Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Full Episode: Legendary Singer Patti LaBelle, Award-winning Music Producer Justin Rhodes, Victor Durrah Jr., Brandon “Puncho” Williams & Ebony Blanding

Transcript

Full Episode: Legendary Singer Patti LaBelle, Award-winning Music Producer Justin Rhodes, Victor Durrah Jr., Brandon “Puncho” Williams & Ebony Blanding · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:00
Speaker 1: You're coming to bed hunt. Yep, honey, I'll be right there.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversations. It's the show that she
2:11
Speaker 1: has the secrets of success experience firsthand by marketing and
2:14
Speaker 1: Brandon expert Rashwan McDonald. I will know he's giving me
2:17
Speaker 1: advice on many occasions. In the case you didn't notice,
2:20
Speaker 1: I'm not broke, you know he'll be interview with celebrity
2:23
Speaker 1: CEO entrepreneurs and industry decision makers. It's what he likes
2:26
Speaker 1: to do, it's what he likes to ship. Now it's
2:29
Speaker 1: time to hear from my man, Rashan McDonald money Making Conversations.
2:33
Speaker 1: Here we come. Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am
2:36
Speaker 1: your host, Rashan McDonald. Like I said every week on
2:39
Speaker 1: my show, it's time to stop reading to other people's
2:41
Speaker 1: success stories and what do I say, start writing your own.
2:44
Speaker 1: People talk about their passions. They talk about the gifts,
2:47
Speaker 1: and I say, if you have a gift, lead with
2:49
Speaker 1: it and don't let your age, friends, family or co
2:51
Speaker 1: workers stop you from planning or living your dreams. The
2:54
Speaker 1: interviews I do on Money Making Conversations off for you.
2:56
Speaker 1: I bringing celebrity CEO entrepreneurs and what I like to
3:00
Speaker 1: all industry decision makers and we talk about their secrets,
3:02
Speaker 1: talk about the ups and downs, about what it takes
3:04
Speaker 1: to be successful even in the downtimes. My next guest
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Speaker 1: is talking about longevity, talking about greatness. Patty LaBelle the
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Speaker 1: Grammy Award winning artists and actresses on the show to
3:14
Speaker 1: discuss the twin anniversary edition of a New York Times
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Speaker 1: bestselling cookbook. Patty Labelle's LaBelle Cuisine recipes to sing about.
3:23
Speaker 1: Plus we're talking about her singing career. They impacked up covid, theirighteen,
3:27
Speaker 1: her successful food lines. If anybody's following me on my
3:29
Speaker 1: social media, you know I posted so many times by
3:32
Speaker 1: going to Walmart picking up up stuff and selling and
3:35
Speaker 1: how easy it is to make you know. And then
3:37
Speaker 1: I was watching TV. I saw her in the old
3:39
Speaker 1: Spice commercial. This one was everywhere. Pat Labell's referred to
3:43
Speaker 1: as the god brother soul. You know her music. Here's
3:46
Speaker 1: some of my favorites. You are my friends. If only
3:49
Speaker 1: you knew new attitude on my own and stir it Up.
3:53
Speaker 1: That's just a few. Those are my favorites. Now. I
3:55
Speaker 1: know y'all got your favorites out there. I'm just talking
3:57
Speaker 1: about Rachean McDonald. I said the last song Stirred Up,
4:00
Speaker 1: because we about stirred Up. Please working to money making conversations,
4:03
Speaker 1: Patty Labella, how are you also? Also? Patty? I know
4:09
Speaker 1: you have a long day and the fact you're taking
4:11
Speaker 1: time to talk to my fan baits on money making
4:13
Speaker 1: conversation is pretty amazing. How are you doing? I am wonderful.
4:18
Speaker 1: I can't complain that's for sure. Now apparently, look at
4:24
Speaker 1: let's get straight to it, because I've never on money
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Speaker 1: making conversation had desserts and on my desk. Okay, and
4:30
Speaker 1: it's the twenty year anniversary of you I Gotta Become
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Speaker 1: pie that I made this morning straight out of your book. Okay.
4:36
Speaker 1: And then I a peach collar I reworked at Rashawn
4:39
Speaker 1: Stock because I like peach cobblers in that pie shape.
4:42
Speaker 1: But you do your peach cob like eight inch square pan,
4:46
Speaker 1: put them peaches in there, then you laid some dough down.
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Speaker 1: Did you put the more peaches than that? Did you
4:51
Speaker 1: put that dough on top? Put a little ground sentiment
4:54
Speaker 1: on top? Whoa, you're doing it. You're talking about go ahead,
5:00
Speaker 1: We're doing at any kind of pop pan or whatever
5:02
Speaker 1: piece because it's he's covering it comes out to say,
5:06
Speaker 1: but your recipes, Patty will just let's talk about this.
5:09
Speaker 1: You know, I go through the book and it's it's
5:11
Speaker 1: it's more than just desert. By the way, everybody, I
5:13
Speaker 1: just t happened to do dessert. You know, you got
5:16
Speaker 1: anywhere from patties, say the salad that pass it old
5:19
Speaker 1: pass it own pot rolls and all these different things,
5:22
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of easy recipes. Let's go back
5:25
Speaker 1: for a minute twenty years ago. This is the twenty
5:28
Speaker 1: anniversary of this book. Why we release it now because
5:33
Speaker 1: it's worthy. Twenty years ago it was it was a
5:36
Speaker 1: great book. People learned to cook from this book. And
5:39
Speaker 1: so after twenty years I figured out would act new recipes,
5:42
Speaker 1: some new photos of my little grand babies who are
5:45
Speaker 1: not here back in the day and twenty years ago,
5:47
Speaker 1: they're here now and it's just one dement. The new
5:51
Speaker 1: recipes are great. But people love to see me at
5:55
Speaker 1: the airport and say, Patty, I followed your macaloni and
5:57
Speaker 1: cheese recipe and it came out perfectly. So if you
6:00
Speaker 1: follow the book, you'll learn how to cook, okay, And
6:03
Speaker 1: if you don't know how to cook, get the book. Well,
6:06
Speaker 1: that that's what I that's why I did what I did,
6:08
Speaker 1: just wanted on the show because a lot of people
6:11
Speaker 1: are intimidated by the cooking process. They can go in
6:13
Speaker 1: the kitchen and just shut down and and and sometimes
6:17
Speaker 1: you get some cookbooks they can't look complicated. But your
6:20
Speaker 1: book stories and they talk about the process of putting together.
6:24
Speaker 1: It's easy to follow cookbook well, it's been in my life. Uh.
6:30
Speaker 1: My mother and father they cooked every day of their
6:33
Speaker 1: lives when they were married, you know, before they divorced.
6:36
Speaker 1: They still cook solo. And I watched them both cook
6:39
Speaker 1: great recipes and food and that when I began to cook,
6:43
Speaker 1: I took their recipes and enhance it with a few
6:46
Speaker 1: other spices and different things that I wanted and that
6:49
Speaker 1: recipe and it's been great. And I would always say
6:52
Speaker 1: to people when they want to say, Patty, how do
6:54
Speaker 1: you make this? I always say, don't use a measuring cup.
6:58
Speaker 1: It's soul drops that you use when you're cook. No
7:00
Speaker 1: tea spoons, tablespoons. Just dump it in and feel it.
7:04
Speaker 1: And then UH say, I'm gonna add this, but I'm
7:07
Speaker 1: not gonna add a tablespoonful. And the measuring cup gets
7:10
Speaker 1: in the way of greatness. I think, well, I'm gonna
7:13
Speaker 1: just tell you this. I'm starting to get there, Patty,
7:15
Speaker 1: I'm not there yet now. Not on the foods now
7:18
Speaker 1: on beans, anything beans. That's how I cook. I can't
7:22
Speaker 1: tell you I'm much salt. I put in some black
7:24
Speaker 1: eyed peas or red beans or pinto beans. I just
7:27
Speaker 1: do that whole thing. I through some hall opinions in there.
7:30
Speaker 1: I can tell you eight hallow beans chapter I just
7:33
Speaker 1: do that by field. Now on the baking side, I
7:37
Speaker 1: kind of stay strictly to the recipe for fear factor
7:40
Speaker 1: because you can go off a little bit. I would
7:42
Speaker 1: say that, would you agree you could go off a
7:47
Speaker 1: little and stuff, but with the big items you have
7:49
Speaker 1: to stay a little close to the recipe. Yes, you're
7:52
Speaker 1: right right? And can you bake that beautiful peace comm Well,
7:55
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just tell you something. This is how you
7:57
Speaker 1: helped me because I'm a big fan of beacon pies,
8:01
Speaker 1: and like you, I watched my mom in the kitchen
8:05
Speaker 1: and when I started baking, really about eight years ago,
8:08
Speaker 1: I really started baking Patty and Steve Harvey pranked me
8:11
Speaker 1: on our talk show and that's how he didn't think
8:13
Speaker 1: I could bake a cake, and I wind up baking three.
8:15
Speaker 1: And I've been baking every since and having a lot
8:17
Speaker 1: of fun in it. And so I had always struggled
8:21
Speaker 1: with how to do beacon posts because what I was
8:24
Speaker 1: doing wrong until I read your book, and this is
8:26
Speaker 1: on the story. I would always you know, you get
8:29
Speaker 1: the Carol Serve because you usual like Carol Serve and
8:32
Speaker 1: then uh, and I would put you use three eggs
8:34
Speaker 1: and another extract, and you put it all together, and
8:38
Speaker 1: I would I would mix my beacons in with that
8:43
Speaker 1: and stir it up, and so and so and so.
8:47
Speaker 1: But your book, but it would always never float to
8:50
Speaker 1: the top, you know, because you see pictures of beacon pies.
8:53
Speaker 1: The becomes are always at the top, looking great and shining.
8:57
Speaker 1: I could never get that. And then I read your book,
8:59
Speaker 1: and your book says Rashwan. Well, I'm just speak about Rashan.
9:03
Speaker 1: It says, put the bacons a cup and a half
9:05
Speaker 1: of becons on the base, then you pour your your
9:09
Speaker 1: syrup on top of that, and the beacons would float
9:12
Speaker 1: to the top. Even the old schooler like me learn
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Speaker 1: something from this book. I wanted to tell you thank you,
9:16
Speaker 1: because I did not know that you know what I
9:20
Speaker 1: have to say to Rashan. People love my sweepetator pie
9:24
Speaker 1: and my pea come pie whatever. Always say that your
9:26
Speaker 1: mother and grandmother probably makes a better on the mind.
9:29
Speaker 1: Mine is only from my way of cooking. But it's
9:32
Speaker 1: not the best in the world, that's for sure. So
9:35
Speaker 1: just use your mind when you make your PCM pie.
9:38
Speaker 1: I used my mind, but I needed your help because finally,
9:42
Speaker 1: my baco pie looks like the pie I grew up looking.
9:45
Speaker 1: So you may not be my mom may not made
9:48
Speaker 1: it let but least it looks like my mom made
9:50
Speaker 1: So I'm happy with that. Now. One of the expectations
9:53
Speaker 1: of this book going out. I know you, I know
9:54
Speaker 1: you're telling the world about your book pad Labelle's Labelle's
9:57
Speaker 1: cuisine recipes to sing about. Talk about that whole essence
10:02
Speaker 1: of love that you you always radiate, that that I
10:05
Speaker 1: feel that I can hug you. I know you get
10:07
Speaker 1: a lot of hugs. Covid really shut a lot of
10:09
Speaker 1: that down, but I know people always feel they could
10:12
Speaker 1: just sit down and talk to you, whether it's a
10:13
Speaker 1: good story or a sad story. Talk about that that
10:17
Speaker 1: that that love that people have, your fan base or
10:19
Speaker 1: strangers have for you. It's such a great feeling. Uh.
10:24
Speaker 1: So many people call me auntie mom. Uh. They put
10:30
Speaker 1: me in their family and that's a compliment to me
10:33
Speaker 1: because they really feel feel highly of Patty LaBelle and
10:36
Speaker 1: they're loving on me like like crazy. I mean, when
10:40
Speaker 1: we're like in the airport, they'll see me right and
10:43
Speaker 1: they're all quite afraid to say hi, Patty so I say, hey,
10:47
Speaker 1: they said, I said, I'm Patty, and they'll come back
10:50
Speaker 1: and they'll hug and love. You know, I never make
10:52
Speaker 1: a person feel less than a human because we're all
10:55
Speaker 1: the same. You know. My name is on the Marquis
10:58
Speaker 1: and yours is not. But I still feel as are equal,
11:01
Speaker 1: you know. And that's I've been getting great love for
11:03
Speaker 1: for the last six years as I've been performing true love,
11:08
Speaker 1: honest love. Well, you know in that in that range
11:11
Speaker 1: of different music that you put out there, you know
11:13
Speaker 1: that the love the experience. If anybody has not been
11:16
Speaker 1: to a concert featuring pad La Bill, it's as a concert,
11:21
Speaker 1: it's a conversation tell us, tell us about your style
11:24
Speaker 1: of performance and has it changed over the years. Oh,
11:27
Speaker 1: that's how Patty has always been. Oh, you got the
11:29
Speaker 1: courage to say, I'm going to be Patty. This is
11:32
Speaker 1: the story I want to tell when I'm on stage performing.
11:36
Speaker 1: When I'm on stage, I could do fifty shows in
11:39
Speaker 1: a row. Every show will be different. I've never seen
11:42
Speaker 1: that some the same way twice. I never feel the
11:45
Speaker 1: audience the same way that I did last night. The
11:47
Speaker 1: audience is different tonight, and I'll feel certain things in
11:51
Speaker 1: the audience, and I'll talk to people and I get
11:54
Speaker 1: such a great uh reaction from from my audiences. They're
11:58
Speaker 1: always like ready to pride, ready to laugh, ready to
12:02
Speaker 1: for them to stand up and tell the truth. And
12:04
Speaker 1: I stand on stage if my eyelas comes off, of course,
12:07
Speaker 1: you want to know. If she breaks, I'm gonna stop
12:10
Speaker 1: the show and said another pair of pumps. I'm never
12:12
Speaker 1: afraid to be me on stage and being shooting all
12:15
Speaker 1: proper and all that stuff, honey, is not me. I'm
12:18
Speaker 1: just a regular around the way girl. Well you know
12:20
Speaker 1: that it is running because I was at the Houston
12:23
Speaker 1: Arena theater as in Houston, Texas sees three thousand shows
12:27
Speaker 1: so about and your eye lash did come on, and
12:31
Speaker 1: and the funny part about it, you know, it was
12:34
Speaker 1: just you know, that's a gift because some people get
12:37
Speaker 1: thrown off by that. They feel like they're they're faith,
12:40
Speaker 1: they feel like they're they're showing a side of they
12:42
Speaker 1: need to be perfect. And all we talked about when
12:44
Speaker 1: we left that court, not only was the great performance
12:46
Speaker 1: that you had in the emotion, but boy, that that
12:51
Speaker 1: she real, she real girl. She let that I last
12:54
Speaker 1: stop her. And right there and from the three thousand people.
12:57
Speaker 1: You kept the show must go on. Oh, it has
13:00
Speaker 1: to go on. Little things like that happens. They happen, naturally,
13:04
Speaker 1: they happen. But don't be a shame and afraid to say, Oh,
13:08
Speaker 1: I just broke my pump on my stock and just
13:10
Speaker 1: gotta run. And said, leash yourself, honey, I've been doing
13:13
Speaker 1: all my six years of singing on stage leasing myself. Wait,
13:17
Speaker 1: what do you We're releasing yourself in a great way.
13:19
Speaker 1: Because here I am watching TV last night. I'm just
13:22
Speaker 1: gonna tell you the truth, pat and watching TV last night,
13:26
Speaker 1: and the old spice commercial comes on, all right, and
13:29
Speaker 1: one of our popular couples they play in it, and
13:31
Speaker 1: he's talking about the mom is visiting and using up
13:34
Speaker 1: all his old spice, and get who pops on screen,
13:37
Speaker 1: Patty a little bit, looking good and with an attitude.
13:41
Speaker 1: Tell us how that opportunity came to you? Because I laughed,
13:45
Speaker 1: I laughed, Okay, the opportunity came about a month ago.
13:51
Speaker 1: They called my my son's or who's my manager, and said,
13:54
Speaker 1: would your mom be interested in doing an old spice commercial?
13:58
Speaker 1: And so I said why, I said, my father used
14:01
Speaker 1: it all the men and my family use it for them.
14:04
Speaker 1: They asked me to do an old Spice commercial. Uh,
14:07
Speaker 1: it just made my day. And we went out there
14:10
Speaker 1: and we did it about three weeks ago, and it
14:12
Speaker 1: was one of my fun moments for Dion and Gabby.
14:15
Speaker 1: You know, he's crazy, I mean, and I want to
14:18
Speaker 1: go but he hasn't my little row with those little
14:20
Speaker 1: balls and he looks stupid. You know. I love the
14:24
Speaker 1: way he looked at this commercial. So I was happy
14:26
Speaker 1: to do it. Well, you know, the funny part about
14:28
Speaker 1: it is that that you know, you know you're making
14:31
Speaker 1: me feel good because you've always made me feel good,
14:34
Speaker 1: and then the fans you've always made me made them
14:36
Speaker 1: feel good. But the little attitude you squired out the
14:39
Speaker 1: old Spice let him know it's empty? Was that that was?
14:43
Speaker 1: Was that improv or they said, this is what they
14:46
Speaker 1: want you to do. Did you put a little patty
14:47
Speaker 1: on it? A little patty is m oh little patty stink.
14:51
Speaker 1: But they wanted me to say that, and that's it.
14:55
Speaker 1: And I had some other lines that I said, but
14:57
Speaker 1: it hasn't been shown yet. Okay, Uh, it was off
15:01
Speaker 1: it was scripted. I was good. I didn't go off
15:03
Speaker 1: script I didn't I didn't ta style too much, just
15:05
Speaker 1: my attitude. You know, it's real where you're naturally funny.
15:11
Speaker 1: That's gonna say that. But you've also drew on drama
15:13
Speaker 1: roles in your life. Is there a uh is there
15:17
Speaker 1: a favorite or style of acting you prefer the comedy
15:21
Speaker 1: or the drama or and if so, which has been
15:24
Speaker 1: your favorite role that you played over the years. Well,
15:28
Speaker 1: I love I love the drama. I don't consider myself
15:31
Speaker 1: a comedian or funny or anything like that. So playing
15:34
Speaker 1: Queen Landifa's mother on Star and Brandy's mother being a roughneck,
15:38
Speaker 1: a ghetto mom, I really like that. I love being
15:42
Speaker 1: a minister on Green Leaf, uh so a pastor, and
15:46
Speaker 1: I love the roles that I've been getting, you know,
15:48
Speaker 1: and like my favorite time was a different world playing
15:52
Speaker 1: chip Monks mother. Oh my gosh, me and Diane Carol,
15:56
Speaker 1: when we were fighting over the turkey with the sausage
15:58
Speaker 1: or the jibbis or if she just some fun things
16:02
Speaker 1: in a different world that I loved doing. Well, you know,
16:05
Speaker 1: that was that was a groundbreaking role for for us
16:09
Speaker 1: as black people. You know, the Cosmic show was out
16:12
Speaker 1: there by the way, but then when they brought this
16:14
Speaker 1: show that showed blackness and showed young black people and
16:17
Speaker 1: then the relatives or young black people coming into the world.
16:21
Speaker 1: Did you realize the impact of that show or your
16:23
Speaker 1: participation that show when you did the Different World, Patty,
16:28
Speaker 1: I did meanwhile, or Seawan, my dog is barking. Can
16:31
Speaker 1: you hear him being ignorant? Him? I can't put him out?
16:37
Speaker 1: But no, I I realized the importance of that role.
16:40
Speaker 1: I realized the importance of that show, you know, showing
16:43
Speaker 1: black kids educated, you know, and it's just beautiful role.
16:47
Speaker 1: It was a beautiful time for me. You know. Here's
16:50
Speaker 1: the fun part about you and how timeless you are. Okay,
16:53
Speaker 1: so when Versus came up and it was you and
16:56
Speaker 1: Gladys on versus, and that's gonna be real. People off
17:00
Speaker 1: general tendence. They believe that people at a certain age
17:02
Speaker 1: aren't relevant anymore, and so they have a general tendency
17:05
Speaker 1: not to let them participate. You're when you and Gladys
17:10
Speaker 1: showed up in the middle of COVID now and showed
17:14
Speaker 1: up and showed out, talk about how that came about,
17:18
Speaker 1: and then talk about because I, okay, this is the
17:20
Speaker 1: middle of COVID. So there was some medical issues concerns
17:23
Speaker 1: and all those things. But it was important to do this,
17:26
Speaker 1: and you did it in the world. I loved it.
17:31
Speaker 1: They sure did. It was a call from Gladys actually
17:36
Speaker 1: uh to say that they wanted she they wanted her
17:39
Speaker 1: to do versus and who would she like to do with.
17:42
Speaker 1: So of course she said me, because we're girlfriends. And
17:45
Speaker 1: when people say we had a battle, it was never
17:48
Speaker 1: a battle. We sing the same type of music, were
17:51
Speaker 1: at the same age. I'm seventy seven, I think she's
17:53
Speaker 1: seventy six or whatever, and we banged together. We don't
17:56
Speaker 1: try to compete with each other, and it it was
18:00
Speaker 1: OVID and we got double checked and everything before. We
18:02
Speaker 1: sit down close to each other, so it was safe.
18:05
Speaker 1: It was safe, great, healthy fun to be able to
18:09
Speaker 1: see after being at that time a year off from COVID,
18:12
Speaker 1: new shows and stuff. So I kicked my shoes off.
18:14
Speaker 1: I pretended I was on stage and it was just
18:17
Speaker 1: a book. But we see that one other things together also,
18:22
Speaker 1: Well that feels like a Las Vegas show, That's all
18:25
Speaker 1: I'm saying. You know, but you know that, just but
18:28
Speaker 1: but I know your song is a fantastic manager. He's
18:31
Speaker 1: gonna work out that deal. I just know that seeing
18:35
Speaker 1: seeing history being played out, being able to walk down
18:38
Speaker 1: memory lane, and but your smile, I want to I
18:41
Speaker 1: want to just talk about that smile, labrilliance of the
18:44
Speaker 1: Patty LaBelle smile, because there's a certain energy that radiag
18:47
Speaker 1: from that that makes me feel good. You want of
18:49
Speaker 1: those people. If I'm in the hospital and I'm not
18:51
Speaker 1: doing good and Pad Labell came through that dough smiling,
18:55
Speaker 1: I think, I think the heart rate and get right,
18:57
Speaker 1: my blood pressure going, don't go down. Talk about just
19:00
Speaker 1: the essence of Patty LaBelle. I don't know. I'm a
19:04
Speaker 1: very um smiley person and a very happy person, a
19:09
Speaker 1: very blessed person because I'm still standing. And my sister died,
19:13
Speaker 1: you know, before they turned fifty. So I thought that
19:15
Speaker 1: would be my curse not to be here at seventy seven.
19:19
Speaker 1: I'm here smiling and just lighting up my life and
19:23
Speaker 1: lighting some of the around me. Even though they say
19:25
Speaker 1: they get such joy for me, and I take that
19:27
Speaker 1: as the highest compliment, so I can. I will continue
19:30
Speaker 1: to smile and bring good joy to everybody. And my
19:34
Speaker 1: little dog here me act up again. I hear them
19:36
Speaker 1: trying to grown, but I want to wrap up talking
19:41
Speaker 1: about this fantastic cookbook. I want you to give me
19:44
Speaker 1: two of your favorites so I can go in there
19:46
Speaker 1: and cook it myself, because you know I'm adventurous. So
19:48
Speaker 1: we're talking about the cuisine. This is the cover right here,
19:55
Speaker 1: and this is now seeing the back. Those are two
19:58
Speaker 1: of grand babies and Layla, right, and so recipes are
20:02
Speaker 1: banging fish that's any type of fish to like with crab, meat, peppers,
20:07
Speaker 1: hallopeen peppers, onion, tomatoes, butter, and it's great. Then there's
20:12
Speaker 1: a quarantine chicken, and then there's a lobster and shrip cake.
20:16
Speaker 1: That's at the back. I saw though. Yeah, those the
20:18
Speaker 1: new recipes, right, the new new recipes. Yeah, new recipes,
20:22
Speaker 1: new pictures and a lot of fun. And if you
20:25
Speaker 1: get the book, you'll learn how to cook. I promise,
20:27
Speaker 1: Well you have to learn. I'll just tell you this, Patty.
20:31
Speaker 1: Some people tell me I'm really good at what I do,
20:33
Speaker 1: and for me to go and do a cookbook and
20:35
Speaker 1: something I was supposed to do really well, that's the
20:36
Speaker 1: car and pie and go into that book and realize
20:39
Speaker 1: I have been doing it wrong. And because it was
20:42
Speaker 1: that simple, I am doing it right. I'm willing to
20:45
Speaker 1: admit this book right there. I'm telling everybody have fun
20:48
Speaker 1: times with it is. You're talking to a friend when
20:51
Speaker 1: you read this book, a friend who's sharing her love
20:53
Speaker 1: for life, a love for love of friendship. If you've
20:56
Speaker 1: seen any concert when you need to read about how
20:58
Speaker 1: she does it at home. And by the way, how
21:01
Speaker 1: is the lion doing in your Waltmart? The food line,
21:04
Speaker 1: I were missed if I didn't think about that same thing?
21:06
Speaker 1: About that, And there again there's a blessing, the pies,
21:10
Speaker 1: the cobblers, the macaroni, the greens, and cornicle, tomatoes, black
21:14
Speaker 1: eyed peas, corn break, two types of cornbra biscuit, and chicken,
21:19
Speaker 1: about eighteen different desserts. And things are still coming. I
21:23
Speaker 1: have more things to tell you when I can tell
21:24
Speaker 1: you with Sean. But a lot of good is coming
21:27
Speaker 1: to my life. And don't don't because I got too
21:30
Speaker 1: much fight I got open the other day. Now that's outstanding.
21:33
Speaker 1: That Oprah is off the chain there. But the one
21:36
Speaker 1: of the true blessings is just the last dingy, because
21:38
Speaker 1: I want to let you go. When that young man
21:40
Speaker 1: went online social media and start singing about that paddy,
21:44
Speaker 1: was that not the ultimate blessing to jump start your business.
21:50
Speaker 1: I we were in London before me and someone sent
21:53
Speaker 1: me that video. I said, who is this baby kid?
21:56
Speaker 1: Wonderful voice and and he tasted the pie I and
22:00
Speaker 1: had that reaction when he tasted it. So it wasn't planned,
22:03
Speaker 1: It wasn't anything. And thank god at that time the
22:05
Speaker 1: pies were doing great. But what he did that they
22:08
Speaker 1: did greater, you know. So he came to my house
22:11
Speaker 1: sweet and cooked for our party. He's a cook, sinker,
22:16
Speaker 1: he's everyman. He's James right, that's my baby. Thank you,
22:21
Speaker 1: Patty for taking the town to come on money making
22:23
Speaker 1: say fantastic. And if you're thank you for taking the
22:25
Speaker 1: time to talk to my fans. Okay, because my fans
22:28
Speaker 1: are your fans, all right? Be safe now, are you too?
22:33
Speaker 1: I love you than you too. We will be right
22:35
Speaker 1: back with more money making conversations with your host Rashwan McDonald.
22:39
Speaker 1: It's finally here, the season of celebration. And no matter
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24:00
Speaker 1: Department of Healthy Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
24:03
Speaker 1: and the AD Council. Hi, everyone, Al Roker here as
24:07
Speaker 1: a guy with his own catchphrase. I appreciate that Smokey's
24:10
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24:37
Speaker 1: tuned into the money making conversations Minute of Inspiration with
24:41
Speaker 1: Rushan McDonald. A recently interviewed Gina Yasay, a British comedian
24:46
Speaker 1: of Nigerian heritage. She has the co creator, co executive, ducer,
24:49
Speaker 1: writer and actress on the hit CBS series Bob Hart's Abashola.
24:54
Speaker 1: Gina is released in our first book, a memoir, cat Handy,
24:57
Speaker 1: which chronicles are odyssey to get to America and break
25:00
Speaker 1: into Hollywood. I wrote the book Originally it started off
25:03
Speaker 1: as just on Instagram. There was a hashtag fowback Thursdays
25:07
Speaker 1: where you past old pictures, and I was posting old
25:10
Speaker 1: pictures and writing the story behind the pictures. I post
25:12
Speaker 1: a picture and writing elaborate post explaining the history behind
25:16
Speaker 1: the picture, and people were really interested in saying, oh
25:19
Speaker 1: my god, your story is so good, why don't you
25:21
Speaker 1: write a book? So I started keeping those and I
25:24
Speaker 1: want to talk about my history because people don't seem
25:26
Speaker 1: to realize that the UK started safely. If you want
25:30
Speaker 1: to hear the four interview with Gina Yasharai, it's available
25:33
Speaker 1: on Myney Making Conversations dot com. Welcome back to Money
25:37
Speaker 1: Making Conversations with your host, Rashan McDonald. My next guest
25:41
Speaker 1: is one of my favorite people have just recently came
25:43
Speaker 1: in contact with. I'm from Houston, Texas. He's based in Dallas.
25:47
Speaker 1: Texts justin ale Road or J Rhodes. He's an award
25:50
Speaker 1: winning music producer, raptivis and creator from Dallas, Texas. He's
25:55
Speaker 1: worked with artists like Dr Dre, The Craiz, The Game,
25:58
Speaker 1: Rick Ross, Slim Third, Ka Flacker, and many more. Talented
26:01
Speaker 1: artists have been backed by J. Rhodes Productions. But his
26:05
Speaker 1: talent as a filmmaker is where we're gonna talk about
26:07
Speaker 1: on this show. And his career everything has perfectly intersected
26:11
Speaker 1: with his ability his visionary skill in the visual world.
26:14
Speaker 1: In six, Rhodes and his business partner Corey Williams go
26:18
Speaker 1: head first into the world of film with little to
26:21
Speaker 1: no experience. In less than five years, he's a mask.
26:24
Speaker 1: Quite the resume and his next film, It's a Wonderful Plight.
26:28
Speaker 1: It's a hip hop musical that attacks systematic racism through
26:32
Speaker 1: song and authentic but lighthearted matter. The project went from
26:36
Speaker 1: a mere idea to be in Dean one of the
26:38
Speaker 1: biggest movies of the summer by USA today. Please work
26:42
Speaker 1: with the money making conversations for the very first time,
26:44
Speaker 1: Jay Rhodes, Man, thank you for having me. Man that
26:48
Speaker 1: just the intro makes me you feel like somebody. I
26:51
Speaker 1: really appreciate you. Shouts out to Dallas, shots out to Houston,
26:55
Speaker 1: shots after Texas in general. Come on now the big texts. Now,
26:58
Speaker 1: we're big Texas boys talking. Now we got a little beard.
27:01
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a little older, so I got J Rhodes. Okay,
27:06
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not projecting anything on you, but I
27:09
Speaker 1: lost my hair. Now I hope that it's like, Hey,
27:12
Speaker 1: you did the right thing. Though. Everybody has their day
27:15
Speaker 1: and you made it work for you. So thank you
27:17
Speaker 1: for having me on your wonderful shown all those illustrious
27:20
Speaker 1: guests you have, and just it means so much to me,
27:23
Speaker 1: just because like the fact that a lot of people
27:26
Speaker 1: wait until somebody is already there to interview him. I'm
27:30
Speaker 1: glad that you see the upward trajectory and that you
27:32
Speaker 1: being me worth you know, your interview as we are
27:35
Speaker 1: on our assent to the entertainment world. So I really
27:37
Speaker 1: appreciate you and your team for having cool Hey j Rod,
27:40
Speaker 1: what's gonna be real about you as a talent? You know, Um,
27:45
Speaker 1: I've been pigeonholed. I've been told what I'm supposed to
27:49
Speaker 1: be doing. I worked at I got my degrees in mathematics.
27:52
Speaker 1: I would for IBM all these were you. And then
27:54
Speaker 1: then I decided to tell everybody I wanted to be
27:56
Speaker 1: a stand up comedian. Then I became successful as a
27:58
Speaker 1: stand up comedian, and I want to be a writer.
28:00
Speaker 1: People go, why, why, why? Why you want to write? Why?
28:03
Speaker 1: What's wrong with that? Then? That was a successful sitcom
28:06
Speaker 1: writer and I started to manage Steve Harve. They go,
28:08
Speaker 1: who wha wha wha, wha, wha wha, why do you
28:10
Speaker 1: want to manage him? And so along the way, people
28:13
Speaker 1: will pigeonhole you being a successful producer and you decided
28:19
Speaker 1: to embark in the visual world or even though you
28:21
Speaker 1: have music videos as a music producer, but the film world.
28:26
Speaker 1: Why did people question you? And how did you, I say,
28:30
Speaker 1: respond to those questions? Man, that's a great that's a
28:34
Speaker 1: great statement, great question, because when you have success to
28:37
Speaker 1: something old people being success because people being success as
28:41
Speaker 1: maybe monetary or if you're getting placements or if you're
28:45
Speaker 1: aligned with certain individuals, and yes, that success to a point,
28:48
Speaker 1: but the ultimate success is what makes you feel good.
28:50
Speaker 1: And I love music, but just being a music producer only,
28:54
Speaker 1: and it's it's a sense of uh, just waiting game
28:59
Speaker 1: and that you may be no matter how dope they are.
29:01
Speaker 1: Is a lot of politics, but you're just waiting on
29:03
Speaker 1: artists and the connections to align yourself to make certain
29:07
Speaker 1: music so you get the placement, it's out and that's it.
29:11
Speaker 1: But my thing is, as much as I love music,
29:13
Speaker 1: production is so much more to that. I had so
29:15
Speaker 1: much more talents than that. So success to me is
29:18
Speaker 1: really fulfilling and going after your dreams. So I equated
29:21
Speaker 1: to like with the with the world of music production.
29:25
Speaker 1: It was a road that I was traveling. It was clear,
29:28
Speaker 1: but that role ended at some point. Now for me
29:30
Speaker 1: to get where I wanted to do as a film director,
29:33
Speaker 1: I had to double back on that road turn around.
29:36
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, the film role
29:39
Speaker 1: was endless. So sometimes you have to do that and
29:41
Speaker 1: just believe in yourself. People love to pigeonhole people like
29:44
Speaker 1: even if you look at Will Smith, he started as
29:46
Speaker 1: a rapper, right if you never would have talked to
29:48
Speaker 1: Quincy Jones and jumped into there, there was a whole
29:51
Speaker 1: another world for him with being an actor and with
29:53
Speaker 1: being a content creator. So that's the same thing. Like
29:56
Speaker 1: I say, once you master something, you do have to
29:59
Speaker 1: master something and first don't get it twisted. But once
30:01
Speaker 1: you master that theme, you have the right. It's almost
30:04
Speaker 1: like graduate. Once you master the thing, you have the
30:07
Speaker 1: right to move over in another lane and master that thing,
30:12
Speaker 1: and then you can bring all those talents together. So,
30:14
Speaker 1: like you said, that's what I do with films. So
30:16
Speaker 1: that's what everybody do as much as you can do,
30:18
Speaker 1: but just master each thing and then move on and
30:21
Speaker 1: do something else. But be whatever you want to be.
30:24
Speaker 1: It's never too late in life to say, hey, this
30:26
Speaker 1: is cool, but I want to do something else. Now.
30:28
Speaker 1: Your company, uh, ten nating one Pictures might help us
30:34
Speaker 1: out with that name. Tenn one Pictures help us out
30:36
Speaker 1: with that Uh to the distribution company that picked up
30:41
Speaker 1: our film. So you know, I'm with Vincent's Rose Productors,
30:45
Speaker 1: that's my film and music company, etcetera. Ten ninety one
30:48
Speaker 1: Pictures is the distribution company. They do a lot of
30:51
Speaker 1: great work, get a lot of content on Netflix, Amazon, Hulusen,
30:55
Speaker 1: you know your your your biggest streaming services. And they
30:58
Speaker 1: loved the film. They wanted to film um back in
31:01
Speaker 1: Black History Months, right, but we were working out some
31:03
Speaker 1: other deals and we were like, hey, well we may
31:05
Speaker 1: not be able to do Black History Month, but let's
31:07
Speaker 1: try to do something for June teenth. And you're from Texas,
31:11
Speaker 1: so you know, you know what June teenth means to us.
31:13
Speaker 1: So I kind of wanted that conversation to be going
31:16
Speaker 1: down around me. And so yeah, ten NIGHTI one is
31:19
Speaker 1: a distribution company and they they're a very great partner. Well,
31:22
Speaker 1: you know, I always getting I always getna know with this.
31:24
Speaker 1: You know, everybody's celebrating June teenth, like they just found
31:27
Speaker 1: it last week. You know, we've been selling June teeth
31:30
Speaker 1: for years. You know, she's late, they're late talking about
31:37
Speaker 1: they've been celebrating and you know at the house, you know,
31:39
Speaker 1: amongst their family members were in Texas. We've been celebrating. Hey,
31:43
Speaker 1: y'at day off from work. It's been doing the real thing.
31:45
Speaker 1: Now your your your skill set, man. You know when
31:49
Speaker 1: when I look at you, man, you you're a wonderful person.
31:53
Speaker 1: The movie, uh, It's a Wonderful Plight, which in my
31:56
Speaker 1: mind is a takeoff of the famous It's a Wonderful
31:59
Speaker 1: Life because you you go through a journey, you take
32:01
Speaker 1: a white character, and let's talk about this white character
32:04
Speaker 1: because uh, you know, hip hop music introduced a lot
32:08
Speaker 1: of white, white um fans to music that used the
32:12
Speaker 1: in word that then did the black culture. And so
32:17
Speaker 1: I'm gonn telling something to go through the airport and
32:19
Speaker 1: I could I could see a little white guys kids
32:21
Speaker 1: with with headphones on and they're wrapping the lyrics and
32:24
Speaker 1: they said they n't word low, of course, but they
32:27
Speaker 1: were just there was nothing for them. Some of the
32:29
Speaker 1: athletes in the NFL have gotten in trouble or in
32:32
Speaker 1: basketball because they've said lyrics on their social media lines
32:36
Speaker 1: because these are the lyrics that they referenced from music
32:39
Speaker 1: that they heard. So this it was just a perfect
32:42
Speaker 1: in row to develop in their storyline about a white
32:46
Speaker 1: character who is accepting the white culture, the black culture,
32:50
Speaker 1: but not living the white the black experience. Correct, yes, sir,
32:54
Speaker 1: that's sir, That's exactly what that is. And we deal
32:57
Speaker 1: with that every day. Um in the sense of everything,
33:01
Speaker 1: like everything that black people touch just blows up in
33:05
Speaker 1: it and it becomes culture. Like you even if you
33:08
Speaker 1: look at what basketball players do from Michael Jackson, Lebron
33:12
Speaker 1: James um Jay, z et cetera. Like our culture is
33:16
Speaker 1: picked from and we can do something first and it
33:19
Speaker 1: can be deemed ghetto whatever. But then when white culture
33:23
Speaker 1: does it, then it becomes exceptive and popular. It's just
33:26
Speaker 1: almost like gentrifying our style the same way they gentrified,
33:29
Speaker 1: you know, our neighborhoods. And so the whole thing is
33:31
Speaker 1: if if you love black culture so much, if we're
33:35
Speaker 1: so embedded and ingrained in the United States when it
33:38
Speaker 1: comes to entertainment, because even back in UM, back in
33:41
Speaker 1: the old days, you know, like we can entertain you know,
33:45
Speaker 1: white people, but we still couldn't sit at their tables,
33:47
Speaker 1: but you know, we can entertain them. So it's almost
33:49
Speaker 1: the same thing. It's like, if we're so beautiful, if
33:52
Speaker 1: you love our culture so much, you love our songs,
33:54
Speaker 1: you love what we do, then you have to ingrain
33:57
Speaker 1: yourself and our struggle and why our music is it is,
34:00
Speaker 1: and why we have the rhythm that we have that
34:02
Speaker 1: comes from a lot of struggle, that comes from a
34:04
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of things, and and it's not
34:06
Speaker 1: all struggles. Sometimes we're so disconnected from our history that
34:09
Speaker 1: we don't you know, we forget that we were kings
34:11
Speaker 1: and queens because we never have lived that reality. But
34:13
Speaker 1: it is the truth. And it's just the fact that um,
34:16
Speaker 1: everyone in this country, man, they benefit from black culture.
34:19
Speaker 1: And I just wanted the story to show to take
34:22
Speaker 1: someone like that that you you you don't even know
34:25
Speaker 1: that just because you don't have a kkkhood on or
34:27
Speaker 1: you're not waving to Confederate flag, that you have some
34:30
Speaker 1: you know, some ingrained racial issues in you. And that's
34:34
Speaker 1: those are the things that we want to attack because
34:36
Speaker 1: you know, if we love our culture, we come with that.
34:38
Speaker 1: You know, Hey, j am, I am I talking to
34:41
Speaker 1: the modern days, Spike Lee, Come on, man, my brother,
34:46
Speaker 1: I love I love that. I will accept that, even
34:48
Speaker 1: though that's those the big shoes to feel. I think
34:52
Speaker 1: in one with where I'm going and how how like
34:56
Speaker 1: my thing is. I can make other type of films,
34:58
Speaker 1: but I just feel all my films will they have
35:01
Speaker 1: they have racial undertones because I feel that everything in
35:04
Speaker 1: the world has those undertones. And I love Spike Lee.
35:07
Speaker 1: I love what he's contributed and contributing to the culture.
35:10
Speaker 1: So honestly, man, I will wear that, and uh and
35:14
Speaker 1: I will I will really try to make good on that.
35:16
Speaker 1: But I'm here, and as long as God give me breath,
35:19
Speaker 1: I'm gonna speak our stories in the real, true, true way,
35:22
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna speak truth to power. So thank you
35:24
Speaker 1: for that. You you made my day with that comparison.
35:26
Speaker 1: Hey man, I'll tell you, because there's humor, you you you're, you're, you're,
35:30
Speaker 1: you're not only the music side, but the visual side
35:32
Speaker 1: that you're walking into the film side of it, and
35:35
Speaker 1: your self talk and this whole arena. So it's a
35:37
Speaker 1: lot of authentic and and you know, you're doing things
35:40
Speaker 1: on film that people go, you're not supposed to do
35:42
Speaker 1: it that way. Well, that's the way I want to
35:43
Speaker 1: do it, you know, I want to shoot it that way.
35:45
Speaker 1: And that brings out an element of of of of freshness,
35:49
Speaker 1: I want to say. And I'm watching you talk and
35:51
Speaker 1: watching you you participate to be a part of because
35:54
Speaker 1: you know, you know, you are on screen as well
35:57
Speaker 1: as behind the screen. You're right, and you're directing. But
36:00
Speaker 1: like they said, man, black man, make it, white man,
36:02
Speaker 1: take it man man, and um, yeah, man, you you know,
36:09
Speaker 1: first of all, not only this is a dope interview
36:11
Speaker 1: just because it's a dope interview, but you know, I've
36:13
Speaker 1: done so many of these. But it's just the fact
36:15
Speaker 1: that I see you really are picking up on things
36:18
Speaker 1: that I've put in the film. And it's cool when
36:20
Speaker 1: because people see things on the surface level, but I
36:22
Speaker 1: really appreciate the fact that you kind of see the
36:25
Speaker 1: in depth things that it's not traditional filming. It's not
36:27
Speaker 1: traditional camera angles. But the same way Spike Lee has
36:31
Speaker 1: that Dolly effect and he brought something new to the game,
36:34
Speaker 1: I think with our camera angles and with our our cool,
36:37
Speaker 1: you know, unapologetic take on filming and storytelling that we
36:41
Speaker 1: do bring something a different to the industry and being
36:43
Speaker 1: self taught, uh, you know has a lot to do
36:46
Speaker 1: with that. So it's I appreciate you really seeing that
36:49
Speaker 1: because we we pride ourselves on being original and on
36:52
Speaker 1: being unique and telling our stories in a different way.
36:55
Speaker 1: You know. Well, you know, general just laughing because as
36:58
Speaker 1: I as I interview, I'm just going through different parts
37:01
Speaker 1: of the of the movie. And uh, before I even
37:04
Speaker 1: get in detail, tell everybody about the movie, and tell
37:07
Speaker 1: everybody why you made the movie. Second, let's make sure
37:09
Speaker 1: they're separate, responsive well about the movie and why you
37:13
Speaker 1: made the movie. And we're talked about the white Plight. Okay,
37:18
Speaker 1: So it's a wonderful flight about the movie. It's a movie.
37:20
Speaker 1: It's a hip hop musical, and it takes Scott a
37:24
Speaker 1: character with Joseph the hotel who's you know, kind of
37:27
Speaker 1: like this woke spirit. It's kind of like it's a
37:29
Speaker 1: wonderful Life meets a Christmas Carol, but instead of going
37:32
Speaker 1: through the ghost of Christmas past President Future, we're taking
37:35
Speaker 1: the character through you know, woke past President future, like
37:39
Speaker 1: taking them through the Atlantic slave trade, taking them through
37:42
Speaker 1: the civil rights movement, and you know, modern day gentrification,
37:46
Speaker 1: et cetera. Just to enlightened, because I think a lot
37:49
Speaker 1: of times people and white people are ignorant um to
37:52
Speaker 1: these facts. You know, So basically about the film, let
37:55
Speaker 1: me start with stay with about the film, but that
37:57
Speaker 1: that's pretty much the gist and at the end, the
37:59
Speaker 1: whole thing. What we're calling it is ally training to
38:02
Speaker 1: help Scott to some of his biases and prejudices that
38:06
Speaker 1: he may not even know knew that he had, in
38:08
Speaker 1: order to create an ally and in order to really
38:11
Speaker 1: make a better world. And the reason that I made
38:13
Speaker 1: it is because if I can start there, I think
38:16
Speaker 1: racism is a problem that black people didn't create, right,
38:20
Speaker 1: But we're always tasked with reading ourselves over what can
38:22
Speaker 1: we do to end racism? What can we We didn't
38:25
Speaker 1: create it? And I got that from uh Daniel Calue,
38:27
Speaker 1: I I hate he's one of my favorite actors. I
38:29
Speaker 1: hope I'm not pronouncing his name wrong, and if I am,
38:31
Speaker 1: I need to get it right. But it's just that
38:33
Speaker 1: whole fact, like we didn't create it, So we're targeting,
38:37
Speaker 1: you know, in instance, the people and the ancestors who
38:40
Speaker 1: created it, so that they can be tasked with knowing
38:43
Speaker 1: what they can do to help, you know, make make
38:45
Speaker 1: this a better world. But at the same time, you know,
38:47
Speaker 1: we did make it for for We made it for us.
38:50
Speaker 1: We were unapologetic. We wanted to make something for us.
38:53
Speaker 1: Like it was a lot of people like, hey, you know,
38:56
Speaker 1: I know that this is an inndie film, but if
38:58
Speaker 1: you want to get it here, you may need to
38:59
Speaker 1: do this to appease this certain group or peas this
39:01
Speaker 1: certain group. We didn't do that at all. We were like, hey,
39:04
Speaker 1: this is what we're gonna make. They're gonna either get
39:06
Speaker 1: with it or it's the right. People don't get with it.
39:08
Speaker 1: And and if you know people that don't get with it,
39:11
Speaker 1: it wasn't for them. I think black people have the
39:13
Speaker 1: right to make films that are for them Hollywood, and
39:15
Speaker 1: white people don't have to, you know, you know, Taylor
39:19
Speaker 1: their stuff too, you know, for the masses, they just
39:21
Speaker 1: make it and you have to get with it. So
39:22
Speaker 1: it's fair for us to have those same type of films.
39:25
Speaker 1: And that's it's a wonderful plight. Well, I'll be telling you,
39:27
Speaker 1: first of all, apologize. I said white plight. It's a
39:29
Speaker 1: wonderful plight. It's the name of the movie. I mean
39:31
Speaker 1: of you and j Rhodes straight out of Dallas, Texas,
39:34
Speaker 1: And there's some funny moments in this movie throughout. I
39:38
Speaker 1: always tell people sometimes you can deliver a message through
39:41
Speaker 1: humor because of my background is a comedian. But truth
39:44
Speaker 1: comes out of humor because you're taking it, You're getting
39:46
Speaker 1: it from somewhere. I'm telling you, you can't tell the joke.
39:48
Speaker 1: The joke came from something you saw, something you experienced
39:52
Speaker 1: in common. You just bend it. So when the information
39:55
Speaker 1: comes out, it's funny. Now. One of the at the
39:58
Speaker 1: fairy top of the movie, the character says Scott. Scott
40:02
Speaker 1: is the typical. He's into the black culture. His roommates
40:06
Speaker 1: say he loves the black culture. But his roommate even
40:09
Speaker 1: questions him, but he denies it. So when he goes
40:13
Speaker 1: on this journey led by the character that Jay Rhodes plays,
40:18
Speaker 1: he starts to get insight on things that he are
40:21
Speaker 1: typically let me slover they down. When you watch CNN,
40:26
Speaker 1: CNN will make you believe that are especially Fox News,
40:29
Speaker 1: that make you believe that all black people are welfare,
40:32
Speaker 1: all black people out there, committee crimes, all black only
40:35
Speaker 1: black people are in jail. That's the story they want
40:37
Speaker 1: to tell because it strikes fear and it can resonate
40:41
Speaker 1: with a certain audience that they want to watch their network,
40:44
Speaker 1: especially on Fox News. And so your journey is tapping
40:48
Speaker 1: into somebody a character that says he's pro black, as
40:52
Speaker 1: you say an ally, but as he goes through and
40:55
Speaker 1: one of the great questions at the very top was gentrification.
40:59
Speaker 1: And he as fonse and you said, and this is
41:01
Speaker 1: a long paul this is what I'm talking about, just
41:04
Speaker 1: doing stuff that he would do that nobody would tell him.
41:07
Speaker 1: It's a long Paulity go man, I'm gonna slap you.
41:10
Speaker 1: Based on his response, that is so funny to me
41:14
Speaker 1: because that is so real. And so when you when
41:17
Speaker 1: you're developing these these relationships with the actor on screen,
41:20
Speaker 1: talk about Scott's character, because he is white in real life,
41:24
Speaker 1: what did he learned from the script and the journey
41:28
Speaker 1: that this movie put him on in real life? Well,
41:32
Speaker 1: in real life. The funny thing and I'm gonna be
41:35
Speaker 1: a little short weeded, but it's funny that you asked
41:37
Speaker 1: that the more interviews were having the more it's getting unveiled.
41:40
Speaker 1: To be totally honest, and we're working that out. But
41:43
Speaker 1: in real life he passed out our training. I mean
41:46
Speaker 1: in um, in the movie, he passed out our training
41:48
Speaker 1: and we thought everything was good, but there was some
41:50
Speaker 1: situations before the film blew up that in real life,
41:54
Speaker 1: I think he failed out our training. Like on our tour,
41:57
Speaker 1: we haven't been as this movie is receiving so much success,
42:01
Speaker 1: you know, um, uh, the actor who played Scotty Brian,
42:05
Speaker 1: he hasn't been you know, with us on a tour, etcetera.
42:07
Speaker 1: Because there was a lot of things where you know,
42:11
Speaker 1: I think it's uh, I don't know exactly what happened,
42:15
Speaker 1: but there were some there were some things we were
42:17
Speaker 1: where we had had a falling out because of some
42:20
Speaker 1: of the messaging when we knew what the messenger was
42:22
Speaker 1: gonna be before. But as the film you know, developed,
42:25
Speaker 1: and as he really in real life knew what he
42:27
Speaker 1: was taking on before the success of course and how
42:29
Speaker 1: big it was gonna be, it got a little scary
42:31
Speaker 1: for him. So to be totally honest, the film actually
42:36
Speaker 1: was imitating life because in the real world, once it
42:39
Speaker 1: really came to like really the whole thing about It's
42:43
Speaker 1: a wonderful play is white people putting down their privileges
42:47
Speaker 1: and accepting the scars figuratively that our people have told literally. Yes,
42:52
Speaker 1: So there was artwork where you know, just and you
42:56
Speaker 1: you're getting exclusive because you deserve it. If there was artwork,
42:59
Speaker 1: initial art work that we were gonna put out that
43:01
Speaker 1: had like a white man, it was it was graphic,
43:04
Speaker 1: but we ended up not going with it because it
43:05
Speaker 1: wasn't the tenor of the film. But we were experimenting
43:08
Speaker 1: and it was a white man with slashes on his
43:09
Speaker 1: back spelled out It's a wonderful play and it wasn't
43:12
Speaker 1: to be. Uh. The whole point of it, even though
43:15
Speaker 1: it was graphic, was like, if you want to be
43:17
Speaker 1: an allied, this is the stuff that you have to endure.
43:19
Speaker 1: You have to take the figurative lashes of slavery and
43:22
Speaker 1: the figurative lashes that our ancestors received. He was very
43:26
Speaker 1: upset and hurt by the artwork, and it was more like, hey,
43:28
Speaker 1: you know, it's just expression. And secondly, even if you
43:31
Speaker 1: were upset, we can talk about it. Thirdly, the whole
43:33
Speaker 1: point is that you passed that love training in the film.
43:36
Speaker 1: But it's also like in the real world, if you're
43:40
Speaker 1: so upset by these figurative lashes of some artwork that
43:42
Speaker 1: nobody has not even yet seen, like, then how do
43:46
Speaker 1: you think that me and my ancestors feel about the
43:49
Speaker 1: literal of lashes that we have gotten, even to this
43:52
Speaker 1: day were getting, you know, unlawfully killed by police brutality
43:57
Speaker 1: and unfairly prisoned. That a more him in rates. So
44:01
Speaker 1: that's a great question, and I can go all day
44:03
Speaker 1: on that God bless him as an actor than I'm
44:06
Speaker 1: very thankful for him contributing his skill set to this film.
44:10
Speaker 1: But it's still I think we're all still healing from
44:13
Speaker 1: a lot of things that this that this film has
44:15
Speaker 1: brought about, when we were having to face real truths. Well,
44:18
Speaker 1: you know, as you said, Jay Rose, I'm into this movie.
44:21
Speaker 1: Come into who you are. And that's why the questions
44:24
Speaker 1: in my background allows me to ask the question I
44:27
Speaker 1: asked about the actor, because it's it's different when you
44:31
Speaker 1: get into the moment. You can listen to the music,
44:33
Speaker 1: you can walk away. He's he's he's he's um constructive
44:37
Speaker 1: work of art. Like I was talking about wife and
44:39
Speaker 1: she was saying, we always noticed how many interracial couples
44:41
Speaker 1: are more commercial TV. Commercials not look at TV. Remember
44:45
Speaker 1: just five years ago when they got mad when on
44:47
Speaker 1: the Cheerios when the little white kid woke up up,
44:50
Speaker 1: the little kid woke up the dad and the mom
44:52
Speaker 1: was white. Now they were mad at that five years ago.
44:54
Speaker 1: Now you can't turn on TV and not see interracial opportunities, relationship,
44:58
Speaker 1: land in bed, telling mattresses, buying calls, eating, had birds together.
45:02
Speaker 1: Because that's where we're at. And so let's go back
45:05
Speaker 1: to twenty and this was the reality of black and white,
45:09
Speaker 1: the George Floyd's situation. When that happened, I can tell
45:12
Speaker 1: you I got a number of calls from white people,
45:15
Speaker 1: people who I do business with, people call me their
45:18
Speaker 1: friends who were stunned. And that's what your character is
45:22
Speaker 1: in this a wonderful plight. He stunned because he thought
45:27
Speaker 1: he understood black culture through the music. He thought he
45:30
Speaker 1: understood the pain, he thought he understood the racism. And
45:33
Speaker 1: that's the beauty of your movie is that you're telling
45:37
Speaker 1: people you have to experience it. If you want to
45:40
Speaker 1: know how it feels, the living the hood, Come living
45:42
Speaker 1: the hood. You want to how to experience. But unless
45:44
Speaker 1: you change your skin color, you will never truly understand
45:47
Speaker 1: the burden that we care. That's powerful. J Roods. That's
45:50
Speaker 1: really powerful, man, it is, and it's it's a blessing
45:55
Speaker 1: because this is the beginning of just the strong descent
45:58
Speaker 1: and to this this um just the way the film
46:00
Speaker 1: is gone worldwide. So it feels good to you know,
46:04
Speaker 1: hear from people like you that understand why I did
46:06
Speaker 1: it and appreciate why I did it, and appreciate the
46:09
Speaker 1: messaging and get it, you know what I mean. It's
46:12
Speaker 1: like and people can get it on a lot of
46:14
Speaker 1: different levels. Like it's some people that get it on
46:15
Speaker 1: the first tier level, like the music is great and
46:17
Speaker 1: he's talking about certain things, but it's people like you
46:20
Speaker 1: that get it on all the different layers, and that's
46:22
Speaker 1: even more rewarding. But I'm happy that we got to
46:25
Speaker 1: put this work of art out into the world because
46:27
Speaker 1: if you think about any revolution that has started and
46:30
Speaker 1: anything culture that has changed, it has come from the arts,
46:33
Speaker 1: you know, the arts and spearheaded that. So it's like
46:36
Speaker 1: I think in this day and age, they fooled us
46:38
Speaker 1: to think that slavery was gone and and and and
46:41
Speaker 1: things were gone, but they're still there, they're just you know, hidden.
46:44
Speaker 1: I think you know some administrations that help it come
46:46
Speaker 1: out more on the forefront, but art like this, where
46:49
Speaker 1: people appreciate and they get it's really going to help
46:52
Speaker 1: move the culture and really help spark a conversation, and
46:56
Speaker 1: not just the conversation because I think I'm not opposed
46:59
Speaker 1: to march. I'm not opposed to conversations, but I'm just
47:02
Speaker 1: my thing is I'm opposed to going on the hamster
47:05
Speaker 1: wheel and the merry go round. Right, It's time for
47:07
Speaker 1: things to really change. It's time for us to really
47:09
Speaker 1: get what we want. As much as I love June tenth,
47:12
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to go on the tangent, but now
47:13
Speaker 1: I'm just speaking from the heart. As much as June
47:15
Speaker 1: teink is close to me, we didn't. It's cool that
47:17
Speaker 1: it's a national holiday. That's not what we ask for.
47:20
Speaker 1: We'll take it, we'll take the day off, but we
47:22
Speaker 1: ask them for reparations, to be asking for fairir treatment
47:25
Speaker 1: and we're just asking to be equal. And they're lucky,
47:28
Speaker 1: like man, I forget this video, that's all. They're lucky
47:30
Speaker 1: that we're just asking for equality and not revenge. And
47:33
Speaker 1: as you know, what I'm saying, so not to just
47:35
Speaker 1: go too harder to It's time for real changes and
47:38
Speaker 1: in our art, in our raptivism, and then everything we do,
47:42
Speaker 1: we need to be expressing that. So I'm just so
47:44
Speaker 1: happy that this music is getting I mean that this
47:47
Speaker 1: movie is getting the lightshed on it that it should
47:49
Speaker 1: well you know the thing about it, And thank you
47:51
Speaker 1: for those comments, and uh echo the sentiment of what
47:54
Speaker 1: you're saying. You know, it's like you know you can.
47:57
Speaker 1: We're so humble because we don't want to get pushed
47:59
Speaker 1: in the page or kick in the faith by asking
48:01
Speaker 1: for too much of what we rightfully deserve because guess what,
48:03
Speaker 1: we're already getting kicked and we're not even asking. Okay,
48:07
Speaker 1: so you know what I'm saying. So if you start
48:10
Speaker 1: to ask, what happens? Then can I go at my home?
48:13
Speaker 1: It's somebody waiting to take me out because I want
48:15
Speaker 1: to make a little noise about what I deserve. But
48:18
Speaker 1: in music, music is a beautiful thing, and that's that's
48:21
Speaker 1: your base, that's where you your your your fame grew
48:24
Speaker 1: as a producer. But music is always given activists or
48:29
Speaker 1: civil rights leaders or black movements a voice, and the
48:33
Speaker 1: music has some ways. You know, when you go in
48:35
Speaker 1: the sixties, and then when this co came out, all
48:38
Speaker 1: activism music died. They had nothing to say that we
48:42
Speaker 1: brought back activism was basically rap music, okay, and it
48:47
Speaker 1: brought it back. It brought it back with forced and
48:49
Speaker 1: so it's creamed the plight up the ghetto. This is
48:52
Speaker 1: how we live. This is what's happening to us. Just
48:54
Speaker 1: a police treating us and everybody. And they pushed back
48:57
Speaker 1: on that. And now when I see what you're doing
49:00
Speaker 1: out with film, that's why, that's why I have to
49:02
Speaker 1: be a complimentary of you. You're just taking a gift
49:05
Speaker 1: that you you have. You have, you have honed in
49:07
Speaker 1: music and listened and live. Now you're putting it on
49:11
Speaker 1: the screen. Man, that's beautiful work. Brother. You cannot stop
49:14
Speaker 1: j Rhoades. You can't just start of what you're meant
49:18
Speaker 1: to do. Music will always be a basis. I'm telling something.
49:21
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about the music, but the music is
49:23
Speaker 1: cold outstand that out and here's the beauty of his music.
49:28
Speaker 1: He's teaching you, he's educating you with the music. I'm like, man,
49:33
Speaker 1: you know, you know, you know I'm older Neusic, I
49:36
Speaker 1: gotta play stuff back. A couple of times. You get
49:39
Speaker 1: the lyrics right there saying, but man, your cold sold
49:42
Speaker 1: your brother, you're a cold sol thank you my brother,
49:44
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you so much man. That means everything.
49:48
Speaker 1: And speaking of the music, um, most of the music
49:52
Speaker 1: was made first before he wrote the script, Like that's
49:55
Speaker 1: what happened. So we built the script around the music,
49:58
Speaker 1: and that's why the music is the center. But that's
50:01
Speaker 1: why it all connects together. But I did the song
50:03
Speaker 1: about the rest is Soul God blessed the Dead of
50:05
Speaker 1: both John. I wrote that one on the spot because
50:09
Speaker 1: we weren't even gonna do a song about it, but
50:10
Speaker 1: we wanted to pay pop proper and a respectful tribute
50:13
Speaker 1: to his situation in his family. We didn't want to
50:16
Speaker 1: make it a trauma porn, but we did want to
50:19
Speaker 1: talk about the situation. And like we we wrote it
50:23
Speaker 1: or I wrote it like the Fresh Prince of bel Air,
50:25
Speaker 1: but in the very you know, because it's it's it's
50:26
Speaker 1: that just just this position and um kind of like
50:30
Speaker 1: the contradiction of the Fresh Prince of bell Air kind
50:32
Speaker 1: of song. But at the same time we're talking, we're
50:35
Speaker 1: rapping in the light hand party manner about something so
50:38
Speaker 1: serious and so vow just being in your home, minding
50:42
Speaker 1: your business and becoming a criminal and getting killed. And
50:46
Speaker 1: so I say that to say the music is, uh,
50:48
Speaker 1: most of it was wrote before the film. Some things
50:51
Speaker 1: were created after, but even some of the other artists
50:53
Speaker 1: that contributed their music from Us Side of the Goddess
50:56
Speaker 1: to Van del andrew Um and my boy Clayborn mixed
50:59
Speaker 1: a lot of the joints. Whether I'm missing I apologize
51:01
Speaker 1: blaming on my mind, not my heart, but it all
51:04
Speaker 1: it made a great musical palette and I love it
51:07
Speaker 1: because it's in that statement. I'm not even a big
51:10
Speaker 1: fan of traditional musicals, you know, I like them, They okay,
51:14
Speaker 1: But I didn't want this to come off corny or musically.
51:18
Speaker 1: I wanted to be more of a film that was
51:21
Speaker 1: assisted by music. And I'm gonna be making a part two,
51:24
Speaker 1: and I think that's the same formula that I'm gonna
51:26
Speaker 1: do because it's a lot of people that aren't even
51:28
Speaker 1: big fans of musicals that really love this. And I
51:30
Speaker 1: think it's because the music is so hard and so
51:33
Speaker 1: you know, real, and and it's it's just like like
51:36
Speaker 1: a hip hop musical and that's why I titled that.
51:38
Speaker 1: But it's like, you know, man, um, it's just beautiful music.
51:42
Speaker 1: You know. I'm talking to Jay Rhodes. His movie. It's
51:44
Speaker 1: a wonderful Plight. It's a hip hop musical that a
51:47
Speaker 1: tax systematic racism through songs and an authentic but lighthearted manner.
51:51
Speaker 1: And it's funny and it's it's fun it's dramatic, it's
51:54
Speaker 1: um a statement killer, it's a it's a journey through history.
51:58
Speaker 1: The project with from a mirror idea of being deemed
52:00
Speaker 1: not as being deemed one of the biggest movies of
52:02
Speaker 1: the summer by USA today. But let's talk about j
52:05
Speaker 1: Rhodes One Stop Shop is a director, editor, sound design
52:08
Speaker 1: and film score. This allows his vision to impeccably come
52:12
Speaker 1: to us. Here's a quote, I'm gonna reshape. His mission
52:15
Speaker 1: is to tell his story and the story of our
52:18
Speaker 1: people and your unique, creative, forward thinking and empowering way.
52:23
Speaker 1: That's j Rhodes. You are a blessing, my friend, You
52:26
Speaker 1: are a giving your brother your talents. Please keep me
52:28
Speaker 1: in a little with you, Mary. I want to promote
52:30
Speaker 1: and hype anything you do and if you if if
52:33
Speaker 1: something comes out, J Rhodes and I don't know about
52:35
Speaker 1: it to it in forty miles separates Houston from Dallas.
52:40
Speaker 1: Last come come for I'm coming. I'm come on fight.
52:45
Speaker 1: Just let you know I know how fall you off
52:47
Speaker 1: from Houston. I definitely can get down there on Delta
52:50
Speaker 1: Airlines from Atlanta, Georgia, because you especially have to worry
52:53
Speaker 1: about that. You're gonna have to worry about Atlanta. You're like,
52:57
Speaker 1: you're gonna anything that I do, You're gonna be tapped
52:59
Speaker 1: in it. Um. I really appreciate you and thank you
53:02
Speaker 1: for having me. Man again, man, uh, I'm you know
53:05
Speaker 1: Amazon Prime. I'm watching that tonight, checking it out with
53:09
Speaker 1: my family. My daughter, she's she says, she's in college.
53:11
Speaker 1: She needs to see this. Everybody needs to see this.
53:13
Speaker 1: But more importantly, we need to find out who are
53:16
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Speaker 1: to money Making Conversations with your host, Rashaan McDonald. My
56:12
Speaker 1: next guest is Victor Dura Jr. He's the president and
56:15
Speaker 1: the executive director of broad Mentorship dot org. Victor is
56:19
Speaker 1: a nonprofit leader, a nonprofit leader and has been recognized
56:23
Speaker 1: on numerous occasions for its community development work. Victor recently
56:26
Speaker 1: received the one Community Leadership Award from Atlanta Entertainment, Basketball
56:32
Speaker 1: League and Slam Magazine for his work with athletes and mentoring.
56:35
Speaker 1: He is currently attending Clemson University and plans to receive
56:39
Speaker 1: his master's in Public Administrations and serves on the board
56:42
Speaker 1: for Habitat for Humanity. Victor has been recognized three consecutive
56:46
Speaker 1: years as a top professional in the nonprofit field by
56:49
Speaker 1: the Spartanburg and South Carolina. Just let everybody know we're
56:52
Speaker 1: gonna talk to the South Carolina ball here, Chamber of Commerce.
56:55
Speaker 1: Please welcome the President and executive director of broad as
56:59
Speaker 1: b R. You H b R, you H Mentorship dot Org.
57:03
Speaker 1: Victor Dura Jr. My brother, how you doing? I'm doing good, brother,
57:09
Speaker 1: and I'm glad to be here today. I'll get here well.
57:12
Speaker 1: I'm doing well. Man. You know, just get out of
57:14
Speaker 1: the box. You know, we're both fraternity man. Man, we
57:18
Speaker 1: are both fraternity man. Okay to putting it out like that.
57:21
Speaker 1: But he just happens to be a member of Capasathe.
57:25
Speaker 1: That's all right, that's all right. I still love him
57:27
Speaker 1: all the cues, still love him. I love him. I'm
57:29
Speaker 1: an old dog. I love this young nude. But I
57:32
Speaker 1: just wanna get that because love and love. But you
57:36
Speaker 1: know the thing about the reason I wanted to bring
57:37
Speaker 1: that out to the top, because you know, the basis
57:39
Speaker 1: of all Black Greek fraternity is about community, is about uplift,
57:44
Speaker 1: is about brotherhood, and that is why they're they're found
57:47
Speaker 1: and plus education and mentorship and so a lot of people,
57:51
Speaker 1: it gets lost to a lot of people the core
57:53
Speaker 1: basis of what the black fraternities all because they hear
57:56
Speaker 1: by party and they're here by stepping. They're here about
57:59
Speaker 1: all these things walking in if your yard, you know,
58:01
Speaker 1: stuff like that, looking tough. Things like that tell us
58:03
Speaker 1: about your experience and the values that have been brought
58:06
Speaker 1: to you, positive values, because a lot of negative things
58:09
Speaker 1: you're always about the lawsuits or a bad played situation
58:12
Speaker 1: that they didn't go right. For students, which we don't
58:15
Speaker 1: that we don't agree upon, that we don't acknowledge that
58:18
Speaker 1: something that should happen in any black or white fraternity
58:21
Speaker 1: or sorority. But it is a lot of positive things
58:24
Speaker 1: that come out of joining an organization like the CALF
58:27
Speaker 1: APHA side as it is like Omega Sci Fire. But
58:30
Speaker 1: talk about your CALF experience that you had. I'm assuming
58:33
Speaker 1: it is at the Universal of South Carolina, University of
58:36
Speaker 1: South Carolina, upstate. Well man, it's not point to tell
58:43
Speaker 1: about your experience, So I'll tell you my first UM
58:50
Speaker 1: deep um and enriching experience with community service came UM
58:56
Speaker 1: from activities with CALP Alpha Side. I served as the
59:02
Speaker 1: Community Service Chairman also known as the God Right Chairman
59:06
Speaker 1: UH for three and a half years while I was
59:09
Speaker 1: in college. And to be honest with you, when you
59:14
Speaker 1: here BRO it stands for Brothers Restoring Urban Hope Incorporated.
59:20
Speaker 1: And when we started Brothers Restoring Urban Hope sixteen years ago,
59:25
Speaker 1: it was with our fraternity Brothers, So you know, on
59:29
Speaker 1: my campus, you know what I mean, we were known
59:31
Speaker 1: as the Brothers and UH and and we started out
59:37
Speaker 1: really coming together and providing mentoring opportunities for our campus
59:43
Speaker 1: through the fraternity and um we did it with bros
59:47
Speaker 1: when you think about it, and UM and even other
59:49
Speaker 1: fraternity So we do a lot of stuff with Omega
59:52
Speaker 1: sa fire, but we were founded on that principal achievement
59:56
Speaker 1: in every field of human endeavor. And you're right that
59:59
Speaker 1: does get lost, um when you think about fraternities. But
1:00:03
Speaker 1: that's where I found my passion. UM so soft the
1:00:07
Speaker 1: cop out facade and UM all the brothers um that
1:00:11
Speaker 1: that are out there serving. Yeah. You know like I tell,
1:00:14
Speaker 1: I tell all my friends, you know, telling that when
1:00:16
Speaker 1: I pleasure to make us out of fire, it directed me,
1:00:18
Speaker 1: It gave me vision. It really uh you know we
1:00:21
Speaker 1: always have a fire inside of us, victor a fire
1:00:24
Speaker 1: to just first of all, I find ourselves and when
1:00:27
Speaker 1: you're around other bros, which I really relate to because
1:00:31
Speaker 1: you know, you know that stuff this level have been
1:00:33
Speaker 1: out of a long time and the fact that you
1:00:35
Speaker 1: guys have turned it into b r U age bro
1:00:37
Speaker 1: is guided by the principle that all students, regardless of
1:00:40
Speaker 1: socio economic status, family dynamics, nationality, or past failures, deserve
1:00:46
Speaker 1: a chance at a bright future that we represents and
1:00:49
Speaker 1: you guys have built it out into an organization that's powerful.
1:00:53
Speaker 1: And like when I pledge, you know, getting with government chiefs,
1:00:56
Speaker 1: I would getting doing parties, you know, to give money
1:00:59
Speaker 1: to low local community organizations, and because that's what I
1:01:04
Speaker 1: was supposed to do now. But that doesn't mean that
1:01:07
Speaker 1: people see it that way. See they see it as
1:01:10
Speaker 1: a challenge. But I look at your resume, Victor, I
1:01:13
Speaker 1: don't see giving back as a challenge to you. Talk
1:01:16
Speaker 1: about your personality, my man, man UM, I've always um
1:01:22
Speaker 1: have been in fortunate situations. UM. I grew up UM
1:01:27
Speaker 1: in a single parent home. UM. I have two brothers,
1:01:31
Speaker 1: one older, one younger, UM, all who pledged cap Alfasa. UM.
1:01:36
Speaker 1: I actually pledged my younger brother through cap Alfasa. But
1:01:40
Speaker 1: I understand from from a long time ago that UM
1:01:45
Speaker 1: where I grew up at UM, things could have turned
1:01:48
Speaker 1: left real fast. And had I not had mentors and
1:01:53
Speaker 1: uh folks in my life, UM such as my my
1:01:56
Speaker 1: basketball coaches, UM, my pastor um um uh my my
1:02:02
Speaker 1: my real good friends UM that were kind of pointing
1:02:05
Speaker 1: us in the right direction of UM of doing more
1:02:09
Speaker 1: than just graduating high school and stand in the local
1:02:13
Speaker 1: town and and just doing whatever. UM. I understood early
1:02:18
Speaker 1: on that I had a responsibility once I got to
1:02:22
Speaker 1: a place, um of of some type of success, to
1:02:27
Speaker 1: to reach back and pour into my community. And I've
1:02:30
Speaker 1: always just had that about me. Um, and and it's
1:02:33
Speaker 1: and it's and it's morphed into a passion. So when
1:02:36
Speaker 1: I go to work, um, it's not work. Um, this
1:02:40
Speaker 1: is this is life. You know what I mean? This
1:02:42
Speaker 1: is this is easy. Every day is an adventure. When
1:02:45
Speaker 1: I wake up, um, to to serve. And that's in
1:02:48
Speaker 1: the community capacity, in the church and in the schools. Okay, cool. Now,
1:02:54
Speaker 1: when I when I looked at the mission, you know,
1:02:56
Speaker 1: because there's so much, it continued. One thing I liked
1:02:58
Speaker 1: about everything I read. It was like a continual thought.
1:03:02
Speaker 1: You know. You know that broke You didn't break mission
1:03:04
Speaker 1: And the word the mission is restoring the urban community
1:03:07
Speaker 1: through group membership, which goes back to our fraternity talk
1:03:10
Speaker 1: leadership trail, which we all knew. Hey, man, you learned
1:03:14
Speaker 1: leadership in the fraternity. You learned it. You know, Like
1:03:17
Speaker 1: I said, I'm not turning this into a pro fraternity,
1:03:20
Speaker 1: but I gotta go. We made us, man, maybe we
1:03:22
Speaker 1: made us be able to have these conversations as the
1:03:25
Speaker 1: reality that men came into our life. Who are strangers?
1:03:29
Speaker 1: And I said, they did all the right things. I
1:03:31
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong. Someone was stupid, Okay, you know
1:03:34
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about, Victors. Someone was stupid. But in
1:03:37
Speaker 1: the end, when you crossed and you became, when you
1:03:39
Speaker 1: was able to define yourself as a man victor and
1:03:42
Speaker 1: defining yourself and your other brothers listened to you and say, hey, man,
1:03:46
Speaker 1: we have a bigger calling, a bigger cause. And that's
1:03:49
Speaker 1: where you Also in your mission statement you talk about
1:03:51
Speaker 1: spiritual guidance. And that's the last thing you say in
1:03:55
Speaker 1: your mission statement. Why is that so important? Man um?
1:04:00
Speaker 1: Even though it's mentioned last, it's the most important piece
1:04:04
Speaker 1: Um of brothers restoring urban hope. When you think about hope,
1:04:11
Speaker 1: you think about the spirit of the man, and you
1:04:15
Speaker 1: gotta have a strong spirit. You gotta have a fighting spirit.
1:04:19
Speaker 1: You have to have a positive spirit. UM. You have
1:04:21
Speaker 1: to have a uh in my case, a spirit of
1:04:24
Speaker 1: God Um in order to have hope in this world
1:04:28
Speaker 1: that we live in. UM. So as we talk about
1:04:31
Speaker 1: building up the man um or or the female, because
1:04:34
Speaker 1: we serve females too. When you when you talk about
1:04:37
Speaker 1: building them up, UM, to teach them leadership skills UM
1:04:41
Speaker 1: to to teach them um or or try and mentor them.
1:04:46
Speaker 1: You you, you, you have to deal with the spirit
1:04:48
Speaker 1: of that person too, and that's that's their help UM,
1:04:51
Speaker 1: that's their mental spirit, that's their um. You know that spirituality,
1:04:57
Speaker 1: UM is everything that makes up that person. So we
1:04:59
Speaker 1: have to deal with that also, especially our young black
1:05:04
Speaker 1: African American brothers and sisters. We really have to deal
1:05:07
Speaker 1: with the spirit before we even start talking about restoring hole.
1:05:12
Speaker 1: You know, Victor, when I when I look at you,
1:05:14
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, I'm proud of you, Okay,
1:05:16
Speaker 1: proud of because you're younger than me. I always tell
1:05:18
Speaker 1: people my path is to make your path easier. And
1:05:21
Speaker 1: that's what you're doing for people in your mentorship campaigns
1:05:23
Speaker 1: male and female. And you know, being recognized for your
1:05:27
Speaker 1: community development work. You know, you're on the board of
1:05:29
Speaker 1: Habitaty Manner for Humanity. How does that? Um? You know,
1:05:34
Speaker 1: do you have time for anything? Bro? That's what I'm saying.
1:05:36
Speaker 1: You do you have time? You know? Because I'll just
1:05:39
Speaker 1: tell you I left out a lot of stuff. Okay,
1:05:41
Speaker 1: I just went through and say, okay, this is recognizable.
1:05:44
Speaker 1: You are a busy man. And your service, Victor is
1:05:48
Speaker 1: to the community. And then I go back to that
1:05:51
Speaker 1: because that gets lost because when I grew up, you know,
1:05:55
Speaker 1: there were people who I grew up in the hood
1:05:57
Speaker 1: with the filth war Texas and we moved to a
1:06:00
Speaker 1: at the hood, you know, because you know, it was
1:06:02
Speaker 1: just so much money didn't get you out of the
1:06:03
Speaker 1: original hood. But along the way, there were teachers who
1:06:08
Speaker 1: kept me right, you know, told me you you you unique,
1:06:11
Speaker 1: you have unique skills. Who are the people who kept
1:06:16
Speaker 1: you focused early on you know, like because I know
1:06:19
Speaker 1: I can tell you, for I can tell you my
1:06:21
Speaker 1: sixth grade teacher stopped me in the hallway. I can
1:06:24
Speaker 1: remember that very clearly. I can remember my eighth grade
1:06:26
Speaker 1: teacher always used to just pour into me knowledge. I
1:06:30
Speaker 1: can remember my band instructor, you know, Mr. King, I
1:06:34
Speaker 1: can remember Ms. Trailer who is my biology teacher. M
1:06:37
Speaker 1: Ms Nelson who is my math teaching. I hated math
1:06:40
Speaker 1: and my degree in college math okay, And so so
1:06:43
Speaker 1: these people poured into me, and now you're pouring into
1:06:46
Speaker 1: the community who poured into you, Victor, um, I had
1:06:52
Speaker 1: three uh phases in life where I can point back
1:06:56
Speaker 1: to that were very impactful. It was my basketball career.
1:07:03
Speaker 1: When I was in high school, UM, getting ready to
1:07:06
Speaker 1: go to college and get my first scholarship playing basketball. UM,
1:07:10
Speaker 1: I had a coach that that really really showed tough love. UM.
1:07:16
Speaker 1: He didn't let me off the hook for anything. His
1:07:18
Speaker 1: name is Coach how McManus, UM, and I still remember
1:07:23
Speaker 1: vividly the first camp UM that he put me out
1:07:28
Speaker 1: of because I had some disciplinary issues and but but one,
1:07:34
Speaker 1: but what but what he did was put his foot down.
1:07:37
Speaker 1: And now I looked back on it, he was teaching
1:07:39
Speaker 1: me a lesson of discipline. And when I was at
1:07:42
Speaker 1: home waiting for everybody else to come back from Kemp,
1:07:45
Speaker 1: all I kept winding back in my mind was, Man,
1:07:49
Speaker 1: I'm missing out on an opportunity. And he didn't give
1:07:52
Speaker 1: up on me. You know what I mean that they
1:07:54
Speaker 1: came back, They checked up on me once everybody got back.
1:07:57
Speaker 1: But I learned my lesson early. UM. I had another mentor.
1:08:02
Speaker 1: His name is Jermaine Grave. He's actually a brove George. UM,
1:08:05
Speaker 1: He's a he's an omega and he was one of
1:08:09
Speaker 1: the guys in the neighborhood that actually UM graduated with
1:08:13
Speaker 1: honors and went off to college. So that was somebody
1:08:16
Speaker 1: that we were able to look at and see like wow,
1:08:20
Speaker 1: he did it. And he took me under his wing,
1:08:23
Speaker 1: and he told me a long time ago, he told me,
1:08:26
Speaker 1: and we still had his conversation to his day. He said,
1:08:29
Speaker 1: you always had that leadership um quality. And he said,
1:08:34
Speaker 1: it's up to you, you know how far you go.
1:08:37
Speaker 1: And I just remember taking us to church and you know,
1:08:41
Speaker 1: really showing us what college life was like on his campus.
1:08:45
Speaker 1: And then third and then that third phase was in
1:08:48
Speaker 1: my work field, which was one of the most important
1:08:51
Speaker 1: phases that I went through. I worked in corporate um
1:08:54
Speaker 1: for a little bit about eight and a half years,
1:08:57
Speaker 1: but I met two young I met two brothers is UM.
1:09:00
Speaker 1: One of them is your fraternity brother and M and
1:09:03
Speaker 1: another one UM is in management, still with the same company.
1:09:09
Speaker 1: But they always would tell me, don't ever ever ever
1:09:14
Speaker 1: put your hope in man. Don't you ever do it,
1:09:17
Speaker 1: especially in this arena. And and they taught me how
1:09:20
Speaker 1: to play the game. They taught me how to speak
1:09:23
Speaker 1: the language. They taught me how to not be so
1:09:26
Speaker 1: uh caught up in my feelings per se with certain
1:09:30
Speaker 1: things that were going on in the workplace, but to
1:09:33
Speaker 1: always outthink, um, your oppressive and those kinds of things
1:09:38
Speaker 1: right there help me maneuver in the space that I'm
1:09:42
Speaker 1: in now as far as relationship building, working in on
1:09:46
Speaker 1: the professional setting, and also giving that knowledge back to
1:09:50
Speaker 1: some of our youth UM that are headed into college
1:09:53
Speaker 1: and or graduating UM college. So as I think about
1:09:57
Speaker 1: those three phases, those are five people that I can
1:10:01
Speaker 1: say we'll be on the shadow of a doubt, I
1:10:03
Speaker 1: still stay in touch with to this data out of
1:10:06
Speaker 1: a major impact on my life. Cool. I'm talking to
1:10:08
Speaker 1: Victor dorra jr. Uh. You know, he's the president executive
1:10:11
Speaker 1: director of a broad mentorship dot org. Now I'm kind
1:10:14
Speaker 1: of confused, now, brought I gotta be really honest about this.
1:10:17
Speaker 1: He just mentioned to Omega Man. But they were valuable
1:10:22
Speaker 1: in his life that pointed him in the right direction.
1:10:25
Speaker 1: But obviously he came here. Obviously he was directed by
1:10:29
Speaker 1: his older brother who told him new part that he
1:10:35
Speaker 1: became up. I'm trying to figure that out. I just
1:10:37
Speaker 1: had to bring that out. He's gonna mention to another
1:10:40
Speaker 1: mega MANA give you credit that to Omega Man kept
1:10:43
Speaker 1: me on the right track. But man, that's important. That's why,
1:10:46
Speaker 1: that's why it's so beautiful you to say that, because
1:10:49
Speaker 1: at the beginning of our interview, I was just talking
1:10:51
Speaker 1: about the role that fraternal men played in the community
1:10:55
Speaker 1: that we don't get credit for. Not that we're looking
1:10:57
Speaker 1: for credit, don't get me wrong, but they're so many
1:11:00
Speaker 1: like HBCUs get that don't give respect for the education
1:11:04
Speaker 1: that they provide and the people that they have working
1:11:06
Speaker 1: in this country and just changing the conference of the country. Now,
1:11:10
Speaker 1: education still is important to you. Now you went to
1:11:12
Speaker 1: the University of South Carolina. Is that the game Cocks?
1:11:16
Speaker 1: That's the game car Okay, cool, I'm trying to figure out.
1:11:19
Speaker 1: I gotta lit you, Victor. Now you're over at Clemson.
1:11:22
Speaker 1: How are you doing all this? Man? How you getting
1:11:25
Speaker 1: help from the brothers of Megasi fire? You're going to
1:11:28
Speaker 1: your versus South Carolina. Now you're over Clemson University? You
1:11:30
Speaker 1: all over the place? Victor talked to me, Man, what's
1:11:33
Speaker 1: going on with you? Benny? Um? So so so at
1:11:37
Speaker 1: HEREFC up State, which is UH an extension of USC,
1:11:43
Speaker 1: but it's here in my hometown and Spartanburg. That's where
1:11:48
Speaker 1: I got my nonprofit administration and management. Um, that's how
1:11:53
Speaker 1: I got into the field. Um that I'm am in
1:11:56
Speaker 1: today and with Clemson UM they haven't excellent UM UM
1:12:03
Speaker 1: Master MP a program that focuses on nonprofit UM work,
1:12:08
Speaker 1: and so it was just a good match UM for
1:12:12
Speaker 1: for the skill set that I'm looking for UM as
1:12:15
Speaker 1: far as nonprofit work goes and the administrative space. Now, now,
1:12:19
Speaker 1: why do you have to go further with the academic training?
1:12:22
Speaker 1: When we say, hey, man, you got all easily. You
1:12:25
Speaker 1: get an awards for what you're accomplishing. You know you
1:12:28
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're fluent, your articulate, you have a
1:12:31
Speaker 1: you know where you're going with your life. Why does
1:12:33
Speaker 1: want you to continue education in this platform? Right? UM?
1:12:38
Speaker 1: So when you think about nonprofit work UM. I know
1:12:42
Speaker 1: a lot of people think about the services UM. A
1:12:45
Speaker 1: lot of people think about UM. You know, the the
1:12:49
Speaker 1: volunteers UM. A lot of people think about UM the
1:12:53
Speaker 1: ways that different nonprofits affect people's life UM. But when
1:12:59
Speaker 1: you talk to a lot of nonprofit professionals in the
1:13:02
Speaker 1: administration UM space, UM, you'll hear UM lingos such as
1:13:08
Speaker 1: grant writing, capacity, a building, UM. You'll hear lingos such
1:13:14
Speaker 1: as UM you know, fundraising, endowments UM. A lot of
1:13:19
Speaker 1: back house administrative work UM that that comes with the
1:13:23
Speaker 1: different I R s UM, UM stipulations and things on
1:13:30
Speaker 1: raising money. And that's those are our our specialties UM
1:13:37
Speaker 1: and our skill set UM that a lot of our
1:13:40
Speaker 1: African American UM nonprofit professionals UM. And it's you know,
1:13:46
Speaker 1: it's it's across the board UM. From an equity standpoint,
1:13:51
Speaker 1: we don't have a lot of those skills UM. And
1:13:56
Speaker 1: we have a lot of good works UM. We have
1:13:59
Speaker 1: a lot of great programs and we run a lot
1:14:02
Speaker 1: of good programs UM. But when you look at the
1:14:05
Speaker 1: fundraising and the amount of money that is out there,
1:14:09
Speaker 1: you really have to know your stuff. UM. You really
1:14:12
Speaker 1: have to understand what you're getting into UM when you're
1:14:16
Speaker 1: trying to raise you know, to three million dollars a year,
1:14:20
Speaker 1: which is ultimately, uh my goal for our nonprofits. So
1:14:24
Speaker 1: I just want to be ahead of the game, especially
1:14:29
Speaker 1: UM in the movement that we're in right now, the
1:14:32
Speaker 1: post COVID UM slash Black Lives Matter movement where they're
1:14:37
Speaker 1: looking for African American all run organizations that have their
1:14:41
Speaker 1: stuff together. And we just want to make sure that
1:14:44
Speaker 1: we're in a in a place and in a space
1:14:46
Speaker 1: where we're comfortable when you say, hey, Vick, I got
1:14:51
Speaker 1: a million dollars I want to give to you. Can
1:14:53
Speaker 1: you do you have the capacity? Do you have the
1:14:56
Speaker 1: knowledge base? Do you have the skill set to even
1:14:58
Speaker 1: manage that? So that's what I've dedicated my education towards
1:15:04
Speaker 1: um really understanding the space and and being a master
1:15:09
Speaker 1: of my faith and the captain of my soul. Victor, Hey, man,
1:15:18
Speaker 1: anything I can do? Come on now, you have me
1:15:24
Speaker 1: in a minute for I'm being limp. I love it, man,
1:15:28
Speaker 1: I'm glad you've joined the interview, man, because I appreciate
1:15:31
Speaker 1: your youth, your spirit. We talked about the mission of
1:15:34
Speaker 1: broad Membership dot org. Now the vision, you know, the
1:15:37
Speaker 1: vision is through your mentory program. You desire to make
1:15:40
Speaker 1: personal connections that inspired those in the urban communities to
1:15:44
Speaker 1: discover who they are. And that's important because sometimes I know,
1:15:48
Speaker 1: you know, all I can see, man, what I saw
1:15:50
Speaker 1: on TV or what happened down the street. And sometimes
1:15:53
Speaker 1: what happened downstreet wasn't always what I wanted to be,
1:15:56
Speaker 1: but I didn't have an option to see what I
1:15:57
Speaker 1: could be. And so that means developing their strengths and
1:16:01
Speaker 1: overcome their challenges. Like you said, like I'm not like
1:16:04
Speaker 1: I'm talking about and I'm not telling anybody. Look, man,
1:16:06
Speaker 1: I didn't come from the I didn't I went in
1:16:09
Speaker 1: the game. I didn't have to deal with drugs on
1:16:11
Speaker 1: the corner. I'm not saying that, But I have to
1:16:13
Speaker 1: deal I deal with I dealt with a situation that
1:16:16
Speaker 1: level to a lot of unsafe situations. And that's what
1:16:19
Speaker 1: we're talking about. We're talking about where you know, we
1:16:21
Speaker 1: had to be on the porch before the light went out. Okay,
1:16:25
Speaker 1: that was demand. And when I look at what you're
1:16:28
Speaker 1: doing with deals with young girls and boys elementary to
1:16:32
Speaker 1: middle school, Now, that's what that has always been considered
1:16:36
Speaker 1: a very important era to capture young minds elementary to
1:16:41
Speaker 1: middle school because they've always said that once they get
1:16:44
Speaker 1: in high school sometimes that spirit can be lost and
1:16:48
Speaker 1: the direction of failure has been so defined that it
1:16:51
Speaker 1: cannot be turned around. Not saying it is it possible,
1:16:54
Speaker 1: but if you can catch them early, you can catch
1:16:56
Speaker 1: a larger number to keep them straight. Am I writing
1:16:59
Speaker 1: my deaf and issition of that term right? And I
1:17:03
Speaker 1: do want to um to say that our main focus
1:17:08
Speaker 1: is on the seventeen through year olds. However, however, to
1:17:14
Speaker 1: your point, we do have a lot of partnerships within
1:17:18
Speaker 1: the community. A lot of our programmatic partnerships and community
1:17:22
Speaker 1: partnerships are with the age range that you talked about.
1:17:25
Speaker 1: And you are absolutely right. Um, they say that if
1:17:29
Speaker 1: you want to teach a person a different language, um,
1:17:32
Speaker 1: you can't do it when they turn fifteen, sixteen and up,
1:17:36
Speaker 1: and you're definitely not gonna do it when they get older.
1:17:39
Speaker 1: If you want to teach a person a different language,
1:17:41
Speaker 1: you teach them when they're a baby all the way up,
1:17:45
Speaker 1: because it's easier to retain, it's easier to mold the mind. Um,
1:17:49
Speaker 1: it's easier, uh to, as they say, it's it's easier
1:17:54
Speaker 1: um to to to build up a kid then break
1:17:58
Speaker 1: a man. You know what I'm saying, And and and
1:18:02
Speaker 1: and yes, you have to capture them at that early age. Um.
1:18:06
Speaker 1: But for Brothers Restoring Urban Hope, what we saw because
1:18:10
Speaker 1: we work in an area where there are thousands I
1:18:14
Speaker 1: mean when I say thousands, there are. There are thousands
1:18:17
Speaker 1: of youth that are being served by the Boys and
1:18:20
Speaker 1: Girls Clubs, the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the Boy
1:18:25
Speaker 1: Scouts of America, and all of them fit that age
1:18:29
Speaker 1: range that we just talked about. That younger age range
1:18:32
Speaker 1: where Brothers Restoring Urban Hope found an opportunity, and we
1:18:36
Speaker 1: said we wanted to fill the space of is what
1:18:38
Speaker 1: happens when those kids age out of that program at
1:18:44
Speaker 1: seventeen years old. I'm gonna tell you what happens. We
1:18:48
Speaker 1: started to treat them like adults. We started to put
1:18:51
Speaker 1: them in an adult system. We we we expect them
1:18:54
Speaker 1: to make adult decisions. Those cute little babies that you
1:18:57
Speaker 1: were training up when they were sixteen, and you love
1:19:01
Speaker 1: them when they were sixteen. Now society hates them now
1:19:04
Speaker 1: that they got a little beard and a little mustache,
1:19:07
Speaker 1: you know, a little spot you know that they stay
1:19:10
Speaker 1: in or you know, got their license or whatever the
1:19:13
Speaker 1: case may be. But that's one of the most pivotal
1:19:16
Speaker 1: times for my area because what happens is they fall
1:19:19
Speaker 1: into that economic that racial equity, economic mobility UM cycle, right,
1:19:28
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is that that's where
1:19:31
Speaker 1: those numbers start popping up, homelessness, under under paid um
1:19:38
Speaker 1: uh uh, not being able to get a job or
1:19:44
Speaker 1: get into school. Those are our seventeen through twenty four
1:19:48
Speaker 1: year olds that you're seeing popping up in that racial
1:19:50
Speaker 1: equity report. And those are the folks that we are
1:19:53
Speaker 1: really trying to capture and sitting in the gap for them.
1:20:00
Speaker 1: And I'm pretty sure you'll get to me talking about
1:20:02
Speaker 1: the different services we offer them. But that's that's the
1:20:06
Speaker 1: main focus of Brothers, restoring up the hope, because that's
1:20:09
Speaker 1: where a lot of hope is lost. I want to
1:20:13
Speaker 1: talk because I know we're getting close to the end.
1:20:15
Speaker 1: I want to say two things, and then I want
1:20:17
Speaker 1: you to talk about your services. Uh. If you don't
1:20:22
Speaker 1: when you get to that seventeen, you've been rejected, you've
1:20:24
Speaker 1: been told I got you. You've been saying, hey man,
1:20:27
Speaker 1: I'll be right back, don't come back. You've been just
1:20:29
Speaker 1: a fried chat franchise. As a as a young man,
1:20:33
Speaker 1: you've been discouraged. You've been emotionally and maybe physically kicked
1:20:37
Speaker 1: to the curve. And I noticed, for a fact, you
1:20:41
Speaker 1: have to make a commitment to these boys or young
1:20:44
Speaker 1: men because they're boys, they're really boys because they didn't
1:20:47
Speaker 1: they didn't get to live a normal life where they
1:20:49
Speaker 1: could cry, where they could hug, where they can see failure,
1:20:52
Speaker 1: and somebody picked their spirit back up and give them
1:20:54
Speaker 1: hope to make it. It's all right to make a mistake.
1:20:58
Speaker 1: And so when I when I and so I know
1:21:01
Speaker 1: the journey that you're dealing with, man is emotionally so
1:21:05
Speaker 1: challenging because you can't have a day off victor not
1:21:08
Speaker 1: with these boys. You can't because that day you have
1:21:12
Speaker 1: off is the day could be the worst day of
1:21:14
Speaker 1: life for the kid that you had awful. And I remember,
1:21:19
Speaker 1: man that uh, I remember when I first went into
1:21:22
Speaker 1: a program like that in Houston, Texas and came in,
1:21:25
Speaker 1: I spoke. The boys didn't say nothing. They looked at me, go, okay,
1:21:29
Speaker 1: thank you. I said, what's what's the problem. Well, you know,
1:21:32
Speaker 1: I know you. You feel good about yourself, I hope.
1:21:34
Speaker 1: So because they come in here all the time, do
1:21:36
Speaker 1: these little speeches like you do and don't come back.
1:21:39
Speaker 1: Then I realized right there when that little kid said
1:21:41
Speaker 1: and he was a little kid, he like six three
1:21:43
Speaker 1: to forty, right, These ain't a little little kids. But
1:21:47
Speaker 1: like you said, they've they've they've transcended into manhood and
1:21:51
Speaker 1: people start treating them like man. But they have the
1:21:54
Speaker 1: development of a child LifeSkills. How to communicate was my
1:22:00
Speaker 1: next decision. So they're susceptible to making mistakes. They can't
1:22:04
Speaker 1: recover from that's what you're dealing with every day, and
1:22:07
Speaker 1: that's seventeen twenty four age group. What gets you going, man, Victor,
1:22:13
Speaker 1: because it can be so frustrating, brother, it could be
1:22:16
Speaker 1: so breaking, emotionally breaking for you, and then you have
1:22:20
Speaker 1: these services closers out by talking about this. Man, I'm
1:22:23
Speaker 1: so proud of you to spend the time to tell
1:22:25
Speaker 1: me about your story. But especially they broad mentorship dot
1:22:29
Speaker 1: org store which is available. You can go there is
1:22:31
Speaker 1: go to that website. It's available on that website because
1:22:34
Speaker 1: I broadcast on all these HBCU schools and and my
1:22:38
Speaker 1: whole thing is to allow people to understand you as value.
1:22:40
Speaker 1: You know, you're in the heart of HBCU all this area.
1:22:43
Speaker 1: So but man, speak your piece, man, so we can
1:22:46
Speaker 1: get out of here. Man. Absolutely, Um, you spoke on
1:22:50
Speaker 1: something a little earlier and you said, Um, you have
1:22:53
Speaker 1: to you know, understand your why and you have to
1:22:57
Speaker 1: know your why and who you are. And it's it's
1:23:04
Speaker 1: one of those situations where I meet with a lot
1:23:07
Speaker 1: of youth all the time and through different partnerships, whether
1:23:12
Speaker 1: it be d J J D S s UM, the
1:23:15
Speaker 1: Alternative schools, UM, the regular schools, the colleges, and you know,
1:23:19
Speaker 1: we meet folks who just got out of prison all
1:23:22
Speaker 1: the way to folks who are two kids who are
1:23:25
Speaker 1: about to go to law school. So it's an array
1:23:27
Speaker 1: of kids. But one thing that I I've always not
1:23:33
Speaker 1: understood and we're still trying to understand this is when
1:23:36
Speaker 1: you ask a kid why and what's your why, they
1:23:44
Speaker 1: put their head down in and thinking about it. And
1:23:47
Speaker 1: a lot of times, eight times out of ten or
1:23:52
Speaker 1: eight kids out of ten, they can't tell you there
1:23:56
Speaker 1: why they don't understand their perfect us and what we
1:24:02
Speaker 1: want to do through our services because we don't do
1:24:07
Speaker 1: this just Victor and my staff of six. We have
1:24:11
Speaker 1: volunteers that range from three to four hundred volunteers throughout
1:24:18
Speaker 1: the community that we can call on at any given
1:24:21
Speaker 1: time to give a kid what they need at that time.
1:24:26
Speaker 1: And we do group mentoring so it's not one to
1:24:28
Speaker 1: one mentoring. So when we show up, we show up
1:24:32
Speaker 1: in huge numbers. For instance, at our summit program with
1:24:35
Speaker 1: spart Berk Methodist College, UM, we have a program that
1:24:40
Speaker 1: really caters towards those first generational college students that have
1:24:45
Speaker 1: either about to flunk out the first semester of college
1:24:50
Speaker 1: and or on the brink of dropping out of college,
1:24:54
Speaker 1: and we showed up with you know, forty or fifty
1:24:57
Speaker 1: of our first generational college volunteers to really pour into
1:25:01
Speaker 1: those youths. We went over study habits. We go over
1:25:04
Speaker 1: relationship building with your professor, understanding how to sit up
1:25:09
Speaker 1: at the front not the back. Understanding where your resources
1:25:14
Speaker 1: and pockets. Folks are on campus that can actually assist
1:25:17
Speaker 1: you with your tutoring needs. Or if you have an
1:25:21
Speaker 1: issue with a computer and you don't have a computer,
1:25:23
Speaker 1: who you need to go to to get that computer? Um,
1:25:26
Speaker 1: you know, time management skills, how to study and focus
1:25:31
Speaker 1: because studying in high school and studying in colleges are
1:25:34
Speaker 1: to totally do different things. Um. So that that's just
1:25:38
Speaker 1: one type of partnership that we have. But what I
1:25:41
Speaker 1: but it takes a community and we really live by that.
1:25:44
Speaker 1: It takes a village mindset. Um. We have partnerships with
1:25:49
Speaker 1: uh cap ALPHASA, we have partnerships with the United Way,
1:25:53
Speaker 1: We have spart partnerships with the spark Bar academic movement.
1:25:57
Speaker 1: Folks that really come in with us and become brothers,
1:26:00
Speaker 1: become brothers restoring urban hope or sisters restoring urban hope,
1:26:06
Speaker 1: and we do it as a community. But one of
1:26:09
Speaker 1: our main projects that we have going on now is
1:26:12
Speaker 1: called Connected Scholars, and that is for our college students
1:26:18
Speaker 1: because a lot of times when we talk about mentoring,
1:26:21
Speaker 1: a lot of people automatically assume that you're talking about
1:26:26
Speaker 1: a kid that's about to go to jail, or high
1:26:28
Speaker 1: school dropout or X, Y and z. We often forget
1:26:32
Speaker 1: about those leaders, those young men and women that will
1:26:36
Speaker 1: be leading our next generation. They need mentorship too, and
1:26:43
Speaker 1: we need to pour into them even more during these times. Churches,
1:26:51
Speaker 1: Folks aren't going back to church anymore. Everything is on
1:26:56
Speaker 1: social media. The world is as racist as ever. We've
1:27:03
Speaker 1: got to train our leaders, you know, we got to
1:27:06
Speaker 1: be prepared for succession. So right now we're going to
1:27:09
Speaker 1: connect the Scholars program um that that are really training
1:27:12
Speaker 1: up our next leaders um and and really helping them
1:27:17
Speaker 1: understand what social capital looks like, connecting them with different
1:27:22
Speaker 1: mentors in their career fields or in their leadership fields,
1:27:26
Speaker 1: and really pouring into them on a one on on
1:27:30
Speaker 1: a group mentor and basis, and and teaching them how
1:27:33
Speaker 1: to operate in these spaces that they're going to encounter
1:27:36
Speaker 1: once they graduate high school and college and be comfortable
1:27:40
Speaker 1: in those spaces and be confident. Um. So we're excited
1:27:43
Speaker 1: about this program and man, um, I'm excited to be
1:27:47
Speaker 1: here today. So I thank you for for having us. Well,
1:27:51
Speaker 1: all I gotta say, man, keep seeing it through and
1:27:53
Speaker 1: you know what I mean by that. Okay, Victim, thank
1:27:57
Speaker 1: you for coming on money making conversation. Man, you come
1:27:59
Speaker 1: on anything at Man. I love his period and uh
1:28:02
Speaker 1: and again I'm based in Atlanta, George. I know you're Spartanburg.
1:28:05
Speaker 1: Ever come up in this area. Please make sure you
1:28:07
Speaker 1: come by the building. So we're gonna chop it up.
1:28:10
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let me just say this. I'd love
1:28:12
Speaker 1: to invite you out my own my cousin he runs
1:28:15
Speaker 1: the Atlantic Entertainment Basketball League NBA Summer League basketball there
1:28:20
Speaker 1: and we're bringing some kids up. Um. I'd love for
1:28:23
Speaker 1: you and your staff and crew to come out be
1:28:25
Speaker 1: to us, a sit court side sometime with us. Absolutely.
1:28:28
Speaker 1: You used to tell the day to my staff and
1:28:29
Speaker 1: we'll be there, my man, and then come come on,
1:28:31
Speaker 1: come on by the building. Brother, make some dessert for you.
1:28:34
Speaker 1: That's what I do. That's what I do. Alright, brother,
1:28:37
Speaker 1: Alright there, man, you're an amazing new Okay, I love
1:28:45
Speaker 1: you man, Victors appreciate it. We will be right back
1:28:48
Speaker 1: with more money Making Conversations with your host Rashan McDonald.
1:28:54
Speaker 1: You are now tuned into the Money Making Conversations Minute
1:28:57
Speaker 1: of Inspiration with Rushan McDonald. I sat down with the
1:29:00
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1:32:26
Speaker 1: Black Magic's future feature film director. While while working at
1:32:29
Speaker 1: the fire Trap, she handles the front office and behind
1:32:32
Speaker 1: the scenes and streating content, ideas and as they say,
1:32:35
Speaker 1: building community relationships. They only show to talk about the
1:32:38
Speaker 1: new movie project, Jordan's and Patro's Late Knife and I
1:32:41
Speaker 1: got the menus right here, I got the music. We're
1:32:44
Speaker 1: gonna talk about some of this food. Because you know,
1:32:45
Speaker 1: I love, I'll be I'll be I'll be liking you
1:32:47
Speaker 1: on Instagram and everything, so I'll be giving you love.
1:32:50
Speaker 1: There the Fried Trap. They their pride and themselves and
1:32:53
Speaker 1: preserving the history and the culture. Is serving a piece
1:32:56
Speaker 1: of Magic City and the former Fries. Please working the
1:32:59
Speaker 1: money making conversation Brandon Punch of Whims and for the
1:33:02
Speaker 1: first time I'm calling director, producer, you know, black Magic,
1:33:06
Speaker 1: black Girl Magic, Evony Blanding, but so much, thank you,
1:33:14
Speaker 1: so much. But but you know, you know we've we've
1:33:17
Speaker 1: been talking man and UM. When you first came on
1:33:19
Speaker 1: the air, you know we used the early stages you know,
1:33:22
Speaker 1: of the business launch, but you were like, man, this
1:33:23
Speaker 1: is for real. You know you know you I love
1:33:26
Speaker 1: it because you know you started something. It was it
1:33:29
Speaker 1: was jumping off, but you didn't trust whether any longevity
1:33:33
Speaker 1: was there. So tell people about that early stage so
1:33:37
Speaker 1: we can talk about with you, because you don't you
1:33:39
Speaker 1: have to ride through the pandemic. And now we're on
1:33:41
Speaker 1: the show talking about you got every sitting next to you,
1:33:44
Speaker 1: So talk about those early days of just having an
1:33:46
Speaker 1: idea and not really wanted to step out there full
1:33:49
Speaker 1: time with that idea. Well, the first initial start was
1:33:55
Speaker 1: a proof of cunsoll does this idea really work? Does
1:33:58
Speaker 1: it really serve an audience, the audience that we want
1:34:02
Speaker 1: to serve? Um? And again in testing it out from
1:34:05
Speaker 1: our own we we did see that it did work.
1:34:07
Speaker 1: But then came the pandemic. So does this work within
1:34:10
Speaker 1: the pandemic? Within uh, these this this diret situation and
1:34:14
Speaker 1: actually still sustain us? And we found out that indeed
1:34:18
Speaker 1: it did. Um. It's kind of wild because now we
1:34:22
Speaker 1: we we have to close and chat rest. It's it's crazy,
1:34:25
Speaker 1: but not in the bad way. We're actually moving and
1:34:27
Speaker 1: we're moving into another phase that allows us to expand
1:34:31
Speaker 1: our menu more, expand our culture and our experience for
1:34:34
Speaker 1: our customers more. Um and that indeed is the next
1:34:38
Speaker 1: next testament to where the punch os is a two
1:34:41
Speaker 1: institution of the matter. Well is a true institution, you know.
1:34:44
Speaker 1: And the reason you win because the first time my
1:34:48
Speaker 1: interview used by yourself, use hustling. And now you have
1:34:51
Speaker 1: a person who shares your vision and Bene she shipping
1:34:54
Speaker 1: right next to you, and uh everbody talk about coming
1:34:57
Speaker 1: into Brandon's like and what do you see you vision
1:35:00
Speaker 1: of the company growing? Let me add Evan's been here
1:35:04
Speaker 1: from the job. She she won't with me with me
1:35:07
Speaker 1: on the last interview. She was probably doing some something
1:35:09
Speaker 1: makers but co found the ankle off. Excuse me, evany.
1:35:13
Speaker 1: They didn't put that in there in the little bio
1:35:15
Speaker 1: they sent over here. They just said you you know,
1:35:18
Speaker 1: you just uh front offers and everything. Didn't say an originator,
1:35:23
Speaker 1: you know, a true instigator, a true visionary. Tell him
1:35:27
Speaker 1: next time they whoever doing the bio ebony, you need
1:35:30
Speaker 1: to look at the bio before it go out. Okay,
1:35:32
Speaker 1: so you can get your just rewarding because you know,
1:35:35
Speaker 1: I do my homework. Now, okay, so I do my homework,
1:35:39
Speaker 1: but this is I'm just messing with him. Just so good.
1:35:42
Speaker 1: But still if he had anybody, I got six sisters,
1:35:45
Speaker 1: I got a wife, I got Samanthew, she the executive producer.
1:35:49
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, all these females make me better. So
1:35:52
Speaker 1: I'm not shocked Evony that you're sitting there, you know,
1:35:56
Speaker 1: holding it down, but you need to get on the bio. Okay, now,
1:36:02
Speaker 1: thank you for having us. I think that early on
1:36:05
Speaker 1: with Punchos and when Puncho came up with the idea,
1:36:08
Speaker 1: because it did come from his um. It's his namesake,
1:36:10
Speaker 1: so it came from his brain. But we both love
1:36:13
Speaker 1: to eat um when we like to eat a particular
1:36:16
Speaker 1: type of way. We're foodies, if you will. So we
1:36:18
Speaker 1: eat a lot of local things in Atlanta and go
1:36:21
Speaker 1: to spots that perhaps people wouldn't venture two, but we
1:36:23
Speaker 1: don't necessarily mind traveling a good distance for some great food. Um.
1:36:27
Speaker 1: And with that being said, we're both artists, both filmmakers
1:36:31
Speaker 1: and um we were in between gigs and anyone who
1:36:34
Speaker 1: works in the art industry or the film industry. UM,
1:36:38
Speaker 1: they know that, Um, unless you're working for like a
1:36:41
Speaker 1: big studio, and even then you're always kind of chasing jobs.
1:36:45
Speaker 1: And Puncho is an entrepreneur. He was that when I
1:36:49
Speaker 1: first met him, and he's done other things, and I
1:36:52
Speaker 1: think for him and when I'm so fortunate for um
1:36:55
Speaker 1: in regards to my life as a as a filmmaker,
1:36:58
Speaker 1: but also his partner is for someone to introduce a
1:37:02
Speaker 1: different way to be an entrepreneur to you. UM. And
1:37:05
Speaker 1: so Brandon early on a K Puncho really understood that
1:37:10
Speaker 1: for us to be where we wanted to be in life,
1:37:12
Speaker 1: and for us to really be able to make the
1:37:14
Speaker 1: stories that we want to make because we make stories
1:37:16
Speaker 1: that have black people front and center, then it was
1:37:19
Speaker 1: gonna look like for us having to have a have
1:37:22
Speaker 1: our own pocketbook, so to speak, were able to finance
1:37:25
Speaker 1: our own things. UM. And it doesn't look like chasing jobs.
1:37:28
Speaker 1: It looks like making your own jobs. And so Puncho's
1:37:32
Speaker 1: Late Night frid Trap has really been able to do
1:37:34
Speaker 1: that for both of us, UM, allowing us to not
1:37:38
Speaker 1: only manifest UM, I guess like the physical culture part
1:37:43
Speaker 1: being from Atlanta and wanting to have an institution here. Um,
1:37:46
Speaker 1: because we're both natives, but also from the art perspective,
1:37:50
Speaker 1: putting us in position where we don't have to compromise
1:37:54
Speaker 1: our values, We don't have to compromise the world that
1:37:56
Speaker 1: we're creating on screen. Um, because Punchos allowed us to
1:38:00
Speaker 1: humbly but allows us to be able to really put
1:38:04
Speaker 1: some backing behind our projects and be able to really
1:38:08
Speaker 1: support ourselves. Indeed, well, you know she said a lot. Okay,
1:38:13
Speaker 1: she's articulating the artistic side of it, but the base
1:38:18
Speaker 1: of it is Pancho's late night fry track. Okay, she
1:38:23
Speaker 1: said it earlier on Foodies. And I'm gonna ask you
1:38:26
Speaker 1: because I called myself a foodie, and I'm would tell
1:38:27
Speaker 1: you something. If anybody watched me eat, they go, dude,
1:38:31
Speaker 1: I don't know why you're not four times bigger than
1:38:33
Speaker 1: what you are, because that's what the food here, that's
1:38:35
Speaker 1: that's the testament of food. I I go in, dude,
1:38:37
Speaker 1: that sample stuff. I love variety. I don't run from
1:38:41
Speaker 1: any type of new idea and new stuff. Now, the
1:38:44
Speaker 1: blessing of our relationship is that French fries or I
1:38:51
Speaker 1: love me some good French fries. Now, I'm gonna tell
1:38:54
Speaker 1: you just a little history of me. Like all black people,
1:38:56
Speaker 1: you know, back in the day, McDonald's was my number
1:38:59
Speaker 1: one fry. Okay, love me. Couldn't couldn't go roll with McDonalds.
1:39:03
Speaker 1: They've tried to copy bird, can't try to cull everybody.
1:39:06
Speaker 1: And then then I fell in the five guys because
1:39:10
Speaker 1: you know you're going there for a medium. They get
1:39:12
Speaker 1: your extra lord. Anybody who are buying a large fry
1:39:15
Speaker 1: from five guys is crazy because you get the media.
1:39:17
Speaker 1: They're gonna get your lords, all right, and then it's
1:39:20
Speaker 1: a matha. My executive producer, she she know I love fry.
1:39:23
Speaker 1: She said, how you five? Have you try to punch
1:39:25
Speaker 1: your late night five? As it was that she said,
1:39:29
Speaker 1: you need to try that. They're good. They're good. So
1:39:31
Speaker 1: that's how I came into your work, do, my executive producer.
1:39:36
Speaker 1: So that word of mouth plays a big role into
1:39:40
Speaker 1: what you're doing. Talk about like you said, man, you're
1:39:43
Speaker 1: not like me as a baker. I didn't go to
1:39:45
Speaker 1: a culinary school. You're not a you're not a U
1:39:50
Speaker 1: degreed chef. So you just took an idea. Talk about
1:39:53
Speaker 1: that idea because as we always talking about on this
1:39:55
Speaker 1: show is that people have all these great ideas they're
1:39:57
Speaker 1: afraid to pursue them. They're people are not come down
1:40:00
Speaker 1: saying that, ain't you You don't have time for that.
1:40:02
Speaker 1: But here you are took an idea like Ebon he said,
1:40:05
Speaker 1: it was your idea. But you guys have grown into
1:40:08
Speaker 1: a business that's not being transferred to a new location,
1:40:11
Speaker 1: but still able to live your other fantasy or other dreams.
1:40:14
Speaker 1: I should say not fantasy because it's happening. Fantasies are
1:40:18
Speaker 1: not reality. The things you're doing in the filmmaking businesses
1:40:21
Speaker 1: or dreams that are reality. Talk about that whole pushing
1:40:25
Speaker 1: past the docters, listen past man. That was so much
1:40:31
Speaker 1: rise because I feel it internally, cellularly and just being
1:40:37
Speaker 1: a being that punch ows was an idea that we
1:40:41
Speaker 1: know people love fries, But how do this connect to
1:40:45
Speaker 1: to the true energy? And I need to retract to
1:40:48
Speaker 1: where I based my thoughts, and it is in the
1:40:50
Speaker 1: energy and it's not necessarily in my skill um and
1:40:53
Speaker 1: as a friedmaker, although I do take a lot of
1:40:56
Speaker 1: focus on making this fry like the best one. It
1:40:58
Speaker 1: was like comparable to the honest fried. So there's intention
1:41:01
Speaker 1: behind just knowing that the name connects to the need
1:41:06
Speaker 1: being punch shows and is an Atlanta brand. We need
1:41:09
Speaker 1: late night food. Everyone loves fried So I know these
1:41:11
Speaker 1: things connect um and the idea of the energy being
1:41:15
Speaker 1: that this box of fries can be a key to
1:41:18
Speaker 1: many other doors. It's not just a box of fries.
1:41:20
Speaker 1: This keys this this this box of fries open the
1:41:23
Speaker 1: door to money making conversations, to crack putm industry, to
1:41:27
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Yards, to uh Atlanta United, to the Hawks, to
1:41:31
Speaker 1: the thought. So it's more than fries, and the idea
1:41:34
Speaker 1: behind it is knowing that all these things are naturally
1:41:36
Speaker 1: intertwined in your idea and that once you give it
1:41:40
Speaker 1: out into the universe, these things will nassarily be attracted
1:41:43
Speaker 1: to it. So that's truly what the intention behind and
1:41:46
Speaker 1: the power behind that first initial idea and lunching it
1:41:49
Speaker 1: the way that you you see it. Although you do
1:41:52
Speaker 1: need some insight and a layer of the land to
1:41:54
Speaker 1: understand where you're going. Um, But once you do that,
1:41:57
Speaker 1: you go for it and you you trust you what
1:42:00
Speaker 1: you feeling, what the universe gave. Well, you know one
1:42:03
Speaker 1: thing about black people, man, you know, you give him
1:42:05
Speaker 1: a lot of anything. Man, they in love. You know,
1:42:08
Speaker 1: you give him a lot of rice. You know who
1:42:10
Speaker 1: They're gonna come back, you know, saying you get a
1:42:13
Speaker 1: lot of fries, bro, you put some on top of
1:42:14
Speaker 1: the fries. Boy, you got come on now, you know
1:42:17
Speaker 1: they're coming back up in that joint because they wanted.
1:42:21
Speaker 1: They want more for their dollar. And that's your brand,
1:42:24
Speaker 1: the brand that you're doin their Partrs. Late Night Fried Traff.
1:42:26
Speaker 1: You get value, good food, dollar value, and you get
1:42:29
Speaker 1: a lot to take home. Because I don't know any
1:42:32
Speaker 1: Black person that doesn't get excited when you're going the
1:42:34
Speaker 1: restaurant and they go, can I have my dog? You back?
1:42:36
Speaker 1: Because they want to take stuff home, you know, because
1:42:38
Speaker 1: money means something else. And when I say that, you
1:42:40
Speaker 1: know people always say money means something to everybody. Nah,
1:42:43
Speaker 1: black people, money means something to us man, because it's
1:42:47
Speaker 1: so hard to get it and sometimes we can't even
1:42:50
Speaker 1: save it. So when we have to spend it, it
1:42:52
Speaker 1: has to go a little bit further than the normal
1:42:54
Speaker 1: everyday dollar. And so when you see that, whenever you
1:42:57
Speaker 1: hear me talking like that, everything, and you you engine
1:43:00
Speaker 1: the community, what are they saying about ponchos Late Night
1:43:03
Speaker 1: frod trap. I think in particular because we're based in Atlanta,
1:43:07
Speaker 1: and for folks who know, like you'll hear people talk
1:43:10
Speaker 1: about old Atlanta versus New Atlanta, UM old Atlanta, so
1:43:14
Speaker 1: to speak. UM. And with that being said, there's a
1:43:18
Speaker 1: lot of gentrification that has happened in the city, and
1:43:21
Speaker 1: I think people's first thing when they see us, two
1:43:23
Speaker 1: black folks of our age doing what we're doing, UM,
1:43:27
Speaker 1: I think they're proud. I think that's the first energy
1:43:30
Speaker 1: that I kind of received from people is how proud
1:43:32
Speaker 1: they are that we're doing this in the city that
1:43:34
Speaker 1: UH is our home, and how we're really just like
1:43:38
Speaker 1: leaning into being an institution. We tell people early on
1:43:41
Speaker 1: that like if you know about the Varsity, if you
1:43:43
Speaker 1: know about JR Crickets, um, if you know about passpors.
1:43:47
Speaker 1: We want to plan that same um, that same pun
1:43:50
Speaker 1: and people receive that energy, I think because we set
1:43:52
Speaker 1: the tone UM. And I think that's something for anyone
1:43:55
Speaker 1: who's like doing a business, you have to really lean
1:43:59
Speaker 1: into what you're saying you're doing. A mean, would you
1:44:01
Speaker 1: say that you're doing like you say that you're UH
1:44:04
Speaker 1: doing fries for the culture, then what does the culture mean?
1:44:07
Speaker 1: So the culture for us looks like we are very
1:44:09
Speaker 1: involved in our community. It looks like we know the
1:44:12
Speaker 1: kids that walk up and down the street. It looks
1:44:14
Speaker 1: like they can call out Puncho's name and he responds um.
1:44:18
Speaker 1: And you know they actually have a homie if you will,
1:44:21
Speaker 1: to the relationship, talk to on a big brother level.
1:44:23
Speaker 1: So it's it's it's it's more than fries. And you
1:44:26
Speaker 1: say that all the time, but it really is more
1:44:28
Speaker 1: than frys. You're smiling. Come on, get it out, Brandon.
1:44:32
Speaker 1: We come on that part about I just have to
1:44:35
Speaker 1: salute some of the young guys who do come and
1:44:38
Speaker 1: they patronize, but y'a also help. They they will be
1:44:41
Speaker 1: some of the hand that people will see over Pratt
1:44:44
Speaker 1: woman who might be un familiar faces, but they will
1:44:48
Speaker 1: be making some delicious fries and providing some awesome service.
1:44:51
Speaker 1: That this is true to an That's that's what I
1:44:54
Speaker 1: love about it. And again, we're in the middle of Peaceburg.
1:44:56
Speaker 1: Peaceburg is uh one of the most dangerous neighborhoods, and
1:44:59
Speaker 1: so these guys are not your normally, they're they're involved
1:45:04
Speaker 1: in a lot of things that they shouldn't be. At
1:45:06
Speaker 1: the same time, it's not because they want. It's not
1:45:10
Speaker 1: because they're horrible people, because they don't have a lot
1:45:13
Speaker 1: of a whole lot of options so or examples. And
1:45:16
Speaker 1: that's what I am right now, That's what I hope
1:45:18
Speaker 1: to be, and that's what I see them respond to
1:45:20
Speaker 1: me as as a positive example the show that you
1:45:23
Speaker 1: can do what you want to do without all the
1:45:26
Speaker 1: all the other stuff, you know, the beauty of us
1:45:29
Speaker 1: talking and being at the interviewing. And I would thank
1:45:31
Speaker 1: you for coming on my show. I consider your special
1:45:34
Speaker 1: brand and entity, you know. And Pachos, I wanted to
1:45:37
Speaker 1: be like Varsity. I wanted to be like Pascals. I
1:45:40
Speaker 1: wanted to be like you know, Sloody, Vegan, you know
1:45:43
Speaker 1: inte the brands that people kind of know off the
1:45:45
Speaker 1: top of the head, and then also could rattle off
1:45:47
Speaker 1: the menu like you know, the Magic City, you know
1:45:50
Speaker 1: Gang Gang, you know the bluff Old Atlanta ninety six Olympics,
1:45:55
Speaker 1: you know seafood Chalty, you know seafood wild called shrimp
1:45:59
Speaker 1: and crap a salted with fresh garlic and herbs over
1:46:03
Speaker 1: garden fry. See what I'm saying, man, You know, when
1:46:09
Speaker 1: you can just read it and it sounds annible, it
1:46:12
Speaker 1: sounds like you're mad because you can't get over there
1:46:15
Speaker 1: to the fry chap and get it. That's a good writing, baby,
1:46:19
Speaker 1: who wrote that? Then? But that you happen, you happen
1:46:22
Speaker 1: like okay, So puncta is very very easy. He studies
1:46:27
Speaker 1: a lot about colors and moods. Um. And you know,
1:46:31
Speaker 1: I will say that I'm a good copy editor. So
1:46:33
Speaker 1: if it's anything that he writes, um, I definitely will
1:46:36
Speaker 1: give a second glance. But um, you said you see
1:46:39
Speaker 1: to to to to genuses, I'll say that I want
1:46:44
Speaker 1: set the humility you gotta promote like I always tell people,
1:46:50
Speaker 1: you know, and I would tell people she in the
1:46:52
Speaker 1: era we live, I call it the muhammad our era
1:46:55
Speaker 1: because social media allows you to shout and share you
1:46:58
Speaker 1: great and see you, she said to genius and see puncher.
1:47:03
Speaker 1: I didn't run from that, because that's what she's supposed
1:47:05
Speaker 1: to do. She supposed to let everybody know that when
1:47:07
Speaker 1: I say, you know, when I say that magic City,
1:47:10
Speaker 1: fried eight hours, fried, salmon, salmon, salmon, you know I
1:47:14
Speaker 1: see salvath people salmon, you say saving even black, you
1:47:17
Speaker 1: say salmon and shrimp, tossing our very own honey, garlic,
1:47:21
Speaker 1: sauce over garlic, and Child's fried top with cessily seed
1:47:25
Speaker 1: and Child's with ranch drizzle. That's genius, baby, see every
1:47:30
Speaker 1: time by every time I don't read, can you do
1:47:32
Speaker 1: something with your hands a little? I can't help but
1:47:37
Speaker 1: do it right? Like so no, thank you so much.
1:47:40
Speaker 1: It's just not true. That's where That's what it is.
1:47:42
Speaker 1: These are the flavors that we love. These are the
1:47:44
Speaker 1: things that we want to eat when we go to
1:47:46
Speaker 1: a late night location. So it's it's truly very simple
1:47:50
Speaker 1: to us in this form of it came from a
1:47:53
Speaker 1: genuine place. It comes from a genuine place. So we
1:47:55
Speaker 1: don't have to search long and hard to find the
1:47:58
Speaker 1: things that commit because we are the people. We commit
1:48:00
Speaker 1: with um and that that goes beyond color, it goes
1:48:04
Speaker 1: it's reasonable, it's uh, you know, it's human base. We
1:48:08
Speaker 1: all love fries and I don't care absolutely, I don't care.
1:48:12
Speaker 1: You just wanna salt all that I got? There? You go, there,
1:48:14
Speaker 1: you go. Now, let's let's flip because I gotta talk
1:48:16
Speaker 1: about Evan, you know, writer director who recently featured in
1:48:19
Speaker 1: Variety and one of Black Magic's future feature film director.
1:48:23
Speaker 1: First of all, let me tell you all about varieties.
1:48:26
Speaker 1: Variety is not I'm not gonna rod is Like you
1:48:30
Speaker 1: have Hollywood Reporter and you have Variety in Los Angeles. Okay,
1:48:35
Speaker 1: I've been in Los Angeles two Okay. I know when
1:48:38
Speaker 1: you your name appear Variety, you frame that, you put
1:48:42
Speaker 1: it on the wall, you call your mama, calls the
1:48:44
Speaker 1: best friends, the girl I'm in Variety because they put
1:48:47
Speaker 1: it in. I know she was sending that link out there. Everybody,
1:48:50
Speaker 1: she was taking that link out there. Everybody you put
1:48:52
Speaker 1: it on social media had to because that's one of
1:48:55
Speaker 1: the top entertainment magazine in the country. Did when you
1:48:58
Speaker 1: get a Variety at like, that's like, uh, that's like
1:49:01
Speaker 1: the front page of the New York Times. You know,
1:49:04
Speaker 1: you know you have the Atlanta Constant General Constitution, then
1:49:07
Speaker 1: you have New York Times. Different levels. You know, no
1:49:11
Speaker 1: disrespect to a j C read it all the time,
1:49:13
Speaker 1: no disrespect to chronicles all the time. But when you
1:49:16
Speaker 1: tell us about you in New York Time, they go, girl,
1:49:18
Speaker 1: what did you do? You did something really good or
1:49:21
Speaker 1: something bad? Okay, you did something really good. To talk
1:49:24
Speaker 1: about the reaction to you being acknowledged like that, So
1:49:28
Speaker 1: people get a sense of because I always like people.
1:49:31
Speaker 1: There's so many costumes that we wear a black people,
1:49:34
Speaker 1: you know, because we have to do a lot of
1:49:35
Speaker 1: different things just to get to that get to the
1:49:37
Speaker 1: end game, and then eventually you can just take off
1:49:39
Speaker 1: a real reveal to everybody who you really are, the
1:49:42
Speaker 1: genius that you are right now, you're an entrepreneurial genius
1:49:46
Speaker 1: and you've been recognized as a future star as a
1:49:48
Speaker 1: writer director. Talk about that by Variety magazine. Talk about
1:49:51
Speaker 1: that acknowledgement. Um, Well, to your point, Yeah, I definitely
1:49:56
Speaker 1: sent that article to my dad and my grandma and everybody.
1:50:00
Speaker 1: How so proud of it. Um. And I think for
1:50:03
Speaker 1: anyone who does filmmaking, you know how long it takes
1:50:06
Speaker 1: for you to go throughout your journey to be able
1:50:10
Speaker 1: to get exposure and to be able to get articles.
1:50:13
Speaker 1: So I think for me, rush early on to your
1:50:15
Speaker 1: point of um, of kind of like taking off your shell,
1:50:20
Speaker 1: if you will, and showing people who you are. I've
1:50:22
Speaker 1: always leaned into telling people who I was. I'm very Um.
1:50:27
Speaker 1: Before being a black girl with magic was a hashtag,
1:50:30
Speaker 1: I knew, I knew it was powerful. UM. So I
1:50:34
Speaker 1: haven't necessarily needed to wait for the culture to catch
1:50:37
Speaker 1: up because I know that black women are the culture, um,
1:50:40
Speaker 1: and so I write about that in a way that
1:50:42
Speaker 1: I believe it's very true to myself and it seems
1:50:44
Speaker 1: to be relatable to other Black women in particular, but
1:50:47
Speaker 1: women at large. And so I think for me, getting
1:50:50
Speaker 1: the Variety article is just the world catching up. To
1:50:53
Speaker 1: be honest, I've been doing this for a minute. So
1:50:56
Speaker 1: any time, Rush, you know that the work that we do,
1:50:59
Speaker 1: we know that we uh we do it for ourselves,
1:51:01
Speaker 1: we do it for our communities, but we definitely expect
1:51:05
Speaker 1: some sort of fanfare around it. So I'm appreciative at
1:51:08
Speaker 1: this point in my career to UH to be landing
1:51:10
Speaker 1: some bigger spots. But I mean, Rush, you know, it
1:51:14
Speaker 1: doesn't come without a bunch of smaller articles, right, Um,
1:51:19
Speaker 1: it doesn't come without some of the chilling circuit um.
1:51:22
Speaker 1: And so just putting in that work and then allowing
1:51:25
Speaker 1: some of the bigger markets to UH when they catch
1:51:28
Speaker 1: up to it, to to amplify you as a really
1:51:30
Speaker 1: great feeling well, first of all, to be recognized by
1:51:33
Speaker 1: any level. And I've learned that, you know, sometimes you
1:51:36
Speaker 1: know you're on the grind and you don't respect the
1:51:39
Speaker 1: recognition of acknowledgement. That's why. That's why I'm letting you know,
1:51:43
Speaker 1: just in case you know it's died down, you know,
1:51:48
Speaker 1: uh that ever happened now, that's still a big deal
1:51:50
Speaker 1: and it has to be recognized as a big deal.
1:51:53
Speaker 1: It just led to a project that we're gonna talk
1:51:55
Speaker 1: about for a little bit on the show, because I
1:51:57
Speaker 1: know I brought you on to talk about Ponchos Late
1:51:58
Speaker 1: Night Fried Trap. But there's the film called Jordan's that's
1:52:02
Speaker 1: out there that that you guys have produced shot. Tell
1:52:05
Speaker 1: us the synopsis of the movie, and we're gonna talk
1:52:08
Speaker 1: about the importance of you producing and writing and directing
1:52:11
Speaker 1: that movie. Absolutely. Um well, I'm the writer director Puncho
1:52:16
Speaker 1: is one half of the producing team. He's also the editor.
1:52:19
Speaker 1: Um and to keep it short, I get no, no,
1:52:22
Speaker 1: don't keep it short. Girl. Come on, hey, Brady, you're
1:52:27
Speaker 1: telling me what you're talking to? You tell your story
1:52:29
Speaker 1: on my show. We're talking to like just a five
1:52:31
Speaker 1: minute of you, girl, Take your time, get the word out.
1:52:34
Speaker 1: I got you. Um. The story is about a black
1:52:37
Speaker 1: girl adventure discovering a black mermaid, a mermaid who looks
1:52:41
Speaker 1: like the women who she looks up to. Um and
1:52:45
Speaker 1: if anyone is familiar with black folklore and uh, some
1:52:49
Speaker 1: of the older stories of mermaids and merk folks have
1:52:52
Speaker 1: always been tied to a lot of our storytelling. So
1:52:57
Speaker 1: my story centers a black girl from Georgia, go Figure
1:53:01
Speaker 1: who is on a fishing trip with her father, um
1:53:05
Speaker 1: and she discovers a mermaid, and she's a mermaid enthusiast,
1:53:09
Speaker 1: so she takes her back home, only to discover she's
1:53:11
Speaker 1: not what she seems. Uh. So this story involves a
1:53:14
Speaker 1: lot of Clientify, which is a climate fiction. And we
1:53:18
Speaker 1: talked about the environment. We talk about pollution and how
1:53:22
Speaker 1: in particular it affects black and marginalized communities. Um. And
1:53:27
Speaker 1: we talked about a black father supporting his black daughter's
1:53:31
Speaker 1: wildest dreams in a manner. For me, that's something I'm
1:53:34
Speaker 1: very familiar with. I'm a daddy's girl, and so I
1:53:36
Speaker 1: used to go on fishing trips with my dad and
1:53:38
Speaker 1: Georgia and Alabama. UM. And there's nothing that my dad,
1:53:43
Speaker 1: There's nothing that I thought I couldn't do because I
1:53:45
Speaker 1: had my dad telling me always that you can do anything. Um.
1:53:49
Speaker 1: And so this is a story that I feel, uh,
1:53:53
Speaker 1: in particular, Black dads and black daughters will be very
1:53:56
Speaker 1: happy to watch together because we see a lot of
1:53:59
Speaker 1: course in media where we see black fathers are represented,
1:54:03
Speaker 1: they're not there, they're not showing up. And this is
1:54:06
Speaker 1: a dad who loves his daughter, like you see it
1:54:08
Speaker 1: from the beginning to the end. Um. He relishes in
1:54:13
Speaker 1: her playtime, he relishes in her adventure. And so when
1:54:16
Speaker 1: she discovers a black mermaid and brings her home, um,
1:54:20
Speaker 1: he's excited to be a part of that. And so yeah,
1:54:22
Speaker 1: it starts Besett Williams, who is a force of nature. Uh,
1:54:27
Speaker 1: she's like a fourteen year old, uh, young protege you'll
1:54:31
Speaker 1: see here. Um. And then we have playing the mermaid, um,
1:54:34
Speaker 1: a beautiful actress. Her name is artrees Um Johnson. And
1:54:38
Speaker 1: then for the father, playing the father, we have a
1:54:41
Speaker 1: Jeff Kanje all black cast, beautiful talent. They're truly like
1:54:46
Speaker 1: the next superstar that you're gonna see if I believe
1:54:49
Speaker 1: well good everny um. Oh you said that, Pancho, what's
1:54:54
Speaker 1: the producer? You know? Okay, they they all say black
1:54:58
Speaker 1: people can't swim. He said, black people going to the beach,
1:55:01
Speaker 1: they don't go into water. You know, we just walk
1:55:03
Speaker 1: along the beach. You know, you know, then you din
1:55:06
Speaker 1: she gonna come to you Pancho, which is idea about
1:55:09
Speaker 1: a little girl fascinated with a black mermaid. Okay, Kevilla walk.
1:55:15
Speaker 1: We threw the steps man through the pitch. Come on, well,
1:55:20
Speaker 1: it's it's not even It's so timely that it wasn't
1:55:24
Speaker 1: even a pitch. It didn't need to be a pitch.
1:55:26
Speaker 1: Once I heard the story and I know and saw
1:55:29
Speaker 1: how much she put into it, and I knew what
1:55:32
Speaker 1: time it was in the sense of us creating our
1:55:34
Speaker 1: own stories, because again we're we started this frost trapt
1:55:37
Speaker 1: things so we could so we could do this, yes, sir.
1:55:39
Speaker 1: And that's what hit me, was like, oh now it's time.
1:55:43
Speaker 1: And the level that we previously worked at it was
1:55:47
Speaker 1: it was pretty greatful at any level. But this time rest,
1:55:51
Speaker 1: This time we went mate. This time we had a
1:55:53
Speaker 1: full camera, lighting and grip package from PC and E,
1:55:58
Speaker 1: which is a renal house in Atlanta into the Marble.
1:56:01
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I know what I'm saying. Absolutely, I'm just
1:56:03
Speaker 1: let everybody. So that's pretty big. It makes much of
1:56:06
Speaker 1: the full package. Also, we had a sponsorship from Atli,
1:56:09
Speaker 1: a prop house for our heart and problems, and these
1:56:12
Speaker 1: are things that rest when it comes to budget. If
1:56:16
Speaker 1: there was a lot of your shoulders, I won't put
1:56:18
Speaker 1: the number on it. But man, we we we were blessed.
1:56:20
Speaker 1: And to see it come together. Our crew, which again
1:56:25
Speaker 1: is a community of our our our family, people who
1:56:27
Speaker 1: were created with over the past few years, past five
1:56:30
Speaker 1: six years, UM to have them work collectively after week,
1:56:35
Speaker 1: come along individually, you know, watch all the synergy come together,
1:56:38
Speaker 1: to see people and hear people speak to the energy
1:56:40
Speaker 1: that they felt like they're on our sex. Um it's
1:56:44
Speaker 1: just overwelmen, man, I can't even I can divorce how much,
1:56:47
Speaker 1: but then it would go on and all because we
1:56:50
Speaker 1: get it from every side when it comes to people
1:56:52
Speaker 1: appreciate it and being grateful and in time we are
1:56:55
Speaker 1: openly grateful sold to be able to produce this level
1:56:58
Speaker 1: of film, even though in short form, and to know
1:57:00
Speaker 1: that we have a prooven concept that we can now
1:57:02
Speaker 1: take into other worlds and other officers and present to
1:57:05
Speaker 1: the people who we want to present to UM and
1:57:08
Speaker 1: and just to see what the response is. But you know,
1:57:10
Speaker 1: we have something solid, especially about Plaque Girl Tween Adventurer
1:57:14
Speaker 1: with I wan't want to mention what the mermaid actually is,
1:57:17
Speaker 1: but the discovers the Mermaid and we really see this.
1:57:21
Speaker 1: We don't like a lot of times as filmmakers, especially
1:57:24
Speaker 1: independent filmakas, we get criticized for the quality of our work,
1:57:27
Speaker 1: being in the visual or the sound, especially in the story.
1:57:30
Speaker 1: We don't always have complete stories. But there is a
1:57:34
Speaker 1: mighty feat and getting it done and getting what you
1:57:37
Speaker 1: want and not necessarily what you need, because that's filmmaking,
1:57:39
Speaker 1: and that's exactly what we did, right. So that was
1:57:41
Speaker 1: the process getting in it, like really getting into the
1:57:46
Speaker 1: new and crannies of the s and crannies to find
1:57:48
Speaker 1: out what this story is and where this story aligns
1:57:50
Speaker 1: with where the intersection now toy years between, whether it's
1:57:54
Speaker 1: climate justice or racial justice, all these things are affected
1:57:57
Speaker 1: and all these things are something that we had to
1:57:59
Speaker 1: swim through. To the point about swimming no black people swim.
1:58:01
Speaker 1: We swim hard and we walked light and that was
1:58:03
Speaker 1: stoken for the whole film. So it's funny that you
1:58:05
Speaker 1: said that, but it's it was a matter of getting
1:58:09
Speaker 1: through those with getting through those moments with all of
1:58:12
Speaker 1: our crew are lovely DP James Fraser James. If you
1:58:14
Speaker 1: watch this I love you bro then them powdering that
1:58:18
Speaker 1: story that's kind of out the beach, and then not
1:58:21
Speaker 1: be in post, but that she's looking at the footage
1:58:23
Speaker 1: like my God did this and knowing that I just
1:58:27
Speaker 1: give a quick on. Another sponsorship that we're looking at
1:58:29
Speaker 1: is mom House Studios moon Shine. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,
1:58:33
Speaker 1: moming shot. I'm starting shot Shine. You can google them
1:58:37
Speaker 1: to do everything, so I'm more than to have a
1:58:40
Speaker 1: confirmation from them that their assistance with this project too.
1:58:44
Speaker 1: So well, you know, come on there talking about Pancho
1:58:47
Speaker 1: the first time I got to meet Ebony, you know,
1:58:49
Speaker 1: doing her thing. But you know she's been It's kind
1:58:52
Speaker 1: of great because she's been shouted out by our power
1:58:55
Speaker 1: that's bigger than me. Variety Magazine, Entertainment, Los Angeles Base
1:58:59
Speaker 1: and Want. You're gonna be a prap Palmer District. That menu,
1:59:03
Speaker 1: you know, I just shouted out some of the men.
1:59:04
Speaker 1: You just let y'all know. Whenever he knows the last
1:59:06
Speaker 1: time he camera show, I printed out his menu. You know,
1:59:09
Speaker 1: I do fry trap. I'll be talking about that menu now.
1:59:12
Speaker 1: You had something about we're gonna close this our real shark.
1:59:14
Speaker 1: You're saying about when do you expect to see rashaan
1:59:18
Speaker 1: homemade pies on the menu. Look at me now, we
1:59:23
Speaker 1: want to hustle with you? Did you say me said genius?
1:59:29
Speaker 1: Genius genius? Okay, three genius is gonna get together, gonna
1:59:34
Speaker 1: make that happen. All right, that's all I'm saying. Brother,
1:59:37
Speaker 1: she said genius genius. She just left out this genius.
1:59:41
Speaker 1: Three geniuses goa three gez three gs, gonna get to Calibibi. Seriously,
1:59:46
Speaker 1: I man, I love you Russell because the way that
1:59:50
Speaker 1: you posture this money making conversation and just the way
1:59:54
Speaker 1: that you speaks to the So how do you burst
1:59:57
Speaker 1: life in entrepreneurship? And you uncovered all and you speak
2:00:01
Speaker 1: directly to the points and the places that people a
2:00:04
Speaker 1: lot of times UM just simply overlook or simply overthink.
2:00:08
Speaker 1: So I think the more that we not necessarily simplified,
2:00:12
Speaker 1: because it's not the simple process. Business and entrepreneurship is
2:00:14
Speaker 1: hard until you understand the game and the little man
2:00:18
Speaker 1: and what factors me and what. Um. I will say that,
2:00:21
Speaker 1: but I didn't not doing it because again I'm the
2:00:24
Speaker 1: best shop. But I do understand how to make customers
2:00:28
Speaker 1: experiences great. And that's what I want to do through prides,
2:00:30
Speaker 1: and that's what we want to do through frides and
2:00:31
Speaker 1: film so and pies. So let's get those pies, bro,
2:00:35
Speaker 1: Let's get those fies. I love it, man. Look, I
2:00:38
Speaker 1: want to hold you the more. Thank you both ever then,
2:00:40
Speaker 1: thank you for coming into my world and brand you
2:00:43
Speaker 1: always gonna be in my world because you're a little brother. Okay,
2:00:45
Speaker 1: I'm gonna treat you right. I feel the same, and
2:00:47
Speaker 1: I'm definitely coming by to see you. I want, I
2:00:49
Speaker 1: just want to thank everybody, especially Samantha interesting well bringing
2:00:53
Speaker 1: us back. What we're gonna do is when you're coming,
2:00:56
Speaker 1: when you come with him. Okay, So i'mna make some
2:00:58
Speaker 1: dessert and everything so we can have fun. Okay, I'm
2:01:01
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make something my homemade ice cream for y'all too.
2:01:06
Speaker 1: All right, thank you all for coming on Money Making Conversations. Okay.
2:01:11
Speaker 1: Please remember always lead with your gifts and don't let
2:01:14
Speaker 1: your age, friends, family, or co workers stop you from
2:01:18
Speaker 1: planning or living your dreams. You are now tuned into
2:01:23
Speaker 1: the Money Making Conversations Minute of Inspiration with Rashan McDonald.
2:01:27
Speaker 1: Molly Music is a Grammy Award winning musician, songwriting and producer.
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2:01:33
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2:01:44
Speaker 1: it gets uncomfortable for just because you start bringing out
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Speaker 1: different issues. I recently traveled to Nashville to do some
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Speaker 1: songwriting Chad Leave saying Christian rock band Unspoken, and it
2:01:56
Speaker 1: was a challenge for me, especially coming from soul background
2:01:59
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Speaker 1: that have rock feels for it. So man, the spreading
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Speaker 1: and the falling of the genres, it's definitely good. I've
2:02:08
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2:02:11
Speaker 1: a long time, and I'm glad that it's finally made
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