"Lights, Classroom, Action: Eugene Williams' Inspiring Journey

Transcript

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Unlocking potential.

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One dream at a time.

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On the CJ Moneyway Show.

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Sit back and relax.

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You're listening to the Moneyway Show.

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A lot of these young cats are too young to remember when you used to have to go to the library and look through the card catalog.

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Yep.

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The decimal system and the microfiche, and you could spend a whole hour just trying to find books and sources.

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And now, everything's at your fingertips and you want to use it for foolishness sometimes, rather than the best things you could use it for.

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Welcome, my good people, welcome to the CJ Moneyway show and I'm with your host, the CJ Moneyway Show.

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And I'm with your host, cj Moneyway.

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Let's get it.

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What's up?

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My good people, this your boy, cj Moneyway.

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Welcome to the Moneyway Show Today.

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I got extinguished young gentleman on the podcast today, eugene Williams, educator, 27 years experience in his field, high school principal, booker, author, six published books, childhood actor that we want to get into.

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And I also want him to share, too, his experiences of being on stage with the likes of Stephanie Mills, ray Charles, bill Cosby, and the list goes on.

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Hey, welcome to the show, eugene man.

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How you doing.

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Thank you, cj, for having me.

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I appreciate this time and it's nice of you to call me a young man.

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I'm 24 years old.

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I ain't been young in a minute, but.

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I'll take that.

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I'll take that.

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Hey, I'm 50, man, so't we still young at heart, man, we still young at heart.

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I'm going to try to be.

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I'm going to try to be, so how you doing?

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today, man, I can't complain about a single thing.

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I'm here One of the things I often tell, what I told my young people that I worked with because I just recently retired.

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I recently retired high school, retired in June of 23.

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So I just left.

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Oh, congratulations.

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What I used to tell the kids, uh, all the time was you know you gotta be grateful because you woke up.

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You don't like going to school, but somebody out there wants to go to school, and can you know?

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You woke up this morning.

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Some people didn't wake up today.

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Amen, you brushed your teeth on your own.

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You tied your shoes on your own.

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There's a whole bunch of things we take for granted, that we get upset about, and a lot of people take that very seriously because they couldn't do them.

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So my thing has always been be grateful in the little things, because they add up and you know you're here.

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That in and of itself is a blessing.

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Yeah, you know, I do.

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I'm with you on that.

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It's the small things that matters.

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You know, as we say, he who is faithful over little things you know what I'm saying will acquire much, and so sometimes we don't, we're not appreciative of the things that we do have, like having a roof over our head, complaining about gas prices but we're able to go to work every day, you know, and things of that nature.

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So you know.

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So I agree with you on that.

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So what's been some things recently that you've had going on in your life that you expected, and some things that you probably didn't expect, that just came out of nowhere?

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Well, one of the things that I'm working on now, now that I'm not in a school building every day, I have a website, eugenewilliamsjrcom, and my goal is to go around the country and do a professional development for parents, for teachers, for students.

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Things about vocabulary development talking about that, the importance of how a strong vocabulary can increase your writing and your reading skills.

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Talking about ways that teachers can work better with certain types of students to have more achievement in the classroom.

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Trying to encourage parents and teachers of African-American male students, giving them strategies to create scholars in their own homes that can not only do well athletically because that's a big thing but also do well academically, and to be the type of, you know, smart, talented, good hearted, well-meaning men that we need in our community, along with all the other talents that they have, that we need in our community, along with all the other talents that they have.

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So those are the things that I'm expecting to happen and that are happening already, and I always have been doing that for years.

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So that's one thing.

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Things I didn't expect to happen.

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Let's see, In this recent journey that I have, I have met so many fantastic people, made new friends, made new acquaintances, like this one today.

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Yeah, okay.

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And so you know, that's the exciting thing that's happening Now that I'm in the second phase of life and second phase of career.

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The types of people that I'm meeting throughout the country on a day-to-day basis that have some of the same positive goals that I have for African-American males, young males in general and for our nation as a whole.

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I'm excited about that.

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I'm excited about that, yeah, Listening to the CJ Moneyway Show with my man.

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Cj Moneyway Tune in every other Friday to one of the hottest podcasts in the Midwest where you can hear exciting episodes and up-and-coming artists like myself, even aspiring authors, entrepreneurs and everyday men and women right here on the CJ Moneyway Show.

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That's good, like you say, trying to educate.

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You know men and women, especially the men.

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I never forget my father.

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When I was coming up here he would say, like, if you're playing sports because we all dream about playing sports and making it to the NBA or the NFL or you know baseball, but you only got so many players on the team 12 on the basketball team, 53 on the football team, baseball baseball you know, got a lot, but everybody's not going to make it.

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You can't go to the league.

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You know it's a lot, but everybody's not gonna make it.

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Didn't go to the league.

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You know it's a lot of things.

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I mean like, like, with that being said before I go, but what he told me was, uh, eugene, was that they could take a lot of things from you.

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You know, even you know what we was talking about offline.

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But one thing they can't take from you and this is something that I want you brothers to understand and know too, and I believe e Eugene is trying to push this message is that they can't take what you put up here.

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No, they can't.

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They can take everything else, not just away your education.

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They can't take away this.

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You know he used to always tell me that and you know, as we was talking about sports and things of that nature, it goes hand in hand the athletics and the schooling.

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So when I was coming up I'm going to be straight, honest with you I was only on one end, athletic, but I didn't want to do schoolwork, and so guess what that affected me playing.

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And then when you get them, if you're good enough, certain teams will let you play even though you have failing grades.

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But I had a mother and father, definitely my father.

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He wasn't going.

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And as a principal, I didn't go for that, and as a coach, I didn't go for that yeah, yeah.

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Because the thing about it is here's what I tell kids all the time there are more doctors, lawyers and engineers in America than there are NBA and NFL players, so you have a better the odds are better to be one of those than to play in the NBA or the NFL.

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That's why you have to prepare yourself academically as well as physically, as well as emotionally, as well as spiritually.

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But you have to go to school with the focus of trying to do better and trying to learn and trying to grow, and we know that there are a lot of things that get in the way of that, based upon life situations and how things are going for you personally.

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We understand that.

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I always understood that as a former student myself, as a parent, as a teacher, I get all of those things.

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When you have an opportunity to get up under people who really want to see your best, who really have your best interest at heart, embrace those people.

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Don't push those people away.

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When you see opportunities that are being given to you to grow and do better, do everything you can to get around those people and get around those programs, because they are out there and, just like you can find trouble to get into, you can also find good things to get into.

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Even the hood has libraries, and now you don't even need a library anymore.

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We're walking around with this thing in our hand.

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Yes, we can use it for the TikTok.

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Yes, we can use it for the social media, but we also can use it for the Google and looking up facts and looking up ideas and books on the computer and all of these things that we can use it for.

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We have more tools now for our advancement than we've ever had in the history of mankind.

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It's just a matter of what we choose to use them for.

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Are we going to use them for minus entertainment or are we going to use them to grow the mind?

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I mean it's funny that you said that, because me and a friend of mine, we was just talking about that the other night, you know, as I was coming in the house from work, we were just talking about that the other night, you know, as I was coming in the house from work, we were just talking about that because we were talking about different things, you know, as far as what we're trying to do, and so I was telling him I said, man, whatever you're trying to do, just research it and get into it, you know, and get as much knowledge and wealth as you can.

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I mean, you know, I'm like just what you said.

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I'm like, man, we got phones that we can look up and Google up anything that we want to find out nowadays, you know, and, like you said, like he said too, he say back in the day, like our grandfathers and our fathers, they had to go to this little small library that had all these books in there to go, try to find what you're looking for.

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You know what I'm saying.

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But we don't have to do that, no more.

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We don't.

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Like you say, it's right there, it's right in our hands every day A wealth of knowledge for us to advance, to do what you want to do, but it's all about the mindset.

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It's all about the mindset, eugene.

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Well, a lot of these young cats out here are too young to remember when you used to have to go to the library and look through the card catalog and the decimal system and the microfiche and you could spend a whole hour just trying to find books and sources and now everything's at your fingertips and you want to use it for foolishness sometimes, rather than for what you could, the best things you could use it for.

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I totally agree with you.

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I totally agree with you and speaking on the educational part.

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So what was the educational process like for you?

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You know, to go from college, high school.

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What made you want to be an educator?

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Well, first of all, it's in my blood.

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My late parents were both educators.

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Oh, okay.

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My late father, dr Eugene Williams Sr, was one of nine children born in rural Orange, virginia.

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They were poor, but they didn't know they were poor if you know what I mean.

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He worked as a houseboy, as a butler, for the white headmaster of the local white private school.

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When he was coming up he saved his money and used that money to go to St Paul's College and get his bachelor's degree.

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Then from St Paul's College he went to the University of Virginia.

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I was one of the first African Americans to get a master's degree in education from the University of Virginia.

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Then he got his doctorate degree in secondary education from the University of Miami.

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That's where he met my mom who at that time was studying for her master's degree in American studies at the University of Miami.

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Okay.

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And she was.

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She grew up in the part of people that are from Miami-Dade County will remember a place called Liberty City, mm-hmm Carnavi.

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She grew up in the part of people that are from Miami-Dade County who remember a place called.

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Liberty City.

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She grew up in that area and she did very well in school.

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She went to Florida A&M University for her bachelor's and got her master's in the University of Miami.

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Now, once they got into education as a career, they went even further.

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My father was a teacher for a short time.

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My father at one point in his career was the dean of Sojourner Douglas College.

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He was a professor at Howard University for a few years.

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He was the director of test score improvement for DC public schools for several years.

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My mother at one time, aside from being a teacher, she was the regional language arts coordinator for all of Miami-Dade County public schools.

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And back in 2008, I love talking about my mom and dad.

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They're my heroes.

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Back in 2008, my mom ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County.

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Now she did not win.

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Okay.

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Here's the crazy part about this.

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This goes back to our point about you can do what you want to do and you focus on.

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So she had a $500 campaign account because she was retired by this point and was on a fixed income.

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So she had a $500 campaign budget.

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The incumbent mayor had a a $500 campaign budget.

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The incumbent mayor had a million dollar campaign budget.

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Do you know?

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My mother still got 40% of the vote.

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Got 40% of the vote.

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And that's a big difference in money too 40% of the vote, and so it's just really crazy to think about that and know that with that type of you know, if you put the energy forth and you have commitment and people let your hearts in the right place, it's amazing some of the things that you can accomplish, especially if you're dedicated to something.

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Now my mother spent a lot of time.

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They knew my mother from after her career was over education.

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She spent time in the school board meetings so she was well known in the community as the person that would speak out and defend the kids, be a spokesman for the kids, especially in underserved neighborhoods okay and so that was how she kind of gained her popularity, which helped her, propelled her to run for mayor of Miami-Dade County.

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But long story short, those were the role models that I had.

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Okay.

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And that's what got.

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So education was going to be something that was going to be part of my life, regardless of whatever career I chose.

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But anyway, I started out as a high school teacher in Prince George's County, maryland, and then I taught in charter schools in Washington DC for a while.

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Then I taught for many years in Virginia, state of Virginia, and my goal was so my parents.

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When I was young, I was in private schools.

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I went to predominantly white private schools.

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What I noticed was it wasn't that those kids were any smarter than the kids in the neighborhood where I lived, it's just they had more access and opportunity to learn things and hear about things.

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My goal was, if I go into education, I'm going to try to make that the great equalizer.

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I'm going to take what I've learned as a student in terms of my experiences with folks from upper middle class background and give that experience and give that information poured into the kids that I work with, whether they be in rural areas, urban areas, underserved areas.

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That was my goal to put people who normally don't win in positions to win.

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That's still my goal.

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Yeah, that's awesome because I see that I was reading something where it talks about that you were real big on trying to get minorities in higher educational programs, you know, so that they can visit colleges and go off to colleges and things of that nature, and so that was a big program I had when I was working in Orange County, virginia.

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I was blessed to work with a group of other black male educators Walter Bryan, jesse Magrude and we were able to create a program that's based off of the model set forth by Dr Donna Ford and Dr Gilman White at Vanderbilt University.

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We called it the Academic Scholars Institute and our goal was to identify those African-American male students who were doing well in school and we wanted to encourage them to enroll in the advanced placement classes, the honors classes, the dual enrollment classes, the classes that we really didn't see too many of us in, because we knew that if we could get them in those classes we would put them in a position to meet all of their meet and exceed all of their academic goals post-high school.

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And we did that.

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I was part of that program for about seven years.

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Oh, okay, and over the course of that time we had people that were going to be able to do that.

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Went to harvard wow, went to schools all throughout virginia uh, university of north carolina, chapel hill, several other colleges uh throughout the nation, and we even had, uh, the first black male valedictorian from orange county high school came out of that group of young men that I worked with.

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So and he was a.

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He was a wrestler he was a wrestler that got a scholarship to go to harvard for wrestling and academics wow plus, he was a valedictorian and so to see that type of growth in those young men.

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And this was not a a a a huge area.

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This was a small rural area.

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And what we forget sometimes as african--American educators is we spend a lot of time working with students in the urban areas as well.

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We should, because a lot of those areas are underserved, but sometimes we forget about these small pockets of black folks in the rural, predominantly white schools.

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Who do they?

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Turn to?

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Who are their role models?

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How do they get pushed and encouraged to do better?

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There's work to do in all systems, in all demographics, wherever you are, when it comes to minority achievement.

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I want to continue to make that a driving force throughout the country, because here's what we know about America when people of color do well, when poor folks do well, when working class folks do well, everybody else does even better.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So we should make that a priority at all times, I believe.

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Yeah, I totally agree with you.

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You know, and I'm, you know, we're thankful to have men that have a heart for the people.

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You know, because, as we know that a lot of let's say that our hearts have waxed cold and to see people and for God to put you in a position to be, you know, from your background, with your mother and your father, to put you in a position to have a heart for people, because a lot of times we have stuff or we get things in life that is just not necessarily for us, right?

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He has given us abilities and talents and skills to help other people and so, man, I appreciate you for continuing, you know, uh, helping people move man, that harvard story, I think that that's great.

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For somebody to get a scholarship in athletics and academics at Harvard, that's a great achievement, and it's not only I know that they had to put in the work to do it, but to have somebody that's holding you accountable, and for somebody you know, just to believe in you that you can do all things you know what I'm saying, or you can do anything that's possible.

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All you need is somebody to believe in you and push you, even when you don't.

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You know, you don't see it or feel it in yourself, man.

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So you know, big ups to you guys, man, for for.

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So you know, big ups to you guys, man, for trying to change things, man, not just in your city or where you're from, man, but worldwide man.

00:19:42.391 --> 00:19:43.633
So that's a big up to you guys.

00:19:43.633 --> 00:19:44.634
Thank you, appreciate you, man.

00:19:44.634 --> 00:19:55.230
Getting off the subject a little bit, how did it feel when they asked you to be featured in Jet Magazine and the Black Excellent Magazine, man?

00:19:55.230 --> 00:20:04.683
How does that feel like when you get that call and say, hey, eugene Williams, we would like to feature you in our next magazine, jet magazine?

00:20:04.723 --> 00:20:09.171
because, we like you say a lot of younger kids don't know nothing about Jet.

00:20:09.171 --> 00:20:13.259
You know he had the beauty of the week and that's what a lot of people got for.

00:20:13.259 --> 00:20:14.846
We used to read back in the day.

00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:23.907
Well, let me tell you that high school came to pass, so I was a child of educators, so that means you know I had no choice but to read at a young age.

00:20:23.907 --> 00:20:30.835
When you're around folks like Eugene Williams and Helen Barber Williams, education is what's going to happen.

00:20:31.655 --> 00:20:38.711
So it wasn't optional Even after they got divorced, they always managed to find a way to double team me and jump on me if my grades got bad.

00:20:38.711 --> 00:20:41.086
So, yeah, that's, that's that's who they were.

00:20:41.086 --> 00:20:48.741
But I was really a young age and so my father's tax consultant came up and he said hey, I see your little boy can read, he's really young, I said.

00:20:48.741 --> 00:20:51.451
He said I got a guy that works with me.

00:20:51.451 --> 00:20:57.032
It's open up an advertising agency and he's looking for some clients to do some commercials local commercials.

00:20:57.032 --> 00:21:03.184
You think your kid would want to do it.

00:21:03.184 --> 00:21:04.269
So my dad said well, junior, do you want to?

00:21:04.269 --> 00:21:05.092
Is that something you want to do?

00:21:05.092 --> 00:21:05.674
And I was maybe three, four.

00:21:05.674 --> 00:21:06.277
So I said, yeah, tv, I love tv.

00:21:06.277 --> 00:21:06.999
Yeah, I'll do that, dad, you know.

00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:13.323
And uh, sure enough, a couple weeks later I was in the studio eating some potato chips, talking about how good potato chips were yummy.

00:21:13.323 --> 00:21:21.295
And, um, shortly thereafter, um, I did my first commercial for us potato chips.

00:21:21.295 --> 00:21:24.030
I did it with it and they couldn't find a girl to do it with me.

00:21:24.030 --> 00:21:27.689
So they said do you have any little female friends around your neighborhood that you play with?

00:21:27.689 --> 00:21:29.458
And I had a next door neighbor.

00:21:29.458 --> 00:21:30.099
I don't even know.

00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:31.163
I even know she's still around.

00:21:31.163 --> 00:21:32.046
I would love to hear from her.

00:21:32.046 --> 00:21:34.560
Jill brock I said, yeah, jill's my buddy.

00:21:34.560 --> 00:21:50.230
So they brought her on and the the first commercial Us Potato Chips back in 1970-whatever was Jill Brockett and Lil' Gene Williams eating chips and running up the hill towards the Lincoln Memorial and watching DC, and shortly after that somebody got a hold of that commercial.

00:21:50.230 --> 00:22:00.433
My next commercial was a Sunbeam bread commercial and right after that my next commercial was a national commercial Jell-O pudding with Bill Cosby.

00:22:01.301 --> 00:22:02.527
Ah, that's where you met Bill.

00:22:02.527 --> 00:22:04.567
Then, huh, Jell-O pops okay.

00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:07.145
See, if you see, this was before the pops.

00:22:07.145 --> 00:22:11.965
This was back when we were pudding Okay, and one of the first Jell-O pudding commercials, you'll see.

00:22:11.965 --> 00:22:15.759
You know, I was a little black boy and I was surprised to Bill Cosby and I was the one laughing his head off, acting all goofy boy.

00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:20.220
And I was surprised to Bill Cosby, I was the one laughing his head off, acting all goofy, so glad to be around Bill Cosby at that point.

00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:21.884
So they did that.

00:22:21.884 --> 00:22:26.778
After that I was the first purple great in a frugal underwear back to school campaign.

00:22:26.778 --> 00:22:29.107
And then after that we did.

00:22:29.107 --> 00:22:36.666
I did commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, scope Mouthwash, epic Records, johnson's Baby Powder, this goes on and on.

00:22:36.666 --> 00:22:51.699
I was the first black child in a recurring role on an old soap opera that a lot of the old heads and their grandmas might remember called search for tomorrow, way back in the day okay um, because I was movies.

00:22:51.739 --> 00:22:54.665
I did a movie called the ag gaston story where I played ag gaston.

00:22:54.665 --> 00:23:01.490
I was, I worked with the great ozzy davis in a movie about the life of benjamin bock called the man who Loved the Stars.

00:23:01.490 --> 00:23:06.310
Okay, I was a featured player in the movie the Tap Dance Kid.

00:23:06.310 --> 00:23:15.327
I was in the traveling company of the musical Shenandoah with the singer Bonnie Raitt, her father, john Raitt, so I was doing a lot of things.

00:23:15.327 --> 00:23:16.901
Things were really hot for me at the time.

00:23:16.901 --> 00:23:43.846
In fact, before being featured in Ebony Magazine and Jet Magazine and Black Excellence, I met somebody that I didn't know was going to be as big as she, maryland, and I was interviewed by a young lady, gorgeous young African-American lady with a huge afro, named Oprah Winfrey.

00:23:44.047 --> 00:23:47.964
Oprah Winfrey Wow, I like you more and more.

00:23:47.964 --> 00:23:48.145
Uj.

00:23:50.142 --> 00:23:51.646
She was first starting out.

00:23:51.907 --> 00:23:52.470
Wow.

00:23:53.020 --> 00:23:55.640
And it was crazy because the private school I attended.

00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:59.405
I went to the same school as her partner on the show, richard Sher.

00:23:59.405 --> 00:24:04.233
His son and I went to the same private school, the McDonald's School in Baltimore, maryland.

00:24:04.693 --> 00:24:08.506
Wow, man, I hey, hey.

00:24:08.506 --> 00:24:10.151
Okay, you said that.

00:24:10.151 --> 00:24:11.541
How was it?

00:24:11.541 --> 00:24:17.960
How was it being around, Ray Charles at the time of his at his height?

00:24:18.280 --> 00:24:22.859
It was a dream come true for me, because my role was to just be the emcee.

00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:27.311
It was a night of music with Ray Charles and Stephanie Mills.

00:24:27.781 --> 00:24:28.946
Ah, Stephanie Mills.

00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:35.451
And it was a dream come true for me because I love Stephanie Mills from her work in the Wiz.

00:24:35.451 --> 00:24:43.269
I grew up on Ray Charles' music all throughout my house On Saturday mornings when you're cleaning up.

00:24:43.269 --> 00:24:46.039
My father's favorite song was Hit the Road Jack.

00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:48.182
Hit the Road, jack, don't you come back.

00:24:48.182 --> 00:24:49.807
No more, no more, no more.

00:24:49.847 --> 00:24:50.611
I got in trouble.

00:24:50.611 --> 00:24:55.345
I used to say, son, hit the Road Jack, that may go to your room.

00:24:55.345 --> 00:25:00.807
Hit the Road Jack, don't you come back, no more.

00:25:00.807 --> 00:25:04.826
But no, it was just a beautiful time.

00:25:04.826 --> 00:25:05.568
Yeah.

00:25:05.967 --> 00:25:11.166
It was a time when it was that first push for African-Americans in the media.

00:25:11.166 --> 00:25:12.069
So that was one of the time.

00:25:12.069 --> 00:25:17.828
You know, we had the shows like I Spy with Bill Cosby, shows like Julia with Diane Carroll.

00:25:17.828 --> 00:25:20.528
We had all of these local newscasts.

00:25:20.528 --> 00:25:27.711
You start seeing people like Max Robinson and Jim Vance and Ed Bradley being anchors on the news back in the 70s.

00:25:27.711 --> 00:25:33.871
So it was really kind of a golden era in terms of black people making positive moves in the media.

00:25:33.871 --> 00:25:35.426
That's the same time we had the shows.

00:25:35.426 --> 00:25:38.201
We had the Sanford and Sons and the Good Times and the.

00:25:38.221 --> 00:25:40.483
Jeffersons of the world and all that good stuff.

00:25:40.503 --> 00:25:45.329
Okay, richard Pryor, you know coming up in the 70s at that time Okay.

00:25:45.520 --> 00:25:45.844
I mean.

00:25:45.844 --> 00:25:47.821
So you know it was an exciting time.

00:25:47.821 --> 00:25:54.362
And to be first of all here's, let me just tell you how funny my life is sometimes.

00:25:54.362 --> 00:26:06.402
You know Bill Cosby has had his issues that have been undocumented, but as a person who's been in the commercial with the first to the Pudding commercial I'm forever connected with him.

00:26:06.402 --> 00:26:10.886
But guess who was on the cover of the Ebony magazine that I was featured in?

00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:13.385
No other than Bill Cosby.

00:26:14.107 --> 00:26:16.281
No, no, guess who was on the cover.

00:26:16.281 --> 00:26:16.962
I'll give you two guesses.

00:26:16.962 --> 00:26:17.965
Okay, oprah, no, richard, guess who's?

00:26:18.626 --> 00:26:19.809
on the cover.

00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:20.892
I'll give you two guesses.

00:26:20.892 --> 00:26:21.272
Okay, oprah.

00:26:21.874 --> 00:26:22.394
No, richard.

00:26:22.414 --> 00:26:22.675
Pryor, no Okay.

00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:29.612
It was 1976, and the person on the cover the Ebony issue I was featured in was OJ Simpson.

00:26:29.612 --> 00:26:30.032
Oj.

00:26:33.626 --> 00:26:37.405
OJ the Buffalo Bills, oj the Buffalo Bills.

00:26:37.405 --> 00:26:38.048
Oj, okay, oj the Buffalo.

00:26:38.068 --> 00:26:38.351
Bills OJ.

00:26:38.351 --> 00:26:39.013
The Buffalo Bills OJ.

00:26:39.013 --> 00:26:40.160
Okay, the Buffalo Bills OJ Number 32?

00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:40.160
.

00:26:40.641 --> 00:26:42.026
He was a beast on those mid-offs.

00:26:42.026 --> 00:26:45.086
Oh yeah, I can't take nothing away from his playing skills.

00:26:45.086 --> 00:26:46.672
Right, right yeah.

00:26:47.542 --> 00:26:49.670
You know, it was just a different world.

00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:51.435
Pardon the pun, it was a different time.

00:26:52.301 --> 00:27:08.444
So I see what you're saying like connection, Like you'll always be connected to Bill Cosby because you was in the commercials with him and it just so happened that in the magazine article that you were featured in, OJ Simpson was on the front cover of it all.

00:27:09.301 --> 00:27:28.105
The lesson that that taught me was a valuable one, a lesson I kind of already knew, but it was confirmed for me later in life, and that is to always be humble and to always appreciate the blessings that you have while they're there, cause you never know the, the, the, the twists and turns that life has for you.

00:27:28.105 --> 00:27:36.084
And maybe you know, in 1970, you were on top of the hill, in 1990, they might not want to know your name anymore.

00:27:36.183 --> 00:27:36.483
Yeah.

00:27:37.025 --> 00:27:45.489
And so you always have to remain humble and know who you are and who you are, and you'll always be in good shape.

00:27:45.489 --> 00:27:49.810
That's the philosophy you keep in the foremost in the front of your mind.

00:27:50.019 --> 00:28:20.423
Well, you know, that goes back to like what we were talking about earlier, about with the students and everything that you can have talents to do this and that, but then sometimes those talents don't take you to where you go, where you got to go, but you kept this and, like you say, with the things that your mother excuse me, a father instilled in you the educational part, they couldn't take that away and that has prepared you to even greater heights.

00:28:20.423 --> 00:28:35.867
Then you know, maybe, what you you know saying where you at, because sometimes we may want to do something, but it's, it's not what we want to do, it's what he has sent us forth and had designed for us to do, and it's about finding your purpose.

00:28:35.867 --> 00:28:43.449
You know, and when you begin walking in your purpose, then you have more fulfillment in life.

00:28:43.449 --> 00:28:50.451
Because you know I was just telling my mother this the other day because your purpose remains the same.

00:28:50.594 --> 00:28:53.167
The assignments change within the purpose.

00:28:53.167 --> 00:28:53.980
You know.

00:28:53.980 --> 00:29:03.361
You, being a school teacher because I brought that up I said it's just like okay, I said social studies, but let's just say English, since you was an English teacher, english.

00:29:03.361 --> 00:29:15.353
You're going to come to class every day, but every week you'll have a different assignment, but the purpose remains the same for you to perfect yourself and pass this English class.

00:29:15.353 --> 00:29:17.728
And I believe that's how life works too.

00:29:17.728 --> 00:29:27.589
You know, once you find your purpose, you always going to walk in your purpose, but they're going to be different assignments within the purpose, and I think sometimes in life we get that confused.

00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:29.563
I love that way of thinking.

00:29:29.563 --> 00:29:30.366
That's absolutely true.

00:29:30.366 --> 00:29:32.067
That makes sense to me.

00:29:34.207 --> 00:29:38.086
That's how I feel like God kept you on the path, man.

00:29:38.086 --> 00:29:44.326
Sometimes it may not work out the way that we want it to work out, but it works out the way that he wants it to work out.

00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:46.488
It always works out the way it's supposed to.

00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:48.688
Exactly, that's it right there.

00:29:48.779 --> 00:29:49.482
That's the key.

00:29:49.482 --> 00:29:50.788
That's the way you want it.

00:29:50.788 --> 00:29:52.667
I forget the quote, but I forget.

00:29:52.667 --> 00:29:53.769
I think it was Mike Tyson.

00:29:53.769 --> 00:29:58.208
I think it was Mike Tyson who said everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face yeah, until they get punched in the mouth.

00:30:00.013 --> 00:30:03.624
They get punched in the mouth, yeah.

00:30:03.624 --> 00:30:14.147
So, man, to end this you know we haven't talked about this, but before we go, do you have any more books coming out besides the six books that you already have published?

00:30:14.489 --> 00:30:34.906
I'm working on some things right now but, like I said before, if you're all interested, I have a book called Grounded in the Word, which is a book where we take the most 500 most commonly found SAT words and cross-reference them with the King James Version of the Bible, so if students out there can learn about the word while learning the meaning of words.

00:30:34.906 --> 00:30:43.407
I have a book for parents called it's a Reading Thing to Help your Child Understand, which will help parents engage in strategies that will help their kids become excited about reading.

00:30:43.407 --> 00:30:51.564
I have a book of poems and short stories and social commentary called Reflections of a Confused Middle Class Black Youth.

00:30:51.564 --> 00:30:52.166
Okay.

00:30:52.641 --> 00:31:01.884
I have a novel that I wrote about, loosely based on my experiences as a member of a historically black fraternity at a predominantly white college, and that book is called I Am the Darker Brother.

00:31:01.884 --> 00:31:07.986
So all of those books can be purchased on Amazon, barnes, noble, all those sites.

00:31:07.986 --> 00:31:17.349
Just look up Eugene Williams Jr and a list of books that I've written will come out on there, and please visit my site, wwweugenewilliamsjrcom.

00:31:17.349 --> 00:31:29.911
You can also catch me at E-U-G-W-I-L-L-J-R on Instagram and catch me at Eugene Williams Jr on TikTok.

00:31:29.911 --> 00:31:31.464
So I'm a lot of places.

00:31:31.866 --> 00:31:33.806
Oh yeah, I know the feeling.

00:31:33.806 --> 00:31:34.761
But yeah, man.

00:31:34.761 --> 00:31:42.595
So I'm going to go get that book where you're talking about the cross references with the words, and then the Bible.

00:31:42.595 --> 00:31:49.409
I want to read that myself, because a lot of people use that as an excuse why they don't read the Bible.

00:31:49.409 --> 00:31:52.732
Because I can't, you know, I don't know what they doubt.

00:31:52.732 --> 00:31:53.634
You know what I'm saying.

00:31:53.674 --> 00:31:59.553
Ye is whatever you better know the words of the Bible, because if you don't, you can go to church and the pastor could be telling you anything.

00:31:59.553 --> 00:32:05.307
Make sure you know the words for yourself so you actually know what the book is actually saying.

00:32:05.386 --> 00:32:20.963
Hey, so just like you say before I end that and that's perfectly true, because it's just like you go to church on Sunday you get the word, but through the rest of the week you don't have no word, and so now I'm empty.

00:32:20.963 --> 00:32:23.951
So I'm empty until I go back next Sunday.

00:32:23.951 --> 00:32:27.951
Now in life you got to learn how to start eating for yourself.

00:32:27.951 --> 00:32:34.987
If I don't have the word in me, how can I ever combat the enemy?

00:32:35.621 --> 00:32:44.766
That's right, and you better be able to realize that we always want the people that lead us in church to be people who believe in the word.

00:32:44.766 --> 00:32:48.368
But just like any other organization, people have agendas.

00:32:48.368 --> 00:33:03.928
Yeah, and the best way to make sure that you avoid those agendas is to read the word for yourself and know what the words, the words in the word, actually mean, so that you can make the proper decisions when it comes time to have that relationship with God on your own.

00:33:04.148 --> 00:33:08.627
Oh man, hey, Eugene, man, it's been great having you on the show.

00:33:08.627 --> 00:33:14.859
Like I said, I wish you'd come back again whenever you do any more projects, man, anytime, anytime.

00:33:14.859 --> 00:33:39.568
I told you I'm starting something new, probably starting in June or July, and I would love to have you on there a podcast that's basically geared towards men, something that you're working on right now, as you said, as you're trying to travel around the world with your program helping young males, and so, man, I'd like to get you all, man, to get your expertise and pick your brains on that.

00:33:39.568 --> 00:33:43.329
And so to my Money Way listeners UJ Williams.

00:33:43.329 --> 00:33:44.866
Hey, go check out his books.

00:33:44.866 --> 00:33:48.257
He left his social media sites.

00:33:48.257 --> 00:33:49.884
He left it where you can go meet him at.

00:33:49.884 --> 00:33:52.105
Hey, check out my man, ej Williams.

00:33:52.105 --> 00:33:56.105
He ain't Batman like Morgan Freeman, but he's that man.

00:33:56.105 --> 00:33:58.084
What's up, my people?

00:33:58.084 --> 00:33:59.462
This your boy, cj Moneyway.

00:33:59.462 --> 00:34:00.788
Hey, be on the lookout for that.

00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:04.085
Steel Town Records coming back, the rebirth of GI.

00:34:04.085 --> 00:34:09.643
They coming back with a record label looking for independent artists, looking for producers, looking for artists.

00:34:09.643 --> 00:34:10.905
They coming back full of fun.

00:34:11.065 --> 00:34:12.445
Hey check out the merchandise.

00:34:12.445 --> 00:34:13.666
Got some hot merchandise.

00:34:13.666 --> 00:34:16.150
Got some polos with Michael Jackson on the front.

00:34:16.150 --> 00:34:18.992
Check it out in my links on the podcast show.

00:34:18.992 --> 00:34:20.813
Check out my Facebook page out.

00:34:20.813 --> 00:34:22.956
Check out the Steel Town website.

00:34:22.956 --> 00:34:24.777
Hey, grab you some merchandise.

00:34:24.777 --> 00:34:26.862
Man, Support the city of GI.

00:34:26.862 --> 00:34:27.585
We coming back.

00:34:27.585 --> 00:34:36.942
Peace Bye.

"Lights, Classroom, Action: Eugene Williams' Inspiring Journey

From Dimmed Sight to Insight The Awakening of a Storyteller