Education is Power

I'm Tamika D.

Mallory and the ship Boy my Son in general.

We are your host of t M I.

Tamika my Son's Information, Truth, motivation and inspiration, New.

Name, New Energy. What's up, my son, Lennon, what's up?

Tmika Mallory?

That's me.

That's who you be. You know, I'm to me.

I'll be making him change that on like checks and you make sure that D is this because that's my name.

You made sure that you ain't gonna miss the D.

I'm dead to you. I'm just saying, I mean, are y'all serious about.

It's the thing? People do it? Why? Because it's just it's a nature. You don't want to get caught saying.

But what if you're a grown person that's gonna be fifty years old into you.

Grown people is the ones who've been doing it. It's started with the grown people.

O my god, and Dame das.

Odu style do it right because she's saying it. But like I was going to get ice cream, Paul, He's like, that is not what it's supposed to be.

Useful. That ain't it. I love you, but that ain't it.

Speaking of ice cream, I ain't been eating no ice cream. You know, my workout like it's gonna be tough this summer. You know what I'm saying, because I'm back. I'm tired of the dad bought. I had the dad buy for about two three years. I couldn't really see my six pack. Yeah, my six pack wasn't it wasn't right, you know what I'm saying. I felt my stomach over my pants. It was like, nah, this ain't me. So, you know, the last few months, been getting it right. I see my

I have, and I have curved a lot of my bad habits in terms of eating.

I need to do better.

I realized that sugar is my addiction like I have really, I mean, I didn't listen.

I have traded in other addictions.

For sugar and it's serious, Like I now am beginning to see that if I don't have sugar, or if if I don't have something sweet, I get agitated, and that is a problem. So now apple slices is my new thing, or you know, some type of fruit to try to help me. And then you know what I also eat, y'all know, because I keep them around all the time.

Crab babies. Baby. I got to have me a crib baby. That's my that's my job. I was eating.

Let me tell you, let me tell y'all this story. So I used to keep a bag of.

Double bubble gum, double bubble.

Yes, the individual double bubble gums. First I used to have bazooka gum. But them joints just be too stale, like they I don't maybe people don't eat them as much as they used to, so they just leave you.

Just buy you a box of rocks and soil.

You know that.

Come on, can't do that.

By the way, eating gum, I don't think it's healthy anyway, But eating gum. See, eating gum, that's why this is how I chew gum.

I eat them.

So then I went to double bubble and I got somehow I lucked up and out of the CBS store. I found the bag of double bubble gums, but it also had the hard ones that you buy from because I'm one of those people, as you know, because y'all have seen me.

We could be.

One time we were in like the back roads of I don't know where the hell we were, and my ass was running all around trying to collect twenty five cent to get one of them gums out of the You know, that was something we wouldn't talk about here, but it was like a thing going on in the community, and they wanted to inform us, but they didn't want to talk out in public, so we and I'm running around instead of the meeting, I'm out here trying to get twenty five cent to get some bubblegum out of

And the inside I like bubblegum.

So when I got the bag with the double Bubbles in it, it had.

The cry Babies was in there too.

It was Crybabies and a few of the little other hard ones. So then I took the whole bag of double bubbles and took it to the hand salon and say I can't have this no more. Ordered me some cry Babies and now I'm just loving a bag of crimebait.

I know, I gotta get I.

Know this is a lot. I was told with my six pack and you went to crabbabies.

Well, I'm just saying sugar.

Sugar is a problem.

Listen, man, Health is wealth for real, you know, and it's it's and I'm just enjoying my health journey again. I'm back like inspired with my workout and just being healthy, eating healthy. Well, I'm still fast and technically because I do intimate and.

Faster than anyway you lived like that.

Yeah, you know, and I just feel I feel, I feel myself being a lot more stronger.

Y'all don't really eat like the girls eat. I'm not gonna lie like men do not eat like women. Because being on the road with y'all, Linda and I can put down.

Some I don't even know how Linda listen to me. I don't even know where Linda fit the food. She she gets a plate. See the thing about you is you pick.

Off your pate.

But I order to me order four plates, four main plates entrees. She ordered steak, she ordered ribs, and then she orders shrimp in this and it be with mashed potatoes on heres on here did she go two spies, two bites to each of them?

And then she just keep going around and she'll pack it up.

So don't think people that I don't.

Linda will ordered the whole entree with like to a double eat the surf and turf?

What what do the fries and all the stuff? Finish that?

And then start picking on to me get school because she knows she ain't gonna eat it. And I'd be like, how did she eat all that? I couldn't eat all that?

We do eat, but we but we are better and this is so this behavior ended as of December of twenty twenty three, and now we're getting two meals, not four vegetables, not a lot of carbs at all. I have cut back carbs and it's killing me. I had carbs today. But they and they say you can still eat certain things, but you really do have to work out. It's a lot of people that's out here on the zimpee.

The zimbi, and I'm with them.

I don't zip Harrold they on the ZIMPI I feel you, but you have to work out because you're looking a little weird.

If you ain't still getting that work out. And you just on that zimpie you.

Looking, you got that look that it's a look got to work out. So I mean, I literally have had a full lifestyle change, but I don't drink soda at all, juice, none of that stuff. So you know, it's a new thing, but I do. I can't tell the difference. I can tell the difference. So anyway, it is.

What it is.

My thought of the day.

I saw Donald Trump Junior and he made a very very powerful statement. He said, the Republican Party that we once knew is no longer. He said, the last step is for MAGA to take over the rn C, which is the Republican National Convention, where he's talking about going there and overthrowing the whole joint.

And them taking over right, And he.

Said, once we accomplish that, it is going to be the MAGA Party. This man said this himself. So when people start going back and forth we arguing Republicans versus Democrats, we're not even really arguing Republicans versus Democrats anymore. We're arguing Republicans versus I mean, Democrats versus MAGA.

That's really what we're talking about.

Independent even some Republicans, some moderate Republicans, because the way that Marjorie Taylor Green and the rest of those right wing Republicans it's his name, Mark Gatz, he's from she's from Georgia, and he's from Florida. The way in which they are they super maga. They're not even a little maga. The way that they are pulling, the way that they are pulling and shifting the Republican Party towards this extremist mindset.

Back against anything.

Then in fact, they want to roll it all back, and unfortunately our people sit up there and support it. So, you know, some of our people, let me be careful with absolutes. So my thought of the day is that I hope people understand that we're not sitting up here. I'm not because you have your own mindset around this. I am not arguing that it's the Democrats are better than the Republicans. I'm saying that I will never support MAGA.

You have Hill Harper running for office. I mean, you've got people that are under attack by.

MAGA and a PAK, which MAGA and APAK are aligned in many ways. Okay, this is some serious shit, and I know that my granddaughter's future is directly connected to the decisions that we made, so we could talk all of this.

Don't care, don't matter. I get, I hear you, I feel you.

But I'm just telling you that these people have a plan and a design and a strategy that includes the courts, whether they be federal courts, state courts. They try they are attempting to take back everything that anybody you respect fought for.

That's a fact.

I can't even That's not even something that's even worth. I mean, it's even arguable. Nobody can't argue that. The only thing what they try to say is well, we don't need that. We don't need Brown Person or the board edge game, we don't need we don't need Roe Versus Weight, we don't need de Ei, Like.

It's just stupid.

Look, what do you mean The reason why we got it is because we needed it.

Have to fucking the people that you do.

You celebrate our imposition that have been able to change the future, I mean change and make change and create a better future for us because they were forced to put them in. They didn't never want to put us in a position of power or anything like, they were forced to do it. So you just giving them the opportunity to say, you know what, we're just gonna make this company one hundred percent white again. We're gonna make

You know what DEI is. D I is women.

Having the opportunity to really make money, to take care of themselves and their families and create and and and have businesses. Right, that's de I. You know what else de I is, let's go back beyond that. Oh, actually it would be in the same time, voting rights was de I. That was us having the ability for the for the voting pool to be diverse where white people did not control everything. They might have called it d I at the time, but that's what the language developed

I is so much bigger than this.

Now, this this thing that people keep talking about, it means that you aren't quite qualified. Like what like, we're we're more qualified. And I'm gonna keep saying this. We're more qualified, you know, And I and and and and the sad part is I and.

I will leave it here. One of the things we talk about all the time.

And I said this when I was addressing Daniel Cameron after he did not do justice by Brianna Taylor, her family, and the community of Louisville, Kentucky, and Kentucky overall and ultimately America by allowing those offices not to be prosecuted for murdering that young beautiful girl.

Okay, I said this to him.

You just like the ones who were a part of selling us into enslavement, even because you are ignorant, for real, willfully ignorant whatever they've offered you, you believe that somehow, if you align with you have the proximity to whatever they have their wealth, their power, their whiteness. So you go get married to them and then try to work alongside them and throw your own family, your own people away, You are complicit. So I'm saying that while we sit here.

And and and and and.

Own the talking points of those who want to be our oppressors, we are in the process of selling ourselves right back into the same loop that we have fought so hard to get out of. So I just hope that black men who hear that know that love me for real, don't love me just in the bed, don't love me just you know.

We cool and you you support me? And yes, sis, no, our bodies, our rights.

Everything about us, everything that you claim you love is under attack. And you out here talking about we were not qualified.

Enough to get the job. Brothers, Let's be for real.

That's a word there.

I don't even know what to say, but I feel a little bad to bring some music after that.

Well, you know, we we deserve the balance of a little musical, little music by lighting it up.

What you got artist from Philadelphia og like, this is what I call real og Like.

Somebody sent it to me and it just touched me. This brother is lyrically dope. His message is really trying to wake up the youth. Reminds me of pretty much my message. His name is Saint Basil. He's dope. He's a dope artist. And he has this song that he released the video for where he took the Somehow some Way jay Z and Beanie song. That one of my

And it's lyrically crazy.

Sot Basil, Saint Basil Basil. So it's somebody. It's like my speed.

It's you love it, the old speed, you love it.

You know who I like as an artist, Lola Brook.

Lola shout out the way she come out. Lola is shout out to my main eighty, who is she signed to? Eighty is one of the main those best friends. And eighty got shot a while ago. He's been in the wheelchair, but he's always been like my heart, and he started his own company. He signed Lola and they've been doing anything. So shout out to eighty. Shout out to Lola, you know, the first time, Like I've always been a fan of HRS.

Big hugs, like, yo, all love it? What do you do? So? And her energy.

She came out on the stage for the uh what was it? She's a cold concert? Oh my god.

And scarlet scarlet. I love Scarlet.

I happened to see her not long ago, and I was and she was with og Bar at Brooklyn chop House one night. And in Brooklyn Chophouse is a black man's restaurant that is in the middle of Times Square and it's several floors and it's very fabulous.

And she don pooh, that's right.

And she was at a table sitting down with og Barr, who's like the uncle to us all.

And you know you could tell O g was.

You know, yes, you know, he was schooling U, telling them what it is. And I just walked over to him. I was like, you are beautiful. Don't letting anybody make you feel like you have to defend your beauty. You just beautiful. And she was so beautiful in person, just a beautiful spirit, so sweet and kind, but that Internet has you feeling like you gotta get on there and be like stop stop saying how I look, and stop saying you know, because she was going through that for a while.

But it looks like the.

Bar probably sat down and say, don't get there, explain yourself another get well, listen, don't fuck our kids. Okay, don't fuck go over our children.

Okay.

We're about to talk about education in New York State, which should be what we're going to talk about today, needs to be all over the nation and ultimately all over the world.

Yes, a brother's doing something very revolutionary, so stay tuned.

Let's bring him on.

So today our.

Guest is a friend of mine, another friend, you know, a brother that for the last couple of years that I've worked closely with, watched him do so many things, you know, within the educational system and just in the community period, like just watching him be very hands on and supporting everybody that's doing anything from hip hop artists to elected officials, and also inside education because that's where

And I want to thank you and welcome you to the show.

My pleasure, family, my pleasure. Yes, yes, yes, I appreciate that. It's an honor to be here.

You know. Obviously my brother might sign up known for what.

And it's funny to me, I've been meeting I've been wanting to meet you, or to at least talk to you for so long because we we we have you know, mutual friends like.

Jamility Davis of course, and you know this is truly.

Davis is all my friend's friends exactly exactly.

So it's honor to be here.

Most certainly, thank you so much for joining us.

So give us a background, let us know what it is you're doing. Because serial educated from daykid all the way to come. That's a life, So give us like a background.

My entire family we're postal workers, right, so my grandfather, my mother, my father, my sister, my twin brother and I all worked at the post office at one time or another. And you know, just getting up every night going to work. Man, it just you know, to make a dollar. It just wasn't fulfilling enough for me. And then one night, you know, I just say, you know what, this is probably this is probably not the move I'm gonna make, and I'm going to make a career switch.

It's funny that you say your mom was like, what are you doing? Because you know, black folks, it's like, you ain't gonna give up that good job, you know what I mean, that good city job, absolute stable job. So seven dollars in yes, yeah, that's that's taking a cut for sure. And it's funny that we just interviewed not long ago Congressman Jamal Bowman who was talking about how the federal minimum wage is still seven dollars is some change seven twenty fives or whatever, right, So we still.

Have not it hasn't changed much.

In fact, at that time, it probably was five dollars or four dollars in change, and you were making a premium.

And you know what to be I forgot to tell you it was part time. Oh lord, oh my, So I was at.

That time going to I was working at that school in the morning for seven dollars and thirty seven cent and then I would take the train down to Halem and work at Harbor morning Side Daycare for I think another five dollars and something. So I literally working two jobs in the profession that I loved for basically a

So when did you realize that you had a love for education like women?

You know, it was funny my son.

I always felt like I had a passion for people, right, And I remember at that moment my brother and I, my brother and I we went to Hopstu University. We went to Hopstra for a semester. Right But because at that time I had my son, you know, going to Hopshire playing football and stuff like that, I just felt awkward about leaving my son to go to school, to go away to college because we stayed on campus. So then I came back, I said, you know what, the

Miss Bracy was my fourth grade teacher.

Ms.

Joffrion, who's my fifth grade teacher. I remember black educators who poured into me. In addition to my father being from Jamaica and my mother from being from Belize. They had a you know, it was a high respect for education. So that in conjunction with you know, great teachers when I grew up, really pushed me in that area. But I think Jim McGowan is his name. He was the one who really told me that I would be.

Good at this, and.

I can honestly tell you he was right. He was the first one to tell me that. And you know, like I said, I owe a lot to him and people like him who saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself. Right, because from our communities, it's tough sometimes because all we see is what we see.

We saw hip hop, you know, we.

Saw we saw hip hop, we saw app you know, sports, we saw those type of things, and we looked at a teacher or principal and we was like, I don't know if I want to do that. They don't look like they're making no money. I look at when I'm coming to school. Their cars don't look fly. So I don't know if I want to do that.

So it really.

Pushed me in that space after hearing hearing my counselor giving me that advice.

Wow, So you tell me you said your mother was Jamaican.

No, my mother was from Belize.

Your mother's from.

Belize and your father from Jamaica. It's from Jamaica. We did a show not long ago when we were talking about how all most of my friends that are from whether they are Haitian or Jamaican or whatever, there is such a focus on education.

What do you think that is?

You know what I think because for them they realized that, you know, and to go to a great school in those areas, you have to pay for it. And I think my father in particular would say, you know, for us, not to take it for granted, because in order to get the kind of education we'll get here in America, people have to pay for it in other areas of the world.

So I think that was the thing.

But I also feel like, just like most parents, you want more for your children than you.

Had for yourself.

Like I think he was, he was so much ingrained that education was it was ingrained in the education was important. But I also felt deep down inside that he just wanted more for us, and so that's where the push was when it came to that. I don't think it was much more than that to me. I don't think it was something where we you know, he had this, he had this vision that education would taken me this far.

My mother from Belize, she had a really unique.

Way of saying how she felt about us as her children. I defended my dissertation for my doctorate two and a half years ago.

My mother and I did it virtually.

My mom and about ninety other people were on their zoom after the zoom call for and they and they announced me as a recipient or the tooral degree. My mom said to me, I didn't know you was that smart, and it was. And I had to take what she said.

It understood that she just hadn't been engaged. Yeah.

Yeah, And that was a crazy part because again I never took it as I never took it as she was trying. Yeah, she wasn't trying to play me. It was just her saying like, yo, I'm proud of you son, you know. And on that particular and on that particular zoom, I had Mayor Sean Patterson from Mount Vernion where I'm from, who was there also to to support Dame dash was on it. And you know, you're talking about only ninety educators to see me do this, but she was like, man,

Oh?

No, I got you, I got you. I got something for both of y'all.

But it's crazy that when people staying that close to you they kind of take you for granted and said they have no idea what I was doing.

But like I'm a big deal out here.

Yeah, And but you know what's funny, Thank God that I'm reminded of it every day and I don't ever get big headed about it, but I most certainly, you know, periodically because both my parents have passed. Now, I would

So I truly can tell you that.

It's the people that staying closer to you, closest to you, that have no idea as to what it is that you accomplished. So my parents, most certainly, I think had a great you know, they knew they were doing something. I don't think they had a clue as to the type of battery they put in my back and the influence that they made on my life because you know, when it was happened and they were still a bit detached from from from my world.

I mean, that's that's common most people, like you said, most people closer you don't realize you know exactly what it is. Because my mother used to say that to me all the time. She used to really look at me and people we we walked somewhere and people are like, hey, that's mine and they want to take pictures on it. She just be looking like you really, somebody, you know what I'm saying.

But let me tell you that.

But let me tell you a quick story about that though. So after after so I got my doctorate in February. My mom in April, probably the last week in April, was in Mount Vernon and she was going to the store and she saw Mayor Sewan Patterson and she stopped Maya Seawan Patterson and say, hey, are you doing this is Dennis's Dennis Dennis's mom, I met you on a zoom and stuff like that, and she already knew who my mom was.

My mom didn't know she knew who she was.

And what was so dope is that my mom was really bragging on me to Mayor Seawan Patterson.

She that was her.

That was her moment to say how proud I am on my son because may Ha told me. But unfortunately, the very next day, my mom had a massive, massive stroke. The next day after meeting Mayor Patterson and saying that to her, she had a massive stroke and have never recovered from it and unfortunately passed away a few weeks later.

So it was dope.

To know that even as she was departing this earth, she was willing to tell somebody like, I'm proud of my son, even if she wasn't willing to tell me you no, nothing.

Like a Caribbean mother.

Yeah, it's there's such a it's so it's just so hard felt as beautiful. We have a friend. His name is Michael Blake, you know, Michael Blake. Okay, so his mother obviously a Jamaican woman, and when she talks about how proud she is she loves her son, and it is just a beautiful sound it is.

It's a beautiful So tell us about OSG like it? First of all, what made you just say?

So?

You went through every level of education you teach, Like who wakes up and says, I'm going to create an organization that I pretty much deal with educator like pretty much actually teach educators Like, yeah.

So explain to us what it is because I guess I gave a little bit of it.

Yeah, no, no, no problem. So, so OEG was birthed out of a labor of love. Let me just start there, like there is there is nothing else to be said as to why what happened was Like I said, For the past twelve almost thirteen years now, I've been running my own consultant firm where I'm supporting school leaders across the nation.

So when COVID hit those people.

That I was traveling across the country to go and see and spend time with and help them to transform their community and transform their schools. Unfortunately, nobody was moving at that time in the world in.

History.

This is the first anybody's ever experienced something like this where legit, you know, superstars in the educational field was out there on silos, was out there on islands by themselves, and they were like, yow do I how do I stay connected.

To the people that I helped build?

Right?

I helped build many of them to the space that they were in, so being able to say what can I do? What can I do to bring them together? It was something simple. My sort is like, Okay, let's put them on a virtual virtual call every single week leadership development, but give them a safe space to actually share best practice and their emotions and.

Stuff like that.

Like I said, what it turned into four years later, what wasn't what I expected that. Really, I just wanted to give them a space every week to be part of a group of other leaders across the nation that was feeling the same thing that they was feeling, the same hurt, the same pain as fear, all that was going on.

Describe the pain, the fear and what's it like dealing with parents.

Yeah, so I think the thing about, you know, the fear and the hurt and all those things. You got to remember people were dying around school leaders every day, whether it was their staff members, whether it was their the children, the children's parents, the people in the community, their own family. So you have to say, you know, as a school leader, people were still expecting you to come to work and do what you got to do.

So people were dying during COVID. I just want to know nothing.

The world said, not the world, But there were people who said, nah, this is not that, it's not it's not different from the flu.

It's the same thing.

It's real to me that that we're talking about communities ravaged by COVID, and where it's funny there was a point where churches were the hub of the community, and during COVID, even they were shut down, even they were closed, the one place that remained opened on COVID with schools, people made sure that kids ate during that time that principles had to go to schools sometimes to make sure that the that the technology the kids needed for remote

So you can imagine the fear you didn't know.

If you walk outside, that that COVID was gonna jump on you the moment.

You step out the door.

But that's what people had to deal with, and so the fear of them catching COVID leaving their house was something that they were fearful of. But the more and more you realized that you weren't dealing with this by yourself, when you was dealing with it with a collective other group of people. Then we can cry together, we can laugh together, we can talk about this stuff together, we

About why it was necessary.

It was necessary because nobody else was doing nothing for them. They was expected to go to work, they were essential workers, and nobody called them a send workers.

You know what I'm saying.

Remember this, not only were kids expected to learn, but kids were expected to eat. Many of our students were coming to school every day if nothing else to eat. Now you got COVID that shut it down for eighteen months. Somebody got to go make sure that door is open. Somebody got to go make sure that, you know, the kitchen staff is preparing lunch and breakfast for kids who

Everybody had a support group.

With them, and I just felt like, you know what, I have to do something about it. And that's the you know, the idea of off school grounds. Just to think about it this way, all the problems that we were dealing with in the schools, where did it happen off school grounds? We talk about food and securities all school grounds, tech gap off school grounds, financial literacy issues

So so so explain to what is what is it now?

What is Yeah, so I'm it's now it's an it's actually a non for profit organization right now, that focus is on leadership development, with the focus being on school leaders leading communities now, right, Because again, during the time of the one of the one of the biggest tragedies of this of this of this country's history, who was there doing it? You know, everybody talked about leading communities.

Now.

So if you were if you were mayor if you are if you're a city council, if you a senator, instead of thinking that you have the answer, why don't you sit down and talk to a principal and allow principal to provide the leadership development that you need to understand how to run a community. Right, the greatest intel about what's happening in the community is coming from schools and school leaders. So why if we're going to change communities. Don't you have school leaders at the table. It makes

Why because they need to know what they need to do.

When they get in office. You know, I had a conference at Columbia University this weekend to begin It was I mean, well over five hundred leaders from across the nation. And one of the thank you, and one of my one of my brothers who's now mayor of Gary, Indiana, Eddie Melton, was an attendance. He came all the way from Gary to learn from these these leaders, and he said, I put him on a panel with four other school leaders to teach him and to tell him how to

Right.

If we say there's issues around poverty, how do you see that? Where do you see that? Mostly you see it in school.

And their families. Right.

So that's why I think the concept of off school grounds is a not for profit organization is now to create the space where educational leaders are the ones teaching other leaders throughout the community how to lead, how to lead young people and things like that. And so that's what that's what it's, you know what, it's what it has become, that has become.

So so how important first of all, do you engage parents?

Yes?

And how important would you say parent participation is in the process, Like do you believe I know some parents that their kids are doing really well and they're not active. It's not they don't have time, they got two jobs, this, and that they may or may not be a dad or mom, more than likely not a dad, and they just don't have the time.

But they tell their kids don't have that damn.

School, call me about anything, and that's when they get involved. The point that the phone r Yes. So what would you say about parent involvement? Is it parent involvement or is.

It just having a good household?

Like, Yeah, I think it's I think it's both. I think, you know, parent engagement is important. I think having a you know, a solid household is important. However, in many instances that's not the case, right, And that's why I say schools have become the hub. Schools have become in some instances, parents have become the family, have become that person.

Right, anybody adopt the girl, you know what.

It's funny.

And I actually had somebody in another borough reach out to the principal and they were looking to place a girl in this new household. So yeah, so it was it's one of those things, you know, family that we got to get to the understanding that what things used to look like and be it's it's not the same no more.

It's not the same that when we say.

Again, parent engagement again, if a mom is doing the very best she can as a single mom or dad as a single dad, and you and their child is having difficulties right with the mental anguish that many of our kids are going through.

A parent can't help that all the time. What are you gonna do? Beat them?

Like, you got to say to yourself, the way the world has changed over the past.

Three to four years, and they people talk about learning laws, guess who else experienced learning laws? Parents?

A parent is now expected to do things that they didn't expect, didn't know how to do. You send that kid on for eighteen months and you tell this parent to now teach.

That's how long we were out of school.

And eighteen months.

And so you got to say, if we talk about learning loss for children, we got to think about learning loss for every adult that was responsible for working with children as well. Again, a kid is home with one hot spot and four siblings and a mom and a dad who is trying to just you know, pay bills. You know, it's a very difficult concept to understand and grasp. And we got to become honest about that that the majority of parents out here that are doing the best

So they're in lies again. A need for us to have those conversations with people that are making the real decisions for our children.

Because if you're not an educated don't know this, If you don't see this every day, you don't understand that. So the evolution of education has gotten to a point where we have to become really radical about our approach now, and let's stop blaming people for that stuff. Let's stop diagnosing the problem and saying, well, you know, parents aren't involved. We've been saying that for as long as I've been as long as I've been alive. Right, Oh, parents aren't involved.

And when those things went away, the one thing that say constant was a school.

I'm just amazement because I remember during COVID when you know, I first met you and I came on to the zoom yeah you know, and that's when I had my first book, Yes you know, I know my rights and it was all these educators on it and it was just and I was like wow, and everybody was engaging.

It was deemed dash.

It was so many different people and the experience was just amazing, just experience. And a lot of people reached out to me. A lot of principles reached out to me. I built relationships with them. They brought me when school got back in, they brought me to this schoo you

Because they say that we are the ones that are not engaged. What do you say about that that?

Well, you know what, again, I think that's where you break down the silos and that's when you allow other you know, other professions such as hip hop and and you know, politics and other things in the room. Right, because young people, especially boys, what they they gonna be what they see and if they don't see themselves as anything other.

Than basketball players, drug dealers, or rapters, that's all they gonna be.

One of the things I wanted to make happen is I want you to understand that being a principal is cool.

You know what I'm saying. Being a school leader is cool.

Like running your own educational culture consulting firm is cool. And I'm gonna do it in Jordan's and I'm gonna do it in air Max and I'm gonna make sure that I'm I'm you know, swagged out with it.

But I think I want to keep pushing the narrative.

Is that what we thought principals and school leaders were like, that's not the real that's not the real deal. When people say that educators there's only two or three percent of educators that are black males, that might be true until you put the two percent in a room like

To be that.

And so I think one of the things that I talked about at the conference was us in us stopping this this reputation.

Bashing around education.

Right, we keep passing this dirty needle about education being a bad thing. We don't get enough money, it's just stressful job, it's challenging, all that stuff like that. I'm like, why would a kid didn't want to be me? Why would a kid want to be me when he just heard you say how bad of a professionist is? So I'm saying, let's be real about it now. Let's talk about education from the perspective of real being game changers and us being able to do it and say be

I see a lot of black but I do not see a lot of black male educators. Yes, and certainly not a lot of black male principles, although I probably know more male black male principles than I do black mail teachers.

Yes, but you see, that's the thing, right, because we are out here. It's just that we just don't have a platform to be showcased.

Hence, that's why I have.

A conference, That's why I do my weekly zooms, That's why I do my best to bring hip hop and advocacy and everything into the into this space because we need your voices to amplify that they are out here, you know, because when my song can, I mean every Friday in New Jersey with our boy Ocball Cook principle of Westside High. You've met Principal Rod from Compton, one of my other principal friends who's a principal at a jail in Chicago mcgron.

But we don't see it.

Right and and no one is going to exploit it. If you will, they're not going to promote it. They don't want that. I mean, how does that work in favor of those who don't want to see black men succeed?

And you know, just speaking of that as.

We wind down, were talking or you mentioned politics several times, and during our recent interview with Congressman Bowman, who was also a principal, he talked about wanting to run for office because he understood from a policy perspective that everything happening within the school, whether it's the children that needs to eat to your point, whether it's the you know, the abuse that kids are suffering, or families that are not secure, housing insecurities, all of that is directly connected

Yeah.

So, so again I'll mention that at our conference, we actually had the we had the New York State Border Regions Chancellor Lester Young, doctor Lester Young, who was our keynote speaker, and one of the things that he and I are working on currently is to is to get OSG and principles from across the nation to actually come up to Albany more frequently to lobby for what needs, what the needs are in our community. And so I use him as an as an example because we do

They don't know we exist.

So needing you all and other you know, that's where the hip hop, you know, that's where the hip hop you know, family comes into play. Is because somebody's gonna listen to my song as he stands close to me

Take a picture. Then let's go do that.

So I do think that politics and education actually go hand in hand. I think again, we make people run away from politics because of some of the politicians that we see that have you know, been in the history of this country.

We don't want our kids to get into it. But we got to.

Make it cool again, right, you know, we got to make everything that we do cool, you know, from again being a politician to being an educator. We have to be able to make it look cool. So I do push this narrative once again that as an educator, what works for me is to be able to say, you know what to me. I mean, I've been in space with you and Yandy, you know, coming to the schools and doing some dope things with children. But as an educator, that makes me proud because I know they didn't come

You know, we got one of our principles.

Just two days ago, was dealing with a shooting outside of his school, and that got some local press. But it's not the same as if they if this was a shooting in some other community, like it's almost normal, they normalize it, or when they do it, they bring they when they bring the media there is to tear him down. It's not to tell the story of the gun violence and the community that they have to he has to fight through every day just to educate children.

Contributor to what you think that conference was dope because y'allays did. We was looking like wow, and all of us and your leaders like, yo, this is dope. Just seeing educators in the room like that have that much energy and really wanted to learn, like they were sitting there. They want to be able to You can look and see these people that just got a job and they're like, yo, I got to go to this.

No, we wanted we want to educate our kids.

And I've seen them taking notes and I've seen when they heard something good and it was writing it down like that.

That's what I want to see for educators.

But I want you guys also to ass as artists to understand too that we have been transformed because of what y'all did for us too, you know what I'm saying. So that's what I'm saying that let's not get into that into the habit of believing that art in competition of who Yes, exactly exactly, because I know as a principle, I'm driving to work listening to the hip hop and I know principles are still doing that.

So you all are part of who we've become.

And so you all look at us and all we look at y'all and all, and everybody's like, Yo, this is dope, and that's what this.

You know what I'm saying.

So well, I want to say I appreciate you, thank you. Let them know where to find you. Absolutely, give them all your socials.

Yeah. So is it a nonprofit?

Yes, nonprofit.

People can send you money.

They can they can.

So go to the Official Off school Grounds Official OSG on Instagram and Facebook. You can find me Dennis mckezy on LinkedIn.

Here's a brother right here, Dennis mckeesy, who is doing something about our young people. And and and you can't help anyone if you if you can't heal, if you are not healed. And so to provide a space for educators to go and leaders to go so that they can pour out all the things and the ideas and the creativity and the pain and frustration and then be poured back into so that they can go and pour into our children. I think this is critical work. You're

Thank y'all. Family.

I appreciate y'all. Thank you, thank you, my pleasure, thank y'all, thank y'all.

Shout out to my boy Jennis mackezie. Man. The work he's doing is evolutionary, revolutionary.

You get tell he's passionate about it.

Listen, man, like you got to see him in his mold. You know what I'm saying.

He's in the schools, he's mentoring, and he's dealing with the teachers and the principles, and they engaged.

You know what I'm saying.

You could tell he actually loves what he does many and they just recently celebrated four years. So that's it's been four years since COVID because that's when it started during COVID, and that's when I was first on the episode.

I'm so glad that he has helped to dispel the.

Myth that ain't no black men teaching, no well.

Also the COVID thing. But you know, I think it's important to mention again. And I didn't want to cut him off, but that a lot of people didn't die because they had COVID. They died because America and our systems are incompetent.

Someone said to me the other day, let us.

Have aspirational language versus having using language that is always so so much of an indictment. So, yes, there are many things that are done properly within the healthcare system. People's lives have been saved. Healthcare workers are doing an incredible job with a little bit they have.

When I say the system, I am not.

Talking about nurse and even doctor so and so, I'm saying that America, fundamentally the systems the way it is designed. There is so much racism. There is so much just inequity that exists that even if you are nurse or a doctor that is attempting to do the right thing, you don't always have the tools that you need, or the support that you need, the resources that you need, and the research that you need to work, especially in certain communities. And so hopefully what we learn earned from

So there were people who he wouldn't send masks.

And by the way, the Republican Party voted against even giving people checks. As much as I can challenge Nancy Pelosi and all of these folks, I will tell you that they were the ones that fought to get checks into the pockets the bank account true and the pockets of American citizens. And that was because Donald Trump was either ignoring the crisis and his administration and or they were trying to cover it up because they did not want during a political season for his legacy to be

Gave you the PPP, but not.

You got the pop. That's dope. That was a good one. But that brings me to my I don't get it.

What don't you get mister Lennon?

I want to know what is the infatuation that the world has with who someone's fucking.

Right?

Why do you care about who somebody else is having sex with What is the infatuation with other people in their sex life? That this world like everywhere you go, somebody's telling you, oh, such and such as having sex, and this person's like, why do people kids so much?

Most people who are highly successful and busy or trying to be successful don't. They might hear about it in passing and laugh about it and maybe share mean with a friend, but they don't. They don't really care that much. So it's just certain types of people that are so into other people's lives.

And I don't really know because it isn't.

Really the way that I see it in life is that everybody, unless you are abstinent, is sleeping with somebody hopefully are engaged in consensual behavior.

Let's please God, please. But I don't know why people care so much. I don't know why people care so much about who's gay.

It's like the most it's just so I don't I wouldn't at first of all, I don't believe in outing people or trying to force people to say who they sleep with.

I would. I would like to know that if you are in.

A relationship with me, you know, or with a person, that you do your due diligence to let them know about your lifestyle choices. But I don't know why it's such a big deal. So and so it's gay and such and such, like why why do you want to out people in that I never I'm never understood that.

I think. I think in that term, it's that people not being honest. Well, nobody else but you.

The thing is, if you, if you're around, even if you, if you're not in a sexual relationship with somebody, and you in somebody's face commonly, and that's something that people should want to know.

It's not it is.

I don't agree with that. If first of all it is it is sexist. Let me tell you why it's sexist. And in this case, I'm gonna say it's sexist for men against men, because most men do not care who a woman sleeps with. In a group of friends, a group of friends, I'm hanging out with you, Janis Anastasia, I'll crewe everybody, and I sleep with women as a woman, and I'm telling you that nobody is going to.

I would feel weird, like why would you worry about why?

So now let me turn the eye, don't get it back on you. Why are you infatuated with who I'm not with. That's my business.

Its like Tabitha Brown said, that's my business.

If we close proximity, we call ourselves friends. So I gotta tell you what if you got to tell me? But I'm just thinking if you didn't tell me, then that would make me wonder why.

Maybe because I'm a private person and I just don't want anybody to know what I do.

But at that point, then, is the only time that I friendship.

The only No, it's not, because friendship doesn't mean that you have to know every single thing about me. The only time that I need to tell you that I'm sleeping with anybody or whatever, whatever my situation, My preferences are my whatever it is is if now I'm about to sleep with you, but if long as you and I are not together, who I'm sleeping with should not be your concern.

I don't know if it shouldn't. I hate what you're saying.

I just think, and I think it's sexist towards men because what usually what generally happens is that men who are around other men feel that they should know that one of the guys is gay.

Because what happens is it's also because it's also perception right right, because if I'm hanging with somebody that's gay and everybody else knows they're gay except me, then what happens is there can be some people can draw a conclusion about something that might not be there.

Okay, but what if the person doesn't talk to people period about what they do. They do their thing with whoever they people are, but they're not a person like most people around.

Don't know.

I'm saying people should until a person is actually sexual or in an intimate relationship with you, they should be able to.

I think it's different from Yeah, I know it is.

I think it's different for men. I don't know if it's sexist. I just think there's a reality that's based on society, that reality that.

We deal with right now.

Answering your own question, well, the question you have asked and answer the question that society places different values.

But on we are somebody else on the internet or celebrito, that's a different thing than somebody said it's that's inclosed to It's.

The same mindset that people have decided that they have a right to know about someone's personal thing that they might want to keep to themselves. Right that they shouldn't want to the only time you should want to know about somebody.

I don't agree with that.

I'll tell you it's different from it's different from men. If the reality that we live with in America is if a straight man hangs up with a gay man on a daily basis, nobody believes that they're not there's not something going on. That's just the reality. Unfortunately, that's just the fact. If you see a straight man hang out with a gay.

Man, we don't use the term straight.

Okay, if you see a heterosexual man hang out with a gay man, then there's an assumption that there's some level of a relationship there.

That's just the reality that we deal with.

So under standing in that reality, I think a man who understands that he's gay and likes man should give you the opportunity or.

To know that.

I just all I would say to the is sexist brothers. Fight for yourselves. Don't let these people make y'all feel like y'all got to tell people stuff. But don't be out here having sex with people and not telling people.

Who you are and.

What you are, what your preferences are, because that ship is dangerous.

So that's that's it. So you answered your own question.

I don't think I answered. I answered another question. It wasn't my own question. No you did.

That's why people are infatuated, because people place value on certain things. They want to know who you sleep with, They want to know how much money you are.

I guess if you say so. I don't think it's the same thing.

But another episode in the books, shout out to Dennis mckezey brother OSG. Make sure you follow him. He's doing great work. Invest in his organization.

Do that.

It's about kids, about and they're doing the work. They're empowering our community, our educators who don't get the light and aren't even paid the way they should. But he has a group of incredible educators and his program is amazing. So shout out to him and another episode down the books. You know t M I the number one podcast in the world to beget my songs, information, truth, motivation and inspiration.

Every single Wednesday on Iwoman dot TV.