WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.580 It is possible to be thankful every moment, every 00:00:04.580 --> 00:00:08.679 day. It is possible to be thankful every moment, 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.539 every day. It takes practice and humility. It 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:16.600 takes vision and civility. Hi and welcome back 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.160 to Tell Me What Happened, the podcast that features 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:22.399 real people from all walks of life talking about 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:24.940 childhood experiences that have impacted them 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:28.800 even to this very day as an adult. I'm your host, 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.060 Jay Rehak. And like you, I've had my share of 00:00:32.060 --> 00:00:35.340 childhood experiences that continue to be a part 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:38.799 of my life. Some of them good, some of them not 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:42.100 so good. Still, I'd like to believe that by telling 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:44.659 these stories and hearing these stories, we get 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:46.780 to know each other just a little bit better. 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.299 Tell Me What Happened is sponsored by Sideline 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:54.000 Inc. Publishing, publishers of quality books, 00:00:54.380 --> 00:00:57.939 including Scott Summa's timely Don't Act Like 00:00:57.939 --> 00:01:01.700 the President. available on Amazon .com or wherever 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:04.579 quality books are sold. Tell Me What Happened 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:09.920 is also sponsored by laughsaver .com. Visit laughsaver 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.659 .com and record your laughter. We'll keep it 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:18.819 for you now and forever. It's free and your grandchildren, 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:21.920 your great -grandchildren, and many people you 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.239 even know right now will appreciate it. That's 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:30.040 laughsaver .com. Today I have as my guest, a 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.920 great friend of mine, a great educational leader. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:37.200 She is the longest serving Chicago public school 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:42.420 principal, Dr. Joyce Kenner. Welcome Dr. Kenner 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:45.260 and thank you for being on the show. You are 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:49.140 so welcome. It's my honor to be on the show and 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:53.659 share my childhood story with the listening audience. 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:57.920 So I'm just gonna jump right into my story. And 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.939 my story really is about how I grew up. I am 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:05.359 one of a triplet. I have an identical twin sister 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:08.960 and a brother, and then I have an older sister. 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:13.860 My parents were 20 years old, my mom and 18, 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.900 my dad, when they had the triplets. So you could 00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:20.919 imagine, just think about it, if you were 18 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:25.620 years old, you are now responsible for four young 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:30.460 people. and a wife and what that looked like. 00:02:30.939 --> 00:02:33.900 My mom said that my dad, after we were born, 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.439 he left for a couple of days and they did not 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.460 see him trying to figure out how do I support 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:45.639 this family. So eventually, my parents decided 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:51.060 at a very, very young age to open record stores 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:54.699 and it was called Jimmy's Records and Gifts. 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:59.509 and eventually they were able to open three locations. 00:02:59.949 --> 00:03:03.590 But I vividly remember the first location. It 00:03:03.590 --> 00:03:07.030 was on Broadway Avenue. I'm from Dayton, Ohio. 00:03:07.650 --> 00:03:11.490 It was a big deal back then to open up a record 00:03:11.490 --> 00:03:14.909 store because at that time we were playing records, 00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:19.569 vinyl records on record players and people would 00:03:19.569 --> 00:03:23.169 come into the record store and obviously ask 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:29.129 for a particular record. We also sold tickets 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:34.509 to events and so back then in the day the big 00:03:34.509 --> 00:03:39.009 hits people who came into the record store were 00:03:39.009 --> 00:03:44.550 artists like James Brown, the Jackson Five, although 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:47.710 they didn't come into the record store, we sold 00:03:47.710 --> 00:03:51.330 tickets for that event and we were actually able 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.180 through the promoter to get backstage passes 00:03:55.180 --> 00:03:59.419 to at least see the Jackson Five. We weren't 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:02.719 introduced to them, but we were backstage watching 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.800 them prepare to go on stage. We sold tickets 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.060 to Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Evelyn Champagne 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:16.079 King, and I think those of you who are my age 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.620 and I'm 64 years of age would know who those 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:25.560 artists are. But that is really what helped shape 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.800 my life as a professional and as a human being. 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:34.000 Believe it or not, I started at 11 years old 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.959 back in the late 60s when they first opened up 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:42.339 the record stores. My oldest sister was 14 years 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:46.240 old. And believe it or not, my parents trained 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.300 us to handle those record stores at that very 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:53.910 young age. They would not leave us often, but 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:57.730 they would leave us to man the stores while they 00:04:57.730 --> 00:05:01.730 ran their errands or what it might be. And I 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:05.370 just remember vividly people walking into the 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:09.769 store and them asking for specific records. But 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:13.269 what they would say was, you guys, do you have 00:05:13.269 --> 00:05:17.990 a record that goes da -da -da? And I'm saying 00:05:17.990 --> 00:05:22.259 in my mind as an 11 -year -old, What are they 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:26.160 talking about? My brother was better at trying 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.160 to identify the records than we were but believe 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:33.120 it or not people would walk into the store and 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.680 ask for Records by just two or three notes. It 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:41.759 was amazing that we were able to address their 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:47.120 particular needs at that time, but It shaped 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.050 my life by being able to interact with people 00:05:52.050 --> 00:05:56.250 understanding that the customer really was right 00:05:56.250 --> 00:05:59.730 all the time. And it just was a great experience 00:05:59.730 --> 00:06:05.269 that we had at the record stores or in the record 00:06:05.269 --> 00:06:08.529 stores. I spoke to my sister today, one of the 00:06:08.529 --> 00:06:11.850 Triplet sisters today. And she said, I told her 00:06:11.850 --> 00:06:14.750 about the podcast and she said, Joyce, don't 00:06:14.750 --> 00:06:19.339 forget to tell them about making change. And 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:23.819 she is, today, she majored in mathematics in 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:29.160 college, but today she is a CFO of a school district. 00:06:29.379 --> 00:06:31.560 And I really believe one of the reasons that 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.779 my sister is a CFO is because of the experiences 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:37.759 at the record store. And she said, don't forget 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.639 to tell them, we learned to count change back 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.399 in the day. And now they use computers to count 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.259 the change. But in our mind, we would calculate 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:52.120 what the change needed to be when people gave 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.939 us monies to purchase their various items. And 00:06:55.939 --> 00:07:00.100 to us, that was a big thing. Right now to us, 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:02.560 young people don't know how to count because 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.360 they rely on their cell phones or their computers 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:10.139 to add. But that impacted her and obviously that 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:14.459 shaped her life. Me interacting with the customer 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:17.709 and understanding what their needs were. I think 00:07:17.709 --> 00:07:21.209 that shaped my life and it shaped what I am doing 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:24.589 today. I think the students and the faculty and 00:07:24.589 --> 00:07:28.730 staff at Whitney Young are my customers and I 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:31.949 need to do everything that I possibly can to 00:07:31.949 --> 00:07:36.509 ensure that their needs are being met on a daily 00:07:36.509 --> 00:07:41.189 basis. And my parents sold jewelry in the record 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:43.689 stores as well and people would come in there 00:07:43.689 --> 00:07:46.180 and say, I want this piece of jewelry, or I want 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:49.459 that piece of jewelry. And we would change the 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:53.899 clips of the earrings to non -pierced ears. And 00:07:53.899 --> 00:07:56.720 so we would have this utensil that you'd have 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:59.560 to use to change the earrings. And I know some 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:03.399 of you, again, who grew up, when I grew up, understand 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:06.220 that you had pierced earrings and non -pierced 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:11.480 earrings. And my parents just sold a lot of those 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.540 items. in order to survive and support our families. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.860 That record store was very, very successful on 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:26.399 Broadway, and they opened a second store on Salem 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:31.079 Avenue, and then the major accomplishment for 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.200 two black people at that young age, they opened 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:39.480 a store downtown. So could you imagine a black 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.919 person at their early ages, in the 30s, opening 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:47.799 up a record store in the downtown area of Dayton. 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:52.100 It was a huge deal for them to be able to open 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:56.500 that. And so customers would come in by the droves. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:01.019 My parents were able to support our family very, 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.139 very well by those three stores. And at one point 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:07.779 we had all three stores and we were trying to 00:09:07.779 --> 00:09:11.620 manage those three stores. as a family, my sister 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:15.580 might have been at one, my brother might have 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:17.360 been at one and then I might have been at the 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:22.279 third store and in all the summers we had jobs. 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:26.620 Could you imagine back in the early 70s when 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:31.259 I was in high school they paid us a hundred dollars 00:09:31.259 --> 00:09:36.700 a week which was a lot of money for a high school 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:40.820 student back in the early 70s. So I remember, 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:43.480 you know, we were very money conscious. My father 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.940 was money conscious. I would buy Louis Vuitton 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:50.639 purses as a sophomore, junior in high school. 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:53.539 And honestly, not bragging, but I wouldn't think 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:57.299 anything about it. I worked hard. I was very 00:09:57.299 --> 00:09:59.980 focused, very frugal about my dollars, but I 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:04.539 also liked nice things. And so I would save some 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:07.960 money. and then I would spend some money, and 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:10.700 that's what our parents taught us, always have 00:10:10.700 --> 00:10:15.360 money for a rainy day, and that also helped shape 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:19.440 my life today. So I have money for a rainy day, 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:23.679 I spend a little bit, I save a little bit, but 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:28.139 I do treat myself every now and then, and I still 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:32.620 buy nice purses. I had a great childhood growing 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:35.549 up, growing up with young parents, who could 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:39.330 relate to us and understand what we were going 00:10:39.330 --> 00:10:42.950 through as young people and being able to interact 00:10:42.950 --> 00:10:46.509 with us. But those record stores obviously taught 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:49.750 us how to count money, how to interact with people, 00:10:50.029 --> 00:10:54.529 how to deal with those people who were stars 00:10:54.529 --> 00:10:57.870 and not when they came into the record shop not 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:00.809 having Google eyes like, oh my God, here comes. 00:11:01.470 --> 00:11:04.669 James Brown, you know, those kinds of things 00:11:04.669 --> 00:11:07.450 we learned when those people came through the 00:11:07.450 --> 00:11:10.409 record store. We were taught to be professionals 00:11:10.409 --> 00:11:14.090 at a young age. They would come in with huge 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:16.990 entourages, and sometimes they would have to 00:11:16.990 --> 00:11:20.389 get the police to stand in the parking lot to 00:11:20.389 --> 00:11:23.769 make sure that they controlled the crowds. And 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:26.889 back in the day... the artist would sit behind 00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:29.929 one of our counters in the record store and they 00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:34.110 would actually sign autographs and the line would 00:11:34.110 --> 00:11:37.210 be around the record store and we would have 00:11:37.210 --> 00:11:40.990 to maintain order we'd have to as young people 00:11:40.990 --> 00:11:44.970 quiet the audience and say hey your time is coming 00:11:44.970 --> 00:11:47.909 we'll only be a few minutes they're still signing 00:11:47.909 --> 00:11:50.629 autographs but you will be able to sign your 00:11:50.629 --> 00:11:54.299 autograph obviously things have changed over 00:11:54.299 --> 00:12:00.460 time, Kmart built a store right next to our second 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:04.139 store on Salem Avenue. So you could imagine what 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:08.360 that did to the mom and pop business. I think 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:11.120 we lasted probably three or four years after 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.620 Kmart built next to us, but we as a small black 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:20.399 business could not compete with a Kmart. because 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.940 you could go to Kmart, buy your clothes, buy 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:26.799 your albums, and then cassette tapes came in 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:29.659 before we started selling cassette tapes, and 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:33.120 that really was the end of Jimmy's record stores 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:37.799 as we knew it when cassette tapes came in. So 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:42.679 that is my story, that is what impacted my life, 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:47.730 what molded me as a human being. And right now 00:12:47.730 --> 00:12:50.350 at Whitney Young, I really try to be a great 00:12:50.350 --> 00:12:54.009 leader. I try to listen to what people are asking 00:12:54.009 --> 00:12:56.629 me. I've been principal at Whitney Young for 00:12:56.629 --> 00:13:01.710 26 years, been at Whitney Young for 31 in totality. 00:13:02.149 --> 00:13:04.990 And there is a reason for me being there. And 00:13:04.990 --> 00:13:08.049 I just think that our record shops and my parents, 00:13:08.549 --> 00:13:12.909 my mom and my dad shaped me to become the person 00:13:12.909 --> 00:13:15.870 that I have become today. Again, it's my honor 00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:19.009 to do this podcast, and I hope that you learned 00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:23.049 a little bit about Joyce Kenner, principal of 00:13:23.049 --> 00:13:27.110 Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Thank you. 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.289 That was great, Doc. I just have one question 00:13:30.289 --> 00:13:35.129 for you. If your parents had had quadruplets 00:13:35.129 --> 00:13:38.389 instead of triplets, would they have had four 00:13:38.389 --> 00:13:43.679 record stores? I don't think that they had three 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:46.539 record stores because it was triplets. Three 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:49.960 record stores was enough we could handle. Yeah, 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:51.940 I don't know if they would have opened a fourth 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:56.080 store. Three stores were an awful lot back then 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.980 in which we tried to maintain all three of those. 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:01.960 All right, well, thank you. It was great. It 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:04.980 is great to learn more about you. From now on, 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:07.500 every time I go to a teacher faculty meeting, 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:09.320 when I go to a faculty meeting, I'm going to 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.179 imagine you as an 11 -year -old sort of taking 00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:15.700 control of everything, depending who's there. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.519 Because I know one of the things that you know 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.980 is that there are different types of people. 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:25.600 And you are a master at being able to look at 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.299 people as James Brown or not James Brown, just 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:34.419 good people or whatever. boosters to come in 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:37.879 that were selling hot items. We would have drug 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.740 addicts to come in the record store. We would 00:14:40.740 --> 00:14:43.039 have rich people to come in the record store. 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.899 We would have average below, it did not matter. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.980 They were coming in to purchase records and they 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:53.600 were not coming in to solidify a friendship or 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.519 a relationship. And so in my mind, everybody 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:59.679 was the same. And I try to treat everybody at 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.320 Whitney Young the same. So I think maybe that's 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.220 where I got the way that I deal with people. 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:08.779 Maybe I got it from those experiences. All right. 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:10.539 Well, thank you very much. Again, it's been an 00:15:10.539 --> 00:15:12.539 honor to listen to you, Doc. I always like to 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.000 learn more about you. You're welcome. You have 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.019 a good day. Thanks. Well, that's our show. I'd 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:21.259 like to thank Dr. Kenner again for coming on 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:23.919 the show and telling us her story. I'd also like 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.720 to thank our sponsors, Sidelining Publishing, 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:30.690 as well as laughsaver .com. Visit laughsaver 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:34.769 .com to record your laughter. It's free on your 00:15:34.769 --> 00:15:38.529 grandchildren, and your friends, and everybody 00:15:38.529 --> 00:15:42.149 you'll know will appreciate it. That's laughsaver 00:15:42.149 --> 00:15:45.389 .com. Now, before I say goodbye, I'd like to 00:15:45.389 --> 00:15:47.409 remind you that we're going to end this show, 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:51.009 as we often do, with Susan Salador's classic, 00:15:51.610 --> 00:15:55.730 Every Moment, Every Day. Ask Alexa to play Susan 00:15:55.730 --> 00:16:00.539 Salador. So until next time, this is Jay Rehack 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:04.879 asking you all to stay safe out there and try 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.429 not to hurt anybody. It is possible to be thankful 00:16:09.429 --> 00:16:57.970 every moment every day It is possible to be thankful 00:16:57.970 --> 00:17:01.309 every moment, every day.