The House That Vander-Built
The House That Vander-Built is a place where pressing worldly topics will be laid out on the FAMILY's Sunday Dinner Table. We will talk politics, crime, marginalization, LGBTQIA+ Rights, The Cost of Entertainment, Black Men, Black Woman and let's not forget our Brown peeps and our White Brother's & Sister's that are down with the RIGHT and Maga U 2!!!!!!!
The House That Vander-Built
Opening The House: Community, Healing, And Hope
The door swings open with nerves, gratitude, and a kitchen-table invitation: come sit, tell the truth, and help build a community that teaches while it talks. I share a Chicago story full of jagged edges and bright lights—North Side beginnings, South Side survival, a grandmother’s building alive with music and food, and the kind of danger that leaves scars and resolve. Mentors arrive right on time: a stepdad who modeled steady love, a best friend’s family who made a home for me, a white executive who taught diction and poise, and a creative elder who put me on the road where dance, choreography, and records became a new language. Those threads tie into one clear mission: reach one, teach one, and share the secret so others can cross the bridge too.
This is a house for hard conversations that actually go somewhere. We name trauma without letting it define us. We strip away the excuses that keep us small—“the system is rigged,” “my vote doesn’t count,” “they’re all the same”—and replace them with action, curiosity, and solidarity. Politics isn’t a side topic; it’s the floor we stand on. We map how institutions like the Supreme Court, Congress, and local power shape daily life for Black, brown, poor, queer, and working folks. We talk about bridging lines that feel impossible, asking real questions of people we disagree with, and refusing the trap of silence and misinformation that corrodes trust.
Across the next twelve weeks, we’ll bring kitchen wisdom and civic fluency into the same room: voting rights, community issues, and the “big gay stigma” that keeps us distracted from the work of waking up and living with purpose. Expect stories, clarity, and a steady push toward common ground. This hour every Sunday is for anyone willing to build—across race, class, and identity—so the next kid has a shorter bridge to cross.
If this resonates, subscribe, follow The House That Vanderbilt Built on every platform, and share this with someone who needs a seat at the table. Drop your questions or stories in my inbox and leave a review so more people can find the house. Let’s get further, together.
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Yes, yes, I do not on the right because it's music. Thank you very much. I'm on the right.
SPEAKER_02:But this is not ya.
SPEAKER_06:And a long way to go.
SPEAKER_07:Just the beginning. I'm a little excited. A little nervous? I'm nervous as hell. Um I uh I am very nervous right now. I am very, very, very nervous. Uh I have been planning this for a while, man. And I am super, super duper excited to finally get the door of the house open, y'all. The doors of the house are finally opening. We are about to get there. Thank you, Lau. We are about to get there. We're gonna start some conversations. We're gonna answer some questions. We're gonna deal with some things that we don't normally deal with. But I believe strongly, if we deal with these situations as a people, we're gonna get way, way, way, way, way further. So the doors are finally open. And now that they open, you know, all I can say is ma'am. I've been waiting. I've been waiting. I've been waiting for something that could take us back to the full Sunday Fun Day was just to come by the house. Everybody met up the grannies, everybody gotta play, uncle gonna start talking about what Reagan was doing or football game scores, you know, just just that life.
SPEAKER_08:All that talking was happening in the kitchen, and and and and you just you can see it.
SPEAKER_04:You can see it in all these beautiful gyms that we didn't pay attention to back in those days.
SPEAKER_07:But we need them now. We sure need them now. You know. I remember my auntie, she used to always come to my grandma's house. Every time she would leave my grandma's house, she would go in the kitchen. And she used to yell, cut the off. I'ma go up in here and make these plates before we get ready to go. Grandmoma used to yell. Those are the days that I'm talking about. The times where conversations were conversations, but they were also teaching all.
SPEAKER_04:You know, the days are old. The days of when you heard something, you meant something.
SPEAKER_07:And a lot of times it won't just be and that's what we will will be missing now is that everybody's doing everything.
SPEAKER_05:Not her nothing else, not hell.
SPEAKER_07:So let me explain something to all my new family members.
SPEAKER_05:Because in this house, we all that's the goal, is for all of us to communicate and become close enough to where we feel we just got one touch away from the next person. No.
SPEAKER_07:Um to my family members during this the first 12 weeks of the uh of this first series. I'm gonna run a 12 weeks straight of this first series. And the first series is entitled The Doors of the House is Open, as well as the first episode. Um I won't explain you know uh how we're gonna communicate. I want to talk about what I may come off to some people's ass first. You know, that's that's always a good place to start because uh uh I don't want it to be misconstrued or thought of or imagined or anything that I want to be something that I'm not. Or, you know, imagining uh, you know, what it is we think about this brother. You know, what I don't know if Charlotte knows, I already understand certain things. So I'm gonna kind of lay some things out there so that uh you are able to understand that I can see things through your eyes as well. And I'm gonna accept any of these things. So, number one, how I may come off to some of y'all is I may come off as a father figure. You know, I've uh had a lot of crap this over this past little 50 years of my life. Now, here's the catch. I uh I would have been a father of three myself. And this is for everybody who's been around me, who knows me. Y'all know I've raised children. Y'all know that. Uh, but again, I would have been a father of three. Uh two different women. Uh the first one had a miscarriage of twins in my grandmother's bathroom, which I carried that young lady from that bathroom to the hospital. The second one had a miscarriage in my mother's apartment, and uh we dealt with that accordingly. Um uh and I would have felt that would have been my three natural warrant children. But God didn't see it to stop there. He gave me kids that I had to raise and do my due diligence in my part. Not my due diligence, but my part in their lives. Uh, two of them being my brother's sons, uh, I am my brother's keeper. I'm definitely my brother's keeper. Uh so two of them being my brother's sons, and which a lot of y'all, especially if you lived with around in Memphis, and you knew me in my time at that time, you understood that I was raising young men. And then uh there would be TJ. Uh, and that was an old partner of mine. His mom uh requested that I be a guardian and a and a and a fair person to get her son through high school and possibly college and some more things. And we accomplished all those things. Not only did we accomplish them, he was great then, and he's great now. The boys were great then, they're great now. So if anybody's out there asking how any of the boys are doing, they're awesome. They're awesome. Uh AJ's uh career is going awesome. Recently got married, he's doing great, having a fantastic life. CJ is a great father. He uh he raises his children with a lot of the very teachings that I have put on him. And uh he works for the government now. And TJ, he is uh in Chicago, you know, me and my mom uh were last living. Uh he's in Chicago, he's now uh uh uh freshly engaged, and uh he's he's managing grocery stores. So the three boys that were in the house continuously and that um that I raised, I fine. They're great. You know, so if I come off like a father figure. Do you understand? Now I understand that because of not only with those three boys, I had six more that somehow God lets me to take under my wing and carry on and move forward. And these young men are just as prominent as the boys that live in the house daily. You know what I'm saying? One is the Tennessee, state of Tennessee's tax person overall of Tennessee. You know what I'm saying? One is got an entrepreneur mind that is bringing him in six figures right now, and then he's still hiring young black people to work in stores and things that he runs, you know. Then I got an army baby, you know what I'm saying? I've got another baby who's a buyer for HM. You know, so we we we make these families in our world, which we'll get to that part in a minute, but that's not what we're talking about now. We make these families sometimes it's called chosen families, aside from the families that God gave us. And my chosen family boys are just as precious to me as the ones that God gave me through my family. You know, and God rest my first baby uh that was not part of my blood, but he was part of everything else. Quentin Oliver, you forever be my memory, my love, my child. Uh I found you at 16. We got you out of that situation, and you went up from there. So uh I will say that I love all of my boys. You know what I'm saying? Uh Jahari and Hassan, do y'all thing, show the world you can be you and still be in the spotlight. I love all of them. You know, so if I come off like a father, trust me, I understand why. It's no biggie. You know, uh, but now sometimes, and for some of y'all, I may come off a little bit like a mother. My maternal spirit is the highest heck. I love so much uh with so much passion. I love with so much passion. I uh I um I look beyond the glass further than what you know most dads would do, you know. I I I literally go hard at looking beyond the glass, you know, and really trying to make sure that I not only see you, I hear you and I understand you. You know what I'm saying? So, hey my nephew, I love you. Uh so I I go beyond that. And it was some real strong women in my life that impressed upon me that that would forever be a part of me. The loving part, the caring part, the nurturing part would always be a part of me. So, you know, to my mama Val, to my mom Leah, you know what I'm saying, to my grandmothers, Cupai and Bernice, you know, to my auntie Tootie, God rest her soul. I miss you so much, lady. So these women, those five started, those started five like them, they went hard about me. And they went hard to understand that for me to understand that they seen me, but for me to also see myself.
SPEAKER_08:And it took a long time coming before I could actually see myself, y'all. But the more I see myself, the more I see this world, the more I see this world, the more I see you.
SPEAKER_07:And we all gotta we all gotta be a part of it. So we all gotta start moving in the right way and in the right direction. This one keeps freezing. I don't know why. Let me see if I can't correct that. Uh yes, that that is okay. Yes. Hold on.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, yes.
SPEAKER_07:Alright, so my thing is yes, so um, oh my god. Oh my god, you this is amazing. I will take this. I need to take this call right now. It's kind of important. Hey, Jane. It's going really good. But you know what? I'm actually, this is amazing. God bless me. Thank you, Jesus. I'll say that first. Uh, I'm not live right now and actually doing my podcast right now, and it's amazing. Hey, you called right in the middle of the live right after I just got to talking about you, and I love this. Can I call you as soon as this is over with?
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Thank you, sir. I love you. So, you can't tell me when God sees what's going on, baby, he'll work it all out. Let me tell you that. Let me tell you, work it all out. He'll work it all out.
SPEAKER_05:That's all I got to say.
SPEAKER_07:So, that's what I'll say. And that's that that's my son, Timothy. I'm sorry I'm gonna lie, but that I love you too, baby. Uh so my motherly instincts do come out a lot. They will come out a lot over this next 12 weeks. I just want you to know that I'm very aware of them. And I want y'all to know that if that's how I come out to y'all, so be it. Uh, don't shame me, don't hate me, don't try to bow me down for it. Just understand we're finna work together because we got a common goal. Now, uh, now some of y'all, I know the real deal. I'm gonna come out to y'all like I'm a brother or some cousin, you know, because, because, you know, whatever the case may be. You know what I'm saying? Uh, I got 12 siblings. I got 12 freaking siblings, you know what I'm saying? You know, between my daddy, my mama, and then my adopted family, I have 12 siblings. You know, so and I'm smacked dead in the middle of all 12 of them. And I make sure, I don't, I don't just try, I don't just try. I make sure that I can not only communicate with each and every one of them, I make sure they know I love them. I make sure they know I'm there for them. I make sure they know that I and my brothers and my sisters keeper. And trust you me, they keeps on me too. They strongly keeps on me. Because the love that we share between us and each other isn't just the fact that we're siblings, it's the fact that we all have a bond. And I have worked at that bond to maintain a true love and a true understanding with my siblings. So I will work hard at maintaining a love, a true understanding with all of my new family members here in the house. Because it's important that we all get an understanding right off the bat. That no matter what you see, at the end of the day, I'm a family member. I could be a confident, I could be a friend, I can be somebody that you could just, you know, want to inbox. You feel like you got something on your mind, you need to figure it off. I'm that guy. Because what you bring to the house, I advise you, if it's that person, I'll go to the house class. But tell me about it. Inbox me, talk to me. We can definitely work at whatever situation you have going on. We can make sure that you know, you have an outlet, you have an ear, you have a shoulder, you have somebody you can lean on. That's that's my job. That's my job. That's why this podcast is a starting. It's not just to have a shoulder lean on, but it's to reach one, teach one. Because what we got going on right now, man, it it's it's it's not it's not, it's not, it's not all that great. But because I'm in a state of mind and in a part of life of where I am, I can tell you right now, it's actually not doing too bad for me. I'm not gonna lie, not doing too bad for me, but there are those that are hurting. They are hurting, and and and it's time that we can help them.
SPEAKER_08:It's time we helped.
SPEAKER_07:Uh, let me close all uh no, let me not close that. Okay, cool. Uh I'm trying to get this thing over here because I see it keeps freezing on this one, and I hate that. But we're gonna keep rocking right here. A little backstory on point. Okay. Um this is about to be real for some of y'all. Some of y'all don't know me like that, but I want to be as real as I possibly can.
SPEAKER_05:And as transparent as I possibly can so that we understand what the real goal of this is. So Vanderbilt.
SPEAKER_07:Um, that is what I'm known as. I've been known as throughout the working world since I was a teenager. Uh, my real name is Vandiville Harris Jr. Um, I was born in Chicago. Uh on the north side of Chicago. I grew up in Old Town. It's where I started at. Uh uh, where you had Cabrini just to the south of us in the lakefront, right there to the to the north of us, you know what I'm saying? Uh, we was in the middle of the best of both worlds, if you ask me. Um, stayed on the north side, you know, for a while. Uh, my top young years, you know. I was born over there, I was born in Ground Hospital, and then uh I think we stayed over there until I was about maybe six, because that's when my dad eventually left. And I understood later in life why, but then all I know was my dad's gone. Um, and then being moved from the north side to the south side. That was my first experience from the south side, and I was saying 5'3 Carpenter, always shout out to you, Wild Street Town. Uh, and we always want to shout out 59th of Here, sorry. But I moved to the South Side and Miss Rummel 53rd and Carpenter. And um, when I tell you those years were filled with more ups and downs and joys and pains and so much, man. Let's just say, as a child, no child should have to face some of the hardships that I actually have to face. But let's be honest, it was not because my mom and my dad were bad people and like that. No. My uh hardships were faced because people were bad. Just know that. People were bad. It had nothing to do with my family, it has to do with people being horrible. Uh, my first hardship I'd have ever faced in my life, I got kidnapped. See, this is a story I don't tell very often, and I don't talk about it. But yeah, I was kidnapped. Your boy was damn sure kidnapped. I was kidnapped. I was held in the basement for hours on end. I had got tied up for a little while, and then he untied me like an idiot because I was a smart young boy, so I knew that once this bastard did one move, I was gonna make my break in, which I did, and um got back home. Um, my brothers and then found out what happened to me. I tell you, I I found out why so many people hated to see the sight of my older brothers and my cousins when we lived on 53rd, because they were tough guys and they were real rough. And the way they terrorized my torture for the rest of the period that we lived over there, I just know that uh I just uh would have hate to be anybody that were in competition or in in indifferences with Gordon Ray, Densman, and Andre. Uh they were uh what I considered to be uh the ultimate big brothers and cousins coming up. And yeah, they terrorized Lulu Johnny, yeah, Johnny. Johnny, yeah, Johnny. I think his last name is Washington, Johnny, Johnny Walker, Johnny something. Um, but um they terrorized that man for a long time. Let's just say that for a long time. And eventually, you know, uh, life for me, it went on. You know what I'm saying? It went on. You know, it did again, no fault of my family's bad issues, bad things happened. I got burned from head to toe with hot water. That was not my mama's and my daddy's or nobody's fault either. It was my fault that time. Uh I actually came down from outside on a nice cold day in November and uh decided that me and my cousin decided we were going to open the oven and sit on the stove while all of the stuff was cooking on top of my stove. And when we sat on this stove, it tilted over and burned the hell out of me. You know what I'm saying? So uh I still have marks on my back and certain parts of my body that remind me that I had skin graphs and went through that turmoil, but it happened. It happened, you have to do it. Something that happened, you know. Um you have to grow up, you have to do it, and you have to understand that you keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on going. You know, and then after that, we ended up getting burned out. So I experienced a horrible attack being burned, and then getting burned out, and guess what? I experienced all these things before I was nine years old. Before I was eight, to be exact.
SPEAKER_05:We can survive anything. If y'all don't figure nothing else out in this house, you won't figure out we can survive anything.
SPEAKER_06:All we gotta do is believe and keep on living. And we will get through anything.
SPEAKER_07:But after we check out on Val, Val decided that you're gonna move on the West Side of Chicago now. But never heard of West Side on kids. The West Side. Uh, but Val moved us on the West Side. It was the first time that Val had actually had her kids because it was usually otherwise grandmother, somebody around. But this is the first time Val had us on our own. And we moved to the West Side. And uh I'll never forget there was a brother, uh great brother. His name's Tommy. Tommy was a great brother. He was he was our stepdad. And um Val and Tommy lived together for a while. But the one thing that I loved about Tommy, and why I spoke Tommy so much and why I appreciated him so much, is yet again, another human being that seen me. He didn't judge me, he didn't care anything about me, he seen a kid, a young boy who wanted, who's smart was good. Everybody tells me how when I was so smart, and I thank God for that. But he seen me as a human being, and all he wanted to do was pour love on me and under and make me understand and let me see that a strong black man and what a strong black man was. You know, and that is some of the pleasures of growing up. On the left side was the fact that I had a stepdad like Tommy. And, you know, he was he was he was a good person to have been around to teach me some things that were in that catch up to me in this part of my life. In this part of my life right now. But he was too good for Val like that because Val didn't like him. Val got rid of him a couple of years, and uh after she got rid of him, she got with R for the AAA triple A. He was an alcoholic, he was abusive, and he always was angry. He stayed angry, and every time he got mad, he used Val as a punch bag. He used her as a punching bag, like like like Mike Tyson Power used his punching bag every day. That's how that's how awful was. And after a while, there's a son and you see this a couple of years, and you you a little boy, but enough is enough. Y'all, there comes a time when enough is enough. You can only take so much. So Arthur loved his beer. Gotta tell y'all this story because this is how this is how this is how life changed for me. Arthur loved his beer. Just as much as he loved losing battle. So on Thursdays, generally Arthur will go and buy 640 ounce. And then he's gonna look on Friday, come home, start his drinking fast, and then who knows what happens here. So this particular week, he put his beers in the freezer, and I took to liking them. And what I mean by liking them is I put lighter fluid in each one of them. I put enough lighter fluid in each one that I would hope that by the time he got down to the last one, he'd fall out and probably die. That was the end goal. I won't lie. I won't lie. Um, so my goal was to do him some real, some real harm. He did all right. I'm tired of him walking on by. And uh Arthur came home usually like he usually do it on Friday. You know, he got his little Taycheck and he ready to do what he did. And he went to guzzling them beers down. Man, by the time he got through about the third one, I think he takes one. I don't think he takes it. I didn't know he takes it. Because all I heard coming out of that room was, I'm gonna kill that little fabb. Excuse my friends, but that's what he said. So dude comes running out of the room. When he comes running out of the room, me and my brother, who was ready. I mean, this is what we prepared for. So dude comes running out of the room, when he comes running out of the room, I probably do that. Oh, swoop the swoop. When you do the swoop the swoop, I come down with foot out. The very bottle you drank is the very bottle that cobbered you. You know what I'm saying? You hit on the collar at the start of the time. So let's try to turn and show you what we want to do.
SPEAKER_05:We whooped the locker. Oh, yeah, we whooped the locker, we whooped the locker good.
SPEAKER_07:But after that whooping, we were no longer allowed to stay with God. Uh we had we had to go. Uh I got sent away to the paternal grandma there. And then Gordon ended up going to stay with his soon-to-be baby's mother, uh, who is still one of the loves of my life today.
SPEAKER_06:My my mom, one of my besties, Stephanie, and that baby is everything to me, is Jasmine. She knows it, she's everything to me.
SPEAKER_07:Um but um going to live with my paternal grandmother, it started off wonderful.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely freaking wonderful. All the jams was being dropped again. Man, those suddenly dunns was happening again. My Uncle Mike lived on the third floor.
SPEAKER_07:Every single weekend, all you heard was spinning records. That's all you heard was spinning records. And then on the second floor, it was my auntie uh Sharon and Uncle Stuffy, which was vice president. She should say Uncle Stuffy and Auntie Sharon, because those that he was actually family member. But um, they were married. So uh Uncle Stuffy and Auntie Sharon lived on the second floor. And Auntie Sharon always was inventing something to the recipe because she loved her books. And she'd be just inventing this food, and it was you could just smell it perniating all up and down the hallway. So it was always cool. Go to the third floor, get your groove on, go to the second floor, get you something to eat, go to the first floor and eat again. Because grandma didn't spoke. She always poked, you know what I'm saying? And on the first floor, it was me, grandma, my two cousins, uh, Boo, and Antoine, and Dean, um. My cool uncle, my youngest uncle, my uncle Chris. And my uncle Lou brother, he would come in. He looked just like my dad, too. They look totally opposite, but they looked a lot alike. But he came in and out, come in and out, come in and out. You know, hey, what's up, baby? I see you. And um then there was uh the other brother, they uh the other younger brother. And they all uh we all stayed in that building, you know what I'm saying? And I would see, you know, the the that building robbed. It brought a bunch of joy. It brought a bunch of happiness, but it also brought a bunch of pain and a bunch of fun. You know, um all I can say is that uh I got a I got a dose of every one of those emotions during those years of living under my grandmother's roof. And the biggest lesson I learned during those most, those, those were probably some of the most informative years as my younger age, before I became a real high schooler and all that stuff. Um I can tell you this much. I learned back then that there was a plan for my life. I didn't know how it was gonna work out. I didn't know how it was gonna work out. I know for a fact God like literally had a plan for me, but I didn't know how it was gonna work out. Um so what I let me see. How do I say this? Because I want to go on, I wanna, I wanna, I'll just leave it there. God definitely had a plan for my life. I know for a fact he did, through everything that I seen, heard, went through, felt. And uh all I have to do is keep on living. That's not all I have to do. I just have to keep on living. So let me uh explain why I care so much about politics and community and bridging the gaps. This this is gonna help you out. I want to start with community. I want to start with community. Because uh during those early years that we just spoke about, I I was coming out of Joyce Kilmer. I was I was still in Joyce Kilmer when it started, but I just started to go to high school at Lincoln Park High School. Uh Lincoln Park for everybody that watches this play. It's in Chicago. It's a really awesome high school in Chicago uh on the north side. And uh Lincoln Park, I was part of everything. I was a grade H student, dude. I got good grades, I was part of RLTC, I was a dance major, drama major, and a singer uh in chorus. I I was I was a threat in that school, you know what I'm saying? Uh but it wasn't just being a threat in the school, it was the community in the school that saved me. Because even though I was damage student, came to school every day as fly as I could, which was passing because I never was short of folks wanting to hang out around me and all that stuff. So I had good friends, I had good confidence, I was I was that guy, you know what I'm saying? Um but it was that community within that school that truly saved my life during those times. Because I'm not gonna lie to y'all, during that time I wanted to off myself. And it's not no pretend off. I actually tried it one time, and the Lord made me throw up because I simply threw up. You know, but I actually tried to kill myself before. But God put two people in that community that not that would not only just save me, they will give me a life that I honestly would never ever have gotten had they not came into my life for real. You know, um yeah, the boy wanted to die. He did, he wanted to die. Um and we won't even go into what I want to die. For those that are close to me and really know me, some of y'all already know. You know, but what have to happen? You got to live and learn to move on and forgive, but don't ever forget. I never forget things and people who really, really, really try to harm me.
SPEAKER_05:But I forgive them because what I'm really doing is helping me. But I never forget them. Never forget anything that they've done to me.
SPEAKER_07:You know what I'm saying? So, while this turmoil is happening in my life, a brother comes to me. I don't know what this brother sing to me, but he sings something to me.
SPEAKER_08:And he said, Hey, you ever thought about touring?
SPEAKER_07:I was like, No, not really. They say, You're a good dancer, man. You should really consider going on a tour or something, and I gotta open it right now. If you can go to Canada, that can be your audition. Really? Man, come holler at my people and let them know that and see if we can't make this happen. They came hollering at my people and made it happen. To this day, I never told Larry Gerard Sims, as y'all probably know him as the maintainer. He uses people like Gabrielle Young and uh what's that? The African girl who is the split space was absolutely good, and she played X-D2. Uh he used the spice girls, he used to all these different people as muses, because he's just that good at doing hair. He just does this freaking phenomenal. Uh but as a kid, he was one of the first famous gossips into my life. This dude gave me a trial to be something that I had never done before. To see a world and whole new film. I'd never done it before. And not only did he give me that opportunity, he helped me succeed at it by making sure I got other opportunities in the next thing I'm looking for record labels and all this stuff until this day.
SPEAKER_05:That is why my life is so rugged spilling music, and I'm able to make money and do things that make sense. And I and I still commit and I thank Larry. I thank Rara. I thank him immensely for what he did for me because he never knew what I was going through. But that brother saved me.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. You know, you go on these tours and you always gotta go back home. Don't stop. You know, it's not forever and a day, you know what I'm saying? So you go on these tours and you you tour with Cashmere and Dobbs, and you percolating all across the world, and then you you finally get or do or die, and you you catalact touring and creating choreography and touring with these guys, and then you do the record label. You know, you have all the hottest number one dance songs of the 90s, just up and down the blow. You know what I'm saying? But guess what? You got to bring your tail home at some point and stay there for a little while. And I'm here to tell you, God had a plan for that too. Because he didn't send me back to just send me back to turmoil and pain and hurt that almost killed you, boy. What he did was he sent another human being to my life to say, hey, we're gonna make some changes because you deserve better, because I've got a plan for you. Remember the word community, we talk about community, y'all. This is my Lincoln Park community. These are the people who saved me, who helped me. This is what I mean by reach one, teach one. I came back from off the second tour only to know that I had to go back home. But by then I had started spending the night in my best friend's house. And then nights became weeks, and weeks became months, and then it was just like I ain't never going back. So one day, me and Mom sitting there chilling, she like, you never gonna go back home. And I kind of gave her that look, and when you get that look, the cat, a kid gives a look to an adult, they understand exactly what that look means. And I think I gave a look to her that made her go, okay, okay. And you know what she said? She said, You home already. Look at your stuff, everything tomorrow. And that's what she did. That Sunday she went to my grandmother's, she sat down with my grandmother, she talked to my grandmother. My grandma can't spread, I ain't like that. But uh she she made it so that the transition was easy. And she took me out of that home. It took me to another place in life. Now, the good thing about living with Leah and Mama, and I can tell y'all them best friends, Eric Sean Taylor, if y'all went to high school with us. Y'all know that's my brother. Yeah, I know how I feel about that guy right there. You know, that's my big brother, you know, and then it's Chris. You know, I'm a little, I call him my little big brother. You know, because he's so much bigger than me, but he's so much younger than me. Not so much, he's just a few years younger than me, but he's younger than me. Um, so uh I had the opportunity to not only live in the house, but now, mind you, don't forget I didn't now see the world a little bit. I've been around. So now what God just got planned for me is he got some setup for me. He's like, okay, now you've been around, now we're gonna put that to use. Now we're gonna show you what another part of the world looks like. Here we go. Community. My best friend brought me into his home where there was his mom, who was Mongolian and Korean, his brother and him who were mixed race, black, Mongolian, and Korean. And then there was Mr. Harris who called him. Mr. Harris would was Ma's boyfriend. And now that kind of goes into bridging the gap. Because uh Mr. Harris was the vice president of the coordinated cardboard box company. Mr. Harris was a very, very well-educated and well-off white man. Mr. Harris showed me a world that I had seen yet. Because, see, you gotta understand, for this, I have really only been privy to well, the black side of life considered. You know what I'm saying? But here it was now, Mr. Harris showed me that if you talk with a little bit more addiction and you you present yourself in a in a better way that's not so aggressive, you'll get more. People will ease up and try to understand you. And even if they don't understand you or don't want to understand, you feel at least respect. You know? So, in knowing, you know, getting at those gyms from Mr. Harris, because Mr. Harris was so so cool with it. I never forget I was a junior in high school by this time. This thing had dictated my entire junior high, junior high school thesis to me, page for page, 15 pages, single space, no double space, 15 pages small. Wait, illustrations. Dictated the whole thing to me on coordinated cardboard boxes, and I got an A. And I still remember that report to today. But it was the bridge in the gaps that he gave me and teaching me the things that the world, see, and you gotta remember this is the 90s now, y'all. This is the 90s. So we ain't too far from the 80s and the 70s, and let's not forget, things are very segregated still in those times. So here I am getting gems dropped to me by a white man who got all the money, all of the money. And not only is he dropping gyms, I mean he's making sure that not only do I look the part, I feel the part. And mom, dude, you can tell me how she wasn't. Nothing. Because that lady rocked with me 100% all the way through, thick and thin, through and through. You know what I'm saying? So what I did was I took those lessons.
SPEAKER_03:And I went and took them back to my cousins. My brothers and my sisters.
SPEAKER_07:See, I didn't just take those lessons and go run with them and keep it all to myself and keep the knowledge just to me.
SPEAKER_05:I wouldn't tell other folks and become used to as well. And that's how I bridge that gap. That's how I work that out. And that's what we gotta do as a people.
SPEAKER_07:You gotta start using these gaps, y'all. You gotta start seeing all of us as a community. Because thank it. The world we're facing right now. I'm sorry to tell y'all, we don't see y'all as black, white, brown, and all that. It seems just rich and poor, most of it. Middle class don't count. We don't count no more. There is no middle class as far as you're concerned.
SPEAKER_04:We gotta either be rich or poor. And that's not where it's at.
SPEAKER_07:Stop being confined to the thoughts that something you learn first supersedes anything you learn later. Stop doing that.
SPEAKER_04:Because that's not gonna get us nowhere.
SPEAKER_07:Man, a lovely truth of desire will not bring us pain and misunderstanding. It will truly, truly bring us joy and true steps towards the life that we can see our future generations live in.
SPEAKER_04:And that's what the house the bander book is really about.
SPEAKER_07:It's about the community that we want to build. It's about reason the gap. Reach one, teach one. Share the damn secret. It's about all that. But what really empowered me to do this? To actually pick up the pieces and get brave enough and say, damn, I'm actually gonna sit down and force and talk like this.
SPEAKER_04:Man, it's politics. Let's be real.
SPEAKER_07:Let's just be real. Family, the political arena right now is on fire. It's literally on fire. It's got it's got us looking at folks, folks we didn't love for years. Now we hardly even speak to. Got us looking at family members we just based on who you voted for and why you voted for. See the things that were written for us in America back in the day and all that, that was a time when black folks weren't even considered as entire human beings. Women had no freaking, no judgment, no, no, no, no, no, uh, no, no opinions whatsoever. Children had no rights at all. No rights at all.
SPEAKER_04:Well, family, let me tell you, the times have changed.
SPEAKER_00:They changed.
SPEAKER_07:You know, and now that we know that those writers do still stand, the least we can do is come together and figure out how they want to work today. How they gonna work for us today.
SPEAKER_08:Because we are not the same America of yesterday, and we have got to understand that the only way we begin that change and make powers, make the powers that be, see here, and understand our flights.
SPEAKER_05:Is if we do it together as one.
SPEAKER_07:You know, some things are I'm really freaking tired of hearing. I'm not lying to you, I'm so tired of hearing these damn things. The system was set up for us to lose. I'm y'all tired of hearing that. My vote don't make no difference anyway. I bet you you you think different about that right now. And if you don't, you a fool. If you don't, you're a fool. Because your vote does make a difference. It makes a huge difference. And then uh uh oh, my favorite one, my favorite one. They all the same anyway, Democrats, Republicans, they all the same anyway. That's that's that's that's that's y'all all y'all excuses, man. Man, do you think that if Harriet Tumlin thought, oh, the system is rigged for me to fail? The system is rigged for me to fail.
SPEAKER_08:Oh, they all the same anyway, don't make no difference, you know. You think we'd be afraid of people right now?
SPEAKER_04:You think she'd accomplish the things that she accomplished? You think so? And if that woman wasn't capable of accomplishing the great black migration underground, don't look at the technology living with today.
SPEAKER_05:Look at the things that we could do today.
SPEAKER_07:Look at the things that we could do today that could help the next generation and the next generation. But we're too busy fighting one another, trying to make excuses. And it's just it's it's it's timeout, it's dead ass. It's dead ass. It's timeout for it, man. Let's start don't make us know. It just is dead, and it's time for us to figure out a better way of doing things. And the better way of doing things is actually to do it together, y'all. It's time for us to really talk that talk and walk that walk. And the first thing we need to do is start having those hard conversations. Because for the first time in my life, I've said out loud that I was brutally assaulted, I was burned from head to toe, and then I was assaulted again and had to be saved. That's the first time in my life I've ever spoke these things in a in such a vast form. It's time to have those hard conversations. How many people have actually sat across from across from MAGA and asked them the real questions? What's your end game?
SPEAKER_04:What you really think is gonna happen if you keep this up. Because the revolt that they want ain't what's gonna happen. So what do we do? What do we do? Because matter is real, it's real as the day is long, but we real too. Uh black and brown folks are real as the day is long. We've done a lot for this country.
SPEAKER_08:We all got our thoughts, but it's time we finally get some real answers and have some real conversations, not only to help us just gather some understanding, but to help us build that bridge so we can serve all of us, man.
SPEAKER_07:I may never agree with everything you say, and you may never agree with everything I say, but that bridge is there.
SPEAKER_05:That bridge is definitely there, and it is time that we understand that silence and disinformation and fear mongering is driving us to hell and the and the and the gasoline freaking uh uh uh uh uh car.
SPEAKER_07:It's just it's it's killing us. Look at the Epstein foolishness.
SPEAKER_05:You got thousands of girls who are being raped in a sex trafficking wing by all these powerful men, and they all were not white. That's not beautiful. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_08:You got all these powerful folks.
SPEAKER_05:But they kept silent, they didn't say anything. And now we got a parade of mess. Of mess.
SPEAKER_06:We can be better than this. We are better than this and knowing that we better than this is simple.
SPEAKER_05:It's simple. It's time for us to stop playing angry, gentlemen. It's time for us to stop playing gangs with each other and get down with the give down.
SPEAKER_07:The vision that I have for the house that band to go is simply a place where the conversations lead to a better place for each of us to live in this lifetime and the next lifetime, and the next lifetime. Well, we can have the ability to seek out and understand where assistance can be provided to those that need it, and then what time can be spent wisely on topics that we all gonna bring to the table.
SPEAKER_08:And we got boundaries now here, you know, nothing comes without a price.
SPEAKER_07:You know what I'm saying? So nothing's free. But we're not gonna come in here and try to shove things down each other's throats and and play angry and all of these things towards one another. What we're gonna do, and you're gonna work hard to try to work together. So, what you're gonna find in this house is you're gonna cover things like the Supreme Court, we'll cover things about Congress, we're gonna talk about voting rights, we're gonna talk about community issues a lot.
unknown:A lot.
SPEAKER_07:We'll discuss a lot of different topics. But one of the biggest, a big topic that we will discuss, I'm gonna let y'all know this up front and for real. Because not only do I see it, I live this thing. We're gonna discuss this whole freaking big gay stigma. You know what I'm saying? What the hell? What I eat don't make you crap. All right? We're gonna come to some realizations of how how somebody else living is affecting you. You need to come to some real, real realizations so we can understand and stop attacking the folks that don't need to be attacked. And focus on the big picture. We all trying to live. We all trying to wake up, live, and die. That's all you're trying to do. Wake up, live, and die. That's it. So, in the practice of waking up and living, don't worry about dying, just worry about waking up and living. And that should not include you worrying about everybody else other than you. Whatever goes wrong with you.
SPEAKER_08:If it ain't positive, then what is that? If it ain't positive, what is that?
SPEAKER_07:Because this house, dude, if you love American, you like a brown, Indian, white, indifferent, I don't care. This is for you. This is for you. This hour every Sunday is for you. We're gonna rock this platform for you every Sunday. So, simply put, like I said earlier, man. The desires of this house is to have full transparency and just to be real, just to find a better way to do things. Find a common ground. Love on one another when we can, support each other as we can. Uh, I could not go live on the House of Vanderbilt's IG, and I couldn't do anything on YouTube yet because it requires you to have so many friends on those platforms and followers uh and subscribers. So all I'm really asking is uh my personal page, and this that freezing a lot over here, but I see that the House of Vandables page on Facebook stay live, I love it. I see that my personal IG page stays live, I love it. And then I'm recording this for the actual podcast. Uh but my thing is that if you all would follow the House that Vanderbilt, B-U-I-L-T on all platforms. Uh, if you would follow me on all platforms, if you would, you know, inbox me, talk to me, subscribe to my YouTube channel, the House the Vanderbilt. Man, uh next week, we're gonna be talking about the Supreme Court and what it is to you. Um, my grandfather was born in 1892. I could trace a little bit further than that, but I just want to go from 1892 to present day on what the Supreme Court has made rulers on and how has it affected us as a keeper? The poor people, the black men, the black women, the gays, everybody. And man, this is you too. Because a lot of y'all come in the first tier, the poor people. Stop playing. Stop playing. So we're gonna talk about the Supreme Court and the rulings that they have made since 1892 to present day, and how they have affected us as people. But in the meantime, please, please, please, please follow the House to Vanderbilt on all streaming platforms. Uh follow the Facebook page, the House Devander Dash Build. Follow the IG page, the House to Vanderbilt, the Dr. Dash. Uh, subscribe to the YouTube page, the House to Vanderbilt. And uh follow me and listen to me on the podcast when we get to podcast that when we're streaming that we're talking. Uh, I'm gonna pop up there. But the doors of the house that open, I want to say thank y'all for this first run. Uh oh, one last thing. I know that probably cost some people's attention. So this wall behind me with all these blank uh in my tens, uh, this is gonna be the what the F Are You Doing Wall. And behind those, I will reveal a picture starting next week in ads, what the F are we doing? WTF Are We Doing Wall. Here's here's a little trip, here's a little good beginning. If you can guess what that picture who's in this first picture and why I have them up here, I'll give you$25 Cash App. I'll cash out to be$25. If you can guess who's behind this picture and why I have them hanging on the what WTF Are We Doing Wall. Catch the words, WTF are we doing wall. So if you can guess who is behind this, this black velvet piece of cloth, who's in that picture frame, and why I put them up there for the first WTF Are We Doing moment, I'll catch out in 25 hours with no problem. Man, it has been a great first hour. I appreciate y'all. I love y'all.
SPEAKER_03:Man, the doors of the house are open.
SPEAKER_07:Peace. And that's a wrap. We will end this live. Thank you so much, baby doll. I see you. I love you. I think you, son. I've seen you so much over here. I really appreciate you. Oh, wow. This video is kind of freezing.
SPEAKER_03:So we're gonna uh let's end that one. Uh let's go ahead and start this one. We gotta save that. And let's see, stop that live, stop that one, and then we're gonna stop this one.
unknown:Alright.