{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/js9h41m08v/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Vernel Bennett Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVernel Bennett is a Laurelton resident who worked for the City of New York for 35 years, retiring in 2011 as an associate tax auditor for the New York City Department of Finance. Bennett and interviewer Adrienne Hawthorne discuss Bennett's life while looking at photographs documenting Bennett's family, career, and hobbies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBennett, who grew up in East Harlem, explains that his parents and grandparents were part of the Great Migration in which approximately six million Black Americans migrated out of the American South from the 1910s to the 1970s. Bennett describes the lives and career successes of his parents despite their limited formal education. Bennett recalls attending school in East Harlem, studying accounting in high school, and starting a family shortly after graduating high school in 1969. Bennett describes attending community college at night to earn an Associate degree in accounting and subsequently earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baruch College and a Certified Financial Planner certification from Adelphi University.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBennett, who worked in accounting for the New York City Housing Authority and the New York City Department of Finance, highlights various career accomplishments and describes the support he received as a young professional from Black mentors. Bennett, who moved to Laurelton in 1988, explains how the 224th-225th Street block/civic association of Laurelton brought together residents, local police, and local elected officials to improve and strengthen the community. Bennett also discusses serving as a campaign advisor (2008) and campaign manager (2012) during New York City Council races as well as co-founding the United Black Golfers Association.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSlideshow Presentation\u003c/strong\u003e: Vernel Bennett and interviewer Adrienne Hawthorne examined this slideshow presentation during the oral history interview.\u003c/p\u003e (supplement)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40710"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2022-06-06 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Vernel Bennett (Interviewee)","Adrienne Hawthorne (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1940s-2022 (temporal)","Laurelton, Queens, NY; Harlem, Manhattan, NY; Bronx, NY; Brooklyn, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVernel Bennett is a Laurelton resident who worked for the City of New York for 35 years, retiring in 2011 as an associate tax auditor for the New York City Department of Finance. Bennett and interviewer Adrienne Hawthorne discuss Bennett's life while looking at photographs documenting Bennett's family, career, and hobbies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBennett, who grew up in East Harlem, explains that his parents and grandparents were part of the Great Migration in which approximately six million Black Americans migrated out of the American South from the 1910s to the 1970s. Bennett describes the lives and career successes of his parents despite their limited formal education. Bennett recalls attending school in East Harlem, studying accounting in high school, and starting a family shortly after graduating high school in 1969. Bennett describes attending community college at night to earn an Associate degree in accounting and subsequently earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baruch College and a Certified Financial Planner certification from Adelphi University.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBennett, who worked in accounting for the New York City Housing Authority and the New York City Department of Finance, highlights various career accomplishments and describes the support he received as a young professional from Black mentors. Bennett, who moved to Laurelton in 1988, explains how the 224th-225th Street block/civic association of Laurelton brought together residents, local police, and local elected officials to improve and strengthen the community. Bennett also discusses serving as a campaign advisor (2008) and campaign manager (2012) during New York City Council races as well as co-founding the United Black Golfers Association.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSlideshow Presentation\u003c/strong\u003e: Vernel Bennett and interviewer Adrienne Hawthorne examined this slideshow presentation during the oral history interview.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/225/248/small/Vernel_Bennett_aviary.jpg?1704897922","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - bennett-vernel-2022-06-06-radioedit.mp3"]},"duration":4989.264,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/225/248/small/Vernel_Bennett_aviary.jpg?1704897922","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/225/248/original/bennett-vernel-2022-06-06-radioedit.mp3?1704991493","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":4989.264,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Editor’s note: The following transcript is not a verbatim account of Vernel Bennett’s oral history audio recording. Words and sentences throughout the transcript have been removed, rephrased, or added at the interviewee’s request.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=0.0,2.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Good afternoon. This is Adrienne Hawthorne, the Adult Services Librarian at the Cambria Heights Community Library. Today I have Mr. Vernel Bennett and his-story. This is a recording for the Queens Memory program, and we are going to learn about the life, times, and commitments to the community that Mr. Bennett has provided us. So, Mr. Bennett, you give the library permission to conduct this interview?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2.0,44.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes, I do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=44.0,46.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Excellent, excellent. And this will be a part of the Queens Memory program. So, I'm going to share the video, share the screen, and we are going to get our sharing going [pause]. Okay. You can see the screen there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=46.0,78.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes, I can.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=78.0,79.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Excellent, excellent. All right. So thank you so much, Mr. Vernel Bennett and his-story. I met Mr. Bennett about a year or so ago from one of our other community partners, the Art Transforms arts program, lecture series, award ceremonies and things of that nature. Ms. Wanda Best of Art Transforms had Mr. Bennett on one of her Sunday evening discussion sessions. And that's when I saw his lovely presentation about the history of golf and the history of African Americans in the golf industry.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=79.0,141.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: I myself grew my children up in a program called The First Tee, which is a life skills and golf instruction program that is international now. The First Tee. It also helps children with their emotions and learning to play the game of golf. And it was a beautiful program. So I was very excited to meet Mr. Vernel Bennett, hear his presentation. But he's not just a golfer. He has had such an incredible life. And I said, oh, this is one of our luminaries in this community that does that quiet work of making sure everyone's okay. So I really wanted to bring him forward to Queens Memory and share about his story. So, Mr. Bennett, I'm going to advance to the next slide and we can talk about this page. So, Mr. Bennett?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=141.0,216.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes. Okay. You can't have an ending without a beginning. In the beginning it was me and I was born as one of those nice Virgos. My mother and father who was part of the big migration from the south. You know, from 1913 to 1970 over 6 million blacks left the south and came to the big cities, and my parents and grandparents was among that Great Migration.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=216.0,250.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Mines too. I'm a product of the Great Migration. I was born in Alabama.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=250.0,255.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Right. I was born in New York. They were born [in the] south. They came north to have me. My older brother was born in 1949 in South Carolina and I was born in Harlem New York in 1951. My grandmother came to Harlem, I guess in the 1940’s. It was four boys, and the only woman in the house was my mother. I grew up in East Harlem, on 118th Street in Harlem, and while I was in high school, we moved to the South Bronx.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=255.0,298.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: One of the reasons we moved to the South Bronx was because the summer, when kids turn on the fire hydrants to cool off, cops will turn it off. Well, a fire broke out in one of the tenement buildings behind where we lived, and the fire department brought the fire hoses through the house. Yeah, they actually came through the house, we lived on a top floor walk up, and the fire department actually brought the water hoses through the apartment from the front to the back, broke out the windows, and cut up the roof. Then from there, you know, I was a young guy and I just didn't like the conditions that I was living in. I didn't know what I wanted at that time, but I knew what I didn't want. And the folks you see on the right hand side is my mother and father, Jimmie Lee Bennett and Rosevelt Bennett, both are from Sumter, South Carolina. That little guy in the picture, on the top is my baby brother.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=298.0,361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=361.0,361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: He came along after everybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=361.0,365.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=365.0,367.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: The three people at the bottom of this picture, the one on my left, it's my older brother Charlie. He passed away in the seventies. The middle one is Herbert; he's the middle brother. And that little sharp guy on the side with the faded haircut is me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=367.0,382.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. Beautiful. Beautiful. So, the Bennett family background.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=382.0,392.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Well, you know, again, these are the people that's on the right [unclear] are the Elders of the family. My father was the only child. And he was born to a teenage mother, and he was raised by his grandparents in Sumter, South Carolina. And the grandparents are the people at the top right, you know. We call her Big Grandmama and Grandpa Ned because we kind of identified the grandmothers by their ranking of age and wisdom. So, you'll see as we go along, you'll see a Ma, Mama, and a Big Grandmama.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=392.0,437.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, that is so cute.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=437.0,441.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And that's how we lined them up, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=441.0,443.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: And Big Mama.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=443.0,445.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yeah. Yep. She was over everybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=445.0,449.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: I would hear that but I never really understood it. See, my situation is a little different in that we came to New York, but we didn't go back often enough. I didn't grow up going back for the summer. So, you know, there's a lot of cultural nuances that I'm still learning. So that was one of them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=449.0,480.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yeah. And my pops didn't have a formal education. But he made sure that his kids were going to finish high school. Back then, high school was very important. High school, you got a really good job. You could have been a secretary, carpenter, a plumber with a high school diploma, but he didn't have that opportunity. So he made sure that we had that. And most people didn't know that he had no education where he couldn't read or write.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=480.0,512.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My mother actually taught my father how to sign his name, his signature. He knew how to print his name but he couldn't sign it. So my mother actually taught him how to sign his name. And prior to him leaving the south, I was told that he drove what they call a truck hauling pulp wood. Some type of wood. I'm from the city, so I don't know what that means. I know some type of wood that he was hauling back and forth down south.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=512.0,544.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=544.0,547.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My mother, she went to sixth grade, which was a lot of education back then. I find most of the women got a little bit more education than the men because they had to work the farm and stuff like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=547.0,558.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=558.0,560.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: She went to the sixth grade, and she did that in a two-room schoolhouse. You know, I asked my aunt, her baby sister, who just passed away recently, and she said, yeah, they had only one building. One building, and room was cut in half and it went from kindergarten to the seventh grade. So my mother made it to the sixth grade.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=560.0,582.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=582.0,585.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: While we were growing up, you know, we had, like I told you before, we had our family members and everybody. When you left the south and came north, you all kind of live close, if not together in the same building, within walking distance. Wasn't no, no traveling. And so you see on the side, the right-hand side there, is my mother's mother, we call her Grandma Lillie. That's my mom's mother. And they're all born in the 1890s, right? My Big Grandmama, her name is Hattie. And Grandpa Ned, his name is really Edward, right? And they were born, I think 1894 and 1896, in that line.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=585.0,629.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=629.0,630.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: On the lower left side of the slide is the church that they joined they came to New York. You see, and I was a little young guy back then. See how thin I was [laughter]? That's my pop's grandmother; we called Big Grandmama. And I remember we put her in the car and we went through the car wash that she'd never been in before. Where you stayed in the car [unclear] and when the water and brushes came over the car, she almost had a heart attack.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=630.0,656.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh my goodness [laughs]. You didn't warn her?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=656.0,663.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, no, we didn’t think about it. We do it all the time. You know what I mean? So we didn't realize it. Then the one to the lower right, we call her Mama. That's, that's my, Big Grandmama is Mama's mother and was my father's mother. You know, that's what we called them. She's Mama. My mother, we call her Ma. We have to separate them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=663.0,691.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs] My family, my mother does do that. She's Grand Bobo and—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=691.0,696.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: All the nicknames. She didn’t want anybody to know publicly. They gave them to you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=696.0,700.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: I'm like, I'm trying to do this genealogy. I need actual names.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=700.0,704.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: They don't have them. When I found out about them, I looked on the census. And I found the census indicated when my father was born. On the census, they have him listed as my great grandparents' child. But he wasn't. He was my grandmother's child.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=704.0,723.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. Beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=723.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And now, as the Bennett family extends, you’ll see, again, I just identify the pictures on my right. That's my mother's family. All of them. From Grandpa Jim, and daughter Aunt Lou to my mother. Now, the one in the middle, at that time she was pregnant. Her name was Rebecca, we call her Aunt Smoogie, right? That's all that I knew. So my mother be talking about Becky and Rebecca. I didn’t know what she's talking about. That's her real name was Rebecca [laughter]. We didn't know. You know, I mean, I was grown when I found out. You know, Aunt Smoogie's real name you know what I mean?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=729.0,766.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=766.0,767.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And her brother James. And her mother Lillie is the one on the other end. I'll talk more about that, get down to the bottom pictures after we talk a little bit about what happened. You know, because my father had no formal education and he couldn't read or write, but people didn't know that. Matter of fact, when he first came to New York City back in, I would say the late forties, because my brother was born '1949, in South Carolina and I was born 1951, in NYC so he must have come to NYC in the early fifties. He had a small ice business. You know, at that time it wasn't any refrigerator. It was an ice box.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=767.0,812.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=812.0,813.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I remember they would take ice pick and chop it and chop that block out perfectly and fit it to that ice box. And they'd put that hook on their shoulder with a rag and bring the ice upstairs to tenement buildings. And there was a drain in the ice box that would drain the water into a pan.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=813.0,831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My father was actually employed in the garment center for over 25 years, you know, down on 34th Street before they sent it out of the country. And his main job was wedding gowns and bridesmaids' gowns. Most wedding gowns were white, the bridesmaids had different colors, and lace only came in white—so what my father did, with his eyes, he would look at the bridesmaids' dresses and take the lace and dye it to match that dress. He'd mix the dye, dry it on a big exhaust fan to make it match the dress. And at that time, I think the lace cost something like one hundred dollars a yard.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=831.0,879.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=879.0,883.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So that's what he did for the bulk of his time in the city until the garment industry left New York and the place closed. And he also cleaned and maintained the factory, and several other jobs that he did there. Matter of fact, he also took me and my older brother with him to work on Saturdays. My father was six feet tall with long legs, and we were little, we had to run to keep up with him, because he walked fast.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=883.0,912.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=912.0,914.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: If we wanted to keep up, we had to trot. Remember, downtown on 34th Street, was a bunch of people back then. You know, we were dodging between them. But prior to his death, after the factory closed, I got him in a job with New York City Housing Authority, because I used to work there also. He was a caretaker, cleaning the project buildings and stuff like that. He became ill and retired on disability and passed in 1990 at the age of 60. He always talked about what he wanted to do when he retired, but he never really made it to retirement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=914.0,953.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=953.0,956.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My mother was also from South Carolina, and she's one of the six that you saw in the upper part of the slide. She was a housewife. Father worked. There was four of us, and he didn't want anybody taking care of us. My mother was actually home. We ate all meals at home, and we were not latchkey kids, because she was home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=956.0,986.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=986.0,988.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: You know, while we were younger. But after we got older, she did domestic work for a time. Then her later life, she became a home attendant and she would be taking care of people [unclear]. She had to take exams to become a home attendent and she would score one hundred on them. She was really proud of that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=988.0,1018.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: I think they call them nursing aides.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1018.0,1021.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Now. Back then they were called home attendants.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1021.0,1023.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Home attendants. Okay. Nursing aides, they have to, they do have to be certified and take exams.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1023.0,1031.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Remember, she only had a sixth grade education.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1031.0,1034.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. So that was quite an accomplishment that she was able to pass those certifications.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1034.0,1040.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: She lived in the Bronx, and had to travel to downtown Brooklyn to take her exams to receive her certificates. She was very, very, very proud of that. She got to see [Barack] Obama become the candidate for the President of the USA.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1040.0,1066.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Installed.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1066.0,1067.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, no. She died in September in 2008","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1067.0,1071.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right before, okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1071.0,1072.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Just before. She got to see him nominated. But she never made it to see him actually become the President of these United States. Because in her later years, she became very political, too. She passed at the age of 77.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1072.0,1089.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1089.0,1091.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: When you come from the south, you were in the church all day on Sunday. You know, Sunday school on, if you didn’t act right, you will be there from the main service to the evening service.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1091.0,1105.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1105.0,1107.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We were brought up in the Baptist Church. Matter of fact, it was Mount Bethel Baptist Church, 116th Street in Harlem, and it was located between Mosque Number 7, where Malcolm X was.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1107.0,1123.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1123.0,1125.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And at the other end of the block was the Canaan Baptist church. We were in between them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1125.0,1131.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: A lot of activity on that block. You got to see people? Did you ever see Malcolm?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1131.0,1136.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Oh, yeah, but we were young. We saw him all the time, but we wasn't political or nothing like that. Everybody was talking back then. But I didn't become socially conscious until I got older, right? My parents and grandparents were the mothers of the church, you see. So they were ingrained in that. The church building was sold and now they're located in the Bronx. They're about 90 years old. My grandmother was a member of the choir, and the chorus, and she was also an elder of the church.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1136.0,1182.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1182.0,1182.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: She attended the weekly services as well as the Saturday service. And she died in 1991, one year after my father’s death. Ironically, she died at 77 like my mother.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1182.0,1199.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1199.0,1204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And another thing that's ironic, when we lived in Harlem, the building number that we lived at was 77. East 118th Street, right? So that's kind of ironic. So the pictures over to the right, you'll see, there's my mother and grandmother, you know?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1204.0,1226.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1226.0,1228.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And the picture to the far right, that's the new location of the Mount Bethel Baptist Church. They're in the Bronx now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1228.0,1238.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. Okay. School days.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1238.0,1243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: School days. Look at that sharp guy up there in that white cap. Like I told you, we grew up in Harlem, and everything we needed was right there. There wasn't no need to travel. We could walk every place. We lived on 118th Street. The school was 119th Street, you know what I mean?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1243.0,1263.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1263.0,1264.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So, we walked there, and your family was always two or three blocks of away.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1264.0,1269.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: A nice walkable community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1269.0,1272.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Most people that came up from the south. They migrated mostly from the same area. We came from [South] Carolina, so you will find that most people, they came from North Carolina or South Carolina. Alabama—a lot of people lived in Alabama that came that same route.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1272.0,1286.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1286.0,1287.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: They took that route because of the big migration. They followed the railroad tracks.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1287.0,1290.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Followed the railroad, yep.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1290.0,1292.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Followed the railroad tracks and came up. I went to P.S. 103, and they closed that school, In the same year that I was graduating from elementary school to go to junior high school, P.S. 79 was opened. Then we had that big graduation from elementary school to junior high school, which was right across the street [laughs], right across the street. We weren’t taking any buses or subways. And that was James Fennimore Cooper Junior High School. Then while I was in junior high school, my math teacher, Mr. Singleton, had me do a lot of his personal banking at the bank. The bank was on116th Street, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1292.0,1339.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Back then, most black folks didn't have checking accounts. They had savings account. But no checking account. They pay everything with cash. They would go to the store and actually pay the bill. He had me go to the bank and do his personal banking. Not with the teller, with the person sitting at the desk, right? I didn't know what that meant at the time. But as I got older, I realized what he was doing. I ran into him when I was in community college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1339.0,1368.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Anyway, from junior high school, I entered Charles Evans Hughes High School in 1966 with no guidance from my guidance counselors, or misguidance counselors. I was the first generation that finished high school. So I didn't have a whole lot of folks that I could reach out to for references.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1368.0,1398.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1398.0,1400.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I started my academic program, and then I switched to commercial classes in high school in 11th grade. They told me that I wasn’t going to graduate on time because I had only one more year before I graduate. And I said, okay, we'll see about that. I graduated on time, because I went to summer school and graduated on time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1400.0,1425.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: So you figured out a strategy to get your coursework done so that you can graduate on time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1425.0,1432.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1432.0,1439.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: And there was no guidance counselors to really—or they just didn't care?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1439.0,1442.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I would say you had misguidance counselors. You heard I say misguidance counselors? They were there, but, you know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1442.0,1450.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: They weren't working in your interests.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1450.0,1452.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Back then the parents would say that the teacher would not do anything wrong. So I took it upon myself and switch program. That turned out to be the best thing that I did because I was excelling in my accounting classes. Really it was bookkeeping. I started my accounting program and I scored high on the exams. Matter of fact, I scored a 98 on the citywide Regents exam. My accounting high school teacher who's at the lower left side, Ms. Seltzer, she took an interest in us, I mean, myself, guy named Sanders. Not Bernie Sanders, another Sanders [laughs]. She was able to get me a fellowship to attend Florida A\u0026M.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1452.0,1522.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1522.0,1523.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I never was on a plane before. I never really left my community, except for getting the bus or train [unclear] to go to South Carolina to visit family That would have been an adventure for me to get on a plane. But I'll tell you more about that, Florida A\u0026M, after we progress in the slideshow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1523.0,1539.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Did she ever explain how she came to know about Florida A\u0026M?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1539.0,1544.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No. Well, what she did was, I remember distinctly, it was these business people from a company that mentored black kids. And they told us that this was going to take me to see the school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1544.0,1565.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Uh-huh. On a tour, a college tour.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1565.0,1568.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: A tour, yes. All I had to do was to promise them that when I graduate, I'll take my time to do what he's doing for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1568.0,1578.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1578.0,1579.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That's all it was. I was really excited about that. But, you know, life has tricky turns, you know?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1579.0,1587.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1587.0,1588.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So, that didn't happen. And I'll explain why that didn't happen. But after graduating from high school in 1969—you remember, '69, the Vietnam War was going on too—I applied to college at night. I went to the college advisor and he kept telling me what I couldn't do and how much it cost. And I didn't know what matriculation and non-matriculation meant. Also, I didn't know that City University was free at the time. They didn't tell us that neither. They didn't tell us that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1588.0,1621.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: City University was free. But he kept telling me, it was going cost me some money and I could not [unclear] afford it. Which I didn't know, he never told me the amount that I had to pay. Ironically, later on when I got into college at night and had to pay per credit, it was ten dollar fee, fifteen dollars a credit. My first tuition was105 dollars, which I had to scrap up to get.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1621.0,1650.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So then in 1970, I was accepted to New York City Community College. And I was the first in my family to attend college. And you see the building on the lower right- hand side was my high school. And above it is my junior high school building. And that guy in the little white hat, that's my junior high school graduation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1650.0,1675.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs] Very good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1675.0,1675.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: They didn't have color pictures back then. They would take a black and white picture and paint it to make it a color picture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1675.0,1686.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Colorize it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1686.0,1689.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Colorize it. Yeah. So as you see, I'm getting a little heavier now [laughter]. So this is a little summary of what I accomplished. While the counselors were telling me that I wasn't college material and he wouldn't give me the guidance, which I didn't know what college material was and I didn't know what that meant. So you see, in 1969, I graduated from high school. 1974, I graduated from community college. I graduated from Baruch College in 1979 and finally in 1990, I graduated from Adelphi University, all at night. I attended New York City Public Schools, Elementary though High School.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1689.0,1734.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Sorry. Hold on. Here we go.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1734.0,1734.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I went to New York City Community College, now it's called New York City Tech, where I received my Associate's degree in accounting. Then I went to Baruch College, where I received my BBA [Bachelor of Business Administration] in Management. I then attended Adelphi University as an old man and received my certification as a Certified Financial Planner.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1734.0,1766.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. That's awesome.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1766.0,1772.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And now, this is the reason why I didn't take that Florida A\u0026M fellowship. Because  in June of 1969, the same year that I graduated from high school, my high school diploma, was my son, Vernel David Bennett","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1772.0,1788.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Aww.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1788.0,1790.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And that's him over there on the far right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1790.0,1794.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs] You look so serious on the left there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1794.0,1797.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I was cool back then, with my bamboo frame glasses. They were plastic, not bamboo.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1797.0,1805.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1805.0,1808.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In 1970, I married my high school sweetheart. We got married. And that's her. Penny. Her name is Mary, but we called her Penny. And that's our little munchkin sitting over there with his little curly hair. I took that picture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1808.0,1830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Very nice.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1830.0,1832.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In 1969 upon my graduation, I was offered that fellowship, like I told you before, but I had to forego it because, you know, things happen in life. And I preferred being with my son.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1832.0,1845.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: 'Cause you're a family man.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1845.0,1849.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That's how I grew up, with my parents. I also put myself in danger of being drafted for the Vietnam War. So, after my son was born, we got married in 1970 and moved to the South Bronx. My parents also lived in the South Bronx and they helped me take care of my son while we were in school. Because 1970, I got married and my wife was enrolled in City College in the daytime study Engineering, and I was enrolled in NYC Community College studying Accounting at night.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1849.0,1891.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My wife was enrolled at City College, under the SEEK program [also known as the Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK program, SEEK stands for Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge. Clarified by transcript editor]. The plan was, upon her graduation, she would get a job, and then I can quit night school and complete my studies at day time college, to reduce my time in school. As you may know, things don’t always work out as you plan.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1891.0,1918.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Sometime in 1969/1970, at the height of the Vietnam conflict, I applied to receive a draft deferment, because at the company that I was working at, in 1969, one of my mentors informed me that I could appeal my draft status, which I didn't know. He told me to apply for it. I applied for it, and I was nervous. The draft appeal board was located in the Bronx, and when I got there to address the panel, I was a little nervous because my brother got drafted right after high school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1918.0,1966.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/130","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1966.0,1968.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/131","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I arrived at the draft appeal office for my scheduled appointment, of course I was nervous. I spoke to the assistant at the desk, and she told me to have a seat, and about a half hour later, she told me to go home. I didn't see anybody. So I went home. So in a few days, I received a letter from the appeal board, that my appeal was approved. I think that the assistant approved my status, because I didn't see anybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1968.0,1987.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/132","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. There's always someone looking out, looking over.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1987.0,1991.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/133","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I guess that the assistant has experience a lot of injustice and the assistant approved it. I appreciated it. And I guess if it didn't happen, I wouldn't be here talking to you now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1991.0,1999.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/134","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: You'd have a whole different set of experiences to share.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=1999.0,2003.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/135","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Mary and I wound up leaving the Bronx and moving to a brand-new apartment in Coney Island, Brooklyn NY. We lived there until we got divorced in 1979.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2003.0,2019.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/136","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2019.0,2021.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/137","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: After my divorce, I relocated to Bensonhurst, which is not that far from Coney Island, because I wanted to be close to my son. At that time, Bensonhurst was predominantly Italian, which it wasn't a pleasant place for Black people to live at that time. But you do what you have to do!!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2021.0,2042.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/138","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. Right. Maintain that family connection that was—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2042.0,2047.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/139","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Close as you could.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2047.0,2047.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/140","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: —very monumental.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2047.0,2049.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/141","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I survived all of that. And you can look at my work experience. When I started working for the Amalgamated [Laundry Workers Union], I was still in high school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2049.0,2062.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/142","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2062.0,2063.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/143","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In 1969, I worked part-time for Amalgamated and they kept me for the summer. At the end of my summer employment, they offered me a full-time position, which I accepted in 1970. This is where I met all my Black mentors. My mentors was on labor side, and I worked on the business side. I was the first Black person on the audit team, as a field payroll tax auditor of the company, while I was going to school at night studying accounting. My mentors were the managers on the labor side of the business. They observed me for a while, then they started mentoring me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2063.0,2105.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/144","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Cecil Toppin was my mentor. I will never forget this man, because he was the person that guided me thought the draft appeals and in my work environment. From a young man coming out of Harlem, from an all-Black environment into a world where there's only a few black people. Cecil sent me to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, (which I only saw on TV on New Year's Eve, where balloons were dropping). He was a terrific speaker, and he could take a pen and speak on it for hours, and hold your attention. One day he came over to me and wanted me to attend a luncheon meeting on his behalf.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2105.0,2148.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/145","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I was nervous. I said, \"Wait.\" He said, \"Waldorf Astoria.\" I said, \"Okay.\" So he told me what's going to happen there. He stated that there will be a table of ten, and I will be in the main ballroom with around 600 people. And he said, “And outside of the help, you'll probably be one of a few blacks there, and at your table, you will probably be the only black there, youngest, and poorest at the table.\" It was like he wrote a script, and that's exactly how it happened.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2148.0,2179.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/146","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So I went, and when I returned, he looked at me and said, \"Did you survive?\" I said, \"Yes.\" He made me turn around. He said, \"You're not bleeding. Nothing broken.\" I said, \"No.\" And he told me this sometime in 1973. He told me this. \"The world is not made up of black people alone. It's made up with all people.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2179.0,2205.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/147","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2205.0,2206.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/148","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: \"Until you are comfortable being around all people—\" because nobody is better than you, nor are you better than anybody—he said, “and until you are comfortable around all people, you have failed the entrance exam to life.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2206.0,2221.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/149","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2221.0,2223.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/150","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That always stuck with me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2223.0,2225.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/151","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2225.0,2226.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/152","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I passed that on to several young people that I am around. I said, \"Don't hold your head down. Hold your head up, because a plane can't get off the ground with it’s nose pointed down.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2226.0,2236.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/153","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: That's right, if the nose is pointed down. That's a good one. So you gotta look up. Be up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2236.0,2243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/154","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Look up, go up. Look down, you go down. So I live by that line. Sometimes things happen to you in your life and you say, well! Picturing the life of my mother, father, grandparents and great-grandparents and what they went through in life just to live.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2243.0,2259.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/155","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2259.0,2261.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/156","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I said, well, you know, my father took care of four boys and my mother, with no education. I have no excuse.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2261.0,2270.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/157","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2270.0,2273.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/158","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In 1975 was the first time in the history of the City of New York they laid-off any employees, and I left my job to work for the New York City Housing Authority. I was a little nervous about making that move, by leaving my secure job, to work for the City of NY. I checked with Cecil Toppin and asked him what does he think I should do. He said take the job. And I did. I went there as an Assistant Accountant because I only had my two-year degree, and I needed my four-year degree to become full accountant. I continued my education at night and took the position as an Assistant Accountant. In 1981 I left the NYC Housing Authority as an Accountant Supervisor for insurance division. When I left the NYC Housing Authority in 198I, I went to the New York City Department of Finance, where I retired from in 2011 as an Associate Tax Auditor - Group Chief in the Sales Tax Field Audit Division. Those pictures to the right are pictures of me when I was in between young and old [laughter]. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2273.0,2342.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/159","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. So how many years did you work for the city?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2342.0,2345.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/160","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: 35 years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2345.0,2347.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/161","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2347.0,2350.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/162","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: The picture on the top left is me when I worked at the Housing Authority. You see how neat my Afro is [laughs]? We thought we had it neat but it isn’t neat all the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2350.0,2361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/163","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right [laughs]. Very nice. Wow. 35 years for the city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2361.0,2370.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/164","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yep, these are some of my achievements. I just listed a few of them. As a matter of fact, I was among the first to become a Certified Financial Planner when the title was established. I was in my office discussing financial planning with colleagues and it sounded interesting and I said, \"Let me try this.\" I received my certification as a certified financial planner from Adelphi University. I was also an independent Licensed Investment Broker, a substitute business school instructor, I [unclear] was a volunteer in a program called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. This program assisted low income and elderly people [unclear] prepare their Federal tax returns.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2370.0,2420.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/165","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2420.0,2422.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/166","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: A guy that I went to college with became the head of the accounting department at New York City Technical College. When I went there it was called New York City Community College and I was a guest speaker addressing the students of the Accounting Society at New York City Technical College. I was among the first, if not the first, to perform pre-retirement seminars for Con Edison employees. I did that in the evenings at several of their locations. I did that for seven years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2422.0,2471.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/167","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: You helped people get through the paperwork, you help people understand—[crosstalk]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2471.0,2474.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/168","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, I explained to them how their retirement plans worked. At that time, 401(k)s were new and people didn't know nor understand them. 401(k) is really not a retirement plan, it's more of a tax deferment plan, but they were cheaper to manage than a retirement program. So, they turned it into a retirement program.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2474.0,2495.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/169","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2495.0,2496.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/170","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: While working for the Department of Finance, my unit director asked me to sit on the panel to assist in writing the New York City Associate Tax Auditor promotion exam. I participated in writing the promotion exam for New York City.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2496.0,2523.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/171","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2523.0,2524.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/172","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I also wrote the operating procedures for the New York City Housing Authority's Insurance Division. When I came to NYCHA, things were in disarray, but coming from the private sector to the city was a whole different type of operation, and I soon found out that they were trying to make the new guy the fall guy for the division being in disarray. As I mention to you earlier, I went to NYCHA as an Assistant Accountant, and left as a Supervising Accountant. So I survived that. When I went to the New York City Department of Finance as a Field Sales Tax Auditor, I also did the training for the division. My job was to convert the auditors from paper to computers. I also wrote a little in-house manual on how to perform a sales tax audit for the New York City Department of Finance for the new people coming in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2524.0,2580.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/173","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2580.0,2581.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/174","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And on the right, you see some little things here. My 20 year membership of the Financial Planning Association, that's the people who control and monitor the certified financial planners, and that's a booklet that I used for the seminars for Con Edison.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2581.0,2599.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/175","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. So you helped write a training manual. That's important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2599.0,2605.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/176","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, I wrote the training manual, for the Sales Tax Division","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2605.0,2607.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/177","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, you wrote the training manual.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2607.0,2609.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/178","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Right. I assisted in writing the promotion exam for NYC Associate Tax Auditor.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2609.0,2613.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/179","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2613.0,2615.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/180","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I have an office in my house, and these are some of the awards that you see on the wall. I ran out of wall space, so some of the awards that I received are left on the side. Remember I told you about New York City Community College?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2615.0,2637.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/181","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2637.0,2637.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/182","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In 1988, I was made a honorary member of the Accounting Society for the New York City Community College. That's what they call it [unclear] in 1988. I have received achievement awards from Congressman Gregory Meeks. Community service awards from [Elmer H. Blackburne Regular] Democratic Club. Certificate of merit from NY State Senator James Sanders, Jr. Certificate of recognition from NYS Senator Leroy Comrie. [Commendations] from the Comptroller's Office, City of New York, Scott Stringer. Community service awards from Lebanon Seventh-Day Adventist Church. I was also the president of the 224th/225th Street Block/Civic Association in Laurelton for 20 years. NYS Senator Malcolm Smith gave the Civic Association a resolution in 2002. These are the awards that are on the walls in my home office.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2637.0,2710.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/183","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. This is such an inspiration. And I really love how it's laid out. I want to share this with young people so they can see. You have to plan your life out. You have to always take ownership of your accomplishments and accolades. It's very important.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2710.0,2734.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/184","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That's why I made the statement that I tell to young folk all the time. An airplane leaves the hangar, goes down the runway. It starts off slow, but as it picks up speed, the nose leaves the ground first—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2734.0,2752.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/185","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2752.0,2753.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/186","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —and the plane goes up. So you can't go down the runway looking down. You will never get off the ground.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2753.0,2759.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/187","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. Always up and—up and out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2759.0,2764.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/188","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And your ceiling is the sky. When the sky stops, you stop.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2764.0,2769.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/189","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. Beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2769.0,2774.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/190","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Now my life in Laurelton, Queens. Like I told you, when I got divorced in 1979 from the first wife I didn’t know if I was going to do it again. So in 1988, I remarried and I settled, Laurelton, Queens. We left from Brooklyn and moved to Queens with my wife Delores, (we call her Dee), and my stepson, William. Again, as you see on the far right of the slide is the Laurelton—and I'll speak about that as we go though the slides. I was one of the co-founders and the president of the 224th/225th Street Block/Civic Association of Laurelton from 1999 to 2019. The reason we said Block/Civic Association, because we're structured as a block association, but we left our block functions a while ago and branched out into the community. That's why you see the sign on the upper right hand side as you walk up to states, Welcome to Laurelton.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2774.0,2838.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/191","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2838.0,2839.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/192","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: As you enter Laurelton east to Long Island at the corner of Merrick Boulevard and Springfield Boulevard, there is a Burger King on the left side of the street. The Block/Civic Association put that sign there, so you will know exactly when you enter Laurelton. Like in Long Island, you know when you leave Freeport and enter Baldwin, but in New York City, you don't know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2839.0,2864.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/193","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2864.0,2864.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/194","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We put that sign there. Laurelton was founded in 1905.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2864.0,2871.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/195","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: The community of Laurelton was formed in—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2871.0,2873.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/196","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: 1905.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2873.0,2876.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/197","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: 1905. Wow. Was it farming land tract before that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2876.0,2884.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/198","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No. What happened, Laurelton was a golf course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2884.0,2889.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/199","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, wow. Laurelton was a golf course.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2889.0,2893.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/200","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Laurelton and Rosedale were a golf course. I have the visual overhead maps showing you that. One of the clubhouses was located on 126th Street, and this was before the Belt Parkway was built. I knew the family that lived in the old clubhouse that was on 126th Street. I live in an English tudor in Laurelton and we have a community drive in the back of our property, which is private property, and the City is not responsible for the maintenance. You have to do it yourself.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2893.0,2941.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/201","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: One evening, two of the seniors on my block came to me and asked me to revitalize the block association. I was busy working, and I also had a little side practice. There are only seven days in the week, and seven and a half of them were already occupied, but I took it on anyway. They were waiting for me to say yes, because they have already obtained a location and meeting date and time. And I wound up doing it for 20 years (1999-2019).","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2941.0,2968.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/202","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. They always say, if you want something done, give it to a busy person, cuz they'll get it done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2968.0,2977.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/203","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: They were my seniors, right? And they were calling me, Mr. Bennett.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2977.0,2984.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/204","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2984.0,2985.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/205","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Ironically, they were the first two Black families to move on the block in the sixties.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2985.0,2996.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/206","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2996.0,2996.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/207","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: They told me stories about the racism that they faced, but that is a story for another day.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=2996.0,3000.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/208","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Another day, another time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3000.0,3002.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/209","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: The community drives located in the back of the private property were deteriorating, with holes and little craters in them, because our garages are located behind the houses in the community drives. And the City will not address the problem, due to the fact that the community drives are private property. So we did it ourselves. It took us two and a half years to collect the funds from over 400 homes, and we paved three community drives at a cost $75,000, and we did it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3002.0,3029.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/210","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. Wow. That's the power of community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3029.0,3034.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/211","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yep. Because somebody gotta hold it together—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3034.0,3036.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/212","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3036.0,3037.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/213","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —[unclear].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3037.0,3039.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/214","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3039.0,3041.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/215","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We've hosted over twenty annual, block parties. They started as block parties, but turned into be block festivals because we had people participated from all over our community and they put on their calendar for every year at the same time. It was the last Saturday in June, [for] 20 years. We had the biggest block party festival because the community was involved in it, including the Police Department. We were told by the Police Department that every time the community see a cop, they have someone either in handcuffs or up against the wall, but they don't see us as people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3041.0,3079.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/216","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3079.0,3080.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/217","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So I took them up on that statement. So, we had a block party and I invited the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 105 precinct to attend our block party and he came and he brought his supervising officers with him (White Shirts). All the white shirts came and that became an annual thing. We had cops in uniform cooking at the grill and playing football and basketball with the kids, and that continued for 20 years and we never had a problem. Never had a problem of any type. Our block party wasn't a party where everybody brings out a grill in front of their house. No, no, no. We had one major food station for everybody.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3080.0,3124.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/218","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3124.0,3125.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/219","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: As for the music, we hired our own DJ because [unclear] we wanted to control the music. Due to the fact we had a diversity of people attending this event, such as American born, Foreign born, Seniors and all other age groups. So when you pay a DJ [unclear] that is the only way that you can control the type of music that is played.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3125.0,3151.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/220","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. It's filtered.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3151.0,3153.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/221","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Filtered.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3153.0,3154.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/222","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: There's some good stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3154.0,3156.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/223","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Right. And—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3156.0,3157.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/224","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: So that 225th, that's near the library. Laurelton—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3157.0,3161.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/225","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, that's other side. Other side. The north side of Merrick Blvd.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3161.0,3164.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/226","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: The other side. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3164.0,3165.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/227","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: The Block Association wanted to get speed bumps put in the area [unclear], no parking signs, no standing signs, and this is how we did that. Everybody in the Association was business people, so we had a dinner meeting with our elected officials at our homes. We sat down with them, like you do at work, and we gave them a written report of the issues that we wanted addressed. It contained the breakdown and statistics for everything in our report. We gave them one year to fulfill our request and concerns. That next year when he returned to the follow-up dinner meeting with the results, we were looking for a percentage of the items that we requested to be done, but to our surprise the whole list was done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3165.0,3214.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/228","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: That's so awesome. See what happens when people pull together and come up with a list of requirements needed. And the elected officials, they listened.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3214.0,3230.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/229","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes, they saw the power. Our Association was self-sufficient. We never took money from any of the government agencies. We raised our own funds.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3230.0,3245.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/230","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3245.0,3246.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/231","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We didn't sell chicken dinners. We raised funds by taking trips to places like Las Vegas.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3246.0,3256.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/232","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3256.0,3257.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/233","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: You know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3257.0,3261.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/234","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right [laughs]. That was a big deal. Trip to Vegas. Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3261.0,3264.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/235","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I also assisted several community organizations in structuring their block associations, because one of our elected officials [unclear] asked me. That's how I became a blueprint. We also developed a very good relationship with the 105 precinct. We were assigned police, a community officer, and we had his private cell phone number.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3264.0,3304.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/236","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3304.0,3305.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/237","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Which they didn't have to give to us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3305.0,3312.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/238","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3312.0,3313.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/239","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I never called them at the precinct. I called them on their cell phone. If anything was going down in the community, I call them, not 911, and if they were in the area, they would come by.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3313.0,3329.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/240","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. Yeah. You had them on speed dial in a sense.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3329.0,3333.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/241","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: If something was happening in the community, they would also contact me because they knew that I would listen to them, and I was not looking for publicity. So, on the right hand side of the slide, right next to the Welcome to Laurelton sign [unclear] is where I live at now. That's my house.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3333.0,3360.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/242","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3360.0,3361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/243","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And the bottom part of this slide is when the Association was started. Every year the Association had different colored shirts for the block party and we have cake contests and best decorated house contest for the holidays, and elected officials were the judges.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3361.0,3378.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/244","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. That was good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3378.0,3382.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/245","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So these pictures will show you some of the things that we have done while living in Laurelton. You'll see that picture, in the upper left-hand side, that's me kissing my wife. We were a little younger then. You see.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3382.0,3391.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/246","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay [laughs]. Beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3391.0,3393.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/247","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Down below that is me cutting the ribbon on the completion of the paving of our community drive, with our state senator, Malcolm Smith, at that time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3393.0,3405.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/248","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3405.0,3407.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/249","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And you will see down at the slide, there is block party stuff, you'll see that person right there, that's Donovan Richards (Queens Borough President). I knew him since he was 19 years old.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3407.0,3421.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/250","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3421.0,3421.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/251","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And that's Donovan Richards back then. He was working for Councilmember Sanders.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3421.0,3428.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/252","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right. Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3428.0,3429.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/253","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: In this picture, you'll see the ribbon cutting for the Welcome to Laurelton sign. This event made the local newspaper. We also had our own newsletter, and it was published quarterly. We called it 224th/225th Street Block Watch. We even had our kids write articles for the newsletter. We published the newsletter for 14 years. And that's me with—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3429.0,3460.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/254","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Is the newsletter still active now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3460.0,3463.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/255","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Huh?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3463.0,3463.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/256","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Is the newsletter still active now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3463.0,3465.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/257","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: It's not active now because I stepped down as President of the Association in 2019. But, what we did, we took all the newsletters that we had, going back ten to fifteen years—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3465.0,3480.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/258","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3480.0,3481.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/259","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —and archived them with the Queens Public library system in Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3481.0,3485.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/260","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. Excellent. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3485.0,3487.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/261","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We donated them to the Queens Public Library system. This way if you are looking up something about Laurelton, it is there. I don't know if it’s digitalized or not, but we gave them the whole batch.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3487.0,3496.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/262","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah. I have the—I've been saving and have them in a binder, the newsletters for the Cambria Heights Civic Association. So that's one of the things that I've been, you know, working on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3496.0,3514.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/263","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: As you can see down here, we had different color block association shirts each year for our block party. We also had a scholarship program for the kids who lived in Laurelton. You see, that picture is NYS Senator Leroy Comrie. This picture is Jaques Leandre, he is my V P of my Golf Association right here. I was also his campaign manager when he ran for City Council. This is Congressman Gregory Meeks down below. This picture is our community police officer. The picture up in the middle is NYS Governor David Paterson. I was one of the emcees for NYS Senator Malcolm Smith's fundraiser.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3514.0,3560.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/264","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Over here, in the local newspaper article is Senator Smith and Congressman Meeks at our block party, and it was on the front page of local newspaper.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3560.0,3578.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/265","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Who's this young man here?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3578.0,3581.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/266","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Which one? Oh, that's my stepson, William Morning Jr.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3581.0,3583.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/267","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. Nice.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3583.0,3586.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/268","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: [laughter]. That picture is Senator Ada Smith. She's retired from the Senate.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3586.0,3594.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/269","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. And what is this book here?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3594.0,3597.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/270","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Our block association had a black-tie New Year's Eve party, and we had this party for three years, and this person was our deejay and photographer for this event. He made the photo book and put me on the cover.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3597.0,3614.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/271","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. That's nice. And this is a street fair event with the—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3614.0,3618.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/272","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes. That is a picture of our block party, and that little person off to the far left, next to the clown—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3618.0,3625.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/273","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3625.0,3626.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/274","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —she is now a graduate of Hampton University [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3626.0,3631.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/275","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, wow.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3631.0,3633.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/276","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That one over here, on the lower right-hand side, [unclear] in the polka dot dress, that's Asia, and that little one right there in the orange shirt is about to graduate high school next year.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3633.0,3651.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/277","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. Yep. Watch him grow up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3651.0,3656.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/278","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Oh yes, we did.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3656.0,3657.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/279","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Being involved. Political community involvement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3657.0,3664.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/280","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So this is what I've done. In the 2008 City Council race, I was the senior campaign advisor, and that was the same year that Obama ran for President. Then in 2012, we tried to do it again, but this time, I went from the campaign advisor to the campaign manager.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3664.0,3686.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/281","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3686.0,3688.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/282","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And then I mentored several of our young candidates who are in office now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3688.0,3696.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/283","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3696.0,3697.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/284","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Like you see on the right—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3697.0,3698.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/285","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah. I see Donovan.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3698.0,3701.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/286","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —Donovan Richards, who is now the Queens Borough President. You have Selvena Brooks-Powers, on the right. She's now the NYC City Councilmember. I knew Selvena since she was 20 years old when I met her working at Senator Malcolm Smith’s office. When I met Donovan, he was 19 years old, working in Councilmen’s James Sanders Jr. office. Up at the top right of this picture are the candidates that ran against each other (Jacques LeAndre, Selvena Brooks-Powers and Donovan Richards). They all ran against each other and they got mad at me for supporting Jacques and not supporting them—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3701.0,3728.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/287","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Really?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3728.0,3728.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/288","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: —but I said, \"I can only support one person.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3728.0,3731.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/289","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3731.0,3732.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/290","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: \"But I support all of you.\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3732.0,3733.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/291","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3733.0,3735.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/292","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And I said, \"When it's over, whoever wins, the others must support that person and keep the ball moving.\" Again, I don't believe in that term of passing torches, because when you pass a torch, somebody is left in the dark. So, I believe in lighting torches so everybody is in the light.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3735.0,3753.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/293","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: That's right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3753.0,3754.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/294","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So they're passing torches, now [crosstalk]. Donovan is now the Queens Borough President after leaving the City Council. Selvena replaced him in the City Council and Jacques, who's picture is in the middle picture, is now one of the power brokers in Queens, and he is an attorney. I was also a former New York State Committee member.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3754.0,3780.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/295","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: New York State—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3780.0,3781.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/296","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Committee member.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3781.0,3784.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/297","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Committee member.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3784.0,3785.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/298","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3785.0,3793.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/299","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Interesting hobbies.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3793.0,3794.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/300","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Hobbies. Knowing your history and knowing who you are is very important. I am an advocate of Black studies, because I think that the more you know about yourselves the less excuses you'll have about our future. We must know our history, because we must tell our story. History is about facts, not His-Story, because His-Story is whatever they want you to know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3794.0,3830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/301","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3830.0,3831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/302","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I [unclear]. I also bowled for over 25 years, and that is how I met my wife. Bowling.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3831.0,3868.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/303","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3868.0,3869.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/304","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: My wife was attending Brooklyn College at night, and she was taking an accounting class, and she was having trouble with it. Somehow she found out that I was an accountant and she asked me to tutor her in her accounting class. So I tutored her in the bowling alley.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3869.0,3903.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/305","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: You said she helped put this slide show together. She's very talented herself.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3903.0,3908.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/306","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: She didn't help. She did it [laughs]. I gave her information. She did all the fancy stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3908.0,3915.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/307","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: It's a beautiful slideshow. It's beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3915.0,3919.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/308","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We love to travel. And we've been to several countries and islands, such as Africa, Italy, France, Canada, Spain, all through Caribbean. We also love cruising. We took over fifteen cruises. We have to leave the country now to go cruises now, because we have covered most things on the east coast, so we started cruising from the west coast and out of the country. [unclear] such as Spain and we cruised to Mediterranean. I took an interest in golfing, when I was 55 years old. As you see I was an old guy when I started golfing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3919.0,3960.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/309","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: I'd like to do another video session like this, just on the golf.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3960.0,3965.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/310","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I have a golf video already.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3965.0,3967.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/311","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Already done. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3967.0,3969.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/312","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: The only reason why I am golfing today, is because of my son, Vernel Jr. I was thinking about retiring and my son who lives in North Carolina said, \"Dad, try golf.\" Then I tried it. So I went from a novice, to a student, to a participant, to doing the financials for a golf association, to the executive officer of a golf association, to running it. I'm trying to pass on a rich heritage to my three grandchildren. Elizabeth in New York, Joreal and Marie in North Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=3969.0,4014.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/313","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Awesome.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4014.0,4015.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/314","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That is me in that picture over there. At the top, if you go back one slide, that's when I was bowling back then, and that other picture is when I started golfing. The next section is the travels that we've done.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4015.0,4030.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/315","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes. Nova Scotia. There's a whole rich history of Nova Scotia.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4030.0,4036.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/316","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I went there and I sat down with the coordinator of the library and was told that they had one shooting of black people in Nova Scotia over a long period of time. Blacks came and settled in Nova Scotia, Canada. It's an interesting history here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4036.0,4057.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/317","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Very rich history. And that goes back to the Revolutionary War when communities were forming up there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4057.0,4067.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/318","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Black folks didn't have it easy in Canada. A large portion of Black people that settled in Nova Scotia, Canada came from the United States. Canada was cold, and a lot of blacks froze to death. It's a unique history about what happened to Black people in Canada. What am I doing now? As I indicated before, I retired in 2011, and in 2014 I am  President and co-founder of the United Black Golfers Association. This is a Co-ed Association with a 60-40 male to female ratio. At the time when this presentation was made, we had 88 members, ten states. Including Africa.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4067.0,4131.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/319","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. The Golf Association is in ten states and Africa.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4131.0,4134.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/320","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We have members are in those locations.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4134.0,4139.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/321","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4139.0,4140.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/322","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: We are located in Laurelton, Queens, New York. People started hearing about us and they want to join, and I said, you know we're located in New York? Because one of the people that was inquiring about membership lived in North Carolina. Our Annual Scholarship fundraiser is always held in August. We have golfers attending our fundraiser from several states outside of New York.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4140.0,4162.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/323","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. That's awesome.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4162.0,4165.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/324","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: And as of 2021, we have awarded $31,200 in scholarships to 44 students.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4165.0,4177.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/325","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, that's beautiful. High schoolers?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4177.0,4181.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/326","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: High school. Any high school graduating senior in New York City, (the five boroughs), qualifies to apply for a scholarship. Just go to our website at ubga.org and follow the instructions under the scholarship tab. I also had a radio show on the internet called Black Golfers Then and Now, on the On Da Block radio station, which I hosted for nine months. The following pictures—we made newspapers, in the studio, our brochure. That's me hitting the golf ball.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4181.0,4219.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/327","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs] So we're going to do another video about the golf association and that has to go into our archives as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4219.0,4231.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/328","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Okay. Do you want something on golf history, or golf in general, or something on UBGA itself?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4231.0,4238.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/329","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4238.0,4239.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/330","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Okay. I can put that together, because I got my mastermind wife here [laughter]. She can put that together, and make it look good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4239.0,4248.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/331","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4248.0,4251.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/332","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: You see the picture on the right-hand side, this is my family.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4251.0,4255.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/333","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes. That's beautiful.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4255.0,4257.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/334","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Upper left, you see that's my oldest granddaughter, Elizabeth, in the middle is my grandson Joreal, and the other picture is my baby granddaughter Marie. And next to her is my son when he graduated from high school and me. I was a little younger then. The next picture is my son, his son, and me at his high school graduation in North Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4257.0,4286.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/335","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: What a beautiful, beautiful transition you have here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4286.0,4291.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/336","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That picture is my two granddaughters again, and the other picture there is my grandson, my son's wife, my granddaughter, and that's my son on the far end over there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4291.0,4304.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/337","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4304.0,4305.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/338","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That picture is my granddaughter sitting on her car. Due to COVID-19, they didn’t have a graduation ceremony from high school—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4305.0,4311.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/339","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: —formal ceremonies.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4311.0,4313.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/340","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Nothing. They just took a picture and decorate the house.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4313.0,4317.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/341","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4317.0,4319.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/342","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: That's what she got, and that picture is my granddaughter Elizabeth. She lives in New York. Everybody else lives in North Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4319.0,4327.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/343","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Okay. All right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4327.0,4329.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/344","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: So in conclusion, you know, like the great Langston Hughes stated, life hasn't been no crystal stairs.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4329.0,4340.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/345","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: No crystal stair.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4340.0,4342.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/346","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: But I got through it. It wasn’t easy. No. It takes a family or a village to get you through, sometimes. Sometimes we don't have all the answers because we don't know all the questions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4342.0,4367.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/347","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4367.0,4368.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/348","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I've been told so many times about negative things and what I couldn't do. I was also told that I wasn't college material, and that I couldn’t read.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4368.0,4381.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/349","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: And you rose above it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4381.0,4383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/350","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Well I graduated from three universities. I passed a couple of licensing exams. I went from a clerk to supervisors and group chiefs in different companies, President of golf association and other association. Conducted financial seminars to corporations that never had a Black person do it in the history of their company. So, I guess I did know how to read. Ironically, when I was young man I was looking for another job, I went to this company for a job and they talked to me for several hours. Then they wanted to have me take a pay cut and I was trying to get a pay raise. So they didn’t hire me. It was one of the big 8 accounting firms at that time. So, sometimes things go full circle. When I started working for the NYC Department of Finance, I was assigned four of the eight accounting firms to audit.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4383.0,4450.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/351","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4450.0,4451.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/352","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: But I couldn't work there. But I audited them, so I got a kick out of that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4451.0,4457.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/353","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right, right [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4457.0,4460.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/354","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Right. So, despite that, I was able to live a pretty successful life. All of the kids are grown now and are doing pretty good. So, I guess over these past 70 years, I was able to learn some great lessons. As you go through life, you pick up things, like a sponge, it gets bigger, bigger and bigger as it absorbs things. I was able to absorb those things and pass on what I've learned and experienced to my family, friends and to anybody that want to listen to me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4460.0,4505.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/355","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: As I told you before, I love history, because I feel that a person that don’t know their past, it is like a tree without roots, it won’t grow. I think that you should know your family’s history and let that knowledge empower you to move forward. You have choices, right? But you need two things in order to make a decision. You need to see things to help you make good decisions. You can't just expect to sit on the side and see the world.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4505.0,4541.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/356","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: True.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4541.0,4543.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/357","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: If you put water in a glass, all you see is what's inside that glass. One day someone made a mistake and knocked the glass over and the water spilled out onto the table, wow, there is more to life than what was in that glass, so let’s see the world.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4543.0,4555.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/358","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: It's more to life. That's right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4555.0,4558.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/359","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: People see you in the library all the time. You will be surprised to know who was inspired by what you're doing. You may not look at yourself as being successful, but they do. You may say I got more to accomplish, but they look at you as being successful already, whatever success means to people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4558.0,4578.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/360","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4578.0,4579.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/361","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Means different things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4579.0,4580.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/362","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: True.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4580.0,4582.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/363","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: By sharing my life story, I hope that my grandchildren, younger generations in the family, and those who are not in my family, will have the opportunity to read and see this presentation and I hope it will inspire them to find out more about their own family's history.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4582.0,4601.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/364","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4601.0,4602.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/365","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Our collective history as told by us. Not his-story, but our story, and pass that history on to our future generations so that our stories will never, never be rewritten or forgotten like so many of our stories have been, like so many of our ancestors that came before us, because when we stop telling the story, the story dies and so does our history.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4602.0,4626.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/366","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: That's right. I'm on my way to a family reunion this week and, you know, my family, one side of the [laughs]—when you start getting into genealogy and, you know, you got two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, sixteen great great grandparents, thirty two. You know, it just keeps growing exponentially. And to know the stories of your family is so important. So I joined the history committee for my family to make sure that we can document and preserve, you know, our legacy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4626.0,4670.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/367","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I have a cousin on my mother's side, Dr. Shelia Pringle Darrell, published a family history book titled The Gardner-Bethune Family History Book. Remember, we as a people can only go back so far because they didn't list the slaves by their names, they were logged in with their livestock.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4670.0,4684.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/368","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Those records are found in the plantation log [crosstalk]. Slavery was a business, and businesses had insurance and mortgages, so African Americans were used as collateral and mortgage and all of this. So they have impeccable records, it's just that it's in the plantation logs, in the plantation books. And they usually have these families—they usually have the enslaved people listed in clusters and family style. And so, you know, I'm going to be training with MAAGI, the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, this summer to focus on those pre and post Civil war records. And I [unclear] to turnkey the information to the community cuz I teach genealogy here at Cambria Heights. So, yeah, it's so important. Our history. We're the only ones who can tell it properly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4684.0,4752.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/369","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Right. Tell our story, not their story.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4752.0,4754.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/370","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Our story, properly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4754.0,4756.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/371","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Because what I did, when I took the African ancestry genealogy tests—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4756.0,4762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/372","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: —DNA?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4762.0,4765.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/373","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Yes, and found out what part of Africa that I was connected to because people always stopped me and asked me where I was from. When I was in Africa, the people would follow me around, and they want me to talk, right? To help them determine where I was from. When I was working, had some younger co-workers that came from Africa, and she always told me that I was from her country and she was from Nigeria. She insisted that I was from home. She even told me the tribes that I was connected to. I told her that my family was from South Carolina.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4765.0,4794.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/374","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Right, right. Ultimately, we're 500 years removed [crosstalk], therefore we might share DNA, but our family is here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4794.0,4806.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/375","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Let me tell you what happened. This was long—I was in a store where I get my coffee from every morning and this older African man from the continent was staring at me and he started to speak to me in his African language, right? And then he stopped. He thought I was somebody from his country. To make a long story short, so in 2007 while I was in Africa, The Africans were telling me the same thing. So I decided to do my African ancestry DNA test. So I did it. They use the DNA on your mother's side, right? And when it came back, what do you think it came back as?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4806.0,4848.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/376","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Amalgamation of many different—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4848.0,4851.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/377","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, no.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4851.0,4851.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/378","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: —[unclear] tribes?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4851.0,4853.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/379","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: No, no, no. It came back as 99 percent Nigerian at that time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4853.0,4860.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/380","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Oh, okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4860.0,4861.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/381","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: Nigeria, and when the DNA test came back as Nigerian, that was what my Nigerian co-worker (little sister from Nigeria) told me, and it had the same tribal connection that she told me where I was from. Exactly what they said.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4861.0,4871.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/382","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Wow. That's amazing. Well, our time together—our teenagers are coming into the meeting room now, so we're gonna have to conclude our recording. I appreciate so much being able to take the time to share with me. And as soon as this recording is made available, I will make sure to let you know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4871.0,4899.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/383","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: I appreciate that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4899.0,4900.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/384","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: And I definitely wanna make sure we do the golf session as well. I'm [crosstalk] appreciate all of your effort this afternoon.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4900.0,4909.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/385","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: This was so ironic because this was the first time that I ever did something like this. I was also amazed at the fact that you wanted to do my story. I mean, there is around 360 million people in this country and around 40 million black people, and you wanted to do my story?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4909.0,4938.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/386","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Yes, because every story is an inspiration. And this is a local inspirational story, and I'm gonna make sure we share it with our teen center because our young people need to see that, you know, they too—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4938.0,4957.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/387","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: There is someone behind you. That's someone behind you [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4957.0,4961.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/388","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: —[laughs] so, yeah, so, you know, they too have a path and they can follow that path and they need to make sure that they reach out to be mentored along that path.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4961.0,4976.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/389","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Vernel Bennett: What happens now? I mean, is this project in conjunction with Queens College?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4976.0,4983.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248/transcript/84560/annotation/390","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Adrienne Hawthorne: Queens Library and—hold on, let me stop the recording.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225248#t=4983.0,4989.264"}]}]},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225249","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - Vernel_Bennett_Interview_June_2022_Redacted.mp4"]},"duration":240.2403,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/225/249/small/thumbnail_225249_1704899060.jpg?1704881061","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225249/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225249/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/225/249/original/Vernel_Bennett_Interview_June_2022_Redacted.mp4?1704991769","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":240.2403,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/120093/file/225249","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]}]}