Welcome to Episode 8 of Grounded Conversations by Black Coffee Northwest, an intergenerational conversation about ourselves, our blackness, our world, and our favorite drinks. Today’s episode we talk with UW superstar basketball players Noah Williams and Jamal Bey on life on and off the court with topics touching on:
Follow Noah Williams & Jamal Bey to keep up with all the amazing things they're doing as young college athletes on their way to the NBA:
@yukslim24
@jbey.5
We would love to hear from you and hear your thoughts on the sports industry in the Black Community. Connect with us via:
• Email - info@blackcoffeenw.com
• Instagram - Black Coffee NW
• Twitter - Coffee NW
• Facebook - Black Coffee NW
• LinkedIn - Black Coffee NorthWest
Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Stitcher
• and more
Welcome to Episode 8 of Grounded Conversations by Black Coffee Northwest, an intergenerational conversation about ourselves, our blackness, our world, and our favorite drinks. Today’s episode we talk with UW superstar basketball players Noah Williams and Jamal Bey on life on and off the court with topics touching on:
Follow Noah Williams & Jamal Bey to keep up with all the amazing things they're doing as young college athletes on their way to the NBA:
@yukslim24
@jbey.5
We would love to hear from you and hear your thoughts on the sports industry in the Black Community. Connect with us via:
• Email - info@blackcoffeenw.com
• Instagram - Black Coffee NW
• Twitter - Coffee NW
• Facebook - Black Coffee NW
• LinkedIn - Black Coffee NorthWest
Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Stitcher
• and more
Welcome to Grounded Conversations by Black Coffee Northwest, an intergenerational conversation about ourselves, our blackness, our world, and our favorite drinks. Grounded Conversations is all about brewing up discussions and topics that matter to the community. With our differing perspectives, our hopes is to share our unique flavors opinion. And also life experiences to create a greater insight and also understanding. So join us every other Tuesday as we come together and talk all about things that are on and popping all over a nice hot cup of black coffee. Welcome back to another episode of Granted Conversations by Black Coffee. We're excited to be back in the studio today. This is Darnesha. Hey, this is Irwin Big E. Hey everyone. First before we begin, we wanted to thank everyone for attending our second year anniversary party that we had over the past weekend. We had 18 small black businesses here on Saturday morning which was really great for our vendor marketplace. And then on Saturday night, we had a celebration. We had a straight up party. Okay. Yes. To see class. Yes. We wanna thank all the musicians that came through. We wanna thank Macie Audio for sponsoring. Wanna thank SPS Pizza for sponsoring? Diana was an amazing co-host along with Siria. We had our step team perform. They set it out. We had double Dutch and we had what, maybe 150 people here in standing Room only and people waiting outside the door. It was like, you can't, the the, It was good. Can't get in the club. What's the saying with Chris Brown? I don't know. You can't outside the club. Yeah. If you can't even get in, you can't even get in. But we're excited. We just wanna thank, Take a moment just to say thank you for celebrating our two year anniversary here at Black Coffee. And it's been two years and it'll. A thousand more. Yep. Yes, indeed. All right, so we are back for another conversation. We are excited to have Hoit and Diana here again, hosting this episode today. We have some great and amazing topic this week and some great special guests here. And so I'm gonna hand it off too. Hoit and Diana. Hello everyone. It's me. And so today as you know NBS season has officially started on the 18th and it goes until April 9th, I believe. Is that correct? Sure, sure. But what other way to get started than interviewing Noah Williams and Jamal Bay Applause. Yay. Was it? So Noah Williams is a West Seattle native who graduated from Ode High School where he led and was named MVP of the 2019 Washington three a state championship. Williams is a senior who originally went to WSU but transferred to UDub, where he currently plays point guard position at WSU Williams was named preseason PAC 12 honoree and National Player of the week after scoring the first 40 plus point performance since Clay Thompson. Okay, and then we have Jamal Bay, who is from Las Vegas, Nevada, who attended Bishop Gorman High School and was named the getaway player of the year for the State of Nevada from 2017 2018. He also volunteered with the Atria Seville Senior Living Center, along with local elementary schools tutoring and running intramural programs for at-risk students. And by the time he was a senior, he was a full-time starter starting in 31 games, averaging 9.4 points with a career height of 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steels. Hey, put some, How many points was that? How many points? Nine. 9.4 average. Okay. Okay. So put some respect, right? Put some respect on these names. Yeah, those are the formal introductions. Y'all can like do your own like introduction, but yeah. How you feeling today? Yeah, I'm feeling great. I'm living the dream. Well, thank you for being here. First of all, let's give a hand again. Thank you. Yes. So, first question, what made you become a ball ballplayer in the first. You want me to start? You got it, King. Oh, we'd have to say what we're drinking first. Oh yeah, I got that. Caramel blended with extra caramel drizzle and extra whipped cream. Yeah. Okay. Special black coffee. Boom. Hello? Sounds good. I, I kept real simple. I got the cold brew. That's it. OSA brew. It's cold brew. What do you think drinking Diana? So our interns right now are making their own specialty drinks, so I really liked one of our interns drinks. So she calls it like the cloudy sunset. So it's basically a mango and orange smoothie. Mm-hmm. And then she like drizzles like the strawberry like puree as well and like puts like whipped cream on top. So it's delicious. Y'all will be able to check that out soon when we release our intern menu, But yeah. Dope. Dope. Mm-hmm. And I'm just drinking a strawberry mingo smoothie today. All right. Healthy can time. I'm drinking some straight up black coffee. That's how we doing it today. Applause. Applause. Yes. Yes. And I am drinking cold brew. It's 3 49. So I'm not drinking wine. I'm drinking cold brew Yes, cold Coke Brew with two Sp Splenda because you know, I watch my carbs and cream cause I don't drink dairy. And cream is not dairy. Okay. That's what Google said. I'm not quite sure if that's, but that's what I feel. No, I feel that. Hopefully that didn't change it on Wikipedia. Right. We gonna say it's non-dairy. So first question was, what made you want to be basketball players? Like and then like, take it to this level cuz. Yeah. Well when I first started playing sports in general, I my dad put me through a lot of different sports. The only sport I couldn't play was football. And it was kind of funny cuz that's the one I really wanted to play, but oh well. So I started how, what, how did I get into it? We were, we were going, it was how my dad used to, He used to make all of us make a list of where we wanted to, what we wanted to do during the summer. And so I think it was my turn to pick and mine was pretty boring. I just wanted to go swimming this time I was in sixth grade. And so he takes us to the Y M C A and we're going up there and for some reason today it was closed. We couldn't do anything. So we couldn't swim. So they they were redoing the pool or something. So we walked in there and so, and they, we couldn't swim, so they, so we were walking out about to leave and I was kind of mad and kind of pissed. So we were leaving and then they were having tryouts for a t it was called Vegas Lead at the time. And so we were walking out and My mom's like, You wanna go try it? I said, No, I'm in swimming shorts, swim like swim trunks. Like I don't even got any shoes. And my dad was like, I got shoes in the back. I'm like, I can't fit those. I'm in sixth grade. My dad works besides 14 So I had so he gave me his and he gave me his socks too. It was funny. And so we go I go out there, clown feet just running around. And I actually really loved it. And so we came back, came back home. My mom always used to tell us, make a list of what we wanna do, like goals, what we wanna do for basketball. And I kept it real simple. I just wanted to get better. I wanted to get on the best team cuz they travel, they got shoes. Mm-hmm. they gotta do a whole bunch of stuff. So I said I wanna do that. And so yeah, that's kind of how I got started. That's dope. Did you make that team of. Did I make it? Yeah, no, I was on, it was called the White Team Develop Developmental Team. So I was on that, but then a month later I made gold. That's not even the best one. That's not, That's platinum. Your way up? No, it's it's called Blue Team. Okay. Travel team, Elite team. I made that like two months later. Okay. So there's an importance in having community programs like that For sure. So kids can see and try and show up even if they're not sure. For sure. Dope. Love it. Love it. Get out out the mud. Yes. Well how did I start playing basketball? I kind of was around basketball, like all my life. My I got two older sisters and my dad, my dad played in the nba, but I just always played sports. Like growing up I played basketball, football track. I'd try to do it all. But I would just say like, my, my dad had a huge influence on me starting to, like, they pick up the basketball cause like everybody wanna be like they dad. Mm-hmm. like when they growing up. So I picked the ball up at a young age, probably like, since I could really com remember like kindergarten I was at my sister's basketball games being the halftime show, trying to run around. Mm-hmm. shoot, you know, shoot all the balls at each time out. So yeah. I really been around the basketball all my life. It wasn't my first love though. My first love was really football. Mm-hmm. I really wanted to play football, but I didn't have the body for it to go play at the next level, go play college. So I had to make that business decision. Mm-hmm. Coming outta high school. So. And you're a Seattle kid, right? Yes, ma'am. So, o day, what, what teams did you play for Rotary? I played for Rotary. Yeah. I played Rotary all my life since I started playing basketball. Okay. So you was the traveling Rotary team? I made it, yeah. Okay. I was playing eighth. I started playing, well, we was traveling aau, we was traveling since like sixth grade, fifth grade. Okay. But I made the E Y B L team. Oh yeah. 16 U team when I was in eighth grade. And I played up from eighth grade, ninth grade I played 16 u and then sophomore year I finally made the 17 U team, and then I played since then. All right. So I mean, I say that to put some respect on our local sports, cuz we have some really good local sports AAU programs. Surgery's been around for a long time out here, developing athletes and getting them ready for that next level. I know we used to go to games and like Rotary shot up, everybody's like, Oh lord, like, you know, your team's about to get mad. Like, we would go to like Portland, they would roll up. We would like, dang who invited them because our teams just, we just couldn't keep up. But that's dope. Like I love the fact that you're local and that you stayed at uw. You know, I think that's real dope that you stayed, you know, I had to keep it, keep it home. Yeah. I'm glad to be back. Honestly, I was, I was in Pullman. For a minute, for three years. So this is my first year back in the city. Okay. So I'm loving it. Happy to be back home. Dope. Well, welcome back. Work you back. Is there a reason why you decided to come back home? It was a lot of stuff that played into it. I didn't have the the year I wanted last year. And I was also dealing with mental health and mm-hmm. things like that. So I just decided to come back home close to my family. I feel like that was like the, the mental support that I needed. So yeah, I, this decision that I had to make. That's really great. That's great business decision and personal decision because if your mental health ain't right, like exactly. Your game can't be right. So I applaud you on that decision. That's, that's great. And I'm glad you spoke about that out loud. Yeah, no, for sure. And mental health is real and people like try to like throw it aside, like, like it's not real, but people really go through a lot of things out here and I've seen a lot of stuff and a lot of people. That I've been around or seen a lot of stuff, like as in a black community, we go through a lot of things mm-hmm. that people really wouldn't understand. And yeah. I really feel like that played a, a big part in me, why I had to come back home. Mm-hmm. That's good. I feel like that your story, that even what you just said right now is gonna be, it's gonna be good for a lot of young black boys to hear mm-hmm. that mental health is real and now we can talk about that out loud openly. Sure. And that you have to make decisions for yourself. You know, I encourage all the young black kings to go go do therapy. Yes. Like, go get a therapist. That that really helps. Yep. Mm-hmm. That's good advice, man. Oh, for sure. Good advice. You're never too cool for therapy at all. Yep, Not at all. And we also offer free therapy here at Grounded for, for Kids. So we have free sessions Thursday, Fri Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. So another outlet we have black therapists on that are able to see kids that can come to the coffee shop and then just have a therapy session because we're definitely all about, we know that the traumas that exist in our black community and that we need space and a place to get, definitely to make sure that our mental is together. Cuz we got a lot to do. We carry the weight of the world too. Sure. Mm-hmm. All right. So how do you deal with the pressures while playing games? If it's like a really big game or you're going against your rivals, how do you try not to let the crowd get to you and get in your head? That is something that's really hard because a lot, lot of fans yell a lot of different things at us, so. You, you try to block it out. But it's if, if someone says they, they do that, that they're lying. You, you, you just try to take it and maybe go talk to a teammate in, in the moment or talk to a coach, maybe help get it out, get out of it. But personally, I just go, go to my team, try to huddle and say, may maybe crack a joke or do something to maybe break the tension a little bit and then try to just focus back on basketball, get back in the moment and yeah, just try to play as well as I can. Cause Do you like Yeah. You like that's a high profile school. Cause me are watching games. We hear the, the narrators and the commentators. Mm-hmm. I would like dang, like, be nice They, me going in, there's brutal love. They're brutal, you know? Yeah. They're, they're very sharp with the tongue. So can you repeat the the question please? Yes. How do you deal with pressure while playing games if it's against your rivals or at big game? And how do you not let the crowd get to you? Pressure. I don't really, I don't really feel pressure. Pressure is what you put in tires? Hmm. Okay. I feel like I feed off of emotions like when I, I feed off when people talk to me, so. Mm-hmm. when the crowd is talking crazy, I really, that really gets my game going. Or when the other team starts talking to me, like I'm looking for people to start talking to me cuz that's really gonna get me in my zone. Mm-hmm. Cause I like talking too. For sure. Different perspective. I like that. Mm-hmm. I like it. Okay. And Noah, you kind of touched on this with that mental health aspect, but another question that we had was, what are some challenges of being like a student athlete? Like how do you balance your training schedule, game schedule, also factoring in school, keeping up your grades, social life, personal life first could we ask like, what is the schedule? Cuz I only know if I'm watching tv, like you got like two a days and study sessions and all that, Right? It's pretty. It's pretty brutal. It's pretty packed now that, like, right now that since the season's about to start in a couple weeks we got class, I got class from eight 30 to 11 or eight 30 to 1230, and then I gotta get an individual workout in right after that. So it'll probably go in at one. And then we got weights at 2 45, 2 45 to 3 45, Practiced at four, and then we practiced from four to, we probably won't leave the facility until like seven 30 and that'd be our and all that after treatment and all that. So I'm tired. We're literally from there really in the facility from one o'clock to seven 30. Getting your work in every single day. Wow. Every single day. That is interesting. Crazy. I'm tired after eight 30. I say eight 30. And some people like this guy right here, Jamal, he, he be up early in the morning. I I'm trying to get back into that routine. He gets up early in the morning, is working out before class. Stuff like that. So yeah, my, my schedule's a little different cause I'm in grad school, so my classes aren't as, as rigorous right now cuz my summer was a lot more intense. So I work out more, I do my individual in the morning and then come back and lift with the team, practice all that. But still, once we get to weights, that's, we're kind of there until we wanna leave for after treatment and all that, which is like seven 30 like you said. So, Wow. And then you gotta go home, sit down, eat dinner, then you gotta think about it. It's about 8 30, 9, so now you gotta do some homework. Mm-hmm. So that's your whole day. And get up and do it again. That's crazy. Get up and do it right again. I'd be looking forward to Saturday. I bet. I bet we could be you for keeping up with that schedule. That's a lot, but it's good for people to know, right? Yeah, I know for sure. It takes all that to lead up to your performance in the court. Mm-hmm. Right? They don't, everyone, They never look at the preparation. Yeah, they don't see the work behind closed. Exactly. They just see you out there and we're like, Oh, they don't even think about it. So thanks for sharing that. I think that's important. So like time management, clearly Oh, it's a big, big, big key for sure. Do you guys use like alarms in your phone or is it just en ingrained in your head like what to do next? It's kind of engraved in my head. It's like a routine that you just pick up on. Mm-hmm. that you've been, I mean, I've been here at college for going on my fourth year now, so I've been doing it since freshman year trying to just keep the same routine. Yep. That's dope. Do you ever get burnout from like all like the scheduling, all like just being busy all the time? For sure. How do you deal with that? Go home and sleep. That's real. Go home asleep. That's that's true. That's get a glass of wine and rejuvenate It sounds like my routine. Yes. That's that's real. Like, Yeah. Go home and sleep sleeps important. Yeah. No, for real is important. So yeah, so dealing with that schedule, like, it's important I think also for like our younger athletes to know, like they, that's gonna be their journey. I don't think they ever think about that. Right. Especially like in high school. Like, I wanna go play day one. I'm just like, it's not easy. Right. Not easy. It's not easy. All but it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it, for sure. And it takes like those habits, like those healthy habits and being a true, that separates from like a player to like a true athlete. Mm-hmm. right? Yeah, definitely. I think like your work ethic is, is a lot, has a lot to do with your performance. Mm-hmm. you know, you have to really commit and put the time in, in order to get something out of it. You know, there's people that got natural talent, that's cool, but you gotta always work on that natural talent. Yeah. It's a fact. Mm-hmm. Hundred percent. You hear that kids out there in the world, or actually anybody, like it takes dedication and practice. Yeah. It may be cliche, but hard work. Be talent and talent fail to work hard. Yes. That's it. Okay. Dropping jumps. Yeah. So like with that schedule and everything, like how, how do you find time for yourself and like to do like that rejuvenation and to like always keep in mind like you need a balance, like your mental health, like how you were talking about, and all the stuff that you have piled on, on top of that as well, like that schedule in school. Like how do you keep yourself accountable? Yeah. I try to just take, take every, whatever I'm doing, Let's say I'm going to practice aways, just be in the moment because yeah, it's, it's really hard sometimes going day in and day out. But if. If I didn't love it or enjoy it, then I, I think I would tell myself, look myself in the mirror and say, All right, I'm done with this. I'm, I'm gonna stop. So I try to just, just be in the moment and be, and be grateful that I get an opportunity to get my, my school paid for. I get to come play the sport I love and I get to just inspire other little kids. So I think that's what I try to do. Think about, think about stuff other than myself outside of myself. It's bigger than yourself. That was a great answer. Quite fantastic. I can't even, we can on to the next one, so are you guys all aware of that shirt that says, Sell dope rap, go to nba? No, I know the same, not the shirt. I mean, it sounds. Yeah, that sounds like something that they would put on us black people. Absolutely. Yeah. Sure. That's like, that was like the next question. So how do you feel about the stigma towards a stereotype that you can only be successful if you only go to a sport or you're rapping or you're selling drugs? I mean, I think that's very stupid cuz I know a lot of successful black men that are, or black men and women that are doing a lot of different things. Selling clothes owning businesses, doing hair. I know a lot of girls that are doing lashes right now. Yes. Nail techs. There's a lot of stuff out there that are, people are doing that that are really, that's really good for the community other than just selling dope or playing basketball. Like we're not just all athletes. We all, we do got brains and, and the people out there don't really want, want everybody to know that we like, we know that we're intelligent. Like I feel like they try to they try to hold us back like in some way, but. Yeah. That's my part, my smart thoughts on it. Mm-hmm. I think that's dope. That's a good answer. Cause it's true. Like, I think they do, they just try to stereotype and be like, you can only do these things, or that's the only thing that black men do. That's only what black people can do to get out or to quote unquote make it mm-hmm. But we're such a smart people. Yeah. No, we're very in, in there's of options. You know, There's plenty options. There's plenty of options. I mean, you can sell coffee. Oh yeah. Okay. And they know that they just don't want us to, you know, get our foot in the door. That's right. Right. But once we get our foot in the door, we gonna break that joint down always in every way. Almost. Perfect. Do you wanna add anything to my aunt? No. I think he, he said it, he said the best way possible for sure. Like there's, Yeah. My, I, my mom taught me little, just, she, she, she's a teacher, so she, I came a lot more from making sure I get good grades, making at least trying, trying my best. So, I, I, I thought more than just playing basketball or rapping or anything like that. So like, like he said, my mom was the real hustlers. Like I seen my mom really wake up six in the morning every morning. She, she owns her own daycare Okay. Inside our crib. So we got babies strolling through the crib, 6:00 AM winding and crying. She's changing diapers, but she was doing that, but she's been doing it for 26 years. Mm. Wow. That's a, that's a real hustler in my eyes. Yes, it is. Providing for your family, you know, making sure that your kids is straight, you know, doing the necessary things that a mother should do or your father should do. But yeah, my mom that showed me that people could be other things than just selling dope, playing basketball or, you know, And like, how do you highlight like, your own identity, identity outside of like being a basketball player? Like, just like making sure, like, You're more than just like what you do. Like, you know, like you love other things, like you're into other things, like, you know, So how do y'all like kind of show like you're more than, you know, Can we start with highlighting that you're both students, you're grad, grad school, right? Mm-hmm. So what was your, your undergrad? Medical and anthropology. Oh, wow. I mean, I'll do what that means. So smart. Something medical smart. Very smart. Yeah. Sounds it, It probably sounds a lot more than what it actually is, but yeah. It's, it's just anthropology. But I could take a, I take biology classes, stuff like that. It's not all I know about. Not as crazy. You can be a, a physical trainer with that, right? Mm. I need a little bit more schooling, but yeah, that's, And so you're in grad school right now? Mm-hmm. And you're getting your masters in the same No, it's it's called IL Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership. Oh, I see. You got all these words, It's just kind of a, it's more just a mess in education, so Yeah. I could coach. I could be administrator. Okay. So you're a student big boss. Mm-hmm. athlete, and. In your last year? Yes ma'am. What's your major? Sociology. Yes. What is, That's good. Like student athletes, like you guys are students. Yeah. And that's important to share, like as far as who you are, as you're not a one-dimensional person, like you're also student. Mm-hmm. So what are some of the other things though? Like what are, who are you off, off the court? Like what kind of hobbies do you guys like? I mean, this is kind of a stereotypical, but I like to make music. Yeah. Okay. I like to, I like to make music. I to rap. I like to sing gum. I like to kick with my family. Can I sing? Yeah. Don't play with my do it. I mean, let hear. So let, There we go. Yeah. He's works on the same page. On the same page. He's helping me. I'm background singer. You. I'm background singer. We heard too. That's dope though. Other than that, like my days is really just being in the gym or being with my family or kicking it with my friends, you know? I really like to stay out the way cuz I'm from Seattle, so. Mm-hmm. I know a lot of the the BS that goes on in Seattle, so I really try to stay out the way. Mm-hmm. try to stay, keep the main thing. The main thing. That's right. But. Music family, friends. That's good. That's my hobbies. Really. Does your mom still have her daycare? Oh yeah. She's running that joint still. Okay. Drop it. Drop it. Name, Drop Playmates Daycare. If you guys go. Need, need your kids taken care of. Best daycare in City, West, Seattle, Playmate, Daycare. Look it up. Sign your kids up. Cracking. So what about you? I'm more of a, a gamer. I like playing game video games, so I got Xbox the new one and the PS five, so. Oh, you're serious. I got it all. Yep. And then I like watching movies too. I'm a big Marvel DC movie guy, so you could pro I could probably name every character from, from every movie that's been out, so that's more my hobby, so. Okay. That's awesome. What's your favorite. Favorite game? Call duty. Call duty. I. That's the only one I know. Do you have a little headset come out? Oh yeah. Oh, you be in there. Monitor all that. You be talking, I'm gonna be locked in. What? Yes. Gotta be ready to bust your shut. It's shut The door shuts door shut. And you're in their game Phone on D and d. Okay. Oh, serious. Don't need no text from any girlfriends that it's just, Jamie not called me. I'm locked in right now. You yell. Cause our kids used to play those. We would hear them yelling, arguing like, Who are you arguing with? Was crazy. Half, half the time, at least I'm gonna speak for myself. I'm yelling at myself like, Come on, Why didn't you do this or that? How did you die? Stuff like that. So I'm yelling at that opposing team Right? Right. How, How the heck did he kill me? Where are you guys at? How did you what? Where did he come from? So that's cool. So what so with your school so students and then athletes and then Extracurr, I mean, that's it, that's mm-hmm. It's like a full, full load. Yeah. Literally load. That's good. We commend you for that. Yeah, for sure. And when I both come in, we, we love celebrating like hard work, dedication. No, it takes all of that. Absolutely. Kudos to you for doing that. Appreciate them. Cause you gotta go to class, right? Oh, class check us. So we gotta be there. You gotta go to class. So. Cause I think a lot of people, maybe they miss that part. Like if you don't go to class, what happens? If you don't go to class, you won't practice at U Dub. I don't know. I can't speak for other schools, but mm-hmm. that you won't practice. Oh, for real? Yeah. You won't practice, but you'll watch practice and then after practice. Either run, you'll do something. Yeah. Extracurricular. So how do they know? Yeah, they take attendance. They class checkers. They, they come, they, Yeah. Oh, coaches. They got GA's or managers or somebody's gonna come check if you're in class. Oh, wow. They got the fbi I wanna be a class checker. I feel like that's a good job. Like I gonna come and see who's in class. I'm a tch Do that. That would be that. Oh man. After I turned 40, I'm a snitch That's pretty. I did not know that. That's important to know though. Yeah, no, for sure. That's good to know. For, for high school athletes that, you know, don't like to go to class and get to play, like you have to it. Definitely gonna hold you accountable. There's a commitment there. There's a commitment there. Yeah. You have to keep a certain GPA too, to even play. So, And that's held by ncaa, so, Yeah. That's very great. How's important to know? That's important to know. Yeah. What's the GPA that you gotta have for the kids to know? So like what, a two point? I think it's five. 2.5. 2.52. Okay. We can do that. Yeah, you can do that. That's doable. Yeah. That's very doable. That's very doable. Yeah. We don't 2.5 all the time though. Yeah, you don't. Not at all. But if you just go to class and do the homework, turn the homework in, you'll be good. Yeah, that's it. That's pretty good. So the next question is a real question. Can y'all be honest? I'm always honest. I'll do my best for sure. Okay. I'm scared. So we want to know, are y'all players on and off the field? Is that, is that stereotype true? Like, am I a player? Hey. Yeah. That was the question was for you That's a both of y'all question. Well, I personally have a girlfriend, so I player. So that's good. That's I I like women. Well, there you go. Honest answer there. You as you should love Queen. Yeah, I'm dead. I mean, as you should, right? Like you're a college student, woman. I'm gonna just leave it at that. Leave it at that. Great. Let that be. That's a very good answer. That's some very good honesty right now. And I'll have time. That's funny. I wonder what it be date like to date athlete though. Now that's a like, cuz you guys be busy. I don't know if I could do it. Yeah, we'd be busy. You gotta have tough skin too. I let you know. Yeah. You wanna come, come talk to me? You gotta have some tough skin. Yeah. Oh, what does that mean? You cutting them down. Know you shut'em down. I'm just saying like, there's a lot of girls out there that could lie. You gotta be able to take all the, you know, all the extra stuff that, that the fans, you know? Oh yeah. Mean it's a lot of stuff that goes on, like, Oh. Cause they try to be basketball. Like, like a lot of girls be. A lot of girls lie. Yeah. Unfortunately. But it's true. So I feel it. You gotta be able to deal with that and like not get distracted. Mm-hmm. and cute. Yeah. That would be hard. That would be hard. How do you deal with that? Do you just ignore it? Oh yeah, I'm just, I don't pay any attention to the, the talk from fans that are negative. Mm-hmm. you're calling'em fans so you put'em a, in a place, Yeah, for sure. It, these are fans. Some people, they don't gotta be put in places that they're put in a box that, you know, Like, I just made a post yesterday, like my first UDub post and I'm getting a lot of WSU common center there. Oh see? And people talking. I gotta put them in a box. I don't even pay any mind. Right. Just shut it down. Cause they're just fans. Yeah. Mm-hmm. they're just fans. I can't stand that social. Put'em in a box. Mm-hmm. fans are gonna be fans anywhere you go. Mm-hmm. Yes they are. The hate gonna come. Yeah. You gotta expect the hate you got. You don't got the hate coming and you ain't doing something. Absolutely. Cool. That's a good question, How to spice it up a bit. You did. You did. You did. Are you a player? Ooh, you guys, No guys. Try to cut this one out. We can talk about, Yeah, we ain't gonna edit this one on and off the coffee shop in and outta the coffee shop. Very much children of the Lord, very much. No. Cuz I don't know, like in this generation, I feel like. It's kind of trash out here, to be honest. But cuz for me, I feel like I'm more of like an old school kind of person. Like if I'm talking to somebody, I'm not talking to like multiple people at the same time. Like, and they, they know me too, like mm-hmm. Yeah. So if I'm like, really about a person and like, I really like care about you, like, and just like y'all, like manage y'all's time, like I'm very serious about mine. Mm-hmm. So if I'm putting in time my energy into something I'm expecting like something from that. Like I don't wanna just waste my. Just doing anything. So yeah, great answer. Yeah, cuz she's very, yeah, that is very focused. Like she has goals. I'm like, Oh, I got things to do. Like honestly, she love a focus queen. Yeah, Speak to my sister. What about you? How a, you, you're a player on and off the coffee show. That's, Shoot. I can be, but hello? I can be and invite me to, but like Diana said, if I do like someone, I like to put my all into them. Focus on that person. I don't like spreading my energy around multiple people. Talking to multiple people. That's too much. I don't have time. I like to distance one person, but if I'm bored and I got time, Oh, bored. I can do a little flirt. Hey, let's ask Erwin, Are you flirt? Okay. I can't even go back that far. Right? Like they don't go back to old days now. Back in that, ok. We were married for 20 man. That's beautiful. Big twofold. That's my favorite number. Is it? That's my Jersey number. 24 years. And I will say yes. Irwin was, he was a musician. Oh, here we go. Who answer who? The music. He was a Rolling Stone. He was. He was. I just, Nowhere I caught. Okay. I caught the stone and anyway. No I got it like choke cold, huh? Got it in there. Bad. But you're used to playing a band in Seattle, like rap and all that. So I would like go to the shows. I didn't rap. I was hard and B were singing. You were all that? Yeah. Okay. Yes. And fun and stuff. But I was a fan. I was a fan. I wasn't even 21 cuz he's four years older than me. So I would like sneak in the glu Like I went him Lord, I thought I was grown. Okay. Anyway. she next. Next question. Okay, so have you ever felt like giving up whenever times got hard, like the games or whenever like, you know, mental health were just getting a bit too much, Do you ever feel like you just had to like step away, take a break, or felt like giving up? Or what do you do to kind of push through that? Well, I, I've never got to a point where I wanted to give up, but I've definitely had times where I just it was a lot, it was a lot doing, like, like we said, do go to class, go to practice and be present at every and every moment of our day, and then come home, have to do homework. It felt like there was a lot, but I never, I never had points where I wanted to give up. How, how I would deal with that is try to carve out time and make time for myself. Make it, make it a point. Either write it down or make mental notes throughout the day. Like, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go do this. I'm gonna go play the game for a certain amount of time, and I'm gonna get that full time. I'm gonna go watch a full movie. I'm not gonna get on my phone. Like, make, make conscious efforts to actually get time for myself. So, Okay. Hmm. That's good. Can you repeat that question? Have you ever felt like giving up and what do you do to kind of push through that? Yeah, I've felt like giving up before. Um, I um, um, There's been times where like I've thought about, you know, ending it all, but I felt like basketball is what kept me going and my nieces and nephew is what kept me going because I know that they look up to me. And without them I probably, you know, I don't know what I would've been doing right now. Cuz there's been a lot of stuff that's actually went on in my life that I've asked, I questioned God or, you know, I asked them like, like, why, like, why, why me at this time? Like, you know, at a young age it's been, if I feel like it's been a lot of events that happen, like just back to back to back. So I've never really felt like giving up on basketball, but there's been thoughts in my head that crossed my mind. Giving up on life, but basketball is what kept me in it and my family is what kept me in it. Okay. That's, Do you have any advice to give to people that you know, like were in the same position as you are? Yeah. Therapy. Mm-hmm. Go see a mental health therapist cuz they know what they're doing, they specialize in it and they know what they're talking about. And I would definitely say go talk to somebody that could actually relate to you. That's what kind of like made me hesitant in getting into mental health, like, and getting into therapy is because I didn't know, like, to be honest, I didn't want to go talk to a white person that didn't know like what my struggles were. Mm-hmm. So I made it known to my coaches like that I need somebody that knows like what I've actually been through, person that's actually grown up in the inner city and seen like, you know, seen the same things that I've seen. It would make any sense for me to go talk to somebody that's never seen somebody shot and dead, laid in the street. Like they wouldn't make any sense. Like they don't know, they don't know what it feels like to have PTSD from gunshots and stuff like that. So I wanted to talk to somebody that actually knew like what was going on in my life. Mm-hmm. So definitely get into therapy, but find somebody that, you know, could relate to you. Representation. That's like the biggest thing that we always like to like, include here to like, represent, have people that look like you. When we're having like mental health, like counselors come in, we specifically hire like black men black men, black women, because we know like the black community, that's what they're struggling and so we want them to come in and speak with people that look like them. Yeah. So it makes you feel more comfortable as well. Mm-hmm. and being older, like we have kids your age and like as parents, for us, we didn't always have the tools to give cuz we weren't taught the tools, right? Mm-hmm. And so I love the fact that you, that there is therapists available or that we can talk about that out loud cuz at our age we weren't, we weren't, we. Speak to our kids about that growing up because it was never introduced to us. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But it's so, it's so important that you guys get those tools and work with therapists. There's a lot of trauma that happens in our community that's unspoken. Mm-hmm. there's a lot of stuff that we carry as black people, especially as black men, that you carry every single day, all day. Even just simply walking outside and making sure that you feel safe. And I know like you're athletes at UDub, so there's, there's some kind of like safety in that, I'm sure when you're aware, you know, but any outside of uniform, you're just another black man walking down the street. Mm-hmm. Hundred percent. And you're just kind of out there and that I got a target. Yeah. You're literally a target. It feels unsafe. So I'm glad that you guys talk about that. I really commend you for that. Absolutely. It's such an important conversation to have. Mm-hmm. How to navigate through this world and, and understanding that. there is ways, there are tools now for you. Mm-hmm. there are therapists and if you get one you don't like, then change'em. Mm-hmm. like you can shop around and find the right one. And there's lots of, the Washington Therapy Fund is online. You can look them up. They provide fund, they have a fund for a black therapist or for people to access black therapists. So that's another great resource online to look up, but mm-hmm. I think it's so, so, so, so important to have that conversation cuz we go through a lot. Mm-hmm. I don't think people realize, I'm born and raised Seattle too. Like there's a lot of trauma. People think Seattle's very soft. Yes. And it's, I mean, I don't know why they think that. Yeah. There's a lot of trauma that happens. There's a lot of stuff that goes on. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't even get talked about that goes on. People just deal with mm-hmm. you know. Yeah. And that's what makes it really tough because you know, you're constantly told, Oh, it's easier, here it is. This, that, and the third. You don't feel that, you know, So it's, Or that it's a belting pot. Yeah. Well it's, it's good to be able to speak out loud about it and I mean, just you being able to address it like that is gonna help so many people. Mm-hmm. so appreciate that. Yes sir. Yep. And there's multiple different forms of therapy. There's art, dance, music, journaling. I personally like to journal. That's like the best way for me to ground myself. So even if you don't like to, the idea of confining in someone else, someone else knowing your business, there's other ways for you to express yourself and kind of get that job. Emotions. Yeah, exactly. For sure. That's important. Yes. So were you CD kid or were you South West Seattle. Oh yeah, with Seattle. I heard that. Yeah. I don't know much about, I Justt know Del Ridge. Yep. Dale Ridge right there. I used to work at the Y M C out there for y quite a bit. Uhhuh over there on Fountain Loro. Yep. I used to be out here. Yay. Yay. All right. Seattle baby. Yes. Okay. Next question. Do you or the team participate in any rituals or have any like lucky items before games? I'm first year on the team, so I wouldn't know Any team rituals. Yeah, rituals. Like do you wear the same socks, I got game day rituals that I do. Okay. But yeah, I mean, I have stuff there personally, but as a team there's not something that we do. Yeah. What do y'all like to do? My personal game rituals is I gotta get a workout in, just like, shoot before the game. Mm-hmm. Take a nap, eat something like I got carbs in it, pasta or something, and then I just jam out. I keep my, keep my headphones on and just lock in. Who are you listening to? I listen to a lot of Seattle rappers. Pmo, Showtime. 2000, baby. My my brother, Juice to God. Rest in peace. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. That's your brother? Yeah, that's my man's my right hand. Oh yeah. I listen to a lot of Seattle rappers, but Little Baby just dropped his new album, so that's who I'm gonna be bumping. That's what I've been bumping the past couple days. Yeah, that's But not really me. No. Little, little baby. I wanna make sure everybody knows the other Little baby. I'm going Little Baby. The best rapper right now. The little four, The Got you. Mine same with the workout. It, I don't really try to do like a hard workout though. It's more just touch kind of feel the ball feel. Just be in the arena. Yeah. Before everyone else is there. I make sure I get treatment, ice something, make sure my body's loose. Yeah, same. We, we, we kind have tea meal, so we come back, get some, some good food in and yeah, I'm not a big like a certain song or certain. Person before a game. I just, whatever I'm feeling. So it could be like ods or something like that. So yeah, I just, whatever I'm feeling in the moment, I try not dictate a song or a, something that put me in the mood. I try just stay in a good space before I go in there. Dope, dope, dope. That's good. That's great. Okay, so we have a last question for y'all. How does life look like after basketball for you? Like after college? Do y'all have plans for the league or going a different route? How does that look like for y'all? Nba Okay. You trying to get drafted? After this I'm trying to get drafted. Yeah. After this year. That's right. Seattle's produced up. Do you have like a dream team that you'd wanna play for whoever's giving me the bag? Damn. Perfect answer. Perfect. Into that. Wouldn't matter what city I'm in, as long as I'm playing the sport that I love and I'm getting paid while I'm doing it, I'll do it. Absolutely. For sure. We need to get y'all signatures now, then. Let's get that way for sure. Mba for sure. I want to get drafted. Don't really care where, Just want to get paid to play, like he said. Yeah, I, I do, I do have my grad, my I'm getting, I'm trying to get my master's degree, so I do have that on the back end, so I do have that in my back pocket. But my main goal, my main focus is to win as many games this year and go to the NBA for sure. Next year. That's right. How's the team looking this year so far? Are we looking solid, Solid, solid. We have things to work on, like every team in this moment. Mm-hmm. for sure. I, I think we're, we're in a good space. Yeah. I think we got some solid pieces, some good transfers that came in. Okay. Some solid role players, some good shooters. Okay. And yeah, I think we, our bigs are gonna be very important to us. This, Yeah. I think they're gonna be very important. We got two seven foot. Oh Lord, but just not skinny. Scrawny seven footers. They're big boys, so Wow. I think they're gonna be a huge, Yeah, they'll be battling, I think they're gonna be a huge president in our two, three zone this year. Mm-hmm. Okay. I can't wait. I know that's gonna be fun for sure. And first game is when? November 7th. November 7th. Yep. November division or not? No, No. November 7th is the first official game against Weber State. There it is. Okay. Yep. Pull up, be there, Be there. Be square. November 7th. You can get tickets online, right? Or my But y'all got the hookup though, like for the free tickets. Tap. There you go. There you go. Everybody else, go buy your ticket. Ok. Y'all can stay and show up and support our home team. So that's dope. We can't wait to see y'all out there playing for sure. That's good. Well, don't forget us when you get drafted. Remember this moment we're gonna make you sign. I remember what I got. Cold brew coffee. Yes, Bob too, right? Drizzle. I, I don't live too far from here, so. Oh, cool. Come through. Come on. Come here. Yeah. Come through. I live a little ways. I'm in Shortline. I'm gonna definitely stop by. Come. Yeah. Let people know. This is definitely our, like her safe sanctuary, right? Mm-hmm. for our people to come and just be Jill. Mm-hmm. kids in here all the time, so that's cool. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So current events, current event It's Air Quality J Mon Green. You guys hear about the Purge Law that's about to be passed in Chicago? Oh yeah. No way. Yes. In uh, January 1st, 2023. There's gotta be a Purge law. The only crime you can get arrested for is first degree murder, I believe. Oh, yeah. What? Yeah. Yeah. Hold on. Wait a minute. That's crazy. Yep. I'm about to start watching The Purge. Right. I was like, go put that. But it, it's not just for one day, it's like forever. It's law. It's like a law. Like they labeled as the pur Purge law. Yeah. You could walk in the store and go grab all the Mary jeans one and walk right out. I mean, I feel like they do it. Yeah, they, Yeah. But they said like the cops are not gonna be like, they're gonna be trying to pull up to like, you know Right. Control the situation, not arrest people. Yeah. Eliminate cash bail entirely. Yep. That's right. Well, I don't like cash bail anyway. Well, no, I do like cash bail. What's, what, what is it? Cash bail. Cash bill. Like you can bail yourself out. So like you get arrested you can post cash bill. Oh yeah, we leave like that actually. Cuz then that helps stop the limit. You know, it gives our our people a way to get out for these small petty crimes. Cause they love locking a sub. And then I just hear that they, they release everybody that got convicted for weed charges. Yes they did. Oh, that's great. I don't know if they did in Washington yet though. I thought biting, pass the ball for everybody. He did. But think our state is trying put cooking. Yeah. States kind. I think that's the most petty ist crime. That's wild. Mm-hmm. especially in the CD where Uncle Ikes is like, I know so many friends I got locked at. Right in the right. Literally right in that same corner where Uncle Ikes is. It's crazy now it's a white own business and they're just is over there. Capitalize off of it. The privilege. And if you got arrested also, you know, if you got arrested for that crime, you cannot work in a dispensary. You cannot at all. And they were probably getting, But the thing is they were probably getting arrested for a little yes. Little dime back. Less than what you can buy. Name. Literally. Yeah. It's very interesting. That's wild. That's that's crazy. That's crazy. And they have a ugly ex house as a car wash. Like they have that whole block in front of the church. I was like, What Kinda, Yeah. They got a, a liquor store over too. I they got it all. Uncle Ice is doing it. He's trying to make that money. Literally trying to make Yeah. How for sure. Yeah. But yeah, that's air quality. Like, I don't know this, this fire season is a lot. I don't know if you guys see it, but if you're not a Washington, it looks like fog. Yeah. Know for sure. And you can smell it smells like, Yeah. It smells like a fireplace is running outside. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I feel like it's bad this year. I don't remember it being this bad. Me either. Yeah. The fact I can swim. It was bad that one time in high school, like Yeah. A couple years ago. Like everything was just red. Terrible. Yeah. And I, I remember we was practicing out there in football still a plane and the smoke. Oh, I was very bad. Oh, see? Yeah. No, but you went to oday, right? Yes. Yeah. That won't be playing about their football. Yeah. We're state champions. You got trying to win. Yeah. But didn't you guys, didn't they just lose to beat Garfield? Garfield? Yeah. I just saw that the boy's on 23rd. Yeah. Yeah, I saw that. It's, I don't know. I know old day, I don't know the last time they lost to at public school, like. Like that. But they did. They got smacked too? No, no, they didn't get oj. Oh, they didn't? Oh, they just lost right to Garfield? No, no, they haven't played Garfield yet. They played them this this week. I thought they just lost somebody. I thought they played Garfield this Friday. Oh, okay. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. I'll be trying to keep it, but you know, I get distracted. Yes. ODI has a solid program in sports, and when you went to ode, they don't be playing about their programs, but yeah, no, we had some ballers for sure. Some serious rivalry for sure. We had some hopers. But yeah, that air quality, I mean, do you guys think it's like global warming? Do you think it's like, I was just saying this, I was literally just talking to my boy, John, John today about this. I was like, Why is Seattle have some great weather right now still? Literally it's October. October. It's October. I was like, Wait minute. It's still hot. It was still hot. And then the homegirl was telling me in Dallas, she said it was like 40 degrees yesterday. I'm like, Why is it 40 degrees in Dallas and it's 65 degrees here in Seattle? It's not making sense. That's what I'm saying. It don't make no sense what's going on. I haven't seen rain in a minute. Yeah, right. Y'all think it's gonna snow this here? I doubt I'm supposed to have a bad winter. I hope not. I wasn't pulling with the snow. Oh yeah. I'm hoping so. That's a whole different kind of snow than you're, you're like Santa Claus stomping that is. Oh, that's serious. I hope not. So other current NBA season just started yesterday. Correct. So who's y'all's teams? Who we going for? Want me to go for Go? I don't really have a team, but Kevin Durant and the, The Nets for sure. They were about, But I on, I'm following KD wherever he goes. Okay. He goes to Milwaukee. I'm with Milwaukee. He goes to the timber. I'm with the timber wolves. Wherever Katie goes, Noah goes. That's it. Okay, cool. What about you, Earl? Who's your team? All of them. All. Everybody can play ball out. I just like watching'em, playing ball, you know? So you about to just pick, hop on that bandwagon when they win the championship. Pretty much band, basically whoever's winning the series, winning. Let's go with that. But we don't have a team here. Band. We ain't got no team right now. We're not supposed to roll with, We're supposed to get one soon. Yes. I hope so. Then they said 20, 24 or something. Yeah. Did you guys go to that game? I was just here at Climate. I didn't, there couldn't practice. Oh, okay. Yeah, we didn't go, but we wanted to go. But I was like, man to be. We, we were around when the Sonics was here. Like it was a lifetime in this year. They were practicing at our facility though. Oh. They, Weren zips came and practic at at our gym. Oh. And then that's, they played somebody, they played somebody else, like some like team that got, they put together, they assembled and they were practicing at our gym too. Okay. Oh, that's cool. We got to talk to some of the pros and pick some of their brains. That's good. For sure. That's good. That's good. You got a player or man, you know, honestly, I mean, I saw Jordan play. Mm-hmm. Is that your goal? I mean, I see Kobe, you know, I, I. B I just, I just like talent, man. So who's your goat though? Like the greatest of all time? Oh, you gotta pick one player number one draft pick. Who are you picking Not to be Jordan. It's gonna be Jordan. Jordan. Who else is gonna be Jordan is, he changed the game. Like he really did. Like, he, he did things to make people that didn't even like basketball, look at basketball. Mm-hmm. you know? And so, I mean, I was, I was around that time when he, when he came out, so I, With his first shoe? Yeah, with his first shoe man. And so, you know, I, I mean there's, there's, I love LeBron. I mean, LeBron's doing it big and like you said, you know Katie? Yeah. All those kids, cats, man, they're doing good. Anybody who, who does things at a high level with a good heart, I'm all for it. Where'd you we're not athletes. You gotta goat wine. What's your favorite wine? Red wine. White wine White. Ooh. I love being a, That's my goat. There go. I'm with the I'm the Snoop Dog Wine. Yeah. Oh my God. Let's not talk about that. Actually, my favorite. That one's, I mean, did you know the bottle can talk to what? If you downloaded app, like you can make him talk. It's pretty dope. Everyone looks at me. With what? Because you had too much. No. That that's what it sounds like. You didn't couch, so now you think the bottle talking It did talk. I'm not like, Are you sure? I'm serious. It was talking to me. I'm very, But I actually like the Lakers. The Lakers. I really do like, feel like they've been a very solid team for a very long time. Yeah. They're a good franchise for sure. Yeah. It seemed like they do good. And I also like women's basketball as well. I'm a storm fan for sure. Definitely. I love our women's sports. Especially in Seattle. Yeah. No, my sister. Sister was a hooper. Oh, okay. Yeah, she hooped at UDub, matter of fact. Oh, okay. All time We rebound her at UDub. That's great. I love women's basketball. Yes, I love, But they can hoop man. Yeah, no, they got all for sure. They really can. And I love it. They take so much they, they step on like social causes. Like they stand up for what? Right. And they, they use that platform. So I really love, I wish they would pay'em more. Yeah. That's, you know, that is, they deserve more recognition. They really do. For sure. It's crazy that. I seen none. The NBA mascots getting paid more than Yeah. That's crazy. Little more like how is that even somebody that don't even show they face. Right. Yeah. But I think it's cuz people undervalue women's sports. Like the games honestly, like when we first start going, they weren't that exciting. Right. Cuz you compare'em to, if you've been to like an NBA game, that's how you people will try to compare it. Mm-hmm. But they're actually pretty fun. Like we were having a good time. I wouldn't mind them dropping the hoops down nine feet though. Letting them dunk or something, you know? Oh, is that why? So I didn't know that. Oh, I'm just saying I wouldn't mind them to drop See a little bit. So I see a girl get dunked on that made me I bet you somebody could too though. I bet you they can. Well, I mean, they're something that can dunk on the 10 to Brit grinner if you, if you lower tonight. Yes. Oh my. They gonna, it's gonna be real interesting Yes. Right. And also bring our girl Britney home, please. Yes, for sure. She's still over there in jail for nonsense. So she's still over there, right? Mm-hmm. she's still over there. She got sentenced I forgot what it was, 10 years, Something like that. Yeah. But I heard they're trying to figure out something where they could do a little trade or something like that too. That's what they say. Yeah. Yeah. That's what our government says, but Mm, they don't, Are they gonna follow through? No, it don't Makes sense to me though, like, how you gonna tra an a arms dealer for somebody who had some dab carts, right? Like, how is that even an equal trade, like Cause this country. That part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This country.dot dot or period. This country, that. So let's see, another, I don't have any other current events that are going on right now. I mean, any shop updates? Any shop updates. Let's see. So we just had our anniversary again. Yeah, Yeah. Our afterschool progress. I'm are still going. Yeah. And so we're still looking for tutors. We had some kids in here today, which is really great from our high schools. And so afterschool programs are still happening. Our music program will be happening soon, so we're looking for volunteers to come and help with, We're looking for tutors as well. Yes. And then we have a lot of outreach events coming up on October 29th, we're gonna have a chili feed and a free shopping day for the community to come get some chili. Halloween, we're having trick or treat space here so kids and families can come do trick or treaty. And then December, everybody get, well, November we're doing our annual soul food community dinner. And so we'll be having a full commute. Last year we did 160 plates, I believe. Mm-hmm. We had Turkey greens dress, We had the whole, not stuffy, maybe we had dressing and sweet potato pies. But we did a hundred plates that were free out to anyone that just wanted to come and eat. So there was, from all walks of life that came in and just had a nice meal. And then December, get ready for black Santa. I just spoke with Black Santa Yeah. It'll be our fourth. You'll be fourth Santa's fourth year. Santa's fourth year being Black Santa. Black Santa. He plays Santa Sams will be looking forward to this every year. Santa Great Kids. Huh? So Black Santa will be here and every weekend in December. So families be able to come by and get pictures with Santa. And if you wanna sponsor a family. Last year we did about 60 sponsored families that are able to come and get a picture of Black Santa. Miss Claus will be back this year, last year, maybe. These are my age. Love it. I came and then I left cause I was tired. But Miss Claus, this C Claus was tired. It's great to have representation, you know? And so I love to do that. Like it's just something that we do every year. We're gonna keep doing it every year. Yes. Yeah. Yep. And then also check out our intern event. So the interns are playing their own community event here at Black Coffee November 12th, three to seven. They're having a fall fest, so there's gonna be a whole bunch of games that they're planning. They're gonna be giving out toys for Christmas. They're doing a whole bunch of stuff. They're just doing amazing things. So y'all come out and support them, please? Yes. Mm-hmm. Well, that's all today. Thank you so much for listening, guys. I hope you have a rest week. Good rest of your day. Yay. Bye bye. Thank you for tuning in to Grounded Conversations by Black Coffee Northwest. 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