An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy nom the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families will.
Be protected sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
So what we built.
I want to ask you about the festival before then, let's go through this. You're born in America. Wll yeah? Were you born eighty eight? You're born in eighty eight in ninety five. You go to Africa, Ghana for seven years yep. So that's like what like third grade something like that.
Yeah, second second grade, second grade grade up until like I came back when I was in eighth grade, So.
You go from second grade to eighth grade, which effectively is like where you're actually growing up. So you're growing up in Ghana, come back in for high school in New York, yep.
Went to Walton High School, high school for teaching professions in Walton was high school side of the high school, inside of the so you know, we were wore uniforms. Crazy. But you know, even like transitioning between coming back from Ghana to go to school, it was a culture shop because I hear students talking back to teachers.
That's what I was doing. So it's like, all right, you like French Martana. He he moved to the Bronx Morocco, Africa, but he just was in there for twelve years and they moved. So it's not as you were in America in the Bronx, went to Ghana and came back to the Bronx. How was that for you? As far as a culture shock is concerned. And we have another friend from Nigeria, and he was saying, like in Nigeria, that's
real popular. Like parents make sure that their kids go back to their country for a couple of years just they don't want them to lose the culture. And they don't even live with them, like they'll sit them with an aunt or an uncle.
I lived with my grandmother and my uncle. So I lived with my uncle the first couple of years and then with my grandmother, which was an experience. My uncle hustled in Japan as in he left Ghana to go to Japan to learn how to make money. So he moved back to Ghana to start his own businesses. But it was very different that because I'm not with my parents, I don't really know him as an uncle like that. I just met him when I moved into his house. You know, we're living in a house that is in
Medina's own goal. It's very different than the people we go to school with who are all living in like luxury. So my dad kind of in his mind he did that purposefully because he wanted us to be able to have that balance at the time, I'm not gonna lie. They didn't like it. I just it was just kind of like I didn't understand why they would leave us here. You know, every once in a while, like they'll make us feel happy by like shipping us a bunch of
boxes of cereal or like powdered milk. You know, you know, you know, it just kind of made you take an appreciation for like being able to go to a corner store and get like a gallon of milk or get a bag of chips, or a quarter soda after the quarter of water or something like that. Back then, so whenever we would get to come back for the summertime with the best times right because then you get to go back to Ghana and go to school and show them all the new kicks, showed them all the new gear,
tell them like all the new music that's going out. Yeah, you're the man when you when you have that, I guess proximity to abroad in Ghana during those times, you were the man, Like you know what I mean, it was it was very very impopular. I think the Internet has kind of changed that because now they can see everything as we see it. But back then, you know, you were the man because you kind of brought them culture that they didn't really have access to.
So yeah, it was interesting.
So and I think we came right around nine to eleven, we moved back to us and my pops was like, you know, do you guys want to stay? Like yeah, like you know, and you know, we stayed, and it was it was a culture shop because going to school, like I knew about the clothes, like you know, my brother would let me hold his Jordan's I'll never forget. You know. That's the reason why to this day, I'm still trying to find the cool grade elevens because my dad my brother would let me rock the I know,
but it's cool. The threes are my favorite, so you know our rockers, you know. And you know, the thing that connected all of us was hip hop. Like you know, at the time, I think Jada Kiss and Beanie Seagulls.
Was was going at it.
And my brother was like always putting us on to like the music, letting us know what's going on. So you know, that was the one thing I could connect with them on because know we were talk to be demeor like to teachers, Like you couldn't talk back to a teacher, you couldn't look at him in an eye because you were afraid that you would get beat and I was in Ghane they would beat. It was so back here people were just cursing that teachers. I was on.
I've seen I was on out the end of.
That look at like you talking to the teacher like like you know what I mean.
So it was it was an interesting you know culture, culture shock at the time because I wasn't used to that for a very long time. I couldn't understand how people were talking to teachers like that at the time. How quickly did you adapt to that? Uh, you know, I never talked back to it. I think one time in high school. But that's what that was out of anger, man, somebody trying to play me.
You know.
You know in high school they was throwing paper. Those are those are the things that's like the only five ever had in high school and you know that. But outside of that, like you know, it was it was dangerous then because it was a lot of gangs. And did you did you did.
You have issues like embracing your African because like you said, now, it's a vibe as far as afrobeats has really you know, it made it cool, but back then, you know, kids is ignorant and cruel and just people, which is ignorant in general. So I see I've personally seen like African kids getting teased. Yeah, like you know what I'm saying, and it is Looking back on it, that's something that's very missing.
Earners.
What's up?
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An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas. Man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families.
Will be protected sponsored by the United States Department of Home Madsecurity.
Fortunate, but I've seen it happen and in any group of people, right, that's just happens. Like so, I guess sometimes you either like drill down on just like becoming you just have a pack of people, or sometimes you just try to assimilate and you try to get away from.
Who you are.
Nah, I couldn't do that. My parents had a restaurant. It was really well known that this is a restaurant. When I came back from Ghana, I had an accent. It was thick, like you know what I mean. But you know it was just jokes, right, So if somebody joked on me, I joked on them like I'm African but I'm flying, you like those kind of things working back then, Like you know what I'm saying, but you know what I'm saying. It would just be like quick jokes.
And then eventually, you know, kids are shallow and that they didn't really joke on you if it was fly like or if you had like a little bit of money or something like that, it was like the one thing that let them know. And then also like I had, I have a very big family in the Bronx, like you know what I mean, seven brothers, eight brothers, mad cousins like you know what I mean.
So it wasn't.
Something that people wasn't I wasn't an outcast. I wasn't something that like I don't remember ever getting picked on, like you know, because you know, my big brother will come on maybe once in the eighth grade, you know, I got picked brother came up to this something you don't forget, Yeah, so you don't forget that, like you know what I'm saying. But like I always had people in my community that was like always gonna hold it down. And I knew the blocks, like right on Burnside Avenue,
that's our neighborhood. Like people knew, like my whole family. Nobody really messed with my po Dominicans up there. All of them know like who my pops is and who my block, like my brothers are and my family is. They don't really Cedric Avenue, you know, right there at birth of hip hop, you know, right by Walton. Now you know, we grew up there. So my cousins were there and they were in the neighborhood for a long time.
Nobody really messed with us, like you know. So it was really just about being able to get from high school to home, right, So being able to bypass that portrait.
People really don't understand that being and it's something I had to learn, right, So we went to school out here. But like when I started teaching it and I started coaching, I'm so used to being transported to and from like like a game, by a school bus until I realized, I gotta take the five train, yep, and I gotta take two train, and I gotta take the bus. And it's like you're susceptible to everything. But then you forget like the kid who's getting on the bus at ten
years old, or the training. He's susceptible to everything too. So like that being in New York City, like those things you don't even think. You're just kind of like, all right, this is part of life.
I didn't realize it was trauma until I got to Syracuse because university, yeah, Syracuse, Like you would go through the Metal Texas.
To go to school. Yep.
You know there was a time I didn't even go to the second floor because DDP was there. Like you know what I'm saying. It was just like if you were black, you was you know, anything can happen. Or the non bus or the twenty two bus, you know, people coming from Kennedy, right from Kennedy, then you meeting with people going from Walton on the four train, coming
people from Evander. It was just like so many different ways that it was dangerous that you know, it was an interesting time, but you know, thankfully, like you know, for me, I was always a pretty good student. But also like because I had my family, you know, I didn't really have that many problems. I knew people in Roosevelt, knew people in all of these schools, that like will always hold it down for me and a family, So we never had much worries, you know what I mean.
You know, my dad told us how to defend ourselves as well in the block as well, so we was always good. But it was definitely a culture shop because it was something I didn't have to worry about in Ghana. Like you know, in Ghana, all I had to worry about was going to school, the driver come pick us up, take us home, the food we made for us. You know, maybe they are in our clothes for us, to wash our clothes for us on the weekend. I didn't have
to worry about any of that. When I came to back to America, it was just kind of like reality about, you know, knowing how to protect yourself in that time. I think New York is completely different than it was when I was growing up in high school from you know, from my perspective now, maybe I'm just kind of in what way, I just don't think it's as deep, you know, I remember it was. I just remember like it's more dangerous a change, no, but I just I remember like it was a thing to not we are red.
Oh yeah, the gang thing, the gang thing that was early stages of the game. Yeah, so that was like heavy. They were still like tripping off of colors like that now, but it's still that still.
I remember like being afraid to get a book fifty like you know, that was that was that was a real feel, right so, and I feel like I don't necessarily know that that is a thing that I'm like afraid to do. Like I don't know a block in New York City that I'm afraid to walk on. Back then it was like yo, I don't know about going there.
But she was also a kid though too.
That's what I'm saying.
Your environment, that's all you know. It's like said eight block radius. We don't leave here, and if we do, we better be on God if we leave here.
Absolutely, So, I mean it was interesting. I think that all of that just kind of made me who I am, and and all of that has seeped through in the way I've developed the business and how I'm thoughtful about how we invite people, how we extend our relationships to like two different people that we collaborate with and have them come back to Donna, because it's really just to kind of show them that there's a completely new world
where you can just kind of like walk freely. Give me one of my joys is like walking in Dohna and seeing my friends that are now from Ghana just walk in the streets just being and I love that for them.
An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens.
Have been arrested.
If you were here illegally, your next next you will be fine nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally. Do what's right. Leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families will be protected.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,