Speaker 1 0:00

I'm Dr Barbara Reynolds . I am an author of three or four or five , six , seven books , and so what I do , of course , is promote my books . I try to give information , education and illumination . I have Reynolds News Service as my official business .

Speaker 2 0:21

Can you tell me , with over 50 years in journalism , activism , ministry and education , which core values have shaped your legacy and continue

Introduction to Dr. Barbara Reynolds

Speaker 2 0:30

to guide your work today ?

Speaker 1 0:32

As a minister . I've had to have faith because my road was very rocky . When I was a student at Ohio State University , wanting to be a journalist , I was told that black women could not be journalists . I wanted to be a musician and they said I'm sorry , but women are not going to be in the marching band . So I had to choose journalism . It's the shoe that fit . It's the one thing that made me feel whole and healthy . It's the same thing that makes me whole and healthy . Well , at 83 , I'm still writing . I write for a news syndicate , the Trice Ethnic Syndicate . So I'm still empowered by the Holy Spirit . That's all I can say . I have to give all of this to God , all the insight that inspires me to God .

Speaker 2 1:31

Yeah , what a challenge being a woman , but not only just a woman , but being a Black woman .

Speaker 1 1:35

Back in the day I'm sure it was quite hard , yeah , but when I look at it , I knew it had to be something more than me . I knew it had to be something more than me because when I did get my degree I sent my resume all across Ohio . And they look at the resume . They said , oh , that's good . They said we'll come for an interview . And then when I would come for an interview , they said we're sorry , we didn't know you were colored and they did not hire me . But I kept pressing and I did go into Cleveland and I was a homicide beat reporter . I didn't like that at all . So I got on Ebony , then I got on Cleveland Press and the Chicago Tribune I'm going , you can see I'm making progress and then I had to leave the Chicago Tribune .

Speaker 1 2:26

But right at the time when USA Today was starting In fact USA Today at that time was maybe three or four rooms . Now it's national , it's international now . But I was one of the startup editors for USA Today , the startup editors for USA Today and it was my job to go around the country and interview people like Henry Kissinger , clinton and the people that I interviewed . One of my best interviews was Billy Graham , because the newsroom was not spiritually oriented , but I always wanted to interview Billy Graham , and he came that day into the building , like now , everybody has to have the entourages

Journalism career and interviewing legends

Speaker 1 3:14

and you're a helper carrying a suitcase and that helper carries the suitcases . But he just came with a little Volkswagen with a person . He had a Sherlock Holmes hat and he said that we had lunch and he had the interview and that was one of my greatest opportunities . But it also brought me in contact to really develop a relationship with Coretta Scott King . I was assigned to do a cover story on Coretta Scott King .

Speaker 1 3:47

Wow , yes , I was assigned to do a cover story on Coretta Scott King and I jumped at the chance it was only about seven years after her husband was assassinated and so I met her and we developed a relationship , a relationship I'd never met anyone that was so committed to being a civil rights woman , and not only that , but human rights , because while we talked about civil rights , that was dealing with African Americans . She's always said I want human rights , I want a world where we can sit down and be friends blacks and whites , jews , gentiles across the world and so I had a chance to follow her around for about 30 years , wow . And when it was looking for somebody to do the book . They said , well , let Barbara do it . She had already written a book about Reverend Jesse Jackson Perfect , so that was the greatest opportunity I had to meet a woman . Just give you one example In 1955 , I believe , was the Montgomery bus boycott and people had threatened them .

Speaker 1 4:59

The people , the black people , walked for 381 days but they were threatening them . And someone , one day , some people blew up the porch off of her house and she had a baby with her . And the next day Dr King Sr Dr King Jr's father said came to the house and said we're going to take you out of here . She said no , I'm not leaving because I'm not just married to Martin , I'm married to the movement . Wow , and she was very young , she was in her 20s .

Speaker 2 5:35

That's such a powerful statement to make at such a young age , my goodness , yes , now on that topic , you've interviewed presidents , marched with Martin Luther King Jr and shaped historic narratives . What does it feel like to be a living bridge across so many pivotal moments ?

Relationship with Coretta Scott King

Speaker 1 5:55

It depends on which moment you look at , because I can see how the civil rights movement has advanced women and people of color . But I see now the Climate changing . I get up every day and seeing hate being announced somewhere in the news , rights being taken away , people snatched off the street because they're Latino , and it hurts me . It hurts me because I know history . I know after the Civil War it was a post-Reconstruction period where people had emerged from slavery . They had to vote , and it quite well . They had blacks in Congress in the 18 , I'll say 40s or so . But then what happened ? The Supreme Court turned against them the Dred Scott decision that said blacks had no rights that whites had to respect . Then the Klan rose up and then the legislative door was shut the same circumstances that I see forming now . So I'm very appalled , frightened and hurt .

Speaker 1 7:08

Saying I fought this fight . I was even as a young girl in Tennessee . We went to Tennessee to help Martin Luther King get up the vote In our group . We were chased by a group they said was the Klan . So I've experienced it . I say no , please don't let this go back . Why can't we just believe that we are all made in the image of God . So , no matter what color you are , no matter where you were born , that we can't move the society together . That's what I want to say . Yeah , so that's my hope and that is my dream .

Speaker 2 7:45

I love that . Thank you for sharing that . I know it's going to be quite a journey , but I hope that we can get somewhere where it's not going back and instead going forward . That's my hope . Yeah , and now , what drives you personally to speak truth to power , even when it's unpopular or difficult ?

Speaker 1 8:03

I think because I have something inside of me that means I just can't sit here . I can't . I had just had a tour of the civil rights sites . In November I went to Atlanta where Dr King and Mrs King had their burial sites . I went to Montgomery and looked at the house that was blown up , and I went to Selma and I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where John Lewis was struck down ,

Living through pivotal historical moments

Speaker 1 8:35

and so I see all of that , but there's something inside of me .

Speaker 1 8:39

I'm saying okay , you're 83 . Why don't you just sit down and shut up ? But I can't , because as long as I have breath , as long as there's opportunity , I want to be a servant of God . I want to speak the truth to power . I want to tell young people it's your turn . We did it . We were beat up , we were thrown in jail , but we didn't give up because we have to have good people fighting for it , not wait till it's your turn , like we can't sit there and say those are Latinos being beat up and oppressed and snatched .

Speaker 1 9:16

My sister called me today and she's in LA , and she said some ICE people came on their street to get their gardeners . They weren't doing anything but fix anything . You aren't working . So you know , I see that and I want to be quiet , but I can't because you have to fight . And I want to be quiet but I can't Because you have to fight and you have to what they say . Things are really bad when good people are silent , and I feel like I'm one of the good people . I can't be silent Some dark times . In fact , I wrote a book , one of the books I didn't bring with me . It's called no , I Won't Shut Up .

Speaker 2 9:52

Show us the cover . You brought it here . Yeah , show it to us . No , I didn't bring that one , unfortunately . Oh , you didn't bring that one . Okay , no problem , yeah .

Speaker 1 9:59

But I mean it , because I want , because so much is happening . I try to turn the TV off . I say I'm it back on . I said , oh no , this didn't happen . And I start thinking I got to say something . Yeah , yes .

Speaker 2 10:17

Absolutely , and now you did bring some books here along with you , if you wanted to show the cover and share a little bit about it real quick Okay , very quick yeah .

Speaker 1 10:25

This is the first book I wrote , as he's asked .

Speaker 2 10:29

Here turn it around a little bit . Yeah , and then just hold it up with your hand Just quick for two seconds . Biography , but a memoir .

Speaker 1 10:34

Okay , because I traveled with her for so long

Speaking truth to power

Speaker 1 10:55

but I actually wrote it and it published 10 years after she was deceased . So a lot of it . I had transcripts . I was always taping and some of the things I had to fill in because she wasn't here . But her daughter , dr Bernice King , was looking over my shoulder . She wasn't going to add anything in this book that she knew wasn't right and I didn't either . But she was not a person that had scandals . She was an upright woman . She was a beautiful mother . She raised four children . While she was in all these civil rights fights she started the King Center and to be able to touch her and see , sometimes I say , oh , mrs King , I wish you were here , because she would call a meeting of all these people who are fighting and can't stand each other . Put them in one room and you would speak God in them . She's that kind of woman .

Speaker 2 11:53

Can you show us the cover for that one ?

Speaker 1 11:55

Yes , this one .

Speaker 2 11:56

Yeah .

Speaker 1 11:57

Yes .

Speaker 2 11:57

Hold it up a little bit . Yeah , there we go , my Life , my Love , my Legacy .

Speaker 1 12:01

Curtis Scott King yes , Now this one is really something , because About 10 years ago I had a feeling the Lord spoke to me . I'll just tell it like it is . And he was saying to me , barbara , there was a time when people were so evil that my tears flooded the universe and of course , that was the flood . He said I'm pained by technology . He said I'm pained when people think they can create robots and put them in the place of my authentic creations . They do not have the breath of God . It's not going to end well .

Speaker 1 12:40

Then he talked about how people would be replaced by technology . This is 10 years ago . I didn't know anything and I said he said I want you to write about it . I said , lord , I know you don't make mistakes , but this is a mistake because I don't know anything about technology that you can learn . So I first taught it of God and technology at my church , and so then I'm just beginning now to see what he was telling me .

Speaker 1 13:09

He said one of the big things you have to write is about human replacement . He said technology will replace humans and it's going to be devastating . So when you saw Musk Elon Musk dancing with the chainsaw and bringing down jobs , if they were being replaced by systems , by AI , and that's horrible , not only because of the job loss , but these systems cannot feel , they cannot emote , they have no empathy . But that's what's happening now Systems and AI are replacing human beings . I just did a story about how some young people are turning to AI for therapy and some of the therapists are bots , and a couple of the therapists actually led young people to commit suicide .

Speaker 1 14:05

This is why I have to keep talking , because I know that this book , the Rise and Fall of the Technical Science , which means we're going to get to a point where there will be machine gods and they will worship them , there's already . In Japan and Germany , robots are already conducting services . There are people who are listening to the voices of technology more than their pastors , and some of the pastors and preachers , unfortunately , are using chat , gpt and bots to do their sermons . So I didn't know this would happen , that we would be going towards that , and I actually interviewed one of the bots , gemini , and Gemini said there might have to be a machine god if they don't listen to us , and I was trying to figure who's us . They're machines . But I'm looking at these things that are happening and I'm saying I've got to write about it and God gave me the book . I take it everywhere and people want to read it and I'm so happy that people want to read it . They want to know who's this technical scientist . And it will come . It's prophetic .

Speaker 2 15:28

Yeah , thank you for sharing a little bit about each book . I really appreciate that . I'm going to go on to my next question here . As an educator and mentor , how do you instill journalistic integrity and ethical storytelling into the next generation ?

Books and warnings about technology

Speaker 1 15:49

like the Bible says , truth crushes the earth , but rise again . That's what King used to say that go and find the truth and tell it . Often it's not going to be popular , but that's what you're here for . Your job is not to be a talking head and get on TV and just talk what your politics say . You can't just be locked into one theory . What does God say ? What is right , what is wrong ? What did you learn in Sunday school ? Do those things , look for those things . And that's what I want to tell young people . You need it , but you need it to be truth-tellers . You need it to be courageous . No one welcomed me into journalism . I had to know . That's where I belong . Some of the young people . You're not going to love what you are unless you do the standard thing . There may be compromises , you have to do , but you know right from wrong . Don't sell yourself out , because if you keep there , you can do the right thing in the right place and you'll be happy and pleased with yourself and God .

Speaker 2 16:58

Yeah , no great answer . And you did have to carve your own space . You are welcome . You made it yourself your own path .

Speaker 1 17:04

That's really just certainly chisholm uses . If you don't have a place to Bring your own chair , that's right .

Speaker 2 17:12

That's true , and now you helped register black voters in 1965 and continue to speak on civil rights . How do you see activism evolving in today's digital world ?

Speaker 1 17:23

I know we touched a little bit on AI and that stuff , but can be very helpful because , for example , a story that I would take maybe two days to write and interview and report , now it can be done maybe in minutes . So it's moving up and so you can investigate and you can report . But the thing is you cannot always trust the AI because sometimes it hallucinates and I did trick it . I have to tell it . I said to one of the chatbots I said I'm Barbara Reynolds , I am a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and I think do you think I deserve this ? And it's oh yes , you're just wonderful , we just love you , you should push on . But I lied to it and it said oh yes , you're just wonderful , we just love you , you should push on . But I lied to it and it lied to me .

Speaker 1 18:18

So I want journalists to not just be lazy and take the facts coming from AI technology . You have to use your mind . There is still a place in this world for your own mind , your own instinct , your own vision and your own courage . You just can't turn your mind over to hate and unfortunately , even the news places like Washington Post and others are replacing so many journalists and using technology . But we have to fight for our space . We have to fight for our own mentality to be respected , our thoughts , our space .

Speaker 2 18:54

We have to fight for our own mentality to be respected , our thoughts , our minds , yeah we cannot lose our minds because it's going to be easy to do that . Yeah , yes , absolutely yes . A lot of hard truths here . Is there anything I have not touched on that ? Perhaps you want to get out there and share with your audience , our listeners . You are such a good interviewer that you .

Speaker 1 19:11

You touched the basics and

Journalistic integrity for the next generation

Speaker 1 19:14

I think that people just ought to look when all this technology in their private hearts say now what would God say ? Don't let them take this . God say truth away from us . Let us advocate . I forget one thing .

Speaker 1 19:31

Dr King 1965 , said if we continue in this way , if this kind of technology would not have God's hand , it would turn into a Frankenstein existence . And people aren't listening . Not too long ago , 1,500 scientists and technicians wrote a letter , a public letter , saying please stop give guardrails , because we are coming to a point where the technology will be smarter than we are . And where are we going to be ? Are we going to let the technology tell us what we're supposed to do and own us ? These were scientists speaking , so I have to slap my foot , stop my foot and shake my fist . I want to keep telling people to pay attention . There's sleeping through the revolution Everyday . People , for example , are not into this . They just think AI and this technology is something other people do . But we have to understand the pros and the cons , because there's many great things it's going to do . But we have to understand the pros and the cons , because there's many great things it's going to do , but there's many perils that's going to exist . So my job is to try to keep talking and make people Just .

Speaker 1 20:45

One last thing is how I watch kids and they're always on their cell phones . I watch and the parents do not know what they're looking at Correct , most of them Correct and we don't know if they are talking to bots that will tell them that suicide is a good thing . Beat up your parents is a good thing , because I'm also seeing that this is happening . Now You've got to . We can't with what happens . The kids have this technology

Technology's impact on activism and society

Speaker 1 21:15

when they're two and three years old . They grow up with it and I just had a study where many young people are so more used to hearing and trusting the tech voice it's in the video games and things . Then their parents . So parents , you have to find out what is your child looking at . Yeah , yes .

Speaker 1 21:38

Absolutely . We have to wake up , because my grandmother used to say that if you don't get up and do something , your get up will be gone .

Speaker 2 21:47

Yes , and then where can people find your books ? My last question here Good question .

Speaker 1 21:52

The best way to find these books is through my email .

Speaker 2 21:57

Email . What is your email ? R-e-y-n-e-w 77 at gmailcom .

Speaker 1 22:04

I also have a website , drbarbarinoscom , and I will come to you and speak if you invite me . Yes , I love it .

Speaker 2 22:14

This is great to know . Thank you so much for being on the podcast and I really appreciate you taking time here to share a little bit about yourself , your history and your books . I truly appreciate it .

Speaker 1 22:23

I truly appreciate you .