I was reading I'm I spent 32 years in the federal penitentiary.
845
01:29:44.970 --> 01:29:53.790
Horace Graydon: And so I locked down really didn't mean that much to me other than my work schedule was messed up in my exercise schedules. Mr.
846
01:29:54.390 --> 01:30:09.120
Horace Graydon: But yet, but I did, I did started back reading. I started reading some of them. Some of my own books that I've had for a long time that I always wanted to get back to read. I started reading James Baldwin, Richard Wright
847
01:30:12.210 --> 01:30:24.840
Horace Graydon: Content from a lot of old books and old poetry books in it. What it did was revised me. And during this time we were doing the Black Lives Matters will happen. And I was doing a Zoom
848
01:30:26.130 --> 01:30:35.520
Horace Graydon: Some Zoom some virtual resume with some young kids and some of the conversations we were having was about the Black Lives Matters about the COVID virus.
849
01:30:35.910 --> 01:30:44.400
Horace Graydon: So, it changed it changed my schedule that my, my whole schedule was was geared to the house. Yeah, yeah, you know,
850
01:30:44.970 --> 01:31:04.320
Horace Graydon: I did not go out. I did not get to do my exercise with my walking like I generally do I didn't get to go to the gym. I didn't get to go around and meet a lot of people. So I lost contact with a lot of people like with everyone else to COVID saw it really
851
01:31:05.850 --> 01:31:14.700
Horace Graydon: Hindered me from doing the work. I know I had friends that were passing out food and stuff, but I did not take those chances are going out.
852
01:31:16.020 --> 01:31:37.920
Horace Graydon: So now what we're doing now, I find myself getting out more. I'm out more. I'm almost back on my schedule working but i'm i'm still being very, very safe and land my mass keeping my social distance and by me being social being a person that gets out into the community.
853
01:31:39.480 --> 01:31:47.070
Horace Graydon: The touching and stuff really, you know, people, you know, the element of people are mess with you know they
854
01:31:48.600 --> 01:32:03.930
Horace Graydon: You know, they want to hit a dental get bow, bow, you know, hit them. They want this. The fifth. And I said no and and i will see into some people will get offended. Yeah. Yeah. Some people will get very offended attitudes that change.
855
01:32:05.250 --> 01:32:12.720
Horace Graydon: Even when you when you go into some of the stores attitudes have changed. They asked for mass and some of them don't.
856
01:32:13.320 --> 01:32:25.950
Horace Graydon: These movable, they use data, you know, they did not run in no money away. You have a mass going on, you don't. You can still come in Moscow. That's it. That's, that's the attitude. Oh.
857
01:32:26.790 --> 01:32:30.780
Juilee Decker: Let me ask you this with your walking, because I'm a walker to
858
01:32:31.020 --> 01:32:47.820
Juilee Decker: Okay, do not eight miles, like you goodness Horace, but I still walk deep. Do you find that now that you're able to get back into the walking that you feel a little bit better in your head like walking for me is like a way to clear my mind like I do it for exercise.
859
01:32:48.060 --> 01:32:51.090
Juilee Decker: But I also walk because I need to like clear my thoughts and
860
01:32:51.090 --> 01:32:59.220
Juilee Decker: My wipe the slate clean. Do you feel like now that you're able to pick back up with your walking you feel a little bit better up in your head a little bit
861
01:32:59.460 --> 01:33:04.650
Horace Graydon: Yes. Well, I, I feel good. I never get have any any
862
01:33:06.420 --> 01:33:11.160
Horace Graydon: Any negative stuff coming out. But I found that I found in walking
863
01:33:12.810 --> 01:33:16.200
Horace Graydon: I found a difference in the neighborhoods that would go through
864
01:33:17.400 --> 01:33:17.790
Juilee Decker: Okay.
865
01:33:17.820 --> 01:33:19.290
Horace Graydon: From a real
866
01:33:19.380 --> 01:33:21.540
Horace Graydon: I went to Garden City.
867
01:33:22.650 --> 01:33:29.730
Horace Graydon: Right here in Garden City rich neighborhood, but I found that they were speaking to me. You know, when I come by and
868
01:33:29.760 --> 01:33:33.870
Horace Graydon: Say hello. They were, you know, how you doing, I am a mask on, give me some
869
01:33:34.410 --> 01:33:38.550
Horace Graydon: Water and I found all people will
870
01:33:41.100 --> 01:33:46.290
Horace Graydon: People were a little more sociable than I've seen in a long time.
871
01:33:47.010 --> 01:33:50.640
Horace Graydon: I mean in some of the neighborhood. You know, somebody would net
872
01:33:53.370 --> 01:34:08.100
Horace Graydon: When I first started back wall and it wasn't a suspicion of you coming through a neighborhood that you didn't come from, but that chain and and and i change. I think the political climate change and I found that
873
01:34:09.120 --> 01:34:10.440
Horace Graydon: just the other day.
874
01:34:12.300 --> 01:34:32.460
Horace Graydon: I went to Glengrove a walking out that way. And I, and I found that a lot of people were staring. I was being. In fact, I got stopped one time and now people want to know what I was doing in this particular neighborhood. I told them, I'm just walking and
875
01:34:33.840 --> 01:34:34.650
Juilee Decker: Doing your thing.
876
01:34:34.770 --> 01:34:36.000
Horace Graydon: I'm just doing me, man.
877
01:34:36.180 --> 01:34:36.780
Horace Graydon: Yeah yeah
878
01:34:37.020 --> 01:34:48.990
Horace Graydon: I engage them in conversation. And I asked him, you know, I mean I wouldn't hostile, but they came on very aggressive. What are you doing through here. Yeah, you know, well, you know, one guy said, “What is this a Black Lives Matters thing as it all?” I'm just walking.
879
01:34:50.040 --> 01:35:01.800
Horace Graydon: You know, so, but I but it changed. I had been to bear. I had never been harassed, an area and it changed during the, during the COVID . I think it changed because of the political environment.
880
01:35:02.880 --> 01:35:15.150
Horace Graydon: Around me change that first started back walking with the COVID and everything. You can see people giving you a companionship comradeship wanting to know is you. All right, you know,
881
01:35:17.640 --> 01:35:25.800
Horace Graydon: The Black Lives Matters in COVID virus in the political field change greatly. Yeah, yeah.
882
01:35:25.860 --> 01:35:30.360
Juilee Decker: That's, yeah, that's interesting. And it's it's sad because
883
01:35:30.540 --> 01:35:30.930
Horace Graydon: Yeah.
884
01:35:30.990 --> 01:35:32.340
Juilee Decker: You haven't changed.
885
01:35:32.400 --> 01:35:52.740
Horace Graydon: No, I haven't. I think I've gotten know I think I've gotten on or I've gotten a lot of new insight. A lot of new insight. A lot of new things, then I'm done, I'm trying out. I, I do a lot of stuff but COVID I see right now that is going to cut a lot of a lot of activities. Now,
886
01:35:55.500 --> 01:36:04.440
Juilee Decker: So what you started to answer this to the next question is, you said about what you're doing occupy your time, but the one. So that's number three. Number four is
887
01:36:04.950 --> 01:36:18.990
Juilee Decker: How has it affected any groups you're with. And I think you talked about that with the work and you were just touching on it there. But is there any other group like church or with joy says group or anything. Is there any other group that you feel like it's different with
888
01:36:18.990 --> 01:36:23.490
Horace Graydon: Now, of course, I work with, I work on 100 Terrace (PEACE Program) in the
889
01:36:24.660 --> 01:36:27.600
Horace Graydon: after school program from 330 to 630
890
01:36:28.140 --> 01:36:29.130
Horace Graydon: I work up there.
891
01:36:30.450 --> 01:36:44.400
Horace Graydon: To run on Council of there and we can't. We used to have 30-40 kids we only can have 10 kids 15 kids because we have to practice safe distance
892
01:36:44.850 --> 01:37:02.400
Horace Graydon: So we had to make the choice between letting the robotics club. We had a robotics club that started three years ago and they they've been placing each year, getting better and better. And so what we're doing. So we had to make the choice of dealing with the robotics.
893
01:37:04.260 --> 01:37:18.540
Horace Graydon: And what would be best. So we started dealing with the robotics clubs and we started doing the virtual. We do Virtual School, and we help the kids to after school kids with the kids. They go to the charter school and ABG [Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School] in Hempstead.
894
01:37:19.770 --> 01:37:25.260
Horace Graydon: We do the virtual on the Zoom and we help them with their homework from 330 to 630.
895
01:37:25.860 --> 01:37:34.560
Juilee Decker: Let me ask you what subject. Do you like helping the kids with like, what's your because I always like helping with math, but not anymore. I like helping with reading. But what's the thing you like how
896
01:37:34.560 --> 01:37:42.480
Horace Graydon: Well i i don't…I do a little math, but what I do is, are we, is two other teachers that are very good at math, but what I generally do is
897
01:37:42.930 --> 01:37:58.170
Horace Graydon: They read I teach him to read and now they're reading it reading books of the one of the younger girls was reading a book of Claudette Colvin. She was the lady that was before Rosa Parks with the boycotts around.
898
01:37:59.010 --> 01:38:05.400
Horace Graydon: And one of the little young girls. And so I began to give them. And I am a history person, you know, I know a lot
899
01:38:05.760 --> 01:38:13.410
Horace Graydon: I know a lot of history. I know a lot of my history African history medical history about countries. And so I always give them a
900
01:38:17.070 --> 01:38:18.840
Horace Graydon: Tell them about how to be safe.
901
01:38:19.980 --> 01:38:30.990
Horace Graydon: I had a group, I have a group called “The Kigs” and I teach them if they approached by our law enforcement what to say, what to do, how I act.
902
01:38:31.410 --> 01:38:39.420
Horace Graydon: And make sure they have the school ID and the first thing I tell them is let them know that you're 12 YEARS OLD AND THIS IS YOUR SCHOOL ID and you're going home.
903
01:38:39.780 --> 01:38:40.830
Juilee Decker: Yeah yeah yeah
904
01:38:41.820 --> 01:38:42.330
Juilee Decker: That's good.
905
01:38:43.110 --> 01:38:45.900
Juilee Decker: Thing with the, the history. I love history too. I
906
01:38:46.080 --> 01:38:47.130
Juilee Decker: I teach history.
907
01:38:47.400 --> 01:38:49.110
Horace Graydon: And we would have this part of history do you teach?
908
01:38:49.860 --> 01:39:10.800
Juilee Decker: So my my period of history is American history and I research monuments and memorials from like 1850s to 1920s. And so it's American history and I teach classes on that and I love history, but I read history from any period. I love it. I absolutely love history. So I'm in your boat.
909
01:39:10.800 --> 01:39:11.700
Horace Graydon: Uh
910
01:39:11.730 --> 01:39:18.450
Horace Graydon: We're doing that, as you said about the memorials. I lived in Washington DC for about 15 years
911
01:39:18.720 --> 01:39:19.470
Juilee Decker: Oh, goodness.
912
01:39:20.940 --> 01:39:21.780
Horace Graydon: I knew
913
01:39:23.010 --> 01:39:27.780
Horace Graydon: And I always in Washington is full of statues of
914
01:39:28.860 --> 01:39:30.840
Horace Graydon: People that you wouldn't even believe
915
01:39:31.080 --> 01:39:32.460
Horace Graydon: You know that have
916
01:39:32.850 --> 01:39:36.150
Horace Graydon: That have a statue and a lot of more
917
01:39:37.170 --> 01:39:49.590
Horace Graydon: Like soldiers out of the Civil War soldiers, a lot of Civil War generals and I often ask myself, why was this and then I remember that.
918
01:39:50.400 --> 01:40:01.680
Horace Graydon: Washington was the capital after Philadelphia and the reason Washington became so pro black was that it was the capital in the soldiers were there, it was safe for the blacks to be there.
919
01:40:02.040 --> 01:40:05.400
Juilee Decker: Yep. Now let me ask you this, that, that when you were in DC.
920
01:40:05.700 --> 01:40:13.410
Juilee Decker: Did you ever see the work. It's by Ed Hamilton, who's a black sculptor from Louisville and I used to live in Kentucky. I'm from the Deep South. I'm from Atlanta.
921
01:40:13.710 --> 01:40:26.730
Juilee Decker: But I lived in Kentucky and Ed Hamilton is a sculptor from Kentucky. He did a piece in DC. It's called but I'm not sure on the exact name, but it's the US Colored Troops Memorial and it's up there on K Avenue.
922
01:40:27.480 --> 01:40:28.380
Horace Graydon: Oh, yeah, I've seen that.
923
01:40:28.590 --> 01:40:32.580
Juilee Decker: A circle piece, and it's got the Colored Troops it's it's
924
01:40:32.610 --> 01:40:33.000
Horace Graydon: Not
925
01:40:33.120 --> 01:40:34.080
Juilee Decker: It's pretty big.
926
01:40:34.230 --> 01:40:34.710
Juilee Decker: But it's just
927
01:40:35.040 --> 01:40:38.640
Juilee Decker: It is my one of my favorite pieces of all time.
928
01:40:39.450 --> 01:40:41.490
Horace Graydon: It’s over by Malcolm X’s park.
929
01:40:41.730 --> 01:40:55.650
Juilee Decker: Yep, yep, that's, that's a good and when I teach that one in my class I have a class on monuments memorials and we focus on America just because there's too many. It's not like I don't like other countries, it's just
930
01:40:55.650 --> 01:40:55.830
Horace Graydon: It's
931
01:40:55.890 --> 01:40:56.970
Juilee Decker: Too much in my head right
932
01:40:57.000 --> 01:41:04.470
Juilee Decker: Here when when we talk about that piece, the students. Well, first of all, most of them don't know it. And second of all,
933
01:41:05.250 --> 01:41:18.960
Juilee Decker: They don't know about the Colored Troops right because it's Civil War history and they only know North and South. They don't know about the Colored Troops they like to. But they love it. They love that piece. So I'm so glad you brought that up the Washington DC like that is a
934
01:41:21.150 --> 01:41:23.520
Juilee Decker: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, okay.
935
01:41:23.700 --> 01:41:39.240
Juilee Decker: So let me ask you, what word. So what we talked about groups. Number five is what word would you use to describe your feeling at the beginning of COVID. So what were you feeling like them and what word would you describe the way you feel now.
936
01:41:41.190 --> 01:41:42.930
Horace Graydon: Well, I would say I was
937
01:41:46.650 --> 01:41:48.420
Horace Graydon: Energized in passion.
938
01:41:49.950 --> 01:41:50.700
Horace Graydon: I was
939
01:41:52.620 --> 01:41:53.700
Horace Graydon: deeply committed
940
01:41:56.310 --> 01:42:06.150
Horace Graydon: I am before and an after COVID and even now as I'm beginning to move around. I find that my passion has grown
941
01:42:07.200 --> 01:42:10.740
Horace Graydon: My passion for my work has grown tremendously.
942
01:42:12.300 --> 01:42:23.700
Horace Graydon: I'll have a passion because I took so much out of our black communities by when I was in prison for things. I went to prison for I went, you know, went to prison for armored car robbery and bank robbery.
943
01:42:24.690 --> 01:42:35.520
Horace Graydon: And so I took so much out as a community, and I'm energized even more now because I see what's going on. I'm right here, the African American Museum is right here in the heart of the one of the
944
01:42:36.510 --> 01:42:50.640
Horace Graydon: biggest drug streets there is. And so I look around and I watch and I still see the Crack Head is still out there never moved, he never came on in. The homeless never came in.
945
01:42:51.330 --> 01:43:05.580
Horace Graydon: The kids that are here, when a parent, so stuff they don't get along with the parents. They are still out in the street. There is still gang violence has has has stepped up a lot.
946
01:43:06.780 --> 01:43:10.320
Horace Graydon: There's been several shootings and killings, just in Hempstead alone.
947
01:43:11.700 --> 01:43:19.980
Horace Graydon: Domestic violence, I'm talking with I do a lot of counseling with adults. There's domestic violence has hit a record number in the black community.
948
01:43:21.150 --> 01:43:40.710
Horace Graydon: And you'll find a lot of lot of lot of men and women are on the street due to domestic violence. And so even doing now, I'm energized even more. I have a more, deeper passion for my work now than I ever had and
949
01:43:42.030 --> 01:43:46.800
Horace Graydon: I have no problem at all now about I'm really
950
01:43:48.300 --> 01:44:01.260
Horace Graydon: Focused on on the work that I do and I tried to remain as positive as I possibly can in everything that I do. But I'm tracking and I have more passion, I have
951
01:44:02.700 --> 01:44:11.520
Horace Graydon: Seen like my my my my deep down in my spirit, I have this passion that that is going to be some changes in the community.
952
01:44:12.150 --> 01:44:24.300
Horace Graydon: That is going to be some changes or just in people's lives, you know, if I can make a change in their lives, too. Because I go around. I do speak in the gamers I speak about the
953
01:44:25.740 --> 01:44:33.900
Horace Graydon: prison, the pipeline. I speak about that, which was is prevalent in our, in our community young black men and black kids.
954
01:44:35.400 --> 01:44:41.640
Horace Graydon: by the time they get out of middle school, they’re heading straight to the juveniles facilities and stuff that they do. Okay.
955
01:44:52.470 --> 01:44:52.830
Horace Graydon: Good.
956
01:45:03.720 --> 01:45:05.760
Horace Graydon: Excuse me one minute.
957
01:45:06.870 --> 01:45:09.360
Horace Graydon: But just let them know. Okay.
958
01:45:09.960 --> 01:45:12.510
Horace Graydon: Yeah, or What was that again was the
959
01:45:12.930 --> 01:45:16.080
Juilee Decker: This was the question about the feeling, then, and the feeling now.
960
01:45:16.170 --> 01:45:26.160
Horace Graydon: Okay, well, ok. Yeah. Well, yeah, my feelings all that. None. I'm on or I'm on a different plane.
961
01:45:27.420 --> 01:45:43.470
Horace Graydon: I'm on a higher plane. I'm just as energize I'm just as healthy. I have no really heavy healthiest you for my age, I'm still moving around good people, people are listening more. I think people are listening more
962
01:45:46.110 --> 01:45:46.530
Horace Graydon: to what we have to say.
963
01:45:46.650 --> 01:45:47.790
Juilee Decker: That's good. I understand that I do.
964
01:45:48.090 --> 01:45:59.220
Juilee Decker: Yeah. And the last question is, is there anything else about this whole COVID thing that you think other people need to know where that you want to share
965
01:45:59.820 --> 01:46:13.620
Horace Graydon: Well, I think one of the things about this COVID thing is that they haven't really looked, i don't think even with the deaths, if they would look around and look at some of some of these guys that a lot of people have died and they said, oh,
966
01:46:15.060 --> 01:46:26.220
Horace Graydon: Specially the deep, the under, the disenfranchised, the drug addict and stuff. It's been a lot of ODs [overdoses] that they just that came from COVID
967
01:46:26.820 --> 01:46:43.440
Horace Graydon: but they say is OD. There is not counting the neck and neck vertical or is not counting in a particular day would count it, but they are not counting these people. I found that all I think our country is in a state.
968
01:46:44.610 --> 01:46:50.880
Horace Graydon: In a political state, we have divided in I don't want, I don't want to see us in such a divided
969
01:46:51.780 --> 01:47:01.290
Horace Graydon: Like we are, I think we have to fight decisively. I think our leader, the leaders that we have, and the prejudices, and so I think they are fueling
970
01:47:01.650 --> 01:47:13.530
Horace Graydon: The racial divide and then that's that my ah... And I think that all white people, brown people black people, I think that we should know that that you are not my enemy.
971
01:47:14.130 --> 01:47:34.410
Horace Graydon: I'm not holding slavery against you though slavery happen. I'm not holding slavery against you. I'm not holding, because George Floyd got killed. I'm not saying how all or white folks or whatever are bad, but I think that people should know that.
972
01:47:36.060 --> 01:47:47.010
Horace Graydon: I want to live peacefully with you, politically, socially, a while and I want to know that this this thing just now, the political atmosphere, our country right now.
973
01:47:47.970 --> 01:48:00.270
Horace Graydon: Is going. It has to change. You know, it has to change. Because if it doesn't change, I think that will be heading into errors that we have no business while back into slavery time and I
974
01:48:01.380 --> 01:48:10.170
Juilee Decker: Understand that and I uh, I pray. So I pray that things get better because I can't, I can't have them get worse like
975
01:48:10.200 --> 01:48:11.160
Horace Graydon: Would be
976
01:48:11.220 --> 01:48:12.780
Juilee Decker: That would be that would be bad.
977
01:48:13.380 --> 01:48:19.320
Juilee Decker: Oh well Horace. I thank you so much for your time. It was so nice to meet you. I am so
978
01:48:20.520 --> 01:48:22.620
Horace Graydon: Maybe sometimes you come out to the museum.
979
01:48:23.460 --> 01:48:24.270
Juilee Decker: I told Joysetta…
980
01:48:24.360 --> 01:48:26.520
Juilee Decker: already told her. I'm coming over. I have to come visit
981
01:48:26.520 --> 01:48:29.940
Juilee Decker: Joysetta. So when I come visit Joysetta, I'll see you too.
982
01:48:30.180 --> 01:48:31.200
Horace Graydon: This is my favorite person here.
983
01:48:32.340 --> 01:48:34.230
Juilee Decker: She can’t be your favorite and my favorite at the same
984
01:48:34.230 --> 01:48:35.250
Juilee Decker: Time or can she?
985
01:48:38.010 --> 01:48:38.940
Joysetta Pearse: Do we have one more.
986
01:48:39.420 --> 01:48:39.990
Juilee Decker: We do.
987
01:48:40.170 --> 01:48:41.190
Joysetta Pearse: Okay, okay.
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