0:00

Hand Me My Purse is a production of iHeart

0:02

Podcasts. So I

0:04

was perusing Fannie Willis's

0:06

Internet. Shout out to motherfucking

0:09

Fannie Willis.

0:13

Anyway, I was perusing Fannie Willis's

0:15

Internet and I read this wonderful

0:19

quote from none other than Auntie

0:22

Nikki Giovanni, and I wanted to start

0:24

the show off with this quote

0:27

to close out Black History

0:30

Month of twenty

0:32

twenty four. Auntie

0:34

Nikki says style has

0:36

a profound meaning to Black Americans.

0:40

If we can't drive, we will

0:42

invent walks, and the

0:44

world will envy the dexterity

0:46

of our feet. If

0:48

we can't have ham, we

0:51

will boil chitterlings, or

0:54

as they say in my community, chitlings.

0:57

If we are given rotten peaches, we

0:59

will make cobblers. If

1:01

given scraps, we will make

1:04

quilts. Take away

1:06

our drums, and we will clap

1:08

our hands. We prove

1:11

the human spirit will prevail.

1:14

We will take what we have to

1:17

make what we need. We

1:19

need confidence in our knowledge

1:22

of who we are. Happy

1:26

Black History Months, friends,

1:28

and kin, I

1:49

can't see the Okay, what's

1:52

up, y'all? Welcome to Hand Me My Purse the podcast.

1:55

I am none other than me Me

1:57

Walker, and I will be your forever host

2:00

each and every single

2:02

time you tune into this podcast. So go

2:04

ahead and get comfortable. Get

2:06

yourself a glass of your favorite beverage.

2:09

Whether that's some freshly pressed,

2:12

fresh pressed carrot juice,

2:15

yuck, yuck aty yuck. I

2:17

cannot stand the taste

2:20

of plain fresh

2:22

pressed carrot juice. But

2:24

if you like it, shut out to you. Or

2:30

if it's some raspberry lemonade

2:32

with a shot of champagne at the top,

2:35

or a nice hot cup of ash Wa

2:37

Ganda and soursop leaf tea

2:40

with honey and lemon to heal your

2:42

body, go light yourself

2:44

a candle, some incense or burn some sage

2:47

and just get ready to chill out and

2:50

do what I call have yourself a good time. What's

3:01

up friends in Kennis? Mee me Resident Anti Supreme

3:03

here and hand me my purse. And today

3:05

I am sipping on some and I'm going to say

3:07

the name the brand. I'm sipping on some

3:10

sand Pellegrino. I got a bottle today

3:12

after I left the gym when I went

3:14

to get my protein heavy lunch,

3:18

and that's what I'm drinking right now. And

3:21

it's not exciting. It's not exotic,

3:25

it's nothing to write home about. It's

3:28

just plain, old, unflavored

3:30

sand pellegrino. And that's

3:32

it. That's all I got. And you know what the message is

3:34

here. Sometimes life is

3:36

not flavored and a

3:39

full of zest and

3:41

excitement. Sometimes life

3:43

can just be simple and it is still

3:45

good enough. And

3:47

it is and it did what it was supposed to

3:49

do. I don't know how exciting

3:52

it was, because I definitely did not

3:54

finish it while I was eating my food. Somehow

3:57

it made it back home with me. But you know what,

4:01

I'm going to finish it before the night's over. And I'm grateful.

4:03

I am grateful that I have something

4:06

to drink. I am grateful that I

4:09

can buy what I want to drink. And

4:12

I am grateful that I have

4:14

access to all different types

4:16

of water, and that's

4:19

clean water, tap water. My

4:21

tap water is relatively clean, sparkling

4:24

water, mineral water, spring

4:26

water, distilled water. I am

4:29

grateful for that and I thank God for that. So

4:32

today I'm grateful for my sam pellegrina

4:35

water that is probably overpriced,

4:37

but it's okay because I'm still grateful that I can afford

4:39

to buy it. Jesus, Jesus Jesus.

4:48

So for today's jam, friends and can,

4:51

I chose a

4:54

classic song in my community. You

4:56

know, this is the last episode for Black

4:59

History Month for twenty twenty four,

5:01

and so let's just be real black, right

5:05

and know the song is not be Real Black for Me by

5:07

ROBERTA. Flack and Donnie Hathaway, Although

5:10

that is an amazing song. I

5:13

chose a song that's very

5:16

uplifting and it makes you feel good and

5:18

that is optimistic by Sounds

5:21

of Blackness. I cannot remember

5:23

if this song has been a jam before. Part

5:26

of me feels like this was a jam before during

5:29

Black History Month. But if it was,

5:32

so what it's gonna be the jam again,

5:35

okay, because this

5:37

is what I'm feeling like, and so this

5:41

is what it's going to be. And so the reason

5:43

that I chose this song is

5:46

because.

5:47

You know, we've been fighting, bowing and still fighting.

5:50

To this day. Well that

5:52

and because it's a wonderful song. It's

5:56

very inspirational and

6:01

like I don't know what else to say about it, like it just

6:04

makes you feel good. And it's one of those songs

6:06

that I don't know about everybody else as

6:08

a black American person. When I hear it,

6:13

it's kind of a reminder for me to just

6:18

in the spirit of my ancestors

6:20

and in the spirit of resilience

6:23

perseverance, to just never

6:25

give up, never give up on myself, never

6:28

give up on my dreams, never

6:30

give up on making my ancestors

6:33

proud of me, never

6:35

giving up on the

6:39

desires of my heart, and living

6:43

a life of once again gratitude

6:46

and positivity.

6:50

Even though life does not always

6:54

issue cards

6:59

that may be

7:01

an automatic winning hand, one

7:04

thing about us is that we are going to find a way

7:06

to win the hand. We're

7:08

gonna find a way, And so this song just reminds

7:10

me of that. It's a beautiful song. And I

7:13

remember a few years ago the little

7:15

boy that was on Blackish, one

7:17

of the twins. He's probably a fundament

7:20

fundamental but fundamental

7:23

and fundamentally is like my new favorite words

7:25

to say on a regular basis. He's fully a grown

7:27

man now, I'm sure. But

7:31

him and his dad were dancing to

7:33

this song and doing like a lot of old school

7:35

hip hop dances, and I'm

7:37

gonna link that in the show notes. I have to find

7:39

it. But the song is

7:41

just positive and it makes you feel good. I

7:44

mean, for God's sake, the name of the song is

7:46

Optimistic, So go ahead

7:48

and listen to it, and then we're gonna get right into the show

7:50

and get into part two of my interview

7:52

with Jonathan McCrory,

7:55

which was amazing. I hope

7:57

you listened to part one already. If not, you

8:00

should probab stop and go back and listen

8:02

to part one so you can prepare yourself for the next

8:04

part of the interview. But

8:06

it was amazing. It was really really good.

8:08

So go ahead and listen to

8:11

Optimistic, and then let's go ahead and

8:14

get into part two of

8:16

the interview.

8:23

Canna

8:46

Jay.

8:52

During your journey after

8:55

you just mentioned you said his name

8:57

was James I James, and you mentioned

8:59

one of the oppos that he faced during

9:02

his journey, and he turned that into something

9:04

else and now look his plays on Broadway.

9:07

Once again, shout out to black people for

9:09

being resilient as fuck. But

9:12

tell me about any obstacles,

9:14

any any additional obstacles, because you told me about

9:16

something that you faced as a child, that

9:18

you have faced during your journey

9:21

once your career started to.

9:24

I just want to and just want to uplift that fat Ham

9:26

is now being is reportedly going

9:28

to be the number one produced play of

9:31

this season after its Broadway

9:33

closure. So it's actually big shout

9:35

out to James for turning that limit.

9:37

And usually

9:39

my listeners, I usually have a soundpad,

9:42

but we were having so many technical issues.

9:44

I was like, I'm not even going to bring anything else.

9:46

In and I am constantly

9:50

utilizing my Jamaican air

9:52

horn sound. So since I don't have it,

9:55

shout out to James,

9:57

I, James and Fat Ham.

10:00

As I talked about so other obstacles,

10:03

I mean, are there are many? Actually?

10:05

In order in order to be the leader that I wanted

10:07

to become, I had to actually start

10:10

to understand, appreciate, and actually

10:13

own or accept my

10:16

dark side. My light in

10:18

Darkseye had to be a part of the conversation.

10:20

So how did that self is real?

10:21

Shadow self is real, and shadow self actually

10:24

dictates, can dictate what happens

10:26

in the light, how the light actually

10:29

is absorbed, how the light is actually appreciated.

10:31

So an obstacle is

10:33

that, I mean it

10:36

is is actually that journey of

10:38

accepting the wholeness of someone and the wholeness

10:40

of myself.

10:41

How have I done that?

10:42

I've done that by going to Landmark Form, going to

10:44

Hoffmann therapy.

10:46

I did Landmark Form years ago,

10:49

years ago.

10:53

I did it right in Virginia.

10:55

Landmark Coffee Therapy.

10:57

They all, they all, will you you are

10:59

the first. I'm taking my glasses

11:01

off. You are the first person to

11:03

mention Landmark form

11:06

to me since I did

11:08

it. And I couldn't even tell you what year it

11:10

was that I did it, and

11:12

I could even afford to do it. One of my cousins

11:15

paid for me to do it because she did it

11:17

and she said, I think this would be good for you, and

11:19

it was.

11:20

I don't even remember much about it because

11:22

I'm the queen of suppression. Like if

11:24

it's not if I'm not using it, then I just

11:27

violet. Yeah, just pilot. But I

11:29

remember it being so like transforming,

11:33

just based on the way that I was processing

11:35

my own path, the way that I processed

11:37

my own pain, the way that I

11:40

processed my own mental chaos,

11:43

the way that I saw my pain

11:45

and saw my trauma. I

11:47

do remember that

11:50

it was very transforming for me in

11:52

that way. And it was also the first time

11:55

that I spoke about those things

11:57

with other people.

11:59

Yeah, and being

12:02

able and one of the One of the key things

12:04

for me was being able to have the conversation

12:07

of dismantling trauma's

12:09

power mm hm and

12:11

like really starting to understand us

12:14

as machines that are

12:16

just always processing things and turning

12:18

things into meaning, but actually everything

12:21

is just in flow, just.

12:23

Happening, happening.

12:24

It's just happening, like like they're like

12:26

like like breakdowns are not because

12:28

you are having breakdowns. Breakdowns are just happening

12:30

because life is breaking, right, and

12:32

like that's just life happening.

12:34

And how you and how.

12:36

You we are that we are from

12:38

Landmark Forum really having a conversation how

12:40

we are So we're skilled playwrights,

12:43

we are skilled authors, we

12:46

are skilled like lyricists

12:48

who like create pins story

12:50

after story after story that

12:52

actually distract from what's actually happening

12:55

in front of us. So like Landmark's really important

12:57

for helping me to really start to dismantle

12:59

that that part.

13:00

When did you do it?

13:02

Oh gosh, I felt like I did it almost close

13:04

to ten years ago.

13:05

Ten years ago. I'm forty four.

13:09

I wonder if I was younger then. I can't even

13:11

remember when I did it.

13:13

Yeah, it was it was like based only ten years

13:15

ago and then I did Hoffman. I did Hoffman

13:17

after that, and.

13:18

Then I found I'm not familiar with Hoffman.

13:20

So Hoffman Hoffman is an institute where

13:22

you basically go in a in

13:25

a space with the forty other strangers

13:27

for a whole week, and the

13:29

whole goal is to the whole premise

13:32

of Hoffman's technology.

13:34

And I use that from a space.

13:35

Of education and pedagogy

13:37

is to lean into

13:39

the theory that love is the highest vibration that the

13:41

world has ever seen.

13:43

Love is the strongest vibration that the world has ever

13:45

seen.

13:45

And if that is the case, love

13:49

is also something that we sometimes

13:51

have a challenge to be in relationship with because

13:54

it is being is either in rebellion

13:57

or in subjugation to how our parents

14:00

love. We are taught how to love versus

14:02

us coming to our own relationship to love.

14:04

So that sounds that sounds

14:06

heavy.

14:07

So the idea of Hoffman is to break that tethering

14:10

to that parental line, yeah,

14:12

and start to come up to your own relationship

14:14

to love. That is, so for

14:16

our entire week, you're not allowed to You have

14:19

your set meals, no kind of

14:21

narcotics like, no drugs, no anything

14:24

you're with forty strangers, and

14:27

you're you're put into pods.

14:29

You're you are your your name

14:31

is your childhood name, not your real name, so

14:34

they call your childhood name the entire week.

14:36

You're not allowed to say your full name until like the very

14:38

end, and you're just

14:40

you go you you, and you're and you're with

14:43

a therapy. You have a therapist as your

14:45

guide through it. You go through visualizations

14:48

and you and you eat this food and you eat like really

14:50

great food. Actually I love the food of Hoffman.

14:53

And you're on and and you're and you're isolated,

14:55

no cell phone, no computer, no anything

14:58

for a week for the whole and

15:01

then and then at the very end of it, at the very

15:03

end of it, at graduation, you finally get to tell people

15:05

what you do. You finally get

15:07

to tell people who you are. But

15:09

before then, you're not supposed to talk about what you do

15:12

or who you are. You're supposed to have you're supposed to basically

15:14

stick.

15:15

To the work. M HM.

15:18

And

15:20

And I have to say that it was one of the most profound moments

15:22

of one of my of my life, Like it

15:25

was number one. I learned what silence

15:27

actually sounds like. I

15:29

had a very hard time coming back to New York. I

15:32

feel like I could hear everything, everything,

15:35

Everything was a distraction. I almost thought

15:37

I was gonna I Like they say, do not make any

15:39

drastic moves for the first three

15:41

or four months. So don't divorce, don't

15:44

divorce, don't quit your job, don't

15:46

make any major moves for the first three

15:48

months, because.

15:49

You're just you.

15:50

Because the thing that had happened is that I had transformed,

15:52

but the world around me doesn't, had not, and

15:55

I had to meet the world with who I

15:57

was, and I had to come to place where

16:00

it was Yeah, how to find what balance

16:03

is, which is what

16:04

which is?

16:06

Which is what anything is? Right? Like even

16:08

in this moment, I'm I'm changing.

16:10

In this moment in conversation with you, I

16:12

am in a moment of actually my

16:14

my molecules are having a different conversation

16:17

than what they were having before our convers before

16:19

we talk. However, the world is still existing

16:21

in the same kind of systems that

16:24

I might find oppressive. When I turn on my phone,

16:27

right, and the question is how do I meet

16:29

How do I meet that with the same energy?

16:32

Right, not run away from it, not not

16:34

turn it, not act like it's not happening, right, but

16:36

I actually could allow for this

16:39

to be a part of the diamond making process

16:41

that allows me to shine in those other

16:43

areas so that their solution building

16:45

that can happen, or there is advocacy that

16:47

can happen, or there is just an awareness

16:50

that is happening, right that

16:52

that that that like that like the two

16:54

are synonymous and the two are needed to happen.

16:56

So so that's a little bit I mean, that's

16:59

a little bit of like, well, some obstacles want

17:01

some more obstacles. I mean another obstacle was

17:03

just that I was really young when I started. I was twenty

17:05

four, So like,

17:07

at twenty four, I became the artistic leader

17:09

of a forty five year old organization.

17:12

That's a lot if.

17:13

You're if you can imagine where you were at the age of

17:15

twenty four.

17:18

I couldn't even lead myself.

17:20

So it's like there's a whole conversation

17:22

happening at that age for me, where

17:25

like I'm having to talk about budget.

17:27

I'm not even talking about salaries. I'm not talking about

17:29

quick keeping the lights on, turning on the doors. And yes

17:31

it's with a group of people, but I'm holding a

17:34

very prominent seat inside of.

17:35

With that group of people.

17:37

And so there's there's a part of me that's having to

17:39

grow up extremely fast an extremely

17:42

small clique, and that part of me is

17:44

having to grow up pretty quickly.

17:45

There's an innocence that goes away.

17:47

Yeah, and so there so for

17:50

me like maybe four or

17:52

five years, after like four or five years

17:54

and I was like, oh, I need to get reckless

17:56

again, right, and reckless not from the definition

17:58

of like what everyone defines reckless

18:01

to be, but my own definition of reckless. And that might

18:03

mean that, like I have a meeting tomorrow

18:05

morning at eight o'clock in the morning, but i' musa

18:07

stay out at this club until five am

18:10

because and that's reckless.

18:12

Now I'm because I'm still twenty four.

18:14

But I'm still because I'm exploring I'm

18:16

exploring twenty four inside of me that

18:18

needed to have the space.

18:20

Absolutely because who wants to become forty

18:22

four and have regrets that I was so

18:24

focused on my position

18:27

at MBT that I didn't get

18:29

to enjoy being twenty four. Now that I'm

18:31

forty four, I probably don't

18:33

want to go back and do the things that I wanted to do when I was

18:35

twenty four, But unfortunately, some

18:37

people will go back and regress. Exactly,

18:40

I'm gonna go out and stay out all night and do a

18:42

lot of drugs and do a lot of drinking, and

18:44

it's like it don't hit the same when you forget

18:46

for and then the

18:48

the other.

18:49

The other part of it is that how do I define it

18:51

for my body today? Yes,

18:54

and how I find it for my body today actually

18:56

allows for me to grow in a

18:58

deeper understanding of how to be more whole.

19:02

And also not to blame

19:04

the gift like

19:06

NBTS. I love that NBT

19:10

amen come out now, and so I have

19:12

to be able. I have to be able to have a conversation with

19:14

the gift that is not distracted by

19:16

the regret.

19:17

M you on here, I'm

19:20

dropping some dimes, Jonathan

19:22

McCrory. I'm

19:25

listening.

19:26

Like you said, I'm not the same as I was twenty

19:28

five seconds ago. Don't

19:30

blame the gift, Okay, all right?

19:33

I love that. And also I'm I want

19:35

to know about this Hoffman stuff, So before this

19:37

is over, when the recording is done, I

19:39

want some information because this sounds exciting,

19:42

this sounds like I love a good healing

19:44

journe I love anything that adds.

19:47

To my healing.

19:49

I want to do it, share

19:51

all of the things, because when we are healed

19:54

and the people around us, the people around

19:56

us are then healed. So

20:00

you talked about some of your obstacles as

20:03

a black man, right or

20:05

as a black person. I should just say, just

20:07

period, do you feel like you

20:10

were heavily

20:12

supported by your community in your choice

20:15

to do theater? I can kind of assume because

20:18

like you were young and you walked right into

20:20

a forty forty five year old

20:22

established program

20:26

or support.

20:28

Differently, did you.

20:29

Feel supported then your

20:31

community?

20:32

Okay?

20:33

At times? At times

20:35

I don't.

20:36

Okay, even's to this day you don't.

20:38

Yeah, But that's because I'm not everyone's cup of tea.

20:41

Absolutely I wasn't.

20:42

I wasn't crafted to be everyone's cup of tea.

20:45

No, I was crafted to be some Yeah,

20:48

And as you ascend, there

20:51

will be people that

20:54

just it's just what happens. People who

20:56

starts to not to start to pick

20:58

at the ways of which your ascension

21:01

deflates there and like

21:04

you may not now be like what I'm

21:06

starting when I'm really starting to center and learn is

21:08

that my intent doesn't mean

21:10

that the impact hits differently.

21:13

Intention versus impact. I talk about it all

21:15

the time, my intention. I'm an educator,

21:17

So if we talk about that all

21:20

the time, your intention, which

21:22

you intend to share with

21:24

these children and to communicate

21:26

to their families, is

21:30

one thing. But how they receive it, how

21:32

they makes them feel, how

21:34

they are impacted by the words the actions

21:37

are two totally different things. What does support

21:39

look like for you? If you could,

21:42

if you if you could live in a world

21:44

or exists in a space where you

21:46

always felt like you were supported

21:49

by your community? And I was

21:51

specifically talking about your community.

21:54

And when I say your community, I'm talking about

21:57

black your community, my community, black people.

22:00

No, No, I mean what does that look like for you?

22:02

Well, I mean on one level, I want to say, spiritually,

22:04

I feel so supportive. I feel girded

22:06

and grounded, right, I feel ancestrally

22:09

and inside the physical I feel like.

22:11

Bam good, Yeah covered

22:15

locked.

22:16

That's your lockdown, spirit gods

22:18

locking it down.

22:20

Just because I grew.

22:20

Up in a Pentecostal church, don't think I don't know no stuff,

22:23

because I.

22:23

Know I got me pull apex on, right.

22:25

I know a little bit of things come on a little bit of

22:27

that.

22:28

I'm at the apex. I'm at the apex.

22:31

I know the things

22:35

they got me, they got.

22:36

You, and

22:39

what I will say, what I will say from

22:41

from the when you start talking about

22:43

I think sometimes there's a crabs in a barrel mentality

22:46

that happens and thinking, and I

22:48

think in those moments I

22:51

think that we suffer from And

22:53

I'm happy to be drawn in the mat and actually

22:56

have a conversation with whoever who's

22:58

listening. This might be like, Yo, you actually did, You're

23:00

actually not the You're not practically what you preach.

23:03

But I'm happy to happy to always be in

23:05

conversation around how to be a better human or

23:07

how to be a more equitable human with the words I

23:10

say. I think that sometimes when other

23:12

people ascend, we have a we have a desire

23:14

to always pull some people back

23:16

down.

23:17

Absolutely, crabs in umbarrel.

23:19

Mentality of it all is

23:21

what I think we suffer from, even if

23:23

someone in ten is not to be that, but the impact

23:26

feels that way because

23:28

society works in a different way

23:30

than I think, we as a culture sometimes

23:32

operate right. Society says there only

23:34

can be one society.

23:36

Also, also, I think

23:38

that when you think. I always draw things

23:40

back to slavery, like we

23:43

were brought here and systems

23:45

were created for us to be

23:47

that way. And that's not to say I'm blaming

23:49

the white man or you know, because it's not really about

23:51

that, but it is about systems

23:54

were created so that certain

23:57

outcomes were present

24:00

so that hope for me. The

24:02

concept of the overseer, the black

24:05

overseer, is the is the

24:07

root of the

24:09

crabs in a barrel mentality. The concept

24:12

of the house negro and the field negro

24:15

is at the root of the crabs in a barrel

24:17

mentality because there's always somebody

24:20

that holds a higher position in our

24:22

communities or in that situation

24:24

or in those spaces, and it's like if

24:26

they weren't there one maybe I could be

24:28

there. But also that

24:30

person that is there oftentimes

24:32

think that they're you know, they it's

24:35

presented that they think that they're better and that they're looking

24:37

down on everybody else. But

24:40

just because I arrived, whatever the fuck

24:43

that means, or just because I may ascend,

24:45

I love that you said that. Just because I ascend

24:48

doesn't mean that you are beneath me. Because

24:50

you may be ascended or ascending

24:52

in another way, you may be great

24:54

in another way. I had an episode recently where I

24:57

talked about competition in the root

24:59

of competition is really based in

25:01

insecurity and low self worth,

25:04

and because I don't need

25:06

to compete with anybody else, because

25:08

no one on this planet can compete

25:10

with me me. Nobody. Nobody's

25:13

gonna breathe like me, walk like me, talk

25:15

like me. Nobody nobody

25:17

can compete with you. And not because of

25:19

what you have done. It's really

25:22

just about your entire existence.

25:24

People, and you are crafted for a very particular

25:26

We're both crafted for a very particular

25:29

use yep, and actually have

25:32

a very particular algorithm

25:34

that is fit to our destiny and

25:36

the quest. And the thing is that we always

25:39

we get distracted by the noise

25:41

around us and not centered in that. In

25:43

that promisory note that like that,

25:45

like your sound, to your point was

25:48

is solely your sound, and also

25:50

that like the indigenous

25:52

aspect of it, which is against Western capitalism,

25:55

is that my goal

25:58

is to bring us all up, not just.

26:00

Testing me up.

26:14

Yes, I'm not an overseer. I'm not allow

26:17

me to ascend so that I can turn. It

26:19

reminds me of this book that my grandmother bought me

26:21

I May she rests when I was a

26:23

little girl, and I wish I could find this book. It's

26:25

probably nine million dollars now called

26:28

The People Could Fly. And

26:31

remember that book.

26:31

I don't know how old you are, but I'm forty four.

26:34

Yeah, I remember that book.

26:35

And so on the book there

26:37

on the cover there were all of these black

26:40

people like flying in the air. And

26:42

it makes me think of just

26:46

because we're flying in the air or people are flying

26:48

in the air, it does not mean that they're not gonna

26:51

come to where you are and scoop

26:53

you up so you can fly with us. And just because

26:55

you are down on the ground and we are

26:58

in the air, it does not mean that we

27:00

are better and better than you or anybody is

27:02

better than you. Because we're gonna if you give us

27:04

a moment, we're gonna come down and we're

27:06

gonna get you, and we're gonna scoop you up so you can fly

27:08

with us. That's what Harriet Tubman did.

27:11

Yeah.

27:11

And also I would just say I would just lay this down.

27:13

Maybe you weren't meant to fly right.

27:16

And like because because because the

27:18

higher, the the the

27:21

the.

27:21

Collegey in order for the ecosystem

27:24

to work, people have to also

27:26

stay in the lane in which they were crafted to be in.

27:29

Yeah, people don't want to soak that up

27:31

though. No, everybody's not meant to be And

27:33

I hate to bring her into it, but you know,

27:35

she's always in conversations when

27:38

people talk about this kind of thing.

27:40

Everybody can't be Beyonce.

27:42

No, no, but like but.

27:43

Like also but also the question, my question would always.

27:45

Be ever anybody doesn't want to be Beyonce

27:48

either, because to actually be

27:50

Beyonce, you're actually talking about

27:52

close to thirty years of a story

27:55

that you know nothing.

27:57

Nope, No, And that's why

27:59

I think when all of the things came out about

28:01

you know, jay z cheating, people like, oh,

28:04

no, she is no different

28:06

than you and I. She's a human being and

28:09

he is a human being as well. She

28:11

just puts in a lot of hard

28:13

work. And also I find when people

28:16

do that crabs in a barrel thing or assume that

28:18

people are better than them, or compare

28:20

and compete the people

28:22

who you assume are flying or who

28:25

are ascending. Do you want

28:27

to do the work that they do? No,

28:29

it takes a lot. It takes a lot of work

28:31

to fly yeah.

28:33

And some people are born with wings, and

28:35

some people are born with rocket shoes,

28:38

and some people and.

28:39

It makes sometimes and it makes some sometimes

28:41

wonder do folks do folks actually do

28:43

folks actually? Because her documentaries that she's

28:45

been doing, she gives

28:48

you a glimpse into the laker and to

28:50

the labor that she has to till and pour

28:52

in, And I sometimes wonder, do you actually

28:54

listen to that rigor do people actually

28:56

listen to that that tilling that she has to

28:58

do.

28:59

I'm glad she did it. I've

29:01

never been like a super Beyonce

29:03

fan, but I really like

29:06

fell in love with the energy

29:09

of her work a

29:11

long time ago. Her work

29:14

ethic is unmatched, It's

29:16

unmatched. The only person I can imagine

29:19

came close is Michael Jackson, and

29:22

they're both virgos. It makes sense

29:25

a prince well, but

29:27

see, you know what the difference is with Prince and

29:29

Michael Jackson and Beyonce. Prince

29:32

he was born flying? Yeah

29:36

he if you if you pay

29:38

attention to the artists,

29:40

right, because I too am a creative prince

29:43

was born with gifts.

29:46

Right.

29:47

Beyonce has crafted this

29:50

persona in this energy for thirty something

29:52

years Michael Jackson had to work.

29:54

Joe Jackson treated them like field hands.

29:57

You're gonna work, We're gonna practice around the clock.

30:00

Jackson created that

30:02

work ethic and that energy. Prince

30:04

wake up when he was nine.

30:07

Stevie Wonder is another one. He's blind,

30:09

but he a phenom.

30:12

Prince and Stevie

30:14

Wonder, in my mind, they're just and

30:16

I love when this does it.

30:18

I don't understand. Did you see those balloons?

30:20

It freaks me. I hoped my producers.

30:23

We laugh about it all the time. But for

30:25

some reason, when I do like this, like the

30:27

balloons come up in Zoom or Riverside, But anyway,

30:30

Prince Stevie Wonder, I would even

30:32

think it was somebody else I just thought of, Like,

30:35

I just feel like they just wake up and their

30:38

gifts were there. But the

30:41

reason that I respect Michael Jackson and

30:43

Beyonce so much, and not that I don't respect

30:45

Prince and Stevie Wonder, because they are

30:48

absolutely my faves, because there's

30:50

a little bit of soul

30:54

energy in their work that is

30:57

in no shade to Beyonce, heir Michael Jackson

30:59

that it's not necessarily in their

31:02

works. It's a to

31:05

me it's it's palatable almost with

31:07

seeming when they're in prints, it's it's soul

31:09

energy in their work that

31:11

tells me that it's a it's

31:14

difficult, you get what I'm saying, and the creative

31:16

deal. And so I think

31:18

that people don't want to do the work

31:20

it takes to even

31:22

be one eighty eighth

31:25

of who Beyonce is. That's a lot

31:27

of work, that's a lot of sacrifice,

31:29

that's a lot of pushing through pain. People

31:32

don't even want to go to work when

31:35

they have a cold, but

31:37

you want to fly. That's not how it works.

31:40

No, that's not how it works.

31:41

That's not how it works.

31:42

And the and the trick

31:45

of the bag is that they make it look that way,

31:47

but that is not how it works.

31:48

No. And and like you said, I'm glad that she

31:50

did or that she's starting to put

31:53

this these behind

31:55

the scenes stories out so that people can see, like

31:57

this shit ain't no cake walk. What.

32:00

I gotta take my kids around.

32:01

I gotta be a mom, I gotta be a wife, I

32:03

gotta be a friend, I have to be a daughter, I have to be

32:05

a business woman. And she shows that

32:07

even though I am these things, and it has been thirty

32:09

years, and I'm really good at it as a black

32:12

woman. People still play with me, still

32:14

try to play with me. Do you really

32:16

want like, I you know my thing with people?

32:19

Do you really want that? Like? Are

32:21

you really kidded out to handle that? Or

32:25

are you gonna want to fight? You

32:27

know you're gonna want to slap the shit out of somebody

32:29

who tries to I'm Beyonce. No Carter,

32:32

No, you can't do that.

32:34

No, no, no,

32:36

no, no.

32:37

No no, Because that's why some of

32:39

your favorite performers never

32:41

made it, because no, they cannot temper

32:43

that energy.

32:44

The skill and the craft to be able

32:47

to work.

32:48

It's amazing.

32:48

A dominant space is kind of profound.

32:51

And now I am a stone cold Beyonce

32:54

fan, not necessarily be hive, but

32:57

I'm adjacent. I got

32:59

really into this Renaissance thing. Listen, I

33:02

don't know what it is. A gay man that lives deep

33:04

inside of me was like embrace

33:06

it.

33:08

Was actually it was actually really dope about the Renaissance

33:11

album and connection to NBT is that Doctor

33:14

Tear is actually in the Alien Superstar.

33:16

That is the moment on Alien

33:19

Superstar, the person who's speaking at the very tail

33:21

end.

33:21

That's doctor Barbaran tire.

33:22

That's I love that, you know what. Look

33:24

at God working it out for me and bringing this

33:26

full circle for me because Alien Superstar

33:29

is my jazz thing and

33:32

it is like my life theme, like

33:35

I am one of one, I am

33:38

number one, the only one. My

33:40

best friend had a birthday party and it was Beyonce

33:42

thing. We went to this club thing. It was called

33:44

Club Beyonce where they played Beyonce all night

33:47

and so all of the

33:49

girls that went to the party were dressed like

33:51

variations of Beyonce from like music

33:53

videos. Shout out to my best friend

33:55

who just turned forty four birthday,

33:58

Crystal time

34:00

this airs, it will be way after her birthday. But anyway,

34:02

we went to this party, and you

34:05

know, people were dressed as Beyonce

34:07

from the Kiddikat video from

34:10

Black Is King. Somebody

34:13

dressed as her on Renaissance where she had

34:15

that costume with the hands.

34:18

Everybody was dressed up as a variation of

34:20

a Beyonce where you've seen her.

34:22

I dressed up as Alien Superstar. I'm

34:24

going to send you the picture email. Yes,

34:27

listen, I was. I was there for the

34:30

whole thing. I was an Alien

34:32

superstar. But anyway, enough about Beyonce and

34:34

Renaissance. But that's awesome to know that.

34:36

Tell me her last name again, because I always want to say,

34:40

and Tier. I always want to say a Tillier doctor.

34:43

And Tier was the one speaking at the

34:45

end of the Is

34:48

it the one where she says we walk a certain

34:50

way, we talk a certain way. I

34:52

love that. You just made my black

34:55

ass day. Okay, you

34:57

just made my day. And I'm gonna listen to

34:59

it as soon this is done and say, I know who

35:01

that is, guys, because I always wondered

35:03

who it was and I thought maybe it was

35:05

best Anne Hardison.

35:07

Oh no, no, no, no, no, it's no, no, it's

35:09

doctor. It's doctor Barbaras.

35:10

I just made that up in my brain. Hey.

35:12

Hey, that's also like something

35:14

she would say. He's also a legend.

35:16

Ago I'm

35:18

I'm I'm so excited about that. I

35:21

wonder if her to be

35:23

on her family. Yes, she's also, I

35:25

was gonna say, because she's also notorious for not

35:28

doing.

35:28

No she actually she actually she

35:30

she she did it right.

35:31

No, no, she should family.

35:34

She made sure like yeah,

35:36

no, no, no, it's actually quite it's quite gorgeous.

35:39

Uh, gorgeous

35:41

story of like amplification and

35:43

also like replenishing right.

35:46

I love them and making sure and making

35:48

sure that this this source

35:50

that she's utilizing is actually being

35:54

able to, like you know, benefit her

35:57

future generations.

35:58

Absolutely give back as

36:01

you as you take. Make

36:03

sure, yes, take with

36:05

your right, but make sure you replenished with

36:08

your left. Yeah, that's that's how it should

36:10

be. Tell

36:23

me about enough about Beyonce.

36:26

She gets a lot of press every episode

36:28

of this show. I have a song

36:30

which is like Mimi's jam. This

36:32

episode's jam will be Alien

36:35

Superstar. Definitely. Definitely

36:40

tell me about some highlights

36:42

from mbt's twenty twenty three

36:44

and highlights for you for twenty twenty three.

36:47

Told me Fathham was on Broadway.

36:49

That's I'm becoming a being

36:51

Tony nominated.

36:52

Uh.

36:54

Fadham also getting

36:56

an Emmy nomination from a.

36:57

Film that that I hoped to

37:00

douce and create called The Roll call the Rooster Strange

37:02

Fruit that is on PBS.

37:05

Another highlight is being

37:10

being able to What are some other

37:12

highlights?

37:13

Oh my gosh, I can't.

37:14

I can't think about all of them. I mean, I

37:16

mean, you know, at one moment, at one.

37:18

Point we had we we this

37:20

year, we've had three shows that are critics picks

37:23

New York Times critics Pick.

37:25

The New York Times critics.

37:26

Pick is a high honor that a

37:28

show can get in the New York City market. It's

37:32

it's something where the critics of The New York

37:34

Times are dubbing in as a

37:37

as a significant work for the

37:39

community or the tri state area and

37:41

even the country, because New York Times is the national

37:43

publication to be able to pit

37:45

pat into a witness.

37:46

And the three shows that we.

37:47

Had were fat Ham, Proly Victorious

37:50

and then also Pray. These

37:53

are all three shows, and what's beautiful

37:55

is that two of them are on Broadway and then one of them is our off

37:57

Broadway show. And having the off Broadway

37:59

show get that acknowledgement was really dope.

38:04

I will say.

38:05

Another another huge was being able

38:07

to do our topping out ceremony for our

38:10

topping topping off topping out ceremony

38:12

for our new building, and

38:15

being able to walk through that building and be able to witness

38:17

other people like be able to uh

38:19

see it in its raw form and now knowing

38:21

that from that raw form it's going to now give bricks

38:23

and windows and get the lighting and the other stuff.

38:26

Being able to share the

38:28

vision has also been quite as a highlight.

38:33

Being able to I

38:36

think another major highlight of

38:38

the year.

38:40

Uh, it's just I

38:42

mean, I honestly will say, is like being

38:45

able to take this moment to be reflective,

38:48

Uh, to be grateful and be and

38:51

I actually sit in a space of deep gratitude

38:53

for the year that's coming up, because

38:56

next year feels like it's going to be another one of those

38:58

abundant years, profound years

39:00

for for National Black Theater for me personally,

39:03

and that feels deeply exciting.

39:06

It's one of those moments.

39:08

I mean, one of my biggest highlights of this of

39:10

this year has been there was a stint

39:12

from September to December where every

39:15

week it felt like it was a major week, like

39:17

major things were happening, major accomplishments

39:20

were happening, and it just was like, at some point

39:22

you start.

39:22

To get numb to it.

39:24

And what I what I want to always

39:27

do is not get numbed because because

39:30

it's just like that that stretch

39:32

may never happen again again.

39:34

No, it also and also.

39:35

It will though hey, but it will,

39:38

and if it does that that is

39:40

the will of all this that are necessary,

39:42

and so is Shelby,

39:45

and.

39:46

Yes it is.

39:47

And also and also like

39:50

I want to be able to honor that pinch

39:52

me moment, right, and be able to honor

39:54

the gratitude or that pinch me moment, because

39:57

it is from that gratitude that to

40:00

your point, the next one will happen, absolutely

40:03

and it will keep on just ascending. So I will

40:05

say those are some highlights from the year. Being

40:07

able just to kind of be my mind being blown

40:10

in multiple different ways.

40:11

I love that for you.

40:12

And then also be able to walk

40:15

into a new year having two shows

40:17

on Broadway, being a Tony nominated

40:19

and Emmy nominated in the same year, and

40:21

then knowing that I'm going into a year

40:23

where there's another major production that

40:25

we're producing in June

40:28

called The Gathering, and being able to feel

40:30

the excitement for that.

40:32

That is awesome. I have a question, what's your sign?

40:35

Pisces?

40:36

What's your three?

40:37

All I know is Pisces.

40:39

Oh okay, you.

40:40

Just know that you're all right, I got it.

40:42

You just know that you're Pisces. It's

40:46

funny you mentioned gratitude. I talk about gratitude

40:48

constantly on this show because I

40:50

want people, particularly black people,

40:53

to understand that like

40:55

we only get you only get

40:57

blessed by being grateful for your

40:59

blessings. And that is that is the work

41:01

of our ancestors, and it should be in our bone.

41:04

Marror. You know, there's no way that

41:06

we made it. First of all, I

41:10

always say that the fact that we are

41:12

the descendants of the people who made

41:14

it through the Middle Passage,

41:18

that alone should tell you enough about who you

41:20

come from. Right, You've got to be

41:22

grateful for everything, even if it's grateful

41:24

that you like your nails. If you're grateful

41:27

that your plants are thriving. If one

41:29

plant dies, okay, sorry plant,

41:31

but guess what the other ones are alive

41:33

and I can maybe get another

41:35

plant. I'm grateful that my eyes are open. I'm

41:37

grateful that I can see, just grateful

41:39

for any and everything. Is

41:42

that is how you are blessed.

41:44

And just and just also just also uplift

41:47

that like that like

41:49

what we what we call death is a

41:51

return of the energy in a different form, right,

41:53

and it's energy actually maturing and actually

41:56

manifesting. And like what what is also

41:58

what is also of when thinking

42:00

when thinking about even those even

42:02

those rough moments, it's just like, how

42:06

how do we how not be Pollyanna

42:08

about it?

42:08

We need to honor it, But how.

42:10

Does grief actually transform into

42:12

deep senses of gratitude and how does

42:14

grief actually give us the space

42:16

to imagine ourselves differently? There's

42:19

this beautiful Instagram posts talking about

42:21

how we get upset

42:23

or we get or upset and this

42:25

shows up in our body, with our with

42:27

our loved ones and people that we're connected with because

42:30

we are grieving the fact that someone has transformed

42:33

or changed and we're sore and

42:35

we're we wanted them to stay the same.

42:37

Yeah, and and and my thing.

42:39

Is that like I would rather I would rather

42:42

go through that grieving process and see someone

42:44

go through a space of transformation than for us

42:46

to actually be stuck and stagnant in

42:48

our in our in our way of being or

42:50

a way of our way of doing. And that is

42:52

leading me into this talking about just a

42:55

little bit and some things I didn't actually

42:57

talk about that want to uplift. As far as gratitude,

43:00

one is grateful for this

43:02

year, the State Department of New

43:06

York City State was able to grant MBT ten

43:08

million dollars this past year for our

43:10

new buildings, so like that was major

43:12

and also the City of New York was

43:15

ultimately gave us about twenty twenty

43:18

five twenty six million dollars for

43:21

the new building. So like, in total we've been able

43:23

to raise about fifty three fifty four million

43:25

dollars. That's an eight million dollars capital

43:28

campaign. And

43:30

so to be over halfway the finish

43:33

line and having the city and the state

43:35

be the deep investors, it's only saying

43:38

that we are meant to be here and

43:40

this is meant to happen, So really want to

43:42

really want to uplift and give gratitude for that.

43:44

And then yeah, and then

43:46

I'm.

43:46

Just excited to talk about what's happening in twenty twenty

43:48

four and what MBT is planning to do in twenty twenty

43:51

four.

43:51

It also says that the

43:53

state and the city recognize and respect

43:56

the work that has been done over

44:00

the work that has come out from MBT

44:03

since nineteen Yeah. Today,

44:05

that's amazing, that is amazing.

44:07

Yeah, I mean the pandemic, I mean during I mean

44:10

even before the pandemic, we were critical

44:12

to community. But during the pandemic, the

44:16

CEO Shaty Liftcad myself. MBT

44:19

in general found ourselves in

44:21

the states of deep advocacy, helping communities,

44:24

organizations really being able

44:27

to find the resources that they need. Shot

44:29

A helped to build the culture at three,

44:31

which was a deep resource inside the cultural

44:33

sector. So and

44:36

so like these kind of moments of

44:38

pouring again, we gave

44:40

a lot, and in giving, the city

44:43

and the state are pouring back in for that

44:45

time and that commitment that was able to be given.

44:48

I think that's awesome.

44:49

So tell us about

44:52

what you're excited about for

44:54

twenty twenty four.

44:55

So, I mean, one of the great things that I'm

44:57

really excited about for twenty twenty four is that in

45:00

June one, we will be in the DMV

45:03

area, will be at the Candy Center. National

45:05

Black Theater has a partnership with

45:07

the Candy Center called We're Conflux

45:09

Partners.

45:10

What does that mean?

45:11

That means that for the past year we have been helping

45:13

to cultivate programmatic offerings

45:16

for a week long exploration

45:18

that will happen happen the

45:21

week of May twenty, right

45:23

after after Labor Day weekend

45:27

May twenty seven or

45:29

May yeah, May twenty the week of

45:31

May twenty six to June to June second,

45:34

there will be a series of programs happening

45:36

at throughout the various parts of the Candy

45:38

Center themed

45:40

the Gathering a Space for

45:43

Narrative Change. We will

45:45

be looking at the ways in which black and brown bodies

45:47

have helped to generate different kinds of narrative

45:49

and different kinds of resources inside of this community,

45:51

inside of this country. And

45:54

it will be all centered around uplifting a

45:56

signature event called The Gathering a Sonic

45:58

Green Shop. The Gathering greenshot

46:00

was a show that we did at the Apollo to a sold

46:02

out house in twenty twenty two on

46:06

the heels of the shut out, of the shutdown

46:08

from the pandemic, and we are being

46:10

blessed to be able to do it again through

46:13

the help of the Art for Justice

46:15

Fund, the Ford Foundation and Andrew Mellen

46:17

Foundation. We are

46:19

going to be kind of We're going to be utilizing

46:22

the Opera House of the Candy Center. We

46:25

are going to bring an eighty person orchestra, a

46:27

fifty nine person choir, and

46:29

we are going to basically do a sonic ring

46:31

shout inside of that opera house

46:33

that will span over about

46:35

ninety almost close to two hours of

46:38

music that will be guided

46:40

by a narrative, our

46:43

virtual narrative, which would be Mahogany L.

46:45

Brown, but you'll hear original work.

46:47

I know her. Yeah, she's really good

46:49

friends with one of my really good friends.

46:51

She is really good friends with my friend Kiyah.

46:54

Okay, she's a dope human. She's a dope human. Considered

46:56

it like a sister. And

46:58

we're we're going to be featuring works by Nonah

47:01

Hendrix, Toshi Reagan, and Jason

47:03

Michael Webb with doing

47:05

the DC premiere of Joel Thompson's

47:07

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed and

47:10

also and also uplifting Carlo

47:12

Sign's Amen and also lifting Courtney

47:15

Courtney Sectums Courtney's

47:17

Spectrums Sectum, which

47:20

are all new, all original works

47:22

by all black artists. Uh

47:24

And the whole goal of the Ring Shout

47:27

is suplifted indigenous technology that was

47:29

housed in the Gullageechee community which

47:32

originates from the coast of

47:34

West Africa. It is a technology

47:36

and a practice that during

47:38

Atebellu himself black and brown folks after

47:41

working until on slavery. As many

47:43

of us know, they were not able to have church

47:46

or to go to church.

47:47

This was their form of church.

47:48

They will go out into the field, create a circle

47:51

and utilizing lessons

47:54

and and information that they took with

47:56

him on that on on that journey of

47:58

slavery slave ship. They it's

48:01

a sacred journey of call and response and

48:03

actually allowing the body to find liberation

48:06

and healing and freedom,

48:08

knowing all the while the next morning they're back on

48:10

the they're back on the field. So it's a way of

48:12

reclinishing, of creating gatic

48:15

care and so and wanting

48:17

to and wanting and knowing. The signature

48:19

piece of the gathering is the seven Last Words

48:21

in the Unarmed, which is a piece

48:23

where Joel Thompson takes

48:25

the seven seven words seven last

48:27

words of seven identify male identified bodies

48:30

who are murdered by the cops and

48:32

puts it to this eighty person orchestra and

48:34

puts it to this fifty person choir.

48:36

And so I want to, I want to, I have to

48:38

be there.

48:39

So that so the goal and the idea is to take us

48:41

on a journey that takes us from our root chakra

48:43

to our crown chakra. And Abby Dobson

48:46

opens the space with a benediction of

48:49

doing a mashup of the National Black

48:51

anthem with a say her name, so that

48:53

we see, we see the atrocities that have happened

48:55

to female female identified bodies

48:57

and the tutrocities happened to male identified bodies,

49:00

and then we take that, we take that trauma or

49:02

that nerve, and we take it to a space where

49:04

we can hopefully find resolution,

49:07

revelation and also love to

49:09

then be able to take that again what we talked about, maybe

49:12

inside this room everything's been transformed,

49:14

but take that transformational energy and play and

49:16

put it out into the world.

49:18

I love that. I would like to be

49:20

there.

49:21

There's going to be multiple different than events that happened throughout

49:23

the week, Like we're going to do an actual ring shout on the Candy

49:25

Center property. Many people don't

49:27

know that the Candy Center rest on black

49:30

Indigenous not black I own say

49:32

indigenous proper land, but land

49:35

that was occupied and.

49:36

Actually taken

49:39

care of.

49:39

The caretakers were a Black community

49:42

called slab Town. So we're going to do a land

49:44

acknowledgment to slab Town

49:46

because they were displaced during

49:48

force removal to build the Candy Center and to

49:50

build the what

49:52

we now know is Watergate. We are also

49:55

going to do We're gonna have a quilter there to

49:57

quilt a new

49:59

piece that be a concert of all of

50:01

the things that were actually

50:03

outlined throughout the week, and we also will

50:06

do a panel discussion and then we'll also have a

50:08

dance party at the very end on the next

50:10

day. So there is a destination of

50:13

multiple different events. It's a way in which

50:15

to engage multiple different ways inside

50:17

of family, tech, inside of legacy,

50:19

inside of history, but also to

50:22

be baptized and actually have a sonic

50:24

bath of these really

50:26

phenomenal pieces written

50:29

in for black and brown communities to

50:31

be able to be witnessed and be able to

50:33

be cared for.

50:35

So I just want to know what do

50:37

I need to do to make sure that I am invited

50:40

in a part of all of these things.

50:42

So I know for sure that shout

50:45

out to TCG, the Chambers Group

50:47

Edwin in particular. I know for sure that they will make

50:49

sure that you gave all the information.

50:52

Starting in the new year, we're going to be doing a big push

50:54

around really trying to make

50:56

sure people in the DNB area come to the

50:59

Candy Center to check out this work. It

51:01

will be it will be an important conversation

51:04

piece, not only for us to talk about

51:06

police state violence that happen, but

51:09

also to talk about what are the needs for

51:11

us to do and think about this election year

51:14

also thinking about also thinking about

51:16

this notion of what does it mean for

51:18

because many of the artists that are part of the

51:20

gathering are also black and queer,

51:22

what does it mean for black queer artists and the start

51:24

of Pride Month? They are multiple different

51:27

There are multiple different intersections that are happening

51:29

with inside the gathering that are centering

51:32

how we take the disenfranchised

51:34

meant of who we are and actually empower

51:37

it to be a sav to move our to

51:39

move ourselves forward.

51:41

I love that, So Edwin

51:43

is who I need to make sure that yes, Edwin,

51:46

Edwin.

51:46

I just want to say this, Edwin, because I know you can

51:48

hear me.

51:49

Don't act like you don't know me when I reach out

51:51

to you about this, okay. And I

51:53

would also love to do my part because

51:56

most of my listeners are in Maryland.

51:59

Actually the most of them are actually in California,

52:01

but the d m V area I have a

52:03

high listenership. I would love to

52:06

help promote this on my show because

52:08

this is going to be phenomenal phenomenal.

52:12

Yeah, I'm excited. I'm

52:14

really excited about the

52:17

the call and response part that kind of stuff.

52:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, I mean it's

52:24

part of our DNA. We were we were

52:26

designed to call and response and we were and

52:28

we were designed to you know, it's

52:30

going to be lovely to take up all of this beautiful

52:33

black space inside of it's really

52:35

inside of this global iconic

52:38

institution called the Candy Center that

52:40

rest.

52:41

On land that was cared

52:43

for and that was occupied

52:46

by black people before they

52:48

were displaced. I'm very excited.

52:50

Spiritually, I'm excited. My soul is

52:52

excited. Sonically, I'm

52:54

excited. I want to hear it. I want

52:56

to sing, I want to shout, I want to dance.

52:59

I'm very excited all of this. So I

53:01

have to make sure that we're staying in

53:03

contact, because I do. When it's

53:05

time to start promoting it, I am definitely

53:08

going to talk about it on

53:11

here. I'm

53:13

excited about it. So I want to say thank

53:15

you to you so much. This

53:17

was such a great conversation. It was so warm.

53:21

I really appreciate this conversation, and

53:25

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to

53:28

be able to speak with you great.

53:30

It was awesome.

53:32

I wish I could heug you here. I feel

53:34

like we are here and

53:37

I just want to say thank you so much, and I hope

53:40

that maybe I can have you on again

53:42

after the gathering.

53:44

I'm here for I'm here for it because but also it would

53:46

be great to come on after the gatherings that we have a

53:49

doctor. We're doing a making up documentary that

53:51

will premiere on PBS and also

53:54

on all Arts, and so there will

53:56

be opportunity to talk about that and

53:58

be able to maybe tell your list about

54:00

the premier day.

54:01

I would love that. I would love that. So thank

54:03

you so much, Jonathan, I appreciate

54:06

you, and until next.

54:08

Time, Until next time, much blessing

54:10

is.

54:11

Absolutely so

54:31

friends, and can this straight

54:33

fax question is kind of funny because it is

54:35

from my little cousin Lance

54:38

and this is hilarious,

54:41

but he submitted a form to

54:43

ask a question, and so here we go. Hey,

54:45

Mimi Walker, Lol,

54:48

is so funny saying that. But I have one serious

54:50

question and one funny question to ask and get

54:52

your perspective on. I'll start with the

54:54

serious one, and just so you

54:57

guys know, I'm only going to ask one of

54:59

the questions today. I'll say the other question for another

55:01

episode. So Lance goes on to

55:03

ask what are some deal

55:05

breakers and relationships

55:07

that are usually not brought up or

55:10

communicated when it comes to really

55:12

taking a person seriously. An

55:14

example I've heard was discussing your

55:16

partner's medical and mental

55:18

health family history, which

55:21

was something I never even thought of asking.

55:23

I wonder if there are some other questions more people

55:26

should be aware of and discuss with their partner

55:28

that people should know. PS.

55:32

This boy is crazy. PS. This

55:34

does not relate to my relationship at all.

55:36

Everything is amazing. And that's Lance

55:39

from Fort Washington, Maryland.

55:41

Okay, Lance, let's get into this. Some

55:44

things that I think should

55:47

be asked when

55:49

you are starting to date someone

55:51

seriously. I think when

55:56

it comes to dating seriously, I

56:00

don't know about asking about their famili's

56:03

medical history, but I would definitely

56:05

ask about their mental health

56:08

family history. And I mean the medical

56:10

history will come up too. I

56:12

mean it's just good to know. I

56:15

would ask about how

56:18

they feel about marriage, you know,

56:20

because that way you are

56:24

on the same page. Because if

56:26

I want to be married and I'm

56:28

dating a man who has no interest in being

56:30

married at all, and we've never discussed it.

56:33

It's a waste of time. I

56:36

would talk about children

56:40

because I think that someone

56:43

wanting children and someone else not wanting

56:45

children that should probably

56:47

be a deal breaker because if I want

56:49

to have kids and you don't, why

56:53

am I with you? If I know that that's

56:55

not what I want. I

56:57

think another thing to discuss is

57:01

not necessarily finances in terms

57:03

of what people

57:07

do with their finances and how much they

57:09

make and things like that, but how

57:12

they feel about investments, how

57:15

they feel about saving I think

57:17

these are good things to ask. Another

57:20

thing that I would ask about in terms

57:22

of children is how they feel about

57:24

disciplining children, like

57:27

what does that look like for them? Because

57:29

people will get together and they will have children

57:32

together and never stop to talk

57:34

about their concepts and their

57:36

ideologies around disciplining

57:39

children. Because some people believe in

57:41

that whole spare the rod, spoil the child, spank

57:44

the kid thing, and everybody

57:47

is not into whooping

57:50

kids right. Some people

57:52

will be

57:56

into gentle parenting and the other person

57:59

will be into punishing, and

58:02

that is going to present an issue.

58:06

Another thing that I think people

58:09

should talk about is relationships

58:11

with their families, because I

58:14

personally come from It's funny.

58:16

My cousins and I were talking about this last

58:19

week on the way to my cousin's birthday party.

58:24

I

58:26

have a very close knit family, right,

58:29

and so I would

58:31

love to be in a relationship with someone

58:33

who is, you know, family oriented,

58:36

who understands and respects the

58:42

what's the word I'm looking for, you

58:44

know, the black family, and like the closeness

58:47

of a family,

58:49

what it's rooted in, and

58:52

I would want them to have the same thing with their

58:55

family. But if they don't, that's

58:57

still okay as long as you know, you respect

58:59

that my family that we're

59:02

that way. And one

59:05

of my cousins went on to say, well,

59:07

what if he is not family oriented,

59:09

and I said, well, he cannot be, but

59:13

I'm going. I'm going to the family

59:15

function like he ain't gotta go.

59:17

I mean, I would want to be in a relationship

59:20

with somebody who would want to go, and

59:22

if he's close with his family, I would want

59:25

to go to his family's functions. But

59:28

I'm going with my family and

59:31

he can come if you want to come, But if he don't,

59:34

I'm still going, like I'm

59:36

going to be with my family and

59:40

it's up to you. Like I'm not gonna keep begging

59:43

anybody to do that, but

59:46

me and my family, we is going to get together.

59:49

It's what we do. We get together for all kinds of things.

59:52

The baby could be turning four, the puppy

59:54

could be having a birthday, Easter,

1:00:00

super Bowl, Football Sundays,

1:00:03

Basketball, All Star Game. Like,

1:00:05

we get together. We and not

1:00:07

just the major holidays. We gonna get together

1:00:09

the other holidays too. So I think

1:00:11

that's another thing that people

1:00:14

don't talk about. And another

1:00:16

one is like spiritual beliefs.

1:00:19

People don't talk about that. They

1:00:21

only talk about, Oh, are you a Christian? Or you a Muslim?

1:00:23

Are you this or you that. I think

1:00:26

talking about spiritual beliefs

1:00:28

and spirituality and religion

1:00:30

is really important because

1:00:34

that can determine a lot

1:00:38

a lot in terms

1:00:40

of, you know, how people

1:00:43

move and how they navigate in life.

1:00:46

It also has a lot to do with like

1:00:49

their outlook. You know, are they really

1:00:51

negative? Most of the time negative people

1:00:53

don't even acknowledge or admit that they're negative.

1:00:56

They just say that they're realists. I hate

1:00:58

that, it's so ridiculous. Please,

1:01:01

but I think those are things

1:01:03

that are really important. I can't think of

1:01:06

any more in this moment. But

1:01:08

of course there are more. But those are the ones, including

1:01:10

the two that you mentioned, Lance, that

1:01:14

I would say you would want

1:01:16

to discuss before

1:01:19

or as you are getting serious with someone

1:01:21

else. For

1:01:25

today's we got to do better. I

1:01:28

went and I

1:01:31

got a quote from Auntie Alice Walker.

1:01:33

I love Alice Walker. Shout out

1:01:35

to Alice Walker and shout out

1:01:38

to the original Color

1:01:40

Purple book and

1:01:42

film.

1:01:46

This quote. I wonder if

1:01:48

I've used this before. If

1:01:51

I did, I don't care, because somewhere

1:01:53

somebody needs to hear it today, and it

1:01:55

might be me. It says,

1:01:58

don't wait around for other people

1:02:00

to be happy for you. Any

1:02:03

happiness you get, you've

1:02:05

got to make yourself. Look

1:02:11

at the Lord working it out for me. Jesus,

1:02:13

Jesus, Jesus. Don't wait around

1:02:16

for other people to be happy for you. Any

1:02:18

happiness that you get, you've

1:02:21

got to make yourself. And once

1:02:23

again that was Auntie Alice Walker. The

1:02:32

first thing I want to do is say thank you to God,

1:02:34

who is supreme, and

1:02:37

I recognize and appreciate the grace, the

1:02:40

mercy, and all of the wonderful

1:02:42

blessings that God has extended to me.

1:02:44

And continues to extend to

1:02:46

me every single day of my black ass life.

1:02:48

I want to say thank you to God for making me black.

1:02:51

I'm grateful. Being black is an honor,

1:02:54

being black as a privilege, being black is

1:02:56

a blessing. And some people may not understand

1:02:59

why. I'm saying that some people don't get it.

1:03:01

But if you know, you know, and if you

1:03:03

don't, that's not really my problem.

1:03:06

Thanks God for making me black. Thank you God for

1:03:08

Black History Months, Thanks for Cartegie

1:03:10

Woodson. Thanks for Negro

1:03:12

History Week, which turned into a

1:03:15

Negro History Month, which is now Black History

1:03:17

Month, where we get to celebrate where

1:03:20

the world chooses to celebrate

1:03:23

the accomplishments and the wonderful

1:03:26

contributions of Black Americans

1:03:30

to society. I want

1:03:32

to say shout out to Usher

1:03:35

for his super

1:03:38

Bowl performance. It was fucking amazing.

1:03:43

I want to say shout out to God

1:03:46

bless Alicia Keys in that first note that she

1:03:48

belted out during the Super Bowl, God

1:03:50

bless our heart. And

1:03:54

shout out to Beyonce. Giselle

1:03:57

knows Carter for being bold

1:03:59

and brave and

1:04:02

telling us and letting us know that she is

1:04:05

releasing Renaissance Act two. We

1:04:07

know that they're four acts on

1:04:10

March twenty ninth, and it's going to be

1:04:12

a country themed And I just

1:04:14

saw something on the internet that she is going

1:04:16

on tour again. You know what, She's

1:04:19

a wild girl. You just gonna take our

1:04:21

money forever for the next four years. Mionce,

1:04:24

Is that what you're gonna do. Shout out to Beyonce

1:04:26

for being bold, not

1:04:29

giving a fuck and saying fuck y'all, I'm

1:04:31

taking y'all money. Moving

1:04:35

forward, I want to say thank you to my folks.

1:04:37

I want to say thank you to all of the people who

1:04:39

have been rolling with me since day one, and

1:04:41

that's March first, twenty

1:04:44

twenty. I appreciate you. I thank you and I'm grateful

1:04:46

for you. I appreciate you for being

1:04:48

here. And even if you just started listening to hand me my

1:04:50

purse today, I thank you for that as well. Either

1:04:53

way you play the cards, I'm grateful.

1:04:56

I'm thankful for my family. I love them.

1:04:58

My friends, my friends are really my

1:05:01

family that I selected. I hand

1:05:03

selected them to be a

1:05:05

part of my family. My

1:05:08

friends and kim all y'all listening,

1:05:10

my supporters, you guys

1:05:12

listening are the reason that I

1:05:14

do this every single week. I love y'all

1:05:16

so much, and it's nothing short of

1:05:18

an honor of privilege and a blessing to be

1:05:20

able to just share my voice, share

1:05:23

my thoughts, my time, my energy with you, especially

1:05:25

if you keep coming back every week to listen to

1:05:27

this. If you just listen, if you keep coming

1:05:30

back to listen to what I got to say, you

1:05:33

wonder we rolling

1:05:35

It's us, It's us. We is Togema, and

1:05:38

I look forward to the next time that I get to do this

1:05:40

with you. Now, before you exit out of

1:05:42

whatever streaming service you're using to listen

1:05:44

to this show, stop what

1:05:46

you're doing, and if you haven't already done so, look for the

1:05:48

subscribe or follow button. Click

1:05:51

on it if it's an option on the streaming service

1:05:53

where you're listening, and then I want you to

1:05:55

go over to Instagram and follow

1:05:57

me at Handing Me my Purse

1:06:00

Underscore podcast. Then

1:06:03

go to threads and

1:06:05

you can get to threads from my Instagram

1:06:07

profile. Follow me there, and then

1:06:09

on Facebook just search Handing

1:06:12

my Purse podcast. Follow me on

1:06:14

there like it. Do all the things,

1:06:16

because those are the places where I put most

1:06:19

of the updates,

1:06:21

information posts, and all my beautiful

1:06:24

Neon inspired social

1:06:26

media posts anyway. If you listen on a streaming

1:06:29

service or a medium that allows you to do so,

1:06:31

do me a favor. Please please rate

1:06:35

and review Handing My Purse on Apple Podcasts

1:06:38

if you will. Can you do that for me? On

1:06:41

Spotify? Leave me a message? Okay,

1:06:44

you can ask a question on there. You can say, hey,

1:06:46

Mimi, I think your show is awesome. Hey

1:06:48

me me your show sucks. If

1:06:50

that's how you feel. Either way, take

1:06:53

a few minutes out and do that. I would

1:06:56

really appreciate it. I really really would.

1:06:59

I'm not even lying. It would make me really happy.

1:07:02

Friends and can be sure to share hand Me my Purse

1:07:04

with your friends, your loved ones, and

1:07:06

even people that get on your goddamn nerves.

1:07:08

Because the best way for anybody and everybody

1:07:11

to find out about this show is by you guys

1:07:13

telling them all about it. So tell a

1:07:15

friend to tell a friend, to tell a

1:07:17

friend to

1:07:21

tell a friend. Please submit

1:07:23

your questions for the straight Fact segment

1:07:25

by clicking on the link in the

1:07:27

show notes that says submit

1:07:30

a question for straight Facts. It's a

1:07:32

link, It's there, It's right

1:07:34

by the jam. I made it really easy for you

1:07:37

to submit a question, or you can

1:07:39

click the link in my Instagram profile and

1:07:41

look for the button that says submit

1:07:45

a question. Okay, your question might

1:07:47

be the next question that I read on an upcoming show.

1:07:49

Also, remember that show notes are always available

1:07:52

on the episode description. Wherever you're

1:07:54

listening to the show, be sure to take a look

1:07:56

at show notes because that is where I put all of the

1:07:58

links and other information that I'm mentioned during

1:08:00

the show that you may want to check out, in

1:08:02

addition to some stuff that I just want

1:08:04

you to have access to. Also, just

1:08:06

so you know, the music for hand Me My Purse

1:08:09

the podcast is provided by

1:08:11

the one and only West Baltimore's

1:08:13

own Gloomy Tunes. Last,

1:08:19

but not least, I want to give a big old shout out

1:08:21

to my producers. Together we make up

1:08:24

Rando, Benjamin and the

1:08:26

Dirty Roots. I

1:08:29

look forward to you, friends

1:08:31

and ken looking forward to listening

1:08:34

to hand Me My Person Podcasts each

1:08:36

and every Tuesday. And you know what I'm

1:08:38

out this bitch piece. Hand

1:08:43

Me My Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts.

1:08:46

For more shows from iHeart Podcasts, visit

1:08:48

the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

1:08:50

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.