This. Podcast
A podcast experience about friends sharing their views on society and culture. Hosted by Jay Cain, with Courtney Hysaw and Damion Wright. They have compelling stories, amazing guests, and more. Topics range from politics, music, sports, you name it they'll talk about it, but for the most part they like to have fun and laugh!
This. Podcast
#115 - "Mangoes Unfold" (ft. Bobby Lefebre)
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This episode the Jay, Co, and Uncle Damo sit down with Bobby Lefebre.
What happens when you give a young boy the stage and a great story to tell? Well, that's precisely what sparked a lifelong passion for the arts in Bobby Lefebre, performer, writer, and Colorado's Poet Laureate. With us, Bobby reveals how a school play about Jackie Robinson became the catalyst for his celebrated career in performing arts. From performing at the Smithsonian as an eighth grader to traveling the college and university circuit, Bobby's journey is one of aspiration, creativity, and awakening.
It's not all about the spotlight, though! Bobby also uses his craft to shine a light on the hard-hitting issues that impact communities. Gentrification is one such issue that hits close to home for Bobby. He shares how his play "Northside" brought the reality of gentrification to center stage, immortalizing the stories of the affected locals, politicians, and even gangsters. But that's not all! Bobby also shares his favorite spots in Denver, including his go-to Mexican restaurant, La Diabla, a treat for all food lovers out there.
And let's not forget Bobby's advocacy for his community! He unpacks the nitty-gritty of cognitive dissonance and how it inspires him to empower his community. Don't miss out on hearing Bobby's take on the liberatory consciousness principles of Barbara A. Love and how they can help dismantle white supremacy. Plus, get a peek into Bobby's time with Dave Chappelle and his plans for the future. Ready for stories that will make you think, laugh, and feel inspired? Tune in for a roller coaster ride of insights and thought-provoking discussions with Bobby Lefebre.
This podcast Bustin' Bustin'.
Speaker 2Welcome to this dot podcast. I'm your friendly host, jay, joined by some really good people. We got Co in the building big pickup. He had that blue coming in, took all the parking spaces.
Speaker 3Narcissists.
Speaker 2Narcissists, big narcissists, came in with the Moscato.
Speaker 4No, no, it is it, yeah, moscato.
Speaker 2You came with the Moscato came with treats. Yeah, man, man, what are we talking about? And then we got big clothes, ha ha ha, big guy, big big Tesla, right, big corporate, big money in here. We got Uncle DeMo, hey.
Speaker 4Uncle DeMo Big clothes is right, big clothes.
Speaker 2See, big inclusive, big inclusive. There we go, man. What are we talking about? Shout out to the incredible Lawrence and Larimer for providing the space. You could catch them at 3225 East Colfax Avenue Or you can go to laurenzenlarimercom to get your hottest summer drip. Y'all this one has been a show in the making. I've been talking to Co about having this man on for so long. He's like, yeah, man, he's going to come by. He's busy. He played that card, like you know, i know this guy Like I'm going to keep him in the pocket. Yeah, because just in case we don't have somebody, we going to bring him in.
Speaker 2And I was like nah man No no. We got to have this man on immediately, immediately.
Speaker 4You know what I mean, man. It's summertime, calliente.
Speaker 2We calliente, calliente.
Speaker 4Man, y'all know what you're doing out here, man.
Speaker 2Absolutely. Let me see if I could get this off. I was going to say nosotros estamos hablando un poco de español. Ok, that's the noche. What is we talking about? right, we can look at it. Yeah, yeah, language. Yeah, i could get it in. Absolutely, there we go.
Speaker 5You look Dominican anyway.
Speaker 1Hey, and what I would say is hombre, despacio El.
Speaker 3Balfro.
Speaker 4El.
Speaker 3Balfro, el Balfro.
Speaker 4El Balfro No you got to say El Balfro Spanish. Then I'm going to say you know what I'm saying, Man, it's going to be a good one. Here we go.
Speaker 2Well, without further ado, we got this Denverite representing the north side. This was before the Highlands. Before it was the Highlands North side, west side, Coming strong. Alumni, north high school, metro And master of arts from Denver University. Right, what is we talking?
Speaker 3about man Baller.
Speaker 2Baller Without further ado. And now, wait, he's a performer, right A writer, and he's Colorado's poet, actor, actor, colorado's poet Laureate Yep, in the building Bobby LaFriebre. I got that right, right You did.
Speaker 5That's it, yeah, thank you. Thank you, it's good to be here. Long live the dude. Glad to have you, glad to be here. This is the homie. Like for real, like for a long, long time, y'all go back, y'all go back.
Speaker 4No sorry, i done shot a Bobby. I done shot a Bobby out a couple times on the show.
Speaker 2You know, what's so crazy is that Co he's a people's person. He tried to act like he's not a conversationalist. Like he can't get along with other people, but he is gregarious, he is. He's a people's champ. He really is. And what was crazy is he used to always talk about you Like I never knew who you were, but he was like man.
Speaker 5Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, talking shit.
Speaker 2No, no, like he was bigging you up, you're right.
Speaker 5That's the stuff. Yeah, that's love.
Speaker 2And just the things that you've done. you know what I mean, the people you rub elbows with on the low, like it's amazing, like hanging out with Dave Chappelle. He told us about that story. He told us about some good ones. A lot, just a lot, that you do, man, so it's glad to have you Yeah.
Speaker 5I like to think that, you know, culture finds culture, you know, and when you're doing good work and when you're in the middle of things that are meaningful, there's a natural entry point that you know that that kind of thing just happens, that coalescing just happens, and some of it's networking, some of it's known people you know, but other times it's really just the way that you move attracts that same energy. You know, and I think that I've spent a lot of time, you know, being in that space of creating space for people and also just being in that space And so, um, real, recognized real, you know, and it's, it's cool, it's a lot of fun I've, i'm blessed man to like live this life and to be in this, in this time, the way that I am, and it's uh, it's never, it's never dull, it's always fun, that's dope man.
Discovering Art and Challenging Expectations
Speaker 4Man. So for me, if you don't mind me cracking this off, killer, let's crack it off. Let's take you back to the North side. What, what was the spark for you as a young, as a young kid growing up in the North side that wanted to steer you to the direction of the arts?
Speaker 5I always start with this story because I didn't, like, i didn't come from like an artistic family. My family wasn't involved in the arts. They didn't. You know, my parents were really into music and you know, culturally, you know, just by nature of who we are, we were, we're sort of we get some of that naturally, you know. But the arts came to me kind of out of nowhere. I was in eighth grade and I like to, i like to say this woman's name Anytime I get a chance Mrs Barbara Allen. She was, uh, the first black teacher I've ever had, um, and she was the coolest person ever to me in middle school. And what school? Horseman, middle school, yeah, horseman. And uh, i was in um, eighth grade and she brought me into this project for National History Day, which is a competition.
Speaker 5It's a, an educational competition and uh, we, we wrote a play about Jackie Robinson breaking the colibriant sports and it was the first time I'd ever been on stage And so I was sort of at that like that that point where I was either going to go this way or that way, and I think she saw that you know, all good teachers They have that, that insight, and she saw something in me that maybe I didn't know I had, um, and she brought me into this thing and she's like you need to do this And it kept me busy.
Speaker 5We were rehearsing after school We're doing all these things. Um, we win the local competition among DPS, then we go to the state competition and we take state and that makes us eligible. That then takes us to nationals. So the first time I was ever on an airplane was for this performance, the thing that we did and so it opened my eyes immediately to the world hopping on a plane for the first time performing. For the first time we were in DC, the competition was in DC And the little play we wrote was so fire The Smithsonian folks. Representatives from the Smithsonian were at the competition and they saw our little show and they're like yo, how long are you all in town? And we're like you know two or three, four days or whatever. They're like Hey, we have an event tomorrow. We would love you all to come through and perform a piece of this play at the Smithsonian.
Speaker 1So this is eighth grade. Huge, this is eighth grade.
Speaker 5They're taking these little hood kids to the, to the Smithsonian, and we're performing. And from that point forward I fell in love with performing and I knew that I would always do it. And so if it wasn't for Mrs Allen, I don't know if I would have ever found this, this kind of work.
Speaker 3Did you know?
Speaker 5how big that was, though Not at the time. It took me years to figure it out. Actually, it wasn't until college until it really clicked, that said, when people started asking me these kinds of questions, you know what was the moment, and I had to think back and then I was like what was that? That was it.
Speaker 2Wow, That's dope. That's dope, man. So fast forward in a little bit So you become Colorado's poet Laureate.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2I've been working hard to say that That's not it. It doesn't, doesn't pronounce that way, but tell us about that feeling when you were given that or when you were given the position.
Speaker 3Yeah, But first what does?
Speaker 5it mean I'm still trying to figure that shit out.
Speaker 5Nobody really knows When you ask anybody like what a poet Laureate? nobody knows Like locally, nationally. No, it's really like it's a governor appointed position. Yeah, that serves as an ambassador for poetry across the state. We have one here, we have a national poet Laureate And basically you, you are the state's official poet. So you go around serving as that ambassador, whether that's through readings or workshops or just facilitating conversations, dialogue. The way that I've handled the position, it's been far more about community building and conversation starting than poetry, because I think poetry is like the poetry is the foot in the door to the conversation. But what's really behind all of that is the work right, and it's community building. It's the way that we talk about who we are, how we are and why. But it was incredible, man, like in a hundred years, i'm the first person of color and the youngest ever appointed to the position.
Speaker 2Round of applause. Man.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 2We've only had eight, right Yeah, total.
Speaker 5Yeah, Which is crazy you know That is, But it's been.
Speaker 5It was great, you know, And a lot of the interviews. At first they were asking me how it felt, and you know how it felt being that And like, right away I went, I went to like the obvious, which is I shouldn't have been the first, you know, And I could, you know, get a lot of ego satisfaction from being the first, But really I wanted to point out the the problem with the issue that it wasn't something that people like us occupied. And why is that? You know, we all come from rich traditions rooted in poetry. You know black and brown communities, Asian communities, communities of color, We all have histories of oral tradition, We all have poetry. That's been the mechanism by which we've understood ourselves and our cultures and our existence for from the beginning of time. But the structures that are rooted in white supremacy and academia, they are not welcome to our aesthetics, to the way that we move, the way that we talk, And that trickles down into these types of posts. Man, so Bible let's drill down there.
Speaker 4So where you ever did you ever feel because you know, when I see you on Instagram and I see you just out in the world being a poet and doing what you love I've never felt that you presented yourself like being hamstrung. Let's be honest, colorado isn't the most diverse state. You know, like we like to present as we welcome diversity, we welcome inclusion, we try to present as this melting pot. This melting pot state right, but we're not right. So when you show up as Poirot Laureate, do you ever feel a responsibility to say can't really say that I may need to. You know this may be a little too political for me. You know this may be a little too racy, like how do you negotiate all that?
Speaker 5No, i well one. No, i don't. I never feel that way And actually I actively push in the opposite direction. And you know, when I met with the governor, when he invited me to kind of chat about the position, he knew who I was right. So it's like you chose me you know what I mean Like I didn't come knocking or begging for this position. I didn't seek this out And like if you don't know what you get when you book me, that's your fault.
Speaker 5Like I can tell you all you did some research about. You know asking me questions today.
Speaker 5Understanding who I am how I am And if you don't know that, like that's not my fault, i'm going to read something real quick, just because I think it's it's it's. It answers your question in poetic form And I think you know. Since, since we're talking about it, i'll read it. They invite me to a thing where the men in suits all look the same and they twirl and clink wine glasses as the cheese sits next to olives on plates too small to fill anything but image. Everyone is secretly starving and they laugh at each other's jokes, even though they're not funny, and they talk about golf and last quarter's returns. And they asked me to read something that is joyful and festive and celebratory, something inspiring that will make people feel good about gathering.
Speaker 5But 50 migrants just died in a truck at the border And the Supreme Court is an active shooter and the police just filled another black man with 60 holes. And I am not a topical poet, but the elders have taught us that the job of an artist is to reflect the times. So I get on that stage and I do what I do, the only way I know how and when I am done. Someone tells me that the position of poet laureate is supposed to be apolitical and I say maybe it is, but I am not. And sometimes the only thing better than a standing ovation is a room full of silence. A mentor once told me sometimes your job as an artist is to be invited somewhere and ensure they never invite you back.
Speaker 2We should have opened the show with that, this goodness.
Speaker 3Show's over. No, that's it. Good Like show's over.
Speaker 5One and done Five minutes Wow.
Speaker 2That's awesome man.
Speaker 5Yeah, so you know it's that. It's the answer to your question. It's like I actually feel like my responsibility is the exact opposite. It's to make people who have made us, or tried to make us, feel uncomfortable for so long give them a taste of that. It's not uncommon for me to be in a room full of people that don't look like us talking about things that make them uncomfortable in ways that I don't have a problem with, and so there's a lot of privilege in that too, though There's a lot of like. Not everybody gets that platform.
Speaker 5And I figure, if I have it I'm going to utilize it And hopefully that moves the needle just a little bit in our collective progress.
Speaker 3If you move one person, you're in business. Right Question for you, because there's. You're going to inspire at minimum one person out of this conversation to be the poet laureate. Is that a paid position?
Speaker 5It's a it's a pathetically paid position. They give you basically like a stipend and this is no diss to like the.
Speaker 5You know, i'm really tied into the organizations that manage the program. I'm grateful to them for the work that they do, but infrastructurally it's not a it's not a great way to be, and if you don't know how to manage it, it actually is an expense. So they give you. I think I got like four or five grand a year for travel expenses and things like that. But I've been doing poetry professionally for over 15 years And so I know how to hustle, you know, and so I'm able to subsidize work on my own by nature of like doing the gig at your job, you know which, which pays me then to be able to go to the Western slope and spend, you know, three or four days working with kids doing poetry. I I came up with an idea that we pay the next poet laureate a hundred K a year to just be poet and be able to do that All you know as their job.
Speaker 5I wanted to include Institutions like history, colorado, so that the work that's done and the projects that are completed There's like a repository, there's a place for that to live. sure, but you know, radical ideas always take five, ten years to manifest. So I'm hoping, at some point in the future, they, they do that.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's dope. I think that speaks to Your purpose right, because you are in the arts, but you're definitely not doing it for the money, and so, outside of being a poet, you you've also done social work right, and you've done that that's how the two of you know each other.
Speaker 1I.
Speaker 2Want to know. Tell me some stories about Courtney as far as being at the job and how he handles that, because we always see Courtney Outside of that.
Speaker 5Do you?
Speaker 2have any cool stories about Courtney.
Speaker 5No, of course I do. I mean we, we worked really closely for a long time and I think you know the job's one thing. I don't want to spend too much time there, but what I will say is that him and I bonded over lunch. You know we, you know we're both like in the food and so we, we were bouncing around the town at the At the best food spots you can imagine, and that's really where we built our relationship.
Speaker 5It was kind of outside of work, you know, and I think it's been the time that we've spent outside that space that I've valued most. It's those times. It's, you know, the time that we spent it, the Vietnamese spots or the Indian spots or the, you know, just chopping it up about life. You know, the work is one thing, but it's it's always cool when you get to do that work alongside people that you, that you value and have things in common with. You know, hip-hop, we, we, we, we connected over music, been out to New York see, rock the bells. You know it's it's times like that that we, i think, have had the, the best, the best times together. It's been fun.
Speaker 3So I have a provocative question for you Have you ever used slam poetry in social work?
Speaker 5Yeah, i mean, you know, yeah, i mean poetry. I think that's the thing. Right is a for me. I have a hard time Delineating, like, my identities. You know, i feel like they're all mixed together and Poetry is just a part of who I am.
Speaker 5And working with young people for so long, you know, it's a tool that you use to. It was a tool that I used to Chat with folks and get into them in ways that they wouldn't talk to you if you didn't have that common purpose. You know You'd they'd be carrying their little notebooks around. You start to ask you what's in your notebook? Oh, these little wraps are right, you can bust, you know. Then, all of a sudden, like they're reading you their wraps and then they're talking about poetry And then they show you their work and so that it's an entry point, i think, to work with young people in a way that's meaningful, that they connect with. But in addition to that, yeah, like writing about the experiences. Being a social worker in that space, i've done that before And you know the work in life always creates poetry. So there was a lot.
Speaker 4There was a lot actually man, so so, so let's, let's stay provocative. Hmm, let's talk about every kind of bouncing around here. That's cool. Let's talk about that, that, that dark underbelly of Being a on the roll poet working the college circuit.
Speaker 5What do you say on a roll poet?
Speaker 4No, no, being a poet working the college. Oh yeah, college scene. What was that? What was that? like man, it was wild. How many panties was thrown at you, man panties bra 375 46.
Speaker 1Today.
Speaker 5Running inclusive set. No, the college university circuit was crazy. You know, i think colleges, universities, are places where ideas are born. You know, it's where people go to learn their their spaces of of invention, and It took me to like corners of the, the United States. I wouldn't have seen if it wasn't for that. You know, crazy rural towns to the biggest cities and the biggest, you know Ivy Leagues, to like community colleges and everything in between. You know. So it was a wild time, like traveling, so much being gone and, you know, just figuring out what, who you are, when you're like in your own solitude, because traveling, you know, that amount of time alone was, it was, it was a lot.
Speaker 4But Bobby Spitzel. When Bobby Spitzel love Paul, mm-hmm, like one of them sexy ones. Yeah, like one of them, was it? just you know.
Speaker 5I can go.
Speaker 2What's the expectation?
Speaker 5the reaction. You know when you're. When you're doing that, you're strictly a performer like they. They're hiring you to entertain You know, like obviously, like I would weave in stuff that made us think a little bit, but but largely, especially a college crowd. They want to have fun. you know, they're trying to party, they're trying to hang out, it's like a home or something.
Speaker 1I was doing a show.
Speaker 5This is this kind of matches your theme. I was in Texas. I did Texas women's University once with. Yep right, you know, i was out there all female college, all Femme College, and I was there with another poet who's on our roster. His name was Carlos Andres Gomez, and this is a Carlos and. Andres Gomez is Pretty light-skinned Colombian, latino, blue eyes, chiseled features, a beard he got beard five o'clock, shadow But face but that show in particular.
Speaker 5We had, like you know, the aftershow. Festivities were a little bit longer than they usually were, but yeah, there was, there's women, you know, dude he's a poet, he's good man, he's not gonna give you, he's not you watching it.
Speaker 2He's good, he's not gonna give you, he's giving you the PC man.
Speaker 5You know, it's crazy, though, because You know poets, you know that that is one, and there's other people that use that. You know like like you, if I wanted to.
Speaker 1I don't know, i don't, i don't really have a lot of.
Speaker 2I don't.
Speaker 5I don't.
Speaker 2I don't.
Speaker 5Know, i don't know, i don't, i don't really have a love high, cool. There should be a dessert name for the way you taste. That's an opening line to a poem. Every time amen, they go crazy. Yeah, they go crazy, but it's also corny, like it's. It's easy, right, like love poetry. When you're performing it for reaction, it's different than when you're when you're writing it for like a real purpose, right?
Speaker 5So when you're entertaining versus when you are, when you really mean it absolutely different. You know And we know how to write to get that response. I know how to write to get that response And I prefer Writing something that that's a little more meaningful but it's in the pocket you know it's in the pocket So I love.
Speaker 4So what would you say? what type of dessert you taste like?
Speaker 5woman, there should be a dessert name for the way you taste and they go nuts.
Speaker 2Crazy cuz they ready for that. They're ready for what it'd be taste, so what's the dessert of choice?
Speaker 3I'm not a big dessert guy, but I would say savory snacks.
Speaker 4I would say cheese cake.
Speaker 2No, no, savory snacks is in general.
Speaker 3No, what like? what flavor of dessert would?
Speaker 4I want to taste.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4See.
Speaker 1Okay, okay, that's very specific hold on big Mike's here.
Speaker 2Do you see that shirt?
Speaker 3The bear is.
Speaker 2Chains. Just need the chain daddy.
Speaker 4I love how I'm on the show in his latin.
Speaker 3Will you come in front of the camera?
Speaker 2dude, can you show what you got on real quick, real got to And oh, he's being shy.
Speaker 4I Did you shave today. He got the.
Speaker 2You showin you shade of chest today. dark beard, i think you got some sort of daddy.
Speaker 3What's up toward daddy There?
Speaker 2yeah, look at that, he got the grapefruit shirt being all fine.
Speaker 3Hey, mike, what's your best dessert taste?
Speaker 2What's your favorite dessert? what would you like a woman that tastes like with dessert?
Speaker 3Did he say bagels?
Speaker 5He said mangoes.
Speaker 2All right back back to Bobby, back to Bobby.
Speaker 3Bobby, get out of here now. Mike Bye.
Speaker 2Uh. So I want to talk about, because you have wrote a play, yeah, northside, yeah, 2019, about the Northside in gentrification, and I think it debuted at Su Teatro. that's it and Thousands ten thousand. Yeah as far as audience and people go into this play crazy. Two things that's awesome to write one play and get that kind of turnout. Tell us also why Gentrification within the Northside was so Important and you had to bring Enlightenment to it.
Speaker 5Yeah, you know my, my, my family's been in the neighborhood forever. You know my grandma still lives in the house that you know she's been in since the early 60s Where 43rd in Navajo.
Speaker 1Okay Yeah, in Sunnyside in.
Speaker 5Sunnyside and You know, for me watching it happen in real time. You know, the artists are always The, the harbingers of like what's to come right, and so I remember one of the first poems that I wrote, and it was like performing was about that, and it was in the like Early 2000s, like before it really hit. You know, We were like. You know, friends of ours were like pouring milk down the gutter to signify like the encroachment of whiteness in the neighborhood.
Speaker 5You know so it's always the artists that are like, we see these things a million miles away and we start to try to warn people, you know, but because the artist doesn't have the, the capital in many ways to like do anything about it, the only thing we can do is throw the rocket, the tank, you know, and By the time 2019 came around, the process was largely over. Like it was like the neighbor. Our neighborhoods were gone Yeah, northside was gone, park Hill was gone Yeah, five points is gone. So all there was really was a way to lament that and and so to tell that story.
Speaker 5At that moment, john Moore who's a theater critic for The state you know for the most part, he called to play a zeitgeist moment, because Everything at the same time came together to create the environment that that thing could pop off the way it did, and it became one of the most successful, you know, local, if not the most successful local production in Denver's history. And you wrote it, and so People wanted to see that story, people wanted to feel connected to the thing that they were only now remembering, and It was dope because it wasn't just like my community, it wasn't just people from North Denver, it was people from Park Hills, people from five points. It was people from all over the east side and the west side Coming and saying, damn, this is the story of my hood too, you know. And then they would tell their families and it was dope, because we had like intergenerational You know, i will eat that to like baby was at the show. You know, we had everything from politicians to gangsters at the show, you know, it was like everybody and everybody showed up and showed out to support And we had to keep extending the show and kept extending the show and it became like a wild part of our lives for like a Very long time.
Speaker 5You know, and you know, shout out to the cast and the crew and everybody who put in so much time and effort. But yeah, that's why I did it was to say, hey, look, the most that we might be able to do is Remember and and use that memory as a, as a jump off point for a conversation. And We did it and it was, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2Before I do this or that, is there any other questions?
Gentrification, Mexican Food, and Poetry
Speaker 4yeah, so so. So for those who are Still living in the hood and on the north side, what would be your Vision for trying to create a scenario where People who are coming in, who are just a fine, and never Connect with those who are from the neighborhood?
Speaker 5You know, i think a lot of it is just like simple things come and sense right, it's like getting to know your neighbors. But I also talk about how The change in in architecture has also created distance, because we were a front porch community, right.
Speaker 5Yeah and now that they're building these high-rises, these things that have like rooftop decks, you literally have This, this weird spatial difference. Yeah, that is, it's very interesting. And you also have people from different socioeconomic statuses, different, you know, ideas coming from different ideas culturally, and They're not willing necessarily to find that common ground with folks you know, So I think, anyway, i believe in migration, right like I don't really believe in borders.
Speaker 5I think that they're, they're, they're false things that we've invented. So I believe in migration and the ability for any of us anywhere to move any place we'd like to. But the process of extraction that happens, with the ways in which That process of gentrification works, is That's exactly what it is. It's like they're, they're all take and they're no give. There's no reciprocity, there's no ecosystem building, and for any place to be alive, those things have to coexist right now You have to be able to, like, give and take a little bit, and without that it's imbalanced.
Speaker 5There's an imbalance and that's what we're seeing. So it would. That's what it required, man. It required people to be like have the, the heart and the understanding to be like yo. I'm coming into this place that has a history and a whole ass story, and Am I going to contribute to that story or am I going to erase it? and unfortunately, the erasure is like Yeah, the biggest part.
Speaker 3I can guarantee you like 80 to 90 percent of people erase this, like erase the story. Yeah, um, speaking of keeping the story consistent, when I grew up, there was only a couple reasons we went across. I 25, yeah, but as you get older you're like, you know whatever e-litches and chubbies.
Speaker 2I was gonna throw Chubbies as one of the this or that question But.
Speaker 3I want to. I want to know, like in the current state, because I love some great Mexican food. I'm actually have Mexican y'all, just don't know it. Oh, i Want to know what your go-to place.
Speaker 5Oh, man depends on what I want, but just general my to go place. Yep, if I have to go right now, i'm going right now to la diabla. La diabla is my favorite spot. It's uh, it's. It's not in the north side, it's on Larimer. It's like 23rd and Larimer, right downtown.
Speaker 3Chef Tex-Mex No this is, this is Mexico City style. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is Mexico.
Speaker 5City style. You know, I know a lot about Mexican food.
Speaker 4And you'll know who you fucking with.
Speaker 3Hey.
Speaker 5Yeah, no. So la diabla is dope because they, they, they focus on posolen mescal. I'm a huge mescal person. Thank you for the the illegal. But they also have incredible tacos like. Their tacos, i think, are the best in the city. They're inventive, they're you know, there's one, there's a bone marrow taco you could get they got. My favorite is the chuleta enchilada, which is a red Chile. They basically put a pork chop in a tortilla and say, here you go.
Speaker 2Hey, you didn't. You had a map, or. It's incredible that boy at pork shop my love language.
Speaker 5But yeah, that's why I would go like, if we're gonna go right now, i'd say let's go there. Yeah, it's, it's fires, it's good.
Speaker 2All right, that was great. Yeah, all right, so we're gonna play this game, this or that? you're familiar with it, yep, and what's the rules code of this or that?
Speaker 4I mean, it's no context.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4No, No repercussions okay.
Speaker 5That's good.
Speaker 4I'm faking Yeah.
Speaker 5He poured a cup of mescal like six drinks deep.
Speaker 4So Me did a little different from that tequila. This is that. It's my sky.
Speaker 3We in that this a dad You can even give it already.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, blacksheet, i'm faded, right now. All right, here we go.
Speaker 3Bobby, look at this dude got his the damn things all crooked.
Speaker 4I'm faded. Hey, man, we get. We wait, man, when family come to building, you get a little comfortable.
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely man. All right, don't kill me, man. All right, mexico City Lounge or La Fiesta.
Speaker 5Mexico City Lounge hell.
Speaker 3Yeah, all day Classic, minus American cheese.
Speaker 2Sonnet. Sonnet or haiku, hikoo, okay. Pin or type pen, oh, morning or nighttime writing. Night okay, metaphor or simile metaphor. Okay, concheros Or chinelos. I hope I'm saying that right. I might need some contact.
Speaker 3I think I'm saying right, he's like where most we're in Charros I was.
Speaker 5Mexican dances Yeah, yeah, yeah, so chinelo, chinelo.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 5I was in tepos line. Anyway, we're not story later.
Speaker 2Okay, which one? Chinelo? Chinelo, yeah, all right, my bad merengue or salsa.
Speaker 1Oh, it's not looking at you.
Speaker 2All right man, We just left.
Speaker 4What's my spot? What's my spot down there Me? Oh, i said the way La Rumba, la Rumba. Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And the church the church sometimes, or the, you sue, but American me or colors American me, okay, damn.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm suavemente or Whatever's next, the bar, oh man, you know so I meant is like it's class. I'll say so, i meant it. Let's be, let's be corny, all right.
Speaker 2See that. I knew it. I knew he's going to hit me with that. I knew he was Like he asking some pop shit. All right, this might be another one that you might kill me for Gloria, stefan or Selena.
Speaker 5Oh, Selena.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 3Selena got them cheeks.
Speaker 5Cheeks.
Speaker 4Double, cheek done Indeed.
Speaker 3Indeed.
Speaker 2That is all I have as far as questions.
Speaker 1Man, thanks for the play.
Speaker 4Thanks for trying the wayside man. Oh, you know what that is.
Speaker 2I mean I'm from the North man, okay, that's what it makes.
Speaker 4Show, that's what it makes show Got one Daymo.
Speaker 3No, I mean, I would just say This podcast.
Speaker 1Thanks for playing. Yeah, thanks for playing.
Speaker 3I would just say, like you know, one of the person, the people that's been on the show that showed a ton of love similar to yourself, is Marissa.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3And you know, i know that you all know each other from you know back in the day and appreciate the love man.
Speaker 5Yeah, no, absolutely. She's great, you know, and that's. she's another example of like someone using her work to amplify folks.
Speaker 1You know what I mean.
Speaker 5The story she chooses to do as a journalist are important. She, you know she operates with a lot of love and care and she's fun too, impassionate, totally.
Speaker 2Yeah, so I was going to read a poem but, after you just killed it like that, No you said it?
Speaker 3No, hell, no, read it. I like pizza. What about you? Well, I got something for you, know you know we're talking about mangoes and we're talking about you know. This is short But you know talking about mangoes out his pocket.
Speaker 5That fast You give me a word. It's like I got a whole lot about it.
Speaker 3We're all ears, but this is short.
Speaker 5You know it's a little love poem about mangoes, about the. You know about the, about the deal About these Yeah. It says and the mango said learn how to unfold me And I promise to drip from your lips, damn it Oh wait, is that done?
Speaker 3That's it If you said that, if you said that, no timeout, timeout, hold on timeout. I'll lace you. I will lace you with gems.
Speaker 5I don't even need credit. I'm stealing my credit As long as it works. Timeout.
Speaker 2You're welcome, No dangerous.
Speaker 3No, this is like a boxer getting in the street fight. It's illegal. How do you compete with this shit? Say it one more time. All right, i need you to do that. That was.
Speaker 2And then you say it Yeah, because I think it comes off different Cool.
Speaker 5And the mango said learn how to unfold me And I promise to drip from your lips.
Speaker 3And the mango said learn how to unfold me and I will drip from your lips. It's okay. It's okay, no, it's okay, no no, but like when he's saying this shit like you're a professional.
Speaker 4Yeah, that lets, you know.
Speaker 3And if he, if he, ever whispers that in your ear, you're going to have four babies in a row.
Speaker 1No, and I'm not talking about four different babies.
Speaker 3I'm talking one one hump for babies.
Speaker 2That is funny. One hump for babies Come out.
Speaker 4Is that quadrupled? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2No, but they're not going to be quadrupled.
Speaker 3They're not going to be quadrupled. They're going to be different babies in one stroke.
Speaker 2Nine months apart.
Speaker 4Yes, i'm touching bus, touching bus, jesus Christ, no it's okay, that's hilarious.
Speaker 2Sometimes I'll do that.
Speaker 5Sometimes I'll just pick a random word and like figure out, like I'll put it in the notes in my phone and see, like what have I written about this word. Or sometimes if I'm bored with like sets of poetry, I'll type in like sun and I'll only do a set of words that have the, you know, poems that have the word sun in them So you're talented, thank you, thank you. So, uh, pickles, pickles, what about them? I've never written anything about a pickle. Good Pause.
Speaker 1Pause that whole phrase.
Speaker 4We're going to mangoes.
Speaker 3Amen, that's illegal What he did with the mango, that was fire, that was fire, that was fire man. He didn't even talk about whipped cream. He didn't talk about like any like apparatus that should be involved. He just talked about unpeeling the mango and every woman in this room got pregnant.
Speaker 4Oh my God, Yo, yo, but how? but so what's the responsibility with that?
Speaker 3That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4You've got to have a certain sense of responsibility to say man, my mouthpiece is lethal. Like yo, it don't matter how you look If your mouth is just like a boxer man.
Speaker 3These hands are lethal.
Speaker 5My mouth is lethal. Yeah, i mean, it's like anything, right? Anybody who's good at anything that knows they're good at something they have to like be responsible with it, right, like I don't. Just it's not, you know, concealed carry Let's talk about.
Speaker 1You know it doesn't mean.
Speaker 5I have it. It doesn't mean I'm just going to pull it out unless I need to Right And so it's. That's the way it works for me is like I know I have this skill, i know that I have this talent And, to be honest with you, a lot of times I don't where it would be easy to pull it out. I think that that's the least righteous thing to do.
Speaker 4Dude like, like, like you have like the.
Speaker 2WMD.
Speaker 4Yeah, Bobby has like the WMD in bed. When, like when he wants her to climax, he can say some fucking ill shit and on demand, it's like there.
Speaker 3So man, let's take it back.
Speaker 4I am unpilling your mango right now, so you don't sound the same when you say that sound wild.
Speaker 3So can I replay That sound aggressive.
Speaker 1When you said it it was like hold on. I don't know what that is.
Speaker 2What'd you say? Mango is peeling back, dripping from your lips.
Speaker 1That sounded different when you said it.
Speaker 3This is what Courtney sounded like Where's your mango at? Hey, but one thing that I would say is you talked about acting with responsibility When you walk in public with that hat on, isn't responsible because they know you're coming with bars.
Speaker 4I'm coming with some heat right now. I'm going to Zorro your ass to death.
Speaker 2Zorro, your ass to death. I'm different.
Speaker 4I'm different. I'm going to write a Z on that mother of a.
Speaker 3Wow, i know a B I want to put a B on that mother of a. No, I'm going to unpeel a mango with the Z.
Speaker 5You know what's crazy, though, this conversation, like the fun that we're having right now, is not the fun a traditional poet would have, right, because they take themselves too seriously.
Speaker 3Too seriously.
Speaker 5We're talking about mangoes and whatever, all under the umbrella of poetry, which I think is super, super dope.
Speaker 2That is dope man.
Speaker 3Well then, but it's the energy that you give off.
Speaker 1It is.
Speaker 3It has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with you. It's like you're letting your talent. You talked about giving space earlier. We're giving space for your talent, but you're taking the space and putting it out there. So I think that's dope.
Speaker 2That is the entertainment dog. You brought it today.
Speaker 1You brought it.
Speaker 2So this is the poem that I, my teacher.
Speaker 3do you have your ring on? I'm scared My wife. I want to make sure she has her ring on.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, You spitting over. You're the last lover to talk to him drugs right off.
Speaker 3He might have took her just off of the video.
Speaker 4Man listen man, What woman you met. Don't want to be on the island of Spain somewhere. I'm just Braw off Eat mango, Yeah, in Mexico. So wear new beaestress thong just laying on the beach, just free.
Speaker 2Just free right.
Speaker 4You have Fernando come up there just feeding her grapes, please.
Speaker 3Hey with the big fan, yeah with the fan.
Speaker 4Oh yeah, Hey man, when you see, your wife. When your girl's in the bed and her mouth's wide open, it's Fernando up there feeding her.
Speaker 2Where's this at? Where's this at Co Oh?
Speaker 4not in the bed, man. When she in the bed, she's asleep, man. No, but where? Why your?
Speaker 3mouth wide. Where you said that, you said Mexico. Oh, in Mexico, why else?
Speaker 4Hey, hey, Talon.
Speaker 2Jalisco.
Speaker 5Yeah. I love it. This is been trying to read your poem, no.
Speaker 4It's here. It's here, killer, it's here.
Advocacy for Brown People and Dissonance
Speaker 2It's not sexy at all.
Speaker 3No, it doesn't matter, yeah, but I do want to talk about cognitive dissonance.
Speaker 2That's been a key word for you and a few of your poems.
Speaker 5I feel like.
Speaker 2Like that's been repented.
Speaker 5My undergrad work was in psychology and I think this psychology is like a nice entry point to understand. All poets are like this observational being that sees something in everything, and for me psychology, the understanding of people and human and human behavior, has always been foundational to my practice as a poet, because so much of what we do is take in and then distill and then spread out messages, and so for me cognitive dissonance is in psychology. Is this idea that we know but don't do Right? We understand but ignore?
Speaker 3Because it doesn't resonate with you.
Speaker 5Yeah, or you're, on purpose, trying to live your best life free of the responsibility of understanding what it means to live in a world where we're calling out the things that are making us collectively not well, and people choose that day in and day out, and the poet's job is to make visible those things that people try and usher off into the shadows, you know, and so for me that's what that's about.
Speaker 5It's about, i think, the most effective poetry is like saying exactly what you mean. I think, throughout history, people that say, oh, i don't understand poetry. I think that's because the people that have traditionally produced poetry are more invested in head tricks and ego satisfaction and tricking people. If I write some shit that nobody understands, it has to be elevated right, it has to be intelligent. When poetry is a primary vehicle for communication, and if we're not communicating, if you're not receiving the message that I'm putting out into the world, it fails. So poems like this are just like an on the nose critique of imperialism, of capitalism, of the ways in which we ingest and sort of live in this fucked up place that we pretend is better than it is.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4Man. So, bob, i think for me, what makes you go so hard for your community? Because you can easily be like you know what. I live a pretty, i live a solid life. I can just make whatever cake I make and I can just kind of go on about my business. But that's never been you. You go hard for your community And, granted, you got love for you know everyone. But in terms of brown people and you and I had this conversation There's nothing wrong with going for what looks like you hard. What makes you go for What makes you go hard for brown people?
Speaker 5Nobody's ever asked me that question. It's just a recognition of history and the trajectory of like where we are and where we've been And the ways in which you know. Unfortunately, in this country, we speak about race in a black-white binary. So what that means, then? all mad love to you all, But what that means is that black folks have also been afforded a certain status as the minority with the most attention paid to them.
Unity and Liberation
Speaker 5I hosted a dinner series that was super dope, where I brought cultural workers of color together to have these conversations because there wasn't a dedicated space. That said, hey, what does it mean to be black, indigenous, asian, latino in the same room talking about the same oppressor right? And all too often we get into this oppressive you know, this oppression Olympics game amongst us. Black folks say, hey, well, you know, my people were brought here against our will and we were enslaved. Native people, they came here and they took our land.
Speaker 5Latino people were like in the middle of all of it, right, and instead of like understanding the common ground on which we stand, on which is white supremacy, which is which is which is theft and which is all these things that we have been subjected to, we we try to like figure out whose piece of the oppression pie is the biggest, as opposed to like figuring out how we can band together as a global majority and throw the middle finger up to white supremacy, right, and these, these, these systems and these institutions that have kept us Away from each other and they're designed that way. White supremacist, one of the tenants of white supremacy is built upon Keeping us other marginalized groups Fighting each other for the same scraps and crumbs that they they've allotted to us, right so your question is it's like for me?
Speaker 5I go hard for my people, for sure, But I go hard for all marginalized people and I represent, you know I try to do my best to include Black, brown, Asian indigenous folks and all the work that I do and bringing people together in that way is important for me Because I know what happens on the other side of that right if we activate this, this radical imagination, and we envision better tomorrows that are rooted in Deconstructing all of the things that we have been force-fed.
Speaker 5On the other side of that, there's liberation for all of us, and And.
Speaker 5I want that to be the cornerstone of my work if I, if I do nothing more in my life, i hope somebody will have said at some point He made us feel free. You know whether that's through his words, through the, the spaces He's facilitated, through the conversations we had, through the drinks that we spent, you know, nights, late nights, pondering fucking whatever over over over Alcohol and food, like that's. My purpose is to like, take whatever these natural or these worked or these earned gifts that I have and Share them or activate them in a way that is bigger than just me.
Speaker 3Yeah, i have a question Does Barbara, a love ring a bell to you? Barbara, a love Libertory consciousness, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, cuz you talk to someone like her principles on, on Delivering an Executing on like diversity, equity, inclusion, initiatives that are rooted in, and so let me rewind. What does white supremacy mean to you?
Speaker 5white supremacy to me is a. It's a collection of systems and institutions, in ways of being and thinking, yep, that, when activated as a whole, create Irresponsible, false and other narratives that are meant to Uplift some and make bulls eyes of others.
Speaker 3Oh, yeah, no, and that's thank you for saying that, and That's part of what Barbara a love talks about. And then how do you deconstruct that? and And there's like a system that you follow that has to do with like awareness, you know, like discovery, this. These aren't like the words, but there's like four steps That are involved in. The last one is like accountability and how you take action, cuz like a lot of times you try to take action first and action should actually be last.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm plan your work, work your plan.
Speaker 3Yeah, so no, like when I when I heard you talk, i was like oh, okay, like you were hitting on some points, but good stuff, man.
Speaker 2Yeah, Yeah, absolutely Bobby yeah, I told you deep, i told you, deep, bro, man goes in white supremacy.
Speaker 4I got the layers.
Speaker 3Mangos and white supremacy mangos and J doesn't know how to read a poem.
Speaker 2You had the nerve to come in here with something that says the biggest on it.
Speaker 1Yeah the biggest close.
Speaker 2Oh no, no, he has to cut his clothes at night, so you could get undressed.
Speaker 3How did J read that that boy got 28, 83 Cuz it's?
Speaker 2like a hundred size font man.
Speaker 3Oh my god.
Speaker 2It's not as small as you think.
Speaker 5Can I ask you? I know you, i'm like you, Whatever right but like just thinking about, like the space that you all created. Yeah and I'm a fan of like what you all are doing and you know, folks, that you're choosing to engage a conversation. You recently had mayor elect, you know, on the show. But like what is? what is it about? creating this space? the dedication that it takes to run this thing every week? for what? 100 and how many episodes now?
Speaker 4man.
Speaker 3We're 115 115.
Speaker 5What is like in a nutshell? What is the why behind that? because this is also a platform, right like this is also a movement. This is also a space intended to Unpack ideas and have conversation. So like why are you all here? Do you mind if I start?
Speaker 3Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2Yeah, go ahead man.
Speaker 3Um, i Would say in my wildest vision when Jay called me. I remember exactly where I was when he called me and said, hey, i have this idea. It's like okay, cool, like yes, thank you for calling me, i'll be included. And we were scrappy and like our First let's call it 25 Episodes were trash rash. Looking back, they were trash and There was like this evolution that we had and Jay was like the catalyst for that of like yo, we need to step our game up and And You know, it's interesting that Mike is here, because Mike is like the sixth man that comes in, but like the four of us really like spend some time trying to get better at what we do.
Speaker 3And Mike, you know, said, hey, you know, like every Friday's just not for me, that, which is cool, better to do that than be halfway in Mm-hmm. But this man has been all the way in all the time and We follow this lead, like, sometimes, leaders you have to follow, and I feel like that's what we've done With Jay. So to rat, like to put a bow on it. We've done it for all different reasons And we've learned a lot. Outside, mayor elect or not, it could be somebody who's walking down Colfax. We have no idea who they are, but it's been, it's been important, it's been impactful.
Speaker 4Man. So I go for myself. You know, i know Kind of this guy podcast was born out of the pandemic in terms of fellas having a conversation He was like, and J came and said, yo, let's kind of bring these conversations out and put them in pack Podcasts for him. And, just like the demo said, the first couple of the cells was trash, like we were talking over each other. It just sounded like a whole bunch of noise, right.
Speaker 4And then as I Started to, as a process started to go on and we started to get better, i kind of felt myself getting more invested. You know like I never want to be a pop, i never had any Aspirations of men a podcaster. But having opera, have an opportunity to sit down with dope people such as yourself and the whole, like the, just the whole list of guests we've had on the show, has really drawn me in. You know it, just sitting down, just shooting the shit, like you're not gonna come on our platform, we're not gonna push you all crazy, we're gonna ask them outside of boss questions to laugh, you know. But dress, having a conversation, having an opportunity to sit down and meet new people, have Dialogue, it just get to know who they are. It just, it just drew me in. You know We put a lot into this podcast. You know We know that it's a point to where our platform is really starting to come, to a point to where it's starting to be value. I think people are starting to really respect what we do and It just feels good to be a part of something that is growing, and Especially when you catch it at the initial point.
Speaker 4You know I love these dudes, man, we come here every Friday. Yeah, we laugh Shit to each other. I love it and we have these conversations that are so dope man And like yo, my life is built around this podcast. It's built around it. It's like and it feels weird, like on some tests on Fridays, we take off and you don't have it. It's very, it's very seldom. I want to say maybe we had maybe three Fridays, yeah, something like that. But you know it's just. I finally found something that I started at the beat. It's not the file finally found, but in my dope life I found something where I've started at the very infancy stage of it and I'm just going through the process. So that's what's kind of got me hooked.
Speaker 1Love it. I'm killer.
Speaker 3Good job having a third kid. I saw He said from the infancy stage.
Speaker 4Amen. Post-missectomy Yeah, I had this.
Speaker 2Fashion we go Jack. Uh, they said it, you know, i mean I'm here.
Speaker 3No, that's lame, No man.
Speaker 2I don't need to talk. I let the pot talk for me. That's what I do. We've been here for 115. we gonna keep it going. We got great guests like you having the audience like that's why I do it. You know what I mean. The streets was asking for it. I said, alright, I'll get out of bed and give you something Now we're going somewhere.
Speaker 2It was like yo, what happened to the old Denver? I was like man, I got you. We need those stories because they getting lost in gentrification. These transplants are coming. Telling a stories like, which is cool to your point the migration, That's a lovely thing, but the history needs to stay. Yeah you need to know where your history is.
Speaker 3Now we're going. That's why I do this pot. Now we're going this time. Hey, you were had you had like a peanut butter spread answer. So, like they said, it fall, it was good.
Speaker 4Thank you. But there's also something humbling, man. You know. what You know it's crazy is, regardless of Who the guest is, every time they walk through the door on time. I'm humble Because it's like yo, like there's a lot of shit you can do with your Friday night, but And I'll tell this to everybody, it's I'm not just singing leave out, because you, my dog, everybody that walks through this door on a Friday night.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4Wednesday, whenever they can make time, or a Saturday to spend time with us. It's, it's humbling man, because people play you like people keep like man. You know, i got, i Got soccer practice from my zero. I Got soccer. He has soccer practice. I'm looking two days old. Yeah, i'm gonna give you any topic excuse, but we've been fortunate enough to have people that we've reached out to to be on the show. That's been solid enough to come through the door and give us great content. You know, every time I see someone walk in with three people by themselves 15 people I could bring people, i could have had this place hoppin.
Speaker 4I know you could have mr.
Speaker 2Mango man.
Speaker 3Hey, yeah, mr Mango mangoes would have been going every time, every single time.
Speaker 4I'm gonna say as a guest, walk through that door and want to give us their story and trust us with their story. I'm humming and that's, and that's a that's a great.
Speaker 3What else you got for us, Bob?
Speaker 5No that's it. I mean that they and that won't lead you wrong. You know, like that's been my approach the entire time when you have the gift of somebody's ears and hearts and time.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 5You have to know that that is a position of privilege, you know.
Speaker 1So there's not one trust, absolutely trust Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 5There's not one time that I'm in front of a group of people doing whatever it is that I do, that I don't thank them for being there, for listening and also engage them in the conversation, because I could talk it a crowd for an hour, mm-hmm. I Could floss and, you know, read all the poems I want and go through this little journey with them, but unless I know how it impacted them in real time, unless I know what they're dealing with, what they want to talk about, i'm far more interested in the conversation and that's why I asked you all, because I think anytime that you facilitate space for conversation, it's, it's a sacred practice. You know, like this is an ancient thing that we're doing here.
Speaker 5You know that this this, this gathering, this communication is communing like this is all we've ever done. Yeah, and in a modern context, i think that the, the podcast is allowed for these ideas to be far-reaching and You know, big ups to you all, for you for holding it down.
Speaker 3And I would say one thing I learned from you today is the power of words. I always understood it, but I think you put it in a different context for me today. Um, you know whether it's the power of positive thinking, the, the power of influencing via words, like all of that. So Storytelling is another one. Yeah, and all that being said is you had a great time on the show. Oh, it's great. Yeah, hell of fun. Could do this all night. Who would you recommend?
Speaker 5For this show? Yes, whoo, is there anything that you all feel like you have a doesn't matter, doesn't?
Speaker 3matter. You have a blank canvas.
Speaker 5Right now, i think, somebody that would be interesting to chat with this Stefan bracket from the flowbots.
Speaker 2I've been talking to. He's got a project right now that I'm invested in.
Speaker 5He's trying to create a different nighttime economy. So he's trying to change the way that we experience nightlife in the city, making it more accessible, inclusive for everyone, including young people, and he's got a really solid idea. I actually invited him to be a speaker. I'm curating a series right now at the Museum of Contemporary Art called mixed taste, where we bring people together two experts in a subject to do 20 minute speeches on their subject And then we bring them in front of a crowd and do a Q&A to try to find like entry points.
Speaker 5The first one we're hosting next Wednesday is the homie Roberto Montoya. He's gonna be speaking about James Baldwin, and then the homie opt one, ben Chavez. He's gonna be talking about sneaker culture. So 20 minutes each, one on Baldwin, one on sneaker culture. We bring them together, have a conversation, but Stefan's gonna join us to talk about his, his, his new kind of imaginative idea of like creating a different night night life. So I think Stefan would be cool. Let's see here. I'll get you all a list in a just tag him in the video.
Speaker 5Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2Stefan bracket with list. We're looking for you.
Speaker 4We're looking for you, son, and Stefan should have been here.
Speaker 2You should. You know what? He was driving on the block one day and he was like I gotta come on. I was like man We wait for you.
Speaker 1Oh, so he's watching, yeah, so.
Speaker 5We could call him one time. So one time I saw Dave Chappelle show And he was doing one of his like midnight rants at comedy works and you know he pulled out his cell phone And he's like hmm, let me see, i'm famous, i know famous people, let's call Kanye West. Phone up to the microphone. I Didn't answer. Most death cause most death. The old day would up what up. Most is Dave. He's like yeah, yo, i know I'm in the studio, what you need? He's like never mind, but yeah, it's like that we could call Stefan.
Speaker 5I just talked to him today actually he's Stefan's co-chairing the search for the, the next Director for the arts and venues division, for the city.
Speaker 3Do you mind if we go one, just one more, real quick. Yeah, i want to know about your Dave Chappelle experience. Like for me, if there's one person on this earth I could have dinner with, i would choose him Over and over again.
Meeting Dave Chappelle and Discussing Poetry
Speaker 5Oh, uh, yeah. So you know, Dave Chappelle, we, we, we have. I'm going to keep one part of the story out, but um and it's the most interesting. We'll say that off the record. I'll tell you the off the record Uh anyway, got into a space where Dave and I were able to be in the same place. Uh, he, immediately, we just started having conversation, vibing out, Uh and Dave's actually he's very um introverted.
Speaker 5You wouldn't think so, but Dave's actually a very private person. He craves like personal space. He's not. He's not out there being.
Speaker 1Dave Chappelle when he's not on stage.
Speaker 5Yeah, so that was really interesting for me. So we start talking, we go back to this hotel which is, uh, uh, right across from comedy works. He puts a stuff up on the lobby, we're with a small group of people And then we actually take him to the North side, take him to to my neighborhood. Um, at this point Dave has a three foot boombox Bluetooth, carrying this thing blasting. I think at the time it was the roots, but he had this. This mix on that was like all the, all his friends, you know, just blabla. I'm like, well, you're not being very incognito, yeah.
Speaker 3That's right Yeah.
Speaker 5So we get into the bar, they're playing like punk rock, like super loud. I go to the bartender like Hey, is there a manager on duty? Yeah, sure. So I talked to manager. I'm like yo, dave Chappelle's here. He's like just did a show. He'd like some space at the bar if possible. And so we get David's seat, we, we get a little corner of the bar And we spend five hours, damn, just talking about everything and anything. You know he's chain smoking, just having conversations about all of the things. And he's so cerebral He's, he's, he's literally one of the most intelligent people. It's it's mind boggling, how, how, how to like, how together he is and how his mind works. But he's also a good listener, he. He wanted to hear about me and the neighborhood and my work and like he was very humble that way. He was very generous And you know it's like it's a crazy acquaintance to have. you know it's just it was.
Speaker 5It was a wild time. I've had some really cool experiences with people in those spaces. Another experience that I'll share that I think was was really paramount and changed the way that I saw the world was I spent a lot of time in Cuba And you know, we've got political prisoners from the United States in Cuba. Some of them are more popular than than others And I've spent time with some of the more popular ones in Cuba having conversations about the things we're talking about tonight. Right, but in these moments, what's most important for me and it keeps me grounded a lot too is like, in those moments they're just people having conversations And we, we, we, we lace them with all these flowers, which they deserve because they're incredible people.
Speaker 5But in those moments of, like, the short bursts of of of that, whatever it is, it's, it's, it's, it's incredible, it's incredible. And then they go about their life and you go about yours, you know, but, yeah, dave's, dave's special, and you know, i know he's been, he's been in the news a lot around things that he's talking about ways of being and seeing. But one thing Dave is unapologetically pro-black. You know, he'll always represent his people And I think that that gets misconstrued a lot in the conversations that we're having and his opinions. I don't agree with everything that Dave Chappelle says, but I do understand where he's coming from And I'm I'm a fan for life. So yeah, here we go, let's go All right?
Speaker 4well, shout out to the audience.
Speaker 2Thanks for coming by. Tatiana, jamie, christina and our lovely interns, michael Jalen. Thank you for your help today. Yes, and Chordaddy, do you?
Speaker 1have some bars.
Speaker 2I don't know, and, chordaddy, do you have some bars? Because I usually say something to end the show, but I'd rather you say something in the show and then we'll just do it like that.
Speaker 5I mean, what kind of mood are we in? What's? what's your vibe Like? how do we do What's?
Speaker 2their energetic. Yes, because I fucked up your poems. I'm sorry, i didn't mean to do that.
Speaker 5I butchered that, that's okay, when does this air? Wednesday? Yeah, wednesday, wednesday Next week.
Speaker 1What's the date on that? Oh the 12th You know what I'm gonna do. That sounds about right.
Speaker 5So we talked about politics, right, we talk about, like you know, changing cities and all this stuff, and I was I met with Mike today, our mayor, our next mayor to chat about like a lot of things, but in one he's asked me to do some stuff for the inauguration, and so I think, as we're talking about the direction of the city, we've talked a little bit about that, right, like where we're all from, and I struggle sometimes around like what, what I think the city is and where it's going.
Speaker 5But poetry is the place that I unpack all of that. Joey Harjo, who is our national poet laureate she was the first indigenous person to serve as our poet laureate She talks about poetry as a container, and poetry is the space that we put things where just don't fit anywhere else. And so it's no mistake that people come to me or people come to poets to make sense of things that don't make sense any other way. Right, and I think that's the biggest like compliment as a writer, as a poet, is when somebody comes to me and says Hey, man, we have this thing, we don't know how to do it, can you help us make sense of it? And so you know, the mayor did that, and so we're gonna we're gonna use poetry to talk about those things. It's kind of long, but we hear a little out.
Speaker 2We're for it.
Present and Imagining the Future
Speaker 5And this is kind of a mashup of stuff that I've written in new stuff. So, yeah, let us say that this moment right now is all there is. And if this moment right now is all there is, let us fashion from it something marvelous, let us drink from its mouth until we become intoxicated, let us stumble into the euphoria and ecstasy of the now. The mundane is an enemy of the magical, humdrum, a murderer of the mystical. So let us imagine, let us build, let us peer into the future unafraid, the future where roots in imagination converge to usher in new things. For what is a city but the people? What is progress But the populace thriving? What is hope, the fortitude embodied? dream with us a new. I need something to drink.
Speaker 2Now, i don't feel so bad. Now I don't feel so bad.
Speaker 5You got some water, or miscal Water, maybe water?
Speaker 2Professional here.
Speaker 4Oh, I took a shot of miscal.
Speaker 5Just a little little go. We got it, We got it. I'm gonna start over to no, no, no we just kind of okay, okay, cool. I forget about the power of editing.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 5This happened to me once recently too. I don't know. I was in. Where were we? We're in Trinidad. My voice is only ever given out. This is a special moment, only ever given out three times. Once was in the middle of 5000 people, one was like in the middle of this dedication, and now got it, hey, sorry.
Speaker 1I don't feel so bad Man. it's not that easy.
Speaker 3I sounded like trash. Oh nervous.
Speaker 2Hey, i might have you come up here and read some stuff one time, cool.
Speaker 5Yeah, all right. The mundane is an enemy of the magical humdrum, a murderer of the mystical. So let us imagine, let us build, let us peer into the future unafraid, the future where roots and imagination converge to usher in new things. For what is a city but the people? what is progress but the populist thriving? what is hope but fortitude, embodied, Dream with us a new Denver, one we are proud to rep with resolve, where multi-formity is more than a metaphor and no need goes unmet. A revolving world refuses stagnation, and so should we. A new city is possible. A new city is here, all around us, living and breathing. The present is now. The future is extraordinary. Can you see it? The vision, can you hear it? I'll stop there because I'm tripping again. Okay, yeah, it's long That is beautiful.
Speaker 1It's called Cass Bussin' Bussin'. Feedback for you, please.
Speaker 3I think you should tell people to close their eyes and, like you, embody it a different way, because I did close my eyes for a second and the words that you were saying just like hit a little bit different.
Speaker 5It's special, it's a cool piece. I can't wait to say it, man.
Speaker 4but as a poet. You got to paint the picture. That's it, man. It's why we look like yo, like honestly man. that's why Nas is my favorite rapper, because I can sit back, i can close my eyes and he paints the picture for me.
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Speaker 4I don't have to. I don't have to, like, really think really hard about what he's saying. He just paints pictures. As a poet, that's your job to create this world for a person, to take them outside of what they're currently experiencing, to put them in your world and to put them in a place where they can see what you're talking about. Nice.
Speaker 5I'll say You're doing it right now.
Speaker 4You're leading us through that journey.
Speaker 5I will say, just for your pod purposes, like if we do need to do something else. I could probably do that just to make sure that there's an exclamation point, because through editing and stuff it might be weird if it's like, or cut that all together just because I wasn't able to get through it. So whatever you all prefer.
Speaker 2You, good man. However you want to do it. You can't even do that for your tees. If you want to.
Speaker 4Yeah, if you want to read a poem, that's your tea. You want to?
Speaker 2read a poem. That'd be better.
Speaker 3Yeah, what's the tea? I'll take it.
Speaker 2I'll take it. Do it. Well, that really steps on my. You never stumble upon the unexpected till you stick to the familiar. He just came over here and stepped on that.
Speaker 4So paint a picture.
Speaker 2Paint a picture. That's what he did Paint a picture man, New city.
Speaker 4Tell that lady you love man, Paint a picture for her Open up some mangoes, open some mangoes, oh my God. But you better follow through. Look, look, where do you dig it in?
Speaker 3You paint the picture You better follow through.
Speaker 1Let's go. Oh, my God. That's hilarious, that's awesome.
