WEBVTT - ALOE BLACC: Stand Together 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:08.440 During the holidays. I have so much to be grateful for, 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:14.280 my family, my friends, friends that have lasted a lifetime, 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:19.599 the sunrise that greets me each day. Not that life 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:24.360 doesn't dish out its fair share of challenges and oftentimes 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:29.360 bone numbing grief. But I find that if I return 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:32.080 to gratitude, if I go back to gratitude every day, 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:34.920 if I go back to God, thank you, thank you 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.800 for my health, thank You for my kids, thank You 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.720 for my life, I am able to make it through 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:46.720 the worst of times and find moments of joy every 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.280 day everywhere. I hope that you are able to do 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.880 this too. If not today because you're currently weathering a storm, 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:58.960 than tomorrow or tomorrow after that. I hope you find 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.960 a little when you listen to my radio show at 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:08.200 night or this podcast. Besides being entertaining, as I'll get out, 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:13.080 I have ulterior motives for this platform, for this podcast, 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.600 with Love Someone with Delilah. I want to inspire you. 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.560 I want to spark your interest, in ignite your imagination. 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:24.440 I want you to leave each episode thinking, hey, if 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:26.960 they can do that, if they can do what they're doing, 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.520 I could do something I love and maybe that would 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.560 make a difference in someone's life. Maybe it would make 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.520 a difference in my own life. Maybe it would make 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.399 a difference in the world if I put some time 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:46.800 and energy into fostering an interest, or a hobby or 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:52.000 a child. Today's guest is a singer, a songwriter, an activist, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:56.800 and a great role model. He was born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.880 the third in southern California. He grew up in Laguna Hills, 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.280 and he began playing trumpet in the third grade. Music 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.800 became such a huge part of his life, but he 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:12.400 would go on to major in linguistics and psychology at 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.720 the University of California and for a time worked for 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:20.919 Ernst and Young before launching his solo music career as 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:26.600 Alo Black in two thousand and three. That year, Alo 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.280 released two EPs and signed to a record label. The 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:35.200 rest is history, though not two ancient history. Alo Black 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:40.120 is now an acclaimed Grammy nominated performer, known for major 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.440 hits like I Need a Dollar, the Man and his 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:47.639 mega hit wake Me Up with Avichi, which has received 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:53.639 over four billion streams. Alo has also recorded his own 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.720 version of wake Me Up, which is absolutely beautiful. What 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.440 makes Alo different, or should I say One of the 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.680 things that makes him so unique, so special is that 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:07.320 he pledged early in his career to use his music 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:14.160 for positive social transformation. With his new single Shine Aurora's Anthem, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.280 Alo is using his music to shine a light on 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:22.840 critical humanitarian issues and to inspire others to simply do good. 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.920 With role models such as Nelson Mandela, Martin, Luther King Junior, 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.640 and with mentoring from Harry Belafonte, Alo has shaped his 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:37.720 musical journey by following their legacies of courage and compassion. 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:44.360 Through Shine Aurora's Anthem in honor of the Humanitarian supported 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:50.240 by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, a foundation that seeks to 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:55.400 address on the ground challenges around the world, Alo aspires 0:03:55.440 --> 0:04:00.280 to ignite a movement among artists, encouraging them to embrace 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:05.200 themes of hope and unity in their art. By promoting 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:09.920 messages of resilience and empathy, He's reinforcing his belief that 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:14.440 every individual has the power to make a difference and 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.800 that music can be a catalyst for social progress. I 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.560 can't wait to talk with Alo shining a light on 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.840 his music and on his heart. But first I'm going 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.000 to put a spotlight on one of today's podcast sponsors. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.159 This podcast is brought to you by my friends at 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.680 Sherry's Hazel Cream. Have you had to give up on 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:40.760 some of your traditional holiday recipes because you or your 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:45.239 daughter are lactose intolerant? My daughter is and non dairy 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.120 replacements just don't work. 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I 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:22.400 love someone today is a extremely talented young man, Alo Black. 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.120 Hello, Delilah, thank you so much for having me. 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.200 What was the name that your family gave you at birth? 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:28.880 Can I ask that? 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:29.320 Oh? 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.719 Yeah, my name is Nathaniel. So the family called Nathaniel. 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.640 It wasn't just Nathaniel though. It's like three pages long. 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:41.440 Oh right, it's a vestige of slavery. It's a colonial name. 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:45.200 You know, the Europeans had ways of naming Africans. So 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.880 Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins the third Wow. 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:52.040 So this this, that's very colonial. You don't get much 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:57.479 more colonial than Egbert for somebody who's got African descent, right, wow. 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:02.799 So I have I have six children that are from Africa, 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:08.640 and a lot of their names were characteristics, character traits. 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.760 That's very common in Liberia to name children like patients 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:18.080 or Justice or Mercy. So one of my daughters was 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.480 Mercy and one is Blessing. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.840 That is beautiful. I think that's really special. You know, 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:30.320 naming is a very important right of passage for parents, 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.840 I think, and then renaming for an individual as they 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:35.400 come of age. 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:36.640 I think it's really important. 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.120 I don't think it happens quite enough in our system, 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:45.400 just because you know, the Western world very particular about 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.800 categorizing and slotting everybody into their place, and they have 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.400 to keep that place from birth till death. But we change, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:57.520 we transform, we grow, and we become butterflies from the 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.960 caterpillars that we were before. And I think renaming is 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:06.760 a beautiful tradition that I believe exists in multiple, you know, 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:08.920 indigenous ethnicities around the world. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.480 Well, I like alo alo black. It sounds healthy. When 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:16.520 I think of alo, I think of how good it 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.600 is for you when you drink it or ingest it 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:20.840 or put it on your skin. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:23.880 Yeah, that's sort of where I got the name. You know. 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:30.040 I was a young budding artist coming up with new 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.280 music and new concepts, and I felt like the music 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:38.160 that I was making was was smooth and soothing like Alo, 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.400 And so I've made a choice to give myself that 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:43.760 stage name that Moniker. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.200 Is it a stage name because it kind of seems 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.319 like it's you. That's I think of stage names as 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:56.920 something that you transform into on stage right. But from 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.400 everything I've read about you and everything I underst stand 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:06.000 about your core mission to share goodness and truth and 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.959 mercy and love with humanity, there you don't get more 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:10.880 healing than that. 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:16.880 Maybe I maybe I spoke it into the universe and 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:19.880 it became more true as I grew into the name. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:25.280 I think there's sometimes things find us, the truth finds us, 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:31.679 and there's nothing more healing for your soul. I mean, 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.280 Alo is healing for your body and for your skin, 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.720 but the love you're putting out there in your music 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:39.199 that heals the soul. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.560 Thank you. I appreciate that. It's part of the mission. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:44.800 You know. 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:51.360 When I had the tremendous grace and opportunity to be 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:59.959 a major recording artist with budgets and marketing and visibility, 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:02.920 I made a promise to myself that I would use 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:07.280 my voice for positive social change. And that's really how 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:11.160 I've been dedicating the songs that I write and the 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:12.920 way I show up in community. 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.760 How much pushback have you gotten from the industry, from 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:23.120 the machine, the music machine that wants to make hits. 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.679 How much pushback have you got for standing your ground 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.960 and saying, eh, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.880 this way, I'm gonna this is what the song is about, 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.959 this is what I'm about. Like, have they been supportive 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.000 mostly or has it been an updild battle. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.120 I wouldn't say that it's been supportive mostly, But I 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:45.360 have a feeling that my engagement with the industry is 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:51.120 somewhat like judo, where any force that is used against 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:56.800 me becomes my weapon against the opponent. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:59.880 Oh that's good, And so. 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.840 I still find ways for my messages to be heard. 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.040 And I feel like I've had a lot of luck. 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:13.520 That ain't luck. That is not luck. Luck as when 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.679 you find a quarter on the ground. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.960 I guess, But you know, you just did a statistical 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.480 analysis on the messages that we receive that are being 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:27.560 shoved into our faces, into our ears from media across 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:32.320 the board, from television, news, from film, and streaming content, 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:33.480 from radio and. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:35.400 Music. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:43.920 The vast majority of it is not soothing, supportive psychologically. 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:53.599 You know, we're dealing with a lot of distress, trauma, anxiety, depression, misogyny, violence, 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:59.920 drug glorification, and I feel like there has to be 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.600 some sort of balance to that. Someone somewhere has to 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:09.160 be supporting it. Some entity has to be creating it, 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:14.600 and other entities have to be sponsoring it, you know. 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.040 And it's complicated and it's difficult. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.240 How many murders do kids witness by the age of ten. 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:26.079 Yeah, in ways that would never happen in reality. And 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:28.680 this is the issue, this confluence of art and commerce, 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.720 where artists are saying, I'm just I'm just being an artist. 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:37.319 I'm writing these stories, I'm reflecting reality. But then commerce 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.400 comes and magnifies your reflection of reality in ways that 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:47.920 are extremely biased and oversaturated. So it's at a certain 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.920 point you may have been reflecting a reality, but now 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:57.760 it's well distributed and completely overstated. 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:03.840 And disgusting, destructive and breaks hearts and breaks minds and 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.000 breaks children. 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:06.520 I think so. 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:08.960 And so my thought is, you know, you mentioned the 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:10.880 machine before, and I feel like. 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:13.280 At a certain. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.160 Age I would have and did want to rage against 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.440 the machine, but I realized that the machine understands rage, 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.959 but the machine doesn't understand love, so we have to break. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:25.520 It with love. 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.560 I'm very proud of you. It's not easy, and it's 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:35.280 so easy to sell out, to get comfortable, and to 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:40.600 sell out. I read this story when I was much, 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:46.280 much younger, called the Great Seduction, and it's about how 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.120 when you're young and you're talented, they give you the world. 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.600 You know, first class tickets or private jets. They give 0:13:55.640 --> 0:14:00.840 you parties and access to all sorts of pleasures. Yeah, 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:06.160 and they get you hooked, and then you're asked to compromise. 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.200 And I love the fact that it appears you haven't 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:12.320 been seduced. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.720 You know. I think what was my. 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.920 Insulation, or what saved me, was the fact that I 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:27.960 went to university, I worked in corporate America. I had 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:32.320 an opportunity to grow, experience the world, develop a perspective, 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:38.040 become an adult, become a man, an individual, to exist 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.920 in the world, to have a place and a voice, 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:47.320 and then to be given the megaphone without adulteration. So 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.240 there were no other adults who could tell me what 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:52.680 to do and how to be. If I had come 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.760 into the music business as a major recording artist, at 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:03.080 sixteen or below, any age of my brain being fully developed, 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:10.200 the story may be different, but I was afforded the 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:19.200 opportunity to develops as a citizen, a conscious citizen, and 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:24.320 was able to make choices that I graduated into the 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.080 major music recording industry with. 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:29.920 I would love to have been a fly in a 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.680 while when you were in corporate America. 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.840 It was it was not the same as my life now, 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:40.320 kind of boring, but it was good work. I was 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.720 working in the health sector as a business consultant, helping 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.680 children's hospitals improve care, whether we were developing their technology 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:51.880 or helping them collect from insurance companies. 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:57.280 So that's very noble and doesn't surprise me given what 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.840 a caring person and how that seems to be the 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.880 core of who you are, is caring for others that 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.800 you work with children's hospitals, who have, by the way, 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:15.280 saved my children's lives multiple times. So I love love 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.200 the work that children's hospitals do, and I love the 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:22.240 fact that they treat everybody, doesn't matter you know, your 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.680 economic status. If you walk through the door in your 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.240 child's in crisis, they're going to save their life. I 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.320 love that. 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.440 That's a big deal, and I'm glad that that our heroes, 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.080 you know, operate from that perspective with the oath they take. 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:37.080 There are so. 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:41.560 Many other ways that the health system is broken, but 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:47.840 the fact that they will receive and help the children 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:48.560 is beautiful. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.520 Le's get back to talking about music, since that's what 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.399 you're here for, and we're going to be celebrating this 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.600 holiday season with new music from Alo Black. Tell me 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:12.760 about your new project. 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.040 Yes, the music is songs inspired by nonprofit organizations. The 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:22.800 album is called Stand Together. It is an album that 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:29.480 is supported by a wonderful organization that supports community change 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.639 makers and some of the most amazing heroes in our communities. 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:39.320 And I thought, why not do what Stand Together does 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.679 as an organization through music? How can I use my 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:48.360 voice to amplify these wonderful heroes. 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:48.879 Within the communities. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:54.359 So a few of the organizations inspired these songs and 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.679 some of the social missions and perspectives of the Stand 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:02.639 Together group. One of the songs is called Breakthrough. The 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.520 title comes from the name of the organization. It's an 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:11.160 anti recidivism organization that works helping returning citizens find work, 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:20.119 find education, opportunities, find housing, and offers them dignity in 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:25.440 their return to society. Oftentimes, you know, when I visit 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:30.600 prisons and juvenile halls, I recognize that the people behind bars, 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:36.440 who at some point may get out, we consider them 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.880 being released as a second chance at life. 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:44.360 And I've always, after having multiple conversations and hearing stories, 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.360 realize these folks never had a first chance. They come 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.280 from the most broken circumstances you could imagine. 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.920 Do you want to hear a scary statistic, Tell me 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.640 eighty percent of boys who go through our foster care system, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.399 eighty percent of boys who are in foster care for 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.600 eighteen months or longer will end up incarcerated by the 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:11.160 age of twenty five. So, our foster care system, which 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.960 currently has almost half a million children in its custody, 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:23.720 doesn't create fully functioning adults. It creates prisoners. For an 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.159 economic I believe in economic system. 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:28.720 It's an economic system. It's a pipeline. 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:29.720 It's a pipeline. 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:34.000 Statistic I heard about children who don't learn to read 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.840 by third grade have a higher chance of going into 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:38.520 prison as well. 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:38.880 Yep. 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.359 And so when you look at the machinations of how 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:47.920 lobbying and legislation work and funding education. You learn that 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:52.040 sometimes certain unions like prison guards unions and sheriffs unions 0:19:52.560 --> 0:20:01.719 who control prisons are lobbying against education developed meant in 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:06.280 order to build out this pipeline to conditioning system. 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.320 How are you going to have a job if you're 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:14.639 actually nurturing and loving and encouraging and educating children and 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.959 giving them stability. Yeah, less than five percent of kids 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:22.120 who are in foster care will ever have a forever family. 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:27.240 Yeah, there are and systems and cycles of generational trauma 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:32.720 that continue these and I think we have to look 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:39.280 at what is the responsibility of government with regard to 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.880 these cycles. Do we let them continue to play out 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.800 or do we try to repair them? And you know 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.800 whose responsibility is the repair? Is it our responsibility to 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:55.800 taxpayers to continue to pay for prisons or should we 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.199 be paying for the repair? 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.280 Is it our response one's ability as taxpayers to continue 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.399 to fund foster care that doesn't work? 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:09.160 Understood? Why do these inadequacies persist. 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.800 Because they're self governed, because there's no oversight, there is 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.360 no holding accountable, there are no checks and balances, There 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.879 is no one that holds that system or holds the 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:24.240 prison system accountable. They're not accountable to anyone but themselves. 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:29.919 My thought is, how do we develop a world, and 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:35.200 certainly this country, a country that supports families such that 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.800 the foster care system is dramatically reduced. 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:44.080 What a beautiful idea. How do we support families? How 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:48.160 do we support dads so that they know that they 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:52.200 are vital and a necessary part of the equation. How 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.399 do we break addictions? How do we heedal souls so 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:58.159 that people aren't running to the pipe or the bottle 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.360 to numb themselves. Do we do these things? I don't know. 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.480 I don't know either. I just know that love is 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:06.400 part of the equation. 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:09.720 It is the equation. It is the equation. 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:14.760 Yeah, yeah, social justice shine is part of that. It 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:17.040 was a special meeting that I had. A friend of 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:24.000 mine invited me to the most amazing retreat in the Caribbean. 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:27.639 It was Necker Island. This is Richard Branson's private island. 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:36.200 And the attendees were executives from huge companies and scientists 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:43.560 from the biggest and brightest research universities and some investors 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.919 who you know have paved the way for lots of companies. 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:53.359 And I had the opportunity to meet Nubar Afayen, who 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:59.680 is the CEO of Flagship Pioneerings Health Solutions. I would 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:04.400 say biotech company. They were the ones that created Maderna. 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.560 And in conversation with him, he shared with me that 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:14.280 he was a co founder of an organization called the 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:19.200 Aurora Prize for Humanity. And as he was explaining to 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:24.840 me the amazing work that they do to award humanitarians 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:30.920 who are engaged in the most impossible mission to save 0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:38.439 lives and transform their countries or their communities, I was 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:44.800 inspired to write a song to amplify that work, the 0:23:44.840 --> 0:23:49.639 work of the Aurora Prize, and I wrote Shine after 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:54.000 learning of several of the recipients of the Aurora Prize. 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.000 So tell me about some of the recipients that stand 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:57.800 out in your heart. 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:06.879 Oh wow, there are folks who in the Congo doctor 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:14.800 Dennis mcquiga, who stood up a hospital to rescue victims 0:24:14.800 --> 0:24:20.000 of violence. There is constant war at the border between 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:24.680 Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And this constant 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:32.000 war is over land. And the land that is being 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:37.880 fought for isn't necessarily the war that's happening is not 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:44.520 necessarily a war between the citizens of the Congo or Rwanda. 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:49.399 It is a war between the US, Russia and China 0:24:49.840 --> 0:24:56.119 for minerals that exist in this land, so our systems 0:24:56.760 --> 0:25:03.040 higher mercenary militaries to fight over land to keep the 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:08.080 land in a vague question of ownership, so that mining 0:25:08.480 --> 0:25:13.200 can happen while there is no rightful owner to the land. 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:14.480 If that makes any sense. 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:17.399 Oh, I know all about it, okay. 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:20.720 So and as we you know, I mean, we're here 0:25:20.760 --> 0:25:23.800 talking to one another on technology that requires the minerals 0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:29.399 that being mined. But the violence and the death and 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:32.760 the destruction doesn't have to happen. But doctor Dennis mcquagey 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:39.200 is helping to heal the people who are harmed during 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:44.000 these conflicts, and in particular repairing women who have been 0:25:44.760 --> 0:25:49.920 damaged by sexual violence in these wars, in these conflicts. 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:53.680 And in order for him to continue doing his work, 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:57.560 you know, there's got to be some source of support. 0:25:57.960 --> 0:26:02.840 And Aurora Prize has awarded him. It's a significant purse 0:26:03.160 --> 0:26:04.840 in order to continue this work. 0:26:05.480 --> 0:26:08.440 Have you ever heard of the book God Sleeps in Rwanda? 0:26:09.200 --> 0:26:11.000 No, but I will finally read it. 0:26:11.560 --> 0:26:14.399 Read it. Two things I will I will ask you 0:26:14.480 --> 0:26:18.760 to explore. One is a movie called Sometimes in April, 0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:22.400 mm hmm. And one is a book that's called God 0:26:22.480 --> 0:26:23.760 Sleeps in Rwanda. 0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:25.480 Yeah, I'll find it. 0:26:25.880 --> 0:26:30.600 Thank you when you when you hear of the struggle 0:26:31.359 --> 0:26:34.480 that people are going through in so many other parts 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:39.359 of the world, and not for any other reason than 0:26:40.520 --> 0:26:45.919 the read of the Western world, it just it tears 0:26:45.960 --> 0:26:47.919 me apart. It breaks my heart, and it makes me 0:26:48.040 --> 0:26:52.360 feel more compelled to be as vocal as and and 0:26:52.480 --> 0:26:54.800 loud and as much of an ally and a stand 0:26:55.520 --> 0:27:01.160 for them as possible. Had the opportunity to sing at 0:27:01.280 --> 0:27:06.800 the Legal Defense Fund gala recently, and in the audience 0:27:07.119 --> 0:27:12.919 was Tim Cook. And as we started dinner after some 0:27:13.040 --> 0:27:16.680 of the discussions that happened on stage, many people were 0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:19.600 walking up to Tim Cook to take a picture and. 0:27:20.080 --> 0:27:21.720 Get a moment with him. 0:27:22.840 --> 0:27:27.879 And I noticed the crowd and I thought, hmm, I 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:29.439 should go stand in that crowd. I'm going to get 0:27:29.440 --> 0:27:31.959 close to Tim, but I'm not going to take a photo. 0:27:33.480 --> 0:27:38.520 I am going to ask for his help in pushing 0:27:38.560 --> 0:27:42.560 for a conversation with his competitors and colleagues in the 0:27:42.600 --> 0:27:49.200 technology world to be more vigilant about conflict minerals. 0:27:50.320 --> 0:27:53.040 I mean, who else can do it. 0:27:53.040 --> 0:27:57.760 It has to come down to either we as the consumers, 0:27:58.480 --> 0:28:02.280 deciding that we don't want products with blood in them. 0:28:02.720 --> 0:28:05.720 And so my job is to make sure more people know. 0:28:06.359 --> 0:28:07.399 It has to start. 0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:11.840 Somewhere, sing, sing, sing, right, because you have such a 0:28:11.880 --> 0:28:19.760 beautiful voice and such a clarity of understanding of how 0:28:19.800 --> 0:28:24.280 evil evil is. It doesn't care, Evil doesn't care, and 0:28:24.320 --> 0:28:26.600 it just breaks my heart. 0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:30.080