Know Dumb Questions
Know Dumb Questions
Know Dumb Questions From Confrontation to Connection: FT King's Randall
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Meeting and Introduction
Speaker 1And I've watched his work there he is. What's going on, boss?
Speaker 2How you been. I've been fantastic. It's been a while since I seen you. It has been.
Speaker 1And I'm really excited to talk to you because I have a lot of respect for the work that you do. I really do. I appreciate it, it's my pleasure, so let's just jump right into it right? I just came back from Harlem. I'm all the way up in Hartford getting ready to go into a meeting with what they call a spring fling with black and Puerto Rican caucus, most of whom are Democrats, and I'm going to try and convince them that they should care about the work that I do.
Speaker 1Sure, but you find yourself at the White House. Talk to me about how you, a young man who runs a program for mostly black boys, ends up in Washington DC at Trump's White House.
Speaker 2Yeah, man, it's just simply doing work. I know most times other influencers kind of get invited to different places for their worship of politics and different things like that, but we just do stuff that's undeniable, that's just what we do. We don't have to parrot any talking points, we don't have to. You know scratch what we don't answer. We don't got to dance when we don't like the music, so that's that's what we do. We simply work with young men and it's just become undeniable to a point where how can you not recognize what we're trying to do, especially here in the city of Albany, georgia, where poverty is extremely high? We were one of the poorest cities in the country, so how can you not recognize what we're doing for black boys in particular? So how can you not recognize what we're doing for black boys in particular, but all boys in general? How can you not recognize that and not recognize that this is something that's needed everywhere? So that's what we get invited places for because we do work, not because we're making podcasts or not because we're doing any of that. It's just simple work that we're doing here in the city of Albany, georgia.
Speaker 2Where did this bootstrap mentality come from? I got granddaddies and uncles and stuff. Man, I was raised around men and I was raised that you can accomplish anything you want to accomplish and if you do have it harder to accomplish, then work harder. That's just what I believe in. I don't think that there's anything that we can't do. Most millionaires, et cetera, that I know we're all bootstrap people too they have this notion that you know rich people had it handed to them, or even rich white people had it handed to them, and most rich white people I know all had to get it from the mud. They came from poverty, et cetera, et cetera, and they worked for what they wanted. Not that anybody handed them anything, they just simply worked for what they wanted. A guy I know with one of the biggest insurance companies in the country only graduated high school and his parents were poor and he was a busboy you know, bussing tables and stuff like that and he ended up, you know, a millionaire and got jets and all that jazz. Another guy I know, you know a rich guy worth $25 million but he was even road killed as a child with his parents because they were that poor. So you know, from hearing stories like that or even going to Africa I've been to Africa and I've watched children there outwork most adults here in America and most of their dreams are to get where we at get over here to America. And so here we are in America with places to sleep, wi-fi, phones, et cetera, food, water, and we claim we got it hard.
Speaker 2I just feel like somebody somewhere has it worse and I believe that if we try to get ourselves out of our condition we can do that. Even if it was somebody else's fault Still got to do something about it. Just because it was somebody else's fault don't mean I'm not going to get. If somebody comes in and burns my house down, I'm just gonna stand outside and protest that they shouldn't bribe me a new house. No, I'm gonna go get me something else. Yeah, I can acknowledge that they burned my house down, but I'm still gonna go get me another house. I'm gonna make all the necessary moves to make sure my family's taken care of. So that's just simply what I believe in working in general working regardless of the circumstances.
Expo Boys Program Origins
Speaker 2What is Expo Boys? Expo Boys is the after-school program that we began back in 2019. This program was aimed at curbing the recidivism rate for juvenile offenders. These juvenile offenders were kind of going to jail and not having any rehabilitative programs for them after they leave. And these are kids, you know, 13, 14, 15 years old, and so when they leave, you know the juvenile facility they're going right back because they had no intervention in between there. That's what we wanted to fill in from the beginning of our program is aiding those children. So we ended up fostering some children. They came to live with me and we helped turn their lives back around and put them back on track.
Speaker 2Right now, from 2019 to 2025, which has been about six years for us we've grown a lot and we've transformed a lot. So we have our own buildings now. From that time we didn't have no buildings. We got our own vans, got staff, now employees, whatever. We've been making it happen ever, ever since then. And so now our program, from what I've discovered, we're aiming at children also, not who just need help, but children who don't.
Speaker 2Sometimes we will have all these meetings and programs about children, um, who are troubled or going to jail, etc. Then we'll forget about the kids who are doing the right thing every day, who are going to school, doing their cetera. Then we'll forget about the kids who are doing the right thing every day, who are going to school, doing their work, who are making sure things are happening at home, who are just trying to do their best. They may not be making all A's or whatever like that, but they're being a good person. And so sometimes we'll lose those children to the streets too, because we didn't praise them for doing the right thing. We'll be too busy praising bad children for not doing bad and we having programs because, oh, they didn't be bad today or they didn't go to jail today, so let's throw them a big party in extravaganza.
Speaker 2What about these kids who were every day doing what they're supposed to be doing? So that's what I've been aiming at lately. So I've been going to different schools and, you know, recognizing those kids who are simply doing the right thing. And so for us, right now, we're trying to create an atmosphere where it's cool to do the right thing, because it's cool to go, you know, hop in the gangs, et cetera, et cetera.
Rewarding Good Behavior
Speaker 2Or when you're younger, you know, nobody ever gets a treat, but the bad kids get a treat because they was good today, you know, and you're like dang well, maybe I should be bad and get some attention, you know, as a child. So that's what we're trying to aim to do now is we're also getting those children who are just simply doing the right thing. I mean, we're rewarding them for that field trips, whatever, giving them things that they asked for. If their parents can't afford it, they deserve it. Doing good comes with good rewards and that's what they should see, because, as an adult, when you do great things, you get good rewards, and so sometimes that may not happen as a child because your parents may not be able to afford it, etc. But we need to let them know that, uh, as a child doing good things, you can get rewards, because when you're an adult, you want to continue doing good things so you can get those good wars.
Speaker 1You know good, good things and good consequences what are some of the biggest obstacles that you've confronted to starting your program?
Speaker 2Um, probably, um, getting people to believe in it at first, you know, I started a program when I was 19. Uh, so, trying to tell, you know, people that I was trying to teach boys how to be a man at 19 years old, you know it was quite perplexing to a lot of people, but we ended up doing it and flourishing, uh, with it. Uh, so eventually, uh, we were able to, you know, get off, you know, get on our feet. But also we, you know, just dealing with parents. You know it's a new day where people don't want you to like discipline their children and different things like that.
Speaker 2Just, you know, recently I'm coaching my son's baseball team and we just finished the season. But I was coaching my son's baseball team and, you know, one of the kids got disrespectful with his mom. You know I got onto him about that or whatever, and his dad got upset with me for getting onto him. I'm just like, so you'd rather him disrespect his mom in front of everybody and me not get onto him. But you know, just, this is the new age we're living in, because I purposely put my kids, my sons, around men, you know, who I think have the best interest at heart, but also for them to understand that I'm not the only authority figure that you have to listen to. There's other men you know that you need to listen to. Of course, after I, you know vet them and stuff like that, like their boxing coach or whatever like that. I have other men around them, purposely, because I don't know everything, and so if you get a little bit of everybody, get the good out of them, you could become a better young man.
Speaker 2But I was raised with men around me and if I got in trouble you know my football coach he got on us. You know he got our butt. You know whatever, Like if my mom came and said we got in trouble at school, hey, he was on your butt. You know that's how it was supposed to be. And so I had to tell my kids you know, boxing coach, do my sons like all the other kids you ain't got to try to be nice and all that.
Speaker 2If they over here doing something stupid, you get on their butt, just like I would, you know, like you get on their tails, just like I would. I trust that you, you know a good person, that you're not gonna do nothing to hurt my children. You love them to death, get on their butt. You know so, especially when I'm not around, because they love to do this thing where they're not fully performing. You know, when I'm not around, I'm like, no, you need to perform regardless. You know, character is who you are when nobody's looking and, for a child, character is who you are when your parents are not watching.
Speaker 1So go ahead. So just stay there, Because I want to come back to that in a second, but I want to stay on this place where there are people who make your job difficult. Many of them are the very people you're trying to help. Some of the parents. We're talking about grown people. The kids are the kids. Kids are easy to work with. I think we can agree on that.
Speaker 2Kids are not our problem.
Speaker 1Talk about some of what I refer to as political barriers. Initially there was a school that you wanted to take over. If I'm not mistaken, it was abandoned. I don't want to tell you a story, and to the casual onlooker it would seem obvious. Here's a blighted school that no one's using and you wanted to come in and use it, and many of us think that if you do good things, people will, to your point, reward you for your efforts the politicos, the political leaders but that didn't seem to happen with you initially, did it?
Speaker 2No. So you know me, being 21 at that time, 21, 22,. You know I had a big vision. You know, at that time you're young and you know everybody was 21, 22 at one point. Can't nobody tell you nothing.
Speaker 2So you know me, I was just rah-rah at people and rah-rah at the system, you know. So sometimes you know it's hard to get people to want to help you and even if you're doing good, when people's egos are in the way. And you know we all, as men, have had those times like where somebody plunged that ego. Hey well, we ain't, I don't care how great it is, I don't want them to do with it, because you'd hit my ego now. And so that's kind of essentially what happened, you know, with our school board at the time. You, you know, with our school board at the time, you know it was just a clash of egos. And I feel like if I I personally feel like if I was more diplomatic with it, like I am now, I think it would have got pushed through. And that's just me, you know, in hindsight, as you know, just being older and more mature, I feel like if I'd have been more diplomatic about it, I think we would have got it done. But because I was just raw rah okay, y'all don't want to help me, I'm going to the news and this and that and this and that and this and that, you know, and then it never happened. Versus, like, you know what, let's play a little chess, I'll stroke your ego a little bit, we'll let you put your name on it. I want to get what I want done regardless. But yeah, that was a barrier we faced. It shouldn't have happened. Still, regardless of.
Overcoming Political Barriers
Speaker 2But since then we've repaired our relationship with our local school system and you know, we've been back in partnership with them in our after school programs. They've aided us and we've aided them. So that was just me being a grown man, like, look, you know, I apologize for the things I did say and do wrong. You know, on national news et cetera, and they exchanged apologies and we, you know, back in order because we still serving children. So that's just, you know, growing up and being a little bit more mature.
Speaker 2But definitely four or five years ago I was at everybody's neck in my city about I didn't care what it was the churches, the pastors, the superintendent, the mayor, the commissioners. I was giving it to everybody, but at that time couldn't get nothing accomplished. But now that I've been a little bit more diplomatic and you know, repairing those relationships, things have started happening. You know for our organization and for our city that I'm trying to get accomplished because I, you know, I'm more mature now and not listening to all the activists saying just go out there and sign and demand this and demand that, like no, sometimes you got to go shake hands and kiss babies, you know, and smile a little bit so you can get a couple things taken care of. And that's what we've been able to do.
Speaker 1What got you to that place of what you're referring to as maturity?
Speaker 2A time, a simple time. You know my brother. He's 19 right now and I was raising my brother for the most part. My father wasn't always in our lives, but I raised my younger brother for the most part, but when he turned 18, 19, he's in military school right now. But he's just at this point right now where I call it smelling yourself and most older people have heard the little smelling yourself term Like he just out there smelling himself. You know, whatever he just figuring it out. I've taught him everything I could teach him and now he just like you've got to show up the rest of the way, you just got to be confident in the character you've built in there. And so right now he's where I was like you couldn't tell me nothing, I had all the answers, I had all the solutions, whatever you know, and as I've just gotten older, just I've watched life. I've listened to elders. Now I've listened to my uncle tell me different things, watching other people who are where I'm trying to be Like I've been to visit you, et cetera, and I paid attention to all the things that you all have done and I'm like, okay, let me pivot a little bit, Cause I really need some stuff to get taken care of for our students and for our kids here and I don't think I can get taken care of just antagonizing everybody. So it just took time. I mean I think that's most you know. Again, most teenagers and young, young adults like in that 21, 22, 23 age range, you're just kind of learning and they always say that when your brain's not fully developed you turn like 25, 26, 27 as a man. So you know, I'm not even who.
Speaker 2I was like four years ago, Like yeah, I still got the same goals, but my brain at that time, the things I thought about then, the things I've looked at that I've said, et cetera, I'm like I don't even think that no more. Like my brain's in a completely different space. Um, it's just growth and you shouldn't be ever evolving. I tell people that all the time you should be able to say I was wrong or you shouldn't be able to say I've changed my mind.
Working Across Political Lines
Speaker 2We struggle with that as people, Um, not just being able to say that we was wrong or I grew or I could have did some things different, but sometimes we'll get stagnant because of that. We don't want to say that I've changed my mind or I've grown as a person. No, I've grown. I'm not the same person I was a couple years ago, I think. A lot of different things now. Um, the goal is still the same, the visions are still the same, but, uh, how we going about it is a bit different. But it just took some time. I think that's what it takes for most people. It's a little time you're.
Speaker 1You're different. Now, what is the 19-year-old king looking at? How's the 19-year-old king looking at a situation versus the 25-year-old king? What's the difference?
Speaker 2My issue. So when I was 19, I was like one of them activists, like I had just found out all this stuff about Albany. I just got out of high school, I had come out of boot camp for the Marine Corps and I found out all this stuff about my hometown that was going wrong. I just got out of high school, I had come out of boot camp for the Marine Corps and I found out all this stuff about my hometown that was going wrong. I'm like what I'm listening to Malcolm X videos and everything.
Speaker 1It all started with Malcolm. It all started with Malcolm.
Speaker 2Malcolm going to have you out here ready to kill it. I started listening to him. I started listening to Dr King. I'm like man, all this stuff sound like 2025. So I'm going to the meetings and I'm going to the commission meetings and all these people getting killed and this, and I'm like man, this is terrible. The churches ain't doing nothing and the commissioners ain't doing nothing. Ain't nobody doing nothing. Y'all all trash. I mean, I was the only like live videos going off on these folks all the time and people would share the videos. And that's kind of how I uh, you know, got a little, uh, knowing Albany, because I would just say whatever about whoever and didn't care because I wanted the city to be better, but a 25 year old kid wouldn't have done that.
Speaker 2Now I understand I need to go dig into some archives and figure out what happened at the city commission meeting and now I've joined, like, the planning commission. I'm on the historic preservation commission, I'm on the Albany police department civilian review board. I'm the youngest person on all these boards, but I'm there understanding why things are happening in the city of Albany Now, not just on the outside saying rah, rah, rah, rah, rah. This should be happening. That should be happening Now. I'm having conversations with the commissioner, then I'm looking at city ordinances that are being passed and I'm able to go have conversations with the police department and ask why this is happening. I'm looking at statistics from them, et cetera, et cetera. But, king, before, absolutely not. I don't care about any of the statistics, I don't want to see nothing. Why isn't this happening right now? And that's kind of again. You know, just a teenager, you want everything done right now. It's all a microwave. You know, you just want a hot pocket to eat right now versus just waiting for dinner.
Speaker 1I have a 19 year old son. I completely understand.
Speaker 2So, you.
Speaker 1You didn't just join the commissions. I mean, as we started, you had the white house with Donald Trump. There's a group of you that went, a group of young black people who were there at the white House, and some heat came your way about you guys being there because of some of the very clear and direct efforts that Trump has engaged in to change access to teaching African American studies or teaching anything different than what he considers patriotic. Do you feel like you have to reconcile those topics or do you feel like his approach is most appropriate, given where?
Speaker 2we are in time. I tell everybody the same thing. When it comes to the presidency or dealing with Republicans or anything, if they're in office, I am going to interact with them. I do not care what their political affiliations are. You work for me, so I'm going to come talk to you. I'm not going to not talk to the people that I employ because I don't like them. No, I employ you. And if we voted for you, or if you're in office in my district or whatever, I don't care what your political affiliations are. I'm going to interact with you and I'm going to see what it is that you can do for the people that I want to help in my hometown.
Speaker 2So if Joe Biden was in there, just like he was, we sent letters and stuff to them too, emails and everything. What can we get done? Same thing with Senator John Ossoff he's a Democrat, et cetera. We done Same thing with Senator John Ossoff he's a Democrat, et cetera. We sat down with him, I talked to him on the phone, et cetera. Same thing with Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler. Whatever. I'm going to go talk to whoever. I don't care who's the president, whatever. Whatever I could get to help our city and bridges I could build. Why wouldn't? I want to build a bridge with the president. I don't care if you don't like what he's been doing, that's that's great for you. I'm going to build a bridge there anyway because I want to make sure what I can get done for my hometown can get done, and sometimes that is building relationships and rubbing elbows. It's not even about the money anymore. It's all about who you know and if they know some people that can help. You know what I'm trying to do in my hometown. That's what I'm going to do and, honestly, you know we've been able to have an ear at the White House for Albany, georgia. When has that ever happened, you know, in this small town of ours. You know I've been able to make that connection and so we've been able to get some things down here in Albany because of relationships that I just simply built on people I went to meet, et cetera.
Speaker 2Now do I agree with all the shenanigans of the influencers that were there doing stuff? Absolutely not. Some stuff I just think they do is performative and entertaining for folks, or whatever they just make their. They're just trying to go viral all the time. I'm not there for that. I'm there to for work. Um, so you never, nobody ever sees me posting no videos and you see me take a picture and I post it and that's it, and usually my captions got something to do with work other than that if you just happen to see me in a video or something, just because I was in there. But other than that, I don't like what they be doing. I don't subscribe to all the tomfoolery they be having going on to support the president and stuff like that. Let's support real work and act like we got some sense. Why do we got to be in here acting like we? Acting that don't make no sense. Just be in here and have some decorum.
Finding True Allies
Speaker 1You know, for me that's the most appropriate approach, keeping it a book, as I said. I'm literally about to walk into this largely Democrat, largely black well all black and Puerto Rican caucus. And there I'm going to talk to people who claim to be allies and many of them don't support the work that I do. I actually work against it. Like openly work against it. But, because I'm the same color that they are and.
Speaker 1I'm in the same party that they're in. That's supposed to mean more to me than it does to them. That's an unrequited relationship. My first phone call this morning was to a very, very Republican person. My first phone call was to that person and she is about it. She can't find enough ways to support the work we're doing. I don't agree with my wife on everything. I don't agree with my best friends on everything.
Speaker 1But, to your point, when we're doing the work in the community. When we're doing the work in the community, we have to find ways to work with people. Sometimes parents come in there acting a whole fool today.
Speaker 2Yes, sir.
Speaker 1But tonight we've got to coach your son. Yep, but tonight we got to coach your son.
Speaker 2Yep.
Speaker 1Talk about that shift that you find yourself making more often than not between who is an ally and who is not.
Speaker 2Man, honestly, I deal with people on their actions, what you decide to do, Because, again, a lot of people do talk, because I'm sure a lot of them that you're about to go to that room. They say they support your work 100%. Oh yeah, we love what you're doing, Dr Perry. We adore you. You're so amazing. And then you never see them share posts. You never see them make a comment. You'll never see them at the event. You never see them at an event. You'll never see them donating.
Speaker 2That's just the name of the game. It's always the people that give the most and support the most that you've never seen before in your life. The people who give the most to this small town organization are people I have never met. My board is comprised of people that I have never met. Maybe two of them came to fly down, but why do people from everywhere else support something that's benefits you more than anything, more than you do? So that's, that's just the name of the game. That's, that's scriptural. You know that Bible said the properties hate the most in his hometown. So that's this.
Speaker 2I just feel like you know, when you're moving correctly, some of those things are gonna happen and that's again, that's just biblical, some stuff I kind of just think is going to happen. It kind of, you know, gives me clarity that I'm moving in the correct manner, because some of that negative stuff is supposed to happen. Everybody ain't supposed to support what you're doing, because usually when somebody's all in full support of what somebody's doing, they're probably up to no good. They and full support of what somebody's doing, they're probably up to no good. They're probably up to some BS. So you definitely I'm looking for a little negativity sometime, like anytime something major is happening for our organization. I'm waiting for that little bad thing on the back because I know I'm truly trying to do something good. I mean, jesus had to deal with it. So who I think I am to think I'm special to not have to deal with no negativity. So you know, the naysayers are definitely gonna be there and that's how I deal with them, man, I just well. However, I need to deal with them. That's how I deal with them. Um, if they, as long as anybody doing nothing directly to hurt me, I don't need you to help, that's fine. You can not help, um, and just not hurt me, that's it. But if you're trying to do anything to like actually hurt or harm the organization, then I gotta deal with you in a different way. But other than that, most of it is just this or whatever like that, and that's totally fine.
Speaker 2I don't mind people running their mouth. People are giving, uh, publicity, because usually every time somebody's saying something negative about what I have going on, most people just come find who I am and I've been able to control my own narrative through social media. So when people come find us and find what I'm doing, they're like how can you hate this guy? What is he doing that you don't like? You know, and I don't do any political commentary for the most part I just straight up work with the kids and posting my sons and that's it. And folks are like well, what did he do to you? So that just bring in more fans.
Speaker 1So you know, you just kind turn it around for your good and just pray for them folks, to be honest, and you keep on moving one of the things that I've learned through this process is as a younger man, sometimes there are those who, who are older than we are, don't always feel comfortable with our movement. Yes and I and I swore I would never be that dude. I swore I would never be that dude. I've seen your work. I respect your work. I understand the complexity of the space that you're in. I understand how today, you can start your day talking to the White House and then, a couple minutes later, there's somebody at your organization telling you ain't nothing, you ain't never going to be nothing all because you asked their child to do something that was good for their child and the shift that you go through in order to do that.
Future Plans for Expo Boys
Speaker 1I think one of the challenges that people often face is they see a young brother like you and they feel a threat and to what I don't know, to what I don't know. But, I want you to stay encouraged because you deserve it, albany deserves it and, honestly, the older heads. They deserve to be able to recognize that there's somebody coming up swinging. What do you see as the next phase for X program for boys?
Speaker 2Well, right now we've upgraded our after school program to every single day, five days a week, and also we do. We have them from about 2.30 to about 8.30 in the evening time, so we have them exclusively after school every single day. We feed them. The program is still completely free. We run exclusively from donations. We've never received any government grants or anything of that nature. It's all just been people giving. It's mainly because I'm able to tell our story on social media quite well, so people give, but the program's still free.
Speaker 2We've started taking children that are younger now, so we take ages seven through nine now instead of ages 11 to 17. Reason being I've decided that I didn't really notice that kids are kind of losing themselves a lot sooner than age 11. Nowadays, kids are losing themselves around seven, eight, nine years old, smoking, et cetera, because of what's happening on their phones and YouTube and all this stuff. They're learning from other kids at school. They're losing themselves very, very fast, and so that's where we want to come in, and while these kids are still sponges and still are wanting to do the right thing, we want to make sure we're rewarding them for that and also giving them a space where it's cool to do the right thing when you're rewarded and praised for doing the right thing. That's what we're doing now. So that's where we've grown. We're currently in the process of building a chicken coop for 30 egg-laying chickens. We're also having a garden put out there right now so we can feed those children. We do feed them every single day home cooked meals, but we want to get them vegetables, et cetera, from outside that they can, that they're growing themselves, so they can see how it is to, you know, grow fruit food and also be able to harvest it and eat it. So we've grown in a lot of different ways. We've got vans now, everything. We've renovated our afterschool facility and again, all this is just from donors that you know, appreciate what we're doing and from constantly posting on social media, et cetera.
Speaker 2Usually if I say we need something, people jump right in. So that's something I'm proud to say. But hopefully next year we want to be able to take more children. That's the goal. We want to be able to take as many boys as possible and hopefully to start a sister organization, you know, in maybe a couple years time. Uh, because while we're raising these boys, um, they're gonna need some young men, uh, some young ladies. They're gonna need to uh be be right there with them being raised the same way, because we want to help build families, um, in our hometown, not just raising these boys and then they go off wherever we got to have some young ladies, uh that they're, that they're able to just uh maybe commingle with, uh, possibly marry. That's what we believe in.
Speaker 2I want to create families and structure. So those are the ultimate goals and I got some personal goals of my own that we're trying to get accomplished. I feel like the program is in a steady place right now, and so right now I've just been solely focused on working in the city of Albany. I have my staff who've been helping with the Extra Boys program, and I've just kind of been maneuvering around Albany trying to figure out how I can help, volunteering with many other organizations, partnering with other organizations, joining boards. That's where I've been filling in right now, because I want to figure out how can we get Albany back to where it was back in the early 80s and late 70s, when it was a thriving place. It was a good life city with 100,000 people here and growing by the year to the point now where we're at about 64,000 people and declining every year.
Speaker 1So we want to figure out how we can fix that.
Speaker 2So when do you run for office? No time soon. I've been able to make a lot of change just on these different boards and partnering with many people in the city of Albany. It don't even need to be an office anymore, man, Just building relationships and building and having resources to be honest.
Speaker 1That's truly it. I appreciate your time, young man.
Speaker 2I really do. Yes, sir, I got to come see you again too.
Speaker 1Yeah, you do. Hey, man, we're cooking out on the 4th of July, so you are welcome.
Speaker 2Bring your people I can't come. On the 4th I got a family reunion I'll be at.
Final Words of Encouragement
Speaker 1All right, well, you know, Next 4th, but we're going to come between then. Man, yeah, you know I support your work. I truly do. I appreciate it and I want to see you continue to win. You make me proud, and anybody who's really about the work is looking at the work you do and, man, I agree with you so that, so that we are on record, I agree you got to work with whoever you got to work with to make this thing happen. We don't always get to choose our allies and our allies are not permanent, correct, and so I have I have been played by people who have come to my crib, who do call me their brother.
Speaker 2Oh yeah.
Speaker 1Children I have taken care of literally who I've taken care of their children only to find myself on the other side of a bad decision that they made, that they want to try and make me feel like it was my fault that they had to show no respect. That's the game man that is the game.
Speaker 2I promise you, I done felt it. I done felt it. Man, it hurts. It's almost like you grieve a loss for real, like especially people you really had in your corner for years. Man, it's almost like somebody died when you got to let them go. But that's the game, that's just life. It is what it is.
Speaker 1Stronger and stronger. Yeah, the work is not for the Like. Lebron, I'm so proud of you I really am and whatever I can do, as you know, whenever you call, I do what I can to support you because I want to see you win.
Speaker 1I appreciate it I want to see you win so much that I want to make sure that other people recognize that we don't always have to travel the same path to get to the same place, which is to make sure that more young brothers and sisters can be in a better place. So you keep shining, bro, you keep shining. Yes, sir, absolutely. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2Take good care of yourself.
Speaker 1All right, bye right now.