‘It hurts to be different, but I would rather hurt than be like my circumstance.” – Teach Different with Jarvis Funches

Transcript

Steve (00:10)

Welcome everybody to the Teach Different podcasts. I am here again with Jarvis and Tree. Now you probably haven’t even heard our first podcast with them because we had some technical difficulties with our recording. But we’re probably going to try to get that out as well. This is one that you’re for sure going to get. These are two young men from the city of Chicago. One of whom I had as a student when I was teaching US history back in 2017, 2018, that’s Jarvis. He actually helped start Teach Different and was an inspiration behind the whole quote, the method that we always use on this podcast. Then Tree was there at the time Jarvis was there and was an inspirational speaker and would go to the different classrooms and basically just share some wisdom about life. I’m trying to think, Tree, you were probably around 20, 21 back then. I’m just guessing. But you had some experience under your belt and you had a lot to say.

 

Jarvis Funches (00:55)

Mm hmm.

 

Steve (01:23)

And one of the things that we’ve talked about with you two is how, which is so interesting to me, how Tree, you came off to Jarvis as a mentor at that time, because Jarvis, you were only like 16 or so. Tree was like 20, 21, had been through high school, but it was so fun to watch you two go back and forth about how you perceived each other and how you kind of surprised each other on some level to see how each of you developed. And then Tree, you came and reconnected with Jarvis this last fall, if I remember correctly, which is when I reconnected with him too. So this is, you know what, let’s just call this a family reunion. But I’m looking forward to this. This is great. Like I’m, I can’t wait. And our quote is actually going to be from Jarvis.

 

Jarvis Funches (02:10)

Yeah, for sure.

 

Tree (02:12)

Thanks.

 

Jarvis Funches (02:21)

Haha

 

Steve (02:22)

Jarvis came up with his own quote. So we’re going to play this because it’s not only, you know, these, whatever great thinkers, all these dead people who have these great quotes, you know, quotes are born from experience and Jarvis you’ve had quite a bit. All right. So with that, we’re going to do the Teach Different Method. We’re going to have a conversation. Everyone should know the drill by now. Quote, claim, counterclaim, essential question.

 

Jarvis Funches (02:33)

Sure.

 

Steve (02:51)

So we’re gonna break down the quote, we’re gonna go to both sides, we’re gonna ask some good questions, and we’re gonna get to know Tree and Jarvis a little bit, and you know, here we go. The quote is, it hurts to be different but I would rather hurt than be like my circumstance. It hurts to be different, but I would rather hurt than be like my circumstance.

 

Tree (03:19)

My –

 

Steve (03:20)

There we go, Tree, you start.

 

Jarvis Funches (03:27)

Alright.

 

Tree (03:27)

Thanks. Yeah, I’m Tree Man. I’m an artist, activist, mentor, public speaker, comedian from the west side of Chicago. Yeah, I started as a gun violence survivor, gun violence advocate, peace advocate. yeah. So I started mentoring at Jarvis School around 2017, which is actually the school that I graduated from. Yeah, I was around like 22, 23. I like that you said 20 though. I wish I was that year. I was like 22, 23. Yeah, man, just trying to prevent young brothers like myself that I saw as myself to end up in situations that I ended up in, my friends ended up in, things like that. And yeah, Jarvis was one of the kids that I definitely saw a lot of myself in and saw a lot of potential in and just wanted better for and then just like you said, to see, reunite with him on here and just to see what his mind has been and just to see how he’s not, I don’t want to say completely different than what I thought, because I didn’t think that he wouldn’t succeed. I knew he would and could, is just to see it actually is like 10 times better. So yeah.

 

Steve (04:43)

Jarvis, why don’t you just like, remind everybody who you are and then we’ll just get right into the quote. We’ll come back to you, Tree, to kick off the claim.

 

Jarvis Funches (04:46)

Yeah. For sure. y’all doing today, podcast? I’m Jarvis, I’m Jarvis Funches, man. I’m a community activist. I’m currently working on trying to be a business and management teacher and learning how to own some property. But besides that, life is going good. I’m a current father. I’m enjoying fatherhood to the best and to the fullest. And life is great. I mean, life is very much great right now.

 

Steve (05:18)

How old are your kids Jarvis? I mean one of them is only months old.

 

Jarvis Funches (05:22)

Yeah, I got Ashley, 35 day old daughter. She just a month and like a week. And then I got a two year old son. He’s two and a half, gonna be three.

 

Steve (05:35)

That’s a lot of work, man. You got some responsibility.

 

Jarvis Funches (05:37)

That is a lot of work.

 

Tree (05:39)

And hey, doing a lot of late nights.

 

Jarvis Funches (05:43)

Haha!

 

Steve (05:44)

Not the late nights you choose, it’s the ones you’re forced into. It’s like…

 

Tree (05:48)

Late night, early morning.

 

Steve (05:52)

Good for you though, man. You, that was one of the first things when we reconnected. Because I just remember you when you were 16, you know, you were a middle school, or middle high school sophomore. And then you said, yeah, I got a kid. I was like, man, that’s what happened.

 

Jarvis Funches (06:02)

Yeah, for sure. It was something that sprung on to me, to be honest. But what kind of took me about a whole with my first child and my second one is that growing up, not to hit everybody with the Black American dad story, but I had my daddy growing up. So I had to share my daddy with my mama, which is my granddaddy. So when I saw my kids, it sparked a light bulb in me to like, to always be there for them because I never had that and they’re so beautiful. like, why would you, how could you walk out on something so small and beautiful? So like, I enjoy parenthood. It is awesome. It is awesome. It is amazing. Yes, it does have its irritation moments. Yes it does. But in the long run though, just to see all the things that you know you work hard for and that you instill in your children and just to even see them play it out, even in the shortest form of fashion, it’s a blessing.

 

Steve (07:07)

I love it. We gotta have a quote about fatherhood at some point, but let’s get back to this. Do you think? I mean, this one is heavy. I like a couple words in here that I know I’m gonna get a lot of like really good stuff from both of you, but here’s the quote again. And then Tree, you can tell us what you think about it. What do you think it means? It hurts to be different, but I would rather hurt than be like my circumstance.

 

Jarvis Funches (07:09)

So. Yeah

 

Steve (07:37)

What’s that saying?

 

Tree (07:39)

Man, so that’s like deep on so many layers because I hear so many things. hear so many, hear and see so many things and it hurts to be different but I’d rather hurt than be like in my circumstance. So it’s like the age old quote is like you can become a product of your environment. So and that is like you are what you are around. So if I’m growing up, I’m just gonna do the stereotypical troubled youth, black youth story. I’m growing up in poverty. Most of my family gang bang. They all make up a hypothetical name. They all bloody gang. My father bloody gang, all my cousins, uncles, everybody’s bloody gang. Everybody believes this type of mindset is what’s cool and they are actually pushing it on me. When I was a kid, they put a toy gun in my hand and say, shoot this gun, little cousin, say bloody game. So all of these things are molding me and they are becoming an identity that I take on. And a lot of the times us in these type of situations, we need to shift from out of those identities because one is not even a real identity. It’s not who you really are. You’re just being what you’ve been taught. And moving from that can hurt because you lose friends, you lose family, you lose all your ideals. And especially you lose what you feel is your identity. So it feels like you’re losing yourself when you make a shift. A smart person would go through that pain instead of staying in the loop in a cycle. But everybody’s not that aware. So it’s like… Man, that’s deep, bro. That’s a deep quote for real.

 

Jarvis Funches (09:35)

So you want to go on Mr Fouts?

 

Steve (09:40)

Let me do that. Yeah. I was going to say it’s your quote, so I might as well weigh in and then you can unveil maybe what you were thinking of it. That was really well said, Tree. It’s, what’s leaping out at me is this idea of circumstance and how, you know, if it hurts to be different, but I’d rather hurt than be like my circumstance. I’m looking at someone who’s stuck in a circumstance, right? You can’t do anything about it. Kind of like what you were saying, Tree, you grow up, they’re handing a toy gun to you and say, hey, know, do this and then say this. And what else do you really know? That’s like your life. That’s your circumstance. That’s the thing that’s your comfort. That’s your identity without thinking. The only way to get out of that is to start thinking in a different way. Because if you just keep thinking in that circumstance, you’re gonna just try to figure out what people want and you’re gonna give it to them. You’re not gonna be really free thinking. You’re not really thinking for yourself. You’re just trying to function in your environment. And then, the idea of it hurts to be different. I guess sometimes thinking and being different hurts. I’d like to know more about what you all think of that. And maybe Jarvis, could, when you talk, start off with this word hurt. Why’d you use that word? Because I can think of other ones being used, but that’s the one that really interests me. Those are my thoughts.

 

Jarvis Funches (11:26)

The reason why I read the hurt and the reason why I use that word is because tremendously, it’s not always a physical battle. And that’s one thing that a lot of people fail to realize. Sometimes it could be a mental battle. But in the ways that I’m hurting is that, like Tree said, like you said, I do also lose friends and family, but you also lose some of your best supporters and trying to be different because you come from a certain crowd of people and a certain crowd of rooters that’s room for you and they room for you to do certain things. And the quote really snapped to me because just the other day I was just having a random conversation with one of my peers and one of my close friends. And you know, I told him like, I wanted to, you know, leave certain things alone and become a business man and do certain things, you know, just different. And the way that he told me that I would feel that I would be better than them and others around me was like a slap in the face because, just because we all chose this path doesn’t mean that we all have to stay on the path. And just because I’m to elevate or share in some type of way, I would expect you to be my steel roof for me. Like you roofed for me when I was doing the bed. But it’s not like that. And it hurts to see your close friends or even your loved ones, relationships, whoever, they walk away from you because you choose to be different. And it really does hurt. It’s like a stab in the back, almost. Do you want me to be at a certain level in life? Do you want me to continue to be the person that I am or do you really want me to grow? And that quote just struck me because it’s like, a lot of people around you will act like they really rooting for you to go to the next level. But the whole time, these people really got chains and shackles on you. The moment you make a move, then they feel like you’re getting higher. They’re gonna pull you down. And it’s sad. It’s very much sad. That’s why I just always like, my little one, one of my girlfriends, I told her about, you know, just even expanding the mind, you know, even trying to be the, you think you better, or you think you’re going to be better, or you’re going to come around big headed, or you’re to do this. Like, and it just hurted me. For the last 14 days, I’ve just been isolating myself away from these people. And it really been hurting because it’s like, these are the people that I call even when I hear just a joke to tell or these are people I’ll call when I’m going through a bad time or these are people I’ll call just to even check up on but just to even learn that these people are not really my supporters. You just only support my circumstance. I have to leave you alone and it hurts and it seriously does, hurts, it does.

 

Steve (14:22)

Yeah, it’s the people that you thought were kind of in the boat with you. But the minute that you’re doing something different, you’re making a move, you’re being different. They kind of jump ship and they perceive that as you trying to be better than they are. But they’re not focused on wanting something good for you. And that’s what you’re seeing. That’s what you’re feeling. That does hurt. What are you thinking, Tree? I mean, that’s… That helps me to understand.

 

Tree (14:52)

That’s, the people be expecting… People be projecting outward their own inner insecurities and doubts of theyself. So like a person can see you, they can love you, but show confidence and your will to aspire for things is intimidating. And also they slight. For lack of better words, like just hate, they hate. We could, we could, we could. The world has already simplified this term. just hate us because it’s like.

 

Steve (15:30)

It has. Jarvis, does that fit? Jarvis, does the word hate fit?

 

Jarvis Funches (15:36)

Yeah, like, like, hey, like, I would say that what I would say is an enviness and certain people don’t even know that they are being envious of you. And they really just hurt because you don’t even know why you don’t even know why you really even envies of me. Like we eat the same food. We share the same plate. We share the same clothes. What’s different about me wanting to go and be something or do something a little different? What?

 

Tree (15:59)

Is that? because they don’t believe they can.

 

Jarvis Funches (16:07)

And see, and that’s the problem though. That’s right there. And that’s why I always try to feed into my peers that I’m around that maybe we do need to get around people that are smarter than us. We do need to get around people that think different than us because what you think and what you project is what you become. And I can’t be there anymore. Like I’m already tattoos, scars, cubs. Like now I already go into a business room. They already look at me like a buffoon or like a criminal because of my appearance already so I already have to be on the top of my game I’m already a black individual you have to be on top of your game I’m tired of scenarios and it just even hurts that I gotta live under a scenario and a stereotype of the world period and then later down the line I have to live under the same scenario in the same opinion of my peers it’s crazy like, it’s just crazy, like why?

 

Steve (17:10)

Yeah, you’re getting it from both sides and then you become, it’s like you’re in no man’s land. Your immediate circumstances, they kind of are estranged from you because they’re hating on you. They’re a little envious like Tree was saying. They’re projecting their own kind of failures and they’re trying to say you’re like them. And then you got the society who has all kinds of opinions about who you are, looking at what you are dressed like and where you came from. And you’re just sitting here like, I’m different. Like everybody has got to figure me out and appreciate me for me. I don’t have any other way out.

 

Jarvis Funches (18:00)

You saying it like, and you hitting it right on the head like, and you know what’s crazy that you do say that, and it goes back to what T.R.E.A.T. People have embedded on us and forced an image on us so bad to the point where we’ll lose ourself for so long, till you don’t even know who you is. And once you finally try to find out who you is and who you want to be, it’s not accepted. It’s not allowed. You can’t do this or you’re not gonna make it. But the whole 15, 20 years or the whole 23 years of my life, I never even knew who I was, period. I was just projecting the image that you gave me.

 

Tree (18:40)

That’s, but look, that’s everybody. So you know how, you know how scary it gotta be for certain people to feel like their whole life was wasted, right? Or a lot of their time was wasted because they know they wanna be something else, but they are too afraid to be that. Then they see somebody that’s in the same situation as them standing in there is like, I’m finna be different. And they like, man, I wish I could do that. I’m scared though. I’m scared to say I really wanna skateboard to my gangbanger homies. So now I got a homie that’s in the streets, but he telling me he wanna open a business. Like you going after your dreams, I’m scared to do that. And then a lot of people too, they see our potential too. Like you said, they’ll pull you down. So a lot of people that love you, it’ll be your friends and family, they love you. They actually do love you, but they don’t wanna, they don’t want you to exist on a spectrum of life without them. Because they know once you elevate, you’re going to go to a different spectrum of life. Whether it’s financially, whatever. Whether it’s you’ve got to distance yourself from them. And they see that ahead of time. They see, man, he’s starting to set goals. And he’s going to be better than where I’m at. He’s going to be above. And then they look at themselves negatively. And then they project that on you.

 

Steve (20:02)

Misery loves company. I just feel like we just defined quote unquote hating.

 

Tree (20:03)

it’s crazy.

 

Jarvis Funches (20:09)

He thought, quote, unquote, hey, man.

 

Tree (20:11)

Yeah, because people might hear that and think hatred. It’s like, no, it’s not hatred. It’s like a person hating on you. They don’t hate you. It could be somebody that love you that’s hating on you.

 

Jarvis Funches (20:20)

They just envy you so bad. it’s the enviness and like, I didn’t even say I was gonna leave you. I just truly, I’m a person, I’m a person in a person of heart.

 

Tree (20:35)

They know it, but I’m saying they know it. They know that your elevation gonna come with them being left behind, because they not elevating with you. So soon they hear that you trying to elevate, it already snapping their head subconsciously. He finna, they not gonna be around me no more. Because I’m not finna chase after my dreams. I’m finna still be in his hood. I’m scared to succeed. Bro not scared to succeed. So he gonna eventually get up out of here. I ain’t gonna be with him. He gonna leave me behind.

 

Jarvis Funches (21:06)

Sure.

 

Tree (21:06)

And it’s like, why you even thinking that? It’s crazy. Like come with me, do something for yourself gang. Like what are you doing? Leave yourself.

 

Jarvis Funches (21:12)

It’s crazy. It’s crazy.

 

Steve (21:13)

So psychological. It’s so psychological. Then I’m, let me do this. I’m going to push us. I’ll bring us to the counterclaim. Okay. Sometimes counterclaims are harder than others times. This one feels like a big lift, a counterclaim, but I’m going to read the claim again. We’re talking about, we talked a lot about hating and how hard it is to be different, why it hurts. And then we have an opinion here about how to approach this difficult situation. So the quote is, it hurts to be different, but I would rather hurt than be like my circumstance. Push against this. Put yourself in the mindset of somebody who doesn’t wanna be different and make their argument.

 

Jarvis Funches (22:15)

So I mean, that’s what? That’s just mad wild for me. But hey, listen, for that person and if I was that type of person, I would say in many ways, I’m gonna go with the flow type of guy. I’m not really into the leading role. I really don’t care. As long as I’m okay, and as long as I got the little things in life that I need, I’m okay. I don’t need to strive or feel like I need to over secede because I have the bare minimum things I need to survive. Man, it’s crazy you said that. There’s a lot of people out here in the world like that. Like I call those people okay with enough. They just okay with enough. You just get them by, they okay. They okay. And I’m not one of those type of people. So, and I think I kind of put fear in those people’s hearts because I feel like we just gotta do better.

 

Steve (23:20)

Tell me the best and this could go to Tree either. Tell me the best argument, not argument, give me the reason why being content and not being ambitious, okay? Like you’re saying Jarvis, a lot of people are not. I don’t want to use the word lazy. That’s too negative, but they’re more like, I’ll go with the flow. I’m cool. I’m thinking of a quote from an Eastern philosopher. said, if you want to be rich, want less. Don’t get more. Want less. But there’s a philosophy of life behind that and I’m starting to make the argument myself But I want to see if one of you two can pick up on it like make the argument that being content and not being different and chill out with the addition

 

Tree (24:23)

It’s almost, that’s almost biblical for the religious folks out here. So biblically, God didn’t want us to know knowledge of things. We were supposed to be these docile, naive creatures. So in a sense, the will and aspiration to be always know more and do more and create this like human drive that a lot of humans have to be so innovative and yeah, we have to just always push for greater. And it all comes from like knowledge and wanting to know things. So that’s kind of what’s ruining humanity right now. The limits that we’re trying to push for things when we can just be good with enough. We can be good.

 

Jarvis Funches (24:59)

Okay.

 

Steve (25:15)

Robots.

 

Tree (25:16)

We could have been good with just riding horses, but no, we had to make cars. So it’s like sometimes the human drive for wanting more and being on top and having dominion and then just having and have, have, have, have, have more and more and more can be our demise. They say curiosity killed the cat. So you out here trying to go explore things and build. And that’s where the fear comes in certain people to not do shit. I mean, not do stuff. It’s just like, man, it’s a natural fear because I feel like we need a little bit of fear in us so we don’t do certain things. Like, sir, hey, sir, I need to chill, sir, with them particle colliders and y’all trying to open dimension portals, sir. Chill out.

 

Jarvis Funches (25:52)

Cool. For sure, for sure. What you and Mr. Fouts just kind of opened my brain up to and I was just sitting in the middle just soaking it in. And it just made me just think, and it’s not, I don’t have nothing to say, it’s just a question. So when do you know when to be contempt and when do you know to overstrive? Because like you said, the quote said, Mr. Faust, if you want to be rich, want less. It makes perfect sense because the less money you spend on bills and utilities and cars and things that you want of that nature, you will be rich. So do you really want to be rich or do you want to be material rich? But so like, how do you know when to be content and when to over strive? like, like when, like, is it a cutoff button shut off? But like what?

 

Tree (26:59)

I feel like you know that, but not yourself.

 

Steve (26:59)

That’s an essential question.

 

Jarvis Funches (27:03)

I feel like me personally, if you asked me that question, I would say I would over-sit and I would try to overstrive off the simple strength of me embracing who I am and who I want to be in life. I always wanted to be a boss. I always wanted to be a person that can help other people. I always wanted to be that domino that played a part. And I basically wanted to be that Tree with thousands of roots. That’s the person that I wanted to be. So I will always feel that I need to over-strive because I feel that I need to take care of those and my roots. That’s why I feel the need of over-striving. So like… 

 

Tree (27:34)

Yeah, I feel like nothing wrong with striving too. It’s just, it’s something, it’s only a problem when you’re level, it’s only a problem when you’re not grateful for what you do have. So certain people, the place they at, they ain’t even grateful for that. So that leads them into like depression and just bad mental states. But then they can also taint their drives. People become desperate to change their circumstances, they’ll do anything. So it’s like, it’s man, life crazy, Life crazy, bro, for real.

 

Jarvis Funches (28:21)

Damn, crazy

 

Steve (28:29)

It is because you just maybe think that some people, they might be trying to like get out of their circumstance, but maybe it’s better that they’re in it for a while because they’re being revealed a little bit by people who are know them really well and they might feel a little uncomfortable embarrassed at times because people see right through their BS. But if they want to be out of the circumstance to go give their BS to people who don’t know them, that’s not a level up. That’s an escape. And maybe you should be hanging out with these people you’re trying to lead. I’m just, I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m starting to.

 

Jarvis Funches (28:56)

Are you, no, no, no, no, no. You got a good point. You got a good point. I get exactly where you’re going with it. You got a good point. You got… Hell no.

 

Tree (29:28)

Like everything serves its purpose at one point or another in your life. Like I feel like that’s just my personal life view. Like everything serves you. You just gotta be able to see that. So my time spent with my family in the hood and things I’ve learned from that, my time spent in college with my more, I guess you could say, elite friends who’ve got different upbringings, my time in different communities. All my experiences shaped who I am and they were all valuable. So it’s like, I could look at my time, getting taught negative things about my family as like, you know, I need to change these circumstances. This is not what I wanna be. This is not what I wanna be. But that’s not a 100 % bad part of me. It’s not fully a bad part of me. That’s still good, I learned street. I learned street knowledge. That is a real thing. That’s a real.

 

Jarvis Funches (30:19)

True. Sure.

 

Tree (30:27)

Like these is all different realities stacked on top of each other that merge in and out and certain realities look down on others that’s fine but we still exist amongst ourselves and it’s like the stuff that so-called gang bangers do the government does it just on elite government level so it’s like it’s all this is America

 

Jarvis Funches (30:51)

I thought this was a blurb.

 

Steve (30:53)

This is… You reminded me of when I taught at OR, I had one student just say at one point, he said, God bless America, Mr. Fouts. Where’d that come from?

 

Tree (30:59)

Sorry.

 

Jarvis Funches (31:07)

Because America was America was

 

Steve (31:10)

My goodness. Well, you got an essential question there. Like, how do you know when to be content or to really strive after something? How do you know when you really do need to either settle down or get up and do something, be something different? That’s a really good question. Any other questions that maybe are coming up that anyone’s thinking about?

 

Tree (31:42)

I got one. Yeah. So like they say, you want more, if you want to be rich, want less. it’s like. What’s the point of striving for anything if we already have everything?

 

Steve (32:02)

I, it – 

 

Jarvis Funches (32:03)

No. No. No. It’s people would take that literally and not do anything. See, that’s what I’m saying. Write that. See, you have people in the world that would literally be comfortable with nothing.

 

Tree (32:25)

Yeah, I see homeless, I’ve met homeless people that were some of the happiest people I’ve ever met in my life. And I met people with homes and cars and money that was miserable. But this man sleeping downtown just got up with the biggest smile on his face, said hello and good morning to everybody that walked past him. Yet the people with the jobs and paying for parking wouldn’t even greet him and say good morning back because he’s homeless and he doesn’t have money, but his spirit is way. So it’s like, bro, it’s like, that’s the real test of this reality, bro. Like what really matters? That’s I feel like it’s all about once you know yourself and you find the peace within yourself, you’re not gonna need nothing. Monks, Buddhist monks do the same thing. They’ll be having possessions. They bald-headed with a robe on and some don’t even talk for years. Jesus ain’t even had nothing. I’m not a Christian, but for the believers that may see this podcast, y’all know, Jesus didn’t even have nothing. He walked around until they did what they did and he went back to the Lord. But he walked around basically like a nomad traveling and helping people. We didn’t have possessions. So it’s like, when we really boil down to it as human beings, we really don’t need possessions. Happiness don’t come from nothing outside of what’s in you.

 

Steve (33:50)

And that actually fits what you’re saying, think Jarvis, cause you’re talking about how you have to be different to be who you are. You have to fulfill your role that you see for yourself. That really isn’t material. You weren’t talking about like how many cars you want, how many apartments. It was more, it always felt like an internal thing that you were trying to describe. Am I characterizing it?

 

Jarvis Funches (33:15)

For sure, that’s why what Perry just said, just really, it did it because he’s right. It all comes with that. It does. It does.

 

Tree (34:30)

That question still was good though, because we do got a question that though, when should we be trying? Bro, this conversation is crazy. Bro, I’m telling y’all, bro, I’ll send it to both of y’all once we get out of the podcast. I literally just had this almost same conversation with Chat GPT, bro. But it was more so around the spectrum of like life being consciousness.

 

Jarvis Funches (34:48)

Thank you.

 

Tree (34:55)

And like, it was just a real deep conversation. I don’t want to make a tangent, but it was kind of still, cause this question was kind of different, but it was, led Chat GPT to the same similar question, just based off other aspects of reality about science and how we see light and we don’t really see everything that we even really see for real, stuff like that.

 

Jarvis Funches (35:01)

Alright.

 

Steve (35:19)

Chat GPT is pretty fun to have conversations with. I do it. I don’t know if you do it much Jarvis, but I mean, there’s a certain use of it that’s really interesting. You can really explore.

 

Tree (35:29)

Nah, man, it’s really, I told you, remember, I told you about the business drivers.

 

Jarvis Funches (35:34)

Mm-hmm.

 

Tree (35:34)

Yeah, he talking about his business he was trying to do. So I put the question in there and it came up with multiple solutions and plans and I something all. I’m like, look, bro, look through these and I’m telling you, look over them, bro. Like it ain’t gonna spin you wrong.

 

Jarvis Funches (35:41)

Most of the way. I’m still on that and it’s like everybody I’m going to right now and even trying to get on the same page. It’s frustrating, I was just telling my brother the other day, if Malcolm X and Martin Luther King would have known that in 45 years. Y’all was gonna do this and want to not be anything in life. Do you think that man would have went to go put his suit on, got beat, spit on, how’s it set on fire? And did all that for you gang, just for y’all to get here and out like you don’t even care about trying to be anything in life?

 

Steve (36:19)

Thank you.

 

Tree (36:38)

Probably, they probably would still did it. ‘Cause they was doing it for them at that time too, low key. But it is a smack in the face. It’s a smack in the face, bro. I’ll be mad at, I even wanna, I’ll get real pissed off. Cause yeah, bro, people be trippin’ bro. You ain’t lying. Like.

 

Jarvis Funches (36:44)

But I just want you to get what I’m saying, though. These people fought for the opportunity to go to a white college just to get a better education. Now you offer a black person education, they don’t look at you like you fucking stupid. Excuse my French. But they will look at you like you retarded. And it’s just sad to, it’s just so sad and frustrating to me. Like, I come to you. The man didn’t even know that it took 13 black businessmen to create the black wall street and he didn’t even know that all 13 black men went into bankrupt to create black wall street. Unity you gotta you gotta want to do something man. You gotta wanna own something we ain’t got nothing You that’s why you can’t play like I tell them in just like this you want to go home You wanna lay in your bed all day. You don’t want to do nothing get a business Get something that make money while you sleep You don’t have to get out your bed

 

Tree (37:56)

Yep. But like you said, it hurt.

 

Jarvis Funches (38:00)

Man, I should’ve…

 

Tree (38:01)

And as a young new started business owner.

 

Tree (38:07)

It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating, right? That’s part of the hurt you was talking about. You’re doing something you never did before. So yeah, gotta take the bumps and bruises. You gotta take the nose when you’re trying to find investors. You gotta take the stairs when you try to go into a bank and get a loan, because like you said, you got the tattoos and you got all this stuff. You gotta be prepared for all that. But that’s all the pain of the transition. That’s all the pain of the transformation.

 

Jarvis Funches (38:13)

Yes, man. That’s true.

 

Tree (38:38)

Everybody ain’t ready for that pain. You ready for it and you literally in it right now. Everybody ain’t ready for that, bro. Cause that’s the first thing they think man, how I’m going to do this? And I got this face tattoo. They ain’t going to believe in me. They automatically put their self out. And that’d be crazy, bro. It’s gotta be mind over matter, For real. I’m on a wave of, there is nothing that can stand against me. ‘Cause, man, we gotta have.

 

Jarvis Funches (38:55)

Nah.

 

Tree (39:07)

I’m gonna break a quote, I’m gonna break a quote, I’m gonna bring the next quote. Because I don’t want to tangent this conversation into something different, even though it still kind of connects to the quote, but yeah.

 

Jarvis Funches (39:12)

Thank you.

 

Steve (39:15)

Make it the next one. Send it to Jarvis. I mean, he can get it to me. I think I have your number though.

 

Tree (39:26)

I think we are strange.

 

Steve (39:28)

Okay, that’s good. Well, this was, hey, fellas, this was really good. I want to make this, you know, I feel like it needs to be more of a routine. We touched on a lot of good stuff. I really think the claim and the counterclaim came out well here. Like I was switching up with being convinced with one.

 

Jarvis Funches (39:28)

Thank you.

 

Tree (39:50)

Yeah.

 

Steve (39:54)

Or the other. And you know that that’s a good sign when you’re just finding yourself realizing the world is more complicated than black and white. And you know, sometimes there’s a truth in a season and a circumstance, and there’s a different truth in a different circumstance. And I thought we had good questions as well. So this was a pleasure. You guys make sure you come back and we will… We’ll wrap up this version of the Teach Different podcast. Take care Tree, take care Jarvis.