Speaker 1: What's your family. It's your girl to make a d mallory,
Speaker 1: and it's your boy, my son and general, and we
Speaker 1: are your host of street politicians, the place where the
Speaker 1: streets and politics meet. Listen, my son is freezing cold.
Speaker 1: I was gone for some time. I came back to
Speaker 1: New York City and it's literally twenty degrees. The weather
Speaker 1: is going to kill us. I'm trying to figure out
Speaker 1: why people would even say that there is no global warming,
Speaker 1: because we are literally watching like something happened because it's
Speaker 1: freezing outside. It's it's more it's mooie freel free all
Speaker 1: the man. I went outside it was degrees, took my
Speaker 1: kids school. I'm like, what, it's freezing freezing. It ain't
Speaker 1: like the fake colds, the real cold outside. This is crazy,
Speaker 1: it is. It's really crazy. But it's like the way
Speaker 1: that the weather goes up and down, and then on
Speaker 1: the days when it's warm, you see people outside that
Speaker 1: they that got all the way naked. And you're one
Speaker 1: of those people that when the weather changes you have
Speaker 1: your little jacket, no jacket this and that. Y'all people
Speaker 1: better keep y'all winter coats on before y'all have all
Speaker 1: kinds of sicknesses. Were tired to win a coach man,
Speaker 1: I'm tired of winning, big old coat. You're getting a call.
Speaker 1: You gotta unbutton it, you gotta zip it down. You'll
Speaker 1: be on fire like it's too much. Man, I'm just
Speaker 1: weather this heavy over break many degree just ain't this,
Speaker 1: ain't it? Yeah? I hope it doesn't stay like this
Speaker 1: for a long time because it definitely makes you sick.
Speaker 1: So we're getting ready to go to Africa. Um, this
Speaker 1: is like a huge, huge, huge, huge moment for until freedom,
Speaker 1: getting an opportunity to go to the Motherland, to the
Speaker 1: continent there all things originated from Africa. Yeah, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be pretty cool. I'm really like it it and I
Speaker 1: think I have a level of excitement for each country
Speaker 1: that we're visiting. Of course, I've always wanted to see
Speaker 1: the Pyramids, and so many people think like, oh, you
Speaker 1: must have gone to some part of Africa before, and
Speaker 1: actually I haven't. The closest that we got was in
Speaker 1: Palestine right there, you know, trying to go to the
Speaker 1: West Bank, which is some somewhat I guess connected to Egypt.
Speaker 1: But never ever have we actually been to Africa directly.
Speaker 1: And I'm you know, I'm really looking forward to I
Speaker 1: guess the restoration, the feeling of like connection to our people.
Speaker 1: Were meeting with so many different UM leaders, activists, filmmakers.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a real, real powerful experience over on
Speaker 1: on the and and on the soil for which our
Speaker 1: ancestors from which our ancestors came. That is something powerful
Speaker 1: that I think everybody should experience in their lifetime. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so too. I've been I'm really looking forward
Speaker 1: to it, just one of the learn the history and
Speaker 1: just be you know. I hear that you can actually
Speaker 1: feel the spirit and essence of the ancestors when you
Speaker 1: on the motherland. So I'm really looking forward to just
Speaker 1: taking their energy. Man, I've been dealing We've been dealing
Speaker 1: with so much over the last year especially, so you know,
Speaker 1: I really want to take that time to just reconnect
Speaker 1: and resent to myself. And we're we're better place than
Speaker 1: to do it in Africa, So what better place to
Speaker 1: hope the UM. I've heard too that it's like super
Speaker 1: hot and that there's mosquito. So you know, me, I'm
Speaker 1: always getting my form, my awe in my clothes, cover
Speaker 1: with my skin, but I don't care I'm going to
Speaker 1: be outside and with the people. And that's the only
Speaker 1: thing about trips that I get really, really like bothered
Speaker 1: by is when you go on the tripping, it's so difficult.
Speaker 1: People like, oh, it's not safe, it's this, And I
Speaker 1: don't believe that, Like I want to go directly to
Speaker 1: where the people live that are that really would benefit
Speaker 1: and we would benefit from seeing one another, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like, that's where I want to be.
Speaker 1: And I understand that you have to be careful about
Speaker 1: how you approach those communities because you have people there
Speaker 1: who are like, don't come here with this ship, like
Speaker 1: without bringing resources and support, And I get it, but
Speaker 1: it also feels like when you go do all the
Speaker 1: touristy things, you don't have an opportunity to connect with
Speaker 1: like real everyday folks, And that for me is just
Speaker 1: never good with any trip. And I think we do
Speaker 1: a good job everywhere we go, no matter what state,
Speaker 1: no matter what city, we are always trying to find
Speaker 1: where is the heart of the people and the and
Speaker 1: the and the land. So you know, that's that's always
Speaker 1: a tugger war because every single travel UH coordinator they like,
Speaker 1: you know, you can't go here, you can't walk there,
Speaker 1: But we gotta try to figure out how to make
Speaker 1: that happen. You definitely got to figure out how to
Speaker 1: make that happen. Man, I'm looking forward to it, you know.
Speaker 1: I've been just going over to the itinerary and it
Speaker 1: really looks it looks like it's gonna be something for
Speaker 1: the books. Man. So in other news, the Oscars is
Speaker 1: the talk of the town for a lot of different reasons.
Speaker 1: I hate the fact that like we um, you know,
Speaker 1: when something when one thing happens, we're unable to like
Speaker 1: still focus on other things. Blue Ivy being in the
Speaker 1: performance with with her mom, uh, Mega Stallion performing, Um,
Speaker 1: what's the guy's name that one quest love my God
Speaker 1: love man and one um Will Packer being the producer. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's see what other beautiful moments. I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: so many things that happen, um, that you know you
Speaker 1: feel good about. It's like you want to see these
Speaker 1: shows get better. They're not there yet. We know, from
Speaker 1: the Oscars to the Grammys, all of these shows, they
Speaker 1: are far far far behind in terms of representing our
Speaker 1: culture completely and thoroughly. You know, so that we're not
Speaker 1: about to say, oh, it's the best, but we see
Speaker 1: that there are some changes that are happening, including having
Speaker 1: Will Packer and his team produced the entire show. Those
Speaker 1: things are good and we want to continue to see
Speaker 1: more about it. But whenever there is one moment that
Speaker 1: is the highlight, all those all the other moments, people
Speaker 1: don't really focus on them, and everybody runs to like
Speaker 1: the drama. They you know, we we what what was
Speaker 1: the highlight? I didn't, I didn't know. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: people are feed off of drama. I mean, obviously, the
Speaker 1: highlight of the Oscars was Will Smith slapping um Chris Rock.
Speaker 1: That's what happened. You seriously smacked Chris Rock. That is
Speaker 1: what people are gonna talk about. But there were other
Speaker 1: incredible things that happened, Yes there were, and you know,
Speaker 1: like unfortunately, I said all the time, unfortunately, the algorithm
Speaker 1: is set up to always amplify and promote the negativity.
Speaker 1: And you know, and and that's just the world we
Speaker 1: live in. People are driven to the drone, you know,
Speaker 1: They're driven to the conflict, you know, and and and
Speaker 1: that's where we are. I just think for me, you know,
Speaker 1: shout out to everybody who at those awards, everybody who
Speaker 1: won awards, A lot happened. You know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: to unpack, and there are a lot of people and
Speaker 1: have opinions. They're gonna be opinions that this one's wrong,
Speaker 1: this one's right, this and that. But I just say
Speaker 1: all the time, you cannot predict how anyone will respond
Speaker 1: to your disrespect. You can want to, we can always say, well,
Speaker 1: I don't think you should have reacted that way. I
Speaker 1: don't think you should have this, or this wasn't the place.
Speaker 1: And you might be totally right, or you might everybody
Speaker 1: has an opinion. But when you are the person who
Speaker 1: is being disrespected, m hm, and you have to intake
Speaker 1: the disrespect and you have to listen, you have to
Speaker 1: internalize it, and you have to look at your kids
Speaker 1: and look at your wife and look at your family,
Speaker 1: and you have to be this man. You have to
Speaker 1: constantly deal with those things. You get to choose how
Speaker 1: you respond to that disrespect. And I think that is
Speaker 1: a classic example of what happened Snipe, you know, and
Speaker 1: you know, I believe that when you look at we
Speaker 1: have to ask ourselves about Will Smith, someone who's shown
Speaker 1: such class throughout his career, throughout his life, he's dealt
Speaker 1: He's laughed at things the average person would have been
Speaker 1: blew up at. He's showed so much courage and so
Speaker 1: much transparency about his own personal lives, and he's dealt
Speaker 1: with what comes with that, you know, And I think
Speaker 1: at some point you have to ask, when is enough right?
Speaker 1: We have to look at okay, we we ask celebrities,
Speaker 1: we ask people who are in the media, who are
Speaker 1: public figures, to just take things as if there's iron man,
Speaker 1: as if they're not perfect. And the people who are
Speaker 1: judging will or feel like he did this and that wrong.
Speaker 1: They've done way more. They wouldn't have dealt withold half
Speaker 1: the ship that he's He's there one third of the
Speaker 1: ship that he's have to deal with throughout his career,
Speaker 1: throughout his life, you know. So to be able to
Speaker 1: make that judgment is good to have that, you know,
Speaker 1: luxury to sit in your living room and I have
Speaker 1: to deal with the ills that man has to deal
Speaker 1: with every day and be able to judge it. But
Speaker 1: once again, you know, people have their own boiling point,
Speaker 1: their own breaking point, their own line that you can't cross,
Speaker 1: and you have to make sure that you are intentional
Speaker 1: about not being intentional about disrespecting you know. Niecy Nash
Speaker 1: said last night that her feelings are still buffering. Right.
Speaker 1: She was doing Alive with her wife Um and she said,
Speaker 1: my feelings are still buffering, And I kind of feel
Speaker 1: that way, like I am. I have so many different
Speaker 1: emotions about the not so much even the moment. It's
Speaker 1: more so than response to the moment. Right. Like, one
Speaker 1: thing I'm really really um clear on is that we
Speaker 1: do not have to live by a standard of what
Speaker 1: white people say is right. That is something that I'm
Speaker 1: absolutely resolved with. That And the idea that because white
Speaker 1: people might feel or they may see and think certain things,
Speaker 1: that it means that we have to behave or act
Speaker 1: a certain type of way, that for me, I throw
Speaker 1: that out completely. I think that, Um, fights happen, people
Speaker 1: have fights, ship happens. Puff said it last night. Things happen,
Speaker 1: like things happen, And we're not in a perfect bubble,
Speaker 1: none of us are. I'm not perfect, You're not perfect.
Speaker 1: The world isn't perfect, and things happen. And really I
Speaker 1: do see where people are constantly sort of like pricking
Speaker 1: at Will, just constantly pricking at him because he has
Speaker 1: been so much of the model person that he tries
Speaker 1: to be positive, stay about love, stay out the way.
Speaker 1: You know, he knows that he's a larger than life
Speaker 1: figure and I think he got an opportunity he is
Speaker 1: and especially now he is beginning. He is now sitting
Speaker 1: in the front seat of watching how disrespectful people can
Speaker 1: be two black women right this week, the Crown Act
Speaker 1: has passed, and this is or last week the Crown
Speaker 1: at past and this is legislation that specifically deals with
Speaker 1: people leaving us alone about our hair. Let you work,
Speaker 1: go to school, do what you want about your hair.
Speaker 1: And having someone to even make a joke about something
Speaker 1: so sensitive, I can see how it completely completely set
Speaker 1: him off, and along with other things not just from
Speaker 1: Chris Rock, but in general from folks and just in
Speaker 1: society thinking that it's okay to just keep pricking at him.
Speaker 1: And I think he just finally was like, this is
Speaker 1: one of those moments when I'm not gonna do the
Speaker 1: politically correct thing. And whether you agree with it or not,
Speaker 1: it was his choice and he did it and he
Speaker 1: will have to accept whatever come, whatever goes along with that.
Speaker 1: But I still also would say that, um, yeah, like,
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just I'm not even willing to feed
Speaker 1: into the perception that because somebody had a fight it's
Speaker 1: the end of the world, or because somebody hits somebody
Speaker 1: it's the end of the world. I'm just not willing
Speaker 1: to feed into that, you know. And I think it's
Speaker 1: it's like you said, it's a lot to really unpack it. Really,
Speaker 1: it really is. Because the emotional part of seeing Denzel
Speaker 1: and Tyler Perry walk over to their brother, who they
Speaker 1: know would not generally just do something like that unless
Speaker 1: it has reached a boiling point of just no more.
Speaker 1: You know, that's just not something that you would ever
Speaker 1: see Will Smith do, right, And to see them walk
Speaker 1: over and be with him and talk to him after
Speaker 1: they know that his wife was disrespected and her feelings
Speaker 1: were hurt, that, to me, it was just a moment
Speaker 1: that like we got to talk about that more center,
Speaker 1: like what were they saying to each other and what
Speaker 1: did they all feel as black men in that moment.
Speaker 1: Knowing that, and you think Will doesn't know he's gonna
Speaker 1: be criticized, it's gonna be, this is gonna be that
Speaker 1: this is a man who can think quick right, he
Speaker 1: can think faster than the Yeah, he can think, he
Speaker 1: can think really fast, faster than the average person, because
Speaker 1: this man lives in the public eye and every single
Speaker 1: day he's making decisions. And he made a decision that
Speaker 1: last night that was that was literally it for him.
Speaker 1: It was literally it. And I think people, you know,
Speaker 1: I think people keep classifying as emotional and a break now,
Speaker 1: and I think for me, I don't. I don't really
Speaker 1: agree with that, right, I think I think as men,
Speaker 1: there's a process that goes on in your mind, right,
Speaker 1: especially when you're thinking of when you when you, when
Speaker 1: you think of when you somebody like Will Smith, who's
Speaker 1: navigated throughout this industry, who you've watched constantly outthink people
Speaker 1: who utilize strategies to capitalize or negative ship that people
Speaker 1: try to do with him all the time. He's taking
Speaker 1: the high road. I think at this point, right there
Speaker 1: was a situation, you know, because I remember the ten
Speaker 1: Oscar Awards, right when Jada was very adamant and vocal
Speaker 1: about boycott and because the lack of representation for black people,
Speaker 1: she was mad that Will was a nominated for concussion.
Speaker 1: She said, he pretty much did everything most people agree. No,
Speaker 1: And I remember watching Chris Rock be the host of it,
Speaker 1: and I remember him making jokes that didn't make me
Speaker 1: feel good as a black person in that moment. I
Speaker 1: remember him making jokes about Jada about Will diminishing what
Speaker 1: they felt at that moment, and it was something that
Speaker 1: was most people in Hollywood understood that there was no
Speaker 1: black representation, and Chris Rock utilized his voice to not
Speaker 1: highlight that reality, but to diminish the fact that these
Speaker 1: people and this man's wife had called for this boy
Speaker 1: by basically saying that she didn't have the right to
Speaker 1: call for boycott that because she wasn't nominated, that why
Speaker 1: would we even listen to you? You weren't invited here.
Speaker 1: And that's a man's wife, that's the mother of his children.
Speaker 1: You know that they sat home and watched to see, Okay,
Speaker 1: this blood, this is a black man, he's a brother,
Speaker 1: somebody that we respect, and he's he's gonna do this regardless.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna be We're gonna sit back and see
Speaker 1: how he utilizes this moment that we've garnered the energy
Speaker 1: for because we've called out the oscars. We want to
Speaker 1: see how he utilizes this moment to hold the oscars
Speaker 1: accountable right and in hot and in in disregard for that,
Speaker 1: he chose to utilize that to diminish the two people
Speaker 1: who were trying to fight. And I felt that was disrespectful.
Speaker 1: I felt it was wrong. I said it. Then I
Speaker 1: didn't understand why he utilized his voice in that manner,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people and when he talked about
Speaker 1: Jada and that man that I said all the time,
Speaker 1: people said, oh, well, he wouldn't. Will would have did this,
Speaker 1: if this and that, if if this was a white
Speaker 1: person or this comedian, And I say to myself, Chris Rox,
Speaker 1: would Chris Rock would have made those jokes about Judie Foster.
Speaker 1: He would to set Meryl Street can't call for a boycott.
Speaker 1: He would have talked about white women that they see
Speaker 1: at some level of value in Hollywood and say, who
Speaker 1: are they to call for boycott? And if he would have,
Speaker 1: the white people in the room wouldn't have laughed at
Speaker 1: They wouldn't have thought it was amusing. They wouldn't they
Speaker 1: wouldn't got hysterically laughed about the way that he talked
Speaker 1: about that man's wife. And and I say that to
Speaker 1: say that, and so when I look at this situation,
Speaker 1: there's a build up, there's a man having to sit
Speaker 1: in his house. And every time I watched Jada was
Speaker 1: doing walking through TMC was say, hey, how do you
Speaker 1: feel about what Chris Rock had to say about you?
Speaker 1: And I have to keep how do you feel about
Speaker 1: what Chris Rock said? Whoa, this is the biggest stage
Speaker 1: in the world on that night, he utilized that time
Speaker 1: to diminish that woman, and she had to constantly deal
Speaker 1: with and that man had to constantly look at his
Speaker 1: wife's face feeling humiliated listening to you know, her being
Speaker 1: disrespected on these social media, watching their kids angry at
Speaker 1: the same situation. And he ate that, he ate that
Speaker 1: he didn't do nothing. He ate that they dealt with it.
Speaker 1: They moved on. Now we at Oscar's Awards, and you
Speaker 1: choose again, as you sit up there as the host
Speaker 1: to utilize your voice in your platform to talk something
Speaker 1: about my wife. At what point, as a man, is
Speaker 1: it okay for you to say this ain't okay? Maybe
Speaker 1: you saying that you wouldn't have smacked him man, maybe,
Speaker 1: but what the way that and I tell people all
Speaker 1: the time, the way that people respond to your disrespect.
Speaker 1: It's not your choice, right if somebody body have been like, oh,
Speaker 1: you should have pulled him to the side. No, the
Speaker 1: disrespect happened publicly. I'm a firm believer that when disrespect
Speaker 1: happens publicly, the consequences or the apologies needs to be
Speaker 1: public as well. People want to disrespect you publicly and
Speaker 1: quietly in the back to you. You know, it's just
Speaker 1: a joke. We're cool and that. No, but the world
Speaker 1: just so when you talk to me crazy and tomorrow
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to hear how once again me Will
Speaker 1: is the sucker. He's a pomp, this and that. People
Speaker 1: saying this. It's with so much of that any man
Speaker 1: can deal. And I think at that point he was
Speaker 1: resolved and with whatever was gonna come with that. Even
Speaker 1: when you look at his apology, apologize to everybody else
Speaker 1: with that man, because that man disrespected him, that man
Speaker 1: purposely disrespect I think it's that's why I said, if
Speaker 1: it's buffering from me right like, I love that Nash
Speaker 1: used that because I personally have been in fights like
Speaker 1: and I'm not talking about twenty years ago. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about ship that has happened to me recently that I
Speaker 1: have in the hotel we just was talking about that
Speaker 1: on the show about what was a last year when
Speaker 1: we talked about the white man that put his hand
Speaker 1: in my face and and his wife and I getting
Speaker 1: into a physical altercation. That should happens like they were
Speaker 1: arrested because everybody in the hotel saw what took place.
Speaker 1: But people do get into fights. So when I when
Speaker 1: I to your point being making sure that you're not
Speaker 1: coming from a place of a high road road judgment
Speaker 1: where you look at somebody else's situation and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, because it's Will Smith, you don't see the
Speaker 1: human side of this man, right that I try not
Speaker 1: to do. So that's one one thing. Then you know
Speaker 1: I'm I'm probably biased anyway because Jada. I love Jada
Speaker 1: will all my heart. That is my sister, and to
Speaker 1: see her be disrespected like that in that moment, I
Speaker 1: probably would have wanted to fight for her as well.
Speaker 1: And I cannot sit here and tell you I would
Speaker 1: never sit here and say that I don't appreciate the
Speaker 1: fact that Will Smith said fuck it, whatever has to
Speaker 1: go along with it. You're not gonna just keep playing
Speaker 1: with Jada, period. So that's a full stop for me
Speaker 1: on this side of the conversation. I still when you
Speaker 1: said just now that people keep talking about it being
Speaker 1: emotional and um, a breakdown, I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say it's a breakdown. I don't think that it
Speaker 1: was a breakdown at all. But it's definitely an emotional response, absolutely,
Speaker 1: because when first of all, when you hit someone, that
Speaker 1: is called lashing out, So that means that your emotions
Speaker 1: are involved with the decision that you're making at that point,
Speaker 1: because feeling disrespected all of that causes emotions to come
Speaker 1: to the forefront. But I think about just two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: when Gayle King asked him about infidelity in his marriage age.
Speaker 1: I literally saw Will's face get very very stern as
Speaker 1: he responded to her in a way to let her
Speaker 1: know y'all at I they have said over and over again.
Speaker 1: I'm listening to teslaent Um straight Shot No Chase, our
Speaker 1: home girl who is also in a black effect. She
Speaker 1: was on live last night and I was listening to her,
Speaker 1: and she said something that is so true. These people
Speaker 1: have already told y'all over and over and over again
Speaker 1: about how they conduct their relationship, they marriage. They don't
Speaker 1: said it. I mean, I can't imagine what you call infidelities. Infidelities.
Speaker 1: They have said it over and over and over again.
Speaker 1: So when people start still, you know, saying or trying
Speaker 1: to shame him or her because of it, I know
Speaker 1: that you could tell from the way he responded to
Speaker 1: Gail King. It's like to say, for the ninetieth time
Speaker 1: or the nine thousand times, it's not infidelity because every
Speaker 1: everything that has gone on in our marriage, we have
Speaker 1: had a conversation about it and made decisions about what's
Speaker 1: best for us at that time. So I think that
Speaker 1: it is definitely a reaction that is not just about Chris,
Speaker 1: but it is a long it's it's it's there are
Speaker 1: too many chris Is that exists in his life. But
Speaker 1: I don't think you want to tell you what I
Speaker 1: why I don't agree with that because had they been
Speaker 1: talking about entanglement, I would say that, right, had he
Speaker 1: want to then say, oh, well, you know, maybe his
Speaker 1: entanglement number. But see, but that's not even But that's
Speaker 1: not the point I'm making. I'm talking about what creates
Speaker 1: a bawling point, right, not just entanglement. It's not just that,
Speaker 1: like you said, it's the hair. It's also people who
Speaker 1: have attacked Willow over time, like will has sat by
Speaker 1: quietly while people have picked at his his entire family.
Speaker 1: That's something that he has dealt with, and he's handled
Speaker 1: it very professionally. Like this is why it's probably so
Speaker 1: much of a shock. Like so, for instance, if Puff
Speaker 1: had jumped up there and slapped somebody, people probably would
Speaker 1: be like, I could see that, right, I could see
Speaker 1: that because hip hop and the history and fights that
Speaker 1: have happened and all of that, they might have been
Speaker 1: able to see that, which, you know, let's not I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that he would. I'm just saying they probably
Speaker 1: would have been able to reconcile that more because unfortunately
Speaker 1: we are we as humans associate hip hop culture with violence.
Speaker 1: Right yeah, But but he's exactly my point, This is
Speaker 1: the point that I'm making. But because he has been
Speaker 1: able to hold himself with such respectability, and he the pinnacle,
Speaker 1: the icon, you know, you don't really have many stains
Speaker 1: on will Smith about things in the past and whatever.
Speaker 1: You don't have that right when you see that and
Speaker 1: you hold him in that place. And I say this
Speaker 1: all the time, people should not be held on those
Speaker 1: types of pedestals because in their moments of frustration of
Speaker 1: to your point, getting to the end of their rope
Speaker 1: with somebody of being human, they may respond And so
Speaker 1: I think that is why you see such a respond
Speaker 1: You saw him respond that way because it's like, full stop,
Speaker 1: y'all are not gonna just keep this going. And now
Speaker 1: you're sitting here, it's like you think that I'm, I'm
Speaker 1: you could just pick on my wife right here at
Speaker 1: this moment, and that's just not gonna happen. So anyway,
Speaker 1: you know, it's you. You can go around and around
Speaker 1: in so many different directions. But I know Will and Jada,
Speaker 1: well we both know them, and I know old that
Speaker 1: Will Smith is a great man. He's a talented man,
Speaker 1: but he also is a fierce protector of his family.
Speaker 1: And Jada has endured a lot of bullshit and for
Speaker 1: her to sit there at that show and have Chris
Speaker 1: Rock pick on her hair, it was a moment where
Speaker 1: I think, to your point, Will made a decision that
Speaker 1: when lose a draw, not tonight, so let's go to
Speaker 1: our guests, because, um, you know the guests that we
Speaker 1: have coming up today. She has had many experiences, um
Speaker 1: over time where people have disrespected, falling out falling in
Speaker 1: back and forth, and her family has figured out a
Speaker 1: way to stay above the fray. So this month of
Speaker 1: women's history has been incredible. On Street Politicians, I'm really
Speaker 1: proud of what we've been doing, mice um profiling all
Speaker 1: of these incredible women, getting so many gems. It's just
Speaker 1: been a month of gems, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: women bring to the table. Celebrating women is not a
Speaker 1: bad thing. I'm not sure where in the world they
Speaker 1: became this. If you celebrate women, then that means you're
Speaker 1: putting down men. I don't know where it came from
Speaker 1: that we can't celebrate our brothers as well. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to do that next uh. And you know, it just
Speaker 1: feels good. This has been a high moment for me
Speaker 1: in this show, being able to really celebrate the lives
Speaker 1: of so many incredible women that are making real, real,
Speaker 1: real substantial change and just big moods everybody, from Mona
Speaker 1: Scott to um Milan. It's just been incredible and today
Speaker 1: is really really, really really special. It's special because we
Speaker 1: have someone who uh the gems that she possesses. We've
Speaker 1: seen how that turned out in the world. Two incredible
Speaker 1: daughters who are out in the world doing great work
Speaker 1: and being black and proud. We know that it comes
Speaker 1: from having such a strong mother, mother and father. But
Speaker 1: today women sis three months were celebrating mom Um and
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to bring her on because the gyms
Speaker 1: that she shares with the world, she does not hide
Speaker 1: from those of us who are excuse me, the gyms
Speaker 1: that she shares with her daughters, she doesn't hide from
Speaker 1: the rest of us as young women who have to
Speaker 1: reach out sometimes and say, hey, how should I navigate this?
Speaker 1: What should I do? Um? And so today is a
Speaker 1: very special day for us. We have Tina knows laws
Speaker 1: in Tina knows laws and uh an entrepreneur, businesswoman, fashion designer, philanthropists,
Speaker 1: executive producer, and the mother of Beyonce. And so she
Speaker 1: got a lot going on stuff. Yes she has, and
Speaker 1: look and don't forget a grandma, okay, and then mother
Speaker 1: to so many others from Kelly to Tamika Mallory. We
Speaker 1: all count on Miss Tina to put us in our
Speaker 1: place and also drop those gyms that make us stronger.
Speaker 1: So welcome the street politicians. Tina, Tina knows loss in. Oh,
Speaker 1: that was such a great introduction. I'm touched it was
Speaker 1: true because it's true, man, It's it's a it's a
Speaker 1: pleasure to have you on our show. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I follow you on Instagram and I see a lot
Speaker 1: of jews you dropped. I see you having fun, you know,
Speaker 1: and and just living in your truth and being such
Speaker 1: so groom but still having this vibrance, you know, And
Speaker 1: I just appreciate that a lot of times as we
Speaker 1: get I always want to say to myself when I
Speaker 1: get older, I don't want to be the guy that
Speaker 1: just seems old and in stuffy, you know. So when
Speaker 1: I look at you, you still have their youthfulness about you.
Speaker 1: That's just amazing. And you're beautiful, yes, yes, beautiful. So
Speaker 1: let's just jump right into it because we know your
Speaker 1: time is valuable. You are. It's funny because you're not
Speaker 1: just like doing business. You're also babysitting grandchildren, helping with
Speaker 1: family stuff, so you've got a lot going on. But
Speaker 1: we want to know. I don't think people talk enough
Speaker 1: about you in the beginning, right They see you as
Speaker 1: Beyonce and Solange's mother, and that's great, but you are
Speaker 1: really Tina knows lossing on your own, which is an
Speaker 1: an incredible accomplishment all that you've been able to do.
Speaker 1: What what was the start like for you? Um? The starting?
Speaker 1: You know, I grow up really poor in Galveston, Texas,
Speaker 1: which is like a little tiny town. It's actually an
Speaker 1: island right off from Houston, and um with great parents
Speaker 1: that were very loving, but just didn't have a lot
Speaker 1: of um aspirations, like for them to to finish high school,
Speaker 1: to get married, have a family, and get a good job,
Speaker 1: which would be like maybe the post office or you know,
Speaker 1: those type of jobs. I'm sure many people can relate
Speaker 1: to that. They just didn't dream big, and they didn't
Speaker 1: dream They wanted the best for their children, but I
Speaker 1: think it was their way of protecting me from disappointment
Speaker 1: from paying and so they didn't have really big aspirations.
Speaker 1: And so when I was fourteen, I met someone, my
Speaker 1: brother's girlfriend, who came into my life and she was
Speaker 1: I mean, I was just blown away by her style
Speaker 1: and her her grace and and how she wanted more
Speaker 1: in the world. She was actually a painter, and she
Speaker 1: started exposing me. She took me to see Alvin Ailey
Speaker 1: and my god in the big city of Houston, and
Speaker 1: I saw all those beautiful black folks with nice cars
Speaker 1: and doing things, and I was like, I gotta get
Speaker 1: out of here. So it made me want to get
Speaker 1: out of that little town and I did. And I've
Speaker 1: had a very interesting life before. Uh you know Destiny's Child.
Speaker 1: A lot of people say to me, um, God, you
Speaker 1: know that changed your life. And I was doing the
Speaker 1: same thing I'm doing now and um. So it's it's
Speaker 1: kind of irritating sometimes that people think my life started
Speaker 1: or I lived my whole life through my children. So
Speaker 1: thank you for saying that. I really appreciate it. So
Speaker 1: you you yeah, because you started a salon business that
Speaker 1: you had, that's the first. It's the first business. But
Speaker 1: I was a makeup artist. Um, I came to l A.
Speaker 1: And I was a makeup artist. I modeled, I traveled.
Speaker 1: I didn't really have the money to travel. So whoever
Speaker 1: lived in the place, if you live, you know, my
Speaker 1: my sister in law lived in Atlanta, I go stay
Speaker 1: with her and and experienced the city. I came to
Speaker 1: l A. I stayed with my niece. I got a
Speaker 1: job as a a make a part this. I did
Speaker 1: many things before I opened the hair Salona opened the
Speaker 1: hair salon at thirty three, after I had so launch
Speaker 1: and so it was a very successful business. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's funny because God just gave me all these tools
Speaker 1: of you know, from modeling to doing hair and doing
Speaker 1: makeup and doing all the things I did. I was
Speaker 1: actually able to use those as tools for when Destiny's
Speaker 1: Child started, because I was trying to earn my key
Speaker 1: to protect them because they were so young. They were
Speaker 1: like fifteen this Beyonce was fifteen, the other girls was sixteen,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh lord, I don't want to
Speaker 1: throw them to the wolves. So I earned my key
Speaker 1: by doing their hair and you know, packing their clothes
Speaker 1: and doing whatever I could to protect them. M m yeah.
Speaker 1: And I've been in this industry, so how how was
Speaker 1: that just when you first, you know, brought them into
Speaker 1: the industry, did you awake into so many different things?
Speaker 1: Did you see you know, the ills the spills? Like
Speaker 1: did it? How? How did how was that? Well? I
Speaker 1: was scary because you know, when the girls were like
Speaker 1: maybe ten and eleven, they met s w V and
Speaker 1: you know, they were at the top of their career.
Speaker 1: And I remember really telling me, miss Tina, I have
Speaker 1: seen some things that I shouldn't have seen as a
Speaker 1: fifteen year old, and so I just got on high alert.
Speaker 1: And so you know, my thing was to protect them
Speaker 1: and not to have people, you know, doing all these
Speaker 1: crazy things. And plus the girls look very mature, so
Speaker 1: you know how that business is. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: not on my watch. So you know, I became very
Speaker 1: involved just to protect them at first, and and as
Speaker 1: I got into it, I saw many many things that
Speaker 1: I needed to protect them from, you know. And I
Speaker 1: do think that when people get into the business very early,
Speaker 1: that it's important that a parent, nobody's gonna protect you,
Speaker 1: like a parent or an aunt or somebody that's related
Speaker 1: to you that really loves you for you and not
Speaker 1: for the fan fair. That it's not gonna get caught
Speaker 1: up in the fan fair, you know how So, so
Speaker 1: do you feel like if you're a parent or a
Speaker 1: sister or brother or whatever, that you kind of take
Speaker 1: a backseat your own career when you're trying to push
Speaker 1: your children forward, or do you feel like you could
Speaker 1: do both at the same time. I don't know, it
Speaker 1: seems hard. It's very hard, you know. From it depends
Speaker 1: because you know, my my ex husband was um, he
Speaker 1: was a very successful businessman before he took on uh
Speaker 1: Destiny's Child, and he was you know, he reveled in it.
Speaker 1: He loved it, he was great at it. He protected
Speaker 1: the girls, he got opportunities for them with his corporate background,
Speaker 1: and and for him that was good. But for me,
Speaker 1: it was all about, like, I'm gonna protect my kids.
Speaker 1: I want them to to have their dreams, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna disappear and be invisible. And the thing I always
Speaker 1: said is I met many mothers that were kind of
Speaker 1: like caught up up and I was like, oh, I
Speaker 1: don't ever want to be that. I'm never gonna embarrass
Speaker 1: say things or do things to embarrass my kids. So
Speaker 1: as a result, I kind of became invisible. Like people
Speaker 1: would ask me to interviews and I say no. And
Speaker 1: it's not because I was shy. It was just because
Speaker 1: I didn't want to get you know, it was all
Speaker 1: about them. And so when I got this divorce, you
Speaker 1: know I had I knew I had to get a divorce.
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, I have given enough
Speaker 1: and now it's my time. You know. So my kids
Speaker 1: didn't they I was a whole new woman. It was
Speaker 1: like all of a sudden. It was like, you know,
Speaker 1: it's about life right now, is about me and if
Speaker 1: you need me, I'm always there. But I'm gonna not
Speaker 1: had so much. And it's been great for me because
Speaker 1: you know, people thought that I was shy. You know.
Speaker 1: My my husband now says all the time, because I've
Speaker 1: been knowing him for four the years, He's like, you know,
Speaker 1: you were so quiet and shy. And I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I wasn't shy. I just you know, kind of became invisible.
Speaker 1: M well, you're not invisible no more, you know that.
Speaker 1: So I've been I see that you have a docuseries
Speaker 1: black What what what made you want to to get
Speaker 1: into that? Like what was the inspiration behind it? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I grew up with all these black men
Speaker 1: in my life and I saw, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: how many times have I gone, you know, being with
Speaker 1: my brother or my nephews, because my nephews are older
Speaker 1: than me or my age, and we've gotten into an
Speaker 1: elevator and a lady steps over and holds a purse tighter,
Speaker 1: or they locked the doors as you passed by, and
Speaker 1: you know, um, black men are just so misunderstood. And
Speaker 1: I've had that to happen to my brothers and my
Speaker 1: daddy and you know, so it's always been something that
Speaker 1: has really bothered me, how our black men a stereotype
Speaker 1: and um. And this young man, Trail Thomas, who I
Speaker 1: mentor um. He he came over here so upset one
Speaker 1: day because you know, a white guy had lived in
Speaker 1: his building, in his high rise, through trash and front
Speaker 1: of his apartment, like he was just harassing him. And
Speaker 1: and he was saying, you know, I'm I'm like five six,
Speaker 1: but I'm still a threat. And you know, women are
Speaker 1: still locking their doors. And he was just very frustrated
Speaker 1: because they had had two really negative you know, Michael
Speaker 1: Jackson and the R. Kelly documentaries, and he's like, I
Speaker 1: need to clean my palette. I need to see some
Speaker 1: positive on TV. And he said I can't find anything.
Speaker 1: And I said, well, if you don't see it, in
Speaker 1: the words of Richard Lawson, create it. And if you
Speaker 1: create it, I will help you get it out there.
Speaker 1: So he came back with this concept and we flushed
Speaker 1: it out and we worked with a production company and
Speaker 1: so uh profiled a black man. You know it. It
Speaker 1: came about that way, and I'm really proud of it
Speaker 1: because we give examples. You know, in in one of
Speaker 1: the shows with The Dangerous, we have a black man
Speaker 1: and a white man are the exact same height, weight, build,
Speaker 1: and people's perception black and white is that the black
Speaker 1: man is the most powerful and more muscular and more
Speaker 1: you know, it's that that perception that they have. So
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that we can change some of those perceptions
Speaker 1: with this show not only bigger, longer, but dangerous. Right
Speaker 1: then they quit the black man's strength with danger and
Speaker 1: the danger and they don't have that scene. Like you said,
Speaker 1: they can look at the white man with the same
Speaker 1: exact building, everything, and they don't feel they don't have
Speaker 1: any fears. So look what they say every time they
Speaker 1: shoot one of us is like I was afraid. Even
Speaker 1: if if if we gotta we have handcuffs behind our back,
Speaker 1: you know, we're still dangerous. So that's the thing, the fear.
Speaker 1: Were you producing the were this or was this like
Speaker 1: your first time saying I'm gonna do I'm really gonna
Speaker 1: be disinvolved with the production. Well, yes, this was my
Speaker 1: first time. Wow, that's in the first time. So when
Speaker 1: I'm enamored about is that you as much stardom as
Speaker 1: your family has. It does not stop you from making
Speaker 1: sure people know you support black men um and that
Speaker 1: you are a strong advocate for justice and the rights
Speaker 1: of black people. For this, for this particular show, what
Speaker 1: is it that you want to see? What do you
Speaker 1: want to accomplish? Is it about changing culture or was
Speaker 1: it really just like a gift to black men. It's both,
Speaker 1: but I'm just hoping that. You know, the great thing
Speaker 1: about it is that it's on Discovery Plus. And so
Speaker 1: when we were talking to networks about it, and we
Speaker 1: talked to the black networks, I kept saying, guys, we
Speaker 1: know we're are not dangerous. We know our men are
Speaker 1: not dangerous. We we know that our men love their women,
Speaker 1: we know all these positive things. Who need to know
Speaker 1: is like the lady on the plane who said my
Speaker 1: my son in law was a gangster rapper when he
Speaker 1: was a CEO of Death Jam. You know, It's like
Speaker 1: that's the people that need to know. So I'm very
Speaker 1: excited that it's on that network and that hopefully it
Speaker 1: will change. If it changes the perception of one person,
Speaker 1: then it's worth it. And it's good for to remind
Speaker 1: us because sometimes we are are worst enemy in terms
Speaker 1: of we do the same thing. And you know, I
Speaker 1: talked to people all the time that that say, you know,
Speaker 1: I have a network of black people that you know,
Speaker 1: my plumber, my um, you know, my my, the person
Speaker 1: who paints my house, and and you know, and and
Speaker 1: we will say, oh, I don't deal with I don't
Speaker 1: fool with black companies because they do so crazy. Because
Speaker 1: if a white company comes out and they do a
Speaker 1: bad job, you say, oh that I'm not using that
Speaker 1: company anymore. You don't write us all off. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting because sometimes we perpetuate those same stories
Speaker 1: within our own community, and we gotta stop that. So
Speaker 1: if that will, it help us to see and really,
Speaker 1: you know, just think about the fact that we are
Speaker 1: we do, we do love our women, you know, we
Speaker 1: are our men are not dangerous in our community. It
Speaker 1: helps as well. It's true. Okay, So I was stuck
Speaker 1: because I never heard about the white woman who told
Speaker 1: you that you're sendine law was a gangster round Yeah,
Speaker 1: well she didn't. She I was on a plane coming
Speaker 1: from Houston and she came on and she she was like,
Speaker 1: you know, she seemed like a really nice lady. And
Speaker 1: then she said well, you know, I just have a question.
Speaker 1: You know, your your son is a gangster rapper and
Speaker 1: actually he said that he was fifty cent. She thought
Speaker 1: he was fifty cent because she just kind of lumped
Speaker 1: them off everybody in one heart, and and I said, no,
Speaker 1: actually my son in law is a CEO. But before that,
Speaker 1: she said, how you know, why did you let him
Speaker 1: marry your daughter? Like it was crazy that this lady
Speaker 1: felt comfortable enough to say this to me. And it
Speaker 1: didn't come from like, uh, it came from ignorance, like
Speaker 1: she wasn't yeah exactly, because she really seemed to be
Speaker 1: a not I mean I was smiling and having a
Speaker 1: conversation with her, and then she just got comfortable and
Speaker 1: asked me that, and it just, you know, it made
Speaker 1: me really sad because how does she you know, maybe
Speaker 1: she doesn't keep up with the news, but like that
Speaker 1: was her perception that if you're a rapper, you're you know,
Speaker 1: you're a gangster rapper and and you know, thug and
Speaker 1: all the things that came with that. Yeah, but I
Speaker 1: mean even a rapper, like what does that mean? You know?
Speaker 1: What I'm saying is that it's the perception that they have,
Speaker 1: which as you said that will make them shoot you,
Speaker 1: like hurt you. And it's very, very dangerous for us.
Speaker 1: And that's why we have to have voices that really
Speaker 1: speak out. And you know, and I think what you're
Speaker 1: doing with the black Man is one of those things.
Speaker 1: So your social media, Mama, Tinea, social media, it's hilarious.
Speaker 1: We laugh so hard about how sometimes you just come
Speaker 1: out and say whatever it is that's on your mind.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like we're living in a real toxic
Speaker 1: social media time and like sometimes you find yourself frustrated
Speaker 1: online with what you see. Yeah, sometimes I do um
Speaker 1: and some of the comments that people have and how
Speaker 1: negative they can be and how ugly they can be.
Speaker 1: It it hurts my heart. But by the same token,
Speaker 1: it's such a great tool. It's a double a sword
Speaker 1: sometimes because you know, we can get the message out.
Speaker 1: Like I would not know the work that you're doing
Speaker 1: if I couldn't get on social media. But you know,
Speaker 1: there have been so many times that you guys have
Speaker 1: you know, when you went down to to Kentucky and
Speaker 1: you know, that allowed me to see what you were doing,
Speaker 1: support and pray. You know, I'm a praying mama, and
Speaker 1: so you know, and I've sent you messages that you've
Speaker 1: covered in prayer, and I couldn't do that if I
Speaker 1: didn't have social media, because it is such an amazing tool.
Speaker 1: So we have to take the good with the bad.
Speaker 1: And you know, the greatest thing is that block and
Speaker 1: delete button. You know do that in life? You know
Speaker 1: you you actually can. I guess that's crazy though. It's
Speaker 1: like block your black gratification. Oh god, people so much
Speaker 1: like every day because you know, and and when I
Speaker 1: first got on social media, my kids were so afraid.
Speaker 1: You know, they were just really mad at me, and
Speaker 1: they were saying, Mama, you know, you're opening yourself up.
Speaker 1: And they've always been so protective of me. Like part
Speaker 1: of the reason why they haven't wanted me to be
Speaker 1: in the limelight is not because they didn't want me
Speaker 1: to be in line, like they were, like, people are
Speaker 1: so hateful, and it's one thing for them to come
Speaker 1: after me, but you know they come after you. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have to go after them and then put me
Speaker 1: in a bad position. And you know the thing is that,
Speaker 1: um that once I found out you could block and delete,
Speaker 1: the first probably year that I was on social media,
Speaker 1: I blocked and deleted every day, you know, anything that
Speaker 1: was negative and after a while people know that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I might do this, but I'm gonna get blocked and deleted.
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna, you know, watch what I say
Speaker 1: because my site is about positivity. It's about lifting people up.
Speaker 1: It's not about dogging people out, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: just spread information that needs to be put out there.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny because I am really trying,
Speaker 1: Like the last few weeks, it's been so many things
Speaker 1: that have bothered me, and I'm like, Tina, don't go
Speaker 1: there because right now it's not a good time for
Speaker 1: people to start attacking because you know, they start attacking you,
Speaker 1: and especially when you just tell the truth. But some
Speaker 1: things are really bothering me right now, and I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to um pick and choose my battle. So every
Speaker 1: time I'm not that person that's you know, fighting fighting,
Speaker 1: because I've been fighting. I've been having to fight on there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean around voting rights. You know. I saw you
Speaker 1: really really really like this is not okay, you know,
Speaker 1: and um and I think also you're fair in that
Speaker 1: you're not just like, well one side is wrong, Like
Speaker 1: I see you talk about the fact that like everybody
Speaker 1: can do better in these situations, and I think that's good.
Speaker 1: And I wonder like when you when people attack you,
Speaker 1: is it is it? Let me put it this way,
Speaker 1: you feel like you get more people who are black
Speaker 1: folks saying we shouldn't be talking about these issues, just
Speaker 1: stick with entertainment, or is it the white supremacists that
Speaker 1: come after you? You know, because sometimes and I think
Speaker 1: what happens a lot in social media is that I
Speaker 1: think the that that sometimes you know, they will have
Speaker 1: a picture of a black person, but you'll go on
Speaker 1: I go on to see their site, which I should do,
Speaker 1: and they'll have like five followers, So you know that
Speaker 1: they just set up an account to come on there
Speaker 1: and harass and to say all these horrible things. You know,
Speaker 1: that's so racist, And um, I get that a lot
Speaker 1: of that. And I also get, you know, like you said,
Speaker 1: some of our people saying why don't you just shut
Speaker 1: up and be a celebrity and your voice doesn't counting?
Speaker 1: You know, that kind of thing. So that just fuels
Speaker 1: me to to you know, it just it gets me
Speaker 1: fired up because who are you to tell me that
Speaker 1: I shouldn't have a voice. I'm trying to be positive.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to help, you know, in any way I can.
Speaker 1: It's not like I'm dogging people, that's right. And speaking
Speaker 1: of your voice, you know you have your talk show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and how was that going? Do you do you talk
Speaker 1: about like serious things? And your talk show do you
Speaker 1: talk about like what? What do you really focus on?
Speaker 1: We talked about very serious things. You don't talk show.
Speaker 1: I haven't been on, but but you started. Yeah, your show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, you did. Yeah, it was about voting, and
Speaker 1: then I just found that I liked it. I love
Speaker 1: you know, I'm very inquisitive, and I love the three
Speaker 1: things that I love the most is I love inviting
Speaker 1: people over to my house and talking to them and
Speaker 1: picking their brain about things and just finding out that story.
Speaker 1: I've always been inquisitive since I was a kid, and
Speaker 1: my kids are always like, Mama, you you know you
Speaker 1: are interviewing people, like, don't be asking them all those questions.
Speaker 1: But it's just my nature to do so. So when
Speaker 1: I did that, the first thing I really enjoyed just
Speaker 1: talking to people and hearing their views on things. But
Speaker 1: I cooked and my my show, I cooked for them.
Speaker 1: I cooked gumbo for everybody and they come over and
Speaker 1: they feel so comfortable because they're in my living room
Speaker 1: and we just have a conversation. So they're just talks
Speaker 1: with Mama Tina, and people open up and you know,
Speaker 1: about things. But I don't broach any subjects that they
Speaker 1: don't want to broach. I'm like, if it's anything off limit,
Speaker 1: you know, anything you want me to erase. And so
Speaker 1: people feel comfortable, and I just love talking to them,
Speaker 1: and I love bringing their mama's in because I feel like,
Speaker 1: if you see, you know, most of the time there's
Speaker 1: a mom somewhere you know that is supporting a dad too.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm a woman, so I kind of
Speaker 1: focus on women. Yeah, a mom that is invisible red
Speaker 1: a mom do'sn't visible. That's a powerful statement that when
Speaker 1: your child is out there doing whatever we do, try
Speaker 1: to disappear right, you know, and try to get into
Speaker 1: the shadows if you will. But sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: actually be in front of them helping to sort of
Speaker 1: guide and lead them through. And you learn things as
Speaker 1: a parent out in the world that needs to be
Speaker 1: shared with other people. People were trying to bring their
Speaker 1: young people up. Do you you raising to celebrity mega
Speaker 1: celebrity young people. How what was the tension of that,
Speaker 1: Like would you being a mom telling them do go
Speaker 1: left and they want to go right? Like what are
Speaker 1: the gems that you have for parents? How much is
Speaker 1: too much parenting? Well? I think because my parents were
Speaker 1: so super strict on me. I was never strict on
Speaker 1: my kids. But you know, Kelly came to live with
Speaker 1: us when she was ten, so I have to include
Speaker 1: her in in my my girls. And you know, she
Speaker 1: and Beyonce were so so focused on their careers from
Speaker 1: like nine and ten that they I had to literally
Speaker 1: make them go to parties. Like I can remember saying no,
Speaker 1: you're going and them saying we don't want to go
Speaker 1: because they were kind of shy and really you know,
Speaker 1: closed off from the other kids. And I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: you're going to this party. And I would drop them
Speaker 1: off and watch them and say you better go on
Speaker 1: this party. And of course they would stay a little
Speaker 1: while and call me and um, they just weren't really
Speaker 1: into party much. But Solange came along and that was
Speaker 1: my two big change. Like she was like she liked
Speaker 1: the party, she liked to you know, hang with her friends,
Speaker 1: and um, and so it was a it was a
Speaker 1: different thing. But I think so I never had to
Speaker 1: really be overbearing with them. I was just really free
Speaker 1: with them, and I talked to them all the time,
Speaker 1: and I made them feel like they could tell me
Speaker 1: anything and that I wasn't gonna judge them or judge
Speaker 1: their friends. I was always that mom that had a
Speaker 1: house full of their friends over. And so I think
Speaker 1: just to you know, you, you you set the boundary
Speaker 1: that I'm not your little friends, but we are. We
Speaker 1: can talk and you can talk to me, and you
Speaker 1: don't have to be scared. And I wasn't all strict
Speaker 1: and all in their business and um and as far
Speaker 1: as them, you know, having a career, we did everything
Speaker 1: we could to help them reach the goals that they
Speaker 1: wanted to reach. My I mean, you know, financially, um spiritually,
Speaker 1: you know, keeping them grounded and going to church, because
Speaker 1: that made all the difference in the world for them
Speaker 1: to have that balance and it not be all about
Speaker 1: making it in success and you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: But they were pretty easy. That's when I guess I'm
Speaker 1: trying to say we're not I'm not your little friends,
Speaker 1: but I'm not your little friend. That's that's what That's
Speaker 1: what Obama said. Look, I'm not your little friend. We
Speaker 1: ain't gonna play like you. So what what would be advice?
Speaker 1: Like you? You have, you know, you've seen so many things.
Speaker 1: You've you've nurtured stars, superstars, you've yourself in your own
Speaker 1: right or superstar, You've created businesses, You've done so many things.
Speaker 1: And you and you admitted that you come from absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1: What would be your advice for a young single black
Speaker 1: woman coming up in this world, coming from nothing? How
Speaker 1: what would you tell it would be the first step
Speaker 1: to being successful. I think it's really trying to find
Speaker 1: if you don't have within your world someone that you
Speaker 1: can look up to, that you can aspire to be, like, um,
Speaker 1: find you somebody, you know, just find somebody in your neighborhood,
Speaker 1: Find a teacher, find somebody to be your mentor that
Speaker 1: will you know and tell them I need help, like
Speaker 1: I need exposure to two things. You know, our charity
Speaker 1: is very much about those hundred kids we have right out,
Speaker 1: a hundred kids from South Central that don't get to
Speaker 1: see the world and there you know, they don't they
Speaker 1: can't see a lot out of their zip code. When
Speaker 1: they first come in, I interview every one of them
Speaker 1: and I say to them, if you can live anywhere
Speaker 1: you want to live, you know, if you if money
Speaker 1: was an object, where would you live. And a lot
Speaker 1: of them say down the street from my mom or
Speaker 1: because they have not seen anything outside of their zip
Speaker 1: code and and their families are busy trying to make
Speaker 1: a living and survive, and so they don't they you know,
Speaker 1: they haven't been to the beach, they haven't stayed in
Speaker 1: the hotel. So we do all those things for them
Speaker 1: to expose them. And and you know, I had a
Speaker 1: phone call the other day and I'm I get really
Speaker 1: emotional about it. But one of the little girls that
Speaker 1: started with us, um my first class, who was so
Speaker 1: shy that she would not even talk. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you had to pull things out of her, and was
Speaker 1: very smart, but just you know, nobody was telling us
Speaker 1: she was smart. And she just called me the other
Speaker 1: day anyway, she's had a lot of obstacles and said,
Speaker 1: I got into U c l A. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to college. And you know I have you and Mr
Speaker 1: Lawson to thank for that, because we planted that seed
Speaker 1: in her. If you don't have anybody that can plant
Speaker 1: that seed in you and help you to see something
Speaker 1: bigger than your zip code. Find you. You gotta as
Speaker 1: a kid, and it's hard find that one person that
Speaker 1: can help you. Because that's what happened. That that girl
Speaker 1: changed my life. My my my She became my sister
Speaker 1: in law, but she changed my complete trajectory of my life.
Speaker 1: I would have stayed in that little town and been
Speaker 1: happy to have a family and that I'm not saying
Speaker 1: to say anything wrong with that, but look what I
Speaker 1: created in my life because she was saying, girl, you
Speaker 1: don't have to stay here. You got talent. You know,
Speaker 1: you're design and stuff. You're doing hair, you're doing makeup,
Speaker 1: you could do something in fashion. In some people's lives,
Speaker 1: nobody has ever told them that. Can you imagine right
Speaker 1: right right, finding somebody that can plant those seeds. And
Speaker 1: you are so very, very important because there's so much
Speaker 1: negativity in the world that you have to have people
Speaker 1: pour into you something that's sort of like shift your
Speaker 1: mindset and you use the word that is I think
Speaker 1: the key exposure, you know, and I often wonder how
Speaker 1: does a young person get that exposure when they live
Speaker 1: in a community and have never even traveled, maybe to
Speaker 1: the other borough. People in Brooklyn who have never been
Speaker 1: to Manhattan, So where do they go? Maybe the internet
Speaker 1: opens it up for that type of exposure. But and
Speaker 1: I'm not asking this as a question, it's just a thought.
Speaker 1: It's like, what do we do to provide a space
Speaker 1: because your mentorship program, the work that we do, it's
Speaker 1: not enough to cover all of the young people in
Speaker 1: our society, you know. And and I asked people every
Speaker 1: time I go to speak to a group or I talk,
Speaker 1: I asked people to take one kid. If this one
Speaker 1: kid at your church or at your community, or at
Speaker 1: your job that you know, somebody has a kid and
Speaker 1: they're working all time, and you can take that kid
Speaker 1: to the movie. You can take them to get their
Speaker 1: nails done, give them experiences that they have never had before,
Speaker 1: pay for their prom dress, you know, do something for
Speaker 1: one kid. If everybody in the world did that, it
Speaker 1: would change things. And so you know, I'm just all
Speaker 1: about mentoring because it saved my life, it really did.
Speaker 1: I wish I was one of your grandkids to get
Speaker 1: away a ship and this Mama love that you given
Speaker 1: because the way that you give it to the world,
Speaker 1: I know they get it too. For how is how
Speaker 1: fun is it being the grandmother? I know, you got
Speaker 1: to be like the coolest grandmother in the world. Well,
Speaker 1: we had so much fun last night because they had
Speaker 1: an oscar party and they had a red carpet and
Speaker 1: the whole thing, and they had a little party where
Speaker 1: their friends dressed up and and you know, I got
Speaker 1: to see most of my grandkids except for my my
Speaker 1: older grandson. So it was it was really amazing. Your
Speaker 1: oldest grandson is like grown now, isn't wow? So if
Speaker 1: he's grandma's baby or he's like yes, And I mean
Speaker 1: we are really have always been super close, and so
Speaker 1: you know, we talk all the time. He lives in
Speaker 1: another state and he's coming to spend a week with me,
Speaker 1: so I can't wait till he gets here. Last last
Speaker 1: question for me is how important? Well how do you
Speaker 1: make family time with all this stuff y'all have going on?
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you guys take really really tight
Speaker 1: vacations and a lot of vacations, right, you do that,
Speaker 1: But you know, as a married woman, um and being
Speaker 1: busy Mrs Lawson doing movies and he's out in the
Speaker 1: world and you have your children all over the place.
Speaker 1: What does scheduling look like? Well, you know, I'm really busy,
Speaker 1: but but nothing comes like. I gotta have my family time.
Speaker 1: And all of us are like that, so we make
Speaker 1: sure that we have that time together and uh that
Speaker 1: we see each other very often because you know, you
Speaker 1: just never know. And I'm trying to now just really
Speaker 1: make the space to spend as much time with my
Speaker 1: kids and my grandchildren as I can because I'm I'm
Speaker 1: sixty eight years old, so you know, I want to
Speaker 1: be able to run and and play with them and
Speaker 1: and be active with them. Wow. And I just want
Speaker 1: to say thank you for coming to peer dropping these gyms.
Speaker 1: Thank you for continue to glow and and be the
Speaker 1: light that you are. You know, like people don't understand
Speaker 1: you a lot more than the Solanges and Beyonce's mother.
Speaker 1: You are missed, Tina, those loss and you are great
Speaker 1: in your own rank. And every time I hear when
Speaker 1: she said my mom was the boys I got this
Speaker 1: from Tina, I'd be like you damn right right. Thank
Speaker 1: y'all are so sweet. I really enjoyed this. Thank you
Speaker 1: for having me and thanks for supporting us. Man. You've
Speaker 1: always been very vocal about supporting us, and we want
Speaker 1: to say thank you for y'all. Listen, I have to
Speaker 1: say that I'm so impressed with you young folks because
Speaker 1: y'all could be somewhere having a good time and partying.
Speaker 1: And I know this is not easy. I know it's
Speaker 1: not easy, and I just thank God for you guys,
Speaker 1: because y'all just keep on fight then fighting for us,
Speaker 1: and and I so appreciate that. Yeah, well, we know
Speaker 1: we have you there supporting us and always cheering us along.
Speaker 1: And I always tell you those text messages mean so
Speaker 1: much because people are mean. To your point, people are mean,
Speaker 1: and I think that folks have a feeling because you're Beyonce,
Speaker 1: because you're whoever, my son, Tomka, whoever, that we're not humans,
Speaker 1: and that it hurt to be constantly bombarded with negativity.
Speaker 1: So when you have people, especially someone of your caliber
Speaker 1: and your stature in life, to take the time to
Speaker 1: text a bunch of young women and say, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: hold your head so I see you supporting Chloe, you know,
Speaker 1: so just just making sure those young girls, her and
Speaker 1: her sister they're protected as well. It matters to us.
Speaker 1: And we just want to thank you and tell you
Speaker 1: that we love you and we support you. Uh the
Speaker 1: black man. That's big. People need to to really seriously,
Speaker 1: we have to support black folks that make films and
Speaker 1: doc youseries and are in the production world. We should
Speaker 1: not allow time to go by. And we said, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't watch it, I didn't get to it. No focus,
Speaker 1: Make sure folks, no fund our stuff, right give make
Speaker 1: sure you fund our own our stuff. So we love you,
Speaker 1: all right, I love y'all to have a great day,
Speaker 1: look forward to all right by by. Miss Tina is
Speaker 1: a jew the little bit, you know. She she if
Speaker 1: you go with her, she'll take you like. She'll say
Speaker 1: whatever she needs to say. She's not censored and nobody's
Speaker 1: definitely there's no pr people gonna tell her she can't
Speaker 1: say this, and she can grow. That's a grown woman.
Speaker 1: That's a grown adult woman. And she said, I ain't
Speaker 1: your little friends, you know that was definitely a mama statement.
Speaker 1: Ready to live. Ain't your little friends? Yeah no, but
Speaker 1: she's um, she's dope, she you know. And and and
Speaker 1: we always say we could have talked to her for
Speaker 1: a long time to really get into her, even her
Speaker 1: her concerns about this country, because I see that she is.
Speaker 1: You know, she's really concerned. I've received messages from her
Speaker 1: at times when she's like, yo, like this is really
Speaker 1: serious and and I'm not sure that people understand the
Speaker 1: climate that we're in and how much worse things can get.
Speaker 1: And sometimes our celebrities are not that aware, you know.
Speaker 1: So you know what type of children she has based
Speaker 1: upon the type of mother that she is and the
Speaker 1: type of woman that she is. Yeah, she's definitely a
Speaker 1: dope person. Man. So I'm glad. I'm glad that you
Speaker 1: know people. You know what I'm saying, I'm glad that
Speaker 1: you'd be doing good people as well. I mean, he does,
Speaker 1: but I'm saying, but I met her crew you because
Speaker 1: she does. I'm not saying she doesn't. But you know
Speaker 1: these women, they always they say, oh Tamika and the
Speaker 1: next thing you know that, but oh they got they
Speaker 1: got this guy. He kind of dope too. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. I appreciate it, you definitely. I mean
Speaker 1: when we were living in Kentucky, Um, she along with
Speaker 1: a bunch of women. I mean I'm just sitting here thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, all the women Gammy, Jada and and and
Speaker 1: and um. You know what Jada's mother. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: she was super supportive, people sending packages. You know, people
Speaker 1: have really been there to try to hold us down
Speaker 1: as we do this movement work. And as I said
Speaker 1: to her, it's really important because you know, you you're
Speaker 1: you're getting hit from one side to the next. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like you're in a constant rumble, and you have
Speaker 1: people that can stop and sort of center you so
Speaker 1: that you, oh, hey, you have support out here. You
Speaker 1: got that that a fight with you, you know, and
Speaker 1: stand next to you. So that's cool. But I love
Speaker 1: hearing how to talk about her businesses that she started
Speaker 1: even before because other than okay, you do hear about
Speaker 1: the fact that she had a beauty salon, because we
Speaker 1: know that Beyonce grew up in the beauty salon, singing
Speaker 1: in the beauty salon and and being in there all day.
Speaker 1: But she's done a bunch of stuff. She actually, in
Speaker 1: her own right, was going to always be successful. Um,
Speaker 1: you know you can tell that. And and she and
Speaker 1: and again to her point, using all the skill sets
Speaker 1: from the different things that she's done in her life,
Speaker 1: it was necessary to pour that into her kids. And
Speaker 1: I feel like that for us as parents, um as
Speaker 1: people who have projects and other things we're working on.
Speaker 1: We always have to remember that the experiences of our
Speaker 1: lives lives can be used to enhance whatever we're working on.
Speaker 1: So you know, whatever you've done, you can use it.
Speaker 1: Oh well, you know, I need to go back to
Speaker 1: school and get three degrees. For some people that might work,
Speaker 1: but for some people you might not actually have to
Speaker 1: do that. You really just need to move forward with
Speaker 1: what is in your hand, you know, and use the
Speaker 1: talent that you have. So that's me preaching to myself
Speaker 1: that I don't need to, you know, always sort of
Speaker 1: procrastinate and delay whatever is next because I think I'm
Speaker 1: not skilled enough or I don't have all of these things.
Speaker 1: You can jump in and use the skills you have
Speaker 1: to build on it and really create greatness. And I
Speaker 1: think that's what Tina those system and there you have it.
Speaker 1: It's great. Miss Tina loans. Yes, Tina knows loss and
Speaker 1: honey because she gonna loss about that loss and that.
Speaker 1: So that brings us to the end of our women's
Speaker 1: history series. We hope that you enjoyed it. We had
Speaker 1: so many dope women that I've definitely learned from that
Speaker 1: I've admired for years powerful you know, leading women in
Speaker 1: this world, in this industry, just in life period, you know.
Speaker 1: So I hope that you really got something from it.
Speaker 1: Will probably learn something because I learned a lot of
Speaker 1: things that I didn't know about these powerful women, you know,
Speaker 1: during these episodes, during these interviews. So I hope that
Speaker 1: you got something from it, and go back look at
Speaker 1: the episodes. If you missed it, you don't want to
Speaker 1: miss it. You definitely need to tune into these episodes.
Speaker 1: They are very powerful and life changing. So what we're
Speaker 1: gonna do for our next series is we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about financial literacy and wealth building. We're gonna have some
Speaker 1: of the key you know, components and individuals who I
Speaker 1: think are leading the conversations in things like cryptocurrency and
Speaker 1: n f t s and all of the different um
Speaker 1: um places that we can go to find um cryptocurrency
Speaker 1: and in the metaverse, all these things. We're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about all these things because I don't know a lot
Speaker 1: about it, but I want to know about it because
Speaker 1: I want to make money like everybody else. So we're
Speaker 1: gonna have people that I think we think are leading
Speaker 1: the conversations in those areas, so we want to make
Speaker 1: sure that you tune into that, do not miss it.
Speaker 1: Once again, we want to say we appreciate y'all. We
Speaker 1: love y'all for tuning in and making us the number
Speaker 1: one show. Street Politicians the number one show. Right, we
Speaker 1: did the number one show. I'm not even know, but
Speaker 1: we're moving on up. Number one. Come on, you gotta
Speaker 1: speak it, Come on now. If you wanted to be it,
Speaker 1: you gotta speak. You gotta already have it, the number
Speaker 1: one Showman's Three Politicians. If you have an apartment in
Speaker 1: the sky, Look, I can't remember you move knowing up?
Speaker 1: Look you if you don't remember the Jeffersons, then well
Speaker 1: I not a little bit of the words of the song.
Speaker 1: That's why I all the You got to know the words.
Speaker 1: So we're moving on up. And if you have any ideas,
Speaker 1: if you have topics you want to hear, please contact us.
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Speaker 1: we might agree, but we want you to give us
Speaker 1: your feedback anyway. Block and delete. I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to block and delete, but I have since learned and
Speaker 1: I'm using it. The blocking delete is a thing. But
Speaker 1: you know, I live a beautiful life, So shout out
Speaker 1: to my boy Embroidery King's beautiful life gear. This hass fire.
Speaker 1: But when you live a beautiful life, you don't care
Speaker 1: about the negativity. And with that said, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: always be right most of the time. I will be.
Speaker 1: Tamika Marri is not gonna always be wrong most of
Speaker 1: the time. She will be, but we will both always
Speaker 1: and I mean always be authentic. M That's how we
Speaker 1: own it.