Hip-Hop and Humanitarianism

This week Mysonne and Tamika speak with their friend and Change Maker Councilman Dupre Kelly or better known as "Do It All". During the show they discuss Councilman Kelly's evolvement and involvement, as he went from being a platinum selling artist to the first artist to become a elected official in Newark, New Jersey.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's up? Family? Is your girl to Mika D Mallory is.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Your boy, my son general.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we are your host of street politicians, the place.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Where the streets and politics.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Means my son Leonard I.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Because of our scheduling today, we have our guests coming
on a little earlier than we thought, so we're gonna.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Have to cut some things.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
And that's okay with me because I have one thing
in my thought of the day that I would like
to talk about today on this year show.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, are you trying to get straight to the nitty
gritty going to.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Make some people upset? I believe in holistic wellness.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
I was a kid growing up.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
My parents rarely gave us medication because they believe wholeheartedly
in holistic wellness. Right now, when we travel to Africa,
we learn that in the garden they grow different types
of medicines that are currently being used for things that

(01:10):
we use in terms of actual medicine, not just holistically today.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Well, the ingredients pretty much the ingredients medicine.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
So anesthesia is growing in.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
The gardens of Africa, specifically in Ghana. And you know
that if you go to get a leg arm amputated,
you two quo whatever baby have a not a baby.
But certainly if you have termination of pregnancy, if you
have any type of search be that requires you to
go under, you have to use anesthesia in order to
be able to do that. And the sesia can be

(01:46):
very dangerous too, which is why when we were in
in the botanical gardens in Ghana, the gentleman said, you
can't touch it, play with it tasted nothing right until
and I asked the dumb question, well, how do you
just have it out here? What if someone puts it
in their mouth? And he's like, well, why would anybody.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Be eating trees?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
And I was like, oh, okay, see again, those are
negative or stereotypes that get into your head about Africans.
And it came out of me right there in the
park in the garden. But if you're gonna get something
serious surgery done, you need your anesthesia so that you
can not die from pain. I think there are people

(02:27):
in our society that need to take their medicine, or
if they don't know that they need a medicine, they
need to get it. And if there is a holistic
way to approach their conditions, then they need to go
heavy into that as well. And sometimes holistically we might
not have the right formulas.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Or whatever, but you need your medicine.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
People need their insulin right once they have diabetes that
gets to a certain level, they have to be able
to take their insulin. Yes, you could clean your body.
My mother definitely with her diabetes. Her and my father
got on an extreme workout schedule.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Seven miles a day, walking in the morning.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
They ate better, They did all the things you could
think of, and they were able to change ther trajectory
of her diabetic situation very much so. But she still
needed her medication to help with some of the other challenges.
She was seeing things on her hand, you know, she
was feeling like when she was cooking, it was worms

(03:33):
and different things because she was having hallucinations because of
the diabetes. So I'm saying today that there are people
out here that need to take their medicine. And I'm
not talking about will Wile Willie who's running up and
down the street, because you know, we often will say, okay,
people need to take their medicine, and we assume were
associated with somebody who's just you know, out of control.

(03:57):
They look like they tripping, and we say they need
to take medicine. There are people who are high functioning, depressed,
they have anxiety, they are.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Dealing with mental health issues.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
They're high functioning, they look wonderful, they look perfect, got
it going on, dressed nice and all of that, but
they're nasty, nasty attitudes, miserable, negative, damn there, ready to
die by suicide, eating disorders. There's a lot of signs

(04:34):
that people are dealing with mental health challenges that are
not getting addressed. People do not have the right formula,
and as a result, we are dealing with a lot
of crazy things. And I of course can't tell the
story of right now or at all of what it
is that I experience that made me feel this way,
but it really is on me that we have to

(04:55):
start encouraging people to seek professional help for a variety
of issues that you may be dealing with and get
the type of help necessary now. At one point, I
had a doctor that wanted to put me on riddily
when I was really depressed, and.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
I chose not to do that.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
But we found something else, and I take that medicine
and it is very helpful to me to keep me
balanced so that my anxiety does not take over to
where I'm aggravating you, aggravating everybody, lending everybody around. I
got an attitude. I'm snappy, I'm not feeling good. I
can't rest. People need to take their medicine.

Speaker 4 (05:36):
I mean, I agree, I agree, you know, I also
agree that a lot of shit is mind state.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Right. There are a lot of different individuals. There's some
individuals that they required that they're not going to be
able to fix it theirselves. Right, They're not going to
be able a dollar back. Right. There are some people
that need to go to or rehab. Right. There are
some people that don't need to go to rehab.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Some people say I'm gonna kick this ship by myself
and then completely stop doing it. Some people are sick
that you they've been diagnosed with sickness and they've been
able to holistically change their their trajectory. Other people can't
do it. So I think it's it's individual based, right.
I think you have to know you. I think you
you you have to be able to make proper assessments

(06:21):
of yourself like and then and then if you, if
you have the right doctor, then they'll be able to
make that assessment. Right, They'll be able to make an
assessment and say, wow, you've been doing what I don't.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Maybe you don't need this medication. You know, maybe they'll
be those.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Pharmaceutical companies are not inclined.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
To tell you nothing. Now I'm not talking what the pharma.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Doctors work for. The pharmaceutical companies.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
Depends on the doctor that you have, right if if
you if you have somebody that you you believe in
that's properly invested in you.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
I've I've had doctors that have said, don't take that medication.
You know, doctors that have said, oh, they said, give
the kids, don't give them that ship. No, we not prescribe,
I mean you none of that.

Speaker 4 (07:01):
Just let that baby do this and take the baby
home and give them this and make sure they eat
this way. So there are doctors who are personally invested
in your safety over then just selling medication.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
So like you know, like you said, there are people
who need it.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
There are people who are not going to be at
a function with all medication because it's the.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Way that they're wired.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
I'm myself, I'm a person that's very rarely had medication,
Like with the exception of me having a toothache, Like
the toothache was probably the only thing that I've ever
said to myself, I got to take some painkillers for
because the shit was dramatically or allergies, with the exception
of me taking xytext because the shit is just my

(07:45):
eyes is watering to the point and there's no way,
no shit I could do they issue to the point.
With the exception of those two things, there's very rarely
a time that medication was something that I was into.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well maybe, and that's okay, suggesting everybody needs medication, and
I'm not suggesting that they are not again holistic ways
to deal with your issues, because there certainly can be,
because I you know, one thing I know for sure
is that when dealing with my son typer activity when
he was young, the main thing the doctors kept saying

(08:18):
to me is, if you don't want to put him
on medication, you have to stop the sugar intake. You
can't let him have a bowl of cereal at home
or a French toast with syrup and then send him
to school, because when he gets to school, he's going
to be high and then low, and there's all types
of agitation that goes on in between it.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
So you gotta do vegetables.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
You got to start out with an egg sausage, you know,
cup of milk, whatever it is that helps them to
feel better and not be you know, feel full, but
not be so.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Rouled up.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
So I understand that. I'm just saying that there are
some people who have not even because you made a
powerful point, made an assessment of what's wrong with them.
They don't even understand the issue, but they just go
out in the world making other people's lives miserable. And
I just think, you know, it's just got to be

(09:14):
it's just got to be a better way. So I'm
just suggesting that people find out what you mean. Right
if you and your family members saying wow, like you're
so mean, or you're in the workplace and you feel
like people don't really want to deal with you for
some reason, or you find yourself feeling like you're always alone,
like in your you know, you're always like at odds

(09:36):
with the people around you who you should have positive
for the most part, relationships with, or you know, you
find yourself constantly hearing from people that you offended them,
or you upset them or whatever. You try to find
out is there something going on with maybe I'm dealing
with depression and therefore it makes me negative. Maybe I

(09:56):
think negatively all the time. That's actually an issue. I'm
not going to say it's a mental health crisis, but
it's an issue. You automatically come from a negative place
when you respond. That's not healthy, right, And a lot
of people don't even know because we've never been taught
about the signs of mental health challenges. We've never been

(10:19):
taught about anxiety. Like white folks know that is a thing. Okay,
they get medicated for anxiety, they get therapy for anxiety.
Black folks have been dealing with anxiety for eons and
we've never been taught that. We never knew what it
meant to have hypertension issues as a child.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
We never knew.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
And we really do need to try to get to
the core of some of the issues we have. And
if you need medication, take it. And if your medication
makes you feel funny, because some people when they take
medicine it makes them feel tired or not themselves, they
can change it, but you have to be committed to

(11:00):
who trying different things and figuring out what is the
right formula for me. You can't take one medicine and
be like that's.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Why I'm not gonna do that anymore.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
And you have to do your research, but you got
to be committed to your well being and your men's.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Wealth for real.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Well on that note.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
Our guest is already here, so let's bring them in
and introduce them. Okay, family, So speaking of our friends,
you know, you hear us all the time with our
inside outside joke that so many of our friends are
doing powerful things across this nation, and we bring them

(11:40):
on as our guests.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Why not.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
It's our show, So we do it how we want,
and we invite our friends to come and talk about
the work they're doing. And you know, we have an
incredible change maker who's joining us today who is a
friend to us personally as well as a friend to
the community in New Jersey abroad, the entire New Jersey,

(12:02):
but of course in Newark. And that's Counselman Do Pray Kelly,
who is better known to most of us as Do
It All. So we're gonna get into some special things
about what this gentleman has been able to do going
from being a platinum selling artist to the first the

(12:23):
first person to go from being an artist at that
level to being elected to a political office in the
city of Newark, New Jersey, and so, as I said,
he's making waves across the country, certainly across the state
of New Jersey, but specifically focusing on his activism which

(12:43):
has turned into his political career in the city of Newark,
New Jersey.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Thank you so much, Counselman for joining us today.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
Thank you Samika, Thank you Mice for having me.

Speaker 6 (12:55):
I really appreciate all the work that you guys have
been doing over the years. You know, it's very special
as needed. So I salute you guys as well and
say thank you. And before we even begin, man, I
just want to say, we just got some bad news
here in New York, New Jersey. I just want to
say rest in peace to our Lieutenant governor. You know,

(13:16):
Oliver passed away today. I'm sure you both of you
probably met, yeah, you know. And I think she you know,
she's all about that woman empowerment and having our black
sisters do their things.

Speaker 5 (13:32):
So I know she was a big fan of yours, speaker.

Speaker 6 (13:34):
That's why I just wanted to say rest in peace
today to her and her family and condolences to her family.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Wow, that's so sad.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, go out to her and who whole state in
New York City. York, Man, it's.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Crazy New Jersey.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, definitely, so let's get all into it. I mean,
I know that folks are going to want to know
about some of the specific work you're doing there in Newark,
But I really want to hear first of all as do.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
It or I want to hear from Do It All.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
I'm about that transition, and it was their transitional. It's
just another stage and level in your life. And you
still feel extremely connected to the culture, to the music,
which I believe that you do. But what it feels
like to be the first to go from being a

(14:32):
platinum selling artist to now being an elected official. What
are the great things about it? And what are some
of the areas that you feel are a little difficult
and challenging.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
You know, first of all, I'm never going to stop
being hip hop ever, you know, I tell people that
I am with hip hop looks like growing up, you know,
I get to govern in the same.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Blocks that I grew up on. I mean, born and
raised in these areas.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
I get to governose streets where I jumped gates and
ran from police and was involved in mischief and also
those same blocks where I learned how to galvanize people
and you know, pass out community events and get involved
in community events.

Speaker 5 (15:18):
And it's the same.

Speaker 6 (15:20):
Area that myself and Red Men set on my porch
and we talked about when we were ten years old.

Speaker 5 (15:26):
We talked about the changes we were going to bring
to our community.

Speaker 6 (15:29):
That's why manifestation and words are powerful because we talked
about that. And it's only really powerful to me just
because in hindsight of actually living it and doing it now.
So it's just an amazing thing that I get to
I get to allow of. You know, I've done some

(15:50):
things that made my mother have a you know, disgusting
a face when I was younger and I was able
to see that, I guess the the you know, lack
of better word, see that frown turn upside down, you know.
And and through my work in the community, through my
work as a hip hop artist. I have to give

(16:11):
a lot of props to my first manager, Hot Feast
for Reid, who managed Laws of the Underground Muslim brother.

Speaker 5 (16:18):
You know, when you think about Laws of the Underground,
we didn't really curse too much in our records. We
never really called women the B word.

Speaker 6 (16:24):
And you know, which was good when I started the
campaign because they didn't have anything negative to reflect on
from my hip hop career.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
And he really he really kept us on point.

Speaker 6 (16:37):
You know, here he has three three black males, three
black men who come from single mother homes, who didn't have.

Speaker 5 (16:45):
Fathers in the house. He became our dad on the road.
And then you know, we got money early.

Speaker 6 (16:51):
So you know, especially when you get money, it doesn't
come with instructions, especially when you never had any money.
So he was that guy that kind of kept us grounded.
And he would say stuff like this. You know, if
I said something with a B word in a song,
he would say, oh, that's dope.

Speaker 5 (17:08):
Who are you talking about your mother? Your grandmother? And
I would get defensive, like you me and my grandmother.

Speaker 6 (17:14):
He said, well, see just the way that you just
swoll up when I when I asked, was that about
your mother?

Speaker 5 (17:20):
People are gonna if.

Speaker 6 (17:21):
You disrespect women, that's how they're gonna feel when they
hit that word or so he challenged us. But he
never told us to change anything, you know, he just
challenged us to be better, to think differently, to change
the mindset. And one time, you know, in this documented
I've been wearing NORK on my power and clothes for
you know, since I was nineteen.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
I'm fifty two now, you know. So it was just like, uh,
I'm sorry, it was you know.

Speaker 6 (17:50):
So one day he asked me in the studio, he said,
what have you done for nork Lady got defensive again.

Speaker 7 (17:57):
I'm like, oh, I wear NOWK on my hast. I
got it on my clothes. I always represent on every
television show. He was like, no, I didn't ask you
about representing. I asked you, what have you done for
the city of North Lady.

Speaker 6 (18:09):
And I really didn't have an answer, you know, And
it hit me like, wow, here it is. I'm bragging
about my city and I'm pulling and taking away from
my city, but I'm not pouring it back into my city,
you know. And I started to take my hip hop money,
you know, and try everything right, everything from community you know,
the book back drive, the Turkey giveaways, all of the

(18:33):
low hanging fruit stuff, which is important, but in the
community world, it's really the low hanging fruit stuff.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
You know.

Speaker 6 (18:39):
And I just started to do that, and by doing that,
it started putting me at the doorsteps of the residents
and my friends and my family again, and they started
to see that I was serious, and they asked me
to be the voice. Just asked me to be the
voice through hip hop, you know, talk for them and
use hip hop to get the message across in the

(19:00):
you know, in the community.

Speaker 5 (19:02):
And that's what we did, just just through hip hop. Man.

Speaker 6 (19:04):
So the neighborhood that I'm from, you know, Rod Diggers
from there, Queen Latif was from there, Redman's from there,
the artifacts, it's just so many people. So like I say,
it's you know, this is what hip hop looks like
growing up. It was just a natural transition. And on
the other hand, you know, people love you until they don't.

(19:26):
You know, everybody wants you to win, and you guys
know about it. People when you're doing great things, you
assume that, oh, we're doing great things, everybody's.

Speaker 5 (19:34):
Going to be happy.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
And then when you get into it and the other one,
then you start to understand and respectfully, how Malcolm X
was killed, Howard Martin was killed, because you would think, like,
why would somebody want to hurt somebody that's doing something good?
You know, But you know, you have your opposers, and
people with your opposition and people with different you know,

(19:58):
mindsets and different views and ideas that just don't match
up with yours. So I think, you know, for me,
going from hip hop to community, that's cool. That was
that's that's easy in the sense I did realize that
community has a ceiling to it.

Speaker 5 (20:15):
When you're doing community things.

Speaker 6 (20:17):
And when it comes to fostering change and then governance,
I had to find my footing, you know. To be honest,
it's been a little over a year. I had to
find my footing and I'm still learning, you know, I'm
still learning. But the politics is the part that is
I'm not really happy with it. And I know my
team always tell me stop saying that you don't like

(20:40):
politics in politics now, which is true. But I still
don't like the movement of it at times, you know,
because I don't. I don't come from the politics, but
the politics is in all of those things. So it's
a it's a it's not an easy task, but it's
a worthy task.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
It's worth it, you know, I tell people all the time.

Speaker 6 (21:02):
You know, my partners, my DJ he lives in a
beautiful mansion in Miami. My other rap partner, he has
a beautiful home in northern California. I live in one
of my buildings on right in the hood, right in
Central Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, and I'm right in
the mix.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
How is that? How does that like? How does that
feel like? Being amongst the people?

Speaker 2 (21:27):
Is that is?

Speaker 4 (21:28):
Do you feel like they receive you better? Do you
feel like, like, how do you feel living amongst the people?

Speaker 5 (21:34):
I love it. You know, I don't have to be here.
I have to be here.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
And you said it's your own building, so.

Speaker 6 (21:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm in partnership with you know. I
don't even tell everybody some of the things that I'm
in partnership with the.

Speaker 5 (21:49):
City because we got a lot of haters.

Speaker 6 (21:51):
But you know, yes, yes, you know it's our properties,
you know what I mean. So we're working, man, it's
us being part of our own community. And to answer
your question might sound like I love it because I'm
right there with the people. And it can be difficult
at times because this you're so accessible and you have

(22:12):
to be careful, you know, because you can't think that
everything is good, because history has showed that your own
people would be the ones.

Speaker 5 (22:21):
That to get you up out of there.

Speaker 6 (22:24):
And I mean, like I said, It goes from all
of our people that we love, our advocates, the people
who fought for us, down to Nipsey Hustle, you know,
who was writing his own neighborhood and you would think, oh,
you're safe in your own neighborhood.

Speaker 5 (22:39):
So I'm always aware.

Speaker 6 (22:42):
And the way that I interact with them is firm,
it's fair.

Speaker 5 (22:48):
And they know me, but don't.

Speaker 6 (22:50):
I don't take anything for granted, you know, because anything
is possible. I don't have twenty security guards rolling with me.
I don't have one security guard role.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Man.

Speaker 6 (22:59):
I got a couple of my dudes who when we
go to certain things that make sure that I'm good.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
The neighborhood makes sure that I'm good, but I make
sure that I'm not in.

Speaker 6 (23:08):
Those places unless I have to be in those places
as well.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
You know, what do you think it's been your biggest challenge,
the biggest challenge making that trend? What is your biggest
challenge you feel, and then what is the thing that
you that you enjoy most.

Speaker 5 (23:26):
That's a great question.

Speaker 6 (23:27):
My big My biggest challenge is navigating through the politics
my sign and Tamika Mallory has a different opinion than
me on one thing. That doesn't mean I don't like
them or like they're there, what they're doing. We just
disagree on maybe one thing.

Speaker 5 (23:42):
But if that thing is goes against the team.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
Of whatever team I'm associated with, and I take a
picture with you guys, it's like, well, why do you
want to picture with me?

Speaker 1 (23:54):
Game?

Speaker 5 (23:55):
My son? You know what I don't I don't like that,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
Like that's a real thing.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
That's a real thing that you're saying.

Speaker 6 (24:02):
It's a real thing, you know, And it's just kind
of learning how to maneuver through the politics of it all.
That's that's that's my biggest task, you know, when people
are I never had so many people scream at me
or you know, I've had people not like a record.
We still giving each other a pound, We keep it moving.

(24:23):
They might still buy the record or still come to
the show. I have people say, you know, I ain't
really feel the record, but when I saw you on stage, man,
it's not that way. In politics, they just you know,
I was in office for a month and they were
just hating me, you know what I mean, like some
people and then you got to realize that those are
five people, or those are people who don't even vote,

(24:44):
or those are people who don't even do anything themselves.
So you got to learn how to quiet out the noise.
And I had to learn, you know, I used to
be in council meetings responding everything, well it's that, and
then they you know, I had to learn that I'm
just fueling them to continue their instead of just not
you know, just kind of blocking out the white noise

(25:05):
and keeping the receipts for the work that I do
and showing up and being present, you know, because you
can say you don't like something, but you can't tell
me that it's not my truth.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
You can't tell me that I'm not president.

Speaker 6 (25:16):
You can't tell me that I'm not putting in the work,
whether it we you know, produces a great result, a
minimum result, a small result. You can't tell me that
I'm not doing things to push it forward. And as
long as I keep the receipts, you know, I'm cool.
And the thing that I do like.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
Mice is that.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
To see the smile, to see the.

Speaker 5 (25:39):
Difference that I make when I do the work.

Speaker 6 (25:44):
And I'm talking about from the smallest thing to autism
signs to getting the bus stop moved for miss Williams
because she's elderly and she has to walk in from
three blocks, but getting it moved to the middle of
her block just makes it comfort for her to put
stop signs on a block where a lady in the
motorized wheelchairs is moving along, to actually creating ordnesses that

(26:08):
help our residents fight against greedy.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
Landlords and things of that nature.

Speaker 6 (26:12):
So it's so many different things that on the municipal
level that I love. I really think that the local
politics actually trickle up, you know, because I think that
the things that we do here makes the state react.

Speaker 5 (26:30):
The things that we do here makes the county react.

Speaker 6 (26:34):
The things that we do here ultimately makes the federal
government react.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
I think that's one hundred one is well, you can
answer that.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Second.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
The first question is how how does having a mayor
who supports your vision. I'm sure maybe not all the time,
but he ultimately has an empowerment agenda and he comes
from activism himself.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
How does that help you or how does.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
That make you feel when you're out trying to do
your work that you're not in opposition to the leader
of your city. Because there are many council members who
are fighting to get things done to change, as you said,
the city ordinances, the bus stop, all the things you
talked about, which.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Seems perfectly.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Common sense, right, Like, it's just common sense these things
should happen.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
And then you're up against a mayor.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
Who does not have the city's best interests at heart
from your perspective.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
So tell me one about that, and then I'll ask
my second question.

Speaker 6 (27:45):
I want to say, man, salute, double salute to the
honorable Mayor j Barako. I was out with Raz, fighting.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
With him when we were just young lords of the underground.
You know.

Speaker 6 (27:58):
He would call on me to have social media like
that back then, so he would call on me, he
would call on red Man, he would call on us
to galvanize the people. Yo, I'm shutting down the street.
He was just a young activist. I'm shutting down this street.
We're gonna be talking about this. I'm making a list
of demands. What are some of your demands in your community?
Because we're giving this to the administration, you know, So

(28:19):
to see him go from that a list of demands
to actually putting the people in place and feeling check
doing check check marks, checking off some of those things
that were on that those demands is amazing to me.
To have an ally and not an OP as they
say out here, is beautiful. It's a lot of reasons

(28:43):
why I ran, but I knew that I can add
value to the administration of who team Baraka is.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
You know who they are, and he knows that.

Speaker 6 (28:55):
Even when I lost in twenty eighteen, that wasn't before
a meeting with him and he was like, dude, I'm
you know, politically, my list is already filled up, My
team is already filled. But you will make a great
council councilman in this city and I will back you.
You know, he's always been supportive when he was an activist,

(29:15):
He's been supportive when he was a mayor. He was
supportive of my nonprofit organization, and when he asked me
to be on his team ultimately he was He's supportive.
I just I literally just came out of a meeting
with him and him being supportive, me talking to some
personnel here in the city hall about things that we

(29:35):
need in our community and me having more tension with
them or go and not bad at tension, just about
the process of getting those things done.

Speaker 5 (29:45):
And this guy is fighting for me.

Speaker 6 (29:47):
This mayor he's fighting for me, like, no, we need
to get this to happen.

Speaker 5 (29:52):
And he's one that stood alongside me.

Speaker 6 (29:54):
And fought for a rapper to become an elected official.
Like he's forward thinking and you're right to me. I
might not agree with everything with him, but we have
conversations about it too.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
You know.

Speaker 6 (30:08):
I'll give you an instance, because I think it was
blown out of proportion.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
There's George Floyd.

Speaker 6 (30:15):
There's a George Floyd statue on the steps of our
city hall. I am for the George Floyd movement one thousand.

Speaker 5 (30:22):
Percent right, and I stand with it and fight with it.

Speaker 6 (30:26):
I just had a different ideology about where the statue
should be because of the impact. So I said, maybe
we should have and maybe I should have did it
a little more privately, you know, but like I'm learning,
But I said, maybe we should put it on our
new police academy, so when all of those new police
officers come in there, they see that as a reminder

(30:49):
of what not to do and what to be a
part of. And he came back and said, I respect that, dude,
but I put it on the steps of our of
our city for a reminder of the people who has
the power in this city and and and I was

(31:10):
just like, wow, okay, I knew what he was talking about,
you know, and I was and I respected what he
what he said. I didn't agree initially aware the placement,
but in reality we both agreed when it comes to
George Floyd, you know what I mean, things like that
man and.

Speaker 4 (31:28):
Crazy because I was I was literally in the off
in city city Hall having a meeting with MIDI when
you when that happened here sending him text.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
He's like, oh my god, what happened with you?

Speaker 5 (31:38):
And I'm like, what happens? Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
He's like, oh man, they don't want he don't They say,
he don't want George Floyd.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
I'm like, no, I don't think. I can't believe. Yeah,
and you.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
Talked about that.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
You also said something else that I think is powerful,
and I don't think that we can, you know, sort
of blossover that there are also people from the state
of New Jersey who have unfortunately experienced abuse, murder at
the hands of police and e me placement as well.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
And you know, I don't disagree with that. I think
that's also true.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
And so perhaps the meeting of the minds is to
create some type of memorial outside of the Academy that
has the names of local New Jersey residents who have
also experienced the same type, maybe not exactly as George Floyd.
We know that George Floyd is bigger than George Floyd.

(32:39):
I mean, he represents that moment, represents a.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Moment in history where the.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
Entire world has had to acknowledge the racial discrimination, the oppression,
the abuse, you know, state sanctioned violence, all of those
things at once. But there are other people who need
their voices lifted as well. And I think that your
idea is something that in the next council you should

(33:06):
be pushing some type of memorial outside of the Academy
that that you know, really looks at some of those
other individuals and their stories.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
I think the point is that we should.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
And one of the things about politics that I think
upsets a lot of people, makes them feel that they
don't want to participate, is one that compromise is very
difficult for people in their regular lives, in their regular
And I know that you know, one of the things
I was gonna say to you earlier, but you were saying,
you know, you were speaking it was so good that

(33:39):
I didn't want to cut you off. But you know,
I know that that even though y'all didn't say a
lot of Curtis words and whatever, you definitely were not
people that need to be played with.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Right. So now when you're trying.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
To talk to people and they talking crazy to you,
you kind of like, yo, like like I don't know
where I'm gonna go with this, Like I'm trying to
be the counsel person, but but you're trying to take
me to an old thing that I'm trying to get
away from. So that's an issue because in compromise, you know,
sometimes it's difficult for people to hear one another, to

(34:14):
respect one another, and compromise, and then what happens is
the whole system shuts down, and the voters, the frustrated
voters of our society see the shutdown and they are like,
to hell with it. You shut down, and I'm going
to shut down too. So everybody has a shutdown. So
the thing I think about Ross or mayor Baraka that

(34:37):
we appreciate is that he is very good at navigating tension.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yes he is.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
He is people moving despite the fact that there may
be difference of opinions and a lot of different issues
because he's dealing with a lot of people coming from
the most radical to the most conservative side of the spectrum,
all all of them trying to come together, and he's
really good at navigating that.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
So I think.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
You're in a great city to be your first year
as a councilman, you know what I'm saying. I think
because there's a lot of other places. If you were
here in New York under Mayor Bloomberg, you might have
been in jail.

Speaker 5 (35:18):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah definitely.

Speaker 6 (35:21):
And you know, I just want to I just like,
once again, I want to thank them because I don't
I don't walk like them, I don't talk like them.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
You know, I don't even dress like them.

Speaker 6 (35:30):
But I can see my inspiration and my influence starting
to influence the entire city Hall. And that's just it's
not just me, it's the culture that we come from,
that hip hop culture.

Speaker 5 (35:42):
You know.

Speaker 6 (35:43):
I got wearing sneakers with suits with from Russell Simmons go,
you know, and I just did it. I didn't make
it up, but I tell you this, My mayor now
does it. Everybody in this building does it. And that's
just to say that the power of who we are
as people, who we are in the community, and my

(36:05):
my my governance now me as an elected official, I
just pray that that not only to the people in
city Hall, but to the people who are outside of
city Hall, the people who are in the neighborhoods. Because
I think when you change your mindset, you change your viewpoint,
you change advantage point of different things. And I just
believe like when you can change that into love, When

(36:27):
you love something, you treat it differently, right, you know,
when you love your city, you can change it. That's
what I believe. But a lot of people don't love themselves.
And sometimes when you don't understand something, you push it away,
you know, you shun it, like, oh no I don't
I don't, I don't eat that, but you never taste it.
Oh I don't want to go there, but you've never

(36:48):
been there. I don't want to, you know, So it's
we push it away. And I think that a lot
of people, they really don't understand the process of politics
in our city.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
So you know, you'll get people coming to the council
meetings and they're.

Speaker 8 (37:03):
Loud but wrong, you know, But I mean they're very loud,
and the people like yeah, and I'm like, yeah, but
Google is.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
It's not just it's just your city. It's politics, period.

Speaker 4 (37:19):
Rights people don't understand politics. They just think we want
this to go this way, and it should just be
you be able to snap a finger.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
We voted you in and you need to just be
able to do this right.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
And I used to be one of those people, right
until I started having friends like yourself, having friends like
Jimiani Williams, who is the Public Advocate of New York,
Natasha Williams who's also city council in Queens, and just a.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Plethora of other individuals who work in government.

Speaker 4 (37:46):
I started to understand that the things that we wanted
weren't as simple as we thought they were. You know,
it's not just you snap a finger. We vote you
and you should be able to do whatever you want.
And when you start understanding that reality, you start looking
at things different. So I've had those conversations with people,
you know, and I've had it and then they be like, nah,
you don't and I'm like, no, you don't understand.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
Is the process that it goes through.

Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yeah, we have to continue to push our elected officials
and make sure that they advocate on our side and
make sure that they're doing what they said. But it's
not I'm always up to them the ship that you
think supposed to.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
So you can't just put all the blame on them.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
But people don't want to hear that when when you're
living in the community, whe people are frustrated, people are hungry,
they pour it's a lot of things going on me
and to me just having this conversation yesterday, that it's a.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Lot going on with people.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
People are in so many different it's so many like
we get calls, DMS, emails, so many different people that's
dealing with so much different trauma and stress, and you
know things are not going right and they looking for
somebody to blame.

Speaker 5 (38:46):
You know what.

Speaker 4 (38:47):
A lot of times we get to blame account hold accountability,
just want accountability. But there's also some people that just
want to blame people too, So there's a there's a
balance between both of them. Like we get we get
thrown under the bust of shit that we got nothing
to do with. Like if I if I advocate for
one person because I know their story, and it was like, oh,

(39:07):
you're phony because you ain't talk about Jojo who got
shot here but you're gonna talk. I'm like, well, I
didn't even know Joe. I didn't even know Jojo got shot.
How you hold it me accountable? I don't know nothing
that got to do with Jojo. But but this is
how people start putting things in their mind. So I've
never wanted to do politics based on that because I
watch what you actually have to deal with, and I
want to be able to say and do what I

(39:29):
want when I want.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
I hear you.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
I love I love the fact I've actually evolved, right,
but I still want to be able to say, look, yeah,
but I still want to be able to say, you
can't talk to me crazy, I'm gonna take you around
the corner and we're gonna have to get fired. I
want to be able to do that. That's the reason
why I want to go into the phone to go off.

Speaker 5 (39:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:49):
But I think you are an example, though, of why
more black men should consider running for office to make
the change that they're looking for in their local communities. Right,
you think about a Congressman Jamal Bowman in New York.

(40:11):
This man is a teacher, principal turned now a congressman,
and he's.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Going to go further. I know he is right, and I.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
Think and of course there's a side of me that
is in that that that has to push back even
on what I said, because black women certainly need to
run for office more, but the support that's necessary for
a black woman to win is very challenging and then
for her to stay in position because the system so

(40:42):
easily comes up against black women, and you know, just
kind of like, oh well, I mean if you think
about the list of black women from Kim Fox who's
the state's attorney in Wiskim in Chicago, to Maryland Moseley
in marriag Carland, and the list goes on and on,
and how they are being ripped to shreds, literally ripped

(41:07):
to shreds. It makes other black women run. But I
think you, counselmen Kelly, are an example of why people
should run. They need to. But you can't just run
for your one seat. You got to look at the
entire city because now when counsel will at the time,
when do it all helps ros Baraka become mayor. Right,

(41:31):
then you run for counsel and you have other friends
that run for assembly. You start the corner off your
community and be able to make the type of change
that you're looking to do. So I think more black
men should certainly gather with that thought process in mind.

Speaker 6 (41:46):
No, that's an amazing example you just did too to
make because that's really what it is. We helped Rise
become mayor, and in turn, he helped me become counselmen,
you know. And I think that with us going back
and grabbing each other, and we have a.

Speaker 5 (42:04):
Woman council president and Lamonica mcguyver, and he was her
fifth grade teacher when she was in the fifth grade,
Ras was her teacher. Now she's the president of the
council and part of his team.

Speaker 6 (42:17):
I think that people are not really looking at the succession.

Speaker 5 (42:22):
And we have to prepare for that too, right. You know,
we have nine council.

Speaker 6 (42:29):
Members on here in Jersey and some people, you know,
in different states, different cities, there's a different body of
municipal council. But here in north we have five, one
that represents each ward. We have five wards, and then
we have.

Speaker 5 (42:41):
Four at largest.

Speaker 6 (42:43):
So I represent the ward that I grew up in,
which is about seventy thousand residents. You know, in some places,
seventy thousand residents is the whole entire city.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
You know.

Speaker 5 (42:53):
So I really have a mini city that I have
to govern over.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
And one thing I can really say is that Mayor
Baraka allows me.

Speaker 5 (43:01):
To govern over that city, over those residents and all
of us.

Speaker 6 (43:06):
So when it comes to talking about bringing people along,
we have to set up a farm system.

Speaker 5 (43:14):
You know. One of the reasons that I am counseling.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
In farm system A farm system.

Speaker 5 (43:20):
Farm system, yeah, farm system, you know what I mean.
So the reason one.

Speaker 6 (43:26):
Of the reasons that I am counseling is because of
a conversation that I had with Tupacs your corps back
in nineteen ninety two in a motel in Orlando, Florida,
while on tour.

Speaker 8 (43:37):
You know.

Speaker 5 (43:39):
And it's crazy because that conversation.

Speaker 6 (43:42):
I'm on POC Laws of the Underground and Tupac was
sharing a sixteen passenger van. We wasn't even on tour
buses yet, you know, and we was in a motel
where you had to go in the room outside not inside,
you know what I mean. But just to fast forward
the story, Pot came to my room, and you know,
we had an altercation before that day. He came to

(44:03):
my room first of all, like a man to squash it.

Speaker 5 (44:06):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (44:07):
So he came to my room and through that conversation.
Through that we got into this conversation. He said, dude,
we have to turn millions of record biers into millions
of voters. And then once we do that, and he
started naming all of the rappers that was popular back
in ninety two. You know, he would say, Common has
to do it in Chicago, you entrench you and red

(44:29):
Man need to do it in New it Tresh needs
to do it in East starch Ice q to do
it in Central Los Angeles.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
I'll do it in Baltimore and Oakland.

Speaker 6 (44:36):
And he just started naming all of these people and
he started to talk like a twenty twenty one year
old and I've never heard talk like that before, you know,
and saying that we have to be accountable and start
youth organizations and youth groups and.

Speaker 5 (44:50):
Protect our women and protect our senyers. I mean, he
was blowing my mind.

Speaker 6 (44:55):
And then he said, you know, we have to do
something that we might not want to do because you know,
all rappers were against politicians. He said, we we might
have to become legislators. Almost didn't know he was talking
about it. I was legislators man we rappers. He was like, yeah,
but if we don't.

Speaker 9 (45:11):
Make the laws for us, or if we're not at
the table making laws or nos and colds for us,
then they will make it for us, and it won't
be for us.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
Before us, you know, and talk to you for the
rest of the son.

Speaker 4 (45:28):
But we could definitely stay and told to you tonight.
But I just want I just want to show what
hip hop is. It's so big and the culture of it,
Like just looking at the connection of you and Ross.
People don't know that Ross is so loves hip hop
and he actually has a hip hop album that you
guys could be that I've watched you know, see what

(45:48):
I'm saying and listening to his little You know that
he's so influenced by the culture. And now it's time
for the culture that influences this world to dictate and
govern this world.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
And that's what it is showing. It's showing like and
it's not just that it's just government.

Speaker 4 (46:04):
When you look at Newer, it is a model for
governments all around this world. Like the way that you
guys deal with violence and the way that you deal
with community is a model for the world to look at.
I'm not just saying it shows the culture. When you
are culturally competent and you have respect in your community,
when you take community leaders in community credible messages and

(46:27):
you connect those back to the communities that they're governing,
you will see the change. So that's something that inspires
me when I watch you guys. It inspires me to
do the work that I do because I know the
work that I do. Even if I'm not one of
those government officials, I'm inspiring someone.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
Who's going to be in the next who's going to.

Speaker 4 (46:46):
Be there, They're gonna say, Okay, I've seen what my
song does in this community. I want to take that
and I want to put it in these political offices,
even if it's not what I do.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
So I just want to say, what you do.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
And where you come from is so motivational, inspirational for
a lot of us.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
Man. So continue, you know, continue to do what to
work you do. We salute you. You know you my brother.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
I'm gonna be my brother with you all the time,
working with you all the time. I just want you
to give us, you know, one last word that you
would give us before you leave.

Speaker 6 (47:15):
Before I leave, I just want to add on to
what you're saying. I know you guys gotta go. But
just talking about Nork being a model and having a
leader like rash Jay Baraka in the seat who does
things that really push our city forward. Today, we just
in our pre counsul tomorrow we'll vote on it. But
he bought the Temple of Hip Hop to North New

(47:37):
Jersey and gave it a home. Hart One is now
opening the school of the Temple of hip Hop. And
I've seen him try to open this in Harlem. I
seen him try to open it in the Bronx. Rasbarakas
gave this guy a building. The Temple of hip Hop
is now located in North New Jersey southward.

Speaker 5 (47:58):
That amazing to me. We got the teacher here.

Speaker 6 (48:02):
That's gonna be running programming out of our city. That's
an international hub now in New Jersey. That's like, that's
just for me. That's just like bringing Prudential or Mars
or you go to the building one of those corporations.
He just bought a solidified value to our city and

(48:22):
the teacher with Karas One in the Temple of hip
Hop that are gonna do.

Speaker 5 (48:25):
Many great things.

Speaker 6 (48:26):
So man, Noork is definitely becoming a model for a
certain man, you know. And one last thing too, mice,
when you talk about our men in our communities. I
just started this thing called Men Talk Sundays, where we
go into the parks and I grab all of the men,
all of those and I guess that's why I still
have certain relationships with them. I go to these communities

(48:49):
and I tell them, I need you to come talk.

Speaker 5 (48:51):
I need you to what. It was inspired by one
of the big gang banger.

Speaker 6 (48:56):
Here who I have a relationship, was mad at me
because I wasn't returning his phone calls.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
But he don't understand. I'm just really busy. So anytime
somebody has an issue, I go right to him. So
I went right to him. What's up? What's the problem
with Nah, dude, I don't want you to get no
big head but being no, it's not that.

Speaker 6 (49:14):
But look, I want you to come with me for
the day now. I want you to work with me.
I want you to build with me and see what
I do. And he came with me. We went to lunch,
yet we had an amazing conversation. But with that conversation
showed me was that we need each other. I learned
something through that conversation by him point into me. I'm
pouring into him, and it inspired me to grab all

(49:36):
of the dudes from the neighborhood put.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Them in the park. I have Red Man as my.

Speaker 6 (49:40):
Keynote speaker talking about facing your fears. And when I
said this man did amazing people like you have Red
Man as your keynote speaker. Yes, yes, he has experiences
about facing fears. Anybody you know can't tell another man
about his experiences.

Speaker 5 (49:54):
So I put Man when I tell you he inspired
these brothers.

Speaker 6 (49:58):
Man, and I say that because August twenty seventh is
our next men talk Sundays in the Park and a mice.

Speaker 5 (50:05):
I would love you.

Speaker 6 (50:05):
To be my keynote speaker for that day. If you available, Man,
August twenty seven and we can talk definite.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
We're gonna try.

Speaker 4 (50:11):
I'm gonna try because August August, either August twenty sixth
or twenty seventh.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
I do my annual day in my in.

Speaker 4 (50:19):
The Bronx, so it's Merriam day I usually do my
annual days.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
I had to push it back.

Speaker 4 (50:24):
To either the twenty six or the twenty seventh, so
I'm gonna decide if I do it on the twenty six.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
What happened and I ain't available that day?

Speaker 5 (50:32):
She looked right, say a thing.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
I just, I just.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
It might not work.

Speaker 5 (50:38):
So I don't even get one day if that don't go.

Speaker 4 (50:41):
Definitely, definitely, because I'm actually doing the men's Talk inside
in September. I'm gonna do it a big I want
to hold about five hundred men where I'm sitting down
with five hundred minute We're.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Gonna we're gonna iron out.

Speaker 4 (50:53):
And we're gonna decide how we're gonna govern our communities,
how we're gonna take back our communities, how we're gonna.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Love on our young kings, how we're gonna raise that.

Speaker 4 (51:00):
How we're gonna show them with real right to passages,
what manhood manhood really is. So it is a line.
You know, the work we do is definitely in a line.
So we're gonna figure it out. We'll figure it out, definitely.

Speaker 5 (51:11):
Man, Thank you so.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
Much for being with us today. You know we just
need to go. We got to go to Nework and
sit down and talk.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
As we have in the past, do.

Speaker 3 (51:21):
It again because there's so much to be said, and
I think, you know, I'm having prophecy moments here I
think you really do need to be doing videos and
things encouraging people to run for office and telling them
your story, right like short clips of videos. This is
what I did first, second, third, this is how I
did it. This is what you need to be involved

(51:42):
with in your community prior to running. Because there are
people who ask me all the time I want, but
I just don't know what to do and how to
do it. And I think coming from you, because you know,
people are attracted to success, So coming from you, who
is successful at selling music, I think you will also
be successful as selling getting our people nationally to be

(52:06):
more involved in.

Speaker 5 (52:07):
And before you go, I have been doing that.

Speaker 6 (52:09):
So I started my election tour last week and I
started in Charleston, West Virginia.

Speaker 5 (52:14):
An election tour.

Speaker 6 (52:15):
Talks about how arts and entertainment can foster change in
community through policy and politics, you know.

Speaker 5 (52:22):
And I started in Charleston.

Speaker 6 (52:25):
I have Tampa, Orlando, Milwaukee, Winston, Salem, and Charlotte coming
up next.

Speaker 3 (52:33):
We're doing that's what we need and we want to
help you promote it.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
We got to go because we've got to end this show.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
We would never end if we let you continue to stay.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
Gyms. Thank you counselmaning Man Real.

Speaker 5 (52:48):
I'm definitely a supporter.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Thank you, Counselman. Do pray Kelly who is better known
as do it.

Speaker 5 (52:55):
All all right and Mike As we're gonna be all
we're gonna talk about it.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Yeah, definitely we can get you all right all right,
kn't peace Man.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
Shout out to my brother duprey do it oh. Kelly
Man one of the realist dudes. Man one of my
favorite hip hop artists. If you don't know Lords of
the Undergrounds, a lot of y'all young dudes probably don't know,
but go look it up.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
You know, they got some of the dopest music.

Speaker 4 (53:24):
He's one of the dopest artists man, And just watching
his evolution is inspirational to me, you know, with the
work he's doing, you know, not only just the work
he's doing, the way he's doing the work. He's doing
it in his authentic self. And a lot of people
don't understand that. A lot of people think that you
have to look a certain way, sound a certain way,
you know, you have to capitulate to a certain narrative

(53:47):
in order to do the work.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
And he's not.

Speaker 4 (53:49):
He's not that individual like he says, he walks in
there with suits and sneakers.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
He got his newer cat on.

Speaker 4 (53:54):
He comes, he brings the culture of hip hop with
him into you know, the Councilman's So he's motivational to
me because I always want to be authentic in myself.
I always want to bring the streets of the New
York City and the Bronx and and bring the real
voices of my community into any space. And I don't
want people to think that you have to sound or

(54:16):
look a certain way. So he's motivational to me. So
shout out to him for the work he's doing. You know,
we we we had a good interview. So I don't
really I don't really have a I don't Maybe you don't.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
I have plenty of I don't get it, but we
can save one.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
I mean I do have a I don't get.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
I just don't get how they had a fight that
was heralded as the biggest fight in the century.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
One of the boxes looked like he was an amateur.

Speaker 4 (54:55):
And there's no no disrespect because I'm an aerospence fan
and I think he's a dope boxer. But I'm just
trying to say I don't know, I do not get
what happened. Like there's been a lot of things I said.
If you look at my Instagram page, I said, I
think he was.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
High because he looked high.

Speaker 3 (55:10):
I was heard what you was talking about, you know,
my challenges.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Yeah, I was just like, man, he just looked high
to me.

Speaker 4 (55:17):
And then somebody, one of my friends who's also an
aerospince fan, sent me something that said that, you know,
he was hit by he was thrown.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Out of a moving car at one hundred miles an.

Speaker 4 (55:28):
Hour, so he was he was he had he was
in serious injury, and he boy, he came back to fight,
and you know he's and he's had a few fights since.

Speaker 2 (55:36):
But they're saying that he's.

Speaker 4 (55:37):
Dealing with neurological you know, injury, and they can tell
based off that. So this was what some quote unquote
neurologists were saying on the incident. I don't know, but
I just don't get. Like I've been watching boxing my
whole life. My father used to have me sitting in
front of the TV watching boxing matches my whole life,

(55:57):
and I've never seen someone who was that top tier
of a fighter lose that bad. I just never and
and it's not taking nothing away from Budd Crawt, because
I have already said that I felt Bud was the
better fighter. I thought Budd was gonna win the fight.
But the way that Erospence fought or didn't fight, to

(56:22):
me was just mind boggley.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
So I don't get it. Maybe people can whatever it is,
he's either high, he was either dealing with some neurological
or he really just needs to retire. But a lot
of people talking about, oh a rematch.

Speaker 4 (56:36):
I do not want to see that Erospence that walk
into that that ring fight again ever, So.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
I'm not interested in seeing that.

Speaker 4 (56:44):
I want that man to because if he goes in
there with that level of fighting again, he might really
really because he was his face was really he was
really beat up bad. If he goes in there and
fighting like that again, he can really tell with some
real brain damage or something. So I don't even want
to see him fight like that again. I don't want
to diminish his legacy with him.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
That's powerful just to say I don't because I thought
you were gonna say you don't want to diminish the
value of boxing.

Speaker 4 (57:11):
No, his legacy. He's too good a boxer he's too good.
I've watched some box and I've seen him. He's one
of the most aggressive, punishing, like the way he fights
to fight like that, it diminished because people was mad
at me because I put my top fight five boxers
right now and I didn't put him in people's like
and I was like, because the way that he fought,

(57:33):
it took him completely right until he does something else,
like if I never seen him happen, you know, I'm saying,
that's what happens, Like you lose. That fight was the
worst fight I ever seen any top tier fighter ever have.
Like I've seen top tier fighters lose that wasn't supposed
to lose, that got upset. I've seen Mike lose. I've
seen you know what I'm saying, Wilder lose. I've seen it.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
But they was all in the fight, like even when
they were lost, they was fighting.

Speaker 4 (57:59):
Like you could tell some of them got a little slower,
they got older, but they didn't.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
Get beat beat beat feet like that.

Speaker 4 (58:07):
I've never seen something like that where the man probably
landed maybe three punches of significance, like nah, not an
eight round.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
How many rounds did they fight?

Speaker 2 (58:16):
They fore eight rounds?

Speaker 4 (58:17):
He got knocked down three times and then in they
four nine rounds, they four nine rounds, he got knocked
down three times and then the knife round they stopped
the fight.

Speaker 3 (58:28):
It's pretty sad. I mean, you know, I didn't watch it,
but I saw it. Sure the it was a lot
of chatter about it on the internet. But I do
appreciate that you said, you want the man's legacy to good.
He's and some of our leaders. There's a similar conversation
that happens as you see. You know, look at now
what has happened with Reverend Jesse Jackson, who's now passed

(58:52):
the baton to uh the to reverend doctor Freddie Haynes,
who is my dear other, our friend and Freddie, and
let me say that said that again. Now, you know,
we talk about making sure you preserve your legacy. You see,
even in this moment where Reverend Jesse Jackson has passed

(59:12):
the baton leadership of Rainbow Push Coalition, which is his organization,
to our friend and brother, doctor Freddie Haynes, the third
out of Dallas, Texas. And we know it's very clear
that Reverend Jackson is dealing with severe illness. He's not
the same as he was when he was younger, or

(59:34):
even just five years ago. He's changed, you know, because
of his condition. And I think it was important because
he's talked about passing the baton in the past, and
we all have that, we all, every single one of
us who has ever led something, whether it be a company,
even your toy that you had when you were young,
a shirt that you love, you hold it so dear,

(59:57):
but you look crazy now the you've grown to a
big woman's size and you still trying to wear this
same shirt that used to do it for you at
the club when you was young, and now you outside
with your stomach hanging over and people looking at you,
and you're embarrassing yourself. So you have to learn how
to pass things on to the next person that's gonna
take care of it and love it and treat it

(01:00:19):
the same way that you had to preserve your own legacy,
even more so than theirs. But it's to make sure
that you don't have yourself out here looking crazy because
you still trying to keep up with the old you,
and the old you is not the new you. And
I think, listen to what you said, I know nothing
about the boxer you spoke of but I think that
what's most important is your health. You know what I'm saying.

(01:00:42):
I think we have started putting our health first and
not taking opportunity first, and then trying to figure out
how to back into the health. And I know I'm
speaking as a person who doesn't always listen to that,
but I think this is an example of that type
of situation pretty much.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
And with that said, thank you for coming out.

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
We love you brings us to the end of another episode.
Thank y'all for being with us. We love you brings
us to the end of another powerful episode. The Street
Politician shout out to do pray do it all, Kelly Counselman,
do pray do it all, Kelly my guy for coming here,

(01:01:22):
dropping some gems, giving us a lot to just ponder on. Man,
it was a dope episode. Hit us up at Street
Politicians Pod. Let us know what you like, let us
know what you don't like, tell us you love us.
Continue to make us the number one podcast in the world.
Because I'm not gonna always be right, Tamika d Married

(01:01:43):
is not gonna always be wrong, but we will both
always and I mean always, always, always be authentic.

Speaker 3 (01:01:49):
Peez, listen to Street Politicians on the Black Effect Network
on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
And catch us every single Wednesday for the video version
the Street Politicians and for I Women dot TV.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
That's how we