Back in 2021, season 1 of the show was very different than what you are getting now. It was an audio documentary series with me, J.D., and his wife, Yolanda. They're hilarious and follow my journey of reconnecting with the Black community. Between our usual film and TV reviews, we'll bring you these episodes for your entertainment. Enjoy.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
Ron has lived his entire adult life as a Black man in a white world. Most of his friends were white, most of his co-workers were white, and he attended white hipster churches. Then in 2016 with the election of #45, everything changed. He had a crisis of faith and a racial identity crisis that sent him on a quest to reconnect with his blackness in a way he never has before. In this inaugural episode, meet Ron and his Black BFFs JD and Yolanda (whom he affectionately refers to as the “Dre & Bow” to his “Junior.”) Find out why this show exists and what to expect. Laughter will ensue.
00:00 --> 00:04 [SPEAKER_00]: You're listening to the Ebony Covering Black America podcast network.
00:07 --> 00:10 [SPEAKER_05]: Dear Lord, I can't even believe I'm doing this.
00:11 --> 00:15 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I have a mind to turn this microphone right now and go back to rewatching the office.
00:17 --> 00:18 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm nervous.
00:18 --> 00:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably more so than I would normally, well, basically because of the nature of this podcast.
00:28 --> 00:31 [SPEAKER_00]: So what exactly is that nature?
00:32 --> 00:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's complicated.
00:47 --> 00:50 [SPEAKER_00]: I look like every day, run of the mail, kinky hair, talk with covered brother.
00:51 --> 00:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Even though I'm sure I don't sound like it.
00:54 --> 00:59 [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, for me, even when I say brother, it feels weird coming out of my mouth.
01:00 --> 01:02 [SPEAKER_00]: For so many years, it's not really how I talked.
01:03 --> 01:05 [SPEAKER_00]: I like you took that I code switch when I'm with back people.
01:06 --> 01:06 [SPEAKER_05]: God, God, it's hot!
01:06 --> 01:13 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, yeah, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
01:14 --> 01:19 [SPEAKER_00]: I also happen to be a sci-fi fantasy nerd, or you can use the common colloquialism blurred.
01:20 --> 01:27 [SPEAKER_00]: You never guessed from looking at my swath, calm, cool exterior, but I've been in somewhat of an existential crisis.
01:28 --> 01:31 [SPEAKER_00]: actually a better term, maybe, Blacks' digital crisis.
01:32 --> 01:42 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, for the overwhelming majority of my adult life, I've been one of the few, and oftentimes only black people in my circle of friends and workmates.
01:42 --> 01:44 [SPEAKER_00]: It's never really bothered me to be quite honest.
01:45 --> 01:46 [SPEAKER_00]: I've always fit right in with the whites.
01:47 --> 01:52 [SPEAKER_00]: At high school dances, I would get just as pumped for modern English as I would for midnight star.
01:52 --> 02:00 [SPEAKER_00]: The crushes I had on white and Asian girls in high school and college seemed just as natural and normal as the ones I had on black girls in elementary school.
02:01 --> 02:06 [SPEAKER_00]: Where my scholastic adventures were definitely more black than when I went to a high school and college.
02:08 --> 02:12 [SPEAKER_00]: I just liked who I liked and it just what happens most of the girls were on the
02:19 --> 02:22 [SPEAKER_00]: My friends were not plaque, my fraternity brothers were not plaque.
02:22 --> 02:24 [SPEAKER_00]: Most of my workmates have not been plaque.
02:24 --> 02:33 [SPEAKER_00]: I've never played bones, didn't attend an HBCU, have never had chicken waffles, and I would never dare to dream of pledging a buck fraternity.
02:34 --> 02:40 [SPEAKER_00]: Actually, that last statement is not exactly true, but look at that later.
02:40 --> 02:43 [SPEAKER_00]: So why am I here talking to you, find people over these interwebs?
02:44 --> 02:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I guess you could say it all started November 8th, 2016.
02:50 --> 02:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I've got a game that I'm nervous.
02:53 --> 03:17 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho
03:22 --> 03:27 [SPEAKER_01]: God damn fuck Arizona Alaska Pennsylvania, Michigan all the time.
03:27 --> 03:28 [SPEAKER_02]: What I'm not
03:48 --> 03:55 [SPEAKER_02]: There's on that faith for the aid that the Office of the President of the United States of America quite literally became a Mike Judge plot line.
04:12 --> 04:20 [SPEAKER_00]: I've no doubt that somewhere in a locked room, Tre Parker and Matt Stone are working on a musical follow-up to their Broadway hit book of Mormon.
04:21 --> 04:31 [SPEAKER_00]: This new musical will be based on a certain reality TV star who, when running against someone who on paper was empirically the most qualified person to ever run for president.
04:32 --> 04:39 [SPEAKER_00]: It happens to become the 45th president of these once-great United States, and I have no doubt they'll probably name it show 45.
04:39 --> 04:42 [SPEAKER_00]: But something else happened that day when Trump became president.
04:43 --> 04:48 [SPEAKER_00]: I began in journey down a road that shook not only my racial identity but my faith.
04:49 --> 04:53 [SPEAKER_00]: And as a person who was raised by Southern Baptist Mama from North Carolina, that was a big deal.
04:55 --> 05:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Here was this Blakely racist son of a bitch being embraced by the evangelical church in America, like he was the new pope.
05:15 --> 05:29 [SPEAKER_00]: The same group of evangelicals who lost their blood to shit when Clinton got a BJ in the White House, embraced an adulterous, flandering, porn star dating, multi-marriage having misogynists who was caught on tape, saying he liked to grab women by the pussy.
05:30 --> 05:31 [SPEAKER_00]: What the fuck?
05:45 --> 05:48 [SPEAKER_00]: And to make matters worse, there were people that I knew.
05:50 --> 05:59 [SPEAKER_00]: People that I broke bread with, people who were Christian, who were embracing this man, sharing his political posts and memes.
06:00 --> 06:06 [SPEAKER_00]: And I just kind of felt like, has the entire world gone to shit.
06:07 --> 06:08 [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, all these people were white.
06:09 --> 06:14 [SPEAKER_00]: And the odd and strange way, I kind of felt like the church cheated on me.
06:30 --> 06:30 [SPEAKER_00]: Where was I?
06:31 --> 06:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes.
06:32 --> 06:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Why were here?
06:34 --> 06:47 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, as a writer, filmmaker, and consummate storyteller who is all too fond of sharing way to mini-private details of my life way too easily, I recently wrote a satirical memoir about my evolution as a black man.
06:47 --> 06:55 [SPEAKER_00]: It's called Dungeons Into Rags, one black nerd's epic quest of self-discovery, racial identity, and crisis of faith in Trump's America.
06:56 --> 06:59 [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, you're right, the name of the book and this podcast are identical.
06:59 --> 07:02 [SPEAKER_00]: But this podcast is not a reading of my book.
07:03 --> 07:06 [SPEAKER_00]: Whereas my book is a way through the written word to share my journey.
07:07 --> 07:10 [SPEAKER_00]: This podcast will be yet another avenue to share my story.
07:10 --> 07:12 [SPEAKER_00]: As a centerfile and lover of all things, media.
07:12 --> 07:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Another thing that will set this bump culture and politically proselytizing show from the millions of others out there is that I, my freaking guests and co-hosts, will use the modern day parables of film, theater, and television as a way to peel back the veneer and see and comment on the issues of today through the lens of artistic expression.
07:32 --> 07:36 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, join me frequently, will be my good friend and collaborator, J.D.
07:36 --> 07:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Conqueror, and his wife Rolanda.
07:38 --> 07:43 [SPEAKER_00]: It promises to be low to laughter, as well as deep introspection and inflection.
07:44 --> 07:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Naked!
07:45 --> 07:46 [SPEAKER_05]: That's a lie!
07:46 --> 07:46 [SPEAKER_05]: That's a lie!
07:46 --> 07:57 [SPEAKER_05]: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
07:59 --> 07:59 [SPEAKER_04]: Is that from a movie?
07:59 --> 08:03 [SPEAKER_04]: I can't, yeah, from a... Yeah, from a... To kill a mockingbird.
08:04 --> 08:05 [SPEAKER_05]: He's looking around the man in you!
08:05 --> 08:07 [SPEAKER_05]: He's got you in your own!
08:08 --> 08:10 [SPEAKER_04]: I should have killed myself until I go into the sheriff.
08:10 --> 08:11 [UNKNOWN]: Hey, you son of a bitch!
08:11 --> 08:27 [SPEAKER_04]: You mean, you're a black... You're a black... You're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're a black, you're
08:30 --> 08:31 [SPEAKER_04]: I just saw you.
08:31 --> 08:33 [SPEAKER_04]: I was lurking behind a corner and I saw you.
08:33 --> 08:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you've used that joke four times in the show now.
08:39 --> 08:40 [SPEAKER_04]: I would say this that.
08:40 --> 08:46 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, so we're going to talk about what we think about the fact that men are monopolizing conversations about women.
08:46 --> 08:48 [SPEAKER_03]: And so we're going to stop you.
08:48 --> 08:50 [SPEAKER_03]: You just can't stop you.
08:50 --> 08:52 [SPEAKER_03]: Don't blame it on me.
08:52 --> 08:53 [SPEAKER_04]: I was I interrupting you.
08:53 --> 08:56 [SPEAKER_04]: You put your head down so hard to so hard.
08:56 --> 08:56 [SPEAKER_04]: I got it.
08:56 --> 08:59 [SPEAKER_03]: No, no, that was quite it.
08:59 --> 09:00 [SPEAKER_04]: I was quite it.
09:02 --> 09:04 [SPEAKER_04]: The complex recognized the woman from Santa Clarita.
09:10 --> 09:19 [SPEAKER_03]: You guys were being unwilling to entertain where your perception might have been if you did not know anything about this movie and you were like, oh, it's a made up world.
09:19 --> 09:20 [SPEAKER_03]: We enter on the train.
09:20 --> 09:22 [SPEAKER_03]: I've never seen the train.
09:22 --> 09:23 [SPEAKER_03]: It's a period.
09:23 --> 09:24 [SPEAKER_03]: It's a period.
09:24 --> 09:26 [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, but you knew what it was about.
09:26 --> 09:28 [SPEAKER_04]: And you see the train coming in to the world.
09:29 --> 09:31 [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, the way the movie which made it even more than I thought.
09:32 --> 09:33 [SPEAKER_03]: People could be make believe.
09:33 --> 09:35 [SPEAKER_04]: Can you not cut people off while they're making it?
09:35 --> 09:36 [SPEAKER_04]: Can you tell me what you mean?
09:36 --> 09:37 [SPEAKER_04]: Can you tell me what you mean?
09:37 --> 09:38 [SPEAKER_04]: Can you tell me what you mean?
09:38 --> 09:39 [SPEAKER_04]: sharing the conversation.
09:40 --> 09:40 [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, go ahead.
09:40 --> 09:42 [SPEAKER_04]: Some people here in this, I have to go.
09:42 --> 09:43 [SPEAKER_03]: What the fuck, man?
09:43 --> 09:45 [SPEAKER_03]: He's guys are giving divorce tomorrow.
09:45 --> 09:46 [SPEAKER_04]: Right, right, right.
09:46 --> 09:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Collectively, they're like the fresh prints to my Carlton, the bow and drae to my junior.
09:52 --> 09:55 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's perhaps no better illustration of our dynamic.
09:55 --> 09:59 [SPEAKER_00]: And my quandary is a 50-plus-year-old black man, finally coming into his blackness.
10:00 --> 10:07 [SPEAKER_00]: Then a conversation I had with them about a crazy idea I had, this idea was sort of a research project for my book.
10:07 --> 10:14 [SPEAKER_00]: I would attempt to reconnect with my people, by finally doing the one thing at 50 that never did well as in college.
10:15 --> 10:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Plage and...
10:19 --> 10:20 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not thinking about it.
10:20 --> 10:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Pleasure, an undergraduate chapter of a Black Frat and filmed the experience as reality TV show.
10:26 --> 10:29 [SPEAKER_00]: I was going to call it school-dazed and confused.
10:30 --> 10:31 [SPEAKER_00]: You get it?
10:31 --> 10:32 [SPEAKER_00]: It's cool, you know.
10:33 --> 10:36 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought for sure it was a brilliant idea that they would love it.
10:36 --> 10:39 [SPEAKER_00]: So imagine my flowercasted surprise.
10:39 --> 10:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Went on a text string, JD told me that I've had a lot of crazy day of my life, but this was the most ridiculous shit he had ever heard.
10:46 --> 10:50 [SPEAKER_00]: And I couldn't understand why, and he wasn't about to get into all of it on a text string.
10:51 --> 10:52 [SPEAKER_00]: So we've set up a phone call.
11:14 --> 11:17 [SPEAKER_05]: because I've done plenty, or would it be mine?
11:19 --> 11:24 [SPEAKER_00]: As we normally do, we record it, because so many of our conversations are great-fotted for podcasts.
11:24 --> 11:25 [SPEAKER_00]: He's in point.
11:26 --> 11:29 [SPEAKER_00]: I won't bother you by playing the entire Kong.
11:29 --> 11:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Suffice it to say he unequivocally cured me of my desire to pledge a black fraternity.
11:35 --> 11:38 [SPEAKER_00]: He told me stories that would make your hair stand on in.
11:39 --> 11:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they do want to share, and Lord have mercy, I can't believe I'm doing this.
11:44 --> 11:44 [SPEAKER_00]: Uh-huh.
11:44 --> 11:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, what I will let you hear is a portion of that conversation when J.D.
11:48 --> 12:01 [SPEAKER_00]: in your line to explain to me the meaning of a term that is as common to most black folk as nigger pleaves that was totally utterly embarrassing me for in to me at the time.
12:01 --> 12:06 [SPEAKER_04]: When you get on as soon as you get on a line, they start just pull out, punch you in the chest as hard as they can.
12:07 --> 12:07 [SPEAKER_04]: You get on line.
12:09 --> 12:09 [SPEAKER_04]: Huh?
12:11 --> 12:13 [SPEAKER_00]: We can get online, like computer online.
12:14 --> 12:14 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:14 --> 12:17 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:17 --> 12:18 [UNKNOWN]: Oh, my god.
12:18 --> 12:19 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, my god.
12:19 --> 12:20 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:20 --> 12:21 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:21 --> 12:22 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:22 --> 12:22 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:22 --> 12:23 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:23 --> 12:24 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:24 --> 12:24 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:24 --> 12:25 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:25 --> 12:26 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:27 --> 12:28 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:28 --> 12:28 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:28 --> 12:29 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, my god.
12:30 --> 12:31 [UNKNOWN]: Oh, my god.
12:31 --> 12:32 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:32 --> 12:33 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh, my god.
12:33 --> 12:33 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:34 --> 12:34 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:35 --> 12:35 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, my god.
12:36 --> 12:39 [SPEAKER_03]: That's like asking, what's the bathroom for you?
12:39 --> 12:40 [SPEAKER_03]: What does that mean?
12:40 --> 12:42 [SPEAKER_04]: So what does this one for shizzle me in?
12:45 --> 12:46 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my gosh.
12:47 --> 12:48 [SPEAKER_04]: I can't run.
12:48 --> 12:49 [SPEAKER_04]: I'm like.
12:50 --> 12:52 [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's starting to stop.
12:52 --> 12:53 [SPEAKER_03]: That's five hours.
12:53 --> 12:57 [SPEAKER_03]: If you're pointing, if you're starting from what is online me?
12:58 --> 12:59 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't hear you.
13:00 --> 13:05 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, excuse me, I'm not going to use the letter on my knee.
13:05 --> 13:07 [SPEAKER_04]: But you're here, okay.
13:07 --> 13:09 [SPEAKER_04]: Do you mean on my, like, I'm a computer.
13:09 --> 13:11 [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know what you're doing.
13:11 --> 13:12 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:12 --> 13:13 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:13 --> 13:13 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:14 --> 13:14 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:14 --> 13:15 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:15 --> 13:16 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:16 --> 13:18 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:18 --> 13:20 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:20 --> 13:22 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:22 --> 13:23 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:23 --> 13:23 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:23 --> 13:24 [SPEAKER_04]: I got a call.
13:25 --> 13:26 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:26 --> 13:27 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:27 --> 13:28 [SPEAKER_05]: I got a call.
13:30 --> 13:32 [SPEAKER_04]: Wow, dude, I love you, man, it's hard to love you sometimes, you make a real hard.
13:32 --> 13:51 [SPEAKER_04]: Hey, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning, I'm not planning,
13:53 --> 13:54 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
13:54 --> 13:55 [SPEAKER_04]: Ah!
13:55 --> 13:56 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
13:56 --> 13:57 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
13:57 --> 13:57 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
13:57 --> 13:58 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
13:58 --> 13:59 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
13:59 --> 14:00 [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.
14:00 --> 14:00 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:00 --> 14:01 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:01 --> 14:01 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:01 --> 14:02 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:02 --> 14:03 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:03 --> 14:03 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:03 --> 14:04 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:04 --> 14:06 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:06 --> 14:06 [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god.
14:06 --> 14:07 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
14:07 --> 14:09 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
14:09 --> 14:09 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
14:09 --> 14:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god.
14:10 --> 14:11 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:11 --> 14:12 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:12 --> 14:13 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:13 --> 14:15 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:15 --> 14:16 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:18 --> 14:19 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:19 --> 14:20 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:21 --> 14:21 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my god.
14:24 --> 14:25 [SPEAKER_03]: This is hilarious.
14:26 --> 14:27 [SPEAKER_03]: You need to run.
14:27 --> 14:27 [SPEAKER_03]: There you go.
14:28 --> 14:28 [SPEAKER_03]: That's a clutching.
14:28 --> 14:30 [SPEAKER_03]: That means you're online.
14:30 --> 14:31 [SPEAKER_03]: You're online.
14:31 --> 14:32 [SPEAKER_04]: You're online.
14:32 --> 14:33 [SPEAKER_03]: You're online.
14:33 --> 14:33 [SPEAKER_03]: You're.
14:34 --> 14:34 [SPEAKER_04]: Dude.
14:34 --> 14:35 [SPEAKER_04]: I'm a guy.
14:35 --> 14:36 [SPEAKER_04]: I'm telling you right now.
14:36 --> 14:38 [SPEAKER_03]: I have never in my life.
14:38 --> 14:38 [SPEAKER_03]: Plus.
14:39 --> 14:42 [SPEAKER_04]: Dude, this is really, really bad.
14:42 --> 14:42 [SPEAKER_04]: You man.
14:42 --> 14:43 [SPEAKER_04]: This is great.
14:43 --> 14:44 [SPEAKER_04]: You obviously have no.
14:44 --> 14:45 [SPEAKER_04]: I know.
14:45 --> 14:45 [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
14:45 --> 14:49 [SPEAKER_05]: You haven't had no contact with Nathan at college.
14:49 --> 14:49 [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
14:49 --> 14:50 [SPEAKER_05]: He's got me black.
14:50 --> 14:51 [SPEAKER_05]: Where did the college?
14:55 --> 14:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Actually, I didn't.
14:57 --> 14:59 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what's fine with points of input.
14:59 --> 15:01 [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, Ron, this is a book.
15:01 --> 15:02 [SPEAKER_04]: Dude, this is your strongest chapter right now.
15:02 --> 15:03 [SPEAKER_04]: It's probably a jumper.
15:03 --> 15:05 [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you got pretty somewhere in there.
15:06 --> 15:07 [SPEAKER_04]: But it's gonna be embarrassing.
15:07 --> 15:09 [SPEAKER_04]: It's gonna be an up and actually like we are.
15:09 --> 15:10 [SPEAKER_03]: But it's golden.
15:10 --> 15:12 [SPEAKER_03]: But it's golden.
15:12 --> 15:13 [SPEAKER_04]: This is perfect.
15:13 --> 15:14 [SPEAKER_04]: And you can add fucking alarms.
15:15 --> 15:17 [SPEAKER_03]: This is the definition of your book.
15:30 --> 15:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I know, I know, I know, laugh if you will, and trust me, I do every time I hear it.
15:34 --> 15:35 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what?
15:36 --> 15:43 [SPEAKER_00]: To be honest with you, oftentimes when I reflect on that comical conversation, it actually gets me reclaimed.
15:44 --> 15:50 [SPEAKER_00]: A choke up, as I think about how much I messed over the years, being so cut off from my people.
16:03 --> 16:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Feeling caught between two worlds, and then again a week, and writing Biden commentary and personal essays about racial justice and racism on medium, calling white people out on their privilege and even jellicles on their hypocrisy.
16:17 --> 16:21 [SPEAKER_00]: All the while, feeling like a modern day, blogging version of Huey P. Newton.
16:22 --> 16:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Then a few days later, I'm embroiled in a ridiculous and hilarious conversation with one of these two about some aspect of black culture, I've supposedly gotten horribly wrong.
16:32 --> 16:37 [SPEAKER_00]: And don't even keep me started on our debate about whether or not no vastly and is a better district than hit him up.
16:38 --> 16:42 [SPEAKER_00]: actually come to think of it that the bait wasn't which one was better.
16:43 --> 16:45 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was more about the fact that I didn't know it was a pity, man.
16:46 --> 16:55 [SPEAKER_00]: When he first mentioned Vaseline, like it wasn't quite sure what the skin moisturizing habits that my mama used in the Servedines did do with Battle Rap.
16:56 --> 17:03 [SPEAKER_00]: Then eventually figured out he was talking about ice cubes biting, wrapping repartais against his former NWA bandmates.
17:03 --> 17:04 [SPEAKER_00]: And well,
17:05 --> 17:06 [SPEAKER_00]: JD has his opinions.
17:06 --> 17:07 [SPEAKER_00]: You're still off on that.
17:07 --> 17:09 [SPEAKER_00]: But I understand cuz you weren't around half the time.
17:09 --> 17:13 [SPEAKER_04]: So you I mean Well, I like someone someone someone who is unaware of the talker.
17:13 --> 17:23 [SPEAKER_04]: But I just I get it because Q about a whole bunch to say and he kept saying he could have spoke for you know 15 more minutes And everything was just it was like one big hey make her
17:24 --> 17:25 [SPEAKER_04]: landing after none.
17:25 --> 17:27 [SPEAKER_04]: I was like, good lord, just do demolition.
17:27 --> 17:28 [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, he's even gone.
17:28 --> 17:30 [SPEAKER_04]: He got a beef of Cypher's Hill.
17:30 --> 17:32 [SPEAKER_04]: He told Cypher's Hill before you even get some heart.
17:33 --> 17:34 [SPEAKER_04]: Rewine my part.
17:34 --> 17:35 [SPEAKER_04]: Listen, no, that's the lean Rewine my part.
17:36 --> 17:37 [SPEAKER_04]: It's all in your career, homie.
17:38 --> 17:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I know I'm not as a lyrically versed in the wrapping arts as my friend here, but I have a few opinions of my own and I would just say that I still think Pucks hit him up his better.
17:53 --> 17:54 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't get me wrong.
17:54 --> 17:55 [SPEAKER_00]: No Vaseline is great.
17:56 --> 17:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it no Vaseline or Vaseline?
17:58 --> 17:58 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh shit.
17:58 --> 17:59 [SPEAKER_00]: So Vaseline.
17:59 --> 18:00 [SPEAKER_00]: No Vaseline.
18:00 --> 18:01 [SPEAKER_00]: Where was it?
18:01 --> 18:01 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
18:01 --> 18:01 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway.
18:01 --> 18:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
18:03 --> 18:05 [SPEAKER_00]: No Vaseline is clever.
18:05 --> 18:08 [SPEAKER_00]: It's seating and it's pretty wetty.
18:08 --> 18:09 [SPEAKER_05]: Which is fine at all.
18:20 --> 18:28 [SPEAKER_00]: But, in Hinama, Hot comes out like he really don't give a shit about Biggie Impuff, or Peter D.R., whatever Shawn Thomas is calling himself back then.
18:29 --> 18:34 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Tupac has so little time to deal with any of this, he lets his little homie to go before him.
18:35 --> 18:37 [SPEAKER_05]: He's basically like fuck you biggie.
18:37 --> 18:38 [SPEAKER_05]: You mean so little to me.
18:38 --> 18:45 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm gonna laugh and crack up Well, I'm camping while you're in your wife and then I'm just gonna drop the mic mid-rap And let's see what I know is finished this in you
19:01 --> 19:05 [SPEAKER_00]: It's almost like saying, you're not worthy of getting a full song of me disson you.
19:06 --> 19:08 [SPEAKER_00]: That tell little you mean to me, that come on.
19:09 --> 19:10 [SPEAKER_00]: That's one bad motherfucker.
19:13 --> 19:15 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it still doesn't sound right coming on my mouth.
19:15 --> 19:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, whatever.
19:32 --> 19:38 [SPEAKER_00]: Right about now, you may be inquiring, why the hell would anyone put themselves out through like that?
19:39 --> 19:45 [SPEAKER_00]: To lay all their shit bare for the whole fracking world, to be the possible butt of jokes and side eyes.
19:46 --> 19:54 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I asked myself that question at least once a fortnight, and who knows, maybe it's my ADHD or an unhealthy need for attention.
19:55 --> 19:59 [SPEAKER_00]: But I think we're in anything, it's catharsis, you know?
19:59 --> 20:06 [SPEAKER_00]: For so many freaking years, I carried this feeling and since that I wasn't quote-unquote black enough.
20:06 --> 20:09 [SPEAKER_00]: I talked white, I sounded white, and mostly white friends.
20:10 --> 20:15 [SPEAKER_00]: And there was a loss in my life losing that connection to black people, you know?
20:15 --> 20:19 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, an elementary school y'all, I was really, really black.
20:19 --> 20:30 [SPEAKER_00]: hung out in the street with black kids, meant to an all-black African school, called Omawali Ujama, I celebrated a quanta, I was even in a football, which if you knew me, now, would make your head spin.
20:31 --> 20:33 [SPEAKER_00]: My nickname on the kickball field was Rani Dorset.
20:34 --> 20:38 [SPEAKER_00]: I play on the famous Dallas Cowboys running back 20 Dorset from the mid 70s.
20:38 --> 20:40 [SPEAKER_00]: But even back then, I was still kind of renewed.
20:41 --> 20:47 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the main reason I liked the Cowboys over the Rams, despite living in Los Angeles was because I thought they had cooler looking helmets.
21:00 --> 21:14 [SPEAKER_00]: I think what I think about it, for me, during this project, like writing the book and in this podcast, is a way to reclaim something which one could argue and ever truly lost, being a black man in America.
21:15 --> 21:17 [SPEAKER_00]: but doing it on my terms.
21:17 --> 21:24 [SPEAKER_00]: Without pretense, without succumbing to fears of my preferred vernacular, disqualifying me from an entire race of people.
21:25 --> 21:36 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's also way for me to acknowledge the ways in which I did contribute to that disconnection, you know, to make amends, not for anyone else, but just for me personally.
21:36 --> 21:42 [SPEAKER_00]: And lastly, I have a sneaky suspicion that there are other people out there just like me.
21:42 --> 21:43 [SPEAKER_00]: And not just black people.
21:44 --> 21:53 [SPEAKER_00]: And some way, I think many of us can feel like we don't fit in or belong to a group to which we want or shouldn't naturally belong.
21:53 --> 22:00 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be race, religion, politics, and any or other societal castes in whether you imagine to real.
22:02 --> 22:05 [SPEAKER_00]: So to all the Oreos, bananas and apples out there, this is for you.
22:06 --> 22:15 [SPEAKER_00]: may it be a reminder that it's never too late to be black, or whatever your respective societal colored construct is, it's never too late.
22:24 --> 22:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, there you have it, that's my story.
22:27 --> 22:28 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Dungeons and Directs.
22:29 --> 22:34 [SPEAKER_00]: One black nerds epic quest of self-discovery and racial identity through pop culture and politics.
22:34 --> 22:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Shit's about to get real up in here, Niga!
22:38 --> 22:40 [SPEAKER_00]: Shit's about to get real up in here.
22:43 --> 22:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Shit, shit's about to get real up in here.
22:49 --> 22:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, enjoy this show.
22:56 --> 23:03 [SPEAKER_00]: You sure to stay after the credits for a patented post-credit sequence of our outtics.
23:17 --> 23:22 [SPEAKER_00]: The Dungeons & Directs podcast is a production of Blade Runner Media and Body & Clip Productions.
23:22 --> 23:30 [SPEAKER_00]: This episode was written hosted in Bedouche by Ron Dawson, special thanks to my Black BFFs and podcast Peeps, JD and your line to Cuckron, no relation to Johnny.
23:31 --> 23:36 [SPEAKER_00]: Music using the show was licensed from Art List as well as Creative Common Songs from Empty Colour.
23:37 --> 23:46 [SPEAKER_00]: The 2016 election clip was a compilation of clips from the young Turks and CNN made by YouTuber Vopple Steve and use them for a used, always reserved by their respective owners.
23:46 --> 23:48 [SPEAKER_00]: If you like to show, do all the podcasty things.
23:49 --> 23:51 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, rate, review, share with your friends and family.
23:52 --> 23:57 [SPEAKER_00]: If you really want to have some fun, send it to that Trump support and uncle you always get into it with that family gatherings.
23:57 --> 23:58 [SPEAKER_00]: And it'll be a hoot.
23:59 --> 24:03 [SPEAKER_00]: I would love to know what you think about this whole hit-em-up versus a no-vast lean-to-bait.
24:03 --> 24:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Choose an email and let us know one, which one of the two you like best, and two, what is your favorite district in general?
24:10 --> 24:10 [SPEAKER_00]: And why?
24:11 --> 24:14 [SPEAKER_00]: Email us at podcasts, add dungeons, and dueregs.com.
24:14 --> 24:20 [SPEAKER_00]: You can also leave us a five-ser review and Apple Podcast with your answer and we just be rid of that on the show too.
24:21 --> 24:25 [SPEAKER_00]: You can follow me on Twitter at Blade Runner, that's Rhiner with the know, and on the
24:28 --> 24:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Alright about politics, faith, and business on medium at Ron Dawson.medium.com, that's it for now.
24:35 --> 24:40 [SPEAKER_00]: Stay safe out there and remember, having white privilege is not bad, denying it is.
24:41 --> 24:45 [SPEAKER_00]: And in an absence of biblical certainty, choose love, until next time.
24:59 --> 25:00 [SPEAKER_00]: What are your hopes for this show?
25:01 --> 25:04 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, what is it that you hope we do here?
25:04 --> 25:16 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I mean, I think for me, and I kind of talk about this in the closing of episode one, I expand on it just in terms of coming.
25:18 --> 25:37 [SPEAKER_00]: to reconciling with how I've been disconnected from black culture and reconnecting it, but reconnecting in a way that's like on my terms where I don't have any fears of
25:38 --> 25:44 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, my, my preferred vernacular disc qualifying me for belonging to an entire race and all this kind of thing.
25:44 --> 25:50 [SPEAKER_00]: And I say how, you know, it's never too late to be black and not.
25:50 --> 25:54 [SPEAKER_03]: And so, so for me, I'm always black always black.
25:54 --> 25:57 [SPEAKER_00]: You just didn't know it.
25:57 --> 26:05 [SPEAKER_00]: It's funny you say that because I actually make that inference in that in that closing, you know, say, you know, there's one could argue that,
26:08 --> 26:11 [SPEAKER_00]: one thing that I never lost was being a black man in America.
26:11 --> 26:14 [SPEAKER_03]: Regardless of what I sound about being black.
26:14 --> 26:15 [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
26:15 --> 26:17 [SPEAKER_00]: So there's a person who's doing it for me.
26:17 --> 26:17 [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
26:18 --> 26:20 [SPEAKER_04]: So there's a person who's like, you go, Candice Owens.
26:20 --> 26:23 [SPEAKER_04]: No matter where she's at, she's going to be a sister in America.
26:23 --> 26:25 [SPEAKER_00]: That's, you know, okay.
26:25 --> 26:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Who was it?
26:27 --> 26:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Trump's not assistant, but the one who was on his show, who's part of... Oh, I'm a rosa.
26:33 --> 26:33 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a rosa.
26:34 --> 26:38 [SPEAKER_00]: She got her.
26:38 --> 26:39 [SPEAKER_00]: She learned.
26:39 --> 26:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
26:40 --> 26:40 [SPEAKER_00]: She learned.
26:40 --> 26:41 [SPEAKER_04]: You're a Negro wake-up guard.
26:41 --> 26:42 [SPEAKER_04]: Yes, you did.
26:42 --> 26:43 [SPEAKER_04]: You started to get it.
26:44 --> 26:46 [SPEAKER_00]: So for me, there's obviously a personal thing.
26:46 --> 26:50 [SPEAKER_00]: But I was curious asking you to, what are your hopes?
26:52 --> 26:54 [SPEAKER_00]: Either for you personally or for the show in general.
26:55 --> 26:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Now that we started this journey.
26:59 --> 27:00 [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I just didn't.
27:01 --> 27:15 [SPEAKER_03]: having conversations that are real and that, I think, I mean, I think you guys were talking earlier about Facebook and IG and all these, you know, social sites being down today.
27:15 --> 27:25 [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that, you know, one of the things that they dislike so much about those platforms
27:28 --> 27:36 [SPEAKER_03]: you know, there's a lot of going back of forth like there's unfortunately, there's a lot of connection, but there's no real conversations.
27:36 --> 27:37 [SPEAKER_03]: And there's no real.
27:38 --> 28:00 [SPEAKER_03]: getting to the heart of the matter or having, you know, honesty or listening or considering or walking in another man's shoes, I don't know that we're necessarily going to accomplish that in this, you know, and with amongst ourselves, depending upon, you know, who are we invite and talk to and those things.
28:01 --> 28:05 [SPEAKER_03]: But I think particularly because of your unique
28:07 --> 28:30 [SPEAKER_03]: It gives a great opportunity and probably one that's unique in might be even more educational because you are a black man who is discovering your blackness and it's like talking about what it means to be black in America and how is it that you're black and are you black
28:37 --> 28:51 [SPEAKER_03]: a lot about the so circumstances and the systems that exist in this country that through our conversations could hopefully shed some might on some things.
28:51 --> 28:53 [SPEAKER_03]: So that's my hope for it.
28:57 --> 29:03 [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I feel like that's who I think that's, you know, what you accomplish with your book.
29:04 --> 29:05 [SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, I think.
29:07 --> 29:07 [SPEAKER_03]: I will say this.
29:08 --> 29:17 [SPEAKER_03]: I believe that there needs to be more conversation that is candid and sometimes uncomfortable.
29:17 --> 29:21 [SPEAKER_03]: I mean for us, nobody neither one on this call right now.
29:22 --> 29:26 [SPEAKER_03]: has any discomfort about anything that we tend to talk about.
29:26 --> 29:32 [SPEAKER_03]: But, you know, a lot, we talk about topics that a lot of people I believe would shy away from.
29:32 --> 29:35 [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that there needs to be more of that happening.
29:35 --> 29:36 [SPEAKER_03]: Not less.
29:37 --> 29:37 [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
29:37 --> 29:37 [SPEAKER_04]: Totally.
29:38 --> 29:41 [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, you know, it's like, you know, being at the barbershop or something.
29:42 --> 29:47 [SPEAKER_04]: Well, Ron, I know you don't have the experience, but like usually you go to a barbershop Actually do you have that in the box?
29:47 --> 29:54 [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, I just I didn't you know, yeah, I'll log this on the back of the barrel Where is that Berkeley?
29:54 --> 30:08 [SPEAKER_05]: I would actually write my scooter all the way from Berkeley to Oakland to get a kid here Okay, I think Got a little street grand okay You learn so every day the more you know, why I don't know You know my good
30:09 --> 30:13 [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know, I was just saying it's like, for me, it's almost like, I feel like discussions like this are like church.
30:13 --> 30:17 [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you get around with a group of friends, you sit down and you just debate the issues of the day.
30:18 --> 30:26 [SPEAKER_04]: You know, to lastify, it's about what's going on in the culture, what's happening around you, the ethics of it all, the significance of things and situations.
30:27 --> 30:28 [SPEAKER_04]: Um, so I enjoy that.
30:28 --> 30:47 [SPEAKER_04]: And then like to echo what you want to set it, you know, to do that from the perspective of or lens of the growth that you're going through and exploring as, you know, getting more in touch with your black roots is, is a fascinating wash from the sidelines and also participate in and I think, you know, what I could bring to it is like, you know, being mixed.
30:47 --> 31:07 [SPEAKER_04]: You know, black and white, I've seen both sides of, I've been in those rooms and I've been flying the wall and seeing how white people talk, you know, and what they think, you know, and I've been in the rooms with the brothers and sisters, you know, what they think, you know, so it's like it gives me that unique perspective that I know a lot of kids didn't have, you know, a lot of people don't have.
31:07 --> 31:12 [SPEAKER_04]: And coming up, me, I was always straddling the fence between white world and black world.
31:12 --> 31:16 [SPEAKER_04]: I had like super Uber, progressive white mom that, you know, hold it down for me.
31:16 --> 31:18 [SPEAKER_04]: And a really accepting white family.
31:19 --> 31:25 [SPEAKER_04]: You know, where I know there are other mixed people that, you know, they were really ostracized, you know, from the white side of their family.
31:26 --> 31:34 [SPEAKER_04]: And so they might not get the experience that I did, but there, you know, there was a good chunk of us that did, but we got to, you know, see the white side of things and the black side of things.
31:35 --> 31:42 [SPEAKER_04]: So I bring another unique balance or perspective to all the stuff that we hope to dip into in this podcast.
31:43 --> 31:44 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, for sure.
31:45 --> 31:47 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, it reminds me of that.
31:47 --> 31:48 [SPEAKER_04]: I look forward to that.
31:48 --> 31:49 [SPEAKER_04]: That's why I bring it up because I'm forward to it.
31:50 --> 31:55 [SPEAKER_00]: No, I look, I'm glad you brought up the issue of being mixed, because obviously I have mixed kids.
31:56 --> 32:04 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I once made, you know, I made that short documentary about my daughter and experience as she had being a mixed kid.
32:04 --> 32:06 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, she's not my biological daughter.
32:06 --> 32:07 [SPEAKER_00]: Her biological dad is black.
32:08 --> 32:23 [SPEAKER_00]: and my ex-wife was white and so when we were still together, me making that short documentary about her and just some of the things that she shared at the time, I think she was 16, but it was like these really profound thoughts of what it was like.
32:24 --> 32:42 [SPEAKER_00]: growing up mixed and you know, she, some, there were some aspects of the white saber family, not from her mom, but from other aspects where sometimes it was hard for, I would say for her mom, early, and then it got better.
32:43 --> 32:48 [SPEAKER_00]: But I remember her telling the story of how she was out with her white grandmother,
32:49 --> 33:11 [SPEAKER_00]: and they were at a restaurant and this other woman sitting down and making a making like this face because here was this older white woman with this clearly black girl and she could tell that woman had an issue with her and she but she didn't understand why yeah so I think there's yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm gonna be a whole bunch of fun topics to explore yeah
33:12 --> 33:32 [SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
33:35 --> 33:36 [SPEAKER_00]: talking about the game.
33:37 --> 33:38 [SPEAKER_00]: I was never into any games.
33:38 --> 33:42 [SPEAKER_04]: So he was talking about the rappers or rappers in the barrel or being online.
33:43 --> 33:53 [SPEAKER_00]: I've never heard of him with Ebony or Jet or but I remember I remember politics.
33:54 --> 33:59 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember the last time when I got my hair cut by my brother before the pandemic.
34:01 --> 34:04 [SPEAKER_00]: And like in the middle of my cut, he just went up and
34:05 --> 34:34 [SPEAKER_00]: to go get like a snack or yeah brother yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I remember thinking like where the hell did he go like he's I'm not been little like half right here as well you know I thought that was funny yeah but I remember hearing it by remember hearing comedian or someone talking about brothers being like that and about like barbershop and maybe thinking oh that happened to me once but I think
34:36 --> 34:39 [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that's how that's how it made us that's how it made us that's how it made us we team.
34:40 --> 34:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, it happens that all right cool.
34:43 --> 34:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm looking forward to the journey with you too.
34:46 --> 34:47 [SPEAKER_03]: Um, likewise.