THE BUSINESS OF PRISON WITH MYSONNE

alright guys welcome back another exciting episode we have breaking news for you guys ey our university is on fire and we want to make sure that everybody is included so we have a new promo that we are running 40% of our annual membership to eyl University which includes weekly webinars over 47 past webinar courses that are archived access to our private real estate Facebook group access to the book and movie club and much much more so if you're interested go to WWE yl university comm right now and enter code earners for annual membership 40% off the annual membership let's go [Applause] alright guys welcome back another episode ii y IL ya ya virtually virtual edition so today's a special episode because um you know the good thing we're having a business podcast it allows you to cover almost everything everything is the business level here the money and finances like wu-tang sake as a fact so no we want to do this this episode for a while as far as covered the prison system and cover the state of you know criminal justice reform and mass incarceration from a financial standpoint because it's about it's a business no it's not people are billion dollar bills billion dollars and you know we wanted to just make sure that you know we had enough information i didn't wanted to bring somebody on with a with a real life experience authentic experience so it was like just perfect because not only does our guests have a real life experience but he's one of the front lines as far as being a social activism for years and not only that one of the best mcs don't ever bother ball i mean i remember from the violator days man yeah I had to post about all of it they're lightly to elbow yeah yeah so um if you're not familiar my son my son is our guest today and yeah my son is is dope from a musical standpoint huge following on social media they don't flex arguably one of the best flex freestyles ever then you got like five of the top ten joints that's a fact so so yeah it's crazy wallet just posted a yesterday the south of us our brother um so yeah one of the best flex Funk Flex free Styles ever but bigger than that just us like I said social activist building front lines really doing this thing and making a difference in the community so first and foremost before we get started thank you thank you for joining us appreciate it thank you thank you yeah I still remember the first line this first time I've heard you rap song up in the right phone oh it's different now it's different so yeah so Mike I want to tell people to back to a date they might not know they might have just seen your freestyles or they might have seen you you know doing a social activist thing but then I've known his story of you know where you got to this point and for us we grew up in the 90s grew up in the early 2000s and we huge fans of music so me and Troy like when we first started hearing about your name it was on an underground circuit and then that that Rough Riders butterflies were so hot it's kind of hard for me to explain to people that younger like rough fathers was it they had it was bigoted music though because they had the whole motorcycle movement other side good thing was crit and he had to merge they had the t-shirts and it was like they was huge like it's kind of hard for me to make a comparison to anything not one right now not it was like 300 500 deep with motorcycles like all over the country shut down the major Deegan so so when they put out their compilation you had that legendary verse and then get your name which is buzzing all over and believe you saw a violator but then you know you are was incarcerated for seven years came out so can you talk about that as far as your journey from being a musician to being incarcerated and then coming home and I'm not sure if you if you first started your activism when you first came home or if it took a while for that or like was that actually started while you were incarcerated now you know it's crazy funny story cuz I got like a photographic memory I memorized everything even know if you remember this is it I think like the first week you was home because it was like a big thing when you came home to and the first week you was came home we saw at two fish one fish oh yeah yeah yeah was out we was on the 8th and answered there he was out with some of our friends and he's like oh that's my song right they just came home like he literally just came home that's crazy I just remembered that replaced the dodo so yeah can you talk about that as far as you get your journey from music to being concentrated thing you know doing what you're doing now it's gonna be a long story so that way we're ready ready yeah yeah it's got Sun I mean I started in industry in well 98 my den manager tom was he was abused and had been nice and I had a group back in the days we called ourselves the cartel and it was three there was three of us it was me my friend Steve and my friend cam and we kind of sound like a LOX though you know we had that whole LOX field because that was that was the thing if that's not a bad thing too big so we had that feel and we sallied differ but we sound it was similar because it was Street and there was three of us so you know we was trying to get a deal and a lot of people was like that was dope we actually did we had a interview that's what Super Mario was with um bad boy we brought he brought it says all fizzles and he was like I sound a lot like deluxe you I need to try to try to look more like de la Sol's to the spectrum anyway so then we my manager here met them first in a barber shop in the Bronx and he was from Queens and he happened to be there one of his friends that own the barbershop I heard about my boy Robin and then he was interested in no because he was I guess he had just finished managing max he was still doing some things in and out of industry bleeeh just he was managing me for a little while and was still looking you know industry had a lot of connections so he wanted to meet with them he's like yo he's like yo it was like you think we talk you got any other part and by that's how I kind of got a little jaded with the industry we are have like three different means and you know super marrow had told us to sound like De La Soul and man I'm in the street I ain't even worried about that so they like y'all was going me just do I'm not doing that you know except for what I'm tired it's to keep hearing the same old [ __ ] so I let him talk me into it do prose up that's the 98 he pulls up in front of my building a navigator black brand new navigator so nobody happened no navigator 90s on he gotta be somebody he know he doing something say pose in front of my building get in the car he like I'm just quiet cuz I'm always the one that never pays you know never leaves nothing I'm always skeptical everybody so I'm sitting back they talking to he quite he's looking at me like what you know I'm like my name is my son and then he say you alright I'm never good I'm just I don't know you know I'm 18 years old okay to mine some game you wasting my time whatever so he throws obese and they spit today he like so do you rob my yeah he likes to what they I'm like cuz you don't mind them right now so he laughs he's like alright I get it so then he happens to play a beat that I [ __ ] so I spit so he just looked at me was I and we drove we drove straight to our first part we drove to think we drove that's what free if you back in the industry that's what I'm free light-skinned brother he had four will let us use the word Jermaine priest organization so he took me to freeze office in a city who was trading a building boom upstairs receiving me so he's like yo rock so we spend maybe like young he do he's takes me to that's what I'm uptown baby came on Tracy wait booth was the midday he was men today was managing um Lord so he competed on yeah yeah cool so I mean they're big they like or just take a fight so by end of the day we had went to four different regulations he just got us inside like and it was all like not he's dudes dope but we like him wall you know saying so he was that's what his knee like y'all we everybody listen but most people liked you so you know that's when I started believing it I ain't really just no dude this [ __ ] is come you know trying to play no games then from there I had I went to UM we had what happened was I had a big bed it was shot in front of Justin Justin yeah heard about that shot Paul that was that was like the prior to that I had once others office who was that's when entertainment you know they I can cam and I came that Charlie Baltimore and what I think we just came each other yeah I walk an unlawful and just start ramen almost I was signing them don't don't let nobody touch him I did a song that day in the studio digger who was producing multicam tracks was in the studio when we did the Sun that was so fired that it was probably it's still like one of my favorite songs it never came out nothing hmm we played this song she was fired so that I was supposed to get started to that tell you like y'all don't let nobody else him nobody owes him we're gonna sign them now that's what Sean had just got signed a bad boy so but nobody knew that I had this case then I was I had a case from 97 so I'm still fighting this case so we supposed to do the deal for a couple of weeks Alan finds out I had the case I you know I told my y'all got this case so now he backs up today like oh I got a case I don't really want to do I don't know I don't know so now we back on it on it on the shipping but nobody else knows about the case with us whatever so we go to Justin's and we fast-forward adjustments and nori and China's outside just Robert randomly Tuesday night so randomly you pull up the Justin's and [ __ ] around 98 that that that was that was a time that was the NOI Yahoo that's and and I remember we when he first played um sobered up huh super don't know Natsume a pawn hold up there and played that song and I was like you let me just get on oh my gosh let's do this track like yoga how did this happen anyway so we outside did they freestyling my lord after Tom Matt Middleton was listening to that he listening to the wine like yo he comes inside we inside just as Ian he come like yo the up Salaam and shining numbers out there are no chocolate to do we just got the million dollar deal you know I got a hundred rounds in the clip I'm already man you know I'm saying I got a chip on my shoulder I'm dead in this [ __ ] he's fake biggie know that was the thing now that was the thing at that time I was like I almost started to sound like big go outside so I made it my own men's like a good and then and then Noor was like yeah you want to spit cuz nobody had never heard me Rob to this town like ain't never heard so I got those up in it i rana normally listen mila or this is fire - I rock you know oh okay that's up I go again yeah the Crowder's who was there it's everybody's coming we don't win the biggest struggles in the parking lot of Justice that probably ever happened so we going through to the point where I knows that enough enough enough you you got to slow down killer you trying to kill this man was back you got back to pufta you know he eats your artists of y'all who killed shine in front of the things so I had this big bidding war you know I'm saying we had a bidding war Jermaine Dupri flew me out to his house I sat down pretty much every label from there Chris lighty was like yo we're gonna do Christmas from the progress intense rest in peace till rest in peace and um I had this big bitty boy and ended up just like me as Shawn became best friends after that like cuz he was trying to pick us against each other you know if you should all he killed you cause the Pope was man like y'all what you wanted outside no more innocent money look to it so it was it was it was an issue for many we have almost had we almost got cell fight over with in the Hamptons his man's was man really was one of his man's it wasn't him he's me as I [ __ ] in their each on you fake love so we almost got into a big beef whole teams we all 20 are my wife Bronx Brooklyn we just haven't had somebody in the middle I think it was Wolf Wolf pretty much squash that God blessed is he got to had I said let's do a sit-down we became best friends internet so I got signed ensemble Chris lighty I was originally gonna sign the Rough Riders but I just I had an ego you know I'm saying I was like you last but that's this that's DMX link like I want to do that over here on my own like I don't want to be under DMS I love X but I want to be my own you don't tell me what they got he got the Rough Riders I want to have the problem children that was my organization I was the problem child and I haven't like five of my news week I call them problem children so I'm like we can have our own stuff I don't want a sign underneath there's like nah you can do this from like not everybody already know that the Rough Riders is symbolic with DMX and a lot like good I'm sure what you say did it makes it already so far me records like there's no way that you come in and you won't be named priority of X and then so you know Chris was like you gonna be fine really I'm telling me what do this you know we got five seat with you the only guy over here so it's not know like no competition it was kromega Mathis foxy and kromega he's like everybody like they got the only people the only thing we're gonna push it we look at this so he sold me and with schedules drives the album in the same case I had I mean fine going back and forth with it you know we went to trial I ended up blowing trap you know it was my first my first felony or whatever but I ended up getting sentenced to 7 to 14 years so you know not actually that was crazy how how are you I was 20 years old 25 20 years old just about to got this record deal just about to do all this stuff and I end up on trial for 7:14 and so I'm sitting there like this this can't be true I was just at the Super Bowl I was just in the Bahamas recording my album with havoc and prodigy you know we in the studio I got I'm supposed to be doing vibrating remix today after I got locked up like it was just the weirdest turn of events that I probably ever seen in my life so you know just doing my bid I just had to find some level of silence and an understanding like you know I gotta find a purpose in this like I can't sit here and let this destroy me I can't you know I gotta find focus and I and I came up with this idea in my mind and I was innocent of the crime that I blew trial for that's let me say that I was I was convicted of armed robbery oh cab drivers that I never robbed in my life and I wanna picked out of a lineup one guy picked me off the street saying I look like somebody you know so dad - that in itself was even worse it was something that you did you ever sent your dad you like this is you would've come to him going you said yeah losing a man I like your deal and you're sitting in prison for some [ __ ] you didn't do you know it's a lot but you know I just told myself every day - every day that I don't learn something I don't grow as a man the system wins you know I'm saying I can't sit here and beat down I can't like I'm going home eventually I got at least seven years to do this so I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do worked out I read exercise I roll lobs I had books around you know I studied you know when I started realizing that the prison was a business like you said it was an industrial system with we were to deprive it like how minorities going in and out of prison and they just keep ringing the same ones in here and he's selling us the same fairy tales you know the I be making you believe that it's some type of badge of honor to go to prison for my communities and we're going in and out and the dudes is coming home telling us how cool it is and how gates today is because they was locked up and it was in the yard and she was visit me and all of this [ __ ] that you find out when you in there's a bunch of dudes that just dying to get home some dudes you probably would never even talk to in the street now you surrounded by these dudes hmm so I realized that I'm like you we've been lied to for years you know it's especially in our communities so when I came home my mom frame was different I didn't immediately get into activism but I was definitely way more conscious you know saying some of our focus was different my whole path was different so when I did seven years later when I did make my ward and that out you know I still pursue my music but you know it took time because you after seven years you don't you out of touch you don't know what's going on you know people you don't got you know I'm chunky talk about that like how could I don't think people the vast majority of the populace has never been to jail right so it's kind of hard for people to understand when somebody especially for a long periods of time like seven year I remember all I think it was May no and he was saying when he first came out of jail he forgot how to cross the street like he is like you become institutionalized and you it's so how hard is it to adapt back into society when you've been away for seven years it's very hard because it's different so many different transitions that you have to go to you have to go through your own you have to you have to adapt back into society you have to get out of the society that she was in you have to you have to evolve your thinking because you use the things being one way you don't say you used to be first you used to do things being a way that there were in the street before you got back then you used to the surroundings that you just left so there's so many different elements that you have to unpack it unroll from souls first you're quiet because when you present you can't you not allow you're not very energetic because that that makes you a target so the most like the loudest person in the yard is the target and usually the weakest person so that's how they judge you so you have to be very Milotic you know very focus you let it not say much you listen more than you talk you know in society you have to network so to be the more quiet you are that you're less to productive you are it's true so I'm moving around people and I'm coming around and people oh I heard you there one more and I'm just quiet people asking me all right everything go with them I'm like no I'm good he's goody good anything like y'all alright I'm like yeah I'm good what do you mean I'm saying like you look like a people scared it's okay like and I didn't understand what they were talking about but I did make myself approachable because I was a lot more serious and did especially dealing in this industry you know how faith is chicken hand until you love you and you gonna call you tomorrow and that's not gonna happen they're gonna do this with you and it's not gonna happen so that don't happen in prison yes say they don't really happen in the streets just regular being in the streets when you deal with men you don't really go like that so when you start having those conversations and you see in these industry dudes and they tell you how much they love you you're gonna do this and then they don't when you come in prison it's like you're why you do that everybody is used to that outside so when you're approaching to do that he said he's gonna do something don't be nervous now now he like yo we don't want to be around us to eat bug God hmm you don't stand that's why when you look what man came home he was doing a lot of stuff he was a lot about cuz he wasn't used to being on that time will you play with me you said to me you won't do something to me you can't say or do something from me and don't do it you can't give me a hug look me in my eyes here I got you it did not call you don't answer your phone you see me and we have the same conversation three times and nothing happens so that's a process so I was getting enemies from that plan because I'm taking you literally like detail I go I love you I'm gonna doing this I'll play your record my I'm coming to the DJ you give it a record they playing it for two seconds turn it off like you like you don't like I can't play the song like I know you got to do a knob but you playing some software something to live down in a New York Club and you break in the sunny playing at 4:00 and 5:00 time but you plan my second but my record for three seconds here and this is issues I'm turning off these microphones like you know I'm saying so this was a process for me the acclamation just realizing that you got to be calm and you got to do things different the way and you got to be a lot more diplomatic that was a process you don't sense and coming from prison because you all you have in prison is your work the way that you carry yourself you count yourself like a man your world is everything there so that's how I came home and that's not how it is here you know ten people tell you anything and and and if you do not adapt to that reality then you will find yourself outside of the bubble so what you got to do is learn how to play the game you don't expect anything and you realize how pollution you you doing what you got to do whatever they do is a plus you know expect anything come so that that was a real process of adjustment let's talk about all mass incarceration so for people that are not familiar with some of the numbers we looked at so there's there's private prisons America think is but only country that has private prisons yeah one out of five prisoners in America are in private prisons it's a two billion dollar industry for victims and the whole thing is really crazy because it's like a bunch of fortune 500 companies and you have workers that are incarcerated from Victoria Secrets Whole Foods Walmart hopefuls actually owned by Amazon so that's really Amazon Walmart Microsoft Starbucks BP Nintendo AT&T Target to name a few just a few and is there's a whole economic system that's based around jail from the cost of phone calls is extremely high um commissary it's like way overpriced for food items even transportation to get to you like these prisons are in the middle of nowhere most in most states so it's like five-hour bus trips and then they have transportation companies that provide bus trips to suit those families to come oh it's all system my real able to free labor free labor yes yeah the free the free light I'm just really quick the free labor thing was crazy especially and we'll get into the pandemic but I work in a school and I'll never forget when it just started maybe like early March they brought the hand sanitizers into our school and at the same time they brought it in I remember senator I read an article like yo they got the prisoners making the hand sanitizer I'm like I can't use that this goes against everything I stand for like you could have actually employed people to make these things and gave them a job but right you don't let prisoners eight cents an hour anything about it is those same prisoners that make that inside the prison can't go home and work in a factory what do you do that they won't even hide it right you can see I'm saying so it's like the is purchasing they're doing it working for phone AT&T to answering 18t calls but can't come home work ATT they do instruction and building the only call craft is the biggest thing inside the prison they make all the clothing or there's soap or everything but you can't come home and work if you four copass you got a felony so it doesn't like is really is really slavery and so from being inside from like first-hand experience because I think they said the average prison across America gets paid like 68 cents an hour or something like that or 86 cents an hour you don't have an ops because I want to explain this for people like I said the vast majority people have they've never been incarcerated so I think it's in because a lot of time people don't have compassion Alaska you know it's very common especially in our community for some reason we're very compassionate people but we're very uncompassionate amongst ourselves exactly and a lot of sounds like well don't do the crime don't do obviously shouldn't commit crime as obvious right but that doesn't motivate it that it's like America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the prison population we have more prisoners than India India and China they both have a billion people we have 300 million people so there's obviously a financial system in play here right but so being on the inside how was it because you don't you don't have an option to work you have to work right you know you have program so which program colors you like to choose vocational what you have to take some type of skill then they probably have programs that's mandatory program they show you the crime they have drug programs you have to go to or violence programs or trying to deter violence programs you have to go to and then you have a regular job that you have to do you know and like he said the average prisoner doesn't I don't know but maybe maybe went up to sixty since I cuz I when I was there the job was like seven eight cents out we will make about 50 cents probably a dollar two dollars and and then we will probably have about two dollars three dollars if you worked the whole week you know saying so and I was working this regular seven i was 7-8 hours a day shift and you get about no more than three or four dollars a week that was the commissary so you know when you when you in it you don't want you to like you said you don't have a job you don't have a choice or the world and you can't even survive those that amount of money is not even enough to buy toiletries you know they don't supply you they find you so but they don't supply you with deal right you know they don't surprise you were served with baby all you and things of that nature ocean yourself so that's not even enough to buy toiletries so you know she love with that they give you these new $10 $10 Romo new $0.10 woman soups that you can buy an average person who has no outside friends and family to bring them anything he's probably right about 20 of those weeks and they living off that because the kind of the food that they feed you can't really fill you up and most of it ain't even good so it's definitely smooth sleep industry and it's a big business I think the first time it probably wasn't on Calle Zalman maybe I was ignorant but when he he said the line of CCA teamed up with the DEA I had to stop by yo the CCA and and absolutely doing some research to the Corrections Corporation of America they're building these private prisons and when you build a prison you have to have prisoners obviously so they're making millions of the dolls building these prisons and then finding inmates but what they're doing in the same time is they have to incriminate people right so it's like yo the thing that used to not be illegal now it is and that that's happened over time we've seen that happen with with mexicans and in the 1800s and chinese went in during the gold rush like we're gonna criminalize what they do and people are not aware of it but i so when you talk about this generation I'm just like yeah they don't get it because they can't see the big picture I mean America is built on capitalism capitalism only came to survive if there's a lower-class there has to be a bottle you don't really have to be a middle class but the bottom has to be someone so this is what that's what white supremacy is that you became we talked about it for black people and people don't understand it all you could do anything no it's not meant for you to do everything the reason why we in marginalized communities why you have projects do why the reason why they don't fix it up because we need crimes to happen in these can eat crap like so when after this pandemic there's going to be a flood a flush in crime because you know why because people are dealing with trauma they don't fear people gonna be dealing with financial issues did they cut all of the summer programs the kids are not getting no some of youth is no basketball there's no sports day they closed the park so what else are you going to do if you're living in a project you know you sitting around you HOT you outside you're not staying in the house it's nothing but crime chunk you probably gonna rob somebody because now you came enjoy the sports the kids don't even go keep the go enjoy disperse you frustrated you didn't graduate you missed your graduation he was probably going to you wanted to top basketball players you supposed to go to d1 school when you didn't even get to play your last year you don't even know if you're going back to us like there's so much things that's going to breed crime in our communities right now yeah you know so this is this right here is the time like when you give you if you start studying stops the prison industry is what they invested in right prison pharmaceuticals because they could try to force us in the back all of these things are things that's going to happen you know the stimulus trial pack was the key people styling because when a stimulus is over and then you go back they said we got to hide this is the highest unemployment ever they got over 40 million people who applied for on the plane who lost their jobs so that's what that's going to look like in the next couple of months when they start to reopen society and people moving it's going to breed crime there's gonna be some people that have nothing all right some of the most some of those jobs that they used to have won't be there right and a lot of people a lot of people get confused it's like all that can't happen here but I'm like yo somebody can't eat where they live they come into your neighborhood you don't say Krong poverty is crime that's the bottom line any way that you look with people living probably this crime you know it's not black people was not spending people's is the conditions that people you cannot change the conditions you can't change the crowds when people say oh they shouldn't commit committed the crimes where the conditions was set there for them to commit the crime of you you know that some people have the ability to live with with meager do to live with nothing some people okay with that when you look outside you see other people having things as a young boy and you being teased for not having things and you try to figure out how how to get it and the only vision or succession of a scene with a drug dealer the only people you ever seen have money with the drug dealer the stick-up kid that pulled up they had the girl you want you had your car you want they had to respect you one is it's not as easy as you just don't commit the crime and you just keep going to school with barely enough lunch money and holes in your jeans you keep telling me no you can't buy the new video game you can't no we can't get these new shoes and K will keep getting cut off and some days we come in there's nothing in the refrigerator it's easy to say you shouldn't commit the crime when you don't understand those reality you know I'm saying so you have this you have to change those realities for you to change the mind state of the individual nobody wants to commit crime I never I never want I did everything possible nothing community crime but it was a time when I felt like I was I was a man and I was around people and I never feel because I don't have $1 $2 in my pot so that starts to play on the psyche it's a reality that we live within ones lost communities and you know and I think people who don't identify with that something there are some people who are able to move through that without coming crowd because it's just certain people that are you to you know overcome that some people come from strong families to where even though they don't have nothing they have a strong unit well you can't say that to a person who father od'd when he's 11 years old a mother's on crack in the streets and you don't the food stamps she does sold the food stamps and you're coming home and it's just you and your little sister in the house and you got to figure out how to eat that's a different conversation so when people say you just don't commit the crime and don't understand the realities that come with that it's the insult you know it's it's it's insult to somebody who has a good heart who considers himself a good person you look at most of our people who look at jay-z you look at 50 when they got the opportunities they didn't have to come across you know but they got where they got because if it wasn't for those crimes they committed you wouldn't even know them they probably would've been in the street someone you never said so it's a double-edged squad and we want to do better we got to understand the circumstances in my community let me ask you this cuz just I'm interested to notice you you see you have mentioned the call centers like AT&T or one of those companies how did that work so somebody's locked up like definitely answering their like customer service your customer service that's what job this job Chris one of my friends he literally came in two days ago and he told me he was working so so I think it was ATT otherwise one day he was able to call the hello what would you like to speak to it he would direct the court he in certain lines they pressed him afford them to you know that could give them turn out but he was the first line of calls I think oh that's interesting because it's like yes it's really you know it's like you don't have a choice to do it because if if you don't do it what happens you you get punished right very very fraction right fraction you can lose if they can do that role whatever they know that's part of the cycle right like that and that's what keeps you there right so I commit this infraction now my time is longer than now they make more money because I'm staying I'm saying it's all part of the same sir you know and I'm one of these people where you know I hate conspiracy theory because I'm just a person that I like to deal with facts right but a lot of this stuff is kind of it's not a conspiracy it's common sense where is like okay if I if I'm the CEO of a fortune 500 company right now the easiest option is to outsource it to like India aren't you they do but you still got to pay them something even if it's like two dollars and hours like and it's like you know it's a language different people they speak English but it's you know where's somebody from America that speaks English that you can pay 10 cents an hour right literally 10 cents a day right use that not hours an hour I mean on the bottom company's bottom line why would it not why would I not do that so being that that's a work population you it's really no incentive not to have people in jail it's if anything there's an incentive to keep the jails full right because you have a free yeah two million people that's that's locked up that's that's working for free and this is why it's not makes common sense that we have 25% of the world's prison population only 5% of the world's total population it's a big business it's a business when it all comes down to money at the end of the day and unfortunately we came here as labor that's what that's how glad you work to this country so we maintain that you know and until we understand that reality and we stop we stop punishing each other and stop freaking out how to build with each other because everybody looks down on somebody else based on these circumstances oh you don't got this you you should've never did this not understanding people services and so a two-week create a culture because the problem with us has blacks in America we don't have one culture we're not a monolith and then people say that as if it's a positive thing I think is is is to our detriment because if you're looking at the other culture when you look at the Asians they have one culture you know they think they immediately when something happens they being moved together because represents their coach when you look at the Jew you have one coach so what happens they all move together at one and give it gives them a sense of power even when you look at the Hispanic community Dominicans in Puerto Ricans they have a culture they form together we're the only people that might hang with for the reasons we might feel him we might be everywhere else but I don't got to do it just cuz you back we don't feel no obligation just as you black to support you it just it's just not how most people feel they feel like I did it myself you need to figure out the Chinese person come to jail every Chinese person Asian person in this friggin I'll get you good what you need to speak their language they gonna bring them they gonna feed them they gonna make sure he good Hispanic person come all of this panic people gonna call them they gonna feed them you're good black cause they come they look at you like that to hit feed you to the wolves unless you unless you big knew you from somewhere but ain't no just like you once notice a black dude i'ma make sure he good it just don't work like that so it shows the divine you just don't move being on the inside did people like did some of your comrades while you was locked up start to realize that the financial play behind it like what a starting to see like this like I'm out in the streets doing all of this but this is actually a bigger play here and now I'm working for free for Lord and Taylor all of these companies like today did they ever realized that inside you ever had those kind of conversations with people inside the most brilliant people I ever met was in Christmas I met genius and they never come home man who could convicted for stealing a dollar out of white woman's purse supposedly an armed robber doing 30 or 40 years you know at 17 and big inhibit the war three and four times like this is this is the reality that we come from you know the crimes that that people that our presidents are spinning if you have you heard the the reality of with these crimes I went to jail I did seven 14 years no record I was going to john jay college nothing for supposedly robbing $10 from a camera with a gun that nobody ever found nobody who's ever hurt and he says to me the 7 to 14 years of my life but record deal all these things people sending me letters like oh we'll do this grammar makes really good they said now we we gotta send him to jail except to ruin your life UNICEF said this is the reality that our people come from they don't have those realities in different communities you know I know the white dude was convicted of raping some girl behind you know blood they'd thrown in a dumpster and he said we're not putting him in jail because it's gonna mess up his college he's going to college on Seattle you know say so this is this one this is this is what we do this is a reality so of course this do when you get a man you start to really look at the dams only us coming in these doors and it's only us saying you know bigger dig to minimum facilities really doing two or three years no matter what the crime they getting billions they doing white-collar crimes get a hundred million dollars and they go home for two or three years you mother tell you about my situation she had him doing ten years he'll put up on did one in two years you go to people who made way more money than hug ended up doing two years in one year or give probation so and the only difference was the skin color you know understand so this is the reality that we deal with when you when we City of course we realized if you if you have any level of intellect you realizes the plane and this is a money thing you know they give it a dig in about 50,000 a year for each inmate in the end they don't provide nothing for you but a bed that just keeps going in and okay do we pay in state grants everything else ain't gonna give you a [ __ ] estate man living probably they probably spending about $1,000 a week on the defeat of whole prison right and they make you 30 to 40,000 50,000 or each in Empress and and it also helped the economy of the local town because these talents are like in the middle of nowhere mhm and a prison the prisoners yeah they they counted as as population so like when I do the census taking and today taking out a net community knowing that they can't vote it's more people in the other community and didn't have like a thing where it's like because one of my cousins was was incarcerated in federal penitentiary in Connecticut and I want to visit them and I think I had jeans on so I didn't know that you couldn't wear jeans so you had to sweat so I drove two hours to get there I'm not going not gold so they like don't worry about it there's are all marshals down the street and then like that's convenient they like everybody nobody really knows that right so it's like everyday people's going to marshal the prison one prison got was cool you like Lucas what you do you buy it and keep it tag on them return it but they like it happen so much it's not a coincidence that the box is your business around exactly it's crazy most person ain't gonna take it back sweats and I'm good there's gonna be a five-hour ride back home I'm good and that's what we do and it's like the whole town the whole town upstate you know a lot of these times I'm a bit war kill and all these these that's the whole industry is prison isn't internet or liens I'm is nothing I want you to jail or liens and I'm there for hills is right across the street and everybody all the seals is like cousins family he was either his family or he's never change system they it was one town with all of everybody in the channel worked in the prison after you really did you have go through the the probation process so I know that something that me talked about a line he's trying you know they trying to do the reform project can you talk about that a little bit well I didn't have to do probation had to be grow okay which is in much is the similar good is different you know as far as parole when you want parole there were certain amount of time on parole that you have to complete without being violated so I came home I did seven years in prison I have a seven to fourteen means I either seven or the maximum I to this 14 so after I was released on my parole that means I had seven years left on parole what happens is you have to not get into any trouble for seven years and if you do they can keep violating you based on amount of time that you have so if you if you want parole right and you get violated you doing here good and now you get into trouble they can give you two years in prison the maximum they can give you is two years every time and if you keep doing that until you get to your maximum so that seven years could be like two to two and then one yeah you could just be doing good nothing about it three years oh we're gonna Maxwell oh yeah whatever they want to do probation is different is because they do contain keep starting your probation okay period means that I we're gonna suspend your sentence for five years but you can't get into any trouble within that five years you do we can start all the way of looking hmm yeah and trouble can be any anything any form I thought the Meek Mill thing was it was he's a celebrity he's a you know one of the top rappers so that really highlighted but there's millions of stories like that flee even where even an impossible situation and rest in peace but remember the guy that was just there and he got arrested right let him out because it was so ridiculous but he literally got shot and he had arrest he got shot and got arrested because he was around felon he's in the presence of a felony hook so it's like and I'm saying it's like he's going to get close that nipsey was supposed to have given him this he just came home from doing 20 years in jail right and he gets shot his first day home and he gets incarcerated the same night hey you never say it just speaks to that like if far as the criminal justice reform do you think that that that [ __ ] because I don't think that that's talked about enough as far as the financial do you think like that this should be pressure on companies like I feel like no company should be able to benefit from a prisoner like that should be in a bill like you can't have prison labor like but you to say that is to not understand that that's what this country is built we built on slavery they just say that a new way to call it like we came here came here as work as slaves you did we came here as slaves and we did all of the labor you know we were the commodity so they figured out when they ended slavery they figured out how do we continue to justify I put it in my phone man to Frenchman yeah I'm call your slaves no more they call you criminals you know saying so now this is in the it's in the Constitution slavery is illegal unless when you get arrested 37 so that means now they've legalized slavery sort order for the country to continue to is built on capitalism so capitalism has to flutters a reason why capitalism versus because there has to be a group of people that could just continue to feed the upper edges in jail is the word the lower class of a new crimes they're gonna die they go they gonna spin only money and and that is how the other people stay rich they figure out ways to continue to prop they're not gonna spend any money so they figure out ways to profit all from you so for them listen for you to say they gonna write a constitution that they can't make money they make money that's why that's what when when you hear them that's why they they try to get rid of that's why they immediately Obama was trying to end all Obama was trying to end all would you call are you trying to end the prison's he was trying to end crime in prison and when he when he they they immediately stopped that the in the same saying he was trying to imply there's like that we stopped the net you know that was his job like we don't want no more private prison yeah it's Trump that boy in office private prison stock went up because you go who is to know the business you know saying so even so when they do this prison reform it's the strategy prison reform right okay we're gonna say we're gonna let we're gonna let in the nonviolent prisoners out with all that people got drugs we're gonna let them out boom we're gonna make sure that everybody who commits something that we call violet just never comes home and we're gonna create situations to wit violence is inevitable so we're gonna create a man we got a pandemic with we know the communities in our communities are gonna be broke they can be hit the hardest it's gonna be a couple of dudes they got it and others who don't so after this pandemic is gonna be a hot summer there's no activities no clubs to go to there's no parties there's no sports you just outside in the heat all day kids gonna give the crime the crime rate is gonna Scott Scott yeah in New York City they you know getting rid of Rikers Island they put in a prison on East borough that's the proposal it's crazy it's crazy because I never hear about new schools being built in these boroughs but that is a headline there was I mean I know you do work in the school [ __ ] what's your to us they don't build you know say most of these schools is the school to Prison Pipeline is where most of these schools look like prisons and you know I've been in prison most of these schools pretty much models we preparing our kids from prison that's crazy you said that that I had his crazier and he's not remembered a story when I was in on the Bronx I was teaching I had the shotty come speak for career day and as soon he went through the metal detector saying oh what the hell is this like literally it looked like the 47th precinct like the blue paint the bars the metal detectors security walking around everywhere I was like yo damn this just this is real like people I don't think people really understand that that school to Prison Pipeline suspending kids not providing them with adequate education so they're more likely to not even go to school so they back on the streets and what's gonna happen they gonna feed the beast man that's - yeah that's what it's important that they see people like you in these schools because we are able to identify with that reality we are able to identify with the fact that you young energetic you don't really see the need in school you you fidgety you want to see girl and we able to redirect that we able to make these classrooms comfortable and fun enough to where the average person don't want to come here cuz oh he gonna beat it might mess my cooties let me go to make sure I buddhas clap we saw creating institutions that reflect what our culture is we don't learn the same way everybody we don't want to sit at a desk and look at no truck water right now moving around we're gonna have activities and we created institutions that taught us the way that we learn based on a that's one of the things that that Kanye was saying when he did that that meeting with Trump and he was sitting he's like yo what do we have schools when they look to basketball when I told you today you what schools would be more fun it would be apparent to us that's how they created a whole structure that fits how Europeans learn in told us we have to acclimate today that's not we always like you can you clear the school and you create a structure that's for us by us that we understand how to teach us we understand you know the best to appeal to the attributes to each individual you know I'm saying you will see higher levels of people going to school any new ones instead they create something that they know that we is not full this stuff man cuz like I got said man education is important but a lot of people especially in our community don't aspire to be in education they don't spire to be teachers it's not enough money you know I'm saying like we grow up is like y'all want I want to be this I want to be rapper I want to do nobody aspires to be in education when everybody that you talk to has started their you know main so it's important like you said that for you to be in schools myself Charlie coming into schools is a point cuz the representation they may not see you again they may not see like for one time only they may see you and say like wait I could be that I mean that is it's super important yeah so we talked about the economics of prison but that's only half of the conversation because even when you come out there's a whole economic play behind that right it's like being in a halfway house and they get paid per bed and then it's like you got to give a portion of your paycheck back to the state and I know you had a program where helping people out with their credit this is the whole thing like when you come out of jail you don't have a life since the you know passport no credit you don't have any credit history you can't rent an apartment so hope so now it's like you can't get a job a lot of times especially if you have a felony so that the economic is not like okay you just did a few years in jail now you're back to being normal now it's a whole economic play well for that and it's like so can you talk about that like getting out of jail how's that process as far as like I said like building your credit and stuff like that that process you know I do not need to know you don't have around you that can educate you you know especially right now we understand that you don't have credit you don't have nothing you know so a lot of these dudes come home it's all my money think I can never catch you can't you the apartment you can't wait you know so that transition is this difference personally it depends on when you how long you've been in prison this dudes is coming home man I've been in jail 20 25 years you know so they trying to figure out what do we do next how do we do this and that process is slow it's it's different you know I was blessed enough they had people to put me said we're gonna get yourself on you gotta do this when I left them I barely had a step I have one of the first cell phones and on the two-way it was it was it was way different so when I came home and you know cell phone and you gotta get an Instagram I had to get on was with my space I can with my space I was blessed enough to have people that put you anything so it's it's a lot to read adjust yourself to prison in a lot of times people don't you may become institutionalized because it's easier to live in prison because they they can do things for you you get three males you know you got to do is with state greens you know if you a person who don't have no family no nothing you don't have no support system then it's easier or even if it's not easier you don't mind going in prison you like to go home I'm into a bread I'm robbing this he's gonna get a million of knives and I'm just gonna come back here I know I'm good here I'm gonna get three meals and I'm just gonna be chilling and you know other I know the CEOs here my name is heavy in the jail like some people have that's become their life and they institutionalizing it they can't survive outside because it's not as moving too fast or they don't know how to adjust they don't have nobody to help them adjust and he realized it you know so that's what they call could be institutionalized you see a lot of do they come out you probably knowing that they'd be out for a week or two when he was in jail again yeah just like like what he did like Holly and you you don't get it but he D got in his mind that he can't survive of you he's no I'm saying rather than say that he just gonna do something that's so outlandish and then go to jail do you know and internationally creates so I wanted to have this conversation to raise awareness but we never want to leave anything on a damn poor note so what is there because the whole point of what you're doing as far as an activist is to create change right so now it's like the first part I think for people to be inspired to make changes to actually be aware of what's going on cuz a lot of people just aren't are ignorant to that fact are not ignorant in a bad way they just don't know right and that's a really a good thing it's like you know you shouldn't know what jail is like hopefully you don't have you never have to go to jail but it's like now hopefully people are a little bit more educated on what's going on so the role they play in it yeah so what what is some in your opinion what are some solutions that we of course there's a political solution where you know this different idea is in place to like take the felon thing also a job and yeah so how can the average person or how came as a community or as a country as a world make this thing better is it through political action is it through like what was with some of the avenues there's so many different avenues I want to shut up my brother Jay Jordan he lives in California and he started program Court I'm done oh we know Jay Jordan we spoke to him a watch he watch oh yeah yeah yeah we spoke to him oh yeah yeah you know saying jeez he's out there doing the time done like the last time I was with nipsey we did a concert but I'm done that jail puts it up you know on a try like four or five months before nipsey passed away I know so anyway he's doing the Tyler's own concert I mean time done initiative with basically after you serve your time after a certain amount of time home you get to get your you record a sponge you know you're clearly expunged because what happens justice pigma of being a felon if you know when you kiss it's over they says over 3,000 paint jobs that you can it's like a scarlet letter yeah you know that things job you can't be Obama you can't be a dog walker you can't be a baby's like so certain things you just can't be at all if you are if you if you have a you know a felony so he's working to get those I think they'd be a bad day about the passage in California and my initiative is like that we have to support those type of initiatives we gotta look at those bring them over here we also have to we have to as individuals stop stigmatizing each other you know I'm saying because it's easy you know like even when I'm watching this tomorrow every case right hmm and it's people that we come from it's like they try to justify this man being killed like I've heard people like well he he shoulda did it oh oh where he walked into this abandoned house oh that's me so you telling me me walking into a house where they do a construction justifies you killing me like that that makes sense to you oh well what was he doing it don't matter if you thought he was trespassing give him a ticket for trespass right Oh if this man like to approach him with a gun and shoot him and they said he was he wouldn't comply well who are you to say how could you not have come with what a random person driving down the street with a shotgun pointing doesn't comply to you like this is the monster some of us have adopted we deal with you know we're dealing with a Stockholm Syndrome in which we start to to identify and love the people were present there are abusers we have to stop like we we can't give boys or credits justice if that don't make sense like you can't when we say yo it's a million people in prison and the prison is probably the biggest population that can be affected from the coronavirus and they could die easier to anybody because she's like a petri dish you know understand that and people are I don't care to do the crime you don't know what nobody did that's in prison not cents to death why would you be okay with just sacrificing those people out there fathers their husbands their brothers to people like we have to start humanizing people who get incarcerated because some people can't cause ready to come home and they do brilliant things some people don't even belong in prison every day we find out that somebody's conviction is overturned so we have to take that stigma and that that false narrative that everybody that's inside of prison is just trashed and the reality is that the vast majority of people have has done something that could at some point it's bigger small you've done something in your life where if a cop was there and if bright circumstances yeah you you could have potentially been in jail yeah and I was gonna say this is a living testament like we've had a number of guests on Alicia that have been incarcerated and if come out to do amazing things you know I mean so that's that's what the importance of this is like what you said earlier is like yeah we got to see it and we got a key pilot in stories like that so everybody that's been in that situation or can it has somebody that that is near that situations like oh no it's not over with there's plenty of opportunities out here for us yeah I taught a financial literacy class in jail shout-out to Tony Earl he uh you know it Tony's a good duel he had a Jill a program in Rockland County and I taught and I was my first time teaching financial literacy in jail or teaching in school and stuff like that and I was pleasantly surprised it was one of the best experiences I had like they was all acting me questions like they was like really paying attention it was real astute a lot of them really knew a lot is regards to stocks and cryptocurrency like they were on it like I'm saying so I say I have to say it's like don't look down on somebody just because they're incarcerated because everybody has the opportunity to change their life you don't know what the incarcerated for and the cost of anything it's like the whole point of being a human is to be a better person tomorrow than you were today so we can't judge people and yeah it's like we can't give up on people because you're giving up on millions of people too that can be doctors scientists lawyers like they can change the world and real estate it's like you said it's our best potential because we see that our leisure a lot of a lot of from season djm fees partners real estate moguls the real estate mogul and he was incarcerated it's like you know that's just one of many people that we've had on some of the most brilliant people that we've had on have criminal backgrounds so you know it's important to highlight this and to really you know even if it doesn't affect you it affects you one way or another you have a family member you have somebody in your community that you know personally everybody does it's just it's impossible not to so Mike's me I'll appreciate I appreciate you taking your time out to kick it with us like I said you know something that we wanted to do for a while so I'm glad that's like you know make it an opportunity to talk about this conversation good energy hopefully somebody here it is take heed to understand that we're all human and you know we all go to ups and downs you make mistakes sometimes you make the wrong turn some of us are blessed enough you know that our mistakes didn't turn out to be tragic you land us in prison you know so we should be we should be blessed for that and try to pay it forward because understanding that we at some point we probably could have ended up on opposite so you know little down when you brothers men even handle tomorrow prayers up to everybody that that's incarcerated family friends brothers and sisters that are find a coronavirus inside of prisons that's a real situation that out think people really understand right we on the outside like complaining like oh we can't go and we can't leave our house but we're talking about a place where it's overcrowded already there's no way to social distance this it's a real situation um so prayers up to everybody that that is fighting and facing that right now prostate circle I was watching CNBC yesterday and they said they were saying like some of the prisons like the population how many people have crazy Marion Marion and that's like a real well-known prison things like underground eighty-five percent of the prison population has corona they in Texas same thing they did they tested 2,400 inmates seventy-five percent tested positive that's right that's that's crazy crazy and he obviously does underlying health issues with people that are incarcerated and a lot of people try going on I hope the issues here the fact that there's not proper oxygen right look if you look at the numbers from the colonial era so you looking with most of the people the mortality rate is highest in places where people are inside the old folks homes and things like that people are trapped inside some huh okay when you look at a prison there's nothing else you inhale in the same air somebody's weeping all day it's not like no fresh eighteen windows no way same shower singer same toilet like public space it's like 85% of the population in that prison has corona like that really surprised I'm like wow yeah how do you why do you stop a hundred percent from getting it and it doesn't just stop with the prisoners because you have seals that are in the prison that go home to their families that now bring it you know I'm saying so it's like a real situation the magnitude of that yeah it's an issue but on anything you want to make the public aware of any initiatives you got going on in any music to we can get a chance to talk about music but I know you still you still bar I'm you we didn't get a chance to talk about that but any projects actually working on anything you wanna make the public will owe my project been out for a couple months I did so not for sale probably my favorite mixtape that I did in a long time so I would advise you either go down um I just hope this new children's book I know my rights is important especially based on what we we took them on now yes all talking about the Bill of Rights I broke down the first ten amendments of the Bill of Rights and you know two in four children from like age eight until high school it's really a family or anything book a lot of adults read it and say you know I broke down the amendments to them because they didn't even really understand them so it's a book that you know I'm shut up sit on the dry publishing for pioneering what we would have with the book is so dope where can we purchase do you purchase it on Amazon it has so many different like the animation on it is like fire right the whole animation of minutes just like like I took pictures of like my kids this is like one of my sons they took me like dude this is like on a cover this is the little this is my son this is my son this is my son you know me I try to make it real don't for people's talks about the right to vote the right to religion or a while you know so yeah like atomic at that for my son definitely yeah I'm gonna get that for my saw just thinking of summer reading we got a character for me do so [Music] this is different Troy household items yeah shout to everybody on patreon.com we got a few new members shouts at Cheyenne she's a tier floor member and mark and baked beans and rice so we we are looking forward to have it yeah we were looking forward to having those conversations we appreciate your support and everybody if you're looking to join page patreon.com/lenguin you can join eat anyone and they all come with different incentives tier four and five will get you access to our online school UIL university is a one of the fastest growing online universities in the world so feel free to join that and uh one of those other incentives is that you have access to our private real estate Facebook group man and that has just been killing it man a lot of learn is going on and there we have a Movie Club a book club we have webinars it's incredible man so everybody that's been joining that we appreciate it and everybody that's supporting emerged on our new leisure calm we got the assets over liability shot he got the you got the tracks alone man the tracks who was it was kind of crazy actually had to give my my rent one away it was it was that hot so shot everybody that supporting the merchants contains reported man yeah for sure so get you some air share sure yeah make sure you like and subscribe on YouTube that's important comment all of that and thank you guys for rockin with us we'll see you next week peace peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Earn Your Leisure

Views: 10,310

Keywords: School to prison pipeline, Business of jail, Mass incarceration, Private prison workers, free labor

Id: soLGJ-CyYLw

Length: 69min 29sec (4169 seconds)

Published: Tue May 26 2020