Jalani Simpson
Transcript
Katy Clune: [00:00] The tape. We'll kind of share this but you'll be the star. So today is Saturday May 10th. We're at the Yancey School Community Center. Would you please introduce yourself?
Jalani Simpson: My name is Jelani Simpson. I was a...
Katy Clune: [00:20] That's good. Jelani Simpson is being interviewed by?
Lauren Parker: Lauren Parker.
Katy Clune: Great. And this is Katy Clune offering assistance. So Jelani, would you please go ahead and I think you were about to introduce yourself and tell us when you went to the school.
Jalani Simpson: [00:35] So I attended Yancey from 1986 to 1991. I've lived in Esmont all my life. So Yancey plays a huge part of my upbringing and who I am. Yeah, that's kind of like a little preview of who I am quickly.
Lauren Parker: [00:58] Well, I guess since I think we talked about starting with school but maybe starting broadly with like childhood because you mentioned, you know, you've been in Esmont here playing such a big role in your life. So what are your earliest memories and then where and when do you kind of associate that?
Jalani Simpson: [01:16] My earliest memories go way back. I can remember like talking with people now about how things were different back in the 80s and 90s versus now. Esmont just, you know, it taught me everything about life. It prepared me for who I am today.
[01:36] Just growing up with, you know, my friends, my peers, going through adversity, seeing different things. A lot of my friends were in different living conditions. So we learned how to adapt and socialize with everyone, not just people like ourselves.
[01:54] So it taught us adversity. And it taught us, you know, we had like a genuine love for the community and the people that were around us.
[02:03] So it gave us that, you know, that, you know, that, that comfort like feeling to be in the Esmont community. And I felt like we were well known to be such a small little town or a city. So everybody knew Esmont, regardless of where you went, somebody knew somebody from here. So yeah.
Lauren Parker: [02:22] Yeah. I'm kind of curious now. So you talked a little bit about like the size of Esmont and like the scale of it, like relative to the rest of Albemarle, but also the community.
[02:32] So I'm curious, where in Asmata did you live? Did most of your friends, like did you live on Porter's Road? Most of your friends lived there? And like, how's the experience of just like hanging out with friends in the community?
Jalani Simpson: [02:43] Yeah. So yeah, I lived right off of Porter's Road on Emory's Lane. I grew up there. I'm actually still living there with my family. And, you know, we had friends everywhere. Like it was the community. We had so many, so many youth growing up.
[03:01] I could think back of like, just when we would drive down the road, it was always somebody walking or on a bike versus now you don't see anybody. You don't hear any kids laughing, playing, crying. You could come outside, you hear a kid crying. You don't know why, but you just hear just people just in the community, just living, you know? So it was, it was a fun place to be. I mean, it's still a great place, but it's definitely changed over the years.
[03:30] And like I said, our friends lived in different proximities. Like we would walk to come to Yancey School. This is where everybody played basketball. Of course, we didn't have Simpson Park at the time. So we played right here on the courts here in the parking lot.
[03:46] It’s where everybody played basketball. People would come from all over to play basketball here in this community. And that's like my favorite sport. So, yeah.
Lauren Parker: [03:58] Yeah. Were there anything else that you, or any other activities that you and your friends did? Maybe even like during school? Like art and music or any other games that you guys did?
Jalani Simpson: [04:08] I grew up with music. My father played music. My mother, she sings. So music was a part of my life. But as far as activities, we played basketball all the time.
Lauren Parker: [04:21] Were there community basketball leagues? Or was it just like pickup games?
Jalani Simpson: Just pickup games. At that time, we didn't have, well, I take that back. We did. We played basketball in Scottsville.
[04:34] Our basketball coach was Ivanhoe Nelson, who coached a generation of kids. So that definitely helped us. By the time we got to high school, we was prepared for the next level. So yeah, we did have a league in Scottsville that we played on from when I was six to 14. So we did. Yeah.
Lauren Parker: [04:54] So you went to Scottsville High after?
Jalani Simpson: [04:57] No. So after Yancey, I went to Walton Middle and Albemarle High School.
Lauren Parker: [05:02] Okay.
Jalani Simpson: Yeah.
Lauren Parker: [05:04] Well, yeah. So you mentioned your coach being a big inspiration for you. And I think you've mentioned a couple of times that just like you had, it seemed a couple good role models and as models. Is there anybody that sticks out to you as just someone that you like looked up to you or someone that?
Jalani Simpson: [05:20] I would say my parents, mainly.
Lauren Parker: [05:22] Yeah. Tell us about them.
Jalani Simpson: So yeah, my dad, you know, he was musically inclined. My mother, hard worker, sings in the church, used to sing around the house all the time.
Lauren Parker: [05:36] Yeah.
Jalani Simpson: [05:37] Just seeing their hard work. And the times we were in, you know, times were hard. We didn't have a lot of money, anything. So we learned how to go out and work at an early age. But just watching them instill morals and values in us and my siblings and myself, that's what motivated me to be who I am today.
[06:00] So I would say I give it all to them. It's who I looked up to. Other than that, in the community, it was people that we learned from. But I would say as far as like role models, it would be them for me.
Lauren Parker: [06:15] Yeah. And I guess more on your family. Like, of course, you lived with your mother and father. But what else did your family look like? Like, did you have extended family in the area?
Jalani Simpson: [06:23] Yeah.
Lauren Parker: [06:24] Siblings?
Jalani Simpson: So yeah, I had, it was three of us. I'm the oldest of three. My grandmother lived with us most of my childhood. So she instilled a lot of morals in us as well. A lot of the old school remedies that they had as far as like, if you had a cold, you know, put the liniment on your chest or whatever, all of those things, tobacco on the bee sting, all that stuff. So I still catch myself like, hey, you know, you could do that. I'm like, hold on, what am I doing? Like, this is a new time. But yeah, my grandmother played a huge part in my life. And I know my siblings lives as well.
Katy Clune: [07:06] Yeah, absolutely. Are your siblings still in Esmont?
Jalani Simpson: Yes.
Katy Clune: Why do you think everyone stays here?
Jalani Simpson: [07:15] There's many different reasons. I can't speak for anyone else. A lot of people are just grounded here. Like they, you know, they just, this is home to them and they just stay, you know, they don't want to be anywhere else. A lot of people have moved away.
[07:33] But a lot of people stay behind because it's home.
Katy Clune: [07:40] What makes Esmont different than other communities? Like you were saying, people around here know of Esmont, like they know about it. How would you define it?
Jalani Simpson: [07:51] I would define it as a place where you grow, you learn. And that's from me speaking personally. I mean, it's just a great community. And now seeing all the history that was here, like we had, I had no idea there was so much history here.
[08:13] So that makes it even more rewarding or making, you know, makes you proud as a community citizen that this community, this town, city has so much history here. Because you know, it's a part of you. So yeah, Esmont is just a great place.
[08:32] I guess I'm biased.
Lauren Parker: I'm from Richmond. I'm from Richmond, but coming and studying Esmont. Yeah, the history is just you to think into. But I'm also curious, I know you mentioned you have a son, of course. So with all that you said, I'm wondering how, what it's been like, like raising a son, maybe other children in Esmont or building a family here?
[08:55] Yeah, so it's been a great experience. Like, you know, we look back and of course, he's into sports. He'll be interviewing like right after me. But just you like raising them off the old morals that we came up off of, that the older generation instilled in us. Of course, times change, but some things don't change.
[09:20] But it's been great. Just utilizing my experience in life and try to help him be a better person and grow and do more and go farther. And the generation now is so advanced with technology and the resources provided. So they have like a entryway, like versus what we had to go through to try to, you know, to get to the next step. But it's been rewarding.
[09:45] And I have two daughters as well, one 23, one 13. So it's been rewarding using what I grew up off of to raise them.
Katy Clune: [09:57] Could you give us some specific examples? Like you said, morals and values?
Jalani Simpson: [10:02] Just like having respect and, you know, for your elders, respecting yourself, working hard and never giving up. So of course, you know, those are things that we had to learn through experience. So we may not have done those things at first, but we learned that this is what you're supposed to do. So you teach your kids that that's how they're supposed to be, just being good people and being strong, you know.
Lauren Parker: [10:29] Yeah. So. Yeah. You talked a little bit about some of the changes, too, that have happened with Esmont.
Jalani Simpson: [10:37] Mm-hmm.
Lauren Parker: I'm wondering, maybe, do you want to talk more about like some of the changes that you see, especially having lived here so long, but also about what you see as like the future of Esmont or the hope, your hopes for what Porters will look like?
Jalani Simpson: [10:53] So as far as the changes, just to summarize it up real quickly, like it's just, you know, a whole lot of people that used to be here that made the history are no longer here, of course.
[11:04] And the community just evolved. I mean, like I said, when we were growing up, we had so many youth in the community. I could bet it was probably 300 or 400 kids here. Like this school, when we went here was, it was a lot of kids.
[11:20] But, you know, and that instilled in us. We grew up, you know, we supported one another. You know, lifetime friends, of course. But the community's changed. You don't see a lot of youth out here anymore.
[11:35] And my hopes is that the community will continue to grow and that the history will continue to be revealed to the community so they'll know where we come from and what we're, like, what we're sitting on. Like, it's history that we're in right now that we were unaware of a long time ago.
[11:51] So continuing to show how important that Esmont is within Albemarle County.
Lauren Parker: [12:00] Yeah. Yeah, I'll be, oh, we're doing good on time. Okay. Well, yeah, I mentioned school a little bit and we, like, touched on it a little bit, you know, here and there. But I'm wondering, you know, what a typical school day looked like for you or, you know, what were your thoughts about, like, attending, I guess, Yancey specifically during the school day?
Jalani Simpson: [12:21] Typical school day was, you know, come in in the morning, get breakfast, head to our first class. We actually still have two of our teachers still in the community, Ms. Loudon and Ms. Eubanks.
Lauren Parker: [12:37] Yeah, I did their oral histories. Okay. Actually, both of them, yeah.
Katy Clune: [12:41] They were talking about you.
Jalani Simpson: Me? Oh.
Lauren Parker: They talked about- I'm sure it wasn't you.
Jalani Simpson: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have stories.
Lauren Parker: They shared some fun stories.
[12:50] Especially Ms. Eubanks, I remember.
Jalani Simpson: Yeah, yeah. So they were, they played a huge part in a lot of our lives, too. Like, they didn't take his light on us. They let us know, look, this is important. You're going to get your education.
[13:07] Typical day was, you know, it was life in school. You faced a bully or, you know, you had your first girlfriend or whatever, and you go to class. You didn't do your homework. You tried to copy somebody's homework before the teacher asked you to hand it in. All the things that you remember in grade school. Getting sent in the hallway because you were laughing during a movie or during class. I could go on and on. But, like, all those things.
[13:38] And we look back on that now, and it was like, we call it the good old days. That's what everybody says. But, yeah, it was a typical school day here. It was just great. I would go back and do it all over again. I don't think I'd change anything. But, yeah, it was.
Lauren Parker: [13:57] Yeah. And it sounds like you're still friends with a lot of people that you knew from Yancey. Yeah, does any of the friends that you had, like, stand out to you as, like, you know, particularly longstanding? And do you have any memories, specific memories with them?
Jalani Simpson: [14:11] So we all, like, a lot of us stay in contact more than others. But when we see each other, it's like, hey, we reminisce on the old times. And like I said, we all were just, like, huge basketball players. That's all we did.
Lauren Parker: [14:25] Right.
Jalani Simpson: Or football. But here at Yancey School, during the spring break in the summers, everybody was on the courts playing ball. That was our conversation starters on the bus. And at school, oh, yeah, I schooled you the day I crossed, you know, talking about the weekend we was playing basketball. Sometimes that led to fighting incidents.
[14:49] But, hey, yeah, but that's, yeah, we're still in contact. And no one really stands out more. It's good to see everybody that I grew up with, you know, so.
Lauren Parker: [15:02] Yeah, I'm wondering, too, you said you went to Walton High and then you went on to Albemarle High. I'm wondering if you remember, because I know if I was in oral history, it would be really hard for me to remember elementary school. But how was, what was that transition like from, you know, going to a school kind of right in your backyard towards, presumably, and you said you walked to school to, like, taking the bus and meeting people, mingling with people outside of the community. And did your friends, you know.
Jalani Simpson: [15:27] So we caught the bus here. We just walked, like, if we wanted to play basketball, nobody said, hey, we're going to drive you. We had to walk from our residence to the court and everybody would meet here.
Lauren Parker: [15:41] But you took the bus to school.
Jalani Simpson: [15:42] Yeah, a bus picked us up and brought us to Yancey. But, yeah, the transition was, you know, we were excited about going to a new school, seeing different people. A little nervous because, you know, it's like you're going to a new spot first day and then the people before you, man, you can watch out for this teacher, this teacher.
[16:00] And you're like, oh, man. So, like, the week before school starts, everybody's calling on the house phone saying, did you get your schedule? Who do you have? Like, do you have Mr. or Mrs.? Oh, I got them, too. What block? So you're trying to see if you have any friends in your, that has the same schedule. So you have someone that you're familiar with, especially the first day, but after time, you meet new people.
[16:26] One of the stories I remember, Ms. Eubanks was our fourth grade teacher. So when we left here in ‘91, it was like, finally, Ms. Eubanks is not going to be hard on us anymore. So we got to the first day of school at Walton.
[16:45] Now, this year, all the other years, they had 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B. This year, we went over, I guess, with so many kids, they created C. So 6A, 6B, 6C.
[17:00] So we walk into school, and all the teachers are greeting us. So we go down the sixth grade hallway, new clothes. And Mrs. Eubanks is standing down there. She transitioned with us. She left Yancey and went to Walton.
[17:13] I was like, oh my goodness, are you kidding me? But I didn't have her, though. I was in 6A, though. But I know some friends had Ms. Eubanks. They're like, oh, man. So yeah, so our last year, she actually went to Walton.
Lauren Parker: [17:30] That's really funny.
Jalani Simpson: [17:31] But it's like, I know this. It's like, this is a dream. It's like, this is not real. But yeah, she's an amazing person. But yeah, that's one of the memorable stories about our first year at Walton. Yeah.
Lauren Parker: [17:46] I'm wondering, were there any other teachers that really stood out to you from elementary through high school that you really remember? Of course, we have Mrs. Eubanks. And then your basketball coach.
Jalani Simpson: [17:58] Elementary was really the days that grounded us. We had good teachers in middle school as well that were from the community. And one of the things, too, a lot of our teachers here were community-based teachers.
[18:10] Like, they were from the community or from the outside of the community. It wasn't anybody that was unfamiliar with the territory. So they knew the kids they would teach. And so that made a connection. But I would say, you know, our teachers and Yancey were amazing.
[18:26] I still see some to this day that actually come to me and they see me in the grocery store. They're like, I know you. I'm looking at them. And they say my name and they tell me I haven't changed. I'm like, man, is that good? Yeah. Like, my facial features or whatever. But, yeah, I can remember Ms. Koenig, Ms. Rondo, Ms. Myrtle.
[18:50] Ms. McDonald was my fifth-grade teacher. That was some tough years. Yeah, I remember her. But, yeah, all of those, Mr. Fellows, all of those people.
[19:00] Even our cafeteria staff, Ms. Brackett, Ms. Eubanks. Those were important people. And they were community people as well.
Lauren Parker: [19:07] Yeah, that's great. I guess this probably, yeah, is one of the last questions, I think. But you went in church a little bit earlier. And then I think, and that seems like it would be one of those places where, like, the visibility of, like, being in the community is strong. But, yeah, if you want to talk about, if you remember about, like, church in your youth. Like, did you go to Sunday school?
Jalani Simpson: [19:30] It was all, like, one platform. Church, school, tied it together. Your teachers went to your church. So there's nothing you could get away with. Like, you acted up in school.
[19:40] You got in trouble. Yeah, you may not got a write-up or anything sent home. But over the weekend at the grocery store or church, somebody was going, yeah, you know, I had to talk to. Okay. So they told you in church what happened the other day.
[19:56] So it was just, you know, the community. You know, everybody communicated. That was, I think, what set us aside, like, just Yancey being in Esmont.
[20:08] Education was taken seriously. And the teachers had passion for their work. They just weren't here teaching. They really loved the kids. And they knew us. So they put their, all of their effort into us.
Lauren Parker: [20:22] Yeah, that should be great. Like, an investment in the community.
Jalani Simpson: Yeah.
Lauren Parker: [20:25] And then in you guys.
Jalani Simpson: Yeah. That's part of that.
Lauren Parker: Yeah. Do you have any other questions?
Katy Clune: I have a last question. It's about to go off. So I'll let it do that.
Lauren Parker: [20:32] I know. Lauren Parker: It's loud, right?
Katy Clune: Yeah. Are there things that your parents or your grandparents knew how to do or did that you wish your kids figure out how to do and keep going?
Jalani Simpson: [20:51] You say keep going? Well, I mean, of course, like, and I resort back to this. We didn't have technology. Like, one of the things I always talk about with my kids, and I kind of throw it in their face, like, y'all don't enjoy outside.
[21:12] Like, we had to be outside. It was like, in the summer, a certain time of the day, you're not sitting up in this house. Go outside. Go ride your bike. Go play. Go do something.
[21:22] You're not going to be in here with me. I'm trying to cook. That's my grandmother saying these things. So, like, you play with the neighbors.
[21:31] Now kids are just more reserved. Like, they have their phone. They go in their room, shut the door. They're on their phone or their computer. They don't go in the woods and build play houses, of course, in time. But those are the things.
[21:43] And just exploring, like, just having that drive to get out and be in the community. You didn't want to be at home. Like, I want to go to this person's house. I want to walk here. I want to go to the store.
[21:54] I think being taught to live and survive from our parents is something that's a tough task now for the younger generation due to the challenge of technology and everything just being right at their hands.
[22:13] So that's one of the things, like, one of the challenges as a parent, too, is trying to teach those and still those old morals. Like, you still have to work hard regardless if you know this or you think you know this.
[22:26] You still have to go out in the world and learn.
Katy Clune: Oh, thank you, Jalani.
Lauren Parker: Yeah, thank you.
Katy Clune: [22:32] Any final thoughts?
Jalani Simpson: This is cool. I was telling, what's your name again?
Lauren Parker: [22:38] Lauren.
Jalani Simpson: Lauren. I was telling Lauren I was hesitant to do this. Yeah. I was like, Ed asked me to be on a panel. I was like, okay.
[22:47] I'm thinking, like, I'm going to have this huge audience, like, this podcast or something going on. And I'm like, okay. But this is cool. I think this is great. Thank you all.
Katy Clune: [22:58] Well, thank you.