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Veteran's Affairs Plus discusses the issues that veterans in Las Vegas deal with on a daily basis. Your host, David L. Washington connects listeners with relevant community resources and information that they need to help veterans or themselves.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. You're listening to special programming sponsored by making moves, life coaching services. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. You
Music 0:35
Come on, tell
Music 0:42
me what's going on. Good
Dave Washington 0:50
day Las Vegas. Good day Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host. I have two Hermans, Herman senior and Herman Jr will have them on shortly. They're down in Mount Bayou, Mississippi. Hold on, gentlemen. Of course, I always want to acknowledge some birthdays. My cousin Nellie, Mae Williams, her birthday is this month. We just lost her not so many months ago. But Miss Wanda Jordan, she recently became an ancestor. Eric James is around Freddie Cook's birthday this month. Also, we have Miss Mary Fuller, longtime family friend and as well as Christine Duncan, longtime family friend and Miss Shirley Herndon. You know she's back in Cleveland area now she got out of the hot sun of Las Vegas, Nevada. But anyway, and clay T white just wanted to acknowledge a few November birthdays. Also want to express condolences to all those families who may have lost loved ones since we were last on air together. Then, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't say a few words about the SNAP program, and the fact that all these people are finally starting get some some food. Do you know that the snap only makes up 1.5% of our overall national budget? To take that from those people is absolutely tragic. And you know, we always have Jason to do the disclaimer, because I don't speak for the university, but I'm certainly appalled, as a veteran, for this kind of foolishness to occur, to hurt people in such a way. And also, there is a free dental cleaning, etc, for veterans coming up on Veterans Day, and I must share that information. I'll get at the end of the program, but that was shared with me by our former city attorney, Brian Scott, and I'll get that information for you. One final thing before I bring in our guests, the Windsor Park project is moving along well. And we think certainly Senator, state senator Dina Neal, and also developer, Mr. Frank Hawkins, they got that project going at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, I am so pleased I've had these gentlemen on the program before. They're down in Mount Bayou, Mississippi, and we're going to start with you, Mr. Herman senior, just I know you're a military vet. Will you give us a What branch and how long did you serve? Sir? I was
Herman Johnson 3:29
drafted. I want to serve two years,
Dave Washington 3:31
okay, what branch career
Herman Johnson 3:35
I was when I was in the career conflict, okay? And I was in the army, airborne, airborne.
Dave Washington 3:45
Okay, so tell us, were you born and raised in in Mount Bayou?
Herman Johnson 3:50
No, I was born and raised in Gilbert, Louisiana, near Winnsboro, about five miles. And I end up living, spending most, most of my time before I came to Mount Baguio in Williamsburg, Louisiana.
Dave Washington 4:06
Ain't that some I'm from Dave Louisiana, just right down the road. Mr. Herman, my family moved to Las Vegas in 1954 with three boys. In fact, I was, think I was about three and a half with my older brother and younger brother. So anyway, yeah, not very far from you.
Herman Johnson 4:29
So right, yeah, well, I used to go to Dave high quite a bit. And, yeah, well, I left them. I was drafted from now and from Westboro, but I, yeah, I used to go to the Dave quite a bit. Okay,
Dave Washington 4:45
yeah. What a small, small world. So to your son now, please tell us a little bit about you and your background and what you got going on, sir and and I definitely think that our our public is interested. Because they need to know what's going on, what you guys have been achieving, and I know you got a new display in the museum, so give us a little bit of background on yourself, sir.
Herman Johnson Jr. 5:09
Yes, sir. All right. So my mother is from Mount Bayou, and my father met my mother here, okay? And I was born here, born and raised in Mount Bayou, and left and left and went to California, in Southern California, for I left in 20 I mean, I left in 1977 went to California and stayed there until 2020. During that time, we were well, a good part of that time, maybe around 2008 nine or 10. We started working on a project here in Mount Bayou. And we were, you know, aiming to do some things to recover my values glory. You know, the what what mount by had meant to the country and in the earlier days. And, you know, I think now is a good, a better time for my own Bayou to come stand out again. So absolutely, we started working on it and and in 2020, I moved back here, back to my own Bayou. So tell us. So we formed a museum.
Dave Washington 6:16
Oh, yeah. So tell us a little bit about the history, as you mentioned. And I know you've been on the show before, but I wanted to refresh the memory of those who may not have heard about the rich history of Mount Bayou as it relates, particularly to cotton.
Herman Johnson Jr. 6:30
Okay, well, Mount Bay has an amazing, amazing story. The people, the core of the people who started Mount Bayou came from a plantation south of Vicksburg, and on that plantation was Joe Dave is and actually Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, was on that plantation. But Joe Dave is the owner. Ended up selling it to Ben Montgomery. And Ben Montgomery is the father of the founder of Mount Bayou, okay, and he sold that plantation two of them right after the Civil War. And on that plantation, when Ben Montgomery was running it, he ends up developing the highest grade of cotton in the world on that plantation. And this is a black man later on. This is a black he's black, yeah, he was enslaved, and once he became emancipated, and you know, it was, it was, he's just like everyone else, he buys that plantation. It's a large plantation. That plantation was one of the top plantations in the country, so he ended up being one of the wealthiest people in the country right out of slavery. Wow. But he developed the highest grade of cotton. And once he passed on and circumstances, a lot of circumstances happened, but the son comes up to this area and starts Mount Bayou. And as Mount Bayou begins to grow and people start, he recruits more people here again, they develop the highest grade of cotton in the world. So they did it in two different places. And you know, you know what cotton meant to the United States, absolutely. And you know how cotton got this country off and on his you know off his economic needs really right, and the wealth and the generational wealth for everyone else, but the people who actually did the work Mount Bayou was a part of that. I think it's pretty symbolic that Mount Bayou had that highest grade of cotton. And I think that means a lot to the country, you know, because of this area, here in the Mississippi Delta, you know, I think that's a that's a big, a big deal. Everybody should know about
Dave Washington 8:50
that. You know, this, this friend of mine who we came down the last time I was there, earlier this year, Faye Duncan, Daniel, you know, she has a gospel and fish fry on the Mississippi River. And I'm trying to encourage her to to interact with you guys and have something to grow this function that she has to include having a tour for people to come down to Mount Bayou, to to the museum. Now back to you, Mr. Herman senior, what why did you decide to move to mount Bay? How did that come about?
Herman Johnson 9:29
Real quick. I decided to move to Mount Bayou When my aunt, who living in Mount Bayou, okay, found my my mother, because they had got separated when they were very, very, very small, and she had three other siblings that got separated, so after about 40 years, after this research, I mean such her siblings, she found my mother living in winter. Burr. And she came to win, and she was telling me about this all African American town. So I came to Mount Valley. And this is a quick story that I met. Dr TRM Howard, who everybody should know about. But anyway, I met him, and he said he had had a job. And the job that he had is Medgar Evers, when he was sending medical Evers to the state for the NAACP field director. And that's how I got here. And mount Bala, that's why I'm stuck here.
Dave Washington 10:44
Now you're stuck, you know, again, this place has such a such a rich history. Now back to you, Junior, would you go forward in terms of where you are? I know you guys had a tremendous display down there that I did see that was actually owned by someone else, and ultimately he came and took that back, but you still got a pretty dynamic display down there, because again, I was there as you, as I mentioned, you, me, you and Faye Duncan, Daniel, some other young lady, had a long conversation. But I just want our public to know how rich the history is there, and and where could you fly into? And I know we fly into Memphis when we when we come down and go over to Helena, Arkansas. So would Jackson be another place that one could fly into to drive to Mount
Herman Johnson Jr. 11:32
Bayou? Jackson is an option, but the closest place is Memphis. Okay, we usually always looking for Memphis first. You know, every once in a while, Jackson has a better deal, okay, but you know, it's always Memphis, absolutely. And so did you have another question? Yeah, just go ahead and tell you about the museum or what? Yes, please, please. Okay, so now that we would the exhibit that we had before was when we opened, was the exhibit from Dr Alvin Simpson. Dr Simpson had been collecting his artifacts since he was four years old, four years old, if you can believe that, and he had a large collection. So when we opened the doors of that museum, we had that collection in there. And after four years, he had other plans for it. I think he has a building somewhere down in Alabama, so he's taking it too so, but we had been looking because he had so much stuff, we didn't really have room to do too much with exhibits about Mound Bayou and the story of Mount Bayou, and now we have a lot more freedom. And so now we're working on exhibits that pertain to cotton and pertain to the blues and pertains to Mount Bayou. Mount Bay story is really if we were to just stretch it out, the mountain body story would take up the whole building, you know, because, you know, you can talk about my own body from the plantation, which is that plantation south of Vicksburg, which is, is an amazing story, just by itself. Absolutely. I mean, if somebody wanted to do a movie, that would be a movie. You know, you never, you've never heard an American life of the enslaved person coming out of being enslaved and buying the plantation he used to be enslaved on. Right? That's a story by itself. But the life of Mount Bayou as it begins, and all the things they went through and the way they started it, and the education that they had started with on the plantation and then brought to Mount Bayou is also another feather in the cap of the people that started Mount Bayou great. So when they started education in the state, Mount Bay was all always advanced, so advanced that a lot of people around Mississippi when they could only get to the eighth grade or eighth grade or eighth grade, right, in order to continue their education, they came to Mount Bayou, right?
Dave Washington 14:13
Look, in order, there's a lot I can tell you about that. Sure. What I'd like to know now is, how can people help give us your website, because, believe it or not, Time goes fast. Wes told me we had a couple more minutes because I got one of the guests. But I'll get you guys back on because I think it's important to continue to share the story about Mount Bayou. So how can people help? How can they learn more about Mount Bayou? In terms of your I know you guys have a website,
Herman Johnson Jr. 14:38
Mount Bayou museum.org, Mound Bayou Museum, please don't put mount. It's not mount, right? A lot of people do mount, M, o, u, N, D, A, y, o, u, museum.org, and then we do. We are on the. On social media, Facebook, tick tock and YouTube and that type of thing.
Dave Washington 15:05
All right. Well, we appreciate you guys coming on the show, and once again, as we move toward Veterans Day, Mr. Herman senior, thank you, sir for your service and, and, and I know you're in your 90s, if you don't mind me sharing it with our public. And can you get? Can you guys hear how tight his his mind is? That is wonderful. You are blessed man, sir. And once again, to the to Herman senior and Herman Jr of Mount Bayou, Mississippi. We thank you for being on Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and Moon. You.
Dave Washington 15:43
Once again, Las Vegas, good day. This is Dave Washington, your friendly host of Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. And as I mentioned, we would have a second guest that's Miss eatman, and she is a local activist. I'll let her tell a little bit more about herself as well as she is now an author. So how you doing, young lady,
Joyce Eatman 16:03
I am fantastic. I tell you, it's just a wonderful life, and I'm living it.
Dave Washington 16:09
All right, sounds great. So give our listening audience a little bit about your background, please.
Joyce Eatman 16:16
All right. First of all, I just like to say I was born and raised in Chicago. I moved here to Las Vegas when I was 40 years old. After being here about two years, God gave me an assignment that I was just not ready for, and that was to start a nonprofit in order to help the less fortunate residents of the valley that was in 1990 and I tell you, I'm so wonderfully blessed to have been on this mission, on this assignment, on this appointment, with the team that God gave me, and we've done just what he assigned us to do to assist those less fortunate families in the valley. And the wonderful thing, we did it, and we're doing it without funding from the government, and that's what really has made it a challenge. But it's been a journey, a wonderful journey, and because all of our finances are generated through fundraisers, donations, contributions, and we've had fun doing it. We've had a lot of help, of course, from the people here, the corporations and individuals helping in. You know, helping to help where help was needed. So it's been a challenging journey, but a wonderful
Dave Washington 17:47
one. And when did you start the organization?
Joyce Eatman 17:50
April 9019, April 1990 Wow.
Dave Washington 17:56
And no, yeah. And I tell you, no federal funding.
Joyce Eatman 17:59
Not ever a die, not ever one copper cent. And you know, that's I just like for people to know that, that when God gives you an assignment, he's going to provide for the provision, God is the source, and he send resources in the form of people, right? People don't care about other people, and that's what have happened with us. We've had many fundraisers. We've had to be creative and come up with some things to do to raise, generate finances. But we've been here.
Dave Washington 18:37
But I can tell you, Miss Joyce, one of the things that I continue to express on on this veterans affairs show is that somehow, some way, we've lost our humanity. But it's so pleasing to hear what you have to say, which is that people have stepped up, over the years, since the 90s, to assist others who have less than because we're all fellow human beings, and that's the key to a greater existence on this planet that God has provided for us. So thank you so much. And you say you're here from Chicago,
Joyce Eatman 19:10
yeah, uh huh. I moved here from Chicago when I was exactly 40 years old, and came with my baby girl. She was 13 at the time. I have two other daughters, and they eventually moved here. So I have, I'm the I'm a mother, grandmother, great grandmother and a great, great grandmother of three. Go ahead. Yeah, I tell you, listen, Dave, let me just say this, I sit back and I look at the ways that God has opened doors for me with the organization lace. It's ladies advocating Christian entertainment. That's the legal name, but we are affectionately known as lace, and God has just made. Ways so possible that I never was able to dream of things that we were able to do. And the one thing that I did learn about the residents here and corporations here in Vegas, if they know there is a genuine need, people will step in and help, and especially if they have a passion for what you have a passion for. Absolutely, we never could have done it without the help of the community and my team. Nobody's ever gotten a paycheck, no salary. We're all volunteer workers. We're here because we've been called to
Dave Washington 20:41
help. You know, similarly, I have been the leader for the past 10 years of a program called the Carl Holmes executive development institute housed out of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. And we are all volunteers. We train firefighters to move up through the ranks within their respective organizations, and none of us get paid. And people say, How do y'all do this? Because we're very passionate about this need that we need to fill. And people step up, and they don't, they don't ask for Dan. They're committed to doing this now. So I want to swing over now, because one thing I learned from what you sent to me the other day. You are an author. Tell us, tell our listening audience about what you've written about and why. All
Joyce Eatman 21:23
right, here's, here's what I like to say. I just turned 82 in August, and I just completed my autobiography, life lessons and God's blessings. And I tell you this, this book was a challenge for me. You know, as you're writing, you have to revisit some painful things and some unsettling things in your life, right? But that's where the lessons come in. We learn how to cope. We learn how to tolerate loss and and sickness and illness and financial downstream. So it was really a challenge for me, but at 82 I realized that it wasn't too late, and that is what I'd like for the people that are going to read the readers of my book. I don't care what age and what stage you're in, right? It's never too late to start, always too late to wait. You've got something to share all of us. Do you know something to share with others?
Dave Washington 22:33
Absolutely. You know. I was speaking to some young folks at the god, I forget the name it used to be, Andre Agassiz school over by Doolittle. I was speaking to three different groups of young folks, and I told them that in America, 40% don't even read. Don't even think about picking up a book, you know? And that's that's just, it's insane. So what you're doing, I think, is going to inspire. And I told these young folks, if you don't do anything, because, as the old saying, Go goes, we all have at least one booking of one book to be written by us. And so I encourage them to start journaling, as I was encouraged to do many, many years ago, and I failed to, and I got, I got papers and notes all over the place. My wife just look at me and shake her head and keep walking. But I can tell you this, and we can't talk about price. But where can folks get your book?
Joyce Eatman 23:26
Okay, they can order the book on Amazon. Amazon is selling the book now, and I just pray. My prayer is that everybody that reads this book through the pages, you realize your own journey. You realize your own faith, your own family, your friends, loved ones, man, I tell you, it is such a joy when you can look back over your life and look at the things you've done, the people you've met, and see the reward. I mean, it was so it's so feeling. And I would just encourage everyone, no matter how old or how young, we all have a story, and if we share our story, we bring God the glory. God gets the glory for what he's done for us and what he's doing for us and how he's brought us out of the light, out of the darkness, into the light. Think about it. Miss contribution, absolutely.
Dave Washington 24:26
Miss Joyce. Miss Joyce. Miss Joyce, I got a friend who was an ancestor now, and I'm still trying to find an outline he had put together on a book that he never wrote, and I kept trying to impress upon how important it was for him to share his story. It's not about ego. It's about things that people can learn from what you've gone through, and won't have to deal with those same obstacles, because you have shown a way. And I still some kind of way, I'm going to get that done. And I just know God gonna some kind of way touch for. Folks out there to say, hey, you know, this is part of what he was talking about in terms of retired and now ancestor Assistant Chief Herschel claydy. I think his story needs to be told because he, he was such a dynamic man who did so many things for so many others, to include myself. And he always encouraged people, you know, you go for it, from where you sit, sometimes, in the fire service, in the military, people think that you have to have all this rain. No, you don't. If God gives you something to do, you need to get busy doing it. You don't need no rain, and you don't need nobody's approval. You just need to get busy doing so. So do you have, do you have a website? You know? What
Joyce Eatman 25:39
does go ahead, let me just say this real quick, and wait for for some day and one day for things to get perfect. When I have enough money, when I have enough there's no such thing as someday, one day, right? The thing is, today is the day to get up and get started.
Dave Washington 25:55
That's right. That's right, and that's
Joyce Eatman 25:57
what we need to do.
Dave Washington 25:58
So for your organization. Do you guys have a website that you can share with the with our general public?
Joyce Eatman 26:04
Listen, we do. But what I would rather do is give a phone number if I could, because I'm a little old fashioned, and I get such joy out of personal contact and talking to people they want to follow us and follow me and the book, I have a number for them to call, and I promise if they call, I will answer. The number is 725-251-2206,
Joyce Eatman 26:33
that's 725-251-2206,
Joyce Eatman 26:39
I want to talk to you. I want to get intimate with you. I want to, you know, I want to brainstorm. Then I'll send them. We have three websites, and I'm on Instagram, and I'm on Facebook and I'm on, oh man.
Dave Washington 26:54
Well, let me say this Las Vegas. Y'all heard it from Miss Joyce. The initial contact will be directly with her, not the website, so she's awaiting your call. And I think you're doing a phenomenal job as you continue your work. And when is your birthday? In August, August 28 Okay, all right, my dad was, go ahead. Yours was when my father was August 30, yeah, but he's an ancestor.
Joyce Eatman 27:21
Well, my daughter's is August 30. I made 82 August 28 and I tell you, I'm living my best life, man, I'm enjoying this chapter. And I encourage everyone else to do that. Get up and live life and and share your gift, your your talent and your skill with
Dave Washington 27:41
others? Well, you're perfectly setting up closing remarks, which is greatly appreciated once again, this is Veterans Affairs, plus miss Joyce eatman. This woman is phenomenal, been running a nonprofit since the 90s and done a tremendous job without any federal help. So one closing remark, if you
Joyce Eatman 28:01
would, yes, I'd like for the people to know the special project that we've been working on for 15 years. It's called grants. For grants, we assist grandparents that are raising their grandchildren, that is my heart, and every year, about four times a year, we do something special for grandparents that are raising their grandchildren. And so if there are grandparents listening, or you know of a grandparent in dire need, that's the number 725-251-2206,
Joyce Eatman 28:36
and we're here to help wherever we can.
Dave Washington 28:39
Alright, well, we thank you for coming on the show, and we wish you the very best in your book. And I certainly will get some copies, because I like to give people books as gifts. Once again, this is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. We had Mr. Herman, Senior and Junior Johnson on the show, as well as Miss Joyce eatman, thank you so much, sister, you take care of yourself.
Joyce Eatman 29:02
Glad to be have been here. Amen, and thank you all right,
Dave Washington 29:06
Veterans Affairs, plus signing out thanks Wes you.
Music 29:39
All the smoke in the air till the hate when they stare all the pain that we bear.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai