Have you ever witnessed the transformative effect of an instructor's fiery passion on their students? Takuan Amaru, our multidimensional guest, embodies this fervor as he discusses his experience igniting student engagement as an adjunct instructor. His journey doesn't stop in the classroom; it spans across oceans from crafting catalog descriptions to becoming a celebrated author and mental health specialist in Japan. Takuan’s tale is not just about professional triumphs—it's also a chronicle of personal resilience, from enduring and overcoming a sports injury to advocating for a holistic approach to healthcare that defies conventional medical paradigms.
While navigating the cultural tapestry of Japan, Takuan Amaru unfolds his narrative on spirituality and its profound influence on personal evolution. His works, reflecting a trilogy of introspection, reveal how writing can be a potent tool for healing and self-discovery. This episode isn't just a discussion; it's an expedition through the intimate link between identity and societal issues, illuminating the silent struggles within a closed culture. Takuan insight into the Japanese mental health landscape, especially for the expatriate and marginalized, paints a piercing picture of the challenges faced and resilience required in the face of adversity.
Join us as we traverse the historical roots of racism, the strength found in unity, and the quest for understanding one's heritage. Our conversation takes a heartfelt turn with a closing prayer, uniting us in the timeless message of love and togetherness championed by the likes of Bob Marley. It's not just an episode; it's a shared experience that extends a hand to anyone seeking connection and understanding in the complex journey of life. Don't miss the chance to connect with Takuan Amaru’s enlightening perspective, which promises to leave you with a renewed sense of hope and the recognition of strength in community.
Have you ever witnessed the transformative effect of an instructor's fiery passion on their students? Takuan Amaru, our multidimensional guest, embodies this fervor as he discusses his experience igniting student engagement as an adjunct instructor. His journey doesn't stop in the classroom; it spans across oceans from crafting catalog descriptions to becoming a celebrated author and mental health specialist in Japan. Takuan’s tale is not just about professional triumphs—it's also a chronicle of personal resilience, from enduring and overcoming a sports injury to advocating for a holistic approach to healthcare that defies conventional medical paradigms.
While navigating the cultural tapestry of Japan, Takuan Amaru unfolds his narrative on spirituality and its profound influence on personal evolution. His works, reflecting a trilogy of introspection, reveal how writing can be a potent tool for healing and self-discovery. This episode isn't just a discussion; it's an expedition through the intimate link between identity and societal issues, illuminating the silent struggles within a closed culture. Takuan insight into the Japanese mental health landscape, especially for the expatriate and marginalized, paints a piercing picture of the challenges faced and resilience required in the face of adversity.
Join us as we traverse the historical roots of racism, the strength found in unity, and the quest for understanding one's heritage. Our conversation takes a heartfelt turn with a closing prayer, uniting us in the timeless message of love and togetherness championed by the likes of Bob Marley. It's not just an episode; it's a shared experience that extends a hand to anyone seeking connection and understanding in the complex journey of life. Don't miss the chance to connect with Takuan Amaru’s enlightening perspective, which promises to leave you with a renewed sense of hope and the recognition of strength in community.
Taekwon, thank you so much for coming on to Gentry's Journey. I am Carolyn Coleman and um. As I said, our honored guest tonight is um Taekwon Amore did.
Speaker 2:I pronounce that right.
Speaker 1:Amore. Okay, and uh, he is from Nagoya, japan yes okay, cool, I got that. I got that. I'm real close. I'm real close now.
Speaker 1:Twi con, ty con you can just say talk, talk as far as talk talk, talk and I met in the metaverse and um. So he is an author, he's an educator and a mental health specialist. So we're going to try to get him to come across all of that. He has done so much and we're going to get into that as well. So by him being an instructor, I have this inspiration when you love your class, your students just know and that is really true, they know if you're for them or if you're not. They can sense that and that's on any level. In my humble opinion. I haven't taught grade school or anything like that. I've helped out, but I have been an adjunct. I am an adjunct instructor and I've done different other types of instructing along the way. They know if you love what you do, it shows, it pulls, that energy pulls. As they say in these days, your energy matches their energy. Basically, does that make sense?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I see where you have written in the past for the Philadelphia Examiner.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Tell us about that and then we'll go into you as an instructor.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, this is actually kind of a strange story. When I decided to become a writer, I realized that I lacked formal training. So you know, I had two choices I could try to go back to school, enroll myself in some kind of writing class or I could try to get it kind of free and actually I turned it into actually making some money.
Speaker 3:So what I did was I sought jobs that had editors that I knew were going to look at my work and critique it, and and I first I started with. I mean, I wrote about everything, like you know, even like catalogs, when you have to describe the cabinets and you have to write in a certain format and be able to manipulate the words in a certain way, that way they want you to do it. I started there and I was getting paid literally four cents an article or something like that. Okay, and then I, you know, I got all the way up to where I got, to the examiner, and examiner Also, they have editors, right, who would they, would you know, definitely critique your work until you have to change this or you have to do that, do that.
Speaker 3:The catch was I was in Japan at the time. I was living in Kagoshima, japan, at that time, but the job required someone. I was really supposed to go to different events in Philadelphia and and talk about them, and my genre actually in the beginning was I believe it was Rastafari, if I'm not mistaken, and I got it switched to ancient spirituality. But yeah, at first I was actually having people in Philadelphia because I used to live in the Philadelphia area. I know people there and they would go to events different, like reggae events, you know anything West Indian and then they would tell me about it and I would write about it.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 3:And I had this, you know, and ironically I actually had the in my genre, my, my field, I had, I was the number one writer, you know. So my editor, eventually, was wanting to meet me. Ok no so, but it was a great experience, you know, until the cat came out the bag, but even then she was going to let me keep doing it. You know um it. But I had to show up in philadelphia at some point. But this is when I I actually injured myself and I couldn't walk for five years man okay let's circle back to rastafari.
Speaker 1:What is that?
Speaker 3:uh, rastafari, that's, uh, a spiritual. It's actually connected to to christianity. Okay, but it's a spiritual. It's actually connected to Christianity. Okay, but it's one of not the main spiritual, I should say denomination in Jamaica, but it's one of the outlines, like Bob Marley is probably most famous for being Rastafari.
Speaker 1:Okay, rastafari. Okay, now let's go back. You injured yourself and you weren't able to walk. You said for five years.
Speaker 3:Yes, for five years I had an old injury that I never rehabbed. I thought, after I stopped playing sports it would just kind of go away just from daily life activity. That didn't happen. And when I moved to kagoshima, this was. This was at a time when, um, I was a strict vegetarian and I had dreams of growing my own food. So I moved out to the countryside and, um, my wife and I, we were yeah, we were growing, you know most of our vegetables. So you know we were working every day. You know physical labor.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I didn't, yeah, and then at that time, you know, I started feeling some strength, you know in my hip. But you know how it is. I'll deal with it tomorrow, I'll deal with it tomorrow, and then tomorrow, one day, tomorrow came and I couldn get up, I couldn't walk okay, yeah, so what type of sport did you play?
Speaker 3:everything, but uh, I think the injury came from playing basketball. I used to drive out of airplanes and army too, so a lot of this, I think you know, played into it so it was a combination and it finally came to a head yeah, we just make a long story short, yeah no, but it's still an interesting story, you know.
Speaker 1:So you've been in the military right was that it led you to jumping out of the airplanes yes, I was a paratrooper.
Speaker 3:Yes, the US Army, yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, how long were you in the military?
Speaker 3:Oh, I had three contracts. I got out two years nine months to go. I got out early. I got a special, nothing negative. I got out to go to football camp in Rutgers. Okay, so yeah, so yeah. Just a lot of sports, very, very active. Really relied on my. I was very, very, very physical guy when I was younger well, that's great, that's great.
Speaker 1:Now.
Speaker 3:It took you five years to recover or get back to baseline oh, it took me, yeah, just three years just to even figure out what was going wrong going on and I had to chuck the Western.
Speaker 3:I said, since the West was in Japan, it was still the Western medical establishment. I had to just stop doing what they. I had to just ignore them because they were just giving me wrong information from just studying MRIs. They wouldn't study me and I ended up creating my own rehab and I follow to this day. I did it yesterday and, yeah, and it led me back to being able to walk, but it was the most draining. In the book Guy Cochran, the story is a trilogy. In the third book I actually flashed to a home the book actually is only a memoir from when I was a child until 21. But in order to capture the feeling of desperation, I had to think how can I do this? And I had to flash into my moment where I was at at that time and when you can't walk and everything around you is collapsing, you know you talk about searching, reaching out for God and needing, you know, divine guidance. That was the moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, okay. And you know, sometimes we do have to be proactive. You have to be your own healthcare advocate, you know. You know how you feel Right and sometimes you do have to have the wherewithal to take your health into your own hands, to get back my stance is, I think, uh, you, you always, you're always, you always have to take your own health care into your own hands.
Speaker 3:I mean, the doctor is really just recommend. You're the doctor, actually, you are the doctor. It's like, it's like almost like it's your car. And the doctors of course, they have expertise that you don't, most people don't have. So I'm not saying, ignore that, but you take it into consideration. But now you're going to get what? More than one opinion Right, you don't just go with one doctor. In most cases it is something big. And then you at the, in the end it's, you're the one who's responsible for making the decision, because you're the one who's going to be in the hospital bed. You're the one who's going to. You know either or be up and around and back to your normal life. So, yeah, I that's. That was a hard lesson I had. I had to learn. I was just listening to the doctors and and nothing was happening, and then you start realizing that they have a lot of patients other than you.
Speaker 3:Yes, and this guy, he's talking to me like he met me for the first time, like oh no, you know, look at me, stop looking at those at the MRIs and the and the x-rays you're not examining and you know they were. They wouldn't listen to what I was trying to say and it was a nightmare.
Speaker 1:It can be. You know I'm a nurse by profession and I often over the years have told my patients you are your best person to tell your health history. Don't just listen, but be an active participant in your care because you know your body better than anyone.
Speaker 1:You may not can pinpoint what's going on, but you know yourself. So you have to advocate for yourself and if you can't do it, get a family member to help you do that. She doesn't feel good, he doesn't feel good. He complains of this when I see him do this. This is what happened, you know, and this is not his norm, because medicine is like best practice. You know it's not an exact science and I tell people that often. So we have to be our own health care advocate, and that's a huge teaching thing that I do with the patients.
Speaker 1:Don't just rely on your physician coming in here and telling you some things. Sure, they're experts in their field, but they're not experts in you. It's not to put them down, because we need them, you know, to help us guide through. But over the last few years, I have heard physicians ask the patient how do you feel? Is it normal to you? Is this abnormal to you? And I like that train of thought because it's putting you, the patient, in the center, which is where you should be of your health. So, yes, you definitely have to, like you said, take the bull by the horn, and I had to do this myself. Don't look at that. Look at me. Listen to what I have to say.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And I think we're so accustomed to them being the authoritarian that you know, and especially in the South, you know. Yes, sir, well, the doctor said this, the doctor said that. But if you're not getting any better, you need to advocate for yourself, and right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you do People. Do you think I need a second opinion? I went, yes, why do you think I need a second opinion? I said because you asked you and your, you and your heart of hearts and in your head you know you need a second opinion and it is okay. Well, what if he gets mad? I said if he is worth his salt, he will not be upset with you at all and he probably will. Yeah, I've had patients to tell me that I don't want him to get upset. I said he won't. He won't get upset. He will probably appreciate the fact that you're going to a second opinion and the two of them can compare notes.
Speaker 3:Right yeah.
Speaker 1:So don't be worried about offending him. You're paying him, so don't worry about it. This is your life, that's my point, that's my point that is my money.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know. So you have to be your own health care advocate. You definitely do.
Speaker 3:Now you've been a social worker. Tell me a little bit about that. Okay, well, coming out of university, you know, like most kids coming out, you know, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, so I went toward you know what I liked doing which was dealing with the youth, and so I had a couple of jobs. One I guess the main job was at was actually University of Medicine, dentistry of New Jersey, but they have a mental health section. So I ended up working for the Children's Transitional Residence and it was a facility that housed like eight kids from five to 12. But I also worked at Job Corps.
Speaker 3:I think most people are familiar with Job Corps and I also worked in the New Brunswick area, new Brunswick Youth Advocate Program. They called them YAPs. We were YAP workers. We would assign cases, uh, like individual kids. So for me I was getting high risk youth, you know, usually black or latino and uh, and I'll be assigned to them one-on-one and I do, and you know, and you do everything you can for them. Basically, you know, with a little tiny bit of money that they'll give you Absolutely With their homework, take them to their class, take them to their clubs or their practices, take them out to eat entertainment. But these, you know, they didn't pay any money but they were so rewarding in other ways.
Speaker 1:I agree, I have worked with a group of underserved individuals as an educator and it is to me it has been very, very rewarding to work with that group of students. They seem to not everybody, and you know that's just. We can't say 100 percent, but they seem to appreciate you more because they they see a different side of things than they've never seen before, Especially when you are professional and you lead by example and you treat them with kindness, firmness and respect.
Speaker 3:Right, right.
Speaker 1:Because they need that structure it. To me, that's something that they lack is the structure, but when you bring the structure to the classroom, they usually they usually fall in line um, yeah, with yeah, you're gonna get some struggles, oh yeah you're gonna have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can always have that outlier you know, and what's strange is having worked in in classrooms or or settings with kids in the united states and then coming to japan and dealing with well similar but much very different.
Speaker 3:You know, like you know, you, it's uh, differences, distinctions, without a real difference yes um, but the distinctions are surface level and they're, you know, there's totally in your face, like you know, because you know japanese people, they deal with things inwardly, you know. So, uh, yeah, and you know it's where you can get the cold shoulder and like the whole class will do it. You know, I mean it's like and you're like, okay, what's going on. You have to really, really be introspective yourself and it's just, yeah, like you know, high suicide rate, it's just the way it is over here. But when you start seeing, when you start getting and talking to the kids or getting in, you realize it's the same thing as a kid that might act up in Philadelphia or New Yorkork. You know what I'm saying. But they just in japan, they do it inwardly, you know, and, uh, so that that was very, very interesting for my you know being, you know making that switch okay, so you think it's culturally that they're more um stoic in japan than they are here in the united states?
Speaker 3:oh, absolutely, absolutely. Confucianism. The buddhism, um, yeah, it's, it's prevalent here, okay, okay, and there's benefits there's. You know, it's like anything else, it's not good or bad, you know. I think there's strengths and there's weaknesses to any program or denominations, spiritual modality, whatever. This is no exception.
Speaker 1:I agree, because in the long run, we're more alike than we are different. Exactly Everything has its strengths and its weaknesses and we just need to kind of sure up, you know, make sure our strengths are strong and on a straight foundation, a solid foundation, and then just determine the weaknesses and work on the weaknesses to try to build them up. And that's not just students, but that's in all walks of life. From what I have gathered in my time of being in and around people, it is just one of those things. Now you're an author. Now when did you start that journey?
Speaker 3:So you're an author, now how many? When did you start that journey? Oh OK, so you know, while I was doing the examiner, I was still doing the examiner and I had, I had some freelance private customers too. I was writing for clients, I should say Sure, and I was really getting my writing off the ground. But then I got a I don't know how you, but I got a spiritual reading from a lady named Ms Blue and she told me I needed to write a book and um, and actually I was like kind of reluctant to do that and actually I'm a little bit ahead of myself.
Speaker 3:This is actually when I I ended up stopped when I, when I, when I injured myself okay, because she said when you start writing the book, and her actual words were all hell's gonna is gonna break loose, but you need to go through this, and um, and I was like okay, whatever, and, and I was reluctant, so I took a couple weeks and didn't do that. I just kept going on my life and and then finally I was like, yeah, but this urge, a couple of weeks and didn't do that, I just kept going on with my life. And then finally I was like, yeah, but this urge to write a book was coming at me. So I started writing Guy Cochran's story, and this is maybe 2014, 2013, something like 2014.
Speaker 3:Okay, and as soon as I started writing, a week later, I couldn't walk. Yeah, and then it was like the only thing I could do was write, and writing actually took me out of you know, the like the hell of my world at that moment, and so it's, you know I could say it really saved my life okay you know, and you know, you always hear about these artists, you know, whether musical or, or you know the writers, where they all have to go through some kind of extreme life experience.
Speaker 3:I was like I don't know if it's an initiation to becoming, you know, being able to find the depths of your so I don't know what it is, but it definitely happened, ok, and it was right on point and it was right on, right on point and it was yeah.
Speaker 3:So that's why I I began writing, uh, books good guy and and uh, again, guy coaching the story again I, I, as I mentioned earlier, is a trilogy and why, and it covers the time when I was a child, you know we, our, our family, started in j, but then going to America and getting the first kind of, you know, the first impressions of the US and growing up in that, as you know, I was a so-called mixed child, but I always thought of myself as a black child, you know. Sure, and that, you know, came to fruition, and so many things happened, and not only in myself, I think, in every Melon Ridge person's life. If you find yourself sane and you especially if you're listening to this message, that means you have a certain amount of free time and you have resources at your disposal. You have gone through serious situations that are miraculous. They might not seem miraculous because they're not glamorous or not.
Speaker 3:A lot of people saw it, witnessed it, but you know, and the people in your circle know, like wow, how did? How did that happen? Or, you know, just to make it in this society that's pitted against us and yeah, and so I'm no exception, so, but a lot of mine were actually very, very extreme and very, some of them were very public, and so, even when I was experiencing them, I was like you know, this needs to be documented or something you know, because I realized it was bigger than me, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And that's my hope and for readers who read this book. You know, yeah, you're going to read the details of things that may have happened to me, but you know, and people have told me in some of the critiques or the reviews, like, yeah, I know a guy that was just like this or this happened to me, this happened to my sister, you, my sister, you know, and I'm like, good, that's because that's what I'm saying that these are not you know.
Speaker 1:you know something that is interesting for me yeah, they're not isolated stories, it's just that, putting pen to paper, you find it. I found it to be cathartic. Even when I I write fiction, it's cathartic. It releases. It releases some things and even though it's fictional, you know it's loosely based off someone else's something you saw, something you heard and someone's going through something at some point in time and with yourself writing about your experiences, someone else has been through that. They just don't know how to express themselves Right and I think they feel comforted when they read that what someone else has gone through.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:They're not alone.
Speaker 3:They are not alone especially in a coming of age story.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes. So you say it's a trilogy. So the second part of the trilogy tell us about that?
Speaker 3:Okay. Well, the first part covers my childhood, all the way up through high school. And thank you for this question, because when I first decided to write this book, I really wanted to write about what happened to me in the army, and that's the only thing I wanted to write about, because the thing I mean the miraculous events we can say were just coming back to back to back, and so I that's what I did. I wrote book two and book three first, and my my editor was was like, um, no one's gonna understand this if they don't understand where you came from. Like you know, yeah, but actually like writing book one was embarrassing for me, you know, because I know family was kind of dysfunctional and you know I didn't want to write that, you know. And um, he had to really, really plead with me and you know, because I, you know family was kind of dysfunctional and you know I didn't want to write that, you know. And, um, he had to really, really plead with me and you know he was like you know, I understand it, because you're explaining these things to me, you're, you know, and I'm talking to you. He said, but no one's going to understand it. So, yeah, I wrote book one last, and um, so book two, I actually it actually starts with me going into basic training. Now, just the book one ends with me getting kicked, actually fighting my father, and getting kicked out of my house and almost getting killed. Yeah, so that's how that ends.
Speaker 3:And I go into the army and they really weren't supposed to let me in because I had stitches in my face and in my hands and you know, and um, so you know, I'm damaged goods to the military, you know. So they they're going to make you at least convalesce before they allow you to come in, because they're investing money in you, you know, and you become property. So, yeah, I had to sneak, you know, my, my recruiter showed me how to hide my injuries and I got in and, uh, yeah, so it starts like that. And so the drill sergeants are like what is this like? Oh, do you like to fight people? You know, anybody's been in the military knows the last thing you want is attention, you know, and that's all I had was attention. I was like the star of the show, you know, and and I, and I came in, you know, after fighting my fight.
Speaker 3:You know, my attitude was just trash and yeah, like I said, just to go from the absolute worst like attitude, everything soldier, to becoming, some say, the best soldier. You know, and in points they have a, you know they actually. You know, like points do they have a, you know they. They actually, you know, like everything, they record everything in basic and they have a soldier of the cycle who's like the number one soldier. And I actually won, I actually had the both points but they just didn't give it to me because my attitude was just trash. They weren't going to let me sit with a general, you know, and talk to a general. I was, I was borderline insane, you know, and um, so yeah, like I said, but the story is just, it's just so extreme, you know, like there's no way I should have made it through basic at all. But, you know, when you're sincere, like not, you know, talking about, you know trying to get well, actually I was trying to get over on everybody because that's part of being a street kid, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, you know when you start to, you know, learn things, you know, and these drill sergeants, they, they, you know, joke right and these guys and, and one of these guys particular, uh, he actually risked his career, he went against protocol and gambled on me and uh, and things worked out, but he almost had to. He almost, he almost got into a fight with another drill sergeant and, uh, it was bigger than me. Like there was so many things that were just bigger than me that you know, when you, I'm looking at it 20 years later, and then I actually got to talk to one of the guys that experiences with me and he retired from the Marines and he was my mom, you know, my best friend in basic, and so he's you telling me things.
Speaker 3:I don't even remember he was like man, yeah, you, you were really really out there, you know, so yeah well that's where, that's where book two starts and that's where book two goes and goes through a whole series of, like I said just, you know, really testing the limits and learning the same. You know I would get better. I would start really, really, you know, really applying myself because of the let's say, the you can say what you call it, Not the emphasis, but not the encouragement. But in the army they have ways of persuading you. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1:It was. It was extreme discipline.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, yeah, like to put it mildly, to put it mildly, to put it mildly, and you know to put it mildly, yeah, but even through that, I was still able to keep doing, you know, living this street life. I thought I was in high school still, you know, and and doing these, and actually another guy that I was doing a lot of this stuff with I ended up meeting after almost 30 years in Chicago at Asada's book fair.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:Well, actually I found out he was in Chicago. So by going to the book fair I got to relink with him and he's featured prominently in the book and we were really doing some really, really dastardly deeds. But finally I hit a couple of times, I almost got kicked out. A couple of times I hit, I almost got kicked out a couple of times, almost got arrested, and then finally you just realize, hey man, what am I doing? What am I doing with my life? And I realized I needed God, you know, needed, you know, spiritual guidance. But I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 3:So, um, there were two, two young men who were a little older than me and they were two black men and they used to walk around Fort Bragg. I was in Fort Bragg, north Carolina, and you know that's like the high-speed coast with all the special forces and the paratroopers, 82nd Airborne, you know. And these guys, they were part of a church and they would walk around, they, we saw them everywhere. There are clubs, they're walking or talking to people and they got a respect that I had never seen any black people, really any special young black men, get like the people. They walked in and people got out the way, you know, and um, they really impressed me as just young men, as a young man trying to understand what it was to be a man, you know.
Speaker 3:So when I you know my friend Mick, the guy in Chicago, he ended up praying and getting saved with them, but I was reluctant, I was like no, I'm not really really, you know, I listened to them for a couple of hours and it was months later when I really hit the wall, that I ended up seeking them out and that led to a whole nother episode and that goes into book three. And book three is when I actually walk into the church for the first time and, like I said, I'm at my wit's end and I really, really thought at that time I'm like 20 years old and I was like yo, if I don't find God, I don't, I don't think I'm gonna be alive in the next couple months. When you start to bring certain karma to you, you know, you start really being out there, you know.
Speaker 3:You know you start meeting people like that, you know, you know yeah, you, you attract what you are yeah, exactly you attract what you are and there's always a bigger fish, you know you you think you're crazy. You think you're crazy, okay, okay we got crazy right around here, right around this, over here. Yeah, you're going to the right place yes, oh yeah that's
Speaker 1:wow, that's wow. My mom has she still, you know, tells us these things. Excuse me, but I remember when I was a teenager and the guys were playing basketball and they were playing for the school and you know, you can always have that standout athlete, you know, that's really good at basketball. And mom said, yeah, he's good, but there's always somebody out there better. Just because you think you're bad, there's always somebody out there bad who's worse than you are. So when you said that, that brought all that back to me. It's a bigger fish out there. True that If you want it, you're going to find it. That is so true. That is so true. So you got, did you get saved? Or you started going to the church? Did you get saved?
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, I got saved, baptized, the whole nine, and the church I went to was really, really was very, very proactive. So we used to go out and witness to people and talk to people. So we were out there, out and witness to people and talk to people. So we were out there, you know, beating on people's doors in Fadeville, and but this really taught me how to interact with people. You know, I learned so much during such a brief span of time. But the thing was and I didn't know this again until I'm writing this, you know, 20 years later, in hindsight, and I'm realizing, you know, the church was cool, but I really was going to meet these two young men benefited me because I ended up having falling out of the church, not because I lost my faith, but because the church they started trying to be in my pockets, you know, and I was a guy and I don't even want to say it wasn't even me, it was the spirit of the Lord. You know, like I said, we were witnessing to people and we were trying to build our church. Like you know, most churches do you know they want, you know, know they need a bigger church and it was a storefront building at the time and, um, the pastor was trying to become a full-time pastor and uh, so you needed, you needed finances, sure, and uh, you know when, when new members were coming to the church, you know you always ask well, how did you find out about the church? So, you know, a lot of people had heard it from me because when I got saved, I went out and started talking to my people. I was going out into the ghetto, I was going out and talking to people in Fayetteville.
Speaker 3:Absolutely the whole, like the complexion of the church started to change, you know, and I don't just mean became black. There was, you know, there was black people in the army, there was black people there. It was a mixed church, but you know, it was like, you know, different dynamics started coming to the church and you know, this was cause for concern. I think this was, you know, kind of a cause for concern. And, yeah, the things just started changing.
Speaker 3:And, you know, long story short, the tithing and you know thing came in. I didn't really understand what was going on because I had been giving a certain amount of money this whole time and all of a sudden, you know, I was required to do so much more and um, yeah, and things really really came to a head. Um, you know, I don't want to spoil the whole book and give all the details, but I ended up, you know, leaving, leaving the church, and that was very, very traumatic for me because people were like you, you can't quit. You know you, you're not allowed to quit. You know like, you know what do you, you know you're not allowed to quit. You know, like, you know what do you mean. You know, I thought I was going to have to fight somebody. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they can be a little strong, but I mean, you don't, you can change buildings, you know. But you know God still walks with us. And when it gets to be a point where you're growing because you're trying to save everybody, you're trying to, you're just out here trying to save folks and then somebody else is like, well, where the money at?
Speaker 3:Meanwhile, meanwhile, god is moving. I mean, people's lives are changing. All kinds of things are happening right in our midst. We're getting all of all the confirmations, all the signs, the fruits, the spirit that they talk about in the Bible. Even myself I went to, I had been talking about I'm going to play football in college and I'm and this was you know what god was calling me to go and take, take it. And when, when it all came to fruition, and again the, the circumstances were, I mean, if it wasn't god, you, I mean what could it have been? And you know, but he was like, everyone in the church saw it. But the pastor was like, nah, you're supposed to stay here, you're supposed to stay here and become a pastor here, you know, and I'm like, well, you know, I don't know, I don't really see it like that, you know.
Speaker 3:So you know, that's kind of where the book kind of ends. It ends with me leaving when I get out of the army, and again so many miraculous things happened just to get me into Rutgers university Like nobody. Nobody, I mean. I left, I went on leave and they were like, uh, you in April of the year I was going to get out. And they were like, uh, you in april of uh the year I was going to get out.
Speaker 1:And they were like um, I'm like, yeah, I'm going to ruckus, like, are you?
Speaker 3:have you got accepted yet? I'm like no, no, but I'm gonna get in, I'm in. I just knew I was in sure, and and I went there and came back with a letter, my letter of acceptance. I had my letter from the coach not not to try out. You know, I was like on the team. I was on the team, didn't, never tried out, never did nothing, you know, just came in and told my play yeah you know, I mean, that's not how it happened, but that's how it looked.
Speaker 3:Sure, I came back, they were like you, you just went, you're on the team, you're on the team now. So I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna apply to get out of the army early and you know, all of this stuff was was unprecedented, you know. Um, yeah, you know, I remember the guy that there was another guy in my my uh, in my, uh, my company, actually he was my battalion. He had applied for the early out and so he had just done it just before. So he talked me and showed me what to do and when I came, when I came back, I went to see him and he was like, uh, oh, when I, when I, when I got accepted, I went to thank him and he just was like, yeah, man, he wouldn't even let me talk. He was like, yeah, man, nobody gets accepted, man, you know it's, it's just really hard because he, so he got rejected and he just assumed I got rejected too and I had to let him talk for like 10 minutes before, you know, I humbly had to say, well, no, actually I got accepted and he, he was angry.
Speaker 3:He was angry, you know, but he was. He had to play it off, you, you know, and I was just like, okay, I'm stepping on toes here, I'm here trying to, you know, thank this man for his help, but you know, it is strange.
Speaker 1:It is strange, people are strange. I had a similar situation. I had to pass two academics the last one was tough, it was really tough, it was microbiology before I could apply pass two academics the last one was tough, it was really tough, it was microbiology before I could apply for nursing school. And this young lady that I work with, she was like oh, I just don't know, I just don't know. I said no, I've already talked to the professor, because she was like how are you doing in that class? And I'm just telling her I'm doing pretty good. I said it's a struggle because it was a mini term, so everything had to be crunched in and I said, yeah, I'm doing pretty good. I said I'm a little shaky, but I'm doing pretty good. Talk to the professor, we've come to an agreement. If I got this, then I'll be OK. And so she said well, I just don't know if you're going to make it Like how does she know so much?
Speaker 3:So?
Speaker 1:anyway, I don't know if you're going to make it. I passed. And she told me I don't see how you did, because when I was in his class I said oh, you were in his class. She was like yeah. I said so how did you do? I didn't make it. I said oh. I said well, baby, I've been accepted into nursing school. I passed his course. She said how did you pass? Because he has a certain grade point that you have to get. I said I got it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly I did better than that. I mean, what is there not to understand here? Yeah, he said, if I make 82 on the final, what is?
Speaker 1:there not to understand here. Yeah, he said if I make 82 on the final I would pass his course. I made 86. So I know I'm in and she was just stunned. So I get that feeling that you had with your friend and you're like, well, I mean, but they didn't tell the whole story, she did not let me know that she had been in that class and how tough it was, but I can't.
Speaker 3:Misery loves company. It does, it does, it does. That's the young people that the player hated, yeah.
Speaker 1:Cause she, she kind of stopped speaking to me for a mile, not that that mattered, because I was doing what I needed to do, I was on the right track and I know it was nobody but God that did that. Okay, so I just have to. You have to walk in your purpose. You can't walk in somebody else's purpose. And because he helped you get out, he was supposed to help you get out, you know. And when you look back on it, you know God had him in place to do that for you, but you got into rookers because that was your path. Uh, he didn't get in, you know, because he's on a different path, even though that might have been a desire of his heart. So we have to take it as it comes. And no, everybody's not gonna clap for you, but it's for see what a reason a season or a lifetime.
Speaker 3:He was there for a reason, for a season, you know and even that young man or the lady you were talking about, in their own lives. That was something that probably they've been shown this a couple different ways and now they have to hit the wall like, no, you're just not in touch with reality. True, you know, you're either not doing what you're supposed to be doing, you're not studying hard enough, but you need to get in touch with yourself here, I agree, instead of trying to bring her down. You know what I'm saying? No, no, you need to start pulling yourself up here, you know, I agree, like you might even just be pulling yourself in a different direction. Maybe this is just not what you're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1:And I agree, because Stop taking it so personally.
Speaker 3:You need to stop hating her.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because yeah, her mission.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, because I was focused. I mean, I was focused and to the point where it's just me handling business, because it was very important to me, always has been. But I had a goal and you know you come into work and you're doing shoddy work, so that means to me you're probably doing shoddy studying. But she never. She didn't let the cat out the bag until I had passed and I was like whoa, okay, you know. So you, just you have to walk your path.
Speaker 3:You have to walk, and I think that was part of her coming getting in touch with reality. She couldn't hold that back anymore. She had to at least admit that Like, wow, you passed Same teacher. Yeah, what is there not to understand here?
Speaker 1:And the thing about it, you're right Same teacher, because he was the only one who taught that course.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So do you think he just gave her a break? Nope, you know how he functions. Yeah, because he was flirting with him. What do you think he just gave her a break? Nope, you know how he functions. Yeah, because he was flirting with him. What do you think happened? And you think, no, I guess she just passed the class. Yeah, more than I did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just accept it hey, I handled my business, that's all I can say just yep, accept the truth and adjust to it.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, absolutely so. Like I said, for a reason, for a season, for a lifetime, and that's how people come in our lives, you know, to take us higher, to show us some things or to say, hey, this is not the way I want to go, right, you know. So you know, you make your own choices when it comes to that. But so that's the third book, and before we close, I want you to tell us where you are, where the audience can find your books, and you can put it in the chat, okay, and I can put it out, but, but we still have some time. But I just wanted to say that before we got too far, because I am just a really loving this interview.
Speaker 3:I have one other book as well Okay, go ahead and this kind of segues from the mental health, because I have a book that's centered on mental health called 21st Century Japan Decoded.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, I saw that title, yes, Okay, and yeah, this is a nonfiction book and this is based on my 20 plus years of living as an adult, mainly in Japan. And again, as I, I, I, uh, I mentioned earlier, there's a alarming suicide rate, or you can just say depression that is prevalent in Japan, in the society itself. It's part of the fabric. For those of you who are watching Shogun right now on on uh FX, Okay, I've seen it, but I haven't watched it.
Speaker 1:I've seen the title.
Speaker 3:You watch that. They, they, they go into the. They talk about the Japanese and their kind of, their tragic relationship with death, the way they go into how Japanese see death. It's a death culture, basically. And yeah, so I talk about that because over the years I've gotten, you know, being that I'm of Japanese descent, a lot of people who are expatriates or they're coming over, especially Black people, and not just from America but from the entire diaspora.
Speaker 3:They email me, you know, here and there and they ask me because they have questions about something that's they're having difficulty with, whether it's, uh, their job, teaching english at a school, or they're they. Some of them work in companies and uh, and there's more and more people who are making careers. Now, you know, japan is really, really changing because they're having a problem with their, their, uh, their birth rate, the same way that european people and um, so they're having a lot of problems because japan is a very closed culture and so they ask me questions. So over the course of 20 years, I realized how many of the questions were the same over and over again. So I pretty much condensed the questions and just wrote a book. So now when people email me, I'm like Amazon chapter two. You know, I can just tell them, you know, because you know, because I mean I'm going to explain. I explained it way better in that book than I'm going to do it right now. Anyway, you know sure.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, because the detail, the detail that needs to be examples.
Speaker 3:I give examples and, yeah, so I, because more and more black people, with more and more black people now settling down here in Japan, what's to say that in 10 years they're not going to be suffering from the same depression? Going to be suffering from the same depression and let's hope not from what I see. You know it's not looking good because you know, mainly because black people for you know and we all know, when they come to japan, because japan, on the surface it looks like paradise when you come and just when you know there's no, you know, for the most part, the police aren't harassing you, okay, you know, for the most part, the police aren't harassing you. Okay, you know there's very, very small. There's like violent crime is almost non-existent you know.
Speaker 2:So yeah, no one's robbing you.
Speaker 3:No one. You know, at best people are maybe looking at you kind of strangely, you know, which is a far cry from you know people aren't even soliciting you like homeless people don't even solicit you. You know, ok, you rarely see homeless people. So you know. So a lot of black people when they come, you know, depending where they're coming from, you know they're like yeah, I've hit the jackpot. You know, everyone smiles at me when they talk and then you know, three or four months later you see the same person and they look, and they look and beat up, know, and, and they don't really know why. You know, and so that that's when the questions start coming and a lot of animosity starts to build up.
Speaker 3:And this is not everyone, you know I'm giving kind of the extreme scenario, but sure, people have a certain percentage of this and I've noticed, and I mean, I had to go through my own bout with it. But you know, in order to like anything to solve problem, you have to first identify that there is a problem. Sure, right, there is an issue. I like to say issue or challenge, mm-hmm. But yeah, so that's what this book is about.
Speaker 3:And this goes into my mental health experience back at University, behavioral Healthcare, which is a segment of University of Medicine, dentistry, new Jersey and again in 20 years of teaching in schools and universities and at companies. So I'm seeing the society on all different levels here in Japan and Japanese being as close as they are. Once they find that I'm of Japanese descent as well and they can communicate with me in Japanese, it tends to a lot of them will let their hair down and they'll let me. They tell me things that they, you know they don't really tell a lot of people. Sure, you know they don't see into their lives. So, yeah, that's what that book is about.
Speaker 1:So you think they, or you feel as though they find you more relatable?
Speaker 3:Yeah um on in general. Uh, yes, I would say yes, not everyone, not, because a lot of times japanese want you to be like. A lot of times the japanese, the society is so strange. I, I, I align it or compare it to directly with the military.
Speaker 3:Okay, in in um, and if you watch like you're watching shogun, they, that's what they talk about. But back then it was feudal times. But the society really hasn't changed. They just changed the warfare, or the daimyo, like their leader, their sire, their feudal lord, now is like the shacho, which is like the CEO of the company. But their alliances and allegiances, it's very similar. I mean, you'd be surprised Even with the way they walk. And when you sit in a restaurant they sit the same way the Samarai sat. Like you know, they guard the door. It's very, very unique, I think. But with that comes a lot of stress. Every time you're interacting with someone, you have to know exactly where your place is. You have to walk in the right order, you have to do this. You know you have to do that. Um, americans would never think of doing all that you know okay, so you're saying the structure, everything's just so structured um, nothing is without structure.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's about it everything has structure and here we're kind of laid back. We have certain venues and invitations to certain places where you have to act accordingly. You have to be on your best behavior. Uh, you may even need to get for lack of a better term carded or be allowed to enter into. Yeah, you're going to be on your way, absolutely yeah, all of that, and. But you know there are a lot of other places where you can just relax. You know just lay, lay, sit back and relax. You know laugh, talk and you know chop it up. You know enjoy each other without being on having that weight of who's watching.
Speaker 1:What do I need to do? How do I need to perform? How do I need to act? How do I need to behave when you should always be on your best behavior? I don't care where you go, whether you're laid back in the sandbox, you know it's a certain way you need to behave. But a lot of times I feel like we're kind of walking away from, to put it, the old landmark of how you, your parents, were raised, how your grandparents are raised. You know people, oh, that's just old fogey. I'm going to do my thing, I'm going to, I'm going to just let it all hang out and some things I wish you know we would kind of pull back in. I'm not saying you need to walk around here like a soldier, but I just don't think you need to. They just going to have to know how I feel. No, we really don't. We don't really need to know all that. I wish that we would pull some of that back.
Speaker 3:You know, I think in life I found, you know, as I go through everything, no matter what, it always comes down to balance.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree.
Speaker 3:Like, even when you, when you talk about like, even physical health, it's actually balance right. Disease is talking about being not at ease. You, you know. And you, when you have ease in life, you know that's when you're relaxed.
Speaker 3:Your organs are relaxed, your, your mind is relaxed, your emotions relax you know, but then again, if you get too relaxed now you you're entering the lazy stage. So you know, and, and you know it goes both ways, when you look at alkaline and and acidic, you know it's not about being alkaline. You have to strike that balance and this is, and there's just no difference societally. You know, um, yeah, you know, yeah, you want to have, there needs to be format, there needs to be. Uh, you know, there's ways of of behaving. You don't just, you can't just come to school or certain venues and just do whatever you want. But at the same time, we want to see self-expression too. In Japan, everything is predicated on everyone behaving the same.
Speaker 1:Yes, so it's very easy to see when you're off code and yes, I can see that because you are nine times 10, you're probably the only one off code. And there are certain styles that I see and there's certain mannerisms that I see in my part of the US that I'm just kind of taken aback by, especially the way parents speak to their children. You know, my son came in a few years ago, I think before he went to college, and he said Ma, this lady cussed the baby out, I mean a little baby. She just cussed the baby out and I was like wow and he said that was true. He said me and my dad were just standing there like they're in the Twilight out. And I was like wow and he said that was true. He said me and my dad were just standing there like they're in the twilight zone. That's a symptom of mental health, that's a symptom of emotional health.
Speaker 1:It wasn't a small curse word, it was the very big curse words. And I was like that poor child, she's at her wits end. And then you like that poor child, yeah, she's had her wits in, and then you're putting your child on that trauma and that's not good. That's not good. They're not able to handle. In my humble opinion, children aren't able to handle the weight of adults, and adults sometimes use their children to bounce everything off. That's not what they're for. Children are not meant to carry your weight, that adult baggage. Let them be children, let them you know, because they only are children for a short period of time. 18 years passes by very, very quickly. So I wish we would kind of get back to a structure where we had a little bit more self-respect in some people. That it's not general, it's not general, but it's enough, you know, to take you off your game yes, and especially with the ever-growing um.
Speaker 3:You know, like I, you know, the single, single mother tragedy yes. I think lends to this, because when you have, you know, a woman has to be super woman, she has to be the male and the female. You know, it just went to just different stress levels that she's supposed to be able to share I agree, you know. So when I was, you know I mean or even just just just racism in general, like my father growing up. Now I understand why he was so upset all the time we're like why are?
Speaker 3:you so upset all the time we're like, why are you so upset all the time? Like, my goodness, you know you come home from work, yeah, because he's unloading. Now, you know, yeah, and we didn't. I didn't get to see that and you know, so I was actually sheltered from that. But when I get home, man, man, I got to, I got to avoid you because, no matter what I do, it's not gonna be good enough.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, you's not going to be good enough, you know, yeah, and you know that could turn violent, you know.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but you know, just looking in as writer, you know, as an author I try to capture a lot, not not just that, you know what I mean, but you know. But I try to capture the why. That's what I'm trying to say, the why, because try to capture the why.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm trying to say, the why because, um, you know, because it has to. It has to start somewhere and we need to if we're going to research, if we're going to determine why here, where did it start? Why did it start? Because it has to have a point, an origin.
Speaker 3:it has to have a point, an origin.
Speaker 1:It has to have that origin.
Speaker 1:It has to have it and yeah, that is part of it, and I don't know. People are taking on so much, so many roles, they're doing a lot of duality but at the same time you're still loading your child who's 10 or less with these adult type situations that they can't even compute. They can't compute because adults sometimes can't compute them. You know you can't figure like you said. You know you were trying to figure out your life at one point in time you knew it wasn't 100%, but you knew you needed to do some corrective action.
Speaker 3:Exactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:And I think we've all been there. You know whether you didn't pass a course or whether you didn't get that entrance letter where you have to pivot.
Speaker 3:Or even deeper than that, especially when you talk to, like youth who've never really had a constructive conversation about their future with someone that they respect. They're just being just okay, you graduated Well, you didn't graduate, good luck. And they're talking to other kids all the time. I grew up, kids all the time, you know there's really. You know, I grew up. I didn't have any adult figures in my life or anybody older than me who was telling me anything other than how to get pick up girls or how to make a dollar out of 15 cents. You know, and this is all I was hearing, you know what I'm saying, and not that there weren't counselors in my school and stuff like that, but you know I didn't, we didn't. But you know we didn't see them as doing anything viable. We saw them as like being weak. Oh true, especially for a young man, we're looking for strength. Where do we see strength? Mm-hmm, you know, and that's what I want to link myself to. That's what attracted me to the two young men. I saw strength in them.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:I saw strength in them and you know, at the time I looked at Christianity as being weak or any of the religions maybe. Maybe on the NOI Nation of Islam they looked like they were some solid brother or some hard brothers or something that I kind of looked up to, but for some reason I just wasn't attracted, maybe to the dogma of it. But these young brothers they looked they dressed.
Speaker 3:They look, they dress. They were always sharp. They had very good vocabulary, you know, you know. Back then, you know, people call you talking like a white guy or something like that. They say things like that, but these guys, they, they spoke with force. So I was attracted to them, you know, and you know, I think you know, when I go and talk to kids, even in Japan, I think that's part of my attraction.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 3:You know, especially for young men. I'm like you know, because in Japan everything is inward, as I said. So you have a whole generation of kids who have never made a decision for themselves. Wow, I mean, they don't know how to do. I mean a lot of them, you know, when I was working in the junior high schools, when I started proctoring the exams, and the way they do the exams there, you know you can't proctor your subject right Because you might inadvertently help the kid.
Speaker 1:you know Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it needs to be an objective proctor. The proctor definitely needs to be objective. Someone who doesn't know?
Speaker 3:the the student and uh, no, I knew the student, they were still my students, but I just I was doing math or science or something like that. But but, uh, I remember after lunch, like they, they would eat lunch and they eat lunch in the classrooms and they never leave the classrooms. They're like stuck in their classrooms all day. They don't change classes, the teachers change and um, so, yeah, yeah, that's another thing, it's like a, you know it's, it's like a, it's like a torture chamber and um, anyway, I remember it was something very, very subtle for me really getting along and understanding what was going on in japan. I remember the, the class.
Speaker 3:If I had to proctor the class after lunch, when I came into the classroom, they would like during lunch, they would all move their seats to sit near their friends, you know, and the class would be, the classroom would be in disarray and I'm like you know, the exam is getting ready to start in my mind, you know the exam is getting ready to start. Why is this classroom still not fixed? And I'm angry about it because you have to wait for the teachers to come with the attendance book and they have to give you. They have meetings after meetings after meetings in Japan you can't just go when you want, so I'm getting in the classroom and all the tests have to coincide. You don't get to say start, it starts with.
Speaker 3:The whole school does the test at the same time. Or, if it's a public school, the whole prefecture. Well, think about that for a second. Everyone. That's why japan is so on code with each other, everybody does it. You don't get to choose. You know I'm saying so. The whole city, the whole state, every, all the students are starting at the same time. Think about that for a second.
Speaker 1:I can't.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Because when we had the standardized testing, sure, our classroom was structured, but no, I can't imagine the entire school saying three, two, one, you know, go. I can't imagine.
Speaker 3:And the bell rings and you start and you know if the materials aren't out. The materials aren't out, like so I'm passing out the book. Sometimes the bell's ringing, they're looking at me angry and I'm looking, I'm thinking the same thing why didn't you guys have the classroom set up, you know? And then I finally figured it out and I was like, oh, they don't move unless I tell them to move. So when I was running behind schedule, just as something simple, as I see one of the kids from the class and I tell them hey, you, you tell them that I said straighten the classroom up, and that's something that's simple. When I get to the classroom now, it's all set, they're all ready to go, but they're not allowed to move unless they give, you're given an order, even though they know what to do, even though they know what to do, yeah, so they're suppressed, and that's that's how the culture works.
Speaker 3:there's no, the young, the young whippersnapper, or he's the young genius. No, no, young genius, you better sit down and be quiet, because if you call attention to yourself, it's going to be bad for you, you know, and that's the end of the code.
Speaker 1:So there are no outliers. Everybody has to be standardized.
Speaker 3:There are no outliers, there are outliers, hence the suicide rate right, Absolutely, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know. No, I didn't, I didn't realize. You know, and that's one thing you know, when you are in your zone, you're in your zone, you don't think about what's going on on the right, you don't see what's going on on the left, you just see what's going on in your center.
Speaker 3:So no.
Speaker 2:I never would have thought of that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, uh. So, no, I never would have trained like that, absolutely, absolutely. You know. So it it is. Um, I have, um, truly enjoyed this interview, but we're gonna talk about the metaverse before we close. Um, I know you did a question and answer section while we were in session, while we were in the metaverse on. It may have been a Saturday, but everyone was intrigued. You know that just from some of the questions that you received. And what was that experience like? Not just the metaverse, but also being a participant with the uh, the soulful chicago book fair that you attended.
Speaker 3:That's why I know it's a twofold question oh, um, absolutely, absolutely, uh, wonderful five stars and shout out to sister sada kirkland in this global local book fair. And there's another one coming up um, in a couple weeks, unfortunately I won't be there, but I know it's going to be. It's going to be lit, like it always is okay. Um, yeah, hopefully I'll be at the one in the summertime okay, because you've attended two, two of them, correct?
Speaker 1:that's correct yes, okay, okay and yeah and I.
Speaker 3:So I, I met, I met Asada and, like you said, in in great people like yourself, through the metaphors, during the uh, the pandemic time, and uh, yeah, I'm really uh, I'm trying to find, I was trying to find a place to land in, in in the United States. You know I want to. You know I love japan and you know I'm my mother's japanese and you know, and I have japanese relatives and all that good stuff. But at the end of the day, I know I'm a black man and you know, and I grew up in the states. You know I didn't grow up in chicago, um, but uh, I got some people out there, you know. So you know, chicago seems like a nice place for me to be, or at least interact with folks and see what can happen. And so Spirit led me to her metaverse, just me, you know, looking to see what kind of opportunities are out there. You know, myself and Sister Sada, as soon as we talked, we clicked, like a lot of people do with her.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:She is and she's a very great resource and she loves her people.
Speaker 1:She does.
Speaker 3:And she's out there trying to connect and so yeah, dealing and meeting folks like you in the metaverse, that was a great or is a great experience.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Even now it is.
Speaker 3:Keeping up with the times.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:But going, but going to the, to the book fair itself. Uh, in the summertime I was supposed to have been the featured speaker in the summer and that's the big one, but uh, it got shortened due to inclement weather.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, it rained. Uh-huh it did.
Speaker 3:It rained it, did it, rained it out, yeah right, um, so that my, my appearance got moved to the winter or the, the, the holiday or the I guess the winter holiday book fair. So, you know, I got to come back uh, it's how it brought me in and you know, and shout out to her and uh, yeah, that was man, that was. That was great. Uh, interacting with the people that I've been, you know, kind of talking to online or or through the metaverse, and then I actually got to do a presentation and uh, during the presentation, I, I basically was trying to connect. You know, really, because when I came to japan as an adult again, you know, I was trying to find I, you know really, because when I came to Japan as an adult, again, you know, I was trying to find, I guess you could say, my Japanese roots, or not trying to find it, but to reconnect.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:And the more I studied going back into Japanese history, it just became Black people. It was like, else it was just like, oh, uh, just long story short. And and so I, I go into that. When you go into the, the first age, uh, called the Jomon period, the Jomon age in Japanese history, and and they'll say that it goes, I think they, they have some vague history line maybe to, I can't remember now, maybe I don't want to say, but it goes back into indefinitely into history. And then the next stage is called the yayoi. I don't even want to say the eight, the numbers now, because I'm kind of getting different numbers in my mind, but I have it all written out in um, even in the book 21st century japan, dakota.
Speaker 3:I talk about this, okay and if you look at anything in the Jomon age, as far as the artifacts, as far as the sculptures, they look just like sculptures from, you know, cultures that we know are Black people. And so I guess the highlight of the presentation after I explain a lot of this and come up with the facts again and I always say this I come before people as an author. I don't come before people as a researcher or a scholar. Not that there's not scholarship in my work, sure there's not research but I don't come to you as Dr Such and Such. I reference Dr Such and Such in my work reference doctor such and such.
Speaker 2:You know, in my work so.
Speaker 3:but I show actual footage of pictures of, you know, sculptures from I take mostly from the Gabon people.
Speaker 3:Okay, and in Africa and the Dogon people. And Dogon people are most known for their work or their so-called breakthroughs with space. If you look at anything that NASA does and all their coding, everything they clearly copied or at least were influenced by the Dogon tribe. And these people who say that even back in the 19th century they were saying they, we come from Sirius B. They were. They drew a planet and some of the people had tattoos on their faces of the galaxy. The people were saying no, no, no, you know, the European people, the English people at the time, there's no stars there. What are you talking about? This is before the Hubble telescope and everything.
Speaker 3:And then later, when they know the western civilization made these breakthroughs, they found out that what the dogon tribe was saying was was in fact, accurate and they're like no, no, we come from, that's where we come from. And and they, they had the whole, the whole galaxy, they had the whole universe mapped out. And and now this is the same thing nasa says. And if you again, if you look at any of their they have straight, straight work you can look and see that NASA is basically just showing you what the Dogon has been saying.
Speaker 3:Anyway, I show sculptures from that, from those people and the Jomon who are Japanese people, ancient Japanese people, and even some of the narratives from the historians of the time when they unearthed them were saying this looks just like Assyrians depictions of Assyrians at the time and we know Assyrians were dark-skinned people. Yeah, and so I'm asking the crowd and there's footage, there's film footage of this. You can find it online when I'm asking the people which one is the japanese or the jomon, which are the african people, and everybody's like no one can, is that one?
Speaker 3:and then when I tell them, people are really shocked that's really, yeah, that's that japanese people made that so-called you know, and um, so I'm just really just showing, like kind of what you said earlier about the common origin. We were talking about religion, I guess, back back at the time, but the cultures, the spiritual concepts, they all have a common origin and it precedes anything that we have in this Western world now, everything that you know, not to downplay anything, not downplay Christianity or Islam or whatever your belief system might be, but just understand that there was something that precedes that, you know. And many times we just go, simply just go back to to ancient Egypt. We can see a lot of that on the temple walls. Now, you know that this is stuff we can't even really it's not worthy to argue about, because we can see the proof, you know, sure, yeah, but just being able to to break that down and seeing the looks on people's faces and and and people, the comments they had.
Speaker 3:You know, after I got off, you know, and after I gave my presentation, I remember, I remember I was thinking I was going to. It was a couple of hours before the end of the book fair. But I guess it was funny. People I guess got to know me when I was up there. I mean I was selling books the whole time. After that I was like, oh you know, like oh okay, which was great. I was like, but I wanted to eat some food.
Speaker 2:I didn't get to eat the food. I'm like man.
Speaker 3:I was. It was a great way to be disappointed, you know. But you know, shout out to everyone who came and you know, you know mad love and respect and thank you and I hope to see you all again and please support Asada's book fair on April 20th and I hope to be back in the summertime, Definitely.
Speaker 1:And that I mean it's like you say about Asada. You know she knows how to relate to people, people know how to relate to her. You know she. You know she truly is a people person, such a visionary. Yeah, I've enjoyed meeting her and if it wasn't for the metaverse, none of us would have met, None of us would have met, absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know, none of us would have met, none of us would have met.
Speaker 1:Absolutely None of us would have met, so it was for such a time as this. It's great to see how the Soulful Chicago Book Fair has imploded, the growth that she has had with that. So you know, we wish her continued success in that and I thank you again for being on my platform, gentry's Journey. So I'm going to close out with something regarding teachers again, and its students.
Speaker 3:Can I?
Speaker 2:say one more thing.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I just want to kind of inform and plug. I'm working on a new book now and hopefully it's going to be a series and I really want to include Chicago in the book. So the Pretender actually there are two twins and this is a fiction book, but again, I like to always bring real life scenarios in. So I'm talking about a lot of things that are happening in Japan.
Speaker 3:The book takes place in Japan. They're two twins. The twins are very, very close as a boy and a girl. They're telepathic and they're Black and Japanese, as I am, and I'm talking about a lot of the pressures that they go through from the Japanese side, and so they've been telepathic since birth. And the book begins when the boy actually is killed and so the police are saying that it's suicide. It's suicide, you know, because the high suicide rate, him and his friend are found dead, his best friend and there's because they have a lot of group suicide in japan. So I'm trying to highlight that and um and. But the girl, because she's telepathic with him, she knows it's not true, she knows that he was assaulted, she knows that, you know he was choked, because she was choked, basically, and so she comes back. She's in Chicago at the time and she comes back to, to, to really to bring down the, the killer, and the killer actually is there. I don't know if you know the unification. There's a unification church.
Speaker 1:And I'm not familiar and actually there.
Speaker 3:I I met two people in chicago who were members of the church and it was like I was trying to find people in japan, couldn't find anyone and found somebody, and I didn't even ask, they just told me. So I was like, wow, this is crazy. Um, I don't want to bring the church down, because maybe the church is not that bad, but I have to at least least reference it because they're the church. They're getting such headlines in Japan because supposedly they're connected with the assassination of the former prime minister in Japan. So they're getting a lot of bad and they have a lot of history with pressuring people for finances and money. And I told you, I have a history with that too, sure. So I'm talking again. I'm just trying to bring out these things that are already talked about in Japan, right, but yeah, basically that's what the book is. And the girl comes back her and her father, and the girl comes back her and her father. And yeah, they have to really prove or show that this is not the case.
Speaker 3:And in the book, basically, I'm citing a lot of Japanese culture.
Speaker 3:I go into the Japanese funerals, I go into the history of why the guy, why he's that way.
Speaker 3:He was a person who grew up during World War II and he was homeless. A lot of people know about Hiroshima and Nagasaki in terms of the bombing, atomic bombing. Many people don't know about just the everyday, daily bombing of Tokyo that took place, the pummeling, and they said the most, quote, unquote, successful or Western historians have a way of putting great with killing and they, according to their you know numbers, they say 125,000 people, in excess of 125,000 people, were annihilated in one night of bombing. So I use this historical and then a lot of you know there was so much problem with homeless kids on the street begging and stealing. So I use this and I say that this is why this guy, he ends up becoming the head of the church, but he has a history of, you know, being poor, being molested, you know, being mistreated in these facilities, facilities, yeah, so I'm just going to cite a lot of things that are going on all at one time and tell, hopefully, a compelling story.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but that's coming out. I don't really have a name for it yet, but I think it's going to be something like twin-tuitive telepathy, something like that, something going to use twin-tuition and telepathy.
Speaker 2:Yeah something like that.
Speaker 3:Twin-tuitive telepathypathy yeah, something like that twins or something like that I get that, I get that inclusive telepathy maybe um, yeah, I understand you know you want to find the wrong, just the right mix.
Speaker 1:Uh, to bring people in to that title, um, but from what you've explained, yeah, the twins, and how they communicate, right? Yeah, telepathy, I get it.
Speaker 3:I get it and there's so much, there's so much uh footage. I read, I read a couple books, I read it, or I read a book and I saw videos where they talk about twins who actually this, they, they have a telepathic or what we could, what you could at least assume is a telepathic connection. I'm actually. I told a student of mine now this is a 30 year old man, japanese man, he's a student. I told him about the book and he says yeah, I'm a twin. And I was like, really? And I was like, do you have any compelling stories? And he told me two. One he said he bought a bike, a bicycle, a couple years ago, a foreign, really expensive bike with a lot of accessories. He said his brother bought the exact same bike, same that he was in a car accident. He totaled his car. And he said his brother totaled his car within the same hour, wow, totaled his car, and neither one of them were hurt, nobody was hurt, but they both totaled their cars.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 3:I mean, is that coincidence?
Speaker 1:One thing for sure we know it's a blessing. Neither one of them were hurt, and they both totaled their cars.
Speaker 2:I mean, is that coincidence?
Speaker 1:It's one thing for sure, we know it's a blessing. Neither one of them were hurt and they both sold their car. And I wonder did the twins know that each other had been in an accident?
Speaker 3:without telling each other or that something was happening to the twin without them telling each other. The twin that I know personally, my student. He said no, I asked him that because that was something that would came up in the video and in the books I read okay, and other, in other uh documented experiences, they did know, they did know and like they were, like yeah, something's going on.
Speaker 3:One boy was like something's going on with someone, so you need to call him, you need to call him, you need to call him, and he had died and yeah, and that's in my book, that's how I have it. So she knows she's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because she was pretty much experiencing what he was experiencing. You know, anything that's traumatic, anything over the top, especially emotional trauma. They over the top, especially emotional trauma, they both can feel. One day of one girl, she got hit in the eye and both girls had bruises, they both had black eyes. Well, yeah, they showed it in real time, almost like you know. Like you know, they showed why they both. They showed both of them with the same black eye, next to each other.
Speaker 1:Well, I have spoken with twins over the years and they have told me they feel each other's pain. You know whether they they're around each other or not, or they know when something's going on with them. You know good, bad or indifferent it doesn't have to be, you know, something tragic or anything, but I was like you know that's amazing. You know it's amazing.
Speaker 3:There's a connection?
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. And then you have the twins that say no and you'd be like really, you know, because sometimes you have this innate feeling and you don't have to really be a twin.
Speaker 3:No, I was going to say that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know with your siblings or a friend, because I was going to say that, yeah, you know with your siblings or a friend, because I was talking to my wife too absolutely you know why yeah, you know when they're off center. When you're connected to people, you know when they're kind of off center, you know when they're having their children absolutely, it's your children yeah.
Speaker 1:so why should twins be different? You know you would halfway expect it, but a lot of times they don't talk about it. Because I was talking to a friend of mine today and when we ended the call I said she's not feeling good, I don't know. I said here I go. Somebody has upset her. So I'm going to call her again tomorrow and see who upset her.
Speaker 2:Because we talked for a long time but, we didn't get into it.
Speaker 3:But you just feel it, you've just some people have a sense, some people just have a. Now, a lot of us are, um, what, I forgot the words where we, we, I know I'm that way. Well, I, I pick up emotions very like. I have to like really keep myself from not picking up people's traumas and stuff. I just, uh, I forgot there's a word for it. Um, but I'm not even talking about that, right, because some people they're just connected with a certain person, sure, right, and I think it's almost otherworldly. You know, it's almost otherworldly. It's something that it it goes beyond this this this time. Now, um, scientifically, they talk about in the twins when it's like one egg versus two eggs, and then how long when the eggs separated. If it's late in the pregnancy, that's when they tend to have a connection. But when you have people who are close friends or even other siblings who are not twins, sometimes it happens too. But I think again, I think it's an otherworldly connection, like when they talk about soulmates with marriage.
Speaker 1:I think that's when youworldly connection, like when they talk about, like you know, soulmates with marriage. I think that's when you going into that situation and I get what you're saying Honestly I do, and sometimes you can just see in people's mannerism that they're off that day, whether you know them or not. Okay, whether you know them or not, whether you know them or not, and um, but some people are just good at that right, some people just can pick up.
Speaker 3:That's why some people good counselors, some people make good you know. Good teachers, good you know. Advisors and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Psychiatrists, they make you know great, you know tyke, we just appreciate you coming on to gentry's journey and sharing your cultural views, your life lessons, your history. We're going to go ahead and close out in prayer. Lord God, we just thank you for Tyke and his opportunities. Bless his ministry. We thank you for his healing. Lord God, we thank you that he will continue to be able to reach out to more people in a positive light and continue to pour into them. Lord, these and other things we ask in your son, jesus' name. Amen. One love, one heart.
Speaker 2:Let's get together and feel alright. Hear the children crying. One love, one heart. Saying give thanks and praise to the Lord, and I will feel alright. Saying let's get together and feel alright, dirty remarks One love. There is one question I'd really love to ask One heart, is there a place For the hopeless sinners who has Aught on mankind Just to save His own beliefs? One love, what about a one heart? One heart, let's get. Save us all, believe. One love, what about one heart? What about? Let's get together and feel alright. As it was in the beginning one love, so shall it be in the end one heart, alright, thanks and praise to the Lord, and I will feel alright, let's get together to fight this holy Armageddon.
Speaker 2:So when the man comes, there will be no, no doom. So when the man comes, there will be no, no doom. One song have pity on those whose chances grow standard. There ain't no hiding place from the father of creation. Say it. One love, what about the? One heart, one heart, what about the? Let's get together and feel alright. I'm fleeing to mankind. One heart, one heart. Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel alright. Let's get together and feel alright, I will be.