Episode 11 Featuring Ed Lovelace

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Dear America, where your voice matters and every
vote counts. Join us as we explore the power of
black and brown communities and shaping our future. It's time
to make your mark and be heard.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello America.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
This is Chanelle Barnes with the Dear America Show, where
we are interviewing real people, capturing real voices, and telling
real stories.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I am joined here today with mister ed Lovelace. Hi,
mister Ed. Is it mister Ed or is it Ed Lovelace?

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Which Ed Lovelace?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Lovelace?

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Let me go go? Some people call me Ed go go.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
You know what, we'll talk about that story. We'll save
it for another day. But let's kick off with you
just sharing a little bit about who you are, your
background as an Olympic sprinter and someone who is centrally
focused in speed.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Mm hmmm, so yeah, I guess my essence. So start
off as an athlete from New York, went out west
and got involved in the sun and the heat, ran
really really fast and had Olympic level exploits globally. And
the unique piece is, thankfully I'm from New York. So

(01:19):
we see a lot and we do a lot, and
so that was in me from the beginning. So in
my athletic pursuits, go around the world, you meet a
lot of people and it turns into things, and New
York turns into things. And so I didn't know what
things were turning, but I just saw them in just
amassed relationships. And so what started the conversation. And from

(01:42):
my vantage point is I would I wanted to be different.
I don't want to be a trainer. So I said
I sold speed, and people are well.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
I was just gonna say, how do we sell speed
an hour at a time.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, I love it, Yeah, but you have to be interesting.
Nobody's interested in jumping jacks, that's right, right, and so.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Selling well, I will say, my kids have me doing
some jumping jags.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I kind of like it.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yes, it's cool, it's cool mom, kids, it's time to
sign a contract, tell me to go get the scholarship
for monetization. They just want to know how fast you are, right,
And so speed is a number that begets a number,
and so it became first it's cool because everybody wants
to be fast in some way shape form, and then
it turned into real because it's like wait, wait, wait,
you really sell speed and how you sell speed, and

(02:30):
of course I did with one mile an hour a time.
And then you know, the old folks would be like,
nobody used to speed anymore. That's how data and I'd
be like, not that speed, But speed empowers kids and athletes.
No one cares if you're slow and can catch a ball.
Sure they care when you're really fast and you can
catch the ball and keep doing it right, So it
converts and it empowers. Right. And so with that being

(02:55):
a really fast person literally run around planet at one
point in time with the fastest people on Earth, there's
a cool factor bullet trains, private planes and all those things.
And then that morphed into like enigmatic presence and places
and you're hanging out the unusual places and spaces, and

(03:16):
it's kind of like being on a golf course. But
if you're on some supertrain going from one place to
another or so on and so forth, people remember that
and so you kind of get hey, man, he was
the fastest dude in the world. As partners were the
fastest people in the world, So what are you doing
now kind of thing, And so speed was kind of

(03:37):
the substrate and by no stretch was it planned understood
at all. Like I had a mentor shout out to
Gary Harris inside player, what are you going to do
if you break your leg?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
No he didn't ask that question.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
No, he did straight up hanging out one night because
you know, you think you're invincible as a young person.
And I was like, he's breaking my leg. Talk about
bringing my leg. That's why I broke my leg. Oh
but prior to breaking it, brought my ankle. It was echoing.
I was like, wow, right, like I want you to
umumbing down and running in whatever. It's not sustainable, right,

(04:14):
So it's funny that word kept showing up. It didn't
mean anything, then it means.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
So much now everything. Let it.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
I want to go back before we go into your
your need for speed. Now, let's go back to when
you became an Olympic sprinner. My daughter and I just
went to go see Simone Bios and a bunch of
other American gymnasts after we just had the Olympics, and
they had this moment where they looked into the audience
and they said, if you're an aspiring gymnasts, you know,

(04:45):
stand up, introduce yourself. And I think that that's such
a scary thing. Talk to me about the moment you
realized you were an Olympic sprinner, and if there was
any level of imposter syndrome that may have been associated
with that realization any at all.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
How you eradicate the imposters syndrome is.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
That's probably the larger question I think I need to
ask here.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
That leads for most people. But what happens is there's
a process, and the process is, you know, just keep
it simple. You practice, right, but in higher level sports,
you're not just running and shooting the ball or whatever.
You're practicing realistically. You're practicing in those environments, be that gymnastics,

(05:35):
be that martial arts, be that basketball, but whatever the discipline,
and you're realistically practicing in real time scenarios. Copy and
paste that over and over and over again, right, and
that becomes a norm. You do it with your friends.
And while your friends they're not your friends when you're training,
they're your opponents. And everybody you know plays one on

(05:58):
one or whatever it is you do, and so that
puts you in an environment which confirms to you because
it's so repetitive, I'm here, right, and because the coaches
you you not look, you don't look at now you
look in the future, the really good coaches tell you
you're there already, right, So every day I was my coach.

(06:23):
He was thankfully shout out to arm Tate. He was
number one in the world. So you get that that
that input, that empirical data and those experiences and stories,
and then you know they go, well every day you're
here at Olympic trials and you don't know what that means.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
How old were you when this was when you were
discovering becoming an Olympic sprinter because.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
In New York weather and all that kind of stuff,
I would say I was a late bloomer. Okay, so
ninth grade.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Tenth that's still early early.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
We're still a child, yeah, definitely, okay, but yeah, you
didn't know, but you're around it. And what happens is
you emulate. If you really want to be you see something,
you emulate it. You know, I kind of I want
to be like Mike. In my case, I wanted to
be like coach Tate. Right, he walked a certain way,
talked to big muscles, good looking, you know, breast, smelled goods.

(07:18):
So as boys, you emulate the big dudes. Ase that works,
and so with that he tells you this is how
I did it. This is and he's like, I did this,
and I went to Russia. Here in person that looks
like you. It's telling you how he went to Russia.
So then what happens that unlock's dreams? Sure, so now
you start dreaming, which is kind of what this conversation

(07:40):
morphs into. Right, it's all about dreams. Right, So what
kills the imposter symsdrome is you accomplish whatever it is
the task is, and a practice with a person that's
done it, and they time it or say whatever the
number are is or are the execution is to be,

(08:02):
and you did it, and once you did it, you
dreamed in doing it because you didn't do it before.
And what happens is the imposters gone. You're going to
deal it in the beginning because you're nervous. You never
did it again, you're retired. But once you accomplish it,
coach tells you or the instructor tells you do that,
and do it in this, do this many and you
do it. Maybe you even do it better than you thought.

(08:24):
You realize, well, there we go. I could do that, yes,
and I couldn't do it before, so the impostor is gone,
and that's where you turn into a person. So it's
kind of every athlete and Derek Jear then he becomes
a captain, you know, bron Michael Jordan's Michael Jordan. They
call him the Black catt or a thousands, you know,
Baby Jesus or whatever they call them.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
But there's a lot of names out there.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
You turn into that person. So and that person is
kind of tailored fit for what you figured out, and
you turn into that person. So when you're off the
court or whatever the feel is, your whatever your name is,
John Doe, when you get to where you're going, even
at practice, you turn into that person and there's no
imposter there. You turn into someone else, you know what

(09:10):
I mean.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
And we're talking about dreams, and we're talking about the
ability of bringing dreams to life, becoming an operation. Can
you talk to us a little bit about your program
operation become your dream?

Speaker 1 (09:23):
So, yeah, so operation become your dream. It's stuff you
just come up with. Right, My dreams came true?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Right, tell me more about that.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
The kids you dream dreams get sparked by something, your
reflection of someone else, or you hear something, right of influence.
So my dream started when I heard my coach talk
abut he would go around the world, like you go
to practice, you'd sweat, you'd be thrown up or whatever
you're doing, like you can't wait to get out of there.
But what made it interesting is critical whoever your teacher

(09:58):
is and how they convey the info. I became what
I wanted to become like and did it. And I
was living in LA and I came back here and
I kind of saw kids in schools or whatever. And
as an athlete, this hit you because you didn't see
I didn't see any development happening. I didn't see any
more kids becoming their dream I didn't see instruction. I

(10:20):
didn't see anyone ascending. I just kind of saw them
like waiting in the same water and pools. And that's
problematic because that means the dreams die. And as a kid,
you told me my dreams were gonna die. That's like,
that's like a nightmare. So I kind of started it
as kind of like a give back amazing. So I
came back here as by coast. I still am now

(10:44):
and I'm up in the heights, inner city because when
I got out into the world, I found out of
all this trainer stuff.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
You found out what what trainers are, okay.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
And like I didn't have no trainer, coach, I am
no sports psychologists.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Know was so interesting.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I have some sons who are in sports, and even
I started to learn there's a distinction between a coach,
a trainer.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
And and then your parents.

Speaker 3 (11:11):
There's distinctions there. Everybody has their lane to play.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Coaches, developed kid that's growing up, real athletes. All shout
outs to the trainers if we get hurt. Yes, the
trainers are the ones with the tape and the gauze
in the black box, and they get to go on
the trip for free. That's right, that's right, right, Maybe
a little stem package when you stretch you out right.
And then parents, parents, and there's a point in time

(11:34):
where you know every everybody, I'm trying to go over
there and I'll stay over here. So there's a delineation.
And so with that, I didn't see any of it,
so I know, to me it was nothing for what
all these other sports, Olympic stuff and high level track

(11:56):
fills a whole nother animal of dedication a lot of time,
and we're so much fat. Woops, I'm sorry. We're so
much faster than everybody else. I figured I could give
them a fraction of what we were doing and make
their dreams come true. Keep it simple, go fast. And
so I was going around the city putting kids on,
getting them fast, getting them drafted like kids in the projects.
Kids didn't have any money. Wow, trainer, believe they're hopping turnstiles.

(12:21):
That's part of practice, right, Yes, So I took it
upon myself that people that were you know, these knee
jerk terms, at risk whatever, just kids that were like me.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
I was like, hell, let's go.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Let me ask you.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Is there a specific child that changed your life during
the process of you implementing Operation Become your Dream?

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, okay, tell me about it.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, like two girl and a boy. You don't know
the eye beholds everything but itself, right, So you just
do because I don't look at his work. Right, you
go do it and you make kids fast. And first
I'll start by saying, driving force. There's nothing like seeing

(13:11):
the sparkle in any kid's eyes. He could beat black, white, Spanish, Chinese, whatever.
When you help a kid that couldn't do something, do
something way beyond in a shorter period of time. And
then let's just say they go test it and they
beat everybody. The next time you see that kid, there's
like a it's a swear.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
It's like a I've seen it with my son who
runs track. It's he was doing karate. Eh, he started
a track. I see the spark. It's different, it's different.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
And so you see that and you relate because I'm
articulating it now. You can't describe it early when you're younger, right,
just something and then that just drives you more because
you're having fun. And then it spills into you know,
you take a liking or you get connected to certain kids.
And there's two kids. There's this one young lady named

(14:06):
Julia Georgio. Right. She was you know, came from well
to do and good family. Greenwich, Connecticut. Rode horses playfield hockey.
One day she welcomed. She was like, I want to
go to Notre Dame and I want to play lacrosse.
I found out about this in London, Okay. And there's
that was at some polo match. They were like, this
guy has a daughter wants to play lacrosse. She don't

(14:29):
play lacrosse. Can you make her faster? I've come back
to the States. I go meet him in Greenwich and
I'm like, all right, make her faster, Okay, that's what
I do.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
I you can't make anyone faster, anyone anyone.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Because it's science, real science, you know. Olympic bass is
another conversation, genuinely. So with speed, it's tangible. It's like money.
You lose it, it stays the same, or you make it.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
So it's a safe place for those who can teach it,
not a safe place for those who cannot, because it's tangent.
Mama playing whatever she's paying, or you know, there's a
limited time and her baby needs to get this scholarship,
and Junior doesn't get fast or Janie doesn't get fast,
you're a problem on him and you can't play people's children.
So tough, But speed, I just know I started late

(15:17):
in the world of like preparatory sports, like nineteenth grade lately.
So we got a crazy, crazy fast and that offset
the lack of skill. And then the skill comes because
you have the physicality to execute. More importantly, you're faster
than your opponents, so whatever mistakes you make don't look
like mistakes. Long story short. She went to Notre Dame
became the captain in a lot of tears, a lot

(15:41):
of happy You're about to have me because good stories
like that. So her. And then there was another one,
this kid named Rocco Martinelli. This is the dopest story.
And so I'm over in Panama and get there fast forward.
We're in front of all the hoodie who's of Panama
and government and they're like, okay, give us the program

(16:04):
and make us fast. So we put together a speed
program for their entire Olympic program and they got fast.
You win trust. In that process, I met this kid
named Roco Martinelli.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Did you get on the flight for Rocco? Okay?

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Who he was? I didn't know nothing about nothing. All
I know is Noriego was there. They were invaded and
you know there's a place called the Canal there. Sure,
and my buddy Alfonsos. So I get there and I'm training.
I meet Rocco, Roco Martinelli's I trained him and he
had a dream. He wanted to play baseball and chopped
up English. I wouldn't play baseball. So all right, we're

(16:43):
playing baseball and get him to come to the States.
I'm giving the fast forward and Rocco gets a scholarship
in this operation become your dream, And I'm like, all right, Rocco,
good go. He went to Boston somewhere. It wasn't Harvard,
and that's the beauty of it. Like in the States, Harvard,
we need that. Like the school he's going to around
the corner from Harvard just good enough.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yes, he's good, he's good.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
He went came based.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
It's a great place to go to school.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yes, did you go out there? No?

Speaker 2 (17:09):
I didn't, but I have some friends that went. Yes.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
So Rocco goes and does the next thing, you know,
guess the scholarship. His dream comes true. Rocco, let's put
the cherry on it. Rocco is now a vice president
of banking for JP Morgan and lives in Merrick and
has two wifs kids. And he speaks like he went
to like Wharton business, got the little thing with the cards.

(17:32):
And I found out because another kid I'm training met him.
He's like, oh yeah, we trained this guy named Gog
And he was like, what you mean, go go, go
go ahead, Lovelace. He's like, yeah, you know him. He's
like I know him. He's like, how do you know me?
From Panama? He was like he was in Panama, Like
what was he doing in Panama? So it was full
circle and Roco Martinelli, we did all that all right?
Cool good was the nephew of the president of Panama.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
What hello, that's amazing right and unexpected.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
And so you know, it's a very interesting place down
in Panama. But you related to the so president martin Elli,
Rocco martin Elli. Yes, the same name and matches. So
you went a lot of trust and lightning bolts because
you did something that no one everyone said they could do,
but you came and like snapped a finger and did it,
and they were just like, wow, this is real real.

(18:26):
So a bunch of other kids. So now I've got
like ten to fifteen kids, one or two Jose Cabiro,
he's in Major League Baseball, and you just go because
the kids like him. I wouldn't say impoverished and challenging
towns right, underserved areas on the come up. I never
want to say they like destitute.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
So it's like you said earlier, kids like us.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
And Choriana in Panama. So going all these places and
dreams came true. One is a tech guy, Netherlans, a
banker and families are happy because their kids not driving
a cab. A couple of girls got scholarships. They didn't
just go become mommies at sixteen, which is kind of
the deal in Latin America. Right, So all that happened
and people start paying attention, governments start paying attention. They're like, man,

(19:12):
this dude is real. So they invited me to Panama.
I'm like, a right, cool, first class I don't know,
we love it, but I'm like, why why why?

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Right?

Speaker 1 (19:26):
Get down there and they bring you to dinners and
lunch and meet all the like big wigs and their
private clubs and like, and you're like you can't figure
out why. You're just going with it. Big shrimps, lots
of shrimps. And they go, hey, you did this with
these kids. You know, all these bankers, you know, all
these lawyers, like could you help us bring business to Panama?

(19:51):
Like what do you mean? Like you know like stores? No, no,
big business like industry. And I'm like and I was like, well,
what makes you guys think? They're like shout out to
Phil Rogers, d L a Piper law firm. Right, he's
my friend, like my brother. He's the largest law firm
in the world. Amazing, like ed, I got you whatever contract,
can you it's telepanomines coming up here. Come to the

(20:12):
conference room and hook it up. And that day I
took them to the Yankee game because they own a
box at the old Yankee Stadium. Okay, that's a good look.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
That's a good look. Still got those tickets?

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, shout of Phil, Phil Paparaj needs to take it.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
I need a ticket.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
So we hooked. Nothing like support, you say that. So
I had support unbeknownst. I just was a good dude
training his son, doing good things. And people do good
things for you.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
And what year is this?

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Oh, twenty ten?

Speaker 3 (20:44):
So from twenty ten fastball, we're here now in twenty
twenty four, right, yep, because I'm getting my years mixed up.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
He's closing out. It's October.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
Yes, we're here in twenty twenty four. What has transpired
you know?

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Since then?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Oh? Man makes plans? God laughs. You don't know what
you're doing. As I say, God protects babies and fools.
I ain't no baby.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
So I'm walking the walk. Meet a guy named Randa
La Tang because I'm training his kids. It's all about kids.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
At the end of the day, it's all about kids.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
Kids. Everybody's kids, and everybody has dreams, whatever they may be.
Grown ups have dreams too. So two minutes, all right,
And so with that I met Randol Latang people in Panama.
I brought my partner foods now a partner. I'm a advisor,
and we're building the world's largest biorefinery in Panama.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
What is a biorefinery?

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Keep it simple, instead of fancy pants. We make fuel
lot of plants instead of like fossil fuel. Make out
of plants, various seeds, various biomass, weeds. We make fuel
lot of weeds. Wow, we crush it and we turned
it into air, sustainable air fuel, marine diesel, biodiesel ultimately
fuel for cars and green and blue energy liquid natural gas.

(22:10):
Fancy turn fancy acronym and so by making dreams come true,
I met the Tang and his kids, and he didn't
know where to go. He was like, anybody you know
want to do bio energy And I was just like, yeah,
it's called Panama. He's like why. I was like, two
oceans you can swim across to each atamaicanal And so

(22:30):
from becoming dreams. I always dreamed to do big stuff.
You know, I didn't go to Wharton, I didn't go
to anybody's B school under school economics. But here I'm
run around with bankers and economists and lawyers. So I
kind of learned while building the plane all the stuff right,
and it morphed into being a strategic advisor to a

(22:53):
guy who has crazy vision h Randy Latang has visions and.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Who's literally working with partners to create fuel, which I
think is a perfect liaison to how you've been creating
speed for others.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, and speed has to be sustainable, so there goes
that word. And so it just kind of all tied together,
and we're making dreams come true because the world says
we got to exit fossil fuels and stuff. Not our decision. Man,
So happened to have, like you, I don't know, the
potato salad for what the folks needed. And so now

(23:28):
we're doing that in Panama and then I'm advising I
find things. I'm the glue. And so we got to
the government and Marianna Rivera is one of our partners.
Shoutouts to the Sandman, Mariano Rivera, best best to ever
do it, And so we work together and we're doing
this refinery and we're creating jobs, and we're creating opportunity,

(23:51):
working with the UN and on the Sustainable Developmental goals,
all y'all need to know what those are SDGs, Sustainable
Developmental goals.

Speaker 3 (24:00):
And this is what I want to ask as we
get I mean, you're talking about the incredible work you
all are doing in Panama as we get closer to
this coming election, what do you have to say?

Speaker 2 (24:12):
So are folks who.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
Are thinking about policy, who are thinking about energy, who
are thinking about climate, who are thinking about employment opportunities,
what are you saying to them about why it's important
for us to engage in this US election.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
It's so important because it's about the future. Right, don't
talk about the past. There's a guy called the Devil
keeps you in the past. Right, All that's old fossils, old,
global warming is real, The crazy hurricanes are going on
and so and so forth. Don't get the politics twisted

(24:49):
with what's happening on earth. Right, we have to have solutions,
and you gotta listen to those who are like, hey,
the world's warming up and things are bad are happening?
I pay attention to it, and voting affects that because
there's people that are discussing. Some people are discussing it's nothing,

(25:09):
it's it's a hoax, and some people are saying, no,
this is real and science. I go with science one
and one is two. With science, right, people can kind
of shift with their opinions subjectivity. So on that note,
this election and voting, it's all intertwined because it's about
the future and having vision and people don't know what
they don't know. So when you become informed, that's why

(25:33):
I'm dropping the jewels. Learn about those sustainable developmental goals,
learn about what the Paris climate, the court is. Learn
what the world has decided. Black people even know when
the world decided, world decided to do something. I can't
give the answer to go find out, educate yourself. And
that's something is, Hey, we have to make the world
a better place so our kids can do what we did,

(25:55):
which is allowed dreams to come true. It's all about dreams.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
It's all about dreams.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
It is.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
I was like, it's all about kids. What I think
has to happen future is I think we have the future.
I think we have to have you back for a
part two because I'm really interested to know more about
what's happening in Panama and how things shape out. I'm
sure you'll also have some reactions after we pass this
next presidential uh yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
And with that, thank you also much.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
Vote Vot vote, y'all, vote vote, vote.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Vote Vote.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
This is Dear America with Chanel Barnes, and I am
so excited to have had the pleasure to talk to
Ed Lovely's flash Go Go.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
Thank you for being.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Here, Thank you, thank you all right. This has been
a Project Ready production. To learn more and effect change,
log on to Project readynjay dot org or listen anytime
on all major podcast carriers.