Corporations as people, The Meeting play, community voices

guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo You can listen to us live or download our show and any past show by googling in skitrow.la and hit Coombram Report. Now this week on the Coombram Report, we will be talking to some voices from the community, some community voices, with Ann Porter talking about corporations as speech for people, Odell Ruffin and the cast of the play The Meeting talking about, it's a play about Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, and Bobby Buck with his 15 minutes of fame with his co-host Shanna Sterling. Welcome to the Coombram Report. Thank you, thank you, thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Now, quickly, I would like to start off with just a little short two-minute clip from a mix of Hell at the Vortex last Saturday, March the 15th, 2014. It was a welcome by the owner. Cam Melville, whose band Sheep Yellow Mustard we opened the show with tonight. We decided to try to build someplace that would have the ability to support people's art and organizations towards a better run of society. So we seek out people and people seek us out who are looking to do consciousness raising and fundraising events. And if they fit the criteria, you go through our website, which is an adventure. It was an adventure putting it together. It took a number of years to learn the ins and outs of assisting people laughing. It was arduous, to put it lightly. Jeff, for most of the brunt of the bureaucratic and physical challenges involved in getting this place up and legal for 400 people to do, what they will do here. So I wanted to welcome you. The vision of our place, as I said, is as a support network for people to expand what they are doing with their events. And please visit our website, which is vortexla.org. And think outside the box. I encourage everyone to think outside the box. Work from your heart. Thank you. Your event will go backwards. Visualize it. I was just thinking that Jeff and I basically visualized this about 10 years ago. And here we are. So there will be a few people getting up and speaking, people who have used the space for different projects. And please enjoy. I know I'm leaving something out. I'll probably jump up and maybe speak a little again later. But welcome, everybody. Enjoy yourselves. Let's party. Okay, that was a special thanks to Cam Melville, Jeff Fogger, Gaser X, Lava, Jeff Norman, and all of those that made the event possible at the Vortex. Vortex is a nice performance space to utilize, located at 2341 East Olympic Boulevard. And come on out to the Vortex Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at 7 o'clock to see the film Watch That. Now I'd like to start off with Ann Porter. Ann, welcome to the Coomberon Report. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we're going to talk a little while about corporations as people. Can you talk to us about corporations as people, how that come about, what can the community do about it? Okay. Well, thank you for the honor of inviting me on your show. Move to Amend is the group that I'm with. Move to Amend is a national coalition working for a constitutional amendment establishing that corporations are not really people and money is not speech. Move to Amend also recognizes the corporate rule depends on the existence of a class of, quote, throwaway people, expendable, disposable people who can be exploited and then discarded with impunity. Giant corporations cultivate this impunity and garner societal acceptance and validation for their exploitation by keeping various groups within our society divided against each other on the basis of differences in religious beliefs, customs, culture, class, race, gender, race, gender, sexual orientation, and so forth. So to make a just and genuine, a just society and a genuine democracy a reality, we must work also to eradicate all these forms of oppression. Now, Move to Amend does not take a position on whether there is a connection between corporations and psychopaths, but in my own readings and studies, I have observed that this corporate agenda of exploiting and then discarding people closely matches the worldview of, quote, psychopaths, who view all other people as being put on Earth for them to use to achieve their own selfish goals and then abandon. And I have noted other similarities and connections between big for-profit corporations and psychopaths. So I'd like to start with a list of characteristics that define psychopaths, and then I'd like to tell you about a Supreme Court case that codified into law the corporations that sell stock in their company must behave like psychopaths. The corporations that sell stock in their company must behave like psychopaths. The corporations that sell stock in their company must behave like psychopaths. The corporations that sell stock in their company must behave like psychopaths. Next, I'd like to tell you about an informative new film that Move to Amend has made that chronicles this and other court cases and bills, which work to ensure a throwaway class of people available for exploitation. Then I would like to explain the special relationship between psychopaths and psychopathic institutions and positions of authority and power. And then later, after a little break, I think, Mm-hmm. I'll finish with some suggestions of things that we can do. Okay. Okay? Okay, so to start, in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, marketing researcher Clive Boddy published his book Corporate Psychopaths, Organizational Destroyers. In it, he identifies eight characteristics of psychopaths which serve to define them and by which we may recognize them. They are glib and superficially charming. On first meeting, they are friendly and extroverted, smooth, persuasive, entertaining, and they can turn it on and off as it suits them. Number two, they can lie convincingly and bluff their way out of trouble if caught lying. Three, they are manipulative and cunning, good at using people and seducing them, and have good political and networking skills. Four, they have a grandiose sense of their own self-worth, downplay and blame others for their own personal problems, and act as though they are above the rules. Five, they display lack of remorse about injuring others, blame their victims, and have no shame about their ruthlessness in pursuing their own interests, no matter who they harm. Six, they are emotionally shallow, cold, and calculating. They may say they care, but their walk does not match their talk. Seven, they display lack of empathy and show no capacity to relate to the feelings of others. They ridicule and abuse people with their words. Eight, they are a man of the word. Nine, they are a man of the word. Ten, they are a man of the word. And eight, they refuse to accept responsibility for their own behavior, always have an excuse when things go wrong, and blame others for problems and claim credit for the good work that others do. Now, the Supreme Court case that codified into law that for-profit corporations must behave as psychopaths was the 1916 Dodge v. Ford case. Henry Ford made cars. Brothers John and Horace Dodge. worked for the Ford Motor Company and were one of their biggest stockholders. One day, Henry Ford decided to use a large proportion of his company's profits to make more cars, pay his workers more, and sell the cars more cheaply, putting them within reach for more people. But the Dodge brothers protested. Ford should use his money to pay his shareholders higher dividends, they asserted. The Dodge brothers took Ford to court, and the court decided that the corporation, Ford Motors, was not a good company. Ford Motors, a large-scale, private-motor company, had a duty to prioritize the payment of the greatest possible dividend to its shareholders above all else. So today, we live in a world where defective oil rigs and nuclear power plants don't get fixed, cars with known safety hazards are not recalled, and consumers are not accurately informed about harmful substances in food and drugs, because doing so would compromise the profitability for corporate stockholders. And like the human psychopath who called Ford a psychopath, Ford was not a psychopath. Ford was not a psychopath. Ford was not a psychopath. Ford was not a psychopath. Ford was not a psychopath. For his own personal gain, the for-profit corporation ruthlessly carries out its mission to profit with all the protection of the law that compels it to do so. Now, Move to Amend's new documentary, called Legalize Democracy, can be viewed on YouTube. This is a 30-minute film that chronicles this case and other laws and court rulings throughout U.S. history. The first is that the Constitution of the United States, which was established in 1791, was a law that allowed the use of property, which has systematically advantaged corporations and their owners, and facilitated exploitation by a privileged few over whole groups of people designated as throwaways. Here are a few examples. Written in 1791, Article 4 of the Constitution makes it clear that certain persons can be defined as property. Quote, No person held to service in one state, escaping to another, shall be discharged from such service. Another example, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forced indigenous communities from their homeland, and the subsequent Homestead Act of 1862, which made these same lands available at low cost to settlers of European descent and for free to the railroads. And Nixon's War on Drugs, initiated in 1971, systematically targets and imprisons people of color up until today. Now, Clive Boddy and others have observed that there's a special relationship that exists between psychopaths and positions of authority and power. Such positions greatly facilitate psychopaths in parasitizing others, exploiting them for the psychopath's own self-interest, and then discarding them. Psychopaths are strongly attracted to positions of authority and power, and will actively strive to attain them. And will use their skills of dazzling charm, manipulation, deceit, treachery, and so forth to gain them. The psychopath is unconcerned about rendering the service that the position's job description spells out, and may lack the qualifications to do so. The psychopath is only in it to get to wield power over other people with organizational and societal sanction. And when they get into these positions of authority, psychopaths use the bully pulpit to define themselves as the norm. The psychopath is only in it to get to wield power over other people with organizational and societal sanction. And to send a message to the rest of us that we should just accept our role as a prey species for them without question or protest. Okay. Okay. All right. Yeah, we'll get into some more at the latter part. Let me ask you a little quick question before we move over. Can you give us your contact information for your organization? Yes. Okay. It's movetoamend.org. This is a national organization. And there are local affiliates. On the homepage, on the right-hand side, there is a sidebar where you can find local affiliates. And you can find a group wherever your listeners can find groups wherever they live in the United States. Here in Los Angeles, my phone number, and I am one of the members of the Los Angeles area leadership team. My phone number. My phone number is 323-255-1279. Yeah. Okay. We're going to come back at the latter part of the show to talk a little bit more about it because I think it's so important to understand that the dangers of corporations as people, simply for the fact that corporations can live for such a long time, way past average human beings' lifespan. And a lot of people don't understand that these big corporations. Have the same rights as a human being walking around here on earth. Okay. Thank you very much, Ann Porter. Yeah. We'll come back to the latter part of the show for some closing comments. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Now, at this time, I'd like to turn to our other in-studio guest, the director of the play by Jeff Stetson, The Meeting, and the director is Odell Ruffin. Hey, welcome to the Coon Round Report. Thank you so much for having us. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can you tell our listeners a little about your background? How did you get off into the theater? You know, a little how you got off into directing out here in L.A.? Well, I actually started out in college. I'm an actor as well. I started out acting, and then I got a really strong passion for writing. Started doing some plays myself in college, and then I decided to develop my business, Ruffin Entertainment, which is we actually stand for education through entertainment. So we came out here in L.A. about two years ago. From where? From Washington, D.C., actually. We produced a few plays out there, and we wanted to kind of change the way things are going with Hollywood now and with a different slant on using entertainment to infuse and empower and educate people in a different route. So did you deal with any of the actors or theater from the Howard University scene around there? Yes. I actually produced. One of my plays there, Tupac Tale, it was actually incubated at Howard University, and we developed it there as a one-man show, and then it became a full cast, and then we brought it out of here, and that was our first production out here in L.A. Yeah, because, you know, there is a Howard University group out here. As a matter of fact, we have one coming next week, Marlo Wyatt. Yeah, she is from Howard, and we had Jamal McNeil. He's a director. He's a director in the area. It's a whole group of Howard University alumni. I'm always going to love Howard University. I met my future, well, my current wife actually there. My future wife at the time. She's an alumni. Okay, look, before we talk about the play, I just want to play a little short clip about Malcolm X and Dr. King, and then we're going to get off into a discussion. Okay. Okay. Now, after... After Dr. Hoover used this methodology to bring down Marcus Garvey and destroy the Universal Negro Improvement Association, as I mentioned, he would perfect this into a technique that would be used in the 60s, most notably against Malcolm X and against Dr. King. Now, what was it really about menaceing, Mr. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King that made them such a threat to the American ways of life in the eyes of J. Edgar Hoover? The answer to that question is found in a memo by J. Edgar Hoover in response to a discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King. This memo in which J. Edgar Hoover, who had been a member of the National Security Service, would send around to most of his trusted FBI agents, would become known as the Hoover Memo. The memo reads, to prevent the rise of a messiah who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement, Malcolm X might have been such a messiah. He is a martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, and Elijah Muhammad all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammad is less a threat because of his age. King could become a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obedience to white liberal doctrine of nonviolence and embrace black nationalism. Now, this was FBI memorandum. That was issued on March the 4th, 1968. And keep in mind, that was just a little, a month, what? A few weeks after that, up in April, the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis. The goal of this memo was to prevent the rise of a black messiah who could unify the black masses. Hoover never forgot his experience with Marcus Garvey and the fear that the Garvey movement caused. This was the foundation for the creation of the underground program that I mentioned called COINTELPRO, whose sole purpose was to neutralize any organization deemed un-American. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King had the potential to duplicate the success of the Marcus Garvey movement. As long as Malcolm X was part of the organization, the structure of the nation of Islam, under the control of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, he was no threat to duplicate the success of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The same in relationship to Dr. King. As long as Dr. Martin Luther King was under the conservative nonviolent movement of civil rights, he was no threat to duplicate the national and international success of the Marcus Garvey movement. But with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize and his opposition to the Vietnam War, this took him like Malcolm X when he separated from the nation of Islam out of the arena of civil rights into the arena of human rights, from the national scene to the international scene. Moved by Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King from the national arena of civil rights to the international scene. Now, the world's largest media personality, the American people, has become the center of the global arena of human rights, which signed the death law. Okay, let's talk about the play, the meeting for a minute. What is the play, the meeting about? Well, it's actually a fictional meeting between Dr. King and Malcolm X, basically. And it takes place over the course of a day, and they get into the discussion. It's interesting, interestingly enough, that you played that excerpt. It's discussed throughout the play. I'm sure you're aware of that. But it's just the who is right and who is wrong and which way do we move forward when it comes to that. Mm-hmm. How about the actors? What is it like playing characters like Dr. King? One of the... Playing Malcolm X is really interesting. I know that throughout the process, as I've communicated with Odell and as I've communicated with Michael, one of the things that we've talked a lot about, is who we agree with. And I've made it abundantly clear throughout the process that I stand in line with Dr. Martin Luther King, and a few of the others have stood in line with Malcolm X. And it's really interesting to be playing the characters. One of the questions that came up was a question about impersonation. We wondered whether it was important if we impersonated or if we just lived. And I think we came down to a question. I think we came down to a consensus that it was good to just live through these characters. What do you mean by that? Well, it's just like you said before. You said, I mean, Martin Luther King Jr. was actually about 5'6 1⁄2". I'm portraying him. I'm 6'5". So it's kind of odd. And we kind of thought, you know, what will the audience think? Will they be able to get past my height, you know, portraying a role like Dr. Martin Luther King, and look beyond that to see if I'm able to embody what he stood for and to try to get that across, you know, the stage. So that's kind of what we mean. We mean, as far as do we try to imitate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X? Because that's what people are going to look for because these are two larger-than-life people from, you know, historical beings. So we tried to stay away from just trying to emulate them and try to pretty much, you know, channel what it is that they stood for. Mm-hmm. Now, can you talk about the difference between the teachings of Malcolm X and that of Dr. King? What do you think the difference? I'll let these two go after it. I think one of the things I've noticed most about Malcolm X, and that I've also noticed about Dr. Martin Luther King, is that they both operate out of a place of woundedness. Malcolm X, having spent a lot of time in prison, he's been in prison for a long time. Dr. Martin Luther King, having spent a lot of time in prison, Dr. Martin Luther King being, in my estimation, a far more prejudiced place where he lived. But they both operate out of this woundedness, yet one preaches nonviolence, the other preaches violence for a time, and then kind of runs away from violence. So I understand both perspectives. I mean... Yeah, I would have to agree. I think that it is something... Martin Luther King Jr., he basically thought that in order for us to get to where we needed to be, we needed to assimilate. We needed the unity with the white people to get by. And through that, the only way he felt that that was possible was through nonviolence. And we all know that, you know, Malcolm X, he said, okay, yeah, we want to get there, but we're going to get there by any means necessary. If it takes us to be violent in order to get there, then, hey, that's an action. That's an action based off of a reaction. You see what I mean? And Malcolm consistently was very vocal about Martin Luther King, about the fact that he felt that he had not accomplished anything, that he was turning black people against each other. One of the important quotes I think that's made within the context of the text deals with how some of the same people that go to Dr. King's rallies and sit there peacefully and have their heads split open, also go back to their own communities and commit violent acts. And he talks about it being this rage and this huge fear that he can't relieve them from, but he wants to direct the rage in the right source, in the right place. Now, let me ask you this, because another similarity is the fact that both of them was at age 39 when they were assassinated. And if Dr. King and Malcolm X were around, today, working together, what do you think the major issues they'd be working on? I think that one of the major issues that they would have to deal with is the way that black people interact with one another and the way that we respect ourselves nowadays. I mean, it's also another part in the play where Malcolm's character says to Dr. King, he says, I wonder, years from now, we will be together. Now, we will be forgotten about. Our movement and what we stood for will be forgotten about. And it's funny when you read that, and this is something that was based back then, and you're like, wow, that has come to reality. You have a lot of these young black men, young black women who really don't have that respect for themselves or that respect for what we as a people have accomplished in order for them to get to where we are today. Well, I don't know if this society would allow a Martin Luther King or a Malcolm X to lead a movement and to have that kind of dialogue. I don't think that there's, when I say allowance, I mean, I don't know if that conversation would even come up right now. You're saying as far as where we are, as far as to accept that dialogue right now. I don't know if with this generation, I don't know if this generation is ready to have that conversation again. So what would your approach to staging this, to moving it forward? What would you say to the audience that would be interested in seeing what you would do from the script to the stage? I mean, I did a lot of research on the past productions just to see how the blocking was and the staging was and how the characters were portrayed. And we had that discussion between, should we try to imitate these characters or should we try to capture the essence of them? So while we're trying to stay true to who Malcolm was and who Dr. King was, we don't want to make it sort of cartoonish and we don't want it to be something typical that people see. We want the audience to relate to them as men. When you come and see the show, you're going to notice that. When we talked about the height, we did try to get around that staging it. But as Michael started to perform, he started to really capture the essence of Martin and even more and more and more and more to the point where I stopped asking him to sit down, you know, because of the height. I got rid of that. I just said, just do what you have to do, you know. And the same thing, both of these guys are powerful actors. And I know that anybody that shows up is going to be able to. Well, look, give us some basic information about when it's performed, where, price, all that kind of stuff to get in. Well, it's going to be opening the 21st at the Complex Theatre. That's this Friday. This Friday. And we have tickets there on sale now to, well, the discounted tickets are on sale until March 19th. Those are $20 tickets. And after that, they're full price at $25. And it is, the address is 64776 Santa Monica Boulevard, the Complex Theatre. And it's going to be running Friday night, Saturday night. And we have two shows on Sunday. Okay. We want to, I think we're coming Friday. We want to come. So do we have some discount tickets for that? I think I saw something about those good dang tickets. Those good dang people to Robey can get in for. Oh, yeah. That sounds fair. Definitely. We do have those packages available. We have our nonprofits as well as union members and the Robey Theatres. Anybody that's connected with those and can actually come to the door, prove an ID and everything, we do have a discounted price for that. Okay. And that's every night? That's, well, right now we're still, it's Sunday night right now. But we may adjust that. Okay. Because we want to come over there on Friday night. It's open Friday. Yes, it's opening Friday. So you guys must be getting ready to move into your dress rehearsal tech and all of that kind of stuff. Yes, we are. Yeah. Okay. We're going to come back later on and talk a little bit more. And I hope we have a little time for our round table. So thank you very much. Very interesting subject. A great play. I've seen it a number of times. And I think it's an important play, timeless play. So come on out to the complex and check out the meeting this weekend, 21st, 22nd, and the 23rd. And the 23rd. 23rd is a matinee at 3 o'clock over there. What time is the matinee? It's 2 o'clock. 2 o'clock. And 8 o'clock on Sunday night too. Okay. Now we'll be coming back to the latter part of our show for some closing comments. And at this time, I want to move over to Ms. Arlene Anthony. She's going to do the community calendar. This is the community calendar for the month of March. We're asking you to save the date. Tuesday, March 25th at 7 p.m., Drama Stage Coon Run Veteran Community Theater Workshop presents the documentary Watt's Stack. This is the all-day concert that was part of the Watt Summer Festival. It's a great way to celebrate the festival of 1972. Emceed by, at that time, a young Jesse Jackson. Featuring Richard Pryor, the staple singers, Isaac Hayes with the theme from Shaft, and many more. This is a fundraising event. We're asking you to come out with your afro, your bell bottoms, your platform shoes, and laugh, cry, sing, dance, shout, and just network with people. Suggested donation is $5.00. The location is the Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Boulevard. That's located at the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic. For more information, contact Drama Stage 1 at yahoo.com or 213-479-1764. Sunday, March 30th, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. And these meetings are held on Sunday, March 30th, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. until actually the last Sunday of the month. But this is Sunday, March 30th. Operation Mindful Warrior has a meeting and is free for the veterans and families and support communities. Practitioners and social workers and more are available. The location of this event is the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, 1200 San Francisco Boulevard, Los Angeles, 950 East. We're open to any questions. We're open to any questions. For more information, contact www.OperationMindfulWarriors.com. This is on Saturday, March 22nd. Ann Judd, Face America Foundation. It's Ann Runs America for Veterans. Ann will be running across America, and that's starting this Saturday. And she's going to be at different locations at different times, and she's going to be checking in with the Skid Row Studios to tell us where she is and how she's doing. And Melvin is going to have more information on that. And if you want to talk to Ann or contact her or just boost her on, you can contact her at 310-876-2538 or email runanna.run2014.com. Upcoming guests on the Qumran Report Monday, March 24th, will be Ariel Clymer and Marla Wyatt. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earlene Anthony. A reminder, the call-in number for the show is 800-893-9562. Thank you. Now back to our host. Okay, thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. Now at this time, I'd like to turn it over to Bobby Buck and Shanna Sterling by playing a song for one of the guests entitled Haters. Haters can can can can When you're stuck, you run When you ain't got no luck You just can't get enough When you just need a buck Everyone else gets their stuff Pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up Pop it, hit it, ooh Pop it, hit it, ooh Pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up When your cash is right Others still get to buy You're the big guy of time You try to stay right But you end up in a fight Pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up Pop it, hit it, ooh Pop it, hit it, ooh Pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up When you're a hater When you're a hater When you're a hater When you're a hater I'm calling all the haters Ooh, haters Ooh Haters When life just isn't fair When no one seems fair Like you're not even there All you get there is death Someone else has it all Somehow they got the call Pop that craphead up Pop that craphead up Go ahead and pop that craphead up Pop that craphead up When you're a hater you hate Reasoning hater, you see When you're a hater you hate Reasoning hater, you see I'm calling all the haters Ooh, haters Hey, hey, hey, haters Haters, can you can you can you All right, all right. This is Bobby Buck with 15 Minutes of Fame, Action Talk with Bobby Buck. And my co-host is Ms. Shauna Sterling of the Sterling Family Youth Foundation. And we got three guests in here tonight. And my first guest is the young lady y'all just heard playing on the radio. It's Ms. Natasha. Ms. Natasha, how you doing? Hi, I'm Natasha Missick. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, yeah, no problem, no problem. So I'm going to ask you about this song. What made you write this song? Well, this song is written to go with a comedic sketch that I wrote called Haters Anonymous. And, you know, I've been a member of various support groups. I've been on both sides of it. And, you know, I've just seen a lot of different kind of dynamics that come up when people's egos get involved with things. So that's kind of what it is. It's a comedic spin on things. And that's kind of what I do and just bring things to light. So you do a little comedy type stuff. Comedic type stuff, yeah. Okay. The same with my video Ethnic Chicks, which, yeah. What's up with that? That was basically, you can see all these on YouTube.com slash Natasha Missick. But Ethnic Chicks, basically, it can be a bit raunchy. Uh-oh. But it's... Everybody go to it right there. Right, basically, it could. But really it was because I was being sexually harassed as a member of a theater company. And it was kind of my response. It was somebody who... You know, they had a lot of kind of racist stereotypes about women that were informing his way of approaching women and kind of mentioning the body parts and different things that he wouldn't necessarily say to someone of his same race. Oh, okay. And I had a lot of female friends who were going through the same things at the same time of different races. People approaching them speaking Spanish when they're clearly speaking English or people walking up and telling someone, you know, a friend of mine who's Indian. Oh, well, I love curry. You know, and just kind of coming up with these kind of really corny lines, but being very persistent in it because they're so sure that this is what will work with you. So that's kind of what it was a response to. And I wasn't sure how people would accept it as I performed it live. And I do simulate an orgasm within it, but people loved it. People thought it was really funny. And I was playing for mixed audiences. So really cool. All right. So you got anything coming up soon? Yeah. Basically, I'm working on another comedic skit. And, you know, hey, I think a lot of comedy comes from drama. And we're having a lot of difficulties with, well, this has been an ongoing problem of police shootings of African-Americans. You know, there was a statistic released that in 2013, 57, the cops in Chicago shot 57 people. 50 of them were African-American. So we're doing a skit that's survival tips for people of color if they're pulled over for a routine stop. Okay. All right. That sounds like a very interesting. We need that for real. Yeah. Yeah. But it's going to be comedic. So, I mean. Okay. All right. We could be teaming up on some stuff. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. All right. My next guest is Mr. Mark Tiano. How are you doing, sir? I'm doing great. Doing great. So let people know what you do. I've written a fantasy book called Maldine. It's a big fantasy sci-fi epic. Think Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Star Wars just all sort of mesh together. The first book alone is like about 330,000 words. It's the most epic book you're ever going to see. The whole thing is about like 13 books long. Oh, 13 books long. Yeah. It gives a new meaning to the word epic. It goes everywhere. So, like I say, with this one book, you say this is the one that's 13 book novel, right? Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, I'll tell you what. You're doing a lot. So what motivates you? What inspires you to write that much? I really love doing it. I love the story. I get enthused in it. I become sort of one with the characters. And all it needs is enthusiasm. And that keeps me going. I can write for like about 10 hours a day. Man. And come out feeling refreshed. I tell you what. Yeah, because I heard you said like it's boring for you to write less than 1.3 million words. Is that, I mean, 1.3 million? That's an awful lot. I can do about close to 145,000 words a month. Okay. That's longer than your average novel. My average novel is like about two or three times that. Man. So you have a real straight work ethic to be able to do that. Yeah. Like I said, just got to love it. And of those who have read it, I've never had a complaint about, oh, it's too long. I've actually had people going, I want more. You know, where's the next book? Yeah. And so I hand it to them and I keep writing. Okay, then. So you got any other upcoming projects, any other books you're working on, side projects or anything like that? A few. A few. So there's volume two of Maldine is getting a new cover and getting released again under my own title. I've also been working with somebody else on a series of five books. Just finished the third one. That's the Land of the Hive series. And I have enough stuff backlogged that once things get rolling, I can keep any three publishers busy for about 10 years. Man, I tell you what, I'm going to sit by you so I can learn something. Yeah. So, yeah. Because me and you and Natasha, we got to get together after the show, start working on some stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So, all right. Cool, man. Appreciate you coming out. Thanks. All right. All right. My next guest is Mr. Quick. He's coming in working with Skid Row Streetball League and also the Skid Row clothing line. So how are you doing, sir? All right. I'm glad to be here. All right. I'm glad you're here, man. So I'm glad you're here, man. So I first asked you, though, when did you come to Skid Row? Actually. I came to Skid Row like 1993. In and out. I was in and out, you know what I mean, Skid Row for a while. You know what I mean? I seen a lot of things. I learned a lot by being out there on the streets. You know what I mean? And I ran into OG. And they was starting the Streetball League, you know what I mean, for gangbangers, ex-gangbangers, what have you, you know what I mean, young you. And I got off into the... I got off into the streetball thing with OG. And I seen it was a promising thing that could help. Something big could help him from that. So, I mean, it was something positive for me to lean on at the time. So I leaned on that for a while. Well, I mean, and it turned out being good. Seven years strong. And I left for a while. I've been gone for a while, as you know. Right, right, right. A lot of things has changed. I mean, within the four years I was gone, but I'm back. OG and them kept it together. And they got the clothing line now. I'm part of the clothing line. I'm an executive in the league right now. I don't think I'm going to play this season. But, you know, I was playing last season. You know what I mean? 2007 to 2009. You know what I mean? So, anyway, there's a lot of good things that come out of this. You know what I mean? Being a skier, you know what I mean? I've seen a lot, like I said. I've done a lot. You know what I mean? But it's about being... Being for the youth now. Right on. I mean, I see a lot of young kids in Skid Row that don't need to be there. You know what I mean? They're going through bitter things with their families. I go around and try to talk to the younger youth. And try to keep them from taking the road that a lot of us took. You know what I mean? Going in the prison system. Being left alone. You know what I mean? I give them some hope to go on before they can kind of lift themselves up, man. And not be stuck in that rut. You know what I mean? Because you got a lot of people. That's in Skid Row, man. That's got to have lives. Right. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? They gave up. You know what I mean? So... Yeah. My thing is... I'm just here to try to lift people up. You know what I mean? Because I know what it is to be down. And I know what it is to be up. You know what I mean? Right now, I'm in between. Right. But God is good. Right on, man. That's why I'm so glad you're here. Because I know we met at the open house. Yeah. Because OG kept talking to you. He talked about me. He kept talking to me about you. So we finally met up. And now we're supposed to make this happen. We're going to get it cracking this year. 2014 win-win season. Yeah. Of course. You know what I mean? I'm real known in Skid Row. You know what I mean? Not only for the basketball. You know what I mean? Just being that friendly person, man, to everybody, man, that I meet. You know what I mean? Because I'm from New Orleans. You know what I mean? And our culture is to reach out. You know what I mean? And I'm very known over there, as you know. You know what I mean? And I'm just happy to be part of the Skid Row Streetball League. You know what I mean? And I got brought in by this guy called King in the Court, Luke. You know what I mean? He brought me in. You know what I mean? Okay. It was a good thing, man. You know what I mean? And I'm looking forward to this season. Like, open house was the beginning. Right, right. You know what I mean? I can't say when they're going to have the first game. I don't know if it's this Saturday or next Saturday. But I encourage people to come. You know what I mean? Because you can get a lot out of it. All right. Cool, man. Appreciate all that information. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Oh, yeah. Let me get back to Mark real quick, man. I want to make sure we get your information where people can go check out your book. The website is maldine.com. That's M-A-L-D-E-N-E dot com. That contains all updates on what's coming, what's out. There's a sample of the first chapter, both written and audio. Everything's there. You can order whatever you need. All right. Okay. Thank you. And Ms. Shauna Sterling, how you doing? I'm doing just fine. I would like to know a little bit more of how someone can come down and help on the skid row three-on-three basketball in the closing line. Well, actually, I have to talk to the commissioner of the league a little bit more because they changed a lot of things from what I remember it was. So, you know what I mean? I'm working on that right now. And what you can do, you can come down to the... YouSelf. It's right there by Gladys Park. You can come there and, you know what I mean, talk to Charles. You know, I'll be around. You know what I mean? You can talk to me quick. And I'll be able to give you a little bit more information on that. But, you know what I mean? We also start in the women's league, too. Also, for younger girls. You know what I mean? Also. All right. That's cool. And also, everybody, y'all can check me out at bobbybuck.com. Or you can email me for all the information you heard tonight at buck at bobbybuck.com. And now we're going back to Melvin Johnson. The host. All right. All right. All right. Get out of the way. Get out of the way. All right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. That's Bobby Buck with his 15-minute of fame, which we do. The... The... Third... Third money of every month. Look, I want to go... When we're winding down, we still got a few minutes. I want the director... I want Anne to take just a couple minutes, winding down for us. Take two minutes. Take about two minutes apiece. And once again, tell us your contact information. And then we'll try to, once again, promote the play again. Okay. Okay. So, the contact information is moved to... Movetoamen.org. My phone number is 323-255-1279. And I'd like to throw out a few, just a few questions for thought. Law and custom have deeply entrenched our acceptance of psychopathic leadership styles. In order to change this, we will need to ask ourselves a few ethical questions. Um, with, okay, is it, is it reasonable or possible to hold psychopaths responsible for their unethical decisions and actions? Is it acceptable to screen for psychopathy and then deny people access to positions of authority based on results of screening? And can we agree that known psychopaths should be identified and restricted from wielding authority unscrupulously and destructively? And if we cannot agree on this, what are our reasons for feeling that it would be wrong to do so? Okay. Odell. Yes. And, um, you can get tickets for the meeting at www.roughinentertainment.com. That's backslash the meeting. And again, the opening night is the 21st. That's this Friday, 8 PM. Uh, we do have a show on Saturday, 8 PM as well. Two shows on Sunday, one at two and one at 8 PM. And, uh, we do look forward to. We're having a lot of people come back and get informed. And one of the things I wanted to close out with is that, uh, this is a very powerful play, very inspiring play for me to actually be able to direct, especially to this generation. It's a very old play, but at the same time, we want to keep, um, the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X alive through the works of a very creative writer, Jeff Stinson. So we'd like to keep it going. What are the plans, uh, after this run? Well, we, we'd actually, we'd actually, we'd actually, we'd actually, we'd actually, we'd like to extend the run, uh, again, and have it be played out a few more times, at least four more shows afterwards. And, uh, basically get some sponsorship, uh, seek partnership with the NAACP chapter, Los Angeles, if possible. And, um, and keep it going from there. One more little quick question. What is, uh, who, um, um, your set designer, who, who, who did the set design and all of that? We actually did it through our own production company. Uh, it's a, it's a very, a modern set. We're trying to keep it to the 1960s as possible. So, uh, we, we've got some, got a good classic look that we're, we're going to put together for the audience. Okay. Looking forward to get on out and, uh, see this great play. Please listen to past shows of the Coon Ram Report on iTunes, Stitcher, Tumblr, Google, or skidrow.la. Thank you for tuning in to the Coon Ram Report. From your host, Malcolm. And from your host, Calvin Ishmael Johnson. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with the song, Bad Storm, by Chief Yellow Mustard. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.