SoundAffect Appalachian State University

Dr. Sharon Contreras is a lifelong advocate for providing high-quality education to all children.
She shares her journey from teaching high school English to blazing trails as the first woman of color to lead one of New York State’s largest school districts. Dr. Contreras relates some of her guiding principles and beliefs that have helped her have a powerfully positive impact on the schools with which she has worked. Find out why everyday is a great day to be an educator.

From his childhood on a rural Nebraskan farm to the negotiating tables in our nation’s capitol, Daniel Dawes has combined his lifelong passion for health equity, political acumen and confidence in a collaborative process to create real and powerful changes in the American healthcare system. With contagious hope and a non-partisan process, the widely respected health equity and policy expert leverages his understanding of the root causes of America’s healthcare problems to advance solutions.

A child of the civil rights movement, a trial lawyer and the youngest individual ever to be elected to the South Carolina Legislature — as well as the youngest African American elected official anywhere in the nation, Bakari Sellers has known great personal loss and earned historic public victories. On this SoundAffect, Megan Hayes speaks with Bakari about cancel culture, the most valuable currency, relationships and being bipartisan but still getting the votes.
 
Transcript
Megan Hayes: A self-described country boy from South Carolina, Bakari Sellers is the son of educators, Gwendolyn Sellers, and civil rights activist, Cleveland Sellers. He grew up under the influence of legends of the civil rights movement, including Julian Bond and Stokely Carmichael. At 22 years old, he made history when after graduating from Morehouse College and while enrolled in law school at the University of South Carolina, he became youngest member of the South Carolina State Legislature, and the youngest African American elected official in the nation.
Megan Hayes: In 2014, he won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant governor in South Carolina. Bakari Sellers has worked for Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. And he served on President Barack Obama's South Carolina steering committee during the 2008 election. He has been named to Time magazines 40 under 40 in 2010, as well as the route 100 list of the nation's most influential African Americans in 2014. Bakari Sellers currently practices law in Columbia, South Carolina, where he heads strategic communications and public affairs team for the Strom Law Firm LLC, and has recently added diversity, equity and inclusion consulting to the list of his services offered.
Megan Hayes: He has provided political and social commentary and analysis on many major national news outlets and is a prominent political contributor for CNN. His memoir, My Vanishing Country, was published last May and he's a New York Times best seller. Bakari Sellers is on our campus as the featured speaker for App State's 37th annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bakari Sellers, welcome to Appalachian State University and welcome to SoundAffect.
Bakari Sellers: Hey, I'm glad to be here. Thank you. That was a great intro.
Megan Hayes: Well, thank you. And think the weather's a little better than the last time we tried to bring you here.
Bakari Sellers: So yes, that was it. It snowed and snowed and snowed. And although I am a country boy, the snow is not my friend. I'm glad that it is clear out there. Although it's really hilly out there. I got a workout walking around this campus.
Megan Hayes: Yes, We call it the High Country. And I think you say you're from the Low Country.
Bakari Sellers: I'm from the Low Country. Yeah, for sure. Well, thank you for having me.
Megan Hayes: Well, we're really glad to have you here. And I'd like to begin by asking you to share a bit more about your background. In your book, you describe how in many ways you are defined by the Orangeburg massacre, the first deadly confrontation between university students and law enforcement in the United States history. Can you talk about the influence of this event on just the decisions you made early in your career?
Bakari Sellers: Well, yeah, I mean, I look at it as being the most important day of my life truly. The way that I look at life socially, culturally, politically is through the lens of the movement and that speaks to me as probably the most impactful day. My father was shot and imprisoned. You had three people who lost their lives, but between that and the Charleston massacre in 2015 where I lost my good friend Clem to a racist killer, Dylann Roof, murdering nine people in a church. I say my life has been book end by tragedy, and I highlight those two tragedies as a point that I still live with that pain, but try to truly understand and dissect the role that race play

Monique Johnson's drive, dedication and joy are undeniable. Born with diastrophic dysplasia dwarfism and scoliosis, doctors predicted she would not live past the age of 6. Now 36, with a business degree and a law degree, Johnson is a successful entrepreneur and artist who touches the lives around the world with her incredible tale of perseverance and her gifts of humor, painting and motivational speaking. Overcoming obstacles each day, she says she doesn't mind being defined by what she can't do, because it opens them up to seeing what she can do, and the possibilities within themselves. Monique Johnson joins Megan Hayes on this all new Sound Affect.
 
Transcript
Megan Hayes: Monique Johnson is an artist, attorney, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker known for her gifts of humor, intelligence, business acumen, and the ability to inspire others. Born with diastrophic dysplasia dwarfism, one of the rarest forms of the condition, Monique Johnson was also born with scoliosis, which caused curvature of the spine. Doctors anticipated that her spine curvature would collapse her lungs and her heart, and predicted she would not live past the age of six.
Megan Hayes: At an early age, Johnson realized overcoming obstacles of her own, gave her the power to, not only live, but succeed beyond anyone's expectations. Now, the co-founder of Made 2 Soar, LLC, she capitalizes on her sense of humor, combining straightforward pragmatism with a drive and enthusiasm for inspiring others to advocate for those with disabilities, speak in support of education and diversity initiatives, and develop creative and innovative lectures, speeches, and trainings for corporate entities, educational institutions, and athletics groups and organizations.
Megan Hayes: While Johnson stands at two feet in stature, she fills a room with her presence and has been called gigantically tall in her wisdom and insight. Her incredible tale of perseverance and her gifts of humor, painting, and motivational speaking are profoundly empowering to others. Her work and her powerful example have led to being featured on news platforms, ranging from local to national, including Fox and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. She holds an undergraduate degree in marketing from North Carolina A&T University, and a juris doctorate from Elon University.
Megan Hayes: Monique Johnson, welcome to Sound Effect.
Monique Johnson: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure being here.
Megan Hayes: We're so glad to have you on our campus.
Monique Johnson: I'm excited.
Megan Hayes: What a great way to start 2022.
Monique Johnson: Absolutely.
Megan Hayes: Can you start by giving our audience just a little bit of background about you and your journey to being a successful entrepreneur and advocate, who inspires and empowers others?
Monique Johnson: Yeah, absolutely. It started from when I was just a young child. I knew that I was destined for greatness. A lot of that had to do with the influence that I had from my family members, particularly the women in my family. I come from a long line of powerful African American women, who really did not allow me to sulk in my condition, but really highlighted what my skills and just different attributes that would really help me to succeed. They really highlighted that, and really inspired me, and empowered me to continue on. And so, that started from a young age and just continued to multiply with my self-esteem, with my outlook on life, and who I am. And I just took their vision and what they stood for, and ran with it.
Megan Hayes: So, you've talked about how doctors told you that you would not live past the age of six. And each night, you went to sleep afraid that you wouldn't wake up the next day. How has that shaped your worldview?
Monique Johnson: Oh, my goodness. Unfortunately, much of my childhood, especially at night, was me dealing with fear. And I wish that I could go back and just reassure myself that, "Hey, Mo, I understand that that

Host Megan Hayes welcomes Dr. Baker Perry, a high altitude climber and higher education professional who along with a team sponsored by Rolex and National Geographic installed the world's highest weather station on top of Mount Everest. On this SoundAffect he is joined my Panuru Sherpa who helped lead the team.
Transcript
Megan Hayes: Well, it's been a long time since we've been able to record a SoundAffect podcast and I am so very, very pleased to be returning with climate scientist Dr. Baker Perry, who is a professor in App State's Department of Geography and Planning, and his colleague, Panuru Sherpa.
Megan Hayes: In 2019, as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Expedition to Mount Everest, Baker Perry and Panuru Sherpa were part of an expedition team that braved record crowding, temperatures of nearly negative 22 degrees fahrenheit and icing that compromised their oxygen intake to install the two highest operating automated weather stations in the world on Mount Everest.
Megan Hayes: In 2021, the global COVID pandemic prevented many members of the expedition team from returning to Everest weather station maintenance. Sherpas in the village of Phortse, who make nearly every Everest expedition possible, were able to service the weather stations which are providing scientists with an unprecedented level of weather data that will improve weather forecasting across the globe.
Megan Hayes: Today I'm joined by Dr. Baker Perry and Panuru Sherpa to talk about the project, their expeditions and their partnership. Baker Perry and Panuru Sherpa, welcome to SoundAffect.
Panuru Sherpa: Thank you.
Baker Perry: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Megan Hayes: Oh, we're so glad to have you. Baker, let's start. If you could tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be interested in climate science.
Baker Perry: Well, I had some unique experiences as a child. I lived in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru, and as high as 13,000 feet and we would take outings up higher than that. So I had this natural fascination. And for some reason too, as a kid I read a lot of books about Everest. And I didn't really expect necessarily to be back on Everest, but as a result of the National Geographic expedition and my relationship with the director Paul Mayewski, I had the opportunity to go.
Baker Perry: And so clearly these early experiences were very formative in my own childhood. And there were some memorable snow events in the Southern Appalachians too that I can point to, in 1987 and 1993, the big blizzard, and I think those experiences were very important in my career path.
Megan Hayes: So how did you end up on an expedition to Mount Everest?
Baker Perry: Right. So this particular expedition, the opportunity to join it came through an existing relationship, collaboration with Dr. Paul Mayewski from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. We had collaborated on a project in the Andes together. And then he was invited to head up the expedition to Everest and knew that I had experience working with weather stations in the Andes and invited me to come along.
Baker Perry: And again I had not necessarily been planning to go to the Himalayas for research. I'd been there once before in 1999 when I was a graduate student, but this was an opportunity that came up and of course I was very excited to be a part of it. And it was through that opportunity that I developed the relationship here with Panuru and the other Sherpas in the communities there in Nepal.
Megan Hayes: So Panuru, I understand you grew up in Phortse, the Sherpa village in the Himalayas which is home to the Khumbu Climbing Center. Did I say that correctly?Panuru Sherpa:Yes.
Megan Hayes: I understand this village and your climbing center has more Everest summiters than anywhere on Earth. Talk about your childhood responsibilities in Phortse.
Panuru Sherpa: Yeah. So when I was younger, I started school at 3 years old. After 3 year

A Civil Rights activist and world-renowned poet, Nikki Giovanni's journey led her from Knoxville, TN to the forefront of the late 1960s Black Arts Movement. On the path she fell in love with hospitals and space, befriended gangsters and nuns, and determined that writing is not about keeping score - but it is about making a point.