Thursday, September 17, 2026 - Part 2

0:00The views and opinions expressed on analyze this are entirely those of the on-air participants and do not reflect those of the station's board management staff or underwriters. I went back here on analyze this one thanks Hannah Marvin Bladin for joining us in the early hour and a little bit we're going to be talking with Dr. Lucy Jackson. She's a candidate for the board education first on board education representing a district as a inquiry and she'll be here in studio in a little bit. So Lolo Willis sent me a text message. Monel Lolo and Lolo Axe. Those he said, you know, I want to hear what are we going to do to fix the budget. And I responded I said the only way out in the near future is the recovery dollars.

1:02Being very candid and fast. I can't even do a perfect. And you know, that could be simultaneously. Right. But give them what going on in the world right now. Right. I mean, we just spoke about it. You know, we're a consumer driven economy. In other words, we need people coming here and spending money. And in order to come here to spend money, they must first afford the ability to travel to the wilderness. Hold on. I got to fix this. So you go. Right. There we go. All right. So they're going to see me. We should know. We should be done. We're going to come back down. Right. And we were speaking about this yesterday with Senator VLA. Right. We did very well. Right. Unfortunately in the aftermath of 9-1-1. Because people were reluctant, hesitant.

2:14I think right. It's a word we could use as well. Let me see if I could use that one. I don't know. Do we have any listening? All right. The little does tell me something. Tell me something about projecting. You can't project. If you don't know how much people coming up. I mean, without respect, you know, you need to know. You know, you need a forecasting of what you're, you know, you're travel volume. You don't look like. All right. Hold on. Let me see if the word red is in. Red is in meaning. On willing to speak freely or keep thoughts or feelings private. Yeah. Yeah. I'm saying. So, you know, if folks aren't going to be traveling because they simply can't afford it. One of the big issues on the mainland right now. And I know, I like to pay attention all the time in the mainland because there's a trickle-down effect like a 90-day lag. What happens on the mainland? 90 to 180 days. It impacts us. Right. The big issue in America right now.

3:23In gasoline is diesel. That's the big issue. No. People even worry about the gasoline. They already absorb it. Not on accepting the fact that they buy they pay more for gasoline. Right. But they can soar about the other aspect of the other socio-economic aspects that impacting the country. And that's transportation. Transportation is absolutely critical. You know, goods got to get from point eight to point B all the way to point Z and back to pointing. And if the cost for that is skyrocketing then people are going to panic. And one of the things I heard Thomas Soel talk about this early on in the Trump administration when he was talking about tariffs this and tariffs that and I tell him a soil. He's a big shot. He's like, he's kind of mishe know everything. He's a

4:28stand-foot right and do a Henry. Like to take shots at them right. He said one thing about a recession. What I create recession the one thing about it is if people believe the hard times coming they stop spending their money and start living hand to mouth until they believe that things are going to get better then they start to spend more. Right. And when you see the US national average price for diesel is approximately $6.40 per gallon according to data from triple-A fuel prices. You didn't trouble. Here are key price details and I'm reading it now off of AI. Current national average $6.40 per gallon. Prices have reached record highs up from $3.70 a year ago. Okay. So just to show you the percentage that the price at diesel has gone up

5:38and this is what the truckers up the the the the use right. The difference between 370 and 640 is $2.70. So what we're going to do is we're going to divide 2.70 into the denominator 3.70. The price at diesel from a year ago has gone up 73% almost 3.40 more and the dollar than you were paying a year ago. And this all because of this Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. War justification or war by the Trump administration. Knowing fully well this is all about doing what Israel wants. Right. The main driver's global sub-supply shortages refinery

6:39disruptions and rising crude oil costs linked to geopolitical conflicts. The regional data prices vary by region with the East Coast average in $6.16 and the Central Atlantic average in $6.31 per gallon. That means that don't hear that price could get to $657 a gallon for diesel. That's scary. You know and and and then you have an arrogance about it. We have a president who wants to make public wants to do public rallies. Apparently was in North Carolina yesterday and literally telling those who attended that $5.00 a gallon. Ain't too much to pay for a gallon of gasoline. After campaigning on saying that the price of gasoline is going to be less than $2.00 a gallon

7:43$198.00 and all kind of stuff. And that impacts everything. There's a reason why the budget short file could be anywhere. The local budget short file could be anywhere from $500.50 and now less to $100.00. And then you got to be concerned about the business because if they don't have enough money to pay the vendors, particularly like our supermarkets and all that, then they got worried about paying its employer, paying their employer employees, going into savings, just to keep the operation going. And then they get to the point where they have to make that ultimate decision. So when I go forward, rough. But the biggest concern to me is misinformation. There are those who thrive on misleading the public on any topic. It's not limited

8:47to this issue we're talking to. And whatever topic. Just to get what they want for themselves, even if it means the masses will struggle. And that's why it's important to do your own research. Apply your own logic and arrive at your own conclusions. Don't listen to Neville James. Just because I said something, I know me. I like to do my homework and try to justify what position I take. But that don't mean that my position is bulletproof. I'm not like the rest of them who want to come out and say, well, I song the best on the radio, listen to everything I say and all that stuff. No, I want you to encourage everyone to do their own analysis. That's namely show. I analyze this. Because I'm aware of the fact that they're perspectives, multiple perspectives. And when it comes to numbers, the numbers are what they are.

9:49But we've had this bad habit of some talk show who's wanted to tell you how I see it, is how I supposed to be. No, how I see this, how I see it, how you see it, is how you see it. There are times that we're going to have, but we're going to arrive at common ground. But there are other times that we're going to be different. Then it's so, but we got our work cut out for us. What we do know, right, is that we've got some important elections coming up. Locally, we got a Gobernatorial election on the main line. You got the midterm elections. And there are a lot of different things, a lot of different variables are played. And I'm morning. And we've got our work cut out for us as a people. The best way for us to fix a lot of our problems is through education.

10:54Right, the more informed, the more informed we are, I think that's what Thomas Jefferson said. Right. I get a quote because I used to have it in my office. Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson, quote. He said, I think he said, the more informed the public are, the better off the day-to-run day-to-day government. Thomas Jefferson informed public. Dr. Lucy Jackson here is coming out a little bit. She's a candidate for boy education. First and foremost, boy education represented district of St. Croix. Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government. And that's a factual statement. You need information. Need truth. All right. And I say he championed tax-supported public schools because he felt the general

11:58that general education was required to enable citizens to understand complex issues, vote wisely and protect their rights from government overreach. All right. That don't mean that Thomas Jefferson were perfect. We know he was flawed. We know his history. We're black people, specifically black women. Over the years. But everyone has their assets and everyone has their liabilities. So he valued a free press so deeply over centralized control that he stated he would prefer newspapers without a government, rather than a government without newspapers. You know what I'm saying? I would ignorance and liberty. He warned that a nation cannot expect to be both ignorant and free viewing public ignorance as an invitation to tyranny and corruption. These are factual statements. Or in my opinion, perspectives that need to be embraced because they're sound. So, you know, we deal with little things that make the big things work.

13:03And to me, that's why, you know, a sound educational system, you know, is a foundation for any successful society. So, let's get right to it. The candidates set them up ourselves. We actually worked together way back in the day. Pull that microphone closer. Dr. Lucy Jackson. I candid it for the virtual knowledge, but education represented this trick as an inquiry. Good morning. I welcome. Welcome to analyze this. Good morning, Neville. Is it okay if I can't talk about it now? Okay, it's proper. It's right. I like that. I want to be called that. So, how are you? I am doing well. Thank you. Okay. Good. So, who is Lucy Jackson for those who are hearing you for the first time? I just want it. Okay. I was born on St. Croix. I attended a public school education systems. Juanita Garden, Mealina Christian, then graduated from central high school.

14:05After graduating, I went to the college of the Virgin Islands, which is now University of the Virgin Islands. And I got an associate's in business management. Went on to pursue father education, got my bachelor's in the middle studies. San Francisco State University. Okay. Also there, that's a big school. And they have an ethnic studies department, outstanding. They have a great history in terms of achievements in African-American education. And they also have a good special education school. And there I got my master's in special ed. That's right. And Fr. State as well. San Francisco State University. And a master's certificate in vocational special education.

15:06And at the time, there were the only university that had such a certification in that area. The only university in the United States. In the United States. Wow. In fact, in the internationally. Wow. Yeah. And then I got my PhD in education leadership and policy. And I got that from Bernel University, which is no different. They started. I started with them in St. Kicks. I saw newspaper advertisement and they had summer institutes. So I started with the summer institutes and then went full time relocating there and working on their professor nicely. Bern University had professors that were also at UVA and also at the University of the West Indies. That's why I wanted to reason why I was

16:10attracted there. So in 2005, while completing my dissertation, Bern, they started out as Bern and then they went to Bernelli because they were having financial problems. And they had the the provost at the time, Mr. Professor Burns, he died. One of the professors decided, well, we need to continue this. And she tried to hold on. But eventually she ended up dying too. So the institute went different, but they were accredited in St. Kicks at the time. I worked in the Virgin Islands Public Education System for over 30 years as a special educator. Six of those years, I was a program manager in the school to work program territorially. The program was jobs for Virgin Islands graduates at the time.

17:16It is called jobs for America's graduates now because they're an affiliate of jobs for America's graduates. It was a territorial program, meaning that it was in all the schools, all the high schools, in the Virgin Islands in Thomas and in Korya Shalatamali, Udoa in central high school. At the time it started complex was being built and getting ready to open. So we were only at central high school. So that's a bit of my background. I, we had into a break that I use the first three minutes of the discussion as we bring on, at 815, we take a break at 18. For you to introduce yourself, what else to have, what have you? When we come back, I want to go back to that San Francisco window because I don't think the public, or maybe the public might not know that San Francisco is an educational mecca, the whole area that Cal Berkeley, the San Francisco, the San Francisco, the San Francisco, the San Francisco, the San

18:17Francisco. I want to talk about that experience and what how that impacted you and your vision when you came back to where you come from after being experienced to that. Not only education, but there were free spirit type of area there. He pees, what big education would have to say, we want to talk a little bit about that one when we come back and how that shaped your educational profession going forward. We got Dr Lucy Jackson. Your number is three five zero no, no, no, no mind the ballad number two number two board of education on the balance. We'll be back right after this. WTJX is underwritten in part by Cost U Less. Your local warehouse retailer offering a wide variety of grocery items, bulk size everyday essentials, and household necessities to run your home or business, located at 4300-Sion Farm, Christian Stead, 340-719-4442, or costueless.com.

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21:23We've got number two. And the ballot, Dr. Lucy Jackson seeking a seat to be a member of the Virgin Islands Board of Education representing the island of St. Croix. Correct? That's correct, right? Now, let me talk this on versus credit. You said you also want to make sure we talk about the St. Kid's experience as well, right? Yes. So we're going to board, right? Because this is your interview, right? Or a interview, not the interview. A interview because you're going to be talking to multiple mediums between now and October 16, our early voting start and November 3rd on election day. Whenever someone mentions San Francisco, that is personal for me because the founder, the founder of modern day San Francisco was accrucian. William Lightestorff, who is at the time from the Danish West Indies. This goes back way back when, right? So you mentioned when you mentioned San Francisco, no, why not, right? And this San Francisco was officially founded by Spanish explorers Wang Baotista, the

22:24ANZA, Jose Joaquim Moraga and Francisco Pablo in 1776, while St. Croix born pioneer, William Lightestorff became a key founding father and builder of the city in the 1840s. This is valuable at his face. You would agree with that, Dr. Jackson. Okay, good. By the way, there's a twin, right? Tell the public, right? Lucy Jackson's a twin, right? Tell your brother, go buy an ex. Yeah, Leo Jackson, right? And Kiwaka, you'll pick me, right? I'm turning Kiwaka. I'm turning, excuse me, I apologize. I'm turning Kiwaka. I'm a mining Kiwani, going to the, so you're the old and frisco. If San Francisco area is an educational mecca area out there, right? You got San Francisco State with you attending University of San Francisco, the Palo Alto area, you got Stanford, you got Cal Berkeley up in the Richmond area.

23:25I mean, loaded with universities up there, right? And then the University of California system, which starts way up north works out with Dr. San Diego. So, so, so it's your thing and then your, so you're saying San Francisco State had the only program that dealt with your specialty. Special education school toward. Wow, wow. So let me tell you. Talk about that experience. I chose San Francisco State. When I moved there, I had three children at the time. Okay. And I moved there to go to school. But I chose California because I said it's the windy city. And I didn't want to go somewhere where I was really, really cold. So I started out at Laney College. Okay. And I was studying music at the time because I'm in a public school system from sixth grade they were recruiting students in music.

24:27Remember the high school under Morosco, they had a dynamic. Oh, guys, music. Oh, guys, we got distracted. We were supposed to be talking, but you can't even see. So those are the time. Yeah, man. Talking about education. Yeah, man. This is an education complex. Five to 15 members in a band and who's who of names? They recruited us from elementary school. So from sixth grade all through I was in music. You play one. You play one instrument. I played clarinet at the time. Okay. I was a bass clarinet at Central High School as Jimmy Hamilton. Yeah, man. And he. The great Jimmy Hamilton. Now, don't Jimmy Hamilton, the great Jimmy Hamilton. He got me into the flute. Wow. So I started at Laney College. And then I was researching on so forth. I found out that Angela Davis was a professor at San Francisco State. Of course. How did I learn about Angela Davis?

25:27In eight grade at the Laney Christian Austin Andrews was my English teacher. Then we had Dougie Walcott. I'm C. So Benjamin Allen and what teachers in the system at the time. Jimmy Rogers. Jimmy Rogers. My science teacher. Yeah, eventually became a system principal and then the principal. Yeah. Same thing. Austin, I just went to labor and then until to other areas of the government. But Mr. Andrews, when the situation with George Jackson was happening, he posted all the articles on the wall. So I was reading and reading who Angela Davis was and how intelligent she was. And I said, you know, I got to go to San Francisco State. What about our Afro? They don't have an influence on you. Actually, actual Afro and the here's seen the black woman. So articulate. Black panthers movement. That's right.

26:28I was into because I was finding myself as a teenager that was the late 60s going into the 70s. So we talking about the black power movement. So that had a strong influence on me. Are you what would you describe yourself and what about Molly would say a real revolutionary in your opinion? Yeah, let me tell you. When you get into education, one of the first things they have you do is come up with a philosophy of education that identifies or get you to think, why do I want to be a teacher or an educator? So my philosophy was a philosophy of redemption. That's about Molly. That's about Molly. And it was all about eradicating the education. The education, miseducation of our people. So let me just put it that way.

27:30So I got into San Francisco State. Right away, I have a minus in women's studies from San Francisco State as well. And I got into women's studies because that's the area that Angela Davis was teaching. So every semester I took a course with Angela Davis just to learn more about her. That was intentional. Intentional. That's right. I went there to study information technology, but not liking math. First of all, I am. And there are trigonometry and all these high level math courses were required and formulas and so forth. And studying and raising children, that wasn't working for me. So the credits that I got from UVI, the credits I got from the community college, Laney, San Francisco State accepted them into a liberal studies degree.

28:35Liberal studies is studies of our subject areas, which is important, especially if you're getting into education. Of course. I was studying at work part time and I had two part time jobs, one in a women's health clinic and the other working at a place called Hergill Center that worked with women with autism. It was an institution that was home run by a family and there was a nun who assisted them. And I was hired as the social skills worker. So I was a friend to the six women who were at that home. This is in the 20s? Yeah, the late 20s. And that experience got me into special education. As I looked into San Francisco State special education department, I realized that United

29:43State's Department of Education acknowledged it as one of the most outstanding special ed education curriculum university because of the school or the San Francisco State. And I said, that's a still. So I received a fellowship while my last year doing my bachelor's and that then allowed me to work on my master's. And I got into was that was that intentionally the plan or did that happen as a result of your education? I was experienced. Yes. And while studying, I only needed to do a year and a half to complete that master's. The internship work experience was in school to work, which is preparing students with

30:45disabilities for careers and for work. And this was the first time it was actually being implemented in the United States. That there were in San Francisco, like you say, so progressive. That's what I was looking for. Thank you very much for helping me. Community organizations, parents who had already founded nonprofit organizations and organized to get their children with disabilities work experience. So one of them was a business whereby these people with disabilities were cleaning offices window washing, et cetera, et cetera, with contracts. And eventually they were running their whole business, not just doing the cleaning.

31:45They were doing their accounting and running the business because they were trained. So anyway, that inspired me to go ahead and pursue the certificate. I worked in the San Francisco Unified School District, place, at a vocational center that had a section specifically for students with disabilities. So yeah, that was my experience. But let me tell you about the Black Studies Department. The ethnic studies department. That's out of front Steve. Act San Francisco State University. It is one of the first Black Studies Department that were established in a United States. Should I call it contemporary university? You talked about the whole California and their California University system. They fought to get that ethnic studies department established at San Francisco State.

32:46And it was one of the first and the only that stood at the ethnic studies department. And university at San Francisco, actually, that's the beauty of competition, right? Because you got the public version of San Francisco University, which is San Francisco State. And then you got the private, which is university at San Francisco State. Which I believe is a county school, I'm sure. But because of that competition, San Francisco State knew they had to perform because you got, it's like in Carolina where you got Duke University, the private school, and then you got University of North Carolina, competition is healthy and you feed off each other and you get the best version of each other. That's just an experience that the process in establishing that ethnic studies department. Because they were actually marching. They were riots. To save San Francisco, the city is radical is on the statement. The minorities, the Asian, the Latinos, the 10, the being colorizers, all of them united

33:51and marched and rioted and fought to get that ethnic studies department established. At the same time, this is going on. You had the black power movement, the black panthers happening in East Bay, Oakland, and you were not but you see them while I lived there at the time. Wow. Yeah. So this is how the ethnic studies department was established. In my liberal studies work. A lot of my courses were also in the ethnic studies department. And I worked with people like Professor, forgot his name, my gui, and these are scholars, Richard King, who was studying melanin.

34:54And now bringing the importance of what melanin is and how it is important to the survival of life to the public. So we have, we're talking about Dr. Philip McGee. Dr. Philip McGee. The scholars, of course, they're in 1976. Yeah. And he produced a paper called Black Dot. And it was all about the chemical studies and the pyramids and what the black dot is and how it's found in the pyramids and found in the in the viruses and writings. So what the black dot was focused on was the color of our skin and the pigmentation. That is much deeper than skin because it is in every part of the body. Okay. And your brain and your melanin in the skin in the heart. And in fact, if the baby by the six weeks of the station, melanin doesn't fully evolve

35:55in or doesn't, it is no melanin in the zygote, which is the beginning development of the baby in the baby. What about the zygote? What about? So this is how important melanin is. They were having the first melanin conference in the United States and they selected me as one of the students interns at the conference. So I was able to be part of the first and second melanin conferences. Wow. They were held at. But anyway, just deep in and open up my eyes and remove the veil of our struggle. No, no, the, the, the, I want to talk about the synchist part because ultimately the question is how has all of this prepared you to be a member of the Virgin Islands both in your opinion to be a member of the Virgin Islands board education representative?

36:56So no, that, that experience has something. This goes just deep in my understanding of who I am as a black woman and what my role is. Came home worked as a special ed teacher, took a break in 2001 because I heard, I keep reading about burn university, university at West Indies and I had connections with kids. My great grandmother was from Nevis, I was doing a family history. Okay. A couple of summers I did go and attend the institute and then decided now it's time to work on a dissertation. So when I got there, I got a job. I first worked in the education system for synchist needs. I worked at Charleston High School in Nevis. Okay. Well there I sat an interview for the United Nations Development Program and got hired

38:00as a health and family life education project officer. That experience took me to all the Eastern Caribbean countries working within their public, their education system. Stop right there. You don't take a break, come back, pick it up there. We're talking with Dr. Lucy Jackson, she is candidate number two. Number two. On the ballot to be a member of the version of the board of education, she given you how dossier as though why she should be considered to be elected to be a member of the version of the board of education beginning in January of 2027. We'll take a break and be back right after. I didn't want to talk about what does she think about the version of the education curriculum and how we can make that better going forward for the people of the version of the board. We'll be back right after this. Travel in soon. What are your vacation and your visit in family? You might have a special food you want to take with you.

39:02Just remember food containing pork and not enter any part of the US or even travel between the mainland and the US, Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. That's because pork and curry Africans were in fever. A virus has harmless to humans but deadly to the pigs we rely on for food. You have stopped the spread. Don't pack pork when you travel. You can learn more at www.usda.gov. That's www.usda.gov. My name is Theresa Barber. I was in the United States Navy and I served overseas in the Middle East in Africa. Early on in my career, I had a commander that taught our suicide prevention training and the very next day he took his own life. 90% of suicide attempts involving a gun are fatal. My way of continuing my service is to help protect my community by being a responsible gun owner and by storing firearms safely. Store all your guns securely. Help stop suicide. Brought to you by N Family Fire and the Add Council. Ready to hit the road without breaking the bank? Find out what's new under the hood on Motor Week.

40:04Our experts have the scoop on this year's top rise. And then know how to keep your daily driver running right. Simple, it's quick and it saves you money. We're driven to bring you the best coming down the pipe. I'm John Davis. It's all right here every week on Motor Week. Tune in Saturdays at 3PM on WTJX TV Channel 12. Join us for season three of hometowns. Ten stories, ten chances to remember what home really means. From Asheville's Blue Ridge Soul to the high country of Granby, Colorado, from the raw, wild edges of Alaska to the grit and glow of Arkansas. And for the first time, we cross international waters in our two part season finale in St. Kids and Nevis. It's not just where people live, it's what they hold on to and what they're brave enough to become. Tune in Fridays at 5.30PM on WTJX TV Channel 12.

41:08Wow. It's impressive. So we back kind of even realize about them. They are talking with Lucy just, just fascinating with, with her story. Quickly, the, the, so you've been to all the islands as a result of the, the job in Nevis, right? I'm telling you about it. And, for London Microphones, it could be their thing in the mic. In St. Kids, Nevis, I worked with the United Nations Development Programme as a National Health and Family Life Education Project Officer, assigned to St. Kids and Nevis Federation, but working throughout the Eastern Caribbean. So I learned a lot about their education systems. Did they bring you back to the Virgin Islands as part of that? Let me tell you, as a Health and Family Life Education Officer, I worked a lot with parents

42:13because parents had to be in, to grow to that whole process of health and family life education, which by the way, is supposed to be part of our curriculum here in, in the Virgin Islands. Every village in St. Kids, Nevis has a school, a primary school. And there's a number of villages, I think, so all 16 of them. And I worked with Ireland, and I worked in the schools, and I worked with the families having tongue-hung meetings, parent teachers meetings, and the most important was a survey. Now, let me ask this question. How were you received as a Virgin Islander hosting these tongue-hung meetings? Did they have the ability to compartment where you were from with what you were bringing to the table? Well, remember, I represented United Nations. OK. And the United Nations Development Program invests a lot in Caribbean Island, especially

43:16small developing nations within the Caribbean. That's awesome. That's number one. Number two, I was representing the Ministry of Education. OK. First in Kids, Nevis. First in Kids, Nevis. The Federation. Yeah. Federation. So that's what I was coming at. So Dr. Lucy's actually in a piano piano. You come with credentials. I was working on a doctorate then, because that was the background for my dissertation. OK. So let me tell you why that was so important. Why'd working? And also tell me why it is serving as an impetus for you running for board education. No. While working as a teacher in the schools, I realized that the majority of my students originated from the other Caribbean pilots. A lot of them were taught to teach us in Lushat, Dominika, the majority of them. Parents immigrated here. Not as small or moderate percentage.

44:19The majority of my students. Yes. Were from the Caribbean originated there. Not just me. My great-grandmother came from Nevis. By the way, paternaly, my great-grandfather was a Simmons. And when I got to sink it, they set a Simmons. Yes, I did. Kennedy Simmons was Prime Minister at time. Yeah. But the Simmons movement in education. Hall-Hosbaden, Kennedy Simmons, yeah. Right. In the Christian was from St. Kits. He was born in St. Kits. But there's a Simmons family where all the men's name began with A. A Fanzel Simmons, Augustine Simmons. One of them were living here as a dentist. They lived in Lorraine somewhere, but he was a dentist for many years.

45:23But my great-ocles, other than them, again, they got to be some connection. Anyway, we did a survey. And these conversations with parents exposed me to what the life of families and what families were dealing with. And then communicating with other HFLE officers in the program that they were discussing to see what families were going through, why the ones sending their children to school, et cetera, et cetera. So bringing me back here to the Virgin Islands. In 2015, I worked with St. Krike Community Foundation. Right, I did the other time.

46:26Right, I did the other time. He was there at the time. And then the other time became the president director. We were working on a program, a project. Development, it was a community development education policy, 2020 steering community. And they were looking at the public education system and why it was functioning. And everything was here, say, and blah, blah, blah. So my background now in policy. I said, you know, that's what the look at. The policies, rules and regulations that govern the public education system. So I went into the VICO and I researched every single code related to education. And in doing that study, we got to see that those VICO's establish the public education

47:28system for the Virgin Islands because they come out, come from 1960. What was happening in 1960 and in the 60s and who did legislatures in 1960s? For instance, one of them was your father. And then we had what I am heart and girl be ugly and yeah, Randi logo, Rand, Josh, Coneiro, instant Thomas, Zammaduro, let's go Zammadhan. These are legislators. Gosh, what? Yeah, man. They established the public education system. What should be taught? How things should operate, etc. So in doing so, we got to see now, we asked the question, so who is fully responsible for the education system in the Virgin Islands? We looked at the board, we looked at the commissioner education, the governor, the

48:30legislature, the department of education. And looking at the codes and weighing everybody's responsibility, it just come down to the board of education, has the overarching authority for education within the Virgin Islands. So let me ask this question. Yes, the sharing it with the department of education and the governor, but also because they are not appointed by the governor, they have full oversight. Well, that's a question. That's just the political influence. That's the three questions I want to ask you before you leave because time, great conversation, time to fly fast, so we wrote a note at time. Number one, do you believe, as I candid it for the Virgin Islands Board of Education, that the board should be vested with more power than it has now? In that project that I was doing with the Community Foundation, we also looked at other

49:34states nationally, how the board is set up. Are they elected? Are they appointed? The superintendent of education, the commissioner, the commissioner, the superintendent. That's the second question I want to get to. But do you believe if elected that you should be a part of a body that is vested with more power than the board currently has now? Well, I am not looking at more power. I am looking at the fact that everything outlined in the code, giving the board a authority that they have not executed our doors. Well, then, maybe that should have been questioned. Those responsibilities that they have. Because when you were telling me to give me the history, just know, here's the first question I should ask you. And you just answered it. You believe that pursuant to the VA code, the Virgin Islands has not followed through on the codes mandate that was established in the 60s. Is that what you're saying? I'm telling you why I'm running.

50:35Yeah. For one, I want the better understanding of our education system. I know the codes now. And I know. OK, I know the policies. Yeah. That's why I'm outside right now because I retired seven years ago. I know what was happening when I was teaching, but no, I'm on the, I want to get inside. And I want to align with because there's a lot going on in education. I was cool doing a lot. I'm starting to question. And I can't stand outside and criticize them because the administration within the Department of Education trying to prep my question. I created it. I want to align what they're doing with the codes. I want to see how the Board of Education operates internally as the way to drop the ball. So you answered, so you really begged that question that you answered. This is why you are running in 2026. I want to exercise the Board's oversight authority to ensure that education is

51:42properly implemented. Looking at the codes, the codes as my framework enforce the long standing policies while holding the education system accountable for compliance in certain areas. That's why I'm running. Are you off the belief that we have not met the mandates that were established 60 years ago? Because, every time in 60 years ago, there was a time when their whole frame of mind was self-development. The Virgin Islands developing itself as a self-governing. I don't want a nation as a self-governing society. I'm alone. That was their frame of mind because these are offsprings of people who just emancipated

52:48the grandchildren. So that whole life is still in the air. Now they have the opportunity for self-government. And that's all they were thinking. Self-government. So everything they did in those codes were to teach the youth how to continue that process of self-government. Let me tell you what my audience think. They like to text. They don't like to call. Lucy Jackson is a gem. I want to vote for her. It's Autocene Thomas. I'm telling you. I'm not telling you. I got another one I believe I can't answer this book. Man, we need more like her. Some of those there now need to go home. Go freelance. So let me ask this question. Should you be elected during this 2026 election cycle? Are you ready to represent the Children of the Virgin Islands coming out at the island

53:50of St. Croix to be a voice for not only substantive learning but educational reform in the Virgin Islands? And it's not just reform. It's our whole system. I thought but then I said, it's growth. Growth. Growth when any system need to know why they're working in a certain division on what their role is and how they contribute to the upliftment of our young people. Let me ask this question in your research with the V.I. code. I personally used a brag. When I first got in as a Senate, I was doing my research up to that point that the V.I. code is a comprehensive and real replete document with guidance for the people of the Virgin Islands. In doing your research, did you arrive at that same conclusion or do you believe that there are areas that we need to work on as well? I'm focusing now on a V.I. Code.

54:51As it has been fully implemented. So before you close, I yield into you. Go right ahead. You build up your family. I just the matter. Go right ahead. I have honest, the existing laws and some of them need to be amended because there's certain wording that are outdated. Instead of working against the system that are in place, my movement, my process is to align with the system, to align the code to what's happening in the system because nobody is doing that. That's why they didn't know what they're doing. That's why everything is fragmented because nothing is aligned. Chaos. But it devils like block chaos. So what, why does education matter?

55:55Education is a foundation upon which our community is social and economic survival rest. It is a foundation of our workforce development pipeline. So I'm not just pushing for what's in the V.I. code. I'm also looking at the high school curriculum and the one-sided graduation requirement that is academic. My thing is we need to have graduation diplomas that also focus on skills acquisition in addition to the academics. And there's about 14 to 21 states now that have incorporated more than one graduation requirement. One for college, prep, and the resident, trades and skills acquisition built into the graduation academic requirements. Your name and your number can turn on. Yeah, your name and okay, turn it on.

56:57It is a foundation of our workforce development pipeline. And slave people in the Virgin Islands and across the Americas were more empowered when they had the opportunity to read and write. And let me close by quoting Frederick Douglas. You know who Frederick Douglas is. Deliberator. Quote. It is to educate the hand as well as the brain, to teach men to work as well as to think and to think as well as to work. It is to teach them to join taught to work and to get the very best result of taught and work. Name and number because it's a time of name and number. Lucy Jackson, Board of Education, number two. Thank you very much for expert appearance. Thank you. And all right, this are entirely those of the on-air participants and do not reflect those of the station's board management staff or under it. That first time seeing my son, I feel like my life did a 180.

57:59He really a definition of why he loves body. Through all the fatherhoods first, never stop being a dad. Visit fatherhood.gov to hear more brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Act Council. Stay updated with news, alerts and other valuable information with WTJX News Feed. Listen to the latest news stories that matter with Marcelina Ventura Douglas. Five days at 5 p.m. on WTJX 93.1, WTJX News Feed. Your source for stories that matter. Weekday mornings are a juggle. Sometimes even a struggle. Morning edition from NPR News eases you into your day and keeps your company through the Chaos of a busy morning. Here interviews that give you context on the day's biggest stories along with reporting and updates on the latest breaking news. Stay on top of the world with more in addition every weekday. Morning edition. Weekdays at 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on WTJX FM 93.1. Good morning. This is meteorologist Russ Merle. Here's your WTJX local forecast for Thursday morning.

59:01This is the 17th of September. And it looks like the showers will diminish especially across St. Croix early today. Upper 80s to near 90 this afternoon east to southeast winds at 10 to 20. Once the rain 40% early, a few clouds tonight, lows near 80, partly to mostly sunny 89 to 93 tomorrow. Shower's returned Friday night with the next week disturbance moving in 78 to 82. Shower's end on Saturday, upper 80s to near 90. Sunny skies on Sunday low 90s. Rip current risk will be highest on St. Croix area beaches today. And the tropics of disturbance will move north and east to Bermuda over the next few days. WTJX 93.1 Charlotte, Amalya, UNPR station in the Virgin Islands. At topic pregnancies are a life threatening complication that we know how to treat. So why are more women dying from them?

1:00:03MWAMU and NPR in Washington, this is 1A. Hi, I'm Jen White. Nearly 200 women in the U.S died for mectopic pregnancies in the past 6 years. That's roughly double the number from the previous period. The treatment for ectopic pregnancies is termination. Since the fall of Roe in 2022, some states have made ending pregnancy more complicated. It was probably the worst experience that I have ever had in my entire life. I fear that if I was to have another topic pregnancy in the future and the law of change, I might not even be here. Could state abortion bands be playing a role in the rise of these deaths after this news?