All Together Now: Fridays with The Moth - Neshaune Lasley & Sue Schmidt

May 22, 2020

This week on All Together Now: Fridays with The Moth, we’re talking about support systems: the roots to our trees; the helping hands that give us a boost up when we need them. Stay tuned to the end of this episode to hear some helpful story prompts to think about and discuss after you listen! This episode of All Together Now is hosted by The Moth’s Senior Curatorial Producer, Suzanne Rust.

Hosted by: Suzanne Rust

Storytellers: Neshaune Lasley, Sue Shmidt

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friends we hope you're staying safe during the covid-19 pandemic what a reminder that we're all human and in this together during this time of social distancing The Moth is working hard to bring you comfort and connection through storytelling in the digital space if you share our belief in the power of true personal stories to inspire and entertain please support the moth with a donation today to give simply text give moth two four one four four four that's

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welcome to all together now Friday's with the mob I'm your host for this week's is an rust due to the current stay-at-home order I'm not able to record at our ma studio so kindly bear with me and any imperfect sound is that record this podcast from my tiny New York City Closet this month our stories look Inward and reflect on the experiences and the people who helped make us who we are our two stories today are about the support systems that Inspire and shape us our first story is from DeShawn

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flee the Sean told the story to Louisville story slam the theme of the night was Beauty here's the Sean live with the mob

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open up your arms relax your stance spread your legs keep going oh my god daddy if you don't shut up I'm gonna come across this fence and show you how relaxed I am mind you I'm in the middle of a four hundred yard dash which I don't know how anybody - has 400 yards and high school and mind you this is also a race I did not want to run but because I was kind of fast but not super fast I got to run the

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four hundred yard dash so I didn't want to go the person who was supposed to be there just didn't show up which I was kind of wishing I had done at that moment but I was there and from the moment I stomped to my place in line to the starting little thingies Runners my dad was there yelling open up your hands oh you know open your stride covid a go and I'm just I wasn't here for it like the first

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first couple of laps but there's something you know about my dad he has always been my cheerleader like he was just he was a coach so everything he told us came out like and go you can do it do your best and he always repeated everything like I can tell you everything he always told us keep your eyes wide open you know expect the best from people but be prepared for the worst like he told us the same thing over and over but it was all to make us better people and to encourage us and I remember one time

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when I came home from college my dad was sitting in the living room watching a documentary on Beyonce so this was pre queen bee status but you know I was still digging her so I sat down to watch with him and we were just enjoying it you know just sitting down like fathers and daughters do I guess watch Beyonce and at one point Beyonce tells when her birthday is and I'm born 1981 Beyonce was born September 4th everybody knows

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at 91 and so at that moment my dad like just looks over at me like

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looks back at Beyonce

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he looks at me again and looks back at Beyonce

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and he's like she's the same age as you I'm like yeah we just both hurry 1981 he looks at me you know how many millions she's made

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so I looked at my dad and I said you realize how dad is her manager right you know being my dad he kind of laughed it off just like no I'm just trying to get you to understand she's the same age as you you know she was a little girl and then she grew up and you know she followed her dreams you know now you can do anything that you want to do anything you put your mind to

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but back to that race I am running begrudgingly but it seems like in every you know how you run track is a circle right but there are like Corners if you're running that's the way it helped me break it up to think of it as you know little corners and I would count the corners and that's how I know how soon I would be done and at every exact corner there is my daddy he's like 50 years old I promise you at every corner and I'm running as fast as I can I'm like how are you

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to and now you and telling me Govan a go so far and I really wanted to yell shut up daddy like just let me run but I just like okay the best way to shut him up is to run I was way behind to start because I did not want to run but he still there and he's just yelling go go so I just start going and I mean I'm just cooking in Booking like I can't wait to get to the end of this thing so I can tell him to leave me alone don't ever do that when I run again and then suddenly I look

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look up and I realized oh crap like how come I'm close like I can win this thing like the hairs the girl disposed to win here's everybody else I don't even know how this happened and then but I'm like there's no way I'm beating hurt like I wasn't close to her though right like she's up there but it was just me and her right and so then I heard my dad come over there you could take her you could take and I'm like no I can't daddy like she's up there but I just was like okay whatever forget it I'ma Do it and so I just started

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look in and I'm like okay they say I can do it I can do it it's always been true my whole life I could do it and sure enough like we're told to tell and home girl looks over at me like hold up like where'd you come from like this is my raised like she was taking all things my daddy were saying and like my name is banana it right and so I'm just going and I'm like I can do this and I promise you it was like something you see on TV like it was her then it was me it was her then it was me and then I hear my daddy Govan a go and so I went and it

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so happened like there was the line and one

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I was I was so pumped and I'm really super duper sad to tell you that my dad passed in 2008 and you know when I think about on all those times that he repeated things to me it got on my nerves my black Daddy Shut up you tell me that every day you always telling me that but I feel like somewhere in him he must have known or God knew that I was going to need those things because I lost him when I was 27 and he was he's not there to repeat those things to me anymore but I don't have

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wherever you because every time I get to a corner and I think I'm not going to I think I'm not going to make it I can hear the most beautiful voice in the world saying Govan a go

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that was Michonne lastly she describes herself as quote a teacher by trade but somewhere inside is a writer and a speaker trying to be all God wants me to be she hopes her stories entertain and Inspire others to find joy in the journey

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up next Sue Schmidt Sue told the story to Miami story slam where the theme of the night was ambition here Sue live with the mom

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so the first sentence I ever learned an Italian was see Prague at the pathology beta which means please bring to me liberty or in my great-grandmother's case bail money my great-grandmother was an Italian immigrant who came to this country and became a garment worker in New York City and she had been arrested so many times fighting with the suffragettes for the women's right to vote that this was the

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but instead her daughter most remembered about her and so this sorry I touch the microphone

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and so my great-grandmother died the year that I was born so I don't remember much about her at all with the exception of the stories that my family would tell and this one picture that sat on my grandparents wall which was a picture of her waiting in the waters off of Coney Island in this long black dress pulled up between her legs and tied off at the waist because she couldn't afford a bathing suit and so the thing about Italian New York families is you

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I think that men are in charge but really in my family the people that were in charge were the people that could win the most arguments

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and if arguing were an Olympic sport the women in my family would be gold medalists because while the men outnumbered the women three to one the men in my family when they would argue is they would use this thing called facts

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and they argued like it was an individual Sprint and the women would know that arguing is really a long distance relay there are arguments that started in small fishing villages in Sicily that are happening right now in Brooklyn and so in the summer of 1972 this amazing thing happened and on television one day was Karen Carpenter playing the drums and I

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to pick an instrument and I knew I wanted to be a drummer so I knew in order to do this I'd have to convince the women in my family that this was a good thing to do and so one Sunday afternoon at dinner I said I want to be a drummer and instantly my grandfather said women don't play the drums and my aunt turned around and she said yeah women can play the drums she can play whatever she wants and my father then said well there are no women drummers and my grandmother looked at him and said Karen

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Pinter plays the drums and I thought the gold medals go into the women

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and then my grandfather said well I don't think she's a very good role model and my grandmother looked at him and said you're not a very good role model

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and yet you are still here

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and my grandfather's simple she wears pants on stage and my grandmother said you wear pants and again you are still here and the gold medal goes to the women and so that fall I joined a drumline me and nine boys now the other thing was happening in 1972 was a Title Nine had just been passed so women were showing up everywhere and boys were pissed and so I showed up every day with my drumsticks and I practiced

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Lee hard and in spite of everything that they did they stole my sheet music they would take my drumsticks I persevered and so when this came for the Winter concert

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the band Master picked me to play the drum set and this was an incredible honor and I knew every single stroke of that music and my parents were so proud that my mother bought me this long green velvet flowing gown and so this thing was incredible and I get on stage and I'm playing along and I look over and all the boys are kind of snickering at me and laughing at me and I'm like not just paying attention at all and then I

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realize somewhere between the Hanukkah medley and Frosty the Snowman that a long velvet gown is not the best thing to play for the drum set

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and so I look out into the audience and I'm panicked and Ravenclaw Glide looks over at me as like I'll take your drum set so low I was like I'm doing this and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get into the position for the drum set in this long gown and I look out at my family and there's like three rows of them my grandmother is so proud she's crying and I know in that moment what I need to do

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a nice tried up to the corner that stage and I reached down and I pulled that dress up between my legs

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and I tie that freaking thing a day off at the waist and I sit down at the drum set and I freaking rock that thing

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I come off stage my family is in the lobby and my grandmother comes up to me and she hugs me and she says your great grandmother is here with you tonight and she's so proud I fell asleep that night with the symbols kind of ringing in my ears and that feeling of your heart pounding in your chest when you've worked really hard for something and you've been able to achieve and I realized I don't think my great-grandmother meant bail money at all

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I think she meant Liberty I think she meant the right for women to vote I think she meant the right for us to show our legs at Coney Island on a hot summer day without being harassed and I think she meant the hope that comes that if you work really hard for something even if you don't get to achieve it that one day maybe your daughter or your granddaughter your great-granddaughter will get to be up on stage and they will just get to rock that fricking thing

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that was Sue Schmidt

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Sue is a stand-up comedian and a Storyteller she also happens to be our regional producer for the moth story slam Series in Burlington Vermont she actually told the story while she was on vacation in Miami Sue's work has been featured on New England public radio and CBS Sunday Morning he's also the founder of say it Forward Productions an organization that helps nonprofits bring the stories of their work to life decisio rocking out with her band the brevity thing you can find links on our website The Moth dot-org

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so I will these storytellers had very different experiences both women had people in their lives who supported them and gave them the confidence to move forward what is your relationship like with the people who make up your support systems have they had a big influence on your life and your choices here are some problems to help you think of stories of your own

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what's something you were able to do that surprised you who's the person that believed in you or help to believe in yourself what's something you really love to do that feels like it's part of Who You Are

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that's it for this week we want to hear from you and how you're liking all together now share your photos story prompt dancers thoughts and feelings with us on Facebook and Twitter at the moth and on Instagram at Moss stories until next time from all of us here at the moth have a story where the week

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Suzanne rust is the moths senior curatorial producer editor of the mathur view interview series and one of the hosts of the moths Friday podcast in addition to finding new voices and fresh stories for the moth stage Suzanne creates playlists and helps curate special storytelling events podcast production by Julia Purcell am off podcast is presented by PRX the public radio exchange helping make public radio more public at PR x.org

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