No one raindrop ever felt responsible for the flood, but the reality is, coming together as one, coming together to make a bigger move, actually doesn't create a wave. It creates a tsunami of hope going all out across the world. So it could be that you need to start asking questions about where you buy your clothes from, or your groceries, the different products that you use in your home, because I guarantee you there are products that you use in your home that will have been made by people who are held in some form of modern-day slavery.
-Tim Nelson
Episode Summary
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived at the 1861 Customs House in Galveston, TX as part of his tour to command troops sent to enforce the emancipation of enslaved peoples in the United States. Now, that same courthouse is set to continue the charge toward freedom for all. In this special Digital Transformers crossover episode, join Kevin L. Jackson and Scott Luton as they discuss plans for the new June Nineteenth Museum, dedicated to honoring this important moment in history and ending modern slavery and human trafficking, with former Galveston City Manager Douglas Matthews and Hope4Justice CEO Tim Nelson.
Episode Transcript
Intro/Outro (00:01):
Welcome to digital transformers. The show that connects you with what you need to build, manage, and operate your digital supply chain. Join your host in a timely discussion on new and future business models. With industry leading executives, the show will reveal global customer expectations, real world deployment challenges, and the value of advanced business technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotic process engineering. And now we bring you digital transformers.
Kevin L. Jackson (00:39):
Hello everyone. This is Kevin L. Jackson here for digital transformers. And today is really special. This is a live on location show in Galveston, Texas. It’s really special for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I’m here with my mentor and great friend, Scott Luden. Scott, are you ready for this? How are
Scott Luton (01:06):
Things going? I am so excited to be here. Uh, we’ve already taken a tour of this incredible historic site. We’ve met one of your new best friends. <laugh> really enjoyed that conversation. And, uh, Hey, I’m as I’m as ready to go as possible. So are you ready?
Kevin L. Jackson (01:21):
Oh, well, you know, I’ve been, I’ve been born ready, man. I’m born
Scott Luton (01:25):
Ready. No true words have ever been spoken. That’s true.
Kevin L. Jackson (01:29):
But what, the second reason that this is so special and why we’re here in Galveston is that we’re celebrating Juneteenth on Thursday, June 17th, 2021 last year, us president Joe Biden, signed into law, a bill establishing Juneteenth. The date that marks the end of slavery in the United States as a federal holiday, that declaration marked the first federal holiday since Martin Luther king day in 1983. Galveston is in fact the birthplace of Juneteenth.
Scott Luton (02:10):
Yeah, it’s really remarkable. Uh, so on June 19th, 1865 major general Gordon Grainger arrived here on Galveston island to command troops sent to enforce the emancipation of the slaves. Yeah. Now Grainger’s men marched to the streets, reading general order, number three first at union army headquarters at the Oman Oman. You know me, I gotta practice my pronunciation. <laugh> the Oman building in downtown historic district. Next. They marched to the 1861 customs house and courthouse, which is the building that we’re in right now. And I gotta tell ya, Kevin toured me earlier. It is fascinating, especially me being a big history nerd. So downtown at the building and then here at the customs house, and then after greeting there or here rather, they finally marched to a certain church on Broadway named what is now known as a Reid chapel AME church. And if you don’t know, general order number three, uh, declared the slave’s freedom. And then of course, celebrations ensued, which, uh, really formed the original beginnings of the Juneteenth holiday. Now I hope I got all that, right. Cause we’ve got expert that’s coming. That’s gonna be, we’re gonna be interviewing here in a minute, but with all that important background shared, you know, Kevin, you are part of a team that I I’m over to moon with what you’re doing here. You’re doing something really special with this formerly federal built and tell us about it.
Kevin L. Jackson (03:37):
Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, last year, a friend of mine, uh, mark Judson was talking with his brother actually. And uh, his brother was a senior executive with a DSW homes that had this building as their corporate headquarters man. And they were getting ready to move and they were just, you know, having a burger or something <laugh> and, and, uh, Paul, Justin was the brother’s name and said, Hey, did you know that this building was the birthplace of Juneteenth? And they just made it a federal holiday. And did you know, well, no, I really didn’t. I knew about Juneteenth, but I hadn’t associated with Galveston. Right. And mark said, wow, that would, that would make a great museum <laugh>. And so he started, uh, an effort to actually create the Juneteenth museum here in, in this building. Now, unfortunately, uh, mark, uh, passed the cancer earlier this year, but his wife wanted to continue. His family wanted to continue. So we are on June 19th, 2022. We are Chris and Christing the building christened, the building as the home of the Galveston 1861 courthouse Juneteenth museum. And over the next year, we will be renovating this facility. It was a great celebration. It included the Galveston mayor, Dr. Craig brown. We had the Galveston district one council member, Sharon, the Lewis that came actress and long time cohost of Showtime at the Apollo Kiki shepherd.
Scott Luton (05:25):
We talked about,
Kevin L. Jackson (05:26):
Yes, you did a video presentation, uh, at, at the event and Gil bellows, who is a star of the new Jay-Z produced film woman of the movement. This is a sixth episode, ABC mini series. It’s set in 1955 and it centers on the life of Mami till Mobley. She risked her life to find justice after her son, Emmett was brutally burned in, in the Jim, Phil south.
Scott Luton (05:59):
Now, Kevin, I understand that Mr. Bellows, who you mentioned yeah. Plays Gerald Chatham, which is a, uh, who was a Southern born district attorney who fought to bring Emmett Till’s killers to justice. Now, as we have talked about that trial of course changed Mississippi forever and it profoundly impacted deep south as well.
Kevin L. Jackson (06:17):
Yes, AB absolutely.
Scott Luton (06:20):
Okay. So Kevin, at that event, uh, that special event you were just, uh, talking through, you had a special guest there then that we also have now with us here today. It’s Mr. Juneteenth, at least here in Galveston. Uh, let’s welcome in Mr. Douglas Matthews. Thank you. How you doing
Douglas Matthews (06:36):
Real good. Thank you. I’ll tell
Kevin L. Jackson (06:39):
You. Yeah, Doug really appreciate you coming here to join us here. Uh, please introduce yourself to the audience and, uh, tell ’em about you.
Douglas Matthews (06:49):
Well, I’ve, let’s see, um, uh, excuse me. Uh, well, how would I say I was city manager for the city of Galveston 11 years. I was assistant city manager seven years before that, and I’ve been audited the university of Texas medical branch for the last 25 years as assistant vice president for government relations.
Kevin L. Jackson (07:13):
So, uh, that, that’s pretty impressive.
Scott Luton (07:17):
Well, I, you know, when you, when you got here earlier today, Doug, I think you had mentioned 43 years. You’ve been involved in the Galveston community, but also as part of
Douglas Matthews (07:28):
The 43 years that I’ve been assisting, uh, with the Juneteenth celebrations. Mm uh, one of the historic, uh, buildings on Broadway, the Ashton Villa, uh, that’s where we’ve had, uh, state representative Al Edwards. He started the Juneteenth celebration. He made the first state holiday for African Americans. And 43 years ago
Scott Luton (07:59):
Was, was Texas. Then the first state? Yes. Recognized Juneteenth. Yeah.
Kevin L. Jackson (08:04):
Okay. You were very, um, instrumental in a lot of first year in Galveston. You actually, you, you took me earlier to the very first, uh, Nero high school here in Texas.
Douglas Matthews (08:19):
Yes. Uh, central high school was the first African American high school in the state of Texas. I was the first black city manager, uh, in the state of Texas in 1985. And so Galveston has been known for quite a many first. And then we also the home of the heavyweight champion.
Kevin L. Jackson (08:42):
Yeah. Jack Johnson.
Douglas Matthews (08:43):
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Kevin L. Jackson (08:43):
There’s a statue right next to the, uh,
Douglas Matthews (08:46):
Hospital. Isn’t it? Yes. We have a park dedicated to him that in collaboration with the city of Dallas,
Scott Luton (08:53):
Well, as city manager, did you have to, you know, some of those days have to pull off a Jack Johnson act, you know?
Kevin L. Jackson (09:00):
Well, I,
Scott Luton (09:02):
We, you can’t tell me those stories. <laugh>
Kevin L. Jackson (09:06):
Thank you. Something, you gotta something you gotta keep. Well, uh, thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, Doug and, uh, Scott and Doug is also another organization that we, we really need to give props to in honor of Juneteenth. Uh, that would be hope for justice, right? This is a nonprofit that we’ve showcased during this year’s supply chain and procurement award. That’s right. Uh, they were also featured doing the Christy,
Scott Luton (09:38):
You know, special organization. Uh, hope for justice is an international nonprofit working to bring it in to modern slavery and human trafficking. And unfortunately, Kevin, as we’ve talking with Tim and many others to organization, slavery and trafficking is actually on the rise globally, but hope for justice. The good news here is they’ve got an effective and proven model that is replicable. I tried to practice that word about 18 times, replicable, scalable, and it’s widely admired. So it goes without saying our collective vision is certainly a world without slavery. It’s, it’s sad that we’re here again here in 2022. Yeah. With the backdrop of this historic site. And we’re talking about slavery on the rise, but hope for Justice’s global work across five continents is helping to eradicate it. That’s their singular mission. So on Juneteenth, which is very exciting. Kevin, I tell you and your team, and of course with Doug’s help on the move, creating such a remarkable venue. That’s gonna teach and make folks more aware of how we can better battle and combat some of the forces that, that unfortunately leads to slavery and human trafficking. But on Juneteenth, they announced hope for justice, a very special strategic relationship with the Juneteenth museum. Yes. Now, even though hope for justices and, and Tim and, and the whole H FJ families based in Manchester, uh, UK, while Tim was here in Houston,
Kevin L. Jackson (11:08):
He was here at a, at a, uh, event where, um, he took time off to actually come to Galveston.
Scott Luton (11:15):
And we’re talking about Tim Nelson, CEO of hope for justice. And y’all had a chance to chat, I think, on the steps of the courthouse, right?
Kevin L. Jackson (11:22):
One, your stuff’s here at the Fort house.
Scott Luton (11:24):
And I think we’re gonna hear from Tim now.
Kevin L. Jackson (11:26):
Yes. Hello everyone. My name is Kevin L. Jackson, the host of digital transformers. I guess you’re wondering why I’m not in my studio today. I’m outside live at Galveston at the Juneteenth museum. And guess what? I’m here with Tim Nelson of hope for justice. Hey Tim. So good to see. <laugh> so good to be here. So it must have been a long swim, huh?
Tim Nelson (11:54):
<laugh> definitely, if I had to swim that you’d be waiting a long time, a long
Kevin L. Jackson (12:00):
Time. So how do we get you here in Texas?
Tim Nelson (12:03):
Well, I’m overdoing a conference in Houston. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and, and with us connecting and hearing about what, what the museum is doing. I said, if I’m in Houston, I’m making my way to Galveston and it’s so good that we could be able to meet together today.
Kevin L. Jackson (12:17):
No, no, absolutely. So, I mean, some people live under a rock, so they may not have heard of hope for justice. So what is hope for justice? And you know, why are you here in the United States that accent doesn’t sound
Tim Nelson (12:32):
Texan? No, it it’s not. And I’m not gonna do anything to, to give anyone the impression I could do a Texan accent either. <laugh> that would only be disingenuous to every single person who speaks with a Texan accent. <laugh> but you could probably tell I come from Northern Ireland. Okay. I was born and brought up there and moved to England to university. And, um, whilst I was in England, I got invited to sit on a business in the us. And I found myself in Los Angeles. Okay. Went out for dinner, LA LA land. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Like so far away from what I grew up with and a friend of mine invited me out for dinner mm-hmm <affirmative>. And whilst I was out for dinner, a person who was with him told me about the issues of human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Tim Nelson (13:15):
And I was amazed. I’d never heard anything about this at all. And he was on the phone to come to Lisa Rice, who was working for the Bush administration at the time. And he was talking about the dying greeting of India on the human trafficking register. And he’d seen girls in cages being shipped all over India. And I was like, that seems like something back to the transatlantic slave trade. What are you talking about? And he told me about how many people were being held in slaved all over the world. And no one was talking about it. So for me, I came back to the UK and there was a group of people who were gathering about looking to put on an event. And I joined my strength in and were a big group of about 10 of us that got together to form our first event. We got 5,884 people to launch hope for justice. And that was the start of the movement. And we’ve had seven other organizations merge into us and three in the us that have given us real scope and scale to make a bigger impact here in the us as well as internationally. But we now operate in eight countries and we look to prevent rescue restore and reform issues of human trafficking and modern day delivery all over the
Kevin L. Jackson (14:20):
World. Well, okay. I, I did my head around this. We are here in Galveston at the, the birthplace, the origin of the Juneteenth holiday. And that’s where in America, general Granger came and read general order three, which freed the last enslaved people here in, in the United States at the end of the civil war. So, you know, wasn’t that the end of slavery?
Tim Nelson (14:52):
Well, in, in its basis, the, the transatlantic slave trade ended in 18 86, 18 83, but 1885 was pretty much where we celebrate what happened here at Juneteenth mm-hmm <affirmative>. But the sad reality of it is though the legislation changed the reality for so many individuals across the world to this day, is that actually way, way, way more enslaved people are enslaved today than they were then. So even in the us today, whether it’s in sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, labor trafficking, what we see in other countries to do with organ harvesting or forced marriage, the issues of human trafficking, the issues of modern day slavery still exist and they exist and have amplified across the world. And it’s, it’s almost like a crime that’s hidden in plain sight. So although we, we do declare and we, we celebrate June teams, we celebrate what has happened. We celebrate the lives that we’re tragically lost or impacted through this.
Tim Nelson (15:47):
We realize actually the mission to bring freedom still goes on, and that freedom needs to not just be a wave of freedom. It needs to be a tsunami of freedom that goes all over the world. So I take everything from the Juneteenth to say that we need to take that spirit that was formed around Juneteenth that was formed around the abolition of the slave trade mm-hmm <affirmative> and we need to amplify it. And this place seems to be the best place for us to amplify it even louder in the United States and even louder across the world, that people who are being enslaved will not be tolerated. Those individuals who think it’s right to buy men, women, and children that will not be tolerated. We want declare freedom to all people all across the world. And we won’t stop until we see an engine.
Kevin L. Jackson (16:32):
So you’re here in Galveston to, to do that. What, what are your plans? Why Galveston?
Tim Nelson (16:38):
Well, in partnering with Juneteenth museum, and what we want to be able to do is people will come here because maybe they underst they’ve, they’ve heard about this through, through education or through the public holiday has raised consciousness as to what’s going on. There might be people who historically want to come and visit places where things have been spoken or said, right. That’s useful. But what we want to be able to do is educate people because education is the first stage into action. Because if you know something, then you can’t turn away from it. William Wilberforce is someone who celebrated the United Kingdom as being someone who, who, who led the mission of the abolition of the slave trade. When he was sent a letter from lady Middleton, he said that he could positively not deny what is happening. Neither. He heard what the issue was. And I suppose what I want to be able to say to so many people using every forum we possibly can is once you know that people are still held against their will, what will you do about it? Will you turn away, turn a blind eye to what’s happening, or will you want to make a bigger impact to see the last, the least and the lost set free?
Kevin L. Jackson (17:47):
So education is important, but what I’m hearing is that it’s just not enough. You have to take action on what you’re seeing or what you’re feeling or, or what you’re experiencing. So, and we have an audience out here that that’s listening to you, what, what can they actually do to, to help what, you know, help things change?
Tim Nelson (18:11):
Yeah, well, I, I think I’ve heard it said to me that people don’t need to cry about this issue. Okay? It’s horrendous, you know, young children that are being taken against their will brutally abused, thrown into slavery. They don’t, it it’s horrendous, but if you cry about it, you could be in a state of paralysis. It can stop you doing anything. We need people to take action. So when people are watching today, I wanna say to people that, you know, you’ve been given time, you’ve been given a talent, you’ve been given treasure. You might not be able to do everything, but we can all do something to try and help bring that movement forward. You know, no one raindrop ever felt responsible for the flood, but the reality is coming together as one coming together to make a bigger move, actually doesn’t create a wave.
Tim Nelson (19:01):
It creates a tsunami of hope going all out across the world. So it could be that you need to start asking questions about where you buy your clothes from, or your groceries, uh, the different products that you use in your home, because I guarantee you that there are products that you use in your home that will have been made by people who are held in some form of modern day slavery. Because the reality is this issue of modern day slavery is endemic across the world. Wow. We’re seeing children who are being held, not given an opportunity in life because they are locked in slavery. Like it was at the transatlantic slave trade where they didn’t have rights. Weren’t given the opportunities. We see that all over the world and we want to bring freedom. So it may be today. You’re listening. And maybe, uh, let’s just say, maybe you just won the lottery and you’re fight you.
Tim Nelson (19:51):
You feel an urge to give, I told you not to fight that urge. Now this, the reality of it is that this hasn’t been this movement that we’ve been a part of. And for the last 14 years have been on a mission on isn’t something that’s been funded by the millionaires, as great as that would be. It’s funded by average, everyday people, moms, dads, teenagers, 20 something, 30 something thinking that actually we can play a part, giving a small amount of what they have sacrificing what they have today to help others tomorrow. So I’d encourage you go to hope for justice.org, hope for justice.org, check us out, be able to go to our social spaces, whether that’s Instagram, whether that’s Twitter, whether you, you, you go to Facebook or I donunno, if my space is still running or anything like that. But, but the reality is there’s something that you’ve got that each one of us have been told, have been given a unique fingerprint and a unique voice.
Tim Nelson (20:46):
And I think that’s for a reason because each one of us gets to decide what we will speak up for and what will we put our hands to because it will leave an impact and it will leave a legacy. So I encourage you as you’re listening to what we’re talking about today, not to just allow to wash over you or to, to put, um, kind of your hands over your ears, because now, you know, what’s happening. You can’t positively deny that this is an issue and that you don’t just need to do something about it. You need to take this as a mission because the reality is they are someone’s son and daughter. And maybe just maybe if they were your son and daughter, you would do something about this more. And I want to take that spirit and cause you to actually turn it around, to get to a point where you’re driven from anger, um, to a point where you’re driven into action and not to allow apathy, to set in, not to allow yourself to just be inoculated to this issue, but to start to understand the power that you have to change society as a whole.
Tim Nelson (21:45):
So I encourage you today to make a bigger difference and bring freedom wherever you are,
Kevin L. Jackson (21:50):
Really, it’s an emotion I, and I see it’s just coming outta you and it, so the audience need to understand that they take action, not just quiet about it, like you said. So we at Juneteenth museum here in Galveston custom house look forward to working with and partnering with hope for justice so that everyone can work together to eliminate this, this curse of, of human travel. So thank you. Thank you so much. You look forward to working with you.
Tim Nelson (22:24):
I appreciate that. Thank you so much. And thank you everybody for listening today to
Kevin L. Jackson (22:27):
Us and thank you very much. And everyone out there hope for justice.org and work together to eliminate this, this awful thing that we we have in our society today. You know, that was a real honor for me. I really look forward to working with Tim and the entire hope for justice, uh, team. Uh, on that note, we have actually kind of run out time. So, so that how could people learn more about Galveston and N June team?
Douglas Matthews (23:03):
They need to go to visit galveston.com,
Kevin L. Jackson (23:07):
Okay. Visit Galveston, do com and,
Scott Luton (23:10):
And we’re gonna visit again, as we’re talking about, and we’re gonna get with Doug and go to, uh, guide notes.
Douglas Matthews (23:17):
That’s right.
Kevin L. Jackson (23:17):
Visit over and over and over again. <laugh> so Scott, what’s happening with supply chain now?
Scott Luton (23:25):
Well, Hey, I love this question. I’ll try not make any ears bleed new shows, new host, new programs, a lot more growth, but all with the same commitment, right. Content with purpose, right. Content that does good gives forward and is the change that we need to see. Right? And if you wanna be part of journey, if you wanna be part of the supply chain now, family, right. A global family, Hey, connect with me on LinkedIn or any other social. And of course you can also check out supply chain now, wherever you get your podcast from. So thank you, Kevin, for what you do. And again, Doug, uh, Mr. Matthews, an honor to sit down with you here today.
Kevin L. Jackson (23:59):
No. So thank, thank you both for being part of this very special location, digital transformers. If anyone is interested in learning more about the Galveston museum, please visit their website@junenineteenmuseum.com. And thank you for spending your precious time with us in closing, I would also like to invite everyone to check out a wide variety of industry, thought leadership@supplychainnow.com. You can find digital transformers and supply chain. Now, wherever you get your podcasts. So be sure to subscribe. So on behalf of Doug Scott and the entire team here at supply chain. Now this is Kevin L. Jackson wishing all of our listeners, a bright and transformational future. We will see you next time on digital transformers.
Intro/Outro (25:01):
Thank you for supporting digital transformers and for being a part of our global supply chain. Now community, please check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com. Make sure you subscribe to digital transformers anywhere you listen to or view the show and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on digital transformers.
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Featured Guests
Doug Matthews was born in 1951 in Galveston and was raised in the Westend community. While he experienced the segregation of public venues, Matthews’ parents encouraged him to control his own future by working twice as hard. Matthews attended Central High, the first African-American High School in Texas for three years, and spent his senior year at the integrated Ball High. Matthews served as the Galveston City Manager, where he worked to bridge the gap between the city government’s middle class perception of neighborhood improvement and the unmet basic needs of the African-American community, helped to cultivate its tourist industry, helped to resurrect Mardi Gras celebrations on the island, played a role in the maintenance of Juneteenth celebrations, and more. Matthews also served as an Assistant Vice President of Government Relations for UTMB, and as a deacon for the first African-American Catholic Church, Holy Rosary. Matthews is now serving on the Board of Advisors for the June 19th Museum in Galveston.
Tim Nelson is the co-founder and CEO of Hope for Justice and Slave-Free Alliance. Hope for Justice is an international charity working to bring an end to modern slavery and human trafficking and offers an effective and proven model that is replicable, scalable, and award-winning. The charity’s vision is to live in a world free from slavery and its work across five continents and in 8 countries is focused on preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society. It does this through community engagement and outreach; investigation and rescue; survivor support and advocacy; community prevention and anti-trafficking education; residential and non-residential aftercare and transitional care; family reintegration; training; campaigning and policy work; and business engagement via our Slave-Free Alliance division. Tim created and launched Slave-Free Alliance, which works with more than 80 organizations including 8 FTSE 100 companies to protect their supply chains against modern slavery. Tim has a background in Finance and Technology. The countries HFJ work in are: UK, USA, Cambodia, Norway, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Australia. Connect with Tim on LinkedIn.
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