- This month on The Spark, our theme is "Empathy, Equity and Entrepreneurship."

We'll learn more about a nonprofit preserving and sharing the pioneering legacy of the Memphis 13 to spark courageous dialogue, and diverse connections in our community.

An organization providing warmth, confidence, and hope to children through basic needs programs and a home decor company founded by sisters with a heart to celebrate other entrepreneurs.

We'll also share a special moment from our Spark Awards, 2020.

- Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance   is honored to serve the Memphis   community for over 60 years.

We've always focused on   supporting our community   and believe in   promoting the positives,   encouraging engagement   and leading by example.

Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance is proud to be a presenting sponsor for Spark.

- (male announcer)   Additional funding for   The Spark is provided by   Meritan, United Way   of the Mid-South,   My Town Movers, My Town   Roofing, My Town Miracles,   and by SRVS.

- Ever been excited   by a new idea   inspired by watching   someone lead by example?

When we talk about   creating change,   we start by sharing the   stories of everyday heroes   who are making a difference   in their own way,   so we can learn   and do the same.

I'm Jeremy Park and   this is The Spark.

[upbeat music] They're a nonprofit preserving and sharing the pioneering legacy of the Memphis 13 to better connect and strengthen our community.

We are with Dwania Kyles and she's a Memphis 13 alum and co-founder of the Memphis 13 Foundation.

And Dwania, you are an inspiration.

Let's start though, share a little context around the Memphis 13, for those who aren't familiar with the story, how do you describe that very important and significant storyline?

- We describe it as the smallest pioneers during the civil rights movement, because we were five and six years old at the time, thirteen boys and girls divided amongst four different Memphis City Public Schools in 1961, which was at that time still considered the Jim Crow south.

And we were tasked with desegregating Memphis City Public Schools.

- Your mother and father played a very important role in the civil rights movement.

When you look at MLK and those ties, you all were tied in with that, including your father being on the balcony with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was assassinated.

Give us the little bit of storyline there in terms of the personal involvement, but especially around your mother who also played a very important role in the civil rights movement.

- Absolutely, first of all, my parents were very young.

They left the promise land, which was Chicago, with three children under the age of four and headed south.

That was just not done.

And they immediately got involved in the civil rights movement because they moved to become involved.

My father had become exposed to what Martin Luther King was doing down in the south at that time, wanted to come.

So joined up with the NAACP, took over the education department division of it   and got right in.

And that's how I just   happened to be the right age   at the right time.

So in answer to Brown   vs Board of Education,   we desegregated, started with   desegregating the schools,   and then it was the   buses, the courthouses,   the movie houses,   you name it.

We were a family   on the front line   and that's important   to understand   because my mother was   really the driving force behind us being involved as a family.

It's like, if you're gonna be involved, we're going to be involved.

So she was the true impetus of creating the space where we could grow in the civil rights movement.

- I had a chance to interview for our Changemakers podcast and you dived into some very, very important details in terms of the things that you all overcame as a family, including having a cross burn in your yard.

And so you went through a lot.

How do you process that and now approach it with love, and this will lead us into your foundation?

- Absolutely, because I never knew how traumatized I was as I was going through the different periods in my life.

It started with   the desegregation   of the Memphis City Public   Schools in the first grade,   in the lion's mouth,   not just in the den,   in the mouth and   then before I'm 12, or like around 9 or 10, yes, a cross was burned in the yard.

Then after that Martin Luther King is assassinated on his way to our house for dinner, that was devastating.

And I think something just shifted in me and locked everything down.

So I never focused on the negative, but only the positive and my parents were so good and checking in with us all the time, making sure that we were okay.

And I thought I was okay until I became a young adult.

And I went to New York to pursue a career in theater.

And something just happened when I started auditioning and people would say some of the things that they would say, and I just could see myself doing things that people should not do because of the rage.

So I think the rage started coming up and it wasn't until Daniel Keel did the documentary that we really, 50 years later, that we really had a voice for what was happening.

And it has taken the last 10 years for me to be able to sit here and really be able to talk to you and to deal with the trauma.

So having to deal with the trauma, I'm a breath coach now, I'm a wellness consultant.

And really, I had no intention of being that when I was younger and I think just my life and wanting to heal led me down that path.

- So you mentioned the Memphis 13 documentary that plays a very prominent, important role in the foundation's efforts.

Describe the foundation in your efforts.

- The foundation was put together basically because when I would come to Memphis for Freedom Awards or for the 50th celebration of "I Am a Man" and the acknowledgement of Martin King's assassination, I would talk to high school and middle school children and ask them, did they understand what was going on?

And they did not.

They had no idea other than Martin Luther King's birthday.

And I had the opportunity   to speak to groups   all throughout the nation   who are so moved and touched   and talk about, oh, my God,   this is such a great time   for the story.

So it broke my heart in 2018   to come home for the 50th   and so many of   the young people,   but not just   the young people,   even their parents just have   no idea about the legacy   of the civil rights history   in Memphis, Tennessee.

So we put the organization to   gather the foundation together   because we want to ensure   that we create value   in our children's lives.

And they can understand that   no matter how old you are,   what you do and how you feel   and how you present yourself   is everything.

So we want to empower them.

And we wanna do that   by showing the film,   screening the film and   creating safe spaces where we can have dialogues about what it is that we're looking at.

- You also were honored fairly recently with a mural that you're a part of at Bruce Elementary.

And there are more murals to come, which is exciting news.

Talk about the murals.

- Jeremy, thank you for that, because that's what we're most excited about right now.

In January of 2020, right before the big quarantine, we celebrated at Bruce then Principal Dr. Archie Moss, who when he came to Bruce realized the legacy and from 2016, he made sure that they were doing something to acknowledge what he called the Bruce 3, because it was three of us that actually went to Bruce, Michael Willis, Harry Williams, and myself, Michael is now called Fombi Menelik.

But what he did was in 2019, he said,   2020 well, it's right   before the landmark year,   let's do something really big.

And they created these murals   that must be 20, 25 feet.

I had no idea it was gonna be   anything like this at Bruce.

So he is on the   foundation committee.

We're in the process right now of ensuring that the other three schools, which are Rozelle, Springdale and Gordon have images of the students on that first day of school represented at those schools.

And this is why, because when those children are eating in that cafeteria, which is part of the all purpose room, every day, they get to see these images.

It's not only healing for us, it's empowering for them.

And we wanna ensure that that's happening at the other three schools as well.

- I love it.

Wrap up with contact information, website, where do we go to learn more about the Memphis 13 Foundation and also see the documentary?

- We have a website.

It is called thememphis13.com and right now, and I don't know how long it's going to last, but right now, people are able to go and watch the 30-minute documentary free of charge.

It also has a curriculum for any teachers that are interested in it.

It also has a curriculum.

We're very excited about that.

- Well, Dwania, you are truly an inspiration and a change maker.

I love everything you're doing.

Love you, thank you for coming on the show.

Greatly appreciate it.

- Jeremy, thank you so much for allowing us this opportunity to share our story.

[upbeat music] - They're an organization providing warmth, confidence, and hope to children through basic needs program.

We're here with the executive director of Operation Warm, Grace Sica, and Grace, give us a little backstory on the national efforts and then obviously the efforts here in the Mid-South.

- Absolutely, so Operation Warm is a pretty simple nonprofit.

We provide children in need the gift of a brand new winter coat or brand new athletic shoes.

We've been giving kids brand   new coats for 23 years.

This year we'll give   away 4 million coats,   which is really,   really exciting.

We just started giving away   shoes this year as well.

So we are on track to   give away 100,000 shoes   to children in need.

What makes Operation   Warm distinct   is that we only give   away brand new items.

Used donations have a great   role and are really valuable,   but we believe that the   gift of something new   for children in need gives   them a confidence boost   and a mental boost that   is kinda unparalleled.

So we made that   decision many years ago   and we've stuck to it.

And what really makes   us unique as a nonprofit   is that we manufacture   them ourselves.

So every year we   design the pieces to make sure that the kids are getting colors and styles that are on trend.

And we've been serving this mission across the United States and Canada, like I said, for 23 years.

And in Memphis, we've had the great luck to be distributing coats there for about the last 10 or so.

And we've helped a number of elementary schools and nonprofits in the Memphis community.

- And carry that forward into how you work and collaborate with different organizations like nonprofits, to be able to make sure that the kids receive the coats and the shoes.

- So Operation Warm is really a connector.

We connect funders with direct service agencies.

And so we help to identify organizations that are with high-need kids every day, whether it's a school or a Headstart or a Boys and Girls Club or a church, and we help those organizations fundraise or direct funds from other supporters to provide coats and shoes to those children.

In Memphis specifically, we have a couple of really standout supporters.

FedEx has been an enormous supporter for years and years.

This year, we'll definitely serve some schools in Memphis because they're serving 30 communities across North America.

And we also have another funder, International Paper who has played a really, really great role as well.

- How has the pandemic impacted your efforts?

- Oh, my gosh, it's hard to overstate.

In a normal year, we receive about 150,000 requests.

Last year, that was triple.

So we received 450,000 requests for coats.

This year, it's   tempered a little bit,   but still elevated, 350,000.

So we're definitely seeing   more articulated need   than ever before,   but we've also really seen   people respond appropriately   who have the capacity, lots   of generosity pouring in,   especially as part   of the Giving Tuesday   and other campaigns   and initiatives,   people across the board   that really stepped up   to make those small   contributions that add up.

And for us, those contributions   are really concrete.

Every $25 provides a brand new coat and every $20 provides a brand new pair of shoes.

So all those $20 bills make a really big difference.

- And I think kinda that same idea of something small can have a big impact.

And so what does it mean for the children who have a chance to kinda receive these gifts?

What does it mean from some of the testimonials that you have a chance to be able to see?

- Oh, my gosh, one of my favorite stories of all time is from Memphis.

And so I'm lucky in as far as I get to go to a lot of coat giving events and get to see the joy on kids' faces, but I was outside, I was at a school with FedEx actually, and the volunteers were inside giving coats away to the kids.

And the way that program runs is kind of exceptional   because we pick really   high needs schools   and we give every   kid a brand new coat.

So there's no distinction   of this as a poor kids coat.

It's just an elevation   for the whole community.

And it makes it   really, really joyful.

So I'm at this event and   I'm standing in the doorway   and this little   boy comes up to me   and he could not have been   more than seven years old.

And he slips his hand in   my hand and he looks at me   and he says,   "Is this Christmas?"

And I just melted on the spot.

I was like,   "Something like that."

I think that for all of us   who are fortunate enough to have our basic needs met, food, housing, clothing, it's hard to understand what that type of need and experience is like, but the great thing about kids is their candor.

And they will just tell you like, "Wow, this means so much to me, "this is like a Christmas gift.

"This is the color that I love.

My mom's gonna be so proud."

So there's no shortage of juju at these events to go around.

- Go ahead and wrap up with website, social media and where to go to learn more about Operation Warm.

- Yeah, that's it.

Our big social hashtag is #MoreThanACoat because that's what we like to say that we do.

We give kids more than a coat and we inspire a lot of goodwill and community and joy with the gift of a brand new winter coat.

So look for that hashtag and we really appreciate all the support that we get.

- Well, Grace, thank you so much for all you and your amazing team do.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you for having us, we appreciate it.

[upbeat music] - The Spark Awards annually recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the community.

The 2020 recipient of the   education leadership award   is Dr. Kandi Hill Clarke.

- I have the great privilege to serve as dean of the College of Education at the University of Memphis.

I've been serving in that role since January of 2017.

It was this position that   brought me back to my hometown   as I'm a native Memphian.

As the daughter of a retired Shelby County Schools teacher who served 41 years as a classroom teacher and myself having served as a teacher with Germantown Schools, I know and can sincerely authentically appreciate   the impactful,   hard, challenging,   but yet absolutely rewarding   and amazing work teachers,   principals,   guidance counselors,   and others in our school   systems do each and every day.

For the past three and a half years in the College of Education, we've been on what we've coined as a doing better journey, borrowing from the work of Maya Angelou when you learn better, do better.

So we've really been working hard to create a culture and climate of equity, inclusion, and collaboration, and really increasing our efforts   around community engagement.

In the College of Ed, we housed the Department of Counseling, Ed Psych and Research, the Department of Leadership Dand also the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership.

And in each of our departments,   we have amazing and   impactful work happening   and our newest initiative   that best describes our work around community engagement is the River City partnership.

This is a collaborative   initiative   in partnership with   Shelby County Schools   and our charter   school partners.

This particular initiative is   focused on better preparing   equity minded,   culturally competent,   socially just teachers who are   classroom and student ready   to work in our schools   across the city of Memphis.

If there's any profession that has a direct impact on our community, it is the profession of teaching.

And that's why we're working so hard in the College of Education at the University of Memphis, with our district partners, to ensure that we are better preparing classroom teachers   to go out into classrooms   and make that positive impact   and that difference,   and to see the   impactful engaging work   that is happening in this city   and to see that we're   working together   and to see the beautiful   progress happening in Memphis, warms my heart and puts a smile on my face each and every day.

[soft music] - They're sisters who started a home decor company with a heart for celebrating other entrepreneurs.

We're here with Kristen and Lindsey Archer, co-founders of ARCHd.

And let's start out, you two are going down separate tracks, but you teamed up to create ARCHd.

Give us a little bit of that backstory.

- Yeah, so my background I'm Kristen, this is Lindsey.

My background is in video and photography and Lindsey's is in?

- Graphic design.

- And so when we first started with our image transfers   on wood and marble, I   was doing photography.

Lindsey was doing design and   we had two separate businesses.

Looking back at   those business cards,   the very first time we   cringed a little, that's okay,   everybody's got to   start somewhere.

But then after the first festival, we decided to team together.

- Give us a little bit of just what you do when you talk about ARCHd, it's home decor, but it's a lot.

So how do you describe ARCHd?

- We are a women owned and run business, and we create home decor that celebrates women and cities.

- And when you talk about empowering women, celebrating cities, give us a little bit of how that magic happens, because it's pretty cool in terms of what you've been able to accomplish already.

So how does that magic happen?

- So we started out with the cities.

As a photographer, when I was traveling around capturing photography from different places, that was sort of the first piece of content, if you will, or imagery that we put on the wood and marble.

And then we evolved to   combining my photography   with Lindsey's design   and then Lindsey has a whole   collection of cityscapes.

So that was the city side.

And we try to add a new   city every month or so and we have about 30 right now, and then the feminist line, which is our favorite and what we're passionate about and what we try to carry throughout all parts of our business, Lindsey is gonna tell you how we started that.

- Yes, we started that with a color illustration of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissent collar that she wears   when she shared a   dissenting opinion.

And then we sent her   pieces of that work   and got a handwritten   letter back from her,   just saying how much she   appreciates our artistry   and that she was gonna keep   those pieces in her home   and her chambers.

And I think receiving   that letter from her, just knowing how busy she was and a Supreme Court justice at the time, to hand write a letter back to us, people that had expressed how much she meant to us.

And that kind of just inspired   us to create more work   of other empowered women   that mean a lot to us,   or that share our   values and that expanded   into a whole collection   that is now 11.

And we'll soon be, I think 14.

- Yeah.

- Giving back is a big piece of what you do.

So talk about giving back and supporting nonprofits.

- Yeah, so we decided last, about May of 2020.

We teamed up with a campaign for women doing research for cancer.

And that was the first sort of give back program.

We gave 30% of our sales that month to the American Cancer Society with this researcher's campaign.

And so when we did   that, we were like,   "Dang, this is so much more fun   and so much more meaningful,"   when we use our   art to make money   to give back to   other organizations.

And so we came up with,   we give back every month.

Now we choose a   different organization   every month or   every two months.

And the organization   has to empower women,   uplift the black community   or celebrate the arts.

So October, November, we're giving back to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, and then December, we're doing ArtsMemphis.

- And then celebrating entrepreneurs is something I mentioned at the onset, but you have a whole Project Stories.

Go ahead and elaborate on Project Stories.

- So Project Stories, we created in an effort to celebrate other women business owners   in Memphis.

And we wanted to find   women business owners   who like us, have a specific   product that they're selling.

And one of the things that   people are most interested in   when they don't know   us or just meeting us   is how do you work   with your sister?

I could never work   with your sister.

I could never work   with a family member.

And so the purpose of   the project was to one,   explore the relationships   between the women duos,   but also just to get to know   other women here in Memphis.

- And it was great to   kind of hear their stories   and be able to bring their   stories to life through videos,   through our background and our   skillset of design and video,   and just explore   those relationships   of what make those   women successful.

And a lot of it was just   building on the strengths   of each other.

And that was a common   thread that we found in all of their stories.

- Well, the last question is the easy one.

Where do we go?

Because for what you do, gift giving season year-round, great opportunity, but where do we go to check out all the amazing goods and also to get involved?

So websites, social media, where do we go?

- We are getarchd on everything.

So G-E-T, A-R-C-H-D, so getarchd.com and on all social media, we're at getarchd.

- So getarchd is the verb, so arch is the noun, and when you get arched, you're experiencing ARCHd.

- There you go.

Well, absolutely love everything you two are doing.

Thank you so much for coming on the show.

- Thank you.

- Thanks for having us.

[upbeat music] - Empathy, equity and entrepreneurship are three foundational keys to our community success.

Being able to better understand each other creates a level of empathy that opens our hearts and better connects us together.

Then for our community to thrive, everyone must have access to the resources and support needed to create momentum.

Equity is recognizing that we each have different circumstances and unequal access to opportunities.

So we must continue refining our approach with a lens toward equity and entrepreneurship is the engine that drives economic growth, jobs and financial stability.

Supporting local businesses and those investing in our community is what helps create the ripple effect that leads to more opportunities for us all.

Thankfully, we have so many individuals and organizations like the Memphis 13 Foundation, Operation Warm and ARCHd that continue to bring our community together with empathy, equity, and entrepreneurship.

As we wrap up our ninth year, thank you for your continued support of The Spark.

To learn more about each of the guests, to watch past episodes and to share your stories of others leading by example, visit wkno.org and click on the link for The Spark.

We look forward to seeing you next month, as we kick off year number 10, and we hope that you'll continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

Happy holidays.

- Lipscomb and Pitts Insurance   is honored to serve the Memphis   community for over 60 years.

We've always focused on   supporting our community   and believe in   promoting the positives,   encouraging engagement   and leading by example.

Lipscomb and Pitts and Insurance is proud to be a presenting sponsor for Spark.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]