Speaker 0 00:00:00 Expressed in this program are the opinions of the people expressing them and are not necessarily those of fresh air incorporated its staff or its board of directors.
Speaker 2 00:00:19 You can burn a whole thing down. I don't care if you are uncomfortable, we can burn a whole thing down. Couldn't care about a another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Y'all don't really care about a brother till we burn all thing down.
Speaker 2 00:00:41 Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let it burn. Extended quill. Yah, I bet you will tried to skip a They've been lynching us in till and that's really freaking generous cuz honestly they have been killing us since we were property. No stopping me from saying how it is. Listen, ain't the whizz, ain't no easing down the road where we lived at the bids. We can't go out for a jog. Marisa swim. Fuck a dog. Fall asleep in the car, fall asleep where we live. So we about to let it burn just like gusher say they be trying but let do not care what gusher say. Put him back. Screams up, make a few bucks. My life is in market then. Yo. Who you think you trying to play Mom? I like the better when like nerdy was all fun and stuff.
Speaker 2 00:01:22 This is really angry. Like don't you think you said enough? Well that's freaking tough cause I'm being loud and the people are not playing with you now. Yeah, you can burn a whole thing down. Yeah. Yeah. I don't care if you are uncomfortable. We can burn a whole thing down. You can burn a whole thing down. Couldn't care about another zone. You can burn a whole thing down. Burn down, down. Y'all don't really care about a brother until we burn our whole thing down. Burn it down, down. Yeah. We about to go to work. Yeah, we about to let
Speaker 3 00:01:54 It burn. No, come on The Youngs what I'm focused on. I'm so old then go then. I ain't know you was talking about Pokemon, but I'm more like me and nerdy next to a burndown system with a candle of gas and a handful of matches and know we ain't miss some famous. Now my mission ladies be so here watching all the leaders leading banking Nona Minions. But we taught you enough to take us and we give into survivors city liars making black people compliant. <laugh> Coon Rapids. Who are you asking? I'm proof Cruc survive the boomba trick bro. Ethics got me laughing at your message. And in Black Lives Matter. You would not get so defensive. We got cops and ths and robberies and gas light us. We are not the same. We on the scene we pass typing cuz y'all don't care about us and we ain't come to ask. We just mind up business in and people be so stuck and mad. So pass the gun and mask and pass the athe. Nu Y'all can really kill us for anything. Y'all just bend the lost the same performance art, the same performative saving the racist header norm. It is. You
Speaker 2 00:02:52 Can burn burn the burn the
Speaker 3 00:02:53 Whole thing
Speaker 2 00:02:53 Down. I don't care if y'all uncomfortable, we can whole thing down. You can burn it, burn it, burn it down. Couldn't care about it. Not a zone. You can burn a whole thing down down. Y'all don't really care about it brother, until we burn whole thing down. Burn it down. Yeah, we about to go to work. Yeah, we about let it burn.
Speaker 4 00:03:41 All right. Views from the ground. Views from the damn ground views from the ground views from the damn ground views from the ground views from the damn ground. And that's on that, on that, on that. All right, welcome back. So welcome back to the show y'all. So, uh, we are going to start off, uh, with our weekly news segment.
Speaker 5 00:04:03 All right. So we are gonna start by talking about a hard subject but on everyone's minds and things. So we're gonna talk about the Uvalde uh, school, excuse me, school shooting last Tuesday. And 18 year old gunman stormed into Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas ending the life of 19 students. And two teachers three are still in critical condition, including the grandma of the gunman who was shot in the face, which started the rampage. This is the second deadliest shooting in US history after SA Sandy Hook in 2012, which took us 26 lives. Um, and yeah, like it's one of those things. Is it really news? We're all thinking about it. It's not that new.
Speaker 6 00:04:52 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. I've heard like seen tweets today that said that there's been like a handful of school shootings since then, but it's just so common that they've never even made national hand headlines at this point. So
Speaker 5 00:05:06 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, my heart just hurts cuz it's like these kids were just celebrating their achievement at a, um, honor rolls ceremony earlier that day. And that's a lot of the last memories that the parents have is, you know, celebrating them saying, I'll see you later. And then they don't. And it's just like, ugh. It's hard cuz there's just so many like people that I've checked in on that have just been reduced to tears and people in the education field. It just angers and saddens me that the next thing to make sure something like this doesn't happen isn't something that we all can agree to like quickly mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and something needs to happen like expeditiously. That is very clear. Um, I think Nina Simone said like, what does it mean to be free? It's like no fear. And I think everyone's scared. I mean, we are all scared in different ways and it's like, how can we get a bit closer to that? Uh, there's still so much coming out about how the police responded to the event. Um,
Speaker 6 00:06:16 And the lack of response. Yes.
Speaker 5 00:06:18 Their lack of response.
Speaker 4 00:06:20 Well, I mean, it wasn't a lack of response, it was a lack of response to the right folks
Speaker 5 00:06:25 That's on that. Like, and that's the other thing where a lot of people are just so upset, um, you know, saying how they didn't do their job when in my opinion, they they showed us exactly exactly what their job entails and exactly how it's not about protecting life. And it's not, it's not what they say it was. I mean, the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that that's not what they have to do. They don't have to protect us. They, someone wrote that it's about maximizing control while minimizing their risk. And that's exactly what we saw. Um
Speaker 6 00:07:02 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 4 00:07:04 Yeah. That's exactly what we saw. So, uh, and you know, it's just one of those things where it's like protect to serve who, you know what I mean? Like, like who are they protecting? Like, so
Speaker 5 00:07:16 Poverty.
Speaker 6 00:07:17 Yeah. And, and at that point it's like, you know, people always get into the defund, the police like argument and whatever, but like they have so much money, they have so much guns. They have all this armor, they have all this, and they still were too afraid to go into the, into the room. So how much more money, money's not gonna solve that problem. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, again, it leads to a bigger question with bigger answers and bigger conversations that need to be had
Speaker 5 00:07:42 Or even training. They, in March they had a specific mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, active shooter training saying Stop the dying. And that was in March? That was in March. This population is only 13,000. So really small in like Minnesota standards. I couldn't even, I think Hopkins is probably the closest like city to that. And 40% of their city budget for their 13,000 people is for the cops. Just literally for the cops. So it's not a money thing, it's not a training thing. It's a, we really need to turn our mind and understand like what these people are here to do, not what we want them to do. And so many people are devastated because it's like, how could they do nothing? And I'm not, I'm devastated in a different sense because it's just frustrating cuz there's so much to be said about this situation. Cause some people are calling for, you know, gun control all the way. And some people are countering that. Are we going to get gun control for the people but not for the police. I'm not giving 'em up my gun as the cops aren't going to be, you know, regulated in some sense. And this is why I am for community control of the police. Cause if they're going to exist, we need to be able to have a say in how those protocols go and what, what they're doing in our communities and how they're protected.
Speaker 4 00:09:00 Yeah. I, and I think that's a great point that like, we do need to see gun control, but we also need to see like, you know, uh, gun control for the cops. You know, cuz we see them doing a lot of these murders of, of black and brown folks, and so it needs to come to a stop as well, so
Speaker 5 00:09:19 Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and in places that do have like heavy gun control for citizens, but the cops, uh, can have access. We see the cops brutalizing, like we exactly like we know it to be, so it's not a it Yeah. It's not just that easy just to say, oh, well give them the right authority and training and then they'll be the good guy with the gun. They're, they're still the bad guy with the gun.
Speaker 6 00:09:43 Yeah. And, and the last thing that I want to say about, uh, this topic is, you know, everyone has their own opinion on how we, uh, better these situations or get rid of these situations altogether, but we have to realize that this is a primarily American problem. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Um, this doesn't happen anywhere else. So what do we have that's different than anywhere else? And I mean, I think you can all ask yourself that question and come up with very similar or close to similar answers. So
Speaker 4 00:10:14 Yeah. As someone, as a international news junkie, this is a, this is definitely a very American problem. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and people just like move on and it's just really sad to see this cycle, you know? So.
Speaker 6 00:10:29 Yeah. And, and, and, and you said like living in fear, right? Like that's what freedom is. Not living in fear, but people call us the land of the free, but our children can't go to class. And we also have the most incarcerated people per capita. So I mean, what, what is freedom really?
Speaker 4 00:10:45 And who is free mm-hmm. <affirmative>, quote unquote.
Speaker 5 00:10:47 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so moving on. Um, last, um, Tuesday, um, the, excuse me, bipo City employees, um, spoke out against, uh, mayor Fry's appointment of the news, um, of Heather Johnston to the city coordinator position. Uh, so the city coordinator assists the mayor and the city council in defining policy, establishing priorities. Uh, they support, uh, department heads and, um, just the, they support department heads through direct management of internal service departments. Uh, Johnston has been serving as the interim city count, or excuse me, city coordinator, uh, since August of last year. Uh, so this would be like the official nomination. It is one of the highest ranking non electoral positions in city Hall. Um, and in the last, uh, eight years, there have been four different city coordinators. Uh, so last Tuesday, uh, 30 or more, uh, employees came together, uh, and they sent a letter, letter to Fry and the city council, um, stating that they do not believe that the interim city coordinator should be retained in any, uh, leadership position, uh, within the city of Minneapolis.
Speaker 5 00:12:05 Um, the staff talked about frustrations of insufficient response, uh, response and concerns over toxic, racist and unsafe working conditions. Um, and they sent her like a 16 page document, um, detailing like all of this timeline of what she didn't do, how she didn't help in this situation. Like all the receipts one kid need <laugh>. It was just like say, you ain't really, really try to say you're not doing this <laugh> if you want to. Like, op-eds were written like it was a lot. Um, and so the, um, so some of the city council members spoke out about it, uh, and, um, city council member Waley, uh, and Elliot Payne and Jason Chavez, um, were wearing the more outspoken folks of, um, questioning that appointment. And, um, saying like, based on, they had about two hours of testimony. Like I couldn't catch the whole thing, but it was very long testimonies of these, um, these employees describing their experience, uh, and just like demanding that, you know, this, this position just not to be given to her to, um, be ineffective and like to affect the lives of a group that it has already affected so negatively.
Speaker 4 00:13:28 Yeah. And yeah. And they did a protest too, didn't they? Or March, or? No.
Speaker 5 00:13:35 Okay. Um, there was, I mean, my understanding there was like a press conference Tuesday, a press conference. Yeah. Uh, and then on Thursday they encouraged folks to support them wearing black, um, to the city council meeting. Um, and at that meeting, uh, it was determined or voted that the decision would be delayed. So we still don't have an answer, uh, on that. Yeah. But it was really, um, great showing unity and, uh, within the city staffing and people who were former employees were there also telling, describing why they had to leave and how they don't want, um, this to continue to happen to others and how they love their job and the environment like that impacts us all our mental health, our physical health, everything. And to hear them come together to speak up about that was just very cool to see and listen to. Uh, right. And so, just a recap to wrap us up. Last week there were so many different events. Um, last Wednesday, May 25th, mark, the two year angel anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Um, please check out our interview with Mile Alicia, um, and Huda. Uh, it was great to have them and they gave some great insight, uh, into what George Floyd Square meant to them, uh, as community, um, and as caretakers. Um, so on Wednesday there was a street sign unveiling, uh, with his family and, um, other elected officials, <laugh>. Um, yeah,
Speaker 4 00:15:08 It was, it was a
Speaker 5 00:15:09 Lot. Um, yeah, DJ <laugh>,
Speaker 4 00:15:12 I, I felt like there, yeah, there was a decent amount, a couple of hundred of people there. Uhhuh <affirmative>, um, a, a good amount of them were politicians. So, um, I did not, I did not like that <laugh>, but coming to get their photo shoots for the, um, for the year and, you know.
Speaker 5 00:15:30 Yeah. Um, they're,
Speaker 4 00:15:33 Yeah. There were some, I remember I, when I was there, I saw Mayor Fry too. Did you? Yeah. I You
Speaker 6 00:15:41 Saw Mayor
Speaker 4 00:15:41 Fry? Yeah, I saw Mayor Fry. I asked him why he was there, you know, you know, saying that he hasn't really done much, just
Speaker 5 00:15:47 The questions to
Speaker 4 00:15:48 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, make sure that there won't be another George Floyd that happened. So, and, um, you know, instead of like talking to me or having a conversation, he had his, um, armed security, the Minnesota Freedom Fighters that was letting them around the square and Agape, um, started yelling at me. The Freedom Fighters started pushing me with their AKs. Um, I know they pushed, um, um, unicorn riots journalists, um, Niko
Speaker 5 00:16:17 Yeah. You guys can go run that back. It was, um, yeah, it was a back and forth. We didn't do anything, but I just recorded you doing it. <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 6 00:16:25 It was a interesting show of, of how, um, the people who hold power in this city use underserved people to, uh, help retain their power mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, and try to do so by breaking up communities and, and pinning people against each other. People that you used to be in community with are now working directly with the people who oppress you in your community. And, um, mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they've done a very good job of making things difficult. Uh, but yet, uh, the fight continues and community is still community. And, and we will continue doing what we can, but they do a real good job of making it hard.
Speaker 4 00:17:05 <laugh> Yeah. And, and that's why I try to remind myself of, it's like, you know, it's not about going up there out there and find another black members of the community because, you know, they're in the same situation that all us, uh, you know, oppressed people are, you know?
Speaker 5 00:17:21 Yeah. I want to,
Speaker 4 00:17:22 It's just really frustrating. So
Speaker 5 00:17:24 Be able to have conversations about it is where I'm frustrated. It's like, oh, yeah. It's, it's very dynamic. It's very complex. Uh, and we, we gotta be able to talk that you are protecting our oppressor at the end of the day. Yeah. Ah, so that's not cute.
Speaker 6 00:17:41 And, and not to make excuses for anybody, but living in a capitalist like capitalist system. Absolutely. Everyone has a price. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, when they found the people whose price was just right. And, and it's real unfortunate, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, people gotta eat. People got bills to pay mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it shows the ugliness of humanity and what that can turn into. Yeah.
Speaker 5 00:18:01 And that's something our movement has always had to struggle against mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and our leaders, they, you know, they get killed and then others get co-opted into some mess. And it's, it's, yeah. Something that I think, yeah, I think I like our conversation about it. Uh, and I want more people to have conversations about it. So there was a vigil later in the night, uh, the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center had a special fire pour. There were also liberations poured for those that wanted to participate mm-hmm. <affirmative> on Thursday to share a, hosted an event, uh, for impacted families. And then on Friday there was a gala, uh, us working class folks. Didn't get to go to the gala, but That's okay. <laugh>. <laugh>, totally fine. <laugh>. Um, and then Saturday there were so many different things, like, I'll just it out. It was all day event. There was a drum circle, there was spoken word by our dear friend Brandon here. Yay. <laugh>.
Speaker 6 00:18:57 Thank you. Thank you, thank you. It was all,
Speaker 5 00:18:59 It was good. It was good. There was a conscious fashion show. So many vendors, like, it was, it was an event. It was a beautiful, it was a wonderful weather.
Speaker 4 00:19:08 You know, the concert was amazing and the Minnesota Orchestra came. That was, that was, that was interesting. So mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh,
Speaker 5 00:19:16 Yeah. A lot of different groups came together, groups, organizations, uh, came together to commemorate. And I just, it was, it was a good Saturday. So, yeah,
Speaker 6 00:19:27 I think leave it up to black folks in particular, but like, people of color and just, just the way that they can make beauty out of something that was so ugly. Um, it's a true testament to mm-hmm. <affirmative>, our character and how we, uh, uh, humanize, uh, the, the vi in humanity that have been done onto us. So, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:19:47 Yeah. Wow. With that being said, um, we're gonna move on to our segment. Um,
Speaker 6 00:19:55 Yeah. Uh, well, it looks like we are back to, uh, words of freedom, which is a segment here on Views from the ground, views
Speaker 4 00:20:03 From the damn ground.
Speaker 6 00:20:04 Ooh. We two once in and they finally get it. Uh, where we give local poets a chance to free their minds, free their hearts, and liberate their souls with their words of freedom. And this month we have Aria Jamma, uh, who is an 18 year old poet and climate justice organizer from North Minneapolis. We're gonna listen to a couple of her poems. Um, the first one we will listen to is, I want to write and Tell My hands Fall off.
Speaker 7 00:20:33 I want to write until my hands fall off, or maybe until the back of my tongue spits out in anger. Some days when I write, I am a vulture taking and taking from everything around me. When the earth under me cries out in rage, I can't help but fall to my knees. There is so much here, this abandoned road, these fallen trees. There are animals seeking refuge. I have nothing to offer, but words whispered, confessions in the glory of God, the destruction of humans. When a news article is published about another injustice I've reached for my pen, if I cannot give my body, then I will give this a champ. A praise, sometimes meaningless words on notebook pages. When a firework is erupted, I will not write about its colors, red, white, blue. If another president is elected, I will not praise them. Thanks for nothing there is little good to write about. When they kill me, they will ask of this inspiration, the jagged memories that have made imprint on my art. Tell them, the animals spoke to me of the ruins and the deaths. Tell them I watered the soil with ink. And in it there was life.
Speaker 6 00:21:47 And this next piece we'll listen to is titled Misplaced Love.
Speaker 7 00:21:53 Take me home to the mouth of the river, spitting out a thousand spears. And take me to the high tops, the countryside of Northern Minnesota. Let's sit a top unmarked graves and shattered bones. Eat fried bread. And I fish all while looking at the stars. Drive us through the city of lakes. Pretend there's no drowning here. And take us to the wall of rebirth where names are no longer of people. But memories teach the school children not to of the stolen language, but pure American pride. Show them how to lift the curls of their mouth into a smile, but not how to say sorry. Minnesota nice is a comedic phrase. We offer condolences through small talk and prayers. Maybe the city is the joke, or maybe it's us. Take me home to the opening of fire. Throw away the extinguisher. Not everything burning needs. Saving this place, this place would put wildfires to shame the wave. Flames carry through the months crossing the rivers and breaking the ice. There is no Minnesota winter that containment. I once dreamed of my home as lilac bushes and cherry blossoms, wishing the seasons could change to see them sprout. I do not know what to dream of anymore. Some days I see ashes and others I see waves. This home is so different from the weight it was once praised, but there is nowhere else to go. So take me home. Home to my burning city.
Speaker 6 00:23:22 This next piece is titled Floating.
Speaker 7 00:23:26 We Stay Floating Caressing Skin Under the Deep Ocean Blue. We stay existing in three second photo snaps and video clips. Honestly, I can't picture times like this where life is slow burning and we don't try to resist to stay cruising through life in little increments. I once once wanted to be the oldest in a room with life lessons and understanding to pay my dues. But lately, time isn't a shadow I'm trying to outrun. So instead, we stay focused on the present. No need to press skip. Appreciating adolescence. My youth is what I got to give. Writing truths into the ground. These are words I have to spill. So trust when I say they'll hear me loud through the speakers and across the towns, I will pave away. Leave this world with something. Reminders to stay float.
Speaker 6 00:24:15 Next. We have your unknowns have not defined you.
Speaker 7 00:24:21 Your unknowns have not defined you. Somewhere in eighth grade, we are studying geography. There are seven continents. 71% of Earth is covered with water. You're floating in the back of the classroom somewhere in freshman year. Your science teacher tells you that for every action, there's an opposite reaction. You're trying to make sense of what this means in the world. Somewhere in junior year, you're learning how to public speak from a zoom room. Your teacher tells you that trust is the essence of being successful. We have not traveled the world or swam in every ocean. We're still trying to learn what actions call for another or how to gain trust in unfamiliar spaces. Somewhere in your bedroom there are Post-Its and polar words and forgotten books. Somewhere on the wall there is a ticking time bomb. But the future is not a thousand miles away. It is here. And the unknowns are not hidden within the 29% of land that exists, or the color coded bookmarks in your room today. You are learning that every moment in time is defining and changing and exhilarating. Hold on to these ripped.
Speaker 6 00:25:29 So that was, uh, aria Jamma. Um, you're gonna hear more and more of her poetry throughout this month. Um, if you want to follow her on Instagram, her her poetry page is jus journal. That's spelled J u w a R i A S Journal, Aria's Journal. So look her up, uh, if you'd like. And you'll hear more from her if you, uh, stay tuned these next coming weeks.
Speaker 4 00:25:56 Yeah. And thank you for, um, bringing, um, her on the show. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, such wonderful poetry. Moving on. Next what we're gonna do is we're gonna jump straight into, um, uh, the Nerdy Spotlight. So take it away. Nerdy.
Speaker 2 00:26:13 Hello everyone. It's your boy Nerdy. And I am back again with the Artist Spotlight. Every month here at Views From the Ground, we like to highlight a particularly talented artist from our community and let you know what's going on. This month ain't no different because the artist we have picked for you has talent stacked on talent. I'm talking about the one and Only Juice. Lord, juice Lord is easily one of our top hip hop prospects bringing fire track after track. So it's easy to see why this next title is called
Speaker 1 00:26:42 Town's Favorite.
Speaker 8 00:26:51 Yo-yo. Hey, town's favorite. Being there. Still there. What we talking about?
Speaker 8 00:27:04 That's what I'm saying. Let's get it. Hey Sha, let me paint this canvas for the ones that don't know where I come from. Full of block will be the home of the unsung stories. Untold pass aways block. With the old heads made due and set up shop. I got a lot of fun plate, but it's off where I reside. The difference is my reach expand the size. Recipes to month changed the soul far. But through this rap, I vowed to keep you alive. We had a few one away and a few that made it a sold game. I kept my suit clean. Now I'm the town's favorite for Shoddy Boo. I vowed to keep my pen layer just trying to get my money up to keep the ground sacred. Look, I'm on the mission with a solid fuel for towner. Pay me Gohan. We supposed to tied in, but Big cu said I'm too humble. Was that just me, Lil Lee? I got my own hustle.
Speaker 9 00:27:53 I wanna see you shine. I wanna see you. And someday long you stick. We gonna bring day. But we gonna make sure the whole family straight. I know that the towns baby. I know they
Speaker 8 00:28:12 The
Speaker 9 00:28:13 Towns
Speaker 8 00:28:13 Baby. Yo, yo, I'm off for the dream. I'm off for the cause. I'd rather leave a love cause they don't got a cause. Just keep it. Really Don't hold nothing back. I'm that baby girl. When you, I need a good vibe in my chicken. All last. My love is pure. I can't lie about that. It just takes some time these days to really get it. I'd rather commit to something great. Not do what sense? Pushing to the limits. Ain't no way around it. The way I put it down. You would've thought I found it a lot of years winning. And my dog still counting. A lot of people had they chance they started drowning then get it. See, I've been locked in the stool for months every day on business Check. This is survival. Little fittest, mind body, soul who really go, go to dishes.
Speaker 9 00:28:57 I wanna see you shine. I wanna see you. But we gonna make sure the whole family straight. I know that the towns favorite. I know they the towns favorite. I wanna see you shine. I wanna see you. And someday long as you stick to the, we gonna bring the whole on one day, they, oh, they, but we gonna make sure that whole family's straight. I know that you're the town's favorite. I know they ain't the town's favorite.
Speaker 10 00:29:53 Tune into Power Perspectives on 90.3 FM K F A I. Fridays at 1:00 PM where we talk about policy, art, building, power, and life in Minneapolis. Streaming
[email protected]. Brought to you courtesy of K R S M radio.
Speaker 11 00:30:13 June is l g Bt Q I a two plus Pride month. And on Thursday, June 23rd, K F V I Radio is back with 24 hours of content from the l g BT Q I A two plus community. We're gonna have music, public affair programs, and so much more. What are you waiting for? Let the rainbow shine. And make sure you block out Thursday, June 23rd for 24 hours of programming from the L LGBTQ Q I A two plus community.
Speaker 4 00:30:39 All right, well welcome back to Views From the Ground.
Speaker 12 00:30:43 Views From the Damn Ground.
Speaker 4 00:30:45 So we are here with, uh, Kendell Smith Key. Key Smith, which is, uh, <laugh> you talking, which is Winston Smith's. Um, brother,
Speaker 12 00:30:55 Sexy brother,
Speaker 4 00:30:57 <laugh>
Speaker 12 00:30:57 <laugh>,
Speaker 4 00:30:58 Welcome
Speaker 11 00:30:59 To our
Speaker 4 00:30:59 Show. Welcome to the show. Um, for people who don't know, Winston Smith was, uh, murdered, um, by the US Marshals last year. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, in uptown. Um, and yeah, so we're just here to talk about Winston Smith and like, you know, about his life and yeah. So, so tell us about Winston. Tell us about like, the type of guy he was telling. Some funny stories and fond memories.
Speaker 12 00:31:26 Man, Winston. Yeah. I'm actually glad to take this time. First off, thank you for having me here. Yeah, of course. Um, cuz I've been waiting to shed some light on who Winston really was. Anyway, for people who kind of really knew him at the last minute, you know, with his music videos and comedy. Of course, that's him. That's only one side of him though. <affirmative>. Um, what people I feel like is important for people to know is, you know, you know, you always hear after somebody pass away or was killed or whatever, you know, they say, oh, he was a good person, <laugh>. Um, and I'm not saying that these families aren't, but Winston actually was a good person. Like, if you actually knew him, or even if you ran into him, like on the street, you know what I'm saying? You would, you would get like a good feeling. You know what I'm saying? Like, he loved everybody, you know, and y and, um, you know, didn't have any enemies as far as I know. Um, just like, like he, he lo he really was big on like charity. Like, he would give his last dollar and starve if he had to, to make sure that somebody, you know, the next person is all right. That's, that's, that's like a code that he live by. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 12 00:32:36 Uh, you know, so like he's, I mean, if y'all got any questions, just jump in, let me know. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:32:46 Like, share some like, memories about Winston, some fond memories. Like tell us a funny story.
Speaker 12 00:32:52 Yeah. <laugh> a funny story. Yeah. Pick one. Oh my God. This dude was a prankster man. He always made jokes. <laugh>. Uh, you cannot, man, nobody's funny than this man growing up. He always had funny ideas. Like, we, we always played pranks on our mom. <laugh>. That's one of my favorite jokes. Like, we, uh, we had this broken chair at our mom's house on 33rd and Stevens. Right. And like, but you can make it look like it was fixed. <laugh>. So, so, you know, we little kids, we could sit on that. Yeah. Bogus. Yeah. <laugh> <laugh>. So our mom made us something to eat, you know, she was like, come get the food or whatever. And he was like, Hey, I got an idea. Hey, let's make her fall through the chair. <laugh>. <laugh>. He go, so, you know, our mom <laugh> Yeah. We knew where she was gonna sit at and she wasn't paying no attention anyway. So he was like, look, eight, eight, put it like this. You know, we put, we put it perfectly so it looked brand new, like all the other chairs and Armand came up. I love telling the story, but Armand came up. We just sitting at the table eating, you know, just, just staring at her. What are y'all looking at? <laugh>. Hey. She come over, swoop get stuck right in the chair. It was, bro, we was cracking up, man. <laugh>, Winston. Winston set it up. Winston was so dang funny, man. He, um, what's another one? Like <laugh>.
Speaker 12 00:34:10 I got some of the stuff we did. I'm like, I don't know if I would've said <laugh>, you know, but like, he would always come up with these ideas. We went fishing one time, we was like seven or eight. We, you know, man kicked us out. Like, go do something with y'all stuff. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know how it is. Meaning, I can't even say in the black family cause white people do it too. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'll talk to the white girls. She was like, our dad kicked us out too. <laugh>, uh, so we was little. We got kicked out and it was, she was like, go do something with y'all life. You know what I'm saying? Y'all are finna be in the house all day. So Winston was like, all right, let's go to the park. Right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, <laugh>. So we, we went fishing. I don't know how we got these fish, but we had like these catfish and we just walking home, tossing 'em in the air. He was like, and listen how we get thrown? They just coming down splat. I'm like, oh my <laugh>. Like, he always, man, everything was an adventure with him, man. <laugh> this dude, it like, it was so dang funny, man. Oh my God. I, I don't know. I don't know if I should tell you out some other thought. <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:35:04 So, so Winston made, um, music and Winston Yeah. Made, um, comedy sketch. When did he really get into like, the, the comedy sketch stuff? Like, like how old was he?
Speaker 12 00:35:16 Oh, well, he's in, well he was always, he was always funny, that's for sure. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, we been telling 'em getting into Con for the years, but it, he didn't really like, get into comedy and like actually started taking it serious to actually recently, because he always wanted to be a rapper. Like, he, he, he was very, he was very fond of like Tupac. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, biggie. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, Wayne was like a big one for him. He wanted to be like Lil Wayne. Cuz he was like, Lil Wayne could just freestyle the top of the dome. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he thought that was cold. Like back in like 2000, what? Two or something like that. I don't know where Wayne was out. I don't remember. But <laugh>. But he loved, like, what was it? It was, um, like hot fire or something like that.
Speaker 12 00:35:57 What, what did Wayne make? It was, it was some song anyways, but that inspired him to be a rapper. You know what I'm saying? So he started rapping like 2017. He started making music, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he, his first, the, the first song I remember was I put on, it was a remix. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> called, I put on, he was like, I rip my hood, I rip my city. Every girl just so fresh, so pretty, you know what I'm saying? Like, <laugh>, he was rapping fast. Um, but he was always trying, you know, new things. And then like, we were always telling him like, look man, you funny. Look comedy's where it's at, comedy's where it's at. You know what I'm saying? And so I think like around 2019, maybe he, you know, he linked up with a friend, um, just that wheezy and, you know, same thing.
Speaker 12 00:36:42 He, you know, I guess he, I guess he, he wasn't receiving it from his family, you know? He like, y'all just think I'm funny cause y'all family. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But when other people started telling him like, no, you really funny. You know what I'm saying? <laugh>, that's when he was like, all right, I'll give it a shot. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, man, didn't he have that Oscar buyer truck in what vote? Oh, that was <laugh>. That's one of his pranks. That's how he get people. That wasn't even his <laugh>, but like where, but see, he, I'm still trying to figure it out and tell me about the video. I'm confused. Yeah. Yeah. So this is, this is the thing, okay. So <laugh> Winston is spontaneous. If he sees something, he go for it. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he have no reason to hide his true self. So he walks up to this dude in the Wiener dog truck. He's like, Hey, can I use that for my video? <laugh>? So I was just in Minneapolis, just, just the dude. He just walked up. He was like, yo, look, you know, Steph could tell you better cuz he was actually there. Uh, Steph said they look and they both looked at each other, looked at the winning dollar video. They started laughing. He was like, ah, you know, I gotta use that <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 12 00:37:45 So he inspired by life? Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah. He, so he walked up to the dude and he was like, um, you know, he was like, yo, all right. So I got these videos, man, they hitting right now. And he was like, yo, and I gotta use this, you know, this Wi Dog truck. Cuz I, he's like, I, I don't know. He, he just did it, you know? And, uh, <laugh>. So everybody's like, yo, that real? That's real. Nah, that wasn't real. That wasn't really his. He wanted it though. <laugh>. <laugh>. He wanted it though. I, uh, I actually was just talking to Star Tribune and um, they was saying that he got a text saying he actually wanna sell real hotdog. So that was like one of the, the things that he was going for next. He was gonna make some videos and actually like, open up a little restaurant and start actually selling hot dogs. He was like, I like that. You know, very ambitious man. Like, if y'all got a good idea, my brother was down for it, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> as, oh,
Speaker 6 00:38:39 Oh, I was just thinking, so people saw him as, uh, someone who made music, people saw him doing comedy. You told us a little bit how he was like, so giving, what else do people not know about Winston?
Speaker 12 00:38:51 Um, Winston was very strong. Like, he was going through a whole lot in his life, but you would never know because he didn't put that on because he didn't want, you know, people that, he always liked to see people happy. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so he would
Speaker 12 00:39:13 Like, he was real good at not letting you seeing the downside of him. You know what I'm saying? Because he, you know, he been through a lot. I mean, like, you know, he got kicked out when he was like 15, you know what I'm saying? Uh, pretty much had to figure out life on his own. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, dad wasn't around unfor unfortunately, you know, as much as, you know, I know my dad wanted to be around, but it just didn't happen like that, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, he was out on his own trying to, you know, figure out life and, uh, but you know, through, through everything that he dealt with, like, I know in some areas of his life, he felt like, you know, like he was kind of alone. You know what I'm saying? Uh, especially <laugh> argue with me. It's not really that fun, you know, arguing with your brother or whatever.
Speaker 12 00:39:59 Um, so we kind of, you know, we was, uh, like I even, even, I would argue with him a few times and I would be like, you know how, how some brothers is, I would be offensive and everything, but he would still have a loving understanding. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, mellow tone of voice. Like, yo, why you, like, why do you, why do you treat me like that? You know what I'm saying? Like mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I don't understand it, you know what I'm saying? Like, he, he wasn't, he wasn't the arguing type <laugh>. He always tried to, you know, like fix the situation, you know what I'm saying? Um, another thing is I like to call him a real hero because he
Speaker 12 00:40:39 Like Winston man, I look, I don't know y'all brothers and sisters, man, <laugh>. But that's, that's one you want. Like, I literally seen this man get jumped from me multiple times, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And he made sure every person that was trying to, you know, take advantage of me. Cuz I was, you know, I was a little twig, man. I was a punk. I don't know. <laugh>, I had, I had to get told. I was like, oh nah, run. And my brother, he'd just stand there looking like Superman. I'm like, oh man, what a, what a guy. And I'd just be sitting back crying and he wouldn't shit a tear. Like, he'd be getting punched in the chest, getting thrown and like, he'd just walk away like nothing happened. Mm. And I'm like, dang, that man is a real hero. You know what I'm saying? Like mm-hmm. <affirmative> for the longest
Speaker 6 00:41:21 Time. Can you talk about like, um, cuz you know, you said he went through a lot. Um, yeah. Can you talk about how you saw him
Speaker 12 00:41:28 Look? Oh my bad. That was, that was another thing I wanted to say. He always looked at the good in other people too, no matter who you were. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, this is one thing people don't know about Winston, you know? Cause like, you know, they just see what they see on the media. Like when he came out and spoke against police and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, one thing I was mentioning to Starman today, I was like, look, they're trying to make him out to be like this bad dude, but what type of dude, you know, that bad would actually make a comedy video with police in it. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'm like, but because that's who he was. You know what I'm saying? He had a, a good big heart. You know what I'm saying? He always seen a good in people. Um, I won't get, I'm gonna let you get to your question. Mm-hmm. I just wanna finish that. Um, when he spoke out like that, he was speaking from compassion of bad people, hurting other good people. He didn't stand for that. That's one thing he did not stand for. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. He hates seeing people pick on a weak, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's one thing he didn't, he never tolerated. Uh, that's all. Gotcha.
Speaker 6 00:42:31 Okay. Um, yeah, all I was gonna ask was like, you said he is gone through all of these things. Can you talk about, um, seeing him like grow as a person? Because, I mean, everyone has made their mistakes, everyone has done things, you know, but like, I'm sure you've seen him grow into that, that loving Winston. Like, or was he always that way? Or was that like he grew through Hi, his own mistakes and his own life experiences?
Speaker 12 00:42:58 He, um, he was, man, that dude <laugh>, he was smart beyond his years, man. Um, like he, he been his way since he was like eight man. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, how many years apart are you guys? 11 months. Oh. Oh. So yeah, y'all close <laugh>. We, we Irish twins. <laugh>. Okay. Sorry. I just didn't know. I was like, where you in the birth order? I was like, he always called it, he's like, you my twin man. You my twin. He love having me by inside, man. I love, I love him too. Um, and he like, we, we, we, man, we was dang inseparable. Like if you knew Winston, you knew me. If you knew me, you knew Winston. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So if anybody coming out here talking about y'all knew Winston, but they don't know me. They don't know my name. <laugh>, no. <laugh>. No. They don't know Winston <laugh>. Um, man, he, um, you said how he changed. Okay.
Speaker 6 00:43:54 So how he grew as a grew person, grew how grew mm-hmm.
Speaker 12 00:43:57 <affirmative>. Um, Ooh. Ooh. How did he grow as a person? Like he, like I said, somebody like, he, he's, he's like one of those types that's like one of the million, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. He was just already a wise guy at a young age, so it didn't take much, you know what I'm saying? Gotcha. The only thing that really changed from him was his appearance. He went from these big huge bifocal glasses to like this, this, you know, Baywatch Beachbody type dude. Pretty boy. <laugh>. Yeah. Long dreads. All the girls love him. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, he didn't like it was real. He wasn't always that good looking. He like a man. They used to call us Red and snippy growing up. <laugh>. He had a big little peanut head. Which, which one was you? <laugh>. Oh, I was, I was red. Proclaims it proudly. Man. Pinky in the brain. That's what they called us. Pinky in the, he was the brain. I was pinky. <laugh>. <laugh>. I was a skinny, dumb one. But man,
Speaker 4 00:45:02 So, so let's, um, talk about, you know, receiving the news that your brother had been murdered mm-hmm. <affirmative> like, like let's walk through kind of like that day if you have the space or you know, energy to do that. Like how was that, um, that first day of hearing in? And
Speaker 12 00:45:22 You know what I think, I think ha honestly, I feel like God prepared me for that. So it wasn't as hard as it probably should have been. Initially. I had already had a dream and all my emotions came out in that dream, um, a couple days prior. You know what I'm saying? Like, I had a dream where he was fighting and he was losing, he was losing. Like, I could only describe it as his life force, you know? And when I got up, it was so impactful. It was so deep. It felt so di it felt like I was underwater. And I, it felt like I, you know, it's like I knew this day was coming. So when I got the call, you know, they was like, yo, you hear about Uptown? They was like, no. Yeah, that was your brother. And I was like, mm. You know what I'm saying? Like, I, I was just like, I just sit back and took it in like, dang, that really, that really just happened. You know what I'm saying? And it wasn't until I actually walked up on the, uh, the rooftop and touched what was left of his blood that had actually all the tears, you know what I'm saying? Like that that really,
Speaker 12 00:46:37 That that's when it really came out. You know what I'm saying? Like, yo, this is real. Like, you know, he ain't coming back. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 4 00:46:47 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 12 00:46:52 Oh.
Speaker 4 00:46:53 And so how, how, how's it been on your family as a, as a whole?
Speaker 12 00:47:04 Yeah, we all been taking it. Um,
Speaker 12 00:47:09 We all been taking it deep, you know, that's why don't, I don't really, uh, I try not to hold it against nobody, you know, if they don't show up for, for, uh, events and stuff like that, you know? Cause I'm like, nobody want to get out and, you know, show their tears or whatever, you know. Um, and then be reminded of what happened, you know? Uh, but you know, my mom, she been taking it the hardest. She really been trying to get out. She just, she don't know what to do. You know, having, and I feel like that's a disadvantage to the black community. Um, and our, I'm gonna say in our community. Cause I don't know if it's just the black community, but that's a big disadvantage. I feel like that the police do take advantage of, generally in the black neighborhoods, they don't want to too much about how the system, you know, all this works.
Speaker 12 00:48:01 They just know that it, it ain't right. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So my mom, she's struggling cuz she's like, I want to help, but I don't know what to do. You know? I, I need a lawyer. I need a lawyer. And it's like, ma, we have a lawyer. You know what I'm saying? Uh, my dad is like, man, I, I wanna get out. But you know, his situation with police makes him not wanna come out. Cuz he, what happened to him was, uh, he was held down in a hot burning sun with somebody's, I believe, I don't know if it was a foot or a gun to his face, but he said, they told him, look, if you move, we gonna shoot you. You know what I'm saying? Pretty much the same, the same way they did my brother. So, you know, he's dealing with trauma with that. So he's like, you know, I want to get out son too. But it's like, you know, I don't want them to come after me next type stuff. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So the, um,
Speaker 4 00:48:53 Which is, which is a real fear because I mean, gang stalking is real and a lot of families have been affected by police brutality, experienced that where the, the cops are stalking them and mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, just messing with them in general. Um, you know, at one protest we actually caught one that had been stalking to Sheira. Garaway. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, who was the founder of the family supporting families against police brutality. And we actually confronted them and they like literally couldn't explain why they were just sitting there and like why we had seen them all week. And like the fact that they just kept following us, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's a real fear that happened.
Speaker 12 00:49:32 So. Yeah. Cuz they be, what, what is that, what is that called when you, is it re
Speaker 4 00:49:35 Retaliation,
Speaker 12 00:49:36 Re recon sense or something? Yeah. Is that what it is? When you like checking out somebody getting all the
Speaker 6 00:49:41 Information? Getting all the information. Recon. Yeah.
Speaker 12 00:49:43 Recon. Yeah, because they, they be doing that man,
Speaker 6 00:49:45 Like, man, literally at a march in uptown for Winston, uh, I was go to airdrop, a photo to my girlfriend and there was a, uh, on the airdrop they said people like an airdrop to one of them was labeled f b van. Wow. And like, literally there was, I was like looking around like, hold on. And there was this big white, uh, van that was like behind the traffic cuz when we marched and like the traffic is blocked. Hell no. It was a, it was a, a van that literally was doing recon on us and they didn't turn their Bluetooth off. They had the airdrop on. Like, come on. Wow. Y'all gotta be smarter than
Speaker 4 00:50:18 That. Yeah. And the, because the FBI central office for the Midwest is over in Brooklyn Center.
Speaker 12 00:50:23 Yeah. My brother, like, he, he um, I think is it f uh, something? U p b, what is it against police brutality communities United against police brutality. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. You just say the whole thing.
Speaker 4 00:50:38 Say the whole thing. Every
Speaker 12 00:50:39 Time communities united against police brutality, I think they spoke to Winston cuz he reached out to him and said the police was following and harassing him. Um, I got word, I still haven't found the documents yet, but I got word that they told him in court. Oh yeah. We watching you. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I guess they were bold enough to actually admit they, they knew what was going on with him. And they, um,
Speaker 6 00:51:08 I have the screenshot on my phone. Fbi,
Speaker 12 00:51:10 AB asset observation. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:51:14 Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:51:14 It, it's actually interesting. Last year at Pride, the fbi um, had a booth and I remember I went up to them and I was like, uh, is it true? Yeah. The year before last and I remember no last year. Um, and oh, the year before last, I remember I asked them specifically like, do y do y'all be, um, at protests? Like I was like at this protest and we like put our thing on and we saw like FBI on our Bluetooth thing. And then the person I was talking to was like, oh yeah, you know, that was probably us. And then I saw the person behind them like, no, no, shake their hands. Don't say they like grabbed the person was like, no, we don't, we don't do that. God, we don't go to my God protests. And I was just dying. I was like, that really just happened. Like
Speaker 12 00:52:00 <laugh>. That's crazy. That's crazy man.
Speaker 6 00:52:03 Um, can you talk, uh, a little bit about, not necessarily like what you want, uh mm-hmm <affirmative>, Winston's like legacy or Winston's name to mean like years from now, but like what do you think Winston would want to be remembered for?
Speaker 12 00:52:18 Oh, he already, he said down the song <laugh>, well let us, I want my music all around the world. Like a spice shit. <laugh>. <laugh>. He want his music to be worldwide. Cuz that's where his pride and joy was. You know, he, man, I don't know. Like it ain't just me. It ain't look just cause you my brother. We gon, we gonna keep it real. All right. If you garbage at something, we'll tell you you're garbage <laugh>. All right. I won't say no names, but there are some people in my family that rap they ain't good at. They
Speaker 6 00:52:47 Ain't making it up.
Speaker 12 00:52:48 <laugh>. And they, and they can't see why they can support, they can't help. Winston was not one of those people, man. He just had the fluctuation in his voice. He had the lyrics. He always hit key points like he's made <laugh>, he's so good. He made my trash songs sound phenomenal. <laugh> just cuz he was rapping on it, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that's actually how he picked up a lot of people. They was like, oh, y'all, y'all brothers, y'all making music. I was trying to sing. I wasn't the best but, uh, <laugh>, you know, he uh, and I might let y'all hear some of these days, you know, I'm embarrassed but man, when you listen to his lyrics, like it really hits and it impacts you. You know what I'm saying? Any song that he's on, if you actually listen to, cause I know a lot of people, some people I used to, I used to be this way growing up.
Speaker 12 00:53:31 My brother had to teach me this <laugh>. I used to just listen to the beat and be like, Hey, this is fire. Didn't care what the lyrics was talking about. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But listen to what he is saying in his music and y'all gonna be like, yo, this is some real stuff. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and every song like that is real talent. Like making somebody jump like Michael Jackson, everybody know Michael Jackson. Right. What separates Michael Jackson from all these other singers? This man can dance, he can put on a show, he can sing, he can make a point behind his music when he singing. All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us. Everybody know that's true. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it's a jingle in your head and you can jam to it and you get pissed off at the same time you like, damn, they don't give a damn, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> my bad. I ain't even said me at Word <laugh>. Um, but you know, and like my brother had that, but he was a rapper, you know what I'm saying? And he loved it more than his comedy, more than every anything else. He was like, and he said it in his song, he's like, I want my music all around the world like a spaceship.
Speaker 4 00:54:32 Where can people, um, find some of Winston songs that they want to listen to?
Speaker 12 00:54:36 Ooh, woo. Uh, <laugh>. I probably gotta post some links. Cause I had, I, I went back, uh, I think SoundCloud and Reverb Nation. Okay. Look up Wince yp. He did a lot of uh, solo music. And he also did it with, you know, YP stands for the Young Pioneers. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So he did it with, uh, west Yp Way, yp. Um, and he also did some solo, some solo music. And what else? Let's see. Yeah, I think Winz look up Wince, wince, yp and then just, you know, talking SoundCloud or something
Speaker 4 00:55:09 Like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so I, I wanna talk about, um, a little bit about you, right? Yeah. So when we first met, um, you were, you were grieving, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the murder of your brother, um, very openly, you know, in front of a lot of people. And so I just want to talk about like how your views on like the police have changed or evolved. Because I remember one of the first interactions we had was you telling me that you wanted to do a protest where we were marching with the cops.
Speaker 12 00:55:39 Yeah. I got a lot of scrutiny for that one <laugh> in this circle. Yeah. And see, you know what, that's one of the things that me and my brother shared is that compassion and forgiveness, you know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we don't like to point fingers and say that just because you were a part of it, you know, you, you did this. You know what I'm saying? Um, now hit me out. Hold on, <laugh>. I know y'all like, wait, this is a bad start, <laugh>. Um, but yeah, that's, you know, me trying to, you know, I've always, I've always been that way. Like, I mean, you know, you could hit me in my face and I would still see the good in you. I'd be like, you know what, you only hit me because you was trying to be tough, but let's be friends. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 12 00:56:17 That like, that's, that's how I am and that's how my brother always been. Um, and so that night when it happened, even though it raged me and you know, real talk, like anybody should feel I was ready to do some things I ain't never thought about before. And, um, but that night I was like, you know what, the person that I am inside, I don't wanna hold this against nobody. You know what I'm saying? That's just how I always been. And that night when I walked up to the police, you know, and, you know, and I was shaking their hands and dapping 'em and talking about, um, you know, we should march together. I think a part of me was still holding onto how I used to be growing up, cuz the police show you a different light when you were a kid. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 12 00:57:07 Mm-hmm. <affirmative> as a kid, I, I did wanna be a cop. I was like, oh man, you know, uh, you know, they just look so good. This is my kid's perspective. <laugh>. Yeah, no, I mean, no completely hard. <laugh> make that, you know, they came around and I'm like, man, they just saved the day. They so nice and they look good and blue, the badge was shining. I was like, dang. That's how I, me and my brother wanted to be a cop because we wanted to be pe that's, we have a natural knack to care and protect other people. I seen it in my brother and that fell on me. You know what I'm saying? So I naturally wanted, and that was the position. My bad, I'm a, I'm a, uh, nope, keep going. And that was the position that I was in. I was like, I wanna be the hero.
Speaker 12 00:57:47 I want to, you know, whatever that means. You know what I'm saying? We let the Superman, Batman. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So just to give you a history of how my mentality was growing up. So I held onto this mentality even after the cops was throwing me up against the, uh, the, uh, you know, just like a lot of people are been bamboozled now and, you know, still brainwashed <laugh> cuz that's how to get you at a young age and you carry that throughout your life. So when I was like 19, you know, uh, two female cops pulled me over, oh, you look like the guy threw me on the car, right. Didn't touch me. I thought, you know, maybe I look like the guy, right? I was brain, you know, there's, anyways, needless to say, over time it did kind of deteriorate my respect and like how I viewed the police.
Speaker 12 00:58:34 But you know, that night I was like, um, I want to find a way to bring back the peace and that bridge that I had as a child. And over time that started to dwindle. And I, you know, because it was, it was a very confusing state. I'm gonna say that because like, I still do relate to some, well, I ain't gonna say relate, I still through, um, my bad. Okay, so let me, how do I sum this up? Um, I spoke with some of the officers that night, you know, they seem genuine and then there were some that was just like drones, you know what I'm saying? And that's what I was trying to see. Do y'all still have that? Are y'all still people behind these uniforms or No? And I concluded that when you in there for a certain amount of time, you lose that. My bad. I ain't mean to go that <laugh>. No,
Speaker 4 00:59:34 No. Yo. Good. So, uh, I just wanna say I appreciate you coming on and, uh, giving us, uh, amazing interview here. Yeah. And coming on and talking about Winston, um, his, his, um, the event coming up on Friday. Yeah.
Speaker 12 00:59:47 Yeah. Where is it? Uh, Friday Powderhorn Park, one to four.
Speaker 4 00:59:50 All right. And with that, thank you Brandon Lee Tok and thank you Jalen Palms. I appreciate y'all coming in.
