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Oct 4, 2007 | 9:01 PM PST
Tags: Gloria Steinem , Talk It Out with Jodi Leib , March for Women's Lives , Reproductive Health , Choice , Spirituality , Washington , D.C. , Jane Roe , Roe v. Wade
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
April 25, 2004
March for Women's Lives, Washington D.C.
Jodi: It is so amazing to be in your presence. You are such an enlightening spirit. How do you stay so enlightened?
Gloria: I listen...to other women.
Jodi: That's great! There's a lot of talk about how Jane Roe regrets her decision and how she's an activist against abortion...how does that make you feel? How is it working against women's rights? What does that mean to us? Does it matter?
Gloria: It doesn't have an impact, because she deserved the right to make the decision at the time, and she deserved the right to change her mind. More than 40% of all women will have had or need an abortion at some time in their lives. Each individual is important.
Jodi: I am moving towards spirituality, because I think the nature of religion is something that applies to all people, not just Republicans. Many people are religious, and I don't think that the pro-choice movement really even focuses on that. I mean, it does a little bit, but are you spiritual? Is there spirituality in your life?
Gloria: Very much, but not religion.
Jodi: Right.
Gloria: But, that's personal. And actually, most religions are pro-choice. The Catholic Church approved of abortion until the 1840s, and they changed their minds because of population issues, not because of moral issues.
Jodi: In getting in touch with ourselves, what is the power of making our own choices and living by our own standards? How does that translate to being a human being?
Gloria: Could you be a little more specific?
Jodi: Choice is a gift we've been given, to have the freedom to be human beings. Do you agree with that? Choice is such a huge subject matter. What is the power of choice? What does it actually mean?
Gloria: It allows you to be your unique self. Inside each person, there seems to be some voice that is both unique to that person, and universal as a human voice. It allows that voice to be heard.
Jodi: Unity is one voice!
Gloria: No, not unity is one voice, but unity is a chorus of individual voices.
Jodi: I love that! Thank you so much for being a guest on Talk It Out.
Gloria: Okay. Thank you.
Jodi: It is an honor to be in your presence, Ms. Steinem.
Please visit Ms. Magazine, Feminist Majority Foundation and www.choiceusa.org to see the legacy Ms. Steinem has built for women's rghts and people around the world.
Jodi Leib's Talk It Out Interview with Gloria Steinem was taped on April 25, 2004. Talk It Out (c) Jodi Leib, 2004. Reprint by Permission.
Jun 20, 2007 | 5:15 PM PST
Tags: Tyrese , R & B music , Watts , children , Hip Hop , financial advise , philanthropy , Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
Interview Produced by Bryan Howard
Special Thanks to: J. Knox and Eve Greene and Operation Hope
Taped in October 2003
Photo: Tyrese and the children of Grace Street Elementary, Watts, CA
Jodi: I'm here at the Grace Street Elementary School in Watts, CA to talk it out with Tyrese as he does some charity work with the kids at the school. It's beautiful what you're doing! Can you tell me about your project here?
Tyrese: The concept, the theme is Banking On Our Future. We're banking on the kids future. We're trying to instill in the kids things that possibly what their parents are not instilling in them, which is how to maintain your money and how to make use of your money in the best manner possible. These are the future CEOs of the country in every world. I'm the CEO of three different companies myself. The experience of meeting the kids was big for me, but the experience of meeting the teachers was even bigger for me because I was able to tell them, "You were once small. You were once a kid with a short attention span, who didn't focus, just hyper trying to flirt and do all of the wrong things in school, and you were caught up in all of the wrong things." I just recognized the tolerance and the patience that a lot of teachers have and I just wanted to encourage them and recharge their batteries to go out and keep on being the best teachers that they know how to be towards kids. Because just like me, this is the elementary school I went to, and my teacher didn't even remember me, which is fine, because she deals with a lot of kids, but it never amazes me how teachers...you just never know who you're teaching. You know what I mean? You never know who the future of who your students are going to be. There's going to be two things that can happen. They're going to come back and they're going to appreciate you for being the teacher who kept them after school trying to actually go out of your way to mentor them and show them just life skills, or they'll come back and say, "I hate you, because you made my elementary experience the worst experience ever." So, I just wanted to recharge the batteries of the teachers and just encourage them to have more patience and a higher tolerance for the hyper and big energy that the kids are giving them, and just realize that what they're here to do is much bigger than themselves. They're doing God's work. Show one, teach one.
Jodi: How did you come to decide this is what you wanted to do with your time?
Tyrese: I didn't really come to it myself. It was a seed that God planted in me. To be honest, although this is a very luxurious truck we're in with a bunch of suede around, I won't be remembered for this truck. I just won't. When it's all said and done, when they stop calling Tyrese's name, on whatever level, I want them to remember that while I had it, I made a difference in other people's lives other than my own. Because I'm comfortable, I love my life, why not try and make a difference in someone else's life? When I was in elementary, if a star like myself would have came to the school, it would have touched my life forever. It would be something I would never, ever, ever forget. You know? The first celebrity I ever met was Ton Loc. It changed my life. Wow! Ton Loc was in Watts. As much as these teachers can go in front of the class and say, "Tyrese went to this school!" They're not going to believe the teachers until Tyrese actually comes to the school. So, I'm here. I know the effect that I have on people. I've been to plenty of schools, and I know how much of a difference I can make, and why not want to do something like that with your life?
Jodi: That's so beautiful! If you can share your knowledge with the rock-n-roll and the hip-hop and the music community, what would be some words of wisdom you can offer adults out there also struggling to make it, starving young artists, people who don't maybe know their financing ABCs as well.
Tyrese: The best advise I can give to anybody who is looking to do anything with their life is make sure you surround yourself with people who do what you're trying to do. The day that you decide you don't want to do it anymore, you'll always be encouraged because somebody is on your level. They're on the same page as you. It's one thing to struggle alone, it's another thing to have a partner and struggle, because you're able to help each other and encourage each other to keep it going, because there's a much bigger picture out there and you just need to stay together and work hard at it. Lawyers shouldn't hang out with doctors. Doctors should hang out with singers, because they're in two different zones. They've got to hang around people that when they go to lunch they can let each other in on stories and help them out and give them short cuts. Musicians should hang out with musicians.
Jodi: I do and that's why I'm an artist and I interview other artists. We share the same philosophies. Like you, I am attracted to people who are also trying to benefit the world. That's why I Talk It Out with musicians so that you can share with the people what you're up to here. It's a way to view all these different amazing artists doing all these really cool things in the world and to keep that communication open with the public.
Tyrese: Right.
Jodi: It's important what artists do. We're proving that. It's great and I thank you for it. Last question, was there a transition in your life that you made that turned you from what you called a "bad kid", someone who was really hyper to walking in the face of God?
Tyrese: That turnaround actually came from people always telling me what I can't have and what I'm not going to be. So as negative as that may seem, I think most people are inspired by what people tell them they can't have, because they want to prove them wrong. And that was me. I proved a whole lot of people wrong. I'm Tyrese. I'm a household name and it didn't come overnight. Most people never seen me getting here. Through God's seed that he passed on to me, I've been able to go after just that, it's something I never seen, I never asked for.
Jodi: I think what's great is that people saw you on MTV, they saw your face first. They came to know you visually and got your spirit and then they came to know you as a mature musician and artist. That's so cool. Thanks a lot for Talking It Out. It was a pleasure meeting you.
Tyrese: Thank you.
Back to www.jodileib.com
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib's Tyrese Interview was taped in October 2003. Talk It Out (c) Jodi Leib, 2003. Reprint by Permission.
Jun 20, 2007 | 4:50 PM PST
Tags: Ladell McLin , Talk It Out with Jodi Leib , guitar , rhythm & blues , jazz , New York City , Tribeca , Jimi Hendrix
Talk It Out with Jodi Leib
featuring Ladell McLin
August 30, 2005
Tribeca, NYC
Jodi: This is really exciting. I’m talking it out with rock star, mad guitarist, brilliant, genius, rhythm and blues/ electric guitarist Ladell McLin. This is Ladell McLin, talkin it out! How would you describe your guitar work?
Ladell: I would describe it as still not knowing what I’m doing, still learning. Just letting the music play itself.
Jodi: If you’re still learning, what does it mean to be an expert then?
Ladell: That’s what it means to be an expert – still learning. You never stop learning, and an expert then is – no set rules to the music. Letting the music breathe. It’s like making a baby. You come together and make love with the music. The music produces a child. The child is always going to have its own way of living life, the way it wants to and the way it was meant to come and live its life. That’s the same as the music that you create. It’s going to come out in its own way, it’s going to have its own identity.
Jodi: What do you think about the baby boom that’s going on in the world? It’s almost like there’s a revolution of baby boomers, what do you think?
Ladell: Well, a revolution - we need a revolution. We need a revolution to last about a hundred years to correct what’s gone on the last four years or five years. So it’s going to take a hundred years to clean that up. A revolution for the planet, this time, and humanity is really going to have to find a way to live one with the planet. And make everything equal. All humans are equal no matter what color – black, white, orange, even if a green person, a purple person come down from out of the sky, we’re going to have to treat them equally and not be afraid of them, because of who they are and what they are. You know? We all on the same thing. We’re all living on this planet as one. So, what’s gone on the past four years, there’s going to have to be a revolution. The revolution is not necessarily that we’re gonna win or lose, or anything like that. It’s just that we need a revolution.
Jodi: We need a change, is that what you’re saying?
Ladell: A revolution brings many changes. That’s why it takes so long, man. Revolution – I think we stopped our 60s revolution and everyone wanted to disco and start a party and shakin’ their booties, instead of shaking their fists. All the drugs and stuff started to get more high society class type drugs, and then the 80s came in. That was a small revolution that went on during the 80s, but, and then there was another revolution that went on with the 90s, but the 2000s came up and everybody really forgot about the revolution. Everybody got into the bling bling, and these big motor cars started coming – the same ones they use in the wars. Now they’re charging so much money in gas for us to use over here. People ought to look at that. Some innocent kid is dying over there for you to drive this and afford this to drive around, and that’s not right. Mother Earth is like saying, “hey, that’s not right!” And, she’s doing her thing, and she’s going to come up and slap us one day because we’ve been stupid. She’s gonna do that. She’s the mother of us. The universe is the father. Either one of them is going to come down and chastise us. But, I just think that we need to get out of the ways of living how we think we’re supposed to live. We just need really need love to live by, and love one another. Some people make too much money, they don’t know how to love no more.
Jodi: Why? What is it about money that confuses us?
Ladell: It’s the money. The money brings you like, “I have this and you don’t.” They don’t have anything, really. That money really doesn’t mean anything in the real world reality. You know? An animal is the only one that can’t spend money, right? On the planet, animals and insects? Look at them, they’re beautiful. They’re in harmony with the Earth. We have money and we fall out of harmony and with the universe.
Jodi: I believe that is so true, however money is a spiritual journey if we can get to that level of consciousness. So when we talk about all people are created equal, does that include terrorists?
Ladell: Terrorists. I think we all could be terrorists at times. The people with money are terrorists, right? The ones who buy these big cars that drive over here are just as terrorist as the ones over there. The people who are killing rainforests and polluting the planet. The ones who have these big houses and take up so much land; they’re the terrorists. They’re terrorizing our kids everyday by brainwashing them. So, they’re just as much a terrorist as the ones doing the bombing. It’s like, “Don’t talk about my back yard, look at your back yard, dude.” That’s what I get from it, you know?
Jodi: So, when we pollute the population with brainwashing and propaganda, is it the same as killing innocent civilians?
Ladell: Yeah, you’re killing the soul! Once you take away the soul, you don’t have anything. You just have people that are taking up space now. They’ve got to find their souls back and become a part of what’s going on.
Jodi: I hear you, man. Who’s your greatest influence in the world?
Ladell: Me.
Jodi: Alright. Which musician do you identify with the most?
Ladell: People probably want to say Hendrix. I identify with him, I know his music and I know what he was fighting for, but I identify a lot with the musicians of the day. The musicians that I get to meet, and the ones like a friend of mine Michael Paris. He’s a great musician. Another one – James Blood Ulmer, Vernon Reid. I kind of identify with them because I am in contact with them. I know them. I identify with politicians – the newly elected Illinois senator, Obama. He’s very identifiable. I identify with Hillary, and still the ex-president Clinton. They’ve got compassion for the human race. Even though all politicians fuck up, they never do anything right, but still these people have got compassion and they know what’s the real deal.
Jodi: How do you feel about saying that you are the next Jimi Hendrix, or Jimi Hendrix, Chapter 2? Or you are Jimi Hendrix. What does that mean to you?
Ladell: Oh, that’s hard to live up to. The guy did so much. Just so little time, you know? He had the hippie population. They was fightin’. They was fightin to die, for us to continue. If he wasn’t there, if King wasn’t there, Lennon and the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, if he wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have this. They died for us. They became Christ. If you want to identify me, I would love to be the Christ part of them. You know? They went to their Christ part, and that’s the highest that you can reach on the planet. It’s beautiful. I identify with stuff like, people breaking us out of these type of prison. Prince was a good example of that with his 80 recordings. He did a lot of great work for the population. That’s what musicians are for. We’re for the population. We’re not for the corporation. We’re for the population.
Jodi: I like that. That’s fabulous. That’s beautiful. We are for the population. I agree with that a hundred percent. What’s your goal? What do you see yourself doing in the next year? What is your vision?
Ladell: I want to rule the world, man.
Jodi: Madonna said that and look at her!
Ladell: Yeah, well. I really want to take it over. The world is given to me. I’m free to do whatever I want. Sometimes, I suffer myself with things. But, I decided to become a human when I came down here. I didn’t decide to become an animal or a tree or something like that or a rose. I decided to become a human, so I’m going to have to live out all of these emotions. I’m going to have to evolve as a human. My goal is really to just drop the hugest love bomb ever that the planet has ever seen ~! Yeah! Just to wipe out all that stuff, man. It’s like, the devil has walked away, man. It’s begun to get so stupid. He like, “I can’t do nuttin’ no more!” You know? It’s outta my hands. He’s like, “Man, dude, these dudes are so stupid. They do stupid stuff. It wasn’t me that made them do it now. They are on their own doing stupid stuff. They way beyond.” You know? So, I don’t know.
Jodi: Do you think you’ve seen God?
Ladell: I think I am God. I’m a part of God. I have the same elements as the universe and the Earth. I’m a part, so I get to see him in you too. I think you are too.
Jodi: Thank you.
Ladell: I get to see him in everybody. Anybody that has love is a part of God. And I get to see God in them. I’m not saying that as an ego thing – “I am God.” Like, no one is am God. We are God. God is a we.
Jodi: No hierarchy.
Ladell: Yeah. If you see nature, can feel the rain, everything. The only thing is man – we’re sitting in the middle of Tribeca right now, these buildings…you see man. You see God in just little specs now. Little small trees now. We walk down the street, we’re still small like insects and stuff. But we have all this concrete going on around us.
Jodi: Is there a spiritual revolution going on right? Is that what the revolution is today – a spiritual one?
Ladell: As quiet as it’s kept, it is a huge spiritual revolution going on. It needs someone to exercise its rights to come out, and I hope I get the opportunity to help with that.
Jodi: Most definitely. Anything else you want to share? Take me to the next level, Ladell.
Ladell: Well, we are at the next level. We are at the next level.
Jodi Leib's Talk It Out Interview with Ladell McLin was taped on August 30, 2005. Talk It Out (c) Jodi Leib, 2005. Reprint by Permission.
Please visit Ladell's My Space site at www.myspace.com/ladellmclin .
Special thanks to David Birch
