Episode 95 - Lynae Vanee

Summary

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Grits and Eggs Podcast

Episode 95 – Lynae Vanee (October 27, 2025)

Host: Deante’ Kyle
Guest: Lynae Vanee

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Episode Overview

In this dynamic, unfiltered episode, Deante' Kyle sits down with writer, poet, and media innovator Lynae Vanee for an authentic conversation about content creation, Black liberation, the evolution of media, politics, culture wars on the Internet, and the real stakes for Black communities. The discussion flows from Lynae’s creative and career journey—including the origins of “Parking Lot Pimpin’” and “The People's Brief”—to deeper themes of self-actualization, communal responsibility, systemic challenges, and hopes for the future. Both hosts' humor, candor, and commitment to “keeping it Black, but keeping it brief” drive the lively back-and-forth, making for an episode rich in insight, practical wisdom, and memorable moments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Live Shows & Changing Media (01:34–03:35)

• Lynae’s push for live formats: Lynae reflects on advocating for a live season finale at Revolt and her love of in-person, culturally intimate spaces.
  • “I’m super into experimenting with different formulas… creating these in-person, intimate spaces could really be a game changer for the culture.” – Lynae (01:39)
• Deante’ on keeping things fresh: They both bemoan overly monotonous set-based podcasting, arguing for creativity and change.

2. Lynae’s Path: Teaching, Poetry, & Content Creation (05:48–09:32)

• Leaving teaching: Lynae details her burnout as a Black studies teacher, the invisible labor, and eventually reallocating her energy toward what she truly loves.
  • “Teaching is a thankless job… I decided to stop giving it my 100% because 60% would be enough, and give 40% to the things that I love doing.” – Lynae (06:10)
• How “Parking Lot Pimpin’” was born: In response to 2020’s social justice uprisings, Lynae saw an appetite for approachable Black history and perspective.
  • “It was one of those things where you see your life’s preparation make you perfect for a moment.” – Lynae (08:11)

3. The Role of Media Voices – Accessibility, Trust, and Mission (09:35–14:57)

• Why brevity and Blackness matter: Deante’ praises Lynae’s work for being informative, concise, and unapologetically for Black folks—something largely absent in broader discourse.
  • “It’s effective because it’s to the point, but it’s also very Black… I’mma keep it Black, but I’mma keep it brief.” – Deante’ (13:19)
• Evolving content: Lynae transitioned from history facts to tying cultural/political moments to history, emphasizing the need to keep her work accessible and truly helpful rather than just reactionary.

4. Building “The People’s Brief” – Networks, Frustrations, & Wins (14:57–18:43)

• Growth through community: Connections from Spelman and management with Color Creative led to greater opportunities and show pitches.
• Industry obstacles: Lynae faced repeated industry rejections—“too high concept,” “too smart”—but persevered, culminating in Revolt offering her a show after years of groundwork.

5. Representation, Internet Culture, & Diaspora Conversation (19:33–28:03)

• Viral criticism & Twitter toxicity: A segment about athletes dating white women gets taken out of context online, prompting reflection on the dangers of internet clip culture and colorism accusations.
  • “Twitter is an extremely toxic place… you can’t really defend yourself. Nobody really watches videos there.” – Deante’ (20:14)
• Diaspora wars & “tether” rhetoric: Deante’ and Lynae critique divisive conversations on foundational Black Americans (FBA), Ados, and the notion of “tethering” based on ancestry, instead pushing for unity rooted in shared culture and lived experience.
• Shared culture: Both highlight the cultural parallels (music, food, dance) across Black communities globally.

6. The Complexity of Accountability in Black Public Discourse (31:33–39:59)

• Creating safe spaces for dialog: Lynae discusses producing dialogue-centered content that avoids harm, especially to marginalized voices.
• Apology and Growth: Both discuss the importance of public accountability—especially men modeling the maturity to apologize and address harm.
  • “We often rob ourselves of opportunities with an unwillingness to say sorry, or to say, I know better now.” – Lynae (33:11)
• Digital footprint: Deante’ warns about how old statements circulate, impacting opportunities—so integrity and honesty matter.

7. The Political Arena: Moderating Kamala Harris, Demands on Black Women (40:42–58:39)

• Moderating for Kamala: Lynae describes the nerve-wracking experience of moderating the Vice President’s Atlanta stop; lack of prep and high security reveal difficulties in political media work.
• Black women overqualification: Deante’ notes how “overqualified” is often code for not wanting to compete with Black women, despite their high educational attainment.
  • “The most qualified candidate to ever apply for the position—that’s simply the truth.” – Lynae (57:04)
• On political loyalty: Both are critical of party politics as “teams,” and advocate for informed, pragmatic support rather than unconditional allegiance.
  • “Our democracy shouldn’t be ran as a competition… Who’s the best candidate? What side of the aisle they’re on should be irrelevant.” – Deante’ (58:38)

8. Black Political Power, Local Engagement, and Systemic Solutions (61:42–70:34)

• Real representation: They highlight mayors (like Brandon Jackson in Baltimore) who are genuinely involved post-election as models for trust and positive outcomes.
• Political scripts vs. reality: Both critique politicians for using “scripts” and ignoring the very real violence fostered by public policy (e.g. Cop City, Atlanta).
• Long-term strategy: Deante’ explains how changes impacting Black communities are planned generations in advance, making reactionary organizing less effective.

9. Imagination, Afrofuturism, and Reimagining Black Life (76:23–85:59)

• Imagination as liberation: Lynae calls for releasing fear and tapping into radical imagination beyond the “realities” handed down by oppressive systems.
  • “We’re on the precipice of being about to look like it’s never looked like for us… We gotta know what each other needs so we don’t feel lonely, desperate, or too scared to try this other way.” – Lynae (80:30)
• Afrofuturism & place: Deante’ and Lynae discuss the need for cultivating Black community—physically (e.g. “come back down South!") and socially—so people aren't just “recreating the empire” elsewhere or online.
• Local economies and routines: Emphasize building sustainable, locally rooted lives that foster agency and shared joy.

10. Exodus, Internationalism, and Pragmatic Dreaming (92:22–99:36)

• On leaving America: Lynae argues everything’s possible if planned collectively, but one must respect existing cultures and be cautious not to replicate colonial behaviors.
• Not everyone needs to do everything: “Everybody doesn’t have to do everything. Everybody has to do something.” – Lynae (94:50)
• On fighting systemic power: Both advocate resisting with intention rather than fleeing, making a lasting impact wherever one is.

11. Embracing Creative Freedom (104:08–106:40)

• Looking ahead: Lynae shares her upcoming projects: the final episodes of “The People’s Brief,” a poetry mixtape with visuals, and dreams of writing and creating on her own terms.
• Deante’ on not being boxed in: Reinforces that their generation can constantly re-invent themselves via social media and creative collaboration.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Teaching is not a 9 to 5. It’s a 16 to 72. You just take your work home with you.” – Lynae (06:11)
• “Your immediate circle is not ever necessarily going to be your target audience.” – Lynae (15:12)
• “Twitter is an extremely toxic place… you can’t really defend yourself.” – Deante’ (20:14)
• “If you flee from abusive power without resistance, then wherever you land, you will recreate that abuse of power, because that’s the only way you’ve seen power used.” – Deante’ (99:18)
• “We gotta know what each other needs so we don’t feel lonely, so we don’t feel desperate, so we don’t feel too scared to try this other way.” – Lynae (80:28)
• “I just want to be… a voice that people trust to include or even lead or be a visionary on their projects.” – Lynae (51:55)
• “Integrity comes from that willingness to be like, yeah, I missed the mark on that.” – Deante’ (39:39)
• “The reality that you live in was somebody’s idea. So what’s your idea? And why aren’t you enacting those ideas?” – Deante’ (97:21)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | 01:34–03:35 | Live Shows, Format Evolution | | 06:10–09:32 | Lynae’s Background: Teaching, Poetry, Parking Lot Pimpin’ | | 13:19–14:57 | Approach to News, Blackness in Media | | 18:43–19:33 | Breaking into “The People’s Brief,” Pitch Struggles | | 19:33–28:03 | Diaspora Wars, FBA, and Internet Criticism | | 31:33–39:59 | Accountability, Growth, and Public Discussion | | 40:42–45:37 | Moderating Politicians, Choosing Projects | | 58:38–61:42 | Political Allegiance, Informed Voting | | 66:10–70:34 | Cop City, Urban Planning, Long-term Policy | | 80:28–85:22 | Imagination, Afrofuturism, Local Community | | 92:22–99:36 | Leaving vs. Fighting, Diaspora Return | | 104:08–106:40 | What’s Next for Lynae: “People’s Brief,” Mixtape, Writing |

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Flow & Tone

The conversation is conversationally sharp, often humorous and always rooted in genuine experience. Both speakers use direct language, inside jokes, and pop culture references—often sliding seamlessly from heavy political critique to lighthearted talk about cheese sandwiches or wedding traditions. Throughout, both Lynae and Deante’ are transparent about insecurities, imperfections, and dreams, modeling the very vulnerability and integrity they advocate for in Black media and beyond.

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Final Thoughts

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in the intersection of Black media, politics, culture, and the creative process. The dialogue doesn’t just dissect cultural issues—it models the kinds of honest, empowering, community-focused conversations both hosts advocate for. You’ll walk away both challenged and inspired, with a clearer sense of the real work and imagination required for Black liberation and collective flourishing.

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Transcript

[A]

Yeah. Woke up in the morning and to God be the glory Thankful for another day to tell my story. Put my opinions in the universe and let them orbit I'm from the dirty soul with a dirty mouth My knee orbit miss things Things on me like a nigga nor big had to refuse them Cause my bitch no rest Fusion she gorgeous As I dab my sons up and kiss my daughter forehead. Tell them we gonna get this money to my pocket. Morbid. Remember living in apartments? Now we playing mortgage.

[B]

All right, big head, what episode is this? I don't never know the damn episodes no more. I used to be on top of that shit. No. 93. No. 94. No. 90. 92 solo. 93 monolio. 94 solo. This is episode 90. Grits next podcast. Welcome to episode 95 of the Grits and X podcast. Ah. You may have seen her. Oh, in a parking lot pimping nigga. You hear what I mean? I've been on her show three times at this point. Yeah, plenty times on Revolt tv. Let me round of applause, everybody. It ain't enough people in here for a round of applause. What's going on? That shit was weak. They don't with you. They not excited to see you at all.

[A]

That's crazy. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. How's things been going? You got the season finale coming up.

[A]

Season finale is on. What you gonna come?

[B]

I am.

[A]

Oh, great. Lovely. Season finale is on the way. I had to pull some teeth to get them to try it live. You know, I'm super into experimenting with different formulas or, I don't know, just structures and the biggest feedback I was getting. So people don't do live no more. I don't give a fuck what people I'm doing no more. But with everything happening as far as different journalists being silence or temporarily bootle, whatever, what have you, people are trying to find not just independent journalists, but just like, people they can trust. But also, who's to say how things are about to go? And I'm really into creating these in person. Like you were saying at your show, creating these in person, like intimate spaces at this. It could really be a game changer for the culture to go back to doing a lot of the stuff that we once did. Like the kids say we missing recipes, so.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, I just thought about it, like, on a standard, the podcast is like a set and people just. Are they. It just. It becomes monotonous. Like, it's only so many times we're going to see the same background. And I think that's Good for like, brand recognition is good for people that watch the show. And it's like, I know this. You know what I'm saying? But I think switching it up every now and then, like what we did with the live show or like, you know, what we doing with the late night show, it's just to keep it fresh. We got all these different mediums of media that we ingested as children, like daytime television, late night tv, talk shows. And like, if we got a podcast and we got a platform, why not utilize all those? Just kind of, kind of keep it switched up. So ultimately, you got what you wanted, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I got what I wanted.

[B]

Studio audience too. Okay. Yeah. Okay. We're gonna be in a live element.

[A]

It's gonna be. This is a trial run, you know?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And we. That's why I had paused when you said you got what you wanted, because I think just the reality is you never get what you want the first time around, but you work towards it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm just, I'm grateful that they. With that. Working towards everything and figuring it out on the way.

[B]

So shout out to the good people at Revolt.

[A]

For sure.

[B]

How is it? So this is. What season is this? The first season, man. So let's go back to like the start of the content creation, right? Let's go back to. Because I. I just know. You know, it's so funny when everything started popping off, I naturally go to like, what's the end of it? Like, how does the end of it look? Because people overstay their welcome in media spaces. And if it's guest heavy, I guess it can live like that. But I think my shit being so like, solo for it and just Big Cat, like, Big Cat is a mystique, you know what I mean? He really don't exist to the audience, so it's like he just like the voice of God on the show and shit. So it's like, okay, how long can that formula. You know what I'm saying? And I think it's just good observation just to have an exit plan. And so we was discussing, like the Daily show, right? How they. Jon Stewart, he ran that and then they started experimenting with different guests and things like that. And it was like, yeah, but if you was to like, replace yourself, who would you fool? I was like, you know that girl that do the parking lot pimping shit her.

[A]

And what's crazy is I said the same about you.

[B]

That's funny because two weeks later I got this from Revolt. Oh. And I was like, well, what they got going on? They got my phone tapped, cuz. They got my phone, T. Yeah, but because I just seen. I. I think it's a similar politic. It's a different approach to how we do it, but I think the politic is similar, and I think the end goal being, you know, liberation for black people. And I think that I don't know what a lot of niggas in girls is when they be in these spaces.

[A]

I don't. Well, I did have one. What's crazy enough is it was nothing like what I'm doing now. I'm a poet. Like, that's what I do. So before the pandemic.

[B]

That makes sense.

[A]

So before the pandemic, I see that.

[B]

I see that. I'm picking up the little Love Jones type vibe.

[A]

That's what I don't know about that.

[B]

That's the type. Beat you on.

[A]

We'll see. I'm about to release some shit. We'll see how you feel about it after that.

[B]

All right, Coffee copy.

[A]

But right before the pandemic. Kid, let me rewind a little bit more. I was a high school teacher. I used to teach juniors and seniors in high school and black studies. I had to teach US History just in order to be licensed in the state of Georgia. But teaching is not. Teaching is a thankless job. Like, and it's a exhausting job. It's not a 9 to 5. It's a 16 to 72. Like, you just. You take your work home with you. There's so much red tape. And I just felt so unappreciated for how much I was put into it. Like, especially at the school that I went to my second year teaching, I just felt so unappreciated, really, because nobody was as much as. As hard as I went for the kids, as hard as I went for, like, exposing them to new opportunities and things like that. I have volleyball parents that was quite literally bullying me, and nobody was really doing much about it. Like, they were sending emails to the superintendent simply because they didn't like me talking to me crazy at games and stuff. Like, when I would do, like, Black History Month programming for the kids. Like, I guess because I had the kids excited about something and wanted to be involved. Like, other teachers would just kind of talk to me crazy, and principals would just be like, well, you need to make sure. Did you like to play? I didn't see it, but you need to make sure this auditorium is clean. Like what? Like, just crazy shit like that. But so anyways, I decided to Stop giving in my 100% because 60% would be enough. And, like, give 40% at least to the things that I love doing. Because even though I was good at teaching, I enjoyed it. I never wanted to be stuck there. And I was like, if I could continue to perpetuate this pattern, I'm gonna stay here and I'm gonna be miserable. So I started going back to performing open mics, just trying to get practice that being on stage again. And the first, like, I want to say, major gig, but, like, I submitted a piece and was selected to perform for a Black History Month program. Happened the day before or the weekend before really, Atlanta shut down. So I didn't really have my creative outlet. And I also knew it's funny because most of the shit that I'm into, people will scroll past, like, whether it's poetry, whether it's, like, history or something like that. Like, I'm very well aware, just was not interested in it. And teaching high school helped me connect with people in a different way and just, like, find entry points to make things interesting and related to whatever it is they had going on. So that was helpful, but really. And trying to figure out how I was going to, like, scratch that itch because I can't perform or whatever it was when all the things that are happening. You had Ahmaud Arbor, you had Breonna Taylor, you had George Floyd. I'm not sure if I said those in order. Then you had Rayshard Brooks down here in South Atlanta. And, like, you could just see the nation, like, swelling, like, with an appetite to have more vocabulary to express their anger and their sadness or whatever for this moment. And it was just one of those things where you, like, see your life's preparation make you, like, perfect for a moment. So I started parking lot pimping stuff in response to that, also hoping that at some point I'd be able to introduce my poetry to my audience. And like, oh, we fuck with that. And it's not that they didn't fuck with it, but it was just like, the parking lot was just going so much further and faster than I thought it would, so I just kind of stuck with that. But so anyway, yeah, that's. That's kind of how it got started. Did I answer a question?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Why didn't you even ask me?

[B]

Here's the thing. It don't matter. You know what I'm saying? You answered a lot of questions that I was going to ask anyway. So I think that was good, though, because it. Everything did kind of culminate all at once. Similarly, like, I was in my truck and I wasn't seeing a lot of discourse about like things that was actually going on. So when I would come across people that was talking, like at least, at least being real about the shit, you know what I mean? Speaking from like an intellectual perspective as well, and not just like reactionary, not just angry, not just like, oh, we need to shut, we need to overthrow the government. It's like, okay, and then what? You know what I'm saying? Like, I felt like if we can't get everybody on board or just moving in the same direction, like let your anger guide you to somewhere, then like, it's not going to work. But there's nobody giving anybody anything actionable. There's nobody like detailing the situations in a way where people can really like gain perspective on it. A lot of it is just like, this person got killed and we're angry and we're mad about it, we're going to protest about it. And then, and then two weeks later is this. It'd be a rinse and repeat. I think the thing about the parking lot pimple for me was this is like news for me. Like, okay, I know on Friday I'm giving me a little weekly wrap up, you know what I'm saying? But it's also like, it's effective because it's to the point, but it's also like very black, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

And you know, it didn't start out that way.

[B]

How did it start?

[A]

Oh, it didn't start out that way. It started out as me trying to like give these little known, like facts.

[B]

You're trying to get, get your history vibe on.

[A]

Trying to get my history vibe on. And like people like that, they were attached to that. But I was like, okay, how can I make this sustainable? How can I make it something people are looking forward to week after week? And I just started trying to attach, not even trying to. It was easy attaching moments that were dominating the headlines and connected to some sort of history. So that's how I started getting into like news cycles and things like that. But I had a pretty. It was mainly pop culture and only a little bit of politics. And I think this was, it was 2020. So it became, it sort of naturally flowed into all of that, you know, because that's when Georgia flipped blue. We got Biden office after Trump. But as things somehow started to get worse and worse and word events was happening, I just kind of felt like this responsibility and also not Just a responsibility to say something, but also feeling prepared and like, well su to learn about this enough to talk to people about it so they can understand. So it just kind of snowballed into this necessity versus just a hobby or a creative, like, outlet.

[B]

Yeah. Because you. I can imagine you gain an audience quick rather than. It is one of the first forms of content that I saw that were kind of had a set to it. Right. A lot of times when people. TikTok specifically, people talk from the selfie cam, and I think that that was what make it real for people. I think that that's gauges the most interest because it feel like you're on FaceTime, you know what I'm saying? So I would say Instagram being overproduced and then TikTok being not a production at all, you sitting it somewhere in the center. It really just kind of. I could see the appeal of it off the rip, but also like just having like anecdotal facts and things like that at first, because that's like the first year I was on TikTok, I just observed I ain't even like creating no content because I just wanted to see like, what the landscape was. A lot of my partners was telling me, like, bro, this you be talking about on the phone. You could just, yeah, go do your thing. You know what I'm saying? Like, ain't nobody else saying what you saying, but I was just like, not for that. Like, I don't understand what they doing over there. And then like, the way it's sold to me, and it's like, it's an app for kids that dance. And I was like, kind of what.

[A]

It was in the beginning.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's what I was like, I don't dance, get on there and do no dancing. So when I. The longer I was on there, I think consciously was probably one of the first people I saw on there that was like having these conversations about current events and then intelligent enough to tie it into historical events. But also speaking from a perspective that I felt like was original and refreshing. But there was also a thing where I didn't feel like anybody was talking directly to black people. So I think that was the appeal for yours. For me, it's just like, I'm gonna keep it black, but I'm gonna keep it brief. Yeah, this message can be for everybody, but I'm speaking directly to my folks. And yeah, I think to me it was like, very understood. Like, this shit finna be bigger than just that parking lot. Like, I could just See it because you was having like some real moments like that. You killing it, you still killing it. You know what I'm saying? But, but it was, it was really big. It was a thing that I, I could see how people was looking forward to it every Friday type shit. So how does this, how does this like manifest into the people's brief?

[A]

I would say maybe a year in, very grateful to my alma mater, Spellman. It gave me so many connections and I was actually on a dance line there and they treated like a sorority and that it' sisterhood. And you just kind of know who came before you, who's after you, stay in community. And so the year that I dance, I was on a line with this girl whose big sister was our old head. And she happened to be an entertainment management, like already by the time I started doing my stuff. So she just kind of like sent me a congrats here and there as things were popping, as like celebrities started posting my, like, that's kind of more often than not people closer to me saw me because somebody else posted me. And I just, you know, I keep that in the back of my mind for anybody who's wanting advice. Like, your immediate circle is not ever necessarily going to be your, is not ever going to be your target audience. But anyways, so she already knew what I was doing and just had given me my flowers from a distance. But her boss was Issa Rae's partner over at Color Creative and they were managing multi hyphenate creators. So just the creators who were good at more than one thing. And so she ended up sending my old head the video and was like, who is this girl? We want her. And that's how I got signed over there. And ever since I got their management or their representation, we started like testing out show ideas. And I've been pitching shows for essentially like three to four years. And it's crazy because, you know, we finally got some good partners, people that made sense in the shows we were pitching. People were like, oh, this is cool, but we feel like it's a little too high concept or this is great, you're great, but this is too smart for us. And like, oh, we think it's really cool. I just don't think the market is ready to embrace this, that and the other. And it was just frustrating because whether it was scripted or unscripted, more often than not somebody wanted to pigeonhole me into, no offense, but to me, like a very basic version of what I had the potential to do. I remember pitching this show idea That I still am working on a concept for and somebody I'm not going to name no names, because I'm not for publicly throwing nobody on the bus with somebody in a very high, respectable position said, oh, this is cool, but if you, like, come up with a different world, but like, 20, 22, then come Holler at us. Right. Got it. Okay, cool. So, you know, never went back then. With all that said, though, towards the end of last year, I went through a number of things, like a breakup. My. Like, we weren't getting investors for my entrepreneurial endeavors. Like, with Trump coming into office, the stuff I was doing with nonprofit got shut down because everybody was scared of how to spend their money, not knowing what was going to happen. But I had to just kind of, like, step on faith. So this was like, October, December. I was making decisions to just put stuff down. Like, I'm not going to press nothing else. I'm not going to come up with it because I'm good for an idea and trying to, like, get some shit off the ground.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was like, all right, guys, like, whatever. Whatever you want from me. Like, you got enough money, my account for me to, you know, live for the next year or so. And I just mean, like, pay rent and everything, whatever. And then I want to say, like, right before my birthday came, it's in January, so in the new year, my manager called me and was like, so Revolt said, they want to give you a show. I said, what? But it was one of those moments where you let you open your hands up, like, you make room for whatever, you know, God has to give you. So he's been showing me a lot of, like, direct cause and effects throughout this year, because I'm quite literally just letting him work. But I had a conversation with Revolt maybe three to four years ago, and they were still in transition, getting he who should not be named up out of there and, you know, no longer affiliated with him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it just seemed like when they got all their pieces and their pieces to the puzzle where they wanted it to be, they called me immediately and said, we've been trying to work with you for some time. We just needed it to be at the right time.

[B]

So, yeah, that's hard. I think the concepts that you've brought to the people's brief are very important. I think that they're not spoken of well enough in the public. Right. Like, people would touch on things. But, for example. Right. The conversation we had, I think it was the very first time I was there about athletes and dating white women. And it wasn't just this typical of like, oh, because niggas hate black women. It was like, no, we gave like, real context to, like, how people are removed from their communities.

[A]

And the Internet might not believe you because, you know, a clip from that has been going viral, like, ever since. Yeah, they've been tearing. Our co host for that episode was this one clip of her, but like, quite literally something she said in a silo. Cause the whole episode, to your point, was trying to create healthy dialogue around a very specific cultural issue. But Twitter found that one clip and now people come to me every now and then saying, lonely, you'll never have a man. Miserable bitch. Whoa.

[B]

Oh, you, Me? Well, you know, Twitter is an extremely toxic place. I am no longer on Twitter.

[A]

Me neither.

[B]

Yeah, like that whole shit that happened when I seen how niggas can like change the game up over there and manipulate situations to mean what they wanted to mean. And it's like, there's only so many characters. You can't really defend yourself. Nobody really watches videos there. So it's like I was like, you know what? Y' all niggas got it. Yeah. What? Y' all ain't gotta worry about me. You know what I'm saying? Cause I'm in the topic of a conversation right now. Me, poor minds unhinged. The moral. And don't call me white girl Podcast, or who was the publication? Some publication put us out as the four black podcasters to watch right now. Hard. You know what I'm saying? Then it was like, they only chose all them cause they light skinned. Okay, well, Draya's not light skinned.

[A]

I wouldn't even think about that.

[B]

Yeah, it was. Cause we light skinned. And then they was like, this nigga Deontay Kyle got a white daddy. I was like, whoa, whoa, okay. News. You know what I'm saying? News to me.

[A]

Everybody slow down.

[B]

Yeah, but it's like, whatever, you know what I'm saying? It's like the thing is, it's like it's a few things gonna happen, right? They gonna call you a tether? Are they gonna call you biracial?

[A]

What is. What does that even mean?

[B]

I left Tariq Nasheed. This is. So I had the whole. The situation I was telling you about in la.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

When we was doing our late night show, the topic of the conversation is, is it FBA or CIA? That's my question. Right?

[A]

I'm sorry, you're gonna have to walk some things back for me. There's some things I've seen proliferate on the Internet that I just ignore because I can tell by the people having a conversation, this don't got nothing to do with me type shit. So fba, I understand to be foundational Black American.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

Basically, that you are the descendant of enslaved people in America.

[A]

We had to put a name on that. I thought we had it. It wasn't black American.

[B]

No. Because then it's a thing of. So this is the tether thing.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

This is the Tariq Nasheed tether mentality. Tariq Dasheed is like, he's gonna juice up that diaspora war. So if you have a Nigerian grandparent, if you have. If you have any relation to, like, anything, immigrant status type vibe, like, you're a tether. You're not really from America. You're not really a black American. When the conversations that I've been having a lot more recently is like, I'm not finna beef with a nigga about one difference, and that difference being place of birth. Because the cultures are so, like, parallel.

[A]

Also. And what I'm about to say might be unserious, but, like, y' all don't like to eat good.

[B]

I was literally. I literally talk about cuisine all the time.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. And I mean. I mean, you're not just good for food, but, like, being around, like, I had this. I was very close with this girl from Sierra Leone when I graduated college, and she had me over to her spot for her graduation party. Just got, like, immersed in the culture, quite literally, because I'm now enlisted in help getting ready for the party that I was told would start at 4 o'. Clock. Mind you, I'm dressed at 3. Dressed to go clean food and, like, set up stuff. Because the party starts at four. Meaning that's when people come set up the party. Don't pop off until later. But trying all kinds of new foods and learning new dances and hearing them speak, whatever it is, is. Is native to them. It's just a beautiful experience. And, like, it compounds on hours. Like, I wrote this piece a minute ago, and it just the. It was caught in every universe. And it was just me talking about my black experience. Like, I'm. I'm from the South. I'd be Southern in every universe if I could. But I love making rice and peas. I learned. I taught myself how to cook curry. Like, I'm 25 year, but that's. I love that my last name is French, but I'm not Haitian. But just, like, talking about how foundational black Americans like We're not just like. We're not. What's the word? Exempt from white influence. We're not exempt from the influence of other people who are a part of the diaspora. And why wouldn't you want that to enrich your experience?

[B]

Well, I think that there's this thing about, like, how do you respond to the criticism of black Americans not having culture and for whatever reason, it lands there. But also, too, I'm not big on responding to shit. I know it's not true. Okay, so it's like, okay, we don't have a culture. Okay, nigga?

[A]

Okay, that's silly to me.

[B]

It's goofy. It's just a thing to say. And I think that.

[A]

I think they also don't know, like, what is what Tick Tock revealed to me, at least from what some of the across the pond Negroes had to say. Y' all literally are just not educated on what black Americans have gone through experience or how we contribute to American culture. Some of them are quite literally just ignorant now. All of them, I doubt if you've never been over here.

[B]

So to me, it's like, I. I don't got nothing to prove to you, nigga. I know what we over here doing. And it's like, I don't know nothing about what y' all got going on over there neither. So it's like, but. And I would never land on, like, culture, for one. And then I would never land on, like, you don't know where you from for two. Cause it's like, nigga, all of us got colonized. We quite literally argue in English. So I don't really got time for that back and forth shit about the difference being birthday, like, birthplace. But you can see the parallels in cuisine, you can see the parallels in dance and music. You can see the parallels and just how we relate to one another. There's a parallel history. Cause colonization is a playbook. So they kind of treat everybody the same way everywhere they go. They kind of run the same place. And I don't really be having time to get into it with niggas about stupid shit. And I also am not going to educate a willfully ignorant person. So. But the thing is, is, like, it is fba, then it's Ados. The Ados is African descendants of slaves. And then it's Or American descendants of slaves. And then now it's a salon. Come to find out the salon is a little xenophobic too. It's a lot going on with that. I'm just like, bruh, hit the Dougie real quick. Let me see. Let me see what your ducky look like real quick. You know what I'm saying? Because you go, like, go to Milwaukee. You see how Milwaukee dance? No, they dance just like a reaches. Wow. It's like, quite literally the same. It's that. That shoulder. They be killing that. The Ethiopian. Same thing. It'd be like. It's so many parallels that you could find throughout cultures where it's just like. Okay, like, there is at least a synergy here we arguing for. Because, like, when I had the jam pot on here, I was like, if you go into a room right now and you got 25 Brazilians, 25 Haitians, 25 Nigerians, and 25Americans, black Americans, you ain't gonna know who you're just not. So then what the fuck we talking about? But I think also, too, influence is dangerous thing, because, like, when hidden colors, the messengers started proliferating their own messages, niggas started seeing that N was a little kooky, you know what I mean? Like, we started really seeing Dr. Umar outside. Outside of, like, being, like, a powerful order. He believed in some wacky shit, you know what I'm saying? Same thing. Tariq Nasheed, they believe in wacky shit.

[A]

A cancelable food take of mine. When I was young, I used to really enjoy a cheese product sandwich.

[B]

I love a cheese sandwich. I love a cheese product, but I.

[A]

Could eat it cold. Oh, okay. You're the only person who's not looked at me crazy. The white bread and some Kraft cheese. Loving it.

[B]

I'm eating. I'm telling you. I'm just eating the crab cheese, open up a slice, and then I fold that a little bit by the hole and look through that. I was a wild. Y' all ain't never eat, like, baloney. Y' all want eating baloney with the red string, bruh. I'm. I'm frying that. Chewing on the red string. I got microplastics all in me, like, for real.

[A]

But what's wrong with denim tears? I can't have nothing.

[B]

I just don't with the nick. I ain't. It's like wearing a cross to me. Okay, it's like, I get it, but it's like, you got a crossover?

[A]

No, I don't today.

[B]

Nah, it's just like, that ain't. You can't. Okay, so specifically, Tremaine Emory give me a vibe of a. That was only hanging around white people. And now you the super woke black. And so you want to remix that? Like, I ain't trying to wear no cotton. Cotton reef. And then you trying to apply some deeper meaning to it. Nah, bro, I'm cool on that.

[A]

I just looked cool.

[B]

Now you're just a little fashionable person. I get it.

[A]

I thought it was. Well, the cotton wreaths weren't my vibe specifically, but I thought it was a cool concept of him because I thought it was him and a native person. Let's move on. Yeah, okay.

[B]

Tristan, cut it out.

[A]

I thought she just said his name was Tremaine. I made that up.

[B]

Tristan's my editor.

[A]

Oh, great.

[B]

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's how you circumvent all that. You don't even have to go out.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. But also, too. It's like, okay, I'll be hearing murmurings and.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. So.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You did. But adding. Using. Using the platform to be. To make a production, right? I think so. I will say, I credit you for this. Like, you the first person that brought me on, like, a real set. You feel what I'm saying? Green room vibes, my name on shit. I'm like, who, nigga? Who, me? You know what I mean? But I like it, though, because you good. You want me n. It's a bag of chips. Of course we can hear it. He trying to open the slow. Just gonna just go ahead and rip that.

[A]

Slow is worse.

[B]

Yeah, it's louder when you do it slow. Just go ahead.

[A]

And.

[B]

I'm like, look at this nigga trying to gently open a bag of chips. But I like how well produced it is. And also, I like that, like, when you watch it in full, it's like a whole totally different thing. So, like. Cause I don't. You know, I'm only there for whatever, maybe an hour, hour and a half. The last episode we did with the Four Black Man. Exquisite. Like, I fuck with that. It was a great idea.

[A]

It was.

[B]

It was a great idea.

[A]

At first, when we was talking about it, they were like, yeah, we want to put you in. I was like, put me in for what? You know, I just didn't feel like it was a place for. Let me rewind everything I was about to say. I just felt like we had an opportunity to let men have the conversation, but also men that we could trust to have a conversation that wasn't harmful to anybody.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Like, I just went and had a conversation with a bunch of young girls. And the thing that I kept repeating, trying to instill it in them as they're young. You should be passionate about whatever you want to be passionate about as long as you're not hurting somebody else in the process.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

You know, have your community and people who are like minded with you as long as you're not hurting people with your like mindedness. And that's always a barometer for whether or not you should have a microphone or just even be like a person in society contributing, you know, also too.

[B]

It's just I think when you enter, when you enter media, when you enter into the media in the space of social commentary, social commentary, talking about black folks, shit, blackness in and of itself is political. So it lends you to being in a political sphere. And there is a real thing that's called a digital footprint. You got to be very mindful of what you say and how that can affect your opportunities. Fortunately for me, don't really give a fuck. But I have seen, since I've been kind of in this role, I've seen people lose opportunities because niggas is bringing up shit they said two years ago, three, and it was out of a place of hurt. But nonetheless you go viral for your hurt opinion and now people don't want to work with you.

[A]

But my thing is, I feel like we often rob ourselves of opportunities with an unwillingness to say sorry or to say, I know better now. And I get like, if you say that, if that's how you come off rip and people are still trying to hold you to a thing that you did when you were young, but you've like atoned for that, that's a different experience. And I can understand the frustration. But I think we've been so hurt as a community and yes, we do have a history of different structures and systems and just people trying to tear black men down that we just default to that when in fact we can learn as a community as well and be better as well and model that genuine apologetic nature and like growth. And I, and I don't what is that? Like, that seems like a threat to masculinity or power or something, or perceived threat to masculinity or power for a lot of people. And I don't get that.

[B]

I don't understand it either because like, the, the more, the most mature thing I, I, I can like say that I do now more than anything is apologize when I'm wrong and admit to being hurt by things too. Like before, you know, it's like, man, I'm straight, bro, shouldn't hurt my feelings. But I tell nigga, straight up, bro, I should hurt my feelings, bro. Like, don't talk to me like that. You know what I'M saying. But I think also we are getting a lot of information from this greater society that's dictating how we maneuver and how we posture ourselves towards each other. And oftentimes just being hurt is a good enough excuse to cut each other down. And I think that we need to claim, not even reclaim, just claim an approach to take one another. I don't like, I don't like beefing publicly. I don't like that. I'm not a fan of that. I don't think we should be tearing each other down publicly because clearly we have. Black people don't treat our race as a cult. We don't treat our race with like, we don't approach it from a PR standpoint. A lot of other ethnic groups treat their group like PR Like I won't say anything about this group publicly. I may have my criticisms behind closed doors, right? So then when people from those communities come out and say stuff, it's like it shocked the world type shit. Like you wouldn't know how pervasive anti blackness was in the Latino community if it had not been for black Latinos coming out and speaking on it. But normally that's supposed to be some hush hush, like, you know what I mean? Black people, we be putting all our business out of for the better or the worst, you know, we're gonna put it all out there. And I think that there is something like admirable about that shamelessness, but I think it's also something extremely detrimental because you've now given other people entryways to hurt you and to stir up shit within you. Thoughts, opinions.

[A]

No, I mean, I think you're right. That's something I've been pondering on a lot because I feel like we thrive as a community because we don't adhere to a lot of the things other racial groups do. And whether or not like you said, it's for better or for worse, finding that balance is going to take time. Because I feel like we should have the attitude to like protect one another. Like our lives depends on it. And I like, I feel like you said something to me. You were talking about y ns how you don't like using that or like giving anybody else license to use the word y N. Cause you're just essentially letting them say nigga, I think we should have some sort of decorum about ourselves. To not allow other people to denigrate us and disrespect us. But with that sort of allegiance comes letting a lot of dangerous shit fly in the name of I gotta have this person's back on account of race. And so I'm just wondering where we exist in the middle to do that in a healthy way. And maybe we have an opportunity to do that because we've seen both sides.

[B]

But. Well, I think that. I think the men specifically I'm address, always going to address me. And I don't really. That's. I feel like that's my bad, you know what I'm saying? Like, I know niggas, so I know how niggas think. And as somebody who would have thought like them at one point and either mature from it or just realize it was stupid. We can't protect predators.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

So there's a thing of, like, people exhibit all this predatory behavior, this behavior that's harmful to the group, but we gotta protect them. Cause they black. That's out. I ain't on that. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not. I ain't trying to go to war for Diddy, bro. I'm cool on that.

[A]

No, no, I'm cool.

[B]

You know what I mean? Like, I think that there is a thing of, like, accusation doesn't equate guilt. So we do need a due process, even within ourselves. About, like, sometimes niggas be charged with some heinous shit. You feel me? And, like. But we just see this with a young guy. What's his name? Kyren Lacey.

[A]

The lsu.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So things like that, it's like, there's not been a lot of people who've spoken publicly apologetically towards that young man and his family, but everybody was demonizing when the act happened. So it's like, if you gonna do. If you gonna demonize me publicly when I'm acquitted and when my name is clear, you need to apologize to me publicly too, because that's how you create an allegiance. But this part of, like, not wanting to be apologetic, I think that it hurts. It hurts you as an individual in the long run because this is a great skill to have to be able.

[A]

To admit wrong and to be honest. Like, again, to my question earlier about this perceived threat to power, I have the following. I have because people trust me to say when I'm wrong. Like, even when I first got started, it was never about, like, being right about getting people information. So if somebody corrected me, and the thing is, like, you kill people with kindness, even if they came off with the worst attitude in the world, I'm a pin the comment of the correction and say thank you for the correction.

[B]

Like, I'll be on the same shit.

[A]

Yeah, and, like, doing that work, like, makes people want to continue to be in community with you. And also, this makes people, like, really rock with you and be able to trust you. Like this. I need to be right. It's just a very weird sex, but.

[B]

It'S because it's not integral. It's, you know, I think integrity come from, like, that willingness to be like, yeah, I missed a mark on that. Even with my editor, Tristan. I'll tell him, like, if I missed the mark, call me. Tell me, like, you missed the mark. Put an editor's note in there and let me let know I was wrong about this.

[A]

I remember Tristan. He had the locks.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I ain't tripping on being wrong, bro.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Now, if I'm wrong all the time, we. You know what I'm saying? It can't be. That can't be the vibe of the show. Like, bro, this just be saying anything. But, you know, when you, like, trying to recollect dates and recollect times and things like that, you gonna miss the mark on some of this stuff. You know what I mean? We all humans, we just got the memory we got, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

Do the best we can.

[B]

Do the best we can. But, I mean, I think as long as the intention is pure and the willingness to be, you know, admit when you wrong it, make it a lot more powerful. But it also, like you said, it strengthen the relationship you have to your audience. I do wanna, you know, give you some flowers. Why you look me up and down like that? What's up?

[A]

What's the flowers?

[B]

What was this?

[A]

I don't know. You just. You pivoted and I didn't know what he was doing.

[B]

Yeah, that's what we do. Okay, so you did moderate. You know what I mean? Yeah, moderate. 107 days.

[A]

I did.

[B]

You did moderation for Kamala Harris.

[A]

I did.

[B]

How was that? How did that come about?

[A]

My God, today I have so many thoughts on that. I've been talking to everybody about it just because I'm my own biggest critic. We'll get there, though, how it came about. So when I was doing a parking lot, the parking lot spread by word of mouth and quite literally group chats and stuff. So I don't know how it made its way to the vice president's office, but it did. But they were in Georgia for something or coming to Georgia for something and asked us if they could come be on the show. So we had to, like, turn around a makeshift parking lot with Vice President United States in Seven days. And because we only had seven days, I wasn't really gonna. I wasn't trying to add additional stress to myself by trying to come at her with this hard headed stuff that I had to send to her team to know they were going to send back and tell me to edit. So we figured out a topic of gun control. It went well, super stressful situation, but we were able to rise to the occasion just with like security and all this kind of stuff. But that went well. And then when I got my show, I. Not that I don't think she remembered me, but she's off, you know, she didn't win the election. She is off of work, basically like, you know, to herself having, being a private citizen. But the day that my show announced on social media, she called my phone and I was like in a work meeting and it came up, no caller id. So I paid it. But you know, now they send you the text message, text translation. So the next thing I see on my phone, it says, Lene, this is Kamala Harris. I was like, I hung up on everybody and I call her back and she was just telling me congratulations and really commended me on using my instincts and that the moment was deserving and all this other stuff. And then when she released the book, they reached back out and said they want me to moderate for her tour when she did her stop in Atlanta. So, you know, people have their commentary and a lot of it's valid. But what I can say about that relationship is that I think she did try to forge like a genuine one. Yeah. So how it went though, my God, today it's just stressful. You'll never understand what it's like to work with people like that until you're in a situation, because the amount of security that's involved, like your movement is limited. Who can be with you is limited. But when they told me this, I wanted to be over prepared. So they sent me the book. I started annotating it like I was in grad school again. Had to listen to most of it because I was just on the run, producing my show, traveling and stuff. But I came up with like 15 really dope questions whole time. There were some generic questions that I never saw because they were never like linked. But when I sent them, I got the vibe. They were like, damn, this girl is doing a lot. Because they called and was just like, you know, we want to focus on the future and not so much the past. We want it to be conversational. And then she called me the next day, the day before to kind of, like, reiterate the same thing. So I edit my questions. I send them again. They tell me to print the questions out. I get there, no questions are printed, and they just like, yeah, let's just make it conversational. Here's the generic questions, if you want to use those. Talk about yourself in relation to. So I just. I went up there and did my very best, but I was nervous as hell, you know, just because. Not feeling like I was as prepared as I wanted it to be. But I feel like a lot of that was internal because when I got off the stage, everybody around me was like, you did such a good job. So I was grateful for that. I try my best to be as present as I can in a situation, do the most of what I got, and let the holy spirit guide whatever. I don't. So I think it went really well. But I. Like I said, I'm my own biggest critic, and I just. I feel that often. And so I've been having a conversation, too, about whether or not interviews are particularly my thing. I can have conversations with people, and that's what ended up being, like, a conversation between two people with ideas about this political moment. But, like, I'm not a host, you know, so it was. It was cool. It was great. Don't know that I say yes again.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Because of the preparation or just because of all the things? You know what I mean?

[A]

I mean, we'll just see. Like I told you, I got this spoken word project that's about to come out, and that's always been my first love. And this other stuff has come my way, and I've accepted it gracefully and tried to wield it gracefully, but I'm trying to decide, like, what things come most naturally to me and what makes me feel good. And I'm not convinced yet that hosting conversations is it. Now I'm kind of lying when I say. I don't know if I say yes again, because I do think I'm very well suited to bring specific topics to conversation with specific people. Yeah. But I just don't want to get pigeonholed and, like, this person's a host because, you know, in the industry, like, once they feel like you good at something, that's all they ever wanted.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. They're gonna end up being rare in Secrets for real.

[A]

Ryan Sears is crazy.

[B]

All that nigga do is ho shit creatively.

[A]

And all of it is based in the type of things that I talk about. But, like, I'm a creative. Like, I like to tell stories with.

[B]

That I think the beauty of social media is that you can recreate who you are constantly, right? So I don't think you have to worry too much about being pigeonholed. I think the reason why people want you is because of what you do. It's atypical to what a host would normally be. You're driving a conversation. I don't want to be. You know, like, there's no dynamic aspect to just asking questions and having them answered. So I don't think you have to really worry about that.

[A]

I think that's what people keep telling me, like, don't worry about it. But I'm a worry.

[B]

I mean, you know, so you're doing great. You know what I mean? I think I'm just as big on myself. Like when we finished the live show, people telling me how great it was and I'm in the back of my mind like, that was some dog shit. I ain't gonna hold it.

[A]

You know what I'm saying is nuts.

[B]

Well, because it's like I'm not there. I'm not. I'm doing it. So I don't know. I don't know what the pacing is. I don't know what people are receiving. I don't know if the joke's landing. I don't know. I don't know if the conversation is happening as broadly as I want it to. After 24 hours, I'll settle and be like, you know, that was good, that was good. But while you in it, it's just like, God, that sucked. Like, you know what I mean? Because it's like there's a mixture of nerves, there's a mixture of like, did I execute? And then there's a mixture of like, it's people just saying I did good. Cause they was there. You know what I mean? It's all these different things. Cause when we at the spot, like the episode we just dropped this past week, 91, when I'm done with the quote unquote meat of the show, when I'm done with that conversation, I be knowing every time we hit that pause, I'd be like, woo, I just killed that shit, nigga. But that's. Cause we in that space so often that I'm like, I know that flow. But when I'm doing it in different spaces, like the live aspect and I'm talking to people and looking at people, there is a level of nerves there too. Because I want to put on a quality show. I want people to enjoy themselves. I want them to want to come back. You Know what I mean? I don't want it to be this thing where it's like, God damn, you don't want to bomb. I know I ain't bombed.

[A]

And I just said this to one of them little girls today. And granted, she was nine years old, she's like, what do you do when you don't do something? Well, or something. Or when you fail? And I think the first thing I said, so you try again. But how old are you? She's like, I'm nine. I said, well, you will have so many opportunities to do so many other things for the first time. And it's silly to think that the first time you try something, even if it's a version of what you've done before, that you do it perfectly.

[B]

Yeah. This is a conversation. I have my kids all the time. First time. It's the first time you're doing it. You know what I mean? Like, failure is like one thing that I really be trying to push, especially to young people. But, like, my kids specifically is like, failure is when you give up. Like, when you just be like, I'm not gonna do it no more because I don't think I'm good at it. I mean, that is failure. You know what I'm saying? Because you gave up. But I also operate in this aspect within. It's like, what are you good at? So, like, go for that. And then, like, fine tune. Because a thing is never just a thing. You know what I mean? Like, a podcast turns into me speaking at colleges turns into me hosting panels turns into me at the Urban League, writing a book. Writing a book?

[A]

You gonna write a book?

[B]

I would. I got a substack.

[A]

I know that's right.

[B]

But it's only available to the people that are on my Patreon. And I wanted to talk to y' all about that. You know, it ain't nothing but $8, Grissy. Next podcast on Patreon is linked also, too. Great questions. Great questions from Mona Leo. Great questions. She fucked with that. So typically, you told them to ask me some questions.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

No, it don't happen. It don't happen. It don't happen for everybody. It's not for. It's normally just when it's like musical artists. A lot of people have. Like, when I ask for. When I ask questions to people, that's. He said no a little bit. I just fucking with you when I said that. But when I ask questions, if people's like, more creators or, like, a little bit more political, people start infusing they politics into it. It's like, that ain't the conversation we gonna have when it's music that's a product. And you know what I'm saying? It's like, it's a little easier for them to, like, generate the question. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's like, there may be something they wanted to ask that person specifically about this song. I think it just draws a conversation for. I notice when it's, like, a little bit more political, it'll get into criticism. Yeah. And that's my guess. I ain't gonna have me criticize my guest, you know what I'm saying? Take you up out of the Patreon. But I. I think that, like, to your point and to the proof that a thing just ain't a thing, like, it branches and it lends to so many other things. So end goal and go, like, you know what I'm saying is the big goal. Poetry, you know what I mean?

[A]

The big goal is to do whatever I want to do, really. I just. I mean, with the poetry, I see so many opportunities coming from that. Like, not just to be an artist myself, but to collaborate with other artists that I really respect, potentially writing form or just doing interludes or whatever, just existing in that space. I also want to. I have, like, a. I have a scripted show. I got a graphic novel that I'm working on. Like, I. Like I said, I tell stories. I want to. I want to direct, I want to produce things. I just want to be. Not necessarily a jack of all trades, but I want to have developed the relationships and respect in the industry as, like, a voice that people trust to include or even lead or be a visionary on their projects.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Really not end goal. But I'm the type of person that's like, I don't got bucket list type shit. But. But Ryan Coogler put me in a Marvel movie yesterday, and I'm not playing. Yeah, put me in a Marvel movie yesterday, and I'm not playing. I can be in Ironheart Season 2 if you want me to. I already told y', all, I could be in a parking lot somewhere, and y' all can do, like, a fight scene past me or some shit, but, like, put me in there, and I'm not playing. Thank you. I'm very serious.

[B]

I know. I was gonna let it breathe, you know what I mean? So niggas knew how serious you was? Oh, yeah. Cause you was. You funny as shit. What I was just thinking about, you want to be in a superhero movie. Because when niggas was doing the content, you definitely had niggas in the crib trying to do super.

[A]

And I'm gonna ask everybody to do superhero after at the opening of every.

[B]

Movie or every video. I mean, people seem to really like that content. Yeah, it was good. We should. We should run that back.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, we should run it back. Maybe. Maybe when it's over.

[A]

Or not. Cuz that seemed to be great.

[B]

Hey, I'm down. You know me. I'm down for a good time. You feel me? We was having this conversation. I was having. I'm not a fan of AI. I don't like it. And if. And if there were ethical uses to it and there was things that people were using it for that were, you know, beneficial, that couldn't already be done. Like, you know, you can make your own grocery list. I don't need to see Martin Luther.

[A]

King, you know, do anything.

[B]

Do anything.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know what I mean? So I think the uses of it is the reason I don't like it.

[A]

The cat videos really be pissing me off. Have you seen the cat videos? They be having, like, these AI cat melodrama stories. It's a lot.

[B]

I hate that. Oh, man, there's people, like, passing off, like, it's people fake cooking. Like, they fake got meals. And it's a mess. It's a fucking mess. But we was talking about that conversation led into the jobs that people would lose behind it. They're rolling out these robotic wheelchairs to replace people, pushing people through the airport. And then that conversation led into, like, the number. The number 300,000 black women that have been pushed out of their industries this year. My take on it is that the idea of being overqualified came from not wanting to compete with black women in spaces. Because I've only ever heard black women say they was overqualified for jobs. I never. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, and I grew up around a lot of women, so.

[A]

Sean McBride said it in robounce.

[B]

Who?

[A]

Sean McBride when he was the daddy in robots.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Hold on. The daddy when he was wearing them suits?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, okay. Well, whatever. Also, shout out Overqualified by Duran Bernard. Great song.

[A]

I don't think I heard it yet, man.

[B]

I'm play that for you when we done, man. That's my fact that my shit.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

How the hell am I. He be killing that shit.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That way Duran be killing that shit. I mean, whole time we was interviewing him, he did just start stemming in his bitch. Yeah, but you know, but that. That take on it stems from personal experience with my mom. My mom would always be. Have, like, these offers for, like, great positions in corporate. In the corporate world. And then it's like, I guess when they seen her accolades and her resume, it was all, you overqualified. And it's like, damn, would they just not want to pay you? Or some. Or like, whatever the case may be. But then I started thinking about this statistic about black women being the most educated by gender and race in this country. And then it's like, oh, you just don't want to compete because staying this who won't be named and is no longer with us. Oh, you know what I'm saying was saying, like, you taking a white man's job, like, DEI is taking a white man's job, affirmative actions, taking a white man's job, and it's like community college. Did he pass? That's the real question. Did you even leave with a certificate? But the thing is, the point being is that there was an idea that this would target some minority group. A minority group. The unfortunate part is that you're taking extremely qualified people out of the workforce. You taking people who are pioneering industries out of the workforce and people that may be the most qualified, you're taking them out of the workforce and replaced for mediocrity, which is basically like this administration in a nutshell.

[A]

I was just about to say when I. When she. The first thing she said, first thing I said when she sat down on that stage was, can we give it up one more time for the most qualified person, most qualified candidate to ever apply for the position? And that's simply the truth. Like having this storied history of not just being an elected official, but, like, working with so many different groups of Americans and, like, the most marginalized Americans. And when you treat the least of us, you benefit the most people. So, like, quite literally, somebody who could benefit all American people, speak to their experiences and also just have them in mind when developing policy. And now you have a dickhead in office who doesn't know what the fuck's going on, but has somehow found a way to do something crazy every single day since he was inaugurated and is putting people in position that don't know about a thing. And all of our systems are deteriorating within, from within. And at this point, well, I don't know if I can say that on the podcast.

[B]

Say whatever you want.

[A]

I'm just like, at. I feel like we could use some foreign aid and whatever that looked like. Somebody got to come do Something. Because obviously the here not doing enough. Because. And I'm not saying they're not.

[B]

Let me take that back.

[A]

Because I'm not gonna. I don't want to give fodder to the group of people Democrats are just on. And let me also take one step back. I don't consider myself to be a Democrat or a liberal or a. Whatever the. I am a black woman in America who makes informed decisions about my politics. And I align myself with whatever party can get those things done the best, the most efficient way.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

But I don't like.

[B]

And it should be an American thing like that. That be my though. It's like when you turn this shit into teams. When you turn this shit into. I mean, the idea of a Republican is just a straight white man. Right. So then the idea of a Democrat is anybody who doesn't fall into that demographic. But, like, when we start saying things like vote blue, no matter who, then, like, what stops a nigga that was once Republican from flipping going Democrat, whatever the case may be. Because this is effectively. I'm going to have the same impact on these policies. Right. So when you're not informed politically and you just voting based on color, you don't know what you voting in. And then to take it a step further, I don't. I don't think that, like, we should be. Our government and our democracy shouldn't be ran as a competition. It shouldn't be a thing like you either for this team or for that team. And it's like, who's the best candidate? What side of the hour they on should be irrelevant. Right. But for whatever reason, the red versus blue dynamic, this binary way of thinking is a way that they use to control people. People. Binary. Binary thought is quite literally a tool of control. Because if you only have two choices, you really don't have none. So I'm not a fan of the government at all. I don't with politicians. I feel like they all lie.

[A]

Would you no sit with any one of them?

[B]

Probably not. I mean, I've sat with a few of them. I sat with family. Sam Foster, who's running for mayor of Marietta, he'd be the first black man. I'm not opposed to what they do, but it's like, we're gonna talk about it for real. Cause like, you can't come in either. This ain't the place. Niggas don't wanna come up here. They know this ain't the place where you could just give you, you know, for the great people in the state. Of Florida, like state of Georgia, state of North Carolina. They ain't gonna be able to get that off. Like, nigga, who are you? And how we gonna talk about that?

[A]

Be my biggest thing. I just wish they will be more of that. And I think we would have more trust in our communities and politicians if, like, the only time we saw you was when you was running for something. Like, I sat somewhere and that was gonna be my other point. Like, I'm not saying that there aren't people in office that are Democrats that aren't doing their best against this administration, but the way they set it up with taking over all the branches is all. It's all but impossible for them to get some shit across the aisle unless more Republicans start to defect. And I still don't even trust their defection, because as soon as they get what they want out of that, we're gonna be back in the same place. But they asked us what. How do we get? How do we get. I was at a cbc, something like, how do we get people more involved? Or like, how do we increase trust? Y' all gotta stop canvassing for votes and canvassing for needs, like, single people.

[B]

And like, that's what they was talking about at the nlu.

[A]

It's like, random this, this, that, and the other, like, throughout the year. Like, if you don't want us to treat elections like something to only look at every four years, then you need to also be around us and. And in conversation with us consistently and throughout.

[B]

That's exactly what the sentiment I had. We was at the NLU and we were talking about a decrease in men, black men, specifically voting. And how can we get black men more engaged in voting? It's like, well, I wouldn't fuck with anybody that just talked to me for every four years. And then every four years you just need something from me. And after you get the thing you need, I don't hear from you again. How. Who's the. Who's the person? How do you, you know, what you said?

[A]

I said sound like, all right, continue.

[B]

I'm projecting, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

Official.

[B]

Nah, I went with nobody ever. Even every two years. Like, man, out my face. But that is some, though.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

But my point being is, like, whoever is in office should be active in those same communities that campaigned in even after election. It not only strengthens the bond, but it also holds you accountable to their needs.

[A]

That's why I think Mayor Brandon Jackson is doing as well as he is up in Baltimore. Just like with the crime rate Going down. But just how intentional and involved and entrenched in his community he is. Have you heard him talk about, like, how he was able to reduce the crime rate? Oh, yeah, crazy. I wanted. I was moved if I could have seen and heard we was having technical difficulties during the interview. But like seeing. I heard him talk about it in real time. Like having people come knock on these kids doors and be like, I know your name, I see you. Here are your options and I'm willing to give it to you. Like, give these kids tools and opportunity. That's why, that's just why I can't with the optics. I can't with you coming around to shake hands and take photos and simultaneously signing off on that is quite literally the detriment of your community.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, but that's a politician. That's a modern politician. It is because there's a lot of. There's a lot of corruption that starts at a local level. And when the corruption starts at the local level, then the goal is to get to the national level because, you know, because it's about their money. The second that anything happens, you see the script get rolled out, right? The script of what the politician is supposed to say.

[A]

So I hate a fucking script, bro.

[B]

I hate a script because when the community college dropout got knocked off, there's no room for political violence. There's no room for political violence. But like moving a data center that's gonna like literally poison a neighborhood is political violence.

[A]

Hello.

[B]

You know what I mean? Like removing trees from black neighborhoods so it's like 10 degrees hotter is political violence.

[A]

You agitating people, uprooting and destroying native American land that we already took from them one time to put a public safety training, whatever the center on top of it is political violence. And I'm talking about cop City. If he wasn't picking up what I'm putting down. But that's in that sense, there's so many cop. Like, I think Atlanta had one of the most publicized, like conversations around cop City, Especially with how many people came out to like make comment, how many hours people stood in line to try to prevent it from happening. But we did some research for my show on it and quite literally they are either already existing or in the works. More than 250 across the nation. Cop cities.

[B]

Yeah. And they operate as military bases.

[A]

And.

[B]

To me they're trained by the idf.

[A]

And to me that feels like long game sinister shit because it was just something to be upset about. Especially in cities that don't have that much of a crime issue, like you know, comparatively or relatively. But then when you get somebody like Donald Trump in office and he's talking about sending national guards to different cities and like doing like takeovers and blah, blah, blah, then you got these cop cities militarizing police forces already in effect in the place.

[B]

Yeah. So I was explaining to this group of teenagers, cause we was talking, they was talking about how like they renting raised up, you know what I'm saying? Like, and I'm like, how the hell you know, like how much the rent is? He was like, shit, my mama can't afford it, so I need to know. He was like, nigga, that's why I'm breaking their cars. Cause shit, I'm trying to help the best way I can. I'm too young to get a job, but I also can't just stand by. And like, he was like, he's basically. He was like, bro, it ain't easy being in the house with her, bro, because she's so stressed out. He was like, I know that shit ain't got nothing to do with me, but I'm the oldest, so she directed at me, so I be trying to figure out this shit the best way I can. And I was just basically explaining to him that the plan for his rent to be raised was made before he was born. So when people have money and especially people in power and the corruption that comes with it is how do we sustain, how do we further divide and how do we sustain? And these things are in effect for a very long time. Like the plan is there for a very long time because when you have the money and you can sit and see the power and you have no questions about where your NAS dollar or your next meal coming from, and you basically like, your life is on auto pay, then you could plan. And like a lot of times poor people. The biggest thing that we fight against is being reactionary. It's hard to organize when you're reacting to everything all the time. And it's also hard to organize when the things you react, reacting to affect everybody differently because everybody's needs is not going to be met or they want. So when you have people that have 5 year, 10 year, 20 year plans, when you have people saying, okay, we're designing this cop city and it's going to be backed by these corporations and these corporations gonna peel off these politicians so that they can pass these things through and then something happens where a martial law gets put into effect. They already have all of the resources necessary to enact a martial law. So that's how I look at it.

[A]

Let me ask you a question.

[B]

What's up?

[A]

You just got me thinking about a number of things and just how like, like you said, how long these plans have been in effect to also contribute to what is like the waning of the black middle class or just any middle class. The middle class period like it's becoming like so much smaller and the poverty rate is increasing drastically basically and it's things like that and it's conversations like this because I feel pressure often to like come with some solutions. I'm brand new so you know, I try to give myself some grace because I don't know everything as many people don't just trying to put their foot in the door as far as like change goes. But something that I've been contemplating a lot is that my awakening as far as like liberation politics goes, like people been here before mentally like people have had the same realizations that I've had and almost like in order to a T. But I do wonder and so two things that makes me feel less pressure to figure it out but it also makes me a little bit worried because if people are doing this over and over again throughout time, are we, are we ever going to get ahead? But I wonder if with the advent of technology and more people being exposed to even conversations like this and we might not change everybody's mind, we might not even educate the people on all the stuff that we talking about in this one episode because some stuff is going to go in one ear and out the other. But do you think we might be in a phase where we can get ahead? Like do you think that mindset shift, we're able to perpetuate that on a larger scale than has been, than has been accessible to us before?

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

To get further.

[B]

Yeah. Well the groups change when individuals change. Like so it's like group thinking is very dangerous. Right. But it is also a very useful tool. But you, it has to be comprised of like integral, integral individuals that want to move things forward. So you, me and you know, young dudes at the gym, Van Lathan these people are. We're the new black media for people. And it's being approached in a way where we control the narrative. So I think that for one it's a beautiful thing that it doesn't need to be one person with all the answers. Right. But you need to have some fucking answers for me. So. So my solution based thing is with the trade schools and because it's a lived experience for me because I came from the street because I understand like what the pitfalls of society are for people who don't have skills, because I've experienced them. I've raised kids without skills and trying to hustle and do all this and that. And I know how big of a difference of life, having a skill made in my life and put me literally right here where I'm at. I know that I can advocate for that as an avenue for progress for people. Financial progress is a big thing, right? You know what I'm saying? Like you saying, if we having a shrinking middle class, how do you, how do you recreate a situation where people are having upward mobility? That's my solution to that. I don't have the answers for everything else. Right, but. But you go somewhere else and they have answers, right? And they have their perspective. And honestly, what we are in is in an era of perspective shifting, right? So like what you was talking about earlier where you was like, I'm just opening up my hands, I'm gonna let them take the wheel, right? I be telling people that all the time. Like I'm in, I'm in an attraction business. I don't do a whole bunch of chasing because if you chase something, that means running away from you. So I think that with where I'm at and who I am and that's being enough, I'm gonna see what come to me, right? So I think in our community we could benefit a lot from taking information, applying the information and see what come from it. Instead of always projecting what we think gonna go wrong. We have a lot of like projection about, well, when we tried this before, when we tried this before, it was like these different times, these different circumstances. And also we seen these things work, you know what I mean? So go back to doing what worked and then take the precautions around what destroyed it and what dismantled it. There's a lot of work that comes from the inside and divides us and puts us on the outs with each other. Anytime you start seeing black people online, showing each other love, talking, this is why I don't like that FBA talk and I don't like all that shit because you have situations where people are happy and they're having a cultural moment and then niggas start asking niggas where they from and where they grandma from and all this goof ass shit. And we getting away from the thing. We getting away from the thing, bro. The thing is about being prideful and things like that. So I think that it's a responsibility that we have as people in media and people with voices that people actually listen to to continue to be optimistic and push like not only just solution based things but like point out the problem, right? We can't solve shit. We don't know what the problem is, right? There is no solution without an address of the problem. So we also have to be trusting. And I think that that's something that I, I'm in that place where I'm extremely trusting on my audience that they can figure things out too. You know what I mean? I don't have to talk at people and tell people what to do. There's a. I can create a premise, I can set a premise and trust that these people are smart enough to bring their skills together. Other these are people listening to me. These ain't just numbers, they ain't just robots. These are people with lived experiences and perspectives and different skills and a multitude of professions and also like maybe are actionably doing things even if they not popular on social media, you know what I'm saying? There's people in organizing spaces with 400 followers because they, because they shit is like happening in real life and not on social media. So the things have to work in tandem with each other. And it shouldn't be just this thing of, you know, we're gonna trust the people with the biggest voices and they gotta figure everything out. Because it's also like I can't continue to bring you the message into perspective if I'm also over here solving all the problems too. That's how you like either get people burnt out or you lose public trust. Like you gotta do what you know you good at. You have to help in the spaces where you are. So that's why we big on like fundraising and mutual aid and things that we can use this platform to elevate certain situations. I ain't no politician, I don't desire to be. But I also am very receptive to the criticism from my audience or the perspectives from my audience that okay, well what if we tried it like this, you know what I'm saying? It could work. It might not. But it's also about building that community too offline where we can have like real honest discussions and people can offer things up. I'm extremely optimistic. I think we in like, you know, the thing is like all this shit new, you know what I mean? And newer things are coming. But I think that it also is going to take like an eradication of fear collectively from what can go wrong. And we need to start thinking about what's going to go right yeah, agreed.

[A]

You said a lot. I was, I was honestly just listening and take it in. But yeah, I think too, not only do we have to let. And maybe fear is just like the, the umbrella for everything, but I feel like I was talking to you about this when we was inebriated at my house.

[B]

Ginger candies. Go ahead.

[A]

What the gender candy is good. Any who. I'll have some more the next time you're there. We are also facing this like, lack of imagination. And the lack of imagination isn't necessarily our fault because we know what we've been exposed to. And what we've been exposed to is some people who have had the monopoly on imagination for 400 plus years. And the worlds they keep building with imagination are the same like, it's just different versions of one another. We can't do slavery no more. Okay. How can we continue to perpetuate shackles? How can we continue to perpetuate violence? How can we continue to perpetuate natal alienation? Like keep these people away from their, like isolate. How do we continue to perpetuate isolation and, and being miserable and whatever and not having a whole lot of options and strained dynamics within families because you know your mama is outbursts and got nothing to do with you. But what are you to do with that when you are still like developing your frontal lobe and having to make space for your mom's whatever because she can't afford the rent? So I say all that to say, like, we have to be willing to turn back in towards ourselves and let that imagination flow and go because we're going to have to detach ourselves from what we think reality. Reality does not have to be this fact. It doesn't have to be this. The only reason that we have poverty, quite literally. We don't have to have a homeless population. America's got the money for it, quite literally. Our teachers don't have to be so thankless and not get paid because the money is there. But also we don't have to live these lives where we pass each other on the street and we don't know each other and we don't speak and we have these like, whatever, premeditated like judgments or projections that prevent us from being in community. We don't have to live these lives where we have to go to the grocery store to get groceries and our bill be 200 when it's so much land out there for us, when it's people willing to teach us how to cultivate land. I was just doing a site visit down at the Acre Boys. And when I tell you that man, his name is Patrick Muhammad. Look up acre boys and acre boys farming. Acre boys be giving away, like, acres of land and teach them, like, people how to buy and flip and do stuff like that. Baker boys farming teaches people how to cultivate it. And he came down to Fairburn to get some land, and they got emus, alpacas, like. Like cats everywhere, horses, all these things. And he's just happy as a clam, like, feeding his chickens in the morning, walking around with his dogs, like, showing me where his stream is in the back. And he's got this school, Chattahoochee Hills School, that's like, in the woods, but it's so beautiful. It's all these. It's K through 8 charter school. And really, it wasn't even a black school in the beginning. It became a black school because of white flight, because white people are terrible and they're pussies. But it became this haven for these black kids to be invested in, not just with love, but also, like, agriculture and like. Like have tools and, like, skills when they leave. And they have all kinds of murals. And I can just go on and on about it, but you should just go see for yourself if they doing tours or whatever. But I say all that to say is his biggest worry. And it was so funny when me and my director were listening to him talk. His biggest worry is the beavers that be cutting down trees and, like, shutting off, like, the stream and stuff, trying to prevent the water from flowing. But he's got this. He's got a community of neighbors that quite literally just point to each other. They got to go get their eggs. Nowhere they are sustaining one another. And that's an imagination we refute. That's a imaginative capacity. I'm sorry. We refuse to let ourselves get to. Because we feel like we have to buy into what's sold to us. All these. All this new construction and all these new hot spots or whatever in the city. Like. Like, I'm. That's why I'm happy that rodeo culture is, like, making a comeback. Getting people back out the trail rides and just getting them more, like, invested in the land and the soil. Because we can live differently and we don't have to be subjected to the mayhem and despair that trying to buy into the system that they've imagined for us. So that was a long tirade to say we are on the precipice of, like, being about to look like it's never looked like for us, so we can't try to cling to or stay committed to a previous version of a life, you know? But that's also why I keep saying everywhere I go, we gotta be. We gotta know what each other needs so we don't feel lonely, so we don't feel desperate, so we don't feel too scared to try this other way.

[B]

Yeah, for sure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I think Afrofuturism is, like, a very big thing, right? Like, the imagining of a piece amongst ourselves, like a piece of creativity, a piece of community, a free politic of, like, white supremacy, basically. It's, like, really what it is. I think one of my bigger things for people and shifting perspectives is, like, all this, like, hodgepodging and like, like, like, like, like canoodling with your enemy and shit, bro. Like, I can't get with that, bro. Like, that be the biggest thing that be regressive. It's like putting faith in their enemy. And it's like, but you got no faith in your people. Like, how easy is it to acknowledge your folks when you see them? I'm. I'm like a big proponent of it. Like, I'm. I'm talking about a real way. Like, do you need help with your bags? Do you need, like, you know, I'm holding the door. I'm. I'm doing everything to create a bond and a trust and, like, at least a faith that we'll look out for each other and that we see each other when we see each other. I also, like, want to see, like, a mass exodus out of certain spaces. Like, why is still in California? Come back down south, bro. Come on back.

[A]

Really enjoy the. The Los Evangelists.

[B]

I ain't with you, man. Get on back down here. You're too far away, bruh. You too far away, bro. Come on back down here, bro.

[A]

I enjoy the weather.

[B]

Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit. Y' all all just some country. Y' all can post up. Y' all can just post up and stay where y' all at. But, like. And this is. This is like a reality, like, that doesn't exist. But it's just, like. I just see that for, like, creating our own cities and spaces where the land is underutilized, the politics are hyper local. We are in control of things without outside underutilization.

[A]

Because I drove past somewhere yesterday, I think, in Bankhead and was cleaned and tractors running, and I was like, what the.

[B]

How.

[A]

Where did y' all find this land? This land was not here before for y' all to be building. What are you building now? And probably some more houses. Atlanta is. It's not a Joke, y'. All. We're full.

[B]

Yeah, bruh. I've never seen have houses, right. They just throwing up, throwing up 2.

[A]

Inches next to somebody else.

[B]

You feel me? And it's like, that's not the. Well, it's also, like, not sustainable. It was never built to be like this. It's a Southern city. They're, they're, they have now, I think with all of the entertainment that's come here and this idea of a black mecca, they're trying to recreate like a Northeastern city. But that up there was built to be like that. Our downtowns in our midtowns don't look anything like Eastern and Midwestern midtown. It doesn't look the same. Like, it don't look like Chicago. Chicago looks very intentionally built and, but.

[A]

Also, like, the look is different, but like, the experience is different.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

There's no reason for you to pay up upwards of five to six thousand dollars to live in our midtown. There's no reason for that. I don't care how nice the building is.

[B]

I, I. Well, also, too, it's like, it looked good. What's the integrity of the building, though?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean? Like, and also, too, like, stop. Ain't no valet trash is like, stop doing that.

[A]

It's terrible news.

[B]

Why am I sitting garbage outside my door?

[A]

Terrible.

[B]

It always stings flies. What we doing next? Let's tighten that up. And, and this is how you know it's not. It's like, because don't know what to do. They don't know what they doing. It's like, oh, remember we start a valet trash service. No.

[A]

Just speaking of ballet, Parking is the biggest. I don't even know how we got here.

[B]

No. It's like we trying to imagine a better future. And this is how we do it, by criticizing the present in the past.

[A]

Parking lot. I guess. But parking is the biggest scam to ever hit the face of the planet.

[B]

Well, there's the extension that they put in the 285 is like, bruh, you already have the infrastructure for a better, more efficient MARTA system, and you just won't do it because you niggas is racist. It's really what it comes down to.

[A]

And being racist in Atlanta is crazy.

[B]

It's insanity. You're, like, literally surrounded by black excellence. And what you think. What do you think about yourself?

[A]

They're trying to divide us by class and insert whites here. And it's never all white people, but it's always white people.

[B]

You.

[A]

Did you see what I'm saying? You Know what I mean, what I'm saying?

[B]

I. I just, I. I do think that there is a possibility. It really is more so about what the goals of people are. Right. So on the surface, most people don't want to be in the public eye, but they strive for the public eye. Cause the public eye seems like where the money is, right? Most people don't necessarily. Like, a nigga might not give a fuck about being a linebacker, but he know that linebackers make money. So, like, my whole push towards trade and skilled trades is to give people an alternative perspective about how you can get money and how to make it sustainable. And then also compounds into local politics. It also compounds into a new generation of entrepreneurship. And that compounds into people shopping with local farms. Like, all of these things, they start, they seem very simple, but the more you do certain shit, the more you're exposed to certain different perspectives on life. And, like, contentment is like a real thing, but with the contentment. Like, being content with life requires a routine.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you just like all over the place and you just throwing at a wall and seeing what stick, you can never be content. So, like, I have a vision for myself and where I want to go because of what I've achieved. But I also understood, like, at one point in my life, I was good, bro. Like, when I started driving trucks and I was getting money, it's like, okay, well, the only thing I need to change about this is being away for so long. You know what I'm saying? And so I just worked my way into figuring that out. But because of who I am and how I speak and just being a nigga I always was, by me starting making content, it just created a new avenue for me. But that's not gonna be the case for most people. So I think that, that, you know, like, we got enough rappers. Ain't none of you new niggas really like, hitting on shit. For real. You ain't making no money off of streaming. We don't own the industry. We are due for a new genre. That's what niggas do. Every 30 years, we kind of make a new genre of music. So we probably gonna start to see a lot. And I would love to see a rise in, like, dance music. Like, just stop being so cool and just start cutting a rug again. They must fit again. Did you have a good time? It's back. I was hoping mainstream yet. Yeah, good.

[A]

You meant more like a wood Rico situation.

[B]

I mean that too.

[A]

Definitely a whoop. Rico ass in the cafeteria.

[B]

I believe it. I can See, when they start dancing, what we do, we heard they feel security step up. Yeah, yeah, I already know. I was with Rico ass in period because I went dancing, okay? We was wolfing Rico ass. He's out here whooping. Yeah, okay. Me and big Cat together. I'm just talking. I was a good kid, man. I wasn't bothering nobody. And I'm sticking to it. I think that there's a healthy. There's a healthy dialogue that needs to be had. This one right where we are talking and imagining a better future for one another and a better future for ourselves. And what does that look like? And not even idealistically like, there are actionable steps that we could take. Like, like sourcing things locally and things like that. But also like, who. Who going to raise the cows, nigga? Who going to raise the chickens? Who going to feed them? You got to be up at 5am to do that.

[A]

But it's. It's kind of a vibe. Like walking out his swim, I was like, dang, I kind of want to farm. Do this shit stank. Yes. But this is like really peaceful, you know, for sure.

[B]

I think there will be a day where I will have no presence publicly. Love that for you, you know what I mean? And I'm gonna be somewhere writing. I'm gonna be somewhere. I'm on some land. You did what I'm saying, like, I think that that's healthier, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

I. I am considering in a compound with my friends. We all got to get rich though.

[B]

But type, type, all I want is enough land to put a single house for each one of my kids on. As long as I accomplish that, then I'm good, you know what I mean? Everything else, and I do have like this dream studio, like a completely glass building temperature. Like temperature control. That shit hard, ain't it? N Being there, being creative as a bitch be hot. I mean, you said temperature control, no temperature control. That's the most important part. Remember that? But like, hell yeah. Not like a greenhouse. We ain't gonna be in that bitch cooking, you know what I mean? But like a temperature control situation where it's just an open airspace creatively for painting and music recording and a writing nook and like that, you know what I mean? I have like a lot of cool friends now. And like, it's like a lot of creative guys. Guys and gals.

[A]

Well, I won't say to where I want to be, but once I get to a point where I can do stuff like that, I'm not An outside goer anyway, but like inviting people over. And I was talking to somebody today just saying like a lot of the people that I spend my time with are people that I work with in some form or fashion because of what I do. I'm passionate about like everything that is work related is something that's a creative outlet for me. So hate that for people who ask me if I have hobbies because it's work. Yeah, yeah. I want to be able to create spaces like that here in the US but ever since I went to Saint Croix, I spent three days in St. Croix. It is so like unbothered as an island. It's not super tourist heavy, but it's just that out the way, not necessarily dejected, but out the way sort of lifestyle is still American enough for me to shop at the grocery store and know what the hell I'm getting and still make some stuff that's familiar but would love me a house on one of them mountains.

[B]

Felt that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you. How do you feel about people that feel like we should be making an exodus out of the country?

[A]

I think everything's fair game. I think. I think everything's fair game. I think if you have. I spent time talking to Richie. That was the next video I posted after yours. He's got this plan to take back to Namibia and when I tell you he's thought of everything, there's, there's sections and, and what does he call them? Departments for everything. I don't know. He's got a maritime department. He's got a construction department. Just like like thinking of jobs for people and also how to make sure we assimilate into Namibian culture and don't try to like overtake or whatever like education programs to decolonize you on the way there. Granted, he want to get on boats to do that. I said, sir, you want us to re traverse the transatlantic slave route to get in Namibia? And he was talking about reclaiming that.

[B]

That.

[A]

But anyway, I do things like really.

[B]

Relinquishing that fear of water.

[A]

I just meant specifically going from America to Africa. I mean what kind of that straight.

[B]

You know what I mean? Like technology up though.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

I mean you being on the boat give you a lot of time to.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Decompress, you know, I mean that's a.

[A]

30 day trip to educate the people.

[B]

That's a smart move.

[A]

Yeah, I think. And he's.

[B]

I mean they got over here on some so stuff. You know what I mean? Like ain't like we're taking a Wooden boat. Yeah.

[A]

I mean but stack on top of each other. No, I get it. It's just, it's. It's something to think about. Something to like sort of express.

[B]

Need a 30 days of peace. You know what I mean? Like imagine the first day or two you're gonna be high stress. You know what I'm saying? And you know the water is very powerful. Water is extremely powerful. But I think that in the moments of the calm. I don't know how many people have ever had moments of calm.

[A]

Probably make them lose their mind for a second. So you're right. It'll be. I think it might be a couple days before you can like the classes will start to lose it a little bit. So you got to bake in some time for to lose it and then come back around.

[B]

Yeah. Because once you out there, can't just turn them off around, bro. We got a full steam ahead, baby.

[A]

You want to be buried in the sea with your ancestors like killmonger.

[B]

It's gonna be some people like that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You gotta account for that.

[A]

To your question though, I think it's all possible for sure. Y' all just have to think things are possible. And the conversation he and I, how we ended it was everybody doesn't have to do everything. Everybody has to do something facts. So if that's what you want to do, like commit to that. I am a person and I feel like miss Tina B on Instagram. Her name is Christina.

[B]

I know you talking about.

[A]

Yeah, I think she said something about she's really invested in a downfall of her opps and me as well. As far as like white people here in America. I like to see.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

Exactly. Exactly.

[B]

I'm absolutely invested. In fact, I'm over invested for sure. For sure. I made an entire platform about it.

[A]

Absolutely, absolutely. People say them I'm actively participating in that.

[B]

I'm on that bro. Like boy. And I can't wait. I can't wait. The T grizzly going to come on first.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'mma have on buffs and going to be made out of 24 karat gold. I ain't going to be able to see out them.

[A]

I like as a. As a creator who's been able to to see what a different type of paycheck looks like. I've definitely been imagining like different options for myself. Like I'd love to get to get land and build a home in Ghana or anywhere. If I. I just went to an African wedding. So I'm down to marry any African man.

[B]

Oh yeah. That's that's, that's your vibe. That's your beat right now. I seen you saying that I have to marry an African.

[A]

Well the original man. The wedding were immaculate. And if anything me and my, my black American husband just have to agree to make everybody participate in the money spray if we gonna be tight shit.

[B]

We can get that done. We can get that done. That easy. It's easy, bro. That's one, that's one little, that's one little year to me. Like jump the broom, throw that cash correct.

[A]

That's how I feel.

[B]

No, that's, that's easy call. I think we should first of all, this thing.

[A]

Thing. Okay.

[B]

Black people do whatever the you want to do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Stop adhering to. Who said you had to wear white at the wedding, right? Who said that? You have to understand, you understand that we are saying like that the, the, the reality that you live in was somebody's idea, right? So what's your idea? Oh and why aren't you enacting those ideas?

[A]

My God today.

[B]

Because one thing about me, nigga, I got a lot of ideas.

[A]

And we.

[B]

Wanna see them thing come to fruition. I'm gonna make sure that shit happen. And it starts with knowing who your enemy is, nigga. And stop trying to canoodle. That's a good word with your enemy.

[A]

I must retract my earlier statement. Any African man is crazy.

[B]

I know you've been over there festering. I can't say any.

[A]

Tried to.

[B]

Nah. Yeah. Cause the Nigerians they really fuck with my part. You know what I'm saying? O the Ghanaians, they all. I mean, you know, I'm very diaspora for it.

[A]

I say I said that to say I'd be down to go anywhere on the content that will have me. Because the reality is there is still some contention about whether certain cultures just their beliefs about black Americans. Then you find out northern Africans are still actively participating in slave trades and dark skinned people no matter where they come from. And just, just being smart about where we go. Anyways, I said I know Ghana is asking black people to come back.

[B]

So we're gonna focus on West Africa right now.

[A]

West Africa. Ghana is making programs for people to come back. I think Burkina Faso is inviting people to come over. But also what you gotta. We just did an episode on this as well. Like you gotta have knowledge about what the policies are there. Because some countries are still really regressive in their treatment towards women or women's rights. Rights. The treatments of queer folk and their rights. So it's. I Mean, it's one of those questions, if we leave here, how many places do we have to go and do we have the resources? And Richie was talking about even like already having ideas about foreign relations and different currencies and stuff to make sure black Americans are protected. So again, I think anything's possible, but me specifically, I'm set and I'm trying to see what we can do with this right here.

[B]

Yeah, that's my feeling too.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So my thing is this. If you flee from an abuse of power without resistance, then wherever you land, you will recreate that abuse of power. Because that's the only way you've seen power used. I. E. Cubans.

[A]

And I think too, if you flee from the American abuse of power, you just leave room for America to continue to do and perpetuate it on other nations.

[B]

This is a issue that they're having in Mexico right now. So also, you know, when in wrong, bro, like, you gotta really be mindful of the fact that like, you not you're leaving America. And I think that people want to leave places. And then it's like New Yorkers, like, you know what I'm saying? No shade to big cat. It's just like, it's a stereotypical New York thing. It was like, yo, they ain't got pizza. Like it's three in the morning, son. What we gonna eat Waffle House or go home?

[A]

Leave us alone.

[B]

So, but that, that on a, on a macro scale is just trying to recreate American culture because that's what you comfortable with. Like, if you really hate the empire, don't recreate it. And, and be open minded to like, new ways and new ideals and new cultures and ways of living. But also, like, for, for those who are here, don't be so willing to like, be online and be of resistance online and then go big for Christmas.

[A]

All right, man, I like a little Christmas tree. Now.

[B]

I'm talking about the economic aspect of it. Yeah, just don't ball out. Like, we're gonna talk about that next episode. Like, okay, we can't just like, oh, yeah, Target. Like boycott Target and you just gonna get them all their money back in the fourth quarter because you and auntie. Because you and auntie can't stand each other. So y' all want to buy more gifts than the other? Like, bro, tighten it up, turn it up.

[A]

Where have you been going besides Target? That's been like a little adventure for me.

[B]

I was never really a Target anywhere. I was always been a Walmart, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

You still in there?

[B]

I'll be in there.

[A]

Okay. I'm just asking because the point of my question was just like, I mean any store that is like, like a catch all, like convenience has everything in it. It just kind of makes you think where you have to go now. So I wanted a new sketchbook for me to write in. Usually would just go on the Target aisle and pick up a sketchbook. They got one or two in there. Now where I'm find a sketchbook either I order it online and I don't really feel like waiting.

[B]

So Michaels is a good spot.

[A]

Michaels. I went to Blick Art Materials to find a sketchbook. Was it a little bit more expensive? Yes. Been going to Ulta to get like my self care products. Like just trying to find, they don't make it easy, but it is a, it's definitely a adventure and a learning experience to figure out what your alternatives are in your community to go get the stuff that you need.

[B]

I think the biggest cost that people are going to have to pay for anything is inconvenience. The inconvenience cost. It's a hard one, like, you know what I'm saying? If you. I'm balling on a budget, bro. You go to that Dollar Tree, they got some in there, you know what I'm saying? Especially your toiletries and stuff. I'm Dollar Tree, baby. My mom used to take me to doll. So I, I, I, I'm a, I'm not a fan of the Dollar General because it'd be too many of them, but I am a family Dollar. My daddy used to work a family, so they're not the same. Slick, but not really.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You know what I'm saying? You can see that yellow. Anyway, okay, you could go, you can go to the middle of nowhere. If it's a town of 200, it's gonna be a Dollar General.

[A]

It's one down the street from my dad.

[B]

They're a little too much over there, bro. Like it's, it's too many of them, bro. I can't trust you, bro.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

You know what I'm saying? Also, there's a debate and a dispute going on right now about how Cisco has monopolized the food industry. So that's why all the food tastes the same at restaurants.

[A]

See, I thought she was talking about Drew Hill.

[B]

No, but we can get into that.

[A]

I was like, cisco, what does Cisco do?

[B]

I said, I like the way that said, I don't think you heard me. That was mesmerized by a little garment of clothing. Boy, that little garment had that tripping. Hey, what's my. What's my. Though that Drew Hill song I be playing all the time. That ain't it, man. What's the one? Cause that's it. Yeah, you know that's my shit, man. They. They went crazy on there. Shout out to Minnesota legend, man. Cisco bro. You know what I'm saying? My. From the waters of Lake Manka. You feel me?

[A]

What's that for him?

[B]

What you got going on? Oh, we f. To rap.

[A]

What I got going on? Yeah. Well, we. We rolling out the last few episodes of the people's brief, so make sure you check out our final episodes. I'm the most proud of these episodes. Like everybody, first season is a season where you just try shit. And I'm really grateful to have been able to try shit, but I'm having a lot more fun.

[B]

What's the posting schedule for that?

[A]

We've been on hiatus. I had to. But we're in a great place right now. But. So we're on hiatus. I don't know when we get back on air. I think I have this special with Stacey Abrams coming next week.

[B]

Shout out to Stacey Abrams.

[A]

Yeah. But after that I get to play a lot more. I'm having a lot more fun in these last few episodes, so make sure you catch that. That. I also am releasing a mixtape. It was going to be an album. Clearances became a headache and the. The funding that I had I really want to put towards this short film. Somebody put together some fire visuals that we're going to release over the holidays. You know, people don't usually. Everybody's quiet then. So I. I hope to take over your computer screens and your phone screens with my art. Having a really good time.

[B]

Are you gonna spit some bars?

[A]

Indeed. A little bit piquinto.

[B]

That's not how you say that.

[A]

But.

[B]

Nah, that's fine.

[A]

Do I have anything else going on? I feel like I always got something. But as far as putting stuff out, publishing stuff, I think that's it.

[B]

Would you ever write a book?

[A]

Maybe I'm figuring out what it is. I'm averse to writing a book early in my career just to have something to put out. Granted, a little advance would be nice, but I. I don't like.

[B]

We can get that money, man. Fuck that. We gotta get that money, man. But I don't get linnae in advance. Before we come holler at your whole little. Who burn all your books now. What you talking about?

[A]

What? You said give me advance.

[B]

You said advance. Right, yeah.

[A]

Who'd you say to give in advance?

[B]

You.

[A]

Oh, no. Who'd you tell to give me an advance?

[B]

Anybody who can do it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

We just threatening in mass. You know what I'm saying? That's how we get down. We. We use the sawed off around here.

[A]

Oh. Ah.

[B]

Everybody get hit? I might have just ruined your chances. Well, you wanted me to put a specific name on it.

[A]

Yeah, that's why I was asking. Go behind him. Be like he was just playing.

[B]

Nah. Yeah. I'm just around.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I don't know nothing about that.

[A]

No.

[B]

You know what I'm saying?

[A]

But I mean, you know, who knows what? I'm not doing too much looking into the future. I'm letting. I'm. I'm being present. I'm letting each day teach me something.

[B]

So do have to be a vice president to be a guest on parking lot pimping?

[A]

I don't do guests on parking lot pimping. It got too hard cuz I do it by myself. I know, right? What I'm saying, right?

[B]

Are you open to having a guest on there?

[A]

Sure. It'll be the first time in a long time. Come through. Come through. We do it early in the morning on Friday though. Okay. Yeah. I come from Douglasville to the north side.

[B]

I gotta do that anyway. Yeah. Don't be just. You know what I mean. This has been episode 95, Grishnay's podcast with my guest, Lynn Avenue. You know the drill. Deontay deontay kyle.com for all your emails for booking and inquiries. Adviceyontechile.com for the advice. NMM that's New Music Monday. NMM for all your music submissions. New Music Monday nmmtekyle.com if you have any issues with your merch and shit like that. Supportiontekyle.com $8 Patreon decrease in a podcast 657234 x 657-234-3447 Call us not 281-330-800 that part.

[A]

Wow. What the calling you for?

[B]

They be leaving voicemails. Yeah. And then when we do our stream, that ain't number $8 when we do the stream. So when we do the stream we open it up and then they can call and talk to us directly.

[A]

Oh, I love that.

[B]

Yeah, it's on Patreon so it's like, like it's very like quaint. Ain't a whole bunch of in there, you know, cooler. 85, 95 hunted. Depending on how well we promote it.

[A]

That's still good. It's great. Yeah.

[B]

We just having a good time in there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you have something else that you want to put?

[A]

You can just follow me everywhere at Lenavin. E, L, Y N A E V A N E E. That's me type.

[B]

All right, well, you know, we never know how to say goodbye, so. Bye. That's what I'll be giving up, too. I'll be giving that one up, too.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. All right. Well, see you next week, man. Big Cat, you want to come say something to the people? Yeah, man. Follow Big Cat, Big Ice Cupcake on Tick Tock. He's been on there doing his dj, you know what I'm saying? We getting in preparation for grist names, radio period. We'll see y' all next time, man.

[A]

It's just raps.

[B]

I just want to rap, you know? I just want to. Yeah.

[A]

They say without the proper labor, faith don't stand a chance.

[B]

I put my faith in faith and stand on fertile land I planted seeds that'll indeed turn into trees before rest in peace tease get printed to me.