You are not Alone ! - 914 United - NYPTALKSHOW Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
what's going on, everybody?
It's ron brown lmt, thepeople's fitness professional,
alongside my co-host mikey fever, I know you're tired bros.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
For the long I even hit the wrong sound effects hold
on.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
I even hit the wrong sound effects hold on a long
week.
A lot going on this podcast ispicking up a lot happening with
this podcast work life and allof that man, thank you for
coming out.
Jonathan Alvarez J-O, that'sthe name.

(00:47):
Uh, you know you met mikeyfever.
Can y'all explain?
You were just explaining howyou, how you guys met, yeah bro
go ahead so it's.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
It's great how you know people can connect right
just in like happenstance.
So, um, where he was at gettinghis sandwiches in a community
called pelham, where I justmoved into here in westchester,
and we were hosting an event, um, a couple weeks out from the
day that I met him, I washanding out flyers and just
happened in the store he took aflyer.
Whatever, I'm like yo, let'slink.

(01:19):
I told him what I do.
He's like yo, I got a podcast,y''m from Brooklyn, boom, we
connect.
And then again by happenstance,the day of the event, he's at a
red light while me and the teamis outside the movie theater.
Just happened to wait for theguests to come in.
And I'm like yo, what up whenwe connect?
Like yo, yeah, I'm like listen,come in, man, free ticket for
you.
Man was like all right,whatever, he hopped out.

(01:45):
Then he got to see, like youknow what I was putting together
and kind of like the storybehind the movement.
You know I'm saying so it kindof was dope where it lined up
right before the interview.
You know I'm saying giving himreal insight because I could
tell you, I could show you,coming into a space in real time
is like it's the best way toget to know a person powerful
powerful bro for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
So you, you just moved to pelham, so are you from
brooklyn nah, I'm from yonkersoriginally.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay, I mean, I'm a yonkers native, right?
So, as you hear from my story,I kind of told the realm yeah,
why, uh, why you're in thebuilding and um, yeah, man.
So I happened to just move fromthe bronx.
I was living in thrice net withmy partner and we came close to
my office for now, beforeUnited is in Yonkers, we do a
lot of work throughout the lowerHudson Valley in Westchester,

(02:28):
so I came close to the home inPelham.
It's a great community, greatvillage.
There's a lot of affluency here.
Plus, it's really like kind ofthat suburban vibe, low-key out
the way.
And so now we here.
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Right, Indeed, you know what I'm saying.
Right, indeed, indeed, indeed.
So you're from, you're fromYonkers, but you moved to the
Bronx and then went to Pelham.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Basically so in real terms.
Me, you know, I traveled.
I did a lot of times.
So, coming home, I parked inYonkers.
I was living in Yonkers for awhile and then, when I got my
independence, I moved out on myown.
I lived in Bronxville,borderline of Yonkers, another
wealthy village.
I got plugged in there.
Then me and my partner gottogether in 2020 and then we

(03:13):
moved to Throsnick and I wasthere for two years and then now
we're here in Pelham.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's peace, that's peace.
I love Throsnick man.
Throsnick is my spot.
I like it over there, yeah,beautiful section.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
We had a great situation.
Private beach in the backyardman.
I love the East Tremont area.
You have a little bit ofeverything over there, like the
food, the spots.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Good vibe Indeed, so you look about around 30.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Man, that's a compliment, brother, I'm 36.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
I turned 37 this year , yeah yeah, yeah, so you around
that area, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, all right.
So you came up in, so you kindof came up with us, but you
didn't come up with us.
We're a little bit older thanyou.
We're a little bit older thanyou, but you know the Jada
Kisses, you know the Little Bra.
You came up in that 50 Cent,all that era, for sure.

(04:05):
You still with us.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
All right, cool, cool , cool For sure I was on Get
Rich or Die, try and TattedKisses From my Town.
Stassby was one of my favoriterappers.
So was Lil Wayne.
I was on that call to three andall that.
Yeah, man.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
None of that.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
That Lil Mumble rap yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So break your journey down, like so you're from YO,
how is it, how is it out therein YO?
I go to YO from time to time,from time to time, and YO, to me
, is like it's like.
It's like it's like Newarkmixed with the Bronx.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I mean I can't speak for the Newark part, but I
definitely speak for the Bronxpart.
But that's kind of a gooddistinction.
So you know, at one pointYonkers and the Bronx was
actually one borough, right.
So they consider Yonkers thelowest borough, like in the
1800s there was a division.

(05:05):
When I get asked that question,it's kind of interesting because
I always refer back to my timesand I think of Yonkers as like
a mix of the Bronx, a little bitof like different parts of the
city.
I feel like we're a combinationof everything in the city,
right.
But then you look at right nowtoday with Yonkers, look like it
look different.
I won't even know what to callYonkers in terms of a borough,
but at one time I felt like wekind of got like always

(05:25):
associated with the Bronx, alittle bit of Harlem, right.
You know, it's kind of like, yousee, depending where you at in
the town, kind of gave you likea reflection of a certain
borough.
You know what I mean.
But it kind of like its ownhybrid combination approach,
right, but depending where youat, man, man, like you got
certain parts of the town that'slike seems suburban but there's

(05:47):
a whole underground economy,right like outside the trenches,
is right in front, but youwouldn't like kind of like see
it.
Then you go to a certain partof town where it looked like you
wouldn't be more.
You know, I'm saying like,meaning it's like the wire right
like it's like it's obvious,like over here it's gonna be
trenchy, so kind of like,depending where you at right,
indeed, indeed.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
So so coming up in yonkers, how is that exactly
like?
I mean, I always reference thisevery time I speak to people
about their history.
Uh, I always go into the crackera.
Why?
Because it was just, it wasimpact.
It impacted my life.

(06:26):
You know, I'm saying, and I sawa lot in that era.
So I like to kind of like hearwhere what other people saw and
how their life turned out afterseeing that or having that
experience.
Did you experience that era?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
yeah, nah, not the crack era.
Um, I mean, brothers in my likein my hood we would, they were
selling crack, right, but, like,when I think of the cracker, I
think about like the epidemicwhere everybody was smoking.
It was a different experience,connection to the trenches,
right, right.
Um, now I feel like my likewhen I think about my life as a
young teen because, mind you, II left young, I did time young,

(07:06):
so I don't really think of thecrack ever as something that's
like impactful, right, and then,given my experiences with my
father, my mother, like you know, they weren't really on that.
So, yeah, I feel like I don'treally have a connection to the
crack ever in that way.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Probably the aftermath.
Probably the aftermath.
You know what the destructionthat it did For sure 100%.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
I grew up.
I seen crackers Don't get mewrong.
We seen crackers in the hood,people selling crack.
I never sold crack, I sold weed.
That was my thing coming up.
I was a weed dealer.
I was moving weed, but notreally for some reason.
The one thing I could say then,if anything was being a young
dealer, was like you knew, crackwas a different level of crime.
Right, it came with a differentlevel of attention.

(07:51):
The feds was on it, like them,boys was on it, like you could
sell weed.
I mean then it was a big deal.
But like crack and coke was adifferent hit.
I kind of like knew how tonavigate that Plus the weed was
still moving.
So I kind of was like I couldstay under the radar.
I touched this, not that.
So I kind of knew the level oflike in terms of I'm different.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
The degree, the degree of um crime definitely,
most, most definitely.
There's no coming back fromthat crack.
Like you know the imprisonment,the time, the rock full of drug
lords, you know the war that itbrings, like weed, you know
it's not really at that levelbut yeah, the crack it comes
with a lot, a lot ofrepercussions with that, most
definitely indeed.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
So now coming up in yonkers, what was it like
growing up then?
So, was it like a hip-hop town?
Was it like?
You know?
Like, because I'm from harlem?
Harlem is about getting fly,you, you know girls, you know
what I'm saying, hustling thingslike that.
You know.
Fighting, of course, fighting,and then you know we know how to

(08:53):
go further than that.
So that's what Harlem is about.
So you know.
And Brooklyn, you know Brooklynkeeps on taking it.
They have their reputation.
You know I'm saying.
So what?
What is why?
Your experience about?

Speaker 3 (09:12):
I mean definitely hip-hop, right, especially where
we come from.
Right, we got mary j, we gotdmx, we got the locks right.
So, like, when I think about so, my experience is a little
different.
Right, so I grew up in thesouthwest, southwest of yonkers
was more predominantly latino.
But we, the different latinos,like we not know, you know
Latinos, like we brothers oflong hair, we be on timing, so
we kind of, you know, we wore,we was of the trend, right, like

(09:33):
when champion hoodies and ACGswas popping, like you know, we
look like state property whenstate property was popping, like
we are basically imitating whatthe world's imitating, right,
when you know, camera on thewhole hauling way was moving.
We were wearing long tees too,right, like long tees, yeah,
remember that.
Right, long jerseys, big tees,right, you know.
So I look at yonkers like kindof again a reflection of the

(09:57):
barrels, right, like we kind ofimitate in the um trend of the
times.
You know I'm saying so.
But yeah, I think we knowdifferent.
I just think what you could.
No, let me not say that we knowdifferent in that we just like
the Berbers, but what you see isa little bit of Harlem, a
little bit of Bronx.
You might see a little bit ofQueens vibes, depending on what
groups you're dealing with.
You know what I'm saying fromyonkers hung out in harlem or

(10:22):
hung out in queens right, or areoriginally from the bronx but
now they moved up and grew up inyonkers.
So, like you kind of get alittle bit of everything if that
makes sense yeah, for sure, forsure.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
So I mean.
So you said the southwest ismore, more latino, right, latino
?

Speaker 3 (10:38):
right at one point.
At one point, yeah, kind ofchanged because of
gentrification right, indeed.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
so now, um, let's say in harlem, we know Spanish
Harlem, that's basically Boricua, we already know that, right,
el Barrio and all that.
So now in Yonkers, what is thegroups?
Is it Puerto Rican, dominican,mexican?

(11:05):
I mean, like you say, latin,but how many different Latin
groups?
A?

Speaker 3 (11:08):
hundred percent.
Yeah, so right now I think so.
One thing about my hood so wehave more.
It was Puerto Rican, dominican,primarily.
So if you think about theSouthwest at a certain time,
like the 90s, early 2000s, twohoods come to mind Lawrence
Street, elliott, like the Bloodsand the Crips.
Lawrence Street Elliott, likethe Bloods and the Crips.
I'm originally from LawrenceStreet, lawrence and South Grove
is my stomping grounds.
I caught my case on that sideof town.
I was trapped on that side oftown.
My brothers, my old comradesare still on the corners, right,

(11:32):
they still from thosecommunities, right.
So always kind of like LatinoPuerto Ricans, but a little bit
of Blacks, kind of mixed in thatgroup right On both sides.
Some may argue that elliot hadmore puerto ricans than
dominicans versus lawrence,right, but again, those two
groups.
Then we had, on saint andrews,you had the vato locos, right,

(11:53):
that's the mexican gang, rightsouth america, yeah, and then
their like, like, like theiradversary was aztec prize.
So, and this is interestingAztec prize and Elliott kind of
was like on the same side, whileVato Loc was at one point and
Lawrence Street was on the sameside.
It's not like that today,though.
So, yeah, you had the MexicanSouth American groups and you

(12:17):
had the Puerto Ricans,dominicans primarily, but no big
groups of like Cubans, no biggroups of Colombians, no big
groups of like El Salvador, nobig groups of Colombians, no big
groups of like El Salvadorians,right Like it was more Puerto
Ricans and Dominicans, kind of.
When we talk about thesouthwest side.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
So Puerto Ricans, dominicans and Mexicans, so now,
so that's what I'm used to.
You know, I'm saying like how Icame up, how I grew up.
I was always around PuertoRicans, dominicans, and then you
had Mexicans as well.
Also, you know, I grew up inthe city, so we had some
Peruvians and Ecuadorians andstuff Very diverse.
Yeah, but mainly Puerto Rican,Mexican and Dominican.

(12:56):
So you said that you had Bloodsand Crips up there, and that
was the Latin, that would be theLatin faction of Bloods and
Crips there, and that was theLatin, that would be the Latin
faction of Bloods and Crips.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
No, the magnitude of the war between Elliot and
Lawrence was like Bloods versusCrips.
Oh yeah, the magnitude of whenyou say Lawrence or Elliot, you
know old time of between I'llsay 30s and up and you're like
yo, what's up with this Lawrenceor Elliot war?
It was bloody war, it wasserious.
So that was the and as I got tosee both sides and I can speak

(13:33):
more, for my side started toadopt more of the blood culture.
So where right now in my hoodthe young boys is Mack Ballers,
primarily Mack Ballers, butthat's the younger generation.
They all primarily black,African-American.
Now some of the brothers my age, even like a year or two older
than me, some of my bros, theywere blood as well and I

(13:56):
remember a time where I was toldsome of the brothers was like
converting over in my hood tobeing blood.
But I don't know how far, howdeep they was in that, because
today they not repping that, youknow what I'm saying Absolutely
.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
That was all Mack Ballers over there.
So that's all Mack Ballers inLawrence Street.
You're saying yeah?

Speaker 3 (14:13):
right, yeah, yeah so that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
As you said, that gang epidemic basically spread
throughout the whole state,basically.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Oh, 100%.
It looked crazy, like the workI do I'm involved in gang
intervention work so like it'shard to keep up with, right?
So we know evolution isconstant, it's going to happen,
exactly, but what it looks likecould be mind-blowing.
Right, you have hybrids.
Right, you have crypts hangingout and merging with bloods
versus crypts and bloods.
Now, it's not even what we, youknow, it was the kings that you

(14:45):
know.
Blood, the crypts, now thingsare merging.
So, yeah, time is weird, man.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, can't hold it yeah, times is weird, man, yeah,
can't hold it, okay.
Okay.
So now things are merging anduh, I think, uh, nowadays, you
know I'm not, I'm not really intune with what was going on.
Uh, I'm, I'm like still in the90s, basically early 2000s, you
know what I'm saying like I knowthe, the woo and the cho and

(15:11):
all of that I know is thatpopping up here?

Speaker 3 (15:15):
Nah, that was more Brooklyn thing.
That's more Brooklyn, yeah,yeah, that was more Brooklyn,
unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
I feel for the young and this is why, like, I respect
what the brother's doing upthere.
You understand he's bringingguidance to them and you know,
when we go further into theinterview you hear a lot more
and I wish you guys could haveseen the short film that what
that was played Like.
It was a lot, a lot of goodtestimonies, man.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
You could direct the audience to our YouTube channel.
We got the videos on theYouTube for 9-1-4 United.
You could Google 9-1-4 Unitedand the two short films will
come up 9-1-4 United.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
I want to get to 9-1-4 United.
I want to get to 9-1-4 United.
But before we do, I want tokind of, like you know, break
your history down a little bit.
Just give us a little bit and alittle bit of Yonkers.
So you grew up in Yonkers, youknow you was trapping weed and
all that, and then you gotknocked right.
And then you did how long gotknocked right?

Speaker 3 (16:14):
And then you did how long I knocked for man one, not
for weed, really.
I did almost 13 years.
Okay, 17 to 30.
Wow, yeah.
So I was trapping from like 12,13.
I got kicked out of school.
15, 17,.
I ended up in prison.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Wow, okay.
And then when you came out Wellat your stay In prison, you
went up north.
Where up north?

Speaker 3 (16:44):
I did like six facilities.
I traveled a little bit.
I was in Sing Sing, I was inComstock, I was in Katsaki, I
was in Easton, I was in Woodburn.
You know what I'm saying?
I went to the box one time.
So like I definitely had mytravels, Indeed.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
So your experience up there, of course, up there, is
still blooded out right, youmean like the gang up there.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, it's a different world up there, right,
it's not blooded out, right, Imean the bloods are overwhelming
.
But yeah, you got so likeburrows hold a lot of weight too
.
Like the brooklyn court wasstrong, yonkers and sing, sing,
now for united.
I mean I said now for united,now before had a court.
Um, albany strong, right,rochester strong.

(17:29):
Then you got the rat hunters,the kings, they got their own
situation.
Then you got the jamaicans andthe caribbean brothers over
there, like.
So it's like a whole segregation, you know I'm saying and so
brothers might be from the bronxbut they blood, so they with
the bloods brothers might be,you know I'm saying from
manhattan, but they came therewith the kings.
Brothers might be from thebronx but they dominican, so

(17:50):
they were the dominicans.
So it's like very segregated.
And then you got your neutrals,that kind of navigate.
Like myself I was neutral, youknow what I mean.
I never became a formal gangmember.
The only gang I banged was myhood, but that was like a
brotherhood, that was a localstreet thing, right, and then
coming up north kind of early on, due to my situation due to

(18:13):
being told on like we get intoall that and how I kind of ended
up in prison and traveling foralmost 13 years for stepping up
for somebody else's situationand then it going left and I
ended up with all the time.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
Ooh, okay.
So you know, since we're goingthere you know, I didn't know if
you were comfortable withtalking about all that Okay,
let's get it.
Okay, cool.
So so what happened?
Yeah, not for sure, I gotarticles, bro.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
I got articles, podcasts, on my story.
Bro, I spoke on earn yourleisure.
Like I've done a lot ofstorytelling, I own it right.
So I'm 17 at the time.
I was trapping, I was reallygetting some money and I was
like the leader of my littlecrew basically.
So when a lot of thingshappened, I was the first call
Long story, short brother whoended up telling on me had.

(19:03):
So it's crazy.
I kind of learned the call ofwhat sparked the incident years
later, like through the greatround of getting the piece
together.
But I get a call that somebrothers came through my certain
that came through my hood andthey jumped three of my bros on
some off guard, right likephysical combat.
We get the call, we go handleit and, mind you, like we could

(19:24):
have had it, you know, when itgot the grip and handled it one
way.
But at the time, like my teamwas wild, like we fighting all
the time, stabbing, shooting,like things is normal, right,
even though for me and I alwayssaid this like every time I went
to go put in work I never likedit, it wasn't my thing, but I
was always on the front line.
Of course, below you I'm alsogot a lot of heart.
I was always wise for my age,you know I'm saying so we could

(19:48):
talk it out.
We talk it out, we got toknuckle it out whatever cases,
right.
But in this situation was likeI, we don't need that the grip,
let's go, just go take care ofthis.
I knew one of the brothers thatwas involved.
I called the brother.
I'm like yo, what's the word onthis?
Like I'm hearing that you justcame through, y'all violated
y'all, come see y'all.
Now.
We framed the situation like yo, tell someone come downstairs,
you're gonna shoot the fade withthe bro and we already was

(20:10):
armed up, we and we get thereand like just what it is.
I tell people off the strength,like of the truth, right, like I
didn't go to this scene withthe intent of murder.
I'm saying I went there to putin some work.
This was normal.
So, interestingly, like there'sa part of my story where, so my
case was he died by the bat.
I beat him down.
You know what I'm saying, butthat was his back.

(20:36):
So, interestingly, on my wayover there I picked up this is
crazy, like I was thinking aboutthat.
I picked up a battle for arandom, uh, uh, front yard,
somebody that was with me, likeyo, bro, you don't need that.
Like we never use that right,like you, right, I'm hot, I'm
walking with this big old bat.
I toss it when I get get there.
You know, god rest his soul,because I also got my remorse
for the victim he came with that.

(20:57):
He's the older brother of thebrother that transgressed on my
brother.
And then we get to thesituation and I kind of saw a
reg, you know what I'm saying.
So I charged the situation Kindof rumbles, kind of happening.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
I beeline to the brother and you know, know, he
made a decision, got disarmedeventually and I made a series
of decisions that you know, I'msaying, took his life it's crazy
how you said that, like youknow the dialogue, you know it
could have went to the point ofhaving a dialogue, but they
already inflicted pain on yourbrother.

(21:35):
So I understand.
So it was just being youngcharged up, you just, you know
it's a natural reaction.
Instead of responding, you justreacted.
So that's understandable, rightthere, right?

Speaker 1 (21:48):
So he passed on.
Like so, what was the scenerylike after that?
Like so, after you did what youdid, right you know, you
defended yourself because heattacked you, right?

Speaker 3 (22:00):
so you, know I try to , I try to use a self-defense,
but the consequence, the woundsand everything, it was
self-defense is like you hit theperson, he died one time, right
, but this was like kind of anoverkill.
In essence, you know I'm sayingso, it wasn't.
The defense went out the windowonce I was ready to be
aggressive.
But yes, it was more.
I mean, it depends how youframe it right, because I'm

(22:22):
charging him and he's on timeand two, and then he's backing
me down.
So it wasn't like he hit me andit's like and I just kind of
woke and kind of turned tosomething else yeah, well, it's
like this right, like, if youhold on, what did you?

Speaker 1 (22:39):
you did what you had to do.
That's what I was saying yeah,it happens, combat I mean, what
are you gonna do, like it'seither your life or his?

Speaker 2 (22:46):
you know, and so facts and people gotta
understand.
Whenever men engage in combatyou know I'm saying from what
saying how I was raised is thateither somebody got to go to the
hospital or somebody got to die.
This is why men don't likeengaging in combat.
If we could have dialogue first, be respectable towards one
another as adults, that's cool.
But once it leads to arms itnever ends pretty.

(23:09):
It's quick to escalate becauseit's passion involved.
You know what I'm saying now.
I'm angry, you're angry and wejust you know yeah, it's
preventative, indeed, indeed.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
So now, after that happened, you go, you get
arrested.
Where's the first place you go?

Speaker 3 (23:27):
uh, first I go to bookings, obviously, then I go
to county right and once they upmy charge, um, it's a murder.
Like now I'm sitting in thecounty fighting a whole
situation.
I sat in county for like alittle less than a year before I
copped out to manslaughter andI was there and then from there
I traveled to the state okay,now what had you moving

(23:50):
different spots?
So when you first land independing like when it's 07, I'm
landing in Sing Sing You'regiven a certain status.
You're either transit or you'reGP general population At the
time.
Transit means you can stay inSing Sing for one day to a year.

(24:13):
Some people were able toconvert their status over to GP
so they could stay, stay close,because since thing is like 15,
20 minutes from the town, sopeople trying to stay close to
the home I was transit for sevenmonths basically got shipped to
uh, comstock.
Right now I'm in comstock.
It's a whole nother worldgladiator school.
Everybody know about comstock,it's a whole nother world.
Up there I'm navigating,getting a lot of experiences

(24:35):
though you know I'm sayingconnecting with some brothers
and then I got an educationaltransfer.
So when you're staying out theway, you're trying to get closer
back to home, you just don'tcatch a ticket for x amount of
time and then you could put infor educational transfer and
that's like I want to further myeducation.
So they'll send you back to aschool where they got education.
So Sing Sing was the school Iwas trying to get back to.
So I made that my first optionand I got plugged into Sing Sing

(24:59):
.
So I went back to Sing Sing.
I was in Sing Sing for likethree years.
I was doing good.
I had a couple of situationsgoing on.
I was married, I was trying toget into college.
I got into my first kind ofreal situation with the older
brother and I went to the boxfor four months.
Now my brother told on me,right, so I go to the box for

(25:20):
months.
But I only did like 80, like70-something days.
Out of that I got shipped toKatsaki from the box.
I went to long-term keep lock.
So now I'm in Katsaki.
Katsaki is a whole nother worldof oppression.
It's a mental war.
I was there for like about twoyears and then some brothers

(25:42):
trying to really get out ofthere.
They take all kinds of means,attempt new charges, all kinds
of things to get up out of there.
I'm like I understand the system.
It's like you digging yourselfa deeper hole.
So I stood out the way Inavigated, I ain't getting to
nothing I was.
I was real chill and militant,like in my bed.
I wasn't, you know, I wasn'tdoing nothing too crazy.
And, um, I put it for educationtransfer to get out of Kassaki,

(26:03):
and that that landed me inEastern.
So now I'm in Eastern.
Easton was viewed as like anhonor gym, like everybody trying
to go over there.
The food, different trailersare more frequent.
Closer to home you can wearcertain things, the freedoms and
luxuries, the workout that'sjust one of the best gyms in the
state.
So it was one of those likeappealing gyms, like you didn't

(26:26):
worry about violence and a lotgoing on with police.
You could navigate it real easy.
And then from Easton I gotshipped to woodburn because my
classification dropped and thenfrom woodburn I went back to
eastern because I had gotaccepted into the bachelor's
program.
So that's part of my journey.
Yeah, word that I got into acollege program.

(26:48):
Um, yeah, called bar prisoninitiative.
From bar college once I got myassociates born went up to the
ba program and they only at thetime had the bachelor's program
at eastern, so I got shit backto eastern.
So basically the transfer isdue to some.
It was only one real incidentthat, like I got myself involved
in one other scenario, was Ihad no choice because of my

(27:10):
status and then everything elsewas me navigating the system
intentionally trying to get to acertain job.
I got you.
I have a question.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
I have a question, brother.
First, what inspired you to getback into the education?
And two, did you find, likemost brothers go to prison, they
find religion or anything likethat.
What was the inspiration tomake you want to further your
education?

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, no, that's a good question.
I think I've always.
I was always a curious learner.
I think I always wanted tolearn, right like, even as a
young kid, I think I always wasrelatively smart, but I never
tapped into that.
And I think when you got a lotof time on your hands, right
like, I think, naturally you'regoing to gravitate to certain
things, right?
Some people gravitate towriting poetry, some start doing

(27:52):
art.
I went to reading and the moreI started to read, I started to
learn.
The more I learned, the more Ifell in love with learning yeah
but then I kind of was like justfond of the idea of learning
and spending my time building mymind basically.
And then when kind of I kind offoresaw like yo, in order for
me to come home and really levelup, I gotta level myself up, I

(28:14):
gotta invest into myself.
So you know whether it's mebelieving into the dominant you
know ideas around college.
I saw college as a way out I'mlike you know what I'm gonna get
?
my gd I got because I went inwith no education, got my gd.
Now I'm motivated like what?
Once you achieve that firstgoal, you're like wait, I could,
I could up it, you could domore.

(28:35):
And part of the inspirationthat spoke to my internal
interest was like brothers thatI have a lot of respect for,
that were in college and theseare gangsters and I'm saying
that's walking the yard likelions and well respected, but
they polishing themselves up.
So now they giving me what itlooked like and now I take this
route.
This is actually where's it at.

(28:55):
Now I'm like you know what,looking at that and then me
wanting to learn, I sawopportunity and I just jumped on
it.
Then I got into a really greatcollege program and then that
really opened up my mind.
Religion, the only religion,like I went to the mosque and I
kind of like was fond of islamand you know I wasn't converting

(29:17):
.
It wasn't my thing.
Same thing with christianitystudy christianity and
catholicism wasn't my thing.
Where I really got connected towas buddhism.
You know, man the zen.
Yeah, it was more of anindividualized kind of like
religion where it was like youversus you.
You know what I mean and I feltlike I didn't really have to

(29:39):
respond to no master.
I felt like my thing againstreligion is the way the
structure is set up, where it'slike there's this higher.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Talk about it.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
Humanized.
Talk about it.
Humanized right Kind of idea ofwhat is controlling man, and I
kind of got into my whole energybelieving in the universe and
buddhism kind of just in its ownway fit into that.
But I kind of startedpracticing meditation.
I was like I kind of jacked it,started reading on it and I

(30:08):
kind of got.
But I never really became likea full buddhist right, like I
just take some of the principlesright, so we're, you know, you
walk around with the instantsticks and just yeah, I never
really became like a fullBuddhist right, like I just take
some of the principles right,so work.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
You didn't walk around with the incense sticks
and just yeah, nah, Nah, Irespect that.
That's beautiful man, that'svery you know, because I see,
like a lot of brothers that gothrough that situation of being
incarcerated, they don't takethat time to use it as
transformative and you are theepitome of that.
You represent that.

(30:36):
Watching you when you'reconducting that show speaks so
poised you couldn't tell thisdude has been incarcerated
unless he tells you.
You know what I'm saying, Ron.
I know some brothers walkaround.
They be like he doesn't displaythose characteristics.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
I'm going to tell you what he does have, though.
He has that heavy New Yorkaccent, though Straight up.
Yo you know he's from New York,really I never.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Yeah, I can hear it.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
I can hear it.
That's what I was thinking.
I was thinking maybe fromBrooklyn, but then 914 United, I
was like, okay, I'll put ittogether.
I mean then you yeah, me too.
I never realized that.
You know, I never realized Ihad a New York accent until I
moved up here and I was aroundpeople and they was like that's

(31:28):
how you say that, that's not howyou say it, you say it this way
.
I'm like, oh wow, I'm justusing it like this.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
I work out there.
I see the difference man withsome characteristics, with some
individuals, I'll be like, yeah,I don't really fit in.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see in that area where I met the
brother at.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
You know that area is just so calm, so working up
there is different.
It's just so calm, so workingup there is different.
When I'm up there I'm like,yeah, they probably see me as
aggressive and I'm not evenaggressive, I'm very slow-spoken
, but it's just to them.
They're like, yeah, he can tellyou from the city.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
That is an interesting word, indeed.
So now, after going throughwhat you went through then, you
went through college.
So you got your GED, you gotyour associates your GED, you
got your associates and you gotyour bachelors.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah, I got my bachelor's in social studies.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
In social studies, that's peace Black on black.
Peace man.
Islam.
Salaam shalom hotep ashe blessa.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
All that good stuff.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
All that, all that.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Bindi Sean.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
What did they say in the Buddhist community?

Speaker 3 (32:33):
I wouldn't know.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
That was the Santeria Ifa stuff Like Bindi Sean yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
So after doing all that right, then you get home.
What's the first thing you didwhen you got home?

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Man, I came home to a lot of love my bros, you know
family, my moms, and it's crazy,like I I laugh about it, but I
wanted steak and eggs.
I wanted steak and eggs and andmy bros really take me to like
five stars.
I'm like man, we go to yonkersdiner.
So we went to yonkers diner.
They, like you, really want toeat this.
Like I'm like yo, this is, thisis a five star for me right now

(33:10):
.
Like you know, I kind of um,yeah, we went to the diner.
You mean, like my first thing Idid, like that, oh yeah, yeah,
that too, that too.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that all count, yeah for sure no
.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
So that that's the first thing I made it, but not
in terms of coming home andtransition and I think, like so
I came home with a plan rightand it's kind of interesting,
what I'm doing now was not theplan, what I was wanting to do
then.
So so, speaking to my undergrad, I studied fashion trends and
urban poverty, so I got toreally understand why, like
black and brown communitiesdress the way we dress

(33:44):
conspicuously high-end designersand I'd spent two years of
independent research for mysenior thesis and I traced what
I argued was the origin of whatof what we was known as ghetto
fashion to the jim crow southearly first great migration
period, early 1900s oh, we gottabring you back on yeah, he
asked, bro, I told you man mindto take my hat when I, when I

(34:06):
connect, we talk, I'm like nah,I gotta, I gotta talk to this
dude bro.
Yeah, now I appreciate that.
So, long story short man like Ireally delved into fashion
differently.
And y'all from Brooklyn, right?
Nah, he from Brooklyn, I'm fromHarlem, okay, so you definitely
know about the low-lives.
Yeah, oh, sure, so my.
So I was there with thefounders, but with two of the

(34:28):
founders Dark Low and Ralph Lowe.
Ralph Lowe's my big bro.
He's one of the founders of theLow Lives.
He was in Eastern with me.
So I, actually one of mybrothers was like yo, you should
look at the Low Lives as amovement and their influence on
fashion, of fashion as itrelates to different forms of

(34:52):
institutional racism.
Because I kind of delved intohow certain trends that we look
at, looking at the zoos, the 80s, during mass incarceration I
use al poe as an example a lotof us were reacting to, to form,
to different forms of exclusion, and looking a certain way to
tap into a certain space rightbecame why we start to really
kind of adopt and reallymaterial like, have so much love

(35:12):
for materialism.
And it's because it's a copingmechanism, right, when you're
dealing with systemic inequityfor so many years.
We feel good when we dress acertain way, but we could be
poor as hell, right, there's apsychology behind it, right.
And I got into the history tohelp us understand why certain
people dress the way they dress.
And I looked at the low livesas an example how big fashion

(35:36):
companies, fashion empires,start to basically capitalize on
what black and browncommunities use as a way to kind
of counter express theirresistance against institutional
racism.
This isn't always a consciouseffort.
Sometimes it's a subconsciouseffort, right.
So we look at, like, even theway fubu was kind of merged,
what it stood for it wasexclusive, it was countering

(35:57):
white culture.
Yeah, right so.
But then you got companies likeralph florin that would
capitalize on that trend andmake it their own.
And that's exactly whathappened with the low life.
So there was like this unspokendialogue between both the
fashion empire and fashiongroups.
So I kind of got real deep intothis whole situation.

(36:17):
So it inspired for me to reallyI want to be a fashion curator.
When I came on I was like I'mgonna be a curator.
I want to translate my seniorthesis.
The name of the thesis wascalled um a dialectic between
ghetto fashion and structuralviolence and ongoing struggle
for power and capital.
So it's kind of looking at thiskind of historical thing and

(36:38):
fashion is how.
That's how that's how itemerged in a lot of times and
periods in american history.
So, coming home in 2018, myfirst move was like yo apply to
apply to Parsons, becauseParsons, the new school, was the
heart of the fashion and I'mlike I'm going to go for the
gusto.
So I came home, I caught alittle odd job Quit that.
The first day.
I was like, nah, that's not me.

(36:59):
And then I started gettingconnected to opportunities, but
none of it was in fashion.
And that was my journey.
Coming home and I think youknow, mike, you've seen the
video Like, basically, me inschool, I'm working here, I'm
working here trying to get intothe fashion industry, but it was
like really hard.
I'm over here serving tables,you know what I'm saying and,
mind you, the whole time I gotbrothers in the streets,

(37:19):
six-figure cars and jewelry,like.
So the influence isever-present.
I'm waking up every day sayingno to the wrong things and yes
to the right things I'm stilltrying to say.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
I'm going to get into this school.
I got awarded nearly a fullscholarship.
It's a must Salute.
Give him a gunshot man.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
We give him applause, brother we give him applause
yeah yeah yeah, my bad, you know, I'm just saying.
Look at that man.
Look at that, Come on, Look atthat man.

Speaker 3 (37:55):
So so yeah, that was the early journey man like, and
then that kind of ultimately,you know, evolved into the
movement I built now with myteam.
You know I'm saying, but myfirst, my entry into the world
was man, have a good time, butget into this lane, turn your
thesis into something.
But it's funny, my feet likewhat I've done for fashion.
Just FYI, before we move on,I've also studied prison fashion
when I was an undergrad.
This is interesting.
So fashion became a thing ofmine and that's what I've

(38:16):
learned in my post-releasejourney with fashion.
Fashion is not something I wantto get rich off of or become a
start, a career.
It was more of a creativepassion and more about learning
it and then maybe creating showsaround it.
Right, like, not necessarilytrying to launch a career in it.
So for my freshman year incollege, one of the first

(38:37):
classes you have to take iscalled cultural anthropology.
The final project is you doingyour own ethnographic research.
Ethnographic research for manywho don't know, is basically you
going into a certain culture,understanding the culture,
observing the culture,interviewing people in the
culture.
Because all of us were inprison in college, the only
culture we could really analyzeis prison culture, so.

(38:59):
So some people were analyzing,like the meaning of the visiting
room, uh, the phones, the gymthere's a whole culture in all
those spaces, the do's anddon'ts, you know the unspoken
rules, like it's really deepwhen you analyze different space
and what birthdays mean inprison.
But nobody studies fashion.
So I was like yo, I want tostudy, I'm a fashionista, I like

(39:22):
to dress when I was in the town, like the dress right in prison
I was fly like I used to always, but there's a meaning in that
right like.
So I kind of delved into awhole 20 page project on this.
So that was my earlier interestin fashion.
Then, when I graduated my BA,fashion was the topic I picked
up on and interestingly, itwasn't something that I thought

(39:43):
of.
It was inspired by the TrayvonMartin and the hoodie incident.
That's what inspired my whole.
Let me look at what the hoodiemeant.
And then the two-piece suit,and then it just evolved with
the low live and it kind of justtook a life of his own that's
deep, the philosophy behind thatvery deep, you know it sounds.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
It sounds like um.
That thesis right there soundslike the um.
It's very similar to this thebuying of a negro, selling of a
negro, psychology on how to like, as you say, the market of
black and brown people.
Like we're basically buyingback our self-esteem, like the
inclusion, like I'm in the upperworld, even down to what we say
to each other.
You ain't up on this.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying you ain't up on this.
Yeah, no, interesting howlanguage plays a crucial part in
that, definitely.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
Indeed.
So so now, how did you connect?
Connect with the with the lowlives.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
What you said, that was your comrade or or somebody
you met in prison, yeah, yeah.
So one of the brothers startedto reggae.
Right now he's actually um,he's from the bronx where I
think he's going to columbia now.
The brother reggae, um, he'slike yo, you know, he was really
interested in my um thesis andwas like yo, you, shahab lab,
like low like ralph, low likeyou know, low like Ralph, low
like you know.
They got the whole low livesLike and I ain't gonna lie, I
never heard of those low livesMe like really.
So he like yo, I want to plugyou in.

(40:57):
So he introduced me to bro andI sat down with bro, bro telling
me his story.
He got literature, they got apodcast, they had a bunch of
things that they were doing.
My brother's a solid stand-updude.
So I really was already kind ofadmiring bro and we just started
building and it made sense.
I was like, damn, this would bea dope topic, because I was
going to look at Ralph Lauren.
I already was going to analyzebecause the thing about, well,

(41:19):
at least then maybe I don't knownow things changed, but Ralph
Lauren was one of the biggestbrands.
People were in prison.
To have a Ralph Lauren or aNautical on was like you were
him.
To have a Ralph Lauren or aNautical on was like you were
him.
Like it fit the trend of thetime, it showed you was like in
tune.
So Ralph Lauren, for me, wasalways a thing, and finding out
Ralph Lauren, one of thefounders he's one of five

(41:39):
founders of how many foundersthere was of the low lives, I'm
like this is a rich, like thisis access to, like you know real

(42:02):
, you know qualitative, knowqualitative data.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
So we kind of got into that, okay, okay.
So ralph low, um and uh.
So shout out to ralph low too.
That's the bro.
Shout out to ralph low.
So now, after that, after thatthat journey, going through that
, now what did?
How did we get to 9-1-4?
United the?

Speaker 3 (42:12):
magic question huh yeah.
So definitely gotta watch thosevideos, man, because it kind of
tells you that story visually,right?
So I'm now in paul since 2019.
I've been home like already atthe time 10 months.
I'm on parole.
Still, I'm trying to catch upwith life.
School was real, right.
I wasn't financiallyindependent, took full time.

(42:36):
I went in full time taking fourclasses, four different days, a
lot of work and I'm in a toxicenvironment at the same time,
right?
So, like I'm dealing with a lotof pressures, traumas being
triggered, I'm not realizingthis is trauma.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
I'm just, you know, know, going through the motions
oh wait, hold on, hold on, holdon, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it.
So yo, so you, yeah, because Igo through stuff myself.
So I try to like hear withother people.
You know, I mean like sure,like like I'm hearing you, I'm
like damn hold on triggers, likewhat happened to me at certain
points.
So like, so you didn't realizeyou were in a toxic environment
where there was a lot oftriggering going on there.
So can you I don't, you don'thave to go on super detail, but

(43:20):
if you could kind of like breakthat down a little bit so I
could better understand.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
Yeah, I mean.
So the toxic triggers is that,like, literally, what was where
I lived at, like everything, alot of negative things was
happening, right.
Yeah, some of it that wouldwall my loved ones, right.
So that kind of was temptingfor me to get involved talk
about it right.
So you, you kind of like knowlike I can't risk my freedom,
but all my brothers is in thefield.

(43:45):
This is the space.
Yeah, so that's a littlechallenging man again saying no
to the wrong things, yes to tothe right things.
I kind of started framing mystory as this is what the battle
is when you really trying tomove on at the right time.
But the trauma for me was morebecause I've been so much time
and I was abandoned by familyfor so many years.
So living with family and thenkind of feeling like not

(44:06):
connected and being an outsiderwith family, but you're with
family, get it.
There's like not connected andbeing an outsider with family,
but you're with family, get it.
There's a whole process I never.
I never understood it.
Then you know I'm saying so I'mstill processing, that we
connect with my moms, likethere's a lot that I was dealing
with that I never really wantedto face.
You know, that's just like thisemotional struggles, then the

(44:29):
environmental influences that Imentioned, the triggers, right,
whether it's like family at waror you know things happening
that you're not approved enoughbecause you come home with this
jail mindset.
That's like very structured.
And I'm also real educated too,and nobody in my family got
educated.
So I see the world differently.
You know I'm saying, when theysee black, I see white, so we
clashing.
That's all underlying a lot ofthe uh, emotional turmoil.

(44:53):
But I think what really broughtit to an end for me was like I
got into this major school.
I was probably the firstformerly incarcerated people to
get a near full scholarship withthis top fashion school.
So now I feel responsible forthose coming behind me.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Salute.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
Right, I'm in this space bougie school, beautiful
experience but now I'm like yo,I really can't manage.
I'm behind in school becauseI'm working two jobs.
Then I got to let both my jobsgo to keep up with school and
there was a moment where I wasstill broke.
I was broke, told my no moneyto my name and I was still
behind in school.
I couldn't find my way out andI started to flirt with getting

(45:33):
back into the streets.
I literally was on calls andI'm a call away from anything I
wanted and I was starting toreally flirt with those calls
and having those conversations.
Man, but I ain't going to lie,I never jumped in, thank God.
So what led to the movement wasthat moment in my life was so
dark that I had my first mentalhealth breakdown, where we wake
up every day and we're going tocontinue pushing.

(45:54):
We're going to figure this out,even if emotionally, you feel
like you failed yourself,because that's what I was
carrying for like a month.
So now we're in December 2019.
I feel like I failed.
I jumped into school.
I know I got to fold my cards,but do I got to fold my cards?
Am I just not strong enough?
Now I'm questioning myself.
So I'm going through thisself-doubt, this failure.

(46:15):
I never felt lost, like I waslost, and I come off the
platform one day on my way toschool you know what I'm saying
To start crying.
I just break down on theplatform and it was a moment of
me like, yo, you can't do thisto yourself, no more, this is
not for you.
Like the universe is tellingyou, this is not for you, and I
had counsel prior to that time.

(46:37):
But really, that day I got toreach out to my brothers, my
comrades, some of them who did20 plus years that been home,
four or five years.
Some of my brothers who helpedme when I was in prison.
Some helped me when I came home.
They all came to my aid.
I in prison, some helped mewhen I came home, and they all
came to my aid.
I opened up a group chat.
Like yo, I'm going through it,mind you.
None of them know this, though,because I'm carrying my cross,
but nobody know it's heavy.

(46:57):
You know what I'm saying andI'm not showing it, and I'm in a
master grad and I did the 13th.
So they got this, like thisvision of me that I'm like nah,
you get it.
I really don't got it together,man, I need help.
So they all came to my aid likeyo, bro, we got you whatever
you need and that, right there,made the difference in the world
.
I called the colleague of minethat same day.

(47:17):
She was in the class, shecalled me to the lobby and she's
like you should go tocounseling, like you know.
I mean you should like speak tohim about your situation
because you really are in a bond.
Like you don't got no money,you won't parole, you're
transitioning, you're behind inschool.
I lost motivation to try to keepup with schoolwork and then
that's the first conversation Ihad with the counselor, who he
taught me it was okay to say yesto a note of education, yes to

(47:42):
mental health, like make adecision, and it felt good.
I walked out of there like yo,you right, why am I being hard
on myself?
I turned it off, I withdrewfrom the program and I felt like
I walked out of there like yo,you right, why am I being hard
on myself?
I turned it off, I withdrewfrom the program and I felt like
it was a relief Coming out ofthat, even though I said what I
said about religion.
I do believe in a God, right.
So I don't know if it was God'sgrace or just a natural leader

(48:04):
in me, but I was like I want toget involved in organizing and I
want to get involved inorganizing and I want to create
spaces.
So, brothers like myself, right, but for people who didn't have
that root chat to reach out to,you know what I'm saying.
So we organized.
You know, I went to my brotherwho became the co-founder of the
movement Like y'all want toorganize a support group, and we
called it the you're not alonebrotherhood and it was a first

(48:28):
time we attempted to organize,to create safe spaces for
brothers to come to that spaceand build right, you ain't got
to carry that cross by yourself.
And I wanted to help brotherscoming home like yo, this is a
space for y'all.
So we started doing that.
And then I'm like a naturalborn entrepreneur, like I'm like
I gotta figure this out.
So I reached out to who was theprincipal when I was 15.

(48:51):
That expelled me.
He was a superintendent.
When I came home, got hisinformation, shot him an email,
had a meeting with him and, boom, he sent me to.
My first speaking engagementwas at the same school he
expelled me from.
I didn't know how to tell mystory, so I already organized a
male support group.
I'm like I want to get involvedin mentoring.

(49:16):
They had the NBK my brother'skeeper um, the one of the
brothers who was on the panelwas from my brother's keeper.
Uh, so it's an Obama foundationborn organization that actually
resulted, as a result ofTrayvon Martin's death, helping
young men of color prosper.
And I knew they was big.
I'm like I want to get involvedwith them.
And then I did my first speakingengagement.
I didn't know how to tell mystory and I remember walking in
there.
I'm like I want to get involvedwith them.
And then I did my firstspeaking engagement.
I didn't know how to tell mystory and I remember walking in

(49:37):
there.
I'm all polished up, I got thespeech I'm trying to write off
of and I kind of got lost in thespeech and I'm like man, listen
, it's my story, was like yo, weare missing.
Leaders like you who did thattime that came out with your
story to come back, talk tothese kids.
And that was the beginningjourney of Now I'm Before United
, right before the pandemic hit.
It goes on and on and on, but Idon't want to.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Yo, I just want to say, man, everything that he
says is so pivotal and soimportant is that, as men as
they put us, men is color wenever have a safe space to
express what we're feeling,Because we were always taught to
be tough, strong, resilient,and not knowing inside is eating
us up.
Like you know, I had to learnthat, like to start going to

(50:26):
therapy in my like mid thirtiesand just to have somebody to
talk to because around me they,you know we have a stigma about
mental health.
You just write over.
That's crazy, not understanding.
I got some triggers that I'mdealing with, you know.
You know personal, likeself-doubt or feeling inadequate
at times, or things that I haveexperienced witness that that's

(50:48):
eating me up.
I can't.
I can't express it because if Ido, you're going to view me as
weak.
So when I lash out in a form ofviolence in this respect, you
get what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (50:58):
It's weird like that.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
It's beautiful what you said.
Mental health is important.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
For sure.
I'm interested in 9-1-4 United.
I want to kind of tap in andsee what's really going on.
I'm going in a 9-1-4 United.
I want to kind of tap in andsee what's really going on.
I'm going to watch the videoand everything like that.
As you said, mike.
You know men, excuse me, wedon't have like a safe place to
kind of like talk about things.
You had the chat at the timewhen you really needed it and

(51:27):
sometimes I go through things,man, I don't have a chat, you
know, I just you got me, brother, I tell you to call me.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
but, ron, be on some Sure, I'm strong.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
Mike, but that'd be, but look, but that'd be.
It, though, right, and wetrying to de-stigmatize that or
no, I'm sorry, demystify thatright, like that, I'm strong
mentality a lot of us come homewith or we just adopt due to our
own experiences, and that alsocontributes to the pain.

(51:59):
Yo, one thing I know is that wecan't do life alone, no matter
what we think, who we believe in, you gotta lean on.
You gotta lean on either faithor your counsel.
We can't do this alone.
None of us lived it before.
We live in this for the firsttime, so that's why my movement
became what it became, and ifyou see behind the logo, it says

(52:21):
you're not alone.
That became the creed, becausethat was the first message that
I thought of when I thoughtabout that space.
So now, when we deal with youngbrothers coming out of
corrections, coming out of ganglife, coming out of streets,
people just be creating a spacewhere we, like yo, you're not
alone on your journey.
That's the core of our work andwhat your journey look like.
We here to get you there, right, and we do a lot of, you know,
curriculum based work, and we'vegot a whole framework that we

(52:43):
do around a credible messengermodel and stuff.
But the core of it is that weare people building a tribe,
opening doors for others to jointhe tribe.
And because we all human, bro,we're going to go through what
we go through, man Like, that'swhy I shout out my partner, I'm
with now my girl, like Icouldn't have gotten this far if
I didn't have a queen that wassupporting me.

(53:05):
Absolute.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (53:08):
Yeah, it all goes full circle.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
Let's make that clear too, man, Shout out to the
women.
You know there are times.
You know, men, we make thesemistakes.
Sometimes, you know, coming up,we may take them for granted,
but yo, when you have a rider,that's with you, man, that's it
bro.
That's it.
That's it 100%.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
That's it, man, for real.
Indeed, that's it.
That's it 100%, that's it forreal indeed.
Yo, thank you, brother, forcoming up.
Jo, really appreciate you.
We gotta bring you on again.
We have a lot more, a lot moreto talk about.
We can't, we can't, we can'tfit it all in an hour, because
you know, you got a lot going on, you know what I'm saying and
and you, just you, just now, nowyou got my mind blown.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
I'm now you got me thinking why you do that, bro
yeah, no, he has an effect andpeople go check out the website.
It's 914 united.
You watch thisorg.
You watch the films.
You'll see the testimonies.
I witnessed it myself at thespeaking engagement that he had
the amount of like people thathad testimonies, the, the
affluent people that came out tosupport him.

(54:11):
He had business owners,politicians within that area
that came to see him and theyare very they are they
magnetized and they love hiswork Because, just like every
other inner city, yonkers is inthe same place as the five
boroughs.
Man, you got people that aredisenfranchised, that need
guidance.
The young are lost out thereand all they need is just hope,

(54:34):
somebody just to reach down andpull them up and you go out
there, you support thesebrothers.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
Man for real yeah, no , no, I appreciate that.
Definitely go check out.
Our youtube channel is notreally like too uh strong, but
definitely some good content onthere.
You see some of our communityevents our recent gala.
We had two galas and I'm tellyou it was a sneaker gala.
Dallas p was our first guestspeaker and then the second year
we had um rashad from earn yourleisure and we had over 430

(55:01):
people present.
Amazing, fly like the.
The content's on there, butreally, come learn.
You can look us up on instagram,facebook, uh, look us up on
like Facebook.
Look us up on, like you said,your website, the website
wwwnowinfordneticorg.
The story's behind it, but thevideos is on YouTube to show you
the work that we're doing,because we're trying to change,
we're trying to shift theculture and change the narrative

(55:22):
.
I think that's one of ourbiggest things, man.
That's what, bro, yeah, and wecould do that together.
You know what I'm saying, sofor sure.
This is why these conversationsare so powerful where I get to
meet, you get to meet me, I getto meet the brother and
whoever's watching and hearing.
Man like tap in, man, like we,only stronger together, man.
So the door's open.
That's a fact.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
That's a fact indeed on that note, thank you for
coming out this evening, bro.
Salute.
Peace to you, peace toeverybody in the chat and we are
out of here.
Peace.

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You are not Alone ! - 914 United

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}You are not Alone ! - 914 United