1. Introduce yourself(tell about yourself & who you are)

My name is Regina White.  

I’m a 55 year old woman who has resided in Massachusetts all but my first 2.5 years, when we lived in Hawaii on my dad’s Air Force base where I was born.   

I’ve 2 adult sons who are everything I had hoped they would be – honest, caring & considerate and mindful of others plights.

I own a resident & cleaning business and am thankfully afforded the luxury of creating my own hours to work – which is important as I engage in many volunteer endeavors, as I was raised by a humanitarian father, as was he.

2. You mentioned you a big fan of Kyrie Irving what motivation does he give you everyday? 

Beyond an appreciation of Kyrie’s 12 years of athleticism and ability to post some significant historical records, both in Nets franchise & NBA, he’s a true humanitarian.

THAT was most evident, for all to learn, during COVID when Kyrie efforts to help our most vulnerable community members couldn’t be hidden, as he prefers.

What eventually became known is that Kyrie donated over $450,000 to food banks for quality meals to be given to those of need, donated a large amount of COVID-PPE  necessities to those of need (including his deceased mothers Indian tribe), donated $1.5 million to WNBA, bought George Floyd‘a family a house, produced the Justice for Breonna Taylor documentary and created a foundation which has so far funded the college education of some students of need.

He’s not afraid to do what’s right and he’s not afraid to create a movement towards equality by doing his good deeds, working with others towards changes needed, and he’s not afraid to step outside of the proverbial box that often hinders others to be leaders and contest injustices.

3 dogmas every human being should strive to adhere to, as in the words of Albert Einstein “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them and don’t do anything”.

Kyrie’s philanthropic efforts are coupled with a predominantly Eastern philosophy, both that’s near and dear to my heart – we all ARE here to help change the world and to evolve to be the best version of us that we can be.

Kyrie’s personified in these wise mantras: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” (Mahatma Ghandi) as “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful considerate citizens can change the world ~ indeed it’s the only thing that ever has” (Margaret Mead)

3. What were some goals in life you’ve accomplished? 

Not to sound preachy but the biggest regret in life is the should’ve, would’ve, could’ve but dared not to try – and that’s my chosen way to chase all of my dreams.

I’ve achieved most of my biggest goals, especially in regards to my educational part of life.   

While a tough struggle as a single mom with no help from my family with childcare or finances, I managed to complete my undergraduate studies with 2 BA’s – even inducted into Psy Chi National Honor Society & a steady on the Dean’s List (I however was only a part-time student as I had to work as head of household & this took me 7 years to complete these undergraduate degrees)

In 2011 I did meet my ultimate goal to get accepted into Smith College for my pursuit of MSW, and was a recipient of a $45,000 grant towards the $52,000 program.

22 credits in 10 weeks of summer was grueling with over 1000 pages of reading and much writing, but I maintained “pass” status in all but 1 class (there’s no grading system, so “pass” is best followed by “moderately pass”, which is what I received in 1 class)

I left midway of 8 months of 30 hours a month unpaid internship, as my internship was a 2 hour roundtrip drive (on a non snow day) making my 4 days a week 7:30-5:30 difficult to be a good parent.

It was an easier decision to make, as the internship failed to provide any true skill sets to be learned & sadly, many times, I witnessed the rights of many, who entered this    CC crisis stabilization center, were often violated.

It was fine though as I met my goal of getting into Smith College, and the reality was with a MSW I’d be restricted on volunteer endeavors I’ve always engaged in.

4. What was your life like growing up and how did that affect you now to be the person you are today? 

My parents were very young and isolated from extended family members for most of my childhood.

The times of economic hardships were impacted greatly by the lack of their family’s support, and many lessons were learned by me when very young.

I am fortunate that we struggled to have enough food to eat, to have not been able to follow fashion trends, or to have learned to engage in minimalism.

It taught me the truer meaning of life, in that relationships were more important than materialistic gains and to be grateful for what I did have.

It taught me also to help others in need, and to give freely of my time & my possessions to those who need help – which is why I engage in many volunteer endeavors, especially to our homeless community members.

5. What advice would you give to the younger people generation about life? 

To hold tight to the notion that we are mere dust in our world, and to live as egoless beings.

Our sole purpose in life isn’t to acquire materialistic gains, but to spread love to others, especially to those we know not yet.

Everything in life is about energy – what we put out is what returns to us, all of us.

The importance of helping others, if even bring a voice for our voiceless vulnerable community members, is great.

We are not spiritual being having a physical existence but rather physical beings having a spiritual existence.

Equality of all is imperative.

Also, chase all your dreams and never accept the no’s from naysayers who say you can’t achieve them.

Shoot for the stars and if you only reach the tip of the sky, it’s better than choosing to be stuck in a rut.

Stagnation is a cancer of the soul.

6. What are your thoughts on the world today?

“Post COVID-19” is a time of much reflection, appreciation and understanding that these times of inflation are going to drastically affect a great many persons.

We need to be collective in our efforts to ensure our most vulnerable of people are assisted in staying nutritionally fed, safely housed, and protected from the elements (heat costs are as astronomically high right now, along with gas, and anticipated to get much worse)

We all need to VOTE and push our state & city elected leaders also to lobby for our most vulnerable community members.

I have much faith in the world, but I do worry we’re revisiting the 2008 stock market crash days and many to lose their homes, retirement funds and other investments.

I hate to think like this, as I am a very positive person, but as a realist the signs are there.

The disparity between the higher class & lower class is greater now than during the Great Depression, with a large amount of middle class persons falling closer to the lower class of persons living at or barely above poverty.

We all need to collectively ensure our elected leaders address these issues in mindful ways, far beyond just raising minimum wages a little each year (of course some states aren’t even doing that, like Mass is).   

Cost of living: minimum wage is greater disproportionate, with it being said that rental increases would require 1.5-2 full time jobs at minimum wage to pay just the rent and the minimum utility bills.

That’s a glass ceiling we need to remove, as no one should live at poverty level or below.

7. What else would you like to tell that would about you?

Hah, after how I answered these questions it’s evident my age in using these affirmations of others to best enhance my thoughts.

Which only proves the sageness of the powerful thoughts, as they are indeed the way to live life large.