December 20, 2023 • 29 mins
Cindy Blackman Santana is an accomplished professional drummer, having come into prominence as a member of Lenny Kravitz' band for 15 years, and more recently performing and recording with her husband, the legendary guitarist Carlos Santana. In this episode, Blackman Santana shares her deep enthusiasm for her hobby of archery, and illustrates the profound connection between target practice and her ability to center her focus and concentration on both her musical aspirations and drumming performance.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, I'm Sayu.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
De Garrett and Uppity Knitter and host of the Uppity
Knitter podcast. Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, a show about your favorite
celebrities and their unusual hobbies.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
My guest today is one of my sisters from Another Mista,
an incredible musician, singer and songwriter who has played drums
and percussion for an impressive list of top jazz and
pop artists. These include John McLaughlin, Farrell Sanders, Josh Stone,
and Cassandra Wilson, just to name a few. But she
(00:33):
really rose to prominence while touring and recording with the
awesome Lenny Kravitz Band for over fifteen years, and now
continues to shine while touring with her husband, the legendary
guitarist Carlos Santana. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful
and talented missus Cindy Blackman Santana. Hey, Cindy Blackman, Hi, Hi,
(00:58):
it's been a minute, girls. You I missed your face.
I'm happy that you're doing well and flourishing and happy
in love and life and music.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I want your life, you got it, you got it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
All those things are happening. I'm very happy for you,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Before we get started, A lot of folks have asked
why this podcast is called The Uppity Knitter. Although I'm
known as a singer songwriter. I had an unusual experience
at a knit shop on the West Side in Los
Angeles where a bunch of white ladies were having a
little knitting circle. So I decided to sit down and
join them for a minute. And I looked to my
ride and this woman is knitting, and she's what she's
(01:39):
knitting with? I thought was so beautiful. So I said,
excuse me, what what are you knitting with? That's so beautiful?
She's so, this is just cotton. And then she looked
in my lap and she said, what are you knitting with?
I said, this is Kashmir. She said, oh, aren't you
an uppity knitter.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I looked at her and I said, what did you
call me? She said, I said knitter. I said Knitzer.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
This little white lady turned the most awesome shade of
crimson that I have ever seen, and it just brings
me joy when I think of it. So I decided
to adopt that moniker as my podcast title. So Cindy
tell us what unusual hobby or hobbies that you have
that most fans of your music wouldn't consider you to
(02:27):
be into.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I think the most unusual hobby that I have is archery. Huh, yes,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
That's unusual. I love that too. Oh my God, tell
me more.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You know. I have been into it for quite a while,
just from a visual and conceptual perspective. And in the
Bay Area where I was living at the time, I
would go to visit my mom and my sister and
I would pass this archery shop and I kept saying,
one day, I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop
in there just to just to go in because I'm
(03:05):
just curious. And then I finally said, you know what,
I'm going to stop saying one day, I'm going in now,
I'm going to go in today. And so I went
in there and this gentleman was there, who's the curator
of the shop. He's incredible. He looks like like he
came he just stepped out of the woods of Ireland
(03:26):
from some sort of army or something, you know, like
he's like, you know, he's kind of fatigue, but he's
very stocky and strong, very long red mustache and beard,
really full head of long red hair.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
He sounds very irish, oh.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Very very very you know, and you know, he must
have just come from like the outback of Dublin or somewhere.
I don't know, but he just looked amazing and I'm like, whoa,
I've never done this, but I'm very interested. And so
he went through a few things and eventually handed me
a bow and we did some, you know, some some targeting.
(04:07):
I'm like, I have to have a bow. So I
got a bow and I got some arrows, and I
got a target, and I went and.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Proceeded to target.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yes, I got a boothye target, and I started to
I went and proceeded to practice. Because in my studio there,
it's a very long room. So I was able to
just started, like, you know, I could do my five yard,
ten yard, twenty yard marks and practice you know, my
length from that perspective, and I just did it diligently,
(04:38):
and finally I felt as though I was out growing
that bow and I was breaking the arrows. I had
these little beginner arrows that were like these little kind
of wooden, almost flimsy arrows. And so I went back
to him and I said, you know, I think I've
outgrown this bow. Wow. And he said, well, you want
to try a crossbow And I said, well, what's the crossbow?
(05:00):
And he showed me the crossbow and he says, but
you know, you have to be really careful because you
could lose a finger or two. And I said, no, no, no, no, no,
I don't want to do across non stick with me.
No no, no, I need you need.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Those even though you got them, you need all.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Of them, that's right, them all. I need them all
and I want them all. So crossbow was out for me.
I just stuck with recurve recover bow, which is the
bow that I started to learn on. And he said, well,
look at the at the wall. He had like tons
of bows hanging from the wall and he said, pick
out one that you like and we'll go from there.
(05:35):
And I looked at all the bows and I said
I like that one. And he went, are you sure
you like that one? And I said yeah, and he said,
that's my bow.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I guess you got good taste in bows, girl.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I guess so. And he said, you know what, let
me go on the back. He said, I put that together.
You know, it's kind of a composite, you know, I
put that together, especially for myself. Let me go in
the back and see if I can read construct that boat.
So he went. It took him about, you know, five
or ten minutes he was back there. He came back
and he said, you know, I don't have the parts
to reconstruct that both for you here. I'd have to
(06:10):
order everything, he says. But I was thinking, I'm actually
ready for a new boat. So if you want, I'll
sell you my boat. So I got my teacher's bow,
which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
That's very cool. You must be pretty darn good. Oh
my god, archery geez, that's quite an unusual hobby for
a black girl from Ohio.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I must say.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, it's amazing. I love it, you know, because it's
all about the focus, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Is that what's caused you to continue and grow with
that sport.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
The focus of it.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, the focus, and then the accomplishment and just the
etiquette that you need, you know, because you can't be
frazzled and you know all jeery. You know, you have
to be calm and still, you know, and all of
that goes into perform It all goes into you, you know,
hitting a bullseye or become or hitting what they call
(07:05):
a kill shot, even if it's not a bullseye.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Right, So to.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Do that, you know you have to have a certain attitude.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Well, I know that you are a deeply spiritual person,
and I think archery is often referred to as a
spiritual skill to express beauty and truth. Do you do
you find that to be true when you pull a
bow back and look your targets dead on? And do
you feel a sense of calm before you let that
(07:32):
arrow fly?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I do, yes, I And I think that it's a
great sense of accomplishment. It's a great sense of not
only focus, but but projection because you see a goal,
you have a mark, and you know where you want
that arrow to go. So you have to basically master
the mass of that of that arrow that you're shooting,
(07:55):
you know, to withstand whatever turbulence or when is that
we'll meet that that arrow before you get to your target.
And I'm not into it for you know, killing things
per se. I'm just into it for the target and
the sport of it.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
From that perspective, right, do you know how to judge
the distance of an arrow with the wind factor included?
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And all that? Is that where your skill lies? As
well as an as an archer.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yes, you have to. You have to learn all of that,
and you have to learn, you know what at the
further back you go. You have to understand that the bow,
the trajectory of the bow, even if it goes straight on,
it will go down a little bit. You know, you
will bring the bow down and if you shoot high,
it will come down this way. You want to shoot
(08:50):
straight on, but you know you have to understand that
there's that as well, So you have to also gauge that. Wow,
gauge you know, because you're basically looking with both eyes,
but you know one eye is more focused. So you can't,
let's say, lean to the to the right or to
(09:12):
the left, and if you do, you just have to
understand where you have to adjust. That will make you
understand rather where you need to adjust to get a
dead on shot.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
They they say archery is great for building confidence and
self esteem, improving your mood and your focus and obviously
patience and even math. That's been that sounds like that's
been your experience as well, right.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Oh, totally, totally totally, And I noticed it just you know,
in my every day the way that I carry myself,
you know, when I'm I'm focused, you know, And I
actually like to shoot before I practice drums because it
really puts my mind in a certain place.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh my god, I love.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I was gonna ask you about the connection between drums
and archery, and you just totally answer that question.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
But they are separate and distinct. Are you like merging
them together or one always one before the other.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, that's a good question. I like I prefer archery
then drums, and then take a break in archery and
then drums and maybe a little archery after. But whatever
order that it's in, there definitely is a thread that's
finding because there's a focus that's involved. Yes, Like, let's
say for drums, you know, you want to you want
(10:39):
your stick to strike the drum dead center of the
drum so that you bring out a good tone, unless
you're just trying to make another kind of effect, unless
trying to get a rim shot, or you know, you
want the effect of the difference in sound, you know,
because you can get many sounds out of one drum
depending on where you hit a drum. You know, hit
(11:01):
it in center, if you hit it off center, if
you hit it towards the rim if you hit it
with the rim shot. You know, there are many ways
that you can get a sound out of the drum,
but to hit dead center that gives you the biggest, fullest,
most accurate sound of what that drum sounds like. And so,
you know, the focus that I find, that's the thread
(11:22):
between the two of them is the dead center, you know,
hitting right on, you know, aiming for that bulls eye,
seeing it and hitting it. And then also when I'm
at the drums and I'm sitting in my drums right now,
so but you know, like so look this is you
see the drum head here, Yes, so this is dead center.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
I want to hit it here all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I hit it here, I get a certain sound. If
I hit it here like this, you know, I get
a certain sound. So my my my focus really is
to you know, pull out the best sound. And I
love that question because there definitely is a connection for
me between the two.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
It's obvious when you play, when I when I hear
you play and see you on stage. I read somewhere
that you actually started playing on a toy drum kit
at seven and after years of drumming beats on your
mom's furniture and pots and pants. Did she ever say, child, child,
please stop making all that noise?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Or did she encourage you to play?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
She was very encouraging. I mean she to her was
kind of like, you know, noise, especially when I was
just young and banging around because my mom she's a
violinist and so she liked soft sounds. She you know,
she wasn't really into percussion, and she said that she
only started to get into it when she heard my
drumming start to sound very musical, and then she was like, oh,
(12:45):
actually that's quite nice. Doesn't sound like noise.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Wow, that's great, that's really great.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Full disclosure though, while you were a student at Berkeley
School of Music, you actually played drums in a pickup
band fronted by my saxophone play husband.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Eric Marie was my husband. A decent player.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
He was, and a decent man. I always had good
respect for him, you know, he was great. We did
these weekend gigs, and Eric was always on point and
just very fair to everybody. You know, never acted out
of alignment. I'll say, you know, of what of what
we were doing, you know, with anyone I saw, you know,
(13:27):
So I always had a great respect for him. So
you got a good one, and Eric, you got a
good one too.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I think we both agree. I would say we both agreed.
So Cindy, I have to tell you I I just smiled.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
From ear to ear when I first learned that you
were performing with your husband, Carlos Santana, and that he
had proposed marriage to you. Oh my god, I could
really not think of two people with more beautiful souls
and spirits. And I just looked at you, guys, and
I said to myself, look at God, just look at God.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Wow. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Now we know that Carlos has had a health challenge recently,
and I'm sure our listeners want to know how's he doing.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
He is doing fantastically well. You know, he had what
most people don't realize is that he had food poisoning,
and then of course he couldn't hold anything down, and
he wasn't able to hold anything down by showtime, and
he went on anyway.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Oh my god, what a new trooper.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yes, it was one hundred degrees without the lights, and
under the lights it was one hundred and fourteen degrees.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
And I say, I keep saying to him, you know
you are a strong as an ox because you lasted
an hour before you fell out.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Was there like a bucket right on the side something
in case something happened?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Did he have an escape route?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I don't know what they had on the side. I
don't think they did. I don't think I just cause
he was very quiet about, you know, being how he
was feeling. You know, he didn't really tell people, so
nobody really knew what was going on, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Did you know.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I knew a little bit of it, but he didn't
even tell me that he was feeling as bad as
he was feeling. I didn't know that because otherwise I
would have suggested that we not do the show. Actually,
but he he wanted to, you know, he couldn't let
the people down, you know, and he just had to
had to get out there and play. And I just
got to give him a lot of credit because he
(15:32):
lasted a whole hour, Like wow, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's a real man, and that's a real musician too,
and a true lover of music who does not want
to let his fans down. I appreciate that. Thank him
for me, will you I will?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, we're here.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Talking to my girl, Cindy black Man Santana, and we'll
be right back after this short break. Welcome back to
the Uppity Knitter Podcast. We're here with Miss Cindy black Man, Santana.
I want to know how many days during a typical
week do you practice archery? And I guess you shoot
(16:07):
alone because or do you have a are even an
archery club or you know?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I'm not in a club. I just have been traveling
so much that i haven't been able to be in
a club. So I've just been shooting alone. The only
person I've ever shot with is my teacher. Other than that,
I just have been shooting alone. But when I travel,
I don't take my I haven't been taking my boat
with me because there's no time for me to go
anywhere to shoot. At home, I probably shoot about four
(16:37):
days a week, maybe five days a week.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Oh nice, do you I know you take archery lessons?
Do you give archery lessons or can archer?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I'm not on that level to give lessons, although you know,
I have helped a couple people with just some basic skills.
Just you know that I've learned, you know, from my teacher,
just form. And I have a friend who is also
interested and so I'm going to give her my first
boat so she can get started on it, which is
(17:10):
very cool for her. But yeah, I'm not I'm not
in a position to really take on students yet.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I assume you've traveled to Japan, where archery is more
part of the culture.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Have you ever practiced archery in Japan?
Speaker 3 (17:26):
No? But I would absolutely love to.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Sounds like you would. Sounds like you would.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
They really embrace that sport as an art form for sure.
Would you ever shoot for food.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
If necessarily? Would?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I know you're able to, but how are you not
a vegan or anything? Are you that would?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah? I'm are vegan. I don't eat meat. But if
worst case scenario, you know, if if the stuff hit
the fan and there was nothing happening and nothing to
eat and I had to shoot for food, I would.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
All right, I love it. I'll be sure. I'm with
you when it all comes down.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I want to be where you are. Do you ever
shoot arrows riding horseback?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Like? Not done that? No, I've not done that. That's
that's gonna take another skill level. But I would love
to do that because I love horses as well, so
you know that would that would be really cool, girl.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's gotta be on your bucket list for sure.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Have you ever hit a bullseye and then hit another
arrow through that bullseye that's already in the target one
time you did?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah? One time? How I did it? I did it
one time and I tried to repeat it and I
got close, but it never I've never split an arrow
or you know, broken another arrow, but I did one time.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That must have been like an oscar for a for
an actor.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Was that like, oh my god, I did it? I
did it. I did it.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Was that happen one in a million times or one
in fifty thousand.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Or yeah, I mean to do that because instantly, just
really the masters can do that, you know. And there's
a story of this master teacher. I don't know his name.
It was the story of a master teacher who had
some students and at the end of their lessons or
at the end of this whole term or semester or whatever,
(19:18):
you know, he goes like sixty I think it was
sixty yards back and he arrow and it's dead on bullseye.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Oh my gosh, sis.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, and he's he's they're all, you know, excited because
he did that, and he's like, well wait a minute,
and then he takes another arrow and he splits that arrow,
he splits the bulls arrow, and that was he said,
you know, that's that's that's the end of the semester.
That's your lesson. That it is. You know, it's this
a master involved in doing that. One day I'll get there.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Do you have a favorite type of tip on your
arrows or do you have you ever had custom jewelry
created from an arrow tip or something like that custom jewelry?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I have not. I mean this this is this is
the arrow that I like right now. And this is
carbon uh fameless steel tip and it's very very sharp,
but this is carbon bow. And I liked the purple
and yellow, so I did purple and yellow others. I
have some different colored ones, but these just happen to
(20:22):
be the purple and yellow ones.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Nice. I have carbon.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I like holding carbon in my hand. It's it's it
feels good in the hand, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, carbon is nice. Yeah, it feels good. And then
they fly really straight and they're really strong, and you
know they last.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Do you do you fletch? I just learned that term.
Do you fletch your own arrows.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I do not. My teacher he primes them for me.
I uh, I just bite them when they're ready, but
he frhymes them at it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I'm always interested in learning new words, and I've I've
learned that an expert archer is referred to as a tux.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, it's one who loves archery and it's skilled in
the sport of archery. It so, so you are toxicphyalite.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Do you have any tattoos?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I'm I don't have any, but I'm really into them,
and I wanted to know if you had a tattoo,
would it be a design that featured archery or feathers.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I don't have any tattoos whatsoever. None. I've never seen
anything that I like well enough to have on my
body for.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
The rest of it. I know, I know, I know
exactly what you mean.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
I mean, my dreadlocks are permanently enough for me and
I don't need any imprints on my body, thank you
very much.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Back to your drumming, do you ever do beat boxing
and is that a part of your rhythmic arsenal?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
No, I've not done that. Accept you know like into
my phone when I'm thinking of a groove this group,
then I'll do it, you know, something into my phone
just so I can remember what the group was if
I'm not near my drums. But no I'm not. I
don't beatbox now, girl, when do you?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
When are you ever not near your drums? That's that's
what I want to know.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, that's a that's a good question because it's hardly
ever happens. Yeah, it hardly ever happens.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So let our audience know, Cindy, what you have going
on currently in your life.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
What's happening.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
I am at this point taking a little rest right
now because we've been touring since June, taking five days rest.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Only only five days, and you've been working all summer.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Only five That's all we get, right, That's all I get.
But then we go, so we do. Carlinos has a
residency at House of Loose, so we're going to go
do that. And right in between that, I'm starting to
do you know, more stuff with my own band, So
i'll be next year I'll be doing you know, the
Santana stuff and more stuff with with with my band.
I love.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I would love to write something with you Cindy, that
would be an awesome, awesome union.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
I think I would love that absolutely. I think you're amazing.
And and and Ralph Johnson sent me a song that
you two wrote. It's a message.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, we wrote a Christmas song. I love Ralph. Isn't
he not the best? He is awesome, the best guy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Finally, uh, we like to end this show with a
little segment where I asked my guests to share something
that happened to them, something someone said, or something that
came as a shock to them, or something that someone
did that was kind of a surprise that made them go, Nita.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
What like? What what just happened?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Like?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Is there a moment that you can share with our
audience where you had your own Nita what moment?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I got a couple of them. One of them actually
was the way that Carlos proposed to me because he
did it on stage. No A what. Yes. We were
in Chicago and my dad, God bless him, was alive
at that point and living in Chicago, and so we
(24:22):
went to his house and you know, he met Carlos
and I was just kind of hanging out, sitting in
with the band. I wasn't in the band. At that point.
And so when I did sit in, you know, Carlos
would introduce me, and you know, once in a while
he would call me up to the front of the stage,
but that was kind of rare. He would just introduced
me usually, and then I hop off and and they
(24:43):
continue on with the set. And this time I played
and took solo and everything, and then he called me
up to the front of the stage and he kept
talking and I'm like, why is he talking. I don't
know what he's talking about, and he kind of nervous,
you know, and he just talking, talking, talking, talking, fuck
And then finally he popped the question. He asked me
(25:04):
if I had married, And I was like, what, oh my,
So that was that was a big one, you know,
and I didn't. I mean, we were kind of moving
in that direction, but I didn't expect even if I
thought that he might propose, I definitely didn't expect it
to happen there. And I wasn't assuming that he was
going to propose. We were just kind of, you know,
(25:26):
where we were and happy and and that was all
fine too, you know, but yeah, that was that was.
That was a big one. And I have another one
that is an accomplishment that just happened, which you know,
I didn't expect because I didn't know that things had
progressed that far. But I've been studying metaphysics with doctor
(25:48):
Joe Pokram for about seven years, and for the past
few years I've been on her advanced brain balancing program.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Wow, tell us more about that.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yes, you you you focus on sacred symbols and you
start out with three and you do like five minutes
per symbol, so it's very easy. You're doing fifteen minutes
per day. And that's my other thing besides archery that
people probably don't know that I'm into, which is metaphysics.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Wow, you are so deep, but.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
I but you know, you just study these these sacred symbols.
You know, you focus on them for five minutes each,
so fifteen minutes per day best to do twice a day.
Some people only do once a day. When you're in
the advanced program, you get more symbols and you get
and you add more time. So I have seven symbols
and I do seven minutes per day, I mean seven
minutes per symbol, so it's like four nine minutes per
(26:49):
day that I have that I do these focusings. And
you know, I was very happily surprised about a week
or so ago when she told me that I graduated,
because most people don't, you know, they don't graduate that program.
So I'm really so.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Wow, So is the doctor Cindy Blackman's Stana is it?
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I'm going to get a diploma and degree and everything.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I love it. Girl, that's wonderful. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
So and you use metaphysics in your everyday life for
balance and of course focus.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it. You know this program actually
what it does when you're focusing on these geometric symbols,
it actually helps connect the two hemispheres of your brain,
and it actually helps grow your neurons.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
The connective tissue.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yes, it actually physically helps grow them. And you know,
the the universe is built on geometry, So these sacred symbols,
when you're looking at them, you're actually looking at the
face of the way, of the way. Everything that we
see was created in my opinion, you know, and in
my opinion. So you know, I'm really stoked about that.
(28:05):
I just was having a call with her this morning,
so about my diploma and about you know, next steps
and everything. So it's fresh on my mind. So I
just want to share.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
That I really appreciate that. Wow, Cindy, Blackman, Santana, You're
the best that.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I thanks girl, thank you, love you so much.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I love you black Man.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Thank you so much for joining us on The Uppity
Knitter Podcast. Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, a show where your favorite
celebrities talk about their unusual hobbies.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Join us next time see you then. The Uppity Knitter
Podcast is brought to you by Black Chick Productions. Show
was hosted by Sayida Garrett. Our producer is Eric Nurie,
and we're recorded and edited by Felicia Morris at Marris
Media Studios in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Special thanks go out to our friends at iHeartMedia and
Seneca Women
Hello, I'm Sayu.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
De Garrett and Uppity Knitter and host of the Uppity
Knitter podcast. Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, a show about your favorite
celebrities and their unusual hobbies.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
My guest today is one of my sisters from Another Mista,
an incredible musician, singer and songwriter who has played drums
and percussion for an impressive list of top jazz and
pop artists. These include John McLaughlin, Farrell Sanders, Josh Stone,
and Cassandra Wilson, just to name a few. But she
(00:33):
really rose to prominence while touring and recording with the
awesome Lenny Kravitz Band for over fifteen years, and now
continues to shine while touring with her husband, the legendary
guitarist Carlos Santana. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the beautiful
and talented missus Cindy Blackman Santana. Hey, Cindy Blackman, Hi, Hi,
(00:58):
it's been a minute, girls. You I missed your face.
I'm happy that you're doing well and flourishing and happy
in love and life and music.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I want your life, you got it, you got it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
All those things are happening. I'm very happy for you,
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Before we get started, A lot of folks have asked
why this podcast is called The Uppity Knitter. Although I'm
known as a singer songwriter. I had an unusual experience
at a knit shop on the West Side in Los
Angeles where a bunch of white ladies were having a
little knitting circle. So I decided to sit down and
join them for a minute. And I looked to my
ride and this woman is knitting, and she's what she's
(01:39):
knitting with? I thought was so beautiful. So I said,
excuse me, what what are you knitting with? That's so beautiful?
She's so, this is just cotton. And then she looked
in my lap and she said, what are you knitting with?
I said, this is Kashmir. She said, oh, aren't you
an uppity knitter.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I looked at her and I said, what did you
call me? She said, I said knitter. I said Knitzer.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
This little white lady turned the most awesome shade of
crimson that I have ever seen, and it just brings
me joy when I think of it. So I decided
to adopt that moniker as my podcast title. So Cindy
tell us what unusual hobby or hobbies that you have
that most fans of your music wouldn't consider you to
(02:27):
be into.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I think the most unusual hobby that I have is archery. Huh, yes,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
That's unusual. I love that too. Oh my God, tell
me more.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
You know. I have been into it for quite a while,
just from a visual and conceptual perspective. And in the
Bay Area where I was living at the time, I
would go to visit my mom and my sister and
I would pass this archery shop and I kept saying,
one day, I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop
in there just to just to go in because I'm
(03:05):
just curious. And then I finally said, you know what,
I'm going to stop saying one day, I'm going in now,
I'm going to go in today. And so I went
in there and this gentleman was there, who's the curator
of the shop. He's incredible. He looks like like he
came he just stepped out of the woods of Ireland
(03:26):
from some sort of army or something, you know, like
he's like, you know, he's kind of fatigue, but he's
very stocky and strong, very long red mustache and beard,
really full head of long red hair.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
He sounds very irish, oh.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Very very very you know, and you know, he must
have just come from like the outback of Dublin or somewhere.
I don't know, but he just looked amazing and I'm like, whoa,
I've never done this, but I'm very interested. And so
he went through a few things and eventually handed me
a bow and we did some, you know, some some targeting.
(04:07):
I'm like, I have to have a bow. So I
got a bow and I got some arrows, and I
got a target, and I went and.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Proceeded to target.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yes, I got a boothye target, and I started to
I went and proceeded to practice. Because in my studio there,
it's a very long room. So I was able to
just started, like, you know, I could do my five yard,
ten yard, twenty yard marks and practice you know, my
length from that perspective, and I just did it diligently,
(04:38):
and finally I felt as though I was out growing
that bow and I was breaking the arrows. I had
these little beginner arrows that were like these little kind
of wooden, almost flimsy arrows. And so I went back
to him and I said, you know, I think I've
outgrown this bow. Wow. And he said, well, you want
to try a crossbow And I said, well, what's the crossbow?
(05:00):
And he showed me the crossbow and he says, but
you know, you have to be really careful because you
could lose a finger or two. And I said, no, no, no, no, no,
I don't want to do across non stick with me.
No no, no, I need you need.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Those even though you got them, you need all.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Of them, that's right, them all. I need them all
and I want them all. So crossbow was out for me.
I just stuck with recurve recover bow, which is the
bow that I started to learn on. And he said, well,
look at the at the wall. He had like tons
of bows hanging from the wall and he said, pick
out one that you like and we'll go from there.
(05:35):
And I looked at all the bows and I said
I like that one. And he went, are you sure
you like that one? And I said yeah, and he said,
that's my bow.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I guess you got good taste in bows, girl.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I guess so. And he said, you know what, let
me go on the back. He said, I put that together.
You know, it's kind of a composite, you know, I
put that together, especially for myself. Let me go in
the back and see if I can read construct that boat.
So he went. It took him about, you know, five
or ten minutes he was back there. He came back
and he said, you know, I don't have the parts
to reconstruct that both for you here. I'd have to
(06:10):
order everything, he says. But I was thinking, I'm actually
ready for a new boat. So if you want, I'll
sell you my boat. So I got my teacher's bow,
which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
That's very cool. You must be pretty darn good. Oh
my god, archery geez, that's quite an unusual hobby for
a black girl from Ohio.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I must say.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Yeah, it's amazing. I love it, you know, because it's
all about the focus, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Is that what's caused you to continue and grow with
that sport.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
The focus of it.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, the focus, and then the accomplishment and just the
etiquette that you need, you know, because you can't be
frazzled and you know all jeery. You know, you have
to be calm and still, you know, and all of
that goes into perform It all goes into you, you know,
hitting a bullseye or become or hitting what they call
(07:05):
a kill shot, even if it's not a bullseye.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Right, So to.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Do that, you know you have to have a certain attitude.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Well, I know that you are a deeply spiritual person,
and I think archery is often referred to as a
spiritual skill to express beauty and truth. Do you do
you find that to be true when you pull a
bow back and look your targets dead on? And do
you feel a sense of calm before you let that
(07:32):
arrow fly?
Speaker 3 (07:34):
I do, yes, I And I think that it's a
great sense of accomplishment. It's a great sense of not
only focus, but but projection because you see a goal,
you have a mark, and you know where you want
that arrow to go. So you have to basically master
the mass of that of that arrow that you're shooting,
(07:55):
you know, to withstand whatever turbulence or when is that
we'll meet that that arrow before you get to your target.
And I'm not into it for you know, killing things
per se. I'm just into it for the target and
the sport of it.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
From that perspective, right, do you know how to judge
the distance of an arrow with the wind factor included?
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And all that? Is that where your skill lies? As
well as an as an archer.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yes, you have to. You have to learn all of that,
and you have to learn, you know what at the
further back you go. You have to understand that the bow,
the trajectory of the bow, even if it goes straight on,
it will go down a little bit. You know, you
will bring the bow down and if you shoot high,
it will come down this way. You want to shoot
(08:50):
straight on, but you know you have to understand that
there's that as well, So you have to also gauge that. Wow,
gauge you know, because you're basically looking with both eyes,
but you know one eye is more focused. So you can't,
let's say, lean to the to the right or to
(09:12):
the left, and if you do, you just have to
understand where you have to adjust. That will make you
understand rather where you need to adjust to get a
dead on shot.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
They they say archery is great for building confidence and
self esteem, improving your mood and your focus and obviously
patience and even math. That's been that sounds like that's
been your experience as well, right.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Oh, totally, totally totally, And I noticed it just you know,
in my every day the way that I carry myself,
you know, when I'm I'm focused, you know, And I
actually like to shoot before I practice drums because it
really puts my mind in a certain place.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh my god, I love.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I was gonna ask you about the connection between drums
and archery, and you just totally answer that question.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
But they are separate and distinct. Are you like merging
them together or one always one before the other.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, that's a good question. I like I prefer archery
then drums, and then take a break in archery and
then drums and maybe a little archery after. But whatever
order that it's in, there definitely is a thread that's
finding because there's a focus that's involved. Yes, Like, let's
say for drums, you know, you want to you want
(10:39):
your stick to strike the drum dead center of the
drum so that you bring out a good tone, unless
you're just trying to make another kind of effect, unless
trying to get a rim shot, or you know, you
want the effect of the difference in sound, you know,
because you can get many sounds out of one drum
depending on where you hit a drum. You know, hit
(11:01):
it in center, if you hit it off center, if
you hit it towards the rim if you hit it
with the rim shot. You know, there are many ways
that you can get a sound out of the drum,
but to hit dead center that gives you the biggest, fullest,
most accurate sound of what that drum sounds like. And so,
you know, the focus that I find, that's the thread
(11:22):
between the two of them is the dead center, you know,
hitting right on, you know, aiming for that bulls eye,
seeing it and hitting it. And then also when I'm
at the drums and I'm sitting in my drums right now,
so but you know, like so look this is you
see the drum head here, Yes, so this is dead center.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
I want to hit it here all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I hit it here, I get a certain sound. If
I hit it here like this, you know, I get
a certain sound. So my my my focus really is
to you know, pull out the best sound. And I
love that question because there definitely is a connection for
me between the two.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
It's obvious when you play, when I when I hear
you play and see you on stage. I read somewhere
that you actually started playing on a toy drum kit
at seven and after years of drumming beats on your
mom's furniture and pots and pants. Did she ever say, child, child,
please stop making all that noise?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Or did she encourage you to play?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
She was very encouraging. I mean she to her was
kind of like, you know, noise, especially when I was
just young and banging around because my mom she's a
violinist and so she liked soft sounds. She you know,
she wasn't really into percussion, and she said that she
only started to get into it when she heard my
drumming start to sound very musical, and then she was like, oh,
(12:45):
actually that's quite nice. Doesn't sound like noise.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Wow, that's great, that's really great.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Full disclosure though, while you were a student at Berkeley
School of Music, you actually played drums in a pickup
band fronted by my saxophone play husband.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Eric Marie was my husband. A decent player.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
He was, and a decent man. I always had good
respect for him, you know, he was great. We did
these weekend gigs, and Eric was always on point and
just very fair to everybody. You know, never acted out
of alignment. I'll say, you know, of what of what
we were doing, you know, with anyone I saw, you know,
(13:27):
So I always had a great respect for him. So
you got a good one, and Eric, you got a
good one too.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I think we both agree. I would say we both agreed.
So Cindy, I have to tell you I I just smiled.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
From ear to ear when I first learned that you
were performing with your husband, Carlos Santana, and that he
had proposed marriage to you. Oh my god, I could
really not think of two people with more beautiful souls
and spirits. And I just looked at you, guys, and
I said to myself, look at God, just look at God.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Wow. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Now we know that Carlos has had a health challenge recently,
and I'm sure our listeners want to know how's he doing.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
He is doing fantastically well. You know, he had what
most people don't realize is that he had food poisoning,
and then of course he couldn't hold anything down, and
he wasn't able to hold anything down by showtime, and
he went on anyway.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Oh my god, what a new trooper.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yes, it was one hundred degrees without the lights, and
under the lights it was one hundred and fourteen degrees.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
And I say, I keep saying to him, you know
you are a strong as an ox because you lasted
an hour before you fell out.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Was there like a bucket right on the side something
in case something happened?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Did he have an escape route?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
I don't know what they had on the side. I
don't think they did. I don't think I just cause
he was very quiet about, you know, being how he
was feeling. You know, he didn't really tell people, so
nobody really knew what was going on, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Did you know.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I knew a little bit of it, but he didn't
even tell me that he was feeling as bad as
he was feeling. I didn't know that because otherwise I
would have suggested that we not do the show. Actually,
but he he wanted to, you know, he couldn't let
the people down, you know, and he just had to
had to get out there and play. And I just
got to give him a lot of credit because he
(15:32):
lasted a whole hour, Like wow, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's a real man, and that's a real musician too,
and a true lover of music who does not want
to let his fans down. I appreciate that. Thank him
for me, will you I will?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, we're here.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Talking to my girl, Cindy black Man Santana, and we'll
be right back after this short break. Welcome back to
the Uppity Knitter Podcast. We're here with Miss Cindy black Man, Santana.
I want to know how many days during a typical
week do you practice archery? And I guess you shoot
(16:07):
alone because or do you have a are even an
archery club or you know?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I'm not in a club. I just have been traveling
so much that i haven't been able to be in
a club. So I've just been shooting alone. The only
person I've ever shot with is my teacher. Other than that,
I just have been shooting alone. But when I travel,
I don't take my I haven't been taking my boat
with me because there's no time for me to go
anywhere to shoot. At home, I probably shoot about four
(16:37):
days a week, maybe five days a week.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Oh nice, do you I know you take archery lessons?
Do you give archery lessons or can archer?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I'm not on that level to give lessons, although you know,
I have helped a couple people with just some basic skills.
Just you know that I've learned, you know, from my teacher,
just form. And I have a friend who is also
interested and so I'm going to give her my first
boat so she can get started on it, which is
(17:10):
very cool for her. But yeah, I'm not I'm not
in a position to really take on students yet.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I assume you've traveled to Japan, where archery is more
part of the culture.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Have you ever practiced archery in Japan?
Speaker 3 (17:26):
No? But I would absolutely love to.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Sounds like you would. Sounds like you would.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
They really embrace that sport as an art form for sure.
Would you ever shoot for food.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
If necessarily? Would?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I know you're able to, but how are you not
a vegan or anything? Are you that would?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah? I'm are vegan. I don't eat meat. But if
worst case scenario, you know, if if the stuff hit
the fan and there was nothing happening and nothing to
eat and I had to shoot for food, I would.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
All right, I love it. I'll be sure. I'm with
you when it all comes down.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I want to be where you are. Do you ever
shoot arrows riding horseback?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Like? Not done that? No, I've not done that. That's
that's gonna take another skill level. But I would love
to do that because I love horses as well, so
you know that would that would be really cool, girl.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's gotta be on your bucket list for sure.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Have you ever hit a bullseye and then hit another
arrow through that bullseye that's already in the target one
time you did?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah? One time? How I did it? I did it
one time and I tried to repeat it and I
got close, but it never I've never split an arrow
or you know, broken another arrow, but I did one time.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
That must have been like an oscar for a for
an actor.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Was that like, oh my god, I did it? I
did it. I did it.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Was that happen one in a million times or one
in fifty thousand.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Or yeah, I mean to do that because instantly, just
really the masters can do that, you know. And there's
a story of this master teacher. I don't know his name.
It was the story of a master teacher who had
some students and at the end of their lessons or
at the end of this whole term or semester or whatever,
(19:18):
you know, he goes like sixty I think it was
sixty yards back and he arrow and it's dead on bullseye.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Oh my gosh, sis.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, and he's he's they're all, you know, excited because
he did that, and he's like, well wait a minute,
and then he takes another arrow and he splits that arrow,
he splits the bulls arrow, and that was he said,
you know, that's that's that's the end of the semester.
That's your lesson. That it is. You know, it's this
a master involved in doing that. One day I'll get there.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Do you have a favorite type of tip on your
arrows or do you have you ever had custom jewelry
created from an arrow tip or something like that custom jewelry?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I have not. I mean this this is this is
the arrow that I like right now. And this is
carbon uh fameless steel tip and it's very very sharp,
but this is carbon bow. And I liked the purple
and yellow, so I did purple and yellow others. I
have some different colored ones, but these just happen to
(20:22):
be the purple and yellow ones.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Nice. I have carbon.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I like holding carbon in my hand. It's it's it
feels good in the hand, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, carbon is nice. Yeah, it feels good. And then
they fly really straight and they're really strong, and you
know they last.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Do you do you fletch? I just learned that term.
Do you fletch your own arrows.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I do not. My teacher he primes them for me.
I uh, I just bite them when they're ready, but
he frhymes them at it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I'm always interested in learning new words, and I've I've
learned that an expert archer is referred to as a tux.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, it's one who loves archery and it's skilled in
the sport of archery. It so, so you are toxicphyalite.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Do you have any tattoos?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I'm I don't have any, but I'm really into them,
and I wanted to know if you had a tattoo,
would it be a design that featured archery or feathers.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
I don't have any tattoos whatsoever. None. I've never seen
anything that I like well enough to have on my
body for.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
The rest of it. I know, I know, I know
exactly what you mean.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
I mean, my dreadlocks are permanently enough for me and
I don't need any imprints on my body, thank you
very much.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Back to your drumming, do you ever do beat boxing
and is that a part of your rhythmic arsenal?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
No, I've not done that. Accept you know like into
my phone when I'm thinking of a groove this group,
then I'll do it, you know, something into my phone
just so I can remember what the group was if
I'm not near my drums. But no I'm not. I
don't beatbox now, girl, when do you?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
When are you ever not near your drums? That's that's
what I want to know.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, that's a that's a good question because it's hardly
ever happens. Yeah, it hardly ever happens.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So let our audience know, Cindy, what you have going
on currently in your life.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
What's happening.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
I am at this point taking a little rest right
now because we've been touring since June, taking five days rest.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Only only five days, and you've been working all summer.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Only five That's all we get, right, That's all I get.
But then we go, so we do. Carlinos has a
residency at House of Loose, so we're going to go
do that. And right in between that, I'm starting to
do you know, more stuff with my own band, So
i'll be next year I'll be doing you know, the
Santana stuff and more stuff with with with my band.
I love.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I would love to write something with you Cindy, that
would be an awesome, awesome union.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
I think I would love that absolutely. I think you're amazing.
And and and Ralph Johnson sent me a song that
you two wrote. It's a message.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, we wrote a Christmas song. I love Ralph. Isn't
he not the best? He is awesome, the best guy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Finally, uh, we like to end this show with a
little segment where I asked my guests to share something
that happened to them, something someone said, or something that
came as a shock to them, or something that someone
did that was kind of a surprise that made them go, Nita.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
What like? What what just happened?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Like?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Is there a moment that you can share with our
audience where you had your own Nita what moment?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I got a couple of them. One of them actually
was the way that Carlos proposed to me because he
did it on stage. No A what. Yes. We were
in Chicago and my dad, God bless him, was alive
at that point and living in Chicago, and so we
(24:22):
went to his house and you know, he met Carlos
and I was just kind of hanging out, sitting in
with the band. I wasn't in the band. At that point.
And so when I did sit in, you know, Carlos
would introduce me, and you know, once in a while
he would call me up to the front of the stage,
but that was kind of rare. He would just introduced
me usually, and then I hop off and and they
(24:43):
continue on with the set. And this time I played
and took solo and everything, and then he called me
up to the front of the stage and he kept
talking and I'm like, why is he talking. I don't
know what he's talking about, and he kind of nervous,
you know, and he just talking, talking, talking, talking, fuck
And then finally he popped the question. He asked me
(25:04):
if I had married, And I was like, what, oh my,
So that was that was a big one, you know,
and I didn't. I mean, we were kind of moving
in that direction, but I didn't expect even if I
thought that he might propose, I definitely didn't expect it
to happen there. And I wasn't assuming that he was
going to propose. We were just kind of, you know,
(25:26):
where we were and happy and and that was all
fine too, you know, but yeah, that was that was.
That was a big one. And I have another one
that is an accomplishment that just happened, which you know,
I didn't expect because I didn't know that things had
progressed that far. But I've been studying metaphysics with doctor
(25:48):
Joe Pokram for about seven years, and for the past
few years I've been on her advanced brain balancing program.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Wow, tell us more about that.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yes, you you you focus on sacred symbols and you
start out with three and you do like five minutes
per symbol, so it's very easy. You're doing fifteen minutes
per day. And that's my other thing besides archery that
people probably don't know that I'm into, which is metaphysics.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Wow, you are so deep, but.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
I but you know, you just study these these sacred symbols.
You know, you focus on them for five minutes each,
so fifteen minutes per day best to do twice a day.
Some people only do once a day. When you're in
the advanced program, you get more symbols and you get
and you add more time. So I have seven symbols
and I do seven minutes per day, I mean seven
minutes per symbol, so it's like four nine minutes per
(26:49):
day that I have that I do these focusings. And
you know, I was very happily surprised about a week
or so ago when she told me that I graduated,
because most people don't, you know, they don't graduate that program.
So I'm really so.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Wow, So is the doctor Cindy Blackman's Stana is it?
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I'm going to get a diploma and degree and everything.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I love it. Girl, that's wonderful. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
So and you use metaphysics in your everyday life for
balance and of course focus.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Oh, absolutely, I mean it. You know this program actually
what it does when you're focusing on these geometric symbols,
it actually helps connect the two hemispheres of your brain,
and it actually helps grow your neurons.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
The connective tissue.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yes, it actually physically helps grow them. And you know,
the the universe is built on geometry, So these sacred symbols,
when you're looking at them, you're actually looking at the
face of the way, of the way. Everything that we
see was created in my opinion, you know, and in
my opinion. So you know, I'm really stoked about that.
(28:05):
I just was having a call with her this morning,
so about my diploma and about you know, next steps
and everything. So it's fresh on my mind. So I
just want to share.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
That I really appreciate that. Wow, Cindy, Blackman, Santana, You're
the best that.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I thanks girl, thank you, love you so much.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I love you black Man.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Thank you so much for joining us on The Uppity
Knitter Podcast. Celebrity Hobbies Uncovered, a show where your favorite
celebrities talk about their unusual hobbies.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Join us next time see you then. The Uppity Knitter
Podcast is brought to you by Black Chick Productions. Show
was hosted by Sayida Garrett. Our producer is Eric Nurie,
and we're recorded and edited by Felicia Morris at Marris
Media Studios in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Special thanks go out to our friends at iHeartMedia and
Seneca Women
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