- So welcome to Thursday.

Have you ever had one of those weeks that you just, it, it's only Thursday, but it just feels like a Friday.

I am Lynne Hayes Freeland.

I am a radio talk show host, a television talk show host, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a community activist, a public figure, an active member of my church.

I am a cancer survivor, a concerned citizen.

I'm at a point in life where I feel like I am a variety of people all rolled into one.

Professionally.

I am a radio talk show host.

We've got three hours to do today.

Welcome to lunchtime with Lynne.

I got into this profession by accident.

To be honest, my first two years in college, I was an accounting major and I struggled.

Numbers were not my strong suit.

I spent one afternoon actually chasing after a boy at a college radio station, and I literally fell in love with the microphone, with the music, with the news, and I knew right then and there that this was the business for me.

This was the profession for me.

When you find the thing that you are passionate about, you need to follow it.

I really feel like I happened into this business.

In fact, for the record, that boy that I was following never did get a job in this business because it ended up being my passion, not his.

And let me ask you this.

Yeah.

Can I introduce them over there?

Sure.

The time I got into this business, yes, there were not many women in the business and there were even fewer African American women in the business.

But interestingly enough, I don't even know if I noticed that at the time.

I know that most of my family members, even my friends would say to me, maybe you should get your teacher certificate just in case this doesn't work out.

There were a lot of situations that I would look around and I found myself as the only female, the only African American woman in a room with white men.

That happened all the time.

Sadly, in, in 2020.

Sometimes you still find yourself as one of few in the room.

I don't think it's changed that much.

Absolutely.

So what happens from that?

What happens from here?

I think that Pittsburgh is a very unique city.

I don't think it's been the best city necessarily for African Americans or for women, but it is my home.

And so as a result, I feel very vested in making a difference in my hometown.

I talk about this my, my own breast cancer experience.

Actually, we will make sure that women who need additional services or diagnoses can get 'em covered by their insurance.

Back in October, we were talking about on the radio the need for self-breast exams, and a woman called in and she said, I need to have a mammogram.

I've been putting it off and I've been listening to the show today, and I'm going to have my mammogram.

I called.

Since you've been on the air, I'm gonna schedule my mammogram and I'm gonna call and let you know what happened.

That moment, that instant, what we did on the radio may have saved her life.

That makes it all worth it.

Is that worth getting out of bed in the morning?

Absolutely.

- Sitting anywhere you choose on a bus is a choice most of us take for granted.

However, for black Americans, it is more than a choice.

It is a right.

Our forefathers fought long and hard to achieve.

Good evening, and welcome to a very special edition of vibrations.

I am Lynne Hayes - Freeland, my dear friend.

Chris Moore calls me the the last man standing because television stations don't do shows anymore that are geared specifically to the African American community.

Did you have any idea what you - Were starting that afternoon?

You said you were too tired to move to another seat on the bus.

- Not that day.

Of course.

I, I was on concern - With getting home.

I think whenever you meet someone who has changed the course of history, it is intimidating.

It is.

It makes you nervous.

And there is that moment in time where you realize that you are in the presence of greatness.

And you always have this vision that the person is going to be larger than life.

And in actuality, they are.

They aren't.

They are humble.

They are, in her case, very soft spoken.

I felt that way about Nelson Mandela.

Sometimes it was the greatest people that were the quietest, softest, most gentle people.

650 miles away sits Mother Emanuel, a ME church, a congregation that knows firsthand how it feels to have hate enter a religious space.

The South Carolina trip actually just kind of came about because a friend of a friend called me and said, "Hey, I am involved with this group.

We're gonna go to Charleston with some folks from Tree of Life.

Are you interested in going?"

These Pittsburghers found their way through Charleston in search of answers and in hopes of finding some form of peace.

The stories that we did that down there, probably among the most emotional stories that I've ever been a part of.

The first thing I noticed about Ian when we were out for an afternoon of fun at Maine Event Entertainment, he showed up in a collared shirt and tie.

Awaiting Child series is one that has always been close to my heart.

When I look at the fact that more than 70% of the kids that we've ever featured on that segment have actually been adopted, and they find homes.

I know that that was a calling.

When you think about these are kids that through no fault of their own, have been in a system, sometimes languishing within a system, and all they want is someone to love them.

I - Want a family who will take me and, and get to know me and eventually love me.

I - Think it's easy to feel as if your life has been blessed, but I know that the blessings that have been poured into my life are way beyond anything that I ever deserved.

So do I feel an obligation to give something back every day, every day.