Join Michele on an introspective episode of "Talk to Me, Michele" as she reunites with her lifelong friend, Mark, for a heartfelt journey through their shared memories of Memphis. With over 20 years of friendship, they reminisce about their high school days at Hamilton High, the vibrant community vibes, and the indelible cultural influences that shaped them.
Through laughter and poignant reflections, Michele and Mark discuss the challenges and triumphs of growing up in Memphis, the city's impact on their lives, and the difficult decision to leave in pursuit of new opportunities. They candidly explore the current state of Memphis, addressing its struggles and celebrating its rich history.
This episode is a tribute to enduring friendships, personal growth, and the city that will forever be a part of who they are. Don't miss this emotional and insightful conversation that will resonate with anyone who has ever had a place they called home.
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:24 Music.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:28 Hey, hey, beautiful people. Welcome back to Talk to Me, Michelle.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:32 Go ahead and hit that subscribe button. Tell a friend to tell a friend.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:36 And share this episode with somebody who thinks they know about Memphis.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:43 Now listen, no letter of the week today. Because this episode right here is personal.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:48 It's a special one. I'm sitting down with someone who's been in my life longer
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 than some folks been paying their own bills.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 My longtime friend, Mark.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:57 Me and Mark go way back. Hamilton High School, Memphis, Tennessee.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:05 And our friendship has really stood the test of time. We've been friends over 20 years.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:11 We've been through it all. Hallway drama, life transitions, state hopping,
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 glow-ups, glow-downs, and everything in between.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:20 Now, let me tell you what Mark used to always say. The best thing you can do is leave Memphis.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:27 Now, at the time, I was like, excuse me? But now I see it clear as day.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:32 So in this episode, we're breaking it down. The Memphis we knew,
00:01:32 --> 00:01:37 the Memphis we had to walk away from, and how that city raised us and made us who we are today.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 Grab your drink, a snack, maybe even a tissue, because we're about to get into it.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:49 This one might take you all the way back. And look, don't get in your feelings, get in the comments.
00:01:53 --> 00:02:00 Yes, and welcome into my friend, my bro for life, Mark Smith, how you doing, brother?
00:02:00 --> 00:02:04 All right. All right. My sister way back.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 We go, we go way, way, way back. Yes, way back.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:15 I promise you, Mark is like the brother from another mother.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 But, you know, you know, we know each other's families. We,
00:02:20 --> 00:02:24 Ups and downs, you know, and both out of Memphis, Tennessee.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:37 Mm-hmm. Yeah. In town. Yeah. And I've had some outstanding meals at Club Tanglewood.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:47 We're talking something. Mark gave us that name because if it wasn't every week
00:02:47 --> 00:02:53 or weekend or holiday, we always had gatherings at the house and we were like, you know, hey,
00:02:53 --> 00:02:58 we're in the kitchen making the food, got some music going,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 you know, just grown folk good times.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:08 And Miss Arnie Tompkins was a master.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:13 To call her a cook, that's just understatement. She was an artist.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:20 She was a food artist. Yes. Yeah. And she apparently passed it down to her children.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 I appreciate that, though. I appreciate that. But I wanted to bring you on here.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:32 And first, let's go back to high school. We were high school homies. OK.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 You know, it was just a vibe at Hamilton High School.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:42 And what do you remember most about Hamilton High? Well, Hamilton High School
00:03:42 --> 00:03:50 was basically, let's say geographically, was about 900 steps from my house.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:57 So I grew up in that community, South Memphis. Those most people who went to
00:03:57 --> 00:04:01 school in my area, they went to Dunn Elementary, which was up the road,
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 maybe not even a full mile from Hamilton High School.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:09 And then you go to Hamilton Junior High, where we used to hang out.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 And then from there to the high school.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:16 And so as a kid growing up, Hamilton High School was always kind of like the beacon.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:21 You know, it was not a beacon for excellence, right?
00:04:21 --> 00:04:27 Because my fourth grade elementary teacher, fourth grade teacher,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:32 her brother was the principal of Hamilton High School, Oliver Johnson.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 Her name was Elaine Campbell.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 Her brother, and she used to always, even when I was in elementary school,
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 I would hear. She would talk about what's going on at Hamilton High School.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:46 I remember they did a production of The Wiz. And we, as a school,
00:04:46 --> 00:04:51 got a chance to walk from Dunn down to Hamilton to see this production of The
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 Wiz by a drama teacher by name Doris Buchanan. Yeah.
00:04:55 --> 00:05:02 And years later, Doris Buchanan would be my, your drama teacher at Hamilton High School.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:08 But from an early age, even elementary school, it was a symbol of excellence,
00:05:08 --> 00:05:14 Black excellence in our community. And so even with the, and that's just the,
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 that's just, that's drama.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:19 And then you're talking about the band, the band.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:24 I was a part of the band for three years there. And we, the band was invited
00:05:24 --> 00:05:28 to all of the HB, most of the HBC homecomings.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:29 We're talking about Tennessee state.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 We even went to Texas Southern university, Bishop college.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:41 When they were still college, we would go to Lane college. Of course, my alma mater.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 Yeah, Hamilton was a different vibe. I had come to Hamilton...
00:05:46 --> 00:05:52 From the East Coast. And I had never experienced something like Hamilton High
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 School. Because first of all, it was all black folks.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 All black folks. And it had such a vibe.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:06 I mean, just that, you know, I belong since a community vibe at Hamilton High School.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:10 And definitely cherish high school. That's because, you know,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 that's when we started hanging out.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 Foolish times. Foolish. Foolish times.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 Do you even remember how we met? And it had to be around drama.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 Yeah, it had to be. Yeah, right, right. Yeah.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:32 But I know that we probably started hanging out during drama because I know
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 that we were in, I think, a couple of plays.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 But I want to say even before then, we were still we were hanging out.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 But I just can't remember.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 You know I'm not gonna push the we ain't gonna push the memory cell too hard
00:06:45 --> 00:06:49 tonight you know it's after hours y'all we didn't all go out of work I done
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 got a little something in my system you know and I'm just like you know it's
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 a natural conversation as I'm asking these questions so,
00:06:57 --> 00:07:04 it's a raw vibe y'all so just roll the punches what was your impression of me back in the day.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 See the pause y'all No, no, no.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:17 It was apparent like, so me growing up in Memphis and it was apparent that you
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 had been exposed to things outside of Memphis.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:26 Right. From the very beginning, you were, I always thought that you were bright.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:31 You had that creative piece as well, because I know that, you know,
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 you were doing poetry, you were doing, I still have, I don't think I showed
00:07:35 --> 00:07:41 you a copy of this. when I, the first year that I started teaching, I did a, I did a play.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 It was a sort of a Black history play. And you wrote,
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 the script for that play and
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 we did we did put it like i still have that someplace or
00:07:51 --> 00:07:57 whatever but i remember you as a creative person and then on the turntables
00:07:57 --> 00:08:03 when we would go to your grandma's house on gate the parkway you were only the
00:08:03 --> 00:08:10 first and only female that i had seen mix it.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 And your your your musical repertoire
00:08:21 --> 00:08:27 i mean you do you know you yeah yeah and i think that was it that was kind of
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 like how we started you know we went with it was the music the music connection
00:08:31 --> 00:08:37 yeah yeah yeah music and then it moved on to like movies and other entertainment
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 or whatever but i I think the beginning,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 you know, was music.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 And I don't think I ever shared with you, you know, and I tell people this when
00:08:46 --> 00:08:53 I do like I do some workshops and I tell them like as a kid,
00:08:53 --> 00:08:57 my grandmother, you know, was not just a kid, but my grandmother was a member
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 of Al Green's church in Memphis.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:07 And so the best thing to do was to spend the night on the weekend where you
00:09:07 --> 00:09:15 got a chance to hear Reverend Al sing gospel and the gospel that goes,
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 you know, gets down into your bones type of, you know.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:28 Not to the bone. Yep. And there's a fine line between that gospel and the blues.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:41 Very timeline oh my god that was my that was my birth that was the that was the birth,
00:09:42 --> 00:09:48 of music for me that was it you know somehow you know and of course i came up
00:09:48 --> 00:09:53 with the 70s r&b and all that kind of stuff but that was it though once you
00:09:53 --> 00:09:58 you know that was it i always thought that was like what everybody else was trying to reach up to.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:04 I'm telling you, this is the only man I felt comfortable enough to play one
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 of my favorite songs by war. Spill them wine.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 And we both used to think quote this song pervading.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:25 Just every time I hear that record to this day, I flashed what we used to sing that together,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:33 y'all gotta go listen to the record go listen to War Spill the Wine if you've
00:10:33 --> 00:10:37 never heard it before that's one of my favorites oh yeah I know about that,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:44 you know in fact were you surprised our friendship has lasted this long,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:52 I am, but not really, because even after high school, we still were hanging out.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:58 Whenever I moved outside of Memphis or whatever, whenever I visited,
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 that was kind of, you all were like family to me.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:07 That would be one of the places that would definitely, Tanglewood would be one of the destinations.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 That's the club Tanglewood. Club Tanglewood would be the destination,
00:11:11 --> 00:11:16 right? At Club Tanglewood. Because, you know, you did leave.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:20 We'll get into that in a minute. But every time you were in town,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 you know, that's the street we lived on was Tanglewood.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:27 And every time was a good time. And that's when Mark started nicknaming it Club Tanglewood.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 A club above the rest.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Ugly ladies, the parking lot.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 That's a Memphis thing. Memphis thing, y'all. Yes, I am. Yeah.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 Wow, I'm going back. I mean, this is nice. Oh, my God.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:50 So let's get to leaving Memphis because you used to always say the best thing
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 you can do is leave Memphis.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 What made you say that back then?
00:11:54 --> 00:11:59 That I had an opportunity to leave, whether it was on vacation or whether it
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 was on a band trip or school trip or something.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 I'm very fortunate that my mother, you know, her father gave me an opportunity
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 to be able to travel outside of the city before I turned 18.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 I think that was important, being able to see things outside of the city.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:21 And so going and traveling and then coming back to Memphis and then,
00:12:21 --> 00:12:26 you know, growing up there and experiencing, thinking that to me,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 it felt that it was limiting, right?
00:12:29 --> 00:12:36 That the things that I wanted to do, not all of them could, I could not accomplish
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 all of that just being in the city of Memphis. So that was kind of early.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 And then I had worked in education.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:45 And so I started going into the schools as soon as I graduated from college.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:50 And I saw sort of the condition of the school system at that time,
00:12:50 --> 00:12:56 a school system that I graduated from, like, what, four years earlier and saw
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 how the schools had deteriorated, unfortunately.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:05 Yeah. And so I kind of, and so that was going to be my, that's my career,
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 that's my profession or whatever.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:12 And so I was like, I don't, he says, okay, well, why don't you stick around
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 hometown and help out because this is the thing.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 I didn't, I did try that, right?
00:13:19 --> 00:13:25 Yeah. And so one of the things I ran into was that there was nepotism and in
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 hiring and employment in the school system.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 And I just with that and several places, avenues that I tried,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:38 there were people who were getting positions or the promotion things was about
00:13:38 --> 00:13:42 a who you know versus what you know type of thing.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 Yep. And so that was a that was a hindrance.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:52 But also, you know, if you don't want me, if you don't want my services here,
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 then, you know, why stay?
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 And so I think I saw that early on. And then, unfortunately,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:05 unfortunately, what I saw back then has kind of and what I thought it would
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 happen has come to fruition.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:13 The city schools or they've kind of merged them, city county schools or whatever, are a mess.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:18 They've had issues with the superintendents, you know, and this last superintendent
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 they hired and laid this greatest thing.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 And then a few, I don't even know, I think she finished a year.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:30 And so now she's out the door or something. And now she's suing the school district.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:36 So, yeah, I saw that in the fact that a lot of this stuff was going on when
00:14:36 --> 00:14:40 we had predominantly Black leaders in the city. Oof!
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 Yes. Leader in the city. Speak it.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:50 Kind of a lesson to me as well in the fact that, you know, not everyone who
00:14:50 --> 00:14:55 has your skin color has the same core values that you have.
00:14:56 --> 00:15:02 And that's just what it boils down to. you know, it boils down to core values
00:15:02 --> 00:15:09 and if you just don't have those core values and that's what leads people to do stuff that,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 they wouldn't normally do, or maybe they would, who knows.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:18 But it's just like seeing that years ago, definitely don't think too much of
00:15:18 --> 00:15:23 myself, but I guarantee if I stayed there, I'd made some good whatever,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 but I think it wouldn't have stopped.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:30 It wouldn't have been enough to stop what actually came to fruition,
00:15:30 --> 00:15:34 which is the situation they have today. Yeah. Sad.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 Yeah, it is sad, right? Yeah, the same.
00:15:38 --> 00:15:43 But then Hamilton High School, somebody told me, somebody sent me a text.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 This was some years ago, a few years ago. They said, you know,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:52 Hamilton was like somehow classified in the state of Tennessee as one of the
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 most violent high schools in the state of Tennessee.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 Now, you're talking about the same place where we had ambassadors.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:04 We had LJDs. We had. Oh, the preps.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:11 Preps, the bigger preps. Yeah. These organizations were young people coming
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 to school trying to, you know, be better.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:23 Be better and mock, not mock, but they were trying to manifest college life.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:28 Because all of those organizations that you named were not official fraternities
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 or sororities. Absolutely.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:35 It gave you the affirmation, the hope, you know, like, okay,
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 yeah, this is high school now. Now, and I belong to these organizations,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 they proudly represent each of their organizations do.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:46 But it preps you, I think, for college, university life.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:52 And I really appreciate that culture because even though I wasn't a member of
00:16:52 --> 00:16:56 any of the organizations and I knew, you know, somebody, everybody from every
00:16:56 --> 00:17:00 organization, it just felt like a mini college type life.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 You know what I mean? Prepping you for that type of world.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:10 Absolutely. And a lot of people and it. But all of that was a connection,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:15 even though one of the things that kind of got me attracted to like this whole
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 college life, especially specifically HBCU.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:23 I realize, to be honest with you, is when we as a band in high school would
00:17:23 --> 00:17:29 go and travel and perform at homecoming parades for the different HBCUs, Tennessee State,
00:17:30 --> 00:17:34 Lane College, you know, TSU, you know, Texas Southern University.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 What's another one we used to go up to? I'm trying to think, but I can't. But anyway.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 Once we, as teenagers, would go on those campuses and stuff,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:47 we'd kind of go, okay, this is nice, you know, you can see you or whatever.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 You can see yourself there.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 Yeah. So that was a great thing, you know.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:56 Most definitely. How did leaving Memphis change your life?
00:17:56 --> 00:18:00 I used to always tell people that when I was back home, even if I would come
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 home on a break or something or come to visit.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:09 Mainly when I came home from breaks, college breaks, summer,
00:18:09 --> 00:18:14 spring breaks, whatever, come home, I always felt like being in the city.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:20 This is personal stuff that made me less, it decreased my motivation because
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 I was home, I was comfortable.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 I didn't have to worry about, you know, you don't have anything to eat,
00:18:27 --> 00:18:30 whatever. I'll just go by your sister's house, go by your brother's house, go to your mom.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 You know, everything was comfortable. I had support.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 You know, I didn't have to worry about where I'm going to stay.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 You know, all those kinds of basic needs were taken care of.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 I think it leaves you less ambitious.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:49 So I know when I left the city, I knew that I'm here. Nobody knows me. I'm away from home.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:53 The closest I've lived to Memphis, well, I was in college, but after that,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:58 I've never lived closer than 10 hours from Memphis. I was in Florida,
00:18:58 --> 00:19:02 then Maryland, Pennsylvania, where I'm currently in Pennsylvania.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 But I've always traveled back. I've always traveled back home to see my mother
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 and my father when he was alive.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:15 So I've always gone back a few times a year, three, four, five times a year, always go back.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:23 But I think that just leaving, I think it was beneficial to me because I moved
00:19:23 --> 00:19:28 to where I felt like I had an interest in where my career took me.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:32 I think I didn't want, and I tell my kids, I said, don't let,
00:19:32 --> 00:19:38 you know, like city limits limit you to whatever opportunities you have.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 I have, I meet people all the time.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:45 You know, I'm from this area. I was born here. I was raised.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 My parents live around the corner and all this kind of stuff.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:52 And, you know, I'll die here. That's all in good. I don't, I never,
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 I don't take that from them if they want to be there. But I encourage my own
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 children to go wherever.
00:19:57 --> 00:20:05 And I tell my own kids at an early age that they shouldn't even limit it to the United States.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:13 And that was important for me to take them before they were 18 outside of the United States.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:18 I remember taking them to Europe so they can get a feel.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:23 This is something that I didn't experience until I was an adult in life,
00:20:23 --> 00:20:28 but I wanted to give them that opportunity so that it opens up.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:32 It goes all the way back. What we're talking about goes all the way back to
00:20:32 --> 00:20:37 the fact that my parents allowed me to go and see places outside of the city.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:42 And so I feel like the same way I should be doing and people should be doing for their children.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 You know, some folks are like, I want to keep my kid around.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 I don't want to let them go.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:53 It's their life, right? And the way I felt coming out of Memphis,
00:20:53 --> 00:20:57 I was like, my mom used to tell me, she's like, why don't you help me work for Memphis City Schools?
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 And I was like, it's my life.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:05 And so I felt like I had the right to tell her that, just like my kids have
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 the right to tell me that now. It's their life.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 And so you got to do, you got to do your thing.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:17 And that's a great point that you bring up, you know, just not only just what
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 you had to do to leave Memphis and the life you've created for yourself,
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 but just out the country all together and, you know, expose your girls to that.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:30 That's definitely something that's dope. And I encourage everybody that can to do so.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:36 I got another one for you. What did people back home think when you moved away?
00:21:38 --> 00:21:42 You know, for the most part, most people that I dealt with were encouraging
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 of it. They encouraged me. They were supportive.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:50 Mainly people, family, you know, family. And even when I would,
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 you know, even when I would visit and I would visit you, Rocky,
00:21:53 --> 00:21:57 and everybody, you always, like, welcomed me in.
00:21:57 --> 00:22:02 And it was like a reunion, you know, and we did our thing. We did our thing.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:08 Definitely reunion. it. I promise you, every time was something to celebrate
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 and remember. We always leave.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 There's always a signature we leave on the evening. I promise you.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:19 I want to also start asking you because the last time I went to Memphis,
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 unfortunately, was for a family member's funeral.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:26 And I was thinking about the Memphis we just talked about versus the Memphis now.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:32 And like in the 90s, nearly early 2000s, when we were coming up,
00:22:32 --> 00:22:36 do you think Memphis gave black folks real opportunities back then.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:42 Absolutely, it did. And even trying to get into the history of the city.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:46 But Memphis, it was a beacon of...
00:22:48 --> 00:22:53 Progress for African-Americans in the South. My parents came to Memphis and
00:22:53 --> 00:22:57 my parents' siblings and things came to Memphis because they wanted a better
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 opportunity. They were in Mississippi, right?
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 So they came up to Memphis because that was the place, you know,
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 Beale Street, where people could.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:11 And then you had even like the area where your folks live on Parkway, Right.
00:23:11 --> 00:23:17 That was the place you had Maxine Smith, who was the secretary and double ACP
00:23:17 --> 00:23:22 for the Memphis branch for years, a school board member Vasco Smith.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:27 Her husband was a dentist and all of the sort of black leaders lived in that area, whatever.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:32 Stacks and records. Stacks and records. Oh, my goodness. Right.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:37 So you have that history and the legacy of Stacks.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 You have like the the civil
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 rights piece of that right and black
00:23:43 --> 00:23:47 people during that time were doing well uh in
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 memphis for the considerably right
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 to the point where you had even the sanitation
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 workers that was the thing that you know
00:23:56 --> 00:24:00 brought dr king of course to memphis in 1968 was
00:24:00 --> 00:24:05 black sanitation workers right we had during that time you think about it like
00:24:05 --> 00:24:10 we're right up you know even at the still in the civil rights movement and you
00:24:10 --> 00:24:16 have a movement in a southern city where people are trying or where black garbage
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 workers are standing up for themselves.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:25 So that was the that was the thing and they had leaders in the city mostly religious
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 leaders because you have to understand too memphis is a highly religious place
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 there are a couple of i think,
00:24:31 --> 00:24:36 I think the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church has their headquarters in Memphis.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:41 And then, of course, you know, the Church of God and Christ have a big sort
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 of imprint in the whole Memphis and Memphis history, whatever.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:49 So you had these political and religious leaders who were leading the way in Memphis.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:56 You have factories such as Firestone, Kellogg's and other places that where
00:24:56 --> 00:25:01 people, even African-Americans were working and they were making good living.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 You know, it was during that time when the father could work and the mother
00:25:06 --> 00:25:13 could stay at home and they could still, you know, the old days. Right. Yeah.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:18 They had that in Memphis. And that's what I remember because I know I'm,
00:25:18 --> 00:25:22 you know, being born in Memphis and I just remember, you know,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:26 the neighborhoods were like manicured, manicured.
00:25:27 --> 00:25:33 You would have thought you stepped into an AI production. That's how clean the city was. Right.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 Yeah. And the neighborhood interaction with each other.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:43 Shoot. I still remember going to Goldsmiths every Christmas in a basement for the Enchanted Forest.
00:25:43 --> 00:25:52 Yes. Yes. That was like a whole tunnel decked out with little animated characters and Christmas and snow.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 I thought that was like the best thing since chocolate.
00:25:58 --> 00:26:07 But it's memories like that. And now you come back years after being away from
00:26:07 --> 00:26:11 Memphis only to see the city has drastically changed.
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 Yeah, it's sad. It's sad. And
00:26:14 --> 00:26:19 when I come back and it's almost like what I consider like the wastelands.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:27 And it's my I remember Minister Farrakhan came to the city and he did a lecture
00:26:27 --> 00:26:31 there and he called it. I think he called it Memphis, the city of the dead.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:35 Yes. You remember that? I remember that. Yeah.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:41 Well, I don't. So, yeah, I think it's. Yeah, I don't remember that that Memphis.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:45 Because I think that, in my honest opinion, is that with, you know,
00:26:45 --> 00:26:49 I told you about those factories and all that kind of stuff that used to be
00:26:49 --> 00:26:52 thriving or whatever, early 80s, they shut down.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:57 And so folks lost the job. So a lot of those city, and that was like those,
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 Firestone was like near North Memphis.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 And so you know where North Memphis is. And so you had people in Frasier and
00:27:04 --> 00:27:10 Raleigh who worked at Firestone. And those communities were nice then, right?
00:27:10 --> 00:27:15 But then when those factories shut down, the people started foreclosing on their
00:27:15 --> 00:27:21 mortgages and those communities went to what they are now, like the trap.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:26 That's the trap play, you know, different places like that. But I think with
00:27:26 --> 00:27:30 that, but that was just part of it. That was part one.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:40 Part B was the introduction or the crack cocaine on the streets of Memphis.
00:27:40 --> 00:27:47 And Memphis was not recovered from that to this very day, July 16th, 2025.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:52 You know, I haven't been back there in years. but
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55 when i was there it was almost like
00:27:55 --> 00:27:58 a city redeveloped and i
00:27:58 --> 00:28:03 and it wasn't pretty it was just like the ugly was just everywhere you look
00:28:03 --> 00:28:08 we talked about the jobs shifting out because when the factories closed down
00:28:08 --> 00:28:15 crime increased education really shot down being the you know let me stuff my
00:28:15 --> 00:28:18 pocket instead of help the city used to have potholes,
00:28:18 --> 00:28:21 I complained about Houston streets.
00:28:21 --> 00:28:26 I said, I really should be a veteran in this because when you roll through Memphis
00:28:26 --> 00:28:30 streets, them potholes are big, ridiculous.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 And the city don't fix them.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:39 Don't fix them. They don't fix them. One of the things I used to kind of brag
00:28:39 --> 00:28:44 to other people outside about Memphis was that we always had nice roads.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:48 You know, the streets were always paying, you know, everybody liked their automobiles
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 in Memphis, I'll tell you that.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:55 And so it was like you had, we had always had nice roads, wherever,
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 no matter what the community you went in.
00:28:57 --> 00:29:01 If it was South Memphis, North Memphis or whatever, the roads were decent.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:04 It wasn't like that. When I used to go to Chicago, you know,
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 then I would notice like the difference.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:13 Right. But in Memphis, that was never a thing. And you mentioned about police,
00:29:13 --> 00:29:20 about the violence or whatever, and I can, in my personal analysis of why some of the crime,
00:29:21 --> 00:29:29 it was, like I said, the undereducated population means that people are working
00:29:29 --> 00:29:33 in jobs where they may work today or tomorrow or whatever, but they may not.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 So they'll hop from job to job.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:38 But, you know, that's one thing.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:43 Undereducated. So frustration deals with a whole bunch of things.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 And you can talk about the whole poverty thing.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 But then when there was a mayor there, I think his name was A.C.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:54 Warden and he somehow
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 brokered this agreement that stripped
00:29:57 --> 00:30:01 some of the benefits away from public servants
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 such as fire department people and police people and
00:30:04 --> 00:30:10 so after that people who were veteran you know police officers had some you
00:30:10 --> 00:30:14 know good credentials whatever they applied in places like dallas atlanta they
00:30:14 --> 00:30:21 left the city and so it left the city with i think i don't know I'd be willing to bet that for years,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:25 the city has not had enough police officers to
00:30:26 --> 00:30:30 you know, function the way they should. Like, for example, you have a school
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 district and they say, well, we need so-and-so number of teachers.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:37 Well, okay, well, we're missing 50 of them. Okay, what are we going to do?
00:30:37 --> 00:30:41 You know, we got this busy, whatever. So with law enforcement,
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 one of the things that I noticed in Memphis when I used to go back from these
00:30:44 --> 00:30:50 past 10, 15 years is that when you're on the roads and you never have to worry
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 about getting pulled over,
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 like if you going a little bit over the limit or you do this or that,
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 you don't have to worry about it.
00:30:56 --> 00:31:01 Nobody, no police cars patrolling or sitting in the cut or anything like that.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:07 So there's no preventive policing going on because everything is reaction. They're reacting.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:10 And the reason they're doing it is because they don't have enough manpower.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:15 And it's like to now, I was there a couple of weeks ago, the highways,
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 the expressways are a little better because the highway patrol,
00:31:19 --> 00:31:23 the Tennessee highway patrol, they made, the governor made some kind of deal
00:31:23 --> 00:31:29 where now the highway patrol can patrol at least the expressways or interstates in Memphis.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:36 So that cuts down on people like I'm driving and somebody passes me going like 120.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:42 Yes. Died in and out of traffic or videos where people are doing donuts in the
00:31:42 --> 00:31:46 middle of the street and the police are parked over on the side,
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 you know, that kind of thing.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:58 So I think the manpower issue, it wasn't a thing for them and that.
00:31:58 --> 00:32:01 But just think about the poverty.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 Oh, yes.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:10 That's your poverty. things I have to live in. And so now with this new big, beautiful bill,
00:32:11 --> 00:32:18 they are going to be more kids in the city school system who are without lunch
00:32:18 --> 00:32:21 or meals or whatever the school meals provide for them.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:25 And then there are going to be fewer people throughout the city,
00:32:25 --> 00:32:31 majority white, who will be without healthcare, their Medicaid or medical assistance.
00:32:31 --> 00:32:36 And so what I've learned over the years is that, you know, that includes.
00:32:37 --> 00:32:41 People who are getting treatment for mental health. And if it's a people,
00:32:42 --> 00:32:47 if our people in Memphis and stuff, they don't need anything else.
00:32:47 --> 00:32:52 They need mental health, right? Good mental health services for them in their communities.
00:32:52 --> 00:32:57 And so now that's being cut. And it's barely enough of those mental health resources
00:32:57 --> 00:33:02 because we have response teams that have not been trained in dealing with people,
00:33:02 --> 00:33:05 you know, either dealing with mental health or special needs.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:12 It's a hot mess. But do you think Memphis is misunderstood or is the criticism deserved?
00:33:13 --> 00:33:19 Yeah, I think it's misunderstood because Memphis is not unlike a lot of cities,
00:33:19 --> 00:33:22 urban areas here throughout the country, right?
00:33:22 --> 00:33:24 Same thing happened in Detroit.
00:33:25 --> 00:33:31 Yeah. You know, and you can point to other places where this was the case.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:39 You had the inner city jobs drying up and at the same time crack making its way to the streets.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:46 And so you that after that, that led to addiction and that led to mass incarceration.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:53 Right. So Memphis is definitely not the only place that has fallen in. So no, no, it's not.
00:33:54 --> 00:34:00 I'm not. And all the comments that I made, it's not in it's in loving criticism,
00:34:00 --> 00:34:03 but it's as I see the truth, because it is my home.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:09 Of course, I love it, but I don't care if love or not. You have to tell the truth.
00:34:10 --> 00:34:16 Amen. And so the truth as I see it is that definitely not, you know,
00:34:16 --> 00:34:21 I think that it is, I won't say misunderstood.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:25 They kind of, I hear some of the stuff that's been, oh, don't,
00:34:25 --> 00:34:29 if you go to Memphis, you better not do this and you don't do that or whatever.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:34 When I was there and I spent most of my time in South Memphis a couple of weeks
00:34:34 --> 00:34:36 ago, things were pretty calm to me.
00:34:38 --> 00:34:45 I was out in the day, morning, sometimes at night or whatever And I had an uncle,
00:34:45 --> 00:34:47 I told my uncle that same thing I'm telling you He said, well,
00:34:48 --> 00:34:50 things are quiet until they're not quiet,
00:34:52 --> 00:34:59 But what I had learned was that if you were to, as we do in looking at data
00:34:59 --> 00:35:02 If you were just to disaggregate the data,
00:35:02 --> 00:35:07 the crime data in Memphis will probably show you that most of the violence occurs
00:35:07 --> 00:35:09 between people who know each other.
00:35:10 --> 00:35:16 And so most of the people who are the, unfortunately, the victims of crimes,
00:35:16 --> 00:35:19 or I won't say just general crimes, but especially homicide,
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 the most serious, right?
00:35:21 --> 00:35:25 Yes. With people who knew the person who killed them.
00:35:25 --> 00:35:31 And so that sort of thing. So there are some situations where people have,
00:35:32 --> 00:35:37 Of course, taking advantage of innocent people, whatever, but that's anywhere you go.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:42 But for the most part, I think that if you're in Memphis, you're minding your
00:35:42 --> 00:35:46 own business, you're trying to do your own thing, then, you know.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:49 So be it. So be it, right.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:53 Just mind your business. Mind your business. Yep, yep, yep.
00:35:53 --> 00:35:56 And keep your, and be alert. I mean, it's like, don't make yourself,
00:35:57 --> 00:36:00 you know, maybe it's where I grew up. Don't make yourself an easy target. it.
00:36:02 --> 00:36:05 You know, it's like, yeah, I wasn't, I felt safe or whatever,
00:36:05 --> 00:36:08 but that didn't mean that I didn't take precaution, you know,
00:36:08 --> 00:36:13 like making sure that, you know, I don't, I'm now, I'm not out like at two o'clock
00:36:13 --> 00:36:17 in the morning jogging with a, you know, with jewelry on.
00:36:18 --> 00:36:21 Exactly. Like, okay, well, you know what you're doing right now,
00:36:21 --> 00:36:24 you know, go back in the house, take it off. Yep. Yep.
00:36:24 --> 00:36:27 Yep. It's a certain cutoff time that you need to be, you know,
00:36:28 --> 00:36:31 Unless you're going to hire some personal bodyguards, which I don't think that's
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 going to be in the budget right now.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:39 So now versus then, life lessons and laughs. If your younger self could see
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41 you now, what would he think?
00:36:46 --> 00:36:48 I wish I could see.
00:36:51 --> 00:36:54 He has insulted himself right now.
00:36:56 --> 00:36:59 I don't know. That's a good one. I don't know. I don't know.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:07 I think I would see a man who, you knew my background, whatever, I think.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:12 Younger person would see a person that says, you know what?
00:37:13 --> 00:37:20 I get his little thing. I understand his trajectory here to here and there, whatever.
00:37:21 --> 00:37:27 I get it. You know, I may not do it the same, but I get it.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:29 I get it. I respect his hustle.
00:37:29 --> 00:37:34 I think that's what the younger person wants. I respect his hustle. Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:38 --> 00:37:43 What's one lesson Memphis taught you that still sticks with you to this day?
00:37:43 --> 00:37:52 I think it would be that in order to, like, a couple. I think in order to get
00:37:52 --> 00:37:57 what you want or to affect change, you got to get out and do something.
00:37:58 --> 00:38:01 Where I grew up, like I said, it was right next to Hamilton High School.
00:38:02 --> 00:38:07 Lincoln Park is right there. And so I remember when I was young,
00:38:07 --> 00:38:11 there would be the people, the black people who were running for offices in Memphis, whatever.
00:38:12 --> 00:38:15 They would have political rallies in Lincoln Park. Harold Ford,
00:38:15 --> 00:38:19 when he was running for congressman who later became, he retired as a congressman
00:38:19 --> 00:38:22 for Tennessee or whatever, but he used to be over there in Lincoln Park.
00:38:24 --> 00:38:28 What was it? Lois D. Berry, who was actually just lived a couple of streets over from me.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:32 She was a city councilman or whatever. And I remember these folks,
00:38:32 --> 00:38:35 and I didn't know what was going on when I was as a kid, but they'd have these
00:38:35 --> 00:38:39 political rallies in the park and they would be doing these things or whatever.
00:38:40 --> 00:38:43 And then as I grew older, I learned all these people into politics or whatever.
00:38:43 --> 00:38:51 And then even one time I was cutting middle school, got the bus to go down to downtown Memphis.
00:38:51 --> 00:38:56 We took the downtown bus and went down there to where it used to be.
00:38:56 --> 00:39:00 Now it's the Civil Rights Museum, but it used to be like just the old Lorraine
00:39:00 --> 00:39:03 Motel that was nothing there, right?
00:39:03 --> 00:39:06 Right. And I remember going there and there was this old lady.
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 I thought she was a bag lady.
00:39:08 --> 00:39:11 And what is it? I thought she was a bag lady. I was like, who's this lady?
00:39:11 --> 00:39:15 She's just sitting out here. She's just sitting in the middle of nowhere. She got her little bags.
00:39:16 --> 00:39:20 So I was like, I walked up to, I was asking, and I introduced myself, whatever.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:22 I found out her name was Jacqueline Smith.
00:39:23 --> 00:39:27 And she said, yeah. I said, I said, what y'all doing? What you doing?
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 And she said, she protested.
00:39:30 --> 00:39:34 And she protested. She said, yeah, I'm protesting because they want to make
00:39:34 --> 00:39:37 this Lorraine Motel. They want to make it a civil rights museum.
00:39:37 --> 00:39:41 And I was like, yeah, that's nice. I love her. She's like, oh, no.
00:39:42 --> 00:39:45 She said, I knew Dr. King. I was a friend of Dr. King. He used to come to Memphis,
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 you know, a visit with Dr.
00:39:48 --> 00:39:50 King, whatever she said, he would never want anything like that.
00:39:50 --> 00:39:55 Dr. King was for, he would want this place to be a homeless shelter of anything.
00:39:55 --> 00:40:00 Yeah. Instead of some sort of trivia. So she says, I'm, I'm protesting.
00:40:00 --> 00:40:02 That's why I'm out here. I'm protesting it or whatever.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:07 That was back when I was in middle school. I saw her, I used to go back,
00:40:07 --> 00:40:11 you know, every year, you know, you go down to Beale Street or whatever,
00:40:11 --> 00:40:14 you happen to venture over that way. She's still out there sitting.
00:40:15 --> 00:40:23 We took my kids there about 10 years ago and we went down there and she was still sitting there.
00:40:23 --> 00:40:27 Even though they made it the big civil rights museum or whatever.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:32 But say all that to say this, one of the things I learned about the most,
00:40:32 --> 00:40:36 I think, and remember, you know, about people there is that black folks fought
00:40:36 --> 00:40:38 for things. They stood up for stuff.
00:40:39 --> 00:40:43 They stood up for something. They stood up for what was right.
00:40:43 --> 00:40:48 They stood up for stuff, you know, and that's kind of like the legacy that I
00:40:48 --> 00:40:50 brought with me from there.
00:40:50 --> 00:40:53 And that's not, you know, my own family. Yes.
00:40:53 --> 00:40:57 But, you know, those people there, you know, they stood up for something.
00:40:57 --> 00:41:04 And even going back to the year you were born, actually, in a year after I was born, where Dr.
00:41:04 --> 00:41:08 King was assassinated because these folks were there trying to get folks to
00:41:08 --> 00:41:09 stand up for garbage workers.
00:41:10 --> 00:41:12 And so that's kind of like what I
00:41:12 --> 00:41:19 remember and what I take from Memphis Ed Longlazer. Of course, the music.
00:41:19 --> 00:41:22 The music goes without saying, right? Oh, that's legendary.
00:41:22 --> 00:41:26 And I'm not talking about the music coming out of Graceland. Right.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:35 Way more out of Graceland. We got so much roots in music, history in music.
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 I mean, everybody didn't record it with somebody in Memphis.
00:41:40 --> 00:41:44 One of the things that I didn't know, going back to the music tip,
00:41:45 --> 00:41:48 but we used to have a convenience store when I was coming up.
00:41:48 --> 00:41:51 It was on East Trig, right off of Bellevue.
00:41:52 --> 00:41:57 And next to our store was this church called, what was it?
00:41:58 --> 00:42:02 Because Herman's mom went to that church. East Trigg Baptist Church.
00:42:02 --> 00:42:08 And the pastor for years was Dr. Herbert Brewster. Dr. Herbert Brewster wrote
00:42:08 --> 00:42:10 Mahalia Jackson's first hit.
00:42:11 --> 00:42:17 Dr. Herbert Brewster used to do a gospel broadcast in Memphis every Saturday
00:42:17 --> 00:42:22 or Sunday like that or whatever. And Elvis was a big fan of his broadcast.
00:42:23 --> 00:42:28 And so thus Elvis credits that, credits his broadcast for his inspiration and
00:42:28 --> 00:42:33 going into like, you know, doing those gospel albums and stuff like that or whatever.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:39 But I never knew right next door was this dude that was, and he also wrote that
00:42:39 --> 00:42:43 poem. I don't know if you've ever heard it recited, I'm determined to be somebody
00:42:43 --> 00:42:47 someday. I think I have heard that Yeah, yeah, yeah Dr.
00:42:47 --> 00:42:51 Herbert Bruce I was like I never knew this dude Was at East Trigg Church Yeah
00:42:51 --> 00:42:56 See You know It's just the roots That you dig That makes me proud To be from
00:42:56 --> 00:43:00 Memphis I'm just disappointed At where we currently are With the city,
00:43:01 --> 00:43:05 What advice would you give someone stuck in a place like Memphis feeling hopeless?
00:43:06 --> 00:43:13 Yeah, number one, if you decide that you want to just kind of give up that hope
00:43:13 --> 00:43:17 or that's it, you might that's it.
00:43:17 --> 00:43:19 You might as well just bury yourself. Right.
00:43:20 --> 00:43:26 But I would say that it is nothing is hopeless with a plan. Right.
00:43:26 --> 00:43:32 And so, you know, you just have to come up with a plan, a realistic plan, too.
00:43:33 --> 00:43:36 The hardest thing to do is to make the decision that you want to do what you
00:43:36 --> 00:43:38 got to do. That's the hardest decision.
00:43:39 --> 00:43:42 That's the hardest thing you have to do is to make the decision, in my opinions.
00:43:43 --> 00:43:47 But once you make the decision, then everything else is geared toward moving
00:43:47 --> 00:43:50 toward whatever that goal is along those lines.
00:43:51 --> 00:43:56 And this is the thing. People, they say that youth, the young people,
00:43:56 --> 00:43:58 are so risky. They're taking risks or whatever.
00:43:59 --> 00:44:04 Why not take risks to get outside of things that you normally wouldn't do?
00:44:04 --> 00:44:06 Take those risks, right?
00:44:06 --> 00:44:11 All these risk stickers, if you're fearless, right? I'm fearless. I'll die.
00:44:11 --> 00:44:18 So what are you afraid of, like leaving outside of your environment or whatever?
00:44:18 --> 00:44:20 You know, I'm afraid I'm going to leave my mama, you know, whatever.
00:44:20 --> 00:44:24 You know, this is one of those things, you know, if you don't young people,
00:44:25 --> 00:44:28 one of the reasons why young people are considered the most dangerous people
00:44:28 --> 00:44:32 of a country or areas, because they are the most risk.
00:44:32 --> 00:44:34 They are the most risk. They take the most risk.
00:44:35 --> 00:44:41 And so and if you don't try, hopeless or not, if you don't try, then you'll never know.
00:44:41 --> 00:44:43 You'll never know. You'll never know.
00:44:44 --> 00:44:47 You've heard about that. And that's one thing I think that keeps a lot of people
00:44:47 --> 00:44:51 stuck, regardless of your location. If you're scared to venture out on your
00:44:51 --> 00:44:54 own vision, then you are going to be holding yourself back regardless.
00:44:54 --> 00:44:59 You can't point the finger at nobody else because you ain't going to even try.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:05 When I talk about the realism piece is, are you able to relocate?
00:45:05 --> 00:45:10 Okay, number one. So are you able to relocate?
00:45:10 --> 00:45:15 That's the general question. That means that do you have a skill or a talent
00:45:15 --> 00:45:21 that you can take from wherever you are someplace else and get paid enough money
00:45:21 --> 00:45:26 to be able to live comfortably or live whatever, right?
00:45:26 --> 00:45:32 That's where it boils down to, you know, and, you know, if you don't have it,
00:45:33 --> 00:45:39 then what are you doing to try to get to that point? But it's not impossible. Of course not, right?
00:45:39 --> 00:45:42 It's just whatever way you want to get your hustle on. And too many,
00:45:43 --> 00:45:46 I think people, especially young people, feel like the only way they can get
00:45:46 --> 00:45:51 their hustle on is to, it has to be something that's immediate.
00:45:51 --> 00:45:56 We have done a hell of a thing to young people because everything is instant.
00:45:57 --> 00:46:01 You can't even wait a couple of days to get your Amazon product.
00:46:01 --> 00:46:07 You got to get it the same day, right? So we have created this impatient generation
00:46:07 --> 00:46:12 and generations, and they think everything is supposed to be instant.
00:46:13 --> 00:46:19 Hard work, dedication, patience, right?
00:46:19 --> 00:46:22 Those things, it sounds like there's some in a book or whatever,
00:46:22 --> 00:46:24 but that's the way you get to the point.
00:46:24 --> 00:46:27 There's no skipping that. no you can't
00:46:27 --> 00:46:30 skip that I mean and that's what I think like you said it's been
00:46:30 --> 00:46:34 brainwashed that we're supposed to have it now and I
00:46:34 --> 00:46:39 shouldn't have to do anything to have it now it's that entitled attitude that
00:46:39 --> 00:46:45 we definitely have definitely in in America right definitely in America and
00:46:45 --> 00:46:52 this is like the worst case scenario and I'm just like dude it's it's too much I got a plan.
00:46:52 --> 00:46:58 I got to stick with it. Hey, we know a lot of things about Memphis.
00:46:58 --> 00:47:01 We may have to follow up for an additional episode later on,
00:47:02 --> 00:47:05 depending on how the tides turn when it comes to the city.
00:47:05 --> 00:47:09 But I want to thank you again, my homie, my friend, my partner,
00:47:09 --> 00:47:13 my M-Town homie. Yes, yes, yes.
00:47:17 --> 00:47:20 I always love catching up with Mark. That's 20
00:47:20 --> 00:47:23 years plus a friendship laughs and real
00:47:23 --> 00:47:25 talk you just heard and trust me we could have
00:47:25 --> 00:47:29 kept going but y'all ain't ready for all the stories if
00:47:29 --> 00:47:33 you enjoyed this episode show a little love and support the podcast at
00:47:33 --> 00:47:38 buymeacoffee.com backslash talk to me michelle because a good conversation deserves
00:47:38 --> 00:47:42 a good cup of coffee make sure you subscribe follow and stay tapped in on all
00:47:42 --> 00:47:47 social media at talk to me michelle until next time protect your peace sip your
00:47:47 --> 00:47:51 tea and don't let nobody stress you out I'm out. Peace.
00:47:54 --> 00:48:05 Music.