WEBVTT - The Dr. Mark Baker Episode 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.560 Yet you know boys is back and redod it all 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:05.360 in your mind. 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:06.720 Yeah, now deep throating. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:11.000 This is for the streets, the real, the railroading, the disenfranchised, 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:14.120 the truth escapegoating, and they ain't know where we speak 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.360 the truth, so they quoted because we wrote it. 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.599 The North South East coaches the gie be mocked for 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:21.880 keeping your head, Bobby, it ain't no. 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.279 Stopping and wants to be drops head by then the 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.720 system is so corrupt they threw the rock out their 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:29.360 heads and then blame it on us. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.680 Don't get it twisted on coding. We danced it for 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:38.320 no butterment biscuits. It's Willie d y'all ghetto Boys in 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:42.040 the house back with another episode of information and instructions 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.360 to help you navigate through this wild, crazy, beautiful world. 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:51.920 In the studio, the Progressive councilman for the culture. He's 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:56.320 also aiming to become Georgia's nace next state representative in 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:03.200 District sixty eight. Doctor Mark Baker's in the building. Fam, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:05.880 Thanks so much, Thanks so much, man, I appreciate you 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.080 for having me say. Man, I'm gonna tell you something. 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:14.319 You are the type of person that we need as 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.000 a catalyst for change. You've been on the street, You've 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.160 been on the ground. You come from the streets. You 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.440 come from where I come from. You come from a 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.720 place where a lot of brothers who need your assistance 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:32.520 and guidance come from. Why is it so important for 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.320 you to fight for the you know, the everyday man 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:40.200 and woman man. This is one of those things whereas 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.600 like I'm really still fighting for myself, you know, huh. 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.320 You know It's like I have family, you know, who 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.480 are a part of this struggle. You know, brothers and 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.400 sisters of the struggle in general is real. You know, 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:55.840 have a cousin who's with me almost every day. He 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.840 just did twenty three years. He's home, can't find a job. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:05.120 You know, I have this real you know, and I 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.240 think that, uh, if one of us have an opportunity 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.680 to step out, we can't break our arms patting ourselves 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.400 on the back, you know, saying I might I made it. 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.040 I got mine, you got yours to get. That's not 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.560 how I'm built. That's not how I was taught. That's 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.880 not how I was raised. Uh, anywhere that I've been, 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:28.280 whether it was you know, through organizations I was affiliated with, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.400 you know, positive you know, no matter how people view them. 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:36.760 Like nowhere that I've been, no influences that I've had 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.680 have ever led me to believe that it's all on me. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.360 And when I'm good money every you know, I could 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:48.240 just keep it moving. So it's just it's just was natural. Yeah, 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:52.840 you let's talk about this position that you're running from. Uh, 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.600 you're running for state represent I said, running from. You 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.280 may be running for running from after you get in 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.400 there and you with all the wolves that in now 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:05.280 that's trying to hold the people back intentionally. But you're 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:11.600 you're running for Georgia State Representative District sixty eight. This 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:15.360 is a special election U that was brought about with 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:23.000 the untimely death of Representative Ties. Right, And at what 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.560 point did you know that you wanted to run for 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.440 office in the first place? You know, as far as 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.639 like not not not you got your you got your 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.440 You made your bones as a city councilman in South 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:43.280 South Forida, Right, but when you decided at what point 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.360 that you want to go to the next level with 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:49.280 the state rep and run for that? Man? I was 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.520 at boxing with my son, a fifteen year old you know, 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.040 shout out MJ. Mar Jr. And Marley but my son, 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.720 he was boxing, and I got a call from a neighbor, 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.000 you know, miss in the jinking. She's like, Mark, I 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.040 don't know what you're doing right now, but we need 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:08.680 you in this seat. We really loved Tish and she 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:10.920 did a great job, but we just can't go back 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.240 to not having somebody who really genuinely cares about us. 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:17.440 And I was like, miss Brenda, can I just call 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.560 you once I get out of this boxing. We got 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.560 out and we spoke at great length, and I just 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.880 didn't feel comfortable until, you know, after everything was over, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.920 at least a funeral, because people were really calling, and 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.400 you know, she was just one you know, other people called. 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:36.960 You know, I had a call from the mayor. Everybody 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:38.880 was just calling accent because they knew I lived in 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:43.800 the district and they got done too. Yeah. Yeah, And 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.880 it was one of those things that, you know, after Council, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:52.040 I literally ran for Congress. I ran for Congress because 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.159 of my legislation that I passed and I wanted it 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.839 to become infectious. But it was one of those things 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.279 that like, I love our city South full toon. You know, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.839 I can call myself, you know, one of the founding 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.599 Fathers of Southward then when we started in twenty seventeen. 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:12.479 Uh and it's ninety two percent black, you know, and 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:16.159 over one hundred thousand populations makes it a large city. 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.400 It's one of those things that according to the National 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.960 League of Cities, it's the blackest city in America. Right. 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.400 And so we have seven districts. I represent the district 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.440 seven that you know carries and covers you know, part 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.920 of the Old the Old no, it covers the border 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.440 of Fayetteville, but the Old National Corridor too, you know. 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:36.800 So I was a councilman on Old National That's the 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.560 area that you hear two Chains talking about and Ludacrous 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.760 and and JD. You know, all of these people come 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:48.800 from that area. And I was passing a lot of 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:53.880 progressive legislation on a black city council that had the 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.480 wine and Cheese area included. You know, shout out to 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.120 the people who live on Cascade Road. You know, you 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.480 ever saw the movie atl where New New Live. You 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.840 know t I's love interest Laury in London, she lived 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.599 over near the Cascade area, you know, and that's the 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:15.400 area where affluent black people live. So our city comprises 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.240 of people who live over there and then the old 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:24.240 National Area. So after passing legislation and fighting for you know, 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.280 like all of the stuff I passed, it wasn't unanimous, 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.760 and we're dealing with black people, and it just became 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:32.880 one of those things when I ran for Congress saying it, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.400 I'm tired of fighting my people to fight for my people, 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.480 if that makes sense. So it makes a lot of sense. 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.039 So it was like, if I'm going to do this, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.320 if I'm I'm going to sacrifice my time and energy effort, 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.840 I want to go somewhere where people, you know, really 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.719 feel different overtly we in Georgia, you know, and stepped 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:58.159 to our beef on a different platform, you know, and 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.760 and just move it that way, and it felt it 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:05.760 would feel more authentic then, you know, as Marcus Garvey 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.440 talk about us and our petty differences, you know, we 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.600 can move on and we've been able to be progressive 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.000 and do a lot of great things. We got a 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.120 long way to go, you know, like we're the next 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:17.360 door to Atlanta, and Atlanta has had about one hundred 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:22.400 and twenty year ahead start on South Fulton, so people 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:27.640 will expect change immediate and overnight, but it's coming but 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.920 I just felt like doing everything that I was doing, 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.640 you know, as far as legislation wise, these were things 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:40.680 that needed immediate healing on a larger scale on a 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:44.680 national level, definitely on the state level as well. And 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.320 it's not enough of us being represented there. When I 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:54.880 say us, I mean people who understanding inwardly digest what 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.720 it means to be a part of our culture, you know, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.840 to come home with the lights off, you know, to 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.320 have a single mom who struggles and you know, doesn't 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.400 know where how she's going to pay all of the 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.000 bills and stuff like that. You know a lot of 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.680 us who make it there, you know, and I want 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.280 my suits and my flowers and stuff too. But like 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.800 it's a detachment I think from a lot of people 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.320 who represent us. You know, we make it there, and 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.880 we kind of carry it different, you know, we want 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.240 to prove ourselves to be worthy of being there, and 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.840 like the other people there, as opposed to being willing 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.480 to stand out and say, look, I'm different the people 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.360 in the demographic I represent. It's different, and we need 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.319 a voice at that table. I see you got your 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:44.520 fellow Chicago and a T shirt on free Larry Hoover. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.200 You work a lot with his son, Larry Hoover Junior, 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:52.319 A really really good dude. You're from Chicago's West Side, 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.760 that's where you originally madeor bones, so to speak. At 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.200 what point did you decide that you want to to 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:05.920 be a servant to the people. Well, man, that's a 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:11.000 good question. I kind of just I had a good situation, 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:14.160 you know, for a little while. And our city is 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:19.240 a new city, and coming from Chicago, it's one of 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:23.920 those things that when I go back home now on 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.679 my block, like you know, it's a it's an awkward 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.320 place to be from and be affiliated with my my 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:39.640 group of people. You know, Chicago is very It's one 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:43.440 of those things. It's territorial, you know, and there's lines 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.320 right where you can have Like I grew up on 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.280 sixteenth Street, you know, and from Ktown all the way 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.680 down to Kizzie is where my family is. So you 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:56.360 have different affiliations that might be a block over in 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.719 that little area from the Holy City towards Kizzie and 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.520 the community, and you know the area where mister Jones 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:05.440 owned everything. A lot of people call it Jones City. 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.760 We can go up a couple of blocks on twenty 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:12.880 first or twenty second Street and it's Mexicans, and you 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.360 don't cross that street like they used to chase us 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.360 from one side of the fair, like you know those 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.240 little makeshift carnivals. They come and they be in the 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.200 parking lot or whatever, and we would go as kids 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.199 to be in that you know, space or whatever. By 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.839 the time they start identifying, it's like, ah, mind less road. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.200 We gotta go, you know, and we on our way out, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.840 but they would chase us. And once we cross our 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.559 side of the street, it's not like help is waiting. 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.200 We could just stop because they not gonna come over 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.640 there and we could pop off. They could pop off, 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:46.600 but we're gonna be on our side. It's almost animalistic, 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:51.840 you know, Is it still that way. I've been out 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.360 of Chicago for a minute. I visited a lot for 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:58.280 a minute. I mean I left in the nineties, you know, 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:01.000 late nineties. Of course I left and went to school. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.000 You know, my mom made sure no. I went to 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.240 dinner in New Orleans. Actually shout out the Dealer University HBCU. 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:13.200 One of the best ever, best four years age sociology 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.200 or the minor in music, one of those degrees that 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.840 if my you know, steps didn't just laying where what 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.440 where it did, I'd still be just in the classroom teaching, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:28.400 you know, But I just picked the degree that had 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.760 the least amount of math in it. I like, being 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.720 radically honest. It wasn't one of those things. But here's 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:38.680 the cool thing about sociology. It's a study of human behavior. 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.240 And if you can figure that out, you can navigate 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.360 through anything. And you know what, I didn't understand that 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:50.320 at the time, but not like the way I've landed. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.480 I'm like, oh my god, Like if I'd have had 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.560 any other major, I wouldn't be able to sit across 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.680 from people in rappert taste about their situation. Because we 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.199 used to have doctor Barber Thompson. Anybody went to till 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:05.640 the university. We know, she got busy and she made 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:10.360 us know all of the historical framework and concepts behind 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.760 what made people who they were, how they move. You know, 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.920 a lot of people give credit to, you know, survival 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.120 of the fittest. You know, it doesn't go to Herbert 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.160 Spencer like it should, you know, because he was one 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:29.040 of thirteen kids to actually survive infancy and that's what 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.880 made him think he was built different. And these little 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.839 things that happened when you when you're younger, as you grow, 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.200 they stay with you, and they stick with you and 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.320 ultimately become It becomes who you are, how you move, 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.880 and how you navigate. And I think that it kind 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:47.240 of brought me to a by the point where I 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.280 became a public servant. I knew I'm represented old national 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.760 you know, I'm from Chicago. Somebody from Atlanta couldn't come 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.480 to sixteenth Street or the k Town area and just 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.800 represent in them, you know, without having a conversation and 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.760 knowing these people or finding out, you know, the true 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.400 status of what's going on. And I made sure I 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:14.200 did that. I tapped in with people like Bear who 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.080 with all of the younger people in that area who 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.600 had how could you call it the five O one 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.360 C threes and the people that then set down for 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.040 a minute, and now they back and they want to 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.280 do better in their community. And you know, it just 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.480 became one of those things like you know, we have 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.480 shady part crips. It's no secret in my area. But 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:39.880 you know, through me having you know, just the wherewithal 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:41.720 and the knowledge base to be able to touch the 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:46.120 people that actually influenced them, right it was nothing for me. Actually, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:47.839 it was a great deal for me to shout out 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.560 big U. I was able to reach the big U 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.680 big U k We had a you know, a meaning 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.640 pastor Anthony A kreflo dollars church and you know back 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:07.760 in like talent. No, I'm just just stopped doing stuff 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.840 like that. Got has a whole different mindset to like 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.800 there's a lot of different mindset or it's just as 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:17.800 I would say. And I can't speak too much on 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:19.760 it because I'm not a member of his church. But 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.880 every time I've gone the traditional krefflo that has been 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.520 spoken about publicly as we have this thing about him, 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.920 he iss changed. And I've heard that he's publicly said 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.200 that he was wrong about a lot of Okay, okay, 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:38.920 so people, people can grow, you can grow. And because 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.400 he threw me off man with that asking for a 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.400 plane thing, you know, like trying to tell people that 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.160 they were poor if they could didn't come up with 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:50.560 the money. That threw me off. But but you're saying 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.400 that that's not the kreflow dollar. You know, yes, I'm 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:58.000 saying that. I'm definitely saying that. I've heard you know, 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:04.120 you know, now I'm just kidd no, no, but it's 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.560 like but but he did. He does allow his space 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.560 for us, you know, uh to do these things. And 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.960 we held it at World Changes, you know, and I 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.520 connected with Big U there and we you know, we 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.960 talked about what was going on, and I mean we've 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.560 had a like I gave him a proclamation. I think 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.160 it was almost two years ago because we went down 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.240 like in that area about seventy percent in the type 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:31.960 of crimes that was you know. But he has a 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.800 program called Developing Options, you know him and I think 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.760 Don Osborne, Jeffrey Osborne's daughter, was together with that program. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.600 And you know, we ain't had the money to do it, 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.400 but you know, it's one of those things where he 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.000 used his influence to you know, rap with people who 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.680 you know are out of the power and kind of 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.400 use black recognomics to make stuff work, you know, you know, 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.440 passing ideas and if we have you know, other other 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:01.520 opportunities or jobs for people. That's what his program did. 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:03.400 But you know, he was able to help in that. 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.560 And I think that you gotta go to the people. Everybody, 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.280 everybody not gonna wear the suits, you know, you got 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:12.400 to find the real people to come and give truth. 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:14.760 You know. That's why I haven't had a problem aligning 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.280 myself with people who think different, you know, whether it 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.440 be shout out to Resa Islam, that's my brother. You know, 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:23.560 we do a lot of stuff together. I gave him 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.880 a day and you know, I work with him and 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.320 you know, and and we do a lot together, especially 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:34.040 during the pandemic. Him and even doctor Luma Johnson, that's 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.560 my brother too. He comes down, you know, and we 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.360 do stuff. So we like I'm if I'm representing the 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.640 black of city in America at that time as I was, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.080 I wanted to make sure we we really dealt with 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.200 our issues and we were true to you know, our demographic. 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:56.480 So okay, So you just mentioned Riza Islam and doctor Umar. 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:04.639 Working with these guys who have some different views, but 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.479 the one thing that they have in common, even Big U, 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:09.960 the one thing that they all have in common is 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:14.919 that they love black people. I know they doubt and 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.399 so I think that we have to get used to 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:26.160 working with each other and not not expecting something that's 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.920 superhuman from each other. Like we have to give each 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.600 other grace knowing that we don't have to agree to everything. 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.240 We don't have to agree with everything that somebody says 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.800 in order to support that person. As long as our 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.720 common objective is to advance our people in one of 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.560 the words that you like to be used is progress 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:51.280 our people, then that's what that's the bottom line. That's 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.560 what should matter more than anything, the advancement of our people. 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.240 And so all of these guys, I look at them 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.000 the same way. They all are working in that same 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.879 But what happened with you growing up that made you 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.080 want to be that type of person? Did you see 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.960 something that you see somebody did somebody set you, pull 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.560 you to the side and say, look, son, this is 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.280 how you do it. I'm a product of my environment, right. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:27.760 So I think that when people look at the leaders 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.359 of what they used to call gangster disciple, which is 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:36.720 now internalized as growth and development. Right, we had people 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:41.320 who were on the playground right doing that cusp of 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.280 that change is my generation. Right. My cousin and I 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.280 tell you about who just came home. He was probably perplexed, 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:56.600 being about ten years or so older than me, trying 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:01.560 to take on growing and developing in the community. So 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.560 they had rules for us. Now I would notice that 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.080 they wouldn't necessarily abide by the rules that they would 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.480 we was selling us because it was kind of new 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.479 to them. You know, do as I say, not as 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:17.199 I do exactly. And so now as kids, you know, 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.080 we would you know, we would still figure it out. 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.760 We would get around some stuff. And I'm not perfect. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.760 I've had situations and you know, and you know, before eighteen, 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:31.000 actually three times before I was eighteen, I was with 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.879 the police, you know, and the last time was pretty serious. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.760 I had to fight a felony charge for somebody. And 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.320 do you know at eighteen years years old, I came 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:46.840 back and for like Christmas break, But it was just, 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:48.800 you know, the bottom line is there, even when you 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.000 make it out like you don't have to do nothing 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.800 but exists. Not to Chicago's not different from you know, 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.159 in the city, in any part of this country. You know, 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:04.160 like this plans and traps for you to actually take 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.080 a trip and fall, you know, and it's not one 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.119 of those things. It's intentionally set up for that, you know. 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:15.480 So I had people who were telling me, yo, man, 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:17.639 it's good to see you, man, but dude, man, you 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.000 broke out. You need to get away from here right now. Bro. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:21.920 They just left his shooting and I'm thinking, why you 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:24.880 still want to sit on the corner the sixteenth at home? 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.760 And exactly what they told me is why you gonna 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.000 stay here? You know. And so it became one of 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:31.879 those things whereas like a lot of people feel like, 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.720 you know, they don't have a way out, you know, 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:39.120 but I realized, like I'm a part of them, I'm 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:44.120 the same. So when I had the opportunity, I don't. 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.560 I don't think that nobody told me anything that was 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:49.919 drastically different. I think I slipped through the cracks and 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.919 kind of made it. And I think that when you 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:57.080 talk about how my progressive nature, as you mentioned, it's 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:59.240 one of those things as a black man in America, 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.000 you know, so you have the progressives, you have the conservatives, 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.760 you know, and or I just can't think of anything 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:11.280 politically or political ideology that I want to like. To 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:13.640 be a conservative means to keep the same, the root word, 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:17.360 to conserve, keep the same. There's very little about America 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.000 in its history that I want to put my energy 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:22.720 and time and vote to try to keep the same. 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:24.960 You don't see what I'm saying. So I think that 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:27.639 you know, when you become you know, aware what was 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.119 political when you become aware of the social political of 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.240 people who were revered in my neighborhood, like Larry Hoover, 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:36.720 you understand, and you know, just like we were talking 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:38.879 about sociology, you have to look at the times and 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.120 what was going on. You know, you have the time 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.920 then to understand that Fred Hampton was just probably two 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:48.440 or three years younger than Larry Hoover in nineteen sixty nine, 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.399 December fourth, when he was assassinated right up the street, 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.000 right up the street from where I was. I grew 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:59.159 up on the West Side. It's like, so these were 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.720 people who were goal oranizing our communities because of what 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.679 was being inflicted on us. And no matter how people 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.480 felt about them at that time, if these people had 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:13.480 the opportunity to mature and grow and get older, you know, 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:17.479 who's to say what that trajectory would have been. And 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.600 so that's why they rooted him, right, because they knew 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:24.520 their potential, right. And so if you'd have ran into me, 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:28.880 you know when my mom needed money to help out, 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:30.919 you know, in my little eighty dollars when I started 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:33.360 working at McDonald's, how I was figuring out how to 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:35.640 make it be more than eighty dollars. You know, it's 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:38.359 one of those things that I wouldn't be here. I 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:40.960 wouldn't be talking to you, you know, because I have 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.840 a lot of friends who they're not here, and I 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:47.280 see their family and they're proud of me, and they're 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:51.439 expecting me to go faster and further, you know, you know, 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.840 for their say. So I can't watch, I can't watch. 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.800 I got to make sure it work. Go to Fords 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:10.240 reloaded podcast you break after spak you mentioned being with 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:15.800 the police. Now you at some point became a police officer. 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:21.400 You was a school resource officer. Man, how was that experience? Man? 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:23.760 It was amazing. It was the best place I could 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:26.399 have been. Shout out to Bear Creek Middle, Shout out 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:29.639 to Renaissance Middle, Langsy, Huge Creek's out. And if I 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:35.639 wasn't I wouldn't be here either, because those same kids 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:39.040 did I flushed, they weed in the toilet. All the 0:23:39.119 --> 0:23:42.000 kids who were like man Officer Baker Obi, they still 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:44.719