Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories: The Power of Community

WEBVTT

00:00:00.017 --> 00:00:03.117
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Kickback.

00:00:03.337 --> 00:00:10.917
I am your host, The Dude, and as we do every week, we have some great conversations

00:00:10.917 --> 00:00:16.037
with some ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their lives.

00:00:16.037 --> 00:00:17.997
And tonight is no different.

00:00:18.217 --> 00:00:23.017
We have an extraordinary person doing some extraordinary things in their lives.

00:00:23.017 --> 00:00:26.617
And we just like to welcome you to the kickback.

00:00:26.797 --> 00:00:31.437
Another episode where we interview some amazing people.

00:00:31.597 --> 00:00:34.797
So we'd like to say thank you for being here with us.

00:00:34.877 --> 00:00:39.597
And we'd like to say thank you for being a part of this journey as always.

00:00:40.277 --> 00:00:45.677
And thank you. Thank you for listening. We are at our one year mark in this

00:00:45.677 --> 00:00:53.217
series in our one year mark where we're pushing the gender of men's health life

00:00:53.217 --> 00:00:54.657
and what's going on in this world.

00:00:54.857 --> 00:00:57.157
So thank you for being a part of our one year journey.

00:01:00.080 --> 00:01:38.960
Music.

00:01:39.442 --> 00:01:43.642
Listen, if you've been along with this journey with us for this year,

00:01:43.882 --> 00:01:47.342
this is our one year anniversary and we love to say thank you to everybody.

00:01:47.342 --> 00:01:54.402
If you have not been over to our website, thekickback.one, we really appreciate

00:01:54.402 --> 00:01:57.362
it if you go over and check out the website.

00:01:57.362 --> 00:02:02.142
It is a new place for all information kickback,

00:02:02.562 --> 00:02:06.322
and we are fresh to that space,

00:02:06.322 --> 00:02:11.242
so we're still in the background working on trying to get everything together

00:02:11.242 --> 00:02:18.542
and make it a very popular place for entertainment news and also what's going

00:02:18.542 --> 00:02:20.142
on in the world and the community.

00:02:20.142 --> 00:02:24.962
And if you didn't know, the kickback is a place for vulnerable and transparent

00:02:24.962 --> 00:02:27.902
conversations with the world.

00:02:28.162 --> 00:02:34.982
Our focus is community advocacy focused on men, but also the world,

00:02:34.982 --> 00:02:36.962
because we are fishers of men.

00:02:36.962 --> 00:02:39.822
And we here at The Kickback, we like to have

00:02:39.822 --> 00:02:45.722
one conversation to try to help anybody in the world going through whatever

00:02:45.722 --> 00:02:51.822
it is they're going through and just try to have a place where you can come

00:02:51.822 --> 00:02:57.882
and have some wonderful conversation without any type of rhetoric.

00:02:57.882 --> 00:03:03.862
You know, just have some some decent conversation where we can try to solve

00:03:03.862 --> 00:03:07.142
some of the things that are going on with people.

00:03:07.142 --> 00:03:12.722
We want everybody to know that this is a safe place, a safe environment,

00:03:12.722 --> 00:03:19.482
somewhere that you can come and be comfortable having a conversation on any level.

00:03:19.482 --> 00:03:23.082
I mean, whatever it is you feel like you want to talk about,

00:03:23.262 --> 00:03:30.862
you know, to an extent, we're not just overly talking about one particular subject

00:03:30.862 --> 00:03:34.202
or just beating something into someone's head.

00:03:34.402 --> 00:03:39.722
This is a place of transparency. This is a place of calmness.

00:03:39.822 --> 00:03:45.542
This is a place we all want to be heard in some form of fashion.

00:03:46.382 --> 00:03:51.162
And so we here at the Kickback, we want to hear what it is you have to say.

00:03:51.322 --> 00:03:59.322
And we appreciate everybody for being here and wanting to be heard like we want to be heard.

00:03:59.882 --> 00:04:01.702
The Kickback, a place for brothers.

00:04:06.322 --> 00:04:11.722
Yeah. The Kickback, a place for brothers.

00:04:11.600 --> 00:05:19.760
Music.

00:05:20.542 --> 00:05:24.902
All right, everyone, as we sit here and we wait on our guests to come into it,

00:05:25.182 --> 00:05:27.522
Bubba, what's going on with you today, my brother?

00:05:28.462 --> 00:05:32.182
What's good with it, my brother? What's good with my brother? Not much, man.

00:05:32.502 --> 00:05:38.082
I am glad that you are here, man. This is our one year anniversary, man.

00:05:38.382 --> 00:05:44.642
And we just we're doing a series where we're trying to get people to understand

00:05:44.642 --> 00:05:52.762
that a year of shows where people can understand that you can have conversations,

00:05:52.762 --> 00:05:58.922
be vulnerable as a man and understand that you don't have to be angry all the

00:05:58.922 --> 00:06:03.422
time and know that this is a place of love where you can come and have conversations.

00:06:04.322 --> 00:06:08.042
So we're just trying to get the word out. We're waiting on our guest to come

00:06:08.042 --> 00:06:14.642
in so we can interview him and talk about some good old things. How's your day going?

00:06:19.182 --> 00:06:22.222
My day has been wonderful, man.

00:06:22.442 --> 00:06:26.502
It has been filled with work. Still

00:06:26.502 --> 00:06:31.102
working on a computer Trying to get through some of the courses That they have

00:06:31.102 --> 00:06:42.802
going on On the back side of our job So that's what I've been doing In my down time Hello friends Yeah,

00:06:44.102 --> 00:06:46.722
Hold on How y'all doing that already?

00:06:47.682 --> 00:06:51.082
Hey this is what my supervisor told

00:06:51.082 --> 00:06:54.082
me That I needed to take care of before

00:06:54.082 --> 00:06:57.902
we are back in session all

00:06:57.902 --> 00:07:02.522
right of course you know right so that's the reason why i'm doing it because

00:07:02.522 --> 00:07:08.302
i that's what i was instructed to do so that's what i'm doing what how's your

00:07:08.302 --> 00:07:12.902
day been what what have you been doing today well i've been oh you know i've

00:07:12.902 --> 00:07:15.042
been connected nothing a little running away,

00:07:15.242 --> 00:07:18.622
trying to get some business to practice,

00:07:19.402 --> 00:07:21.662
that's pretty much what I've been doing today.

00:07:22.582 --> 00:07:25.742
So, I can accomplish some things, you know.

00:07:26.422 --> 00:07:31.102
But, you know, I got a phone call last night from a brother.

00:07:32.162 --> 00:07:37.162
And, you know, when I say last night, it was pretty much four days of morning almost.

00:07:38.362 --> 00:07:43.422
And, you know, you think to yourself sometimes, should I even answer the phone?

00:07:45.722 --> 00:07:52.022
Okay should I even answer the phone you know it's hard when you contemplate

00:07:52.022 --> 00:07:53.462
should I even answer the phone.

00:07:55.042 --> 00:08:01.742
Yes and no it all depends on the caliber of person even though it's a brother

00:08:01.742 --> 00:08:07.702
sometimes you still have to contemplate the caliber of person in which that

00:08:07.702 --> 00:08:11.922
brother is because you know sometimes it can be about BS,

00:08:12.662 --> 00:08:18.042
and And sometimes it can be something serious, but nine times out of ten, it's some BS.

00:08:19.052 --> 00:08:24.512
I got, you know, because somebody else that was on the phone crying with us,

00:08:24.732 --> 00:08:28.432
like, you know, I answer the phone because I'm not sure if it's going to be

00:08:28.432 --> 00:08:30.232
the last time I hear from you.

00:08:31.232 --> 00:08:35.252
And that's understandable. And that is more the reason why you should answer

00:08:35.252 --> 00:08:38.532
the phone, because you don't know if it's the last time you're going to hear from them.

00:08:38.532 --> 00:08:46.232
So you want to make sure you get to hear from them in whatever caliber it is

00:08:46.232 --> 00:08:48.272
that they're looking for from you.

00:08:48.792 --> 00:08:54.952
And it's not always great, but at the end of the day, there's still family.

00:08:55.412 --> 00:09:03.152
And, you know, you have to put up with family and sometimes you have to feed

00:09:03.152 --> 00:09:09.712
them with a long handle spoon and just take the take it. And I also have a spoon.

00:09:09.972 --> 00:09:13.632
You mean a whore? I need a whore. I'm sure.

00:09:16.752 --> 00:09:21.532
Well, but I need a whore. And I get it.

00:09:21.852 --> 00:09:27.472
I understand that there are situations where you have to deal with your family

00:09:27.472 --> 00:09:28.952
in that particular manner.

00:09:28.952 --> 00:09:35.892
You know, the way we were raised, you were forced to deal with your family in

00:09:35.892 --> 00:09:39.292
manners that you didn't really want to deal with them.

00:09:39.372 --> 00:09:44.172
And now that we're adults, you have to have boundaries. And that's what a lot

00:09:44.172 --> 00:09:49.172
of people don't like and understand is the fact that boundaries do exist and

00:09:49.172 --> 00:09:53.132
your your habitual boundary stepper.

00:09:54.112 --> 00:09:58.552
And that and I'm saying that to whoever this person is that called you for a

00:09:58.552 --> 00:10:05.012
daybreak in the morning, more than likely their habitual boundary stepper and

00:10:05.012 --> 00:10:07.392
probably more than likely needy.

00:10:07.392 --> 00:10:11.312
They need something rather whatever capacity it is.

00:10:11.452 --> 00:10:13.592
They need something from you.

00:10:14.605 --> 00:10:19.625
Am i correct you know hey but you know and then you know you tell people you

00:10:19.625 --> 00:10:25.785
know evolution oh evolution what is this sometimes you got to evolve.

00:10:27.805 --> 00:10:33.885
At some point in life you don't have to evolve somebody said something last

00:10:33.885 --> 00:10:38.245
night they said you know it's like they got like they peaked in the 90s and

00:10:38.245 --> 00:10:42.285
they stuffed it okay and and i can understand that.

00:10:44.185 --> 00:10:48.645
And the thing about that is in some of the studies that I read,

00:10:48.825 --> 00:10:56.145
some people are stuck in traumatic situations that deal with certain ages and

00:10:56.145 --> 00:10:57.985
we get stuck at those ages.

00:10:58.165 --> 00:11:05.205
That is a big part of it. A lot of people get stuck in traumatic age syndrome,

00:11:05.445 --> 00:11:10.745
which means traumatic event happened in their lives when they were a certain

00:11:10.745 --> 00:11:14.385
age, and they have not grown past that.

00:11:14.925 --> 00:11:20.645
And everybody else has evolved. Like you said, you have to evolve at some point.

00:11:21.165 --> 00:11:27.885
And these particular people in your life have not evolved. So they're stuck. So you're right.

00:11:28.165 --> 00:11:35.405
So whoever said that they were stuck in the 90s probably is that's probably a factual statement.

00:11:35.705 --> 00:11:43.245
Now, what did the conversation if you can reiterate, what was the conversation about.

00:11:45.550 --> 00:11:50.850
Conversations about a life in general and how we didn't well,

00:11:51.050 --> 00:11:55.490
I did all this and all y'all used to tell me that's soft.

00:11:56.390 --> 00:11:58.410
I'm all home. Y'all weird.

00:11:59.430 --> 00:12:03.670
Because I've evolved. It makes me weird. Because I grew up.

00:12:04.010 --> 00:12:07.890
I didn't stop moving. I kept moving.

00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:15.030
Yeah. People like to use terminologies. And I hate the way that the world has

00:12:15.030 --> 00:12:19.330
evolved with these terminologies and saying these different things in order

00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:23.510
taking accountability for who they are and where they are in life.

00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:31.170
They tend to want to project on to other people because of them evolving or

00:12:31.170 --> 00:12:33.610
them moving forward and because they're stuck.

00:12:33.810 --> 00:12:39.750
So now all of a sudden I'm the bad person because I've moved on past that particular

00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:44.810
point in my life because we all have pasts. We all have backgrounds.

00:12:45.110 --> 00:12:50.910
We all have done things that we wouldn't think about doing at this particular

00:12:50.910 --> 00:12:55.370
place in our lives and some people just don't move past that.

00:12:55.950 --> 00:13:02.250
Because there was a question about you wouldn't get involved. Okay.

00:13:02.890 --> 00:13:06.930
Let me put the scenario. Let me put the scenario. Okay. Mother,

00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:08.770
daughter. They get into it.

00:13:09.670 --> 00:13:12.170
Okay. I'm listening. Go ahead. Another daughter gets into it.

00:13:12.670 --> 00:13:14.810
You're not married. You're not married to either one of them.

00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:18.370
They get your friends. They get into it.

00:13:18.550 --> 00:13:23.670
No, I'm not jumping in the middle of that. That is a family situation. Most definitely.

00:13:24.810 --> 00:13:28.090
I'm not. No, that is a mother and a child.

00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:33.990
I'm so not getting in the middle of that. That right there.

00:13:35.090 --> 00:13:39.330
Even when you're married to that person, You have to wait till the situation

00:13:39.330 --> 00:13:43.150
comes down or you can interject yourself into that situation.

00:13:43.790 --> 00:13:47.710
Even if that's your child, but that's their child. Because when you're talking

00:13:47.710 --> 00:13:50.670
about mothers, that's their child. Always.

00:13:51.610 --> 00:13:56.310
Yeah, but, you know, I really, coming from a father that co-parents,

00:13:56.590 --> 00:13:58.670
I don't really like that format.

00:13:59.150 --> 00:14:03.590
But I understand because it's been presented to me numerous times.

00:14:04.370 --> 00:14:07.630
Yeah, you see what I'm saying? it's that type of situation see what i'm saying

00:14:07.630 --> 00:14:09.970
it's that type of situation where,

00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:14.050
uh where they they are hunky-dory this getting

00:14:14.050 --> 00:14:17.350
the other then all of a sudden because you want to cut them off now that ain't

00:14:17.350 --> 00:14:23.790
mad now y'all didn't do it are you you wouldn't get no no because i'm putting

00:14:23.790 --> 00:14:28.110
my two cents in here i got stonked on trapped on everything else no i'm not

00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:32.670
gonna do that again all right and this conversation you can never call first right,

00:14:33.630 --> 00:14:35.610
Right. All right. Mr.

00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:38.370
Vincent, how are you today, sir?

00:14:39.101 --> 00:14:43.521
I'm doing well. How are you doing? I'm doing fine. I like to have commentary

00:14:43.521 --> 00:14:49.781
with my co-host before my guests come on because this is a lifestyle show and

00:14:49.781 --> 00:14:51.901
that's my co-host Bubba J.

00:14:52.381 --> 00:14:54.521
That's my brother, my lifelong friend.

00:14:55.481 --> 00:14:59.381
We just, this is a platform for vulnerable and transparent conversations.

00:14:59.381 --> 00:15:02.421
So we like to have conversations about life and

00:15:02.421 --> 00:15:05.741
he's simply explaining a situation about life

00:15:05.741 --> 00:15:09.021
but we're also here for you mr vincent

00:15:09.021 --> 00:15:12.061
mr dixie i am

00:15:12.061 --> 00:15:14.821
the dude the host of the

00:15:14.821 --> 00:15:19.241
kickback we are a platform for vulnerable

00:15:19.241 --> 00:15:24.861
and transparent conversations my tagline is i like to have conversations with

00:15:24.861 --> 00:15:29.881
ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their lives and what we do here

00:15:29.881 --> 00:15:33.821
is we just want to get to the meat and the brass tacks of who you are where

00:15:33.821 --> 00:15:37.801
are you from what you do and how you got there.

00:15:38.021 --> 00:15:41.781
So we're just going to have some conversation. It's a laid back venture.

00:15:42.221 --> 00:15:48.101
We don't do anything scripted. It's all off the top of my head because this

00:15:48.101 --> 00:15:49.801
is something that God gave to me.

00:15:50.081 --> 00:15:53.961
Yeah, I've got a few questions because I've done my research and there's a few

00:15:53.961 --> 00:15:55.981
things I want to ask you about about you.

00:15:56.461 --> 00:16:00.441
But if I could get you to introduce yourself to my audience,

00:16:00.641 --> 00:16:04.901
tell them who you are, what you do, and how you got there.

00:16:05.621 --> 00:16:08.681
All right. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Loud and clear.

00:16:09.561 --> 00:16:12.661
All right. Thank you. Well, my name is Hose. No, I'm just joking.

00:16:13.021 --> 00:16:16.761
So I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, actually.

00:16:17.001 --> 00:16:21.001
And we moved to Nashville when I was nine years old.

00:16:21.101 --> 00:16:24.541
My mom, back then, she worked for, it was called South Central Bell,

00:16:24.621 --> 00:16:26.441
but now it was called AT&T.

00:16:26.541 --> 00:16:27.601
They bought the company and we

00:16:27.601 --> 00:16:31.561
moved here when I was nine. So I grew up in Nashville, a Nashville native.

00:16:32.041 --> 00:16:34.321
Went to junior high school, high school here.

00:16:34.861 --> 00:16:38.041
Funny stories, I actually met my wife when we were 12 years old.

00:16:38.481 --> 00:16:39.901
And back then we went to U.S. Park.

00:16:40.677 --> 00:16:43.497
And, but, you know, my wife and I, we never dated anything, just were friends.

00:16:43.817 --> 00:16:48.597
And then we actually ended up going to college together and then we reconnected there.

00:16:48.837 --> 00:16:51.037
But we were always friends, so it's not like we reconnected.

00:16:51.117 --> 00:16:53.337
We just looked at each other in a different light, I guess.

00:16:53.597 --> 00:16:57.577
So I went to Hunter's Lane and I graduated from Tennessee State University.

00:16:57.597 --> 00:17:03.497
So I have an accounting degree and I also have an MBA from there that I got many, many years ago.

00:17:04.097 --> 00:17:07.637
And, yeah, so I worked for H.A., worked in health care for a while.

00:17:08.217 --> 00:17:11.157
And then eventually I kind of got into doing my own thing.

00:17:11.377 --> 00:17:19.117
And so I've been, I had my own business since, what, 2009 and I have a bail bonding business.

00:17:19.657 --> 00:17:26.797
I have, also I have a dump truck and my brother and I, we have a staffing company that we do.

00:17:26.897 --> 00:17:29.437
We have a lot, we have several government contracts.

00:17:29.697 --> 00:17:34.177
We deal mainly with the VA or municipalities.

00:17:35.577 --> 00:17:42.277
Then I was elected in 2018 as a state representative for District 54.

00:17:42.617 --> 00:17:46.517
So I'm going into my seventh year. No, I'm going to my eighth year.

00:17:46.797 --> 00:17:49.017
So my fourth term, going into my eighth year.

00:17:49.357 --> 00:17:53.337
And I know we did not have this plan. And this was totally, you know,

00:17:53.497 --> 00:17:55.797
not planned, like you said, not planned or scripted.

00:17:55.797 --> 00:18:01.737
But today I launched my campaign for Congressional District 7,

00:18:02.037 --> 00:18:04.577
which is the seat that was vacated by Mark Green.

00:18:04.877 --> 00:18:08.357
Well, we'll be vacated by Mark Green on July the 20th.

00:18:08.737 --> 00:18:13.217
And so we've been busy with that all day today. So but I'm happy to.

00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:16.759
Be here and talk with you. Man, I appreciate that. See, look,

00:18:16.879 --> 00:18:20.719
you had already hit the point because, listen, I'm going to tell you how God

00:18:20.719 --> 00:18:22.039
is. I'm going to tell you how God is.

00:18:22.159 --> 00:18:29.259
I was so excited to get this interview, and me and my customer guest relations

00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:31.479
person, David Van Cleves,

00:18:31.979 --> 00:18:35.159
have hit me up and said that you had signed on to do the interview,

00:18:35.159 --> 00:18:39.179
and I was in the house doing some things today.

00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.259
And I looked up at the TV and whose face do I see on the TV?

00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:49.619
And I said, honey, this is the gentleman that I am about to interview tonight.

00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:54.619
He just signed on as one of the Democratic candidates to take Mark Green's spot.

00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:57.719
And I was like, man, look at God.

00:18:57.979 --> 00:19:00.499
Look at God. Look at God.

00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:08.539
I've had an overwhelming positive response today. We reached our goal for fundraising for today.

00:19:08.959 --> 00:19:13.799
And it's just, we came at the gate strong. And I think that we're going to build some momentum.

00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:18.659
And this is a winnable race. Even though they have Jerry Mayer,

00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:23.939
this district, we can win this race, but it's going to take all of us to do it.

00:19:23.959 --> 00:19:28.959
It's really going to really take our community, when I say our community,

00:19:29.179 --> 00:19:35.359
a black community to get out and vote because this is truly an opportunity that

00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.159
black people can choose who sits in that seat.

00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:41.579
And I'm not just saying that to say that, that is a fact.

00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.759
No, it is truly an opportunity.

00:19:45.379 --> 00:19:51.239
And if the people of Nashville don't understand the ramifications of where this

00:19:51.239 --> 00:19:53.439
could lead us to, then they're foolish.

00:19:54.351 --> 00:20:00.311
They're foolish to not understand how this can affect how things are done here

00:20:00.311 --> 00:20:01.191
in Nashville, Tennessee.

00:20:01.491 --> 00:20:05.451
Just like you, I'm also a native, but I went to Maplewood High School.

00:20:05.771 --> 00:20:08.891
But it sounds like we grew up in some of the same neighborhoods.

00:20:08.891 --> 00:20:11.131
We probably know some of the same people.

00:20:11.351 --> 00:20:15.531
I don't know what year you came out of high school because you're just a few

00:20:15.531 --> 00:20:19.191
years older than me. So I could imagine you came out before me.

00:20:20.751 --> 00:20:25.971
No, I'm saying we were both born in the 70s.

00:20:27.711 --> 00:20:33.431
You were born a few years before me in the 70s. Well, we were both born in the 70s.

00:20:33.531 --> 00:20:36.431
But man, I appreciate you being here.

00:20:36.731 --> 00:20:41.631
This platform, man, we are elevating. This is our one year, man.

00:20:41.631 --> 00:20:47.031
And we have been doing this consecutively every Tuesday for a year straight,

00:20:47.291 --> 00:20:53.711
trying to advocate for men's well-being and for men to understand that we have

00:20:53.711 --> 00:20:58.411
a place where we can come and have true, transparent and vulnerable conversations.

00:20:58.791 --> 00:21:02.591
Because if you look at the world, social media and all those things,

00:21:02.811 --> 00:21:04.591
women have groups everywhere.

00:21:04.991 --> 00:21:10.531
Everywhere you look, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, wherever, there's always a collective of women.

00:21:10.531 --> 00:21:15.411
I think it's my wife is on this new movement for the menopause,

00:21:15.571 --> 00:21:17.891
pre and post menopause or whatever

00:21:17.891 --> 00:21:23.031
it is, it's the I don't care menopause movement that these women have.

00:21:23.031 --> 00:21:27.251
But how many true movements do we have as fathers,

00:21:27.471 --> 00:21:32.891
husband and men, a place that we could come to and just sit down at the table

00:21:32.891 --> 00:21:37.871
and have conversations with each other and talk about politics and life and

00:21:37.871 --> 00:21:41.871
and rearing children and marriage and all those things? We don't have those.

00:21:42.831 --> 00:21:46.251
Yeah. You know, sometimes I'm glad you said that. I mean, it was funny when

00:21:46.251 --> 00:21:51.011
the guy, before I got jumped on this show, I had, well, go back and ask your

00:21:51.011 --> 00:21:53.271
question. I graduated from Hunter's Lane in 1991.

00:21:55.206 --> 00:21:58.466
I was talking to one of my good friends before he was laughing at me because

00:21:58.466 --> 00:22:01.146
I was like, man, how are you doing today? He's like, I'm good.

00:22:01.326 --> 00:22:02.126
I said, man, how's your health?

00:22:02.586 --> 00:22:05.086
He's like, he started laughing. I said, how's your mental health?

00:22:05.606 --> 00:22:08.266
He's like, man, why are you asking all these questions? I'm like,

00:22:08.346 --> 00:22:10.886
man, sometimes nobody ever asked us how we're doing.

00:22:11.046 --> 00:22:14.006
I was like, and when I say, okay, I said, no, tell me the long story.

00:22:14.626 --> 00:22:16.326
I have time today. I can listen.

00:22:17.046 --> 00:22:21.426
And so we have to be each other's council groups.

00:22:21.626 --> 00:22:24.466
I mean, you know, that's just what we are for each other. So I have a group,

00:22:24.606 --> 00:22:26.126
it's about six or seven of us.

00:22:26.426 --> 00:22:32.946
And I just lost one of my best friends. We were 14 years old and he passed away last Saturday.

00:22:33.106 --> 00:22:35.726
So his team was coming up this Friday.

00:22:36.546 --> 00:22:39.866
And we have this group and we talk to each other.

00:22:40.806 --> 00:22:45.666
We've been our group counseling session before each other.

00:22:45.766 --> 00:22:49.906
We know that everybody's not going through the same thing. A lot of times when

00:22:49.906 --> 00:22:52.846
you don't talk about it, you suffer in silence by yourself.

00:22:53.106 --> 00:22:57.086
When you realize all of us are buried, we have kids and we go through those

00:22:57.086 --> 00:23:00.266
ups and downs and you just realize, man, we just talk about anything.

00:23:00.586 --> 00:23:04.586
Because who knows at what moment one of us have experienced what you're going

00:23:04.586 --> 00:23:06.186
through or we're going to experience it.

00:23:07.446 --> 00:23:12.766
Man, exactly. That's what the kickback is about. Everything you just described

00:23:12.766 --> 00:23:18.746
is what I'm trying to build here is exactly what you just said,

00:23:18.746 --> 00:23:22.246
because we need a tribe. We all need a tribe.

00:23:22.406 --> 00:23:29.246
And I'm glad that you have a have a tribe of men that you can sit down and talk to.

00:23:29.466 --> 00:23:34.226
And my kudos to you for talking to your brother in that manner and saying,

00:23:34.406 --> 00:23:37.826
hey, man, what's wrong with you? Don't tell me the short answer.

00:23:38.006 --> 00:23:40.026
Give me the long version so I

00:23:40.026 --> 00:23:44.066
can sit down and understand so we can work through these things together.

00:23:44.446 --> 00:23:47.406
Because everything you just said is true.

00:23:47.966 --> 00:23:53.826
Men suffer in silence. We suffer so much in silence. Men have the highest rate of suicide.

00:23:54.146 --> 00:23:59.026
Men have the highest rates of death from health issues, from not taking care

00:23:59.026 --> 00:24:03.226
of themselves and not understanding where they need to take care of themselves

00:24:03.226 --> 00:24:04.906
and how they need to take care of themselves.

00:24:04.906 --> 00:24:10.106
It's like last month I just had to go to the doctor so they can look inside

00:24:10.106 --> 00:24:17.186
me you know I'm saying because I am 45 so at 45 they have to go they have to

00:24:17.186 --> 00:24:18.866
look inside you and make sure.

00:24:23.286 --> 00:24:26.486
Yes and that's the way I'm going to describe it

00:24:26.486 --> 00:24:29.686
they look inside you to make sure there's nothing there's no

00:24:29.686 --> 00:24:32.866
objects there to stop anything from happening

00:24:32.866 --> 00:24:41.746
so yes i i at 45 i had to go endure that and make sure that i'm okay because

00:24:41.746 --> 00:24:46.186
i have to make sure i'm good for my wife i have to make sure i'm good for my

00:24:46.186 --> 00:24:49.966
children i have to make sure i'm good for my community i have to make sure i'm

00:24:49.966 --> 00:24:52.626
good for my brother you understand what i'm saying.

00:24:53.344 --> 00:24:57.344
I feel you with both hands. Right. I understand.

00:24:57.864 --> 00:25:01.204
One of my good friends, he had prostate cancer when he was 40.

00:25:01.604 --> 00:25:05.804
Right. And, you know, with prostate cancer, the younger you are, the more deadly it is.

00:25:05.904 --> 00:25:10.224
Like if you're at 75, 80 and you get prostate cancer, it's not as dangerous.

00:25:10.584 --> 00:25:15.344
But that was kind of a wake up call. It's like, hey, we can stop playing around.

00:25:15.884 --> 00:25:18.584
You know, you've got to take your health. You go to the doctor.

00:25:18.724 --> 00:25:22.004
If you don't feel right, go to the doctor. That's what we have insurance for.

00:25:22.584 --> 00:25:26.044
Don't suffer. You know, don't be like, well, you know, my shoulders bother me.

00:25:26.604 --> 00:25:31.464
I can muscle through it. I'll be okay. Sometimes that's a sign of something

00:25:31.464 --> 00:25:32.584
larger that's happening.

00:25:33.024 --> 00:25:35.944
You know, so you definitely have to take that. So I applaud you for going to

00:25:35.944 --> 00:25:37.444
the doctor and taking care of yourself.

00:25:37.444 --> 00:25:45.324
Man, listen, to me, it's a blessing to be at a place in life where I can afford

00:25:45.324 --> 00:25:52.304
to be able and go do the things that I've done to take care of myself.

00:25:52.304 --> 00:25:58.384
God has blessed me so abundant, man, that it is crazy to even be here with you

00:25:58.384 --> 00:26:02.584
to have this conversation is a blessing because five years ago,

00:26:02.824 --> 00:26:09.144
I never imagined being able to have a conversation with a gentleman of your stature.

00:26:09.144 --> 00:26:13.884
Even though you're an ordinary man and you put on your pants every day, one leg at a time like me,

00:26:14.084 --> 00:26:21.544
but you've managed to accomplish something that a large population of African-American

00:26:21.544 --> 00:26:24.224
men will never, you know what I mean?

00:26:24.933 --> 00:26:29.613
Man, it's funny that you say that because my friend group, my group of guys,

00:26:29.813 --> 00:26:31.573
they're what I call the great equalizer.

00:26:31.793 --> 00:26:36.273
Because it doesn't matter how big you get, how low you get. They're going to

00:26:36.273 --> 00:26:37.773
bring you up or they're going to bring you down.

00:26:38.033 --> 00:26:39.953
But they're going to keep you where you are. So people are like,

00:26:40.033 --> 00:26:42.433
man, you're so down to earth. You're so cool.

00:26:42.653 --> 00:26:45.553
You're just a regular person. I was like, yeah, because my wife,

00:26:45.933 --> 00:26:49.053
my kids, and my friends keep me that way. They keep me grounded.

00:26:49.433 --> 00:26:53.113
They know that we're just regular people. We're not doing anything extraordinary.

00:26:53.113 --> 00:26:58.533
I was telling somebody the other day, my career path wasn't to be a state representative.

00:26:58.853 --> 00:27:02.373
This just kind of happened and the door opened for me.

00:27:02.533 --> 00:27:07.493
And I guess that positioned me in this position where I was ready to take advantage

00:27:07.493 --> 00:27:10.573
of this opportunity if it came. The same thing with the Congress.

00:27:10.813 --> 00:27:16.253
I'm not I didn't start out seeking to be a congressional candidate.

00:27:16.253 --> 00:27:21.313
But I'm grateful because sometimes I was talking to my wife this morning and

00:27:21.313 --> 00:27:29.013
I was like, it's it's crazy to me that I'm actually running for Congress and I'm a real candidate.

00:27:29.013 --> 00:27:32.133
I would have never thought that in my life.

00:27:32.293 --> 00:27:35.913
You know, young boy from Chattanooga who grew up in the projects.

00:27:35.913 --> 00:27:40.913
I know everybody says that stuff, but a single family home.

00:27:41.333 --> 00:27:46.093
My mom never made over $28,000 a year, and she retired in 1999.

00:27:46.393 --> 00:27:50.033
So it's not like she made a lot. This was so far back.

00:27:50.193 --> 00:27:56.053
$28,000 a year is not a lot of money, but we made it. I never lacked love.

00:27:56.373 --> 00:28:00.513
I didn't even know that I didn't have certain things because we always had love.

00:28:00.733 --> 00:28:03.233
We was always there. I never felt neglected.

00:28:03.633 --> 00:28:06.493
I may not have had all my wants, but I had all my needs.

00:28:07.397 --> 00:28:12.697
And that is the difference between now and then, because I grew up in the same

00:28:12.697 --> 00:28:15.837
manner you grew up. But I only grew up here in Nashville.

00:28:16.137 --> 00:28:20.377
Born and raised in Nashville, Meharry Hubbard Hospital is where I was born.

00:28:20.657 --> 00:28:24.877
The first address I can ever remember is 533 South 7th Street,

00:28:24.877 --> 00:28:29.037
if you know where that is. That's James KC Projects.

00:28:29.577 --> 00:28:34.297
The first school I ever went to was Warner Elementary. My mother was the strongest

00:28:34.297 --> 00:28:38.217
man I ever knew in my life because my father wasn't there.

00:28:39.197 --> 00:28:44.677
And it's the same as you. We may not be on the same career path, but my career.

00:28:45.437 --> 00:28:52.437
I sit back, me and my brother, we talk about how we are where we're at now versus

00:28:52.437 --> 00:28:56.397
where we were 10 years ago and how God has blessed us.

00:28:56.397 --> 00:29:01.857
And we never thought we would never have we would have never thought that we'd

00:29:01.857 --> 00:29:04.037
be in the place that we are right now.

00:29:04.277 --> 00:29:08.197
Ten years ago, I couldn't see this ten years ago, just like you couldn't see

00:29:08.197 --> 00:29:12.337
yourself running for this particular position ten years ago.

00:29:13.337 --> 00:29:20.777
You know, so where we come from is a part of our story, but it's not who we are.

00:29:21.597 --> 00:29:24.897
And so many of us men make where

00:29:24.897 --> 00:29:28.097
we come from who we are when

00:29:28.097 --> 00:29:34.697
that should just be a place that you pass through in order to evolve into the

00:29:34.697 --> 00:29:40.497
man you are today i know this is gonna sound crazy but like so my my dad was

00:29:40.497 --> 00:29:47.937
always around but not around so like my dad passed away when i was 22 he was an alcoholic.

00:29:48.957 --> 00:29:53.297
When he wasn't drinking, smartest man you'd ever meet. But he probably didn't

00:29:53.297 --> 00:29:55.957
talk. As soon as he started drinking, all hell broke loose.

00:29:56.477 --> 00:30:01.037
But when I started having kids and got married, my mantra was,

00:30:01.217 --> 00:30:05.537
if I just did the opposite of what I thought he would do, I would be okay.

00:30:06.057 --> 00:30:09.877
And so I didn't have the greatest. I didn't have a good role model, period.

00:30:10.177 --> 00:30:16.037
But I knew what I wanted was something different for my kids did to my family.

00:30:16.477 --> 00:30:18.017
I know. Does that make sense?

00:30:18.597 --> 00:30:23.397
Oh, yes, because listen, the greatest thing my father ever done for me was not be there.

00:30:24.366 --> 00:30:27.726
Mm hmm. And it's the honest God's truth. That's what I tell everybody.

00:30:27.926 --> 00:30:31.666
The greatest thing my father ever done for me was not being in my life. You know why?

00:30:32.006 --> 00:30:36.066
Because all of my children have five children. All my children know their father

00:30:36.066 --> 00:30:39.306
knows his phone number, knows where he lives, knows where he works,

00:30:39.406 --> 00:30:41.446
knows how to get in touch with him, knows everything.

00:30:41.446 --> 00:30:45.486
I didn't have any of that growing up as a kid. So the best thing my father did

00:30:45.486 --> 00:30:47.046
for me was not be in my life.

00:30:47.166 --> 00:30:51.506
I know that sounds so, so horrible or harsh or whatever you want to call it,

00:30:51.586 --> 00:30:54.686
but that's my reality and that's my my life.

00:30:54.926 --> 00:31:02.906
But at the same hand, my children, all five of them know that they can depend on their father.

00:31:03.106 --> 00:31:08.786
All five of my children know that I'm going to be there no matter what.

00:31:09.406 --> 00:31:13.186
But if I got to call my, if one of my kids call me and say, Dad,

00:31:13.346 --> 00:31:17.506
I need you, if I'm at work and it's something imperative and important,

00:31:17.766 --> 00:31:20.446
hey, I'm going to call my job, call my supervisor. Hey, look,

00:31:20.446 --> 00:31:21.526
I got to go take care of my kid.

00:31:22.326 --> 00:31:25.366
Family first, always. Again, the people that work for me, I was like,

00:31:25.466 --> 00:31:30.546
listen, if you ever have anything to do with your family, you don't even have to ask.

00:31:30.746 --> 00:31:33.906
You go do it. We'll figure it out. That's families first.

00:31:34.266 --> 00:31:38.066
You know, it's just how I was raised. You always take care of your family.

00:31:38.726 --> 00:31:43.866
And when you think about it, you say you have five kids, have two girls, they're 18 and 20.

00:31:44.026 --> 00:31:47.866
But, you know, they're only with you for 18 years of their life.

00:31:48.146 --> 00:31:51.686
That's it. Then they're going out into the world. And so I want to make sure

00:31:51.686 --> 00:31:56.046
I spend all the time that I can with them and teaching them,

00:31:56.206 --> 00:31:57.526
making memories with them.

00:31:57.666 --> 00:32:00.726
Because after those 18 years, they go off to college, go off,

00:32:00.786 --> 00:32:02.066
get a job, whatever they do.

00:32:02.166 --> 00:32:07.506
But they begin their adult life. and tell us it was important for me to make

00:32:07.506 --> 00:32:08.546
sure we had that foundation.

00:32:08.886 --> 00:32:13.186
Ha ha, that's just a lie that society tells you. Them kids come back.

00:32:14.095 --> 00:32:18.895
These kids come back. I told my daughters, I told my oldest when I said,

00:32:18.975 --> 00:32:22.555
listen, you live somewhere else for nine months out of year. I said, you a visitor.

00:32:22.755 --> 00:32:25.015
You don't have a visitor house no more. You a visitor.

00:32:25.315 --> 00:32:28.575
And that kind of came back on me because I was like, I need you to clean up

00:32:28.575 --> 00:32:30.655
all some stuff. And she said, I thought I was a visitor.

00:32:35.415 --> 00:32:39.375
You got me. Yeah, she got you because between me and my wife I'm married to

00:32:39.375 --> 00:32:41.335
now, we are a blended family.

00:32:41.575 --> 00:32:47.495
Okay? I was married before her and I have two children by the woman that I was married to before her.

00:32:47.615 --> 00:32:51.655
And my wife brought me two children when I married her. So we are a blended family.

00:32:52.755 --> 00:32:59.315
So her my oldest daughter just decided that she wanted to make a career change

00:32:59.315 --> 00:33:00.915
and do a couple other things.

00:33:00.935 --> 00:33:03.695
So she moved back into the house with us.

00:33:04.295 --> 00:33:10.935
My my second child, she's married, moved on, lives in a whole nother county. me.

00:33:11.655 --> 00:33:15.855
She's living good. Got a husband. Good job. Her husband has a good job.

00:33:16.095 --> 00:33:20.155
I'm about to be a grandpa for the first time at the end of this month.

00:33:20.215 --> 00:33:22.175
I'm about to be Pawpaw, man.

00:33:22.495 --> 00:33:24.595
I'm so excited about that.

00:33:26.315 --> 00:33:31.155
She just turned 30 on the 10th, and there's 26, and there's 21.

00:33:31.575 --> 00:33:38.315
My boy, he still lives here, but he just got into a program to become an electrician,

00:33:38.375 --> 00:33:43.515
and we sat down and talked about his plan, and he wants to be out by the time

00:33:43.515 --> 00:33:46.495
he turns 22, which will be next May,

00:33:46.755 --> 00:33:55.655
and so, hey, thank God for that, and then I have a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old, and it is,

00:33:56.295 --> 00:34:01.475
man, you think that they're going to go away, you're not going to see them anymore,

00:34:01.475 --> 00:34:04.215
listen, they're still there. You're still daddy.

00:34:05.395 --> 00:34:08.915
You're still in their lives. Listen, my 26-year-old that's pregnant,

00:34:09.095 --> 00:34:10.475
has a husband, has a great career.

00:34:11.035 --> 00:34:16.915
At the end of her pay period, she still sends a request for money for gas and lunch.

00:34:18.615 --> 00:34:21.715
You're not giving me any hope.

00:34:22.535 --> 00:34:28.455
I'm not trying to give you hope. I'm trying to give you true transparency as a father.

00:34:30.335 --> 00:34:35.795
But that's what we're here for at the kickback, man, is to help brothers understand

00:34:35.795 --> 00:34:39.995
that what you're going through or maybe going through, somebody else has been

00:34:39.995 --> 00:34:41.655
through it. Understand what I'm saying?

00:34:42.675 --> 00:34:48.975
Because people live in the right now. A lot of people are out here living in the right now.

00:34:49.115 --> 00:34:53.775
And a lot of people think that what's going on in their lives right now is going

00:34:53.775 --> 00:34:57.715
to be there tomorrow, is going to be there next week, is going to be there next

00:34:57.715 --> 00:34:59.775
month, and there's going to be there next year.

00:34:59.995 --> 00:35:04.675
But not understanding that 10 years ago when you were running your businesses,

00:35:04.675 --> 00:35:10.395
you didn't know that you were going to be putting yourself up for the spot that

00:35:10.395 --> 00:35:12.155
you're putting yourself up for now, did you?

00:35:12.916 --> 00:35:17.516
No, no, not at all. Exactly. Yeah. No, go ahead. I'm sorry.

00:35:18.196 --> 00:35:24.836
No, it's fine. Go ahead. I'm just saying that's where you were, let's say, 20 years ago.

00:35:25.096 --> 00:35:28.016
You didn't think that you'd be at the spot you are right now.

00:35:28.176 --> 00:35:29.276
You were looking at those.

00:35:29.896 --> 00:35:34.336
You were looking at that baby and like, what am I going to do to make her future better?

00:35:35.236 --> 00:35:39.896
Because your wife was pregnant. So now I got to make a better future for me,

00:35:40.316 --> 00:35:44.356
her, and this baby that's coming. Now we're here.

00:35:44.796 --> 00:35:50.556
Life has changed. A week ago, you were contemplating this move of putting yourself

00:35:50.556 --> 00:35:55.136
in the race for this, but you prayed on it and did whatever you did.

00:35:55.136 --> 00:35:57.816
And then you had made the announcement today, right?

00:35:58.516 --> 00:36:02.876
Right. You know, we are some of our experiences. You know, things happen.

00:36:02.876 --> 00:36:07.316
And sometimes I think it really, I've seen experiencing in my life,

00:36:07.416 --> 00:36:12.576
sometimes you feel like that door is closed or an opportunity you didn't get that you wanted.

00:36:12.936 --> 00:36:16.996
But you turn around and look back and say, man, if I had taken that opportunity

00:36:16.996 --> 00:36:20.276
or if I had went down that route, I wouldn't be right here where I am today.

00:36:20.956 --> 00:36:24.776
So I'm grateful that I'm in this in this position.

00:36:24.896 --> 00:36:29.336
I'm grateful that I can help my community. I'm grateful that I get a chance

00:36:29.336 --> 00:36:34.196
to speak out, to say the things that people want to say but can't say because

00:36:34.196 --> 00:36:36.036
they don't have the opportunity to say, right?

00:36:36.396 --> 00:36:42.416
In the statehouse, in our general assembly, there's 99 state representatives

00:36:42.416 --> 00:36:46.896
and there's 32, 33 senators.

00:36:47.236 --> 00:36:53.676
There's only 132 people in the state of Tennessee out of 7 million people get to do what I do.

00:36:53.676 --> 00:36:56.416
But take my job seriously and i get to be

00:36:56.416 --> 00:37:00.056
the person that when you yelling at the tv saying oh man he has a question i

00:37:00.056 --> 00:37:04.396
can't believe he lying well i get to actually say that in real time and i don't

00:37:04.396 --> 00:37:09.116
take my my job duties lightly and actually but i appreciate it i've enjoyed

00:37:09.116 --> 00:37:13.716
it i've learned a lot you know because once you get a peek behind that curtain you're like oh

00:37:14.156 --> 00:37:17.696
it's not what i thought it was right and

00:37:17.696 --> 00:37:21.156
like you said out of all the people here you

00:37:21.156 --> 00:37:24.756
gotta you have the opportunity of

00:37:24.756 --> 00:37:27.776
saying these things that everybody else wants to say live

00:37:27.776 --> 00:37:31.576
and in person and that's so cool

00:37:31.576 --> 00:37:34.876
because a lot of us like you said are standing on the other side of the screen

00:37:34.876 --> 00:37:39.456
like man answer the question he said that three times and you keep diverting

00:37:39.456 --> 00:37:46.416
from the question man answer the question yeah man my wife is has been hey whenever

00:37:46.416 --> 00:37:49.336
i'm doing stuff she's It's like, don't be like those people on TV.

00:37:49.876 --> 00:37:54.016
When they ask you a question, you answer it. And you have a solution.

00:37:54.356 --> 00:37:59.376
I'm like, maybe you become a political campaign consultant. Right.

00:38:01.616 --> 00:38:05.716
I don't say it out loud. Of course. You don't want to get in trouble.

00:38:06.516 --> 00:38:14.016
We ain't trying to get in trouble I'm like on Fridays that he come around I'll be quiet.

00:38:15.976 --> 00:38:22.716
Now let's talk about bill 0883 let's talk about that bill you sponsored about

00:38:22.716 --> 00:38:26.396
felons and the opportunity to seal their.

00:38:27.276 --> 00:38:34.036
Records who brought that bill to the table and what made you sponsor it oh So

00:38:34.036 --> 00:38:39.596
I was just reading, I was also reading, there was actually a young brother out of Pennsylvania.

00:38:40.236 --> 00:38:43.316
He had a bill, it was called the Clean Slate Act.

00:38:43.496 --> 00:38:45.396
That's what we called it. He had it up there in Pennsylvania,

00:38:45.556 --> 00:38:49.276
but he has only wiped off misdemeanors.

00:38:49.456 --> 00:38:54.256
So I was like, I did a little bit more research and I just found out that like

00:38:54.256 --> 00:39:00.996
after five years, most people, the recidivism rate drops, drops tremendously.

00:39:01.556 --> 00:39:05.796
After three years, it's almost non-existent. I mean, after three years,

00:39:05.876 --> 00:39:08.496
it drops down. After five years, it's almost non-existent.

00:39:08.896 --> 00:39:12.136
And I was like, why don't people get a second chance to do that?

00:39:12.176 --> 00:39:16.176
And if you've proven, if you've completed your sentence, gone through probation

00:39:16.176 --> 00:39:19.636
or whatever, and then you stayed out of trouble another three or five years,

00:39:19.816 --> 00:39:23.736
why wouldn't you get the opportunity to have your voting rights restored and

00:39:23.736 --> 00:39:25.856
your full citizenship rights restored?

00:39:26.116 --> 00:39:29.776
That just makes sense, right? But it seems like right now the Department of

00:39:29.776 --> 00:39:33.936
Corrections is supposed to correct the behavior that got you there.

00:39:34.036 --> 00:39:37.316
But really, it's just the Department of Punishment because they just punish

00:39:37.316 --> 00:39:41.736
you and then there's nothing to help correct that behavior or put you in a better position.

00:39:42.336 --> 00:39:45.696
And I just thought it was an opportunity to help people. Francis,

00:39:45.816 --> 00:39:47.956
this is why our laws make no sense.

00:39:48.216 --> 00:39:51.776
So if you get convicted of a misdemeanor.

00:39:52.562 --> 00:39:55.162
Even if in most misdemeanors, you don't have to do jail time.

00:39:55.282 --> 00:39:59.242
But if you did, you've heard of 1129, right? Yes, sir.

00:40:00.202 --> 00:40:04.222
1129 means you would have to serve 11 months and 29 days. That would be the

00:40:04.222 --> 00:40:06.322
max sentence that you would have.

00:40:06.562 --> 00:40:10.142
Max sentence is seven, I mean, 11 months and 29.

00:40:10.522 --> 00:40:16.402
But in order to get that expunged from your record, you got to wait another seven years.

00:40:16.402 --> 00:40:21.142
So you did an eight year sentence over something where you could only would

00:40:21.142 --> 00:40:26.082
only take you less than a year to complete your sentence if you had to actually go to jail.

00:40:26.542 --> 00:40:30.462
How is that fair? Why don't you if you had a misdemeanor, you stay out for another

00:40:30.462 --> 00:40:34.082
year. And why won't you be able to get that expunge from your record or seal?

00:40:34.662 --> 00:40:39.462
And when I put the seal in your say seal in your records, what it does is it

00:40:39.462 --> 00:40:44.842
doesn't wipe your your history away. hey, it's just as long as you don't get

00:40:44.842 --> 00:40:46.482
any more trouble, you're fine.

00:40:46.642 --> 00:40:51.522
But if you do get in more trouble, then they can use your past history against

00:40:51.522 --> 00:40:53.182
you to enhance your sentence.

00:40:54.022 --> 00:41:00.282
That's an incentive for people to stay out of trouble, to reintegrate into society

00:41:00.282 --> 00:41:02.222
and be a good member of society.

00:41:02.662 --> 00:41:08.742
So it is a win-win, but Republicans, they just don't have an appetite for that to try to help people.

00:41:09.002 --> 00:41:12.342
They want to hurt people, especially in this day and age. And it's just gotten

00:41:12.342 --> 00:41:14.042
worse since I've been there.

00:41:14.342 --> 00:41:19.062
And I feel like it's more change. And I think that me running for Congress,

00:41:19.282 --> 00:41:23.902
and I'm not trying to plug myself, but I think that winning this seat,

00:41:24.202 --> 00:41:29.122
when I win this seat, it will change the direction of politics in the state of Tennessee.

00:41:30.426 --> 00:41:36.226
Man, and that's what we need. We need somebody to change the trajectory of the

00:41:36.226 --> 00:41:40.366
way that things are going. I understand the regime that we have right now. It is what it is.

00:41:40.606 --> 00:41:45.306
And we, like any adversity, you have to push through it in order to get to the

00:41:45.306 --> 00:41:48.166
other side to get your blessing and to get the lesson.

00:41:48.166 --> 00:41:57.446
The United States right now is pushing through and they're reaping what they have asked for.

00:41:57.606 --> 00:42:03.146
And some people understand that it's not all it's everything is not as it appears.

00:42:03.506 --> 00:42:09.586
Sometimes the wool can be thrown over your eyes and there could be a false narrative

00:42:09.586 --> 00:42:17.486
being had and a lot of things being said and tossed around that people can't actually produce.

00:42:17.486 --> 00:42:24.006
And there's a lot of that going on right now and we just have to make it through

00:42:24.006 --> 00:42:28.006
to the other side because there's always a blessing on the other side of adversities

00:42:28.006 --> 00:42:31.506
and there's always a lesson on the other side of adversities.

00:42:31.746 --> 00:42:36.586
So we've just got to push through the things that are going on right now to

00:42:36.586 --> 00:42:38.626
get the blessing and the lesson.

00:42:38.666 --> 00:42:46.466
But on that, let's talk about this other bill. we got House Bill 8081 drug treatment

00:42:46.466 --> 00:42:48.206
instead of incarceration?

00:42:49.386 --> 00:42:56.186
Mm-hmm. Well, you know, on those things, a lot of times, people commit some

00:42:56.186 --> 00:42:59.226
crimes, not because they're in the right mind. Sometimes they're on drugs, right?

00:42:59.386 --> 00:43:03.246
And sometimes if you just dig down deeper into what's going on,

00:43:03.466 --> 00:43:07.706
people kind of see, all right, they have some type of mental issue or a drug

00:43:07.706 --> 00:43:09.766
issue. They don't need to be jailed.

00:43:09.926 --> 00:43:14.386
We're not You're not attacking the root cause. We're just jailing people.

00:43:14.846 --> 00:43:19.266
So this is what helped people. Listen, let's get you some help because the goal

00:43:19.266 --> 00:43:23.786
is to make sure that you get somebody back on the path so they can be a productive

00:43:23.786 --> 00:43:26.046
citizen, so they can get back to their life,

00:43:26.386 --> 00:43:30.066
to their families, hopefully their kids or whatever it is they need to do.

00:43:30.246 --> 00:43:35.546
So I felt like this was a good opportunity in order to try to help people get

00:43:35.546 --> 00:43:39.126
back on the right path instead of just labeling them criminals.

00:43:39.126 --> 00:43:42.026
And but let's just drill down to the root cause the reason

00:43:42.026 --> 00:43:44.706
why that was that bill is kind of important to me like I was saying

00:43:44.706 --> 00:43:47.506
my dad died when I was 22 and when

00:43:47.506 --> 00:43:50.226
you're young you don't really understand what my like

00:43:50.226 --> 00:43:55.486
I said my dad was alcoholic and now as I got older I realized he was an alcoholic

00:43:55.486 --> 00:44:00.346
for a reason there was some trauma that he had he never dealt with nobody ever

00:44:00.346 --> 00:44:05.566
knew to talk about it and I wished it as an older man that I've become that

00:44:05.566 --> 00:44:08.146
I would have had to I had the opportunity to talk to him and say,

00:44:08.226 --> 00:44:10.106
man, what went wrong? What happened?

00:44:10.946 --> 00:44:14.166
What drove you to drink so much? What is it?

00:44:14.717 --> 00:44:18.277
And so that's why that bill was kind of personal. You know what, man?

00:44:18.357 --> 00:44:24.037
That is amazing because you, that you, you saying a lot of things and I,

00:44:24.117 --> 00:44:25.517
like I said, it's God, it's not us.

00:44:25.657 --> 00:44:29.237
It just, this is not scripted by any means. I don't want anybody to think this

00:44:29.237 --> 00:44:32.557
is scripted. This is just a laid back conversation between two men.

00:44:33.237 --> 00:44:38.157
What you just said, I think a lot of us older at our older age,

00:44:38.477 --> 00:44:43.717
wish we could have had those particular conversations with our parents.

00:44:43.717 --> 00:44:48.877
My dad died in 2012 and he died of prostate cancer.

00:44:49.057 --> 00:44:54.017
But along with the prostate cancer he had, he was a heavy alcoholic.

00:44:54.357 --> 00:44:56.777
He was a very heavy alcoholic. So

00:44:56.777 --> 00:44:59.997
he didn't take care of his health and he didn't take care of his things.

00:45:00.937 --> 00:45:03.997
So like you said, wishing that

00:45:03.997 --> 00:45:06.817
you could have these conversations with these people

00:45:06.817 --> 00:45:12.677
to understand what drove you to the point to where you had to numb yourself

00:45:12.677 --> 00:45:19.317
up so much that you lost consciousness and you wanted to be free of the realities

00:45:19.317 --> 00:45:25.637
of the world and engulf yourself in whatever your particular drug of choice is,

00:45:25.777 --> 00:45:31.357
whether it's alcohol or illegal substance of any kind.

00:45:31.357 --> 00:45:36.817
And just having those conversations with those people, you could better understand.

00:45:36.837 --> 00:45:41.757
And right before you came in, like I said, I was talking to my co-host and we

00:45:41.757 --> 00:45:44.597
were talking about the exact same thing.

00:45:44.817 --> 00:45:51.117
He was saying that a brother of his had called him early this morning before the sun came up.

00:45:51.657 --> 00:45:57.137
And it was we called each other brothers like you got a group of brothers you bounce things off of.

00:45:57.137 --> 00:46:02.997
So this is a brother called him early this morning, and he was saying that that

00:46:02.997 --> 00:46:06.037
brother was stuck in the 90s.

00:46:06.037 --> 00:46:11.577
And what I was telling him is we sometimes get stuck in these traumatic,

00:46:11.817 --> 00:46:17.317
in what's called traumatic age syndrome, where there is a particular traumatic

00:46:17.317 --> 00:46:21.717
instant that happened in our lives at whatever age we were.

00:46:21.737 --> 00:46:30.277
And we get stuck there and don't know how to evolve and get past whatever that particular trauma is.

00:46:30.277 --> 00:46:34.337
And we just kind of stuck in limbo. So, yeah, you may have it may have happened

00:46:34.337 --> 00:46:36.997
when you was 21 and now you're 51,

00:46:37.077 --> 00:46:43.957
but you never seek to help or no one ever reached out to you and had that conversation

00:46:43.957 --> 00:46:47.197
or cared enough to say, hey, brother, what's going on?

00:46:47.337 --> 00:46:54.857
So now you're 51 still living in the traumatic situation that happened to you when you were 21.

00:46:56.110 --> 00:47:01.410
You know, it's funny. You said it. I look at it from you saying the same thing,

00:47:01.490 --> 00:47:02.570
but just using different words.

00:47:02.710 --> 00:47:05.450
I was just saying like my friend that passed away. He peaked.

00:47:05.690 --> 00:47:11.070
I say he peaked. They peaked right there and then they stopped because that was his thing about 20.

00:47:11.310 --> 00:47:12.770
When he was about 22 years old

00:47:12.770 --> 00:47:17.330
is when he peaked. He never really grew mentally from that from that age.

00:47:17.590 --> 00:47:19.830
Right. He got stuck right there.

00:47:20.350 --> 00:47:25.710
And you put it in. You articulate that better than I could. You did a very good job.

00:47:26.230 --> 00:47:31.090
Thank you, man. Like I said, this is when I get on the microphone, it's God, man.

00:47:31.230 --> 00:47:36.090
And God just he puts these words in my mouth and I just spit them out to the

00:47:36.090 --> 00:47:39.910
best of my ability to try to make people understand that I'm advocating for

00:47:39.910 --> 00:47:41.130
the well-being of people.

00:47:41.570 --> 00:47:45.210
I like I am a fatherless father. I'm a father of five.

00:47:45.510 --> 00:47:48.410
I'm a brother. I'm a husband. I'm a cousin. I'm all those things.

00:47:48.410 --> 00:47:53.350
But I still have moments where things have happened to me in my life.

00:47:53.490 --> 00:47:58.830
And in some instances, I still get stuck. We all do. We all have had things

00:47:58.830 --> 00:48:00.470
that have happened in our lives and get stuck.

00:48:00.670 --> 00:48:05.350
And this platform has helped me so much. My wife says, your podcast is your

00:48:05.350 --> 00:48:07.030
therapy because it's my therapy.

00:48:07.150 --> 00:48:12.090
Just having a conversation with you, you're going to give me a gym that I never

00:48:12.090 --> 00:48:16.570
knew I needed by the end of this conversation. just talking to you.

00:48:16.830 --> 00:48:21.210
Yeah, we're going to talk about your political life, your work life and all those things.

00:48:21.370 --> 00:48:25.050
I'm going to mix that in there. But I really just want to talk to Mr.

00:48:25.630 --> 00:48:30.750
Dixie and figure out who he is on a human level, because I know a lot of people

00:48:30.750 --> 00:48:34.590
are wanting to talk politics all the time or a lot of people are wanting to

00:48:34.590 --> 00:48:38.970
talk bail bonding business or whatever it is. Okay, all that's fine and cool.

00:48:39.350 --> 00:48:42.790
But I want to get to know you on a human level and who you are as a man,

00:48:42.970 --> 00:48:44.250
you're a father of two daughters.

00:48:44.470 --> 00:48:47.490
You're a good husband to your wife. You guys have known each other since junior

00:48:47.490 --> 00:48:49.650
high school. You understand me?

00:48:50.770 --> 00:48:56.670
We need more of this. This is why this platform is here. We are a hidden gem.

00:48:56.990 --> 00:49:02.010
We are a hidden gem. This is 52 weeks that I've consecutively sat behind this

00:49:02.010 --> 00:49:05.910
microphone and had conversations with people about life, love,

00:49:05.910 --> 00:49:07.810
rearing children and all these things,

00:49:08.010 --> 00:49:15.510
and just getting to know people and trying to figure out how I can help another

00:49:15.510 --> 00:49:21.930
brother or sister be better than they were an hour ago before they met me on this microphone.

00:49:22.170 --> 00:49:26.630
Because we all need a soundboard sometimes. We all need a place where we can

00:49:26.630 --> 00:49:27.670
just have conversations.

00:49:28.110 --> 00:49:30.730
It sounds like you're still in your office.

00:49:31.290 --> 00:49:37.690
Well, I'm at the home office. But you're still in an office and you still you're

00:49:37.690 --> 00:49:39.730
still working. I get it. I understand.

00:49:40.170 --> 00:49:41.850
But you're still a man.

00:49:42.517 --> 00:49:45.437
Oh, yeah. You're still a father. Right.

00:49:46.137 --> 00:49:50.477
Yeah. But I guess I think that the thing that was the biggest misconception

00:49:50.477 --> 00:49:55.037
that we have, especially as men, well, black men, we just don't open up our

00:49:55.037 --> 00:49:58.277
minds and say, I'm hurting or I need a timeout.

00:49:58.417 --> 00:50:01.117
I just need some time to myself. Let me recoup. Let me rest.

00:50:01.517 --> 00:50:02.697
Let me get myself together.

00:50:03.197 --> 00:50:07.237
And then because if I if I fall, a lot of pieces fall, too.

00:50:07.597 --> 00:50:10.477
Right. so i gotta hold together i can't help

00:50:10.477 --> 00:50:13.477
anybody you can't help you can't help anybody to

00:50:13.477 --> 00:50:17.017
help yourself if you can be a whole person to

00:50:17.017 --> 00:50:19.857
yourself you can't help anybody else because people will take from

00:50:19.857 --> 00:50:22.917
you you know take take take take take and uh

00:50:22.917 --> 00:50:27.497
at some point you just have to be like let me move myself let me recharge then

00:50:27.497 --> 00:50:31.297
i can go back and then you can take them because god built me for this right

00:50:31.297 --> 00:50:36.977
that's what we are as men and that's what i explained to somebody before you

00:50:36.977 --> 00:50:41.417
You got to take on the world and what you have going on. And if you got a wife,

00:50:41.557 --> 00:50:42.417
then you got to protect her.

00:50:42.537 --> 00:50:45.417
If you got kids, you got to protect them. If something goes wrong with the house,

00:50:45.517 --> 00:50:47.677
you got to take care of the house. If something goes wrong with the car,

00:50:47.757 --> 00:50:48.737
you got to take care of the car.

00:50:48.957 --> 00:50:52.977
At work, you've got to take care of people at work. So we've got to carry all

00:50:52.977 --> 00:50:56.237
of these different things, and we've got to wear all these different hats.

00:50:56.637 --> 00:51:00.077
And you just, the way you described it and summed it up is so,

00:51:00.177 --> 00:51:03.137
so great. Hey, man, I need a timeout.

00:51:04.637 --> 00:51:07.557
I just i need a time out whether it's just getting my

00:51:07.557 --> 00:51:10.617
car and driving down the interstate whether it's sitting on the back patio

00:51:10.617 --> 00:51:13.537
just looking at the stars or looking at the grill as

00:51:13.537 --> 00:51:18.717
you're cooking some food or if it's just sitting going somewhere and having

00:51:18.717 --> 00:51:23.657
lunch by yourself and just people watching but you're not interacting with anyone

00:51:23.657 --> 00:51:28.557
you're just sitting there people watching but hey i need a time out i need a

00:51:28.557 --> 00:51:32.297
moment to breathe my wife always that she was Like,

00:51:32.417 --> 00:51:35.077
I was like, well, I'm going to get something to eat. I'm going to lunch.

00:51:35.717 --> 00:51:38.937
How am I going to do this? She's like, you're going to lunch by yourself?

00:51:39.497 --> 00:51:41.817
And I said, who are you going with? I was like, by myself. Like,

00:51:42.297 --> 00:51:46.737
why are you going by yourself? I was like, I'm okay. I'm okay with sitting quiet and just.

00:51:47.585 --> 00:51:52.165
Decompressing. You know what one of my favorite things to do is? It's to cut grass.

00:51:53.545 --> 00:51:58.965
That's wonderful. For two things. One is when you're cutting grass,

00:51:59.105 --> 00:52:01.905
you can't answer your phone because one is you can't hear it or feel it.

00:52:02.085 --> 00:52:06.045
But now they got all these Bluetooth headsets and stuff. So that messes it up.

00:52:06.105 --> 00:52:07.805
I still pretend like I can't hear it anyway.

00:52:08.605 --> 00:52:13.505
But also, once you finish cutting grass, you have a sense of accomplishment.

00:52:13.825 --> 00:52:15.025
Like, look what I just did.

00:52:15.705 --> 00:52:18.565
But for those few minutes that hour or whatever

00:52:18.565 --> 00:52:21.245
it is that i'm cutting grass it's just peaceful and you

00:52:21.245 --> 00:52:24.165
can just be in your thoughts you know if you listen to music

00:52:24.165 --> 00:52:28.725
or sometimes i don't listen to music i just just let my thoughts you know just

00:52:28.725 --> 00:52:34.665
go through and so that's why i like cutting grass man that's wonderful that

00:52:34.665 --> 00:52:42.425
you that's your escape if you're you you are doing a job but you're also taking care of yourself.

00:52:42.805 --> 00:52:48.165
So that is a double entendre because this grass has got to be cut.

00:52:48.365 --> 00:52:56.205
I need a timeout. So we run them consecutively and you accomplish two things at one time.

00:52:56.385 --> 00:52:59.685
So yes, setting back and saying, man, look at that grass.

00:53:00.285 --> 00:53:02.105
I just really cut that grass.

00:53:03.245 --> 00:53:07.485
On the other hand, man, I couldn't hear my wife saying nothing.

00:53:07.765 --> 00:53:12.365
The office ain't calling. but the kids ain't asking me for nothing.

00:53:13.045 --> 00:53:17.405
My homies, they cool wherever they at. I'm just in my moment.

00:53:17.545 --> 00:53:21.945
And like I mentioned grilling because that's my thing. I sit out on my back patio.

00:53:22.265 --> 00:53:24.205
I fire up my grill.

00:53:25.233 --> 00:53:27.013
My wife don't want to come out there. The kids don't want to.

00:53:27.073 --> 00:53:30.453
It's too smoky out there. I don't want to come out there. You smell like smoke.

00:53:31.193 --> 00:53:34.493
But I'm going to have to invite myself over to see if you can grill.

00:53:34.633 --> 00:53:36.633
I don't know. You know, you keep talking about this grilling.

00:53:36.933 --> 00:53:40.133
You know, you got to see what you can do out there. Hey, look here, man.

00:53:40.993 --> 00:53:43.913
I ain't going to put my address out on this side.

00:53:46.173 --> 00:53:50.853
But you're more than welcome. I'll text you the next time I'm grilling some food.

00:53:51.013 --> 00:53:55.633
You come over and get you a good meal and hang out and just chill out. with me.

00:53:56.053 --> 00:54:00.293
I got your number. So we connected now. Right. We're connected.

00:54:00.633 --> 00:54:05.473
And man, listen, I appreciate just ordinary people, man.

00:54:06.173 --> 00:54:12.653
Where you are, congratulations on putting your name in the race for that seat, man. Congratulations.

00:54:13.033 --> 00:54:17.933
Congratulations on being able to be in that position because like you said,

00:54:18.173 --> 00:54:21.693
what, it's 7 billion of us here in Tennessee? Uh-huh.

00:54:23.473 --> 00:54:27.393
Roughly 7 billion people million seven

00:54:27.393 --> 00:54:30.393
million people and you have

00:54:30.393 --> 00:54:33.233
the opportunity to run for the position to

00:54:33.233 --> 00:54:36.313
be in congress that is you know

00:54:36.313 --> 00:54:39.393
amazing and i thank you for

00:54:39.393 --> 00:54:42.453
having the gumption to be a person who

00:54:42.453 --> 00:54:45.473
stands up and runs for it because i don't know how many

00:54:45.473 --> 00:54:50.613
are in the black caucus in tennessee and anybody

00:54:50.613 --> 00:54:53.373
could have ran but you said i'm gonna throw my head

00:54:53.373 --> 00:54:56.133
in the race and i'm gonna try for it and like

00:54:56.133 --> 00:54:59.533
you said you have a good race

00:54:59.533 --> 00:55:02.693
for you if the people of nashville just stands

00:55:02.693 --> 00:55:07.993
up and stand behind you and they want to change they'll stand up behind you

00:55:07.993 --> 00:55:13.393
and they'll do what it takes yeah and i think that people they always say no

00:55:13.393 --> 00:55:17.113
you hear politicians or elected officials say it takes money it takes money

00:55:17.113 --> 00:55:21.433
it takes money and then one of the biggest knocks on black people it's in politics.

00:55:21.533 --> 00:55:22.633
They say, oh, you can't raise money.

00:55:22.913 --> 00:55:25.733
So when I was, I was, I'm the first black chairman.

00:55:26.333 --> 00:55:31.013
I was the first black chairman of the, of a house democratic caucus in the state of Tennessee.

00:55:31.253 --> 00:55:34.973
It doesn't matter Republican or Democrat. I was the first ever, which is crazy.

00:55:35.173 --> 00:55:39.453
I mean, over 200 years of politics, I was the first black person to come along and do that.

00:55:40.073 --> 00:55:42.413
I mean, they was like, oh, well, you won't be able to raise money.

00:55:42.653 --> 00:55:46.293
At that time when I was the chairman, I raised more money than that caucus that ever had.

00:55:46.533 --> 00:55:49.053
And I felt other black people have to raise money.

00:55:49.533 --> 00:55:52.993
But in order for me to win this next rate, it's going to take money too because

00:55:52.993 --> 00:55:54.633
people say, well, what do you need money for?

00:55:54.933 --> 00:55:57.973
We need money to buy digital ads. We need money to buy...

00:55:58.848 --> 00:56:01.468
The the uh signs then you got

00:56:01.468 --> 00:56:04.428
to pay your staff because you can't do this by yourself

00:56:04.428 --> 00:56:07.168
it's just so much it's so vast there's no way that you can

00:56:07.168 --> 00:56:10.948
do this by yourself so you have to get people to help you and you have to you

00:56:10.948 --> 00:56:14.468
have to pay people i just believe in making sure you don't just pay somebody

00:56:14.468 --> 00:56:18.128
the bare minimum you pay them for their worth and you're going to get what you're

00:56:18.128 --> 00:56:22.808
there what you pay for i'm a strong believer in that and so it takes a lot of

00:56:22.808 --> 00:56:25.088
money but i would hope that, you know,

00:56:25.128 --> 00:56:28.228
people get behind me, donate to my campaign.

00:56:28.528 --> 00:56:31.888
And if you can't, it doesn't matter if it's a dollar, five dollars.

00:56:32.508 --> 00:56:35.368
Or how about this? Just donate your time and just help me.

00:56:35.848 --> 00:56:41.128
Man, that's the big thing. Donate your time because people don't understand.

00:56:41.968 --> 00:56:46.988
We can't do everything. We need some help. Everybody needs some help. We need some help.

00:56:47.248 --> 00:56:52.528
And if you ain't got a dollar, then donate your time. But if you got a dollar,

00:56:53.528 --> 00:56:58.288
do you give a dollar in the in the in the chat?

00:56:58.468 --> 00:57:04.268
Someone says, congratulations. It's time for us to make real change.

00:57:04.508 --> 00:57:11.588
That came from Bubba. And then it says meeting voters in person is always critical to your success.

00:57:12.628 --> 00:57:18.488
And then, you know, my favorite part, campaigning, it's actually knocking on

00:57:18.488 --> 00:57:22.988
doors. A lot of people don't like that part, but I like knocking on doors because

00:57:22.988 --> 00:57:25.868
you actually get to talk to people who can vote for you.

00:57:26.148 --> 00:57:33.888
We have to go to a lot of events, but a lot of those people can't vote for you,

00:57:33.948 --> 00:57:36.388
but they can donate for you and they can talk you up or talk you down.

00:57:36.508 --> 00:57:38.388
But I love talking directly to voters.

00:57:39.592 --> 00:57:49.652
Man, that's amazing. Listen, it is amazing to hear who you are and what you're doing.

00:57:49.992 --> 00:57:53.952
Someone also said what's your camp? They put it in. Oh, there you go. You put it in there.

00:57:54.072 --> 00:57:56.752
I was just going to say, now you're looking at the comments.

00:57:56.752 --> 00:57:59.692
So you see how I can be a co-host.

00:57:59.852 --> 00:58:01.712
You see, I'm trying to work this stuff like you now.

00:58:02.052 --> 00:58:04.052
Right. I got you, man.

00:58:04.672 --> 00:58:11.232
Listen, we do these interviews every Tuesday. I've done them for 52 weeks straight. I interview.

00:58:12.112 --> 00:58:17.832
Man, this is one year. I'm so thankful. We're trying to evolve and get better.

00:58:18.192 --> 00:58:21.932
I was saying we are a small platform, but we are an evolving.

00:58:21.932 --> 00:58:27.392
We are an evolving platform. We're trying to get more people involved in the

00:58:27.392 --> 00:58:30.892
conversation with men's well-being and men's health,

00:58:31.112 --> 00:58:34.972
and we're trying to get more people involved in knowing that they have a safe

00:58:34.972 --> 00:58:39.832
space to come and have conversations and for men to understand that they don't

00:58:39.832 --> 00:58:42.132
have to suffer in silence.

00:58:42.772 --> 00:58:47.712
So with that being said, we do these conversations every Tuesdays, every Friday.

00:58:48.712 --> 00:58:55.332
We host a open conversation for two hours. It's a live show. People come in to chat.

00:58:55.532 --> 00:59:01.252
I have a panel of men that come on and talk every Friday, and I invite every

00:59:01.252 --> 00:59:02.672
guest that comes on my show.

00:59:02.872 --> 00:59:06.792
If you have an open Friday, just come in and talk. You can come talk politics.

00:59:06.792 --> 00:59:09.592
You can come talk sports. You can come talk kids.

00:59:09.712 --> 00:59:14.152
You can come talk whatever you want to. But it's Friday, 7.30 p.m.

00:59:14.372 --> 00:59:19.792
We have a live show with just me and come in and talk about whatever it is.

00:59:19.972 --> 00:59:23.792
And you're welcome to come to any one of my Friday night shows.

00:59:23.912 --> 00:59:26.632
If you want to be a co-host, I will make you an administrator.

00:59:26.852 --> 00:59:28.852
That way you have a little administrative power.

00:59:30.112 --> 00:59:34.752
And you said it's 7.30? 7.30 p.m. every Friday.

00:59:36.292 --> 00:59:42.532
And I appreciate the invitation. I want to be here and do it with the conversation. I just enjoy,

00:59:43.769 --> 00:59:48.169
You, I don't know what was your motivation for doing this, but I'm glad you

00:59:48.169 --> 00:59:53.069
did it because somebody had to take that first step. And I think that you're going to be great.

00:59:53.309 --> 00:59:55.449
Just give me this all along. I'm going to open up and talk.

00:59:56.289 --> 01:00:01.209
Man, listen, it was God and the need to have a conversation, man.

01:00:02.069 --> 01:00:05.189
I have a core group of friends and we talk about anything.

01:00:05.769 --> 01:00:10.089
But the fact of the matter is everybody needs a group.

01:00:10.329 --> 01:00:13.649
Everybody, like I said before, everybody needs a tribe. Everybody needs a group.

01:00:13.769 --> 01:00:17.829
Everybody needs someone to bounce ideas off.

01:00:18.029 --> 01:00:21.669
Me and my brother, we talk about everything, anything in the world.

01:00:22.029 --> 01:00:25.409
Sometimes I don't like what he says. Sometimes he don't like what I say.

01:00:25.949 --> 01:00:32.329
So there have been times where we've been in the open forum on Fridays,

01:00:32.329 --> 01:00:39.089
and there's a couple of military guys who are on the panel,

01:00:39.429 --> 01:00:42.629
and some of them have PTSD.

01:00:42.629 --> 01:00:45.649
Some of them have just different stuff

01:00:45.649 --> 01:00:48.789
and they enjoy being able

01:00:48.789 --> 01:00:51.929
to have this conversation and have the rhetoric and

01:00:51.929 --> 01:00:55.509
talk and just it

01:00:55.509 --> 01:01:01.649
fills my heart with joy to hear them say that they have enjoyed being there

01:01:01.649 --> 01:01:06.989
and they like the fact of the conversation and they love the fact of they can

01:01:06.989 --> 01:01:11.589
come to a place and have these conversations because it is what God told me.

01:01:11.589 --> 01:01:13.329
And I'm gonna give you the description real quick.

01:01:13.909 --> 01:01:17.209
God told me that if you put a man in a room with 100 people,

01:01:17.429 --> 01:01:20.649
not in your case, but just think about it. Just think. Let's hear what I'm saying.

01:01:21.089 --> 01:01:26.729
If you put a man in a room with 100 people, is he going to be vulnerable and

01:01:26.729 --> 01:01:29.349
transparent with 200 pairs of eyes on him?

01:01:29.349 --> 01:01:34.729
But if you put a man in his living room in the front seat of his car at the

01:01:34.729 --> 01:01:38.609
desk at his house and you put a device in front of him where he can have a true,

01:01:38.809 --> 01:01:44.109
transparent and vulnerable conversation without anybody looking at him, will he speak?

01:01:45.273 --> 01:01:50.713
Hmm. The answer is yes. Of course, the answer is yes, because you don't have

01:01:50.713 --> 01:01:53.293
all the eyes looking at you, so you don't feel judged.

01:01:53.453 --> 01:01:59.073
So that's why this is a audio platform and not a video platform.

01:01:59.513 --> 01:02:05.113
This is an audio platform because I want men to feel comfortable saying what

01:02:05.113 --> 01:02:09.393
they say. I've had me and on my show talking about being essayed.

01:02:09.533 --> 01:02:14.133
I've had me and on my show talking about being victims of domestic violence.

01:02:14.333 --> 01:02:19.733
I've had me and on my show talking about they've been victims of racial violence.

01:02:19.913 --> 01:02:24.713
I've had me and on my show that have talked about all these particular subjects

01:02:24.713 --> 01:02:31.333
behind their device where their faces weren't seen, where they say it in any other platform.

01:02:31.333 --> 01:02:34.873
If there was a camera in front of their face or if there were a bunch of people

01:02:34.873 --> 01:02:37.693
in front of them, they would not tell those stories.

01:02:38.513 --> 01:02:43.613
Yeah, true. But yeah, you do create a safe space and we all deserve a safe space.

01:02:44.273 --> 01:02:48.113
Man, I appreciate that. And that's that's all I wanted to do,

01:02:48.213 --> 01:02:55.653
man, is just create a safe space where men could have conversations about whatever

01:02:55.653 --> 01:02:58.193
it is they wanted to have conversations about.

01:02:58.193 --> 01:03:01.493
And I thank you again for being here.

01:03:01.793 --> 01:03:06.853
I thank you for being the man that you are. And I pray and I hope that in your

01:03:06.853 --> 01:03:13.993
endeavors to change the way things are going with the politics, gives you great reward.

01:03:14.873 --> 01:03:18.073
Bubba, is there something you wanted to say before we let Mr.

01:03:19.273 --> 01:03:22.533
Dixie go? I just want to say congratulations, sir.

01:03:22.773 --> 01:03:28.313
And if there's anything that we can do to help you get along the way, let us know.

01:03:31.784 --> 01:03:37.264
And I want to offer, you know, that saying to you, if there's anything I can ever do, let me know.

01:03:37.924 --> 01:03:41.384
I want it to always be the most accessible politician ever.

01:03:41.464 --> 01:03:44.724
I want if you saw me at Corvus, you come talk to me. If you saw me at the gas

01:03:44.724 --> 01:03:45.984
station, come talk to me.

01:03:46.464 --> 01:03:50.204
See me exercising at the Y, come talk to me. You know what?

01:03:51.084 --> 01:03:53.824
You know, where are you? It's time to scare some people.

01:03:55.584 --> 01:03:59.884
You know, politicians ain't like that no more. I'm trying to steal some people.

01:04:00.384 --> 01:04:04.704
No, I'm okay with that because I don't have office hours. You know, things happen.

01:04:04.844 --> 01:04:09.344
They don't happen just from 9 to 5, you know. So call me anytime. Talk to me.

01:04:09.544 --> 01:04:14.044
I'm all right with that. But I will need you to kind of amplify the message

01:04:14.044 --> 01:04:15.704
to make sure people get out there to vote.

01:04:16.584 --> 01:04:20.624
Understand that you got to move your feet because we can change this seat if

01:04:20.624 --> 01:04:23.624
you just move your feet. And I didn't mean to say that to rhyme, but.

01:04:24.544 --> 01:04:27.364
No, but that's it, though. It's that kind of good. You know,

01:04:27.424 --> 01:04:30.444
we got to do it. We can do this.

01:04:30.624 --> 01:04:36.484
And it truly black people can pick who sits in the seat because we have underperformed so much.

01:04:36.624 --> 01:04:44.284
If we just could just do a little bit better, we change the dynamics of this particular district.

01:04:44.284 --> 01:04:48.304
And that's what they want because if you change the dynamics of this district,

01:04:48.444 --> 01:04:52.424
you flip this seat, you can flip the next one and then it's just a slow roll.

01:04:52.624 --> 01:04:56.364
But we got to get some kind of balance back in government because right now

01:04:56.364 --> 01:04:58.944
the super majority is just not good for anybody.

01:05:00.164 --> 01:05:01.624
Yeah. Man, I hear you.

01:05:02.884 --> 01:05:08.944
Man, we... Yes, Wes. We're rooting for you. Thank you so much for inviting me. I enjoyed it.

01:05:09.384 --> 01:05:11.604
You know, whenever you want me to come back, you know, we just,

01:05:11.664 --> 01:05:14.504
you know, work out the time The schedule might be getting a little busy nowadays,

01:05:14.504 --> 01:05:18.324
but I'll make time for you. Just let me know. We will make it happen.

01:05:18.944 --> 01:05:25.004
Yes, sir. I got you. We will. Look, we're going to come back after the special

01:05:25.004 --> 01:05:28.164
election and we're going to talk about what happened.

01:05:28.404 --> 01:05:33.504
You winning and because we don't we don't put that into the atmosphere.

01:05:33.944 --> 01:05:35.824
We don't put that in the atmosphere.

01:05:36.924 --> 01:05:42.044
God is going to orchestrate this thing. So we're going to bring you back And

01:05:42.044 --> 01:05:46.304
we're going to talk about you winning And we're going to talk about What we

01:05:46.304 --> 01:05:50.924
need to do To go forward Alright, we're going to make it happen,

01:05:51.844 --> 01:05:53.584
That's what we're going to do We're going to make that happen,

01:05:54.524 --> 01:06:00.884
Yes sir Everybody have a great night I love everybody, be safe Alright,

01:06:01.024 --> 01:06:05.444
thank you To get back the place to relish To relish the world.

01:06:06.320 --> 01:06:41.534
Music.