WEBVTT - Our Father, The Sniper [bonus] 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.520 A lot of times when you hear about our story, 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.640 you don't really get what we went through or how 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.479 we were impacted by it. A lot of things that 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.400 were shown on TV was the negative, right because the 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.520 negative is definitely what sells, you know. But me and 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.239 my sister and my brother, there were no complaints with 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.120 our childhood. We had the best time of our lives. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.080 When we lived in Washington State with our parents. We 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:30.320 got everything that we wanted. We were never without um stability, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:35.159 emotional stability. We we have friends, we have family night. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.720 My my mom. She would record so much home videos. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.920 Even if we don't even remember, we have videos where 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.840 it shows that we had a great bond with each 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.839 other and that we were loved, We were comforted. He 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:56.800 was like great dad, goofy. There were silly times, and 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.720 even in the silly times, there was still loving it 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:09.199 and hope you know everything, beautiful lady An. I'm Tony 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.840 Harris on this bonus episode of Monster d C Sniper 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.160 my conversation with Selena and Taliba, the daughters of John 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.080 and Mildria Mohammed. Selena and Taliba both live in Maryland 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.520 outside d C. I spoke with him over zoom I 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.240 want to take a half a step back, and I'm 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.240 going to have each of you introduce yourself, right, I 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.000 want you to tell me your name, and then just 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:37.319 describe yourself and your own words. I'm Taliva. I would 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:42.120 say that I'm bubbily, I'm goofy, but also enjoy being 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:47.760 very stubborn and also um lively. I am Selena, and 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:52.680 I am very direct. What you see is what you get. 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.760 I am the type of person that does not like 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.400 to judge the other person, and it's very open to 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.640 helping anybody that I can. Selena and Taliba, along with 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.000 their older brother, John Jr. Were born in the early 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.200 nineties while their father was still serving in the army. 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.919 Selena is the middle child. She's now eight, Taliba is six. 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.440 They spent most of their early childhood in Washington State. 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:26.120 So I've got two kids that I I love, you know, 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.480 to the ends of the earth. And you know I'm 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:33.919 not with their mom, who is an amazing woman. Right. 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.720 I want to understand from your perspective how you would 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:49.000 describe life in the Williams slash Mohammed household growing up. Oh, 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.800 it was a ball. We had the time of our 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.959 lives when we were young. I mean like sight seeing 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:00.680 the carnival Um. It was great. Yeah. We also with 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:05.000 our neighborhood friends too. Don't let us snow we're having 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:10.520 snow fights or having we're building snowman. It was he was. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.400 He was everything that you could picture a father to 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.080 be with. What are dad was to us. He was 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:20.880 not some monster. He was not anything that the media portrays. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.360 He couldn't feel the load that he had for his 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.640 children when you saw him. Even when he was disciplining us, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.720 it wasn't it wasn't negative towards uh, like the next 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:34.920 week or so like. He would counter it with positivity 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:39.720 and fun and just a lesson to be learned. They 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.960 never suspected anything was wrong in March of two thousand, 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.520 when John picked them up from their elementary school, drove 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.240 them to the airport and flew them to Antigua. Selena 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.040 was ten and Taliba was eight. They still don't feel 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:58.400 comfortable speaking publicly about this period of their life, about 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.240 what happened in Antigua or their relationship with Lee Boyd Malvo, 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.760 But in August two thousand one, authorities found them living 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.840 with their father and a homeless shelter in Bellingham, Washington. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.080 They were then reunited with their mother, Mildred, who brought 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.400 them to Maryland, where they once again started a new life. 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:22.279 Despite this instability in their childhood, Selena and Taliba say 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:24.640 that most of the memories they had of their father 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:29.760 were positive. Mildred had sheltered them from John's frightening behaviors, 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.720 and they were too young to realize how unusual their 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:38.040 situation was. But the turbulence wasn't over. A little over 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.520 a year later, when Taliba was ten and Selena was twelve, 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.760 the d C sniper attacks began in Maryland. I remember 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.880 a time where I was walking home from school and 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.080 I was looking for the white box jut and I 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.760 was looking around and I just remember just booking it. 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.120 I just remember just taking off ning straight to home 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.160 because that scared t acting was also in us too, 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.760 and their lives were flipped upside down again when their 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.880 father and Lee Boyd Melville were arrested and named the 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:14.240 DC Snipers. When we found out that our dad was 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.320 the one that was gonna be named the sniper, and 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.440 we cried from the time FBI knock on our door 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.320 and told us to the time that they showed it 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:25.320 on the news. We were moving that entire time, like hours. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.039 We were We packed stuff, we got in a car, 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.200 we got driven to a hotel. We had to figure 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.560 everything out. Taliba and Selena were shocked by their father's arrest, 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.080 but before they could even process the situation, their family 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.200 was thrust into the spotlight. We had to get put 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.800 out of school. Media was starting to show up at 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.760 our middle school and we couldn't get in the building. 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.880 So and just and just for our our safety, um, 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.440 and that time, thankfully, our principal at the time completely 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.400 understood and my mom, Um, I'm not too sure the interaction, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.440 but they were it was a mutual understanding, quick understanding 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:09.160 of just taking us out. Eventually, reporters stopped showing up 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.160 to their middle school and the girls returned and trying 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.120 to get back to some sense of normalcy. Life at 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.479 that age can be challenging at the best of times, 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:21.240 let alone with your father as public enemy number one. 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.479 With our interactions in school during the time, we've lost 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.960 a lot of friends. There was a lot of um 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.880 speculations that we were gonna do what he did, or 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:32.000 we're going to finish the job, to finish the job, 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.600 or or um or we're gonna be a duo at it, 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:40.039 or you know, just extremely negative feedback that that we 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.240 don't need to hear at the end of the day. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.680 But they didn't care because, you know, children will be 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.760 children and we were just in that age group. So 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.880 their mother, Mildred, said, she struggled to find a therapist 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.600 they could afford who wasn't just trying to cash in 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.760 on the publicity and sell the children's story to the press. 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.800 So Mildred went to the library and picked up a 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:06.480 book on counseling. She started helping the children herself. Selena 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.040 and to Leiva credit their mother with helping to get 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:13.240 them through that rough patch. One of her main tools 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.800 in her life is optimism, and that's what really helped 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.800 us in our healing. The fact that there is always 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.440 and no matter what type of negativity that comes up, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.000 there's always a positive aspect that you're not thinking about, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:31.000 that you're not focusing your mind on, and the sooner 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.800 you do, the better off you'll be serious no way 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:39.720 around that. So she was pivotal for our personal growth, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.880 our emotional stability, our spiritual development. My mom is amazing 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.480 a lot of that appreciation for our mom is for 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.000 her pushing us to make sure that we don't get 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:58.280 swallowed up by the media, by negative energy that people 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:03.040 tell us, by other things that happened throughout our life 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.440 that could potentially be that last thing that an average 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.120 person would need to go through to say, you know what, 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.800 I'm over this life, like I'm just not gonna do 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.600 it anymore. We didn't have that opportunity, and because we 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:22.400 didn't have that opportunity, we only see up. We don't 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.120 see down, we don't see the past. We see up, 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.960 like how far can we go? Regardless of our situation, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.680 Because regardless of the things that me, my sister, and 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.840 my brother have been through, there are a lot of 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.240 people out here who have gone through something much worse 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.280 or much less, and it is their choice, and it 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:45.000 is our choice to decide whether we want to let 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:49.600 this specific situation dictate and outline the rest of our life, 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:54.480 or do we want to address the situation, conquer all 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.640 of the feelings that we have, and develop that and 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.840 restructure that into doing something positive for our life, And 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:06.000 we choose positivity always. Have you thought about the question 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:12.800 of why you two clearly strong, clearly well spoken women. 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:19.599 Have you given any thought to why you too, as sisters, 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:28.559 as individuals have been placed in this story. Hm Um. 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:36.040 We are God fearing women period, and there is nothing 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:42.440 that we cannot handle or anything that is too big 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.920 for our lives. If we were not supposed to be 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.480 in the place that we were put in, God would 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.200 have never put us there, And it is that simple. 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.160 He would have never given our family the opportunity to 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.640 show him that we can come out of is stronger 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.480 than the way that we went in. So it was 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.000 not by coincidence. It was already written. We just didn't 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.360 know it. It was already written. All of our lives 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:13.680 are already written the way that they're supposed to be. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.520 There is no questioning God. We've never questioned him before 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.560 and we're not going to start now that there There 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.040 is no why us, Why did you put us in 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:26.760 this situation? Because you have to understand that it's beyond us. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.120 It is it's always beyond us. God saw us fit 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.680 to go through what he wanted us to go through, 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.760 to be better people, right to be stronger vessels, to 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.560 be better vessels, So why not use us? What are 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.240 we here for in the first place? If it's not 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.679 to be used by God. All right, I get all 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.880 of that, but there is no denying that you went 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:51.120 through some difficult days. And it feels to me that 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.920 in the moments that you're able to really communicate with 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:59.000 God higher power. One of the ways we generally do 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.760 that is we go through a really difficult patch and 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.120 we say something along the lines of God, I really 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:09.400 need you now. And I wonder about a day, a 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.240 moment that you think about in this journey that represents 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.600 a really difficult day, when you maybe say to God, 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.480 thank you for getting me through that. I would say 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.800 that those definitely do pop up in our heads, and 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.199 it will be wrong for me to say that they don't. 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.800 The night of the execution that pops up in my 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:35.920 head periodically and thinking on my future self, how he 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:38.920 he won't be walking me down the aisle, and how 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.800 he wasn't going to be able to see my prom dress, 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:47.080 how he wasn't a part of the goodbye team when 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.640 I went away to college. Those times pop up for 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.800 me periodically, so I am I am going to have 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:56.120 negative days where I'm just like Nope, I don't want 0:11:56.120 --> 0:12:00.480 to talk to nobody, and and those those definitely do exist. Example, 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:06.439 his birthday or my birthday. As Selena and Taliba grew up, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:11.000 they struggled and still struggled to reconcile the happy memories 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.840 of their father from childhood with the horrific crimes he committed. 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.280 Unlike their mother, Mildred, who was an adult at the 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.040 time and who had seen the start of John's descent, 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.679 Selena and Taliba had been separated from their father during 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:28.400 the period of childhood when most of us still idealize 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.240 our parents. So when they learned their father was the 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.480 d C Sniper, they were completely blindsided. When you're coming 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.640 from a position of being a child, right, when you're 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.640 coming from a position of being nine years old, and 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.880 all you've known is my dad adds this type of 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:48.000 way because I'm a child, that when you see him 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.200 on TV, it's like, well, my that's that's I don't 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.960 know what they're talking about, because my dad was consistent, 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.440 consistent in system of right and was doing all of 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:01.360 the things that he was supposed to be doing. They 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:06.120 don't try to justify or excuse their father's crimes, but 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:10.120 they do chafe against what they consider inaccurate portrayals of 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.040 their father in the media. We don't resent our father. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.160 The way that he was portrayed on the news is 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.800 not the man that we grew up with, and for 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:25.599 us to resent him would mean that we would dismiss 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.000 our childhood with him, and that's not something that we're 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.640 willing to do or something that we want to do. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.319 You know, there is a there is a media representation 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.640 of your your family story, right what is the narrative 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:42.200 first of all? And then for you too, what's the 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.720 most egregious part of that narrative? So I believe that 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:50.080 the narrative right now is the fact that he was 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:55.920 a monster, the fact that he didn't have a loving life. 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.480 You later, he didn't have any motive. He was just 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:05.320 shooting people. He just went crazy. It has nothing to 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.120 do with anything like that. My dad was smart and 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.560 the actions that he took. He knew what the outcomes 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.400 were going to be. Now, that does not necessarily say 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:19.920 that he is a monster, because he's not. These characteristics 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:25.640 that people have labeled my father to be are from 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:29.920 the outside looking in and not actually knowing who my 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.920 dad was and actually knowing the type of person that 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.400 he was. Selena's words echo to sentiment we heard from 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.360 criminologist Anthony Meoli that as a society, we want to 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.960 call these killers monsters. We want to separate them from 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.240 the rest of humanity. Just labeled them it's purely evil, 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:53.880 but the truth is often more complicated. Selena and Taliba 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.520 say that although their father was capable of these attacks, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.880 capable of terrorizing their mother, he was also capable of 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.720 being a loving father. We want to be able to 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.320 shift the narrative to where we can express that our 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.320 dad wasn't amazing, that him as a man individually is 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:16.600 different than who we experienced. You know how in a 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:20.760 when you're going through a hard relationship with somebody or 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.800 a significant other and it's a it's just a bad time, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:26.840 and all that you could think about is the bad, 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.280 how they're hurting me, why did they yell in a 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.280 certain way, or they didn't have to hang up like that? Right? 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.080 And then when all that is done, when you have 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.280 broken up or when you've separated, all you can think 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:44.080 about is the good. And I feel that is where 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.800 our thought process is not necessarily saying that we think 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.720 about the bad, but they're still good balance that we 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.480 can counter that with, because of our childhood, because of 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.720 our own experiences that we've had with him, So it 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.400 will be wrong to say that we don't miss him, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.040 because we miss him so much. But at the same time, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:08.920 we accept why he isn't here, we accept where we 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.520 are in that time, and it's a blessing that we 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:17.560 are so close as a family. My mom also instilled 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.600 in us to not feel like we are obligated to 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.480 give an apology for his actions, because his actions are 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:29.520 his actions. Um at the same time, we never stop 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.359 praying for the victims and the survivors and the families. 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.400 We have full empathy for everything that that has taken 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.080 place in that time, and we're not insensitive as far 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.720 as what their journey is now even after. But at 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.840 the same time, taking ownership that would not be appropriate. 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.120 What we can say that we will continue to pray 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.000 for the victims of the survivors and that they have 0:16:55.080 --> 0:17:12.199 a special place in our hearts. For sure, Selena and 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.800 Taliba feel that they have been portrayed inaccurately by the 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.480 media as well, with coverage forgetting how young they were 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.360 when all this happened, or treating them like irreparably damaged 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:27.960 goods about of reshaping our narrative is to redefine who 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:33.400 his children was. There were so many unrealistic mindsets about 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.000 how we were coping through it, and by taking a 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:43.080 step back and understanding the time that it happened, and 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.920 then matching the ages and the mentality mentality in that 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.560 era and then saying, oh, okay, well, they were under 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.199 ten years old, so I kind of don't really know 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:57.880 a lot of what happened. So it's important that that's spoken, 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.320 that that that we were youth and at the same time, 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.399 my mom didn't shield anything away from us because she 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.480 wanted us to live a life of truth. We want 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:12.480 to shift that we are empowered, that were loved, that 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:17.359 we are stable, that we are okay, and that not 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.879 only are we okay, but we work hard. We don't 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:27.040 use that situation as an excuse for progression. We choose 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:31.479 to to not to make this the crutch for us 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.960 to not be better women. We don't use it for 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:38.359 anything outside of explaining our life story. And also it 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.719 helps us to be inspired musically. Throughout the whole ordeal, 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.760 Selena and Taliba found solace in music, listening to it, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:52.120 performing it, even writing their own songs. What's helped us 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.600 is talking it out, writing it out, singing it out, 0:18:56.160 --> 0:19:00.720 looking up songs that lyrically tie into those struggles. Those 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:06.520 songs and those lyrics help for our outlet. Music really 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.400 has helped us. When no human can say words, chords 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.560 can really do it, or instrument can really do it, 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:19.000 or Kenny G can really do it. You know, you 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.879 don't have to be verbally, can be non vocal. But 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.920 we wanted to change the narrative for ourselves musically. So 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:31.080 now let me ask this question. Tell me why you 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.439 wrote scramble. Did you write this or did I write this? 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:41.800 I wrote scramble. Make mistakes. I'm ben't making two. It's 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:46.200 a part of the game. But who's ready to lose web? 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:55.760 We're we're moving what we're doing. We gotta get back 0:19:55.760 --> 0:20:00.360 to the first stage. But thanks for reading on the 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:08.480 first page. Well we're going, Hi, we're moving what we're doing. 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:14.520 When you push me back, I can't ignore. I'll be 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:20.119 relationship is on the floor. Poo's will then to pick 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:28.040 it up. I'm tooling. Thanks for you, so I take 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:32.640 care of you. Nothing never turn miss me with that 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:38.280 bullshit about you called your side one ain't stupid. I'm 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:45.240 taking out my gun. Okay, So we have this thing 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.040 where Talibo will start us all and then like a 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:51.399 week later she'll call me and she'll say, can you 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:55.160 help me write the second birse? So I'm like, well, 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.119 what did you have in the first place? And so 0:20:57.240 --> 0:20:59.119 she'll sing it and I'm like, all right, give me 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.879 like five minutes figure nothing out. Where my head was. 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.959 I was in a relationship and it was very confusing 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.359 as far as his intentions and where I wanted it 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:12.919 to go, and I just was fed up. So I 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.560 got those lyrics out. I journal. I wanted to be 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:20.040 able to confront those emotions head on. I also think 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:23.040 that the song gives the listener of the opportunity to 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:25.960 not be afraid to ask those questions where are we going? 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:28.399 What are we doing? Those There are questions that a 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:30.359 lot of people shy away from because they don't want 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:34.000 to hear the answer, And so Scramble was made for 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:38.640 the listener to put your pants on, evaluate your situation 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.560 and actually questions, because if you don't, then you're gonna 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:44.680 be step in our relationship where you're not happy. And 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:49.200 this life you only get to live at once, and 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.560 you don't want to waste five, ten, fifteen, years of 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:56.400 your life in a marriage, in a relationship is not healthy, 0:21:56.480 --> 0:22:00.399 you know. So that's how Scramble came to the world. 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:11.639 What we do, We gotta get back to the first 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:25.520 but the first path. But Scramble has darker undertones as well, 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.200 like its reference to an affair and getting a gun. 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:34.400 So the verse escalated from the observation to me being 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.960 completely fed up. So now I'm violent like the air 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:42.560 level their level. But that's real because in real relationships, 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:46.000 in those defining moments, in those relationships, your mind can 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.600 get there, your mind can scramble in that way. It's 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.960 easy to imagine how their family story has influenced the 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:57.000 song's themes, with its lyrics about how love can scramble 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.359 our brain and even make us violent, and about the 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:04.320 fear of getting stuck in an unhappy and unhealthy relationship 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:07.840 for years. Tell me about when you had to decide 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:11.800 how much of your journey together you were willing to 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:15.800 share in your music. It's a very good question for 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:18.160 me and my sister. The things that we've been through 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:20.520 and the things that we've gone through have shaped the 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:23.160 way that we see the world. But we are still 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:26.720 picking and choosing what we want to put into our music. 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:29.960 It's a lot of emotions and a lot of time 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.120 and a lot of thinking that we put into our 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.040 songwriting when it comes to the things that we've been through. 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:41.920 When did this desire to play to sing? When did 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:44.359 music become a part of your life? It became a 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:47.280 part of our lives when we were little, um, when 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:51.199 like six seven, mom heard something in us and we 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:53.800 always found it to be a hobby. But she's like, 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.840 not a hobby. So she just plugged us in two 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.680 choirs and then the choir directors were like, they can 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:05.520 take this seriously. Then plugged us into perform at art schools. 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.000 That's where we both went, and then just transitioned from 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.800 there to gaining scholarships to take it to college, so 0:24:13.200 --> 0:24:18.640 we have degrees and voice performance. You mentioned that your 0:24:18.720 --> 0:24:22.840 mom at some point said it's not hobby, right, it's 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:28.480 a thing, It's not hobby. So I guess what does 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:33.240 that say about your mom? What kind of a person 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:37.480 is your mom? How do you destroy her? I wish 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:40.320 folks could see the video right now, and we're recording 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:42.040 as we're a podcast, but I wish they could see 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:46.040 your faces and how broad these smiles are. To the beast, 0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:53.640 that beautiful stallion spirit. She's a beast. She she goes 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:57.320 above and beyond for her children, which brings tears to 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:01.320 my eyes. But we're just gonna We're gonna keep pushing 0:25:01.440 --> 0:25:07.439 through my mom um. My mom is amazing and and 0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:10.240 she is a role model to how I want to 0:25:10.280 --> 0:25:13.919 be as a woman and a mother. She has turned 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:19.000 out so many opportunities. She's she's made extra time to 0:25:19.080 --> 0:25:22.600 where that we are all individually okay, and then collectively. 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:27.200 She's a one. She's never stopped. She's just never stopped. 0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:29.919 She never stopped. So it's it's a blessing. It's a 0:25:29.920 --> 0:25:33.480 blessing every single day that we still have her and 0:25:33.600 --> 0:25:52.400 that we can embrace her. Now in their late twenties, 0:25:53.080 --> 0:25:55.800 Selena and Taliba have had some time to look back 0:25:56.000 --> 0:25:59.840 and reflect on their experience. Although this is a part 0:25:59.880 --> 0:26:03.720 of our story, this is not our story, and it's 0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:07.159 important that there are other purposes, there are other stories 0:26:07.200 --> 0:26:09.600 that we will be a part of. This was just 0:26:09.720 --> 0:26:13.359 one that started off the endless of the stories that 0:26:13.400 --> 0:26:16.359 are going to come in the future, So it's imperative 0:26:16.440 --> 0:26:20.399 that we keep pushing forward and reflect of course too, 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:23.240 because there was so much going on while we were 0:26:23.240 --> 0:26:26.120 still in school, while we were still trying to establish 0:26:26.680 --> 0:26:30.760 friendships and maintain our grades at the same time, it 0:26:30.880 --> 0:26:33.960 was a lot trusting in the unknown. It's really hard. 0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:37.639 And UM, in that time, it was a lot of confusion. 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:40.560