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Speaker 1: Atlanta has to invest in the idea of creativity because

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Speaker 1: creativity is what made the city. From the standpoint of music.

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Speaker 1: Look at alcasts some of the most creative individuals in

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Speaker 1: the world.

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Speaker 2: Dungeon family.

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Speaker 1: They were coming with alternative energy in the early nineties,

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Speaker 1: which was a rare thing. But Atlanta has to invest

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Speaker 1: in the creative economy because that's where the cool points

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Speaker 1: globally comes in at.

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Speaker 3: Everybody. Welcome to the episode of Button Nomics. I'm the host,

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Speaker 3: Brandon Butler, found the CEO of Butter atl And today.

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Speaker 4: Man, we got an atl legend up in here.

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Speaker 2: Man.

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Speaker 3: And I know he's a legend because you know the

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Speaker 3: other day when I was out there with three stacks,

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Speaker 3: he was the one that helped make sure the right

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Speaker 3: people knew about it, pulled it together and over there

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Speaker 3: having conversations with him on the side. Man, I mean,

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Speaker 3: so you already know yet this is got to have

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Speaker 3: major status to be in a situation like that.

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Speaker 2: Man.

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Speaker 4: So we got the one the only to Chilio in

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Speaker 4: the building. Chillio, how you doing, baby.

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Speaker 2: I'm doing amazing, Brandon. You really have a very good

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Speaker 2: radio voice.

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Speaker 4: I never knew this, hey, man, you know a lot

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Speaker 4: of people don't know this back of the day. Man,

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Speaker 4: how you feeling me?

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Speaker 2: I'm amazing man, Thanks for having me. Man.

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Speaker 1: I've been waiting on an opportunity to collab with butter

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Speaker 1: Ato butter Nomics, and I'm just it's just an honor

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Speaker 1: to be here.

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Speaker 2: Man.

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Speaker 1: It's like, I haven't done radio in a while, and

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Speaker 1: I think this is the perfect time to share share

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Speaker 1: my voice and my wisdom to people who would like

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Speaker 1: to listen.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Man, well look bro, you you've done a ton in

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Speaker 3: these streets. I was doing some research. It was all

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Speaker 3: this stuff that was coming back from all the stuff

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Speaker 3: it used to work on how you got here. But

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Speaker 3: what I'm asking you is right now, Let's keep it simple.

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Speaker 3: If somebody was if you would introduce yourself to somebody,

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Speaker 3: they would ask, you know, who's never heard of Chilio

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Speaker 3: and ask who is Chilio?

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Speaker 4: Who is Chilio.

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Speaker 1: I would basically say, hey, I'm Chilio. I'm an artist,

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Speaker 1: I'm a mentor. I would also say a youth advocate,

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Speaker 1: action sports and enthusiasts and a dad. So I would

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Speaker 1: keep it simple because sometimes people have a hard time

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Speaker 1: wrapping their mind around people who are multifaceted, and we're

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Speaker 1: always in a space to where people want to continue

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Speaker 1: in a box or or pigeonhole you. So I just

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Speaker 1: try to sense really quick where that person is at

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Speaker 1: and what they can relate to in terms of well

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Speaker 1: they can wrap their mind around about me. But I'm

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Speaker 1: very dynamic, and I have a lot of gifts and

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Speaker 1: I have a lot of skill sets, and I try

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Speaker 1: to use them more. I don't try to keep that

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Speaker 1: to just one thing. Yes, Oh that's Chilio. That's the

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Speaker 1: T shirt man. Oh that's Chilio, that's the that's the

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Speaker 1: camera man. You know, like, nah, I do I do

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Speaker 1: a lot for a community?

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Speaker 3: No, man, I know you do a lot for Atlanta too, brother, Like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: you've been here, You've seen how the seas evolved. I

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Speaker 3: know people love to talk about old Atlanta and New

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Speaker 3: Atlanta and all this kind of stuff, and you know

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Speaker 3: it's you know, people get real defensive about that stuff sometimes,

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Speaker 3: but like, I think it's just about having love for Atlanta,

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Speaker 3: because look, you know, everybody's not from here, but people

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Speaker 3: can still have love for the city. Like, but myst

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Speaker 3: question for you is, like, what do you remember most

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Speaker 3: about kind of what people consider Old Atlanta, Like when

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Speaker 3: people say old Atlanta, what does that mean to you?

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Speaker 1: Well, first of all, I have to get into my history.

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Speaker 1: I actually was trained here. I wasn't flu here. I

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Speaker 1: caught a train down here. It was almost a bus.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So I was at the point of my life to

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Speaker 1: where I had a transient childhood due to family problems.

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Speaker 1: I was born in Pennsylvania. I was supposed to have

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Speaker 1: been conceived in Nigeria, and my mother was pregnant in Nigeria.

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Speaker 1: They had to rush her back to Pennsylvania because at

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Speaker 1: that time where she was staying at the tribe wouldn't

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Speaker 1: offer health services because they didn't want me to have

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Speaker 1: dual citizenship in Nigeria. So she had to rush back

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Speaker 1: to her birthplace, which was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And then she

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Speaker 1: had all vacation with her mother and she chose to

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Speaker 1: move to New York City at that time with my aunt,

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Speaker 1: and that was in Long Island. If anybody knows Emily

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Speaker 1: Moore from Roosevelt, they know she's a legend. So my

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Speaker 1: mother moved to Harlem one twenty seventh and fifth Avenue

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Speaker 1: when I was a baby, and we stayed there until

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Speaker 1: I was about two or three, and then moved to

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Speaker 1: Times Square, back to Pittsburgh, and then I ended up

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Speaker 1: in Baltimore somehow for about a year I was a toddler,

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Speaker 1: and then back to Pittsburgh, and then I went to

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Speaker 1: South Central when I was eight years old, went to

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Speaker 1: Budlong Elementary over there off Budlong and Slawson. Stayed there

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Speaker 1: about two years, and then back to Pittsburgh with my

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Speaker 1: grandmother and then ran away at fifteen, ended up with

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Speaker 1: my father in Stanford, Connecticut, which is about twenty minutes

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Speaker 1: from the Bronx, New York. And then I said, you

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Speaker 1: know what, I'm gonna go to college and I'm going

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Speaker 1: to control my life wherever destiny takes me. So in

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Speaker 1: ninety three it was a big HBCU push to move

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Speaker 1: to Atlanta, which we all know. So the initial insurgence

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Speaker 1: of people who flew here to Atlanta were black college students,

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Speaker 1: and I was one of them. And the main draw

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Speaker 1: was for me was a outcasts, be a clean city

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Speaker 1: and see a city that's a black city. And then

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Speaker 1: you know, Freaknik was just it was a cheery on top.

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Speaker 1: It was a cheery on top, but it was more

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Speaker 1: so about placing myself in a space where progressive young

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Speaker 1: black folks and the early nineties when I moved here

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Speaker 1: and I birthed three at aliens, all girls, I'm a

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Speaker 1: girl dad. Yeah, So I just wanted to give a

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Speaker 1: little background about because people really don't know me. I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of aloof and mysterious. This is what people tell me.

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Speaker 1: But when I first moved here, I immediately got work

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Speaker 1: in the nonprofit space as a case manager social worker.

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Speaker 1: My degree was in psychology, so I worked in all

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Speaker 1: the housing projects for the head Start program when I

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Speaker 1: was twenty four years old, So you know, I was

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Speaker 1: walking around College park projects in the suit Bank, Head Course,

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Speaker 1: Bonn Homes, Boat Rock, Red Oak, Kennedy Street, and the Bluff.

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Speaker 1: So these are all the communities that I serviced fresh

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Speaker 1: out of college, and in the back of my head,

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Speaker 1: I knew I didn't want to do that. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to get into fashion. That's initially what I wanted to do.

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Speaker 1: I want to move to like Grange Village, New York City,

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Speaker 1: pursue a career and fashion. But the way that the

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Speaker 1: universe laid it out, I was of service to Atlanta's

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Speaker 1: at risk communities for about ten years. So transitioned from

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Speaker 1: the head Star program as a case manager to Fullhen

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Speaker 1: County Housing Authority as a self sufficiency manager, which I

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Speaker 1: had to help and the Hope six initiative back in

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Speaker 1: the day, which is the reason how a lot of

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Speaker 1: residents from the housing projects ended up in Clayton County

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Speaker 1: and down there in fair Miron, Union City. Through the

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Speaker 1: Section eight initiative, I was one of the guys that

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Speaker 1: helped families become self sufficient. I was getting them out

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Speaker 1: the projects, getting them Section eight vouchers, get them in

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Speaker 1: big beautiful homes on the south side, which I hope

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Speaker 1: that they bought at this point. John Lewis was a

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Speaker 1: mentor of mine at that time. Michael high Tower was

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Speaker 1: a city councilor man he Bill Edwards, he was the

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Speaker 1: mayor of Bullen County. Bill Edwards is a stand up

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Speaker 1: bull guy. Betty Davis from Fulling County Housing Authorities were

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Speaker 1: all my mentors and left that went back to head

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Speaker 1: Start back this was in Red Oat Projects, which I

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Speaker 1: actually was the center director. I matriculated from pretty much

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Speaker 1: the social worker to running the entire school, and during

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Speaker 1: my stay there, I was able to get that center.

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Speaker 1: Nacy accredited, which is a high level accreditation and early

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Speaker 1: childhood education, which led to a multimillion dollar center built

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Speaker 1: on Welcome All Road next to Camp Creek Middle down

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Speaker 1: there on the south side. So, and then I left

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Speaker 1: that all that to pursue a career in fashion, which

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Speaker 1: was my initial dream. So I just started hustling shoes

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Speaker 1: and timberlands and stuff like that out my trunk and

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Speaker 1: all the hoods that I used to work in, and

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Speaker 1: I just used to you know, network that way, and

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Speaker 1: that led to me having stores in the Fleet Market.

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Speaker 1: So I had stores and the d mal Pea Street

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Speaker 1: flea market, downtown five Points and Green Barn Mall with

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Speaker 1: my brother Tim Mitchell. So and then from that excursion

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Speaker 1: that was the birth of Chilio Street where and that's

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Speaker 1: so that's my story. I don't think the city knows

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Speaker 1: that I have always helped community in Atlanta. I'm a

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Speaker 1: knight at at Alien. I wasn't born here, but I

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Speaker 1: have been knighted by gods like Big Boy from Outcast,

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Speaker 1: Vince Phillips, you know. So because I'm assuming because of

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Speaker 1: my good will in my twenties in the city that

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Speaker 1: I became an honorary at Alien so I didn't. Even

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Speaker 1: though I have the Yankee Northern accent, Atlanta still views

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Speaker 1: me as as one of their owns because of my

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Speaker 1: good will.

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Speaker 4: No, man, that's dope. I had no idea about that background.

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, to your point, that's what's really

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Speaker 3: interesting is, yeah, man, you were really doing the work

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Speaker 3: in these streets, like we say Chilio in the suit,

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Speaker 3: you know, going back into projects like that. That that

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Speaker 3: that that catches me off guard because you know, I

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Speaker 3: always thought you were just really mainly focused on the

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Speaker 3: creative part.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: I spent some time doing some community work too, in

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Speaker 3: places like East Lake Meadals where I spent a lot

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Speaker 3: of time at you know, I grew up on the

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Speaker 3: East Side, but I would spend a lot of times

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Speaker 3: in my church and everything was downtown. I just knew

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Speaker 3: a lot of people around there. Like people talk so

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Speaker 3: much about the different projects and hoods in Atlanta, and

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Speaker 3: like a lot of people don't understand too, Like Atlanta

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Speaker 3: was the first city to really have projects like that,

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Speaker 3: Like we were the the blueprint because originally it was

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Speaker 3: for like middle class, you know, white families, but eventually

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Speaker 3: they moved out and became more black you know, when

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Speaker 3: you think about that time in Atlanta, is that something

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Speaker 3: that you I don't want to say, miss, but like,

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Speaker 3: what what was unique about that time in Atlanta? Like

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Speaker 3: what was the beautiful part about that even though there

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Speaker 3: was a lot of probably parts that were hard as well,

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Speaker 3: Like what was beautiful about that time in Atlanta for you?

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Speaker 2: Okay?

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Speaker 1: Well, ironically I would The first center I was supposed

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Speaker 1: to work at was in East Lake Meadows, right, and

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Speaker 1: also we Street. That's what I've knew Auburn out. I

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Speaker 1: don't know why they sent me to College Park. At

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Speaker 1: the time, I was sleeping on my aunt's hardwood floor

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Speaker 1: and bucket. I remember being on the Martyr train with

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Speaker 1: her and a woman asked her, like, where do you

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Speaker 1: live at She's like, Buckhead, like she said it was

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Speaker 1: such air, right, So I'm like, oh, what fresh, Prince

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Speaker 1: bel air. We're living it up like I was, you know,

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Speaker 1: welcome with a hardwood floor. So I make my little pellet.

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Speaker 1: But being that, I was just noticing how people were

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Speaker 1: just casually speaking to each other on the train, and

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Speaker 1: you know, coming up from up north, that's kind of

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Speaker 1: like a no no, because you don't know somebody has

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Speaker 1: mental health, you know, trying to attack you. So I sold.

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Speaker 1: The first immediate emotion that I remember about the early

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Speaker 1: nineties is Atlanta's Southern hospitality, And it almost becomes addictive

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Speaker 1: because it's almost like the highest level of human communication,

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Speaker 1: which communication is our existence. And when you dissect that

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Speaker 1: level of communication, and like other cities where it's very impersonal,

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Speaker 1: it impacts our evolution as being a human. So the

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Speaker 1: first thing that I can say about Atlanta is the

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Speaker 1: Southern hospitality. The good morning, Hello, how you doing a baby?

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Speaker 2: You're good? You want something to eat? You know?

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Speaker 1: That to me felt very inclusive, made me feel like safe.

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Speaker 1: It made me feel like I'm going to have a

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Speaker 1: positive day. And the nightlife wasn't as evolved because we're

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Speaker 1: a night life city, so and I spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of I was a weekend warrior back then. You know,

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Speaker 1: I lived in the Barcadero often that if anybody knows

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Speaker 1: where and Barcadero is. That's why I stayed seven years.

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Speaker 1: And I realized that all the youth was gravitated towards me.

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Speaker 1: So we were like the house that fed all the kids,

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Speaker 1: that let them come in the house play video. Me

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Speaker 1: and my ex wife, you know, like we used to

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Speaker 1: let them play video games like they we would have

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Speaker 1: our long conversations in front of my house and all that.

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Speaker 1: So I nurtured me nurturing the youth. It was very

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Speaker 1: important because a lot of those guys are heavyweights, like

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you know God by the name

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Speaker 1: of like Ray Dales, his business partner, Jamal pryor slow

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Speaker 1: Mo for for.

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Speaker 2: Right right.

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Speaker 1: So these so these are the kids that I'm talking about,

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Speaker 1: Jamal Simon, who's in on a real estate TV show, Like,

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Speaker 1: we're close. We call ourself cousins, you know. But when

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Speaker 1: I first moved there, they were just a bunch of

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Speaker 1: wild little kids, and so I adopted the Southern hospitality

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Speaker 1: mentality and used that as a way to get through

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Speaker 1: to community with the youth because we always say.

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Speaker 2: Man, are you crazy? Man?

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Speaker 1: Like they I don't know what's happening with these kids.

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Speaker 1: They different like and me. I always placed myself in

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Speaker 1: their energy upon invite. So I was like the neighborhood

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Speaker 1: barber and the Barca Daryl. So that was the first

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Speaker 1: way how connected with the you. I used to grow

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Speaker 1: up during summer camp counseling when I was a kid,

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Speaker 1: So we all used to organize. Okay, we're all at

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Speaker 1: the swimming pool. We're playing sharks in the water. Like

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Speaker 1: so me, I always like a lesson plan. I always

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Speaker 1: coordinated activities. Okay, there's a bunch of little kids out

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Speaker 1: there the playground. I'm grabbing the football. We're playing football.

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Speaker 2: So you know.

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Speaker 1: So Atlanta was a place to where it just felt safer,

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Speaker 1: it felt more authentic, it felt there wasn't it was

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Speaker 1: ego lists. In terms of nightlife, there wasn't bottle sections,

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Speaker 1: there wasn't a VIP set in most places. I remember

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Speaker 1: going to Club Kaya seeing like the young Blood's on

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Speaker 1: the Dad floor. Like I remember going to certain places

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Speaker 1: seeing Big and Dre. I'm not gonna say where, you know,

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Speaker 1: because their fathers now But you know, I can't say

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Speaker 1: it was on Cleveland Evenue sitting right next to Big

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Speaker 1: and Dre because there's no VRP section. I recall going

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Speaker 1: to Club Illusions and just the dam floor, which was

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Speaker 1: figure eight Dan floor pretty much taken up the whole club.

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Speaker 1: Like dance was was it? Atlanta was known for dancing? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Like it's not like today where bright ass light in

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Speaker 1: your face on the dance floor, no privacy.

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Speaker 2: Everybody's like it's changing frequency through dance. You know. I

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Speaker 2: just remember swerving. Swerving was it thing.

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Speaker 1: You know, remember that, like you know, you'd be swerving

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Speaker 1: doing your bank head bounce, you know what I mean?

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Speaker 2: It was like peacock.

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Speaker 1: And for the women, if you will, I remember every

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Speaker 1: weekend in the underground was like freak Freaknick.

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Speaker 2: Memorial Day was like Freaknick.

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Speaker 1: And when I say like Freaknick, meaning that young people

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Speaker 1: coming together, knowing how to act, knowing how to have fun,

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Speaker 1: knowing how to respect boundaries. You know, these are all

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Speaker 1: the values people speak of old Atlanta because they want

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Speaker 1: to preserve these values in terms of human interaction, positive

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Speaker 1: human interaction. And it's dissipating because quite frankly, the people

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Speaker 1: moving here they're not they're not they're skipping class when

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Speaker 1: it comes to Atlanta one o one. You know, so

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Speaker 1: you know how like when you go to college, you

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Speaker 1: have to take your prerequisites. Yeah, so you can learn

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Speaker 1: the way of the university or the college as soon

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Speaker 1: as you get off that plan there it is to

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Speaker 1: be like Atlanta one oh one, blasting through the airport,

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Speaker 1: like this is how you navigate in the streets of Atlanta,

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Speaker 1: you know, the preserved some of those ethos in terms of.

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Speaker 2: Of how I remember Atlanta used to be.

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Speaker 3: Everybody's bringing, I mean, to a certain extent, their own

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Speaker 3: cultures and their own perspectives here. And while it's good

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Speaker 3: in certain ways, you know, to a point that also

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Speaker 3: drowns out and they kind of forget the way that

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Speaker 3: we do things. I think I always kind of say, right,

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Speaker 3: one of the best examples of seeing that is going

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Speaker 3: to a Falcons game or a Hawk's game out here,

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Speaker 3: because as soon as the Knicks come in town, as

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Speaker 3: soon as the Steelers come in town, Dallas Cowboy, that's

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Speaker 3: all the jerseys, right, And I don't think it's always interesting,

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Speaker 3: like I don't think in others cities you'd see that

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Speaker 3: on the reverse. Now Atlanta United has done something unique

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Speaker 3: and building something that everybody can kind of get around.

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Speaker 3: Then there's nothing wrong having pride and where you're from, right,

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Speaker 3: But at the same time, you got to kind of

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Speaker 3: respect where you're at and so the work that you've

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Speaker 3: done over the years and just again coordinating and organizing

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Speaker 3: and just giving people god rails to kind of stay

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Speaker 3: within and just making sure you know, folks were coloring

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Speaker 3: them within the lines to a certain extent. Like, that's

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Speaker 3: where I think the best creativity happens, right, is like

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Speaker 3: there's no such thing as just unbridled creativity. You know,

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Speaker 3: you've got to have some level of guidelines or constraints. Right,

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Speaker 3: It's just like sports. You know, you can be as

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Speaker 3: creative as you want on this basketball court within these rules,

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Speaker 3: and that's what makes you, you know, amazing.

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Speaker 2: When it's but there's as foules, Right, there's.

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Speaker 4: Still such thing as fouls. We all understand what a

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Speaker 4: foul is.

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Speaker 3: And as long as you're not breaking those rules, go

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Speaker 3: be as creative as you want to be. So, now,

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Speaker 3: when you kind of think about where Atlanta is now,

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Speaker 3: especially from a creative standpoint, like, what's kind of the

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Speaker 3: if you had to give like a state of the

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Speaker 3: Union for creative in Atlanta, creativity, creators in Atlanta, creators

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Speaker 3: in Atlanta right now, what would you say based on

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Speaker 3: your perspective?

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Speaker 1: Okay, Atlanta has to invest in the idea of creativity

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Speaker 1: because creativity is what made the city from the standpoint

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Speaker 1: of music. Look at alcasts like some of the most

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Speaker 1: creative individuals in the world, Dungeon family, They were coming

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Speaker 1: with alternative energy in the early nineties, which was a

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Speaker 1: rare thing. But Atlanta has to invest in the creative

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Speaker 1: economy because that's where the cool points globally comes in

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Speaker 1: at Like New York wouldn't be cool if it wasn't

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Speaker 1: for the Lower east Side, Grands Village, certain parts of Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: certain parts of Harlem, even certain parts of the Bronx Queens.

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Speaker 1: As it release to creativity. La wouldn't be the pole

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Speaker 1: city if it wasn't for you know, down Town. I

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Speaker 1: l a Silver Lake Echo Park. Even Miami, the pulse

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Speaker 1: is built around their art district, Winwood, Miami is a

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Speaker 1: very southern city, the most southern city at the southern

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Speaker 1: point until you get into the Caribbean and they're more

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Speaker 1: southern than us. They were able to expand the identity

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Speaker 1: of our city through Winnwood. And I recall being in

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Speaker 1: our Basil in two thousand and eight with Greg Mike

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Speaker 1: Caleb Gage they did Basil Castle, which is like one

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Speaker 1: of the first corporate, big major events at our Basil.

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Speaker 1: It's before they had blocks. It was like maybe second

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Speaker 1: half and like first as second half something like that,

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Speaker 1: and there's like a few blocks now it's like seven

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Speaker 1: blocks wide, twenty blocks long. Now they're going up into

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Speaker 1: Little Haiti, Little River. I'm sure there's some gentrification issues

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Speaker 1: going on there, but just to see that growth. And

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Speaker 1: it's not a secret that developers use creatives to make

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Speaker 1: spots cool. But we need help from the city to

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Speaker 1: own these districts because what's happening is, as we all know,

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Speaker 1: once creatives get pushed out, then these environments become very sterile.

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Speaker 1: And there has to be a constant new energy coming in,

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Speaker 1: a constant maintaining of the current energy, and a respect

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Speaker 1: of the old energy. Like these variables all have to

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Speaker 1: work together. And it's like the last thing that you

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Speaker 1: want is for someone from a progressive city like say

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Speaker 1: like Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles to come to Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: Like okay, well we were doing that five years ago. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's like bang Tori and Ian says, Atlanta influences everything, right,

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Speaker 1: So we have to keep a level of innovation and

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Speaker 1: progression in that creative space, and that's going to require

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Speaker 1: institution systems and funding. It's like, why did as what

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Speaker 1: Avenue work when we ran the block? And I say we,

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Speaker 1: and I say myself and my friends. When we had Soundtable,

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Speaker 1: Carl and Jack's, Mona Department Store, Luis Music Room, Mother

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Speaker 1: joy Stick Eds with Pizza Nonies, City of incur r Ip,

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Speaker 1: Corey Davis Spade with the motorcycle Shop. We had the

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Speaker 1: blueprint for a creative district. We had the blueprint for

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Speaker 1: a Wentwood even Let's take it back, Let's go to

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Speaker 1: Slice Life, Slice City, Inc. Touki and Maya Bailey. Uh.

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Speaker 1: We had the Royal Fadia cater Ian Ford Band, Joyner,

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Speaker 1: Rie Della Vega, Greg Mike, Caleb Gates. We had the

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Speaker 1: infrastructure for the win we're there, but the city they

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Speaker 1: don't really know how to wrap their mind around.

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Speaker 2: The creative energy.

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Speaker 1: So they just basically are comfortable with people from the

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Speaker 1: music industry kind of the weather in our space and say, okay,

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Speaker 1: well we're comfortable with that music exec. So he's a

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Speaker 1: creative and then that individual speaks on behalf of an

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00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:30,239
Speaker 1: entire ecosystem, which is like herding cats. Yeah, you know,

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00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 1: and we have all these clicks and all this energy,

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Speaker 1: and we use the term creative two unilaterally. We use

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Speaker 1: it as like it's just one thing but call yeah.

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Speaker 1: But within that idea of creativity. There's a lot of

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Speaker 1: microsystems inside of that idea of creative, So we have

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Speaker 1: to a stop using that term creative like it's just

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Speaker 1: one thing very expensive, it's very verse, is very investible,

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Speaker 1: and it's equitable. Because I just did an event with

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Speaker 1: Day's Magazine, which is a high fashion street magazine that

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00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,200
Speaker 1: competes with Vogue and ID magazine. Also just did a

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Speaker 1: collid with Nike. Nobody cared about it except for like

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00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,399
Speaker 1: the kids in the creative space. That should have been

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Speaker 1: catapulted because what did Atlanta attract? Atlanta did the first

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Speaker 1: event with a high fashion brand that's going to tie

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Speaker 1: into Angela Watts atl Fashion Week campaign because now that

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Speaker 1: we have partnerships with Day's Magazine, maybe you can attract

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Speaker 1: the higher level of fashion entities to the city, you know,

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Speaker 1: while incubating our local scene because it's a partnership. New

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Speaker 1: York Fashion Week isn't just New York, it's the world.

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Speaker 1: And if Atlanta Fashion Week wants to be on the

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00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 1: level Atlanta Art Week wants to be on level, then

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Speaker 1: we have to include the world. But we have to

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Speaker 1: include the world from the Atlanta way, just like how

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00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 1: New York does it. The New York Way, just like

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Speaker 1: Miami does it the Miami Way. And I feel like

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00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 1: our great mayor, which is doing a really good job

434
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,560
Speaker 1: to me, is one of the first mayors to kind

435
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: of crack that glass ceiling and start listening to the creators,

436
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 1: because I recall going to Caesar Mitchell's campaign when he

437
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: was and keep in mind, all the mayors wanted me

438
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:39,919
Speaker 1: on their campaign Sesar Mitchell, Sterling, Price, Quansa Hall, and

439
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 1: I don't know why, like the creative line item wasn't

440
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 1: in discussion, even Seeson Mitchell even mentioned that, like ARC

441
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,120
Speaker 1: said that they weren't even concerned about that whole creative

442
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 1: and the entity until we mentioned it, you know, like

443
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 1: Fabian Williams myself. So like you know, it's always a fight,

444
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 1: Like there's a there's a distrust from the creative communities

445
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,919
Speaker 1: and the city government that there has to be bridge

446
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: building and trust building. Creators really don't trust the city,

447
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: to be quite frank with you. And the artists that

448
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 1: are in place are more older seasoned artists who are

449
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 1: comfortable in their skin. But when we're talking like the

450
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: underground artists eighteen, nineteen twenty twenty one Alternative pink hair

451
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 1: spikes coming out, you know, like chains, you know, skaters, graffiti, writers, dancers.

452
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,879
Speaker 1: They don't really have a strong trust for the city

453
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:50,199
Speaker 1: because they feel like the city is important and to

454
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,640
Speaker 1: the community that's making these areas cool, which are attracting

455
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:59,639
Speaker 1: the developers.

456
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,159
Speaker 3: So what I would ask is, and that's good context,

457
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 3: especially when you talk about you know, current maridictis and

458
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,960
Speaker 3: his administration is starting to like break that glass ceiling.

459
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 3: But I always kind of say two, it takes it

460
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 3: on both sides, right, So like if we finally do

461
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,560
Speaker 3: have somebody at the top that's starting to pay attention

462
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 3: to those things from a creative standpoint, creator standpoint, just

463
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 3: speaking on all those different audiences, like what needs to happen?

464
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 3: What do they need to start doing, because engagement kind

465
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 3: of goes two ways too, right, Like you want to

466
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,040
Speaker 3: make sure that they're starting to be engaged in things,

467
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:37,959
Speaker 3: So like what can the creative community, what do they

468
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 3: need to hear? What do they need to start paying

469
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,920
Speaker 3: attention to so that they can also you know, because

470
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 3: this stuff can't just happen from the top down, they

471
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 3: also got to meet them in some capacity too, right,

472
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 3: So what advice would you gives it to creative communities

473
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,200
Speaker 3: out here to start leaning in and helping make those

474
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 3: things possible.

475
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 1: I mean, I would say that's twofold because I think

476
00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 1: there's two governments to where the creators are becoming self

477
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 1: sustain in a way, to where they're keeping it underground,

478
00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: like you know, they're keeping it away from everybody. The

479
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: main reason is because of safety. Yeah, because unfortunately and

480
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: the creative space of course, we attract a lot and

481
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: some people like to come in and either a b

482
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 1: culture vulture be they like to, I guess feel like

483
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 1: they can take control because the creators are mostly overwhelmingly

484
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,879
Speaker 1: positive and safe and they're not like head busses and

485
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: we can come in bully this, we can come take

486
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: this over.

487
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:37,159
Speaker 2: It's cool. It's us now, you know.

488
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 1: Or the creators have to work with each other and

489
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: create unity within each other before they can start talking

490
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: to the city, because there's a lot of dissension and

491
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 1: clicks between creating in general. Yeah, so a I would

492
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 1: say there has to be some idea of unity at

493
00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,600
Speaker 1: some point before you can even position yourself to work

494
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: with a governmental entity like of their scope and size,

495
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: and then be we need a more faster streamlined way

496
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 1: of accessing the resource and the information we all know

497
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: when we're trying to get grants or if we're trying

498
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: to I was a recipient of the Creative Industries grant.

499
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 1: If I didn't have like nonprofit background, if I was

500
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:27,200
Speaker 1: just like a super right branded creative who's not structured

501
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: on the left brain side, I would quit. I'd be like, man,

502
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: I don't need to do like all right, yeah, I'm done.

503
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: You know, it's like there needs to be more access

504
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 1: to the information. Like for example, there was invest Atlanta

505
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 1: was helping elderly folk in their displacement program.

506
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:49,320
Speaker 2: Right.

507
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: I didn't see the literature until two days before the deadline,

508
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: So of course stories, you know, I just calling as

509
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 1: many people I know because they're gonna pay ten years

510
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 1: of taxes off and stuff like they're gonna help these folks,

511
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 1: you know, for real. So it's a real program. But

512
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: I don't think the campaign wasn't promoted in a stream line,

513
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 1: simplified way that should have been on billboards off on

514
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 1: the west side.

515
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 3: Right, you got to meet people where they're at to

516
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 3: a certain extent, Right, So you say some of that

517
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 3: stuff gets buried down put on the website on the

518
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 3: tenth page down, they don't really talk about it. And

519
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 3: a big part of it is and you know, it's

520
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:31,960
Speaker 3: it's interesting because when you go in other communities and

521
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:33,760
Speaker 3: just be honest, like you go in like the communities

522
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 3: like buckhead Ers, other more affluent communities, right where people

523
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,600
Speaker 3: are really up there at their you know, their their

524
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 3: their their meetings and all that kind of stuff on

525
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,280
Speaker 3: a regular basis, they hear about that stuff. But to

526
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 3: your point, right, like, when these programs and these opportunities

527
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 3: do come out, you can't talk to everybody the same

528
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 3: kind of way. So like, how do you go and

529
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 3: actually go, you know, with a megaphone and find a

530
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 3: way to really amplify it in areas that you want

531
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 3: to help and let people know, hey, this opportunity exists,

532
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,280
Speaker 3: there's a program out here, out here, like please apply

533
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: for it, Like we want to get this money away.

534
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,479
Speaker 3: But we can't assume that, you know, you're just randomly

535
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,640
Speaker 3: going and checking the invest Atlanta website every week to

536
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 3: see if new opportunities come out exactly.

537
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 1: There just needs to be very creative, cool social media

538
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 1: campaigns that our gen z friendly, millennial friendly, we have

539
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 1: to stop. But we're in a day where corporations just

540
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 1: have to stop being corny man, Right, It's like gen

541
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 1: Z is not buying any of that like that, you know,

542
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 1: that fakes myle It's like we always want the safe artists,

543
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,040
Speaker 1: and that's not what grows art scenes. We can't just

544
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: be threatened all the time because we have, you know,

545
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 1: like satirical artists like Freako, like your boy Freako you

546
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 1: grow up with, you know, like like if you really

547
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: listen to a Freako saying there's some evaluation of humanity,

548
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 1: you're saying, like he's being satirical, but he's like also

549
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 1: saying like as a people, like what are we promoting?

550
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 2: What are we doing? I have children? Like?

551
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 1: And he does it in a comic, cool, satirical way.

552
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:11,880
Speaker 1: But he's considered a dangerous artist because he's outspoken and

553
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: things like that. From what I recall when I used

554
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: to run around in Greenwi's village in nineteen eighty eight,

555
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 1: when Bosquiat was still alive sixteen years old, the free minded,

556
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,280
Speaker 1: outspoken artists was the one that was elevated.

557
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:26,959
Speaker 2: Elevated.

558
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, but here in Atlanta is suppressed because I guess

559
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,840
Speaker 1: maybe ruffling of some feathers, but if you really hear

560
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,920
Speaker 1: the message, it might be an innovative and progressive message

561
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,600
Speaker 1: that they need to be dissected, examined so it can

562
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 1: grow into something else. It's like, okay, well we heard

563
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: you volatile artists, and these are the systems that we're

564
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,680
Speaker 1: putting it in place to rectify that.

565
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 3: You can't be afraid to look in the mirror sometimes, right.

566
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:56,880
Speaker 3: And when I say that, I mean like those artists

567
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 3: reflect it just like music. They reflect the neighborhoods, communities

568
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,720
Speaker 3: they come from. If you're afraid that somebody's gonna come

569
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,160
Speaker 3: out here and have a different perspective, Like different perspectives

570
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,080
Speaker 3: what help build, you know, constructive conversations. Yeah, and shine

571
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 3: the light on what needs to be addressed.

572
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 2: And you know, you don't have a reputation for being outspoken.

573
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:14,719
Speaker 2: You know.

574
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: It's like I slow down on the drinking. You know,

575
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 1: sometimes when I drink, it ignites the truth part of

576
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 1: my brain. And I want to speak on some things

577
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,960
Speaker 1: because only reason why I get triggered like that is

578
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: because I don't talk to ten kids. Is that's saying A.

579
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,560
Speaker 1: You know, we need a B and C. And so

580
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 1: like me, I just use my platform because I have

581
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: a voice. I have a big voice in the city.

582
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,959
Speaker 1: So nine times out of ten when I'm going on

583
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: rants and all that, that's not my personal rant. I'm

584
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 1: speaking on behalf of the youth with the most part

585
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,240
Speaker 1: or a community. There's nothing personal directed towards that person.

586
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 1: It's just the people, just what the people are saying.

587
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that, this is what the people are saying,

588
00:33:58,040 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 1: and sometimes we have to listen to what the peo

589
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: people want. The people are clearly saying Atlanta night life

590
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: is dead, and then the powers that be are saying, no,

591
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 1: it's not. I said, well, the people are saying it's dead. Yeah,

592
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,840
Speaker 1: you know, so what are we gonna do about it.

593
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:20,080
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep acting like it's not. You know, It's

594
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:26,239
Speaker 1: like it's like privacy is Cavia. It's like the next

595
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 1: trend and nightlife is going to be privacy. You're gonna

596
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,879
Speaker 1: see people paying just to be private. You're gonna see

597
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 1: new formats to night life with privacy stickers on your phone,

598
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:42,280
Speaker 1: like cool little branded privacy stickers. It's not gonna damage

599
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,960
Speaker 1: your phone. It's like you can come in, but you

600
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 1: have to put this on your phone and watch what happens.

601
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 4: That's interesting.

602
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, and again you're bringing the message back

603
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,279
Speaker 3: I think you know, you got to listen to what

604
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 3: the people are saying, and you can't get caught up

605
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,880
Speaker 3: in not want to hear it because you don't understand

606
00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:59,560
Speaker 3: it or you're not going to in that space, right, Like,

607
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,160
Speaker 3: if this is what's happened, and this is what people

608
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,359
Speaker 3: are saying, that's also your responsibility as a person that

609
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,799
Speaker 3: is in a city or government position, right just listen

610
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 3: to the people and what they're even if it's different perspectives,

611
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,399
Speaker 3: and just really getting honest with it. So like when

612
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 3: you're doing that work, how does it and so how

613
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 3: do we take that and even follow that into a

614
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 3: situation like the World Cup is getting ready to come here?

615
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 3: Like how do we make sure when the World Cup

616
00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 3: comes here that the creative communities in Atlanta do get a.

617
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:23,640
Speaker 4: Seat at the table.

618
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,080
Speaker 3: Because I'm gonna tell you, like even right now, like

619
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,080
Speaker 3: I've been in some of those meetings and conversations and

620
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:29,319
Speaker 3: I don't know what the hell is going on. It's

621
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,960
Speaker 3: been very kept behind the curtain. There hasn't been a

622
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 3: comprehensive plan rolled out. And what I'm starting to see

623
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 3: to your point, is communities kind of starting to self

624
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 3: organize and say, well, look, we got to figure something

625
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,640
Speaker 3: out because we can't wait for it to come from

626
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 3: the top down. So you know, how do we in

627
00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:44,839
Speaker 3: how do we take advantage of that moment because it's

628
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:46,839
Speaker 3: you know, like as a friend of mine said, that's

629
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 3: going to be like, you know, seven Super Bowls and

630
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:50,960
Speaker 3: one Olympics is getting ready to happen to the city.

631
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:52,799
Speaker 3: And we know what happened with the last time the

632
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 3: Olympics came. But how do we how do we really

633
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,160
Speaker 3: make sure that creative communities in Atlanta can capitalize and

634
00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:58,719
Speaker 3: benefit from that opportunity as well?

635
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean, are we in the movie Casino? You know,

636
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:07,400
Speaker 1: the movie Casino was about what movie Casino was about

637
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,759
Speaker 1: how the Las Vegas Strip got built when it was

638
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: a small town. Atlanta's going through its Gangs of New

639
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,480
Speaker 1: York phase, if you will, you know, if like I know,

640
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 1: it don't be specific in terms of the region, but

641
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,439
Speaker 1: what happened Immigrants came to Manhattan and they were all

642
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:34,160
Speaker 1: jockeying for a position and ownership. Right, certain entities were

643
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:38,760
Speaker 1: coming to the table and they were clashing outside entities

644
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:43,400
Speaker 1: were clashing with local entities about this development of a

645
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: multi trillion dollar idea, you know, And Atlanta's just going

646
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: through those growing pains right now because we decided to

647
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,760
Speaker 1: put international on our airport. So once you say international,

648
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 1: you have to be open to the You're going to

649
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,759
Speaker 1: have people moving here to the city, you know. And

650
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:07,759
Speaker 1: it's just like, how do we get that Atlanta one

651
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:13,799
Speaker 1: on one as an infrastructure? When you move to New York,

652
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,000
Speaker 1: people have a New York Yankees hat on two weeks?

653
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: You know, how come we don't have that Braves had?

654
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,760
Speaker 1: How come people aren't so willing to put that braves

655
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: head on because New York pounds that idea of New

656
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,720
Speaker 1: York and people said that New York.

657
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:30,880
Speaker 2: Won on one.

658
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 1: So when it comes to what's happening with this soccer situation,

659
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 1: I'm sure there's people in there who want to have

660
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 1: the stronghold on the opportunities before they release it to

661
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,960
Speaker 1: the masses. Yeah, and again it relates back to how

662
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 1: come this information isn't being the seminy? Why is it

663
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 1: that I have to holler at Bang? You know, because

664
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,759
Speaker 1: Bang said he's definitely going to do a better job

665
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 1: of getting that information out because Bame's a martyr like that,

666
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 1: you know, but he's thinking, like you, like, how do

667
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 1: we get this information out that people needs to know

668
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 1: it because we're going to have the city population is

669
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,719
Speaker 1: going to be double. Five hundred people are expecting to

670
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 1: come in the City of Atlanta. Everybody should be able

671
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:19,400
Speaker 1: to benefit off of that. Besides fifty dollars one hundred

672
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 1: dollars the part you know what I mean, it has

673
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:26,120
Speaker 1: to be something more innovative. Besides that, there used to

674
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:29,600
Speaker 1: be pressure put on these corporations to partner with local

675
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,799
Speaker 1: entities that are putting on for the city, like the corporations.

676
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 1: They should lead the corporations to say, look, this is

677
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,279
Speaker 1: the list of certified partnerships that you can select to

678
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:46,920
Speaker 1: partner with, Like we need to create partnerships with local artists,

679
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:52,959
Speaker 1: small ambig you know, because we're going to have one

680
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: person for every resident in the City of Atlanta here.

681
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:58,399
Speaker 3: And so that's a moment again, that's one of those

682
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,120
Speaker 3: inflection point moments where yeah, to your point, people have

683
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 3: to learn how to people have to be in a

684
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,720
Speaker 3: position to be able to take advantage of that. Beyond

685
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,440
Speaker 3: just you know, like you said, park In and be

686
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:11,880
Speaker 3: able to hopefully throw and self some merg here in there.

687
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 2: Right.

688
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:18,160
Speaker 1: A barbecue pit or you know, there needs to be inclusion.

689
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,400
Speaker 1: I mean, there's just no other way. It's just like

690
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: you know, because a lot of will get creative now

691
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: not impluded, right, and and the city might not be

692
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,080
Speaker 1: happy with that creativity when they could have just had

693
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 1: that conversation up front through up you know, up front

694
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 1: inclusion practices.

695
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:51,040
Speaker 4: I think this is a moment.

696
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,080
Speaker 3: This is a kind of an inflection point moment for

697
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,320
Speaker 3: the city, and it can go in a lot of

698
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 3: different directions depending on how they lean in and you know,

699
00:39:57,760 --> 00:39:59,840
Speaker 3: to your point, I think in general, the city just

700
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,239
Speaker 3: had and start doing a better job of putting this

701
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,640
Speaker 3: information in the communities and getting it in the hands

702
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 3: of people that can really make this change, versus expecting

703
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 3: the people to do the work on the other end,

704
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:11,440
Speaker 3: to go in and find it and dig in and

705
00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:14,319
Speaker 3: fighting for it, right, like, because it's out there and

706
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 3: certain communities get it, certain people get it. But the

707
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:18,319
Speaker 3: more we spread it out like that's when you really

708
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,200
Speaker 3: start seeing some of those different creative and innovative ideas.

709
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 3: To your point, because Atlanta will find a work around,

710
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 3: you know, it works around, y'all might not might not

711
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 3: like that how it all comes together.

712
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:29,759
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying.

713
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 1: You're you already said to get buy and trapped it

714
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: out that mass right right. So you know, it's like

715
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,320
Speaker 1: there should be no excuse why Atlanta Tucky like has

716
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:44,879
Speaker 1: no idea what's going on?

717
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:47,239
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, nobody like this.

718
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:49,480
Speaker 1: There should be no excuse. Like you walk you walk

719
00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,359
Speaker 1: out their front door, So Black Arm Brewery, you walk

720
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:55,840
Speaker 1: out the front door, you're looking immediately at the dawn.

721
00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:01,080
Speaker 1: It's Castlebury Hill just right there. And it's supposed to

722
00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:04,880
Speaker 1: be in art district, which is which Maya and P

723
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,920
Speaker 1: Hollywood and stretching all them doing a great job of

724
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:13,320
Speaker 1: incubating and getting it back the way it used to

725
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 1: be in terms of an art community. They should have

726
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 1: first dives. It's like a no brainer. Even though P.

727
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,120
Speaker 1: Hollywood she's involved in those spaces, but she's just one

728
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:28,160
Speaker 1: voice that has to you know, she has to join

729
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:29,839
Speaker 1: the arc that thing, you know what I mean, like

730
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:33,640
Speaker 1: get the information out to everybody. And it's like it

731
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 1: makes no sense that the leaders like two Chains and

732
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:41,120
Speaker 1: all these people they're in Castlebury. They should send the

733
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:48,600
Speaker 1: correspondence to grab all those business owners and have direct workshops. Yeah,

734
00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:51,040
Speaker 1: on planning, Like what are we going to do y'all?

735
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,320
Speaker 1: It should be given to them. It should be something.

736
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,520
Speaker 1: It shouldn't be something that is hidden from them.

737
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 4: Yeah, they got to go seek out and I got some.

738
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: There should be correspondence going to people who has been

739
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,719
Speaker 1: consistent and putting on for the city of Atlanta and

740
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,359
Speaker 1: getting global attention, and they should be just like how

741
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:14,759
Speaker 1: back in the day, I just have to go out

742
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:18,600
Speaker 1: there and find them kids to fill them empty schools.

743
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 1: Like they paid me to go put on a suit

744
00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:25,440
Speaker 1: and get chastis you know what I mean in the

745
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:28,680
Speaker 1: name of filling up them schools. Because you know, when

746
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:30,640
Speaker 1: you're walking around in projects in the suit, the first

747
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 1: thing they gonna think is.

748
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:35,040
Speaker 4: What, Yeah, you want to them something exactly, you know

749
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:35,440
Speaker 4: what I mean.

750
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,680
Speaker 1: And I'm just trying to get get these kids, you know,

751
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 1: playing at this playground all day up here in this schools,

752
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:44,879
Speaker 1: so at least they can eat three times a day,

753
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:46,360
Speaker 1: get some education.

754
00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 3: You know, it's the through line because like even now

755
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:51,400
Speaker 3: you have wheels up Atlanta, right, Like, how does that

756
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:52,120
Speaker 3: program work?

757
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,600
Speaker 1: Well, Whill's up at l happened because we I'm ana

758
00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 1: be a mixer to the city, like I've been being

759
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 1: mex and saying the eighties. And I was one of

760
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 1: the guys that kind of built BMX culture from the

761
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:11,359
Speaker 1: black standpoint because and Georgia being Mexs it's a very

762
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 1: divided sport because you know how Georgia get like, we

763
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:17,360
Speaker 1: don't need to go into it, you know, once you

764
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 1: leave outside to E five, you know.

765
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:19,399
Speaker 2: What it is.

766
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:23,040
Speaker 1: And I'm one of the guys that was one of

767
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 1: the only black dudes in Braemon Georgia, Thomaston Georgia, Griffin Georgia.

768
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:28,879
Speaker 2: You know, like.

769
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:35,960
Speaker 1: Dixie flags everywhere and I sixteen feet in the air

770
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,719
Speaker 1: with them, you know what I mean. People, you know

771
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:40,200
Speaker 1: I was always outcasted.

772
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:40,719
Speaker 2: You know.

773
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:42,799
Speaker 1: You would ask questions like how did you do that trick?

774
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:44,600
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know what I mean? So I

775
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 1: had to figure this. This is ninety five, y'all. I

776
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:51,920
Speaker 1: built some dirt jumps down there on down there on

777
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 1: Goodson Road next to the trailer park and Union City,

778
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,400
Speaker 1: next to the Lumberyard railroad track. I had jumps like

779
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:00,480
Speaker 1: back in the day. So if you go to my Instagram,

780
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,400
Speaker 1: Chilio loves you that picture of me in the airs

781
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:05,400
Speaker 1: right on Goodson Road, Union City. But guess what I

782
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:09,239
Speaker 1: used to do. I used to take kids from Red

783
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:15,040
Speaker 1: Oad Projects, Bolt Rod Projects, Cascade and Barcaderyl and teach

784
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,319
Speaker 1: them how to jump bikes. And I realized that that's

785
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:20,680
Speaker 1: all they wanted to do. They weren't being as mischievous

786
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,120
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood out of boredom and things like that.

787
00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:27,400
Speaker 1: So we had a ride out for the All Star

788
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:33,680
Speaker 1: Game with Natalie hall'son and DJ Mars and I realized,

789
00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:36,959
Speaker 1: like all the boys, they didn't have pedals, they didn't

790
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 1: have seats, they didn't have grips, they didn't have breaks

791
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:42,680
Speaker 1: they have they're on Walmart bikes, and.

792
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:44,440
Speaker 2: They still had that thing up. They still had that

793
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:45,560
Speaker 2: front wheel up in the air.

794
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:46,360
Speaker 4: Yeah.

795
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:51,439
Speaker 1: Where like not just for blocks like ten blocks, sixteen blocks,

796
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:54,960
Speaker 1: and that culture and bike life culture. Every city has

797
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,320
Speaker 1: like a thousand dollars bikes. Every kid in the hood

798
00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,839
Speaker 1: they have like the best bikes. And I'm like, oh,

799
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 1: Atlanta can Oh, we can't go out like that. And

800
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:06,439
Speaker 1: that goes back to we have to the whole innovate thing.

801
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:11,759
Speaker 1: We got people from multiple states coming down to ride

802
00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 1: with us. Looking at us like damn, like Atlanta doing bad,

803
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:16,680
Speaker 1: like you know what I mean, what's going on? And

804
00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 1: I was like, oh no, we can't have this. So

805
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 1: I said, all right, I'm gonna commit to ask some

806
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,080
Speaker 1: my friends to help me get five bikes for the kids.

807
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,799
Speaker 1: The bikes are five hundred to twelve hundred dollars. The

808
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:32,320
Speaker 1: bikes are very expensive that they need because they're built

809
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,239
Speaker 1: to endure the stresses of how they ride. It's an

810
00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:38,480
Speaker 1: extreme sport. If you don't know what the extreme sport is,

811
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:41,399
Speaker 1: I'm sure you heard of the X Games. Yeah, that's

812
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,840
Speaker 1: what these boys do. But guess where they're from, Bankhead,

813
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 1: or Ford, Oakland City, swats Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville. And got the

814
00:45:56,120 --> 00:46:00,840
Speaker 1: five bikes real fast, and I was like, maybe I

815
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:05,120
Speaker 1: can get another five bikes. Got another five bikes and

816
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:09,200
Speaker 1: I just started running to Oakland City like little baby

817
00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:12,080
Speaker 1: Hood right right across from a little baby old house,

818
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:15,759
Speaker 1: Like if you could willid this block, I'm giving you

819
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,640
Speaker 1: this bike. And they was like I could do it,

820
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:21,000
Speaker 1: and they willied the bike. I was like, this is

821
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:22,799
Speaker 1: your bike, and then all the kids, I need a bike,

822
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:23,879
Speaker 1: Chilli or I need a bike.

823
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:25,319
Speaker 2: And I was.

824
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:29,680
Speaker 1: Going literally to every hood and just giving them the

825
00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:33,200
Speaker 1: good bikes they need, right and now we're up to

826
00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:37,600
Speaker 1: eighty eight bikes. And so I'm like, we have to

827
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:42,520
Speaker 1: call this thing something. So in that group, there's teachers,

828
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:49,320
Speaker 1: there's fathers, like, there's social media stars who all willied,

829
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:52,840
Speaker 1: you know. So I said, we have to structure this.

830
00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:55,680
Speaker 1: We have to call it something, and it needs to

831
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: be tied to a cause, because either we're going to

832
00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:01,920
Speaker 1: be a bike club or we're want to be a mission,

833
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:04,960
Speaker 1: you know. And they said, well, we want to go

834
00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:08,279
Speaker 1: with the mission. I said, well, we need to go nonviolence.

835
00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:10,440
Speaker 1: We need to go and you know, like because too

836
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:15,600
Speaker 1: me kids are shooting each other. So how about Wells

837
00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:19,719
Speaker 1: Up guns down? Because that's what the boys up and

838
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:23,400
Speaker 1: Baltimore coined it. Willie Wayne and them was, you know,

839
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,920
Speaker 1: Well's Up guns Down. I said, so let's take their

840
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,080
Speaker 1: narrative and just call it Wills up ATL. Let's just

841
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:31,600
Speaker 1: take the guns down out of it and just call

842
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,800
Speaker 1: it Whales Up ATL and make it like a program

843
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:39,520
Speaker 1: for nonviolence. But the city looks at the boys like

844
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:42,880
Speaker 1: their tyrants because how they ride in traffic and stuff,

845
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:46,759
Speaker 1: but they're not realizing that that's an extreme sport. They

846
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:50,040
Speaker 1: did the same thing to skateboarding. Remember if you skate

847
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 1: over here, you will be locked up. They did the

848
00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:54,680
Speaker 1: same thing to be a mex riding. If you jump

849
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:56,600
Speaker 1: off this wall, you will be locked up. And I

850
00:47:56,680 --> 00:48:00,480
Speaker 1: was actually have friends locked up. We're doing tricks like

851
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:03,479
Speaker 1: on places where they probably wasn't supposed to be. Same

852
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:07,080
Speaker 1: thing with these boys, William. But guess what. They're not

853
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:10,040
Speaker 1: bipping And if you all know what bipping is, I

854
00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:13,719
Speaker 1: mean your stuff is like not in your car, no more.

855
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:18,759
Speaker 1: Like they're not running around just doing the things that

856
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:19,759
Speaker 1: we all know kids do.

857
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:21,200
Speaker 2: Guess what.

858
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:24,719
Speaker 1: They're on their bikes every day and it's a lot

859
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,840
Speaker 1: of them. So it's like when we do organized rideouts,

860
00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:30,919
Speaker 1: we got one hundred and twenty kids from opposite neighborhoods

861
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:35,239
Speaker 1: because we all know how the gang energy is in

862
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:40,400
Speaker 1: the city. So we have all these kids united for

863
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:46,520
Speaker 1: one cause and that's a bike. And it's like, I

864
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,200
Speaker 1: don't have the time to go back into the nonprofit space.

865
00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:52,200
Speaker 1: So my nonprofit is the Invisible Army. My job is

866
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:55,839
Speaker 1: just to deliver the resources to the nonprofits. Yeah, so

867
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:57,680
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get my guy Clayton to be the

868
00:48:57,719 --> 00:49:00,799
Speaker 1: executive director of Wills up ATL because he spends the

869
00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:04,640
Speaker 1: most time with them. We all know Chiliho's extremely busy

870
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 1: helping community outside of that, so I'm trying to get

871
00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:11,400
Speaker 1: him to step up become the executive director. That we

872
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:15,120
Speaker 1: have pretty much a board already in place. We just

873
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:18,439
Speaker 1: need the funds for the nonprofit. I have the Arthur

874
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:21,799
Speaker 1: Blank Foundation ready to get involved. I just need commitments

875
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:26,799
Speaker 1: from the adult that they're gonna run this nonprofit. I'm

876
00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:29,280
Speaker 1: gonna do the Invisible Army where I just raise funds

877
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:32,440
Speaker 1: to get the bikes they need and action sports, and

878
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:35,560
Speaker 1: I really want that to be bigger. I want, you know,

879
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:38,040
Speaker 1: kids who can't afford skateboards, kids who can't afford their

880
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:41,520
Speaker 1: bikes to do motocross, kids who can't afford BMX, kids

881
00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:45,040
Speaker 1: who can't afford to go on snowboard trips, kids who

882
00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:49,799
Speaker 1: can't afford the take surfing trips, all from at risk communities.

883
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:54,520
Speaker 1: That's what the Invisible Army is is funding kids who

884
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:59,480
Speaker 1: have alternative interests in sports. Right so now it's like

885
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:03,280
Speaker 1: we need the structure because we realize that the boys

886
00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:07,960
Speaker 1: need mentorship, they need jobs, they need all these peripheral

887
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:11,879
Speaker 1: things so that they don't revert back to what they

888
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:15,680
Speaker 1: were doing, because we lost maybe three of them to

889
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:21,480
Speaker 1: like violence. Yeah, they're currently in prison and on trial,

890
00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:27,080
Speaker 1: but we tried, you know, and maybe after that process

891
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,640
Speaker 1: they'll come back and do better, you know, next time.

892
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:34,080
Speaker 1: But we have a solid thirty kids that are committed, dedicated.

893
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:38,440
Speaker 1: We have seen behavioral changes where assisting that they do

894
00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:42,000
Speaker 1: community service, so they do around the holidays, they do

895
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:44,879
Speaker 1: clothing drives and they go and talk to the homeless,

896
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,319
Speaker 1: and all this stuff is documented on the wheels up

897
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:50,960
Speaker 1: at l Page Wills up with a Z. We're actually

898
00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:54,640
Speaker 1: partnering with Big Tigger. All the decks ride out with

899
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:58,560
Speaker 1: the Atlanta belt Line. Because my thing is with the boys.

900
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:01,319
Speaker 1: I keep telling them, like Willy and all crazy on

901
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,320
Speaker 1: the belt line. You're making us look bad because swerving.

902
00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:08,640
Speaker 1: You know, like there's a trick where you ride you

903
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:10,960
Speaker 1: Willy up to somebody and you just swerve out the

904
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:13,439
Speaker 1: way real quick. That's that's that's really the top thing

905
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:16,600
Speaker 1: that says you're the best rider, Like you're swerving. You

906
00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:19,080
Speaker 1: know how I used to swerve to swerve the car,

907
00:51:19,239 --> 00:51:23,000
Speaker 1: swerving the bikes. It's the top skill set that says,

908
00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:25,760
Speaker 1: you know, you're the best, and I'm like, you can't

909
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:27,560
Speaker 1: do that on the belt line. But their kids, so

910
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:29,359
Speaker 1: you know, if I'm around, they're not gonna do it.

911
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:31,440
Speaker 1: If Clayton's around, they're not gonna do it. But if

912
00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:33,600
Speaker 1: we're not around, what they're gonna do, they gonna do it.

913
00:51:35,239 --> 00:51:38,759
Speaker 1: But I keep trying to tell them that you're you're

914
00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:41,399
Speaker 1: harming the communication that I have with the Beltline by

915
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:44,480
Speaker 1: doing that, because now y'all looking like a bunch of tyrants.

916
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,080
Speaker 1: It's like, y'all can swerve anywhere, just don't stop swerving

917
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:50,440
Speaker 1: on the belt line, just if you're gonna willy willy straight,

918
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:54,399
Speaker 1: you know, so the belt line. I am talking to them,

919
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,440
Speaker 1: so don't feel like we're not. But we all gonna

920
00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:00,400
Speaker 1: partner with Big Tigger in the belt Line and do

921
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:03,799
Speaker 1: a stunt show on the fourteenth down there at the

922
00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:09,560
Speaker 1: breweryes on Lee Street. Adupe Pedlars's gonna be there. There's

923
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:13,520
Speaker 1: another bike group, pedal Pushers. They're gonna end. And these

924
00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:16,880
Speaker 1: groups also helped me mentor the boys Jay Reed pedal

925
00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:19,400
Speaker 1: Pushers Dom and then Dom is actually one of the

926
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:22,960
Speaker 1: board members on Will's Up atl We have a mental

927
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:26,120
Speaker 1: health therapist by the name is Sheila Leroy that rides

928
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:29,960
Speaker 1: with the dope Pedlars Auntie. We call it Auntie. She

929
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:33,239
Speaker 1: kind of helps out with the boys. So if we

930
00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:36,319
Speaker 1: can just get the commitments from the adults and get

931
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:39,280
Speaker 1: the funding for the nonprofit and get some peripheral funding,

932
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,080
Speaker 1: maybe some partnerships with a space. And we have a

933
00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:48,000
Speaker 1: black owned skate park, indoor skate park on Donald Lee Hollowell, Bankhead.

934
00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:50,440
Speaker 1: You know, like I didn't know that history about Bankhead.

935
00:52:50,520 --> 00:52:53,279
Speaker 1: You know, it's been floating around social media, but it's

936
00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:55,760
Speaker 1: right in the city. We have a black owned indoor

937
00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:59,040
Speaker 1: skate park, y'all. So we're gonna partner with them. So

938
00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:01,359
Speaker 1: we're gonna do pro rhyme out of that space because

939
00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:05,680
Speaker 1: we have an indoor space and Michi, who runs that property,

940
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,839
Speaker 1: is gonna let me build ther jumps off the Beltline. Also,

941
00:53:08,920 --> 00:53:11,880
Speaker 1: I sit with the board with Rob Bronner from the

942
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 1: belt Line for the new West Side bike park that

943
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:17,919
Speaker 1: they're about to build, which is a fourteen million dollar

944
00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:21,440
Speaker 1: bike park. So I'm gonna have the jumps. It's like,

945
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:24,680
Speaker 1: you know what a skatepark is. We're gonna have the

946
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,800
Speaker 1: biggest bike park really in the nation, Like we have

947
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,000
Speaker 1: one of the biggest bike parks in the nation, especially

948
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:34,320
Speaker 1: in the Southeast, so we're gonna have people to travel

949
00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,880
Speaker 1: to this park. They're putting a lot of money into it.

950
00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:42,200
Speaker 1: The founder of Melchimp is a big bike enthusiasts mount

951
00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:47,040
Speaker 1: Bike enthusiasts Ben Chestnut. Yeah, Chestnut family. Ben Chestnut shots

952
00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:49,719
Speaker 1: to him. So if you go to my Instagram, that's

953
00:53:49,760 --> 00:53:54,520
Speaker 1: who I'm talking to in that meeting. Great guy, selfless,

954
00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:59,000
Speaker 1: he attracted Coca Cola, he attracted the Arthur Blank Foundation

955
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:02,160
Speaker 1: to help with this teen million dollar project, and some

956
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:05,520
Speaker 1: others that I can't mention. And Mountain Bike Atlanta is

957
00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:09,359
Speaker 1: spearheading this with the Beltline MTB Atlanta if you want

958
00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:11,640
Speaker 1: to check them out, because Rob told me get the

959
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:13,759
Speaker 1: word out, So I'm doing it now with you.

960
00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:15,840
Speaker 2: And this is gonna be.

961
00:54:15,960 --> 00:54:20,319
Speaker 1: Huge because it's gonna be the first accessible, multimillion dollar

962
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:23,520
Speaker 1: bike park, and it's going to be skill leveled, so

963
00:54:23,600 --> 00:54:26,480
Speaker 1: you're gonna have stuff for the kids all the way.

964
00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:29,440
Speaker 4: Up to the advance Let's doll man look.

965
00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:29,680
Speaker 2: Yeah.

966
00:54:30,080 --> 00:54:32,919
Speaker 1: So I just wanted to put that information out there

967
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:36,480
Speaker 1: and let the city know that we are doing some positive.

968
00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:40,400
Speaker 1: The creatives are partnering with the city to do some

969
00:54:41,120 --> 00:54:43,640
Speaker 1: the belt lines starting to get it. They're realizing that

970
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:47,360
Speaker 1: the people who were there before, which were the creatives,

971
00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:51,880
Speaker 1: are kind of driving the beltline culture because you know,

972
00:54:51,960 --> 00:54:54,400
Speaker 1: in the beginning the belt line during COVID, the beltline

973
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:57,319
Speaker 1: had a certain look. But now if you go down there,

974
00:54:57,320 --> 00:55:01,440
Speaker 1: it's very diverse, it's young, it's fun, it's cultural, it's safe.

975
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:06,160
Speaker 1: We need to protect that energy. The belt line is

976
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:09,640
Speaker 1: not going to be like the East belt Line. The

977
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:14,400
Speaker 1: beltlines goals to have various experiences depending on what that

978
00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:17,959
Speaker 1: community wants. So say you might go to a certain

979
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:20,600
Speaker 1: community you just want to be sity of the lake.

980
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:22,759
Speaker 1: That's what the train is for it, so it can

981
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:25,000
Speaker 1: I don't want to be in the sprawl of the

982
00:55:25,080 --> 00:55:26,960
Speaker 1: East Line. I want to just go chill the lake.

983
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:29,640
Speaker 1: So you hop on the train, you go chill at

984
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:29,960
Speaker 1: the lake.

985
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:32,719
Speaker 4: Yeah, this whole thing out man, Right.

986
00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:35,279
Speaker 1: You might want to go up the to the west

987
00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:38,680
Speaker 1: Side and do like, you know, the west Side thing

988
00:55:39,400 --> 00:55:41,960
Speaker 1: or whatever the west Side wants to do, but it's

989
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:46,920
Speaker 1: not going to be that overly developed energy that's on

990
00:55:47,040 --> 00:55:50,440
Speaker 1: the East Line. Each like Boulevard cross saying like that

991
00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:54,360
Speaker 1: new park they just built is very cool, you know,

992
00:55:54,680 --> 00:55:57,239
Speaker 1: and it's just like you can have different kind of

993
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:01,959
Speaker 1: experiences I guess depending on your extraversion or extraversion level.

994
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:07,680
Speaker 3: Man, look man right Chili yo. I mean I appreciate

995
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:10,239
Speaker 3: this thing. You've given a lot of context. You talked

996
00:56:10,239 --> 00:56:12,040
Speaker 3: about the history, how you've gotten here, all the work

997
00:56:12,080 --> 00:56:14,239
Speaker 3: you've done in the streets with the creative class, need

998
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:15,560
Speaker 3: to Zoo, what the city needs to do. This is

999
00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:17,359
Speaker 3: a lot of good information. Man, Before we get out

1000
00:56:17,360 --> 00:56:20,480
Speaker 3: of here, just first of all, thank you for the

1001
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:21,960
Speaker 3: work you do. You know what I mean, just you know,

1002
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:24,160
Speaker 3: for just doing that kind of work. I know it's selfless.

1003
00:56:24,200 --> 00:56:26,040
Speaker 3: I know it takes a lot to show up in

1004
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:28,399
Speaker 3: those places and just make this thing work, especially because

1005
00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,120
Speaker 3: you have your own things you want to work on

1006
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:31,600
Speaker 3: all that kind of stuff too. So for the folks

1007
00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:34,759
Speaker 3: that don't know, man, how can they support you? How

1008
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:36,680
Speaker 3: can they support the things you're doing? How can they

1009
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,320
Speaker 3: you know, get the stuff, like, give them all the things.

1010
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,479
Speaker 1: The way that you can support me is really taking

1011
00:56:42,560 --> 00:56:45,399
Speaker 1: a look a real look at how the creatives are.

1012
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:48,880
Speaker 1: Because we get a bad rap because a lot of

1013
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:51,840
Speaker 1: people dress like us but if you're a real creative,

1014
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:58,040
Speaker 1: A real creative is about beautification. It's about improving quality.

1015
00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:00,840
Speaker 1: That's why you have gardens. You see trade of communities

1016
00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:06,120
Speaker 1: like paint on the wall gardens, Like we add positivity,

1017
00:57:06,400 --> 00:57:08,920
Speaker 1: a real creative is going to add positivity to community.

1018
00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:13,160
Speaker 1: So you can also support my clothing brand, chiliol dot com,

1019
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:17,800
Speaker 1: which is we made twenty years last year. So that's

1020
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:21,120
Speaker 1: a whole nother discussion on how we pioneered, how we

1021
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:24,800
Speaker 1: kind of crack the glass ceiling for streetwear for Atlanta

1022
00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:30,040
Speaker 1: because they definitely was trying us and we had to

1023
00:57:30,320 --> 00:57:35,200
Speaker 1: literally fight for our name in that space back in

1024
00:57:35,320 --> 00:57:38,600
Speaker 1: like two thousand and one. And uh yeah, man, if

1025
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:41,800
Speaker 1: you could just really take a look at what we're

1026
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:44,919
Speaker 1: doing with the youth, because we all saying the youth

1027
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:48,160
Speaker 1: don't have anything to do. It's like we're not even

1028
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:51,200
Speaker 1: funded and we're just a group of volunteers that's doing

1029
00:57:51,280 --> 00:57:54,400
Speaker 1: some dynamic things in that space. Please take a look

1030
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:58,120
Speaker 1: at how we are selflessly volunteering for that with no money,

1031
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:01,560
Speaker 1: and may we come up with some ideas on how

1032
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:05,720
Speaker 1: we can engage youth better because we all say there's

1033
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:10,080
Speaker 1: nothing for them to do, so just please, like really

1034
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:15,439
Speaker 1: rarely look at how to get programming for the youth

1035
00:58:15,560 --> 00:58:17,320
Speaker 1: right now? That should be like one of the top

1036
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:20,240
Speaker 1: budget line items in the city fiscal budget.

1037
00:58:21,040 --> 00:58:23,440
Speaker 4: Oh for sure, man, for sure. Well, Yo, man, appreciate

1038
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:23,960
Speaker 4: you pulling up.

1039
00:58:24,040 --> 00:58:24,560
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.

1040
00:58:24,800 --> 00:58:27,760
Speaker 3: Given some perspective, sharing needs to happen, and I hope

1041
00:58:27,800 --> 00:58:29,800
Speaker 3: people take this and we learned some lessons from it.

1042
00:58:29,880 --> 00:58:30,000
Speaker 1: Man.

1043
00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:31,560
Speaker 4: Again, thank you for all the work you've been doing.

1044
00:58:31,600 --> 00:58:34,320
Speaker 2: It's like I'm not going nowhere.

1045
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:36,280
Speaker 1: I don't even try. It's just hard for me to leave.

1046
00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:40,680
Speaker 1: Y'all Like y'all don't got this, y'all got that up

1047
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:41,760
Speaker 1: kind of get back today.

1048
00:58:42,040 --> 00:58:44,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, look man, we appreciate you pulling up. Man,

1049
00:58:44,600 --> 00:58:47,400
Speaker 3: Thanks again, and we out y'all. That's the pot, all right.

1050
00:58:47,520 --> 00:58:47,800
Speaker 2: Peace.

1051
00:58:49,200 --> 00:58:51,040
Speaker 3: You've been listening to button Nomics and I'm your host,

1052
00:58:51,080 --> 00:58:54,280
Speaker 3: Brandon Butler. Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show.

1053
00:58:54,480 --> 00:58:57,320
Speaker 3: Send us an email today at hello at butteronomics dot com.

1054
00:58:57,840 --> 00:59:01,840
Speaker 3: Butter Nomics is producing Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia Byksey Pegram,

1055
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:03,720
Speaker 3: with marketing support from Queen and Nikki.

1056
00:59:04,080 --> 00:59:05,520
Speaker 4: Music provided by mister Hanky.

1057
00:59:05,880 --> 00:59:08,120
Speaker 3: If you haven't already hit that subscribe button and never

1058
00:59:08,200 --> 00:59:10,240
Speaker 3: missed an episode, and be sure to follow us on

1059
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,600
Speaker 3: all our social platforms at butter dot Atl. Listen to

1060
00:59:13,680 --> 00:59:16,680
Speaker 3: Better Nomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

1061
00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:17,800
Speaker 3: you get your podcasts.