Engineered For Success Podcast
Engineered For Success Podcast
Summertime Sadness
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In this episode, D Burke opens with a tribute to Kinu Rochford after his tragic murder in Harlem. He shares his experience from knowing him and speaks on his reputation in the community. From there he dives into the semi-finals of the World Cup after France's loss against Spain. From there he doubles down on his comments about Argentina and racism + more!
Priorities in order. Everybody a lot of people I don't want to do. Which gave me the formal part of it. And I you know, we gotta sit with those feelings and I remember that on the other side of it. It's a better existence for yourself, or again, whatever your goals are, which we ain't really talking about too much right now, because I gotta overshare something is personally.
SPEAKER_00Um but yeah. We gotta make sure we get to what we get to. And right now we're about to get to this three piece spicy, so you know, soakable vibe.
SPEAKER_01Whatever you doin', prepare, settle in. Got some talk for y'all later. We'll get to it when we get to it. Summertime is still in full effect. We ain't gonna come out too hard today, pause. You know, my energy's a little bit you know in a weird space. Not to say it's in a bad space, but you know, we'll we'll talk about some things that kinda hit me in a in a negative way when we kick off. But we just gonna smooth it out, man. We ain't too hype, we ain't too, you know, aggressive today, as we have been the last couple weeks. Not to say it can't go there when it needs to go there, but today we just ain't in that bag. So one ear horn, let's get this thing kicked off, e-bird, sleepy, spicy eagle. Volume up to ignite levels, won't wind the windows down, wake that ass up. Couple more, man. Let's pick up the energy. Let's get to it. If you remember this one, different time, different place, different era, come along.
SPEAKER_03Let's go, Fox. Good old summer time, love it. Talk to him.
SPEAKER_10Take it from the top, I focus. It's my squirrel, full rock. I got a Doc, it's gonna be crowd, trying to get my record off, leave me alone.
SPEAKER_03Come along with me, whatever you watch, wherever you listen from, five.
SPEAKER_10We in that bag today, smoke back. Listening with that significant other.
SPEAKER_03I got plans for you. Take you back to a different time, man. Where it wasn't all about the timeline. Catch that slow on on the wall, you know the vibes, let's do it.
SPEAKER_10Get the micro player eight button. That's five, sit in here. And it's five now like the start on its neck fist. Body tell it. Yes, give me four quick fists. Twist my body like that. Like four elders with crashes. Never mind with a pain. Think about two specs. Overseas, vibe with me on this one.
SPEAKER_05Little rusty on the DJ side of things, rough transition, but we back. Up stick this up a lefty door. What kind of style of story?
SPEAKER_07I'll see you with your girl. In the chunks of the fur, I'll blade up in the cool back split up. Looking at your face, top floor with no makeup. A little bit on that left floor. Looking for a ring, I steam done.
SPEAKER_05Gotta check for the ring. But let's leave these married women alone out here.
SPEAKER_07Too many bitches. You down to the clock.
SPEAKER_05You even gotta leave people of a turn like relationship to others alone. Any house seen that shoot birds? I got my own feelings about that, but that's another conversation. We vibing for now. Let's do it. Vibe with me, y'all. Turn them windows down, turn that volume up.
SPEAKER_07We getting close to my pulling biggest over. Have the big bits on your butt. Take it from the back. Like a bad boss to close to I know you like that. Quick quick to make it from the tweet. Wrap your stick, put your teeth, put with your butt, take for the style, go with your body, put your walk, put your butt with stores, put the butt, take it to the back, take where we are, take that bath. Look at the study while I'm digging the kitchen, dump the ball, get to the stun.
SPEAKER_03Get up on the hood, ma'am.
SPEAKER_05Only talking to the ladies today. We only talking to the ladies today. Lady Hops is alike. Let's roll.
SPEAKER_02I like the rock.
SPEAKER_05It makes you feel good.
SPEAKER_02Let's do it.
SPEAKER_05Hold it down for that one girl. You want to hold it down with a top copy? Hold it down for the records. Whatever you need them. Let's talk to them right now. Ladies, that's enough. We got one for you.
SPEAKER_09Let's do that. What's going on? No, you know kids. The nigga with the hot flow and the cold wrist. Could flow always. Then wait for a throughout. Floodin' with all the trades. Ride the die chick, hand on the VI. Give the nigga up and off some ass on the VI. Then she black out when she in the mall. Got the friend, spring, proud and shit in the fall. Don't matter what size pen, spin a small. And she don't got no problem hitting a stall. And she said she got a man, but he in the fans said she missed him so much that she be in the bed. Work for work, but I put out in the raw. Fighting the dog, pushing his teeth back, getting right in the fall. Make her use a fake credit card twice this tall. Might make you go tomorrow. You try to hold.
SPEAKER_02I like the water.
SPEAKER_05What's up, I'm gonna keep a rope.
SPEAKER_08I need a chick that ride to die, full of the five, getting high with the goofy frames over her eyes. Falk on that rope, still won't fuck in the bands. Cause you bought me a polo coat and a couple of tents, doo either wrap. Open the movie with gas, hit me head. Cause the movie was whack. Word, toast in the crib, fill on the fridge, needed the work. I died and that bitch gon' put weed in my hurt. Game to the death, tattooed my name on the neck. You don't wanna see me bangin' the lap, hit the gas, that bitch out the window, poppin' picking your ass. Caplin in the hollow. Get pretty when they need to my holding the regular with my rider die bitch that embody a man. Don't like me as an artist, she's gonna body your fan.
SPEAKER_02I need her out it added out, added, added, added, add it, add it, added.
SPEAKER_01Listen, man, couple air horns, just in case you ain't up yet. I'm saying let that energy soak in. Let the vibes seep in. Let's get ready for a good episode, man. We are here. So as always, as we transition this thing to the intro, what up, y'all? We are back for another audio occasion. It is a podcast of self-starters and those willing to make the most out of any situation. The EFS podcast is back for episode number 80, man. And as we get into this thing, man, you know we got intro audio for you. So, you know, we're gonna let it roll a little bit long on this one. Uh it's kind of paying tribute right now. We'll get to it when we get to it, but here it is.
SPEAKER_06One of them didn't make it, and the one who didn't make it was this brother, Kinu. And I want to shout out to all my Brooklyn people who reached out to me. Salute to y'all for real. Cause I spoke on a situation prior and had no knowledge of this situation at all. But they all speak so highly of this brother, man. They say this brother was a good dude. Nah, he was a great dude. They say this is a brother who didn't bother nobody. Nobody.
SPEAKER_01Not a soul.
SPEAKER_06This brother was loved by someone.
SPEAKER_01Off the court, that is. Not a soul.
SPEAKER_06Now he's gone, cause some bozo wanna shoot up a basketball game that got women, kids, elderly people out there. My position don't change. In our community, we are sick in the head. If I talk about a shooting, oh, you doing police shit, hocus, you talk about a shooting. But if I talk about a sexual predator, go get him, bro. Call, yeah. I wanna propose something to the streets. Cause a street code, dead, over. Zip it up. See, I try not to make videos about street beefs. I mind my business when it comes to that, right? But these fake ass street beefs is affecting a whole community now. So this what I wanna propose. When these niggas in the streets got beef with each other, and they wanna come outside and spin or drill, whatever the fuck they wanna call it, and you hit an innocent woman, child, or man, let's hold them under the same scrutiny that we do sexual predators and rapists. Let's put them in the same column as pedophiles. Why not?
SPEAKER_01You know a little long on the audio, you know. A lot of different feelings are circling around with the whole tragic situation that occurred, which we'll touch on momentarily. Um but as always, man, gotta get the theme music rocking. Give me a moment as I get my device together. So, yeah, man. Sad energy on the way in, but we still gone with a couple air horns, gotta pick the vibe up a touch. And as always, you made it. Thanks for coming to watch, thanks for coming to listen. This is the EFS Podcast, your boy, the man, the myth, the legend from the EFS brand himself. Mr. 1% two times. D Burke in the house to deliver you episode number 80 of the EFS Podcast. Uh, so again, spread the love, hit all the buttons, hit all the bells, do all the things, like, comment, share, subscribe. Tell a friend to tell a friend we love the love over here at the EF Best Podcast. So, you know, if you like great content like this, keep on tuning in and keep on showing support, man. I really appreciate it. And I'm glad I'm, you know, a little bit more back in my back in my zone, back in my bag, just you know, with the consistency of this thing and making sure I'm getting my recordings off, even though things may be going on in life that may be slowing that process up or just trying to impede. But good to get back with y'all, man. Um, even if it's not the best energy today on the way in, we'll fade out our theme music, and then uh we will pick up right off of the intro audio, um, and just talk about a situation that was very tragic, uh, that just came to us within it. It ain't even been a week yet, you know. So uh my energy has been a little bit off since uh since finding out the news and just in general, but uh and it doesn't hit everywhere. So I well honestly, I did see a lot of the social media love from other areas, not to make this a regional thing. Y'all know I'm a New Yorker, so this is a you know uh often East Coast New York bias-ish podcast. Not living in the city currently, which we'll talk touch on in a minute. Moved out of the city, still close by, uh, about 90 minutes to two hours away, depending on how fast you're driving, can get to the city very, very quickly, and I like it that way. But um, I did see a lot of uh um floating around of the story in other regions. So I it kind of got bigger than New York or the New York area. Uh, which I I am uh a fan of the the power of the individual that we'll touch on, but you know, it also is a sad reason for something to go that viral and be all around. Um so with that being said, gotta send a big rest in peace uh to Keno Rochford. Um if you haven't heard, he is a New York native, Brooklyn native, somebody's from the same place that I'm from. Um had a lot of run-ins with him in my days of playing New York City street basketball. Um, but was uh tragically, uh tragically slain uh last week, Friday, I think it was. Uh, and uh was at a basketball game in Harlem and one of the street ball tournaments that they have up there, Kingdome. Um, and uh was shot as well as two other people, I think one man, one woman, both of the other two people. Um had more minor injuries compared to what ended up happening to him and he lost his life uh by being shot in the head, um twice from what I'm understanding. Um, and a lot of different, you know, reports about how well I'm I'm gonna just say and I don't wanna get into like, you know, the stories of the rumors and this and that, 'cause it's super tragic and he didn't deserve that for the person that, you know, we are speaking of. And not to say anyone really deserves that, but you know, it's it's super tragic. And we lost a good one in the in the New York basketball circle and community, um And very sad man. Uh as I just mentioned, had some runners with him back when I was really doing uh the New York street ball summer circuit. Uh after graduating from Marquette, coming home, still playing overseas, uh getting into playing overseas, I should say, and then coming home in the summertimes uh and just playing in the circuit, playing in the tournaments. There's a lot of different New York famous tournaments that go on in the summertime. Um and all of them knew who Keanu Rachel was. Um and you know, my personal connection to him was strictly just on a competitive sense, just because, you know, I didn't really know him personally outside of, you know, just the basketball circuit, the basketball scene. Um, but super good brother man from all accounts that I've known and what I've seen of him myself, uh guy that was younger than me. Um, so I would say in my era of coming into, you know, the whole street ball thing in the summer times after I graduated school, like he always had, you know, positive things to say about, you know, what I was able to accomplish. Um, but also was someone who was very competitive too. So when he wanted to prove that he was better than me, um, anytime we played against each other on the court. Um, and we had a couple of run-ins in the in those that summer ball circuit. But again, outside of the court was a super solid dude, man, a guy that showed love to everybody, a guy that most people or anybody that I really know has nothing but positive things to say about. Um, and uh even outside of just basketball, the the the level of individuality was, and I'm finding out even more so now that he's passed away, which is a tragic in in general, but you know, finding out the things that he was doing, mentoring young people, um, was I don't want to say this incorrectly, but was working at a place for um people who are, I think, homeless or just in general not in good situations in their life and just being someone who uh was a resource for them and uh just a community kind of individual. So to see this go down the way that it is, I think it is a very sad time, uh, especially in New York basketball. But again, just sad to time to be somebody who who has a a a heart, like, you know, and gun violence is gun violence. We know has been going on since we can talk about it till the the the cows come home. Um, but just to have it happen as somebody that was so loved and so like revered in the community, you know, and and just to see the outpouring of love after he's been, you know, tragically taken from us has been so it's been so f fulfilling to know that somebody in the town or from the area was that kind of person, you know. And again, like I said, I found out a lot about him, you know, through this process of us all grieving and mourning, uh his his tragic passing. Um, but when you see somebody like that, man, and and the real like feeling of he did not deserve what happened to him, it's just all you can really think of. And you know, I know a lot of people is hurting, a lot of people that I consider consider competitors, teammates, friends throughout that time in my n new New York basketball circuit and it it's it's just sad, man. It's just really, really sad. And it makes you kinda look at things differently, you know. And we in a stage and we in this era where a lot of things go on in the the hoods or the, you know, place that aren't places that aren't the safest or at least should be, you know, when you had a basketball game and you're doing something as far as spectating the game to enjoy, you know. Um, but it it it just leaves you with a lot of uh just a bad feelings about, you know, where we are at as a a culture and as a society. Um, and we still don't know who the person that did it was. Um, but from my perspective, like in moments like these, that whole like street code or that whole shit about, you know, let the police do the police work, etc. etc. Like these niggas, you gotta get off the streets sometimes. Like to have that little care for people's lives, you know, and just awareness and just understanding of scenarios and situations to be like this ain't pride, this probably ain't the place to start letting off, or you know, I don't I don't know, man. We just had a sick place in society and we see it all the time and you know, especially with our young black brothers and sisters in these hood environments, like it's just it's sad, you know. And it leaves you at a at a point where you don't really know what to do about it. Um but I feel like something has to be done, you know. Just because it's been too long now and as a society we've advanced but in certain environments I don't think the the empathy or the level of like just care for other individuals has caught up to where society kinda is. And there's a lot of society that really don't give a shit about other individuals at cool. Uh I'm just speaking about the fact that right now as as much information as we have and as much, you know, things that we see and get reported on social media, like I feel like we're uh in a more empathetic state as a human like culture or to just again a human society. But I feel like some places again, and some of these environments that I grew up in, and some of these environments people still live in on a day-to-day basis, like it just ain't really there. So we gotta get back to the core of like beings and understanding that, you know, you might have a terrible environment that you're living in, but there should still be some kind of level of understanding and care for other people, and especially innocent people who have nothing to do with anything that you are involved in. You know, from what I'm hearing, and again, not to get into too many of the reports, like he wasn't the intended target, but I don't know how you get hit in the head twice if you're not the intended target. And even if he he was the intended target, like why? Like, again, why? Like that guy don't bother nobody. And even if it's something that's just like a spur of the moment thing where you might get pissed off, that even more so speaks to the fact that you lack empathy of like who the person like in front of you is and just people again in general, just because why, you know? And I feel like the level of emotional maturity, emotional intelligence is at an all-time low, and even more so with our youth who are coming up in a society where attention spans is low, like the and I don't know, man. It's just a lot of different issues that come with this kind of situation. But the the number one thing that I feel is just sadness for his family, sadness for the people that were closest to him, sadness for the people that, you know, got a chance to be connected to him in some kind of way. Again, either being a teammate of him, a competitor of somebody he played against him. Like it's just sad 'cause again, that guy didn't bother nobody. And I keep going back to the fact that he didn't deserve What happened to him for whatever reason it happened, you know? And again, we still don't know who the the person is, the suspect, the the person who's the people who committed the act. Like, so hopefully more will be revealed. But get these niggas off the streets. Like that's that's my general perspective. Like get these niggas off the streets. Because again, it's it should be places that are sacred to where we don't have to worry about that kind of shit happen, even in those tough environments. But you know, for for me to see it happen there, it's like you got a different kind of you gotta be a different level of kind of asshole, a different level of dickhead, a different level of just young, dumb nigga who can't really figure it out. And sometimes those people are misguided, but even being misguided can put you in a situation where you fuck yourself over for life. And I feel like whoever that was, like you might have another thing coming. I I don't know. I don't know. It's just tough. It's just tough right now. Um but GoFundMe is out there. I'm pretty sure you can search it. Um donate to his family and his loved ones, the ones who need it right now. Um not sure what, you know, kind of like I don't know. No mother should have to bury a son, and I'm I'm sure very unexpected for them to be thinking about having to put him in the ground um and have funeral processions and all that stuff around this situation. So uh they need support and you know, my prayers go out to them and my heart goes out to the community again and everyone that's hurting from this situation. Um and that's pretty much as real as I can keep it, man. You know, and I know that myself, like going back to just my time in the New York basketball scene, just seeing it myself, like I I I was in rough environments, and we had tournaments to where like, you know, the it might not be the the friendliest, you know, but again, it was always just sacred around basketball, and the athletes were respected, you know, and it made me it made me some of the man I am today to be in type in type of environments on the basketball stand. So it's just tough, man. It makes you look inward, it makes you look outwards to others who may be feeling something. And yeah, I don't really know. It's not many words for outside of just sadness right now. Um not to really sadden this whole thing out, just because, you know, we're summertime, we're still in a good vibe. You know, I do feel like this kind of fucked up the summer after the whole New York Knicks winning championships and and the World Cup going on. Like this is a this is a bad, it leaves a bad stain on the summer of 2026. So um, but that said, uh, we'll try to pivot and try to move forward in the best way that I can uh into what we just kind of touched on. The World Cup is still rocking, it's still rolling. We we are just off the heels of uh France being eliminated by Spain in the uh semifinals. Um so game just happened. Um it happened, you know, yesterday by release of this podcast, today at recording of this podcast. It is it was a doozy, I will say that, you know. Um and we've been here before. We know my affinity for soccer goes very, very deep. And um it's just a sport that I love and and I'm really in the midst of just joy right now watching these teams duke it out on the world stage. Um, but I don't know if we expected this one to go the way it did, you know, because I think most people had France favored to win this game and get back to the championship, hopefully against the you know, the team from Argentina, which we'll talk about in a second. Um, but yeah, was outplayed, like just handily outplayed in multiple fatus of the game by uh the Spain, the team from Spain. Um lost 2-0. Um and to my my surprise for sure, as someone who got a chance to feud a game, I didn't really think they get dominated like that, you know. Um and France is a good ball club, they've been a good ball club for the recent years, like I want to say the past 10 at least, 12 to 10 years, uh, since they changed coaches and then got things rolling to where they was always considered one of the better teams in Europe, better teams in the world. Um, but seeing this one play out like that, you know, it just goes to show like how the World Cup is literally, you know, one of the hardest things to win in the world. Um uh so much so that in the history of the World Cup, there's only been eight countries to actually win it. I think I'm saying it correctly. Um don't jump all over me if not. Uh, but I think it's only been eight countries to win the World Cup through the history of it being like competed for on a four every four-year basis. Uh so um that goes to show that, again, it's one of the hardest things to win in the world. And that goes to also show that if you have a bad night at the wrong time, your ass is out of there. Um, just like, you know, we talked about this on the last episode when US got beat by Belgium. Uh, not to say that we didn't expect Belgium to win, but you know, the way it happened, it just looked bad because you had a bad performance. And the same kind of thing, not to the degree or extent as the team USA uh with this loss from the French team today. Um, but shouts to them. You know, it's just a hard tournament to win. You know, I had them, you know, peg to go to the finals again. Um, and then it didn't really pan out that way. But shout out to Spain, man. They they really went out there and showed the reason they are as dominant as they are uh currently, and then a little bit historically. Um now Spain headed back to the finals of the World Cup will only be their second time in the World Cup final. Um, but again, the World Cup is not the only competitive soccer uh international tournament to where you're playing country versus country. Uh there's the Olympics, uh, there are the uh Euro Championship, there's different competitions, like more re more frequently, excuse me, than you would see with the World Cup. But Spain is always up there as one of them teams. And Spain has a specific style in which they play. Um and it's kind of always played like that. And, you know, hearing more so from the the commentators that are doing the World Cup, mainly Thierry Henri, great French superstar for a long, long time, and my second favorite footballer ever, Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Uh, and I'm talking about the way that Spain plays, you know, it's something that they they have a specific style uh that they've they all kind of play. And Terry Henry was talking about even down to the youth level, um, they kind of play the same style. So there's a culture, there's an identity within the country of how they play football. Um, so it it creates a different level of like, you know, baller as you come up. And Spain has been known for like creating superstar players throughout the history of, you know, their time competing in Zocca. And I think that today they just went out there and showed, you know, why they played, or yesterday, excuse me, at release of this podcast, um, why they are one of the best teams in the world. And, you know, one of the top four teams in the world, which is this is the first time that the top four teams uh ranked in the world are in the World Cup semifinal, with that being England, with that being France, with that being uh Argentina, uh, and that also being Spain. So Spain knocked out France, they headed to the finals. Big shout out to them. Uh still waiting for Lamin Yamal to get that World Cup goal, but you know, maybe it happens in the next stage, in the next phase of the tournament. Um, we'll see. Uh young superstar, really looking at him to do some great things in soccer in the future. But, you know, I think that he may be in a little bit of a deer in the headlights moment just because in a in the tournament, you know, he's he's he's played okay. And I think France is a collective, which is why they can, you know, still win games like, you know, in the way that they have, because they have a great ball club all around. But you know, for me, watching a young superstar come up, I think this is a just a great experience for him that'll carry him towards the rest of his career. But again, shout to Spain to get to the World Cup final, not an easy feat. We'll see who they end up playing because they are gonna play either Argentina, uh, the football club that I'm supporting currently, or England. And that game is uh gonna be played uh well, as release of this podcast, or whatever you listen to the podcast, uh the game is gonna be played today. Um, but if you catch us on the back end, of course, it'll be played already. Um, and this one is also gonna be an interesting game just because the odds are very tight. It's a slight lean in England's favor. It's uh negative uh minus 120 to minus 125 in England's favor. So very slim odds in this one. It could go either way. I am still hoping that it goes the way of my team that I'm supporting and my guy that I'm supporting, Lionel Messi. Um, but we'll see, man. Uh looking for Leonel Messi to come back out there and get back on the scoring, you know, side of things. He had some great play in the last game, but he didn't score a goal. I still think that golden boot is still out there. Killian Mbappe is now out of the tournament. So that also, well, not out of the tournament. He can still score goals if he uh when they play in the third place game, uh, which will be coming up once the the winner of this next game is determined. Um, but he I think it means more if many Messi still scores and makes his way to the championship. Um, and I know he ain't gonna score every single game, but I'd like to see him get a goal, maybe two in this next one. Um, I think it'll be a really close game. And I think that us being, or us, the team I'm supporting as far as Arnold Argentina being so battle-tested throughout the knockout stage of this tournament, it should lend in our favor because they've been playing close games and games where they should have lost and came back and win, or just games that are tight to where one decision, one way or another, can, you know, y'all see it out there with all the controversy and conspiracy talk and all the other bullshit uh around the Argentina football team. But I think they are battle tested, so that should fare in their favor against this game in England. Um, but England got some dogs, man. It just is what it is. Like it ain't gonna be no easy feat. And again, there have only been eight teams to win the World Cup, so uh this ain't this might be one where Argentina can actually lose it. And you know, we'll see what it looks like when the game is over, and I'm hoping we are victorious again. Um, but the overall rivalry between France, uh excuse me, England and Argentina is is a big one, and which adds even more like like allure to the game because uh France, I keep saying France, England and Argentina have been like pretty much at odds for a while, especially in football. Um and if you know the history, then it's great. And if you don't, you know, quick small education about it. Their rivalry goes back to 1996 in the World Cup. Uh there was a moment when you know one of the players from the Argentina team was ejected from the game. He didn't want to leave the game, and then you know, he did some things that were not as polite to the the England football team, and then the the coach called them animals. Like, and you know, there was uh they had tensions around a war, uh the Falklands War, excuse me, which of 1982. Um, so there's political motivations for the teams to hate each other. There's been things that happened that were chippy throughout the history, uh, Diego Madadonna, the hand of God situation that happened where he scored two goals to win the game, but one of them was a quote unquote clear handball. So there's a lot of drama between the the two teams historically. So I think that adds even more, you know, excitement to the game tomorrow. And I'm definitely gonna have my eyes peeled, hoping that we are the man Messi, the GOAT, comes out victorious and makes his way back to the finals for another chance to win a second World Cup, uh, which would then even more cement his legacy as the greatest footballer to ever play the game. Like, yeah, see the vibe, you know, I'm reping, I'm I'm rocking, and we're gonna try to bring this thing home, man. The GOAT is gonna try to bring this thing home. Um, but again, he got to get past England. We're not this could literally be a situation where Argentina loses. So I'm a little bit nervous going into this game. I ain't really talking big shit because this is the World Cup, and you got to come out there and play at the highest level at every given moment, or your ass is going home, and that just is what it is. Um, but that said, moving forward and kind of to lean into some of the talk that we were just having around this whole soccer, around this whole World Cup thing, um, and uh around something that even more has been a part of the World Cup, which is stupid as hell, um, but also respected and understood as far as why. I just think there's a lot of propaganda around it right now, um, and igniting a lot of feelings within people. But the racism and tension within the World Cup has kind of just put a stain or negative feeling on the competition itself, uh, so much so that all you see on social media online is just people going back and forth about, you know, that part of it, you know. And I know I'm part of the problem, I guess I could say that, just because of my most recent episode where I was talking about, you know, being a fan of Argentina and, you know, me actually putting that episode out or putting parts of that episode out caused a little bit of a stir on the social media side of things. I would say I'm a person who does not have a huge following at this point, you know, maybe hoping to grow or am hoping to grow for sure. Uh, but I saw some of the most engagement I've ever seen on Instagram around a post I put out uh about the you know, can you be an Argentina fan thing? Um, from the last episode, uh, to the point where I'm seeing over a hundred comments from different people across the globe. A lot of them from Argentina, shouts to y'all, a lot of them from other places, shouts to y'all still. Like it was like a like almost a bloodbath in there. Not to say people are some hateful stuff, but just seeing the back and forth opinions about it, it just put me in a space to where I'm like, damn, like people really feel a way about this whole race thing, you know? And I'm still doubling down on what I said in that conversation, or not conversation, in my monologue about it, uh, just because I feel um I said what I said, like I said what I said. Like, if you can't be a fan of Argentina, then literally, who can you be a fan of? And I don't I don't really understand even more so now from the perspective that I saw out there. Um, but some of it bothered me, and I only say bothered me as much as like an eye roll, because I ain't really taking comments and and stuff from people that I don't know or you know could be all over the world saying things about me. I was called a hypocrite. I was basically told my opinions was like dead wrong, and this is that, whatever, and I should feel this way. Like, how can you do this? How can you do that? And even more so, it it bothered me a little bit, again, not really actually, because I didn't lose no sleep over this shit. Uh, that when you go into so I cool, so I'll paint the picture. I'm scrolling through the comments of the of the posts and posted on both my socials, TikTok and Instagram, scrolling through the comments of the post, seeing people who had like differing opinions from me, which is fine. I'm all for different opinions. When you start taking shots of people's character or taking shots of people who a person is because of their opinion without even really knowing them in any kind of sense, it just gets funny to me. So, in that, like some other people may do, I don't know. I'm again, this is a new experience for me. So, as I'm going through, I'm looking at the comments and I'm like, let me see who this motherfucker is who's talking shit and saying this and that. And you go to them, and then they ain't even your race, you know. Um, and I say that to say that some of the people and a lot of the people who had some of the negative things to say were white people or people of a lighter skin color or just you know, not they don't look like me. So again, bother me as much as the eye roll. It was funny to see people who don't look like me tell me how to feel about uh racism and you know things of that nature. And I say this as a black man, I stand in being black, I'm someone who is proud to be black. I I think it is funny for people who have none of the black experience uh as far as you know them being an actual black person, black man, black woman, to then tell someone who is black how to feel about racism from you know different countries or just racism in general. Like you can't speak to me as someone who is from one of the lower colors on these scale, you know, and I'm not saying that to say that black people aren't worth anything. If you're just looking at historically around the world, if you see racism, black people is usually at the the lower end of it, you know. We barely ever coming up on the higher end. And this is not to say that black people cannot be quote unquote racist. There's differing opinions on that, you know. I'm not gonna put out my full perspective on it just because this ain't the conversation. But in general, if you are someone who ain't black, you can't really tell me how to feel about being uh someone being racist or that just because you don't have the experience to really speak from a you know clear perspective on it, and you can feel how you want to feel, and again, I'm down for the person who may be interested in you know hearing a little bit more about why my perspective is the way it is, just because it may be something that you might have not heard before, or just maybe something that you might have not experienced from other black people. Uh, but in general, black people are not a monolith, like we don't all think the same, we don't all act the same, um, we don't all have the same values, you know. And I hate when just because you're black, it means that you're supposed to lean into one thing, you know, and it comes and comes from white people again, telling black people how to feel about racism, and even from black people who just again don't understand that black people are different. Like, I'm different from you if you are a brother from Senegal, I'm different from you if you're a brother from the West Coast, I'm different from you if you're a brother from the Midwest. Like, black people do not all think, act, or like, you know, interpret or feel things the same way. So when it gets to this whole racism talk and racism thing, it is kind of for me like a sheep or herd mentality, just because they all think you're supposed to think one way, you know. And I myself said it on the last episode. I'm a person who lived in, again, lived in, not just did a vacation in or just, you know, visited really quick and then got up out of there. I'm a person who lived in 11 different countries for a significant amount of time over the span of 10 years. Um, and that span of time is months, you know. I've never did a full year in one place. I did long enough to like finish the season, come home for a summer, and maybe went back to the same exact place for the next season. But, you know, I've lived overseas, you know, I've lived overseas. Like I understand and can speak a little bit of multiple different languages. I am a person who has friends in different continents still to this day. So for me, when it comes to just my perspective on anything, it comes from a worldly perspective. Uh only because I've been blessed and fortunate to be able to see things in different places, like for real. Like see the natives of those places, see and hear the stories of those places, see and like understand how people think in those spaces about their own history, like global history. Like that to me was one of the most valuable experiences I had from my time of being a professional basketball player overseas. Like, and I take that with me now to this day, and it also has shaped my opinion on life in general, to where, you know, I don't necessarily think like someone who may be talking shit to me on a keyboard who never even left their state or never even left the country or never even left anywhere to where they have a chance to see a different perspective. And again, they just reacting to some shit online that maybe propaganda maybe put out there with a little bit of a different spin on it, so that it makes people people feel a little bit more angry. You know, when you're dealing with someone who has really, really connected with people all across the world, it's a different kind of person that you're dealing with. So when you're telling me how to feel about something or like saying that I'm wrong for thinking one way about something, like you gotta understand who you actually dealing with. And it didn't make me actually angry, but it just put me in this place where, like, damn, people don't really understand this. And the people that are talking shit and like the with the most to say might have the least knowledge, you know. And just to say this whole back to the the topic of the conversation, when it comes to the whole like which country is the worst at racism and etc. etc. etc. People don't really understand that even right now in the final four of the World Cup, there are three of the four horsemen when it comes to just some of the worst acts in history as far as colonialism and you know going out and divide and conquer these nations and all that stuff, like playing right now, you know, France, Portugal who's out the tournament, England, and Spain. So those four nations were, at least as far as the European side of things, some of the worst historically with certain uh things that they've done from a racial perspective with slavery, with transporting of human beings across the the oceans to take them here, take them there, because the goal was to divide and conquer the world and go out there and make you know their own nations, cultures or whatever bigger, you know. Brazil was conquered by the Portuguese, Spain conquered Argentina, like England has conquered different places, America being one of them until you know the Americans fought for their freedom, and that's a whole nother story. Like these the history of this whole thing like makes me even more so uh like to the point where people I I think people just are are just sheep. Because again, you really just have to understand things from a global perspective before you can speak on things uh in a like in a small in a microcosm, just so like one situation like that. So for me, it was just interesting to see. And again, I'm not mad, people can share their opinions and feel whatever they want to feel about anything they have to choose to or want to choose to, but it just is what it is with that. So interesting perspectives, and uh, and I respect everyone in that regard, even if you don't agree with me. Again, I said what I said, I stand on it, and that just is what it is, you know. Uh, but shouts to everyone, man. A lot of you know, not so positive vibes on this on this one, but they ain't all gonna be, uh, especially with the lead-in conversation that we had. But um wanna wrap this one up, man, and and and get back to you on the next one. As always, we'll tell you to stay safe in this crazy world, even more so now, stay safe in this crazy world, guard yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and all things in between. Uh so episode number eighty of the EFS podcast is out, I will catch you on the flip side, man.
SPEAKER_00Peace.