People think of history as like a non-factor and things, but if you pay attention to history, it highlights the reasons why things are the way they are today.
Speaker 2:And who knows, you could be making history right now.
Speaker 1:I hope so.
Speaker 2:Dude, that's awesome man. So you did graphic design at Prairie View.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was one of the courses you had to take underneath the architecture program.
Speaker 2:Oh, you have to do graphic design in architecture. Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:Because you have to put together all types of posters, you have to make renderings of buildings, so it's a good thing to know you know graphic design.
Speaker 2:What got you into architecture?
Speaker 1:Ah, that is a tricky story, I would say.
Speaker 1:I have as much time as you have, so Okay, so what got me started in architecture is so, throughout high school I was in woodshop Right and I was one of the lucky students who never passed I mean never felt a course or anything like that. And my woodshop instructor, mr Ayola, he was like you know, bernard, you're pretty much doing what you're created for your senior year. Would you like to go do a creative at the Galveston College? And I was like sure, why not? So they had two programs at the technical school off of Broadway and it was you can either go to be an electrician or you can do the HVAC program. So I was like I don't really know too much about either war, but I discussed it with my family and they mentioned that you know, if you're doing HVAC, you're also electrician, because you're not a player around with electricity. So I was like, all right, I'll go ahead and do that.
Speaker 2:Two for one special yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, as I'm finishing the class, you know I didn't aspire to be an HVAC technician. I was always an artist at heart. So I kind of wanted to take it a step further. But I wasn't really sure as to what I wanted to do and fast forward. I graduate and I was trying to pursue cross country, like walk on for university and Prairie View caught my eyes. So you know, I'm going to orientation and of course I look into the construction size program to see what they have. And then they bring up architecture. And you know, you look at the degree plans when you're in school and they look fairly similar if you're going, based off the picture that they have on the cover page. So I was like you know what's the difference? And I sided with architecture just because the artistic aspect of it. So that's it, man.
Speaker 2:And you send me some of your renderings. Yeah, like of the. The new ball high Right Was that your rendering.
Speaker 1:That was actually a render and produced by PBK. Okay, gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 2:And then did you work on Kermit Kermit Stadium. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I've actually went out there several times this past summer. I'm thankful for zero six consultant for that, for the opportunity. But yeah, I went out there, ran a few benchmarks where you can kind of survey the land in a sense. I've created several site plans for the stadium as well and I also got to look at some of the original plans for the Curveville Stadium oh, really, from when it originated.
Speaker 2:When did they build that originally? Do you know?
Speaker 1:I'm not too sure.
Speaker 2:60s maybe it was pretty old.
Speaker 1:I would say 60s, because it was hand drawn, it wasn't digital or anything like that, so it's safe to assume the 60s.
Speaker 2:Been drawn up in Blender or anything right or whatever software. So could you tell us a little bit about yourself, like your name, tell us everything about yourself, where you got started, where you're from.
Speaker 1:Born and raised here in Galveston. All in, I guess you could say I've been to several of the schools down here. I mean all of them, for the most part. Initially, I started off at LA Morgan Elementary School Fast forward. I went to Wise Middle School at the time when Hurricane I just passed by and it was Wise Middle School and Central Middle School integrated with each other. After that I went on to the seventh, eighth grade at Central Middle School, at the actual Middle School, and I went to Barhaw School as well. So I'm a former alumni of Barhaw, former alumni of Galveston College as well and former alumni of Prairie View University as well.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, man, that's awesome, did you? So you played sports.
Speaker 1:I definitely played sports. I mainly did basketball for the most part. And then I broke my ankle my junior year, yeah, and I just kind of steered away from basketball because I was going through rehabilitation with my ankle. But I was still fast. I just couldn't make all the cuts in basketball and I had a coach reach out to me like you know, just go ahead and join the cross country team. And then that led to track and field and yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you? Were you sprinter or law distance? Well, cross country law distance.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you sprint in track and field too, or long?
Speaker 1:track and field. It just pretty much depend on the meat. But for the most part I participated in the 400 meter race. The 800 meter race, as well as the 800 meter relay race, was for this run, yeah.
Speaker 2:It would ball high. So I went to Texas City High School and our track team was pretty good, but I think ball high when I was in high school so I graduated 2010. But I'm pretty sure ball high beat Texas City every year and in whatever. I'm sure there are multiple events, but but did ball high? Just clean up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So the reason behind that is we have an advantage when we're doing like practices. They will make us actually run to the beach, run actually on the same and run back, so that might be a huge factor.
Speaker 2:Oh, dude, yeah, Running in the sand is no joke.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like building your quads and everything Like when you don't even realize that you have to lift your feet up even just another inch out of that sand. Dude, that's wild, that's, and so did you run it per view as well.
Speaker 1:At the time I was trying to what they say walk on, so basically not having a scholarship to actually run for the school. And then I want to say, maybe a year and a half afterwards, covid came in to play and it was kind of a weird area in that timeline because they weren't sure about, you know, having a season or if they won't have any season, because I believe, like the rest of the world, didn't even know what was going on at the time. So I kind of I don't want to say it was discouraged, but it was like I was already, you know, motivating myself, practicing by myself, trying to maintain the shape that I was in, and you know, I ended up going back home because nobody was on campus. So it was really, really tough.
Speaker 2:So it was during COVID. Yeah, oh man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it was really tough for everybody. But then I ventured off into that clothing brand that we just spoke about.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, man. That's awesome. So you've dabbled in quite a bit of things already. You're 24 years old, right? You're a young person from Galveston, you have your own business basically your own brand and you're working for a big architecture firm here on the island. I saw that you wrote in the Daily News. You wrote a little article there about the Juneteenth Museum and kind of the importance behind bringing that to Galveston. Could you tell us like a little bit about the Juneteenth Museum, kind of where it stands now and why it's important?
Speaker 1:Okay, so I guess I can piggyback off the meeting that the GIZ board had last night.
Speaker 1:It was a public meeting that I got invited to. It was myself, sam Collins, jarvan Hawkins, who's one of my classmates at Preview and Immuniversity, and right now we're pretty much trying to narrow down the full scope of the building itself. They brought up several things or several issues that they've seen with the actual Juneteenth Museum that we presented to them as far as regarding to the parking that's adjacent to Curroville Stadium, and then we also brought up another goal that they're trying to pursue of renovating old Central High School as well, versus bringing up something new versus keeping something old and new at the same time, if that makes sense, and for the most part, the reason behind it is because, you know, galveston is like the birthplace of Juneteenth. I believe it was in 1865 that you know Juneteenth came about down here in the state of Texas, and it was just recently made a holiday in 2021. So, with that being said, with it being in Texas as well as Galveston, it would be only right to invest in something as historical as Juneteenth.
Speaker 2:It's probably one of the oldest holidays we celebrate here in Galveston, so yeah, I would have to agree with you especially talking about whether it's a new building or put in an old central high school, which is historic in its own right that being able to preserve history physically is extremely important, right. Because, now we're only a block away from where Juneteenth actually occurred, where those orders were actually initiated here, in Galveston, but that building is no longer there.
Speaker 2:It's literally a parking lot now, and it's kind of hard to talk about the history of something when you're standing in the middle of a parking lot. Even though it's a beautiful mural there now, it's kind of hard to make it tangible right. And I know, of course, the Neocultural Center is right next door, which is absolutely fabulous. But I agree, I think there needs to be some type of physical representation museum or something where somebody can go in and actually discover why it's important to everyone here, in Texas and the United States.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's super interesting though about the Old Central High School. What are they using that building for now, Do you?
Speaker 1:know From a personal perspective I've been there for several different occasions whether it's a Black History program, whether it's a Kwanzaa program. Some of the locals host pop-up shops there with several vendors. Some people do funeral repasses. You know, it's so much more than Old Central High School to the community. It's really a gathering space for the community, a new museum that would be placed.
Speaker 2:I guess the projected location for that is on 27th Street, between Avenue M and Avenue M and 1.5, or in.
Speaker 1:M and 1.5. M and 1.5,.
Speaker 2:OK. So yeah, on that little lot, and there's nothing in that lot right now, right Right. Ok, is that land? Is it already kind of purchased? Is it ready to use?
Speaker 1:So that is the last standing vacant lot that GISD owns.
Speaker 2:Oh, ok, yeah, OK.
Speaker 1:So it's the last lot, and for many years before I was born, that lot has been used specifically for parking for the visitors of Curveville Stadium. So, that's kind of the major deal breaker right now for the museum.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I wonder, there's got to be some way. Well, even if that's not the location, I think that my point is, I think there needs to be some type of physical place that people can go and learn about Juneteenth, or at least there to be a place where people can talk about it or go to learn about it.
Speaker 1:For as long as I can remember, growing up here in Galveston, for the most part it's a tourist location, but then again you do have your locals both you and myself, our locals here and you have these events that come throughout the year that we all celebrate or we all know, such as one of them coming up in particular Marty Gros. You also have the Biker Rally. You also have Dickens on the Strand. You also have another event, I believe is called the Art Walk, that they host you on the Strand, and I really do appreciate those events down here. I've attended the majority of my lifetime, unless I was at Prairie Vienne University studying. But growing up here in Galveston, those events were really I'm going to say this those events were really fun to attend.
Speaker 1:But I would love to see something like that happen for Juneteenth in a sense, because Juneteenth comes around every summer, of course, june 19th, and we have a parade. You have a number of little boys or little girls out there, whether it's a cheerleading team, a dancing team or a football team just coming around to celebrate Juneteenth, and then we always end up at Rockuny Park underneath the Pavilion after parade. So we're outside. We're outside the majority of the time well, the entire time, and I don't see any of us complaining about it. But I think it would be really nice if we could enjoy that inside somewhere. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree. I mean it's a place where there are festivals and events constantly. It's every time you walk downtown on a weekend there's something going on. But to be able to have like a Juneteenth Festival or something like that, every year, maybe the entire month of June or something like that. You have something going on as a draw, you know, because just looking at it from both sides, it is historically significant and basically making black people free in.
Speaker 2:Texas and most of the United States. But it could be an economic driver here in Galveston and this part of Texas to bring people down here every year.
Speaker 1:You definitely write about that because, as I mentioned, I'm a local myself and I've worked at several different jobs down here in my earlier ages and you know the tourists that come down here, like safe instance, I used to work at the spot for maybe two, three years in the summertime and you know you have these African American couples or families asking you know, where are the other African Americans? Like, where do these African Americans go to down here to, like you know, just hang out, have fun and things of those nature. And I honestly can't say we have a space delegated to not just specifically us but a space that we're just like familiar with and you know everybody is coming together in a sense Are you saying it's kind of like, if you come down here it's like white friendly or friendly to a lot of other people, but maybe not so much.
Speaker 1:African.
Speaker 2:Americans.
Speaker 1:Not necessarily, because anywhere I go in Galveston for the most part I feel welcome. You know what I mean. But like, say, if I was to come to the Strand, let's say a Friday or Saturday night, you know, nine times out of ten I might end up at Yagas or Tsunamis, that's what I'm talking about, or I end up at Barefoot.
Speaker 1:And it's really a nice thing because, you know, as I come down here or as I travel down here from school, on the occasion I get to see some of my classmates. You know what I mean. But for the most part, when I'm at these places, I'm not seeing, you know, people that I've grew up with not just my classmates, but people I've grown up with and nine times out of ten they're probably just somewhere and it won't be here, it might be in the Houston area.
Speaker 1:You know, what I mean. So, yeah, that's what you mean. That's what you mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because Galveston is an interesting place in that it is. It is it's been a very diverse place for a long time.
Speaker 2:I mean as a port city, as you know, as a tourism city, you've had a lot of people kind of mixing and mingling here for literally a century or more, Right, and even the schools here are super diverse. That's why I enjoyed going to school in like Texas City and a lot of my friends went to Ball High. It was super diverse and no matter where you would go, you would kind of you're kind of just with everybody from all over the place.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Look, they look different than you. They're black, they're white, they're Hispanic, whatever. That's what I do love about Galveston, but I understand exactly what you're saying, right Well, so growing up in Galveston as a kid, did you understand the historical significance of like Juneteenth or Galveston in general?
Speaker 1:I would like to say yes, and it wasn't something that was taught to me actually in school. It was actually the selective group of teachers who know. You know you have those teachers who love their job and then you have those teachers who are there just to do their job. I was blessed enough to be around some teachers who love to do their job and go above and beyond and get you to participate in the Black History Month program, get you to participate in the Juneteenth program, get you to participate in these talent shows dedicated to black history and things of those natures. So I'm very thankful for that. I would say. As far as, like the culture of significance of Galveston itself, that's kind of something that you learn as you keep going. As you're walking down the streets of downtown or anywhere in Galveston, you realize you know there's a lot of history down here and there's some things you actually have to learn through textbooks or a textbook that wasn't provided through the school program itself.
Speaker 2:So what are some of those things you're talking about that you may or may not learn in a textbook or at school?
Speaker 1:Some of those things that I may or may not learn in those textbooks in the school definitely refers to, you know point of time in history where you know there were slaves being auctioned off here on the strand. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right there.
Speaker 1:How the buildings along the strand were built by African Americans and some of those African Americans even put their thumbprints within the buildings themselves, if you still have the old existing buildings here today. Another thing to mention is that, you know, I mean Galveston was like a hub for, like the wealthy, like back then they had like gambling shacks and things of that nature and it was a beautiful thing. It's just that we were left out of the picture, if that makes sense. So I feel like, in a sense, when that happened, it kind of just carried over throughout the years to where the wealthy establishments on this side of Broadway and the African Americans are the black community. They don't really have these mom and pop stores or the brick and mortar stores that we have today in the city, and I think, culturally speaking, it's not a coincidence.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, and I'm not saying it's black here and it's white here, is more so. We were never taught how to run a business. We, for the most part, conducted the business for the business owners. So I would, you know, I would say, take it with a grain of salt. But the black community, I feel like we really need somebody to step in and say, hey, this is how we can come together and establish ourselves within a city that we're no one behold to, and hold true to that versus us, you know, going around and just complaining about what we don't have here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you know I was speaking to a few people on the podcast I've had and just general conversation.
Speaker 2:You know these usually ladies I'm talking to, they're in there like maybe 60s, maybe late 60s and they talk about growing up in Galveston and they talk about how their first, they were some of the first integrated classes in growing up, like growing up in elementary, even up to ball high school, and you look at that and talk for younger people today that is so hard to imagine. Is segregation Right? And you talk to people who are just in their 60s who they were the first integrated class. Right, that's not that long ago, right At all. You're right about that. And it just it blows my mind because growing up, you know, in a very diverse school, very diverse neighborhood, very diverse area, it never even crossed my mind that that was even it felt so far away, you know, but it's really not.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know, to come back to economics and owning businesses and things like that, it takes a long time to get over that, as you. I mean, I'm preaching the choir here I mean you understand, but it takes a very long time to get over that. What was going to prayer?
Speaker 1:view A&M like that is a that is a really great question. So at prayer view it was one big melting pot in a sense. You hear about HBCUs historically black college universities and you really don't get the gist of it until you actually attend to one. So, like how you said, in the gals and people been mixing and mingling since forever.
Speaker 1:You can go to Prairie View and see somebody that looks just like me or just like you and you don't wanna assume I could tell you that right now that they're white or African-American or they're from America. They can be from Dominican Republic, they can be from Egypt, they can be from Asia, and you would never know until you sit there and have a conversation with them. And I think what Prairie View does is they're pretty much diverse when it comes to things like that, where they have you get into know each other not just from a classroom but outside of the classroom, if that makes sense. But Prairie View was definitely a great experience, especially with me being in the architecture program. I got to learn a lot about history associated with architecture. I also took a history class in there that was pretty significant in my life, where I got a different side of the coin of the story about the slave trade and things of that nature.
Speaker 2:What was that about? Can you expand on that a little bit?
Speaker 1:That time period was much more horrific than what we were told in lower education or elementary or middle school.
Speaker 1:For the most part, the education that we're taught as a young kid, it's pretty much the same thing throughout the years and it's pretty much a story that they want you to know.
Speaker 1:From my opinion, versus a story that you need to know, and the way African-American people were treated is far worse than what we think. And a particular story that my professor mentioned to me was how, in the past, you would get a ship and there would be tons of African-Americans well, at the time, africans on these ships and they would try to pile them up as much as they could to get on these ships and of course, they were malnourished. They weren't really fed. Of course you had feces and things of that nature. You had pregnant women on these boats. You had some people who decided to jump off these boats because they felt like their life in bondage was just not for them. You also have some of the ship captains trying to deal with the feces on the ships and one of the particular methods was actually stuffing their anus with, let's say, the things you get out of the wine bottle.
Speaker 1:Because you could have a cork stuffing corks of the anuses to keep the feces from coming around the ship, because you have plagues and diseases and things of that nature that might spread about the ship. And what's a ship with no good slaves once you get over to America? So that was one of the things that really kind of opened my eyes up in a sense and got a better aspect of what that time period was like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm glad you expanded on that, because I encourage all people. I couldn't recommend a specific book or anything like that, but I recommend everyone to. If you hear something about history, it sounds kind of unbelievable, or it seems like it's even sugar coated in a way.
Speaker 2:Dive deeper into those subjects, whether it is the slave trade, whether it is anything war, literally anything dive deeper on those things and try to understand how horrific those things were and what led up to some of the events that we know here of in America and Texas and Galveston Right Wow, that is insane, and to kind of know that we Galveston ties into that story.
Speaker 2:It really is fascinating. Yeah, I know there are a lot of people who are like, okay, we've talked about the slave trade, we've talked about slavery, things like that, let's move on. You hear people say, just move on, look where we are now. What do you say to people who are like let's just move on, like, come on, forget about it, bernard, that's over, it's 2024.
Speaker 1:See, the thing with that is, I'm not one to hold grudges against anybody and I'm also a firm believer in everybody is entitled to their own opinion.
Speaker 1:But for those same people that have that opinion, who say let's just get over it, I would say reevaluate the circumstances. Let's compare this time period of time and the current time period that we live in now, and the only thing that I could say that has changed is that we're more capable of doing things on our own as far as like reading and writing and things of that nature. We're more capable of buying a house or maybe getting our own space and not still living in the times that we were living in, where it didn't matter where you live as long as you were out here working and things of that nature. And not only to say that, but also compare your lifestyle to maybe somebody in not only an African-American community but somebody who was in a minority community, and just really think, dive into the history behind your family and then dive into the history of my family and you tell me, was there any fair play involved?
Speaker 2:Very well said. Why don't you start a podcast? My man Too busy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a story of my life. Too busy, maybe after the master's program, which I'll be done with, oh so you're doing a master's program, okay, so in architecture?
Speaker 2:Oh awesome, dude, is that? Where's that Prairie View?
Speaker 1:as well, at Prairie View as well, oh really.
Speaker 2:Are you actually attending, or is it mostly online, or how are you working that?
Speaker 1:out. It's kind of a hybrid thing to where I have to be maybe on the campus once or twice out the week, but for the most part, what's keeping me from just like being in Galaxy right now is I've already signed a lease. Oh yeah, so I can't get out of that, but yeah, so for the most part it's a online setting.
Speaker 2:Gotcha.
Speaker 1:And particularly in my situation is I go to the Northwest campus versus the main campus, and that campus is mainly dedicated to those students who are in the graduate program. But they also have jobs or a career already, and most of those jobs or careers are in Houston area. So you don't wanna have to commute from Prairie View all the way to Houston day by day just so you can go to class and to work. So whereas you're at the Northwest campus, you're maybe 30, 35 minutes away from work, versus being an hour or so away from work from Prairie View. So yeah, Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 2:So how did you meet Sam Sam Collins?
Speaker 1:I met Sam, I believe, the summer of 2021 or 2022. And at the time I believe I was in my third year at Prairie, third or fourth year at Prairie View, and we were proposed to do a design charrette against well, not against, but paired with Texas A&M University as well. And they gave us the proposal of a Juneteenth Museum in Galveston and I'm gonna be honest, at that time I thought it was just like another project. We just so happened to be in Galveston and we're doing a historic project. But as time proceeded, I've grown a relationship with Mr Sam Collins and he shared some lights on a number of things. That gives me a better understanding as to what we're trying to do with the Juneteenth Museum in itself. And then I wanna say I also read one of his guest columns to maybe a month or two after meeting him and figuring out who he actually was down here in Galveston, texas.
Speaker 2:He's doing some amazing work.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And he kinda operates in silence too, which is really really cool. And then you meet him and talk to him and you kinda see what he's working on and you're like oh my gosh, dude, You're doing some amazing, amazing work and doing some really cool stuff.
Speaker 2:But yeah, he's a wonderful, wonderful man. Do you think that people your age do you think that they understand that history is important? Or do you think people are just kind of living their lives and kind of floating through and just I don't know, just kind of moving forward? Do you think people care about history?
Speaker 1:Well, I can't speak for everybody, but I would say I could. I guess I could speak for the African American community. I would say, you know, we're so caught up in the lives that we do have that, weren't, I guess you can say, well thought out before we were on this earth, based on the circumstances that came before us. And we're still playing this constant game where we have to catch up and once we catch up we're 10 steps backwards, and when we catch up again we're still 10 steps backwards.
Speaker 1:But in regards to the historic, you know, things we do have here going on in Galveston again Juneteenth. I believe that is one significant occasion where we actually celebrate as a community and do things the right way, put our pride aside, put our differences aside and actually come together. And for the most part, it's not for the generation who knows about Juneteenth. It's more so about us leveraging that and instilling that into the generation that comes after us. Because if you ever been to the parade and you see these little girls out here dancing, you can't tell me that they just don't appreciate this holiday. You know what I mean, yeah, and you know people think of history as like a non-factor and things. But if you pay attention to history, it highlights the reasons why things are the way they are today, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:That's perfect. That's why we're sitting in these chairs right now the way history played out, you know and who knows, you could be making history right now.
Speaker 1:I hope so, I hope so.
Speaker 2:Is there anything else that I haven't asked you, that you may have thought of, that you wanted to say?
Speaker 1:If we could piggyback on the board meeting that we had last night in regards to one of the major issues was the parking issues, and then I'm open to anything else you have to ask me, because I feel you asked that one question and I got deep into it.
Speaker 2:No, it's not good.
Speaker 1:I don't know what I was able to say.
Speaker 2:You can say whatever you want. There are no limits. You can say whatever you want. Just to compliment you you are. I can see why Sam sent you over here and connected us.
Speaker 2:You've got a lot going on and you're going to do some amazing things. You're very well spoken, you know exactly what you want and you know talking about future generations and then what you can do to improve in future generations. That is what we should be thinking about. That's what humanity should be thinking about. What can we improve for future generations Not just our kids, but our kids' friends and our people a hundred years from now. People, not just our descendants. You know what I mean. The design of the Juneteenth Museum.
Speaker 2:So, are you working on the design for that?
Speaker 1:So actually, when we initially got the proposal to do the Juneteenth Museum, both Previanum and Texanum University this is like in the earlier stages, so this is probably 21,. Some of 2021 or some of 2022. But however, that project elongated through several semesters since then and some of the kids who are in that actual class that have that actual project under the professive Mr Batson, they often come to me and ask me about Juneteenth so they can get a real cultural aspect, because I'm from Galveston, born and raised. So if anybody knows about Juneteenth, it should be me. You know what I mean, especially if they want to know about the surrounding area as far as the churches and things of that nature. And just so happened, jarvis, we were both in our undergraduate program, the final semester, and we ended up taking two different courses. Whereas the course he was in he actually got to do the Juneteenth Museum, the course I was in I was doing maybe a Taekwondo facility or something like that.
Speaker 1:Oh no way or that nature. But again, jarvis is a brilliant, brilliant young man. He's also obtained his bachelor's in engineering and he's also pursuing his master's in architecture, so that makes him far more along the track than I am right now. But then again, it's not about him or me. It's about us coming together in a sense, so for me to be there and share my perspective and give my input on the design of the project and the impact that I feel like it would give the community. That was the real reason that I was there.
Speaker 2:Okay, so if people want to support I know there was a public meeting yesterday, but if people want to support from the time this podcast comes out, what can the general Galveston population do to support the Juneteenth Museum?
Speaker 1:One of the main takeaways I got last night about the problem you just stated was that there hasn't been any survey asking the locals of Galveston how they feel about Juneteenth, or how do they feel about actually creating a Juneteenth Museum, or should they renovate Old Central High School? How do they feel about using that vacant lot for the building Because of that nature? So I believe that would be the next step moving forward from a community aspect is to really get in some feedback, because one of the things they brought up in the board meeting was you know it was an old city councilman I can't remember his name, forgive me, but he mentioned, you know, the community is the reason you guys are sitting in the seats that you guys are sitting in, so to say that nobody has made the effort to ask the community how do they feel about, you know, the Juneteenth Museum is baffling in a sense. So I feel, like you know, getting that survey would be a vital role and maybe getting some real numbers or a real aspect as to where we're going with the direction of the Juneteenth Museum. Another thing I would say would be they brought up the topic of parking right and as I'm sitting there, I'm observing the room and I'm the youngest person in the building and I'm assuming the people that were there they've been there for quite some time because, again, they're older than me and the main thing that they were discussing was, you know, parking. You know.
Speaker 1:And again, they just renovated the Curbill Stadium and somebody mentioned that you know they have several parking spaces on the north wing of the building, I mean on the north wing of the stadium. How they have, you know, at least 10 to 15 new handicapped spots in front of the stadium and things of that nature. And there's more about you know. Okay, if you know you have this amount of parking spots. I believe they said the vacant lot holds up to 125 cars, maybe 150 maximum, and you know you have a good deal of parking spots around the stadium. Why not just subtract that number and get a real number as to how many parking spots we need, delegate the time to figure out you know the layout of that parking and then go from there.
Speaker 1:And parking has never been an issue in Gauss. Well, it's always been an issue in Gauss. And so if you want to buy a rally or if there's a parade or anything of that nature, nobody's bringing up these, these topics at that time? Because if they did, why is it still going around? Why are we still celebrating Mardi Gras? Why are we still doing dickens on the strand? Why are we still doing biker rally? Biker rally is a is a very, very populated time of the year for Galveston, and not only that, there are fatalities associated with biker rally. Or was that Jeep weekend?
Speaker 2:things of that nature.
Speaker 1:But one of the things that I would say that could help as far as the parking issue, why not get a shuttle system involved? I feel like that's that's practical, to get a shuttle system involved. If you have these delegated parking spots for the handicap that you do need and will need, why not introduce shuttle service?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, just for the sake of asking are there any other locations that have been thought about? I know that that spot there on 27th and between M and M and a half is owned by GISD Right. Are there any other locations that have been thought?
Speaker 1:about, not that I can think off the top of my head, but I know they were discussing doing something with some of the suites in the neocultural center down here on the strand, but then again, that isn't an entirety of a building dedicated to Juneteenth. You have several other businesses or suites that are associated with it, and I think what we're trying to do is, or what we would appreciate is, having something of our own, but not our own. It'll be something for the community in itself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, okay, so all right. So that's kind of where it stands right now. We're still still fighting for it. Yeah, to create a physical space where you can go and learn and appreciate Juneteenth Right Talk about historic preservation, right and the 1970s Galveston Historical Foundation they really began pushing to preserve a lot of these buildings down here.
Speaker 2:Obviously, not every one of them was saved, because a lot of them were being torn down, a lot of them burnt down because they were underutilized, there was nobody in them, they hadn't been taken care of for decades Right, but they're super important. But I do see a lot of friction when it comes to creating something new, even though it directly relates to something historical and preserving history.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So that's just very, very interesting Something to think about for those listening right. Right, is there anything else you wanted to?
Speaker 1:say, when the survey is released, make sure you participate it. I'm not sure on the exact date it will be releasing, but please, please, please, get involved. Get your mom involved, get your sister involved, get your grandfather involved, get your niece involved, get your past involved. It is very, very, very important that we get the community involved.
Speaker 2:Yeah just to hear from the community.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Just to everyone what do you think about this Right?
Speaker 1:Well, cool.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll know. I'll share it whenever it comes out. You know Well, bernard. Thank you so much, man. This has been great. You were by far the youngest person I've ever had on the podcast. I really appreciate you coming in and lending your perspective and your work. You're doing really good things, man. You're doing really good things and, to be from Galveston man, I'm proud that you're from Galveston.
Speaker 1:You're doing some awesome stuff. Thank you, yeah, well, thanks, man. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, we're gonna have you back on one of these days.
Speaker 1:Okay, I look forward to it, yes, sir.