The Byte: Yehloe Davis ~ The Miracle In Community!

Hello,

Everybody,

And welcome back to another episode of the Bite-Sized Blessings podcast.

This time I'm interviewing Yaelo Davis,

And I have to say,

I mean,

There is a little bit of a cheat.

I was on his podcast in the past,

So I did know him a little bit before this,

But honestly,

As we had our conversation,

I was truly enthralled.

Yaelo has so much kindness,

So much generosity of spirit,

And so much wisdom to share with all of us.

And I really just sat back and let him take the floor.

What he had to say about the Chicago White Sox,

And I don't know if all of you know,

But after living overseas,

I did grow up in the Chicagoland area.

So two thumbs down for the Chicago White Sox,

Even before what he had to tell me.

Boo,

Chicago White Sox.

But I think it is a lesson in this story that Yaelo shares.

I mean,

What does it look like to be good neighbors?

What does it look like to be good friends?

And what does it look like to be good stewards of the neighborhoods and communities that we are building?

The story that he shares is heartbreaking,

And really,

I was ashamed that I was not aware of it before.

I mean,

They just break my heart.

And so really,

This podcast this week,

Yes,

There are miracle stories,

But it's about a community,

A group of people who loved each other,

A group of people who stood up for each other.

And what happens when a big corporation,

When a big sports team comes in and tells all those people they are no longer welcome?

So now,

Without further ado,

Here's my episode and my conversation with Yaelo Davis.

It was 100 years have passed.

It was time for them to work on the railroad tracks in Chicago.

This was the old L for some people who don't understand what that means.

It's the old railroad tracks,

The oldest ones in Chicago.

And they were only allowing a specific group of white people,

I mean,

White people to work on the railroad tracks.

They were not allowing any Blacks to work on that or anybody else,

Hispanic,

It didn't matter who you were,

To work on the railroad tracks.

And we thought that that was very unfair.

So I got called in by Minister Farrakhan.

I sat at the roundtable with Minister Farrakhan,

Tim Reed,

We had Lou Rawls,

And we had Jesse Jackson.

So I was the youth leader for more than 1,

700 young people that was in my age group at that time.

I was about 17 years old when that happened.

Well,

I would,

You know,

The main question of the podcast is,

I would love to hear any story or stories.

You've already shared one,

But I ask people about magical or mysterious or even miraculous things that have happened in their life.

I would love to hear whatever you have to share.

Wow,

That's amazing,

Because another story that I have that was very heartwarming,

And this was after the White Sox thing.

We ended up staying in a different neighborhood,

But we ended up coming back to the neighborhood for a rally due to the fact that 100 years had passed and it was time for them to work on the railroad tracks.

In Chicago,

This was the old L for some people who don't understand what that means.

It's the old railroad tracks,

The oldest ones in Chicago.

And they were only allowing a specific group of white people,

I mean,

White people to work on the railroad tracks.

They were not allowing any Blacks to work on that or anybody else,

Hispanic,

It didn't matter who you were,

To work on the railroad tracks.

And we thought that that was very unfair.

So I got called in by Minister Farrakhan.

I sat at the roundtable with Minister Farrakhan,

Tim Reed,

We had Lou Rawls,

And we had Jesse Jackson.

So I was the youth leader for more than 1,

700 young people that was in my age group.

At that time,

I was about 17 years old when that happened.

And it was powerful.

It was a real party hour because the first time that we went out there,

A lot of our people ended up getting locked up.

And Jesse Jackson went and bailed everybody out that got locked up.

But we won.

We won our fight because our people,

As well as the other nationalities of people,

Were also able to work on the railroad tracks.

Then we find out that they were being still treated unfairly because now the unfairness came with pay.

They didn't want us to get paid the same thing as the white people that were working on the tracks getting paid.

And we went and fought again for that.

And I tell you,

We won both of those battles.

They finally backed down.

And now all of the people for CTA,

For that audience who doesn't know,

Chicago Transit Authority,

All those people who were in charge,

They are now gone.

We have a mixed variety of people that's actually running CTA now.

And I would say about two,

I think it was about two months,

Two or three months after that project had ended,

Or the project didn't end,

The project kept going because people still ended up keeping their jobs with CTA even thereafter.

So one of the people that had the job,

I was on public transit on my way downtown,

And there was this young lady,

She was on the train on her way downtown,

And she was telling the story about what happened and how she got a job with CTA because she wasn't able to get one there before.

And she said,

There was this guy,

I couldn't see him because I was all the way in the back.

I couldn't really get a look at his face.

But he was saying some of the most powerful stuff.

And we were able to,

We was like,

She's like,

I was just ready.

I was ready to follow him,

Follow him.

And she was in tears because at this time her family was doing so bad that she needed that job in order to help her family to sustain their living quarters.

So I guess I look back when I was listening to her story and I walked to the back and I say,

So there was a guy and you didn't,

I said,

Did you ever find out his name?

And she was like,

She was like,

Yeah,

He said his name was Yellow.

And I was like,

Okay.

I said,

Well,

Guess what?

Like the girl was in tears because she was so happy about being able to take care of her family and help her family to get ahead.

And I told her,

I was like,

I'm Yellow.

And it brought me into tears.

And it's still touching to this day.

It brought me into tears and it brought everybody,

Including the driver into tears because of how much impact that had on so many different people.

So many different people.

It was beautiful.

All right,

Everyone.

That's a wrap with my conversation with Yellow Davis.

And I hope you understand,

Or I hope you could hear the big smile that is on his face eternally,

Eternally in this life and how that smile welcomes everyone and urges each and every one of us to be better human beings.

I,

For one,

Am grateful and will be grateful to the end of all time that the universe brought us together because I know there's another angel in our midst that is really deeply working to make this world a more just,

A more equitable,

And a more beautiful place for everyone involved.

You know,

I was kind of sad that I don't live in Chicago anymore or don't live close to him because I would be hanging out just to get a little bit of that sparkle,

A little bit of that beautiful,

Gorgeous,

Blessing dust that Yellow is spreading in the world.

I kind of want him to sprinkle it over me.

So yeah,

Please do check out what he's doing.

It's really gorgeous stuff.

Thanks to everyone who listens.

I'm ever so grateful.

Please,

If you are listening for the first time,

Consider leaving a rating or writing a little review.

You have no idea how much those ratings and reviews help other people find us.

So thank you to all of you who have done so.

I am ever so grateful.

Thank you for listening.

And here's my one request,

And it's a big one this week.

Be like Yellow.

Okay.

Be an angel.

And what does that mean?

What does that mean in our world that is so challenging and heartbreaking and difficult?

I mean,

I think it means showing up in your life every day with the humdrum of it and knowing that amidst the humdrum,

There can be magic.

There can be miracles.

There can be things that sparkle and that you glimpse out of the corner of your eye.

And that glimpse,

That sparkle,

That magic,

It's there.

It's eternal.

It's everywhere all around us.

And it's governing every single act that we do in this world.

Just like Yellow giving that sandwich to someone who is houseless.

Just like Yellow showing up and giving his words to that meeting that changed everything.

These small acts that we think we do,

These small acts that we think mean nothing,

They can change universes.

So be like Yellow and show up.

Be like Yellow and know that what you have to contribute is important.

And be like Yellow and be a blessing to the rest of the world.