Sun Food and Decolonizing What We Eat with Radius of RA's Natural Abundance

Hey, friends, welcome. And welcome back to noseyAF conversations about art, activism and social change.I'm your host and friend, Stephanie Graham, and it's 31 days of black Business.And that means every single day this month to celebrate Black Business Month, I'm handing you a business owner who is super wise, super wonderful, and quite frankly, they're open for business. Quote, quite frankly. Quite frankly. And so today I'm going to do something a little bit different.So this conversation is what I like to call a noseyAF classic. So if you don't know, I host noseyAF live on Lumpin Radio, which is a radio station here in Chicago. It's 105.5 and HD FM Chicago.We just got an HD channel, but it is on 105.5 and you can also stream it@lumpinradio.com and so on the second and fourth Saturdays, I'm there live. And this conversation that I did with Radius, who you're going to meet, it originally aired there last year.And so I wanted to bring it back for this series because Radius is very much a business owner. He's a musician, a photographer, a community builder and a chef. And he's available for hire to do personal chef work. He does juices, he does meals.He will cater all of it.And what I love about Radius and the work that he does, it's just how he approaches food and how that it's like a lifestyle and not really a diet program. You know what I mean? So this conversation changed really how I think about eating.And Radius talks about sun food, about decolonizing what we eat and why he starts every. Every day with a melon. I was going to say every morning, but that's pretty much the same thing, right? Every day. Every morning.So I have thought about key lime water, which we'll learn about. I've thought about key lime water approximately 400 times since we've had this conversation.And so let's play our theme song and then we're going to get right into the conversation with Radius. So thanks so much for listening. And here we go. Gotta get up, get up to the whole world. You will win a winner.Vision of a star with a mission in the cause. What you doing, how you doing?What you doing and who you are Flex yourself and press yourself Check yourself don't wreck yourself if you know me then you know that I be knowing what's up. Hey, Stephanie, Graham is nosy as hell. You're listening to WLPNLP Chicago 105.5 FM Lumpin Radio. Welcome to Saturday. Welcome to Two O'. Clock.I'm your host, Stephanie and today I'm talking with Radius, also known as Radius, etc.He's a multidisciplinary creative and a true all city Chicago native with deep roots on the south side and a vibe that's rooted in hip hop, community and wellness. So Radius, welcome to Nosy af.

Greetings. Greetings, Stephanie. Thanks for having me.

So like, one thing I wanted to bring up quickly is that recently on your Instagram stories you were showing like, sort of like this book of like cooking, like how to cook something. Like you were studying food and I just, I never study food, I just eat it and just go out and socialize around food.And so I was like, oh, that's so smart.

Yeah, well, I'm not sure, hey, I'm not, I'm not sure what it was in reference exactly, but there's some things there that you mentioned that are in alignment with my day to day. I do, I do study and immerse myself within food, especially when it comes to the holistic elements of it, the natural elements in relation to it.And yeah, it's a huge part of, of my, my living and I'd like to bring it more into the living space in general and pay it forward.

And so yeah, I admire that about you.

I respect, I'm grateful for that. You know, it's been, it's been something that's been within my being for a long time and it's constantly expanding.They're one and the same to me with the music and I'm really tapped into that the same in a similar way as I am into music. Yeah.

Oh really?

For sure, for sure.So yeah, anything with the living element, the life and bringing more life into the vessel is into this body and it's essential because that's what we are, natural living beings.

It just made me think like, oh, I should take like food more seriously. Oh yeah, we, oh my God, so childish.

Uh huh. Well we all should. And I don't, I don't like to lose use absolutes when to others like you should and you, you should do this.But I think collectively it is important because we better understand our relationships with ourselves and thus all creation if we did, you know, so there's a, there's an internal and an external connection with that, you know, so it's, yeah, it's very important if we, I feel if we want to thrive.

Radius as food chef.

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, and you like talk about decolonizing through food. And so I was wondering if you could break down like RA foods and why they matter and especially for black and brown folks.Because like, like I said, and I know that a lot of people think this way probably I'm assuming, you know, that it's just such a social thing to me. Like, so I don't think about. Oh no, I just go back to like you studying food.

Right.

You know, but like it seemed like you like really study it versus just like. And it's going to sound ignorant on my part, but just like being like a chef, like learning to just cook.

Okay. Yeah.Well, you've touched on a lot of elements and they all intertwine and so brings an autobiographical thing that I, I would touch on as far as like, so with my names and then also those, those endeavors and, and the study in themselves are. Are a living. It's a living entity as well. Like, you know, if I. From off top, if I go into. For example. Well, I'll start with this.Okay, so Radius in itself, that. That name is mostly. People mostly know me as Radius for. For music production, music performance, records and, and music that I've.That I've released and DJing and things like that. That's mostly where the Radius and Radius the name stems from back in, I want to say like late high school, really being immersed in hip hop.So it starts off as a tag graffiti name and essentially goes forward into B boying and dancing. This being so immersed in hip hop, my.My earliest Radius comes from that Fire Records and DJ Radius initially and then dropping that off because then just embodied Radius. You don't need to say. I don't feel you need to say DJ this if you embody more than that. And that's. That's just. That's who you are.And people start to call you more who you are based upon their introductions to you and their aliases and their tags and things like that. So. And then when it comes to the chef, the holistic Wellness, I have RA's natural abundance RNA. And RA is.Ra is the prefix of Ramon, which is my birth name. Also the prefix of Radius and other people calling me Ra for short. Especially in Spanish and Latin community, I noticed that. And especially with.With women or. Or women, they'll shorten it too and say ra, you know.And as I was moving around more so within Mexico and other lands like that, I embraced the RA more.You know, I was already kind of doing that because it was shortened by some others, but I was embracing it more Also because of the Kemet and Egyptian and this is the relations to the sun that so many, so many of us have. And of course sun rod, just anything related to the sun. I really, really run with the sun. Like the sun is a big thing to me. And so that's.That brings that element. You know, I usually like to stand in the sun and few stretches.And so when it comes to raw food, a lot of people say raw food R a W But if you go a little further in sun food, that's where the raw food can be. And I'm inspired also by that from one of my teachers, master teachers based in Panama who I'll be going to study.I'll probably by the time this Ayers will be out there working with him again, studying with him in Panama again for some things. Dr. Aris Latham has sun fired food. And he's, he's known as a gourmet raw gourmet godfather cuisine.Sun fired where the sun is the chef and everything that we have is already in, in perfect condition cooked by the sun. We, we thrive the most highest by the sun. And even, even if we don't have the sun, we can, we need to consume it. And that consumption is by sun food.And the foods that receive the most energy is our vegetation. And that's what we thrive the highest off of sun food.So raw food, essentially living food, raw food so to speak is where we would thrive as our highest because that's how we started.And so with rise natural abundance, I'm saying this is the natural sun element, this is the natural food and that's how we'll thrive because abundance is our birthright. So that's, that's that hopefully that sums up those right there.

Yeah, I love that. Abundance is our birthright.

It is though. It is.

So yeah, yeah, especially I mean you traveling to be with this master teacher. That sounds very abundant and luxurious. Ethan.

Yeah, well, I studied with him in 2021. Just a month ago, four years ago, I left New York, put some stuff in storage, thinking I'd come back to New York a little bit later.But it was just, you know, that's another story. I, you know, I moved there for an opportunity. It was pandemic time. And I, I moved there just before pandemic time and well just in January 2020.And then I had a space I was working within for an opportunity there. I was doing Airbnbs, flipping airbnbs in exchange for rent for friends of mine that moved up north.So to have rent taken care of in New York is a major thing, you know, and I was already doing a lot of nomadic and bears moving around and pushing art and found myself in Chicago after doing a gallery here and trying to figure out what I was doing in and out of it, you know, still trying to figure it out to this day. Yet I had an opportunity that a friend presented. I moved there. And the agreement was, yo, you're. You're.I'll take care of your training, transportation, and your housing if you take care of the two Airbnb properties in. I got. And we move, we go up north. And so, like, cool. Yet also I had.I started to look for work too, because I was like, yo, I'm not making any money doing this, but I am holding that down. And I got hired by some restaurants. But anyway, I ended up. So as time flew a little bit, I had to. That situation changed. So I had to go stay.I had to. I ended up moving in with two friends of mine because I couldn't sustain that place.And then as time went on, I was like, man, I. I really want to live alone again. I was really embracing that a few months in having that.And then after moving around so long, not having a space of solitude to myself, I was grateful to have that. I'm like, I could probably. I can finally build that in New York. And that dynamic changed. So I put my stuff in stores.I couldn't afford to be alone, and I went to go study with Dr. Aries. I had some money that came through. And so now this is four years.This is four years later since I linked with him, to just tap in with him again and now be a part of his retreat a different way and see what other opportunities could come.

So, yeah, that sounds super exciting and again, super fancy. I gravitate towards things that are fancy and that sound, you know, well, fancy. Luxury.

So, yeah, but luxury in a. In a sense of not, like, balling out of control, but luxury. Right. In a natural way. Like, he's. He's.

He.

He has roots in Panama from Jamaican and Barbadian ancestry, yet is there educating people on a lifestyle so we cannot be sick and we can thrive within our natural element. So, like, yeah, I'm going. That's a. That's luxury in a sense. Like, yeah, our life is valuable, so. Yep, exactly.

Was there, like, a moment where you realized food was, like, more than just, like, personal wellness? That it was, like, political, spiritual, even artistic?

Wow, that's a really great question. Flipping it all in there. I would say a combination early on. Okay. I have memories early on of being around my grandmother, my family, my.My family's rooted in Chicago with my grandmother, my grandparents and above that come in from of course, the Great Migration in my Mississippi and things like that. So my grandmother held on to certain practices.I just remember her doing certain things in the kitchen with, with herbs or, or like cleansing fruits and vegetables with homemade solutions and just certain things that she would say. And I early on didn't like a doctor visiting a doctor, these types of practices.It was always something off about it and I gravitated to an encyclopedia of herbs. Dr. Heinerman. I can't remember when, but I was definitely a teenager and looking into ways to cure, heal myself, so to speak.And these, these books coupled with some of the things I remember being around her started to unlock more, you know, so that's like some of my earliest memories with that and gravity being also coming up in the southeast side of Chicago, mostly South Chicago, South Shore, High Park, Kenwood, those areas in West Inglewood, those areas.Early on I remember seeing certain things that would pop out that would show some sort of wellness and health in the mix, like colon therapy or like other. Something would pop up and I just would have these visions like what does that mean? You know.So I would see some art of that early on, as you have me thinking, flashing back as far as the decolonization element, that, that grew more as I continued to move around in different places. I've been through like Ecuador and as I mentioned, Panama and Costa Rica. I spent a lot of time in Mexico and Ecuador too, but way more in Mexico and.And also tapping in with Dr. Iris, the decolonization element. It's interesting because a friend of mine pointed out that Colon is in decolonization, you know, and that has sparked something even more recently.You know, a lot of us talk about like our oppressors and land back and defund the police and so many elements of, you know, thankfully we, we co. Found a love fridge. We have, we have. That's an anarchist mutual aid activity that comes with. That's more of a decolonization element with food. So it's, it's.It's a, it's just to say if we're going to focus on those things and be revolutionaries. Well, you got Dick Gregory, you got Layla Africa, you got Francis Crest Wilson, you got a lot of individuals that tapped into the holistic elements.The Queen Afua. These are people. It's revolution. It's so revolutionary.And to decolonize by us going further into who we Are as natural, natural people, living people.And to let go more of the oppressor's food, so to speak, the western civilization and so to speak, the ways of eating that are pre colonial is essential for us to thrive.And I'm really focused a lot on that, especially within our music and art community, more so now than ever because I see it so much around me because I'm in these communities, you know, and I don't see them too, I don't see them as different communities because, you know, once again, this culture likes to separate and make genres and subjects and constructs. But the overlap is, it's one to me.So if you want to really decolonize, we really gotta go further into that and let go of some of those and not be sick out here. Yep.

Yeah, let's not be sick out here. One thing that's been super popular is like black travel, Black people travel, you know, women travel, travel solo.Like, it's this whole like, movement, you know, and you've been to tons of places you've, you know, traveled to that you've lived in.And I just wonder if you could speak to what that does for you and like, maybe some of those things that you pull from all these different places, like what you bring back to Chicago.

Oh, wonderful. Yeah, the full circle element, like the, I'm, I'm a, like a bridge, an ambassador, so to speak.You know, a lot of people are using the word expats a lot.And I don't know if that's really a strong enough thing for it because when I, the more that I tap into this, whether it be through elders I've connected with, books I read, or even most importantly, my own personal documentation and living, struggling, moving through these spaces because a lot of how I move is, and a lot of people say they might over the years, I envy you, or I'm jealous of you, or like, I would, I, I wish I could travel with you. A lot of people don't realize that I, I, I haven't taken like, oh, I got this wealth of money. I'm about to go ball out and go to all these places.I haven't lived like that yet, you know, I, I, my goal is to go to a lot of these places and be invested in personally broadening them to help exchange and educate or do my own accord and go be able to fall out and check what it's like to do things in these places. A lot of my travel has been taking a little bit of what I had or coming back into Chicago or other cities I've lived in.Hustling different endeavors, I know and then going right back in because I have a strong vision and I, that for what I want to do and, and, and I may not even fully know everything, but I'm, I really strive to go into spaces and with intention and there's reasoning for them.Or if I really want to reach a certain space and I'm over here by, by this time, I want to reach this space and it's like, ah, I gotta really see that through. I might end up going somewhere along the way because I still want to reach that, that space.So I consider myself a cultural ambassador and my, and I look at our answer.A lot of our ancestors, whether you're in Morocco, you have the Amazigh, which is an indigenous term for people that's there often called the negative term bar. Berber. Barbara means barbaric. Barbaric. But their indigenous word is amazing. They're, they're a nomadic people.There are people of the land that move around. You have the Fulani people that are in other areas of Africa that move around. You have gypsies that move around. I, I feel strongly.A lot of us are migration, migration people and we move in a tribe and we're looking to connect with each other. More and more of us are coming together.We may have been displaced by our own movements or by slavery and other movements that have come through and displaced us or killed a lot of our ancestors off. So now you know, we, we, we, a lot of us are doing that. We might not know why we are pushed to do that. And maybe there's more for us to unlock.When I come back into these spaces, especially coming from the south side, south east, southwest side and living all over the city, there's a, there's a line by common that I've always loved that's on like Waterford on like on some. I don't forget the whole bars. But he says that you know about traveling the world.Somebody asked him about traveling the world and he finds out that he hasn't been past downtown. Like I've come across that being over here riding the bus. People don't know what it's like on the other side of the city.People, people might only live within their certain neighborhood or few around them. They don't know what it's like to go to the west, to the north. I did a lot of that early on.So yeah, for people to even go to another city, let alone another state, another country is major.So if I come through and I'm able to reflect in my documentation, whether it's food, music, photography, or any other element that I embody from me going through there, I feel that's major to inspire somebody else and thus gonna further inspire me. So. Yeah.

Yeah. That's awesome. Another favorite quote of mine from Common is just because you're in a music video doesn't mean you're ball, yo.

Ain't for real though, right?

It's. Yeah, for real. Something like that. Or like not everybody that has a music videos ball or something like that.I'm like, you know, that's seriously so true.

I've been in a few. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yep.

In your name, Radius, etc. That has like a whole bunch of meanings, right? Like, it's like educate the children and base. And is it educate the children. Embrace the circle.

There's a lot of them.

Ex. Expose the corrupt.

Yeah, there's a lot.

What was. What was the first phrase that came to you?

Wow.

And like, how has it grown?

Okay, yeah. So I'm radius first, and the radius and the radius, et cetera, came along from a couple different things. One, a lot of people might be familiar with.Tall Black Guy. I had a. So I had an EP that I did in 2009 called etc.And I released it with some good friends of mine that were based in New York, a crew of mine from Dallas. I moved to New York called Gritty Goat and shouts to my brothers, especially Kevin and Hans. They don't live in New York anymore.But the EP was called ETC. And the goal was etc. Was to showcase that I have other styles, I'm working on other styles.So if you had already known me for this instrumental hip hop element you can tap into, I'm working more and navigating into the house to techno and broken beat and ambient stuff. So that EP embodied different things. So because I was. I was. I was working on a lot of music and I was. I was. I was. I was experimenting.I would go to spots to dance more here and I was hearing things. I'd go back home and make a lot more. So et cetera was like infinity, limitless at first, Timeless, you know?And so when Tall Black Guy did a remix on a project, he put radius, etc. In there. As I saw that, that was one thing he put. He put that there. But also the digital platforms, Spotify, itunes, all this.There's other radiuses that exist, groups and stuff like that. So for me to further separate myself from some of them, I hate I hate that stuff.And the algorithm, even if you write them, they don't categorize you properly. So to differentiate, I took the radius, et cetera, a little bit more. That's. That's another reason. And just kind of. So my label became Et cetera.Like I started making a plant of seeds for a set of records. Maybe like 2011, 2012. And whenever there's a release, especially vinyl, those vinyl that vinyl reflects in etc. So the first one. Yes.Was Educate the children. Every lease has related like has that. So there is this and. And I started to think of more.And the thing was if an artist is on a label which is really good friends of mine initially, please input another etc for your project. So ETC is just like what Et cetera is limitless, timeless. You can't there. The number of et cetera can be. I've had so many, I've forgotten, you know.So yeah. Educate the children. Expose the corrupt. Embrace the circle. Excite the crowd. Express truth consistently. Everything changes. Expect to change.There's so many of them, you know, and it's ongoing.

Yeah, Yep. Yeah, yeah. I love that.

Yeah. Respect and love. Cause that's what the life. This life is.

Yeah. And I feel like there's like, you know how folks will have like different clicks. Like I feel like I could be like a Stephanie, etc.

Of course.

Like do something now. Like people can like make. Become an ETC now.

Right. Yo. For real.

Or et cetera.

Yep, yep.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. That's what it is. It's unlimited. I can't. I can't hold it, you know, But I can put it out there for others to gravitate to as they can and add to it.I just. I always want.

Yeah.

I'm always about community and expansion. I'm not about like. Like solo destruction in this. We don't build, you know, so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For some reason, big things pop and comes to mind.

For real. Exactly. Yeah, yo. For real. Yeah. I think of etc for that.

You also are a musician, a photographer, community builder. You know, do you have a favorite or is it all the same to you?

There was a moment when really coming up, navigating what I say with Babylon Matrix, really coming up within this and seeing how everything is like I mentioned construction, constructed and genres and just compartmentalized. They compartmentalized. You know, I used to be like, okay, I'm gonna do this. Oh, I'm not spending enough time making music.Oh, I'm not spending enough time doing that. I used to. Oh, I gotta. I gotta Block now I can't do this. I gotta.Once I broke that out and once one of my bigger big brother Ross brothers, Josh son respect me. Well, once he said to me one time, we were working on music, working on music in la. He's from here, he's, he lives in Barcelona now.But once we were working on music and he was like, the box doesn't exist. We gotta navigate as if the box never existed. Just get it out of there. So anytime people say think outside the box, that's still a limitation.When we say the sky is a limit, that's a limitation. You know, I, I, that's one thing I've come across like it's limitless skies. There is no such thing as a box.Once I embrace that element more, then it's like, okay, etc. It's like as long as I'm creating, because naturally we're all creators. So people are like, oh, I'm not a creative. We all are.If I'm not working on music, it's gone. And I got my camera with me and I'm making sure that I have it out or I have this other thing out.As long as it's out, I might be in transition, I might be stagnant. There's something that might be throwing me off.But as long as I have something out and I gravitate to it and I'm doing something creative, it's going to feed into the other endeavors because it's all one. So I don't have necessarily, I wouldn't say too much of a favorite, but yet I will say that there is something about music. It's all.Music is definitely the foundation and the orchestrator of all, of still, of it all.Because the way that I feel when I'm dancing the music, meditating, rating music, creating music solo and with others, performing music, DJing, there is no feeling that can override that. That's, that's the, that's the ultimate. And I could tell that obviously things are created out of the sound waves. It's pretty obvious.So, yeah, I would say that that's, that's the, that's the thing, you know, that's the fountain.

Yeah. That's the base. Yeah. For me it's like filmmaking. Like, I feel like everything that I think of, like comes through like storytelling, you know?

Yeah.

And it's like the foundation of everything.

And, and when I create music, I see visuals. Just like when, when I'm documenting with video, video or, or photo, I, I may have music going.I may be hearing sounds it's all, it's all going in and out. I don't. The audio visual is, is very, is. Is very strong in the connection. So. Yeah, you know, and of course the holistic.The food is going to empower all that. We all need our nourishment, even though we may like neglect that because we were really involved in our music. Oh, I didn't nourish myself.Once you get that, you know, you're going to really hone in on all that.

Then with your photography, you've like brought your camera with you everywhere. Can you speak about your photography and then like how it breaks out in your zines. And your new project, Brooklyn Zoned.

Thank you. Brooklyn Zoned. Yeah, so that's beautiful.

Let's describe it to the listener. So listener radius is holding up Brooklyn Zoned, which is a zine that is black. It says Brooklyn Zoned in yellow.And the picture is a city street with the sun coming up.

Yep. Standing from a train, right? Uh huh. I was standing from a train platform in Brooklyn and I saw the sun. I think the sun is actually setting.And it says Ramon, et cetera, in red. And on the back it has my links to my site and my Instagram and things like that and my label, etc. Records.So this is a 60 plus page documentation zine. I've done three other books in the past, published trade books. One was on the first one was a black and white of different travels.This is like maybe 2018 and in 2019. Well, no, yeah, like around 2017. 2018, 2019. And there was a one after that that's another documentation of travels, more so in color.And then the third one is specifically Ethiopia, when I would have been through Ethiopia, Addis Ababa and Lalibela. I have documentation of that and trade books. And so what's that? The trade books?

No, this. What did you say?

Sababa, Addis Ababa. The capital. The capital of Ethiopia. Oh, okay. Yeah. Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa. Yeah, yeah. Oh man. Lalibeli, Ethiopia. I went there in 2009, 2019.A pilgrimage. I went, I went over there and like March of 20 2019. But yeah, so those. And those books are the first ones I did and I Brooklyn zoned.I was living in New York, as I mentioned, in pandemic time, in 2020. 2020, 2020 21. Also got a new camera in 2021.And so this book features analog and digital photography, mostly digital, with my newer camera with my phone, as well as film with some disposables as well in there.And I was, a lot of healing was going on for me at that time and a lot of creating a lot of music because I was living in New York, Brooklyn at a spot to myself for the most of that time. And I was going to be, I felt living there long term. I didn't know the pandemic was coming or none of us did.And also I didn't know that I was not going to be able to hold down a spot that I hadn't so on. But I was documenting at that time. And so I feel the zines are really important because they are a moving gallery just like the graffiti trains are.And you know, they, you can, you can take them with you and you could put them anywhere and the next person can see them and walk with them and buy them for somebody else and keep it, keep it moving. I think it's an art form that, that came up in more radical times too.Punk rock scene and other scenes probably and, and, and now it's, it's being embraced more and I, I, I, I, I, I thought let me do my works a little differently, even though it's similar to the trade books, but it's a little different of a format. So I figured let me, let me try to, let me go this route now.And I'll be doing Morocco and Mexico and I have folders set of different documentation that I'm in process of laying out to get more of that work out there, specific locations.

Do you design it yourself?

Oh yeah.

Did you lay it out yourself? Oh, wow.

Yeah.I've done all the layouts for my books and I, I, to be honest with you, like, I started off as a, I know music was always present because I come from a music family more or less, yet I was drawing very early and drawing often before anything. So I don't draw much now. And I've recently picked up a little bit because I've been around more writers in graffiti lately.So I've picked up a pen a little bit to try something. But my, my, my drawing was deterred in art school, I feel a little bit.And it went, and it went more into the photography and the music, you know, that channel in another way. So I kind of got out of drawing much. But you know, photography really I feel captures a lot of that. That is that element.

Yeah, I feel like there's like a raw honesty in your work, you know, and you know, whether it's like the beats or the photography or community organizing and do you think like honesty, the word Honesty is like something that we practice or is it something we channel? Like how could we be more honest?

Wow. Woo. That's a great question. Yeah, genuine.

Because you know, folks are, folks are acting wild out here.

For real though.Well, you know, everything, everything more or less beginning at the end of the day, start with the self, you know, and it comes from this nucleus of this space. So am I being honest and true to myself first?Before I step into any spaces that I'm going to, whether that's a physical space or a relationship space of any kind, am I being honest, truthful with myself? And so I feel that takes like a reference, another rap rap line. Because I'm a big Wu Tang cat. Coming up. Capodonna.He says every, every other day I have about myself meeting, it's important to have a. I think he said it's either every day. I think he says every other day, maybe either way.But like because off, off top, I mean I hear it, I know it, but like, you know, you gotta have a meeting with yourself and check yourself, but also not overthink. And I can, I can get into that. And that's, that's been the death of me to a degree in certain spaces. And I'm getting better.But that also shows that, how important the breath is and breathing and being present. But when we're, the more we're present with ourselves, then we know, okay, I'm not being honest.Be more honest with yourself first or life is going to check you. And definitely has checked me in times, you know, I really feel it's so important to be honest, you know, I cannot be.

I love this by myself meeting. Like what's your morning routine like?

Well, I've gotten into some of our bad, our distractions though, so I. Depending on where I'm at, you know, certain time living situations aren't the most fitting sometimes. But I'll, I'll grab that phone.Sometimes that's a bad thing, you know, I'll grab the phone.

Me too.

And, and I'm, I'm better when I put the phone in another side of the room or out of the room, you know, and I, and I gotta do that again.But when I'm not doing that, I usually, I usually give thanks first off for life, you know, I do my best to, to go in how I go to sleep most of the time. And that is just being grateful for being here. And I want to do more of that. I didn't even do it today, so I'm gonna say it right now.I give thanks for life. I'm grateful to be present. I'm grateful for life. I'm grateful for another opportunity to be here and be present and thrive.And I'm grateful for you for having me here with you and for bringing me in.

Thank you.

But like, giving thanks, first off, is, is, is the most. Is a thing and doing some sort of stretching. Some sort of stretching. And breathing is good, even if it's a quick one.Still doing a little bit of that connection with the body.

Yeah.

Is it? Is it? And then I'll gravitate into breaking fast a little later.And I'll usually bring in the most hydrating fruit I can for my, for my hydration, you know, for my, for my electricity and for my, for my. Just to cut the lights on, so to speak. So usually that's, that's what fruit is that? Usually it's a melon.Usually it's some sort of melon, whether it be watermelon or, or honeydew melon or cantaloupe or canary or crenshaw or one of the melons, because that's the most water, the most hydrating outside of a coconut water that is the most electrolyte heavy next to cucumber, which is also in the same family. But I usually start with a melon. And it's going to digest the fastest, it's going to cleanse the fastest. It's gonna just do what it do the fast.It's, it's, it's, it's like some of the best water you can ever bring in in the. In the am. Highly high, highly electrical electrolytes. So that's first.Or I'll take, I'll take some spring or distilled water and squeeze a bunch of key limes into it because that's gonna alkalize and bring the. Make the water structured and more vibrant because this empty water isn't gonna do anything.So you gotta, you gotta activate it like you would the fruit, make it into a fruit, so to speak. So I usually do start my day with that or juice. And that's pretty much a juice once you activate it with some citrus. So that's, that's usually it.

I see why people say they're jealous of you. You're really living this like, creative life out here. Like so fun. Well, so glamorous. Wow.

I mean, hey, this is our original ways.

Get some key lime.

You got to go into the market to get. There you go. And any citrus, preferably with seeds, she'll help you to start off, you know, it's going to.They're acid, but once they go in, they turn alkaline and they just get you. They get you ready. They have life within it, and they're going to bring. They're going to. Thus going to bring more into that.You know, a lot of people start their day off with coffee that's on them. But if you think about it, like, that's a process. That's a process, and it's a. It's a heated process and it's a darker substance.It's like, well, as far as, you know, aesthetically and what it contains, and it's an acid. You know, I would. I would. I think that if I was in nature, like our fellow primates, our fellow hominids, I would be going immediately for the.The true fast food. And that's picking something off for the tree or off the vine and eating that first to start my day, to get the lights going. And that's okay.You know, this is something that I've learned over time, tapping into experience studies and direct education as well. Combination of those things, you know. And how do I feel when I do that? I'm ready.Even if I only got four hours of sleep, my body's like, yo, let's go.

Yeah.

Yeah. Huh.

Okay. I'm definitely a coffee person, so I'll have to think about that.

I would. I would break fast with something natural that digests really fast. Get the lights on first, then bring your coffee in, because coffee is going to.It's diuretic. Yeah. But it's going to also dehydrate you.

So, you know, if I can ask another selfish question, you know, because you're like, all with the food, the recreational sugar, candy, you know, when we were talking, you know, outside of this year, like, oh, you can have like, a date for, like, sweet stuff, you remember? Do you have any suggestions to get off of recreational sugar? Because I know, like, in, like, American Diet, right.Like, maybe sugar is hard to get out of everything, but. So that's why I say like, recreational, where it's like, you know, sharing a starburst star.

There you go.

You know, Jelly belly. Oh, my gosh.

Okay. Right, right. Taking it back.

Any suggestions?

Skittles and all that. So let me say this. I'll say a couple things. I'm still continuing on in this form of this human experience, and it's self mastery. I'm continuing on.I'm still a student. I'm still a baby.

Yeah.

I'm not a healer. I am a conduit. In a space as a bridge. So I'm gonna continue to unlock this and I'm open for more knowledge and wisdom and to share an exchange.So I don't. I'm not coming with any absolutes. Let me just put that first off.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

And also to say I grew up all over the city of Chicago, mostly Southeast and Southwest hood. It was all around me, the. The fast food, the sugary snacks, the chips, the salty stuff all around me. So I didn't start off like this.And I'll say, and I give much love to my, to my family, especially my mother. My mother started us off on. When we go to gatherings, you and your brother got to share a soda. You can't drink a whole one.And we might sneak one, but we wasn't having a bunch. My mother started us off like that. And I used to take. I used to take lemons and strawberries and dip them in sugar and eat them.I used to make Kool Aid. Don't get me wrong, I used to put fruit, fresh fruit into the Kool Aid. At a point, some told me this makes sense.So only to say all that recreational stuff, all these refined sugars are out here to mimic nature, to mimic what we naturally are supposed to. This body thrives off of glucose fructose, simple sugars. It wants that. And that's why I mentioned fruit earlier.And that's why I mentioned our importance of fruit and breaking the fast with fruit. These are. These are things here to mimic that. So a way to first off is to not have it around, like certain elements of things that I really was into.I had to just really like, you know what? I'm not going to buy this today. I'm going to buy this today. I specialize and I'm really available and open.Anybody who wants to build more about this, I specialize. What I like to say in transitioning. And if you take the word diet, you see the word die is in it.Diet to me is going to lead to disease, sickness, death. We want to go to out of habit and into lifestyle living. So if so, if so, if so, the way to shift that I would say is increase our ways. We hydrate.Like I mentioned earlier, the ways and the value of our hydration is very important. It helps us to curve these cravings. And you mentioned dates natural.It just means, like somebody might not be consuming, you know, may not be consuming enough fruit, may not be consuming fruits at a certain time. Dates and figs are great things. When there's a.Some people have asked me before, I get a craving, like, not go eat cookies and dates and figs and other types of a fruit can be a way to curve that. Or maybe you didn't have enough, or maybe your hydration wasn't enough and so you're, you're getting into that.Or maybe certain herbs could help you, like burdock root or dandelion, certain bitter things that can help you. Certain salads can help you to curve those things.But I think first of all, if any of the things we're mainly addicted to, we try our best not to have as much as of it around or maybe take a day when we don't do that or another day we don't do that and not have it so much around us and bring something else with us to the function and be like, you know what? I'm gonna stick to what I have here. That has helped me also, you know, and not being also so hard on ourselves.But just, you know, I think those are some of the ways to do, to do that. If I help, I hope I answer.

I also say yes, I will say, hey, guys, instead of bringing Jelly Belly and Hennessy to the party, I have bought figs and dates.

Yeah, I brought some figs and dates. I'm gonna share it, you know, gonna share it. Yeah. Bring your own. Bring your own date. Here's another saying that comes.Today is the perfect date to take a date on. The date for dates.

I love it.

I made that up. Who quote me on that?

I love that. But you know, big, oh, bring your own date party.

Come on now. Today's a perfect date to bring a date on. A date for dates.

Wow, what a tongue twister that is. Oh, man, you say that three times fast, you get a date.

There you go.

Oh, my gosh, I love it so much. Yeah, I feel like we could have like, oh, my gosh. I bet like your art openings.You probably have like the best food and snacks and essential drinks and all sorts of stuff you have that's essential. Essential place to be. Your stuff is probably the place to be.

Yeah. And. Oh, yeah. And with more resources in the right time, it's going to be even more. I know it just. Just this past Monday.Well, as far as the date, Memorial daytime, I was in Detroit and opened an exhibition with a good friend of mine, Moppy and DJ Moppy collaborated from Chicago based in Detroit again now he just opened up his space called the Mop Shop and I was the first featured artist.

Yeah.

And he's going to be called Movement of people and other elements is going to come out of that. He's. He's got some other breakdowns for the mop element too, but. Yeah, so my exhibition was alive and thriving and that we had.I. I cut up watermelon seeded watermelon and I cut up some other golden honeydew melon. I made a watermelon mint key lime juice. Well, watermelon tells you what it is. It's water. So I made really a water, a key lime mint water.But we, you know, melon tout anyway, you get what I'm saying? I love so, so I love it.

Yeah.

I like we. I like to have these things. I love curating and coordinating events. I love doing that and I love to have it all embodied.I love all of the senses to be stimulated, all of them so you can walk away and not just be like the music was great or the art was dope. But I feel good. The food tasted good. The visuals were excellent. It sounded good.I want them all to be stimulated because it's going to resonate long term and it's going to bring.Also I like to bring that family element and that home element that I don't often have as being nomadic or sometimes experience degrees of houselessness or these are the elements of time. I like to bring that so people are there.Man, oh man, you know, how to bring us all together and we really feel good when we leave because I'm bringing you into home, you know, and that's, you know, that's so. Yeah, yeah, it's all. I'm all about that.

Yeah. One question before we land this plane.

Cool.

But okay, this, this like fancy water, you know, with the kiwi and stuff. Can we make it and then keep it by a key lime? Can we make it and keep it by our bed?You know, like, you know, in case you make wake up in the middle of the night and you're thirsty. Is that fine or does it have to be cold?

No, no, no, no. It's up to you on how you like to receive. I. I feel from my experience and knowledge and movements.I feel it's best to take the to water any type of liquids in more so at a room temperature. More so at our body temperature and slightly chilled is cool. Of. Of course we. We love. We love hot drinks. We love teas and things like that.I think too hot or too cold is not really that great, you know, for especially depending on the climate and what's going on. But yeah, why not? You know, why not.But just keep in mind that that hydration level increases to a more vibrant level when you put any type of living entities in it. Like you just mentioned, the lives. So you're going to most likely be going to the bathroom a little more. You know what I mean? So which is.Which is a good thing. But if you try to sleep, you might not want that.You know, when we're sleeping, we're fasting, our body's repairing and then you go into breaking your fast in the rising time. So if you have it, but if you go to bed and you have it there, you drink it right away. Hey, it is what it is, is what it is.

Yeah. Hey, anything else you think we should cover before we call our conversation?

Unity's in the community. Unity's in the word community. Communication's in there.So as long as our communication is holistic and honest, we will unify more and continue to decolonize from that which is bringing us any type of lack, energy and fear, you know, and yeah, you know, I just would like to encourage us to invest more in each other so that we can thrive, you know, and yes. Yeah.

And we'll be happy and healthy.

We will be nature and we'll have fun. We'll have fun. Nature's got it.

That concludes another episode of nosy AF31 Days of Black Business. I'm your host and friend, Stephanie Graham. I hope you took something away from today's conversation and had a good time hanging with us.Be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about today's guest and consider supporting their work. You know how it goes whether you're making a purchase, hiring them or simply spreading the word. Listen, who doesn't love a referral?It truly all makes the difference.Quick thank yous go out to to Queen Lex and Freddy Bam Bam for the nosy AF theme music and Emma McGorick who hooked me up with the COVID art and branding. Shout out to the partners and supporters for this series. You could check them out in the show notes as well. Super grateful for a partner. Hello.That's the show Friends until tomorrow. Stay curious and take care by.