Basketball league, trash cans, reading club, Skid Row issues

Are we going to be around this town? And let what everybody said come true Get off of me Get up if you want to understand me Get up if you really want to help me Get up, run in Jesus' name I'm gonna get up if you get off of me Get up if you want to understand me Get up if you really want to help me Get up, run in Jesus' name I'm gonna get up The people who are talking to me Are we going to be around this town? And let what everybody said come true Good for nothing, baby Oh, thank you Just a boy who's grown My shit was a jigger Now we gonna stand for that Oh, yes, I really will decide I'm your brother As you stand in your glory I hope you're mine And I'll tell a whole story Part of your system I know you think you've come a long way I know you think you've come a long way As I walk the street To see it roll You can see my hands ain't shaking And my head's ain't triggering I turn the coin and keep it in trash Look up at the street sign It says, it's a trillion Look back down and make eye contact With a brother And now I'm feeling like I'm standing So where I should be He looks around a thousand of his friends That raise their crackpipes to the lips And bless him simultaneously Darker than blue by Willis and Shante of Positive Light Ministry Welcome to the Cone Run Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson coming at you from Skid Row Studios. I'll call in numbers 800-893-9562. Listen to us live or you can download our show and any past show by googling in skidrow.la and hit Cone Run Report. This week on the Cone Run Report we'll be talking to some voices from the community with Manuel O.G. Mann-Compito and Ron Crockett. O.G. is the founder of the Three on Three Basketball League celebrating his seventh season. He's going to talk to us about that and also some other issues involving the Skid Row community. Also with us in the studio is Ron Crockett from the Fun Zone Reading Club. O.G. and Ron, welcome to the Cone Run Report. Welcome to the Cone Run Report. Hey, thank you. Thank you very much, Melvin. Woo-hoo. O.G., let's start off by talking about the seventh season of the Three on Three Basketball League. Can you talk about it? Well, it's a very significant season. What I need to probably do is go back a little bit further because seven years ago you just said it couldn't be done. You know, we didn't have no league. And we founded this league on ten teams. And since then, since 1912, I mean, 2007, Gladys Park has had a new court, new tables, exercise benches. 2008, we were recognized by the city. And in 2008, we also went to Staples Center and participated in the latest Three on Three Staples Center and came back again the next year and we was in the Nike Three on Three. 2010, we were recognized as Downtown Extinction Reward. 2011, we went to Venice Beach with the Ambassadors. Had two traveling teams in 2011 and 2012. We also hosted Venice Beach at Gladys Park. So this team, you know, this league, you know, I wanted to talk about the fact that when you look at our purpose, it talks about life skill development, mentorship, community development, employment and business ventures, self-help and partnership. And I wanted to stress that because you don't hear the word basketball in here at all. I'm always hearing people talking about when the league gonna start, when the league gonna start? And it's like everybody's thinking basketball. And the league is not about basketball. Again, it's about life skill development, mentorship, community development, employment, ventures, self-help and partnership. Don't say anything about basketball. So now how do basketball come into, when you talk about the seven season, what's so important about a seven season basketball? First of all, we survived seven years. We got a lot of basketball players without any funding, okay? We got men that are working now, taking care of their families. That's more important than basketball. If you don't come to a basketball game on Saturday because you working or you taking your little daughter out for her birthday, that's more important than basketball. And that's what the league is about. And that's what, it's about teaching these type of skills that they can use in their real life. Basketball court at Gladys Park is a classroom, basically where people get, you know, tricked into coming to play basketball and learn other things, you know, that camaraderie, teamwork, responsibility, friendship, family. What does it mean to have a family? And we use basketball to teach those skills. Okay. So that's what's important about seven years. In seven years, you know, first of all, I want to send a shout out to all our championship teams, you know, like Game Over, the Riders, the Villains, you know, the WCR Ballers. I want to say, you know, I love you. I want to send a shout out to all the different teams that came down to visit, like Pismo Beach. We even played Hollywood Hoop, East LA, Azusa University. We even had LAPD Central Division come out. That's why our motto is more than just a game. It's not about basketball. Basketball is just a tool that we use to help to develop the men and the women in our community to be better servants. You know? Most people don't know, we played at every mission in here. The LA Mission, the Midnight Mission, okay? Union Rescue Mission. All these missions got gyms. And we done took the community into every gym in this community and played. That shows partnership. These are the kind of things we want to talk about. And it's not, that's why seven years to still be here at Gladys Park, at a park that's never received a penny from the city, that's enough accomplishment right there. That's enough accomplishment right there. That's what's important about it. So this year, it's really been a great season. We just had our third round. I mean, it's been beautiful. The men been out here. The first game we had two suspension. And that's what I'm saying about the league. You know, when men conduct is not appropriate, we put them on suspension. We let them know it's more than just basketball. Okay? Because after we get through playing basketball, we all go out and have a hot dog or hamburger together. Okay? It's not that type of rivalry. I mean, rivalry, you know what I'm saying? Even though there's 10 teams, it's only one league. Mm-hmm. Okay, so this is what's important about it. Doing off season, we've been out here at ceasefire, you know, talking to the other neighborhoods, trying to bring them to come in and play down in Gladys Park, okay? Because people from down here come from different neighborhoods. Mm-hmm. Now let me ask you this. What is the, because Ron mentioned it, what's the procedure for getting a team in the, how do you sponsor a team? Well, we looking for sponsors. You can go to skid row three on three streetball at yahoo.com. You know, you can contact us there. You can go on our Facebook. Okay. Skid row three on three streetball on Facebook. And you can just download applications. You can download all the information, rules and regulations. You know, you can send a message or request saying, you know, I want to really get in contact with you. So you'll get his number. I'm pretty sure you're going to, Ron, he's going to give you his number. My number. 818-693-314. You contact us, but a lot of stuff now we deal with on social media. So you can get all the information on our website. You just go there and download it. If you want to contribute, we just, you know, the last game we had, they've been outstanding game. I know Ron going to talk about me, outstanding game. The quality of the men's games is, you know, extraordinary, but they was running into the polls. You know, we need them little, what do they call them Ron? Mets. Mets. Yeah. I know you're going to speak a lot. Remember the last time Ron? Yeah, we need a Mets, you know. We need that bass for us. And you know, we can't wait on the city. Come on, man. The men and women down at Gladys Park have proven that they committed to community development because they're part of Operation Facelift. That's good. It's about changing their whole way of thinking. That's what's important about, you know, the words of the week are building blocks, you know, our whole program. And you know, this will be one of a great year for us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For us, because this will be one of a year that we're going to play without no refs. We don't even use referees. Now, it's half court, right? Half court, three on three, you run whole court. It's full court. Ever since Nike came in and built us up a full court, we played full court. We just never changed the name from Skid Row three on three. We used to play, you know, half court because we only had two little short half courts. So now, you know, we never changed the name of it. Most of the time we just say call it Streetball League. We don't, you know, too much use of three on three. You know, three on three, you get old shirts, stuff like that. But we play full court. And like I said, we also play in the gyms, you know, at the Union Rescue Mission. We didn't take their trophy three years in a row. Okay. So, you know, we also won the battle for Skid Row. We got the best players down at Gladys Park, you know, representing, you know, Skid Row community. So we need sponsors. So let's say you want to sponsor a team, okay. Or let's say you from Skid Row Studio and you want to come in on a team. You can, there's teams available. There's 10 teams. You can say, I want to pick downtown or Urban Legends or Team Tupac or Skid Row All-Star. You can sponsor that team prior with under $200 donation. Well, how about if you want to sponsor under your own name, with your own Drama Stage Coon Raw or Coon Raw Report? Drama Stage Coon Raw playing for Skid Row All-Star. That's what it's going to be. Because we're going to stick with our 10 teams. Because that will make Drama Stage Coon Raw part of the league. Really be part of the league. Okay. We've started. We've started. Okay, okay. I see the process. To really make you part of the league. No you ain't going to come in with another team. You'll help build that team that way you be part of this community development. So any other organizations or business can sponsor one of the teams there. One of the teams, yes. Now what do that entail? What's our obligation to that team? What they have to do to help that team? What they going to do to help with the uniforms, help with the trophies that's going to be going to be going to help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you help you The trophies that's going to be provided, they're also going to help. Promotion? Well, it'll be for the promotion because T-shirts involved, you know, logos involved. So if you're sponsoring that team, you'll be able to help with them logos, you know, which is going to generate revenue. So by helping the team, you know, you help the team to be a business. Again, if you look at what we're about, it said employment and business ventures. So we want to make the team's business, okay, which will keep some of these men and women out of trouble. Okay, so that's what you can do. You know, you can say, I want to sponsor this team. That's going to give them a uniform. Also, that means that when you come down into the park, if you're a business or a church, you're going to have a chance to sit there and talk to the men or women of that team. You'll be able to find out what their needs are if you really want to help. Okay, so it's going to go further with community development. Again, our motto is, it's more than just a game. Okay, we'll have a chance to maybe talk about a little bit more. We're going to close in comments in the roundtable. Let's go to another subject. Can you update us on Operation Facelift Pilot Project with the City of Los Angeles and the CD number 14? Okay. As you know, Skid Row Brigade was me and Commander Ron are both members of. We've been pushing the funky trash can campaign and putting our trash cans on Skid Row. So we've been going back and forth with the city for a long time. You know, we've been doing it. We've been doing it since 2008. So since Jan Perry's office left and CD 14 just took over Skid Row, we began to engage in conversation last year, you know, about the trash can situation, taking a lot of pictures, you know, keeping them up to date. And then they started a working group. And so a pilot program, they tried to put out 20 trash cans. They said trash cans came up missing. Some of the businessmen told them to move the trash can. All kinds of confusion was. But the point we were trying to make, was that they never, you know, consulted with the community, tried to collaborate with us and let us tell them where to put the trash cans at. Okay. You can't just put a trash can out in front of a businessman, a business and don't never pick it up and expect that he's going to want it there. So we decided to put up 12 trash cans out on Skid Row from 7th Street all the way down to 5th Street and to figure out a routine by which they could pick up the trash on a day-to-day basis. Okay. They wanted to get a system intact. All right. So they did put out the 12 trash cans. And it went kind of well for a few days. Next thing we knew, trash cans came up missing. They had put out two types of trash cans. Some were brown. It was concealed. Some were wicked. They said in the brown trash cans between 7th Street and 6th Street, that people were putting their deficit and their urine in it. And then when they picked up the trash cans, the trash cans were leaking, which made them biohazard. Okay. All right. Again, we let them put them out the way they wanted to. Okay. You know, they want to put out two types of trash cans, see how it worked. All right. So finally, we knew that eventually they would take the trash can back, saying it was biohazard. And again, we wouldn't have no trash cans because that's always been one of the excuses. They came back and took six trash cans. But they never replaced them. So the following week, it was half the street, well, the whole street from 7th to 6th had no trash cans. Okay. Which led to a great deal of litter, of course. So our grade was a D. And it's been a D for the last three weeks because there's not been any trash cans. So far as we're concerned, they know how I feel. The pilot program is not going well because our thing was, if you picked up six trash cans, that meant the truck was empty when you pulled up. I mean, when you left the shipyard, you left there with an empty truck. Why would you bring out six trash cans and replace them with a new one? Why would you just pick them up? Okay. And if you took some trash cans somewhere else first, that still would be an irresponsible Skid Row community, which is these trash cans. Okay. The other thing is we go through Pershing Square. You'll see over 15 big bellies in there. You almost fall over one trash can. Those trash cans run into thousands of dollars. You got 15 of them in Pershing Square. And Skid Row has none. So we have a problem with that. So right now, the pilot program, as seen by myself, I'm commanding, you know, Ron perhaps will comment, but as chairman of the brigade, we didn't give them a D. They already know that. And we judging them every week, like a report card. Okay. Now, can you talk about the community surveys and what is the purpose of the surveys? Let's talk about that a little while. The surveys were taken, and I don't have them in front of me. I wish I would have had them. But the surveys were taken to find out exactly what the people were doing. And they included, did they want clean streets? Included, they want benches. Included that they wanted murals, things of that nature. Okay. So 80% of the people in Skid Row, 85% of people in Skid Row said they wanted clean streets. They said they want benches. You know, we go to the bus stop, you know, people sitting on crates up and down the streets, you know, but you can, you know, you can go anywhere else. So you hit Spring Street and everywhere else on Hill Street, you'll see benches. You see all them green benches everywhere. Okay. You go to Hollywood or Santa Monica, you'll see people sleeping on benches. So you can't use, well, people on Skid Row are going to sleep on the bench. Okay. But we don't have no benches. I mean, not at a single bus stop. So the people voted on those type of things. They want more murals, you know, they want more green space. And that's what, basically what it was to find out exactly what the people wanted. So that as we made us move forward, we would be representing what the people wanted and not just what we thought would be best for them. Now, I know we're going to get to, to the benches, maybe we can discuss this. Well, toilets too. I'm sorry I missed, I left out toilets. Okay. We're going to talk about this again. That's why I was going to ask you, how do we, how do we get them to put more benches in the Skid Row area? What's the process? What do it take? You think it take? Well, naturally, you know, email your, the council, you know, the full council, you know, because we don't believe that CD 14 is responsible for Skid Row themselves. Every district, every district has somebody living here. I don't care if you're from Hollywood, Santa Monica, Long Beach, somebody, every district got somebody living down in Skid Row. So no single council district should be responsible for Skid Row. Every last council member should be responsible for Skid Row. Okay. So we need for everybody to just, you know, I don't care, do an email, do a phone call, go down there, you know, and just start saying, this is what we want. Okay. The other thing too, you know, dealing with self help, we got to look outside the box, you know, we got to go out for private donations, you know, we got to go out. I don't care. We got to go to schools and do a wood shop projects and build our own benches. You know what I mean? We just need to look a little bit beyond the city and the county, you know, for our solutions. But we definitely need to remind them constantly that this is what we want. I agree. Now, can you talk about the trashcan situation? I think you talk about it a little more. You want to touch on it? Well, we still want trashcans again. If you go into Operation Facelift, you can make comments there. We need trashcans. Okay. Also, me and Rob we talked about it before, like brooms. We need more brooms. We need garbage bags. You know, we need it for people to come out, our volunteers to work real closely with the people on the streets because they don't want to clean up the streets. So we need our volunteers to come out and make sure they're clean. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. out and make sure that the people on the street got the garbage cans that they need, the brooms that they need, and the garbage bags that they need. But we just need more garbage cans. And we still want to do the program because I like the funky trash can program because we paint on the trash can. We paint messages. One of the things we want to do now is when we paint on it, put the street names on it because our trash cans do come up missing. We like to know when we find them where they're supposed to be at. But we don't really get upset when people take the trash can because that means they're using them. Well, let me ask you this. Just say you have some individuals or business that want to buy and donate some trash cans. What's the process? Where would they take them to? They would bring them to Gladys Park. If they can't find any place, bring them to Gladys Park or take them to USEP, which is 804 East 6th Street. Again, they can reach me at 818-693-3014. And again, I know Commander Ron is going to give up his number, but yeah, if anything falls bad, bring them to Gladys Park. That's like our warehouse. Just bring it into the park, you know? Okay. Now, can you update us on the situation with the homeless property? AB5. I think it was defeated in the Senate, from what I understand. It was a great effort to protect the homeless property. And so we supported that bill. We still support the right for people to have their personal property, but we also, again, you know, encourage that the homeless do have a responsibility to themselves. You want property, you can't be bringing a big washing machine and, you know, come on man, you know, the entertainment center, you know, the big TV. Come on, man. I understand personal property, so it's got to be within reason. But the other thing also is that a lot of, you know, when you look at the population of the homeless, people link in the mentally ill in there, too. The mentally ill are going to have a certain type of conduct. Okay? And it's like when they get to acting up and everything, well, the whole encampment got to move. Okay? It's called, you know, we call group punishment. Everybody got to go. So, you know, we've been working out, you know, we both came back as mental health advocates, you know, and we've been advocating that, you know, we need the mental health center to be out here all the time. Look, they tell me they can't find the mentally ill. Come on. They can't find them, but they're sitting up in the office waiting on them to get up and come down and tell me they need help. So, you know, we've been encouraging that they had to change their tactics and their outreach strategy, you know what I'm saying? Because I really don't like to see the people suffering the way they suffer. When you see people, I mean, just obviously got a mental problem laying right in grit and dirt and grind, you know, and people just walking by them, you know, and people making six-figure salaries and, you know, telling me they're here to help the mentally ill. Come on, man. So, that's one of the big problems and that's what's going on. We always talk about housing. Once you do, it's impossible. You was able to provide housing for all the homeless people that want it. Then you're going to see the mentally ill going to come out glaring. You're going to see them staring out because they don't necessarily want home. Now, how about one more thing I want to ask you, then we take a little short break, play a couple of interviews. Can you talk about the toilet situations in Skid Row? Well, the last report was when you seen downtown news was that the city said they were not taking up any consideration of toilets. They made that clear. So, you know, the mayor that left, we got a new mayor, but that was a policy and it's still a policy that they're trying to say because they're trying to say, well, people are going to use the bathrooms as brothels and, you know, drug dealers are going to take over and so forth and so forth. But we've seen that with the trash can situation that they were, you know, they say, well, they're putting the urine, the urine and the deficit in the trash can. Now, okay, and you don't want them to do that. Well, if they don't put it there, they was going to put it on the streets. Okay, so this is your alternative. Okay, you don't want them to put it in the trash can. To me, that was an improvement. You know what I mean? Because they didn't have the choice just to leave it on the streets like they did before. Okay, so you're not going to put it, you don't want them to put them in the trash can. You want them to put them on the streets because you said you ain't going to provide no toilets. Okay, so the toilets, the toilet situation has really become linked to the trash can situation. Okay, because if you put trash cans out there, they might use them for that. So if you don't put it in the toilet, then the other thing you got to bear in mind, everybody's using the toilets are not necessarily the homeless people. What about all the people that are shopping? They come down here to shop up and down Los Angeles, Winston Street. They're not supposed to have no place to use the bathroom. Okay. Now, you mentioned earlier about thinking outside of the box. But let me just say one more thing. About the toilets. My suggestion was to put the toilets around the police department if you're worried about what people do in them. But if you walk around the police department, you're going to see human, deficit, and human all around the police department. So they're already urinating on the police department. Why not put some trash cans there? That's good. That's exactly what I was going to ask you. What kind of thinking outside of the box solutions? And you mentioned that. Okay, let's take a little short break. We're going to play a couple little clips from interviews and then we'll come back and talk to Ron for a little while. Yeah, this is Melvin Ishmael Johnson with the Coombran Report. I'm over here at the LAMP community. Beautiful facility. Getting ready to do a performance over here. And I'm over here with one of the artistic directors over here. I'm speaking with who? I'm speaking to Haik Mahmoudan. And thank you for being here. Yeah. Haik, can you tell us a little about the LAMP art? program over here? Absolutely. Thank you, Melvin. So the arts program, of course, is one of the services of LAMP community, which is an agency that provides housing and services to Los Angeles most vulnerable individuals, primarily adults living with mental illness. The arts program is extended to the entire schedule community and is rooted in the firm belief that arts and creativity can be a very stabilizing, therapeutic element in people's lives. And we're a studio program, which means that we encourage the artists to participate for many hours a week, coming, working on long-term projects and really making arts a consistent part of their lives. In addition, we, of course, have workshops such as poetry workshops and photography workshops to create a more structured environment for artists to participate in that way as well. And then also we got some UCLA students coming to hand out some hygiene kits, which will be the first time for a program. Absolutely. We're really excited to collaborate with Kumram Drama Stage and with the UCLA students to bring this kind of combination of theater and then hygiene kits, which are such an indispensable thing in our community. And we're really excited to have our doors open to the entire community coming in and engaging in this kind of way. Okay. Thank you, Haik. That's Haik over here at the LAMP community. Alright, it's still over here at the LAMP community. Who am I speaking with here? Robert Ballard, a member of the LAMP. Yeah, Robert, how long you been a member over here? I've been a member about a year now. Are you an artist, too? No, I have glaucoma. I can't see. Okay, tell us a little about the LAMP community. The LAMP community, my experience in the LAMP community through my mental health issues coming through here has been very good. They've gotten me an apartment. I've waited to move in. I've been here taking the classes. This is about, matter of fact, the only class that I don't participate in is the art one because you have to visualize it. And they ask to come and participate. I don't like doing that, so I don't. Other than that, the other classes, I have about eight or nine little certificates from the classes that they give you, which are very good and very well needed for people who have been a mental disorder, sleeping on the streets, trying to get them back together in a very confusing situation. They seem to have the right people in the right places for the right situation. Where's your home originally? From Los Angeles, California. Okay, so you grew up and were born and raised out here. Okay, then tell us your name again. Robert Ballard. They call me Bobby. Okay, Bobby, I hope you enjoyed the performance today and the hygiene kit. I think I will because when I came in, I didn't mean to interfere. You and the sister really had me going. I'm a debater, and I was about to take sides and listen, but you guys were just practicing. It was very good. I said, you know, excuse me, they're practicing. I guess he didn't know. I didn't know. You guys are doing very good. Okay. Thank you, Bobby. You're welcome. Okay, that's two members of the LAMP community. Now we're back with our other in-studio guest, Ron Crockett. Ron, welcome to the Coon Rhyme Report. I know you're known as the Chick Hearns with that good, strong voice, so I knew you were going to be beaming this time on the mic. Now, Ron, can you tell us a little about, explain to our listening audience exactly what is the Fun Zone Reading Club? Oh, well, once again, thank you for welcoming me here. This is my third time here in this gorgeous studio. First rate, I call it five stars. And basically what the Fun Zone Reading Club for Homeless Kids is a ministry that is ministering to the souls. We use books as a foundation. We've come to find out that every parent supports their kids when it comes to their literacy efforts. And so that's how we use that to bridge the adults, us, and the kids. And the community. How did you get started? Can you talk about a little of the history when you first began this project? Well, we first began this project as a component of the world famous three-on-three street basketball league. One of the members was actually in the league, Kenny Sledge, one of the original members there. He actually lived at the world infamous Huntington Hotel down there on 8th and Main Street, in downtown Los Angeles. And he said, hey, Coach Ron, the owners there would like the three-on-three street basketball league players to come up and work with the kids to keep them active and keep them from destroying the place. At the time, that's where a majority of the homeless families lived when I actually got up there in 2008. It was over 80 families that lived, that resided at the infamous Huntington Hotel. So I got there, met the owners, presented the program to them. They loved it. We went actually to a county supervisor, Gloria Molina, explained to her what we was doing in world famous Skid Row and how we wanted to serve the kids and we see the needs of bridging that educational gap that a lot of families was feeling because they was homeless. She loved the program, brought me resources. I got hooked up to another county program, the toy loan program. They provided us with all the toys and incentives to create the Fun Zone Reading Program curriculum which is basically a merit program. So, you know, kids have to read as they read. We say to them, this is your employment. Literacy is your employment. And thanks to the county member Gloria Molina, we got the toys, we got all the support, we needed from the Department of Children and Families Social Services and you know, that was our foundation and we actually started actually removing the families from that situation. It was a bad situation to actually see so many families condensed in one room. You know, it was, you know, five members of a family in one hotel room with one bed including boys, girlfriend, and mother, and children. It's not such a pretty sight. And so I worked it earnestly, feverishly, relentlessly to mediate that. I really wanted to, you know, bring some type of relief to that just to know that so many families was living in such oppressed, condensed living environments. And, you know, it was just, you know, once we started the city, you know, they told me, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, they don't support services in World Famous Skid Row for families. You know, and so off the record, you know, they supported what I did. But on the record, it was a no-go. Yeah, you know, it's amazing that you mentioned that because where I stay at, not too far from here up in the Little Mac, Arthur Park area, and every day, you know, I come in contact with two young teenagers over there, two brothers, and we talk, and they live. They grew up in that Huntington over there. That was their environment. Yeah, they grew up over there. I see them every day. Wow. Every day I talk to them. I try to get a few of them who want to be rap musicians to come up into the studio, but that's the thing that really stuck out in my mind is that they grew up there. That's where they was raised at, right? At the Huntington, two brothers over there. You probably know them. But let me ask you this. Can you talk about how the lack of reading skills impact the lives of our young people, people in general, but especially our young people? Well, it's very instrumental because you have to remember, you have to have a foundation in modern society which is progressive, which is academic. So without the ability. To read, it really lessens your degree of comprehension. This is a very complex world that we live in, especially here in the United States of America. It even gets more complex when you go into urban communities that is fast-paced, that's highly diverse like Los Angeles County is. And those are just one of the ingredients that literacy is one of the key components to understanding. Unshackling yourself from the teneries and the weight of ignorance. Now, how can we create more reading programs for our young people? You know what? Do we tie it into after school programs? You know what, Melvin, I'm gonna say yes, but here's the key. Literacy has the ingredients of patience, and with no patience, you can't really communicate that. You can't communicate that. You can't communicate that to your subject matter. You know, people got to have patience to teach people how to read, because it's very challenging, and you know, especially when you get into teenagers who lack discipline and who lack structure, who may be indulging in substance use, or who may even be having emotional or psychological trauma. So, you know, it really has ingredients of patience. With our program, we specifically look for volunteers who have a joyful spirit, because without that joy, you're really lacking patience. And then, so, to reach young people, young people like to see smiling faces. They like to see your teeth. So, if you got a lot of teeth, you need to come volunteer with me. Okay. Now, how do you think the Internet impact the reading skills of our young people? Let me explain what I mean about that question. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. the decrease in the reading skills. Now with the Internet, what kind of effect do you think that would have, that's happening on it? Well, the Internet, thank you, Melvin, very intriguing question. And, you know, as part of the literacy think tank that I'm a part of, that question is proposed a lot. And from my experience, it's clearly this. The Internet provides you with a smorgasbord of literacy templates. When you're on the Internet, everything is, you know, analytical. Everything is in a text. So it really enhances your reading ability to be on the Internet. No matter what you do, everything you open, you have to, it is in a text, a text and a picture, you know. So the Internet is good. It really brings more people into the literacy world that, you know, without the Internet, that it wouldn't be. Yeah, because I see so many young people, I'll be watching them on the train and transportation, and they little fingers be moving so quick, I can't keep up with it. You know. And I think that's amazing. Yeah, OG, you want to say something? Just on that subject, you know, we do watch the kids, but they're not typing full words either. Okay? He's a shorthand. Yeah, so I don't know about all that. Yeah. It's like the first two letters, they're words. But this book, I put a plug in for myself on the Fun Zone Reading Club, you know, because I'm looking forward to working with Ron and the kids with Peace in the Hood. So, you know, the coloring books. So one thing we always talk about, pictures says a thousand words. So, you know, even with the book, we try to develop different techniques, you know, but you got to make reading fun. Yes. And the person got to get to a subject that they're interested in. Right. So one of the problems we have is that some people are not interested. They don't know what they enjoy. So that's something that has to do with young people. And not just young people. I got a sister. She said she don't read, you know, but reading is supposed to be just like watching a movie. So when I talk to my kids, I let them know that I always have my kids close their eyes and imagine what they just read. If they can see that, then it starts being able to see how to really read. Reading should be just like watching a movie. Okay. Beautiful. And just, you know, just to kind of follow up on that, it goes along with the title, you know, the naming, Fun Zone Reading Club for Homeless Kids. It's all about fun. As OG stated, it is about fun. One more question I want to ask you or just comment, and then we play another clip coming up from Voices from the Community. You have been invited to be part of the second annual Los Angeles Standings. Our viewers know you as our host, you know you as our host, You was involved last year dealing with setting up reading rooms for the veterans and also providing haircuts for the veterans. Can you talk about that experience and what you got planned this year for it? Well, quickly, that experience was phenomenal. It was very, you know, awakening for me just to be in a setting with so many vets. I believe we had over 300 vets that showed up and, you know, with all the supporters. This year, you know, we're looking at, you know, bringing maybe somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 books that we can give away for free. Also sign up vets who may have, you know, challenges with their literacy and comprehension. We're also going to be having a segue where we're going to use writing as therapy. So, you know, we're going to be signing up. We're signing up on that. And we're also going to be looking for volunteers. So any volunteers out there who wants to host a booth, help us participate that day. You're more than welcome. And when it comes to the grooming, that's the most exciting part for me. I know that so many ministries come to World Famous Skid Row. I mean, from Friday to Sunday, you know, we see there's droves of ministry. And I always told OG here that one thing I can admire about him, he's seen some that so many ministries. I would look trash. And one thing I see also is grooming. So, you know, I have a program, Grooming for Success, Free Haircuts for Homeless Vets. And that's what we do. We look to service all homeless vets, all low-income homeless children and women. You know, and I believe that grooming is a ministry that is as powerful as feeding in, as removing trash. Okay. Let's play another clip from Voices from the Skid Row. Community, Pastor Tony Stallworth, who is the pastor of the Central City Church of the Nazarenes. Four minutes, and then we come back for our roundtable discussion. Hi. I'm Pastor Tony Stallworth. I go to Fort Loma Nazarene College. I'm majoring in religious studies. I was homeless. And I came out of homelessness right here. Pushing a basket. Never liked school before. I like it now. Didn't go back until I was over 50 years old. But I'm having a great time now and looking forward to the classes that I'm taking. Our classes that are part of the 24 course of study that's going to make me eligible for my ordination. The Nazarene Church is very... These guys are volunteering in the afternoons. And they're going to be doing a lot of things that Brazil youth and that Nazarene. That's wonderful. We should go out and ask the Nazarene Church. Absolutely. Yeah. Very familiar with that. Brazil. Yeah. Okay. So we can get to... I have a few questions I want to ask Pastor Tony. And then we get into a discussion with your questions. Any questions you have to Pastor Tony, me and Earlene. Uh huh. First question I want to ask Pastor Tony is, What is the role... Of the church in the Skid Row area? Here in the Skid Row area, well first of all I've been here for about 17 years. My pastor is Pastor Scott Chamberlain. Who just happens to be here today. He's around over here. And from the beginning we started out touching the community as far as... And a lot of people don't realize that the location of the church where we're at, we're right in the center. We are... We are... We are on ground zero. Of all the homelessness and the things that are going on out here on Skid Row. This is the focus point of Skid Row right here on this corner. We've been here like I said for about... Actually about 20 years. Scott is the one who opened it up here. But our focus and what it is that we want to do is that we're looking forward to... And what the church is trying to do is we focus on the dynamics of the church itself. And all of the... Our congregants here as we raise them up and we're working on leadership skills on all of them. And as we do that, our fingers are coming out of the church and going down the streets. And I walk down the street at all times. You know and I've been here for so long that I know practically everybody down there. And so what our game... What it is that our intentions are is to open up the church to people. To let them know that they can... That the church is... That Jesus welcomes them and they can come any way that they are. We welcome them in any kind of shape that they're in. And if they're in too bad a shape, we'll take them in the back and buy them... Get them some clothes and a hygiene kit and we'll get them fixed up. You know what I mean? So they can come in and be comfortable as they sit down. We want them to understand and to grasp the vision that Jesus has for them. And... The vision that Jesus has for them has to be the same vision that he had for me. When I pushed the basket for two years out there, completely homeless. My hair was out to here and I had a big beard with leaves all in it, you know. And... God got a hold of me and he wanted to change my life. And I knew that he had a hold of me. Something happened to me when he put his hands on me. And I knew it. And I want everybody that touches Central City Community Church... And I want everybody that touches Central City Community Church of the Nazarene to feel that same touch. And if they can feel that same touch, then they will understand and know that God has got the hand on them. And that he can do the same thing in their life that he's done to mine. And that's... That's Pastor Tony Stallworth, pastor of the Central City Church of the Nazarene. And we're going to move into our roundtable discussion. And I would like to bring up, you know, every Sunday I see your setup over at the Los Angeles Theater Center, the New City Church, I think, with Pastor Kevin. Can you talk about that a little? And we open up anything you want to talk about in this roundtable. But can you start off explaining that, the involvement with that? Well, quickly, what we seek to do is we have a church. We have a church there at the Los Angeles Trade Theater Center right there on Spring and 5th in downtown Los Angeles. And the whole objective is to bridge volunteer opportunities for the lost dwellers into Skid Row. Okay. Anything else you want to say about that? Anything you want to discuss in the roundtable? It's wide open. I know when me and Ron got involved with... With... With that over at New City Church as an outreach, we were looking down the road to have... To be at other churches, you know, because what we find out... What's going to have to help change Skid Row in our community is public opinion. And the majority of people don't even know where Skid Row's at. You know, they walk them down Main Street not even knowing they're on Skid Row. Okay. So we want to do more outreach in other churches. Okay. In other churches as well as in the borderline. Okay. So that was a great experience because Pastor Ha was able to form... Open up a church that included both, you know, Skid Row people as well as the lost dwellers. Okay. Which is... We need that communication because without that a lot of people scared even across the street, you know. But they still don't even know they're walking on Skid Row. But you know, they got that stereotype. So the outreach... The outreach is designed to educate people. You know, we'll be going like to Pershing Square, you know. We did something in Pershing Square some time back with Pamela Wilson. And she was out there, you know, interviewing people, asking them, did they know where Skid Row's at? And I've seen people walk down San Pedro Street and you ask them where they're at, they still don't even know they're in Skid Row. You know, so we need... That's one of the things that was part of the outreach. How to... Packaging is everything. How are we going to present, you know, our case to the people at large? Uh-huh. I mean, you know, it gets to the point where downtown Los Angeles is a tourist mecca. And it's very fascinating to me when I see the famous Starlight tour bus whizzing through Skid Row. And you know, I mean, they're charging $37 a ticket. And so it's like, you know, once again, you know, we have to, you know, harness and recognize that, you know, Skid Row is a tourist mecca. And we shouldn't pass on that. We shouldn't just let Hollywood use Skid Row as a back lot without actually saying, you know, Hollywood... I mean, we know Hollywood is supporting the missions. I mean, completely. We know that. And so to some degree, you know, Hollywood... You know, Hollywood is there. But in other degrees, I think they're failing to recognize, you know, the cleanliness. They fail to recognize what Operation Facelift is all about. You know, they're just starting to understand what Skid Row Brigade is about. And, you know, so, you know, cleaning the streets of Skid Row is, to me, is one of my main priorities. Uh-huh. Okay. And I know from being involved in the theater community downtown and especially the Los Angeles Theater Center that the church and the congregation have a very positive response that I get and that I hear from all the theater people down there that they love having the congregation there. They're always talking about how well-mannered and organized and positive that the congregation is. Yeah. Amen. And that's a good thing. Okay. Any closing... Let's go for a few closing comments, announcements and contact information. Let's start off with O.G. Well, my contact information, again, my number is 818-693-3014. The best way to catch me for the league is Skid Row, three on three streetball at yahoo.com. And you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. And you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. I just want to say that you're going to be a great season, seventh season. It's going to be a great, great, great season. Seventh season. We got all kind of fantastic stuff going on. The Skid Row Artists Collective, you know, it'll be back doing halftime shows. Anybody want to do some halftime shows? Our own Ron Crockett, Skid Row Chick Hearns is in true form. If you missed him last week. But we're going to be downloading a lot of stuff on Facebook. So you go to Skid Row Street Barley on Facebook. So we're going to be posting a lot of information there. We're going to be putting up the scores, winning and losing. You're over there holding up the flag over there, you know. So we got the gear coming. You want to get your T-shirts. You want to get your sweatsuits. You want to get your caps. I think Crucial's working on Skid Row shoes. You know, our closing line is coming out just when the league started. Because you know we had the sunscreen business. So that's coming back online. And just as a new season is coming. So all kind of good stuff is happening. But if you haven't been out at Gladys Park, 6th and Gladys, well, you're missing out on this thing, man. Let me ask you a quick question before we go to Ron. For those who would like to get T-shirts made, what's the process? What's the content? Because I know you give some great deals out. Yeah. Well, go to OGs and Services, LA3 at Yahoo.com. Again, go to all of them. You know, Skid Row 3. You know, 3 Street Ball at Yahoo.com. Or go to Facebook. Get them at the number. Or get at Ron Crockett. All right. We'll make it happen. Or get at you, Ron. They can call you. Shit, you got to get to me. You call me every day. Okay. Give us some quotes on that. Ron, your closing comments, announcement, and contact information. Well, quickly, you can reach me at funzonereadingclub at gmail.com. Contact 626-277-3440. That's 517-457. Remember, if you want to volunteer, read out loud to the kids. It's a very exciting, fun, stimulating process. We have three sites up there in South Central, Compton, and Long Beach. So no matter where you are, you know, literacy should be a priority. If you'd like to get involved with grooming, we groom the homeless vets Mondays and Tuesdays, 8.30 to 10.30 in the morning. We need clippers. We need stylists. We need barbers. Get at me. You know, this is what it's all about, man, having a support system. So step on up. All hands on deck. We're cleaning up the streets every Saturday. We need brooms, power washers, you know, so. Okay. He want a truck, too. Don't need a truck out there. I need a truck. All right. Thank you, Ron. You're welcome. Now, next week on the Cool Round Report, we will have with us in the studio, veteran stage and screen actor, David McKnight, and then on the line from Houston, Texas, Christina Brown, Trudina Kelly, Tilla Ballin, and Thaddeus Kelly. I would like to extend a special thanks to Manuel OG Man Capito and Ron Crockett. Please listen to past shows of the Cool Round Report on iTunes, Facebook, Skid Row.LA, and thank you for tuning in to the Cool Round Report. And from your host, Melvin 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 that opened the show, Darker Than Blue by Willis and Shante. Peace! Oh, yeah, Willis and Shante. Are we going to be around this town? Oh, and that would only be said come true. Oh, yeah, Willis and Shante. Oh, yeah, Willis and Shante.