'Mother of Judo' Who'd Take You Down Lifted Womens Sports Up
Release Date: 05/14/2021
Haven’t Seen a Fazzino? You Should - Makes People Happy
The Debbie Nigro Show
I’ve been focusing on people who make the world a more beautiful place this week. People who through their work, their ethics, their integrity, their talent, their genius just makes it happier for the rest of us. Charles Fazzino has been called one of the most famous pop artists in the world. I've been a huge fan of his style of pop art since the minute I first saw it in a window decades ago in New York City. I would stand there and stare in the window amazed at every little intricate pop-up thing he thought of to make a piece come to life. Often because I was in NYC it would...
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Alvin Clayton Paints Humanity Colorfully to Take Color Out of The Picture
The Debbie Nigro Show
I can’t get enough of my friend Alvin Clayton. He is bursting with talent and great energy, and I think he makes the world a more beautiful place through all he does and especially through his art through which he tries to speak to people’s humanity. Recently I felt compelled to introduce Alvin to as many people as possible who may not know about him just to be able to see the amazing art he creates. Famous people collect his stuff. People like Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington and Halle Berry just to name a few. Alvin has a fabulous restaurant in New Rochelle, NY called...
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We’re at The Beginning of The Next American Business Revolution
The Debbie Nigro Show
I'm All About Innovation and Innovators So I Love This Story. In his new book “Clean Economy Now: Stories from the Front Lines of an American Business Revolution" Bob Keefe the Executive Director of E2 a national nonpartisan business group of 10,000 business leaders which has been around for 25 years, describes his recent travels across the country. He wanted to witness first-hand all the clean energy projects in motion because of the significant private sector investment and job creation that’s happened incredibly fast over the past 20 months since The Inflation Reduction...
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I’m Stuck on Following Stephanie Stuckey’s Comeback Road Trip
The Debbie Nigro Show
Stephanie Stuckey a lawyer by trade, who spent 14 years in the Georgia House of Representatives and was also appointed along the way by the mayor of Atlanta as Atlanta’s 'Chief Resilience Officer', is sure showing how resilient she is. And how resilient her family business is! Stephanie is now on the road herself promoting Stuckey’s Corporation - the iconic roadside stops famous for its pecan candies and souvenirs that her grandfather founded in 1937. She bought the company in 2019 for $500,000 and has been spearheading the brands big return. It’s a big year for brand...
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7M People in U.S. Living with Alzheimer’s 2X As Many Family & Friends Are Providing Care But There's' Hope
The Debbie Nigro Show
Seven Million People Are Living with Alzheimer’s Disease in the US. 80,000 in CT alone & twice as many unpaid family members and friends are providing their care. But the money being raised is making a difference. Nobody signs up for a brain disorder that gets worse over time. Alzheimer’s is a gradual decline in memory, thinking, behavior and social skills. These changes completely affect somebody's ability to function. The bad news is the number of people with Alzheimer’s is increasing, but the good news is there are real advancements in treatment. These...
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At Prospector Movie Theater: Employees with Disabilities Sparkle & Transform Passions into Professions
The Debbie Nigro Show
Have you heard about the AMAZING Prospector Theater in Ridgefield CT? The Prospector Theater is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing competitive and inclusive employment to people with disabilities through the operation of a premium, first-run movie theater. Employees of the Prospector, referred to as Prospects, are encouraged to sparkle, shine, and transform their passions into professions. The Prospect Productions team creates high quality digital content for the Prospector Theater. Prospects working on the Production team learn in-demand trade...
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How To Stand Out By Going All In? Just Ask Tiffany McQuaid
The Debbie Nigro Show
There are surely a lot of real estate people in the country, but Tiffany McQuaid figured out a way to really stand out. Her real estate agency in Jupiter Florida has been called the most innovative agency in the country. What makes her stand out above all others in the space? She said all her efforts have ‘caring at the core'. Tiffany does ‘little things’ in her business that bring people joy. It’s something she’s been doing since she was a little girl. She decided to write a book about what works so well for her, to share with others Her book just out is called “The...
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Pinky Cole aka “Slutty Vegan” is a Class Act Her Celeb Backed Restaurant Chain Has a BIG Mission
The Debbie Nigro Show
Pinky Cole aka Slutty Vegan is WOW. There are a thousand reasons why. She’s a very innovative gal, entrepreneur, and really good human. Pinky Cole owns and operates the celebrity backed restaurant chain ‘Slutty Vegan’ with 11 locations and counting including Atlanta, Birmingham, Baltimore, Dallas, and NY. She’s opening a new location in NYC this weekend on Bleecker Street making that 3 spots now in NY with the others in Harlem and Brooklyn. “When you walk into Slutty Vegan, you will see yourself “, said Pinky. “It doesn't matter if you are white,...
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When a Psychic Is Thinking of You & Calls Out of The Blue
The Debbie Nigro Show
I’ve had some very interesting experiences with psychics and psychic mediums throughout my life. I’m always open-minded and do believe that some on this planet can see farther than the eye can see. On more than one occasion, I’ve had a psychic contact me out of the blue for one reason or another. (vs me asking them to contact someone. LOL) I probably haven’t seen Francine Tesler in over 20 years. She’s a psychic medium and medical intuitive, best known as the psychic, for people who don't usually go to psychics. She’s been making psychic predictions since she was 6 years old....
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Kindness IS Trending Thank Saratoga NY and THIS Guy!
The Debbie Nigro Show
I need to shine a light on Saratoga NY one of the kindest places in America. That’s where the idea for a viral event that took place across the country this year called “Leap of Kindness Day’ emanated from. It was held on …you guessed it…Leap Day! I love Saratoga. Been there enough times to know I could live there. I invited Todd Shimkus the President of The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, and originator of the kindness idea, to join me on The Debbie Nigro Show to talk about ‘The Kindness Movement’ they started in 2016. Leap of Kindness was such a great...
info_outlineI would not have wanted to mess with Rena 'Rusty' Kanakogi, the Mother Of Judo if I met her along the way but I do sure wish I had met her. She defied the rules and shattered the glass ceiling for women to be taken seriously in sports. I love stories of pioneers and triumph over adversity and thought you would enjoy this story too.
Raised mostly by members of a boardwalk 'freak show' family on Coney Island in the 50's, this young jewish gal from Brooklyn was the leader of a girl gang who just wanted to fight. 'Rusty' had a lot of pent up energy and that was the way she released it. Until...
As a young married woman while accompanying her first husband to an AA meeting to support his battle with alcoholism, 'Rusty' met a friend there who was in unbelievable shape. She asked him what he did to get into that shape. He said 'Judo". She said. "What the heck is Judo"? So he picks up this big strong woman like a piece of paper onto his hip and she says, "That's it! Whatever it is you're doing I'm going to learn it. "
So next... this young Jewish woman walks into the Utica, NY Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) a move unheard of at the time. and asks to take the class but they say, sorry women not allowed. Grrr. She persisted. It was 1959. They agreed to let her take a class some days if she also agreed to teach YMCA classes to other women other days. Ads for the YMCA classes in the newspaper read something like this. 'Come learn to be a good wife and serve your husband and press his pants but also come take a Judo class with Rusty'. LOL
Then... The Utica YMCA Male Judo Team was competing in The Championships and was about to win, when a teammate got hurt. To save the day, the coach asked 'Rusty' to just go in and substitute so they didn't have to forfeit but said don't call attention to yourself. Just call a draw. Well that didn't happen.
'Rusty' who looked kind of androgynous with her short hair, wrapped her chest with an ace bandage and went in and beat the heck out of her opponent and won the Gold Medal. When they they found out she was a woman they asked her to give it back. She was soooo angry. She gave it back so her team didn't have to forfeit but that anger set her off on a 50 year quest to make sure no other woman in sport would ever suffer that injustice.
Rena 'Rusty' Kanakogi founded, organized and financed the first Women’s World Judo Championships, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 29 and 30, 1980, putting women’s judo on the map and earning the United States the international women’s level competition status required to qualify for inclusion in the Olympic Games. She has been recognized as “the mother of women’s judo” for her inarguable contribution to the sport. She was the first woman to rise to the rank of seventh–degree black belt. In 2008 she was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette from the Emperor’s Order of Japan for her lifelong contribution to the promotion of judo. Her ashes are interred in the Kanokogi Samurai family grave site in Kumamoto, Japan, marked with the epitaph “American Samurai.”
A street in Brooklyn has been named Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi Way.
Jean Kanogi considered "the daughter of judo" joins me today. Jean spent her years on the mats with her Mom and these days is a Senior Special Agent for the U.S. Government, a fifth degree black belt and highly respected sensei (teacher) of judo. Most notably, Jean was one of the original signers of the American Civil Liberty Union suit to fight for women’s rights in the sport of judo. She mentors high-risk youth, earned her PhD (a promise to Rusty!) and serves on the evaluation committee for the Rusty Kanokogi Fund for the Advancement of US Judo, a scholarship program managed by the Women’s Sports Foundation.
"Rusty' passed 12 years ago and her daughterJean finally finished the book they started writing together which comes out June 1st.
Get Up & Fight: The Memoir of Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi, The Mother of Women’s Judo
By Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi & Jean Kanokogi, PhD
Foreword by Billie Jean King
Second Foreword by the late Dick Schaap