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Tequila Tales, Justice Fails, and Entertainment Recommendations
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Get ready for a hilarious and thought-provoking ride in this week’s episode, Tequila Tales, Justice Fails, and Entertainment Recommendations! Join Bruce and J. Aundrea for a Sibling Happy Hour packed with wild stories, fiery debates, and plenty of laughs. From tequila-fueled club mishaps and breath mint blunders to eye-opening discussions on outdated drug laws, prison reform, and the infamous three-strikes rule, we’re diving deep into the chaos of modern life.
Feeling the heat from political frustration? We’ve got you covered with a candid chat about managing rage, navigating societal issues, and why real change requires action. And, of course, we’re serving up our signature banter, tackling back pain, weight gain, and the search for balance.
Plus, don’t miss our reflections on King Tut’s release, the harsh realities of the justice system, and how academic politics shaped our perspectives. To top it all off, we’re dishing out binge-worthy TV and movie recommendations, from The Bear to Gladiator 2.
Whether you’re here for the laughs, the insights, or just relatable sibling vibes, this video is your perfect mix of humor, heart, and hard-hitting truths. #prisonreform #kingtut #tequila #popculturedebate #unsolicitedperspectives
🔔 Hit that subscribe and notification button for weekly content that bridges the past to the future with passion and perspective. Thumbs up if we’re hitting the right notes! Let’s get the conversation rolling—drop a comment and let’s chat about today’s topics.
For the real deal, uncensored and all, swing by our Patreon at patreon.com/unsolicitedperspectives for exclusive episodes and more.
Thank you for tuning into Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Let's continue the conversation in the comments and remember, stay engaged, stay informed, and always keep an open mind. See you in the next episode!
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥💥
00:36 Sibling Happy Hour: Spicy Takes & Drinks 🍹🌶️
02:11 A Night Out: Dehydration, Tequila, and Breath Mints Gone Wrong 🍹💨😂
07:49 Old Bruce Strikes Again: Club Drama and Almost-Fights 🥊🍸👊
13:36 Rage, Politics, and the Ball of Lava in My Chest 🌋🗳️😤
22:01 Wellness Check: Back Pain, Weight Gain, and Swivel Chairs🪑🏋️♂️📉
25:07 King Tut’s Freedom: A Story of Redemption and Flawed Drug Laws ⚖️💊🔓
31:34 The C That Sparked a Debate: Grading Controversy and Academic Politics 📝🎓🤔
33:52 Critiquing SADD: The Humbling Moment That Changed Bruce’s Perspective 🚦📰🙏
36:12 Three Strikes and You’re Out: The Harsh Reality of Repeat Offender Laws 👮♂️🚫🔨
39:56 Prison System Failures: Punishment Over Rehabilitation ⛓️💔🔄
47:22 Reflections on Social Justice: White Guilt and Real Change 🤍🕊️🌟
53:13 From ‘The Bear’ to ‘Gladiator 2’: Movie and TV Show Recommendations 🍿📺🍴
01:08:51 Closing Thoughts: Hold On, Fight the Good Fight, and Stay Tuned ✌️🔥🎧
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Produced By White Hot
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Transcript
Introduction to Unsolicited Perspectives
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics in the shape of today's society. stay Join the conversation or follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts.
00:00:24
Speaker
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcasts and YouTube exclusive content. Rate, review, like, comment, share. Share your friends, share your family. Hell, even share with your enemies.
Sibling Happy Hour with Andrea
00:00:36
Speaker
On today's episode, it's the Sibling Happy Hour. I'm here with my sis, J. Andrea. We're going to be dilly-dadding a little bit, and we're going to be talking about King Tut, not the one that you're thinking of, but somebody else.
00:00:47
Speaker
And then when somebody offers you an opinion about a movie or music, an action turns out to be okay. But that's enough of the intro. We're going to get into the show.
00:01:05
Speaker
What up, sis? What up, brother? You'd like to change of that that last little line? Yeah, that now made me some crack up. It turned out to be okay. I didn't say, let's start the show. Let's get to the show. i said, now we're going to get into the show.
00:01:20
Speaker
Oh, I did not notice. I'm sorry. It was very similar. So I i didn't notice. I just know that you're back to say what up, sis, so that I could say what up, brother, because last week.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, last week. Oh, this I'm not following a fire. and See right there. Follow fake di a pretty right firing at all cylinders either because that little mishap at the end of the intro was not on purpose.
00:01:48
Speaker
Oh,
Mistakes and Self-Reflection
00:01:49
Speaker
oh, okay. yeah Well, you know what? That probably nobody would have noticed if you hadn't said anything. Yeah, I like to point out the stuff before people point it out. You know, that's just how we was raised. You know, point out point out where you mess up so nobody else can jump on it.
00:02:02
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. that's ah That's how you... Like, if you know, hey, my breath stinks. Okay.
00:02:10
Speaker
Clip. Story. Story time. Okay. Now, I want to get into it deeper as we get into Dilly Dadlin, but our brother just turned a certain age. i don't know if he wants us to put his age out there. No, because ah he he likes to lie about it.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah, he does. And... um So we went out. Yeah. And i invited out my bestie, another really good friend of mine and her best friend came out. So it was and our cousin.
00:02:35
Speaker
OK. So we were all out. yeah And, you know, when you're drinking a lot and you become dehydrated. Yes. Now, what happens when you become dehydrated? Your mouth gets a little sour.
00:02:49
Speaker
Okay. Yes. Yes. because you're Because you're parched, right? You're thirsty. yeah Your mouth gets a little sour. Yes. was talking to this young lady at the bar and she was asking me, because she drinks vodka, and and and she was like, so my friends have been telling me about tequila. What can you tell me about tequila? And I wanted to lean in and talk to her and I covered my mouth and I was like, look, I'm just going to be real honest.
00:03:10
Speaker
I'm dehydrated and it feels like my breast stinks. So I'm gonna cover my mouth to hide the smell, but still tell you everything that's going on. Now I jumped ahead of the problem and pointed out yeah so that when I was talking to her, she couldn't be like, damn your breast stink. Right.
00:03:26
Speaker
Hey, look, told you. mean, she could agree. She could agree. didn't. She didn't. Okay. Well, because you preemptively, you say, you know what? Let me go. Let me just cover it. Let me cover up and then I'll whisper it to you.
00:03:38
Speaker
But I didn't want to look like, you know, it was two little girls whispering and put my hand, my hands in front of my mouth because my breath stay. Right. Got it. um brother that Our brother said, our brother said, just put a roofie in your drink.
00:03:50
Speaker
Cause I took, I have these special breath mints. Okay. We're called smart mouth breath mints or something like that. And they're for people that like get dehydrated. I'm always dehydrated for some strange reason. Even though I drink like two gallons of water a day.
00:04:05
Speaker
You also sweat a lot, I think. I sweat a lot. Because you work out. like So you have to drink that much water just to maintain some sort of of stasis.
00:04:17
Speaker
True. yeah Also, I probably drank half a liter of alcohol a day. Which dehydrates you. Yeah, might have a little something to do with it, too. yeah yeah So I took the Smart Mouth Breath Mint and I put it in my drink because I was like, hey, look.
00:04:32
Speaker
I can still have my drink and then it'll mix in the breath mint. No, that's not how that worked. And it didn't work. But our brother's like, did you just roofie your drink? I'm like, no, this is a breath mint. He's like, put it in your mouth. I am. No, this drink.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah, that looks suspect. For you to put something in your own drink and drink it. Maybe hoping somebody would take advantage of you. Maybe. I don't know what what what the goal would be to roofie yourself.
00:05:00
Speaker
But I'm glad that's not what was happening. Yeah, maybe it's not a roofie. Maybe it's a Percocet. It could be that. Molly Percocet. So we went out.
00:05:11
Speaker
And I'm too old to go out. um Same. Oh, listen, same.
Clubbing and Nostalgia
00:05:16
Speaker
I think if anyone were to say, hey, I'm having my birthday, we're going to such and such club.
00:05:22
Speaker
My first question, well, my first question is what's the parking situation? But also my next question is, do we have a section? Because I'm going to sit. I'm to sit.
00:05:33
Speaker
I'm to sit the whole time. I'm a sit and I'm to drink and I'm going to sit. So if we don't have a section, and I feel like at our age, At our big ass age, if we don't have a section, what are we doing?
00:05:49
Speaker
Yeah, right. Especially if you go to a club. Yeah. a copca I have 40. And if I at 40 can't sit in a section, there's something wrong. I'm going home. I need a special wristband that lets me into a special area that's a little calmer but and has a couch.
00:06:09
Speaker
That's what I need. So you know how some people say, you know, once you've had a taste of like certain things, like you don't want to go back. So some people, yeah like once you ride. say, I don't want to go back to being regular.
00:06:20
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Yeah. So some people ride around in first class and they're like, I don't want to ride and coach. Me. yeah Okay. You're ah specifically talking about me. I was more talking about a brother, but yeah, you and our brother are similar. He got that from me.
00:06:34
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. and Because one time after flying first class for a while, I flew somewhere with him and we flew economy. And I was so upset standing in the line waiting to get on the plane. He's like, what's wrong with you? And I was just like, I don't want to be regular. I'm i'm sick of being regular.
00:06:54
Speaker
so hi And he looked at me like I was an elitist jerk. But it's like, once you get a taste Oh, filet mignon. You don't want to go back to Outback. Outback's delicious. Outback is delicious.
00:07:08
Speaker
Still. I mean, you went to Outback. I was like, I can still go to Outback. You can get the filet mignon at Outback. I thought you was going to go once you had filet mignon, you don't want to go back to Steakums.
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, once you have filet mignon, you ain't going back to Shake Shack. You might, because Shake Shack's delicious. Shake Shack's also delicious. There's really not a good, there's really not a good, don't know, McDonald's, sure. Because McDonald's is disgusting. love McDonald's. McDonald's disgusting. No, I love McDonald's. It's not good.
00:07:36
Speaker
There's crack in there. and It is. Yeah. I've loved ever since I was a little kid. It's a thing. know, you get to some McDonald's, you just start dancing and being happy. Yeah. Old Bruce came out when we went out to the to the club.
00:07:50
Speaker
Do you know what old Bruce is? No. I don't think I've met him before. Yeah. My boys know old Bruce. So when my two boys from high school who was still my brothers...
00:08:04
Speaker
When we were in high school and college, they say, man, hey, look, just be calm tonight and just have a good time. i was like, what do you mean? Every time we go out, you always get into an altercation. Yeah. Oh, that old Bruce. Yes, I do know who that is. Yes. OK.
00:08:19
Speaker
So old Bruce came out. Yeah. And I almost got into two altercations. Because you instigate when you drink. No, no, no. This wasn't me instigating. The first the first situation. I remember clearly a group of women were walking past and it got rowdy with another group of guys and then drinks got thrown.
00:08:36
Speaker
and And I was like, yo, what happened? Like, what's matter? Shorty, like, calm down, you know, but ah like, no, he threw a drink in my face. You didn't say that. And I turned to look, the dude is like, yo, you're throwing drinks in women's faces.
00:08:48
Speaker
Yeah. Like, what's wrong with you? He was like, she threw a drink at me. I was like, so are you a child? I was like, yo, know this is what y'all punk boys on. Y'all young punk boys is on nowadays. This is how we really treat women that you're going throw a drink on her. And I was like, she probably didn't throw a drink on you for no reason. You did something for her to throw a drink. and You probably disrespect to her in a way.
00:09:09
Speaker
Then he said something that triggered me. He was like, you older, you supposed to know how things go. And so I was like, you calling me old. So I immediately went towards her and and our cousin was kind of holding me back a little bit. Yeah.
00:09:23
Speaker
and Don't you do that whippersnapper. Right. And his boy, because, you know, I might be older. I'm also really big. like Yeah. I'm really big. Yeah. OK, I'm six foot four, probably like 240 right now. Yeah.
00:09:37
Speaker
I'm really massive. So his boy was like, hey, man. He's out of line. I apologize. Because he could see the fire in my eyes. yeah And so when talking to our cousin, and the next day, I was like, hey, man, I just want apologize for that. He was like, no, dude was wrong. And this is what happened.
00:09:54
Speaker
And then I talked to our brother and he was like, no, dude threw a drink on her first because he was trying to holler and she wasn't interested. And then she threw the drink back at him. He's like, how do I know this?
00:10:06
Speaker
Because I got drinks spilled on me.
00:10:09
Speaker
and I got splashed to the left and splashed to the right. Well, that was a good altercation. is the Now, is the reason for the second one like the same kind of, were you fighting for somebody's honor?
00:10:23
Speaker
I think so. Okay. But by this point, I'm I'm lit. Yeah. OK. So I think what happened was me and my bestie was in the crowd. And, you know, I'm ultra protective of my bestie. She's a very attractive woman. Yeah. And she was holding it down that night. When I saw her, I was like, damn, what? Like, you don't age.
00:10:43
Speaker
And so when she's walking in, I'm super protective. because Yeah. Not like she don't need protection. Because, you know, i told the story at the time. She punched me in the face because she thought that I grabbed her ass when it was actually somebody else. And I was like, it's me.
00:10:55
Speaker
I would never do that. She was like, it's just a reaction. I'm sorry. Yeah. Nicole knocked me out. So she could defend herself, but also at the same time, yeah that's my bestie, right? Like ah had this protective type thing. yeah So I think she got pushed in the crowd, not intentionally, it was just rowdy. And so me being who I am, they're bumping into us.
00:11:14
Speaker
I pushed the whole crowd.
00:11:18
Speaker
Because again, you're not a small in stature. then i'm And I'm relatively strong. So I put both my hands out there and it's just a group of people. And I pushed them and then they pushed people because of the force of which I'm pushing somebody.
00:11:35
Speaker
And then somebody got an attitude that like, hey, watch out. And I was like, y'all need to pay attention to where y'all going. I don't know. The dude was looking at me and then one of his boys would say, I don't know if you want mess with him.
00:11:47
Speaker
Which means that he's either connected or he can really fight. And all I did was just stare him down. We were staring each other down. Yeah. Not saying words. Just looking. Staring each other down. And I'm just like, make a move.
00:11:59
Speaker
Right. And walked off. And I was like, all right. Like, if he's somebody, it's time for us to go. Because if he left, that means he ain't coming back. I mean, he come he might be coming back with somebody. With some things. Or some things.
00:12:10
Speaker
Right. You know, I'm outside of the club and you think I'm a punk. So I go to my little Technon that's off of the trunk. Because I told him ain't never scared. Okay? You might have been dealing with that.
00:12:21
Speaker
I might have. Here in the South, just 100% chance you're dealing with that. Not 100%. Everybody's strapped. So i I think we left after that. Plus, it was the end of the night anyway. We had been out all night long. But old Bruce came out.
00:12:35
Speaker
And I had to apologize. And everybody was like, eh, it's okay. It feels like you were doing the doing this for like righteous causes. Whereas like old Bruce...
00:12:48
Speaker
I've personally witnessed you trying to instigate stuff, start stuff like it. Old Brooks was just a jerk. Those two instances feel like they were for righteous causes in your mind at that time.
00:13:01
Speaker
So I don't I don't think there's anything wrong with that either. OK, true. However, I did make a statement to my brother and bestie. Mm hmm.
00:13:12
Speaker
And I said, i want to fight tonight. so So I was on one. okay and And my bestie was like, yeah, you seemed kind of... not quite there that night. Like you were distracted. yeah And I was like, oh yeah, probably was. Some people have been pissing me off
Managing Personal Rage
00:13:30
Speaker
this week. Politics is just pissing me off. yeah i'm um And I'm generally always controlling a rage that's inside of me. That's the reason why work out all the time. yes Because I've got to tame that rage that's inside me. Yes, there's a ball of hot lava in my chest at all times. at all times y'all don't understand how angry am just we're smiling but this is when this is trained right we've been trained to smile through the rage what you feel but you know james baldwin said and to be i'm gonna paraphrase because i don't remember the exact words but to be conscious is to be in a rage all the time and that is the truth
00:14:10
Speaker
And if you pay attention to anything that's going on in the news right now, you're just in constant, constant rage. I mean, I don't even know if they know what they're doing at this point, aside from just destroying everything.
00:14:22
Speaker
i was talking to a friend and I'm trying to remember exactly who who the friend was, because I talked to a lot of people. I was talking to a friend and their husband or boyfriend works in the government. And I was like, hey, have y'all been affected?
00:14:37
Speaker
and And she told me that a group of people in his job were fired on Thursday and then rehired on Friday. Yeah. I'm like, what?
00:14:48
Speaker
Like, they don't understand what's going on. People's lives are really, really being affected right now. So I'm like close to it. I'm close to it. Yeah. And like people that I care about are being affected in their own pins and needles and because they have anxiety i'm kind of taking on that anxiety as they're telling it to me and it's just like man you know same i mean being from the dc area you know we're gonna have friends that work in government i also have friends that work in dei spaces i i have people that i know that work in uh international humanitarian aid
00:15:22
Speaker
and everybody is struggling. So as much as I wanted to completely tune out for four years, I can't because it's directly affected people that I know and care about.
00:15:33
Speaker
And the reason why people are getting hired and re-fired, re-hired, fired, rehired, all of that, the reason why it's going back and forth is because what he's doing is unlawful and there are a handful of state district attorneys from Democratic states who are constantly...
00:15:52
Speaker
filing lawsuits in federal court and shout out to all of them. I think it's like 20 state attorney generals from democratic states that are constantly, constantly filing lawsuits and getting, getting these things either overturned or stopped, you know, stopped preliminary, you know, early. So then, you know, you think you're fired, somebody's filed a lawsuit.
00:16:16
Speaker
Now you can come back to work the next day, but you still don't know. yeah you know, that the real outcome of things. Like, it's chaos. And I'm sorry, y'all, but Elon Musk, nobody is thinking he might be like an op.
00:16:32
Speaker
Like, Like nobody's thinking, out why is this person ah trying to get access to the treasury department? Like what? what Nobody's thinking he's an op.
00:16:43
Speaker
Nobody's thinking that. I'm thinking that. I'm thinking it might be a spy. Somebody's paying him off. Like nobody's thinking that. Just me. Okay, cool. Yeah. So...
00:16:56
Speaker
I might be and one yeah day to day basis. is just and and And then I'm so we're in a certain section of the city and I'm assuming I'm putting stereotypes on people and I need to stop that, but I'm looking and I'm like, you probably voted for this because you stupid.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah. And so that's causing the rage. So I was on one. um We had a good time. We had a good time though. Good. I'm glad. I
Shopping, Fitness, and Busy Schedules
00:17:22
Speaker
wish I could have been there celebrated with y'all, but, uh,
00:17:25
Speaker
It seems of like everybody, you know, is taking him out and celebrating him, which is the thing he hates the most. But I'm glad he still did it anyway. The thing he hates the most, but he's enjoying himself. Yeah, he loves it.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah. He loves it. So, ah yeah, I'm glad that he got. yeah I heard our parents took him out and everything. So I'm glad he's he's ah had a good time for his birthday. Yeah, it was a good time. Also, I finally ive got some clothes from Sheehan.
00:17:52
Speaker
How long did it take? Actually, it didn't take that long. Okay. I placed an order, i don't know, maybe a week and a half ago. Okay. That's actually good. Okay. Yeah. Because I was nervous. Because you know I was like, I need to re-up, give me some more you know professional, some more business professional clothes. And I was like, oh, Lord, will I even get my package? i don't even know what's going on.
00:18:13
Speaker
i you know So I'm glad yours still arrived. Yeah, it surprised me because, i you know, it said it wouldn't be here until like the 25th through the 4th.
00:18:24
Speaker
And today is the 22nd 23rd. So it came early. So I tried them on. Mm-hmm. And partly they don't fit because i don't fit right now. that means but yeah think I had lost a bunch of weight right before Thanksgiving. I think when I saw you on Thanksgiving, was about five pounds from my target weight, which was like 220 pounds. Right. Right.
00:18:50
Speaker
right I'm probably 245 right now. And how did I gain that? it Because i have been wilding since the holidays. Same. I've been trying to get back on track and I cannot get back on track. So this sweatshirt that I'm wearing right now is from Shein. It was the pink sweatshirt. You know, I ruined my other pink sweatshirt, wanted to get it.
00:19:10
Speaker
I got it. It fits. It's a little snug. You can't see my nipples, but you but you you can see the shadow of the the whisper yeah through the fabric. Okay. Okay. The fabric is good. It's breathy.
00:19:26
Speaker
Breathy is not a word, but y'all know what I Breatheable. Yeah. Breatheable. The length is fine. The pants don't fit, but also once again, yeah my weight, and my booty.
00:19:37
Speaker
So I just got to go at a size bigger. But the the quality, I thought, is it's good. Yeah. Yeah, i like the quality. It didn't take that long. So, yeah. No, that's where i get all my stuff.
00:19:50
Speaker
But no, I definitely, i finally pulled my scale from under the bed where I kicked it several months ago. And according to my app, from September to now, I have gained seven pounds.
00:20:02
Speaker
Come on, girl. Yeah, I know. So because, look, The holidays was in there. And then once you get off track and then start in school, I've been so busy. i I had forced myself to go work out the other day, but it was just that one day. And then I got super busy again. And here we are again.
00:20:23
Speaker
You know what you can easily do where you have a whole bunch of reading stuff because you have an iPad. Just put it on the iPad and walk on an incline. Go downstairs. yeah yeah I mean, you you have a gym downstairs. Go downstairs and walk on an incline. That's a good idea.
00:20:37
Speaker
yeah So instead of doing... Well, you know, I use an app called Speechify because i have ADHD. So me trying to read, I'll end up reading that same line over and over. So it reads it to me.
00:20:48
Speaker
So I can go down there, put that on, do my reading and do you're absolutely right. So instead of sitting in my bed reading, i will. I'm sitting in your bed listening, listening. i am reading along.
00:21:00
Speaker
Well, yeah. But I'm listening. Yeah. Yeah, you're listening. You're getting work done. But now, Shein, you know, Shein, okay, ladies gentlemen, we're not sponsored.
00:21:11
Speaker
No. We would like to be, though. Sure. We're not sponsored by Shein, but I would say, go ahead get you some clothes from Shein. Yeah. Now, some people are going to be bougie and be like, nah, I want no Shein clothes cause because it's cheap.
00:21:23
Speaker
No, it's not cheap. I mean, it's not the greatest quality. You can do better quality. yes obviously. Yeah. but it's it's cool and just be careful that you haven't gained a whole bunch of away from the holidays that's all that that part luckily my clothes still fit but that part and my clothes fit snug yeah real snug but wellness check how are you aside from everything else I mean, I'm doing good, I think.
00:21:50
Speaker
Besides that inner rage, getting older. yeah Actually, no, I'm lying. Let me tell you why. My back hurt for no damn reason. Okay?
00:22:00
Speaker
It hurts. And and ah it hurt so bad yesterday that I told our brother who was over who stayed over on Friday night. So he was here Saturday just hanging out, kicking it. yeah I told him, hey, stop being so funny. You're making me laugh and my back hurts. Yeah.
00:22:15
Speaker
And laughing, breathing deeply. if I have to cough, I just ah just brace because my back hurt. And honestly, it's just from being alive and over 40.
00:22:29
Speaker
But I got a new chair. You know, if everybody's noticing, I'm swiveling the whole lot. I'm going to and stop. But, you know, it's hard when you got the little swivel chair. I got back support. It's like all on my lumbar, my lower lumbar. That's nice. You know what I'm saying? That's real nice. You're not sitting on that stool no more. I'm not sitting on the stool. It's like I don't have a wedgie because my silk drawers because, you know, I wear silk drawers on Sunday.
00:22:51
Speaker
don't got the wedgie, but it's nice and comfortable. guy now let I got a lot of space on here. So i'm you know i'm doing all right, I guess. how about How about yourself? Well, let's check on you. i'm I'm doing well. I'm extremely busy. In addition to my classes, my graduate research assistantship, I am now also starting.
00:23:09
Speaker
a data science and analytics association student organization at our school. So that is going to be a lot of campaigning for me for the rest of the semester to get people to join. And i just did my first event on Friday to announce it and it went really well.
00:23:28
Speaker
um But that is also a lot of work. So now we have to draft a charter and bylaws and It's a lot. And people have been calling me Madam President. I am not the president of this association. I have no intention of being a president.
00:23:44
Speaker
Will I probably end up being president? Yes. But I'm hoping not. So, but yeah, it's just a lot, a lot going on. And I think, but I think I'm getting, I'm getting into a routine. And as soon as I can work, working out back into my life, I think a lot of, it'll help with a lot of the stress too.
00:24:01
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I mean, I know we're dealing with stressful times and you already got a lot of stress because you full fledged in the education system. Yes. yeah It is a lot.
00:24:13
Speaker
But you know what, though? You know what's more stress than whatever we got going on? There's a lot. Yeah. Than our first world problems. Right. yeah And one of them is being locked down.
00:24:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah. locked up don't let me down and we gonna get into being incarcerated and then released next
00:24:43
Speaker
all right j king tut was released you know who that is kind of but yeah yeah all right haven't thought about him in quite some time
King Tut's Release and Legal Reflections
00:24:52
Speaker
so no I know about him a little bit because, you know, we used to go up to New York often and his name would would ring out in the streets. Not like I was in the streets or anything, but that's how his name would ring mean, we walked across the street sometimes.
00:25:05
Speaker
I walked across the street a little bit, but King Tut is named Walter Johnson. He is notorious New York drug lord. He was sentenced in 1997 to five life terms for robbery, drug charges, and witness tampering.
00:25:20
Speaker
It was a 1996 convention. Not convention. Conviction. He was convicted of seven counts, including intent to distribute crack cocaine to the community. That's That's not funny, but it's funny the way you said it.
00:25:34
Speaker
Yeah. Seven counts. That's the drugs to the community. It's sold drugs to the community, including distributing, you know, crack cocaine to the community. Severity of the sentence reflected the strict 1990s sentence and practices, particularly under the three strike logs. We'll get into the three strike logs later. But how was he released?
00:25:51
Speaker
Judge Frederick Block. is the one who originally sentenced him, right? He sentenced him five life sentences. He released Johnson in October, 2023, but you know, he's not like release, released.
00:26:05
Speaker
He's kind of released. He just really, really got out you know recently, but deciding out he released him citing outdated laws and his own personal growth. Block admitted his inexperience during the original trial and criticized the rigidity of the 1990s three strike laws and leveraged the 2018 First Step Act, which allows sentence reviews to justify the early release.
00:26:28
Speaker
Block deemed his own prior sentences overly harsh. and acknowledge societal and judicial evolution. The first act that enabled retroacting sentences reform, block and emphasize that both prisoners and judges can change over time, reflecting modern abuse of propronation.
00:26:49
Speaker
po pro prince pro
00:26:54
Speaker
Basically, punishment need to be equal. if it's Proportionality. Proportionality. I was trying to say that, but I couldn't. yeah So basically, Judge Block was like, look,
00:27:05
Speaker
during that time i sentenced them overly harshly why because of societal issues and also because our system of laws dictated that i had to and because of this act in 2018 i can retroactively look at some of these sentences and say you know what these were harsh terms We're going to let you out.
00:27:29
Speaker
yeah So he got let out. And I thought this was a really interesting story because, yes, there was. And this isn't a Republican or Democrat thing. The Republicans say they're law and order. But during the even Democrats were.
00:27:41
Speaker
even democrats were trying to crack down on crack. Yeah. right Yeah. Every, the lots of the, you know, the thing, a lot of politicians catch flack for like, you know, Clinton and things like that, but you have done to understand as far as like this war on drugs, right.
00:28:00
Speaker
And these harsher sentences and things like that, but you have to understand at the time we really truly didn't know what to do. And a lot of this stuff had the support of the congressional black caucus. Mm-hmm.
00:28:11
Speaker
because it was happening in the black communities. They saw whole communities being devastated by crack, specifically crack cocaine, because powder cocaine had been around for a long time. But that crack hit the streets. It was cheaper.
00:28:23
Speaker
Everybody could get a little piece of it. you know and And I was a dare kid, so I stayed away from crack. But I know i have a friend who has an ex-boyfriend That smoke crack.
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm not talking about the nineties. I'm talking about recently. So crack is still out there. and crack is right Yeah. you There's, there's more, you know, trendy ah and stylish drugs out there now, but crack crack is the old staple and that's, that's not going nowhere. nowhere As long as it's cheap and highly addictive crack is not going anywhere.
00:28:56
Speaker
But what happened with these drug laws in the 90s, and I remember my first, one of my first English papers, and it was pick anything that you want to write about research. It was a research paper, pick anything you want to write about. And you know me, always the, not contrarian, but always somebody who wants to spark a little bit of flame and get some conversation started.
00:29:17
Speaker
I chose, the title of the paper was the inequality, the racial inequality of drug laws. Yeah. Which I could have just said the inequality of drug loss and it wouldn't have got as much flack as it did. But I wrote the racial inequality of drug loss. And my professor was there.
00:29:33
Speaker
It is. And my professor was an older white woman. so And this is 1998. OK. So I had all this information talking about how the sentencing for crack cocaine and the sentencing for powder cocaine are completely different at that time.
00:29:49
Speaker
It wasn't proportional. You could have 500 grams of cocaine and you would get the same amount of time as five grams of crack. Right. And my argument was, well, wait a minute. 500 grams of cocaine can make way more than five grams of crack.
00:30:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm. 500 grams of cocaine is worth more on the street than five grams of crack. Yes. Right. And you cannot have crack without cocaine. Right.
00:30:19
Speaker
like you It's called crack cocaine. right Right. You can't have crack without cocaine. You can have cocaine... Without crack. Without crack.
00:30:30
Speaker
But not crack without cocaine. Yes. and And what was happening was it was disproportional people in the inner cities. Yes. Which tend to be black and brown. But not to say that there weren't some poor white folks that also were getting arrested because of crack cocaine, because they were.
00:30:46
Speaker
But proportionally, overwhelmingly, it was black and brown people who were flooding these communities. prisons because the inequality of drug laws. And she gave me a C on the paper.
00:31:00
Speaker
She gave me a C on the paper, not because of grammar or context. She was just like, I just don't believe it. And I said, well, my work, my research is solid. It wasn't like I went to some pamphlet and got these statistics. It was like, these are the statistics. These are the drug laws. So I had, i said, what I won't, I won't accept is great.
00:31:20
Speaker
And I actually had the It actually went up to like the English department where the head of the English department had to grade the paper and he was an older black man. He pulled me aside. He's like, I'm gonna give you a B on this paper.
00:31:32
Speaker
But like, you put me in a very difficult position. I was like, it's not my fault. He's like, you put me in a very difficult position because it's not like I can undermine her. But at the same time,
00:31:44
Speaker
Yes, this paper was well written. Yeah. You deserve an A. I can't give you an A because of the politics of just this department. Yeah. So I'm going to raise your grade to a B. But also you did this on purpose.
00:31:59
Speaker
You know, oh old black man was like, don't rocking the boat. I'm like, hey, look, that's not who I am. I was going to fight the power of Chuck D. I'm going to fight the power that brings, baby. Come on, man. I'm trying to be Thurgood Marshall up in here. Not when not really.
00:32:15
Speaker
No, I mean, it you ah that sounds like a solid ah research paper. um You should have gotten the A for it if if the research and the analysis and everything was there because the fact of the matter is...
00:32:29
Speaker
The three-strike law did disproportionately affect minority and low-income communities. And not only that, you're giving life sentences to essentially nonviolent offenders. Like, it it flooded the court system. It flooded the jail system.
00:32:45
Speaker
It was a financial burden. It was just bad policy. And so whether or not she wanted to believe it, well, girl, for a read of paper. I don't know what to tell you, but I absolutely would have fought that too. And honestly, I'd have took it up to the dean of the school because I wouldn't have accepted that either.
00:33:03
Speaker
yeah Okay, that's you and me. I'd have gone to the news. They would have kicked me out. that They would have respectfully asked me to leave the institution probably by the time I was done with that.
00:33:14
Speaker
Not the beast!
00:33:18
Speaker
but I was an ish starter at this at this age yeah already. Because I wrote for the school newspaper and then I killed S.A.D. Like I wrote an article just destroying S.A.D. And this is when I was humble. Tell people what S.A.D. is because not everybody knows what S.A.D. is.
00:33:32
Speaker
Students Against Drug Driving. And we're going get into three strikes, but I'm going to detour for a quick se second to tell this story. I think I've told it before. Before new audience, because we do have a new audience, I'm just going to repeat this story or make it brief. So I was writing for the school newspaper.
00:33:46
Speaker
And I wrote a story about criticizing SAD, student against drunk driving, because they were, we're in college and, you know, it was homecoming and they're putting like destroyed cars, the cars that had been like in drunk driving accidents yeah to try and like scare straight. And I was like, this was high school stuff.
00:34:06
Speaker
We should be challenged more intellectually because we're in college now. And I just destroyed, I destroyed SAD. yeah And then the president of SAD told the newspaper, hey, I would like to talk to the the young journalist that wrote this article. So we set up a meeting.
00:34:21
Speaker
And I went into the meeting like, i don't care. Like, I said what I said. yeah and And she calmly was like, OK, I hear everything that you're saying. ah but But in the article, you didn't really have any suggestions on how to improve. How could we improve? and i And I would greatly take any feedback that you could give me to improve upon how we can get to the students.
00:34:43
Speaker
And I had not one suggestion. Yeah. And I said, you know what? yeah I'm going to write another article just ah just just to talk about how I don't think that I'm wrong, but I was wrong in the way that I addressed the situation. And you shouldn't speak up.
00:35:02
Speaker
about a problem unless you can give examples for some solutions, get some ideas for some solutions. That's a great learning experience. And I wish more people had that experience because there are a lot of people out here that love to criticize all aspects of everything.
00:35:21
Speaker
But when you ask them for a solution, they got nothing. And so ah including this current administration. So this is great lesson for everyone to learn. If you're going to open your mouth to criticize something, you better have a solution.
00:35:35
Speaker
Got to have a solution. So everybody is probably thinking to myself, thinking to yourself, all right, King Tut got these three strikes. What is, what is exactly the three strikes rules? Okay. So New York had a habitual offender law that enhanced penalties for repeat felony convictions and even with one prior felony, despite the three strikes label. So you could get an enhanced penalty if you had one felony and you got a second felony.
00:36:01
Speaker
So an enhanced penalty. It was called the Persistent Felony Offender Law, and it applied to two prior felony convictions, not strictly three. Judges can impose harsher sentences based on repeat offenses, including nonviolent felonies. This is how you got a lot of people who just sold crack cocaine to the community.
00:36:20
Speaker
We are not condoning people selling crack cocaine to the community. Absolutely not. But it is a nonviolent offense the majority of time. Don't tell me that selling crack can lead to crime.
00:36:31
Speaker
I mean, it can lead to violent offenses. We know that. But the actual distribution and sell of itself is nonviolent. We're not talking about the outcome of selling it. We're talking about just selling it.
00:36:43
Speaker
Okay? Yes. Okay. So nonviolent felonies do also fall along this repeat offender law. yeah And they were divided into A1, A2 and B categories. Right.
00:36:57
Speaker
With A1 and A2 being the most severe, something like first degree murder or kidnapping, which, by the way. Yes. Go to jail. Yeah. yeah Go ah go directly to prison.
00:37:10
Speaker
Go directly to prison. yeah And then classes B and below were lower civil severity, which were violent or nonviolent felon felonies. But the point was, is that with each felony that you get, if you got arrested again with a minimum, the felony, the prior felony had to be a minimum sentencing of one year in jail or prison.
00:37:32
Speaker
Right. But you can get a year, you can get a year for a lot. Yeah, you can. For a lot. Right. So with each new felony, you would get harsher penalties. So that's how this man got five life sentences.
00:37:49
Speaker
And the judge, like i said, Judge Block was just like, look, the way we was doing things back and with evolution, with with time, we can say, hey, the way we handled things back in the day, weren't the right way to handle things. You're a parent.
00:38:02
Speaker
You might be a millennial and you might have got whooped as a kid. Right. Right. and Maybe sometimes you deserve to whoop and maybe sometimes you didn't. Maybe that was your parents first line of discipline. And and through evolution, we can be like, all right well, wait a minute.
00:38:18
Speaker
There are other avenues in which we can punish our kids. It doesn't necessarily have to go to whooping them. We can have a conversation. We can try and teach a lesson to make them aware of what they did wrong and why it is wrong.
00:38:32
Speaker
We don't immediately have to go to this. And this judge is Judge Block is basically saying the same thing. Like, hey, look, the way we used to handle things back in the day. wasn't right and now with hindsight and just more thought of hey how the system works how america works because he also said it wasn't just judicial changes it was societal changes he was just like look let's revisit this five life sentences for selling crack cocaine to the community not that we condoning it yeah but he did his time he did he did 25 years
00:39:10
Speaker
He did his time. He don't got no no murder charges. And even with murder charges, sometimes you can you could have murder and you don't get 25 years. Yeah. as You get 10 to 15. My man did 25 years. Let my man out.
00:39:23
Speaker
Because jail is not supposed to be solely punishment. supposed to be rehabilitation. But you know, in this country, our prison system prioritizes punitive measures and over rehabilitation and reintegration into society. And that's like proven because i think...
00:39:45
Speaker
I think the statistic is like over 75% of released prisoners are rearrested within five years. So, you know, we already have high recidivism rates.
00:39:57
Speaker
I think once they will look back and did studies, they realized that longer sentences or harsher sentences actually don't deter crime because most criminals aren't considering the consequences when committing a crime.
00:40:12
Speaker
If they had, they wouldn't have committed the crime. So most people aren't thinking about it, which is again, why we have high recidivism rates. So you, you know, that, you know, our prison system and and it's been monetized.
00:40:24
Speaker
So there's also that.
00:40:28
Speaker
Yeah. So People are going to look at, I know certain arguments that are going to be made by certain people who are just like, let's punish, punish, punish, punish law and order, which everybody loves to talk about it until they're- Until they're the one on trial.
00:40:46
Speaker
Until they're the other one on trial and then why is that happening to me? Right. And they're going to look at that recitative rate and say, see, these are just criminals. They deserve to be in jail. And I would say there are no resources to help these criminals. No. Help these released incarcerated people get back on their feet. Once you have that mark on your resume, it's very difficult to get a job. And there is no... I'm not going to say there isn't any programs, but they would be great if...
00:41:17
Speaker
Programs were reintroduced back into high schools and into prisons. I don't know exactly. I would have to do some research. ah know exactly what type of programs that they have in prison. I know people can get degrees and things of that nature.
00:41:29
Speaker
Sometimes, sometimes, but I would say by and large, there are no, most, most inmates are not receiving an education right or vocational training or mental health support.
00:41:43
Speaker
So that's, I mean, you're literally just removing them from society. A lot of times making nonviolent people violent.
00:41:54
Speaker
Because you got to be violent in prison. Like people a lot of people don't understand what prison is like. And unless you talk to somebody that's been in prison, we know, we personally know a couple people people that have been, that have done time, done real time in prison.
00:42:08
Speaker
And to hear the stories of what prison is like, you You got there's it is a violent place. It is survival. If you've ever watched and this is an old reference, Lord of the Flies, which I i love the book.
00:42:23
Speaker
I love the movie Lord of the Flies because it teaches you that even civilized people put in uncivil situations can become savages. And these were kids. Right.
00:42:34
Speaker
so Even if you are a decent human being, you will do whatever you need to do to survive. And when you are put into a violent circumstance, you will become violent. Yeah. it and you know it's It's life or death. You don't have any choice. You can't talk somebody down that wants to kill you in prison.
00:42:53
Speaker
ah yeah That doesn't happen. But i was I want to go back to my prior statement with programs. It'd be great if they had vocational, both in high school And in the prison system. yeah not everybody Not everybody is going to be an academic.
00:43:10
Speaker
And that's okay. we always always need plumbers. We always need electricians. We always need people to to build. Carpenters, things of that nature. we need the That workforce is not...
00:43:24
Speaker
popping right now. I think there is a shortage in plumbers across the country that actually like know how to like can go in and like really fix it. You got Roto-Rooter and I had a friend of mine call Roto-Rooter and they're just like, we can't, you got to call somebody else. We can't fix this. like Yeah. na The Roto-Rooter can snake your drain and that's.
00:43:44
Speaker
That's about it. Yeah. And I would snake my own drink. Well, not me personally, but, you know, theoretically. Theoretically. Theoretically. So that would be really great to to have somebody to have people come out to have a trade, something that they can do, because I can guarantee you i the majority of the people that are in prison don't want to be in prison.
00:44:04
Speaker
Don't want to commit crime. Because of society and where... ever they came from left is kind of like with no choice you'll do whatever you got to do to eat right like you'll do what you need to do to eat so like if they had an opportunity to make money legitimately and they get on their feet Most of these people wouldn't go back to prison.
00:44:24
Speaker
Now, there are some people that proponents to crime. Like, you know, I just wanted to fight that the other day when I went to the bar. Just sometimes people are like that all the time. Yeah, that's true. yeah Yeah, there are, you know, habitual violent offenders and they need to be out of society, right? So for sure, like those people exist, but for a lot of the nonviolent crimes, especially when you're in jail or prison for possession, right?
00:44:52
Speaker
Without an intent to distribute, like you it was your own... It was your own stash of crap, right? like But also, know if you have a large amount, even if you're not trying to distribute, even if that's just you, if you got two pounds of weed and it's like, oh, obviously he was looking to distribute. No, I just smoke a lot of weed.
00:45:10
Speaker
Yeah. I smoke a lot of crack. You know, not make place look these, but but like cases should be referred to rehab facilities. Mm but these you know but like those cases should be referred to rehab facilities even You know, and and for a certain subsection of the population, they are.
00:45:33
Speaker
But for ah another subsection of the population, namely minority and low income communities, they are not. And I found the report. It was the the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
00:45:47
Speaker
They updated their report. but This is from 2018, so I don't know what the current numbers are. But 68% of released prisoners were arrested within three years, 79% within six years, 83% within nine years.
00:46:02
Speaker
Jeez. obviously, the prison industrial complex in the United States is not a deterrent for crime and these and needs to be I mean, 180 degree reformation in order to actually be worth it and not not just a financial burden on society.
00:46:28
Speaker
So King Tut is out. He's out. And, you know, Big Meech is out as well. We got one evolved judge. ah Well, yeah one that one has been publicized.
00:46:43
Speaker
I would imagine during I was going over some, I was looking for ah specific message on my Instagram and I do love the search feature on your messages where you can type in a certain word or phrase and the messages will pop up.
00:46:58
Speaker
yeah So there was, there was a friend of mine that, uh, lives in Trump country. ah younger white woman she's probably in the mid it's probably in her early 30s that uh was awoken during george floyd and the pandemic like a lot of like a lot of people were yeah right and i just went down a rabbit hole of just our conversations going back and forth and and and and and and then i started to remember what it was like during that time and i had a lot of white people
00:47:29
Speaker
come to me that know me. And this is before we started the podcast, but they they know me personally and they feel comfortable to come to me to talk to me about race because one, I'm always willing to have a conversation too. I'm not judgmental. And three, I have history degree and I have a wealth of knowledge just in this country and being a black man for 44 years that I could give a, a unique perspective. And I'm looking at it and it was just people just becoming,
00:48:01
Speaker
awake and then also having a lot of white guilt and then me telling them hey stop having guilt for people that like stop having guilt a lot of times yes these are white people oh no these were white people but that doesn't mean that this directly connected to you stop stop assuming this guilt, just be better from here on out. Yeah. Because frankly, your guilt does nothing.
Taking Action on Societal Issues
00:48:27
Speaker
Nothing. To help anyone. It just, it just, again, centers you in a situation where you're not supposed to be centered. Your feelings are irrelevant. And so I, in a lot nicer way than that, when I explain it to people. that oh that's the way I explain it. i Yeah, I know that's the difference between me and you. That's the reason why they would come and talk to me because I'm not going to say it like you jerk.
00:48:52
Speaker
And we said the exact same thing. And I said it a lot nicer. Oh, well, I'm sorry for not being nice, but listen, my niceness also does nothing to help the situation.
00:49:04
Speaker
You're right. And so, you know, why not just cut out the middleman and think it directly to the point? The point is your guilt is just you centering yourself again.
00:49:14
Speaker
This is true. and and But also this judge's guilt He didn't make himself the center. He went out and did something. He went out and made a change. And that's what um that's why I was telling a lot of people that were contacting me.
00:49:29
Speaker
and i And as I was going through this Instagram message and having to come and rereading these conversations I had with one of my friends, it was that. It was, hey, look, your guilt does nothing, but in a much nicer way. Go out and be about change. Yeah.
00:49:43
Speaker
And this judge is actually dead he the judge did it. The judge is going out and making change. So there's still hope. This gives me hope in all of the craziness that's going on in the world today. Yeah.
00:49:57
Speaker
This still gives me hope. not i Well, just you. For me, it seems like ah you just right a oh wrong. Like that's what you were supposed to do. So I don't know whether he really gets a cookie for that.
00:50:12
Speaker
Come on Growth and evolution. Time out. you acknowledge the growth that I've had and my personal development. Yeah.
00:50:24
Speaker
And you commend me on it. Yeah. So why can't we do the same thing for this judge? Oh yeah. I mean, a shout out to him. But again, like I'm not, I mean, listen, oh are we supposed to, when they, when they, ah when they ended slavery, are we supposed to give them a cookie for that? Like y'all, it should have been slavery in the first place. This man should have had five consecutive life sentences in the first place.
00:50:48
Speaker
i should had He should have definite definitely done time because again, a very notorious you know ah drug lord in the community. okay so Definitely should have done time, but that was extremely excessive.
00:51:05
Speaker
Extremely. and Yeah, so him going back and being like, damn, man, I was wrong for that. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that you come to that conclusion finally after almost 30 years, but, you know, thanks. Well, shout out to King Tut. Don't go back to doing the things that you were Please don't. You've had an immaculate record for almost 30 years mentoring mentoring other their inmates and and all of Listen, keep your nose clean, playa.
00:51:43
Speaker
Yes. Keep your nose clean. All right. To transition that I was trying to come up with a smooth transition. cannot. Listen, they're not always going to be gems.
00:51:55
Speaker
Not all the time. Sometimes the transition is, well, to switch gears. And to switch gears, we don't get into recommendations from other people that actually turn out to be good.
00:52:06
Speaker
Next.
00:52:15
Speaker
Since, like I said in the first segment, our brother was here at my house yesterday. And there's something that I've noticed whenever I'm around, my brother and our mom, they are very similar in that they are watching some type of show or movie or something like that.
00:52:32
Speaker
And you just sit down and start watching and then you're like, oh, this is actually kind of good. Yes. Yes. Our brother introduced me to, and you, to For All Mankind and yes Apple series, which is really, really good. Yeah.
00:52:45
Speaker
First of all, if you guys are not checking out some of the original content on Apple, I mean, it's really good. Apple TV does the best original content. yeah Netflix and ah HBO Max like doesn't come close to original content. can't compare. I mean, the shows are really good.
00:53:04
Speaker
But nobody... like And they win awards, but like nobody's like really watching them. And we got to get people on there. Apple TV needs to promote more. I see Hulu ads all the time. Y'all got to promote more because you have amazing original content.
00:53:19
Speaker
Well, Apple TV doesn't really need to promote more because it's also Apple. So Apple is doing just fine. They got to get that viewership up. That's not like they're cancel that. Anyway, we're torn.
00:53:30
Speaker
Our brother introduced me to the show The Bear yesterday. Love it. And first of all, The Bear is a great show. Yes. But if you have generalized anxiety, you cannot watch a bunch of them in a row. No, you I do have to pause sometimes, like catch my breath and just like settle down.
00:53:46
Speaker
Or sometimes I'll have to fast forward to see what happens. And then I go back and watch the scene because again, generalized anxiety in that show, it really, really pushes
00:54:00
Speaker
your anxiety to the limit. But it's a great show. Another show that I had to watch because of my generalized anxiety and it just, it became too much. And i it's one of my favorite shows. And I just, i was like, i can't do it.
00:54:13
Speaker
Suits. Cause I'm like, yo, why is it every episode is life or death? Like y'all are just corporate lawyers. Right. I'm trying to say the world every episode. Can't y'all just, can it be a happy episode? But anyway, our brother introduced me ah to the bear yesterday. So I've become addicted to that. Yeah.
00:54:28
Speaker
But then also people can make suggestions. Yeah. of movies that they say are not good yeah or TV shows that they say are not good. And me being who I am, I'm like, well, don't tell me that it's not good.
00:54:40
Speaker
I'm gonna go watch it for myself. yeah So Gladiator 2, I've been trying to get a hold of watching that movie for the longest time because it looks really good. And I love everything Denzel Washington has to do. And Pedro Pascal is a phenomenal, like the cast is phenomenal. Amazing. Yeah.
00:54:55
Speaker
A friend of mine said, yeah, that movie's not good. I didn't enjoy it. And the first thing that they said that immediately I was like, going to discredit everything that you're saying to was that they said, well, Denzel had like a New York accent in the movie.
00:55:09
Speaker
I said, what? Denzel's from New York. Denzel from New York, first of all, but he doesn't have and a New York accent in general. He does. I don't really. It's not like a real hard accent. I think he's done a good job of like,
00:55:25
Speaker
getting kind of like a standard American accent, but you can hear his New York accent. Okay. Well, don't let, don't get me started on New York accents that have faded through the years because my best is from Staten Island. And I only hear that New York accent when she get around other Staten Island people. And I'm like, Oh, there it is. get it.
00:55:44
Speaker
But you remember how certain people from the Bronx and Brooklyn has specific accents. And you're like, I know you from that. It's gone. They don't really have that anymore. yeah Anyway. So I watched gladiator too. The movie is phenomenal. Yeah.
00:55:57
Speaker
I thought the movie was Shakespearean and his story. And i was telling another friend about the movie and they agreed with me. It was like, yeah, when you bring it up, I didn't think of it like that, but it is Shakespearean and his storytelling.
00:56:12
Speaker
And I was telling them about the friend that told me that it wasn't good. And then that person said, well... You know, maybe it was just too intellectual for him. And I was like, I didn't want to say that.
00:56:25
Speaker
But
00:56:28
Speaker
if you were just looking for, you know, big fight scenes and stuff like that, and the movie ended up being a little more cerebral than that.
00:56:38
Speaker
I haven't seen it yet. It's on my list. I haven't seen yet. Then, you know, sometimes people, you know, maybe they have to like, there's times where I'm expecting a certain thing. I watched the movie. It doesn't give me that. I don't like it.
00:56:51
Speaker
But on second viewing, now that I know what the movie is going to give me, I appreciate it more. So maybe they just need another viewing now knowing how, you know, knowing what they should expect from it.
00:57:03
Speaker
Maybe that'll be it. don't know. Well, the person was like, the first movie was better than the second movie. And i was like, oh, like I remember the first movie. The first movie is great. Yeah. Gladiator is great.
00:57:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's the reason why they made a sequel. Right. and ah right Sequel 20-something odd years later. ah but Actually, the story makes sense why they would do it 20-something odd years later.
00:57:27
Speaker
But I was just thinking to myself, and I was just like, yeah, but this story is better. like The story is actually better. I don't really think it's that c sobra cerebral. I really don't. I thought it was Shakespearean, and I know Shakespeare is...
00:57:40
Speaker
Like you study Shakespeare because of the plays. Yeah. like But I didn't think it was that cerebral. Okay. it It wasn't like, what's a movie that's real cerebral is you write?
00:57:51
Speaker
Not confusing. Like those movies like Tenet and- Yeah, Tenet was just bad. Tenet was, it was just bad. But like an Inception where, you know, yeah, you got to think.
00:58:03
Speaker
but think But also Inception is kind of and confusing. It is. Because at the end, you still don't know it. yeah You don't know what happened. What's the other movie where was Matthew McConaughey and he goes back in time? Memento?
00:58:17
Speaker
No. where he's not that's not Matthew McConaughey. He's in space. have mature head And he goes back in time. ah he goes Interstellar? Yeah, Interstellar. like Interstellar can kind of be cerebral, but also... like I'm trying to think of a real cerebral movie.
00:58:34
Speaker
And I guess I really don't watch cerebral movies, but I don't feel like Gladiator 2 was one of them. But because the story was Shakespearean, it's more than just, we're going to fight to the death and I'm going to avenge something. it it's it's It's more layered than that.
00:58:50
Speaker
So this segment is basically about times that people so suggest things to you and it's either good or bad. And also stop paying attention to Rotten Tomatoes. Go and it yourself. View it yourself. if if If there's a movie you want to see and the reviews are bad, just check it out for yourself and see. Like you might, end it might be a cult. Listen, people think Beverly Hills Cop 3 is terrible.
00:59:15
Speaker
If you ask our family,
00:59:20
Speaker
It's the best damn one. Okay. The best one? I'm sorry. all That movie makes me laugh constantly.
00:59:30
Speaker
Well, that's also because... Okay, so here's here's my argument about Beverly Hills Cop 3, which you know I love the movie. Yes. It is... way it We love the movie because anything that Eddie Murphy does is funny to us.
00:59:45
Speaker
but but Literally anything. Outlandish and hilarious. Yeah, anything that he does is hilarious. True. But compared to the first two, I can understand why people are not really feeling the third. It was a different... It was very much more commercial.
01:00:02
Speaker
um It was a very different movie from the first two. Obviously, the first two were amazing, but people act like it truly sucks and it doesn't. It's hilarious. And I don't care what anybody says about that.
01:00:15
Speaker
But I do. I have to say, i tried watching For All Mankind. and I could not get into it. I couldn't into it.
01:00:26
Speaker
And so a lot of it for me is more about the company than the actual show. Because I noticed that when I go home after watching NCIS New Orleans on repeat with our mother, when I go home and watch it, I don't have the same experience. So it's I think it's more for me about the company It's communal. Yeah.
01:00:50
Speaker
Than it is the actual show. Because i was watching For All Mankind with you, loving it, tried to watch it on my own, couldn't get into it. So... But, you know, that's funny because we were watching, what show will we watching? Equalizer, right?
01:01:04
Speaker
Yeah. I love Equalizer, but when watching it with you, are it wasn't hands. So there is something about the community that makes things better. Like Avengers. Yeah. Endgame, when I was watching it in the movie theater. Yeah.
01:01:16
Speaker
was freaking amazing because we're all going crazy. Yeah. And having that same experience together. And know enhance hands it it. It can enhance it. but it But have I rewatched Endgame?
01:01:28
Speaker
I have not. Yeah. Okay. So was the movie that great or was the experience that great? Infinity War, great. I've rewatched that numerous times. But not really Endgame. So yeah, your involvement good community can make things better. So that makes sense. yeah Also, so for instance...
01:01:50
Speaker
not just movies, but also entertainment, right? Music. Yeah.
01:01:57
Speaker
It's not like that's really a great song. Or... Is it a communal song that we all just get hyped to? I think it's both and that's in that instance. Because he just, and I don't know that he knew that this is why it's so popular. He created little pockets of like earworms that just get in your head and you can't stop saying it. you can't You can't stop. Like it's it it just gets into your head. That song gets into your brain.
01:02:30
Speaker
and you can't stop singing it. And now, after the Super Bowl performance, it's the little Kendrick walk. yeah Right? The little desk. So now I just be walking around the house doing that.
01:02:44
Speaker
That's different. Okay. I can't help it. but it also is like Yeah, it was very unifying, even though it's a very like California song, right? Like a very like, you know, South Central song.
01:03:00
Speaker
It still felt unifying because it was it was his pride in Black American culture and calling out somebody that he saw, whether we agree with this or not, but that he saw as a culture vulture. And I guess.
01:03:20
Speaker
I guess also you can say it can be put into groups, right? That you could say, even if you're two competing teams, right? Yeah. you think They're not like us. So its it can be applied.
01:03:32
Speaker
It can be applied into a lot of, yeah. yeah All right. So maybe you're right. But I know there are some songs out there that hit there. Okay. Here, here's one.
01:03:42
Speaker
Big Pimpin'. Let me explain. Okay. Okay. When Jay-Z released that album, I remember listening to it. And I remember listening to the Big Pimpin', and I was like, yo, this song is a hit.
01:03:54
Speaker
Like, this is a great song. And my boys and everybody around me were like, no, this song is not really all that great. Like, i don't know I don't know why you like the song so much. Then everybody heard it in the club.
01:04:05
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And it was an atmosphere. it was a party atmosphere in the club. And that song took off. yeah It took months before that song. to Get Low is another example.
01:04:15
Speaker
I heard Get Low when we were in Miami before, because it's you know they're Miami artists. ah I heard it. and We were in Miami about to go on a cruise. And I heard I was like, yo, know this song is a hit.
01:04:27
Speaker
But nobody had heard it yet. And I remember coming back up here to DC. And I told my boys, i was like, yo, there's song called Get Low. That is, that's going to be a hit. And they were like, I don't know about all that.
01:04:40
Speaker
And then it came out. Everybody was playing in the club and then it blew up. So I feel like people can suggest something and it has to be the right, like environment. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
01:04:52
Speaker
The right situation for people to catch on. Yeah. And just like for all mankind for you, you watch it with people. It's good. You watch it by yourself. It's not. I watch Gladiator 2 by myself.
01:05:05
Speaker
Maybe if I was around other people and they were ishing on it yeah while I was watching it, maybe I might feel that way. I don't know. I'm typically the contrarian. I don't know. That is your personality. Yeah. this is This is pretty dope. Y'all missing out. But it's.
01:05:21
Speaker
the The whole purpose as a segment is figure out for yourself. Yeah. Check it out for yourself. Like, don't, you know, ah because Bruce is such a contrarian, typically when people recommend things, you'd be like, Don't be trying to tell me what to do. You got to hear it. It's a recommendation.
01:05:40
Speaker
It's a recommendation. When people say like, you got to watch this. You got, I don't got to do. You don't tell me. They don't mean it that specifically. They don't mean what to do. and It's always just a recommendation. But like, yeah, I mean, you know, especially if it's somebody that knows you and and they're like, I think this is something that you'll really like, you know, at least check it out.
01:06:02
Speaker
ah Try things with an open mind. Like you never know what you're going to like. You know, you never know. Or what you won't like. You know, I thought I liked For All Mankind. i don't know that I do. I don't know. Maybe I'll watch it again. I don't know.
01:06:16
Speaker
slower i mean all the apple shows are kind of slower it's really apple really prides itself on great storytelling yeah great storytelling is slow people people don't like some people don't like the godfather because they're like it's so long it's so slow like yo it's phenomenal acting like it's a iconic movie but it's so long and you gotta listen she what you gotta listen you ah about yeah But there's also a place for people who just like to see fights and stuff blow up.
01:06:44
Speaker
Like there's no that's also fun. Like and so if that's the kind of film that you like and you already know you ain't going like a beautiful mind or or something like that, you know, then OK, that's also fine. You know, there's a lot of great blowing up stuff movies that I can recommend. Yeah. Fast Furious had me until they went to space.
01:07:05
Speaker
When Ludacris and Tyrese went to space in the car, i was like, all right, I'm off this now. Yeah, that was dumb. I did. I watched the next one, though. my I actually have never seen a Fast and Furious except for Hobbs and Shaw. I was taken to that under duress.
01:07:20
Speaker
And I said, yeah The Rock... grabs that helicopter by that rope and in any way can disrupt its flight with just his strength, I'm walking out of this film. And sure a damn no.
01:07:36
Speaker
Guys, The Rock is not Captain America. That is a regular man. Yes, he is. ah He's very strong. Yes, he works out a lot. He's very strong. But let's not get stupid.
01:07:50
Speaker
And from just based off that, I knew I was going to like the rest of the Fast and Furious. And I'm pretty sure that I'm right. Well, he wasn't in a whole lot of the Fast and Furious, but he came back. But ah we're we're we're getting off topic. And I think we already covered the topic well enough. So, Jay, what do you want to tell the people out there?
01:08:08
Speaker
Hey man, hold on. Except for what? Just in general. like I know that things are insane. i too saw the White House official Instagram have a picture of Trump in a crown and said, long live the king. It's basically become a troll account.
01:08:28
Speaker
um I also saw that. ah you know I don't know, but hold on. There are people that are fighting the good fight. Just hold on.
01:08:39
Speaker
And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for listening. I want to thank you for watching. And until next time, as always, I'll holla.
01:08:54
Speaker
That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast wherever you're listening or watching it to it. Pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock will will enjoy it also.
01:09:13
Speaker
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01:09:57
Speaker
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