From Prison to Purpose How Tru Lanez Is Helping His Community Find Resources & Opportunities

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Kind: captions
Language: en
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What's up, fam? Welcome to another
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episode of Breaking Impossibilities,
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where we use real life stories to help
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people grow and break those
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impossibilities.
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We have a special guest today. There is
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no need for no intro cuz he's going to
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lay it all on the line. He's going to
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tell us exactly how he broke those
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impossibilities. He grew and he became
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the best version of himself. We have my
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man right now, Mr. True Lanes.
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>> All right, man. What's going on? How's
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it good? It's good to be here, man. Good
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to be here,
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>> man. So, uh tell me a little bit about
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uh where you at today, like what what
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what are some of the things that you're
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doing within the community, man, to help
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other people grow and and break those
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impossibilities?
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>> Um right now, I'm just reaching out to a
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lot of people by uh starting my own
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resource service. Uh basically it's a
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resource center where we come and we
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give people options and opportunities of
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uh getting to help them get ahead with
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resources they may not that they may not
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have known about like for instance
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grants, scholarships, um programs that's
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going to help them probably getting into
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employment as well as work from home
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opportunities. It's just a I'm doing
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things like uh helping people improve
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their credit, start a b start a business
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and things like that because when I came
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up we didn't have a lot of those options
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available for us. It was just like you
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knew people who started a business, you
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just didn't know how. So, I just
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basically call myself a uh a resource uh
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specialist right now. That's my actual
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title and position at the company that
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I'm working with.
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>> Oh, I love that. The resource
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specialist. You know, I feel the same
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way, man, cuz uh growing up, you know,
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uh in Oakland, right? Uh dealing with a
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lot of things that I dealt with, being
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in the streets and, you know, in the
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community, not really focused on school,
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focused on a lot of different things.
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You know, as I started to grow older,
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man, there wasn't a lot of resources,
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you know, until I went to jail. And then
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that's when I was able to be, you know,
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able to access some of these resources.
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And it's crazy cuz I used to ask, you
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know, for housing when I was homeless. I
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used to ask for all these different
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things. And the reason why I'm going
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down that route because it's a little
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bit different than what you were talking
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about because I was thinking about doing
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the same thing where I get all these
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different resources for people that are
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out there addicted. A nationwide
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resource list for people. You know what
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I'm saying? And even that with the
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scholarships and grant like I didn't
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know until I got in school all this
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money that is like free for you.
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>> Exactly man. So many things available
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for people but ignorance is bliss
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because we just don't know about it. For
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instance, like that what you said about
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addiction programs and programs to help
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people get clean and sober. There are a
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lot of programs available for that, but
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not enough. So, you definitely should
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pursue that. It's not really my level of
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expertise, but I do refer people to
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different programs that accept people
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with open arms. You know what I mean?
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And when you say when you was in jail,
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you realized how many resources was
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available. It's kind of the same here.
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Cuz when I got out of federal prison,
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uh, one of the case managers told me
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that I should go claim disability or
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social security. And I'm like, social
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security for what? I'm not crazy. And
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she was like, "Oh, well, they'll give
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you like $800 a month and you should be
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able to survive off of that because you
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are a disadvantaged minority." And I'm
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like, "Hm, what makes me a
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disadvantage?" Oh, well, you did over 10
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years in prison and then you're coming
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out starting back over going to live in
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a halfway house. Go see what's available
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for you and you'll do well. So her
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thought of me was I would only do do
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well with disability of about $800 a
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month welfare EBT. And I almost thought
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about it for just like 30 13 seconds.
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And I told her she must be crazy cuz
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there's no way in the world I would
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claim defeat and only accept that as my
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reality. But instead, I would go help
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people to become financially literate be
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and find resources that will get them
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out of tough situations and tough spots
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like that because there's no way in the
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world that I was accepting that as my
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reality. No way.
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>> Absolutely. Absolutely. And just because
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I'm behind bars and I'm in this in this
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solitary right now doesn't mean that I'm
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somebody I'm you know from Oakland,
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right?
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>> Definitely from Oakland, man. and she
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was from like some hick town near that
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prison where I was at. And the crazy
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part about it, she was like, "Well,
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everyone else is doing it." Okay, well,
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everyone else is doing a lot of things
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that I will refuse to do, so don't try
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to keep pushing that on me. Well, you
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have to sign the paper. So, I did sign a
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paper that almost would have put me in
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position to go be limited to social
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security and government benefits as my
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only source of income. But then I
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couldn't work. I couldn't probably uh uh
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get certain education education that I
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might have wanted to pursue and it would
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have just kept me right there. You know
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what I mean?
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>> Yeah. Yeah. 100%. We from the land of
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the go-getters. We going to make
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something happen. From nothing to
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something.
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>> From nothing to something. You already
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know. I mean, you came up like not only
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in Oakland, but in Oakland streets. Cuz
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I know enough about you to know that the
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area you grew up in, what you had to
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endure, it definitely wasn't easy. And
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then it would be easy for someone to
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look at you and judge you like you're
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not supposed to be there or like you
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might not be hip to what's going on. But
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when you start talking, you let me know
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that you not only knew what was going
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on, but you played a role in all of the
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stuff that you were surrounded by. So
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nobody would try to play you or take
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advantage of you and these Oakland
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streets, which are some of the meanest,
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most vicious streets still to this day.
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You know what I mean? I I I don't like
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that accolade or that that statistic, I
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should say, but it's just true. I mean,
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what we've been bred to be and what the
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people who came after us became is just
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what they are. I mean, no way around it.
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That's just who they are. So, yeah.
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>> No, for sure. I don't like the accolade
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either. I don't like how how it has
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become either. You know what I'm saying?
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Cuz I love my city. I don't like what's
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going on, right? But you know what I'm
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saying? At the end of the day, like it's
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an accolade for me. It's accolade for
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you because coming up
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>> Yeah.
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>> where we came up from and making it out,
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>> we wasn't supposed to make it past 18.
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And if you made it past 25, you was a
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triple OG.
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>> Oh, you was a triple OG after 25, man.
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And that was real. I think I think
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people who never been told that or
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didn't come from those type of
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communities think that that we just made
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that up. No. Teachers, counselors,
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people with the Boys and Girls Clubs,
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even the OGs that you saw getting killed
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or being taken down by the drugs in our
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community at that age group. you like,
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damn, so I'm 16 now. By the time I'm 26,
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I'll be standing in front of the store
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strung out or will I be in prison? You
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know what I mean? Claiming the prison
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gang being the OG holding a knife. So,
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it was a couple ways you could go about
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it. But when you out there in the mix in
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front of the liquor store, hanging at
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car washes, hanging in trap houses,
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which we call crackouses back then, or
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rock houses, whatever you might age
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group you might be in. You know what I
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mean? You knew damn well that it was the
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chances of you growing old were slim to
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none.
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>> No, for sure. For sure. I remember some
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of the uh the best advice that I got
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from a OG, man. He was walking down the
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street and he told me he's like, "Hey,
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white boy, let me tell you something."
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>> Whoa. Whoa.
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>> You know, he was like, "Hey,
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>> nephew, right? Cuz that's what they used
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to call me, white boy." Right.
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>> Hey,
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get out.
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>> He was like, "Travel the world." He's
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like, "Cuz when these streets grab you
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knee deep, you going to be in
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quicksand."
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>> Yes.
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>> And I didn't understand what he meant.
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And see what I was like, you you can't
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tell me that because this is what I
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want.
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>> You know what I mean? I want to be out
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here. I want to be on these steps. I
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want to do these things. I want to be
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running the streets. Like,
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>> you know what I mean? I didn't want to
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go to school no more.
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>> You know what I'm saying? And I was
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listening to one of your other podcasts,
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man. And please forgive me cuz I forgot
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the name of the podcast, but I was
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listening to a little bit of what you
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had going on and you talked about that.
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>> Yeah.
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>> You know what I'm saying? When you was
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like,
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>> you know, you started to do a little bit
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of this and and your friend was like, I
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ain't going to school no more.
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>> And then you introduced your brother to
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it. And then he was like, I'm not
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playing baseball no more.
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>> Yeah. Exactly.
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>> You know what I'm saying? Like because
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that's what it did. It was gra it's
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grabbing us by the ankles and then
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crawling up our body. And then when you
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succumb to that, that's what you know
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and that's what you love.
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>> Yeah. Yeah, man. So, that's that like
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you say, it's that quicksand effect.
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Some people call it crab in the bucket
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effect, but I won't look at it as a crab
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in the bucket effect because I actually
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wanted my little brother to win.
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Actually, if you going to come into
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this, do right, get you some money and
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then get to where you want to be and
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move on. So, I didn't want to just bring
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him in it for failure, which would which
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would have happened no matter what had
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he stayed in it. See, he was smart
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enough to get up out of it at a time
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when he saw the transitioning of like uh
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people like uh uh uh glamorizing the
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downfall of of the people who were in
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it. Like for instance, like um it became
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a time where it's like, "Oh, well, this
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person didn't tell he had to do what he
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had to do." Wait a minute. You mean you
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got your own friend or family member set
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up and that's not considered a bad
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thing? He did what he had to do. And now
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we look 25 years later, it's a common
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thing to just say if I get in trouble, I
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don't care what you say or what my mama
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say, what my girls say, I'm going to
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point the finger at somebody else to get
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myself out of trouble. And it became so
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much of a norm that anybody that's
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trying to take chances with illicit
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activity, backdooring a business
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partner, uh you know, getting over on
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any type of systems and circumventing
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these systems and processes, just know
00:09:07.760 --> 00:09:09.110
that somebody right there don't have the
00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.710
same values that you may have and they
00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.710
will point the finger at you. So, I just
00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.430
definitely was trying to um let him know
00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.910
that it's no heavy future in it, but you
00:09:17.920 --> 00:09:19.750
can get some money right quick. You can
00:09:19.760 --> 00:09:21.030
get some because that's how I kind of
00:09:21.040 --> 00:09:22.710
came in it. You want to make a lot of
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.389
money real quick. This is what we doing.
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.550
And I had to look at it from an outside
00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:28.870
perspective for a little short period of
00:09:28.880 --> 00:09:30.710
time. And then I dove in. So, it was too
00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:32.550
late for me. And I'm glad that it wasn't
00:09:32.560 --> 00:09:33.829
too late for them. Like, he didn't have
00:09:33.839 --> 00:09:35.190
to see federal prison. He didn't have to
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:36.870
see state prison. He didn't have I mean,
00:09:36.880 --> 00:09:38.790
of course, he's been on both sides of
00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:41.030
the gun, but for me, I just feel like I
00:09:41.040 --> 00:09:43.350
got the worst break because I mean, I
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.269
stayed in it way too long. I just stayed
00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.430
in the game way too long in my opinion.
00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:49.269
>> Mhm. And you want to touch a little bit
00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.030
on that about like, you know what I'm
00:09:51.040 --> 00:09:53.910
saying? Cuz I know that you was you had
00:09:53.920 --> 00:09:56.310
you definitely made a decision while you
00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.230
was in federal prison. Am I am I right?
00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:58.710
I did.
00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:00.310
>> That you had to you had to do something
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:01.269
different.
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:02.470
>> You want to talk a little bit about
00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.150
that? What was that that that what was
00:10:04.160 --> 00:10:07.030
at that moment or that what was that
00:10:07.040 --> 00:10:09.430
like for me just a light went on and I
00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.030
was just like I'm not doing this [ __ ] no
00:10:11.040 --> 00:10:11.670
more.
00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:15.190
>> Uh I think with me federal prison,
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.790
state prison, federal prison,
00:10:18.800 --> 00:10:20.550
the re-entry program coming into the
00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:23.829
halfway house, it's just a real clear
00:10:23.839 --> 00:10:26.470
fact. It's it's really clear that this
00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.389
is what you're trapped into right now
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.470
and it can continue to repeat itself
00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.310
unless you do something different. So I
00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.550
had to make the conscious decision like
00:10:34.560 --> 00:10:36.710
I don't want to be sitting on that yard
00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.389
walking the track with people that are
00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:40.630
never coming home standing in line for
00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:43.430
child sharing showers and sleeping on a
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.310
bunk as well as I miss my daughter's
00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.550
high school graduation. I miss their
00:10:48.560 --> 00:10:50.790
junior high. I miss all the important
00:10:50.800 --> 00:10:52.790
moments in my two daughters life. So
00:10:52.800 --> 00:10:54.150
right now one of the things that make me
00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:55.990
feel really good is that I'm here for my
00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.910
youngest daughter. I'm here with her. I
00:10:57.920 --> 00:10:59.910
see her every day. I'm able to be there
00:10:59.920 --> 00:11:02.069
for her. So making a lot of money is
00:11:02.079 --> 00:11:04.310
cool, you know what I mean? Um having
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:06.389
nice stuff is cool, but for me being
00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.310
that being that I miss so many important
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.389
and monumental moments in my children's
00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.470
lives, I think right now that's the most
00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:13.910
important thing for me. And I know they
00:11:13.920 --> 00:11:15.509
like, "Well, that's how it was supposed
00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:17.910
to be anyway." Yeah, it is how it was
00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:20.389
supposed to be technically, but me
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:21.829
running around with the people I ran
00:11:21.839 --> 00:11:23.829
around with, it was like, "Fuck it. Get
00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:25.750
money. What you doing out here, man? If
00:11:25.760 --> 00:11:27.110
you ain't get no money, don't be around
00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:29.430
here cuz you might become a victim or
00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.910
victimize someone off what we doing. So,
00:11:31.920 --> 00:11:33.670
I just didn't want to be that person to
00:11:33.680 --> 00:11:35.590
be like, "Okay, if I go to my
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.550
neighborhood, you need a baby Draco."
00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:40.470
Like, golly. But with this baby Draco,
00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.550
who am I going to use it against? My own
00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:44.550
people that look just like me that come
00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:46.550
from the circumstances I come from. But
00:11:46.560 --> 00:11:49.910
if they test me and try to play crazy,
00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:51.670
then I'mma have to do So that decision
00:11:51.680 --> 00:11:53.590
right there made I mean that reality
00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.630
right there made me realize that the
00:11:56.640 --> 00:11:58.389
juice not worth the squeeze, man. You
00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.790
know what I'm saying? Also, me coming
00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:02.230
out of prison with a different
00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.150
perspective on life and then seeing the
00:12:04.160 --> 00:12:06.470
people who are younger than me without
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.310
the guidance that they deserve, without
00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.509
the guidance that they should have
00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.030
that's going to have them excelling in
00:12:11.040 --> 00:12:12.949
life. They only thinking of a quick
00:12:12.959 --> 00:12:15.030
lick. me when I thought about some
00:12:15.040 --> 00:12:16.230
money, I said, "I'm gonna go grind.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.069
I'mma hustle. I'm gonna spend 250 on
00:12:18.079 --> 00:12:20.230
this, make 500." Now, they just be like,
00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.590
"Oh, look at that dude right there with
00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.670
that nice watch. I'm going to get that.
00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:25.030
Look at that girl right there with that
00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:26.870
Chanel purse. I need that. I can go sell
00:12:26.880 --> 00:12:29.110
that and get 4500." So, it's none of
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.269
that. Let me grind my way up, hustle my
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.230
way up, take my time to succeed. It's
00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.230
see somebody else winning, take it from
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.629
them, even risk my life in the process.
00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.389
I would rather do that than be broke.
00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:41.829
So, they don't really had a grind
00:12:41.839 --> 00:12:44.230
mentality. And and I I have to look at
00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.310
myself like what did I what what role
00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.269
did I play in that? Maybe being absent.
00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:50.870
Maybe one of those younger dudes looking
00:12:50.880 --> 00:12:53.190
at me having stuff and saying that well
00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.190
his route was cool but I want it twice
00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.230
as fast. So I'll rob, lick, steal, kill,
00:12:58.240 --> 00:12:59.910
and destroy for that. You know what I
00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:01.269
mean? So I think that right there within
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:02.230
itself, I know it's a little
00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.470
long-winded, but I just can't keep doing
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.269
that over and over knowing it'll lead to
00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:08.230
the same result.
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.829
>> N man, that was perfect, man. Because
00:13:09.839 --> 00:13:11.269
that that's what needs to be heard,
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:13.269
right? And also too, don't be too hard
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.509
on yourself because you know like at the
00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.710
end of the day like
00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.710
>> it's what they heart desire
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:20.949
>> like they going to do it regardless. You
00:13:20.959 --> 00:13:22.790
being locked up and not in that
00:13:22.800 --> 00:13:24.949
environment might have saved your life.
00:13:24.959 --> 00:13:25.509
>> Yeah.
00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.430
>> You know what I'm saying? Cuz as we know
00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:29.910
the youngsters start whing then what
00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:31.509
happens? You know what I mean? They
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.110
trying to get to the top. How do you get
00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.710
to the top? You got to remove the person
00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.069
from the top. You never know what could
00:13:36.079 --> 00:13:37.670
happen. You know what I'm saying? It's
00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:39.509
like a lot of back dooring and all of
00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:40.790
that stuff. You know what I'm saying?
00:13:40.800 --> 00:13:42.629
So, and those are the things that when I
00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.069
talk about having an accolade of making
00:13:44.079 --> 00:13:45.509
it out of Oakland or making it out of
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.190
the the struggle or the ghetto or
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.269
wherever you come from,
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:51.030
>> those are the accolades cuz we made it
00:13:51.040 --> 00:13:52.069
through that.
00:13:52.079 --> 00:13:53.670
>> We navigated through all them
00:13:53.680 --> 00:13:55.829
adversities. You know what I mean? And
00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:57.670
we still here breathing
00:13:57.680 --> 00:13:59.750
>> and and still being able to tell the
00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:00.310
stories.
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:00.629
>> Yeah.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.629
>> You know, some people been patched up a
00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:04.069
few times. You know what I'm saying?
00:14:04.079 --> 00:14:05.829
Dry. Yeah. You know what I mean? With
00:14:05.839 --> 00:14:07.430
the drywall and everything. Yeah.
00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.350
walking around and they still being able
00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:10.790
to tell their story.
00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:13.350
>> Including me. I I a couple years ago I
00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.949
was the victim of a robbery or I was
00:14:14.959 --> 00:14:16.310
just in the wrong place at the wrong
00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.470
time and a couple cats got up on me. It
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:19.910
should have been a simple robbery. Let
00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:21.670
me get the watch, let me get your money.
00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:23.350
But it ended up with a tussle that led
00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.750
to me getting shot twice. So even after
00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:28.150
that happened to me, it was my own
00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:30.230
people, some people who just wanted what
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.949
I had at that time because they probably
00:14:32.959 --> 00:14:34.790
weren't having it. And I looked at it
00:14:34.800 --> 00:14:36.470
with like, man, look at these dudes.
00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.710
They out here just so lost in the sauce
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.030
they almost killed me over something I
00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:42.870
would have just gave them anyway. And
00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:45.269
I'm just like I'm here to live to tell a
00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.829
story. So let me tell a story and just
00:14:47.839 --> 00:14:49.990
bring awareness to what's going on
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.150
around us because obviously they're
00:14:52.160 --> 00:14:53.910
don't they don't have no guidance. They
00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:56.310
don't have no OG's which stopped a while
00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.069
back. These younger men talking about I
00:14:58.079 --> 00:14:59.670
ain't got no OG's. It's just what I do
00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:02.629
or nothing. And then I I definitely
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.629
overcame that. And I'm still not even
00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.189
mad. I'm not even mad at that right now
00:15:07.199 --> 00:15:09.350
because I realize that they're gonna
00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:10.710
have to learn the way that they learn
00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.710
just like I did. I mean, unfortunately
00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:14.629
for me, I'm still here patched up a
00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:16.310
little bit, but I'm still here to tell
00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.910
the story and I just want to inspire
00:15:17.920 --> 00:15:19.829
somebody else to do something different
00:15:19.839 --> 00:15:21.910
if I can. You know what I mean?
00:15:21.920 --> 00:15:24.230
>> No, man. Praise God, man. Thank you, for
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.710
sure. Man,
00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.310
those be the times, you know? Uh but
00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.430
like so take us back a little bit, you
00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.350
know, uh growing up in open cuz I know
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:36.949
we you know I like to start at the top
00:15:36.959 --> 00:15:38.550
right like what you doing now and we we
00:15:38.560 --> 00:15:39.750
going to re and we're going to come back
00:15:39.760 --> 00:15:41.269
to that as well cuz I want people to
00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:42.710
understand really how to obtain these
00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.629
resources you know what I mean like what
00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:46.389
it is what resources are they able to
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.790
get to but you know let's get into a
00:15:48.800 --> 00:15:50.389
little bit about your upbringing where
00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:53.110
you come from your home like how how it
00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.269
is how is it that you made your way to
00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.269
the federal prison? Oh wow. That's a
00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:58.870
that's that's a hell of a story. But in
00:15:58.880 --> 00:16:01.910
a nutshell, I'll say like uh you know, I
00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:04.710
grew up in East Oakland. Uh
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:08.470
>> middle class family, parents married. Uh
00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.150
they did everything they can do to try
00:16:10.160 --> 00:16:12.150
to ensure that we had a life that they
00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:14.150
possibly didn't have being that they
00:16:14.160 --> 00:16:16.629
came from down south. So you know, our
00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.749
community starts shifting early late
00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:23.749
70s, early 80s. And we didn't live smack
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:25.590
dead in the middle of it, but we live
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.069
close enough to it to be exposed to
00:16:28.079 --> 00:16:30.470
that. Like at school, um, going around
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:32.310
the church, like when you go around your
00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:33.990
community, you see what's going on. So,
00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.430
I mean, you know, everything was cool.
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:37.910
We didn't struggle. We we we we did
00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:39.910
well. However, it's just like a lot of
00:16:39.920 --> 00:16:41.910
my friends struggled. A lot of my
00:16:41.920 --> 00:16:44.069
friends were on welfare and government
00:16:44.079 --> 00:16:46.230
assistance, and they didn't have food at
00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:47.829
their house. They didn't get new
00:16:47.839 --> 00:16:49.670
clothes. They didn't get new shoes. And
00:16:49.680 --> 00:16:51.269
I'm like, "Wait a minute. we have
00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.509
clothes, shoes, whatever we need. And
00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.710
then like a pair of my old shoes to one
00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.189
of my friends were just so great and so
00:16:59.199 --> 00:17:00.870
amazing. And I didn't believe it should
00:17:00.880 --> 00:17:03.189
be that way. So I come to find out that
00:17:03.199 --> 00:17:05.829
his mom was on some of the same drugs
00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.470
that had invaded our community. So that
00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:09.750
could have been part of the reason why
00:17:09.760 --> 00:17:11.350
they didn't have a lot of resources and
00:17:11.360 --> 00:17:13.669
money and stuff like that. But still in
00:17:13.679 --> 00:17:15.510
all, since he's my friend, I'm thinking
00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:17.909
like, uh, what can we do to get some
00:17:17.919 --> 00:17:19.270
more money? He like, "Well, down at the
00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:21.110
car wash, you know, they hustling. They
00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:22.150
getting to it, you know." I'm like,
00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:23.909
"What they doing? Let's go see." So, we
00:17:23.919 --> 00:17:27.029
just go over there and see that. And um
00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.789
we watching what they doing and all they
00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:30.310
doing is handing off stuff, collecting
00:17:30.320 --> 00:17:31.750
money, handing off, collecting money. It
00:17:31.760 --> 00:17:32.950
looked pretty easy on the outside
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.870
looking in. But little did we know that
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.029
that was the thing that became some of
00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.270
the worst stuff that happened to Oakland
00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:41.350
and so many communities in America, but
00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:43.510
we still tr chose to jump in. So
00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:45.830
initially it was more like okay if we
00:17:45.840 --> 00:17:48.150
can make two or 300 then y'all can have
00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.990
food every day you can buy some school
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.710
clothes you we'll be fine but it turned
00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.150
into a full-time job especially for him
00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.870
because he quit school for it me I had
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.390
to be home by the time the street lights
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:02.230
went on so I was only make a few hundred
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.390
here a few hundred there to be able to
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.270
trap hustle whatever without my parents
00:18:07.280 --> 00:18:09.190
finding out but it didn't take that much
00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.029
time for them to find out because of
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.990
course a kid at 11, 12 years old coming
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.950
in the house with $500 in that day and
00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.430
age was a problem. Like, wait a minute,
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.950
where'd you get this money from? And why
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.110
do you have a pager? So, my dad was a
00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:25.110
nononsense kind of guy. And he was like,
00:18:25.120 --> 00:18:27.510
listen, you not doing that here.
00:18:27.520 --> 00:18:28.789
>> I'm not going to lose my house and
00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:30.230
everything I have on account of you
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.630
being out here doing dumb [ __ ] You got
00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:36.789
to go. So, I end up moving out into uh
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.470
uh first it was like one of those weekly
00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.950
hotel rooms. It's like $15 a day, 20
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.350
bucks a day. And then I end up living in
00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:45.029
one of those houses where was was a
00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:46.710
direct
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.190
trap house where everything went on
00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.909
under the sun. Prostitution, drug deals,
00:18:51.919 --> 00:18:55.750
drug processes, cleaning guns, weapons.
00:18:55.760 --> 00:18:58.070
I mean, some of macking, pimping,
00:18:58.080 --> 00:18:59.909
players. You you moved out of your
00:18:59.919 --> 00:19:01.430
parents house and moved into theirs.
00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.270
>> Well, I got kicked out because my father
00:19:03.280 --> 00:19:05.350
was a nononsense kind of guy that he let
00:19:05.360 --> 00:19:08.150
me know plain as day that before I let
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.390
you crumble all my stuff. You'll get out
00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:11.590
and go live in the street with the
00:19:11.600 --> 00:19:13.590
vandals that you chose to be with. And
00:19:13.600 --> 00:19:15.669
that's what I was about. Uh I was about
00:19:15.679 --> 00:19:17.590
12 or 13 at that time. Okay.
00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:21.590
>> 12 or 13. So, I mean it it was not an
00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:24.390
ultimatum. It was just like go. Right.
00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.510
So, as I'm living, as I'm going through
00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:30.150
that, I eventually got good at hustling
00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:32.549
because I'm like, I'm out here now. Some
00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:33.990
people said it was by choice. Like,
00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.830
well, you could have stayed home, lived
00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:37.510
the life of a normal 13-year-old kid,
00:19:37.520 --> 00:19:39.110
and did what all 13-year-old kids were
00:19:39.120 --> 00:19:40.870
doing. No, all 13-year-old kids in our
00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:42.470
community wasn't doing that. I just said
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.150
that most 13-year-old kids in that
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:45.669
community didn't know where their next
00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:47.830
meal was coming from. All of their food
00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:49.750
came from the corner market. When you
00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:51.350
walk into the meat market, it has that
00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:54.549
stink smell to it.
00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:56.710
They don't get to go and they don't get
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.870
to go to the luxury grocery stores. They
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:01.350
go to the corner market and that's it.
00:20:01.360 --> 00:20:03.430
>> Now my parents, they went shopping in
00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.830
Berkeley. They was shopping at, you
00:20:05.840 --> 00:20:08.150
know, higherend grocery stores. We
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.909
didn't have no food stamps. We didn't
00:20:09.919 --> 00:20:13.029
have any of that. So I felt like we were
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.270
at an unfair disadvantage, not really
00:20:15.280 --> 00:20:17.190
understanding economics like I thought I
00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.669
did. But honestly, honestly, the way
00:20:19.679 --> 00:20:21.750
that that system is set up, I believe it
00:20:21.760 --> 00:20:23.750
was by design, but I couldn't see that
00:20:23.760 --> 00:20:25.830
far. So, I end up getting pretty cool at
00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:27.510
at a young age at hustling. And before
00:20:27.520 --> 00:20:30.149
you know it, I had 5 $10,000,
00:20:30.159 --> 00:20:33.510
buying my own car, found my own plug.
00:20:33.520 --> 00:20:36.149
Now, I'm serving some of my homies that
00:20:36.159 --> 00:20:38.710
started with me, which came with own
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.630
which came with its own set of issues,
00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.310
too. Like, wait a minute, we started
00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:44.630
together and you really don't have to do
00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.710
this, but now we have to buy from you.
00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.710
We don't like that. So, I had a couple
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.549
incidents where, you know, some people I
00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.990
knew told some other guys they knew that
00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:56.390
they thought we were doing more than we
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.310
probably were and they, you know, set us
00:20:58.320 --> 00:20:59.669
up and did a little home invasion,
00:20:59.679 --> 00:21:01.029
little fake home invasion. Mind you,
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.870
this is 1991,
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.350
1991, '92. So being on that side of a
00:21:05.360 --> 00:21:07.909
home invasion way back then as a kid, it
00:21:07.919 --> 00:21:10.470
kind of made me numb and feel a certain
00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:12.070
way about certain things and certain
00:21:12.080 --> 00:21:15.029
people, not really trusting people, um
00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.029
not forthcoming and and I hold a lot of
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.029
things close to my chest cuz sometimes
00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.270
saying less will save your life. You
00:21:21.280 --> 00:21:22.870
know what I mean? Showing less will save
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:24.789
your life. But then I also don't believe
00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.590
you should be a prisoner on your own
00:21:27.600 --> 00:21:29.750
community. You shouldn't be a prisoner a
00:21:29.760 --> 00:21:31.830
prisoner to your own success. You know
00:21:31.840 --> 00:21:33.510
what I mean? Because when you succeed,
00:21:33.520 --> 00:21:35.270
you should be able to enjoy that. But if
00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:36.789
you're around a bunch of people who are
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.909
not succeeding, then I mean, of course,
00:21:39.919 --> 00:21:41.750
you become the target, you know? I mean,
00:21:41.760 --> 00:21:43.110
you look like a steak in front of a
00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:45.669
hungry dog. You look like a a plate to a
00:21:45.679 --> 00:21:47.110
person that probably haven't even sat at
00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:49.510
a table in years and years. So, that was
00:21:49.520 --> 00:21:50.950
one of the things. So, uh, you know,
00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.029
that led one thing to another. And of
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:54.390
course, it don't come without trouble.
00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:55.990
The police started looking as well as
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.750
the guys you hustling with, you know,
00:21:57.760 --> 00:21:59.669
going to juvenile hall a couple times,
00:21:59.679 --> 00:22:02.630
overcoming that. um about 20 years old
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.789
catching a a semi semi big case with but
00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:08.789
having enough money for a lawyer got me
00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:10.390
out of that because you know I was able
00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:12.549
to do like three years in the um state
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.470
prison which was halftime. So, I got up
00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.310
out of that and right back to hustling,
00:22:16.320 --> 00:22:17.750
right back in trap, right back to
00:22:17.760 --> 00:22:19.909
hustling because I figured the money I
00:22:19.919 --> 00:22:21.350
was making could get me out of any
00:22:21.360 --> 00:22:23.669
problem that I would have and it was it
00:22:23.679 --> 00:22:25.590
was working until the feds came and it
00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:27.270
was just like, "Oh, no, no, no, no. We
00:22:27.280 --> 00:22:29.029
don't work like that necessarily. We
00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.270
have mandatory minimums and we have a
00:22:31.280 --> 00:22:33.270
guideline system and for what we're
00:22:33.280 --> 00:22:35.750
saying you did, it carries like 10 to
00:22:35.760 --> 00:22:37.510
life. So, just hold on to that." You
00:22:37.520 --> 00:22:38.789
know what I mean? Hold on to that.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:39.990
>> You at least doing 60 months.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.669
>> Yeah. you going to do 60 months and and
00:22:41.679 --> 00:22:43.990
that's what no downward departures, no
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.510
profiters, no 5K1s, none of that. We let
00:22:47.520 --> 00:22:49.270
you out and just show us what you got.
00:22:49.280 --> 00:22:50.870
None of that stuff. It's just like this
00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.430
what it is, man. Hold on to that.
00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:53.909
Straight up.
00:22:53.919 --> 00:22:55.909
>> When the suits coming, you you for sure
00:22:55.919 --> 00:22:56.789
sitting down for five.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.470
>> And and as they say, normally when they
00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:01.350
come, they have enough on you to give
00:23:01.360 --> 00:23:02.070
you something.
00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:04.789
>> Yeah. They No, you guilty already. Yeah.
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:05.830
Yeah.
00:23:05.840 --> 00:23:07.830
>> I like what you said though. Uh, you
00:23:07.840 --> 00:23:10.230
know, when you said
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.029
growing up in that, uh, I deal with the
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.909
same thing. I have a hard time trusting
00:23:15.919 --> 00:23:16.789
people.
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.029
>> I have a hard time with sharing
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.070
information. But then I also have a hard
00:23:22.080 --> 00:23:23.590
time is when I don't share that
00:23:23.600 --> 00:23:26.310
information or share those ideas
00:23:26.320 --> 00:23:29.270
>> that it's already been it it somebody
00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:31.909
else is sharing that information and I'm
00:23:31.919 --> 00:23:33.990
like, damn, I had the same idea.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:34.390
>> Yeah.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.909
>> Right. You know what I'm saying?
00:23:35.919 --> 00:23:37.909
I don't want somebody to steal my idea
00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:41.029
or I don't trust the back situations or
00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.230
you know you get that where it's like I
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:46.149
don't really I really don't know like
00:23:46.159 --> 00:23:47.909
can I trust this person?
00:23:47.919 --> 00:23:49.669
>> You know what I'm saying? So it's like
00:23:49.679 --> 00:23:51.029
but now
00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.909
>> in the arena that we in now it's like
00:23:53.919 --> 00:23:56.070
nah man like you you still got to be
00:23:56.080 --> 00:23:58.950
careful but at the same time
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:00.549
>> it's positive vibes.
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.029
>> Yes.
00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:02.390
>> You know what I mean? It's called
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:04.710
networking. putting yourself out there
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:07.029
talking it's it's going going against
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.390
everything
00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.390
>> that you know what what I was taught
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.470
right if we networking we networking in
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.390
silence we you know our movements is the
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.149
action our action is the movements and
00:24:16.159 --> 00:24:17.669
that's what's speaking for it you know
00:24:17.679 --> 00:24:19.350
what I mean we talking we talking to
00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:20.870
certain people we doing certain things
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.789
but hey man let me holl at him real
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.470
quick I need you to step out
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.070
>> you know what I'm saying but now it's
00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:29.510
different it's like n you know u let's
00:24:29.520 --> 00:24:31.590
not gatekeep this information let's let
00:24:31.600 --> 00:24:33.590
let's everybody eat let's all talk about
00:24:33.600 --> 00:24:36.070
this, right? You know, and so I like
00:24:36.080 --> 00:24:37.669
what you said. It's not being a prisoner
00:24:37.679 --> 00:24:39.029
of your own success.
00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.909
>> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I mean, so
00:24:41.919 --> 00:24:44.470
many things around us that keeps us
00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:46.549
limited. For instance, like being the
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.190
smartest one in your crew. Um, leaving
00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:51.590
no room for growth or probably not even
00:24:51.600 --> 00:24:53.909
expanding your mindset. Like, uh,
00:24:53.919 --> 00:24:55.909
everybody's saying that mindset is a
00:24:55.919 --> 00:24:57.830
scam. Oh, you you're working on your
00:24:57.840 --> 00:24:59.990
mindset. That's a scam. Or or why why do
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.430
you think that that's going to change
00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:03.110
your dynamics? How are we going to get
00:25:03.120 --> 00:25:05.110
to the money? First of all, with the
00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:06.710
mindset that you have, you're not going
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.549
to get to the money because you have so
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.950
many defeist thoughts and so many things
00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.029
that are working against you that you
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:14.870
say one thing, but your thought process
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.510
is another thing. And then before you
00:25:17.520 --> 00:25:18.870
can be successful, you've already
00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:20.710
tricked yourself out of your success.
00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:22.070
So, it's a couple things that can
00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:23.510
happen. You can be a prisoner to your
00:25:23.520 --> 00:25:25.190
success. You can get tricked out of your
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.590
success. You can also try to trick other
00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:29.830
people out of their su success. That's
00:25:29.840 --> 00:25:31.350
why they say don't give everybody your
00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:34.710
ideas. Sometimes I had to learn don't
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.630
give everybody your ideas. I had about
00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.070
three people throughout my life that
00:25:38.080 --> 00:25:40.549
took an idea I gave them and ran off
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.350
with it, succeeded and achieved
00:25:43.360 --> 00:25:46.630
financial success. But then other end of
00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:49.350
that is that mentally they probably
00:25:49.360 --> 00:25:51.510
failed. Relationships probably failed.
00:25:51.520 --> 00:25:53.909
the true person who they really were
00:25:53.919 --> 00:25:56.950
reared its head and it showed that wow I
00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.909
made money off an idea that wasn't mine
00:25:59.919 --> 00:26:02.230
but so many other things about me took
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.070
that away from me but I didn't even
00:26:04.080 --> 00:26:05.350
understand why because you never worked
00:26:05.360 --> 00:26:07.350
on your mindset you never got to know
00:26:07.360 --> 00:26:09.510
who you really were you never got a why
00:26:09.520 --> 00:26:11.190
you only saw the money that you can make
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:12.710
from it you know what I mean and
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:14.149
unfortunately a couple of those things
00:26:14.159 --> 00:26:16.789
were from illicit activity but when I
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.909
came to business and legitimate activity
00:26:19.919 --> 00:26:21.909
giving somebody your idea letting them
00:26:21.919 --> 00:26:24.070
run off with it, claim it as their own,
00:26:24.080 --> 00:26:26.310
and then still see them fail. I can't
00:26:26.320 --> 00:26:28.390
even say I was happy for their failure.
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.310
However, it just could have been done a
00:26:30.320 --> 00:26:31.830
lot differently, man. So, my trust
00:26:31.840 --> 00:26:33.750
issues run deep. But it came from them
00:26:33.760 --> 00:26:35.110
streets of Oakland, man. Let me tell
00:26:35.120 --> 00:26:36.710
you, man. Them streets of Oakland, man,
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:39.110
to me are raising scholars,
00:26:39.120 --> 00:26:40.950
>> especially in our era.
00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:42.870
>> I mean, if you were willing to listen
00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:44.470
and learn from somebody that been
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.710
through what you trying to get to, you
00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:48.070
definitely could learn a valuable
00:26:48.080 --> 00:26:50.630
lesson. more valuable than a professor,
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:52.230
more valuable than a preacher. Nothing
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:54.149
against preachers. I love ministers. I
00:26:54.159 --> 00:26:55.750
love people that speak the word of God.
00:26:55.760 --> 00:26:57.669
And if you're genuine about that, we
00:26:57.679 --> 00:26:59.669
together. But if not, and you a slick
00:26:59.679 --> 00:27:01.350
crook that's in it for the money and
00:27:01.360 --> 00:27:03.430
financial gain and personal gain and
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:04.870
want people to believe in you, then I'm
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.870
not with that. But people who are in it
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.029
for the right reasons will succeed no
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:10.870
matter what. I mean, it's almost
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:13.269
impossible for the not to not succeed.
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:14.950
Now, they say, "Well, I didn't make $10
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.110
million, but do you need anything? Are
00:27:17.120 --> 00:27:18.630
you starving and struggling? Do your
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:19.990
children go to the schools that you want
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.549
them to go to? I mean, if that's all the
00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:24.390
case, then maybe you don't need $10
00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.390
million. Everybody's not supposed to
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:28.470
have $10 million. Just imagine this,
00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.070
bro. What if we gave every fool $10
00:27:30.080 --> 00:27:31.430
million that thought they should have
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:33.510
it, man? This world would flip upside
00:27:33.520 --> 00:27:36.070
down, man. This [ __ ] will burn and crash
00:27:36.080 --> 00:27:38.070
and burn and burn again, man.
00:27:38.080 --> 00:27:39.510
Everybody's not even supposed to be a
00:27:39.520 --> 00:27:41.590
millionaire in my opinion. No, that's
00:27:41.600 --> 00:27:43.029
not hating and I don't want to hold
00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:45.110
nobody down, but the most successful
00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:47.110
people need to be successful. So the
00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:49.669
people who are not as successful have to
00:27:49.679 --> 00:27:51.669
play their position, know what they need
00:27:51.679 --> 00:27:53.510
to do to get where they need to go and
00:27:53.520 --> 00:27:55.029
still achieve whatever it is that
00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:56.230
they're that's going to get them
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.630
through. You know what I mean? That's
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:00.470
like trying to tell a fool, trying to
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:02.389
give a fool a message that turns into an
00:28:02.399 --> 00:28:04.070
argument. You're going to just look like
00:28:04.080 --> 00:28:05.669
the fool, too, because you're going to
00:28:05.679 --> 00:28:07.269
be going back and forth with the person
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:08.710
and they're not going to get it anyway.
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:10.149
So a lot of times lately, I've been
00:28:10.159 --> 00:28:12.789
letting fools be exactly who they are, a
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.549
fool. You know what I mean?
00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:16.630
>> Yeah. I tried, but you want to be a
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:17.990
fool. Stay over there with that
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.230
foolishness, man. Stay over there, man.
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:21.909
Straight up, man.
00:28:21.919 --> 00:28:23.110
>> We on another level.
00:28:23.120 --> 00:28:23.510
>> You know,
00:28:23.520 --> 00:28:25.110
>> we we walking we walking a different
00:28:25.120 --> 00:28:26.470
tone. These heels is clicking to a
00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:26.870
different thing.
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:28.789
>> Yes. Yes. Yes, indeed. You know what I
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:29.990
was thinking, too, man? This is not
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:32.470
funny, but I I smiled about it when they
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:33.750
told me you was from Oakland and they
00:28:33.760 --> 00:28:34.950
told me what area you was from. I said,
00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:37.029
"Man, I know that area, man, and I never
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.029
saw him over there, whatever the case
00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.950
may be." And then I had to check myself
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.510
cuz I was removed. I had to get out of
00:28:43.520 --> 00:28:45.350
that, man. Once I start doing certain
00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:47.269
stuff, man, and having having things my
00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.070
way, man. I mean, a car following me all
00:28:50.080 --> 00:28:52.070
of a sudden. I go through your area,
00:28:52.080 --> 00:28:53.510
man, like that, man. And I'm looking at
00:28:53.520 --> 00:28:55.029
them dudes in front of them stores on
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:57.029
Courtland and Congress, man. And they
00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:58.630
looking, man. Actually, my brother, man,
00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.950
he was at the car wash 76 on Mecca
00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:03.029
carjacked.
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.870
It wasn't even night time that two dudes
00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:06.870
come up on take the 745. So, you know
00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:08.149
how long ago that was? He had the brand
00:29:08.159 --> 00:29:11.669
new 745, 2003, 2004. But my point is is
00:29:11.679 --> 00:29:13.190
that they told me you was from there.
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.029
And my question was like, "How did he
00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.269
make it through that?" That was my real
00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:18.630
question, bro. And I didn't tell you
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.470
that, but I was thinking myself, "How
00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:21.750
did you make it through that?" So, I
00:29:21.760 --> 00:29:23.269
need you to tell me real quick. How did
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:24.710
you make it through that?
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:26.470
>> Man, I got up out the area.
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.430
>> Okay. Okay.
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.950
>> Yeah. I had to, you know what I mean? I
00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:30.710
had to, you know, make some shifts, man.
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.029
I was homeless, man, at 13 years old.
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:33.669
>> Wow.
00:29:33.679 --> 00:29:35.750
>> You know what I'm saying? And, and as
00:29:35.760 --> 00:29:37.669
you know, right, uh, growing up in
00:29:37.679 --> 00:29:39.510
Oakland is hard.
00:29:39.520 --> 00:29:41.190
>> Growing up in Oakland as a white boy is
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:43.430
even harder. Oh.
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.070
you know. Uh, so those are the things
00:29:46.080 --> 00:29:48.230
like I I got a lot of love. I got a lot
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:49.350
of, you know what I'm saying? I got a
00:29:49.360 --> 00:29:50.549
lot of love growing up, you know,
00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.389
because of my hoop skills, right? I used
00:29:52.399 --> 00:29:54.149
to play basketball and sports and all of
00:29:54.159 --> 00:29:55.669
that. Like I probably had more problems
00:29:55.679 --> 00:29:57.350
with the females than I did with the
00:29:57.360 --> 00:29:58.870
with the with the dudes, you know what
00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:00.950
I'm saying? Uh, and they come to realize
00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.630
they just like me, you know what I'm
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:04.389
saying? And uh,
00:30:04.399 --> 00:30:07.110
>> but uh, I I just homeless at 13 years
00:30:07.120 --> 00:30:09.510
old, man. And and grinding, you know,
00:30:09.520 --> 00:30:10.950
right across the street from Brookdale
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.950
Park. I was on where
00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:15.830
>> you know and uh you know at first I got
00:30:15.840 --> 00:30:17.590
into you know a lot of you know growing
00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:19.110
up with the kids in there and you know
00:30:19.120 --> 00:30:20.789
they kind of get mad cuz I didn't I
00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:23.269
didn't volunteer for the Fairfax and
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.350
High Street bid you know you go down
00:30:25.360 --> 00:30:27.350
there and you you damn near catching the
00:30:27.360 --> 00:30:29.909
Rico or automatically oh yeah why why I
00:30:29.919 --> 00:30:31.110
got to come down there on the corner I
00:30:31.120 --> 00:30:32.549
could just come out my front door sit on
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.029
my porch
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:34.310
>> and get the same kind of money
00:30:34.320 --> 00:30:36.070
>> and everybody already know me. So, you
00:30:36.080 --> 00:30:37.350
know, some people was a little upset
00:30:37.360 --> 00:30:39.110
with that, you know, as they should, you
00:30:39.120 --> 00:30:40.470
know, but at the end of the day, like,
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:42.070
man, we all grew up together, you know,
00:30:42.080 --> 00:30:44.549
kind of made it out of a a struggling
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:48.070
struggling war, you know, uh, and
00:30:48.080 --> 00:30:51.190
>> but, you know, Pops had to send me away.
00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:51.830
>> Okay. Okay.
00:30:51.840 --> 00:30:53.590
>> You know, Pops sent me away. My mom was
00:30:53.600 --> 00:30:56.710
in prison. My dad just got clean.
00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.990
>> I was like, you know, from 13 to about
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:02.870
18, 19, you know what I'm saying? Pop
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:04.710
sent me away. He was like, "Nah, you
00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:06.789
know, I had a nononsense pops, too." But
00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.389
for a long time, he was,
00:31:08.399 --> 00:31:09.750
>> you know, drinking and drugging just
00:31:09.760 --> 00:31:11.430
like my mom's and stuff. But when he got
00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:13.510
clean and sober when I was 12, I had I
00:31:13.520 --> 00:31:16.070
was already off the porch. I went and
00:31:16.080 --> 00:31:19.029
stayed with him before that and on 66
00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:20.389
and Mac, right across the street from
00:31:20.399 --> 00:31:23.190
the uh the cemetery and was staying in
00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:25.110
the Brown Apartments and going to King
00:31:25.120 --> 00:31:25.830
of Estates.
00:31:25.840 --> 00:31:27.750
>> Okay. I went to King. Went to King.
00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:29.350
>> Yeah. Because you said you went to
00:31:29.360 --> 00:31:31.029
Castle M. So I figure, you know, you was
00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:34.149
in that. Yeah. So, I went to King and uh
00:31:34.159 --> 00:31:35.909
while I was at King Estates, you know,
00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:38.389
uh when I was living with my dad, that's
00:31:38.399 --> 00:31:40.710
when I was like
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:42.389
>> uh I started to do really well in
00:31:42.399 --> 00:31:42.950
school. Okay.
00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:45.110
>> I had already felt the seventh grade
00:31:45.120 --> 00:31:45.830
twice.
00:31:45.840 --> 00:31:46.310
>> Whoa.
00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:47.990
>> You know what I'm saying? Not because I
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:49.509
wasn't doing the work, not because I
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:50.789
didn't know how to do the work. It's cuz
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:52.789
I wasn't doing the work, right? I knew
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:53.990
how to do the work. I knew how to do
00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.430
math. I knew how to do all that. But I
00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:57.190
was out chasing the honeys and playing
00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.190
basketball, you know what I'm saying? Uh
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:01.269
I was in the gym most of the time,
00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:02.950
>> you know? But uh at the end of the day,
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.509
like when all of that happened and
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:07.110
that's when I was first introduced to
00:32:07.120 --> 00:32:10.149
crack, my little homie from uh my little
00:32:10.159 --> 00:32:13.190
partner from 77 Holly, he came to school
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:15.750
and he was like, "Hey, bro. Look, um
00:32:15.760 --> 00:32:18.149
look," he showed me a rock, you know, he
00:32:18.159 --> 00:32:19.830
showed me a 20 piece and he like, "Give
00:32:19.840 --> 00:32:21.830
me $5. You can sell this for 20."
00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:22.470
>> Wow.
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.190
>> And I'm like, I gave my lunch money,
00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:27.509
huh? I'm about to, you know, I went to
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.909
High Street, sold that, you know, and
00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:31.830
then started selling weed, started, you
00:32:31.840 --> 00:32:33.350
know, and then my one partner came back,
00:32:33.360 --> 00:32:34.950
you know, rest in peace, uh, went
00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:37.110
stunning, but, you know, he came back
00:32:37.120 --> 00:32:39.190
from Utah one time, uh, visiting my
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.710
other brother that was out there and,
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:41.830
you know, he kind of told me, he was
00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:43.110
like, "Man, we got to you got to stop
00:32:43.120 --> 00:32:44.470
selling this weed. This where the real
00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:45.430
money at." And I was like, "Man, I've
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:46.470
been trying to get on that, but ain't
00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:48.230
nobody trying to sell me no bundle. They
00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:49.750
they trying to keep me on they trying to
00:32:49.760 --> 00:32:51.590
keep me the OG's trying to keep me down.
00:32:51.600 --> 00:32:53.669
They nah nah nah, stay with the weed,
00:32:53.679 --> 00:32:55.750
you know." And he was like, "Nah." So
00:32:55.760 --> 00:32:58.389
$25 got me my first solid. Busted that
00:32:58.399 --> 00:33:00.230
down, made 50. And then we kept going
00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:01.590
and going and going. You know what I'm
00:33:01.600 --> 00:33:05.350
saying? And uh you know, 22s, 38s at 13,
00:33:05.360 --> 00:33:07.350
14, 15 years old, man, you know, you got
00:33:07.360 --> 00:33:09.190
these things. And then you know, here
00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:10.789
come the violence. You know, people mad
00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:11.750
at you. Yeah.
00:33:11.760 --> 00:33:13.350
>> You know, oh this white boy, he ain't
00:33:13.360 --> 00:33:14.389
going to be making this, he ain't going
00:33:14.399 --> 00:33:15.590
to be making that. You know what I'm
00:33:15.600 --> 00:33:16.789
saying? Like what what's this? What's
00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:18.630
that? You know, and you know, it's a it
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.029
was a big it was a big thing. you know,
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:23.750
and uh Pops when he got clean, man. You
00:33:23.760 --> 00:33:25.669
know, he came to me crying, man. He was
00:33:25.679 --> 00:33:28.149
like, my mom was asking me to leave. I
00:33:28.159 --> 00:33:30.230
was like, "I ain't going nowhere.
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:32.230
>> I'm not running." You know what I'm
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:33.110
saying?
00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:34.789
>> But you ain't got nowhere to live. You
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:36.470
like sleeping in the park and people
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.669
coming for you. You know what I'm
00:33:37.679 --> 00:33:39.350
saying? And this is the first time I
00:33:39.360 --> 00:33:41.110
really ever shared this transparency.
00:33:41.120 --> 00:33:42.470
Oh, yeah. You know, apparently, you
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.230
know, and uh because, you know, there's
00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:45.909
a lot of there's a lot of uh you know,
00:33:45.919 --> 00:33:47.509
thoughts about it, too. Like, damn, I I
00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:49.269
dipped, I bounced, I ran. You know what
00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:51.269
I'm saying? But Pops came to me crying.
00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:53.909
He was like, "I need you to go." He was
00:33:53.919 --> 00:33:56.470
like, "I I changed. I stopped drinking.
00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:57.990
I stopped doing all this. Can you just
00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:59.830
go go somewhere else and give yourself a
00:33:59.840 --> 00:34:00.710
chance?"
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:01.509
>> Wow.
00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:03.669
>> And then I shot out to Utah.
00:34:03.679 --> 00:34:05.990
>> Okay. That is a good distance from
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:08.069
That's a distance and a difference from
00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:08.470
Oakland.
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:10.149
>> That was a [ __ ] culture shock.
00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:11.669
>> A culture shock. And you
00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:14.230
>> I ain't never I ain't never seen so many
00:34:14.240 --> 00:34:15.829
hard there, right? With the game you
00:34:15.839 --> 00:34:17.430
had, with the information you went there
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:18.389
with. on now, man.
00:34:18.399 --> 00:34:20.710
>> It was like a star out there. Utah from
00:34:20.720 --> 00:34:22.710
Oakland. I'm like, whoa. Cuz I I moved
00:34:22.720 --> 00:34:24.790
out of Oakland for a while when I was a
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:26.790
teenager and I felt like a star where I
00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:29.589
moved to and I was like, damn. But Utah,
00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:31.750
they took you all the way to Utah.
00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:32.230
>> Yeah,
00:34:32.240 --> 00:34:33.109
>> man. I mean,
00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:34.950
>> I got my own apartment out there.
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:35.430
>> Wow.
00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.430
>> Was able to get my own apartment, get a
00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:38.869
job,
00:34:38.879 --> 00:34:40.710
>> but the problem was is I brought Oakland
00:34:40.720 --> 00:34:41.510
with me.
00:34:41.520 --> 00:34:43.430
>> Okay. Okay. That mentality.
00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:44.950
>> You could take me out the hood, but you
00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:46.389
can't take the hood out of me.
00:34:46.399 --> 00:34:47.669
>> Mhm.
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:49.589
So when I went to Utah, you know, I
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:51.109
ain't never seen so many white people in
00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:52.869
my life. And people like they don't
00:34:52.879 --> 00:34:54.629
understand what I'm saying.
00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:55.030
>> Yeah.
00:34:55.040 --> 00:34:56.710
>> They don't They look at me like they
00:34:56.720 --> 00:34:58.550
think it's funny cuz I'm white,
00:34:58.560 --> 00:35:01.030
>> but they not understanding that like I'm
00:35:01.040 --> 00:35:01.990
for real.
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:02.630
>> Mhm.
00:35:02.640 --> 00:35:04.870
>> Like the only white people I really seen
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:06.150
was my family.
00:35:06.160 --> 00:35:06.710
>> Exactly.
00:35:06.720 --> 00:35:07.670
>> You know what I'm saying?
00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:08.390
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:11.589
>> And uh so I go out there and you know I
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:14.069
I deal with a lot of racist stuff, you
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:15.430
know, because of the way I walk, the way
00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:17.270
I talk.
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:25.910
amount
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.589
>> and then I clicked up with my partner
00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.910
from uh New Orleans, the third war, you
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:30.470
know,
00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:32.390
>> he from the Melamine projects.
00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:32.870
>> Mhm.
00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:34.230
>> And
00:35:34.240 --> 00:35:36.069
>> we just started running out there.
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:37.109
>> Start running around.
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:39.030
>> I opened up shop out there
00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:39.990
>> easily, too,
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:41.990
>> man. You know, I started, you know, but
00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:43.270
then when I was in Oakland too, I
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:44.630
developed a habit.
00:35:44.640 --> 00:35:46.630
>> Okay. You know, I was developing a
00:35:46.640 --> 00:35:48.470
habit. I smoking weed, drinking
00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:50.630
exceeded, and then I was introduced to
00:35:50.640 --> 00:35:51.349
cocaine.
00:35:51.359 --> 00:35:51.829
>> Yeah.
00:35:51.839 --> 00:35:54.230
>> You know, and then I was going to uh,
00:35:54.240 --> 00:35:56.390
you know, 85th and East 14th, 85th and
00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:58.069
Foothill down there, going to the spot,
00:35:58.079 --> 00:35:59.829
getting little coke sacks, coming back,
00:35:59.839 --> 00:36:01.670
whatever. And then uh, so I developed
00:36:01.680 --> 00:36:02.870
that habit. And then when I went to
00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:05.270
Utah, it was hard to find. And then I
00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:07.270
developed another h I graduated into
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:08.710
methamphetamines.
00:36:08.720 --> 00:36:11.190
>> But then with my mindset,
00:36:11.200 --> 00:36:12.550
>> I was like, you know what I'm about to
00:36:12.560 --> 00:36:13.829
do?
00:36:13.839 --> 00:36:15.270
I'm not about to be paying for this
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:17.510
[ __ ] They about to be paying for this
00:36:17.520 --> 00:36:17.829
[ __ ]
00:36:17.839 --> 00:36:18.550
>> Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
00:36:18.560 --> 00:36:20.310
>> Drop me a bundle. This is what we
00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:22.470
smoking and this is what we selling.
00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:23.910
>> That didn't go too well.
00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:24.870
>> Didn't go too well, huh?
00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:26.630
>> It went well first. You know what I'm
00:36:26.640 --> 00:36:29.829
saying? And uh you know
00:36:29.839 --> 00:36:31.990
>> and uh but you know it was good. Yeah. I
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:33.510
was a celebrity. I felt like I was a
00:36:33.520 --> 00:36:34.630
celebrity out there. You know they
00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:36.069
always used to tell you when you was you
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:38.710
know any anywhere we go youngster,
00:36:38.720 --> 00:36:40.870
nephew, bruh, whatever it is, wherever
00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:42.550
you go. Yeah. You tell them you from
00:36:42.560 --> 00:36:43.109
Oakland.
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:43.510
>> Oh yeah.
00:36:43.520 --> 00:36:44.550
>> Panties dropping.
00:36:44.560 --> 00:36:46.710
>> Panties dropping. People listening.
00:36:46.720 --> 00:36:47.030
>> Yeah.
00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:48.150
>> People wanting to follow.
00:36:48.160 --> 00:36:50.950
>> Hey, look. I had no idea.
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:53.430
>> And I'm like, damn.
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:54.790
>> Start your own click quick,
00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:57.510
>> man. I I had people out there scared of
00:36:57.520 --> 00:36:59.990
me or like didn't want to test me like,
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:02.790
and I'm like, bro, I'm nobody.
00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:04.310
Like grown men. You know what I'm
00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:05.750
saying? These are the things that I
00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:07.270
experienced, the things that I dealt
00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:08.550
with. You know what I'm saying? So it's
00:37:08.560 --> 00:37:10.870
like and that's because of where I come
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:11.430
from.
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:12.470
>> Yeah.
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:14.630
>> They didn't want them problems. I don't
00:37:14.640 --> 00:37:16.069
really have any problems to give them. I
00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:17.190
was just trying to get money. You know
00:37:17.200 --> 00:37:20.550
what I'm saying? But you know, at the
00:37:20.560 --> 00:37:21.829
end of the day, and then I ended up
00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:23.750
coming back to Oakland with a habit, you
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:26.230
know, uh I was out there for about six
00:37:26.240 --> 00:37:26.790
years.
00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:27.190
>> Okay.
00:37:27.200 --> 00:37:30.150
>> Every day I was dying to come back. Pops
00:37:30.160 --> 00:37:33.990
was just begging and pleading what's
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:35.430
more important. You know what I'm
00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:36.710
saying?
00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:38.470
He's like, "Man, I got a beer in the
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:40.069
refrigerator if you come back." Like,
00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:41.190
you know what I mean? All these
00:37:41.200 --> 00:37:42.950
different things. He's sending me money
00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:44.630
to stay out there. He's doing all of
00:37:44.640 --> 00:37:46.470
these different things, you know?
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:48.790
>> And I'm like, "Man, what's more
00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:50.310
important?" You know, and the the most
00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:54.550
the thing that he said to me
00:37:54.560 --> 00:37:58.069
was, "Think of your little brother,
00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:01.670
think of your sister, you the oldest."
00:38:01.680 --> 00:38:03.510
>> What that's going to look like if they
00:38:03.520 --> 00:38:04.710
have to bury you.
00:38:04.720 --> 00:38:09.910
>> Oh, wow. your mom is in prison.
00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:12.470
And I mean, it clicked, you know, it
00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:14.550
clicked. I said, you know what? I love
00:38:14.560 --> 00:38:16.150
him so much that it's like, you know
00:38:16.160 --> 00:38:17.990
what? Whatever. I don't give a [ __ ] what
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:19.349
anybody think about me.
00:38:19.359 --> 00:38:20.150
>> Mhm.
00:38:20.160 --> 00:38:22.230
>> This is my family we talking about.
00:38:22.240 --> 00:38:23.910
>> Which got to be first, which have to be
00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:24.550
first.
00:38:24.560 --> 00:38:26.310
>> But then as a youngster, you not really
00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:28.710
understanding that.
00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:30.150
You know what I'm saying? You're not
00:38:30.160 --> 00:38:31.670
really understanding that. And there's
00:38:31.680 --> 00:38:33.349
some people still out there a little
00:38:33.359 --> 00:38:34.710
upset about that.
00:38:34.720 --> 00:38:37.430
>> Mhm. I don't give a [ __ ] It's not
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.950
about, you know what I mean? And now I
00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:40.550
got clean people talk about, "Oh, you
00:38:40.560 --> 00:38:42.230
think you better than your everybody?"
00:38:42.240 --> 00:38:44.470
Da da da.
00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:46.470
I ain't better than nobody. I'm just
00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:48.470
better than who I used to be. You feel
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:48.870
me?
00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:49.750
>> Oh, yeah.
00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:51.910
>> Like, I'm not trying to be better than
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:53.589
you or trying to be better than them or
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:54.950
trying to be better than her or trying
00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:59.190
to I'm just not trying to shoot dope, go
00:38:59.200 --> 00:39:01.349
back to jail, and lose everything I
00:39:01.359 --> 00:39:04.150
worked for. I mean that's so easy to do
00:39:04.160 --> 00:39:06.950
because again if you just don't change
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.630
nothing will change because here it is
00:39:08.640 --> 00:39:11.349
that so many people are just stuck where
00:39:11.359 --> 00:39:15.349
they are like using drugs um dealing
00:39:15.359 --> 00:39:18.069
drugs um what whatever it might be. I
00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:21.109
mean, making those decisions as a young
00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:22.870
man are so much different than making
00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:24.630
them as an adult. Because for number
00:39:24.640 --> 00:39:26.310
one, as a young man, you kind of have a
00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:28.470
little bit of time to get it right, to
00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:31.190
kind of like trial and error. But once
00:39:31.200 --> 00:39:34.390
you do become an adult and you uh and
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.230
you know that everything has to be
00:39:36.240 --> 00:39:38.550
calculated, it's just not as much room
00:39:38.560 --> 00:39:41.510
to make those horrible decisions like
00:39:41.520 --> 00:39:44.069
like like maybe you would have
00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:45.670
succeeded, but then it's it's no
00:39:45.680 --> 00:39:47.109
guarantee. We just don't know. I think
00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:48.310
that everything that could have happened
00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:50.150
to you, just like with me, I think it
00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:52.790
was the lesson to get me where I had to
00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.109
go. I mean, okay, I didn't want to go to
00:39:55.119 --> 00:39:56.870
prison. I didn't want to have to go
00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.470
through these le I I didn't want to get
00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:00.230
shot. I wish I never got shot. I wish I
00:40:00.240 --> 00:40:02.390
never got prison. But had I not went to
00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:04.470
prison, what would have happened in that
00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:07.750
place? Would I have maybe had to kill
00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:10.390
somebody protecting myself or would I
00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:12.550
have to get killed because somebody
00:40:12.560 --> 00:40:14.230
wanted what I had? It's just so many
00:40:14.240 --> 00:40:16.230
possibilities. or will the cases I
00:40:16.240 --> 00:40:18.790
caught be even worse than they were? You
00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:20.390
know what I mean? I can't be what if and
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:22.390
however it just like it's still what
00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:23.990
shaped me to be who I am and get here
00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.990
today and make my decisions a different
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.670
way. Um look at everything objectively.
00:40:29.680 --> 00:40:33.190
It's not just a one a one way a one it's
00:40:33.200 --> 00:40:35.270
not one method like oh the only way that
00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:36.710
you're going to succeed is if you do
00:40:36.720 --> 00:40:38.390
that. It just does not work that much.
00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:40.069
It's a journey with all different types
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:41.990
of uh roads to take.
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:44.069
>> All type of different words, roads,
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:46.790
paths, so much technology, so many
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:48.710
resources like we talked about earlier
00:40:48.720 --> 00:40:50.950
that it's just no way that you have to
00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:52.710
accept what somebody else tells you as
00:40:52.720 --> 00:40:54.310
your reality. You just don't have to do
00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:55.270
that at all.
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:56.710
>> And I love that you said that. And you
00:40:56.720 --> 00:40:58.230
know what come to my mind is cuz I
00:40:58.240 --> 00:40:59.910
always ask this and I always ask I
00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:02.630
always tell people, man, if there was,
00:41:02.640 --> 00:41:05.270
you know, one thing uh that I would
00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:08.390
change, what would it been?
00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:11.430
And lately what I've been telling people
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:16.710
is I wish I had went to the military,
00:41:16.720 --> 00:41:20.230
>> but I was so afraid to die.
00:41:20.240 --> 00:41:22.470
But then
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:24.790
you play the tape back and you rewind
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:26.630
them moments when I'm sitting on High
00:41:26.640 --> 00:41:28.230
Street in Virginia
00:41:28.240 --> 00:41:30.390
>> or sitting at the park at Brookdale.
00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:31.030
>> Mhm.
00:41:31.040 --> 00:41:32.870
>> And I'm sitting there and you know
00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:34.550
people hop out the car and they like
00:41:34.560 --> 00:41:37.430
this far away from me aimed up and I
00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:39.030
don't know how I didn't get hit but I
00:41:39.040 --> 00:41:40.950
got out of there or I'm at the store on
00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:43.589
Fairfax and he about 3 ft behind me
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:45.430
letting loose. I don't know how I got
00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:47.430
didn't get hit that time either. You
00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:48.870
know what I'm saying? Like I mean
00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:51.190
absolutely should have been on the floor
00:41:51.200 --> 00:41:52.470
>> both times.
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:54.069
>> My uncle told me one time he was like,
00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:56.309
"Man, the rifle jammed on him."
00:41:56.319 --> 00:41:56.790
>> Wow.
00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:58.630
>> And I was like, "Wow." He said, "You was
00:41:58.640 --> 00:41:59.030
gone."
00:41:59.040 --> 00:42:00.230
>> That was like the front line right
00:42:00.240 --> 00:42:00.550
there.
00:42:00.560 --> 00:42:02.150
>> And my uncle was a vet. You know what
00:42:02.160 --> 00:42:03.829
I'm saying? He was like, "You was gone."
00:42:03.839 --> 00:42:07.270
And so those are the things. It's like I
00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:08.950
was so afraid to die, but I had no
00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:11.349
problem with stepping out there naked
00:42:11.359 --> 00:42:13.270
though with nothing at times.
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:13.670
>> Mhm.
00:42:13.680 --> 00:42:16.150
>> Like it was all good on Front Street,
00:42:16.160 --> 00:42:18.309
right? because I had to get that money.
00:42:18.319 --> 00:42:19.670
But then I was afraid to go to the
00:42:19.680 --> 00:42:21.270
military because I was afraid to die.
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:22.550
But what would have happened was I would
00:42:22.560 --> 00:42:23.990
have been trained. I would have been
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:26.230
able to do what I was doing and not been
00:42:26.240 --> 00:42:28.230
able have to worry about the police. I
00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:29.670
would have got some structure cuz
00:42:29.680 --> 00:42:31.430
eventually I ended up going to jail
00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:32.470
getting some structure.
00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:32.950
>> Oh yeah.
00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:34.470
>> I ended up learning that
00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:34.870
>> Yeah.
00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:36.150
>> You know what I'm saying? Like I would
00:42:36.160 --> 00:42:37.750
have changed that. But then would I have
00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:40.150
changed that? Would I be who I am today?
00:42:40.160 --> 00:42:42.069
Am I okay with who I am today?
00:42:42.079 --> 00:42:44.710
Absolutely I'm okay with who I am today.
00:42:44.720 --> 00:42:46.069
You know what I mean? Cuz when I came
00:42:46.079 --> 00:42:48.710
back in 2012,
00:42:48.720 --> 00:42:50.309
moms didn't even think I was coming
00:42:50.319 --> 00:42:51.990
back. And I surprised her. The look on
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:54.069
her face was just like that was my
00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:55.430
everything. She was my everything. And
00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:57.510
then she passed away one year later when
00:42:57.520 --> 00:42:58.950
I came back.
00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:00.790
>> She died in Highland Hospital's parking
00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:01.510
lot.
00:43:01.520 --> 00:43:03.589
>> What? Before she even make it inside,
00:43:03.599 --> 00:43:04.950
>> she had an appointment that she really
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:06.390
didn't even have to come to find out.
00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:07.750
She thought she had an appointment and
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:12.150
she was gone. You know, and uh you know,
00:43:12.160 --> 00:43:14.950
thing is is that like somebody was
00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:17.349
talking about hope yesterday and I be
00:43:17.359 --> 00:43:18.950
all the time I be thinking like, man, I
00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:20.390
hope my mama see me.
00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:21.589
>> Oh yeah, she does.
00:43:21.599 --> 00:43:23.589
>> You know, yeah, she do. But it's like I
00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:25.030
want to hear her voice,
00:43:25.040 --> 00:43:26.390
>> right? You know, I want to hear that. I
00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.309
want to hear I'm proud of you. Cuz the
00:43:28.319 --> 00:43:29.349
last thing I heard, she was
00:43:29.359 --> 00:43:31.430
disappointed. You know what I mean? And
00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:33.670
who I was was, what I became, and all of
00:43:33.680 --> 00:43:35.910
these different things. And so when I
00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:37.589
was able to, you know, make this change,
00:43:37.599 --> 00:43:39.510
I prayed to her when I was in jail. I
00:43:39.520 --> 00:43:42.150
went from Rita to Marin County and I was
00:43:42.160 --> 00:43:44.390
like, man, please give me this program.
00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:45.990
I promise I'm going to do everything
00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:48.309
different. And I ain't never looked
00:43:48.319 --> 00:43:49.510
back,
00:43:49.520 --> 00:43:51.910
>> you know? So like for you, if there was
00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:53.270
one thing that you would be able to
00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:54.950
change looking back, would is there
00:43:54.960 --> 00:43:56.470
anything that you would have changed?
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:58.950
Um, I I don't like to look at things
00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:00.630
like that, but if it was one thing that
00:44:00.640 --> 00:44:02.630
I could change, one thing that I can
00:44:02.640 --> 00:44:04.710
change, I mean, I would rather not go
00:44:04.720 --> 00:44:06.630
through that prison system for as
00:44:06.640 --> 00:44:08.870
extensive of a time as I did. However, I
00:44:08.880 --> 00:44:11.270
can't say that because my choices were
00:44:11.280 --> 00:44:14.710
only leading towards prison or jail,
00:44:14.720 --> 00:44:16.309
prison or death, you know what I mean?
00:44:16.319 --> 00:44:19.910
So, but one thing I I just would
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:21.670
>> Oh my god, I just would rather have been
00:44:21.680 --> 00:44:23.270
there for my children. I would rather
00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:24.870
have been there for those girls, man.
00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:27.430
They needed me. in so many times, in so
00:44:27.440 --> 00:44:29.589
many instances. But other than that, I
00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:33.190
mean, again, it just to me was like the
00:44:33.200 --> 00:44:37.109
school of hard knocks or the the most
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:39.750
abstract university you can go to cuz I
00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:42.150
mean, learning lessons from an OG that's
00:44:42.160 --> 00:44:44.630
never coming home from prison. I I don't
00:44:44.640 --> 00:44:47.270
know how much more value you can get
00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:48.790
from a person when you look in their
00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:50.790
eyes and they're in acceptance of dying
00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:52.870
inside of a prison for a dumb decision
00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:54.390
they made or a decision that they made
00:44:54.400 --> 00:44:57.910
impulsively or looking at a plug in the
00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:00.390
eyes that controls your fate that you
00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:02.870
think is here only for your personal
00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:05.349
gain. But hearing somebody tell you,
00:45:05.359 --> 00:45:07.589
"Uh, yeah, man. I'm glad everything's
00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:10.790
working out for us because your people
00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:12.470
still live here, there, there, there,
00:45:12.480 --> 00:45:14.150
and there, and there, don't they?
00:45:14.160 --> 00:45:16.390
Letting me know basically that you can
00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:18.390
make a dumb decision if you want to, but
00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:19.829
you probably will end up regretting it
00:45:19.839 --> 00:45:21.430
cuz we have your whole family on the
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:23.829
hook. So, it's really not as fun as you
00:45:23.839 --> 00:45:25.670
think it is when you put it in when I
00:45:25.680 --> 00:45:28.309
put it in hindsight, it's like, how did
00:45:28.319 --> 00:45:31.430
I learn that these dudes take loyalty
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:34.069
over everything? So, it wasn't no I can
00:45:34.079 --> 00:45:35.910
tell on them and get away with it. Okay,
00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:38.069
you told on this person and you got him
00:45:38.079 --> 00:45:39.910
out the way, but these other people that
00:45:39.920 --> 00:45:41.670
come with him, we're going to make life
00:45:41.680 --> 00:45:44.390
so bad for you. Or you back door and you
00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:46.069
know came back to the house that we
00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:47.910
showed you when nobody was there and
00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:49.990
everything came up missing and we know
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:51.670
it was you and then all of a sudden the
00:45:51.680 --> 00:45:53.349
consequences of something like that. So
00:45:53.359 --> 00:45:55.910
those lessons of loyalty, honor,
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:58.710
respect, um um standing on your own two
00:45:58.720 --> 00:46:01.030
feet, math, I became a mathematician
00:46:01.040 --> 00:46:02.710
from the streets, not from a professor
00:46:02.720 --> 00:46:06.309
in college that makes 45,000 a year. Me
00:46:06.319 --> 00:46:08.309
learning math and the magnitude that I
00:46:08.319 --> 00:46:09.910
did, I feel like was from that. I mean,
00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:12.150
yeah, sounds crazy. You know what I
00:46:12.160 --> 00:46:14.309
mean? Women, I did learn that I wasn't
00:46:14.319 --> 00:46:16.309
the best in relationships. I learned
00:46:16.319 --> 00:46:18.790
that I probably, you know, have problems
00:46:18.800 --> 00:46:21.349
with affection and being emotional and
00:46:21.359 --> 00:46:22.870
expressing my thoughts and my feelings
00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:24.950
to women. But we didn't do that where I
00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:27.109
came from. It was always suffering
00:46:27.119 --> 00:46:29.349
silence. It was always,
00:46:29.359 --> 00:46:31.190
>> you know, figure it out and then go in
00:46:31.200 --> 00:46:32.710
front of your girl. Don't go in front of
00:46:32.720 --> 00:46:34.309
your girl crying. Don't go in front of
00:46:34.319 --> 00:46:36.150
your girl complaining. So, I just
00:46:36.160 --> 00:46:38.309
learned that, you know, I used a lot of
00:46:38.319 --> 00:46:40.550
my stuff from the streets and a lot of
00:46:40.560 --> 00:46:42.230
stuff that was just coming to me from
00:46:42.240 --> 00:46:45.270
being around OG's cuz I did have OG's. I
00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:47.030
had OG's that was married. Some of them
00:46:47.040 --> 00:46:49.430
were married with m mistresses. Some of
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:51.589
some of them were married and faithful.
00:46:51.599 --> 00:46:54.710
But I saw all aspects of that. I saw a
00:46:54.720 --> 00:46:56.870
happily married my parents happily
00:46:56.880 --> 00:46:58.870
married which are still married to this
00:46:58.880 --> 00:47:00.150
day. You know what I mean? No
00:47:00.160 --> 00:47:03.109
relationship class, psychology class. I
00:47:03.119 --> 00:47:04.390
don't think I could have got the same
00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:07.190
thing from that. However, I just try not
00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:09.190
to live in regrets or what would I
00:47:09.200 --> 00:47:12.309
change because because the person who I
00:47:12.319 --> 00:47:15.430
am today, I'm able to get somebody to
00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:17.510
make a difference in their life and do
00:47:17.520 --> 00:47:19.270
something and not have to travel the
00:47:19.280 --> 00:47:20.790
path that I travel. So, that means more
00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:22.150
than anything to me.
00:47:22.160 --> 00:47:24.710
>> 1,000% 10,000%. And that's same thing
00:47:24.720 --> 00:47:26.390
for me too is like all these things I
00:47:26.400 --> 00:47:27.430
think about all these different things
00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:28.630
that I could have did stayed in school.
00:47:28.640 --> 00:47:30.309
I could have went to Castlemont.
00:47:30.319 --> 00:47:32.230
>> What would have happened? But what would
00:47:32.240 --> 00:47:33.990
have happened if I would have did all of
00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:35.190
them things? cuz I probably wouldn't
00:47:35.200 --> 00:47:36.630
even be here talking to you.
00:47:36.640 --> 00:47:37.349
>> Probably not.
00:47:37.359 --> 00:47:38.870
>> You know what I'm saying? Like
00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:40.710
everything happens for a reason.
00:47:40.720 --> 00:47:41.270
>> Mhm.
00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:42.710
>> You know what I'm saying? You had to do
00:47:42.720 --> 00:47:44.150
that time
00:47:44.160 --> 00:47:46.069
>> cuz it probably prolonged your time with
00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:46.870
your girls.
00:47:46.880 --> 00:47:47.750
>> I think so. Yeah.
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:48.950
>> You know what I'm saying? Like for me,
00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:52.309
it's like cuz that's just the reality of
00:47:52.319 --> 00:47:54.870
the of of everything that we grew up
00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:57.109
doing. You know what I mean? And I think
00:47:57.119 --> 00:47:59.030
that's important that we, you know,
00:47:59.040 --> 00:48:00.870
anybody out there doubting that they
00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:02.309
could have did this something
00:48:02.319 --> 00:48:04.790
differently, don't doubt yourself, man.
00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:06.550
Just continue to keep pushing forward,
00:48:06.560 --> 00:48:09.829
putting your foot forward in the best
00:48:09.839 --> 00:48:11.589
place possible because you going to
00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:13.190
continue to keep growing each and every
00:48:13.200 --> 00:48:14.790
day, no matter what it is. You know what
00:48:14.800 --> 00:48:17.670
I'm saying? And uh, you know, so I know
00:48:17.680 --> 00:48:19.190
that you doing a lot in the community
00:48:19.200 --> 00:48:20.630
right now. You talked a little bit about
00:48:20.640 --> 00:48:22.870
the resources and stuff. So, like let
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:24.710
let's shoot some of the game. Like what
00:48:24.720 --> 00:48:26.309
what kind of the resources you talking
00:48:26.319 --> 00:48:28.230
about? Scholarships, grants, like what
00:48:28.240 --> 00:48:30.069
what can really if I'm looking if I'm a
00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:32.870
student or I'm somebody, what what can I
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:36.630
do to to really, you know, being able to
00:48:36.640 --> 00:48:38.150
capitalize on some of the resources that
00:48:38.160 --> 00:48:39.190
you're trying to put together?
00:48:39.200 --> 00:48:40.710
>> Um, well, right now, I mean, a lot of
00:48:40.720 --> 00:48:43.190
resources are like community based. A
00:48:43.200 --> 00:48:45.349
lot of them are uh regional. Some of
00:48:45.359 --> 00:48:47.270
them are government. So right now most
00:48:47.280 --> 00:48:49.589
people in America if you work and you
00:48:49.599 --> 00:48:51.670
have some type of income but you want to
00:48:51.680 --> 00:48:54.309
trying to transition to um make more
00:48:54.319 --> 00:48:56.549
money it it's it's grants for that to
00:48:56.559 --> 00:48:58.470
like uh training program. So it's so
00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:00.150
many grants for training programs so
00:49:00.160 --> 00:49:02.309
many scholarships for people who may
00:49:02.319 --> 00:49:04.390
want to start at a community college and
00:49:04.400 --> 00:49:07.750
take something as as small as a uh as a
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:11.829
physical education program or uh
00:49:11.839 --> 00:49:14.630
excuse me or or a culinary program. So
00:49:14.640 --> 00:49:16.790
each person is probably entitled if you
00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:19.829
know exactly where to look to about 10
00:49:19.839 --> 00:49:22.309
to 12,000 worth of grants per year. So
00:49:22.319 --> 00:49:24.150
what I do is I just point people in the
00:49:24.160 --> 00:49:26.309
direction. So in Oakland, the Bay Area
00:49:26.319 --> 00:49:28.150
for instance, they have like of course
00:49:28.160 --> 00:49:30.230
housing resources. They have resources
00:49:30.240 --> 00:49:33.349
to help people pay rent, uh small bills
00:49:33.359 --> 00:49:35.510
and stuff like that. But then also on a
00:49:35.520 --> 00:49:37.670
business level, you can get a grant to
00:49:37.680 --> 00:49:39.910
help start your business, scale your
00:49:39.920 --> 00:49:42.710
business. Um, I even saw some recently
00:49:42.720 --> 00:49:45.670
marketing grants. I saw some grants that
00:49:45.680 --> 00:49:48.390
grants for people who one one of them
00:49:48.400 --> 00:49:50.150
was real crazy. It was like if you want
00:49:50.160 --> 00:49:52.870
to start a cannabis delivery service, it
00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:55.270
was up to 50,000 available for those
00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:57.430
people. Now, you know, it was limited to
00:49:57.440 --> 00:49:58.950
how many people they can do it for,
00:49:58.960 --> 00:50:01.589
maybe five, you know. Um, one of the
00:50:01.599 --> 00:50:05.030
major grants is more so like a a person
00:50:05.040 --> 00:50:08.549
that's just like trying to uh take a
00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:10.470
vocational program or something like
00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:12.069
that. You get that. You go take a
00:50:12.079 --> 00:50:14.230
vocational program even for being a
00:50:14.240 --> 00:50:16.230
medical assistance assistant, not have
00:50:16.240 --> 00:50:18.150
to pay that back. Stuff like that, man.
00:50:18.160 --> 00:50:19.109
For people that's just trying to do
00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:20.790
better in their life, you know what I
00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:21.190
mean?
00:50:21.200 --> 00:50:25.030
>> Yeah. I just got a uh a shout out to uh
00:50:25.040 --> 00:50:28.470
what is it? The HCAI. I just got a a
00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:30.870
scholarship, man, to finish my sociology
00:50:30.880 --> 00:50:32.069
degree.
00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:34.549
>> Um, and you know, it was pretty hefty.
00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:36.230
>> Oh, wow. That's wonderful. See what I'm
00:50:36.240 --> 00:50:39.430
saying? How h how hard was it to get?
00:50:39.440 --> 00:50:40.390
>> Extremely easy.
00:50:40.400 --> 00:50:42.309
>> Extremely easy. So, see, see, most
00:50:42.319 --> 00:50:43.750
people don't know about the resources
00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:45.589
that are available because they won't do
00:50:45.599 --> 00:50:47.270
anything to go out and get them. You
00:50:47.280 --> 00:50:47.750
know what I mean?
00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:49.430
>> And I could drop that dime on everybody,
00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:50.950
too. So, basically, you just go to
00:50:50.960 --> 00:50:53.430
hcai.org
00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:54.950
or funding and then you go to
00:50:54.960 --> 00:50:56.630
scholarships and grants. And there's one
00:50:56.640 --> 00:50:59.270
for the mental health and providers and
00:50:59.280 --> 00:51:01.030
stuff like that. So, you fill that out.
00:51:01.040 --> 00:51:02.549
Um, you put in plug in all the
00:51:02.559 --> 00:51:04.710
information, you know, write uh, you
00:51:04.720 --> 00:51:06.309
know, verify your job, where you working
00:51:06.319 --> 00:51:07.750
at, and what you're doing in school. And
00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:09.190
then you got to fill out a paper like,
00:51:09.200 --> 00:51:10.390
okay, well, how much is this going to
00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:12.230
cost for housing, school, and that stuff
00:51:12.240 --> 00:51:13.670
like that.
00:51:13.680 --> 00:51:15.510
>> They broke off 35 bands.
00:51:15.520 --> 00:51:17.670
>> Oh, wow. That's amazing, man. That's
00:51:17.680 --> 00:51:19.109
amazing because that's going to further
00:51:19.119 --> 00:51:21.349
your education and put you in a position
00:51:21.359 --> 00:51:23.030
where you can get further in your
00:51:23.040 --> 00:51:25.190
career. And then like you just gave the
00:51:25.200 --> 00:51:26.630
dime out, you'll be able to help
00:51:26.640 --> 00:51:28.470
somebody else with that resources. Like
00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:30.230
mental health grants are uh they're
00:51:30.240 --> 00:51:31.750
they're plentiful right now because
00:51:31.760 --> 00:51:34.710
mental health is such on such of a rise.
00:51:34.720 --> 00:51:37.190
Um people that are displaced like right
00:51:37.200 --> 00:51:39.430
now a lot of people that are displaced
00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:41.750
are kind of choosing it because they
00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:43.670
won't go after the resources that are
00:51:43.680 --> 00:51:45.990
available, but they are attempting to
00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:47.750
get people off of the streets or people
00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:49.589
that are sleeping in cars or people that
00:51:49.599 --> 00:51:51.670
are even in shelters. They're attempting
00:51:51.680 --> 00:51:54.549
to get those people in better positions
00:51:54.559 --> 00:51:56.630
if you follow the procedure. There is a
00:51:56.640 --> 00:51:58.150
procedure to it. They're not giving away
00:51:58.160 --> 00:52:00.069
nothing for free. No, there's definitely
00:52:00.079 --> 00:52:01.430
a procedure to it.
00:52:01.440 --> 00:52:03.829
>> I got to what I got to do is I got to
00:52:03.839 --> 00:52:06.790
get my AA in sociology and then I got to
00:52:06.800 --> 00:52:08.950
drop and then I got a one year service
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:10.470
provider, which is easy because I'm
00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:13.030
already inside of that field working in
00:52:13.040 --> 00:52:14.630
a mobile crisis unit, you know,
00:52:14.640 --> 00:52:16.230
delivering services to people that are
00:52:16.240 --> 00:52:17.750
in the community, you know, attempting
00:52:17.760 --> 00:52:19.910
to end their life, you know, all this
00:52:19.920 --> 00:52:21.910
other stuff. So, you know, I'm I'm out
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:23.670
in the community a lot, you know, like a
00:52:23.680 --> 00:52:26.069
first responder. And then, but then also
00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:28.150
the the caveat to this is now I'm
00:52:28.160 --> 00:52:30.390
switching gears. I'm actually going to
00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:32.549
not I'm going to continue in the mental
00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:34.390
health, but I'm about to study to become
00:52:34.400 --> 00:52:35.349
a nurse.
00:52:35.359 --> 00:52:36.710
>> Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:52:36.720 --> 00:52:38.710
>> So, now, you know, cuz this is something
00:52:38.720 --> 00:52:40.390
that I never thought I'd be able to do,
00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:42.790
right? They tell you, uh, they tell you
00:52:42.800 --> 00:52:43.990
it's impossible.
00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:44.549
>> Oh, yeah.
00:52:44.559 --> 00:52:46.309
>> And then I say, "Watch me."
00:52:46.319 --> 00:52:46.790
>> H,
00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:48.069
>> you know what I'm saying? because now
00:52:48.079 --> 00:52:49.349
I'm about to become now I'm about to
00:52:49.359 --> 00:52:50.630
become this nurse, right?
00:52:50.640 --> 00:52:51.270
>> Oh, yeah.
00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:53.190
>> And uh and that's it. You know what I
00:52:53.200 --> 00:52:54.870
mean? It's like I got my thing in a lot
00:52:54.880 --> 00:52:56.309
I got my hand in a lot of different
00:52:56.319 --> 00:52:58.710
pots, you know, and sometimes that that
00:52:58.720 --> 00:53:00.950
can get a lot of things not done, you
00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:02.230
know what I'm saying? But it's like I
00:53:02.240 --> 00:53:04.150
focus on certain things at certain times
00:53:04.160 --> 00:53:05.589
of the year, you know what I mean?
00:53:05.599 --> 00:53:06.870
>> Yeah, that's pretty good, man. That's
00:53:06.880 --> 00:53:08.230
really good, actually. You know what I
00:53:08.240 --> 00:53:10.390
mean? I I still realize and I start I
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:12.309
have a uh I've been in financial
00:53:12.319 --> 00:53:14.470
services for a while since I got out.
00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:16.870
So, it's going on 10 years now. And I've
00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:19.430
been helping people who still don't know
00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:21.430
the importance of credit, the importance
00:53:21.440 --> 00:53:23.270
of start starting their own business and
00:53:23.280 --> 00:53:24.710
they don't know it's even resources
00:53:24.720 --> 00:53:26.549
available for that. So say for instance,
00:53:26.559 --> 00:53:28.630
you don't have a lot of money to fix
00:53:28.640 --> 00:53:30.390
your credit. I mean it's ways you can do
00:53:30.400 --> 00:53:32.790
it for the minimal cost. So I mean just
00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:35.589
coming around and being around people
00:53:35.599 --> 00:53:37.510
with resources that can just point you
00:53:37.520 --> 00:53:39.030
in the right direction. No, I'm not
00:53:39.040 --> 00:53:41.190
going to do it for you. However, if I
00:53:41.200 --> 00:53:42.549
show you how to do it and give you a
00:53:42.559 --> 00:53:44.390
guide to do it on your own and all you
00:53:44.400 --> 00:53:46.069
have to do is take the steps, then here
00:53:46.079 --> 00:53:48.150
it is. You can go from not having
00:53:48.160 --> 00:53:50.630
anything into 3 to 6 months later having
00:53:50.640 --> 00:53:52.870
a car, having a place to stay, and then
00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:54.870
being able to provide for yourself and
00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:57.510
your family, as well as show someone
00:53:57.520 --> 00:53:59.829
else how you got on, which is one of the
00:53:59.839 --> 00:54:01.030
things that's important now. Show
00:54:01.040 --> 00:54:02.710
somebody else how you got on and let's
00:54:02.720 --> 00:54:03.589
win together.
00:54:03.599 --> 00:54:05.670
>> Absolutely. So, if somebody was freshly
00:54:05.680 --> 00:54:07.109
starting their business, what would they
00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:09.190
do? How can they get what would what
00:54:09.200 --> 00:54:10.710
would you say would be the first steps
00:54:10.720 --> 00:54:13.030
for them to obtain any type of funding
00:54:13.040 --> 00:54:15.109
or getting some you know backing you
00:54:15.119 --> 00:54:18.150
said a fun a grant for for businesses
00:54:18.160 --> 00:54:19.750
what what would that look like? First
00:54:19.760 --> 00:54:21.270
things first, I will see every I would
00:54:21.280 --> 00:54:24.069
tell them to find out every grant or
00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:25.990
scholarship program available in their
00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:27.910
area because if you if you just look on
00:54:27.920 --> 00:54:30.710
a regional level, a state level, all of
00:54:30.720 --> 00:54:33.349
these states be having 1,500, 2500,
00:54:33.359 --> 00:54:36.069
$1,000 that is given by wealthy people
00:54:36.079 --> 00:54:38.710
in private institutions. A lot of these
00:54:38.720 --> 00:54:41.190
uh churches and religious entities, they
00:54:41.200 --> 00:54:43.670
have money too, but you just have to
00:54:43.680 --> 00:54:45.510
know where to look. So, I would start
00:54:45.520 --> 00:54:47.670
there to find out if you have no money,
00:54:47.680 --> 00:54:49.589
what's available for you. But if you do
00:54:49.599 --> 00:54:51.750
have some money available for you, you
00:54:51.760 --> 00:54:53.270
got to make sure that you're going to
00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:55.349
utilize leverage your credit so you
00:54:55.359 --> 00:54:57.750
don't have to use all your cash and you
00:54:57.760 --> 00:54:59.109
want to just be put yourself in a
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:00.790
position where you can start making
00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:03.109
money for the minimal minimal amount.
00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:04.870
No, nothing's going to be free. It's not
00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:06.069
going to be free. But if you can start
00:55:06.079 --> 00:55:08.470
making money with your business venture
00:55:08.480 --> 00:55:12.309
idea, then I would say have have decent
00:55:12.319 --> 00:55:14.710
credit, not even excellent.
00:55:14.720 --> 00:55:16.790
Um, get some secure loans. Get a secure
00:55:16.800 --> 00:55:19.109
loan. Say, I have 1,500. See if a bank
00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:21.670
will give you 1,500. Especially if you
00:55:21.680 --> 00:55:23.670
believe in your idea, give you 1,500 to
00:55:23.680 --> 00:55:25.750
work on your business idea. And again,
00:55:25.760 --> 00:55:28.230
just any resource that's available. It's
00:55:28.240 --> 00:55:30.549
so many places giving away free laptops.
00:55:30.559 --> 00:55:32.549
I mean, I know a guy that's do the same
00:55:32.559 --> 00:55:35.109
thing I do. He gives away about 25
00:55:35.119 --> 00:55:37.990
laptops a month in the Bay Area. You
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:39.030
know what I mean? So, a person that's
00:55:39.040 --> 00:55:40.390
trying to start a business, I don't have
00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:42.710
a laptop. That's not an excuse. Go sign
00:55:42.720 --> 00:55:44.630
up for the list. Help some children at
00:55:44.640 --> 00:55:46.870
an afterchool program three times in one
00:55:46.880 --> 00:55:48.549
month and you liable to get a free
00:55:48.559 --> 00:55:51.109
laptop. Sign up for it. I mean, but if
00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:52.710
you don't know, you just don't know. But
00:55:52.720 --> 00:55:54.870
I would tell them to um leverage your
00:55:54.880 --> 00:55:56.950
credit, position themselves where
00:55:56.960 --> 00:55:59.510
they're favorable, a favorable borrower
00:55:59.520 --> 00:56:02.150
to a bank or private institution. Banks
00:56:02.160 --> 00:56:04.789
aren't the only
00:56:04.799 --> 00:56:06.630
banks aren't the only places that give
00:56:06.640 --> 00:56:08.309
out money. You have a lot of private
00:56:08.319 --> 00:56:10.150
institutions that if they see you doing
00:56:10.160 --> 00:56:11.910
something, they don't mind investing
00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:13.750
into you. Yeah. They want a little piece
00:56:13.760 --> 00:56:15.990
off of it because if I was giving up my
00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:17.430
personal money, I would want a little
00:56:17.440 --> 00:56:18.950
nugget. Yeah. Yeah. Give me back mine
00:56:18.960 --> 00:56:20.309
and a little nugget. I mean, I don't
00:56:20.319 --> 00:56:21.750
want the whole steak, but give me a
00:56:21.760 --> 00:56:23.910
little nugget back. So, I would just
00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:26.549
tell people to look out there, find out
00:56:26.559 --> 00:56:28.309
what's available, and take advantage of
00:56:28.319 --> 00:56:29.910
it. I mean, don't just sit around
00:56:29.920 --> 00:56:32.309
waiting on something. um to fall out the
00:56:32.319 --> 00:56:34.470
sky because most people are still
00:56:34.480 --> 00:56:36.150
waiting for the money to fall out the
00:56:36.160 --> 00:56:38.309
sky, praying to God that the money falls
00:56:38.319 --> 00:56:39.990
out the sky, but they're not taking no
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:42.309
action, but they're claiming to be so
00:56:42.319 --> 00:56:44.710
faithful. Lord, I'm so faithful. Lord, I
00:56:44.720 --> 00:56:46.309
believe in you. But why we know they're
00:56:46.319 --> 00:56:47.829
not is cuz they're not doing anything
00:56:47.839 --> 00:56:50.630
about it but claiming, "Lord, I love
00:56:50.640 --> 00:56:52.950
you. Lord, please bless me. Take care of
00:56:52.960 --> 00:56:55.270
me." Well, you just on your couch
00:56:55.280 --> 00:56:56.789
scrolling. You've been there for the
00:56:56.799 --> 00:56:58.789
last 6 months. You haven't done anything
00:56:58.799 --> 00:57:00.870
else. All you're doing is watching other
00:57:00.880 --> 00:57:02.549
people win. I mean, is that being
00:57:02.559 --> 00:57:04.230
faithful or is that being foolish? I
00:57:04.240 --> 00:57:05.430
think it's being foolish. You know what
00:57:05.440 --> 00:57:05.750
I mean?
00:57:05.760 --> 00:57:06.950
>> Yeah. So, the fools got to stay where
00:57:06.960 --> 00:57:07.829
the fools are right.
00:57:07.839 --> 00:57:09.829
>> I said that earlier. The fools got to
00:57:09.839 --> 00:57:11.270
stay with the fools that are at because
00:57:11.280 --> 00:57:12.950
people who are great champions and
00:57:12.960 --> 00:57:15.109
giants wouldn't be who they are without
00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:16.630
a couple fools in the world.
00:57:16.640 --> 00:57:16.950
>> Yeah.
00:57:16.960 --> 00:57:18.470
>> I mean, we just hope they don't disrupt
00:57:18.480 --> 00:57:21.910
the world too much. But in every era of
00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:24.710
society, there were always fools.
00:57:24.720 --> 00:57:25.910
>> You know what I mean? If we if we
00:57:25.920 --> 00:57:27.910
eliminated them from the whole world,
00:57:27.920 --> 00:57:29.910
then what kind of world would this be?
00:57:29.920 --> 00:57:31.670
>> You know what I mean? Champions wouldn't
00:57:31.680 --> 00:57:33.190
really be champions, right? Kings
00:57:33.200 --> 00:57:34.150
wouldn't be kings.
00:57:34.160 --> 00:57:35.910
>> No, for sure. I I always say that, too.
00:57:35.920 --> 00:57:37.109
You got to have that championship
00:57:37.119 --> 00:57:39.030
mindset, right? It's like you playing
00:57:39.040 --> 00:57:41.030
game seven. So, you know, these are the
00:57:41.040 --> 00:57:42.789
championship rounds in boxing. This is
00:57:42.799 --> 00:57:44.309
game seven. You got to you got to give
00:57:44.319 --> 00:57:47.670
it your all. You got to go at it just
00:57:47.680 --> 00:57:49.670
>> just as hard as anybody else would, but
00:57:49.680 --> 00:57:51.349
harder. You know what I'm saying? You
00:57:51.359 --> 00:57:52.789
got to get up. You got to have that mama
00:57:52.799 --> 00:57:53.430
mentality.
00:57:53.440 --> 00:57:55.670
>> Oh, yeah. You got to do what other
00:57:55.680 --> 00:57:57.670
people ain't doing and you don't know
00:57:57.680 --> 00:57:59.589
what other people ain't doing. So just
00:57:59.599 --> 00:58:00.390
go hard.
00:58:00.400 --> 00:58:01.510
>> Go every day.
00:58:01.520 --> 00:58:02.230
>> You know what I mean?
00:58:02.240 --> 00:58:02.950
>> Every day.
00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:04.309
>> And that's, you know, where I'm at with
00:58:04.319 --> 00:58:05.990
it, too. Cuz I I, you know, I was told
00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:07.910
this on I shot a real the other day and
00:58:07.920 --> 00:58:10.630
was like,
00:58:10.640 --> 00:58:12.230
why you think I, you know, yeah, I'm
00:58:12.240 --> 00:58:13.670
going to school to become a nurse. Yeah,
00:58:13.680 --> 00:58:16.870
I work 15 hours, uh, 15 hour days, 10 10
00:58:16.880 --> 00:58:18.789
to 20 days straight sometimes. Yeah, I
00:58:18.799 --> 00:58:20.390
got a podcast. Yeah, I'm trying to be an
00:58:20.400 --> 00:58:21.670
entrep not trying, but I'm an
00:58:21.680 --> 00:58:23.349
entrepreneur. Yeah, I'm doing all these
00:58:23.359 --> 00:58:25.829
different things. Why wouldn't I be? I
00:58:25.839 --> 00:58:27.270
was doing all these other things when I
00:58:27.280 --> 00:58:28.390
was shooting dope.
00:58:28.400 --> 00:58:29.270
>> Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
00:58:29.280 --> 00:58:31.109
>> So, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm
00:58:31.119 --> 00:58:33.589
definitely gonna go hard for mine and my
00:58:33.599 --> 00:58:34.950
family. You know what I mean? That's how
00:58:34.960 --> 00:58:36.789
I went from homeless to homeowner.
00:58:36.799 --> 00:58:38.710
That's how I, you know, became employed.
00:58:38.720 --> 00:58:40.870
That's how I've been able to shoot a
00:58:40.880 --> 00:58:42.309
podcast and do all these things because
00:58:42.319 --> 00:58:44.630
I never gave up on myself and believing
00:58:44.640 --> 00:58:46.710
in myself. You know what I'm saying? So,
00:58:46.720 --> 00:58:48.230
if somebody was trying to get in contact
00:58:48.240 --> 00:58:49.750
with you, my guy, how would they be able
00:58:49.760 --> 00:58:51.190
to get in contact with you for any
00:58:51.200 --> 00:58:52.789
resources or any coaching, if you have
00:58:52.799 --> 00:58:53.990
any of that available?
00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:55.910
>> I mean, I have uh I'm available on all
00:58:55.920 --> 00:58:57.910
social media platforms. My Instagram is
00:58:57.920 --> 00:58:59.829
true laneway or I can be reached at true
00:58:59.839 --> 00:59:03.030
laneway 100gmail.com.
00:59:03.040 --> 00:59:04.870
I mean, I'm always available. Here it
00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:06.549
is. Uh I'm from Oakland. I'm still
00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:08.870
active in my community. I do travel a
00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:11.910
lot. I mean, um, I started a community
00:59:11.920 --> 00:59:14.470
that's a resource comm community that's
00:59:14.480 --> 00:59:15.910
offering people a bunch of these
00:59:15.920 --> 00:59:18.150
resources that I spoke about and so many
00:59:18.160 --> 00:59:20.230
more because they come in so frequently,
00:59:20.240 --> 00:59:22.230
but they go as frequently, too. So, let
00:59:22.240 --> 00:59:23.829
me just say that if you see something
00:59:23.839 --> 00:59:25.430
that could possibly get you in a better
00:59:25.440 --> 00:59:26.950
better position, you need to take
00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:28.470
advantage of it because nobody's going
00:59:28.480 --> 00:59:30.710
to wait around to give you something. I
00:59:30.720 --> 00:59:32.309
mean, they make these things available
00:59:32.319 --> 00:59:34.309
and then just as fast as they came, they
00:59:34.319 --> 00:59:35.910
can go away. So, if you want to reach
00:59:35.920 --> 00:59:37.910
me, like I said, I'm on at True Lane's
00:59:37.920 --> 00:59:41.109
Way on Instagram, True Lane Brown on
00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:42.870
Facebook, and I'm always available, and
00:59:42.880 --> 00:59:45.430
I do respond to all my messages.
00:59:45.440 --> 00:59:47.109
Absolutely, man. I appreciate that. All
00:59:47.119 --> 00:59:48.390
that's going to be in the description
00:59:48.400 --> 00:59:50.950
down below. And, you know, I just want
00:59:50.960 --> 00:59:53.030
y'all to take this right here. I want to
00:59:53.040 --> 00:59:55.190
soak on it. I want you to just hold it
00:59:55.200 --> 00:59:57.510
like a sponge and really just sit on it
00:59:57.520 --> 00:59:59.190
and try to use this information to help
00:59:59.200 --> 01:00:00.950
you grow and break those impossibilities
01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:02.870
cuz that's exactly what we do here at
01:00:02.880 --> 01:00:05.030
Breaking Impossibilities podcast. I want
01:00:05.040 --> 01:00:06.710
you to remember to believe in yourself,
01:00:06.720 --> 01:00:07.910
trust yourself, and love yourself
01:00:07.920 --> 01:00:10.470
because anything is possible. We out.
01:00:10.480 --> 01:00:13.480
Peace.