On day 46 we have a new winner and we So that was Johan Strauss. What is he doing on the George show? It's also part of Civilization 5 and there's a new civilization launching October 24th. Are you excited for Civ Beyond Earth? And we have a new winner as well as a trip to Taiwan Would you come join us if we put on the following event in Taiwan? Before we get to that This is the hundred thousand dollar sponsorship for small channels powered by freedom Let's go. If we put on a live gaming event in Taiwan Would you come watch it? The goal is to create an e-sports tournament similar to MLG but in Southeast Asia And why Taiwan? Well, did you know we have the largest gaming network in Taiwan on YouTube actually the entire Chinese market? Freedom has the largest gaming network. And so we want to support them We want to give them a venue where they can come cheer on the best teams in one location Would you want to make a trip to Taiwan? How many of you have been to Taiwan? Do you know where Taiwan is? Tell me in the comments below I'd love to get your input And we have a winner today Today's winner is picked by almost 1,000 of you who are the users of heartbeat Heartbeat Chrome is the extension we wrote that helps you pick winners by clicking the star button For your favorite people who you feel deserve the sponsorship Click here to look at the video that'll tell you how to get Heartbeat Chrome It's just a Chrome extension. You don't have to install anything You just add it to your browser and then you all of your comments will get little favorites button So you could start picking your favorite comments with the star and Today's winner is Mr. Aiden plays if you look behind me He is using a playlist for playlists to feature deserving channels on his channel well done And in his latest comment, you can see he's been active since day one Well done. Mr. Aiden plays today I noticed you and you get to pick from one of these five Prizes that'll get shipped straight to your door if you follow this video Click here to see how you can claim your prize This is only day 46 of 365 days lots of winners coming lots of news Lots of helping each other grow because that's how you win down there in the comments below or on the freedom forums Give helpful advice offer graphics offer tips Anything you feel can help small channels become bigger channels and then I notice you and then you win But we all win because we help each other grow like a family And that is what the freedom family is all about helping each other grow This is freedom and who am I? I am George founder of freedom and Mgn the multi gaming network our new gaming brand and you've been watching Let's discover freedom click the first video to learn what is freedom and how it helps you grow Click the second video to learn about sponsorships for all freedom partners Even if you have just 10 subscribers and click the other videos like how do I leave freedom to learn more? Click get more views to learn how to build your audience faster on YouTube Click get more CPM to learn how to make more money from your channel and click get more music to learn where to get More music to spice up your videos Click the first playlist to watch the George show on freedom That's my show or watch the Anthony show or the Alex show also on freedom And we will grow together as a family because this is the freedom family You are part of it. We are all part of it and we're all growing together so grow with us and Partner with freedom that play now button right there on the video bar is all you need to click to get started


Welcome to NewsClick. Today we have here Karna Nidiji, General Secretary of AIOBC. So, welcome to the interview. So, you have mentioned about the work of AIOBC regarding the Central Education Act in 2006, which mandated the reservation policy in the Central Education Institute, like Central Universities, IITs, etc. So, it's about like 15 years since that was passed and the reservation norms extended to these institutions. But like the data from IITs which we have collected through RTIs, which shows a deny of social justice to these oppressed class like SC, ST and OBCs and many of the students were not admitted in the reserved categories in PhD programs as well as other MPEC and MS programs. So, the higher education there is like an exclusion to these communities even after there is a legislation which intended to give them the benefits of higher education in this institute. So, what is your take on this? Like, how can we improve the policy of reservation institutions like IITs, IMs and other Central Universities? I am very happy to share some of the views with the news click. And as per we were first seen, let me take it like this, that what will be the position of the higher education after this introduction of the new education policy 2020? Because at present, you are telling about the effect of Central Education Institutions Act that enables the government to provide 27% reservation for the OBCs. But the data you have also collected from RTI and also it has come in the media also and also the parliament and the honourable minister has also given the data to the members of the parliament. So, I have some data which I want to share with the media through you. As per the data provided in last year in nearly IIMs, 18 IIMs, there are total 784 faculty positions and OBCs are just 27 numbers only, that is 3.44% out of 784 positions. Similarly, in IIT, 23 IITs are there, they have given that nearly 8,856 faculty positions are there, but the OBCs are just 329, that is 3.71. OBCs also just 1.68, 149 and OBCs are just 0.23% in IIT. In IIM, OBCs are just 1% only, that is 8 faculty are there in the total faculty positions and OBCs are just 2. So, this is the position of the IIT and IIM in this country given by the government. Similarly, the central government runs nearly 41 central universities where the data speaks like this that out of 1,125 professors, the representation of OBC is 0. FCE is 39, that is 3.4% and STs are 8, that is 0.7%. Similarly, associate professors, the national level, 2,624 associate professor post are there where the OBCs are 0 and schedule cost professors are 130, that is 4.9%, that is 5% and STs are 34, that is 1.33%. This is the effect of this reservation policy adopted by these central universities and IITs and IIMs and this speaks very much on various areas. Not only we are concerned with the representation of the faculties in these top schools of excellence, but it has a devastating effect on the students who join in these institutions who belong to the LCE, ST, OBC, how they have been treated inside the campus, that also speaks about that. So that is why we see the suicidal deaths of Fatima and other people and other suicides are happening surrounding the IIMs like that, Muthukishtan, like that and Rohit Emula. All these suicidal deaths are all because of this overall effect of this representation of these dominant groups of a particular community in IIT, IIM and these central universities that makes these different rejections totally vulnerable. They feel that they don't have any persons to guide them also. So these are all the things that makes them to go out of the institution. So the number of dropouts are also increasing and they are very much harassed. I think you will remember what our UGC earlier chairman, Sukdev Dharat, he had investigated this kind of harassment in IIMs daily and he has given a report that speaks volume of it. So the overall representation in faculty position is very much important but the powers there be at the center are determined or very much determined that this kind of dominance should not be given up. So they don't want to implement reservation for which they create a lot of hurdles. In the meantime some Alhambra and Heiko gave a ruling that the recruitment should be done on the basis of department-wise reckonsies. Instead of university as a whole that created a lot of issue thereafter after some agitations from Delhi University and other people then it was reversed. So like the time when the faculty positions are being recruited, a lot of problems are created and our OBC, CST or even minorities, they are not taken inside the campus. So this is the position of this kind of institutions as of today. So what is going to happen after this introduction of national education policy is this will go further deteriorate. I don't think further improvement may happen because of this policy because the policy is not at all aimed at giving a representation to all these people. The policy, the new education policy has not spoken about reservation at all. In the entire policy of 63 pages if you go through that there is no word like that reservation policy. They have totally avoided mentioning that. Instead of that they say that socio-economic disadvantage groups. So this is what is the government's aim. So they want to create a situation where the concept of social justice is totally remote and they want to make it as an economic factor and thereby even the scholarship of our OBC or CST there is no mention about the scholarship. They speak about merit scholarship. So merit scholarship is based on mass, not based on various different communities. So totally the whole concept of reservation policy is totally removed from this education policy. Naturally it will have its own effect. I don't think further improvement I think will be having a very tougher days ahead to ensure this implementation of even the existing reservation policy.


If you are a content creator, then one of the ways that you can monetize your content is by selling your own merch. And YouTube have just made that a lot easier for us with the new shopping tab that they've added into the monetization section of YouTube Studio. So in this video, I'm going to show you how to go through the process of setting that up, linking it with a merch store, and then also how this is going to look for your viewers when they're watching your videos and how to integrate it. So let's just jump straight over into YouTube Studio. And this is all to be found in the monetization tab. Now, I should say that this is obviously a monetization feature, so you do need to be monetized on YouTube in terms of meeting that requirement of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. And assuming that you have got monetization, then when you open this tab, what you'll see is that in addition to the previous ads overview and the memberships and supers, we've now also got this shopping tab. Now, when you come into the shopping tab for the first time, what you're actually going to see is something like this. It's going to ask you to connect to your store. So it will say add products to your store, connect to a store to promote your products and merchandise and so on, connect to store. And you've basically got three options. They are either Speedify, Spreadshop or Spring. Now, Spring and Spreadshop are pretty similar. Those are online merch stores where basically the zero setup cost for you as the creator, you're just going to go in there, you upload your designs that you want, you pick the products that you want and I'll show you what my merch store looks like so that you can see how that kind of works. It's pretty straightforward and easy to do. And as I say, there's no setup cost. They basically print everything on demand and you just get your commission out of all of the sales that are made. So it's really, as I say, nothing, no setup cost involved whatsoever. Now Shopify is a bit different. That is more like an online platform to manage your orders and things like that. But generally you'll be then sort of doing the fulfillment yourself, but if you have got product and things like that that you want to sell through that or you're affiliated with other Shopify stores, then you would be able to do that all through Shopify. As I say, I'm going with Spreadshop though, just because that's the one I've had some experience with before and I know that they are pretty reliable, but I'm sure the others are as well. And I didn't want to get into any fulfillment. So all you're going to do though is click on here to connect to your account. It'll take you into your account on Spreadshop, Spring or Shopify. You're then giving YouTube access to see that account and then from within that account, they're going to prompt you to go and grant access to your YouTube account. So basically the two can talk to each other. So these two sort of little approval processes to go through, pretty painless and it's all done in a matter of minutes. Once you've done that though, when you come back over into your YouTube shopping section, then what you see is this. You've got a list of your products. I can come down here, click this little arrow. These are the products that I've got available on my Spreadshop account. And then you can also choose which products to display. So if I come down here to customize, these are the products that are in my Shopify shop and then I can choose which ones I want to add over here into the ones to display. So at the moment, they're kind of all in there, but if I just come and say, take this one out, where is it down here somewhere? Let me just drop it out. I've got to take anyone out to actually drop that out. There you go. So this one is sort of highlighted white, meaning it's not currently in the list. And then all you do is just sort of drag it across and you can see how easy it is to delete things as well. So that's how you're choosing what is going to be displayed from your Spreadshop, in this case, store on your YouTube store. So once you click on save, that's done. And in terms of how your viewers, your subscribers are going to see it, there's basically two ways. You first of all have a store actually now on YouTube. So if I go to my YouTube homepage, then you can see here we've got home along the top here. We've got home, videos, playlist, community, and now we've got the store tab. So when you go into the store tab, this is now basically showing all of those products that we just selected in the YouTube studio. This is what people would see when they visit my YouTube page. Now, it does show you the actual item itself. Then it gives you the description of it and then the price. But all of the links, as you can see, say from Spreadshop, it's telling you where it's going to redirect you to. And indeed, when somebody clicks on one of these things, say they click on this mug, click in there, that is basically going to take them through to the Spreadshop shop. So it would take them through to this page for the actual product itself. And then all of the actual transaction is done through there. So it's not a case of you're selling stuff through YouTube and YouTube are taking a cut or anything like this. It is just a case of giving you this platform, if you like to, or storefront, to then direct them to some external store. Once they are here, one thing I will just say is you can also browse the rest of the products. So you could then, this could be a gateway into a product library. So here I do actually have some additional products. One thing I'll say then is that I've just added in some more products and they haven't actually updated just yet on the store side of things. So if you can see here, there's a whole another live streamer logo here that I've created, that there is a series of products on for this. However, if I go back into YouTube studio, it's not quite updated. So I don't know what the update frequency is, whether it updates on a sort of daily basis or something like that, whether they have a little, the two platforms chat with one another to update the product list. But certainly you can see that not everything that is on the web is actually in this product list at the moment. But this is what happened with some other new ones that I added. It just took a few hours or something like that to update. So if you have gone in and added some more into SpreadShop in your excitement and then are wondering why they're not in YouTube, I would recommend just giving it a few hours or a day or so and then just see if they're there the following day. So if we then have a look at the other way that people can find this because you obviously got the store then on your website or sorry, on your YouTube channel. But the great thing is you can also actually feature them in videos. So let's have a little look how to do that, shall we? If I come over to a video and here we are in YouTube studio for a video I did where I happened to be wearing this same hoodie. And if I want to add this now into that video, we're gonna come down to the monetization section. So here you can see the monetization tab and click on that. This is generally where you would set your things related to ads. So ads and premium, you can select what type of ads you want in there. Well now you can see we've got this shopping tab at the top. So all I'm gonna do is click on here and then it says tag products in video. And so I can click on the tag products and that's gonna bring up basically just my Shopify list just like we had in the other section. And I'll just come down here, look for the particular product, drag it in and click save. And I've now then embedded that product in that particular video. And you can add multiple products. And the way that that looks then for the user, the viewer I should say, is if I come over to an example video, which is this one. So this is another video where I have to be wearing this same hoodie, which is down here, this one, recovering perfectionist men's hoodie. And what you can see is because I've attached it to that video, then now it actually appears down here alongside the video. It also appears, if I just close this one down, here you'll see that there is a little button on the bottom of the video, bottom left hand side of the video saying view products. And when you click on that, then it does just actually pop up the list of products here. And then once again, clicking on that would take people through to the to spread shop. Now, if you are on mobile, then it looks a little bit different to that. So let me just pull that up. You've still got the same little button there. And then the items are actually down below here. So sort of further down, but at least they are still on screen. So it means that traditionally, if you wanna tell people about your merch store, you may have a link in the description telling people to go there and so on. This just makes it much more sort of out in front of everybody. So that even if you're not mentioning it, then it is still clear that these things are available. And so it's a great way to distribute your merch. Now, just quickly, if I show you how Spreadshirt works, so I'll just come over to Spreadshirt. So in here, all you do is you just literally drag in a design. So drag and drop your design in. So this is one that I've just recently uploaded. You click on the design that you want. It will tell you the different things that you've got, different items that you've got associated with it. But I can just come in here. Sorry, I got that silly overlay over there covering everything up. Here we go, that's a bit better. So these are the different products and I can just click in all products. It will show me a list of all potential products that I could have with this particular thing. So say I thought, maybe I want to have a long sleeve T-shirt. There's all kinds of different things down here. Stickers, men's clothes, women's clothes, children's clothes, all that kind of stuff. You can see I'm just really whizzing through. There's other things like mugs, hats, all that kind of thing, tote bags and so on. So let's say, okay, I want to have a duffel bag like this and then I'll click on done and then I can scroll down and there we go. There's the duffel bag and then you just click in here and then we've now got that logo on the side. You can choose where to put it. So you've got the front, back, right and left and so on and what you'll see over this side then is you can choose things like the product color. So actually, although it says product color, usually whatever selection is in here, the buyer will have the option to choose whichever color they want in any case. So you're just having basically having a look at how it looks. Click on print area. So this happens to have four different print areas. You can choose either you want it on the front. It happens to be on the back here, right or left and you can just basically drag this where you want. So if I change it to the right, you can see that it's now put that logo on the right. You can also click into here and make some adjustments in terms of size. Actually, that happens to be at the maximum size but you can sort of adjust it like this, put it at an angle if you want and so on. So you have got this sort of level of adjustment available to you and if you move something outside of the bounding box of the printable area, then you'll see here it says this design is outside of the print area. So it's a really simple process to be honest to actually use this and set it up. Once you've completed the design, you just click on done, then you would go through and give the product a name. Sorry, the design a name I should say. So if I just click on apply there. So this has a name. When you drop a new design on, it will ask you to also just give it a name here. So we've got live streamer, the different logos and things like that. And that is it. It is as simple as that. And then it's click connected to your YouTube and then all of your merch will be available on YouTube. So I hope you found that useful. Obviously, link to my merch you'll now know is down in the description. And what I'll do is I'll leave a link to some other videos all about YouTube over on the right hand side.


One of them goddamn songs I've rapped on that. Yeah, it is. Yes, it is. And talk to them on TV or on the stands. Now I got the world hanging from my nuts. Yeah, damn. Damn, it feels good to be in gang. Hold on, hold on, hold on. And I real push big part on that. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's crazy.  This one's in one. All the way, bro. Damn, it feels good to be in gang. How we sound? Good. How we sound? Mic check, one, two. Mic check. We're going to run this. Quiet on the set. Now you can let that rap for a second though. Oh, this ain't in there. Joe, what we look like? Rolling all around. New liquid lying out. We got everything. Y'all ready? You ready? Oh, man, what? I'm ready. What? Okay, all right. Quiet on the set. Man. We're going to interrupt this for breaking news bulletin, Chico B. Yes. I'm going to need your help on this one. All right, go ahead. Because there's too much to say right now. The trap is being blessed by one of the forefathers, one of the Godfathers. If you ever like the song out of the south, you know exactly who we have in the trap with us today. Listen, Los, I grew up in Washington, D.C., for those who don't know, but I grew up studying this man right here. Come on now. I mean, I've seen Scarface walking up and down Georgia Avenue in D.C. by himself, and it amazed me. I'm like, where did this dude come from and learning to rap a lot of history, man? I'm talking about all the way down to...  The founder of Rap A Lot Rap. Yes, sir. You've heard his name in every song you ever liked pretty much. Yep. Been putting it down from Houston, Texas since day one. One of the most respected men in period, not just in hip-hop, in just business and music all around. Arthur. Yes, sir. Record label owner, boxing promoter. Yep. Business man. Yes, sir. Mogul. Yep. The legend, himself, J. Prince. J. Prince. I gotta stand back. Man, he didn't have to do it. He didn't have to do it. Yeah. This is one of them ones where there ain't even nothing I want to say. It's so much I want to hip. Man, listen. I'm talkin' about it. Aw. Yeah. It is.  I'm the best goddamn introduction I had all day. Aw, man, this one. Yeah. You just don't know, like, the work that you put in and how you inspired us, like, to model our business after your independence. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Knowing where to draw the line and knowing where to negotiate and not negotiate. Like, we followed you since we were kids and grew up on the ghetto boys. My dad had stomach cancer. They took out half his stomach. When he came out the operating room, the first thing he wanted to hear was ghetto boys. My mind playing tricks on them. That's the one right here. Oh, my God. Speaking of them stories, when I was young, God blessed dead. My cousin, Dirk, passed away.  But now the funeral is over and all the tears have dried up. Niggas hangin' deep in the cut, keep fired up, ready to pull the pistol and the niggas shot my homie. And now for an ice on that, your life is what you owe. That infrastructure that y'all laid down. Yeah. Like, did you know the entire time that you was gonna end up being what you ended up being? Not really. Not really. I'd be telling the goddamn lie if I sit there and say I knew how I was gonna end. But we were just keeping it real and authentic and organic. You know what I mean? Along the journey. It was important to us. And one thing we always knew is real lasts forever. The lie got to keep changing. Yeah. So I know you got the book. You know what I mean? And I got the audio. We both got the audio. And the written part, but we don't have to get you the same one. Amen. I brought a bunch of books for everybody that don't have one. See, man, that's... Let's talk about it for a minute. The art and science of respect. Like, for the younger generation, what does that title mean when they hear that? Yeah, well, I decided to name that book the Art and Science of Respect because I wanted... Like, a lot of people want your glory without knowing your story. So, you know, I decided to name it the Art and Science of Respect because it was an art and a science to the things I've done. A lot of people say you're lucky. You know what I mean? And y'all know, like, I know you ain't where you are based on luck. Exactly. You feel a plan, a plan to fail. And it was all the science of respect with everything that, you know, I accomplished, you know, with structure. And the artistic part was the creative visions and dreams I had before they came into fruition. And the science was how to accomplish those things. You know what I mean? So that's why I named it that. Right. Yeah. And the book you took, one of the parts that really stood out to me was when you talked about the laws of your system. Yeah. And, you know, being as though we, a lot of us come from environments where we lose a lot of important people in our lives. Like, how was you able to, you know, not just deal with it, but let it motivate you moving forward to become what you ended up becoming because that could break a lot of us down. And it does in most cases. Yeah. With the help of my grandmother, we all have one. Yeah. You know, she was real instrumental in that situation.  Way past bedtime talking about what we wanted to become in life and what we wanted to give my mother.  My dream was to buy my mother a house. And, you know, that night was the last night I saw her alive, that next day she got cut in half by a train. And I was left with having a bottle of vacuum cleaner in the house. I fulfill that. Man. I want to ask you this, because you pretty much saw hip hop from the beginning all the way up to right now and everything in between. What do you see it going at this moment? You know, I think, I think hip hop is evolving.  You know what I mean? I think they are evolving and I love the movement that's taking place, you know. I think it's some things that we're dealing with right now and they're dealing with that, you know, they need to put more protection on their ass. You know what I mean? Not campaign so much because Election Day is going to come when you campaign, whether it's good or bad, you're going to reap what you sow. And you can't change Election Day, you know, right at that moment.  I think a lot of that gets lost in translation because y'all laid that game down over the years. Like, that may feel good to be a gangster. That may feel good to be a gangster. Real gangsta has niggas play his cards, right?  Real gangsta has niggas don't start fights. That's the way he's trying to high cap, tell them how they friends, how they shadow. Real gangsta has niggas don't flex nuts because real gangsta has niggas know they got it. Goddamn. Now... Goddamn.  Right, that's what I'm saying. But that's so different than what we see right now. It's the complete opposite.  Well, you know, that message back then, and the message could be lost where our generations are concerned. You know what I mean? I'd be the first to take responsibility and I do in my community and in my hood. You know what I mean? But I think as parents, it's real important as parents that we put the real in our kids because ain't nobody gonna do it the way we gonna do it. You know what I mean? So, that has to happen. And so many people, it's like an unfortunate to even get the real poured in them. You know what I mean? Normally, somebody missing one, missing a boat missing.  But I love them. I love that you know them Goddamn lyrics. Like, oh, what? Man, listen. Listen, I can tell you, I got an unpopular opinion. I think a lot of people have, whenever I say this, I think Willie D had the best verse on mind playing tricks on me. Just because of what he was saying on there. Make big money. Drive big cars. Everybody know me. It's like I'm a movie star. But late at night, something ain't right. I feel I'm getting tell by the same sucker's head. Like, is it the food that I ran off the block? Or is it that nigga last week that I shot? Or is it the one I beat for $5,000? He thought it had came, but it was gold and had a flower. It was probably one of them niggers, Willie. One of them. I reached under the seat and grabbed a pistol. I didn't know these them in line. I was scared of them motherfuckers. I made a left with the Popeyes and better die quick.  Here they come. Just like I figure. I got my hand on my motherfucking trigger.  Three blind crippling crazy singers. I live out of swore. I keep my boys everywhere I go. Because I'm paranoid. It's like that, that right there. And then y'all was wrong for letting Bushwick Bill rob kids for candy, man. Y'all shouldn't do this. I was scared of Bushwick Bill, man. Every time I went trick-or-treating, I had a kitchen knife just in case. Bushwick Bill ran up on me. It was one of the best videos of all time. It was one of the best videos of all time. Oh man, for real. Like how much influence did you have on those lyrics?  So how much of that was influenced by your real life? Yeah, I think a lot of it. Even up to October the 31st, it's my birthday. Halloween. All the Halloween? Yeah. I'm the treat, not the trick. Let that be said. You dig it. Yeah. But definitely inspirational, you know. Originally that was going to be a Scarface song. And, you know, I heard it and I couldn't allow it to just be that. So we figured out how to branch it out to the whole crew and bam, the life-changing for the South. Was that like the one that really kicked it off? Yeah, yeah, yeah.   Yeah, you had to run them out of the city. Yeah, yeah, I had to figure out a way to do that. And from now, that song, you know, state-by-state, we ain't have social media. So I traveled the state-by-state and kicked in the door. There was that song that they embraced, man. I'm playing a trick. Man, that's crazy.    Yeah, well, you know, I don't embrace every invitation that's given to me. Exactly. Because, you know, I just don't have nothing to do with it.  So when did you establish that role in your life? You know what I mean? Because in the book, you give a lot of game about your background. But when did you become that person that people knew that they could depend on in those type of situations? When did you know you were that person? It begun in the streets. You know what I mean?   Even from walking to school, you know, you have to start really letting one know. Instead, okay, you got muscles, but I got a brain. I know how to thank you. You know what I mean?  And yeah.  I agree. Because in Texas, niggas be big than a motherfucker. You know, the Texas is corn big. Corn big, you know what I'm saying?   I've been riding on this Honeycomb crazy. Come on, Honeycomb. Yeah. Honeycomb. Honeycomb. Man, listen, man.  Like, Honeycomb, Honeycomb, you the only one we can blame for this. I be on the trip, but I can't.  Opposition. Know how I bang. So they be sending the nigga. I go buy a Honeycomb crazy.  You know, he literally know everything. Yeah, yeah. I'm autistic a little bit with the combination. That's legal though. You know what I mean? Yeah, definitely.  That interview he did was crazy. Yeah. He got a very interesting story. Yeah. Is that why you is that how he came into your knowledge? My son, my son, J Prince Junior embraced him.  Let me be finding all the dope motherfuckers. Yeah. Yeah. Jazz. Jazz, Drake and then J Prince.  That's for real. They come from my nut bags. Beautiful people.  What's up with this nut bag? Yeah. Yeah, buddy. I had the opportunity to meet you. I think it's your oldest son, Mike. Oh, that's my cousin. Oh, Mike mentioned your cousin. Yeah. That's my cousin. Okay. Well, he told me a story about when they was young. You know, one of my favorite things is doing the job. You know, he told me a story about when they was young. You know, one of my favorite things to do when I come to Houston is ride the loop. Yeah. Just ride around, you know what I mean? And he said that you guys used to ride around. He was getting the car with you and you just ride around that loop, man. So, you know, the city of Houston is beautiful, man. I love going down there. It's one of my favorite places. I always say it's the only place I live other than where I've lived already. Yeah. So what do you think the city of Houston goes in the pantheon of hip-hop cities? Yeah. Well, this is where I'm from, man. I laid the foundation part of where the whole south stand. You know what I mean? Right there in the city of Houston. You know, that was the place the blueprint was laid where independent record lay was begun. Not the production deal, the different things that they were getting on the East Coast.  So, yeah, it's that special. Yeah. Now, how do you, you know, you just named all those people, man.  So how, you know, what advice could you give people for not being a hater? Because you had all these guys that came up that had these big old empires after you exactly. You know, you never did that. So, what kept you from being that type of person? Well, I think what kept me is understanding the power of hate. You know what I mean?  You know, I always been about a movement. So, my whole objective was to inspire, you know what I mean? Other home is from every state, every city because I wanted to create a movement of truth in these dudes so we could unite. You know what I mean? My objective was always about uniting power versus, you know, looking at somebody in malice and jealousy coming out of my heart. That's cancer. That a killer nigga. You always preach about independence. You've been saying that since as long as I remember, like, how does it feel like preaching independence to the masses and only certain people picking up and hearing what you're putting down?  You know, I understand that a fool despises wisdom. So, I don't expect, you know what I mean?  You know what I mean? So, we have to understand that fools, you know, is amongst the land of the living with us.  So, let me ask you a hypothetical because I got to. So, say the next J Prince might be watching this interview right now. What advice would you give him? I would give him the advice, the value is the chances and choices you get every day. You know what I mean? To value that and to to educate themselves and not practice bad habits. You know what I mean? These bad habits and the lack of education is what keep us in bondage.  You know what I mean? And goddamn, get some game because I used to hate reading and now I understand the value of reading and sucking up game. You know what I mean? And wisdom and executing it because it's one thing to make money. Wisdom will teach you how to keep it. So I want much wisdom as I can get.  So it's like everybody give you the respect and know that you the OG. Who are some of the OGs that you got some of that art and science of respect from? People that you looked up that were maybe a head of you when you were starting out in the game? My mother and father to begin. You know what I mean? I think they were more valuable in my life than anybody. Right. You know what I mean? Because they told me the truth even when it wasn't popular and I didn't want to hear it. Because you know what I mean? I was there. So I started there from there. You know, Larry Hoover. You know, Geronimo Pratt. You know, these guys are people I had the opportunity to kick it with there. You know, shared a lot of good games with me. You put game down for years. All the intros that you spoke on and you always spoke on entities that you know, a bag can come when you put that type of yeah, when you put that type of truth out. Like, what, you know, I know the story about, you know, the situation you went through when they tried to get rid of you, but like, how do you still have the strength to say, you know what, I don't care, I'm still going to get my people what they need to know the lack of fear, the lack of, like fear is something that I think the system bank on, you know, putting in us to paralyze us.   You know what I mean? Are you going to fall for anything? Certain things I was just willing to die for. When it came to like, you know, empower my people and not disown in my people. You know, you can't take that from me. I'm willing to die for that. And also I believe if the creator be for me, the world could be against me and I'm going to win. So it's that mentality that, you know, caused me to be like relentless about my stand and fearless where my stand was concerned. Yeah, it's not a lot of examples of that, you know, that actually get the move about the industry and do and say that type of stuff. I don't know if you know this, but I know, you've been around a lot of different people, but, you know, for the guys that's, you know, in our generation, that's a little bit younger than, you know, the younger guys that's out now become in the middle. But, you know, I know growing up watching all the stuff that y'all laid down. I'm a big Pepsi fan. Like that's, you know, that dude is one of the only rappers that I ever looked up to. And, being able to be around these people and knowing that your influence is what motivated them to be able to push forward. To be sitting here with you now is kind of like, amazing that we've reached the point where you'll be willing to come sit down with us, man.  You know what I mean? It's crazy. Yeah, like we hear stories all the time, like, you know, the legendary going to the Bentley Light and with Pimp, see, and picking out his first one. Like, just as hip-hop fans, can we get a, can we get a moment in that? Yeah, I mean, Pimp was, to me, like the Tupac of the South. Exactly. You know what I mean? He was a special dude, man.  We can like, allow different pills and different things or whatever it may be in our system, and then it got a mind of its own. So me and Pimp had an opportunity to, like, plan on preventing that certain one forever having an effect on his life ever again. And, I believe to this day that he kept his word, whatever's concerned, but, you know, Pimp was a unique individual, man. I missed the homer. And, he wasn't necessarily a sign to you. I remember a DVD that was out that I had back in the day where y'all did an interview with a slave.  And just sat down in the living room with him and talked with him. So, I had so many relationships. What can you explain that where people don't necessarily have to make money off each other but still give each other a game? Talk about the importance of that. Well, that's what happened with me, Pimp and Bunby. You know, when I, when I heard him on the radio, I damn near burned my new Lexus up riding the Port Arthur because I wanted to be in business when I know what I heard. But when I got there, they were signed to Jive and different things like that. So, what I done was, y'all, y'all my neighbors, y'all the homeless, I extended an invitation if you have any problems, any situation where you need some wisdom or what not, call me. So that was the relationship that we had for years until Pimp got locked up. When Pimp got locked up, Jive Records didn't want Bunby to make a living without Pimp. And that's why I intervened and like crashed that contract. And that's how I was able to sign Pimp and Bunby the solo contract. You know what I mean?  But we was able to break through that situation and bam, they became my solo artist. Man, that's crazy. Like just having the feelings, like you said, to be able to go at it with these big record executives. Like, they get that same level of respect in those rooms because we know what you are in our culture. But when you walk into them rooms with them music execs, do they look at you and give you that same level of... Well, you know, they do and they don't. If they don't, then I'ma demand it. And a lot of times with those dudes, you have to get real creative. You know what I mean? Because you know, I read this book called Thinking Grow Rich. Napoleon Hill? Yeah. One of the things that it explained to you in that book is how to use your power against powers, you know, of authority or whatnot.  Because you have to understand like, when you're dealing with those guys, you're dealing with people who have generations of wisdom. You know what I mean? When you come to the table. So the scale have to be balanced. You have to figure out how to balance that scale if not, then, you know, you become their bait. So I figured out how to balance the scale and where they made me uncomfortable but I made them uncomfortable. And we came together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey man, it's just the smoothness of the way. It don't matter what they do. You know, they made me uncomfortable so I made them uncomfortable. Now, it'd be a perfect time to tell them, man. Hey man, welcome back to the 85 South Show. We are sitting in here with a team with one of the most respected men in the industry on Earth. On Earth. In our lifetime. For real. The real guy for the other game, Mr. J. Prince. Now, speaking of that, man, you have a reputation that precedes you, of course, but, you know what I mean?  Make that nigga upset because I've seen people talk about you. They always talk about how nice of a guy you are. So, how does, what did that come from? I can't imagine. No. I'm a, I'm a nice guy. I'm a nice guy, but, you know, I will take a stand where the enemy is concerned. You know, I think a lot of times those conversations come from people who didn't, didn't peck right or didn't do right. By me or by friend.  You know what I mean?  I'm a little guy. So I'm a, I'm a thinker. You know, where my mind is concerned. And, I just know how to balance the scale. You know, one thing I respect is you always have the same cool come to me.  Raise your voice even.  But, like, yeah, like you say, how do you keep that, the mean, being as though I, we know that you've been through real situations that, you know, I mean, can cause you to lose your temper and all that. Do you think that you grew out of that at a certain point from, you know, those things you had to deal with growing up in the Fifth Ward. Oh yeah.  So, I became wiser. You know, I'm wiser the day than I was yesterday. I see you branching out, you're getting into the liquor business now. Yeah. I see you, Lord. Okay, let's talk about it, that loyalty. Yeah, I decided to diversify my portfolio. Even more. Yeah, it's a collection which consists of the Merlot, the Cabernet, Champagne, Rosé, and I wrapped it all around a valuable name, loyalty, because what better name a toast to in any celebration what success is concerned, you know, it has to be some loyalty in the mid. It's available for, you know, mass consumption right now? Oh yeah, yeah, you can purchase it online with a big print respect and also loyalty wine respect, but I have 18 Willis traveling around the world to meet the deadline December the 21st in stores. Okay. So all these years and all the liquor that you came through the hip hop community, why now?  You know what I mean? Now, if I wanted to move accordingly to when it was inspired Puffy, you know what I mean? Try to get me to move on a years ago, but that was his time. Right. You know what I mean? My time and it's now and I'm okay with that. Speaking of timing, you might not even be aware this is our five year anniversary. Just like, you think we just talking just like you said, following the, you know the blueprint like you called it five years independent over 300 million views, almost 2 million subscribers and we dropping the show every Friday.  That means something. That means that our independent grand means something. That you noticed it. You know what I mean? Like to be on your radar, like you have reached a heist that most people would never even be able to begin to think about reaching. So like I said, to be able to be on the radar of somebody who has accomplished as much as you have is beyond a blessing, man. Still inspiring me to this day because I heard so many good things about the ranch. Yeah. I'm trying to get my ranch. Yeah, I can dig it. I can dig it. I appreciate, you know, the feeling of the mutual. I appreciate y'all thinking enough of me to have me here. I didn't know that they first want to talk to y'all. Man, I'm good. You know what I'm saying? What we do? What we do? I'm straight. You know what I mean? But I know that you had the car lot too.  Yeah, of course. Of course. And I see that then something that he do. So like, what got you into that? You know what I mean? The wanting to own a car lot. Not just buying them but wanting to have one. You know, that car thing began when I was like seven or eight.  And I couldn't afford more of a car. So every car that he had on the dresser, I used to like envision myself buying that car one day. So I purchased every car that I dreamed about. But what ultimately happened was a girl I was dating. Jazz mother. Her daddy was a car seller. And I'm out there hustling. So I was looking for ways to diversify. And that's one of the things that I've done was open up a car lot.      Yeah, see that story is so crazy. Yeah, it's wild.  No, that was a different time. That's crazy. These people right here was hitmen. This dude had eight bodies. Shoemaker. Shoemaker and Chad Scott. Shoemaker, they killed eight people. Like we are dead people. And they put him on me. You know what I mean? So when they was asking me to go in that dark spot that night then why you want me to pull in the dark? Right? If a man killed eight people and asked you to pull in the dark what would you think? Shit. Shit.  See they ain't trippin.   I want them to take that candle.  Most people just go at it because in the streets you really can say you and had the government. Yeah. That's what I was going to ask you. What was that meeting?  Oh, the Suga and Irv got the meeting. Yeah, the infamous meeting. We was trying to create a black-owned distribution company so the homies after us would have an outlet to do things a little smoother. But, you know, as we all know the feds hit murdering, they hit death row and, you know what I mean, they attempted to take me out. So, you know, there wasn't no conspiracy of what I was concerned. That was a design on hitting us simultaneously the way they did. Man, that's crazy to be able to come through all of that.   But as a father, you know what I mean? I always, I ain't going to say struggle, but it's like I always try to find the best ways to figure out the offset of time that my child loses by me then out here trying to create a legacy for her, you know what I mean? So how did you manage that back then? Well, let me say this for you. I got seven kids. Everybody I hugged got pregnant. Hey. You know. No more hugs. Right. We don't hug. Shake my hand. There was all women. You know, there was all women. But you know, that was important to me. That was important to balance that situation.  So even though I couldn't make it to everything, those big occasions, you know, I'm going to be there. I'm going to let them see me. You know what I mean? I'm going to make that time over money. You know, and I think as a parent, we have to balance that out the best way we can. And I also saw you say that, you know, when it comes to your empire and the things you built, you know what I mean? And the interview you did, you said well if I can find somebody who may not carry my bloodline that it's more beneficial to continue on the legacy, then that's what I'm going to do. Like, is that something you always instilled in your children growing up?  Oh yeah. Yeah. No, I explain that to them every inch and yard or the weight of your family. And I wouldn't dare, you know, put my legacy of what not an unqualified individual that then showed me why I'm alive.  I can't do that. So it's deeper than blood with me. I want to see the proof why I'm alive. You're unqualified to keep the legacy going where everybody will benefit. So that's the way I feel about that. Let me ask you this, Jackie. What's the longest break you ever took from this industry? You know, I don't necessarily have to take a break because I love what I do. You know what I mean? So I do everything with balance. I was able to create a lifestyle like all my life, man, when I was waking up in the morning I hated waking up in the morning walking to school.  You know what I mean? I'm just thinking this way. I don't want to wake up for nobody when I want to wake up. You don't know by the time. So I created a lifestyle to be able to live that way. So it ain't no pressure. In the beginning I will say I had to make sacrifice I stayed up two, three, four days in a row grinding to be able to live like I'm living right now. So in my 20s, 30s or whatnot, I laid the foundation I made the sacrifices to be able to live the life I live today. That's what it's all about. Saying yourself up. Saying yourself up for the future. You know what I mean? And you been at this point like what motivates you now to keep on? You did everything that you can do.  So what motivates you to keep on pushing? Family, friends, situations like this where I'm an inspiration to others I may not have never met in my life. You know what I mean? That means something to me. It means something to me where people ain't got to hold their head down where my name is concerned. Where I can uplift my people. That's the one reason I want to write that book. I didn't want to lead and cross over and not leave a blueprint or share my way my ingredients for doing things. Whether one used it, all of it is meaningful. So I get off on that. I get off on just the whole game. I'm competitive. So I like to win. It ain't even about the money no more. It's just about the game and winning. What would you tell a brother like you said earlier? He might not be in the ring just yet. Why would he need to pick up this book? What do you need to get from this? One of the things that they say comes from a nigga put it in a book. And I would say to him that it was a book that really caused me to tap into powers that I didn't even know I had. You know what I mean? I didn't even know I had these gifts. I didn't know there was gifts. I didn't even know the power prioritizing of setting goals of having structure. All the science in the world to do different things but I didn't know how to structure it. And in this book right here you know what I mean? You're able to tap into my wins my losses. Everything that happened in between and you're going to see yourself for one of them pages. And I think you're going to be inspired.  You know Mike Tyson and Roy Jones just had the exhibition. People don't even know you was trying to put that fight together years ago. When you saw that what was your immediate reaction? You know I was happy for him. I was happy for him because I feel like the payday they could use it and my only hope was that they left out of the ring the same way they came in the ring. Okay check this out man people think we're just doing ads to be doing ads but this is one that we actually use. Maybe up late at night and you want to go to sleep but you can't. It's this app called Calm like calm down calm .com and I got the promo code where you can get up to like 40% off an exclusive membership if you go and subscribe to the app. For listeners of the show Calm is offering a special limited time promotion of 40% off a calm premium subscription at calm.com forward slash 85 south they got all these notifications and calming sounds that will make you go to sleep and you can actually start getting some rest. So go use the promo code 85 south and get up to 40% off a subscription and have access to the whole library. They got stories on here and that's like they got people who read you a bedtime story in a calming voice. Bro they got Kelly rolling on here man. Kelly rolling you can actually have Kelly rolling like talking to you to sleep. I don't know who they should get but that's a whole another story that's a whole another story. Go to calm.com use my promo code and subscribe so you can go to sleep you know like some ocean sounds or maybe like crickets in the grass rain on the rooftop ocean views I don't know if that's the sound but it can sound like the ocean thunderstorms I like the thunderstorms to me myself personally yeah make sure you go over there and meditate go to sleep they got music calm.com 40 slash 85 south use the code but it definitely was a situation that we all met out there on my ranch like years ago and we agreed to put that very fight in play when they could have definitely been on another level. They were scared. Yeah but Roy you know he had decided to take the fight with what's my man name Louis. No, Tarva.   We went pretty bad. You put that one in the book. Yeah that was that one.  How long you been you know a fan of the boxing game. Oh man that was my first love. That's my favorite sport too. The boxing thing was I got distracted by the music game you know boxing was what I wanted and that's why I built a boxing gym a recreation center in my community because there was no gyms I can go to as a kid and I wanted that's what I wanted to do. Yeah I love boxing man Did you ever take up the sport yourself? There wasn't no gym in the hood. 40 niggas on the street. Yeah yeah plenty of that.  That's crazy. Now you know like I said I'm a fan of boxing and I took on the sport as a young man and you know the contact of it is beautiful when you really get into it but who was somebody that you saw that you was gonna be a star that you didn't get to work with that you wanted to in the boxing game.  Errol Spence you know I rode all the way down to the UK when he was fighting in the Olympics you know what I mean? I wanted to get him and by the time I made it there he had already lost and bailed out but I knew he would be special when I saw him years ago but you know I had a future star many of them right now but I don't know if y'all saw Shakua Stevenson fighting on the night but Floor may well on steroids. I was stating right there. I got another rap fan question you know Houston, Texas home of DJ Screw that's one of the part of the Houston coach Jay Prince riding right if you were listening to a screwed up song do you have a favorite DJ Screw record or a song that you'd like to hear screwed up? Yeah. Freaked up and dripped out.


To celebrate our culture, to celebrate, to celebrate music joyfully as we welcome our friends who are coming inside, of the people, of the community, of the security system, we are afraid to go outside. But you now are in a short seclusion, it's still possible for good people to come together and have good food for your mission. Responsibility, if you're celebrating life, who are you celebrating? If you're celebrating life, you're celebrating God. So when you're coming to this church, and even after you have me here today, we're not for God. You wouldn't have the voice you have, we're not for God. And some of you, you have bad legs, you have bad knee, you have bad leg, but today you are feeling that, you know, troubles for one day and to remember that life is about joy. Let me tell you a secret. This is what heaven is going to be like.  How I wish on a Sunday morning church would be like this. How I wish on a Sunday morning church would be like a church on a Sunday morning. If the priest tell you anything, tell him, Father, he said, he said, the celebration of Jesus Christ cannot be like this. Who's tell the land and tree of the church there was a time when they told us, church, you must sing slow and you must move your body because if you move your body, let me tell you a secret. There is nowhere culture where God cannot be present. It's God who gives us the culture. It's God who gives us the ability. And when we use our ability, when we celebrate our culture, we say, thank you, God, you have given us this culture. This is our culture. This is how we do it in St. Lucia. We go to Africa, they dancing in church. To bring up the gifts on the altar, to sing the praises, when they use their culture. So why in St. Lucia, when we have so much culture, so much wealth, so much riches, we have to put it in a corner somewhere. No? God, this is your people. And we as your people celebrate what you have given to us. This beautiful culture. And I brought all of you to a church in Washington, DC. They would pay big money, you know, to watch you celebrate. From a hotel, run six buses of tourists outside there now. Ooh, kind of like ours. What you have is beautiful. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Look at how you dress this morning. Look at the creativity. It's not fair to be like ours. I'm not giving it, but you know what, I think I've made my choice, you know. We have no opportunity to do that for all of us here in St. Lucia. We have to do what we are told. To be good to us. And what should I say to my mother? To be good to you all. To be good to you all. To be good to your country. To continue this, to help change this scene. Long live the Lord. Lord Harris. Lord Winnishas, Lord Winnishas. Lord Winnishas. May the Lord, May the Lord, keep us working together and organize this 이웋. And may the Lord Finish this prayer. For the Lord to put You are, oh God, quick, too, pardon, and desirement, salvation. In your goodness, we ask you to grant our deceased brothers and sisters from the Larus Group, especially Cessen, whom you have just called. Give them everlasting happiness with the help of Blessed Mary, Ever Virgin, and with all your saints through Christ Jesus Christ. Lord Harris. Lord Graciously, Harris. We ask you to grant us everlasting happiness with the help of Jesus Christ. We ask you to grant us everlasting happiness with the help of Jesus Christ. We ask you to grant us everlasting happiness with the help of Jesus Christ. We have strictly followed the rules. When we are told, we must be silent and move forward. We must not create a conflict on the external level. We must not reveal the truth. We must be silent and move forward. I just want to say that it is the first time that we have a talk. I am telling you that we are here. Good morning. I will start. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. You are nice. My dear father, I have to join you in your happiness and you will do what you cannot without me. Father, help me, so that I can say Because I am not a community member. I am a citizen. Long live the Rose! Long live the Rose! Papa, I want to tell you that for the Rose group, you can do it. Even if we all join the Samjordi 30 years ago, for the Rose group, for the rest of the year, for a two-point support, we will treasure it, we will never have to be happy. We want to give in to our love our unity our courage for the rest of the life, we want to treasure it, we want to own the Rose, I want to know that. Lord, hear us. Lord, raise this prayer. We grieve all these praise The Lord is with thee, blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. The Lord is with thee, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. And the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this Eucharist. On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and gave it to thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to these disciples and said, Save this, all of you, and eat it, it is my promise, which will be given up for you. He took the bread, gave it to thanks and praise, gave it up to these disciples and said, Save this, and drink from the blood of the new and everlasting programs, it will be shared for you and for all, so that since they are forgiven, do this in memory for me. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Father, calling to mind the day your Son in God for our salvation, his glorious resurrection and his ascension into heaven, and ready to greet him when he comes again, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice. Look with favor on your Church's offering and see the victim who said has reconciled us to yourself. Grants that we who are nourished by this body and blood may be filled with this holy spirit and become one body, one spirit in Christ. May He make us the everlasting gift to you and enable us to share the inheritance of your saints with Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, with the Apostles, the Martyrs, Saint Rose of Lema, and all your saints on whose constant intercession we rely on them. Lord, may this sacrifice, which has been our peace with you, advance the peace and salvation of all the world. Strengthen in faith and love your pilgrim church for all, your servants for blessings, our Bishop Robert, and all the Bishops, with the clergy and the entire people your Son has given for you. Father, pay the praise of the family you have gathered here before you. In whose Seattle, unite all your children wherever they lead you.  We move to enjoy forever the vision of your glory through Christ our Lord, from whom all good things come. Through Him, with Him, in Him, is the unity of the Holy Spirit. All glory and honor is yours for mighty Father, for ever and ever. Amen. Yes, stand. And now we pray with confidence to our Father in the words of our Savior, our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our deliverance and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. We pray with confidence to our Father in the words of our Savior, for ever and ever. We pray with confidence to our Father in the words of our Savior, for ever and ever. We pray with confidence to our Father in the words of our Savior, for ever and ever. We pray with confidence to our Father in the words of our Savior, for ever and ever. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. St. Vincent? No, this is St. Lucia, a beautiful country, two Nobel laureates, an educational system on both the US and Britain. Yes, this is St. Lucia. But accidents, crimes against visitors and nationals alike, drunk drivers, these negative activities are crippling our country. Let's fight the handful of selfish people seeking to destroy our country and thinking only of themselves. If not, we are doomed. Let's save Fair Helen. Play your part by calling the crime hotline at 453-9999. Hello, the Feast of St. Rosalema. I am here in the church here. That is the St. Michael's parish church here in Larissa, St. Henry. Who are you? I am Magistral Awards. I'm Tessa Isaac. I'm with the Casteries group. I'm a Magistral Awards. No, you are quite outstanding because of your gap. Yes, I'm the only Magistral Awards in the entire Lauer's community. Why do you think you're the only Magistral? I'm not too sure, probably because I'm fair, very fair. But your gap is outstanding. How did you, how did you get it? When I joined the group, that's only last year, they gave me the outfit. I made the collar and then they gave me the robe. So I don't know where they got it from. Have you performed any of your duties here? How did that go? It went quite well. It went quite well at a sales. I'm new to it. So I'm not too rigid, but I'll get there. Tell me about the performances so far. How do you find it looking today? It's, to me, it started out kind of dead, but right now it's very uplifting. I mean, things are really getting hot, although fish are saying, oh hurry first to go. But I think it's really getting hot and I'm in the mood to dance. So I hope it stays a little longer. You see any hope for Lauer? Oh, definitely, because we can say in about there's no young people and I was surprised to see a lot of young people this morning in church. It has hope. We just have to be on it. Definitely. Thank you so much. It's a feeling that when you feel the music, it's in the culture that you just have to move. It's not a matter of thinking about it. It's just enjoying the music, trying to enjoy the feeling. You don't want to matter whose word. It's a time to enjoy yourself. You'd have to think of any repercussions or anything like that.  Don't you feel odd because many other young persons will not do that kind of thing? No, I don't. It's a great feeling and more young people should come out and try. How did you get into it? What motivated you to get there? Actually, as a young girl, I started off as a soldier because my grandmother asked me to and then I loved it so much that I just continued to when I was a princess. So you started as a soldier and you moved up? Yes, I did. What are the different roles you played? I played soldier first, then I was step powering on princess and it's just a role model for the young one. Well, the thing about it, my mother was a police in La Rosa. I always wanted to join and I got the opportunity to join when the prince was ex, he was living in his position. So I was the one who filled in the position for him. So you're hoping one day to be the king? Most probably. That may happen. So generally, what would you say to young people out there about the culture, when they talk about Senbisha's culture and La Rosa, is it dying? Is it alive? What would you say? Well, solution culture is one that is alive. It's just that we have to make our mind to join it because from a community of Monopolis, it's reaching culture. It's automatically some of the persons in Monopolis will enjoy the culture more than others. So it's up, you have to make up your mind to join the culture and enjoy the culture. I would like to say to the young people out there that I know that are in the community, please, tell them that I am a community.  So what is the mission of the young people out there? Well, the mission is to be a community, try to be one And then we are living in a country that wishes to be killed. Thank you very much. At the Peace of St. Rose Delima at Redhead, at St. Michael's Parish in Larissa, St. Henry. I am accompanied by Mr. Jason Joseph. Mr. Jason, Bachelor, however you want to be called. How are we looking today? Well I only recently arrived and it looks quite alive and exciting. Everybody here seems to be enjoying themselves and having fun as usual. As someone who has done not extensive research I might say but at least research in recent times. What are your findings and how can you compare your findings to what is happening today? Well my research was specifically where the music was concerned. Some of the dances, the traditional folk dances of St. Lucia. I specifically researched only about six of the dances. That includes the Mulala, the Lacomet, the Shodish, the Widovah, the Walls, the Quibish. So I basically analysed the musical structure and some of the dances. So it was not specifically La Rose or La Margaret. But coming out of the findings, one of the main things that I observed is that for the art form to grow, for the culture to grow, there is need for simulation artists to record some of the folk songs in a new package because that's one of the reasons why a number of St. Lucia's are not as interested as they should be. They find some of the recordings that we have had for a number of years to be the same old thing and boring and whatever. So what people like Boo Hingson and Barbara Cadet have done, that is something that should be continued and a number of artists should also engage in that sort of activity to record more of the folk dances so that we can have more dances going around St. Lucia. So do you think there is scope for the development of that kind of art form? Yes, definitely. It's just that people aren't able to really appreciate the art form in its current state. When you go to the different séances and so on, when you hear the Chateau singing and the musicians play, sometimes I have to admit it doesn't sound as pleasing to the air, to the average St. Lucia as it should. So if the songs are repackaged and recorded better, presented better, as was done, not necessarily in a jazz style, but in a dance sort of way, I think it would catch on and solutions would appreciate the music a lot more. Some people are saying that St. St. Steph will rejuvenate the music. Do you agree? I agree and I just hope that there is longevity to it. I hope it continues. I hope it's not just a temporary thing, but I hope that it's something that propels the whole culture forward. What do you think about the music you are playing today? I think it's a good thing that I'm here today. I came here to see the people at Portway. I came here to see the music. So that's why I'm here today. Do you think it's a good thing that you're here today? I think we're alec for that. I'm here to see the music. I want to talk about the music. I want to talk about the music of the music of the music of the music.


Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and welcome to Mentor Talks. My name is Asha Bay and I'm joining you from Washington DC and the Office of Alumni Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Mentor Talks is a virtual series brought to you by the State Department for exchange program alumni and anyone interested in improving themselves and their communities. Every month we bring you mentors who share their stories and offer career tips and advice. This month is a two-for-one in honor of International Education Week and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Just last week we spoke to two full-brother alumni about their international exchange experiences and their current work in the fields of digital journalism and financial literacy. And today we welcome Bianca Alvaredo, an online pioneer, educator, and entrepreneur. Bianca is going to talk about her Gilman scholarship and her experiences as an exchange alumna and how it has all shaped her career. Before we get into conversation with our guests, we have to hear from you, our online viewers. You can post your questions and comments for Bianca directly on our Facebook page. Now let's meet our newest mentor. Originally from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, Bianca Alvaredo has used her exchange experiences to inform her career and her puny development projects. She is the founder of Baja Urban, a publishing company that creates multicultural and socially conscious books and media. Bianca is also the founder of Casa Azul, a program designed to train Hispanic youth in digital media and technology in the border town of Chula Vista, California. The program was started through a grant from the U.S. Department of State and it has since expanded. On top of all this, Bianca continues to teach Spanish in San Diego, California. Bianca, welcome and thank you for joining us. Just a quick reminder to our viewers that this time is for you. Post your comments and questions in the chat space now for Bianca. Bianca, I want to start off with a few questions about your exchange experiences. What was your Gilman scholarship like and how did it impact your current path and the many different businesses you're involved in? Ayash, thank you for having me. I'm super happy to be here and to connect with the whole alumni community but also other interested individuals. I want to learn more about exchange opportunities for all. So I went to Uruguay in 2011. I received a Gilman scholarship and that was the first time that I was going to travel to a foreign country that wasn't my parents or my home country. And at first it was a whole experience because my parents actually wanted me to study somewhere close like here in Mexico or Tijuana. They didn't want me to leave far, far away. So starting to break out barriers even within my family or within the Hispanic culture was an interesting experience of being able to travel across the continent to the other side of the continent, which is Uruguay located next to Argentina. And I received the Gilman scholarship. I spent the whole Christmas before getting the Gilman scholarship, applying for that scholarship. And I didn't know all the opportunities and everything that was going to come from that experience and from being an alumni of that scholarship. And yeah, I think one of the things that taught me the most that I've been able to implement through the different projects or businesses that I have started was that being able to reach out and go beyond my comfort zone because I could have easily just done a program here close to the border region in Mexico or somewhere close where I knew that I could reach my family anytime that I needed to, but I expanded my limits and I went all the way to South America to Uruguay. And I think that also opened my mind in being able to reach and collaborate with people and not be afraid to collaborate with other people and using the language skills in Spanish that I possess in order to collaborate and work with people from different parts of the world. I started with Baja Urban, which is one of the early businesses that I started back in 2016. We started working with artisans from Mexico and creating handmade products and today we're creating more online tools, online resources for bilingual youth or anybody that wants to learn Spanish and English, and we're currently in the process of creating those bilingual books. And for Casa Suu Productions, like you mentioned, it has been also a growing project and it has changed through different phases and processes, but today I'm collaborating with different team members from Argentina and in Mexico to make the projects possible. So yeah, that has been the reach of the Gilman Scholarship. That's great. And I wanted to go back to a little bit about what you said about Traventario Uruguay. So was that scary, just going that far away from your family? Yeah, so I think like being able to have the school, my school campus and of course a Gilman Scholarship, so being able to do a study abroad experience where I wasn't the only one who was applying for the program. I was actually going through different offices and the study abroad office at school. It reduced all those risk factors for me, so they helped me a lot with finding a place to stay, identifying the university that I was going to go. So I think having that infrastructure that I didn't know anything about before leaving, what's already set out for me to be able to thrive in my Gilman or study abroad experience. So it's definitely, I think that being able to have access to that infrastructure that I was built around this experience was super helpful. Great. So we'll get back to the more about the Gilman later, but I also wanted to ask you about the two exchange alumni events that you participated in last year. The entrepreneurial focused alumni thematic international exchange seminar in Kansas City, Missouri, and the career connections professional development seminar for US alumni in Los Angeles, where I also saw you. Can you tell us more about what you took away from your experiences, including how the entrepreneurial project that you won has impacted your work. Yes, so I think that's one of the biggest surprises that I learned as being an alumni from the US State Department Scholarship that they offer for students for it was not only students but different ranges of students to study abroad and experience programs abroad was that the ability of being invited to, to, to be part of the alumni ties seminar. So when I received the invitation I received the invitation through through email. I didn't even know that this existed. I didn't know that there was like this thing such as the seminar that they did annually, I think or twice a year. So when I received the application and then I submitted all my recommendation letters and everything that was the whole process of applying. At the start I knew that there was going to be something different about this experience because even the guiding questions. Before applying to the program in a help me kind of start reflecting of this whole experience that I was going to go into. The questions that are asked through the essays kind of are a moment to reflect and help you grow even if you don't get into the program and just write out your answers to reflect on the, on the statement of purpose that you're writing it helps you personally kind of like go and have a clear mindset behind your goals and what programs that you're applying to. But yeah when I went to the alumni ties I found out about a grant that we could apply. And with two team members Freddie and Joe, we applied for this grant, and I kind of based on my background of working with, with youth and my brother also working with technology. Like some ideas behind what we wanted to explore, but it was here where we started putting a project together and then pitching the project so that we could apply for funding to pilot this project and just what came afterwards. In 2019 the whole experience of actually being able to implement this project and seeing the needs before, before everything before COVID hit and before everything that started affecting learning, learning, we kind of like experience that the needs that were out there in the community, or we realize that the needs that were not being met out there in the community. And that's why we decided to take the program online so for example when we're trying to implement the program in the public libraries we saw that there was a lot of issues with the computers. Some libraries didn't have computer centers is sometimes so different different technical and different like really needs based on the communities that were not being met. When we're trying to implement the project in a physical environment. That's when we decided to take this program online. And that's how we were able to to start learning about online tools and how we could help youth access this this content with online learning before before we started going through the transition of COVID and in the limited resources that we had to gather. And for career connections, my whole experience. I think something beautiful that I experienced was able to to connect with with other alumni students to and now serving as the mentor and now seeing others that like did their study abroad more recently and how I could share my my experience with them as a professional. That's great. So yeah, I just I did want to make a note about ties that we do do three to four seminars per year one is always in the US. And then we typically do some overseas. And for international alumni they should get in touch with their embassy, so they can get invited to the, the seminar us alumni need to apply, just like you did. So now we have limited times let's get to some questions from our viewers. The first one is a little bit of a long one so bear with me. Casa Azul was created through a grant you received after you participated in an alumni ties conference, and it was targeted toward teenagers in Chula Vista, but also used by adults as a platform to move their businesses online. And this is you've noticed in adult versus teenage students, and should educators keep different student types in mind when creating material that will be accessed online. Yeah, that's a good question I think that's something that was really interesting for us was that we created the courses for you. Our target community in mind and when we started seeing that adults were accessing the content to and that they didn't mind seeing videos or reading content that was designed for you. Everything that we created was like more colorful and digitally visually appealing for you so it's more like videos that are more using a lot of effects that appeal more to you. And when we started seeing that adults were accessing this information we realized that there's a need also for adults to access this information and we had Hispanic woman, Hispanic man, and other adults too, who were accessing the courses and when they were completing the survey, they were telling us about their age and mostly were like adults who were running their business or they were starting to create their own business or they wanted a website to sell their products or for their business. But for me, that was really interesting that they didn't really mind going through content that was specifically for you, because they wanted to access that information, the knowledge based information but yes I think there's definitely, there needs to be a separation between content that is created for youth and content that is created for adults is really important to keep their needs in mind. Interesting. So, it's interesting though that they were more focused on starting their own businesses and that's why and that actually leads into our next question. What advice would you give to an audience member who is thinking of starting their own business? Yeah, I think one of the things that I have learned the most throughout the last few years that I have started testing with different ideas and different projects is being able to recognize and understand what's the market value. Because most of the time we leave that at the end because we're so in love with our idea, or we're so in love with just the mentality that comes around the creating a business or a product or services that we forget about that market value. And if there's no really no market value for what you're offering for that product or service, then multiple things can happen. One is that you can, and this are some of the things that happen to me, you can sell your service or product to a target demographic that does have enough resources to pay for your services. You might be selling your services and products for a lower price than what you deserve. Something else is that those the market might not be open to paying for that that you're offering. So, in order for you to be able to sell a product or service that actually has value within the market, there has to be a value on it. You know, like right now there's a lot of value with helping people connect online, communicate online, bring people together online, or the health industry also basic necessities. So that's where the market value is, and is very sometimes it can be very challenging for entrepreneurs to leave that out, which is, we basically don't have a business if there's no market value to it. Exactly. I think we've heard this from some of our other mentors have joined us is that find, find your niche in the market, and what people want, and then go from there. Oh, it's I also wanted to give a shout out to our online viewers. We have several watching online from all over the world, including several Gilman alumni. Thanks for tuning in.  I actually I really like that question because it brings me back to my parents who have been an essential part of forming the person that I am. But ever since we were little they like invested or infusing me this idea of, of helping the other right in here it was like physically the neighbor because we would live in the US and then we would take food or we would take different items to help people in the one hour across the border. So they just infuse to me from early on, the idea of helping the other or taking resources when we don't see that there's enough resources somewhere. So that naturally comes from, especially from my parents know that taught me that. But yeah he has been an essential component of who I am of reaching out to two communities and now creating social enterprises. For the first five years of my professional experience I spend that time working with nonprofits, volunteering and doing a lot of community outreach, and I never realized that all that community outreach experience was teaching me a lot about communication and marketing. It's an interesting, an interesting face for me to realize that without really realizing when I was doing community outreach or community service. I was learning about PR I was learning about communications I was learning about marketing to because when you reach out to a community you have to make it appealing for them to, to be able to engage with those community projects too. So it was differently, definitely an interesting transition for me to transfer those skills that I have been using in the nonprofit world and and transfer them to that to the social business aspect. So yeah so the volunteer work you were doing for the nonprofits was that like on the side as you were also teaching. Yeah, so that's a good question to because I have always had like different, different roles in my life and and sometimes I'm like the same Bianca but I'm like three different other roles in the same day sometimes. I guess when I was doing back into 2014. I was doing a project called trash to paradise and that was through a incubator here in San Diego. We were testing with low tech water systems to to have a affordable water system solutions for communities and we were piloting this program in Pijuana. So when I was doing that I was being I was working as a full time teacher so I would do this project on the weekends on the evenings. So yeah, I'm multiple, most of the time somewhere in multiple hats. And yes that's kind of like how my professional life has been for the last years. Most of the time some leading probably like three different roles. Yeah, yeah, I think that leads me into you the email signature that you have it reads don't think too much shake it up go do something new. And that sounds like is that your like model for life and can you tell us more about that. Yes, I want to show you this. So if someone has that phrase says shake it up.  And if we if I shake it that the bubble start going the opposite way which is like they start going up instead of usually goes down right. I was given by one of my greatest mentor who helped me transition. One of like the hardest areas of me becoming a, a lean kind of entrepreneur into more like a stronger entrepreneur. He, he was an essential. He's still an essential mentor and part of my professional life. But yeah, the his words of shake it up and go do something new resonated with me ever since I started talking to him so now from now from there that they on I used and I stole that quote from him. But it definitely I tried to implement this, this into everything that I do. Even though sometimes it can be challenging and we have to try new things right like right now a lot of people are having to to try new things and even things that we haven't tried before. Trying something new so that we're not repeating that the same old standards. So how the role of inclusive innovation place place are rolling this of creating from a social entrepreneur aspect products and services that hopefully change humanity for the better. That's great. I think that leads us into our next question from shake from Senegal, who asks, what lessons did you learn by stepping out of your comfort zone. That's a wonderful question. It's great to to hear being one of the greatest things about international program is being able to connect with people from all over the world so I enjoy that. But yeah, answering the question. Peter Peter. Sure. What lessons did you learn by stepping out of your comfort zone. And I think this could be applied to both your Gilman scholarship as well as you know just starting your own business. Yeah, I think I learned to to go out of my comfort zone as a as a normal standard of who I am as a as a person. So I'm in order to achieve what I want to achieve I know that that dimension of stepping out of comfort zone is has become part of my reality. For example, reaching out and asking for help from people that I might not even get it but just having the courage to seek out and send that question like, I'm not even so bother anymore by the respond that I'm going to get or not get from reaching out to people or trying something new that is not going to work or not like I don't think about the result of what I'm going to get if it's positive or negative I'm always thinking about the experience and naturally doing it so I think, being able to get out of my comfort zone is now part of who I am and of course at the beginning, it was super difficult to do. I think about of my undergrad years, I think one of the things that I was one of the greatest challenges for me as a English learner was to do presentations that was one of my, my nightmares and I would have, I would stay up all night if I had to do a presentation. Oh, I enjoy them. I enjoy them and they're part of what I do they're part of how I tell everyone the things that I'm part of. But definitely at the beginning it was one of those abilities that I had to practice. And I think most of the most of the things that helped me get out of my comfort zone was always being aligned with my interest and passion. I learned early on from that water project that when I was an undergrad that if I align my, my, my passion and interest, then those skills and abilities that don't, you don't have jet are kind of left behind because your passion and interest takes over. When I started reaching out with the different roles that I had to do with that project. I kind of stopped worrying that I didn't possess the skills or the abilities because I would just do it and learn as I went through it. Yeah, I mean that was one of the, of the biggest things that I learned was to, to match your, your interest and passions with what, with what you're doing and I think that then the comfort zone comes out second because your passion drives you. Okay. So we've one last question. Where have you found your mentors and what advice do you have for exchange alumni who are looking for mentors. Yeah, that's a good question mentors I have a lot of mentors that they don't even know they're my mentors, because I just follow them I read their, their knowledge I, I see what they're posting I think one of the greatest things with online resources is that we can access a lot of communication but we must be able to kind of focus on that knowledge that is going to help us grow and it's adding new content and new ideas to our mind. So for example, I, this is incredible that we're hosting this live through Facebook, because I'm actually connected through a lot of my network through Facebook or LinkedIn. Those are my, my two main communities where I kind of connect with other, other people so it's incredible how the mentors that I have had sometimes I have, maybe I follow them on, on LinkedIn, or follow them on Facebook, and they might not even necessarily know that I'm learning from them. I think that that community of people that I follow kind of in that this area of social impact, it's always open to collaborating it's always open to sharing their knowledge. So I would invite anybody who wants to look over my LinkedIn community or even Facebook, a lot of people if you reach out and connect with them they're open to, to talking to you or to, to connect online. But yeah, I think that's one of the greatest things that I have learned that my mentor sometimes it might be a really good book. It might be a really good article that I read that is I adding a lot of insight it might be a blog that I'm following a podcast. I have definitely had mentors who have been like, key people in my life who have helped me go kind of to the next level where where I need to to to go. And those have been throughout the different network and communities that I'm part of so I think one of the most essential important one is this one right the international exchange experience and for me that was that like yeoman scholarship, being able to go to the seminars being able to to go to to to the groups and be part of the different groups that are available, both online and offline have been essential for me. Great. And so I do have like one final final question. What advice would you give to those thinking about doing an international exchange program like the government scholarship. Yes, of course I would say apply do it don't wait until we pass Kobe to learn about it right now there's a time to learn about it. I know there's virtual experiences coming to live to so don't be afraid to try them out. There's so many especially for first generation students is so hard for us to have a network is so hard for us to know what questions to ask. And once you connect to those different pockets of resources, then we're here and we're open to collaborate and we're open to to work with you. Great. Thank you very much Bianca. Thanks for being with us and that was a great answer. Thank you to you, our online viewers for participating. You can learn more about all of our exchange programs at exchanges.state.gov and exchange alumni. You can stop by our website at alumni.state.gov to learn more about funding and other opportunities. And follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and be sure to keep visiting us here on Facebook to find out when the next mentor talks is happening. See you all soon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everyone.