In My Humble Opinion

Charles Lewis: Welcome to First Person Cville, the podcast. I'm Charles Lewis, your host, and also the co-host of In My Humble Opinion, from 101.3 FM. Today's episode features India Sims, author of: “India Sims can do everything you can do — just sitting down.” India describes herself as “a woman in a wheelchair” and she wants you to know that she can speak for herself.  Charles Lewis: When someone thinks of India Sims, what strengths come to mind?  India Sims: That girl can do anything that she puts her mind to. Like if she says she's going to do it, she's going to find a way. She's a go getter. At the end of the day, my children, they don't see their mom as struggling. Right. Right. They see their mother as. Okay. Well, this is a goal. What–how she's going to overcome this today? So let's see! That's how they describe me, as a go getter.  Charles Lewis: When she’s not fishing, swimming, skydiving, or bungee jumping, India is working to change how able bodied people treat disabled people. Her mission is to get the City of Charlottesville—and its residents—to recognize that wheelchair accessibility is just an everyday reality. But so far: no one is listening. Charles Lewis: How do people interact with you when they see you?  India Sims: Oh, lordy. So. First, when people see me, they look at me like I'm this foreign object like. Disrespectful. Walk past. No politeness at all. That's how they see me as just a creature. But when people. Talk to me and get to know me and I'll speak to them. They'd be like, “Oh! She can speak. Oh, she doesn't need help.” Then they start grasping who I am. And understanding a little bit that, “Oh. She's a human.”   Charles Lewis: So we know that that you and your husband are looking to purchase a home and touring them was a barrier. Can you explain what what issues you faced? India Sims: So first of all, when I got approved, I explained to them that I was looking for a unique home because I'm the only disabled person or unique person in the house. And they were like, “Oh, that's fine. You know, you can come and look at some homes. You know, fine.” But when I went to go look at the home, I had to stay outside because it was all steps. There was no way for me to get in. So I called. Nobody answered. I blew the horn. Nobody answered. I'm like, “Okay.” Then somebody looked through the door and they were like, “Oh, can I help you?” And I was like, “Hi, I'm India.” And they were like, “Oh, hi, Come on in.” And I'm like, “You remember? I don't know who I spoke with, but you remember I told you I was, you know, in a wheelchair.” And they were like, “What do you want me to do about it?” Wow. And I said, “Excuse me?” And they was like, “There's steps here.” I said, “Well, I'm by myself. And y'all knew that I was by myself. Y'all help me.” “Oh, I can bring some blueprints to you.” I said, “You mean blueprints as paper?” And they were like, “Yeah.” They were like, “Well, you can figure it out that way.” I said, I would refuse to do that. And they were like, “Well, I don't know what else to tell you.” And they walked away.   Charles Lewis: So what would have been, in your opinion, the ideal response?  India Sims: So the ideal response is, “Okay, this woman has a disability. There's going to be more people that may have disability. So let me figure a way before she gets here, let me figure a way for her to get into the building.” Whether it is to get a portable ramp or either have some people help me up there, I shouldn't have to have someone near me in order for somebody to understand me and to grasp that I need assistance on certain things. And I say key word: certain things. Right. Um, so that would have been the ideal. So they should have already been prepared for me to come there instead of wasting my time and disrespecting me.    Charles Lewis: Talk about a time where you were denied accommodations or experience an undue burden in other places around the city.  India Sims: Oh, my gosh. Don't even get me started. You can't go to a restaurant without being frowned upon. Shopping the same way. You know, you don't make any kind of accommodations for you. Downtown is impossible because you have bricks, which I understand. Fill the bricks in, make it a little bit more easier for people to get in. Or push. Or if they're in a walker, it doesn't have to be a chair. There's no accessibility around Charlottesville. I know so many people around the world. A lot of people that are disabled are afraid to even show their face. I get contact like thousands of people contact me that are disabled, and they'd be like, “Hey, how where do you live?” I don't even tell them where I live. And that's sad. I would tell people not to come. Because I don't want them…because there's a lot of people that are disabled that are not going to be as strong as I am.    Charles Lewis: So you're also a professional businesswoman stylist. But because of your physical disability, you run into discrimination. What can you share with us about that experience?  India Sims: At first they wouldn't even accept me in the school. They wouldn't even take me into cosmetology. And it makes me so sad and it makes me want to cry sometime. But um Herman Key from the Charlottesville Cardinals, went into that cosmetology school and was like, “You're going to accept her and you're going to allow her to be who she wants to be.” And I took on my own as being a massage therapist and institution and now tech. And I took it and I ran with it. I was like, you know what? I'm going to have all these degrees and I'm going to make a building and I'm going to make it accessible for people that are disabled. And there's nobody going to stop me, but there is somebody that's stopping me. Charlottesville. They didn't care. I went to all these people asking for their help. They wouldn't help me. So then I went myself and I started a go fund me. So I am still doing it. I am still trying to raise money. I am still trying to get a building. It's just. With my business. I got to prove to people that I can do it. With my home, I got to prove to this that I got this and I got that. It doesn't matter if you have good credit. It doesn't matter if you have a deposit. It's so much and….Charlottesville. I'm going to say it. Charlottesville put this big persona that they love everybody and they accept everybody, and they'll do whatever they want for everybody. I'm here. Start on me. Start on someone that actually wants it and will work for it.  I was thrown away after the doctors paralyzed me. So if anybody knows how to how to salvage and put things together and hold it in place, that's that's me.  Charles Lewis: So for the people listening to this podcast, if they could take one thing. What would you want it to be? India Sims: Actually. Listen. Look. The way that you want to be heard and the way that you do things. We want to do it the exact same way. Stop judging. Stop. Thinking that we can't be who we want to be. Just because you don't see many of us that are disabled, does it mean that we…we don't exist. Just because you don't believe in it. There was somebody that didn't believe in you one time. It was somebody that you had to start from the ground up at one point. That doesn't mean that it's impossible. So stop judging.  CL: India Sims is on TikTok at one unique chair girl—that’s the number one, unique chair girl. She is actively raising money through Go Fund Me for her accessible salon. You can find her First Person Cville essay at www.charlottesvilletomorrow.com.  We want to hear your story and tell the story of our community together. Share your perspective with First Person Cville at cvilleinclusivemedia.com/projects. The First Person Cville podcast is a production of Charlottesville Inclusive Media. It's hosted by me, Charles Lewis, and the In My Humble Opinion Talk Show.  Like what you hear? Subscribe and follow us at imhotalkshow.org.  This episode was produced by Kelly Jones. Music from Epidemic Sound. IMHO theme music is from God Vamps by Miguel and Morse with NYC bangers on production.   Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

India Sims, author of: “India Sims can do everything you can do — just sitting down.”

Welcome to First Person Cville, the podcast. I'm Charles Lewis, your host, and also the co-host of In My Humble Opinion, from 101.3 FM. Today's episode features trans advocate Charley Burton, author of: “He used to sneak to the back of the library to learn about who he was. Now, this trans advocate has his own book.”  When he was eight years old, Charley would climb the big brick steps of the Gordon Avenue Library and sneak into the adult section to try to figure out why he felt like a little boy when everyone else knew him as a girl. Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Welcome to the First Person Cville, the podcast. Today's episode features trans advocate Charley Burton, author of: “He used to sneak to the back of the library to learn about who he was. Now, this trans advocate has his own book.”  #cvilleinclusivemedia #cvilletomorrow #vinegarhillmag #imhotalkshow #charleyspeaksnva Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

Welcome to the First Person Cville, the podcast. Today's episode features chef Antwon Brinson, author of the article, "You Get What You Focus on, Antwon Brinson's Vision of Using Food to Build Community." Antwon Brinson is a chef and founder of Culinary Concepts AB. You can find his First Person Cville essay at vinegarhillmagazine.com. Follow up on more of Antwon's work at his website: www.culinaryconceptsab.com. We want to hear your story and tell the story of our community, together. Share your perspective with First Person Cville at cvilleinclusivemedia.com/projects. The First Person Cville podcast is a production of Charlottesville Inclusive Media. Like what you hear? Subscribe and follow us at IMHOtalkshow.org. This episode was produced by Kelly Jones. IMHO theme music was from “God Vibes” by Miquel & Morris, NYC Bangers on Production. Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Welcome to the First Person Cville, the podcast. This episode features chef Antwon Brinson, author of the article, "You Get What You Focus on, Antwon Brinson's Vision of Using Food to Build Community." Here's an audiogram about hitting the streets of Cville. #cvilleinclusivemedia @cvilletomorrow @vinegarhillmag @imhotalkshow @culinaryconcepts_ab @chefantwonbrinson Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

Charles Lewis: Welcome to First Person Cville — the podcast. I’m Charles Lewis, your host, and also the co-host of In My Humble Opinion from 101.3FM. Today’s episode features writer and librarian Katrina Spencer and is based on the essay she wrote for First Person Cville called, “Public Violence, Our Trusty Companion.” "Public Violence, Our Trusty Companion" was written following the May 2022 Uvalde shooting at Robb Elementary in Texas. The audio prepared to complement this written piece was recorded preceding the November 2022 shooting at the University of Virginia. Katrina was born and raised in Los Angeles and has lived in Charlottesville for about two years. But her thoughts about public violence are timeless and global — they apply to everything from the Rodney King beatings in LA in 1991 to the Westgate shopping mall shooting in Nairobi in 2013. To the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. Or bomb threats called into our local synagogue. Or recent shootings across town. Figuring out how to deal with violence…might just be what it means to be a person right now. In this episode, you’ll hear Katrina talk about what it’s been like to grow with public violence as a constant but unwelcome presence. Along the way, she started to notice that the news media prescribed emotions for everything from pop culture icons to mass shootings. Today, the amount of public violence and emotions she’s told she’s supposed to feel have left her overwhelmed. A quick warning: because Katrina’s talking about public violence, some of this content might be difficult to listen to. Katrina takes it from here, starting with growing up in LA in the early 1990s…. Find out more at https://in-my-humble-opinion.pinecast.co

Episode Notes Welcome to “First Person Cville” — the podcast. Here’s the promo for Episode 1 which features writer and librarian Katrina Spencer. “Public Violence, Our Trusty Companion" was written following the May 2022 Uvalde shooting at Robb Elementary in Texas. The audio prepared to complement this written piece was recorded preceding the November 2022 shooting at the University of Virginia. Figuring out how to deal with violence...might just be what it means to be a person right now... #cvilleinclusivemedia #cvilletomorrow #vinegarhillmagazine #imhotalkshow

One thing's for sure: Dr. Kevin McDonald is a heavy hitter when it comes to challenging and changing the status quo in racial equity. With that in mind, the man has got a lot on his plate when it comes to bringing together the community of Charlottesville with an institution so steeped in racial inequity such as the University of Virginia. In this episode, the IMHO crew talk to him about his plans and the tools he will use to make this happen.

Is it fair to ask where VP Kamala is? In this episode, the IMHO crew breaks down the whole question.

Charlottesville's Music Resource Center is a valuable place for any community youth interested in the music. In this episode, the IMHO crew talk to the new Chairman Lester Jackson as well as the Executive Director Alice Fox.

On paper, Angilee Shah is an unlikely choice to be the first Editor-in-Chief for a local online news organization such as Charlottesville Tomorrow. As a journalist covering international news and as founding editor of PRI's Global Nation she has covered conflicts across the map. But dig deeper and you find someone completely devoted to the local news cause. In this episode of IMHO, hear her story and hear her plans to include more of Charlottesville's diverse community in the editorial process of Charlottesville Tomorrow.

As the new Republican Governor steps into office there are many questions about how he will proceed with mask mandates. Charlottesville Tomorrow journalists discuss this and other topics such as the new redistricting lines drawn in the Commonwealth.

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Joyce Stevenson, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman

Episode Notes Maxicelia Robinson, Tina Thomas, Patty Medina, Joyce Stevenson, Sherica Jones-Lewis, Carolyn Terry-Mcclain, Mary Butler Coleman