Listen Up with Host Al Neely
Hi, I'm Al Neely. I've spent most of my life asking, " Why do people behave a certain way? Why don't people understand that most everyone wants basically the same thing? Most everyone wants their fundamental need for peace of mind, nourishment, shelter and safety."
What I have learned is that because of an unwillingness to open one's mind to see that some of the people you come in contact with may have those same desires as you do. We prejudge, isolate ourselves, and can be hesitant to interact, and sometimes we can be belligerent towards one another. This is caused by learned behavior that may have repeated itself for generations in our families.
What I hope to do with this podcast is to introduce as many people with as many various cultures, backgrounds, and practices as possible. The thought is that I can help to bring different perspectives by discussing various views from my guests that are willing to talk about their personal experiences.
Hopefully we all will learn something new. We may even learn that most of us share the same desire for our fundamental needs. We may just simply try to obtain it differently.
Sit back, learn, and enjoy!
Listen Up with Host Al Neely
Sexual Addiction, Trauma, and Finding Grace: One Man's Story
Do us a favor and like, comment, share, and subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes.
Reach out to us on our socials and hit us up with any questions!
Email: Info@listenup.biz
Instagram: ListenUp4U
Facebook: Let's Talk About It - Listen Up
Twitter: ListenUp@Listenup4U
Website: listenup.biz
hello everyone, welcome to listen up. I'm al neely and today we have william daniels. He's one of the co-authors of the book the wounded black man and, um, say hello everybody. Hey, okay, uh, william is married with kids. He resides in the hampton roads area. Uh, he just recently completed, um, his degree and he is a uh, the degree was from Regent University, right so, and that was on Christian studies, leadership and training, and he's a team player and we've talked and at some point in time he's going to be entering politics because he can't stand the things that's going on right now.
Speaker 2:So, I don't blame him, but anyway, one of the things we were talking about in the book. We were talking about abuse and sexual abuse, men and sexual abuse, men and sexual addiction. Yeah yeah, black men, especially in sexual addiction and abuse, and so we wanted to, you know, delve into it. I think one of the terms you used in the book was intimate partner violence. Yes, okay, so what is intimate partner violence for people that don't know?
Speaker 1:IPV is intimate partner violence, which is used to describe the violence between two particular people, male and female and this particular violence was amplified as it was talking about the different experiences that men experience as far as being abused. That's more of an unknown topic that's starting to gain a little bit more momentum in regards of men being abused.
Speaker 2:Okay, so obviously you're speaking from a personal experience. Yes, okay, yes, um, can you talk a little bit about, give us a little bit of context, background as to Okay.
Speaker 1:In the book the Wounded Black man, which I'm so thankful to partner up with Rodney Johnson, which is the visionary, is the visionary. I had the opportunity to write a portion of this particular chapter called Abuse Begets Abuse, and in it I shared how I grew up in the abusive home, watching my father abuse my mother and later on how I kind of vowed in myself not to be abusive like my father physical abusive like my father but in return I became passive in understanding how I could be abused and I went through two marriages where the first marriage, you know, my former wife had a relationship with somebody else, and then the second marriage where the young lady was physically abusive. Young lady was physically abusive and what really opened up me was my aunt mentioned to me William, you didn't know she was crazy. And that one question just stayed in my mind and it was so compelling to the point. Yes, I was mad at her because I didn't like either how she addressed me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it was something that somebody never asked me and it needed for me to think and pray about why I didn't see certain characteristics or certain things in women. And so in that, what came along was Rodney Johnson mentioning to me hey, william, do you want to write something in the Wounded Black man Journey to Healing book? I said yeah, wounded Black man Journey to Healing book. I said yeah and prayed about it and God started to deal with me about some past things, some things that I didn't recognize, or patterns of sin that had affected me, and that was patterns of sin.
Speaker 2:Patterns. Okay, gotcha, so I think I'm trying to go with this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go ahead Patterns of sin that was affecting me in moving forward. What?
Speaker 2:did you see?
Speaker 1:So what I saw during that period of time? What?
Speaker 2:did you learn, I'm sorry, what I learned is that number one.
Speaker 1:when I was younger, I used sexuality to cope and manage different emotions. So in that particular chapter I wrote that I was very sexual early. I think I said 12 or 13 that I had my first encounter sexually, and so that was some of the things that I wrote about. I wrote about how, you know, I used that, how I didn't recognize different things or within women, their attitudes, their responses. It was certain things that kind of just blurred my. It's almost like when you are taping something and you hit the blur button, you really don't see anything in the background, you really don't see the objects that are around you. And so I wrote about my experience and how certain things blurred my vision in reference of being able to see, I would say, a healthy relationship a healthy woman.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I want to get back to the sexual part, because I believe that that's pretty common for men. Okay, so I want to get back to the sexual part, because I believe that that's pretty common for men, young men. So, were you highly active? Were you extremely sexually active from the age of 12 on? Yeah, and, and you, yes, you were. Why did you think that was important to you?
Speaker 1:That was a form of approval and love. And just here, recently, I realized that in one incident I was sexually abused by a girl and again I'll share on that. But you know, it's certain things that comes about within men, that we have to fit a certain stereotype, that we have to be macho, we have to be like Superman. Everything just bounce off of us, right? And that all we're numb to all of these experiences, right? Yeah, people go through life and they're numb. They're numb to being able to enjoy life, they're numb to being able to express themselves in healthy manners, outside of rage, outside of alcohol, outside of pornography. All of these addictions that kind of cripple our society, particularly men, african-american men and just men in general.
Speaker 2:It's a big issue, especially in African-American. I think there's so many different layers to that, because there's always a constant struggle with the abuse. So did you happen to realize what your dad's upbringing was? You ever talk to him about that?
Speaker 1:I talked to my dad. My dad's upbringing was he was brought up doing- you know, Well, basically slavery time. You know where you had colored blacks against whites. He had to walk five miles to school where he had to fight off. Where was this at? This was in North Carolina, newcomer, north Carolina, Newcomer okay, and so.
Speaker 2:So he grew up during the segregation period. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, excuse me, yeah, segregation, and then also not only that, jim.
Speaker 2:Crow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my great grandfathers. They owned plantations and so they were very into the moonshine. They were bootleggers, they made their own money. They were womanizers, they chased women. They did different things. So, you know, recognizing certain things that had took place before it helped me reconcile where I'm at today and to be able to understand certain patterns of sin and to be able to cut it off.
Speaker 2:Right, as they say. I see Interesting, so let's get back to some of the issues that we were talking about. As far as why you were doing it, what you learned, so, after you figured out what was going on, what took place, by the grace of God.
Speaker 1:You know I was blessed to be in a relationship that was totally different. Sorry, my wife often say that God has a sense of humor in how he does things. My wife's name is Grace and so in calling her and looking at her, I recognize God's grace upon my life and the relationship that we have, and so in it, believe it or not, god started sharing different things about me and detaching me from certain patterns of sin that dealt with my upbringing, that dealt with past, and to help me establish healthy understanding, healthy outlooks, healthy relationship values in our current relationship, values in our current relationship. And it's a blessing to be able to walk through that type of journey or healing process.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm sorry, just sorry for the coughing. So you were in a lot of these relationships where you were just having sex and you were trying to what do you think you're trying to cover up?
Speaker 1:I really didn't know. I think that was an immature part. Often, sometimes in counseling, they say that when people aren't healed, that whatever age that happened, that's where they're stuck at. Whatever age that happened, that's where they're stuck at. So in my mind I was still 12 years old. Even though I was a man, even though I looked like a man, I still had immature ways of understanding sexuality and also relationships, and so that was an eye-opener for me, because really, when my aunt asked me that question, I was very disturbed, I was kind of frustrated, I was assaulted, you know, insulted by the fact that she asked me that question, and it really hurt. And so, you know, oftentimes, when you're confronted with truth, truth compels us to seek an answer, the right answer, to seek and understand why and that's what I was able to find my why.
Speaker 2:So how did she approach you? What did she say?
Speaker 1:You know, we was in conversation and we was just conversating, was in conversation and we was just conversating and we were talking about, you know, some incidents that would occur with the young lady and she just was like you know, she was crazy and I was like you know, you know I'm scratching my head now, you know, because I'm up against the ring, against the ropes, trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with this question that she hit me with Because it had some truth in it.
Speaker 1:And the truth was, you didn't see that and I was like, and I couldn't understand why I didn't see it. And that was way more disturbing than just alone by, because, as a man, we want to have the answer Right. And you know, at that time I didn't have no answer, you know, I didn't have any clue about what took place, and so it took me through a journey of healing. It took me through a journey of questioning and self-discovery to find the answer through the grace of God, and to realize that, you know, I'm not the only one, I'm not the only one that had experienced this. I think it's pretty common actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we don't understand why we have these addictions.
Speaker 1:You know I'll share this with you. Most men may not relate to this being sexually abused. All right, I had a situation where I was talking to a girl on the phone. We was talking on the phone and we was just talking, talking, talking. When are you going to come and see me? When are you going to come and see me? I said I'm going to come and see you. When are you going to come and see me? You're going to come and see me. So I come, I'm saying so, I come over there and see her.
Speaker 1:Met her mom. We sat downstairs on the couch, had a conversation, watched tv and everything and right. So the time got kind of late, probably like eight nine. Her mom walks upstairs to go upstairs. She said, well, I'm gonna go and lay down and I see you later. And so she left us downstairs. And I kid you not, as soon as that woman's foot hit the top of those stairs, homegirl jumped on me and had her way. Now I was in the position where I couldn't holler help. I couldn't holler help and in hindsight I kind of chuckled at it.
Speaker 1:But in reality I didn't classify it the way it should have been classified, because if it was a woman, it's completely different it would have been classified as he raped me, right, but for me and for most men, I would say that, and, making a general thumb on that statement, we would just that. And making a general thumb on that statement, we would just go on. And so, in reality, that created a wound. What type of wound? It continued the sexual pattern, and so I was able to recognize certain things and say no, no, that wasn't right, that that that shouldn't happen. I shouldn't have been put in that particular situation. And so it's certain things that I think that for men, we we just don't talk about, we just kind of push it under the rug and we make do with it.
Speaker 1:We keep on being Superman.
Speaker 2:Right. So if you had a total of one of these dudes, they'd be like, oh bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, look man, I was looking for that. Yeah, you know, yeah, but it's rape.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1:That's all it is, bro. It's nothing else, right? So for men it's like it's a different rule or category of sexual abuse or physical abuse or anything. I could explain the situation that I was sharing with you earlier, where I had a situation where, you know, my former ex-wife assaulted me in front of my mom, in front of my dad, in front of my kids, and I had a four-month-old child in my hand. I dropped him, I went completely black-old child in my hand. I dropped him, I went completely black. She hit me in my temple, almost killed me. I opened back my eyes. My mom is holding her, holding you, holding her from further attacking me. I had to go to the hospital. The same day Police came out, sorted through, separated the situation because she wouldn't stop. I had to go to the hospital. I go to share that with church. Church response was you're supposed to stay in the marriage.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's a desensitized to the challenges and struggles that that men face. And it's not real and it's continuing to be swept under the rug to some point that men turn to certain additions or if they don't turn to additions, they turn to violence, right?
Speaker 2:and that's what we don't want, right? We don't. Men don't know how to. Well, I have learned over the years how to communicate. I'm sure you have too, because actually, when you're stressed from what I know about you but when you say most cats, how are they going to address it from a communication point of view? What are they going to say? They don't know usually.
Speaker 1:Most men don't consider a woman standing in front of them yelling at them, pushing them, abuse, but, on the opposite end, if a man is standing in front of a woman, yelling at her or pushing her, it's physical abuse. And so what we need to do is be able to understand what that looks like Right, and to be able to separate normal from healthy and see things for what it really is Right. And we got to take off the cape of Muncho being Muncho. Yeah, we had to take off the stereotype of what the society has said, what rap artists are saying, what a whole lot of movie shows.
Speaker 2:I think it's, in general, right. I mean I think it's everything with movies. I mean I think it's everything With movies, I mean with TV shows, especially with, like you're saying, the rap, yeah, you know, it's just, it's all over. This is how you're supposed to be, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so, when it comes down to us facing these, these different challenges, and really opening up, um, the library uh, the national library of medicine said that most black men don't seek help. They don't. They don't go to to to leaders, they don't talk to to close friends. Sometimes they don't go to therapy, they just keep going. And if you look at that, that's a whole lot of baggage to carry, right? It really is. No wonder women outlive men, because men haven't really learned how to protect and unpack themselves from certain situations. You have to be healed. You have to face whatever wound that is in a healthy posture that will allow you to see the antidote. The antidote normally is the fact and will that you're willing to face it and say this happened to me, and talk to somebody and listen for validation. Right, because most people listen. Let me say that again Listen for validation. That's so helpful. It's almost like me listening to you and you say well, I understand why you would feel that way. It goes way more over. It smooths down the rage, the frustration when a man is being vulnerable, to the point that somebody from another position can give healthy validation.
Speaker 1:No wonder Jesus said your sins were forgiven to people, because there are certain struggles that validation is really needed and what's so compelling about that? One incident is that the Pharisees were more how in the world you can say somebody's sins is forgiven? He said I can say it. And most of us take that Pharisee attitude when we deal with each other. Oh, they think they something now. That first seed attitude. When we deal with each other, right, oh, they think they something now. Look at them and you don't need to take time to validate, to help people out going up the stream to really find healthy validation, let alone healthy religious institutions, churches, where we got pastors that are able to confront and deal with issues in an adequate, caring, truthful way.
Speaker 1:The Bible says speak the truth in love. It doesn't say deny the truth. It says speak it in love. So the spirit behind the person that's speaking whatever truth has to line up. In other words, I see you cut and I know you failed because you was doing something you wasn't supposed to do, but let me put a bandage on you and help you get up so you could be able to complete your assignment. Most people like no man. You know you're going to fail on the ground. You knew you were supposed to be.
Speaker 1:Right and give you a spanking at the same time. Now come on, boy.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:It's just kind of funny how we deal with different challenges and, as Blacks, I think we have to be very transparent, authentic and genuine with each other to be able to make connections with each other. To be able to make connections, connections are very much needed for people to feel a part of a community that helps heal. Most men don't have a place to relate, let alone if they go to church. They are pretty much the last people to be involved in church activities and there's a variety of reasons why. But I would say that most men aren't going to be puppied or they're not going to be pimped or, you know, they ain't gonna just follow you just because you got a title of a pastor or a bishop or whatever title they're looking for. Authentic, uh love.
Speaker 1:I was just watching the movie with my family, uh, this past week, and I forgot the name of it.
Speaker 1:It's kind of ironic. I wish I would have remembered it, but it's by Angel Studios. It's a Christian movie and it was about this man whose child had autism and in it he first met the pastor. He didn't pay the pastor no mind because he just saw the title, he just saw the role, but he ran into a place where he was an alcoholic and finally he went to seek help. And when he went to seek help he had to go through one of those programs alcoholic programs where they gave the chip, et cetera and he was amazed to see that the pastor was there, that the pastor was going through sobriety himself, that he had reached a place and he sat back and he talked to him and then from there the relationship between that man and the pastor changed. And so I think that there has to be some authentic, genuine connection with leaderships, with men in religious institutions, to have the men to be gunned whole, to be able to say yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm down. Most men ain't going to do that. They walking in the door because their wife got them there or the mom got them there.
Speaker 2:Why do you think they refuse to acknowledge stuff, though? That's one of the questions I ask all the time.
Speaker 1:I think it's just the mindset of a man. I can do this myself I can fix this problem myself.
Speaker 2:And then, when it doesn't happen, you get sexual addiction, you get you self-medicate, you get chemical addictions, and that's how you deal with it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a broken world, it's a broken society and it's very unfortunate. And when we look at African-American men, we don't even know what trauma is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, although it's been set upon us for generation after generation.
Speaker 1:Trauma is just alone a big word. Yeah, you know it has a whole lot of categories under it to describe certain traumatic experiences that we go through as African-American men, and sometimes we don't even acknowledge it. We don't know how to acknowledge it. Darrell Bock.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's more about us not knowing how or recognizing it.
Speaker 1:Kevin Smith yeah, and so it's. You know, I think, with being around people that want to incubate healing and walk in it, it is spontaneous, it boils over within that atmosphere, within that particular community, and so, therefore, it allows men to be willing to.
Speaker 2:You know, take it calm down, you know Right calm down.
Speaker 1:The other day I heard such and so talking about how he was drinking and doing this and that and how God blessed him and he was able to get through that particular matter. I'm going to go here and talk to him. That's what we need. We need more men with stories that want to talk about their stories, what they experience. Right, you know we could say a degree all day. You know we could talk about PhD. We could talk about different degrees and different occupations and career, different things. That's how we kind of surface talk when we come together. You know I'm investing in the stock market. I got some cryptocurrency. You know I live here. You know it's a social status. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But inside you're hurting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I express it. Yeah, but inside you're hurting. Yeah, you know, maybe I'll express it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's almost like that. It's something about the line with the little thorn and it's Paul.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and they were trying to figure out why the line keep roaring all the time and finally the mouse went on over, said you got a thorn in your finger. It took the thorn out Right, and the whole lot of men you're roaring in your household, roaring on your jobs, roaring at your children, roaring at your situation, and the only thing you got to do is get that little thorn out. Yeah, we have to face the different challenges in our life Right Head on, and we have to face it with resilience, not to give up.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's what I would say.
Speaker 2:Well, good, I'm glad you had an opportunity to come in and talk about this. I think it's something that needs to be heard, because we're all similar in a lot of our experiences, yeah, and we don't know how to express those.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The pains to deal with the drama, but uh, it's okay to be able to do that yeah yeah, it doesn't mean that you're less macho or you. You have less swag than anybody else. It's just because you know cats that are more macho, that wear a lot more swag. They're probably a little more messed up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I think, also with the sexual part and understanding, that I also recognize certain things, because outside of the physical part there's a or the emotional part, there's a spiritual part to it, and sometimes that spiritual part is connected to past generations et cetera, but also it's associated with present things, and so, for example, I'm able to recognize certain things as far as lustful spirits, when it comes down to talking or interacting with women or, let's say, familiar spirits. I key in or see certain things. It's almost like I see it, and sometimes I don't see it, and then it comes to me in a whole different way. It's almost like what I just explained to you when I was sexually abused by that girl.
Speaker 2:I didn't see that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you didn't have any experience with anything. I didn't even see it, I didn't even know what was going to happen, right. But there are certain incidents in us as men where we don't see that girl right there, how she's trying to get at us, or we are not aware of certain situations that they may incubate, that I recall those experiences, feeling very nasty and violated, very nasty and valid. I can give you an example.
Speaker 2:Okay, I was going to ask for one, but go ahead.
Speaker 1:Me and my son. I took him to the doctor and we went on in and me and my son have an awesome relationship, really awesome, and he shows me so much love and respect and he'll give me a hug. He'll express that he loves me and some people may not see that as being normal.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And so. But this particular day a doctor saw it and she saw it and I don't know what happened. Everything changed about her demeanor because she came very sexually Towards me in the room while my son was there, and she was so engulfed in what she was seeking to present that I had to sit like this, not look at the doctor, but look at my son and tell him hey, look at me, look at me. And we talked and played, as she was asking me questions, as she was sitting with her legs wide open, and I was like huh, I left that situation. I was like what in the world? What was going on? I was like that's a bad. I said that's a bad spirit, something was wrong and you know, and I was questioning myself what was going on. He said that's lust, that's the spirit of lust.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you know, before I would have entertained them. Yeah, you know 13-year entertained.
Speaker 2:That, yeah, you know you. And that yeah, 13-year-old. Oh yeah, like right in there.
Speaker 1:Before I would have entertained that.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:But see, that was the immature Right Me not knowing Right, Me not being seen and me not also understanding the spiritual side of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you told that to most guys they'd be like are you crazy? That happened last year. I would have taken care of that right then and there.
Speaker 1:That happened last year.
Speaker 2:That's supposed to show you. Maturity levels are different, right?
Speaker 1:I prayed over myself, I prayed over my son, but I realized that I had one of the most disgusting feelings, like I was violated and I couldn't.
Speaker 1:I was like what in the world, and then I was like why she and I couldn't put it together, because naturally nobody would have done that. But spiritually, we have to realize that there's a spiritual component to walking in your healing, that the devil doesn't want men or anybody to be free of anything, and so there are certain setups, or certain, I want to say ambushes, that are set up in our daily walks of life, almost like we're striving to be or understand prosperity, or to understand how to be better, how to be better in managing finances. Right, you want to have more pit stops, sabotage and it's all.
Speaker 1:You're going to have more pit stops, sabotage and it's all set up to kind of discourage you from staying on the path. Right, because if we just fix our eyes on the path, the path is going to get a little bit more brighter. And that's the thing about walking in and trusting God. Right, because he's really the only one that can help you do that. Right, you know we can rely on therapists and psychiatrists. We can rely on all these people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that gets you the awareness to see and deal with it.
Speaker 1:But the other side of it is, it's a spiritual component.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And that helps you eliminate. Cut it off at the root.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And now let it grow back in.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because every time we open the door we allow it to come back in Every time. And you know I had an old pastor say you can't have a demon as a pet. We allow it to come back in every time. And you know I had an old pastor say you can't have a demon as a pet. You can't have.
Speaker 1:You know how you see brothers walking down the street with the dog. You can't have a demon as a pet and most people have different desires and things that are demonic as pets come on over here. You know I'm lonely today. I just need a emotion, you know, and you're petting it up and you just don't realize that every time you feed that demon, that demon getting bigger, a puppy turn into a dog, no different than the snake turn into a dragon, and so certain things that we have to be able to close the door God's given. We have to be able to close the door. God has given us grace to be able to close the doors on certain things in our life and that's why community is very important and I must stress that healthy, god-fearing, biblical, sound, true community, not a whole bunch of legalism, not a whole bunch of people trying to say I'm living right, I got myself together, you know I was holy, sanctified and everything, yeah, and you're not willing to be, to admit that you struggle with anything Transparent, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm like what in the world?
Speaker 2:People have a problem with being transparent.
Speaker 1:That's a hypocrite. Just call for what it is, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Absolutely man. Well, interesting, All right man. I really enjoyed this. I think it's something that needs to be said At some point in time as we both grow. We got to come back and talk about some more things like this, yeah, but I think that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would like to put a plug out regarding my sister. My sister just had a house fire and unfortunately some things with the insurance did not cover her having any place to stay during the time.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, during the time of them fixing up the house or any of her property, anything on the inside, and so we have a GoFundMe page. Okay, it's called my Sister. If you can look it up I think it may be on your website et cetera that you know. Please support it. The other thing is that my wife and I we're working on a program that's dealing with mentorship for youth. Our youth need to find their voice. The name of this foundation is called Voice for Youth Is this something that you guys create yourselves?
Speaker 1:Yes, and so it's a program to really strengthen our community, to help our youth find their voice. Yeah, our youth are facing things that we just don't face, we haven't yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, we haven't Excuse me, so many different areas that they can get into that were available to us. Yeah, yeah, well, we haven't Excuse me, so many different areas that they can get into that were available to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. Ipad, et cetera. You know phone. You know the different things of sexuality today Transgender. You know some people saying I'm a cat now. You know you have to acknowledge them as a cat dog. You know it's different them as a cat dog. You know it's, it's different yeah. Particularly in the school system today, if your child is in private school. So you know, and within our own communities, Right.
Speaker 1:And so these things are some of the things that we go we are dealing with. Um, I'm just giving you a forthcoming. That's one of the things that we're working on, and we'll put out some more literature and some more, I would say, promotion to help the community know the game plan. But that's going to be something that's going to really help have an idea to market it in areas where kids are frequent going to or frequent participants in number one beauty salons, barber shops, barber shops. We want to put literature in those particular areas where, particularly our community, where we can show that we're there. Our counseling programs today are just overflowing. Time you make an appointment for your child is more of a six-month, three-month wait, and so we want to put in place a program that will help mentor kids and help them find their voice, because our kids are going through a whole lot of different things within their family, their school, their culture, biases. There's just so many different challenges that are facing our kids, and so this particular thing will help aid to strengthening our community.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. And what is the name of the foundation?
Speaker 1:It's called Voice for Youth. Voice for Youth. Yeah, I'm going to send you some literature, the logo and everything. Okay, if you look me up under LinkedIn, you'll see a little bit on it. That will be the central place where I'll start to post different things regarding Voice for Youth.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, All right, all right, all right. Well, thank you for joining us. That concludes today's episode of Listen Up. Talk to you next time. We'll see you on Listen Up. For anyone watching this channel, I ask that you please like and subscribe for upcoming videos.
