- 5 minutes ago
Fresh off the recent release of his newest album 'I Might Forgive... But I Don't Forget' and his book 'Adversity for Sale' Jay “Jeezy” Jenkins sat with his close friend and actress Nia Long in an hour long interview released this week that details his journey into self-discovery and healing. The powerful conversation reveals an open, vulnerable and reflective Jenkins, discussing topics from mental health, meditation, healing inner-child wounds, and of course forgiveness.
Jeezy sat with Essence Ventures Chief Content Officer God-is Rivera to discuss his journey of self-discovery, his thoughts on how we can create more safe spaces for reflection among each other, how creating his art has become therapeutic, and what he hopes his community gains from hearing the experience of his ongoing path to internal balance and healing.
Jeezy sat with Essence Ventures Chief Content Officer God-is Rivera to discuss his journey of self-discovery, his thoughts on how we can create more safe spaces for reflection among each other, how creating his art has become therapeutic, and what he hopes his community gains from hearing the experience of his ongoing path to internal balance and healing.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00All right, everybody, I am so excited to be here, so excited to have this conversation today.
00:06I'm Goddess Rivera, Chief Content Officer of Essence Venture, and I'm so happy to have with me today
00:14a legend, one who kept me rocking my days at Clark Atlanta.
00:21How you doing?
00:22How you doing, Ms. Goddess?
00:24Yes, yes.
00:25I'm so excited to have you.
00:27You know, I've just been so enthralled and intrigued.
00:32I feel like the whole world, the whole community, watching conversation between you and the legend Mia Long,
00:43you know, just, it was just so powerful for me personally, just thinking through all the ways that we are,
00:50you know, I think as, you know, this era, this generation, we're really trying to sort of break generational
00:56change, really sort of center our mental well-being, and it's not easy, right?
01:01It's not easy at all.
01:02So today, I would love to sort of dive in a little bit of what you all, of what you talked about.
01:08Absolutely.
01:08Why this is important to you.
01:09Absolutely.
01:09So how about we get to it?
01:11So I think the first thing is, I feel like a lot of people feel like a journey of self-healing
01:18is important, right?
01:19But they can't, they don't know how to make the jump.
01:22They don't know how to start.
01:25You know, how would you say that you started your personal journey of sort of self-healing?
01:31I think for me, it's when I hit rock bottom.
01:34Like, I think I hit rock bottom at a time where nothing was fulfilling, nothing was,
01:40so I was numb.
01:41You know, I was just walking around, I was lost, and I didn't really have purpose.
01:45And the more I started to understand that, I'm just like, I'm waking up every morning,
01:49and it's like a bad movie.
01:51It's the same script.
01:52It's a thing, and you're just like, what am I doing?
01:55I would be around family sometimes.
01:57I wouldn't be present.
01:58I would be with my kids, and I would be, you know, it's almost like coming back from, you know, war.
02:03You know, you just, you know, this post-traumatic stress, and you're always thinking about, you know,
02:09what's going to happen, and what already happened, and you're waking up with these nightmares,
02:14and you're going through this whole cycle of a bad movie.
02:19And I started to, what I started to understand that it was something that I may be able to do something about
02:26is when I started reading more, because reading would take my mind to a place that I just had peace for a minute, right?
02:33And I started reading, and I started getting into podcasts and different things like that,
02:38and I'm just hearing these bits of information.
02:40So I just started reaching out to people, to be honest with you.
02:42Like, I would just reach out.
02:43I would hear somebody on the podcast.
02:45I'm just, you know, I'm such-and-such, and I just love to sit down with you, buy you coffee.
02:51And I would just ask questions, because I'm trying to, I'm just trying to figure out what they know that I don't know.
02:57And as I, and I'm an engineer, so if I don't know you, I don't know you.
03:03But I found myself going outside of, oh, at 1,000%.
03:07I don't know, but I believe that.
03:11Really?
03:12So you've got to go back and be energized after you're around?
03:15Okay.
03:16Oh, yeah, 1,000%.
03:17So I would find myself doing things that I was uncomfortable with doing to get the information.
03:23And to me, that's what I did when I was in the streets.
03:25Like, instead of talking to the guys that I was hustling with, I would go talk to the old guys.
03:29There was like the old guy on the corner who's been married to his wife for 40 years,
03:33who just was in the hood because he couldn't go nowhere else.
03:36Because he had all the knowledge, right?
03:38He understood what life was about.
03:39He's seen us stand on this corner for generations, well, for decades, right?
03:44And it's just over to somebody else.
03:46So he's seeing the cycle of what happens.
03:48And when you sit down and talk to these people and you get to know them, they just have all this insight.
03:52So what I was doing was I was getting this insight.
03:54And I just started like, you know, just doing what I could on my own.
03:59And, you know, it took years and years and years of just trying to figure things out.
04:03And when I got a little bit of like, okay, this is something that I could do, right?
04:10And it could help.
04:12That's when I kind of took a deep dive, right?
04:15Because at first, I'm still living with that.
04:18You know, you can't tell your homeboys you're on the phone with a therapist.
04:20You sound crazy.
04:22You know what I'm saying?
04:22But now, maybe after we start to have conversations like you're sparking, we can, you know?
04:28I love that.
04:29But you're right.
04:30You're right.
04:30Yeah.
04:31And I had a lot of good things going on for me, too.
04:34So to even tell someone that I was depressed, you know, was like, bro, you rich.
04:40You straight.
04:40You ain't in the feds no more.
04:43It's great.
04:43It's this.
04:44It's that.
04:44And I had to tell, you know, my son the other day, we were talking.
04:48I was like, you know, your brain is like your engine.
04:50And when your car is not running right, you're bound to run into more problems, right?
04:56And there was a lot of things that were going on, you know, in my mental that I needed to
05:00start to understand so that I could fix.
05:03And there was a lot of soul healing that I needed to work on because I came from such
05:08bad energy.
05:09That's all I knew.
05:10And I didn't know any other energy that felt, you know, just like a big, a good place to
05:19be.
05:19Right.
05:20And that was a bigger piece for me.
05:23I think that just what you're saying is so important for people to hear.
05:27And there's a couple of things.
05:28And even what you just unpacked is that you can get to a point where you're at rock bottom
05:33and you sort of are forced to reckon with like, hey, I don't want to feel like this anymore.
05:37Right.
05:38But I love also this idea of reading podcasts, just reaching out and saying, I want to learn
05:45more.
05:45I want to understand more about how do I process what I'm feeling.
05:49And I also think you touched on a huge, a huge point, which is it doesn't have to look
05:54bad from the outside for things not to feel right.
05:57And I think that is huge for people who feel like they got the job, they got the degree,
06:03they got the career, they got the money and something is still not there.
06:08I think it really, there is sort of a stigma attached to that.
06:11When you're growing up in the hood and the only thing you can think about is when I get
06:15my Lamborghini, I get this big mansion and I need this.
06:19And then you get that and you're in that and you're feeling even worse than you did before
06:25you had it because you felt like this was going to fix everything.
06:28Even money.
06:29You know what I'm saying?
06:30It doesn't, it doesn't fix the problem.
06:33A lot of, you know, what I'm doing is because when I, when I worked at it, I, you know, it's
06:38like anything you do is like, you know, recipes are made because somebody learned how to cook
06:44something great and they passed the recipe.
06:46And for me, I'm passing on the recipe to self healing because I went in and I found all
06:53the ingredients and I made this, uh, you know, this, this, this wonderful dinner that I want
06:57to share with my people because I feel even my friend, I got friends that I love, you
07:02know what I mean?
07:02I've known them for, you know, years and just recently they're starting to open up to me
07:07and have conversations about things that they went through that are more traumatic than
07:11what I went through.
07:12And I've been knowing them for, you know, 20 years and we never had just because they
07:16seen me on this journey.
07:18They're starting to open up and have these conversations that we never had, right?
07:22Because it was always closed off.
07:23How are you feeling?
07:24I'm good.
07:24I'm great.
07:25You know, whatever I'm dealing with, I'm dealing with it.
07:26And, and I lost, I lost a great friend of mine.
07:29Right.
07:29And, and, and, uh, like the beginning of my career, well, the beginning of my, my, my recording
07:35artist career, when I got signed, he was the person that took me to a deaf jam.
07:40His name was Shakir Stewart, the best A&R.
07:43And he was the happiest person in the world on the surface.
07:46Like he had all the savoir fear, all the charisma.
07:50And when I got that call that he killed himself, like, I just, I couldn't, I couldn't understand
07:54that.
07:55It's hard to comprehend.
07:57Yeah.
07:57And, but the first thing I thought to my mind was like, he escaped because I was, I was
08:02hurting.
08:04I was hurting, but I didn't.
08:06So imagine if we had a chance to just sit down and talk about our hurt together, right?
08:11It helped each other.
08:12And it's just like, you know, even when I see guys that are just getting out of prison
08:17or guys who are just trying to make life work, you know, that's good on the exterior, but
08:22on the inside, there's things going on that, you know, you just, sometimes you just want
08:27to be heard and seen, help you process it and unpack it because we're taught all these things
08:34in the inside, right?
08:36And, and, and your, and your, your wounds are only going to do two things.
08:39They're going to make you weak or they're going to give you wisdom.
08:41Right.
08:42And if you don't figure out which road you're going to go down.
08:45And I was just talking to one of my friends about this on the way over here.
08:48I was, he was talking about the interview and he was just like, man, I'm just proud that
08:51you even took that step.
08:52And I say, look, man, you know, to be honest, because you know, our kids are going to have
08:57kids, right?
08:58And if we're instilling thing into them, what they feel like they got to just keep
09:02everything, you know, keep everything inside, their, their kids are going to be like we are
09:09and their kids, nothing gets fixed and nothing gets fixed.
09:15It's an attempt to, you know, to just open up that dialogue.
09:20And, and, and the reason, um, you know, I wanted to do it near because I just know that,
09:25you know, she's a strong woman and she's dealing with things that, you know, women
09:28are dealing with across the world, but I also know that I just wanted to be in this
09:32place where I can have this conversation with a woman that's like-minded so that
09:38culturally we can see that's, that's how a conversation in the house is supposed to
09:43happen.
09:44You know what I'm saying?
09:45This could be at the dinner table.
09:46This could be over glass of wine.
09:48Right.
09:48This could be whatever.
09:49Like, Hey, this is what I'm going through.
09:50And there's no judgment.
09:51Right.
09:52I'm not looking at you like you're weak because maybe you can help me work through this.
09:55Right.
09:55Right.
09:56Or point me in the right direction.
09:57And when it comes to you, I can say, you know what?
09:59I didn't even know you was feeling like that.
10:00Like, what can I do to support you?
10:02Right.
10:02And then same with friends.
10:04It's almost like if I can open up that dialogue and my homie call me and say, Hey man, you
10:09know, really, I'm going through a bad moment right now.
10:12Right.
10:12And this is what's happening.
10:14I might not have the answers, but I can actually hear.
10:18Right.
10:18Because once you say it, you know, you can unpack it.
10:22You know what?
10:23Exactly.
10:23And you talk about feeling safe and I'm so glad that you brought up, I mean, you can
10:27see and feel that you, both you and Nia feel safe with each other, right?
10:33In this conversation.
10:34And, you know, when I'm thinking about folks, you know, thinking about, you know, the late
10:38great Shakir and what he was suffering with, and we've had several folks in this industry
10:43and many others who are suffering silently.
10:46Is it because they weren't able to identify someone that they felt safe enough with to
10:51talk through these things?
10:52You know, how would you say for somebody who might be suffering silently at all different,
10:57you know, levels?
10:58How do you sort of identify that and then find that courage to say, I really do need
11:03to talk to you?
11:04You know, what was that process like for you?
11:06I found my courage through other people.
11:08Like, shout out to my sister Shanti Daz and her Suffering in Silence movement.
11:15You know, what I really think it is for me is just like, as a people, we just got to be
11:21there for each other, right?
11:23We got to be able to have conversations where you're able to tell people actually how you
11:32feel, right?
11:33Because the reality of it is nine times out of ten, you're not alone.
11:39You know, people feeling the way you feel.
11:43And for me, you know, when I suffered in silence, I wasn't a good person.
11:50See what I'm saying?
11:52Like, I was, I didn't have, I didn't have a great moral compass.
11:57You know, I was more self, right?
11:59I was more about me, you know, what's this mean for me?
12:03And I wasn't trying to build any relationships because all I was trying to make sure is that
12:07I was good, right?
12:09And that came, that came from me being in pain and then inflicting on others.
12:15So there was no benefit on any level, right?
12:18I'm going to be honest, like, I got people that I might run up to now that know me for
12:22like, you know, know me for years, that know me from back then.
12:25And I'd be like, hey man, what's up?
12:26They're like, oh my God.
12:26I'm like, no, bro, I'm different.
12:28I promise you.
12:29And I had to try to like, you know, iron out a lot of those relationships because I
12:39left them in a bad place because I was, I was in a bad place.
12:43You know what I'm saying?
12:44I was waking up every morning, you know, just, just mad and just like, because what it
12:50is, it's like, you're just walking around with pain, like you're just walking around
12:53with like deep, deep, deep pain and anything, everything will set you off, right?
13:01Anything, everything will put you in a place where you would say something to someone, right?
13:07And if somebody said that to your mother, you'd be ready to go above and beyond to show
13:11them that.
13:12And I had to just get to a place where, and this is a real thing, it's just like, when
13:18you're going through this pain, you're really not happy with yourself.
13:21You don't like yourself.
13:22And a lot of people don't, even me putting my baby picture on my five-year-old picture
13:27on my album cover, a lot of people felt like that's a hip hop thing.
13:31That was for me.
13:32That was for me because all this time I was ashamed of him, right?
13:36And now that's the most vulnerable state I've ever been in because that's when the
13:40most hurt happened to me, right?
13:41And those are the things that I had, but me putting that out there in the world is showing
13:45that I can look at that picture now and tell you, I wholeheartedly love myself.
13:50I love him.
13:50I love everything about us because there was a point that I didn't, there was a point I
13:54didn't even look in the mirror.
13:56I get up, brush my teeth, I didn't even look in the mirror.
13:58Yeah.
13:59I never said, you know, and like, you know, like we're going to do our best today.
14:02We're going to make some people smile.
14:04We're going to change some lives.
14:05We're going to do some great things.
14:06And if we don't, when we come home, it's going to be me and you.
14:09We're going to be all right.
14:10You know, I think one of the most powerful things, and I know we're running short on
14:14time, but I just, this is just so important for the community to hear this from you, because
14:19I think you and Mia, you know, she starts out even saying like, tell me about little
14:25J, right?
14:26Tell me about this child.
14:27People often don't realize how many wounds they carry that are unhealed from those moments.
14:35And you really went into two very traumatic instances and mentioned having more and, you
14:41know, even being a young child, you know, witnessing something like domestic violence, you know, losing
14:46the trust of someone that you were told you could trust.
14:49I think how you carry that through your life is so, so impactful.
14:56So I'd love to just hear your thoughts.
14:58And I loved sort of the way you spoke about your meditative state and really sort of healing with
15:04that inner child.
15:05I think people, a lot of people need to really think through what that means.
15:11You know, what was it like for you?
15:13Because you said you didn't want to look in the mirror.
15:14Was it, was it scary?
15:16Was it hard to think back?
15:18It was more shame than anything.
15:20You know what I'm saying?
15:20I'm just shame.
15:21You know, it was just like, and once I had to realize it, it wasn't me, I was a child.
15:26Right.
15:27And, and I just got caught up in these situations.
15:29It wasn't my fault, you know, and I, maybe I should have been covered and protected in
15:33a different way, but I'm going to go through this and they got to know it's not their fault.
15:38Absolutely.
15:38This is not, this, these people did these things to you and they're adults.
15:42They should know better.
15:43Right.
15:43Yeah.
15:43And they did not, but the way the, what's so important to me now, just to put it out
15:49here, you know, because you know, people will ask you why now it's because I, where I am
15:56today, I'm probably like, if you asked me this 10 years ago, how much I love myself, I'd probably
16:01been a negative zero.
16:02Right.
16:03You know, I'm at a 10, 10 right now.
16:05Right.
16:06And then I also understand my purpose and why I'm doing this, because I know that there's
16:10a young kid out there who's going through what I went through and need to hear this.
16:15And everything that I'm doing to, to, to learn and to grow, I just want to put back in the
16:21culture because I feel like this is important.
16:24Like I got friends that we talk and they like, yo, what you doing?
16:26I'm like, yo, man, honestly, I'm going to get up.
16:29I'll give them people my morning routine.
16:31You know, I'm up four 30 sharp.
16:33Everything.
16:34I'm going to meditate 45 minutes to an hour.
16:37You know what I'm saying?
16:38I'm going to pray for another 20 minutes.
16:40Right.
16:40I'm going to journal for another 30, 40 minutes because journaling is helping me, you know,
16:45process my, my, my thoughts.
16:47Now, I mean, this was big for me to even step by.
16:49And so in my journal this morning, I'm like, okay, we're going to go outside.
16:57We're going to make sure nobody's throwing tomatoes at me.
17:05Listen, we got you.
17:07We got you.
17:08And that's another moment that I loved.
17:09I'm going to do two more moments and I'm going to get you out of here.
17:12But, but, but, but just real quick, real quick.
17:14I want to finish.
17:15Oh yeah, please go ahead.
17:17Finish.
17:18Yeah.
17:18So, so meditation.
17:20I have guys that are older than me that I hang around and we talk, right?
17:23We have real conversations and they always ask me, what are you doing, man?
17:26You just seem so this.
17:27And I put a couple of my friends on the meditation and we have conversations about this.
17:31You know, we have conversations about books.
17:33I'm reading the book.
17:34I'm going to be like, people come home to my house.
17:36You would think you would get, you know, whatever type of gifts, my gift bags have books in
17:40them, right?
17:41And my guys have conversations like, y'all, I'm going to tell you what it is.
17:45It's crazy because what I learned is everybody wants to learn.
17:48They just need to know how, right?
17:50And where to get the information from.
17:51And then for me, meditation was a big part because it actually gave me time to process
17:57my thoughts and to, and to, to, to look inward so I can understand what's going on with
18:04me.
18:04And it sets me up for my day to go out into the world because when you understand what's
18:09going on with you and you move according to that, you just give off good energy, right?
18:13And you, and you're focused on your purpose and you're, you're walking in your path of
18:17faith.
18:18Like you're not just out here spinning your wheels.
18:20And I think that that's important.
18:21And I'm not telling everybody that they should meditate.
18:23That might not even be the thing.
18:25And, and with music, like, you know, people are loving the new album, which I appreciate
18:30they're loving the, they're loving the book, which I appreciate, but they got to understand
18:34that's my journaling.
18:35What you're listening to is my journal.
18:38What you're reading is my journal.
18:40That's me through my process of what I've been through, all these things that I packed
18:46up and put in my closet, which meaning like, I'm not going to think about it.
18:50I'm just going to pack it up and put it back here.
18:52And the thing about it is you can stack that closet to the ceiling, but one day it's going
18:55to bust wide open.
18:56You got to do an artist at one time.
18:58So I'd rather just get it out through my writing, uh, get it out through, you know, my music
19:03because it's all therapeutic to me.
19:04So when you're listening to this music or you're reading this book, just know that that's
19:07a part of my therapy process.
19:09And I hope that it helps you.
19:11I think that that's so, again, just these are actionable ways that people today, tonight,
19:17somebody might say, I'm going to just try five minutes of meditation, right?
19:22I'm going to journal for 10 minutes.
19:23I'm going to pray for, you know, 15 minutes.
19:27I think this is what our community needs.
19:29That's that actionable ways to sort of still yourself, get reconnected with yourself.
19:36And then of course, you know, your artistry, your creation, that is when your best artistry
19:41comes out.
19:42You know, I've been listening to rave reviews about the new album, but, and I'm hearing you
19:46say, I poured myself into it, right?
19:49Even if I never did another project again in life, I'm good.
19:52That was, that was, that was like, that freed me between the book, the album, and the conversation
20:02with Nia.
20:04It, it, it took, that was the last thing that was on, that was the last thing that was
20:07in my closet, right?
20:09It's free because these are things that I was dealing with that I just couldn't understand.
20:14I know, you know, because I had people tell me like, man, you shouldn't even worry about
20:18things, but I'm like, you know, like integrity aligned.
20:22Like it bothers me when trying to do the right thing.
20:26And then you run into people.
20:27Yeah.
20:27And I had to realize there are people out there who haven't even started the journey of healing.
20:31And so I can't fault them.
20:34You see what I'm saying?
20:35I got to understand that that's where they are, but I have to free.
20:40Right.
20:40And I have to free myself though.
20:42And you got girls to raise, you know what I'm saying?
20:45I got, I got culture.
20:46It's depending on me to, to, to, to keep walking this path.
20:50I got, I got, I got, you know, I got family members that, you know, look and say, you know,
20:55that's my cousin and that's my uncle that I had to make sure that I'm, I'm, I'm leading
21:00by example.
21:01So I can't walk around with this hatred in my heart.
21:04I can't walk around with this bad energy because that's not who I am.
21:08Right.
21:08And I'll be lying if I said, that's, that's who I am.
21:11And I feel like it's so important for us culturally to understand that like, if you're hurting,
21:16you don't have to stay in that place.
21:18Like you can do some things about it, at least try at least try.
21:23Yeah.
21:23Right.
21:24At least try, at least try.
21:26And I love that you said you have the culture on your back.
21:29And like I said, we'll get closed out in a moment, but I think the moment, the conversation
21:33too, between you and Mia was so, it was healing on several different levels because you also
21:39were being very culturally right aware.
21:42You're talking about what it's, what it means for black men and black women to have these
21:46conversations.
21:47She actually said, I don't think I've ever had a conversation like this with a black
21:53man in this way where we can really unpack.
21:56Yes.
21:56And you could see it.
21:58It was beautiful.
21:59And I think one of the things I'd love sort of your quick thoughts on is, you know, she
22:03in that moment, you know, had sort of an emotional moment where you sort of said, of course,
22:08we would have your back, you know, as always, no matter what happens, we'll always, you know,
22:13make sure to stand up for you.
22:14And I think sometimes there's a lot of discussion around black men and black women and how we
22:20support each other, how we not support each other.
22:23And I just love to sort of hear your thoughts about, you know, why is it important to sort
22:29of find that connective tissue?
22:31And I know that, you know, being the home of black women, 53 years at Essence, you know,
22:36we hear all of their thoughts and what they go through.
22:39And a lot of times black women don't always feel as supportive, right?
22:42They want to know that they've got that safety and that protection.
22:46What would you say as we try to think about sort of a collective community approach to making
22:50sure that we're having these conversations everywhere?
22:52Like you said, the dinner table, the barbecue, how do we, how do we continue to force that?
22:58I think the first thing I would say is just, just like, you know, it starts with just listening
23:02to each other and giving each other space, right?
23:05Because growing up in a household where I heard yelling and screaming and all these things
23:09all the time, you know, and I, you know, growing through my life and just seeing it everywhere
23:13I was and even, it's the norm, you know, we normalized it and it helped with my post-traumatic
23:20stress.
23:20So it also put me in a state of, you know, fight, flight, or freeze, you know what I'm
23:24saying?
23:25For most of my life, anywhere I'm at, you know, I'm always overly on edge because I'm
23:32listening to the sounds, right?
23:34And I think, you know, and shout out to Nia, she's a solid one and she understood exactly
23:40what the mission was.
23:42And my thing was like, can we have a conversation that I feel like my dad and my mom should have
23:48that, or your dad and your mom, or people that are, you know, in these relationships or
23:55people that are, you know, you know, it's bad when you can't talk to your sister, you
24:01know what I'm saying?
24:01Like your sister, your biological sister, because you guys are, because coming from what
24:07your parents showed you, you guys can't even have a real conversation, right?
24:11And then that's into men feeling like they have to, you know, to, to over, you know,
24:19over display their masculinity because it's like, well, you, you know, it's to the point
24:25where you can't just sit down, look somebody in the eye and say, you know what, this is
24:28what's going on.
24:29And this is how I feel.
24:31And for me to accept, or I received that now tell me, what can I do?
24:36You know, so you won't feel that, right?
24:38Which is an easy fix.
24:40And what I'm saying is, as a, as a people, we just been taught, you know, women are taught
24:45to be tough by their mothers, men are taught to be cold by their fathers.
24:49And then you put that together and you put that in the household.
24:53And then what type of kids do you think you're going to raise?
24:56And now more so than ever, I just feel like the message has to be out there because the internet
25:02is raising our kids now, right?
25:04So imagine that, you know what I'm saying?
25:06And so like, we got to still do our due diligence to show them.
25:11And she said something that was, you know, very profound in there.
25:13She said she'd never seen an example.
25:16And, and I can say that I've ever seen was the Cosby Show.
25:20Right, right.
25:21Right.
25:21And the only other example I've seen is my uncle Hoss and his wife.
25:25And they've been together probably 40 something years.
25:28And I've never seen two people that just was always solid with each other.
25:35Right.
25:35But that's rare.
25:37Right.
25:38So what other examples are there?
25:41So I was, I was hoping that, and we was hoping that this conversation would just open up the
25:46dialogue of at least how to go into these situations and sit down at a table and just
25:53have a conversation.
25:54Because at the end of the day, you know, woman and man is here to be a team, right?
26:00If we cover each other's blind spots and we're loving each other and we're keeping each other
26:04accountable and we're keeping each other strong and we're keeping each other love, then like,
26:09how can we lose?
26:10I'm not saying anybody should be perfect, but what I'm saying is just think about your best
26:14friend that you have, you guys have some ups and downs, some lefts and rights, but you
26:19love your best friend, right?
26:21And if she came, if she said that something was wrong and she was going through something
26:24in her life, you would be all ears.
26:27Why we can't, why can't we be like that for each other in relationships and in family
26:31relationships?
26:32You see what I'm saying?
26:33And that's, that's the difference.
26:34That's right.
26:35That's right.
26:36Your best friend.
26:37I love it.
26:38It's that simple though.
26:39Right.
26:40You know what I'm saying?
26:41Right.
26:42Right.
26:43Two bagel tigers.
26:44You know what I'm saying?
26:47I'm telling you.
26:49I know it.
26:51I know it.
26:51Well, I mean.
26:53And it's great because she made a great point.
26:55Like women have to be, you know, they have to protect themselves too, but we want to protect
27:00them as well and we want them to look out for us.
27:02So whatever that means, right.
27:04That's, that's what we're trying to get to.
27:06I love that.
27:06And I think that the work you're doing now allows you to even better protect, right?
27:12Your kids, your, your spouse, your family members.
27:16I think that's the work that matters.
27:19And so, you know, before we go today, I love that you also mentioned that you feel you,
27:24you could just, you could hear and see the clarity in you right now, which is, it is,
27:30it's shining off of you, which is so awesome to see.
27:33Absolutely.
27:34And you say that you found your purpose and, and I believe you, and I know the community
27:39believes you.
27:40So, you know, before we go today, I'd love to sort of know what is it you really want
27:46our community to take from this?
27:48You've shared a lot, but if there was one thing or a few things that you say after someone
27:53watches this interview, after they listen to the album, after they read the book, what
27:57is it that you want to leave your, our community with?
28:00I want them to understand that, you know, no matter what you've been through, no matter
28:06what you're going through, no matter how much pain, how much suffering you feel like you've
28:12been through, there's always a way to heal, right?
28:16And to me, you know, I'm not there yet.
28:21It's a journey.
28:22It's not a destination, but I can tell you, you know, once you get a small piece of healing,
28:28you begin to heal others, right?
28:31And that's the journey I'm on to help heal others.
28:34And I feel like if, if we've had movements before, right?
28:38And I feel like if we could just get on that movement, you know, we could, we can, we can
28:43start to heal each other because the thing that I know is I'm raising daughters, right?
28:49And I don't want when my daughters are in their thirties that they're still dealing with
28:54what we're dealing with today as a people, right?
28:58And like everything that you ever heard me say or do, you just got to know that my intentions
29:05were good, but my intentions are even better now.
29:09So if you're reading my book, my intentions are even better.
29:11That's for every hustler, every guy who's out there who think he's got to be stuck in
29:15the street forever.
29:16No, you don't.
29:17You know what I'm saying?
29:18There's work around it.
29:19I mean, you know, from the, from the business part of it to everything I've ever done, I came
29:24from where you came from.
29:25And for the people that's out there, you know, um, you know, that need that soundtrack
29:30to, you know, just a better way of thinking, because once you change your life, you know,
29:35that's one thing, but when you change the, the level, the quality of living of the people
29:39around you, then you're doing something.
29:40That's what the album is about.
29:42And this conversation with Neil was about, you know, just putting our people in a place
29:46that they know that it's okay.
29:48It's okay to sit down and talk and work through things, have conflict resolutions, and just
29:52know that at the end of the day, like you don't have to agree on everything you do
29:57not, you know, you just got to be able to talk about it.
30:00And that's all that you could just be able to talk about it.
30:03Cause once you're able to talk about it, you have a whole nother type of understanding
30:06for that person.
30:07Because again, you know, we got a generation being raised by the internet, you know, and
30:12if we don't do our part, you know, and then, you know, at least, you know, you only call
30:17things smart because they're smart.
30:18When you say smartphone, that means the phone is smarter than you.
30:22And that's not good.
30:24And last but not least, right.
30:26And last but not least is like, be okay with yourself, be okay in your company.
30:31Because a lot of times we blame what we're going through on everybody else.
30:35But if you walk away from everybody else and go sit somewhere for two months and sit in
30:42one space and eat whatever you want and live however you want, if you're not happy in that
30:47space and you still have this anger and things, it's not the other person, it's you.
30:52So you're the one that has to do the work, right?
30:55And if you know you need to do the work, you got to do the work.
30:59And that's what I want to leave it on.
31:02Like, you know, you got to do the work, got to do the work.
31:05All right.
31:07Well, listen, y'all heard it.
31:09We got to do our work and we've been so inspired.
31:12We are so grateful.
31:13Once again, I'm Goddess Rivera, Chief Content Officer of Essence Ventures.
31:20It's been amazing.
31:21Jackie Jeezy Jenkins.
31:23Yes, this is going to be so beautiful and amazing for the community.
31:27And I know you've sparked the conversation.
31:29I look forward to being at the next Essence Festival.
31:31Don't forgive me like this.
31:33I love you on my list, so you good.
31:38You good.
31:39Thank you so much.
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