Host Sharon Hinton invites guest Nathan Simms to the show to discuss his journey through university and his career, his non-profit work with Boston youth and school students, the effects of gentrification on Boston neighborhoods and resources for students, experiences working for Northeastern University and Roxbury Community College, his future aspirations, & more.
WBCA Podcasts
Black Teachers Matter
(upbeat music) - Welcome to another edition of Black Teacher's Matter. I'm your host and producer, Sharon Eaton Hinton. And we're here at WBCALP-102.9 FM in Boston where Boston's community radio station. And I have a dynamic guest. I've actually known him for quite some time. His name is Nathan Sims. Nathan is the director of government relations and public policy at MMP. We'll tell you what MMP stands for in a minute. Rainmaker, activist, dynamic, innovative, passionate, nonprofit leader, tactician, strategist. He is an alum of Northeastern University, whoop, whoop. And I'll read you what he has on his LinkedIn page. So when you go to hire him to get him before he makes all these millions and you can't afford him, a young black, dynamic, passionate, and innovative leader who specializes in public speaking, event management, group facilitation, and nurturing strategic partnerships and relationships with an emphasis on community and governmental affairs. He's advanced with Microsoft Office, certified peer mediator leadership, social perceptiveness, critical thinking, advanced judgment and decision making, program management and coordination, advanced written in oral comprehension and expression, time management, positive attitude, professionalism, adaptability, strong work ethic, problem solving, team player, acceptance learns from criticism, communication and interpersonal skills, problem sensitivity, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, excellent organizational ability, ability to network and cultivate relationships, ability to prioritize assignments, in-depth knowledge of local community organizations and elected officials, advanced experience with special events and project management and you can add lobbyists to that and his quote is empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. That's not an original, that is from Bruce Lee. Hello and welcome Nate, I call him Nate Sims and I realize I've known him for almost 20 years now which I can't, I'm only like 29, I can't know you that long. (laughs) But I have to tell you, I have known this dynamic man since he was a teenager and I knew he was a leader. Back then, I knew he was a leader, he was different and all teachers say, you know, just like all mothers say, you know, they're all special, they're all my number one but I have to tell you that he was one of the young men that was closest to me as we were moving and shaking on Northeastern University's campus. Some things I can tell you about, other things, you know, if I told you I'd have to kill you. So, 'cause we were definitely shaking it up and I saw the public speaking aspect of him when I called on him as a mentee and as one of my students and then legacy mentors. So welcome Nate. Hey, thank you so much Ms. H, I appreciate you having me. I'm listening to that LinkedIn description, I'm like, oh, that sounds a lot better being read out loud. And I'm like that, all right. I think I want you to do mine now. I'm like, I've got that, I've got that, I've got that. You know, with AI nowadays, you gotta put in certain key terms, right, they're looking for soft skills as well as hard skills, so. You know, I'm still trying to be undercover, I think. I don't think I really want them to know all of what I do, 'cause when you're too effective, then you attract light attracts flies and butterflies and mosquitoes. And so, I'm not sure, but I think I may want you to write my LinkedIn. I don't have all of that. And I definitely, I've got some quotes I could put there, but I do remember that be like Walter Grasshopper. Yeah, that was into the dragon. Yeah, yeah, you can't show them too much up front, 'cause they gotta expect everything without ever being able to cross anything back over, so. Now you have come a long way from in a lot of different ways, and I haven't seen you for a while. I see your sister all the time, and she's just amazing, but she's not here tonight, so we're gonna talk to you. Where have you been since you left Northeastern? I mean, I see what you've been doing, which is the extension of where you were in the first place. But what have you been doing? You had a stint at RCC, but you did something before that, so catch me up from Northeastern to now. Yeah, well, shout out to my sister, Cadess Sims. First off, you know, she paved the way for me to be able to go through Northeastern, to be able to go through Latin Academy. And in the timeframe from since I've been at Northeastern from undergrad, I feel like I've lived the journey of a thousand lifetimes. I feel like I've been there, and back again, everywhere, all at once, all the time. Really where I feel like I've been is in a better place from that mind frame and that mentality going through college, 'cause a lot of that time for me to focus was really just on getting through, you know, I lost my brother during that, during undergrad, you know, my mom got deported, and so my focus was really just on tunnel vision, going through the criminal justice program, and I landed on my feet afterwards, right? They didn't think that we was gonna make it, but, you know, we had to prove everybody wrong and push through. So right after I finished Northeastern University, I had been working at Best Buy for Geek Squad. I had been doing that as part of my co-op, so I was doing that maybe from like junior year. And then I really wanted to focus on what I was gonna put my time towards. I didn't want just to get like a regular nine to five. I ended up finishing with my bachelor's in criminal justice with a minor in political science. And so working through Geek Squad was really just kind of like a means to an ends. I had to fulfill the rest of my co-op. It was a good part time gig. I was able to learn a lot about technology and I was good with people, and so that worked out. But then it got to the point where I really understood the limited upward mobility in terms of what I wanted to do as far as my career path. So it was either I stayed with Best Buy and put more time and effort, or actually utilize my degree or some of my previous work experience, things that I did through college, like working through summer programs or volunteering in high school. So I was fortunate. I applied for AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is like one of the largest volunteer domestic programs in the United States. I've actually been having a lot of issues with their funding recently, 'cause volunteerism has gone down significantly, especially since the pandemic. So I did AmeriCorps for a year, a lot of benefits towards it. They gave you credit towards your loans. You got like a stipend. You got a teapass. And I was working with this program called Peace First. And basically the premise of Peace First is the first half of the year, you focus on playing games with students, basically from like K, actually went from pre-K upwards until eighth grade. And so they're like conflict resolution games, team building games, things like that, just to kind of build the rapport and the relationship. - And where were you located? Were you in BPS or where were you? - Yeah, so I was actually working out of two schools. I was working out of Holmes Elementary, which is right over Dorchester, off of Washington Street. And I was actually working at Mission Grammar, which is right off St. Alfonso Centremont. So I split my time between both schools over the period of the year. And doing that work with that organization was really good, 'cause basically Peace First was one of the subset programs of AmeriCorps. So we would do peacemaking games at the start of the school year, and then the second half of the school year, we would focus on some type of topic or issue that was important to the youth, and essentially have them utilize the skills that they developed through cooperation and through the piece games that they would play to basically put together some type of project. So some students would create like an informational book. They would do like a promo video, or they would do like a campaign, things about gun violence, animal cruelty, immigration, anything that was really important to them. So I had a good time doing that with AmeriCorps. I got to learn a lot about myself. I was working with Pre-K all the way up into eighth grade, a couple of grades in between. And as a matter of fact, when I was finishing my time with Peace First, I was tabling at an event towards the end of the year. And I ran into the first-- - What do you mean tabling? - So tabling basically like where you work with the organization, and you basically go to like a community event, and you provide your resources. You're usually alongside other organizations that do similar work, and just give people opportunities either to hear more about the work you're doing or to sign up. So lots of nonprofit organizations, table at events, or lots of colleges do that as well. So I had been tabling at this event, and I actually ran into the executive director at the time for Burj Street Community Center. And I had worked with her in high school, which is so funny, right? The importance of networking and building relationships. So this was maybe, I was like 17, 18 working in Burj Street, and now I'm like 23. And she remembered me from the timeframe. I told her I was looking for a position. She was like, as a matter of fact, we have a leadership coordinator position open. I think that you'd be perfect for it. It's great to see what you're doing and your progression. So we met up maybe like a week or two later, and I actually got a job offer before I officially finished my term doing an AmeriCorps. So it was a great time. It was a great time. So I officially started working with Burj Street. I think this was maybe around like 2013 or 2012 timeframe. Burj Street Community Center over by-- - Let me around. Let me around. - By the Columbia Road. So I had worked there in high school. Like I mentioned previously, that's where I got my certification as a peer mediator. And then I spent like a good three years or so working at Burj Street, started off as leadership coordinator, then got promoted to manager of workforce development and youth leadership. And essentially in my role at Burj Street, I would focus on organizing the youth councils, middle school, high school. I would also manage the volunteers that would come into the center. So we had volunteers that was coming from Northeastern, BU, BC, Emerson, and basically just give them an opportunity to officially connect and work with members of the community. And then we'd have like sports events that I would support. And any time there was any type of relation with officials or interactions. So we would have, we had former, he was state rep at that time, labor secretary, former labor secretary. - Former labor secretary. - Yeah. So that was the first time I connected with Walt, as a matter of fact. He came through when he was campaigning. I got a great picture with him way back. So I tried to keep a good track record. We had Senator Linda DeScenta 4. We'd come through the community center. So it was really just kind of like a public facing role in terms of community partnerships. I would go to different coalition meetings. I would work with DS&I. That's a Dudley Street neighborhood initiative. I would work with the Dorchester-- - And when you say work with, break that down. When you say work with were you the community liaison and you were bringing resources, you were getting funding, you were training them. Like what was that work? - The first part of it would just be showing up and being responsive. So it would be a lot of cross collaboration. We'd basically try to find areas where we could supplement or support each other's work. And sometimes, well, most often for us, that would be bringing youth because it was a community center. So anytime any of the local organizations were having an event and they wanted to do some outreach and they wanted the young people to show up, that's basically where we'd usually connect with them. There would be different forms of strategic planning. I was part of the youth jobs coalition. They would do a rally at the state house. So we would bring our youth with organizations like Dudley Street neighborhood initiative. They would have summer programming. So we would get some of our youth job opportunities. It took a myriad of forms. - So how many young people were you actually working with? - Oh at Bird Street, there was hundreds. There was hundreds that would come through. I would say in terms of like the core dedicated group that I would work with between the middle school and high school youth councils, it was about 20 each. So like 40 directly. And then I would say like at least 50 to 100 indirectly. Just being in the gym, being in the computer lab, going on events, going off field trips, things like that. - Now while you were working with these young people, and I grew up around the area, so I know back in the day, Bird Street was part of the dividing line between the black community and the white community. Like if you went Bird Street to the strand, most times you were cool. On the other side, you had to fight your way back. And then there's, you know, the demographics of the neighborhood started changing, including more Latino youth and more Cape Verdean youth. I mean, there's just people who started, you know, mix and match and then the neighborhoods themselves either through gentrification or being pushed out and stuff. So did that happen or what were the demographics of the youth that you were dealing with at that time? - Yeah, you know, that was at a point where you could really start to see a lot of the signs of gentrification, there was significant uptick in terms of construction, renovation all around the area. You would also see the signs of social deprivation, right? So, you know, you got the fiends out on the corner, you got the families that's, you know, not looking like they're doing too well. And I would feel like the demographics in terms of Bird Street was really reflective of like black and brown Boston. We were partnered, we were in the same building and we shared the building with the health center as well as the public library. And so in terms of accessibility and resources, you would have entire generations of families coming through to that building. And so, I mean, Bird Street was in the hood. I'm not gonna lie, that's just where it was. Like, you grew up with kids who was from around the way who was in the hood and you came from kids who, you know, you felt like whatever it was, wherever it was that they came from, or, you know, you didn't want to put any predispositions or treat pre-judgments on. What you wanted to do was be able to create a safe and reliable space where they know that they can come for specific support, specific resources. And even just the opportunity, just to kind of clear their minds off of things. So some kids would come to Bird Street at one o'clock in the afternoon and they wouldn't leave until eight o'clock at night every day. And whatever it was that that time for us did fit into the students, you know, I always look back on it as one of the happiest points in my life where I really felt like I was really contributing. And I was still, you felt still a little bit green, right? It was just like my first full-time career salary job. So it was definitely a learning trend, but I look back towards it with all good feelings. And I actually have some real good contacts now, even to this day that I've connected with me from Bird Street, from some of my students who have graduated from college, from board members who've put me on, from a different board member, 'cause I needed to follow up on that PSLF loan thing, you know, the loan stuff they was doing. So I'm like, yo, I need someone to sign off from my time that I spent working at this community center so I can make sure y'all take off, you know, whatever it was, 120 months. - Right, right. - So yeah, connections are important. They're building those relationships. - So then the other thing is that, so it was Bird Street, and then you left Bird Street and you went where? - So while I was at Bird Street Community Center, I started in the master's program at Northeast University. So I got accepted for the Martin Luther King Junior Fellowship, and that basically was an award offered by the African-American Institute that was given to people who have a focus on leadership and community service. So halfway through the program, I was maybe about a year in, there was an opportunity that opened up at Northeastern, actually a good friend of mine, shout out, Mr. Ken Francis put me onto it and he was like, "Man, nay, I think you'd be a great fit for it." I'm like, well, you know, no time like the president to make a return back and working with the university also qualified me to be able to take classes for free. So I was actually able to give up that other half of my scholarship and they were actually able to bring in another person. 'Cause that's how I was thinking about it. I'm like, well, hey, if I could support someone else, bring them back and have them have this money be put in their pocket while the university is paying for me. 'Cause my philosophy with Northeastern is like, "Hey, they keep paying me, I keep coming back." So through my education, through my finance, through my income. So I was at Northeastern as a community outreach coordinator working in the office of city and community affairs. - Now who was the head of that when you were working there? - The head of that office was Mr. John Tobin, former city counselor, he's a partial owner for laugh bossing, really good solid dude. John, I felt like really showed me the ropes, had me understand just about navigating different industries and dealing with different people. And John is a white dude too, right? White dude from Westie. But I feel like in terms of our alignment and our connection, John was always, and is always a straightforward person. I actually use him as one of my references to this very day. So working with John Tobin and Dave Isberg, Dave was his chief of staff. He's a former sheriff too as well. They just had serious connections within the city, understood the ins and outs, who to go to, who to talk to, the importance of accountability, as well as proactive and reactive work. - So if you just turned in, you're listening to WBCA, LP 102.9 FM in Boston. This is Black Teacher's Matter, another episode with my special guest. He's actually one of my sons, kind of I have to claim. - Definitely. - Nathan Sims is one of my sons that I met in Northeastern is a dynamic undergraduate. This is the Boston's Community Radio Station. We are here live this evening. It will be rebroadcast or a podcast on Spotify. We're live now in Spotify and Podbeam and all these other formats. And we're here at B&N Media here, right in beautiful uptown, downtown. I guess it's uptown, Roxbury. And not too far from RCC, which is where I wanna bring you in your journey from, 'cause you would lighten fires. I mean, you were always a firebrand and you always were a truth teller, which I always loved about you. That's why you and I, our spirits connected. It was no, it was straight, no chase. There was no BS, no butter. So, and so did you go straight from where you were in Northeastern to, 'cause you seem to be in the same as I'm listening to the themes of where you are. Youth, community, activism, teaching, mentoring, which we'll talk about bringing you up to where you are now, but where did you go after Bird Street and then where was the connection, the segue to RCC? - Well, you know, I appreciate you mentioning first for, you know, claiming me as a son, 'cause I definitely claim you as a mom too, just your support as such a trying time in my life and us being able to have like a two decade relationship really means a lot to me. It's interesting, the point you make about being someone who speaks within their truths, 'cause I'm one of those people who, if I say I'm gonna do something, I do it. If I say I can't, I don't. And it's very rare to be able to find people like that. And the thing about the truth is that it definitely comes at a cost, right, because of sacrifice. There's the importance of your message. Oftentimes, it's not what the message is, but how it is delivered. And there's certain points where you really just got to be honest and sometimes having to stand in that place, even when everyone thinks that they're right. And you know, they're telling you that you're wrong, that takes sacrifice. So I've been working with Northeastern for about like a good two, three and a half years. And then I finished a master's program. So I ended up getting my master's in nonprofit management with the concentration and leadership. However, there was just limited mobility within Northeastern, specifically because basically all like the vice president or the head of office roles, they were typically people that were much farther in their careers. I mean, like my boss was a former politician, right? You had a former DA who was like the head of risk assessment. And so I knew I had to step away from the university to really come back, to be welcomed back and to be able to show that I had that merit to have a leadership position within the university. So after I finished the master's program, opportunity came across my way at RCC, Roxbury Community College. I was a position for a director for government relations and community affairs, something to that. Basically it was external affairs in terms of the role. And a lot of people had worried me about what it was gonna be like going to RCC. It was like, you know, out of the frying pan and into the fire. But at the same time, right, this was maybe like 2019, 2020. I had to focus on exactly where I was going, what my career was gonna look like. You know, I was already, I was a coordinator, but I felt like I wanted to be on a directed level, to have the money start to match up with where my master's was and my education and really just put more value in myself. And so I started with RCC and what was that? I think fall of 2019. And then we all know what happened in spring of 2020. - No, we don't. Actually our viewers and our listeners don't know what happened. I mean, I've read the press releases and the GBH, WGBH coverage, the letter that you were involved in. - Tori, thank you, Tori Bedford, who did an article. She did an article about, you know, Rock 'Til the title, if you guys want to go there. - Oh, I was talking about the pandemic happening in 2020. - Oh, no, no, no. I'm looking at that thing. That was too, but the Roxbury Community College president to step down following reports of mismanagement. That was November 30th, 2020. But you can bring us up to that little pandemic thing. I'm sure that exacerbated the situation. - Yeah, exactly. So my role primarily had been external in community facing. And essentially I would handle any inquiries that would come from like local state or federal officials, particularly for like accessibility on campus. 'Cause as a community college, Roxbury Community College is also a state school. And so we would have different executive offices from the governor's cabinet come by. We'd have Congresswoman Prepsley come by at the time. It was, what's it, Mayor Wu? I think Mayor Wu, it was before she was actually Mayor. So Marty Walsh would come through to campus. And basically once the pandemic hit, it was pretty much a complete shift in my role and my responsibilities because basically everything turned from being in-person to all being virtual. And so there was some time kind of going through and figuring out exactly what that looked like. And meanwhile, RCC had already been embroiled in years of conflict. There was a lot of people. - A lot of turnover manager really, especially at the top. - Especially at the top, right? And so in particular, they were able to pinpoint some individuals within the administration who were really central to that, where they created like a culture of fear and intimidation and underhandedness. And you know, like you said for me, I'm a person for the truth. And so as soon as I started really getting an understanding of what was going on, those types of things just don't sit well with my stomach. I feel like I'm just allergic to it. I've been able to be a person that can be in fake places, deal with disingenuous people. And oftentimes that will create conflict, that will create differences of opinion. I mean, we could have a prime example as like the person who handled marketing for RCC. You know, happened to be a white woman from like Delaware, right? Nothing wrong with white women, nothing wrong with people from Delaware. But when you wanna understand the context of a community, understand the history, especially with a place like RCC, you wanna have somebody at that table who can directly connect and relate to that. So me being from Roxbury, me being born in Bretton Boston and having my education right out of the street, it created an inevitable conflict between the innocent individual. That was also contributed to by the individual directly reporting to at that time, the former president and the former vice president, I guess you would say, Valerie Robertson and Cecile Regner, who were really the ones that were, you know, behind the whole cultural fear, removing people. They would have this term that was called retrenchment. So they were doing, RCC was redoing the website in response to the pandemic 'cause they had to shift gears, people weren't on campus. And so they weren't even on the point where they could really properly offer accessibility to classes online. And so as part of doing the website, I had been aware that there had been a significant difference between the state contracts that had been awarded in terms of state funding to MWBE, minority women owned businesses of color. And so this was a multi-million dollar contract. And with us being a college primarily for people of color in the community of color, I felt like it was in our best interest to actually take a stand, used whatever discretion we're able to have, even though there's a specific drawn out process, but there's a certain amount of weight that you can apply towards different vendors that are going through bids. - Especially during the pandemic, 'cause that was a different whole mechanism to try to refund people and there was federal money coming up front, just trying to keep people in business. Go ahead, I'm sorry. No, exactly, no, like you get it, right? And so with Massachusetts being one of the most progressive states in terms of what laws are on the book, but being one of the most disparaging states in terms of the actuality of the reality between the disparities of people of color, those who have and those who do not, I felt like it was my obligation to actually speak up and be like, well, hey, we have an opportunity, let's put a little bit more weight towards, you know, a black or brown or woman owned business that might be able to support us in our website redevelopment. And basically what I was met with was just complete vitriol. It was like, oh, you're undermining the process, you're questioning the way that we go about and do things. And it's like, no, I'm not trying to undermine anything or questioning anything. What I'm trying to do is help you all realign and prioritize and also-- - Make it better. - You know, put your money where your mouth is in terms of your community investment, because this is another prime example, you want black and brown people to come to this black and brown college, but you wanna give the multimillion dollar contract to a white vendor. That's how it always goes. - Make it make sense. - Make it make sense to me, right? And so it was this whole back and forth process in terms of like dealing with the committee and just expressing my, you know, my discontent at the time. And it basically drew an additional rift between me and the person who was in the head of marketing at the time frame. Then maybe like a month or two later, I got a call from the person who was the new VP, right? They was getting a new VP like every six months. It was like an involvement door. I'm like, okay, what are you VP of now? I've only been here for like a year and a half, but you like the fourth person. - Wow, that's a serious turnover. - Serious turnover, just at that level. And basically they retrenched my position, which was pretty much a removal of the position with no justification. And the reasoning was a shift in the change, a shift in the priorities of the college. - Is that what they call, is it the retrenchment? - Yeah, retrenchment. Look it up as one of those. - Down sizing and eliminating and retrenchment, okay, retrenchment got you. And for me, it was basically another word for getting rid of this Negro who felt like he had to speak too much out of turn 'cause he was trying to look out for his people and it ended up being something that was conflicting with what the leadership was and it was undermining them. - So the Negro, come on. - I mean, that's what it was. I was gonna say the other word but I realize I'm on the radio too, so. - Yeah. - And so, as a result of that, basically coming out of the pandemic, this was like maybe 2021 now, like August 2021, June 2021. I'm out of a job. I'm out of my element in terms of my community. I hadn't been let go from a position before. And so prioritizing really what mattered and where I wanted my life to go was a big thing. - So let's roll back for a second because I did a show last night with Siddiqui Kanban. And I do my research. I don't care how long I've known you. I still look you up and see what's out there. That's outside of what I may know of you and the relationship with you wherever else. Whoops, wherever else I'm interviewing, right? And I found this piece last night. I think it was a WGBH or whatever but it was about RCC. No, actually it was from RCC. And then there was another piece about the fact that RCC is the only, they're getting funding now as an HBCU because they're the blackest college in this region. And so they were that back then. And the whole piece about RCC being what it is, where it is was specifically to help the population of students of color who couldn't necessarily get into the MITs and the Northeastern and the, you know, to be used all these other premier colleges even though at one point Northeastern was the second choice. It was like a, it was the safety for working and it was supposed to be designed for working students, people that were adults already or people that needed to be able to work to go to school and then now it's morphed into something else. But, so RCC was supposed to be there for us, right? Black people. And it's still primarily a black college. However, how did that feel being from here, from this neighborhood working through some of the elite schools, getting all this training? And you have a black woman who is the president and they let you go. Tell me that part. - You know, it was devastating. I felt like my whole life had been leading up to that point. I actually felt like it still was leading up to that point based off everything that happened afterwards. But it was like, this is the place where I should be accepted. This is the place where I can use what I have been blessed with in terms of skills for organizing, connecting with people. This is why I'm able to give back to my community. And you know how they say, it being your own people sometimes, right? That's pretty much what it was. She basically just left me hanging out to drive, took the feedback of her advisors, you know, other white people. And she ended up really just being like a shell of a leader. Very much like the puppet. And it was really the puppeteers that was driving her. It's unfortunate because I had a lot of love for Dr. Valerie Robertson. But you know, she allowed herself to be manipulated and made her own choices and decisions too as well. But the amount of attention and negativity that she received as being the public figurehead is also very consistent with the way in which they demonize or criminalize black people in the media too. So you guys are gonna go and, you know, try to attack this, the black lady when it's really, you know, the other people that are in there supporting her and giving her this type of advice. So it was devastating. So how does that go? Knowing that, and I'm, you know, I'm getting you, I'm getting you coolly down with the flavor and stuff like that because I think we're at a crucial time. We're black people, however you define black 'cause a lot of people are defining that in different ways right now. There has been sacrifices in legislation and movements and all of this to redress the effects of enslaved people in this country that built this country. And so, and you're from Boston. You're from here. Supposedly, this institution was designed specifically to empower young black men like you. And then you're in this situation where you can give back and you can pay it forward and yet you are marginalized and then isolated and then eliminated. How do you bounce back from that? - Yeah, exactly what the institution was supposed to do in terms of supporting uplifting, it did the opposite. They hit me while I was down and it felt like a stab in the back but they didn't stab deep enough. And my thing is if you're gonna come after me or you wanna mess up whatever it is, that's my livelihood, then make sure there's no opportunity for me to return the favor 'cause every setback is a set up for a comeback and I typically use my motivation and frustrations and apply that towards like actual writing and giving speeches. And so when this happened, it took a couple months to get my mind right, to start going through therapy. There was a lot of questions just about myself like if I was right for the position. And then there was just also the burden. I was having to go through my savings because there was bills that I had to pay and at the time I was just collecting unemployment partially. And so what it really ended up taking was remembering where I had come from. - So that sounds like the line from Black Panther. You know, to China, so then who you are. (laughing) - I remember where I came from. You know, my parents are Jamaican, my dads are also foreign. I knew where I was born, I knew where I was bred. I knew that the likelihood of my survival up until that point was something that should not have happened. And also if I, basically from what I went through through high school and going through college, I felt like if I made it through that, I could make it through anything. And so the most important part was about having good people around me, my family supported my partner and being able just to get myself back up, get myself back on the horse. And that's not just through positive thinking or just talking about it, right? You actually had to, I actually had to do things and put things into motion. So you know, you gotta update the resume and research positions and focus on cover letters and just do those things. And there was some moments where I would be applying for jobs or being prepared for interview and I would just feel overwhelmed, right? I would just feel like it's so daunting. 'Cause I waited maybe like a good four months before I started applying. 'Cause I really wanted to be intentional about the next role. And then whenever I would just get in that headspace, you know, I just had to pull out my Rocky radio, right? Guess to get some eye, the tiger, some burning heart. I got my Capricorn, so I'm very much influenced by music and you're not gonna do anything walling and self-pity. And I knew that to be able to get myself out of it, I had to put certain things in place and apply and put my efforts forth. And at the same time, I wasn't taking no shorts from RCC. I was like, oh, you guys must have picked the wrong one and the right one today. Because I happened to be very well positioned to be able to work with individuals to elevate and multiply the response as a result of the administrative actions. Because it was a lot of drawback too. When people found out that I wasn't at RCC no more, they're like, wait, you, why, what happened? And already with the administration's history of getting rid of people losing the nursing program, there were a group of individuals. So, you know, definitely shout out to the OG Siddiqui. He's been doing a lot of good work with RCC. He's been invested with them for decades and he had been working with the friends of RCC at the time. There was also a mentor of mine, Keith McDermott. He used to be the executive director for the Regiloua Center and he had also been disenfranchised by the college. So me getting removed from RCC set me up on a whole other path to connect with a whole different set of people that I otherwise may have not had the access to. And so there were some employees who would work there recently, a group of women who, you know, don't want to identify them, but just want to make sure I acknowledge them. And they were really the brains behind the operation. And so we basically mobilized a group of us together and were able to target the specific legislators and officials that we felt like would have influence or an impact on what was happening at RCC. So you mentioned the letter previously, right? One of the genius women who I was working with, they drafted this letter. It was sent to the governor's office. And then once I got involved in it, it was sent to the chair for higher ed. Then we sent it to the officials for RCC, the state officials, the federal officials. We even sent it to the city councilors. And then we had a chance to make sure that Sheriff Tompkins received it, who was board chair at the time, frame not sure how that works, having a conflict of interest, being a publicly elected official, but also being the chair of a board. But that's not my thing. I guess it's just one of the things about speaking truth. It worked, right? I mean, in some ways it worked, more ways it didn't. But you know, that's another conversation because he don't talk to people properly. So we made sure that that got to him. And pretty much it was just like, all right, look, this is happening under y'all watch. You guys are the board of trustees. You have duty of care, you have duty of loyalty. You're allowing for these people that are external implants to come into our community, disenfranchised people, mess up the education for black or brown kids and the young adults who's trying to move forward. You're messing up the livelihoods of people that are trying to work to make it in this most expensive city, in this most expensive state on the continental United States. And it was just really the icing on the cake. And so once we really started mobilizing and bringing the awareness, it wasn't just like, you know, the regular, oh, yeah, RCC is having this issue here. RCC is having this issue there. No, it was people mobilizing, advocating, getting together. What this led to, oh, sorry, I got a message. No, no, no, no, no, no. So here's the deal. You're talking strategy, you're talking organizing, you're talking, getting together and having specific outcomes and networking and all that other good stuff. Here's what I wanna do. If you just tuned in, you're listening to Black Teachers Matter and we haven't lessened up in here, up in here, on how to be water grasshopper. WBCA LP 102.9 FM. This is Boston's community radio station. I'm your host, Sharon Eaton Hinton. My guest is the dynamic, lobbyist and mentoring magician, Nathan Sims. We're gonna get back into how he made this transition from being a revolutionary, I always knew him to be. So where he is right now, and we've got a few more moments. Don't leave, stay right here, here at WBCA LP 102.9 FM. In Boston, we are a Boston's community radio station. Acologist, social worker, drug expert, sex counselor, substitute parent and friend. Now those are some of the things teachers have to be before they even get down to teaching. Now the more you know what it takes to be a teacher today, the more you realize that it's one of the toughest, most important jobs in the world. So what can you do to thank your teacher? It's simple. I'm not. This newspaper's got good news and bad news. The good news is that it's loaded with jobs for accountants and lawyers and nurses and carpenters and every other kind of skilled worker. The bad news is that there isn't a single ad for a school dropout, at least nothing you'd want. The more you know how tough things are for school dropouts, the more you'll see you have no choice. You have to stay in school. Think about it. I can't believe that some of you guys still think it's cool to drink and drive. Well, read my lips. Anybody that's going to drive me home has got to be in condition to get me there in one piece. The more you know how I feel about drinking and driving, the more you know that if you drink and drive, I'm not going anywhere with you. But if you happen to be the designated driver, well, you can take me home anytime. No, no, no, help me out here. It's a punching bag, right? I mean, it doesn't talk, doesn't laugh. Your shoe doesn't give you a hug when you need one. Yet, some of you insist on mistaking your children for it. How's that possible? I mean, when you hit the punching bag, it doesn't cry. Back in the fifth grade, I had a favorite school past time. Teacher, torture, poor Mrs. Scholdenfry. A left fake vomit on her desk, set off stick bombs at lunch, painted the glass hamster light blue. And the thing was, I liked Mrs. Scholdenfry, and she liked me. And I learned a lot that year. So to all the teachers who helped kids learn in spite of themselves, thanks. And Mrs. Scholdenfry, do you find those dead frog parts? Some guys will try to tell you that hanging out on the street and messing with guns gets you respect. Well, they're wrong. They're dead wrong. Because sooner or later, you're going to kill someone, and you're going to do time for it. Well, someone's going to blow you away because they know you're on it. Don't kid yourself, man. You know what happens to guys who carry guns? Why is it up? It's your life we're talking about. Don't let a gun kill your future. You know, we're in the middle of the summertime, and I'm loving it. This is my time of the year. Yeah, yeah. And with it, it's coming. It be a common. No joke. But actually, the fact that I woke up this morning is amazing every single day of my life. Somebody went to sleep last night and they didn't wake up this morning, and they had plans, too. And so I thank God. It's so funny when I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking about where you were and where you are. And so we want to talk about where you're going. I want to wrap up the story with RCC, because that's already what happened. But it sets you up for another comeback, right? So take me to this cool, this little meeting. Cool. It is definitely a cool, yeah, you know. I'm actually a fall and winter person, too. You know, it's a cold world, but I was born in the winter. So that's usually my element. I could wear all my cool coats. But this actually happened in the winters, right? So this was around like November, December, and they RCC would typically have their border trustee meetings. Normally, you might have maybe like a handful of people, maybe 10, max, maybe 12 or 15. For this meeting, based off of all the letters that we had sent out, all the attraction that we was gaining in terms of news coverage and the awareness, the meeting had like 95 people on it as soon as it started. And so they started off the meeting, the trustees trying to kind of, you know, calm everything down. And, you know, they muted the chat, right? You're going to mute a chat for a public meeting, for a community college or whatever. And it started off-- It's called control. Yeah, control, right? Like violation of control, more like abuse of authority. And the meeting started off with the former president at that time, actually choosing to resign. She started off the meeting and said, hey, I'm going to be resigning. And everybody was like, all right, that's great. That's good news. But what about your number two? What about the told white lady that was pulling the strings that was supposed to be your mentor, the one who was really messing up with everybody? We want to hear about her. And the messing up was really misappropriation of funds where people that weren't getting paid contractually, there was money that was supposed to be in one place, and it wasn't showing up over someplace else, right? So so many layers of things. And so we went through the entire meeting, gave some public testimony at the end. We definitely filleted them, for sure. They heard our voices, and it was felt, and that's when the article came out afterwards. So fortunately, Dr. Robertson resigned, as well as her crony, Cecile recognition resigned. But we still got some informers in place, like that marketing director who's still making money off the black and brown people at the cost of further in her own personal career. But the memory is long time too. So every dog is going to have his day, and the debt must be paid. Sims always pays their debts. And it's not over yet, because I actually had a show last night, my cable TV show on another level, on Comcast, channel 6. And Siddiqui Cambone is fighting for the employees that have been released and ceremoniously kicked out, walked out, like they were criminals from the Reggie Lewis Center. I heard about that. And that's so that's still happening. And unfortunately, you've got all this trouble in all this turmoil and this insecurity in a place that black students need, because in New England, there is nothing like that. - Yeah, you know, our RCC has still been fraught with a lot of issues. You know, fortunately, we had Jackie Jenkins Scott, who came through as a president. - It's just amazing, but that was interim. - Interim, you know. So now they're going through what they're doing. And it's important for people to be invested in the community. I had to shift gears in terms of like, what my actual focus was like in terms of being a stakeholder. Of course, like keeping, you know, RCC in my heart, but based off of the area I live in, being in Dorchester and the work I was trying to do, stay wide, you know, at this time, when we're trying to overcome the administration, of course, I'm trying to secure some work, right? It was not long that I was able to last off of my savings, fortunate that I even had any at the timeframe. And so I looked into a couple of different positions, really trying to align with what my experience had done, really bringing it all together, understanding that RCC was the next stepping point, and it really put me in a position to focus on what I wanted to do. But then I had a couple of criteria, right? I wasn't trying to work at a certain size organization. I was not trying to report to a white person, particularly within certain roles or positions, because it just felt like that had always been one of the core parts of contention between a lot of the work that I was doing. It's kind of like, oh, hey, you know, we got this dude who's in the field, and he ain't trying to go along. So we're going to switch him to another plantation, or another plantation, as a matter of fact, a matter of fact, fun fact. Jamaica was where they used to send all the troublesome. - That's right. - You know, people back in the day. So it makes sense, 'cause I like to think of myself as like the modern freedom fighter, right? The way that you had people who had to run off the plantations, you had people who had to sit at the countertops, and now you got individuals like myself who have to put ourself in these places to make sure we represent our people, whether it's the boardroom, whether it's the state house. And so, as a matter of fact, I had been doing a couple of months of work, I'd been interviewing for different positions, and I actually got, I was blessed with the opportunity to have two offers at the timeframe. And I know my life diverged on different paths, 'cause I could see the reality where I took the other position. One was going to be a director working with a Cambridge at a community center. So I was kind of going to go back to my bird street roots, where I work with kids. But it was all in person, right? Five days a week, I just wasn't ready for that mentally. And then the other opportunity had come through, which is the one that I was really going for, which is my current role as director for government relations and public policy with mass mentoring partnership, in which role I actually also serve as a lobbyist advocating for mentoring programs and increase investment for mentoring programs, as well as raising awareness around legislation that supports nurturing mentoring relationships. - And so hold on right there. 'Cause I'm looking at God in your life. And you were one of the key student leaders. (laughs) At the African American Institute, at Northeast University, with the legacy mentoring group. And so for you to be a mentee, and then I remember recruiting students of color onto the campus and the student of color overnight. And we were working with the administration, working with all these departments, working with admissions, working with res life, working with spiritual life and the African American Institute and Latino center and Asian American center, recruiting students on campus and reaching out and having to negotiate the administration at Northeast University. And then now you're getting paid to do that at another level. - Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, if you get it, something never do it for free. - Yeah. Wait, wait, wait, go back and say that again. Say that when again, that part. - That's one of my quotes for favorite quotes from the "Dark Night" movie. You know, the joke was, he wasn't a good guy in the movie, but he was smart. So you got to respect him. But like how you started off really all praise to the most high, you know, job bless, give thanks. I think I woke up this morning 'cause all things go through God. That energy, that motivation that I found that I couldn't find within myself, I had to look without and reach out to the Lord and that was what was able to drive me and motivate me to get that within. And it has just been a progression. I feel like everything that has happened has, God, God is not gonna give you things that you're not supposed to take. And he's not gonna have you go through things unless you're able to bear the burden. - He'll give you what you need to get through it. Now, I mean, we got about 10 minutes left, a little bit more than that. And I wanna, moment of reflection, the situation that happened with your brother to me seemed like a major, major turning point. I mean, I remember the intensity of you surviving because some of the stuff that you've gone through, he could have been you, but it was him. - Mm-hmm. - But it's you now. Do you feel, I mean, and the ancestors are working through you in terms of what you're doing now. And so, when you look at how your life is weaving and how it's being woven and laid out for you, and you're at mass mentoring now, you've been there how long? - About two and a half years. - Okay, so you're coming up on your expiration date. (laughs) When you look at it, when you look at where you've been and how long you've been there, where do you see, where would you like to be? Where would you like this move to take you next? - Well, you know, the stuff that happened with my brother was very significant. Anybody who's dealt with the family loss, the loss of the sibling. It definitely changed things for me a lot. This was already having my dad deported and I have to have my mom deported, so if I needed anything to keep me straight, that's really what it was. And I see myself heading towards a position that gives me the merit to do what I can do best that I enjoy the most, that helps the most people. - Which is what? - Which is representing, representing on behalf of the community, whether that's in an elected official role, whether that's continuously in my lobbyists and government relations, legislation influential role. I'm all about the sacrifice. And I know that the path that I have was paved for me and anything that I can do to pave that path for others, because there's so many people, I feel like who don't have an understanding of what their rights are, who aren't able to navigate certain systems. I mean, you know, even me now, when I'm going through certain things online and trying to figure out this things out, I'm like, wow, this is really such a complicated process. And you guys want people with high school level educations or first time, you know, immigrants to the country to be able to navigate and figure these systems out. And here I am, a 36 year old born and raised in Boston with a master's degree. And this has given me trouble. It's really just to utilize the gifts that I feel like I was blessed and given with to support and give back on behalf of my people. So, you know, whether that looks like it's a, you know, school committee or city counselor or state rep. I mean, I have a dream one day of actually representing Massachusetts on the federal level as a federal senator. So similar to like Elizabeth Warren, Senator Warren's role or Senator Warren's role. - Okay, wait, wait, wait, stop right there. Stop right there. - You know that Brian Warrell was one of the Northeastern students at Eugene. And he is now a city counselor. - Yeah, yeah. Me and Brian, we went through Balfour Academy together as a matter of fact. So I know Brian, while I've seen him, I saw him when he was out there campaigning early on at the stop and shop. I've been following a lot of work that he's doing now. Him and his brother, Chris, you know. - Chris, that's right. - Shout out to the shoppers. Chatez, you know, Jamaica, Big Up, always showing enough respect. And so they're doing really good work. And the example that this set, and I feel like is a thing that's also setting an additional path for me as well. - Now, do you see, I've always sort of seen you being, no, I've always seen you being very powerful. I don't know if I've always seen you in an elected position. I've always seen you as a leader of people. I don't know if it's elected official within the framework of this place because of the, some of the unspoken rules and regulations. - You can say it snakes and sharks. - Well, that's what it come down to. You know, you got to be in deep water for real. And more than just treading water too. And I know you could navigate that if you decided to do that. Say if you were, 'cause it's different levels, right? And you said federal level. And depending on where you live is who you would have to run up against. But if you were a city councilor right now, what would you do? - Ooh, if I was a city councilor right now, what would I do? Sorry, I just have to repeat the question just to understand that. If I was a city councilor right now, what I would do is I would focus on a rent moratorium halt. No more rent increases at all for anybody, particularly for communities of color because the dollars are not matching up with the cost of the expenses. - The math ain't mathin'. - You want people to come to Massachusetts, to live here, to be in these communities, to send their kids to school. But how are they gonna do that when they can't even put clothes on their back or food on their table? So it's a crisis, very much sure. That's the first thing I would do as a city councilor and try to find some way to draw back the prices, at least to allow for the income to match up with the rates of inflation. That's one of the first things I would do as a city councilor. Secondly, I would review all these days that these people are getting as artists that come through to Boston for one time, don't do nothing for the community, and I would actually try to go through an historical recognition for people like Chuck Turner, for people like Mel King, I think he actually already has his day. We need a Christmas attics day before we need a bad bunny day. You know what I'm saying? That's my thing. I'm all about the historical context. Like, okay, you know, bad bunnies, cool. And that's not even given any shots at the city councilors, 'cause I feel like the city councilors currently that are of color, they're doing a really good job, right? You got Ruth Z, you know, representing the Haitian communities, they're doing good work. But you know, if you wanna think about where you can prioritize who you're gonna be recognizing in your city that has a deep, rich, longstanding history for black people, you might wanna look maybe a hundred years in the past before you look a month ago in whatever person is, you know, going viral or whatever it is that they're doing. - So what about if you were a city councilor? What about state rep? - Now, if I was a state rep, that would focus on the district that I was in, and I would account for the reduction in funding that has detrimental effects on people dealing with substance recovery, as well as extracurricular and out-of-school programs. 'Cause basically, within the state budget now, it seems like what's happened is, you know, as a result of, you know, having to account for the immigration, which of course, I'm gonna immigrant myself. My parents, well, actually, I was born and raised here. So first generation, my parents are immigrants themselves. But because of a shift in priorities, the areas where some of the money has been cut is towards those, you know, who are typically the most vulnerable populations, right? The elderly, those who need support from substance misuse, as well as youth, who now largely very much depend on after-school programs to help supplement the lack of government services that have been shifted, right? There's been a change in shift in funding. So government isn't doing as much as they used to do in terms of services, and now nonprofits are having to take on these services. But the funding is also not matching up too. So that would be my focus on as a state rep. - And what about Congress? - Ooh, if I was in Congress right now, I'd be preparing for the other shooter drop, getting ready to see what it's gonna be like for the fall. - After the presidential election? - Yeah, yeah. - Kamala, Kamala, Kamala. - Yeah, I'd be preparing for that because Massachusetts has always been positioned as a leader within the union, particularly for us as a state, as a commonwealth. And I would really wanna prioritize on those areas that are gonna bring us into the next century. So if I'm thinking on the Congress level, where I am not just thinking citywide, I'm not just thinking statewide, I'm thinking like where we stand, really investments in things like infrastructure, transportation, energy, STEM, everything that the future is moving towards AI. We want Boston and Massachusetts and the state overall to be a place where people can have a good quality of life, where they can be educated properly, but also where they can afford to live, right? It doesn't need to be like the Hunger Games, and you got District 12 or District one, whoever if you read the Hunger Games, you know what those references are. But it's similar to kind of like the Met Gala. We need to be able to close the divide between the haves and the have-nots and really bring the people to the forefront that are so much exposed and at the cost, right? One of the phrases they say, rich man's war and poor man's fight. Well, I'm not trying to be no poor man in no rich man's war and fighting for things that aren't within my best interest and just be tossed off to the side. So if I was on the federal level, I would definitely be focused on innovation, pushing Massachusetts forward, the affordability related to housing, as well as things like investment and clean energy and STEM focus on AI and the tech, 'cause Boston is positioned very much in Massachusetts as a state to be the, we basically are the equivalent of Silicon Valley on the East Coast. - We've actually run out of time. - Mm. - Seriously. - Already. - Thank you so much for just we have. I think we've actually gone over time. - Wow. - And thank you so much for being here with us. - This evening and appreciate you too. Nate Sims. - Thank you, Ms. H. - Black Teaches Matter here on WBCA LP 102.9 FM in Boston, where Boston's community radio station. I'm Sharon Hinton, have a good evening. (upbeat music)