Why Digital Equity Matters in Baton Rouge:
Did you know?
A 2022 survey from LSU found that 20% of Louisiana adults do not have home internet service, with cost and availability being the primary barriers.
Reliable internet access is no longer a luxury – it's essential for education, employment, healthcare, and staying connected.
Our city is full of innovators and entrepreneurs, but not everyone has the tools to reach their full potential online.
We're thrilled to have some local experts joining us:
Mia Ruffin: [Regional Level Urban Planner with a focus on Broadband Access]Mia passionately advocates for bridging the digital divide in our community.
Eric Romero: [Director of Information Services – City of Baton Rouge] Eric will share insights on the City's efforts to expand broadband access.
This is YOUR chance to:
Learn about the latest initiatives to close the digital gap in Baton Rouge.
Ask questions and share your thoughts on how we can make digital equity a reality for all.
Connect with others who care about creating a more inclusive and connected Baton Rouge.
Let's build a stronger, more equitable Baton Rouge – together!
Notes
Casey Phillips: Welcome everybody. Happy Friday. You were at the school board meeting last night. So let's take a, let's take a moment to talk about the fact that it's July 12th. School starts in a month and change, and we can't even come to a consensus on hiring somebody for a job. Let's really just call it for what it is, right? This is taking an act of Congress just to hire someone for a job. I understand it's an important job, but I feel frustrated as I walk into this space today that we can't get our stuff together. Tia, you were at the meeting and everybody, this is Tia Fields. You all know with the One Rouge coalitions and she does represent the point of view of the coalition. Tia, what you got?
Tia Fields: In my overall opinion, I think that as chaotic as it was and the division within the board leadership was evident I was happy to see that the community was able to use their voice to stand against their beliefs and not having to do democratic process to elect their leader of choice when it comes to who they want to serve and oversee their children's education. I was just there in observance listening, taking in, observing who was in the room. And it was a lot of emotion, a lot of tension. But for me, I personally don't have any skin in the game. My children are, I have one in a charter school and the other one is in Zachary. Just looking at the division, I was like, man our leaders really have to pull together if there is going to ever be any type of collective impact made abroad on the city. And just to hear, witness on multiple sides, on multiple levels the frustration, the sadness, the exhaustion, I felt that. So I went to sleep a little heavy last night. I woke up and had to meditate on it because the city was divided. There is nothing that can be accomplished when we're all at each other's necks a lot up to the point when you told me about that movie Origin. Everybody we can't ignore like some of the racial things that have happened in Baton Rouge over the course of the last years with the school board, but it's deeper than that. And I'm like, how deeper can you get than a race issue? Just the fact that when we elect leaders, we do expect for them to listen to the voice of the people. And the people spoke last night. They spoke who they wanted. I feel like it could have been organized a little bit ways. I feel like that we as people should be able to express our opinions, our differences in a respectful manner and not attack one another because nothing's gonna get accomplished. And yeah, I was overwhelmed from it. I'm curious to hear what you thought or other people thought about the board if they watched it or if they were in attendance.
Casey: Yeah. Before we start our regular scheduled programming today, was there anybody at the school board meeting last night that would like to lift up their perspective on what it was or if they watched it online, because I would love to get more perspectives. Yes, indeed. Hello, ATB. Good morning, Alfreda.
Alfreda Tillman Bester: Good morning, everybody. I did have the pleasure of being there last night. It was absolutely appalling. The community poured out their souls. And our board members did not listen. We have a jewel in the man who everyone was in support of Adam Smith, who has done a phenomenal job in terms of restoring the morale of the people, the employees, the students, the parents, and allowing them to think that they have a say. And I felt that they were not listened to and it, to continue to ignore the people who have come up through the system, who know the system and who have the heart of the children have the best interest of the children at heart, like truly have their best interest. And it's not just lip service. I just think it's a lost opportunity for our community and I don't know how this is going to end. I've never, I've been around for a minute. I've never seen this before. I've never never seen this before. Not with the split and it was so appalling because it looked like a divided community along racial lines. So it was very disappointing. And I'm hopeful that we'll get a better resolution at next Thursday's meeting. But if I were either of those candidates, the lady's gone. She wasn't even there last night. I didn't see her. Did you see her tea Tia? I looked for her. I didn't see her, but if I were the gentleman from LSU, I'd run. Like I would run because there's nothing like having a staff that has loyalties to someone else that they feel has been wronged. My perspective.
Casey: And I think your perspective inside, given you and Flitcher's like experience in the higher ed and work in the community and stuff. I think your perspective is one that people should listen to. That's right. So hence why I'm glad that you just shared your thoughts. Anybody else want to offer up, not an alternate perspective, but just their point of view. On what did or didn't happen yesterday at the school board meeting?
Tia: I just want to, can I add one more point or one more? One question has been filtering my head. There was a deadline set that if a superintendent is not appointed by the 23rd, there is potential legal action against the board and different fees. My question is: Would the mayor or any other position of power be able to declare some type of something with the school board to where she would have to appoint someone if a decision cannot be made amongst the leadership. And that's a question for anybody that knows, that may have that inside information. Just curious because they stated it last night. This is uncharted water. The board has never had. They've had plenty of issues, but nothing to this magnitude. So they're really unsure on how to navigate it. So I'm looking from a perspective on okay legally, what else can be done if the board cannot come to a decision? What's the next step?
Alfreda: I honestly think that was a lot of hyperbole because there is a deadline, that the acting superintendent that a limited amount of time in which the acting superintendent can be in that position, but I'm not aware of any cause of action because there's a a superintendent's position that's not filled, they just, they can start the process over. They can choose someone, one of the persons that is still in contention, which I would say that Adam Smith is because the community is not going to give up on that. They have alternatives aside from just going to legal action or someone filing suit. I don't even know who would file suit on an issue like that because I don't know who has standing to do it. It's a function of the board. The board has not been able to come to any type of resolution. And so they need to go back either start the process over or put someone else in the interim. Cause I don't think that the person who's in the interim can continue. I'm not certain about that, but they can name an interim or maybe continue this one which everyone would be hopeful for. But I don't anticipate any legal action because they've not filled the superintendent's position. We've had too much turnover in that position. We'd be in litigation for the next 25 years thank you.
Casey: Thank you for that. Thank y'all Tia. Thanks for that question. And again that information ATB, Mia did you have your hand raised because I know we're going to be coming to you and oh she's a multi weapon of expertise today. I love that Mia. What you got?
Mia Ruffin: I'll wait. I'll wait till it's my turn.
Casey: Okay, cool. I said we'll have it all together. Manny, for joining us all the way from New Mexico. As I said, that is funny before you typed it out. I actually thought that's where you were because it's one of my favorite places to visit with our family and I felt the vibrations. So enjoy the mountains, my friends. And as I said, in the desert, it is gorgeous and thank you all. Thank you all for sitting in that space on the superintendent. I heard two things from the conversation now and what I read this morning that I just want to say the first thing, Adonica and the Baton Rouge Alliance. I'm down for her. As I said, regardless of whatever is written and whatever is said, I just like to be able to speak people's name with power who have been down, have been working in the systems for 20 plus years. And I'm a huge fan of what she does. She's like any human. We don't agree on every single thing that is improbable with critical thinking. But as I said, at the end of the day her heart is in the right place and she's trying to do the good work. Number two is that ATB said something that we are in unprecedented territory and I don't know about y'all, but I was trying just to zone out last night. I wasn't watching the school board meeting and I was trying to watch the ESPYs because I wanted to see Flau'jae perform because that's a banger that she came out with and I love the women of LSU that are making tons of money hand over fist. I celebrate those young creators and of course it was interrupted by whatever that was that president Biden did on TV last night. And I said, and, I'm thinking that we're unprecedented territory at all time. And this is when I get really excited, when you're on the cusp of things breaking, when things are unprecedented there was tremendous opportunity for massive structural change, massive disruption and a total swing, and I was even joking about it last night with my wife. Just running a hypothetical that it's probably not going to happen, but just think about this for a second. Everyone is feeling so doom and gloom about everything. But just on the outside chance, let's say Kamala becomes the presidential nominee at the convention. And what if Michelle Obama became the vice president nominee? What if Kamala was the president for eight years? And what about if Michelle became the president after that? Just as a hypothetical, we could have 12 years of America being led by two african american women and totally changed the tide of the direction of the country I'm not saying that is what's going to happen I'm not saying that I would even say that's whatever nobody's calling to ask my opinion if Joe's staying in the in the race or not. All I can say is when things feel dark and things feel uncertain and there's a lot of disruption There is an opportunity for things to completely change on its head. A really fascinating listen is the Dailies podcast that came out two days ago on the last 14 years in UK government history. It's a really fascinating listen. If you really watch what happened from the conservative party to the labor party and what's been happening in England, it could be a really interesting pre canary in the coal mine for how things could happen in America. If we weren't just a two party system, the good and the bad of that. You had Brexit, right? That's a real thing. But anyway, with all that being said, things are changing. And one thing that we can all agree is that the information age is upon us. The information economy, right? It's been the industrial revolution. We're clearly in the technological revolution, but the information economy is going to be paramount to the future. And when you're talking about closing divides, there are many divides that are equally important. One in four children still going to bed at night hungry, not acceptable, right? Our education divide in the city, there are many divides, but the digital divide is going to be one of the most important issues in the future of Baton Rouge. Mark my words, my friends, because the future is here. And those that are left out and left behind of the information economy, those divides on all the social service nets that all the social network services net touches is going to get so wide that it may almost be impossible to close. The One Rouge Coalition has been working with the city of Baton Rouge. Signature PR and Jonathan's on the call, but unfortunately had to step into the doctor's office. But with Signature PR and the One Rouge Coalition, we are writing the Digital Equity plan for the city of Baton Rouge, which we've talked about on this call before. This is a check in and we'll get a lot of feedback. Also want to, of course, acknowledge our co host, Tia Fields today. And because our friend Pepper is on sabbatical for the month of July and then moving to Washington, D.C. For her next steps. And so we are here today in a very robust in democratically collaborative conversation. We want a lot of input. We have some great speakers today. And the first one is going to be the lead consultant on the digital equity plan. Mia Ruffin is a consultant. She's an urban planner, and she has a deep understanding of broadband both from an academic studying standpoint, but also a lived experience and actually the work that she has been doing for years. She is an expert that will never say that she's an expert, and we also have another individual that's an expert that will never say they're an expert, and I'll get to that in a second. Mia, your five minutes plus begins.
Mia Ruffin: All right, tell me when I hit it. Hopefully I don't get close. So good morning, and I'll tell y'all my lived experience grew a bit yesterday, because if you live in the area, you know that you can get an outage text message at very inconvenient times and it just grounds you into what you are doing. My name is Mia Ruffin. I'm an urban planner. I live in Baton Rouge. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge and I'm and I am currently in the planning space in a couple of different ways, but very specifically since COVID have been in the broadband space and am enjoying the opportunity to see all the ways that other mid sized cities have taken what was maybe like 10, 15, 20 years ago, a very ghostly of infrastructure and really amplify it I think in 2020, 21, 22, it was made very clear to a lot of us, whether or not you are given the opportunity to work from home. I think a lot of us are essential workers. And so you didn't have what's called a luxury of being able to work from home. Some of us who were able to work remotely were able to see, Oh, we don't have access. In the way that we would like to, but even those who are in the essential spaces, hospitals, educated in certain ways even those of us who work for the school system in very specific ways, like people who support the nutrition system, all have to do certain things that require us to be plugged in, like the ethics test and all that. Let me get back to the point of introducing myself. Our conversation today is about digital equity, but it is about everyone on this call and everyone that you know in the EBR peers, city peers, being able and capable of joining the conversation. I know that we are, what, approaching five years into the midst of this pandemic of understanding that we are in need. That does not preclude you from being someone who can contribute to this in a very helpful way. You will have access to a link before the end of this call, I believe. I have tried to make the survey something that anyone can complete. In under five minutes. Now, if you take longer than five minutes, it's because you are doing very good and you are going to get an A plus if I ever get to give you a grade. But generally what we want to know is what space do you occupy in that room? In what ways do you know that there can be help? Or that you would like there to be help? Okay, so that's the basis of my introduction. But I'd also like to say that I'm contributing to this effort. There is a light that can be shined and saying, Oh, I'm an expert, but I think that expertise is born of several experiences, skills, educational background, and also a willingness and an access to broad being just as a theoretical skill. And so I say that again to say, all of you being in this conversation and having some level of awareness of your geolocational access in Baton Rouge and those who don't have access offers you the opportunity to enter into this with no fear. You don't have to have an even story like BESE board relationship to the school board. I think there's a preclusion of knowing. Who was once our superintendents, right? Or what is the direction that we want to go into? I think this conversation, leaning on what Casey said about there being such an opportunity for a shift because things are unprecedented, as always, but I think especially now, you can be a part of this conversation with what you may see as little to nothing, as I may see as little to nothing. In terms of my own consciousness, but the willingness to say, I do think that these things are bad. We should have more consistent access and it should be more affordable. If those are your thoughts, you are at the right table and we really want your opinion on this. I think that's about it. If you want to access me or reach me, it's ruffinmia@yahoo.com. I like to talk about things I learned from a lot of things, and I'll be learning from this call too, but please unmute your mic when it's time to have the discussion. I'm excited to hear from you Casey.
Casey: Awesome Mia. And I'm going to come back to you to talk about, just to remind everybody about what LA Connect is doing on a statewide level, and then, go down a couple more questions in a second. But thank you so much. I want to shift over to Eric Romero. Got to imagine every single person on this call knows who Eric is. He'll put his contact information in the chat in a bit, but if you do not know for the city parish, he is the director of information services. I like to refer him to as the CIO of the city. I think he deserves all that for 30 years of service and being on the front end and the bleeding edge of bringing Baton Rouge into the future. For a city that has actually been recognized nationally for our open data BR platform, and we've been recognized nationally as LA Connect being number one in the country for the broadband initiative. Like these are not like, this is not hype. This is real. There are things that we're doing in Baton Rouge and Louisiana around digital equity and broadband and tech that are actually at the forefront. And we know that there's a lot of need. So one of the people that brings the resources and that power to be everyone who's in need and across the board is Eric. Eric, thank you for joining us today and we'd love to get your perspective for the next few minutes.
Eric Romero: Sure. Thanks, Casey. As Casey said, I've been with the city for right on 30 years now. The last 11-12 has been director of information services. So really leading the department. And in that time, we've implemented a lot of new technology within City Parish sometimes dragging departments along. A lot of departments were slow to embrace some of the changes that we were pushing because one, they were just comfortable with these older systems that we had in place and we've been using for years and years. I think there's a shift, though, as some of the more, we'll say, seasoned directors are phasing out in that younger generation is moving in that younger generation that has been touching technology for a lot longer. They get it. They understand. The importance of technology that they're looking at how we're expected to do more with less as far as the budget goes. And the only way we can do that is with technology. So we're driving a lot of efficiencies within City Parish government. Most of that is around internal operations. So we do our best to train our employees, encourage and encourage them to embrace technology. So the training is an important part of my circle back to the digital equity around that as well, because we can't just push out a piece of technology and expect the employees to utilize it properly. So training is a big component the technology that we've been implementing. Casey mentioned open data br and all of our transparency initiatives. We also not just looking at internal operations. We want to look at citizen engagement as well. So how can we improve the process that the public interacts with the government? So we have a lot of new tools. That's available to the public. A lot of new technology, but we're mindful that we can have all of these new tools for the public to access. But how useful is that if there's a lack of digital equity in the parish and a large chunk of the population either doesn't have access to broadband Or if they're not educated on how to properly use that technology. So Mayor Broom has fully supported expanding digital equity across the entire parish. And what's a bit of a challenge for us is we're limited in what we can do to bring connectivity to somebody's house. So we don't have the infrastructure to bring fiber to somebody's house. That's the carrier. So we're through partnerships, we're working to be strategic. And how can we encourage those carriers to one identify the pockets that are underserved and to how can they bring stable and sufficient broadband access into those areas so that one we can address the access.But that's only the first part. So Great that you have high speed broadband at your house. Is it affordable? How do we make it affordable? Because just because you have a provider has a fiber line at your house, if you can't afford to pay that monthly cost, that's not doing us any good. So we need to make it affordable. And then once you can afford it, What kind of technology do you have to connect to it? So again, if I give you fiber and I'll bring it to your house and it's completely free of charge. But if you don't have a computer or a tablet or something to utilize that connectivity, we're not, you're not going to be able to, you're not improving that digital equity. And then once you get the technology there so that there's some partnerships we're working there. But once the public has that technology, now they need to be educated on how to use it. So partnering with the library and other organizations as folks are getting newer technology that they're educated on how to properly use it, how to search for jobs, how to interact with government, how to apply for it. Ramps or loans or those type of things, rental assistance, those things that can improve the community in a whole. And of course, being the I.T. Director, I. S. Director or C. I. O. Whatever alphabet soup you want to call me. I have to mention cyber security. I will always mention cyber security because I live it every day and it is so stressful. Just Keeping the city parish network secure. And we want to make sure that the entire parish is secure from mom and pop that has a single computer at home to a corporation that's operating within the parish. We want everybody to be cyber secure. Secure cyber aware, cyber secure. So that's going to be tied into the education part, but it's really ingraining that into to folks as they're getting on boarded with new technology
Casey: Right on. Thank you, Eric. And yeah, forgive me for not seeing cyber up until this point, because it's probably one of the largest It's one of the largest thing components. That's the invisible part of all the broadband and the equity stuff and just doesn't get talked about enough. So thanks. Thanks for that, because it's an important part. So Mia, I'm going to come back over to you. And there's a few folks on the call that you know that it's coming. When I start thinking about the broader use of broadband and in digital equity, I think about all the innovations that cats will be coming out with. In the coming years to be able to utilize the services in a more streamlined way. And for folks I think about all the technological components in Southern University now with Dean Andrews in the College of Business. Long gone are the days of balance sheets that are in paper, and you're writing everything in the columns. Technology is literally at the forefront of everything that the people coming through his college are going to have to also have in their Batman belt. In order to be competitive. And then, I think about the work that Ashley's doing with envision BR I'm sorry, envision NBR. Yeah. Envision BR. The logo threw me off there, actually. But I think about that in a neighborhood, right? This is you get out of the broad clouds and you get into that 10 block radius, right? Like where the Wilson foundation and envision BR are focused on broadband access, digital literacy. Cyber, all of that is going to become even more important in the future as it comes. So Mia, we'll get to all these other folks that they want to come off mute and give me their perspective, give us their perspective. But Mia really talk about when Eric was talking about the investments on everything from. The infrastructure all the way to, digital literacy and all that. How does that kind of fit with the state plan? And, everyone, if you're a little foggy on what the digital equity plan is, I'm willing to put everything in the chat. It's like a massive amount of information. But if you read through it, you're really going to understand, but Mia is going to help us understand the statewide plan to the local connection.
Mia: Yeah, that's a big ask. I'm going to be honest because I want to make it. Yeah, let me answer the question. So about, but I guess three years ago now I form governor, John Bell Edwards at, first of all, can y'all hear me better? I took the headphones out. It should be a little better. Yes. Great. All right. So about three or so years ago, John Bell Edwards, our former governor created a couple of initiatives and I guess you could say groups of folks. So there's a bill commission, different stakeholders who could contribute to the thought of broadband. But that was actually founded in 2019. I think he was just being progressive minded because it's not a secret that, a smart city. Is the city of the future and that broadband plays a big part in that. COVID hits 2020 and there's a number of EDA, NCIA, the national telecommunications, I think information agency, if the acronym is wrong, it is not far from what it actually stands for a federal agency that essentially is supportive of all the ways we communicate using tech. Started sending down funds because people were working from home. And so the governor's and the state's reaction to that was to do really two things. And so they pushed for the idea that the goal really is for everyone in the state to have access to Affordable reliable broadband by 2029, everybody in the state. And so that's the overarching goal, right? Secondarily to that, but central to that was the creation of connect LA or the office of broadband and connectivity. They were founded in that time and they were essentially the vessel to receive said funding. Since then they have created certain. Grant funding programs. Like gumbo, which is such a cute name. But it is doing everything but cute stuff. It is doing very impactful, important stuff to lend itself to supporting that. And I'll be all 2029. We all have access. So a lot of deployment measures, right? Within that, though, EDA, NTIA and other similar simpatico organizations have also began to, since then, and even more so now that we are working on building outside infrastructure, enunciate the fact that we need digital equity elements, that we need digital literacy elements, that we are putting into place, not just technical, tangible things, but so that people know what they are doing with it. Eric mentioned so many use cases of broadband and I will, I'll talk about myself, when I watch the news so often, am I looking at organizations that I have you drafted a blurb for or pass the email on to the Ark of Baton Rouge or so many educational programs, and I wondered to myself, has a little bit of work that I had access to as a planner one or as a grant supporter been helpful to them? Has the time that I spent on the clock been helpful to them? My association and interest here with broadband is that I really do think as a native, as someone who is here in their adulthood, who is trying to figure out what is here for me as we continue to make changes in so many leadership ways. I know for a fact, it's very important that we have broadband here. And I want my work to count. I want my time to count. And I know I feel everybody on this call feels the same way. I met Ashley a couple weeks ago through a class that we're taking. And I'm very interested in hearing what Envision BR's perspective is on this. And I would like to say, I hope it's not being too heavy handed. What folks who are representative of places that have a lot of people who live in proximity to who are in the middle of places that we don't talk about a lot with very joyful voices, and we should places that have not just culture in that blanketed way, but culture in a very significant Baton Rouge way. What do y'all need in terms of broadband access? So what I'm going to do is read very quickly a synopsis of if that is what it is trying to do, what ways are we without or in what ways can I lend language to them so that we are not forgotten? Alright, so the strategic plan serves multiple purposes. Providing essential information and justification for local entities applying for grants to improve connectivity. Highlighting the existing broadband infrastructure and resources within the city. Offering a foundational understanding of broadband and its importance to local progress. Illustrating the city's alignment with state initiatives to foster collaboration and a nuanced approach to Louisiana's technological future. As well as addressing the diverse needs across the metro area and rural communities, EBR Parish is also inclusive of rural communities. Thank you for your question, Manny. So don't feel left out or if you live in a suburban area or a disinvested area, you are part of this conversation. Don't let Metro fool you. Okay, actually, I saw your message. So across the metro area to ensure inclusive connectivity and emphasizing how Enhanced broadband can keep banners competitive and secure against vulnerabilities. I'll wrap it back up to Casey's question originally about what the state is doing. They were able to get a grant with a couple of entities, but very explicitly with U.L.S. Kathleen Babineau Blanco. Like office essentially their policy department and they drafted using a bunch of notes and data from facilitation and outreach that they had over the course of six months to a year. And they created a draft that said what we needed to do as a state, what we are wanting to do, what we are doing, what this conversation is to be helpful in is localizing that draft and making it relevant to us. How do you need help in drafting grants? What data do you need? What areas need help with that? What areas don't need help with that? What areas already have broadband plans, like strategic plans that are asking for this help? All of that feeds into something. Does that answer your question, Casey?
Casey: It does. And then some, and I'm going to take a moment and just like pause, right? Everyone, this, and we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg of this, right? So we're hitting broad strokes right now. And so part of the partnership with Signature PR with JT and Gary Chambers and everybody on their team on strategic outreach is, I want to lift up what Mia said, there are beautiful, joyful voices all in this community that get left out of the process all the time. I may not be a person that's going to show up to a, community meeting in a church rec center and put a bunch of sticky dots all over, All over, a bunch of paper on the wall, right? We've all been to these sticky notes and sticky dots, but I will absolutely jump in and do an online survey or, if it's already if you're coming to where I already am, I'm happy to give you my opinion, which everybody knows. I'm never shy on giving my opinion. JT and Gary's team is really going to ensure that inclusivity and that massive outreach Everybody in the community to make sure that we're hitting everybody and get everybody's voice all the way through the end of the year. And then and then we'll, because there's a lot of dense information that me is giving. There's going to be a lot of dense information in the plan, so they'll be distributed in. Normal human language and Mia, you did a really good job at actually just using layman's terms there But like really you know Distilling it down making it easy to understand in chunks and make and get people to really understand First of all, I mean Manny's question. What is broadband right? What is digital equity? What are the resources that are available? What you know, how does this affect me and make it relevant? So that's one of the things that we'll be doing. And then of course, I see Ashley, is reaching out about, connecting with Mia or everybody, that Envision BR is working with. Also, I'm going to put her on the spot here for a second. If that's Ms. Simeon with the Drum newspaper on the call today, getting that word out through the Drum, which if you're not subscribing to the Drum newspaper, you are absolutely missing out. Like it is. Hands down one of the best periodicals, and quite frankly, I love the family behind the families behind it. So I'll also lift that up. But I said that, it's important to get it out to everybody. Eric, I want to come just back over to you real quick. If there's anything that kind of, is bubbling up for you. You want to make sure and say before I start opening up to Q& A and in some other voices on the call.
Eric: No, go ahead, Casey.
Casey: Okay, cool. So I'm going to shift just for a second.
Mia: Can I say one thing?
Casey: Yeah, go ahead, Mia.
Mia: The question Manny had about what is broadband versus access. I think it even more so talks to Manny dropped a definition. That is the definition of broadband. I'd also like to say that speaks to Other people have strategic plans or goals where they are thinking about internet in a way different from us, right? So we can have a universal definition of broadband, but what is broadband to your organization, right? Is it the same thing as accessing it? And so I don't want anyone to feel limited to I have to use this language in this specific definition. If y'all are using internet, if y'all are calling it dial up, whatever you are calling it. If how you access the internet is your cell phone or Facebook. Say Facebook, if that's what you mean. We will level all of that out later when we get your answers in the survey. All right, that's all.
Casey: No, thank you, Mia. And Manny, I want to give you some space if you want to jump in real quick.
Manny Patole: Hey, folks. No, I think it's they're all valid questions, and I think one of the big things is It's still a divide and conquer mindset, right? Is that if folks are not helping us, as what Mia said, with the same type of language to meetings or articulating that in larger contexts, it's an easy way to dismiss folks from they don't know what they want. So why should we? We don't want to prioritize that versus someone else, right? When you're thinking about this looking ahead to the point that was made before when we started this call about education is that we're overthinking with nine drivers and all these other things if thinking about them in silos, also not helping and just thinking about broadband as a standalone item is not helping seeing how is it part of when you're doing when you're building an affordable housing project or housing project in general, right? You're making those connections for water, gas, electric. Why aren't you putting, why isn't. Broadband or internet or however you want to call it included in that as a requirement. When you're thinking about your total cost of ownership for a business, how is that more of a luxury than it is a requirement, right? In terms of your business model, how are you thinking about this in terms of your education plan? My, I am here on the family holiday here in New Mexico, and my niece is talking about her schooling and how they're talking about coding as part of their first, second, third grade Classroom experience in addition to, your math, your science and your reading right? All these things are the touch points of the stuff is needs to be looked at in a little bit more of a broader and a little bit more of an intentional way rather than just thinking of it as an afterthought or as a luxury.
Casey: Yeah, amen. And I'm just for sporting fun to Manny. If you don't mind putting your information in because you're in so you wear a lot of different hats, but one of them is you are an Internet service provider with Bakery. And Candace if y'all haven't met yet. Oh, my God, Miss Simeon and Manny Patole. You all need to know each other. So please connect with your Q and a offline.
Manny: If I may just say one more thing about that as a, as an ISP Mia was a working with us for a bit as well. And one of our big problems was, is just, maybe connecting with folks like Eric or maybe connecting with, you Building owners and management. And also, you may not realize it, but there's a huge thing around zoning and planning and permitting when you're trying to do some of this work too. It's like, where can you do this? Where can you not do this? People don't want stuff on the side of their buildings. And when they hear what Mia was saying, it's Okay. Oh, you want internet or broadband? No, we can't put that on the outside because it looks ugly. There are ways of doing things better. It's just that, everyone has such a tunnel vision view of it. You can make it better, smarter, faster, right? What do you think about the biotic man or things like that? Thank you. for smiling at that, that reference there. But the idea there is that everyone's just stuck in this whole thing of this aesthetics I'm sorry, some of the buildings, anyone's building in any city, including New York or Baton Rouge, they're ugly. Putting an additional thing on the outside is not going to make a difference. But the idea is that you want to make sure that folks are getting access to the things they need. And when you're talking about broadband, it's a conduit to business. It's a conduit to education. It's a conduit to just accessing opportunities from, for grants and things like that as well.
Casey: All right. And if the aesthetics get in the way, Manny, I will offer up for our artists, normal price points, as I said, we can paint murals on all the broadband towers that you want to put up So I got two things. I want to get to Alfredo in a second if he's able to come off mute because I will not playing devil's advocate. I want to play pragmatic be pragmatic about things right and I want to come over to Alfredo and shift the conversation for a second. One of the things that comes up I see our friends from One Touch Ministry are here. What's up, gents? I said y'all are always loyal Friday. If y'all are, hey, what's up, cool beans? How you doing? If y'all could come off mute for a second, and I'm thinking about Reverend Anderson as well and anybody else, and I'm, Tristi was on here for a minute, but I'm not sure if she still is. But when I think about human beings who have been touched by, touched by the criminal justice system, right? And the barriers for employment that come from there how important is access to, to broadband digital literacy skills specifically for remote work that would maybe be opportunities for work that otherwise, some of the humans are excluded from when they have something on their record whether it's, by policy or practice on certain jobs. Is that a big thing for the, OneTouch?
Steve Mannear: Okay so you can just imagine what it's like to come out of prison, maybe be a sex offender where you can't work within 1000 feet of a church, a school, a playground, a park, and try to get a job with no Internet access where you can't submit applications. You can't search out locations. You can't use Google Earth to find out what is the distance between here and there. And then you're essentially completely reliant on your probation officer or the sheriff's department, and they got other things to do besides help you find a job. And essentially, you're on your own way. You don't have a car. You don't have any money. You can't make appointments and get dressed up and go for interviews. Without Internet access, you are essentially trapped. The same way you walked out of the door prison.
Verna Bradley Jackson: and to add to that, Casey is also what it does here at one touch. If they don't have that access, then each 1 of our staff members have to sit with them. They can't touch the the computer even. They can't even test your laptop or anything. So we have to dedicate time just for that 1 client and just imagine having 8 to 9 clients coming a day. What that does. And, some of the process, they may not have all the information that they need for us to finalize even a snap application. The Technology and the media component is so important for them and for this process and for them to go the next step and be successful in the community without doing something. Hey, what they got arrested for in the 1st place.
Casey: Thanks for sharing that. And I see that you almost enjoy your owl in the middle of the conference room table, too. So that's good. I appreciate that, that perspective. And Rev, I want to make sure I see that you that you're dropping stuff into the the chat. Let me know if you want to come off of mute. Alfredo. Are you in a position to talk? All right. Excellent, my friend. Excellent. And then Reverend Anderson, I'll get to you right after Alfredo for that one two punch. So Alfredo two things. First of all, you put some things into the chat that I thought were brilliant, and that's exactly why we're having this call today, right? Is to capture all these moments of brilliance into the plan and expand on it and leave room for iteration and all that. So I want to give you space for that. And then I want to quickly shift to the work you put into creating the housing plan. And I want to like have that second secondary question. So anything that you want to lift up that you put into the chat?
Alfredo Cruz: Sure. My I guess my critique of, plan that's being rolled out is the need for the connection internally within the city within the state to connect all the departments, all the systems so that you can see how as Manny alluded, your development permitting requires a certain level of infrastructure Or contribution, like an impact feed to help with that infrastructure and doing so for economic development projects, I think would be really impactful. I put in the chat the example of this Amazon distribution center that required, like a revamp of the infrastructure in this area. I live in broad more and a lot of that cost for that infrastructure were passed on to consumers. And I just wonder what's happening on the other side of Florida Boulevard, where there's a really different economic reality for families on the other side of Florida Boulevard, what their impact fee was to access broadband, because that distribution center needs that level of system. And let's be real, it was. Part of the tax incentive that project received to be able to locate here. And so I think there's a lot that has to happen within the government system to make this possible. And a lot of negotiations that could happen with developers with economic development projects before you roll this out to the public. And a lot of those connections need to happen internally. And I think we're being asked to do a lot. And there's just a lot of work that hasn't been done internally. And you can see it because we don't see a lot of affordable development projects being done with this kind of infrastructure built into the city. The redevelopment or development of new projects, new housing projects. And so people are left with the bill to then have their own connectivity service. And that should not be the case, especially for affordable housing projects.
Casey: Yeah, amen. And Cherie I could, I agree with you. Wow. I'm really glad that you just connected that dot and Kendra's on the line around the Florida street corridor plan and broadband, especially given, how great the fiber is on Florida Boulevard as it goes by the tech park. And and Alfredo, I felt like I was about to go down a wormhole. I'm like, what do you mean impact fees are being absorbed by individuals? But I already know the answers to all of this and these are all ways that people continue to make more money, but we'll come back to that. I want to put us directly in, in the line of fire on creating this plan, right? Alfredo, you worked your ass off on the Housing First Alliance and putting together multiple iterations of the plan and it's a very agile document. It lays it out pretty damn clearly. On what needs to be done. My question is, and truly Alfredo, I'm just speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for the rest of the team. Pound for pound, you mean, I think that you out, you outpaced me intellectually, right? So you're super smart and you created this amazing plan that is, is it a piece of shelf art? Right now, currently, or is it being effective? And if it's not being effective, call it out. What needs to be done different to ensure what we're doing becomes something that actually impacts people's lives over the next five years. When these large scale infrastructure dollars are coming from the feds through the state into the city potentially into the city. I want to say that very clearly coming into the state. imposition us potentially in the city? What needs to be done? What do we need to do that you feel is important? Is that a fair question? Or am I being unfair?
Alfredo: No, it's a fair question. I don't mind answering it and being explicit about it. We need a government partner, a local government partner that's in agreement with the recommendations and next steps in that plan and a willingness to invest in it. Period. That hasn't happened. I think there's been a lot of lip service about this. There's been even some indication of ownership of those goals, but that has not translated into any investment in the next steps or prioritization of any of the recommendations. Low hanging fruit or. Further down the road more, more costly investments, but there has been no indication that there's any willingness to invest in any of this. And it's a shame because we were all partners at the beginning when we began this work. And then there was a shift in priority. I think a shift towards safety, not recognizing that housing conditions is part of the reason people are not safe in their own communities, in their own homes. And so safety, I think, has been really interpreted. As policing and policing communities and investing more in what infrastructure we need to police people more to reduce crime, when really the biggest crime is the lack of investment in our housing infrastructure. All right, I might have burned a whole lot of bridges here but. Letting me get off my, get that off my chest.
Casey: No, like it's it's it's your truth and I appreciate you speaking it to you.
Tia: I have a question. So to your point, you afraid of about over policing and communities using like broadband infrastructure, how does that relate to the city's plan with the use of GIS and different technological advancements that they're using to pull data? What is the current. So I don't know if that's the correct state of broadband that we're using actually right now. I just rambled like three questions, but yeah. So just to your point about the community policing and the use of like G I S technology. Using cameras to monitor those Monitor those homes or those housing projects as a safer way of means instead of having a physical police. Presence. What are your thoughts about the use of that?
Alfredo: If we're more data driven. Then let's look at all the data, use the data to overlay where there's very poor housing conditions high incidents of crime, as well as the worst health disparities, and then invest there, right? You can use that data to do overlays of all these indicators of. Poverty and choose to invest where there's a multiple intersection of all these deficits rather than just observe, which I think is what happens when we use the data is just to observe and not do anything about those conditions. We observe.
Casey: Reverend Anderson, you want to jump in on the back of that?
Reverend Anderson: Yes. Good morning. So I wanted to, first of all, I love Alfredo Cruz, but. I just want to put that out there that I want to piggyback on two things a little bit. The first one is when we talk about the nine drivers of poverty, and sometimes we jump over the people who are at the exact bottom to what I like to call a more comfortable population to talk about. And the fact that oftentimes it's not just accessibility, It is, in fact, that the things we consider almost foundational don't exist in a lot of those populations. And I love the fact that Verna and her group pointed that out, that we are an extraordinarily justice impacted community, which means we have people at one extreme that literally cannot go into a library. They are barred by policy. From being in the one place we think of for everybody, there are people for whom their housing either doesn't exist or the infrastructure in that housing will not accommodate in any way, shape or form them being able to plug something in as simple as a charge. So when we talk about access to tablets and laptops, etc. But that baseline issue is where the barrier exists. And I wanted to also talk about, and I love the fact that Alfredo brought this up, elections. And one of the challenges that we have Casey is that we keep talking about things are changing, except they're not. And I want to say this very clearly. We have every single Metro council position is on the ballot right now. We have the bulk of the positions in EBR on the ballot. We just got a new municipality. That is going to make overnight the city of Baton Rouge significantly poor as it relates to its property tax base. And yet we are still not having discussions in whether it's candidate forms or whether it is in communities of marginalized need. Where any of these people in these roles stand. Zoning planning and permitting is directly tied to who becomes a member of the district of the metro council, as well as who becomes the mayor, as well as who becomes a variety of these roles. And so one of my big concerns sometimes Is we jump to the how to, as opposed to the who needs to be in the room. And I want to end with just this last sentence. I remember, I want to say it was the last One Rouge call we had. And Lucy from Line for Line was on, on the line. An amazing organization doing amazing work with literacy. And I think we were talking about summer programs and access to activities. And the one thing Lucy put out there, my folk can't afford this. And I think one of the realities is when we have these conversations. I think Manny alluded to it. I know Alfredo alluded to it. Oftentimes, our tax policy is literally putting the cost of this on the people who can least afford it. And it puts it on them in ways that they're not always aware, because it comes up in fines and fees and other places. So I did want to put that out there because it is important that votes lift everybody. And I think sometimes we're more comfortable with the vote lifting the people we think it can lift. As opposed to the hard work of how do we actually get everybody lifted?
Casey: All that. Yeah, all that. Yeah, all that. Thank you so much. And we'll get to the candidate forum stuff in a second, because it's trickier for C3 than I thought it was. And I've been like paying attention to this for about 13 years. Elections are tricky for C3s. But there has got to be a way for Between now and November with all these seats important seats coming up to be able to have focused conversations around housing zoning, like all you know all the different topics so it doesn't become like all over the place and everybody doing the normal talking points and really get an understanding of where people stand on each one of these things to really to have a, A more educated vote. So we'll maybe I'll circle back to you and ATB on that, Kendra, and then Alfreda, and then Mia, I'm going to ask you, close us out, Kendra.
Kendra Hendricks: I'm here. Thanks Casey. So I'm glad the Florida corridor came up in the conversation because that was intentional as part of the plan to make sure it does not sit on the shelf. We had so many other plans already in place. The project team came together as okay, let's see what we can do with what we have. And so they put together a great plan. And also there's an appendix for implementation. So we're just not going to have a plan just sitting on the shelf, not doing anything. There is an implementation plan, and I invite you to go to our website, floridacorridorbr.com, and look at the implementation plan, and if there's something that you can plug into, please let us know.
Casey: Yeah, right there, and I did just that with Kendra this week. It's a really, it's on me, I've said this openly, I should have read that in greater detail early on and that's it, and when I really dug in on it, especially anybody on this call that's interested in working on the area called the stitch. Right on Florida Boulevard. I am super interested in partnering with you. So read the Florida street corridor plan. Kendra, I'll put it into the chat and let me know. We're open to the whole corridor, but that one in particular if you don't understand where the stitch is, just think about the Greyhound station on the floor. And, in that surrounding area, if you're doing work in that area, please reach out. I'm interested. ATB and then Mia.
Alfreda: Good morning again, Casey. I just wanted to give you a little bit of peace about how to utilize the 501 C 3. There is an education component that is allowable, and you have to maximize that. No, you cannot endorse a candidate in a, and you don't want to do that in a candidate forum but you can highlight the positions that person takes and allow people to, to compare and contrast the candidates who are running for whatever that position is. Without giving endorsement, you allow them to make the decision, but you can give them the information that's a big part of educating and helping people to become more comfortable with being involved in the deliberative process.
Casey: Yes, ma'am. And I was even thinking that I would put together a little small committee specifically with all you would law backgrounds to actually float all the questions in advance because that's where the nuance. That's where I've heard that people get tripped out. I'm watching. We watched in the last election cycle. There were a lot of nonprofits that just wanted to civically engage and they were there was litigation taken against them. around the nature of the questions being curved around to different sides. And I just attested it to people with sour grapes on not winning whenever people don't win, they're always looking to point elsewhere except from within. And at the end of the day yes, Trump. The election. You didn't win the last one. It just I'm sorry. I know that we continue to have to talk about it, but you just didn't win. And so do better next time, which is upon us. Even those kind of remarks, right? Like I said that intentionally just to highlight. The nuances of the tone of the conversation has to be very much very disciplined. And I probably will not be that person because I have a tendency to let people know where I stand on things. Speaking of which, a human that does possess such discipline to close us out. Miss Mia Ruffin. Any words of wisdom, any request, and then we'll open it up to community announcements.
Mia: I have some thoughts responding to everybody. So one, Reverend Anderson, thank you. I'm going to say something kind of dorky and it's fine. Yeah. I think this is space. I'm not the only one here. I think that's a door and that's good, but great. I feel like. The part in which we are overlooking extremes of our population and or extremes on paper, right? We have very, I come from a big family. There's a lot of representation and not just in color or in education. Okay, so with that being said, we do need to have an inclusive. Approach to this. I think that to lean in another direction, planning so often implicates places that are individuals who are without like what I would call foundational resources. So access to transportation or transportation themselves, food, heat, if they need it air, if they need it are very often, probably obviously. Outside of the conversation to be able to afford or even not even desire, but to imagine a consistent access to broadband Internet, right? And so very often you can do overlays. We're looking at a map, and if they are without, you can assume that they don't have brought being in this space. And certain providers do. Are gaming on that. They are hoping for that. That way they can create certain packages that are servicing in a way, but not in a full way. And so I think to speak to Casey, your point about not having read the corridor plan all the way through, we are at a space right now where we are. Humbly. Asking for information. We are building a foundational document right now. The, Alfredo, thank you so much. I don't know you personally. I have heard great things about you in the chat. And really appreciate your offer and am hopeful to build a bridge from what you said, because in this humble act of trying to build out this foundational information, we also have a second arm of this that is leaning on signature to be much more visible and to go into the communities and to promote this plan so that we can further edify it before it is done. So understand that. The ways in which we have all maybe been let down with the things in our fields, not, exacting the change that we wanted to, or to Reverend Anderson's point, no change really happening across decades in whatever field, whether we're talking about infrastructural development, educational access, or, really anything we all want change and there is not enough or at least not enough in the ways that we want it to be. So I want to repeat this survey at this point is creating the space for you to tell us where we need to go and where do you stand and do you have anything right now that we should be looking closely at so we can intertwine it therefore at a later point in this year, we can go to those communities and we can engage with those people to create something that is not. Just foundational. I recognize this is just this. This will be the first of this thing, so it won't be perfect, but it will be hopefully helpful with everyone pouring into it at this point, and then us knowing where to go at our next step. This will not be a perfect document, but I think that in the ways all of us in our work, whether it's something on paper or something that we embody, it has not been perfect work that has made positive change. It has been informed, hopeful, sometimes humble work. So please do the survey. You don't have to know very big technical words. Where do you think we should go? Who do you think we should talk to? Who is already doing this work?
Casey: Thank you, Mia. And I just want to drive something. I just want to drive something home for everyone. There's an old saying is get ready to be ready. And this is an exercise in proactive government nonprofit partnership. I cannot dictate what the federal government is going to do in the year 2025 through 2028, nor the Cajun Bonaparte. I have no idea what they're going to the decisions are going to make from a federal and state level. But what I can say is that Baton Rouge isn't ready with a digital equity plan and having a plan for this in place. We will not be in a position to be able to receive resources that are going to be directed towards shovel ready projects and ability to actually be able to make moves. And if we wait until then, we're going to already be too late. So that's kind of part of this. But I'm not satisfied with shelf art. Nobody on this call is and I appreciate everyone's perspective to help us be pragmatic and realistic about what is needed, but to ensure that happens. Thank you all very much for joining in this conversation today. We are going to shift it over to shifted over to announce. Yeah. Who's this?
Pat LeDuff: This is Pat LeDuff on the phone.
Casey: How are you? What's up, Pat LaDuff?
Pat: Yeah, look, I've been trying to get my comment in. Look, I wanted to address some of the issues that, and I know it's going to be quick because we're about to close, but Mia, we were talking about just overlooking what we already have. So I understand you have this Survey again, early on we were working directly with Bakery and we talked about an overlap or collective broadband plan and getting access through that, meaning we have Southern University, the library, the airport, Coca Cola, Exxon, Breck, and EBR as main sources of broadband. And how can we collectively bring that together to make it happen for Scotlandville farther than just the other side of Florida Street. And you probably can't address that now because we're at the end but I really, We're all
Mia: Let me try. You were one of the earliest interviews for this. I'm not assuming everybody would like to do an interview, but if anyone would like to please follow up with an email. I think our interview took like an hour and a half. And so I don't assume. That everyone would like to have an hour and a half on the books. What you said speaks to this is all the same thing. And so I have those notes, and it will be a part of this. Does that answer your question? It's not a like a separate project.
Pat: Okay, so we're still looking at Yes, we are being broad made using the conversation.
Mia: The conversation with bakery is the conversation that you have with them. But your notes and your thoughts on Scotlandville as everyone's notes and thoughts on their neighborhood are speak to me and I'm hearing what you're saying. I'm recording it. It adds. Okay, yes, thank you.
Pat: I have an announcement.
Casey: Yeah, no, lead us off. Bring us to the promised land.
Pat: Good morning to you. Announcement. Lil Harper Juliet turned nine on Wednesday on the 9th. And we have did not make the deadline for the 25,000. However, they gave us a 15 day extension. So if you guys have not invested and you're still interested in investing in posh pop, that's what I'm talking about. They were selected by Honeywell where where they can actually tap into funding from investors that We have created a reached out to so that pot of money goes in and then they can use that money for three years and then you get your money back with a 12. 5 percent interest. What a great investment. And we are just really hoping that you just forgot, or just didn't get a chance to, because our commitment that the list is long, but the people who actually did it. The list is very short. And thank you, Manny, for supporting the girls.
Casey: Hey Pat, can you put the link to that again if you don't mind, as said, into the chat? I did look into it, and I'm going to hit you offline because I have a couple of questions not about Poshpot, I'm all in. I did have a couple of questions about it, so I'm going to hit you up later this afternoon after my marathon meetings tonight.
Pat: Okay. Sounds good. Manny. Are you in a position to put, I'm on the phone. So are you in a position to put it in a chat for us? I also texted this morning.
Manny: Yeah, I can do it.
Casey: Okay. Manny. Tag team back again, Rex and I. Okay, cool. Any other community announcements or, quite frankly, any announcements that you have that you just want to stay as it from this very robust conversation today is also welcome Marcella, I see that I saw a question. I see you have your hands up. I saw your question. You can come up mute if you'd like. I think it's a deeper conversation about Okay. Ooh, I hate to be doom and gloom at the end of the Friday call, but in the spirit of honesty, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how the city of Baton Rouge in the year, the calendar year 2025 is going to function with all the ARA dollars done. Running out and a significant chunk of our tax base built behind a firewall with the whatever they are after we pay for all the infrastructure and everything I don't know how our city functions because those are an enormous amount of dollars. An enormous amount of dollars and we'll find a way. But folks, I would just like to encourage everyone to maybe think about the digital equity plan is positioning the city potentially to get outside resources to come in when you are fighting for things here, and you're trying to put solutions in place. I would highly recommend spending a lot of time thinking about it. How to bring more resources to the table to do said ideas that are not going to be able to be done internally. And it is going to require global and national investment into our city in order for us to really move the needle. Ideas are amazing, but the only ones that count are the ones that actually are funded and happen. And so I would really encourage everybody to get into an economic state of mind with your plans of change. Marcela, and we'll have a deeper conversation on that.
Marcela Hernandez: I just wanted to give some community announcements, but thank you.
Casey: Yeah, jump in.
Marcela: Alright, so first of all, tomorrow, Saturday the 13th from 6:30 to 8:30, we're going to be celebrating the African Cultural Night, and this is a partnership between LSU and Lurie. We are going to be at the Global Community Center on the Rainbow. So I was trying to put the flyer on the chat, but I was not able to do it. So once I'm able to pass it from myself on to there, I will email it to you guys on July 25th. We're going to have our summer enrichment camp graduation, we've got, we're two weeks away. From the graduation. So we hope that you guys can come and join us and spend some time with our campers. And last but not least, we've got on Saturday, July 27, our woman swim program.This is going to be from 5 to 7pm. So put it on your calendar. I'm sure you woman will have an amazing time spending with us. And this is going to be here at the office. And for those who like soccer I invite you to watch the grand finale on a Sunday. We got Colombia versus Argentina. This is for the Copa America. Please cheer up for my team. I will be celebrating and hopefully we'll be winning. So Have a great day.
Casey: That's fun. Thank you for that. Luke St. John McKnight. Are you still there? There he is. It is. Brother. Brother Luke. What's happening, brother? Yo, man, y'all you, y'all have got a lot of things popping and maybe can we get a, can we get a St. John period recommendation of things to come out to the arts council or in the community that are coming up that you feel would be good for everyone to know about?
Luke St. John McKnight: I think on a value level, Casey we're very much interested in cultivating our 11 parish region in their creative sector. But traditionally there has been an era of exclusion for one reason or another indirectly or directly. And I'm doing what I know and what I can every day to make that less of a barrier for folks to enjoy and engage our services and our work. So one, we're having a statewide. Arts summit. So if you are art and arts related individual arts adjacent in October 10th through 10th and 11. It is a two day conference for folks to basically share best practices and convene so that will be here. There's also. A litany of grants that we serve as administrators for on behalf of Louisiana Division of the Arts, which is available on our website. And we also have just a community center here at discounted rates for emerging and established artists at the Cary Sorority Community Arts Center downtown. At any given time, there are about 20 to 25 programs or services in our in our in our walls. So if there is a specific interest, whether you are a creative emerging or established, I am here for conversation and collaboration and also just making things real. I just put my email address down there. I use it. So if you'd like to learn more about our work, I'm here for it. Thank you, Tia, for sharing the the summit information. I say that because there's usually a typical template of speakers, and I'm looking to dismantle that. The usual suspects and people who share information as something that are experts. So I'm looking at everyone in this room. That makes sense. It can add value. Also, if you are a creative where you create work, and there is a potential that you're Work or your creations can be disrupted by natural disasters or any type of emergency. We have one time micro grants called get ready grants. 500 each. You basically share how it's going to be used. We've reduced all the as much red tape as possible as far as the application. And then you get it as soon as possible. So just to ensure that, Hey, you need a generator to protect or to ensure you have power for your studio, or you need some dollars to improve your doors or your stairs, or you need cloud storage, or you need a retainer for your attorney. That's what get ready grants are for. And again, we have. Yeah, about 15, 25 other other programs and services. And I'm here to assist in conversation to figure out what makes sense For folks as creatives tell you folks,
Casey: Man, I love, man, I love St. John Ben, I love how you, I love how you move, bro. Thank you for that. And the get ready grants, to be honest, I slept on that. I didn't even know that was the thing. So I can tell you right now, I'll be distributing that left and right. And Appreciate you saying John and I'm going to turn it over to Tia to close everybody out. I have to transition but I'm still going to be listening. Thank all for an incredible Friday. Mia, thank you so much and for everybody that shared today. Appreciate y'all.
Tia: Good morning, Dauda. I see your hand is up. You can go ahead.
Dauda Sesay: Yes. Good morning, everyone. What another week again to be in a community with each and every one of you. I just got two additional announcements and that shows that how we always find a way and how we can bring communities together. And as I said the first one is the United Nigerian organizations. We are having a community picnic at the Independent Park Boulevard on the 20th of this month, which is basically next Saturday, next weekend. And I put the flyer in the chat. So please, it's between 2 to 6, come to the park and if you wanted to get some Nigerian food and especially the Nigerian jollof rice and some barbecue, you can come there and also listen to some Afrobeat music as well from that part of Milan. Next Saturday. And then on the 15th, Is we've all been hearing about the fellows from Africa, the 25 fellows from 21 country, currently in our city, Baton Rouge. On the 15th, they're gonna be having a journey to Africa and sharing your stories from African voices. So those ones will be at the good, the main library. July 15 from 10 to 11 a. m. And I share the link as well in the chat. So if you're looking for something to do and how you can connect with the diaspora community that are also enriching the culture and socioeconomic of our city and states. So please those are additional ways to what Marcela mentioned that you can connect and be in the communities together. So thank you. Pass it back on to you tonight.
Tia: Thank you. Reverend Anderson, you have some more to add?
Reverend Anderson: I have a couple of announcements and I wanted to share something that I thought one of my favorite librarians put out there and I think it's very real. So on Tuesday of this next week, the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition is going to have its in person meeting at the Eden Park Library. I think the flyer is already in. The flyer is not in the chat. At six p. m. And at 5 p. m. we are looking for people who are interested in being court changers. And so we're gonna have an orientation and a training. The 19th J. D. C. Has completely revamped how they're doing first appearance. And so we need anybody who can give a couple of hours. It can be once a week. It can be as frequently as you would like, but that's also gonna be at the Eden Park Library. And then On Wednesday, it is international day of justice, and we are inviting everybody to come out. We are going to have a bestselling author who's going to be the keynote speaker of the topic this year. What's minor about misdemeanors. And then finally, I just wanted to say Manny put something, I think it was either in an email or Facebook. I don't remember, but I loved it. And he asked what is good about your library? And as everybody knows, I think our library system is number one in the country. So I just want to ask people, if you get a chance, write down and put on social media what you think is great about our library system. And that's it.
Tia: Thank you so much for that. As always, we appreciate everyone taking the time out to share space with us and give these community announcements and share your resources. I just have one announcement of July 15th is national giveaway, something give away something day. So that is an opportunity for you to declutter, whether it's your emails, whether it's your closet, whether or anything in your home even food that's getting ready to expire. I implore you guys to participate in donating food and items to your local food pantry, your local community fridge, and or with your items and clothes to give to shelters or those in need. Thank you for tuning in today's Friday call, and we will see you all on next week.
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