Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Term Everybody. Welcome to Hello Somebody, a production of The
(00:28):
Black Effect Podcast Network and I Heart Media. Where we
rage against the machine, where we raise our voices against
injustice and stand up for justice. Where we embrace hope
and joy with an optimism for a bright or more
just future. Each week I'll be dropping knowledge, whether it's
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a solo episode from me or a hearty discussion with
esteem guests doing great things in spaces and places of politics, entertainment,
social justice, and beyond. We get real, baby, I mean
really real. We get honest, We get up close and
personal for you, yes, you, because everybody is somebody. Before
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we begin, I want to give a special shout out
to my team, Thank you, Sam, Tiffany, Sam and the
team over at Good Juju Studios, Erica, England, Pepper Chambers,
the Hot One, and my social media team. Hello Somebody,
Welcome back. Many of you have been on this journey
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with us in the season two of The Three Bones,
and we've talked about the wishbone and the Joe bone,
and now we are onto the most important bone of
them all, the backbone. My grandmother used to say, your
test is your testimony. Hello Somebody. On that so let's
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talk about the backbone and how my my backbone became
as strong as it is today. I think it is
still getting stronger every single day. You know, for as
long as we live, we're always going to have test
test after tests after tests. We're never gonna be done
with tests for as long as we live. And so
this backbone of mind, I certainly have had to use
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it seemingly all of my life, but especially my adult
life and my childhood was definitely nowhere near easy street
at all. But I am proud and humbled by the
experiences that I've had early on in my life. Those
experience made me who I am and what I am today.
For today, I still got a lot more life to live,
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So who knows what else I will become when all
of said and done. Today is the day of the recording.
I should say it's my mother's birthday. Many of you
know my mother passed away when she was very young
in nWo. She was forty two years old, and I
just want to pause for a minute and to say
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happy birthday, Mom. I know that she really is in
the ancestral plane, to quote from the Black Pather. And
even though I know that, I still miss her every
single day. And I know there are some of you
who are listening who are in the MRR Mama club
or Mr Daddy club because they're not physically here. So
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I want to recognize that there are many millions, hundreds
of millions of people who have had similar experiences and
losing a parent. And you know, it really doesn't matter
how old they are, how young they are. We missed
them whenever they're gone, I do know, however, it is
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especially hard when they are young. So happy birthday, Mama.
I love you, and I miss your physical presence every
single of day, you know, And thinking about the hard
knocks of life and having to use a backbone, I
really did have to use my back pone then in
n I'm the oldest of seven children. My mother was
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a custodial parent. I grew up most of my life
in a single parent household. And I knew then and
even before then, that life has a tendency to be
a hard fight. It's a hard knock life for many
of us. And my parents got married really young. They
both were teenagers, older teenagers with teenagers nevertheless, and working poor,
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you know, work really hard. Things didn't work out so
As I said, my mom was a cosodial parent. My
dad certainly had a presence and challenging for both of
my parents. And you know, when you as you get older,
you start to understand some of those adults situations that
you didn't understand when you were much younger. So I
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do definitely have a better understanding. Really blessed that my
dad still with me and one of my biggest champions.
Who knows what my life would have been like if
my parents had have stayed together, Just never know, right,
But for Mama's birthday, Happy birthday. Mom, miss you and
love you every single day. And I know that my siblings,
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my sisters and my brother miss her too. You know,
when I was growing up as a teenager, I worked
really hard to help my mother, you know, to help
our family make ends meet. And I love all of
my siblings and the quote a few words from a
spiritual song, I wouldn't take nothing for this journey, as
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hard as it was, and as hard as it continues
to be, I wouldn't take anything for it. Just thinking
about my mom today certainly makes me think about her mom.
My grandmother, who died four months after my mom and
nine two, was hard as hell, y'all hear me. So
the backbone, Yeah, I truly had to use some backbone
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that year. How was a sophomore at Cuyahoga Community College
where futures begin, my first institution of higher learning, and
I did not know whether or not I was going
to be able to make it through, whether I was
going to be able to continue. But by the grace
of an almighty God and angels both divine and mortal,
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to quote the great Mary Ann Williamson on that definitely
stepped in to help me and my family and some
of the most trying times of our lives. Thinking about
that particular moment in my life certainly showed me what
perseverance was about in a deeper way, gratefulness even in
the time of immense struggle and heartache and pain, and
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most importantly, how to stand tall no matter what the
circumstances were and are. And I know many of you
who are listening to hello somebody today you have had
some circumstances in your life that have tested you, that
have tried you. And most of the time we do
come through and we get to look back over those
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very hard and trying moments and reflect that in that moment,
you didn't know whether or not you were going to
make it, but you did make it, and your test
is indeed your testimony. So the backbone is my grandmother
would tell me you'll never get anything without the backbone,
quoting her, and that was a piece of information that
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I needed. Yeah, very much. So, all that I've been through,
all that I know, I never would have made it
for me without the spiritual connection, without those mortal angels
and the divine ones, I would not have made it.
I needed Black Jesus many a day. See, just any
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Jesus won't do for me when I'm going through my
trials and tribulations, maybe I got to call on Black Jesus.
It's shown no serious when you call all on Black Jesus.
So in honor of my grandmother, my mother, and my
life lessons becoming an adult, we're gonna keep on sharing.
We're gonna talk through some memories in this episode, as
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we have with the Three Bones altogether, because the three
Bones really are lessons in life, and I use those
lessons to fuel me to this day. But also as
we're talking about the Bones, I've been taking you on
the journey backwards because you gotta. You have to know
from once you came. The great novelist James Baldwin once said,
know from once you came. If you know from whence
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you came, there's virtually nowhere that you cannot go. It
is my sincere hope that as I am walking down
memory Lane and the telling of the three Bones that
wish bone, the job bone in the backbone, that it
gives some body some encouragement for their journey. So how
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do you want to delve a little deeper into some
of the lessons that I learned from my mother, the
wisdom of my grandmother. More importantly, even when you think
that you are at your lowest point, there's always, always,
always the opportunity to turn that thing around. Yeah, I
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want you to know that these are some very trying
times that we are in. It is not lost on
me that children and a few adults or shot and
killed at a school in Texas, multiple injuries, you know, adults,
a teacher was killed, children were killed. It's just really
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unspeakable tragedies that are happening right now in this country.
We know even earlier in the month of May that
people were killed in Buffalo, York mainly black people. It
was racism. It was anti black racism that drove this
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eighteen year old white boy who wrote this out and
semi manifesto that he was out to kill black people,
listening to and believing in the damn replacement theory. It
just never ceases to shock me, to amaze me, then
doctrination of white people. But white supremacy is real. Anti
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black racism is real. And Uh, as much as I
want to be stunned, I'm not stunned. Definitely mentally. This
is a lot to bear time and time again to
know that our skin is our sin. Ex cut one
of his lyrics laid that out, our skin is our sin,
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and unfortunately that continues to be the reality. But mass
murder happened in the month of May in the United
States of America in Buffalo, New York. You got Robert A.
Drury who was thirty two, Marcus Morrison fifty two, Andre
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McNeil fifty three, Aaron Statler, Gardine Tally sixty two, Justine
Cheney six, Hayward Patterson sixty seven, Catherine Massey seventy two,
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Pearl Young seventy seven, Ruth Whitville six. Just to know
as black people and this this ship ain't knew though.
Black people have been terrorized since the first ship and
to be reminded in uh century America that black lives
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still don't matter. Oh, this is traumatizing, it is it
triggers My god, you got the babies or a shot
at the elementary school. It's all manner of foolishness, hate,
desperation going on. We have a problem in the United
States and we've been talking about that. And you know
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what these people, especially some other members who are elected
to office, and particularly in Congress. Yeah, children, did you
know the parents sent them to school thinking they would
see them later. They're not going to see them in
the physical ever again. And as long as we allow
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lobbyists like the gun lobby to buy politicians, we aren't
going to stop this violence from happening. And I know
it's bigger than guns. This is not just about guns.
I'm just feeling this right now, just even thinking about
the backbone and what it is going to take for
these children's parents, their grandparents, the aunties, their uncles and
other people who love them, the trauma that they're classmates
are gonna face. I'm want to talk about backbone we
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need these damn politicians to get a spine. And all
of these issues, whether it's the gun lobby, the oil lobby,
the healthcare lobby, all of these things point back to
the unrelenting influence that money and politics have, So the
issue really goes back to follow the money in politics.
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They're allowing children to die because of the gun lobby.
They're allowing our planet to die or to kill us
off because Mother Earth is gonna outlast all of us
because of big oil. They're allowing people to go without
healthcare and die because of the insurance lobby. In action
is bought, it is purchased in the United States of American.
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None of these things are happening by happenstance. They are
happening because these politicians don't have a damn backbone. And
one of my bosses used to say, you can't give
a man and I'm gonna throwing there a woman a
spine who doesn't have one, and my ot is his
words ringing, so damn true. You're gonna have all of
these weak ass politicians tweeting and instagram and tiktoking and
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shucking and jiving about oh how sorry they are about
what happened. But they ain't gonna do a damn thing.
They're not gonna do a goddamn thing to try to
stop this from happening again. They're not. They're not. So
we're gonna put that right there in the parking lot.
I just I could not go through this day. Hello,
somebody backbone, the final bone in the series and not
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say what it is. And it really is a fucking shame.
That's that's what it is. You know, we just came
and play with this. It's a fucking shame, and it
just it really, I'm going into a direction that I
hadn't playing on going. But my heart is heavy, it's full,
and I know that there are others in this country
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and in this world who feel the same way. We
have a goddamn problem in this country, and too many
politicians lacked the intestinal fortitude to try to solve it.
This is bigger than guns. This is about a total
gun culture, total mentality that celebrates that worships guns, and
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this toxic male masculinity that is jumping off to Yeah,
it's all of these things. It's not one of these things.
It is all of these things. And we have the
resources and the capacity to do something about it, but
we don't have elected officials with the intestinal fortitude. I
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want to recommend a book to all of you, and
the title is allowed me to retort, A Black Guy's
Guide to the Constitution. It is authored by Ellie Mustall.
And I'm telling you, I'm listening to the audio version. Baby,
this is something the brother lays it out. There's a
chapter about guns that I just encourage you to read.
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He gives the history of the Second Amendment and just
this reimagining of the Second Amendment that was not there,
that was not the original intent of the framers, was
not and how the gun lobby has run away with
revisionist history when it comes to that and really have
created chaos and mayhem in the United States of America
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when it comes to guns. It just it's it's a
must read, So get it. And I would recommend if
you can get the audio version and listen to the
author lay it down. And the bonus of it is
that he cusses his ass off. And that's my kind
of person. Baby, I don't trust you if you don't cuss.
Got to say a few cuss words. I'm just loving
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when he is laying down. It is a must read.
It really is the expansion of the scope of the
Second Amendment and the way that the Second amend and
is used to really hurt and terrorize communities. He gives
the history of why the Second Amendment is being clung
to so tightly right now. That has everything to do
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with anti blackness and white supremacy, and some people they're
not ready for that kind of truth. It's just not
But we need to get ready. We gotta do a
new and a different thing in this country, and do
it stat Now that I've gotten all that off my chest,
let me go back. I'm gonna put that in the
parking lot. We're gonna pull it out. We're pulling that
car back out. I don't put it in the parking lot.
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To go back to the backbone and some of the
other things that I wanted to talk about, some of
the experiences that I've been able to have in my life,
and you know, going back to my grandmother, who is
the person who told me the three bones story, and
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it's very much a part of her legacy. You know,
my grandmother used to put everything, everything in her bra
You know what I thought about that thing, it's the
Southern Ladies Banking Trust. She carried her money there, she
carried a pistol there. She was a pistol blacking mama,
responsible grown ass, a gun owner, not like these other
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folks that are just out here doing what they're doing,
but a responsible one. And we do, we really need
to have a full fledged conversation about the Second Amendment, guns,
the history of guns, and the relationship of guns with
black people, and how this country has always sought to
deny black folks. Let me look at the black panthers.
As soon as they understood and was exercising their right,
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they wanted to change the damn rules. I'm just hot
as a mofo right now, just even hard for me
to even continue the series that the last bomb without
As I said, pausing for a moment, I said, I
put in the parking lot and I brought it back out.
I'm put in the parking lot. So let's just go
back to Grandma. Grandma kept everything and that brawl of hers,
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that Southern Ladies Banking Trust, and and I just love her.
I loved her style. I love her because her spirit
is still exists, but just her style or no nonsense way,
and how she loved her grandchildren so very much sacrificed.
She only had a third grade education, but she wanted
so much more for her grandchildren. One of my fondest
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memories is my grandmother purchasing a set of Britannica encyclopedias. Now,
for those of you who don't even know what in
encyclopedia is, I get it. There as a certain generation
who Google is all they have ever known. That was
Google before Google. And I used to lay on my
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stomach with my feet up crossed and just thumbed through
the pages of that encyclopedia, they dreaming about what could
be possible for me in my life. And it it
made me feel good that my grandmother invested that kind
of money to purchase encyclopedias that she her self could
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never read, and I was able to escape and those encyclopedias.
My grandmother is a great example of the quote plant
trees whose shade you may never be able to enjoy.
Although she did not have a formal education, she wanted
very much for her grandchildren to use education as a
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vehicle to become cycle breakers, to overcome poverty, to overcome
under education. And although she never lived to see her
oldest granddaughter accomplished some pretty incredible things. I know that
she would be proud and that I did and so
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did my siblings to excel in ways that she would
have wanted us to do. Britannica Encyclopedias. I need a
hell of somebody from somebody who can relate to what
I'm talking about as a gen xer. Well, we talked
about the wishball on the job bone, the wishbone, about
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how important it is to continue to hope and that
hope is an action word and we must use our
actions for things that are bigger and greater than us
in this moment, in every moment that is required. We
talked about the job on how we need to have
the courage to speak up, and we do in this
moment and in every moment, especially at moments like this,
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moments of crisis especially, they'll need go alone to get
along people. And then that backbone is being able to
stay strong, especially when you are on a mission, on
a sign it to change things, to make the world
a better place, when you are going against the grain,
and the backbone really helps you, It grounds you, It
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gives you that courage and sometimes in the alonge the
journey depending on what you're fighting for fighting against in
the moment, you can feel pretty lonely, and it doesn't
have to be anything as big as running for office.
I've said that time and time again. I'll continue to
say that people go through and endure many things in
their lives that are a challenge. It is their challenge,
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and they overcome those challenges. Most of the time people do.
There are moments when people don't, when you just don't,
and we need to have a courage to say that too.
So I'm saying it with the backbone. It undergird you
and remind you that your life and the lives of
the people that you love, are the issues that you're
standing up for are worth the fight. Don't you always
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remember that. I certainly would love for some of the
listeners to share, especially if you are a member on Patreon.
Please share some of your stories, some of your backbone
stories with me on either social media or Patreon. I
want to hear from you, I really do. I don't
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know who needs to hear this, but just because something
doesn't start off easy doesn't mean it will always have
to be hard. Our backbone is going to keep us
in line and strong enough to fulfill whatever destiny lies ahead.
Great things do lie ahead, but even in or on
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the way to greatness, there are hurdles that must be jumps.
There are mountains that must be climbed, their dragons that
need to be slaved. In other words, we're all gonna
go through some stuff. But we can't have a testimony
without a test And so I think about some of
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the greats that I take my life lessons from, not
only my maternal grandmother, who the world knows through me,
but from other experts in the struggle like Fatny Lou
Hamer and Congress Only Sureley is Um Dr w E
B DWO Boys, Book of t Washington, Marcus Garvey, Daisy
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Dates Hello. I mean, the list goes on Mother Jones.
Who are some of the people both They don't have
to be famous, but people in your life, either alive
on this plane or in this sstral plane, that you
take life lessons from. These people are the experts on perseverance.
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I name some of the experts on using that backbone
to keep it. You study no matter what you're going through,
you gotta be able to stand up. Always remember you
have within you the strength of patients and the passion
to reach for the stars to change the world. We
need some change agents right now and into the future.
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So you decide whether you're gonna be a ch agent
or you're gonna be one of those that stay on
the sidelines and complain or point out the things that
are wrong. Instead of taking up a call is taking
up the mantel and being that change that you want
to see in the world. God knows we need it
and we can have it. I want you to take heart.
Although we are going through a lot, from the pandemic
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to these mass shootings, I do believe that there is
indeed promise in the problem, but it is going to
take action. Not just action from the government that is
a start, but actions from individuals in our communities. You're
gonna take action from all the pillars of society, be
it faith based, be it secular, business, political. Everybody and
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every single institution or pillar of this society has a
role to play and making this world a better place.
We need to stand up, speak up, and make the demands.
Use my grandmother's three bones, the wishbone for hoping and praying,
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the jaw bone for having the courage to speak truth
to power, and the factbone to undergird your mission. That
when you have done all the stand, I want you
to keep standing anyhow. Hello, somebody, because everybody is somebody,
you all, We're gonna get through this. We are. I'm
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sending love. I want you to keep the faith and
God knows. I want you to keep the fight love,
marrying somebody, somebody, somebody, time. Time. Yeah, change is coming.
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The pain is nothing. Trying to shoot for the stars.
If you're gonna, ain't for something. Embrace the love for
your brother and sister. You need these the mission brush.
We need to puzzle this pictures painted up and frame
it up for the world to see. Ain't to hate
it up. Enough is enough, It's enough making changes enough
in turn of a voice of the truth to wise world.
Despire the youth to keep their eyes on the roof.
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It's the end. Never give up, keep conquering goals to
the eye. Intelligent, silver, wisdom is gold. Back to the end.
Now it is your time. Stay firm, don't fold to
the a or you need is the three bones. That's
what Rannie said. Now I'm gonna make sure these words
from Brandie spread for all the hair to give it
your air. She can take him to the Promised Land.
I swear World pieces What They Fear from Queen's The Cleveland,
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Ohio We're here famous fas Turning Somebody. You don't need
to turn anybody ship in internally. Somebody Turning Times of
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Points has charts on our hands. Not read Hello Somebody
is a production of I Heart Radio and The Black
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