May 30, 2024 • 30 mins
JaKeil Gilchrist takes us on a raw and inspiring journey through her life in South Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia during the crack epidemic of the 90s. Growing up in a blended family with young parents and visiting her incarcerated father, JaKeil's experiences are a testament to resilience and empathy. Join us as she shares how the dichotomy of church and hip-hop culture in her upbringing shaped her path to becoming a compassionate mental health therapist, dedicated to offering grace and understanding to those facing mental health challenges.
We uncover the hidden struggles of African American men, tracing the roots of emotional suppression and its evolution into anger and trauma. JaKeil sheds light on the lingering effects of post-traumatic slave disorder and racial trauma, revealing how historical injustices continue to shape modern emotional landscapes. As we address concerns about today's youth, the conversation shifts towards the often overlooked influence of music and media, urging parents to be proactive in their children’s lives amidst potential harmful agendas.
The episode takes a poignant turn as we discuss the grim realities of gang involvement and substance abuse, highlighting the transformative power of positive affirmations and emotional support. Jakeil Gilchrist insights on therapy, resilience, and hope provide a beacon of light for anyone facing similar struggles. Don’t miss this powerful dialogue that promises wisdom and compassion.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chuck (00:10):
Hey, welcome back to another episode of Lets Just
Talk About it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayI have Jakeil Gilchrist on with
me today, sharing a part of herjourney growing up in the city
of Portsmouth, Virginia, andalso her passion as a mental
(00:33):
health therapist to see men andwomen, boys and girls, get to a
place of mental well-being.
So, hey, you don't want to missthis amazing conversation today
.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Jakeil on
let's Just Talk About it podcast.
(00:53):
Hey, let's jump right in.
Welcome back to another episodeof Lets Just Talk About it
podcast.
Today I have Jakeil Gilchriston with me today.
How's it going, Jakeil?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:09):
It's going good.
How are you doing, Chuck?
Chuck (01:11):
Doing good, thank you.
Thank you, jakeil.
I love to jump right into myinterviews to have those genuine
conversations with genuinepeople just like yourself, and I
love to start with thisquestion when are you from?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:26):
So I'm from Virginia, but I'm actually from
South Norfolk, virginia, whichis just basically Chesapeake.
So I spent 11 years of my lifein South Norfolk and then, when
I turned 11, we actually movedto Portsmouth P-Town yeah,
that's how I feel about it tooso got good roots, so yeah.
So, um, basically now, though,I'm located in Newport News and
(01:48):
I just love Virginia.
I love Virginia, it's home okay, let's go back.
Chuck (01:52):
So how was it for you growing up in those two cities?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:57):
okay, so I'm gonna be honest with you.
So, chuck, I'm a 90s baby, so Iwas born December the 18th 1990
.
Right when I was first born, myfather he actually was a drug
dealer, so he went to jail whenI was two years old.
And so South Norfolk at thetime, you know it's back in the
90s and it's like the peak ofthe crack epidemic.
(02:18):
I don't know if anybody knowsabout that, but the crack
epidemic was a time where, youknow, it was from the 80s to
like the maybe mid 90s, wherepeople or early 90s where people
were drug dealers, and then youknow, there was a rise of
people utilizing crack whichleft kids abandoned.
So that could be such as from astandpoint of parents going to
jail, whether they were sellingor utilizing drugs.
(02:40):
Um, I grew up by a teen parenther, my mom, was the goat, my
dad was also the goat in ablended family.
So in south norfolk in my earlyyears, if I'm being honest with
you, my parents and mygrandparents had just became
saved, so I had a goodfoundation in the church.
Um, you know, growing up, but Iwill say it wasn't until I went
(03:02):
to high school and grew up inPortsmouth that I became more
into myself.
I don't know if that makessense, so I have a good
foundation.
I will say that South Norfolkand Portsmouth taught me how to
be humble.
Yeah, a humble beginner.
This is what I'm going to say.
I'm going to say, you know, Ihave working parents who, you
(03:24):
know, strive for better.
We would go and visit my fatherwhile he was locked up because
he did a 15 year prison, beingso a lot of the times we looking
at going to go see him inMemphis and things of that
nature.
In the meantime, my parents, mystepdad and my mom I call my
stepdad my real father they wereholding it down and we were
just trying to adjust.
So I have very young parents.
(03:44):
I grew up in a very goodhousehold.
You know, while some kids waslistening to the Isley Brothers
on Sunday mornings, I waslistening to Biggie Smalls and
Tupac, because I had youngparents.
Chuck (03:57):
Okay, you're a hip hop baby.
Jakeil Gilchrist (04:04):
I'm a hip hop baby.
Yes.
So I had a good foundation,chuck.
Wow, amazing you, a hip-hopbaby.
That's dope.
I am a hip-hop baby, I mean,like mary j blige, real love.
Yeah, I, I know all mary jblige because, like I said, my
mom was born in 1975, so youknow like.
So I had that type of situationWu-Tang Clan, I grew up like
(04:30):
listening to real hip-hop musicand kind of like, you know,
understanding.
It's weird, because Iunderstand the church world
because that's where I grew upat, but I also understand
hustling and you know thatmentality as well, because it
was like you know, that's mybackground with my father being
locked up, but then mygrandfather is a co-pastor at
(04:51):
our church.
So it's weird, but it gave me areally good, solid foundation.
Chuck (04:57):
So you can identify with both sides.
Jakeil Gilchrist (05:00):
I can, and I think that's the reason why I
chose the world of mental healthbecause I understand, like, why
people do what they dosometimes, which maybe is, if
you can understand this from thestandpoint of mental health and
from the standpoint of being abeliever Right, people do what
they do because they don't knowbetter means Right.
(05:22):
So you can show people gracebecause think about it like this
If I know that you have amental health deficit of some
sort whether it's bipolardisorder, schizophrenia, ptsd, a
lot of black men growing up in,like you know, lower income
places they have PTSD I can showyou grace.
But, just the same, if I knowthat you don't know God like
(05:43):
that, or if you sin a lot and itcomes with a lot of shame, such
as we all have, I can show yougrace.
So growing up in those sectorshave really helped me to
identify with people.
Growing up in the church andgrowing up seeing certain things
that I saw, like visiting myfather in penitentiary taught me
, like, what depression lookslike in masculinity.
Chuck (06:07):
Talk about that.
Hold up, you talking.
Good, talk about that.
What depression looks like inmasculinity.
Jakeil Gilchrist (06:12):
Yes, so you know, you take a black man who,
you know, grew up in the 70s.
My dad was born in 1971.
I do want to say this my dadhas passed away, you know.
So he was born in 1971.
1971, his father was not therebecause he was an alcoholic.
Now let me backtrack some.
Right then, my father's fatherwas not there because he chose
(06:34):
to be absent, right.
So you have my grandfather,who's coping with the absent
father.
Right, he's coping withalcoholism.
Then you have my dad, who hasto suffer because his dad isn't
there.
Um, who is coping with fastmoney, and all of this is to
gain acceptance.
You see what I'm saying?
Um, because think about it, ifmy mom is a single parent in the
(06:58):
70s this is right aftersegregation right then.
I don't have access to certainthings that I want.
That makes me look good.
So if you ask anybody why theysold drugs, most people will say
because they saw their familymembers struggling to some
degree, or they were tired orstruggling.
So my father, he actuallydeveloped anxiety in prison.
(07:21):
Okay, so then he gets out ofprison.
He's successful, you know.
He opens up a barbershop.
He did a 15 year bid in prisonhe opens up a barbershop, but
now he gets hit with a healthcondition.
So now he's coping withdepression and anxiety and they
co-occurring together in thesame sense.
You know my grandfather, my thisis my mom's father now who I'm
(07:44):
talking about.
He was a heroin addict.
Now he's now the co-pastor ofour church and he's recovered
and been recovered for maybe 30years now.
But again, nobody utilizes anysubstance right, sell drugs and
earn fast money or go through ahealth condition, especially as
Black men, if they're notdesiring something deeper.
(08:05):
So I say all of that to say alot of the times
African-American men or men ofcolor do not feel comfortable or
safe, saying I don't feel safeand I feel depressed, I feel
anxious, I feel lonely, I feelinsecure.
So what do you see them do?
They cope with it in a waythat's unhealthy.
So that's when you get sellingdrugs, that's when you get sex
(08:27):
addiction, that's when you getheroin addicts and the coke
addicts and things of thatnature.
It's just them crying out forhelp.
Chuck (08:33):
Wow, so you see that on a daily basis as a therapist.
Jakeil Gilchrist (08:38):
Oh, I absolutely do.
That's all I see, let me tellyou.
So, being a mental healthprofessional and being a
believer right in Jesus Christ,I'm able to identify certain
things.
Mental health is all in thebible, right anxiety.
God talks about anxiety,depression.
The prophet Elijah was depressed.
(08:59):
That's why God told him to comeout of the cave.
Elijah, what was Elijah doing?
If you was to look at whatprophet Elijah was doing, um, he
was depressed and he mettextbook criteria for a
diagnosis called majordepressive disorder, right?
So let me give you an example.
Elijah went in a cave and hewent to sleep.
Well, one of the symptoms ofmajor depressive disorder is
(09:22):
sleeping.
He then isolated himself.
Well, what's the case?
When we're depressed, we gointo our own personal case.
Okay, then he said God, I justwish that I could die because I
feel like it's only me.
Well, most people who havedepression, they have suicidal
thoughts.
So a lot of the times when I'm,um, when I see my clients
(09:43):
whatever the case may be andthey tell me they're depressed
especially male clients Ialready know that they're
isolated or they feel alone,they have suicidal thoughts, but
they won't say anything.
Because who's going to make mefeel safe?
And guess what, in theAfrican-American community
they're not allotted theopportunity to cry.
Because why?
Because men don't cry.
So they say I see, um, a lot ofmen.
(10:06):
They abuse substances, theyhave gambling addictions, they
have any type of addiction iscoming from a place of hurt.
You're really trying to feel alittle way.
So those types of addictionsyou already know.
Most of the time you can backit to a fatherless home or a
father that was home but wasn'temotionally available or was
(10:26):
abusive.
I also see a lot of men who'vebeen molested and they are not
able to say anything.
So they're angry and you know,a lot of the times it'll be
misconstrued that they just wantto be angry.
No, I was molested as a child,I was raped as a child.
But who can I tell?
Because, first of all, it's astigma.
So, yeah, I don't even know howwe got here, chuck.
Chuck (10:51):
I always say you never know who's listening to these
conversations, who's sleepingall the time, who's isolating
themselves and who wants tosilently commit suicide.
You never know who's listening.
And that's powerful, that yousaid that, because all three
things people go through and youwould never know it, because
sometimes we smile through ourpain.
Jakeil Gilchrist (11:13):
Right, and that's that's the thing.
As a as a mental healthprofessional, that my passion is
.
My passion is to teach peoplelike you don't have to smell
through your pain.
Actually, if you're sad, Iwould rather you cry, Because
you know the thing about it is.
Growing up, we always heard youcan pray it out, you can pray
it out, but what about the factthat faith without works is dead
(11:36):
?
Yes, you can pray it out, right, but it's an action that you
have to take in order to get tothe next step of your healing,
right?
So God isn't going to do it allfor you.
You're going to pray it out,but then what about booking your
therapy appointment?
Because you really need to talkto someone about the trauma
that you've been exposed to.
So, look, I just want toreference this, right?
(11:57):
So remember, I told you thatyou know my father and my
stepfather.
They both grew up insingle-parent homes, right?
to a degree.
So a lot of black men,especially ones who I work with,
who lived in lower and provinceareas they have post-traumatic
stress disorder talk aboutbecause I saw my homeboy get
(12:17):
shot in front of me when I wasgrowing up.
I saw a lot of violence andhostility.
Or I even heard about violenceand hostility, going to sleep at
night, somebody saying don'tsit by the window, because all
of a sudden now I heard gunshotsgoing off.
What are the symptoms ofpost-traumatic stress disorder?
Is exposed danger or hearingabout danger, or seeing danger
(12:42):
all the time, or threats ofdanger.
So if I grew up in an areawhere every time I turn around
I'm hearing about somebody dying, then when I become
hypervigilant what doeshypervigilant mean?
It means I'm looking aroundover my shoulder all the time.
Have we ever thought wasbecause I've suffered some type
of traumatic experience?
I can't sleep or I have nightterrors?
(13:04):
You probably have post-traumaticstress disorder because you saw
your friend get killed or youwitnessed so many shootings or
hurt, so much gun violence thatafter a while now you have night
terrors because you've beenexposed to so much trauma.
So we thinking that pts, ptsd,is only prevalent if you went to
war?
No, it's a lot ofAfrican-American men who have
(13:26):
rates of PTSD and they willnever know it.
They just say, oh, I only gettwo to three hours of sleep
because you know I got badnerves.
No, you have PTSD, or you havedepression or you have anxiety.
But how would you know that ifyou don't get it professionally?
Chuck (13:43):
diagnosed.
Wow, talking good you kill.
That's good stuff.
Because the generation beforeme was taught not to show
emotions.
You know what I'm saying, andso that trickled down to a lot
of a lot of men that we don'twant to show any type of emotion
(14:03):
, you know.
But that's a part of who we are.
Emotion, you know what I'msaying, and it has to be, I
guess, regulated though, youknow, because it could become
extreme, correct?
Jakeil Gilchrist (14:12):
you're absolutely right.
So you said the key wordregulated.
If you were taught and thenyour dad was taught never to
show emotion, right, then how doyou think that emotion gonna
come out?
In what form of emotion are yougonna show?
You're gonna show anger.
Why?
Because anger is really believeit or not and, as cliche as it
(14:35):
may sound, is the secondaryemotion.
You really felt, felt sad, youreally felt hurt, you really
felt betrayed or lonely orabandoned.
But I was always taught that Ican't show the emotions that
make me look vulnerable.
But if I show my anger, right,then that makes me look tough.
So that's the safe emotion toshow.
(14:58):
But it's also the most surfaceas a therapist.
If you show me anger first, Ialready know it's something
deeper.
You really heard aboutsomething?
Wow, yeah, this is why we haveso many african-american men who
don't believe in jesus christbecause it relates back to um
slavery and the civil rightsmovement.
(15:18):
Now, imagine being anafrican-american man taken away
from your home, um not able toprotect your wife from being
raped, right, not able toprotect your kids from also
being raped or whipped, and allof a sudden, you relay jesus
christ to a white man.
God, right.
So now we got these black menwho don't believe in Jesus
(15:40):
Christ because of somethingcalled post-traumatic slave
disorder, and it's stillcarrying on now.
So really, as black women andas women in general, what I
would tell us is to show mangrace, any man grace, but
definitely your african-americanman, because that anger for
real, for real, is just wrappedup in trauma and unexpressed,
(16:02):
unregulated emotion.
Chuck (16:04):
Wow, you said post-traumatic.
Jakeil Gilchrist (16:07):
It's actually a book, chuck.
I would read it if I was you.
It's very good.
I will say mature audience only.
And I will also say that it canbe graphic because it's telling
you about the things that ourancestors went through in
slavery times.
And the reality of thesituation is it was a letter
called the Willie Lynch letter.
The Willie Lynch letter talksabout how to keep a race
(16:29):
enslaved, even after slavery,right?
So it says if you separate theman from the woman and the child
, you will have a bunch of womenwho want to be independent
women right, sounds familiar whodon't respect men.
And it talks about how it'llkeep us enslaved even
generations, generations on downthe line.
(16:49):
So, as you can see, we're stillsuffering the after effects of
slavery and it's called racialtrauma.
So yeah, it's a it's a thing, itreally is a thing.
So when you haveafrican-american men or black
men who can't express emotion orthe only emotion sometimes that
you see is anger is a lotdeeper than just what meets the
(17:11):
eye surface.
Chuck (17:12):
So what's your thoughts on our youth today, our black,
young black youth today?
Jakeil Gilchrist (17:18):
What would you consider that?
I'm going to be very honestwith you.
You know I'm a millennial.
I'm very much so concernedabout our youth because I told
you I was a rap baby, right, butI grew up on which probably
wasn't even good as well, but atleast we had a mixture of, like
you know the roots, and thenyou have your heavy raps, such
as, maybe, like you know, tupac,and you got like the more heavy
(17:41):
stuff, right.
But I will say this Today'smusic does not promote anything
but mostly a demonic agenda.
So we have youth who's beingconstantly told that
homosexuality is good I'm sorry,I'm going to go there, right
who's being told hearing songssuch as Molly Percocet.
(18:02):
And then when I go to work,right, I see youth who are
Literally doing Molly Percocet.
Chuck (18:08):
For the people who don't know what you're talking about
when you talk about Molly whatis that?
Jakeil Gilchrist (18:13):
So Molly is a drug, right, it's a drug that
people Kids, adults drug right,it's a.
It's a drug that people kids,adults, whoever utilize.
Actually, I believe and I couldbe wrong, so don't quote me on
this it could possibly be anopioid that, um, people utilize
to get high off of therecreational name, for it is
called molly, but then molliesand percocets, those are all
(18:34):
opioids.
To be honest, the originaltreatment of any opioid is for
pain, right, but you have peoplewho are addicted to it and
guess what?
They're putting fentanyl ineverything.
So fentanyl is being found inmarijuana now.
And you have children I knowpersonally who are coming to me
because I work as a therapist inthe emergency department and a
(18:57):
lot of the times I'll see youand I'll ask them what kind of
drugs do they utilize?
Now, when I was growing up, andmaybe even yourself, it was
Reggie, it was weed, but nowthey're telling me that they're
utilizing Coke and they'reutilizing fentanyl and they're
utilizing opioids.
And these children are 15, 16,17, 20 at most and they're
(19:21):
already strung out on drugs.
And you have music artists whopromote these agendas.
You have artists such as Ican't think of his name right
now, but he is an artist whodefinitely promotes
homosexuality.
And then you get senior oldswho are promoting homosexuality
because that's what they hear.
And so I said all of that tosay like if I was a parent today
(19:44):
which I'm not I would say bevery mindful about what your
kids listen to, be very mindfulabout what you're teaching your
children, because, believe it ornot, kids are impressionable
and this agenda is to push ourkids away further and further
from Christ.
It's no filter anymore.
Wow.
They're exposed to everything.
Chuck (20:03):
No boundaries, no nothing .
Jakeil Gilchrist (20:05):
No boundaries.
Chuck (20:06):
Wow, you took the question right out of my mouth.
I was going to ask you whatwould you say to a parent that's
just confused, just don't knowwhat to do with their child?
They're just out of controlright now because they're
raising a child by their self.
Jakeil Gilchrist (20:18):
they got to go to work, you know, and they
leave them, you know, to theirself to come home, hoping they
do the right thing when they getout of school, you know you
know what this one sounds socliche what I'm about to say,
but the first thing I'm going tosay is these things only break
by way of fasting and prayer,and so I would tell any parent
who's doing it by themselves toseek ye first, the kingdom of
(20:41):
God and all of his righteousness, and all things will be added
unto you Meaning.
Seek God, ask God how to raiseyour child, ask God to give you
wisdom, ask God to give youwisdom, got to give you tools on
how to better parent your child, so that you can do what you
need to for your children.
I'm going to tell you, you know, I've seen prayer and fasting
(21:01):
change a child, and it wasn'tthe parent, it was God who
worked in the child's life.
I will also say to my singleparents out there, if possible,
to take at least, maybe, if youcan, a day out of the month just
to take your child out ofschool early, right, and just to
take them somewhere.
You know, expose them tosomething different.
(21:24):
For an example, when I wasgrowing up, you know my mom had
me when she was 15 years old andyou know she would always say
Kiki, you're going to college.
So you know what my mom woulddo.
She would take me to collegewith her because she was in
school Wow.
So you know what my mom woulddo she would take me to college
with her because she was inschool Wow, she would take me to
see the finer things in lifeand expose me to the finer
things in life.
Because she said I don't wantyou to be 15 years old and
(21:46):
pregnant.
And that's my next point.
Have conversations with yourkids.
Don't say things such as youbetter not be having sex.
Realistically, that might notbe the best possible approach.
You know you need to haveconversations with your kids
about the consequences, aboutwhy you say these things.
Expose them to this stuff sothat they can see why you're
(22:06):
saying what you're saying.
A lot of the times, parents,they do good on the providing,
but they don't do good on thetalking and the emotional side.
So you have children who wantto get loved and they want to
gain acceptance and they feellike they're missing it at home.
So you're telling them not todo something is going to make
them do it more.
Have conversation, talk to yourkids.
(22:27):
Kids are not as stupid.
If they were so dumb, then whywouldn't they heard a song
called Molly Percocet, wherethey know how to access Molly
Percocet.
Chuck (22:35):
Absolutely Percocet, where they know how to access
Molly Percocet.
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, they'revery smart.
Jakeil Gilchrist (22:40):
You know what I'm saying.
They're smarter than what wethink.
Yeah, and also, if you don'thave a village and what I mean
by a village, like you know,they say it takes a village to
raise a child, but maybe you, aparent who grew up without
parents, you know find acommunity sports group that may
not cause, or know that that maybe low cost, right.
Find some activities afterschool activities for your kids
(23:02):
to do, because I believe that anidol mat is a doubles workshop.
It takes a village.
I know coaches, um, you knowteachers who go so hard for kids
because they see that they're apart of the kids village.
So I would say, finding thingsfor your kids to do that's
positive, because just leavingthem home all day while you away
is probably going to make themcrave community.
(23:23):
So that's how people who wantto be in gangs and all of that
stuff, because they really wantcommunity wow, you're powerful.
Chuck (23:29):
You have a voice for this generation right here to set
things straight or in order, soI really appreciate this
conversation and the things thatyou're saying.
Do you ever see like young kidsor you know have to come in
that's dealing with gangs ordealing with drugs or do you
deal with older people likemiddle-aged more?
Jakeil Gilchrist (23:49):
Actually I deal with both, but I will say,
since I've been in mental health, most of my experience with
kids now not so much because I'ma therapist, so I see a mix of
both but I deal with kids whohave been in foster care since
they were young.
They dealt with some types ofabuse that we, we couldn't even
when I say we couldn't evenimagine, we could not even
(24:11):
imagine and add that sort offact that they deal with this
abuse by themselves.
And so I've seen kids overdoseon drugs who've had to get
brought back to life.
Right, there's something calledNarcan in the emergency
departments or every medicalprofessionals know about it.
Well, they'll use the Narcan tobring these kids back to life
(24:31):
because that's how quick theywere to death.
Right, I've had a young childactually come in.
She was a young girl, shepretty much hung herself,
another child who took a gun andshot herself and they literally
committed suicide at ages 14and 13 years old.
Kids are hurting andunfortunately, sometimes the
home environment is not the best.
(24:52):
So what I will say to adultswho see kids and you see them,
they acting up or you feel likethey're not acting right
Sometimes, ask them you know, do, do you feel love like?
Who loves you?
What are your dreams?
You?
You always know a child who'sin love, because they can't tell
you what they want to do whenthey want to grow up.
Nobody believes in them like myniece.
(25:14):
If I ask my niece what shewants to do when she grows up,
she'll tell me she wants to be adoctor and a nurse.
She want to be both right, butthat's because she has someone
promoting her to be excellent.
But if you've never heardanybody in your ear telling you
how great you are, how wonderfulyou are, tell me, would you
think it was that great?
Chuck (25:32):
wow, it's good stuff, so you know.
So your advice would be tospeak positive words or, you
know, affirmations to thechildren versus saying negative
things, right?
You know that sand chuck to thechildren versus saying negative
things, right?
Jakeil Gilchrist (25:44):
You know that saying Chuck sticks and stones
may break my bones, but wordswill never hurt me.
If that was the case, then whywouldn't prayer work?
Isn't prayer voice activated?
Isn't our words a spirit?
That's the reason why God saywrite the vision, make it plain,
because when you writesomething out in a contract,
(26:05):
right, it makes it real, itmakes it long.
And in the same token, if yousay, like my dad, he grew up on
my word is my bond, that streetcode, for if I said I'm gonna do
it, if words wasn't a big deal,the heaven wouldn't be voice
activated Words are a big deal.
(26:25):
If I only tell you how, you justgonna never be nothing, how you
ugly, how you unintelligent orwhatever.
The case may be that all yougonna be is exactly what I say,
because of the words that I'mimparting into you.
But if you speak life, whenpeople say therapy don't work,
that's a lie from the pits ofhell, because therapy works,
because we're utilizing ourwords to speak life.
When people say therapy don'twork, that's a lie from the pits
(26:46):
of hell, because therapy works,because we're utilizing our
words to speak life.
That's the reason why people goto church when you're feeling
down and you hear the preacherpreach a sermon.
It brings you life.
The best speech that we couldhave ever heard was written by
Martin Luther King when he saidI have a dream.
All of a sudden, some odd yearslater, we still saying that
speech.
So if words don't make adifference, then prayer doesn't
(27:08):
even matter, and we both knowthat's not the case.
So if I tell you what you'renot going to be, what you're
never going to do, what you'renot capable of, then I'm killing
you with my words.
That's why God say the tongueis the smallest part of the body
, but it's the most disrupted,because I can do so much damage
with my tongue.
Wow.
Chuck (27:30):
You are amazing, jaquille Gilchrist, for city council,
for the next government position, for the next president.
Jakeil Gilchrist (27:40):
I'll take it y'all.
You know, look y'all.
All I'm going to say is this isamazing what you're doing.
I'm proud of you because justto do something like this means
so much.
You know, Like when I was young, if I would have heard a
podcast like this, I just canonly imagine what life it would
have brought to me, because,even though I have positive role
models, having podcasts andthings of that nature wasn't
(28:02):
around when I was young.
Chuck (28:03):
So this is so amazing wow , thank you so much for that um
encouragement.
I really appreciate that you'remore than welcome.
So where can people find you?
Jakeil Gilchrist (28:14):
okay, so I have a podcast called vitality
now the whole story refreshedand actually that's the same
with me on Instagram and onFacebook.
Also, I'm on Feed my Sheeppodcast with Apostle Lloyd
Jenkins and Prophet Lo andbasically that's just a podcast
that we air every other Saturdayon Facebook and the name of the
(28:34):
Facebook page is the Way, theTruth and the Life Ministries.
Chuck (28:37):
Wow, I've never did this before on my podcast, but I got
to do it now.
I got to do it now.
Uh-oh, I got to do it now.
I got to do it now.
I got to do it now.
I got to give you your applause, man, because you're amazing.
First time I've ever done that.
Jakeil Gilchrist (28:54):
I appreciate those applause.
You don't even know.
Chuck (29:00):
You spoke very well.
You spoke very well and clear.
You gave up some amazing wisdom, not only to younger people,
but to to me and to whoever'sgonna hear this episode.
So, shout out to you, Jakeilkeep doing what you're doing,
don't stop.
Jakeil Gilchrist (29:17):
Don't ever stop thank you so much.
I appreciate it, chuck, and Ireally needed this today.
This just uplifted my spirit,saying keep on doing what you're
doing, because you're doing anamazing job.
Chuck (29:26):
Appreciate you, shout out to you and thank you so much
for being a part of this episode.
Until next time.
Jakeil Gilchrist (29:32):
Bye y'all.
Chuck (29:36):
Wow, what an amazing conversation.
Shout out to Jakeil for havingthis dialogue with me.
You know she shared so manyamazing things in our
conversation today, but one ofthe things that stuck out to me
about this entire conversationwas her passion for people to
get better mentally, and to me,she definitely has a voice to
speak to this generation.
So, shout out to you, jk, forbeing such an inspiration to us.
(29:57):
Again, thank you so much fortuning in to let's Just Talk
About it podcast and pleasecheck out my website.
Just Google let's Just TalkAbout it podcastcom and then hit
that subscribe button toreceive all the new episodes
every Friday.
You can also find me onFacebook.
Just type in Chuck L-J-T-A-I,which means let's Just Talk
About it.
(30:17):
So, as always, until next time,don't hold it in, but let's
just talk about it.
Talk to you soon.
Bye.
Hey, welcome back to another episode of Lets Just
Talk About it podcast.
I'm your host, chuck, and ifyou're here for the first time,
this platform was created togive genuine people just like
you an opportunity to share aportion of your life's journey.
So, with that being said, todayI have Jakeil Gilchrist on with
me today, sharing a part of herjourney growing up in the city
of Portsmouth, Virginia, andalso her passion as a mental
(00:33):
health therapist to see men andwomen, boys and girls, get to a
place of mental well-being.
So, hey, you don't want to missthis amazing conversation today
.
As a matter of fact, do me afavor go and grab your husband,
your wife, your children, oreven call a friend and gather
around to listen to myconversation with Jakeil on
let's Just Talk About it podcast.
(00:53):
Hey, let's jump right in.
Welcome back to another episodeof Lets Just Talk About it
podcast.
Today I have Jakeil Gilchriston with me today.
How's it going, Jakeil?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:09):
It's going good.
How are you doing, Chuck?
Chuck (01:11):
Doing good, thank you.
Thank you, jakeil.
I love to jump right into myinterviews to have those genuine
conversations with genuinepeople just like yourself, and I
love to start with thisquestion when are you from?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:26):
So I'm from Virginia, but I'm actually from
South Norfolk, virginia, whichis just basically Chesapeake.
So I spent 11 years of my lifein South Norfolk and then, when
I turned 11, we actually movedto Portsmouth P-Town yeah,
that's how I feel about it tooso got good roots, so yeah.
So, um, basically now, though,I'm located in Newport News and
(01:48):
I just love Virginia.
I love Virginia, it's home okay, let's go back.
Chuck (01:52):
So how was it for you growing up in those two cities?
Jakeil Gilchrist (01:57):
okay, so I'm gonna be honest with you.
So, chuck, I'm a 90s baby, so Iwas born December the 18th 1990
.
Right when I was first born, myfather he actually was a drug
dealer, so he went to jail whenI was two years old.
And so South Norfolk at thetime, you know it's back in the
90s and it's like the peak ofthe crack epidemic.
(02:18):
I don't know if anybody knowsabout that, but the crack
epidemic was a time where, youknow, it was from the 80s to
like the maybe mid 90s, wherepeople or early 90s where people
were drug dealers, and then youknow, there was a rise of
people utilizing crack whichleft kids abandoned.
So that could be such as from astandpoint of parents going to
jail, whether they were sellingor utilizing drugs.
(02:40):
Um, I grew up by a teen parenther, my mom, was the goat, my
dad was also the goat in ablended family.
So in south norfolk in my earlyyears, if I'm being honest with
you, my parents and mygrandparents had just became
saved, so I had a goodfoundation in the church.
Um, you know, growing up, but Iwill say it wasn't until I went
(03:02):
to high school and grew up inPortsmouth that I became more
into myself.
I don't know if that makessense, so I have a good
foundation.
I will say that South Norfolkand Portsmouth taught me how to
be humble.
Yeah, a humble beginner.
This is what I'm going to say.
I'm going to say, you know, Ihave working parents who, you
(03:24):
know, strive for better.
We would go and visit my fatherwhile he was locked up because
he did a 15 year prison, beingso a lot of the times we looking
at going to go see him inMemphis and things of that
nature.
In the meantime, my parents, mystepdad and my mom I call my
stepdad my real father they wereholding it down and we were
just trying to adjust.
So I have very young parents.
(03:44):
I grew up in a very goodhousehold.
You know, while some kids waslistening to the Isley Brothers
on Sunday mornings, I waslistening to Biggie Smalls and
Tupac, because I had youngparents.
Chuck (03:57):
Okay, you're a hip hop baby.
Jakeil Gilchrist (04:04):
I'm a hip hop baby.
Yes.
So I had a good foundation,chuck.
Wow, amazing you, a hip-hopbaby.
That's dope.
I am a hip-hop baby, I mean,like mary j blige, real love.
Yeah, I, I know all mary jblige because, like I said, my
mom was born in 1975, so youknow like.
So I had that type of situationWu-Tang Clan, I grew up like
(04:30):
listening to real hip-hop musicand kind of like, you know,
understanding.
It's weird, because Iunderstand the church world
because that's where I grew upat, but I also understand
hustling and you know thatmentality as well, because it
was like you know, that's mybackground with my father being
locked up, but then mygrandfather is a co-pastor at
(04:51):
our church.
So it's weird, but it gave me areally good, solid foundation.
Chuck (04:57):
So you can identify with both sides.
Jakeil Gilchrist (05:00):
I can, and I think that's the reason why I
chose the world of mental healthbecause I understand, like, why
people do what they dosometimes, which maybe is, if
you can understand this from thestandpoint of mental health and
from the standpoint of being abeliever Right, people do what
they do because they don't knowbetter means Right.
(05:22):
So you can show people gracebecause think about it like this
If I know that you have amental health deficit of some
sort whether it's bipolardisorder, schizophrenia, ptsd, a
lot of black men growing up in,like you know, lower income
places they have PTSD I can showyou grace.
But, just the same, if I knowthat you don't know God like
(05:43):
that, or if you sin a lot and itcomes with a lot of shame, such
as we all have, I can show yougrace.
So growing up in those sectorshave really helped me to
identify with people.
Growing up in the church andgrowing up seeing certain things
that I saw, like visiting myfather in penitentiary taught me
, like, what depression lookslike in masculinity.
Chuck (06:07):
Talk about that.
Hold up, you talking.
Good, talk about that.
What depression looks like inmasculinity.
Jakeil Gilchrist (06:12):
Yes, so you know, you take a black man who,
you know, grew up in the 70s.
My dad was born in 1971.
I do want to say this my dadhas passed away, you know.
So he was born in 1971.
1971, his father was not therebecause he was an alcoholic.
Now let me backtrack some.
Right then, my father's fatherwas not there because he chose
(06:34):
to be absent, right.
So you have my grandfather,who's coping with the absent
father.
Right, he's coping withalcoholism.
Then you have my dad, who hasto suffer because his dad isn't
there.
Um, who is coping with fastmoney, and all of this is to
gain acceptance.
You see what I'm saying?
Um, because think about it, ifmy mom is a single parent in the
(06:58):
70s this is right aftersegregation right then.
I don't have access to certainthings that I want.
That makes me look good.
So if you ask anybody why theysold drugs, most people will say
because they saw their familymembers struggling to some
degree, or they were tired orstruggling.
So my father, he actuallydeveloped anxiety in prison.
(07:21):
Okay, so then he gets out ofprison.
He's successful, you know.
He opens up a barbershop.
He did a 15 year bid in prisonhe opens up a barbershop, but
now he gets hit with a healthcondition.
So now he's coping withdepression and anxiety and they
co-occurring together in thesame sense.
You know my grandfather, my thisis my mom's father now who I'm
(07:44):
talking about.
He was a heroin addict.
Now he's now the co-pastor ofour church and he's recovered
and been recovered for maybe 30years now.
But again, nobody utilizes anysubstance right, sell drugs and
earn fast money or go through ahealth condition, especially as
Black men, if they're notdesiring something deeper.
(08:05):
So I say all of that to say alot of the times
African-American men or men ofcolor do not feel comfortable or
safe, saying I don't feel safeand I feel depressed, I feel
anxious, I feel lonely, I feelinsecure.
So what do you see them do?
They cope with it in a waythat's unhealthy.
So that's when you get sellingdrugs, that's when you get sex
(08:27):
addiction, that's when you getheroin addicts and the coke
addicts and things of thatnature.
It's just them crying out forhelp.
Chuck (08:33):
Wow, so you see that on a daily basis as a therapist.
Jakeil Gilchrist (08:38):
Oh, I absolutely do.
That's all I see, let me tellyou.
So, being a mental healthprofessional and being a
believer right in Jesus Christ,I'm able to identify certain
things.
Mental health is all in thebible, right anxiety.
God talks about anxiety,depression.
The prophet Elijah was depressed.
(08:59):
That's why God told him to comeout of the cave.
Elijah, what was Elijah doing?
If you was to look at whatprophet Elijah was doing, um, he
was depressed and he mettextbook criteria for a
diagnosis called majordepressive disorder, right?
So let me give you an example.
Elijah went in a cave and hewent to sleep.
Well, one of the symptoms ofmajor depressive disorder is
(09:22):
sleeping.
He then isolated himself.
Well, what's the case?
When we're depressed, we gointo our own personal case.
Okay, then he said God, I justwish that I could die because I
feel like it's only me.
Well, most people who havedepression, they have suicidal
thoughts.
So a lot of the times when I'm,um, when I see my clients
(09:43):
whatever the case may be andthey tell me they're depressed
especially male clients Ialready know that they're
isolated or they feel alone,they have suicidal thoughts, but
they won't say anything.
Because who's going to make mefeel safe?
And guess what, in theAfrican-American community
they're not allotted theopportunity to cry.
Because why?
Because men don't cry.
So they say I see, um, a lot ofmen.
(10:06):
They abuse substances, theyhave gambling addictions, they
have any type of addiction iscoming from a place of hurt.
You're really trying to feel alittle way.
So those types of addictionsyou already know.
Most of the time you can backit to a fatherless home or a
father that was home but wasn'temotionally available or was
(10:26):
abusive.
I also see a lot of men who'vebeen molested and they are not
able to say anything.
So they're angry and you know,a lot of the times it'll be
misconstrued that they just wantto be angry.
No, I was molested as a child,I was raped as a child.
But who can I tell?
Because, first of all, it's astigma.
So, yeah, I don't even know howwe got here, chuck.
Chuck (10:51):
I always say you never know who's listening to these
conversations, who's sleepingall the time, who's isolating
themselves and who wants tosilently commit suicide.
You never know who's listening.
And that's powerful, that yousaid that, because all three
things people go through and youwould never know it, because
sometimes we smile through ourpain.
Jakeil Gilchrist (11:13):
Right, and that's that's the thing.
As a as a mental healthprofessional, that my passion is
.
My passion is to teach peoplelike you don't have to smell
through your pain.
Actually, if you're sad, Iwould rather you cry, Because
you know the thing about it is.
Growing up, we always heard youcan pray it out, you can pray
it out, but what about the factthat faith without works is dead
(11:36):
?
Yes, you can pray it out, right, but it's an action that you
have to take in order to get tothe next step of your healing,
right?
So God isn't going to do it allfor you.
You're going to pray it out,but then what about booking your
therapy appointment?
Because you really need to talkto someone about the trauma
that you've been exposed to.
So, look, I just want toreference this, right?
(11:57):
So remember, I told you thatyou know my father and my
stepfather.
They both grew up insingle-parent homes, right?
to a degree.
So a lot of black men,especially ones who I work with,
who lived in lower and provinceareas they have post-traumatic
stress disorder talk aboutbecause I saw my homeboy get
(12:17):
shot in front of me when I wasgrowing up.
I saw a lot of violence andhostility.
Or I even heard about violenceand hostility, going to sleep at
night, somebody saying don'tsit by the window, because all
of a sudden now I heard gunshotsgoing off.
What are the symptoms ofpost-traumatic stress disorder?
Is exposed danger or hearingabout danger, or seeing danger
(12:42):
all the time, or threats ofdanger.
So if I grew up in an areawhere every time I turn around
I'm hearing about somebody dying, then when I become
hypervigilant what doeshypervigilant mean?
It means I'm looking aroundover my shoulder all the time.
Have we ever thought wasbecause I've suffered some type
of traumatic experience?
I can't sleep or I have nightterrors?
(13:04):
You probably have post-traumaticstress disorder because you saw
your friend get killed or youwitnessed so many shootings or
hurt, so much gun violence thatafter a while now you have night
terrors because you've beenexposed to so much trauma.
So we thinking that pts, ptsd,is only prevalent if you went to
war?
No, it's a lot ofAfrican-American men who have
(13:26):
rates of PTSD and they willnever know it.
They just say, oh, I only gettwo to three hours of sleep
because you know I got badnerves.
No, you have PTSD, or you havedepression or you have anxiety.
But how would you know that ifyou don't get it professionally?
Chuck (13:43):
diagnosed.
Wow, talking good you kill.
That's good stuff.
Because the generation beforeme was taught not to show
emotions.
You know what I'm saying, andso that trickled down to a lot
of a lot of men that we don'twant to show any type of emotion
(14:03):
, you know.
But that's a part of who we are.
Emotion, you know what I'msaying, and it has to be, I
guess, regulated though, youknow, because it could become
extreme, correct?
Jakeil Gilchrist (14:12):
you're absolutely right.
So you said the key wordregulated.
If you were taught and thenyour dad was taught never to
show emotion, right, then how doyou think that emotion gonna
come out?
In what form of emotion are yougonna show?
You're gonna show anger.
Why?
Because anger is really believeit or not and, as cliche as it
(14:35):
may sound, is the secondaryemotion.
You really felt, felt sad, youreally felt hurt, you really
felt betrayed or lonely orabandoned.
But I was always taught that Ican't show the emotions that
make me look vulnerable.
But if I show my anger, right,then that makes me look tough.
So that's the safe emotion toshow.
(14:58):
But it's also the most surfaceas a therapist.
If you show me anger first, Ialready know it's something
deeper.
You really heard aboutsomething?
Wow, yeah, this is why we haveso many african-american men who
don't believe in jesus christbecause it relates back to um
slavery and the civil rightsmovement.
(15:18):
Now, imagine being anafrican-american man taken away
from your home, um not able toprotect your wife from being
raped, right, not able toprotect your kids from also
being raped or whipped, and allof a sudden, you relay jesus
christ to a white man.
God, right.
So now we got these black menwho don't believe in Jesus
(15:40):
Christ because of somethingcalled post-traumatic slave
disorder, and it's stillcarrying on now.
So really, as black women andas women in general, what I
would tell us is to show mangrace, any man grace, but
definitely your african-americanman, because that anger for
real, for real, is just wrappedup in trauma and unexpressed,
(16:02):
unregulated emotion.
Chuck (16:04):
Wow, you said post-traumatic.
Jakeil Gilchrist (16:07):
It's actually a book, chuck.
I would read it if I was you.
It's very good.
I will say mature audience only.
And I will also say that it canbe graphic because it's telling
you about the things that ourancestors went through in
slavery times.
And the reality of thesituation is it was a letter
called the Willie Lynch letter.
The Willie Lynch letter talksabout how to keep a race
(16:29):
enslaved, even after slavery,right?
So it says if you separate theman from the woman and the child
, you will have a bunch of womenwho want to be independent
women right, sounds familiar whodon't respect men.
And it talks about how it'llkeep us enslaved even
generations, generations on downthe line.
(16:49):
So, as you can see, we're stillsuffering the after effects of
slavery and it's called racialtrauma.
So yeah, it's a it's a thing, itreally is a thing.
So when you haveafrican-american men or black
men who can't express emotion orthe only emotion sometimes that
you see is anger is a lotdeeper than just what meets the
(17:11):
eye surface.
Chuck (17:12):
So what's your thoughts on our youth today, our black,
young black youth today?
Jakeil Gilchrist (17:18):
What would you consider that?
I'm going to be very honestwith you.
You know I'm a millennial.
I'm very much so concernedabout our youth because I told
you I was a rap baby, right, butI grew up on which probably
wasn't even good as well, but atleast we had a mixture of, like
you know the roots, and thenyou have your heavy raps, such
as, maybe, like you know, tupac,and you got like the more heavy
(17:41):
stuff, right.
But I will say this Today'smusic does not promote anything
but mostly a demonic agenda.
So we have youth who's beingconstantly told that
homosexuality is good I'm sorry,I'm going to go there, right
who's being told hearing songssuch as Molly Percocet.
(18:02):
And then when I go to work,right, I see youth who are
Literally doing Molly Percocet.
Chuck (18:08):
For the people who don't know what you're talking about
when you talk about Molly whatis that?
Jakeil Gilchrist (18:13):
So Molly is a drug, right, it's a drug that
people Kids, adults drug right,it's a.
It's a drug that people kids,adults, whoever utilize.
Actually, I believe and I couldbe wrong, so don't quote me on
this it could possibly be anopioid that, um, people utilize
to get high off of therecreational name, for it is
called molly, but then molliesand percocets, those are all
(18:34):
opioids.
To be honest, the originaltreatment of any opioid is for
pain, right, but you have peoplewho are addicted to it and
guess what?
They're putting fentanyl ineverything.
So fentanyl is being found inmarijuana now.
And you have children I knowpersonally who are coming to me
because I work as a therapist inthe emergency department and a
(18:57):
lot of the times I'll see youand I'll ask them what kind of
drugs do they utilize?
Now, when I was growing up, andmaybe even yourself, it was
Reggie, it was weed, but nowthey're telling me that they're
utilizing Coke and they'reutilizing fentanyl and they're
utilizing opioids.
And these children are 15, 16,17, 20 at most and they're
(19:21):
already strung out on drugs.
And you have music artists whopromote these agendas.
You have artists such as Ican't think of his name right
now, but he is an artist whodefinitely promotes
homosexuality.
And then you get senior oldswho are promoting homosexuality
because that's what they hear.
And so I said all of that tosay like if I was a parent today
(19:44):
which I'm not I would say bevery mindful about what your
kids listen to, be very mindfulabout what you're teaching your
children, because, believe it ornot, kids are impressionable
and this agenda is to push ourkids away further and further
from Christ.
It's no filter anymore.
Wow.
They're exposed to everything.
Chuck (20:03):
No boundaries, no nothing .
Jakeil Gilchrist (20:05):
No boundaries.
Chuck (20:06):
Wow, you took the question right out of my mouth.
I was going to ask you whatwould you say to a parent that's
just confused, just don't knowwhat to do with their child?
They're just out of controlright now because they're
raising a child by their self.
Jakeil Gilchrist (20:18):
they got to go to work, you know, and they
leave them, you know, to theirself to come home, hoping they
do the right thing when they getout of school, you know you
know what this one sounds socliche what I'm about to say,
but the first thing I'm going tosay is these things only break
by way of fasting and prayer,and so I would tell any parent
who's doing it by themselves toseek ye first, the kingdom of
(20:41):
God and all of his righteousness, and all things will be added
unto you Meaning.
Seek God, ask God how to raiseyour child, ask God to give you
wisdom, ask God to give youwisdom, got to give you tools on
how to better parent your child, so that you can do what you
need to for your children.
I'm going to tell you, you know, I've seen prayer and fasting
(21:01):
change a child, and it wasn'tthe parent, it was God who
worked in the child's life.
I will also say to my singleparents out there, if possible,
to take at least, maybe, if youcan, a day out of the month just
to take your child out ofschool early, right, and just to
take them somewhere.
You know, expose them tosomething different.
(21:24):
For an example, when I wasgrowing up, you know my mom had
me when she was 15 years old andyou know she would always say
Kiki, you're going to college.
So you know what my mom woulddo.
She would take me to collegewith her because she was in
school Wow.
So you know what my mom woulddo she would take me to college
with her because she was inschool Wow, she would take me to
see the finer things in lifeand expose me to the finer
things in life.
Because she said I don't wantyou to be 15 years old and
(21:46):
pregnant.
And that's my next point.
Have conversations with yourkids.
Don't say things such as youbetter not be having sex.
Realistically, that might notbe the best possible approach.
You know you need to haveconversations with your kids
about the consequences, aboutwhy you say these things.
Expose them to this stuff sothat they can see why you're
(22:06):
saying what you're saying.
A lot of the times, parents,they do good on the providing,
but they don't do good on thetalking and the emotional side.
So you have children who wantto get loved and they want to
gain acceptance and they feellike they're missing it at home.
So you're telling them not todo something is going to make
them do it more.
Have conversation, talk to yourkids.
(22:27):
Kids are not as stupid.
If they were so dumb, then whywouldn't they heard a song
called Molly Percocet, wherethey know how to access Molly
Percocet.
Chuck (22:35):
Absolutely Percocet, where they know how to access
Molly Percocet.
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, they'revery smart.
Jakeil Gilchrist (22:40):
You know what I'm saying.
They're smarter than what wethink.
Yeah, and also, if you don'thave a village and what I mean
by a village, like you know,they say it takes a village to
raise a child, but maybe you, aparent who grew up without
parents, you know find acommunity sports group that may
not cause, or know that that maybe low cost, right.
Find some activities afterschool activities for your kids
(23:02):
to do, because I believe that anidol mat is a doubles workshop.
It takes a village.
I know coaches, um, you knowteachers who go so hard for kids
because they see that they're apart of the kids village.
So I would say, finding thingsfor your kids to do that's
positive, because just leavingthem home all day while you away
is probably going to make themcrave community.
(23:23):
So that's how people who wantto be in gangs and all of that
stuff, because they really wantcommunity wow, you're powerful.
Chuck (23:29):
You have a voice for this generation right here to set
things straight or in order, soI really appreciate this
conversation and the things thatyou're saying.
Do you ever see like young kidsor you know have to come in
that's dealing with gangs ordealing with drugs or do you
deal with older people likemiddle-aged more?
Jakeil Gilchrist (23:49):
Actually I deal with both, but I will say,
since I've been in mental health, most of my experience with
kids now not so much because I'ma therapist, so I see a mix of
both but I deal with kids whohave been in foster care since
they were young.
They dealt with some types ofabuse that we, we couldn't even
when I say we couldn't evenimagine, we could not even
(24:11):
imagine and add that sort offact that they deal with this
abuse by themselves.
And so I've seen kids overdoseon drugs who've had to get
brought back to life.
Right, there's something calledNarcan in the emergency
departments or every medicalprofessionals know about it.
Well, they'll use the Narcan tobring these kids back to life
(24:31):
because that's how quick theywere to death.
Right, I've had a young childactually come in.
She was a young girl, shepretty much hung herself,
another child who took a gun andshot herself and they literally
committed suicide at ages 14and 13 years old.
Kids are hurting andunfortunately, sometimes the
home environment is not the best.
(24:52):
So what I will say to adultswho see kids and you see them,
they acting up or you feel likethey're not acting right
Sometimes, ask them you know, do, do you feel love like?
Who loves you?
What are your dreams?
You?
You always know a child who'sin love, because they can't tell
you what they want to do whenthey want to grow up.
Nobody believes in them like myniece.
(25:14):
If I ask my niece what shewants to do when she grows up,
she'll tell me she wants to be adoctor and a nurse.
She want to be both right, butthat's because she has someone
promoting her to be excellent.
But if you've never heardanybody in your ear telling you
how great you are, how wonderfulyou are, tell me, would you
think it was that great?
Chuck (25:32):
wow, it's good stuff, so you know.
So your advice would be tospeak positive words or, you
know, affirmations to thechildren versus saying negative
things, right?
You know that sand chuck to thechildren versus saying negative
things, right?
Jakeil Gilchrist (25:44):
You know that saying Chuck sticks and stones
may break my bones, but wordswill never hurt me.
If that was the case, then whywouldn't prayer work?
Isn't prayer voice activated?
Isn't our words a spirit?
That's the reason why God saywrite the vision, make it plain,
because when you writesomething out in a contract,
(26:05):
right, it makes it real, itmakes it long.
And in the same token, if yousay, like my dad, he grew up on
my word is my bond, that streetcode, for if I said I'm gonna do
it, if words wasn't a big deal,the heaven wouldn't be voice
activated Words are a big deal.
(26:25):
If I only tell you how, you justgonna never be nothing, how you
ugly, how you unintelligent orwhatever.
The case may be that all yougonna be is exactly what I say,
because of the words that I'mimparting into you.
But if you speak life, whenpeople say therapy don't work,
that's a lie from the pits ofhell, because therapy works,
because we're utilizing ourwords to speak life.
When people say therapy don'twork, that's a lie from the pits
(26:46):
of hell, because therapy works,because we're utilizing our
words to speak life.
That's the reason why people goto church when you're feeling
down and you hear the preacherpreach a sermon.
It brings you life.
The best speech that we couldhave ever heard was written by
Martin Luther King when he saidI have a dream.
All of a sudden, some odd yearslater, we still saying that
speech.
So if words don't make adifference, then prayer doesn't
(27:08):
even matter, and we both knowthat's not the case.
So if I tell you what you'renot going to be, what you're
never going to do, what you'renot capable of, then I'm killing
you with my words.
That's why God say the tongueis the smallest part of the body
, but it's the most disrupted,because I can do so much damage
with my tongue.
Wow.
Chuck (27:30):
You are amazing, jaquille Gilchrist, for city council,
for the next government position, for the next president.
Jakeil Gilchrist (27:40):
I'll take it y'all.
You know, look y'all.
All I'm going to say is this isamazing what you're doing.
I'm proud of you because justto do something like this means
so much.
You know, Like when I was young, if I would have heard a
podcast like this, I just canonly imagine what life it would
have brought to me, because,even though I have positive role
models, having podcasts andthings of that nature wasn't
(28:02):
around when I was young.
Chuck (28:03):
So this is so amazing wow , thank you so much for that um
encouragement.
I really appreciate that you'remore than welcome.
So where can people find you?
Jakeil Gilchrist (28:14):
okay, so I have a podcast called vitality
now the whole story refreshedand actually that's the same
with me on Instagram and onFacebook.
Also, I'm on Feed my Sheeppodcast with Apostle Lloyd
Jenkins and Prophet Lo andbasically that's just a podcast
that we air every other Saturdayon Facebook and the name of the
(28:34):
Facebook page is the Way, theTruth and the Life Ministries.
Chuck (28:37):
Wow, I've never did this before on my podcast, but I got
to do it now.
I got to do it now.
Uh-oh, I got to do it now.
I got to do it now.
I got to do it now.
I got to give you your applause, man, because you're amazing.
First time I've ever done that.
Jakeil Gilchrist (28:54):
I appreciate those applause.
You don't even know.
Chuck (29:00):
You spoke very well.
You spoke very well and clear.
You gave up some amazing wisdom, not only to younger people,
but to to me and to whoever'sgonna hear this episode.
So, shout out to you, Jakeilkeep doing what you're doing,
don't stop.
Jakeil Gilchrist (29:17):
Don't ever stop thank you so much.
I appreciate it, chuck, and Ireally needed this today.
This just uplifted my spirit,saying keep on doing what you're
doing, because you're doing anamazing job.
Chuck (29:26):
Appreciate you, shout out to you and thank you so much
for being a part of this episode.
Until next time.
Jakeil Gilchrist (29:32):
Bye y'all.
Chuck (29:36):
Wow, what an amazing conversation.
Shout out to Jakeil for havingthis dialogue with me.
You know she shared so manyamazing things in our
conversation today, but one ofthe things that stuck out to me
about this entire conversationwas her passion for people to
get better mentally, and to me,she definitely has a voice to
speak to this generation.
So, shout out to you, jk, forbeing such an inspiration to us.
(29:57):
Again, thank you so much fortuning in to let's Just Talk
About it podcast and pleasecheck out my website.
Just Google let's Just TalkAbout it podcastcom and then hit
that subscribe button toreceive all the new episodes
every Friday.
You can also find me onFacebook.
Just type in Chuck L-J-T-A-I,which means let's Just Talk
About it.
(30:17):
So, as always, until next time,don't hold it in, but let's
just talk about it.
Talk to you soon.
Bye.
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