March 21, 2023 • 41 mins
Michelle and Larenz Tate are connecting The Rock and The Chi! Larenz shares some of the keys to his longevity. He also gives his opinion on popular award shows and the purpose of keeping his personal life out of the spotlight. CHECK IN to this episode to witness an icon who is grounded.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
My Heart Radio and The Black Effect. Listen. All I
(00:20):
know is if I don't give this man the proper introduction,
the proper open to this episode, y'all. He's amazing, he's talented,
he's the homie. He was born on the West Side
of Chicago. He's a good man. He's a good man,
and he's been doing this thing since about nineteen eighty five. Yes,
(00:43):
I had permission to say so. He's been doing this
a long long time. He's a legendary actor, legendary actor, prolific,
prolific human being. We know him as old Dog from
Minister Society, or if he was just born, let's say
in the two thousands, you're old enough to be watching Power,
(01:06):
so you know him as counseling rashot Tate, or if
you are a person that's younger and you're like, wait
a minute. I know about dead presidents. I definitely know
about Love Jones, I know about Crash and I know
you're like, wait a minute, don't do me, okay, Inkwell
don't do me, y'all. I'm just so excited to have
(01:29):
him on the show today. He is checking in. There
have been the anniversaries of Love Jones and Menace to Society,
so he's been making his rounds and I'm so glad
that he is stopping by and he's checking in. Settle
down and simmer and get ready. Lorenz Tate is coming up.
(01:57):
All right, what's up, everybody. I'm very excited about our
next guest. I know you guys say that. I say
that every week, but because folks from the Black Effect,
I would not be where I could be in this
podcast world without them assisting me in getting some of
the greatest notable people ever to grace us here on
(02:19):
checking in. I'm so excited this young man. He has
been blessing us year after year after year after year
doing his thing on the screen. He is known for
such memorable, memorable film and TV Love Jones, Power, Come On,
(02:39):
Menace to Society, so much more and so much in between.
I can't name it all. Give a warm checking in.
Welcome to award winning actor, producer, director, husband, father Lorenz Tate. A. Michelle,
Oh my goodness. I want to say congratulations on your show,
your podcast. I want to say thank you for having me,
(03:02):
and more than anything, I'm just happy that you're doing
what you're doing so much that you have been able
to do over your career, in the contributions you're making.
We're truly appreciative, We're thankful, and I'm just happy to
be joining you today. Sis. You know, we uh, we
got number love and respect and admiration. So thank you
(03:23):
for you know, the warm welcome. And I'm excited that
we'll be able to talk about some cool stuff. We
are gonna be able to talk about some cool stuff.
But we both come from a cool, cold area in
the winter. We're both from Illinois. You from Chicago proper.
I'm from a little old town called Rockford, which you
got number of love for my people up in Rockford. Yeah,
(03:44):
first of all, we're gonna have to make this a
sound bite. You know, folks are going to go bonkers
to hear you say Rockford absolutely and shout out to
all my people out in Rockford. You know, we got
nothing but love. There's that Illinois connection. You know. I'm
from the Shot, you from the rock and we're here.
We connected here. Shout out to my people in the
(04:05):
rock from the Shot. You know. No, I was home
in the Rockford and there was this big Gospel Awards
show that a friend of mine puts on every year,
and some of the who's who in gospel music descended
upon a Rockford, Illinois. So whenever I hear someone show
love to my hometown, because folks from Chicago sometimes they
(04:26):
look they looked down on folks that you know, but
but not all of us, not all of us. You know,
my guy Fred van Fleet who plays with the Raptors
as one of my guys, and so you know, the
whole family. And so it's nice to be able to,
you know, show that love to the people out in
the rock. So it's numbers, you know, appreciation for y'all. Yes, sure,
(04:48):
well let's get into it. You know, we are in
awards show season and they're so much going on. You
have been gracing us. I'm just I'm not gonna say
from what you're sense, but it's been you can't we
can talk about it because we've we even you know,
it's the thing we don't. We don't skip over that.
There's been time and energy. Yeah, okay, he said, since
(05:10):
nineteen eighty five, looking like he was born in two
thousand and five. And to know your longevity in this business,
so I know when awards season comes along, you got
the awards shows and you see this and that, and
you do you stay in the know about things, so
say um and like, I don't. I don't do mess
(05:32):
over here, but I perue social media. So you hear
everything going on about awards season, who should win what,
who should be nominated for what, But you seem to
just be chilling. Yeah, I support you know, in terms
of watching some of these things. I like to believe
that I'm in this industry not for awards. I'm in
it to do the things that I love to make
(05:56):
some contributions in the sense of keeping the integrity of
the work, keeping the integrity of the narrative. I understand
that is, you know, a brother in the industry. For
us as black people in the community, there's been so
many hurdles. There's been so many things that we've had
to endure, but we are resilient and we've made incredible contributions.
(06:22):
We've made so many strides in the right directions to
allow us to be seen in a way that is
true representation of who we are as a people and
as a community. We're not monolithic and there's so much
more to what the stereotypical narratives that have always been
put in place, that we continue to knock those downs.
(06:44):
That's what it's about. For me, I'm not you know,
the awards are really really great and it means something,
but it means more when you can touch people with
your art as you've done with your music and what
you've done. So to me, it's like, that's what it's about.
So my eye is on the war season we kind
of see out there. I think like right now there's
(07:07):
you know, probably talk about how we want to see
people from our community who truly deserve to be honored
at the highest level in the space where we continue
to climb that ladder and do what's all the things
that we feel like we're doing and we want the
acknowledgement and sometimes we don't get it. It makes the
(07:28):
community feel a certain type of way because specifically as
it relates to black folks, you know, we support all people,
all kinds of movies, all kinds of TV shows, all
kinds of entertainment and genre, and when we are being
represented and we know we're checking off all the boxes,
we know we're doing all the things, we know we're
going above and beyond and when we don't get that
(07:51):
accolade or that acknowledgement at the highest level, when it's
truly deserved, it makes us feel a little comfort uncomfortable.
Now I don't speak for the entire community. I'm just
saying I think some of us feel that way. Wow,
thank you so much for sharing what you shared. For
(08:12):
you to be so settled, where did that come from?
Was it taught? Were you mentored to have the feelings? Listen,
because some people might not believe someone that says I literally,
I promise you, I don't do it for the awards.
The mine are in storage, by the way. You can
walk in this house. You don't even know who's here.
But somebody is like, Michelle, you need to get your
(08:34):
stuff out of storage and on the wall. But you
when you when you're like, I literally don't do it
for the awards. How did you get to that space
literally in your soul? Because I believe you well and
I appreciate that, And it really is about understanding again,
my purpose and my purpose is not to you know,
get awards. I'm happy to have those if that if
(08:56):
that is the case, but it really is, you know,
come from I think just my family and my support
system who are like very early under wanted me to
understand that, you know, this is a this is a
privilege and the honor. No one's no one's forcing me
to be in this. No one's you know, you know,
putting me in a position where I have to you know,
(09:17):
it's do or die. You know, I'm here because I
choose to be right, and as I choose to be,
I like to as much as I can move through
this industry and move through the work on my terms.
If I can't, not always it doesn't always work that way.
But if I could do it on my terms, it's
it's great. And if I'm acknowledge, that's great. And if
(09:38):
if I'm not, I'm cool with it because no wee no, no, no, no,
just slam for me, because what what what is rewarding
is when you talk about a movie that I was
in or TV show or a role that made you
feel something, that really is rewarding because for me, I've
(09:58):
gotten more of that than award and it really is
gratifying really when people can still talk about what you
do ten to fifteen years after you've done it, that's
like and that's coming from real people and it's not
about the cameras. It's not about being you know, in
front of the media and you really get a chance
to see how you probably made a difference, whether like
(10:19):
you do a song, you write something, and you perform something,
those things that speak to people's souls or speaks to
their conscious it's really truly the greatest reward. But I
think when it comes to wards, it's just really the
acknowledgement right on a large scale, and that's great. Absolutely.
I think I think we all would like to have
(10:42):
those accolades at some capacity because what we do is
like we put ourselves out there. We're very you know,
we're open, and we put ourselves out there and we're
there to be judged, right, so it's good or bad
or indifferent. You put yourself out there for the world
and kind of to be judged in a way. So
(11:03):
when you're judged or when people kind of are able
to give you your flowers, it's nice, right. Yeah, you
can't be in it just solely for that, because now
that is the thing that's driving you. I'm driving it
because it's the wars. I'm driving it because I want
my flowers, as opposed to the actual work the art
the things that really burns in your spirit. You are
(11:29):
a I would say, a gratitude advocate. I see on
your page about manifestation, how you need to see a thing,
pray for a thing before that thing comes into like
physical manifestation. Sure. Now, I'm definitely gonna get into all
(11:50):
the work that you're currently doing. I think for the
folks that are listening, I need them to get into
some of the possible secrets oft. Oh wow, some of
the secrets I feel like very early on, as you
mentioned that, you know, I started in nineteen eighty five
US ten years old. My family who made it very
(12:11):
clear like if you want to be in this business
or this industry really wasn't a business at the time
for us because I was a kid, I didn't understand
the business. But if you really want to do this,
think about it. If it's something you want to do
long term, and if that's the case, then run the
marathon as opposed to sprint. And if you're going to
run that marathon, you gotta sustain the test of time.
(12:35):
You gotta be able to deal with the hurdles and
the pitfalls that are gonna be around you, and they're
gonna be riddle with them. And I saw very early
on how some of those pitfalls and those hurdles were
very detrimental to people at a very early age. And
(12:56):
my parents were very instrumental in making sure we had
a true balance, that we didn't get so caught up
into what this business in hoopla was all about. Even
though we had moved to La around that time. We
would take large breaks from this whole industry, right and
we would go back to Chicago for the whole summers.
(13:17):
So from the time I was eleven, twelve, thirteen, four
to fifteen, I've always spent my summers and all of
my holidays at the times out of school because I
was still in school at the time. I would spend
that in Chicago, and there was no business, There was
no acting, there was no theater that I was a
part of. I was just really living life, and a
part of that living life away from the industry and
(13:41):
not having parents who were like managers or parents who were,
you know, trying to find the next gig for me.
I was able to live a life. I was life
experiences that were honest and that were authentic to me,
and it was, you know, something that. I'm truly grateful
(14:02):
because as I learned those things, I learned how to
live life. I learned how to sort of separate my
my my personal life from the business and industry. I
even do it with my wife and children. Now we
don't get too caught up in all of that because
my parents kind of instill that very early step away
from this man. Step away from it, and you will
(14:23):
have a longer gevity, you will have you know, and
run that marathon. And so that's what I'm doing. There's
like there's no expiration date for me necessary. It's like
when when the Most High decides to say, okay, now
it's time for your your assignment for something else to do. Listen,
and again what he's saying, you can tell he lives
(14:44):
what he's saying. This is not somebody that's saying one thing.
Let me tell you why I don't he telling them.
You can see it just in his skin. Listen, lorenzs
his business. You met. I got to now. I was
always like, if you ain't got nothing good to say, man,
don't get especially in front of the camera, and you
don't speak your truth and be honest in your truest self.
(15:08):
But at the same time, if like, I don't have
time to be in everybody else's business. Really that's just
my mom, I like, because here's the deal. That's an
anti aging secret. And drink your water. Yes, listen, come ons, Okay,
you know what I'm saying, and do your think and listen.
You know, I feel like that's really some of the dynamics.
(15:32):
And you know, when you're vibrating on a frequency that
you feel like, you know, finding that happiness and it's
it's not always the life is not gonna always just
be you know, uh, just all that fruitful where you're
just happy all the time. But you know, again, I
just try to do the things that make me happy
(15:55):
make I try to find it my own peace of mind,
if you will. And it's kind of nice to have
balance in the world. My children keep me me youthful,
you know. The wife, My wife is always we keep
a balance, and you know, having real people around you
(16:17):
and trying to be as really as you can for
those that needs you to be real, that needs you
to be someone that they can look on to, or
someone that thin can you know, call on just to
listen sometimes and by myself doing that and you know,
I speak my opinion sometimes, but a lot of times
it's like, what weight does my opinion have if I'm
(16:42):
not really involved in somebody's situation. If I'm not really involved,
I just got an opinion, it ain't mean nothing. Well,
I feel like if you were to say something publicly
or something that means it means something because you don't, right,
and since you've been with us doing this since nineteen
eighty five, right, I would listen to what La rins
(17:05):
Tate has to say. Wow, especially when it's rare, right, wow, Well,
I appreciate that, Erica, Erica, he might start putting you
to work. You might have you know, as far as
you and I'm a jokester, meaning because you don't say much. Yeah,
sometimes our pr can be like they go to sleep
at night, like, ain't gonna be ringing in the morning. Listen,
(17:30):
he knows sometimes because when we have our conversations obviously
offline or whatever, my team, because we get a chance
to really know each other. Yo yo, And I always say,
you know some things that we as public figures yourself, me,
we have to be mindful of the things that we say.
(17:51):
And sometimes we can say things at the time right
now where things, you know, politically correct or incorrect. Think
people have every right to their views, their opinions and feelings.
Some things can be triggering because all are not on
the same frequency, right. So sometimes when and I think
(18:11):
a lot of that is like most of us aren't
on the same frequency, right, so we kind of kind
of crossing wires and it is triggering it and you know,
cause confusion. And there's a lot of things in terms
of social media for purposes of clickbait, and people want
to kind of say, you know, interpret what you are
saying is their own and how they kind of interpret things.
(18:35):
And sometimes you know, we're imperfect. You know, I'm not
going to always have the things that are very popular.
They're gonna be unpopular things that I might say say,
or you may have a faux pot that doesn't really
represent who you are. And I think that if you know,
it's cool to be able to have some grace for
those who are in those those spaces that may not
(18:56):
always say the right thing at the right time. So again,
I try to make sure that I am mindful and
that it keeps you know, our team because we got
to say Eric and it keeps them, you know, stress free.
They be stressed out, like what they gonna say. Listen,
I don't right now. Listen, Now there is a character
(19:17):
that you play on Power Power Book to counselman take Yaw,
does Lorenz Take worry about cancel culture don't? Yeah? Yeah,
you know, so that's an interesting thing. So yeah, I
would be a little bit more concerned about councel culture
in relation to how my character was shot. Take talks
(19:40):
like he don't he doesn't care, he doesn't like don't either,
you don't either. I own, to other hand, have a
little bit of humility, I believe, and so I would
want to make sure that I'm not saying anything that
would really disrupt things that ultimately backfire in a way
(20:00):
that could be detrimental to me and my family, you
know what I mean. So, but in a way, I'm
not also really walking on eggshells either, because it's counsel you.
I feel like a lot of times you can only
get canceled if you allow people to cancel you. That's
part of how I think about it. And you only
if you allow and you give up your power to
(20:24):
allow yourself to be canceled. It's how people get canceled.
And I'm like, if I feel a certain type of way,
this is how I feel, this is what I think.
But I'm also mindful that it could be things that
I would say or my views that can get you know,
they can spend out of control, and I feel like
every point of view is not meant to be for
(20:44):
the world. That's good, that's good. Yeah, like you said,
I mean you can have that off the record conversation
with your people, your family, you know, And it is
just this whole balancing act in this industry, and more
so now because you're like, I can be on Twitter
(21:05):
and someone will like tweets from like two thousand and nine. Well, yes, absolutely,
And I'm like, what are you literally going like this too? Yeah,
And it makes me nervous because it's like, are you
looking for something, Michelle, That's what they're doing. I promise you'all.
The first year I got on Twitter was like a
(21:25):
two thousand and nine, I think, right, And so what
you where you were in two thousand and nine, it's
different than where you are in twenty twenty three. Who
you are is a little different from where you are
in twenty twenty three. How you use your social media
in two thousand and nine is so much different of
(21:45):
how you utilize you in two thousand and twenty three.
You gotta understand there's growth. You know, people elevate and
people grow out of where they probably were. And you
have to also understand back in those days when we
were starting social media, in those early you know, two
thousand and ten, two thousand and eleven, we didn't really
(22:06):
know how to what that was about anyway. You know,
we were like, is this like text messaging? You know,
we didn't know what it so when you're talking because
it was so much different from MySpace, like yeah, yeah,
it's just like when we jumped from MySpace. Well, like
this is different, and so the things again that you
can pull back. I don't always believe divine defines people.
(22:30):
It's like that was like people people, you know, they
might have had that point of view, and hopefully you're
seeing the fruit of their of them evolving, the evolution absolutely,
you know, their evolution, which you're like, it's it's so
much easier. It seems to give a person what I believe,
basically what you're saying, it's some grace, grace and room
(22:51):
to change. And speaking of social media, y'all, if you
wanted to dig. You can't find nothing. You ain't gonna get. No,
he ain't sub tweeted nobody, he ain't putting nothing, No
Instagram to where you like, Wait a minute, did they
have a bad day day? You know what I mean?
What I do? Like again, I see a lot about manifestation,
(23:15):
keeping a sound mind, and even every now and then
you dropped some great advice where you say some things
break your heart, but fix your vision. And that could
mean anything that could be in a relationship, a business
deal gone bad, and you we know, well not everybody know,
but when you got married, false false hearts got broken.
(23:37):
They started, they change their Facebook relationship status from being
in a relationship with you too. It's complicated. Rest in
peace to my heart and my soul. Yeah, I'm not
gonna hold you too much longer. But I know that
you are private and is that a key also to
success personally as in business wise? So I'll answer that.
(24:03):
Before I answer those two questions, I gotta say no, no, no, no,
it's all good. No, we're talking about you knowing No,
it's no. It's talking about breaking the hearts and straightening
out the vision. It's like when we announced that it
wasn't like I was trying to break any hearts. And
now that they see that, I hope that they don't
(24:25):
look at that vision as you know, traumatic or trauma.
I feel like, you know, you'll celebrate this black love
over here, ye, But being in the limelight or being
in the in the media, I feel like protecting your
privacy is essential. And I think your privacy is also
(24:46):
your superpower. And I feel like if I can control that,
because once you open up that door and you let
the world in when everything is great, you can't expect
to get them out of your life and your business
in the public. You can't get them out when things
(25:07):
are bad. They don't want to go. They want to
stoop around for the for the for the for the
what they would call the toxicity, and they wanted to
for the tea that spilled. They want to see they
want to see the stuff in really you know about spilled. Yeah,
they want to know about what really is going on.
And the more you try to kick them out, the
(25:28):
more they want to stay in. Now right, so good
because there's a sense of entitlement. You've asked me to
watch your movies, you asked me to you know, buy
your product, you asked me to download you buy your songs,
You asked me to come to your concert, you asked
me your TV shows. Now you're talking about how beautiful
for your husband is her beautiful your wife is, and
(25:50):
how beautiful your kids are. And you're doing all this stuff.
But once y'all start have complications, well, can you give
us a little privacy right now? Can you respect our privacy?
Can you give us a little time to figure? And
they're like, nah, we don't want to do that because
you've been asking us and you've been inviting us in
the whole time. Well, the Tates have not invited anybody
in to tell them to give me the privacy. You
(26:13):
know what I mean. I've already established that off top.
You know what I'm saying off ripped. I started with that.
I lad with that. God bless you. I love y'all.
I am here for this. I can sit and talk
with you just about life. We have seen that you
(26:34):
like to hike. Yes, yeah, I'm assuming it's a great
way to clear your head and good for your mental health.
But I think for some people the hardest part is
just to just start yes, you know anything when you're
looking for you know, balancing your life. I think when
they say health is wealth, it really is just because
(26:55):
it's it's our temple, right, this is our body. You
know that if we can and it's in our capacity
to take care of ourselves, I believe that's our right right,
and I think that's our responsibility more than anything, to
take care of your temple, take care of your body,
and to start, as you said, that's the biggest thing.
You know. Most people say, oh, I'm I'm gonna start.
(27:17):
You know, I'm gonna start. But when you're gonna start, now,
start later? Start today? When are you gonna start? And
once I found myself getting past that, you know, it's
a whole other experience, right. And when I'm able to
go either hiking or just being in the mountains or
wherever I can, whether it's beach or taking a jog,
and even in New York, if I can just get
(27:39):
into the city and it can be busy and all that,
if I'm able to put my music in and I
can just kind of or not or just kind of
experience it. It's kind of nice to have that alone
time to just kind of center myself. So it doesn't
really matter where I am, and as a result of
me taking those walks or those jogs or those runs, physically,
(28:00):
I'm getting something out of it too, right, So mentally
I'm getting something out of it because I can kind
of just see the world as it's sort of you know,
passing me or I'm experience in the world. But also
I'm able to eat what I want, and then I
can share some of those pounds as well, because you know, older,
you get them like the eggs. So for me, it
(28:20):
kind of works and keep the heart going, keep the
all of those things. And what I noticed when I'm
on these walks or these drugs or whatever, I see
people in the communities. I say, I see it like
older people and I'm like, why these older people, what
do they know? What do they know that us younger
people may not know. It's like they know something, and
(28:41):
I think they're trying to preserve themselves. Yeah, I think
they're trying to continue to, you know, straighten whatever it
is out in their lives. They're trying to straighten it out,
you know what I mean, because we're gonna be here forever.
And I'm like, I cool, you know, I want to
I want to be able to be that person that
I can still run when I'm in my sixties or
(29:01):
my seventies or my eighties or whenever, you know, the
most high allows me to stay and before you call
me home. I just feel like I want to be
able to still do the things that I'm doing today. Yes,
and you will, because I have to acknowledge there's been
some celebration regarding Love Jones and Menutes to Society. Oh wow,
(29:23):
that have been staples in all black community. Sure, but
I'm sure you get folks that come up to you
where you're surprised, like, wait, you watch the weather. Wait
a minute, you watch Minutes to Society? Yes, and what
do you think has inspired you to maybe push through
when things might have gotten challenging? Trying to figure out
(29:46):
the words that I think that you would use. I
don't know if you feel like things get hard, but
things challenging, yeah, yeah, sure, or an obstacle the things
that I used to to sort of deal with any
of those challenges. Honestly, it's just allowing myself to have
that centered space for me anytime that I'm up against anything,
(30:12):
or i feel like I'm overwhelmed, or i might feel
like there's anxiety. You know, some people may deal with
you know, different things like anxiety sometimes is one of
those things for myself, like I gotta you know, balance
that out, you know, because you get anxious or you
have a feeling that you can't quite explain why am
I feeling like this? And the pressures or the expectations
(30:35):
because a lot of times people are looking for you
to be the strong friend or the strong person, or
the client who needs to do this, or the the
you've you've done so much in the past, and the
expectations for you to sustain that it can be overwhelming.
And for me, I just like to sent to myself,
I meditate, you know, you know everybody may not be
(30:57):
you know, spiritual person, and that's fine, you know, to
believe I'm a spiritual person. So I like to you know,
pray and meditate. Those things kind of help me get through.
And then I look at people who find themselves just
seemingly at peace and they don't have a whole bunch,
you know, they may not have a whole lot. They
may not it's not about you know, a lifestyle that
(31:20):
is you know, glamorous, and they have access to all
these things. I see a lot of those people with
all these access of things, they're not happy. But then
I see people who may not have the things that
you would assume would make you happy, just so peaceful
because the simple things are what matter to them, family, important, friendships.
(31:44):
Thinks that they love to do things beyond work. If
you can find work that you love to do. I
see what you're doing right now. You have a passion
for what you're doing and sharing your experiences with people.
You fortunately have an access to share your experience aparances,
you know, with your podcasts, and you're able to get
(32:04):
people because how people revere you, people respect you, how
people love you. They want to come and talk to
you and share their experiences the way you have. And
so you know, I see things like that, like what
you're doing. I see people who you know, are finding
ways to overcome any of the challenges. That's inspiring to me.
(32:27):
So when I look at some of what you would say,
the hardships or the challenges, I look at it. But
then I look out the world around me, and I
try to do this as much as I can. I
go straight to my family. I look at things in
my family and I share this with my four sons
who are sixteen, fourteen, nine and four love it. Yeah,
me and my wife, And I mean, she's really she's
(32:48):
she's the superhero. I don't know how she has done it,
but she's she's been blessed. She blessed the brother with
folk people, amazing boys. And I tell them all the
time and say, you know, you guys are on the
very four in a place, and you are in a
very privileged position in so many ways. You can look
at your family members, extended family members, and I always
(33:11):
tell them, I say, you think that the Most High
loves you more than he loves them, love them the same,
love y'all the same. You just happen to have a
different grace. So don't take that for granted, because you're not,
you know, loved more. You just have some favor, right,
you just got some favor. Don't take that for granted.
(33:32):
It's steward that favor and excess well it's stewart, absolutely
steward it. And you know, you know the favor that
you have, you just have to pay it forward as
much as you possibly can. And I just try to
keep that balance. And here's the deal. Everything is not
wrapped up in a boat. In my life, everything is
not just like oh, these great positive things, you know.
(33:56):
I find things that I read that I find it
as inspirational. I find people's autobiographies, it just people's experience.
I use that. But sometimes it's tough. Sometimes I don't
want to get up for the fight. Sometimes I don't
want to get up for whatever it is. Sometimes I
just want to say, like I don't want to have
to seem like do make all the right decisions and
(34:17):
make all the right choices. It's like, right, could it
really just come only? Like what is it feel like?
You know what I'm saying, Like can it? Can I
just do it? It be okay? But you know what,
some of our missteps can be magnified, some of our
(34:38):
hiccups or the chinks in our armor, or the things
that may not bode well by public opinion. Man. Man,
that's that's that's that's stressful. Sometimes sometimes I just I
don't want to be super human. You just want to
take the super off and just speed human. I want
to be flawed in a little messy every now and again.
(34:58):
If that I mean myleth sauce from Harold Chicken, don't
eat Harold, give me some of that mouth sauce. You
know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's love, it's love. But
you get what. I totally get what you're saying. As
I'm sitting here listening to you talk, I'm like, Lorenz
(35:18):
needs to do like a hike with Lorenz. Oh yeah,
the four quarters of the states something on the east coast. Yeah, yeah, Nor,
Let's do some hikes with Lorenz where we could just
talk this talk. Let's talk this talk and invite people
to come in hike which might help them get started
(35:39):
with hiking and walking and their temples. Right listen, I
love it and if Michelle Williams can be a part
of it. Look at my hiking boots in my closet.
We gotta get them out. So it's to get them
out there, waterproof and everything. Let's go, Lorenz. You've been
an absolute joy. So excited for you. I'm not the
(36:02):
type of person, but like, what's next, what's going on?
We will keep things locked and focused on you and
all that you are doing. And if there's something special
that you do want us to tell us about. My
checking in family loves to know. No, I would love
to share a few things. You know, I'm in Power
Book to Ghost season three is phenomenal. My character Councilman
(36:22):
takes still it's still to Shenanigans, and so I'm able
to live out some of those things through. That's how
you can be massies. You gott a role to play.
That's why I play those roles so well. You know
what I'm saying, I can do it. I can't do
it the things that I can't do it in real life.
So no, we have that. I'm excited about that. The
(36:43):
things that I'm doing along with my brothers, especially back
home in Chicago, we are looking to redevelop the community
and be a part of those things, finding social equity
and justice for those who may not have it, you know,
coming out of our own community and Black community that
oftentimes are marginalized, and you know, I always remind them
(37:04):
that our communities are valuable, right, and so you see
how the next step of things when the community begins
to change and it's being gentrified and we are moved
out of our communities because the neighborhoods are valuable, they
don't still have it different. Yeah, So we are being
very intentional about being a part of that redevelopment where
(37:25):
we can make sure that our people who are from
those communities remain in those communities to be a part
of the development and the infrastructure of the community as
opposed to being displaced and pushed out and trying to
find themselves. That we can find ways to have access
to affordable housing, things that are updated, rebuilding, also creating
(37:47):
new businesses and jobs and local businesses that black people
own and operate, creating job opportunities. So we're working with
the city. We're working with the city official, but we're
working with community leaders, community activists, We're working with developers, architects.
You know, we got to have accountants, a lot of
(38:08):
people who look like us. We want to make sure
that they're at the table being a part of the
decision making and you know, making sure that we're part
of what you know, some people talk about buying back
the block so we can we can have it our art. Hey. Hey,
so that's when we're talking about. So those are things
I'm excited about working on and we're currently doing a
(38:30):
lot of that. Uh So, yeah, So you'll hear more
about the redevelopment in Chicago from our communities on the
West Side, also on the South Side and as we
expand throughout the country. Please let me know, because maybe
we do something like that up in the rock. We
come into the rock, for sure, we have to you
got it, mister lorenz Tate. Everybody, I'm so thankful for you.
(38:51):
I'm glad that we got to chat today. Thank you
for checking in peace and blessings. Thank you so much. Well, yes, sir, love,
all right, I'm gonna take him up. We're going hiking.
We are going hiking. Black people hike. Okay, Yes, we
go hiking. Okay. We're gonna make sure we got the
(39:14):
right boot zone. We're gonna make sure we are covered
from head to toe. We're gonna make sure we've got
every mosquite or repellent poison Nivy cream to make sure. Yes,
we're gonna be prepared. Ladies, this is where I think
a bonnet would be appropriate. I won't side eye if
(39:35):
you have a bonnet while hiking. I won't be mad
at that. I promise you I won't be mad. All right, y'all.
This was so amazing just to talk about how he
stays grounded and how he's just been able to stay
just enough under the radar, but when he pops his
head back up. You're like, Okay, what is he doing now?
(39:56):
What does Lorenz Tate have up his sleeves? He's always
doing something awesome, and so I'm just happy. I'm just excited.
He's such a great example of how you can keep
doing this thing for a long, long, long long time. Listen,
if we do the math, he's been doing this, but
(40:19):
thirty eight years. Thirty eight years is a long time here,
I'm thinking twenty four years professionally in the game of something,
thirty eight years. So he's someone that I can look
to about, you know, just staying low and peeking your
head up when it's time to work, when it's time
to shine and do your thing, then you kind of
(40:40):
go back under. I know this episode is about Lorenz,
but I pat myself on the back. I believe I
do that pretty well. AnyWho, I love y'all. I'm so excited.
This was a different episode. It's a fun episode. So
tell everybody downloaded, Tell your homies, tell your mother, tell
all of them that they're boyfriend m He checked in,
(41:01):
all right, Okay, I love y'all. And you know how
I always say, there's really nothing you can do about
the love that I have for you, all right, take
care of bye bye. Checking In with Michelle Williams is
(41:35):
a production of iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
My Heart Radio and The Black Effect. Listen. All I
(00:20):
know is if I don't give this man the proper introduction,
the proper open to this episode, y'all. He's amazing, he's talented,
he's the homie. He was born on the West Side
of Chicago. He's a good man. He's a good man,
and he's been doing this thing since about nineteen eighty five. Yes,
(00:43):
I had permission to say so. He's been doing this
a long long time. He's a legendary actor, legendary actor, prolific,
prolific human being. We know him as old Dog from
Minister Society, or if he was just born, let's say
in the two thousands, you're old enough to be watching Power,
(01:06):
so you know him as counseling rashot Tate, or if
you are a person that's younger and you're like, wait
a minute. I know about dead presidents. I definitely know
about Love Jones, I know about Crash and I know
you're like, wait a minute, don't do me, okay, Inkwell
don't do me, y'all. I'm just so excited to have
(01:29):
him on the show today. He is checking in. There
have been the anniversaries of Love Jones and Menace to Society,
so he's been making his rounds and I'm so glad
that he is stopping by and he's checking in. Settle
down and simmer and get ready. Lorenz Tate is coming up.
(01:57):
All right, what's up, everybody. I'm very excited about our
next guest. I know you guys say that. I say
that every week, but because folks from the Black Effect,
I would not be where I could be in this
podcast world without them assisting me in getting some of
the greatest notable people ever to grace us here on
(02:19):
checking in. I'm so excited this young man. He has
been blessing us year after year after year after year
doing his thing on the screen. He is known for
such memorable, memorable film and TV Love Jones, Power, Come On,
(02:39):
Menace to Society, so much more and so much in between.
I can't name it all. Give a warm checking in.
Welcome to award winning actor, producer, director, husband, father Lorenz Tate. A. Michelle,
Oh my goodness. I want to say congratulations on your show,
your podcast. I want to say thank you for having me,
(03:02):
and more than anything, I'm just happy that you're doing
what you're doing so much that you have been able
to do over your career, in the contributions you're making.
We're truly appreciative, We're thankful, and I'm just happy to
be joining you today. Sis. You know, we uh, we
got number love and respect and admiration. So thank you
(03:23):
for you know, the warm welcome. And I'm excited that
we'll be able to talk about some cool stuff. We
are gonna be able to talk about some cool stuff.
But we both come from a cool, cold area in
the winter. We're both from Illinois. You from Chicago proper.
I'm from a little old town called Rockford, which you
got number of love for my people up in Rockford. Yeah,
(03:44):
first of all, we're gonna have to make this a
sound bite. You know, folks are going to go bonkers
to hear you say Rockford absolutely and shout out to
all my people out in Rockford. You know, we got
nothing but love. There's that Illinois connection. You know. I'm
from the Shot, you from the rock and we're here.
We connected here. Shout out to my people in the
(04:05):
rock from the Shot. You know. No, I was home
in the Rockford and there was this big Gospel Awards
show that a friend of mine puts on every year,
and some of the who's who in gospel music descended
upon a Rockford, Illinois. So whenever I hear someone show
love to my hometown, because folks from Chicago sometimes they
(04:26):
look they looked down on folks that you know, but
but not all of us, not all of us. You know,
my guy Fred van Fleet who plays with the Raptors
as one of my guys, and so you know, the
whole family. And so it's nice to be able to,
you know, show that love to the people out in
the rock. So it's numbers, you know, appreciation for y'all. Yes, sure,
(04:48):
well let's get into it. You know, we are in
awards show season and they're so much going on. You
have been gracing us. I'm just I'm not gonna say
from what you're sense, but it's been you can't we
can talk about it because we've we even you know,
it's the thing we don't. We don't skip over that.
There's been time and energy. Yeah, okay, he said, since
(05:10):
nineteen eighty five, looking like he was born in two
thousand and five. And to know your longevity in this business,
so I know when awards season comes along, you got
the awards shows and you see this and that, and
you do you stay in the know about things, so
say um and like, I don't. I don't do mess
(05:32):
over here, but I perue social media. So you hear
everything going on about awards season, who should win what,
who should be nominated for what, But you seem to
just be chilling. Yeah, I support you know, in terms
of watching some of these things. I like to believe
that I'm in this industry not for awards. I'm in
it to do the things that I love to make
(05:56):
some contributions in the sense of keeping the integrity of
the work, keeping the integrity of the narrative. I understand
that is, you know, a brother in the industry. For
us as black people in the community, there's been so
many hurdles. There's been so many things that we've had
to endure, but we are resilient and we've made incredible contributions.
(06:22):
We've made so many strides in the right directions to
allow us to be seen in a way that is
true representation of who we are as a people and
as a community. We're not monolithic and there's so much
more to what the stereotypical narratives that have always been
put in place, that we continue to knock those downs.
(06:44):
That's what it's about. For me, I'm not you know,
the awards are really really great and it means something,
but it means more when you can touch people with
your art as you've done with your music and what
you've done. So to me, it's like, that's what it's about.
So my eye is on the war season we kind
of see out there. I think like right now there's
(07:07):
you know, probably talk about how we want to see
people from our community who truly deserve to be honored
at the highest level in the space where we continue
to climb that ladder and do what's all the things
that we feel like we're doing and we want the
acknowledgement and sometimes we don't get it. It makes the
(07:28):
community feel a certain type of way because specifically as
it relates to black folks, you know, we support all people,
all kinds of movies, all kinds of TV shows, all
kinds of entertainment and genre, and when we are being
represented and we know we're checking off all the boxes,
we know we're doing all the things, we know we're
going above and beyond and when we don't get that
(07:51):
accolade or that acknowledgement at the highest level, when it's
truly deserved, it makes us feel a little comfort uncomfortable.
Now I don't speak for the entire community. I'm just
saying I think some of us feel that way. Wow,
thank you so much for sharing what you shared. For
(08:12):
you to be so settled, where did that come from?
Was it taught? Were you mentored to have the feelings? Listen,
because some people might not believe someone that says I literally,
I promise you, I don't do it for the awards.
The mine are in storage, by the way. You can
walk in this house. You don't even know who's here.
But somebody is like, Michelle, you need to get your
(08:34):
stuff out of storage and on the wall. But you
when you when you're like, I literally don't do it
for the awards. How did you get to that space
literally in your soul? Because I believe you well and
I appreciate that, And it really is about understanding again,
my purpose and my purpose is not to you know,
get awards. I'm happy to have those if that if
(08:56):
that is the case, but it really is, you know,
come from I think just my family and my support
system who are like very early under wanted me to
understand that, you know, this is a this is a
privilege and the honor. No one's no one's forcing me
to be in this. No one's you know, you know,
putting me in a position where I have to you know,
(09:17):
it's do or die. You know, I'm here because I
choose to be right, and as I choose to be,
I like to as much as I can move through
this industry and move through the work on my terms.
If I can't, not always it doesn't always work that way.
But if I could do it on my terms, it's
it's great. And if I'm acknowledge, that's great. And if
(09:38):
if I'm not, I'm cool with it because no wee no, no, no, no,
just slam for me, because what what what is rewarding
is when you talk about a movie that I was
in or TV show or a role that made you
feel something, that really is rewarding because for me, I've
(09:58):
gotten more of that than award and it really is
gratifying really when people can still talk about what you
do ten to fifteen years after you've done it, that's
like and that's coming from real people and it's not
about the cameras. It's not about being you know, in
front of the media and you really get a chance
to see how you probably made a difference, whether like
(10:19):
you do a song, you write something, and you perform something,
those things that speak to people's souls or speaks to
their conscious it's really truly the greatest reward. But I
think when it comes to wards, it's just really the
acknowledgement right on a large scale, and that's great. Absolutely.
I think I think we all would like to have
(10:42):
those accolades at some capacity because what we do is
like we put ourselves out there. We're very you know,
we're open, and we put ourselves out there and we're
there to be judged, right, so it's good or bad
or indifferent. You put yourself out there for the world
and kind of to be judged in a way. So
(11:03):
when you're judged or when people kind of are able
to give you your flowers, it's nice, right. Yeah, you
can't be in it just solely for that, because now
that is the thing that's driving you. I'm driving it
because it's the wars. I'm driving it because I want
my flowers, as opposed to the actual work the art
the things that really burns in your spirit. You are
(11:29):
a I would say, a gratitude advocate. I see on
your page about manifestation, how you need to see a thing,
pray for a thing before that thing comes into like
physical manifestation. Sure. Now, I'm definitely gonna get into all
(11:50):
the work that you're currently doing. I think for the
folks that are listening, I need them to get into
some of the possible secrets oft. Oh wow, some of
the secrets I feel like very early on, as you
mentioned that, you know, I started in nineteen eighty five
US ten years old. My family who made it very
(12:11):
clear like if you want to be in this business
or this industry really wasn't a business at the time
for us because I was a kid, I didn't understand
the business. But if you really want to do this,
think about it. If it's something you want to do
long term, and if that's the case, then run the
marathon as opposed to sprint. And if you're going to
run that marathon, you gotta sustain the test of time.
(12:35):
You gotta be able to deal with the hurdles and
the pitfalls that are gonna be around you, and they're
gonna be riddle with them. And I saw very early
on how some of those pitfalls and those hurdles were
very detrimental to people at a very early age. And
(12:56):
my parents were very instrumental in making sure we had
a true balance, that we didn't get so caught up
into what this business in hoopla was all about. Even
though we had moved to La around that time. We
would take large breaks from this whole industry, right and
we would go back to Chicago for the whole summers.
(13:17):
So from the time I was eleven, twelve, thirteen, four
to fifteen, I've always spent my summers and all of
my holidays at the times out of school because I
was still in school at the time. I would spend
that in Chicago, and there was no business, There was
no acting, there was no theater that I was a
part of. I was just really living life, and a
part of that living life away from the industry and
(13:41):
not having parents who were like managers or parents who were,
you know, trying to find the next gig for me.
I was able to live a life. I was life
experiences that were honest and that were authentic to me,
and it was, you know, something that. I'm truly grateful
(14:02):
because as I learned those things, I learned how to
live life. I learned how to sort of separate my
my my personal life from the business and industry. I
even do it with my wife and children. Now we
don't get too caught up in all of that because
my parents kind of instill that very early step away
from this man. Step away from it, and you will
(14:23):
have a longer gevity, you will have you know, and
run that marathon. And so that's what I'm doing. There's
like there's no expiration date for me necessary. It's like
when when the Most High decides to say, okay, now
it's time for your your assignment for something else to do. Listen,
and again what he's saying, you can tell he lives
(14:44):
what he's saying. This is not somebody that's saying one thing.
Let me tell you why I don't he telling them.
You can see it just in his skin. Listen, lorenzs
his business. You met. I got to now. I was
always like, if you ain't got nothing good to say, man,
don't get especially in front of the camera, and you
don't speak your truth and be honest in your truest self.
(15:08):
But at the same time, if like, I don't have
time to be in everybody else's business. Really that's just
my mom, I like, because here's the deal. That's an
anti aging secret. And drink your water. Yes, listen, come ons, Okay,
you know what I'm saying, and do your think and listen.
You know, I feel like that's really some of the dynamics.
(15:32):
And you know, when you're vibrating on a frequency that
you feel like, you know, finding that happiness and it's
it's not always the life is not gonna always just
be you know, uh, just all that fruitful where you're
just happy all the time. But you know, again, I
just try to do the things that make me happy
(15:55):
make I try to find it my own peace of mind,
if you will. And it's kind of nice to have
balance in the world. My children keep me me youthful,
you know. The wife, My wife is always we keep
a balance, and you know, having real people around you
(16:17):
and trying to be as really as you can for
those that needs you to be real, that needs you
to be someone that they can look on to, or
someone that thin can you know, call on just to
listen sometimes and by myself doing that and you know,
I speak my opinion sometimes, but a lot of times
it's like, what weight does my opinion have if I'm
(16:42):
not really involved in somebody's situation. If I'm not really involved,
I just got an opinion, it ain't mean nothing. Well,
I feel like if you were to say something publicly
or something that means it means something because you don't, right,
and since you've been with us doing this since nineteen
eighty five, right, I would listen to what La rins
(17:05):
Tate has to say. Wow, especially when it's rare, right, wow, Well,
I appreciate that, Erica, Erica, he might start putting you
to work. You might have you know, as far as
you and I'm a jokester, meaning because you don't say much. Yeah,
sometimes our pr can be like they go to sleep
at night, like, ain't gonna be ringing in the morning. Listen,
(17:30):
he knows sometimes because when we have our conversations obviously
offline or whatever, my team, because we get a chance
to really know each other. Yo yo, And I always say,
you know some things that we as public figures yourself, me,
we have to be mindful of the things that we say.
(17:51):
And sometimes we can say things at the time right
now where things, you know, politically correct or incorrect. Think
people have every right to their views, their opinions and feelings.
Some things can be triggering because all are not on
the same frequency, right. So sometimes when and I think
(18:11):
a lot of that is like most of us aren't
on the same frequency, right, so we kind of kind
of crossing wires and it is triggering it and you know,
cause confusion. And there's a lot of things in terms
of social media for purposes of clickbait, and people want
to kind of say, you know, interpret what you are
saying is their own and how they kind of interpret things.
(18:35):
And sometimes you know, we're imperfect. You know, I'm not
going to always have the things that are very popular.
They're gonna be unpopular things that I might say say,
or you may have a faux pot that doesn't really
represent who you are. And I think that if you know,
it's cool to be able to have some grace for
those who are in those those spaces that may not
(18:56):
always say the right thing at the right time. So again,
I try to make sure that I am mindful and
that it keeps you know, our team because we got
to say Eric and it keeps them, you know, stress free.
They be stressed out, like what they gonna say. Listen,
I don't right now. Listen, Now there is a character
(19:17):
that you play on Power Power Book to counselman take Yaw,
does Lorenz Take worry about cancel culture don't? Yeah? Yeah,
you know, so that's an interesting thing. So yeah, I
would be a little bit more concerned about councel culture
in relation to how my character was shot. Take talks
(19:40):
like he don't he doesn't care, he doesn't like don't either,
you don't either. I own, to other hand, have a
little bit of humility, I believe, and so I would
want to make sure that I'm not saying anything that
would really disrupt things that ultimately backfire in a way
(20:00):
that could be detrimental to me and my family, you
know what I mean. So, but in a way, I'm
not also really walking on eggshells either, because it's counsel you.
I feel like a lot of times you can only
get canceled if you allow people to cancel you. That's
part of how I think about it. And you only
if you allow and you give up your power to
(20:24):
allow yourself to be canceled. It's how people get canceled.
And I'm like, if I feel a certain type of way,
this is how I feel, this is what I think.
But I'm also mindful that it could be things that
I would say or my views that can get you know,
they can spend out of control, and I feel like
every point of view is not meant to be for
(20:44):
the world. That's good, that's good. Yeah, like you said,
I mean you can have that off the record conversation
with your people, your family, you know, And it is
just this whole balancing act in this industry, and more
so now because you're like, I can be on Twitter
(21:05):
and someone will like tweets from like two thousand and nine. Well, yes, absolutely,
And I'm like, what are you literally going like this too? Yeah,
And it makes me nervous because it's like, are you
looking for something, Michelle, That's what they're doing. I promise you'all.
The first year I got on Twitter was like a
(21:25):
two thousand and nine, I think, right, And so what
you where you were in two thousand and nine, it's
different than where you are in twenty twenty three. Who
you are is a little different from where you are
in twenty twenty three. How you use your social media
in two thousand and nine is so much different of
(21:45):
how you utilize you in two thousand and twenty three.
You gotta understand there's growth. You know, people elevate and
people grow out of where they probably were. And you
have to also understand back in those days when we
were starting social media, in those early you know, two
thousand and ten, two thousand and eleven, we didn't really
(22:06):
know how to what that was about anyway. You know,
we were like, is this like text messaging? You know,
we didn't know what it so when you're talking because
it was so much different from MySpace, like yeah, yeah,
it's just like when we jumped from MySpace. Well, like
this is different, and so the things again that you
can pull back. I don't always believe divine defines people.
(22:30):
It's like that was like people people, you know, they
might have had that point of view, and hopefully you're
seeing the fruit of their of them evolving, the evolution absolutely,
you know, their evolution, which you're like, it's it's so
much easier. It seems to give a person what I believe,
basically what you're saying, it's some grace, grace and room
(22:51):
to change. And speaking of social media, y'all, if you
wanted to dig. You can't find nothing. You ain't gonna get. No,
he ain't sub tweeted nobody, he ain't putting nothing, No
Instagram to where you like, Wait a minute, did they
have a bad day day? You know what I mean?
What I do? Like again, I see a lot about manifestation,
(23:15):
keeping a sound mind, and even every now and then
you dropped some great advice where you say some things
break your heart, but fix your vision. And that could
mean anything that could be in a relationship, a business
deal gone bad, and you we know, well not everybody know,
but when you got married, false false hearts got broken.
(23:37):
They started, they change their Facebook relationship status from being
in a relationship with you too. It's complicated. Rest in
peace to my heart and my soul. Yeah, I'm not
gonna hold you too much longer. But I know that
you are private and is that a key also to
success personally as in business wise? So I'll answer that.
(24:03):
Before I answer those two questions, I gotta say no, no, no, no,
it's all good. No, we're talking about you knowing No,
it's no. It's talking about breaking the hearts and straightening
out the vision. It's like when we announced that it
wasn't like I was trying to break any hearts. And
now that they see that, I hope that they don't
(24:25):
look at that vision as you know, traumatic or trauma.
I feel like, you know, you'll celebrate this black love
over here, ye, But being in the limelight or being
in the in the media, I feel like protecting your
privacy is essential. And I think your privacy is also
(24:46):
your superpower. And I feel like if I can control that,
because once you open up that door and you let
the world in when everything is great, you can't expect
to get them out of your life and your business
in the public. You can't get them out when things
(25:07):
are bad. They don't want to go. They want to
stoop around for the for the for the for the
what they would call the toxicity, and they wanted to
for the tea that spilled. They want to see they
want to see the stuff in really you know about spilled. Yeah,
they want to know about what really is going on.
And the more you try to kick them out, the
(25:28):
more they want to stay in. Now right, so good
because there's a sense of entitlement. You've asked me to
watch your movies, you asked me to you know, buy
your product, you asked me to download you buy your songs,
You asked me to come to your concert, you asked
me your TV shows. Now you're talking about how beautiful
for your husband is her beautiful your wife is, and
(25:50):
how beautiful your kids are. And you're doing all this stuff.
But once y'all start have complications, well, can you give
us a little privacy right now? Can you respect our privacy?
Can you give us a little time to figure? And
they're like, nah, we don't want to do that because
you've been asking us and you've been inviting us in
the whole time. Well, the Tates have not invited anybody
in to tell them to give me the privacy. You
(26:13):
know what I mean. I've already established that off top.
You know what I'm saying off ripped. I started with that.
I lad with that. God bless you. I love y'all.
I am here for this. I can sit and talk
with you just about life. We have seen that you
(26:34):
like to hike. Yes, yeah, I'm assuming it's a great
way to clear your head and good for your mental health.
But I think for some people the hardest part is
just to just start yes, you know anything when you're
looking for you know, balancing your life. I think when
they say health is wealth, it really is just because
(26:55):
it's it's our temple, right, this is our body. You
know that if we can and it's in our capacity
to take care of ourselves, I believe that's our right right,
and I think that's our responsibility more than anything, to
take care of your temple, take care of your body,
and to start, as you said, that's the biggest thing.
You know. Most people say, oh, I'm I'm gonna start.
(27:17):
You know, I'm gonna start. But when you're gonna start, now,
start later? Start today? When are you gonna start? And
once I found myself getting past that, you know, it's
a whole other experience, right. And when I'm able to
go either hiking or just being in the mountains or
wherever I can, whether it's beach or taking a jog,
and even in New York, if I can just get
(27:39):
into the city and it can be busy and all that,
if I'm able to put my music in and I
can just kind of or not or just kind of
experience it. It's kind of nice to have that alone
time to just kind of center myself. So it doesn't
really matter where I am, and as a result of
me taking those walks or those jogs or those runs, physically,
(28:00):
I'm getting something out of it too, right, So mentally
I'm getting something out of it because I can kind
of just see the world as it's sort of you know,
passing me or I'm experience in the world. But also
I'm able to eat what I want, and then I
can share some of those pounds as well, because you know, older,
you get them like the eggs. So for me, it
(28:20):
kind of works and keep the heart going, keep the
all of those things. And what I noticed when I'm
on these walks or these drugs or whatever, I see
people in the communities. I say, I see it like
older people and I'm like, why these older people, what
do they know? What do they know that us younger
people may not know. It's like they know something, and
(28:41):
I think they're trying to preserve themselves. Yeah, I think
they're trying to continue to, you know, straighten whatever it
is out in their lives. They're trying to straighten it out,
you know what I mean, because we're gonna be here forever.
And I'm like, I cool, you know, I want to
I want to be able to be that person that
I can still run when I'm in my sixties or
(29:01):
my seventies or my eighties or whenever, you know, the
most high allows me to stay and before you call
me home. I just feel like I want to be
able to still do the things that I'm doing today. Yes,
and you will, because I have to acknowledge there's been
some celebration regarding Love Jones and Menutes to Society. Oh wow,
(29:23):
that have been staples in all black community. Sure, but
I'm sure you get folks that come up to you
where you're surprised, like, wait, you watch the weather. Wait
a minute, you watch Minutes to Society? Yes, and what
do you think has inspired you to maybe push through
when things might have gotten challenging? Trying to figure out
(29:46):
the words that I think that you would use. I
don't know if you feel like things get hard, but
things challenging, yeah, yeah, sure, or an obstacle the things
that I used to to sort of deal with any
of those challenges. Honestly, it's just allowing myself to have
that centered space for me anytime that I'm up against anything,
(30:12):
or i feel like I'm overwhelmed, or i might feel
like there's anxiety. You know, some people may deal with
you know, different things like anxiety sometimes is one of
those things for myself, like I gotta you know, balance
that out, you know, because you get anxious or you
have a feeling that you can't quite explain why am
I feeling like this? And the pressures or the expectations
(30:35):
because a lot of times people are looking for you
to be the strong friend or the strong person, or
the client who needs to do this, or the the
you've you've done so much in the past, and the
expectations for you to sustain that it can be overwhelming.
And for me, I just like to sent to myself,
I meditate, you know, you know everybody may not be
(30:57):
you know, spiritual person, and that's fine, you know, to
believe I'm a spiritual person. So I like to you know,
pray and meditate. Those things kind of help me get through.
And then I look at people who find themselves just
seemingly at peace and they don't have a whole bunch,
you know, they may not have a whole lot. They
may not it's not about you know, a lifestyle that
(31:20):
is you know, glamorous, and they have access to all
these things. I see a lot of those people with
all these access of things, they're not happy. But then
I see people who may not have the things that
you would assume would make you happy, just so peaceful
because the simple things are what matter to them, family, important, friendships.
(31:44):
Thinks that they love to do things beyond work. If
you can find work that you love to do. I
see what you're doing right now. You have a passion
for what you're doing and sharing your experiences with people.
You fortunately have an access to share your experience aparances,
you know, with your podcasts, and you're able to get
(32:04):
people because how people revere you, people respect you, how
people love you. They want to come and talk to
you and share their experiences the way you have. And
so you know, I see things like that, like what
you're doing. I see people who you know, are finding
ways to overcome any of the challenges. That's inspiring to me.
(32:27):
So when I look at some of what you would say,
the hardships or the challenges, I look at it. But
then I look out the world around me, and I
try to do this as much as I can. I
go straight to my family. I look at things in
my family and I share this with my four sons
who are sixteen, fourteen, nine and four love it. Yeah,
me and my wife, And I mean, she's really she's
(32:48):
she's the superhero. I don't know how she has done it,
but she's she's been blessed. She blessed the brother with
folk people, amazing boys. And I tell them all the
time and say, you know, you guys are on the
very four in a place, and you are in a
very privileged position in so many ways. You can look
at your family members, extended family members, and I always
(33:11):
tell them, I say, you think that the Most High
loves you more than he loves them, love them the same,
love y'all the same. You just happen to have a
different grace. So don't take that for granted, because you're not,
you know, loved more. You just have some favor, right,
you just got some favor. Don't take that for granted.
(33:32):
It's steward that favor and excess well it's stewart, absolutely
steward it. And you know, you know the favor that
you have, you just have to pay it forward as
much as you possibly can. And I just try to
keep that balance. And here's the deal. Everything is not
wrapped up in a boat. In my life, everything is
not just like oh, these great positive things, you know.
(33:56):
I find things that I read that I find it
as inspirational. I find people's autobiographies, it just people's experience.
I use that. But sometimes it's tough. Sometimes I don't
want to get up for the fight. Sometimes I don't
want to get up for whatever it is. Sometimes I
just want to say, like I don't want to have
to seem like do make all the right decisions and
(34:17):
make all the right choices. It's like, right, could it
really just come only? Like what is it feel like?
You know what I'm saying, Like can it? Can I
just do it? It be okay? But you know what,
some of our missteps can be magnified, some of our
(34:38):
hiccups or the chinks in our armor, or the things
that may not bode well by public opinion. Man. Man,
that's that's that's that's stressful. Sometimes sometimes I just I
don't want to be super human. You just want to
take the super off and just speed human. I want
to be flawed in a little messy every now and again.
(34:58):
If that I mean myleth sauce from Harold Chicken, don't
eat Harold, give me some of that mouth sauce. You
know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's love, it's love. But
you get what. I totally get what you're saying. As
I'm sitting here listening to you talk, I'm like, Lorenz
(35:18):
needs to do like a hike with Lorenz. Oh yeah,
the four quarters of the states something on the east coast. Yeah, yeah, Nor,
Let's do some hikes with Lorenz where we could just
talk this talk. Let's talk this talk and invite people
to come in hike which might help them get started
(35:39):
with hiking and walking and their temples. Right listen, I
love it and if Michelle Williams can be a part
of it. Look at my hiking boots in my closet.
We gotta get them out. So it's to get them
out there, waterproof and everything. Let's go, Lorenz. You've been
an absolute joy. So excited for you. I'm not the
(36:02):
type of person, but like, what's next, what's going on?
We will keep things locked and focused on you and
all that you are doing. And if there's something special
that you do want us to tell us about. My
checking in family loves to know. No, I would love
to share a few things. You know, I'm in Power
Book to Ghost season three is phenomenal. My character Councilman
(36:22):
takes still it's still to Shenanigans, and so I'm able
to live out some of those things through. That's how
you can be massies. You gott a role to play.
That's why I play those roles so well. You know
what I'm saying, I can do it. I can't do
it the things that I can't do it in real life.
So no, we have that. I'm excited about that. The
(36:43):
things that I'm doing along with my brothers, especially back
home in Chicago, we are looking to redevelop the community
and be a part of those things, finding social equity
and justice for those who may not have it, you know,
coming out of our own community and Black community that
oftentimes are marginalized, and you know, I always remind them
(37:04):
that our communities are valuable, right, and so you see
how the next step of things when the community begins
to change and it's being gentrified and we are moved
out of our communities because the neighborhoods are valuable, they
don't still have it different. Yeah, So we are being
very intentional about being a part of that redevelopment where
(37:25):
we can make sure that our people who are from
those communities remain in those communities to be a part
of the development and the infrastructure of the community as
opposed to being displaced and pushed out and trying to
find themselves. That we can find ways to have access
to affordable housing, things that are updated, rebuilding, also creating
(37:47):
new businesses and jobs and local businesses that black people
own and operate, creating job opportunities. So we're working with
the city. We're working with the city official, but we're
working with community leaders, community activists, We're working with developers, architects.
You know, we got to have accountants, a lot of
(38:08):
people who look like us. We want to make sure
that they're at the table being a part of the
decision making and you know, making sure that we're part
of what you know, some people talk about buying back
the block so we can we can have it our art. Hey. Hey,
so that's when we're talking about. So those are things
I'm excited about working on and we're currently doing a
(38:30):
lot of that. Uh So, yeah, So you'll hear more
about the redevelopment in Chicago from our communities on the
West Side, also on the South Side and as we
expand throughout the country. Please let me know, because maybe
we do something like that up in the rock. We
come into the rock, for sure, we have to you
got it, mister lorenz Tate. Everybody, I'm so thankful for you.
(38:51):
I'm glad that we got to chat today. Thank you
for checking in peace and blessings. Thank you so much. Well, yes, sir, love,
all right, I'm gonna take him up. We're going hiking.
We are going hiking. Black people hike. Okay, Yes, we
go hiking. Okay. We're gonna make sure we got the
(39:14):
right boot zone. We're gonna make sure we are covered
from head to toe. We're gonna make sure we've got
every mosquite or repellent poison Nivy cream to make sure. Yes,
we're gonna be prepared. Ladies, this is where I think
a bonnet would be appropriate. I won't side eye if
(39:35):
you have a bonnet while hiking. I won't be mad
at that. I promise you I won't be mad. All right, y'all.
This was so amazing just to talk about how he
stays grounded and how he's just been able to stay
just enough under the radar, but when he pops his
head back up. You're like, Okay, what is he doing now?
(39:56):
What does Lorenz Tate have up his sleeves? He's always
doing something awesome, and so I'm just happy. I'm just excited.
He's such a great example of how you can keep
doing this thing for a long, long, long long time. Listen,
if we do the math, he's been doing this, but
(40:19):
thirty eight years. Thirty eight years is a long time here,
I'm thinking twenty four years professionally in the game of something,
thirty eight years. So he's someone that I can look
to about, you know, just staying low and peeking your
head up when it's time to work, when it's time
to shine and do your thing, then you kind of
(40:40):
go back under. I know this episode is about Lorenz,
but I pat myself on the back. I believe I
do that pretty well. AnyWho, I love y'all. I'm so excited.
This was a different episode. It's a fun episode. So
tell everybody downloaded, Tell your homies, tell your mother, tell
all of them that they're boyfriend m He checked in,
(41:01):
all right, Okay, I love y'all. And you know how
I always say, there's really nothing you can do about
the love that I have for you, all right, take
care of bye bye. Checking In with Michelle Williams is
(41:35):
a production of iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. For more
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