Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Dwight Campbell
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000055
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:04 may be too candid for younger children. 00:10 Welcome to The New Journey, 00:11 a program where you'll meet real life people, 00:13 with real life testimonies, 00:15 doing real life ministry for Jesus Christ. 00:17 I'm your host Aaron Chancy, 00:19 come join us on The New Journey. 00:51 We like to welcome you back to The New Journey 00:53 for the exciting program that we have in store for you. 00:56 We'd like to thank you, Dwight, for being on the program today. 00:59 Just for some general background information, 01:02 if you could tell us how old you are 01:03 and where you're from? 01:05 Okay, well, I am 28. 01:06 Okay. And I'm from Toronto, Canada. 01:09 Okay. 01:10 What was it like growing up in Toronto, Canada 01:12 at a young age? 01:14 Well, I could easily compare it 01:16 to that of your typical metropolitan city. 01:18 Okay. 01:19 Considering that Toronto is what, 01:21 the fourth largest metropolitan city 01:22 in North America. 01:23 Okay. 01:25 You know, in addition to being the most multicultural city 01:26 in the world. 01:27 Okay. 01:29 Your early home life growing up in the inner city Toronto, 01:32 what was it like? 01:34 Did you grow up in a single-parent home 01:35 or a two-parent home with siblings? 01:36 How was that? 01:38 Well, fortunately for myself 01:39 I actually did grow up in a two-parent home. 01:41 My parents are actually still happily married today. 01:43 Amen. 01:45 And they have three boys 01:47 and I'm actually the oldest of the three. 01:49 Okay. 01:50 That's great that, you know, 01:52 you say that your mother and father 01:54 are still together because, of course, 01:56 this day and age it's so much, you know, 01:58 broken homes and different things like that. 01:59 Right, last time I read, I believe the divorce rate, 02:02 especially within the black community 02:04 is close to 70% right now. 02:06 Oh, wow. 02:07 Yeah, so, yeah, out of most of my friends, 02:10 I could probably count on one hand, you know. 02:12 Yeah. 02:14 Of them, how many of our parents 02:16 are still together. 02:17 Yeah, they have a double parent home. 02:18 Right, exactly. That's very true. 02:20 Growing up in your household, 02:21 what was the religious background? 02:23 Well, my mother, she was born and raised Adventist like, 02:27 you know, her whole life from back 02:29 when she was in Jamaica 02:30 'cause, yeah, my mother and father 02:32 both are originally from Jamaica 02:34 and they migrated to Toronto. 02:37 I guess you could say somewhere between 30-35 years ago. 02:40 Okay. And they actually did meet in Canada. 02:43 You know, but my father 02:45 he did have somewhat religious background, 02:47 but he wasn't really that religious at the time. 02:49 Okay. 02:50 You know, but my mother was always 02:52 the primary religious one. 02:55 You know, and it wasn't until I'd say 02:56 when I was probably about 10 or 11, 02:59 when my father started coming to the church 03:01 and then he got baptized 03:02 and he's basically never turned back ever since. 03:04 Oh, great. 03:05 Now he's currently either the, I believe, he's, yeah, 03:08 he's an elder in the church. 03:10 Okay. He's no longer deacon. 03:11 Okay, amen. 03:13 Growing up in a predominately Seventh-day Adventist home 03:16 at a young age, 03:17 what was your own 03:18 spiritual life like for yourself? 03:21 Well, I can't necessarily say 03:23 that I grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist home 03:25 my whole life. 03:26 Although, my mother was always Adventist 03:28 because upon her coming to Canada 03:30 one of her first experiences 03:33 in the Seventh-day Adventist church 03:34 wasn't really that warm 03:35 or that welcoming to say the least. 03:37 Wow. 03:38 So she stopped going 03:40 but then she met a lady on the bus one day 03:42 who was attending 03:43 the Seventh-day Pentecostal Church. 03:45 Okay. 03:46 And we basically, that was the church 03:47 I'd actually was christened into, you know. 03:50 I grew up there, learned how to play drums, 03:52 everything and it wasn't until around the time when I was 10 03:55 when 9-10ish when we started 03:57 going back to the Adventist church. 03:59 But we were always Sabbath keepers though. 04:01 I've never really known any other day. 04:02 Okay, okay. 04:04 What were some of the negative influences 04:05 in your life 04:07 whether in the home or whether friends? 04:08 What were some of those influences back 04:11 when you're growing up? 04:12 Some of the negative influences, 04:14 I guess, I could say 04:17 kind of stemmed from the fact that, you know, 04:22 the devil first and foremost finds it easy, you know, 04:25 he always finds things for ideal hands. 04:27 Yeah. You know. Definitely. 04:29 Another thing that, I know, it kind of came out, I mean, 04:32 it wasn't really necessarily negative 04:34 but it kind of ended up being that way, 04:35 was, I found it hard 04:38 because I really loved sports... 04:39 Okay. 04:41 You know, basketball in particular. 04:42 Yeah. 04:44 And every single basketball tournament 04:45 or a lot of our exhibition games 04:47 will take place on Saturday. 04:48 You know, also as a result I would get very discouraged, 04:51 you know what I'm saying 04:52 because I wouldn't really be able to do 04:54 what I wanted to do, you know, 04:55 and when I looked back on it now 04:58 basketball was like a safe haven for me. 04:59 Yeah. 05:01 You know, 'cause I wouldn't find myself 05:04 in near this much trouble, you know. 05:05 Yeah. 05:07 But, yeah, as the basketball started, 05:09 as I started realizing that this was a uphill battle, 05:11 you know, be Seventh-day Adventist 05:13 and trying to play sports. 05:14 I can relate. 05:16 You know, I definitely, yeah, the devil definitely find, 05:19 started finding things for me to do unfortunately. 05:21 Definitely, and we're gonna talk about those shortly. 05:23 But, you know, you said something interesting 05:25 which I can relate on where it seems 05:27 for a lot of young African-Americans 05:29 basketball, football, sports 05:31 seems to be like that's the major goal. 05:33 And I remember, for myself, 05:34 growing up that's the aspirations 05:36 I had basketball, football 05:38 but I always had an uphill battle 05:40 like you said dealing with the Sabbath. 05:41 Right. 05:43 And, you know, people will say, 05:44 "Well, what you're gonna do about the Sabbath?" 05:45 Well, I'm young 11-12, to me it didn't matter. 05:48 Right. I have my dream. 05:50 I knew what I wanted to do. 05:51 And it seemed like when those slipped away from me. 05:53 That's one of the motivating things 05:56 that I started going downhill with. 05:58 Right. 05:59 And, you know, that happens, it seems to a lot of us 06:01 because we have those aspirations 06:03 and we haven't developed 06:04 our own one-on-one relationship with God, 06:07 and we put all our energy in the sports. 06:09 And when that doesn't happen, it's like what else is there. 06:11 Right. 06:12 You know, what do you think 06:14 were some of your positive influences, 06:15 growing up? 06:17 Some of my positive influence 06:18 is obviously that had to stem from my parents, 06:21 you know, my father was always 06:23 obviously very intricately involved, 06:25 you know, in my life and he was always very, 06:27 I guess you could say my number one supporter. 06:29 You know, some of my other positive influence 06:32 is stemmed from church 06:34 and some of the friends that I had. 06:36 And from young, you know, 06:38 I used to really love being involved, 06:40 you know, like I was involved with Pathfinders, 06:42 I used to be the kid that used to recite all the memory verses 06:46 and things in Sabbath. 06:47 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So every 13th Sabbath? 06:49 Right, exactly. 06:50 Every 13th Sabbath, 06:52 I definitely couldn't do that now, I don't think. 06:54 But, yeah, those are some of my positive influences, 06:59 you know, I used to love being very involved 07:01 and that's something that I enjoy even till today. 07:03 Okay, now you said something interesting 07:04 being that you were involved, 07:06 what do you think led you to other things 07:10 being that you were involved in the church, 07:12 so heavily involved in Pathfinders, 07:13 involved in different events that were going on in a church 07:16 because often, you know, I've had people come to me say, 07:20 well, you know, what should we do for the young people. 07:21 Right. 07:22 And answer is sometimes given, 07:24 I gave that answer a long time ago 07:26 where I said where they need, kids need to get involved. 07:28 But the reality is you're one that, you know, 07:31 got involved 07:32 but still gravitated to something else. 07:34 Why do you think that transpired in your life? 07:36 Well, because I guess I was very involved, 07:41 but on the other hand 07:42 because I guess I was so involved 07:45 and I couldn't necessarily always do what I wanted to do 07:48 in particular speaking to sport... I mean, specify, 07:50 talking about sports. 07:51 Okay. 07:53 I basically felt like 07:54 there was a feeling of resentment 07:55 towards the church 07:57 and towards the Sabbath for some time, you know. 07:58 And I guess I could even say 08:00 there was some form of resentment 08:02 towards even God. 08:03 Because in addition to the Sabbath issue, you know, 08:06 I'm the first of three boys, you know, 08:09 and my second brother has, he's hypomanic bipolar, 08:15 and my baby brother he has sickle cell anemia, 08:18 you know, so it was like... 08:20 Yeah, so, I mean, it's like all the reins and all of this, 08:23 everything basically on me, you know. 08:24 It seems almost like a whole future 08:27 on the family in a sense, 08:28 you know, it was all on my shoulders at all times, 08:30 you know. 08:32 And I guess I was just trying to find some sort of outlet, 08:34 you know. 08:35 Okay. 08:36 How do you think you dealt with that pressure, you know, 08:39 where it seems like everything is on you. 08:41 How do you think you dealt with it in your life? 08:45 Well, it's something that still follows me 08:48 even till today. 08:49 Okay. You know, truth be told. 08:50 Okay. 08:52 But I find that 08:55 I get a lot of strength from realizing that, 08:58 you know, diamonds are built under pressure. 09:00 You know what I'm saying? Yeah, true. 09:01 Extreme circumstances 09:03 and I just feel that a lot of my trials and tribulations 09:05 are gonna allow me to build character 09:07 and to grow more overall as a human being, 09:11 you know, as an individual. 09:12 Definitely. 09:13 Now, you got involved in something's 09:16 in what we term "The Streets", 09:18 weapons charges and things like that, 09:20 talk about those weapons charges 09:21 and some of the other things you were involved in? 09:24 Well, let's cut a long story short. 09:27 I guess it was more so, 09:31 in addition to some of the other issues 09:32 that I was dealing with internally... 09:34 Okay. 09:35 ..like I also I guess didn't want necessarily 09:37 be a liability, you know, 09:39 to my parents anymore, you know. 09:43 And further what I mean, when you turn on the TV 09:46 and you see all these glamorous things, 09:48 you know what I'm saying, 09:49 and now my whole sports outlet was somewhat really eliminated 09:52 because I was unable to really play basketball 09:54 'cause I was, you know, 09:56 the Sabbath issue or what have you. 09:57 Yeah. 09:58 It just felt like... 10:00 I don't know, growing into it, I basically just felt like 10:04 it was more so, I felt crippled, 10:08 you know what I'm saying, like being broke 10:10 is basically being crippled, you know. 10:12 Okay. 10:13 And I was doing the school thing 10:14 or what have you but I still couldn't really make money 10:16 and a lot of my other friends, you know, 10:17 who didn't really go to school when I came back home, 10:19 they could purchase or get whatever they wanted, 10:20 you know what I'm saying, 10:22 and I'm struggling still having 10:23 to kind of ask my parents, you know, 10:24 so all these things were started to pileup, you know. 10:29 Then I reached a certain point in my head 10:30 where I realize that I would rather basically be dead 10:33 than be broke, you know, 10:34 'cause being broke is basically being a paraplegic, you know, 10:37 where you are paralyzed, you can't do nothing. 10:38 Yeah, okay. 10:39 Okay, you know, that's interesting 10:41 because pretty much the same thing for me. 10:43 I would, when sports didn't work out 10:46 it was like, "Okay, well, what else do I do? 10:48 Do I be a teacher, do I be a firefighter, what do I do?" 10:52 And there was really no passion for anything else 10:54 except for sports, no backup plan, no plan B, 10:57 all my eggs in one basket that didn't work out. 10:59 And I used to go to school 11:02 and I would see young people 15-16 year olds 11:05 and they got gold teeth in the mouth, 11:06 and tattoos all over their body, 11:08 and cars with rims on them, and music, and it seemed like 11:13 all the females just loved them. 11:14 Right. And I was like, "Wow." 11:16 You know, and it's like an attraction. 11:17 Didn't you turn on a music video 11:19 and you see money being... 11:21 Those things perpetuated even more. 11:22 Definitely and it's like it literally draws you in, 11:26 and it sucks you in, and you know next thing 11:28 you know you're all the way in that lifestyle. 11:30 Right. 11:32 So you got into that lifestyle, 11:33 and you eventually got incarcerated, 11:35 talk about that experience? 11:36 Yeah, I was at home. Okay. 11:40 It was summer of 2009. Okay. 11:43 And I just came home for basically just a few weeks 11:47 'cause I was doing summer school 11:49 in Alabama at the time. 11:51 Okay. 11:52 And when I came back home for a few weeks, 11:55 cut a long story short, 11:57 I remember one morning my mother, 11:59 I mean, sorry, I was at my parent's house. 12:01 And I saw a black van parked in the driveway 12:04 and it was basically SWAT team, you know. 12:07 Yeah, wow. 12:08 And they raided the house, or what have you, 12:10 they took me and incarcerated me, 12:12 and I was locked up for six weeks. 12:14 Okay. 12:15 And one of the hardest things about being locked up 12:18 beyond just being locked up, 12:20 you know, is not knowing when you're gonna come out... 12:23 Yeah, definitely. ..or if you're gonna come out. 12:25 Because in my county at the time, 12:27 they had me on 12:29 basically it was like a federal weapons charge. 12:32 And my county, at the time, 12:34 they only have a special bail hearing once a week, right? 12:38 And in my county, right, 12:40 you can imagine like is backed up 12:42 for you to get a special hearing 12:44 which only occurs once a week, 12:46 like I basically had to sit down there, 12:47 I mean, sit down for about six weeks. 12:49 Yeah, wow. 12:50 You know, so again the hardest part of it 12:51 was not knowing, you know. 12:53 And I'm telling you, like, 12:55 sometimes when you turn on the TV, 12:57 and you see these prison movies 12:58 so where they'd like to try glorify the prison 13:00 like it's fun and, you know, 13:02 there's always something going on, 13:04 but primarily most of the time you're just sitting down 13:07 doing a lot of nothing. 13:09 And to me, someone who's always been very involved, 13:11 that was the hardest part for me. 13:12 Sitting down and doing nothing, you know. 13:14 And then being under that amount of stress, 13:16 you can think yourself crazy, you know, 13:18 like all I was like I was literally reading 13:20 like at least four or five novels a week. 13:22 Okay. 13:23 You know, in addition to I was reading the Bible every day, 13:25 you know, and some of my favorite Psalms and Proverbs, 13:28 you know. 13:29 And then, I would stimulate my mind 13:32 and then I was obviously workout a lot too, 13:34 you know, a lot of pushups and chin-ups 13:35 or something of that sort. 13:37 So at the time, when I would go to hit my pillow at night, 13:40 like I would just knock out, 13:41 you know, I would just fall right asleep. 13:43 'Cause, yeah, you can like I say, 13:45 you can think yourself crazy. 13:46 I remember, certain times, looking through my window, 13:49 you know, outside and looking at the groundhogs, 13:52 and the squirrels, and the birds 13:54 and just asking God like, 13:55 "I wish I could be a bird or a groundhog right now." 13:59 Definitely. You know what I'm saying? 14:00 I didn't even necessarily just wishing I could be out like 14:02 you know, I envy the groundhogs and the birds at the time, 14:04 you know, and imagine that God 14:06 I wish really gave us dominion over them, you know. 14:09 Yeah, I was definitely in complete envy, 14:12 and jealousy over Mother Nature, you know, 14:14 with their freedom. 14:16 One thing that I've noticed that you said a few times 14:18 is you turn on the TV, 14:20 and you would see you know, things being shown 14:22 with the weapons, with people carrying guns, 14:26 with drugs, with women, 14:28 with all these types of things, with jail, 14:29 prison, you know, being glorified. 14:31 How much of an impact do you think that had? 14:35 Because a lot of times young people will say, 14:36 well, a TV doesn't do anything to me. 14:38 You know, it doesn't really have an impact on me like that. 14:40 But how much of an impact, 14:41 because I've heard you say TV several times, 14:44 so how much of an impact do you think that had? 14:45 For those people who believe that TV has no sort of impact, 14:49 let me just say this, 14:50 repetition is the key to mind control. 14:52 So the more you see something, 14:54 the more you see it all the time, 14:56 naturally the more desensitized you become to it. 14:59 Yeah, definitely. You know. 15:00 And whether you admit it or not, your subconscious, 15:05 you know, is picking it up, you know. 15:08 So naturally these things, to a certain extent, 15:11 start becoming more appealing, 15:14 you know, more glorified, you know. 15:15 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 15:17 You know, I remember, 15:19 some years ago I was researching, 15:20 you know, subliminal messages and things like that and stuff 15:22 that you watch. 15:24 And it was interesting how even certain cartoon, 15:26 certain cartoon movies and all that, you know, 15:29 even I watched as a kid growing up, 15:30 I look back at them, 15:31 and they had subliminal messages in them. 15:34 And, you know, it had certain scenes where, 15:36 and it's only your mind, the back of your mind 15:38 like the recesses of your mind that picks it up, 15:41 and then next thing you know 15:42 you're acting out certain things 15:43 and you have no clue where in the world 15:45 did that even come from. 15:46 And a lot of it stems from the things we watched, 15:48 the things we listen to, you know, 15:50 so Philippians 4:8 is not a lie. 15:53 Where it talks about, you know, whatsoever you do, 15:56 whatsoever you watch, you know, do all to the glory of God. 15:58 Right. 16:00 And, you know, so what we watch, 16:02 what we do has an impact upon our lives, 16:05 upon how we act, and things like that. 16:08 Eyes are the window to the soul. 16:10 Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely. 16:11 Looking back on your life, 16:13 what are some various instances that you can look back 16:16 and know that you saw the hand of God 16:18 moving in your life? 16:21 There's so many. 16:23 There's really too many, as a matter of fact. 16:27 One in particular, I can think of, though, 16:30 is basically how my situation ended up. 16:33 Like I said, I was on a federal weapons charge. 16:35 I was looking at a potential 16:37 three to four-year minimum had I been convicted. 16:39 Okay. 16:41 August 8, 2011, two years after I was basically incarcerated, 16:46 and charged, and all that... 16:47 Okay. 16:49 ..we walked into the courthouse, 16:52 my mother, my lawyer Donald McCloud, 16:54 he's actually now a judge now. 16:55 He's Seventh-day Adventist as well. 16:57 Okay. Okay. Amen. 16:59 And we walked into court anticipating a week long fight, 17:03 you know, week's long trial, 17:04 and within the first five minutes 17:06 they threw all the charges out 17:08 and just completely dismissed it. 17:09 Wow. 17:10 You know, and I mean like if that wasn't God 17:12 then I just don't know what else is, you know. 17:14 And it was at that moment 17:16 where I was like, "You know what? 17:18 Let me try to get out of the city, 17:20 get back to Huntsville, 17:21 or head back to Oakwood rather and try finish up my schooling, 17:24 and move ahead with my life. 17:27 Okay, so looking back on your life as well, 17:29 and you've seen the hand of God, you know, 17:31 moving in certain situations. 17:34 You got involved with drinking, drugs, 17:37 different things like that. 17:39 What do you think was the motivating factor that, 17:42 where you trying to cover up something? 17:45 What do you think was the motivating factor 17:46 for starting to use drugs, 17:48 and what age where you at that point? 17:51 I'd say roughly around like 17, 18 17:55 is when I kind of experimented a couple of times, 17:58 but when I started more so doing it was more so, 18:00 I guess around the time 18:02 when I was like maybe like 19, 20. 18:04 Okay. You know. 18:05 And... 18:06 Was it more just experimental or just social? 18:09 Well, for the drinking that was somewhat experimental 18:12 as well as social. 18:13 Okay. You know. 18:15 And it seemed like, once you started drinking, 18:18 the social gatherings... 18:20 Everything got better. Yeah. Yeah, right? 18:22 And then as for the drugs whatever, I mean, 18:28 I won't say that I necessarily 18:29 dabbled into a lot of hard drugs, 18:32 but I definitely did used to do, 18:33 or consume a fair amount of marijuana. 18:35 Okay. Okay. 18:37 When I had, one thing I can say with that is for me, again, 18:43 I guess it was just kind of like an outlet, 18:45 you know, seeking some sort of outlet to deal 18:47 with some frustrations at some of the curveballs 18:50 that life was throwing me, you know. 18:51 Did you realize, 18:52 and that's what a lot of us tend to say, you know, 18:55 dealing with the frustrations of our life, 18:58 different things like that, 18:59 we use the narcotics, the alcohol, 19:01 the marijuana, you know, whatever the drug is, 19:04 and to cover up. 19:06 But at the end of the day the problem is still there. 19:08 Did you find for yourself that it was pretty much the same end 19:11 'cause you come off that high and, you know, 19:13 still issue is same, it's still there? 19:15 Yeah, yeah, you're right. 19:17 I mean, no matter how much I can smoke or drink, 19:19 like my brothers are still sick. 19:20 Yeah. You know what I'm saying? 19:22 Like, I still have bills to pay, like, you know, 19:23 the situation doesn't ever really change. 19:25 And it comes a point in time 19:27 where you realize that the only person 19:28 who can really help you is God. 19:29 Yeah. 19:31 And through my whole situation one thing that really taught me 19:34 was besides God, the only other two people 19:37 who really fight for me, and scratch 19:39 and claw for me all the time are my parents, 19:40 you know. 19:41 They're always in my corner no matter what. 19:43 Yeah. You know. 19:44 And, yeah, they would definitely go around the world 19:46 than back from me. 19:47 Amen. Amen. 19:48 And I can't even, yeah, it doesn't, 19:50 doesn't like to say about that. 19:51 No one else is fighting for me the way they do. 19:52 Yeah, yeah, you're never finding. 19:54 I didn't realize that till later on in life 19:56 because I gravitated so much to friends. 19:57 Right exactly. 19:59 And once you get locked, 20:00 especially if you get locked up, 20:02 then you realize that 20:03 you have to make all these collect calls. 20:04 Yeah. 20:06 Like, not too many of your friends 20:07 are gonna pay for those collect calls. 20:08 Yeah, they're not gonna answer the phone calls. 20:10 Yeah, they are not gonna answer them. 20:11 Your parents will answer every single time. 20:13 Yeah, definitely. 20:14 I feel sorry for the bill that my parents probably had 20:15 during that time, you know. 20:17 Oh, yeah. 20:18 And it's funny because when I first 20:19 got into my problem, 20:21 I didn't even wanna call them or nothing for a few days, 20:22 you know what I'm saying, in the times when they would... 20:24 And then finally when I did call them, 20:26 they're like, "Why didn't you call sooner?" 20:28 You know, like they're not even upset about the situation. 20:31 They're just so concerned about me, you know. 20:33 Yeah, definitely. 20:35 And, you know, that is interesting, you know, 20:37 I've been in the same situation. 20:39 Get incarcerated, I don't call my friends 20:41 'cause I know they not gonna try to bond me out, 20:43 they are not gonna answer the collect call. 20:44 But I will call my parents. 20:46 Now, my parents didn't bond me out either. 20:47 That's one thing that, you know, 20:48 my parents always try to, they love me, 20:52 but at the same time if I did the crime, 20:54 basically you're gonna do the time. 20:56 I hear you. You know what I'm saying? 20:57 They will come visit me, 20:58 they will put money on my books, 21:00 you know, so I could buy a little Ramen noodles 21:01 while I was incarcerated, different things like that. 21:03 But in terms of bonding me out, "Nah, you pretty much..." 21:05 I still miss though. 21:06 My parents coming to visit me were actually, 21:09 I actually preferred that they didn't visit me 21:11 when I was in there. 21:12 Because the days when they would come 21:13 and visit me and I'm talking to them 21:15 through this glass, you know... 21:16 Yeah, that's hard. 21:17 Yeah, they're basically tearing up 21:19 and crying and stuff, you know. 21:20 And, yeah, those would be the roughest days for me. 21:22 Yeah, that's a very hard experience where... 21:25 'Cause you realize once you, that it's not only you, 21:28 you realize how much 21:30 what takes place with you or your actions impact others. 21:32 Impacts others around. You know. 21:34 And it makes you feel its bitterness. 21:36 It's a hard pill to swallow. 21:37 Definitely, and I used to wonder how do, 21:39 why would people tell me, especially family, 21:41 that I'm being selfish. 21:42 Right. How am I being selfish? 21:44 It's just me locked up. Right. 21:45 Not realizing that when I get locked up 21:47 everybody gets locked up. 21:48 Right, exactly. 21:49 You know, and, man, it's a trying situation. 21:51 And just the thing that makes me so upset 21:55 is that is so glorified that, you know, people want it, 21:59 and then when you get in that situation 22:00 and you see reality where that glass is there, 22:03 you can't touch your family members, 22:05 you put your hand on there on the glass, 22:07 they can put their hand back but you can't touch them 22:08 'cause they're separate by thick glass, 22:10 talk to them over the phone. 22:13 And it's just is a sad situation 22:14 and then when the visit is close to over. 22:16 Oh, yeah. 22:17 And when your mother, your father leave, man, 22:20 you just see the tears in their eyes, man, 22:21 it's heartbreaking, it's overwhelming. 22:23 Yeah, it is. It definitely. 22:25 What was the point in your life when you realized 22:27 that you needed to make a change? 22:31 Around the time I got locked up. 22:32 Okay. Okay. 22:33 During that point in time is when I realized 22:35 that I really needed to start changing, 22:36 you know, and digging deep. 22:38 And through that whole experience, 22:40 I mean, it allowed me to realize 22:42 that God really carried me, you know. 22:43 And even from the first moment I got to jail or whatever like, 22:47 I was never ever concerned about my safety 22:49 or anything like that. 22:50 You know what I'm saying? 22:51 Like from the moment I was there, 22:53 people just somehow just found favor with me. 22:55 You know, like some of the older guys 22:57 they were like, "Oh, we could tell that 22:58 this is your first time in here." 23:00 You know, but they are like, they are like, 23:01 "Oh, don't worry, as long as we here, 23:02 nobody's not gonna bother you." 23:04 You know. 23:05 And because they knew 23:06 that I actually had been in university or whatever like, 23:09 whenever they were writing letters and stuff, 23:10 they'd always get me to proofread their letters 23:12 and stuff like that, yeah, you know. 23:14 So, yeah, yeah I definitely saw the hand of God 23:17 moving from even when I was in there, you know. 23:19 Okay. Amen. 23:21 Now you currently a student at Oakwood University, 23:25 talk about your major, 23:26 and how your major can impact the world for Jesus? 23:30 I, well, my major is, 23:33 I'm a communications major with concentration in PR 23:36 and a minor in political science. 23:38 Okay. 23:39 So pretty much what I want to do 23:41 is I wanna use my PR background to build a rapport 23:47 within the community, you know. 23:50 Try to do as much as I possibly can get involved, you know. 23:54 And through using the PR to build my rapport 23:57 amongst the community, then I wanna, 23:59 when I get some gray hairs on my head, 24:00 you know, perhaps try to run for public office, you know. 24:03 Okay, okay. 24:05 But running for public office, to me, 24:07 is more so still way a means 24:10 of still accomplishing my endgame goal 24:11 'cause my end term goal is to be a lobbyist. 24:14 Amen. You know? 24:15 And the reason why I want to, 24:17 and a lot of people look at lobbyists 24:19 as being negative or what have you, 24:20 but it really comes down to the cause 24:23 that you're lobbying for. 24:24 Okay. You know? 24:26 And I find that being a lobbyist, 24:28 I would have, I'll be in a position 24:30 to greater effect change than even that of a politician. 24:33 Okay. You know? 24:34 'Cause ex-politicians make the greatest lobbyist 24:36 because obviously special interest groups 24:39 and politicians, you know, 24:41 they obviously wanna have the ear of people 24:44 who can make things happen. 24:46 Okay, okay. You know? 24:47 But being a politician, 24:50 if you don't really have a special interest group 24:52 and lobbyist behind you, 24:53 you will pass little to no legislation. 24:56 It is really the special interest groups and lobbyists 24:58 who have the power to do most things, you know. 25:01 And that's why I really wanna be a lobbyist 25:04 because I feel that I would be in a greater position 25:06 to effect change. 25:08 To effect change, yeah, okay. 25:09 Looking back on your life, 25:11 what are some of the things that you would change 25:13 versus some of the things that you wouldn't change 25:15 in your path that you have grown and learned from? 25:18 If some of the things that I would change would be, 25:21 I guess some of the things that I did growing up 25:22 because I realize now as I get older, 25:25 you know how selfish some of those things were, 25:27 as we were saying. 25:28 But aside from that, 25:31 there's not really much I would change 25:32 because I feel that a lot of the things 25:34 that I've undergone or experienced 25:36 have helped me to mature as a person, 25:38 and build a lot of character, you know. 25:40 And I also feel that it makes me 25:42 a bit more relatable, you know. 25:43 And when I do eventually, you know, 25:47 wanna write my book 25:48 and get ready to run for public office, 25:50 you know, these are, my past is not anything 25:52 that I wanna hide, you know. 25:53 It's definitely something I wanna put out there 25:55 for the world to know, you know. 25:56 Because too oftentimes you find 26:00 that a lot of politicians try to run like they're, 26:03 you know, like they have this white head on their head. 26:05 Yeah, like never did anything, yeah. 26:06 Yeah, exactly. Okay. 26:08 And then it comes back to bite you, you know. 26:10 And then, that's just not realistic, you know, 26:13 like, I mean, everybody has some sort of past, you know. 26:15 Obama has admitted to smoking weed, you know. 26:19 President Bush, I mean, ex-President Bush 26:21 he used to be a cokehead/drunkard, you know. 26:25 So I mean like no one is a saint and just, 26:27 and your past does not mean that, 26:30 I mean does not negatively impact 26:31 your future all of the time. 26:33 Definitely. You know what I'm saying? 26:34 What I want you to do right now 26:35 is I want you to look into the camera, 26:37 and I want you to talk to that young man 26:40 that is going through some of the same things 26:42 that you went through, 26:44 that has the pressure on them, that wants to play sports 26:46 but is dealing with the Sabbath, 26:49 you know, what they should do, 26:50 and even the joy that they can find 26:52 from serving God. 26:53 I want you to talk to that young person right now. 26:57 Dear, young men and young women out there. 27:01 The fast money goes just as fast as it comes. 27:06 It's a priceless feeling 27:08 when you earn something out there 27:10 and no one can take it from you, 27:12 and you don't have to be 27:13 looking over your shoulder at all times, 27:15 worrying about the police or somebody coming to rob you. 27:19 This is not a nice reality whatsoever. 27:23 So my only advice is that whatever you do, 27:27 definitely try to do it 27:29 to the honor in complete glory of God 27:31 and just never be inconsiderate to think 27:34 that what you do only impacts you and you alone, 27:39 because there's a lot of people around you 27:41 who love you more than you can even imagine. 27:45 Well said, well said. 27:46 Dwight, I just wanna thank you for being on the program, 27:49 and it's very much a blessing. 27:51 We'd like to thank you all for tuning in once again 27:53 for The New Journey. 27:54 Be sure to tune in next time for an exciting episode 27:57 of The New Journey. 27:58 Be blessed. |
Revised 2017-04-06