Hey there,

enjoy today's conversation with John Esteen and Reginald Joseph.

The incredible story of John Esteen and the person he has become will deeply touch you.

A 150 year sentence didn't make this guy fold and wanting to give up. He fought for the good and helped so many people along the way.

Reginald is a Screenwriter and very successful motivational speaker and so much more. He will share with us a story that will deeply change this world

I have goosebumps still..

thank you for listening and sharing

with love aurora

Support this super cool and informative, advertise free show 

 ‘Buy me a coffee’ and send some appreciation my way

Click link below:  

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/auroraborealis

Thank you !!!!

I’m very excited to guide you closer to your real, authentic self. 

My vision is to support your growth.

This is a place where you can recharge your batteries, reconnect to yourself, 

really get to know yourself and find out what steps you can take to untangle

yourself from a situation you don’t wish to be in. I invite you to get to know yourself better in order for you to make the right choices for yourself in the future.

Learn more at

www.auroraeggertcoaching.com

Join the Yurt Experience -Yoga Classes and Coaching here 

https://app.ubindi.com/Aurora.Eggert

https://auroraeggertcoaching.com/the-yurt-experience-pincher-creek-ab-canada/?frame-nonce=ee3276b5d1&amp=1 

Free yourself from the ongoing destructive inner chatter become the strongest most authentic version of yourself.

Let’s dive in and find out more about this juicy topic that will most likely affect you in one way or another. 

In this episode and many other episodes I touch on topics that I usually work on with my clients. Here in my podcast it will be targeted to a broad spectrum of people. If you'd like to go more into depth with a topic I address, reach out to me.

If you love what you learned, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss a future episode, and make sure to leave a review to help me reach more listeners just like you looking to follow their inner truth. 

Find the episode that suits your mood best here: 

https://the-borealis-experience.captivate.fm 

Give some love to the show and make it easier for people to find my podcast in leaving a review here

https://ratethispodcast.com/aurora

Do you need a one on one chat or regular meetings with me to stay accountable on your journey ?

Book a free 20 mins meeting with me 

Just message me on:

https://auroraeggertcoaching.com/contact/

And join 

https://www.facebook.com/auroraeggertcoaching/  

Have a podcast episode topic request ?

If I am missing a topic. Please sent me a topic request 

#wellbeing

#empowerment

#lifecoach

#newepisode 

#mentalhealth

#beyoufearlessly 

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Unknown: 00:00:09

Hello, and welcome to the Borealis experience. I'm

Unknown: 00:00:13

your host Aurora. And I'm very excited to be posting this

Unknown: 00:00:17

interview for you with Gianna Steen and Reginald Joseph, a

Unknown: 00:00:22

conversation among warriors about guys who are so inspiring

Unknown: 00:00:29

and they share just such beautiful stories. You also

Unknown: 00:00:34

touched on racism and how Reginald approached a very

Unknown: 00:00:40

racist situation back then when he was 17. Enjoy our

Unknown: 00:00:46

conversation, and I'll be out there very soon again for you.

Unknown: 00:00:51

Bye.

Unknown: 00:00:54

Okay, I'm john Epstein. I am the founder and president of any

Unknown: 00:00:59

second wind nonprofit organization. I have served over

Unknown: 00:01:04

20 years on 150 centers on nonviolent drug charge. Now that

Unknown: 00:01:09

I have my freedom, working towards helping others serve are

Unknown: 00:01:14

now and helping them best what I can.

Unknown: 00:01:19

My name is Reginald Joseph and I live here in Florida. I, my

Unknown: 00:01:26

father of six. Each and every one of them have grown and doing

Unknown: 00:01:31

well. I guess I linked up with john esteem through my brother

Unknown: 00:01:37

who played football with him in college, he knew that I knew him

Unknown: 00:01:40

from college. And I've been on this path of motivating and

Unknown: 00:01:47

encouraging people for a very long time. It's I think it's

Unknown: 00:01:51

been my life's calling to be that type of person. And so I

Unknown: 00:01:55

was on a mission to get some things started here. And my

Unknown: 00:02:00

brother introduced me to john. I don't know how the conversation

Unknown: 00:02:05

went between himself in john, but he told john that he needed

Unknown: 00:02:09

to meet me. So we linked up, I immediately noticed that we had

Unknown: 00:02:16

a lot in common, I'd never served time in prison. But I've

Unknown: 00:02:21

faced many adversities out here in the world. And it seemed to

Unknown: 00:02:27

put us on basically the same type of path, wanting to give

Unknown: 00:02:31

back wanting to encourage, but also wanted to see people reach

Unknown: 00:02:35

the pinnacle of success in whatever form of fashion that

Unknown: 00:02:40

may be whether being released from prison or being encouraged

Unknown: 00:02:44

and empowered, during their time in prison. As well as out here

Unknown: 00:02:49

in the world, being able to maneuver and manipulate

Unknown: 00:02:54

situations to the point where it always empowered myself or

Unknown: 00:02:59

empower that individual, encourage them to do better and

Unknown: 00:03:01

be better. And to be a better example to to the youth. I think

Unknown: 00:03:06

that's very important that we talk about, we always talk a

Unknown: 00:03:10

good game about how the world is changing, and what things need

Unknown: 00:03:15

to take place. But this world, but we never emphasize or

Unknown: 00:03:20

EMPHASIZE ENOUGH importance of education and educating our

Unknown: 00:03:23

youth. And that not only goes with classroom education, it's

Unknown: 00:03:27

about our morals, and educating them on having a higher self of

Unknown: 00:03:33

self esteem. We're going to all face adversities through every

Unknown: 00:03:38

day of our life, there are things that we go through just

Unknown: 00:03:41

to get us to the next point. And I just believe that we

Unknown: 00:03:45

encouraged through our, our life experience, I go through things,

Unknown: 00:03:50

but you don't have to know what I'm going through because of how

Unknown: 00:03:55

I react, you've got to see me encouraged, you got to see me

Unknown: 00:03:59

happy. And that there is going to encourage you and give you a

Unknown: 00:04:03

sense of empowerment that you can do to no matter what your

Unknown: 00:04:08

situation is. And I think that's how john and I are both kind of

Unknown: 00:04:13

motivated to see this thing. And to help as many people as we

Unknown: 00:04:18

can.

Unknown: 00:04:19

That is so beautiful. And the Borealis experience here is also

Unknown: 00:04:25

about showing to the world that there's such good masculine role

Unknown: 00:04:32

models out there. Because I feel there's a lot of men in power

Unknown: 00:04:37

right now that Miss guide their their power, their influence,

Unknown: 00:04:43

and they misuse it and use it against women and guys, and this

Unknown: 00:04:49

is why I feel it's so important to have you on my show because

Unknown: 00:04:53

especially when it comes to you, john, there is so much judgment

Unknown: 00:04:58

when it comes to People who came out of jail that people say no,

Unknown: 00:05:03

that person was bad in the past, they will never change, they

Unknown: 00:05:07

have no chance in society. And I want to change that image, I

Unknown: 00:05:12

want to show people that people deserve second chances, and that

Unknown: 00:05:17

there is strong, beautiful masculine role models out there.

Unknown: 00:05:22

And we just got to focus more on that we have to take the focus

Unknown: 00:05:26

away from these aggressive bullies, and put the focus on

Unknown: 00:05:31

guys who have really good intentions and who have learned

Unknown: 00:05:35

from their mistakes. So, john, if you want to maybe share a

Unknown: 00:05:41

little bit more of your story, and how you got back into

Unknown: 00:05:46

society now. And maybe some of the adversity that you have

Unknown: 00:05:50

encountered, and maybe beautiful experiences that you went

Unknown: 00:05:56

through now that you've out there in the world again. Yes.

Unknown: 00:06:03

was not an easy gone to prison. made, I think it all stems from

Unknown: 00:06:08

me coming back from war. I came back from war couldn't really

Unknown: 00:06:13

find myself, I was lost. And now we're looking to see what

Unknown: 00:06:19

direction to go in. And, unfortunately, I've got hooked

Unknown: 00:06:25

up with friends that were doing wrong things. And I had got to

Unknown: 00:06:31

hip to doing things like that. While I was in war, so I was I

Unknown: 00:06:36

did things at war, and Saudi Arabia that I have never done in

Unknown: 00:06:41

my life. So it kind of brought me to the kind of transformed me

Unknown: 00:06:46

to another person, a person that I wasn't brought up to be. So

Unknown: 00:06:52

when I came home with that same mindset, it was easy for me to

Unknown: 00:06:57

fall in a traps of doing things that I don't supposed to be

Unknown: 00:07:01

doing. And it led me to do my first tool in prison. And that

Unknown: 00:07:11

was Pensacola, Florida. The softball field is a federal

Unknown: 00:07:16

prison camp. My first conviction ever young man, still trying to

Unknown: 00:07:23

find myself. And I did three and a half years there, and I came

Unknown: 00:07:29

home it kind of like scared me straight for a little while. I

Unknown: 00:07:33

was married to my wife and the young lady that I met in

Unknown: 00:07:39

college, not playing football. We missed the regionals,

Unknown: 00:07:44

brother. So I'm home now and I'm working, everything working out

Unknown: 00:07:52

good for me, then that has got that charge and I got the people

Unknown: 00:07:58

I met new people that was doing what I did before. So quite

Unknown: 00:08:02

naturally, I kind of lean towards that we made extra money

Unknown: 00:08:07

is all about me. It was about making extra money is what

Unknown: 00:08:10

nothing else is wanted. I guess some people say it was selfish

Unknown: 00:08:15

motives. And I do believe that too. But I'm so had good

Unknown: 00:08:21

intentions. I want to take care of my family, my son. And now I

Unknown: 00:08:25

do have a son. He's our attorney now. So I'm proud of him.

Unknown: 00:08:28

Despite my downfall. He's he persevered and became a fine

Unknown: 00:08:34

young man, you know, so I'm proud of that. I'm glad I'm

Unknown: 00:08:37

thank God for that. And so now that I'm home came home from the

Unknown: 00:08:43

federal penitentiary around, I say 95 and 1998, I caught my

Unknown: 00:08:50

second charge, led me to Angola state prison was at one time the

Unknown: 00:08:57

most bloodiest prison in the world. And it seemed to calm

Unknown: 00:09:03

down a whole lot since we had a pro, a warden, by the name of

Unknown: 00:09:08

bro Kane, who would change the face of Angola would would

Unknown: 00:09:13

charge you with religion. So that was a good thing. So when I

Unknown: 00:09:17

get to Angola, you know, it was kind of shocked to me, it was

Unknown: 00:09:22

like it was on a world of his own. And I just couldn't believe

Unknown: 00:09:26

I was in there. But have a lot of distractions while there. And

Unknown: 00:09:33

I know I had a son for the years of my head that I don't do

Unknown: 00:09:36

anything about it. My feed would end right there, right there in

Unknown: 00:09:42

Angola. And, but what triggered me now we never talked to

Unknown: 00:09:49

original. And I realized that I realized that what triggered me

Unknown: 00:09:55

to fight the way I did for my freedom. And that's it. When I

Unknown: 00:10:00

was a color God, an angle on what was our head of veteran

Unknown: 00:10:04

program. And we would deal with buried out on. You see, and I

Unknown: 00:10:10

mentioned that to you before. And but as I reiterate, that is

Unknown: 00:10:16

not the thing that came up to my mind was that when that when I

Unknown: 00:10:19

seen that man that we bear going ahead and going around that big

Unknown: 00:10:25

ol dark hole, and it touched me I like I felt his pain, I felt

Unknown: 00:10:31

his family pain, I felt, they just came something came over me

Unknown: 00:10:35

that brought tears to my eyes. And I felt also I realized that

Unknown: 00:10:41

at that moment, it's like the old me was dying with that man.

Unknown: 00:10:45

And that ground going that ground with him. And that

Unknown: 00:10:50

changed me I was prior to that all I was doing was playing

Unknown: 00:10:53

sports.

Unknown: 00:10:56

The good thing I was doing is getting educated. I gotten a

Unknown: 00:10:59

Bible college that they had in Angola. So I got my own

Unknown: 00:11:04

bachelor's degree in Christian ministry. Then I got a

Unknown: 00:11:08

horticulture certification. So we're doing positive things. And

Unknown: 00:11:11

I was a leader there in Angola. So I taught a lot of classes,

Unknown: 00:11:16

their leadership classes. See.

Unknown: 00:11:20

So

Unknown: 00:11:22

all that add up to like, what am I going to do, and lay down on

Unknown: 00:11:30

my get up and fight and gain my freedom? The best way I know

Unknown: 00:11:34

how, and I decided to fight. It was that moment that I saw that

Unknown: 00:11:40

guy being buried. It touched me that much to make me grew up at

Unknown: 00:11:46

that moment there man and stand up for myself. And I have no

Unknown: 00:11:50

pity party and getting them Law Library and learn the law as it

Unknown: 00:11:55

pertained to my situation. And put God first half the room had

Unknown: 00:12:01

to put I put God first learned that, well, God all things are

Unknown: 00:12:06

possible. And I stuck with that. And I believe that my whole

Unknown: 00:12:10

heart. And I knew that God worked through us, not for us.

Unknown: 00:12:15

So knowing these things, helped me, the owner to stay on the

Unknown: 00:12:20

straight and narrow and the focus on my freedom as map

Unknown: 00:12:25

eautiful you want to start a podcast, where you encourage and

Unknown: 00:12:34

motivate people. And was Reginald, you guys want to want

Unknown: 00:12:39

to start a big project? What do you guys would like to share

Unknown: 00:12:45

with us?

Unknown: 00:12:46

Live resin? We'll talk about that. Yeah, please help me a lot

Unknown: 00:12:51

with my nonprofit filming things cutting, pasting, and he doesn't

Unknown: 00:12:57

beautiful things from me. And I like to him to elaborate on

Unknown: 00:12:59

that. Yes.

Unknown: 00:13:01

I've always been a writer since a kid. But um, I'd like to

Unknown: 00:13:05

comment one thing on on what john was saying. As far as

Unknown: 00:13:12

laying down or getting up and fighting. I think you have an

Unknown: 00:13:17

uncanny ability to block things out. One thing about me when I

Unknown: 00:13:24

run, I can run I used to run in a military and I would when I

Unknown: 00:13:28

went to Ranger School, I was always the guy out with the guy

Unknown: 00:13:32

on I would run up mountains and I was I could run distance. When

Unknown: 00:13:37

it came to running laps around a track. I couldn't do it. I was I

Unknown: 00:13:43

was very ineffective, basically, because I would count those laps

Unknown: 00:13:49

and how many more I had left, and it would really cancel it

Unknown: 00:13:52

out for me. So I was very effective at running. But if I

Unknown: 00:13:55

got out and I had to go seven miles out, I didn't have miles

Unknown: 00:14:00

to count I just ran You know, I'm saying and what you did was

Unknown: 00:14:05

with 150 use in my opinion, is I've never had to experience it

Unknown: 00:14:13

at that magnitude. But in my my opinion 150 years most people

Unknown: 00:14:21

would just settle would just give up would lay down and say

Unknown: 00:14:24

you know what, there's no fight left in me because what am I

Unknown: 00:14:27

gonna fight for 150 communities. This is what I got to do. I'm

Unknown: 00:14:33

dying, right? But you failed, you refuse to lay down because

Unknown: 00:14:38

you're able to block that out and I applaud that. And that's

Unknown: 00:14:41

an ability that I hope I can find in me at some point. That

Unknown: 00:14:48

extreme but as far as the big project

Unknown: 00:14:55

I

Unknown: 00:14:57

my my whole I guess makeup has been to help people to give back

Unknown: 00:15:05

to do what I could to be a selfless person. Selfish in the

Unknown: 00:15:11

sense that I put me first I my happiness is important to me.

Unknown: 00:15:15

But to be able to be a value, everything about me must be a

Unknown: 00:15:19

value to other people to help them grow, to help them get

Unknown: 00:15:22

better to help them see better and to do better. And working

Unknown: 00:15:27

with john, I see greater possibilities and everything

Unknown: 00:15:32

that I want to do that I need to do or aspire to do. Because we

Unknown: 00:15:36

have a we have like mind, we like minded individuals, we have

Unknown: 00:15:41

a lot in common as far as a military background. He went to

Unknown: 00:15:47

prison, but I, I was I faced adversity in the sense that my

Unknown: 00:15:53

father didn't raise, he went out and he adopted another family

Unknown: 00:15:57

and he denied my brothers. And he read, he retired from General

Unknown: 00:16:03

Motors 33 years, we never saw any of the benefits. My mother

Unknown: 00:16:07

saw not a lick of child support. And it hurt me all the way

Unknown: 00:16:14

through my adult life. I was searching for my purpose. When I

Unknown: 00:16:19

always knew what my purpose was, it was just hard to grasp what

Unknown: 00:16:23

my true purpose. Without that father figure, I had a mother, a

Unknown: 00:16:27

single mother raising three boys, and tend to be men, she

Unknown: 00:16:33

couldn't do it. So naturally, as the oldest, I get into trouble,

Unknown: 00:16:38

I didn't have a father there to teach me how not to make certain

Unknown: 00:16:42

mistakes. So how to make better decisions. So I had to learn a

Unknown: 00:16:47

lot on my own. But one day, I came to a point where I was I

Unknown: 00:16:55

was sick and tired of being sick and tired, if that makes any

Unknown: 00:16:58

sense to me. If I was 17 years old, and I got kicked out of

Unknown: 00:17:03

high school for fighting, and it was a senior year, and I told my

Unknown: 00:17:07

mother that I wasn't going to transfer to another school, I

Unknown: 00:17:10

was just gonna get a GED. And I said, You know what, I'm gonna

Unknown: 00:17:13

go to the army, forget college, I'm gonna go to the army. And

Unknown: 00:17:17

the day I was having that conversation with her, I got the

Unknown: 00:17:21

knock on the door. And I knew who it was, but I was

Unknown: 00:17:25

surrendered to what I was going to do. I was done with the old

Unknown: 00:17:30

stuff. And I was I was on to something better. And so I

Unknown: 00:17:34

opened the door and they told me, let's go man. And I was

Unknown: 00:17:37

like, Nope, not doing that anymore. I'm done with it. I'm

Unknown: 00:17:39

going into the army. And when I closed the doors last time I saw

Unknown: 00:17:44

them, those guys. they wound up they were two brothers, they

Unknown: 00:17:48

wound up in Angola, 124 years of peace for what they did that

Unknown: 00:17:53

night that they came to get me. That's right. 124 years with no

Unknown: 00:18:00

chance of parole for two counts of armed robbery in the state of

Unknown: 00:18:03

Louisiana at the time it was 99 years max sentence and 25 years

Unknown: 00:18:08

minimum. So they got two counts. And I went on. And my third day

Unknown: 00:18:15

in basic training. I was used in very spiritual way to change a

Unknown: 00:18:21

man's life. He was a racist. He was a professed racist, and he

Unknown: 00:18:25

was saying things and everybody wanted to get him. And at 17

Unknown: 00:18:30

years old, I didn't know much about life. I didn't know much

Unknown: 00:18:33

about, you know, scriptures and Bible anything like but

Unknown: 00:18:38

something in me rose up and I was able to go over and have a

Unknown: 00:18:41

conversation with this man. And he was an older guy. He was like

Unknown: 00:18:46

27 years old with a wife and kids and I was just snot nosed

Unknown: 00:18:49

kid off the block. I didn't know anything about anything. But the

Unknown: 00:18:53

conversation between the two of us left him in tears. And he

Unknown: 00:18:56

became one of my best friends in life changed his life from being

Unknown: 00:19:01

a racist to embracing diversity. And that's what I am I'm drawn

Unknown: 00:19:08

to that every time I talk with john St. And I'm drawn to

Unknown: 00:19:11

memories of that of my purpose is greater than what I've what I

Unknown: 00:19:16

could ever imagine. And there's so many great things that I'm

Unknown: 00:19:20

still get to do. And being that we the same age we kind of

Unknown: 00:19:25

timetable is really it's like, we don't have to race we don't

Unknown: 00:19:29

have to rush we don't have to fight against it. We just have

Unknown: 00:19:32

to relax into the flow of it and just be who and allow things to

Unknown: 00:19:37

come together. So the podcast, my podcast is choking on cigar

Unknown: 00:19:41

smoke and choking on cigar smoke, you know that the phrase

Unknown: 00:19:47

close but no cigar.

Unknown: 00:19:50

choking on cigar smoke means that you want it so much that

Unknown: 00:19:54

you can't even handle it. You don't even learn how to handle

Unknown: 00:19:58

so what we need to do is take To time Be patient, and focus our

Unknown: 00:20:03

efforts on being positive and happy. And educating ourselves

Unknown: 00:20:10

and therefore educating the youth. Therefore, the recidivism

Unknown: 00:20:15

rate, which John's mission is, it's curbing that recidivism,

Unknown: 00:20:20

it's, it's kind of bringing the diminishing that where there

Unknown: 00:20:25

won't be as many people going in and out of prison, and things of

Unknown: 00:20:30

that nature is really cultivating in saving the family

Unknown: 00:20:33

aspect. So that's what my goal is. And I think we're gonna make

Unknown: 00:20:40

a powerful statement in regards to family in regards to

Unknown: 00:20:45

education in regards to a recidivism rate.

Unknown: 00:20:49

Yeah, this is such an incredible mission. And I know you guys

Unknown: 00:20:54

will make such a big impact and change in society, all around

Unknown: 00:20:59

the world. And one thing I wanted to add to that is, when

Unknown: 00:21:04

it comes to criminal energy, john Astin, like said, he was

Unknown: 00:21:09

very selfish, he wanted to, yeah, earn a little bit of

Unknown: 00:21:13

money. But it was to be a provider, you want it to be a

Unknown: 00:21:16

provider for your family and help support them. So with a lot

Unknown: 00:21:21

of people who commit crimes, I feel they are extremely

Unknown: 00:21:26

intelligent, and know how to function and organize and

Unknown: 00:21:32

network, and then they get into jail. And most of the time,

Unknown: 00:21:37

horrible things happen in jail that so that when they get out

Unknown: 00:21:41

of jail, they're completely lost and don't know what to do. But

Unknown: 00:21:45

if you can now channel that energy, that energy that was

Unknown: 00:21:49

misguided, at the start channel into goodness, and helping

Unknown: 00:21:56

others, then you can create incredible things. And I feel

Unknown: 00:22:00

this is what you guys will be doing, you will pick up guys who

Unknown: 00:22:05

are lost, and maybe broken, and give them a purpose and give

Unknown: 00:22:10

them a sense of self and make them feel needed in our society

Unknown: 00:22:16

again, because that's what is lacking. Right now people come

Unknown: 00:22:20

out, beat up, and then are forced through administration

Unknown: 00:22:26

and are being judged by other people. And you guys are kind of

Unknown: 00:22:31

the supporting that who can receive them and help them into

Unknown: 00:22:36

a new direction. Did I get this right?

Unknown: 00:22:40

I think so. I also the point where john, his son, becoming a

Unknown: 00:22:49

responsible individual, despite his father being sentenced to

Unknown: 00:22:54

150 years in penitentiary, it was because of your refusal to

Unknown: 00:23:00

lay down your work ethic, your constant aggression towards

Unknown: 00:23:06

doing something proactive, yes, that would constantly teaching

Unknown: 00:23:10

your son, he couldn't give up because he wasn't being taught

Unknown: 00:23:14

to give up. He was watching you, and being empowered. So he can't

Unknown: 00:23:19

give up and he'll pass that on to his, his offspring. And all

Unknown: 00:23:24

of those around them, they'll, that energy will, will transfer

Unknown: 00:23:28

into their lives if if they so desire, but I believe that it's

Unknown: 00:23:34

just like I said, my values, not only for me, but more

Unknown: 00:23:38

importantly for those around me, especially my offspring, and my.

Unknown: 00:23:42

And that's why I believe you and I attract so strongly because

Unknown: 00:23:47

we've shared that share that same sentiment of positive

Unknown: 00:23:51

strong work ethic, work ethic, and the refusal to quit. I just,

Unknown: 00:23:56

I just can't quit at 53 years old man, I just I got I got more

Unknown: 00:24:00

energy than I did at 29. That's really, I truly do not thoughts,

Unknown: 00:24:05

and I get so many wonderful thoughts on how to I mean,

Unknown: 00:24:09

business and just everything I got into a PhD program because I

Unknown: 00:24:14

couldn't stop learning. I was just, I finished my master's and

Unknown: 00:24:17

I was like, Okay, I'm done with learn. And then I went got a

Unknown: 00:24:20

master's in screenwriting. And I said, Okay, I gotta do something

Unknown: 00:24:23

with this. So I thought I'd get the PhD in psychology to kind of

Unknown: 00:24:28

change the way things work in Hollywood. And I met john St.

Unknown: 00:24:35

Then my purpose was was reborn, it seems, you know, yes, this is

Unknown: 00:24:40

what it's about. So yeah, I agree with everything you said,

Unknown: 00:24:45

or, and I agree with everything John's and I'm just more than

Unknown: 00:24:50

happy to be on this journey.

Unknown: 00:24:53

So beautiful

Unknown: 00:24:55

and rich.

Unknown: 00:24:58

And you did The same good thing like john esteem did for his son

Unknown: 00:25:03

you did for your children and making that huge decision that

Unknown: 00:25:07

night that you're not going to go out and commit a crime,

Unknown: 00:25:11

right? You had to say, No, I made my decision, and I'm going

Unknown: 00:25:17

to the army, and it's gonna give me structure. And that was such

Unknown: 00:25:22

a huge, huge decision that you're gonna look at and feel so

Unknown: 00:25:28

inspired by to.

Unknown: 00:25:31

And it was only it was only a three and a half years later

Unknown: 00:25:34

that I had my first job three and a half years later. So I

Unknown: 00:25:39

mean, things work out the way they're supposed to, I believe,

Unknown: 00:25:45

but you have a specific responsive ability to ensure

Unknown: 00:25:51

that it does go through at the moment that it's supposed to go

Unknown: 00:25:54

through. If not, I mean, it's not to say that it won't happen.

Unknown: 00:25:58

But it's gonna take some time to get back to. And I feel like the

Unknown: 00:26:03

obstacles on either side. Yeah, obstacles on either side, there,

Unknown: 00:26:08

my focus should be on my goal, line, my purpose in my path with

Unknown: 00:26:13

the goal, and those obstacles won't be a distraction to me,

Unknown: 00:26:17

because I don't focus my attention on those obstacles, I

Unknown: 00:26:20

focus on my goal, because those obstacles are going to be there.

Unknown: 00:26:23

Regardless. If I put time into studying and being depressed and

Unknown: 00:26:29

being sad and angry, I'm wasting time, time is something you can

Unknown: 00:26:33

never ever, ever get back. So I'm going to put my time on

Unknown: 00:26:37

realizing my goals and, and focusing on my purpose, and then

Unknown: 00:26:41

things will be fine as what I believe.

Unknown: 00:26:47

And I just got really good news that our zoom meeting can be

Unknown: 00:26:52

extended a little bit, so we don't have to stop in five

Unknown: 00:26:55

minutes. That's awesome. Maybe content is so great.

Unknown: 00:27:02

Yes, yes. Nothing, um, I like to express two is the guys that I

Unknown: 00:27:09

was in Costa Rica with. They all need some type of positive

Unknown: 00:27:16

influence, leadership. And I thank God that He allowed to use

Unknown: 00:27:22

me for part of that. And when my case hit nhc guy, these guys see

Unknown: 00:27:29

my whole walk for 18 plus years in Angola. And to see the end

Unknown: 00:27:35

result of it, the end positively. It changed. It

Unknown: 00:27:41

changed many of their lives. And I'm and I'm thankful for that.

Unknown: 00:27:45

And I give God glory. Because it wasn't for him. I wouldn't be

Unknown: 00:27:50

here talking to either one of you today. I know this, because

Unknown: 00:27:54

I know I'd be stuck in that trap, knowing what Jonathan

Unknown: 00:27:58

wants to do. But I can do what john Astin wanted to do. I had

Unknown: 00:28:02

to put what john has been wanting to do and put what's

Unknown: 00:28:04

more important is what does says alone. You see, and I learned

Unknown: 00:28:10

that and and you benefit more, of course. Um, but it's one

Unknown: 00:28:15

thing that stuck out to me one inmate because a lot of inmates

Unknown: 00:28:18

went home on my, on my case. Before I did, I never went home

Unknown: 00:28:23

on my case. So I will clear that up, too. I never did go home my

Unknown: 00:28:27

case ever. I'm still on parole. Right now. I have 80 years of

Unknown: 00:28:30

parole because I have 80 years left to serve, because I left 80

Unknown: 00:28:34

years early because they brought me out. I had 150 years. I did

Unknown: 00:28:38

20 so I don't even know what the rest. See, you know, and that's

Unknown: 00:28:45

crazy. I know. And I'm still fighting that but it's one me

Unknown: 00:28:48

out on them. They went home before me. They're really his

Unknown: 00:28:53

name was Cushing. Nellie is Italian that oh my guess even my

Unknown: 00:28:57

age but he just wasn't in he wasn't healthy condition. He was

Unknown: 00:29:00

in a wheelchair. And I never knew my case affected him. He

Unknown: 00:29:04

was on he shot. And that was on a West show. So we don't really

Unknown: 00:29:07

see each other. Okay, even though we're in the same area,

Unknown: 00:29:11

but is separated. I was going to see my lawyer just particular

Unknown: 00:29:16

day by my situation. I was waiting in line. And I'm it's

Unknown: 00:29:22

close to where we visited and connected to the visit is a

Unknown: 00:29:25

medical everybody has to go to the medical before they go home.

Unknown: 00:29:31

You had to do checkup not everything blood work the whole

Unknown: 00:29:33

night. Everything. So just particularly this guy was going

Unknown: 00:29:37

home on an SDN case. And as he was being pushed up past me, I

Unknown: 00:29:45

know a couple of guys also waiting for the lawyers acts

Unknown: 00:29:50

Cuccinelli. Man where you've gone. He said, Man, I'm going

Unknown: 00:29:55

home. And they asked him how are you? Going on what happened

Unknown: 00:30:01

which case you use what what was going on? He said man st in case

Unknown: 00:30:06

he asked me in case with SDN sitting right there. He say

Unknown: 00:30:10

what? So he turned got the guy push him turn his wheelchair

Unknown: 00:30:13

around and catch on once I got up to walk towards him, it will

Unknown: 00:30:18

hit his, he can loot chunky little white guy, you know,

Unknown: 00:30:21

little talion guy had a little ball cap on his head. And he

Unknown: 00:30:26

said, st come here. So I walked toward him. And I say, Man,

Unknown: 00:30:32

look, go enjoy your life, man. That is good. He said, Can I

Unknown: 00:30:37

shake your hand? I said, Yeah, sure. So he grabbed my hand and

Unknown: 00:30:41

put it place it down here on his chest by his heart. And it's put

Unknown: 00:30:44

his head down and I felt number of materials of water on my

Unknown: 00:30:48

hand. And tears coming my eyes because it was a moment touching

Unknown: 00:30:53

to me, you know, to see a grown man cry, you know, or something

Unknown: 00:30:58

that God gave me the wisdom to overcome. You see, and I never

Unknown: 00:31:05

forget that moment. And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing

Unknown: 00:31:08

today is because of a moments like that. You know, you know

Unknown: 00:31:13

people are showing how they appreciate him. And man is blow

Unknown: 00:31:17

it blows my mind I got chills right now just telling you

Unknown: 00:31:20

because it's so real to me. So real. You know, it's like also

Unknown: 00:31:25

when I come out the gate, get my freedom my mom and dad they're

Unknown: 00:31:29

waiting on me to see me seeming cross that threshold. from

Unknown: 00:31:36

bondage to freedom.

Unknown: 00:31:39

Freedom. Can I say something right quick? Yes, I don't want

Unknown: 00:31:42

to cut you off jam but my stance on things man is just just given

Unknown: 00:31:46

me energy man. Um, yes. You said that you wanted to do if it

Unknown: 00:31:53

wasn't for God, you would do what john wanted to do. Just

Unknown: 00:31:57

because of God that john is doing what john wants to john

Unknown: 00:32:00

wanted to be this way all his life. JOHN had to go through

Unknown: 00:32:04

trials and tribulations and places and a man to get to where

Unknown: 00:32:09

you are right now. Tell me about your mom saying what she said to

Unknown: 00:32:13

you in court that day.

Unknown: 00:32:15

man that was that was

Unknown: 00:32:19

that moment. with with with the Italian guy. Goshen said the

Unknown: 00:32:24

same? Cush, personality, nearly, you'll never forget that moment.

Unknown: 00:32:28

Right? You'll never forget the moment when they told you, you

Unknown: 00:32:32

were going home, you'll never forget the day you got home,

Unknown: 00:32:35

you'll never forget those moments, because they are going

Unknown: 00:32:38

to keep you in subjection to your purpose. And that's what

Unknown: 00:32:43

that's what that's the kind of stuff I'm telling you that I

Unknown: 00:32:46

feed off those types of moments that I never forget, that did

Unknown: 00:32:50

still draw me up. Look at you, man, you got tears in your eyes

Unknown: 00:32:53

right now. Because of those moments, you'll never get them.

Unknown: 00:32:56

They're gonna keep driving you to fulfill your purpose, to

Unknown: 00:33:00

fulfill your purpose every single day. And that's not the

Unknown: 00:33:03

right thing. And it's not because not you're doing what

Unknown: 00:33:07

you want to do. Everything that we go through with the Bible

Unknown: 00:33:11

says that all things work together for good, right? Yes,

Unknown: 00:33:14

right. Everything you've ever experienced, is working out the

Unknown: 00:33:18

way it's supposed to some of the things that some of the

Unknown: 00:33:22

decisions you made cause you to have to endure certain other

Unknown: 00:33:25

aspects. But you are right where you supposed to be. And you've

Unknown: 00:33:29

gone through everything that you were supposed to go through for

Unknown: 00:33:32

that particular purpose. And some of it we don't even we

Unknown: 00:33:35

haven't even realized yet is greater graders come greatest

Unknown: 00:33:38

coming. And all these moments are preparing you for those

Unknown: 00:33:42

greater moments leveling up. So, Zack,

Unknown: 00:33:47

I appreciate that. Man, I see why it's my encouragement right

Unknown: 00:33:49

here. You see that?

Unknown: 00:33:52

Yeah.

Unknown: 00:33:56

so beautifully said. And if I can add this, there's tree seeds

Unknown: 00:34:02

out here. We have pine trees, where the seeds have to go

Unknown: 00:34:07

through fire in order to ignite in order to grow a new tree. And

Unknown: 00:34:14

I feel there's people out there. And I think all three of us are

Unknown: 00:34:18

those those kind of people. We had to go through health through

Unknown: 00:34:22

fire in order to unlock our purpose and to be the people

Unknown: 00:34:27

around us to be here. And it's so incredibly precious to have

Unknown: 00:34:34

you guys here. Like I have goosebumps all over

Unknown: 00:34:42

them. And I feel for all three of us. Again, the moment we

Unknown: 00:34:49

realized that if we don't fight for ourselves, we're going to

Unknown: 00:34:54

let so many people down. We're not going to live our purpose

Unknown: 00:34:59

and In not doing so, we're not going to be able to support

Unknown: 00:35:03

others. And the moment we realized, oh my god, we can help

Unknown: 00:35:07

someone else to freedom and happiness is so empowering and

Unknown: 00:35:13

you feel like you cannot give up. You have to fight not only

Unknown: 00:35:17

for yourself, but for others too.

Unknown: 00:35:22

Yeah,

Unknown: 00:35:22

I agree, every everything, everything, even the things that

Unknown: 00:35:26

you said about how my Facebook messages encourage you, the

Unknown: 00:35:31

things that john said, that is just more seems like ammunition

Unknown: 00:35:38

in put into my, into my weapon, more strength, more power, to go

Unknown: 00:35:46

out and combat and fight against the adversities that people

Unknown: 00:35:50

experience every day, the systemic racism, the in

Unknown: 00:35:52

justices, all these things. It's like, you can't push my button

Unknown: 00:35:59

unless I put it out.

Unknown: 00:36:01

exam.

Unknown: 00:36:02

I'm not going to ever when I wake up in the morning, my first

Unknown: 00:36:07

thoughts are positive. My last thoughts before I go to bed are

Unknown: 00:36:11

positive thoughts. And that reinforces when I wake up in the

Unknown: 00:36:16

morning, I'm waking up with positive thoughts. I get up, I

Unknown: 00:36:19

do my exercise, I get myself cleaned up, and I'm ready to go

Unknown: 00:36:23

for the day. And it's non stop until I'm going to sleep. And

Unknown: 00:36:27

I'm having fun and loving every moment of it. Because I feel

Unknown: 00:36:33

like I'm fulfilling my life's purpose. There have been times

Unknown: 00:36:38

and I'm sure you both have experienced this. It's not easy

Unknown: 00:36:42

every day. Sometimes I get to the point where I say man, I'm

Unknown: 00:36:45

so sick of people and their their selfishness and they their

Unknown: 00:36:49

carelessness. And they set these bad examples for one another,

Unknown: 00:36:54

and they hate on each other. And then next moment said, but

Unknown: 00:36:57

that's where I come in to set the good examples and to

Unknown: 00:37:02

encourage people. And it may not be a million people saying I

Unknown: 00:37:08

like what you're doing or saying giving good comments. But I've

Unknown: 00:37:13

gotten messages through Facebook Messenger. I've gotten text

Unknown: 00:37:17

messages where people who won't comment on Facebook for whatever

Unknown: 00:37:20

reason. They give me words of encouragement said please keep

Unknown: 00:37:24

doing what you're doing. If I go a day without posting a message,

Unknown: 00:37:29

or I'm late posting it, for whatever reason, I get a message

Unknown: 00:37:33

saying Hey, man, what's up with the message because I didn't

Unknown: 00:37:36

know that message. And so those type of things. That's the ammo

Unknown: 00:37:40

being put into my weapon. Yeah, keep firing, keep firing and

Unknown: 00:37:44

keep fighting. Because I can't stop. I won't stop. And the

Unknown: 00:37:49

thing is, I don't want to stop. I'm looking for ways I'm looking

Unknown: 00:37:53

for connections with other like minded individuals to make this

Unknown: 00:37:57

thing work. Because people need help. People need help. And it

Unknown: 00:38:02

takes people like us to be willing, not just able, but

Unknown: 00:38:07

willing to continue to fight. There's a talk about the Bible.

Unknown: 00:38:17

And Jesus says Jesus chose 12 ordinary men to be his apostles.

Unknown: 00:38:25

Right? 12 ordinary men, no, they weren't scholars and people of

Unknown: 00:38:29

great stature. They were just ordinary men. And the difference

Unknown: 00:38:34

in those guys were they were willing to follow Him and to do

Unknown: 00:38:41

what he said to do and interpret it. How you will, that's the way

Unknown: 00:38:46

I interpret it. I'm willing to go I'm not the smartest

Unknown: 00:38:50

individual, I'm not the strongest. I'm not the most

Unknown: 00:38:54

skill that this or that. But I am very willing to learn and I'm

Unknown: 00:38:58

very willing to put forth 100% effort to make it work. And

Unknown: 00:39:02

that's what counts. That's what gets me by every single day. And

Unknown: 00:39:06

Lincoln with people like that. My energy goes from, am I gonna

Unknown: 00:39:10

say zero to 100 and say 100 to 1000? Because I know then, you

Unknown: 00:39:16

know, it's like being in in a group of people, group of

Unknown: 00:39:20

friends, right? And you go out and you experience some trouble,

Unknown: 00:39:22

say some, some some crazy person is wanting to fight, right,

Unknown: 00:39:27

whatever. And if you're alone, this group of guys come over,

Unknown: 00:39:31

they want to hurt you. You're vulnerable. But if you've got

Unknown: 00:39:35

your team with you, you feel empowered. And that's what I

Unknown: 00:39:39

feel. Being around like minded minded individuals. I have a

Unknown: 00:39:43

team strength to help fortify what my goal is. Yeah.

Unknown: 00:39:49

Yeah. One thing I didn't forget, that you mentioned earlier, is

Unknown: 00:39:54

that you had a conversation with that guy and the military You

Unknown: 00:40:00

changed him from being a racist to being an open, open minded

Unknown: 00:40:06

person. Can you share with us what you talk with him? Do you

Unknown: 00:40:11

remember the words or?

Unknown: 00:40:13

Absolutely, yeah, I mean, this is a story. Like I said, you'll

Unknown: 00:40:18

never forget those moments. I was sitting on my bunk I was

Unknown: 00:40:22

raised by, like I said, my mother and my grandmother,

Unknown: 00:40:26

right? So one thing was very, very clear to once you get up in

Unknown: 00:40:33

the morning, and you make your bed, never sit on the bed. So I

Unknown: 00:40:39

didn't sit on my bed, and I didn't want anybody else sitting

Unknown: 00:40:41

on my bed. So when we make our bunks in an army, you know

Unknown: 00:40:45

yourself, john, we make them Chris about a quarter of those

Unknown: 00:40:48

things, right? And so I'm there by my Warlock, and I hear this,

Unknown: 00:40:55

everybody's really getting angry. I'm, I'm clueless, like,

Unknown: 00:40:58

what is going on. And I hear this guy yelling out his racist

Unknown: 00:41:03

comments and statements and calling people names. And I take

Unknown: 00:41:08

a peek around, and I look. And I see this little sawed off white

Unknown: 00:41:13

guy, nice little tank looking at. But he's not afraid that we

Unknown: 00:41:17

got I got a guy my bunk buddy was a guy by the name of Tim

Unknown: 00:41:21

Jones from Columbus, Georgia, he was a big country boy football

Unknown: 00:41:26

player. So he's probably like, six, four, he was a big man. And

Unknown: 00:41:30

this little sort of guys over Italian like he me afraid and

Unknown: 00:41:34

nothing, and he must really be full of hate, is what I'm

Unknown: 00:41:37

thinking. But being 17 years old, straight off the block. I

Unknown: 00:41:41

didn't know much of anything. I stopped going to church years

Unknown: 00:41:45

before that. So I couldn't quote scriptures or anything like

Unknown: 00:41:48

that. The only scripture that I was familiar with basically, the

Unknown: 00:41:53

roll off my tongue was For God so loved the world that He gave

Unknown: 00:41:59

His only begotten son and the shortest scripture in the Bible,

Unknown: 00:42:02

Jesus wept. And I wasn't over there trying to say those things

Unknown: 00:42:05

to him. Something rose up in me. And I went around the wall

Unknown: 00:42:11

locker, and I sat on that guy's bed, this racist guy, I sat on

Unknown: 00:42:17

his bed. And I said, Man, sit down and talk to me said, What?

Unknown: 00:42:22

Yeah. And I said, Man, please just sit down and talk to him.

Unknown: 00:42:26

And we talked for maybe 45 minutes, people would pass by

Unknown: 00:42:30

looking and snarling. And we don't get you a nice things. But

Unknown: 00:42:34

I was able to hold his attention because I listened to what he

Unknown: 00:42:38

was saying. And the thing that I said to him that I think really

Unknown: 00:42:43

made a difference was you're white, and I'm black. This

Unknown: 00:42:49

Hispanic here, there's a couple of Asian guys here, some guys

Unknown: 00:42:52

from Puerto Rico, said, but we're all the same man. Because

Unknown: 00:42:57

look at the uniform we're wearing. We're all the same,

Unknown: 00:43:01

we're fighting for the same purpose. And he stopped. And he

Unknown: 00:43:06

looked at me, and it was a weird look. I didn't know what he was

Unknown: 00:43:09

gonna say. But he's just burnt out crying. And I think that was

Unknown: 00:43:14

the turning point for him. Yeah. And like I said, he became one

Unknown: 00:43:18

of my best friends in life. We stayed together, I was in a

Unknown: 00:43:20

cohort unit. So we all stayed together, through basic nit, and

Unknown: 00:43:24

for three years of my first duty station. So when I needed money

Unknown: 00:43:30

to send home, this guy would lend me money. When I needed to

Unknown: 00:43:34

borrow his truck, he would lend me his truck. And this is and

Unknown: 00:43:38

people could not believe it. What did you say to him? I said,

Unknown: 00:43:41

I didn't say anything, man. I didn't say anything. Because I

Unknown: 00:43:44

didn't know anything to say it was just being present showing

Unknown: 00:43:48

up. And being a friend being someone maybe like, I guess you

Unknown: 00:43:56

could consider it to be like a listening device where he poured

Unknown: 00:44:00

out and I was able to really listen and hear him. And then

Unknown: 00:44:04

when he when he stopped talking, I was able to give him just a

Unknown: 00:44:07

few words of encouragement, a few words. And maybe he looked

Unknown: 00:44:10

at it as this little guy, this young guy is telling me that

Unknown: 00:44:16

I've never heard before that didn't really make sense. So

Unknown: 00:44:22

that basically without using a bunch of profanity, that's

Unknown: 00:44:26

basically how it went. We were I was I couldn't tell him about

Unknown: 00:44:29

marriage. I couldn't tell him about kids because I had none of

Unknown: 00:44:32

that. I couldn't tell him about much of life because I was only

Unknown: 00:44:36

17 years old. Only thing I knew was coming out of high school

Unknown: 00:44:40

what I did in high school and what I aspired to be that was

Unknown: 00:44:43

the only things that I could say, that would probably be

Unknown: 00:44:46

meaningful, but whatever it was, it worked. And I don't say I

Unknown: 00:44:52

changed his life. I was used in such a spiritual way to

Unknown: 00:44:57

institute change in his life. In his heart, I believe that what

Unknown: 00:45:02

you think

Unknown: 00:45:06

flows to your heart. Then, once you begin to feel it, it becomes

Unknown: 00:45:12

it comes out of your mouth and out of your actions. So, believe

Unknown: 00:45:17

you think positive, you'd say some things you can say the

Unknown: 00:45:20

things that you think. So think positive. They say, Take your

Unknown: 00:45:24

time. Patience is a virtue. So think before you speak. Think

Unknown: 00:45:29

about it. Think about the ramifications. If there'll be,

Unknown: 00:45:32

think about the benefits of there'll be think about how this

Unknown: 00:45:35

person's feelings may be impacted, if you say what you're

Unknown: 00:45:39

going to say, and how you're going to say and things of that

Unknown: 00:45:41

nature. So at a young age, I was able to, I don't know where I

Unknown: 00:45:46

got it from, but no, I think I do know where I got it from my

Unknown: 00:45:49

grandmother. Yeah, I said something once my mom spanked me

Unknown: 00:45:55

for doing something I definitely shouldn't have been doing. And I

Unknown: 00:45:59

was probably about seven years old. And I said, I hate myself.

Unknown: 00:46:06

I was crying. I said on the basement steps. I said, I hate

Unknown: 00:46:09

myself. My grandmother said, What did you say? I said, I hate

Unknown: 00:46:12

myself. She says come here. She took me down into the basement.

Unknown: 00:46:17

And if you think my mother spank me, my grandmother destroyed me

Unknown: 00:46:22

in that basement. She said, I'm doing this because you never,

Unknown: 00:46:26

ever, ever will ever say that again. You'd never say you hate

Unknown: 00:46:30

yourself. And I begin to see things differently. I was able

Unknown: 00:46:34

to tell a child that. years ago, a child said that in front of me

Unknown: 00:46:40

that they hated themselves. And I was able to use that same

Unknown: 00:46:43

logic that that my grandmother gave me passed on to me to that

Unknown: 00:46:46

child. And so it's all about loving yourself. How can I love

Unknown: 00:46:51

you? If I don't love myself? How can I be have any type of

Unknown: 00:46:55

support or happiness for you if I don't have happiness, and

Unknown: 00:47:00

genuine happiness in my own heart? So it starts with what I

Unknown: 00:47:04

think. So when I got to that particular point, I was at a low

Unknown: 00:47:11

I was at a real low because my father was there I was just a

Unknown: 00:47:15

teenage boy, I didn't know a whole lot. Other guys knew

Unknown: 00:47:18

things that father taught him. I didn't have those those moments,

Unknown: 00:47:23

but I did have deep inside of me a will to do good to do better.

Unknown: 00:47:28

That's what stopped stopped me from going out with those guys

Unknown: 00:47:31

that because I was going to the army. I said I'm going to go to

Unknown: 00:47:34

the army, but I made a decision to stop to to put all my energy

Unknown: 00:47:40

towards making that a reality. So when they knocked on the

Unknown: 00:47:43

door, I said no, I'm done with that. Head I went out just one

Unknown: 00:47:47

last time. I could probably won't I've kind of probably met

Unknown: 00:47:51

john esteem in prison. So it's things like that, that. That

Unknown: 00:47:59

bring me back to the moment where three days, or it was

Unknown: 00:48:03

actually two months later from that particular point two months

Unknown: 00:48:06

later when I told the guy No, I'm not going with you. Two

Unknown: 00:48:09

months later, I was being used to change that guy's life. Yes.

Unknown: 00:48:14

Yeah. Have two beautiful story. And thank you so so much for

Unknown: 00:48:20

sharing this because I feel it's so important nowadays. And it's

Unknown: 00:48:23

the only way to approach racism. If you see that those people are

Unknown: 00:48:29

fear driven. They are scared and they don't trust. And if you

Unknown: 00:48:35

approach them with love, if you give them the presence, without

Unknown: 00:48:40

getting involved with their thoughts, and then you know

Unknown: 00:48:43

sucked in. But if you like you did at 17, cut through the BS

Unknown: 00:48:49

with your heart, then you can change people, you have to break

Unknown: 00:48:54

them open with your kind presence. And this is the only

Unknown: 00:48:59

way we can conquer that ugly thing called racism. That is

Unknown: 00:49:06

such a precious story to share. JOHN, is there anything you

Unknown: 00:49:11

would like to add?

Unknown: 00:49:14

Yes, I'm here on Veterans Day some earlier spoke, you know

Unknown: 00:49:19

about concern. be used, you know, my god stuff. And that was

Unknown: 00:49:27

my thing to learn that, you know, my prayer life. This was

Unknown: 00:49:33

my prayer. You know, if you can use anyone, you can use me. So

Unknown: 00:49:39

that was my moment of submission right now. You know, when I made

Unknown: 00:49:44

that prayer, then my prayer, it might grew to this. God give me

Unknown: 00:49:54

wisdom, knowledge, understanding that I may walk up rightly. In

Unknown: 00:49:59

liggio people In a righteous path, that was my prayer

Unknown: 00:50:03

throughout doing time in Angola. And as a result all that I see

Unknown: 00:50:09

doors opening. And as we all know that a lot of people went

Unknown: 00:50:14

home on the SDN case, which God orchestrated, I believe,

Unknown: 00:50:18

wholeheartedly. And it was a reason why they went home before

Unknown: 00:50:22

me, because he wasn't finished with me yet. And when that

Unknown: 00:50:27

moment came, when God completed everything, he wanted to

Unknown: 00:50:30

complete my life, they're the one to bring me to bigger and

Unknown: 00:50:34

better things. And that was that time. And guess what went on

Unknown: 00:50:38

upon parole board? So therefore, my case wasn't for me, it was

Unknown: 00:50:41

for everybody else. It was guys doing and my freedom is guys

Unknown: 00:50:47

doing to the point rule board, and as I'm not hitting still not

Unknown: 00:50:51

finished with me yet to have any years of parole left. Also, yes.

Unknown: 00:50:57

And my end of my message, I want to say is that, like rescue

Unknown: 00:51:01

reiterated is to never give up. Continue doing what you're doing

Unknown: 00:51:08

in your heart that you feel is right, and is and is your

Unknown: 00:51:11

purpose, continue doing that until you are comfortable and

Unknown: 00:51:16

happy, like my boy rational is happy everyday doing what he

Unknown: 00:51:20

doing? Yes, that's why that's my word for the day.

Unknown: 00:51:25

Thank you so much. reginal, would you like to close our

Unknown: 00:51:30

conversation here

Unknown: 00:51:32

would love to I am. Like I said, it makes it's easy. When I

Unknown: 00:51:38

connect with like minded individuals, people with high

Unknown: 00:51:41

energy and focus. I contacted john today because I was so

Unknown: 00:51:46

anticipating this interview, I didn't think I was gonna say

Unknown: 00:51:49

much I was just gonna listen in. But I'm always ready. Always

Unknown: 00:51:55

ready to add to be included. And that's important, I think. Not

Unknown: 00:52:03

just not giving up, but staying ready, staying prepared,

Unknown: 00:52:07

staying, I guess fulfilled with information, paying attention to

Unknown: 00:52:16

what's going on around you. That's that's one thing that I

Unknown: 00:52:20

always told my kids pay attention to every single moment

Unknown: 00:52:26

of your life, everything that you go through pay attention,

Unknown: 00:52:29

because you'll be able to use it down the road, at some point to

Unknown: 00:52:35

either take yourself to another level, or to keep yourself from

Unknown: 00:52:40

falling to a level you don't need to be or to encourage

Unknown: 00:52:44

others based off of your journey. Not just running your

Unknown: 00:52:49

mouth, but your lifestyle is going to be one of the most

Unknown: 00:52:54

important aspects of of helping someone else reach the pinnacle

Unknown: 00:52:58

of what it is they're trying to reach and realize their goals.

Unknown: 00:53:04

So today, this has been a blessing to me, this has been

Unknown: 00:53:08

really encouraging and it gives me a bit more of an insight of

Unknown: 00:53:14

what my purpose is. I know now that I'm not alone in this

Unknown: 00:53:18

fight, and on this journey, and it helps going forward to know

Unknown: 00:53:23

that you're in Alberta, Canada and john Astin is in Louisiana,

Unknown: 00:53:28

I'm hearing water intersecting like a triangle. And we're gonna

Unknown: 00:53:31

spread out and canvass this entire world based off of our

Unknown: 00:53:36

particular purpose. We have aligned together. So thank you

Unknown: 00:53:40

for having me.

Unknown: 00:53:41

Yes. Thank you so much for taking the time and being here

Unknown: 00:53:45

with us. And, john, you are incredible. You are such an

Unknown: 00:53:50

enrichment of my life. And it's been so wonderful to connect

Unknown: 00:53:55

with you. And thank you for introducing me to Raj. Not that.

Unknown: 00:54:01

I think it was wonderful. It was you

Unknown: 00:54:05

know, you enjoy him. It's great guy, you know, I felt him. He

Unknown: 00:54:09

encouraged me and encouraged me and encouraged me anymore. And I

Unknown: 00:54:13

know I needed him on this. I wanted people I want the world

Unknown: 00:54:16

to hear reginal Joseph, I wanted him here. He's a great guy. Yes,

Unknown: 00:54:20

he is.

Unknown: 00:54:21

Thank you, john. Appreciate that now, so appreciate you or I look

Unknown: 00:54:24

forward to many more many more of you.

Unknown: 00:54:27

Yeah, yeah, I feel not the last time. Thank you so so much.

Unknown: 00:54:36

Yeah, I really hope you enjoyed our conversation and feel

Unknown: 00:54:41

inspired and yeah, never give up. As hopeless as some

Unknown: 00:54:46

situation may seem. Know that. Sometimes we just have to fight

Unknown: 00:54:50

through the situation and inspire other people afterwards

Unknown: 00:54:57

to do the same. You're never alone. Take good care of

Unknown: 00:55:01

yourself. And I'm sure we will be back out there for you very

Unknown: 00:55:06

soon. Again. Thank you very much for listening.