Who inspires you and your family and why? 

For me, Ev is the inspiration. She done some stuff that I never thought she'd do.  Jump out of an airplane and video it all the way to the ground. And then she came home and said, "I want to show y'all something". And here she is jumping out of the airplane. She's never had any fear. She moved to New York. Harlem.  We moved her in, and before I left, I said, "You think you need a gun?" And she said, "Dad, if I need a gun, I don't need to be here." She put on her shades Monday morning and walked out there like she owned the town. I was like, WOW. I couldn't have done that. 

She got a lot. But I think from her (points to Gladys C. Burnett), she got a lot of nerve too.

-Robert H. Burnett

Who inspires you in Cleveland?

The residents. Yeah, the residents, really. Because of all the things going on here as well as in places like Youngstown. I think that having that community embrace you makes all the difference in your life. The community is gold. They ask the question, “why did they call us the Gold Coast?” I want to say to 'em, “Because of these people. Because of our community, the people in that community.”

-Gladys C. Burnett

What encouragement, encouragement do you want to give to folks in Cleveland? 

My mother was a prime example. I believe back in the day, her family was quarantined for scarlet fever, and she didn't get to fulfill everything because of the quarantine. So, my mom, she did not stop. Once the quarantine left, she did go on to get her high school diploma. And she got her associate to be a substitute teacher, or a teacher's aide, or teacher's assistant.

Can you tell me more about your 519-Mile Underground Railroad Walk that began in Cleveland?

I was struck by that sense of walking and what it could have been, how it must have been for freedom seekers, but I didn't use that phrase back then. Runaway. Enslaved families. We know some of it because they've written and some of it because we can't imagine what that would've been like for a family with babies and toddlers, hiding, fearful, and with no real true destination. Just hope. And that's what made me have this sudden realization in my safe, lovely neighborhood. I think that I wanted to actually do the walk. And I did. With the help of all kinds of people. Starting out with friends, family, people I knew, and then people I didn't know until I met.

Who inspires you in Cleveland? 

I'm going to tell you, I do see some black women who inspire me in Cleveland. I don't think they get the recognition that they should. I have partners who do so much and give back so much, and they're not really recognized here. Barbara Bradford Williams is one. She's on the south side of town. She has been giving out of her pocket for afterschool programs feeding children. I mean, it's really unbelievable what she's doing. Another lady is Dr. Lisa McGuffy. Dr. Lisa, same thing. She is an entrepreneur, too. She has a clothing store, but she also has a nonprofit. She gives free prom dresses to girls. She does dorm supplies for freshmen and college students. People like that. They don't necessarily get all the recognition, but these are people I know. I see them doing the work. They're not asking to be recognized, but they do need the help and the support. I don't see them really getting it the way I think they should.

What inspires you or who inspires you in Cleveland? 

Well, she's gone now, but Fannie Lewis inspired me. Fannie Lewis and Stephanie Tub Jones because those women made a mark, and they made the powers that be in government listen to them about our community, and they wouldn't back down. And, yeah, those two women, when they spoke, you listened, and you acted because they made you act on the part of the community that they lived in.

What do you want to say to the team at Third Space? 

Oh, my goodness! Oh, I so love them. They have been such a bright light in my life. We just moved here maybe about four years ago. We lived in the neighborhood for 50-plus years, but for downsizing purposes, we had to move to an apartment.  And so I ran into Dr. Bebe a couple of years ago, and she invited me to come. And I'm telling you, this has been just... I just look forward to this. I live for this. It was so exciting for me to run into young people who were interested in us and how we used to live and what we used to do, how tickled they were by us telling them about when the milkman came. We only got our milk and butter from the milkman. From the coal that would be delivered to our basement, we had coal bins for the Ice Man, that came with the big ice on his back in our day. Then, it was called an icebox. The Ragman coming down the street with the horse and the buggy and the rags and just all the old things that we wouldn't think that they would be interested in. But they get so tickled about all these little things that we tell 'em about, and that just does my heart good. Feels great. 

So many people. I think people that are doing day-to-day things just like living. They're staying here. A lot of people leave. They feel like they can't make it in Cleveland, which may be true to some degree. We're not New York City, but we don't have to be. We can be our own thing. So, just seeing people day to day inspired me as far as growing up. Just seeing the people I was used to now being established in that place. So that kind of resonates with me, just having a sense of place somewhere. And so, I think that's what inspires me: having a sense of place and belonging.

What do you remember?

My father, what would we call him? A jack of all trades because he worked at the Ohio Crankshaft as a grinder. He set up a barbershop in our basement where he cut the neighborhood children and whoever else would come there. All of his relatives and friends from Tuskegee would come. I looked at a program the other day, and they talked about what happens in barbershops with men. That's what we listened to as children: the talk of what men do in barbershops. And he was also in home repair. Jack of all Trades. All trades.

What affirmation do you want to give the people of Cleveland?

Cleveland is not the place that out-of-towners think it is. Cleveland is up and coming, I believe. I go back to some of my old neighborhoods and I see new things coming up. And I feel it has a future. It does have a future.

Who inspires you in Cleveland? 

Oh my goodness! Was a lot of people! I remember the Stokes brothers. I remember the first time I ever saw a Black Architect was the man that built this building. Their office was across the street over there. And my sister told me, she said, “He's an architect. He's Black.” I said, “Oh, I never seen a black doctor. Not a black doctor. I came to Cleveland, Dr. Lambright was my doctor and I was really amazed.

Who inspires you in Cleveland?

Artists inspire me. I am a multi-generational artist. I'm a writer; I'm a photographer; I'm a poet. I'm also in media. I do radio and television broadcasting. So, I'm in a lot of different lanes and the people I travel with in those lanes inspire me. Of course, we have an immense number of notable personalities and figures in our city, so they inspire me as well. 

I see a transformation taking place just because of the expansion of the consciousness of the importance of artists and the contributions that they make to a properly functioning society. I think one of the main issues that we have in the city and in other cities across the country is we rely on noncreatives to come up with solutions for things that need creative solutions. So, if you need a creative solution, you need to go to creative people. And those creative people are the artists.

Who inspires you and your family?

My father and my mother inspired me the most because they gave me my, how can I say? My boundaries, the ups and the downs of good. They taught me different things to survive and to try to understand people and it's helped me a lot. So, I'm very much a people person.

What affirmation or encouragement do you want to give the people of Cleveland? 

An affirmation would be just to keep striving. Striving is living, striving is breathing. Striving is when you wake up in the morning and decide what you want to do with your day and how you want to conduct yourself. How do you want to achieve this goal that you've set? And that's what we have to do. That's breathing, that's living, and that's all we can do. As long as we do that, we'll be okay. We'll be at ease. We'll be at peace.

Who inspires you in Cleveland?

The young people inspire me. I've said to them, I feel that my place now is to be supportive, and they're doing so many amazing things. I just had dinner the night before last with two young women. One is my CPA, and she's doing amazing workshops. Another one is head of security, I think, for all of Greater Cleveland. So, it's the young people that actually influence and inspire me, and it makes me feel like my future is in good hands. 

Who inspires you in Cleveland or in your family? 

Well, I would say in the younger group, my daughter, she's an RN now. Four months ago, she opened her own medical teaching school. I think she teaches STNA and CPR. It's about four different classes she teaches, and she lives in what I want to say South Euclid. Looked like every time she would get this far when she applied for something, they want to take her two steps back. But she said, "Ma, I went to school all them years and I'm not stopping. Nobody going to stop me. This is my goal, to get my own business."  I was proud of her, and she did it.

What's it been like growing up in Cleveland?

My mom and my family, we just go different places where I didn't even know we're in Ohio, but Cleveland is one place where I feel like I'm truly at home. When we go downtown, you see all the big buildings at night with the lights on; it feels great just seeing that and saying, "This is where I live." Seeing the good things that happened, especially because me and my mom passed out books here.

-Derrick Matthews

Who inspires you in Cleveland?

One of the main people who inspires me the most is Margaret Bernstein. She's an activist, an author, and my mentor, but she's also a literacy advocate. Years ago, they thought I was just this busy-body Black girl who didn't have nothing else to do but give out books. She inspired me. "You're going to change your culture; you're going to make a change that's just going to be different. And there's nobody else that's going to be able to do this but you."

-Chrishawndra Matthews

Who inspires you in Cleveland? 

There are a lot of people, I'm going to be honest, coming here to Third Space, just hearing the stories and being around the Mordecais and the Harrys and the Evelyns, seeing the work that they're doing inspires me. I'm blessed and privileged to work for a hospice provider, and I'm the manager of diversity, equity, inclusion. And so I am out in the community trying to help people understand what hospice is, what hospice is not. And so I get to see a lot of different people and they give me such inspiration. So I can't just pinpoint one person, just so many inspirational people here. People talk about us being a mistake on the lake and talk about so many different things that this is the worst city outcomes for black women. But then you have somebody like Chichi and Kimera who she and Brandy are working to change that narrative so that we're not at the bottom. And that's inspiring to know that there's people out there. You've got birthing beautiful babies, you've got the Jasmine Longs and the Dine Langfords, and they're out there trying to make a difference so that the statistics don't have to be what they are. That just because they put numbers on you doesn't mean that has to be your reality. We can do things, we can move the needle, we can make change. And so that's what inspires me.

What affirmation do you want to give to the people of Cleveland? 

It's Cleveland and every place else, because my belief is nothing has changed: please remember who you are and you need to know your history. From the 400 years up to now, too many people think that things changed after Martin Luther King --- they did in the other direction. It put everybody into a sense of complacency, and that's the reason why all of these things are happening now. They were done without people paying attention.

What affirmation or encouragement do you want to give to people of Cleveland? 

I think that there's this thing I have students repeat when I notice that I have a classroom full of kids that don't have any confidence. I have them say, "I am beautiful, I am special, I am more than enough, and there will never be another me." And I have them repeat that, and then the boys are like, "I'm not beautiful, I'm handsome." And I'm like, "You're beautiful. Deal with it." But I'm beautiful. I'm special. I'm more than enough, and there will never be another me. I think if we look at the city like that, if we look at Cleveland like that, it'll really do a lot for our image. Because people think you really can't be happy here. You have to leave, or you'll never be happy, and I just don't think that's true.

What legacy do you want to leave in Cleveland? 

This city, from the beginning to now, Black people put it together and there's so many inventions here. Standard clothes to pick off the racks; it started here in Cleveland. They talked about the traffic light. There were people like John Brown, who was able to walk through Cleveland. He had a bounty on him, freeing slaves, but he could walk freely through Cleveland. Cleveland has always been an inspiration. It's got more adult education classes than, I think, any other place in the country. So, to see Cleveland people understand its greatness. That's my legacy.

What was it like growing up in Cleveland?

If there ever was the truth about "it takes a village to raise a child," that was the area that I lived in. Because if you did something wrong, they're on the phone to tell your parents. We had, gosh, I can't begin to say, at least 30 kids in the area. We played baseball in the street and football in the street. It was a free time, an unfearful time.

Who inspires you in your family? 

I would say my Aunt Jane. My mom mentioned her. She's a mover and a shaker and speaks to me. My aunt, she's no longer with us. She was very inspiring to me. I felt like I have moments where I feel like I'm her in certain aspects of my life, just not having her here to be able to talk about it. She was an accountant and a CPA; she bought her house. She had a van, she bought it in cash. I was like, YES, I'm going to be this boss too. And I was young. I wasn't even out of high school yet seeing her do this. 

What I appreciate about my mom is that although life tried to give its best shot, we never (my brother and I) saw that. We just saw love and compassion and patience and home-cooked meals and the love that was in the food and just her doing the best she can. I appreciate her also transitioning to be more of my friend than my parent. And so being able to have these conversations as grown women, to be able to ask her the questions and get to know her as a woman to say, "What was that like being a single mom? What was that like?" Having a robust daughter that just wanted to know everything and have intelligent conversations before I could even read. And it's like, "You got to answer the question lady!". She's not talking gibberish. And so, her just having me, just remembering the love I felt, the patience that she had for me.  She's the person that loves me most and sees me.

What legacy do you want to leave in Cleveland?

When people think of me, I'm not going to even say I hope, I know they're going to say, “She always had something positive to say. She was always volunteering when she could hear that people were in need of something, but they didn't ask. But you acknowledged that they needed something that I always volunteered my time, which is kind of twofold, kind of selfish.” If it was me, I'd be home every day since retirement. But helping people getting up and out, I mean, that's good for me. That gets me up and out of the house. So I want people to say that she always made them laugh. She was crazy and it wasn't anything that they needed if I had it that they wouldn't have it too.

Who inspires you in Cleveland?

My mom and dad, but some girlfriends inspired me because I had rheumatic fever as a child. I sat in the hospital for two years, so it put me behind in school. So I kept saying, “Oh, when I get to 16, I'm going to quit school.” My girlfriends kept saying, “No, you can't do it. You can't do it! You got to graduate with us” I said, “No, I'm quitting.” But they kept on influencing me. I went on and graduated.

What encouragement or affirmation do you want to give the people of Cleveland? 

I'd say we need to really come together and rebuild our city. And take back what’s ours. Take it back.

Who inspires you in your family?

In my family, I would say my son. I told him on Mother's Day, "I was a single mom right out of high school, and if I hadn't had him, I don't think I would've accomplished what I have accomplished in life." So, my son and my grandchildren.

What legacy do you want to leave in Cleveland? 

I'm a storyteller. So I have the charge of transmitting my wonderful culture, our history, be it good, bad, or ugly, to other people. So they only know, understand, and process because I do have to talk about some things that people don't want to hear or don't want to acknowledge. I have to talk about enslavement when I'm performing. I can't pretend that it didn't happen. I can't go back and change history and give you a different story. So I have to tell you how my people suffered, how that affects generation after generation, after generation, and let you know.