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The hosts of the COP Changing Lives 2024 podcast discuss the significance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and reflect on his legacy. They talk about the relationship between MLK and Malcolm X, highlighting how the media portrayed them as enemies. They also discuss the issue of colorism and the need for unity among people of all races. They emphasize the importance of teaching children their roots and the ongoing fight against racism. The hosts question how far society has come since MLK's time and acknowledge the progress that has been made. They conclude by pledging to continue supporting MLK's mission and promoting truth and unity. And three, two, one. Hey guys. Hey, hey. We're back, changing lives. COP. Hey, welcome back, welcome back everybody. I hope you guys have had a great start to the year. January is flying by. Already? I know, I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day already. So yeah, I know it's flying by. I hope everybody's doing good and doing well in good health, good mental health. That's important. For sure, for sure. Thank you guys. Thank you guys for joining us again on this episode of COP Changing Lives 2024. We got a lot of topics to cover this year and we're excited for you guys to be a part of this journey with us. I'm excited for this show, being that it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday coming up here. I don't know if people realize like he would have been 95 come Monday. That is amazing. And I just really, I don't know if everybody else feel like this. I still look at him in his past life hour. Like I look at him as when he died, if that makes sense. I don't think I could, yeah. I couldn't picture him 95 right now. Yeah, like we didn't have the opportunity to see him age. Like the last visuals we had of him was back in the 60s when he was, you know. Murdered. Yeah, so I get where you're coming from. Yeah, I got a few pictures of him up here in my office actually. So one cool picture I have is one that he took with Malcolm X. Interestingly enough, the media back then, maybe not so much now, but back then they tried to pit them against each other and portray their relationships as torn. And they were enemies because they had different ways of going about moving this country forward, moving society forward. One was nonviolence, nonviolence, you know what I mean? We're gonna get out, we're gonna picket, we're gonna use our voices, our votes to be heard. And then on the other hand, you had another brother who had the same mission, but his approach was completely different. It was more militant. It was more violent in nature, but it was defensive. The Nation of Islam and Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad and their teachings and what they stood for back then and even still to this day were protection for the black community. And they rarely ever, if ever, not a historian, but they rarely ever resorted to violence as the aggressor. It was always in defense of their community, their people. So this picture is really, it really hits home, especially on this day, this week, this episode. So shout out to Malcolm X. It's awesome. We're gonna take a picture of it and post it to our IG so you guys can visualize, get a vision of what Marlon is referring to. The picture is absolutely amazing. Also, I wanna piggyback on something you said regarding how society, the government, paint those two as enemies. That's so still relevant today. We can't do anything in this world without a fight being labeled. We have two good black artists. Oh, they hate each other. Oh, they wanna fight each other. No, let us just marinate in our craft. Let us be who we are without the fight. And that's something that's still relevant today. Rather it's with the black culture, black females. It's very, very relevant there, especially being from Chicago, a black woman from Chicago. Majority of my childhood, young adult years, I had to fight. When I say I had to fight, I literally had to fight. That's because of the environment I was in. We were raised that way. Oh, she got on the better shoes. Oh, she got on a better coat. When in fact, we're all one. We're all human. We're all black. We just have darker skin. We're not different. That's why I bossed up. I bossed up to let people know, just because I have brown skin, don't look at me any less. Because I'm always in my bag. I could stomp with any woman. And that's what I put out to the world. And that's what women, men, men also you should be teaching your sons and daughters. Don't settle for less because of the shade of your skin, because this has been going on since day one. Light skin is better. Dark skin is bad. Anything black you've ever noticed from cake, even cake down from cake mix, devil's fool cake. Because it's black, it's chocolate. It's called devil's fool cake. Yeah, where does it matter? But the yellow cake. Oh, it's angel's. It's angel cake. How the fuck is this? How are we making these cakes against each other? Exactly, everything, the shade of black, the shade of white and shout out to my white girls. I got some boss white friends, Caucasian girls. They are my friends and I don't look at them with, oh, your shade is lighter than me, so you're a superior. No, and if they ever come at me like that, I dismiss them quick because I would never do that to anybody, I'm human. Don't get me wrong, I know what it is. I see all the jokes out here. I can go on about this subject for days and days, but I think I kind of went somewhere. I'm gonna let my husband get back on MLK. I wanna touch on that a little bit too, because set the record straight, we don't discriminate. That's not what we're here to portray. We love all people from all walks of life. We're all interconnected. We're all one. We all- That's the message. Truly, we all, and society, government, media paints us, pins us against each other, but we have far more in common than we do otherwise, right? But I feel like everybody's a victim in this, and I'm not saying, hey, you're a victim and you use that victim role, and because in society today, this victim role has been used as a weapon. But the point I'm trying to make here is like, even non-black people are victims of the script, of the agenda. Absolutely. Because many of them out here unconsciously feel that they're more superior, because it's been programmed in society. It's like, they're victims of the program, and then you have us, black people or people of color, minorities, as they deem us here in this country. We are victimized because we're on the other end of that stick. But there's puppet masters up at the top controlling the narrative. At the end of the day, we are all one. We all came from the same place, and we can probably touch on that. Exactly, some of us, yeah, some of us just got dropped off in different locations. Yeah, that's it, it was one big plot of land, you know, and then some science happened, you know, and people moving around, but we all from the same place. Exactly, and you do have those people who don't understand that. So you're hearing it here from CLP. We definitely understand what's been going on. We don't like it, and we're here to set the narrative straight. And you guys can learn from this episode as well, if you did not know or understand what's been going on or what's been happening to you. Racism is still very much alive. It's so relevant in today's world. It's just kind of suppressed and hidden. I'll say suppressed, hidden, whatever you want to call it. But it's still relevant, and guess who's gonna suffer the most, that's our children, our grandchildren that's growing up in it today. So this is what I tell people around me who have children that's coming up in this generation. Teach them the truth. Teach them who they are, what their bloodline is, because you're not always gonna be around to shelter them. They're gonna grow up, they're gonna get into this world, they're gonna understand that they're black and Asian. They're gonna understand that they're black and white, black, Hispanic, whatever you wanna, black on black, whatever you wanna call it, teach them their roots. This is what we fought so hard for, to know our roots and who we are in this world. So you owe it to your children to let them live, you know, through their bloodline. I like that, that's solid, you know, MLK, MLK. That's how this conversation all kind of kicked off, you know, shout out to MLK, happy birthday King, you know, your memory, your legacy lives on forever. We are forever grateful and we're gonna always continue to fight that fight and support your mission and keep your dream alive. I don't care how we gotta do it, but we are and we always gonna push that truth. Yeah, yeah, we're in lockstep. And I looked up the Million Man March speech that he gave back on August 28th, 1963 in DC. And I was just, I wanted to kind of reflect on that today for this episode, just to kind of, you know, just to hone in on some of that energy that was present then and energy, energy never dies. You know, it's here with us, you know, forever and always. And one of the lines, a couple of the lines stuck with me. One of the paragraphs looks like the second paragraph. It says, quote, not quote, but 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. 100 years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and a change of discrimination. 100 years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material, prosperity, and it goes on and on. Just kind of speaking on where we were as a people in 1963. And then, you know, you transition or you fast forward to 2024 here, January. And, you know, we talk about this often, like, and let me backtrack. So the 100 years later, he's referencing when slavery ended in 1863. So 100 years later, he picked that year purposely. 100 years later, that's where they were in that moment, fighting for change. Here we are, you know, about, what is this? 70 years later-ish. And it's an interesting question is how far have we come? You know, like how far have we come? There's a lot of change, there's a lot of positive. I do see a lot of change amongst the black culture. I do see a lot of change amongst the white culture and other cultures. More accepting, I wanna say. More in tune with what's going on with the black brothers and sisters. I do see that. I do see the black culture, man, we are elevated. In a major way. We are elevated, which takes me back. We were back home in Chicago for the summer. A lot of people don't know. We were there for a good six months, but we had to be low-key. Low-key as meaning low-profile because of who we are. So I mentioned that because we're not just anybody and that's how we carry ourselves. We're not. And it's sad, but kinda, it's for protection, I'll say. We were there for business. We were there to give back. We were there supporting the I Have a Dream, to give back to our families there, our black children there. And I wanted to say, I was very, very impressed with the entrepreneurship there. The black-owned businesses, the black men and women out there making a change with the youth. The youth programs, just non-profits, even the daycare centers on every block. Like those centers, those organizations, they provide safety for those children. I don't care if it's seven hours, five hours a day. They are saving lives out there and they're taking risks on their own lives. I was disappointed also. I was still seeing some things. We hadn't grown in certain areas. I heard a couple gunshots. I got into it with a couple people where I felt like I had to defend myself and I'm just not used to living like that anymore. So yeah, Chicago has come a long way, but we still need work. We still need a lot of work. Not only Chicago, just the black culture in general. Like we should be together, not against each other. I don't care who you are. I don't care what kind of hair you have. I don't care what language you speak. I don't care what car you're driving. I don't care what job you have. I don't care what's in your bank account. In today's world, if you have black skin, you should be supporting the mission because you are the one that's gonna be affected. You've already been affected. Everybody's still being affected. And let's pull together and try to fix what we can. No, we can't fix the whole world. I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is 1%, do your part. Yeah. It all adds up. You guys see me on Facebook, Instagram a lot, social media asking for a dollar, $2, $3, $5 to feed the homeless, to feed anybody for that matter. I don't care if you black or white. People be like, well, what a dollar gonna do? You'd be surprised. That dollar can go with another $6 to get a pack of cheese that's gonna make 10 grilled cheeses that's gonna put a meal in a baby's belly for the day. So always look at it that way. If you gotta give a quarter, give a quarter. You're giving back. Do something to give back to push us forward. Yeah, any little thing helps. And we're several hundred years behind in this race and it's interesting how the term race is used to separate people based on their shades and where they're from. But I mean, it really is a race. In every culture, their priority is their people. But for whatever reason, for many reasons, we can be better for our people. We're not as good for our people as we can be. I feel like we hold ourselves back and we have the opportunity, and I'm speaking on opportunity now, taking it back to 1963 when Dr. King gave that speech. What they were fighting, what he was fighting for and what they were trying to change back then was discrimination and segregation on the highest level. And today, we're not fighting those same fights necessarily. It looks different, it feels different, and a lot has changed for the better, in my opinion. This is up for debate, of course. But I feel like the playing field has been leveled a little bit more so than it was then. Again, we got a long way to go. And granted, this is a relatively young country. This country was founded in 1776, 250-ish years old. Most kingdoms, most empires, most countries, superpowers around the world have been in existence for hundreds and thousands of years, right? But this country is young and there's a lot of flaws that this country were built based upon and a lot of flaws today, just like with a family. No family is perfect, but it's your family. This country ain't perfect. It's my country, it's our country, and it's up to us to make it a more perfect union, a more perfect scenario. So I feel like all of the opportunities for us to be great are available. And it's on us. Absolutely. Yeah, it's on us to get our shit together, to do what we need to do to take advantage of those opportunities that are afforded us in this country. Absolutely, effort, wanting to want better. I think we lack that in so many communities. Like, that's why I always say you keep your network open. You get out, you talk to people in the community. You make new friends. You just don't know what opportunities are available or gonna be at your foot, like just off of conversation. Networking is very, very important, especially in our culture. It's not easy to trust everybody. I do get that, but at some point, you just don't know how an individual can elevate, upgrade your life. And a lot of people don't because of color. A lot of people don't because of clicks and that sort of thing. But I just think you do yourself a disservice. You do yourself a disservice. You stay at a certain level, you know, forever because you're not broadening your mind of just the simple thing of talking to someone. Yeah, get out and network, communicate. Meet new people. Open your mind, yeah. Yeah, get with some of your friends that got businesses. Hey, girl, how you do this? How did you get there? Connect, it's called connecting. Yeah, like you even look at the way we used to dress back in the early 20th century. Yeah, you've always touched bases on that and always admired that, like presentable black men looking presentable up to part. I'll let you finish, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, it's cool. Black men, black women, black children, like we walked around in suit and tie. You know, women had, you know, nice dresses on, skirts, blouses. You know, we were presentable. Not saying that, not saying that the way we move now is not presentable. It's just, it looks different now, you know. Fashion is different for the culture. We keep up with the trend in times, but I think what you're trying to say is keep yourself up. Yeah, and what I'm trying to say is that too, but I'm just comparing the way we presented ourselves of the way we carry, yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Look at me. This is the interesting thing about doing a podcast with your spouse because she's in my head. I think she knows what I'm about to say. Most of the time she does. Oh, I do, honey. Trust me. I told you, the superpowers do not play. She do not play. We finish each other's questions. Like we finish each other's sentences and you know, we know how each other are feeling. She's reaching down, telling me, hold on one second, y'all. I gotta get the ice for the champagne. But really what it is, is when you look good, you feel good. That if you're walking around looking like you're homeless, that's what you're gonna adapt to. Yeah, and then you fast forward to today and look out the majority or at least what's portrayed because I'm not saying that this is all of us because you got some clean brothers and sisters out here that when they step out, they step out. Absolutely, it's not everybody. I'm not painting a broad brush, but you know, I'm just kind of speaking on some of the things I see. That can help. Yeah. With us. We don't dress the same. We don't act the same. We don't have the same respect for one another. Generally, from what I've seen in certain circumstances. And then music is a great. Oh yeah. A great, you know, portrait. It kind of paints the picture of how we carry ourselves. And it's crazy, it's crazy. Music has shaped so many minds out here. I think I've told this story before. I grew up on old school. My mom played nothing but old school from sunup to sundown to all the way around. Motown, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, and my favorite of all time, Alexander O'Neal. So hold on, I got to touch on that. Let's put a pin in that, let's touch on that. Let's bookmark that. We got to touch on Alexander O'Neal. Wait, let's do a toast to Alexander O'Neal. Cause he, man, Lord. Cause he is a mainstay in the household. You got that, what's, is it a Google? Well, we got a Google and Alexa, but what's the one in the kitchen? Is that the Alexa? It's the Alexa, the new generation. Every morning, every afternoon, every evening. Hey, Alexa, play Alexander O'Neal on Pandora radio. Like he's a mainstay in the house. 24-7, but listen guys, what I was getting at is that music my mom played was embedded in me. It taught me to be the woman I am today. It like grew me up before my time. It's like Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross. All of those women raised me, sorta. Cause they were in my head 24-7. So when I became a woman, I already knew what to do. When I became a wife, I already knew what to do. Yeah, I always tweak myself often on how to be better in those roles. You know, sister, auntie, all those things. I mean, they come with growth, but those women taught me how to be strong. Like they, I heard that. So when I listen to the music today, now some of it I like because we love music. Our family, man, if you know anything about Marlon and I, both sides of our family, whether it's gospel, whether it's rap, R&B, I don't care what kind of music, on down from our children, our siblings, we love music. Our house is full of music. We love art. We're those type of people. So when I say this, I just, can only imagine how the music today is shaping the minds of our youth in this generation. And you have to look at it. This generation is gonna be taking care of us when we become elders. I can't even see that right now. That's why we teach our kids different. We teach our kids from that era. You know, they got some new age things too. And let me say this, all our children are grown. I refer to them as kids because they'll never be older than me. You know what I mean? So, and that's not even with age, that's with wisdom, you know, where I've been, experience, what have you. We teach them, we keep them grounded in old school music. You like your new school music? You like your new school music? That's good too. Country, our son is deeply rooted into country music. He's about to be 29, February 26. Like he's deeply rooted into country music, but I think, I think music shapes the kids, what they're watching on TV, all of that. Like that's why it's important for us to get in tune with our children and teach them what their blood is made of. Like the real truth, not what you think they should know. Because like I say, and like I mentioned all the time, and I'm a product of this, my siblings is a product of this. My mom died with, she had three young siblings. She had three young kids, three of my siblings that was solely depended on her, you know, and I'm glad she taught them how to be upstanding people. My mom died early. My youngest sibling, I believe Precious is what, 25? Yeah, my mom died what, four or five years ago? 2018. Yeah, something to that nature, but I'm a product of this. They are a product of that. And if it wasn't for my mom teaching them, teaching them how to, especially Precious, that's my little sister Precious. She's the youngest one. People don't know this. I have a 25 year old little sister and sorry Precious, if I got the age wrong, you know, everything I have to deal with. We love you, Precky. But this is what I'm saying. My mom raised her, raised all three of them to be good people, understand where they came from and where they're going. That's important because you're not guaranteed this life to shelter those children. And that's how I teach mine. Be independent. I'm gonna tell you when you're right. I'm gonna tell you when you're wrong. I'm not trying to be nobody's friend. I am not your friend. I was put on this earth to be your mother. And I'd rather me give you the bad news, me show you the way than the court system or somebody knocking you upside your head in the street or you being taken advantage of. This music today, we really, really gotta do better. It's all good. And like I said, I like some rap music, the beats and this and that, but we're talking about somebody, oh, he looking at my coochie. He doing this, he doing that. Like, no, that's distasteful. No way. Yeah, and I get it. Like opportunities for many of us, many people within our communities are limited and that's like a path of least resistance. The more bullshit you can put on wax, the quicker you gonna come up. And it's by design, it's by design, all the way up from the media outlets, the production companies, the record labels, all of the brands and sponsorships. Like this country was built on thriving and generating dollars off of the backs of black men and women. And between the way music is being put out, it kind of, it reminds me of that in many respects. And like I say, it's no disrespect. It's a path of least resistance and we gotta get it how we can get it. And it's all about what you put out, how you carry yourself. Because a lot of us, like look at Jay-Z, he started out, I mean, he wasn't really, he wasn't distasteful with it. He was always ahead of his time. You know, he's a- You gotta, right, you gotta kind of fake it to make it. I understand it, but real people are dying. Yeah. Yeah, it's different now. Yeah. It's different now. And the music today, you know, there ain't really, like rap beats were just, and within rap, within hip hop, it was part of the culture back then and it stayed there for the most part early on. And then it started to morph into, you know, the East Coast, West Coast beef, which that was fabricated. You know, that really wasn't a thing until the powers that be created it. And then today, you know, like, but now it's like, your ops, you rap about, you know, sliding on the ops. And then you're talking about either what you've already done or what you're about to go do. And then when you go do it, you're gonna come back on the wax and rap about what you did. And then it's a back and forth thing, you know, and then we're just destroying ourselves, you know, either dying or getting locked up. And we're putting out this negative image that like Letitia alluded to is getting ingrained in our culture and our people of all walks of life. It ain't just us. And it has a disparate impact on the future. So we just have to be mindful of that. You know, we all, everything is interconnected. We all play a part in the bigger picture. So just keep that in mind, you know, but do what you gotta do to make it. That's my takeaway there. But just don't be out harming anybody. And you guys, especially you grown guys, what you guys are rapping about, you know, think about the people who are in the inner cities, the kids and, you know, they don't have bodyguards and protection and that kind of thing. So be mindful of that. I think you guys could create a bigger movement, you know, other than, oh, I flopped that bitch, I fucked that hoe up, I fucked that bitch. Yeah, yeah. You know, there's more shit we could talk about and it'll sell and it'll have a bigger impact, you know. And then so you got music in the similarities and differences compared to back then, how we dressed, you know what I mean, how we carried ourselves like the elderly community. Back then, there wasn't no walking down the street, you know, with your pants sagging or disrespecting a woman or fighting, you know, in Chicago on the blocks that we grew up in back in the day. Oh, this is huge. You know what I mean? This is huge, because it's so different now. Yeah. It's very, very different because as Marlon was mentioning before I cut him off. Yeah, she's good at cutting me off, thanks, y'all. I'm gonna take a sip of this. This is what I grew up on. My uncles, they didn't play on the block I grew up on, 64th and Justine, okay? So when, you know, you couldn't come on that block doing things to, you know, to the children causing, sorry, guys, causing harm to the elders. So yes, the block I grew up on, 64th and Justine. Shout out to all. I'm hoping, I know a lot of you are gone on, like Lavelle, rest in peace, one of my brother's good friends. My brother, Dennis, rest in peace. They are from 64th and Justine, yes. I love you guys dearly. I know I'm forgetting a lot, but just if you listening to this and you from 64th and Justine, man, I'm proud of you just for still being here, just for maintaining. Like they, my brother Lavelle, they had illnesses that hindered them from being here, but if you still here, you still on 64th and Justine, and I see the work you guys are doing out there. Devon and everybody with the block parties and the foundations, the barbershops, the haircuts, giving little kids cuts and everything. Man, we talked about this, you know, we manifested this, who we are today, cause we went through the struggle. We went through hell. But let me tell you, back to respect. These kids have no respect today. Like I was saying, when I grew up, my uncles, they did not play about their block, their community. They kept us safe. They wasn't scared of the youngsters. That's a big deal right now today. All the elders, not my people, but other elders that was out, they called them OGs. I'm just being real healthy. I'm being real here. CLP, we gonna keep it real. You don't like it. You don't like the slang. You don't like the way I speak. You don't like the profanity. This is not the podcast for you. So go ahead on. Bah, we cool. Bah. But listen, my uncles did not play. You came on that block. Hey, don't come over here with no shit. They checked on the elderly people. Hey, you need water. You need food. You need this. You need your snow removed. You need salt put down. It was just that you don't see that in today's world. And this is all by design, music, et cetera. It's not cool to help others. Oh, it's not cool to help your family members. It's not cool to be there for your loved ones because of what everybody else is doing. But you don't even know the struggles of what's going on in those households. People out here going hard to keep their unions and families together, whether they got money or not, whether they live in the hood, whether they live in Peel Hill. At the end of the day, none of that shit is gonna matter. What's gonna matter is sticking together because it's coming, it's coming. Yep, and that's one area where we can improve at, you know what I mean? Like that family unit, that family structure. Yeah, we just throw each other away. Bye, you're damaged goods. Bye, get out. Yeah, no, you're right. That shit wrong and it doesn't go well. Yeah, we gotta stick it out through the good, the bad, and the ugly. And there were a lot of forces against us back in the 60s and the 70s that played a part in intentionally destroying the family unit within our communities, destroying our communities in general. So don't get me wrong. I understand, I get it. You know, it's the uphill battle. We behind the power curve, but we control our own destiny. You know what I'm saying? And at the base level, taking care of yourself, taking care of your family, taking care of your community, you know, stacking your bread, gaining assets, building generational wealth, you know, educating yourself. Once we have all those things in order, then as a culture, like not just individually, but we have to start individually and then it grows. And then once we get to a point where, all right, we standing on something because we ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of right now. I'm gonna just be straight up with you. Culturally, big picture. So until we get to that point where we got a foundation to stand on, like a lot of these other coaches out here, then, you know, our voices won't be heard. It's just, we just yelling down an empty hallway with nobody listening. You know what I'm saying? We gotta put our money where our mouth is. We gotta hold our people down. We gotta hold our families down. And then, you know, that transitions into like politics too. Like that's a big topic that, you know, is top of mind, especially this year, going into this year. You know what I mean? Like everybody's so big on voting and, you know, not saying that it's not important. You know. It's important to a certain extent. So we'll get into that too. Yeah, we, maybe not this episode, but I could go, I could go. I could go with it. You know what I'm saying? This is my hubby, Forte. He don't, he's a businessman. So he don't play around with these type of topics. And as you can see, they hit home for us because we've been grinding. Like I said, we've been grinding from day one since the day we met each other. Like we ain't always have it, but we always stuck together and made it work, no matter what type of situation we was going through. Because if you know anything about Marlon and I, our hearts are big. And anybody around us, if they really, really know us without agendas, they'll tell you, they reach back for everybody. We reach back for everybody. Not saying that they are receptive, because trust me, it's hard reaching back, especially for your family members, because people don't be receptive. And it calls, I'll say this, I'll put it this way. Generational family toxic situation hinder families from moving forward. We just, we don't deal that way. We'll reach back for you. If we see you're not capable, we move on. That's just how we are because we have so much to do and we have so many people in our circle that wanna shop. So we can't spend all our time on you. We gotta keep on moving and we reach back for everybody. I could stand on that. For real, for real, for real. Yeah, I got some, I got some, you know, I got some crazy, crazy reach back moves I done made and just been like shot down over. That has cost us thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just reaching back for people. Just trying to help people out. That won't even give you a phone call. Won't even say, hey girl, how you doing? Won't even say, here go $5. Won't say, here go $10. Won't even say, hey girl, let me take you out to dinner. But you have saved their whole life. You have went hard. My husband and I, we have went so hard for people. They don't even understand it. They look at us as the bad guys because we went hard for them. You have people that turn jealous, envious of you because they're not mentally capable of accepting who you are and what you bring to the table and how you sacrifice your shit to help them. It's really, really tough out here and that was some of Marlon and I 2024 also too. Just be mindful of the people who really, really need help. Who are- Who are- Who are receptive of it also. Receptive. Be mindful of who is receptive. That meaning they ready for the help because just because you ready to help them don't mean that they ready to accept it even though they calling and asking. You gotta make sure that they are ready. And guess who I learned that from? That particular piece right there, no other than Jada Pickett. That's one thing I learned from her that I agree on. Anything else, I don't. But that. When you're helping people, when you're reaching out to help people, you have a good heart and you like, hey, yeah, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. Girl, I'm gonna put you on. I'm gonna help you with anything from your union, from getting in school, from helping you with your kids, just being an ear, just providing comfort for that person. Make sure they ready for it because they don't be ready for it. They don't. And it'll save you a whole lot of time and heartache. In the state that the world is in now, there's no room for error. People take this life for granted, we don't. Yeah. No, that's facts, man. That's nothing but facts, you know. MLK, his birthday, the game. You know, this is our opportunity to reflect on his dream, his vision for a more perfect union, and then just kind of reflecting on where we are today and then who we can become in the next 100 years. You know what I'm saying? And that ties into CLP, Changing Lives Podcast, our foundation and what we're about. We're about moving in lockstep with the culture, with the world, with the country, moving each other forward and doing what we can to make a difference, you know, so. Yep, and we laid all this out on the line just to help you guys understand that moving a culture forward is not always easy. You're gonna come into some glitches. You're gonna come into some setbacks, but think of those ones who really need you, really need your support. That's what I do. People come in my life and they go. I've learned from them, they have learned from me, but I just don't, you know, surrender to them. My energy don't surrender to them. I keep going because there's somebody else in line who need my help. That's me. And I also wonder too with this, where we just went with this episode, MLK episode, just we laid all this out so you guys, like I said, can see what we go through on a day-to-day basis, why you guys, some of you guys think it's all peaches and cream, like we just woke up like this. I tell people all the time, I didn't just wake up like this. I put in hard work for my union. And I'm still putting in work, but I bring all this up for the black culture to say, do we, after this, listening to this episode is, was MLK sacrifice in vain? With his work in vain, yeah. Yeah, like where do we go? It's never too late though. It's never too late to get out and make a difference. You probably think I don't have money where I don't have the resources. It's a lot you can do without money and with money and the resources. Hit me up. Oh, our email address. Give them an email, babe. ChangingLivesPodcast35 at gmail.com. Common spelling C-H-A-N-G-I-N-G-L-I-V-E-S podcast, P-O-D-C-A-S-T 35 at gmail.com. We wanna hear from y'all. So hit us up. We're also on Instagram at changinglivespodcast.com. No, it's The Changing Lives Podcast. So what is it? Hashtag or at? I ain't the biggest on social media. It's just. Yeah, it's The Changing Lives Podcast. So look us up, The Changing Lives Podcast. And we'll plug our information here on the podcast. And so you guys have it in. Send us some emails. Reach out to us. Some topics you guys want us to elaborate on or get to for future episodes. And we're here and I just wanna say, do your best in life and do your best. We're talking about future and coming together because we're gonna need it. This coming election is amongst us. Like we need to get together. We need to get together. Help out when you can, move your culture forward. You know, show empathy to your family members. Help your family members. Let's move this culture forward. We can do it. We are setting the platform with so many other people. We are setting the platform with so many others who are using their platform to get the word out. That's another thing I wanna touch bases on is Marlon and I, Marlon and I, we created this platform because we felt the need. We felt we are ready. My husband has been grinding from day one. I have been grinding from day one. And we are here to share. We could have tucked our tails and went on. Oh, we made it and you know, we don't care, but we do care because we have family members that's still in the struggle. And I feel like, I hear, I get a lot of human beings. Oh, I'm a good person. Oh, I did this, I did that. For me, you don't have to tell people that, you show people that. People feel that already. They should be telling you that. If you don't hear that from people, that you're a good person, that, oh, thank you for moving the culture forward. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for doing that. Blase Skippy, that means you got work to do on yourself. And that goes for anybody. Like, pay attention to what I'm saying. Like, that goes for anybody. It's always enough room for change. It's never too late. You can start today. Start today with understanding others around you. And be good stewards. Be good stewards of your family, your children. Lead by example, be accountable. Yep, and I know it's hard. I know it's so hard because people take advantage of you. You've been hurt. I've been hurt. My husband has been hurt. But we think about the people who are like us that don't have the resources and they cannot advocate for themselves. So that hurt turns into motivation for us. We're never gonna stop. No matter what stones people throw at us, no matter what people say about us, I'm holding his hand. I'm gonna stick beside him. I need some snaps for that. I don't care what is going on. I'm gonna stick beside him. I'm here, I'm gonna stick beside you. No matter what flaws you have, no matter what people say about you, no matter how people look at you, how people view you, I always felt like it's good in everybody. You just gotta reach down and get it. And if you can't, you move on to the next. Move on to the next. It's okay to move on to the next. If people can't see your worth, if people don't know you for how you love, if you've loved people and that shit was shot down, if you can't go hard for your family, move on. But don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up until you actually feel that in your soul that it's no hope. I mean, no ego-driven, no anything. Our culture needs us, especially you adults that's listening to this podcast right now. Once we're done, once this episode is done, once you get done listening, jot down five things you've done for the culture. Even if you're not black, you're white, Hispanic, whatever. Jot down five things you've done in the last year to actually move your culture forward. That will tell you if you're a good person or not or who you are. That's a good vector check. Like, yeah, it just allows you to check your situation, like check the work that you put in. Like you said, we all have good in us and we can push ourselves to be the greatest, the best version of ourselves. And sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we fall short. Life happens. Things happen. You know what I mean? But the beauty- Blueprints are altered. Yeah, the beauty of it, though- Your picket fences kick down, but you can always rebuild. Right, that was kind of what I was about to get to. You just took the word out of my mouth. Like, as long as you can get up the next day, as long as you can get up tomorrow, you can start over. You know, you fell short, because I mean, I fall off the wagon every now and again. You know what I mean? We all do. But the beauty of it is, as long as you're able to wake up the next day and start fresh, the birds chirping, the sun's shining, the wind's blowing. And then the beauty of it, with me, is I got a strong woman on my side that's gonna help me get back up on that saddle, get up on that saddle. We need to continue to ride out. Hey, hey, yep, smooches. Yeah, smooches to that, for real, for real. Point I'm trying to make is, you write those things down, and it allows you to check yourself. It don't necessarily mean you're a good or a bad person, because, all right, I had a few things. I may not have five, or I ain't have any. But it just allows you to internalize your situation. And then it's up to you, how you wanna move forward from there. So you got your grade, you got your score. So now what you gonna do with it? Absolutely, absolutely. I don't care if you got a dollar in your bank account. You still worthy of this world, this universe. You're worthy of love. You can help in some type of way. And I'm, let's wrap this up. CLP MLK Day, the important, yes. Thank you, Martin. We love you, Dr. King. We love you, we love your family. We always grateful. We're blessed, and we gonna keep the mission going. I'm gonna wrap it up. I'm gonna wrap it up. And I hope you guys took something from this episode today. And that's love, and that's pay it forth. Thank you. Thank you. But hey, before we cut out though, like, cause we normally always do like, a little sidebar sports type situation, or we haven't really named it yet. And we open to y'all's feedback too. Cause I know like Letitia, cause she's been in the psychology and the mind, you know, and she, and I named one of her segments in a future project that may come to fruition. I'm speaking into existence, Tish Talk, right? Yeah. Boom. Oh, Tish Talk is coming, honey. Tish Talk is coming, right? But maybe for changing lives, these last few minutes when we wrap it up is, trending topics is a common phrase. Maybe it's tea time or tea talk, you know, like what's the tea? You know, that's like a talk, that's like a phrase in pop culture, the tea. You know, but until we figure that out. Wait, I was thinking CLP Toast. CLP Toast? To introduce our sports segment, cause we're heavy on sports around here. And I think we're neglecting our sports topics and everything. Yeah. So maybe, yeah, maybe, maybe it's CLP Toast, you know? So this is a CLP Toast hour, you know, and we gonna. CLP Toast. She's telling me I'm saying it right. CLP, you said CLP, CLP Toast. Okay, we new here. Y'all get it. So yeah, that's, I think we're gonna implement that to our ending segment. And some topics like Superbowl, all that, we gonna get into that shit, like rapidly, right away. Okay guys, so yeah, we're gonna go into CLP Toast. And we usually, when we're podcasting, we usually have our little drink or whatever our mode is. Champagne, and everybody knows I'm a lemon drop girl. Marlon is a gin and tonic guy. He needs a little lime twist. Yes, sir. Yeah. So yeah, let's get into our sports. So what's happening in the sports world? Bill Belichick. Yeah, he just retired. 24 years. I am, I was moved. Man, I woke up out of my sleep at six. Usually I'm way up before that. If you know me, I'm up at, I don't go to sleep at all. But one- I don't get that, shout out to Gates. Stephen A, I watch, we watch First Take at seven, out here on the West Coast. Get Up, Greeny, all them. And I woke up out of my sleep, like something's gonna go down today. I was really looking for Stephen A, because he went on a rant. He was in his New York. He was in his New York. He was in his New York mode last night. He was in his bag. So I was like, ooh, six, I missed it. I missed it, let me get up, let me get up. And I'm looking at Marcus Spears right now. And I love those dudes. Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark. If I'm Dominique, I'll get up. Yeah, Stephen A. Smith, Dan is our favorite. Dan Orlowski, Molly, all of you guys. Kimberly Martin, we love all of you guys. I'm a fan and you guys are a part of our household. Yep, all right, babe, go ahead. Bill, yeah, like 24 years, you know, he did his thing. He did his thing out there. In Massachusetts, you know, like six championships, mad wins, you know, did his thing with Tom Brady and the Kraft family. Like it's, yeah, it's a bittersweet. I mean, it was time. It was time because these last few years been rough for the Patriots organization and the fan base and the players, you know, because they hadn't been seeing that level of success that they were so used to seeing. Every, you know, all good things must come to an end and that's just one of them. You know, I think it was really graceful the way they went out. Like it was, you know, they spent it to where it's, all right, they mutually agreed to part ways and, you know, which is fair because he was in the game for so long and they had a lot of respect for each other. And it was just a classy move. And it was the right thing to do, like how they presented it in the media. Um, I do think an interesting topic of conversation with or surrounding this, his exit will be Tom Brady and how he, you know, how it said that he pushed Tom Brady out, you know, and after he pushed him out because, you know, he had a script, he had a schedule and Tom no longer fit into that schedule. So he did what he did to get him out. Tom went on to do what he did and look at the fate of the cow, of not the Cowboys. Shout to the Cowboys. Don't even mention the Cowboys up here. I'm telling you right now. You see that, you see America's team just like, they just slip off you. Nobody come up here talking about the Cowboys. I do not. It, and let me tell you, I love Dak. I am a big supporter of Dak. I think the industry, sports industry is really, really hard on him. That's because he belongs to a team that puts you in that type of perspective. But the fans, yeah, we got a problem. A special mess for sure. But, you know, I think that's gonna be an interesting type of conversation. Like, you know, how his fate was solidified after Tom already left and what came of Tom's legacy when he left and when he went on to do what he did without, you know, the Patriots and Belichick. So interesting talk. So let us know what y'all think. Hit us up, changinglivespodcast35 at gmail.com. Hit us up on IG. Thank you guys. At changinglivespodcast. This was so great. You know what I mean? And, you know, we'll catch you guys. I feel so good today that we can use, we were able to be in this position, Marlon and I, my family, to, you know, have this platform to help us and to, you know, use our voices to move our culture forward. And thank you guys for listening. We appreciate you. Smooches. Until next time, this is Rapp. We out.