VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 57
AIR DATE 02 15 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
After Parkland
((SOT))
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Overcoming Illness
((SOT))
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Reimagining T-Rex
((SOT))
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) After Parkland: Part 4
From Ashes to the Canvas
((Banner: Aftermath of a School Shooting))
((Producers: Beth Mendelson, Tom Detzel, Cliff Hackel))
((Camera: Mike Burke, Sean Lunski, Alexander Gilles, Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Parkland, Florida; Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
Rabbi Mendy Gutnick: This place, where Alyssa rests
Phil: The problem at MSD is that
Protestor 1: We’re here to talk about gun violence, right?
Crowd: NRA bye bye
Manuel Oliver: This is more activism than art. I am demanding change.
Protestor 2: It’s possible if you have the conversation, to find the common ground
((Banner: After Parkland: Episode 4 / From Ashes to the Canvas))
((NATS))
((Locator: Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): Our son is a victim of gun violence. He got shot four times and died. Bang, bang, bang, bang.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): And I saw the Parkland kids turning into March For Our Lives
((David Hogg, March For Our Lives))
And there are people who stand against you because you’re too young. We say no more.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): It’s not easy to use your son’s images to, to give messages when your son was shot. The legend of my son needs to have a big impact. I owe that to Joaquin. I owe to Joaquin that he becomes
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
that person that is fighting from the other side and people start listening to his message.
((VO Manuel Olive)): It’s not about my message. It’s about Joaquin’s message. The mural that we did today here in DC, it’s pretty special. We’re getting closer to Congress. We lost our son but we are
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
proud parents of a victim that is becoming an activist.
((VO Manuel Olive, shots of Patricia and Manuel Oliver)): ….and he won’t stop doing what he’s doing. We follow the kids. We believe in them. They are going to change these things. And every time I think about it, I see Joaquin as part of them.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
And that’s where the being proud of my son comes from.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): I don’t have another job now. This is my job. This is my future and my present. I was able to find a connection between what I used to do and what I’m doing now, which is good.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
This is my comfort, uncomfort zone.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): This is more activism than art. This is not about the art piece. It’s about the moment that you have, to make a statement.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
I used to paint wearing all the wristbands of the organizations and they became uncomfortable at some point, with a lot of them, and I wanted to support all of them together. So, since then, I decided to put them on the shoes, on Joaquin’s shoes. So, every time I have an event or something, I will just wear these shoes. I want to feel like I’m walking in his shoes.
((Source: Manuel and Patricia Oliver))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): It’s an extension of Joaquin. He can still be here.
((Locator: Election Night 2018))
((CNN Announcement)): Even though some House races remain undecided, CNN can now make this projection with a very....
((VO Matt Dietsch)): I was really reserved on election night.
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
I wasn’t a part of the really intense emotion that a lot of my friends were having and I told them because….
((VO Matt Dietsch)): ….we’re still figuring this out. I was like, look, like, this is the first election cycle that we invested anything in, and this voting bloc of young people is radically different than any generation in the way that we see these issues.
((NATS))
And I just can’t wait to see what the future holds.
((VO John Della Volpe)): We found that school shootings….
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
….was the one issue that most highly correlated with young people participating….
((VO John Della Volpe)): ....and has been the highest level of participation at least in the last 32 years and likely going beyond that.
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
It was young people voting overwhelmingly Democrat. That essentially accounts for two percentage points in the national vote.
((VO John Della Volpe)): There are at least ten congressional races where the margin was less than two points. So, you can easily make the case that young people were decisive in about ten congressional races.
((VO Ed Goeas)): Did the Parkland kids motivate….
((Ed Goeas, Republican Pollster/Strategist))
....the higher turnout? Not necessarily. They were again one of the brushstrokes, message wise, that it did get young people….
((VO Ed Goeas)): ….looking to vote a certain way. Can they feel good about what they did on adding to that increased involvement and turnout?
((Ed Goeas, Republican Pollster/Strategist))
Absolutely. Can they take credit for being the sole motivator? I just don’t see it in the numbers.
((Michael Hammond, Legislative Counsel, Gun Owners of America))
The reason why Ron DeSantis won the governorship of Florida and why Rick Scott won the senate seat was because pro-gun people were activated in revulsion for the anti-gun rhetoric being spewed on them by the Parkland people.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Locator: Road to Change Tour, Los Angeles, California, July 20, 2018))
((VO Matt Deitsch)): Manny always is Joaquin’s father….
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….and I feel like when he’s with us, he’s a March For Our Lives activist.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Get involved and that'll be a great way to fight it because we’re going to be have a lot more soldiers on our side.
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
He loves just being part of this with us.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Locator: Road to Change Tour, Orange County, California, July 21, 2018))
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
We have a very special guest here who has put a lot of work in working with March For Our Lives and with the community coalition. So, we just want to invite the Olivers to come up here and share some words with everyone here today.
((VO David Cullen)): There’s also an amazing kind of relationship between the March For Our Lives kids and Manuel Oliver.
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
Manny is the only adult that they allow into their meetings.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO David Cullen)): He’s the exception.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Joaquin was fighting for this before I even had an idea that this could become an issue.
((VO David Cullen)): Manny’s also the surrogate there for Joaquin who Manny feels….
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
….like would definitely have been a part of this.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
We do not have Joaquin at home, but we have a bunch of kids out there. Now it’s our duty to march for your lives. Thank you very much.
((VO Matt Dietsch)): When you really go into the deep roots of….
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….what founded our nation and what has perpetuated....
((VO David Cullen)): Manny and Matt have a really great bond. They’re both artists in different ways. I mean, you know, they’re both visual artists, but they’re also really thinkers.
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
….and so I think they kind of think in the same kind of ways.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO David Cullen)): They’re just like, you know, ideas just bouncing off of each other constantly.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Do you have an idea of how we can increase the number of….
((VO John Della Volpe)): When those generational coalitions can be built, that is….
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
....the foundation for something that extends beyond a one issue or one year campaign into a real movement.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((David Hogg, March For Our Lives))
We can and we will change the world.
((VO John Della Volpe)): As I think about 2018, I can think of no one who deserves more credit for youth participation, for this awakening of civic participation in electoral politics than the young students, the families, and the community members within Parkland.
((Source: The International Children’s Peace Prize))
((Locator: The International Children’s Peace Prize, Cape Town, South Africa, November 20, 2018))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): South Africa was a great event. The kids were nominated to receive the kids’ Peace Prize Award.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): Joaquin was going to be on stage with us when we accepted the award.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): They wanted me to talk about them, this Parkland movement.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
It’s an honor to be here.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): So that was a privilege for me.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
You push it and you move it forward and you succeeded, and then you decided that you could be an option for parents, like Patricia and myself, to feel better to find a light on that nightmare. And guess what? You succeeded. Let me get closer to him.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): I took the 3D sculpture of Joaquin with me so he was next to me while I was giving my speech. Desmond Tutu was there and I asked Desmond Tutu to bless the sculpture and he did.
((Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate))
The March For Our Lives movement is a prime example for millions of children….
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO Desmond Tutu))....around the world, that children are changemakers. They demonstrate that if you work together, trust each other, and build on one another, you can move the world.
((Source: The International Children’s Peace Prize))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): And this is just the beginning. You, the young people, you have a white blank canvas.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): Let’s draw it the right way.
((Source: AP, Reuters, AFP))
((VO Michael Hammond)): After Columbine, the narrative was….
((Michael Hammond, Legislative Counsel, Gun Owners of America))
....the gun movement is through. Gun control is now inexorable. The same was true after Virginia Tech. The same was true after Sandy Hook.
((VO Michael Hammond]: In none of those cases was it a tipping point. The people who love guns, love guns. The people who hate guns, hate guns, and they will continue to remain in a delicate balance pushing and pulling against each other.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): March For Our Lives is going to continue organizing to scale. We have….
((Source: AP))
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….thousands of people all around the country right now as we speak, organizing locally around gun violence prevention, raising money, knocking doors, getting people registered to vote.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): It didn’t stop because the election is over. It's just picking up again.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Beauty for Oneself
((SOT))
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Beauty))
((PKG)) Breast Cancer Photography Project
((Banner: Photography of the Ill))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Davidsonville, Maryland))
((NATS))
((Cheryl Listman, Cancer Survivor))
I was diagnosed in 2013 and I had a 40 percent chance of survival with Stage 2B breast cancer.
((Linda McCarthy, Photographer))
The project came to me. I wasn’t looking to photograph breast cancer survivors, but it came to me because I was looking for an adult ballerina to photograph for my portfolio. I was introduced to Maggie, who is known as the bald ballerina. She was diagnosed at the age of 23 with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. So, I met with her and I asked if I could photograph her, not as a ballerina, but as a beautiful girl who happens to have breast cancer.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Listman, Cancer Survivor))
I work with women. I help educate women who are going through the journey and just help them navigate through the medical side of it and when she asked me, I thought, well, maybe it's just another impact that I could have on women, you know, and then also I would be able to look back at those photos and see how far I came.
((NATS))
((Victoria Ronan, Makeup Artist))
In some cases, it's been a very long time since they’ve had makeup on. It's been a very long time since they’ve done something for themselves. I had a lot of women look in the mirror and just start tearing up because they can’t believe how beautiful I've made them look.
((NATS))
((Linda McCarthy, Photographer))
I wanted to photograph them as whole women, not the parts that they see of themselves. So, I didn't want scars. I didn't want anything like that, but I wanted them to see how beautiful they are.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Listman, Cancer Survivor))
It's very important, because when you go through a horrific journey and treatment, you don't feel beautiful. There is a lot of things done to your body physically. There is a lot of things done to you emotionally, mentally, things that you will never forget that are not pretty. So, when you get to that point in your journey, you feel like a woman again. You feel beautiful. You feel like you've accomplished the mission.
((NATS))
((PKG)) Beauty Pageant Winner
((Banner: The Pageant Winner))
((Reporter: Anush Avetisyan))
((Camera: Sergey Moskalev, Sergii Dogotar))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Manchester, Maryland))
((BANNER: Beauty Queen Victoria Graham has EDS, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which causes people to lose control of their joints))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
The interesting thing about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is it’s not rare.
((Source: Jan Dommerholt))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
At a minimum, it affects one in 5,000 people, maybe even along the lines of one in 100, which is quite common, but it’s rarely diagnosed. It took me three years to be diagnosed beginning at the age of 10. I had doctors tell me that there was nothing wrong with me, that I was making it up, that I was seeking attention, that maybe I just didn’t want to go to gymnastics or maybe I just didn’t have friends or, if I was lucky, they would just shrug their shoulders and say, “well, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
I was a gymnast from the time I could walk up until the age of 10 and that’s how this all began. I had a back injury where I was doing giants on the bars and I landed in a way that I call scorpion style. So, with my chest on the ground and my feet bent back over my head between two mats, kind of crumpled up into a little ball.
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
When I was diagnosed, we found out that my mom has it, that my grandmother who had previously had two spinal surgeries without being diagnosed, she has it as well. It’s unfortunately genetic.
((Source: Victoria Graham))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
When you’re deciding to have brain surgery, it’s definitely not an easy decision. But for me, what it came down to was I had pretty much lost my life. But after we began to de-tether my spinal cord and fix what was going on with my skull and my upper vertebrae, things got better. I was able to remember things. I was able to study and I was able to
((Source: Moshe Zusman))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor)) begin to live a somewhat normal life.
So, to get through the day, I take upwards of 30 to 40 different pills and I have to set alarms on my phone to remember to do so or else I’ll end up in a lot of pain or passed out on the ground or paralyzed.
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
I’ve been really blessed to hold three different titles of Ms. White Oak, Ms. Frostburg and now Ms. Allegheny County and you serve for one year. One year of your life, 365 days, and what you do during that time is really what you make of it.
((Source: Carisa Fazenbaker Photography))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
And I can serve with this crown on my head for 365 days and to serve my community and serve the other patients and speak out for them.
((Source: Lewin Creative Group))
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
And there’s not a day that I’m going to let go by where I’m not using this to its fullest capacity.
((NATS))
((Victoria Graham, Beauty Contestant, EDS Survivor))
Every day when you get up, you have to make a choice if you’re going to let the obstacles in your life define you or if you’re going to try and rise above them. It’s not easy and there’s a price for everything that you do, but I’ve made the choice today to stand in this gorgeous gown because I want to show that it’s possible to do these things.
((NATS))
((Banner: Victoria Graham founded the Zebra Foundation to raise awareness about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
From Beauty to the Beast
((SOT))
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((Banner: The Mighty Sue))
((PKG)) T- Rex Exhibit
((Banner: The Mighty Sue))
((Reporter/Camera: Kane Farabaugh))
((Map: Chicago, Illinois))
((BANNER: World’s largest T- Rex skeleton transformed in new exhibit))
((NATS))
((Hilary Hansen, Project Manager, Field Museum))
Well, this is a culmination of about two years of work here at the field museum. When Sue was on display at the field museum, in our Stanley Field hall, main hall, for about 20 years, there were a lot of things that Sue wasn’t doing in that space that, I think, we’re able to accomplish here in this brand new exhibition. For one, Sue was on display with really not much context around the fossil, but now, Sue is in our dinosaur hall, which is where we intended Sue to be from the very beginning. So, when visitors come to see this gallery and see Sue in this exhibition, they’re going to get a lot more information about what life might have been like for Sue during the Cretaceous era, which is about 67 million years ago. So, what we’re really trying to do is round out for our visitors what life for Sue might have been like, and what we’re trying to do is bring together everything about Sue that was all over the field museum into one space, so that our visitors can see this as a ‘one stop shop’ for all things Sue.
((Jaap Hoogstraten, Exhibitions Director, Field Museum))
It pushes what we know about T-Rex forward. It’s a different profile, a much more impressive profile in many ways. Pretty scary large animal, as opposed to a lighter, swifter animal.
((NATS))
((Jaap Hoogstraten, Exhibitions Director, Field Museum))
Since 2000, we've made discoveries about the pose. We've added the gastralia, which are the belly ribs which changes the outline of Sue quite a bit. Sue is much bulkier.
((Hilary Hansen, Project Manager, Field Museum))
I didn't really realize that Sue weighed nine tons in real life. Really, adding this gastralia, these belly ribs, really changes the profile for Sue, and you can get a sense of just how formidable and imposing it must have been to, you know, to share an environment with this animal.
((NATS))
((Jaap Hoogstraten, Exhibitions Director, Field Museum))
These are specimens, even though they’re on display, they’re actively used for research. So, we’ve learned a lot, and so, we’ve applied that to the new exhibition, especially to the fossil itself, bite force. We’ve speculated about how she may have passed away. One possibility is that there was an infection to the jaw and that she possibly starved to death. It’s still speculative, but there’s evidence of injury to the jaw, which we point out in the show itself.
((Hilary Hansen, Project Manager, Field Museum))
The field museum typically gets about 1.3 to 1.5 million visitors a year, and a lot of that depends on what’s on display but we certainly expect, now that Sue has finally made their debut, that we’re going to see those numbers go up. People have been clamoring for Sue for the last year when they’ve been off display, so we’re really pleased that we’re finally getting folks in here to see what they’ve been missing.
((Jaap Hoogstraten, Exhibitions Director, Field Museum))
It’s an incredible privilege to work with what might be the best fossil, you know, in a collection in the world, and to put it on display once about 20 years ago, and now to actually make a whole exhibit about Sue, yeah, is a real privilege. This will be a huge year on my resume.
((NATS))
((PKG)) NYPD Officer and DJ
((Banner: Speaking of Resumes))
((Reporter: Evgeny Maslov))
((Camera: Michael Eckels))
((Adapted by: Ailin Li))
((Map: New York City))
((NATS))
((Banner: New York City Police Lieutenant Acu Rhodes takes his hobby as a DJ seriously. He is also known as DJ Ace))
((NATS))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
When I was about 10 years old, the movie Beat Street along with the group Run-D.M.C. and also the group UTFO. The DJs in those groups and the DJ in the movie kind of inspired me to become a scratch DJ.
((NATS))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
My preference would be hip-pop, old school hip pop maybe from the 80s, 90s hip-pop but in my record collection, I have pretty much everything you could imagine. I have Reggae, you know. I have Disco. I have Rock. You name the genre, I pretty much have it.
((NATS))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
Everything started I would say about five years ago. My boss Chief Maddrey, along with retired detective Todd Taylor, they came up with the concept of a kids-cops DJ bout. It was an event where the cops couldn’t really win the battle, but they would get a chance to showcase their skills. The video from that event went viral and I got a lot of notoriety. So since then, I’ve been doing a lot of community events in uniform, DJ-ing also.
((NATS))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
People’s reaction is, you know, they can’t really believe it, you know. Some people don’t think I’m a real police officer, and people are very comfortable approaching me after seeing me DJ-ing in uniform. They are very comfortable talking to me, asking me different questions, and you know, I get a chance to tell them that it’s just not me, you know, that’s a decent person. I say 99.9 percent of the police force, you know, they are like me, regular folks.
((NATS))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
Community policing is a direction that the department is going at the moment and the job embraces that I do this. I have made a lot of friends over the years. I met them at different events, and it’s just a great thing for the department in general.
((Banner: Lieutenant Rhodes says his DJ work has helped in unexpected ways))
((Lt. Acu Rhodes, NYPD))
The individual actually recognized me from the neighborhood. He became very calm. I asked him to put the knife down. He immediately put the knife down and we built up a rapport. We got the individual some help, took him to the hospital and we actually became friends from that day. I used to check on him regularly, every week, and it turns out he was a Vietnam veteran. So, I told him I was in the Marines, and that built up our relationship even more.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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BREAK
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS