Podchaser Logo
Home
442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

Released Thursday, 25th January 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

442 // Da Vinci the Schnauzer w/ Christina Blount

Thursday, 25th January 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:00

Hello, it is Ryan and I was on a

0:02

flight the other day playing one of my favorite

0:04

social spin slot games on Chumba casino.com I looked

0:06

over the person sitting next to me and you

0:08

know what they were doing? They were also playing

0:11

Chumba Casino. Coincidence? I think not. Everybody's loving having

0:13

fun with it. Chumba Casino is home to hundreds

0:15

of casino style games that you can play

0:17

for free anytime, anywhere, even at

0:19

30,000 feet. So sign

0:21

up now at chumbacasino.com to claim your

0:23

free welcome bonus. That's chumbacasino.com and live

0:25

the Chumba life. No purchase necessary. VTW. Avoid

0:28

or prohibited by law. See terms and conditions.

0:30

Judy was boring. Hello,

0:33

then Judy discovered chumbacacino.com.

0:35

It's my little escape Now Judy's

0:37

the life of the party. Oh, baby. Mama's

0:39

bringing home the bacon. Whoa, take

0:41

it easy, Judy The

0:44

chumbalike is for everybody So go to

0:46

chumbacacino.com and play over a hundred casino

0:49

style games join today and play for

0:51

free for your chance to redeem some

0:53

serious prices chumbacacino.com

0:55

no purchase necessary for prohibited by law 18

0:58

plus terms and conditions apply see website for

1:00

details You

1:43

Welcome back to missing I'm Tim here

1:45

today with Lance Lance. How are you

1:47

today? I'm doing fantastic today Tim I

1:49

love it when we have these special episodes where we can

1:52

Present to the audience a bit of a

1:54

gift that we received This is something that

1:56

came to us through the nonprofit that we

1:59

are on the board of that most

2:01

people are aware of, private investigations for the

2:03

missing. This is not a

2:05

typical investigation for the

2:07

missing that our

2:09

famed detective, Lou Berry,

2:12

worked on, but it was presented to us.

2:14

And when that happened, I don't know about you, Tim, but

2:17

I felt like this was a gift. We got

2:19

to present something special to the audience and we

2:21

got something special too. Yeah. Well,

2:23

it's an amazing story and private investigations for

2:25

the missing is the nonprofit that you mentioned,

2:27

Lance, that we're on the board of. Lou

2:30

Berry is also on the board of it

2:32

and he's going to join us in this

2:34

first segment. What private

2:36

investigations for the missing does

2:38

is investigate missing persons cases when

2:40

families don't have the means to

2:43

do so themselves. And typically it's

2:45

cold cases. But what PIs

2:47

for the missing doesn't do is investigate

2:49

missing animals. And

2:52

this episode is actually about

2:54

a missing dog named Da

2:56

Vinci who Lou Berry helped

2:58

locate. But the tie in

3:00

here is that the owner of Da Vinci,

3:02

Da Vinci's friend, Christina, was

3:05

missing and trafficked at one point

3:07

in the past. And so Christina

3:09

joins us in this conversation as well in

3:11

the second segment. I love how you said

3:13

her friend. And I just think

3:16

it's a remarkable set of circumstances when someone

3:18

in her position has this pet friend and

3:21

this is a living being that helped her

3:23

get through the most

3:25

difficult time in her life to help her recover.

3:28

And that friend goes missing. And I

3:30

just love the set of circumstances when

3:32

she reached out to private investigations

3:35

for the missing. And I'm

3:37

not going to give the details of the

3:39

email because I believe Lou says what exactly

3:41

it was in that email, the context of

3:43

it that really kind of tugged at Lou's

3:45

heartstrings. And as you and I know, Tim,

3:48

for Lou to have heartstrings and

3:51

for somebody to actually be able to tug them

3:53

is pretty impressive. Well, he's a dog guy.

3:56

So, you know, in several of our interviews

3:58

with Lou, you can hear his

4:00

dogs. And Christina becomes the first

4:02

official person on this show to

4:05

have an interview with us from the

4:07

Statue of Liberty. Yeah, I thought that

4:09

was very fitting actually that she

4:11

did this conversation from this

4:13

cafe right next to

4:16

the Statue of Liberty. Well, you think about it

4:18

in a metaphorical sense. You have somebody who came

4:20

out of captivity right there at

4:22

the base of Lady Liberty, the symbol of

4:24

freedom. So I don't know if she intended

4:27

this to be highly symbolic, but that's

4:29

how I'm going to take it now. And again, this

4:31

is the gift that I was talking

4:33

about. And speaking of dogs and cats

4:35

and pets, Tim, as you know, there's

4:37

really severe weather patterns

4:40

happening all throughout the country, significant

4:43

cold weather happening in areas that don't

4:45

typically experience significant cold. So we just

4:47

wanted to put it out there. If

4:49

you have a pet, please be mindful

4:52

of your pet's comfort and safety

4:54

in these situations, in these conditions.

4:56

Make sure they're properly equipped when

4:58

taking them outside and making

5:00

sure they're comfortable and don't

5:02

walk your dog through areas that have all

5:05

of that rock salt if they're trying to

5:07

melt the ice. I mean, that just rips

5:09

up the dog's paws. So just be mindful.

5:12

Just wanted to give a quick PSA there.

5:14

All right, everyone. Thanks a lot for listening.

5:16

We're going to play the first segment with

5:18

Lou Barry now. But first, we're going to

5:21

take a quick commercial break and we'll be

5:23

right back with Lou Barry of PIs for

5:25

the Missing. Lou

5:41

Barry, welcome back to the podcast. How are

5:43

you today? Great. Thanks.

5:46

Always a pleasure. How's everything with you? Yeah, things

5:49

are going really, really well over here. We're

5:51

coming off of this conversation that

5:53

you had directed us toward. It's

5:56

a private investigation for the missing

5:59

related. case a related

6:01

story But not typical

6:04

to what private investigations for the

6:06

missing does on a regular

6:08

basis But before we get to that, I know

6:11

Hundreds of thousands of people already know who you are But

6:14

can you just give us a brief rundown

6:16

of you and what you've done and your

6:19

position with the organization? Well, I spent about

6:21

35 years in law enforcement 24

6:24

is chief and Then

6:26

retired became did some private investigating

6:29

and got involved with mr. Maitland

6:31

on his daughter's case Brianna and

6:34

then Subsequently through that got involved

6:36

in the nonprofit private investigations for the

6:38

missing through them My role

6:41

primarily is to screen cases when they

6:43

come in a case

6:45

request I talked to the family and talked to

6:47

law enforcement and then determine Number

6:51

one if it fits our criteria

6:53

and if so make a

6:55

recommendation to the board of directors and if they decide

6:58

that it's a case that

7:00

we you know can take on and

7:02

I find a competent

7:04

private investigator and They

7:07

basically turn it over to them and they

7:09

run with it. And what is the mission

7:11

of private investigations for the missing? It was

7:13

started by Bruce Through

7:16

a conversation he had was actually with Greg

7:18

over actor who's put in a number of

7:20

hours Brianna's case obviously

7:23

himself since the mid

7:25

2000s. I think early 2000s Bruce

7:28

recognized the need for private

7:32

investigators to assist families particularly

7:34

in cold cases because Law

7:37

enforcement gets kind of overwhelmed at times. They

7:39

don't have the resources on

7:41

many Occasions to be

7:44

able to devote to cases as they

7:47

Get historic in nature And

7:50

they have a tendency to sit on a shelf

7:53

and gather dust and as time goes by by

7:55

less and less it's done on

7:57

a case actively so Bruce recognized

7:59

the value of private

8:02

investigators that could concentrate and

8:04

work with and for the

8:06

family. So that's why

8:09

he started the organization. And that's basically

8:11

what we do. We provide

8:13

families of missing

8:15

persons, specifically called

8:18

case missing persons, because many,

8:21

many of the requests that we get in are

8:23

very fresh within days, weeks, months.

8:25

And we just can't

8:27

handle the volume. We've had over, I

8:30

think, 175 case requests since January 1st.

8:33

Obviously, we rely on

8:35

donations and we just don't have

8:37

the resources to devote a private

8:39

investigator to all those cases. This

8:42

is probably a great time to

8:44

cut in and mention that PIs

8:46

for the Missing does run on

8:48

your donations. If you've got any

8:50

room in your budget, we know

8:52

PIs for the Missing really appreciates

8:54

your donation. Check out investigationsforthemissing.org. Okay,

8:57

so tell us about what happened

9:00

with this case when Christina Blunt

9:02

emailed you. She

9:04

mentioned her email. Would you be able

9:06

to discuss that a little bit?

9:09

Yeah, she contacted us and

9:11

was looking for a private investigator. She told

9:13

me a little bit about her background. I'm

9:15

not sure how much she shared with you

9:17

about that. She said that

9:19

she was suffering from PTSD as

9:21

a result of what she had

9:24

gone through as a victim. She

9:26

had an emotional support animal,

9:28

specifically a dog named Da

9:30

Vinci who was a schnauzer. She explained

9:33

that last April she had gone

9:35

somewhere or something and left it with a

9:37

so-called friend. When

9:39

she got back and went to get the dog,

9:41

the dog wasn't there. The friend said that she'd

9:44

give her a couple of stories and she'd given it away or

9:46

that it was in Florida, it was in a shelter. So

9:49

I explained to her that we don't

9:51

do dogs. We

9:53

do missing persons. Yet I

9:57

felt bad for her because I realized, just

9:59

in talking. to her how much

10:01

this dog meant to her and how

10:03

much of an asset it was to

10:05

a person in her type

10:08

of situation. So I told

10:10

her I try and help her as best I could anyways

10:13

and subsequently

10:15

located the woman that she had left the dog

10:18

with who had moved and not told her where

10:20

she had moved to so she couldn't find her.

10:23

She had been to animal control and they said hey

10:25

there's nothing we can do we don't know where the

10:27

woman is we don't know where the dog is we

10:29

can't help you. So I located the woman anyways and

10:32

supplied her with that information and

10:34

she subsequently supplied

10:36

that information to animal

10:38

control who went out

10:41

and found the dog I

10:43

guess was in a shelter right down the

10:45

street from where the person lived. So

10:48

I think on Thanksgiving day

10:50

she was reunited with DaVinci

10:53

and they returned to New York. So it was pretty

10:55

you know it was a a

10:57

good feeling to be able to help the girl out even

11:00

though again it's not

11:02

a person it was a dog but still

11:05

you know we're in the business of helping people and that's what

11:07

we did I guess. What was it

11:09

about her initial request

11:12

that stood out in a way where

11:14

you felt like this is something that

11:16

you needed to be a part of and help her

11:18

out with? Something she said really

11:21

kind of hit home with what we're doing now

11:23

and that's one of the things she said

11:25

is I I wish this organization

11:27

had been around back when I was

11:30

a victim because she said no

11:32

one looked for me. I felt bad that we

11:34

weren't around and there wasn't

11:36

an organization back then that could look

11:38

for her. I know maybe that was

11:41

part of it. I maybe I just have a soft

11:44

spot for victims and dogs.

11:49

So how was Christina reunited with DaVinci?

11:51

As far as I know she took

11:54

the bus down. She

11:56

lives somewhere in New York. I assume New York City although I

11:58

don't know that for a fact. and she,

12:01

this was down in Maryland. So

12:03

as far as I believe, she

12:06

took the bus down because I

12:08

know she said on Thanksgiving day, she

12:10

and DaVinci returned on the bus to New

12:12

York. So, but my guess is that that's

12:15

what happened. Once they located the dog, I

12:18

did follow up with her afterwards. After

12:20

I'd given her the information and she told me the dog

12:22

had been located, I'd followed up maybe

12:24

a couple of days after Thanksgiving to see how she

12:26

made out. That's when she told me that she had

12:29

been reunited, spent Thanksgiving

12:31

day on the bus back to New

12:33

York. It's a really cool story that

12:35

ended in a really positive way. Having

12:38

the capability to look into something like

12:41

that and providing the information to someone

12:43

to make it all happen is

12:46

really remarkable. And I'm wondering if you

12:49

would be open to doing this more often with

12:51

pets. No.

12:55

No. No. Like

12:59

I said, we had 175 cases come in since January.

13:04

So that really, really can get

13:06

time consuming. He's making

13:09

phone calls, waiting for phone calls to come

13:11

back. Sometimes

13:13

it can take two weeks just to

13:15

get contact established and get things rolling.

13:18

So although I'd love to be able to

13:20

help people with it, I

13:22

really can't commit the nonprofit, obviously

13:24

to doing that. That's

13:27

just not the focus of it, that's all.

13:29

Not to say that a similar

13:31

situation ever arose that I'd turn them

13:33

down, but I wouldn't

13:35

wanna give anyone false hope or

13:38

information out there and certainly wouldn't

13:40

wanna commit the nonprofit into expanding

13:42

our role. She's

13:46

very lucky. From

13:48

what I know of a

13:51

trafficking victim, she's very lucky to get out

13:53

of that situation. Another

13:56

thing that I think is

13:58

notable, in her case, you

14:01

know, she's African-American. You know, unfortunately,

14:03

I hate to

14:05

say this, but even fewer resources are

14:08

put in my experience towards people

14:10

of color, indigenous

14:12

people. It's

14:14

too bad, but they don't have

14:16

the support structure many

14:19

times. And I know nothing of her background

14:21

whatsoever, but it sounded

14:23

like she didn't really have family that was supportive

14:27

or, you know, I don't know. Or at

14:29

least there was no one, according to her,

14:31

no one was looking for her, which is

14:33

kind of sad, and that

14:35

still goes on, I think. People get

14:37

trafficked and go missing, and no

14:40

one looks for them. Well, in fact,

14:42

our first quote find from

14:44

the nonprofit was a young

14:46

African-American male runaway, and

14:49

we found him, and no one had

14:51

been looking for him. You know, he

14:53

had run away at 16 and put in a

14:55

database, and that was the end of that, you

14:58

know, when we did locate him safe and sound

15:00

in Maryland, actually. That's

15:03

just, you know, another aspect

15:06

of things that, where I

15:08

hope the nonprofit can help out. And

15:10

I think that's Bruce's intent also. That's one

15:13

of the reasons he started it. You know,

15:15

many times these cases that get a lot

15:17

of attention are spurred

15:19

by the media, and the media, as

15:22

pointed out by the Gabby Petito case,

15:24

you know, that the pretty girl from

15:26

the suburbs, it's gone missing. That's the

15:29

tension grabber for the media, and that's

15:32

the cases that get attention. It's too bad. I

15:34

mean, not that they shouldn't, but they

15:38

all should, you know. You

15:40

know, ironically, the dog being

15:42

an emotional support animal is

15:45

helping her as a trafficking

15:47

victim, and in a sense,

15:49

the dog got trafficked, and she took

15:51

the efforts to find the dog and,

15:53

you know, rescue the dog,

15:56

so to speak. And we'll be right

15:58

back after a quick word from our sponsor. Thanks

16:03

to our sponsors and now we're back to the program.

16:06

And now here is Christina speaking about

16:08

how she was missing and trafficked in

16:10

the past. We have been looking

16:12

forward to this conversation with you because it's a little

16:14

bit different than the usual conversations that we have. It's

16:17

a great refreshing change of pace but

16:20

this has become even better because

16:22

we have never had a guest

16:24

come on who is

16:26

about to record with us

16:29

and then they say I had to go to the Statue of

16:31

Liberty to do so. Yeah,

16:33

pretty much. Why are you at the

16:36

Statue of Liberty? I don't know.

16:38

I just, I went to a Christmas party

16:40

so I was off of class this morning

16:42

and I don't

16:45

know. I just was around the Statue of

16:47

Liberty. I was going to get on the

16:49

ferry to Staten Island and then

16:51

I saw the Statue of Liberty and

16:54

I was like, well, payday pass, I

16:56

don't see why not. I have the

16:58

time and it's no better day

17:00

than today. And I'm celebrating because

17:03

I'm actually releasing music soon at the

17:05

end of the year, Christmas Eve. So

17:08

it's kind of a celebratory type of thing. Oh,

17:11

very cool. Congratulations. Thank you.

17:13

What kind of music? I do poetic hip-hop.

17:15

Nice. I

17:18

actually originally was going to come out under

17:21

the artist's name, Missing Black Girl because

17:24

I was a missing teen. But

17:26

I felt like the name was a little

17:28

too triggering and all

17:31

the subject matter. I was actually

17:33

trafficked when I was missing. So

17:35

it was kind of triggering and a little depressing.

17:38

So now I'm coming out as the artist named Butter

17:40

and it feels a lot

17:42

lighter. It's

17:44

more based on love and healing

17:47

after the trauma and things like that

17:49

than just based in the trauma. This

17:51

has already been one of my favorite interviews so far

17:53

this year. Thank you. That's

17:56

amazing. How did you decide that? was

18:00

the style of music that you wanted

18:02

to pursue? Well, so I

18:05

was, I've been a poet since

18:07

I was about 12, 13 years old,

18:09

I'd say about 12. I

18:11

also did music. I played three instruments,

18:13

piano, trumpet, and front horn. I

18:15

was in the church choir. So I've

18:18

always loved music and I'm always

18:20

so poetry and I secretly

18:22

liked hip-hop when I was a kid.

18:25

So I say secretly because I had

18:28

two older brothers and whenever we got

18:30

the radio to be able to change

18:32

from oldies 100 and gospel music, you

18:35

know, we'd be fighting over the radio and

18:37

I'd be like, I want to listen to

18:39

pop, but you

18:42

know, so it was just

18:44

a natural evolution of, I guess, where

18:46

my music would have gone. So

18:49

still keeping with poetry, but not

18:51

quite like spoken word. So

18:54

more of the beat of hip-hop. Very

18:57

cool. And where can we listen

19:00

to that when it's available? It

19:02

will be on all platforms. You

19:05

know, starting Christmas Eve and I'll make sure

19:07

to keep you all updated. Okay, cool.

19:10

Thank you. Thank you. I saw a French

19:12

horn once. It

19:14

scared the crap out of me. I don't know. I

19:17

don't know how you do it. Good for you. I

19:19

love the awesome instrument, honestly. The

19:21

tones are so mellow and it just,

19:24

you feel like an instrument yourself

19:27

when you play it, honestly. Because

19:29

you have to do the most. You

19:32

have to play with the

19:34

opposite hand of the trumpet, but

19:36

then you use the hand that you were playing

19:39

with the trumpet and you kind of use it

19:41

to kind of round out

19:43

and mellow out those tones. So I

19:45

actually look forward to playing again one

19:47

day. I actually

19:49

stopped playing instruments when

19:51

I left home, so bittersweet.

19:54

Would you want to talk about that at all

19:56

when you were missing and trafficked? Yeah.

20:00

I actually, I was

20:02

17 and an

20:04

at-risk youth and stuff like that

20:06

had kind of already gone through

20:08

a lot of traumatic events and things

20:11

like that. And I

20:13

had a medical emergency as

20:15

I would say. I was a little

20:18

manic and ended up going

20:20

missing. And within two days, I was

20:22

being trafficked in another state. Yeah,

20:26

like literally the worst case scenario

20:28

happened. So now that

20:30

that's over, I'm ready to live. There's

20:34

only one way to go from there. So

20:38

luckily I was out of

20:40

that life within two years

20:43

by the age of 18. I was 18 or 19. And

20:48

just kind of a rebuilding sense. It's been a

20:50

little rough, just having a title, missing person. It's

20:57

not as, I mean, it doesn't sound

20:59

fun, but it's

21:02

a hard life because you go through the

21:04

years of being missing, but going through some

21:06

of the things I went through, it

21:09

seemed like everybody kind of turned

21:11

into, in my point of view,

21:13

an enemy, not really an enemy, but like,

21:15

oh, the police don't care about me. Well,

21:17

my family didn't, it doesn't feel like they

21:19

look for me. The

21:22

world just kind of becomes an

21:25

opposing force and even

21:28

trying to make it back into

21:30

being a part of the world is difficult.

21:32

Because there's a lot to get through. Just

21:35

even getting your ID and your birth certificate

21:37

and having to get your social security card,

21:39

those three things right there is hard enough.

21:41

But then to, do I get a GED?

21:44

How do I get a job? And how

21:46

does the world even work when

21:48

you're kind of living as

21:50

a product of the black market? Like,

21:53

it gets weird. I

21:55

think it is incredibly important to have this discussion

21:57

with you because we talk about a lot of...

21:59

missing individuals that come from at-risk environments,

22:02

whether it's their community or whether it's

22:04

their family or a number of circumstances,

22:06

but no one really

22:09

talks about the trafficking thing in a

22:11

serious way. It's

22:13

like we talk about a missing

22:15

individual and the idea or the

22:18

one hypothesis is that, oh, maybe they were

22:21

trafficked. And that's typically where the conversation ends.

22:23

We try to elaborate on it, but I

22:25

don't know why. Maybe it

22:27

has something to do with how you

22:30

said you were a product of the black market.

22:32

No one wants to think about that. No one

22:34

wants to think about a 16, 17-year-old young woman

22:38

going into this black market because

22:40

that's about as

22:42

dark as it gets.

22:45

So I think it's important to see someone like yourself come

22:47

out of it. You're a musician,

22:49

you have a great story, a

22:52

great survivor story. Thank you. Oh,

22:55

thank you. But I'm

22:58

wondering, we don't really get an opportunity

23:00

to ask this question. When you were

23:02

taken, when you were missing, was

23:05

it immediately clear to

23:07

you that this was a trafficking situation or was

23:09

that like a gradual thing that happened? I

23:12

mean, I would say a little bit of

23:14

both. I mean, I knew within

23:16

the first days, like

23:18

what it was. Like

23:21

when you're literally watching money

23:23

exchange hands for you, like

23:26

it's kind of like a deep moment,

23:28

but at the same time, like it

23:30

was scary. And honestly, like I

23:33

just now in life started

23:35

getting support of different organizations

23:37

that have been helping me

23:39

finally get through. That's why I'm at the

23:41

Statue of Liberty today, because

23:44

I feel like I've finally reached that

23:46

point of liberty, but I remember the

23:48

first organization that ever approached me was

23:51

when I was on the track in

23:53

DC. And this

23:55

was within 24 hours of me

23:57

being missing. And I was missing from like 15.

24:00

minutes away in Maryland.

24:02

All they offered me was a list

24:04

of bad tricks and some

24:07

condoms. And I was like,

24:09

oh, this is my welcome party to hell.

24:11

That's what this is. Okay, so this is

24:14

really happening. So yeah, it was pretty apparent,

24:16

like in the beginning. But obviously when

24:19

I first went missing, like I didn't know what

24:21

was going to happen. And the crazy thing

24:24

about it, I actually just wrote a song

24:26

mentioning this. But when I left

24:28

home, like I was super romantic.

24:30

And I only brought

24:32

with me a backpack full of poetry.

24:35

I didn't bring food. I didn't bring

24:37

clothes. I didn't bring money. Like none

24:39

of the stuff that like a reasonable

24:41

person would pack to take on deserted

24:43

islands that I bring. I just

24:46

brought like pages and pages

24:48

and books and books of poetry that

24:50

I had written over what

24:52

three or four years I plan to

24:54

publish. And I was

24:57

telling because now it comes full circle and

24:59

I'm entering the world of hip

25:01

hop, which is based in poetry. So I'm

25:03

like, I guess I saved the right thing.

25:05

You know, it didn't get far. The poetry

25:07

didn't make it far. But I

25:09

guess it got further than I

25:11

could have expected because some of the

25:14

words that I speak in some of

25:16

my music even come from the

25:19

time while I was traffic, which I actually

25:21

had a 15 year writers block after

25:23

I was missing. So it

25:25

speaks volumes that some of

25:27

those words still broke through.

25:30

Wow, amazing. Thank you.

25:32

Yeah. How did you get

25:34

out of this situation? I had another

25:36

manic episode. I

25:39

know it sounds crazy, but you know, like

25:41

the way I went in was the way

25:43

I came out. And I, I mean, I

25:45

don't know what y'all's beliefs are, right? So I

25:48

was really manic and I actually

25:50

have this song called angels and

25:53

I swore I saw angels. I just

25:55

remember like really like praying, praying, praying

25:57

really, really hard to get out of

25:59

my current situation. I was like, I'm gonna

26:01

die like this. And I don't know, I

26:03

felt like I was rescued by angels. I

26:06

don't know, I can't explain it. But I

26:08

told a gorilla pimp to his face I

26:10

was leaving, and he didn't put a hand

26:12

on me. It was shocking because, you know,

26:14

people always ask the

26:16

ignorant question of, oh,

26:18

well, when you're trafficked and

26:21

you're like off on your own, why don't

26:23

you just leave? I don't like nobody's holding

26:25

a gun to your head. Nobody. There is

26:27

so much mental bondage

26:30

that happens when you're

26:32

in slavery. And I didn't

26:35

realize until after I got out how

26:37

much bondage I was in, like I

26:40

was literally walking a beach for like

26:42

80 blocks. And so I

26:44

kind of just like, figured it

26:46

out. And then she jumped on a bus

26:48

and went to Atlanta and started a new

26:50

life. I mean, it didn't go that smoothly,

26:52

but you know, I was

26:55

free. But it was a lot of,

26:58

you know, you have Stockholm syndrome, you

27:00

have the whole thing I was saying

27:03

about, oh, nobody on the planet cares

27:05

about me for real. Love,

27:07

you know, my heart was butchered before I

27:09

even had the chance to fall in love.

27:12

The stereotypes, the way I judge

27:14

myself, you know, the thing,

27:17

me feeling like I was a sinner. Is

27:20

anybody ever going to love me? Like,

27:22

how do I do life? I'm so

27:24

lost. And then

27:26

the crazy thing is, back

27:29

in, this was, it would have been

27:31

around 2008 when I got out

27:33

of the life. So there weren't,

27:35

even though there may have been some

27:38

organizations popping up or some may have

27:40

been available, we didn't have smartphones like

27:42

we do today. We didn't have resources

27:44

readily at our fingertips. So I

27:47

was literally winging it. Like, I

27:49

didn't have utilized any resources to

27:52

get out of what I was in. I just, I

27:55

don't know, somehow made it. And it

27:57

was a longer road for me. having

28:00

had to do that and that's kind

28:02

of why I want to utilize my

28:05

gifts to Make it an

28:07

easier road for somebody else honestly because I'm

28:09

35 now and I got out when

28:11

I was Like I

28:13

said 18 19 and I'm

28:15

just now getting to a point in a lot in

28:18

my life where I'm feeling free Yeah,

28:20

it took some time. It's not some

28:22

time. It's still a work in progress, but I'm

28:24

on to the good part Yeah,

28:27

good good. And how do you even

28:30

begin to start? I know right it was

28:32

it was a lot of picking up the pieces

28:35

and even since then like, you know,

28:37

obviously We connected

28:39

after I had you know I

28:41

don't I do a PTSD as

28:43

well and I wasn't even

28:45

diagnosed a PTSD until I was about

28:48

30 years old So I

28:50

didn't know how to manage it, you know

28:52

you think a PTSD and you think of

28:54

war vets but you know, and I'm

28:56

getting a little emotional now, but I Went

28:59

through a lot like literally, you know, and this was

29:01

2006 to 2008 when I was traffic So

29:04

it's not like I was on the internet.

29:06

I wasn't just sitting around a house being

29:08

shopped on the internet I was literally on

29:11

a track like jumping in and out of

29:13

cars not knowing You know, is

29:15

this gonna be the last car I get into

29:17

I've looked into the eyes of serial killers And

29:19

I don't know that for a fact But I

29:22

literally been in the car with somebody who like

29:24

just stopped speaking Blanked out parked

29:26

the car by some warehouses and went to

29:28

his trunk and popped it and I'm

29:30

taking off running in Five-inch heels

29:33

like, you know, like I've lived

29:35

through some stuff as a teenager I was

29:37

like forced to grow up and I mean,

29:40

I used said where do you start? Like I don't know

29:42

I mean me I believe in God

29:44

and I believe in My

29:46

gifts that that I've been given which was

29:48

one of them was poetry so even

29:51

though I wasn't writing at the time like

29:53

I kind of had to Find

29:56

other ways to express myself artistically and

29:58

that kind of got me me

30:00

through. I got comfortable with being

30:02

nomadic, so I moved all

30:04

over the East Coast. Like nowhere

30:07

felt like home. I went

30:09

for a long time without having friends because I

30:11

didn't know how to be a friend. Like it

30:14

was weird. Even tried dating once.

30:16

That didn't work out. Ended up

30:18

in a D.V. situation. But anyway,

30:20

I mean, so I don't know.

30:22

I just I just finally

30:25

am being patient with myself and

30:27

not trying to like fix

30:29

every piece of me because a lot was

30:31

broken. A lot happened. And I

30:34

don't think most people can really

30:37

fathom what it would have been like

30:39

to not even just be trafficked.

30:43

But being a missing person

30:45

and being a teenager and

30:47

being an African-American. It's crazy

30:50

to me. And this is

30:52

for all missing people, right? It

30:55

blows my mind that I

30:58

was arrested repetitively as a

31:00

teenager, charged as an adult

31:02

for prostitution. They ran my

31:04

fingerprints and I was on the

31:06

missing and sweaty person list. I

31:09

had an active APV out of me at one point.

31:12

Why is it that you have a system

31:14

that if you run your fingerprints, they could

31:16

find warrants, they could find out if

31:18

you lied about your name, but they

31:20

don't have anything that coincides

31:22

with the missing and sweaty person

31:25

list, with active APBs, with missing

31:27

teens. And honestly, like when

31:29

I make a deal, because I'm going to claim it,

31:31

you know, and I have the

31:33

money to do so. We have so much

31:35

technology now. We're on to doing AI things.

31:38

Like it really just takes getting

31:40

the right people together and finding

31:42

a way so that people

31:44

aren't falling through the holes. Because you

31:47

have, if you think about the story

31:49

of who's a young lady, she was

31:51

recently released from prison after doing what,

31:54

13, 15 years? Since, since Toya Brown. I

32:00

hope I'm saying her name right.

32:03

But if you think about a young lady like her, like,

32:06

she had probably been arrested before for

32:08

prostitution, and she was a teenager at

32:10

the time. She could

32:12

have gotten back all those years of her

32:14

life that she missed if people had —

32:17

like, even with the foster care system. I think

32:19

all that stuff should be in that

32:22

programming, honestly. I

32:24

don't know. I'm a little

32:27

technologically based, but I'm not that

32:29

advanced. One day, I'm putting that

32:32

energy out there. I hope

32:34

to be a part of a team that can make that

32:36

happen. They don't find a lot

32:39

of missing kids — and missing adults, too, because

32:41

it's not just kids on the missing and sweaty person

32:44

list. That makes no sense whatsoever,

32:46

that they weren't able

32:48

to connect those dots. Right. I

32:50

literally was arrested more times than I could

32:52

count, in a very small amount of

32:54

time. Even

32:56

in the same state that

32:59

I was missing from — so

33:02

I was arrested in Maryland, arrested

33:04

in D.C., but the

33:06

crazy part about it — and maybe I'm

33:08

over-talking, but I'm going to say this —

33:11

so I was arrested in D.C., and

33:13

I ended up being assaulted by who

33:15

I believe was a U.S. Marshal, a

33:17

ranking member of the U.S. Marshal. He

33:20

took me from a courthouse to his

33:22

home and sexually assaulted me. The

33:25

crazy part about it, he sent

33:28

two detectives to me to kind of

33:30

round me up a little bit before

33:32

they brought me to him.

33:35

They were like, we know who

33:37

you are. We know your real name. We

33:39

know your age. We know your record. You

33:41

know what I'm saying? They're telling me all

33:44

this, and

33:46

then utilizing that information to

33:48

exploit me further. Nobody

33:50

thought to call my parents. Nobody

33:52

thought to ask me. You

33:55

know, when you were thinking back to

33:57

the 90s, when we were seeing missing people on

33:59

TV. Like, you just

34:01

think of these, like, you know, when they say,

34:03

call the cavalry, the cavalry comes,

34:06

they found the girls, you know,

34:08

and everything's good, they're rescued. In

34:11

real life, it doesn't work like that.

34:13

Nobody cares. Like, matter of

34:15

fact, you're even more vulnerable because you're missing

34:17

and nobody cares. It

34:19

sucks, but it feels like the truth,

34:22

honestly. This was an active member

34:24

of the U.S. Marshall? I

34:26

believe so. And I actually, it took

34:29

me a very, very long time to follow up.

34:31

I actually found out if I had press charges

34:33

within six months of it happening, I probably could

34:36

have sued the whole District of Columbia. But

34:39

DC being one of the most corrupt states,

34:42

you know, like, when it comes to the police

34:44

force, and then knowing, like,

34:46

okay, there's two detectives involved. There's

34:49

a U.S. Marshall who might be ranking, I don't know

34:51

if he was a sergeant or what, I don't remember,

34:53

but he had an office. I

34:57

believe the head of the

34:59

prostitution unit was involved. So

35:03

why would I go press charges?

35:06

And I would still be in traffic. You

35:10

know what I'm saying? Like, somebody with enough pool to

35:12

say, if you ever get arrested in this state, tell

35:14

them you're my niece. And

35:17

gives me his business card. Like, he wasn't afraid of

35:19

anything. But obviously, I couldn't keep

35:21

the business card because I'm still being trafficked if

35:23

my pimp found law enforcement

35:25

business card on me. I'm in trouble.

35:28

So, you know, when I got

35:30

around to reporting it and kind

35:33

of navigating through my PCSD at the

35:35

time, it was very rough. I

35:38

went back to the courthouse and tried

35:40

to identify the office. Couldn't do it

35:43

because so many years have passed. And

35:46

I finally looked at some pictures of some people they thought

35:48

could have been it. And

35:51

I couldn't identify anybody. And I

35:53

just busted out in tears. And I was just like,

35:56

you know, I don't get any justice. Like, you know,

35:58

I'm not just going to say anything. say, oh,

36:00

that's the guy, not knowing if

36:02

that's the guy or not, and just send some

36:04

random dude to jail. And it's good with the

36:07

old guys. So I'm like, I'm not going to

36:09

send some like 60 year old man in prison.

36:11

And I don't even, I'm not sure, you know,

36:13

but I don't know, it

36:15

was, it was a lot

36:17

to work through. And honestly, it comes

36:19

full circle because even though

36:21

I didn't, I'm not getting any justice for

36:24

being trafficked, I finally reported

36:27

my trafficking years later, with

36:30

so many minimal details, like

36:33

not knowing anybody's name, the

36:35

only I had more than

36:37

one pimp. And the

36:39

only pimp that I could actually identify,

36:41

I found out he died. So I'm

36:43

like, Oh, I'm never gonna get

36:45

justice, you know, but my first

36:47

album I'm dropping is actually called

36:50

poetic justice. So I'm

36:52

like my own form of justice. Like

36:54

I made my way out of it,

36:56

I found my own justice, like, and

36:59

here we are. Here it is. And

37:02

we'll be right back after a quick word from

37:04

our sponsors. Thanks

37:08

to our sponsors. And now we're back to the program. Can

37:12

you tell us about your your

37:14

dog DaVinci? Okay, so DaVinci

37:16

is my first son. He

37:19

is my ESA, and I'm his

37:22

ESP, emotional support person. He's a

37:24

lot like me, a big ball

37:26

of sunshine, people,

37:28

person. He actually just

37:30

left the ASPCA, they were

37:33

temporarily boarding him. And

37:35

they were like, Oh, he has a nickname.

37:37

We call him Binky. He got all the

37:39

extra bedding, the staff

37:42

lights, and like, definitely

37:44

a people person. And it's all first.

37:48

But yeah, I was just

37:50

recently reunited with him. Thank

37:52

goodness. After like I stated

37:54

my last little episode

37:56

of PCS. I really located

38:00

from Florida to New York. And

38:03

he was kind of shuffled around a

38:05

little bit and ended

38:08

up being taken by

38:10

a family member. I

38:12

was blocked on everything and

38:15

had no idea where he was, was

38:17

being told so many different stories

38:19

about, oh, he went to

38:21

a shelter, to oh, he went to a

38:24

new family, to nobody cares

38:26

to tell you. Can you tell us

38:28

a little bit more about what you did

38:30

when he went missing? So first I

38:32

panicked. Well, I know. Actually,

38:35

I mean, it was, I

38:38

did panic a little bit, but I had to

38:40

take a little bit to get through the shock

38:42

that it was actually happening by somebody

38:45

who was not just a

38:47

family member, but somebody I considered as

38:49

a friend. Like we were friends from

38:51

the cradle, you know, and I

38:54

was shocked, you know, this person

38:56

who said they would keep my dog for

38:58

me until I was able to get on

39:00

my feet and, you know, so

39:03

that I wouldn't have to be, lose

39:05

him, ended up being the person

39:07

standing in the way of me getting him back. But

39:09

luckily, I guess I said it

39:12

earlier about being involved now with

39:14

organizations that are helping

39:16

me who are more

39:18

connected to like HD type stuff. I'm working

39:21

with this, an attorney in DC,

39:24

and she was actually very, very instrumental

39:26

in keeping me calm and doing things

39:29

the legal way and making

39:31

suggestions and things like that. And

39:34

she's actually keeps telling me like, you

39:36

did it all, girl. Like you literally,

39:38

you know, kept

39:40

finding new ways to do

39:42

things, you know, because I'm thinking I got

39:44

to take her to court, you know, I

39:46

tried to call the police, but they're like,

39:48

you know, I couldn't even file in person

39:50

because, you know, it was a

39:53

civil claim type of situation. But

39:55

the problem was I didn't know what my cousin does. So

39:58

I was like, okay, I'm gonna get it. I was

40:00

like, how would I even serve her? How

40:03

can I even find anything? So

40:06

I honestly just started scouring the internet

40:08

for resources. And then I came up

40:10

with the bright idea, like, I

40:13

think I need a PI. I gotta find out where this,

40:16

after using Truthfinder and all the other places

40:18

to find somebody's address, I'm like, I don't

40:20

think I'm updating the system fast enough. I

40:22

don't know how to use this stuff that

40:25

tomorrow I'm gonna be charged like $50 for

40:27

all this stuff anyway. So,

40:31

I just kind of started scouring, like

40:33

from my knowledge of the

40:35

fact that there are organizations out here

40:37

that help people who do,

40:39

there's some organizations that will do things

40:42

pro bono for certain people. Like that

40:44

was my only hope because

40:46

I don't have an income right

40:48

now, not an extended income, I

40:50

should say. And I

40:52

think that was kind of the

40:55

plate, that gotcha moment. Oh,

40:58

I feel like I could just steal her dog

41:00

because she doesn't have the resources to get him

41:02

back. She doesn't have the money

41:04

to even get down

41:06

here and get him, but I was

41:09

able to locate him and

41:11

then follow it up by calling Animal

41:13

Control. And honestly, I had locating health.

41:18

And I appreciate every

41:22

single person who was a part

41:24

of that, honestly. Cause

41:26

DaVinci's my life, like honestly, he

41:29

makes life

41:31

better. I see

41:33

why dogs are

41:35

prescribed to people who have PCSD cause

41:39

there's days where you feel like you can't

41:41

get out of the bed or you're triggered

41:44

by something or just having another life to

41:46

take care of. Honestly, it makes

41:48

a big deal. So that's what,

41:51

when reaching out, I

41:53

mentioned that, he's my family. I have a

41:55

family, I have a mother who loves me

41:57

very much. I've

42:00

been on my own since I was 17 and

42:03

I can't imagine life without him. Like

42:05

honestly, he's like a

42:07

part of my resurrection where I finally feel like I'm

42:09

in a place where I could take

42:11

care of another being and hopefully one day

42:13

have kids, you know? So I wasn't about

42:15

to lose him, I would say that. But

42:19

yeah, he was recovered and, you

42:22

know, thank goodness for animal control because,

42:24

you know, he has anxiety. I

42:26

also at that point didn't have a sign of

42:28

life and my dog, so I'm

42:31

having nightmares thinking about, oh my God, what if

42:33

he got hit by a car? And, you

42:35

know, I'm just being lied to

42:37

so nobody hurts my feelings. And,

42:40

you know, those are all very

42:42

real realities. And somebody with anxiety

42:44

and PTSD, like that's

42:46

a super real reality. You think of

42:49

like, I'm a very

42:51

optimistic person, but having, you

42:54

know, trauma, I have to be

42:56

realistic. I have to have a

42:59

piece of pessimism in me in

43:03

order for things to make sense. And

43:06

that goes with like, I know we were

43:08

talking about before how like why a lot

43:10

of people don't speak up about certain things.

43:12

I've had to deal with being

43:15

stereotyped for leaving

43:17

home at 17. So,

43:20

which is weird to me, because I've had people tell

43:23

me to my face that they were mad at me

43:25

for leaving when it's like, oh yeah, I

43:27

just woke up one morning and said, I'm just gonna drop

43:29

out of high school, grab

43:31

all my poetry and just go out

43:33

in the world and just let it

43:35

take me. Yeah, that sounds really exciting.

43:39

But you'd be surprised about like how many

43:41

people hold that against

43:43

you or feel like you can't

43:46

finish things or whatever, and then to

43:48

top it off, to put more fuel

43:50

to fire, having had less

43:54

because of mental health reasons, as

43:56

a whole nother stereotype that's

43:58

added on top of. all of that,

44:01

you know, and then people try

44:04

to get into quote unquote

44:07

helping you or whatever

44:10

they want to call it when it's like nobody

44:12

was there when I was picking up the pieces

44:14

of my life, not really like I

44:16

lived a lot of years it was at least five years

44:18

of my life where I had no family, I had no

44:20

friends, I had no nobody it was just me and

44:22

God like and I barely even recognized God

44:24

at the time, you know, so it's just

44:27

me bopping through life. So

44:30

for people to then think that, oh,

44:34

you know what, she can't handle having a dog,

44:36

she must be in a

44:38

horrible situation or this or that let

44:40

me fix the situation for her, or

44:43

whatever, you know, it's kind

44:45

of like f-ed up and unfortunately, I'll

44:48

probably deal with stereotypes the rest of

44:50

my life. I just wanted to

44:53

follow up on again that thought about

44:55

why no one talks about this and

44:57

you keep like delivering these pieces of

44:59

information that reinforce the

45:02

reason why people don't talk about it

45:04

and I just realized like people are

45:07

judging young women in your situation just

45:09

solely based on their own selfish qualities.

45:12

I mean, they were putting it on

45:14

you, you know, why did you leave?

45:16

Well, it's not about how you

45:19

feel when I left, it's about

45:21

what happened to you, right? Does that make any

45:23

sense? Like a lot of the stuff that they

45:25

judge from comes from a point of view of

45:28

look what you did to me when you left, you

45:30

know, look what you did to my life and I

45:33

had to deal with that and they're not listening

45:35

to, you know, you

45:37

didn't just leave, you didn't just say like that sounds like

45:39

a good idea like you said. So

45:42

I feel like a lot of it is like, no

45:45

one really wants to look in the mirror and

45:47

be like, I have issues here. It's

45:49

not just this person. Everybody

45:51

on this planet has been through something

45:54

that another person can't

45:56

possibly understand or fathom

45:59

or something that we're ashamed of

46:01

or whatever, something we regret.

46:03

Like every single one of us who

46:05

is a human being, it doesn't matter

46:08

if you're born with a silver

46:10

spoon in your mouth or born in a hut,

46:12

we've all had moments

46:14

where life has just been life and we're

46:17

just sitting there as the main character wondering

46:19

how did I get here? I don't know

46:21

if this is good, but yeah

46:23

it's that's and it was like even

46:26

in Da Vinci

46:28

being taken from me, it

46:31

hurt, it hurt a lot because it was

46:34

hard to realize that it's still family members

46:37

that think of me like that, but at

46:39

the same time I had to remember while

46:42

I was gone and didn't have

46:44

communication for however many years, they

46:47

were left to draw

46:49

up their own stories about me,

46:51

had their own imaginings about

46:54

where I was, what I was doing,

46:56

I'm sure my own father told me,

46:58

you know, he was surprised that I

47:00

hadn't had a crack baby by the

47:02

time I called him, which was about

47:05

two years later I called back to him

47:09

and I was hurt, I still have

47:11

no kids, you know what I'm saying, and I've never

47:13

done crack, so but people like they

47:16

drop their own stuff and it carries over,

47:19

so once I came back, you

47:21

know, I see family from time

47:23

to time but nobody's living with me, they're

47:25

not with me every day, and so

47:28

they don't really know like who I am, what

47:30

I do, how I navigate life,

47:34

and they still

47:36

kind of come at me with some

47:38

of those thought processes that they build about

47:41

me and things, the negative things that were

47:43

said about me, or she was just from

47:45

bad kids that ran off probably out during

47:47

the status third, who knows, like it's

47:50

up, like even when I went missing, like it

47:54

wasn't looked at like this is a person who's

47:56

having a medical emergency and needs help, I

47:58

was just that, I was a a bad

48:00

kid who was just out

48:02

making bad decisions. Look, she used to get

48:05

in trouble at school all the time. She

48:07

goes to alternative school because she got kicked

48:09

out of her last school. Mind you, I

48:11

got kicked out of my last school following

48:13

the year that I was, I

48:16

hadn't even took the rape on me when I was 14. You

48:18

know, so it's like, people don't really look

48:20

at the whole story. They just

48:23

look at the bad parts and be like, you deserve

48:25

that or whatever, I don't know. There's

48:27

a lot of people, those people that think that

48:30

way, they treat me like I

48:33

just decided to throw away my life. Like

48:35

I'm just out, you know, and this is

48:37

not going on people with drug addiction at

48:39

all because they have their own struggles and

48:41

things like that. And who am I to

48:43

say how they got there? But

48:45

it's with that, like, I decided to

48:48

throw my life away or

48:51

I'm still out doing badly. Yeah, I

48:53

have trouble keeping a job and different things,

48:55

but I suffer from PCSC. I

48:57

suffer from feeling like I need to

48:59

catch up on life. Like I'm releasing music at 35

49:02

years old, a little

49:04

late to the game. But

49:07

still like, I don't know, I feel

49:09

like once I transition into

49:11

this new chapter of my life that

49:13

I'm very confident about, it's

49:15

gonna be some people that are almost

49:18

upset. Like, and it's

49:20

sad because I don't think they mean

49:22

to feel that way, but they've gotten

49:24

so comfortable with feeling like

49:26

they're bigger than you and you're down

49:28

here that when you start rising up,

49:30

they're like, oh man, I ain't never

49:32

see that coming. Like, so

49:35

I hope this shocked the world, honestly. And

49:39

I think it does like require people to take

49:41

a look at themselves when they see someone in

49:44

your position, even though you're saying,

49:46

you know, you're late to the game, you're

49:48

still entering the game and it doesn't really

49:50

matter, you know, it doesn't matter. If

49:53

you have the talent and the drive and the ambition to do

49:55

so, then you do it. I think a lot of people look

49:57

at that and they're like, oh man, I was

49:59

too comfortable. I I had all these

50:01

I had all these aspirations too and I didn't

50:04

do anything because why I don't have

50:06

a reason So I think it's tough. I

50:08

think it's a it's a tough thing. Yeah, and then

50:10

to do it as a high school dropout It's

50:12

kind of cool But

50:16

you know what every little every little piece of

50:18

your journey kind of like shows you that the

50:20

next piece was possible because I Actually,

50:23

I got my GED in 2010 and at first I

50:26

was very against getting my GED because

50:29

one of my brothers told me that

50:32

You know, my dad was very upset

50:34

that I left, you know, it just

50:36

it was messy long story short He

50:39

was like, you know Dad's not gonna

50:41

accept you back in the family unless

50:43

you get your GED and my

50:45

stance was like well If it's a piece of

50:47

paper that's keeping up a part and keeping

50:49

y'all from accepting me as like a family member in

50:51

a human being I'm not getting my

50:53

GED. I Was

50:55

very rebellious and I

50:59

Actually, it was funny. I was in Atlanta

51:01

and I went to this City

51:04

Hall meeting real ramble because right after I

51:06

got out of the light like I

51:09

knew I wanted to do something Like

51:11

I wanted to start an organization that

51:14

was helpful to not only

51:16

missing people people who been

51:19

trafficked but also to People

51:21

who are putting gangs at young ages like,

51:24

you know like kids that were kind of young

51:26

boys that were kind of born into the game

51:28

culture and never really had a chance

51:31

at Having a better life

51:33

and we're already in a system by a young

51:35

age Like I cared about all that and

51:37

I went to this town hall meeting and I'm sitting there

51:39

like yeah I want to do this and I want to

51:41

do that But I don't know. I don't know the first

51:43

thing about this or that. I don't even have my GED

51:45

and one of the Some

51:49

politician I don't know who it was,

51:51

but he was somebody important He

51:53

came to me was like I must have

51:55

the GED cause and get turns out

51:57

gives you $50 to get my GED I

52:00

actually did not get it done at that

52:03

time. I was still like immature and dealing

52:05

with certain things, but I went back in 2010, got

52:08

my GD, never

52:11

even studied for the test. Mind

52:14

you, this is about a good four

52:16

or five years after I dropped out

52:18

of school, hadn't done any schooling. I

52:21

scored in the top 10%

52:24

out of the country and in the

52:26

top 3% out in math. No

52:29

studying. So I'm like,

52:31

man, if I had studied, I could have aced

52:33

it. So when people kind of say

52:35

things to me ignorantly that insult my

52:37

intelligence, at least I can have a

52:39

cheeky smile to myself, knowing, at least

52:41

I know I'm not done. Because I

52:43

had to question myself a little bit.

52:45

We're kind of like, we're putting this

52:47

where, you know,

52:49

this test and different things that rate

52:51

our intelligence and if you don't complete

52:54

school, are you as intelligence? But especially

52:56

like coming into, I'm coming

52:59

into the perfect industry, right? Hip

53:01

hop is a place where you

53:03

have people who become millionaires and

53:05

billionaires who never, like think about

53:07

math, right? The kid, I

53:09

don't even think he made us a junior high.

53:11

And he literally dropped one of the dopest, most

53:17

classic albums of all

53:19

time, like of any genre. So

53:21

very intelligent for his lyrics of

53:23

all that. It wasn't because, oh,

53:25

he had great beats. Like this

53:28

man is like a genie, like

53:30

a mythical character when it comes

53:32

to the way he uses

53:34

the English language. So I don't

53:37

know. So I feel good. Like

53:39

I'm in, I'm

53:42

following the right dreams in

53:44

a place that like, I honestly feel

53:46

like hip hop embraces

53:49

me, you know? And even being in New

53:51

York, I feel embraced. I feel at home

53:53

here. Like the birthplace of hip hop, because

53:55

you could be a rebel. You could be

53:57

a dropout. You could be a misfit. a

54:00

black sheep, you know,

54:02

somebody who is stereotyped,

54:06

somebody who's been through tragedy, who's

54:08

been a, you know, been

54:11

a little convict and all that type

54:13

of stuff, like, and

54:15

yet somehow there's still a

54:18

way where I cannot just get

54:20

by or have enough to go on

54:22

a cute little vacation or buy some

54:24

Fendi, like, I might be able

54:26

to do something like what we were talking about

54:29

earlier, like, doing something

54:31

that could change the whole system

54:34

of how we treat missing

54:37

children, especially. It

55:08

is Ryan here and I have a question

55:11

for you. What do you do when you

55:13

win? Like are you a fist pumper? A

55:15

woohooer? A hand clapper? A high fiver? I

55:17

kind of like to high five but if

55:20

you want to hone in on those winning

55:22

moves, check out Chumba Casino. At chumbacasino.com choose

55:24

from hundreds of social casino style games for

55:26

your chance to redeem serious cash prizes. There

55:29

are new game releases weekly plus free daily

55:31

bonuses. So don't wait. Start having the

55:33

most fun ever at chumbacasino.com.

55:36

No purchase necessary. VGW. Void. We're prohibited by law. See terms and conditions.

Rate

From The Podcast

Missing

Missing is a true crime podcast that tells stories of missing people, homicides, and injustices. Starting in 2015 with the disappearance of Maura Murray, Missing has covered the vanishings of Brianna Maitland, Brandon Lawson, Phoenix Coldon, Trenny Gibson, Daniel Robinson, Jessica Stacks, Erica Franolich, Cieha Taylor, Calvin Johnny Hunt, Abbie Flynn, Tabitha Queen, Raymond Green, Alicia Markovich, Niqui McCown, Samantha Tapp, Archer Ray Johnson, Dale Williams, Morgan Bauer, Pepita Redhair and more mysteries in depth. Due to their close affiliation with the non-profit organization, Private Investigations For the Missing, the team features stories sourced from their case files when appropriate. While Missing primarily focuses on unsolved cases, they also highlight solved murders, doe’s, DNA updates, cold cases and serial killers like Christopher Wilder as a way to explore all the factors. Whether it’s psychological, socioeconomic, or something deeper that plays a part in a person’s disappearance, Missing does not shy away.Missing also has an impressive guest list with names like Jon Ronson, Maggie Freleng, Todd Matthews, Sarah Turney, John Lordan, Danelle Hallan, Julie Murray, James Renner, the Generation Why, Nancy Grace, True Crime Garage, Patrick Hinds, Ellyn Marsh, Jim Clemente, Art Roderick, David & Kristen Mittelman of Othram Labs as well as current law enforcement and licensed private investigators.Tim Pilleri and Lance Reenstierna were also featured in Oxygen's The Disappearance of Maura Murray 6 part documentary.Missing is hosted and produced by Tim Pilleri, Lance Reenstierna and Jennifer Amell of Crawlspace Media.

Join Podchaser to...

  • Rate podcasts and episodes
  • Follow podcasts and creators
  • Create podcast and episode lists
  • & much more

Episode Tags

Do you host or manage this podcast?
Claim and edit this page to your liking.
,

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features